Bloodline

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Chapter 18: Homecoming

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Thank you so much for your ideas and wishes concerning the question I asked after the last chapter. I tried to bring all your wishes to paper and I hope you'll like it. Had no beta this time but got the Russian translation from Dectie. So at least that one's proper ^^

Thanks to those who reviewed:

Sofia, misssafrica, kaah, Isabel, bedb, amaya, orangeporqupine (especially for the many reviews to several chaps), Sith Of Destruction, kalilija, 2781 and of course the guests and anons. ^^

Your support made me finish this much faster. I also had a chapter for my Brutasha fanfic to do, otherwise this would have been posted a week after the last update instead of months after. Sorry for making you wait another week. ^^ But I hope the content is worth it ^^

And yes I know here I calmed the Hulk down to quickly for Hulk-fans, but it's not my main objective and I have a feeling the Winter Soldier is actually more deadly here when he wants to. And so much more filled with stuff that makes your fan-heart weep.

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For the seventh time Natasha fumbled for the phone in her pocket. She knew this was unprofessional, knew it might blow her cover, but she couldn't stop worrying. Fury had been right in his assumption. And it unnerved her. What if Alexei needed something only she could provide? What if something went wrong with James? Had she taken up on her duties too early?

Leaving a few coins for her coffee she got ready to infiltrate her target. A wealthy businessman who got on the radar due to his black market activities. The mission was easy. Nothing she hadn't done a thousand times before. No real life-threatening danger. But still...

With a heavy sigh she turned off all communications. This was a radio silent mission. Checking her appearance one last time in one of the shop windows Natasha entered the hotel her target resided in and went straight to the bar to catch him in a web of lies and expensive alcohol.

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"Sir, if I might interrupt you, there is a situation in the lab." Jarvis voice sounded through the speaker.

"What kind of situation?" Tony asked still entirely focused on his Iron Man helmet.

"One that requires your suit." The AI replied, a little more urgently and as if on cue the Hulk roared.

"Oh dear..." With a flick of his wrists that metal armor that until now was scattered around the work tables encased his body piece by piece. "Call the others for help. And use code Green on Banner. Maybe we can pin him down more quickly."

"Already done, sir. In about half a minute the narcotics should kick in."

"Let's hope the horse tranquilizers work. What about Barnes?"

"He's trying to escape through the roof, I have already deadlocked the doors but with his powers he can still move around the floors. The Winter Soldier is currently in the lounge area."

"Damn, one more dent in the floor I will have to fix. Why can't people stop trashing my tower?" He entered the living room right after Hawkeye and Thor.

"What happened?" The archer wanted to know.

"Scientific experiment gone wrong." Tony said flatly while looking at the Soldier who got ready to attack.

"He's unarmed." Jarvis informed them. "Except for his arm."

Damn, in another situation Tony might have laughed. "Alright. Let's try to pin him down." A couple of rooms away the noises quieted. At least they got the Hulk. "Bruce is asleep. That's one down and one to go."

Thor threw his hammer but Barnes dodged it effortlessly. The weapon buried itself into the bar at the other end of the room.

"Stop trashing my stuff!" Tony repeated.

"You want to get him secured or you want him on the loose with your china still intact?" Hawkeye growled at him before releasing a narcotic arrow. Barnes snatched the thing right out of the air. "I'll be damned... I never miss." Quickly he shot another arrow, this time with a net that instantly wrapped around the Soldier giving him a few volts. It merely got him to his knees before Barnes ripped the strings apart.

"Okay, I am open for suggestions." Hawkeye murmured. They had feared that Barnes might snap again, but their contingency plans thus far were to take him down as a team, or have Natasha trying to talk him down. "Any chance Nat came back from her mission already?"

"No, I've contacted her but it's radio silent. As soon as she checks her messages she'll be on her way." Tony sighed. "Well, I guess we need brute forced then." He activated his thrusters and flew against Barnes, knocking him into the nearest wall.

The Winter Soldier coughed as plaster and concrete rained down around him but he seemed otherwise unharmed and ready to attack his enemies.

Thor was next. All fists and punches which the Soldier met easily. A left hook sent the god onto the couch table, breaking the glass.

"Come on, man, that's the second table you trashed. I've really had enough for this." Trying his luck Tony went into a fist fight as well and failed miserable against the trained assassin. Ten seconds were enough to turn his display onto a red flashing Christmas tree. "Jarvis, suggestions." They couldn't fight with lethal methods which was proving to be difficult beyond options.

"Mr Rogers is on his way here. Maybe he can talk him down."

The Iron Man got sent right on top of Thor. Both men tried to get back on their feet while the Winter Soldier walked past them casually. The archer released a couple more arrows but it was useless. Two quick punches brought him to the ground, leaving him gasping for air.

"Mr Rogers has arrived. I have shut down the elevators." Jarvis explained while they gathered themselves, running after the Soldier.

Steve was standing in the hallway. "Bucky, hey come on. It's me, Steve." He saw no flicker of remembrance in the other man's eyes. "Please, you have to calm down. We only want to help you. And you have agreed to this. I know you're not yourself right now, but..." Steve tried, taking a step backwards whenever the Soldier came closer. "I don't want to fight you. Please, try to remember."

"He's not listening..." Tony realized while Steve babbled on. "Okay, plan B. Knock him out."

"I thought A was knocking him out and B was talking." Hawkeye growled.

"Yeah well, Plan A with a little bit less pulling our punches." Iron Man answered him. "Third time's the charm."

Steve was now at the emergency staircase blocking the way down while still trying to talk to his friend.

Tony knew they had him now. There weren't many options left for him to escape. A window would be suicide, the elevator was deadlocked by Jarvis and now they were blocking the only way down the staircase.

The Winter Soldier knew this as well, his eyes scanning the enemies on the stairs beneath him, calculating. Then he glanced upwards, a plan forming in his mind, and with a cold smile he ran up and entered the floor above.

Iron Man blanched behind his mask before activating his thrusters while the others bolted after the Soldier as well. They knew who was up there. "Pepper… no…"

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Trying to gain access to the security system the Winter Soldier walked into a room he knew held enough computers to enable just that. The door shut after him and he made quick work of the panel next to it. That gave him a few minutes until they would either rewire the system or knock the metal door down.

He scanned the room for weapons or anything useful when he heard a gun being cocked.

"Stand down, Barnes," Pepper said with a voice that shook as much as the weapon in her hand. Outside she could hear the others trying to get inside.

The Winter Soldier turned around and showed no signs of remembering her. "You can't kill me. Now hand over that weapon before you waste any of the bullets." He needed every single one of them.

"No," she said sternly and tried to aim for anything that would incapacitate but not kill him.

He saw this as well, wondering why she wouldn't eliminate the danger right away in order to save her life. Trying to test his theory he walked towards her but also moved further into the room to have more space and time to react to the others as soon as they broke the door down. Something else was off with this woman. She did try to move away but still remained as a barrier between the Soldier and the cupboard behind her. The door was slightly ajar. The Winter Soldier's eyes hardened as he understood. There was another person in the room.

"Don't come any closer!" Potts warned him again, seemingly for the last time.

Barnes only rolled his eyes and continued walking, now directly to her. He raised his arm to grab the gun and fend of any bullets. To his surprise she actually shot at him but he deflected them with his metal hand easily and disarmed the woman with a few precise hits. Now to why she even bothered to stand up against him… He stepped around the unconscious female and checked the weapon in his hand before aiming it at the closet. Whoever hid in there was too weak to defend themselves, and most likely very precious. That made them crucial as a hostage. "Show yourself," the Soldier demanded right when the door behind him got torn open.

Jarvis had assessed the situation even before Tony could form a question. "Sir, Miss Potts is alive and merely unconscious."

But Tony also knew he couldn't reach her in time in case the Winter Soldier decided otherwise. So they all waited for Barnes' next move. He had pointed the gun at the closet while looking at the Avengers. But why…

"The boy is in there," Jarvis offered.

The Winter Soldier smiled as he saw their faces crumbling in fear. Yes, he had assumed correctly. Whoever was in there was very important. His mind ran the calculations of how long it would take to have the person in his grasp and as a human shield in front of him. "Get out of there, now!" he shouted while still keeping his eyes on the Avengers.

The door opened and he knew they wouldn't fire at him right away in fear of collateral damage. What he hadn't expected though was the tiny being running towards him with no signs of fright whatsoever. Confused he turned his head just in time to see a little boy, barely able to coordinate his own steps, running towards him. Why…?

"Daddy!" The boy screamed happily although the syllables were blurred as if he had to fight against his own tongue to say them. The tiny human being slung his arms around his leg and held on tight.

What...? The Winter Soldier pointed the gun at him while the toddler looked up with trusting, loving eyes. His skull burst in pain as the memories flooded back to him. Too much, too fast... He didn't understand… couldn't...

Steve saw the distress in Barnes' eyes and knew the boy was about to break through to him. But that didn't lessen the danger of a gun pointed directly at the child's head while only an involuntary twitch was enough to pull the trigger. "Alexei, get away from him!"

Alexei… his… son? But he hadn't been able to walk before. Wait? Why would he believe this? Was it a trick? His brain tried to assess the situation and understand, but there was only a flash of white whenever he was about to break through the veil of violence. Order only comes through pain. You are our asset. And follow our… "NO!" The Winter Soldier shouted, startling the boy who fell back on his behind with tears in his eyes.

"Alexei, come here!" Steve pleaded as he saw how Bucky held his metal arm to his head, gripping the hair and groaning in pain, his eyes closed for a moment.

Everyone froze in fear. Despite being unable to see properly Bucky let the gun follow the boy automatically as he crawled towards them, tears in his eyes and crying for his mother.

The mother… But who was…? Who would even try to…? Barnes moaned in pain and almost dropped the weapon as he saw flaming red hair, felt the silkiness beneath his fingertips. Cursing in Russian he tried to hold on to sanity, or what he thought was sanity.

There were two worlds, two realities, two lives… too much. His eyes searched for the boy, his son. But he could barely see him. The level 1 target was crouching now, the shield covering the entire frame of the boy who tried to peek over it, fearful and… Oh my god… My son… How could I do this? Why? He had promised himself to be the father his child deserved, to protect him no matter what. And when he looked into those naïve eyes he remembered, and felt hatred. Zola, the Red Skull, HYDRA, his handlers, those who made him what he was, but most importantly himself. I am a danger to my own child… There was only one way out of this.

Everyone watched in disbelief as he fired few shots against the window. It was reinforced. He couldn't… "Oh no." One of them muttered as the Winter Soldier ran towards the glass, his arm ready to break through the surface. And he did.

"Jarvis?" Tony asked, his throat dry.

"Mister Barnes has reached the ground alive and moves away from my sensors."

Tony was already at Pepper's side, trying to wake her. "Hey, you okay?"

She nodded her head and regretted it. "Yeah." She sat up and rubbed her neck before the pain flared in her wrist from having the gun knocked away from it. "Nothing a couple of painkillers won't fix. I'm fine." Then she remembered. "Alexei?"

"Safe and sound with us. But Barnes has taken the shortcut." Tony deadpanned.

"Did he...?"

"No, I don't know how he managed it, but he's still out there."

"We will need Natasha…" Pepper said and showed more foresight than any of the men present currently still staring in disbelief.

"Jarvis?" Tony asked as he helped his lover up.

"I have already transferred the video feed to her phone and notified her of the emergency. As soon as she is able to hear it and act, I have an extraction ready for her."

"Can you track Barnes?" Tony asked his AI butler.

"No, he has taken off his bracelet and avoids most of the cameras I can tap into. It's difficult to follow his movements." A second passed. "I've lost him, but I'll try to scan for facial recognition. As soon as shows his face I'll notify you."

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"It was all my fault. I should have known they already put triggers words into him the first time they tortured his brain." Bruce held a pack of ice against his temples.

"As traumatic and frightful as this moment was, it helped us a lot." Tony said and pointed at the screen. "You see this? Before one part of his brain shut down and the increased activity in the other areas started there was a very strong impulse originating here. If we now consider this to be the physical location of the memory holding the trigger word, it should be possible to cut the connections."

"Cutting?" Bruce asked, not believing what he heard. "You do know that surgery is…"

"I am not talking about that. Tavor is used to treat traumatic memories so the carriers can live with them. It's not like forgetting, but there is no real emotional reaction. It could cancel out the triggers." Tony seemed very sure in his assumptions.

"Don't you think it's a little bit bold to lump together these two scenarios."

"Yes, but it is basically the same thing. We only need to be truly sure they are gone. Listen to me, since we can locate the exact area it will be easier to concentrate our efforts on it. We put Barnes to sleep first, no matter what, it must be impossible for him to move." He saw the worry in Bruce's eyes but paid them no heed. "Then we stimulate that exact point while giving him the drug. Result will be that the neurons are disconnected from the rest of the brain. We make sure the effect is as strong as possible while also sealing them off, so that nothing can ever bind to those cells anymore at all. In the end the tissue will die quickly since you need to constantly have them connected to an active brain. And just like that the programmed trigger is gone."

"It sound so easy when you say that…" Bruce heaved a sigh.

"We can make it work. Come on, I have done weirder myself. Together we'll find a way."

"Sir, Miss Romanoff has arrived."

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She shouldn't have left. Damn it. James had needed her and she couldn't be there.

"Where is he?" Natasha wanted to know as she threw down her bags before restocking the weapons she had on her person.

"Off the grit. I think he's hiding. Barnes got his memory back the moment he saw Alexei crying." Clint informed her while they walked back to the balcony.

"How is he?"

"The boy's currently asleep with Pepper watching over him. Shall I fetch him?"

"No, let him sleep while I try to fix this. I have to be fast before James can leave the country. I doubt he already has." She looked at the video feed of him regaining his memories once more before she figured out where Barnes must have fled to in this fragile state of mind.

"You know where he is?"

"I guess."

"Need help?"

"No, that would be a fruitless distraction. I have to persuade him to come back."

"You already know how to?"

Natasha gave him a bitter smile. "I'll make him remember."

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It was dark outside, rain dropping down onto the rooftop of the stolen car. He had tried to find something to hold on to before the madness overtook him once again. His way had led him to his parents' grave. Solemnly he got out of the car and ventured to his destination while the pouring rain soaked his clothes. It didn't bother the Soldier. It fits, he grimly thought.

It took him an entire hour of staring at the names on the gravestone until he finally opened his mouth. "I am a terrible father. I am a danger to my own flesh and blood."

Silence answered him.

"Today showed me that he is better off without a father like me. Dad, how did you manage this? You've raised me and before my fall I was sure I came out pretty well. "

He could almost hear his father say: Hang in there.

"I'll leave them today to a brighter future than I can provide." Barnes decided.

"I hope you pay for the child support then." Natasha's voice sounded over the graveyard. "But I'll prefer it if you came back to us."

Barnes instantly went into his fighting stance but didn't move otherwise. He watched how she slowly covered the distance and came to a halt about five feet away from him looking at his parents' gravestone, waiting for his response.

The Winter Soldier balled his fists before growling: "Natasha, you haven't seen what I did there. What I intended to do."

"You held a gun to our son's head." She saw him flinching.

He wiped the fresh tears from his cheeks that mixed with the rain still pouring down on them. "I am a threat to my own child's life."

"But you stopped yourself. You were able to fight through the programming HYDRA put inside you. If only you understood how I see you. This strength, deeply engraved in your being. I need you, James. Now more than ever. And with our help you will get better. We now know what to look out for. Bruce and Tony are already working on how to fix this, to fix you. That's what you wanted, isn't it?" She waited before unleashing her true feelings. "And I... - I don't want to raise my son without his father." she stated with a pleading undertone in her voice. "Alexei will need his father."

"He was walking today." James trembled with all the emotions inside of him.

"I saw." A step towards him, her arms outstretched to hold him if he required it.

"He spoke." He could barely say the words, his throat like sandpaper.

"I heard." Her voice a soothing caress.

"He cried." James went down to his knees.

"You will be there to dry his tears." She was behind him, her umbrella shielding them both while he gripped the earth, digging his fingers into the wet soil.

God, it hurt. It hurt so much to have a form of paradise right beneath his fingertips but a paralyzing fear of destroying that hope overshadowing it.

"Наталья... Я не могу. Хотел бы, но не могу (Natalia... I can't. I wish I could.)"

"Мы сможем это сделать. Вместе. (We can do it. Together.)"

He desperately wanted to believe her words.

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Yeah that one hurt. (I hope I got the details right. In hospital you hear a lot about meds and I thought I might put that in but of course modified.) Thank you for your votes about how this chapter would be like. I hope this came true to your wishes. I gave my best ^^

Those on FFnet who talked to me got PMs with little glimpses. Maybe I'll do it like that this time as well. I could also use another beta since I don't want to bother my current ones all the time with my weird fangirl talk XD I often give glimpses in answers to reviews on AO3 (which doesn't have its own PM option) if they made my heart swell with joy ^^

For the next one I have a new question. In between my ideas I also had a funny little scene about Natasha remembering a moment with the Winter Soldier which was a little bit more explicit.

Shall I put that in here for the rest of the scene or shall I leave it out with them returning right away?

I hope I can finish the next chapter soon but I'll be in hospital again and have no wifi, so it might take a bit.