𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 | 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬

Hudson

"𝘼𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚. 𝙄 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩?"

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The second Hivemind chip laid on the kitchen aisle between Chloe and Bucky, still half glowing. Chloe suspected proximity would be a thing between her and that chip. She, however, was a little more preoccupied staring at the man on the other side of the isle. With an elbow propped on the isle and her cheek on one palm, she stared endlessly at the man who had yet to make a sound. For a man who was renowned as a ladies' man, and the life of a party, it was very strange seeing his grim face in person.

"You are driving the Hivemind crazy," she remarked suddenly. "And for the first time, it's not a massive migraine." Her eyes briefly flickered down to the tech piece. "Now how does that work?" Just yesterday when she held the piece on her palm, it drove her insane to the point she had to let it drop. But now here she was, hearing multiple whispers about the danger estimate the now ex-Winter Soldier posed to her. It was significantly low.

Bucky would hate to admit it but her endless, yet calm, stare made him uncomfortable. Perhaps it was because now he could be aware of it. Things seemed to be changing slowly for him but the fact remained that they were changing. He would have to adjust as each thing happened.

"I don't get it," Chloe spoke again, "Why would you come to me and not, I don't know, your best friend?"

Bucky turned his head away from her. "Too much," he said, plain and simple.

Chloe chuckled, yet again not the reaction he was expecting. "Steve Roger's too much? Yeah, I can see that, but he does want to find you. And not to hurt you or put you in prison or anything like that. He wants to help you." She gauged Bucky's reaction to the news but he was damn good at being stoic.

"I need stories," he reiterated. "It's not safe here."

"Yeah, it's not safe pretty much anywhere," Chloe corrected him. "But listen, whatever you got going on, I'm not a threat and you know it."

There weren't many things that came to Bucky's mind yet, but there was one thing that separated Chloe from him and the others. "We're playthings of HYDRA," he said and watched Chloe stiffen. ""

"They're gone," Chloe said, whispered.

"One faction," Bucky clarified. "But there are more."

She cocked her head to the side. "Do you know the exact number?"

"Plenty."

"What about locations?"

Once more, he shrugged and gave a half answer. "Everywhere."

Her face went flat. "Wow, so helpful."

With a heavy sigh that almost sounded like a groan, Bucky straightened up and swiped the tech piece from the counter. "This is all you should care about. It's the only payment you want, I'm sure."

There came a slight challenging expression to her face. "Don't presume to know me!" Just like that, she plucked the chip right out of his hand. She smirked at his surprise. "I didn't require any payment because I know the shit history you have. I would've helped anyways, albeit with some caution. You want extensive stories? I don't have them but I can offer what I do have." She placed the chip on the counter, making a gesture for him to take it back if he wanted to. She meant what she said. "You know I once looked into Steve's head. Poor thing was so fragile in the beginning that he couldn't hide everything. Things slipped out and you know what I saw in a lot of his memories? His best friend. You."