The Marble Notebooks

Chapter 29

 After Bruce and Tony decrypted the files from the HYDRA sub, they took Nat and Steve hostage in the lab to go over documents and monitor the comms bug. Steve canceled training for the day and gave everyone a free pass to do what they want. Wanda, Vision, and Pietro went into town. Wanda and Pietro were craving some Sokovian meal their mother used to make so they dragged Vision to the food store and farmers market.

Bucky, Sam, and I decided to hang back at the compound. We ran some laps, Bucky and Sam did some weight stuff too. I laid down on the grass and played with some metal scraps above me. I was becoming more one with my powers again like I was at the school. I used them in front of everyone all the time now to do simple things. Bucky always jumped when I would shut the door unexpectedly at night. He also hated when I handed him utensils or weights with my powers too. He just wasn't used to it yet, his face is surprised every time he turns around to see what he needed floating right in front of him. Personally, I thought it was very cute.

Sam and Bucky were running some drills with each other on the track. The two of them together is such entertainment. They argue like a married couple and pick on each other as siblings do. It was all so childish and they both acted constantly annoyed with each other, yet at the end of every day, they are always the last two sitting at the dinner table talking about nonsense with each other. Eventually, the two of them ended their workout looking like sweaty messes. They sat on the grass with me and chugged their waters.

"I like hanging out the three of us!" Sam said with a goofy smile on his face. "I like being the third wheel,"

I couldn't help but laugh. Bucky shook his head and groaned. "I don't like it,"

"Why not!?" Sam exclaimed. "She's just like you, but way less angry all the time and funnier," Sam said nodding to me. "It's like hang out with the more fun version of you," Sam joked with Bucky.

"Well I guess that's true," Bucky smiled at me.

"Totally true," I smiled back. "The funnier, cooler, hotter version of you,"

"Yup," Sam agreed.

"Wait, now," Bucky protested. "I didn't say all that,"

"Oh you didn't have to," I grinned at him. "I already know,"

"Oh you're an ass," He laughed.

After our workout, we headed back inside to wash up for the dinner Wanda and Pietro were preparing. It looked a little funky but smelt great. Anything Wanda makes always turns out great, so I had no doubt it would taste good. I did worry about her delicious meal being compromised with Pietro as her sous chef. She insisted he was only preparing the food and she was doing all the assembling, which restored my faith in the meal.

Tony, Bruce, Steve, and Nat finally came out of the lab late that night after we had finished dinner. They didn't tell us much about what they found. They told us how the weapons crates were being shipped to a few underground HYDRA bases in the US and that all the agents on board were supposed to be relocated as HYDRA spies in different cities.

The next day Tony and Bruce spent the entire day in the lab with the door locked, again. They were decoding and decrypting new files that they were able to download from the comms bug. Bruce was actively monitoring the communication bug while Tony had conference calls with the government to discuss what information they received from the interrogation of the agents. While they kept all of this stuff confidential from the rest of us, he did say they were having trouble getting any information out of the agents. HYDRA agents would rather commit suicide than spill secrets. They know the repercussions for spilling secrets are way worse than death.

The rest of us continued with our normal daily routine. Cap had us in the big gym to train bright and early, of course. After stretching and warming up Cap had us practice some hand-to-hand combat, which isn't really my specialty. But after witnessing the mission with HYDRA yesterday, these guys often find themselves in situations using hand to hand. With X-Men's mission, we are usually up against other powered people, so hand to hand doesn't matter as much as being able to properly use your powers does.