Guys! We are back!

It's taken a long hard slog, but I'm back. I tried a few different things while I was waiting for Falcon and the Winter Soldier to release, but none of them really worked for me. Then the lack of Marvel releases really made motivation hard.

But they're back, so I'm back and it feels so good!

Thank you to anyone who found this fic in the last 12 months and followed. Great to have you.

To anyone who has stuck around in the hiatus and sees this, thank you and I hope you'll still enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing it.

First new chapter is a bit weeelllllll... yeah.

But, the plans I've got in the works are going to be awesome!

So...enjoy!

xo

Part 3

Chapter 41

Clemency

Bucky sighed as the psychiatrist looked at him expectantly.

"So, Mr Barnes, are you still having nightmares?" she asked bluntly. This was his psych. She was a mid-50s, ex-army veteran, who had seen active combat too. She was blunt and straight to the point with him, as well as extremely cynical. He liked that about her. It still didn't make it any easier talking about anything though.

He saw flashes of memories. The same memories that flashed through his mind whenever he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. Scared eyes, begging for their life.

"James, I asked you a question," Dr Raynor pressed. "Are you still having nightmares?"

Bucky hesitated again, considering the Dr for a moment. "No." He locked eyes with her in the hopes he looked convincing.

The doctor sighed, removing her glasses and looking sceptically at Bucky. "We've been doing this for long enough, I know when you're lying."

Bucky smirked a little bit, but didn't respond.

"Well, did something happen?" she continued to press him for a response.

"No," he answered curtly.

She sighed again before looking pointedly at Bucky. He hated when she looked at him like that, he knew the lecture she was about to give him all too well. He heard it at nearly every session. "You're a civilian now. With your history, the government needs to know that you're not gonna…" she motioned with her hands towards him, making him smirk again. "It's a condition of your pardon."

He grimaced and sighed, glancing down at his hands before looking back to the doctor. He really didn't want to talk about it.

"So, tell me about your most recent nightmare." The doctor sighed and pulled a notebook from the folder in front of her.

"Oh, come on. Really?" Bucky exclaimed in frustration. He hated when she did that. He knew it was just a ploy for her to get him to talk, but it worked. "Why? It's passive aggressive."

"You don't talk, I write," she explained, without a hint of remorse in her voice. She was evil. Pure evil.

He sighed. She knew how to get her way. Kind of reminded him of someone else. "Okay, okay." He took a deep breath. "I crossed a name off the list of my amends yesterday." Dr Raynor nodded encouragingly. "Don't worry, I used all your three rules."

He began to recall how he had made 'amends', tracking them to a multistorey car park.

"Senator Atwood. She was a HYDRA pawn for years. Helped her get into office when I was the Winter Soldier." He remembered hacking into her car, causing it to lock all the doors and careen throughout the car park, before stopping fast. He was careful to keep his expression neutral. "And after HYDRA disbanded, she continued to abuse the power I gave her."

Dr Raynor analysed him for a moment before speaking. "So, rule number 1. You can't do anything illegal."

"All I did was give some intel to the aide to convict her," he explained. "And I wasn't involved in anything else," he added quickly, causing the doctor to raise her eyebrows at him.

"Rule number 2?" she asked.

Bucky looked at her, even more careful to school his expression to show no emotion. "What was rule number 2?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Nobody gets hurt. It's a big one."

Bucky frowned slightly, a mischievous look in his eye. "Then why isn't it rule number one?" The doctor looked at him pointedly, and he sighed again, surrendering to her firm stare. "I didn't hurt anyone."

He remembered as he approached the car, peering into the passenger window at the Senator. "Remember me?"

"And what about rule number three? The whole point of making amends is to fulfill number three."

Bucky grimaced and looked at the doctor with disdain. "You know you're a cynic, doc." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Of course, I completed rule number three."

"I am no longer the Winter Soldier. I am James Bucky Barnes… and you're apart of my efforts to make amends." Bucky gave a strained smile to the pair sitting in the car before he walked away as there was the sound of many approaching sirens.

Dr Raynor took a deep breath, clearly analysing Bucky's face, but he was still careful to school his expression. He was used to this game they played now.

"So, you did it alright, but it didn't help with the nightmares."

"Well, like I said, I didn't have any."

She shook her head. "Look, one day you're gonna have to open up and understand that some people really do want to help you and that they can be trusted," she lectured.

He was quiet for a minute. "I trust people." It was the truth. He did trust people. They were few and far between, but there were people he trusted. One in particular. They were the only person he had left that understood what he had gone through. The problem was, they may have had trust issues of their own.

"Yeah? Give me your phone…" Dr Raynor demanded, holding out her hand. Bucky groaned. This was also a regular occurrence in their sessions. She would always demand he show her his phone. He handed it over and she began flicking through it, the device beeping as she worked her way through his call history and text messages like she always did. "You don't have ten numbers on this thing. Oh, and you've been ignoring the texts from Sam."

Bucky pressed his lips into a thin line. He had been ignoring Sam's texts, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to Sam after being granted clemency by the US government. Sam was Steve's choice to replace him as Captain America, under Bucky's recommendation. Yet, Bucky was aware that he had reservations after Steve's death. It was that ultimate question. 'Worthiness'.

"Look, you've got to nurture friendships. I am the only person you've called all week…oh." Bucky looked at the doctor with a deadpan expression. "Oh, you've been trying to contact Lex again?"

"Yeah, well…"

"Still no response?" Bucky looked straight at the doctor, not answering her. "Did you ever think maybe she's responded to Sam and you ignoring him isn't helping?" she asked.

He had considered that. He had also considered it was extremely unlikely, considering what the government had told them. She was on the run. She refused the clemency, managed to escape her handlers and was ignoring any contact from everyone. She'd previously been on the run for over ninety years, if she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be. By anyone. The number he had for her was an old one, and he was almost certain she wouldn't be using it anymore, but he had to try. After all they had been through together, and what she had been through, he just had to try.

The doctor dropped the phone to the table between them, sighing irritably. "You're alone. You're a hundred years old. You have no history, no family…"

Bucky cocked his head to one side. "Are you lashing out at me, Doc? Because that's really unprofessional, you know?" He flashed a mischievous smile. "When did that start? Yelling at your clients?"

The doctor looked at him with narrowed eyes, before opening her notebook once again.

"The notebook? That's great," he sighed. She picked up her pen. "Alright, give me a break. I'm trying, okay?" He sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "This isn't…This is new for me. I didn't have a moment to deal with anything, you know?" The doctor quietly listened, looking at Bucky encouragingly. "I had a little calm, in Wakanda. And other than that, I just went from one fight to another for 90 years."

The doctor looked at him contemplatively. "So, now that you've stopped fighting, what do you want?" she asked him.

He paused for a moment, thinking about what he could want. Her face popped into his head, but he quickly pushed it away, looking back down at his hands. "Peace."

The doctor scoffed loudly, surprising Bucky. "That is utter bullshit."

He frowned and looked at her with exasperation. "You're a terrible shrink."

She sat forward, pinning him with firm glare. "I was an excellent soldier, so I saw a lot of dead bodies, and I know how that shit can shut you down," she said sternly, her eyes never leaving his. It was unnerving for him and he looked down at the floor. "And if you are alone, that is the quietest, most personal hell. And James, it is very hard to escape."

He looked up, seeing the haunting expression that flitted across her face, but she was quick to calm her expression.

"Look, I know that you have been through a lot, but you've got your mind back, you are being pardoned. I mean, these are good things. You're free," she said, leaning back into the seat.

"To do what?" Bucky asked. The doctor raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

Bucky sat in his room, watching the news as the new 'Captain America' was announced by the US government. He felt sick in his stomach as he saw this stranger with the shield, wielding it like he deserved it.

What was Sam thinking? He thought he was insane to give up the shield to the Smithsonian, but this was even worse than he could have imagined. He looked over to his phone and picked it up.

Sam had stopped texting him pretty much straight after he had handed over the shield. Lex hadn't contacted him either. He wondered what she thought of what was happening right now. He wondered if she even knew what was going on. Last time she had been in hiding, she had been hiding for over 100 years, and although she kept up to date with major events, she really didn't pay that close attention to what was happening. Surely, a new Captain America was big news across the world though, especially after everything that had happened with the last one.

He sighed, watching as this new man waved to the crowds that cheered him on as he walked around the stage. It was all too much for Bucky, and he quickly gathered his things together, it was time to take a drive.

He jumped onto his motorbike, slinging his backpack over his shoulders, before revving the engine and speeding into the night.

Sam strode into the hangar, looking for a familiar face. He found him, looking at a tv screen as the new Captain America gave yet another tv interview. This guy was seriously making Sam miss Steve. That man had worn the mantle of Captain America for ninety odd years, and this new guy had already done more tv interviews than Steve ever had. Although, he had been on ice for seventy of those years.

Sam stopped next to the young Lieutenant, who glanced sideways at him.

"Seems like a good guy," the Lieutenant said. Sam could tell it was more of a question than a statement. Lieutenant Torres was a young Intelligence Officer in the US Air Force, he was very tech savvy and incredibly switched on. He was also a very curious guy, his curiosity would get him in trouble, more often than not from what Sam had seen already. He grunted in response. "You met him?" Torres asked.

"No," Sam replied bluntly, earning raised eyebrows from Torres as he turned to walk away. He hoisted his bag up higher onto his shoulder. "Thanks for doing this at such short notice."

"Yeah, no sweat. I'm just finishing up on the checklist. You'll be all good to go once you land in Munich," Torres replied, tapping on the screen of the tablet he was holding. They continued walking deeper into the hangar, walking around rushing troops who were preparing to deploy.

As he walked, Sam spotted a familiar figure walking towards him. He looked slightly different, but he could recognise that walk anywhere. Seeing him annoyed Sam, particularly considering how often he had tried to reach out to him, only to be ignored. He had a feeling he was only seeing him for one reason, and that annoyed him to no end because he had been trying to contact him for weeks, just to talk about it.

He drew nearer, his expression annoyed as he stopped in front of him. "Shouldn't have given up the shield."

"Good to see you too, Buck," Sam replied, ignoring his comment. He moved around Bucky and kept walking.

"This is wrong," Bucky countered, turning and walking beside him, clearly refusing to let him go without speaking his mind.

Sam sighed, stopping and looking at Bucky. "Hey, hey, I'm working, all right?" he said pointedly, motioning to the buzzing hangar around them. "So, all this outrage is gonna have to wait. Why don't you go and hang out with Lex or something?" He noticed Bucky seemed to stiffen at the mention of the female super soldier. He looked sideways to Torres and nodded for him to take his leave; he had been looking between the two in concern.

"You didn't know that was gonna happen?" Bucky resumed his conversation, completely ignoring Sam's mention of Alexia Nikulkin. The quick skip of the mention of the female super soldier wasn't lost on Sam, and he was well aware of the situation surrounding her currently, but he was certain that she would have kept contact with Bucky in one way or another. Apparently…not.

Sam stopped and turned to look at Bucky. "No, of course I didn't know that was going to happen. You think it didn't break my heart too. You think it didn't break my heart to see them march him out there and call him the new Captain America?" That's exactly what it did. It had shattered him, to think that Steve was so easily replaceable. And by just any blonde haired, blue eyed yes man of a soldier.

Bucky sighed, looking away. "Steve didn't want this."

Sam was getting frustrated with the super soldier in front of him. "Oh my god, what do you want me to do? Call America and tell 'em I changed my mind? Huh?" When Bucky didn't answer, Sam gave a self-deprecating chuckle, before turning away. "Yeah, right. It's a great reunion, buddy, be well. Send my regards to Lex." Sam noticed that once again, Bucky adversely reacted to the mention of Lex. He might have to look into that sometime.

"You had no right to give up the shield, Sam," Bucky scolded.

"Hey," Sam turned angrily back at Bucky. "This is what you're not gonna do. You're not gonna come here in your overextended life and tell me about my rights. It's over, Bucky. Besides, I have bigger things to deal with now."

"What could be bigger than this?" Bucky asked in confusion, a curious look on his face.

Sam flicked on a tablet he had been holding, activating the screen and displaying a picture of a man in his late 30s, with a shaved head and heavily built. "This guy." Bucky took the tablet for a closer look. Sam couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Bucky would recognize him from his previous experiences. "His connections with rebel organizations all over Eastern and Central Europe, and he's strong. Too strong."

"And?"

"Well, he's been connected to this online group called the Flag Smashers. Now, Redwing traced them to a building somewhere outside of Munich. So that's where I'm going," Sam explained, taking back the tablet as Bucky handed it back.

Bucky scoffed slightly, pulling a face. "Well, I don't trust Redwing."

Sam frowned and looked at Bucky with contempt. "Hold on a minute. You don't have to trust Redwing, but I'mma go see if he's right. 'Cause I have a feeling they might be a part of the 'Big Three'.

"What 'Big Three'?" Bucky asked looking confused again. It seemed to be a perpetual expression for him these days. Guess that's what happens when your minds been put through the ringer AND you're 106 years old.

"The Big Three."

"What Big Three?"

"Androids, aliens, and wizards," Sam answered matter-of-factly.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "That's not a thing."

"That's definitely a thing," Sam rebuked.

"No, it's not."

"Every time we fight, it's one of the three," Sam replied pointedly.

"Who are you fighting now, Gandalf?" Bucky teased.

Sam faltered, stunned with Bucky's 20th century pop culture reference. "How do you know about Gandalf?"

Bucky looked pointedly at Sam. "I read The Hobbit, in 1937, when it first came out."

Sam took a moment, remembering that the movie was based on books that had been written a long time ago. Of course, Bucky would have been around when it released. He was the epitome of an old man without the wrinkles. Although he definitely appeared to have aged recently, or maybe that was just from a lack of sleep? "So, you see my point?"

"No, I don't. There are no wizards," Bucky retorted in exasperation.

"Doctor Strange," Sam answered, folding his arms across his chest. He had thought long and hard about what he had faced in the last eight years or so. There was nothing normal about it.

"Is a sorcerer," Bucky responded, with a deadpan expression.

"Aah!" Sam grinned and raised his finger as he went to make a point from the conversation. "A sorcerer is a wizard without a hat. Think about it. Right? I'm right. I just came up with that. It's crazy. But that's not the point. These guys aren't magical. They use brute force like you, the incredibly annoying guy in front of me with the staring problem." Sam continued grinning and raised his eyebrows, challenging Bucky to refute his theory again.

Bucky narrowed his eyes at Sam, before taking a deep breath. "I'm coming with you."

Sam furrowed his brow and looked disgruntled. "No, you're not."

An alarm blared over the sound of the C130's engines as it flew low level over the forest below.

"One minute to drop off, Sam," Lieutenant Torres shouted from the front of the aircraft as he returned from the cockpit.

"So, what's our plan?" Bucky shouted as he adjusted his gloves over his hands, and fiddled with the sleeves on his leather jacket. Sam stood up, lowering his goggles down over his eyes and stretching his arms. Bucky rolled his eyes as he stood up too. "Great. So, no plan."

"Thirty seconds!" Torres shouted, his eyes darting between the two of them. Bucky wondered if Torres was used to Sam's fly first, ask questions later tactics.

Sam grinned as he stood in front of Bucky. "Enjoy your ride, Buck."

Bucky felt a wave of annoyance at Sam. He shook his head and waved a finger in front of Sam's face. "No, you can't call me that!" he shouted in an effort to be heard over the engines.

"Why not? That's what Steve called you."

"Steve knew me longer, and Steve had a plan," Bucky shouted pointedly. They weren't necessarily good ones or well thought out, but they were plans all the same.

"Fifteen seconds to drop," Torres shouted, amusement evident in his voice as he watched the pair.

"I have a plan," Sam shouted back as he walked to the door of the aircraft that Torres was standing by.

"Really? What is it?" Bucky demanded beginning to walk towards the door. Sam looked back to him and grinned again, before leaping out the door. Bucky groaned and rolled his eyes. "Great. Where's the chute?" he shouted to Torres.

"We're at 200 feet," Torres shouted back. "It's too low for a chute."

Bucky grimaced and scowled. "I don't need it anyway." He walked over to the door, looking down and seeing the forest of trees speeding past down below. Torres was right, they weren't very high up.

"You sure about that?" Torres asked in concern, eyeing Bucky and the trees as they blurred past them down below.

"Yeah," Bucky shouted, reaching up and ripping off the sleeve of his jacket that covered his vibranium arm. He psyched himself up, counting himself down in his head as he chose the right moment to jump. He finally took the leap, yelling as he dropped out of the plane.

The ground approached him quickly, as did the trees. He raised his vibranium arm, using it to brace for impact from tree branches and the ground. It really didn't help much. He bounced from tree branch to tree branch as if he was in a pinball machine, until finally he crashed to the forest floor, all the wind knocked from his lungs.

He groaned, rolling onto his back. He spotted the little red drone as it flew down to hover above him.

"I have all of that on camera. You know that, right?" Sam's voice projected from the drone, Redwing.

"Get out of my face, Sam, or I'll break it." It was really very tempting.

"Okay, head north. Come on."

A half hour later, Bucky finally came across a warehouse nestled into the outskirts of the forest. Redwing glided down in front of him again and Bucky narrowed his eyes at the drone in annoyance.

"Oh-ho-ho. Don't hurt him," Sam warned. Bucky turned to see Sam land behind him, folding his wings back into the jet pack on his back. "You're doing the staring thing again. They're in there," he motioned to the warehouse.

They both crouched down behind some bushes, watching as a person disappeared inside the warehouse.

"Where's the guy?" Bucky asked, noting the person that entered was much smaller than the man of interest Sam was hunting. They began creeping into the first hall of the warehouse.

"I don't know. I think they're smuggling weapons, though."

Bucky pressed his lips into a thin line as they continued watching, seeing two semi-trailers parked outside. "Well, I think you could be right."

"Hmm," Sam murmured as they continued.

"But there's only one way to find out. I see a clear path. I say we take it," Bucky said, noting a path around outer wall of the warehouse that had cover that he could use to make his way around the warehouse without the risk of being seen.

"We're not assassins," Sam murmured, making Bucky cringe slightly.

He glared at Sam. "I'll see you inside or not?" He didn't wait for an answer and started picking his way around the warehouse carefully.

"Hey, come on, man. I'm just messing with you. Come back," Sam hissed, chuckling quietly. Bucky didn't find the joke funny as he ignored him and continued to pick his way around the warehouse carefully. "Look at you. All stealthy. A little time in Wakanda and you come out White Panther."

Bucky felt a pang of homesickness at the mention of Wakanda. His one moment of peace. He recalled the name the local Wakandans had given him. "It's actually White Wolf."

"Huh?"

Bucky ignored the confused query, looking out the side door of the warehouse and seeing someone standing there. "All right, I'm inside. Therefore, way ahead of you. It's not great, but very doable."

"Huh?" Sam asked from next to him, causing Bucky to jump slightly as he looked back at him.

He glared at Sam. "Hello. How are you?" Bucky sighed in annoyance at Sam's laid-back approach to their current situation. How he ever completed missions was beyond him.

"Good," Sam replied in amusement. "What did I miss? Nothing. All right, let's go." Sam went to move again.

"No, wait." Bucky reached out and put a hand on Sam to stop him from flying away. "I got a vibranium arm. I can take them." He needed to make sure Sam didn't get hurt, and they didn't exactly know what they were dealing with.

Sam looked at him pointedly. "And I can fly. Who gives a shit?" he retorted, looking back towards the entry of the warehouse. "Wait. I want to see where they're going."

"There's two people," Bucky said matter-of-factly, watching as two people moved around the entry.

"You only see two?" Sam asked, moving his hand to his goggles, and then to the device on his wrist that Bucky recognized as the controls for Redwing. He took note of that, in case the drone ever annoyed him one too many times.

"That's what I saw," Bucky answered, looking to Sam.

"Let me see what Redwing sees."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "All right."

"Let's see what Redwing… Oh, look at that. How many people you see now? One, two… Oh, here it comes again," he said holding up the device for Bucky to see. "Four. Five."

Bucky sighed. "Yeah, five. Yeah." He stood up again. "So, they're strong. Whatever. All right, let's go."

"No, no, wait," Sam hissed, moving to stop Bucky, however, in his hurry he knocked over a small tin from the shelves they were hiding behind, causing it to tumble to the ground with a loud clatter. "Shit."

The people looked towards the noise, clearly spotting Bucky as he stood up, not bothering to hide anymore. "All right, let's move."

"Let's move. Yeah." The people of interest began scattering, running towards the trucks they had been loading.

Sam checked Redwing's monitor one more time, activating it's infrared scanner. "There's an eighth person. I think they have a hostage." They looked at each other once more, before hurrying after the trucks.

The pair hurried out of the warehouse, Sam flying out of the warehouse while Bucky ran, easily catching up to the second truck, overtaking it and launching himself onto the first truck.

He opened the latch, slipping inside and looking around, noticing the refrigerated boxes labelled 'VACCINES'. At least fifty of the large boxes lined up against the walls of the truck.

"They're stealing medicine. Vaccines," Bucky said through comms. He walked further into the truck, looking towards the back, stopping when he noticed someone peering around the corner of one of the boxes. She was small, with red curly hair that formed ringlets all around her face, she quickly ducked back behind the boxes she was hiding behind. "Hi." She appeared young, probably early twenties, with freckles and a timid expression on her face.

"Bucky, talk to me. What's goin' on?" Sam called through comms.

He turned away from the girl. "Found the hostage," he murmured quietly, in an effort not to frighten the girl. He turned back to look at her, as she stepped out cautiously, still appearing scared. "You okay?" It didn't make sense to him why they would have a hostage, maybe she was a nurse they wanted to hold to ensure their escape. Whatever the case, he needed to make sure she was okay.

As he walked closer to her to ensure she wasn't injured and find out who she was, she began to smirk, her whole demeanor changing. Suddenly, she ran at him, forcing her boot into his gut with so much force it sent him flying out of the back of the semi-trailer, and into the windscreen of the next one.

"Shit." He tried to recover himself, hanging onto the roof of the truck. As he tried to pull himself up, he felt hands grabbing his arms and hauling him up onto the roof of the truck. He looked up to see two people wearing black masks with red paint hand-prints on them. He tried to wrestle himself free, but the woman from the truck made a running jump from the back of the first truck, easily making the distance and landing in front of him. She too was wearing one of the masks.

He stared at her in awe, realization dawning on him. They were enhanced, like him. She ran at him again, punching at him and connecting with his face. There was a lot of force behind the punch, and the other two holding him were also clearly enhanced too. He grunted as she took another shot at him, connecting with his gut this time.

She turned, as Redwing appeared behind her and fired a couple of shots at them. Bucky watched as she charged down the trailer, before launching herself into the air, swiping Redwing out of the sky and then driving her knee through it, shattering it into pieces.

If it weren't for his current situation he was in, he might have found it very satisfying. "I've always wanted to do that." He began to struggle against his captors again, earning him a punch to the face from one. It was becoming more and more evident that these people weren't ordinary people.

Bucky looked up as he saw Sam flying towards them. He twisted in the sky, planting a firm kick to the woman and sending her backwards with a grunt. Sam landed on the back of the trailer.

"Good of you to join the fight, Sam!" Bucky shouted, taking advantage of their distraction from Sam's arrival and kicking his foot back into the shin of one of his captors, causing them to fall forward, while he elbowed the other in the chest and pulled his arm free of their grasp, before punching them and causing them to stumble backwards.

They both began to fight back against the Flag Smashers, struggling to try and get the upper hand on the band of thieves. Bucky looked over to see Sam being held down by two, while he was still preoccupied with his two, a third one appearing, climbing up from the cab of the semi-trailer they were travelling on.

He punched one away, and moved to subdue the new one, a woman, but she was able to catch his fist in her hand seemingly easily, holding it firmly away from her.

"That's one way to say hello to a friend, I guess," a familiar voice spoke, causing Bucky to falter.

He stared at the woman through the eyeholes of her mask, recognizing the dark brown eyes that looked back at him. "Lex?"

SQUEAL

xo

Krayzee