Sergeant Barnes: The Last Mission (COMPLETE)

Chapter 66: Bucky

As soon as Fury stepped in the building, he was bombarded by agents, each with their own problems. Hill went with him, and Stark took Parker off somewhere to talk. That left me on my own. I decided to find out where my quarters were located. Until the surface was cleared, that's where I would be staying for the next few nights anyways.

After a few minutes of getting frustrated with the kiosk, I found which floor I was on and what room number. I took the stairs to the next floor down, figuring that I wouldn't want to try to find or use the elevator. I scanned the temporary ID I had picked up earlier and sank onto the mattress inside.

I stared at the ceiling and tried to replay the last three days in my head. Just a few days ago, I had been dreaming about Steve's death, and driving off to see Sam about it. Now he was downstairs, still a cyborg, but alive. Steve was alive.

I laughed, despite being alone. Sam was going to flip when he saw Steve. Maybe I could record the whole thing. That would be hilarious.

Steve was a cyborg. I still didn't really know what to make of that. I knew that he remembered me, and all of us (except for Raven), but did he remember anything else? Did he even remember dying in Wakanda? Did he remember coming back?

Wakanda. The vibranium. How had so much of it slipped past T'Challa? He wouldn't have helped HYDRA. Not by choice.

I sat up and started unbuttoning my combat vest. It wasn't very comfortable to lay in, and my phone was in my pocket underneath it. T'Challa had given a private number to me, and told me that I could call it in case of an emergency. I was starting to think that he was the one needing help.

I powered it up, and then realized it was dead, since I hadn't charged it since before we left New York. I stood up, starting to get sore, and looked around for a charger. There was a few on the dresser, and I chose the Lightning cord that fit. Why didn't they change the name from the original Lightning cord? Lightning 1 and Lightning 2 was so inconvenient. I had a hard enough time keeping track of Apple versus Android, and Sam said that Android was crumbling. Could anything stay the same?

I set the phone on top of the dresser while it booted up, but I opened the drawers while I waited. Someone had prepped the room with a new change of clothes and a few other items before I had come. I switched into jeans, a shirt and a light jacket and was just about to call T'Challa when a knock came at the door.

"Come in," I called out, and the door slid open to reveal Raven waiting on the other side.

"Director Fury wants to see you. I think he's wondering about the vibranium you saw earlier."

Nodding, I opened my phone. "I'll be up soon, I know where it is. I just need to check something first."

She turned and walked away, but I poked my head out of the door before it closed and yelled after her. "Where are you headed, Shots?"

She looked over her shoulder, but didn't stop walking. "Back to work. Agent Evans has a 2 foot stack of paperwork that I have to proofread and sort before noon."

My eyes widened. "They aren't giving you a break?"

"This is my break!" She smiled and turned away.

I laughed and looked back at the phone. I memorized the number T'Challa had given me quickly before booking it up to Fury's office.

I knocked twice with my flesh arm on his door, and he buzzed me in. Hill walked out just then, and I nodded to her as we passed each other. The doors sealed behind me, and I took a seat in the chair opposite him.

"Is your room all right?" He asked, organizing a few things on his desk. I guess he had just moved in, too.

"It's fine, thanks," I told him. It was great, but my mind was preoccupied. "What are we going to do about Wakanda?"

He set down a stack of papers and gave me his full attention. "I need to know everything you got from your mission. I can't put anything together until we have reason to do something."

"I only saw about a hundred fifty crates, sir, but there had to have been more that." I remembered how many had been in the hallways and in the storage units. "Wakanda has never sent out that much in their exports. Whatever is happening, I don't think T'Challa knows, or approves."

"Did you ever see the vibranium, or was it just the crates?"

"I saw Steve."

Fury looked up at me, putting the pieces together. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temple. Then he opened his eye and looked at me.

"I can't send a team into Wakanda, it's against international law. We could send you to Germany because HYDRA is an international threat, and that includes the U.S., but this is probably a threat specifically to Wakanda now, since HYDRA will be out of the picture soon."

"And there's no way around that law?"

"There could be," He admitted, and sat back upright. "Probably is, but I need to find it. See if there isn't a loophole."

"I have a number," I told him, writing it down on a sticky note. "T'Challa gave it to me before I left. Said I could use it if there was trouble."

He picked up the note and stared at the number. Then he stared at the wall for a minute. "If you go to Wakanda, as a dual citizen, you might be able to help them."

I looked down at my hands. I didn't really want to fight anymore. HYDRA was done now.  I wanted to enjoy life again, now that Steve was back. I had done my time.

"You can't send a SHIELD agent?"

He saw my face and drummed his fingers on the desk. "I have other options. I just wanted to open it to you if you wanted it."

"That's probably for the best," I replied, grateful that he understood.

"Go ahead and rest up, Barnes," he told me, standing up. "I'll do everything I can for Wakanda. This number will probably help. We won't ask anything of you for the next few days, and you'll be back in Brooklyn by the end of the week."

"Thanks, Fury," I said sincerely, and shook his hand. I walked out of his office and towards the lobby again, but not before I saw Steve coming towards me. I smiled.

The mission was over. I found Steve.

Everything was going to be okay.