Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Path Not Taken
By Gabrielle Lawson
Chapter Ten
It had started simply enough. Get the people out. Keep the fight between the Avengers and Ultron. Pietro and Wanda Maximov were now on board, fighting for the people of their homeland. And Ultron wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Then there as an earthquake. Steve had felt one once before. A minor tremor during his stage show days in California. But this beat that. The city started to crack up and shift upward. And it didn't stop. Ultron's voice came from everywhere, it seemed.
"Do you see the glory of it, the inevitability? You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, will be my meteor, my terrible swift sword, and the earth shall rip asunder with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your internet, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in the world will be metal."
Legionnaires started crawling from the cracks and flying through the air. And they were firing at civilians as well as the Avengers. Steve was on the bridge. He used his fists and his shield to take down as many as he could. But they just kept coming.
After thirty minutes or so, things started to lighten up. Thor and Banner had gone in search of Natasha. Tony was investigating the rising city—which was getting quite high already—and the rest were scattered around the city, fighting the robots and trying to shield the civilians.
And the breather was over. More of the flying robots were coming in. One sent Steve flying into a parked car. He still managed to destroy it, but he was winded in the process.
"Cap, you got incoming," Tony called.
Really? A bit late. "Incoming already came in. Stark, find a way to get this city back down safely. The rest of us have only one job: Tear these things apart. Get hurt? Hurt 'em back. Get killed? Walk it off."
Steve saw a red car starting to fall off the torn end of the bridge. A woman screamed. He caught it by the bumper and pulled, but the bumper came loose in his grip. The car went over the edge. Then he saw Thor's red cape flying quickly toward the car. Thor grabbed the woman and threw her toward the bridge. Steve had to hang from the torn end to catch her. He thought about throwing her up and over, but she might be hurt on the landing. There was only one way. He jerked his right arm, giving him a bit of bounce, and caught himself again a little higher up. He tossed the woman up only high enough to change his grip then helped her climb over.
"You can't save them all," Ultron's voice cajoled. Steve cut the robot off with a shield to the chest then climbed the rest of the way up himself. Ultron's voice wasn't done. "You'll never—"
Steve used the magnets on his sleeve to pull the shield—with robot attached—right to him. He took the shield and tossed the robot over the side. "Never what? You didn't finish!" he called after it. And a memory slipped into his mind of the Howlies and the easy banter between him and Bucky. He shook his head. He had to stay focused. He saw more robots and ran toward them.
They were nearly cloud level now. And there seemed no end to the robots, only short reprieves now and then. They couldn't get the civilians out anymore. They could only try to keep them safe from the robots. But then what? If the city fell, they'd die anyway. And how many below? A meteor this size would burn up in the atmosphere, get smaller and still perhaps cause massive devastation. This city wasn't breaking apart anymore. Buildings on the edge crumbled but the whole of the rock kept going up.
Natasha was back in the fight. Together they moved a large group of civilians into a building. Steve knew this was only a lull. "The next wave's gonna come soon. Got anything, Stark?"
"Nothing you'll like," Tony replied in his earpiece. "I maybe found a way to blow up the city to keep hit from impacting the surface. You guys gotta get clear."
Steve shook his head even though Stark couldn't see it. "We need a solution, not an escape plan." There was no way left to get clear for those who couldn't fly. The Quinjet couldn't hold everyone.
"Impact radius is getting larger all the time. We have to make a choice."
Natasha stopped beside him. "Cap, these people can't go anywhere. If Tony can blow this up. . . ."
But Steve couldn't accept that. "Not until everyone is safe."
"Every up here?" Natasha asked. "Or everyone down there? There's no math. It's extinction level."
Steve thought of Bucky back in the tower, waiting for him to come home. Sometimes he hated having to make the right choice. "I can't leave until every civilian is safe."
Natasha shook her head. "I didn't say we should leave." She looked around. "There are worse ways to go. Besides, where else can I get a view like this?"
"Glad you appreciate the view, Romanoff! It's gonna get better!"
Steve smiled. "Fury, you son of a—"
"Ooh," the former director cut him off. "You kiss your mama with that mouth?"
The old flying carrier from the battle of New York came into view. Large rafts were coming off of it. He and Natasha ran back to the building. They waved people to where the rafts were coming in. They had a way to get everyone off.
Natasha barreled through robots in a large truck with a plow in front. She slammed on the brakes when she saw the others. Then she ran for the chapel where the core was waiting. They all stood in a circle around it, facing out.
When she saw the number of robot Ultron still had, she had a moment of doubt and panic. She wasn't a super soldier, an enhanced, a hulk, a god, or whatever Vision was. She hadn't really had time to meet him or even get the story on how he'd joined the team. But he could fly, shoot lasers from his head, and he was very strong. She wasn't any of that. She and Clint were just normal humans.
But Tony summed it up. They'd fight together. She had to hold her spot. And she wasn't some untrained civilian. She had skills. And she used every last one of them.
They came from all sides, flying, crawling, running, climbing down from above. She dodged, blocked, shot, struck with her batons. Sometimes she was dodging one of her own team. It was bedlam, total chaos, but no robot managed to reach the core.
Ultron himself finally came to try, and Vision forced him back with his head laser. Thor joined him with lightning and Tony with both repulsors. Ultron's face was melting, and Natasha began to hope again.
She was sore and knew it would hurt worse tomorrow, but it felt good to see the victory ahead.
"Ya know," Ultron said, shrugging, "with the benefit of hindsight…."
Hulk apparently didn't care for the speech. He grabbed him and threw him far away. Then he turned and scared the other robots. They ran to the edge and started flying off. Stark and Rhodey went after them.
"The air's pretty thin," Steve said. "I'll sweep for stragglers. Get to the boats. I'll be right behind you."
"What about the core?" Clint asked.
The girl spoke up. "I'll protect it. It's my job."
Natasha was glad they were now on their side, too. She went with Clint as they found a car and got it moving. Clint talked about renovating his dining room as they went. Clint could always be trusted to keep her grounded. "You can always eat in the kitchen," she said, agreeing.
"Right. No one eats in a dining room!" He swerved around some debris then pulled to a stop. Natasha spotted Hulk and jumped out. She had to get Bruce back and get him to a boat.
She ran out to him. "Hey, big guy. The sun's getting real low."
With Rhodey gone to help the Avengers, the rest of them were pulling eight-hour shifts with Barnes. Sam, being the only male, got the night shift. And it was eye-opening. Bucky suffered badly from nightmares. Sam had known he was lying about not having them, but it was exhausting.
He slept on the couch while Bucky slept in the bedroom. Bucky didn't moan or cry out. He just started breathing heavy and fast. Then he'd snap awake.
Maybe because his body remembered how dangerous the Winter Soldier was, Sam was sleeping light, so he heard it. Especially when Bucky got up to use the bathroom or turned on his light to write in his journal.
Sam set the tray on the table as Bucky fed little Alpine. She opened her mouth like she'd meow, but no sound came out. She danced around his legs and even reached up with her front paws as he prepared it. She ate hungrily when he set the bowl down.
"What's this?" Bucky asked as he sat down.
"Hawaiian chicken," Sam replied. "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it." Sam put two pieces of chicken on his plate with half a dozen chunks of pineapple.
Bucky awkwardly used his metal fingers to hold his fork, which held his chicken steady, while he used his right hand to cut a bite off. He used the knife then to stab that bite and lift it to his mouth. "Not bad," he said. "Is fruit and meat normal now?"
Sam smiled. "Not really. In some cultures, it's more common than others. How are you feeling this evening?"
"Is Steve alright?" Bucky asked in return.
Sam sighed. "I'm sure he's fine. He's probably too busy to call. Are you asking because you're worried about him or because you miss him?"
Bucky looked away to where Alpine was now licking her bowl clean. "Both."
Honestly, Sam wanted Steve back, too. This was only the second evening that they'd had their session at dinner. He wasn't looking forward to another night on the couch here. He'd had to take a nap between his classes as it was. "Is Alpine helping to pass the time?"
"I like the cat," he admitted. "I like to play with her. I like when she purrs."
Sam figured that was a good start. Hydra probably hadn't bothered with pets or emotional well-being. "Does she seem to like it here?"
"She sometimes cuddles with me," Bucky said as he reached for a roll. He set it on his plate then smeared some button the edge of the plate. He buttered the roll by sliding the roll across the smeared butter. "She follows me from room to room."
"Those are good signs." Sam buttered his own roll. "You know cats can sometimes live twenty years. So you might have a long relationship with her."
Alpine was now cleaning herself on the couch. Sam hoped she'd pick up on Bucky's distress, particularly at night, but she was still quite young. "Can you tell me about your nightmares last night?"
Bucky froze with his knife almost to his mouth. "I don't have nightmares." He took the bite.
"Man, I was sleepin' on the couch," Sam pointed out, smiling to show he wasn't accusing. "You got up two or three times. That was either nightmares or incontinence and I highly doubt the latter. It'd be totally understandable if you had nightmares."
"Is it possible to sleep without nightmares?"
So he did have them, which, of course he did. "Yes, some dreams are pleasant even, some are just weird stories in your mind."
Bucky looked confused for a moment. Sam just kept eating and waiting it out. And he wasn't disappointed. "I mostly dream my missions. They are not exactly as I remember. Sometimes more people die."
"I wish there was a way to help you have nice dreams at least some of the time. I don't think you're getting enough sleep if last night was any indication."
"The rest of the time, I dream of them forcing me back into that damn machine." He forcefully stabbed a piece of pineapple and ate it. "Sometimes I think it was better after the machine was done."
When he remembered nothing. "Memories can hurt," Sam acknowledged, "but they also connect us to our past, good and bad. It used to hurt to remember my parents after they passed. But now, those memories are my connection to them. Some cultures say that we never truly die until no one remembers us."
"I am certain the people I killed are truly dead," Bucky argued. "Remembered or not. And my parents? I have only a few memories of my father. I last got to see or talk to my mom in 1943. She died in 1980. My memories of her aren't even the last of her. They don't make her alive again."
Sam felt bad for him. He really did. Hydra was worse than the Nazis in some ways. They took literally everything from Bucky: his freedom, his family, his agency, even his humanity. "I'm sorry. I really am. Steve is really the only person who can completely know what that's like. So much time has passed."
"Steve was in an ice cube," Bucky reminded him. "I was in and out of a freezer, and when I was out, I was killing people, enemies of Hydra. Which means they were probably good people. What place do I have in this world now?"
"You get to decide that," Sam told him.
"I can't leave this building. I can't even see the world now." He sat back in his chair. "If good people see me, they'd want to put me in prison or execute me. If Hydra sees me, they'll want to enslave me again. What kind of a life is this?"
Sam decided they'd have to find a safe way for Bucky to go out. Maybe they could take one of Stark's limos with tinted windows, so he could see out but others couldn't see in. "The world doesn't understand yet," Sam explained again. "If we can deprogram you, we'll only have to work on the good people. And a lot of good people would only have to know you were forced, that you suffered, and that you feel terrible about those murders. They'll come around. It's just going to take time."
Bucky looked away. "I hate time."
"Yeah, it kind of kicked you in the teeth," Sam agreed. "Life isn't easy. It wasn't back in the thirties and forties and it's not today. But it can be beautiful, joyful, painful, annoying and just plain boring. It's a mixed bag. Most people find it's worth it to stick around for."
Alpine suddenly peeked over the edge of the table and started snuggling Bucky. Bucky put his head down to snuggle her back. He didn't argue or say anything else.
Sam tried something different. "Hydra kept you and maintained you at a minimum level. They didn't care about you. And maybe you think everyone who cared before the war is gone, so there's no one left but Steve. But Alpine there cares about you. I care about you. Tony cared enough to stick his fingers into your shoulder to clamp an artery. Natasha cared before the rest of us did. Now I know that Pepper and Maria do, too, because they told me. It seems like everyone who meets you comes to care about you. I don't know what they called it in the forties, but we call it 'found family.' That's what you have now. Found family. That's exactly what we are to each other. You're a part of that. And it's a pretty big family."
"It's not the same," Bucky whispered, still nuzzling the kitten.
"No, it isn't," Sam agreed. "I have this found family, but I also have my sister and nephews. Found families are sometimes formed by chance but often they are found out of need. Whether we were rejected by our original families or tragedy took them away from us. Found families take us in and love us as we are. They're not forced together by blood or birth. They find each other. In that way, they can be stronger than a family of origin. But you may find your found family can eventually fill the hole in your heart your grief dug."
There was a knock on the door. Pepper was still on until midnight.
Sam stood up. "Give that some thought, okay? I'll be back later tonight." He went to the door and let Pepper in.
The sun was just beginning to rise as the ship set down on Avenger's Tower. Steve felt hollowed out. He'd tried to sleep on the ride back, but they'd lost a member of their team. That hadn't happened since Bucky fell off the train. Steve didn't know Pietro as well as he'd known Bucky but it still hurt. And seeing Wanda in her grief dug up that old pain. He felt for her. She hadn't slept either.
Natasha offered to share her room with Wanda until a spare room could be found or made. Tony had spent a good deal of the ride back talking with Fury, so maybe they had made plans for an expansion of the team. Steve was too exhausted to care about the details right now. He just wanted to get back to his apartment and check in with Bucky.
When he opened the door, Sam jerked awake on the couch. He recognized Steve, waved, and lay back down. Steve went straight to the bedroom. He didn't bother with the light. He could see Bucky asleep on the floor with a little white blob on his head. Steve smiled as he sat down on his bed and took off his boots. He tossed his cowl on the floor and lay down, still dressed. He was asleep in minutes.
He awoke to the smell of pancakes. For a moment, he'd thought he was staying overnight at Bucky's house. His mom made the best pancakes. But he remembered once he was fully awake. He was still tired. It was only eight in the morning, but the call of pancakes could not be resisted. He got up and changed into sweats and a T-shirt then walked out into the living room.
Alpine was grooming herself on the cat tree. Sam was gone and Maria Hill was in the kitchen with Bucky, adding another pancake to an already tall stack. She looked back to see who was up. "Good, you're awake. You can help eat these."
"They smell great," Steve said as he sat at the table. Bucky moved the stack from the counter and Hill set three plates down with silverware.
She put two pancakes on her plate, poured on some syrup then excused herself. "I'll take these to my room. I'm sure you'd both like to talk. Glad you're back, Cap. Bye, Bucky."
"Good-bye." Bucky put three on his plate and poured his syrup.
"No peanut butter?" Steve asked.
"Hard to spread with one hand." Bucky cut a bite with his fork.
Steve put four on his plate, dowsed them with syrup, then took a bite. Man, they brought back memories. "As good as your mom made."
"I'm glad you're back," Bucky said between bites. "Is Ultron gone?"
Steve sighed. "Yes. It was a tough fight. We lost a member."
Bucky froze. "Who? Natasha? Tony?"
Steve held up a hand. "No, no. They're fine. Remember I told you about the Maximov twins? Well, they switched sides and fought with us. The boy, Pietro, he was super-fast, just a blur. Clint was saving a boy when Ultron came in firing. Pietro ran between them and took the shots. Wanda took it pretty hard."
"She made you see things," Bucky replied.
Steve nodded. "She can also move things with her magic whatever. Looks like a red mist. It could block shots or tear robots apart. She's pretty powerful."
Bucky's eyebrows dropped. "You don't care that she attacked you and the others?"
"I did, but they chose to fight Ultron in the end. They saved lives. You know Natasha was an assassin for the Red Room, right? She used to be on the side of evil. Tony used to make bombs and weapons. You're not the only one with a dark past. That's not what counts. It's where your heart is now."
"She is 'found family?'" he asked then took another bite.
Found family? He liked the thought of that. "I supposed so. Guess that makes her our little sister." He got up and put two glasses and the milk on the table. He filled one glass for Bucky and took a drink of his own before sitting down. "You ever been to Sokovia?"
Bucky looked to one side with just his eyes. "No, I don't think so."
"Well," Steve went on, "it's not much to see now. Ultron wanted to start a global extinction. He liked meteors, and since he couldn't make one fall, he created one out of a good chunk of the capitol city. It started rising and just kept going up, with us and a lot of civilians on it. If it had fallen, it would have been like a meteor. Fury showed up with the earlier model hellicarrier and we got everyone off. A few dead, more injured. Tony caused the rock to break up. Now there's a huge crater where the city used to be.
Bucky's eyes went wide. "I couldn't get my mind around a robot man and now you talk of cities flying."
Steve grinned. "Sam did say my life as an Avenger is crazy." He was half way through his pancakes now. "Did you sleep better last night? You had a cat on your head when I got in."
"On my head?" He shrugged. "I think so. I don't remember my dreams after that first nightmare. What time did you get in?"
Steve yawned. "Just a few hours ago. I'll probably crash again before too long. Maybe we can go for a run again after that."
Bucky had finished his three pancakes and took more from the stack. Even though Bucky's serum had come piecemeal and from Zola, where Steve's was a one-shot from Dr. Erskine, the end result seemed to be similar. Bucky was very nearly as strong, though the arm had given him an edge in their fights. He healed and ran just as fast, ate just as much. He was probably more skilled. Hydra had apparently trained him in multiple fighting styles over the years. Steve's more specialized training was more recent. He had kind of made it up as he went along during the war. Steve didn't like that Bucky had had to suffer so much, but he was glad he had similar strengths.
Steve finished his four. "I might have my seconds after some more sleep."
There was a knock at the door. Steve got up to answer it.
Tony took one look at Steve and wondered why he was up at all. He was sure Steve hadn't slept on the plane. Tony couldn't help but sleep on the plane. After some discussions with Fury, and buying some property upstate. "You look like you need a bed," Tony told him.
"Good morning to you, too," Steve replied. "You seem well-rested. What's up?"
"Friday and Barnes's arm."
Steve dropped his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"
"Friday is the new Jarvis. She's taken over his duties and do I smell pancakes?"
"Don't eat them all," Steve warned as he let Tony in. "I'm gonna want some more when I wake up again."
Tony stopped when he saw a little white ball of fur pop her head up from where she'd been sleeping on the couch. "Hey, kitty kitty," he called.
"She can't hear you," Bucky told him from the table.
Tony continued to the where the pancakes were waiting. "Sam got you a defective cat." He grabbed a new fork but sat down at Steve's plate. There was a sizable stack of pancakes on a plate in the center of the table. Eat them all? Five starving men couldn't have eaten them all. He put two on his plate and poured on some syrup.
"Not defective," Bucky argued. "Deaf." He put a few more pancakes on his plate. Super soldiers could really put them away.
Tony took a bite. "I'm sorry I got sidetracked by a lunatic robot and his plan for global destruction."
"You created it," Bucky said, taking another bite.
"Yeah." Tony sighed. "Gotta own up to that one." He got up to get some milk. "Good pancakes. You made 'em?"
"Maria helped," he replied. "Only have one good arm."
"That one is on you," Tony returned, hoping Bucky caught the lightness in his tone. "Anyway, the second one turned out to be much better." He sat down again.
"You made another lunatic robot?"
"Not lunatic, and I'm not sure he's just a robot. We're calling him the Vision, and he played a big part in defeating the lunatic one." He washed down another bite. "So no other projects now except that arm." The pancakes were very good. The guy could cook.
Bucky started to get up. Tony held up a hand. "After breakfast."
Bruce was gone. Or rather, Hulk was gone. He'd cut off communication and turned on stealth mode. He was flying a Quinjet. These were all things none of them had thought the Hulk capable of doing. But he had, and he'd taken Bruce with him.
Was he still mad at her for pushing him into the chasm? Was it the carnage he wrought in Africa?
It was almost noon, and she knew she should get up and eat something, but she didn't feel like it. She'd actually let herself hope that she can Bruce might find something together, even if they stayed with the team. It was the first time she'd actually felt like someone wanted her for a life partner and not just a sultry seductress. She had joked with Steve last year, trying to set him up on dates. He never caught on that she didn't have any.
And she knew Bruce felt that, too. They weren't worthy of being just anyone's life partners. She had a dark past and couldn't have a baby, and he turned into a green rage monster. She felt like she was worthy with him.
She heard dishes in the kitchen and pushed herself up off the bed.
"I made breakfast," Wanda said. Her voice was flat. No emotion.
"You didn't have to," Natasha assured her. "Did you sleep at all?"
Wanda went on as if she hadn't heard. "My mother used to make these. Not very American."
"Raised Russian actually," Nat remarked. "I love Slavic food. Thank you."
They both sat at the table. Wanda put one pastry on her plate.
"You gotta eat," Natasha tried.
"I feel empty without him. We were twins, a part of each other."
Natasha nodded. She never known her birth mother. But, for a few years, she'd had a family. And a sister. "I really didn't get to know him," she said. "Do you want to tell me about him?"
Wanda shook her head. "Hurts too much." She nibbled her pastry.
"Okay." Natasha picked up her own pastry and they ate in sad, peaceful silence.
Tony led Bucky into his partially repaired lab. Barnes looked around carefully as they entered, probably being hyper-vigilant. Or just because the damage that remained was, well, dramatic. There were only a few screens still intact. Glass was shattered in places, including the floor to the left of the Cradle. And yes, the Cradle was still there.
Tony led Barnes past all that and sat him in a chair near a small desk. Tony pulled up the deep scan of Bucky's arm he'd taken after saving the man's life. Then he sent it to his tablet and flung it into the empty space in front of Barnes. "That's your arm. And shoulder."
If Barnes was impressed, he didn't show it. Unlike Cap after seventy years, Barnes had been thawed out now and then and introduced to the new technology of the day.
Tony set his tablet down and manipulated the three-dimensional image. He spread his hands the arm expanded outward, separating into individual panels, circuits, motors, wires, servos, couplers, and everything else making up that incredible piece of technology. The arm itself was indicated in blue, but the live nerves in the upper arm were highlighted in red. Actual flesh—skin, bones, muscle, tendon, and blood vessels—were yellow.
"This is what we need to be careful with," Tony said, pointing to the red lines that threaded into the machinery of the upper arm. "The rest of this, too." And he indicated the yellow bits of humanity in the shoulder and chest. "The nerves control your fine movements. And, honestly, astoundingly, I'm impressed. I didn't expect that kind of sophistication from Hydra or the forties. And a lot of it is from the forties. The lower half is newer, of course, approximately the seventies. And it does look like some more modern repairs and minor upgrades over time. None of them lasers."
He turned toward Barnes and leaned on the desk. "I can definitely safely remove it up to about there, today." He placed his hand approximately six in chest from the top of his shoulder. "That's where we hit nerves. From there back, we'll need Dr. Cho. Zola and his lackies did a number on your actual shoulder. You still have some bones, muscle, tendons, etcetera, but it looks like they either replaced your skin or fused that metal with it. Which makes me want to throw up just a little bit. But up to here—" He demonstrated again. "—I can take it off right now."
Bucky stood up and used his other hand to turn the projection, examining the simulation of the hardware that had been his left appendage for the majority of his life. He stopped where the shoulder panels showing a disjointed, red Russian star faced him. "I want it gone." He swiped his hand left and the image disappeared.
"Okey dokey, then," Tony replied. "I'll get my tools."
In the end, they worked together. Bucky's arm was released from the sling and laid out on a table raised to just the right height. Tony thought it was like having three hands. Barnes, it turns out, was right-handed, and his grip was strong and steady on even the smallest of screws.
Tony introduced Bucky to Friday, and the AI helped guide them to the next piece of the tight engineering puzzle to release next. Tony sorted all the bits by type. He could reuse some of the metal in a new arm. Melted down and refabricated, of course.
It took four hours and the top half of the star remained, but Bucky was free of the purely mechanical portion of his arm. There were still bandages on the area where the epidermis-fused metal met pure skin, and there was little stability left in the stump. But it was a start. Tony capped it with some spandex to cover any sharp bits, and the top half of the star.
Bucky tilted his head sharply to the left to look at what remained. "When can I get a new one?"
Tony sighed. "That's the tricky bit. To get natural movement like you had with this one, we need to use everything of you that's left in that arm. Bio-engineering is not my strong suit, though I will, of course, bone up on it. I would've asked Dr. Banner to help as it is very much in his wheelhouse, but he took off after the fight with Ultron, and no one's heard from his since."
"Banner," Bucky repeated. "He's the one who turns green?"
Tony nodded. "Yeah, and it was Mr. Green Jeans who did the taking off. We have to be careful who we let in our circle, ya know. But we'll find someone to help. It just may take a while."
Bucky nodded. "But the rest of this?" He tapped a screwdriver on the hard metal of his shoulder.
"I'll call Cho and see when she's available."
