AN: This story diverges from the events of Age of Ultron, so technically Civil War never happened. Tony still isn't overly fond of Bucky but he doesn't outright hate him and want him dead. In this story Tony has realized what Hydra did to Bucky was wrong at that none of what he's done in the past was consensual.
New Mexico
Hydra Base
2015
Bucky awoke the next morning on the floor of Fleischer's office slightly dazed with a killer backache and an empty glass of whiskey. He hadn't bothered to make it to a bed last night after drowning his sorrows into a bottle and he regretted it, but at least he didn't have a hangover like Sam would.
He contemplated staying in his position on the floor but decided against it when he remembered the meeting they would be having soon to discuss what should be done about Yelena, and he was not about to miss out on that.
So he hoisted himself up off the floor and made his way down to the quarters Steve was currently making use of and knocked on the door. He didn't know what time it was or when the meeting would start and he at least wanted to look presentable before the others.
"When's the meeting?" he asked once Steve opened the door, freshly showered and clearly awake and alert.
"In an hour," said Steve as Bucky made his way into the surprisingly large quarters, which were probably intended for Hydra higher-ups like Fleischer.
"Can I use the shower? They never cleared out a place for me to crash," said Bucky scratching his head.
"Yeah, sure."
"Thanks," mumbled Bucky as he made his way into the tiny bathroom and started stripping and turned the water on.
He was quick in getting in and out and put his clothes, that he had been wearing yesterday back on before he walked out with his long hair still dripping to catch a quick bite before they had to go.
"Where's Sam?" asked Bucky as he raided the leftover food in the grocery bags, eventually grabbing an apple and biting into it. He was genuinely concerned for their friend who had passed out quite drunk the previous night.
"Sleeping his hangover off," said Steve, "left a bottle of water and aspirin next to him."
"He'll need it," snorted Bucky as he ate his apple.
"How much did you guys drink last night?" asked Steve.
"I don't know, a lot," guessed Bucky as he shrugged his shoulders.
The rest of the time was spent in quiet before they both made their way to what Shield was using as a conference room.
Bucky was tense as he entered the room to see all the people seated all here to decide his daughters fate. He remained silent as he took his seat next to Steve and Natasha, who gave him a nod of acknowledgment before returning to her conversation with Barton.
"Is Sam coming?" asked Barton as he made contact with Steve.
"Don't count on it," said Steve as he sent Bucky a small and accusing glare.
"Well if everyone's here then I guess we may begin," said a man who Bucky recognized as one of Shields higher ups. He seemed almost non-threatening with his grey hair and rather plain face, but Bucky knew not to judge whether or not someone was a threat based on their appearance, so he would remain cautious of this unknown man until proven otherwise.
They began to talk about the mission first and what information they had gathered from the people and files. Bucky mostly remained silent during this part as they drabbled on about reports and the Intel they had recovered. He was anxious to get to the part about Yelena, but he remained composed and silent as they talked.
To be honest, he felt a little disconnected from the people seated at the table. He knew them well enough to work with them, but light conversations did not come naturally to him.
Barton was a nice guy from what Bucky knew of him, always willing to help them out and give them his support.
But Natasha Romanov was a completely different story. He knew that she had once been a Red Room Assassin, a Black Widow as they had dubbed their female students. He knew from personal experience that she was a force to be reckoned with, graceful but deadly all at the same time. But she had also proven herself to be a kind and selfless person.
He remembered their fight on the bridge, how she done everything in her power to protect the innocent civilians that he had put in harm's way while trying to complete his mission. And while she had wanted to keep the secret of Yelena from him, he couldn't really stay mad at her for too long.
"And now that we've discussed the mission, I would like to talk about-," the man paused as he picked up a file from the stack and read over it, "Yelena, otherwise known as Project Little Winter."
Bucky perked up in his seat and looked at the man intently as he held his daughters file.
"It says here," he said flipping through the chart, "that she was a failed attempt at recreating the serum given to Sergeant Barnes by Dr. Zola?" he said looking at Bucky for confirmation.
"Originally they wanted to make a clone of James, but they found that they could not stabilize it without the Tesseract, so they turned to a more natural approach," said Natasha breaking the silence.
"So she's your daughter?" asked the man unceremoniously to Bucky.
Bucky frowned at the way the man had addressed him, "Yes, that would be correct."
The man, whose name tag read Foreman, continued to flip through her file simply grazing over the words and pictures. Bucky didn't know why he felt angry as he watched this man read Yelena's file like he wasn't that interested in her all that much, almost like he was skimming through the morning paper just because he was bored.
"Unfortunately in these circumstances it would be best to not think of her that way. You see, Sergeant Barnes, while she may be genetically yours, we must not forget that she is a highly trained Hydra operative," said Foreman as he plopped the file down and rested his hands on the back of his seat, his eyes firmly fixed on Bucky.
Bucky knew what was happening as soon as he started talking. They were gonna take her away from him because they viewed her as a threat, which he knew she was, but he was not about to let that happen.
"It wasn't her choice, she was born into it," said Bucky defensively.
"Exactly," said Foreman standing up straight, "she was raised by them making her by default loyal to them. I'm sorry Mr. Barnes but I see no other alternative."
"You're not taking her away," growled Bucky as he started to stand up only to feel Steve's hand on his arm.
"And what exactly do you intend to do with her?" asked Clint as he watched things play out, sympathetic to Barnes as he himself was a father.
"Well we were thinking that maybe a psychiatric institution would be the best option for her at this point," said Foreman as he placed his hands behind his back.
"Absolutely not," said Bucky firmly as he stared Foreman down from across the table. He had been in her situation once and he knew that that was the last thing they should do for her, and he'd be damned if this man did that to her.
"You can't hold the fact that she was born into it against her," said Natasha finally finding her voice, "I was raised in the Red Room but nobody seems to think I belong in a mental institution. I mean if that were the case then Banner should also be locked away for what he did as the Hulk, and Clint for what he did while under Loki's control, Barnes for what Hydra made him do, the twins for what they did," she said crossing her arms to further her point.
"That's different-," Foreman started to say before the redhead cut him off again.
"And how exactly is it different? None of us are perfect, we've all done things that are questionable and some of us don't exactly have the best track record, but you don't see us getting locked up for it, and she shouldn't be either."
"And what do you suppose should be done about her?" he asked in a questioning tone.
"Let her stay with me," pleaded Bucky, "no one else is better equipped to handle her than me and I think it would be more beneficial to her."
"I agree with James," said Natasha stealing a glance Bucky, "she shouldn't be locked up in some shady psychiatric hospital of your picking, she'd be better off with Bucky and Steve at this point."
"And I know just the place where they can all stay," came a foreign voice as Tony Stark made his way into the room in all his narcissistic glory.
"What? No welcoming committee? I'm so disappointed Capsicle," said Tony winking at Barnes before taking a seat at the table.
"Mr. Stark," came Foreman's unamused voice, "what an unexpected surprise."
"Foreman!" said Tony looking surprised to see the other man, "how long has it been? New York, right? 2006? Tell me, how's your wife?"
"Lisa and I are divorced," said Foreman as his face steadily grew red with anger.
Bucky could sense tension and if he had to guess, he would say that Stark was a little too friendly with the guy's wife.
"But that's not what I'd like to discuss," Foreman sounded like he was trying desperately to hide his anger and annoyance at the millionaire.
"Yes, let's discuss the fact that you want to separate a father from his newly found daughter," he said grasping his heart in fake pain, "how awful that you would even consider doing that. I mean I know you're heartless Rob, but who knew you were that heartless?"
Bucky only groaned as he grasped his head in embarrassment and anger towards Stark. Steve only gave him a look that said 'I want to punch Stark too but he may actually be helpful so don't blow it,' look. Bucky only groaned and tried to disappear into his chair the more the millionaire talked.
"By all means," he said raising his hands up in the air, "tell us your plan to fix all of this."
"I'm glad you asked Rob because yes I do have a plan," he said taking his seat, "a plan that won't separate Bucky and Bucky Jr," he said as he crossed his legs and swiveled around to look at Bucky.
Bucky sighed deeply as he rubbed his hand over his face but leaned forward with interest as he listened to the younger man, his situation was desperate and any sort of help would be helpful.
"They can come live at the Tower," he said it as if it was the most ingenious and brilliant plan ever comprised, "it has one of the best security systems in the world and I have many doctors at my disposal. I honestly can't think of a safer and healthier environment for her to be in, and she'd get to stay with Bucky and get the help she needs there."
Bucky leaned forward in his chair as he listened to what Stark had to stay. He liked the idea and he prayed that Foreman would agree to the terms.
Foreman seemed to be considering it as his brow wrinkled in thought and he bit his lip.
"There would be legal issues," said Foreman as he looked over at Steve and Bucky, "she is at the center of a Federal Investigation, which means that we can't just out right hand her over to you. She would need close monitoring by Shield as well as a legal guardian. And we haven't even discussed her psychological needs."
"What sort of psychological problems are we talking about?" asked Clint with a curious expression, "PTSD? Stockholm?"
"Yelena has displayed symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome as well as Post-traumatic stress disorder," he said looking down at the file, "she needs a psychological evaluation before we make any decision on her living situation."
"Would you agree to release Yelena into our care if she received the proper psychological treatment?" asked Steve.
"Possibly," Said Foreman as he fixed his tie, "but only if it's determined that she will be okay in such an environment."
"So that's a yes?" asked Bucky as he sent Steve a small smile.
"For now I suppose we could make an exception," he said as he gathered the files and placed them into his briefcase, "but this is in no way permanent. She will be evaluated every week by Shield and she will comply in any on-going investigation of the government."
Bucky leaned forward as he listened to the stipulations of her coming to live with him and Steve at the tower in New York. He would be lying if he didn't admit that he was looking forward to moving back to New York, it was his home after all.
It wasn't like he didn't like D.C., but it just wasn't home.
"I expect weekly reports and evaluations from the Therapist and if I see no improvement than I'm afraid we will have no other option," he said as a warning before walking towards the door.
"I wouldn't worry too much about that," yelled Tony after the retreating man.
Bucky breathed out a sigh of relief as he slumped against his chair realizing just how much of a close call that was.
"What are you doing here Tony?" asked Steve as he stood up to face the other man.
"Well after your guys' phone call a few weeks ago I started to become curious as to what you were trying to dig up. So I did some of my own research on the Levine's, but I didn't find much. Then you guys took out that base in D.C. and Shield consulted me to help sort through the files they gathered there, and that's when I found it," he said holding up a copy of the file on Yelena they had found at the other base, "I kinda put two and two together and when I heard you guys were down here I hightailed it down here as fast as I could. And it's a good thing that I did."
"Thank you Tony," said Bucky standing up and making his way over to him, "you have no idea how much this means to me."
Bucky still kept his distance though because of what he had to Tony's parents all those years ago and he still hadn't forgiven himself for it, and he highly doubted that Tony had either.
"Yeah well you definitely owe me one after this," he said looking pointedly at Bucky.
Bucky only nodded awkwardly as Tony and Steve started to have a conversation, not sure what he should do in the meantime.
"Hey," came Natasha's voice from behind him as she grasped his shoulder in a friendly manner, "that worked out better than I thought it would."
"You're telling me," he said as he looked down at the pretty red-headed woman who he had almost killed on several occasions.
"It's good that she'll be with you and not in some mental ward being treated like a broken doll because I can assure that's the last thing she needs."
"She needs to be shown that there's more to life than what she's been handled," said Natasha pulling him aside, "but most importantly she needs to be treated like a human being, not like some disposable object or toy."
"I know," said Bucky scrubbing a hand over his scruffy face, "I'm just not sure if I'll be the best at this."
"No one's perfect, all you can do is try to be the best that you can be."
"And what if the best isn't good enough for her?"
"Welcome to parenthood, Barnes," she said staring him down, "it's messy and far from perfect but I've been told that it is strangely fulfilling."
Bucky only looked down at her with a strange expression gracing his features before chuckling slightly at the humor in it all.
If someone had told the Bucky of seventy years ago that he would be talking with a Russian Assassin about how to raise his Hydra made and grown daughter, he would've laughed in their face before asking them just how much they had had to drink because this was far from how he saw himself in the future.
The Bucky of WWII was too focused on making it out of the war with Steve and the Howling Commandos alive to think about his future, and if he had this definitely would not be it.
"Strangely fulfilling," he said with a grunt, "I'll let you know how that turns out."
"Please do," she said with a curt smile before she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Bucky on his own.
By that time both Clint and Tony had as well left, leaving only Bucky and Steve alone in the room.
"God, they were gonna take her Stevie," said Bucky slumping down in his chair.
"I know, but we stopped them," said Steve making his way over, "they're not gonna get their hands on her if I can help it."
"Sometimes you can be such a sap," said Bucky smiling at his best friend.
"Only when it comes to you," said Steve jokingly.
"And apparently Yelena too," argued Bucky.
"Well of course," said Steve, "she was family the moment I found out she was yours."
"Really?" asked Bucky with a grin.
"Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind," said Steve very seriously as he stared at Bucky.
"Huh?" Bucky asked genuinely confused as he tried to grasp what his friend was saying.
"Crap, you haven't seen Lilo and Stitch yet," said Steve under his breath more to himself.
"What are you talking about Punk?"
"Never mind, it's nothing."
Bucky only stared at Steve still confused as ever as to what nonsense Steve was spewing. Sometimes Steve and the others still confused him with their 21st century talk and references that made no sense to him.
"It's just a movie that Natasha made me watch, I'll have to show it to you sometime."
"A movie that Natasha recommended? I think I might pass," joked Bucky.
"It actually wasn't that bad," said Steve with a shrug, "It's a Disney movie."
"Like Snow White?" asked Bucky as he remembered the first animated film he had ever seen. He had stood in line at the theater with Steve and two girls that they barely knew to see the movie. It was hard to believe that that had happened over seventy years ago or how far animation had come since then.
"Really? Maybe we'll have to watch it together sometime," said Bucky standing up, "but before we do that I'm gonna hit the sack," he said grabbing his back and grimacing at the back ache.
Steve smirked at him like the little punk that he was, "maybe next time you try to drown yourself in whiskey you'll have the decency to at least make it to a bed."
"Shut up," groaned Bucky over his shoulder as he walked out of the room and towards the room he had had requested set up for him.
But he decided to take a little detour before he would do that because he felt like he really had to do this and get it over with before he chickened out all completely.
He made his way through the base until he stood in front of the door to Yelena's quarters just staring at the markings on the outside of the door.
Natasha had sent him the number to her room via text late last night and he hadn't gotten around to it until now, and he felt as though he had to do this even though he didn't really know why.
He carefully reached down and turned the knob and entered into the small quarters that had belonged to Yelena since she had arrived here in 2005 and entered.
The room in itself was clean and sterile, reminding Bucky of the bunkers that he had been forced to stay in in Europe during the war. The only thing unkempt about it was the small unmade cot that sat against the far wall.
The room was rather bland and boring, not like the room of a teenage girl.
Bucky remembered how his sister's room was always messy, with stockings and clothes thrown about and all the latest jazz albums sitting around. He smiled as he remembered how his Ma would yell at her to clean it up and that if she didn't she would trip and break her neck, which Becca would only roll her eyes at before she would set to work cleaning up the hazardous place she called her room.
He found himself missing the sound of his Ma yelling at them, what he wouldn't give just to hear it one last time.
In that moment he would have done anything just to be with his family again, but life was cruel and they had all died probably wishing that they could see him one last time, they never knew all those years what really happened to him.
It was just him and Yelena, and of course the many nieces and nephews he had never bothered to meet.
The walls were white and the floors were concrete and the only furniture in there was a cot, a dresser, and a hamper.
Only the essentials were present and barely anything else.
There were no windows so it made the room dark with only the low lighting and there were no type of decorations or pictures, there wasn't even anything on the metal box that served as a dresser.
Bucky walked further in hoping to find something of hers in there that was personal so he could at least know assure himself that she was an individual. He knew it was silly to ever think something like that, but he needed to know how much Hydra had actually taken from her.
He opened the closet to be greeted with a similar sight of neatness and order with how she had arranged her clothes and shoes.
There were only a few shirts hanging up that all looked to be the same and only a few pairs of shoes that were bland and practical. There was also a little mirror which he assumed she used to get ready in the morning and a comb sitting neatly on the shelf. He was although surprised to see something that looked like a blue dress hiding behind the mirror, and upon further inspection did he realize that it was indeed a blue dress. He held it out in front of him as he looked over the knee length dark blue dress that reminded him of a dress Becca had once owned.
He wondered why she owned such a garment when everything else in her room was bland and sterile, but he didn't dwell on it as he refolded it and stuck it back behind the mirror.
He sighed heavily as he sat down on her bed and looked around yet again at his daughter's room, slightly appalled that it was even hers to begin with.
He was about to get up after a few minutes when something under her pillow caught his eye. He was surprised to find that it was a black and white picture of him that had been hiding under it.
He didn't remember when it had been taken, but it must've been sometime before he shipped out to the Italian front considering the fact that he was in full dress uniform at the time it was taken. He was looking away from the camera but his face was clearly still visible. He also realized that it was the same picture that had been in his file, the little black and white Polaroid that had been clipped at the bottom under the picture of him in cryo stasis.
He wondered where she got it and why she even had it in the first place.
Did somebody give it to her or did she find it? Was she given access to his file? But that didn't make any sense considering that she hadn't known that the Asset and James Buchanan Barnes were the same person, so just exactly where did she get it from?
He decided that he would have plenty of time to ask her that in the foreseeable future, so he pocketed the little picture in his coat and took one last look around at her room before he walked out and closed the door and locked it.
He couldn't see anything of value in there that would merit her saving and if she did she must have hidden it well.
He would just have to ask her before they left for New York, which would be later that day seeing as everything of importance was being packed up and shipped back to Headquarters for further examination and Stark was anxious to get back for whatever reason.
He better go and visit her and see how she was doing even though she would probably rip his head off just like yesterday, but he had to try. He knew what she was like now and he was prepared for whatever she was going to spit at him again, and he sure as hell wasn't gonna go runnin with his tail between his legs like he previously done.
He also felt as though he owed her some sort of explanation for what was going on, she needed to know that she was going to be ok even if she felt like she wasn't going to be. All this time she must've thought that Shield was going to take her away and lock her up, but that wasn't going to happen.
He wasn't ever going to let that happen.
AN: As I have stated in this chapter, there will be a few legal and psychological issues that will need to be addressed in the near future.
A) Legal guardian/custody: As for right now, Yelena is technically being held in Shields custody but that will not always be the case. Eventually they're going to have to figure out who's going to get custody of Yelena. There's going to be a visit from Shield every week to evaluate her and report back to Foreman, who will be following her progress.
B) Stockholm/PTSD: Obviously Yelena's got mental issues that will need to be addressed by a professional. She's loyal to Hydra and she has been abused for years to the point where she sees it as normal. She'll need to learn how to have healthy relationships with people, etc.
C) Sofia: I didn't mention Sofia in this chapter because I was focusing it more on Yelena, but rest assure I'm not done with her character yet. They're going to have to figure out what to do about her and her needs.