Chapter 19

Loki was on the Bridge looking at some of the readouts while a certain Carol Danvers, owner of the most annoying Flerken to plague his life, piloted the ship Earth-bound. Said Flerken was currently perched on the co-captains chair licking his paws. Loki shot it a glare but then asked after observing the readouts "We've increased speed. Did you do something to the engines?"

"I recalibrated them and made them compatible in the last few days with my energy signature. It should cut the travel time in half now," She proudly told the trickster.

"You should be happy," Carol smirked as she looked to the right at Loki. "You don't have to be a Hulk teddy bear once we reach Earth."

"Oh, one can only hope," Loki's sarcasm was evident. He then flinched when the Bridge doors opened and said green monstrosity entered. It seemed Dr. Banner was having an off-day.

"Hulk come for Puny God," Hulk proclaimed as he entered and went straight for Loki.

"Now hold on here!" Loki backed up, protesting.

"Puny God help Hulk or Puny God get smashed," Hulk stated as he picked up Loki like a sack of potatoes.

"Fine fine, Puny God will help Hulk," Loki grumbled as he was dragged away.

Meanwhile back at the tower it was around noon when Tony woke up on the couch. His eyes opened slightly at the sounds that were coming from the kitchen but he wanted to shut them again when sunlight hit his face. He was too hungover for this.

"AH! Barnes, did you just seriously squirt hot milk on my arm?!" That sounded like his Rhodey complaining Tony mused as he tried to bury his face further in the cushions only to realize he was gripping something. Cracking open an eye he noted that he had been sleeping while snuggling a lamp like it was a plushie. How could he have not noticed that before….. Right….. Hangover.

"It's not like I got an extra arm," He heard as that must have been Barnes replying to Rhodey with some sass. It was weird, he'd never pegged those two for getting along. Tony frowned.

"Will you two hurry it up? She's getting fussy again," And that sounded like Happy, Tony thought. Which was strange since he'd made sure to trick Happy into taking a vacation a month back. And then the loud crying of a baby filled the room followed by scrambling feet along with Happy muttering "Now see what happened!"

Tony sat up at the crying which got the others' attention. "I see sleeping beauty is awake," Rhodes joked as he took in Tony's mused hair that was sticking up at very odd angles.

"Shut it Sourpatch," Tony grumbled and then held his head. "Why do I feel like I've been tackled by a linebacker? And why the hell is the coffee table in pieces on the floor?!" This caused Happy to cough nervously as he took the baby bottle James held out. Neither Rhodey nor James answered Tony's question and with a sigh Tony stood up and asked "Friday at least tell me there is coffee,"

"Hot and steaming boss," The AI answered as the coffee machine made a noise.

Before Tony could fully get up a blue bear was thrusted into his face. The billionaire looked down to see the kid holding up the bear. "You're giving me this?" Tony blinked in confusion. He thought the kid would still hate him given that yesterday didn't exactly go so well.

"Sir, I believe you are being loaned the bear until your hangover is cured," Vision stated as he phased through the floor, startling both Tony and the kid. "Apologies Sir and Young Master. I keep forgetting to use the door."

"Nothing phases me anymore," Happy muttered as he fed the baby, chuckling at the awful pun, while Rhodey told his friend that they had breakfast going. Tony meanwhile blinked as he took the offered bear. Had his kitchen, which he rarely used, become some sort of hotspot while he had been unconscious? Just what the hell transpired when he was unconscious and why was his coffee table broken. He never did receive an answer to that question.

The late breakfast atmosphere turned out to be quite light but back on the nondescript military base, the tension was very heavy in a particular room.

"Mister Rogers, I can't help you if you don't talk," A woman wearing a neat white blouse and a black pencil skirt said as she was tapping a notepad. She and the former Captain were sitting opposite from each other and it had been close to twenty minutes since anyone had said anything.

"I don't think I need your help Miss Cooper." Steve muttered finally as he kept his fingers laced together.

There was a twitch in her facial features at being called Miss, as her official title was Doctor. She had worked long and hard to attain that title, to be called Dr. Valerie Cooper, and yet here Captain America, former though, was. Calling her Miss since their session started. For now she'd chalk it up to his old fashioned ways and give him the benefit of the doubt.

"You won't know for sure if you don't talk," She kindly said.

"With all due respect Miss. You're appointed by the Accords council to assess us. I just can't feel you're on my side." Steve stated.

"You're right," Valerie stated. "I was appointed by the Accords and I'm not on your side. I'm not on anyone's side. My job is to remain impartial and I am good at it." She crossed her leg over the other and then added "Did you know I was the one that had the final say in who would take over your mantle? I'm the one that chose John Walker."

"Why would you choose that son of a b-?!" Steve shouted before he corrected himself and apologized. "I'm sorry ma'am. I shouldn't have used such language in front of you."

"Well that's one topic we can talk about," Valerie stated. "You're curious why,"

"I've met him on base. He didn't seem like a pleasant fellow," Steve admitted.

"Well neither are you," Valerie shrugged which caused Steve to gape at her. He was still gaping when she added "The whole reason we had to nominate a new Captain America was because you screwed up. However unpleasant John Walker might seem to you he is willing to play ball with the US interests. He's an ex-soldier, an enhanced individual and he has signed the Accords without hesitation."

"The Accords shouldn't have been suggested in the first place." Steve grit his teeth.

"Why do you think that?" Dr. Cooper asked as she jotted something down.

"Why? Isn't it obvious?" Steve asked. "Those that signed the Accords are bound to a governmental entity. It's like putting a leash on our activities."

"And you believe you should be leashless? The incidents in Laos and Sokovia. Neither governments had any idea you were even in their countries." Valerie asked. "Do you think you acted in their best interests? If they had been notified then evacuations would have proceeded much smoother."

"The Accords would tie us down!" Steve argued. "We could be out there doing so much good."

"Or causing so many deaths," Valerie stated as she stared the Super Soldier in the eye. "The Accords would have had you operate as any other governmental agency." Steve stared at her as she said this and she wondered just how far this man's stubbornness went. 'Had he developed a sort of god complex after being thawed out?' She mused but she couldn't be sure with just one session.

"Why don't we switch topics for a bit," Valerie suggested as she tapped her pen against her notepad. "Tell me about Abraham Erskine. Your life before the serum, your friends?"

Steve frowned for a moment at the sudden shift of topics but said "Dr. Erskine was a good man. He shouldn't have been killed like that."

"How did you get to know him?" Valerie asked.

"He approached me after I enlisted," Steve explained. "Well…. He helped me get enlisted to start. I was just a scrawny kid from Brooklyn before I met him."

"And why did you need someone to help you enlist?" Valerie asked with a raised brow.

"I just wanted to serve my country but my asthma kept getting me rejected," Steve admitted. "When the chance came I took it,"

"How did your family react?" Valerie then asked. "Weren't they relieved that you didn't have to ship out in the first place?"

"I didn't have any family anymore," Steve muttered. "My father walked out on my mother years ago and she died two years before the war started. Only Bucky and Rebecca remained."

"I know about Sergeant Barnes being your best friend but who was Rebecca?" Dr. Cooper was intrigued even as she didn't want to show it. This part was not mentioned in any history book after all.

"Rebecca Barnes. She was Bucky's younger sister and a spitfire of a gal," Steve actually laughed. "She threw a rolling pin at her brother's head when she found out we spent all our money on trying to win some gals some stuffed animals at the fair."

"Can we talk about Bucky for a bit Mister Rogers?" Valerie asked as she looked him in the eyes. "I've spoken with your teammates as well and they expressed some concerns,"

"What concerns?!" Steve was now getting a bit defensive. "I was just trying to help! Bucky wasn't being Bucky anymore!"

"Would you like to elaborate?" Valerie asked but Steve seemed just too guarded.

"No, I don't think I will." Steve muttered and then stood up. "I think we should end this session," And without anything further he stormed out of her office.

Dr. Cooper set down her notepad and rubbed her eyes after taking off her glasses. This was going to be a long assessment week.

Meanwhile, Steve angrily barreled into the barracks the team was sharing and glared at those in the communal area. "Which one of you was it?! Which one of you told her?!"

"Told who what?" Scott frowned as he looked up from the magazine he had been reading. Wanda who had been rummaging in the fridge also looked up.

"The psychiatrist that was assigned to do an evaluation. Who told her about Bucky?!" Steve was angry and it showed. He glared at Scott and Sam who had also been silent up till now.

"I did," Came from the doorway and Steve's head whipped in the direction to see Natasha leaning against the doorframe.

"Why?! Why would you tell her?!" Steve asked as he approached Natasha. The former Russian spy didn't even flinch as Steve's hand impacted the wall next to her head.

"Because you are unstable Steve!" Natasha growled and then poked him in the chest to get him to back off of her. "You did something unethical and you aren't even concerned about that! No, you've been grumbling about losing your shield. To me it seems like you care more about your mantle than your friends!"

"T-That's not true!" Steve sputtered. "You're my girlfriend. You're supposed to be on my side!"

"I am your girlfriend and I will kick your ass…. again," Natasha stated as she crossed her arms. "I don't know if you're stressed or not but you hurt James and ever since we've been on this base all you can think about is your stupid shield. Have you even thought of how you are going to apologize to him?"

"I was only trying to get Bucky back!" Steve instead shouted. "James wasn't Bucky! He wasn't!" Steve insisted. "He had to be the Soldier trying to fool us all."

"Steve do you even hear yourself now?" Natasha said as she stared the man down. "I was trained by the Winter Soldier in the Red Room. I can assure you that James was not the Soldier. We're all still alive aren't we." She then deadpanned as if to let it sink in just how deadly the Soldier could be if he wanted to.

"I'll just….. Go now…." Wanda said as she inched past Steve and Natasha with a bowl of grapes in hand. She was out of the room but stayed near for a few moments more to hear if anything else happened. It was mostly Natasha berating Steve so she made her way down the corridor of rooms. Instead of going to her own however she knocked on Clint's door.

"Wanda?" Clint opened the door to see the witch standing there but before he could say anything else a red glow enveloped his eyes.

"Clint why don't we have a little talk," Wanda suggested as Clint stepped aside like a zombie to let her in the room. "I want you to tell me everything Natasha has planned," She ordered as the door closed. Maybe it was time to step up the game a bit.