Shadows (BuckyxOC)

Hungry Eyes

A couple of hours later, I scrubbed the entire kitchen and made the floors sparkle. I was going to do the bathroom too, but after looking at the time, I knew the guys would be back soon. So instead, I took out my phone to check my emails.

The contractor needed me to pick out floor and counter samples. I wanted all three clinics to be as similar as possible, so I had to make sure whatever I chose had enough supply. Pepper also gave me an order sheet I needed to fill out for the medical supply depot. That was the hardest part because all three clinics needed to be fully stocked.

Then there was also the hiring process for staff. I wanted to get the ad out soon, even though the clinics wouldn't be open for a couple of months. I wanted to make sure we started off with a full staff because I had a feeling demand would be high right from the beginning. Pepper was going to help me weed through the applicants, but there was one person that I knew who would be amazing for the clinic. Tracy, from Earl's Diner. I was going to go to her personally and offer her the head Nurse's position at whichever clinic she would prefer.

I was filling out the medical supply order as Bucky, Sam, and Zemo walked back into the apartment. Once Zemo shut the door behind him, he sniffed and looked around.

"Why does my apartment smell like a hospital?" He asked.

"She's been cleaning." Bucky said, walking toward me.

"What did you find out?" I asked, putting my phone away.

"Let me see your hands." Bucky said, standing in front of me, his flesh hand held out.

"They're fine." I said and asked once again, "What did you find out?"

Zemo pointed carelessly between the both of us as he made tea in the kitchen. "What's going on here?"

"We broke up." I snipped at the same time Bucky said, "We had a fight." We both looked at each other.

"No, we didn't." He said, bored, still holding his hand out for mine.

"Yes, we did."

"So you aren't together anymore?" Zemo asked, head tilted.

"Yes, we are." Bucky called over his shoulder at the same time as I said, "No, we aren't."

"Would you stop that?" I snapped, leaning back into the sofa and crossing my arms.

Bucky let out a sigh of exasperation and sat down beside me, forcefully taking my hands in his to examine them. "They're pink in rawness. You need to let up." He said.

I snatched my hands back and put them in the pocket of my sweater. "What did you find out?" I asked for a third time.

Bucky relented and leaned back against the sofa beside me. "No one's talking about Donya."

"Yeah. It's because Karli is the only one fighting for them." Sam said, sitting down on the adjacent portion of the sectional. "And she's not wrong."

"What do you mean?"

Sam threw his hands up before dropping them back down onto his lap. "For the past five years, people have been welcomed into countries that have kept them out using barbed wire. There were houses and jobs. Folks were happy to have people around to help them rebuild." Sam turned to us. "It wasn't just one community coming together, it was the entire world coming together. And then boom!" He snapped his fingers. "Just like that, it goes right back to the way it used to be. To them, at least Karli's doin' somethin'."

"You really think the ends justify her means?" Bucky asked, then held his hand up to Zemo who was pouring four different cups of tea. "Then, she's no different from him or anybody else we've fought."