𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽 - 𝙱. 𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙴𝚂

Chapter 14

The Vulpe

Bucky and Lois discarded the motorcycle in an alley near the telephone booth. They planned to get the weapons that they left on the roof near the museum when the emergency services were gone. Now, they had only one objective; get home to the SALA.

Lois yawned as she looked over at Bucky, who walked beside her in silence. He was always quiet but something felt wrong to her. She spotted it on his face. In his eyes. She stopped walking.

"Take it off, Bucky." She held her free hand open to take the mask that still covered his mouth.

Bucky stopped and turned to her. She could only see his blue eyes widen a little. He had kept the mask on for so long it felt like he was conforming to it again.

Bucky reached to his face and slowly pulled it off. He took a deep breath and shook his head a little. He was wearing no hat or mask in public. Anxiety raced through him as he looked around for any cameras.

Lois took the mask from his hand and replaced it with his baseball cap, from her head. Lois threw the black mask into an alley, "Okay?"

Bucky nodded and he put the hat on.

"Thank you for saving me in the parking lot, and helping me get this. You risked too much for me." She shook the silver briefcase and they started to walk again.

He shrugged his shoulders. He'd do more if he could. He might just do anything.

As they got closer to the SALA, Bucky watched her swing the briefcase as she walked.

"Will you tell me what happened to Madame Torren?" He asked.

"I got into the van, made her hand over this, then jumped out. And that's that."

Bucky looked at her. It wasn't the end of the story, he could tell. "What did she say to you?"

Lois turned her face to him again. "She told me she used 13 to figure out if I was lying. He listened to my heartbeat."

"And?"

"That's it."

"I can tell when you're lying to me."

She grinned, smugly. "Are you listening to my heart too?"

"No. I can just tell."

Lois wanted to be happy that he understood her like that but she couldn't, not now. She sighed out loud. "Fine. I had to do something in order to get this, and I don't want to talk about it here."

Lois walked up the steps of the SALA towards the door. Bucky jumped in front of her to grab the door but he stopped them from entering.

"Did you kill her?"

Lois looked into his eyes. "She's dead."

She pushed past him and through the door. Bucky looked down at the ground before following in. In the light of the hallway, he caught sight of the dried blood on her hands and that stained her pants too.

The apartment building was dark and quiet, only the hallway light was on. Mrs. Vulpe's chair was empty. Bucky followed Lois up the stairs to her apartment.