Empress ||Bucky Barnes||

eighteen



ana

Going for a walk had been a good idea. I needed just a little bit of distance, I just needed to breathe. I was starting to feel suffocated. Why was I doing this? Why was I trying to make friends? I don't have the best track record for keeping them.

And why was I pursuing something more with James? I can't even hold down a friend let alone a partner.

"Ana! Wait!" And there he was now, running to catch up with me.

"What?" I asked once he reached me. I wouldn't tell him to go away, not just yet at least.

"Look, I'm sorry about not telling you. I had no idea how..." He said, I sighed and kept walking without looking at him. "And I get that you're still mad at me about it I just-"

"It's been a few hours since I found out so how about you give me a bit of a break here?" I asked. "And yes I haven't had the best reaction, but that is something I'm still working on. I was trapped with Hydra for decades, like you were, but I was in the Red Room before that. I didn't have normal human interactions until Ultron, and even then it wasn't consistent and it was the Avengers." I reminded him, he nodded slowly. A few moments of silence passed before he spoke, apparently deciding to change subject slightly.

"When did Hydra... acquire you from the Red Room?" He asked.

"Why would I want to talk about that?" I asked, still not looking at him.

"I don't know I just... I guess I don't know when you were even born. I just want to know something more about you."

"You know plenty about me."

"I know your trauma. I don't know much about you as a human being... your own person. We haven't gone on a date yet to talk about those things." He said, I finally looked at him.

"I am still angry about this whole intertwined past of ours and yet you think it's a good idea to bring up the fact that we haven't even gone on a date yet?" I asked, I realised then that I had stopped walking. "Do you want me to just drop these Flag Smasher and Walker issues just so we can go on a date to learn more about each other as people?" I was being sarcastic, clearly.

"Why do you..." He trailed off.

"What?" I asked, watching him carefully. He took a deep breath and looked away from me.

"Why do you have to do that?" He asked me.

"Do what?"

"Belittle our issues and make it seem like such a stupid idea for me to want to get to know you right now. We have time, at least a little bit until the Dora Milaje come for Zemo."

"The criminal you helped break out of jail without checking with Sam or I first?"

"Right, so we're doing this."

"Sure."

"So like how you used your powers in Madripoor just to be free, endangering us without telling us that was your plan."

"That is different to you freeing Zemo-"

"Is it? Empress is a criminal, a pretty murderous one at that. We wouldn't have known the code words to shut her down unless I had broken Zemo out."

"Fine. We're done here." I snapped before I started walking back to Zemo's apartment.

"We are so not done here!" James shouted after me.

"Yes, we are!"

"No! You don't get to decide when I'm done!" He shouted once more as he walked to catch up to me.