Summary: A Civil War AU for Bucky's interrogation scene. Steve reaches the cell in time to stop Zemo before the trigger words are complete, leaving Bucky's mind caught in mid-transformation. Now continuing into a multi-chapter affair. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit from my literary endeavors.
Author's Note: In order to appease both popular demand and my own conscience, this story shall continue. Many thanks to everyone who encouraged me to do so while reviewing the first chapter! It probably wouldn't be happening without you guys. Special thanks also goes to my sister and to my dear friend Trollmela for their brainstorming to help me overcome future obstacles in this fic. You girls are the best! I have no idea if the storyline will move forward in a way people envisioned, but I do hope it will be an enjoyable read all the same.
The Wrong Side of the Glass
Chapter 2
"There had better be a damn good explanation for all of this!" For a small man, Everett Ross could be quite intimidating when he put his mind to it.
Power had been restored to the building, and now the room containing the Winter Soldier's holding cell was also occupied by Ross himself, Sharon Carter, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, King T'Challa of Wakanda, and as many heavily-armed security guards as the limited space would permit. Sam Wilson still stood there among them, holding the red book out of sight under his jacket until the moment was right for its revelation.
Barnes and Rogers, meanwhile, had extricated themselves from each other's grasp but still sat side by side on the cell floor with their backs against the glass. Bucky's metal hand still held to the hem of Steve's shirt with a death-grip, as though he would be swept away and lost forever if he let go. As yet, no one had dared try to separate them or even suggest it.
Ross wasted no time getting down to business. "Who let him out?"
"He did that himself," Steve supplied, laying his own hand reassuringly on Bucky's left wrist. "But as you can see, he's still here."
"And how about the doctor? Did he do that, too?"
"No – I did." Rogers' voice was as unyielding as his vibranium shield. "If I hadn't stopped him, people would be dead right now, and your troops would still be trying to subdue the Winter Soldier. That doctor is the man you want, Ross – not Bucky."
Everett raised his eyebrows, by all appearances most amused. "Really? You're telling me the CIA should be more concerned about an unconscious psychiatrist than the most accomplished killer of the last century?"
"With all due respect, Sir," Sharon Carter broke in, "I agree with Captain Rogers that we need to investigate this further, especially in light of all that's happened here. The circumstances are too suspicious."
She made a sweeping gesture to encompass the ruined cell and the liberated, although currently docile, assassin inside it. Truthfully, she had been uneasy ever since her conversation with Steve just before the power went down – the idea that someone might have framed the Winter Soldier in order to flush him out of hiding. But for what purpose?
"I'm going to call Geneva and verify whom they sent to us," she declared, without waiting for her boss's permission, and left the room.
In the meantime, Tony Stark had stepped forward to snap a picture of the doctor's slack face with his phone. "FRIDAY, run a facial recognition scan for me, please."
It didn't take long for his AI to identify the man as Helmut Zemo, formerly a coronel in the Sokovian intelligence community. The congregation barely had time to process that information, however, before Zemo himself stirred at Sam's feet and sat upright. A pair of security guards immediately hauled him to his feet and held on tightly, despite his frantic protests.
"Wait, wait! What's going on here?" He pointed a quivering finger at the cell. "The Soldier…he tried to escape as soon as the power went down."
"Then how come he's still here with the door wide open?" Sam challenged.
Zemo shook his head. "It's all a trick! He said he was going to kill me."
"You lying son of a bitch," Steve growled dangerously. He would have risen to his feet for this confrontation if Bucky's terrified grip on him hadn't prevented it. "If he did kill you, it would be no less than you deserved. I saw what you were trying to do! Once you controlled him, you could turn him loose on the rest of us. You were behind the bombing in Vienna and the power failure here. You set all this up just to get ten minutes alone with the Winter Soldier. Why? Are you with Hydra? What do you want with him, or with any of us?"
"Hydra means nothing to me now, and it never has. I want only to see an empire fall." The Sokovian colonel's struggles against the guards had now ceased altogether. The pretense of panic had left his face, replaced by a visage that was calm, calculating, and not a little unnerving. Notably, he hadn't denied any of the allegations levelled against him by Captain America.
"Mission report, Soldat. December 16, 1991."
All eyes turned to the Winter Soldier, whose entire body stiffened visibly beside Steve. His eyes lost their focus, and his breathing rate increased.
Zemo smiled cruelly. "You see, Soldat – even without the words, you remember what happened that night. And I'm sure you do too, Mr. Stark. After all, losing both parents on the same day is not something any man could easily forget."
He now looked to Tony, whose expression had likewise grown stony and withdrawn. "But did you never wonder about how they died? A car accident can so easily be staged – and the Winter Soldier knows when not to leave his mark."
Oddly enough, no one moved; and for a time, the only sound in the crowded room was Barnes' labored breathing.
Tony stared at Zemo, his jaw taut; but when at last he broke the silence, his address was directed elsewhere.
"Steve, isn't this where you're supposed to butt in and say that your old pal is being falsely accused again?" Despite Stark's flippant choice of words, his voice wavered with violent emotions just waiting to be unleashed upon a target.
And Steve said nothing. He wouldn't even look at Tony – only at Bucky, who had retreated into himself as one of his worst nightmares unfolded into painful reality.
"It is true, isn't it?" Tony Stark was no super-soldier, yet he radiated such potent rage in that moment that no one dared approach him. "It's true, and you knew all along, you self-righteous bastard!"
"Only for a couple of years, but yes…I knew." Rogers finally met his teammate's betrayed brown eyes and saw nothing short of murder there. Steve had seen that look before, in more than one battle…but he had never dreamed that it would one day be directed at him.
Stark's feet moved as though acting on their own accord, carrying him with deadly determination toward the two men inside the cell. Steve braced himself for yet another unwelcome fight, ready to battle a new friend in the defense of an old one; but Natasha intervened first.
"Tony, stop." She boldly stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "Barnes will be punished for what he's done – but not here, not now, and not by you."
The eerie stillness in Romanoff's posture suggested that she was more than ready for a fight if it came her way. They all knew Iron Man could defeat Black Widow, but Tony Stark as himself didn't have a prayer of doing so.
"Listen to me, Stark," Natasha tried again, keeping her voice purposefully low. "Steve is your teammate and your friend. Don't do anything now that you'll regret later."
After a long moment, Tony finally backed out of the Widow's personal space; but the hateful glare he directed over her shoulder at Barnes and Rogers never faltered. "You're damn lucky I don't have a suit here – both of you!"
He then turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, taking most of the tension with him, but the issue itself remained. The issue that Captain America and the Winter Soldier had simply traded one dangerous, grieving orphan for another; personally, Steve would have preferred the Black Panther as an enemy over Iron Man.
"I lost everyone that day you blew Sokovia to hell, Captain Rogers. And now you will, too."
Zemo offered no resistance whatsoever as the guards led him away, with T'Challa at the head of their little procession. And yet, every step of the way, the colonel's face bore the undeniably satisfied smirk of a man whose work was well and truly finished.
Twenty-four hours later, further interrogations and investigations had verified Helmut Zemo as the mastermind behind the Vienna bombing, as well as the murderer of the true psychiatrist who had been sent to evaluate Barnes in Berlin. They hadn't even needed the red book to prove his guilt, in which case Steve had made an executive decision to keep the manuscript a secret. It might have helped convict Zemo, if necessary, but it truly was best for Bucky that as few people as possible ever learned of its existence. Not even the CIA needed to know that there was basically a handbook on how to activate and control the Winter Soldier.
But even though Bucky had been cleared of this most recent crime, he was still the Winter Soldier – guilty of dozens of assassinations, including the murder of Howard and Maria Stark; and the CIA wasn't about to simply release him. Steve understood their decision, but that didn't mean he had to like it or agree with it.
In typical bureaucratic fashion, the task force responded to Barnes' demolishing the old glass box by putting him in a "bigger and better" glass box, with supposedly stronger restraints. They also decided that, from now on, Bucky was to be surrounded by half a dozen armed guards at all times, even while in the cell. Steve secretly scoffed at both security measures, seriously doubting that either would be effective in stopping the Winter Soldier if he were to put in another appearance.
But Captain America nearly wept anew when he finally made Bucky let go of his shirt; he felt like he'd just kicked a lost puppy! And judging by the hurt look in his friend's eyes, like a kicked puppy is exactly how Bucky felt. Fortunately for everyone, Barnes didn't resist when they strapped him down into the new chair; but through it all, he stared at Steve with wide eyes that clearly implored, "Don't leave me!"
"It's okay, Buck," Rogers assured him steadily. "I'm still here – see?"
And Steve did stay, just outside the glass – even if he was on the wrong side again. Ross protested against it at first, until Steve reiterated that his presence had been the only thing to prevent a Winter Soldier killing spree not long ago. And in light of Zemo's recently-confirmed actions and intentions, even Ross had to admit, however grudgingly, that they at least owed Rogers that much. Barnes was obviously calmer with Steve close by, and a calm Soldier was far less likely to break free again.
No doubt part of the guards' duty included keeping Captain America in check, if such a thing was even possible; but Rogers didn't want to give them any trouble – not yet, anyway. Their constant presence did make things a little awkward, though. So as much as Steve might have been tempted to wade into the waters of deeper conversation with his "captive" audience, he kept things deliberately simple between himself and Bucky instead – bringing up pleasant memories of nearly a century ago and hoping against hope that his friend would remember along with him.
"Remember the time when…" soon became his most common phrase.
Regardless of whether he remembered or not, Bucky seldom responded to his companion beyond an occasional nod or a flicker of recognition in his eyes; he very rarely spoke, much to Steve's disappointment. But even so, the Captain remained convinced that Barnes would rather have him near than be left alone again.
Bucky clearly distrusted the guards around him, flinching at their movements whereas previously he would have ignored them altogether; and when his eyes weren't fixed on Steve, they were anxiously darting to and from each of the black-clad sentinels. The encounter with Zemo had left him badly shaken, knowing now that his trigger words were no longer a Hydra exclusive. They could potentially come from anyone, anywhere, at any time. No wonder he so often looked to be on the verge of panicking!
Steve even dozed off there once or twice, sitting with his back against the glass and armed guards on all sides; he never knew if Bucky managed to sleep at all during that time.
And he had no idea what time it was when Sam poked his head in to ask, "Hey, Man, you wanna get something to eat?"
Rogers responded with a melancholy shake of his head. At least security outside the room had let Falcon in to see him; that was a definite improvement! "No thanks, Sam. I'm good here."
Wilson nodded his understanding. "That's what I figured you'd say, but I still thought I'd offer. I'll bring you back something." He then gestured toward Barnes. "Are you protecting him from Stark?"
"From Stark or from the next lunatic who decides to try something clever."
"You never know – they might end up being one and the same person."
Sam grinned with that comment and very nearly coaxed a smile from Steve himself; their amusement, however, was short-lived.
"How is Tony?" Steve asked tentatively, and Wilson at once sobered in turn.
"He's been making a lot of phone calls, going to a lot of meetings. I hate to say it, but things aren't looking so good for your buddy here, Cap."
"Yeah." Steve let out a long, frustrated sigh and studied his self-appointed charge once more. Bucky's head was tilted back, eyes closed. He looked relaxed, but judging by his friend's breathing, Rogers doubted very much that he was actually asleep. He could probably hear everything they were saying.
Falcon took off soon afterward, leaving Steve with nothing but his own morbid thoughts for company.
An hour later, at the same time the guards around the cell were changing shifts, it was not Sam but Natasha who entered with a plate of food for Captain America. He accepted it from her with a soft "Thanks, Nat," only to set it down beside him untouched. Bucky still appeared to be resting or reflecting or whatever he was doing with his eyes shut.
Natasha took a seat next to her teammate on the cold floor and observed, "No one's sent you a chair or a cushion?"
Steve shook his head and tried to make light of it. "Nah. Ross probably doesn't want to encourage my behavior, but it doesn't matter. I'm fine."
"Are you really?" she pressed, sounding like she already knew the answer.
"Honestly? No," he confessed. "This isn't exactly the reunion I had envisioned over the past two years, and there's so little I can do to help him."
Natasha reached over to gently squeeze his knee. "Even if it's not much, you're still doing all that you can – probably more than you should. No one can ask or expect any more of you than that."
While Steve appreciated the warm sentiment behind her words, he couldn't find any comfort in them. Without meeting her keen eyes, he quietly divulged, "The last time I did all I could, it wasn't enough. I lost him, Nat. I failed him, and he suffered for it so much worse than I did. Now he's back with me, in spite of everything...and it's like I'm watching him fall all over again. Only more slowly this time."
He had to stop now, the words catching in his suddenly tight throat; Natasha patiently waited for him to compose himself and continue.
"So much about this whole situation is just wrong. Zemo is the guilty one here, yet Bucky will ultimately pay for the bombing in Vienna every bit as much as he will. And now everything going on with Tony…I thought it would be better for all of us if I didn't tell him about his parents. But now I realize that I was just trying to protect myself – and Bucky."
"Remember, Steve, I was there too," Black Widow gently reminded him, "in Zola's databanks when we first found out about Stark's parents. And I never told him anything, either."
That caught Rogers' attention. "Does he know that you knew?"
"No, not yet, but I was thinking of telling..."
"Don't do it, Nat," Steve interrupted her. "Please, for all our sakes. Tony doesn't need another blow like that, and I would rather carry this burden alone than make you share it with me. Your shoulders don't need any more weight."
His words put a grateful little smile on her face. "You really are a good friend, Steve Rogers – better than either Barnes or I deserve."
With one last pat on his shoulder, Natasha gracefully rose to her feet and left. Once she had gone, Steve started picking at the meal on his plate, which had long since gone cold. His super-soldier body was plenty hungry, as usual, but tonight he just didn't have much of an appetite.
Author's End Note: So, even though Zemo didn't get the theatrical revelation he'd been hoping for, I imagine he's much too clever and determined to let all his previous planning go to waste, once he realizes he's caught. That's the way I see it playing out, at least. TBC. Thanks for reading!