ineffable memories / / bucky barnes

[chapter fourteen]

TIME STAMP: PRESENT

Alexei was driving the car while the silence drove Kai and Yelena insane. Yelena kept thinking about how she got there, and Kai was thinking about how to leave that place—both worrying about the same thing.

"What makes you so special to Valentina?" Yelena broke the silence, looking over her shoulder. "You said it's been years since she tried to recruit you."

"I can't see the future but there are specific events that I can see. Valentina is part of one of them and she's desperate to change it." Kai said quietly.

"You can see the future?" Alexei asked.

"It's not like that. I can't know everything."

"Did you know what was going to happen to Natasha Romanoff?" Yelena asked, with a voice a bit shaky.

"Yelena, that's not-"

"Did you know?" She repeated, as her previous sadness turned into anger.

"I knew that she was going to save the world, I didn't know how it would happen."

"You must have guessed." Yelena's bittersweet answer made Kai shake her head, wondering if Valentina had somehow predicted it.

"It doesn't work like that, Yelena, I assure you." 

"You knew she was going to die, and you let it happen."

"Yelena, she just told you it wasn't that." Alexei warned.

"Stop the car, Alexei," Yelena asked and once he did, she hopped off, waiting for Kai to follow her. "Listen here, Kai, you're going back to change things. I don't care who's taking that fall but it's not my sister, you understand?" Yelena's tone kept rising and switching between sad and angry. Kai knew that feeling - the need to save someone dear. 

"It doesn't work like that." Kai was suddenly exhausted, and willing to take whatever Yelena threw at her.

"Just make it happen! What else are you good for?" Yelena screamed, unable to control her emotions. 

"I can't change things that are meant to happen, Yelena."

Neither Alexei nor Kai discovered what went through Yelena's mind when she threw the first punch at the witch's face – maybe it was grief or perhaps it was because it seemed that Kai was saying that Natasha was meant to die, but either way, Kai didn't fight back, understanding that if it was a punishment, she deserved it.

Once Yelena snapped out of it and burst into tears, Alexei helped them get back into the car before driving to where they were headed. They were lurking out for a few minutes but once they saw the suspect, the three of them walked out of the car ready to take him out. 

Martin, the man, started to run once he saw them but Alexei quickly got a hold of him, throwing him into the backseat next to Kai, who smiled ironically at the guy.

"What the hell happened to you?" The guy asked Kai, who huffed.

"Shut the fuck up." She begged, tilting her head because of the nosebleed.

Yelena still hadn't said anything, but she looked at Kai various times and despite the other not responding, Yelena knew she understood. The witch wanted to be capable of explaining how she once almost destroyed everything because she wanted to change her mother's fate, but Kai couldn't even do that.

For the first time in years, she needed some rest. Unfortunately, once they arrived at the building, the other team was already there which caused Kai to feel anxious about seeing Bucky and having him stressed out about what happened.

"Can someone please switch with me? If I have to stay one more hour with Walker and Barnes fighting each other I will kill them." Ava complained as soon as the teams met.

"I think it is best if we do a small change, yes." Alexei commented, scratching his head and looking between Yelena and Kai.

"What's wrong, you don't like your team?" Bucky said ironically but then saw Kai's face, who shook her head discreetly.

"What happened to your face?" Ava asked a bit more gently now.

"Part of the mission, nothing to worry." Kai smiled a bit, but Bucky could see through her – and Yelena's fists.

"You want me to rough the guy a bit?" Walker smirked and Bucky turned to face him. "What?"

"You need to back off, Walker." If it was just annoyance with Walker or jealousy from him trying to impress Kai, it couldn't be said but deep down he knew what it was – and it was scary.

"What did I do now?" He asked exasperated.

"Shut the fuck up." Kai and Bucky said at the same time.