𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽 - 𝙱. 𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙴𝚂

Chapter 5

The Project

Lois stared at him for a moment. Bucky could see the gears turning in her mind trying to make sense of the man standing in front of her.

She stood up straight and relaxed her shoulders. "Well... I don't think you're one of those horrible things either."

Bucky's jaw clenched and his face creased as she looked at him. He didn't deserve this.

There was a buzz in the room and Bucky jumped at the sudden noise.

"It's just my phone." She passed him the broom and ran over to her phone on her bed to pick up the call.

"Lois Baxson, here. No. I wasn't. Yes. I can." She moved over to her clothes basket, still on the phone and started digging through it. She pulled out her dark blue scrubs. "I understand. I'm on the way."

She hung up the phone and turned to Bucky. "I have to go to the hospital. They need some help in the ER because 15 of our nurses are still in Sokovia."

She dropped her sweat pants right in front of Bucky. He was going to turn away but realized she was wearing shorts underneath them. He looked down at the broom in his hand awkwardly, then back at her. She had turned around to pull on her top. Bucky tried to look away again but he couldn't. His eyes caught onto the sight of healed scars across her skin on her hips to her lower back.

She grabbed everything she needed and headed towards the door.

"I would offer you a ride, but I don't have a car." He said trying to be nice. "I'm more of a motorcycle guy, anyways."

Her eyebrows were creased and she barely heard what he said. She was deep in thought. "Do you mind just... just cleaning up and um locking up? I don't have anything for you to steal."

She ran out the door and shut it behind her, leaving him in the apartment.

Bucky stood in the room alone. A little disoriented from their conversation to her changing in front of him and then leaving so suddenly. He noticed the radio was on and turned it up as he swept up the hair on the ground.

A man and a woman spoke on the radio.

"What happened in Sokovia last year was an international crisis. The amount of dead, injured, missing or without homes is a humanitarian catastrophe!"

"The Avengers came to their country, from America, trying to fix a mistake they made. What rights do Captain America and Iron Man have to unload their powers on Sokovia? What about the Hulk? A few days before Sokovia, he was uncontrollable in Johannesburg. This is a threat to international borders and sovereignty."

"You're right, but how can the governments work with the Avengers on the issue. How do we tell Thor of Asgard to stay off our planet? We need them, it's clear we do because the threats keep coming, especially with SHIELD gone."

"All I know is that The Avengers must take some sort of responsibility for their actions or have some sort of overwatch. Next time the new threat appears, and the Avengers stop it a whatever the cost... how will the world react? How will the UN?"

"It looks like there'll be a civil war between the governments of the world and the Avengers."

Bucky turned the radio to a different station and finished cleaning the floor. He took Lois's dog tags in his hands. The weight felt familiar, just like his own which he hadn't held for himself in years. Bucky placed them on her bedside table.