Shadows and Secrets Book Three (A MCU FanFic)

Chapter 3: Test

Bucky's POV

"Absolutely not," said Erik sharply.

Well, Bucky had expected that.

Bucky crossed his arms, painfully aware that he had a large amount of metal on his person, including his left arm, which was made of a strong titanium alloy. "Why not?"

Erik raised his eyebrows—probably impressed by his sheer stupidity and lack of self-preservation instincts. "I don't trust you. Especially not near Marjorie or XSGY."

The bluntness was not as expected. But then, Bucky could tell he wasn't the type to waste time with pleasantries.

"I'm not going to hurt her–" Bucky ignored the twinge of guilt as he suppressed the sudden flashback to when Marjorie last met the Winter Soldier "–and I'm not going to hurt anyone else in XSGY or reveal the location or whatever else you're worried about."

"I don't believe you," retorted Erik. "And if I did, I still wouldn't let you anywhere near Marjorie. Now get off the plane before I drag you off."

Marjorie's annoying friend Wade—who sat next to Marjorie on the plane (she was strapped in and sleeping off the drugs that had made her all loopy)—looked in between them. "I'm going to stop you two right there–" Wade raised his gloved hands and stepped in between Bucky and Erik "–before things get violent."

Erik glared at him. Bucky's nerves did not trust Wade to keep Erik from killing him.

"Marjorie really likes Bucky," Wade explained to Erik, "and she'll be really pissed if you kill him. She also would trust him to not kill random students or whatever, and want him to come to XSGY with her."

That explanation left something to be desired, and Bucky anxiously awaited Erik's verdict.

"No." He didn't even pause to consider it.

"Wait!" protested Wade. "What if you let Professor Xavier check him first? That way, you can be sure that he won't hurt Marjorie."

Xavier was the telepath... Bucky really did not want someone in his head. But if it was the only way to stay with Marjorie...

Erik crossed his arms. "Charles is at XSGY."

Wade shrugged. "You can just kill him if Charles dems him unworthy, so no harm done."

Bucky glared at him. Wade winked and pointed at him with finger-guns.

"Fine," Erik decided. "But, for the record," he added, "I hope I get to kill you."

Bucky nodded and went to go sit down next to Marjorie (leaving an empty seat in between them at Erik's glare), slowly registering that he was not about to be strangled with his own arm.

~

When they got to XSGY, Erik did not allow Bucky to carry Marjorie—who was still out cold—and instead had Wade do it. This irritated him, but couldn't distract him from his soon-to-be stolen thoughts.

So he tried to focus on the building: it was old-fashioned, almost castle-like, the kind of architecture that Marjorie would draw upon seeing it. Bucky memorized their route and all the exits for emergencies.

They didn't run into anyone; it must have been in the middle of a class period.

Eventually, Erik left Bucky in an empty classroom, told him to wait, told Wade to take Marjorie to her dorm (wherever that was), and went to go get Charles from whatever class he was currently teaching.

Bucky had practically paced a dent in the floor when Erik reappeared pushing who Bucky assumed was Charles Xavier in a wheelchair.

"Hello, James," said Xavier. Bucky frowned. He had never felt like a 'James.'

"My apologies, Bucky."

Bucky realized he had heard his silent protest. To say it was extremely unsettling was an understatement, and he suppressed the urge to cover his ears and flinch away.

"It takes some getting used to. Shall we get started?"

~

After a few hundred questions, in which Xavier monitored his thoughts instead of having Bucky answer (yes, it was very invasive), he was approved to stay at XSGY.

Much to Erik's disappointment and Bucky's relief, he must have passed whatever test Xavier had in place. After determining not to kill him, Xavier telepathically gave Bucky instructions on how to get to Marjorie's dorm and Bucky made his escape before Erik could kill him anyway.

He was positive Xavier gave the directions telepathically because Erik would never let him in Marjorie's dorm—especially while she was unconscious—but he had seen their normal routine of sharing a room and decided Bucky wouldn't take advantage of her. (And he wouldn't. Bucky would never touch Marjorie without consent.)

When Bucky got to her dorm—unlocked with a password Xavier had given him—Wade had already dropped Marjorie and her stuff off and disappeared to god knows where.

After locking the door behind him and making sure Marjorie was positioned comfortably, (she was curled up on her side on her bed, Bucky found a blanket for her), Bucky did a perimeter check.

After securing the area—no hostile activity to be found—Bucky did an inventory check.

Erik had taken his phone, but he had packed a burner in the bag. Marjorie's phone was plugged in—by Wade—on the nightstand. They had recovered phones and weapons—mainly the shield—after finding Bucky's captured friends.

On his person, Bucky had seven small guns, ten knives, and his sniper gun Marjorie said he was far too attached to. Erik had confiscated Bucky's explosives, two other guns, and five other knives. He also complained about Bucky having too many weapons. Bucky had already taken out the tracker Tony implanted in his wrist before he went to go save Marjorie, so that was taken care of.

Bucky also had all of the weapons he shoved into the backpack.

He had also packed basically everything in Marjorie's room, along with some of his clothes, and emergency supplies like money, fake IDs, and passports. How that all fit in the bag, well...

Marjorie had told him months ago that if there was ever an emergency and the two of them went into hiding, they could use her backpack. She claimed it was "bigger on the inside," and that "I'll explain more if we ever use it." Bucky was skeptical at first, but after shoving his entire arm into the bag and still not touching the bottom, he concluded the bag's status as "bigger on the inside" was accurate.

He didn't know how big, and would ask Marjorie a bunch of questions about it later.

He didn't want to unpack her stuff yet; Marjorie probably had a particular spot for everything. Looking around her room, Bucky could tell stuff was missing—her having relocated it to the tower before he joined the Avengers.

Bucky settled himself to wait until she woke up before doing anything.