Infatuation | Bucky Barnes

Chapter Thirty Three

Vienna

"Are you going to sign the Accords?" Natasha asked as they walked inside the United Nations meeting where they would serve as security.

Catherine sighed. She didn't have an answer yet, because she genuinely didn't know what she wanted to do. Sign and be someone's puppet again. Or don't sign and retire. It was a difficult choice. "I don't know."

"Well," Nat said and lifted her wrist up to check the time. "It looks like you have less than thirty minutes to decide. No pressure or anything. Why weren't you at Peggy Carter's funeral by the way? Wasn't your dad friends with her?"

"It's...complicated. I didn't know Peggy Carter and her family isn't exactly a huge fan of my past." She admitted.

"They don't trust you because you had an affiliation with Hydra?"

"Something like that." Catherine mumbled to herself.

Natasha glanced over Catherine's shoulder and a small smile spread across her face. She turned to look behind her and saw a kind man approaching them. She had seen his face on the news. He was from some country with a strange name that started with a 'W.'

"I suppose neither of us are used to the spotlight." The man said and then looked at Catherine. "Well, maybe you are Miss Stark."

"Oh, well, it's not always so flattering." Natasha told him. "Catherine, this is Prince T'Challa from Wakanda. Your highness, this is Agent Catherine Stark."

"It's nice to meet you, Agent Stark. Your story is absolutely fascinating." The Prince shook her hand.

She smiled at him the best she could, but she had to admit that she was slightly starstruck. She had never met a Prince before. "You as well, Prince T'Challa."

"T'Challa is just fine. Oh, let me introduce you to my father. Father, this is Agent Catherine Stark and you know Miss Romanoff."

"King T'Chaka." Natasha greeted the older man. "Please allow us both to apologize for what happened in Nigeria."

"Thank you. Thank you for agreeing to all this. I'm sad to hear that Captain Rogers will not be joining us today." King T'Chaka told them.

An announcement was heard over the PA asking for everyone to take their seats. Catherine walked over to one of the doors that she had been ordered to stand guard of. She should have seen it coming. She should known something was off. She had been trained for years and years, but nothing had given her any indication that there was a bomb. All she felt was the whole building rock and then everything turned back.

There was a sharp ringing in her ears when she finally opened her eyes. Everything seemed so hazy. People were screaming, but she couldn't hear a thing. She was laying on her back and she attempted to roll onto her stomach. Tiny bits of glass cut into her skin causing her to hiss in pain. She wiped the glass off as she attempted to get her bearings. Someone extended a hand towards her to help her up, but she didn't know who.

The more she looked around, the more she wished she was still unconscious. Bodies laid everywhere mangled. People were walking around in the same fever dream she was, covered in blood. She looked towards the front of the room where the King of Wakanda had been making a speech, but he wasn't there anymore. Instead, he laid on the ground with his son crying over him. He was dead. Catherine didn't even have to walk over there to know that.

She felt her phone buzzing in her pocket and she reached into the pocket of the blazer she had been wearing. It took a moment for her eyes to fixate on who was calling her. Tony.

"H-Hello?" She answered with a calm voice.

"Catherine? Catherine?" Tony yelled into the phone. "Are you okay? Were you inside the building?"