Green Eyes

Ch. 13 - Black Water

Eva took a moment before she subjected herself to the general public again. Her talk with Zemo lifted a wight from her she was unaware she had been carrying. She finally found the courage to descend the staircase and enter the party. The showroom she had been carried through earlier was transformed into something more resembling a nightclub. The flickering lights and the pounding bass was an unwelcome assault on her senses, still she was able to find her companions easily and locked eyes with Bucky. His steel blue eyes pierced through the crowds and hit her square in the chest. Memories of their shared kiss take over her mind. She took a deep breath and made her way to them. She bypassed the men and went straight for the bar behind them. The bartender quicly came to her service.
"Bourbon, neat. Leave the bottle." Just as she recieved her drink some guy tried to shoot his shot with her.
"Hi th-" He was quickly yanked away from her by his ear. She didn't have to look behind her to know exactly what hapened. He was brought face to face with 3 imposing and dangerous men, Zemo was the one who told him to walk away. It made her smile as she downed her first glass of bourbon.

On a night like tonight she desperately wished she could get drunk but settled for the burn as it went down. The warmth helped loosen her aching muscles from the inside out. Sam leaned his back against the bar standing at her left. She could feel his stare as she poured her second glass.
"And to think you get on Bucky for his staring problem." She downed her glass as he laughed. After pouring another she turned around and joined Sam.

Bucky was a short distance away on alert because you could tell this was not his scene but his eyes always drifted over back to her. Zemo on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying dancing with some nearly embarrassing dance moves.
"How's your leg?" Sam finally asked. She lifted the bottom of her skirt to show Sam and he hissed.
"Ouch! No wonder Bucky nearly had a meltdown trying to take care of you."
"Zemo said he was quite insistent."
"That's putting it lightly. That man was barking out orders as if you were on your deathbed." That thought made Eva smile as she took a sip from her glass.
"Eva, the most interesting part was when he was finished and left your room the man was blushing with a cheesy ass smile on his face."

She was suddenly very thirsty and had to turn around to pour another glass.

"So, what happened in that room Eva?" He asked.
"He patched me up."
"Uh huh.... And?"
She took another sip.
"This is some damn good bourbon."
"You're deflecting."
"You're pushy."
"Hey I've got a mentally unstable super soldier and a convicted war criminal on the lam who both seem to be invested in you for one reason or another. I'm just trying to keep the peace to get the job done."

This was not going to be pretty. She was so raw from her confession to Zemo still that his prying into her made her snap.
Slamming the now empty glass on the bar she went off.
"You wanna know what happened? We kissed, the kiss was INCREDIBLE. But now I'm trying to push back the demons in my own fucked up head so I can make heads or tails of what exactly it means." She picked up the bottle and stared into Sam's eyes and addresses him once again before storming off. "Happy now you nosy ass? Ugh intrusive motherfucker." She storms right back up to the safety of the seclusion upstairs.

Bucky and Zemo both watch Eva make her exit and they go to confront Sam who was still picking his jaw up off the floor.

Zemo got there first. "I'm going to need to know exactly what you said to Miss Sinclair."

"Nothing! I asked about her leg. Then when I asked her what else happened, she didn't want to talk but I pushed it out of her and she said you two kissed." He said as he gestured to Bucky. "By the way... Good for you. But she flipped out on me and stormed off."
Zemo rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "You really shouldn't have done that."
"I'll go talk to her." Bucky said as as he turned to walk away Zemo grabbed his arm. "James, she has wounds right now that you cannot stitch up."
"I know, I went to track you down and heard everything she said at the top of the stairs." His pained expression confirmed that fact for Zemo and they nodded in understanding and Bucky left.
"Can you at least tell me what I did wrong?" Sam asked.
Zemo pulled him to the bar and simply told him that some previous trauma was brought out and was fresh in her mind again. The story and details were Eva's alone to share.