The Secret Avengers were assembled in their modest looking compound. It was nothing like what Stark had built in California before the Accords but it was safe, not on the map, and hidden in what most considered an uninhabitable part of Wakanda. A place where the Black Panther was trained by the warrior before him. Scott was sitting in the living room watching a DVD. Steve came in. He had just finished checking on Bucky, who just the week before had been brought off the ice and in between reverse association with the words that were used to condition him, and Wanda tweeking with his brain a bit, was now recovering back towards having conplete control of his mind again. He still felt uncertain around other people, as if he might go off. His mind was fragile but healing at long last, instead of an open bleeding injury it was now scabbed and soon it would be skin again, scarred yes, but not an open wound.
"How is he?" Scott asked as Steve sat down on the couch.
"He's alright, he's sleeping, which is good, he told me he used to not be able to at all. What are you watching?" he asked looking at the serious looking film.
"JFK" Wanda answered from the kitchen that opened onto the living room.
"Is it a documentary?" he asked interested in the topic, he knew the brief summary of the events, but a detailed breakdown would be very helpful.
"Not exactly" Clint said looking over from playing darts. "More like a dramatic retelling, like those based on a true story movies that are just loosely based on true events" he said, hitting the bullseye again and then looking at the board to see that he did.
"So I take it you don't think it was a conspiracy, and that Oswald was the only shooter?" Scott asked, his tone heavy with judgement.
"What, you think it was?" Sam asked from the kitchen as well, eating his fourth plate of Mac 'n' Cheese that day.
"Absolutely" Scott said decidedly, "the evidence is clear, he was after all planning to abolish the Federal Reserve, not to mention other highly controversial decisions, the big bankers couldn't have a man like that have a second term as president" he summarized.
"He does have a point" Wanda said coming in and sitting next to Cap on the couch. "After all, the trajectory of the bullet is something to consider" she made herself comfortable with her cup of tea and watched the film, knowing an endless debate changing no one's mind was about to ensue.
"I think there may have been more than one shooter" Clint interjected, keeping the argument alive "but I don't think it was some massive conspiracy, maybe just three guys instead of one."
"But could three guys ensure that the secret service was distracted elsewhere and arrange for the president to be riding in an open car?" Scott retorted.
Steve was busy researching the event on his phone while also watching the film. Bucky came into the living room with serious bedhead, looking a little confused as Scott rattled off facts and statistics supporting his viewpoint. He rubbed his head.
"What do you think?" Wanda asked him.
"About what?" he asked, his mouth still dry from sleep.
"About JFK" Sam said.
"JF- who?" he looked at them all, their mouths agape in shock and horror. "I guess I was supposed to know about this" he said a little out of countenance.
"President John Fitzgerald Kennedy" Scott said horrorstruck.
"What did he do?" Bucky asked.
"Great things, he could have done more, but he was murdered right after winning the election for a second term as president"
"Who killed him?" he inquired curiously, getting a drink of water.
"That's the real question" Wanda said. "There are as many different opinions as there are people in this room" she smiled a little, it was all too true.
"This movie about him?" he asked gesturing to the tv screen with the hand that had a glass of water in it.
"Yeah" Clint said unenthusiastically "though it's not entirely provable."
"But neither is the lone gunman idea" Scott returned.
Bucky's face scrunched up a little as he watched the screen, a picture of Oswald being shown in that scene. "Who was he?"
"The guy who shot Kennedy" Sam said with no small amount of defiance in his voice.
"One of the guys who shot Kennedy" Clint said.
And the argument resumed. Finally, after several minutes of intense debate Steve went over to Clint and Sam who were debating the science of the shots and how many gunman there were and looked to be prepared to move to physical actions to prove their points. The others were just watching the movie, the tragic scene being replayed from the actual footage taken during that day.
"If there was another gunman Clint, who was it?" Sam asked heatedly.
"I think it was me" Bucky said, his eyes fixated on the distressed Jacqueline Kennedy trying to crawl out of the open car after her husband was shot. The room became silent that everyone could hear their own heartbeat. Bucky hung his head. "I didn't even know who he was" he said thoughtfully. His face pale, without the conditioning in his head he could feel more keenly, and he remembered clearer. He remembered, for the smallest moment, having a flicker of realization that day, when he saw the lady in the pink pillbox hat going distracted at the sight of her husband's blood. It had been a flicker, but he had been on a mission, he had not been himself. Now he was and he knew who the man he had shot was. Him, and the two other gunman he had shot who had been involved in the incident. Oswald's face had looked familiar because right before they had taken positions, he had seen him.
"It wasn't your fault" Wanda soothed.
"It doesn't matter, she still lost her husband, this country still lost a president, he still lost his life and I'm still the one who hid in a storm drain and shot him dead" he said bitterly. Moving to leave. He walked outside. Feeling that death would be preferable to remembering one more death he had caused. Steve moved to follow him, unsure of what to say. Clint stopped him.
"Let me have this one Cap, I've been there" he explained. "I killed all those people at the base, I even shot Fury, though thank goodness he survived. I know what blood put on your hands by someone else feels like. I think that's what he needs. To know that despite what he's done, and even though it can't be undone, that one day he can be whole. Hell, I've got a wife and kids after the shit I've been through, no reason Bucky can't have the same someday" he said and went out the door to have words with the lonely soldier.