Red Thorn

Chapter 24

Late 2016

It was only now as they looked into each other's eyes that the pair realised that amongst all the shouting and fighting, they'd somehow managed to find themselves standing mere inches apart.

Seconds felt like an eternity as they both stood there in complete silence. Neither saying a word. Charlie could hear as Steve's heart rate slowed, all the anger and frustration leaving his body, before spiking again as their eyes met once more.

A knock on the door suddenly had Red reaching for the safety of her mask.

"Who's that?" Steve asked, wishing that he too had a mask for no reason other than that of hiding the pink tinge that had started to colour his cheeks.

Red didn't answer, merely opened the door.

"Bucky?"

"Who the hell is Bucky?" the brunette kidded, but from the look on his friend's face he could quickly tell that it was a hit and miss. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Steve turned his attention to Red. "What is he doing here?"

"Red asked me to meet her here," Bucky answered for her.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted.

"So you just blindly follow someone you hardly know?" Steve scoffed. "I thought you knew better than that, Buck."

"Okay, for starters, it's Red, she's hardly a threat," he said, earning himself a pointed glare. "I meant you're a friendly. And secondly, I'm a free man, if I wanna meet up with a woman then that's what I'll do."

"So that's what this is?" Steve asked, unsure as to why Bucky's sentence had made his heart ache.

"No, that's not what..." He sighed. "Red?"

With a roll of her eyes, Red made her way over to a sideboard that flanked one of the walls. She gestured to it and then to the two men, silently telling them that she needed it moved.

Steve picked up one end, whilst Bucky took the other. "What's this for?"

Red didn't answer, instead simply retrieved one of the many blades hidden on her person and began carving a hole in the wall, just above the skirting board.

"What are you doing?"

Again no answer.

Once satisfied with her masterpiece, Red reached into the wall to retrieve what appeared to be a silver briefcase.

"What's that?"

Bucky shook his head, a small smirk playing at his lips.

"What?"

"You would think that you'd have got the message by now," he kidded. "She's not going to answer you, no matter how many questions you ask. Show, not tell."

Red, who had just placed the case down on the counter, pointed at Bucky with her blade, silently agreeing with him.

Steve moved closer, eyeing the case. It looked like your standard briefcase, but on the top there was a touchpad and next to it what appeared to be a scanner.

Entering a code too quick for him to decipher what it was, Red then removed the fingerless leather glove from her right hand and placed it on the scanner. After a few seconds there was a quiet beep, indicating that it had been unlocked.