Distortion

The muted light, candles burning on the tables, long red tablecloths — this place didn’t look dangerous, just an ordinary formal dinner, but Lauren had briefed James in advance. In this hall, without camera flashes or prying journalists, real, serious business was being conducted. Major businessmen, investors willing to fund not-quite-legal ventures — they could all find allies here tonight. Lauren knew that if they didn’t find the buyer for the Dark Shard here, they could at least get a lead. “Plus,” she tapped the stem of her glass. “This is your chance to make connections.” “I have connections,” Barnes, scanning the people around him, gripped his champagne flute tightly, wondering if he should drink. “Valentina has connections,” Lauren corrected him. “have the connections that got us in here.” “Better if they’d gotten us into a bar,” James exhaled, realizing he’d have to endure another round of small talk. “Don’t get distracted,” she hissed, smiling at someone. Bucky saw her lips twitch when the door opened. “And what is she doing here?” “Lauren! James!” Valentina’s voice made Lauren tighten her grip on her glass. “Didn’t expect to see you two here.” “Just helping my charge network,” Lauren gave a soft smile, touching James’s shoulder, shrugging off the anxiety. “I think we should be going. Wouldn’t be right if we pulled focus.” “Wise choice,” Valentina inclined her head, smiling at her glass, then looked at the girl. “Can I borrow you for a moment?” “Of course,” Lauren nodded, leaving her glass, and James saw her back straighten. He watched them go, trying to guess what they could be talking about. “What are you doing here?” Valentina, having steered the girl behind a column, dropped the congeniality. “Networking, like I said,” Lauren, folding her hands in front of her, looked over the woman’s head. “You’re supposed to be pulling his reputation out of the gutter, not dragging him where there are no cameras or press hounds,” she was losing patience even more from Lauren’s calm, detached expression. “I think it’s better if everyone sticks to their own work,” Lauren breathed out the words, stoking the tension between them. “Don’t forget who gave you this job,” Valentina smiled at a passing guest, but her eyes burned with anger. “I can make it so no one even remembers you. Not even James. Have you let him get too close, or is he still on a leash?” “I’m following the plan, if that’s what you mean,” Lauren gave a false smile and a slight bow. “We’re leaving.” James was already waiting by the exit. He barely had time to open the door before Lauren nearly tore it off its hinges in her hurry to get out. “We’re going to a bar. Hope you’re happy,” clutching the satin hem of her dress, the girl ran down the steps, her heels barely touching them. “That bitch has no idea what she’s doing.” “We’re going like this?” James hurried after the girl, who had already burst out into the cool night air. “Coming to my place?” she smirked, ruffling her slicked-back hair with her fingers. “You’ll be disarmed right in the courtyard, won’t even make it to the apartment.” “It can’t be that bad,” Barnes crossed his arms, amusedly watching the girl fume over having to leave. He hailed a car while Lauren stashed her jewelry in her bag. “Ms. Winter can’t possibly live in a bad neighborhood.” “Y’know, that was a mistake. It was a joke,” Lauren got into the back seat, slamming the door. “We shouldn’t go to my place.” “Going back on your word?” James, sitting beside her, noticed her armor cracking, falling apart. “Fine,” she turned to the window, pressing her lips together. “Happy?” “Very,” he also looked out his window, but in the reflection he only saw the girl’s tense back, crisscrossed by thin straps. Arriving at the building, Lauren slipped out of the car like a ghost, leading Barnes through an arch to the entrance. They climbed crumbling concrete stairs almost to the top, right under the roof, and the girl unlocked a door. “Don’t turn on the light,” she covered the switch with her palm, pointing into the semi-darkness toward a dark passageway. “Go that way.” Walking quickly through the rooms, she turned on sconces and lamps, leaving the darkest corners untouched. After clinking glasses in one of the rooms, Lauren returned to James with a bottle of wine. “Turns out someone lives more modestly than I do,” he shook his head with a supportive smile, sitting on a mattress laid on the floor. In the corner of the room were a few suitcases and duffel bags stuffed with something. “The only room that’s finished here is the walk-in closet,” Lauren exhaled slowly, sinking down beside him, placing the glasses on the floor. “Didn’t think I’d be staying here long. By the way, I’ve seen your apartment. Nothing to complain about.” While Barnes opened the wine and poured, they sat in silence, each lost in thought. Lauren, gathering her black satin dress around her, crawled further onto the mattress, leaning against the concrete wall. She leaned forward to take the offered glass, then leaned back again, closing her eyes against the resurgence of feelings. “And what’s that?” Barnes, loosening his tie, nodded toward a long black case propped against the wall. “A rifle.” “Right,” he shrugged at the loaded answer, then leaned back on his arm, which sank into a soft blanket, but something dug into his elbow. Reaching into the folds, James pulled out a pistol. “Not even under the pillow?” “It makes me feel more comfortable,” pressing her lips together, Lauren snatched the pistol from his hand. “I get that you can handle yourself. Why all this?” “If a ninety-kilo man throws himself on me, I physically can’t just push him off,” Lauren glanced at him as if talking to a child. “You’re the super-soldier. I’m a girl who weighs half of what you do.” “And the Shard? It didn’t give you anything?” Barnes seemed to take her words seriously, despite her haughty delivery. “It did,” she took a sip. “Paranoia and the feeling that at any second it could take control and I’d just lose my mind. It’s not some magic potion that gives you superpowers. That thing is a parasite, just waiting to take over. If you use its powers, you’ll lose your grip for good.” “So it did give you some powers?” James smirked, but Lauren looked exhausted. Not just from the long evening, but from life itself. “Yes,” she exhaled, swirling the wine in her glass. “Reality warping, for example. Accelerated regeneration. Sounds cool, but it was hard at first. Maybe we should talk about something else before I blow my brains out from boredom?” “What’s next on the plan? Where else did you manage to snag invitations, tearing them from cold, dead hands?” Barnes, leaning his elbows on his knees, looked at the girl over his shoulder. “Good question,” Lauren knelt up, moving closer to the man. “There are a few small meetings, and I also got you a chance to attend a formal dinner at the mayor’s at the end of the month.” “Me?” he raised an eyebrow, but Lauren cut him off: “Valentina made it very clear to me that all of this is just for you. My lot is to sit in a closet and brew coffee while I hunt for events.” “As always,” Barnes got up, leaving his empty glass on a suitcase serving as a bedside table. “I should go.” “Yeah-ah,” Lauren stood up, getting tangled in the hem of her dress. “And I’ll get used to the size of my closet. I think a suitcase will do.” Lauren, clutching her glass, leaned against the doorframe, watching Barnes adjust his tie in the cloudy mirror in the hallway. “It was nice, right? All of this,” she asked with difficulty, as if a gunshot would follow her words. “You’re better at small talk, Lauren,” James smiled in farewell and disappeared behind the door, leaving the girl in the dark apartment.