As the Sky May Fall EirlysLavellan
The Avengers Marvel Comics
~0~
Summary: Alice was always so sure of the way her life was going to go, however, her entire perspective is changed upon being forcibly added to the Avengers. After the Invasion of New York things quickly change and she realizes that everything she thought she was, is nothing close to what she ever imagined especially when she realizes that the man she had thought was dead turns out to be forcibly working for HYDRA as their Winter Soldier. She swears she will do anything to keep him safe even if that means going against the new family she has built.
Disclaimer: I am a poor college grad and am receiving no payment whatsoever to write this fiction. If I was, in fact, getting paid for this, I would not be a poor college graduate that I can assure you. All rights are reserved to Marvel, D.C. Comics, and Walt Disney Pictures and Columbia Studios as well as the amazing screenwriters, directors and producers, and actors who created this film. I only own the subplot as well as Alice Alexander and any other unrecognizable character throughout the plot.
Story Type: OC-Insert – Slight AU/Fix-it come Endgame
Main Pairing: Eventual Bucky/OC
Other Pairings: Slight Nat/Cap, Maria/OC and OC/OC
Rating: M
Warning: Spoilers, character death, violence, suggestive themes (such as sexual assault/self-harm/depression) and vulgarity.
Author's Note: Why hello again fam! Here is the next chapter for ya fresh out of the brain-oven...
Yeah, that sounded better in my head too *winces*
ANYWAY, thank you all for the amazing reception for chapter 18! It was a last minute plan to add in a chapter from Bucky's perspective and all of you...ALL OF YOU who reviewed said the same thing: can we get more Bucky POV in the coming chapters. Lemme be the first to say that the answer is a resounding YES. There will be more Bucky POV in future chapters at least until we hit Civil War's timeline and then we're gonna be entering that kind of selective third person that I've had throughout the entirety of this story so far...since I've got a lot planed as far as Alice is concerned considering anything to do with her is my active subplot and original content.
As an aside, I've become (re)obsessed with D&D [Dungeons and Dragons, in case you didn't know] and may come out with a few one shots here and there in regards to Critical Role's current campaign about the Mighty Nein...BY THE WAY, their 1st campaign got a green light for two...TWO SEASONS ON AMAZON COMING THIS FALL and I have never been so excited. I was all caught up about Vox Machina, but I slept on the Mighty Nein (which I dunno why, but life) but I'm slowly catching up. If anyone wants to geek out with me feel free to PM me because I've got IDEAS! - Btw, if I do write a one shot or little short I will absolutely let y'all know; and in true D&D fashion I will be rolling my dice for the characters/my character depending on what I manage to come up with!
But, with all of that said, let's get to my thank yous and review replies from those who might not have an account here on FF to get a private response!
As always a special thank you to: simmerandcry, NullifySky, Brie, Lara, Terra and everybodyhurts for their lovely reviews!
*If you don't have an account no worries just leave me a name in your review and I'll answer you in the beginning of the chapter! For anyone who has an account I always shoot you a PM as soon as FF allows me to see the post ;)*
Also a HUGE thank you to everyone else that has favorited and followed this here story of mine. I hope you all enjoy and please don't forget to R&R!
Brie - YES! I will absolutely be doing more of Bucky's POV throughout the chapters leading up to Civil War for sure! After how much everyone really enjoyed a break from Alice and got to see what was happening with him (which I was terrified to put out tbh, just because everyone has such real and different perceptions of how he should be or is after escaping HYDRA...but I digress! Anyway, thank you so, so much for your review and I hope you enjoy this next chapter as well!
Lara – Oh no! I'm sorry I caught you in the feels, haha! But I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I'm genuinely trying to keep his mind as realistic as possible and yet still understandable(?) - I'm not sure how to really describe it other than trying to make him as legible as possible. It definitely makes it difficult to get into that head space and to write like that just because I really wanted it to read like we're seeing him and living in his skin. Thanks so much and as asked for here is the next chapter!
Terra – As you so ask, so you shall receive! Here is another chapter to you, unfortunately without Bucky, but we'll get back to him soon! Thanks for your review and I hope you like this chapter as well!
WHEW now that we're here, on to the story beauties~!
As the Sky May Fall
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
19
Early July 2014
Clint watched as Alice worked through the agility course he had built in her barn. They had been working more and more on the course every day and each time she did the routine she got better and faster at it. Clint had trained a lot of new recruits for S.H.I.E.L.D over his tenure with the organization, though the sudden dismantling left him unemployed and he found that training the mutant filled his time well enough, and she had promise. He was impressed by her progress and found that the repetition was helping her gain traction faster than it had two years ago when he and Natasha had taken a lot of time building her up enough to do even half of the stunts he was forcing onto her training this time around.
The goal for this training was to focus on her much smaller body in comparison to most enemies she would face. Alice was at a disadvantage for many different reasons but the constant fluctuation of her density and mass as well as her deceptively short stature made her awkward despite her knowledge of how to compensate for the constant changes. His goal was to make her seem nondescript and look like less of a threat in order to give her an edge and watching her work through the course, spinning and flipping with the various gymnastics he had taught her as well as parkour he had learned over his years as an agent and his early days in the carnival would certainly give her the edge she needed.
Glancing down at the watch in his hand he was impressed to see that she was doing well on her time, even better than she had this morning. This is how they spent most of the days just before Alice had to take care of the animals and immediately afterwards when her employees would show up for their respective shifts. It had made time pass quickly and Clint was thankful for the distraction. Sometimes the kids would come in to watch their father train their adoptive aunt, and sometimes Laura would show her face with refills of water or lunch depending how long they had been, but mostly it had just been the two of them. In that time Clint had gotten to know the mutant better than he thought he would as she allowed him to see her frustrations when she failed and her joy at her successes; he found himself relating to the mutant and understanding her fears more than he cared to admit as some of them mirrored his own.
"Keep it going, Kit!"
Alice flipped him off as she leapt through another part of the course and he smirked. He had come to calling her Kit shorter for Kitsune (which he had laughed about for a solid two hours after comparing her to a fox after catching her mimicking the animal's sounds to make his kids laugh and insisting on keeping the nickname – which she admittedly liked better than kid).
The name Hellcat had admittedly stuck within the mainstream media and so her identity was hidden for the most part, Tony's doing in which he took unabashed pride in, while also keeping her obscure enough that she could help the Avengers – something that Clint and Tony had agreed was imperative and much to the billionaire's relief as he had self-appointed himself as the team's representative and had taken much of the responsibility for the team on himself. This included PR, outfitting the team with gear, tech support and liaison to the government – founding the Stark Relief Foundation shortly after the events in New York in an effort to assist in the damages left behind and practically funding the entire rebuild of Midtown personally. It made her worry for him as she saw the guilt that readily plagued the man and she wondered frequently if she could manage to sneak past his AI and help out. She doubted it, but she would certainly look into it later, it wasn't fair for Tony to take on the entire responsibility and become the verbal soundboard for those angry with the group's actions…specifically Senator Stern and a very vocal Secretary Ross.
Clint had been on the farm for a little more than a month and during that time he had been pushing her harder than he and Nat had two years previously in an effort to get her back to where she was and break through the plateau in her fitness and recovery. He had also started teaching her about ways to identify other targets and their weaknesses by using the Avengers team as his models and it had made both of them laugh after Alice had gotten so frustrated that she drew weird amounts of facial hair and other things on the cut outs.
When she dropped next to him he glanced at his stopwatch and smirked at her, walking his way to the board and copying the time there so she could see it herself.
"Damn…I was so close to making that a better jump." Alice panted as she placed her hands on her hips, drawing air deeper into her lungs. "I got stuck on the cables again."
"You're getting better at picking out where your faults are," Clint nodded as he turned back to her with a water bottle in hand and she took it with a grateful smile and a nod. "You're not engaging your core enough to tighten those turns and propel yourself forward. The entire course is dedicated to your core; you let it go for a second you lose time."
"Tell that to my abs," Alice laughed breathily as she leaned back to look up at the course once more. She wore a cropped hoodie with the sleeves taped at her elbows to prevent them from falling down her arms and a pair of three-quarter length leggings, her feet and hands wrapped and taped to give her better stability – her hair pulled back in another messy bun and a scarf wrapped tightly almost like a headband to prevent the strands from flicking sweat into her eyes. She took another gulp of water before breathing through her nose in an attempt to regulate her breathing. "I think I need to build my shoulders up more – while I was cutting the top turns I felt like they were going to give out on me."
"We'll add it into the schedule, but we need to make sure we're keeping variety," Clint advised with a nod, "Your mutation lets you adjust easier, but we don't want to cause any damage and have to rebuild it again."
"True enough," She sighed softly before looking up when she saw a shadow at the door. In the entry way of the barn stood Ian, the man waving awkwardly at the two before stepping in when Alice waved him over.
"Sorry to interrupt, guys," He began with a small smile, "Alice these came in for you and I didn't want to go through them unless they were important."
She smiled and took the mail, glancing at each one and nodding slowly. "Mostly bills. We should be getting a larger shipment of hay in soon and Dorsey sent us the bill early. We normally pay him when he comes in – this one is for feed and you can go ahead with that one since we got that shipment on Tuesday and this one can be invoiced out." She handed each back before tossing the non-important ones on the side and smiling. "Thanks Ian…for everything."
"Well if it was up to me you'd still be in the house taking it easy, but it's clear that this is the way to go."
"Damn right!"
Both glanced at Clint who had stepped off to the side to reset the agility course, making it different so that when Alice went at it again she would have to actively focus on how to get through it. Ian shook his head before looking back at his employer and friend only to jump when she sent him a meaningful stare, "How's everything else?"
"I get the feeling you're not talking about the farm."
"Right you are," She smirked as she took another swig from her water bottle, "So…?"
The man blushed brightly, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh please," She waved her hand flippantly, "I see how you eye Dan, it's not a secret and trust me you'll get absolutely no shit from me about it."
"But…I work with him!"
"So?"
Ian stared at the woman, expression poleaxed, "I am strict about non-employee relationships. That would make me a hypocrite."
"Can I be brutally honest with you?"
"It's never stopped you before," he snorted wryly.
Alice shot him a playful look before sighing, "As one of two leading authorities in this world on waiting too long and not taking chances, don't let it pass you by if you have the power to do something about it. I'm not going to fire you just because you're a gay man, Ian."
"That's a bit much."
"Am I wrong?" Alice inquired, genuinely curious and when he shook his head bashfully she smiled. "I don't just hire people based on their record, their race or what their preferences are and certainly not to merely claim I'm an equal opportunity employer. I hired you because you were the most qualified for the job I needed to fill. It wasn't because you were black and it certainly wasn't because you're gay, it was because you stood out against other candidates because you had what I was looking for and I haven't been wrong about you. And you became my friend afterwards…Dan is a good man and you'd look good together." She offered him a soft look as she took his hands in hers, "No matter what happens outside of the farm, know you both will always have a place here."
The man quickly wiped his eyes before returning his hands to hers and offering her a wide smile, "That's…the best news I've gotten in a long time. I came out a few years ago to my parents and they haven't really spoken to me since – just the occasional phone call, but it's not the same."
"As much as this is my home, Ian, it's yours as well and if anything happens to me where I'm called away on a more permanent basis this place will be left to you and Dan."
"Alice…!"
"It's in your contract," She winked. "Pay attention to the small print next time, yeah?"
The man shook his head and placed his hands on his hips as a bright smile overtook his features and he watched as she sashayed away from him and back to Clint and talking animatedly with him. Ian decided to heed her advice and sighed softly, a smile still in place as he left the barn with a pep in his step that hadn't been there before.
"That was nice what you said to him," The archer nodded as they watched him walk away and Alice watched him with a fond smile on her face.
"It's all true too…he's a good guy and he doesn't deserve half the shit that happens to him just because he can't change who he is and who he loves. That's no way to live and if I can give him comfort and somewhere where he can feel safe, then I know I've done my part."
Clint smiled widely at the shorter woman, throwing his arm around her shoulders and tugging her into his side, ignoring her tensing muscles and ridged stance before feeling her release. He had been pushing her boundaries and touching her whenever he could as a way to desensitize her to the sensation and instead reinforcing a positive response to touch. She had been doing well with her recuperation, but Clint wanted to make sure she was on the mend before he cleared her for any type of missions. He was aware she had been keeping council with someone over the last few weeks and it hadn't escaped his notice that whenever he mentioned it she would shrug and change the subject. He let her have it, but decided to step in if it became a problem.
"You're good to the bone," He teased and smiled wider when she wrapped an arm around his back in a returned one-sided hug, "Who would've thought – the legendary Alice Alexander, daughter of a Colonial Major General during the time of all things nasty and oppressive is such a revolutionary and modern thinker?"
Alice snorted, craning her neck to look up at the man, "You're hilarious, no really…it's a good thing your covers were never for comedy because you'd be forced into early retirement."
Clint threw his head back and laughed as he unwrapped his arm from around the woman's shoulders and allowing her to step away from him. She rolled her eyes at him fondly before scooping the chalk dust from the bowl off to the side of the course and smacking her hands together to get a good coat on her exposed skin.
"Ready for round two?"
"Whenever you are," Alice nodded before bracing herself and getting ready to run the course once more. Clint smiled and made a show of resetting the timer and pressing go and Alice was off like a shot from a gun.
-0-
Laura Barton – though a dear friend to the mutant – was terrifying when crossed.
She and Clint had, of course, worked through a meager breakfast of protein bars and through lunch with no intention of stopping and now they had a very mad, very stern matriarch glaring at both of them like they were her own children; her actual children – by the way – were giggling off to the side about how their aunt and father were currently getting the third degree, though were clever enough to not let their mother catch them. Laura Barton's ire was not to be trifled with and her entire family knew that when her rare temper did rear its head, the best you could do to keep your dignity intact was to merely let it play out. As such, Alice couldn't remember the last time she had been read the riot act.
With a stiff finger at both of them she ordered them up the stairs to shower and to get dressed as she was sending them off on an errand. Alice found herself giggling like a child as she and Clint raced up the stairs, humor twisting their dirt-smudged and sweat-soaked features. After running the course a few more times the two had decided a sparring match would be a good way to gauge progress and Clint had been pleasantly surprised that her body was bouncing back so well. As the two continued smothering laughs they shared a conspiratorial look before bouncing into respective rooms to change out of their dirty work out clothes and get cleaned up.
Alice sighed softly as she exited the shower, glancing at herself in the mirror and looking at the woman who stared back at her. Her body had filled back in, though still on the slight side to what she normally looked like, but not unhealthy. Her cheeks were full despite the sharpness to her cheekbones and the slope of her chin where her dimples hid at the corners of her mouth. Her freckles were faded, though she knew time in the sun would change that and make them reappear with a vengeance and she pressed her fingers into her flushed skin – the healthy olive returning easily and she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her lips. She looked stronger than she used to – even with Clint and Natasha's initial training for the two years following the Invasion of New York – and she glanced down to see the still forming muscles. She sighed softly, her eyes tracking the scarred skin at her side and while mostly healed the grotesque twisting of the flesh made her remember the dull ache that seemed to continually throb along it. She shook her head, dispelling the sensation and snapping her attention into getting herself dressed.
She tugged on a cropped light weight sweater, the fabric soft against her skin and the front and back cut into a large V-neck and exposing the thin straps of her sports bra before pulling on a pair of high-waisted skinny jeans that perhaps had seen better days, Alice admitted to herself as she took in the worn fabric and holes at her knees before she tugged on a pair of combat boots. She stepped to the mirror that she had merely rested against the top of her dresser before pulling the damp strands into a messy bun and pulling a few strands free to frame her face and skipping from her room. Clint was waiting in the kitchen where he was apparently trying to get back into his wife's good graces.
Alice smiled fondly, a small quirking of her lips that didn't show her teeth, as she took in the sight. Laura Barton was very rarely actually mad at her husband and especially for small things like missing lunch. She was steadfast and loyal and she was perhaps the strongest woman Alice had ever known – in fact, she and every woman like her that had a man or woman in their lives that was a public servant of some kind. She was the type of woman that understood her husband and his job perhaps better than Alice did and she was his coworker for all intents and purposes and yet still stayed by his side without faltering. She loved the Bartons more and more over the last few years and she adored what they had together.
She was brought from her thoughts when Lila stepped next to her, tugging at her hand and looking up at her, "Auntie Alice, I made you something."
Alice looked down at her and smiled, allowing the child to lead her into the living room where a series of papers were stacked along with crumpled attempts littering the floor around the table. "What do you got for me?"
"I saw these flowers out in Silvy's pasture and reminded me of you!"
The mutant took the drawn picture that was eagerly handed to her with a smile, "Lila, this is beautiful!"
"I'm not as good as Coop…"
Her timid nature wasn't unusual to Alice as she realized early on the youngest Barton was a bit of a perfectionist and looked at her work critically. Though she loved both children equally, she saw most of herself in the youngest of Clint and Laura's children and understood her more introverted personality than her older brother did – for it was Cooper who had started calling her 'Aunt' first and after a few weeks Lila had followed suit. Cooper was extroverted and astoundingly self-assured; though he was patient and kind, but it certainly tended to rub his younger sister wrong some days and those were the days that Alice did not envy her friends.
"You don't have to be as good as anyone," Alice told the young girl as she held the picture close and kneeling in front of the child, "Did you do your best?" When Lila nodded slowly the mutant's smile widened, "Then that's what's important. No one is perfect, but we all do the best we can and sometimes it works out…other times it doesn't, but that should never stop you from always putting in the best effort you can."
"Is that what daddy is doing with you?"
"Yeah…I got hurt really bad and your dad is helping me be better so that I can protect my special people."
Lila's face pinched, "Are we your special people?"
"Of course you are," Alice smiled before she pulled the younger girl to her and earning her a squeal of surprise and a peel of laughter for her effort as the mutant peppered kisses on her cheeks. "You and Coop are my very, very special people."
"You're my special person too," Lila murmured with a blush as she kicked her feet bashfully and Alice smiled softly, her heart swelling with emotion that beat steadily against her chest and she pulled the smaller of the Barton children into a tight hug and earning a small giggle for her effort.
Alice loved children and had always wanted children of her own, but she knew the likelihood of it ever happening was slim at best. The mutant didn't delude herself into considering possibilities that weren't open for her and the selfish part of her knew she couldn't bear if her offspring didn't inherit her X-gene – to watch as that child aged and passed on would kill her. Could she adopt? Certainly, but she wasn't even fully sure that she could be a good mother to anyone let alone a child that would never outlive her. She would never wish her mutation upon her worst enemy as immortality came with a significant price and one that she was sure no one thought of when they sought it out. It had allure to it, certainly, and Alice would be a liar if she didn't see the benefits to effective immortality, but she knew that there were variables no one thought of. She had never wanted to be immortal – or seemingly so – and she had been very accepting of death that night in 1778, but death had been stolen from her and in its place left her with something she couldn't even begin to understand. Becoming reclusive had taught her many things in regards to her mutation and after Seamus, she had forcibly learned others.
Her arms tightened slightly around the child in her arms at the thoughts and she swore she would do anything to ensure that her friends and their children would always be protected – no matter how long she had them in their lifetimes.
"Hey, you ready to go?"
Alice looked up to see both Laura and Clint watching the scene of their youngest clinging to the mutant and the deep lines that had crested her features. Just as soon as he had noticed them they disappeared as she untangled herself from the young Barton and smiling at her before pressing a kiss to her cheek that had the child squealing in exasperation at the show of affection and earning a wider smile from the mutant. Pulling away fully Alice nodded her head to Clint before offering a more sheepish smile to Laura who only shot her a knowing look in reply before herding her daughter out of the living room as the mutant and her husband stepped out into the warm Virginia air.
"You know," Alice broke the silence between them as she glanced at the archer, "I'm actually pretty excited to get away from the farm for a bit."
"I'm sure you are," Clint nodded with a smile. "We're also stopping by the hardware store…the stairs on the back patio could use some work."
The mutant threw her head back and laughed, "A man after my own heart. It's a shame you're married, Barton."
"Oh, don't start that game," The archer laughed good-naturedly and enjoying the slight ribbing from the shorter woman. "Laura will find out and we're both dead meat…the kids will get everything and my office will never get finished."
Alice turned her head to look at him fully, "You still haven't finished that project?"
Clint shrugged his shoulders before offering her a smirk, "Well I got a call from a friend about another friend in need of help and I jumped at it…besides, cleaning up your house is a hell of a lot more fun than working on my own."
Alice shot him an amused look before leaning her head back against the seat, "If you had never been employed with S.H.I.E.L.D…what would you have wanted to do?"
The archer considered the question for a few moments as he drove. The two had loaded into the Chevy pick-up truck that Alice used around the farm to help move equipment to and from different areas as needed. It was old, but sturdy and Alice enjoyed the look of the old truck with chipped paint. It added character, she had argued when Steve had commented that she could easily afford a nicer car – and she had told him that a Volkswagen did not count as a nicer car an argument that would forever rage between the two friends. Granted, Alice had a nicer car – a small black Hyundai – but she only used it when she was traveling longer distances. When she was driving to and from town or around the area she took the truck. After a few minutes of silence in which Clint thought about what he had wanted to do he shrugged.
"Not sure. My brother and I were orphaned young so we ran away and joined a circus before we ever really had time to consider what we'd do if we ever made it far enough to be adults. But I think I'd be a hair stylist or a musician, as much as I love contracting I have a hard time keeping the deadlines."
Alice hummed, "The circus, huh?"
"Where do you think half of your moves are coming from?" Clint smirked, "I spent a lot of time with the trapeze artists and they taught me a lot in regards to being able to move…well them and the contortionists, but I never was able to build flexibility like that." He fell silent once more, hands drumming on the steering wheel when a Led Zeppelin song broke through the speakers. "You're picking up on it fast…it took me years."
The mutant shrugged, leaning her head back into the seat and sighing softly, "I never had formal training, but I knew enough to get my way out of difficult situations. How do you think I avoided Nat so long in Boston?"
"True," The man shrugged with an amused look on his face, "what would you do if you could be anything?"
The mutant shrugged, not taking much time to think about the question, "I dunno…Growing up I was expected to marry into a wealthy family and carry on my husband's legacy. After I died in 1778 I didn't think I could be anything…"
"What about now?"
"Now?" When he nodded she sighed softly, "I don't know…I enjoy being a nurse – I always have. Maybe I'll go back to doing that after some time. I need to let some years stretch still, just to give myself a reasonable excuse to get back into it and forge another resume."
Clint glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, watching as she kept her eyes studiously focused out the front window, her eyes clouding over and her look faraway. It was in this moment that he realized that the mutant beside him was much more complicated than she ever allowed people to see. Shaking his head, the archer smiled over at her knowing she wouldn't see it unless she looked, but hoping to convey the emotion correctly all the same, "Well whatever you do, you know that we're going to be happy for you."
"You all seem so convinced that I should retire," She remarked, turning her gaze to meet his smile once again and she shrugged. "Maybe I should…but I can't…not until I find him."
"In the end it's all up to you," Clint said after a moment and drawing Alice's stare once more at the shift in his tone. Despite the drumming of his hands on the steering wheel to the rock song on the radio, his tone was suddenly very serious and she knew it was rare for the archer to go into full father mode with her. "I don't know who this guy is other than what Cooper's classwork indicates. He's in history books and then we find out that he's the longest running POW…taken and brainwashed."
"You're right," Alice sighed softly. "It's not the best running record, but –"
"That's not what I'm saying," The archer interrupted, blue eyes flashing. "I can't blame the guy, Al. I was brainwashed – hell, even Natasha had been brainwashed at one point – regardless, it's like being in the backseat with someone else at the wheel and I know you have some idea as to what that feels like. If your guy's situation was anything like that, I don't necessarily blame him for going into hiding at least until he's sure he can tell the difference between what's in his head and what's actually happening around him. He'd be better adjusted than Cap, but he's still a guy from the 1940s."
Alice felt a weight she hadn't realized she had been carrying lift from her chest and she offered her fellow Avenger a weak, but gratuitous smile. "Thank you…not everyone is going to be as understanding…or is as understanding."
"No they're not," he agreed with a nod. "But the ones who want the best for you will. I know what you get up to in that basement of yours and all I ask is that you're careful. With S.H.I.E.L.D gone you're able to work a little more freely but there are still other organizations out there that won't take kindly to you operating independently."
"Noted…do you have any suggestions?"
Clint's brow furrowed before he nodded, "I'll see what I can dig up, but I think your best bet is to get acquainted with mutants that are like you…you may have an easier time."
"No," Alice shook her head, "any of the mutants that I know are with Xavier and he won't approve of my independent work."
"I'll keep my feelers out…surely there's a mutant not associated with the X-men that would be willing to look the other way."
"You realize you're basically encouraging me to become a vigilante, right?" She said with an incredulous arch of her groomed brow and earning a smirk from the man.
"Maybe…maybe not…so long as long as I've got plausible deniability on my side, you do what you have to." He advised with a secretive smile and watched as the brunette nodded slowly in her understanding, "If our roles were reversed and it was me sitting in your seat…I'd do whatever it took to protect Laur and the kids…even if that meant becoming the bad guy. Besides, Laura was right…I doubt the world is going to be that cruel to you, Kit."
"It already has," She snorted, brushing the strands that escaped her bun from her face as she sighed. "I never thought you were a romantic, Clint."
The man shrugged, "It takes meeting the right person…once that happens it's kinda hard not to believe in it and Laura has proven time and time again that she's with me for however long I'm alive. Seems to be a good trade-out if you ask me."
Silence stretched between the two of them as the country roads disappeared to leave the small and quaint town of Winchester, Virginia. Alice considered Clint's words long after they stepped into the small grocery store that she preferred. The two continued to move around each other with an easy air and she hated to think about when the Barton family would leave her to continue working and healing, but to also give her an opportunity to focus on finding Bucky in her own way. She knew it was nearly selfish to purposely leave both Sam and Steve out of her own search, but she knew that they wouldn't approve of the methods she and Clint had spoken about. Clint had admitted that if he had been in her position he wouldn't hesitate to do whatever he had to do in order to ensure his family's safety and her resolve hardened. Despite knowing she could rely on Fury for information, she also knew that she would have to keep as many people out of her plans as possible. Alice decided in that moment that she would have to go at the entire thing alone and that included not using any of Clint's contacts.
Alice knew she had a lot of work to do and she knew that from here on out things were only going to become more difficult and especially if word ever got back to the other Avengers.
-0-
September 1770
New York City
The City had always seemed to be an organism that continuously seemed to grow and it was something that captured and captivated, but it was especially common to see immigrants coming into the port at New York Harbor and it was here Alice stood, her hazel eyes surveying the comings and goings of the colonists. She took special notice to people disembarking from a ship that had just docked and she allowed a small frown to tug her lips southward on the plane of her youthful features when she noticed men in red coats follow shortly after the few new colonists.
The redcoats were arriving on these shores in droves by the day and it had caused unnecessary amounts of tension and all stemming from the recent massacre in Boston that had shaken the very center of the growing colonies. Alice was no fool and her father had declared loudly the night previously at their family's dinner table that as soon as an opportunity presented itself, he would be joining those who believed in a free nation to revolution. Of course, Alice believed the same and when she had told her father as much he had supported her view and the two agreed that perhaps she should appear as a man more often than not in an effort to lead people to believing that her disguise was more of a fact rather than a ghost to be chased off before it could begin to form and despite the protests from her mother, older and younger sister. Her elder brother had merely watched the goings on at the table with a short detachment, his green eyes watching her fondly for she was closest with her elder brother, William Jr. who she affectionately called Will as their father preferred to be called Bill to those closest to him.
Shaking her head she turned her attention back to the people that made up the busy port. Some were conducting business as per usual, some perusing the wares and trying not to balk at the inflated prices and some were a little more nefarious in their intentions – hiding amongst the shadows and eyes lecherous. It was the last that Alice was keeping her eyes on in particular as she made her way through the sea of people, intentionally keeping her head down and allowing the tricorn hat to do its job in keeping her features from being recognizable.
She was born on these shores and yet she had found New York City to be stifling and thrilling in equal measure, but with the thought of revolution ruining the fragile balance she was more terrified than she would ever let on and she worried that her father and brother would become involved in something so much bigger than him despite the wishes of her mother and siblings. Moving with the flow of people, Alice came across her destination and allowed a small smile to grace her features and she quickly entered the tailor's shop. Inside she was unsurprised to find one Hercules Mulligan hemming a pair of trousers and doing so while tapping his foot to an unknown beat.
"You know if I didn't know you to be a tailor's apprentice I would almost be jealous about how seamless your stitch-work is."
The man looked up at her and allowed a wide grin to stretch across his handsome face, clearly unoffended and even humored by her jibe, "Well if it isn't my favorite cross-dresser." With a loud laugh as she slapped his arm halfheartedly, Hercules put down his latest acquisition and turned to look her over, "You look half-starved."
"Well," She shrugged slightly, "what excuse could I possibly offer you to have you drop the subject completely?"
"None that'll suffice this time," He acknowledged with a meaningful look as he passed her a part of his untouched lunch of what appeared to be assorted cheese and a recently cooled honeyed bun. "You eat that and I'll be right back with your stuff."
"Aye, aye!"
She watched as he disappeared behind another door located further to the back of the shop and allowed a gentle smile to tug at the corners of her lips. Hercules had become a fast friend for her, introduced by her father and brother as her father enjoyed the man's tailoring skills nearly as much as he enjoyed his humor and Will had easily befriended the man at the pub and reveled in battles long-past from their heritage. Hercules was an Irish immigrant and her family was Scottish by descent and both he and her brother had spoken fondly of their countries (Alice and her sisters had never been, but the mutant always dreamed of seeing the rolling hills of the Highlands and the castles that her brother and father described so intimately) and spoken ill of the British who had conquered both. It certainly helped that he had flattered her mother and sisters whenever they would stop by and it kept the nature of their rebellious thoughts stemmed for the time being.
The tailor's apprentice had a loud and flamboyant personality and it had drawn the brother-sister duo in like moths to a flame; the three had been unable to separate themselves ever since. He was a tall man, standing easily taller than her five foot that seemed to make him appear as an impenetrable tower, and when he wanted to be, Hercules could be just as imposing. His eyes were like warmed chocolate on a cold winter's day and his voice echoed like his very namesake – a low baritone that rumbled in his chest like thunder and it always reminded her of home in a way that her brother did with his lighter tenor. She adored Hercules as if he was her own blood and she couldn't ever ask for a better friend than the overzealous tailor.
"You know, Al, you really need to eat more." His rumbling and accented voice echoed from the back room as if he was reading her very thoughts from her mind, "I swear you get any more thin, I'm gonna have a hard time hemming your clothes."
She smirked around a mouthful of honeyed sweet bread and called back to him, "You nag me any more Hercules I'm gonna have to start calling you mother. It's bad enough she still wants me to be a proper lady." He chuckled good-naturedly at the jab as he reappeared with a bundle of clothes packaged neatly to make it easier for her to carry. He was significantly older than her, the age gap between him and she would put her thirteen years his junior as Hercules was thirty years of age and merely three years her brother's senior. She bit into a piece of cheese as she rolled her eyes, "and I swear between you, Mary, Catherine and Will I'm gonna have a thousand variations of my nickname."
"Well I could call you Eliza, but I doubt you'd want me crooning that namesake at you considering how much Ms. Sarah, Mary and Catherine use it."
"And you'd get a decent sized bruise for your trouble. I hate that name and you know it."
Hercules grinned, "At least my nickname for you is gender neutral so I can call use it whenever I want." He watched as she took another large bite of the bun in her hand, chewing slowly as if thinking of her retort before swallowing and offering him a shrug. "Regardless, I doubt you came to talk semantics…you have any news?" Without looking up from the cube of cheese in between her thumb and pointer fingers she handed him the note and shrugged again.
"You know just as well as I do that the kettle is boiling over at this point and it's only going to get worse," Her alto informed him tartly as she bit into the cube, "My network can only do so much with the little amount of pull it already has."
Hercules regarded her for a moment before plopping heavily on the stool across from her, "You aren't kidding. It's bad enough blood's already been spilled. Have you told your father or Will your intentions yet?"
"That I'd like to go to Boston to expand my super-secret network that they barely know about since I brush it off like all these notes are pen-pals I've made in the last two years – ?"
"Alright, I get the picture," Hercules sighed as he scratched at his scalp, "It isn't a bad idea though…you and Will have been inseparable for as long as I've known your family. Have you seen Tabitha for your lessons recently?"
"I spoke to her this morning…she said she'd have your herbs later this week."
He shot her a knowing look, "It's only a matter of time before someone finds out, Al…you're dabbling in dangerous waters and it's not something I'll be able to help you with. Witchcraft," He snorted, "I never thought I'd see the day were a young woman like yourself would put so much stock into the devil's work."
"It's not witchcraft, Hercules, it's botany…science!" She implored meaningfully after she took another bite of the offered cheese, "It's been around for hundreds of years already and don't you dare lecture me about what God would think…he had a garden didn't he?" When the man didn't make to argue her point she sighed tiredly, "besides…with the amount of loyalists around it's been difficult for me to even meet with her. I don't need any added attention and neither does she frankly."
Hercules mulled over her point before sighing, "Look, I'm meeting today with a bunch of guys that are already joining the rebels…I know, if nothing else, we're gonna end up at the Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan. It would truly be something if Alexander happens to show up."
"I get it," Alice rolled her eyes. "I'll see what I can do about convincing him to go. You see, he was supposed to be going to see the Bursar today to see if he could acquire an accelerated course…it'd have been a shame to run into Aaron Burr." When Hercules laughed, the young woman frowned. "Mother has been considering us as a potential match for over a year and it's disgusting…" She stuck her tongue out at the tailor's apprentice when he snorted before playing with a piece of cheese on the plate in front of her, "say you're able to introduce Alex to the people you're hoping to…what does that mean for me?"
"Well," the man hummed as he stared unblinkingly at her, "potentially you could go up to Boston and reinforce the network you may or may not be corresponding with on a regular basis. I'm also certain there are a few men up that way who would happily take you under-wing and get you situated."
Alice eyed the man with a growing scowl, "Are you saying that I'd be a bar wench?"
"No!" Hercules cried, his large hands raised in front of him as a defense to the glare she had leveled him with, "No, of course not, Al. I may or may not know a group of men that may or may not be calling themselves the Sons of Liberty. I may or may not also know one of the men who are trying to weave that group's ties into the city and I may or may not know exactly who to point you in the direction of."
"And say these men may or may not exist and operate in Boston…what's to say they'd be willing to take me on? Surely you don't expect me to maintain the looks of a man regularly?"
Another pass at his scalp had Hercules looking up at her from where he bowed his head, "Decision is yours Pip and if you want to reveal your more feminine nature, then I'll leave that to your discretion and in your hands. War's brewing and we're going to need every inch we can get. You've got that botany of yours, which will definitely be helpful, but that network of yours is infallible. Just…think everything over and see if you can get Alex there tonight."
"If I see him, I'll pass on the word…If war is truly our only option then both Will and my father will want me in the safest place. If you can insist that these men are trustworthy and will help then I'm sure they'd be less reluctant of me heading to Boston."
Hercules smiled, "I think I can manage that."
"Thank you Hercules…just stay safe. I know there are more and more red coats demanding your services and if you're going to join up please just keep yourself and the guys safe."
"I will. I can promise you they'll see themselves through with a little bit of help and knowing there's a fiery little cross-dresser who'll beat them senseless if they don't come home." When her brow arched daringly he smiled widely and quickly amended his statement, "Including this man."
"That's all I can ask…Make sure you write…in the code we created."
"I will."
Alice smiled tensely, her tailored clothes tucked underneath her arm and her tricorn hat adjusted appropriately on her head, "I'll see you soon, Herc."
The man nodded politely and she ducked back into the ebb and flow of the streets, keeping her head down and making her way back to her family's home. She and Alex were the same person and she knew that if she didn't make an appearance in her home sooner rather than later then her mother would suspect she was up to nefarious schemes that would go against the very fabric of her womanhood. Alice would rather have Ms. Abagail standing over her and smacking her hand with a ruler than her mother questioning her and she ducked her way along shortcuts she and her older brother had discovered upon their many adventures over the years. She knew that if she allowed her mother to believe she was home, it would make it much easier for her to sneak out once again that evening.
Hercules had been adamant that she make an appearance and she knew it was now or never to make her own mark on history. If for the better she didn't know, but she knew that from here on out, things were going to move much quicker as tensions continued to rise and the seventeen year old knew that she would have to work on convincing her parents to allow her to move to Boston, but she would consider that after she attended this meeting
-0-
Mid-July 2014
Stark Tower, New York City
"Oh, Wonderland!"
Alice breathed a laugh through her nose from where she leaned over a table in the small lab she was occupying in Stark Tower – though Tony was still in the process of renaming the tower for the Avengers and trying even harder to convince the rest of the team to take up residence there. Alice had become a nearly full-time resident and had left her farm to Ian and Dan for the time being, packing as much of her wardrobe and trinkets as she could (including her pictures from World War II) and Rumsfeld and heading up to New York at the billionaire's request. She had left instructions for the two men to decorate how they saw fit and if they wanted any of her things moved (as she saw herself staying at the tower for the foreseeable future) to let her know and she would have it taken care of. Alice didn't have any specific attachment for many of the belongings that she had left at the farm; the important ones were still in some of the boxes just a few floors above.
Her apartment in the tower was a quaint four bedrooms with large living room and open floorplan that actually looked almost like her Boston apartment and she was even happier to find that Tony had given her a workspace in one of his labs and allowed her full use of Jarvis. The AI had been particularly helpful as she worked through Bucky's file. It had been a quiet project she had been working on with Sam, who had taken up occupancy as her roommate for the foreseeable future – not that she minded the company despite Tony's grumbled complaints whenever the man was around – and Steve had taken the third bedroom because he admitted to not sleeping on the best of nights and Alice forced him to stay with her, her mother-hen instinct kicking into overdrive. She had worked an herbal tea into his nightly routine, one he recognized from the 40s as her own personal recipe, in an effort to help him sleep – she had guilted him into it with relative ease by saying that if he was half asleep when they found Bucky she was leaving him locked in the tower and he had acquiesced without much fight after that. All of this was done while the other Avengers ran point on their super hero business, her stance firm with her staying in the tower to offer backup support whenever necessary with Maria and Jodi, who she had gotten on rather well with now that she wasn't a consistent ball of anxiety. She wasn't quite ready to jump back into the field with the rest of the team and she had her own avenging to do – using the times the Avengers were out to finalize her own contacts and run her own scans on HYDRA bases.
The trick was keeping both Maria and Jodi from learning much about what she was doing and had overridden her clearance through Jarvis so that she would remain at a higher clearance than both women. She had felt bad at first, but the AI didn't seem to take it personally, nor had he alerted Tony to her late night activities so she had pushed her guilt to the back of her mind.
Currently, she was in the process of running a program that would help her locate the next base the Avengers were planning to hit in the coming weeks, her job was merely to hack into their mainframe and run surveillance until Natasha returned from her solo mission in Russia – Alice had managed to weasel out of the woman that she was dismantling what remained of the Red Room and had been monitoring the former-spy from the sidelines, leaving communication open should Natasha need her. While that was processing she had also been running the formula for the serum that Zola had created against the vague and incomplete notes she had managed to find of Erskine's original formula used on Johan Schmidt and it was incredibly slow going since she truly didn't have much to go on in the first place. She was honestly about to cave and ask Steve for a blood sample just to get her answers faster and she knew the patriot had been anxious to the results as well.
Alice's main concern is what the implications could mean for Bucky. From what she gathered of the super-soldier serum based on Steve's own account of Erskine's formula was that it amplified qualities that already existed within the subject. For Steve it had been his strong sense of justice, righteousness and his large heart; for the Red Skull it had been his malice, intellect and overall bad-guy-juju – a scientific take to be certain and had earned her snorts of amusement from both of her current roommates when they had been speaking about it a few nights previously in various positions about their shared living room. Alice knew that Bucky didn't hold any traits similar to the Red Skull, with the exception of the soldier's own intellect which he had proven time and time again during the 40s, but she wondered at what other traits had been highlighted if he was truly given a version of the serum that mirrored Erskine's.
Rumsfeld breathed a woof at her feet as if reminding her that the billionaire was looking for her and just as she managed to straighten her posture just as Tony came dancing into her small lab.
"You know, answering a call wouldn't be completely remiss considering I've given you an apartment, a lab and allowed your dogs to crash."
She quirked a brow at him and smirked, knowing he wasn't only referring to the animal curled at her feet, "Rumsfeld is the bestest boy there is, aren't you bubba?"
The dog didn't move – with the exception of the steady thump of his tail as it beat against the floor in a wag – as he huffed another woof, his large brown eyes staring up at her as if acknowledging the praise but unwilling to lift his head from where it rested between his large paws.
Rumsfeld was a Saint Bernard and Scotch Collie mix and weighed nearly 140lbs (63.5kg) and when she had been looking for a dog she had asked what one seemed to be the hardest to adopt out. Rumsfeld was stubborn and didn't seem to like many people, but Alice had taken a shine to him merely because she could see that he merely needed a home where he could have more freedoms than a small kennel would have allowed him. He was massive and that intimidated a lot of potential adopters, but the mutant had spent all of ten minutes with him before asking for the adoption papers. It had been a long road, but with references like Captain America and Tony Stark her application process hadn't been a complete nightmare. He looked more Scotch Collie than Saint Bernard, but it was impossible to mistake given his size and build; his coat texture very much like his collie side. His name had been Sergeant and it appeared that he hated it nearly as much as she did and she had spent a great amount of time going through names and testing them before it seemed they both settled on Rumsfeld.
"Yeah, he's great." Tony shrugged before narrowing his eyes, "What's he doing in the lab?"
"He always hangs out with me in my own lab in Virginia, why wouldn't I bring him with me?" Alice countered with a smirk. "He's well trained and just likes to be included…don't you boy?"
Another soft woof was her answer and she turned a triumphant smile to the dark haired man who merely shot her an exasperated look in return.
"I have a question for you, kinda why I came down here in the first place."
"Sure?"
Tony observed the woman before him for a moment. Alice was dressed in a navy blue oversized crewneck sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up her forearms and showing the tattoo on her arm and a pair of bicycle shorts and bare feet, her hair having grown out slightly and was pulled into a low bun at the back of her head with an obnoxiously bright orange scrunchie to keep most of it out of her face. She looked the most comfortable he had ever seen her even with the large frames perched on her nose, but the dark circles and sunken cheekbones gave way to the horrors she experienced behind closed doors and perhaps that was why he found her working in the lab at 5am. He was no stranger to anxiety and PTSD and because of it had spent many nights in his own lab tinkering away at a new project, but to see it reflected in the mutant begged his attention. She had briefly mentioned what had occurred in DC as to her involvement, offering to help him douse the PR fire that had sprung up as the Triskelion burned along the Potomac, but he had waved her off telling her to focus on getting better.
The two of them often found themselves sitting at the bar in the penthouse during the early hours of the morning, bouncing new ideas off of each other and explaining what they were working on, but in all of it Tony still hadn't found the strength to ask her how she was doing. But after asking Jarvis what she had been working on and the AI being strangely mysterious, the billionaire had decided it was time to start asking questions.
"You've been a nurse, how long?"
"Broad question if I've ever heard one," She mused mirthfully and shooting the man a smile, her eyes arching behind the large frames perched on her nose. Did she needed glasses normally? No, but the longer she forced herself to stay up – the more she strained her eyes – the glasses helped immensely and she may or may not have dumped them into a coating to cancel out blue light so she could stare at the computer longer than legally should be allowed. "I was treating people unofficially since the 1800s and through a few wars here and there…then got a formal education from Bellevue in 1914, graduated from their accelerated program in 1916 and then served both World War I and World War II…stayed a nurse on and off since, why?"
Tony's brows arched up his forehead before he ran a hand through the dark strands making them stand at strange angles, "Did you ever consider becoming a doctor?"
"No…why?"
Her slow answer brought a poleaxed expression to his face, "Seriously? With how much you know about medicine and with your experience…why wouldn't you?"
Alice threw her head back in a sigh that expressed her exasperation, "Clearly, you've been talking to Clint." She then returned her attention to Tony, removing her glasses and rubbing her eyes, "I never thought to, honestly. I was trying to stay hidden and keep myself off of anyone's radar. Didn't take time to consider an education on top of the one I already had."
"Do you want to?"
"Want to go back to school?" When he nodded she sighed softly, "I don't have time to sit in classes and I wouldn't know the first thing about what I'd want to study."
"How's your knowledge of anatomy and physiology?"
"If I wasn't bragging?" He nodded and she offered him an indulgent smile, "impressive given the utter lack of formal education. They didn't call me Witch Doctor Alexander for shits and giggles…but I don't think that'd be enough."
"Why don't you add an engineering focus on top of it?"
Alice's eyes narrowed, "Where is this coming from?"
The man had the decency to look abashed before he shrugged, "I think it'd be a good distraction for you, honestly. I can tell you're going through shit, it's not hard to because I go through that same shit…pretty easy to tell in others." Alice quirked a brow at him as he continued, "I was also thinking about how having another engineer on the team would be beneficial…considering you hack for us for a living now. Maybe if you want to retire I could use your expertise...hire you on staff as it were"
"It'd be less lonely you mean?"
"Would you think less of me if it was for a selfish need to bounce ideas off of someone who actually gives a flying monkey while in the process?"
Alice's smile was soft, "No, I certainly wouldn't think less of you Tony…as a matter of fact – and don't you dare let this go to your head – I respect you quite a lot. You do a lot for us that doesn't get noticed and I really do appreciate what you do. Do you think me getting actual degrees would help take some of the pressure off of you?"
"I'm not suggesting it to take pressure off of me," Tony frowned openly at her and leaning back on the workbench where Alice had a few unfinished projects. "I'm suggesting it because I think you're wasting the brain you have. You could literally do anything you wanted, but you coast. With how smart you actually are, I'd bet half my fortune you could blast through a doctoral program in less than a year." When she went to comment he raised a finger at her accusingly, "And no I'm not actually making a bet on a sure thing, Wonderland."
"You're incorrigible."
"I do my best," He chirped, "shall we head upstairs for our annual nightcap?"
"Sure…there's some stuff I'd like to pitch to you I can't think of a better way than with some alcohol."
"Oh no," Tony guffawed mockingly, "nothing good ever comes from that."
She nodded sagely, "You're not wrong." She then turned to her dog and patted her bare thigh as she turned the lights off in her lab. "Hence me asking while we drink."
"You're still more fun to drink around than Cap," Tony remarked with a shrug and eyeing the dog as it trotted next to them, "at least you get drunk."
"I think he gets just as frustrated about not being able to get drunk if that makes you feel better."
The billionaire snorted as they stepped into the elevator and taking it to his penthouse, his eyes straying briefly to her dog who sat obediently at her side before sighing in what seemed like reluctant acceptance. While she and Tony weren't nearly as close as she and Steve, Alice had great respect for Tony and they had shared interests. The patriot was smart, no doubt about that, but he didn't get science in the way that Tony or Bruce did, so whenever she would talk about what she was working on she had to go to great lengths to dumb it down for him slightly.
"What year?"
She quirked a brow and he made a sweeping motion with his hand to showcase the bottles of alcohol behind the bar in the penthouse. She snickered before answering, "Auchentoshan 1978."
"Going smooth for tonight?" Tony inquired with a quirked brow, "good news come from whatever you're working on?"
"God no," Alice huffed as she flopped onto the couch, Rumsfeld quickly finding home next to her and flopping his head into her lap. She pet him mindlessly as she leaned her head back, "I'm not getting anywhere on any of it."
"Have anything to do with your metal-armed-assassin?"
She knew that the billionaire was aware of the situation with Bucky in the loosest of terms, mostly because she didn't feel the need to hide it like Steve seemed to want to. The two had argued about it and she had to quickly remind him that Jarvis literally recorded every bit of data on the computers and had them in a file for Tony to access whenever he wanted. She had won her argument quickly afterwards by saying that if they didn't at least let the man know that they were working on it as a side project then he would nose his way into it unapologetically later. Needless to say she had been right and she had shot the patriot a look that clearly said I-told-you-so when Tony had begun asking a hundred questions about DC and S.H.I.E.L.D's collapse. She had given him an abridged version that satisfied the billionaire while also making sure he understood it was personal for both her and Steve. Tony had backed off for the most part, only throwing a few digs at them when he was feeling petulant, but otherwise didn't needle into it too much.
"Unfortunately," She admitted and thanking him briefly for the glass, ignoring when he shot a dirty look at her dog and flopping on the other side of the couch so he could look at her. "When Nat dumped everything for S.H.I.E.L.D and HYDRA I was able to get my hands on some of Zola's notes that I was able to compile to the file that she managed to secure for Steve. He was given some kind of injections that seem to mirror the super-soldier serum given to Steve, but it's hard to tell since Erskine's research literally doesn't exist." She pulled a draft of the scotch and sighed, "Makes my job incredibly hard."
Tony was silent for a long while, sipping at his own glass and frowning at the table set between the large couch. "You think your boy is juiced up on serum?"
"It's possible," She nodded as she ran a hand over Rumsfeld's large head and scratching his ears earning a pleased groan for her efforts, "fighting him was like trying to stop a moving bullet train and felt like it too."
"The amount of couple's therapy you're gonna have to do and you're not even technically together."
Had she been Steve she would have probably taken offense to the comment, but knew it was coming from a place of humor and so offered the man a tired smile, "Nothing alcohol doesn't seem unable to fix just yet, so…"
Tony watched her for another moment before running a hand through his hair – dirty from working on one of his own projects, "Y'know, I'm shit at this stuff, but if you need someone to talk to about…well any of it…you know where to find me. But I'll dig into dad's old files and see if I can't find anything that may or may not help."
"You're a good man, Tony, thank you." She smiled at him, "Don't forget that that's a two way street."
"I'll do my best to remember that."
"Good, now how do you feel about adding software to some of the team's suits…"
End Note: Eehehehehehe, there's a LOT in this chapter and honestly...all of it is filler. I wanted a chapter to kinda show you all where Alice is, how she's doing and what her plans are...how she's dealing with Bucky's situation and what she plans to do with it. With that said, this officially draws an end to the Winter Soldier timeline and for the next few chapters we'll have a little lead up before we enter Age of Ultron...and with it the announcement of my first surprise for this story. Feel free to take guesses as to what you think it is because I CANNOT tell you how pumped I am to be writing this teeny, tiny crossover bit ;)
HINT: He shows up next chapter and may or may not fall into the mutant spectrum ;)
Also, if you're trying to find a reference for what Alice's dog, Rumsfeld, may look like - I based him off of Buck - look wise - from the more recent version of the movie Call of the Wild that was released early this year (I think it was January/February) with Harrison Ford. Also, if you look up his breed (being a mix of St. Bernard and Scotch Collie) on google it pops right up, but he looks more Scotch Collie than St. Bernard...if that makes sense. In real life, he's based off of a dog I pet-sat for a long, long time as well as my dog-niece Cocoa, who was hit by a car earlier this week. So, this chapter is a nod at perhaps the sweetest dog I'd ever known and so Rumsfeld was fully realized.
Anyway, thank you again to everyone who has taken time out to show love to this story be it through favorites, follows or reviews...I truly, truly appreciate each and every one of you as I'm still stuck in quarantine! I hope you all have a wonderful week and if you haven't already I cannot plug simmerandcry's story which includes a ploy-romance between her OC, Avery, and our two favorite WWII veterans. She's weaving an incredible story and you'd be missing out if you didn't already go read it!
Flow like water, friends!
Eirlys xoxo