Pietro
The night after Chapter 26
The Soldier managed to get a little work done for once. It had been days since he’d managed to see more than a few feet of the Tower at a time before the voice apprehended him. Tonight, though, he managed to pass through whole floors seemingly undetected.
Nothing he found was interesting. All he found were kitchens and lounges, and one large, cavernous dining room that he hurried through as fast as he could without the risk of missing anything. The mere sight of the round dining table and the comfortable chairs and the dishes in the cabinets along the wall made his heart pound and his hands go clammy.
He didn’t belong there. His handlers shouldn’t see him there — even if that was his mission, he couldn’t be seen in a place like that.
Other than the dining room, the rest of the night hadn’t been too bad. He couldn’t imagine what his handlers might want out of it, but he was just doing his job.
He started to head in early, his mission finished. He walked back the way he’d come, taking less care and being less observant on the return trip than he had initially. If he’d been more observant, he might have seen the silver projectile that was flying towards him, but he didn’t notice until it was too late.
When Bucky woke up, he was lying on the floor, staring up at a high, white ceiling. Someone was leaning over him. His hair was black and silver, and he needed a shave. He was holding his hand out towards him.
He took it, grunting in pain as the stranger pulled him up. “Ow,” he mumbled, now standing upright. There was a sharp pain in his side and his shoulder that could be nothing good, but he didn’t remember how it had happened.
“Sorry about that,” the stranger was saying. “Didn’t mean to run into you like that. I’ll bet you didn’t see that coming. I didn’t see that coming.”
Bucky looked up at him in bewilderment. He hadn’t. He didn’t even know what he was referring to.
“You all right? You bump your head or something?”
“No…” His head was about the only thing that didn’t hurt. He figured that meant he could be reasonably sure it wasn’t injured.
“No concussions? I don’t need to rush you to the medbay or anything?”
“No.” He wouldn’t even know if he had a concussion. “‘M not dizzy or anything. ‘M fine. What happened?”
“You ran into me,” the stranger said. “I was… running laps. I always do that in the mornings, you know. And before I even saw you, you were just… walking across the track. It was so weird, man. I’m really sorry.”
To his credit, the stranger did look genuinely guilty. And the pain was already fading, but Bucky’s memory hadn’t yet returned.
“Damn. I’m sorry. I think I was sleepwalking,” he said hollowly.
“It’s okay,” the stranger said. “You just startled me. I’m sorry I ran you over. I don’t think I’ve ever met you before — are you the new guy?”
“Yeah. I think so,” Bucky said with an indifferent little shrug. “My name’s Bucky. I think you’ve probably heard about the… you know. The sleepwalking.”
“I… I haven’t, actually,” the stranger said. “Should I have? Anyway, my name’s Pietro. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” Bucky said, and he was struck with such intense deja vu for a moment that his head spun.
Pietro watched him shrewdly. “Are you sure you don’t have a concussion? The people in the medbay are nice. They won’t mind you coming in this early.”
The way he said it, Bucky was sure he knew from experience. “I’m fine, thanks,” he said with a little shrug.
“Okay. If you’re sure,” Pietro repeated. “I don’t want it to be my fault if your concussion gets really bad later, okay?”
“I don’t have a concussion,” Bucky reminded him, but he was less sure of himself now, even though his head still didn’t hurt. He felt strange, but not in a painful way, exactly. The pain from his fall was mostly gone. He felt fine, but Pietro was unsettling. There was nothing wrong with him, but something about the way he talked, or the way he moved… it was like Bucky couldn’t quite keep his eyes on him. He moved too much. When Bucky blinked, Pietro did things that happened so quickly that they were over before Bucky opened his eyes again.
Bucky didn’t think Pietro meant him any harm — he didn’t even think it was anything more than a figment of his imagination — but that didn’t unnerve him any less. Pietro’s silver hair weirded him out, too.
“If you’re sure,” Pietro said wearily. “You look… kinda off, man. You sick or something? You’re real pale.”
“I’m not sick,” Bucky said scornfully. He wasn’t sick. He couldn’t remember ever being sick — not since the forties. “Really. I’m fine. Do you always get up this early?”
“Just about,” Pietro said. To Bucky, he sounded a little defensive. It came across almost as funny. “I go right back to bed after this. You should try it sometime. It’s real refreshing. Gym’s usually empty this time of night.”
Bucky caught his meaning. “I’ll have to try that,” he agreed, although he’d have to pick a different time. Pietro seemed to have the place pretty booked around five or six. It would be nice to go running some time, though. He needed to get out more.
It might not be the end of the world if he ran into someone new.
He might have asked if he could stay awhile because he could have done with a light jog to work off some of his nervous energy, but he was exhausted. All he wanted to do was get to bed. Pietro probably would have kicked him out, anyway. He looked more than capable.
"What time is it?" He asked, after a pause.
"' Bout five-thirty," Pietro said with a little shrug. "I'm probably gonna go back to bed soon. You should, too. You look like you haven't slept in days, dude."
Bucky laughed hollowly. "Thanks, man. I should probably get to bed soon, though. It's later — earlier — than I thought."
He was almost asleep on his feet, truth be told, and all he wanted to do was crawl into bed. Pietro looked like he wanted to do the same.
It would have been funny, how desperate to get away the poor guy looked, if Bucky hadn't been in the same situation.
Neither of them had spoken for a while.
Bucky broke the silence. "Do you... do you know your way around here very well?" He didn't. This guy was nice — or he was decent, anyway. Reasonable. Jarvis would give him a scolding for being out of bed at such an ungodly hour, but Pietro might give him directions back to his room if he asked nicely.
"Yeah. I guess so," he said with a little shrug. "You lost? I've never seen you around here before."
"Yeah. I'm lost. When I sleepwalk, I always end up in the weirdest places," Bucky said, laughing sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I can just ask Jarvis..."
"No, it's okay," Pietro said quickly. "I know how he is. Where's your room? I mean... in general. I can just tell you where the elevator is if you like."
Bucky nodded. "I can find my way back if you tell me how to get to the elevator." The whole thing was faintly embarrassing, but it would have been much worse if he'd been properly awake.
Pietro recited a long and unnecessarily complicated string of directions, which Bucky did his best to remember. He comforted himself with the knowledge that he did at least have Jarvis to tell him where to go.
"Thanks," Bucky said shyly. "I'll... see you around?"
"Yeah. Good night, man," Pietro said with a little laugh.
Bucky set off. As he crossed the track, he was startled by a rush of air that lifted the hair off the back of his neck. When he looked back, Pietro was gone. In his place, there was nothing but a silver blur.
The whole thing had probably been just a dream, Bucky decided.