CHAPTER 9 - Control

"Until he is under his own control, I can do nothing," Shuri informed the group after a quick exam of Clint's current state. The archer let out a silent whine of agony. They'd never be able to fix him.

"Is there nothing that can be done?" T'Challa questioned, looking between his mother and sister.

"I would attempt a second visit to the Heart but... What they have done to him may not correctly disappear. He may become forever lost as a servant," Ramonda retorted, her hands gently placed on Clint's cheek. Once they had arrived at Wakanda, Clint had gotten cuffed to some Vibranium cuffs that went from wrist to elbow. And Bucky stood beside him the entire time, ready to strike if needed. But as Clint had noted before, his body didn't seem to keen on trying to fight the Sergeant. Course, if anyone else came over, he'd attack unless Bucky had some warning on the archer to not to.

"He's gonna be stuck like this anyway! Would... Would a second visit make it that he could listen to us too?" Scott asked. Bucky let out a dark snarl. He would not allow Clint to stay trapped like this forever. With time, they should be able to find a way to fix Clint.

"No. We are not doing that," the Sergeant growled to the room at large. Wanda placed a hand on Bucky's arm. Beside him, Bucky noticed Clint tensed.

"We aren't saying we will. We are going to find a way to help him," she soothed. Bucky huffed, pulling himself away (putting himself between Wanda and Clint) to look at Clint. He'd personally been noticing it more and more often now. Clint's body seemed relaxed around Bucky. Not ready to attack. But anyone else, Bucky had to be there, hand on his arm to stop the archer from attacking. Sadly, Bucky couldn't really figure out why. He figured it had to do with the 'death' order on everyone and 'capture' order on him, but it seemed different. Clint shouldn't relax if he had an order to capture Bucky.

"If only Hydra controls him... Couldn't you control him, Bucky?" Hope wondered. The room went quiet as they all looked at her. She looked around at them before shrugging. "I mean. You were once Hydra. Even if you aren't the Asset, technically you worked for... Well, with Hydra."

"By that logic, Clint was Hydra long before they got a hold of him like this," Rhodes snipped. If Clint had the ability too, he totally would have flipped Rhodes off while calling him a jackass. He really didn't need to rub that shit in. Thankfully Sam must have figured Clint would have gotten mad, so the man slapped Rhodes in the back of his head. Slowly, Bucky looked to Clint.

"I'd need to know what they called him. Orders have to be under the Asset name, not his own," Bucky announced to the group. Clint mentally winced. How would he ever be able to let Bucky know? "Until we know that..."

"Luchnik," Wanda whispered. Clint's head twisted to look at her. Huh... Interesting.

"Archer?" Bucky questioned. Wanda nodded even as there was the sound of choked laughter. Bucky turned and glared at Scott, knowing it was him who had laughed. He must have been the only one as he held his hands in defense. Rather than it being Sam that hit Scott, Hope did for the group.

"Oh come on, that's funny. I mean, not that being controlled by Hydra is funny, but the name... They... The only thing that might have been funnier would have been hawk," Scott tried to defend, holding onto his arm where Hope had hit.

"You really are an idiot," Hope mumbled, bring a hand up to cover her face. Apparently pain couldn't stop idiot.

"Sergeant Barnes, I do believe it would be wise to attempt your control," T'Challa recommended, breaking the group away from Scott's stupidity. Sighing, Bucky turned back to Clint. Clint easily felt his body focus solely on the Sergeant. Was Bucky actually going to order him to do something else? Bucky swallowed tensely before letting out a deep breath.

"Luchnik, repeat orders," Bucky declared in an ordering voice. Okay, Clint could deal with that order. They did need to know what he was sent out to do. But his body certainly didn't like the idea of stating his mission before the mission members themselves. There was a moment's hesitation, finally the order won.

"Kill Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Ant-man, Wasp, Black Panther, War Machine. Capture the Winter Soldier," Clint's body dryly intoned. Shuri stepped forward. Clint's attention quickly shifted to her, even though his eye's never removed themselves from Bucky, and his hands clenched into fists. While Shuri wasn't part of the orders, his body recognized that she was an obstacle and he'd need to take her down to finish his mission. Mentally Clint whined. Bucky went through seventy years of this shit? How the hell could he... Oh, yeah. Bucky was also wiped a lot. He likely didn't remember being uncomfortable with the orders.

"Fascinating," she whispered. T'Challa grabbed hold of her arm before she got too close to the archer. He had seen the tighting of Clint's fist and didn't want his sister to get hurt. Even with some of the best fighters in the room, T'Challa had seen Clint on the battlefield while fighting Thanos. The archer had moved so swiftly and gracefully. So much more dangerous and powerful than the hawk he had met in Germany. How much had Clint been holding back back then? Could T'Challa actually beat the archer in a one on one fight? He had once thought so. Now, he wasn't so sure.

"Yeah, that's not the way I'd describe it... Hearing Hawkeye is supposed to kill you," Rhodes retorted a shiver running up his spine.

"I feel I must point out, they want Winter Soldier alive," Ramonda suddenly told the group. Everyone looked to Bucky. He was still focused on Clint and the archer hadn't yet turned away from him. Clint could tell that Bucky was questioning what to do next but both of them know. Bucky needed to give Clint another order. The archer blinked once for yes and closing his eyes, Bucky spoke.

"Luchnik, ignore last orders," Bucky ordered. There was a long pause.

"Uh... How we gonna test that?" Scott wondered.

"Unlock him," Shuri replied, glancing over to the man. Scott paled.

"Uh... Yeah, I think I have something to do... In my room. On the other side of the palace," the hero grumbled, backing away. Hope reached out to snag his arm to hold him steady. Scott pouted at her but it was clear that she honestly didn't care. Though, all of them were a bit nervous with the idea. Hell, even Clint was nervous about it.

"I'm also a little worried about unlocking him," Sam mumbled before looking to Bucky and Clint. Bucky looked up to the others. "Don't get me wrong, I trust that it more than likely worked but... Clint trained most of us. I doubt he showed us all of his fighting styles. Hell, who knew that Clint knew how to sword fight?"

"Natasha had said it came as a surprise that he knew it as well as he did," Rhodes said drawing attention to himself. In their movements, no one noticed Clint twitch. But the archer had. Mentally he frowned. Was that just because of his grief? No, that wasn't all it was. Something about her name triggered something in his head. "Apparently, Clint told her once that he wasn't just trained in archery. But, never stated how good he was in the other areas."

"Forgot that you hadn't been caught in the SNAP," Sam huffed. Rhodes and Scott winced. Out of everyone, they were the only two who had made it through and had still communicated with the original team members before they passed. Specifically, Natasha. Okoye shifted on her feet, her eyes flicking between the royal family. All of them had vanished in the SNAP. Nakia was the one who had taken over for T'Challa as many Wakandans believed that she and T'Challa were soon to be wed, even if T'Challa had yet to propose and Nakia mentioning a few times that she did not want the position. Even if she took it for those five years.

"We need to test it in some way," Wanda pointed out. "Shuri is right. Letting Clint free will be the only real way to test if the order worked or not."

Bucky glanced down at Clint, wondering how the archer was taking this. Clint's focus still hadn't left him. Without even asking, Clint felt himself to blink twice. The archer mentally frowned. He had thought that he'd want to be free in order to attack. So, why didn't he agree? Bucky frowned before looking to the others. No? What did Clint mean... Oh. Likely Clint didn't want to risk it. "He said not to. And I'm not going to force it."

"My sister is correct. Barton will need to be checked at some point. He cannot stay locked up," T'Challa mentioned. "There are many capable fighters here. We will be able to stop him before any damage is done."

"Are you sure about that?" Rhodes questioned. "Cause, I've personally never seen Clint fight Bucky."

"I've fought him. Granted, before either of us knew about the serum and I didn't have a missing arm," Bucky argued thinking about the war all over again.

"Wait, what?" Rhodes and Scott cried at the same time. Bucky frowned before looking to Sam.

"Clint had been sent back in time to 1943," Wanda informed the group. Shuri let out a plaintive whine. That sounded so cool. "He met Steve and Bucky then." (Clint twitched minorly at Steve's name.)

"Actually... Thinking back on it now... Clint trained us..." Bucky grumbled to himself, glancing over to the archer. They hadn't ever really spoken about what happened back then outside of the serum and meeting with still living regiment friends. How had he not thought about that before? Hell, how did Steve, Clint and he never really catch onto that?

"What do you mean, he trained you guys?" Sam questioned. Bucky looked back up at the group.

"Steve and I had gotten military training which didn't fully include a lot of hand to hand fighting. One time we stopped at a city that had some rooms open. The Commandos split up into the three rooms. Clint ended up with Stevie and me. But, there were only two beds. That first night, Clint took the floor," Bucky started. With everyone focused on Bucky, no one caught that every time Steve's name was said, the archer would twitch. Not that it matter, as Clint couldn't exactly figure out why. First Natasha, now Steve? Maybe it was just cause they were dead?

"Took the floor?" Scott muttered. Hope turned to glare at him, ready to smack him. Sam winced. Why would Clint take the floor? Wanda sighed, having seen the scene in Clint's memory briefly. She hadn't examined it that much, just remembered the jest of arguing over sleeping on the floor. "You mean you guys ordered him?"

"No. Actually, both of us tried to give up the bed but Clint wouldn't hear anything about it. He just took the floor. When we got up the next morning we found out Morita had gotten the floor in his room and spent a lot of the morning complaining. Clint stayed quiet. It took a while before we realized that Clint had suffered as much as Morita had so Steve said he was gonna give Clint his bed for the night. Clint told him to fuck off," Bucky described. Wanda, Sam and Rhodes chuckled. Still, Clint's body tensed at Steve's name. Jesus, what was going on with that? Hell, it was starting to get a little painful.

"I would see Barton doing as much," T'Challa commented with a soft smile as he looked down to Clint. The archer's eyes were narrowed at Bucky but otherwise he seemed impassive to what was happening. Mentally Clint was begging Bucky to shut up. No one needed to know what happened back then. Clint dearly wanted to interrupt to tell Bucky to just say Clint trained you and be done with it.

"Yeah... Well, they both got seriously stubborn about it. Got to the point where Steve literally dragged Clint out to the street and they fought each other. God, Clint put him down so fast that none of us had any idea what to think," Bucky added with a small huff of his own laughter as he nearly lost himself to the memories. None of the three of them had any serious discussions on what happened back then. They had grown closer, but they never talked about it. Just, let it become part of their shared friendship. "Once Steve gave up, Clint offered to train the rest of us."

"Train how?" Hope wondered. Bucky frowned and looked back to Clint (who had relaxed back to normal after the multiple twitches) with a curious look. Clint had done some very specific training. It was something Steve had made mention on during the six months that Clint had been gone. They never were able to ask Clint about those days. It just never seemed right. But now, Bucky wished he could. Meanwhile, if he could blush, Clint totally would. He remembered the moment when he realized he had been training the duo how to fight in their own styles in the future. It had been an accident, but he had done it.

"Got Stevie to learn how to use his shield... And... I think he trained me to work more with my left arm," the Sergeant muttered, somehow not noticing the archer twitch at Steve's name. Clint's eyes turned away and for a moment, Bucky was tempted to order the answer out of the archer. But he knew that wouldn't be fair or all that nice.

"So, basically, Clint did train all of us," Sam grumbled.

"I was not," T'Challa pointed out as if everyone had forgotten he was standing there. Shuri and Ramonda backed away. They weren't gonna get into this fight. Even though Shuri was half way sure she'd put up a good fight. Okoye also seemed ready to fight if needed. Bucky sighed and focused on Clint. The archer returned the favor. But before Bucky could even attempt to ask, Clint once again felt his eyes blink no. Bucky hissed, and mentally Clint mirrored the sound, redrawing attention to himself in his ire.

"What?" Sam asked. Bucky glanced at the others before settling back on Clint.

"He's still saying no," Bucky answered.

"Can you... Can you ask why?" Hope wondered. Bucky bit his lower lip. How could he word it so it didn't seem like he was forcing Clint into doing anything?

"I'm not very comfortable with making him do anything," Bucky admitted after a moment, turning his gaze down to the floor.

"Why not simply order him to speak for himself?" Shuri questioned. The group looked to her, including Clint. Could it be that easy? "Just, simply put it that he is free to act how he wishes?"

"Doesn't work that way," Bucky grunted, shaking his head. Mentally Clint frowned. That didn't sound fun. "I... I might be able to get him to respond to questions but... It might force him to respond even if he doesn't want to."

"Sounds almost like wishing on a Djinn," Okoye stated.

"A Djinn?" Sam huffed. Okoye nodded.

"A Djinn is like a genie just trickier to make a proper wish on. In fact, they are supposed to and will do all in their power to use your wish against you," Okoye informed. "If you wished to be the richest person in the world, the Djinn may just make everyone but you vanish. As the only one left, you would be the richest."

"That sounds... Cool and yet evil," Scott mumbled. Okoye nodded.

"It is a childhood fable to warn children to be careful what they wish for. It may have dire consequences," Okoye replied.

"While that is nice to know, it isn't very helpful here," Rhodes reminded.

"What if you ordered him to cast the spell that drains my magic? I could then see if I can clear away whatever Hydra did," Wanda suggested. Bucky gave a weakened smile to her before looking to Clint. Again, before he could speak, Clint blinked twice. Mentally, Clint screamed. God, with what had happened before Hydra had gotten a hold of him, he could tell Bucky's mind was going to focus on the fact that because he wasn't in control, Clint would want to stay like this. That feeling sucked. Clint wanted to be free. Wanted to make his own choice. Staying trapped like this was nothing short of torture.

"No? What the fuck?" Bucky snapped before giving a quick inhale. Was Clint going to listen to him? Was Bucky never going to be able to speak to the archer again without fearing of ordering Clint to do something? Thankfully, Clint didn't respond. Not that it was that thankful but still.

"What does he mean, no?" Hope muttered. "I thought we wanted to fix this."

"He doesn't," T'Challa hissed angrily, his gaze trading with Bucky. It took the soldier a moment to realize where T'Challa was going with this logic. Clint was safe. He didn't have to worry about anything. As long as Bucky could order him around, Clint wouldn't have to actually live. Bucky hissed now himself, turning to glare at Clint. The archer made no movement to respond to let them both know that that was what he was thinking. That almost made it worse.

"What do you mean 'he doesn't?'" Wanda whispered, scared of the answer. Did it all circle back to wanting to go to cryo? Wanting to kill himself? Like this, Clint wasn't himself. Wasn't technically there. She gasped, hands going to her mouth. That was it. "Oh, Clint! No, please."

Bucky's eyes narrowed even further when Clint once again was forced to blink twice. Clint screamed again in his head. God, Bucky should seriously just order him to talk! The Sergeant moved closer to his friend as if ready to strike but paused at the last moment. "You're a coward."

With that, Bucky turned and walked off. There was a long moment of pause before the remaining group focused solely on Clint. The archer was still, subtly crying. He wished so badly that he could explain that it wasn't him. Around Clint, the archer hardly noticed everyone shifting in worry. Did that mean Bucky's order of not killing them had been erased? Or was Clint just biding his time? The group traded looks and Scott opened his mouth.

"Uh... What do we do now?"

Wanda was the one who found Bucky a few hours later. It had taken them a bit of time but they were able to lead Clint to his room. Once inside the room, Clint simply turned around and stared at them all. It was hard to decide to, but everyone agreed to just let him be. Rhodes was waiting at the doorway, watching. There were also a group of six or so Dora Milaje in the hall just in case Clint snapped and went after Rhodes.

"How are you doing?" Wanda mumbled once she arrived at Bucky's side. The duo was ironically standing on the same balcony that Clint had been on when the Wakandan Hydra agent had taken him.

"Not well," Bucky whispered, his head dropping a bit so his chin met his chest. Wanda sighed. "I... I don't get why he just wants to give up so bad."

"Clint's been through a lot. Not all of it good. I think, S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers were some of the only good things in his life. Then-"

"Finding out S.H.I.E.L.D was Hydra..." Bucky sighed. Wanda nodded.

"He's just, a little lost right now. We need to stand by him. Show him we care," Wanda soothed, pressing a hand on Bucky's flesh arm. Bucky twitched slightly and she pulled away. "Sorry."

"No. It's fine. Just," Bucky started before huffing a quick laugh. "Getting caught up in bad memories right now."

"This is a bad time for all of us," Wanda admitted, turning to look out of the distance.

"I wish Stevie were here," Bucky grumbled. Wanda hummed an affirmative. Any of the original Avengers would be nice to have here right now. But Thor was incommunicado and Bruce... Bruce hadn't responded to any of Sam and Rhodes's attempt at reaching him. "How are we going to fix this if he doesn't even want it?"

"I don't think we can," Wanda replied. Bucky winced. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. "If he doesn't want help."

"Are we going to listen?"

Two days late... Ugh.

Darius has been doing good. Got to spend some time with relatives that he normally doesn't get to spend time with. He's been active and loves to play 'concert.' I am so sick of Kiss... And what's worse. He only knows like a line or two of a song and he'll repeat it non-stop. Like 'the song that never ends' or 'song that gets on everybody's nerves.' AHHH! Baby Jason is good. Acting like a one year old. And now, a one year old brother! His sister was born on Monday. Baby Aurora is here. Personally haven't spent much time with her which is probably a good thing cause while her parents and her were still in the hospital I had to take care of Baby Jason and spiraled into a depression. Hence the two days late.