VITALITY ↝ B. BARNES [1]

[14]

Elysia left the room without another glance at Tony, making her escape as she rounded the corner to head back up to the living quarters. However, before she could clear the landing and hurry back to her room, she nearly collided with the figure coming the opposite direction, and she jumped back, saving the slice of pizza from being squished between the two of them.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was-" Elysia started, but her voice cut off in her throat as she noticed Bucky standing across from her, a look in his eyes that she couldn't quite discern.

"Hi," Bucky said uneasily.

"Hi. There's pizza downstairs, if you're hungry." she said awkwardly, holding up the slice still sitting on her plate in an attempt to dissolve the tension.

"Thanks," he said. "Listen, I wanted to apologize for last night. I was out of line, and-"

"No," she said, a flush heating her cheeks as she shook her head. "No, no, no, it's not you. You have nothing to apologize for."

"I don't?" Bucky asked. "But what about-"

"I did it too." she reminded him. "I just... I can't do that. Not right now, anyways. I'm sorry."

Without another word, she moved around Bucky, heading back to her apartment and shutting the door behind her without another word. Once she was finally alone, she took a deep breath, setting the paper plate down at her desk and returning to her lunch before she needed to meet the rest of them in the lab for testing with the final piece of equipment needed to crack the code in Bucky's head.

Elysia was the first one in the lab that afternoon, logging onto the computer and powering up the various devices as the room began to fill with the familiar hum of the machines. She ran her hands over the surface of the computer, relishing in the familiar way the keys felt under her fingertips, the home she'd built for herself out of computer codes the last few years tempting her back.

By the time the others had arrived, all of the tech was ready for testing, the computers on and waiting. Carlos and Fernanda arrived first, the former putting on a pair of eyeglasses as he looked down to see the screens already prepared and ready for their session. Shortly after their arrival came Bucky, with Tony not far behind.

Bucky greeted the others with a curt hello, taking his usual space in the chair next to the monitor while Fernanda began to hook him up to the wires. Elysia briefly glanced in his direction, noticing that he seemed to be looking everywhere but at her, and she turned back to the screen in front of her.

"Wow," Tony murmured, glancing between the two of them. "Did somebody order the elephant in the room?"

Elysia rolled her eyes, ignoring Tony's words as her gaze stayed on the screen. Similarly to the scans from the tech already in the Avengers Compound, the waves seemed to stop over the area housing the chip in Bucky's brain. However, while the old tech seemed to stop, the new tech instead prompted a passcode, a firewall now the only thing between Elysia and a hopeful solution to save the man sitting in front of her.

It was a way in, and that was a start.

"What do you see, Sparks?" Carlos asked, peering over her shoulder to the screen.

"This is our way in," Elysia explained. "I just need to crack their firewall, and once we're on the other side of that, I can really get to work."

"How much time would you need to crack it?" Tony asked.

"Depends on what's waiting for us on the other side." she said uneasily. "Few hours, maybe?"

"First thing tomorrow, we'll get it out, then." Tony instructed. "We get Tin Man sedated as a precaution, and we deactivate that chip. Hopefully before HYDRA comes and kills us all." he muttered the last part under his breath, though Elysia felt the chill at his words all the same.

Elysia nodded in agreement. "I can do it." she said, though she wasn't quite sure if she was trying to reassure herself or those around her, and she looked up at the others, her gaze moving from Carlos and Fernanda to Tony, glancing quickly over Bucky who still avoided her eyes.

"Well, if that's settled," Tony began as the scan came to an end, and Fernanda began to unhook the wires connected to Bucky's head. "Everyone down here at nine, sharp."

Without another word, Tony left the room, and as soon as Bucky was free from the wires, he followed suit. Elysia's eyes stayed trained on the computer until he was out of the room, and only once he was gone did she dare look back up to begin packing away the equipment. As she moved to pack away supplies into a drawer, she caught sight of a framed photo Fernanda had placed on her desk, one of her and Carlos with a young girl, the three of them smiling for the camera with a beach in the background.

"That's our daughter," Carlos spoke up, following Elysia's gaze. "Juliana."

"She's beautiful," Elysia said, a small smile forming as she studied the photograph. "Is she back in Queens?"

"Yes, she's staying with a friend." Fernanda explained. "That picture was taken on an old family trip years ago. She's a freshman now at Midtown Tech."

"Smart school," Elysia said, impressed. "Although, with the two of you as her parents, I can't say I'm surprised."

Carlos and Fernanda beamed proudly, and Elysia couldn't help but smile at the love she could feel emanating from the two about their daughter. It had been a long time since she'd witnessed that kind of love, the self-sacrificing one that you'd do anything for, no matter the consequences. Although, while she knew she'd never quite reach that same level with the friends waiting for her downstairs, she knew they weren't off to a bad start.