p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Compound, Wakanda-/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="text-decoration: none;" /span/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"The awful image of the little red leather notebook, small, delicate almost, for something so evil, only stayed on the screen for a couple of seconds, but that was long enough. Long enough for everyone to see. Long enough for the man who had been James Buchanan Barnes, more commonly known as Bucky, to freeze, eyes fixed in terror on the screen. Shock, a wish to flee, and something which could have been longing, all crossed his haggard features in rapid succession; his face eventually settling on a look which mixed terror with a desire to do nothing more than become invisible, though he would have settled maybe just to be swallowed by the ground immediately, and dragged to the hell he was sure he deserved. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Why? Why couldn't they just have destroyed it? Why couldn't they have just left me in peace? Or destroyed me? Why couldn't they have left me on ice, if nothing else? It would have been for the best. I'm not worth it, Stevie. I'll kill someone … maybe you … maybe something worse. No, I can't allow it … ice? strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"Comply? /strongShut up!/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;" /em/p
p class="MsoNormal"The room's other occupants were too busy expressing the horror they themselves felt to notice Bucky's inner turmoil, of which they guessed a little but were mostly utterly, blissfully ignorant. They were focused on their own shock, their own disgust at what had been allowed to grow in the cradle of SHIELD, and disgust at what that parasitic growth had done. It took them a while to re-locate their words…/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Unusually, it wasn't Tony Stark, on whose face storms were brewing, but Falcon, who spoke first. 'Brilliant! Typical! HYDRA, or someone like it, has it! That's just perfect, that is!' Falcon put his head in his hands, groaning, tired. 'And I thought we had finally got rid of the bastards.'/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Language.' Came three separate, slightly wan, voices, one of which belonged to a wincing Steve./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'That may not necessarily be the same book.' Hoped, almost pleaded, Wanda. 'Please let it not be the same book … but even it if is, that doesn't mean that their use of it is in any way related to these attacks.'/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Sorry Wanda, but as if.'/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'I'm just going to make a suggestion here.' Tony had finally found his voice. 'How about the Winter Soldier over there gets put on ice immediately? Ideally before he kills someone? Like us? After all, it isn't as if he-' Stark carried on speaking, but no one heard as T'Challa's finger gently left the mute button. The rest of the room started a very heated discussion./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A loud shriek of metal against metal caused the room's occupants to quieten as Steve pushed his chair back, discreetly slipping his hand from where it had been resting on Bucky's leg, comforting his now silent friend, before anyone else saw. As he stood, it became obvious to anyone with eyes that he wanted nothing more than for this to be over, his pallor an almost exact match to the white of the conference room's furnishings. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"My whole life, Peggy's life, Bucky's life and so many others, fighting this, and it still isn't over … /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'We may still need Bucky,' he said, quietly. 'And so it may be unwise to put him back on ice until we know whether-'/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Steve- Stevie- you know what that … book … does to me. What the soldier does.' em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"That's a lie for starters, but white lies don't count, do they? '/emAnd what he could do in the wrong hands. I don't want to kill anyone else, or cause any more damage than I already have. I can't live with that possibility, I just can't. At best I'm a liability, at worst an actual danger to everyone here. Please, just let me be put back on ice, for everyone's sake.' A smattering of nods spread around the room, the most noticeable belonging to Tony Stark, who was agreeing with the Winter Soldier for the first time … well, ever. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"At least one person is being sensible. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'No. Mr Barnes needs time awake to recover, putting him back on ice won't solve anything for the time being, and I agree with Captain Rogers that he might know something, even subconsciously, that we might need. As it is, Tony and the rest still have to properly arrive and I think we would all benefit from a moment to calm down. Meeting adjourned for now.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="text-decoration: none;" /span/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Tony Stark, Compound, Wakanda-/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Things could not have been much worse. Yes, to be fair, Wakanda was beautiful, and yes, Tony would have liked to spend some time in the country acquainting himself with their technology, which seemed remarkably advanced, maybe more even than his own … but not now. Not like this. If only he had the time pause, to take stock. Time shouldn't have been a problem, normally, after all it wasn't as if he wanted as if he wanted to stay in Malibu, or Washington DC, or New York, at the moment … without Pepper … no, he wouldn't think about that. Couldn't. Not now. A clear head was going to be essential in the current situation, especially since Steve Rogers and most of the other former Avengers seemed to have lost theirs. No, time was a problem because of the company, because of the events. Because he was so, so tired./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Tony, Vision and Rhodey had landed twenty minutes before, an hour after the meeting, after which the Winter Soldier was still free, contrary to Tony's advice, which would before have been properly considered. But now, now they all seem to have rather fallen under Rogers' spell. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Honestly, what does Cap (not that he even deserved to be called that now, Nomad, isn't it?) see in that man. Why has he chosen him over me as a friend? /emIt seemed as though everyone was leaving at the moment- Steve, Fury, Nat, Pepper … em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"no, stop it! /emShe was not coming back, not now he had shown himself to be unwilling, no, unable, to stop being Iron Man. The only thing Pepper seemed to want was the one thing he couldn't possibly give her, the one this that all of his money couldn't buy- a normal life./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"If things had been even a little different- perhaps if he had been able to give up the suit, or if she had been more accommodating of it- they probably would have been engaged, a thought which he tried to ignore, but kept returning, no matter what he did. He knew that his world could not revolve around what ifs, knew that it was not healthy, but it seemed to be the only state of existence he could manage at the moment. He could not be at the one place he wanted to be, it didn't exist anymore. Maybe focusing on something, like Rhodey had repeatedly said, even if it was the emergence of a new threat, would be a good thing. Perhaps it would help distract Tony from how he was feeling in his heart, which he most definitely had. From the worry. From the way his walls were crumbling, and the way he could do nothing to stop them./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"After their arrival, some of T'Challa's attendants had led them slowly down a stark, white corridor, which seemed to glow with its own, internal, light which opened up the otherwise potentially oppressive space. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Thump. /emThe sound of Rhodey's walking device was obscenely loud, stabbing through the silence, worsening Tony's growing headache. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Thump. /emThe attendants were purposefully pretending not to notice the noise, the noise which brought Tony back to himself, stopped him pondering, reminded him of all the recent events. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Thump. /emTony squeezed his best friend's shoulder, smiling in a way which he hoped was supportive. He knew he still needed to further tweak the device. Focusing on Rhodey was most definitely easier, easier than focusing on the oncoming ordeal of dealing with Cap and his amnesiac, mass murdering, Soviet-assassin boyfriend. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Really, no two straight guys are that close, even if they haven't realised it, a lot of others were starting to. /emIf Tony had been able to, and the situation had been less serious, he might have found it amusing. The sheer distance Cap went for this man, it reminded Tony of another relationship, one he wished he still had … em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"stop it! Dwelling on it won't change anything./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"After a little while, the woman who had been leading them around the medical facility turned to face the left-hand wall, tapped a small, discrete screen encased in the wall itself, opening a previously invisible door into a large suite./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Here is where you will be staying, Mr Stark. Let us know if you need anything. The King requests that you change and rest in preparation for a further meeting in two hours.' With that, she left, beckoning Rhodey and Vision to follow her to their quarters./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Stark had deliberately not brought the Parker kid into it this time, as per the young man's wishes. If he was honest, he was aware that Peter was really just a kid, a brilliant kid, but a kid nonetheless. Despite his constant enthusiastic and slightly star-struck behaviour, pretty much all of the other facets of his character reminded Tony of himself at Peter's age. God, they even looked quite similar, sharing dark-ish brown hair and reasonably similar heights and builds. Admittedly, he was more comfortable with Peter, despite the boy's flaws, than around the Vision. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I mean, who can be worthy enough to wield Thor's hammer, and constantly uses a power they don't understand in the slightest … well, perhaps I shouldn't jump to place blame on that front … but he's nothing like JARVIS./em/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;" /em/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Beep. /emstrong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'What do you think of all this?' /strongSo, it appeared as though Nat was extending an olive branch, even if it was just by text. For a moment, Tony considered not replying, but then again … at least she'd managed to get his name right … em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Stank, seriously?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;" /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'All shit. You?' /strongWas all his tired brain could muster./p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;" /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'LANGUAGE!' /strongTony managed a small smile at that, Nat knew him too well … and hadn't mentioned Pepper yet, which was a definite bonus. strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'Just try not to kill Cap or his bf yet pls? We may need them.'/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;" /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'Is there something I should know then, Nat? /strongstrong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji',sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol-ext; mso-symbol-font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji';"😉/span'/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;" /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'No, just kidding, unless you want in on a small bet?'/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;" /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'I'm listening.'/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The small smile remained as the conversation continued until Tony Stark turned and crossed the surprisingly homely living room to have a shower./p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="text-decoration: none;" /span/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Steve Rogers, Compound, Wakanda-/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The suite he had been led to was lovely. It was the same one Steve had stayed in during Bucky's freezing procedure. This apartment his favourite one since he had come out of ice, it was perhaps double, no triple, the size of Steve's DC apartment, which he, to be honest, had not lived in for particularly long, but had the homeliness of the apartment Steve had shared with Buck before the war. That apartment, however, could easily have fit in the living room he was standing in. Once again the sheer difference between the rest of the facility and the living suites struck him. Modern, metallic lines had been replaced by soft yellow walls, wooden furniture and a soft looking beige leather couch, though he had a feeling that this apartment had been designed specifically to make him feel at home, and that the others might be a little different. It had certainly succeeded on the comfort front; he could relax here, call him old fashioned but the minimalist décor of the rest of the facility put him on edge, reminded him of … things …/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Quashing this train of thought with practiced vigour he walked to the glass wall, present in all of the facility's rooms, gazing out onto the jungle vista. Lord, he had to draw this. However, his sketch book was still in his travel bag and he had more pressing matters to deal with; mainly the matter currently sitting in the bedroom of his suite. Bracing himself, he went to start dealing with the current issue, rather reluctantly leaving the view behind./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Seated on the window seat behind the cushion-covered bed, was Steve's best friend, brother … em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"cr- … /emBucky. Finally back and reunited with Steve at last. His best friend's now customary unreadable, even for Steve, expression worried him. He was clearly, and with good reason, struggling. PTSD (Steve had known it a shell shock, and, when the doctors had tried to tell Steve that he also had it had responded with em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"'No, I don't have the time.' /emAnd that was true, since he'd woken up, he had made sure he didn't have time to think, didn't want to. Sam had told him he needed to make the time to think stuff through, and he would, when he had the time, eventually). Cryostasis. The aftermath of torture … and all that had come along with that, everything Steve did not really want to think about. Being out of his time, their time… Each separate event seemed to have made him more and more withdrawn. More damaged./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Steve coughed, making sure to make a noise so that Bucky was not too startled by his appearance./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Hey Buck. Y'all right?' em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Stupid question, really./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'I guess. What 'bout you?' A small smile, similar to that worn by Tony Stark less than ten minutes before caressed Bucky's features, and caused Steve to feel as though he had been stabbed. That small gesture reminded him of the man he had known, before the fall, before the Winter Soldier. It was a smile he had seen ten thousand times before, one that said Bucky was tired, but keeping it together for Steve's sake./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"''m fine. So, back to Europe again. Why is it that whenever we got there something crap happens, or has happened? Anyway, speakin' of Europe, have ya seen that Carter dame again? Call her?' The smile had changed again, becoming a little mischievous, but his eyes didn't quite manage to follow suit; they bore an odd look, hopelessness, exhaustion and something which looked like resigniation, but that could just have been Steve's imagination./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Steve took a moment before replying, wondering how best to phrase his response. In the end he settled on plain and obvious. 'Nah. Figured it'd be a bit odd, dating my best girl's niece. We're friends, but nothin' more.' Brooklyn accent returning with a vengeance, he noted. With any luck it would help to job some more of Bucky's memories, so more than the fragments written in his notebooks would return. Maybe it was selfish, unseemly, but a deep, dark part of him, which he tried not to acknowledge, wanted more than just his friend back. It wanted a companion. Someone with shared life experiences, as Nat had said. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Do I want too much from him?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Ya sure, Stevie? Ya awful quiet.'/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"''m grand. Jus' … worried about HYDRA. We're the on'y ones who know what they're really capable of at the height of their power.' Bucky shifted uneasily in agreement, and then looked away, rubbing absentmindedly at the livid scar tissue beneath his shirt, marking the transition between flesh and metal, man and machine. 'Glad to have ya back though, jerk.' Steve tried, unsuccessfully, for some levity, for a return to some of their old banter. 'Don' ya leave me 'gain, ya hear? 'Cos I'm with ya 'til the end of the line, pal.' Bending down, he hugged the other man, trying to ignore, and mentally apologising, when his friend flinched before relaxing into the hug, and the traitorous pounding of his own heart. This was worth it, though, worth all the turmoil./p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="text-decoration: none;" /span/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, Compound, Wakanda-/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Hugging Steve was nice, too nice. He didn't deserve it, not after all he had done, but Steve wouldn't listen if Bucky contradicted him, he never had. Bucky would willingly admit to himself that he had been in love with Steven Grant Rogers since he was a teenager, but he would rather endure all of HYDRA's torture again before he would admit that fact to the object of his affection. This was why, after only a couple of minutes, he forced himself to push Steve away, and retreated to the privacy of the bathroom, where he could take some time, where he could think. He had remained there, just staring at the tiled wall, trying to sort through the day's events, and thankful Steve was letting him have some peace, until he had been called to go to the jet. Apparently Steve, or someone, had packed for him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Now, here they were, standing next to each other inside the rapidly rising Quinjet on which the whole group would be trapped with each other for the next ten hours, minimum. Bucky was occasionally being gently poked or prodded by Steve, but that was ok, reassuring even, they'd always been quite touchy-feely before the war, and even during it, always nudging, poking, throwing arms around each other, even sharing beds … that would never happen now though, Steve needed his sleep and Bucky had his night terrors./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He could not really remember much, but the fragments, unlike so many of his returning memories, were at least pleasurable, if confusing. However, that train of thought ended sharply when he surveyed his surroundings, a habit he knew he would never be able to shake. Everyone looked worried, and Tony Stark's death glare, which was nearly as impressive as the Winter Soldier's own, was fixed on him again. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"They should have put me back on ice, and doesn't he know it./em/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 3.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: wave windowtext 3.0pt; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: wave windowtext 3.0pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: wave windowtext 3.0pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"This was going to be an interesting trip./p
/div
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Someone was screaming. It could be her, but she was not sure. All she could do was attempt to dissociate, which she did, shrieking around her mouth guard. But not too loud. Never too loud. She would be punished if she was too loud. If she had known of the existence of any gods, she might have prayed, prayed for the torment to end. But she knew better … she knew no good thing would ever come here./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Wipe complete. Prep her for the mission.' The short man with the small red book walked forwards, towards her./p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="text-decoration: none;" /span/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"The awful image of the little red leather notebook, small, delicate almost, for something so evil, only stayed on the screen for a couple of seconds, but that was long enough. Long enough for everyone to see. Long enough for the man who had been James Buchanan Barnes, more commonly known as Bucky, to freeze, eyes fixed in terror on the screen. Shock, a wish to flee, and something which could have been longing, all crossed his haggard features in rapid succession; his face eventually settling on a look which mixed terror with a desire to do nothing more than become invisible, though he would have settled maybe just to be swallowed by the ground immediately, and dragged to the hell he was sure he deserved. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Why? Why couldn't they just have destroyed it? Why couldn't they have just left me in peace? Or destroyed me? Why couldn't they have left me on ice, if nothing else? It would have been for the best. I'm not worth it, Stevie. I'll kill someone … maybe you … maybe something worse. No, I can't allow it … ice? strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"Comply? /strongShut up!/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;" /em/p
p class="MsoNormal"The room's other occupants were too busy expressing the horror they themselves felt to notice Bucky's inner turmoil, of which they guessed a little but were mostly utterly, blissfully ignorant. They were focused on their own shock, their own disgust at what had been allowed to grow in the cradle of SHIELD, and disgust at what that parasitic growth had done. It took them a while to re-locate their words…/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Unusually, it wasn't Tony Stark, on whose face storms were brewing, but Falcon, who spoke first. 'Brilliant! Typical! HYDRA, or someone like it, has it! That's just perfect, that is!' Falcon put his head in his hands, groaning, tired. 'And I thought we had finally got rid of the bastards.'/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Language.' Came three separate, slightly wan, voices, one of which belonged to a wincing Steve./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'That may not necessarily be the same book.' Hoped, almost pleaded, Wanda. 'Please let it not be the same book … but even it if is, that doesn't mean that their use of it is in any way related to these attacks.'/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Sorry Wanda, but as if.'/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'I'm just going to make a suggestion here.' Tony had finally found his voice. 'How about the Winter Soldier over there gets put on ice immediately? Ideally before he kills someone? Like us? After all, it isn't as if he-' Stark carried on speaking, but no one heard as T'Challa's finger gently left the mute button. The rest of the room started a very heated discussion./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"A loud shriek of metal against metal caused the room's occupants to quieten as Steve pushed his chair back, discreetly slipping his hand from where it had been resting on Bucky's leg, comforting his now silent friend, before anyone else saw. As he stood, it became obvious to anyone with eyes that he wanted nothing more than for this to be over, his pallor an almost exact match to the white of the conference room's furnishings. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"My whole life, Peggy's life, Bucky's life and so many others, fighting this, and it still isn't over … /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'We may still need Bucky,' he said, quietly. 'And so it may be unwise to put him back on ice until we know whether-'/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Steve- Stevie- you know what that … book … does to me. What the soldier does.' em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"That's a lie for starters, but white lies don't count, do they? '/emAnd what he could do in the wrong hands. I don't want to kill anyone else, or cause any more damage than I already have. I can't live with that possibility, I just can't. At best I'm a liability, at worst an actual danger to everyone here. Please, just let me be put back on ice, for everyone's sake.' A smattering of nods spread around the room, the most noticeable belonging to Tony Stark, who was agreeing with the Winter Soldier for the first time … well, ever. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"At least one person is being sensible. /em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'No. Mr Barnes needs time awake to recover, putting him back on ice won't solve anything for the time being, and I agree with Captain Rogers that he might know something, even subconsciously, that we might need. As it is, Tony and the rest still have to properly arrive and I think we would all benefit from a moment to calm down. Meeting adjourned for now.'/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="text-decoration: none;" /span/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Tony Stark, Compound, Wakanda-/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Things could not have been much worse. Yes, to be fair, Wakanda was beautiful, and yes, Tony would have liked to spend some time in the country acquainting himself with their technology, which seemed remarkably advanced, maybe more even than his own … but not now. Not like this. If only he had the time pause, to take stock. Time shouldn't have been a problem, normally, after all it wasn't as if he wanted as if he wanted to stay in Malibu, or Washington DC, or New York, at the moment … without Pepper … no, he wouldn't think about that. Couldn't. Not now. A clear head was going to be essential in the current situation, especially since Steve Rogers and most of the other former Avengers seemed to have lost theirs. No, time was a problem because of the company, because of the events. Because he was so, so tired./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Tony, Vision and Rhodey had landed twenty minutes before, an hour after the meeting, after which the Winter Soldier was still free, contrary to Tony's advice, which would before have been properly considered. But now, now they all seem to have rather fallen under Rogers' spell. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Honestly, what does Cap (not that he even deserved to be called that now, Nomad, isn't it?) see in that man. Why has he chosen him over me as a friend? /emIt seemed as though everyone was leaving at the moment- Steve, Fury, Nat, Pepper … em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"no, stop it! /emShe was not coming back, not now he had shown himself to be unwilling, no, unable, to stop being Iron Man. The only thing Pepper seemed to want was the one thing he couldn't possibly give her, the one this that all of his money couldn't buy- a normal life./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"If things had been even a little different- perhaps if he had been able to give up the suit, or if she had been more accommodating of it- they probably would have been engaged, a thought which he tried to ignore, but kept returning, no matter what he did. He knew that his world could not revolve around what ifs, knew that it was not healthy, but it seemed to be the only state of existence he could manage at the moment. He could not be at the one place he wanted to be, it didn't exist anymore. Maybe focusing on something, like Rhodey had repeatedly said, even if it was the emergence of a new threat, would be a good thing. Perhaps it would help distract Tony from how he was feeling in his heart, which he most definitely had. From the worry. From the way his walls were crumbling, and the way he could do nothing to stop them./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"After their arrival, some of T'Challa's attendants had led them slowly down a stark, white corridor, which seemed to glow with its own, internal, light which opened up the otherwise potentially oppressive space. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Thump. /emThe sound of Rhodey's walking device was obscenely loud, stabbing through the silence, worsening Tony's growing headache. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Thump. /emThe attendants were purposefully pretending not to notice the noise, the noise which brought Tony back to himself, stopped him pondering, reminded him of all the recent events. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Thump. /emTony squeezed his best friend's shoulder, smiling in a way which he hoped was supportive. He knew he still needed to further tweak the device. Focusing on Rhodey was most definitely easier, easier than focusing on the oncoming ordeal of dealing with Cap and his amnesiac, mass murdering, Soviet-assassin boyfriend. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Really, no two straight guys are that close, even if they haven't realised it, a lot of others were starting to. /emIf Tony had been able to, and the situation had been less serious, he might have found it amusing. The sheer distance Cap went for this man, it reminded Tony of another relationship, one he wished he still had … em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"stop it! Dwelling on it won't change anything./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"After a little while, the woman who had been leading them around the medical facility turned to face the left-hand wall, tapped a small, discrete screen encased in the wall itself, opening a previously invisible door into a large suite./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Here is where you will be staying, Mr Stark. Let us know if you need anything. The King requests that you change and rest in preparation for a further meeting in two hours.' With that, she left, beckoning Rhodey and Vision to follow her to their quarters./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Stark had deliberately not brought the Parker kid into it this time, as per the young man's wishes. If he was honest, he was aware that Peter was really just a kid, a brilliant kid, but a kid nonetheless. Despite his constant enthusiastic and slightly star-struck behaviour, pretty much all of the other facets of his character reminded Tony of himself at Peter's age. God, they even looked quite similar, sharing dark-ish brown hair and reasonably similar heights and builds. Admittedly, he was more comfortable with Peter, despite the boy's flaws, than around the Vision. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I mean, who can be worthy enough to wield Thor's hammer, and constantly uses a power they don't understand in the slightest … well, perhaps I shouldn't jump to place blame on that front … but he's nothing like JARVIS./em/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;" /em/p
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Beep. /emstrong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'What do you think of all this?' /strongSo, it appeared as though Nat was extending an olive branch, even if it was just by text. For a moment, Tony considered not replying, but then again … at least she'd managed to get his name right … em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Stank, seriously?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;" /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'All shit. You?' /strongWas all his tired brain could muster./p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;" /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'LANGUAGE!' /strongTony managed a small smile at that, Nat knew him too well … and hadn't mentioned Pepper yet, which was a definite bonus. strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'Just try not to kill Cap or his bf yet pls? We may need them.'/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;" /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'Is there something I should know then, Nat? /strongstrong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji',sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol-ext; mso-symbol-font-family: 'Segoe UI Emoji';"😉/span'/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;" /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'No, just kidding, unless you want in on a small bet?'/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;" /strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"'I'm listening.'/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The small smile remained as the conversation continued until Tony Stark turned and crossed the surprisingly homely living room to have a shower./p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="text-decoration: none;" /span/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Steve Rogers, Compound, Wakanda-/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"The suite he had been led to was lovely. It was the same one Steve had stayed in during Bucky's freezing procedure. This apartment his favourite one since he had come out of ice, it was perhaps double, no triple, the size of Steve's DC apartment, which he, to be honest, had not lived in for particularly long, but had the homeliness of the apartment Steve had shared with Buck before the war. That apartment, however, could easily have fit in the living room he was standing in. Once again the sheer difference between the rest of the facility and the living suites struck him. Modern, metallic lines had been replaced by soft yellow walls, wooden furniture and a soft looking beige leather couch, though he had a feeling that this apartment had been designed specifically to make him feel at home, and that the others might be a little different. It had certainly succeeded on the comfort front; he could relax here, call him old fashioned but the minimalist décor of the rest of the facility put him on edge, reminded him of … things …/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Quashing this train of thought with practiced vigour he walked to the glass wall, present in all of the facility's rooms, gazing out onto the jungle vista. Lord, he had to draw this. However, his sketch book was still in his travel bag and he had more pressing matters to deal with; mainly the matter currently sitting in the bedroom of his suite. Bracing himself, he went to start dealing with the current issue, rather reluctantly leaving the view behind./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Seated on the window seat behind the cushion-covered bed, was Steve's best friend, brother … em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"cr- … /emBucky. Finally back and reunited with Steve at last. His best friend's now customary unreadable, even for Steve, expression worried him. He was clearly, and with good reason, struggling. PTSD (Steve had known it a shell shock, and, when the doctors had tried to tell Steve that he also had it had responded with em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"'No, I don't have the time.' /emAnd that was true, since he'd woken up, he had made sure he didn't have time to think, didn't want to. Sam had told him he needed to make the time to think stuff through, and he would, when he had the time, eventually). Cryostasis. The aftermath of torture … and all that had come along with that, everything Steve did not really want to think about. Being out of his time, their time… Each separate event seemed to have made him more and more withdrawn. More damaged./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Steve coughed, making sure to make a noise so that Bucky was not too startled by his appearance./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Hey Buck. Y'all right?' em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Stupid question, really./em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'I guess. What 'bout you?' A small smile, similar to that worn by Tony Stark less than ten minutes before caressed Bucky's features, and caused Steve to feel as though he had been stabbed. That small gesture reminded him of the man he had known, before the fall, before the Winter Soldier. It was a smile he had seen ten thousand times before, one that said Bucky was tired, but keeping it together for Steve's sake./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"''m fine. So, back to Europe again. Why is it that whenever we got there something crap happens, or has happened? Anyway, speakin' of Europe, have ya seen that Carter dame again? Call her?' The smile had changed again, becoming a little mischievous, but his eyes didn't quite manage to follow suit; they bore an odd look, hopelessness, exhaustion and something which looked like resigniation, but that could just have been Steve's imagination./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Steve took a moment before replying, wondering how best to phrase his response. In the end he settled on plain and obvious. 'Nah. Figured it'd be a bit odd, dating my best girl's niece. We're friends, but nothin' more.' Brooklyn accent returning with a vengeance, he noted. With any luck it would help to job some more of Bucky's memories, so more than the fragments written in his notebooks would return. Maybe it was selfish, unseemly, but a deep, dark part of him, which he tried not to acknowledge, wanted more than just his friend back. It wanted a companion. Someone with shared life experiences, as Nat had said. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Do I want too much from him?/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Ya sure, Stevie? Ya awful quiet.'/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"''m grand. Jus' … worried about HYDRA. We're the on'y ones who know what they're really capable of at the height of their power.' Bucky shifted uneasily in agreement, and then looked away, rubbing absentmindedly at the livid scar tissue beneath his shirt, marking the transition between flesh and metal, man and machine. 'Glad to have ya back though, jerk.' Steve tried, unsuccessfully, for some levity, for a return to some of their old banter. 'Don' ya leave me 'gain, ya hear? 'Cos I'm with ya 'til the end of the line, pal.' Bending down, he hugged the other man, trying to ignore, and mentally apologising, when his friend flinched before relaxing into the hug, and the traitorous pounding of his own heart. This was worth it, though, worth all the turmoil./p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="text-decoration: none;" /span/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, Compound, Wakanda-/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Hugging Steve was nice, too nice. He didn't deserve it, not after all he had done, but Steve wouldn't listen if Bucky contradicted him, he never had. Bucky would willingly admit to himself that he had been in love with Steven Grant Rogers since he was a teenager, but he would rather endure all of HYDRA's torture again before he would admit that fact to the object of his affection. This was why, after only a couple of minutes, he forced himself to push Steve away, and retreated to the privacy of the bathroom, where he could take some time, where he could think. He had remained there, just staring at the tiled wall, trying to sort through the day's events, and thankful Steve was letting him have some peace, until he had been called to go to the jet. Apparently Steve, or someone, had packed for him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Now, here they were, standing next to each other inside the rapidly rising Quinjet on which the whole group would be trapped with each other for the next ten hours, minimum. Bucky was occasionally being gently poked or prodded by Steve, but that was ok, reassuring even, they'd always been quite touchy-feely before the war, and even during it, always nudging, poking, throwing arms around each other, even sharing beds … that would never happen now though, Steve needed his sleep and Bucky had his night terrors./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"He could not really remember much, but the fragments, unlike so many of his returning memories, were at least pleasurable, if confusing. However, that train of thought ended sharply when he surveyed his surroundings, a habit he knew he would never be able to shake. Everyone looked worried, and Tony Stark's death glare, which was nearly as impressive as the Winter Soldier's own, was fixed on him again. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"They should have put me back on ice, and doesn't he know it./em/p
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p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: wave windowtext 3.0pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: wave windowtext 3.0pt; padding: 0cm; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"This was going to be an interesting trip./p
/div
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Someone was screaming. It could be her, but she was not sure. All she could do was attempt to dissociate, which she did, shrieking around her mouth guard. But not too loud. Never too loud. She would be punished if she was too loud. If she had known of the existence of any gods, she might have prayed, prayed for the torment to end. But she knew better … she knew no good thing would ever come here./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"'Wipe complete. Prep her for the mission.' The short man with the small red book walked forwards, towards her./p
