Unexpected

XLII

As soon as they stopped in front of the door, Bucky knocked on it, and seconds later, a man opened the door a few centimeters, only enough to see Bucky's face through the crack. He immediately pushed it back, and the door would have closed back if Bucky hadn't placed his foot in front of it.

"You have to help us," Bucky said desperately. Nina saw how the man frowned. He probably wasn't used to Bucky being... well, Bucky. The man slowly opened the door and Bucky immediately got inside, putting Nina on the couch.

"What 'appened?" The doctor asked, not pronouncing the "h" and putting a lot of emphasis in the last syllable of the word. He had a really strong French accent.

"She was stabbed," Bucky told him. The man looked at him with a look of sarcastic disbelief.

"Really? I 'adn't noticed," the man said, still not pronouncing the "h" in the word. "When was it?"

"Yesterday," Nina responded.

"Let me see."

Nina laid down on the couch. She was so done having to lay down and having people to fix her. She knew how to fix herself, she just didn't have the right tools. For example, she knew she needed three stitches. Yet, obviously, she didn't have a needle and some line with her.

"It is infected," the French man, whose name Nina didn't know, said. "I'll need to clean it up and disinfect it."

"Then do it," Bucky said harshly, making the man smirk.

"Why would I do that, Soldat," he said, saying the last word in French. "I was thrown out of Hydra, my job, because of you. Why would I help you now?"

"You lost your job because you couldn't fix me," Bucky said. Nina frowned. How broken could Bucky had been that a doctor wasn't able to fix him? Was is physically or mentally? "And you'll help because I have a knife in my pocket and you know I'll use it, Tremblay" Bucky threatened. Oh, so that was his name.

The French man's smirk immediately fell and he ran to the bathroom, coming back with a first aid kit. Thankfully, his kit was a tad bigger than the one in Nina's apartment.

A dozen minutes later, he had cleaned and stitched her up, placing a new bandage over her now closed wound.

"You lost a lot of blood," the man, Tremblay, said. "You 'ave to rest very much, eat and drink a lot of water," he said. Nina smiled at his accent. It was indeed something special.

"Yes, thank you."

"Soldat, I don't understand," the man said. "You are just gonna let me go?"

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Bucky asked him. Nina saw how much he was doubting himself. He definetly didn't want to have to kill the guy because he knew their location, but he also knew that letting him go, just like that, would also not be a good idea.

"Don't do anything," said Nina, standing up. "But do remember," she said, her voice as sharp as a knife and her eyes as cold as stone. "We know where you live. We know where you work. We can find you anytime we want. Think about that."

Nina sighed internally. She hated having to threaten people, but she needed to. They were literally on the news. Therefore, she kept her most serious face on until Tremblay threw his hands up in surrender.

"D'accord," he granted, voice shaking. "I won't tell anyone you were 'ere." Nina gave him a smile, and it sent shivers down his spine. She really knew how to be scary when she wanted to.

Bucky, however, didn't know about that special ability of hers. He looked at her exchange with Tremblay with eyes wide open. He thought he would have to be the tough and scary one of the two, but Nina was making do.

Nina thanked him and grabbed Bucky's hand, walking out of the house.