Lacuna [1] {Completed}

Chapter Twenty Three

"Krasivaya (adj.) beautiful, but with strength; unique."

Erin watched through a window as Wanda weaved her magic through Bucky's mind. She stared vacantly thinking about what had happened.

            Once Sam and Steve managed to pry Bucky from Erin's arms, she wasn't sure what had happened. She didn't remember how they got out or how they found their way back to the lab where Bucky had been kept before being transferred to the safe house.

            She woke up on one of the benches outside of the room Bucky was being worked on. She slowly sat up, every inch of her body felt sore. What had happened? She looked up to see Clint walking towards her with a cup of coffee in his hand. He handed it to her and told her she had passes out shortly after they left the warehouse.

            "I knew you wouldn't want to wake up at the safe house," Clint said, "You wouldn't want to leave him." His voice got quiet as he looked through the widow of the lab. Erin didn't know what to say.

            She heard a phone start to ring and looked to see Clint pull one from his pocket. "You going to be okay?"

Erin nodded her head.

"I'll come check on you later," Clint offered her a small smile, "Yeah?" He answered the phone as he got up to leave.

            Erin watched him go until he disappeared around a corner. When he was gone she got up from her seat and walked towards the window that allowed her to look inside the room.

T'Challa's team were running back and forth performing tests while Wanda worked through Bucky's mind. She hoped Wanda was looking for what they missed so Bucky would never have to fear those words ever again.

            Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Steve walk towards her and stop right next to her, a solid presence reminding her that they were safe. This wasn't a dream.

            "Krav is being transported. The Wakanda police were anonymously tipped off about this secret hide out. Turns out he's wanted in seven different countries." He tried to joke.

            Erin couldn't bring herself to laugh. "You think he'll talk?" she asked, her voice hallow.

            "Well, it also turns out that his family has a mental history, paranoia, bipolar disorder, that kind of thing. And he took a substantial blow to the head, so if he starts talking about something crazy like a team of vigilantes attacking his operation, which were in fact, illegal, I don't think the judge would take sympathy."

            "What about the security footage? All of his archives?" Erin tore her eyes away from the window and turned her body towards Steve.

            Steve hesitated, "When you dismembered the force field you... did more than just take those down. Anything electric in that building was shot. All of the computer hard drives were wiped. All the footage, his data base, and information is completely gone."

            Erin's eyes widened, "I did that?"

            Steve nodded his head, "There's no record of any of us being inside of that building."

            Erin looked down at her hands, "What am I?" She asked no one in particular, "All this time, he was looking for me, because of who I was and what I could do. And Bucky-" She cut herself off as a lump began to form in her throat, "Bucky almost..." She paused, looking at the ground, "It's my fault," she whispered. Tears stung her eyes as she looked up through the window. Breathing suddenly became an impossible task. She turned to Steve, "It's my fault!" She gasped.