Awake-But At What Cost?
Bucky didn't want to open her eyes yet. She was tired and sore and she really didn't feel like answering any questions. But despite feeling generally terrible, she couldn't help but feel accomplished. She still had the microchip, which meant that her mission hadn't been in vain. Coulson would be proud. She thought over her cover one last time, then opened her eyes. She sat up and glanced around. Bruce--bless him--had fallen asleep in his chair, glasses still on his nose. She was wearing a giant t-shirt and her cargo pants, and she could see her gear laid out carefully by Bruce's hand. She would have to find a way to thank him properly one day, but now she had to leave without blowing her cover. She trusted him, but nobody could be trusted with what she knew. Not yet. Careful to be quiet so as not to wake Bruce, Bucky slid out of the bed and padded slowly over to her gear. She winced as her wounds smarted, but she had endured greater pain than this, and had the scars to prove it, so she kept moving. Besides, that super soldier bullshit the Germans had pumped into her veins made her heal quicker, so in a way she had them to thank. Be it some act of God, gods, or just Bruce having the sleeping habits of a stone, Bucky was able to stuff her gear--except the vest that useless piece of shit--into a backpack that she found in a cupboard and change into a t-shirt that didn't reach her knees and a hoodie that fit her arm. She made a mental note to return Bruce's stuff later, then silently let herself out of the apartment. She checked one last time that the capsule and bullet were still in their plastic baggie in her pants pocket, she disappeared down the hall. Fastening a baseball cap over her hair, she pulled up the hood and pattered quickly down the stairs to the cool of Albuquerque in late fall. Luckily she didn't bump into anyone, and she made it onto the next bus to Puenta Antigua. She had just put her stuff into the overhead compartment when a young boy stepped onto the bus holding hands with a young girl. They were both about ten years old. Bucky didn't pay much attention to them, and sat quietly in her window seat. Much to her surprise, the children walked to the back of the bus and sat down across the aisle from Bucky. She smiled a little, the kids were sweet, the girl probably a child of immigrants with her long black hair and honey skin, the boy probably local with a mop of brown hair and way too many freckles. They were obviously close friends, and they chattered quietly between themselves. Bucky waited for their parents to get on the bus, but none did, and eventually the bus pulled out of the station taking the children with them. To pass the time Bucky pulled a small sketchbook and pencil from another pocket in her pants. She began to draw, scribbled at first, but eventually pulling the bridge of a nose and the curve of eyes and a chin from the darkness. She had been training in remembering faces, and this one was the sniper who had shot her as she was escaping from the lab in Albuquerque. Maybe Coulson's face recognition software would be able to find a match. It was bitter irony that she, a sniper, had been hit by someone in her own trade. Maybe she would talk to Francis about it. He liked the whole poetic justice idea.
"Lady?" A young voice piped, and Bucky ignored it. There was a short pause as whoever was speaking found the courage to speak again. "Lady?" Bucky looked up from her drawing and gave her attention to the kids next to her. It was the boy who had spoken, because the girl was cowering shyly behind him.
"Yes?" Bucky had trouble being annoyed. She had always liked kids, so much that once she had accidentally broken her conditioning because her handler had told her to shoot a little boy who had accidentally wandered into their compound. And oh, they had tried to cut the empathy out of her, but she had clung to it--if at times only subconsciously.
"Um. Anna was wondering why you're here all by yourself." The boy asked, his voice filled with childish bravado.
"I could ask you the same question." Bucky replied with a smirk.
"But I asked first." The boy was insistent. Bucky felt a bit suspicious of these kids, there was just something off about their situation.
"I'm visiting my boyfriend." Bucky replied, lying happily through her teeth. Her boyfriend was happily--or perhaps anxiously because she hadn't told him where she was going--at home in his apartment in DC.
"We're running away. Charlie and I are." The girl piped up for the first time, looking both brave and absolutely terrified. Bucky's eyes widened.
"Are you now?" Bucky remembered the first time she had run away when she was seven years old after a fight with her stepsister. Bucky's parents had found her happily curled up in Steve's bed and she had gone home the next morning.
"She has a uncle who lives in Puen-Puent-" the boy--Charlie--stuttered.
"Where we're going." The girl finished.
"Yeah. There. He said we could come by if Anna's step-brother hit her again. So here we are." Bucky gave a start as she saw that the girl--Anna--had a black eye.
"Oh my god. Are you ok?" Bucky asked, now genuinely worried. Anna nodded.
"Yeah. But my uncle. He wants to talk to you." Anna held out a cell phone. Bucky's heart began to race. This was a trap. It had to be. This was way too weird. She reached down and surreptitiously pulled a small knife from her boot. "Please. Uncle Coulson wants to talk to you." Bucky narrowed her eyes, but took the phone.
"Omega this is Alpha Base. Come in Omega." A familiar voice came over the phone. It was Skye. Bucky knew her voice from their time debriefing.
"This is Omega. Why are you contacting me? I thought the deal was radio silence." Bucky whispered hoarsely. Coulson's knew her too damn well. If anyone but children had approached her, she would have gotten out of the bus before it had left the station.
"Yeah about that. Our base was attacked. HYDRA somehow figured out where we were. We managed to escape with our data, but you can't come to Puenta Antigua" Skye replied.
"Let me speak to Coulson." Bucky wasn't going to let her guard down. For a breach that big, there was usually an insider.
"I'm here. We're on speakerphone with the team." Coulson spoke up, his voice troubled.
"That's low, sending kids after me. I just want you to know that." Bucky sneered.
"You went dark for twelve hours, you could have gone rogue for all we knew." Coulson reasoned.
"And if I had? I could have killed them, or, or worse. Don't you understand that?" Bucky whispered so that the children wouldn't be able to hear.
"No you couldn't have. I trust you." Coulson replied steadily.
"I don't trust me. Especially not last night. I had to turn to Banner for help. I put him and everyone in that building in danger." Bucky took a deep breath, "He's my friend and I couldn't even stay to thank him for saving my life. You you know how messed up that is?" There was whispered conversation on the other line. "I did get what I was coming for though."
"We can have this conversation later. Now I need you to get out of there. Meet us where we first lost you. Bring the kids with you." Coulson stated sharply.
"What about their parents?" Bucky demanded angrily.
"Charlie wasn't lying. Anna has an uncle where you're going." Skye spoke up quietly, and Bucky almost threw the phone across the bus. "And Bucky, they're like me. Which means they need protection."
"So that's what the mission is about. Not stealing top secret intelligence from HYDRA, but handing two kids with fucking superpowers to you guys." Bucky snapped, keeping her voice low.
"We need you. You're the best agent we have in the field." Skye pleaded.
"You know I'm on the do-not-fly list." Bucky replied angrily. She had asked Stark to work on an anti-metal detector, but he was so swamped in SHIELD crap like exploding pens he hadn't managed. Not to mention the fucking do-not-fly list that nobody had done anything about.
"Find a way." Coulson stated, then there was a click as he hung up. Bucky transferred the phone to her left hand and crushed it, gritting her teeth to stop from screaming with anger.
"Don't worry lady." Charlie spoke up. "We'll be good." Bucky turned to him and her anger became resignation.
"Ok kid. Now let's get off this bus." Bucky sighed and got out of her seat. She retrieved her backpack, checked that the capsule was still in her pocket, and marched to the front of the bus. The children followed her. Bucky went up to the driver and whispered something in his ear. The bus came to a screeching stop.
"And don't you dare get on this bus again!" The driver yelled through the door as he drove away in a cloud of dust. Bucky and the children watched it drive away.
"It warmed up." Charlie stated simply.
"Do you purposely speak in understatements?" Bucky was already practically drenched in her hoodie. Apparently New Mexico autumns were only cold in the mornings. She stripped it off and put it in her backpack.
"Arm." Anna gawked as Bucky rolled her shoulder, making the metal glint in the sun.
"Yeah. I lost it in a climbing accident." Bucky pulled off her glove and stuffed it into her pocket. "Let's bounce."
"Where are we going?" Charlie asked as Bucky began the trek back into town.
"Where I lost my arm."