Heyyyy...
A/N: So as you can see, Chapter 8 has arrived! Bucky finally joined the party bus! Yay! Thanks for all the follows and favourites in advance!
Either way, enjoy!
I silently sat in the front seat of the car as Steve drove us in the depth of night. Natasha was in the back, still knocked out, luckily no bleeding so far. She hadn't stirred for a while now, and I hoped she would soon. Steve seemed to be getting anxious.
"So," he said. "About HYDRA and the stuff Zola said-"
I didn't want to hear any of it. I didn't need to, want to, either way it was eating me.
"I don't wanna talk about it," I replied dryly.
He hesitated and shifted in his seat. "Listen, I know it's a touchy subject, but you'll eventually have to tell and-"
"But not now," I countered again. "As you said, it's a touchy subject."
"Why can't you tell me? I'm your friend!"
"Steve," I said, taking calming breaths so I didn't snap. "A week ago I was sure you were dead."
"So did I, but I seem to be handling it well-"
"Steve!" I snapped. I regretted it, of course, but I had to. "You're a grown adult, I just barely turned 20!"
"But still..." I could hear the sadness in his voice, and it stung. "I- I wanna know what they did to you."
"Another time, okay?"
He glanced over at me and with a final sign, he nodded. "I guess."
Suddenly, Natasha stirred. And even after all that happened to her, a cocky smirk rested on her face.
"Hey," she said playfully. "What'd I miss?"
"Nothing, really," Steve lied smoothly.
"Okay, then. I'm hungry. Where are we going?"
I had been wondering that too. Steve had kept so quiet about it.
"A friend's."
That was it. That was his answer. I felt frustrated, but I knew if I was stubborn, Steve was worse than a mule. He wouldn't budge.
Natasha seemed to acknowledge that fact too because she kept silent after that. I wondered how much they knew about each other.
Hours later, my stomach was gnawing at me too. Thankfully, Steve had informed us we'd just arrived, so I stumbled out of the car, happy to get some fresh air into my body and stretch my muscles.
We hopped up some steps, until Steve knocked at some window-door. Said door opened to reveal some guy with OJ standing there.
"Hey man," Steve breathed. "I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low. Everyone we know is trying to kill us."
Wow, Steve, I thought silently. Way to go on breaking it to this guy slowly.
To my surprise, guy actually let us pass. "Not everyone."
Steve and Natasha decided to have showers first. I chose to stay back and get to know this guy a bit.
"So," I casually piped in. "Who are you?"
"I'm Sam. You must be Steve's little buddy."
"The name's Charlotte." I was actually starting to like this guy.
"Charlotte. Cute name. Can I call you Charlie?"
I almost shuddered at the long-forgotten nickname.
Bucky used to call you that.
"Just Charlotte, please."
"'Kay. Want some breakfast?"
"Sounds nice."
He strutted over to his fridge, pulling out several ingredients. Then, he eyed me and said,"You got any fun powers?"
"Depends. Have you ever been stabbed by a vibranium spike?" I replied jokingly.
"I haven't, and I'd like to keep it that way," he smiled and gave me a wink.
When he'd finished making breakfast which seemed to consist of fried eggs, he picked up two plates and walked over to the table where I was sitting. Unfortunately he stumbled and dropped one of the plates. But before it hit the ground, my sharp senses threw my hand out and the plate hovered beneath the smooth vibranium surface.
This made Sam backtrack and stare.
"So... what's that funky metal there?"
I smiled and replied,"Vibranium."
"So the stuff Cap's shield is made out of?"
"Yeah."
He picked the plate up and set it on the table. "Pretty cool, kid."
Then, he walked over to the room where Steve and Natasha were. What the suspicious part about this was that they were in there for longer than expected.
All I heard was Sam saying,"I made breakfast. You know, if you eat that sort of thing." This had me trying to restrain a laugh from myself.
Soon enough, the two came out of the room and Sam was left in there, and I heard shuffling and papers flying. Steve smirked and sat down along with Natasha, who seemed to be eyeing the breakfast like a predator.
"So, the question is, who at S.H.I.E.L.D. could launch a domestic missile strike?"
"Pierce."
"Who happens to be sitting on the most secure building in the world."
Their discussion was thoughtful. I decided not to have an input in it and let the pros talk it out. Besides, it would be better to just observe.
"But he's not working alone. Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star. So was Jasper Sitwell. So, the real question is, how do the three most wanted people in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D officer in broad daylight?"
"The answer is, you don't." Sam had walked up to the table, throwing a file to us.
"What's this?"
"Call it a resume."
Wow.
Sam did the Khalid Khandil mission? That's so cool!
"I thought you said you were a pilot."
"Never said pilot."
On the table was now a picture of jetpack wings...
"Oh my God, are those yours?" I was astonished.
"Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Heck yeah!"
Steve smirked. "I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."
"Dude, Captain America needs my help. No better reason to get back in." Sam was grinning now.
"Where can we get our hands on one of these things?" Natasha inquired.
"The last one is at Fort Meade. Behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall." Sam crossed his arms.
"Shouldn't be a problem," Natasha replied with a confident smile.
I was left sitting in the car, silently waiting, although against it. Steve and Natasha said they'd meet us and Sam got to do the talking. I felt pretty useless and was tempted to storm out of the car and do something that would actually be somewhat useful to this mission.
Several minutes later, Sitwell had been seated next to me, and I glared my cold death glare at him. He obviously got it, because he shuddered. Then, I swiftly reached over and snapped vibranium handcuffs on him, causing him to flinch. I smirked, my electric blue eyes still trained on him.
Sam drove for a while before stopping at a high-rise apartment, and I shoved Sitwell out before stepping out silently. I pulled him to his feet and glanced over to Sam, my hard stare still in place. Sam, however, just smirked.
Natasha and Steve really did meet us, and soon we were on the rooftop, Steve pushing Jasper through the door, poor guy scrambling to his feet before Cap lifted him by his collar. Sam had left us behind.
"Tell me about Zola's algorithm," Steve demanded roughly.
"Never heard of it," he replied. At this point, I almost laughed again. Just how stupid does he think we are?
"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"
"I was throwing up. I get seasick."
Steve got frustrated and dangled Sitwell over the roof. If it had been up to me, I'd have tossed him down like the little piece of crap he is.
"Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because that's not really your style, Rogers."
I didn't see Steve's face, but I could feel his smirk. "You're right. It's not." He set him down.
"It's hers."
Natasha turned to Sitwell and kicked him off the roof, his scream still able to be heard when they were having a casual conversation.
"Wait," Natasha coolly said. "What about that girl from Accounting, Laura..."
"Lilian. Lip piercing, right?"
"Yeah, she's cute."
"Yeah, I'm not ready for that." The conversation was almost comical, really.
Suddenly, Sitwell came back up, being held onto by Sam in his mechanical wings. Damn! I mean, they were cool in the picture, but damn!
"Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing insight's targets." Finally Sitwell spoke.
"What targets?" Steve demanded again.
"You! A TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defense, a high school Valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who's a threat to HYDRA. Now, or in the future."
"In the future? How could it know?"
Sitwell smirked as he got to his feet. "How could it not? The 21st century is a digital book. Zola taught HYDRA how to read it. Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores! Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."
"And what then?" He asked again.
Sitwell seemed to have realised his mistake, because now he mumbled. "Oh my God, Pierce is gonna kill me."
"What then?" Steve commanded.
"Then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few million at a time. HYDRA doesn't like leaks."
"Then why don't you try sticking a cork in it?" Steve remarked.
"Insight's launching in 16 hours. We're cutting it a little bit close here."
"I know. We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the helicarriers directly."
"What? Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea."
I rolled my eyes. We'd finally gotten into the car and were now discussing plans. I was stuck next to Sitwell, and he hated it as much as I did. He obviously knew I was dangerous.
All of a sudden, the car window on the left crashed and a metal arm went through, throwing Sitwell out onto oncoming traffic. I screamed and curled into a ball, making sure nothing shot me. Natasha, on the other hand, threw herself forward and narrowly got Cap to miss getting shot, kicking Sam out of the way of an oncoming bullet. Sam pulled the brakes and dude went flying down the road, his metal arm scratching the asphalt as he slowed his fall.
The man got up and my breath hitched.
The Winter Soldier was there again.
Ho hum, Bucky has arrived! Well, sorta.
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