Secretive - Bucky Barnes

25 || Paris

[Nova]
»What happened to you two?« Sam asks a little effusive from the other end of the room, both hands in his hips and eyes wide.

The others, too, look surprised, maybe even a little taken aback by Steve's and my own appearance. Although I have been able to heat up the clothes, they are still wet, and the dirt on them as well as on our skin has not decided to simply fall off. Short: We look like we were mud-slinging, especially with the brown drought mass decorating our legs to our knees from fighting through the soil near the shore.

»Made a race.« I grin, scooting my glance over the present people. Tony is there in a dark blue shirt and jeans, Natasha and Bruce equally casually dressed, sitting on the white round table next to him. Only Vision and Wanda are dressed more formal, since they were visiting some sort of judge at home for getting their piece of information. They must have just gotten back. »I won.« I add, blinking at Steve and causing him to blush ever so slightly, trying to quietly and shyly smirk it away.

»That was pure luck.« he explains then, right in the second James walks through the door, getting all the attention from everyone.

Paying all of his own to Steve and me, and I can smell testosterone and cortisol. In masses. Rushing down on him, probably struggling him. Like someone opened a cask that has been way too full, now streaming in a beam. As someone unlocked it. Just like I could smell from Steve before, but so much more intense with James walking past us. He does not let anyone see, face plain as ever, but I can well imagine that there is a knot of anger and frustration building in the pit of his stomach from firstly, waking up to an empty bed, and secondly, seeing me obviously having been near to Steve. 

Not that he would have any say in it left, even if I did go second base with Steve.

Nonetheless, I can feel myself swallowing, the light mood vanishing down and replaced by a limp in my throat. Why does it feel like cheating, whether nothing has happened eventually?

»Whatever,« Tony breaks the silence when James takes a seat next to Banner, quietly listening to everything that is going on. Something inside me claws for his black sweater, for going right to him and embracing his neck from behind, running my hands over his chest. Fingers already itching. He seems so strong just sitting there, my feeling of superiority strongly for everyone in this room except him – and Wanda, maybe -, his side profile as handsome as ever with him being all shaved, his sharp jawline emphasized, his serious facial features shadowing by the light from above. Like a dark angel.

Shaking my head, I get out of my daze. Like a bubble bursting, I can hear Tony's voice again, recognize Steve having walked forwards to grab one of the chairs with both his hands, listening. ».. Show us what you found.«

Everyone reaching into their pockets, the table soon enough is filled with small pieces of papers and bloody numbers. Chloe really knew how to make a scene; I have to give her that. The others found more than us, anywhere in between two or even five small slips, they all displayed on the white top of the table in out front. I walk forward, bending over to have a better look. Fifteen numbers in between Zero and Nine, some of them repeating themselves, others only once. Banner ordered them into the right position from lower to higher numbers. Zero-One-Two-Two-Three-Four-Four-Four-Five-Five-Five-Six-Seven-Eight-Nine.

»Anyone any ideas?«Tony asks, all of our heads hovering over the hints.

»Could be everything.« Banner's voice, despair edging on it, speaks up. »From a code for logging into something over a phone number over coordinates. Literally everything.«

»Then let's go with the easiest one for the start. F.R.I.D.A.Y., please make a list of every place on this planet that contains the following numbers in its coordinates.« He then repeats them, and the intelligence system starts searching. Popping on the wall opposite to the door from the beamer, a lot of various places are greenly enlightened, with the number of loading increasing.