The crowd outside sounded like a hive of bees. Tony Stark was decked out in one of his many designer suits; if his bruised eye bothered him, he didn't let on. He was the only one at ease with the situation. Sam was dressed nicely as well, in a leather jacket that looked as though it had seen many years with its owner. Natasha had poured herself into a dress, Clint had cleaned up and was stationed with his family. Scott looked like his collared shirt left him feeling a bit stiff. He was wearing almost a maniacal smile as he tried not to look nervous.

"Are you all right?" Wanda, in a red blouse and black skirt, asked her friend.

"I'm good!" Scott announced too loudly. "Everyone looks so nice!"

Sharon, dressed in blue and stationed near Steve hid her smiled behind her boyfriend's arm. Steve did not seem to notice Scott's faux pas. He was focused entirely on some point on the floor. He looked the part in his blazer and dress pants, but was obviously nervous.

"How are you holding up?" the question came from Sam and could have been for any of them. Bucky was the one who answered.

"Never done one of these before," he admitted.

"Just look tough, but nice. Try a superhero pose," Sam demonstrated a hand on his hips stance.

"I might pass on that one," Bucky grinned.

"Suit yourself. I've got my pose lined up." Sam smirked.

"Which is what?"

"I'm not going to tell you. That's how you get ripped off." Sam sounded incredulous.

"It's going to be fine," Sharon soothed. "T'Challa has to say most of the hard part."

"Then Rogers and I will finish up," Tony jumped in. "Just stand there and look sorry."

Clint rolled his eyes. "So we're going for contrite? That's not really my thing."

"Nor mine," Wanda agreed.

"Just try not to blow anything up while we're out there," Tony sardonically replied.

"No promises," Sam muttered under his breath. Bucky grinned.

"We have about 15 minutes guys. Try to relax," Natasha emerged from behind a curtain, resplendent in her black dress and blazer. "Sharon, Wanda, girls meeting," Natasha gave them all a wink as she led them from the room. "Shuri wants to talk to us."

"So what's with you and the princess?" Sam asked him as the group dissolved into their own private conversations. "I've been meaning to ask you. You two seem awfully cozy."

Bucky couldn't help but grin. "We're seeing each other…" he searched for a way to define their relationship.

"I'm surprised you didn't say 'going steady'," Sam chortled. "You should have heard Steve when he started seeing Sharon. He stuttered so bad—"

"I did not," Steve interjected. "I just don't like discussing my private life in public."

"You and me in a car is considered the public?" Sam laughed.

Steve blushed. Bucky came to his rescue.

"Steve doesn't kiss and tell. Mostly because he did so little kissing, there was nothing to tell."

He and Sam laughed loudly at their friend's expense.

"Hilarious…" Steve grumbled. Bucky knocked him on the shoulder. "What about you and Ziwadi?" Steve turned the line of questioning to Sam.

"I thought you'd never ask," the Falcon's grin grew wide.

"That's a thing now?" Bucky was impressed.

"We're going on a date," Sam looked pleased with himself. "Finally got the balls to ask her."

"Where do you take a warrior woman on a date?" Steve asked.

"Where I take the girls I really want to impress," Sam paused for dramatic effect. "Flying."

"It impressed the hell out of me," Bucky chuckled.

"Fingers crossed it works on her too," Sam winked.

"I wouldn't mind taking Shuri on a date sometime soon," Bucky admitted.

Steve nodded. "It's hard to just do the normal stuff in our line of work."

"You better make the time," Sam said. "Princesses deserved to be wined and dined." He waved at Ziwadi as she emerged behind the curtain that the female team members had disappeared behind. The woman did not wave back, but the hint of a smile curled the corners of her lips.

"She loves me," Sam announced to no one in particular. Steve laughed.

"You ready for this, Buck?" he turned to his best friend.

"This is the easy part," Bucky said. He was eager to get this show on the road.

"Really? I never liked being on stage."

"Could have fooled me. Aren't you the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan?"

Steve cursed. "I thought you'd forgotten that."

"No such luck, pal," Bucky grinned.

"Of all the things to remember," but Steve was smiling too.

"This is going to be nice, you know? Like the old days." Bucky had spent a lot of time before making his decision.

"Well, not just like the old days." Steve corrected.

"Right," Bucky agreed. "Now, you've got a girlfriend."

This time it was Steve who hit him bracingly in the shoulder.

"It'll be nice to be a team again," Bucky said more seriously.

"We never stopped being a team," Steve assured him. "We just added a few more members."

They looked to where Tony was conversing quietly with Scott. To Bucky's great surprise, both men seemed to be laughing at a shared joke.

"Tony's not so bad," Bucky said for Steve's ears only.

"He's great. Just stubborn," Steve agreed.

"Guess you know a thing or two about that," Bucky grinned.

"I've dabbled." Steve mirrored him.

Bucky watched Tony for a few seconds, lost in thought. They would never be the best of friends, but Bucky knew it didn't matter. He would follow Stark into hell if it meant repaying some small part of the debt he owed him.

Stark seemed to realize he was being watched at last and glanced up.

"Steve, I'll see you in a second," Bucky was already walking towards Tony. Steve watched him curiously, but didn't say anything.

"Hey," Tony said cautiously as Bucky came to stand near him. Scott cast a look between the two of them and pulled an uncomfortable face.

"I'll talk to you later," he scooted off, happy for an excuse to engage with Steve.

"Hey," Bucky took a deep breath. "I heard you split that shed open the other day."

"Well, you know, after you nearly ripped the arc reactor out my chest, I figured I better find a way to beat vibranium," Tony shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Thank you," Bucky told him, working up the courage to look Tony in the eyes.

"Everyone here seems to like you," Stark began, "maybe they know something I don't. Looks like now I'll get to find out," Tony patted Bucky awkwardly on the shoulder and walked off.

"Let's go people!" he announced to the general assembly as the women returned to the room. "Unless, you want to give the orders…" Tony gestured to Steve.

"You've got it," Steve reached for Sharon's hand.

"Then let's do this," Tony led them all out of the room.

Bucky headed up the rear of the group, his eyes scanning the room for the one person he wanted to see. She was stationed near the door to the stage, dressed all in gold. Her hair was down and wild, a thick tangle that he normally was only lucky enough to see alone together at night. Her face split into a smile when she saw him, and she reached one gold-sleeved arm out towards him.

He met her easily half-way, linking his vibranium fingers with hers. In front of them, Scott and Clint did little to disguise their shock when Shuri planted a kiss on Bucky's lips.

"Are you ready?" she ignored all other eyes, focusing only on his.

"Are you?" he asked her.

"I am always ready," she raised her chin, tilting her head back.

"What did you talk to the girls about?" Bucky asked her.

"I have plans to put in action. Perhaps an all-woman team. I am not ready to discuss it quite yet," Shuri looked pleased that he asked.

"Then let's go," he tightened his grip on her hand and followed her outside. Her secretiveness was nothing new. Shuri only divulged her plans when they were fully formed.

The crowd, once buzzing with conversation, silenced almost instantaneously at the sight of the Avengers taking the stage. Tony was already at the microphone, stationed between T'Challa and Steve.

"You guys may have noticed a little survey we dropped online," Tony began without preamble. "It got a couple million responses, crashed a few thousand servers, basically burned down the internet. We figured you all might want to hear the response."

The audience began to murmur again, moving almost in unison to the edge of their seats,

"Turns out that most of you prefer us as a team," Steve spoke up, almost bashfully.

"Pretty much all of you, really," Tony interjected.

Steve lips raised with just the hint of a smile. "So that's what we're going to be. The United States government doesn't really know what to do with us at the moment," Steve paused. "But we aren't here for any one government. We're here to protect and serve you. We're going to do that." He glanced at T'Challa. "The King of Wakanda has generously agreed to let us base here until the UN comes to a conclusion."

"As long as you need us, we'll be there," Tony said. "Any questions?"

The crowd exploded into a flurry of sound almost immediately. Flashes were going off as a hundred phones rushed to take pictures and a crowd of journalists surged forwards. From the corner of his eye, Bucky caught Sam subtly shifting into a cross-armed pose. Bucky grinned. They all looked very much the part standing in a line on stage.

"Remember to pose," Sam muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Is the whole team returning?" a particularly bold journalist managed to raise her voice high enough to be heard.

"With a few additions, yes," Steve answered.

"Including the Winter Soldier?" the reporter continued.

It was the question Bucky had been waiting for. The face of not only the crowd, but his whole team turned towards him. Steve gave him an encouraging nod. From the corner of his eye, Bucky spotted the princess. He knew she was ready to jump in and answer the question for him at a moment's notice.

"I'll be there," Bucky confirmed, his voice cracking in the microphone. The device was much more sensitive than he remembered them being; the sound cracked over the crowd like a whip. They eyes were still fixated on him, waiting to label him friend or foe.

"Is it true that you are the same James Buchanan Barnes who served with Captain Rogers in WWII?" another reporter spoke up.

"Yes." A murmur rose up at Bucky's simple answer. He attempted to clarify. "When I was captured the first time, I was injected with a form of super soldier serum. It enabled me to survive my fall." It was strange to think that this crowd of strangers had studied him in high school and knew his backstory. Captain America was legend, and Bucky was a part of that legend. "HYDRA recovered me. They used me for decades," Bucky cut off, not sure how much he was meant to explain. "They can't use me anymore," he finished sheepishly, eager to get away from the microphone.

"All the details are being sent to you right now," Bucky's unlikely savior came in the form of Tony Stark approaching the mic. The shorter man gave him a reassuring pat on the back before moving in front of him. "Mr. Barnes has been thoroughly vetted and back checked. You can read the whole tragic story for yourselves. He's a part of the team; just like he was decades back with my father."

The statement may have been unremarkable to the crowd, but Bucky found himself unable to focus on any of the many questions that rained down on them afterwards. The conference drew to a close as one by one team members approached the stand, answering questions and playing their part. T'Challa gave a short but powerful speech on what it meant to be a hero and how Wakanda would lead the charge. Bucky's mind remained fuzzy, spinning with thoughts of redemption and friendship.

He had killed people, maybe hundreds of them, murdered them in cold blood without being able to stop himself. He had lived a life as a hero, been a prisoner of war, plummeted to his death. He had lived in a time that had gone on to be infamous in history, made it to the pages of textbooks.

None of it mattered now. Steve was standing by his side, the place he had occupied through so much of their youth, the place he had always assured Buck that he would be. Sam was on the other side of him, and Sharon and Clint and Wanda and Scott and even Natasha. As Tony took his place in line, he winked at Bucky out of the corner of his eye. He was part of a team again.

It was a forgiveness Bucky wasn't sure he had earned. In the jungles of Wakanda, he had found himself again, and discovered a strength that he had been sure was lost. There was redemption in the faces of each member of his team, in the familiarity with which they treated him. Every day was an adventure he had never expected, an opportunity to earn back his humanity. The simple things strengthened him, from the way Clint taught him to shoot with even deadlier precision, to Natasha teasing him as though she had always done it, to Sharon's and Scott's willingness to show him the ropes in this modern world, to Wanda's attempts to reclaim memories from his childhood through her powers, to Sam always waking him and Steve up to drag them on an adventure—they were all silent signs of confidence, of the trust they had in him. Bucky knew that he would never betray them.

Even Tony had begun to open up, if only by a fraction. Their conversations were vague but friendly. And though they might never be the best of friends, Stark had Bucky's respect and admiration. Forgiveness was not an easy thing to muster, but Tony was trying. It was more than he could have dreamed to ask for.

"Are you ready?" Shuri asked him as the reporters were dismissed. She reached for his hand, her slim fingers extended expectantly towards him. There were hundreds of people still within view, many of them with cameras. Bucky hesitated for a fraction of a moment, then took her hand.

"It wasn't so bad," he told her as they all walked together from the stage.

"Piece of cake," Tony agreed amicably.

"Speak for yourself; you're good at that kind of stuff," Steve bemoaned good-naturedly.

"Go easy on yourself, Cap," Clint clapped him on the back. "You did good."

"We did good," Natasha corrected.

"Feels good to be a team again," Sam grinned broadly.

"Feels damn good," Wanda agreed.

T'Challa looked amused. "Since you are all to be staying here for the time being, we must discuss training," he announced.

"Always talking about work, brother," Shuri admonished with a laugh. "Surely we can afford one afternoon off?"

The whole team turned to look at him, looking for all the world like expectant children.

"All right," he acquiesced. "Just one."

One cue the team began to disperse, buzzing with plans for the sun-drenched day. T'Challa pulled Scott aside to discuss the possibility of his returning to LA. Wanda took off with Clint and Natasha, determined to teach his youngest son to swim. Sam and Ziwadi disappeared without a word, though Sam did throw Bucky a huge wink over his shoulder. Tony announced he had an important call to take.

"Redheads don't like to be kept waiting," Tony shook Steve's hand before heading off, "Bad tempers, you know."

Steve grinned. "Tell Pepper I say hello."

"Will do," Tony nodded at Bucky. "Talk to you later."

"I'll see you later?" Bucky asked his best friend as Sharon and Shuri waited for each of them.

"Count on it," Steve hugged him. "We've got planning to do. I've got some ideas for your uniform."

"Back to the blue jacket?" Bucky asked.

"I was thinking more stars and stripes," Steve smiled. "We'll talk about it. Go enjoy your day."

Bucky turned to look at Shuri. "I will," he assured his friend.

"What shall we do today?" Shuri asked him a few moments later.

"Want to show me around the city? Turns out I might be here for a while," he kissed her on the top of the head, breathing in the scent of her hair.

"It would be my pleasure," she took his hand again, leading him out into the city. The feeling of her warm skin felt almost normal against the cool vibranium of his prosthesis.

"What do you think Steve meant?" he asked her.

"I believe I may have an idea," she smiled mysteriously at him.

"You aren't going to tell me," he was tempted to roll his eyes.

"It is only a feeling," Shuri laughed, "I am sure he will discuss it with you first."

Bucky shrugged. There was no use worrying about it. The prospect of spending all day with Shuri, hand in hand in public was enticing enough to consume his thoughts.

"Let's go," he told her, and pulled her under his arm. The two of them walked out of the palace gates and into the brightly lit streets.

"Where to?" she asked him.

"Let's go to your favorite restaurant. We're overdue for a date," he told her with a smile.

A/N: An epilogue is coming soon! Thank you so much to all those who have read and reviewed and stuck with it to the end!