Wakanda

James "Bucky" Barnes

The princess explained how the process would go. I would be placed in cryogenic freezing for a while. Long enough for them to scan my brain waves and figure out the next best course of action.

During my Hydra days, they never explained anything. They just did more experiments, put my metal arm on, and shoved me into a cryogenic chamber.

"And don't worry," Princess Shuri said with a good-natured smile. "We won't keep you locked in there for several decades."

"I should hope not." Natasha strode over to us.

She ran her hands over my shoulders.

"It's been a long wait already." I said, looking into her eyes.

"He'll be waiting too." she reminded me.

I didn't need to ask who 'he' was. The kid from Queens. The baby in Kyiv. Spider-Man. They were all the same.

One of the nurses unhooked me from the IV and wrapped my bloodied hand in bandages.

"You sure about this?" Steve asked, coming into the room.

He still had bruises from our fight with Stark and deep shadows underneath his eyes. He hadn't had a lot of sleep in the past few days.

"I can't trust my own mind anymore." I said. "So until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head, going in the ice again is what's best…."

Steve still looked reluctant.

"For everybody."

In all the chaos, Natasha and I hadn't been able to tell him everything. We hadn't told him that Zola tried to unleash the Winter Soldier.

If he had made it through all the code words, the first to get hurt would've been my own family.

With a knowing smile, Steve nodded.

"I'll see you soon, Buck. Probably sooner for you than for me."

We embraced.

"Hey, do me a favor."

"Sure."

"Keep an eye on the kid for me. I know it'll be hard with you being a war criminal and everything-"

As far as I knew, Peter was still Spider-Man. He was still learning the ropes of being a superhero. He could use some help.

"Absolutely."

I smiled.

"Thank you."

It was good to know that someone other than that billionaire Stark was watching him. But then I remembered what I had done to him. To his parents. Howard and I weren't the best of friends, but we got along pretty well.

I had killed Howard and his wife and left my own kid to deal with the Starks' emotionally unstable son.

We should've brought him with us.

"Where will you go?" I asked Natasha.

She shrugged. "Just because the Avengers are split, doesn't mean there are people that don't need help. We'll start with the Raft prison."

Everyone on our side; Barton, Wanda Maximoff, the Ant-Man guy, even Wilson gave themselves up to the authorities so we could escape.

It was only fair that one of us went back to bust them out.

She leaned in and kissed me.

The first time in fourteen years.

I had done terrible things to Natasha. I had shot her, choke-slammed her, and tried to kill her at least twice. But she helped me even when it threatened to destroy her new life and reputation.

I didn't deserve her. Yet she stayed.

She pulled back.

"Good-bye, James. We'll see each other again."

She squeezed my good hand and stepped aside, so they could help me into the carbon-freezing chamber.

I heard a soft hiss and cold air swirled around me.

The Hydra cryo-chamber was cold and metallic. As the chamber began to freeze you, the walls seemed to close in and you started panicking. That was why when I was brought out of cryo-freeze, most of the time my arms ached because I had been frozen in weird positions.

But the Wakandan cryo-chamber was more therapeutic. The coldness lulled me to sleep as I closed my eyes without a struggle.

For the first time in years, there was actually hope. I didn't have to be a heartless killer anymore. I could find a way to get out of this.

I might never be able to get my old life back, but maybe I could find a new way to live.

After all, Natasha and Peter hadn't been a part of my old life.

This time, going under the ice was different. Because this time, I had something to look forward to waking up. I had a family this time.

Hi, guys! Sorry it's been awhile. I've also been working on the beginnings of a novel that I'm hoping to send to a publisher. I think I'll change Natasha and Bucky's points of view to first-person to show that the story isn't just about Peter. Bucky is a tricky character to write because he's in a transition phase right now and he doesn't get a lot of screen time after Captain America: Civil War.

Marvel announced a lot of new projects recently, so that's pretty exciting.

Summer break will end for me pretty soon, but I'll still try to update Into the Multiverse and Spiders and the Soldier.

I know in the UK, school doesn't start until September…..that must be nice. :)

Thanks for reading!