Bakery

4 - Dinner and An... Interrogation?

"Ms. Cold, it's time for dinner," Jarvis' voice says. 

"You can call me by my first name, dude," I tell him, getting out of bed. "I'll be up right away, though. Thanks."

"Of course, Madelaine,"

I head to the washroom to wash off my hands. I look at the mirror and see what appears to be a woman who was buried alive and lived to tell the tale.

"Jarvis?" I ask quietly. I've been an utter mess today and have felt like a huge burden on everyone, so I feel like a huge burden every time I ask the AI for assistance.

"How can I help you, Madelaine?"

"I hate doing this to everyone, but I'm going to take a bit longer than planned to get up to dinner," I tell him.

"That's quite alright," He assures me, "It always takes a while to get everyone to the table. You'll most likely still be one of the first, even considering the mess you've made of yourself."

I laugh awkwardly. How does he see the mess? Cameras? Sensors? How? "Thanks, Jarvis," 

I make my way to the closet and carefully grab a clean pair of black pants and a knitted sweater by the hangers and carry them to the bathroom to change into after I shower. Then I get in and quickly rinse off. It takes me longer than I'd like to admit to find a towel, but I manage to find one. I get dressed and brush out my hair before putting it into the messiest bun I've ever managed. I was going for neat. I'd like to make a good impression since I've only met five of the people here, and I know I'm disliked by two of them. Ignoring the fact that disliked is the understatement of the century, two out of three is forty percent, and that's a pretty big number for something so negative. I'm not sure how Clint feels, so it may be sixty percent, which is worse.

I give up on my hair and hurry out of the room to the elevator.

"Ugh, you?" I hear Bucky say from behind me.

"Come on, you know I live here!" I mock his earlier words.

He sighs and shoves past me, pressing the button, "Come on, Steve,"

Steve lets me in first and Bucky glares at him. Sure, Steve may not like me, but at least he tries to be civil.

I look at Bucky, "Do you ever smile? Do you feel joy? Even a little?" I ask. Okay, maybe I'm not the most civil person in the situation, either. 

"Oh, yeah," Bucky tells me, smirking, "I can't stop smiling when I watch you leave a room."

I hum, "So you like to stare at my ass, noted," 

His smirk drops and he looks mad again, "I hate you,"

Steve smacks him. He shrugs, saying it's true. I let him know I hate him more. Steve looks exhausted.

"What a lovely bunch we are," I joke.

~

I sit as far from Bucky as I can. That is after Tony makes a big deal of introducing me to the team.

"You're the one that tried to kill Bucky?" Olive, Tony's sister asks. Her smile is huge and she looks a bit insane.

"You've tried to kill us all, Olive," Tony defends me before I can even form a thought.

"Yes, I'm well aware, airhead," She glares at Tony before smiling at me again, "I'm impressed. You've got guts, homeslice."

"No, she's insane, Olive!" Bucky tells her from a few seats over.

"No, Bucky," She tells him, "I'm insane. Got dementia or something?"

Bucky leans back and lets out a sigh. Tony claps me on the back, "Well, I think that went well," He whispers to me before addressing the team. "I won't keep you all from eating any longer, dig in!"