Project Inheritance

Chapter 3

It was hard to not grab the nearest thing that could be made into a weapon and jump into combat to go grab the kids, but there were too many people. He had to settle for forcing himself to not walk around with his hands balled into fists.

Bucky couldn't fight the entire compound. Or, well...nah, he couldn't. Not without something happening to the kids, and if Walker was here—speaking of, he was going to beat the ever-loving hell out of that blond idiot next time he saw him. Also fighting everyone would also be bloody, and...yeah. He was trying to put that behind him.

But this was testing his resolve.

Part of the plan would have to stay as it was. Get the boy first, then find the girl. But taking the girl was going to take longer since there was presumably a guard in there, along with the medical worker person. There was going to have to be some improvisation. Maybe more punching. He wasn't sure yet.

Green's desk was neat and tidy, which made it easy to find his tablet. It was sitting in a charging station, and Bucky's fake thumb print instantly opened it. While he covertly studied the room and pieced together a few new ideas, he flipped through the apps, looking for information. Green had been tight-lipped about the project, apparently more afraid of his higher-ups than he was of Bucky. And Bucky might've been a little more aggressive than he needed to be and knocked him out earlier than planned.

He still couldn't find the kids' actual names. Just project names. Frowning, he glanced around the room. Instead of the locker, he set the laptop bag he had been carrying around under the desk, shoving it farther under with his foot. It didn't really matter where it went as long as it was in this room, and he didn't want to bother with the locker now.

Sending off a text to Dani, he told her to give him thirty minutes before she set the EMP off. On his watch, he set one five minute warning alarm and then an official thirty minute countdown. He hoped this worked.

Getting up, Bucky grabbed Green's lab coat from the back of his chair and put it on. It became quickly apparent when he started to put it on that he was more muscular than Green. The lab coat was tighter across his shoulders and upper arms. There was no give at all for his vibranium arm, and if he moved wrong, he was sure he was going to tear the coat. Apparently nothing was going to go right today. He tucked his cell phone into his pocket and grabbed the tablet, resisting the urge to check the veil to make sure it was still working. No one was freaking out, so he had to assume it was good to go. At least for now.

Bucky headed for the door, stopping by Arnaud's desk on his way. She was one of the leads on the project, so it made sense for Green to give her a heads-up on what he was doing. "I'm going to go check on the boy," he said, unwilling to call him by the project name they had given him. "I might need to take him by the lab for a blood draw." There. That was actually a decent excuse—

Arnaud's forehead wrinkled. "You know you can't do that while the girl's in there. And he hasn't had breakfast yet."

"It's important," Bucky said, leaning against her desk, trying to look nonchalant instead of irritated. Breakfast. Right. What was he going to feed them, did they like sugary cereal or donuts or would they like fried eggs like he used to make for his sisters—all right, time to worry about that later.

"They're not supposed to have any visual or verbal contact with each other yet," Arnaud said. Grabbing her coffee cup, she sighed deeply and took a sip. "It's cruel, but if David's theory works out and they become more compliant...maybe it's for the best."

"I'll make sure they're in two different rooms," Bucky said. Now he was set on making this work. Overall, it would be the easiest way. Honestly, maybe it would work better than the original plan. "She's asleep, right? He won't even know she's there."