Chapter 3. Visitors
A hand on her mouth woke Lacey and she heard Bucky's voice whisper in her ear. "There's someone outside," he said. "I'm going to put my clothes on and check it out. Can you get into the attic by yourself and pull up the ladder?"
"Yes," she said, suddenly afraid. "You be careful."
"I always am," he replied and he went to his room quietly.
Lacey threw some clothes on and went out to the main room, pulling down the ladder and going up. She pulled the ladder up behind her and sat in the corner of the attic, near the window, trying to see what was going on outside. She did see one man, with a gun, when Bucky came up behind him unseen and unheard. He put the man into a chokehold, knocking him out. Then he disarmed him and pulled him into the bushes. She heard the sound of a door opening into the house and held her breath, afraid to move. The door opened again and there was the sound of a scuffle followed by silence. Several minutes later the door opened once more and she heard a muffled whisper in a language she couldn't recognize. There was another scuffle which lasted longer but again ended in silence.
A sound outside the window drew her attention and she watched as a big man with a shaved head came across the yard. He looked up at the window and she pulled back immediately, afraid she had been seen. A few minutes later the sound of the door to the attic being pulled down reached her ears and she heard someone coming up the ladder. Terrified, Lacey tried to hide herself in the darkness. A man's head peeked out from the opening, seeming to look right at her. It took all of her willpower not to scream. Suddenly he was pulled down and she could hear the sound of a brawl in the house. Creeping to the opening on her hands and knees she saw glimpses of Bucky, carrying a kitchen knife in his hand, as he fought the man. It was incredible to watch him. He was fast, brutal, and he fought like a demon against a man who was obviously skilled in this type of fighting. Bucky was so much more skilled in his fighting technique that it seemed he was almost playing with the man, waiting for the moment when he could take him down. He finally pinned the man down putting the knife through his palm, and into the floor. With his artificial hand Bucky punched him repeatedly until the man was unconscious before he stopped and sat back on his heels, his breathing barely noticeable. He looked up the stairs.
"Are you okay?" he called.
"Yes," she answered back.
"Do you have duct tape?" he asked. "They need to be immobilized until the FBI gets here. They're Russian and they were talking about the flash drive."
"In my desk," she said. "Do you want me to get it?
"No, stay up there for a bit," he replied. "I'll take care of it."
He opened her desk drawer, located the duct tape and began to hog tie the three men, frisking them to make sure they weren't carrying any other weapons. Then he went outside, found the fourth and carried him inside, hog tying him and frisking him as well. Only then would he allow her to come down, turning on the light so she could see. She looked at the four men then at Bucky.
"You took down four men and you're barely winded," she said, impressed.
"It's what I do," he replied, then he lifted a shirt on one of the men, showing her a distinctive tattoo. "Russian mob. Some of the mobs were involved in HYDRA as well, on the trafficking side, kidnapping people to be their slaves." The man with the shaved head came to and looked at Bucky then said "soldat." Bucky said something in Russian back to him and looked back at Lacey. "I told him I don't do that anymore. He recognized me. It means I'm going to have to leave. They can't get word to HYDRA that I was here. I'm sorry. You need to go to your mom's house as soon as you can or they'll come back for you and for the drive."
She nodded. "I guess this is goodbye then," she said, looking down.
He raised her chin with his hand. "I'm sorry," he said again, gently. "The less you know about my plans the better. You may have to sell this place otherwise they'll watch you to see if I return."
"What will I tell the FBI about these four?" she asked.
"The truth," he replied. "They won't believe you outsmarted four Russian heavies so tell them it was me. Then tell them I left right away and you don't know where I went. Phone them right now. They'll send a small army to deal with these four."
She nodded and phoned Agent Jones again to tell him she was just saved by Bucky Barnes from four Russian mobsters. He practically yelled into the phone, telling her to stay put. Bucky went into the bedroom while she spoke to Jones. Once she hung up she went to the room and saw he had packed his backpack. He stepped forward, pushed the door closed, and grasped her by the shoulders touching her cheek softly then kissing her deeply. He went to the window, opened it and climbed out. As she looked outside she spotted him near some bushes in the distance. Turning back he blew her a kiss then he disappeared into the bushes. With a sob, she felt as if part of her insides had been ripped out.
Returning to the living room the man who had spoken to Bucky looked at her. "The soldier belongs to HYDRA," he said in heavily accented English. "When they get him back they will send him to kill you and he will because it was what he was programmed to do. You can run but the soldier will find you. He always does."
"Fuck you," she replied and the man smirked at her bravado.
Sitting with the Russians waiting for the FBI to arrive gave her the creeps by itself, but it was almost worse as the bald headed man watched her every move. The other three, once they came to, also watched her in a way that was unnerving. They spoke with each other in Russian and several times laughed, making Lacey think they were talking about her and not in a respectful way. She was glad Bucky had taped them up making it impossible for them to get loose. Twenty long minutes later three black vehicles and a paddy wagon with lights flashing pulled up into the yard. Agent Jones was in the lead vehicle and came right inside without knocking on the door. He lifted the four men's faces up off the floor and sneered at them, then ordered his men to get them out of there. Another man took their weapons which Bucky had left piled on the table. Once they were gone he looked at Lacey expectantly.
"The flash drive?" he asked.
"You wouldn't be getting it if he hadn't been here," said Lacey, as she walked into the spare room. "Where was your guy, huh? Why didn't he pick it up last night?"
Jones grabbed her arm and spun her around. "You are very close to being arrested for harbouring a known fugitive," he said. "A very dangerous fugitive. He's a killer."
"Who saved my life," she reminded him as she yanked her arm out of his grip. "Those four, will they make bail? Will they come back to take me out? Bucky told me they're traffickers for HYDRA, scum of the earth, in other words. Will you protect me from them?"
"How long was he here?" asked Jones, his face just inches from hers, close enough that she could see the pores on his skin. "Did you know him before your brother came here?"
Lacey stepped back, intimidated by his anger. "No," she replied in a resigned manner. "He was hiding in the garage, injured. I didn't know who he was at the time but he asked for my help. It was after you left. He slept in the spare room, helped me with some of the house repairs. When those guys showed up he took them out, without killing them. Told me to phone you and to tell you the truth that it was him that helped me. So, I'm not going to believe you when you call him a dangerous killer. Is he dangerous ... yes, but not to me. Is he a killer? Not any more. You can believe me or not. Now let me get you that flash drive."
She went into the spare bedroom, pulled out the night table, lifted the loose piece of wood and took the flash drive out. Shoving it into his hand she looked at him harshly in the early morning light.
"By the way, he found your listening devices," she said. "I was nothing but truthful to you and yet you put listening devices into my home, as if I was a common criminal. Shame on you."
He shrugged. "Sorry," he said. "That decision came from higher up."
"Well perhaps your higher ups might be interested to know that those four Russians knew about the flash drive," she said. "If Tom didn't tell them then somebody in the FBI did. Chew on that. Now get out of my house."
He looked sharply at her and left the house while she followed him outside. Making a circular motion with his hand while holding it up in the air his associates got back into the SUVs and they pulled out. Then Lacey got dressed, made herself a coffee and sat at the table deciding what to do. She walked through the house, looking at and touching things, bringing back memories. After a time she phoned a realtor on her cell phone and told her she wanted to list the property immediately, as is, buyer take everything. Once she hung up, she broke down crying.
"I'm sorry Grandpa," she cried, looking around her. "I have to sell it. It's too dangerous for me now."
She started to pack her suitcases, then found a couple of boxes and packed up her books. For a moment she smiled when she realized her book, Confessions of a Broken White Girl, was missing.
"Son of a bitch, he took it," she said. "Maybe I will see him again."
She finished packing the books, then put the assorted pictures she had into the box with them. Looking around she tried to decide what else to take and she saw them, her Grandpa's LPs. He wanted to hear them all so she would play them for him and found she had an appreciation for big band music, as that comprised most of his collection. Going out into the garage she found some milk crates and emptied them of their contents. Inside the house she transferred the LPs into them, then put them into the trunk of her car.
Once more she looked around the living room area again but she didn't see anything else that was meaningful to her. She went into the spare room and looked around then saw something on the dresser. She hadn't noticed it when she went in to get the flash drive but she noticed it now. It was a paper heart, made origami style. She picked it up and turned it over. Written in pen in beautiful handwriting on the back were the words I will remember you, B. Sitting on the bed she held the paper heart in her hand and cried. They were over before they had ever started and he was gone forever. Her grandpa's robe was on the bed and she picked it up smelling Bucky's clean scent on it.
Slowly she took some deep breaths, calming her emotions then she put the paper heart inside of her favourite book, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, and packed it back in the book box. From there she went to her room and looked around to see if there was anything she wanted to take with her. She folded up her grandmother's quilt then spotted her Grandpa's Korea medals, taking the shadow box gently into her hands. She wrapped it up in the robe, putting it and the quilt in the box with her books. As she came out of the bedroom there was a knock at the door and she opened the door to the realtor, who had got out there quickly. Lacey showed her around and explained that something had come up that required her immediate attention, that she wouldn't be able to return to pack up the house. After discussing an opening price Lacey told her the lowest price she would accept. She signed the contract, shook hands with the realtor and watched her leave with the spare set of keys. Then she packed the LPs and book boxes in her car's trunk, putting her suitcases in the back seat. After locking up the house she stood outside looking at it, at her failed dream, and got into her car. When she pulled away she didn't look back.
One month later
It was difficult waiting for the results of the final pregnancy test. Lacey had bought three of them, after three days straight of throwing up. The first two were both positive and now she was waiting for this one. The egg timer buzzed and she picked up the final test ... pregnant. She took a deep breath. How had this happened? Bucky was sure he was sterile and she had been on the pill. However it had happened it was real and now she had a decision to make. Was she going to keep it or get rid of it? She looked around at her bachelor suite. It was tiny, a furnished rental, under her grandmother's maiden name so that the Russian mob couldn't find her. She couldn't raise a baby there. But it was Bucky's baby and if it had his eyes ... Lacey opened her banking app and looked at her bank balance. The property had sold quickly, bought by a man who wanted to build a golf resort and paid a premium for the place, even though someone had broken in and trashed the insides. She could buy a house anywhere she wanted but she was afraid of being found if she did. Closing her app she opened her contacts and looked at the one for Agent Jones. She wanted to trust him so badly but he had hung her out to dry when she told him about the flash drive. A story on the TV caught her attention and she turned up the sound. It was about the Avengers. Captain America, Steve Rogers, was being interviewed about the day he fought the Winter Soldier at the Triskelion and almost died. They pressed him repeatedly about Bucky Barnes until he got angry and looked at the reporter.
"Bucky Barnes served his country in World War II and fell while in action," he said angrily. "He was taken as a POW by HYDRA, tortured, brainwashed and turned into a weapon. When I fought him he could have killed me but he began to remember who we were to each other and he saved my life. He needs to be brought in and be treated for his torture, then rehabilitated back into society. I will fight every minute for the rest of my life for Bucky."
He continued to glare at the reporter until they stopped recording. Lacey took a deep breath. Maybe he was someone she could ask for help and she impulsively booked a plane ticket to New York on her phone. Somehow she was going to talk to Steve Rogers, even if she had to camp out in front of Stark Tower to do it. The next morning she packed an overnight bag and hailed a cab to the airport. She checked in, using her real ID, and the counter agent looked at her.
"Ma'am, could you please stand aside?" she said quietly. "You have been flagged and someone is coming to speak to you."
"I need to get on this flight," insisted Lacey.
"We will do our best ma'am but it is important that you see this individual first," said the agent, apologetically.
A security guard appeared and Lacey sighed, stepping aside. He escorted her to an office behind the security station and opened a door for her to wait in a room. Five minutes later Agent Jones walked in and Lacey turned away from him in distaste.
"Don't do that," he said testily. "I am trying to help you but it was hard when we didn't know where you were. You booked a flight last night for New York and we waited for you to show up today. Are you meeting Bucky Barnes there?"
"Are you kidding me?" she said, looking at him with disgust. "You think I'm meeting him? I haven't seen him since the day the Russians tried to get the flash drive. I haven't heard from him either."
"Why did you sell your house then?" he asked. "Making a little nest egg to support both of you when you meet up with him again?"
"I am not meeting up with him again," said Lacey angrily. "Why don't you believe me? Bucky told me to sell up so the Russians couldn't find me again. Considering the leak that is likely in the FBI I thought it was good advice and I took it. You did know someone came to the house after I left and went through it? Good thing the buyer wanted the property and not the house."
"Then why go to New York?" he asked, looking at her intently. "What was so important that you had to get there?"
"I wanted to talk to Steve Rogers," she snapped. "You happy? I wanted to tell him that I had encountered Bucky. Then I was going to ask his help in finding a safe place for me to live. What would be safer than living with the Avengers?"
He stared at her and she stared right back at him, fed up with his fixation on Bucky. "That's it?" he asked. "You just figured you could walk up to Stark Tower, ask to see Steve Rogers and they would welcome you with open arms?"
"I'm an ordinary person who has had an extraordinary month since my brother was killed," she replied. "I'm not a criminal genius. It seemed like a good idea at the time. By the way, how goes the investigation into my brother's murder?"
Jones sighed. "I'm not the enemy," he declared. "You have all this anger towards me and I really don't know why. If you say you haven't heard from Bucky then I'll have to believe you. He's still wanted and there is still a shoot to kill order on him." He put up his hand when Lacey began to protest. "I told the CIA how he helped us arrest four heavies in the Russian mob but they dismissed it outright. The flash drive proved your brother's innocence and our forensic accountants are still examining it to determine where the money is." Jones sat back and looked at her again as if deciding his next course of action. She tried her best to ignore him.
"I'm going to give you my personal phone number," he said, taking a card out of his wallet and writing on it. "You were right to be angry at me for not coming for the flash drive sooner. I was under orders at the time and it did endanger your life. For that I am sorry, truly sorry. For what it's worth I think asking Steve Rogers for help is a good idea. You are still at risk from the mob because they likely think your brother told you more than he did. I'm going to escort you to your flight and when you get off the plane in New York there will be an agent who will pick you up and drive you to Stark Tower. His name is Edgar Rodriguez and this is what he looks like." Jones showed her a picture from his phone. "He will set up the meet with Steve Rogers. Whatever happens after that is between you two. Good luck and I do mean it."
The man was as good as his word, walking Lacey to the gate where they were holding the flight for her. When she came off the jet Agent Rodriguez was waiting for her and he drove her straight to Stark Tower, walking her inside to the security station and identifying her as Lacey Williams. A young woman came out of the secure area, greeted her and asked Lacey to come with her to the elevator. As they went up Lacey became nauseous and asked for a washroom so she could vomit. The woman looked at her strangely but showed her to a very well appointed one when the elevator stopped, where Lacey promptly threw up. After rinsing her mouth Lacey thanked her for her patience and followed her to a lounge area where Steve Rogers and Tony Stark were sitting on stools, talking. Both men held out their hands to shake hers and invited her to sit on a sofa while they sat across from her.
"Miss Williams," said Steve. "How can I help you?"
"I saw you on TV last night, sticking up for Bucky Barnes," she said, looking nervously at Tony Stark as she spoke. "I was with him just over a month ago." Both Steve and Tony became very interested. "I found him, injured in my garage. He said he had been cornered by HYDRA here in New York, shot in the leg, had to jump into the Hudson River and swim to Staten Island. My home, at that time, was in Delaware. He stayed with me for a short time, helped me with some repairs to the house then saved my life when some Russian mobsters came to find a flash drive left there by my brother. He was found dead in his car, murdered just after Bucky showed up."
"So, you're just here to update us on Barnes whereabouts?" asked Tony. "Do you know where he is now?"
"No, he left after telling me to call the FBI to pick up the four mobsters," she said. "He was trying to stow away on a container ship to Europe out of either Baltimore or Philadelphia. Whether he did or not is unknown to me."
"I don't understand," said Steve. "You could have called with this information. Why did you want to see me in person?"
"Because I don't know who else to trust," said Lacey, as tears started forming and her throat constricted. "You see, we slept together. I was on the pill and Bucky said he believed he was sterile from everything HYDRA did to him, but I started throwing up a few days ago. I'm pregnant, with Bucky's baby. I took three over the counter pregnancy tests and they all confirmed it. If HYDRA or even the CIA find out I'm afraid they'll come looking for me and the baby."
Both men sat there, their mouths open, then they looked at each other. "Can you prove it's Barnes?" asked Tony, and Steve glared at him. "I know how that sounds and I'm sorry for saying it but how do we know you're not some fortune hunter?"
"Because I already have half a million in the bank after I sold my home to some resort developer, in the event more Russians showed up," began Lacey. "I also have this." She pulled her copy of Pride and Prejudice out and brought out the origami heart, handing it to Steve. "He left this for me. I figured you, of all people, would recognize his handwriting."
Steve looked at it and stood up, looking at it again. He handed it to Tony and walked around considering everything that Lacey had just told him.
"Barnes doesn't know about the baby," stated Tony.
"No, I haven't heard from him since he left," said Lacey. "The message on that heart sounded pretty final to me and I've accepted that. I'm just more concerned about protecting the baby from those who would use him to find Bucky and arrest him."
"They might also want to study the baby," mused Tony to Steve. "A super soldier baby. Bruce thinks the genetic changes from both of your serums would be passed on to any children you have. I know lots of people in the CIA who would want to get their hands on that baby."
"So would HYDRA," said Steve, "especially if they could use it to lure Bucky back."
"Even though he's not in their hands Bucky said HYDRA can still control him," stated Lacey. "A sequence of activation words would make him compliant and he would obey any order they gave him. One of the Russians said the same thing. He hasn't killed since he saved you from drowning, for what it's worth."
"Tony, we need to locate Bucky and bring him in," insisted Steve. "As long as HYDRA has those activation words to control him he's a danger to himself and to us. But if we bring him in we can treat him. At the very least we need to keep Miss Williams here so that no one finds out she's carrying Bucky's baby."
"Who's carrying Bucky's baby?" said a female voice, belonging to Natasha Romanoff, who had just walked in.
It was Tony's turn to glare at Steve. "Natasha, meet Lacey Williams," said Tony. "She claims to be carrying Bucky Barnes' baby. How far along are you?"
"A month," replied Lacey. "I don't claim ... I am carrying his baby."
Natasha sat down and looked critically at Lacey. "How equipped is Bucky?" she asked bluntly of her. Steve and Tony both looked at her in almost horror. She looked back with feigned innocence. "What? He was involved in Red Room training and there were stories."
Lacey turned red in the face. "Very," she admitted as she glanced nervously at the two men. "The biggest I've ever seen. He knew how to use it as well. It was the best sex I've ever had, not that I've had a lot of experience."
"She's been with him," declared Natasha. "I'm sure Bruce can run some test to determine the father. We still have blood samples from Bucky, right? He was supposed to be sterile, they called him..."
"The dud of a stud, he told me," said Lacey.
Natasha tilted her head, a slight smile on her face. "They were filling him with all sorts of chemicals tweaking his physique, among other things," she explained to the men. "Those of us in the Red Room figured all the chemicals they were pumping into him while trying to come up with the perfect assassin probably made him sterile. They wanted him to breed with several Red Room candidates who hadn't had their graduation ceremony. Didn't stop Bucky trying, when he was the soldier of course. When he was not under control he refused to take advantage. Another reason he was a disappointment to them in that regard." She looked at Steve then at Tony. "Lacey is going to live here, right? If HYDRA or the CIA find out about the baby they'll come looking for her. We need to protect them both."
"Alright, she can live here," decided Tony. "But other than Bruce no one else needs to know." They agreed. "Miss Williams, where are you living now? We can provide assistance to you to pack up your things and bring them here."
"Philadelphia, in a furnished bachelor apartment," she replied. "I rented it under my grandmother's maiden name. I just have clothes, books, LPs and and some personal items."
"I'll help you," said Natasha. "It will give us a chance to get acquainted better. Which room, Tony?"
"Are you a morning person or an evening person, Miss Williams?" asked Tony.
"Morning, I guess," replied Lacey. "Just call me Lacey. My mom was a big fan of Cagney and Lacey."
"Give her one facing east, so Lacey can see the morning sun," decided Tony. "You can use the quinjet to fly there and take some help to carry Lacey's things. No point putting her on a commercial jet again when we can get it done faster."
Ninety minutes later Natasha, Clint, and Lacey had packed her things. Clint was only told that Lacey had run afoul of the Russian mob and the FBI couldn't guarantee her safety. He brought a dolly to load the boxes and quietly took load after load to the quinjet. Lacey wrote her notice and dropped it off under the door of the building manager. With Clint at the quinjet controls they were soon back at Stark Tower. He brought all the boxes and records on the dolly to Lacey's quarters then left Natasha to help unpack Lacey's things. Natasha looked at the selection of clothing and mentioned that she had to take Lacey shopping for some new clothes, which Lacey declined since she would need maternity clothes soon enough. Then Natasha saw the origami heart when Lacey took it out of the Pride and Prejudice copy.
"Bucky made this for you?" she asked. "It looks like he never expected to see you again. Surely, you're going to tell him about the baby?"
"I don't know where he is," said Lacey. "We only had the one night, so it's not like we had a commitment going into it. If they find him then I'll consider it but I don't think I will ever see him again."
"Then why have his baby?" asked Natasha gently.
"Because I can't stop thinking of him," admitted Lacey, a tear streaming down her cheek. "If the baby has his eyes then a part of him will always be with me and that will have to be good enough."
"They'll find him," said Natasha, putting her arm around Lacey's shoulders. "I'm sure of it."
Lacey smiled, hoping that Natasha was right. When she joined them all for dinner Tony introduced her as someone who needed protection from the Russian mob. Since the FBI seemed to have a leak they had been asked to keep her in Stark Tower for her own safety. He also announced that she was pregnant but that the father was missing. Everyone was kind to her but she did notice Tony talking privately to another dark haired man with both of them looking at her. She assumed it was about the baby and hoped that she could prove she was carrying Bucky's baby.