Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, Disney ABC or the Avengers.
I didn't leave my Father's for a month after that. Steve knew I needed time with him, and didn't pressure me to come home. I was starting to feel his distrust of SHIELD and I was happy I left when I did. My father and Pepper got married, after my father realized how stupid he was for not proposing earlier. I was the maid of honor for Pepper, as we had grown much closer since we first met.
It was a small ceremony, just the Avengers, Uncle Rhodey and the minister in attendance. Thor had recently gotten back from Asgard, now living with Jane in London. It was on the cliff where my Dad's Malibu mansion had once stood. Sometimes you had to take a house down to the foundation, before you could rebuild.
When I did get back to Washington, Pepper had put me to work as liaison of SI to the government. It was a huge jump as I had next to no experience at SI. She was confident in me, and knew she wasn't going to stay forever. I was in charge of appearing before the Senate, and dealing with government lawyers. It was my least favorite thing to do, but I was good at it. Steve had taken me to the Smithsonian one day after he got back from a mission, to sneak through his own exhibit.
"Want to see what people think of you?" I said from under the brim of my hat.
"I just don't want to forget where I came from," He said as we walked through. Seeing a video of Peggy made me smile. She was a beauty, and I know why Steve liked her.
"And I know I haven't shown you a picture yet, but I thought you'd look him up in the SHIELD datebase." Steve said pointing to a picture of him and a brown haired man.
"That's Bucky," He smiled. I focused on the picture, noting the flashback it gave me. Shaking it from my head, I looked at the man's face. I saw his eyes, and froze.
"Hey," He said, shaking my arm gently.
"We should probably be heading to the airport." I said, barely swallowing. My mouth had gone dry, and I felt clammy.
"Are you okay?" He asked, taking me aside of the crowd.
"Just a flashback. I'll be fine." I said, as we left the exhibit. He left me at the airport with a kiss, heading home on his bike. We spoke when I got to the Tower, only for him to tell me Fury had been at our place, and had died from gunshot wounds.
"Did you know about Insight?" He asked quietly. I was happy he was using a payphone, because they were harder to trace.
"I was heading up design of the Helicarriers, until I quit. I petitioned that it be shut down, but Fury went ahead with it. Said something about scaring the snakes from the grass. I wasn't too thrilled with my job at that point," I said, sad that he was gone.
"Okay. Thank you for being honest with me."
"Did you catch the shooter?" I asked, flipping on the water for some tea.
"No. He caught my shield though, which was odd. Some guy with a metal arm. Natasha calls him the Winter Soldier," he said, to which the phone slipped from my hands. I couldn't feel myself breathing, and Jarvis called Dad, when he noticed my distress. I could hear Steve shouting my name through the phone, as I hyperventilated. I had flashback after flashback and I couldn't come up for air. I felt whatever breath I had, knocked out of me as I hit the floor, darkness overtaking my vision.
"Easy there," I heard when I came to.
"What happened?" I asked, holding my aching head.
"From what I could tell, you passed out from lack of oxygen. Probably a panic attack, but you were too close to the counter, because you hit your head before you landed." Bruce said, gently touching the bandage on my temple.
"Steve," I said sitting up.
"Tony had him on the phone when I came down. He was telling him you were resting. Steve mentioned you had flashbacks earlier yesterday." Bruce said, giving me a searching look.
"Someone I thought was in my past, was a lot closer than I thought." I said, thinking about those haunting blue eyes.
"Oh." Bruce said, nodding as he changed the dressing.
"Has Steve called since?" I asked, as Dad came towards the couch they had me on.
"Your phone has been called from different numbers, but none were Steve's."
"Did you forget how often Steve breaks his phone?" I asked sarcastically. I didn't receive a call, in fact, I didn't hear from Steve at all, until I saw the news. I watched as the Helicarriers crashed into the Potomac with horror. Dad and Bruce came when I screamed. I could see Steve falling from the highest one.
"I need to go," I said, feeling my face, wet from tears I didn't know I was crying. My Dad gave me one of his suits that he had designed for me on a whim. It was purple and silver. I had been given a crash course after we found each other, because he wanted to share that part of his life with me.
Landing on the riverbank, I ran to Steve, stepping out of the suit before I reached him. I paused when I saw a shadow at the tree line, and shook slightly.
"Yasha," I breathed. He stepped forward, but then stopped. Looking from Steve's unconscious form to my face, he looked conflicted.
"If you don't remember me, that's okay." I said, kneeling next to Steve, checking for a pulse. It was faint, but there. Sighing in relief, I let my tears fall.
"ангел," I heard whispered.
"I know him," I heard, to which I said, "Yes. This is Steve. He's your best friend. You were taken by Hydra, and turned into a weapon. From what I can tell you really don't remember, so they must have tried to reset your memories."
"Why can't I remember?" He said, punching a tree with his metal arm.
"I could help you." I said, taking Steve's head into my lap, "If you wanted."
"How?" He said, obviously in emotional pain.
"I have a… gift. I help people focus their minds. I think that is what you need right now." I said, thinking about the nights we spent together.
"I remember you. How soft you were," he said, almost reaching out to touch me.
"I want to help you. But I first need to get Steve to a hospital," I said, noting his injuries.
"I gave him most of those," he said, not proud, but not ashamed either.
"You know where we live. I'll be there later tonight." I said, backing up into the suit, and picking Steve up.
"Stay safe," I said, feeling an odd stirring in my stomach. Taking off, I held Steve as close as I could to the suit. He didn't move and the tears wouldn't stop. Landing in front of the hospital, I called out, "I need a stretcher out here!"
"We'll take him from here Mr. Stark," someone said, before I let myself out of the suit.
"That's Miss Stark actually." I said, 'parking' it. Following them in, I stopped to fill out paperwork as they took him into surgery. I told them that he would heal as they worked, but they still were adamant. Natasha and an African American man came in, as I headed to the waiting area.
"Where is he?" Nat said, hugging me.
"Uh, where you should be. Getting checked out by doctors!" I said pushing her towards the emergency room, and pulling the guy along too.
"I need full work ups on these two!" I shouted, to which several doctors came forward.
"I need to speak to the Chief of Surgery, or whoever runs this hospital. NOW!" I said, scaring a few nurses.
"Yes ma'am," someone said as I watched Natasha. She looked like she wanted to hurt everyone who was touching her.
"I'm Sam," the man said. Holding out my hand, he shook it as I said, "Sera. I see Steve made a new friend. He mentioned you."
"Make sure she stays until they tell her she is free to go," I said, giving Natasha the eye.
Someone directed me down the hall, and I didn't bother to thank them. I spoke to the man in charge of the hospital, and he assured me that the media would never know, and the police would only be allowed to ask questions. As they had initially caused the fight to start, the government would hold them responsible. But it was to take down Hydra in the first place.
I approached our apartment that night, after they told me Steve was in recovery. I needed some sleep, and after Sam had been cleared, he promised to stay by Steve's bedside, and let me know if he woke up.
"Sera," I heard a voice say as I walked up to the door.
"Hi," I said, as he came up to me.
"I want your help," he said in a gruff tone.
"Come inside," I said, moving to unlock the door to the building. He followed me quietly. The only sound was of his boots and my suit, as we walked up the stairs. Entering the apartment, I sighed seeing the blood stain on the floor, and the window next to the kitchen boarded up. Taking a small device out of my pocket, I pressed the button, grinning when I heard several small pops. Natasha said that SHIELD had bugged our apartment, and I was glad I had been tinkering with this before I got the news.
"I want to first say that this is a big step." I said, sitting down on the couch. He sat down on the armchair, looking at me curiously.
"This won't hurt physically. You may feel mentally drained afterwards, and it may hurt emotionally. But I'm here to help you through that." I said, giving him a timid smile. It felt so weird seeing him after a year and a half. His hair was still the same unkempt style, but I wanted to see how he would look with it tied back.
Refocusing I exclaimed, "Okay! I need you to close your eyes." Doing as he was asked proved difficult when he was programed to be vigilant.
"I promise, if you hear a noise other than my breathing, my voice, or the sounds outside, you can open and react. I have no intentions to hurt you," I said, sitting back.
"I think I can trust you," he said, looking me straight in the eyes.
"Please, focus. Close your eyes," I said, bringing my voice to a soothing tone.
"Let your mind wander. Don't focus on one memory this may bring up. Embrace them all, as they are apart of you." I said, watching as his eyes closed.
"Think back to a time where Hydra was not your employer. A simpler time, even during the war. Two young men both wanted to serve their country, only one of them was able to enlist," I said, watching his reaction. He twitched, and I thought I saw a ghost of a smile.
"What do you think happens next?" I asked, fingering the emerald that sat around my neck.
"Punk gets beat up, I rescue him." He said, with ease.
"What does the Punk do?" I asked, realizing this was going better than I imagined.
"He joins the army. And gets taller," He said, a snort coming from his mouth. His answers were minutes apart form my questions, so I knew he was thinking them over carefully.
"He does. What happened after that?"
"He rescues me, and a lot of others. We form a group, and try to take down… Hydra." There was a pregnant pause after this, and I could hear the gears turning in his head.
"Good, good. Now this might be hard. Tell me about the train." I said, watching his face contort in fear. His breathing gets labored, I try hard not to touch him in his trance.
"Snowy mountain pass. Deep gorge to a river below. Punk, he tried to catch me. I fell," he said, absently rubbing the spot where his arm should have been.
"What do you remember after you fell?" I asked quietly.
"Someone dragging me. There was blood in the snow, trailing from my left side."
"They gave you another arm." I said, noticing the way he flexed it in front of his face, without opening his eyes.
"They shocked me. Told me who I was, and what I did. They kept shocking me until I believed them, until I did what they asked of me." He said, sounding less gruff.
"I knew in the back of my mind somewhere that this wasn't my life," he continued. He was no longer forcing words out, but they fell easily from his lips.
"I met a woman, who made me feel things I'd never felt before. Or that I could remember. And then that man, Punk, called me by my name."
"What is your name?" I asked, snapping my fingers. His eyes opened slowly, shy and unsure. They met mine, and he smiled.
"Bucky. James Buchanan Barnes," he said, looking relieved.
"I've been screaming in there since they took me." He breathed out, tears building up and spilling over.
"The things I did," He cried. Moving to rest on the arm of the chair, I rubbed his back as he let out all the negative emotions.
"Thank you," he said, hugging my midsection. I patted down his hair soothingly, whispering, "It was my pleasure. Steve has his best friend back, and you have your mind back."
"I can think again!" He laughed.
"Where's Steve?" He asked, sobering up quickly.
"He's at the hospital," I said, checking my phone.
"Oh," He replied, remembering that he was the one that put him in the hospital.
"I think right now, there is one thing that would make you feel human again. A hot shower." I said, noticing how funky he smelled.
"I haven't had one of those since… Since Russia," he said, looking up at me shyly.
"That was some pretty incredible sex," I said, getting up to grab two beers from the fridge.
"Too bad you're with the Punk," he said, looking disappointed.
"If I wasn't with him, you wouldn't have your mind back. I almost didn't let him get close because of our time together. I guess I was still holding out for you, even when you were my target."
"Thank you for not trying to kill me," He said, twisting off the cap on his beer and taking a swig. I didn't comment, for fear of telling him the real reason I left him.
"You not going to drink?" He asked as I went to grab a tumbler.
"I don't drink beer. Scotch, whiskey, vodka or wine. Or rum," I said, pouring the first in.
"I think I'm going to take that offer of a hot shower,"
"I have to go search for Steve's shield anyways." I groaned, looking back at the suit by the front door.
"It's at the bottom of the river," He said, looking at me funny.
"I've got a waterproof suit." I said, waving it off.
"After you've showered, borrow some of Steve's clothes, and get some sleep. I'll take the couch tonight. I doubt I'll be able to sleep after the scare he gave me today." I said, leaving the apartment. I left knowing had I stayed, I would have fallen under his charm and I'd never forgive myself for doing that to Steve.
Climbing back into the suit, I sighed. Steve and I would need to talk about this, and it probably wouldn't turn out well.
