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Ch 18
Gwen stared down at the man who Phil had called the Winter Soldier, and Steve had called Bucky sleeping peacefully in the lab. He had been dehydrated and had sun stroke, but was otherwise okay. She was here to get a sample of that metal on his arm, but she had to admit she had been dazzled by that strong jaw line.
Her heart belonged to Peter, and always would, but she wasn't blind. The man was attractive, and Steve definitely knew him. Soon after Bucky was put into the lab, Fury had called Steve and a few of the others to an emergency briefing. Gwen had been given this task, so she better stop gawking at the stranger and get on with it. Tony and Bruce would be expecting answers when they returned.
She reached over and pulled the portable MRI machine that had been adapted to recognize metals to her side, and placed his metal arm on the scanner. "No, don't get up, it's okay." She said to the sleeping man, more out of nerves than to fill the silence. She switched the machine on, and began gently moving the sensor up and down his hand. She had only been a few minutes in, when she thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Seconds later, his metal hand shot up and was around her throat in an instant.
Gwen remembered the only thing she remembered hearing was the clacking of the sensor against the floor as it fell from her hand. Gwen stared down into the face of Bucky, and was shocked to see that he had startling blue eyes. Blue eyes that were gazing up at her in fury.
"Who are you?" He demanded.
Gwen tried to speak. She tried to construct her throat to push out words, but all she could do was let out a small squeak. He was crushing her wind pipe, and soon she would be unconscious.
Bucky seemed to recognize this. He eyed her once more, took in her small frame and lab coat, and then released her. She dropped to the floor like a stone, gasping for breath.
He let her catch her breath, and then rounded on her, towering over her like a hawk. "I said, who are you?"
"My name is Gwen." She rasped, "Gwen Stacy." She raised a shaking hand in defeat, as if she could stop him from hurting her. But she had to do something. She could not sit there and accept cowardice, it just wasn't in her nature. She would try to reason with him. She had to.
He eyed her suspiciously, and took a step closer to her.
"Please," She said, saying the only thing she could think of. "Please don't hurt me. I'm... I'm pregnant."
"I'm not going to hurt you." He said with the same steely voice.
Confused, Gwen got slowly to her feet. So when he grabbed her just now, she what, imagined it?
"I'm here to find someone." He said.
"Who?" Gwen asked, still giving small pants, trying to get back the amount of air into her lungs that he had stolen from her.
Bucky began pacing the lab. He stood beside the MRI. "Why are you scanning my arm?"
"I'm sorry," She said, finally finding her nerve, "It's not everyday we get unconscious men with metal arms on our doorstep."
"It's made out of Vibranium steel." He said. "I'm sure it's nothing you've heard of."
"The same stuff Steve's shield is made out of."
He snapped his head to her then. "So Steve is here."
"Right here, Bucky."
The man paused in his pacing at the sound of that voice. Memories flooded back to him. A childhood. A war. Falling out of a train... falling, falling...
They both looked up, and found Steve in the threshold of the lab, flanked by three armed agents. Steve walked farther into the lab, and nodded to Gwen. "You okay?"
She nodded.
"Why don't you give us a minute?" Steve asked her.
Gwen nodded, and made a move to leave.
"She stays." Bucky said, and the room fell silent once moret
Steve eyed him. "This could be just between you and me."
"It's okay," Gwen said, and placed a hand on Steve's arm. "I'll stay."
8888
"Is this... an aircraft carrier?" Felicia asked, eying the helicarrier with a frown.
"It flies." Peter said, standing next to her. She had forsaken her Black Cat costume for modern clothes, he on the other hand, felt ridiculous standing next to her with his suit and mask on. But what else could he do? He was too worried about whether or not she would meet him this morning to worry about his wardrobe. He had been in total shock when he saw her in jeans and a t-shirt, her wild hair down around her shoulders. He had almost looked past her. But she had eyed him and called him over.
"You're kidding." She said.
He shook his head, and gestured to it. "After you."
888
The first thing that ran through Peter's mind these days, well, for awhile really, was Gwen. He followed Felicia onboard, was planning on depositing her to Fury, and then taking Gwen in his arms. He dialed her cell as they walked, and it went to voicemail after a few rings. "Hey Gwen, I guess you're in the lab. I am back, and I'll see you for dinner? Miss You. Love you."
"So, Gwen," Felicia said, with a smile.
"Yeah, my girlfriend."
"She's onboard?"
Peter paused. He grabbed her, and pushed her up against the wall. He did not like all of these questions. He did not like that she knew so much now. He should have thought about this before he agreed to bring her in. Still, he needed to set the tone. "Listen. If you even think of hurting her, I will..."
To his amazement, she looked generally startled. But, quick as her wall came down, a concrete one took its place. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? I'm on a government ship with probably hundreds of guards. Besides, I thought you trusted me. We work together, for the same goal, don't we?"
He averted her gaze, and let her go. She hadn't given him any reason not to trust her. She had come willing with him. He had to give her a little bit of leash. He had to, or this was never going to work. But, still... "Are you working with Osbourne?" Peter asked, looking at her.
"What?" Felicia asked. Her gaze was bright and full of fury. "What the hell..."
"Are you working with Norman Osbourne?"
"I can't believe you're asking me this."
"What do you think they're going to ask you, Felicia?"
"I don't know, Peter. But again, would I come with you if I was?"
They both stared at each other for a long moment. Hearing his name come out of her mouth unnerved him for a moment. She had said it like a dirty word. But she did have a point. "I guess not." He said. "Come on, let's go see..."
"No." She said, crossing her arms. "This is bullshit."
He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "This is me." She said, gesturing to herself. "This is all of me, and you're hiding behind your mask, doubting my loyalty?" She threw her hands up, "Forget this. If these friends of yours want to question me, they better call the cops. At least with them, I know who I'm dealing with." She turned on her heel, and was about to sprint down the hallway.
He grabbed her arm, and her expression was murderous.
Peter sighed. He needed this to work. "I'm sorry." He said, "I'm sorry, I just..."
She gritted her teeth, but her breathing slowed. "Take the mask off." She demanded.
He paused.
"Take the mask off, or I'm gone." She said.
Peter was sure that he could get her to Fury, kicking and screaming, but that wasn't the mission. The mission was to get her to come in. Willingly. What did he have to lose? She would see his mug eventually. He sighed, and pulled his mask off. He raked a hand through his unruly hair, and stared at her.
"Well," She said after awhile, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You're as cute as I thought you'd be."
8888
Steve Rogers sat across from his childhood friend. This was the third or forth time that he thought he would never see Bucky again. He thought he was lost to him when he had fallen from the train, but then to have him turn up, with no memory of him, with a metal arm and blood in his heart, and now...
Damn...
What the hell had happened to the both of them? Things had been so easy before, so uncomplicated. Now, even death wasn't final. Bucky's hair was longer now, it reached to his chin, and his mouth seemed to be down in a permanent scowl. He sat across a small table in the lab from Steve, and Gwen sat beside him at Bucky's request.
Steve had opened his mouth to speak a dozen times, but he'd get caught by a memory of their childhood, or the glint off of that metal arm, and he'd become speechless again.
Gwen fidgeted in her chair, glanced at Steve, cleared her throat, and then asked, "How did you get here?"
Steve thought back to his briefing with Fury earlier that day.
"I want to know how he got onto fortress here without setting off one damn alarm!" He had demanded.
"We believe it has something to do with that arm." Phil had said. "We have Gwen running full diagnostics."
"Where did he come from?" Fury asked. "He tried to kill me before, and I'd like to know what his agenda is."
"I want to talk to him." Steve said. "I could find out, see if he's a threat."
Fury nodded. "You do that, Rogers. I want answers yesterday. Dismissed."
"I walked."
Steve's pupils dialated, and Gwen gasped. "You... you walked?" She gasped.
"I saw the Captain America exhibit in the museum in DC. I was starting to get my memory back... I had to know... when I fought you..." He stared at Steve.
"What do you remember?" Steve asked.
"Before the war?" Bucky asked, "Us as kids. You were... smaller then."
For the first time, Steve gave a laugh. "Yes I was."
"I had to find you." Bucky said. "I knew you'd be able to give me answers. I want to know what happened to me."
"I want to know that too. I promise you, we'll find out." Steve said, "God, I thought you were dead, Bucky..."
Gwen looked between the two men who were having a moment. "Can I get you anything?" She asked. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving." He replied.
Cap gave a nod over his shoulder, and one of the guards he had came in with left the room.
"So you walked, you said?" Gwen asked, "From Washington DC to New York?"
"Yes." Bucky said. "The exhibit said you were know working with S.H.I.E.L.D, headquartered out of New York. That stirred something in me. I walked here, I saw someone familiar leave this ship, and I knew I had found the right place." He cleared his throat, "You don't know what it's like, having no memories of the man you are. I don't know what I've done, but I feel that I've done some terrible things..."
Steve reached over and placed his hand on Bucky's shoulder, "I promise you, we'll find out."
"Can you answer me one thing first?" Bucky asked.
Steve's brows knitted, concern covering his face. "Of course." He said.
"Is it really... is it really the year 2014?" Bucky asked.
Steve swallowed hard, and let out a low breath. A lot had changed since he and Bucky were young. Places and times of a bygone era. No one danced anymore. It was rare to find a man who treated a lady with respect. People weren't the same. People had grown and had their own lives. Peggy... "Yes," He said softly. "You have a lot to catch up on."