Chapter 58
The trial of James Buchanan Barnes started in October and went on for nearly a month. Not that she was surprised. The trial was far more complex than that of the Maximoffs and of the Sokovia investigations.
James Buchanan Barnes was taken hostage in the 40s, and in 2015 that made him one of the longest prisoners of wars in history. But he was also the Winter Soldier. And the Winter Soldier had done horrible things under the control of HYDRA. The Winter Soldier had been responsible for numbers high profile deaths, from Monarchs to Government heads to secret operatives.
They'd heard from a few witnesses. There were far and few in between; the Winter Solider had been a spy and spies operated in the shadows. They were not seen by the public. But there were a few throughout the years. Children who'd hid in the shadows and watched the unspeakable crimes. Children who testified that the Winter Soldier had seen them.
But they were not the mission, so they were left untouched.
The defense attorney had argued that James Barnes had been trying to fight back the conditioning as best as possible, finding loopholes when he was sent on missions, constantly trying to break free against the restraints they held over him.
The fall of HYDRA meant that Toni had access to the horrifying videos and documents detaining the conditioning of the solider. And while it was only shown to the jury in a closed setting, not wanting that information to be available to the public, she could only imagine their horrified responses when they'd seen it. Still, she'd gotten permission from the judge to leave out the more informative documents, not wanting those to somehow get leaked.
The last thing anyone wanted was for there to be a creation of more Winter Soliders. Even without access to the super soldier serum, the concept of brainwashing anyone was horrifying.
The prosecutor of the case was a bit of an ass, she'd noted. She had half wanted to get a prosecutor who was in their favour a it would mean an easier trial. But an easier trial meant the conviction could be easily overthrown. And the last thing she'd wanted was to work hard only for the entire case to be thrown out the window.
Instead, they got a prosecutor who was a stuck-up older man. One who looked on people like her throughout her life. And one she also knew was firmly in the pocket of the newly appointed Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross.
While that appointment was entirely other story, she knew it would mean their case would be harder to win.
The last day was the day she was dreading most. Going in that morning, Steve had pulled her aside and told her that she didn't have to do this. Not if she didn't want to. She could always reject the subpoena under the claims of duress.
She didn't think it worked that way, but she didn't want to tell him that.
"I need to do this," she'd said, "For my parents. For my mom. She deserves for the world to know the truth about what happened. She was collateral damage because HYDRA wanted Howard dead. She deserves justice. She deserves the truth getting out there. And I have to do this for Bucky. It wasn't his fault either and he deserves to finally be free."
The video played in the court room, as the room watched in silence. Steve held her hand tightly the entire time, and she had to struggle to maintain her composure as to not let it drop. Still, she closed her eyes when the Soldier approached her mother. She couldn't watch that scene again. Couldn't see her mother plead in confusion for her life. Couldn't watch the life leave her eyes.
She remembered being back in her mansion as Peggy delivered the news to her. She remembered the devastation she'd felt over two decades ago when it had happened. And still, the pain felt fresh in her chest.
The defense attorney she'd appointed for Barnes had gone first, allowing her to tell the story of bringing Barnes home. She mentioned seeing the video and wanting to bring him home where he could get the help he needed, and she knew from the prep work she'd done before the trial that the prosecutor was going to land on that video for his point of questioning.
The defense attorney had no further questions, and the prosecution stood them, immediately ready to tear into her.
"You were made aware of that video last year," The prosecutor asked her, as he walked up to the stand where she was sitting.
"Yes," she said with a nod, "Steve Rogers was given information that my parents were murdered by HYDRA. Then after the SHIELD data dump, my AI combed through the files and found this video."
"And yet you brought him home anyways," the prosecutor stated. She could see the man turning his nose up at her, and she already had disliked him from the earlier days of the trial. She could see the contempt in her eyes. "An interesting move; to bring home your parent's murderer and all but finance their recovery as your own parents lay deeply buried in the ground."
"Is there a question?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Why?" the man asked her. "It's no secret that you and your father didn't get along. We have countless interactions to prove that point. Perhaps this is your final way of trying to stick it to him. To let his murderer walk free. We all saw that video of James Barnes murdering your father. And yet you still argue his innocence."
"I may not have cared for my father," she said, steadying her tone, "But I loved my mother. She was there for me through my entire life. While the world mourned the loss of Howard Stark, tech giant and mogul, I grieved for my mother. She might have been a housewife, in charge of charities and philanthropic endeavours, and she may not have made as big of an impact on the world, but she was everything to me. Did you know exactly one article printed her name after she died? The rest simply referred to her by talking about Howard Stark 'and wife'. To the rest of the world she was just his wife. Even your question focused on my father. How many of you saw that video and saw my mother? My father's death was horrific, but he was the target. My mother was collateral. And if you think for even an instance that I don't want the true suspect brought to justice for those crimes then you're wrong."
She swallowed then, "But regardless of what you claim, James Barnes wasn't the man on that video. That man was the Winter Soldier, a creation of HYDRA, meant to carry out their dirty work. My father served with Barnes. And yet Barnes didn't recognize him when he said his name. He didn't know who my father was. I am not trying to allow my father's murderer to go free. Howard and I had a complex relationship, but that is not what's on trial here. It's not illegal to not get along with one's parent. We're here today to discuss James, and for what it's worth, no, I do not blame him for the death of my parents, nor do I hold him responsible. HYDRA was the one in charge of their deaths. Someone ordered the hit on my parents, and they're the ones that I want to see brought to justice. They're the ones who are truly to blame."
The prosecutor looked like he bit into a sour candy then, and she knew he was done.
"No further questions," the prosecutor said, and he walked back down to where he had been sitting.
She was dismissed then, as the defense attorney and prosecutor began their final statements.
The prosecution was using the argument that James was a murder machine and couldn't be trusted in public, and she nearly rolled her eyes. If that was their only argument, then she was confident in their chances.
The defense stood then, and she watched as her attorney address the jury.
"James Buchanan Barnes is perhaps the longest prisoner of war to ever exist in history," she started, "The man has suffered unspeakable horrors and tragedies. And the road to recovery will not be easy for him, but does he not deserve to come home like all our other soldiers? Does he not deserve to be with his family? I ask you to consider the evidence you've seen. The horrors he must have lived through, and I urge you to stop punishing this man for crimes he did not commit. He didn't ask for any of this to happen, nor did he want this. He simply wanted to live his life, but it was taken for him. Give him the chance to live."
The Jury broke to deliberate then, as she and Steve walked up to where Bucky was sitting.
"How are you doing?" Steve asked his friend.
"I'm holding up," Bucky admitted, "Part of me thinks they're going to find me guilty, but I don't think I would even be able to blame them if they did. I did all those things. Even if I didn't do it willingly, it was still me who carried out the actions. And we all know despite all the treatment I'm going though, I'm never going to be the same man I once was. That man is long gone, and I don't think he'll ever be coming back."
"People change," Toni said, "They grow, and evolve. None of us are the same people we were before. I'm different than I was before Afghanistan, or before my parents' death. Life changes us. You don't need to be the same person you once were. You just need to find the person that you want to be and strive to be that. No one is going to hold it against you if you didn't come out of all your experiences unchanged. That would be an unreasonable ask. You don't deserve to be locked up."
"She's way too good for you," Bucky said to Steve, giving her a smile. "Thanks, Toni."
"Don't I know it," Steve said, wrapping an arm around her. "One of these days she'll realize it too, but I'm going to love her for as she'll let me."
"Then I guess you're never going anywhere," she said, kissing him tenderly on the cheek.
"It's going to be okay, Bucky," Steve told his friend after a moment. "No matter what happens, we're in this together, you and I. Til the end of the line, right?"
Bucky simply gave him a smile that didn't fully reach his eyes.
The jury deliberated for hours. Longer than they had for the Maximoffs, and she knew why. The trial was hardly straight forward. She didn't expect them to reach a verdict any time soon.
It was towards the end of the day when the jury finally re-entered the room with a verdict and the judge called the foreman up to provide the decision.
"In the case of James Buchanan Barnes, the jury finds the defendant not guilty of all crimes," the foreman said, looking at Bucky.
The room broke into loud murmuring then, as she turned to Steve in excitement.
"Order! Order!" the judge said, banging his gravel onto the stand. The room silenced then as the judge continued to speak, "James Buchanan Barnes, you are free to go. You've had a long captivity and I hope you'll use all available resources to help lead towards your recovery. You have some of the most powerful people in your corner and I hope you appreciate that and take advantage of what that means. You have done this country a great service, and we thank you for all you have done."
The court adjourned then, and she pulled the man into a hug, much to his surprise.
"You're officially a free man," Steve clapped him on the back. "Now, let's go get some dinner to celebrate, shall we?"
She grinned, knowing the Avengers had booked out one of Steve and Bucky's favourite restaurants from the 40s, one they'd only gone to during very special occasions, in case they won the trial.
It was time for Bucky to begin the rest of his life.
Toni was six hours into developing a new prototype for a the new StarkPhone and she was rather proud of the design she'd come up with. It was sleeker than anything she'd made before but was powerful enough to allow someone like her to be able to use it for everything she'd need it for. Hell, she'd already hooked up FRIDAY to the phone to see is her youngest child could run smoothly on it without crashing the phone if she used up too much CPU.
FRIDAY and JARVIS had taken up the division of responsibilities rather well, and while she'd worried at first about them stepping on each other's toes, FRIDAY had integrated herself into the Avengers Compound, running all operations pertaining to the Avengers, while JARVIS continued to remain in her tower and power her suit. She knew FRIDAY looked up to JARVIS and she was learning from her older brother, growing stronger and more intelligent every day.
It was JARVIS who took both Vision and FRIDAY under his wing, teaching them both about the world and how they could grow. And while her child and grandchild came to her as well with anything they needed, she loved that her children had each other.
When she had been a child she'd wanted nothing more than to have a sibling. Someone who could understand what her life had been like. And maybe if she'd had a sibling she'd have someone to turn to when life got tough.
She loved Ava and Harry more than anything, but they were also a lot younger than her. And to a kid that kind of age difference had been high.
It was exactly seven fifty when the screen in front of her went blank, and she looked up at her sensors in alarm.
"JARVIS is everything okay?" she asked immediately, not particularly caring about any work she lost. Her immediate fears raced to thoughts of something having happened to her child. What if he had gone offline? Or worse, what if something hadn't gone correctly when she'd restored him, and he'd gone offline for good? What if she wasn't able to restore him this time?
"Everything is fine, Mother," JARVIS said in a soothing tone, "I simply saved your work and then turned off your screen."
"Why?" she asked in confusion. She hadn't even been working that long that Protocol Mother Hen should have kicked in. A protocol Pepper had forced her to implement after finding Toni in the lab after a four-day work binge. Her friend had been furious with her and made her implement the protocol so Toni would be forced to sleep for at least eight hours before she'd have access to any of her systems again.
"I asked him to," Steve said from behind her. She turned around in surprise and saw him standing there in a suit, holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Did we have a date?" she asked, as she walked over to him, a bit unsure.
"No, I wanted to surprise you," he said, kissing her gently, "These are for you."
She took the chrysanthemums from him with a smile, "How did you know?" she asked him in surprise. She loved the flowers, but it wasn't something she'd talk about often. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally mention it in an interview then have everyone and their mother sending her the flower, and in turn, ruining them for her.
"I asked Rhodey," Steve grinned.
"Not that I don't appreciate all of this, but I feel vastly underdressed," she said as she placed down the flowers. She was wearing an oil stained t-shirt, with her long hair thrown up in a messy bun, and a pair of sweats. She was hardly a sight to look at. "I can go change into something more appropriate. Given that you're in a suit and all."
"You look beautiful," Steve promised. "You don't need to change a thing. I love you more than anything, and you could wear sweats or a ballgown, and be just as lovely to me."
"How did I get a man like you?" she asked in amazement, and he leaned down to press a kiss to her. "Now, I don't think you conspired with my son for nothing. What do you have planned for us? Just what are you up to, Steve Rogers?"
He winked at her, "It's a surprise," he grinned. He extended his hand to her, and she intertwined her fingers with his as he led her out of the lab and towards the elevator. She expected for them to head to the ground floor and out to wherever he'd planned to take her. But to her surprise, the elevator went upwards, stopping finally as they reached the roof.
She let out a breath of amazement as he led her onto the roof and saw that he'd cleared away the rest of the furniture so that all that remained was a singular table for two in the centre. Fairy lights lit the rooftop in the night, and she could see that he'd cooked them her favourite Italian meal; pappardelle al cinghiale.
"It's absolutely lovely, Steve," she said with a smile. "I love it."
"I'm glad," he said with a smile. He led her over to the table, as he pulled out her chair for her. He gestured for her to sit down and after she did, he gently pushed her in. He walked to the opposite site of the table and sat down. "So how is your prototype going?"
"It's coming along nicely," she beamed at him, "Peter's going to be over later this week and we're going to see if we can do some testing to see if it's ready to go into production before the years up. Honestly, I'm just glad Peter's coming by. May hasn't been doing too well lately, and I think he could use a distraction given everything."
"You're good with him," Steve said with a smile. "He really looks up to you."
"He's a good kid," she said, "I love when he comes around."
"Do you ever think about that for us?" he asked her softly, "We have the bots, FRIDAY, JARVIS, and Vision, as well as Harley and Peter, but what about having some kids of our own?"
She felt her heart a beat a bit faster, "Could we? I mean we don't exactly live the most stable of lives. There's always a villain or something threatening to end life as we know it. Could we really bring a kid into that? I…when I lost JARVIS, I thought it would destroy me. What if we lost our kid because of something that was my fault? I'm not sure if I'd ever be able to recover from that."
"If there's something someone told me recently, it's that we can't be afraid to live our lives because something could come along and change that," Steve told her, taking her hand in his. "If we keep waiting for the perfect timing or for things to settle down, then we could miss our moment. We could spend our entire lives living in the what-ifs and could-have-beens, never knowing what we're missing out on cause we're too afraid to take a chance."
"Sounds like a wise person said that," Toni said with a smile.
"Peggy always is," Steve said, and she smiled. She was glad he still had a few links to his past, in the form of Peggy and Bucky.
"We'd need rules," she said after a moment, "I don't want anything to happen to us and us to leave our children behind. We can't both go on missions unless its world threatening. Someone would have to stay behind. I all but grew up without a father, and my mother was sometimes too busy for me, so Jarvis and Ana raised me more often than not. I won't have that for my child. We can't both go into battle in case something happens. Our children shouldn't be punished because of us."
"Of course," he agreed instantly. "I'd rather our children grow up with two parents. My mom raised me herself, and it would have been nicer to have both of them around. But I'd rather they have one of us than none."
"You really want a family with me?" she asked, as her voice sounded unsure.
"I want everything with you," he said, taking a deep breath, standing as he walked to the other side of the table. "I wanted us to have a date here because I wanted to spend time with you, but I didn't want to put you in the spotlight of the public. I wanted this moment to be ours alone. Just you and I, without the rest of the world watching over our shoulders."
He bent down on one knee then, and she felt herself gasp as he pulled out a ring.
"This was my mother's," he started, "I wore it on a chain after she died, but she gave it to me, and told me to give it to a girl who understood me. Someone who loved me despite my flaws and someone who made me a better person. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'd never find that. Not with my pre-serum sick self. But I took the ring anyways, as a memory of her. I had it on me when the Valkyrie went down. And I got it restored a few months ago."
He paused then, looking up at her, "I think my mother would have liked you, if she could have met you. You're a strong woman who doesn't take anyone's nonsense. You don't love me for my strength of the legend that became of my character. You call me out when you think I'm wrong, and you make me want to be a better person. To be a person worthy of being your husband."
He took her hand in his, "I've told you many times how much I admire you. You're everything that this new century I've found myself growing to love. You're brash and bold and you know who you are. You're so smart and sometimes I can't make heads or tails of what you're saying, but watching you talk about something you're truly passionate about is a scene to behold. You're everything that I could have ever wanted in a partner, and you're changing the world constantly. I love you Toni. I love you more than I'll ever be able to put into words. And if you let me, I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you, taking each day one at a time, and facing everything that life throws at us together. Will you marry me, Antonia Natasha Stark?"
She could feel her eyes well up as tears fell before she could even stop them.
She loved Steve. She loved him so much, that her heart hurt. He never made her doubt who she was, nor did he try and change her to be something she wasn't. He loved her for who she was, and he was there for her every time she needed him.
She nodded first before she could say the words, "Yes!" she said, as he wiped her eyes, "Yes, Steve, of course I'll marry you. I love you so much."
He grinned as he slipped the ring on her finger, before standing and pulling her to her feet. He wrapped his arms around her and spun her around the rooftop as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
She laughed as he set her down and she pulled him into a deep kiss.
"I love you," he breathed. "I love you so much."
"I love you too," she grinned, "Forever and always."
"Forever and always," he repeated.
"Now, you made my favourite food for dinner," she beamed, "And I hardly got to eat a bite of it."
He laughed, escorting her back to her seat. "Of course, Darling. We have all the time in the world."
She smiled wider than she thought was possible, as she held onto his hand.
This was not what she'd expected when the day began, but she couldn't say she was upset about how it turned out.
She looked at the beautiful ring on her finger then back up at the man who gave it to her.
She never imagined her life could turn out so perfectly, with a man who loved her as much as Steve did. And yet it had.
And she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
A/N: Steve proposed! When I first started writing this fic, all I wanted to do was write about their life together after they got engaged, but I knew in order to do their relationship justice I had to write the journey to getting here as well. And 58 chapters later, we've finally reached the part I've been most excited to explore. I can't wait for you guys to read what's next to come, and hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter!
