Unravel

It had been a while but Liz could finally walk around again without being constantly reminded of the fact that someone had had his fingers inside of her thigh for longer than she wanted to remember. The sharp pain had dulled at first and was now almost gone. Her muscles were still sore now and then from being pushed to their limits but that was a good kind of pain. It made her feel alive and like she mattered.

Wading deeper into the tunnel she was currently investigating, she reached for her earpiece, struggling to make out the dirty joke her handler, Thomas, had just made.

Struggling to keep from laughing, she harshly whispered back, “Since I’m the one knee deep in shit I suggest you shut up.”

“You wanted in, now you are. In the shit, that is. I’m sorry that’s part of the job,” he laughed loudly. “You’re getting closer though. Head straight for another 100 yards and then turn left. There should only be one possible way to go then.”

“Alright,” she muttered, steadily wading through the mud that had stained the green plastic pants she was wearing an indistinguishable color already.

Coming closer to the place Thomas had just described her, everything got brighter. The manhole above her was already open.

“Is anyone supposed to be down here? Maintenance?”

“No?” she heard Thomas question slightly, then more urgently. “Get out. Now. No one’s supposed to be down there.”

“Hold up, I just want to catch a glimpse. I’m not schlepping ten guns down here so I can never use them.”

Taking the left Thomas had advised her to earlier, she came face to face with a machine, something that seemed like an industrial artist’s handiwork but was definitely more sinister, according to their intel. She wasn’t good with machines.

But there was also a man standing in front of it, tinkering with the circuit and while at first she wanted to turn and run for dear life, eventually it made her smile.

She recognized the hair first, then the broad shoulders and the determination he worked with. It was unchanged despite her not having seen him in two years.

Shuddering out an exhale she alerted him to her presence, making him whirl around at once.

“You’re still very focused on what you’re doing,” she started, her smile not infecting him in the slightest. He seemed more shocked than anything else, really. But who could blame him?

“No,” he finally pressed out, turning away before looking at her again. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Yet here I am,” she answered, matter-of-factly. “A dead man can do as he pleases.”

“This seems like a hell of a lot of bullshit,” he answered, stepping closer. Liz could see anger in his eyes but it was still overshadowed by confusion.

“Liz, what’s going on?” she could hear Thomas but she couldn’t help but ignore him.

Motioning towards the machine, Liz spoke up, “Evan had told me there was something in the middle of New York. I thought he was just trying to rile me up.”

Looking back at the machine, Bucky let out a chuckle. “We took out most of the Hydra cells around that time. Apparently they didn’t have any proper engineers left.”

Squinting her eyes at him, she prodded, “Faulty?”

“Non-functional,” he corrected.

“So all that shit for nothing, then,” Liz concluded and moved her hair out of her face. It had grown exponentially longer and was now more of a nuisance than anything else.
But Bucky was still staring at her in the little light the manhole supplied. “It’s kind of odd, isn’t it?”

“That’s not exactly the word I’d use.”

“What then?”

“Fucked up?” Bucky answered, his brows furrowed. “I thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead.”

Swallowing and letting the smile drop from her face, Liz let her head hang slightly, “I’m sorry. Things weren’t going to work out the way they had been going. We both got that change that was sorely needed.”

“We did, yeah,” he replied and looked up at the manhole. “I’d ask you out for coffee but I’m not sure that’s a good idea, what with you being dead.”

Shrugging, Liz smiled. “It’d be fine. But you’d need to get acquainted with Olivia, as Liz is technically dead.”

“Liv and Liz. Which genius came up with that idea?” Bucky scrunched up his nose and then laughed at Liz’ confounded expression. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

“If you’re being nice to me, I might even pay for your coffee.”

“You once told me I’m a good man, does that still stand?”

Smiling back at him, she felt alright then. “It still stands,” she confirmed. “One moment though,” she said, holding her hand to her earpiece. “Hey, creep. Everything’s fine down here. Machine is a fluke.” Turning back to Bucky, she grinned, “Come on, old man. There’s a lot you missed.”