PURE AND TAINTED
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
( oh, my god, that stupid bitch! )
AFTER THE FUNERAL, THE TRIO HAD decided to retire to their hotel, with Sam and Aline immediately heading to the bar. Steve had brought Sharon along with them, who happened to have a hotel room there as well, resulting in the two friends to wink suggestively at Steve. It took all he had not to flip them off, but they still giggled as they drank. As soon as Aline made a rather provocative comment, her eyes caught on to the TV playing in the corner showcasing the news, and she choked on her drink. She stood up, haphazardly searching through her purse for some money, slapped it on the bar, then dragged Sam with her to find Steve, who had barely made it to the hotel elevator. Together, they quickly explain the situation in which Sharon allowed them to file into her hotel room.
The moment Aline had stepped into the room, she flicked her wrist and the TV blared to life, immediately with the news on. Her dark eyes widened and she wrapped her arms around herself as she watched the horrendous scene before her. The screen revealed the United Nations building in Vienna, explaining that a bomb had been set off with several people dead.
"More than seventy people have been injured," a news anchor said as the screen showed the flaming building, "at least twelve dead, including Wakanda's King T'Chaka. Officials have released video of a suspect, identified as James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier, the infamous HYDRA agent linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations."
Aline bowed her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Natasha was supposed to be at that meeting, there personally to Vienna to see to the Accords signings. Her friend was resilient, there was no doubt about that, but she hoped Natasha had gotten out unscathed.
Sharon sighed. "I have to go to work."
___
"Tracking," Aline huffed, chewing anxiously on her lip and placing her hands on her hips, "is not exactly my forte. I mean, I'm the best you guys are gonna get, duh, but my sister was always better at it. Hell, Rome's always been the best of us with spells." The tribrid grumbled that last bit under her breath; she would not think of her cousin and sister today. She hadn't cared for Maggie in years, or even though of her, so she wouldn't today. The two had left her and now was definitely not the time to delve into why they did so. Instead, Aline shook her head and looked down at the map of Romania. According to Sharon, that was where Bucky was allegedly hiding out. After discovering of this, they'd gotten all the necessary supplies and met back in their hotel room.
If she was quite honest, she had no clue as to why Steve didn't ask her to do this years ago. He'd been there to witness her tracking Loki down years ago and has seen her do all sorts of magic spells over the years they've known each other, but he hadn't ever asked. Aline assumed it was a pride thing, knowing that he wanted to be the one to find him. Now they didn't have any choice.
"Think you can do it?" Sam asked from across the room by the window.
She rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease, there's no doubt that I can't do it plus I'm like a thousand years old, I can do it. But it's gonna be harder without anything of Bucky's." Aline looked over at Steve. "You sure you don't have anything of his? No small memento from when you guys were kids? No small baby shoes, no old war time dog tag necklaces, no locks of hair that you've creepily kept?"
Steve shook his head.
"Great, that totally doesn't make it harder," Aline said and pressed her lips together in a thin line. "All right, I can do this. Whoop, let's go." She raised her arms, holding them out in front of her and exhaled slowly. "Vinde val tratunderes. Vinde val tratunderes. Vinde val tratunderes." The small flames started rising, close to touching Aline's hands. The small gem necklace was held tightly in her hand, the green crystal glowing brightly.
The minutes passed by slowly, and Steve arched one of his eyebrows. When she first found Loki, it had taken less than a minute, mere seconds to find him, and she hadn't had anything of his to do so. But that's when he noticed the blood. Him and Sam could see the blood leaking out from her eyes and nose at a slow pace, her hands shaking as well. The candles shook against the table, the small flames rising higher, flaring every now and then. What was happening? What this normal? He could hear her breathing quickening, taking quick and short breaths.
Steve gripped her shoulders. "God, Ali, stop!"
She squeezed her eyes shut tighter. "Don't!" Aline shouted. "Vinde val tratunderes! Vinde val tratunderes! Vinde val tratunderes!" The magic flowed around them, causing a slight wind to spin around the room and the map to flutter beneath the melting candles. Her blood fell at a faster rate, dripping down her chin and neck to soak the collar of her dress. There was something about this magic, something that felt just as old and ancient as her, and yet oddly familiar.
Sam rushed to her side, yelling, "If you continue, you're gonna kill yourself!"
"If you disrupt it 一"
Her speech was interrupted as an invisible force slammed her against the wall behind her, shooting her away from the map. Aline's grunted loudly as her back hit the wall and she slumped on the ground. Her head felt like it was aching, her hands and arms feeling strange as she tried to push herself up. She head Sam's cry of surprise, and felt the two men help her stand up. When Sam put his hand on her back, she coughed and some of her blood splattered on the carpeted ground.
"You wanna tell us what the hell that was?" Sam demanded as she finally stood up, leaning on both of them with her arms around their necks.
"That isn't possible," she breathed out, still struggling to breathe. Using the back of her hand, she wiped the blood away from her face but only ended up smearing it. "Not to brag, but I'm pretty strong and old. There's no way another witch can be able to block me out except for 一" She cut herself off, visibly cringing when she did. Damn it, she knew there was something familiar about this magic.
Steve moved around her to stand in front of her. "What? Except for what?"
"Except for someone older and more powerful," Aline muttered, groaning. "That explains some things, like how she hasn't exactly called me in fifty years." If she was any closer, she would have kicked the table onto its side. Finding some strength, she stood on her own and away from the two men, who watching her with expectant and curious looks. "Oh, my God, that stupid bitch! She's not even a tribrid like me and yet she's still stronger magically! Four years 一 four years older than me, what the hell?" Aline held her hands out in front of her, looking at them as if they knew what she was talking about and if they had all the answers. "Seriously? It takes that much to be stronger? Four years?" she growled.
Sam cleared his throat. "Ali, you wanna explain something us?"
Walking towards the map, she saw the map had a huge hole in the center, as if someone had partially lit it on fire. She rolled her neck and sighed deeply, then leaned back against the table. "There's only people I know who's strong enough to block even me from tracking and of course, as it turns out, she's with your pal Bucky. Guess I should've been paying more attention; it explains why he's been virtually off the face of the earth, why no one's been able to find him."
"Who?" Steve asked, more worried than curious now. "Aline, who is he with?"
"Rome. My cousin Rome is with Bucky."