Lost in Translation

Ballerina

**I'm baackkk! Also, this is the end. Not this particular chapter, but by the end of the day, this book will be done, so binge until your hearts are content. Unfortunately, a whole month of fluff has really thrown off my tone and this chapter is a little more... well, let's just say I lost some of my dark writing skills. As a recap: Peter found out he was Natasha's son, and Natasha found out that Fury was part of a "deal" to trick her into having Peter when she was a kid. Fury bought Peter in an auction when he was a baby and taken from Natasha, which is how Peter became an agent of SHIELD. Last 2 chapters were Peter killing Doc Ock (who gave him his powers as a child and was also part of the "deal") and Clint killing Fury for being a piece of shit human. Bucky went to get Peter, but Peter's dad, a HYDRA executive now, knocked Bucky out and took Peter. Enjoy the hardcore angst and happy ending! I know this was kinda quick as far as books go, and it wasn't super angsty, but I already have another book coming and that one has a huge climax with MAJOR angst. Enjoy!!**

When Bucky woke up, he was on the sidewalk outside Ned's house, cold rain seeping into the back of his shirt. He pushed himself up, the metal hand slipping on the wet pavement and scraping across the ground.

"You're up."

Bucky turned. Ned was perched on his front stoop, an umbrella held over his shoulder.

"How long was I out? Where's Peter?"

Ned shrugged. "Only a little bit. Maybe half an hour?"

"Where's Peter?!"

"He left." Ned looked at Bucky with stony eyes. There was sadness and fear hidden behind the mask of strength. "He said he couldn't risk it."

Bucky shook his head. Leave it to a teenager to be selfless to a fault.

How could I let this happen? Bucky thought, chastising himself angrily. I had one job and I let a fucking HYDRA agent jump me. I let Peter down. I let Natasha down. I couldn't-

Bucky stood up, ignoring the head rush and wave of dizziness that came with it. "I have to go back to the Tower. Since you were here and that man knows you're close with Peter, I need you to come with me."

Ned nodded. "I know. I was waiting out here for you to wake up so we could go."

"How long have you known Peter was an agent? And a superhero?"

Ned shrugged. "A few weeks."

The two got in the car, Ned sitting in the passenger seat and jumping a little. He reached under himself and grabbed a piece of paper folded neatly on the seat. It had a line of clean writing on the front, but Ned couldn't read it. It was written in Cyrillic.

"Must be for Nat," Bucky commented, looking over at the note. His Russian was rusty, but he knew that didn't say 'To the Avengers'. "I'll bet you anything its for Nat."

The ride to the Tower was spent in silence, Ned thinking of the blood and the body back home, Bucky thinking about how he had failed Peter. The car was illuminated with streetlights, then plunged back into darkness, then streetlights. It was the pattern of night in New York City. It was the pattern of most things, really. The dark eating up the light. The light flooding back. Like a tide.

"He was soaking wet," Ned commented quietly. "When he showed up. He'd jumped in the river before coming to see me."

"Why?"

"He told me being in the middle of water, not knowing which way was up or down, it was like being weightless. Like flying."

Bucky didn't say anything.

"Who was it who knocked you out?" Ned asked.

Bucky grunted, a twinge of phantom pain shooting through his head at the mention of his injuries. "A HYDRA executive known as Alek Yohontov. He's big in the organization - was a top rated assassin and agent for a while, moved up the ladder over the last 5 years. He oversees bases and designs raids and stuff like that. He would have been someone in charge of the project that produced me, if he were around then."