The evening before they were due to meet Cheney again, Natasha turned up at Steve and Bucky's apartment. Only once the door was fully open did Steve see that she had Agent Coulson in tow.
"He's one of the people who's supposed to know where we all live anyway." She said, by way of explanation. "Can we come in?"
"Sure." Steve stepped back.
"Nice place." Coulson said, as Steve closed the door.
"Thank you. Mostly it came like this."
Bucky stood up from the couch where he'd been reading.
"How's the book?" Natasha asked him.
"Sadder and… wiser than I was expecting. Two of The Fellowship dead so far. Tell Barton I'll need the next one soon." Natasha nodded and sat down on the edge of the coffee table. Coulson took the armchair, Steve pushed Bucky out of the middle of the couch and sat down next to him.
There was a long pause.
"So Tuesday didn't go so well." Coulson said.
"We got stuck." Steve said.
"And am I right in saying that Bruce Banner was the major sticking point?"
"ATCU having the right to study us." Steve refined. "I'm not naive enough to think that they're just looking for a cure for asthma, but…"
"You three would all concede that, if it meant a Presidential Pardon." Coulson looked hard at them in turn. Nobody said anything. Coulson sighed. "The truth is, attempts to create super soldiers are already happening. They haven't really stopped since Erskine. You remember the series of 'terrorist attacks' that left marks like atomic bombs last year?" Steve nodded. "Failed super soldiers. All of them. They'd been injected with an experimental serum. They blew up. We know of over a dozen cases worldwide, with bystander casualties every time." Steve went cold. "Then six months later, we found another set. Slightly better, changes were more gradual, so subjects lasted longer before they blew and the explosions weren't as violent, but they still did explode. The USSR tried," He threw half a glance to Natasha, "I doubt we know everything about HYDRAs attempts-"
"There were others." Bucky said, looking at the floor.
Coulson drew a deep breath and let it go again. "We'll come back to that. My point is this: people will always try to make super soldiers. Letting the American Government get a second shot, with better intel than anyone else who's trying, and an ethics committee, doesn't make the world worse. If anything, it might make it better. Remember in the forties, plan A was to have a platoon of you. Phase one is five men. A hit squad; commandos. Almost an Avengers B-team. If you three agree to help, that pardon is in arms reach."
"There must be more to it." Bucky said.
"Not much." Coulson said. "Captain, you have to stick to the PR stuff you discussed on Tuesday, Sergeant Barnes, you have to accept mental health support."
Bucky made a noise in his throat.
"It's fine, Buck." Steve said. "They made me see a shrink after I thawed out. It's not that bad."
"We can probably even arrange for you to have a choice of three nominated practitioners or something." Coulson said. "Then it's just standard Avengers contract."
Steve sighed. The problem was that Coulson was talking sense. The offer on the table was a good one. The difficulty would be convincing Banner. "How long do we have to think about this?"
Coulson glanced at his watch. "Three hours, fifty-two minutes. The offer is there until midnight."
"We won't get through to Banner in that time." Steve said.
"What if you didn't need to?" Coulson asked.
"You've already done it?" Bucky asked.
Natasha shook her head. "We're the three good examples. We just had to persuade Cheney that Bruce Banner is functionally just a middle aged man, all the serum effects only show when he's The Hulk, and running tests on The Hulk isn't possible. And that he's a terrible example of a super soldier anyway."
"They're willing to pass on The Hulk to get a quick closure." Coulson said. "They want The Avengers up and running, they want you on board, Sergeant Barnes, and they understand that delaying gives HYDRA time to pull off an assassination."
Steve and Bucky looked at each other. This was a lot of independence to give up. This risked the lives of whoever the government tried to 'enhance'. Maybe other lives too if they blew up. But it was shelter. It was Bucky not needing to hide for the rest of his life.
Steve sighed. "Okay. What do we-"
The window shattered. Rogers heard the soft sound of a bullet. Natasha dropped to the ground. Rogers, Bucky, and Coulson threw themselves flat. Coulson slapped the light switch on the way down.
Natasha hadn't screamed.
"Romanoff."
"I'm alive." She was panting. "Kevlar."
Everyone was still for a long moment. The light had been a good move. It was dark out, so seeing into a lit room was easy. Seeing into a darkened room was hard.
"Romanoff, can you move?"
"Yeah."
"We crawl for the door." Coulson said. "We're pinned down under sniper fire. I'm not armed. Romanoff, what do you have?"
"Two knives, pistol." Her voice was thin. Rogers wondered for a second where she'd been hiding them.
"Shield's by the door." Rogers said.
"We came by car." Coulson said. "It's on the street."
"That could be compromised." Rogers said.
"Still likely to be our fastest way out."
Romanoff had started crawling for the door.
Rogers nodded. "Romanoff, give Coulson the weapon. Bucky, once we're out of this room, carry Romanoff. We'll cover you. We're going to run."
Bucky didn't respond. He was staring at Rogers in the dark.
"Damn it to hell! Soldier, shoulder." Rogers started crawling, Bucky followed. The mute, obedient killer. Romanoff handed Coulson her pistol. Once they were out of sight of the kitchen window, Coulson stood up. He looked comfortable with the weapon, but he probably wasn't as good a shot as Bucky. Bucky would be able to carry Romanoff and run. Rogers picked up his shield, in its carry case. "Soldier, friendly casualty." He pointed at Romanoff. "Carry." Bucky picked Romanoff up over his right shoulder. Romanoff handed him one of her knives.
"Equipment level cause for concern." Bucky said, looking at the knife.
"Don't I know it." Rogers said. "Coulson, on our six. Soldier, shoulder."
Rogers stared unlocking the door again. "This is The Winter Soldier, isn't it?" Coulson said.
"Yes, this is The Winter Soldier." Rogers gestured the rest of them through and locked the door again. "You're going to have to tell me where to run."
.
Down two flights of stairs, out through the lobby, and round a corner. They got to Coulson's car. A very conspicuous red convertible. "Romanoff, I'm going to do the Greek Trick with you." Coulson said, as Rogers pulled the top up on the car.
"You are not." She pulled a phone out of her pocket. "Drop me at a Subway Station, I'll figure the rest out."
"You've been shot!"
"Not badly. Don't you give me a screwy extraction plan now. Just drop me at a subway station."
"Romanoff-"
"Barton isn't on assignment. He'll take care of me."
"Fine. Captain, I can put you and Sergeant Barnes up overnight. I take it you don't have anything very sensitive in your home."
"Nothing."
"Good." Coulson stopped the car. Romanoff got out. She was stiff and slow, but she was moving okay. "I will go to sleep knowing I offered to help." Coulson said, as though to himself. He put the car back in gear.
.
Coulson drove them to a tiny airfield in the middle of a shipping yard, where a single black 'plane stood on the asphalt.
"May, are you there?"
Rogers heard the click of an earpiece, but no more than that.
"Good. I need you to do a few things for me. One, put the kids to bed, now, and make sure they stay there. Two, get me two camp beds in to the cargo hold, don't worry about setting them up, and get the kids to make sandwiches."
The earpiece clicked.
"Yes, two."
Again.
"Yeah, you could say that. Nobody here's hurt."
Again.
"Thank you." Coulson pulled up next to the plane and turned to Rogers. "Sorry about this, but the people on that plane are safer if they don't see you or know who you are, and they're safer if you don't see them."
"Spy games." Rogers said.
"Unfortunately." Coulson said. There was a brief pause. "We kind of got cut off back there, and we are on the clock. Are you taking the offer?"
Steve sighed. "I am. I can't speak for him."
Coulson turned round in his seat. "Sergeant Barnes?"
Bucky didn't respond.
"You won't get a sensible answer out of him. Soldier, what's your name?"
"Soldier."
Steve looked back at Coulson with a 'you see?' expression on his face.
Coulson looked crestfallen. "That's so sad."
The plane's cargo door dropped. Coulson pulled in. Ahead of where he left the car were two collapsed camp beds. "Basic, but you will be safe here, at least." He said, getting out. "I'll go and get your sandwiches. And deal with the tantrum the kids are going to throw. Then I'll make that phone call."
"They're not actually children, are-"
"Oh God no. They're just young. And stroppy."
Tiny little AOS crossover, because why not?
