Blue || Bucky Barnes

109. Monsters in Manhattan

Tony wanders across the homestead to the shed where Axyl had been chopping up the fallen tree. He plans to take some of the cuttings back to the cabin so he doesn't have to do it himself.
"How's it going?" Tony steps into the shed right as the machine cuts out. "What the fuck!!?" The billionaires eyes are wide as he sees blood trickling down Axyl's forearm from a soaked cloth covering his hand.
"Just a minor accident, nothing to worry about." Axyl is far too nonchalant as Tony removes the bandage to see he's lacking an index finger.
"Alright, keep the pressure on it... you psycho." Tony mutters the last part. "We'll find Leia." The two men hurry back over to the main building and Tony mutters a request for Leia's services into the comms. They walk into the kitchen and Leia is no where in sight, only Wanda.
"Oh my god what happened!!!!" Wanda shrieks, seeing the state of Axyl she leaps up and helps him to sit down at the island. Tony mutters another call for Leia into the comms his worry slowly starting to increase.
"Where's Leia?" He asks, she's generally very instantaneous when she's needed.
"I haven't seen her, she's probably in her room." Wanda looks back down at Axyl's hand, helping him keep the pressure on it. Tony glances between the pair pulling his lips into an almost defeated line huffing before running out of the room in search of their valuable asset. He stops in front of her door leaving a sharp string of knocks against it. There's no answer and he tries again, only to be rewarded with silence. Tony turns the handle and bursts into the room, scolding words at the ready, when he finds it empty, Leia not in sight. Instead he sees the three boxes she had acquired and all the contents strewn about the room. His eyes widen running through the mess to her closet and bathroom, finding those rooms empty too.
Tony runs back out the room yelling, "Leia!... Leia!!... Leia!!!"
He runs up the corridor ripping every door open asking the occupants if they've seen her.
"Leia! Have you seen Leia!" Tony's voice is frantic as he looks at Steve and Nat focused on a board game.
"I saw her a few hours ago, she was looking for you?" Nat says.
"Why, what happened?" Steve adds.
"I gave her her Hydra files and now she's gone."
"Tony!" Steve's tone holds the typical disappointment as the pair leave the board game behind to help in the search for their friend.
"Wanda bandage that up while I find Leia." Tony runs through the downstairs of the compound while Steve and Nat continue to scour upstairs and still she's no where to be found.

"Buck, have you seen Leia?" Steve bursts into his friends room a frantic look upon his face.
"No." His answer is brief, but a lie and Steve runs back out of the room. Before Bucky can settle on his friends frantic behaviour, Friday's voice sounds about the compound amidst a constant siren. "Code BLUE, all personnel report to the downstairs common room. Repeat, this is a CODE BLUE, all personnel report to the downstairs common room."
As everyone enters the room Tony is hovered in front of the screens firing demands at Friday. "Pull up the tracker on the motorbike, she's taken it."
"What's going on?" Aura asks as they've all convened.
"Leia's gone." Steve says as Tony thumps the desk seeing the tracker stopped in Manhattan.
"How long for?" Is Aura's follow up.
"A few hours maybe." Tony says not taking his eyes away from the screen.
"Well maybe she just went to the store? Did you try to call her?!" Wanda suggests and Tony turns to her slowly with a 'wtf' look. He clicks a button and suddenly there's a buzzing underneath Thor's butt. Tony points dramatically as Thor pulls the device out.
"Why would she leave without telling someone, she always tells someone when she's going out." Thor puts the phone down.
"I gave her her Hydra files and now she's missing, is that not ringing alarm bells for anyone else!!?" Tony tells the group.
"She could just be going for a walk to clear her head." Nat tries to stay level headed.
"Given that her motorbike is gone and the tracker went dark in Manhattan, I don't think she went for a stroll Nat." Tony is adamant and slightly harsh. "The surroundings are fair game. We need to find her, everyone split up."
"I'll stay here in case she comes back." Bucky finally pipes up, guilt weighing on his shoulders.
"Bucky, we know you aren't on good terms right now but she could be in trouble, we need all the eyes we've got." Steve is abrupt with his tone.
"And if she comes back then I can let you know, you're all wasting time standing around here!" Bucky matches Steve's tone and they all realise he has a point. Steve turns his attention elsewhere, leaving Bucky to watch them all leave frantically, pairing off into different vehicles.
Bucky sits down on the couch thinking about what Steve said, and he's right. They aren't on good terms, but he can't help but think it's his fault. He was the last one to see her and he didn't say anything. The last thing he told her was that he killed her father. And now she's gone. His internal monologue getting the best of him, he finds himself walking across the compound to their-her bedroom. He pushes the cracked door open, and what he sees shocks him. There's scattered documents across the floor and bed. He can't tame his curiosity as he kneels down, picking up the closest one to him and then another, and another. Soon he finds himself packing them back into the box, cleaning the space, one file at a time. He tries to ignore the contents, but some strike memories in him he'd rather keep forgotten. When he's finished he sits down at the end of the bed they used to share. He falls backwards lying down, suddenly feeling a wave of guilt wash over him. He thinks of what Leia might be going through right now after undoubtedly reading every single one of the files, and all he did was throw harsh words her way and blow off her feelings. Bucky looks around the familiar room noticing shes kept everything the same since he left. There's a comfort to the space which he still doesn't feel in his new room. He never remembers the curtains being closed during the day when he was here, it was one of the first things Leia did when she woke up, letting in the morning light.