Note: I'd like to apologize for such a large gap in updates; with the holidays everything kind of got away from me for a moment. Now that everything is settled down updates should be fairly regular again and chapter four should be up sometime this week. Thank you for your patience, and thank you for reading!
You make it out of bed in the early afternoon and head down to the kitchen after you change out of your rumpled ball gown and into your more familiar sweats and a t-shirt combo. Bucky is sitting at the breakfast bar when you walk in, while Tony and Steve are standing in front of it talking to another familiar face, though you had never met: James Rhodes. His mouth falls open as you walk in, and your friendly smile wilts on your lips.
"Tony. What is she doing here?" His voice is calm, but you can hear the tension brewing under the surface.
"She's one of us," Tony responds with the same false sense of calm.
That does it. "She's one of-" Rhodes sputters, "Do you know what bringing her here could do to your position with the United States government? Tony, they'll consider this treason! You need to talk to me before you act."
"That's funny, I don't remember you being in charge of the Avengers," Tony's jaw clenches, "And I definitely don't remember needing to run things by you."
"This mutant unrest is not our business."
"Really Rhodie? Because a genocide sounds exactly like our kind of business," Steve frowns.
"And you! You're on thin ice as it is," Rhodes tells Steve, "You used all your strings to get your pal here, you really think you can get away with it again?"
Bucky's on his feet now, "What the hell is the difference between us and her?" He asks, gesturing between him and Steve to you.
"You know what the difference is." Rhodes says quietly.
"I really don't think I do," Bucky snaps and you look at him surprised-you're not the only one. Steve is giving his best friend a look that clearly says "stand down", but Bucky only has eyes for Rhodes as he walks around the counter. Rhodes looks back at him, jaw tense-though not nearly as tense as you would be had the Winter Soldier been looking at you like that.
"Steve Rogers was created, mutants are born-and more and more of them are found every day. Imagine groups of these things, with powers like ours, turning against us. Thousands of enhanced people in the streets, it would be chaos. What's happening here, it's unnatural."
Bucky snaps at that, stepping forward so he's chest to chest with Rhodes, "Unnatural? You're really going to stand here and-" Steve grabs his friends shoulder, pulling him back.
"Maybe you should go Rhodie," Steve says, his own anger just barely contained, "We can talk about this later."
Rhodes nods; when he passes you on his way out he looks down at you with something like pity, and you frown.
"(Y/n), I'm so sorry you had to hear that," Steve says immediately when he's gone, "Rhodie just...He's under a lot of pressure from the military. He'll come around."
"It's fine," You force a smile, "Really." Steve's face is still concerned so you try for an even more nonchalant approach. "Is there any of that shwarma left? I'm starved." Steve blinks in surprise before he grins.
"All yours."
Bucky stays behind as Steve and Tony leave, almost gaping at you. "Are you seriously just going to ignore that bullshit?"
"Because I've been hearing it all my life," You tell him quietly, "It doesn't make it right-" You backpedal quickly, "But things don't change all at once." He looks at you in disbelief and you force a smile. "Want some?" The corner of his lips perk up and he slides into a seat as you reheat the leftovers from the night before.
After you eat Bucky heads off, so you find yourself wandering the compound until you find yourself in Bruce's lab. You push open the glass door; Bruce is sitting at a desk, some kind of 3D schematic floats in the air in front of him.
"Is that some kind of microchip?" You ask, before you clap your hand over your mouth, "I'm so sorry to interrupt Dr. Banner."
"No, please, come in. And it's just Bruce," He smiles kindly at you, "This is actually the microchip they've been implanting in mutants." You frown at that and he nods in understanding, "I'm not a fan either. Want to take a look?"
You nervously cross the room, before taking control of the projection. Using your hands you enlarge it, and spin it around. Your brow furrows as you turn the schematic again. "Hold on…" You say quietly to yourself, "If this is the tracking chip...What's this back here?" You zoom in on the secondary paneling on the microchip, cleverly designed to look like a shadow under examination.
"You're good," Bruce chuckles, "That's exactly what Stark and I noticed." You try not to grin as you begin dismantling the schematic and the smile freezes on your lips.
"But this looks like some kind of built in kill-switch," You turn to look at him with wide eyes, "That's exactly what it is, isn't it?" He nods and it feels like your heart drops out of your chest, "With a touch of a button they could kill every single registered mutant."
"We've had our eye on this situation for awhile now. Now that we have this," Bruce gestures towards the microchip, "I don't think Steve is going to wait much longer."
"But this isn't some foreign country or private organization doing this," You breathe, "This is the United States Government. What can he do?" You shake your head, "I just don't understand how a government could do this to its own people."
"A kind that doesn't consider them people," Bruce says quietly, "And this militant mutant group that's sprung up has only made things worse. The public opinion of mutants is spiraling fast-at this point even bringing this," He nods towards the microchip, "To the public's attention wouldn't even matter. People are too afraid to think rationally about what it means."
Feeling faint you take a seat on the corner of his desk, breathing evenly through your nose in an attempt to calm your rapidly beating heart. "Isn't there anything we can do? Anything I can do?"
Bruce leans back in his chair, "Like I said, I don't think Steve is going to sit back for much longer on this. He's been wanting to do something since the Mutant Registration Act passed, but once he sees this," Bruce shakes his head, "The thing is, like you said, this is the government that's doing this, so we need to think carefully about any actions we make. Any outright move and they'll shut us down faster than you can blink. I don't want to say anything for sure but I think our next move will be to start spreading the word. Tell mutants what the chip can do so they elect to go into hiding rather than register. We just have to be careful about it."
"And the mutant organization you mentioned?"
"Needs to be shut down. Only problem is we don't know anything about it, other than that it exists of course. Government officials have been getting threatening letters, pro-mutant graffiti has been popping up in cities all over the U.S., all signed under one name. COBRA."
"COBRA," You repeat slowly, the name seems vaguely familiar but you can't put your finger on why.
"Do you recognize it?"
"I don't know...I don't think so." You shake your head, "If so nothing's coming to mind."
"Well if you think of anything…"
"Of course," You stand up, "I'll let you get back to work though. I've taken up enough of your time."
"I'm glad to have the company," Bruce stands as well, and pulls open a drawer, "Here are those books we talked about," He holds out a thick stack, "I think you'll enjoy them." Your arms bow as you take the stack and Bruce smiles sheepishly, "I might have gone a little overboard."
"No, thank you-seriously" You add at the look on his face, "Now I have enough reading material to keep me busy for the next year or two," You grin and adjust your grip on the books.
"Come down anytime," Bruce tells you as he turns back to the schematic.
You unload your books in your room and lay across your bed, flipping through the Latel and Schweiger book you had never gotten a chance to finish until you find your spot. You read until the light grows dim and you're forced to reach over to turn on your bedside lamp. As the light illuminates the room you suddenly freeze as the nagging feeling in the back of your mind you had experienced since your chat with Bruce finally disappears as a memory surfaces; Justine and the cobra tattooed around her wrist.