Last mega-chapter. Epilogue coming tomorrow x
September, 2016
Steve called while Maggie was a mile off the ground, soaring over the jungle outside Birnin Zana. She felt her phone buzzing in the pocket of her canvas shorts and ignored it; she drifted up on the hot updrafts from the baking rainforest, and sank in the cooler downdrafts over the glittering rivers. Her hair streamed over her bare shoulders and the sun baked down on her back, clad in a tank top. Her wings banked and her chest swelled as the world unfolded below her, green and blue and hers.
She crested over the last of the jungle and over the veld, spotting a couple of the Border Tribe racing below on their powerful horses. Her shadow passed over them a moment later and they looked up, and flapped their blue Vibranium cloaks at her in greeting. Maggie flared her wings and spun lazily, sending her shadow shimmering over the ground, and then banked back in the direction of home.
She called Steve back once she'd touched back down outside the hut, shaking off the chill of the high-speed winds and going to dip her toes in the lake.
"Hey Steve," she said, letting the tips of her wings trace the water behind her as she paced through the shallows.
"Hi," came his familiar voice. "Do you have a moment?"
"I have plenty." She glanced around, but couldn't spot Bucky.
"Great. So I've just had a call from the US Attorney's Office. I don't want to worry you, but they were asking about Bucky."
Maggie stilled. "What do they know?"
"Nothing, I don't think. I got the impression… they were being vague about it, but they basically said they wanted to resolve the problem before it got any worse."
"He's not a problem-"
"I know, I know, let me finish. I get the sense that they're wanting to come to some kind of legal arrangement for him. They were hinting pretty heavily that they knew the Avengers had to have some idea of where he was, or at least how to contact him."
Maggie's lips pressed together. Okay, so the US Attorney's Office wasn't stupid. "What did they mean by legal arrangement?"
"I'm not sure, they didn't specify. But I discussed it with Nat already, and she said they wouldn't have called me specifically if they weren't considering… I don't know. A pardon, maybe."
Maggie sat down on a rock on the lakeside and chewed the inside of her lip. Her heart had leaped at the mention of a pardon, but… "It could be a trap of some kind. A pardon, after everything… that's a lot to just offer with no catch."
"That's what I thought," Steve murmured. "I'm going to meet with them in a couple days."
She rubbed her forehead. "I'll be there." There was no beating around the bush, that's what Steve had been asking about.
She heard him let out a breath. "Okay. Thank you."
"I'll see you soon. I'd better hang up, if this is in two days then I've got some calls to make."
"Alright. But Maggie, I mean…"
She paused.
"I don't - I don't think it's a good idea that Bucky comes with you," Steve said, and she could hear the guilt in his voice.
"I know. He won't want to come, anyway. He feels safer here, and he still has to meet up with Shuri every now and then."
"Things are going well, then?"
Maggie leaned back on her rock and tilted her face up to the sun. "Yeah, Steve. Really well."
"Okay. I'll see you soon."
After much internal debate, Maggie decided not to tell Bucky why she'd decided to go back. She simply said that she'd been away from her job too long and needed to check on things, but that she'd be back.
They didn't have time for a prolonged goodbye, given the time crunch; T'Challa, thankfully, had offered her the use of a Wakandan jet within a few hours.
"I'll be back soon," she promised for what felt like the twentieth time as Bucky walked her into Birnin Zana, the now-familiar streets and buildings around them.
"I know," he said, hand on the small of her back. She wondered if he could tell she wasn't telling him the whole truth; he hadn't called her on it, but he'd know that she was doing it for a good reason. "I'll miss you still."
"Same," she sighed. "The Facility sucks without you." He snorted. "Well, it's great, and filled with all my friends and family, sure. But… I don't know. It's not as good without you there." She wanted to say more; like maybe we'll get you there soon, but she swallowed the words.
Avengers Facility, Upstate New York
Maggie had missed the Facility. Striding through its gleaming corridors felt strange; it all seemed so much smaller than she remembered, and being without the technological advancements of Wakanda was almost a shock. But it was so good to see the grounds again, and every single member of staff she passed greeted her with an enthusiastic smile and a comment about how she'd been missed. It almost surprised her how many people she knew.
She followed the familiar path to the Avengers common room, glancing out at the glimpses of the green grounds she could see. When the doors slid open to the common room she looked up, her mouth opening-
The room was nearly empty, save for two figures on the couch: Wanda, in jeans and a t-shirt, leaned against a strange blonde-haired man in smart casual clothes, holding his hand.
Maggie flinched back. "Wanda, who's that?"
They both glanced over. Wanda's mouth opened as she processed Maggie's question, then she turned back to the man, a smile growing on her face. The look they shared had such a casual intimacy to it.
The man's eyebrows rose as he looked back to Maggie. He had a sophisticated air to him; his posture was straight, almost perfect, and there was intelligence to his features. "You don't recognize me?"
Vision's voice came out of the man's mouth and Maggie felt the color drain from her face.
"What the fuck," she breathed.
"You've been gone a while," Wanda said, a laugh bubbling up in her voice. "We forgot to warn you."
"It's me, Maggie," said Vision's voice again. He spread his hands - pink, fleshy hands. "I figured out how to control my molecules at their basest level, in order to alter my appearance. It took some time to figure out the right skin and hair textures" - he reached up to touch the blonde strands on his head - "but I believe I have made a convincing job of it."
Maggie stared at the man's face, taking in… well, the familiar shape of it. And his awkward sort of smile. She took a few steps closer. Those… those eyes were the same. A pale blue-green, almost innocent in their openness and frightening with their intelligence.
Maggie put a hand over her heart and tried to calm her breathing. "Vision," she murmured. "Holy shit."
His smile turned proud.
She shook off the remnants of her initial panic and strode over to give them both a hug. Vision was as surprisingly warm as always, and slightly softer. Wanda beamed as Maggie pulled away.
"Also, don't think I didn't spot the hand holding," Maggie commented as she pulled away. "Well done, you two."
Wanda ducked her head and shot a smile at Vision. "It's new. Don't tell anyone."
"Sure."
Vision put one arm on the back of the couch behind Wanda's shoulders and looked up at Maggie. "You look… well."
"I feel well," she replied, hands on her hips. "Bucky and I needed a holiday."
"How was Wakanda?" Wanda asked interestedly.
"Amazing. You'd love it. They've got this delicious plantain dish thing which nearly melted my mouth, it'd be right up your alley. And the cities, Vision, you have to go. Shuri would lose her mind over you - though she'd probably call you elementary technology, compared to what she's got."
"Elementary?" Vision said, a tone of offence in his voice.
At that moment the common room doors slid open again, causing them all to glance over; Darcy appeared in the doorway, glasses pushed up her nose, her lips painted red, and a purple scarf around her neck. She beamed.
"You're back!" Darcy cried as she hurried in and swept Maggie into a hug. Maggie squeezed her back, grinning. "And you're so tanned!" Darcy pulled back, holding Maggie at arm's length and sweeping a gaze over her. "Oh my god, you have to tell me everything, but I have no time since my doctorate work is killing me and since you've left I've had a bunch more Accords work, Steve is such a taskmaster, I don't know how none of you have never just" - she mimed strangling with her hands.
Darcy sighed, kissed Maggie on the cheek, and darted out again before Maggie could say a word.
She smiled and looked back to Wanda and Vision. "Have you guys seen Steve?"
She found Steve and Tony together, outside at a picnic bench, watching the Avengers agents train on the lawns. Maggie didn't immediately announce her presence as she approached. It was nice to see them sitting together as friends once more; Steve in a blue henley with his elbows propped on his knees, squinting in the sun, and Tony leaning back against the picnic table in his F.R.I.D.A.Y glasses, wearing a dark red t-shirt that Maggie was pretty sure was Wyvern merchandise.
She overheard snatches of their conversation as she walked up behind them; they were talking about where Tony should buy a house for himself and Pepper.
"Hey, newlyweds," she called when she was just a few yards away. They both glanced over at the sound of her voice, then instantly stood.
Tony rushed toward her (the shirt did have the Wyvern logo on the front), his face breaking open in a grin. "Maggot!" He barreled into her, arms wrapping around her and lifting her off her feet. "You need to stop running away from home."
"That wasn't running away," she snorted, kicking her toe into his ankle until he let her down. "But I missed you too." She kissed his cheek. "I think we both needed a bit of a honeymoon period, though."
"Yeah, only I didn't have to spend mine all the way in Wakanda."
"Some people have better holidays than others," she said with an air of superiority. "And besides, Pepper isn't a wanted criminal." Tony let her go, and she smiled at him. "I don't know if I'm back for long this time, but I'll be back more often."
Tony put his hands on his hips. "Getting your boyfriend out of legal trouble, huh?"
"Attempting to."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Let me borrow your girlfriend?"
He nodded. "Fair."
Maggie leaned to the side so she could see past Tony, to Steve. He waited by the picnic bench, watching their reunion with a small smile.
"You look good, Maggie," he smiled. He had his hands in his pockets.
"So do you," she realized. Steve seemed… more comfortable in his skin than she had ever seen him outside of his uniform. More relaxed. She jerked her head at him. "Let's get to work."
Maggie had only a day to settle in and plan with Steve and Pepper.
They had their meeting at the US Attorney General's offices at the Department of Justice building in D.C. the next day.
They arrived around midday with their full team to the beautiful sandstone building, next door to the National Archives and across the road from the Smithsonian, which was still advertising for the Captain America installation at the Air & Science branch. Maggie and Steve traded a glance as they eyed the posters, then turned to approach the front doors.
They were closely followed by Pepper, in a crisp white suit. That morning, Pepper and Maggie had had a difference of opinion.
You don't really need me, Pepper had said. You're much better at this now than I am.
I'm definitely not, Maggie had countered.
But you can do it.
Okay, Maggie had replied, but I need you for emotional support.
Pepper had laughed and agreed to come, and as she'd predicted Maggie felt better for it.
Maggie and Steve both wore suits, Steve looking a little stiff and uncomfortable in his, and their team comprised of the head of the Avengers' media team and a handful of lawyers, headed up by a newcomer.
Maggie had met with Diego Martinez earlier that morning. He was a tall man with streaks of grey in his dark hair, and sharp intelligent eyes behind a pair of sensible glasses. His voice was lightly accented and quieter than you'd expect. Currently he wore a nice dark suit, with a briefcase under one arm.
His firm, Martinez and Kemp, had been on the Avengers's radar for a while, ever since they'd first brought in Bucky. They were known as some of the best defense lawyers in New York, probably the country, but things had never gone so far yet as to require bringing them on retainer. And a few weeks ago, Maggie had realized that his partner, Andrea Kemp, was none other than Bucky's great-niece.
Now, though, the time had come for a seriously good defense lawyer. Martinez had agreed instantly to the proposition over the phone, and Maggie had met with both him and his partner; Kemp was a battleaxe of a woman with dark hair and a take-no-bullshit attitude that was both alarming and inspiring. Kemp had said she could not represent Bucky due to the conflict of interest, but that Martinez would do a better job than anyone else could.
Kemp had been too professional to ask personal questions about Bucky and his whereabouts, but Maggie had seen the questions in her eyes. Maggie hoped to be able to answer those soon.
"Are you ready?" Martinez asked Maggie and Steve as they entered the DoJ building and were being processed by security. Martinez was re-affixing his watch. "Remember what we talked about. Calm, determined, and certain in the law."
"I remember," Steve murmured. "And - and plausible deniability."
Right, because we're not supposed to know where Bucky is. Maggie got her phone back from security and tucked it in her pocket. There were several messages from Bucky on that very phone, though they were so encrypted she doubted even she could have accessed them if she didn't know the password. She cleared her throat. "And the Attorney General called us," she reminded Steve, though she it was really more soothe her own nerves. "That's a sign they want to play ball."
"Ms Stark, Captain Rogers?" They glanced over to see a PA with a nervous smile. "The AG will see you now. Please follow me."
"Ms Stark, a pleasure to see you again."
Maggie shook the hand of the Attorney General, Bill Walsh, with a friendly smile. They'd been at several of the same functions, and he'd been in the group of officials with the President when she visited the White House recently. He was a silver-haired man with wire glasses and a usually-unsmiling face. His lack of a smile didn't put Maggie off, though, since she knew him to be a no-nonsense get-business-done sort of a man.
He turned to Steve and introduced himself, then greeted Pepper and the rest of their team. He began introducing some of his own team, who stood just inside the conference room, in suits and clutching laptops and pads of paper.
"And, of course, you know Secretary Ross," Walsh said, gesturing further inside.
Maggie stilled.
Ross had not risen to meet the Avengers's team when they'd arrived outside the conference room. He sat at the head of the long, dark wood table, his dark eyes glittering. He looked hard, and angry. The last few months had not been kind to him.
"Oh," Maggie said at the same time as Steve said, coldly:
"Yes, but we weren't expecting him."
"A last minute addition," AG Walsh said with a thin smile. The smile, and his voice, prickled with tension.
"Why don't you come in and take a seat," said an Assistant Attorney General, and with a shared glanced Maggie, Steve, Pepper, Martinez and their team headed inside.
Maggie had barely sat down before Ross opened his mouth.
"I take this display to mean that you do know where Barnes is hiding," Ross said with a hard glare, gesturing at the team of people they'd brought with them. He scoffed. "I'm not surprised; you went to far enough lengths to protect him the last time."
"You mean when you were hunting him for a crime he didn't commit?" Steve asked hotly.
"He's committed plenty of crimes, Captain," Ross snarled back. Maggie's hand curled into a fist under the table.
"If I may begin," Walsh interrupted curtly. They all quieted.
The conference room was a beautiful room, wood-panelled, with flags by the door and historic paintings on the wall and carpets on the floor, like plenty of these distinguished D.C. offices. Maggie barely glanced at any of it, too off-balanced by Ross's presence. This threw off all their plans.
AG Walsh set down a manila folder on the shiny wooden surface of the table. "This is our current brief on James Buchanan Barnes," he began, and Maggie eyed the printed name on the front of it. "It comprises of intelligence prepared by the CIA and the JTTF, based on surveillance records, data mines of HYDRA intelligence, and brief observations from his time in custody in Berlin." His brow lowered. "It also contains the alleged crimes committed by Barnes. Assassinations. Insurgency. Arson. International and domestic terrorism. Torture. Among others. We have an extensive list, and that's just the alleged crimes we're aware of." He leaned forward, his fingers laced together and his voice serious. "These facts cannot be ignored."
"You're aware of the mitigating circumstances, though," Maggie said, as if it were obvious.
Walsh eyed her. "Go on."
Maggie looked to Martinez. He opened his briefcase and brought out their own file, pushing it across the table toward AG Walsh. Walsh opened it with an arched eyebrow.
Maggie had prepared the file over the last day; it included Steve's Soviet file about Bucky's programming, data she'd recovered from the various HYDRA bases she had been to, as well as diagrams and photographs of the Memory Suppression Machine. There were witness statements from incarcerated HYDRA agents about their experiences with seeing the Winter Soldier be primed and programmed. It even included remnants of Zola's notes from Bucky's first years with HYDRA.
The file was filled with evidence; Maggie had spent years hunting down any information about the Winter Soldier, never knowing that one day it might be used to defend him.
Martinez talked through the evidence in the folder in a calm, itemized way, drawing particular attention to the descriptions of Bucky's trigger words, and the systematic torture and brainwashing he'd been through. Walsh flipped through the folder as Martinez spoke, occasionally showing parts of it to his staff.
"Compelling evidence," Walsh finally said, adjusting his glasses. "There's never been a case like this, and there's no strong precedent for brainwashing as a legal defense." He flattened a palm over the folder. "We would have to review this-"
Ross abruptly leaned forward. "Walsh, you cannot seriously be considering letting them push you over like this. Have some respect for your office-"
Walsh glanced over. "You have been permitted here as a courtesy, Secretary-"
"Barnes is a murderer and a dangerous enhanced, no less-"
"I didn't realize the Secretary of State had the power to pass down judicial sentences," Maggie cut in hotly. She leaned forward, her fist clenched again under the table. "At least, not since the Accords were repealed." It was a challenge, and she could see the words had sparked his rage.
But Ross was clever, despite his rage. "I don't need a law degree to know that Barnes is responsible for killing dozens, maybe hundreds of people. Allegedly," he added, dripping with sarcasm. "He's a dangerous, enhanced assassin." His lip curled. "You got very, very lucky with the Accords, Ms Stark. You manipulated the world into seeing aberrations as heroes, and disorder as order. You got what you wanted. You really think the Winter Soldier is worth throwing it all away for?"
"I do," she replied softly. Ross's eyes darkened.
"If I may return to the purpose for this meeting," Martinez said reasonably; he wasn't even looking Ross's way, instead addressing Walsh. Walsh inclined his head. "The matter at hand is that your office is considering charging Barnes with murder, terrorism, and a host of other charges. Before you take that risk, I'd like to present you with his defense."
Ross snorted. "Don't you think that's a little premature-"
"No, actually," Martinez said in a calm, reasonable tone. "Here's how it would go." He cleared his throat. "Say you set down the charges and indict Barnes. A trial is arranged. Lots of media coverage, international scrutiny. Barnes appears to face trial. My firm takes him on as a client. And we start calling witnesses."
He gestured to the folder under Walsh's palm. "You've seen the witnesses we will call. Incarcerated HYDRA agents who will testify that the Winter Soldier was far from a free agent; that he was frozen in cryostasis between missions, had his memory and cognition shattered by the brutal Memory Suppression Machine, and was then primed with a session of so-called programming that verifiably removed any free will or thought from his mind. Missions were not an option for him. Choice was not a word in his vocabulary."
Martinez cleared his throat. "Then we'll bring in the neuroscientists, psychiatrists, and behavioural experts, who will tell us about the unique and inhumane tortures Barnes went through. They'll show that no living person could possibly have had any free will after what HYDRA put Barnes through. They'll testify, in fact, that it is a miracle he is still alive. Then the intelligence agents will back that up with analysis of the HYDRA data. It's all in front of you."
Walsh's eyes flicked down to the folder, then back up.
"Then there will be the character witnesses. Avengers who can confirm what we know of the Winter Soldier Program, and attest to Barnes's war record, how his programming impacted his mental state, and his mental state once he was free of HYDRA. You'll notice, Attorney General, that Barnes did not commit a single violent crime after he achieved the quite remarkable feat of breaking free of his decades of programming. In fact it's the CIA and the JTTF who are to blame for breaking that streak - by putting him in the same room as a man who re-programmed him and ordered him to kill and destroy. That wasn't Barnes's choice. That was Zemo's."
Martinez kept going. He described all the evidence that confirmed Bucky's innocence, and went over the Memory Suppression Machine again in excruciating detail. Walsh's face was impervious, but Maggie could see that more than a few of his staff were disturbed. Martinez even went as far as saying that the footage from Berlin would confirm Bucky's innocence, by showing the vast change in demeanour from before and after Zemo got to him.
The long list of witnesses and evidence should have made Maggie feel confident. But each word Martinez spoke only made her sad; all of it just another reminder of the decades of pain Bucky had been through.
She forced herself to remember that he was safe, in Wakanda, probably enjoying the sunshine by the lake.
Martinez leaned forward. "I don't really think you want to be the Justice Department, or the State Department," he added with a look at Ross, "who goes through with this. How will it make your departments look, to target a former prisoner of war who went through heinous torture, and now suffers severe mental and physical trauma? Seven per cent of the US population are veterans," he added in that same reasonable tone. "That's a lot of voters. A lot of lobbying groups too."
The Assistant Attorney General's eyebrow twitched.
"No less," Martinez continued, "a war hero who is best friends with Captain America and has the full, unreserved support of the Avengers. I can see the Justice and State Departments losing a lot of sympathy points, regardless of whether Barnes is found guilty or innocent. After the Accords debacle, do you really want to add another failure to your political record?"
"Don't think that threatening my political career will sway my opinion," Walsh said sternly. "I'm a lawyer, Martinez, same as you. And I make my decisions based on evidence, and law."
"I don't see what more evidence we could show you to prove that Bucky never wanted any of this," Steve cut in, despite a warning look from Martinez. He'd been so quiet and still that the outburst startled Maggie. His jaw clenched. "I lost Bucky on a mission seventy years ago." His voice was tight. "Bucky was my best friend, and he'd never wanted to go to war, but he fought anyway because he knew it was the right thing to do. Because he wanted to help me. We protected people, and we fought HYDRA. But then he fell defending me, and… and they took his arm and they took his mind, and tortured him until he didn't even remember his own name." Steve's voice cracked. "The first thing he said to me after seventy years was who the hell is Bucky."
Maggie stilled. She hadn't known that.
"If the laws of this country say that Bucky is guilty for all that - guilty for the things they did to him, for the things they made him do… then that's not a country I recognize," Steve said firmly. His eyes were shining.
There was a brief silence, almost awkward after Steve's outburst of emotion. Walsh watched with that same measured gaze, and Maggie couldn't even bear to look at Ross, because she knew it would make her angry.
When it seemed no one knew what to say next, Maggie let out a breath.
"I don't… I'm not a lawyer," she murmured. "But even I know that to be guilty of a crime, you have to have - have mens rea." She swallowed. "Guilty mind." She reached out and touched the image of the Memory Suppression Machine, open in the file in front of Walsh. "They broke his mind. How could it be guilty?" She shook her head. "HYDRA are guilty. Bucky Barnes is going to live every day with the weight of what they did, and what they made him do. But he's not guilty. Bucky Barnes is a good man."
A ringing silence followed her words. Under the table, she put her hand on Steve's knee and squeezed. He let out a long, slow breath.
Martinez eased in again, gently. "HYDRA made Barnes their weapon - their weapon. They called him as much dozens of times. " He laced his fingers together. "You don't convict the knife, or the gun. You convict the hand that wields it. HYDRA has been brought to justice. The men and women who programmed and primed the Winter Soldier are dead, or in prison. The leaders who ordered assassinations and other heinous crimes are dead, or in prison. The victims of those crimes have had their justice - twice over, if you're counting the compensation and support of the HERACLES program," he added with a nod at Maggie. "Bu-Barnes doesn't need incarceration. He needs help. Therapy, support, privacy. He's not the bogeyman, or a ghost. He is a real person and he's been dealt a lot of pain. That deserves our empathy, not our derision."
A long, long silence passed. Maggie's heart thudded in her chest.
"You've given us a lot to think about," Walsh finally said. He closed the folder and stood. "Thank you for coming. We'll be in touch soon."
Maggie pressed her lips together, and stood. Steve rose a second later, followed by Pepper. Maggie felt shaky, and emotional, and she had to try hard to keep up her professional demeanour.
But of course Ross couldn't resist one last dig.
"Do you really want to do this?" he sniped, and Maggie wasn't sure if he was talking to her, or Steve, or Walsh.
She turned to face him. "Do you?"
Then she gathered her things, and walked out of the room.
Maggie returned to Wakanda the next day. She touched down in the borrowed jet, and when the loading ramp opened to the hot, dry air outside, she saw Bucky waiting for her outside the Royal Palace.
He wore simple trousers, boots, and a short-sleeved khaki shirt, his left shoulder shrouded in a patterned blue fabric shawl. His hair was tied up, with just a few strands falling around his face. The sun glowed warm on his skin, and just the sight of him had her heart twisting.
She smiled at him as she approached, even though yesterday and the long journey had left her drained. He smiled back, but then something of the expression on his face made her pause. She cocked her head at him.
"Natasha called right after you left," he said. Maggie eyed him. "She told me why you left."
Maggie let out a long breath through her nose. Traitor. But she still said nothing. The distant sounds of the city around them broke through the warm air; engines and people talking and birds calling.
Bucky closed his eyes for a moment. "You shouldn't have done that. I-"
"If you say I deserve to be punished, I'm going to get back in that jet and leave," she said. Her eyes flicked to a couple of the Dora Milaje by the entrance to the palace. If they let me.
"It could've put you in danger," he continued, his voice still low, and even. "If they suspected you'd been hiding me-"
"They didn't. Or if they did, they didn't care. But nothing would've stopped me from going if I thought I had a chance of helping you. You'd have done the same for me."
He shut his mouth and looked at her for a long, long moment. Just looked, as if weighing up some new thing he'd learned about her.
"Fair," he finally said. He cleared his throat. "Steve called an hour ago."
She waited. Bucky looked down at his feet and heaved a huge breath.
A dawning horror made her stomach twist. "You can't come back," she murmured. "They didn't listen." Her heart sank. Despite all their work, all of it, they still didn't believe that Bucky was deserving of… She shook her head, her eyes stinging. "It's okay," she breathed. "You're safe here, and I can easily split my time. We can - we can work on putting more pressure on the Justice Department, I don't know how they can possibly-"
Bucky's hand landed on her arm.
"Doll," he murmured. "They've offered a plea deal."
She hated the soothing tone in his voice. "You are not going to prison, Bucky, I won't let-"
"No," he murmured. "I'm not."
She looked into his face and frowned at him, tears blurring her vision.
"A plea deal for a pardon," he said. "They said I'd be allowed to live in the States, free, as long as I had regular check ins with a psychiatrist." Her eyes darted over his face, and his lip quirked. "They've recommended Doctor Raynor. Best experience for the job, they said."
Her mouth opened, then closed.
"It's not often you're speechless." He smiled and rubbed her arm. "T'Challa got in touch with the Department of Justice as well, and said that Wakandan scientists have an idea for treating me. So I'm allowed to stay here as long as I need for treatment, that's been factored into the legal arrangement in the States."
Maggie reached up to put a hand over her mouth. Her eyes squeezed shut.
"I gotta go to the States next week to have proper meetings and an official assessment with Dr Raynor, but then I'm free to come back. Meg - doll, don't cry."
She shook her head as if to deny that she was crying, but it was pointless.
Bucky made a soft noise and pulled her into him, his one arm wrapping around her and pressing her against his warm chest. Maggie buried her face in his shoulder.
"Don't cry," he murmured.
"Don't tell me what to do," she mumbled into his shoulder, and she felt him laugh.
"My mistake." He kissed the top of her head. "You did this, doll. You gave me this… this freedom. And I don't know if I deserve it, and it frankly terrifies me."
"You deserve it," she said wetly, pulling her face up. "You've deserved freedom for so long, Bucky."
He unwound his arm from around her back so he could gently swipe away her tears. "All I want is to be with you," he said simply. "If I can do it free, then even better. And…" he sighed. "Maybe I'm getting selfish in my old age, but I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot any longer. I'm going to take this chance and fucking go with it. I never thought I'd do anything with the rest of my life other than be on the run. I'm sure as shit going to take the chance to live."
She smiled, and his eyes crinkled at the edges as he saw it. He traced her smile.
"You changed the world for me," he murmured.
"Of course I did. You're my mission."
"And you're mine." He pulled her in for a kiss.
From a distance, there was a shout: "Get a room!"
They both glanced over to see Shuri at the entrance to the palace, grinning from ear to ear.
Bucky and Maggie returned to the Facility a week later. He was escorted in through the front door by Maggie, Tony, and Steve, all of them in uniform. Bucky wore the Manacle with its blinking green LED light; it had felt like taking several steps back to put it on him, but it had been one of his main conditions for leaving Wakanda; the moment anyone said a word of Russian to him it would drop him like a ton of bricks. Steve had also promised not to leave his side, his enhanced strength a reassurance.
There was no media presence; Bucky had been promised privacy and dignity by the Department of Justice.
Bucky met with the Attorney General in one of the Facility meeting rooms, and with Diego Martinez's supervision signed his plea deal papers. Walsh seemed surprised that Bucky wasn't a raving lunatic.
"I'm glad to see you seem to be doing alright for yourself these days, Sergeant," Walsh commented as Bucky signed papers.
"I've come a long way," Bucky murmured. "Need to work on getting this bullshit outta my head," he said, pointing at my temple. "But I'm getting there."
Walsh's eyes had glinted in amusement. "I hope so."
Bucky then had to go through a gruelling day of meetings with various legal people, and assessments, and had his first 'official' meeting with Doctor Raynor, who was as professional and insightful as usual. Bucky seemed overwhelmed by it all, and barely said anything when he didn't have to, but he kept his breathing even and asked for breaks when he needed them.
Nakia, as the diplomat for Wakanda, signed papers promising Wakanda's support in treating Bucky, and ensuring that he would be closely monitored while in their custody.
About halfway through the day, Pepper found Maggie and pulled her aside. "There's talk in D.C.," she murmured.
"Oh god, what now."
"Well. It hasn't happened yet, and it might not for a little while, but… it seems like there's talk of Ross being forced to resign."
"Really?" Maggie exclaimed, so loudly that Bucky, Steve, and a few Department of Justice officials on the other side of the room glanced over. "Sorry."
Pepper nodded. "He's made enough errors and made enough people look foolish that it's all but inevitable at this point. If you include the investigations into the Raft and his actions during the first Accords…"
"But we didn't even-"
"I hardly think you can take all the credit for this one," Pepper smiled. "It wasn't us. Well, it was, but we never had to attack him directly for him to lose his job. He's done that on his own."
Bucky collapsed, exhausted, on Maggie's bed when all the official and legal business was done. He looked grey and slightly sweaty, but mumbled that he just needed to sleep it off. Maggie left him to it, leaving Steve on guard in her living room as she went out to have dinner with Sam, Rhodey, Vision, and Wanda in the closest town. It was bizarre seeing Vision present himself to the world as a regular human (aside from the fact that he couldn't eat anything). It was nice to catch up with Sam again, and she regaled them with stories from Wakanda as they told her about what they'd been up to while she was gone.
When she got back, she found Steve and Bucky having beers in her living room, talking in low voices.
"Honey, I'm home!" she called, hanging up her coat by her door. "We okay?"
"Better," Bucky smiled over at her. "I haven't been around so many people since I got arrested in Bucharest."
"Since we got arrested in Bucharest," she corrected him lightly, and strode over to give him a quick kiss. Steve looked away, embarrassed.
"Nakia said that the plane back to Wakanda will leave early afternoon tomorrow," Bucky said. "She's got business in New York in the morning."
Maggie nodded. She knew Bucky would have preferred to leave as soon as possible - his nerves were on a hair trigger every moment he was outside of Wakanda, while the trigger words were still active.
Maggie stole one of the beers on the table and sank down in a sofa chair, letting out a sigh. "You're okay sleeping on the couch tonight, Steve?" she asked. Bucky had wanted Steve as his personal guard the whole time they were here, even in sleep. I won't risk being triggered anywhere, especially not with you, Bucky had said.
"I've certainly slept in worse places," Steve reassured her. He grinned at Bucky. "Remember Normandy?"
"I do, actually," Bucky said with pleasant surprise. "The couch is definitely an upgrade."
Maggie laughed as she drank her beer. "I always forget how old you two are."
Bucky waggled his eyebrows at her. "Not too old I hope."
"You're old enough to be her grandfather," Steve cut in wryly, making Bucky grimace and Maggie snort.
"I'm hardly a child bride, Rogers," she laughed. "And if anything, I'm the one taking advantage with all my money and influence. Put together, Bucky and I make one sleazy old man."
Bucky choked on a laugh as he sipped from his drink again, and Steve looked despairing.
"Let's talk about something else," he pleaded.
She set down her beer. "I've actually been thinking, Bucky. While we're here…" she hesitated. "I know… it's been a long day today. But if you're up to it, there are some people I'd like you to meet while you're here."
He instantly realized who she meant. "I'm not cured yet, Meg."
She reached over and took his hand, squeezing it. Steve watched with a small frown. "Stop waiting for permission to be happy, Bucky. You will get your treatment with Shuri. And… to be honest, that has no bearing on this. Your family aren't going to spring your trigger words on you, and if they do I will beat the living shit out of them."
Bucky smiled at that. Steve's frown cleared and his eyes widened as he realized what they were talking about.
Maggie squeezed Bucky's hand again. "Don't make Shirley wait any longer. She's been so patient."
Bucky looked from her, to Steve, and then back again.
He nodded.
They'd decided the best spot for it would be outside; it was a warm, sunny day, and the Avengers catering staff had set up the picnic benches with snacks and drinks. A surprisingly large number of Barneses had managed to turn up, at such short notice. Like a strange kind of family reunion they gathered at the benches just outside the Facility, overlooking the green lawns. They stared up at the gleaming buildings, and flocked around the matriarch of the family: Shirley Kemp.
Maggie had spotted her from an upstairs window; Shirley sat on a comfy chair someone had brought out for her, white hair glowing in the sun, surrounded by family who fussed over her with drinks and conversation. Maggie only got the barest glimpse, however. She, Bucky, and Steve were on their way down to meet them.
Bucky had hesitated three times on his way over from Maggie's private suite, so she didn't distract him further by telling him she had seen his family through the window.
She'd barely ever seen Bucky so nervous. He'd gone very pale, his face drawn tight, his only hand clenching and unclenching as they walked downstairs. He had Steve to his right and Maggie to his left, like a pair of bodyguards.
"You okay, pal?" Steve asked when they got downstairs and reached the door that would lead them outside.
Bucky stared at the door, but did not appear to really be seeing it. He made no sound, but Maggie could tell his breath was coming fast.
"Hey," Steve said, in a louder voice. Bucky blinked and turned to face him, still ashen. "If you're worried she's still mad at you for staining her good dress that one time at Nancy's birthday party, you should be." Bucky blinked again, and Steve's mouth curved up. "She's gonna tear you a new one. Better face the music, though."
After another moment, Bucky blinked twice more and a little colour seeped back into his face. "Punk," he croaked.
"Jerk," Steve smiled back.
Bucky's head turned to Maggie. She didn't say anything, just held his gaze. After a few moments she reached out and took his hand.
He let out a long breath and nodded. "Okay."
Maggie reached out with her free hand and shoved the door open, letting sunlight spill inside.
The Barnes/Kemp/Proctor family outside all glanced over at the sound of the door opening; about fifteen adults and a handful of children, all staring at them from several yards away. It was a warm day and a breeze brushed through, rustling the branches of the still-young trees that had been planted around the facility, over the pavement, and then to the lawns that stretched away behind the picnic benches. The sound of distant engines in the driving range rumbled softly in the air.
Shirley Kemp rose to her feet. Her eyes, a memorable shade of grey-blue, were wide. Her hair was a white cloud around her head, and she was not as frail or as hunched as Maggie had expected; she wore a fine, smart part of trousers and a jacket, with a pearl brooch in the lapel. Maggie had seen dozens of pictures of this woman before, but only in the flesh did Maggie truly see the similarities to Bucky; the shape of her wrinkled face, and the shift of her expressions as she openly stared.
None of the others moved, or spoke. Bucky's hand tightened on Maggie's as he stared back at the old woman standing by the benches.
Shirley's hands fluttered and fidgeted at her sides. Almost like a little girl, uncertain of the world.
Maggie glanced up at Bucky and her breath left her chest at the look on his face; shattered and broken open, his eyes filled with gleaming tears as he stared at his sister.
"Shirls," he murmured.
"Bucky?" her voice twisted up.
Bucky let go of Maggie's hand and broke from her side, practically running across the pavement. Shirley took a few shaky steps forward too, one fluttering hand rising to press to her chest.
Bucky slowed a few paces away from her, his shoulders rising and falling as he searched Shirley's face. He stood a full head and a half taller than her, forcing her to look up at him.
Tears spilled down her cheeks, her eyes creasing with pain. "I knew you'd come home," she whispered. Her lip wobbled.
Bucky swooped in and wrapped her in a hug, and she grabbed at the back of his shirt as she embraced him in return, shaking. Bucky let out an inarticulate sound and they were both crying, Maggie realized. She was so overwhelmed by it all that she couldn't speak, couldn't move. Her heart felt like it had been squeezed tight in a warm grip.
After a few moments Bucky let Shirley down - because he'd picked her up, in the midst of hugging her - and she reached up to take both of his cheeks in her hands, smiling through her tears. They began speaking, murmuring really, and the rest of the family came unfrozen. They moved forward, not crowding or interrupting, but simply becoming a part of the fabric. A man in his fifties with a similar shape to his face offered Bucky a water. A young child came up and gripped the bottom of Shirley's jacket in her hand.
A few others strode across the pavement to Maggie and Steve - they were led, Maggie realized, by Andrea Kemp.
"Thank you," said the same mid-fifties man from before, who Maggie recognized as Shirley's son. He reached out and Maggie shook his hand. He glanced back at where Shirley and Bucky were sitting at a bench, side by side. "We can't thank you enough."
"I didn't do anything," she murmured.
"Oh, we're well aware of everything you've done," Andrea said. She reached out and squeezed Maggie's shoulder briefly. It was a surprise - Andrea hardly seemed one for physical affection. Andrea jerked her head at Maggie and Steve. "Come on. Join us."
And so they did. The Barnes/Kemp/Proctors welcomed them into the fold with smiles and offers of drinks and thanks and questions. Everyone seemed to realize that Bucky and Shirley needed some time with just the two of them, so they busied themselves eating and talking in the summer sun. Maggie found herself in conversations with some of Bucky's other sister Rebecca's children, minus William Proctor, who she knew was Rikki's father.
"Will's coming later," explained Daphne, Rebecca's youngest daughter. "He and Rikki are at a diner, he didn't want to overwhelm Rikki with… well, all of us," she smiled.
"Of course. Has Rikki met you all yet?"
"No, just myself, and Will's wife. Taking things slow. But when today got organized, Rikki said they wanted to be a part of it."
Maggie and the Proctors talked for another five minutes or so, and once she glanced over to see Steve speaking with Shirley and Bucky, a soft smile on his face.
Another five minutes later, she felt a hand at her back. She glanced back to see Bucky, his eyes light and his face soft.
She smiled. "You doing okay?"
"I… it's weird," he murmured.
"I bet it is." She pressed the sandwich she'd been holding into his hand, and he took it without resistance.
"I want to introduce you," he said after another moment, and her eyebrows flew up. "Come on."
Bucky guided her over to the bench where Shirley sat beside Steve. The old woman looked up as Bucky returned, and her eyes turned to Maggie with an intelligent, bemused light. She seemed to have recovered from her tears. Maggie drank in the sight of her; her grey blue eyes, her smile-lines, the distinguished way that age lay on her. She was remarkable, this piece of Bucky who had been living out in the world all this time.
"Are you alright?" Shirley asked, amused.
Maggie blinked. "I - yes. Sorry. Welcome to Avengers Facility."
"Thank you for having all of us," Shirley smiled. "Well, I know who you are, but I get the sense Bucky wants to introduce us. Bucky?" she glanced up at her brother.
Bucky smiled. "Yes. Shirls, this is Maggie. She's my…" his words failed him.
Maggie tore her eyes off Shirley to look across at him, her eyebrows high. She realized that she and Bucky had never referred to each other as anything. Girlfriend, boyfriend, partner… none of it seemed to fit. Mission fit, but that would sound strange.
Bucky's mouth opened and closed a few times. His ears went red. Maggie made no move to help him, too fascinated by his sudden embarrassment.
Finally, Bucky let out a short sigh. "I love her."
Maggie did not see Shirley's reaction to that, because suddenly her whole focus was on Bucky. For a moment she wasn't sure why she'd become so fixated, until she realized that they hadn't actually said those words yet. Her mouth curved up. It seemed silly that they hadn't; love had been implied in every word and action they'd shared since that kiss on the Quinjet - since before that, even. And yet it was nice to hear it said.
Bucky looked into her face, his ears still red, and she knew that as always, he knew what she was thinking. He smiled and squeezed her hand.
She'd tell him later. When everyone was gone and she could properly do something about it. His eyes glinted.
"Well," Shirley said, and Maggie glanced back to see her smiling. "It is very good to meet you, then." Her eyes flicked to Bucky. "You certainly got lucky, didn't you?"
"I know it," Bucky grinned.
Shirley's eyes narrowed at him. "Are you good to her?" By her side, Steve laughed.
"I certainly try to be," Bucky said, softer. He glanced back at Maggie, and she winked.
"That's good, then," Shirley said. She let out a sigh and eyed Maggie. "Nancy and Rebecca would have loved to meet you. Rebecca always said she thought one day Bucky would fall hard and fast. Good to know she's still proving herself the smartest, all these years later."
Maggie squeezed Bucky's hand once more, then let go so she could sit on Shirley's other side. "Tell me about them."
Half an hour later, Andrea got a text. "That's Will," she called. "He says he and Rikki have arrived, they're going through security now."
The family were careful not to make Rikki's entrance as dramatic as Bucky's had been. Half of them (including Steve) were on the lawns, playing games with the children, so there wasn't as much of a staring audience when Rikki, with their thick dark hair and eyes magnified behind their glasses, walked up beside their father.
William Proctor looked comfortable beside Rikki. He was tall, with dark hair and glasses of his own - they looked like a prescription almost as strong as Rikki's. He waved to his aunt Shirley as they approached, then leaned down a little to say something to Rikki. Maggie smiled as they approached. Rikki seemed nervous, fidgeting with their sleeves, but they didn't shy away from Proctor as he leaned down to talk to them, and even whispered something back with a nervous smile. The kid's come a long way.
When Rikki was close enough, Shirley stood up again, one arm tucked in Bucky's. "Oh, you are just the spit of your great-aunt Nancy." She looked up at Bucky. "Aren't they?"
Bucky nodded, almost surprised as he examined Rikki.
Shirley leaned in toward the kid. "Nancy and her wife Marion were big in the Civil Rights movements back in the day. You would have loved her."
Andrea, at Shirley's other side, shot Rikki a rare smile. "She was a wonderful aunt."
Rikki swallowed nervously, took a breath, glanced at William for a moment, then looked back at Shirley and Bucky, arm in arm. "It's nice to finally meet you."
The Barnes/Kemp/Proctors spent the rest of the morning outside the facility, applying sunblock and sharing drinks and playing music and telling stories. Maggie found herself in conversation with all of them at one point or another, always a little off-kilter at speaking to people who weren't superheroes or aliens. But her charm and her stories about Bucky got her through. Tony and Pepper came out at one point to meet them all; he flirted with Shirley and gave all of the kids money, which had the unintended side effect of all of them following him around like the Pied Piper, in awe.
Shirley looked right at home. She beamed at everyone around her as if they'd all won a prize, and laughed loud and brightly. Andrea confided in Maggie after a while that she'd never seen her grandmother so happy.
Bucky hadn't been around family in decades. Maggie and Tony were family, sure, and the Avengers were a kind of family in their own right, but this was… so alarmingly normal that after a while his brain stopped trying to understand what was going on and simply accepted this new state of domesticity. He still found it difficult to speak around so many people, but unlike yesterday with all the lawyers and official people, no one here seemed to mind. It seemed to be enough to have him there, at Shirley's side, listening and occasionally saying a few words; they'd all smile at him, and sometimes even laugh when he'd tried a joke.
Shirley had lived decades without him, but she seemed to fit right back in at his side, with the easy sharing of space that siblings had. She wasn't nearly as active or as annoying as he remembered from back in Brooklyn, but she was his sister. And they stood side by side with ease.
Maggie made herself easy wherever she went, and here was no different - she charmed his nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews, and answered childrens' questions about her wings with her hands on her hips and far too much scientific rigor. The kids enjoyed it all the same.
Steve had always been slightly panicky around other people's families, even before the war, so he stuck by Shirley and Bucky and got flustered whenever anyone asked him about being Captain America.
But there was someone Bucky wanted to properly meet.
He found Rikki at the mostly empty drinks table in the shadow of the Facility, pouring a lemonade. Rikki had been almost as quiet as Bucky since they arrived, hiding their face in their hair and sticking by their father's side. But now they stood alone, apparently in no hurry to head back to the flock of Kemps and Proctors.
"Hey, kid," Bucky murmured as he approached.
Rikki looked up, blinking through their thick glasses, and their eyes went even wider when they recognized him.
"I've heard a lot about you," he said. "Meg" - he glanced back, spotting her gesturing in the middle of some explanation to Andrea - "thinks you're about the best person on this planet."
Rikki went bright red and ducked their head. "I've, um, heard a lot about you too. Not just the stuff in the news," they said quickly. "Good stuff."
He smiled at that, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "So you're my… great…" he fumbled and frowned. "What's the gender neutral term for niece or nephew?" He glanced back in Maggie's direction, as if for help. She'd given him the heads up on pronouns, but not that.
Shirley spotted him and strode over.
"My tia uses 'nibling'," Rikki said helpfully, fidgeting with the lid of the lemonade bottle. "I don't mind niece or nephew if you prefer those, though."
"Great-nibling," Bucky tried it out. "Makes me feel old."
"You are old," Shirley said as she approached, and helped herself to a bottle of water. Her eyes glinted. "Older than me, and look at me!" She gestured to her wrinkled face and her white hair.
"You look beautiful," Bucky said reflexively, and Shirley positively beamed. She patted his hand, and then walked back in the direction of the others.
Rikki watched Shirley go, and Bucky watched Rikki.
"You doing alright, kid?" He glanced back at the others. "This is a lot of new family to have sprung on you."
"Same for you," Rikki said quietly. But then they smiled. "It's… nice. Lots of questions to answer, and lots of… talking, but it's nice. Even Ms Stark talks a lot - I mean, uh, Ms Stark is great, don't get me wrong, and I know you and she-"
Bucky returned Rikki's awkward smile. "I know. Want to hide over here with me and not talk?"
Rikki sighed. "Yes, please."
Over the next few months, Bucky and Maggie split their time between New York and Wakanda. He still got nervous every time he visited the States, but with the Manacle and supervision from others, he managed it. They stayed in the Facility, so Maggie could do her work as an Avenger and as the Avengers' Chief Engineer.
In Wakanda they stayed in the same hut by the lake, as Bucky got his treatments from Shuri and her team. And it was peaceful, away from the noise. Maggie learned more about Wakandan tech, and helped to facilitate the global exchange of information that T'Challa wanted to introduce.
Shuri even made Bucky a new arm - a gorgeous design of black and gold. Bucky refused to put it on until he was fully healed, so the arm waited in Shuri's lab in pride of place.
Back in the States, Shirley and other members of the family made regular visits to the Facility. Bucky promised to come visit them at their houses once he was fully healed. Shirley and Bucky liked to talk about their childhoods together, and Shirley soon ended up a part of Maggie and Bucky's impromptu book club, recommending books that neither of them had heard of but that they turned out to love.
The Amended Accords came to full fruition not long after Bucky's pardon. As per the legislation it was to be reviewed monthly, but the bureaucracy was now in place; the Avengers had training sessions and competency reviews, and the new Accords Committee was formed and installed in their offices in a new building on the compound; they met once a week, and whenever there were urgent matters.
The Committee was an eclectic mix of people. No politicians, but a panel of experts with backgrounds in International Security, counterterrorism, cybercrime, humanitarian affairs, law, finance, and other backgrounds. The new Accords required that there be at least one enhanced person on the panel at all times, and one Avenger.
The enhanced person ended up being someone from a strange organisation called the Sanctum Sanctorum, a guy called Wong. He'd looked a little disgruntled to be involved at first, but apparently his boss had forced him to, saying something about how the 'cosmic energy currents' had determined it was time for their organisation to step in and be involved with the Avengers. Wong was a self-described sorcerer, who could do weird magic shit that thoroughly baffled and annoyed Tony.
As for the Avengers representative on the Accords Committee; they'd decided that it should be an elected position, with every team member, agent, and analyst in the Facility able to vote. They cast their votes via F.R.I.D.A.Y.
Almost unanimously, the entire Facility voted for Tony to represent them. When they got the news, Maggie could see that it took Tony a great deal of effort not to cry.
Rhodey was back to nearly full mobility by Christmas. Natasha was gone almost as much as Maggie these days, off visiting with Clint or her sister. Steve stayed at the Facility, but Maggie could tell that he was thinking of giving up some of his responsibility soon; maybe to Sam, who took on more and more leadership in the team as the months went on. Vision and Wanda were disgusting, talking about buying a place in Jersey.
Lang stayed in touch, at a distance; in December he sent them all Christmas cards with a picture of him and his daughter dressed up as dinosaurs.
Before schools broke up for Christmas, Maggie found herself visiting high schools and colleges in New York to give presentations about prosthetic technology. She and Bucky were back at the Facility for the holidays, and things were relatively quiet on the Avengers front now that the Accords were so efficient, so she had a bit of spare time.
And unfinished business.
December, 2016
Midtown School of Science and Technology
"I have to ask, Ms Stark," said Principal Morita in the corridor outside the school gym. "Of all the possible schools, what made you include us on your list for this tour?"
Maggie straightened her suit jacket and smiled. "The Avengers as a whole are investing more in education programs, and I thought I'd better put my mouth where my money was. We've got the Internship Program at SI, you know that, and we're hoping to do more education tours like this in future. But… I guess I see a lot of potential at this school."
Morita beamed. "I agree, we've got a strong emphasis on STEM, and I can see a lot of our pupils going into engineering or justice like yourself."
Maggie made polite conversation for another few minutes with Morita, as the noise inside the gym got louder and louder as more kids filed inside for their assembly. Morita had already made sure to tell her that his grandfather had fought with Steve in WWII - small world - and seemed over the moon to have a real life Avenger at his school. Maggie had made sure not to announce that she herself would be coming.
"I'd better head in and get them settled," Morita smiled, and pushed open the door to go inside. A dull roar of noise washed out from inside - several hundred students in one echoey gym turned out to be loud.
Maggie waited in the now-empty corridor, with its rows of lockers and squeaky, shiny floor. She hadn't been inside a school in years, but they hadn't changed much.
She heard the sound of Morita - with a microphone - addressing the student body inside, and the roar died down. She cracked the door open and peered in.
There were several rows of seats on one side of the gym, facing the shiny court, where a small podium had been set up. There were several tables draped in fabric set up on the podium; the fabric concealed the models Maggie had brought with her as a part of her presentations, and a few of her engineers, wearing lab coats, waited by the tables.
Her gaze turned to the hundreds of students packed into the ascending rows of seats. "F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" she murmured.
"Fifth row, ten from the right," came F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s voice in her hidden earpiece.
Maggie counted five up, ten across… there.
Peter Parker sat amidst all the other students, wearing a blue sweater. Maggie recognized him from the photo she'd found of his debate team in the school newsletter. He sat next to a larger boy, their heads bent together as they murmured, apparently not fully listening to the principal.
Morita's voice rose in volume and expression. "... I know you'll all be just as excited as I am to welcome our prestigious guest speaker for today - none other than Margaret Stark!"
The gym full of school kids let out a collective gasp, and then an actual roar of cheers and whoops and shouts. Maggie saw Peter Parker's head jerk up and his eyes widen. His friend's eyes lit up.
Maggie shoved the door open and strode into the gym, spreading her arms and grinning like she'd learned from Tony. The roar and applause washed over her, and she made the short jog to the podium, where she shook hands with Morita and took the mic from him.
She turned to face the vast audience of kids, and made a settle down gesture, still grinning. They quietened after a few moments, though several of the kids excitedly whispered to their neighbours, pointing and staring.
"Hello, Midtown High!" She grinned at another wave of noise, and waited a few moments for silence again. "What a pleasure to be here, thanks for having me. I've heard such good things about the students here at Midtown, I just had to come along and see for myself." She let her eyes fall directly on Parker, and even though she could have been looking at anyone, really, she saw his throat bob as he gulped.
She'd already given the presentation a few times before, so as to avoid suspicion, so it went pretty smoothly. She talked about the original prosthetics technology line she'd developed with Tony years ago (every time she mentioned Tony's name the crowd gasped, as if shocked that Maggie knew him), and talked about the developments they'd made since, the technologies they used to design and develop prosthetics, and explained the importance of advancing the technology. She even removed her own prosthetic, to more gasps and whispers.
"I'm still a genius, and a superhero, and an Avenger, even without my prosthetic." She slid her stump back into the prosthetic and settled her weight. She winked. "But it certainly helps."
At the end of the talk she took a few questions; hands flew up and the kids asked about 50% questions about the presentation, 50% questions about the other Avengers. It was stuff she was used to: What happens if Dr Banner turns into the Hulk in an elevator? Is it true that Thor lays eggs? Are you Captain America's girlfriend?
One sharp-eyed young woman sitting behind Peter and his friend asked:
"Is it true that you got Secretary Ross fired?"
Maggie had blinked, almost smiled, then responded: "Avengers don't have the power to appoint or fire US Government officials."
"Sure they don't," the girl had said, but then a girl beside her elbowed her, and a teacher loudly cleared his throat and changed the subject.
After about ten minutes of questions, Maggie got the kids to give a standing ovation to her engineers, and then they all went out of the gym together, leaving cheers in their wake.
"That went pretty well, Ms Stark," said Terry, her lead engineer. "They're a switched on lot."
"It seems so," she agreed. "Listen, are you guys okay to pack up the models on your own, once the kids leave? I've got another appointment."
"Of course."
It took some thinking, and F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s help, to figure out where exactly she was going to have this appointment. She finally selected a place behind the school, near the parking lot, in a secluded area between two brick walls where no one could really see her. She leaned against the wall, let out a breath, and waited.
Sure enough, about ten minutes later she heard something moving above her.
"Hello, Mr Parker."
She looked up. Sure enough, Parker was standing on top of the wall eight feet up, perfectly balanced, a caught look in his eye. F.R.I.D.A.Y. had figured out that this had to be Parker's best exit from the school site.
After a moment of hesitation, Parker jumped down. He landed with inhuman grace and very little noise on the ground across from Maggie and turned, clutching his backpack straps. "Mr Stark told you about me." There was a note of annoyance and betrayal in his voice.
"Surprisingly, no," she replied. "But if Tony can figure out who you are, I definitely can."
His chin lifted. "How come you're here?"
"I'm here to educate the youth about prosthetic technology."
"Are you going to tell Principal Morita about me? Because please, Ms Stark, you can't-"
"Of course I'm not," she said with a wave of her hand. "But I didn't want to make you uncomfortable by calling on you at home, and this seemed like the best way to speak to you. I'm not in the habit of stalking fourteen year olds, you see."
"Fifteen," he said reflexively. He shifted his weight and tightened his grip on his backpack straps. He seemed unconvinced. "Then why are you here?"
"I wanted to do this." She took a step forward - he nearly flinched, eyes widening - and held out her hand.
Peter stared at it.
"You're supposed to shake it," she prompted.
He glanced from her hand to her face, then back, then finally reached out and took her hand. She shook his hand once, then let go. He'd been very gentle, as if holding back an immense strength.
"Good," she said. "I'm glad we did that."
"Uh… why?"
"Hm. Well, to say no hard feelings after the scrap in Leipzig, and also to congratulate you on your skills. You're a hell of a fighter. And from what I've seen of your school records, a hell of a scientist. Maybe one day, down the line, you'd think about actually applying for an SI internship. You'd be in good company, and I'm certain we'd find a position fit for you."
His eyes widened. "You're… recruiting me?"
"Not right now." She shook her head once. "And not if you don't want to. But I wanted to meet you, all the same."
"Wait." He reached up and pushed a lock of hair back from his face, his voice rising. "So you did all this - speaking in front of my whole school, just to shake my hand?"
"Well, yes." She cocked her head, half-smiling. "Not the first time I've spoken in front of a crowd, Mr Parker."
He thought about that for a few moments. "I guess…" he shifted again. "I wanted to say sorry." He met her eyes, his expression open and contrite. "I am still super confused about that big fight at the airport, and Mr Stark didn't explain anything when he brought me back. And even though it seems like things are getting fixed now I guess I want to apologize for hurting you and your friends."
"Hey kid, you didn't hurt us. And you shouldn't have been dragged into that anyway, it was more of a mess than we anticipated. You did good, though." She reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "Anyway, you've got Spider-Man things to do, and I've got a ninety nine year old veteran waiting for me to bring him pho from this place in Brooklyn. See you round, Peter Parker."
He stuttered out a goodbye as she strode past him, and by the time he'd turned fully she was out of sight.
Peter took a few moments to try to process that strange encounter. He put his hands in his pockets - only to frown at an unfamiliar feeling. He pulled what felt like a piece of paper out of his right pocket.
It was a folded-up brochure. He unfolded it to reveal familiar stylized block lettering:
STARK INDUSTRIES INTERNSHIP PROGRAM: BUILD A BETTER FUTURE.
January, 2018
Wakanda
"Zhelaniye." [Longing]
It had been so much longer than they'd expected.
Over a year, rather than just a few months, splitting their time between Wakanda and the States as Bucky went through further scans, and treatments, and finally an experimental device on his head, powered by a Kimoyo bead. It will probably put you to sleep for a while, Shuri had said, her voice carefully cautious, despite the hope in her eyes. And afterward…
"Rzhavvy." [Rusted]
Bucky stared into the flickering flames of their campfire, sweat shining on his head and a vein pulsing in his temple.
Twigs and leaves cracked under the feet of Ayo, second in command of the Dora Milaje. She looked like a strange vision in the forest at night, firelight gleaming off the gold in her armor, in her eyes.
They were miles from Birnin Zana, from any civilization. Bucky had wanted to be safe. Hadn't even wanted Maggie here, but she'd promised on hers, Tony's, and Bucky's lives to fly away if anything went wrong. She sat on the other side of the fire from Bucky, her palms pressed together between her knees and the hairs on the back of her neck rising as Ayo spoke the words.
I won't let you hurt anyone, Ayo had promised Bucky.
"Semnadtstat," [Seventeen] she uttered, her voice low and clear.
Bucky's hand trembled and his jaw tightened. "It's not going to work," he said in a tight, broken voice. Maggie's throat closed up.
Ayo glanced down, a flicker of doubt in her eyes. But then: "Rassvet." [Daybreak].
Bucky took in a heaving breath, tears gleaming in his eyes, and Maggie pressed a hand to her mouth. She'd promised not to speak, not to intervene.
"Pech'," [Furnace], Ayo continued. Bucky's jaw locked tight and Maggie saw his eyes go somewhere else.
He stared into the burning gold flames and his breath came hard and fast, but he was not seeing the fire. She wondered where he was, what he was seeing. What the Soldier was doing in his mind.
"Devyat'," [Nine], Ayo said, circling. She didn't spare a glance for Maggie, her eyes only on Bucky. "Dobroserdechnyy," [Benign].
Bucky's whole face seized and his teeth bared, as if he were screaming in the chair again; but he made no noise, and his eyes didn't leave the flames. Maggie felt tears spill down her cheeks.
"Vozvrashcheniye na Rodinu," [Homecoming].
Maggie wanted to close her eyes, to tear her gaze away from the bare, unyielding pain on Bucky's face, burning in his eyes. But she couldn't. As she stared at him she saw the Soldier; cold, empty eyes staring down at her, his metal hand around her tiny arm. On a rooftop, staring back at her, fireworks behind them and above them.
"Odin," [One].
Every muscle in Bucky's neck was tensed and sweat dripped down his nose. His jaw shook from how hard he was clenching his teeth and tears streaked down his cheeks as he stared into the burning fire.
"Gruzovoy vagon." [Freight car]
Fire crackled, and sparks flew into the darkness. No one spoke.
Bucky still stared into the fire, his face wracked with pain and his eyes burning. The muscles in his brow spasmed. As the seconds passed, he began to cry in earnest - a hiccuping gasp, his jaw trembling, his cheeks wet. But his eyes weren't empty.
Maggie dared a glance at Ayo, her eyes aching from how long she'd been staring. Ayo took a breath, and the hint of a smile on her face made Maggie want to keel over.
"You are free."
Bucky shuddered and his eyes dragged away from the fire, up to Ayo. For a moment both he and Maggie looked up at her, as if she held the answers to the universe.
Ayo smiled at him and nodded. "You are free."
Bucky's head turned - not back to the searing flames but past them, to Maggie. The moment his eyes met hers she moved.
Maggie sprang from the log she'd been frozen on and didn't bother running around the flames; she leaped through them, flew through them, the air flashing hot on her skin and the breath leaving her chest - and then she'd tumbled into Bucky, his arm slinging up around her back and his tears mixing with hers as she kissed his cheeks, brushed back his hair. She found herself half-sitting on him, the two of them forehead to forehead as Bucky sobbed openly. Maggie cried too, gripping his hand with both of hers.
There were no words powerful enough, so Maggie said nothing. After a while Bucky was able to open his eyes and he looked into hers, showing her sea-grey pain and love and relief and joy. There was Bucky; with all his years and scars - and all the years ahead of him.
Maggie imagined she could see those years for a moment, sparkling bright into the future. She pressed her lips to his for a moment, then pulled back and nodded, her forehead still pressed to his.
After some time, Maggie realized that the bright gleam in his eyes and the shaking in his chest was laughter. He was laughing, tears still spilling from his eyes, gripping her hand tight. She smiled, and he nodded.
After what felt like hours, he broke away - their skin stuck together for a moment, sticky from tears, and Bucky laughed again. The sound made her want to pass out. He took a shuddering breath.
"I think I'm ready for that arm now."
"Yeah?" she murmured, her voice hoarse.
"Yeah. I think I'm ready to come home, too."
Reviews
Strawberrycheeze: Glad you enjoyed it :)
shortrooper: Hopefully this chapter inspired happiness as well! It's so nice writing Maggie and Bucky in an established relationship, with all their disagreements and communication. Hope you enjoyed Rikki and Bucky meeting in this chapter too! This whole chapter felt like such a fun callback to the original Wyvern as well as a good way to wrap up this story, I've had a lot of fun with it.