Running Things
“So wait wait wait,” Torres started and stopped, seeking clarification, “So what I’m hearing is she basically tried to kill him and then ran away?”
“That’s not what I said,” Bucky shook his head.
“But that’s what happened, right?” Torres raised a brow.
“That’s what it looked like, but I don’t know if that’s what happened,” Bucky responded as the elevator reached the floor Kurt’s room was on.
Both men stepped out and began walking down the hall towards the waiting room.
“Really? A bunch of people said that’s what they saw,” Torres said, looking at him with uncertainty.
“I don’t think that’s what happened,” Bucky repeated, shaking his head again.
“Okay, why not?” Torres asked. He was curious about why Bucky wasn’t as quick to jump to the same conclusion as everybody else.
Bucky sighed. How could he explain this? He then went for it, “People like her and Kurt don’t just kill people. Especially not people like Sam.”
“How would you know that? Logan didn’t seem to hesitate when he hurt all those agents,” Torres pointed out.
“I just. I know, okay?” He tried to assure him and sighed again, “Look, before she ran off, Kitty said something to me. Why would she go through the effort of stopping to tell me she’s innocent?”
“I’m just spitballing here, maybe she was trying to get you to not go after her too?” Torres threw it out there.
“Things just don’t feel right,” Bucky mumbled.
Torres looked away from him and his expression changed to confusion. There were SHIELD agents scattered around the halls in groups of two. There were about six sitting or standing in the waiting room. Sam was talking to a couple of them.
Torres leaned over to Bucky, “Okay something may be up.”
Bucky ignored the urge to say ‘I told you so’ and just crossed his arms. He followed Torres as he walked up to Sam and waved.
“What’s going on?” Torres asked, referring to the SHIELD agents wandering the halls.
“Extra security,” Sam answered curtly, not turning to face him.
“For what exactly?” Torres continued to question.
Bucky inspected Sam’s behavior, immediately marking his behavior as unusual.
“We can’t risk another breach or threat,” Sam replied.
“So what you’re saying is you’re trying to keep people from getting in,” Torres looked at him with confusion.
“When what you’re really doing is keeping people stuck inside,” Bucky added, watching for Sam’s reaction.
Sam shrugged, “It works either way.”
“Why the sudden change of heart?” Torres questioned cautiously. He was picking up on the same abnormal behavior as Bucky, “I thought we were trying to get them to trust us again, not cut them off from one another.”
“Director de Fontaine believes Katherine and Kurt are threats. After what Katherine pulled, I’m inclined to agree with her,” Sam explained with a short tone.
Bucky’s face turned to suspicion as he heard him speak. He tilted his head slightly and glanced at Torres. He knew something was wrong too, and he was unnerved.
“Since neither of you have anything to say, I’m going to explain the plan from here on out,” Sam paused and looked between them for any sign of interruption before continuing, “Once Kurt is well enough, we’ll transfer him over to the United States and then put him in prison.”
Torres’s eyes widened, “No. We aren’t doing that. What has he done that would cause us to put him in prison?”
“He’s a flight risk, just like Kitty was. We can’t risk him getting loose and hurting more agents,” Sam argued.
“And what about Kitty?” Bucky asked, narrowing his eyes.
“I spoke with Fury. He set up a team to find and apprehend her,” Sam explained.
“Is any of this really necessary? They’re a couple of kids,” Bucky pointed out.
“They’re not kids. They’re weapons. Unstable weapons,” Sam insisted, “Trust me, this is beyond necessary.”
Bucky and Torres exchanged a glance. Something was definitely wrong with Sam.
A SHIELD agent approached them and pulled Sam away to talk. Bucky pulled Torres to the side out of Sam’s earshot.
“Okay, something’s clearly wrong with him. What do we do?” Torres asked with concern,
“I’m going to find Kitty myself. She knows something that we don’t,” Bucky replied, looking around to make sure no one was listening in, “I have the tracking skills to find her, I just need a place to start.”
“I don’t think she’s in Madripoor anymore,” Torres speculated, “But she’ll eventually come back because of Kurt.”
“We can’t wait that long. She knows it’s not the right move to stay in a place where she’s in danger,” Bucky shook his head and then recalled the conversation he’d overheard between Kitty and Kurt on the jet, “But you’re right, she’ll come back for Kurt. She probably knows about the move. She won’t stand for it.”
“I can stay here and make sure Sam doesn’t have Kurt moved before you find Kitty,” Torres brought up the idea, earning an approving nod from Bucky.
“That solves that. All I need now is somewhere to start,” Bucky sighed.
“She won’t be at MIT. The investigation team has probably already searched that place,” Torres chipped in and then perked up, “Okay, hear me out on this one.”
Bucky looked at him with concern and slight apprehension. Torres began, “We can’t ask Kurt because he’s too out of it. We can’t ask Logan because he’ll be mad at what’s happened and he'll probably side with Kitty and refuse to help us no matter what we say,” He then paused to hint, “But, think about it, who’s the other mutant that we know has a connection to Kitty AND we know for certain his location?”
Bucky thought for a moment and then sighed, realizing who he was referring to, “Bobby.”
“Bobby,” Torres confirmed with a smile and a nod.
“That’ll work,” Bucky nodded, “Is the prison he’s at listed in SHIELD files?”
“You don’t need to check, I’ll text you the address,” Torres whipped out his phone and began typing.
“What address?” Sam asked, approaching them from behind.
“I’m..” Bucky tried to think of a lie.
“He’s joining the team to track down Kitty,” Torres came up with a half-truth quickly.
“Yes, that’s true. I am,” Bucky spoke with a bit of a robotic tone as he repeated Torres’s words.
Sam evaluated both of them for a moment and then turned away to walk back to the waiting room, “Fine by me. Let me know if you find anything.”
They waited for him to leave before they started walking down the hall towards Kurt’s room. They stopped by the door, finding two SHIELD agents guarding the entrance. They walked past it a bit before Torres stopped Bucky.
“I’m just gonna warn you now, Bobby might be a little on edge,” Torres warned.
“It’s Bobby, how on edge could he be?” Bucky asked wryly, raising a brow.
“I’m just warning you,” Torres said with caution before tacking on a “Good luck,” and patting him on the shoulder.
“I’ll let you know if I find anything,” Bucky began to walk off and then stopped, “If we have any chance at salvaging our relationship with them, keep Kurt here as long as you can.”
“Yes, sir,” Torres jokingly saluted, trying to keep the situation lighthearted.
Bucky rolled his eyes and did a small salute back at him. He then turned around and went down the hall towards the elevator. As he entered the elevator, he received the text from Torres with the address.
Back to Virginia we go, Bucky thought as he began to descend.
When he arrived at the prison several hours later, he had no idea what was in store for him.