Project Inheritance

Chapter 4

Based on the layout he had memorized, Bucky navigated his way to the med lab. He hadn't been expecting to go there when he had been following the original plan, but it had been on his route. There was an emergency stairwell not too far from the lab, and he was still banking on using those stairs.

"I've got it from here," he said to the guards as he put his hand on the keypad for entry into the med lab. "Thanks."

"You sure?" one of the asked, frowning down at the kid. "Protocol says that—"

"I'm sure," Bucky said, nudging the kid inside as he pushed the door open. "Thanks again."

"But—"

Bucky ignored the guard and made sure there wasn't enough room for him to get in as he let the door close. He hoped that they wouldn't bother coming after him, chalking up the rudeness as a definitive I-don't-need-you-go-away gesture. Maybe that'd work. He didn't know the real personality of the guy's whose face he was borrowing, but if he worked here, it couldn't be that great.

The medical area had a small, currently empty foyer with a small grey desk in one corner and no sitting area. Camera light blinked red from two different corners. There was one door leading out of this room, presumably to labs or exam rooms or whatever they were hiding around here.

"June!" the kid called, and Bucky froze. What. Why.

"No," he said, grabbing the kid's shoulder, carefully firm. "Shh."

The kid's face crunched into a frown. "What for? We're getting June, right?"

"Yeah, but not like that," Bucky said, resisting the urge to look around at the cameras. "We're not announcing it to the world." As far as he knew, the two kids weren't supposed to see each other, and he doubted that yelling for each other was allowed. Besides, he was pretty sure the girl would still be asleep.

"Why're we at the hospital place?" the kid demanded. He really needed to find out his real name. "Are you sure you're not doctor guy? I'll stomp your foot so much—"

"Don't." Bucky's mouth pressed into a tight line. He hadn't expected the boy to be so talkative. "We're here to get your sister. And I'm not him. But we have to be quiet."

The door to the back opened, letting in a woman with curly black hair, wearing green scrubs. She looked up from a tablet, her eyebrows knitting together. "Oh, I didn't know..." She bit her lip and regarded the two of them uncertainly. "He wasn't scheduled for any tests today."

"I—yeah, about that," Bucky said, willing a lie to come more easily. His plan was getting shredded piece by piece, and he was currently feeling like he was flying by the seat of his pants. "I read a paper. A scientific one about a new...procedure. Test." Normally he was a lot better at this sort of thing. He was more prepared. And before, back as the Winter Soldier, this would have been handled a completely different way. Less talking. Actually none. "I thought it would be a good day to try it." So convincing.

"Ah, all right," the woman said, still uncertain, "Well, I guess as long as you don't go in the observation room, it's okay?" She glanced over at the computer. "But you really should get things like this signed off on beforehand, so it can be on the schedule."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, and he tried to offer a disarming smile. By the confused and mildly startled look on her face, he hadn't done a great job. His own face was probably wasn't any better at that kind of thing.

"Mhmm." She sat down at the computer and started typing, her gaze on the screen.

Bucky headed for the back, his hand still on the boy's shoulder. He swiped his card at the door, which beeped and flashed green to let them in. Glancing down as the door closed, he squeezed the kid's shoulder. "Let's find your sister."