Chapter 23: Avenger's Tower
Returning three hours later, Bucky and Inessa stepped out of the shadows in the lobby and, a moment later, Inessa felt the Valley sealed off. She was grounded once more. Sam and Steve (presumably alerted by JARVIS) came quickly down the stairs. Inessa braced for another argument, but Sam only smiled softly. Steve looked tired, but relieved, "I'm glad you're back safely. Where were you two?"
"A park," Inessa mumbled, "I don't know where. It was sunny."
"No wonder you look ready to drop then," Sam resisted the urge to prop up the pale, shivering teen. How long would it take her to sleep off that trip? Moving two people through broad daylight- she barely got a folder of papers through before.
She only nodded in reply, tipping slightly even as she did so. "We'll talk in the morning, alright?" Steve's voice was gentle. Inessa nodded and walked just past him to a long, low couch. She fell across it and was asleep before her head hit the cushions.
"I didn't know she was going to do that, jumping off the balcony-," Bucky started.
Steve cut him off, "I know, Buck. We saw the footage. Tell me just one thing, ok?"
"Anything."
"An hour after you left there was a massive explosion outside a small Japanese city. SHIELD thinks it might have been a Hydra facility detonating. Was that you two? Inessa was pretty pissed, if she pulled you along, if she didn't give you a choice but to cover her-"
"Absolutely not," Bucky stopped Steve before he got any further. He'd woken up something in that base, something more Winter Soldier than Bucky Barnes, and it made lying easy, "She jumped around a lot, like she wanted to run but didn't know where to. We stopped, finally, at that park." he was content to leave it there for a moment. If he focused too much on the park, it could peak Steve's suspicions. What would an innocent man say next? "Were there any fatalities? Should we get involved?"
"Seventeen injured so far, nothing even worth more than a day or two of observation in the hospital. No missing limbs, no dead pets. The injuries may rise, but no one will die."
"Well that's good at least," he felt sorry for Steve. The man looked worn down. Further disappointing him with the truth would only make things worse. At least, so Bucky told himself, "If it helps, I'm fairly certain we were somewhere near Seoul, maybe in China. Eastern Asia, for sure."
"How can you be sure?" Sam was curious.
Bucky shrugged, "The smell. In late summer there's always a smell like grass mixed with something spicy."
Steve accepted his word with a nod, but Sam wasn't convinced. He didn't press the issue for the exact same reason Bucky was telling himself he lied- for the sake of his friend. Maybe it would be something he could work through with Bucky separate from the other Avengers.
"It was a nice park," Bucky smiled a little, "lots of trees, a little stream just deep enough to wade in. Warm, like she said. There were no real paths, just areas with a bit less grass. We were lucky, there weren't many people there- I think I saw a kid and a few picnickers. No one came too close." The park wasn't a lie, which is why he could sell it so easily. Inessa was upset after they used the blood and eyes of the scientists to blow the base. There were no people in need of freeing, so instead she went back for the armory and packed every explosive she could carry around the burning, silver pillar of light that was the Helius device- the same one that killed her mother and gave her power. Just touching a hand to the raw stream of energy burning through it was enough to jolt her own powers to another level- one that didn't let a little thing like raw daylight stop her. Inessa didn't share this revelation with him though.
Bucky didn't know why Inessa chose that park. It was bright, cheerful- and incredibly draining to open a door through to. They could have gone anywhere dark- opening the door wouldn't have cost Inessa anything, but for some reason she chose the park. She seemed fine at first, but as the effects of the Helius device wore off, she grew more and more tired. Initially she lay on the grass with her feet in the stream and listened to the birds and bugs, but little by little Bucky saw color draining from her, dark bags form under her eyes, and her face was less relaxation as it was unbridled exhaustion. He shook her awake after two hours and suggested they return before the full effects of her power use were felt and they were trapped for who knows how long on the wrong side of the world.
Still, he had a feeling the rest in the park did more for Inessa than it could ever cost to open the return door into the Valley. She wasn't using anger to fuel her recovery for those hours, she simply let herself be as she wished to be- free. He sat a ways downstream to give the girl some time alone and rinsed his hands and arms in the water (Even though, in crossing into the Valley, Inessa left all of the blood behind- including the gore on Bucky).
"Sounds like paradise."
Bucky looked over to Sam, "It really was."
"Thanks for keeping an eye on her. I know you didn't have much choice," Steve glanced over as a remote suit entered and gently lifted Inessa from the couch to carry her upstairs. She didn't stir. "And thank you, JARVIS."
"My pleasure, sir," The A.I.'s voice was quiet, as if he were whispering. How had a guy like Tony- who was roughly 99% sass, created something... kind?
"Any theories on why Stark did it?"
Sam took this one, "He said he was tired of our 'Town Hall' debates on everything, so he took executive action. We can't get him to see that executive action cannot extend to unsanctioned human experiments. There was also a lot of swearing."
"It sounds like someone has their hooks in him," Bucky swore to Inessa in the park he wouldn't reveal Pryor's deception- not even to the doctor herself. If she went after him again, he'd just play along. Nothing but the guilt he still felt over his role in Project Echo made him obey the will of the teenager. That didn't mean he couldn't warn Sam and Steve somehow.
"Or he was just being Tony," Steve dismissed his theory. Bucky silently cursed.
"We'll figure it out," Sam shrugged, "but this time, let's do it before Hydra detonates half of New York's major tourist attractions, OK?"
Steve nodded his agreement, "If things get sketchy, more so than they already are, we'll head back to Clint's farm. New York's citizens have tolerated more than their share from us over the years. The goal is no civilian casualties next time."
After that they began to go their separate ways, conversation over. A loud grumble came from Bucky almost immediately. Sam patted his human shoulder, "We saved you and Inessa some food. You know how to use a microwave?"
Sebastian Morris' Base - Location Unknown
Morris had no way of knowing what was going on inside Avengers Tower- or forty stories beneath the balcony where Inessa and Bucky dissolved into shadow. He knew Pryor planted the seeds of dissent in Tony's mind- wholly against orders. The woman was a fool. Still, he needed her for now.
"Whenever plans start getting too big to manage, it means it's almost time to strike," John Ryker came to Morris in his office. Everyone knew the plan, and they'd seen his face when he heard Pryor's message- fury, rapidly contained. Only such unsavory company recognized it before his charming, cool mask returned.
"And yet we are nowhere near ready."
John disagreed, "You've got me, Albatross, Barton, Borson, Pryor, and the two demon-things. Count yourself in that mix and the element of surprise and the battle is all wrapped up with a bow. I admire your strategies, but believe me when I say that if you attacked right now, you'd win. If you wait, Pryor could blow the entire operation herself."
Morris didn't look back at him, "I have you, they have the Hulk. I have Albatross, they have Romanoff. I have one Barton, they have the other. I have Cul Borson, they have Thor Odinson, I have Pryor, they have your granddaughter, who is far superior in abilities by the way. I may have Barnes and Rogers at one another's throats, or they may have them united. They have Stark. They have Sam Wilson. They outnumber us by one, maybe two- I doubt Pryor's usefulness will extend into open combat. Until our numbers are evenly matched, or until we have superior forces, we continue to grow. That is the deal we all agreed to- one kill each, no split focus. Thomas Dennisson was weak, he jumped the gun and lost the battle. I'll not lose the war.
"Is the turncoat bitch really worth all this?" John never called Inessa or Nadya or whoever she was by name. As far as he was concerned she'd turned her back on everything her family stood for. Hydra to the core- no exceptions allowed.
"My master believes so, and therefore I do as well."
"So who else joins the party?" A new voice came from the doorway, prompting Morris to turn at last.
"Welcome back mister Barton- pardon, Berny," Morris raised a cup of tea in a cheers gesture, "wonderful work in New York."
Berny nodded to Ryker, acknowledging his presence, "It gave me the opportunity to field test the new hardware. Things have changed while I rotted in jail."
"And your medications?"
He held two gray vials up, "Right where I left them. I killed a lot of people to find this stuff. It'll extend my eyesight beyond even Hawkeye the Mighty," his voice was bitter on the last part.
"Why do you hate him so much again?" Ryker still wasn't the biggest fan of trusting a man to kill his own blood. On the other hand, he'd end Nadya in an instant for her insolence, if he could. Perhaps then he was judging unfairly. Berny seemed like a decent man.
"He bugs me, plus he tried to kill me first," Berny growled, tracing the scar on his cheek. "Oh, and his girlfriend locked me up for almost 20 years. I'll thank her for that one by taking him out. If she's still fighting Albatross when that happens, I'll give her his eyes on the point of one of his arrows."
"Don't tease the prey," Morris reminded him. This wasn't the first time he'd said it to his cabal, "That is the demise of every foolish man. Kill fast, savor the sight of the corpse rather than the kill itself. You can give Natasha your gift when Albatross has finished. Otherwise you risk galvanizing her against the both of you and we end up two men down. One loose Avenger is too many for my taste."
"As long as I get to give someone his eyes, skewered on an arrow, and I get pictures- I'm happy."
"Good," Barton was easy to get along with, Morris liked him, "and as for your earlier question- I've had my eye on one new ally for some time, I just need final permission to approach her handlers. I'm closing in on Sam Wilson's enemy."
"I get confused, so bare with me," Berny shrugged. "You're not Hydra?"
"Correct."
"Do they know that?"
"No."
"But you still work with them?"
"When our interests are aligned."
"And when this is all over and the Avengers are dead?"
Morris had arranged everything, "Cul Borson will rule this realm. You may serve under him as you do me now in exchange for kingdoms and wealth, I have his word, or you may return with me to meet my master and rule entire solar systems."
Berny smiled, "Cosmic Emperor Berny Barton, now that's my kind of prize."
"Not bad at all," Ryker began making plans for his new kingdom. He'd not leave Earth, he wasn't as ambitious and overly-thirsty for power. Ruling a solar system hardly sounded like a fun second-life. A kingdom though? A utopia for Hydra to flourish and grow unchecked? That he was willing to bank on."
"Don't get ahead of yourselves," Morris warned. "We haven't won the war... yet," he allowed himself a little smile and a little hope, "but if Sin joins us? We're one very large step closer."
"Who's Sin?" Ryker didn't recognize the name, and he'd known about all of Hydra's assets.
"The Red Skull's very own daughter."
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Sorry for slower chapters lately, I'm halfway through writing Part 3 and it's going to be absolutely, incredibly, overwhelmingly EPIC so I keep writing that instead of finishing up Part 2! I will say though- it makes even Part 1 look weak. It's going to be the perfect finale to this series!