—CHAPTER FIFTEEN

— KATHERINE WAS UP with the sun, getting dressed and cleaning her room before exiting into the hallway. She was dressed in tight jeans and a tank top, a purple leather jacket over top. She looked like she meant business, and she felt like it too.

There were voices coming from the kitchen, talking loud over the sounds of something frying on the stove. The combat boots adorning her feet made soft, but harsh thuds across the stone floor of the common area, and as she neared the kitchen the voices seemed to get quieter and heads turned towards the open doorway.

"Morning." Natasha says, looking the teen over. She sipped a mug of coffee, looking around at everyone as she kicks Clint in the knee. "Feeling better?"

"No." She says, because she really wasn't. She wasn't in the mood to talk to any of them either, except for the man standing at the stove, the man that made a promise to her. She pushed past the adults, giving Sam a tight smile as he moved to let her near the stove. "You're driving me to head quarters."

Bucky turns to her with a startled expression as he slides bacon onto a plate. "You're not going anywhere, you look horrible." He glanced down at the white bandage wrapped around her right hand, noting the blood seeping through it. He also noticed that everyone else had turned their attention to it as well. "You should be back in bed."

"And I need to go dress shopping too." She says, giving him a look that clearly said she wasnt to be fucked with. "Go get dressed, we're leaving in thirty-minutes."

She turned on her heel and walked out, heading for the elevator to find Tony so she could borrow his credit card. The doors were already open and she stepped in, hitting the button for the lab level. Everyone was staring at her, even Bucky and she gave them all a look as the doors slid closed.

"You better go get dressed." Natasha says, looking at him as she sipped her coffee. "She seems serious."

Clint decided to glare at Bucky, figuring that her hand being hurt was his fault. "What happened to her hand?"

Bucky puts her hands up instantly. "I didn't do it." He says, looking around at all of them. "Honestly, I didn't. She punched a wall the other day."

"Well what'd she do that for?" Clint asks, an accusing tone to his voice. He crossed his arms over his chest, which was kind of intimidating because he was still in his suit, and his stare was sharp. "Hmm?"

Bucky knew it wasn't his place to say anything about it, so he doesn't. "Well, maybe if you'd talk to her," He starts pointing out that he was acting like a child. "you would know what was going on. But you won't, so you don't."

With his words leaving a heavy silence, he exits the room and heads towards his own. He figured he'd better do what the girl said, she didn't seem in a good mood.

Within minutes he was wearing a red, long sleeved shirt that buttoned at the top and a pair of jeans. He threw on a jacket and figured he would walk around with his hand in his pocket, so nobody would see the metal of his hand.

He was tying his shoes when Katherine flung open his door, half startling him. "Let's go." The teen ordered, glaring. She looked agitated.

He followed her wordlessly, staying a step behind her until they stepped onto the waiting elevator.

"You do know how to drive, right?" She asks, hitting the button for the garage as the doors closed.

Bucky pursed his lips, it had been a while since he had driven. "Of course I do." How hard could it be? Of course, with his luck, driving was skit harder than he remembered, and the sports car wasn't helping any.

He had only chosen the orange car because he figured the steering system would be smoother, which it was.. but he didn't anticipate on the gas pedal being so sensitive, and he surely didn't mean to nearly cash them into the wall head on.

"Jesus Christ, Bucky!" Katherine yelled, getting out of the car. "I thought you could drive!"

The man gave her an apologetic look and a shy shrug, staring at her from the other side of the car. "It's been a while!" It felt like he had just admitted that he hadn't had sex in a while (which, he hadn't), and his face started heating up.

Katherine just shakes her head and pulls her phone out of her pocket. "I'm calling Happy."

The man wasn't all to happy to be showing up on a Saturday, but he did it none the less. Thankfully, he was only five minuets away and showed up quickly, much to his own annoyance.

"Thanks, Happy." The girl says, kissing his cheek as she slides into the back seat. Bucky had called shotgun on her, and being in the back seat would let her sleep a little bit anyway.

"No problem, Kid." He gives a heavy side eye at Bucky, who shifts awkwardly. "SHIELD or the mall?"

"SHIELD first," She says, leaning her head against the window. "Mall after."

Bucky glanced back at her before sharing a kook with happy. The driver narrows his eyes at Bucky, and the soldier shrugs.

The drive consisted of nearly two hours of Katherine having to listen to whatever conversation Happy and Bucky has picked up, which consisted of a quiz about World War Two, a questionnaire about how modern day is compared to the forties, and of Bucky asking for driving lessons.

"So you actually don't know how to drive?" Happy asks, looking over in surprise as he pulls up outside of the SHIELD compound. "That's honestly surprising."

"I know how to drive." He explains, much to Katherine's annoyance. "It's just been a while, cars now are a lot more sensitive than back then..and less simple."

"Oh.." Happy says, glancing back at Katherine as she unbuckled.

"You want me to come with, doll?" He asks, surprising himself with the nickname. It came out before he even thought about it.

Katherine was taken aback, not having expected a nickname such as that to slip from his mouth towards her. "I don't think it's wise for you to be seen in SHIELD headquarters." She says softly, grabbing her bag. Truthfully, she would have loved it if Bucky came with her, he was the only person she had told and his comfort would have been helpful.

Bucky pursed his lips, watching as she slid towards the passenger door. "Well, call if you need us." He sAys, watching her open the car door and step out.

"Doll?" Happy asks as the door slams closed, looking over at Bucky with an eyebrow raised.

"Shut up." The man mutters, shifting awkwardly.

🔳🔳🔳

Katherine felt as if everyone was staring  at her as she walked through the lobby of head quarters. She walked past the reception desk, which consisted of three young receptionists, all of whom yelled at her to show her badge, and headed straight for the elevator.

She was suddenly reminded of her break out from the sublevels, it was merely a couple months ago, but it felt like years and she couldn't help the sudden home sickness that welled up inside of her as she looked at the panel of buttons on the inside of the lift.

She hit the button for fury's office, and leaned back as the doors began to slide shut. She was the only one in the elevator, her foot tapping along to the muzak playing over the speaker, until it stopped halfway to Fury's office and the doors slid open to reveal someone that made her blood boil.

"Beautiful day, Katherine." Tyler sAys, a cocky smirk on his face as he takes a spot next to her, hands clasped in front of him. "Are you moving back in? Finally break a rule?"

"Are you about to get choked out again?" She asks in a snotty tone, to which he laughs heartily, shaking his head. "I need to have a word with Fury."

"Fury is busy." Tyler says, knowing that  the man was busy with some world leaders at that moment. "He's having an important meeting."

Katherine rolls her eyes, she didn't really care. "Yeah, well, my meeting is more important." She says, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding as the elevator reaches the highest level of the SHIELD building.

Tyler follows her as she stepped out, he was still her guard when she was in the compound after all, so he figured he was doing his job. He also was curious about what was going to happen, she seemed to have an agitated air about her, and although they've only had brief encounters, agitated Katherine was his favorite Katherine.

The took a deep breath as she reached the end of the hallway, holding a hand out in front of her as she pushed open the large office doors roughly, causing them to snap back against the glass wall.

Director Fury looks up in surprise, a curse word on his lips when he spots her. He's confused instantly, and then worried. The dad in him looked her over for signs of injury, figuring she must've been hurt or something if she had come to see him.

"Katherine, shouldnt you be at school?" He asks, forgetting it was a Saturday. He put his voice in mute, so the committee wouldn't hear him. They could still see though, and we're taking a great interest in the newcomer.

"Who's Katherine?" The girl asks, striding farther into the large room with an unhappy expression. "I'm only familiar with Aloisia."

The man stares at her for a moment, shocked. "Fucking Tony." He sAys, signaling for her to shut up for a moment before turning to the committee holograms. "We're going to have to cut this short, ladies and gentlemen." Is all he says before ending the call.

He turns back to her with a forced, tight lipped smile, hands on his hips. He noticed Tyler behind her, looking very confused. "What did Tony tell you?" He asks stiffly, a little scared of the conversation that was surely about to happen.

Katherine scoffs. "Tony didn't tell me shit." She says, arms crossed over her chest. She had a hip popped out, which gave her stance a little more of an edge. "I found the fucking file."

"Oh, goodie.." He mumbles, knowing there were less than good things in that file. He walked around the front of his desk, perching himself on the top of it. "So you read all of it then?"

"I read enough of it." She says, glancing towards the window. She wondered if she could see Happy's car if she looked down. "I read some of the medical reports, the theory paper about why my parents conceived me, my partial birth certificate.." She starts, getting angry at the images that began popping into her head. "I know my parents were the head of the genetic experiment lab in Germany, and I know that it wasn't blown up, and that Natasha found me in a dumpster, where they threw me after I began rejecting the third mutant serum."

Tyler stood behind her with a shocked look, he knew that Katherine had come from HYDRA but he hadn't been expecting all of that. He wasn't expecting her next words either.

"And then I read the old SHIELD files." Fury felt all the air leave his lungs, leaving him with a gut wrenching pain. He could see the anger in her eyes, and he just wanted to tell her that it wasn't his fault, that he had been the one to stop it all..he wanted to just pull her into his arms and comfort her like she was three all over again.

"Kat-" She cuts him off by raising a hand, she didn't want to hear him speak, not right now. He sighs, watching her.

"You know, the reports from the extensive experiments you put me through." She begins, trying not to cry. "The three hours of hypnosis everyday, to make me forget those memories, to make me become Katherine.."

Fury didn't know what to say, and frankly neither did Katherine. She had told Bucky about everything she had seen, everything but what SHIELD had done to her. She was confused about that part, confused of her feelings and of why..was it for their own personal gain or was it to keep her safe, like everyone said?

Fury pursed his lips, looking down at the floor. Tyler stood off in the back, near the door. He was rocking back and forth on his feet, wishing he wasn't there. This had turned out a lot more intense than he was anticipating.

"I keep wanting to know why," She says, fighting back tears as she moves to look out the window, looking at anything but him."and then I keep thinking that you're worse than HYDRA, that you took away memories..killed me, and then created me into your own vision."

That hurt Fury, he felt as if his heart had broken. That was never SHIELD's intention with her.

"But then I remember that you helped me," She says, glancing over at him. That you gave me a roof and food, and education for fourteen years.." She gave him a soft smile. "You taught me how to use my powers, allowed me to have my own personality and my own freewill..you protected me when HYDRA would have just..used me to kill for their own personal game, and would probably still be running experiments on me.."

Fury straightens his trench coat, looking at her sadly. This was why he had never told her, because he had anticipated this kind of reaction.

"So for that, i wanted to say thank you." She says, looking at him fully as she leaned against the glass window, her fear of heights suddenly gone in the familiar office. "Thank you for allowing me to have a somewhat normal life..for letting me become who I am, because I don't think I want to be Aloisia."

"You deserve it, Katherine." He says softly, standing up from his desk. He walked over to her slowly, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Nobody deserves what they put you through, and maybe we should have waited to experiment, or asked you if you wanted to forget your memories..but we were just trying to do what we thought was right."

Katherine nods, looking up at him. "I know." She says, she only had one thought on her mind now, and she knew he knew what it was. "If the lab wasn't blown up, that means they're still alive."

"They dropped off the grid years ago, Katherine." Fury sAys, a warning edge to his voice. "Nobody's been able to find them, or the new lab."

"I want to find them." She says confidently, standing straight, like a soldier. "And I want to see the lab..I want to see where I was born, where I came from..I need to know.." He looked like he was about to say no, she pulls her last card. She knew she had tears in her eyes, and that they were probably big, so she looked up at him, her bottom lip quivering. "Please.."

The man sighs, unable to say no to that face. How could he? "I'll see what I can do, okay?" He says, pulling her in for a hug. "Jesus, you're burning-"

Katherine chuckles, wiping her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sick." She says. "I missed two days of school already, and I probably shouldn't be out, but I need to get a desss for homecoming."

"You're going to the dance?" The Director asks, surprised. He knew it was apart of her being out in the world, but it still shocked him and he felt as if he needed to be protective. "Who with?"

Katherine looks down with a blush, during the one phone call she'd had with the man she never bothered to mention that she had a boyfriend. "My boyfriend." She says, knowing what was coming next. "His name is Zander French, he's in my grade and on my schools football team..he's hot." She shrugged at the last one, while the man in front of her made a sound of disgust.

"Okay, that's enough-" Fury sAys, completely uncomfortable. He felt like he needed to wash his ears out with holy water. "Go get your damn dress and go get some damn rest."

Katherine snickers and turns to walk out, waving at him as she did. "I'll be expecting a phone call."

"We'll see." Fury says, watching the doors shut as she walks out of them. He turns to Tyler after a second. "Get me a background on the whole French family. On my desk by noon."

🔳🔳🔳

The drive to the mall felt much longer than the drive to SHIELD, and after she avoided answering any questions in detail, the two men picked up their conversating again, although Bucky continuously snuck glances towards her.

After a while of trying to find a parking spot, Happy eventually forced the two out of the car at the food court entrance, telling them he would find them when he parked somewhere.

Bucky got out first, waiting for Katherine to slide out with her bag. After Happy pulls away from the curb the two begin making their way inside, it was busy considering it was a Saturday, and the amount of people made Bucky instantly nervous, but with Katherine next to him he didn't worry about it as much as he focused on her.

"What happened with Fury?" He asks, wanting the truth from her. He put his flesh hand on her shoulder to move her out of the way of a large group of teenagers. His other hand was shoved in his jeans pocket.

"Let's go find that store that does prom dresses, I'll find one there." She says, ignoring his question as she begins leading him towards the store she vaguely remembered shopping near when Natasha and Clint had brought her here.

"Katherine?" Bucky says, waiting for her to answer what he had asked. He wanted to know what was going on, it was bad enough that she was the only one she had told, he was too invested to not know anything else.

"I'm thinking I might get something I can wear more than just once, but still really nice looking." She was hoping he would drop the subject, she wasn't in the mood to talk.

They were just past the food court now, entering the actual mall. "Katherine." He says, stopping her and turning her around. "You need to tell me what happened, you can't just bring me along like that and not keep me in the loop..I made you a promise, I can't keep it if I don't know what's going on.."

Katherine sighs, looking around. She really didn't want to get into it right then, but she didn't want to make him upset either. "I talked to him about it, he made me a promise, and then I left.." She says. "Can we talk about this later? When I'm not trying to be happy for a little bit?"

Bucky takes his hand off her shoulder and lets her continue walking, leaving him to take long strides behind her to keep up. For such a small person, she moved really fast. "What kind of dress are we looking for?"

"It's for homecoming, the game is Friday night, the dance is Saturday." She says, glancing back as they near the store. "Zander asked me out."

Bucky's fish clenched at the name and he swore his eye twitched. He hated that. "The football player?"

"Yes." She says, stopping in front of the dress shop. She saw him give the whole store a disgusting look and couldn't stop the chuckle. "You don't have to come in."

"No, I'm going to." He says. "You dragged me all the way here, might as well finish the trip to hell." He laughs when she turns around and smacks his shoulder. "What?"

"Don't be rude, Bucky!" Katherine drug him all over the store, grabbing many dresses off the racks until she couldn't carry anymore. "I'm going to try these on, sit there and wait for Happy." She says motioning to a small couch with her foot.

Bucky does as told and sits down, boredly waiting for her to come out of the dressing room. She doesn't come out for a while though, although he can hear her mumbling to herself in the small dressing room as she took several dresses off and more on.

After a while she got quiet, and that made him nervous, she wasn't making any noises and he couldn't hear any dresses rustling. "Katherine, are you okay?" He could only hope that she wasn't starting to cry in there, or have a freak out because she didn't like any of the dresses.

After a tense moment of silence the girl answers. "I'm fine." She says, and he hears the stall door open. The store was surprising nearly empty, the part of them and a mother and daughter were the only occupants of the shop. He looks up as she walks around the corner, and nearly falls out of his seat.

"I think this is the dress..I know it's short, but I can wear a pair of tights under it.." She says, looking at herself in the mirror.

It took everything Bucky had not to do something stupid, like drool. It was like he was looking at a goddess. She had no makeup on, and her hair hadn't been done, but something about her in that damn red dress was turning his brain into mush and he wasn't sure he liked it.

The number was so red that it was almost orange, and very tight at the top. It had a deep v line, which thanks to the tightness of it actually made her look as if she had breasts and put them on very prominent display. The material around the torso was tighter, which played into the way the top held her, and it lead down to a very short skirt that was just slightly poofed.

The bottom was short enough for sex appeal, but modest enough to not show anything off, and it stopped just at her mid thigh. She looked over her shoulder in the mirror, noticing Bucky's stare. "Buck, you okay?"

Bucky had forgotten how to breath for a second, and as he let out a breath he accidentally let out some words. "Verdammt noch mal, das ist sexy, Katherine.." He breathed quietly, forgetting how to speak English altogether.

Katherine's face flushed a deep red, nearly the same color as her dress, and she pretended like she didn't perfectly understand the German he had spoken. "Well, I'll go change.." She says, turning to walk away. "But I'm definitely getting this one."

A short five minuets later Katherine was back infront if him, this time in her normal clothes but with that godforsaken dress in hand.

Bucky had thankfully composed himself, and cleared his throat as she came out, standing up from his seat. "It looked beautiful, Kat." He says, following her to the register. He has to grit his teeth at his next words. "Zander will love it."

"Thanks, Bucky." She says, her face still flaming. She couldn't get his words out of her head. "Do you feel up to some food?" She asks as the clerk puts the dress into a black hanging bag, making sure it was smooth before handing it to her. She payed with Tony's card, hoping he wouldn't get mad at her over the price of the garment. "There's a Panda Express at the food court. Zander bought some for lunch once, and he let me try a piece of orange chicken, it's so good!"

Bucky followed her wordlessly, holding the garment bag for her as they walked. He couldn't stop seeing it in his head, and nearly walked into a sign in the crowded corridor on their way back to the food court.

"You Okay?" Katherine asks between giggles, which he found incessantly cute and only added to his dress problem as she gave him that innocent little smirk of hers.

"Fine." He grits out, trying not to look at her. He didn't understand what the hell was happening, and he didn't like it. Katherine had done something to him without even trying to and it was seriously fucking with his already fucked up head. "Just distra-"

"Katherine!" He was cut off by an all to familiar voice, and as suddenly as he began seeing her in the dress, he began seeing Zander's head on the other side of his metal fist. He watched as the boy ran up to them, looking between him and Katherine. "Hey, where have you been? You haven't called or answered any texts..Logan and I have been worried.."

Bucky narrowed his eyes at him, moving the dress so it was draped over his arm. The boy gave him an acusing look, as if he thought he and Katherine had been doing something that would harm their couple status..he gave him a jealous fueled stare as he pulled his girlfriend into his arms, much to Bucky's distaste. The soldier wanted to laugh, because boy had he been thinking about doing something to Katherine..

"Your whole body is hot, babe, are you okay?" Zander asks, completely concerned with his girlfriend as he turns his attention to her, instead of staring jealously at Bucky.

Katherine gives him a meek nod, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I've been sick for two days.." She says, and he can actually hear the fever in her voice. He figured tbwas still being stressed about what she had found. "And I got my phone taken away," A lie that Zander so easily bought, Bucky noticed. "I'm only out right now because I had an appointment and I needed to get my dress for the dance.."

"Well," Zander says, kissing her forehead with a pout. He glanced back over his shoulder at his waiting friends and sister. "Go home and rest, you need it. And call me, so I know you're not dead."

Just as Katherine is about to answer, they hear Happy's voice from down by the food court. "Katherine! Let's go!" He yells, catching all of their attention.

"Okay, i promise." She says, giving him a quick peck on the lips before grabbing Bucky's hand and rushing towards Happy. "I don't think I'm hungry anymore," She says. "I want to go home.."

Bucky looks over his shoulder as she tows him along, a cocky smirk sporting his face as he noticed Zander's jealous glare once again. He loved that he got under his skin.

🔳🔳🔳

Bucky goes straight for his room when they get home, needing a moment to himself, and leaves happy to carry the dress for her.

He's the first out of the elevator and all but sprints for his room, causing everyone too look at him.

"What's his problem?" Natasha asks, looking at the girl. Katherine seemed to momentarily forget that the woman had been lying to her too as she gave her N amused shrug, taking the bag from Happy.

"Dunno, he's been weird since I walked out in my homecoming dress." The teen says, unzipping the garment bag just enough for her to see the contents.

Bucky was spread out on his bed, with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. Without meaning to, he was seeing her in that dress again..

It was dark out, and the only lighting in the room was a few candles. He was sitting down on a couch, holding a glass of some kind of liquor in his hand. He sipped it as he seemed to wait for something.

He was dressed in a button down shirt, with dress pants on his bottoms..as if he had been on a date.

"Sorry, couldn't find the cork." Katherine's sweet voice said from behind him, where she was holding a wine bottle and hitting a button on a stereo..she had her hair down last her shoulders, and no makeup on her face. She looked beautiful, he thought.

Slightly uptempo music began comjng from the speakers, not too loud but enough for her to seem to enjoy, swaying her hips as she began walking towards him in the couch.

That was when he noticed it, that goddamned dress. It was pushing her breasts up perfectly, not to mention the way it clung to her and how short it fell..fuck she looked sexy as hell, spinning around for him as she danced the music she had turned on.

He felt himself shake his head as she held out her hands for him, silently asking him to join her. "No, baby girl, I like watching you." He heard himself say. The girl only giggled and let her head fall back, moving her body gently to the music in front of him. "I haven't seen you in so long, i just want to watch for now.."

He felt his heart skip a few beats as he let his eyes roam up and down her body, the more his eyes wondered, the more his brain did as well..he began thinking of running his hands over her smooth legs, letting his fingers find their way just slightly under her skirt..maybe he would slip the straps off her shoulders, let it come loose a bit..maybe he would keep it on..

He was imagining the things he wanted to do to her, say to her. It took every bit of willpower not to bend her over the back of the couch and fuck her senseless like his body was begging him to..no, not yet..he wanted to keep watching her..

"Who the hell.." He curses, standing up as someone begins pounding on a door. He was pissed that he was being interrupted.. the knocking continued to grow louder and louder the closer he got to the door.. "What the fu-"

Bucky jolted awake, hearing a pound on his door. He hadn't even realized he'd been asleep, let alone tired. "What?" He yells, sitting up. He was about to stand when a rather large problem in his lap caught his attention. "Fucking red dress.." He mutters, fixing his pants and shuffling to the door, which he made sure his lower half was behind when he opened it. "Yes, Katherine?"

"Tony wants you in the lab.." She says, almost chuckling when he groaned. She was dressed in pajamas now, and was about to go back to her bed for the rest of the day.

Bucky opened the door fully and began stepping out, his boner completely vanished at the mention of the billionaire sasshole. "Of course he does." He mutters, pushing past her. He ruffles her hair as he passes. "Go get some rest so you'll stop being sick."

She watches him walk down the hallway, unable to help the playful smirk on her face. "You know I speak German, right?" She calls as he nears the end of the hall, watching him falter for a second at the mention of earlier.

"Son of a-"

🔳🔳🔳

verdammt noch mal, das ist sexy, katherine - fucking hell, that's sexy, Katherine.

Hi we love sassy kathy
and an interrupted spicy dream
woot woot
-imbroglio , who I know has been waiting patiently and -ravenclaws ,because I know Nicki needs this- ily guys!