Eminent Silence

by Tristan Carey

  'And you are?'

  She looked at her own ID and frowned before answering 'Lian Kleese, CEO and founder of a make-up company? Seriously?' She heard Bucky snigger beside her and threw him a glare, which he ignored, opting to focus on the road ahead. She sighed continuing to read through the papers about them. 'Been together five years, not married.' She mentally sighed in relief. 'Apparently we've got the invitation through your developer connections.'

  Bucky nodded, looking impressed while still concentrating on driving. It wasn't long before they were pulling into the hotel. She gathered her things as the valet opened her door for her.

  She began to carefully slide herself out, finding it a little difficult in the tight dress. She wasn't completely unfamiliar to this type of attire, but the length, fit and low height of the car certainly hindered her.

  As she tried to clamber out of the car, a hand was offered to her. She looked up to see Bucky offering her his hand, he looked at her pointedly, before giving her a sympathetic smile. She sighed before putting on her best smile back, taking his hand. She cringed inwardly when she felt the cold metal against her fingers, remembering the night he had inadvertently attacked her.

  He pulled her to her feet easily, ushering her to his right side and swapping his hands, and Vielka couldn't help but feel relieved. She scolded herself for letting it get to her, making a mental note that she would need to get that under control for the party, and allowed him to lead her by the arm into the hotel.

  Bucky led Vielka to the reception desk, where he allowed her to check in, looking about the hotel foyer for exit points and possible vantage points too.

  He felt a warm, soft hand on his arm, turning his attention back to Vielka, trying not to show his alarm as his gaze met the golden-brown of hers. 'Baby, did you want a car sent for us tonight?' she asked, putting on her sweet, American accent again.

  'No, I should be right to drive us,' he answered, picking up on the slight look she gave him. He smiled at the receptionist, before looking back at Vielka, as the receptionist's cheeks went pink and she ducked her head to finish their check in.

  Vielka gave a subtle nod before turning back to her task at hand.

  They were soon being led upstairs by one of the bell boys, arm in arm. Vielka glided along beside him with an air of overwhelming confidence and grace. He could see she was taking mental notes as they walked along, as was he, noting how far from the lift and fire escape their hotel room was.

  The bellboy let them into their room. It was a large room, with a separate bedroom from the living area and well lit by large windows along one wall. He pursed his lips slightly, he didn't like that, it meant more possible vantage points from the outside to take shots at them.

  Vielka turned to tip the bell boy while Bucky began moving their bags to the bedroom. As he lifted their suitcases onto the bed, he heard the hotel room door shut.

  He did a quick once over of the room, checking for listening devices and cameras, before peering into the living area to see Vielka doing the same thing. She looked back at him expectantly and he gave her the thumbs up.

  'Is it bad that even I can't stand my own voice?' she asked speaking normally again, hurrying into the bedroom and immediately beginning to struggle out of her heels. Bucky chuckled at her comment, as she began opening one of the suitcases revealing clothes as well as papers.

  She handed some papers to Bucky, which he quickly scanned, it was an in depth summary on his alias and 'company'.

  He sat on the end of the bed to read, between the suitcases as she disappeared into the bathroom with a handful of clothing, returning soon after wearing sweats, her hair tied back up into a high pony tail.

  He looked up as she began pulling clothing out of the suitcases, hanging up dress and suit bags, before removing the bottom of the suitcase to reveal an assortment of weapons. He raised his eyebrows and peered inside, unable to stop himself from smirking.

  'I take it you like what you see?' she asked, pulling out one of the handguns and checking it over quickly. 'Don't get too excited though, these are only precautionary. We are on recon, remember?'

  He sighed and stood up, before striding out to the living area, he looked towards the windows along the wall, Vielka had drawn the curtains except for one to allow for light.

  'What time is this party?' he asked, as Vielka joined him, not looking up from her own paperwork.

  'Seven.'

  He checked the watch Gaia had given him. It was lunch time, so they still had some time to waste. He pursed his lips, considering his options to waste time, he had already taken in all the info in regards to his cover. As he looked around the room, something occurred to him.

  He looked to Vielka, she was sitting cross legged on one of the dining chairs, holding her paperwork in front of her. She stopped reading and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 'Something wrong?'

  'Sleeping arrangements?'

  She cocked her head to the side, before a look of realisation spread across the Asian features of her face. 'Oh...'

  'I'm happy here,' he said quickly, motioning to the lounge. 'But we need to make sure none of the hotel staff come in unannounced.'

  'Easy done,' she said motioning to the chain lock on the door. 'We just make sure the 'do not disturb' sign and lock is on the door.' But she looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. 'I would feel more comfortable if we took turns with the bed though. Perhaps we take watches?'

  He considered her notion for a moment. It wasn't a bad idea, but then again, he also knew he wouldn't sleep much anyway. He shook his head, recalling the first time Vielka had tried to wake him from a restless sleep. He didn't want to risk that again, he already hated seeing her cringe and stiffen whenever she touched his left arm or hand. 'No, I'd rather be out here if something happened.'

  She pressed her lips into a straight line, raising an eyebrow before speaking again. 'Forever a grunt, huh?' she said. Bucky looked at her in surprise, although he probably shouldn't have. She had been tasked with tracking him down, no doubt she would have done her research. 'I'm going to go ahead and assume you've got an appetite like one,' she replied, reaching to a folder on the table. She tossed it to him, before picking up her paperwork. 'Order lunch.'

  He looked down at the folder in his hands, it was the room service menu.

  He began flicking through the folder, but stopped after a moment and looked back at Vielka, his curiosity had been steadily growing with the more time he spent with her. She was still reading her dossier, but apparently noticed he had stopped reading and looked over her paperwork at him.

  'What's wrong?'

  'What's that scar on your neck from?' he blurted out, finally asking what had been bothering him since that night in his room. Those weren't just your general run of the mill injury scars, they looked like she had been under the knife for something.

  One of her eyebrows twitched and he saw her jaw clench as her eyes darkened. She looked back to her paperwork. 'None of your business.'

  He pressed his lips together. Obviously the straight forward approach wasn't going to work. He looked back to the folder in front of him before walking over to the phone and ordering. He then went back to re-reading his own dossier, although he struggled to concentrate with the obvious tension in the room now.

  A few hours later, after lunching and comparing notes on each other's aliases, they began preparations for the party. Bucky had prepared quickly, now dressed in his tuxedo and clean shaven. He was still trying to decide what to do with his hair, whether to just gel it back or tie it off.

  He found the outfit uncomfortable and restrictive, having never worn one before. He sat in the living area, waiting impatiently for Vielka and checking his watch, as he went over his alias in his head. He wasn't sure what was working his nerves, the fact that he had never been on an operation such as this, or the fact that he was going to be in a room with a whole lot of people.

  Vielka was taking awhile to get re
ady, which wasn't helping his nerves at all. He stood up to go and check on her, only to find her walking out from the bedroom.

  She wore a floor length gown in a rich burgundy colour, it sat across her shoulders with a piece of fabric that went high around her neck and down the middle of her bust. The dress fitted tight around her body before it flowed loosely down to the floor. A split extended from the bottom of the skirt up to her mid thigh, the fabric of the dress shining in the light.

  Her skin glowed and her hair shone as it cascaded in soft waves, flowing down one side of her head, her lips were coloured red to match her dress. He noticed her eyes were dull, he realised she must have put in contacts to dull the colour of her eyes to a normal brown. She looked at him with furrowed brows and he realised he was staring.

  He quickly came to his senses, offering a small smile. 'You look, uh, great,' he stammered. It really had been a long time since he had been around women, let alone attending events such as the one they were tonight. Then again, it was hard to come to terms with the fact this was the same woman that had attacked him several times over the last year, a woman he was used to seeing clad in all black with a mask on to hide her features from anyone who would look at her.

  She pursed her lips, the slightest of smirks appearing across her crimson lips. 'Thank you, you don't scrub up too bad yourself.' He felt his cheeks heat up slightly at her casual compliment and he quickly looked down at his tuxedo, pulling the jacket down slightly. 'Could do with a haircut though.'

  He looked at her incredulously to find her trying not to laugh. He rolled his eyes before collecting the car keys and invitation to the event, while she carefully affixed the special earrings that Gaia gave her to her ears.

  'You remember the plan?' She asked, lifting her leg and placing it onto a chair, fidgeting with the clasp on her heels. He had never seen her bare legs before, they were very long and looked incredibly smooth. He noticed what appeared to be a thigh holster, peeking out from just below the split of her skirt.

  He coughed slightly, drawing her attention back to him. 'You might want to, ahem, just adjust that a little,' he muttered, motioning to it. She raised an eyebrow and smirked, but brought her leg down, turning her back to him and bending down to adjust it slightly. The back of the dress was low cut and he could see her well defined back, he was mildly surprised there were no scars considering her line of work and weapon of choice.

  She stood back up and smoothed the skirt of her dress before turning back to face him. 'Better?' She asked, motioning towards the leg with the thigh holster attached. He nodded.

  She then looked at him critically, tilting her head to one side. He became self conscious and frowned. 'What?'

  'We need to do something about your hair,' she murmured, biting her lip thoughtfully. 'What are your hobbies again?'

  'Uh, golf, tennis...' he answered thoughtfully, beginning to rattle them off.

  'Perfect,' she said suddenly and disappeared back into the bedroom. She returned with a comb and hair tie which she placed around her wrist. She motioned for him to turn around, which he did so. He felt her run the comb through his hair, before she began to gather it in her hands. She was gentle, raking her fingers through to smooth out bumps before he felt her tie it off.

  'Ugh, you look hideous,' she sneered, pulling a face as he turned around. 'But it suits the alias well, man buns are all the rage apparently.' Bucky closed his eyes and shook his head, just imagining how bad he looked right now.

  They were soon driving through the streets of Como, on their way to the Lake where the Viscount was hosting his party in one of the huge mansions that surrounded it.

  Vielka checked through her clutch again, making sure she had everything she could need. The hand gun strapped to her thigh was purely precautionary, and perhaps a small comfort, knowing that it was possible that Crossbones could make an appearance. She shuddered, remembering his menacing laugh when he realised who she was.

  'You okay?' Bucky asked, she turned to see him glancing at her with concern between watching the traffic ahead of them.

  'Yes, just fine,' she replied, quick to resettle herself as Bucky pulled up to a stop in front of the viscount's mansion.

  She went to open her door but he put a hand on her leg, startling her. She looked at him with a look of disdain, but he looked back at her pointedly, not even flinching at her glare. 'We're a couple, remember, you need to let me lead.'

  She pursed her lips together as she watched him get out of the car, handing the keys to the valet before he moved to her door, waving off the valet who was about to open her door for her. He opened the door, offering her his left hand.

  She took it carefully, being sure to ignore the cold metal feeling of his fingers despite their appearance. He helped her to her feet, before assisting her with her gown. She couldn't help but note how very chivalrous he seemed, but of course, that was really not that surprising. He came from a time when chivalry was a way of life.

  It was hard to fathom that this was the same man who had taken down some very powerful people in his past. He was ever so careful with her, taking her hand in his and draping it around his right elbow.

  He led her up the stairs of the mansion where a security guard was standing behind a portly gentleman wearing thick glasses. Bucky smiled at both, before pulling the invitation card from the inside of his jacket.

  The portly man looked over the invitation before checking his list, while Vielka looked up at the huge mansion, quickly calculating floor levels and trying to figure out rooms.

  She noticed the security guard glaring at her and she sidled closer to Bucky, batting her eyelids a few times and flashing him an alluring smile. She was pleased when he smiled back, meaning she had lifted his veil of suspicion of her. She then turned to look at the people who were both behind and in front of her, seeing if she could recognise any faces.

  As the portly gentleman greeted Bucky by his alias and ushered them inside, Bucky moved his arm to sit in the small of her back, bringing his face closer to hers. 'You need to be more careful when you're looking around,' he murmured, his breath tickling her ear and sending a shiver down her back.

  She was surprised by the reaction, but forced herself to smile through it, seeing several eyes turn to watch them as they walked into the ball room. 'Sorry, I like tall things,' she replied back, glancing sideways at him as she spoke in her American accent, grinning mischievously. Bucky gaped for a moment before straightening again, taking her hand and draping it through his elbow as he had when he led her from the car.

  As they walked into the ball room, there were many finely dressed women and men. Some women seemed to be dripping in jewels and Vielka wondered if the men that stood close by were just guests or personal body guards. Looking by the way they were standing, she'd wager on them being the latter.

  A waiter stopped before them, offering glasses of champagne. Bucky took two, offering one to Vielka. She raised an eyebrow before taking it, her fingers brushing his as she did so, and she felt a sudden thrill shoot through her fingers. She ignored it. 'Take it easy, we're working,' she murmured, looking at him through her lashes as she took a small sip, doing her best not to gag, she hated the bubbly alcohol.

  She watched as Bucky took a quick mouthful too, before he leant closer to her ear again. 'Didn't Steve ever tell you?' She looked at him, puzzled. Steve had told her many things and she wasn't sure which he might have been alluding to. 'We can't get drunk.'

  She considered that thoughtfully, as Bucky placed his hand on the small of her back again, leading her further into the ball room. It wasn't something she had ever considered, since they never really hung out. Sam would often share a drink with her occasionally, but never to the point of trying to get drunk, so even she had never tested her own limits since...

  She glanced sideways at Bucky after a few seconds of silence and walking. 'Heh, you guys would be boring at parties then.'

  Bucky chuckled close to her ear, a
nd she couldn't help but enjoy the sound of the rumbling in his throat. She grimaced subtly as the thought passed through her head. As he led her through the partygoers, she could feel all eyes on them, men on her, women on him. 'I think now is a good time to begin recon,' she said, leaning into him more so she could whisper quietly.

  She felt Bucky stiffen slightly, but he murmured in agreement, letting her go as she skulled the rest of her champagne quickly, earning her a raised eyebrow from Bucky. She winked before excusing herself, making her way to the furthest side of the ballroom, where the bar was.

  She looked along the bar, there were several men standing along it, some talking to each other, others just looking around or seeking to order drinks. A bar tender approached her and she ordered herself a martini. It wasn't generally her drink of choice, but knowing her alias' was an American socialite and businesswoman, she went with the martini.