A/N: With this, I'm going to go to weekly updates in order to pilling up my chapter before I start classes in over a month. But I have a super long chapter so hopefully, that will be worth the longer wait.
Once again, thank you so much Emerald2211 for editing this chapter.
The first thing I noticed was my hand felt numb. Probably not a good thing, but considering no low SP or HP warning popped up, I ignored it for the moment in order to greedily get oxygen into my lungs.
Breathing was so wonderful.
"Lani!"
I opened my eyes to see the clear blue sky completely lacking a wormhole for just a few moments before Bucky appeared and picked me up.
"I would say sorry, but I don't regret doing that and I'll only apologize for making you worry." I said before taking a look around with my new vantage point.
"Can you promise never to do that again?"
"I can promise to never teleport after Iron Man when he flies into a wormhole with a missile again." I joked as Bucky hugged me tighter.
[Relationship level up]
[James Barnes family]
[Level 6: He'll be able to put an overprotective parent to shame with his worries about you.]
Yeah, I kinda deserve that but I still meant what I said. No regrets.
Looking down, I saw that we were in an Iron Man made crater, which shocked me even though it really shouldn't have. I mean, Tony was flying pretty fast through the wormhole and obviously that momentum carried when I teleported us back.
Huh. I could play real life Portal using that. Only without the portal. Or GaDOS trying to kill me.
"Are you hurt?" Bucky asked suddenly, even as he looked me over.
"Uhh..."
[Name: Lani Chen]
[Age: 7]
[Hometown: Hawai'i]
[Family: unknown]
[Title: Rebellious: people of authority will mark you as 'bad egg']
[hp: 60*]
[sp: 25]
[Strength: 6**]
[Dexterity: 9**]
[Constitution: 7**]
[Intelligence: 18]
[Wisdom: 11**]
[Charisma: 17**]
[*: Broken Hand (0/1)]
[**: -7 to physical states, -2 to wisdom and +2 to charisma due to age]
"Broke my hand on his stupid suit, but other than that I'm fine." I told him, surprised that my few seconds in space didn't mess me up.
"It's not stupid." Came a muffled voice from down below.
[Quest Updated: Iron Fall]
[Finished]
"Holy shit, put me down Buddy!" I scrambled back onto the concave ground and ran over to Iron Man.
"Are you okay? Do you have all your limbs?" I asked since the last time I apparated it was when Sandra...
"I'm fine, just need to get this helmet off. There an emergency latch on the left side."
I moved to check that out, but Bucky was already there and just ripped the thing right off with his metal hand.
"You didn't need to rip it off."
I really wanted an excuse to check out the Iron Man suit up close. This could be my only chance after all.
"I don't think he could breathe in there kid." Bucky pointed out and I felt myself blush in embarrassment.
Wouldn't that have been great. I saved him from suffocating in space only to almost have him suffocate in his own suit.
"I'm fine... wait, you were the kid who blew up that bastard alien!" Tony exclaimed as he struggled to get up within his offline suit.
That thing must weigh a ton. Or half a ton.
[Relationship level up]
[Tony Stark friendship 1]
[Tony considers you a puzzle to figure out]
[Quest reward]
[Relationship level up]
[Relationship level up]
[Tony Stark friendship 3]
[Tony will allow you to be in his lab]
"Umm..." I started to say, but before I could even think if I wanted to lie or the fact that we somehow jumped straight to level 3 friendship, I was interrupted.
"Stark!"
All three of us turned to see the rest of the avengers running over and I was really starting to feel like a deer looking at the headlights to a car. First off, I didn't realize how big the Hulk really was until he started to cause the ground to tremble just by running. For a moment, the only thing I could think of was how my brother and I used to try fist bumping as hard as we could with one of those toy hulk fists that make noises when you hit it. Then I watched as Captain freaking America turned his attention away from Tony and saw Bucky. The dude completely froze up, and probably would have dropped his shield if it wasn't strapped to his back.
"Bucky?"
[Quest Updated: 'Til The End of the Line]
[Finished]
"Who the hell is Bucky?"
I couldn't help but snort at that. Here we are years before Winter Soldier would take place in the movie timeline, and despite the situation being different, Bucky said the iconic line. Not that he knows that.
However, my amusement quickly faded when Black Widow of all people pulled out a gun and pointed it straight at Bucky.
"Stark, get away from him. Now."
"Natasha?"
"That's the Winter Soldier Clint." She explained, and suddenly Hawkeye was also prepared to fight.
"What are you two doing? That's Bucky!"
"Rogers, your friend died over 70 years ago. Before you went on ice, remember?"
By then I had heard enough and stepped between Bucky and the gun. Not that I could protect much with my size, but at least it was enough to get Hawkeye to notice there was a kid involved.
"Hey, can we all calm down and stow the weapons? I get you are all hyped up on adrenaline right now, but I can explain." I told them before Tony Stark was suddenly next to me.
"You know what, that is a great idea kid. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it. Then you can explain how you got me out of space and why your friend here looks like the cap's dead friend." Tony piped in, much more effectively cutting through the tension than what I did.
Bucky's hand was on my arm, but I didn't take my eyes off Black Widow to see what he wanted.
"I like shawarmas." I said watching as Black Widow just stared down Captain American, Tony, and Bucky with the same tight expression.
I didn't realize that she knew the Winter soldier by sight, but I really should have thought of that. Natasha is like a super spy.
"We're not finished yet." Thor then interrupted, looking back at the Stark Tower.
"Shawarmas after then. Sounds good kid?"
"Uh, sure... but you guys can't tell anyone about us, okay? And I really mean everyone. Shield can not know." I said even as Black Window narrowed her eyes at me.
"Please keep it a secret." I mentioned one last time and apparated back to the motel with Bucky before they could comment.
It would have taken too long to explain there.
[Warning: SP low]
"Felt like that could have gone better." I commented while blinking black dots from my vision.
It could have been worse. No one died, though I really doubt that Shield doesn't already know Bucky and I were there. We should just leave now but...
"Are you okay Buddy... or should I call you Bucky now?" I tried joking when I noticed Bucky was just staring off into space.
Maybe this was too much for him.
"I knew him." Bucky said and I nodded.
"No Lani, I knew him. But he was shorter and was always sick until..." He face scrunched up in annoyance.
"You want to talk to him again?" I asked even though I knew the answer.
Bucky looked more determined than I've ever seen him. Even though this was a huge risk, I couldn't bring myself to point that out. Not now. Not when Bucky is trying so hard to piece together his broken memories and is getting so close.
"Do you have any idea what place Iron Man was talking about?"
"Oh, no... but probably one by his tower? Though I can't think that many places would be open but I guess we can drive by and-"
"We left the bike in the alley remember?" Bucky pointed out.
I completely forgot about that. All our stuff was there too. We checked out this morning and just by luck, the room was empty.
"Oh shit."
"Don't worry Lani, we can sneak out through the window. After we deal with your hand." Bucky said before pulling out a roll of gaze out of one of his pockets.
"Do you only carry guns and bandages on you?" I laughed, letting the man wrap up my hand since I figured it would be faster than trying to argue.
And it was throbbing quite a bit.
"Yes." Bucky said very seriously, which caused me to snort/laugh again.
They managed to go back to the Stark Tower and finish dealing with Loki before anyone brought up the Winter Soldier or the kid he was with.
"We need to tell Shield." Natasha said as soon as they were alone.
Or as alone as you can be with Stark's AI watching everyone.
"After we get some shawarmas." Tony said as he tried walking out, only to stop when Natasha held up her arm.
"This isn't a joke Stark. The winter soldier is an assassin who never fails his mission. If he is here we need to let Sheild know. Now."
"Yeah, see that? You are going to have to explain to me what a winter soldier is and why he looks like James Barnes because I have seen pictures of him and have to agree with Cap that they look very similar." Tony said as he crossed him arms as if to physically stop her from marching back to Shield headquarters.
Natasha pursed her lips and exchanged a look with Clint.
"I don't know why they look similar, but the winter soldier showed up in the soviet union soon after WWII ended. He is like a ghost. Showing up every decade or so to complete an assassination. Usually without any survivors."
"Usually?" Rogers asked, starting to look a little less shaken up than before.
"I ran into him a few years ago. Nearly died. He shot through me in order to get his target." There was a sharp inhale by Stark at that, but Natasha just continued with her explanation. "It's probably an organization that only has one active winter soldier at a time." Like the black widow But Natasha wasn't going to tell them that. "But it's always a male. Always with a metal left arm."
"And you're sure it's not just the same person?" Tony asked like that was a perfectly reasonable thing to ask.
"Stark, he would have to be over 90 years old."
"And we have Captain Icicle here who is 93." Tony said with a cocky smile like it wasn't his fault that they were even having this conversation.
"Do you think..." Rogers started to before stilling himself and trying again.
"Bucky was experimented on when he was with Hydra. He never told me what they did, but if that was somehow enough to have him survive the fall, and the wrong people found him..." Rogers trailed off again, letting that narrative settle in their minds.
It certainly didn't paint a pretty picture, but that wasn't the point of this conversation.
"Rogers even if that is true, that doesn't change anything. The Winter soldier is still dangerous and we need to let Shield know."
Rogers turned to her and for an insane moment, Natasha thought he was about to physical fight her.
"Great. So Barnes might be the winter soldier who might be a 90 year old assassin. Anyone else worried about the 5 year old kid he was hanging around? You know, the one who was able to pull me out of space like it was nothing?"
Natasha and Rogers broke from their staring contest to look at Tony. Honestly, she did completely forget about the little girl, but there was no way she was going to let Tony know that.
"She looked closer to 7." Clint piped in.
"Right, sorry. The 7-year-old who pulled me out of the vacuum of deep space light years away from our little blue planet."
"She must be teamed up with him."
"Really? A 7-year-old is partners with a super assassin?"
"Sorry to burst your bubble Stark, but child soldiers are not as uncommon as you might think."
Stark at least had the decency to look away from her harsh glare that time.
"If that was the cause then why would she save Iron Man? And stick around long enough for us to talk?" Rogers asked, and Stark nodded along.
"Very good points Cap. Maybe they escaped from whatever evil organization they are from and don't want shield to find out because they just want to be free of all that. Point is we don't know, and there is a nice shawarmas joint we could go to right now to find out."
"Without letting Shield know. At least until we figure out if that is really Bucky. And who the kid is." Roger agreed, treating it more like an order.
Still, Natash was tired. It hasn't even been a full hour since the fighting ended and they need to meet up with Fury after 'resting up' for a mission debrief.
"Fine. But if anything goes wrong it will be on your head." Natasha said, not sure if she was talking to Stark or Rogers.
"Oh no, my ukulele!"
I ran over to my ukulele that had three of the four strings snaped, and the body looking like someone stepped through up. Probably an alien someone from the size of the whole.
"Can you fix it?"
I shook my head, looking down at it sadly.
"No, it would be cheaper to just buy a new one. But however am I going to replace the fact that a teenage boy stole this for me?"
Bucky just gave me two pats on the head before gathering our stuff and propping up the bike. It's been maybe 30 minutes since the wormhole closed and already people were moving on with their lives. Some of the streets were closed, and there was lots of emergency vehicles about cleaning the streets and the buildings that got hit, but there was a surprising lack of people that were injured. Logically I knew it was more due to the avengers' action rather than my own, but I like to think we helped.
It felt nice.
"Right, so what's the plan. Are we really just going to meet up at the restaurant?" I asked as I took the strings off.
At least I could use the metal for something.
"You don't need to come."
"Yeah that's not going to happen. I want food and I don't want you to get kidnapped or something."
"You're the only kid here Lani." Bucky said with a smile, small enough to miss if you didn't know where to look.
"Adultnapped then."
I was starting to wish I had enough time to take a nap before we left so I could have saved. I also don't have enough SP to Apparate out with Bucky so I was really hoping that no one told Shield about us. At least I don't think Hydra would do anything with 7 superheroes hanging around. We'll have to be careful about leaving, but I could force myself to apparate us out. Who needs HP anyways.
It took some time to find the place, or at least a place that had a sign saying they sold Shawarmas in the front window. By that time, Bucky had picked me up and was giving me a piggy back ride because, apparently, I looked tired.
"Your face looks tired." Was my amazing come back.
And that was the scene the Avengers witnessed as we walked in. I felt Bucky tense up beneath me as I looked over their faces. They all looked... tired. Not like the warriors I saw just moments before. Steve stood up, but didn't do anything else.
"And here I was thinking the two of you were going to be a no show." Tony said, like the tension in the room wasn't thick enough to cut with a sword.
"I'm always up for free food." I said, looking around to see if there was any one else in the place.
Bucky did a look about outside, but who knows what shield can do.
There were some workers cleaning up the other tables, and I could hear people cooking in the back. It looked painfully like a family restaurant at 2 o'clock.
"That's great since I'm paying." Tony said, giving Black widow and hawkeye a look that made me wonder if they were talking about that before we arrived.
I slipped off Bucky's back and made my way to the table, to the two empty seats that were between Steve (who sat back down) and Natasha. Obviously placed there for a reason. What that reason was, I could only guess. So with a shy smile, I sat next to Natasha.
Bucky took the other seat and Steve was still staring at Bucky.
"Now that everyone is here, we can eat." Tony said, leaning back in his chair to grab the attention of one of the waiters who just nodded before leaving.
Still, there was no one else around. Was I just missing something? Bucky didn't seem stressed out, though he kept looking over to Steve but I was expecting something like that.
"So, why don't we do some introductions. I'm Tony Stark, aka Iron man. Who are you kid?"
"Lani."
"Just Lani?"
I opened my mouth before closing it again. I mean, I did have a last name but I never used it. It has no meaning to me, unlike with Lani now.
"Yeah, just Lani." I said with a shrug.
Tony nodded to himself before looking over the others.
"Well, come on."
I may have giggled a little, especially since the others all looked to each other as if to figure out silently who would go next. Sure I knew all their names, but there is no way I should.
"It is nice to meet you Just Lani, I am Thor Odinson from Asgard. The man of Iron mentioned you prowess in battle and you should be very proud."
I gave a full laugh at that.
"Sorry, it's just Lani as in I only go by Lani. Not that Just is my family name. And, uh, thank you."
"Stark we don't have time for the introduction games. Are you the winter soldier?" Natasha said that last bit in Russian, though it looked like Tony, Bruce, and Steve were the only ones confused by that.
"Yes." Bucky answered, and I looked at him since that was the first time I heard him speak Russian in years.
"What is your mission?"
"Romanoff what are you asking him?" Steve asked, but Bucky answered before she could.
"To survive."
"What?"
"Okay, I can explain that. It's kinda long and probably going to blow your minds, so are... are we good? Like no wire tapes or anything like that?" I had to ask because surely they didn't all come here unprepared.
"We're clean. No one told Shield about this little powwow." Tony said, and I just stared at him.
"What?"
"You asked us not to kid, remember?"
"Yeah but I didn't think you would... hoped yet, but I..."
I took a deep breath. This was good. Maybe this would work out in our favor for once.
"Right. Okay, story time. Um, so the short story is that two years ago Buddy -Bucky?" I asked again, and Bucky gave me a shrug.
I really wished I pressed him more on that before but... "Okay I guess Bucky and I escaped from a super secret Hydra base thing and have been on the run ever since." I just came out and told them.
There was a slight pause, before everyone (except for Thor) exclaimed, "What?" in very different ways.
It took some time to get everyone calm enough to listen to me, since name dropping Captain America's greatest feat in the war does that. At least by that time we had food.
"That's impossible. We took out all their bases... 70 years ago!"
"Well obviously you missed a few." I snapped, before seeing the stunned look on Steve's face.
"Sorry. I mean, they are named Hydra for a reason. Cut one head off and two more appear." I said with what I hoped came across as an apologetic smile.
"You're MW!" Tony suddenly interrupted with a snap.
"I'm... what?"
"You're the hacker that left me that message over a year ago, and hacked into Shield." Tony said, looking like the smug asshole that he is sometimes.
I have no idea how he made that connection though.
"Shield was hacked into? When did this happen?" Clint asked.
"A while ago, but nothing was stolen until more recently. And that was just information about our good Captain here. But that was you wasn't it Lani?"
"Uhhh, I plead the fifth?"
How did Tony figure that all out? I didn't even use the same program to hack into Shield that I used for him!
"Stark you knew Shield was compromised and didn't tell anyone?"
"How to do you think I figured that out?"
"Are you telling me you hacked into Shield?"
"Yes, but I think we have bigger things to deal with. So Lani, you hacked into Shield to find Steve because you knew your dad was his old friend Bucky?"
"Dad?!" Steve choked out, and he was doing a great impression of a fish drowning in air.
I might have laughed a little.
"No, we didn't know. Lani thought he had something to do with my past, but I don't remember." Bucky answered for me, which is good since I didn't want to lie if I didn't have to.
"You don't remember?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I kinda thought Bucky was just obsessed with Captain America as a kid or something." I joked when I noticed Bucky starting to get uncomfortable.
Not that he was very relaxed to begin with.
"I don't think I was obsessed with that punk." Bucky defended himself, and apparently that was enough to restart Steve's mind.
"Punk? You still think I'm a punk despite..."
"I just get the impression you are the type of punk who fights five guys in an alleyway to save someone only to get beaten up yourself." Bucky said frowning slightly, though Steve seemed to light up at that.
"Might have happened once or twice."
I couldn't help but smile at that, because so far things were going pretty well.
"This is all very sweet and all, but can we get back to the Nazi group that might be back?"
"Hydra wasn't part of the Nazi's, they just worked with them." Natasha said.
"Same thing." Tony said with a wave of his hand.
"What do you want to know?" I asked.
It wasn't like I was planning on telling them much about Hydra, but now that it was brought up, it wasn't like I wasn't going to tell them. They should know. More than that, they can help.
"Why do you think it was Hydra?" Natasha asked.
"Because they would go around saying hail hydra all the time? And it's not like their red skull symbol was hidden around the base."
"Base? Do you know where this base is?"
"No," I said at the same time Bucky said, "Yes."
I looked to him for a moment. I never bothered to ask about that, assuming that Bucky wasn't at the 'let's blow up their bases' level just yet. I wasn't sure I was at the level yet.
"What happened to resting? A day off. That is all I ask." Tony complained before Natasha could get the information out of Bucky right then and there.
"This isn't going to be an avenger mission Stark. We'll just tell Shield and-"
"Whao, you can't do that!" I interrupted, almost yelping at the intense glare Natasha sent me.
But to my surprise she softened a little and sighed.
"We won't tell them about you and... Barnes yet."
"No. I mean, thank you, but that's not what I'm talking about. Shield has some hydra sleeper agents, and not so sleepy agents."
"What?" Clint asked in shock.
More shock than the whole Hydra thing moments before. Which, yeah, this was going to be the hard part to get them believe.
"Yeah, I'm still trying to find evidence but... I have a list!" I said as I bent over to pull my journal out of my bag.
It was a little awkward getting it out and opening the journal with only one hand, and my non-dominant hand at that, but I did it and slapped my beat up journal onto the table.
"Those are the ones I'm 100% sure are involved with Hydra, then the next two pages are the ones who might be Shieldra. Again, I don't have any concrete evidence but-"
"What happened to your hand?" Bruce interrupted.
It was the first time he really spoke up, and it was then that I remembered he spent the last few years since becoming Hulk providing medical attentional in rural areas.
"Oh, I broke it on his fat ass." I said, even going as far as pointing at Tony who was across from me. " I was kinda hoping that-"
"I thought you were joking about that."
"No, why would I joke about getting hurt? Now, I get you probably don't trust us but-"
"Have you had it checked out?" Bruce interrupted again.
I sighed loudly. They really weren't going to let this slide huh.
"No. Being on the run from secret organizations doesn't give you a lot of freedom to go into a clinic."
I was getting a little annoyed, but no one likes getting interrupted. The longer Bucky and I are here the great risk we are in.
At least Natasha took my journal to read over my list. Nice to know at least one person is taking this seriously.
"Can I take a look at it?" Bruce asked and I just stared at him.
I already knew it was broken, but that was because of my weird gamer ability. I can't tell him that.
"You're not a medically certified doctor." I said instead, before realizing that...
"And how do you know that?" Bruce asked, sounding more curious than threatened.
"You're Dr. Bruce Banner right? I read some of your academic articles about nuclear physics and...yeah." I awkwardly explained.
And it wasn't like I was lying. I did pirated some articles that he published, and others I was able to read using someone else's library card and going online.
"You're right that I'm not a medical doctor, but I do have the experience to deal with a potential broken hand. It will just take a second Lani." Bruce said, and he sounded so earnest.
"Okay." I said when I couldn't come up with a good reason for him not to look.
Well, I could lie and say that I'm scared of him because he can turn into the green giant, but that's just rude.
For the first time since we arrived, the group fell silent and Bruce got and and walked over to my seat, bending down as he unwrapped the gauge and looked at my hand. I didn't even notice that Steve was talking to Bucky until they stopped.
I really didn't like all the attention.
"It does look to be broken, but we'll need to do an x-ray to be sure."
"Nope. I'm good. Thanks though." I said as I quickly removed my hand.
"I got one back home. We could probably sneak you in without anyone noticing." Tony randomly announced.
"No, it's really fine. I'm a fast healer."
"Even so, we need to do an x-ray to make sure it can heal properly." Bruce said, even as I heard Clint mutter that it didn't looked very healed to him.
"You're certain no one would see us?" Bucky said, and I turned around to stare at him because...
"Really?"
All I need is one night's rest and I'll be fine. Though, I do remember a friend in my past who had his arm heal incorrectly and they had to break it again. I don't think that would happen. But that would be pretty bad if I lost any mobility in my dominant hand because of an assumption.
"Lucky for you, I've become very paranoid in my old age." Tony joked.
"Can we please get back to Hydra infiltrating governments for decades now? Like I'm pretty sure they are the reason behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks too."
Okay, that was just me BSing, but I do remember something about Hydra being involved in the Iraq war. I don't really care as long as they stopped acting like having Bucky and I in the stark tower as anywhere near being a good idea. It might not be the worst place, but I think we already tempted fate enough for one day. Most likely Shield or Hydra already have video evidence of my and/or Bucky's presence and they are just waiting until we are not around a bunch of superheroes to strike.
Man I really wish I had time to save and take a nap.
"Lani, if you let Brucie check you out, I'll show you my lab."
"...You're bribing me?" I asked, and I hate to admit that it might be working.
Just a little.
I mean, who wouldn't want to check out a lab that is straight out of sci-fi. Also to meet Jarvis? A real AI? That would be beyond cool. But still doesn't change the fact that it was an awful idea.
"I still have a particle accelerator set up."
Fuck.
"One hour." I said like it really depended on my decision.
Unfortunately, if Bucky thinks it's a good idea for us to go there then he'll physically carry me if need be. Sure I could escape but...yeah. Sometimes you just have to go with other people's dumb decisions even when you know better.
Besides, I've only seen particle accelerators in movies and my textbooks before.
A/N: This scene ended up being a lot longer than I first thought, and even then I didn't get to all the scene that I originally imagined. Oh well. Also I've been posted a few things related to this story over on my tumblr (iftheworldendsinflames) under #new game pluss if you want to check that out. Right now it's just memes and a few character creators that I found where I made Lani. I think I'm going to be posting my behind the scene math for this story over on there too.
Also, last chapter got so many reviews. On this site, we reached a new record of 28 reviews for one chapter, and a total of 43 reviews/comments for a single chapter. Then all the favorites/follows this story now has? It is ridiculous. Thank you so much. Super thanks to Emerald2211, Ultimate Pervy Sage, bojangles8894, Twizzle200, Drunken Hamster, Nivellia Neil, LittleofEverything, the guest named Fan, the guest complaining about cliffhangers, PhoenixxReborn, JustUsingARandomName, laraliz16, Akira D. Ryusuke, Triflight, Nameless Angel 00, Blueowl, Goldenfightergirl, Doctor Doofenshmirtz (times 2), Death Fury, Inu-Angel Z, Zyanadry, I.D.'s Fantasy, BlackDove WhiteDove, the guest name SunnySides (as you can see some of your predictions from chapter 12 did come true), frankieu, Cinnybun, Omega-66, and JoshDaDirt for leaving a review.
Unforcuently, in an effort to make sure I don't just put this story on hiatus for three months while I'm in school, I'm going to update only once a week. So I'll see you all next weekend!