Bad Company Blues - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 22: killer queen

A/N: Maybe 2-3 more chapters left. It's the home stretch, folks! Sorry to draw the Rumlow stuff out for so long, but I almost feel like he's a background character now compared to Eden and Bucky's relationship.

Bucky and Natasha glare at each other, both of them in a silent standoff while Eden and Wanda look to each other, to them, and back again. Eden has no idea what to do, and she's too afraid to address Natasha directly. Finally, Bucky speaks.

"What are you doing here, Natasha?" His eyes are cold and narrowed, his jaw growing redder by the minute.

She grins, knowing she's gotten to him. Even in the ten seconds that Eden has seen them together, she can already gather how toxic their dynamic is... and she thought her relationship with Bucky was fucked up. This is so much worse. Even on their worst days before they got together, Eden never made him this angry with just a few glances. It scares her a little to see Bucky's volcanic rage bubbling just below the surface.

Natasha tilts her head and reaches for the lapel on his jacket. Bucky snatches her wrist and violently throws it off of him. She sneers.

"Since you're behind on your alimony payments, I figured I would take matters into my own hands."

He throws his head back and laughs. Eden deflates.

"You're hunting Rumlow," he muses. "Wonderful."

Natasha smiles.

"Mmhmm. Like I said, I figured I'd take matters into my own hands."

"Aren't you supposed to be in Cuba with some senior citizen who can't get it up?"

"He had a heart attack," Natasha informs him.

Bucky arches a brow.

"How tragic."

"I was beside myself," she says, a false sense of sadness creeping into her voice as she clutches her chest. Eden forces herself to keep from rolling her eyes, while Bucky actually rolls his, muttering something in Russian under his breath.

"Natural causes, I assume."

"Well, he was 62." Natasha sighs dramatically, looking at her perfectly manicured red nails. "Unfortunately, the doctor said that these things sometimes happen."

"Yeah," Bucky growls. "Real unfortunate."

She glares at him.

"I'd trust you not to make light of my husband's recent death."

"Not making light of anything," Bucky murmurs. "Not insinuating anything either."

Eden glances at Wanda who looks around the restaurant, pretending she didn't just here Natasha possibly confess to murder. Wanda has enough on her plate right now, and this isn't her jurisdiction. What Eden does know for sure is that her best friend will carefully place a call to the FBI and suggest that they start on an informal investigation of Natasha, if they haven't already.

"Good," Natasha replies. "Let's keep it that way."

"How did you know about Rumlow?"

"I was married to a bounty hunter, James," she purrs. "You don't think I didn't make my own connections?"

"I was going to give you a cut–"

"Oh, bullshit you were!" She laughs.

"He was, Natasha," Eden cuts in.

Natasha turns to her.

"And who are you?"

Bucky wraps his arm around Eden's waist and pulls her toward him. Eden's heart is pounding. She hides her left hand behind her back so that Natasha can't see her own wedding rings on Eden's finger. Quickly, she manages to slip them off and into Bucky's jacket pocket while Natasha is busy glaring at them. The last thing she needs is Natasha finding out that Bucky gave her her wedding rings and her fur coat.