CHILD | james b. barnes

| 55 |

Aftermath

55

Avenger's Compound

"DO YOU WANT THE RICE?" Tony asked, holding a large bowl towards me.

Vision had dived into asian cuisine and he wasn't too bad of a cook- his food was only great because Wanda helped him cook often. Otherwise, rice and tofu with shrimp was absolutely phenomenal, and was currently our fabulous dinner.

Scott and Clint were still with their families, so it was just me, Steve, Bucky, Wanda, Vision, Sam and Tony. Natasha was still 'in the wind' as Tony said, and Banner was still yet to return. I gave Tony a smile and took the rice from him, scooping some into my plate.

All of us started to eat in a comfortable silence, and I glanced at my papa who was forking his food without actually putting anything in his mouth. I furrowed my eyebrows slightly, looking up at him as he continued to push and poke at the shrimp in his plate.

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly and he gave me a frown.

"What are you hiding?" He asked and I stared.

"I'm not." I lied and he put his fork down, turning to me.

"Really?" He said, raising an angered eyebrow. "Then why did you have a split lip and looked like you'd seen a ghost when we picked you up after school?"

I chewed on the inside of my lip, reaching up to pull on strands of my hair like I always did when I was nervous. I stopped, clasping my hands together.

"I didn't. Maybe you were seeing things." I said, forking a shrimp and placing it in my mouth.

"Do you expect me to believe that?" He said and I chewed, shaking my head.

"No, I just. . .got into a fight." I said and he shook his head.

"No you didn't, because you wouldn't hesitate to tell me if you did." He objected and my heart thumped inside my chest.

"It's nothing." I muttered.

He watched me a moment longer, before crossing his arms over his chest.

"You're not leaving this table until you tell me why." He said firmly and I huffed.

"Then I'll be staying here overnight." I said stubbornly.

"Angelika." He said in a warning tone and I frowned.

"Do you have to nag at me in front of everyone?" I questioned fiercely and he gave me an incredulous look, a hint of anger flickering between his eyes.

I swallowed thickly, looking at my hands.

"Well, um, you see, I, um-" I stammered feeling like I was walking a very thin line between Winter rage, and Bucky peace.

"-it's not that I don't want to tell you- I just- I can't." I said and he pinched the bridge of his nose with a frustrated look.

"If someone is hurting you at school, I'm going to kill them-" He started and Steve let out a gasp.

"What? You can't kill a highschool student!" He said, giving him a wide eyed stare.

My papa ignored him, staring at me straight in the eyes.

"- because you're not allowed to get hurt under any circumstances, and that's coming from me. You're an object to the soldier- but to me you're my daughter and I'm serious. You don't deserve to be hurt, after every damn thing that you've been put through." He said and I chewed the inside of my lip.