Chapter 8

Bucky followed closely behind Selene as she made her way to the garage. He was worried about Night bet even he knew he was no match for Victor; he just hoped she would be okay. His head was still slightly throbbing from the influx of memories from who he now knew to be Lucian. Running a hand through his hair he tries not to look at all the vampires glaring at him. He didn't like the fact that he was surrounded. He came here for Night, he needed to find her and he had; but now he had a new problem. He was bitten. It wouldn't be long until he became a Lycan.

Gritting his teeth, he thinks about what he's going to tell Steve and Natasha. He is pulled form his thoughts as Selene turns to him and asks, "Why does she care about you so much? I never seen her like this, and I've known her for centuries."

"We... have history." He says truthfully causing her to narrow her eyes at him.

"You know I could get the answers from you."

"I do, but then you would die." She ponders his words for a moment before it hits her.

"You're a Lycan?" She asks anger filling her voice.

"Not yet," Bucky replies pushing past her toward the car. "I was bitten when Michael was."

"And she knew?"

"Yes, she knows." Bucky replies turning back to look at Selene whose face was filled with worry. He stares at her for a moment trying to judge her mood when she quickly turns and heads over to the driver side door to a silver Aston Martin opening it she calls over her shoulder, "Get in the back."

"Yes ma'am." Bucky replies knowing better than to argue with her right now. He climbs into the backseat and as the car surges forward he glances back at the mansion a foreboding feeling filling his stomach. Clenching his fists tightly he takes a deep breath and forces himself to look away from the mansion and forward to where Michael was waiting in the pouring rain for Selene. When she reaches him, Michael opens the passenger side door and looks inside.

"Get in!" Selene orders and Michael follows climbing into the seat and closing the door behind him. He glances back at Bucky who gives him a half smile and nods.

"What are you doing here?" Michael asks his eyes focused on Bucky's metal arm.

"I'm in the same predicament as you." Bucky replies pulling the collar of his shirt out so Michael can see the bandage.

"Neither of you can come here again. They'll kill you. Do you understand?" Selene says as she speeds off down the highway.

"Wait, I can't just leave Night there." Bucky interjects making her brows furrow.

"You are a Lycan now, if you come near her she will have no choice but to kill you."

"Why? Who are you people?" Michael asks his breathing rushed. Selene pauses a moment then as if to double check she pulls down Michael's collar to see the bite and clenches her jaw.

"Whether you like it or not, you both are in the middle of a war that's been raging for the better part of a thousand years. A blood feud between Vampires and Lycans." She pauses to gauge Michael's expression before adding, "Werewolves." Bucky leans forward and gently grabs Michael's shoulder to offer him some support. "You both are lucky; most humans die within an hour of being bitten by an immortal. The viruses we transmit are deadly."

"And if you bit me, what, I'd become a vampire instead?"

"No, you'd die." She says firmly causing Bucky to feel a tinge of pain in his chest. "No one's ever survived a bite from both species. By rights, I'd stop the car and kill you myself."

"Me? What about him?" Michael asks and Selene grits her teeth.

"I made my friend a promise."

"Then why are you helping me?!" Michael asks anger in his voice.

"I'm not! I track down and kill your kind. My only interest is finding out why Lucian wants you so badly." She adds making Bucky glance out the window trying to get an idea of where they were headed. He'd been to Budapest before, when he was the Winter Soldier, but it'd been so long he couldn't get a layout of the land very well. When they pull up outside a building Selene tells them both to get out and follow her. As they all walk up the stairs Michael talks about how he has been hallucinating and Selene quickly explains that they are in fact not hallucinations, but memories.

The three of them reach the top of the stairs and opening a door Selene says, "This is one of the places we use for interrogations, it should be safe." Bucky brings up the rear as he follows the other two into the room. The lights flicker on automatically as she walks over to the windows and opens the shutters. She then moves over to a fridge and grabbing two bags of blood tosses one to both him and Michael. Bucky stares slightly disgusted at the bag as Michael says, "Ziodex Industries."

"We own it." Selene replies as she walks back to the door to lock it before moving over to security monitors. "First there was synthetic plasma, now this. Once it's approved it should be our newest cash crop."

"It's cloned blood." Michael says as Bucky tosses the bag onto a table near him. Bucky shivers as he turns his attention to the rest of the room to see chains against the wall and surgical tools lying on a tray nearby with silver bullets lying in a tin. "What are these?" Michael asks voicing Bucky's worry.

"Lycans are allergic to Silver." Selene says almost uncomfortably. "If we don't get the bullets out quickly enough, they die during questioning."

"What do you do with them after?"

"They put the bullets back in." Bucky answers for her as he moves to stand by the widow. "Do you have a phone? I need to call my friend, let him know I'm not dead, and not to call in the Calvary."

"Why should I trust you to not call in Lycans?" Selene asks her arms folded over her chest.

"Because I would never hurt anyone Night cares about." Bucky replies firmly making her eyes show understanding. "That and I don't know any Lycans."

"Be quick about it. If possible find out if they can come get you." She says motioning to a landline nearby before moving to join him at the window. "The farther you are from Night the better it is for both of you." Bucky ignores her words before he moves to the phone and quickly dials Hunter's number. He picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey it's me."

"Where the bloody hell have you been? Do you know how worried your girl was about you?"

"You told Nat?"

"Of course, I did, she called here looking for you, I know better than to lie to her?"

"Shit, this day is seriously starting to piss me off."

"So, what the hell happened that night?"

"Shit happened, but I'm fine. Call Nat and tell her that."

"That's gonna be hard considering her and Cap are headed this way."

"Jesus Christ, I disappear for a day and everyone freaks out."

"Well you do have some shitty people hunting for you."

"I know," Bucky growls angrily before taking a deep breath and adding, "Tell them when they get here not to worry, I'll be in touch."

"You know Steve's not gonna wait till you decide to come back."

"I know, I'll deal with that soon. Do you know when they are due to get here?"

"Few hours,"

"I'll call you back then and deal with them. Be careful Hunter, I have a feeling you're not exactly safe either."

"I can handle myself,"

"I know, bye." Bucky quickly hangs the phone up and reaches for a nearby chair right as Michael asks Selene why she hates Lycans so much.

"I already told you, we're at war." She says her attention focused on the street outside.

"So, you're just following orders?" Michael asks making Bucky finally look over at them. He knew all about following orders. He regretted the people he killed while he was following HYDRA's orders. Selene glances at Michael then looks back out the window. "Why can't you just answer the question?"

"Some things are hard to talk about." Bucky says pulling Michaels attention to him for a moment before he looks back at Selene.

"Fine." Michael says looking from her down to his hands.

"Something was in the stable..." Selene starts pulling both of their attentions to her. "Tearing our horses to pieces. I couldn't have saved my mother. Or my sister. Their screams woke me. My father, died outside trying to fend them off. I stood at my door about to run to niece's room when..." She pauses a moment as lighting flashed in the sky illuminating her pain. "Twin girls. Barely six years old. Butchered like animals."

"Jesus Christ," Michael says as Bucky's stomach churns at the thought.

"The next thing I knew, I was in his arms. The war had spilled into our house. He'd been tracking the Lycans for days. He drove them off, and saved me."

"Who?"

"Viktor." She answers making Bucky look down at his hands. "The oldest and strongest of us. That night, he made me a vampire. He gave me the strength to avenge my family. Since then, I've never looked back." She turns meeting Michael's eyes. He holds her gaze for a moment then looks down.

"Does Night have any hatred toward them?" Bucky asks causing her to glance his way before looking back out the window.

"When I was turned Night was slightly older than me. Although age means almost nothing to a pureblood."

"I thought she wasn't a pureblood." He says causing Selene to glance at him in confusion. "She told me she doesn't know who or what her father is."

"She's never talked to anyone else about her childhood other than myself. As far as the rest of the Coven is aware, she is one of very few purebloods. I'm surprised she told you the truth." Selene replies he brow furrowing slightly.

"Like I said, we have history." Bucky replies making her roll her eyes. He could tell she was getting irritated with that answer.

"Night, has never been this concerned about a human, or anyone else for that matter, before. I find it hard to believe the two of you just share history."

"I'm sure she'd rather you hear everything from her." Bucky says his eyes meeting hers. "So, you'll have to ask her yourself, cause I'm not telling you anything."

"Who started the war?" Michael asks changing the subject causing her to slowly look form Bucky to him.

"They did, or at least that's what we've been led to believe. Digging into the past is forbidden." She takes a deep breath before turning away from the window and grabbing her gun, "I should be heading back."

"What about me?" Michael asks as she goes to walk past him.

"Viktor will know what to do. I'll come back tomorrow night."

"I'm not staying here alone."

"You won't be alone," She pauses a moment to glance at Bucky before adding, "He's staying here too."

"Woah, wait a minute, I'm going back for Night." Bucky interjects moving to his feet.

"No, if you both want to live, you'll stay here."

"No, I want to go with you." Michael says a look Bucky knows all too well filling his eyes. Bucky silently moves away from them giving them space as he heads to the window. As he stares out it his mind starts to fill with memories from both Lucian and Night making his head hurt. Reaching up he rubs his eyes only to hear a clinking of metal from behind him. He turns to see Michael now chained up and narrows his eyes. "What are you doing?" Michael asks as she heads for the door.

"When the full moon rises tomorrow night, you will change, you will kill, and you will feed. It's unavoidable. I can't leave you free to run around. I'm sorry." She then turns to walk out the door. Only to walk back over and hand him her gun. "A single round won't kill you, but the silver should slow down the transformation. At least for a few hours. If I don't return in time do yourself a favor. Use it." She then turns to Bucky and narrowing her eyes at his arm says, "I doubt these chains would hold you."

"You'd be right."

"Then do yourself a favor and keep an eye on him."

"You asking for a favor?"

"Yes." She answers and he nods. Selene then turns and disappears from the room locking the door behind her. Michael looks over at Bucky as if to ask to be unchained and Bucky shakes his head.

"As much as I don't like seeing people chained up, I'm not about to piss her off. Sorry."

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