Layers Of

Chapter 12

 Being out on the streets never bothered her before. She enjoyed the fresh air of the city and the sounds of people and vehicles on their commute. Kaylee followed the crowd, never getting in anyone's way as they all made it close to downtown. As night began to fall, she sat outside of a restaurant, slowly eating one of her meals she got from Stark's Kitchen.

She looked up slightly, just to see if she could make anything out and noticed, in the distance, the Tower. The very place she called home for a year, now a place she never wanted to go back to. She swallowed hard, standing up. The brunette glared at the Tower, watching the lights to the living room go on before turning her back and walking in the other direction.

As she continued down the sidewalk, she noticed a small change in the atmosphere. The omega looked around, not noticing anything wrong with the buildings or the people but that most walked in a tight group versus those downtown. It was dark now, well after when anyone should be out.

Especially you, a voice inside her whispered, chills creeping up her spine.

Kaylee swallowed hard as she caught scents of different alphas near. She clenched the knife hiding under one of her backpack straps and walked faster. If only I can get to the bay, she thought.

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Small laughs came from the living room as the Avengers started filing in. It was one of the nights again, once a week, that they all came together to catch up on the stresses of the week and what's planned.

Tony and Pepper were the first ones in as usual. They were caught up dealing with different aspects of Stark Industries and needed to rewind after the stressful day. Steve, Natasha, and Bucky trained nearly all day, Nat joining the two super soldiers after Kaylee left.

"What if," Bruce started after a while. "What if we all took a vacation for a week or two?"

"You know we don't get vacations," Clint laughed, cradling his small glass of whiskey in his hands.

A small chuckle erupted from mostly everyone in the room. Pepper sat back and watched the group, seeing Tony happy in the mix. But something felt wrong, like something was missing. She looked around and looked eyes with Bucky. She smiled softly at him and then it clicked.

"Kaylee," she breathed and it seemed to carry as the room turned quiet and looked at her.

"She hasn't checked in?" Natasha said, looking around to anyone. "Did she even leave?"

The tension in the room grew, making Bucky uneasy. What are they talking about? He thought and looked up at Steve who was just as confused at the rest of the team. Then, it clicked. She left and hasn't come back. He turned around at the clock to see what time it was. Fifteen till midnight, he thought, a weird feeling of panic rising in his chest.

"FRIDAY," Tony called, looking dead straight at Natasha who bolted for the door. "Did Kaylee ever leave today?"

"Yes sir," the female AI said to the group in the living room, making everyone's heart nearly drop. "She left at about noon today."

A screen popped up in the middle of the group showing a video of the omega leaving the Tower with the backpack. Steve quickly stood up and watched Kaylee leave the door, seeing if she was pulled into the street afterwards or not. The video was on repeat, the room silent as panic flared through the atmosphere.

Bucky looked away, staring into the heart of the city. He felt this kind of panic before. What could definitely have been a century ago, looking down alleyways when Steve disappeared before the serum changed him.

Natasha ran back into the living room from the stairs, an extreme panic scent rising from her and filled the room. "She's not back!"

All at once, the Avengers quickly got up and to the balcony where the quinjet was waiting. Bucky stayed behind, watched the group go outside before bolting for the stairs. He didn't enjoy heights and tried to avoid them whenever he could.

As he emerged from the Tower, he quickly noticed Kaylee's scent as it was the only one on the ground level floor. He stopped, feeling overly comforted by the smell. It smelled sweet like honey and roses. It seemed to crawl under his skin as he realized he felt that she was his responsibility.

Bucky shook his head free from his thoughts and started following the scent, easily picking her scent from countless others, some aspects of him being a bounty hunter actually becoming useful. He stared down the street and starting jogging, aimlessly hoping Kaylee didn't go far. For his safety and hers as neither of them were supposed to be out on their own at this hour on their own.

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Hello! Here is your (now hopeful weekly) update on Kaylee and Bucky! I wanted to continue for this chapter but I thought this would be a good stopping point considering I would like the next chapter to be action packed.

So what you do think so far? What aspects would you like to see?