Lost + Found [Bucky Barnes] ✓

Chapter 36

"We've been working with T'Challa to find more information on this Magnus character, but so far we're pulling up blanks," Steve tells us as we're crowded around the tiny table in the kitchen.

Bucky went out for food, picking four large pizzas from a nearby pizzeria because Sam insisted on 'normal food', and the three men demolished it in no time. I was barely able to eat three slices before Bucky and Steve had each polished off a pizza, and Sam demolished the rest of my pizza before the three of them turned on the final pie. We each had a beer in hand, something Sam insisted on going to the shop at the corner and buying, and I sipped at my Stella while Steve began updating us about what has happened over the past two weeks.

"What about Ari?" I ask. "Have you heard anything about her? Is she..."

My voice trails, and Bucky's hand finds my leg under the table. His thumb brushes against the skin above my knee, an innocent gesture to reassure me, before he returns his hand to his own lap. Unwilling to break contact with him, I slip my own hand under the table and quickly find his hand. Our fingers interlace, and he gives my hand a small squeeze before Steve replies.

"We haven't heard anything," Steve tells us. "T'Challa hopes this means..." He clears his throat. "We think she's alive, otherwise they would've told us otherwise. There's no reason to withhold that information."

I grip Bucky's hand tightly, "Then we need to find out where she is. We need to go get her."

"We don't know where she is," Steve replies. "All we know is that Magnus, whoever he is, is associated with the organization known as Restitution."

Bucky frowns, "Restitution? I haven't heard of it."

"I've only heard of them once before," the blonde super soldier explains. "But I've got a friend who has dealt with them."

Sam lifts an eyebrow. He seems to know what Steve has to say but didn't expect the information to come out. Steve, however, doesn't respond for a moment. Instead, the blonde man stares at the table for a few seconds before lifting his gaze back to Bucky. Beneath the table, Bucky's grip tightens on my hand as Steve takes a deep breath.

"They were responsible for a kidnapping a few years ago. Fed some false information, ended up going after a few...high profile targets," Steve explains. "They took Nat's sister."

Bucky's face goes white, "Anna? She's...she's alive?"

"You know her?" Steve asks.

He nods, shock etched across his features. I wasn't aware that Natasha had a sister, let alone that Bucky knew her, so I shift uncomfortably in my chair. Steve waits to say anything, letting Bucky process this information, and a million thoughts run through my head in the meantime.

"I, um..." Bucky says quietly, "Is she okay? Anna, I mean. Do they still have her?"

He breathes a sigh of relief as Steve shakes his head, replying, "She got out. Loki was with her, and they escaped."

"Loki?" Bucky and I ask in unison, both of us clueless.

He nods, "He's Thor's brother. The one responsible for the Battle of New York."

"That was Thor's brother?" I say incredulously. "Holy shit. I thought that was aliens."

Sam snorts, "Well, technically...Loki is an alien. So is Thor."

"So, this Loki took Anna?" I ask Steve, ignoring Sam much to Bucky's delight. "Is he working with Restitution?"

Shaking his head again, Steve sighs, "Loki saved her life, then she did the same for him after Restitution took them. They, um...they were together. According to Thor, Anna is still in Asgard. She refused to leave after Loki's death."

"Wait," Bucky interrupts. "So who's your friend? Natasha? Why isn't she here?"

I take another sip of beer, still holding Bucky's hand beneath the table. Everything Steve is talking about is brand new to me, and I'm struggling to wrap my head around all of it. I knew there was probably more to what happened in New York than what the government told us, but I didn't think it mattered. Now there's a whole other set of players in this. Whoever Loki and Anna are, they dealt with Restitution too. For an organization I've never heard of before, they must be powerful if they were able to hold Thor's brother, whoever he is. Or was.

"It's not Nat," Steve replies, exchanging a wary glance with Sam. "It's Stark." 

*****
AUTHOR'S NOTE

And it's a triple, ladies and gents! A triple update!

Gimme lots of comments. Ready, now! Comment!

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