Rectify | Bucky Barnes

Chapter Eighteen

I smile as I watch the plane land, they're finally back. Bucky stands beside me, shielding his eyes from the sun as he watches. The back of the plane opens, and Natasha is the first one to walk out. She looks tired. Steve is the next one out, followed by Bruce, Tony, and Fury. They all seem to be exhausted. As they walk towards the building I notice that Bruce is carrying a scepter of some sort, a bright glowing blue stone in the center.

They walk inside, Bruce keeps the scepter in his hand as we greet them. Natasha doesn't stay very long, she heads up to her room quickly. Steve and Bucky start talking about the mission, and I go to Bruce, curious about what he's brought back from the Hydra base.

"Did they have a gift shop?" I ask, gesturing towards the large, pointy scepter. Bruce laughs a little and shakes his head,

"No, no this is the scepter that Loki used when he invaded New York. The Hydra scientists were trying to dissect it and understand its capabilities. We decided it was probably better off in our hands, so now we're going to try to dissect it and understand its capabilities." Bruce explains and I nod, looking at the scepter again. It's bigger than I imagined, sharper too.

"Well this should be interesting." I say, intrigued by the idea of understanding an alien technology. I hope Tony and Bruce let me in on their studies, though I think Tony will need more persuading than Bruce. I see Fury walk outside and get back into the plane. Moments later the plane takes off again.

"Where's he going?" I ask, not understanding why Fury would leave as soon as he just got here.

"Well, the scepter wasn't the only thing we found at the base. Turns out Hydra still has a fascination for human experimentation. We detained two people, a brother and sister who both showed some interesting qualities. Fury is going to oversee their containment." Bruce explains. I feel like my heart dropped into my stomach, dreading what Hydra's next creation could possibly be.

"What sort of qualities?" I ask, interested to see if they're heading down the Winter Soldier path again, or if they've gone beyond that.

"Well, the man was fast, very fast. The woman has some sort of telekinesis ability, I've never seen anything like it." Super speed and telekinesis? That's a lot more advanced than I thought Hydra would be.

"That sounds like some serious stuff. You think they were going to try to use the scepter for enhancement purposes?" I ask, not knowing what they saw at the base.

"Possibly." Bruce answers, not entirely knowing either. I pick at the skin on my lower lip as I think about it, there's no way it's a coincidence that the scepter and enhanced people were found in the same base.

"I don't think it's a coincidence." I say, trying to recall everything I know of the Sokovian base, which isn't much at all.

"It was truly a lovely place, I might even take my next vacation there." Tony remarks and walks over to the wet bar. In an instant, it's as if the pieces fit themselves together and it all makes sense.

"No, it's definitely not a coincidence. The day this started, I was attacked in a parking lot. The Hydra agent who tried to kill me said they had moved past the work I had done, but needed what I had to finish their newest project. Their newest project was probably these new enhanced people, and they needed the programming guide I have to install it their minds and make them subservient to handlers." I explain my train of thought. Tony had paused from pouring himself a drink, Steve and Bucky stopped their conversation. I look around, waiting for someone to say something. Maybe I sound crazy, but I don't think it's too far-fetched.

"You could be right. It makes sense anyways." Bruce agrees with me. The weight of what could have happened hits me. If Hydra was able to install my programming in super-enhanced people, there's no telling the extent of damage it would create. This is just another reason to find a cure for Bucky, and then burn the book.