CHAPTER 49

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"Steve woke up."

Bucky went rigid the moment I said that. I could see that his eyes were conflicted, not knowing what to do or even how to react in this scenario.

While his friend was frozen under water for decades, he became the hunts dog for the very organization that started all of the problems they faced back in their time.

"It's okay y'know." I said as I knew what line of thoughts were running through his head. 

"It's not that simple." He said as he dropped his head to the table and held it with both of his arms. 

Bucky wore long-sleeved shirts under a jacket and gloves so that his mechanical arm wouldn't be seen. 

"Then why don't you make it simple?" I told him as I focused more on my hamburgers and the banana flavored drink in front of me. 

"You think that's gonna solve anything? I don't think it will." He said as he finally focused his chess pizza. Apparently he's never tried it. 

"It won't, but it'll at least make things a lot easier don't you think?" I hummed out as focus was already taking by the meaty goodness in front of me. 

One thing I was thankful for was that I couldn't get fat. My body absorbs the excess energy from my nutrient intake and stores them in my cells for later use, only keeping the part needed for maximum bodily function. 

"When can I meet him?" Bucky suddenly asked after sampling a bit of his breakfast. 

"Hmm.. We could see him today I think. I'll call Fury for the location." He hummed in acceptance as we both focused on our stomachs demand. 

Being the new foodie in town, I ordered for a triple-deck steak burger and two boxes of pizza before we left the restaurant. "How are you not… fat?" was what Bucky asked me as he saw me little feast to which I only replied "Good genes."

The day was pretty much uneventful as we did nothing but drive around town and enjoying the sights since we both were pretty much bona-fide shut-ins. In fact everyone I knew was a recluse of sorts. 

Coulson was a ghost. 

Clint was a loner. 

Agent Hill was a silent observer, and the less said about Fury the better. 

I called Coulson during our little drive-by, not the gangster type, and he directed me to the facility Steve was in. 

I dropped Bucky off and drove away since I didn't have anything to do there other than watch two grown ass men comfort each other and reminisce while standing awkwardly to the side. 

I drove for a bit and decided to stop at the park since there was nothing for me to do at home except continue my training or research. 

I sat on a bench and just watched the kids and young people playing there. It was therapeutic. 

I do things like this pretty often so as not to get tunnel-visioned and only focus on getting stronger. If I stayed cooped up in my mansion only for training and working, I felt I would lose that last touch I had on my sanity. 

Killing HYDRA was a good way to vent and get my mind off things, but it was a bad option. It would make me justify killing as the only way to resolve a dispute which was a one way lane to being a murdering psychopath, so I took time like this to unhinge. 

Saved me from all the stress and complications that was the Marvel-verse. It was also times like these that I found myself falling back into old habits of brooding too much. It says a lot about my mental state when I don't have a single normal friend and have killed more than a thousand people in the past six months. 

At least, here I don't have anything to disrupt my peace. 

"Hello there friend!" 

'I said it too soon, didn't I?'

I turned to look at the middle aged man who sat besides me with a smile on his face but something told me I wouldn't like the way things would go. 

"Can I help you with something pal?" I didn't try to be rude nor did I try to be welcoming, because if he could read the undertone he would know that I was not interested in what he had to say. 

"Maybe you can, but I'm sure I can help you with something." He said as he turned his gaze forward as we both watched the scenery in front of us. 

"I don't know what you plan to sell but I'm not interested." I didn't have time for this charade as I made to leave. 

"We can help you." The dude said and I couldn't help but frown at his insinuation. 

'We' as in a group, was never a good thing to come across in any kind of reality not to mention Marvel of all realities. Hey at least it wasn't DC right? God only knows how fucked you are the moment a group decides to come for you. 

So with his implications, I was naturally cautious. 

"And who is this 'we' if I may ask?" I asked as I sat back down on the bench. At least this way I would have more information on the kind of people who had their sights on me and prepare for whatever confrontation would arise because I'm not a fool not to see the shady flags this dude was already raising. 

"Quite perceptive are we? We mean you no harm as we would only like to extend an invitation." The dude said cryptically. 

"Again you still haven't told me who you are." I reminded him with a cold expression on my face. 

"No need to show hostilities Mr. St. Cross, for you and I are the same." He said but this time he turned to look at me with the smile on his face gone, replaced by a serious expression. 

"Meaning?" Now this dude was giving me the creeps. It was only because we were in public than I refrained from forcing the answers I need out of him. 

"Mutants." Was all he said as my eyes immediately squinted as. A last warning. I was done playing his games, if he didn't give me a concrete answer then I would be forced to get one out of him. 

"Your last chance. Who. Are. You?" I asked him as I punctuated every word. 

He got the message as he stopped beating around the bush to answer me, "I'm part of a mutant organization that focuses on helping mutants all over the world. And we would like to extend an invitation-"

"Not interested!" I immediately cut him off and got up to leave the moment I knew what he was selling – shit. 

Yeah right, as if I would be dumb enough to fall for that shtick twice after that failure of an homerun Charles pulled. 

"We've read you files!" I frowned and stopped as he said that. 

"The experiments, the tortures… we know. You are not the only one who went through something like that. We are trying to save others who went through the same thing you did and we would like for you to join us." He said as he too stood up and looked at me waiting for my decision. 

"Sorry pal, but I'm more of a freelancer than a hero. Try the sales pitch somewhere else." I walked away towards my car not even giving him the chance to try and convince me because they would be none. 

I got into my car and looked out the side mirror to see if he was still there and surprise! Dude already pulled a Batman the moment I turned around. 

Then again, I was happy about this meeting since it proved that I was been watched. If an organization like he claimed had my files then this was bad. 

I had all HYDRA related files with me in my encrypted-to-hell system and I knew for sure that more of HYDRA's files and research products concerning me were in the base I blew up in South Carolina, so I didn't have to worry about a double me since the only one who even attempted something remotely to cloning, or rather duplicating my abilities were Whitehall and I made sure he was dead dead. 

So as long as I'm concerned, my DNA was secured but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that they somehow had my files and the most worrying thing about that was that they would know what my ability entails. 

Adaptability and Evolution. 

Any high school student with even a bit of brain power would understand how far that kind of ability could grow with just the right condition, and I was not comfortable with that kind of information up in the air so I had to find out who that leak came from and the likely targets it would go to. 

"*Sigh* Just when I thought I could finally rest for a whole before the crazies started showing up."

Thankfully I knew where to start to solve this mess – the HYDRA network. Since Zola wasn't around to maintain it, I was able to scrub everything byte of data on it and transfer them to my own network. 

From what I've read, HYDRA did deals with a lot of different organizations all through different names, and the organizations I was remembering didn't assuage me of my worries but instead increased it. 

While some weren't bad, some were downright dangerous which goes to show how truly immortal the organization known as HYDRA could be. 

Stark Industries. 

Hammer Technologies. 

Baxter Building. 

Trask Industries. 

Oscorp. 

Department of Defense. 

These were just some of the big pies HYDRA had their hands on, and that was the legal part of it. The illegal part… I'd rather not say. 

Let just agree on the fact that HYDRA loved to breed chaos so any terrorist organization that was above a certain level of competence, it was wise to know that HYDRA had their grubby hands in it. 

I knew where to start but didn't know the route to take. Any route I took would either lead me to my targets or led me astray from them. 

'A risky gamble.'

I couldn't help but crack a smile at that simple thought. I wasn't afraid of taking a gamble. 

I got home after a few minutes of blasting through the speed limit and given my inhuman dexterity, avoiding cars and accidents were all too easy when I took the wheels. 

I immediately went to my workstation and after activating my security protocols in case of any instance of hacking, I surfed the dark web. 

I accessed the HYDRA files I had and immediately began investigating or more accurately trying to figure out which was a more viable target. 

I crossed out names, most I didn't know, and some that I think are not prime suspects in this case. 

The list was as long as it was extensive, making me spend time and time again to review every single bit of information sent across both parties. Most timed they were dead end since HYDRA was very careful not to be traced so they would use multiple targets just for securing a seemingly legit deal. 

Heck, most times the involved party didn't know they were working for HYDRA. 

It was at this point that I found something that sent chills down my bones. 

It was an event that was dreaded across the entire fanbase of the Marvel comic. The potential of this particular event would make The Terminator look like a bedtime story. 

The SENTINEL program. 

Of course HYDRA was involved in any plan that featured borderline racial genocide. 

I didn't know how far the sentinel program was but I was sure I didn't want it to exist. 

From what I could find, HYDRA and Trask would cooperate in the endeavor to end the threat of mutantkind. 

The only thing I could be thankful for was that Ernst was very stingy with my DNA, so I was clear on that front. But what I wasn't clear on was my data. 

While I was sure HYDRA wouldn't send out the data of their most prized soldier to even their allies, I wasn't sure what other party had come across it. 

A mutant organization, who I'm presently thinking to be The Brotherhood, already had my information. Just the idea of what I could do was enough to send them my way. 

While I haven't been able to locate the leak and block it, maybe due to my skills or most likely the ridiculous amount of data involved, I had however found my next target of action. 

Just for the fact of not having a murder robot that had the ability to adapt, chasing me across the world, Bolivar Trask had to die. 

And from what I could see, S.H.I.E.L.D were in on it too, not that I was that surprised about it. 

Them knowing or not knowing the specifics or the true goal of Trask's research didn't matter. It wasn't as if S.H.I.E.L.D was an innocent party as far as interest was involved. There were just the lesser of two evils and also there were more tolerable.