Time Bomb

Chapter 35

"My father is known as Soldier Boy. He had the same abilities, just stronger. Much stronger. I never knew my mother, and my father had left me when I was only 10. I bounced around in foster care until I was old enough to be on my own. I lived in fear. Constantly worried that my father would come looking for me. But I couldn't let anyone know who I was in relation to him. I never spoke of him, never did anything that could risk my powers showing. I didn't even know I had them until I was 16 years old. I was at some bar I had snuck into and a guy tried to get me to have sex with him. Nothing happened, but I left pretty quickly and angry. It was as if a volcano had erupted inside my very core and I knew I had to get far away from civilization. I ran out to some field and that's when it happened for the first time. I literally exploded but I was still in one piece. The ground and trees around me just burnt to a crisp and the trees disintegrated. I was scared of myself. I didn't know what it was or how to control it. I managed for awhile, until I turned 22 and found my way to a bar for drinks. That's when I first sort of met Clint. We didn't interact until that night though. I was out on my fire escape singing when he must have been walking by or something and heard me. We talked all night. We became very quick friends but it wasn't until some time later that he saw it happen with his own eyes. Next person to see it was Bucky. Anyway... I was so tired of living in fear so I learned how to control it with the help of Bucky and T'Challa. Hence why we live here in Wakanda. We decided to stay after all my training. Shuri, T'Challa's sister created this device that took the powers from me and she's hid it away for safe keeping. I was tired of having them. I want to be my own person. I don't want any connection to my father. In fact, I guess now would be a good time to announce that I will be changing my last name soon. I already got Clint's blessing to change it to Barton." I said and leaned forward to grab my bottle of water and took a drink.
"Soldier Boy? He's your father?" Loki spoke up, his accent thick.
"Yep. And no, I'm not proud of it." I said and leaned back into Bucky.
"I know my word isn't something to be trusted among you all, but you may like to know that before Thor found me, I saw him." He said and I froze. Instantly, I felt that familiar heat build up in my chest.
"No... no he... he doesn't know where I am. He couldn't.. I.... I gotta go." I said and left.

—Bucky'a POV—
"I'll follow her." I said and got up, following Dani outside. I grabbed my keys and put them in my pocket.

"Dani, wait. What is it?" I asked and she stopped, turning to face me.
"Bucky, he can't find me. I can't... I can't be around him." She said, fear written all over her face and in her voice.
"What is it you're not telling everyone? Your reaction alone tells me you haven't told the full truth about him." I said and took her hand in mine.
"Dani, please. I need to know everything." I said and watched as she fought herself internally. After a few silent moments, she squeezed my hand tightly and looked up at me.
"Okay. But not here. Can we go for a ride?" She asked and looked over at my bike. I smiled and nodded.

We drove for awhile in silence until we came to an area across the lake. The moon's reflection beautiful against the water. Dani walked to the edge of the water and sat down, just far enough away from it to stay dry. I went over and sat beside her. I waited quietly and patiently for her to tell me everything about her father. I know this has to be hard for her. Considering I've never seen her so scared.
"Okay... uhm. So the last time I saw my father wasn't when I was 10. It was my 16th birthday. The night the real first explosion happened. I know I've said differently multiple times now but Buck... this was bad. He found me that night. I had just been to court to get myself fully emancipated. Not even sure how it all worked out but I never questioned it. I was on my way to a place I found on craigstlist to stay at when my father showed up. Apparently he had posted the ad and waited for me to be the one to respond to it." She said, taking a moment to breathe.
"He kidnapped me. Locked me in the basement of this place. He strapped me down to this table and had someone come in to run tests on me. But he got impatient. Even though it had only been a few hours worth of running these tests, he decided more extreme measures needed to be done. So... that's when someone else came in. Someone with other abilities. Extreme strength. So extreme, I'm shocked I'm not dead. When this guy came in and started to beat me, that's when that boiling hot sensation started and I didn't know what it was at the time so I couldn't even attempt to hold it down. I blew up. That whole house exploded. That guy completely disintegrated with it. The only person alive besides myself was my father. After the cleanup and moving to a new area, he explained everything to me. Told me if I plan on staying alive, that I needed to hide my abilities or he would make sure to find me again. He let me go but made sure that I knew why he would come find me if I ever showed my abilities on purpose." She said, he hands clasped tightly together, so tight her knuckles have turned white.
"Dani... what does he want with you? Why would he come find you?" I asked, still needing to know every possible detail.
"Back then, he wanted to know how I inherited the abilities when his came from experiments. I can only imagine that's what he wants now." She said and looked out over the water.
"Bucky... we need to tell T'Challa. Make sure he knows about him and to make sure that the device is destroyed. I don't want my powers back but I also can't let my father find that device. I get the feeling he's been trying to find a way to accumulate more power for himself, the last thing we need is him knowing all my powers are in a device." She added, finally looking at me. I can see in her eyes just how scared she is. She wasn't scared of Thanos and yet she's completely terrified of her father."
"We need to call Clint. Now." I said and pulled my phone out.