Blurred Bloodlines

Steve, with his ears ringing, could only look up in horror at the blown out windows. Through his muffled ears, he could hear people screaming for help.

"You son of a bitch!"

Steve looked down at Nat...she was still unconscious.

That wasn't her voice.

That was...'oh no.'

He looked up just in time to see Bucky punch Pietro in the face.

"Bucky!"

He could hear Wanda screaming at him to stop.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

As soon as the third floor exploded, Pietro made a move forward to go help but was stopped by a hand gripping his wrist.

He turned to see Bucky glaring at him.

"Was Viper telling the truth? Did you sleep with Rebecca? With my daughter?"

Pietro visibly gulped.

He could only nod in agreement.

"I lov-"

That was all the former assassin needed.

"You son of a bitch!"

The speedster wasn't fast enough to stop the metal fist from slamming into his jaw and knocking him down.

After the first hit, Pietro could have just sped away, but he didn't. He knew Bucky needed this, and perhaps it would help lessen some of his pain as well.

'It would be better for him to just kill me...I failed to keep my promise...I'm sorry.'

"Stop it!" Wanda screamed, tears filling her eyes at her brother's voice echoing in her head.

Scarlet energy encased her hands.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

Steve scrambled to get his feet under him but stopped when Nat wheezed, and grabbed him, moving her lips to speak.

Steve shook his head at her.

"Shh. Don't speak right now. We got to get you to the hospital."

"Syrena-"

"Later, okay."

Nat shook her head.

"Syrena. Here. D.C." before she slumped back to the ground unconscious.

Steve looked at Nat shocked before a small smile broke out.

"Great job, Nat. Now just rest, okay. We'll take it from here."

He waved a hand to some people that were close by.

"Call 911! There should be another hospital a few blocks from here! We also need fire and rescue!"

Some people quickly scrambled for their phones. Others even got in their cars and were pulling out blankets and jackets to give to people as they filed out.

He looked back to where Bucky and Pietro were and breathed a sigh of relief.

Wanda had Bucky pinned to the sidewalk with tendrils of scarlet energy.

He struggled and strained but couldn't break free. He instead settled for yelling at the young speedster.

"You bastard! If you lay another hand on her...I'll kill you!"

Pietro just sat there on the concrete with his head in his hands, shaking uncontrollably.

Wanda openly sobbed at the sight in front of her. The hospital was a mess, flames licking up the side of the building, and glass and debris littering the grounds around them.

Her heart ached most of all for her brother.

His speed would have allowed him to escape Bucky, but he didn't. Pietro had let the ex-assassin nearly beat him to death.

He was consumed with guilt.

Sirens blared in the background as fire trucks and EMTs began to arrive.

Help was here.

She looked over to Steve where he held Nat down.

'What do we do now?'

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

"At 10:35 am this morning, the third floor of St. Ignatius Hospital was destroyed when a bomb was detonated. There are 6 confirmed deaths and 12 wounded at this time. Police have no leads-"

Steve turned the T.V. off and turned back to the hospital bed that held an unresponsive Natasha.

She was quarantined inside a plastic bubble, hooked up to a ventilator, multiple I.V.s, and a heart rate monitor. The gentle beep-beep, reminding them every so often that she was still alive.

He shook his head.

'We should have reached you sooner Nat. I'm sorry.'

"How is she?"

Steve turned at his friend's voice.

"Doctors say that the poison is only temporary, but they still gave her a dose of anti-venom just in case. She should be feeling better in a week."

"That's good news."

"Yes."

Steve sighed and turned to face Bucky eye to eye.

"Nat found Syrena."

Bucky's eyes widened.

"She found her? Where?"

"Apparently, she's somewhere here in D.C. We won't know until we hack those files Pietro filched for us."

The former assassin snorted at the name.

"Only thing he's good for, that and I'm also thinking target practice."

"Why did you hit the kid, Buck? I mean I know one reason..."

Bucky groaned and turned away, only to be stopped by Steve's hand on his shoulder.

"He slept with my daughter, Steve. Slept with her! There is no place to be doing that when you're just kids."

Steve shook his head.

"I remember a jerk of a seventeen year old bragging about a few of his conquests a time or two."

Bucky glared at him."That's different."

"No, its not and you know it. I think you better talk to him at least."

"What?! No, no way in hell!"

Cap crossed his arms, "Buck..."

He ripped his arm free, turning and walking away from his friend.

"I'm not talking to him."

Steve sighed.

"They comforted each other in a dark time and place, Buck, when they thought there was no way out. I have a feeling it affected not only her but Pietro also. And the truth of it is, we are going to need his help to find Rebecca and Syrena, whether you like it or not."

Bucky stilled and gave a quick glance back before he growled and walked away.

"I'm still not talking to him!"

Cap just shook his head and chuckled.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

Bucky paused outside the waiting room and ran a hand through his hair.

'God, I hate when he's right. Jerk.'

He opened the door and stepped in.

Wanda shot to her feet, her hands immediately incased in crimson tendrils of energy.

"What do you want?"

Bucky held both hands up.

"I, uh, came to talk to him."

Pietro lifted his face to Bucky.

The ex-assassin winced.

One eye was nearly closed over and his nose was stuffed with gauze.

"Don't worry, this isn't the worst beating I've had."

Bucky filed that dark info away for another time as he walked into the room and sat down across from the speedster.

Pietro gingerly touched his nose.

"Plus, I'll heal up in no time. One of the only side effects from the serum that I actually like. The high metabolism, though, is a pain in the ass."

"You know I'm not sorry for hitting you, right?"

"Of course. I am quite sure that that is the common reaction for any father to that specific type of news. I am sorry that you had to find out about...us...that way, though."

"What's she like?"

Pietro stared at Barnes, confused before he spoke again.

"What?"

"What's my daughter like?"

'Oh...'

"You mean, little moon, well, Rebecca?"

Bucky nodded. "I only know her from that video of her birth. I don't know what she looks like now, what her favorite things are...does she smile constantly? Does she have my hair color? My eyes? Hell I can hardly remember her mother as well."

Pietro shook his head. He felt bad for the older man sat across from him. He had had everything taken from him and was slowly but surely piecing it all back together. It gave him hope for his own future. Hopefully a future with little moon at his side.

"She is different, but still very beautiful...she-she is lunnyy svet."

"Pure moonlight?" Bucky was confused.

"Beautiful pale skin, very long almost white blonde hair and eyes of pure silver."

"So she looks nothing like me or her mother."

"No matter what she looks like, she is still your daughter. She carries herself the same as you."

"Is-was she happy? With Wanda? With you?"

"I only ever saw her smile around me and my sister. "

"She wasn't smiling because of me, Piet, we both know that."

Wanda interjected.

Pietro smiled widely at his sister before wincing in pain. He had momentarily forgotten about the black eye and broken nose thinking of Rebecca.

"When she did smile...it was as if the moon was replaced by the sun. She shone when she smiled."

Bucky was still very angry about them sleeping together, but he could tell how much Pietro felt for her by the way his face lit up, how his eyes softened, and his voice took on this tone of awe when he talked about her.

The kid cared for Rebecca.

Bucky cleared his throat.

"How-how much training has she had?"

"By the time I first met her, she was already a highly skilled fighter. And I know for a fact that she has one hell of a punch, just like her father."

Bucky laughed, "How the hell did you find that one out?"

The speedster smiled and leaned forward.

"Well, I will tell you. So one day Strucker has me brought into this big open area, and right there next to him was 'little moon'-"

Wanda watched with bated breath as the two talked, only deciding to leave the room when the conversation turned to Rebecca.

She closed the door behind her with a smile.

Notes