A/N: So sorry for the wait here, guys, but at last I give you a new chapter! :D Getting pretty darn close to the end of the story now - maybe like... three or four chapters left after this? - and I gotta tell you guys, I am so incredibly excited to have come this far and to still have all of you wonderful readers who care and follow this story. It means the world to me, and I hope you'll continue to stick around to the very end and beyond, since as I've stated before, I've still got lots planned for this couple in this "LAD-verse" and yeah, I'm basically never gonna be done with them LOL. So thank you all so much for each and every review and follow and message (and to all the silent lurky readers too :D). I love you all and I'll see you soon! :D
Early in the morning two weeks later, Summer found herself sitting in the gallery of the familiar courtroom downtown, trying not to vomit. She felt nauseous, anxious, and beneath her crisp and appropriately stylish blue and white suit, she was trembling slightly and fidgeting with her fingers in her lap.
Steve and Natasha sat next to her, forming a sort of protective shield around her meant to ease her mind. She simply couldn't believe that this was happening.
Later today, she would be taking the stand herself and delivering her own testimony, but that wasn't what had her so nervous and distressed. What did was the identity of the witness taking the stand first that day, a new one that the prosecution had added to their witness list only days before.
Her mind drifted back to that moment just a few hours earlier back at the tower, where Matt and Foggy had been prepping her for the stand when the latter had wondered aloud just who this new witness was and why they were relevant to the case.
"Some guy from Fall's Church," Foggy said, shrugging as he looked over a piece of paper on the table. "Mark Sanders. Any idea who that is?"
The moment the name left Foggy's lips, Summer's heart dropped like a stone in her chest. Her breath left her in a rush, and beside her, Bucky's previously relaxed expression grew dark and vicious in a flash.
"... Are you sure?" Summer asked in a small voice, even though she already knew the answer.
Foggy nodded, glancing back and forth between her and Bucky with confusion. "Yeah. You know him?"
She swallowed dryly, her gaze flickering to Matt for a moment as she debated just how much to divulge. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she could feel her hands already starting to tremble, and while she certainly didn't want to ever have to tell the story ever again to anyone, these two men were Bucky's lawyers and they needed to know everything.
She cleared her throat and forced her voice to remain steady as she began, "Mark was my boyfriend in high school. He... one night he got me drunk, and then he raped me. That's how I had my son. That's how I know him."
The quietly horrified looks on the lawyers faces said it all. It wasn't pity, however, and for that Summer was grateful.
"Why would the prosecution want him?" Matt asked her, knowing that she hadn't yet divulged the full story.
She took another deep breath. "Awhile ago - a few years ago, when I still had my house in Virginia - Bucky was visiting me, and Mark showed up to see David. He hadn't seen him in five years, but out of nowhere he decided to come and try. He wouldn't leave when I told him to, so Bucky... roughed him up."
Matt raised an eyebrow. "Roughed him up?"
"I broke his leg and beat the shit out of him," Bucky replied bluntly, still wearing that dark, murderous glare. "He can't have kids now because of what I did to him."
Matt and Foggy fell silent for a moment before the former shrugged in approval and Foggy remarked, "Right on."
Summer glanced at Bucky and reminded herself to keep breathing as she added, "I saw him again before we got married, to get him to sign over his parental rights. I thought I was done with him. I can't believe this is happening right now."
"Well, we know which story the prosecution is gonna use from him," Matt replied. "Supports their contention that Bucky's violent and unstable if we don't give the story some context."
Summer felt her heart sinking even more, and if she wasn't careful, she'd be in the throes of a full blown anxiety attack any minute. "We're gonna need to tell the jury about... what he did to me."
"Well... did you ever press charges?" Foggy asked. When she shook her head to the negative, he added, "Then this is going to devolve into a he said she said thing fast."
"Most rapes are unreported," Matt pointed out. "Doesn't mean they don't happen."
"I know," Foggy nodded, "but what I'm saying is, Summer, if you don't want to have this story dragged through court and have it become public knowledge, you don't have to. We can find another angle."
Summer chewed her lip and then turned to Bucky. He looked at her with that intense, protective gaze of his, and she knew deep down that there was really no other option. This chapter of her history was hard and traumatic and it was the last thing that she wanted to go public with, but it happened to countless women every day and saying nothing would do nothing to prevent that. Summer was sick of letting this small, cowardly man from her past scare her and make her feel sick from the inside out at the mere mention of his name.
This trial was what stood between her and a life with the father of her children and the love of her life. She would do everything in her power to not allow Mark to have even the slightest influence on the jury's eventual decision.
"No," she decided. "We give the story context. I don't care about the proof or what people might say about me."
"Are you sure?" Matt asked her, genuine concern in his tone and etched on his features.
She nodded resolutely. "I'm sure."
Now here she was, waiting for her son's biological father to take the stand, sandwiched between two Avengers who would likely rip out the man's throat if he so much as looked at Summer the wrong way. She was safe and well-cared for, but Summer still felt as if she might be ill at any moment.
She knew that Bucky felt utter rage at this unexpected development. He regretted not killing the man when he had the chance, and he hated Mark even more for continuing to cause Summer distress this long after what he had first done to her.
It was more than just the rape that Bucky hated him for. It was the constant verbal abuse that had wrecked Summer's already suffering self-esteem, all the ways in which he had made her feel defective and insecure and as if every last little thing was her fault. She had come a long way since the early days of her and Bucky's relationship, but she still bore scars of damage inflicted by that man that Bucky knew might never fully heal. Mark had taken a bright and beautiful young woman and crushed her under the weight of his arrogance and idiocy, and those weren't sins that Bucky thought should ever be forgiven.
Now Summer had to face him all over again, because life was simply cruel in that way.
She went through the courtroom motions robotically, standing when the judge entered and trying not to lapse into a panic when the day's first witness was finally called soon after. She sat there and stared down at her hands as her ex made his way to the stand, until she remembered how angry she was and how little he was. He might have been taller than her and bigger than her, but he was less than the dirt under her shoe and she raised her eyes and looked at him like that was exactly what he was.
Plus, she had Steve's super-blood in her system now, and she probably could break Mark in half now if she wanted to. Or at least hit him harder than she ever could have hoped to before.
He didn't look up until he approached the stand, and when he did, his eyes automatically fell on Summer. The same brown eyes that belonged to David stared at her blankly as he straightened out his suit, looking far less homeless and depressed than he had looked when she'd last encountered him. Then he looked away in order to swear on the Bible placed in front of him, and then after swearing to tell the truth, he sat.
Summer felt a hand on hers. She looked up at Natasha, whom the hand belonged to, and she nodded in response to the wordless question in the other woman's concerned eyes.
She was okay. She had no other choice but to be okay, and she had no interest in letting that man cause her any more pain than he already had.
Natasha squeezed her hand, and Steve gave Summer a reassuring nod when she glanced his way. She gave him a tight, grateful smile, then turned to watch Mark's testimony unfold.
Special Prosecutor Katherine Campbell began her line of questioning with a simple statement. "Mr. Sanders, you have a very personal connection to the wife of the defendant, correct?"
"That is correct, ma'am," he replied, voice a little shaky. He was obviously nervous.
Summer nearly became sick at the sound of his voice. She hated that voice. That voice had been the one to cut her down during her teen years, and then in adulthood had haunted her nightmares.
"Explain for the jury."
"She and I have a son together," he replied, eyes flickering briefly to Bucky, whose already dark expression grew even more displeased. David was Bucky's son in every way that counted, and yet here was his sperm donor claiming to still be the child's father.
"Is it true that you no longer have parental rights to this son of yours?"
"Yes," Mark replied. "They... Mr. & Mrs. Barnes came to my house and bullied me into signing my rights away a couple years ago, so he could adopt my son."
"Bullied you how?"
"Physically threatened me and intimidated me," Mark replied, and Summer almost laughed. She had been the one to do the pushing around that time, but she could hardly believe he was truly intimidated by her.
"And did you have reason to believe that they, specifically the defendant, would follow through on these threats?"
"Yes," Mark nodded. "A few years before that, I, uh... I wanted to see my son, so I paid him and his mother a visit. He was there - the Winter Soldier was there - and when I asked if I could see my son, he threw me out of the house and beat me until I left."
Summer rolled her eyes. Oh yeah, poor pitiful little victim.
"Describe your injuries."
Mark cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "Well, he broke my leg. Dislocated my shoulder, bruised my ribs, mild concussion."
"Any lasting damage?" the prosecutor asked.
"Yes, I can't... I'm infertile," he explained awkwardly. "Due to... trauma."
Bucky fought hard not to grin with pride. Summer did too, but Natasha had no such qualms and grinned to herself before looking down into her lap and schooling her features.
"Describe Mr. Barnes during the attack."
"Well, he was out of control," Mark replied. "Sort of like an animal. Savage and unhinged. I thought he was gonna kill me."
That wasn't even true, and Mark knew it. Bucky had actually been rather eerily calm the whole time, each blow dealt with precision and thought, and while Bucky had certainly considered it, Mark's life had never in danger.
"And what was the reason for the beating? Did the defendant ever mention it?"
"He wanted me to stay away from them, from my son and my ex," Mark replied. "All I wanted to do was see my little boy. I hadn't seen him in years, because I'd been working on Texas and his mo-, Summer and I weren't on good terms."
"Did you report the assault?" Campbell asked.
"No," he shook his head. "I should have, but I was scared. He said he'd kill me if I told anyone."
That one was true, Summer knew. She glanced at the jury, and while most of them looked neutral, a few were clearly concerned by what they were hearing.
Dammit.
"Did what you experienced at the defendant's hands have any lasting effect on you psychologically?" the prosecutor asked next.
"Yes," he muttered, looking down. "My, uh, my therapist said it triggered depression and anxiety. I have nightmares, I can't sleep. I was paranoid for a long time, thinking he would find me and kill me. I started drinking a lot, lost my job, moved back home with my dad. I'm better now and I'm working again, but nothing's been the same since the attack."
If anything he was saying was true, Summer felt no sympathy for Mark. The bastard deserved the trauma, deserved to know what it was like to be the one suffering and having nightmares and to feel the sort of pain that she had known since the night he went too far and nearly killed her in his drunken furor. He deserved all of that and more.
"Do you feel afraid, being in the same room as Mr. Barnes?" Campbell finally inquired.
Mark nodded. "Yes."
Campbell then showed the jury photos of Mark's injuries, taken about a day after he'd acquired them. After that, she handed the witness to the defense, and Matt stood up with his cane in hand as he slowly approached the bench.
Summer still felt vaguely ill, but she had high hopes for Matt Murdock's ability to handle the idiot.
"Mr. Sanders," Mart began, coming to a halt just in front of the bench. "Did you ever, at any point in time, give the defendant a reason to want to harm you?"
"No," Mark lied. "All I wanted to do was see my son."
"Prior to that visit, when was the last time you had seen the boy?"
"When he was six months old," Mark admitted.
"Six months old," Matt repeated. "That's a long time. Can you tell the jury why your relationship with Mrs. Barnes was so strained for so long?"
"We... had a difficult breakup," he replied. "Typical... high school drama."
Apparently, rape and resulting pregnancy was simply high school drama. Who knew?
Matt paused, sightless eyes trained in Mark's direction behind his reflective glasses. "You are aware that perjury is a crime, Mr. Sanders?"
The prosecutor objected to the line of questioning. The judge told Matt to make his point, so he did.
"Given the lack of supporting evidence to your claims, aside from a few old blurry photos of injuries that you could have sustained from a car accident or a fight with someone else," Matt said, "the prosecution seems to consider hearsay to be solid testimony. Did you see a doctor immediately following the assault?"
"I saw a... doctor friend," Mark replied.
"A doctor friend. You didn't go to the hospital?"
"No," Mark confirmed.
"Did you talk to any sort of authority immediately after to document the fact that you were indeed assaulted by a ninety-something year old World War Two veteran?"
"No."
"So the only record of this assault actually occurring are the photos that were just shown a few minutes ago?"
Mark hesitated. "... Yes."
"In that case, using the same criteria applied to rape victims in the courtroom, it's reasonable to conclude that the assault most likely didn't occur."
Mark blinked. "... What?"
"If a woman is raped by a man and doesn't immediately go to an ER and have the evidence of the assault documented and preserved by authorities, then there is no physical evidence that a rape occurred," Matt explained. "It's her word against his, and more often than not, the man walks free. Do you consider this fair?"
The prosecutor objected again. The judge gave Matt one last chance to wrap it up.
Foggy then stood up with a piece of paper in hand and delivered it to the judge.
"I apologize for speaking in riddles," Matt told the jury with a small grin. "I'll cut to the chase. If an assault did occur at my client's hands, which is a notion wholly unsupported by the evidence, then we contend that the reason behind such a violent outburst would have likely been the fact that Mr. Sanders raped Mrs. Barnes and impregnated her when she was 17. We have an affidavit from Mrs. Barnes attesting to this."
The prosecutor nearly lost her marbles at that point. The judge, looking mildly exasperated and displeased with everybody, looked over the affidavit and then reluctantly let Matt wrap up his questions.
Mark looked as if he might pass out and throw up in the same breath. Summer stared ahead stoically, showing nothing but strength on the outside while on the inside, she was a mess.
Natasha gave her hand another squeeze.
"Do you deny what Mrs. Barnes swears occurred between the two of you on the night of your biological son's conception?" Matt asked.
"Yes!" Mark blurted, visibly starting to sweat and looking very panicked. "I never touched her!"
"You didn't?" Matt asked, raising a brow. "Then how did you conceive a child?"
"I never - I mean, I touched her, obviously, but it wasn't - it was consensual." Mark was a terrible liar and always had been.
"Do you have evidence to support your claim?"
"No, but -"
"Does she have evidence to support hers?"
"No, none."
Matt paused. "Then she only has her word, just as you only have your word when it comes to your claim that James Barnes was the one who beat you senseless. But you're asking a jury to believe you and not believe her. Can you give me one single compelling reason why they should believe you and not give her the same benefit of the doubt?"
Mark had no idea what to say. He faltered for a moment, starting to answer and stopping several times before finally muttering, "He's the violent one here, not me. We all know he's killed people. I've never hurt anyone."
"But that's not true, is it?" Matt asked. "Tell me, is it true that you served three months in a Texas prison for assault charges brought by a woman court papers described as your ex fiancé?"
Mark gulped. "I - it was a plea deal, I didn't do it. I didn't do it, I just didn't want to go to jail for five years."
Undeterred, Matt went on, "Is it not also true that you've been arrested twice in the last two years for driving under the influence, the second time after an accident that injured a pedestrian due to your drunk driving?"
Mark was utterly stricken. Summer was shocked at how much they had managed to dig up on Mark in a handful of hours. She suspected that Karen Page, their resourceful and passionate assistant, was to thank for that.
"... Yes, that's true. But my drinking problem was a result of what he did to me," Mark said, jabbing a finger in Bucky's direction.
"In the same vein," Matt replied, "if the assault did hypothetically occur at my client's hands - which we wholeheartedly deny - he would have certainly had a compelling reason to commit the act. His girlfriend's rapist and tormentor shows up at her door to see the child that his assault produced, then won't leave when she tells him to get out of her house. I would argue that most men would resort to force to protect their loved ones in that situation. Would you agree, Mr. Sanders?"
Mark gaped and faltered for a moment, vaguely resembling a bewildered fish. "I... no, I don't."
Matt nodded. "No further questions."
And with that, Mark was excused from the witness stand. Summer let out a breath that she had been holding the entire time he'd been speaking, and though she was still shaking and still felt like she was going to be ill, she was relieved that it was over.
Then, as Mark walked to exit the courtroom, he glanced Summer's way one last time. He then paled and looked away almost immediately, because staring back at him were Summer's utterly murderous blue eyes that glared at him with such force that had she been an enhanced individual like some of her friends, she just might have killed him. Years' worth of loathing and anger that she had silently harbored for him pierced his very soul in that glare of hers, and the look of mild terror on his face as he hurried out was one of the most satisfying things she had ever felt. Then it was over, and reality returned in the next breath.
She knew that her story and her affidavit would become public knowledge in a matter of minutes. Journalists in the courtroom were already tapping away on their devices and preparing their later reports. Summer never wanted that story of hers to be known beyond her inner circle, and in fact many of her friends didn't even know it, but there was no going back now.
She just hoped that it was worth it.
Mark didn't stick around following his testimony. When the court took a recess for lunch, Summer had half hoped to encounter him in one of the hallways so that she could have given him a piece of her mind and maybe told him how badly she wished he'd be hit by a bus for all that he'd done, but he was gone and she never got the chance. At least she'd managed to shoot him that death glare, if nothing else.
It was just as well, really. She needed to focus on her testimony, which was exactly what she did over lunch until court went back in session.
She felt as if she had been preparing her testimony for ages, and in some ways, maybe she had. Ever since the very beginning of the trial, she knew that she would eventually take the stand and influence the verdict one way or another, and it was a terrifying thing to anticipate. But the day was here, and she had to put aside her fear and keep moving, just as she always did.
Just before the recess ended, Bucky and Summer managed to steal a quiet moment in the corner of the conference room that the rest of the team was in. Bucky's eyes were full of concern for Summer as he held her hand and leaned in close, his voice low enough for only her to hear.
"You okay?" he asked her, searching her features that weren't as guarded in that moment as they had been earlier.
She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm kind of just... I don't know why I'm surprised." She smiled humorlessly. "He always comes back. I'm supposed to be focused on my testimony and now instead I want to throw up because of what he said about you."
"Matt did a pretty good job of making him look like an idiot," Bucky replied. "He's the last thing I'm worried about when it comes to this trial. I'm just sorry that you had to see his face again."
She shrugged again, forcing a smile on her face as she met his eyes. "I'm okay. I have to be okay. I've gotta do this and... get it over with."
Bucky nodded and let out a breath before leaning closer and kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry. You wouldn't have to deal with any of this if it wasn't for me."
Summer sighed and shook her head. "I'm the reason you got arrested, remember? So that's not true."
"Yes it is," he replied, looking her in the eyes before placing a soft, comforting kiss on her lips. Then he pulled away and said, "I love you. This is all... gonna be over soon."
It really was. The trial was slowly coming to a close, not many witnesses left now, and closing arguments wouldn't be too far away after this day. The thought of that made Summer's already uneasy stomach twist and turn in tighter knots.
They shared one more quiet moment together before Foggy approached and told them that it was time to go. They both nodded, held on to each other a little longer, and then turned and walked hand in hand out of the conference room and back to the courtroom.
Summer spent the short journey praying hard that she wouldn't make everything worse.
Sworn in and seated at the witness stand, Summer's hands were in her lap and her fingers were fidgeting as they had been all morning. The room looked brighter than usual from where she sat, and unlike all the previous days where she had sat in the gallery, she could see Bucky's face as he sat at the defense table. His gaze was on her, and she knew that he was trying to help her feel better, but she was convinced that she was doomed to be a wreck until she was excused.
Her only comfort was that Foggy was the one to question her first.
"Tell us about the day you met the defendant," Foggy said, standing a few yards away from her and beginning his well-rehearsed line of questioning.
Well aware that every person in the entire room was focused on her and her alone, Summer pushed through her fear and swallowed down an unpleasant lump in her throat as she replied, "It was about five years ago, the day that SHIELD collapsed. I lived in my grandmother's old house outside of Fall's Church, and I was starting dinner when my son saw something outside and walked out the door. I went after him and found him standing over what I thought might have been a dead body in my front yard."
"And that was the defendant, correct?"
Summer nodded. "First thing I did was get my son inside and get my gun. I had no idea who this person was and I had been watching the news all day, so I was even more cautious than usual."
"What happened next?"
"He woke up. He took my gun from me, turned it on me and asked who I was. I told him my name, and I saw how badly injured he was. He looked like he'd been shot a couple times."
"Did he continue to threaten you with the gun?" Foggy asked.
"No," Summer replied. "He kept the gun, but he turned it away from me and just... marched inside my house. I told him to stop and that he needed a hospital, but he said we were both in danger now and to get inside. So I did."
"Were you frightened?"
"Of course I was," Summer replied, heart pounding nervously as she spoke. "I had no idea who he was or what he was capable of. I was terrified."
"Did he continue to threaten you?"
Summer shook her head. "No. Actually, I threatened him. He passed out after we got inside, and when he woke up, I turned my gun on him and told him to get out."
"Did he leave?"
"No," she replied. "He waited until I was distracted and he took my gun from me again. He didn't point it anywhere, though. Just kept it. Then he asked me for food." She glanced at Bucky, both of them finding it hard to believe that their first encounter had been such a chaotic and terrifying thing. It felt like it had happened in another life.
"He asked you for food?"
She nodded. "He ate some and then threw it up on my floor. He also had no idea who he was. He didn't know his name or what he was doing or why he couldn't eat. His head hurt him a lot, too. He was a mess."
"How long did he stay in your house?"
"A month," Summer replied. "I didn't exactly invite him to stay at first. I wanted him out. But I figured out who he was pretty early on. I listened to him scream in his sleep every night and watched him try to eat and end up throwing up everything I tried to feed him, and it was... it was pretty bad. But he was never violent to me or my son. He never pointed a gun at me again. He never once threatened to hurt us."
"What did he do while he stayed with you? Describe his general behavior and state of mind."
"Well, he read a lot," she replied. "I had a lot of books and he read almost all of them. He read history books, some of my college textbooks, some science stuff too. He kept to himself and didn't talk much. He eventually got to the point where he could eat real food and keep it down, and that was mainly all he did - eat, read, sleep. But he always screamed more than he slept."
"Did he become aware of his identity while he was staying with you?"
She nodded. "I showed him an article from the Internet about his story and... how he had supposedly died in 1945 and then became the Winter Soldier. That was how he found out that it was all true."
"How did he react?"
"Not very well," Summer said with a small, sad smile. "He didn't confide in me or even talk to me much at that point, but it was obvious how horrified he was. He went outside after he read the article and... took it all out on some trees in the woods outside my house. I found him crying and I got him to come back inside after awhile."
"You felt sympathy for him?"
She nodded. "It was impossible not to. Even back then when he barely knew who he was, it was obvious that he's not a naturally violent or dangerous man. He was quiet and... thoughtful, and... the guilt that he felt for what HYDRA made him do just crushed him."
Her eyes flickered to Bucky's for a moment. His gaze was heavy with memories from that difficult time, and she wished that he didn't have to relive it all like this.
"What eventually led to him leaving your home?" Foggy asked next.
She took a deep breath. "Well, it was pretty obvious that he needed help. Real help. I couldn't give him that, so after awhile he let me contact Steve Rogers. He came and took Bucky to New York at the end of that month. Got him in therapy, got him the help he needed."
"And that entire month, the defendant never harmed you or made you feel as if you were in danger again?"
She shook her head. "Not once. Not even close. He saved my life and my son's life during that month, when HYDRA tracked him to my house and knocked on my door. They came in and put a gun to my son's head and told me they'd kill him if I didn't tell them where Bucky was."
"What happened?"
"Bucky killed them both," Summer replied calmly. "And if he hadn't, me and my son would both be dead."
Foggy nodded, and the members of the jury glanced at each other following Summer's answer. "When did your relationship with the defendant begin? Was it during that month?"
"No," Summer answered. "It began a couple months later, when I visited him in New York."
"And you and Mr. Barnes have been together ever since," Foggy replied.
"Yes," she nodded.
"Over the last five years, he legally adopted your son as his own. The two of you got married, and fairly recently had a new child together, correct?"
"Correct."
"Mr. Barnes has continued therapy during these years," Foggy went on, "exhibited stable and healthy behavior confirmed by his psychologist and by his peers, held down a steady job with the Avengers and was a key figure in several missions that saved an estimated 500 American lives from the threat of domestic terrorism."
Summer tried not to smile. "That's right."
"Keeping all of that in mind," Foggy said, "would you then consider Mr. Barnes to be a dangerous man or a threat to the public?"
"He's not a threat to the public," Summer replied with a shake of her head. "And he's only dangerous when it comes to the bad guys. He's lived the last five years wanting to make up for everything that HYDRA made him do, and he's done that. He's saved a lot more lives than just mine. He..." She paused and took a breath, heart still fluttering in her chest and fingers tingling as she gathered her words. "He still feels the guilt and the horror of everything they made him do every single day. He'll feel it until the day he dies, but he uses that to be a better man and to remember who he is and... rebuild what they broke. Every crime that he's been charged with, every last one, none of it was really him. We've all seen the footage now, and we know that. So no, he's not a dangerous man. He's a good man who was put through a living hell that none of us could ever comprehend, and he survived. He survived and he didn't let it destroy him. He's a hero, and I'm not just saying that because I'm his wife. I'm saying because it's the truth."
Foggy nodded and gave Summer a small, satisfied smile before he nodded. "No further questions."
She let out a deep breath. She hadn't planned on making that little impromptu semi-speech, but she did it and she didn't regret a thing. Her time on the stand, however, wasn't quite over yet. Now it was the prosecutor's turn.
As the woman approached, Summer looked at Bucky and smiled subtly at him. His gaze was soft, blue eyes giving away how touched he was by every word she had said, even though it was hardly the first time he'd heard her say such things.
Behind him, Steve and Natasha looked unquestionably proud of her. Sam was there too, and Wanda had showed up too just before Summer took the stand. Paul would have been there too, but he was watching David and Adelaide for her that day. She knew she had his support all the same.
And now came the hard part.
"Mrs. Barnes," began Katherine Campbell, and Summer's anxiety spiked for a thousandth time that day. "Why do you no longer reside outside of Fall's Church, Virginia?"
Summer swallowed and replied bluntly, "Because four years ago, Brock Rumlow blew up my house trying to kill Bucky."
"Is it true that you were present during the bombing of Stark Tower a few years ago?" the prosecutor asked next.
"Yes," Summer replied, wondering exactly how this woman knew this. Then again, it probably wasn't too difficult, considering her resources.
"Only a few weeks ago, you were shot by an assassin sent to kill Mr. Barnes," Campbell noted next. "Including the story you told us a few moments ago about two HYDRA agents invading your home, that's four times that being associated with the Winter Soldier nearly killed you. You say he isn't dangerous, but it seems your life has been one of constant danger since you met him. Would you agree?"
"That's no fault of his, or mine," Summer replied. "He isn't dangerous. The psychos who want him dead are."
"Is there really a difference, if one of these times you or one of your children ends up dead?"
Summer's eyes widened, and Matt was quick to object. Campbell withdrew her last statement and continued on unfazed.
"Mrs. Barnes, everyone in this courtroom including the jury is surely aware that you're going to have only positive things to say about the defendant regardless of what is asked of you, so I'm going to focus on you for a moment. Are you aware that you broke the law every single day that you allowed Mr. Barnes to live in your home, and every day thereafter where you knew of his location and didn't report it?"
Summer wasn't surprised to see her taking this route. Matt and Foggy had prepared her for this. "I'm aware of that."
"Are you willing to confess to a crime right now, under oath?" she asked next.
"Sure, as long as you admit that you're trying to punish a World War II hero, POW, and amputee for crimes he didn't commit of his own will."
Campbell actually smiled for a moment. "In other words, you would trade your freedom for his?"
"In a heartbeat," Summer shrugged. From the corner of her eye, she could see the subtle horror in Bucky's eyes in response to such a suggestion.
"Very noble of you, but this trial is about accountability and justice," the prosecutor replied. "And even war heroes aren't outside of the law. Do you deny bullying Mark Sanders into signing away his rights to your son, with the help of Mr. Barnes?"
Summer almost had whiplash from the sudden change in questioning. "Yes, I do deny that. And Bucky had nothing to do with it. He waited in the car while I had Mark sign the papers."
"And then a month or so later, Tony Stark had a judge quietly push through the paperwork making David McAdams the newly adopted son of Mr. Barnes," Campbell noted. "Your story is full of illegalities and contempt for the law. How do you expect a jury to take what you say seriously when for the last five years, you and your husband have spat in the face of the law over and over again?"
Summer chose her next words carefully, remembering Matt's constant reminders to not incriminate herself. "We haven't spat in the face of anything. We've just been living our lives. Bucky has been living his life for the first time since 1945. He's been healing and getting better and trying to atone for the past. And I've been doing everything I can to help him do that. That's all we've done."
"Maybe in your mind," the prosecutor allowed. "But the reality isn't so simple or innocent. Maybe you're so caught up in the world of superheroes and vigilantes that you can't see the difference anymore. What do you think?"
Summer's next words came as naturally as breathing. "I think that the reality is simple. Bucky's innocent, and deep down, you probably know it too. The truth is that you and the people you answer to want someone to pin these crimes on and lock up so you can say look, we brought the killer to justice. And Bucky's the guy who fits that bill. You don't care how much he's suffered and how much he gave in service to this country. You don't care how many times they fried his brain and took away his ability to choose between right and wrong or even understand the concept. You just want to make yourselves look good because you know the people stopped trusting you a long time ago."
The prosecutor looked surprised by Summer's comments for a fraction of a second so short that Summer almost wondered if she had imagined it. Then the woman smiled the most condescending grin that Summer had ever seen in her life and said, "Well, thank you for making my point for me. No further questions."
Summer blinked with surprise, then felt immediate relief sink through her veins that it was over. She was excused from the bench, and when she stood up, she nearly toppled over from how shaky her wobbly legs felt. She was still trembling and full of anxiety and now fear that she'd said something wrong or did nothing to ultimately help, but it was over and there was nothing she could do to change it now. Another recess was called, and when Bucky took her hand on their way out of the courtroom and whispered a fierce I love you into her ear, she felt herself tear up and she squeezed his hand tight.
She felt even better when Steve gave her shoulder a pat in the hallway and said, "Couldn't have said it better myself."
"Not bad," Matt agreed. "Even if you did veer from the script and give another speech at the end."
"But it was a good speech," Foggy assured her as they walked. "Campbell's gonna need some cold water for those burns."
Summer laughed, already feeling about a hundred times better. Phew. Maybe she hadn't wrecked the whole trial after all.
After the sun had fallen and everyone was back at the tower, Summer was sunken deep into her favorite couch and Natasha was shoving a chilled glass of Tony's best Chardonnay into her hand. Opening eyes that she hadn't realized she'd closed in the first place, Summer grasped the glass and then looked up sleepily at Natasha as she took a seat next to her. "What's this for?"
"Figured you'd need it after the day you had," Natasha grinned, sipping her own glass. "Have you looked at the press yet?"
Summer yawned and shook her head, wondering why she was suddenly so sleepy. "No. I'll look at everything tomorrow. I don't think I can deal with what everybody's saying."
"Well, you just might be pleasantly surprised," Natasha mused with a small smile. "A few of the quotes from your testimony made headlines. And luckily, the reports so far have been very respectful when it comes to your affidavit about Mark."
"Let's hope it stays that way," Summer sighed, swirling the wine around in her glass. She brought it closer to her face and sniffed it, and she couldn't pinpoint why, but the scent of it seemed... off.
"What's wrong?" Natasha asked, watching Summer sniff the wine a few more times.
"I don't know, this just smells... gross," Summer shrugged. "You don't smell that?"
"It's delicious," Natasha shrugged back. "Maybe Steve's blood gave you the power of super-scent."
Summer rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Yeah, that would be my luck. Although let me tell you, I'm definitely stronger than I was before, and you know how I know? I opened the pickle jar earlier."
Natasha paused and raised an eyebrow. "Steve's pickle jar?"
Summer grinned proudly and nodded. "Yes! He left it out, and I saw it and I just had to try. Because we all know how tight he closes jars. It's horrible. But now I can open them."
"Wow," Natasha said, genuinely impressed. "Maybe you should start training with me. I bet you'd pack one hell of a punch now."
"Yeah... no," Summer shook her head, continuing to play with her wine rather than drink it. "I mean, maybe one day, but not right now. I've been so tired lately. This trial is just... sucking the life out of me."
"That's what the wine's for," Natasha pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah," Summer chuckled before sitting up straighter against the couch. She felt a little lightheaded when she did that, but it was fleeting so she didn't think on it much. Instead she looked around and asked, "Where's Bucky and the kids?"
"Over there," Nat gestured to their left, across the room. "David put on his best pout and convinced him to play Monopoly Junior with him. Addie's 'playing' too."
Summer looked over and proceeded to smile ear to ear upon catching her first glimpse of the scene. The little family was camped out on the floor, David focusing intently on the game and Bucky glancing at Adelaide before doing a double take and then hurriedly prying her mouth open and retrieving the little car token that she'd just apparently decided to try to eat. He then sighed and she giggled at him, which immediately brought a smile to his face and prompted him to grab her and squeeze her. Then she settled down in his lap, picking up some of the fake money from the floor and waving it around as David poked at Bucky to take his turn. Bucky obliged, picking up the dice and rolling a number that led to him landing on Boardwalk, which David owned, and losing the game.
Bucky clutched his heart and let out a fake wail, pretending to be devastated at the loss, which made David crack up and Adelaide start giggling right along with him. Then Bucky started laughing with them when he could no longer keep a straight face, and the entire spectacle made even Natasha smile rather widely.
And this was the man that so many people wanted to see burn, Summer mused miserably to herself. At that morose thought, she went ahead and finally took a drink of her wine. She instantly regretted it - it tasted as bad as it smelled, which was inexplicably horrible. Today just wasn't her day for wine, apparently, but she also hadn't managed to eat much thanks to the constant pit of anxiety in her gut that she'd been dealing with all day. Drinking, therefore, wasn't a great idea anyway.
She had a better idea. Handing the wine to Natasha, Summer got up and then headed over to her family, sitting down across from Bucky and starting a new game, which made David almost squeak with excitement. Bucky smiled at her in a way that warmed her very soul, and for that night, she knew that this was what they needed - a night where they could be just a normal, happy family, and pretend that their whole world wasn't always just one revolution away from crashing and burning.
The tower's other occupants gave them their space and privacy that night, and for awhile, everything was all right again. Happy, calm, easy hours passed where they played games, ate leftovers and watched Zootopia on Tony's enormous TV, and it was the best that Summer had felt in ages.
She wished that she could just... freeze time and keep them like that forever. If she could just wave her hand and make everything okay again and make them all safe and sound, she'd pay any price and do anything to make it happen, but that kind of magic just didn't exist. Reality was waiting for them like it always was, and soon - maybe even in only a week's time - the trial would be coming to a close and Bucky's fate would be in the jury's hands.
It was inevitable, just like their happy little night eventually coming to an end. Once the kids' bedtimes had been officially exceeded by an hour, their parents herded them into the bedroom they all shared and began the sometimes delicate task of getting them ready for bed. It was always an adventure, and as the nearly always-obedient David brushed his teeth and Adelaide ran away from them giggling in just her diaper to escape her dreaded fate of putting on her pajamas that Bucky and Summer stole a moment for themselves.
"I am so tired," Summer groaned as Bucky leaned them against their doorframe, holding her in a warm and sweet embrace that had her all but melting into his arms.
His lips against the crown of her head, he replied somewhat sadly, "I wish I was."
She pulled away enough to look up at him, blinking her sleepy eyes as she asked, "Another late night punch-fest with Steve on the agenda?"
Brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, Bucky smiled and replied lowly, "Unless you can think of another way of wearing me out."
Summer grinned back and, despite her exhaustion, her immediate reaction was to take him up on his implication and enjoy it while she could. While Bucky seemed to have overcome his problems that had made intimacy such a difficult thing to achieve in prior months, they hadn't had much of a chance to reap the benefits thanks to the constant lack of real privacy and the reality of their lives and demands of their kids. Their night on the rooftop had been the only time it had happened, and while Summer was desperately ready for a follow up...
"I would love to," she murmured, "but I have no idea when these kids are gonna actually go to sleep, and... honestly, I don't think I can stay up late enough. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," he assured her, kissing her forehead sweetly. "I understand. You've had... one hell of a fucking day."
She laughed at his choice of words and nodded. "Yeah, that's one way of putting it."
"Just try to get some sleep," he told her, metal hand cupping her cheek. Then he kissed her cheek and brought his lips to his ear as he added in a low whisper meant only for her, "Maybe I'll get up a little early in the morning and... give you something nice to wake up to."
She groaned as he pulled away. "Oh man, why do you this to me?" She dropped her forehead against his chest and he laughed, running an affectionate hand through her hair. "Now I'm gonna be thinking about that and getting all uncomfortable... in a good way."
"Sorry," he chuckled.
"No you're not," she sighed and lifted her head, kissing him and getting far too into it for her own good. But she really couldn't help it, and by the time she pulled away, they both had flickers of hunger in their eyes that the other could clearly see.
That was when Adelaide, still only in a diaper, came hurtling their way and smacked into their legs with a delighted and very not tired giggle. They both laughed and then drew apart, Bucky reaching down and picking up the happy little girl and taking her across the room so that she could finally get her pajamas on. Summer sighed once again - she was doing a lot of that tonight - and decided to just look forward to the next morning.
The routine was familiar, and when Adelaide was dressed at last and David had finished up in the bathroom, Bucky bade them farewell and headed downstairs to hopefully exhaust himself enough to get a decent night's sleep. Summer teased him on his way out that if he kept up the ridiculous amount of working out that he did, he'd have to upgrade his left arm to a bigger one to remain proportionate. He then cracked a joke back that wasn't entirely appropriate to say around children, and with a giggle and a slight blush, Summer closed the bedroom door.
When she turned around, she saw that Adelaide was not where she'd last seen her, which was on the floor playing with one of David's toy tanks. She called the toddler's name, and Adelaide squealed happily back to her from inside the bathroom, sounding entirely too excited for her own good.
That was never a good sign.
Both Summer and David approached the bathroom and, from the right side of the doorway, slowly peeked their heads inside. Sitting on the floor in her cute little pink and purple pajamas, Adelaide had both doors of the cabinet beneath the sink open, and she had found Tony's old gag gift to Summer - a big box containing more pregnancy tests than she could count.
"... Addie."
At the sound of her mama's voice, Adelaide whipped around and grinned with no small amount of mischief in her bright blue eyes. She had a pregnancy test in one hand, waving it around, and in her other... she was shoving (a thankfully still sealed) one into her mouth and chewing on it.
"Oh gosh, Addie, no," Summer said, finally stepping inside the bathroom and trying not to laugh too hard. Adelaide giggled and then quickly got up, darting off at top speed with both tests still in hand, refusing to relinquish them. Summer rolled her eyes and then asked David, "Can you go chase your sister down and get those from her? I gotta clean this up."
David wasted no time in obeying, and then Summer knelt in front of the cabinet to put all the tests back in the box that Adelaide that taken out. She could hear Addie giggling more and David's exasperated sighing, and she smiled to herself as she shoved the box back into the cabinet.
It really was a ridiculous amount of pregnancy tests. That had been the whole point of the gift's humor, of course, but she hadn't needed to take a test in quite a long time. Bucky's problem had made the possibility moot, and she was always incredibly regular with her cycles and keeping track of them. In fact, she was due any day now.
As she closed the cabinet door, her hand suddenly froze on the handle. Wait a minute.
... What day was it?
Her bewildered and exhausted mind honestly couldn't remember that day's date, so she reached into her pocket and retrieved her phone. She pushed the button and then felt her eyes grow even wider as the screen lit up.
Her stomach lurched and she could feel herself go as pale as a sheet.
Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap.
As she remained frozen where she was, kneeling in front of the cabinet and looking like she'd just seen a ghost, David returned bearing the confiscated tests. He handed them to her, and Summer took them robotically with a quiet thanks. She only put one back in the box, however.
"Turn around," she told David as she walked over to the toilet. He immediately did as she said, used to the drill now that Adelaide was around and the idea of actually closing bathroom doors was laughable half of the time. It was one of the consequences of motherhood, and at the moment, Summer couldn't have possibly cared less.
It took her less than a minute to get the first phase of the test done. Then she replaced the cap on the test, set it down on the counter, washed her hands, and then sunk down to the floor with a thousand-yard stare to wait for the results.
David knew what the test meant. He was quick to go to her side and sit with her, his quiet but thoughtful presence the only comfort that she had at that moment. Adelaide eventually wandered in too, now bearing Summer's phone charging cord and looking quite pleased about it.
Summer sighed and took the cord away, then continued to panic in complete and utter silence.
She couldn't be... right? They'd only slept together once in months. The chances of that were minuscule, really.
Then again, Bucky had knocked her up on their wedding night, the very first time they'd ever forgone birth control. He was already notorious for getting things done without needing multiple tries, but this... the timing of it...
She checked the time on her phone. Three minutes had passed remarkably quickly. She swallowed, nearly vomited in the process, and then stood up to look at the test results.
One pink line meant negative, and two meant positive. Staring back at her from the little white stick were two very vibrantly pink lines, completely unmistakably positive, and Summer's knees chose that moment to give out on her entirely.
This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not with everything else that was happening, the trial and their still-open case with the Department of Children and Families. Not with Bucky so close to being taken from them forever. Not with the constant threats looming over their shoulders every waking moment.
Before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face. She felt completely stupid - after all, she wasn't on birth control, and they had taken no precautions on that rooftop. She should have thought about this, but she had been too distracted and happy in that moment to even comprehend what might result from their actions.
It wasn't that she didn't want another baby, because she did. She wanted all the babies that God would see fit to give her. But bringing a new and completely innocent little life into the current dangerous mess that their lives were - just a matter of weeks after she had nearly died - this wasn't what she wanted. Nobody their right mind would choose such a time to have a new baby.
Fairly quickly, she was crying so hard that David grew extremely concerned. He poked at her and signed questions to her that she didn't understand because her eyes were too blurry to make them out, his own eyes frantic with worry, but she tried to assure him that she was okay.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," she told him through a new wave of tears. "I'm... really, I am. Don't worry." She sniffed and wiped at her nose, but there was no stopping the onslaught of tears. Everything made sense now, from how exhausted she was to how sick she had felt all day, though it had been easy to attribute that to stress and how difficult the day had been. Little had she known, there was a much different reason for feeling as crappy as she had.
She needed to talk to someone. Her head was spinning and nothing was okay, and she needed a voice of reason.
"David, go get Nat," she told him, trying once again to get her breathing under control. "Go knock on her door and when she answers tell her I need her, okay?"
David nodded and quickly hurried out of the room. The minute that he was gone the tears began again, and this time it was Adelaide's turn to get concerned.
In her short life, the little girl hadn't seen her mama cry very often, and certainly not like this. Summer was bordering on hysterical again, panic and worry and shock converging and resulting in what was a veritable flood of tears leaving her eyes. Adelaide watched her blankly for a few moments, trying to understand what was going on and taking a few steps closer as she did.
Summer looked up when she felt a fat little hand pat her cheek. She sniffed back a sob and then watched as Adelaide kept patting, maybe in a curious attempt to wipe away her tears or just try to understand, and then Adelaide flashed her a smile and grabbed her nose. It was so silly and kind of random, but it made Summer's heart ache and drove her to grab the little girl and pull her into her lap so she could hug her.
It was hard to believe that another little baby was in her belly now. It was incredibly early in the pregnancy and the baby was likely smaller than a sunflower seed, but it was there and Summer could still hardly believe it. Adelaide, as tiny as she was, was going to be a big sister, and at the arguably worst possible time.
The sound of footsteps caught Summer's attention a moment later. She looked up to find David dragging a half-asleep Natasha by her hand into the bathroom. As soon as Nat saw her crying on the floor and clutching Adelaide, her expression went from confused to extremely concerned.
"What happened?" Natasha asked, David letting go of her hand and moving to go sit by Summer again.
Summer let out a breath and then pointed to the sink. Natasha's eyes followed, and as soon as she located the test with her gaze, she knew.
"Oh no."
Those two words triggered another sob from Summer. She was fairly sure at this point that she'd simply keep crying until she shriveled up like a prune and lost all water content in her body.
"It was only once," Summer said weakly, voice shaking through all the crying.
"Only takes once," Natasha noted wryly, sitting down on Summer's unoccupied side. "He seems to be good at that."
"How am I supposed to tell him?" Summer asked desperately. "He's already got the weight of the world on his shoulders. If I tell him this he might snap. It's too much."
Natasha was quiet for a moment, absently watching Adelaide lightly smack Summer's wet cheek. "... Maybe you shouldn't tell him. Not yet. Wait until the verdict."
"That could be weeks," Summer pointed out.
"Could be," Natasha agreed. "But you're right. He can only take so much. Everything you're feeling right now, he'll feel it even more because he'll see how hard you're taking it and he'll blame himself."
"But... I can't keep this from him," Summer shook her head. "I can't lie. Even if I wanted to, and I don't, I'm the world's worst liar. I can't do it."
"You don't have to lie," Natasha replied. "He's not going to suspect it. You know he won't. Just wait until the verdict. Wait until you know what's going to happen."
Summer nodded, still crying softly. "I just... I want to tell him. It's gonna kill me keeping it from him."
"Yeah," Natasha said lightly. "I know. But this is a way for you to protect him. And you don't get the chance to do that very often."
She was right. Summer couldn't argue with her even if she wanted to. She wiped at her eyes and took a big, shuddering breath, and then she felt Natasha's arm come around her shoulders and pull her close for one of her somewhat rare but incredibly effective comforting hugs. Summer melted right into it, still clutching Adelaide to her chest with David at her other side, soaking up the comfort and unashamedly crying on Natasha's shoulder.
"Let it out while you can," Natasha told her gently, encouraging her to keep the floodgates open. "Because pretty soon he's gonna be back in here and you're going to need to act like none of this happened."
Oh God, Summer groaned inwardly. She didn't know if she could do this. Keeping such an enormous secret from Bucky might end up being one of the most difficult things she'd ever done, but she knew that Natasha was right. It was the right thing to do, and it was her one way to protect Bucky from taking on even more stress and fear.
She would do this for him, hard as it might be. And as she kept the secret between herself, Natasha, and David, she would pray that when the verdict came, he would be free again and she could tell him the news at last.
And if the verdict came and he wasn't free... then she would cross that bridge when she came to it, because the thought of that was simply too terrible to bear.
Bucky was going to be a father again. She could only hope and pray that he'd get to meet his new son or daughter one day, and not be taken away before he ever got to lay eyes on them.