A heavy knock on the door made Steve look away from Sloane, who was adamant on keeping her back to him. He stood up and moved towards the door.
Sloane turned her back to the door and pushed the blankets off of her that Steve had covered her with.
"Thanks for takin your time answering the door." Bucky muttered as he entered the room and looked around. He spotted Sloane laying on one side of the bed, her back to him and one leg bent. Unsure if she was asleep or not, Bucky began to speak in French to Steve. "Has she done anything since I called?"
"Just turned over a few times." Steve replied, crossing his arms as he leaned against one of the dressers in the room. "She won't talk or even look at me."
"I can understand enough of whatever it is your speaking to know what your saying." Sloane spoke without looking to either of the men. Her knowledge of languages other than English was broad, however she could not fully speak or understand most of the languages she knew.
"I brought pizza, kid." Bucky said as he placed the two boxes on the table rather harshly. He knew she wouldn't want his pity. He was probably the last person she would ever want to act nice to her.
"M'not hungry."
"Well it's a good thing I don't care. I paid good money for these so get over here and get some."
"Are you going to make me?" Sloane challenged, still keeping her back to them.
"I might. I still owe you a few ass beatings."
Steve was mentally yelling at Bucky in his head. He thought that Bucky was being too harsh with Sloane. Surely she didn't need him threatening to kick her ass.
However the Winter Soldier's tactics proved that Bucky knew what he was doing. Sloane pushed herself into a sitting position and stared at her pillows. Steve held his breath for a few seconds as he watched her stand up and move around the bed.
Sloane bypassed Steve and went to where Bucky stood at the small table in the room. Bucky watched her as she pulled out a piece of pizza then looked up at him through her lashes. No words were spoken between the two as she returned her her side of the bed.
"Your phone's been going off all day, Sloane." Steve reminded her. "King T'Challa is trying to get ahold of you. He's in New York now."
"I'm not going back to New York right now." Sloane tucked her feet under herself and took a bite of pizza.
"I understand." He nodded his head gently, absentmindedly scratching the back of his head. "Mia's funeral is in less than a week."
"That has nothing to do with it, Steve. I have things I've got to do."
He refrained from sighing out and instead, crossed his arms.
"Revenge isn't the best thing to think about right, Sloane. You need to-,"
"I need to what? Talk about my feelings? Talk about how what I saw probably scarred me for the rest of my life? I mean, I freaking went through this when I met you with my brother and I didn't need you then. I sure as hell don't need you now."
Steve knew she was angry. She didn't mean any of what was just spoken.
"You're angry, I get it."
"No you don't, Steve! I have lost my sister and my brother and both times I didn't need to have someone there to voice how I feel. This time isn't any different than those. I just lost someone. It's not a big deal. People die every day and you can't fix it with chick flick moments."
Silence fell between the two as they seemed to stare each other down.
"You should go out for food, Steve." Bucky suggested. "This pizza's shit."
He was lying but he knew that Sloane probably needed to get some space from him. He understood that being around Steve for long amounts of time could test one's patience.
Steve nodded his head, picking up his jacket from the edge of the bed.
"I'll be back later."
Sloane watched as the door shut and once it did, she moved to throw her pizza on to the top of the pizza box. She wasn't feeling hungry anymore, not that she had been in the first place.
"You know, he lost both his parents when he was a kid, way back when things were easier. He knows what it's like to be alone-,"
"I really don't need you to play happy mediator, Barnes."
"I don't care if you need it or not. You're getting it." Bucky sat down at the table and brushed his dark hair back. "Losing people sucks. You don't have to act like it doesn't mess with you."
"I've gone through the whole 'I'm so sorry for your loss' act numerous times. I don't like pity and I like people even less."
Bucky nodded his head, understandingly.
"But you love Steve."
Sloane's eyes flew up to meet his the second the words escaped the Soviet assassin's mouth. Her stomach began to do flips as she looked at him.
"I never said that."
"You never had to. I mean, you're reckless and most of your actions are questionable but the way you act around him is different. You look at him.... different." Bucky shrugged his shoulders and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "That's what Romanoff was saying a while ago anyways."
"I think I'm going to throw up."
Bucky chuckled at Sloane.
"Just don't push him away cause of this. He loves you and deserves-,"
"I know, Bucky! I know he deserves better than me!" Sloane belted out, raising her voice with him. Her vision began to blur as hot, angry, tears began to form.
"I wasn't going to say that. He deserves to be happy, to have what he wants. And you are that." Bucky grumbled, pulling out the gun in his jacket. He started to mess with it, taking the weapon apart and reassembling it.
•*•*•
Four days later, Sloane was back at the very cemetery her mother was murdered at. The only reason she wanted Mia buried at this cemetery was because her brother and sister were also put to rest in the same hallowed ground.
Sloane hadn't spoken much directly to Steve in the past four days. She spoke more with Bucky than she did with anyone else. The two didn't become best friends over night, Sloane just quit arguing and picking on him like she usually did.
The Red Dahlia almost didn't expect Steve to show up for her mother's funeral, but he did. He wore a clean, sleek black suit with a black tie. That same colored suit was pretty much exactly what every other man wore at the funeral.
The thief herself wore a simple off-the-shoulder black dress that came down to just a few inches above her knees. The sleeves of the dress came to her elbows, revealing her tattoos to everyone, but she didn't care. This dress was the same one she had worn to her sister's funeral and the same one she had worn to her brother's. Her hair was done in a beautiful low bun with a few curls freed to frame her face. Her makeup was simple. Just a bit of foundation, mascara, and pink lip gloss. She wore a little black veil that shielded her face a bit but provided a bit of a dramatic flair to the funeral.
She also carried a black purse that she usually never carried before. It held things like her flash bangs, hairspray, a couple lighters, a taser, her lock picking set, and a few more items she might need in an emergency.
Sloane remained towards the back of the rather large crowd that had shown up for Mia's funeral. Steve stood a couple hundred feet away from her, his hands clasped in front of himself and his eyes set on her. Something in her stomach wasn't sitting right, but she figured it was because she was burying her mother.
"I wish I had gotten the chance to meet her."
Sloane lifted her gaze from the crowd she was blindly staring at and looked to King T'Challa, who was dressed in a black suit with a black dress shirt underneath. He looked handsome and sophisticated as always.
"She would've loved you." She said quietly, absentmindedly rubbing her arm. "She loved to travel and see different cultures."
T'Challa moved to stand close to her, his hands clasping one of hers.
"Captain Rogers told me that you are planning something stupid."
"The Captain needs to mind his own business." Sloane's eyes shot over to meet Steve's. She gave him a brief glare before drawing her attention back to the King.
"You are his business, Maxwell." T'Challa turned his head to look to the two members of the Dora Milaje. "I will be okay with her."
"We will check out the crowd." Okoye told him. T'Challa nodded his head and watched as the two women left.
"I don't want to hear whatever you have to say about me and him, T." Sloane shook her head, meeting his eyes again. Gently, she pulled her hands from the King's and tried to walk away. He placed his hand on her arm and moved towards her.
"What are you planning, Max?"
"This is my business, T'Challa. You don't have any business being in it-,"
"I do actually." He cut her off, crossing his arms as he continued. "Thaddeus Jakande killed your family and he killed a dozen of my people since the fight against him started. He has to be stopped."
"A dozen?" Sloane repeated. "I thought it was only four."
"The Dora Milaje was with me when I was in Morocco. He attacked and killed eight of them."
Sloane locked her jaw, her eyes falling on the two members of the Dora Milaje standing across the crowd from them.
"How did Okoye take it?"
"Like you would expect one to react to losing family. How are you?"
"I'll be fine once I get Jakande and Benny Turner." Sloane moved away from the King, crossing her arms over her chest.
Her eyes looked over the crowd as she moved through it. That bad feeling in her stomach was still there and Sloane didn't like it.
A hand took ahold of hers, making her heart race and adrenaline begin to pump. She spun around, ready to fight. However, it was just Steve.
"He's here."
I cannot stop listening to the Greatest Showman soundtrack. And I'm not even sorry.
Hugh Jackman's voice is my new favorite thing.
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<3 Kacey <3