"Imbroglio (n.) an altercation or complicated situtation."
"Arm up," Steve commanded, "Right foot forward and go for the jab."
Erin learned how to defend herself from a young age. Her brother and mother had made sure of that. Her mother put her in a self defense class when she was 9 and she began boxing with Jamie a year later. She picked up martial arts in high school too, but without consistent training the last few years, Erin quickly realized just how lazy she had become.
The first training session with Steve had been torture. Her posture was all wrong and most of her shots were lucky instinct and muscle memory. She was so sore and tired after the first day, she slept straight through a 12 hour night. It took two weeks of brushing her up on basic combat skills before she could even think about being a match for him. After a while she started remembering everything she had learned. Her fighting senses became sharper and she was able use her speed against Steve's brute strength.
Yesterday she had finally bested him and he decided she was worthy enough to move onto knife fighting. Erin knew how to handle a gun, but she had never learned the art of knife fighting. She had never needed to use a weapon in that kind of up close fight. Erin had been training with Steve and Bucky all morning learning the basic movements and how not to cut off her own fingers in the process.
"You're teaching her how to avoid getting hit with a knife, but when are you going to teach her to use one?" Bucky said from the sidelines.
"The best way to use something is to know all of its weak points first." Steve replied. He turned back to Erin, "Okay, try dodging it this time. Bring your left arm up and try to disarm me."
Erin nodded and backed up a few steps, readying her stance. Steve brought his hand up and made his move. He first went for the right side of her torso. She escaped by dodging but noticed his other hand move up. She ducked and avoided his blow. She knew what was coming next. She brought her left hand up and blocked Steve's right arm from connecting any blow from hitting her. She twisted his arm so he lost all leverage he had on her.
Steve smirked, "Good," He backed away, "You're getting better."
Erin thanked him by raising her eyebrow.
Steve looked over at Bucky. "Here," He said, "Watch us. Study our moves, defenses, and attack patterns."
Erin looked over at Bucky who simply shrugged.
"Okay," She said stepping aside.
Bucky took her place, "You sure you're up for this old man?" Bucky teased, "If I remember correctly last time we had a little knife fight I kicked your ass."
"Yeah well, your memory is shit," Steve said readying his fight stance.
"Then you won't mind if I use the real thing?" Bucky said pulling a knife from his belt.
Erin's eyes widened, but Steve wasn't phased. "Be my guest."
It was funny the way Bucky acted around Steve. It was so completely different from how he was around the team. It was interesting the see his guard fall slightly whenever it was just the two of them. She felt like she was looking through a time portal and getting to see who Bucky truly had been. They were just two boys from Brooklyn. The glimpses she saw gave her a warm feeling inside, something like hope.
Quick as lightening, Bucky made his first attack. He went for Steve's side, but Steve blocked it. Up, down, side to side, Bucky tried to hit Steve in any vulnerable spot he had.
They moved like a dance. Watching Bucky flip the knife back and forth between his hands was mesmerizing, but he never touched Steve, he was too quick. He knew every one of his own weak spots and was quick to cover them before Bucky realized which ones were vulnerable. Steve was always one step ahead of him.
Bucky flipped the knife to his left hand going to another one of Steve's open spots, but something prevented his metal arm from following through. Erin watched as his arm turned against him, unable to finish out his offensive move.
Bucky's face scrunched in confusion for half a second, but it was enough to let Steve take the opportunity to drop down and knock Bucky right off of his feet. Bucky slammed on his back and dropped the knife that landing at Erin's feet.
"Looks like I was right," Steve smirked holding out his hand to help Bucky up.
Erin cocked her head looking at the vibranium on Bucky's arm, "In Bucky's defense," Erin said walking over to Bucky and examining his arm after he stood up. "Something's wrong with the prosthetic muscle connectors in his arm," She ran her fingers over the metal looking at the different wires.
"What does that mean?" Bucky asked, sounding uncomfortable.
Erin looked up and realized she had just entered his personal space. The pained look of repulsion on his face made her back away awkwardly. "It means that the serum I injected your arm with when you first woke up was only a temporary solution."
"What do we do?" Steve asked, crossing his arms.
Erin looked up from Bucky's arm. "Go back to the drawing board and see if I can find out."
"Guys," The three of them looked up to see Wanda running into the training room. "Come quick. You're going to want to see this."
Steve, Erin, and Bucky all exchanged looks and followed Wanda out of the room.
*****
"T'Challa just sent this to us. This note came to him yesterday." Wanda threw a picture of the note T'Challa had e-mailed them.
The note was hand written as if whoever wrote it thought the gesture meant something to them. It wasn't addressed to anyone and there was no indication of where it had come from. In cursive it said:
I've been watching the weapon very closely. The progress that has been made is truly astounding. I hope to see it in top condition again. I will finish what was started.
Best wishes,
D.K.
The blood in Erin's veins went cold. She looked around to find everyone else looking just as unsettled as she felt. D.K. She had seen that somewhere before but she couldn't remember where...
"Is this meant for all of us? Whoever they are, why didn't they address anyone? What weapon are they talking about?" Natasha said asking what they were all thinking.
"Who's D.K.?" Scott asked.
"They said they want to finish what was started..." Sam stared at the table thoughtfully. "What about those people that took Bucky? Do we have anything on them?" Sam asked.
Steve shook his head, "It's like after we rescued him whoever they were just... disappeared."
"I don't like it," Erin said, "It's been bothering me for weeks how easily we got out of there. Whoever this person is they didn't just disappear."
"I think she's right," Clint said, "This note says something about a weapon. I could be wrong, but isn't that all HYDRA saw Bucky as? A weapon? Whoever kidnapped Bucky, I don't think they're done with him yet."
Erin instinctively looked over at Bucky. Even though he was standing in the same room, she felt an urge to be closer to him. It was an overwhelming sense of protection. Whoever wanted to lay their hands on Bucky had to go through her first.
"I just find it strange we didn't find anything at that building. The soldiers we took out didn't have any symbols, no marks, nothing. And the building it was just... empty," Sam said.
Realization came over Erin. "I'll be right back." Erin said running out of the kitchen up into her room. She grabbed the file from her drawer and ran back downstairs.
"Have you seen this symbol before?" Erin dropped the folder onto the table.
"What is this?" Steve asked opening it up to examine its contents.
Erin was silent for a moment, "I found it in one of the rooms of the warehouse when we found Bucky."
"And you're just showing this to us now?" Steve asked obviously upset.
"I've been a little busy." She said in defense.
"What are these? Formulas?" Sam asked looking over Steve's shoulder.
"I think they are a record of experiments. I learned quantum formulas like this in college. They are meant for some pretty advanced robotics. I looked the sign up too. It's an ancient Greek symbol for strength."
"Then what's it doing on a 20th century German science experiment?" Wanda asked.
"Hold on," Bucky said speaking for the first time since the meeting started. He picked up the folder and stared at the symbol. "You're right, they are after me." He said quietly setting the folder back down on the table. "I've seen this before. When I was first taken by HYDRA, there was a doctor there who... didn't quite agree with the way some of the scientists were handling things." Bucky turned his eyes to the note again.
Erin looked over at Bucky, his blue eyes darting at the faces of each person in the room.
"I don't remember his name," He continued, "But he helped develop the serum they used to repress me. He believed he could perfect the it, make soldiers faster, stronger, more compliant."
Erin couldn't believe these scientists had gotten Bucky as a result of their experiments and still were not satisfied with they got in the end. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
"I remember the other scientists saying he was a madman and that his own serum turned men into uncontrollable beasts. I was sent to kill him in his sleep, but he escaped before I could get to him. He took all of the serum HYDRA had with him..." Bucky trailed off, "They found an alternative serum years later. That's when I was..." He looked down, ashamed of the actions that hadn't been his to control.
Wanda had told Erin Tony and Steve had argued last year not because of the Accords, but because the Winter Soldier had killed Tony's parents. Steve had known about it, but never told Tony. He chose to protect Bucky.
Bucky continued. "Before he and his followers disappeared, he left a note saying that he would finish his work and marked it with that exact same symbol."
"Do you believe this must have come from whoever is left of his followers?" Natasha asked.
Bucky nodded his head, "His followers were small, but fiercely loyal. They all truly believed in whatever it was this doctor wanted to accomplish. If they've waited this long to reveal themselves that can only mean one thing."
"Do I even wan to know what that thing might be?" Sam chimed in.
Bucky looked up at him, "They've perfected his serum," He turned his eyes to Erin, locking her gaze, "And I'm their perfect test subject."
"My demons, though quiet, are never quite silenced.
Calm as they may be, they wait patiently
for a reason to wake, take an overdue breath,
and crawl back to my ear ."
-Sarah Boswell