Sunshadow

Under the Mountain

He knew Shawn Murray was incredibly smart – even he had heard about him – but Bucky was still worried about the girl lying on the counter in the lab. Mostly, it wasn't her physical injury (Sol had patched it up) but more her mental state and what she had seen. Considering what had happened here, it could only have been worse for her.

"Seriously, Buck, she's fine. She'll wake up in a bit." He couldn't remember when Sam had joined them, but he was a little glad for the company. He hadn't been able to figure out whether Sam had known Kiki too or if it was just Steve.

Her eyelids fluttered as she mumbled something unintelligible. She was finally waking up.

"Get Sol," he said to Sam, moving over to check her pulse again.

"Man, you have a crush," Sam muttered to no one in particular, but he did leave to get her. She should know when her sister woke up.

Kiki started to open her eyes.

"Hey there, Barnes. Weren't worried about me, were you?" Her voice sounded scratchy and sleepy, but he almost cried to hear her talking again.

"Course not, Ki. I knew you'd make it back." So they were gonna keep doing this. Sam better not ruin anything.

☾

Deep under the mountain, further down than they thought the base went, sat a circle of people. If they didn't know better, they would have thought it was a cult.

Technically, it was.

"Gabriel is dead. What is our next movement?" The woman on the tallest chair sweeped her gaze around the room, absorbing all the details. She was always planning, always ready.

"What about Marx? Is he not coming of age soon?" One of the people at her side suggested. She blinked slowly. Marx had not been considered in plans for at least another 5 years.

"We could bring him forwards. It would throw off the time frame, but we need another Whitehall." She sent a knife at a button on the wall behind her. The intercom buzzed.

"Send in Marx Whitehall. We need to discuss something with him."

☾

Sol had not stopped hugging her ever since she ran into the room. As she pulled back to look at her wound, Kiki noticed Sam stood at a distance, unsure of what to do.

"What's this dickhead doing here?" She complained. It was her special time, and he would not ruin it.

"I wanted to ask, do you know Sam as well as Steve?" Bucky spied his chance.

"Course I know him, Barnes. He's an idiot who sabotaged so many of my missions." She glared over Sol's shoulder, who smoothed her hair and tried to calm her down.

"I wasn't gonna let you kill people, Ki." He sounded like he had said this hundreds of times.

"Right, because you're such a righteous man, Sam. I could kill you right now if I wanted to." Sol held her down, frantically whispering in her ear.

"You couldn't kill me when you were at your best, how do you think you'd be able to do it now?" He smirked, clearly thinking of a time before the mist.

"Careful, Sam, she has new tricks now." He pulled on Sams arm, warning him.

"I'd love to see them. Oh wait, you're sick." Now he'd done it.

Kiki smiled and sent the black tendrils flying towards his face.

He never saw that coming.