Chapter 9 - Burden

Harlow was use to seeing Nicky Fury angry but this time she could see a hint of worry too as she, Bucky, and Sam walked into the meeting room. Despite everyone safe in Wakanda, the threat of Hydra loomed over in a thick, dark cloud.Weeks had gone by and Hydra had been quiet, which made everyone uneasy.They had to have known about the chip. Or somehow found a way to hide what they were doing, Harlow thought, taking a seat in the middle of Sam and Bucky. Bucky looked worse for wear. He hadn't been responding well to Harlow's training to gain complete control over his own mind again. The tension between the two could be cut with a feather, during their last training session Bucky had lost it.Somewhere between fighting for control and giving in to the commands of the journal, Bucky snapped. It ended with Harlow thrown to the other side of the room and Bucky being sedated. Harlow was terrified at first but she forgave him, after all, it wasn't his fault.Bucky, however, didn't take it so well. He had been avoiding Harlow's training for over a week, hiding away in his quarters. Sam kept his best efforts in trying to make Harlow feel better about the situation but as much as Sam tried to rouse a witty comeback or a straight-up insult out of her, he was met with silence.

"What has happened?" Sam asked,

"That's the thing Captain, nothing. There hasn't been a peep out of Hydra since the party" Fury said, He fixed his gaze onto Bucky, "Mr. Barnes are you certain you placed the chip in the computer in Mr. Fastner's office, not another computer?" he asked."I did, I may be old but I can follow simple instructions" Bucky scoffed.Harlow scrunched her face in confusion, Bucky wasn't acting like himself."Well at the moment we're blind to what Hydra is doing and that makes me very unhappy. They've planted their roots once again and the last time they did it I was nearly killed" he said, pointing the statement towards Bucky."So what you're saying is fix the situation or you'll have our asses?" Bucky asked bluntly."What I'm saying is fix the situation or you two will be out of a job," he said looking between Bucky and Sam, "and we'll have no choice but to throw you in a maximum high-security prison for the rest of your life" he added."What?" Harlow asked,"Didn't they tell you? The terms of your release were that you help us take down Hydra and if you fail to meet those terms you end up in prison. I'm sure Mr. Wilson can tell you all about the Raft, he spent some time there himself" he stated.Harlow looked between both Sam and Bucky but they couldn't meet her gaze, she sunk back into the chair, after what they had been through Harlow thought they had reached some level of trust. "Dismissed," Fury said as he shook his head and left the room. Harlow was the last to stand, she looked up to see the retreating back of Bucky and let her anger run wild."You have some nerve walking away without even giving me the decency to talk!" she called out to him, chasing him out the door.Bucky stopped in his tracks and slowly turned. His face was hard with little emotion."I had no choice," he said,"You had a choice to tell me about it!" she snapped as she stepped forward.He sighed, "What would have that achieved? You would have tried harder? You would have fought better? Hydra has been one step ahead of everyone for decades, they always will be. Thank you for all that you've done for me but I think we need to stop the training," he said, as he went to take his leave.Harlow swallowed hard. "Bucky, it is a delicate process you can't just stop"."I can and I am, I will not continue like this" Bucky said."What! That's it? You're just going to up and quit because it didn't work the first couple of times, I'm doing the best I can with what little training I had!" she shouted at him causing him to suddenly turn and almost charge at her.Bucky grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back into the meeting room, slamming the door shut."Would you keep your voice down" he whispered with brimming anger."You don't want them all to see you running away when things get tough? Poor you, wouldn't want them to see you can be afraid too!"."I nearly killed you!" he shouted, balling his fists. "I will not have any more innocent blood on my hands, they're dripping with it and I will not add you to my list""Oh burn the fucking list Bucky!" she matched his anger. "What?" he asked, "This is why you're angry? This is why you've been avoiding me because you're afraid you're going to hurt me?" she yelled. "Yes!" he shouted,"Why? I'm nothing but a failed assassin. A traitor. A traitor to Hydra, a traitor to all that's good!" she yelled again, not even worried if all of Wakanda could hear her. He swallowed hard, "You're not!"."When are you going to get it through your head Bucky, you were a pawn in Hydra's game! You had no choice, this list of people you think you've done wrong shouldn't be yours. You don't deserve to carry around that burden. If anything I should be the one that should bear it. My entire family going back decades was the reason for all that pain and destruction. They are the reason that everything that you had, was taken from you." Harlow took a ragged breath, stepped back from Bucky, and steadied herself on the back of a chair.Bucky felt his jaw twitch, cursing both Harlow's and his stubbornness. "Please Bucky let me do this for you, let me try and fix what my family has done to you, even if it kills me," she said with a small smile.Bucky moved closer, she felt small in his presence, taking her eyes from the polished floors to stare up at him."Okay," he whispered, "But you're not dying on my watch, I'll make sure of it".Bucky suddenly cleared his throat, he hadn't realized how close he was to her until the door swung open to reveal Sam standing on the other side."Well, what do we have here?" Sam called out, bringing their attention to him."Shut up, dodo bird" Harlow muttered before she pushed her way past the both of them and took off down the hall as fast as her feet could carry her."Well isn't she back to her feisty self, and what about you huh? Still sulking?" Sam asked with a laugh, crossing his arms across his chest."I'd say it's more of a brooding now" Bucky replied, moving out of the room to stare down the hallway even though Harlow was long gone."We need to talk? There's something that I need to tell you and I have a feeling you're not going to like it" Sam said, staring more at the ground than anything, A hard crease settled above Bucky's brow as he turned towards Sam."What is it?" Bucky asked.Sam took a moment, "I gave up the shield, I'm sorry Buck I-"Bucky's mouth drew a hard line and he left before Sam could even finish his sentence.