Lost + Found [Bucky Barnes] ✓

Chapter 21

When I walk into the room, I know something is wrong instantly. Steve is watching me with a sad look in his blue eyes, T'Challa is completely unreadable, and Bucky looks uncomfortable as I feel. My gaze shifts around the room, and it lands on the one person I really don't want to see.

"Nope," I say, backing up and spinning to leave the room.

Bucky jumps up, grabbing my wrist gently, "Chloe, wait..."

"Sthandwa sam," his voice hits my ear drums, interrupting Bucky, and rage instantly floods my veins. "We have news about your sister."

Spinning around, I stare at him incredulously. Bucky drops my wrist like a hot coal and glares at S'yan. Clearly, this is not the way they planned this to go.

"Are you kidding me?" He asks, his voice low and dangerous. "What happened to breaking it to her easy?"

Steve looks at the ground, clearly uncomfortable with being involved in family drama, while S'yan frowns at Bucky. The five of us appear to be standing in some sort of conference room, except no one is seated at the large round table dominating the center of the room. A large assortment of screens covers one of the walls, currently displaying a muted selection of various television shows, and a leafy green plant occupies the far corner of the room. No doubt it was placed there to 'soften' the room, but all I can think about now is how the tension in here is palpable.

"Break what to me?" I glance at Bucky before turning back to S'yan. "What news about Artemis? Have you found her? Is she okay?"

T'Challa sighs, "Come, let us sit."

"I'd rather not," I snap, folding my arms across my chest.

He gives me a wry smirk, the corners of his lips twitching upward ever-so-slightly, "I didn't think so."

Thank god for decent family. Three weeks ago, I didn't even know T'Challa existed, but now he's becoming something of a brother to me. He's perpetually busy - being a king will do that to you - but he always takes time out of every day to visit with me, even if it's only for twenty minutes. Even if he didn't do that, however, I think he'd still 'get' me. His eyes are far more perceptive than you'd think, and - let's be real - I think he's lonely. After his father died, he had all of this responsibility thrust upon him. Sure, he's got other family besides me - S'yan and a few random cousins - but these are people who grew up with him being the future king (and now current king) of Wakanda. As a result, they treat him like less of a person and more of an...institution.

S'yan frowns, pulling my attention back to him, "We've received intelligence concerning Artemis. Our analysts have confirmed its legitimacy, so now we're trying to discover the source. We still don't know where she is, but we do know that she's alive as of two days ago."

"Two days ago?" I ask. "What does that even mean? How do you know this and still don't know where she is?"

"They sent us a video," he replies, nodding to T'Challa.

I watch as my cousin steps forward, tapping a few quick keystrokes on the keyboard, and suddenly it's like my world is spinning. I haven't seen or heard from my sister in three weeks. Three weeks since I found my apartment in shambles, her friends brutally murdered in my own damn living room. This video might show her face, I might found out that she's been tortured, beaten, and left close to death. Or, even worse, she might not even be in the video.

"H-h-hello," Ari's voice fills the room, her face splashed all over the screens. "My n-name is Ari Tuominen, Artemis Tuominen. I'm twenty years old, and I-I'm a student at G-George Washington University."

Relief floods my system as I take in her appearance. She's sitting at a nondescript metal table in what appears to be an empty room, a stark concrete wall behind her. Aside from a small cut above her right eyebrow, I don't notice any major physical injuries. Granted, most of her body is covered in a pair of drab grey scrubs, so they could be hidden. Still, as my eyes pour over her appearance, I notice that she doesn't appear to be much thinner - thankfully - and, aside from the tremor in her voice, she seems to be holding it together fairly well.

She's holding up a newspaper now, pointing to the date at the top, but I'm barely paying attention to the words. All I can think about is how my baby sister is alive. After three weeks of uncertainty, she's alive. She's breathing. Which means we can still get her back.

"C-Chloe," the sound of my name on Ari's lips brings my attention back to the video, and I watch as she blinks back tears. "Y-you have f-four days to turn yourself in, or I will be...oh god, no. Please..."

She breaks down into tears, and I hear a rough voice shouting at her off-camera in a language I don't understand. Her face is ashen as she nods, struggling to pull herself together, before she continues speaking.

"...or I will be k-k-killed," she manages to squeak out. "Y-you must be at Monastiraki Square in Athens, Greece by 1PM on Th-Thursday for the exchange. C-come alone."

*****
AUTHOR'S NOTE

Happy Sunday! :)

Comment + vote!

x