𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽 - 𝙱. 𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙴𝚂

Chapter 13

(warning: violence cranked up a little)

The Assassin

Lois's eyes widened as the parking lot collapsed in on itself. Bucky didn't stop the motorcycle and drove in the direction of the highway. The mask still covered the lower half of his face.

"Keep your head down," Bucky grunted. He didn't want her face to be identified by any cameras when he wasn't going the speed limit.

"Bucky?" Lois spoke into his shoulder.

He didn't respond. She couldn't tell if he couldn't hear her, her ears pounded from the explosion.

"Bucky!"

He shook his head in reply.

"Please talk to me." She squeezed his metal shoulder a little from the front.

"Bucky, what happened back there? Why did that happen?"

Bucky glanced back at her, scowling. He couldn't believe she thought he blew up the parking garage. "I didn't do that." His tone was harsh. "There were explosives on the machine that were triggered after Torren left the lot."

Bucky felt Lois's grip on his jacket tighten, her face pressed into his shoulder. "Hey, I know you didn't. That's not what I meant."

Lois felt Bucky's shoulders relax slightly. She never thought Bucky would put them at risk by blowing up a parking lot. Even if he had done it, she'd trust his reasoning. That's how much faith she had in him.

"I don't understand how they figured me out so quickly. What did I say wrong?" She asked.

"You cared too much about your mission."

She couldn't tell if he was making fun of her.  "That's... that's not it."

Bucky continued, "I told you plans go wrong. You should've listened to me."

Lois felt scolded for caring about him but it only fuelled her anger. "I did it for you." She mumbled.

He scoffed and Lois wiped the blood that was dripping from her lip with the back of her hand. Asking questions destroyed her cover but they learned something very important. Karpov was dead, and the Winter Soldiers book was missing. No one would steal that book unless they had intentions to use it.

Lois's glare burned into the back of his head. "I need to get those words, you should understand that."

"I do get it."

Lois took in her surroundings. Bucky was taking them onto the highway. It was not by any means the direction of the SALA.

"So where are we going then? We better not be running away." Lois snapped. She'd rather jump off the bike than let him take her away from Bucharest.

Bucky took one hand off the handles to move her hand from his chest to inside his pocket. Lois felt a device and pulled it out. It was a tracker and her phone was the thing being tracked. A little blue LOU symbol blinked as it moved on the little screen.

"You're tracking my cell?"

Lois looked more carefully at the device. LOU, her phone, was travelling fast along the highway up ahead.

"I..." He smacked the handlebar. "I placed your phone on the van so we could track them if they got away."

Lois looked at the back of his head.
"You stole my phone."

He rolled his eyes. That was what she took from that? "Borrowed."

"Barnes, you're a genius!" Lois laughed, hugging him closer with one arm.