The Curse of Dr. Zola
Chapter 26
Interlude
She watched them fly away. It was both a disappointment and an opportunity. She crept from the line of trees up to the house. It took her a bit to get the door open, even with all her skills.
Methodically, she looked thru everything, disturbing things as little as possible. She found very little useful things, but she mentally made notes in her head as she was trained to do. People tended to follow patterns. They chose items to reflect their thoughts and personality. She was trained to decipher the little nuances people exhibited by their choices.
These people were going to be a challenge. The décor reminded her of her earlier days of service to her country, when people were much more simple-minded. Too bad her colleague couldn't be here; he would have loved to have a go at the woman. No matter. He was long dead, like many of her colleagues. She had always felt robbed that she had been recalled from her mission before she had had a chance to complete that one; killing Peggy Carter would have been quite a notch on her belt. She smiled, knowing that Peggy could not help her handsome fella anymore, now that dementia had set in. But his friend, he was a mystery she wanted to get to the bottom of, the one that was with her target.
She looked thru the computer, checking for anything useful. She sat up. This is interesting! She looked thru the recent places accessed. Why is she looking at this stuff? She viewed everything and then came across a file marked Captain America.
She did not expect to find what she found. Eyes wide, she quickly made mental notes. Barnes? Barnes? James Buchanan Barnes? She skimmed over the file, and closed the computer down.
She made another pass around the house, and looked for all the places people hid stuff. No safes or hiding spots behind the pictures, no false dresser drawer bottoms, no locked drawers indicating private and confidential files. With a deep breath, she made sure nothing was out of place and that she'd wiped her fingerprints off of everything she'd touched and left.
As she walked down the driveway, she prioritized her list; report to her superiors about Captain America, report that James Buchanan Barnes had at last been found, and then make her request to kill the grand-daughter of Mary Engel. Her failure back in 1974 cost her dearly and she had been severely punished for it. Of course, she wouldn't kill her until she had retrieved the necklace first. She was hoping the grand-daughter would put up a fight. She wanted to prolong her pain for as long as possible.
"Mary, are you sure?" Bucky held her by her shoulders.
"Yes, I can feel it."
"Get her out of here!" Steve ordered.
Bucky swept Mary off her feet and ran outside with her. Inside, Steve went instantly all Captain America. He searched the house thoroughly, and then went downstairs, to look for any intruders. There were no unauthorized people in the house.
He went outside and gave them the all-clear, but once back inside Mary shuddered. "I can still feel her."
"It was a woman?" Steve asked.
"It feels like one."
"OK, go pack a bag. You and Bucky are going to a motel for a couple of nights. I'm going to stay here and…"
"No." Mary looked up at him, uneasy and frightened, but determined. "We have to find out who she is and what she wants."
"It may not be safe here, Mary."
"This is my home! I will not let anyone chase me from my home. I had enough of that when I was a child." She paused just long enough for a memory to strike her. "Ohmygod! Now I understand."
"What, Mary?" Bucky drew her to sit on the sofa.
"My mother, she knew, she must have known!"
Steve sat on the edge of the coffee table, exchanging glances with Bucky.
"After the accident that killed daddy, mama got uptight and snapped at me all the time until we sold the house. She must have known it wasn't an accident, that's why we moved all the time. Then she re-married fairly quickly, and we got our names changed. My step-dad died less than a year later and we moved again. We moved a lot. She knew someone was after her, and now they are after me. Mama was protecting me." She cupped Bucky's face in her hand. "And she was protecting you."
"I'll protect you Mary. It's my job now."
"This all started with my grandmother. Why?" She thought a moment. "Someone was after her too, maybe?"
Bucky swallowed hard, and looked rather guilty.
Steve knew the look. "What is it Buck?"
"Remember the night Tony got knocked across the room downstairs?"
Steve nodded.
"I woke up not only because I felt the shockwave, but I had had a nightmare."
He recounted the story of being zapped, tied up, and locked in a small metal space. He told them how he felt what seemed to be explosions from off in the distance, and that he was told his life was in danger. "I never told you, Mary, because I didn't want you to worry."
"You didn't want me to worry? Do you know what they will do to you if they catch you? They've been after my family since 1944, catching you will be a bonus, and then…." She couldn't finish; the tears rolled down her cheeks. Bucky pulled her close.
"Stay with her, I'm calling Fury."
The quin jet arrived a short time later. Bags packed, Mary reluctantly let herself be led onto it. Steve was staying behind just long enough to meet up with the team Fury was sending over, off the books. Once Steve met with them, he'd be on the next jet out. He promised he'd join them soon.
The team arrived quickly and Steve showed them around. He boarded the jet and left the plans in the hands of Fury's people.
On board, there was a woman escort. She held out her hand in introduction. "Agent 13; you can call me Kate."
Steve shook her hand. "Steve Rogers."
"Have a seat Captain, and buckle in."
Mary and Bucky landed near this cute farmhouse. There was a large porch that seemed very inviting, but Mary wasn't in the mood. She'd spent the entire flight sniffling and sad. Bucky had unbuckled himself against the orders of the agent in charge and held her close to him.
There was a large pond with ducks swimming around; quacking their heads off at the uninvited guests. A very large barn stood off to the side with sun-faded red paint. Some chickens milled around close to the barn, and pecked at some bits on the ground.
They disembarked with the agent, and the jet engines idled.
Mary turned to the agent as Bucky put their bags down. "Where are we?"
"A safe house; my house." Mary turned. Clint Barton walked up to greet them. "I didn't think we'd be seeing each other again so soon. Fury filled me in while you were in flight. We have a room for you and for Steve, once he gets here."
Mary gave him an unhappy expression, but nodded. They followed him inside while the jet departed.
A woman was chasing down a couple of children. Clint made introductions. Mary looked confused.
"Something wrong?" Clint asked her.
"I thought you and Nat…."
Clint smiled. "No we're just friends. I'm very happily married." He smiled at his wife, Laura. "I'll show you to your room."
Clint gave them a quick tour. "Steve will be right across the hall. I'll let you settle in and give you a call when supper is ready."
Mary was unhappy, and barely unpacked anything.
"Do you need help?" Bucky put his arms around her from behind.
"No, it's fine."
He turned her around, and lifted her chin. "Hey, it's just temporary, until SHIELD can make the improvements needed for our security."
"I know. I just hate being chased out of our home."
"Temporary means we're going back. I won't let anything happen to you." He kissed the top of her head.
Out the window, another jet landed, sending the ducks flapping and quacking all over again.
"Why don't you lay down and I'll go meet Steve."
She nodded, and put her suitcase on the floor.
Supper was subdued. Mary ate but she really had no appetite; she barely tasted anything. Afterwards, she helped Laura with the dishes while the men chatted out of earshot.
"Fury is putting in a security system, and an escape tunnel underground, well, several; one is going to be the escape tunnel, the others will be decoys. There will be access to it via the secret cellar, and Fury is beefing up security around the door leading downstairs. There will be security around the entire perimeter. No one will be able to approach the house without us knowing." Steve told Clint and Bucky.
"In the meantime, you are welcome to stay at Fort Barton."
"Thanks Clint. We'll try to make the best of it, and not get underfoot."
"Are you kidding? I'm recruiting you guys to help me get some work done around here! I'm way behind and Laura has a long 'honey-do list' for me. I hear you're pretty good with an axe."
Bucky nodded.
"Good. We'll start tomorrow."