Checkmate (BuckyBarnes x OC)

Quiet Before the Storm

"Natasha, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked in surprise as I embraced her in a bear hug. Her small physique always entertained me.

The redhead looked tired, her hair was greasy and ruffled and she wore a fake smile on her lips. I invited her into the house and called to my mother to say the coast is clear. As Nat entered the hallway she noticed Bucky standing by the wall. She gave him a questioning look to which he didn't respond, probably because he was too surprised to see her after such a long time before I pulled her further into the living room.

"I needed to check if you were okay," she sighed as I sat her down on the sofa and offered to make tea to which she just nodded, "Garry was making threats on the news for the kidnapper of his children and no one from the team wanted to interfere, so naturally I had to take the matter into my own hands."

I was in the kitchen boiling water for tea so Nat couldn't see how disappointed I must've looked when I heard that not a single person from the team I used to call my friends on a daily basis cared enough to make sure I was okay.

"Well, Sam brought up the article to me and Steve tried to vouch for us, but the others had too much on their minds and believed you could take care of yourself. Of course I wanted to believe it, but I couldn't leave you hanging just like that."

Of course, Sam and Steve would try for me, but it didn't change the fact that they weren't here. I poured the water in several cups, knowing my other family members ought to be joining us soon enough, and put them on a tray before I carried it to the tea table by the sofa. Bucky was sitting next to Natasha and I noticed how she eyed him up and down, almost as if she couldn't believe he was actually here. I was surprised that she was able to contain her questions about him so easily.

"How did you know we were here?" Bucky asked.

"Stark invented a machine who could track down a person as long as you have some DNA or a fingerprint. Katrina used to live with us, so naturally we had enough info," Nat smirked.

"Alright, alright, this is a cute gesture and shit," I interrupted their chat, "but Nat, why did you come? Everything is fine here, I'm perfectly safe as you can see."

Natasha bore her eyes at me, staring me down head to toe before speaking back, "I also wanted to check if you were alone or if you did manage to get yourself company and hold that information to yourself. Which, I gotta say, is a very unexpected act from you, Kasparova."

I rolled my eyes. I knew I didn't hold onto my deal I made with Steve a while back, saying that I will help him find Barnes. I knew how much he misses him. But I had a lot of shit going on and I didn't want Steve or Natasha or Sam or any of the Avengers meddling with it. It was my life, my world, my rules. They were on the other side of the world and even if it was a selfish decision, I refused to let Bucky go. At least for now.

"Bucky, could you leave us alone for a sec?" I pleaded and squeezed his hand. He gave me an unsure nod and left.

I turned back to Natasha only to see her grinning. "I see you managed to tame that bull of a man. How did you do it?" I refused to answer and only took a sip of my tea. "Don't tell me you've slept with him?" Aaaaand the tea was no longer inside my mouth. Instead, my reflexes ordered it to spill itself all over my mother's carpet.

Natasha's eyes were widespread as she was looking at me while I choked on the beverage. Then she started to giggle and mock me, "You did sleep with him! Oh, Katrina, I thought you said this was a one-timer never to be repeated again! What made you change your mind?"

I finally managed to catch my breath once more and I quickly defended myself. "Shut up, Nat. We went out yesterday and... things happened. Those bottles of wine we drank didn't help. We noticed something was between us from the start, but we couldn't trust our feelings, 'cause you know, there's no time for personal matters when you're trying not to get yourself or anyone around you killed."