✓ THE SHIFTER, marvel

twelve

12

They were back on the jet immediately after their discovery. The three of them sitting in estranged silence, waiting for Tony to call them back. 

"They have to still be at the cabin, right?" Torrance asked, shifting in her seat uneasily. "I mean, we've been gone, what? Like two hours?"

"No one is answering their phones, they could already be at Stark Tower," Nat responded, holding her phone out and groaning, "And we have no reception up here."

Bucky turned to them, asking, "If Hydra already has the serum, why are they still planning to go after us?" 

"I still know how to recreate the serum," Torrance said back, holding her own phone out and praying she got a signal. "Even if we don't have the serum, I still know everything there is about it. They want to kill me before I tell anyone about it."

"Can't you just tell us, I mean, the new Avengers facility probably has what it takes to recreate what you know-"

She cut off Nat, shaking her head, "It's not safe there, I trust you guys, I really do, but it's not safe. It will never be safe, and besides, do you really want more of us-" she motioned between herself and Bucky. "-running around the streets? Hell, the original serum is nothing like what Steve got. It's dangerous, more potent and severe, and the doctors who created it were intending to use it as mind control. The serum helps them wipe us, at least it did with me. Sure, it's all evolved over the years, perfecting it, but the one Ana stole and hid?" She shook her head, finally resting her back against her seat as she sighed, "The original was not to be messed with, and I really, really, really mean that."

Nat put her phone down and looked up, "Then how do we get it back?"

"Hydra's going to attack Stark Tower," Bucky sighed and Torrance could hear the metal in his arm moving, grinding against each other. "We just have to get there before they do and that way we can at least try and get the serum back and destroy it."

"They'll know we're coming," Nat said. "Hell, if they knew we were coming here, they probably knew we were hiding out at the cabin-" She stopped herself and the look in her eyes gave Torrance a sudden rush of worry as she sat up in her seat. 

"You don't think-"

"No-"

Nat was already moving towards the cockpit as Torrance held her phone higher to get a steady signal. She frantically dialed Steve, getting no answer, then Fury but only getting the same.

All straight to voicemail.

"We can't even get to Tony, not even Wanda," she breathed, feeling her breath hitch in her throat. "What if they got Steve? What if the cabin was the target all along-"

Bucky grabbed her arms, moving closer to her. His voice brought a ringing to her eyes as he said over the rush, "It's okay, they're going to be, we're all safe-"

"We're safe," he whispered to her. 

The dust had just begun to settle and they could finally see the damage. They didn't know there would be so many civilians still in the city and when the building fell, and oh God, did it fall, there wasn't a single survivor. 

"We didn't know," he said, his voice clear and steady. Bucky was always so gentle with her, so warm and kind. "We couldn't have stopped it, we tried to get out as many as we could."

Her breathing was finally slowing and she focused on his eyes that were searching hers. His hands were on her arms, holding her steady against him and the trucks. It was supposed to be an easy mission, get in and get out, but they were ambushed. It had all been a trap.