"oh christ," you rolled your eyes, peering through the glass to see him approaching. "what are you doing here?"
"'supposed to keep an eye on you."
"i'm not a child," you frowned, tilting your head at him.
"no, you're on the top ten most wanted list," he quirked an eyebrow at you.
"wow, top ten? really?" you raised your eyebrows, letting out a huff. "i must've stepped up my game to make it that high up."
"i still rank above you, so don't let your head get too big," he positioned himself on the other side of the glass, his back to you as he let out a sigh.
"hm," you rested your chin in the palm of your hands. "do you have any advice on how i can be a better bad guy? you are the worst of the worst after all."
his shoulders straightened, he didn't budge, but kept his sightline away from you. "m'not anymore."
"yeah, yeah, you said that already," you huffed. "kinda' boring though isn't it?" you pushed yourself out of your chair, strolling closer to the thick glass wall separating the two of you. "i tried the straight and narrow for a while— it's not as fulfilling as people make it out to be," your shook your head, eyeing up his tense shoulders, his side profile, watching how his jaw would tense the more you spoke. you breathed out a laugh. "c'mon soldier, i'm being enticing— ask me why i gave it up."
you saw him glance for a split second out the corner of his, your lips breaking into a grin. "because people— strangers actually, you help them again and again, and all they do is take and take from you until there's nothing left and you're supposed to just accept that's the way it is," you leaned up against the glass, back to him but your head rolled over to watch him. "it's a bullshit system."
"so that's your villain origin story? you got sick of helping innocent people?" you hadn't expected him to respond, you were expecting silence, nothing. "and that's the story you're sticking to?" he quirked an eyebrow, scoffing as he glanced at you for only a second.
"i got tired of being used and for what? there's no satisfaction in helping people who throw it back in your face," you fought back, pushing your back off the glass so you could face him. he didn't flinch however. "thought you might understand that."
he bit down on the inside of his cheek, glancing at his feet for a minute before shaking his head. "don't compare yourself to me."
your eyebrows fell into a frown for a split second. "someone thinks highly of himself," you teased. his arms folded over his chest. "aren't you're supposed to be keeping an eye on me? you haven't looked at me once, soldier."
"stop calling me that."
"sorry-- you're right," you tongue ran over your top lip. "sergeant's the correct title, hm?" you had to bite your lip to disguise your growing smirk. but he didn't bite. his fists clenched tighter, you thought the vein in his forehead might burst if you continued. you rolled your eyes, huffing. "promise i won't turn you to stone."
"what?" his eyebrows knitted.
"if you look at me," you rolled your eyes. "it won't kill you."
"m'not so sure about that," he mumbled quickly. "you talk a lot, do you ever stop?" he changed the subject quickly, still refusing to turn to face you. he was really taking his job very seriously, he wouldn't let you have any fun.
"you're asking questions about me, we must be getting somewhere," you wore a soft smirk on your lips. "i can think of more than one way for you to shut me up sergeant."
"oh jeez'," his face contorted, shaking his head. your smirk grew into a grin, letting out a small laugh. "you should definitely stop talking now."
"you're no fun."
"this isn't supposed to be fun," he huffed. "you're being held in a cell until they decide whether to turn you in."
"thought my fate was already decided?" you quirked an eyebrow, edging closer to him. he didn't say anything. your grin slipped from your lips, your nostrils flaring slightly when he ignored you. "this is stupid, will you just look at me and tell me the truth?"
you stumbled back a little when he turned to face you, his blue eyes watching you as you tried to cover it up. "you think you deserve the truth? or anything after everything you've done?"
you couldn't tear yourself away from his eyes. they widened, your frown setting into your features as you took a step closer to the glass. "and you do? you deserve their forgiveness?" you lips turned into a scowl. everything has taken a very quick turn for the worst. "i know every bad thing you've ever done, barnes. don't act like you're above me."
his chest was rising and falling faster now, jaw sharp but his eyes softened under his frown. he didn't say anything for a few seconds, letting your words linger in the air. your hands were tightened into fists, watching with wide eyes as he backed up from the glass. he reached the door and pulled at the handle. "you don't know shit," he mumbled under his breath, slamming the door behind himself.
-
"so you broke barnes?" your eyes shifted to where tony stood in the corner of the room. "he lasted longer than i thought he would."
"why am i here?" eagerly you spat the question you'd been mulling over since your conversation with bucky earlier. you should have been handed over, held accountable for every bad thing you'd ever done and sent away somewhere awful to rot for the rest of your life. instead, you were sitting here.
"you wanna' get straight into it?" he quirked an eyebrow at you, waiting for your reaction but you only stared straight through him, your lips tightened. you hadn't eaten or slept in the last forty-eight hours, and this company wasn't improving your mood. "alright-- lets get into it then. no bullshit."
"you really know how to talk a lot about nothing tony--" you snapped harshly. he cut you off.
"we're not turning you in," he folded his arms across his chest, eyes narrowing at you. you slowly moved back onto your feet, your head tilting. "i convinced the board to let you work off whatever your sentence would've been," he shrugged. "under our supervision."
"no," you said quickly. your gritted your teeth, shaking your head. "un-convince them."
his lips turned into a frown. "too late, i signed the papers."
"no," you repeated. you approached the glass, slamming your fist into the wall dividing you two. you could feel yourself spiralling. "you can't do that."
"when you've committed as many crimes as you have, you tend to lose your say in the matter," tony tilted his head as he spoke. your breathing grew heavy. you shook your head again.
"why?" your eyebrows were knitted into a frown, none of this was really making any sense to you. "you turned your back on me. why would you go out of your way to bring me back?"
tony glanced away from you for a second. "yeah, well, call it making amends," he turned to leave, no longer able to hold your stare."
you threw your fist at the glass again out of frustration, letting out a groan. " i'm gonna' make your life a living hell!" you raised your voice as he reached the door, pulling it open he rolled his eyes.
"what's new?"
