Red Winter [Bucky Barnes]

Chapter Eight: I'm Not Going to Win This, Am I?

I groaned as I opened up the door to my old apartment, which I coincidentally happened to be sharing with Barnes during our mission. I guess that when Nikolai ordered Barnes to keep an eye on me he really meant it. Did they think that I was just going to crack and unravel? Even if I did crack, who was to stay that Barnes would be able to control me; especially given what I was now capable of. 

I throw my bags onto the ground as stretch out my arms, trying to ignore the soreness in my body. Give it to Vera to somehow manage make my newly enhanced body ache, that woman was truly sadistic. Did she know that I had been given the serum, was that why she seemed to be worse than before? Either way, I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to walk in the morning. 

Barnes plants himself on the couch, not saying anything. He had remained completely silent the whole night, and I couldn't help but wonder what I had done to warrant this behavior. I thought that I had always been kind to him, especially considering his initial behavior towards me in the beginning. Was I annoying, yes, but at least it came out of a good place and with somewhat decent intentions. 

I cross my arms as I look at him, huffing in an attempt to get his attention. He looks up cooly at me, raising his eyebrow, like he was questioning me. I roll my eyes as I shake my head, becoming more infuriated by him. I begin to walk into the kitchen, wanting to see if anyone had found my old stash that I keep in the cupboards. 

I bend down to peer into the back of the cupboard I last remembered storing them. As I begin to look in them, I hear the wood creak behind me, and I can only assumed that Barnes was standing behind me. "Does Nikolai want you to hold my hand while I piss now too,  Barnes," I snap as I stand up, frustrated. Did he really have to keep that much of an eye on me?

Barnes looks taken back, like he was actually surprised that I would be upset. "Where is this coming from, Katerina," he asks, and I am half tempted to fling him into the wall. "You can't seriously think that Nikolai was just going to let you walk around without any supervision," he says as he takes a few steps closer to me. 

"Is this what you call supervision, Barnes," I yell, finally snapping, as motion to the little space between us. "For fucks sake, you won't even let me walk into another room without needing to follow me. What's next, are you going to have to hold my hand while I shower," I ask, and I watch his eyes go dark as he tenses up. 

He says nothing and I take that as a sign to continue looking for the booze, I needed to get absolutely plastered if I was going to survive the rest of the night with him. I cheer when I feel the familiar glass of my vodka bottle and I placed a kiss on it when I see that it was still half full. Even with the serum I figured it had to be enough to get me drunk. 

"Katerina," Barnes says disappointedly as he points to the liquor bottle, "come on you seriously can't be planning to get drunk tonight." I nod my head as I slide past him, expertly flicking the cap off of the bottle. He quickly grabs my wrist and forces me to look at him. "I would put away that bottle if I were you," he warns me as he steps closer to me. 

He unfortunately was holding me with his metal arm, so I was at a little bit of a disadvantage. "What are you going to do about it, Barnes," I hiss as he pulls me closer to him, our faces inches away from each other. My breath catches as our eyes meet and begin to feel that familiar fire burn in my belly. What was it about him that made me feel this way, I'd been with other guys before but I had never felt anything like this. 

"What do you want me to do about it," he whispers into my ear, his breath dancing across my skin. I try to ignore the shivers that ran up and down my spine, but he was close enough that I could smell the soft musk of his body wash and it was so intoxicating. "Come on, Katerina, just give me the bottle," he instructs me as he pulls away, his lips gently brushing against my cheek.