Lost + Found [Bucky Barnes] ✓

Chapter 40

Sam's phone rings, interrupting the silence as Bucky and I stare at each other. His hand is completely healed, the injury I caused erased like it never happened, along with the scar on his face from our encounter with Restitution in Monastiraki Square. Given the fact that he's just as surprised as I am, I'm pretty sure this isn't a normal ability of his - or one from the serum - which means something else is going on.

Was it me? Did I heal him?

"Uh, guys?" Sam's voice pulls me out of my thoughts. "We've got a problem."

Turning to face him, I watch as he presses a few buttons on his phone before starting a video of a news report. It's in English, the familiar logo of CNN in the bottom corner of the screen while the news ticker scrolls across the bottom, and aerial footage of a burning building appears on the screen while the news anchor talks.

"What's happening?" Steve asks, crossing his arms over his chest as he narrows his eyes at the screen.

Sam frowns, "An attack in DC. T'Challa just sent it to me."

"What does this have to do with us?" Bucky asks.

That's when it hits me. I've been staring at the screen for a few seconds while they talk, my forehead wrinkled as I study the familiar landscape on the screen. I recognize it. The remnants of whatever it used to be, that is, and my heart tightens at the realization. A lump of terror forms in my throat as I fail to choke out the words.

"Oh god," I mutter, unable to keep the tears from falling down my cheeks. "N-no...."

Three pairs of eyes turn to me, and I realize that I'm shaking as Bucky squeezes my hand gently. I can't look at him, I can't look at any of them, as the horror of what is playing out on the screen in front of me sinks in. The news anchor's voice is muffled, so I can't catch what she's saying, but I know it's bad. Just from the carnage on the screen, I can tell. There's absolutely nothing left.

"It's the nursing home," my voice cracks as I force out the words. "W-where I work, where I worked."

The entire facility has been wiped out, only a hint of the frame remaining in the carnage of what appears to have been some sort of explosion. It's all burned to a crisp as emergency vehicles can be seen still fighting the blaze. The smoke stretches high into the sky, and I watch in horror as the camera switches to an interview on the street with a bloodied bystander.

It's one of the nurses I worked with. Her face is covered in blood and soot, her skin ashen, and her eyes are overrun with tears as she tries to tell the interviewer exactly what happened. She clutches a thick blanket to her, clinging to it like a lifeline, as she manages to describe the harrowing ordeal.

My eyes wander to the bottom of the screen, where the news tape is being updated with a death count from the explosion earlier that day. Thirty-six people dead, mostly residents of the nursing home, along with several staff members and a few family visitors. Thirty-six people, most of whom I used to see on a regular basis, all gone.

"How?" Bucky asks quietly, the muscles in his jaw clenching.

Sam hesitates before glancing at Steve, who nods, and takes a deep breath.

"It was Restitution," he admits.

I suck in a quick breath, dropping my grip on Bucky's hand to stifle a sob.

It's because of me. All of those people. My patients and co-workers. My friends. All gone because of me. The gravity of it hits me like a million knives shattering my skin, driving deep into my lungs until I can hardly breathe from the weight of the guilt. Bile rises in my throat, and I push past the three men to run to the bathroom before I vomit the contents of my stomach in the porcelain bowl.

"Are we sure?" Steve's voice drifts through the apartment. "Why would they do this? What do they get out of targeting a nursing home?"

It's silent for a moment before Sam speaks, "That's what T'Challa said, but then he saw the video..."

Oh god. Another video. My mind flashes back to the last one they sent me, to the recording of my sister as she read off the cards and told me of their threats against her life. I didn't fulfill my side of the bargain, which meant...

Wiping my mouth clean, I throw open the door and walk on shaky legs back into the bedroom where Steve and Sam stand facing Bucky. He spots me, his eyes filled with concern, and the other two men turn to look at me as well.

"Is she alive?" I ask softly. "Is my sister alive?"

Sam frowns, "I don't--I didn't watch the video."

"Play it," I demand, despite protestations from both Steve and Bucky. Sam looks hesitant, but I repeat my demand - firmer this time. "Play. It."

He clicks the screen, navigating through the menu, before opening a second file on the tiny screen. Bucky and Steve shift until they can see it, and footage of the nursing home - unharmed - flickers into view. My heart twists at the sight of it, wishing that this could all be a dream. Some sort of trick played against me, but then I see a familiar silhouette step in front of the camera and stride toward the building in smooth, confident steps. The camera follows, zooming in on the person until it stops at the front door.

"Hi sis," Artemis says to the camera, glancing over her shoulder with a sinister smile. Her eyes flicker red as an orange glow burns within their depths, her skin glowing like embers. "This should be a blast."

*****
AUTHOR'S NOTE

*deep breaths* Hi.

What is it with me and Chapter 40? Ides of July? All Hail the King? I think Preludes and Chapter 40's are definitely my "thing".

Love youuuuu!

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