Familiarity

Chapter 25

      Two long days of being trapped in an apartment was awful, Emilia thought she may never breathe fresh air again; especially since Bucky had emptied all alcohol out of the place. It was a long time to be out of contact with Madi, she wouldn't answer her phone and it was all Emilia could do to avoid the feelings of betrayal. Maybe she just screwed up and grabbed the wrong vial.
      Bucky had his arms wrapped around her, as they sat on the couch waiting for a call from Steve to tell them she was safe. She had tried to convince him to let her go to the labs, or to even send him, but he couldn't leave her alone, and he couldn't let her leave the apartment. She sighed as she sunk further into his chest, ignoring the fact that she was completely helpless.
      "Are you sure we can't go to the labs, I have to find the serum," she stated looking up at him.
      "Emilia I cannot let you go out there, they have people waiting for the moment you exit this building, snipers ready," he explained. "We wait for Steve's go ahead."
"But what if we run out of food?"
"Emilia, stop talking."
She smirked at him as he tried to keep his face serious at her distracting thoughts. "So if I'm not allowed to talk, then can you tell me about your mission and what happened?"
He didn't have to fight any amused expressions off his face when she asked the question, a look of fear flashed across his face as his eyes grew distant from their conversation, "I'd rather not."
"Please?" Since the night he had tried to kill her she had wondered what happened over in Europe, any idea she had of what happened kept her awake at night.
"HYDRA found me, isolated me from the rest of the team, leading them on, giving them this sense of hope that we wouldn't have to fight. Then they, they activated him, the Winter Soldier. I didn't know who was on my team and who wasn't, I just killed anyone." He swallowed a sob that formed in his throat, shaking his head as memories of him killing his own team entered his mind.
      "Bucky don't do this to yourself, don't do it. You know you are more than an assassin, not even the same person," Emilia tried to explain to him as she became sympathetic to his situation. "You are a good person Buck, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
      "I hurt so many people," he shook his head letting it drop into his hands.
      "Why don't we go talk to Natasha and see how she's doing, see just how awful James Barnes really is."
      "We can't leave," he said shakily, as he tried to control his breathing.
      "Sure we can, we just walk out the front door when it's busy and hide in the crowd, we'll  head to the hospital, talk to Nat, then get my serum." He looked down at her skeptically, his bionic arm cool against her waist where it rested. "I trust you with my life Bucky, we have to protect my serum as much as you protect me, and yes I have the papers, but if they get their hands on that liquid, they can break it down and figure out how to manipulate it. Please."
      "We leave during the lunch rush, cars are up and down the road, people are leaving their apartments, leaving small cafes, we head to the hospital first. Okay?"
      "Sounds great Buck."

      "My hat looks really good on you," Bucky whispered down at Emilia as he pulled her closer to him, his arm around her shoulder.
      Emilia reached up and pulled the baseball hat further on her head, making sure it was snug in case she had to break out in a sprint at any given time. "Thanks, you look good all the time." He met her eyes with his, crinkled around the edges from his smile. "I love you."
      "I love you too Em, remember that to keep you from doing anything stupid."
      "How could I do anything stupid, it's not like there is a gun tucked in my waist band or anything."
      "Shut up," he chuckled pushing her away from him jokingly before pulling her back quickly. "If you think you might have to use it, don't hesitate to pull it out, that gun will save your life," he whispered, his eyes darting around the crowd they have surrounded themselves in, on the look out for any agents.
       Her smile fell from her face at his words, she hated shooting a gun, especially since she had to use one on him the last time she shot one. "Right," she nodded grabbing his hand to pull him into the hospital as they passed, not even slowing their pace.
Finding Natasha was easy, she was out of the ICU, and in observation rooms on the first floor. Emilia knocked on the room's door before her and Bucky entered, looking at the girl who was watching them from her bed. "Well look what the cat dragged in," she croaked, her voice raw, and lips dry.
      "How are you doing?" Bucky asked keeping his distance from her as Emilia approached.
      "This is nothing, just a few scratches."
      "Right, your nose looks broken, that is more than just a scratch on the bridge there," Emilia pointed out sitting on the edge of her bed.
       "Well if it isn't the doctor herself. Dr. Hate, how are you? And what do I owe the pleasure?"
      "I'm fine, but we need your help. Bucky thinks it was him who did this to you, kindly tell him it was not."
       "Well James, you do throw a mean punch, but you did not put me in the hospital," she smiled looking over at him. "I should also ask, what are you two doing out of your apartment? Aren't you supposed to be in lockdown or something?"
Emilia shrugged crossing her ankles dangling off the bed, "We are running out of food."
"No," Bucky argued shaking his head slightly.
"We are running out of good food. I was also getting a little shack wacky, I'm sure you understand." She lifted her head to look over at Natasha who remained straight faced, watching the woman closely.
"I don't care how crazy you're going, you shouldn't have left the apartment. Bucky get her home."
"Yeah," he nodded stepping into the room to grab Emilia by the arm, guiding her out of the hospital, his eyes already scanning the surrounding areas quickly.
"Get better," she called out as they left Natasha to recover. "Stop being so serious," she laughed once they were out on the street. "I'm locked and loaded, ready to go. You know I've been working on my aim, we are fine."
Bucky stopped his scanning for a quick second to look at his girlfriend smiling widely at him, he let a chuckle out before lifting his head again. "You're crazy, I'm getting you home," he sighed pressing his lips against hers gently for a second before he went back to guarding their lives.
"Are we still going to the labs?"
"You know, I have a hard time believing that that vial in your office is the only one in existence, are you sure it's worth the risk?"
"It's the only one in Manning Corp's building, there is another vial at SHIELD, only Banner and I know about it, I have to secure this one," she explained, the smiling dropping off her face once she started talking. "Also, I have to find out if Madi meant to put the empty one in my purse, I need to know."
"Alright, we'll go find out," he nodded leading them to her labs.
Emilia took long strides into the building, waving at the receptionist as she lead Bucky to the elevator. Director Riz was up and out of his office as soon as he caught word that she was in the building, he hurriedly entered the elevator as it lowered to the labs. "What are you doing here? I've had been playing security guard for the last forty-eight hours, preventing any one who is not employed out of the building because you ordered a 577... should you really be here?"
"Is Mrs. Allen here?"
"She's observing tests on drug 212," he answered looking over his shoulder to get a look at Bucky, not looking very long when he realized how muscular the man really was.
      Emilia nodded, leaving the two behind as soon as the doors opened. She bee lined for the woman standing in the hall by a window, scribbling notes down on a clipboard. The doctor did not slow her pace as she walked past her, "My office."
      Madi watched her continue down the hall, even waited for her to enter her office before she started to make any movement towards that end of the hall. She looked over her shoulder, finding the Winter Soldier staring her down as the elevator doors opened again. His gaze was enough motivation to put some pep in her step to get herself to the office.
      "Emilia, what are you doing here?" Madi asked shutting the door slowly behind her, being careful with every step, she was aware of the anger radiating off the woman.
      "I'm getting my serum, something you were supposed to send with me two days ago! Why weren't you answering your phone?" There was no hiding the anger that had risen in Emilia's body, she was ready to let it all out. She bounced on the balls of her feet, ready to defend her work.
      "No, I put the serum in your bag, I don't know what that is," she stuttered staring wide eyed at the vial.
      "This is serum three point seven, you gave me an empty vial. Why didn't you answer your phone?"
      "I was scared. I thought maybe they could track our calls, I didn't want to risk anything," she muttered pulling her phone out of her coat pocket.
      "Bullshit! What are you doing?"
      "I just need to send a message," she said, uneasiness laced in her voice. She tucked the phone away as soon as she was done, crossing her arms over her body.
       "My life is on the line right now, and you're sending messages!" Emilia was infuriated, her fist wrapped tightly around her purse, this time with the vial in it. "Get out of my way, and don't talk to me," she threatened shouldering past her reach for the door.
      "Emilia!" Madi called out, a desperate cry for her friend to stop. "I'm sorry."
      The woman's words stopped the doctor from clicking the door open. The sound of two gunshots froze her on the spot.