Thankfully, Tony's surgery went smoothly. The rebar had been removed, and the infection around the entrance wound treated with a round of heavy-hitting antibiotics. His other injuries had also been attended to, but none of them were as serious as the injury to his side.
According to the doctors who were updating Rhodey, Pepper and Happy now that Tony was in post-up, Barnes really had saved Tony's life by leaving the rebar in. Even though it had shifted some over the course of the last day, it had kept Tony from bleeding out, and had kept the bacteria in his guts from flooding his abdominal cavity. With rounds of physical therapy, regular checkups, and some mandated leave from the Avengers, the staff were hopeful Tony would make a full recovery.
Rhodey and Pepper had stayed by Tony's side for most of the night, following his progress as he was moved from post-op to a regular room. Happy had only spent a few minutes in Tony's actual room before heading off to run background checks on Tony's medical team and secure lodging until Tony was well enough to be transferred or released.
It was only when Pepper began to drift off, that Rhodey suggested she take Happy's offer of a nearby hotel suite for the night. Pepper looked reluctant to leave, but eventually did, after politely but firmly instructing the nursing staff to call her with any changes.
Even though the remaining New Order members were in SHIELD custody, Rhodey felt better walking Pepper down to the main floor, where Happy met them at the employee entrance. He provided her the standard cap, sunglasses, and thick coat, despite the dead of night, then escorted her from the hospital.
As Rhodey walked back into Tony's room, he was surprised to find Steve Rogers sitting by Tony's bedside. "You're still here?" he asked.
Steve whipped around and grabbed at the rolling IV stand he was connected to, obviously ready to use it as a weapon.
"It's Rhodes," the Colonel said, lifting his hands to his shoulders to show he meant to harm.
Steve blinked at Rhodey then released the IV pole and scrubbed his left hand across his eyes. "Sorry," he mumbled blearily.
Despite the fact that the serum had had a few hours to work, Rhodey couldn't help but notice Steve wasn't looking a whole lot better than Tony was. The cut over his hairline had opened again and the rest of his face was covered in an assortment of brightly-colored bruises. White bandages ran the length of Steve's right leg, visible through the gaps between the metal snaps of Steve's sweatpants, and his right ankle was secured in a grey walking boot. An intravenous line trailed from his right elbow to a bag of lime green solution hanging from the IV stand; no doubt it was a super-soldier special cooked up by Bruce or Tony from back in the day. How exactly Steve had gotten it at Mt. Sinai, though, was another question all together.
"You're going to get court-martialed," Rhodes stated, just a fact, not a threat. He had no interest in arresting Steve himself, but the supersoldier's continued presence only increased the chance of Ross or his team going back on their word now that Tony was safe.
"The Raft can't hold me."
Steve's tone was so defiant and self-assured, and so far from the sleepy statement of a minute ago, that Rhodey couldn't help but look over at Steve in surprise. The supersoldier's eyes were shining with determination but, after a moment, his expression softened.
"Unless you think I should go? I don't want to stress Tony out..."
Rhodey considered this as he lowered himself into the seat beside Steve then tapped at his hip to disable the exoskeleton. His back was burning from wearing it for longer than advised, but Rhodey needed it to maintain readiness, in case a situation arose. He didn't have the same abilities in his wheelchair, no matter how many modifications Tony made to it. "I don't know if you will or not," Rhodey said, after a pause. "But what I do know is that it'd be better for you to stay, and for him to tell you to go, than for you to just disappear."
Steve nodded then shifted back into his chair with a wince.
Judging by how fast Steve wiped the expression from his face, it hadn't been done for show, which left Rhodey once again wondering why the normally fast-healing supersoldier still looked like crap. "You going to be okay?" he asked. Rhodey had been striving for a more disinterested tone, given that the post-Siberia tension was bubbling back to the surface now that the crisis was over and his friend was safe, but was surprised to hear genuine concern in his words.
Steve must not have found it strange, for he just looked at Rhodes and nodded again. "Out of the boot by the end of the week. Hopefully the bandages much sooner."
That seemed about average for supersoldier healing time, which meant Steve was either lying through his teeth, or had been telling the truth yesterday when he'd said the serum was just a little overworked. Somewhat surprisingly, Rhodey found himself glad to hear it.
"And Barnes?" Rhodey then asked. His feelings about Siberia and the UN fight aside, Barnes had saved Tony's life multiple times in the last twenty-four hours, even volunteered to be beaten in Tony's place—the least Rhodey could do was see how he was doing.
Steve looked similarly surprised by the question but answered all the same. "Gunshot wound was a through-and-through but he picked up an infection around the exit wound. He's got twenty stitches in his hand, and his vitals are all over the map from being shocked." Steve's jaw clenched, before he took a deep breath and finished, "He's got some physical therapy ahead of him but he's supposed to make a full recovery."
"That's good to hear." And Rhodey found he really meant that too.
"He doesn't think he should be here," Steve continued, somewhat unnecessarily. "Thinks he's putting everyone here in danger."
"Is he?"
"Not according to Shuri."
Rhodey didn't know who that was, but he could see from Steve's expression that he was telling the truth. Honestly, Rhodes had never doubted that fact. Despite their differences over the past few years, Steve wasn't the kind who would risk innocent lives just to prove a point. Based on how Barnes had acted over the past day as well, Rhodey got a sense Barnes wouldn't have agreed to come on this mission unless he too was certain he was free from whatever had triggered him at the UN.
"So why aren't you down with him?"
"He's getting a chest CT," Steve replied glumly. "I wasn't allowed to go in."
Before Rhodes could reply, Tony's heart rate monitor chirped loudly. The two Avengers waited with baited breath to see if Tony was coming around but, unfortunately, he stilled and the machine returned to its slow, repetitive clicking.
"How is Tony, actually?" Steve asked, after a few long minutes. "I couldn't find a nurse so I skimmed his file—I only read the notes from today," he amended when Rhodey fixed him with a disapproving look. "I just had to know."
It only through great practice that Rhodey managed a civil reply. "Then you know as much as I do."
The conversation lapsed again, this time for almost twice the length of the previous one. Rhodey didn't press though, and instead watched the oxygen mask around Tony's nose and mouth fog with signs of life.
Once again, it was Steve who broke the silence. "I'm sorry about everything," he said softly. "I know Tony came to help, but when he saw the tape, he tried to kill Bucky. I couldn't let that happen. It wasn't just that Bucky is my friend—I knew Tony would be thinking differently once he'd had time to process—"
"Time to process…" Rhodey repeated incredulously.
"You know what I mean, Rhodes—time to realize it wasn't really Bucky. That he was just the weapon not the mastermind." Steve glanced at Rhodey out of the corner of his eye then straightened up, almost defensively. "And if you're wondering how I see all this playing out, I know Tony's probably never going to be okay with Bucky and, if that's what he really wants, I won't force them to be around each other. But Bucky didn't deserve to die. He's done a lot of things, but he's innocent of killing Howard and Maria. Tony didn't need his blood on his hands."
Rhodey was quiet for a long moment as he absorbed Steve's words. In all the time they'd known each other, Rhodey couldn't recall having a conversation like this with the supersoldier. Sure they had hung out together when everyone was living in the New Base and had argued during the Accords, but they'd never had this sort of deep discussion. It was strange, but it also felt incredibly right to finally be discussing the events of six months ago. "You still should have told him," was all Rhodey said.
"I know… But I wasn't sure. Then as time passed and I couldn't find any other leads, it just became harder and harder."
Then Steve shifted so he was facing Rhodey straight on. "I don't expect you to forgive me, James, but you have to understand I never meant to hurt Tony. I was trying to not hurt him by not telling him, but I ended up making it worse. Then we were fighting and I had to take out the suit before one of us did something we were going to regret." In an instant, his gaze turned almost desperate. "I would have never left him alone in Siberia, especially after I had just knocked the power out of his suit. We made sure T'Challa would take him back before we left."
"You had to know it was going to come out eventually," Rhodey countered. There was no way Steve was that naive.
Thankfully the supersoldier just nodded. "I did. But I still couldn't make myself bring it up—I finally had a new family. It was selfish but I didn't want to mess it up." Then Steve fell silent and rubbed at his uninjured knee. "I never expected things with Ross and the Council to go the way they did," he continued softly. "When I heard, I wasn't sure if I should come back, or whether that'd just make it worse."
"So you stayed away."
Steve nodded again. "But I didn't stay in Wakanda either; it wasn't right for me to be imposing on T'Challa's hospitality like that. I tried to help people, to do what Captain America was originally supposed to do before politics got involved.
"We were visiting Wakanda for a day when T'Challa's team intercepted some intel about the attack on Ellis. Bucky had just been cleared by multiple parties so it seemed as good a first outing as any. We didn't know you were going to get called in."
Either Steve was waiting for a reply for Rhodey or he'd said all he needed to say, since he returned to scanning the screens above Tony's head, while Rhodey replayed their entire conversation in his head.
The speech had been so quintessentially Steve, somehow both apologetic and not. But, after all this time, Rhodes finally understood the whole fiasco wasn't just about Bucky Barnes. It was about Steve protecting someone who had been unfairly treated, and trying to protect a great deal more people from a perceived threat. But the fact that that person had been Bucky, who had such a checkered history with the rest of the Avengers, meant that people were going to disagree about the right course of action. Tony had, until he'd learned about the other Winter Soldiers, but that ended up being exactly what Zemo wanted. Both he and Steve had done what they thought was right, which somehow lessened the last vestiges of anger in Rhodes' chest.
Bucky was obviously still Steve's blind spot (much in the same way Tony was Rhodey's), but at least Steve hadn't been so far gone that he hadn't seen reason. And for that reason alone, maybe one day, they could work together again.
An odd sensation came over him but, rather than try to identify the feeling, Rhodes just turned his head back to Tony, to confirm that his friend's condition hadn't worsened since he last checked. When it was sure nothing had changed for the worse, he said, "You know I'm not the one you need to be having this conversation with."
"I do," Steve replied. "But it'll be on his terms. Whenever he's ready." Then Steve glanced back at Rhodes and lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "Besides, I figured I owed you at least as this much. I'm sure things haven't easy for you either."
Rhodes made a noncommittal sound, then settled back into his chair and opened the crossword puzzle app on his phone to pass the time. It had been a suggestion from his therapist right after his accident, to take his mind away from his paralysis and get it focused on something he could actively fix.
"Five letter word for a 'brief movie appearance'," he said aloud.
Steve must have recognized the olive branch for what it was, since he too sunk back into his chair and smiled ever so slightly. "Cameo."
By the time Bucky was supposed to be done with his scan, Steve and Rhodey had finished two of the four themed crossword puzzles and the floor nurse had removed Steve's IV. Steve had looked almost apologetic as he excused himself to go check on his friend, but before he left, Steve had given Rhodey the number to the old-fashioned flip phone in his pocket and instructed him to call him if Tony's condition changed.
Given that his presence in the hospital was under great scrutiny from the public, Steve didn't chance taking the elevator to Bucky's non-ICU floor, and instead chose the stairs. They weren't easy to take with his broken ankle, but he managed by leaning heavily on the rail and hopping down them two at a time.
Somehow, he still managed to beat Bucky back to his room. Relieved no one else was around, Steve dropped into the seat beside Bucky's bed, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and focused on levelling his breathing. By the time Bucky rolled back into the room, pushed by Justine, this floor's day nurse, Steve was no longer wheezing and had fixed a smile firmly back on his face.
"How are you feelin'?" he asked as soon as Bucky appeared in the doorway.
"Ready to get out of here," his friend declared. He then swiveled around to face Justine, and fixed her with his most winning smile; the sight tugged painfully on Steve's heartstrings as it reminded him of the old days, before the serum, the war and Hydra. "Maybe you could set me free?" Bucky asked, raising his eyebrows to compliment the plea.
"No such luck," Justine replied as she snapped on the wheelchair's brakes. "Your injuries need time to heal, and the surgeon wants to take another look at your hand tomorrow. You need at least two more nights here—more if you don't actually follow our instructions and rest."
In less than a second, Bucky's grin morphed into a deep frown. He turned to Steve, who evaluated Justine's confident expression and understood that arguing would be futile. He shrugged his apology, which merited him a displeased look from Bucky in return.
"Fine," Bucky then scowled before carefully easing himself back into bed. "I'll rest. For two nights only."
"Good choice." Justine began humming humming softly under her breath while she reattached various monitors and stuffed a pillow under Bucky's right knee. She asked if he needed anything and, when he responded in the negative, she left to continue her rounds.
"But seriously," Bucky said as soon as she was gone, "it's time for me to go, right? There's way too much exposure here, and I'm stable enough to leave. You probably want to stay until Stark wakes up, which you need to, but I can take the jet back with Sam and Natasha."
"Bucky, you almost died—" Steve interjected but he was cut off by a indignant, "I did not."
Steve glared at Bucky, who returned the look full-force.
"Debatable," Steve finally conceded. "But you need rest and treatment here, not in a hotel in the middle of nowhere." It was only after the words left his mouth that Steve realized he had no idea what Bucky wanted to do now that the trigger words were out of his head. His comment assumed Bucky would join him and the rest of the team on the road, fighting the battles no one else could. Now that he was thinking about it, though, Bucky might want to go back to Wakanda and continue to work with Shuri on regaining other aspects of himself. Or, for that matter, he might want to settle down somewhere like he'd done in Romania, and just be.
Bucky's expression faltered, but before he could speak, Steve charged forward and changed subjects. "As for the rest of it, you weren't caught on any of the cameras coming in—just Tony and me. You're also being treated under an alias, and Pepper has had everyone who comes in contact with either of you sign an NDA."
Bucky blinked. "She what?"
Steve nodded.
"Even after…"
Steve nodded again. "Pepper is truly a unique woman."
"Wow. Stark's lucky to have her," Bucky said without an ounce of sarcasm. He reached down and adjusted the pillow under his leg before asking, "Speaking of Tony…"
"He's still unconscious," Steve reported, "but the docs think he'll wake up soon."
"Then you guys going to talk?"
"If he wants to."
"Good," Bucky said, with a wide smile. Then he leaned his head back and allowed his eyes to drift closed.
Steve watched Bucky's chest rise and fall for a minute then, before his friend could actually fall asleep, he reached out and tapped Bucky's arm. "Buck."
"Shh," his friend grinned lopsidedly, eyes still closed. "I'm resting."
"Be serious for a minute."
Bucky groaned loudly, then rolled his head to the right, so he was looking at Steve. "What?"
It wasn't that Bucky had ever confessed to disliking hospitals but, after all he'd been through under Hydra's control, Steve couldn't help but be concerned by his friend's alarmingly calm demeanor. "Are you really okay with staying? If not, we can get your discharge instructions and go somewhere less open."
Bucky was quiet for a long moment before he responded. "Do I like being here, so publically exposed, even after Zemo was charged with blowing up the UN? No. But do I know I need to be here, because this is where some very important people are, and I don't want to take them away from each other? Yes. And fortunately, that second one is the impulse I'm going to act on." He shifted uncomfortably in his bed then shot Steve a sidelong glance. "But if you could also not be too far away, especially when they're poking and prodding me, that'd help a lot."
Steve reached out and laid his hand on Bucky's, mindful of where the neat row of stitches were. "Won't be a problem."
Natasha was sitting in the interrogation room at the New SHIELD base, staring evenly at the man on the far side of the table. He was bruised and battered but still had all functions and appendages, much to her and Clint's disapproval. Steve and Barnes had done what had been necessary to incapacitate Grey and get him out of the building alive, but the tac team had been none too gentle loading him into the transport van. Now, with the cameras recording, Natasha had to be on her best behavior, which meant not physically harming the suspect unless absolutely necessary.
Apparently New SHIELD and Ross had reached an agreement, where SHIELD would work the case on their end, but then hand it over to Ross, tied up with a bow. It'd give the Department of Defense a very public win, which would go a long way to restore the country's faith in both Ross and the department; it would also give New SHIELD leverage for a later situation. Natasha suspected with a fair amount of certainty that that leverage would be used to get the charges against Steve and his crew for the Leipzig incident dropped.
Grey hadn't spoken a word in the six hours he'd been in the alone, or the twenty minutes Natasha been in the room with him, but thanks to his fingerprint analysis, she was in possession of a thick stack of paper detailing every bit of his life that he'd tried so hard to wipe off the grid. Grey's real name was Jason Grey. He was born in Skowhegan, Maine, had had a rather ordinary upbringing, but had done his best to drop off the grid eight years ago. Fortunately, SHIELD's techs were the best, and had uncovered Grey's digital trail with ease.
Natasha's phone buzzed softly and she flipped it over, tilting the screen down so Grey couldn't read it in the reflection of the one-way observation window.
The text was from Rhodey. T coming around. Moved B to the same floor to avoid PR nightmare for P.
That was excellent news.
She put her phone down, screen facing the table, then interlaced her fingers and leaned forward slightly.
"We know who you are," she said, watching his face for a reaction.
Grey just quirked an eyebrow at her and waited for her to continue.
"Jason Grey. Leader of the New Order, a group which, as of six hours ago, no longer exists."
His eyes flashed but he remained silent.
"Your base is burned to the ground. Your intel is gone. Whatever else you had, we'll know about soon. We are tracing every transaction, every covert dealing of yours back to its source. Soon, we'll know about your whole network." Natasha grinned ferally. "And they'll all know it was you who sprung the leak."
Grey's expression darkened and his Adam's apple bobbed.
"You didn't like that," Natasha said as she leaned back in her chair. "I didn't think you would. You wouldn't want your bosses to think you aren't loyal to the cause. Who knows what they would do to you?"
"They've never had any reason to question my loyalty," Grey spat out. Natasha could now positively identify him as the voice on the Skype call, which added about another five or ten years to his sentence.
"They will." Natasha paused for dramatic emphasis, then shrugged as she pretended to reconsider her last statement. "Or you can tell me what I want to know."
Grey shook his head.
"This is your final chance," Natasha said as she stood up.
Grey mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key.
"Okay." Natasha left Grey's interrogation room then walked across the hall to where the New Order's second-in-command, the dark-haired Jake Bradley, codename Purple, was being held. She used the same approach as she had on Grey, emphasizing how unhappy their bosses were going to be, since chances were, Bradley had a lot less interaction with the upper echelons, which meant rumors that he wasn't as loyal were going to be taken more seriously. Bradley initially refused to comment, but she'd seen genuine fear in a brief slip of his expression and knew she'd been correct in her assumption.
She stayed her course and, two hours later, Bradley was typing up everything he knew about the New Order, including members, other names he'd heard in passing, and descriptions of people he'd seen visit, in exchange for a lighter sentence. The one thing he hadn't known, even after the suggestion of maximum security, was where Stark's fifty million had gone.
Once he was three pages deep into his story, Natasha left the room, grabbed a cup of coffee, and returned to observation where she watched Grey stare at the ceiling, seeming unperturbed by his situation.
Three hours and two burned approaches later, Natasha knew how she could both not physically harm Grey and still get the information she needed. After berating herself for not thinking of it earlier, she texted Vision, who phased through the doorway not five minutes after she'd sent the text. Natasha explained her plan then left Vision in observation while she went to visit Grey again.
They had all the information they wanted, plus some additional information Bradley had not been privy to, less than ten minutes later.
Only one more chapter, which contains a much needed conversation, left! Thanks for all your support!
