The trial was being held in the war room, a long table at the end was occupied by the panel of nine judges. The benches had been rearranged to face them, seven rows behind the tables for the defence and prosecution. The public was excluded of course, given the sensitive nature of the information.

Okoye and Ayo stood guard at the door on T'Challa's insistence. For Bucky's security as much as anyone else's. Many of the officials and dignitaries present had bodyguards of their own and though they were not armed, they filled the room uncomfortably quickly.

Steve and Shay sat behind the defence, as far left as they could so that Bucky need only glance over his shoulder to see them. Shay wore the beaded collar of her suit over the otherwise unremarkable tunic dress, and of course the cuffs. Shuri had made them as comfortable and classy as she could, but the golden bracelets still made Shay's skin crawl.

The cuffs had been an unshakeable condition of her attendance. If her gift wasn't restrained, the prosecution could claim a mistrial on grounds that she was influencing the judges.

Okoye had murmured, "I do not like this," as she slipped the bracelets on at the entrance.

The shadow of their first meeting passed through Shay's mind before the cold metal tightened against her wrists. Okoye had been the one to cut the collar from her neck when Shay was rescued from the Raft, and when the plan for the cuffs had been revealed, Okoye had been most vocal in her anger at the concept of repeating that offense.

Still, Shay could not risk jeopardizing Bucky's trial and there was no other option on the table. Shay insisted she would be okay with it and Okoye conceded, on the condition that Shay would choose who to trust with this terrible power rather than some stranger sent by the United States.

"Thank you, Okoye." Shay tried to say, as much with her eyes as her words, even as the sense surged beneath her skin and paranoia mounted at the sudden lack of information about her surroundings. She shivered again, prickling sensations creeping over the back of her neck, raising goosebumps on her arms.

"This court is now in session."

As opening arguments were presented Shay ran her fingers over the beads at her neck, drawing what comfort she could from the sensation on her finger tips.

"The winter soldier is responsible for 23 known assassinations and at least 51 collateral fatalities." The prosecutor spoke clearly, her voice solidly reverberating through the courtroom with the authority befitting a general.

The defense attorney was her opposite in nearly every way, short and thin where she was tall and broad shouldered, but his full round voice and the passion of his words belied his less impressive stature, drawing the listener in like moth to flame. Shay understood why Tony said he was 'the best'.

"We offer no challenge to the charges in question, the proof is incontrovertible. What is in question is Sargent Barnes' culpability.

"We will prove to you that the defendant, Sargent James Barnes, was not in a state of cognizance at the time the murders were committed, that he was not in possession of his mind in the planning or commission of them, and that it was his handlers within Hydra that bear the full responsibility for these terrible crimes.

"Further to that, we will demonstrate That Sargent Barnes was himself a victim, being held against his will, forced to witness terrible atrocities and been subjected to torture that exceeds anything we have ever seen before."

Bucky's heels seemed cemented into the floor, his head in his hands. His lawyers had advised him not to mask his discomfort in front of the panel. Let them see his remorse, but keep a tight lid on anger. Be vulnerable, human, and at all costs, avoid any reminders of his superior strength.

Steve was sitting stoic and calm a pillar of strength visible to anyone in the court, Shay sat at his side, her face unreadable to anyone who didn't know her. The tightness around her mouth, the deliberate relaxation of her eyebrows, her eyes unfocused, unseeing until she caught Bucky looking back at them. For a fragment of a moment, she imagined sending the warm comfort of a hug through the space between them. her fingers twisted instinctively and then the cold metal shifted, tightening against the intention. Shay winced, digging her fingertips into her palm.

Only three weeks. Just fifteen days. That's all.

Shay lay on a mattress on the floor, tracing shadows across the ceiling of Steve's room. Exhausted as she was, sleep still didn't come easy. The trial had progressed to video evidence the day before.

The blank eyes of the winter soldier that had haunted her dreams for the past three nights, now had the added horror of the inhumanly mechanical movements, not even flinching when he had been shot in the abdomen.

"You sure you don't want the bed?" Steve asked. "I don't mind the floor."

"I'm alright, as long as you don't throw your pillow at me again." She attempted a laugh but it got caught in lump in her throat.

The mattress creaked as Steve turned over. "How're you holding up?" his voice a soft whisper in the dark. "And don't give me that bs about being fine."

"I, I don't know Steve." Shay's voice wavered, betraying more uncertainty than she'd allowed to show in Bucky's presence. "I knew it'd be rough going, and it'll be worth it, in the end." Her breath came out in a sharp huff as she added, "it has to be."

"Take tomorrow off, go… sightseeing, or visit Anhi," Steve urged gently, "you need a break."

"You know I can't do that." Shay said, her voice breaking as she added. "He needs us, both of us."

Bucky had become more withdrawn as the trial wore on, only looking back at them now to see if disgust or fear showed in their faces. Her absence could cement that sense of rejection in his mind.

As hard as it was to step through those doors and set aside her gift to sit in a stifling room, seeing and hearing the terrible things that had been done to him, that he'd been forced to do. Watching the man she cared about, the man she loved, sinking further into painful memories and regrets.

For him she would bear it.

"When this is all over- when we've won, I'm giving you a month off." Steve said after a long moment.

"Not like I've been doing anything since Thanos."

"R&R, necessary and you know it. No, I mean, when we get back home, four weeks, no training, no missions, no research. Do anything you want; go anywhere you'd like."

"Home." Shay whispered the word like a prayer. "I just want to be home."

She didn't have the energy or the desire to stop the flood of golden light that illuminated her at the thought, it was a relief after so many days of stifling containment.

"No missions."

"Whatever you say Captain." She rolled her eyes but there was a smile in her voice. "What about you? What'll you do when this is all over."

"I… I don't know." Steve was silent for several long moments and when he spoke Shay could hear the turmoil of his thoughts. "It's just been one fight after another for so long. Getting Bucky cleared seems like- like we've come full circle."

"You could retire the shield, live in a cabin in the woods, carving little wooden animals and eating apple pie." Shay suggested. "Make a life for yourself outside of the hero gig."

Steve chuckled. "Not sure about the cabin, but pie sounds good."

"If- when we win, I'll buy you two."

Another long pause followed Shay's declaration and she wondered if Steve had finally nodded off.

"Blueberry."

"What?"

"One apple and one blueberry."