Mosaic (Bucky Barnes X OC / Winter Soldier x OC)

Chapter 10: Bucky Barnes - Reflections in the Windows (Part III)

One oddly familiar to me. Reminded me of blood and flames. I wouldn't be surprised if I tested some version of this. Would save Hydra a dead goon. I would heal from a crash.

Suddenly the show cut and the footage changed.

"Why am I staring at the gnome of a bioengineered virus cocktail?" a voice I heard recently popped up through the speakers. Heard it eight days ago.

I only managed to catch a glimpse of a young woman on the screen since Valeriy yanked down the blanket and practically sat on me. A young woman of mixed Asian descent, in pajamas and a Glasgow smile had filled the screen.

"Amber! What are you doing up at seven in the morning?" Valeriy asked. Nervous laughter weaving between her words.

"Still see his feet on the feed."

"...Damnit. Not a word of this. He's not supposed to be here. Eve, make sure you scrub the footage. Completely."

She shifted off me, readjusting the comforter until I pulled it off my head and just made sure to cover the arm... along with most of my left side.

"...Isn't he... isn't he supposed to be dead?" The Asian shrugged a second after. "Oh well, at least you're not alone. You do stupid things when you're alone."

This time Valeriy shrugged from beside me. "So, what up about this virus thingy?"

"From what I can tell, one wakes the latent one. Latent one probably...? 'Eats' all sorts of biological stuff. Not one for a long life span though. Send me a sample of them. Looks fun to play with. Might give me a safer way to dispose of the bio waste, or at least nothing."

"...Sure... thing...?"

"Be careful not to mix the two. Going back to sleep now. Night."

"Night," Valeriy chirped while the screen went dark. "So... now we know what those two random things the sniffer picked up are.... Holy shit! Bucky! No no no. Stop!! No! God fucking damn it! I said stop!!!" she screamed, holding onto my arm. Struggling to pull it away from me. Completely failing until the order registered in my head.

"Please get it out," I begged. "I can't.... I.... I don't want that in me. Valeriy – "

"Of course I'm getting that out! Like hell am I leaving that in. Clawing your arm off isn't the way to go about it.... So far it's been stable. Your body's been through the shit. They made sure it wouldn't malfunction."

"And what if you set it off?"

"I won't," Valeriy stated with such confidence. Not a hint of doubt swimming in those gray eyes. "We'll get it all out in one sitting, 'kay?"

Her fingers squeezed down on mine in reassurance.

"...What are the chances that your friend's wrong?"

"About the virus thing? Rare?"

"So there's a chance...?"

"Amber... she's a genius with these things, so she's usually right. Has her worried enough to break protocol and contact me the way she did. But it's nothing to worry about. The viruses will stay asleep."

It's unsettling how carefree Valeriy seemed about it, waving a dismissive hand before being distracted by something on the tablet. Like this was some sort of child's game.

"Eve, how many stupid fucking redundancies do you think they have in there?"

"Why don't you think about it? You're the idiot who comes up with some of the most... well, what would you do to keep a weapon out of the hands of everybody else?"