On Command ~ Sequel to Lost Heros

Doesn't Add Up

     Bucky stood there in disbelief as the world around him crashed down. I could see him peeling back the layers of the situation trying to find my reasoning. "That's besides the point," he mumbled to the side. "If you're not pregnant then there has to be another reason why you've been acting so weird lately. Claire, talk to me, please," his voice wavered and from across the room I could see the tears forming on his face.

I was doing this for him. I am breaking his heart to save his life.

I straightened up and put on my armor while I stripped him of his. "I was going to leave, James," I said. "I can't take it in here anymore. I can't take all of this. I don't want this life."
Bucky took a step closer but my feet were frozen. I felt if I moved too much my whole facade would break.
"Claire, I-"

"I was going to leave tonight. Without a word or trace like I've done before. I've been planning it for a while now," I lied cooly. "But," he said in a low voice, "What about me?"
"I'm sorry, James." He towered over me now but he never seemed so small. Without another word, because I couldn't bare to spit out poison any longer, I made my way to my room as fast as I could and locked the door.

I don't know what hurt more: the look on his face, or the fact that he didn't try to stop me.

     My legs gave out from under me and I crashed to the floor with a rage that could rival the devils. I wanted to scream my lungs out and rip out the floorboards.
But my work wasn't done. From out of the corner of my eye I saw something under the bed.

~~*End*~~

     I had reached the end of the hall when it blew up. It wasn't to big enough to level the building but enough to cause the distraction I needed.

Catching my breath behind a wall, I noticed my phone beginning to go off.

"What?" I answered.

The jet should be on the roof soon. I suggest you get there as quickly as possible. Oh, and I better not see a ring on that finger.

     He hung up and I couldn't take it any longer. With all of my strength I threw my phone at the wall and watched the screen break apart as my life just had. Tears welled in my eyes as I leaned on the wall for support. I could begin to hear the distant sounds of panicked voices over the damage I caused.

"We have to go," I could hear the Nyx say and I reluctantly have my way up a flight of stairs.

*Bucky's P.O.V*

     She said no. There was no baby. She said no. Claire was going to leave. She said no. Why didn't I stop her? She said no. Could I have changed her mind?

I was in a separate room that wasn't ours. It didn't have her familiar smell or her clothes in the closet. It felt almost as cold and empty as I did. And by now I couldn't get into the old room if I tried because Claire locked the door.

     None of this was adding up to me. One minute she was fine, and the next she decides to run away? I knew for a fact she was genuinely happy here. Something wasn't right.

Suddenly, I felt the floor under my feet shake tremendously as my balance was thrown to the ground. That sounded like an explosion.
I rushed out the door and instantly my mind went to Claire. Whether she wants to marry me or not, I still love her and want to make sure she's safe. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me to her room. The door was wide open and the room empty.

Knowing her, she probably went to check it out. . .

Deciding it was best not to argue with the alternatives, I made my way downstairs to where the explosion came from. As soon as I stepped foot onto the level, I could see the dust in the air and the people trying to put out the fire that formed. Desperately, I looked for Claire in the rubble and was growing more paranoid by the second that I couldn't find her.

"Bucky!" I heard a voice call and spun around to find Steve followed by T'Challa. I sighed in relief, "Thank god, Steve. Have you seen Claire? I can't find her anywhere."
Something ran across Steve's eyes that gave away something was wrong.

"Barnes, I assure you she's most certainly not in the rubble," T'Challa stated with worry in his voice. Steve shook his head and I braced myself for bad news.

She's hurt, he's gonna say. Or she's dead

"Claire planted the bomb, Bucky," he said quietly. Wasn't expecting that. "What?" I said at a loss for better words. "The security cameras caught her doing it," he continued. I stepped back, "I don't believe you."

"Wasn't she supposed to be with you? How did she manage to even get a bomb?!" T'Challa yelled. "Things didn't exactly go as planned but I never imagine she'd go rouge. Do you know where she is?"
"No," Steve responded, "But Nat is on her way to stop her. We have to get to the surveillance room."

Quickly making our way there I said, "Romanoff can't stop her."
"None of my other guards can," T'Challa said upon entering the room with many computer screen monitors. "She's already incapacitated about ten of them."
"She's killed ten people?!" I gasped. "No," Steve answered, "But they're not in a pleasant state."

"There!" T'Challa pointed to one of the screens and there she was. Nyx was on the roof with Romanoff trailing slightly behind her. I refused to call whoever this was by Claire. This definitely wasn't Claire.

Nyx looked up for a brief moment as if searching the sky. Though I could not hear, I could tell Natasha was trying to talk to her. Maybe find a reason I couldn't.
And then Nyx attacked. It was different watching her this way. It was difficult. Every time I had seen Claire fight there was always an aspect of humanity.

Here, Nyx was a weapon. She was the weapon as previously described. Yet something did not add up yet again.

Before I could vocalize my thoughts, I saw Romanoff fall to the ground defeated and obviously unconscious. Nyx stood over her body then dragged it to lean her against a nearby wall. Something definitely does not add up.

Then a jet appeared and landed on the roof, opening its doors.

And through the black and white screen, I saw Nyx give one last look at the place before flying away to god knows where.