Work This Out

Chapter 42 ~ Criminals

Location: Bucharest, Romania

The file Sharon gave Dad led him, me, and Sam to Romania. It's a nice country by the way, but I don't have time to explore and take in all its glory. The man that took us two years to find knows how to hide himself well. Dad and I are in our suits as we enter a small apartment that is supposed to be Bucky's.

It's a little rundown apartment building. The kitchen and bedroom are in the same room and there are various bits of cheap-looking furniture around the room. I look around the apartment and then look to see Dad walking to the fridge.

"Does he have any food in there?" I joke, but also kind of curious because I'm hungry again.

Dad turns around and gives me a look before picking up a notebook on top of the fridge. There are tabs of varying colors, sticking out from some pages, probably to mark important information. Dad opens up the book and starts skimming. I hear the doorknob jiggle and immediately run beside the door to hide. Dad who is still looking at the book doesn't notice I moved. The door opens and Bucky walks in, immediately noticing Dad, but not me.

"Heads up, Rogers'. German Special Forces, approaching from the south." Sam informs us.

"Understood," Dad says.

He looks to the side still thinking I'm there then looks to the other side still not finding me there. He closes the book and slowly turns around. I close the door Bucky left open and he turns, now noticing me and seeing he's in between the two of us.

"Do you know me?" Dad asks him.

Bucky stares at Dad before answering. "You're Steve. I read about you in a museum."

"They've set the perimeter," Sam says.

Bucky then turns to look at me. I look back at him and we have a silent stare-off. He probably remembers me from the river or when I saw HYDRA brainwash him.

"I know you're nervous," Dad says, bringing his attention back to him. "And you have plenty of reason to be. But you're lying." Dad puts the book down on the table and slowly steps forward.

"I wasn't in Vienna. I don't do that anymore." Bucky says calmly.

"They're entering the building," Sam warns.

"Well, the people who think you did are coming here now. And they're not planning on taking you alive." Dad says.

"That's smart. Good strategy." Bucky answers. What the fuck? Does he want to die?

"They're on the roof. I'm compromised."

"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Buck," Dad says to him.

"It always ends in a fight." Bucky retorts and fiddles with the glove on his left hand.

Dad looks at me and I shrug. "He's got a point."

"Five seconds."

"You pulled me from the river. Why?" Dad asks him as Bucky takes his glove off to reveal his metal hand.

"I don't know." Bucky answers.

"Oh, bullshit!" I say to him. He glances at me.

"Three seconds!"

"Yes, you do." Dad pushes.

"Breach! Breach! Breach!" Sam warns.

A grenade comes crashing through the window on Dad's right, but he hits it with his frisbee of freedom. It explodes and another one comes crashing in the window to Bucky's left. He kicks the grenade to Dad and he smothers it with his shield. I jog up next to Bucky, ready for anything. Bucky lifts his mattress up and blocks the next grenade with it. The armed cops outside the door try to ram it down, but Bucky throws a table to block the door. Policemen come in through the window. Dad pulls the rug out from under one of the guys, making him fall while I send a quick punch to another's face and knock them out. Bucky on the other hand slams one into a wall.