I got a call from Tony right as I was pulling my dress back up and chugging water.
"Did you find something?" I asked instead of a 'hello.' "I can be right there."
"Just calling to see how you're doing, kiddo."
"I'm fine. What's going on with you guys?"
"The hacking done on the prison?"
"Yeah?"
"Looks a lot like what was done to FRIDAY. I have a hunch it was the same person. I have an even bigger hunch that that person was Colin Cross, since he was able to watch us at the memorial. So I could use your help with something."
"Sure, I'll come down right now."
"No, stay put," he said. "It's a long shot and it's just one question."
"Okay, go for it."
"There's a file he left in the system. Something purposeful. He wanted us to see it. It's prompting me for a password, and the screen just says 'killer.' Any idea what the password would be?"
I rolled my eyes, even though Tony couldn't see me. "Yeah. Try 'whale' or 'whales.' God, I hate Colin."
"Oh, to be young and in love," Tony said dryly, probably assuming Bucky could hear. And he did; he stiffened beside me and moved his hand onto my inner thigh. There was a pause while Tony tried the password. "It worked. Oh. Oh, shit. Aaaand maybe you should come down here after all."
"What is it?"
"Elevator death footage. At long last. Bring popcorn. Wow."
"What?" I demanded. "Are you watching it?"
"Yeah. And it looks like two Colins killed Colin. And I don't know if any of the three Colins are actually Colin. Yeah, that explains a lot."
"What?"
"Just come down here."
Bucky and I went down to the lab, where Tony and Bruce were standing at a computer. Sam, Nat, and Steve arrived with us, each of them looking refreshed and a bit more relaxed than they were a couple of hours ago. Tony and Bruce moved so the rest of us could cram ourselves around the screen.
The footage began with an empty elevator. Then Colin stepped in. It moved up a floor. Another Colin entered. On the next floor, a third. They stood together, not speaking to each other. They were all watching their wrists closely, where they were all wearing a gadget. It was too grainy to see, but I had a feeling they were watching live surveillance of the lab floor to make sure they would be undetected when they stepped off. At least, that would be what I would be looking at if it were me.
Right before the elevator stopped at the lab floor, one Colin reached into his hoodie pocket, withdrew a gun and shot another. It all happened in a split second. The doors opened, and the third dropped the note on the ground and dragged the body, positioning it where I found it.
"So that's how they got in. They all had Colin's clearance," Bruce explained.
"It has to be cloning, right?" I asked. "The guy that died in '94 could've been the original."
"We had the same thought," said Bruce.
"Any idea who they are?" Steve asked.
"Geniuses. Lab produced geniuses," Tony said. "Probably HYDRA, since they're buddies with Shanky McSerum. I'd be willing to bet they're the ones that replicated the serum. Might've smuggled it inside to him too, or else the unidentified helicopter pilot might've done it. Nice job letting him get away, by the way, guys."
"One of them must have went rogue to get himself killed," Nat speculated. "He looked like he thought he was there on a mission. Didn't perceive a threat until he saw the gun."
"But why make it look like it was Colin Cross?" Sam asked. "Why take the risk of breaking into the Tower?"
"Thought about that. We don't know what Colin was up to. Could be any reason that he'd need to look dead. But here's a theory about the note: These guys want Gracie alive," Tony said. "But another faction wants her dead. That's what you learned today, right? So they staged a serious threat so she would stay under protection. At least until they were ready to take her."
"But why do they want her? Why do they care? They have their own genius hackers. It's not just about whatever vendetta Rumlow did or didn't have. So what is it?" Steve said.
I shrugged. "Maybe they just want to recruit more scientists."
"No," Nat said. "They wouldn't put themselves at this much risk to protect you unless they needed you specifically. Maybe it's intel. They might think you know something."
"But they didn't ask me for intel two years ago. And if they were watching me, they know I haven't seen you guys in a long time," I said.
"You're right." Nat frowned. "Think really hard, Grace. What do you have that they want?"
"I don't know!"
"There has to be something."
"Trust me, I wanna know more than you do," I said. "Maybe you'll find something at that base tomorrow."
"Maybe," she agreed.
;
I was worried about Bucky. He'd been completely silent in the lab, and spoke very little that evening, even to me. When we returned to his apartment, his shoulders relaxed, but not by much.
"You okay?" I asked him.
"Yeah," he said tiredly.
I went straight into his room, got ready for bed, and laid down, hoping he'd join me. He did eventually. I felt safer just watching his figure come closer in the darkness, kicking his shoes off, stumbling out of his shirt and jeans.
"Can you lay on your back?" He asked me. God, he sounded exhausted. Almost monotone.
I was on my side, but I turned over without questioning it. Still standing beside the bed, he pulled the covers down to my waist and pulled my tee shirt up, bunching it around my collar bones.
"What are you...?" I trailed off. He got into bed and laid on top of me. I laughed as he held my breasts together, buried his face into them, and sighed heavily.
"Goodnight," he said.
"You're gonna suffocate," I warned.
"'S how I wanna go."
I wrapped my legs around him and scratched his head the way he'd liked earlier. "Are you okay? Really."
"What makes you think I'm not okay?" he asked, his voice still muffled.
"You were barely speaking before, and now you're trying to suffocate yourself with my tits."
"I just really don't like it when people wanna hurt you."
"I know. But I'm gonna be okay."
"And I'm really sorry I pushed you away. I'm sorry I hurt you."
"It's okay. I love you," I assured him.
"I won't hurt you again," he said.
"I know you won't."
"I just really don't want you to get hurt. In general."
"I won't."
"I want you to never experience a bad thing in your life ever again."
"No promises there, but back atcha."
"Am I crushing you laying on you like this?" he asked.
"Yeah, but that's how I wanna go."
"Oh, okay, perfect."
There was a long pause before he rolled off of me and sat up. "I've been thinking about something. Ever since earlier. When I put my hand on your neck again."
I sat up with him, pulling my shirt back down, frowning curiously. "What is it?"
"I have to tell you something, but it might scare you. I'm really sorry," he said. "That night that I called you. After I was a dick to you in the training room?"
"Yeah?"
"I called you 'cause I had a nightmare that I killed you." His face was stuck in a wince. "And I wanted to convince myself you were alive. I think putting my hand on your neck like that made it worse before. More vivid or something."
"You don't have to do it!" I said, worried. "Don't do it just because I like it. Really."
"No, that's not it. I like it too. I'm not worried about it giving me a nightmare anymore. I was—going through something before. I just feel bad that I did it this time without you knowing that I'd had that dream. I'm sorry."
"Can I touch you?" I asked.
He nodded, and I wrapped my arms around him, pulling his head onto my shoulder. "It's okay. You didn't have to tell me. You don't have to be sorry."
He pulled away to look at me finally. "Still not scared of me?"
"Still not scared," I confirmed.
A/N: buckys are like onions. they have layers.