Shadowed Past: Swan Song
Teaser
Hey y'all! Here's a little teaser to give you a basic idea of what the next installment will be about. In terms of where it's at in the timeline, it will follow Civil War.
The silence of the night forest was deafening. Few creatures stirred on the woodland grounds, until a light came beaming through the trees. Creatures scattered as the glowing object got closer, the quiet hum of an engine and tires on the dry pavement growing louder with every passing second. The car finally passed, the forest fading back into darkness. The silence returned only for a moment, and was disturbed again by another bright light, approaching much faster than the previous one. The second vehicle went flying by, this one only with two wheels.
Only moments after the second vehicle had passed, three gunshots rang out in the night. The high pitched screeching of tires against the pavement and a menacing crash followed soon after.
He walked up to the side of the car, ripping the driver's side door off its hinges with ease. He reached in, grabbing the driver by the throat, looking into his eyes as the man struggled to breathe.
"Sergeant Barnes?" The man gasped.
He glared into the man's eyes. He remembered that face. Those eyes. A small part of him screamed to stop. This man, Howard Stark, was his friend. He didn't deserve to die. But the mission always came first.
He felt as Howard's body went limp, and the life drained from his body completely. A shriek came from the other side of the car, and he decided to finish his work.
"No, please! Don't!" She cried.
He could feel her hands prying against his own as he kept his grip on her throat tight, until finally her struggles ceased.
He walked around to the back of the car, and flung the trunk open.
His master's words rung in his head. "Bring me the crystal, and anything that has to do with it."
He began digging around through the trunk, opening file after to file to find something about the legendary Seidr crystal.
In the end, he found a rather large piece of the crystal that was dangling from a shiny silver chain.
That was enough.
Mission complete.
Bucky shot up from his slumber, panting heavily and sweat beading along his skin. He put a hand over his mouth, letting a horrified whine escape his lips. He felt his stomach churn, food from earlier threatening to return to his mouth.
The vision continued to flash before his eyes.
He murdered Howard Stark. An old friend.
HYDRA had wanted the crystal that Loki used to take over the world.
And he gave it to them.
"James!"
He was pulled back into reality, jumping when he was met with a pair of eyes in his face.
"J, what's wrong?" Piper asked sweetly, brushing some lose hair away from his eyes.
Bucky felt his muscles slowly relax a little, the panic only remaining in his head. He still couldn't regain himself enough to tell her what was wrong.
"I, I-" He panted heavily.
"Just breathe with me." She looked deep into his eyes as she placed his hand on her chest. He could feel her heart thumping softly and tried his hardest to match his breathing with hers. Their eyes remain locked on each other's. "That's it, it's going to be alright." Her chest rumbled gently with her words.
Piper continued to whisper calming phrases to Bucky until his breathing was finally steady.
"Can you tell me what was wrong?"
Bucky felt the panic start to return, but he breathed deep, and remained as calm as possible. "I, I, I- killed him. I killed them both."
Piper's heart broke. He'd had another flashback. "Can you tell me who?"
Tears began to well up in his blue eyes as he bit his lip, looking away. He was ashamed of himself, his actions.
"Baby, come on, please tell me who. It's okay." Piper urged him on gently.
Bucky looked into Piper's eyes, feeling his stomach churn as he said the words. "I killed Howard and Maria Stark."