.

.

. ** .

.

2014 07 09 21 58 + Mini van = Continuous left turn at 20 km/hr.

"Cass D'amour signing in. Taking over tactical. Anybody who wants blood speak up. The rest of you follow Gillespie's lead on rescue."

2014 07 09 26 13 + Mini van = Reverse at 50 km/hr.

"Tran."

"Roth."

"Sarkisian."

"Costa."

"Novikov."

2014 07 09 31 57 + Mini van = Straight at 10 km/hr.

"Tran. Hide in the closest room. Let the men pass – "

"I can do this!"

"What the hell are you doing!? Get into the damn room!! NOW!!"

"No! I can – "

"...."

2014 07 09 36 24 + Mini van = Right turn at 20 km/hr.

"Costa. Don't. You'll die trying to get to her."

"She's still alive, D'amour! I can't just – "

"She'll bleed out in a few more seconds. There's no need for you to die for her stupidity. You can collect her body after we deal with these assholes."

2014 07 09 40 42 + Mini van = Right turn at 10 km/hr.

"They've passed all of you. Take them out."

Gunfire filled the communications line until an explosion cut everything off.

"What just happened?"

2014 07 09 46 31 + Mini van = Straight at 100 km/hr.

'Finally,' I couldn't help but think when the formula told me to drive straight into a wall.

The fluorescent lights above could not be more homely compared to the tunnels. The process was no longer as fun and cool as it was almost ten years ago.

I left the borrowed car parked by the elevator, while I moved the boxes of food into the elevator.

"My eye! There's – There's something sticking out of my eye!!!"

"Gillespie?! Was that Gillespie?! What are we going to do without our medic!? Roth's bleeding out here!!!"

"Wait! Don't – !"

Explosion after explosion cluttered the line. Terrified screams of little kids mingled in between them.

"Stop run – !!!"

A box of frozen things went into the walk in freezer, another box went into the fridge, and a third went into the pantry. As for the last box, that went up with me. Lightest of the boxes.

The higher I got on the escalator stairs the louder the voices upstairs were.

" – swer is still no," one of them Eve's.

"You can't leave her defenseless," the other was Bucky's. Confused and irritated.

"She's safe here and the idiot's far from defenseless."

"She has professionals after her. Those people at the park 37 days ago and in Edmonton 5 days ago were special ops. She needs to learn how to protect herself if she's to stand a chance.... You've trained your assets, why not her?"

"She's.... I pulled Sparks from teaching her. I can easily stop you."

"Hydra knows about her!"

"Hydra's in the picture because of you."

'That's a low blow. You're the asshat who keeps bringing them back into the picture,' I thought, knowing well I couldn't ever speak the words. Not without Bucky blowing another gasket about how dangerous they are.

"I won't risk more of my children because she decides to throw a hissy fit. She's not worth it. She can survive on the wits she has now. She doesn't need more ways to kill."

I tapped the wall again, signalling for the stairs to continue moving upwards. Too lazy to get up onto my feet. "She's not wrong, Bucky," I said, feeling rather tired of everything. "I've been... quite the handful."

"But... you were so excited to learn..." he mumbled. His eyes dropped to a little section of floor in front of him. His lips almost set in an outright pout.

"I am. Just that I also know I have a particularly vicious temper? One bout of which ended up with a Puppet getting his neck broken... by me... and they were only trying to keep me alive through the bloody mess... I made.... He was only... he tried to stop me when I was trying to kill a dead body...?"

"All that because she found Amber in a state where she should be dead. Val's the one who decided the whole building should have their organs harvested as well. A broken neck would be the least of my worries if that repeated and she had proper combative abilities."

I never regretted a single life I took that night.

Until now.

Being under those big sad puppy eyes had me wishing I was a better person. Maybe I wouldn't be such a disappointment.

I knew there were people there who had nothing to do with what had happened to Amber. I knew that. But I blamed them all the same.

They let it happen.

I let it happen.

"...You shouldn't be the one teaching me, Bucky. You don't want to hurt people, and teaching somebody like me would be the exact opposite of that...."

My eyes dropped down to the box in my hand and my shoulder shrugged a tad.

"Do you... Do you still want your box of cinnamon buns?"

Still, his features were contorted with such conflict. Brows furrowed. Bottom lip bitten. Eyes lowered.

The light box of pastries couldn't be any heavier as I tried to push it onto the floor. The shake in my left hand. The twitch in my right. They weren't the reason why the box felt so damn heavy.

A double pat on the step I sat on, and Eve sent me back down.

"Dead bodies tend to pile around my family.... I'll give you space," I quickly said, rising onto my feet.

My legs took me downstairs faster than if it was only the stairs moving on their own.

Soteria was more than big enough for us to never cross paths in here. I could always move around during his hour of sleep. I could spend my days in my room. It'd be simple to never see each other.

Fingers wrapped around my arm just as my toes touched the last step. My heart almost escaped out my throat, but I couldn't stop the scream of surprise.

"Val, wait." Bucky kept his voice soft. "I.... I just.... Please don't go."

His grip tightened ever so slightly. Not nearly enough to block blood flow but enough to tell me to stay.

I could easily slip out of his hold. I could easily walk away.

But being the cause of the hurt in those eyes... that wouldn't be easy.

So my feet stayed planted where they were, my eyes staring at them like they were the most interesting things in the world. Anything to not see the pain I could feel from how he struggled to keep his hold on my arm light.

"Valeriy...."

His gloved hand reached up for my chin. Probably to tilt it up. But before those fingers could touch me, they clenched into a tight fist, the leather squeaking under the pressure.

Even though my eyes were burning holes into our toes, I could practically see his face twist in self-loathing about the cybernetic.

'...I still have to figure out how to fix the last bit of it...' I thought, watching one of his gloved fingers twitch.

"You're not them...." He said.

Them.

I could almost laugh at the thought.

Almost.

"That's exactly who I am!" I yelled, shoving him away.

.

.

.

Author's Note:

If you enjoyed this part, please consider leaving a vote. They're very much appreciated. ^^

And a big thank you to TinselA/Bunny Carrot (https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7591081/) and the Anonymous Fifth Beta for Beta-ing this chapter.