Jumpchain order: Forget The Rails, Joker's Wild, You're A Shinigami, Ninja Grandpa, Not Another Harry Potter Story and then this.

...

"It's your turn," I remarked, carefully watching as Bucky idly fidgeted with the wristband around his arm, his gaze locked onto it as his expression twitched every now and then.

The two of us were currently situated inside one of Fury's more secure facilities, currently playing a simple game of chess- Well, I was playing it, Bucky was halfheartedly paying any attention. Every so often his gaze would meander towards one of the side doors. One that led to Captain America and Nick Fury discussing the next plan of action.

So far, thanks to Pierce, Fury had managed to capture most of the man's direct underlings, leaving a vacuum of sorts in the guy's office- Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton were already en route towards the President himself if only to explain the current going-ons.

Thanks to the Truth seal, Alexander had been willing to admit to not having put (yet) said man under Hydra's influence.

Of course, given the secretive nature of the whole ordeal, all of it was to be kept under strict confidentiality rules- At least until Captain America helped give the rest of America enough of an excuse as to explain the current and future arrest of some of the most powerful people in the states.

For my own part, I'd just wanted to continue on going around to arrest everyone, but after the last attempt- One that involved Pierce's main aide, they figured a more careful approach would be necessary.

Not to mention the fact Pierce had openly admitted to the fact, even without the rest of Hydra knowing of what was actually going on, there were plenty of failsafes for hypothetical scenarios.

Most of them involved highly defensible locations and a lot of guns and bombs.

Unfortunately, Nick Fury refused to let me go along myself, out of fear for my 'safety' as it were. Something Steve Rogers, to my chagrin, agreed with.

And here I'd thought the fact I wouldn't be working with them post-Hydra cleansing would've been enough to convince them to let me 'risk' it anyway.

I wasn't exactly worried myself, as I doubted any of them had the means to put me down, but that wasn't really easy to explain to the fuckers. Particularly with the fact the last capture attempt had ended with me taking several bullets to the chest. And frankly, the only thing that actually hurt about the whole ordeal was my pride in having to literally dig them out in front of spectators.

The doctor on hand had been horrified to say the least.

Tony Stark on the other hand was currently cleaning up after Hydra's most damaging actions overseas, by being Iron Man.

From installed guerilla forces to massive terrorist organizations, thanks to the Truth seals, he and Fury had managed to figure out a whole load of bullshit that Hydra was responsible for.

As of right now, Steve Roger was currently trying to either figure out a way to avoid the coming spectacle or actually focusing on what he intended to say to America in a live statement.

Bucky meanwhile, refused to make a move. The guy quite literally throwing the game as he let me take important piece after piece from his side of the board.

"Is it supposed to be doing this?" Bucky questioned morosely as he raised his gaze at me. "I am slowly remembering what I... did as their soldier... But the feelings are..." He shook his head. "I should feel a lot more guilty than this..." He stated, tugging at the wristband. "If I took this off... What would-"

"You'd probably have a panic attack," I answered easily. "You know, the kind that lands you in therapy."

His eyes narrowed the slightest at the words, his tugging growing in effort for a brief moment before he stopped altogether. "Would the memories come back all at once?"

"Probably," I shrugged, leaning back on my chair. "If you keep it on, they'll all come back slowly, but- It shouldn't leave any scar on your psyche, for lack of a better word," I added on, watching his expression. Watching as it narrowed for a moment, a conflicted look taking over his face. "If all goes well, you should be good as- Well, before you fell off that train or whatever it was that ended up with Stevie thinking you died."

"That's not fair for them..." He shook his head again. "That's too easy..." He bit his lip, the hint of a tear filling the right side of his face.

"Steve insisted on it."

"Because you offered it to him."

"He's a good judge of character you know-"

"I know that! But-"

"Hey," I reached a hand out towards the man's metal arm momentarily before retracting it and leaning back on my chair. "Don't beat yourself up over it. What you did as the Winter Soldier, was never you. You wanna help make amends? Go ahead. That wristband isn't gonna make you forget any of it."

He raised his gaze towards me, defiant eyes staring into my own.

"That doesn't-"

I rolled my eyes, earning a more genuine twitch out of the man. "Look whining about it isn't gonna help anyone. I know you wouldn't have done all that if not for Hydra so there's no reason for you to punish yourself over it."

He began shaking his head again at me, once again tugging at the wristband with his metal hand, though never actually making any attempt to remove it.

"It's a lot easier to make amends when you're not feeling sorry for yourself about it you know? Also helps stop you from doing anything else you might regret in the future out of some stupid idea of atonement."

He took in my words for a moment before he scoffed at me, leaning back into his own chair as his gaze lowered itself towards the board on the table between us.

"You're a terrible therapist."

"There's a reason I don't have a license." I snorted.

"...How'd you know about me, anyway?"

"I'll tell you all about that once you stop acting like a disgruntled little princess."

Another tick appeared on his face along with a strained smile.

"Douche."

I nodded at him for the word. "Smartest thing you've said so far."

He promptly picked up his king's piece and threw it at me.

"Your turn." He deadpanned.

I rolled my eyes at him and promptly placed the caught piece back onto the board in the same space.

"I am just going to assume you just don't have the brain cells for this game-" And before I could make a show of packing said game up, Bucky promptly picked up another piece and moved it properly. "Look at that, you do understand."

"Tch, get on with i-" He winced again as the wristband continued on with its work. Though this time he at least made an attempt to hide his discomfort. "-t,"

I rolled my eyes and obliged him as I moved my knight's piece.

The two of us settled into a momentary lapse of silence as we continued on with the game. Both of us not necessarily interested in finishing it, as much as wasting time until Steve Rogers came back out of the room.

"You really fine with letting Steve take credit?" Bucky eventually questioned, curious, as he spun around one of his castle pieces.

"Sure, why not?" I shrugged. "Figured America would be more receptive to hearing about the conspiracy from him. Plus it'd probably make more sense to them if it came from the Captain America."

"...Why?"

I considered the question for a moment, my expression changing the slightest as I locked gazes with the other. "...The only one that can usually tell somethings up is the one that's not really from around here, or you know from the past. Everyone else would be too comfortable in their delusions to notice."

"...I meant why are you fine with it? Your disparaging opinion of my country aside."

"...'cos I don't really care?" I stated bemused. "Can't do much with the credit you know, besides make a ton of enemies?"

"...It'd make you famous for something, could make you wealthy? Wouldn't have to take Stark's charity then."

I snorted in response.

Tony Stark loved bringing up the fact I worked for him it seemed.

"If I wanted money, I would've just robbed Wakanda. Besides, fame isn't all it's cracked up to be. All it really does is give you more responsibilities. And I am really bad when it comes to that."

He blinked at my choice of words, his mouth briefly opening up to retort-

"Like, if I'd been in his shoes in that bomber plane? And had to decide if I wanted to stop that plane and definitely give up my love life for it? I would've just jumped out and risked it all for the pus-"

He threw another chess piece at me.

"Language."

I rolled my eyes in response.

"I am kidding. but I would've still jumped out. Time-travel via popsicle is not my style."

"...A lot of people could've died-" Bucky remarked with a frown, not at all appreciating my joke.

"You'd be surprised as to how temporary death can really be..." I remarked, grinning at the other.

"...What, are you Gandalf or something?"

"Bitch, I might be."

He stared at me for a moment before letting out a tired sigh. "...You're crazier than I am."

I was pleased to note there was the barest hint of amusement in his voice. Or maybe that was just relief?

In hindsight, if I was in his shoes, meeting someone possibly more deranged than I was, would certainly help.

"Crazy's subjective, I like to think I am just a black belt when it comes to not giving a fuck."

"...Not giving a fuck about what?"

"Yes." I deadpanned.

...

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