A/N: I am on time this week! Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, Disney, ABC or the Avengers. Just Sera
"Buck?" Steve 2.0 said to the thawed out Bucky Barnes 2.0. Damn, I'm never going to keep this straight.
"Steve?" He moaned, grimacing as he started to move his joints.
"Whose this?" Bucky asked after his eyes landed on me.
"The woman that's going to take those words out of your head." Steve said smiling.
"What's your name doll?"
"Sera. Now, if you don't mind, let's skip straight to the hard part." I said, taking my pendant in between my fingers and focusing on my breathing.
"Focus on me," I said softly.
As his eyes glazed over, Steve stiffened.
"He's under." I whispered. I could have sworn I heard Steve mutter, "That was quick."
"What is your name?"
"Зимний солдат," He answered robotically.
"Ты не." I responded, "You are James Buchanan Barnes. Born March 13, 1917. You are best friend to Steven Grant Rogers. The punk from Brooklyn. These words will mean nothing to you, they will not cause you to turn back into the Soldier. What I am about to read, you will block them out, because all they are, are words. They hold nothing over you. You are your own man, and no one will control you ever again."
"желание, ржaвый, Семнадцать, Рассвет, Печь, Девять, обросердечный, возвращение на родину, Один, грузовой вагон."
I watched as his face softened, no obvious signs of distress from them, and he didn't respond for a moment.
"How do you feel Bucky?"
"Like me." He said and I slowly smiled.
"I'm going to need you to close your eyes for the next part. When you open them, you will be awake, and yourself again. After over 70 years, you are allowed to feel again, and with that may come emotion. Don't hold it in. Talk to Steve about it, to Sam. Do what you need to help yourself let go. It wasn't you doing anything Hyrda asked of you. You are stronger than that man they made. Open your eyes." I said. He did as I asked, and immediately the tears started pouring down his cheeks.
"Steve?" Bucky asked, and Steve rushed forward to give Bucky a hug.
"Thank you," Bucky mouthed over Steve's shoulder to me. I nodded and left the room. I cried happy tears all the way back to the holding cell, where I found Natasha and Tony watching over Callie.
"Oh, you. I may have found a way to contact your dimension."
"Oh, okay?"
"So, everything on earth vibrates at a specific frequency, right?"
"I'm aware of Quantum Physics and its theories. Explain how you're going to use this," I said, walking with Tony towards the labs.
"You resonate at a different frequency than the rest of us. IF we can amplify that frequency, in the spot where you were dropped, it may be able to open the fracture in the dimensions to allow you to get home."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"Only problem is that opening that fracture when it isn't controlled, could rip apart our dimension, and destroy other dimensions in the process." Tony explained.
"So we need to control the opening." I said, simplifying his words.
"Not exactly. If this doesn't work, we are out of options."
"But Wanda's powers originally sent us here. Why can't she do what she did in my dimension?"
"Because I'm not sure our Wanda is that strong, and I'm not sure how she did it."
"UGH! If I could talk to her… Wait, can you-" And Tony had already sensed where my thoughts were leading.
"If we can build a powerful enough radio, it's possible." He said, grabbing tools and began tearing apart a radio receiver.
"So, I thought now would be a good time to talk to you. About Bucky and his impact on your life."
"What are you, my therapist?"
"Nope, that's Bruce, even when he falls asleep. I guess I didn't explain how much of a Stark I am." I chuckled.
"Wicked smart like your old man?" He said, no emotion in his voice.
"He claims I'm smarter. I have a double Major in Law and Psychology, Suma Cum Laude from Harvard and a dual degree from MIT, MBA/MS in Mechanical Engineering, also Summa Cum Laude."
"Well, you have more focus than I did at 21."
"20. I started when I was 16."
"Whiz kid, huh? Let's see if you can keep up."
"While you do that, I'm actually going to tweek FRIDAY. She needs someone else to help put up with you. By the way, where is Pepper?"
"She…. We're on a break."
"Oh."
"I bet your old man got everything he wanted." Tony said bitterly.
"No. My mom left him after Obie told him to, and she hid me from the world, because of her parentage. She was afraid Hydra would want me, knowing that I was half Stark, but full on genius. He didn't know about me until I was already 21, and she had died from lung cancer. It wasn't until the Stark Expo fiasco that he and Pepper even got together. And after the Mandarin, he decided not to waste anymore time. I may have given him a huge push, but they got married in the rubble of the Malibu mansion. It was poetic. But Pepper is at her wits end with him right now. He's promised no more suits, but he keeps building them, just in case."
"That's the problem I had. Plus Sokovia. And now, she blames me for the Accords and the split."
"Have you tried apologizing and trying to be better?" I asked, to which I received silence.
"Give her this as an apology. You won't build any more suits, but you will improve on a couple you already have, because there is another fight coming. And you will need everyone."
"Can't tell me anymore? Like a name? When we can expect this imminent threat so I don't sound like a doomsday cult leader."
"It's like time travel. You can't mess with the timeline. In my dimension, things went differently because Thor came back with Loki."
"Thor said he was dead."
"…" I paused, because I was trying to find a way to word this, as I put my foot in my mouth on that one.
"He's impersonating Thor's father, Odin. And was planning on causing the Ragnorok." I said, realizing I couldn't help them if I wasn't honest about what I knew.
"That what?" Tony smirked at the funny word.
"The Norse Apocolypse. Anyways, I ended up helping him, because his mind was still being controlled by Thanos, periodically. Okay, I guess there is no going back from this. I had to take the mind control from his brain, only for him to truly grow. That and Odin made him mortal. But one of Thor's friends had met a group of ragtag vigilantes called the Guardians of the Galaxy."
"Sound full of themselves." Tony commented, and I smiled.
"Just their leader, Peter Quill. Anyways, when you meet him, give him an iPod."
"Why?"
"Just trust me on this. He'll love it, after you explain it can hold over 3000 songs."
"Okay…"
"Anyways, Bruce will come back, though I'm not sure where he is on earth at the moment. I tracked him using the same method he used to find the scepter. He was in Sau Paulo, Brazil, but he came back on his own terms, to reconcile with Natasha." I said, typing furiously on the laptop.
"What are you doing?" Tony asked, as I hooked my watch up to the computer via USB.
"I'm downloading my AI ARSENAL to your mainframe. She knows everything there is to know about what's going to happen. And I want to see if we can connect to each other's dimensions using that radio, and through ARSENAL."
"Huh, never thought of that."
"Technically my IQ is higher than yours," I smirked.
"Okay smarty pants, all good on my end."
"And… done. Okay ARSENAL, arise!"
"Good evening ma'am."
"Hey A, I've missed you," I smiled at the sound of my AI.
"Ma'am, I've connected to Mr. Stark's radio waves, and can relay your message. Though I am not sure of the frequency you wish to resonate at."
"Callie and I resonate at 528 Hz, and your planet?" I asked Tony.
"530 Hz," Tony said.
"Okay A, resonate this out at 528 Hz, loud and clear." I said typing again.
"Ready for recording ma'am."
"Attention family, Callie and I are alive and well. Wanda ripped a hole to another dimension of our earth, and we are stuck until we can figure out a way to get back. The way we came is too risky to try again, and because well, this is going to sound strange, but not only am I in a mirror image of our dimension. I don't exist over here, and well, I'll explain when I get home. For now, we've rigged up ARSENAL and a radio that is resonating at our dimensions frequency, so to communicate back, you're going to need to do the same. This… earth, resonates at 530 Hz, so try not to break the connection. I love you guys, and we miss you."
"Ending recording. Message sent."
"God I hope this works." I said, hoping and pleading.
Almost immediately I heard ARSENAL say, "Incoming message."
"You better be in one piece missy, because when you come back here, you are grounded. I don't care if you are married with children, you are MY daughter."
"Tony," I heard Pepper say jokingly, as she sniffled.
"Sera, ангел. Are you two okay? You are never leaving my sight again." I heard Bucky's relieved voice, as I had to let out the sob I was holding in.
"Sera, you are not leaving this base when you come back. Do you hear me? No more running off without us." Steve joked
"сесtра, you keep my goddaughter safe. I just need you both back in one piece. Tony is working to figure out how Wanda did what she did. Bruce is sorry by the way, for pushing you and Callie. He's helping Tony, and I told him to snap out of his pity party or I'll have the child without him." Natasha's voice was lighter than everyone else's tone, and it made me smile.
"Child? Natashalee?" This dimension's Tony asked.
"I'm supposed to be their surrogate. Natasha… if she wants to explain it to you guys, she can. It's her story, not mine to tell." I said, seeing said Natasha in the doorway. She nodded to me, grateful that I didn't out her secret about her Graduation.
"Sera, we'll find a way to get you back. We love you," Steve's voice soothed.
"I love you guys too," I whispered.
The silence that followed was deafening. My tears still fell, as I noticed it wasn't just Natasha in the doorway. Steve and Bucky had been there, listening.
"So, you aren't from around here, huh." Bucky said, lightly as Tony stiffened.
"No. And before I go. I need to sit down with both of you and help you through this."
"I refuse. Why is he even here Rogers?" Tony asked, his angry tone.
"Because of what you told me about Sera. I thought she might be able to help him. T'Challa agreed that it would be worth a try."
"I never agreed to this!"
"Both of you, SHUT UP! Tony, you are angry for an obvious and valid reason. Yes, Bucky was ordered to kill your parents, but at that time Bucky Barnes didn't exist. He was the Soldier. A genetically modified super soldier, whose brainwashing told him who to obey or they would torture him, and that was Hydra. The evil organization that doesn't care who it hurts or what it does to get what they want."
"Steve, you were kind if a dick for not telling Tony your suspicions. You lost his trust, because you assumed he'd just fly off the handle and demand Bucky's head. You don't get to have an opinion about how Tony should grieve. You do however have a duty to be honest with your teammates, or when worst comes to worse during your next fight, he might not have your back. Bucky, you haven't forgiven yourself for the lives you've taken, and that's going to take time. Because it wasn't you. My Bucky, he still deals with the Soldier and needs to feel in control of his actions. Which requires a delicate approach from me that Steve doesn't like," I said, brow furrowed.
"What's that?" Steve asked.
"Uh. He likes to be in control of me. In the bedroom." I said, leaving it at that, as Tony's face distorted in repulsion.
"Tony, you know how much Howard meant to Steve. He knows it wasn't Bucky. It was the Soldier."
"They have the same face, same arm that strangled my mother."
"Tony, I know how you grieve the loss of your parents. Even my Dad still does, in his own way. I found the man that ordered the hit, and brought him to justice, and you can too."
"Someone ordered a hit? I was supposed to be grabbing the Super Soldier Serum in the trunk." Bucky said, confused.
"Yes, but you were told no survivors, right?"
"Yes." Bucky said softly.
"The man who asked for the hit was Hydra, one of the heads named Mitchell Carson. He needed Howard dead because he had learned that Hydra was in SHIELD. He was going to expose them."
"Carson was SHIELD, until it came down." Natasha said.
"But you are still weeding out who was Hydra and who wasn't. I promise you, if you find him and bring him to me, I can make him talk."
"Still not trusting him." Tony said.
"Tony, you don't have to like him-"
"Which I don't-"
"But he is part of Steve's life. You two at least have to get along. Or would you rather face Thanos without Steve's help?"
"Thanos?" Steve asked.
"He is a celestial being who is gathering Infinity Stones. The Tesseract, the Mind Stone, and the Guardians dealt with one called the Orb."
"How do you know?"
"His adopted daughter Gamora, she is part of the Guardians, who are against him. ARSENAL knows everything, and now you have her, and a way we can communicate what else we learn."
A bright light came from outside the window and I was confused.
"Did something explode?" I said, feeling the aftershocks of whatever it was.
"No, I think that was the Bifrost." Steve said, noticing the blonde haired god walking into the base.
"Greetings friends! Heimdall has told me that this woman speaks of Infinity Stones."
"Thor of Asgard, I am Sera. I am from an…. Alternate dimension, almost mirror to your own here."
"...Interesting." He said as he thought about what I had just said. He looked like he was having a hard time believing it, or that he thought I was crazy.
"Yeah, we are trying to find her a way back."
"But for now, I need to go snuggle my daughter. It has been a long an emotional day. It's nice to meet you," I said to Thor.
"You as well Lady Sera." Thor said, and Bucky and Steve separated to let me through the doorway.
Natasha nodded to me, and I think it was for not spilling her Red Room secret. I gave a small smile as I watched the guys sit down and begin to discuss all the information I told them. My body was weary from the emotions I had bottled up all week. My tears started before I even reached my room, and I tried to sob quietly as I watched Callie sleep. But it wasn't long before my own sleep came, and I lay down with a heavy heart.
