The Soldier's Luna: Reclamation (Bucky Barnes x OC)

Chapter 5

"Hello, everyone. Can everyone hear me okay? The ones in the back, can you hear me?" Tony gave them a thumbs up and continued. "Alright, everyone, welcome to this charity event that Stark Industries is hosting. First, I would like to thank the CEO herself, Ms. Pepper Potts."

I started clapping for Pepper and soon, the rest of the room started to applaud as well. Pepper smiled bashfully, but gave a small wave around the room.

"Anyway, as you all know, this year the proceeds are going for cancer research. This year, it's aiming towards the children. Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering why throw this event instead of just donating the funds for this party to the children. The answer: awareness—involvement. Because, believe me, I will be giving the research center the same amount of money that was spent for this party to happen and more, but I wanted you all invited to have an opportunity to be a part of this because it's so important. Children are the future generation, right? Well, what if one child who has the potential to be the next great leader for our country can't succeed because of their illness? What if the one who will stop world hunger is in a hospital bed, fighting for their life at this very moment? Your participation tonight can have the ability to change their future and make it better."

As I listened to Tony's speech, the hairs in the back of my neck rose up. It wasn't because of him though, there was something else. It felt strange—cold. I stared at Steve and Natasha, wondering if they were feeling something, but they didn't show any knowledge of it. My eyes moved to Thor, but he was focused on the speech as well. Sensing my stare, Thor turned to me.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly.

I nodded my head, "Yeah, I guess there's a draft of something." I looked back at Tony to continue listening to his speech, but I froze when I felt Thor place his jacket over my shoulders. "Thank you," I muttered.

Thor smiled, giving a small nod. "You're welcome."

Tony looked down at the cards, but looked back up. I watched him set the cards down on the podium. "You know, I have fought with a few amazing heroes. I've met the soldiers fighting for our country, but I got to say, these children, they're heroes too. Some of these children have been fighting a war the day they were born and they don't stop fighting. Now, that's bravery. That's strength. And that's a war I want to be a part of because I want them to win. So, participate in tonight's festivities. You'll be doing them a huge favor." Tony looked around the room. "Now, let's eat."

We clapped our hands as Tony walked to our table. The moment he sat down, food was placed in front of us. Because the hors d'oeuvres were being served earlier, the soup was the first dish we had. It was a small bowl of a tomato bisque with a pan seared scallop in the center. After the soup, Rhodey and lady that I never met before danced together. They danced to a fun contemporary jive. After Rhodey was done dancing, the next plate was a salad with a cucumber melon gelato as a palette cleanse. Jean and Scott were next to dance.

I wasn't able to pay attention to their dance because I was focused on Logan. The hardened expression on his face made it clear that he wasn't happy to see the dance. Feeling my stare, Logan turned to me. He nudged his head towards the bar. Biting my lip, I slowly got up, handed Thor his jacket back, and walked towards the bar.

Logan moved next to me a moment later. "Food's decent, but I'm not sure about the dancing."

"I take it that you're not going to root for the Scott and Jean's dance," I gestured towards them. "They're pretty good."

Logan scoffed and ordered from the bartender. "Two whiskeys for the lady and me."

"Boy, you really want me to be drunk, don't you, Bub?"