Sorry it took a bit for me to get this chapter up. Life kind of hit me pretty hard after the first chapter went up and mentally I wasn't doing so great. But around 11pm last night I finally finished the chapter and I'm happy for you all to read.

Thanks to those who have checked it out so far, means a lot to me. So I'll let you have at it and I'll see you at the end. :)

2/3

Sam Wilson thinks he's fairly used to the way Bucky Barnes approaches new things. Usually he's quiet, surveying the situation and maybe talking to Steve if he's around. Otherwise he keeps to himself. It's never been a bad thing. Just his way of dealing in his own way.

Sometimes he'll ask Sam a question. Sam isn't sure if it's because he's trying to test him. See where they stand after everything that had happened in between D.C. and Wakanda. And now they're in New York again. The team is still mending and that's enough for all those who remained between the two places of residences. Most of Steve's friends decided to get a place outside of the new Avengers Tower to just be at peace away from arguments. Plus you still couldn't get Tony and Bucky in a room together and it not be like setting the place on fire so it worked.

Not to mention Sam and Bucky were involved with people outside of the Avengers. It was good to have some neutral ground where there was little worrying about that part of their lives. Even still here Sam was worrying about the state of someone he thought of as his friend. He had saved him just as many times as the man had tried to kill him when he was under the influence of HYDRA and the lies.

As they were getting ready to head out to take the train to Queens to meet Curtis and The Punisher, Bucky finally started asking all the questions. Before he had merely gave Sam a really long searching look when he told him about meeting someone that was like him. Someone damaged. Bucky trusted Sam more than most people so he was sure he wasn't going to steer him into a place where he could get himself hurt again. At least that was what he thought at first. Now the part of him that used to think over things more was surfacing. He needed more information. Who was Curtis Hoyle?

The truth was the former assassin could have gone into the archives to find out but when it came to Sam Wilson he had only ever wanted to hear it from him. He was honest to the point of brutality. He liked that. So it was time for a little more honesty and information gathering.

"Why do you trust him?" He called as they stepped outside into the cool night. Bucky was still sporting his trusty and worn ball cap and a heavy jacket. He was likely carrying gum in his pocket and the flip phone he wouldn't upgrade for all the world much to the chagrin of his best friends and significant other who was happy that Sam was trying to do another thing to help her guy. Normally others would most likely enjoy watching Steve and Bucky work things out together but for a few people it was even more compelling to watch Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes build up their friendship from the ground up. There was no decades worth of history there - just biting sarcasm with sound advice thrown in there somewhere, ending in the peace they held now as they walked down the streets to a destination that would hopefully bring more positivity than desolate atmosphere.

Sam traded information along the way knowing it was best to have a calm Bucky than a riled up one. This meeting was already meaning more than the intent. You don't just decided to put two of the most deadly killers in the same room together without that very thing beginning to worry you or someone close to you.

Sam also felt like Steve was rubbing off on him a bit too much. He went into this with a sound mind, he'd continue to do so until anything changed.

On the other side of the city Frank Castle was leaving a certain blonde reporter's apartment to head to the agreed meeting place. Unlike Bucky he didn't ask too many questions of his best friend. He didn't feel like he had to.

Curtis Hoyle had always been his most trusted ally. Never bullshitted especially when it could hurt and as of late it did. But Frank had learned a lot in the last couple months; who he could count on, who deserved a due punishment, what it meant to exist as someone who still had breath in his lungs. It all meant something.

As he slipped through the familiar setting of the room that group usually took place he nodded at the four chairs that were spaced out evenly enough that every man would have his own space.

He gave Curtis a look that only gave him bare minimum of what he was thinking. He had made it here, hadn't he?

"You ready?" Curtis asked him in the same vein that he could be wondering how he was feeling.

Frank didn't give him a verbal answer at first opting to pouring himself a cup of coffee and snagging a donut. It was still good. "You were right about him. But we'll see."

"Karen?" He chuckled knowing the answer would be affirmative. If he wasn't hanging around here he could be doing something with the blonde woman. Or not doing something. He hadn't really pried into whatever was going on with those two. As long as Frank was happy that was all that mattered to him.

He appeared to be somewhere close to that.

As far as a response went he only grunted in reply.

It didn't take too much longer before Sam stepped through the door with a man both familiar and a complete stranger to both men already seated in the makeshift half circle.

He greeted Curtis first. The two nodding at each other before he moved to introduce his metal armed friend to the duo. "This is Bucky Barnes. Maybe know him as the Winter Soldier."

Bucky showed a slight grin at the alias. "I can't quite get rid of that name. It's a bit annoying really." He looked less grumpy and more amused by it.

Sam stood back as he surveyed the two across from them. He had been known as a strategist as well as an assassin so he knew that Bucky was trying to see if what he had told him about Curtis specifically matched up well enough that he didn't just decide to leave.

He grabbed the back of the metal chair and slowly sat down. Curtis took that as his cue to introduce Frank a move that had the former slightly eyeing him as if this was all getting redundant and perhaps it was in some light. It was better to get over with now so they could proceed.

"I'm Curtis. I hold a group here for vets." He paused eyeing the soldier who hadn't stopped watching him since he sat down. "The guy next to me is my best friend and was known as the Punisher until recently. His real name is Frank Castle."

Bucky's eye slid over to Frank and he nodded. "Good to meet you, I guess." He brushed some hair out of his face. It was getting long again. He really needed to trim it but hadn't the time or a barber that he trusted that wasn't himself. Most of the good ones had long since passed.

"Yeah." Frank said. "You're the illustrious Sam Wilson. I hear a lot about you. My acquaintance Karen. Page. She uh, she follows all this shit."

Sam chuckles. "I've read her stuff. You'll have to tell her thanks."

Before any silence can be offered up Sam shifts his glance to Curtis who merely sighs. "Well we aren't going to chaperone you. Up to you to decide when you want to talk or what you want to talk about."

Frank doesn't miss a beat as he folds his arms as Curtis and Sam rise to their feet and immediately head over to the table where the coffee is. This was a setup but honestly he wasn't too sure how it was supposed to proceed. He guesses that's the point.

He notices that Bucky shifts into something close to anxious when Sam leaves his side. "You good?"

Bucky sighs. "Not really." He pauses as he tries to figure out how to word his next phrase. He doesn't want to piss him off. He knows the blood trail he left. It was all anyone would talk about. Even Steve wouldn't shut up about the injustice of the slaughter.

Bucky had never agreed or disagreed. Usually staying silent out of respect for both guys. The truth was that he understood the motive. He had never wanted to hurt anyone but if someone laid a hand on any of those he wanted to protect now he wouldn't hesitate. And that ate him up in a way he had never been able to explain.

"I'm not used to being among people I don't know. I know Sam. Well I also tried to kill him but that was before I knew that he was trying to help."

Frank hummed. "You were brainwashed. That's some really fucked up shit. People think I'm crazy, I wonder what they thought about you."

Bucky snorted. "Most of ''em were terrified. Stories are hard to get past especially when you don't exactly recall every thing. But, I haven't been called crazy so far."

Frank dropped his arms so that they rested against his legs. "There's something we have in common. By the look on Curtis' face it's probably not the best thing. People bonding because they scare the shit out of people."

Bucky turned around to look at the two African American men who didn't even try to pretend like they weren't eavesdropping. They had said they weren't chaperoning but they still hadn't left the room.

"Can't be helped. I'm trying to not scare people as much." The Winter Soldier mumbled as he righted himself.

"How's that going for you?" Frank was curious, as man trying to figure out his life after everything that had happened with his former friend Billy Russo and all the shit that happened as a result of that - he'd like to hear some honesty from someone who would understand the struggle.

"I manage. I have people to remind me that there's another side to things. It's not all bloody. Or at least it doesn't have to be."

Curtis watched Frank take in what Bucky was telling him. In some ways it was the exact same thing that Curtis had tried to tell him when things were full on shit and Frank was full on in his determination to take out the bad guys with little thought towards what he was putting himself through. He hoped something would stick.

He knew that Bucky and Frank hadn't had the same experience. From what he knew of the guy he had been left after falling to his death with a missing arm and taken hostage by Nazis and given a serum and a new arm that turned him into the lethal killing machine that had nearly killed Captain America. But, he wasn't a bad person. He just got dealt a bad hand.

Frank Castle still had his memories of what had he had endured and that was something that Bucky was curious about. He remembered things and pieces and not all connected but enough that he can try to piece it together every once in awhile.

"I know most people don't condone violence but I think you did what any man would do if their family had been murdered. My friend Steve doesn't agree but he's different."

"Captain America, right? Can't say I'd learn much from him. But he's okay in my book." He watched Bucky chuckle. He was used to people reacting in two different ways to Steve. Either they loved him or they were indifferent. There weren't too many people who full on hated him.

Bucky was quiet for a moment. He appeared more relaxed than he was before and Frank took that as something commendable. "Do you have any hobbies? Something that doesn't involve guns or military machinery?"

The Punisher scoffed, scratching his brow. "Not yet. I haven't really tried anything. Don't know if I'd be good at anything."

"It's going to sound weird but meditation helps."

It made the other man laugh. "You believe in all that bullshit?"

The Winter Soldier shook his head. "Nope. I use it more to relax when I start feeling coiled up. Sam's girl actually got me into it. It helps her start the day so every once in awhile if I'm awake she'll ask me join her. We don't say much. Lasts maybe fifteen minutes. A few breathing exercises, I stretch my limbs, try to expel any bad dreams I had. It's not for everyone but you can tailor it however you want. I usually throw some music on on one of those square things people listen to music on."

Frank had almost forgotten he was sitting across a man who wasn't from this era. He probably wasn't used to the technology yet. Frank hadn't toyed with a lot of it if Karen or Micro wasn't involved somehow. It actually made Barnes less intimidating than he could be. He was just a man who was trying to figure stuff out, just like him.

"Uh, an mp3 player or iPod?"

"One of those." Bucky waved it away if it wasn't that important.

Frank hummed. He wouldn't have pegged him as a guy who would even consider doing something like that. He shouldn't try to read people too much. He didn't need to anymore but it was hard to shake. Habit.

It wasn't long before Curtis and Sam came back into the fold.

"So what do you think about doing a dinner or something next time?" Sam mumbled knowing that they were gonna have to wrap this up.

They had let them have at it for about close to three hours.

"Who would be invited?" Bucky asked. He knew they had a bit of a wider net as far as getting people together for things.

"Just the girls. This was a test in a way." Curtis picked up the question and didn't miss Castle's eye roll.

"I take it we passed." Barnes smirked.

Sam smiled. "No one killed each other. So. Flying colors." He punched the assassin lightly on the side. He even went along and reacted as if it hurt him.

Curtis was amused knowing their camaraderie was so different from his own with Frank. It was good to experience it though.

"I'll ask her." Was the only answer Frank gave.

"So there is a her?" Bucky was the one to ask surprising all parties. He hadn't once thought to ask about a significant other. He assumed it would be invasive and maybe sudden. He had got that wrong, possible.

"Something like that." Was his close lipped answer.

Bucky merely nodded in answer. "It was good to talk to you, Castle."

"You too, man." They didn't shake hands or anything. This was still very new but the four of them new that this was just the beginning.

xxx

On the train back home Bucky was the one to bring up the idea of not telling Steve yet. He didn't want to have to calm the man down over nothing. He just talked to a guy who had been through some shit. Same as him.

Steve had said he needed more non Avenger friends. He probably had one now. Two if he counted Curtis for setting this whole thing up with him.

The Falcon gave him a look of understanding as he took a sip of his soda from the burger place they stopped at before getting on the train.

"That's fair. It'll work out. Castle is a good dude."

"Yeah. He's interesting." He quipped.

That was the last of that discussion until Curtis texted Sam a month and a half later.

Bucky Barnes doing yoga, I can also attest to not seeing that one coming but my brain was like BUT WHAT IF HE DID? I think it would be something weird but useful for him that didn't involve him having to talk to people so much. Sometimes a man just needs some peace.

This also by no means mean I'm saying Frank will also do yoga. I actually can't see him latching onto the idea but I think it would amuse his friends to see him try to.

Also yeah there was a spot of Kastle in there, I did say it would pop up here and there and considering where I ended this one we might get more?

Anyway I hope y'all enjoyed this. Please lemme know what you thought.

much love,

day