A/N: I HAVE BEEN SO BAD ABOUT REPLYING TO COMMENTS AND I AM SO SORRY. Pls know that if you left me a comment that not only did I read it multiple times but I also fangirled like an idiot. I've just felt like i lost a little steam/inspiration for this and I'm trying to get it all back. TFATWS has definitely helped lol. Starting with this chapter, I promise to reply like I usually do again.

Also quick disclaimer, talking about Bucky's arm stuff felt natural b/c I know medical shit. As we go forward all of you will learn very quickly that I know very, very little about lawyer shit. I am 100% winging it and basing everything off tv shows, movies, and google lol.

Chapter #12:

'D' Stands for Delta and Dumbass

"I feel like my life is so scattered right now. Like it's all small pieces of paper and someone's turned on the fan. But, talking to you makes me fell like the fan's been turned off for a little bit. Like things could actually make sense. You completely unscatter me, and I appreciate that so much." –John Green

I hadn't meant to sleep in, but my body and mind apparently had different plans for me. There was so much that needed to be done. Enough that waking up at noon felt like I had wasted so much time. I needed to get the twins settled with the assignments Bucky gave out to them so they could stay on track to take the GRE, I needed to touch base with Inara and the PR team on where we were with the Winter Soldier situation, and I also needed to talk with the legal team and find out if they had come up with a plan yet. Technically speaking, the last two items on my list weren't my responsibility, but if someone thought I was gonna sit back and do nothing, boy were they wrong.

Having so many things on my to-do list means there wasn't going to be much time to worry about Granny. That might be for the best. I had woken up to a text from Coulson telling me she had made it to the location safe and sound. That was one comfort.

I took the time this morning, or afternoon really, to dress professionally. Navy dress pants, heeled brown boots, and a light blue button up shirt tucked in. Blue was supposed to be calming, right? Maybe the excess of blue on my person would somehow keep me Zen and keep my anger hidden in the closet I shoved it into last night.

"Tony is asking for you in the conference room." FRIDAY spoke overhead as I walked through the common room.

"Shit." I mumbled under my breath. The 'family meeting' was at 1 today and I had been hoping to have more time to get things done before it. The meeting couldn't be skipped. The crew had something to tell me, and I wanted to get caught up on whatever the fuck it was that was going on around here. "Tell them I'll be up in a minute. I'm gonna catch the last few minutes of the legal meeting then I'll come up with Bucky.

FRIDAY confirmed what I said, and I hit the elevator button to take me downstairs. Since I was already running late, I half jogged through the lobby to try and get to the private board room where I knew the legal team had wanted to meet. As I reached the doors though, they swung open as someone tried to come out. I nearly crashed into the person before realizing it was that lawyer guy. His eyes traced down to my feet before dragging back up to my eyes in a leering fashion. What was creeper's name? Mike? Marvin?

"Oh, sorry. Are y'all done?" I asked.

"Quick break." He replied with a smile he probably meant to be appealing, but it came across as sleazy. I hummed as my own greeting and my eyes followed him as he left. The guy was a dickhead, but as long as he knew all the lawyer stuff I wasn't going to piss him off or call him on his shitty behavior. I stepped into the board room and my eyes landed on Bucky who had his head cradled in one hand, eyes closed. In front of him were various papers spread about and a briefcase sitting at the end of the table open.

"Hey," I walked right up to him and grabbed the seat beside him. Sleeping had helped, but the effects of yesterday still lingered at the outskirts of my conscious. Bucky had helped with that yesterday and now I planned on doing whatever I humanly could to help him back. Bucky opened his eyes to look at me with a tired smile, "What's going on? How was the meeting?"

He shook his head, "It was fine. How're you feeling this morning?"

"Peachy keen, Buckaroo." I replied, and held a hand out to him. He chuckled and set his hand in mine with a small squeeze. There was something eating at him. I could see it clear as day, and it seemed to go beyond the media. Something had recently upset him. I set my other hand on top of his, so his hand was cradled between mine, "Are you sure you're okay?" He nodded, and I twisted my lips. "Well…what's the plan then?" He hesitated, and I narrowed my eyes in response. "Bucky."

"Mark thinks we should turn me in. Take that initiative and show that I'm not putting up a fight." Bucky began and I hummed. That much made sense. It would suck, but I expected it. He continued. "We don't know what they're charging me with specifically yet, we won't until the arraignment, but we have a pretty good guess. Mark says once I plead guilty—"

I squeezed down on his hand, keeping my voice as neutral and as steady as I could, "Say that one more time."

"Pleading guilty will help us avoid the worst of the sentences—"

"You aren't guilty." I snapped.

Bucky shook his head, "Doll, you're biased. Look at this from a distance. I did—"

"You were a victim! You had no choice!" I shook my head firmly. "Bucky, what the hell has that damn lawyer been telling you?"

He didn't immediately answer and that upset me further. Oh God, I didn't need to have a full meltdown today too. Two days in a row seems excessive, even for me. Bucky pulled his hand away from mine then turned so he faced me. He hooked his hand under the edge of my chair and pulled me closer with a look of rigid determination. I tilted my head questioningly, but Bucky kept on, "Someone has to pay for those crimes, Aj."

"HYDRA has to pay for those crimes. They need to foot the bill." I shook my head. "Bucky, come on. Don't let the words of one jackass make you doubt your worth."

"Aj—"

"You are a victim." I said firmly. Without hesitation, I held my hand out again, "If I need to get it tattooed on my forehead in order for you to remember it then I will."

Bucky held my gaze for a second then with a sigh he took my hand again with a small smile, "What's up with you and getting things tattooed on your forehead, doll?"

"It's prime real estate, man."

"Don't get upset when I say this." Bucky said, and I could already tell that I was gonna be upset by whatever followed. "Mark is the best lawyer money can buy and he legitimately thinks I have no chance. I mean, look at my case, doll." Rather than meet his eyes, I flipped his hand over and stared at his palm as I traced the lines with my finger. It was hard to get angry around Bucky, something about him just seemed to calm me down, but it seemed I finally found a topic that could set me off like a nuclear bomb. "We're… We're the underdog for a lack of a better word."

I was grinding my teeth and mentally humming the Office's theme song. Anything to distract myself from actually losing my mind. I'd like to think that I would be able to hide this rage a little better if yesterday hadn't been so shitty, but it was like all of yesterday's bullshit had shortened my fuse. Honestly, I had a snowball's chance in hell today at staying calm and collected.

"I have literally always been an underdog, and I somehow seem to come on top." I said slowly. "We just…need… a lawyer who actually gives a damn. New legal team is all."

"Doll. Look at me." Bucky pleaded.

I didn't want to.

If I looked up at him, met his soft gaze with my burning one, then he was going to see how absolutely pissed off I was, and I didn't want Bucky to see me like that. What if his view of me changed? What if my anger pushed him away? Losing Bucky in any sense of the word would be a blow I don't think I could survive. He hadn't seen me in the middle of a full-on meltdown, and it would be ideal if he never saw that.

Bucky lifted his hand with ease. I kept my own grip tight on it, trying to drag it back down, but it was futile. His fingers found my chin and the moment they did I stopped fighting. A slow sigh slipped from my lips as I tried to steel my features. Bucky tilted my head up so I was forced to look him dead in the eyes. The corner of his lips curled up into an amused smile, "You alright?"

"You should not be asking me that." I replied, clenching and unclenching my jaw, "I should be asking you that."

Bucky shrugged halfheartedly and he pinched my chin playfully, "I'm always alright when you're around, doll. I thought you would've figured that out by now."

He raised an eyebrow at me, almost questioningly, and I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. The anger was still there, but Bucky was working his magic as per usual. I focused on the stormy blue of his eyes and tried to let the calm wash over me. This was fine. Everything was fine. We'd get rid of the shitty lawyer, get a new one, and then we'd be back on track. Do not lose your cool, Aj. Tighten up. Stay calm.

Bucky's eyes snapped away from mine, to look at something over my shoulder, and then I heard the judging voice of the man I was still trying to resist slaughtering.

"Oh. I wasn't aware that the two of you were… involved."

You know what?

Fuck it.

Meltdowns were always kind of fun.

Aj shoved up off her seat so quickly, and with so much force, that Bucky had to reach out and catch the chair before it slammed into the ground. The woman he had grown so fond of began to grab the paperwork Mark had been doing by handfuls. She crushed most of them in her grip as she began to shove them into the open briefcase.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Mark snapped and stormed over. At the tone of voice, Bucky felt his own anger boil in his stomach. He began to stand. Nobody was going to talk to Aj like that or rush up on her. Not on his watch. Before he was even a few inches up though, Aj spun to face the man and pointed one threatening finger at him. Mark froze in his steps immediately and began to verbally backpedal, "I mean, what—what are you doing?"

Aj's shoulders were stiff as she slammed the briefcase shut, "I'm packing up your shit, Mike."

"My name is Mar—"

"I literally do not give a single damn what your name is." Aj replied with a cold laugh. "You're fired."

Bucky's eyebrows raised in surprise, but it wasn't anything compared to the shock on Mark's face. He pushed forward again, and this time Bucky did stand up. He stayed in place but narrowed his eyes at the lawyer. It was enough to force the man to a halt again.

"Excuse me?" Mark cried.

"I didn't fucking stutter, but here let me say it one more time just because I really like saying it." Aj scooped his briefcase up and threw it at his feet, "You're fired. Get your shit and leave."

Mark was shaking in anger. It was a sharp contrast to the anger he could see radiating off his gal. She stood strong, steady, unwavering, in the wake of her own rage. He pointed at her with a glare, "You can't fire me, you dumb bitch." Bucky's teeth clenched together. His hand clasped into a fist, knuckles cracking, and he saw Mark visibly flinch. The lawyer nervously snapped his attention back to Aj, "I was hired by Mr. Stark himself—"

"Yeah, well, my name is Aj Stark and I said you're fired," Aj roared as she slowly moved toward him. Mark stumbled back, but she didn't slow. "Gather your belongings and get the fuck off our property before I call Captain America down here to personally and forcibly remove you from the premises."

Mark paused, trying to figure out the validity of this, then he threw his coffee aside. He bent over to grab his briefcase and then pointed at them, "You don't have a chance in the US legal system, and I can't wait to see it chew you up and spit you—"

"You wanna finish that? I haven't punched a guy in the face in the last 18 hours and I'm starting to kind of miss it!" Aj replied and stormed forward. Mark nearly tripped over himself trying to get out of the room. She yelled after him, "Don't forget the non-disclosure you signed, jackass! You say a word about any of this and I'll find you personally!"

Bucky's mouth fell slightly ajar. This was the first time he had seen her intimidate in person. Up until now, he had really only seen the aftermath of a battle or her sparring for fun in the gym. Bucky always referred to her as a storm, a hurricane, but he hadn't realized how accurate that description was until this exact moment.

Aj spun around but froze when her wide eyes met his. Panic interrupted her burning wrath. Bucky watched as she slowly closed in on herself. The confidence turning to insecurity as one hand grasped her other elbow to hold herself together.

"I… maybe lost my cool a little bit there." Aj mumbled, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment and even a little shame.

Bucky raised an eyebrow as he took in this moment. He felt a lot of things right now. Pride at her strength. Admiration of her willingness to fight literally anyone for her people. Marvel at her confidence in the face of a fight—verbal or physical. Bucky also felt a little hot under the collar. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure what it said about him that watching Aj own the room like she did kind of turned him on. Bucky shifted in place, swallowed hard, and shook his head.

"That was…"

"Psychotic?" Aj closed her eyes and scrunched up her nose in a way that shouldn't have looked as adorable as it did. God, he really was a goner.

Bucky quickly crossed the room to stand in front of her, "I was gonna use the word impressive, doll." Aj peeked out at him, the blue burning into his soul, and she twisted her lips in disbelief. He wasn't sure what exactly he could say to convince her that she shouldn't have any kind of doubt with him. He chuckled, "Want a hug?"

"Yes, please." Aj blurted and folded into his chest the moment he held his arm out. Bucky wrapped his arm around her tightly and rested his head on top of hers. After the talk he had with Steve, Bucky figured since his best friend was planning on wooing the woman in his arms the least he could do was go back to their regular day to day habits. It was without a doubt the selfish side of him that convinced him he should go back to touching Aj, hugging her, seeking her out in the Compound.

He only wished he had his other arm so he could hold her how he actually wanted to.

Bucky was still just in awe. He couldn't even worry about his future, the case, because he still couldn't believe that an amazing woman like this would be willing to go to war for a man like him. Aj spoke up, mumbling into his chest, "Sorry you had to see that side of me."

"Aimee Jane, please," Bucky loved the way her tense shoulders relaxed at her full name, "There's literally no side of you that I don't wanna see."

Aj pulled away from him with a sigh, "Well, let's go find you a new lawyer then, Buck."

"We have a meeting we need to go to." Bucky countered. They were already very late to the Avenger's meeting. Something he knew Tony was gonna complain about for a good ten minutes. This was actually a meeting he wanted to attend funnily enough. Something was going on around here. The mission yesterday, though successful, hadn't gone perfectly based on the moods of everyone on the Compound.

Aj gave him a small, suggestive smile, "Or we can play hooky?" She paused. "Actually, wait, you can't leave the Compound. How about I leave, and you cover for me?"

"You were attacked by HYDRA yesterday." Bucky shook his head. "You're not leaving this Compound either and I think you know that." Aj grunted in annoyed agreement. He raised an eyebrow at her, "What's going on?"

"I think this meeting is gonna be rough." Aj admitted. "Steve and them asked me some weird questions yesterday and it gave me an eerie vibe that I didn't actually fully pick up on until this morning…" She paused, then crossed her arms. "My gut tells me that I don't wanna go to this meeting."

Bucky offered her his hand, "Aj, you just chased a lawyer out of the room without blinking. Whatever is going on now won't stand a chance against you."

Aj rolled her eyes, but her smile made her face glow. She sighed and slapped her hand into his. Bucky squeezed it once and they moved to leave the room. They were no further in the plan to deal with his case, actually they had technically gone backwards in progress, but somehow everything just seemed to be perfectly fine when he had her hand in his.

When they called for a family meeting, they weren't playing. The entire Avengers family was here including distant cousins and members who usually only came around at holidays. Steve, Tony, Natasha, Sam, Clint, and Vision sat in their usual seats. Coulson had taken the seat reserved for Thor and Agent May had taken the one beside that, reserved for Bruce, since both men were still unfortunately MIA. In one corner stood Daisy, Kate, and Fitzsimmons. In the corner across from it stood Pietro and Wanda. I briefly wondered where Star was at the moment if we were all in here. Bucky must have felt the tension radiating out of me as we entered the room because he lightly set his hand on my lower back. It was enough to jar me back to reality.

"Finally." Tony called out.

I didn't even have a quippy reply to us being late. Just like I had admitted to Bucky, I felt like this was going to be a meeting I wouldn't quite soon forget. My suspicions were only amplified when I caught the sympathetic smiles on various people. Specifically, Daisy and Fitzsimmons were staring at me like I had just told them my dog died.

Jesus, this was gonna be bad.

Bucky and I split ways to take our unspoken, reserved seating. Mine was beside Tony's and Bucky's was over by Steve and Natasha on the other side of the table. I was briefly excited that the Avengers didn't let anybody sit in Bucky's chair, it was a little sign that he really was being folded into the day to day activities of this family, but it was short lived.

"So, let's just dive right in, huh?" Tony said.

Steve stood and began to speak, but I turned to look at Tony. He met my gaze with a curious look and I nodded once then whispered, "Before we get into whatever this shit is, you should know that I fired the head of your legal team."

Tony's eyes widened, "Mark Jones?" I nodded quickly, and Tony just shrugged. "Okay. After this we'll look through lawyer resumes. I get them sent into me all the time. It kind of hurts my feelings that the lawyers of the world think I'll need constant representation."

I gave him a small smile. That was one thing I always loved about Tony. No questions asked. If I said I did something he never tried to argue and dig at why. He just assumed I had a good reason and left it on faith. He suddenly stood up as Steve sat down, and I prayed that whatever it was he had said hadn't been too important.

"Quick SparkNotes before Coulson gets us rolling on the big stuff," Tony spoke, "We did capture Rumlow. He is in our custody at the Playground, not the Fridge again, and we still have no eyes on Strucker. He hasn't made any moves. Daisy is digging through some electronic leads, but I have a bad feeling we won't pinpoint his exact location until he pops his head out of the sand."

"So, what?" Sam crossed his arms. "We're just playing the interrogation game again? He didn't break the last time, and unless we suddenly decide to commit some war crimes then we have no new tools in our arsenal."

Clint leaned back in his seat, "I'll commit a war crime."

Coulson shot the archer a glare before standing up himself, "Fitzsimmons is working on something. Well, more Simmons than Fitz."

"Yes, I have no interest in delving into any sort of biology." Fitz chimed in. Tony pointed to him in agreement with a bob of his head.

Simmons smiled, "I'm working on a serum…"

Her bubbly, British voice continued to fill the room, but I was losing focus entirely. This wasn't what I wanted to hear about, but I didn't understand why I felt that way. The Rumlow issue was important, and I needed to be updated on where they were with that. I might not be an Avenger in the physical sense, but mentally I needed to be on the same page to help there where I could.

The room slightly dimmed and that's what grabbed my attention again. Coulson was still standing, and Tony was typing on the table, bringing it to life. A screen at the end of the table appeared, placed where everyone could see it clearly, and on it were a couple pictures of various people I didn't recognize.

"Yesterday, on mission, we ran into a new team twice." Coulson motioned to the screen where three picture came into focus. Two men and a woman. Two of them were unfamiliar, but I did recognize the millionaire, Roberto da Costa. I guess that's why Steve asked about him. "They call themselves the X-Men," I glanced at Clint who kept a straight face. I was surprised he didn't have a joke to crack about the unusual name they had chosen for themselves, "They were a group of mutants founded in the 70's with the goal of finding and protecting fellow mutants."

Sam was the one to ask the question before I could, "Mutant?"

"Yes." Coulson nodded. "They're different from inhumans, biologically, but similar in the sense that they're classified as a super powered individual."

Daisy chimed in, "Inhumans have the Kree gene. Mutants have mutated DNA. The X-gene."

"They've managed to stay under the radar since the 80's. Mutants were hated and hunted, worse than inhumans now, and SHIELD believed them to have become extinct." Coulson continued. "One of the X-Men we ran into, Jean Gray, is a telepath. She gave us information on a project conducted in the time period they were founded. The name of the project, at least. The rest was up to us to find." Coulson glanced at the screen again. "The inhumans we thought broke Rumlow out of the Fridge were actually kidnapped mutants. The X-Men have been hunting him down to try and find their friends. We believe we're all fighting the same battle, but they want nothing to do with us."

I raised a hand slightly, "Going back a bit, the project. Was it Project Omega?" Heads and eyes snapped to look at me in surprise and shock. The only people in this room who weren't caught up to speed were the twins, Bucky, Sam, and I. Swallowing nervously, I shrugged, "Coulson asked me about it yesterday. What—"

"Yes. It was called Project Omega. Daisy, Tony, and Vision were able to find the hidden files surrounding it." Coulson forced the attention back on himself. He tapped on the table a few times and the entire thing was suddenly covered in various open files. My eyes landed on a few right in front of me labeled, 'Weapon X', 'Known Omegas', and 'Trials'. "A branch of HYDRA started this project, but back then they were operating as SHIELD. From what we've gathered, it seems they were trying to create the perfect mutant. An Omega class."

Steve shook his head, "What does that mean?"

I was surprised he didn't already know, but maybe only the ones who broke into the files, and Coulson, were aware right now. Tony swiped at something in front of him and a holographic graph hovered over the table, but Vision was the one to stand.

"There are six classes of mutant." Vision began. "It seems HYDRA created these classes, coined these labels as the mutants came through the program. They are: Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma, Epsilon, and Omega." While Vision spoke, Tony's eyes darted at me, I saw a flash of concern in his brown eyes, but he quickly looked away before I could even raise an eyebrow at him. Vision tapped the table and a video appeared of a normal, well-muscled man just standing there in front of a white wall. Suddenly, his skin turned to metal. "Alpha mutants are ones that look entirely human, but their powers are extremely effective in combat. Their powers make them dangerous in the field."

Vision tapped the table, and the video was replaced. Now there was an average looking woman who was strapped down into a chair, but her face remained calm. "Beta mutants are just like Alphas, but there is a small catch. They look human at first glance, but if you're around them long enough you notice something is…off." The woman looked right into the camera and blinked, but her eyelids blinked the wrong way. Reptilian like. "Next, we have Gamma mutants."

Again, the video changed, and my eyes widened at the sight of a blue creature with pointed ears, glowing golden eyes, and a spear shaped tail. Vision motioned to him, "Gamma mutants don't look human. Their mutation prevents them from walking in plain sight without an adequate disguise. Still their powers are classified as combat effective."

"Delta mutants," Vison tapped the table and this time just a picture appeared of a normal looking little girl with a list beside her claiming her abilities with various pieces of technology. "They're like Alphas in the sense that they look entirely human, but their powers aren't combat effective. Their powers are discrete. The example we found was of this girl who they claim is able to build and rework machinery without even fully understanding the machine itself."

Vision tapped the table again to replace the picture of the normal girl with a picture of a purple boy with white eyes and a glowing blue dot in the middle of his forehead, "Epsilon mutants either have Delta like powers or no powers at all. Their mutation makes them like Gammas though in the sense that they do not look human whatsoever."

There was a pause where we all waited for Vision to continue, but he just stood there for a moment. His eyes darted from Daisy then to Tony. The android swiped at the table, but no new video or picture appeared. He sat back down in his seat.

"Vision." Natasha called out. "Omegas?"

"There's no video footage or photos." Tony was the one to answer and eyes turned to focus on him. "Everything we read said they had their hands on one Omega mutant, but that he escaped early on. The files said that Omega level mutants have power levels that make them a true threat. That they're capable of wide-scale destruction. The world ending kind. The reason they only had the one was because they couldn't catch any other suspected ones."

Clint nodded once, "What are their powers though?"

"It could be anything." Daisy shrugged. "The thing that makes that power Omega level is that there is no limit to what they can do. That one power they have can be used endlessly with nothing that can stop them except themselves."

I leaned forward, resting my elbow on the table, "Who was the Omega they had? Is there anyway we can find them? Maybe they'll be able to help us figure out more about this shit."

"There are no official names or pictures of them." Tony shook his head. "All files referred to him as Magneto. That's it."

"So, do we think Strucker is trying to start this project back up?" Sam asked. "Trying to create an Omega level mutant himself? Using inhumans and the infinity stone—" He nodded his head to the glowing rock on Vision's forehead. "—to do it?"

Steve turned in his seat to look at the twins, "Do either of you remember Strucker mentioning anything about this project?"

Wanda and Pietro looked at one another for a quiet moment. I recognized the look of their mental conversation. Finally, Pietro set his hand on Wanda's arm and gave her a comforting nod. The young woman faced the table again with a sigh, "No details that would be helpful. Occasionally, we heard them use some of these titles. Alpha, Beta, Delta…" She paused and shook her head sadly, "But we didn't pay much attention to it. It didn't seem important."

"Hey, don't sweat it." Kate called out to them comfortingly, "You didn't know."

"Well, I think that's proof enough that Strucker is doing something related to this project." Clint hummed. Coulson chimed in with his own opinion, but my eyes drifted back down to the files in front of me. Like Natasha was already doing, I went to tap on one to open it myself.

My fingers hovered over the 'Weapon X' file, but someone called my name out before I could. I glanced up to see eyes on me again. What had I missed this time? I shook my head, "Huh?"

"There's something we need to tell you." Steve said softly and I was surprised when Tony reached over to grab my hand in comfort. My eyes narrowed suspiciously as they dragged across each face in the room. Steve didn't beat around the bush, he just ripped the band-aid off, "You're a mutant."

I just blinked for a second, wondering if I misheard the man, but with the way everyone was staring at me I apparently hadn't. Sam, Bucky, and the twins looked startled, and it made me feel a little better that I wasn't the only one in this room caught off guard.

"We had our suspicions from the moment we found out about the mutants." Tony picked up where Steve left off. "You being a mutant explains how you're able to heal and fight so well and it explains why you didn't go through terrigenesis. The X-Men confirmed it though." I opened my mouth to argue, but he didn't let me. "They have a program that allows them to find new mutants and help them if they need it. Whatever it was they see… we think they saw it in you. That's why they wanted you."

My eyes widened, but it was Bucky who had spoken up for the first time since he entered the room, "They what?"

"They claimed that they'd be able to protect Aj from HYDRA better than us." Clint answered with a roll of his eyes. "Said that since she's a mutant that she belongs with them."

I let my eyes drift to the center of the table, unfocused, while I got lost in my head. A mutant? That wasn't… That wasn't so bad, was it? I wanted to be an inhuman so badly once upon a time. This was kind of just a belated wish come true.

Sort of.

"We think you're a Delta." My eyes snapped up to Coulson. "You obviously look human, and your powers are…discrete. Yes, your healing and fighting abilities make you dangerous in combat, but not like the way the files describe Alphas or Betas."

This was good news.

This was good news.

This was good news.

Was this good news?

If I was actually superpowered then I could protect my family. Granted, my powers kind of sucked in the grand scheme of things, but maybe this would convince them to let me out in the field to help on missions. At least, the missions that helped us end this HYDRA issue a lot faster. Still, something felt wrong. Hearing those words put a bad taste in my mouth and I couldn't explain it. There was an itch at the back of my head that I couldn't quite reach. My hand lifted to rest on my chest where I could feel the chains of the dogtags I still wore through my shirt.

"Aj?" Tony snapped, and I turned to look at him. He gave me more concern, "We've been calling your name. Did you hear us?"

I suddenly pushed myself up and others jumped in surprise at my sudden movement. The walls were starting to spin and close in on me. My chest felt tight, like it was constricting around my struggling lungs and racing heart. A light ringing began to fill my head. I opened my mouth a few times before I finally found my voice, "I—I need a second."

Without waiting for a reply, I hurried out of the room. Voices called out to me, calling me back, but I didn't slow down. I hit the stairs by the elevator and began to climb them, two steps at a time, with the plans to go to my apartment, but my feet didn't stop. They just kept climbing and climbing until suddenly I was on the Compound's roof. It was hot, the sun was beating down on me, but the fresh air helped. I didn't feel like hyperventilating anymore.

Slowly, I crossed the roof and sat down on the edge with my legs hanging off the side. I closed my eyes, taking in slow breaths, as the anxiety began to crawl away from me. As it crawled away though, I felt another wave of anger try to claw its way up my throat. It was blind anger. Who the fuck was I angry at? It made no damn sense, but it's where my brain ended up anyways. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on what Bruce had once told me. My anger was an ocean and as much as I wanted to fight the waves that kept sending me under, I couldn't. I needed to find a way to float on the thrashing current.

"From everything I've heard," An unfamiliar voice made my eyes snap open in alarm, "I expected to meet you in the middle of a fight of some kind. Not the edge of a roof having a mental breakdown."

I turned my head to see a black man with an eyepatch. He was unfamiliar to my own eyes, but I already knew who this was. Despite the hot weather, he had on a long leather jacket over dark jeans and a black shirt.

"Patchy the Pirate?" I breathed in surprise.

Fury's eye narrowed at me and I cursed my stupid, dumb, non-filtered brain, "I see you've been talking with Tony about me."

"Clint too." I mumbled sheepishly. At least I was consistent when it came to my terrible first impressions. Fury walked over and I was surprised when he sat down beside me, throwing his legs over the edge as well. My shoulders were tense as I tried to figure this out. As much as I had heard about the man, a part of me kind of never expected to actually meet him. "I, uh, sorry. My name is—"

"I know who you are."

"Right." I nodded quickly. Fury's gaze was out over the Compound's campus rather than on me. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "Are you here to kill me?"

Fury shrugged, "If I were going to kill you, I wouldn't have spoken up first."

"Yeah, okay." I replied, not fully convinced. Awkwardly, I twisted my lips once before shaking my head, "Look, the last few days have been a rollercoaster. To quote Will Ferrell in Anchorman, I am in a glass case of emotions, and I think you should—"

"Stop talking." Fury said simply.

I groaned, "Believe me, man. I am trying."

There was more silence between us where I had to physically bite down on my tongue to keep from blurting something else out. My three reactions were fighting, running, or talking. I sure as hell wasn't gonna try to fight and/or run from Nick Fury so talking was all I really had left. Now, apparently, I didn't even have that. A few more tense moments passed before the intimidating man finally spoke up.

"You didn't know you were a mutant."

I blinked in surprise, "Uh, no, but I guess you did?"

"I know everything." Fury raised an eyebrow at me, and I resisted the urge to comment that he sounded like a certain redhead I considered a sister. "I'm just surprised you didn't know."

I shook my head, "How could I have known? Like everyone else, I didn't even know mutants existed before—"

"I knew."

"Of course you fucking did." I scoffed then flinched. "I mean, if I had known what I was… don't you think I would've mentioned something a while ago?"

Fury shrugged, "Unless you were just waiting for the right time to reveal the information."

I stared at him for a second before I figured out what he was trying to infer. This time I couldn't help the scoff that slipped from my lips, "Ah. I got it. You're on the same team as Sharon Carter. The super-secret agent who thinks I'm hiding a super-secret."

"A weird string of occurrences put you where you are today." Fury hummed casually. "I don't believe in coincidences."

I tilted my head, "Yeah. Neither do I." Rustling up the last bit of bold courage I had in me today, I snapped, "So you can tell me what the hell you want from me right now, or you can get the hell off my roof."

"Your roof?" Fury chuckled.

"My roof." I nodded. "I booked it for the next hour specifically so I could mope and have an existential crisis in peace."

"Hmm. I'm sorry to have interrupted you then." Fury replied dryly. Another tense moment filled the air and I glanced over the edge of the building to try and calculate whether or not I would survive jumping in order to get away from this guy. "Do you want us to give you to the X-Men for protection?"

My head snapped to look at him in surprise. He just raised his eyebrows impatiently. I narrowed my own eyes in suspicion. This was a trap, right? Some kind of test? I leaned toward him in a poor attempt to intimidate, "Why does it feel like my answer won't matter? You're gonna make the Avengers send me wherever you want them to anyways."

"Usually, yes." Fury nodded. "But everything I've seen of you reminds me of someone I know, and if you are anything like her then telling you what to do will just be a waste of time for the both of us."

Fury stood up and dusted off his jacket. I cautiously rose as well and took a step back from him just out of habit, "That's it. That's all you came here for? Ask me a few weird questions then disappear?"

"I've been meaning to meet you." Fury shrugged. "It's been on my to-do list for quite a while."

"Why?"

Fury shrugged and began to walk away, "You're interesting."

I watched him take a few more steps before calling out, "Why does you finding me interesting feel like such a bad thing?"

He stopped by the entrance to the stairs and glanced back at me with a simple shrug, "I found every single Avenger interesting at one point or another." Fury gave me one short nod, his gaze hardening in significance, "You focus on getting James Buchanan Barnes a new legal team, and I'll deal with the X-Men."

Without another word, he just disappeared out of sight down the stairs leaving me in a daze. Had that just actually happened, or had he been some sort of panic attack induced hallucination? A part of me had a feeling I'd have to meet the man eventually, but boy did I never picture it happening like this.

Clint watched Aj speed out of the room and he bit back a sigh. That went about as well as he expected it to. Actually, it went a little bit better because he had guessed there would be more yelling. He pushed out of his seat to go after her, but Steve's voice stopped him.

"Don't."

He sat back down, unclenched his jaw, and spoke, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Give her some time. We just gave her life changing news, she needs a second to take it in." Steve argued.

Clint chuckled in annoyance, "We just told Aj, the girl who is known for her epic 'fight or flight' reaction, that she is a mutant. Excuse me, if I wanna make sure she doesn't make a break for it."

"Aj wouldn't do that." Tony argued. "She's gotten that out of her system. Aj told us she wouldn't run."

"Yeah, that was back when things were going great!" Clint scoffed. "Yesterday was a shit show, and she's obviously on a hair trigger now. That means irrational ideas are the only kind of ideas she has."

Sam raised an eyebrow at him, "Speaking of hair triggers…"

"Don't start with me, Wilson." Clint shook his head. "If you had the day I had—"

"You think my day was a walk in the park?" Sam snapped. "I'm so glad I was there for Aj yesterday, but I spent that entire day watching her fall apart." Clint's eyes drifted to his hand resting on the table. Sam continued, "I watched her suffer and drown in self-hatred and nothing I did seemed to help. So, you don't start with me."

Clint's eyes snapped back to meet Sam's and he gave him a small apologetic nod that Sam briefly returned after a second. Just like he had said about Aj, and like Sam had commented on him, Clint knew he had a short fuse today. He hated the position they were in right now. Of all the players on the board, the Avengers knew the least amount of information. That put them at a huge disadvantage. Maybe it wouldn't bother him so much except the cost of losing this contest was Aj.

"Can we circle back to the X-Men wanting Aj?" Bucky questioned.

"Yes. That." Sam agreed and leaned forward to rest his hands on the table.

Steve sighed, "It's like I said. They know she's a mutant and they want to be the ones to protect her from Strucker. They don't think we've done a very good job so far."

"Well, fuck them." Tony replied sharply. "What do those leather clad jackasses know?"

"Are they wrong?" Kate chimed in with crossed arms. Glares were shot her way, but she shrugged, "Look, da Costa had a point! She's nearly died twice while hanging with you guys. Whereas on the other hand, those leather clad jackasses have managed to hide from HYDRA, and the world, for twenty plus years. They're obviously doing something right."

Natasha shook her head with anger on her own features, "I don't care what they're doing right or not. I don't trust them and I'm not going to just blindly hand her over to them."

"I don't think they want to hurt her, Nat." Steve argued.

"You think—" Clint cut in but was immediately cut off.

Steve shot him a glare, "Roberto knew her. Maybe they all knew her. The way they said her name was too caring for her to just be some random mutant off the street! They cared more about Aj than they did for their friend Riley, the glowing mutant we picked off the street."

"Let me get this straight," Tony leaned forward in his own seat, "You actually think we should let Aj go with these people? Really?"

Coulson stepped into the argument, "It's the safest option for her. If they're telling the truth—"

"If." Bucky snapped. His glare lifted from the table to Coulson, "If they're telling the truth isn't as convincing as you might think it is."

"Why would they lie about this?" May snapped back with her own glare. Clint didn't think today would somehow wind up with Bucky Barnes and Melinda May having a deadly staring contest, but that's apparently where they were now.

"Uh," Sam raised a hand, "Because people lie? They have their own agendas? We don't know anything about these people. We have no reason to take them at their word!"

"I looked into the three we met, and there is nothing about what I found that points to them being…evil." Daisy crossed her arms. She shook her head, "The inhumans had a community and it was the safest place for any inhuman to be. If the mutants have the same thing—"

Clint laughed, ruder than he intended, "Is this the safe community that turned out to be a front for a group of people wanting to burn the world down? Led by your mom?"

Daisy's eyes narrowed at him in a sharp glare, but even the heat of her look didn't cut away from the pain that flashed in her eyes. Clint knew what he said had been a low blow. Regret briefly filled him, but it was much too late to take it back now.

"Statistically speaking," Vison began, "The X-Men having anything to do with Strucker or HYDRA are low. Their people were hunted and tortured by them. It would make sense that their only goal is to protect their own."

Pietro stepped forward with a hand raised, "If we are voting on this, then you can count me on the side of the X-Men." Wanda slapped his arm and hissed something in Sokovian at him that he hissed back at before turning to the table. "If I could have sent Wanda away, to a safe haven, then I would have in a heartbeat. Why pass up on this opportunity?"

"Because just like me, she'd choose not to leave." Wanda snapped in English. "If you tried to send me away, I wouldn't go. Do you think Aj would choose to leave us?"

Natasha nodded, "Exactly. This argument is futile."

"No, you just make her go." May said sharply.

Clint held one hand up towards her, "You don't understand. Aj's past—"

"I don't care. I know she's seen her fair share of traumas and I understand that, but that doesn't change the facts." May argued. "It doesn't matter if she doesn't want to go. That doesn't suddenly make her staying the right decision. Aj is biased, of course she wouldn't want to leave, but it's up to us, as her friends, to protect her."

Steve tilted his head slightly, "She'd hate us if we made her go to the X-Men." He glanced around the table, meeting skeptical eyes, "But Bruce said it best once. I'd rather have her furious than dead."

"You say that, but there is no guarantee that she's any safer with them." Bucky snapped at his old friend.

The room grew quiet, and Clint knew it was because they had all realized they hit a brick wall. Nobody was going to be convinced of anything. Those who thought it was a good idea would keep thinking that, and those who thought it was bad would hold onto that thought. Clint stood back up, to find Aj, and he glanced around the room as if daring someone to stop him. He only got a step out of his chair when the conference room door opened and Nick Fury, of all people, strolled in.

"Patchy the pirate?" Tony scoffed, "Why are you here?"

"I poke my head out of the woods anytime I sense that you people are being idiots." Fury replied simply. He stalked up to stand by the table and swiped through a few files as everyone just stared. Fury lifted his gaze and it landed on Bucky who stiffened in his seat. Fury finally spoke again, "Leave the X-Men alone. Find Strucker and make sure Barnes over there doesn't get life without parole."

Fury began to leave, and Tony scoffed, "That's it? You have nothing else to offer us?"

"I'll deal with the X-Men." Fury replied and continued out the door. Clint had to give the man props there. Nobody in the world could enter or leave a room with style quite like Fury did. The conference room lights were brought back to full brightness and people began to disperse and clump up to talk on the matter further. Clint watched Bucky quickly rise from his seat. He expected the man to rush out of the room, as hell bent as he was on finding Aj, but instead he walked up to Tony.

"I need to talk to you." Bucky said. Tony gave him one skeptical glance before the two left the conference room together.

Clint furrowed his eyebrows at that. There was a friendship he didn't expect to become a thing at all. A small hand gripped his shoulder, and he turned his head to look down at Natasha who was giving him a curious look. She quickly made the sign asking him he was okay. Clint nodded once and offered her a smile.

He lifted his own hands to quickly sign back, 'Let's go find Aj. Something tells me Fury stopped by to see her too.'

Meeting Nick Fury had kind of put a damper on my moping mood. It was hard to slip back into existential crisis mode when you were too busy wondering how the eye-patched man had any idea you even existed. I mean, I knew he knew I was a real person, but I figured he had me in the same category as like the Compound's furniture. There for the Avengers, but not actually anything of real interest.

It was why, after he left, I went back down to my apartment to change from business casual to homeless person, and I now sat in Tony's lab lounging on the couch he kept in the back corner while drinking a cocktail I had made for myself. Alex would be so proud of my creation. It was 98% vodka with 2% lime. Well, less lime flavoring and more, I tossed a wedge of lime into the vodka and now it sat at the bottom of the cup. I was calling it, 'When Life Gives You Limes Put It in a Cup with Vodka'. It wasn't a great name, actually it was pretty terrible one, but in my defense the moment I got to his little bar I took a large swig of straight whiskey on an empty stomach.

You can't be bummed when you're buzzed.

I heard the lab doors slide open and took another heavy sip of my drink. My face twisted in disgust. God, this was terrible. Vodka was the fucking worst.

"—a week? And that's if I decide that sleeping and stopping for bathroom breaks and food are optional rather than vital." Tony said.

It was Bucky's voice that replied, "I'm not looking for you to drive yourself into the ground, Stark. I just… I need an arm. I'm useless right now."

"I'd connect your uselessness more to the fucked-up mind HYDRA left you with, but whatever, man." There was a pause. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like…yeah. My point was, even if I finished your arm today there's not much you could do with it. We can't let you out of the Compound or into a fight because we have no idea what could happen. You could relapse on your own, HYDRA could find you and say those magic words—"

"We don't know that all of HYDRA knows them."

"Someone in HYDRA does, Barnes. It isn't worth the risk."

"What if these X-Men get tired of asking and they just come for her?"

"Then I suit up and send them to an early grave. You're not the only one who wants to protect her."

"What if all of you are on a mission? Aj can't leave the Compound at the risk of being taken which means if an attack does come it'll be here."

"Look we're also trying to protect Star and you and even the twins! We aren't letting them out into the wild until we know for sure they can protect themselves. It just means not all of us will go on missions. Someone will always stay behind." Another pause. "Hey. Come on. Come take a look at what I've gotten done already. You can let me know if there's anything you want changed."

I heard footsteps approaching, Tony was keeping all the work he did on the arm out of sight just in case, and as they turned the corner into my line of vision I didn't even flinch. They did though. Hell, Tony nearly jumped off the ground.

"Jesus Christ." Tony spluttered. "Aj?"

"That is my name." I nodded.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Tony asked, then softly added, "Are you alright?"

Bucky stepped out from around him in worry, "Doll?"

"Tony's little stand here is my favorite bar. Right below Billy's that is, but something tells me I'm not allowed to drive into the city so Alex can make me a drink." I shrugged and took another gulp from my glass. It burned on the way down, but I was able to take the sip without making much of a face.

Tony stepped forward and took the glass from my hand, ignoring my complaints, "What the fuck are you even drinking?" He sniffed the glass. "Vodka? Just vodka?"

"An' some lime." I mumbled.

"You hate vodka." Tony replied and swirled what was left of the contents around once. He threw it back quickly, leaving the lime in the glass, then set it back down on the bar stand. Bucky shot him a questioning glance and the man just shrugged, "I wasn't gonna waste it."

I held three fingers up in Bucky's direction, "That's rule #2. No wastin' drinks."

"You're drunk." Bucky replied.

"Tipsy, at best." I argued and let myself fall to the side so I was lying on the couch. Tony stepped back into my view and knelt down so we were closer to eye level. I gave him a tired grin and reached out to flick his nose, "Hey, tin can."

"Hi, sunshine." He replied. "What's going on?"

"Well, I met Patchy the pirate an' he didn' murder me so that was kinda cool." I answered with a sigh. "Also, I don' know if you've heard but I'm a—" I cupped my mouth with one hand and whispered, "—mutant."

Tony nodded once, "Yeah, that got passed down the grapevine. What do you think about that?"

"I think I got the short end of the stick." I mumbled. "If I was gonna get super powers I could've at least gotten somethin' cool like—like flyin' or invisibility."

"Aw, those are overrated." Tony waved his hand nonchalantly. "You gonna chill here for another couple minutes?" I nodded against the couch and he gave me a small smile. "Alright." Tony stood back up turned to the side to look at Bucky, "Arm later?"

Bucky nodded, "Yeah." Tony pointed to me with a raised eyebrow and Bucky nodded. "I'll keep an eye on her."

"I don' need a babysitter." I mumbled.

"Of course not, sunshine." Tony let his hand pat my head a few times, messing up my hair so it fell in my face. I didn't move to fix it. "I'll be back in a few. Don't touch the alcohol."

I heard Tony walk away and I shifted to pull my hands into the long sleeves of the sweatshirt I had stolen from Steve ages ago. Bucky chuckled and I could see him move toward the couch through the strands of my hair. He smoothly set his hand under my head, lifted me up, and then sat down. When he set my head back down it was now lying on his right thigh.

Bucky took the time to gently pull all the hair off my face, his fingers combing through the loose tangles, "Wanna talk about it?"

"No." I stuck my lower lip out in a pout, "Let me sit up so you can put your head on my thigh so I can talk to you. Today is 'bout you. Not me." I groaned. "I keep makin' it 'bout me—"

"You didn't make today about you, doll." Bucky chuckled.

"I lost my temper, fired your lawyer—"

"He was a terrible lawyer."

"—then I storm out of a family meetin'—"

"Rightly so. You had quite the surprise dropped on you."

"—an' I have some dramatic ass talk on the roof with Nick Fury—"

"From what I hear, he just kind of does whatever it is he wants to do."

"—an' now look at me. Tipsy an' tired an' mopin' in a sweater that doesn' even belong to me…"

Bucky's hand was resting on the side of my face and he tapped his thumb against my chin once. He raised one eyebrow with a crooked smile, "Do any of your sweaters actually belong to you?"

"Fair counterargument." I sighed. "How 'bout we drink some more?"

I tried to sit up, but Bucky's hand prevented me from actually getting up. He shook his head, "How about a nap instead?"

"That sounds nice too." I closed my eyes and just laid there. Between the alcohol and Bucky still lightly tracing his fingers on the side of my face, my brain was clear of any stressful concerns.

No thoughts. Head empty.

I wasn't actually sure how much time had truly passed, but when I opened my eyes again, I saw that Bucky's own eyes were closed as he leaned his head back. He wasn't asleep though. His fingers were still moving. I stared at his peaceful face for a couple seconds. Bucky spoke up without opening his eyes, "We're still napping, doll."

"But I got a question." I whispered.

Bucky cracked one eye open to look down at me, "Yeah?"

"You said you wanna see all my sides, right?" I asked.

Bucky's eyes opened completely, and he sat up a little bit. His hand stopped moving as his eyebrows furrowed together. "Course, Aj. Where's this going?"

"Do you think you'll like my mutant side?" I wasn't entirely sure where the question came from. Actually, I wasn't even sure what I meant. Bucky looked equally as confused by my words and I wondered if I was talking or if the vodka was talking. "I mean… What I meant to say, is… Do you think you'll like my mutant side?"

Bucky nodded, "Good clarification."

"I know." I hummed. "I've been told I have a way with words."

"How about I clarify my earlier statement and just cover all the bases." Bucky moved his hand so it covered the entirety of my lower face, and then he surprised me by squishing my cheeks until I had fish lips. "There isn't a single side of you that won't leave me in awe, doll."

I couldn't help but laugh though it was hard to get the sound out between me squished lips. Bucky grinned down at me, and I lifted my own hand to do the same thing with his cheeks. The sight of his own fish lips made me laugh even harder.

Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was watching Bucky try to talk to me through his own fish lips, but lying here right now it kind of felt like everything was going to be alright at the end of the day.