It's been nine days since watching IW on the opening night, six days since watching it a second time and I'm still processing. It was incredible though. If you haven't seen it yet, you need to! For those that have seen it, I have a plan for THAT. I'll make it better. I'll be using this story line but it might take awhile as I still need to finish Civil War and get through Black Panther. But I will do something about THAT. You know what I'm talking about. Underlined and italics are mental Sokovian, italics is spoken Sokovian.
I was in a big hurry last time so time for shout outs to those followed, favorited, alerted and reviewed both chapter 5 and 6: AnimeGamerGirl23, Sammy006, kinky-kitsune, wolfwithattitude, Jazmine Cruz, 3, and AinsleeRose. Thanks guys! Onward…
Leaving his sister by herself went against his instinct but he knew she could take care of herself. Natasha had made sure Wanda was trained in hand to hand in case she happened to find herself unable to use her scarlet. She'd be fine. Right now Pietro had to get to Clint.
During the Ultron incident Pietro's feelings toward the archer had changed from antagonistic to friendly. Their friendship had changed drastically enough for Pietro to risk his life to save the older man. A risk he had almost paid.
That day on Sokovia, when Ultron was firing toward Clint and the boy in his arms, Pietro barely had time to think before he was rushing to reach the pair. At the last second the silver-haired twin changed his mind from pushing them to safety to full-out tackling them. He remembered a flash of pain before crashing into the other two, sending the trio tumbling and smacking into a dumpster.
Clint had automatically put the unharmed child aside to check on him, finding several bullet holes that Pietro had been pressing against to help stop the bleeding. He'd given a weak smirk, asking the archer if he'd seen that coming, as a throwback to their very first interaction. Then he'd passed out, the sound of Wanda wailing in his head being the last thing he'd heard.
Pietro had woken up six days later, in pain and weak, in a room within Avengers Tower. Wanda and Jamie, only four months old, had spent that time in his hospital room watching over him. He remained critical for two more days before they'd gotten word that Doctor Cho had managed to fix the cradle. He'd spend a little less than nine hours in the metal cocoon before he'd been released, whole and healthy.
In the aftermath Pietro, Wanda, and his niece had stayed at the Barton's farm, the peaceful environment much different than the chaos the twins had been use to in their war torn country. In those months Clint and his family had become precious to the Sokovian twins, the bond requited enough for the archer and his wife to come to Pietro, asking permission to use his name for their own son. It was because of this bond that pushed Pietro to run as fast as he could to get to their surrogate father figure.
He arrived back at the airport, hidden in the shadows of a hanger as he looked about. There were cars with flashing lights to signify the presence of the authorities but also several medical vehicles. There were others, government-types in suits and speaking on phones or walkie-talkies. Vision and T'Challa were talking to a small collection of them but Pietro didn't see Natasha or Peter anywhere. Tony Stark was at one of the ambulances, worried and hovering over a conscious Colonel Rhodes as he was loaded up into the back of the vehicle.
He spotted Sam and Scott walking away from a different ambulance flanked by four men in uniforms and two other men in suits. Which left Clint behind to be tended to by the medics and babysat by four policemen and five suits. Pietro had to smirk at the precautions around Clint. It seemed they were taking his reputation seriously. The medics wouldn't be a problem so he would need to focus on the nine others that guarded the old man. He did another quick cursory glance before he blurred.
It took milliseconds to scatter the men and appear at Clint's side, causing an uproar among the law enforcement overseeing everything. Using his enhanced momentum Pietro easily broke apart the older man's cuffs and grabbed him about the waist to carry him off.
Before he could move the familiar sound that he had heard assault Wanda earlier rang and echoed in his own head, sharp and painful. He let go of Clint, the two men crying out as they crumbled to the floor. It became a flurry of activity around the pair, hands grabbing at Pietro to turn him over on his stomach. Even in pain he lashed out, hitting a few bodies before someone dug prongs into his side and he locked up as the currents raced through his muscles.
His legs were clamped together with his hands pulled against the small of his back and bound together. Once he was tied up the sound waves blasting in his head stopped and he let out a harsh breath.
"Pi…ro! Wh…rong?"
Wanda was trying to communicate with him but her telepathy still wasn't working. She had to be panicking. Rough hands lifted him up off the cement and to his feet, though he was hardly able to stand on his own properly. Looking around he found Clint with Vision several feet away, the blonde man having blood trailing from his ears and his hearing aids in Vision's hands while a medic looked him over. The sound waves would have no doubt affected the small pieces of technology, possibly causing even more damage to what little hearing the archer had left.
"Pie...? Tell me…happ…ng? Ar...ou…ay?"
Pietro watched as Tony Stark came over, roughly shouldering past the man who still carried the hand-held device that had blasted the sound waves at Pietro and Clint.
Pietro tried to be as direct as possible so Wanda wouldn't mistake what he was saying. "Go. Run." Ironman was getting closer, only a few people away now.
"Pietr…?"
"Go Wanda. Run. Go!"
He severed their connection just as Stark stepped in front of him. Last thing he wanted was for Wanda to hear what would happen to him.
"Pietro, listen to me." The bearded man was speaking lowly, eyeing the others surrounding them. "Where's Wanda?"
Pietro narrowed his eyes but refused to make a sound.
Stark frowned and the Sokovian could tell he was getting frustrated. "Don't do this Pietro. If they find her, if they find-" Pietro raised an eyebrow at Tony. He'd cut himself off from saying Jamie's name. The inventor regrouped and tried again. "Ross isn't playing around. This will be bad if they find her first. So please, tell me. Where's Wanda?"
Pietro stared back, unwavering. He wasn't going to say a thing. And the others around them knew it. The hands holding his upper arms started to steer him away and he didn't resist, ignoring Stark calling out to him.
It was a little more than eight hours later that Pietro watched, lying on the cot in his cell with his back against the wall and facing outward, as Stark walked into the circular room with some hesitancy. The older man refused to look at them, instead gazing up and about the metal prison. Until Clint's clapping made him look. Stark disappeared to the right of his cell, talking to the old man on the far end of the line.
Closing his eyes and leaning his head back Pietro listened as the two men talked, perking up when Clint mentioned his name. He paid attention, only arching an eyebrow when hearing Clint's loud warning about Stark.
He heard the footsteps, echoing in the room, drawing closer. Scott on his immediate right gave another warning of his own about trusting Stark and Pietro had to agree with the man. The footfalls were right in front of his cage now and instead of them continuing on like he wanted them to, they stopped.
"Pietro?"
The Sokovian refused to move an inch, keeping his eyes closed.
"Pietro, just tell me if everything's alright?"
Pietro almost snorted. He knew what Stark was fishing for. Everyone on the team knew about Pietro and Wanda's telepathic connection and that's what he was asking about. Except he hadn't talked to Wanda since the airport. Hadn't been able to. He could feel her faintly in the back of his head, enough to know she was alive but any type of communication or empathy between them wasn't possible. They were too far apart.
"Pietro, come on, give me something. I wanna protect Wanda too, same as you."
Eyes snapping open Pietro moved his feet off the bed to the floor of his cell, making sure Stark saw the manacles they had placed on his ankles. They measured friction and temperature but also a few others things no doubt, making sure he didn't use his speed. Because if he did, they would sense it and he'd be electrocuted. Again.
Stark frowned at the clamps around his ankles and Pietro had to bite back the smile of satisfaction at seeing his distress. He got up and stopped a few feet from the glass wall that separated the two of them. "You want to know?" He wasn't sure if Ross had a translator but since he was speaking out loud, he didn't want to make it any easier. F.R.I.D.A.Y, he knew, would translate his Sokovian for Stark.
"I'll tell you one thing. Stark." The other man frowned at the way Pietro had said his name, which had been his intention. The Sokovian was using the same tone he had when he'd been against the Avengers during Ultron. He stared at Tony for several seconds, blue eyes drilling into brown ones before he tilted his head down. And spat on the glass at the man's shoes.
He turned away from Tony, heading back to his cot. He faced the other way this time as he laid down in the center of his mattress, hands folded on his stomach and feet up on the wall, crossed over each other.
After a few seconds Stark's footfalls resumed, heading to the other side of Pietro, to Sam's cell.
"Pietro seems to be in a chatty mood."
Sam snorted. "Considering those are the first words he's spoken since the airport, yeah he's a motor mouth." It was quiet for a breath. "How's Rhodes?"
Pietro strained to hear Stark's words but he was gladden by the news that the Colonel would only need rest to recover. If Wanda and him hadn't been there, it could have been much worse. Listening further Pietro smiled at Sam's loyalty when Stark asked where Steve had gone. Though they hadn't told the rest of the team they would be disappearing, he knew they would rather die than give out information that could get Wanda and Jamie captured.
Pietro nearly sat up when hearing that the inventor had blocked the audio for the cameras. He stayed lying down but was tense and strained to hear every little thing that was said. Stark had finally learned that the Soldier had been interrogated by the wrong man. Pietro scoffed under his breath. The security for the CIA must be horrible. Did they not verify identity before letting whoever into their building?
More murmurings from next door. Sam got a promise from Stark before he spoke of Siberia and the other Winter Soldiers, the coordinates to the Hydra bunker. He thanked Sam before walking away, past his room, and Pietro couldn't resist.
"You should have listened to us."
The footfalls faltered only a step before they became sturdier and faded away.
~~~Mirage~~~
Landing the camouflaged quinjet in the private airstrip Steve helped Bucky unbuckle and both of them made their way down the ramp, tender from the various bruises adorning their body. Bucky had quickly adapted to his altered equilibrium, walking on his own on Steve's left.
One spot over on the tarmac was T'Challa, dressed in black and standing with several of his advisers and female guards, his own Wakandian aircraft displayed behind them.
He'd found the Brooklyn boys in Siberia, struggling to escape the Hydra base before Tony could get his suit to work. There had been panic at the thought they might have to face off with the royal man but he'd showed no aggression, his first words to them being a formal apology to Bucky for trying to kill him. He'd found Zemo and had the man tied up in his own plane, ready to be taken back and brought to justice.
Steve had asked, practically begged him to take Tony as well. Regardless of everything that had happened Steve still considered the inventor a dear friend and didn't want to leave him behind. T'Challa had readily agreed and surprised the two super soldiers with an unexpected and near impossible gift. Sanctuary in Wakanda for Steve and Bucky along with his teammates. It only took a shared glance for them to agree.
So now, a couple of days after T'Challa had handed over Zemo to the authorities, they were meeting to switch jets to avoid detection.
Reaching the group assembled Steve gave a grateful smile and reached out a hand. "Your Highness, thank very much for your generosity."
T'Challa smiled, grasping Steve's hand. "We have fought against each other on the battlefield when I was mislead, consumed by vengeance, and wanted the death of your friend. I think at this point, you may certainly call me T'Challa, Captain."
Steve smiled. "As long as you call me Steve."
T'Challa nodded and turned his attention to Bucky, offering the man his hand in greeting. "Sergeant Barnes. Once again I apologize for my…regretful behavior. I am ashamed I let my mind leave me and acted out irrationally."
His old friend gave a quick, tired smile. "Bucky. And all things considered, your reaction was completely rational. Besides, not the first time someone's tried to kill me."
Steve chuckled, filled with joy at seeing the lopsided smirk on Bucky's face as he joked. No matter what Hydra had done to him, deep down it was still Bucky, his brother in all but blood.
T'Challa laughed with Buck at the quip before turning to gesture at the sleek Wakandian jet. "Whenever you are ready, we can depart to Wakanda."
Steve stepped forward. "Would it be alright if I made a few phone calls? We have a couple teammates in the wind we need to pick up."
T'Challa looked thoughtful. "The woman and the silver-haired one?" Steve nodded. "Unfortunately the male tried to collect Barton at the airport after the battle. He was arrested with the others but there has been nothing on the woman."
Steve frowned. That sounded like Pietro. He knew how important Clint was to the small Sokovian family. It also meant Wanda had been on her own with Jamie for a few days. She could handle herself just fine but he still worried. His plan was for Pietro to watch out for them and get them away from danger before they had to face it.
"Wanda and her brother, Pietro. Would it be alright for me to call her and for us to pick her up?"
T'Challa nodded. "Of course, I meant what I said Steve, sanctuary for you and your teammates." He turned to one of his advisors, a fierce looking woman who handed him a sleek, black cell phone. "Untraceable."
Steve accepted the piece of technology, the design looking more technologically advanced than even Tony's inventions. He pressed in the phone number that would take him through several loops just to reach his wayward teammate and her daughter. That was fine with him though, it was to keep his friends safe. But now it was time to bring them home.
~~~Mirage~~~
It'd only been a couple hours since Steve had finally gotten the location of Wanda and they were now less than half an hour out. The thought was making Bucky nervous, the Solider within him uneasy. This would be the first time to be around the Sokovian female without Hydra or some kind of crisis about to take place, nothing to distract from their history. A history Bucky was horrified by.
The first time he'd seen Wanda, he'd been in Peru, eating dinner in his ratty apartment. The television set was older, early to mid nineties, but it did its job and that'd been good enough for Bucky. He wasn't one for television but he used it to monitor the news stations. If someone caught sight of him, it was sure to be on the news. Not tonight though.
The news anchor was talking about the Ultron attack in Sokovia, continents away from his location. He'd been about to change the channel when he'd seen Steve in one of the videos. He saw the rest of the Avengers here and there, fighting the metal soldiers as they attacked the city. At one point he'd seen a brief flash of color zoom by, too quick to be caught by the human eye. But Bucky wasn't a regular human.
He'd see the silhouette, the platinum hair of the man as he ran by in the video. His head had started aching then, his breathing coming fast. Bucky recognized him from somewhere. When Wanda was featured on screen, hands glowing red as she tore robots apart, his head felt like it'd been split open.
He ended up blacking out for a day and a half, coming out of his trance weak and remembering more of his time as Hydra's weapon. How they'd used him to hurt Wanda. The memory were there but he could never stomach remembering it completely, cutting off at him pinning her to the floor with his metal arm as the other reached for her pants.
Bucky turned away from Steve and T'Challa so they wouldn't see him tremble, see how pale, cold and clammy, he'd gotten. He couldn't get sick, not here. He pushed back the nausea and worked on regulating his breathing. It was two years later but her cries and pleas had stuck with him. Every day, several times a day, he heard her in his head. He didn't try to fight it. He deserved to be punished.
And here they were, going to pick her up and retreat to Wakanda. He needed to talk to her, say something. He wondered if she remembered? Of course she did. It was a stupid notion. Unlike him who had forgotten for awhile, she wouldn't have. Not something like that. He had to wonder how she'd stomached being near him at the airport. He remembered when he saw her in person. He'd stepped out of the small blue car in the parking garage, evaluating the people Steve had called for aid.
The unassuming dark blonde man was impressive. He didn't have the look of a fighter and Bucky had thought that was brilliant. No one would be wary of him, until it was too late. The silver-haired man was there, standing a few feet next to the blonde one, Clint. Bucky remembered him, Wanda's brother, and apparently so did he. The twin, Pietro, had hide it fairly well, enough that the others had no idea, except maybe Clint who had given him a quick yet intense once-over
Pietro had glared at him as soon as they made eye contact and Bucky could only look away, down at his shoes as he worked to keep from curling into a ball. He knew. Pietro knew what he'd done. But then Pietro had shifted to the side and the sight of Wanda had Bucky locking up and nearly flinching back.
Dressed in dark clothing with brown hair in waves around her shoulders, she'd said her hellos to Steve and Sam before shifting her sight to him. He'd held his breath, chest feeling tight and hands slightly shaking as her green eyes took him in. But the hate and disgust that he expected wasn't there. She had some kind of emotion in her eyes but he wasn't sure what it was. One thing he did pick up on was the recognition. She remembered, and that made Bucky want to hide away.
During the rest of the introduction and planning, he'd kept looking over at her, waiting to see if she was upset by his presence. But she didn't show any outward discomfort with him being near, if anything he could feel her own gaze, curious-like, on him when he wasn't actively looking. They'd caught each other's eyes a couple times but all she'd done was offer a small smile each time. Bucky hated himself for that. He didn't deserve any shred of positively from her.
Apparently he wasn't being as sneaky as he thought he was in his observation. Clint had glanced at the pair multiple times, expression betraying nothing to his thinking of what was going on. Bucky could tell he was important to the twins, older brother or father figure, and that made him nervous. The other one was a surprise.
Scott, the new recruit, had given him a double take before looking over at Wanda. He tried to be subtle but Bucky had caught him studying her and then turning eyes over on him. The New Yorker always acted like he didn't see but he watched from the corner of his eye. What was Scott thinking when he looked at him? Looked at Wanda?
He knew he was all over the news, the anchors talking about what he'd done under Hydra's control, all the killings. He deserved it, he'd done all those things. But not Wanda. Bucky was surprised by the flare of protectiveness and he worked to keep it under control. He had no right but he couldn't help it. Even in the far corner of his mind the Soldier was upset by Scott.
It was Wanda's actions during the battle that had confused him and yet given him hope. T'Challa had had him, vibranium claws out and intent on ripping Bucky's throat to shreds when the man's hand had been covered in the red glow. Bucky glanced over and saw Wanda standing a good forty to fifty feet to his left and she'd flung the royalty away from him. He watched his opponent go flying and he'd turned back to give her a nod of thanks but saw Natasha tackle her to the ground. It nearly had the Soldier breaking free.
He gotten up and ran over to get the red-haired woman off the Sokovian but found he didn't need to help. Wanda had released a blast of red energy that sent the other woman across the tarmac. He only had a moment to relax when he'd noticed Colonel Rhodes flying in their direction.
The Soldier broke free for a second, using the serum's speed to nearly materialize next to Wanda. He'd tucked her against their chest, using the metal arm to cover them. Both the Soldier and Bucky had been angry at Rhodes for shooting at Wanda but they'd relaxed when realizing it was only rubber bullets. The Soldier receded and Bucky returned, trying to block as much of Wanda with his body as he could. The hard rubber bullets stung but he ignored the pain.
A second later Wanda had created a shield to cover them, then using it as a battering ram against the metal suit. At that point they'd both looked at each other, Bucky suddenly realizing how close they were. He'd froze, only able to give a stiff nod to Wanda's own thanks. It was when she ran off that he was able to breath again. Of course, his breath left him again when the group had discussed giving up so Steve and him could escape. It meant she would be at the mercy of the authorities. He'd wanted to object but it didn't seem appropriate. He could only bit his tongue and go along with the plan.
The Soldier had almost come back when they'd heard Wanda scream out in pain behind them as they ran, her red energy net disappearing. He'd looked back and seen the brunette curled up on the floor, sonic waves crashing over her form from the War Machine's gauntlet. Both Bucky and Soldier had cursed, one in English the other in Spanish. But they couldn't stop and had ran the last feet as quickly as their serum allowed. They'd caught a faint glance of Pietro as he ran past Bucky and Steve so he knew she was taken care of but he had still stressed about it.
He'd heard the Sokovian language in his ear, them talking about leaving the airport and he'd hoped that they had gotten away but it seemed Clint was important to the duo. Important enough for Pietro to risk getting caught. Which he had.
"There it is. They said we can land in the field in front of the house."
Bucky was up and next to Steve, looking out the window as they came up on a white house with green accents surrounded by farm land. It was in the middle of nowhere, with neighbors over five miles away in any direction. The pilot maneuvered the craft to descend. Bucky was running out of time.
"Steve?" Both T'Challa and Steve looked over at him and he worked hard to keep his nerves. This could possibly be his one chance. "I need to talk to Wanda for a few minutes. Alone."
Steve was confused but he nodded. "Let me ask." He gazed off, mentally reaching out for the Sokovian.
They had explained to him that Wanda was a type of telepath which scared him. His mind was a mess and he didn't want her to see what he'd done. It's one thing to hear about it but another to actually witness it.
"She says go head, she'll be in the living room. She'll call when the talk is over so you got time." Steve nodded at Bucky, patting him on the shoulder.
That gave him some confidence and he walked down the ramp, making his way through the field to the dirt road that led to the house. What little courage he had was slowly dwindling as he got closer. The house was a two story with a small porch, one lone wicker chair occupying the deck. He could hear children playing in the back of the house, remembering that the homeowners had children. He also marveled at the stealth of the Wakandian airship. No one had reacted to their landing. Finally he reached the door, slowly opening and easing into the house.
He froze in the door way, hand gripping the knob as the brunette rose from the couch. Soldier and him both noticed how stiff she was and the large bruise that colored her chest, their combined protective instincts rising. She was hurt, still healing from the fight with the others.
She smiled softly at him. "Hello James."
There you go. It may be one or two more chapters, maybe three, after this and then its done with Black Panther afterward. That one will probably be shorter. I can finally work on jinXed. How do we feel about this one? Let me know guys! Peace out. -Mez
