Answers
As Bucky was guided through the lobby and into the visiting room of the prison. As per usual, the room was divided in half with a clear divider and red phones on either side of the glass. On the visiting side were chairs and a couple people, holding phones to their ears and talking to people on the other side of the glass. Bucky was guided over to a seat.
A few moments after he sat down, a guard brought in Bobby from behind the door. He shoved him over to the seat across from Bucky. Bobby wasn’t amused at all and flipped off the guard. The guard wanted to retaliate, but spotted Bucky and backed off. Bobby smirked and then finally laid eyes on Bucky, his expression dropping to irritation.
Bobby sat down. Bucky picked up the red phone to speak with him. Bobby didn’t do the same. He looked at him, evaluating him quietly with a judgemental look. He then finally picked up the phone.
“Come to gloat?” Bobby questioned rhetorically.
“No,” Bucky shook his head, “I need to speak with you.”
“Oh, how interesting, what about?” He asked, clearly not amused with having this conversation at all.
“How did you get caught?” Bucky questioned.
“After I came back from Madripoor with my team, I realized I needed my computer for something and I also realized I left it back at the CIA. I tried doing the thing I was gonna do without it, but it didn’t work,” Bobby went to explain and then added, “So I came back to the building and guess who was waiting for me?”
“Walker,” Bucky answered, pinching his nose.
“Bingo,” Bobby pointed a finger gun at him with his free hand and clicked his tongue.
“Why didn’t you fight back? With the training you have, you could have easily escaped,” Bucky asked into the prison phone.
“Do you know how bad it would’ve looked if I had frozen the guys who had arrested me? If I had resisted arrest?” Bobby spoke, suddenly very annoyed. It was a dramatic change in demeanor for Bobby. In the few times they’d met, Bucky had observed Bobby as a lighthearted individual, or in the very least, sarcastic enough to pass.
“So you’d rather take the fall,” Bucky assumed, looking him dead in the eye.
“Yeah and here I am,” He dramatically gestured to the prison booth around them, “Taking the fall.”
Bucky pinched his nose, trying to think of something to say and opting to just ask, “Do you have a lawyer in the least?”
“I know a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy in Hell’s Kitchen,” Bobby rambled off, picking at his thumb and hardly paying attention.
“Hell’s Kitchen seems a little out there,” Bucky commented.
“Yeah, well, apparently he’s a good lawyer so,” He shrugged.
“And you think you can-” Bucky started.
“Dude, look,” Bobby cut him off, now looking him dead in the eyes, “What do you want from me? Because you obviously need something and you think I have it.”
“Straight to the point, huh,” Bucky cracked a slight smile that faded immediately upon seeing Bobby’s still annoyed expression, “Okay, fine. Kitty’s disappeared a few days ago. I need to find her. Do you have any idea where she could possibly be?”
Bobby’s brow furrowed, “Why would she, Kurt, and Logan disappear? I thought you guys were working together?”
“Well,” Bucky began, trying to think of a way in which he could explain without making Bobby freak out.
“Dear god, what did you guys do?” Bobby asked, raising his voice slightly.
“You saw us last at the gala,” Bucky decided to ease him into it, “After you left, things went downhill and Walker hurt Kurt. Logan-”
“He hurt Kurt? You let him hurt Kurt?” Bobby asked with concern, straightening up in his seat.
“Let me finish. We didn’t let him, he acted on his own fruition. Kitty beat him senseless. SHIELD agents then came into the building and Logan tried to fight his way out of the situation. A lot of people got hurt, but we managed to get him to stop and turn himself in in exchange for both Kitty and Kurt’s freedom as well as medical attention for Kurt,” Bucky finished the first half of his explanation.
“Then why did Kitty run? She never leaves Kurt,” Bobby asked, watching Bucky with suspicion now.
“I don’t know what happened for sure, but Kitty apparently tried to kill Sam. I think it’s because Sam was changing the deal when he was talking to Val,” Bucky continued his explanation.
“Changing the deal? You mean he went back on his word?” Bobby rolled his eyes and spoke with sarcasm, “Well no shit she’d leave after that, but not try to kill him. That’s unusual.”
“That’s what I thought. When she was running, she told me she wasn’t trying to kill him. I don’t think that’s something she’d do,” Bucky began to speculate.
“So all of you guys were at the gala together. Were some of you in the main hall area?” Bobby asked. He was going somewhere with this.
“Sam, Torres, Kurt, Walker, and Logan,” Bucky listed off the names.
“And you and Kitty were in the lobby so you didn’t see what was going on in there until the last second,” Bobby stroked his chin, thinking, “Did any of them start acting weird after the gala?”
Bucky’s eyes flitted to his, “Sam.”
“Did he, perhaps, seem like a completely different person the last time you spoke to him?” Bobby had a suspicion.
“He did. Bobby, if you know what’s going on, you have to tell me,” Bucky tried to get him to hurry up.
“So you’re right about Kitty not trying to kill him. The thing about her powers is that when she phases, it makes her immune to telepathic interference. She wasn’t trying to kill Sam when she phased him, she was trying to bring him back,” Bobby explained, a smile tugging at his lips.
“So you’re saying there was something in his head. That there still is,” Bucky thought over this conclusion, his expression turning serious.
“Not something. Someone. There was a telepath at the gala. Her name is Emma Frost. She was a part of the reason my team was there,” Bobby provided more of an explanation.
Bucky then tilted his head, “And why was your team there?”
“We got a tip off that the Hellfire Club- this kinda bad kinda good organization- it’s a whole thing- was up to something bad. We weren't sure what it was so a small team was sent in to investigate. We found one of the leading members there making a deal with some of the Power Broker’s goons,” Bobby recalled his team’s missions, “A bunch of us went because we expected a fight since wherever Shaw is, Frost is as well, but we didn’t see her at all.”
It clicked in Bucky’s head, “Frost was dealing with us while Shaw was dealing with all of you.”
“Bingo again, my man!” Bobby grinned, looking excited for the first time in their conversation.
Bucky didn’t want to ruin the moment, but he still asked, “Does your team even know what the Hellfire Club and the Power Broker are up to?”
“Not exactly. Once Shaw had left the goons alone, two of my teammates went to find out. One guy distracted Shaw while the lady went after the Power Broker’s goons. She found out that everything that had been said was on an encrypted file. She managed to copy the file and steal it and we got out of there without a hitch,” Bobby explained, now fidgeting with his thumbs. And then he got an idea, “You know what? I’ll help you find Kitty, but you need to do something for me,” Bobby decided with a grin.
“What?” Bucky asked simply. He speculated that he might ask him to get out of prison or do something for him.
“Find my stuff from when I was arrested,” Bobby requested, “Then go through it and find a black flash drive with a little blue X on it and take it.”
“That’s.. It?” He half expected him to ask for something large.
“Once you find Kitty, have her decrypt it,” Bobby added.
Bucky nodded slowly, “And you want nothing else?”
“Nope. I’ve got everything handled here,” Bobby gave him and thumbs up.
“Are you sure?” Bucky gestured to the area around them, the gray, stained walls, and the glass wall between them.
“I’ll work it out,” He waved it off, “Anyways.”
“Anyways indeed. So where is she?” Bucky asked, getting to the point, “Would she be hiding out at the school all of you went to?”
“Oh god no. She might be desperate, but she’s so stubborn she won’t go back,” Bobby said and warned, “Trust me, you do not want to go there searching, it will not end well for you.”
Bucky raised a brow, not asking verbally, but the slight curiosity was present on his face.
“If you think Kitty, Kurt, Logan, and I are powerful, the people there are much more so. You do not want to mess with them,” Bobby warned with a chuckle.
“Got it, so upstate New York is off limits,” Bucky acknowledged, “Then what do you think?”
“Hm,” Bobby thought for a moment, “Try her MIT dorm.”
“No, that is way too obvious. She’s not going to hide there,” Bucky mentioned.
“Obviously Kitty’s not going to be there,” Bobby said with another stupid grin.
“Then why would I go there?” Bucky looked at him. His logic was unbelievable. Maybe he was just messing with him. Wasting his time.
“Kitty might not be there, but someone who’s looking for her who knows her better might,” Bobby said, searching Bucky’s expression for any sign of realization.
It clicked in his head, “So then I could ask them where she is.”
Bobby scrunched his nose and tilted his head, “Depends on who it is.”
Bucky rolled his eyes and sighed, “Alright, then who should I not ask?”
“Anybody you get a bad feeling from,” Bobby answered.
“Okay then. Who should I look out for?” He tried to get more details on who to avoid.
“Pretty exclusively anybody named Erik and anyone he’s with,” Bobby advised, “You know what? Actually, maybe don’t try confronting anybody head on until you know they’re a good person.”
Bucky nodded, “Okay then. Any other advice for the road?”
“When you find Kitty, not if, make things right,” Bobby said, “If you don’t things are going to get really bad for everybody.”
“I’ll try my best,” Bucky spoke honestly.
“We don’t have time for trying anymore, now you just have a do,” Bobby remarked and then went back to fidgeting with his thumbs.
“Thanks for everything, Bobby,” Bucky thanked him with a bow of his head, “And thank you for trusting me.”
“No problem. I like you. Something about you is really genuine. It’s refreshing,” Bobby replied.
“Thanks,” Bucky gave him a slight smile, “Once we fix things, I’ll come back here with Sam and have you cleared of your charges.”
“Like I said earlier, don’t worry about it. I have everything handled,” Bobby responded with an ominous smirk.
“Well, just in case you don’t,” Bucky assured him.
“Thanks for the backup then,” Bobby smiled.
“I’ll see you around. Thank you again,” Bucky gave him a faint smile.
“Hey, when you find Kitty, tell her I say happy birthday,” Bobby added a final request, “Then we’re cool.”
“I’ll be sure to add it to the list,” Bucky bowed his head and hung up the phone. Bobby did the same.
Bucky watched out of the corner of his eye as Bobby began to stand up before the guard forced him to sit back down. Bobby looked at the guard with apprehension, annoyance, and confusion. The guard said something inaudible to him and he rolled his eyes and stayed put, accepting whatever it was that was keeping him there. Bucky took this as a sign to leave and opened the door out.
As he stepped out, a man with red glasses passed him and stepped inside. The man in red glasses sat down in front of Bobby. Bobby looked like he was seeing a pleasant surprise and like he’s been caught red handed. He then locked eyes with Bucky and gave him a thumbs up as the door shut.
Bucky pulled out his phone and texted Torres a few details, figuring that if Frost could get to Sam, she could easily get to Torres. He then put his phone away and found a flight to Boston. He asked the police station to see Bobby’s belongings and found them in a box hidden away on the shelf. He found the drive immediately and then looked at the rest of his things, deciding to leave the rest for Bobby when he got out.
The flight to Boston was short, but it gave him enough time to think. What or rather who was he looking for? Would he have to ask Riri about Kitty’s whereabouts? Was this just a wild goose chase? The thoughts crossed his mind as the plane landed.
As he took the train from Boston to Cambridge, he noticed the weather turning darker. The clouds grew more gray as he stepped out of the train. The weather wasn’t unusual, but something felt off. He decided to wait until the next day to visit MIT as he heard thunder in the distance and went off to find a cheap hotel.
It was clear a storm was just beginning.