Between Life and Death

Chapter 10

As Bucky turned off the stove he quickly grabbed a plate and placed the last pancake on it. He suddenly heard footsteps and stopped for a second, but then he realized that he was living with other people now, not just y/n.

"Barnes, we need to talk?" Natasha said as she approached Bucky who didn't seem surprised by her. "I'm not really in the mood to talk to you, right now." He said as he put a generous amount of butter on the pancakes.

"I want to know what's wrong with y/n." Natasha said and Bucky stopped what he was doing and gripped the butter knife harder. He then harshly placed the knife on the table and stared at the redhead.

"Nothing's wrong with her."  Bucky said slowly and sternly. Natasha knew he was lying and was hiding something about y/n.

"I'm not stupid Bucky. I heard you telling y/n that she had an episode last night." Natasha reminded the soldier and he wanted to punch himself for his mistake but he knew there wasn't anything to do about it now. All he could do now was deny.

"Did I? I don't remember?" He said innocently to which Natasha groaned in frustration. At that moment Bucky realized that annoying the woman was better than fighting her.

"Why are you being so difficult?" She asked and he just shrugged further annoying the woman. "Look, if I know what's wrong with her then maybe I could help."

"You expect me to believe that you want to help a complete stranger?" Bucky asked seriously. With Bucky and y/n's line of work, he knew better than to trust the words of a woman that they met just a few hours ago.

Even though he knew full well who Natasha Romanoff is and what she's done to help better the world, she was still a stranger. A nosy and annoying stranger.

"I mean, yeah. Why not?" Natasha shrugged her shoulders but it wasn't enough for Bucky. Just a few months ago Natasha was pursuing y/n again and was trying to capture her. And now, she wants to help?

No. Bucky couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that a person, especially Natasha, was capable of changing that much in that short amount of time.

But what Bucky didn't know was Natasha and y/n's interaction last night which seemed to spark something in the assassin, curiosity. Natasha's mind was full of things she was curious about y/n.

How is she still strong even though she wasn't a god anymore?
How has she been surviving all these years on Earth?
What made her scream in pain that night?
What was the fear she saw in her eyes?
How long has she been not okay?
How could she smile like that and thank me for hurting her?

"Well, I don't buy it." Bucky said, snapping Natasha from her thoughts. "I don't trust you." He said honestly which didn't bother the woman one bit. Lots of people don't trust her, and him adding to that list wasn't going to shatter her world.

Y/n walked into the kitchen to see her brother and Natasha together and not killing each other.

"Morning." Natasha greeted her as she looked between the woman and Bucky first. It was weird that Natasha was greeting her but she just thought that maybe Bucky told Natasha to be nice to her.

"Right... Morning." Y/n responded as shifted her attention to her brother. "Everything okay, Bucky?"She asked and the soldier's attitude shifted from being cold to sweet.

"Everything's fine. I even made you breakfast." He smiled and showed her the plate of pancakes on the table. "Thanks, bud."

Y/n walked over to the table as Natasha was carefully watching her. "Romanoff, scooch over." Y/n said and tapped the assassin's shoulder gently.