The clanging of metal in the hall drew Bucky from his semi-conscious state, pushing himself up to sit slowly as he glanced down at Kagome to determine her mental state. Her chest rose and fell with steady breaths, she hadn't heard it then. He slid from beneath the blankets without disturbing her, opening the bedside drawer and pulling his pistol out before staring at it, what if it was just Stark in his suit?
He switched the safety off on the gun, easing for the door and throwing the lock; he'd take the consequences if it was, but the heavy steps didn't sound like the man in question. Bucky's hand reached for the knob, his breath hitching as it turned from the hall and flung open, a destroyed suit peering at him with red eyes before he open fired on the armor.
"That was an almost admirable attempt, I would have expected more."
Bucky's eyes widened at statement, tossing his gun to the side and reaching for his knife. The suit shot forward, sending them sprawling on the bedroom floor. Bucky grunted, flailing under the armor as his knife found the mark and he delivered a punch, shooting to his feet when the being flew off with a wave of Kagome's miko.
"What the hell's that?" Kagome had a foot planted on the floor, her left leg bent on the bed as she eyed the armor attempting to crawl forward. "Dead," Bucky sunk his left hand into the armors chest and squeezed the sentient's core reactor, watching it collapse to the ground before standing. "Are you okay?" hard eyes gave Kagome a once over, watching her wring her hands together as she stared at the fallen armor.
The priestess nodded, eyes darting up to his face before looking at Bucky's chest, "aside from that, are you?" she pointed to the gash along the top of his abs, biting her lip. "I can heal it if you want me to."
Bucky glanced down at the mark before his eyes trailed to the whitened grip on his knife; his brows knitted together as he attempted to ease his hold on the handle. "I've had worse, this is nothing."
Kagome's fingers twitched to reach out and heal the mark, tucking her hands under her arms before her eyes darted back to the suit, "what made it attack?"
"I know one person that can tell us," Bucky sheathed his knife in the hidden pouch at his waist, starting forward and snatching a t-shirt from the closet, "get changed, we need to talk to your dad."
"Tony, want to explain why one of your suits is running around attacking in the middle of the night?"
Bucky tossed the helmet over the railing at Kagome's question for emphasis, leaning against the rail as they waited for an answer.
"There's number four," Tony mumbled.
Bruce looked up apologetically, a tight smile on his face as he addressed her carefully. "We may hav—"
"Stark and Banner tried their hands at making Ultron, now it's killed Jarvis and it's in the internet," Steve stated easily.
"Yeah… for the record the program was supposed to be for peacekeeping purposes; I want that clear." Bruce chimed in quickly. "How's that working out for you?" Bucky snipped.
Tony frowned at the question, pointing at the assassin as he regarded him carefully, "I would be happy if I were you, it might still see you as a threat since you're—"
"Enough, we start fighting among ourselves that's going to fracture us," Rhodes grabbed Tony's shoulder to silence him, "we need to be united if we're going to take him down."
"Colonel Rhodes is right, we don't have time for this." Steve nodded, pinning a second glare to the genius. Bucky swallowed hard with a nod, would a peacekeeping program really see him as that much of a threat when that hadn't been him? "Believe me, if I was a threat I would have already taken everyone in this room out. That's not me, not anymore," his eyes flicked between Steve, Tony and Kagome before facing forward as he clenched his jaw.
Tony shrugged Rhodes' hand off his shoulder, "I was going to say reformed but your statement is reassuring."
"It's like never leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., makes me miss it." Kagome mumbled darkly, bracing her elbow on the railing and dragging her fingers through her hair. Clint grunted in agreement, his eyes raking over the group gathered before landing on the pair beside him, "Nat said he got in the files… everything's been compromised what if—"
"It was kept off record Clint, it's okay."
"Alright…" he sounded unsure of her certainty, dropping his head with a heavy sigh to stare at the ground.
"You two be careful… please…" She winced at how much it sounded like she was begging for their safety, glancing down at the table full of various parts of Legionnaire suits below their spot on the platform, her grip on the rail tightening before stealing a glance at everyone, "Maria, need any help here?"
A look of surprise fell across the brunettes face at the question; she hadn't expected Kagome to jump in as quickly as she was after how she left Washington. "Sure, thanks Higurashi; I could use an extra set of hands here while they're off finding Ultron."
"Perfect, good luck everyone." Kagome flashed a tight smile around the room, moving around Bucky to follow Maria away from the lab.
"Just like the old days, you've even dressed the part." Maria gestured down to the slacks and heels the woman beside her wore, "it's good to see you back."
"I've been here for the last two days and I was at the Tower before this, what do you mean 'back'?" Kagome wrinkled her nose. Maria glanced at Kagome, flipping the jacket she had draped over her shoulders to fold over her arms, "well up until last October nothing stood in your way with work; you weren't the same after—"
"Everything with Hydra and Bucky… yeah, you're not the first to comment on it." Kagome admitted softly, remembering Sesshoumaru's harsh words. "I know they're still out there but Bucky's not…"
"Steve already briefed me after you saw Clint and I believe you both; besides like he said, if he was a threat he would have already done something."
Kagome smiled in response as she ducked her head, "happy to hear that. So what's our first objective?"
Maria smiled at her enthusiasm, holding out a tablet and an earpiece before claiming a seat in one of the many offices of the building, "first I'm going to brief you on what was said before your entrance. But first, why weren't you at the party?"
"I was never one for Stark's parties… not enough clothing for me, so Bucky and I escaped before that could happen." Kagome mumbled. Maria snorted, casting an amused glance at the woman as she claimed a seat, "well you missed out, this time it was an attack."
"Didn't miss out on too much then."
Maria nodded, leaning against the edge of her desk as she crossed her arms and watched the priestess carefully. "Not tonight at least but you've missed out since the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. if you want to help there's some things you'll need to know."
"Tell me everything, I'm here… I want to help where I can." Kagome stopped scrolling through the files, to glance up at the former second in command, "tell me what to do Commander."
