Torn {Bucky Barnes FanFic}

Chapter 36

The next few weeks were quiet. We kept up with the news, we maintained the perimeter around the house, we attempted to make plans. Much to my chagrin, the guys and Wanda had banned me from doing anything that could cause potential physical harm until my shoulder healed, thus reducing me to desk duty. All day, every day, I sat in the lab and busied myself by running the face of the man from the UN video against any facial recognition software I could hack into. But everything went back to Bucky.

It was exhausting.

What made it even worse was that Bucky was forcing me to wear a sling until my shoulder healed, which meant I could only use one hand to type. It was infuriating, only being able to work at half my usual pace.

One evening, almost three weeks after my little adventure to Stark Tower, I was the most aggravated I'd been since starting my work. I'd stopped running the guy's picture through facial recognition; I knew that wasn't going to get me anywhere. Instead, I had decided to take a different approach. I started running Bucky's picture against SHIELD's old database, which was even more extensive than the FBI's or CIA's because it also contained..gifted people.

I wasn't working anywhere as fast as I knew I could, and I found myself getting more and more frustrated. After messing up my code for the fifth time because I couldn't type fast enough, I cried out in frustration and grabbed at the strap of the sling. I ripped it off angrily and whipped it across the room before collapsing forward and burying my head in my arms. I heard the elevator open but didn't react, just kept my head down.

"Oh my, someone's having a rough day."

"Fuck off, Clint," I grunted.

"Oh, a very rough day."

I groaned in response.

"Alrighty, lets slide out of this angst," he said calmly, sitting down next to me. "What's wrong, Cara?"

I turned my head and glared over at him. "I'm bored, Clint. I'm bored out of my goddamn mind," I sighed. "It's just dead end after freaking dead end, I-I don't know how much longer I can just sit here staring at a computer."

"How's the shoulder? I see you've taken the sling off."

"Yeah," I muttered, sitting up and touching my arm softly. "It was getting in the way."

"Does it hurt?"

I shrugged. "Not too bad anymore."

"Good, that's good."

"I guess."

"You know you're just as much of a help in here as you could be out there," he told me after a moment. "You're smart, Cara, really, really smart. If anyone can create a kick-ass plan and instruct us on how to carry it out without lifting more than a few fingers, it's you."

I sat there silently, staring down at my feet. "Thanks, Clint."

"No problem, kid," he sighed, clapping me on the shoulder.

The elevator opened again, and Bucky walked out this time, two large mugs in his hands.

"Hey, guys. Cara, I brought you some- hold on, why aren't you wearing the sling?"

"Relax, Romeo, she's fine," Clint said, standing up and walking to the elevator. "Alright, I'm going upstairs. Have fun you crazy kids."