LEGACY: a bucky barnes story

Chapter 4 - Vanish

I may have gotten more than I bargained for.

Director Fury sat me in a briefing room as he had pertinent matters to attend to, but wasn't finished debriefing me on my assignment.

So, I'm barely briefed on my assignment, thrown into the mix with Captain fucking America, he dumps this 'Project Insight' on me—all on my first day—then leaves me to twiddle my thumbs?

A sudden entry and the voice that followed startled me. "Project Insight needs to be delayed. For now, you are to work with your primary, Agent Romanoff." Fury gestured to his left, where a striking red-haired agent stood, flashing me a quick smirk.

"So, you're Coulson's kid. I'm Nat," she said.

"Jennifer Coulson." I reached out and shook her hand energetically. "Agent Romanoff, it is an absolute honor to be working with you."

"Great, that's settled. Coulson, if you've got questions, Romanoff's your answers," Fury nodded curtly, and left the room as suddenly as he'd appeared.

Grateful to finally have an assignment, Nat sat me down and gave as many details as she could. Project Insight is about stopping threats before they happen, but Fury couldn't access the files on the drive she gave him. Fury didn't tell her much, only that something wasn't right and that he needed to investigate further. I was assigned to Project Insight because Fury needed new, fresh eyes on the whole operation and its unstable details—and it needed to be someone he could trust. She held a meager wealth of information, but she had more than most. Still, Fury's faith in my judgement humbled me.

"Anyways, now that you're up to speed—" Nat started, before being cut off by the sudden news coverage erupting on the briefing room screen. A police chase was underway, several cars damaged, in pursuit of a black SUV driven by a Black male. Nat and I stared at the screen, wondering the likelihood of what we both dreaded.

"Thanks, Debra. Janine on the scene here in downtown D.C. with the latest report. Police say there were no Metro units in the area, but as you can see there were at least eight police cars involved. The SUV in question, seen here littered with bullet holes—an aggressive tactic to apprehend the driver.

"Oh my gosh, the SUV is sliding down the street upside down. I'm just getting word that the driver of the vehicle in question is a Nicholas J. Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.," the woman onscreen reported.

Nat and I turned to each other with wide eyes.

"Nick," I breathed, my mind spiraling to Nick's fate.

My attention snaps back to the screen.

"And—what's that? What-Who is that man? Kyle, are you getting this?" the reporter on the screen flustered, as the camera operator sloppily panned to a masked man with long brown hair, carrying a large rifle and donning all black.

The masked man strutted up to the inverted vehicle. The camera could hardly pick up anything, the smog from the car chase and destruction clouded most everything. What the camera did not fail to miss was the brute strength of the man, using one arm to rip the SUV car door clean off.

"Is that, how could that—" I stammered.

"Shh...I don't know," Nat hushed, eyes glued to the screen.

The camera went dark. Cutting back to the newsroom, the stunned news anchors attempted to explain what they just witnessed.

"Who was that?" I murmured.

Nat sighed. "Agent Coulson, I think your assignment with me just got a bit more complicated."