Natasha's Secret

Chapter 25 - Who the Hell is Bucky?

When Annabeth had first started this quest, she knew it would be different than any other she had been on before.

What she had forgotten to account for, was Tony Stark.

"We're going to have to hide out sometimes, it's usually the only way to avoid monsters in most circumstances," Nico said, almost glaring at the billionaire.

Clint and Bruce had left to get breakfast and coffee, leaving the demigods, Tony, and Steve in the hotel.

"Why? I have enough money to buy most of the hotels in the area, renting is not that hard,"

"There isn't a lot of time, we probably won't have much chance to sleep," Jason said, also looking vaguely annoyed.

Tony sighed, almost like he was thinking they were all crazy.

"We're on a time limit, Tony, and we can't waste any more of it," Nico scowled, grabbing his bag and opening it up, to grab a few stygian iron daggers and slotting them into his boots and sleeves.

"You got any celestial bronze?" Piper asked, poking Nico's side.

Instead of answering, he just glared at her.

"Can you see anything in Katoptris?" Jason asked, sipping the coffee Annabeth had brought back for them.

Piper shook her head, "There's nothing. It seems like most of our magical objects are pretty useless right now,"

"I've tried to go down to the underworld at least twenty times since the attacks, but I'm always blocked by... something," Nico sighed, "I don't know if my father is blocking me or if it's just something that's going on, but I can't go to any part of the underworld,"

"Wait, you can go to the Underworld?" Steve asked, sounding amazed.

Nico glared at him, "No, I just told you, I've been blocked from it for the past four years, weren't you listening?"

"Alright, I was just asking," Steve put up his hands in a placating manner.

"Maybe we should stay here for another day, see if we can find any clues, and then if we find nothing, we can go to San Francisco to see if there are any clues in Camp Jupiter," Will suggested.

Jason grimaced at the thought of returning to Camp Jupiter, as did many of the other demigods, but they pushed past it.

Steve sighed, "Well-"

He was cut off as something crashed into the floor to ceiling window beside them, making the whole group jump into battle positions.

They saw a man dressed in all black from head to toe with a mask on like a muzzle. One of his sleeves was ripped off to show a metal arm with a red star on the shoulder.

"That's the guy from my dream!" Rachel yelled, backing up against the wall.

"The Winter Soldier?" Annabeth asked, drawing her dagger which she had modified to be like Backbiter, Luke's old sword, so I could harm both mortal and mythical threats.

"What do you want?" Percy asked, drawing riptide.

The Winter Soldier didn't answer. Instead, he quickly drew a gun and started shooting at Will and Nico who dodged.

"I don't think he's the conversation type!" Steve yelled, getting his shield and throwing it towards the man who simply caught it in his metal arm, turning an icy glare towards Steve.

Steve froze as he saw the man's eyes, not moving from his vulnerable position where he had no protection.

"Steve! What are you doing!" Annabeth yelled, jumping out from behind the table she had been crouching behind and brandishing her dagger at the man.

"I- how?" Steve mumbled, in a state of shock.

"Oh for Hades sake," Annabeth mumbled, running towards the man with her dagger.

Annabeth tried to plunge the dagger into his flesh shoulder, but was quickly blocked by his metal hand, which had dropped Steve's shield.

"Soldat?" Frank's said, eyes wide and fixed on the man's face.

The man turned to face Frank, eyes cold, until he saw who he was looking at.

He didn't say anything, but he stopped trying to retaliate Annabeth's attacks, which made her pause.

"You remember him?" She asked, breath a little heavily.

The man nodded, eyes not leaving Frank's face.

"I used to help you after you came back from missions," Frank said, sounding a little nervous, "I cleaned your wounds and made sure you were ok-"

'Soldat' moved so fast that no one knew what was happening. In the blink of an eye, his metal hand was on Frank's throat, making the demigod choke.

Everyone in the room raised their weapons towards him, the tension was palpable.

He reached up and took off his mask, eyes full of confused rage, "I was never ok," he spat, like the words hurt coming out of his mouth, "You left me,"

"I'm sorry," Frank choked out, face turning a slight purple color, "I didn't want to-"

"Shut up!" The man yelled, squeezing Frank's neck tighter, "I-"

"Bucky?" Steve said, face still full of that unparalleled shock from before.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" The man spat.

He let go of Frank and ran towards the broken window, and before anyone could stop him, he jumped out.