April 27th, 2015
Manhattan, New York
-Avengers Tower-
AJ's fingertips brushed against the dusty photograph in Tony's office, hidden away in the smallest corner of the room. She frowned, her finger tracing the shape of Howard's sharp jaw in the photo. He had changed so much over the years. Silver hair, crow's feet around the corners of his eyes, his mouth pressed tightly together in a serious expression. And of course, something she had noticed in each picture she saw of Howard in his later life; his eyes were much colder than they once had been. AJ sighed, placing the frame back down on the little desk after wiping away some of the dust.
Tony had many pictures of his mother, some of her alone, but mostly pictures of the two of them. That warmed AJ's heart. But there was only the one of Howard. She wished Tony would listen to her about Howard, that he would let her tell him about the man she once knew. But each time she brought him up, Tony would just make a snarky remark or some ridiculous pop culture reference before making a swift exit. The only person she had been able to speak to about Howard was Steve. But now, burdened with the knowledge of Howard's death and who was responsible for it - it was hard for either of them to bring up their old friend.
Why ? Why had Hydra sent the Winter Soldier after Howard and Maria? Had Howard stumbled upon the fact that Hydra still existed and had been infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D since it first came into being? That had to be the only reason...right?
Maybe it had been something he had been working on?
AJ had asked Tony about the last project Howard had been working on before his accident (that's what Tony still believed it was. A car accident.) But Tony hadn't even known that Howard had been a part of S.H.I.E.L.D, let alone founded it with Peggy Carter. He had given her a list of small projects his father had had but when AJ pressed for more information - Tony had started to ask questions. Why do you want to know? What did it matter? Why the interest?
She'd lied, saying that she just wanted to see how far Howard had come with his inventions – she'd told him about the flying car from the 40's that Howard had worked on and Tony had laughed in amusement. But to AJ, the laugh had almost sounded bitter. He'd told AJ that his father had never managed to complete that project and then had seemingly dropped the subject all together.
None of the projects Howard had been working on would have peaked Hydra's interest -- and when she had talked to Fury, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D had been just as in the dark as AJ was about Howards projects. When it came to Howard's work, S.H.I.E.L.D never heard about it until it was finished and presented to them. She smiled when Fury had told her that, glad that some things hadn't changed when it came to Howard.
"Snooping?"
AJ jumped a little at the sound of Tony's voice right behind her. "Dammit, Stark." She chuckled while turning to face the man, her hand pressed to her heart as she shook her head. "You're going to give an old lady a heart attack."
Tony huffed out a laugh. "You and Steve are so dramatic about your age." He moved to stand in front of AJ and then gave her a look. She knew that look, he was about to bring up something that would annoy or frustrate her. "Speaking of Steve—"
Yup. AJ placed her hands on her hips and looked at Tony with a bored expression. "What about him?"
"I saw him leaving your room again this morning." Tony commented. "So," He drew out the word. "That makes...six times that I've seen him do the walk of shame out of your bedroom."
"The walk of shame?" AJ echoed, her voice rising as she shook her head at Tony, trying to control her anger. How could he even think that she would do such a thing when Bucky was still alive? Did he think that little of her that he'd believe she'd sleep with Bucky's best friend while he was away? Did he think that little of Steve? The guy was more loyal than a golden retriever. He'd never cross that line. And yes, they had kissed once. But that had been a mistake on both of their parts and it was before they even knew that Bucky was alive. "We're not having sex, Tony!" She glared.
"So why is he sneaking out of your room each morning?" Tony asked with a raised brow, mimicking her stance by placing his hands on his hips too.
This was pissing AJ off. She could feel her temper flaring. Before she knew it, words were spilling out of her mouth in an angry ramble. "He sleeps in my room because his is right next to mine, and he wakes up when I start screaming from a nightmare." AJ said harshly, her eyes still narrowed in a glare at Tony. The man blinked in surprise, not expecting her response.
AJ sighed as she moved her hands to her hair, nails dragging along her scalp. No one else knew about her nightmares. Just Steve. And she had made him swear that it'd stay only between the two of them because if Tony or Bruce found out -- they'd worry about how those nightmares would affect her powers.
The two men had managed to remove all of the toxin Hydra had put into her system that made her body fight against her own powers. She remembered how weak she felt after using them, how for a moment, she thought that she might die after the explosion in her apartment. Each time she'd used her powers, her body had felt like it had been hit by a semi-truck. The only thing that had soothed her was the cold. With the toxin riddling her system, she could only heal by submerging herself in cold water. But it's gone now, she had to remind herself. They had removed the toxin and AJ had the ability to heal herself again.
But her powers were still tied to her emotions. And no matter how hard she tried to keep calm in a situation, there was always a chance that she could have another repeat of St. Petersburg, where she had turned an entire room into an ice chamber, killing every person aside for herself and Clint.
If Tony and Bruce found out that she was having nightmares, they'd worry about them affecting AJ's emotions. Which they already had. But she had felt furious with Tony moments earlier and the room temperature hadn't even changed. AJ had been working hard on controlling her emotions and it had been working. She hadn't had an incidentsince St. Petersburg.
But Tony treated her as if she were his younger sister (which was absurd because of their age difference) and fussed over her, the look of worry always in his eyes whenever he sensed her mood shift or if God forbid, Bucky was brought up.
He had that worried look in his eyes now when AJ mentioned her nightmares.
"Telling him about what happened to me in Austria brought up a lot of shit for me that I've buried for a long time -- and Steve being Steve, blames himself for everything that happened to me." AJ crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from Tony.
Tony inhaled deeply before walking around AJ to take a seat at his desk. "The man has a serious martyr complex." He said with an irritated scoff while resting his feet on the desk. AJ pressed her lips together in a tight line to keep from smiling at his comment but lost that battle in the end. She quickly looked down at the ground to hide her amused grin.
Steve wasn't a martyr per say, he just had the burden of carrying the weight of the world's problems on his shoulders. He still wanted to make Dr. Erskine proud -- he wanted to make her proud. But AJ had been proud of Steve long before they gave him the serum.
She had been proud of him back when he was that little guy who got pushed around for standing up for the right thing and for never allowing someone to be treated badly. She had always been proud of his recklessly heroic behavior -- but mostly she was proud of his kind heart.
"Give the guy a break." AJ walked over to Tony's desk and sat on the other side of it. "We've all been through so much...we all have a bit of a martyr complex." She said, lips forming a lazy grin. "Some more than others."
Tony dropped his feet from the desk and looked at AJ. "Are you saying that I have a martyr complex?"
AJ shrugged her shoulders innocently. "I never said that."
"Mr. Stark, Ms. Frost, Captain Rogers has called a meeting to discuss plans for your mission in Sokovia tomorrow."
"Saved by the A.I." AJ chuckled as she pushed herself up from her seat and walked away from Tony. He followed after her, laughing.
"Do you really think this is the end of this discussion?" Tony babbled on, telling AJ that he did not have a martyr complex, listing reason after reason as the why she was wrong. But Tony carried the weight of the world's problems on his shoulders too. Out of everyone, he should understand how Steve felt.
They both were just too damn stubborn to realize how much they had in common.
_
November 12th, 1943
London, England
Bucky didn't know how Steve and AJ managed to get to the hydra base to rescue him and the others -- he never asked, he was simply grateful to be alive and near them again. But when Howard had gotten drunk one night and was boasting about the heroic pair, Bucky had learned the truth.
He expected that kind of stupidity from Steve, Lord knows Bucky was used to it. But AJ -- for someone so damn brilliant , she had done something incredibly stupid that night. Jumping into an open war zone with bombs going off all around her? What the hell had she been thinking?! Did she care so little about her own life? God, if Bucky had lost her that night...he couldn't even think about that without feeling sick to his stomach. Howard had seen the look of distress in Bucky's eyes and quickly changed the subject, realizing that the man had not been told how AJ and Steve managed to get to the base. But when it was only the two of them left, Bucky demanded to know the truth. And God he wished he hadn't.
After finding out the truth, Bucky had been short with AJ, avoiding her, trying not to let his anger get the better of him when he was in her presence. He barely spoke to her, and he was no longer as affectionate with her as he had been. It wasn't to punish AJ, his actions and behavior were the result of his anger and fear.
On the third night of his silent treatment, he had dropped her off at her private quarters, mumbling his goodbyes while he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek (for the third night in a row) instead of kissing her on the lips. He turned to walk away only to have the woman grab at his arm and demand an explanation as to why he being cold to her.
That's when it all came out. "For someone as brilliant as you are, you sure were stupid that night, Jay!" He had yelled at her.
AJ had blinked at him in surprise and he'd watched as her eyes turned cold, nostrils flaring and her face flushed red with anger. But she didn't say anything. AJ only turned away from him and walked into her room, slamming the door shut right in his face when he went to follow after her.
And now she wasn't even speaking to him. The whole reason he had been so angry in the first place was because of his irrational fear of losing her, but by losing his temper with her, he feared he had done just that. Lost her. AJ would no longer even look in his direction, let alone acknowledge his presence. It was killing him knowing that he had hurt her but...didn't she understand? He was in love with her and the thought of losing her was worse than any of the torture he had been through while a POW.
But he couldn't tell her that. Bucky knew that it was too soon. AJ was not like other women who would swoon at hearing those three little words from him. And he sure as hell wasn't going to tell her he loved her to justify his actions or behavior. She deserved to know that his fear wasn't the only reason why he loved her.
He loved Adelyn Juliet Frost because she was unlike any other woman he had ever met. Kind, stubborn, smart, brave, beautiful, generous, opinionated, funny -- he could go on and on for the rest of his life as to why he was in love with Adelyn. But there was also one thing he loved about her that kept him from saying those three little words. Her gut instincts .
Bucky wanted AJ to be sure that the thing between them was something she truly wanted before he told her he loved her. He needed to know that deep down in her gut, she had no doubt about them.
Frank Jackson had been an amazing man and Bucky knew that AJ felt incredible guilty for not loving him the way he had loved her. It had been AJ's gut instincts that caused her to turn down his proposal the morning he shipped off to Africa. She had known deep down that she did not know what she truly felt for Frank. And sadly, when she had finally realized that she wasn't in love with the man, it had been too late. AJ still hadn't forgiven herself for 'leading him on' -- that's what she had called it. Bucky disagreed.
He didn't believe that AJ had led Frank on. Bucky knew how big AJ's heart was and that she did care deeply for Frank. But you can't force yourself to love someone the way they love you. And if Bucky told AJ that he loved her and she wasn't sure how she felt...he didn't want the pressure put on her to say it back to him.
But he still ended up at her door, hand balled into a fist as he gently knocked, hoping that Steve and Howard wouldn't hear the noise and go investigate. Bucky loved knowing that Steve was just across the hall and that AJ would always be safe if they were attacked -- but right now he wished Steve's room was far, far, far away from AJ's.
After no answer, Bucky winced before putting more pressure into his next round. Howard was probably dead to the world after a night out on the town but Steve sadly could not get drunk because of the super soldier serum which meant that there was no chance he was in a drunken slumber and wouldn't hear the noise.
Bucky sighed, pressing his forehead against the door. "Jay...please." He whispered.
After an agonizingly long minute, Bucky saw a light turning on and heard footsteps making their way closer to him. She opened the door and Bucky inhaled sharply when her eyes met his. AJ was in her nightgown with her robe wrapped around herself for warmth. Her dark brown hair was down, resting on her shoulders, and her makeup had been washed off for the evening. Bucky swore he had never seen her look more beautiful than in that moment.
"What do you want, Bucky?" She asked him in a dry tone, one hand still grasping the door, ready to no doubt slam it in his face.
Bucky smiled. He couldn't help it. He had missed hearing her say his name. Even if it was laced with anger. It was still AJ's voice. All the anger he had held inside him these last few days slowly faded away.
"Hey Frosty."
AJ closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Is there a reason why you're knocking on my door at," she opened her eyes and looked down at her watch. "2:47 AM?"
He nodded his head but words failed to leave his mouth. When AJ scoffed and moved to shut the door, Bucky quickly moved his foot to stop it from slamming in his face. "I'm sorry." He blurted out.
AJ looked at him for a long moment through a very small crack in the door being kept open by his foot. She sighed and opened the door for Bucky to come inside.
He shook his foot a little before following after AJ, shutting the door behind him. She stood in the middle of the room with her arms crossed over her chest, waiting for an explanation - or a better apology. Bucky wasn't sure which one she wanted first.
"I...have the tendency to be a bit of a jackass." Bucky admitted as he looked down at the ground.
AJ clicked her tongue, "You don't say?" He looked up, hoping to see her smiling but only saw the same cold stare and unreadable expression on her face that she had given him the night he blew up on her.
Bucky only nodded his head and took one step forward. "Yeah." He agreed. "You see..." He took another step forward. "My jackassery tends to come out the most when..." He swallowed hard as he looked into her cold eyes. "When I am afraid." He finally admitted and watched as AJ's eyes softened slightly. But she kept her face passive.
AJ shook her head. "What do you have to be afraid of?" She asked him, face still unreadable.
"Losing you." Bucky said and watched as AJ's face fell. "The thought that you could have been killed that night..." He shook his head and closed his eyes. "It scared the hell out of me, Frosty."
The sound of her sighing made him open his eyes. "Buck," She said his name softly. "I'm here. I didn't die."
"-You could have." He argued. "You shouldn't have risked your life like that - Steve would have been able to get me and the others out on his own."
She blinked at him in surprise, her eyes narrowing at him in a glare. "I'm sure he would have." AJ told Bucky. "But if it wasn't for me," She motioned at herself. "Steve wouldn't have even been in Italy. He'd be back in the States doing his Captain America schtick and you'd be dead."
Bucky didn't understand -- what did she mean?
"Do you really think the Captain America European USO tour just randomly started at the base you had been at? Where I was?" She shook her head in frustration. "No! Because it wasn't random. I forged signatures of Generals and Colonels and even a few congressmen to get Steve's ass to Italy as fast as I could. I knew that he wouldn't just sit around and do nothing when you were out there having God knows what done to you-" AJ inhaled deeply in frustration and Bucky watched as her eyes filled with tears. "I wasn't allowed to do anything to try and get you and the others back -- I was stuck at camp waiting, praying that you weren't dead somewhere. So when Steve finally did come I wasn't going to continue sitting around waiting and praying, I was going to get off my ass and do somethin-"
Her words were cut off when Bucky's hands cupped her face and he pressed his lips against hers in a swift movement. It took a moment but AJ began to respond to the kiss, her lips moving with just as much desperation as Bucky's did, hands moving to his back to grip at his shirt. When he pulled away, both of them breathing heavily, Bucky ran his fingers through AJ's hair while his eyes stayed glued to her. "My life is not worth risking yours for." He told her, voice breaking as he spoke.
AJ looked at him and shook her head. "How can you even think that?" She whispered.
He didn't answer her. Instead, he continued on. "Frosty, you got to promise me that you won't do anything that reckless again."
She shook her head again. "No." He barely had the chance to open his mouth to argue before she pressed her lips against his to silence him. "No," She said again, pressing another kiss to his mouth. "I won't promise that." She whispered before pulling back slightly. "Because if I asked you to promise not to do anything reckless to save my life...we both know your answer would be the same as mine."
Bucky closed his eyes as he shook his head, his lips twitching up into a smile. She was right. "Dammit, woman." He said in a breath. Bucky looked back down at AJ, cupping her cheek again. "I can't lose you...ever."
AJ smiled sadly at him, pressing her own hand to his cheek and gently rubbing her thumb against it. "You won't." She promised. "Ever." AJ pushed up on her feet and pressed her lips to Bucky's. When she pulled away, Bucky wrapped his arms around her, AJ's head resting against his chest. "I'm here, Buck. Always."
Bucky knew that AJ had no idea that she had just ignited a fire in him that would never go out. That nothing would ever stop him from loving her. Not time or distance -- nothing. He'd love her for the rest of his days and afterwards, too. He'd never let go of his love for her. She was permanently imprinted into his heart and soul.
For the next few hours until sunrise, Bucky stayed with AJ in her private quarters, holding her tight to his body, fingers gently brushing down her arm as her own fingers fiddled with the dog tags he wore around his neck.
"You're right." Bucky whispered to her once he knew she was asleep. "I would never promise not to do anything reckless to save your life." He looked down at the top of her head pressed against his chest. "The day I stop fighting for you is the day I won't know who I am."
I love you, Bucky wanted to add.
But he didn't.
_
April 28th, 2015 - Sokovia, Eastern Europe
-Hydra Research Base-
"Take it easy on the corners!" Steve chuckled as AJ complained. "And you all say that I'm a bad driver!" She grumbled.
"I'm a little preoccupied at the moment, Jay." Steve said in amusement, dragging one of the Hydra agents by his leg, only using one hand to steer the motorcycle. He heard AJ huff in his ear and pressure being placed down on his shoulder as AJ stood up on the bikes seat. "You sure he's gonna catch you in time?" Steve really didn't like this part of the mission. But AJ insisted that she would be completely safe.
"You hear that, Thor?" AJ said over comms. "Steve doesn't think you'll be able to-" The pressure on his shoulder was gone as his best friend jumped off of the motorcycle and before Steve could look back to make sure she was safe, Thor was flying ahead of him with AJ so that they could take out the vehicles blocking the way to the factory.
Steve swerved his bike as a tanker just barely missed him. Hulk had caught it mid-air, throwing it in Steve's direction, but before the flames could even touch him, they were extinguished by a burst of cold air.
"Cars ahead are frozen," AJ said over comms. "Dropping in."
He moved himself forward on the bike and moved his hand behind him, ready to steady AJ when Thor dropped her on the bike. Steve grabbed AJ just before she missed her landing, gripping her arm tightly and yanking her up. Her arms instinctively wrapping around his middle as she breathed hard.
"For a second I didn't think you were gonna catch me." AJ said, still a little breathless.
"You and Thor need to work on your landing." Steve said in a stern voice.
"Shit!" They heard Tony swear over comms.
"Language." Steve scolded the man only to have AJ laugh.
"Really? You're lecturing people on swearing. I remember back in the 40's when-"
Steve didn't let AJ finish. "JARVIS, what's the view from upstairs?" He asked.
"The central building is being protected by some kind of energy shield." The A.I informed the team. "Strucker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken."
"-Loki's scepter must be here!" Thor said next. "Stucker couldn't mount this defense without it." His voice grew lower and Steve was just barely able to make out the God of Thunder saying "At long last."
"'At long last' is lasting a little too long, guys." Natasha spoke sarcastically.
Steve felt AJ tapping his shoulder and knew what she wanted. He slowed down his speed and AJ jumped off the bike and onto one of the Hydra soldier's shoulders, her hands moving to the helmet the soldier wore and grabbed it tightly. Steve looked over his shoulder to AJ briefly and saw that her mouth something -- but he could not hear the conversation through comms.
"Mr. Stark, it seems that Ms. Frost has turned off her comms." Jarvis reported.
"Do we have her location?" Tony asked, sounding worried.
Steve was about to answer but Clint's voice cut him off. "I got eyes on her." He replied. "And, yeah, I think we lost the element of surprise."
"Wait a second -- no one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?" Tony said causing Steve to roll his eyes.
"Yeah, I know." Steve said before standing up on his bike, gripping onto the handles tightly as he did a flip, throwing the bike in the air at an oncoming jeep. "Just slipped out."Steve said while breathing heavily. "AJ already gave me grief about it."
"Speaking of Elsa -- Jarvis hack into her comms and turn it back on, please?" Tony said.
Steve heard footsteps coming from behind him and looked over his shoulder to see AJ walking in his direction. "No need, Jarvis. She's with me." He looked to his left once AJ was finally standing at his side. Bucky? He mouthed.
"Nothing." She replied, the look of defeat in her eyes. Steve sighed and moved his hand to rest on her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. "Tony called you Elsa again."
AJ groaned and shook her head. "Dammit, Tony."
"Annnnd she's back online." Tony said over comms. "Steve, she just said a bad word. Why is she not getting in trouble?"
"Sir, the city is taking fire." Jarvis told Tony.
Steve looked over at AJ. "Strucker doesn't care about any casualties -- especially civilians. He'll blow up the whole city just to escape." She told him.
"My thoughts exactly," Tony said. "Jarvis, send in the Iron Legion."
They all heard Clint groan, their heads snapping in the direction of where they knew he was. "Barton?" Steve said over comms just as Natasha yelled his name. He turned to AJ, "Go fin-" They both had their feet knocked out from under them, falling flat on the ground.
AJ groaned. "Ow." She complained, looking around their surroundings. "What the hell was that?"
Steve stood up, grabbing her arm to help her off the ground. He shook his head after seeing a blur speed away from them. "We have an enhanced in the field." He informed the team.
They were all aware that Hydra had been experimenting on normal human beings, giving them powers that usually only Inhumans were gifted with. It had to be one of them -- that or Hydra had an actual Inhuman working for them. But for AJ's sake, he wouldn't jump to conclusions and make her race the enemy.
AJ, Andrew, and Kai were the only Inhumans they had come across and Steve knew that they were good. But that didn't mean that all Inhumans were the same.
"Clint's hit!" Natasha yelled over comms, the sound of explosions going off around her.
"I'm on my way." AJ said before running off in the direction of Natasha and Clint.
"Somebody want to deal with that bunker?" Natasha asked in annoyance. The echoing of Hulk's roar followed by the sound of a building collapsing was answer enough to Steve."Thank you." Natasha said quietly.
Steve ran forward when he saw more uniforms heading his way. He threw his shield at one Hydra soldier, catching it as it bounced off the man's helmet. Steve's fist connected with another soldier's jaw, knocking him to the ground. He slide across the ice to sweep another soldier's feet from under him, his shield colliding with the enemy's face as he fell forward. "Stark, we really need to get inside!" He said while continuing to take out more soldiers.
"I'm closing in." Tony said. "Jarvis..." His voice sounded unsure. "Am I closing in? Do you see a power source for that shield?"
"There's a particle wave below the north tower." Jarvis replied.
"Great, I want to poke it with something."
Steve looked up to see a few explosions before the force field around the Hydra base was gone.
"The drawbridge is down people." Tony said.
Steve looked over to his ride after his shield returned to his arm and spotted Thor. He jogged over just as Thor pressed his hammer to the ground, every soldier around him dropping to the ground after being electrocuted by lightning.
"The Enhanced?" Thor asked when he noticed Steve.
"He's a blur." Steve replied. He looked around the area, trying to spot the man. "Of All the new players we've faced, I've never seen this." He admitted while looking over his shoulder. "In fact, I still haven't." Where had the guy gone?
"Steve--" AJ's voice said over comms. "We're gonna need evac, Clint got hit pretty bad. If he doesn't get medical attention soon,"
She didn't finish. Thor and Steve looked to one another before Thor nodded. "I can get Barton to the jet." He assured AJ, both men hearing the panic in her voice. If AJ said it was bad -- it was bad. Steve wasn't going to take any chances. "The sooner we're gone, the better."
"I'm coming with you." AJ told him.
Thor turned to look at Steve. "You and Stark secure the scepter."
"Copy that." Steve agreed.
They both watched as tanks rolled in and more soldiers blocked their path. "Looks like they're lining up." Thor said. Steve could hear the amusement in his tone.
"We'll, they're excited."
He raised his shield and Thor hit his hammer against it roughly enough to send a force in the path of the soldiers, knocking them off the ground as a bolt of lightning made the tanks explode.
"Find the Scepter." Thor told Steve before swinging his hammer and letting it lift him in the air to Barton's location.
"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony teased over comms.
Steve sighed and lowered his head. "That's not going away anytime soon." He said quietly. Steve ran off in the direction of the city with ease, most of Hydras men were already taken out. He stopped briefly when he spotted one of the men with his helmet frozen over completely. He sighed, bending down touch the helmet only to wince as his fingertips went numb The man must have said something that pissed AJ off and caused her to lose her temper. Steve carefully took of the helmet to examine the man's face and sighed in relief when he saw that only his helmet had been affected by the ice. But his lips were a dark shade of blue and his skin was freezing. Steve pressed his fingers to the man's pulse and felt the tiniest hint of a heartbeat. She didn't kill him.
"Jarvis, I'm sending you my current location. Send one of the Iron Legion to pick up a potential Hydra member to interrogate."
Steve left the man and continued on in the direction of the city.
"We're locked down out here." Natasha's voice said over comms just as Steve made it to the factory. "Barton and Adge are with Thor on the jet." She told Steve.
"Then get to Banner." He instructed. "Time for a lullaby."
Natasha didn't reply, but Steve knew she would find Banner. The two had formed a connection while working on how to get the Big Guy to go to sleep and let Bruce come back. Steve could see that the two cared for each other, maybe Banner cared a bit more than Natasha. Or, cared differently. According to AJ, Natasha was still with Jordan. And Banner was still in love with Betty Ross. But he was afraid to be around her -- perhaps his connection to Natasha was him learning how to be human while he was still the 'Big Guy', so that one day when he felt it was safe enough to go back to Betty – so he'd be sure he'd never hurt her.
Steve didn't know. "I think Bruce is incredibly grateful to Natasha for being there with him while he's coming back from being the Big Guy." AJ once said to Steve. "He trusts her -- he's comfortable with her. And maybe you're right, maybe his feelings aren't simply platonic at the moment...but I know how much he loves Betty. He'd never cross that line."
Once he was in the building, Steve kicked a soldier in the back of the knee, sending him falling to the ground and causing Strucker to freeze, his path now blocked. Steve gave into a lazy smirk as he looked at the man. "Baron Strucker." He walked over to him. "Hydra's number one thug."
Strucker looked at Steve. "Technically I am a thug for S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Well then technically you're unemployed." Steve didn't take the bait. He knew Strucker was trying to hit a nerve by reminding Steve of how Hydra had slithered its way into S.H.I.E.L.D without being detected by anyone. It was upsetting, yes. But Steve wasn't going to lose focus. "Where's Loki's scepter?" Steve demanded.
Strucker sighed. "Don't worry. I know when I'm beat." He said with a smile. "You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope."
Steve gave him a fake smile. "I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation. " He glared now. "How many are there?"
Something hit against his chest hard and Steve went tumbling down the stairs. He got up fast, looking up the stairs to see a young woman. Steve pushed himself and ran after her, only to have the door slam shut without anyone touching it.
He sighed, "We have a second Enhanced. Female. Do not engage. " He stressed. Steve then looked to Strucker.
"You'll have to be faster than," Steve didn't let Strucker finish. He stomped down on his shield causing it to go up in the air and then kicked it hard right into Strucker, knocking the man out before his shield returned to his arm. "Guys, I got Strucker." Steve said over comms.
Steve closed his eyes and shook his head, bringing his finger to rub against his temple as Tony replied that he had something bigger. His head was killing him, it felt like Thor had taken his hammer to it. The woman -- whatever she had done to Steve left a weird after effect. He cleared his throat and moved forward, trying to ignore the dull ache and went onto comms to speak to AJ.
"Jay, how is Barton looking?"
_
"You shouldn't be doing this anymore, Clint." AJ scolded her friend as she pressed down hard on his wound. "-You have way too much to lose--"
"Ow!" He winced. "You're not helping!" Clint said in a growl.
She glared down at the wound. God, she wished ice affected the rest of the team the way it did her. One press of her hand to his wound and Clint would be healed. But it didn'twork that way. She was the only one who could rapidly heal after being injured by ice.
"I can't fix this." AJ said in anger as she looked down at her bloody hands. "We need something else - something better," She stopped speaking abruptly as her mind flashed to the very first time she had ever seen Clint. It had been when she had woken up in the future -- when her injuries were life threatening and the only thing that had been able to save her was the Cradle. "We need Cho." AJ shouted for Thor to take over in keeping pressure down on Clints wound while she went to the front of the jet. "Jarvis, I need Hill patched in now."
A few seconds later, Maria's voice came through. "What's going on, Frost?"
"Clint's been hit. We need Helen and we need the Cradle."
"I'll have Andrew and Kai get everything prepared for when you land." Maria assured AJ.
AJ closed her eyes as the line disconnected and pressed her hands down on her knees. Andrew had been pissed when they all agreed that he shouldn't go on this mission with them -- it would have been his first one since waking from terrigenesis. AJ knew he needed more time to adjust to his powers. Which was why she had him staying back with Palani, going over the notes Thor had given them on the Kree and Inhumans.
"Jay!" Andrew had complained. "You know that you guys could use me! And having me sit around and study isn't going to help me later on in a mission -- actually going on a mission with you all will help me!"
But she had said no. Which meant Tony and Steve said had no. And them being to two unofficial leaders of the Avengers, the decision had been made.
"Thor," Tony said over comms. "I got eyes on the prize."
"He's going to be okay, Adelyn." Thor said from behind her. He placed his large hand on her shoulder. "We can go home now."
She closed her eyes again and moved to rest her cheek on top of Thor's hand. Somehow, he always was able to bring her comfort when she felt her worst. Her fear of something happening to Clint and his family losing him forever -- God, it was overwhelming her and somehow Thor understood that. A kind gesture was all he gave her and yet it slowed her rapidly beating heart. "Thank you, Thor." She said quietly. "You're a good friend."
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her head before leaving her to be on her own.
When Steve, Tony, Bruce, and Natasha got on board, they took off to New York where Hill had set everything up for them. Andrew, Kai, Helen and Jordan were all waiting for them to return so that they could help with Clint.
Tony sat in the cockpit with AJ while she flew them at a speed that had not been S.H.I.E.L.D regulated. There is no more SHIELD. She looked to her side briefly when Natasha moved from behind her and headed in the direction of where Steve was with Clint checking his wound, Thor watching from a bit behind Steve. And then her eyes landed on Tony. Something about him was off.
"He'll be okay." She told Tony the same thing Thor had told her. "Barton is tough. He's too much of a pain in the ass to die." She teased. But her eyes were still red and puffy from her breakdown earlier and there was no way she could tell Tony that she wasn't scared too.
"For now." Tony said softly, looking out the window.
AJ quirked her brow and focused on Tony. "For now?" She repeated. "Why so morbid?"
Tony didn't answer. Natasha called out to Thor, "-report on the Hulk?"
"The gates of Hell are filled with the screams of his victims." Thor boasted with pride.
AJ snapped her head in Thor's direction and shook her head at him. Read the room! She mouthed.
Thor looked away from AJ and back over to where Natasha and Bruce sat. "But not the screams of the dead, of course." He corrected himself. "No, no... wounded screams! Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout."
"Thor, buddy, you're good." AJ told him. He sighed in relief and looked away from Natasha and Bruce. "Banner - Dr. Cho is on her way from Seoul. I'm having her set up in your lab if that's okay." She looked over her shoulder briefly to where she could only see his feet sticking out next to Natasha.
"Yeah," Banner cleared his throat. "She knows her way around."
AJ looked to Tony and gave him the nod of confirmation.
"Tell Cho to prep everything - Barton's gonna need the full treatment."
"Very good, sir." Jarvis replied.
He looked to AJ. "Team huddle." She nodded. "Jarvis, take the wheel." He told the A.I.
"Yes, sir." Jarvis replied. "Approach vector is locked."
AJ and Tony left the cockpit and headed to the back of the jet where Thor and Steve were looking down at the scepter.
"Feels good, yeah?" Tony asked once they were with Steve and Thor. "I mean, you've been after this thing since S.H.I.E.L.D collapsed -- not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but..."
Thor smiled and nodded his head. "No, but this...this brings it to a close." He looked over at Stark, his eyes dropping down to AJ's. She smiled sadly at him, knowing that since he was now in possession of the specter, he'd be returning to Asgard.
Steve shook his head. "As soon as we find out what else this has been used for." It wasn't the end -- they all needed an answer. "And I don't just mean weapons." Steve looked to AJ. "Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"
"Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard." Tony told Steve. He then looked to Thor. "Is that cool with you?" He asked. Thor nodded. "Just a few days till the farewell party -- you're staying, right?"
"Yes, yes. Of course. A victory should be honored with revels." Thor continued to nod.
"Yeah, who doesn't love revels?" Tony said in a bleak tone before focusing on Steve. "Captain?"
"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra." Steve sighed before smiling at Tony. "So, yes. Revels."
AJ smiled at Steve then glanced at Tony.
Nothing. No smile or witty remark about how Steve was actually smiling . Nothing. He just looked ahead at something AJ couldn't see. She pressed her hand to his arm. "Help me land?" She asked him.
He swallowed hard and nodded. "Sure."
When they were up in the cockpit again, AJ waited a moment before interrogating her friend. "You wanna tell me what happened while you were in the factory?" She asked. He didn't answer. She sighed, "Look -- I know seeing the Chitauri ship probably brought back a lot of stuff for you and with your PTSD,"
"--I don't have PTSD, Adelyn." Tony corrected her. "It's nothing." His tone was bitter.
She gave him a skeptical look. "Doesn't sound like nothing ."
"Drop it!" He snapped at her, causing AJ to flinch in shock. Tony shook his head and looked down at his hands. AJ's eyes followed and saw that they were shaking badly. "I'm sorry." Tony apologized. "I'm just tired."
"Okay." She knew it wasn't the truth. But she wasn't going to push him on this. When he was ready to talk to her, he would. At least, she hoped he would.
They flew over the Manhattan skyline and landed smoothly on the runway pad of Avengers Tower. Maria Hill and Dr. Cho were waiting for them as touched down.
Helen and her team wheeled Clint's gurney off of the jet, speaking to each other in Korean while Natasha and AJ followed after them, wanting to make sure that everything went smoothly.
AJ smiled as they approached the lab and saw that Andrew, Jordan and Kai were already inside. She looked over at Natasha who tried to hide her excitement upon seeing Jordan. The doctor had her long blonde hair pulled up into a messy bun, her focus solely on Clint as he was brought into the lab so they could all work on him.
"Have you told her?" AJ asked Natasha as they waited outside of the lab. Natasha looked over at AJ with a bored expression and the woman rolled her eyes at the redhead. "Look," AJ faced Natasha. "I waited way too long to tell Bucky I loved him." She admitted. "And not a day goes by that I don't wish I would have told him sooner -- that I had told him a million times...when you are in love with someone... always let them know." AJ said softly. "You never know what the next day brings..." She looked down at the ground briefly. "And besides," She composed herself. "Jordan is a total damn and if you don't say those three little words soon, someone else might swoop in and steal her heart." AJ teased with a smirk.
"Who?" Natasha smirked. "You ?"
AJ shrugged innocently and then laughed. "Tell her, Nat." She urged her after a moment of silence. "If you really love her...don't wait. Say it."
Natasha smiled and nodded her head. She then moved her hand to rest on AJ's arm. "Don't give up on your search for Barnes." The redhead said softly. "You'll find him."
AJ forced a smile and nodded. God, she wished that were true. She wanted nothing more than to find Bucky and be with him again. But he was making that incredibly hard for her. He was out there...somewhere. She and Steve just needed to find him.
The two women walked into the lab once most of Helen's team cleared out and watched the Cradle do it's magic.
It was the first time AJ had seen it used -- the last time she had been inside so she didn't have a very good view. But now she could watch it work in all its wonder.
Andrew had left the lab as soon as AJ stepped foot inside, still angry with her. She had moved to go after him but Kai gave her a soft smile and a shake of his head, letting her know that he'd go check up on Andrew. After a while, Jordan got paged for another medical emergency and had to leave, pressing a quick kiss to Natasha's lips and promising she'd see her later tonight, the blonde woman wiggling her eyes suggestively, making Natasha blush.
It was still absolutely hilarious to AJ to see Natasha blush. Jordan really was a good match for her. AJ hoped that her friend would take her advice.
"You sure he's gonna be okay?" Natasha asked as she stood up after examining the Cradle's work. "Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together." She smirked down at Clint.
"Uh, hello." AJ looked to Natasha before motioning to herself. "Former patient of the Cradle."
Natasha shrugged her shoulders, looking bored. "Yeah, but you already had the ability to heal." AJ chuckled at that.
"There's no possibility of deterioration. The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous." Dr. Cho answered as Bruce walked into the lab. "His cells don't know they're bonding with simulacra."
"She's creating tissue." Bruce said in a way that Natasha and Clint would understand. But they already knew that. Bruce was a teacher at heart, though. He couldn't help himself.
"-If you brought him to my lab -- the Regeneration Cradle could do this in twenty-minutes."
"Oh, he's flatlining." Tony said as he walked into the room with four smoothies and continued on to say. "Call it. Time?"
"No, no, no." Clint said. "I'm gonna live forever." He then laughed. "I'm gonna be made of plastic."
AJ chuckled, knowing that the drugs given to Clint for the pain were kicking in.
"You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton." Dr. Cho assured him as Tony handed the man his smoothie. Dr. Cho walked forward and looked down at Clint. "Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."
"I don't have a girlfriend." Clint mumbled as he used the straw to drink from his smoothie.
Well, it was kinda true. He had a wife.
"That ," Dr. Cho said. "I cannot fix."
Clint looked over at AJ and Natasha while drinking his smoothie. They both smiled softly at him and gave him a nod. Secret is still safe.
"This is the next thing, Tony." Dr. Cho said, turning her attention away from Clint. "Your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust." She said while pressing on her tablet.
"That is exactly the plan." Tony smiled. "And Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday."
Natasha handed AJ a smoothie and walked forward as Dr. Cho answered. "Unlike you, I don't have a lot of times for parties." She said, but then she made a face of regret. "Will...Thor be there?" She asked innocently.
AJ grinned at Dr. Cho and shook her head. "He will."
She composed herself. "Perhaps I will attend."
"Jay?" Andrew said from the door. "Can we talk?"
She looked down at Clint who motioned for her to go ahead and leave. "Don't do anything stupid like die while I'm gone." AJ told him before pressing a kiss to his forehead. Clint chuckled and didn't groan in irritation when AJ brushed his hair back.
"I'll see you in a bit." He assured her.
AJ left Clint with Dr. Cho, Tony, Bruce, and Natasha and followed after Andrew.
"Don't be mad." Andrew said once they were away from the lab.
She raised one brow and pressed her hands to her hips. "Why would I be mad?"
Andrew sighed. "I went with Sam to Mexico to look for Bucky after you guys left."
AJ threw her head back in frustration. "Andy!" She groaned. "I told you no mission!"
"Yeah, I know. But Jay -- you should'a seen me." He was grinning. "I took out a whole room of Hydra agents by myself. Sam didn't even lift a finger!"
"You could have gotten hurt. Or worse, killed!" AJ shook her head, moving her hands to her head, and ran her fingers through her hair. "Dammit, Andrew. Have you learned nothing from Brian's death?"
Shit. Dammit. Why did she say that? Shit. Shit. Shit.
Andrew squared his jaw and licked his lower lip. "Yeah." He looked at her with hard eyes. "I learned not to take a bullet for you."
AJ sighed and shook her head. "I know I deserved that just now -- but you need to know that I'm only acting this way because I'm...worried." She picked the word. "I love you. You're my family and I don't want to ever lose you. It'd kill me."
Andrew's face softened. "I'm sorry." He apologized.
"It's fine." AJ smiled, pressing her hand to his arm. A mischievous grin formed on her lips next and Andrew shook his head and laughed. "So, Tony is throwing a bon voyage party for Thor on Saturday...you'll be there...Pepper's assistant will be there I'm sure."
Andrew rolled his eyes, still laughing. "Give it a rest." He told his aunt. "And Sara isn't going to be here Saturday -- she is leaving with Pepper to Morocco."
AJ pursed her lips. "Hmm."
Andrew gave her annoyed look. "What?"
"It's just...you seem quite familiar with Sara's schedule." AJ smirked.
"I'm leaving." Andrew walked away.
"No, wait!" AJ laughed as she hurried after him. "Stay! Tell me more about the mission."
But he continued to walk away, likely knowing that AJ didn't want to hear about the mission and wanted more details on his little crush on Pepper's assistant.
Sara was sweet. Young. But sweet. Andrew was ten years older than the woman -- but she wasn't a minor. She was twenty-five.
Andrew as only thirty-five. It wasn't that big of an age gap.
Hell, AJ was ninety-seven...kinda.
According to her birth year she was ninety-seven. But she had been in cryofreeze for so long with her body never aging a day – that her body stopped aging at twenty-seven, and for the next sixty-five years she had been frozen in time.
Technically she was thirty-two. Which meant her nephew was older than her in age - in this time. It was all confusing. AJ just continued to tell people her age was ninety-seven. Mostly to watch their shocked expressions or just to piss off Tony when she'd play the age card on him. Either were always a good time.
"Hey," AJ turned around to see Steve making his way over to her, his phone in his hand. He looked upset. "I just listened to my messages from Sam -- Jay, I had no idea. I wouldn't have allowed it if I had known-"
"Steve," AJ stopped him, moving her hands to rest on Steve's arms. "It's fine. Andrew is safe." He sighed, glad to know she wasn't upset. "It pissed me off that he went behind my back and that Sam even allowed it to happen," AJ shook her head as she trailed off. "The point is that it's been proven that Andrew can handle himself on a mission."
Steve smiled and nodded his head. "Come to the roof with me." He said. "I want to go over the information we have on the two Enhanced people."
AJ followed him and they went over each file on the twins. Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. They had volunteered to be worked on. Steve told AJ about Maria's comment and she smiled, reminding him that she hadn't been too keen on him being part of Project Rebirth at first. They laughed and began to reminisce on old times, and by the time they were done going over each file, the sun was setting and her body was telling AJ she needed sleep.
That night she slept on her own. No nightmares. She dreamt of the first time she had ever met Bucky and Steve.
By the end of it, AJ didn't want to wake up.
In her dream, she was with Bucky again -- but when she woke up, she'd be alone.
It didn't matter. Thor's booming voice woke her up as he and Steve were taking down the hall, the Norse God laughing at something Steve had said.
AJ stayed in bed a little while longer, hand moving to rest on her chest where Bucky's dog-tags used to always hang.
I miss you, Buck.
