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Changes Sequel – III. War + Epilogue – Epilogue Part 84

Future May 2054

Jack stared blankly ahead while he could clearly hear his mother and Rachel quietly sobbing. Guilty… The jury had clearly said guilty… He risked a look to his left and saw how Jaden was also staring blankly ahead, he wasn't able to read his face at all. 10 soldiers were sitting in the jury and 8 had voted guilty. It couldn't be true… Jaden wasn't guilty of anything but not listening to their father's warning. He had been through enough. It wasn't fair. He didn't deserve to be executed. Jack clenched his fists in anger at how unfair all of it was.

"I see…," the judge said with a nod and was about to announce the verdict and told everyone to rise as the door in the back opened.

Sam turned his head, so did Nat and Logan, who was shaking with fury and might have held Jean a bit too tight. Sam frowned deeply as he saw who it was, Nat too and the judge was clearly as surprised as everyone else. Jack also didn't know what was going on.

"What's he doing here?" Jake whispered to Jamie, who could only shrug.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting anything?" Tony Stark asked and looked around.

"Mister Stark, may I remind you of where you are?" the judge asked clearly angered and Tony was unimpressed.

He pushed his sunglasses up and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, military court, I know. I'll be quick. I promise," he smirked and typed something on his phone, ignoring the judge's protests and the screen in the room soon displayed a video. "It took a while because there is just too much Hydra files that we found, but…," he pressed play and looked at the judge, "look for yourself."

Everyone in court looked at the screen and saw how Jaden, dressed in uniform, walked a route around a military camp, checking the perimeter at night before he came to a halt at a gate and pulled his rifle up as he had clearly heard something. Slowly, he walked towards the noise as a dart struck him in the back of his neck and his hand quickly pulled it out. It was too late though and his legs gave out. His arms were still holding him up as three soldiers, all dressed in black appeared and pulled a hood over Jaden's head before knocking him out with the back of his rifle. The soldiers were dragging him away as another soldier from inside the compound came into view and another one, also dressed in black from the right, who handed the soldier from the compound an envelope before he quickly left; leaving the soldier from the compound to count the money.

"Oh, and this too," Tony said and another video began to play and showed how Jaden was tortured by three Hydra soldiers before he dropped naked to the ground and tried to cover himself, but the soldiers still didn't stop until the oldest finally gave the order to hold Jaden down and began working on his pants. Tony stopped the video as it became obvious what would happen next and typed some other commands into his phone, then displayed 8 files of Hydra agents. "Oh, and look… I'm sure you're familiar with them, aren't you?" he asked the judge and turned to the prosecutor, who was glaring daggers at Tony by now. "You see the problem is that Hydra beats their toys into absolute submission and installs fear in them. Their supersoldiers or should I say toys aren't able to name their handlers. You can force them and they are as incapable of naming them as they are incapable of saying or even writing down their trigger words," he said and nodded at Jaden. "You recognized them didn't you?" Tony asked and Jaden, who was shaking and crying nodded. Tony looked at the judge. "8 people voted for his execution. Weird that it's exact 8 remaining Hydra agents that we overlooked as we levelled their last base. Don't you think? And how weird they are all here…" Tony looked at the prosecutor. "Are you the new head? Because we disposed of your last one."

"Son of a…," the prosecutor snarled and rose but Tony quickly raised his arms to let the nano suit cover him. He didn't reckon with the man to shoot at Jaden though. "Die you fucking dog!"

Jack's eyes grew wide as he heard the shot but it was too late and the gun went off. He reached for Jaden who was frozen on the spot and pulled him down to cover him, but the bullet never hit. Instead it fell uselessly to the ground and the 8 Hydra agents were grabbing their heads, screaming. Jack risked a glance and noticed that Jamie had used his powers to block the bullets whereas Jean was dealing with the agents, clearly furious. Logan and Laura had jumped over the banister and were aiming for their enemies whereas Jake was covering the pregnant Lily and Rachel with the help of Sam and Nat. Before Logan and Laura or even Tony could reach the 8 Hydra agents though they had bitten down on their fake teeth and were dying on the ground.

"Fuck!" Logan barked enraged as he had to watch how the prosecutor smirked at him and said "Hail Hydra" with his dying breath. Glaring at him, he kicked the man and looked up when Tony touched his shoulder. Logan nodded his thanks.

Tony turned to the judge, who had watched everything with wide eyes and also the rest of the soldiers were confused about what they should do. "So… The verdict, your Honor?"


"I can't believe they really forced us to leave!" Laura complained and crossed her arms while she drove shotgun in the black SUV. Jake was driving and Rachel and Lily were sitting in the back.

"See it like that… The room was compromised and their base literally attacked," Rachel said and rested her hands on her pregnant belly, feeling the twins moving. "It's not fair though, I agree. He's our brother in the end…"

"They can't convict him after Tony's evidence. It clearly showed he was abducted and tortured," Jake said and checked the rearview mirror for the car behind him in which his parents sat with Jamie. Nat, Peggy and Sam were driving in front of him. He saw how Lily was checking her phone again and finally turning her head to stare out of the window. "Any news?" he asked but she shook her head.

"What if they do convict him…?" Rachel muttered and no one had a reply to that.

In the car behind him Logan had his arm wrapped around Jean, who was resting her head on his shoulder and stared blankly ahead. Jamie was driving and no one had said a word so far. He thought back to the trial and the new things they had learned. If Logan had been worried before, he was truly worried now. He knew a mind could only take so much abuse and trauma before it broke and Jaden looked down with everything. "We'll need t'put him on suicide watch when he comes home…"

Jamie met his father's eyes briefly in the rearview mirror. "Shuri offered to attempt therapy with Jaden and also to get rid of the last trigger words."

"If he comes home…," Jean muttered and wiped her eyes.

"He will, darlin'." Logan assured her and kissed the top of her head.

"Not if they need a scapegoat, Logan… They already tried to kill him in the courtroom, what if there are still more of them out there?!" she asked and bit her lower lip as new tears began to gather in her eyes. "He'll never be safe…" She heaved a deep breath and grabbed Logan's hand tighter. "The things they did to him… How is he ever supposed to get over this?"

"With our help, mom," Jamie said and steered the car into the parking garage of the Avengers' tower, then parked the car and they got out. Sam and Nat were waiting for them and Jake handed Laura the car keys.

"I'll drive her home," she said with a nod at Ray and took the driver's side while the rest of the group went into the elevator and upstairs.

"Any words from Steve?" Jake asked but Nat shook her head. He pulled a displeased face and pulled Lily close. Checking his watch he noticed that almost 10 hours had passed since Steve and Bucky had left together.

When the elevator suddenly stopped and the door opened to reveal Tony everyone looked at him in confusion.

"What?" the man asked. "Suit, remember? I flew. Oh, and don't bother. Cap locked his floor. This is as far as you can go." He shrugged.

"Locked? What does that mean?" Peggy asked confused.

"That no one can enter the floor until he unlocks it," Nat explained. "So how bad is it?" she asked as they followed Tony to the common room where Clint was busy playing with the Playstation and Bruce was munching some fruit salad.

"I don't know. I just arrived," Tony said. "Hey, Banner, how bad is it?!"

Bruce startled and stopped munching, his eyes darting to and fro between the group. "Uhm… What are we talking about exactly?"

"Never mind," Tony said. "FRIDAY, override security protocol for Rogers' floor!"

"Tony that's…not a good idea…," Bruce warned but the group had already disappeared behind the elevator door and was riding further up. "Shit…"

The elevator stopped at the 65th floor but the doors didn't open.

"FRIDAY?" Tony asked.

"Sir, Captain Rogers had made very clear that no one is to enter the floor."

Tony sighed. "Open the door, FRIDAY! My building, my rules."

"As you wish…"

Impatiently, Tony watched how the door slid open and revealed a dark floor. The only lights on were the lights of the digital clock in the kitchen. Frowning, he told the AI to switch on the lights a bit so that he was at least able to see. The whole apartment was silent, the only noise came from the fridge. So Tony entered and walked towards the kitchen, past the big sofa and froze. He raised an eyebrow and turned to the rest of the group, pointing behind him. "Guess they wanted some alone time," he said and kept his voice lowered, watching how the others came closer.

"Then I suggest we let them sleep, Mister Stark," Peggy whispered with a look that didn't allow any disagreement. She had barely said it though when Steve opened his eyes and looked at them in total confusion first, then full on glared at Tony.

"What are you doing here? I locked the floor!" he hissed and sat up a bit, trying not to jostle Bucky, who was sleeping next to him.

"I know, I know. My bad," Tony sighed. "Did we interrupt anything?"

"Shut up, Tony!" Steve snapped and got carefully up, giving them a sign to follow him to his bedroom. "Close the door!" he demanded and ran a hand over his tired face. "When I lock my floor, Tony, I lock it for a fucking reason! What's so hard to understand?!"

Tony shrugged. "Well, let's start with why you locked the floor, shall we?"

"How bad was it?" Lily asked since she had figured out why.

Steve looked at her and sighed. "Bad. Bruce had to sedate him. Bucky had a full blown panic attack first, dissociated next. When we arrived at the Tower he was completely disoriented and had flashbacks. I tried everything that usually works but it didn't help. Since he couldn't breathe right Bruce sedated him." He looked at Tony. "So you see WHY I locked the floor! What do you think happens if Bucky wakes up disoriented and sees a shadow looking over him?"

"Yeah… Experienced this once, don't need it again," Tony said and walked towards the door. "I'm off."

"Are you alright, Steve?" Peggy asked concerned and walked over to where he was standing. He shrugged, not wanting to talk about it.

"How did the hearing go?" he asked instead and Logan filled him in. When he was done Steve was even madder. "They were fucking Hydra?!"

"Doesn't matter. They are dead," Logan grunted and looked at Jean when she got a text. She sighed. "What?"

"Still nothing… That was Rey. They arrived home," she said and ran a hand through her hair. "I let Jack know we are here."

"You can take the guest rooms and Bucky's and mine bed. The sheets are fresh. I stay on the couch with him," Steve offered.

"Thank you, Steve," Jean said and tried to smile. She felt exhausted and leant into Logan.

"C'mon, darlin'," Logan said and led her to one of the guest rooms. Jake beckoned Jamie to follow him to Bucky's room, leaving Peggy and Lily to take Steve's room. He made sure the women had everything they needed before he retreated back to the couch where Bucky was still out cold and went back under the blanket next to him.

Jake was done texting Hope when Jamie exited the bathroom, hair still damp and took the other side of the bed. He went into the bathroom next and found Jamie texting Tommy. "Tell him I said hi," Jake said and went underneath the covers. "Oh my God, this mattress is amazing…"

Jamie gave him a look and put the phone aside. "As far as I know Bucky loves Lily's waterbed though."

Jake stretched and jawed. "Well waterbeds are nice."

Jamie chuckled and moved to lie down as he became aware of the mattress. "This IS nice indeed!"

"Isn't it?" Jake grinned. "Think Bucky will miss it if we take it?"

Jamie snorted. "Bet on it!"

Even hours later Jean still couldn't sleep and got up to look out of the window and down on the never sleeping Manhattan. Cars were still driving past the tower and some couples walked the streets. She sighed and hugged herself, wondering what Jaden was doing now and what the morning would bring. She couldn't say what she'd do, if the judge still found him guilty… As tears threatened to spill two arms wound around her waist and she found herself pulled against a solid body.

"Come t'bed…," Logan grunted into her hair and swayed them.

"Can't sleep," Jean sniffed and wiped at her eyes.

"I know. Me neither," Logan said and pulled her over to the bed until they were both underneath the comforter again and she was resting her head on his chest. "Try t'rest if ya can't sleep, Jeannie." She hummed and closed her eyes while he ran his fingers through her hair and tried to distract her from her thoughts. It took a while but when her breathing evened out Logan knew he could finally get some rest too.

He didn't know for how long they had been sleeping but noises in the kitchen woke them up. Drowsily, they made their way to the kitchen were Jake busied himself with making pancakes, Lily and Peggy sat at the kitchen isle and Tony and Jamie were discussing something on Tony's tablet in hushed voices. Jean wrapped Logan's hoodie further around her body and made her way to the kitchen isle where she sat down and smiled as Jake offered her and Logan some coffee.

"How can they sleep with all that noise?" Logan grunted and sipped on his coffee, cocking an eyebrow at Steve and Bucky that were still out cold. Steve lay on his back, head tilted awkwardly and Bucky lay with his head down on Steve's chest, his only arm wrapped around him.

"That's what you're wondering about?" Tony asked and looked at him. "I'd be more interested in how come their fiancées aren't worried? I'd be worried if Pepper suddenly got all friendly with Shuri."

"That's because you don't understand how far a brotherly bond goes, Tony," Jamie said and went through some schematics on the tablet with a frown on his face.

"They aren't brothers."

"They are where it counts, Stark and no, I'm not worried!" Peggy said, her voice clipped and held Tony's gaze easily. "Steve went into a Hydra compound all by himself behind enemy lines to rescue Barnes even though we thought him dead. Barnes tore through an enemy battalion when Steve was in danger. They'd burn the world for each other. In case you haven't noticed."

Tony threw his hands in the air. "THAT'S what I'm talking about!"

Lily sighed and brushed her hair back while she snuggled further into Bucky's hoodie. "And that's what Jamie was talking about," she muttered and Tony was about to reply as Bucky suddenly sat up ramrod straight, every muscle tense and turned his head very slowly into their direction. "It's okay. You're home," she tried to soothe him but he looked at the room in total confusion.

"How did I get here?!" he asked sluggishly.

"You had a panic attack…," Steve muttered sleepily and blinked his eyes open.

"See? They even wake up at the same time!" Tony pointed out. Peggy rolled her eyes.

"It got so bad when I brought you here that Bruce had to sedate you." Steve reached out to touch Bucky's shoulder when he noticed that something wasn't right. "Buck… Are you feeling alright?"

"No…," Bucky muttered and grabbed his head as his breathing became quick and shallow.

Jamie and Jean were immediately alerted. "Does he have another panic attack?!" she asked.

"No," Steve replied and pulled Bucky down on the ground and noticed that he was completely uncoordinated and limp like a doll. "Talk to me, Buck! What's wrong?" he asked and listened to the barely audible reply. "He's dizzy and has a bad headache." Steve had barely said it as Bucky started vomiting. "Shit!" he cursed and held his friend up.

Jamie reached out to check on Bucky's heartrate. "What the hell did Bruce give him?!" he asked.

"His file says Ativan," Tony said after checking up on it and told him the dosage next. "From the way you just cursed I assume that it's bad…"

"Yes, it is! Ativan reacts negatively with his serum. Why is that not in his file here?! I need Flumazenil! Now!" Jamie ordered and helped Steve to hold Bucky up as this one got violently sick again. Thanks to Tony's technology it didn't take long for it to arrive and Jamie prepared to administer the antidote. "I'm gonna warn you. He'll have a seizure. It usually wouldn't happen but thanks to Hydra using benzodiazepines in high dosages on him for decades… It's a sure side effect. He might also feel pretty out of it."

Steve pulled a face. "Okay. Could someone push away the table please?" he asked and Logan pulled it far enough away from them. He watched how Jamie administered the drug and waited for Bucky's body to seize up. It took 3 minutes until it did and almost 2 for the seizure to be over. As Jamie had predicted Bucky was completely out of it so Steve pulled him up. "I'll go and clean him up."

"I'll help you," Lily said after she had cleaned the floor and followed Steve to Bucky's room where they closed the door behind them. Steve quickly changed his ruined clothes before he helped Lily to get Bucky out of his dirty ones. While she filled the bathtub he put the clothes into the hamper.

"I'm sorry you had to see this… I can imagine how scary it was for you. The first time he had a seizure after we found him in Bucharest it freaked me out," he said and put Bucky into the bathtub where he held him up while Lily began to run a washcloth over Bucky's skin.

"It was. But I'd have freaked out more if Jamie or my mom hadn't been there."

"I don't know what Bruce was thinking…," Steve growled with a glare.

"I'm sure he didn't know, Steve," Lily tried to calm him and finished washing Bucky. She watched how Steve pulled his friend up again, dried him off and put clean clothes on him before he carried him back to the sofa and tucked him in.

"I feel safer when he's here so that I can watch him," he told Jamie, who had given him a questioning look.

Tony had already left, probably to warn Bruce about the very angry Captain, and the group finished the breakfast. While Lily sat down and pulled Bucky's head into her lap, Jean got once more restless and checked her phone.

"Why is Jack not writing?!" she wondered aloud but also annoyed and lost.

"Because his phone's dead," a familiar voice said from the direction of the elevator and Jean, as everyone else, spun around and looked at him with wide eyes. "Sorry, but I didn't have a charger with me." He looked at his family's scared faces and could hear their fast heartbeats loud and clear.

"Did they…," Jean began but couldn't finish the sentence in fear it became real.

"No. But SHIELD snatched him as soon as we entered the building. They obviously deem him too dangerous because of the remaining unknown trigger words. I'd have punched them but I'm truly fucking exhausted," Jack lamented and Logan was already stomping past him towards the elevator. "Holding cells, dad!"

"How can they put him into another prison after he just got released from one?! What kind of messed up system is the modern world?" Peggy asked outraged. "That boy is innocent."

Jake shrugged annoyed by the treatment of his brother. "Well that's SHIELD…."

She spun around and glared at him with fire in her eyes. "That's NOT the SHIELD we created!"

"But what's become of it," Steve said. "SHIELD also worked with Zola, Peggy… And it was Zola who tortured Bucky first in Azzano and then for decades."

"You know I didn't…"

Steve waved off. "I know. I wasn't accusing you of anything, Pegs," he assured her and returned the small smile he was given.

Five minutes later the elevator door pinged and a very pissed off looking Logan reappeared. Jean uttered a choked sob as she spotted a completely defeated looking Jaden behind him and went to hug her son close; sobbing in relief. Meanwhile, Logan went to hug Jack tight. "Thank ya."

"Of course," Jack said and patted his father's back.

"No offers?" Jake asked and Jack snorted.

"They asked me to join the military as a military defense lawyer."

"What did you tell them?" Lily asked her twin brother, who smirked tiredly.

"To kindly fuck off." He watched how his father and siblings went to hug Jaden next and accepted the embrace from his mother. "It's alright, mom," he said and hugged her back, watching how Jaden walked over to the large windows like a zombie and stared out of it. Since Jack had met with Jaden for the final verdict, all the way through it and all the way to the tower his brother hadn't said one word. It worried him and he let his mother and Jamie know mentally.

"Jaden, you wanna eat something? You must be hungry," Jake tried but his brother shook his head and sat down at the window, still staring out of it and resting his head against the glass.

"What are you thinking about?" Jamie tried instead, not expecting an answer.

"How easy it would be to jump out of it…," Jaden finally muttered and caused everyone to stare at him in shock. "But I can't… Since that stupid angel chose to bound himself to a failure like me…"

"Jaden, you're not…," Jean began as the elevator opened again to reveal a pissed looking Nick Fury.

Steve groaned. "Nick… No!"

"Shut up, Rogers!" Fury snapped and focused on Logan, who had already placed himself in front of his son. "You broke one agents arm and another one needs reconstructive surgery on his nose, Logan!"

"Should be happy t'was just the arm 'n nose," Logan growled and went into an attack stance, not seeing how Jaden grabbed his head behind him and drew his legs closer. "Get the fuck away from my kid, Nick!"

"He is dangerous! We don't know the trigger words, Logan! One wrong word and he turns into a killer!" Nick disagreed. "It's for his and our protection!"

"Protection? You want him to go from one jail to the next!" Jean snapped. "And I can assure you that won't happen!"

Fury sighed. "Are you not seeing the danger?! Do I have to remind you of how many people, YOUR people, he killed when he was Seraph? Do you want this to happen again? We can protect him here until T'Challa comes for him!"

"Protect him like the last time you were supposed to protect him and he got attacked?" Steve asked and held Fury's glare. "That kid's been through enough, Nick! Look at him!" he said and pointed at Jaden, who was quietly sobbing into his knees and rocking himself back and forth. "He's not going anywhere!"

"I hope you can all live with the consequences then, Rogers!" Nick said after a moment and turned to leave as Steve told him to wait. He watched how Steve went to get his shield and dropped it in front of Fury. "What the hell is this?"

"My resignation!" Steve said matter-of-factly. "I'm done."

"Done?"

"Yes, done! Sam will be my successor. But I'm out," Steve said and turned to join Peggy again.

"And what makes you think that the US government will allow you to resign, Rogers? You're their creation!" Nick said and Steve froze. "They won't let you resign that easily… Don't get me wrong, you deserve it. But they won't like it. Especially not Wilson as your successor."

Steve turned and gave Fury a stern look. "Well, they know where to find me, if they want to talk to me personally." He held Nick's look until the man finally left.

Logan knelt down next to the agitated Jaden and put a hand on his arm. "What do ya need?" he asked gently and Jaden looked up, eyes red and body shaking.

"Where's Dames?" he sniffed and didn't know how to get his body under control anymore.

"He's at the mansion. He wasn't allowed at court," Jack told him.

"I need him…," Jaden said hoarsely and leant his head against the glass, still rocking himself back and forth. He had barely said it as someone teleported into the room and blue eyes looked to and fro until they found what they were looking for. In an instant Jaden found himself held against a solid and warm body, a familiar and calming scent in his nose and black wings wrapped around them until all the other noises, scents and lights were blocked out.

"Are you alright?" Damiel asked him worriedly since he had heard the mental outcry all the way to Westchester.

"No…," Jaden sobbed and wrapped his arms around the angel's waist, crying into his chest. "They made me admit in in court… They know what happened for real at college and what they did… How am I supposed to look at them anymore, knowing that they know what they did…? How am I supposed to live knowing what Hydra made me do to my family? Why couldn't they just let them kill me and get it over with?! I'm so sick of this fucking life. I don't deserve to be alive" he sobbed and leant further in.

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