Code Name: Untraceable

Chapter Forty: We're Not Done Yet

Back at the bunker, the energy shifted.

Bob sat at the small table, a blanket around his shoulders, mug in hand.

Yelena gave him a once-over for the third time. "You okay?"

"I think so," he said, voice soft. "I mean, you know... minus the whole 'kidnapped by a psycho stalker' thing."

John tossed him a protein bar. "You earned that."

Ava sat in the corner, sharpening a blade. "And probably therapy."

Alexei added, "Many therapy."

Bucky stepped over and handed Bob a new hoodie-one he'd grabbed from a gear locker. "Yours has blood on it."

Bob blinked. "Thanks..."

But one person wasn't in the room.

Frankie.

Yelena glanced down the hall. "She's in the control room."

Bob looked at her. "Is she okay?"

Yelena snorted. "That depends on your definition."

⸻

Inside the control room

Frankie was already rechecking the sensors. Scanning satellite sweeps. Reviewing the message history. Every angle, every signal.

She hadn't sat down.

She hadn't blinked.

She hadn't removed her gear.

Bucky leaned against the doorframe, arms folded. "You don't have to do this right now."

Frankie didn't look at him.

"Yes I do."

Bob's voice floated in from the hall.

"You saved me."

Frankie's fingers stilled on the keyboard.

Just for a second.

"I wasn't going to let him keep something that's mine."

Silence.

Then she muttered, quieter now-

"Not again."