Author's Note: Just a heads-up: There won't be any Civil War dynamics in this story, because my Avengers are a happy family and will remain so. It isn't really a spoiler, I hope, but this story is supposed to be wholesome and is supposed to make me happy, and them being happy, makes me happy
OOOOOOOOOO
They loaded him into the back of a black SUV. Bucky was somewhat surprised that they didn't handcuff him, or secure him in some fashion, but he knew that it could have been some kind of mind game that they didn't. A way to show him that they didn't consider him a threat? Or a subtle show of strength on their end that they didn't need to secure him because now that he was in their custody, they had complete control of him. They did take his backup weapon, a Glock that Bucky had only had for a few days, but he was pretty dangerous even without a gun, and he knew that Romanoff was aware of that.
He wasn't planning to try to escape, but his training took the fore, and as the SUV was driven out of the parking lot, he looked around, finding the various ways that he could escape, if he'd wanted to do so. Steve was driving, with Romanoff beside him, and he turned in time to see another SUV pull out of the parking lot behind them. Surely there were more that he couldn't see?
He saw Steve looking at him through the rearview mirror more than once, but he kept his expression calm, despite the fact that his friend looked confused, and still somewhat in shock. Obviously so much so that he wasn't able to wait until they reached their destination to start asking questions.
"What happened, Bucky?" he asked, watching the road, but also glancing back in the mirror. "We were told that you were killed."
"I should have been," he replied. "It was a helluva fall, and I don't remember waking up. Only a lot of pain, and people in my head… trying to make me do things."
Romanoff didn't look back at him, but Steve's hands tightened on the steering wheel.
"What things?"
"Everything, Steve," Bucky said. "I'd wake up, and someone was in my head, telling me I had an assignment, and what they wanted me to do. I'd try to refuse… but there was always pain, and words… and images that wouldn't leave me alone."
"How are you still alive?"
"The same way you are – among others." He looked out the window at the passing scenery, realizing that they were already out of the city. "I didn't know any of it," he said to them both. "I never remembered it, never remembered what they did to me. Just the pain, and the images. The men standing over me doing those things to me."
"But you do now?" Romanoff asked, her expression clear, but her tone disbelieving.
He nodded.
"The man – the men – who were my handlers were killed, recently." He looked at her image in the vanity mirror of the visor that she'd lowered, his eyes tired and expressionless beyond that. "By you and those with you after the attempt to take Peter. They were in Europe when you went on your killing spree, and I was in South America on a different assignment. Too far away for them to call me in for help when they finally realized what had happened to Sitwell and the other – and what was happening in retribution."
"You'd have come?"
He nodded.
"I wouldn't have had a choice. It's… I don't know how to explain it. They told me to do something and even if I screamed no inside my head, I still had to do it."
"How do we know you aren't still controlled by them?" Romanoff asked, and now she did turn to look at him, needing more than just the image in the mirror. "Maybe on some assignment to infiltrate SHIELD, or the Avengers?"
"You don't," he admitted. "If I was controlled, I wouldn't be able to tell you."
"He was with Peter and didn't hurt him," Steve reminded her – and Bucky.
"Peter might not be the target," she pointed out.
Steve didn't have a response to that, and the drive continued in silence, with the occupants of the SUV lost in their own thoughts.
OOOOOOOOO
"I'll take you and Peter home," Tony told Pepper. "And then go see what I can find out."
"I want to go, though," Peter said – again. They were in the car, now, and Tony was driving them home – which was the opposite direction of the compound. "Please?"
"No." Tony had said it before, and knew that he had to say it, again. "This guy is a killer, buddy. I don't want him anywhere near you."
"Natasha's a killer," Peter reminded them. "She killed the men who tried to kidnap me. You let me near her."
"That's different," Tony told him, looking at the boy in the rearview mirror. "And you know it. I'm not going to argue with you on this one, Peter," he said, allowing his voice to grow stern. "You can't come – and that's final."
"But-"
"I said no. You're going to keep Pepper company. I'll be back as soon as I can." He turned to his wife, who looked a little worried. "I'll let you know when I find out what's going on."
Knowing that she had to be the example for Peter, Pepper didn't argue with him, then. Not in front of their son. Instead, she nodded her agreement, and put her hand on Tony's leg, which he covered, immediately. A position that they often held when they were driving somewhere. Behind them there was a soft sniff, and Peter reached for his helmet and put it back on, leaning his head against the glass of the back window, and unable to stop the tears from falling.
He didn't know why it was so important for him to go see what they were going to learn about Bucky, but he really wanted to go, too. Pepper exchanged a look with Tony, but they didn't say anything. This was probably one of those parent things, and they'd had a pretty easy time of the last few months, so something was bound to come up, they both supposed. They'd both assumed the football thing was the first crisis in their fledgling parenting crusade, but this was much more serious.
He was still worth it, though. It didn't even need to be said.
OOOOOOOO
As soon as the car stopped in the garage, Peter got out and stormed into the house, not slamming the door behind him, but stalking, nonetheless. His little body was stiff and filled with tension, and the two of them watched him disappear into the kitchen.
"Is it wrong that I think he's adorable when he's doing that?" Pepper asked, softly, despite the boy not being there to hear.
"No. I wouldn't advise telling him, though. Not right now."
Tony happened to agree.
"Are you driving out?" she asked. "Or taking your suit?"
"No. I'm going to fly out. It'll be faster." That much was obvious. "Do you want me to talk to him, before I go?"
She smiled, and shook her head, unbuckling her seatbelt.
"No. You go and see what is going on. I'll talk to him."
They got out of the car and went into the kitchen, closing the garage and the door behind them. Peter wasn't in sight.
"Where is he, JARVIS?"
"In his room."
The AI didn't need to ask who they were talking about.
"Is he alright?"
"He's fine. He's taking off his football gear and muttering under his breath."
Pepper's smile broadened.
"He's too young to be a sullen teenager, yet, right?"
Tony was just relieved that she wasn't more concerned. True, she faced down businessmen and women daily with an iron will that kept them from getting the better end of their deals, but those people didn't have hold of her heart strings, now did they? He shrugged and kissed her, lightly.
"I'd think not," he said. "But I don't need to remind you that he's precocious." He was already opening the closet where his Ironman suit was kept in the house. There was one there, one at the compound, and one at the tower. As well as one in each car, for emergencies, among other places. He'd be glad when the nano tech suit was up and running. "Let me know if you need anything."
"Stop and get bread," she told him. "We're almost out."
He smiled at that.
"Yes, dear."
He was already activating the suit when Pepper turned and went towards Peter's door. She head the thrusters outside that signaled Tony's departure, and she knocked on Peter's door.
"Can I come in?"
There was a slight pause.
"Yes."
Pepper opened the door and found Peter sitting on the edge of his bed. He'd taken off his helmet and shoulder pads, but was still wearing the grass-stained jeans that he'd worn at practice, as well as the sweaty shirt. She walked over and sat down beside him.
"Are you alright?"
"I just wanted to know what they find out," he said, somewhat sullenly. "He asked me for help."
"He did?"
"He wanted to talk to the others and didn't think they would want to talk to him."
"So you want to know what they're going to talk about…"
Peter nodded.
"Yeah."
She put her arm around him, hugging him. Curiosity was a good thing, and Peter had it in spades, she knew. It was one of those things that he had in common with Tony. One of the reasons they connected, so easily.
"Your father's right about keeping you away from him, right now," she told him. "He could be dangerous, and you're not ready to be an avenger, yet, right?"
"No."
It was a grudging admission, but the truth.
"But that doesn't mean that you're not going to find out what's happening."
He looked up at her.
"It doesn't?"
She shook her head.
"If it's something important, JARVIS could tell us, right? He's at the compound, too."
His eyes widened, and she realized that the boy hadn't considered that.
"That's true, isn't it?"
Peter started to pull away, already opening his mouth to ask JARVIS what was happening, but Pepper interrupted him.
"Before we ask anything, you need a bath. And you need to put your football stuff on the shelf – and your dirty clothes in the hamper."
"But-"
She raised an eyebrow.
"Or we won't ask him, at all."
Peter rolled his eyes, but decided that it wasn't worth arguing about. Probably they weren't at the compound, yet, anyway. He knew Tony wasn't there.
"Okay."
Pepper smiled, leaned over and kissed the top of his sweaty hair.
"Good. I'll be out in the living room when you're done."
"Okay."