Chapter 10: Clint's Farmhouse
Grocery runs, like most jobs on the farm (those not done by the Menno Public High School 4-H Club) were assigned by drawing lots from a small bag. As a rule every Avenger bar none had to have their name inside to be selected for a random task (it was a poorly kept secret that Thor's nametag had been specially marked so as to avoid him ever being assigned kitchen duty again). Also part of the rules- no one could turn down the job they were assigned. The Avengers all had very strong personalities, and while tasks like mucking out the horse stalls may be "beneath" some of them (namely Tony), if excuses like that were permitted nothing would be done without at least three hours of arguing.
That rule inspired a great deal of tension when Bucky's name was drawn for kitchen duty- an assignment that included grocery shopping in-town. Everyone held their breath, waiting for Steve to start the fight. He'd promised to give Bucky a chance, but letting him off the farm? Steve watched his friend for a while. If he was going to try trusting him, he had to start somewhere. Besides, he had an idea, "Take Inessa with you."
"Are you sure that's the right move?" Sam was nervous, "We know Hydra's looking for her, dangling her out there like that might draw their attention."
Steve nodded, "She needs to be around other people. Besides, all of us have been to the mart- even Thor. The locals might not have figured out who we are just yet, but either way no one's brought Hydra down on us yet."
"I'll have JARVIS override any security cameras in the area, keep Loch Nessa and Bucky invisible." Tony offered. Steve nodded his thanks.
"I'm not comfortable with this," Clint spoke up, "Bucky and Nessa? She can't even be in the same room as him for ten minutes. She's not ready for something like this."
"Stop babying her," Steve regretted his little snap as soon as he said it. "I'm sorry," he rubbed his aching head, "I should have chosen better wording. Inessa needs to be pushed a bit, and this is a very controlled trip."
Banner offered a compromise, "What if one of us went with them as well? That way she's got someone she's comfortable with along as well?"
"She'll just hide behind them the whole time and not interact. No. Bucky and Inessa. Issue closed." Steve's motivation was simple enough, he just didn't feel like explaining it to the team- if there were three people, and one was concerned with Inessa the entire time, Bucky could easily slip away. Without the third person, he would have to keep a careful eye on her. Steve wasn't sure what he expected, there were no people in the town with any sort of connection to Hydra (according to JARVIS' analysis of the last census records), but he was certain someone like the Winter Soldier could find trouble anywhere.
"Pain killers are making you stupid," Bucky muttered. Steve wasn't the only one angry on the farm lately.
"Do we need to lock you in your get-along stall again?" Clint offered. The combined glares of Bucky and Steve were enough to make him hold up his hands in surrender (and he wasn't even convinced he was being sarcastic about it).
"Just quit bitching and get going. Keys and credit card are by the door." Steve gingerly walked away to begin his task of mucking out the stalls.
Thor caught up with him in the hall and grabbed his arm, "You will complete my task of cleaning the floors with Banner. Your injury should not be exposed to the excrement of steeds."
"No one switches jobs," Steve reminded him, pulling away.
The Asgardian wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, "Then I will assist you. The chore will be completed much quicker."
Banner called over from the living room, "I'll sweep, you can come back through and mop in an hour or so."
Steve grumbled, but he couldn't argue. He let Thor lead him outside. The Asgardian's true assignment for the day was to try and lift Steve's dark spirits- only he and James Barnes appeared to be at odds, and it was, as Tony said, "Killing the buzzard" (or something like that- truly Thor had not understood).
"Well that backfired," Sam grumbled, "sure he's giving Bucky some lead, but sending Inessa with him? That wasn't part of the plan."
Bucky was confused, "Plan? I thought the chores were assigned randomly?"
"This one isn't," Clint sighed, "we don't trust cooking to just anyone. The idea was you get to leave the farm, show Steve you're not a flight risk, and clear up some of this tension. No offense Bucky, but I really am not comfortable with you being alone in a confined space with Inessa. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt her, but she doesn't."
"Give her the option," Sam suggested, "if she wants to try we let her go. If not, Bucky can go alone. Steve's only our leader in times of crisis, not in times of errands. Just because he says 'jump' doesn't mean we say 'how high'."
Natasha raised her eyebrows, "I'm surprised to hear you say that."
"Something's not right with Steve," Sam shrugged, "and it's not just your stint AWOL, Bucky. I'm loyal to the guy, but I'm no sheep."
Tony, who'd been amazingly silent in the corner of the room, spoke up, "I've got JARVIS keeping an eye on him. He'll be under discreet surveillance until that stick up his ass is gone and he's overflowing with patriotism and righteousness once again."
"You know you sound like a complete fucking idiot, right?" Bucky asked incredulously.
"I'm not so sure something isn't wrong with you too."
Bucky rolled his eyes and walked away, "I'll be ready to go in five. If Inessa's coming, have her meet me by the car."
"You'd better have an improved attitude by then or she's not going anywhere," Natasha snapped.
The door slammed behind Bucky as he left. "What the hell is wrong with those two?" Tony shook his head.
"Anyone else get the feeling their tempers are more... man-made than anything?" Clint glanced to Natasha and Sam who both nodded.
"I'll get JARVIS scanning for any frequencies being broadcast in the area. I made a 'paralyze' one, maybe someone else made a 'piss off' one." Tony tried to slip out of the room quickly.
"After you clean the bathrooms," Sam called out in a sing-song voice.
Tony cursed and a moment later they heard the sound of him stomping his way upstairs.
Bucky pulled a long sleeve plaid shirt on over his t-shirt to hide the metal arm. It was too warm outside for gloves, but he put one on the metal hand all the same. Perhaps if he locked it in position any curious onlookers would simply assume it was a fake hand. Wait- why the hell should he give a rat's ass what some inbred farmer from a Podunk corner of nowhere thought of his metal arm? He'd been walking this world for seventy years- not counting the twenty he spent in a cryo tube before Zola got his hands on him and began to play with Bucky's mind. He'd seen places these corn-fed idiots couldn't even dream of. He stomped out of the loft with no end to the list of things currently annoying him. Even the stairs found a way of pissing him off (creaky bastards).
As soon as the barn door slammed open Inessa jumped. She hid partly behind the tree on the far side of the car. It took all of her control to avoid jumping up into the blind Clint had setup high in the branches. His favorite place to sit and watch the farm. Even though it was too bright out, even though she knew it would cost her another night of hunting, Inessa opened a very small door to the Valley. She could see as if she were there, but it required much less concentration. The darkness swirling around Bucky's head, whispering in his ear, was more evident than it had been with Steve. It was getting stronger.
There were no nails this time to throw in front of Bucky, and Inessa couldn't stand to see whatever that creature was- let alone be near it. Nadya skulked in the shadows, ready to aid her mistress if called upon. Inessa reached into her pocket and opened a second door- this one through the Valley and into the kitchen where the steak knives were kept. She pulled back into the Valley, ready. When Bucky put his foot down next, she acted quickly and stabbed the blade into the heel of his foot. Bucky yelped and fell to one knee. Inessa pulled her hand from her pocket and cut all doors to the Valley. The knife she threw under the porch.
"What's wrong?" Sam called over from the barn doors. He started to come over.
Bucky pulled off his shoe and inspected the wound. "I'm fine!" he shouted back, "Rock in my shoe."
"Alright, have fun in town! And pick me up some lemons while you're there! I can't drink this instant lemon aid shit- it's unnatural."
He had his shoe back on before Sam finished speaking and tried his best to hide the limp as he walked over to the car. "Let's get going, it'll be alright," he spoke softly to Inessa behind the tree as he climbed into the driver's seat. Bucky's bad mood was abruptly lifted, though he was by no means fooled.
Slowly, haltingly, Inessa came around the vehicle and opened the door. Helping from afar was one thing- she could do that. But being so close to Bucky made her heart race and her stomach turn. He isn't taking me back there, she assured herself, they wouldn't let him. I'm more powerful now. Before he got me I could kill him if I had to. She was shaking slightly.
Once they reached the border of the farm and turned down the main road into town, Bucky pulled the car over. They were well out of sight of the farmhouse. He hit the automatic locks on the doors. No easy escape. "Inessa," he kept his voice level, even, "did you do that to me?" Sweat beaded on her forehead. She was beginning to feel the effects of her exercise and knew she couldn't open enough of a door into the Valley to send herself through. He was going to kill her. "Answer me, please."
She nodded, then flinched and grabbed her seatbelt- but no blow landed. Frightened, she risked a peek at his face. Bucky just looked tired. "Steve's foot?" she nodded again. "Something is wrong with us, right?" Inessa nodded again, risking a glance up to his face. How had he figured it out? "I thought so. Whatever it is- it feels like it stopped with the knife- and don't think I don't know what being stabbed in the foot feels like. You're going to explain to the others later today whatever it is you know. Steve's never been one to snap at other people like that when he's in a bad mood, and I'm not like that either. Even the Winter Soldier wasn't like that- but you remember. We have to figure out a way to make it stop that doesn't end with both of us lame, OK?"
Bucky waited for Inessa to acknowledge him before putting the car back in drive. She nodded once and eased her grip on the seatbelt. "You need to start trusting us," Bucky said as he drove, "I know that's hard for you. I know I'm a big part of that. They just want to help you, we all do. You don't have to keep secrets from us."
Inessa looked out the window again and curled up on the car seat. He was wrong. She had a lot of secrets that she had to keep from them. The Winter Soldier had made her forget who she was and what she had begun, but now that she was starting to remember, she knew she couldn't abandon her mission. Not again. Not for anything in the world, or anyone.
Sebastian Morris' Base - Location Unknown
Morris felt his minion's return. His quarters were sparse- a bed, a single table, a stool, and one large, ornate mirror. It was to this he went to receive the report. "Well? What kind of progress have you made?"
"The child has expelled me twice now. She can sense my presence. The Winter Soldier grows suspicious. We will be discovered soon." it spoke slowly in a whisper.
"So ease back!" Morris snapped, these creatures had no sense of tactics, "I do not need them ready by tomorrow, I need it done right! There is no opponent more suited for the Winter Soldier and Captain America than one another. If they take measures to defend themselves against you and your kind, the battle is already lost. You assured me you could have them rip one another to shreds- but on my timeline!"
"Understood, my lord, our sincere apologies. We will complete our mission as instructed."
"See that you do!" Morris wondered, not for the first time, if the Whisperers were plying their trade on him as well- they made his blood boil more than they did their victims. He grumbled and pulled out his cell phone. It rang only once before Albatross answered. "We are moving up the schedule, regrettably," he spoke before the assassin could. "You may begin reminding Natalia Romanova of your time together. There is far too much her handlers have made her forget."
Albatross chuckled, "Ah, so much time though. Where to begin?"
"I suggest you begin with the day you two met. The day you both stood before Johann Schmidt and Abraham Erskine and volunteered to test their super-soldier serum."
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