"What now then, General?"
I grit my teeth, my mind racing. HYDRA kidnapped me. They stole me and used me. I'm not who I thought I am. I'm on the wrong side. My entire fucking life, everything I remember at least, is one big fat fucking lie.
Fuck, that explains the Soldier's breaking. The words Pierce wrote in his report. "The man on the bridge. I knew him." The Soldier is Captain America's best friend and brother. And me? I'm the star-spangled man's son. God fucking damn it, I know nothing about who I really am.
The only way I can learn is to actually speak to the man. Media lies and exaggerates. Museums take facts that are shared or overheard. If I want to know who I was—who I really, personally was—then I need America's golden boy. And that means I need to get out of here.
My eyes squeeze shut as I feel the need to instantly shoot down the idea of betraying HYDRA. They stole me. They made me forget, twisted my ideals. Somehow, they made me theirs and the devil can go ice skating before I let that little fucking fact go.
All the files HYDRA hid from me prove it all. They captured and tortured Captain America and his Howling Commandos during the war. They experimented on the man the Soldier used to be. And when Captain America was lost to the arctic, they turned their beady little eyes to me.
God damn it, I hate it. I hate it, and I hate HYDRA.
They made me believe in their stupid fucking cause and let me do the rest. They laid a path at my feet and I followed it willingly. It's high fucking time I leave that path.
And I'm taking as much valuable shit as I can.
•••
"Gather, my friends!"
Barnes looks up, startled as Thor comes bursting in from the balcony. The god had disappeared a few hours earlier, leaving Tony and Bruce to start on this new arm and the rest of them to their own supplies.
"JARVIS, call everyone here, if you will!" Thor's grin was wide as he strode into the communal floor of the Avengers tower. "They will all want to hear this idea!"
"Right away, Mr. Odinson," comes JARVIS' reply.
Barnes glances at Steve sitting across from him at the dining table but the blond seems just as confused as he is, sketchbook lying partially forgotten in front of him, a half-finished image of a young Theo now facing the ceiling. In the living room nearby, Romanoff continues scanning the information in front of her, waiting for the others. It's not long before Tony and Bruce appear from the elevator and Barton drops from a ceiling vent, sending Barnes a smirk as he notices his surprise.
"What is it, Point Break?" Tony asks. He looks more like a mechanic than a billionaire, grease marks across his tank top and sweat dotting his brow, and Barnes finds a smirk on his lips at the thought. "This related to our spy guy?"
"Indeed." Thor's grin fades to a proud smile. The group moves to stand in the living room, in a half-circle around the Asgardian. "I have a way to see what the young Rogers is up to. He will not see nor hear us, but to us, it will feel as though we are in the same room."
"Thor, how…?" Steve trails off unsurely but he looks hopeful and that in turn strikes the forgotten feeling of hope in Barnes.
Thor turns, his eyes twinkling. "Heimdall, if you would."
Barnes doesn't blink but suddenly they're standing in a dim hallway. He shivers, instantly reminded of HYDRA. It's an old-looking place, functional but not exactly pretty. A relatively short, blond male is stalking down the hall towards them, expression blank and fists clenched. Barnes hears Steve's quiet gasp and instinctively takes his hand in an effort to soothe him and himself in the face of HYDRA.
Tony lets out a whistle, eyes scanning the teenage-seeming male. "He's cute. Dresses like a goth poster-boy, about five-foot-ten, metal hand and I'm willing to bet metal arm."
Steve makes a pained noise, utters a whimpered, "What did they do to you?" and earns a few worried looks but no one comments. They part unnecessarily so the Black Infiltrator doesn't unknowingly walk through them and follow him down the hall, looking around for any hints of where they might be. There are no windows, no signal that could place where in the world this facility is, so all they can do at the moment is follow the Infiltrator as he turns and enters a room branching from the hallway.
It looks like a lab, with worktables in two lines through the room and a few computer screens sitting on one or two tables. The left wall, one of the smaller walls of the rectangular room, holds a glass wall looking into two cells separated by a thick wall, complete with small beds and a TV screen mounted on the wall. Inside are a man and a woman, the man with blond hair and the woman with dark brown. What's unnatural is the speed at which the man is pacing in his cell, and the tendrils of red levitating some blocks in the woman's cell.
However, it's the strange scepter held on a table in front of the cells that makes the Avengers gasp. A wicked blade curling from a golden handle, a glowing blue stone held like a treasure. Barnes frowns in confusion but Thor answers before he can say a word.
"Loki's scepter," the god whispers. "Our enemies have it."
"And it looks like they've been using it to enhance humans," Bruce mutters, walking closer to the cells, Tony at his side.
Ignoring the few other HYDRA agents in the room, the Black Infiltrator stands in front of the two cells. His blue eyes study the pair for a moment, calculating and cold and it makes a shiver run down Barnes' spine while another strangled, pained noise escapes Steve.
"Pietro and Wanda Maximoff," the Infiltrator muses to himself. "Twins, orphans and volunteer test subjects…"
"Volunteer," Barton gapes. "They volunteered to be HYDRA's lab rats? What could have pushed them to choose that?"
No one replies. They don't know the answer, how can they reply? They don't turn their attention from the scene around them however.
When the Infiltrator speaks again, it's to the phone that he raises to his lips. "Go ahead as planned."
Barnes' brows furrow in confusion, he can see the others looking just as confused. The Infiltrator says no more but both inmates stop and look to the ceiling as if they hear something. Whatever it is, Barnes assumes, it's playing through speakers in their soundproof cells and no more, no way for anyone outside to hear. He watches as curiosity, hate, confusion, anger and hesitation flash across the faces of these twins.
Both of them speak, but no sound is heard. The Infiltrator doesn't look bothered and Barnes knows that he's read their lips. He had too, and both Maximoffs requested:
"I want to talk with my sister/brother first."
That means the Infiltrator is trying to recruit them for something. But what? Both twins would be fierce opponents, with the man's speed and woman's apparent telekinesis. Barnes feels a shiver run down his spine at the thought of more fighting. He would rather just hide away peacefully but he has his self-appointed mission to finish.
The Infiltrator messes with his phone for a moment or two and the black TV screens suddenly show camera footage of the other cell. The man is instantly in front of the screen in his cell, staring intently at the image of his sister sitting in the corner of her cell. She watches her own screen for a second before giving a small wave to the camera in the ceiling corner. The man smiles and flashes his camera a grin before speaking.
They must be able to hear each other as they converse back and forth without issue. Barnes can't make out their words as both are facing the other way now, and by Tony's frustrated huff and shoving his phone into his pocket, he supposes whatever matter of listening he's attempted has failed as well. All they can do is watch and wait. The Infiltrator has gotten distracted by studying the scepter, the blue gem casting an eerie glow across his face.
"So this is the scepter of the supposed god," he muses. "And it's a mere touch that controls people…?"
"He better not," Thor whispers harshly.
"He seems curious," Bruce says, "Not like he wants it."
The Infiltrator huffs and types something rapidly on his phone. Romanoff leans over to see, her head tilting and eyes narrowing.
"It's some sort of text conversation," she informs them. "He must have some sort of small earpiece that he's hearing the other side of the conversation through, there's only his replies, no other text. I can't see who the other person is."
"What's he saying at least?" Steve asks curiously, a hint of desperation in his voice.
"'I don't want it, I'm just interested.'" Romanoff replies. "'It's a strange magic, you can't say it's not at least a little bit interesting.' And, 'Screw you, Reb.'"
"Reb?" Tony repeats, raising a brow. "Who could that be? Must be someone he doesn't want to be overheard with, why wouldn't he just reply into this com of his?"
"I can't hear anything from any earpiece," Steve says with a frown. He moves closer to the Infiltrator, eyes studying the younger blond. "I should be able to hear something."
"He's enhanced," Barnes supplies with a frown of his own. "Any earpiece will be very quiet to prevent hearing damage."
"Enhanced? He doesn't look like he's a super soldier," Barton cuts in. "He's not built like a tank like you or Cap."
"He's stronger than he looks," Romanoff replies and Barnes nods in agreement. "Look, he's turning back to the twins."
The voice in the earpiece must speak, because neither Maximoff says anything. The Infiltrator smiles, a grin that makes an uncomfortable shiver run down Barnes's spine. Both twins look at him for the first time since he entered the room, studying him yet they smile as well, and it's clear they've agreed to whatever the Infiltrator wants with them.
Barnes can't hear what the imprisoned man says, but he can read his lips. "We'll be ready and waiting."
The Infiltrator's smile turns to a wicked smirk as he murmurs, "Excellent."
•••
Steve watches as Bucky spars against Natasha. It isn't really sparring so much as it is a routine; they both seem to know the steps to this secret dance, though Bucky seems slightly hesitant, as if he takes a millisecond longer to remember the steps. Still, it's a smooth, fast dance around the training room floor and Steve can't help but smile as he watches, sketchbook lying forgotten in his lap.
Bucky's new arm is beautiful. Tony had completed it after only two days and the previous night, with Bruce's help—along with a bit of Thor's knowledge of Asgardian medicine—he'd figured out how to attach the arm as quickly and painlessly as possible. They'd done the procedure this morning and so far, it'd been a success with no hiccups whatsoever.
The limb is painted a smooth (but not glossy), obsidian black, but as Bucky moves, Steve can see the darkness ripple with deep sapphire and even some rich violet. The plates are edged with silver and they're flat, giving no risk of pinching skin or catching on any sort of fabric.
It's perfectly balanced too. Bucky no longer has the uneven shoulders Steve had noticed he kept when one side of his body was heavier than the other. The ex-assassin had taken a few hours to adjust to the loss of weight but the small smile that had appeared on his face upon fully taking in the new prosthetic had filled Steve's heart with a warmth he'd thought he'd never truly have again.
On top of that, Steve thinks it really is the fresh start his recovering friend needs. Bucky used to hide his metal arm, wearing long sleeves and keeping his metal hand buried in a jacket pocket. He'd done his best to function with only his flesh arm as he adjusted to life in the Tower. Steve has noticed Bucky doesn't seem as uncomfortable with his new arm. He supposes the arm no longer reminds him of his time as the Winter Soldier, or at least doesn't remind him as strongly.
"He's different," Sam comments from next to him. "Not as murderous, just blank and lost."
Steve nods. "He's still figuring things out. Getting away from HYDRA after so long after all they've done to mess him up… It'll take some time for him to find a place."
"Good. It's good he's doing better," Sam says. "Just know that doesn't mean I'm giving him a free pass, he still ripped off my wing."
Steve huffs out a laugh, bowing his head before looking back up. "I suppose that's fair… They're pretty neat to watch, huh?"
"They're good," Sam agrees, glancing over to where Natasha has gotten to balance one foot on Bucky's shoulder only to leapt off with a showy flip. His gaze turns to Steve and he raises a brow, "How are you doing though?"
Steve blinks at the question then sighs heavily and wipes a hand down his face. "I don't… I don't know. I lost everything, Sam. I was ready to die when I crashed into the Arctic. And then I woke up in a new world entirely and two weeks later I'm fighting aliens in New York. I didn't have a place here. Captain America did, but not Steve Rogers. And now I have Bucky back and… my son, my little boy, is HYDRA's little experiment…"
"And we need Steve Rogers," Sam replies, giving Steve a stern look. "Not Captain America. It's not Cap that broke through to Barnes on that helicarrier. It's Rogers. That's who'll get through to this Infiltrator."
Steve smiles weakly. "Thanks, Sam. That means a lot."