Chapter 32. Misdirection

Content warning: Death of a character.

Tuesday, June 22

Brooklyn, after the death of Abraham Erskine

2:40 pm

The chaos from earlier had settled down when Merton finally put himself in position near the Brooklyn Antique Store. There were still SSR operatives milling about in front of the fake business but that was to be expected after what went down there earlier. So far as either Merton or Bucky could tell when they first arrived there were no Phoenix operatives nearby. The car taking General Phillips and Peggy Carter had already left. Senator Brandt's car was there, waiting for him to emerge with Steve Rogers, presumably offering to drive him back to his flat to pack up the newly created super soldier's meagre possessions. As Bucky told Merton earlier before he departed for the flat, there was no way Steve would allow the Senator to see the area he lived in.

"It wasn't that it was a bad area, but it was very poor," said Bucky. "Steve was still proud, you remember that."

"Yeah, he'll walk home, and agree to meet the Senator somewhere else, somewhere respectable," answered Merton.

As if Steve's living conditions made their opinion of him any different. Sure enough, the Senator came out with Steve following him and Merton watched as the politician tried to talk the new super soldier into getting into the car. Steve resisted and eventually the Senator entered his car with his aide, riding away as the younger man began the long walk to his flat. Watching from the doorway Merton stepped out when Steve was looking elsewhere and pretended to be looking at a document in his hand, deliberately walking into him.

"Watch where you're going buddy," he sneered then looked up, his eyes wide at the transformed man in front of him. "Steve?"

"Mr. Burnett." Steve stopped and ran his hand through his hair. "I ... um ... I thought you were gone, moved west."

"We are," replied Merton, trying to inject a tone of confused and apologetic emotions into his voice. "We're staying with my friend in Yonkers before we take the train Thursday." He leaned close. "What's happened to you?"

The younger man blushed. "I'm sorry it's classified," he winced as he said it. "I'm changed. That's all I can say. How is Ariel?"

Merton took on a look of concern. "Not good," he admitted. "We planned to take the train after moving last week but I had to stay behind to take care of some banking business. Do you have time for a coffee?"

Steve looked at the clock on the post office across the street. "Sure," he replied.

Together they walked to a nearby diner and sat at a booth near the back. The waitress took their order for two coffees and brought their cups almost immediately. Merton looked at the clock on the wall above the kitchen pass through. It was 2:50 pm. Smiling at Steve, he asked what had happened since the previous week, then listened to the younger man, interrupting often and asking pointed questions. He needed to delay Steve at least half an hour.

3:00 pm

Bucky had already told Paulina and Victoria about the spare key, watching from his vantage point on the roof of a nearby rooming house that gave him a clear view of them opening the door and placing the key back in its place. Paulina and Merton brought some comms pieces with them from the future so they could keep in contact with each other. Merton had already signalled with his code word, sugar please, that he had successfully delayed Steve, at least for the time being. Now Bucky was on the lookout for Lowell Mason and May Weatherly, expecting her to be waiting for Steve. It didn't take long before he saw Mason, walking quickly with the younger woman. He signalled Paulina and Victoria, then began to listen to the couple.

"We should have taken a taxi, been here sooner," Mason said, angrily. "He left the antique store 20 minutes ago."

"If you knew the time period and the neighbourhood we're in you would know that no one that lives here can afford a taxi," she spat. "It would draw attention."

He stopped, dragging her closer to him and leaned down until his face was almost touching hers.

"You do not speak to me in that manner," he fumed. "This is my operation. If you had been ready sooner, we would have already accomplished our objective with Barnes."

She yanked her arm out of his hand and stepped back. "That's all I am, isn't it? An incubator for your precious Winter Soldier. If you had dosed me after the switch, I could have fucked the older Barnes. He was into me."

Pierce smirked. "He's probably sterile, shooting blanks. All of Alexander Pierce's documents said the Russians filled him with so much shit it wrecked his reproductive capabilities. His so-called descendants were rumoured to be the result of IVF, using sperm donors. It's why we wanted him before he was taken. Doing it now with Rogers means we get a purer sperm sample, better odds of a conception. You took the last clomiphene citrate pill?"

"Yes," she answered resentfully. "I hope I never see those pills again. They make me feel sick."

"Stop whining," he said, then both stopped walking as they waited for traffic to clear before crossing the street.

Putting his hand in his pocket Mason pulled out a small spray bottle, and his handkerchief. Holding the small cloth over his mouth and nose he sprayed Weatherly's neck with the contents of the bottle then stepped back and motioned to her to go up the stairs to the door. He positioned himself into an alcove with a clear view of the door to Steve's flat. The young woman located the key, unlocked the door and put the key back in its hiding place. When the door closed Mason looked at his watch and began waiting for the arrival of Steve Rogers.

Inside the room, May Weatherly's lips curled at the state of the small flat. Stepping through the dingy kitchen area to the bedroom she looked at the bed and shook her head.

"Fuck," she whispered. "He better be hung like a horse to make up for this."

She began undressing, undoing her stockings and blouse, then taking her skirt off, leaving her in her slip. Brushing off the top of the thin blanket first she laid on it and waited for her would be Romeo. It was quiet and she found her attention drifting off. She didn't hear the bathroom door open or the slow approach of two women. It wasn't until one of the women was right beside the bed that she opened her eyes and screamed, a scream that was cut off by the hand of that woman firmly covering her mouth.

"Hello May," said Paulina. "End of the line for you, my dear." Nodding at Victoria who was on the other side of the bed, Paulina leaned down and looked directly into the younger woman's eyes. "You go to sleep now."

Victoria pressed a hyper spray into Weatherly's neck. Instantly the young woman closed her eyes, unconscious, and the librarian went back to the bathroom for the virtual control, requesting a portal. When it opened, two security agents exited. One sprayed a substance on Weatherly's neck to neutralize the pheromone booster, then picked up the unconscious woman while the other took her clothes. They stepped back through the portal and Victoria closed it behind them after receiving the all clear signal.

"One down, one to go," she said in her comms piece, then they prepared to leave once Steve was confirmed to be back on his way.

3:15 pm

"Do you remember the first time we met?" asked Merton, on his second cup of coffee. "Those boys had pushed you down when you stopped to fix a broken shoelace. I never did like bullies. Once I sent them on their way, I noticed your laces were full of knots. There was nothing left to fix."

"Yeah, I remember," said Steve, still nursing his first coffee. He looked at the clock on the wall above the pass through. "Merton, I really have to go. I have things to pack up."

"Oh? Are you going somewhere?" asked the historian, innocently.

"Um, yeah, a special assignment for Senator Brandt," replied the younger man. "I'm meeting them at six."

"Why don't I come and help?" asked Merton. "It won't take as long, and we can visit for another half hour at least."

Steve stood up, agitated, then reached inside the pocket of the spare clothes that had been lent to him. He took out 50 cents and placed it on the table, then smiled at the older man.

"Thanks, but I have to do this myself," he replied. "Tell Ariel that I'll be thinking of her. She was supposed to mail me your new address but since I won't be living at the flat anymore, I won't be able to receive mail. I wish ..." He stopped and sighed, looking around for a moment. "I wish things with Bucky had worked out differently. I really thought they were perfect for each other. Take care of her and yourself."

Merton stood up and offered Steve his hand. "You take of yourself as well, and if you run across Bucky, tell him I'll help her through this," he answered. "They were perfect for each other."

He watched Steve leave the café then stepped out onto the sidewalk after him, watching until he couldn't see the tall blond anymore. Then he pressed his earpiece.

"I tried," he said, apologetically. "He's on his way. You may have to leave his flat soon."

Five minutes later as he was part way to Steve's himself, Merton heard the update from Victoria and smiled. At least that problem was taken care of. Lowell Pierce Mason was another matter. He was the one who was the most dangerous.

3:30 pm

Mason waited impatiently, fidgeting as he paced on the sidewalk across from Steve's flat. He was already drawing attention to himself but was oblivious to the looks and stares that passerby were giving him. Then he watched with disbelief as the door to Steve's flat opened and two women, one of them Paulina, came out. He almost punched a wall at that moment, realizing they had likely intercepted May Weatherly. As the women began walking on the sidewalk away from the flat, he followed from across the street, deciding to teach that red-headed traitorous bitch a lesson.

"Mason on the move," said Bucky. "He's following the women."

"Understood," said Merton. "I'll take a taxi to the capture location. Watch him carefully."

Bucky, keeping low, stayed on the roof, following as he jumped from building to building until he had a clear spot to jump down to the street. Half a block behind his quarry he followed Mason. A drunk some distance ahead of him got his attention when he began accosting women, who pulled away from him in distaste. Bucky shook his head at the thought of a man being drunk at this time of the afternoon.

"You were drunk before noon when you let Ariel go," said an unwanted voice in his head, distracting him for a few seconds.

At that moment the drunk pushed into him and he felt a gun pressed into his ribs.

"In the alley," said the man as he jabbed the gun harder into Bucky's side.

Doing as he was told Bucky backed up into the alley where the man smiled smugly at him. "Look at that," he said. "I've caught myself a super soldier." He pressed his own comms piece. "Secondary target acquired." He looked at Bucky again. "Didn't know we were expecting you, did you? We'll wait here until the backup crew arrives and we'll go somewhere private to reprogram you."

"Won't work," said Bucky, "Wakanda got rid of the programming."

"So they thought," replied the man. "There are new ways of doing it, permanent ways. Your skills will be greatly needed in the 22nd century."

He glanced back out onto the street for a moment, wondering where his backup team was and Bucky instantly took him down, rendering him unconscious. A portal opened near him, and two more security agents came out, along with Will.

"We tracked the location of his backup crew through his comms piece," said the younger historian, as the man was taken out. "They're being arrested as we speak. Known associates are being run through our databases and we'll raid their locations in our time. You'll get to the other capture site in time?"

Bucky nodded then hesitated. "How come the security guys can come out of the portal without being pulled out?" he asked.

Will smiled. "They do it so often they're practically immune to the side effects. Most normal people need the presence of an arm to be guided out of the portal."

"You came out without being pulled out," noted Bucky.

The handsome young historian smiled broadly. "I did, didn't I?"

With a small wave he stepped back inside, and Bucky shook his head, realizing he had just been told it was classified. Part of him was going to miss the younger man when he returned to 2024. Jumping back up to the roof Bucky began running and leaping from building to building, heading towards the spot where Lowell Pierce Mason would be captured. As he ran, he could hear Paulina and Victoria speaking, as one of them still had her comms piece open. They spoke of the latter's life since she was trapped there.

By their conversation he figured out that her husband, Bucky's eventual high school physics teacher, Edward Houseman, had seen her coming out of the library in late 1928, after working a shift. It was winter, she slipped and fell on the ice and like the gentleman he truly was, ran across the road to help her up. She twisted her ankle and was unable to walk so he carried her to his car and drove her to Merton's, who was introduced as an old family friend she was living with until she got her feet on the ground.

That had set both women laughing, considering how she had fallen at precisely the same moment he was admiring her, and he asked her out. Since the resident historians still hadn't reestablished contact with the guild, Victoria accepted his invitation. Three months later, when communication with the future began again, although transport wouldn't be possible for another year, she realized that he meant something to her. Like Ariel, she had a moment of despair, not wanting to leave the man she fell in love with. Already declared officially dead in the future, Peri, as her friend and as chair of the guild, gave Victoria the green light to stay. In 1931, Victoria Paxton married Edward Houseman in a civil ceremony. Her first child, a daughter was born in 1933, a second in 1936. She returned to the library in 1934, which is when Bucky first met her, after she helped him find some books on engines. Merton hinted that he was important in the future and like the resident historian, she made an effort to enrich his reading, always making sure he knew about the latest books on science and technology.

Bucky must have made a sound as he reacted because Paulina's voice was suddenly saying his name. "Bucky, are you listening to our private conversation?"

"Sorry, one of you left your all comms on," he said.

"He's right," added Merton, his voice added to the mix. "We heard it all. So much for perpetuating the myth of the objective historian."

"Why did you two help me and Steve?" asked Bucky, still advancing on the rooftops. "Truthfully. We were two dirt poor kids, him always getting into scrapes, me backing him up. Both of us with runny noses, holes in our shoes and socks that never stayed up. Put aside what you knew we would become. You could have left us alone and not interfered with the timeline."

He could hear laughter from all three of them, but he wasn't irritated by it. Instead, he found it amusing in the way friends do when they realize something enlightening about other friends.

"We wanted to help you because we liked you both," said Victoria. "Both of you were so full of energy and curiosity about the world. Even though you were poor you both had ambitions to be better people. You already were good people, with your drive and your desire to protect others. Could we have left you alone? Yes, but we chose not to because it was impossible to not be involved in your lives. That's what Brooklyn was in the 1930s. A neighbourhood where you watched out for your neighbours and helped them."

"Who knows?" added Merton. "Maybe we were supposed to be involved in your lives, part of the mosaic of people in your past who influenced you one way or another. It happened, Bucky. It's established history."

There was a yell that blasted Bucky's ear in the comms piece, then the sound of a scuffle, before gasps as Victoria's voice came back on. "It's Mason," she said, sounding like she was running. "He stabbed Paulina and he's after me."

"Bucky, ETA?" asked Merton, his voice sounding breathless as it was obvious, he was now running.

"30 seconds," replied Bucky. "I'll take him. You look after Paulina."

Running at full speed he sped over the roofs, leaping over the alleys until he spotted Victoria who had doubled back towards him.

"I have you in view," he said to the librarian. "Keep running and I'll intercept."

There was no confirmation as she was running with all of her focus towards the opening at the end of the alley. Before she passed him he jumped off the building landing directly in front of Lowell Mason, still brandishing a bloody knife. The latter pulled up when he saw Bucky then backed up a little. Behind him a portal opened with three security agents and Will coming through.

"Lowell Pierce Mason, you are under arrest for treason, conspiracy, attempted murder, illegal time travel, and a whole host of other charges," announced Will. "Give up."

"You were the greatest weapon HYDRA ever had," stated the blond descendant of Alexander Pierce, looking at Bucky with contempt. "They were that close to taking control, but you couldn't finish your final mission. You just had to let Rogers live. They should have fried your brain to the point it never repaired itself, never regenerated. That was their biggest mistake."

"No," replied Bucky. "Their biggest mistake was believing their own lies. Give up. It's over."

"Cut off one head," began Mason, positioning his tongue against one of his teeth.

He never finished saying the rest as Bucky leaped forward knocking him out while Will came forward with a mouth guard that he placed inside the man's mouth, pressing a button that would keep it in there. One of the security men cuffed Mason and they took him back through the portal.

"Paulina," said Bucky, as both he and Will raced to the original capture location.

Merton and Victoria were with the fallen woman in another alleyway. A medic was already examining her but looked up at Merton, then Will and shook his head. As she bled out from the wound in her side, she looked at Victoria, grasping her hand and squeezing it, then at Merton, smiling. Finally, she looked at Bucky and he came close, taking her hand in his.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I distracted you. You would have seen him coming."

She shook her head. "No, that's not what the historical records say. It happened the way it happened. I knew this was a one-way mission when I chose to take it. They'll find the rest of Phoenix in their time, while you and Sam go after the remnants of HYDRA in yours." She blinked her eyes a few times then looked at Bucky again before whispering the rest. "Love her with all of your heart. She was always meant to be with you."

She kept looking at him, her breathing becoming more and more laboured. When she squeezed her eyes shut in agony before one final painful breath, she didn't reopen them, and the medic pronounced it as her face relaxed. Glancing at Victoria and Merton he saw both of them had tears in their eyes. Then Victoria stood up, took her controller out of her bag and sent a signal. When this portal opened two security agents, dressed differently from the ones who took Mason into custody, came with a sling chair. They were followed by a future older Merton, who nodded at his counterpart first then the others. They watched as the security agents picked Paulina up and gently placed her in the chair, stepping back into the portal. Future Merton took a tube out of his pocket and sprayed it on the blood that had pooled under Paulina's body. Immediately, it disappeared. Then he reached out to Victoria, taking her controller from her.

"I might as well take this back," he said. "You look wonderful, Skye. It's been so many years." He turned to Will. "You'll make sure Bucky and my counterpart return to the right time?" Will nodded. Finally, he turned to Bucky. "You made a difference and I'm not talking about your Winter Soldier years. I won't say anything more, except thank you."

With a nod to the other Merton he stepped back into the portal and it closed behind him leaving the three men and Victoria Houseman still standing in the alley. Merton went to hail a cab as they waited at the alley entrance not saying anything. When the cab arrived the driver looked at them, then at Will.

"Sergeant Greening, good to see you again," he said. "We have confirmation that the final member of Phoenix from 2142 in this timeline has been taken into custody and returned to the proper time. The locals they recruited have all been reported to the OSS as enemy agents."

"Understood," said Will crisply, glancing at Bucky but not saying anything more.

They arrived at the flat and made their way up the stairs. When they were inside Will used his portable controller to prepare the portal while Merton and Bucky went to pack. Victoria appeared in Bucky's doorway.

"May I ask a favour of you?" He paused, looking at this dark-haired woman who chose to stay in the past. "When you get back would you tell Ariel something? Would you tell her that I'm sorry about being stuck here when she was 16. It was a year before they restored communications and another year before transport was possible. Peri told me I had been declared dead to keep both of us safe. I found a life here, a life I wanted. When she arrived at the library to work it was hard not to tell her who I was but ..."

"It would have affected everything," he interjected to her nod.

"Tell her working beside her was one of the best parts of our time together," said Victoria. "I was so proud of her professionalism and dedication. She grew into the type of daughter I always envisioned having. You are going to take her back with you, aren't you?"

He folded some more clothes. "I want to but it's her decision," he said. "If she does I promise to be the man she needs. I'm capable of that now. I wasn't quite ready for it when I was younger."

Victoria nodded then came forward and put her hand on his shoulder. She stepped up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. Then she left him to finish packing. By the time he finished and took his suitcase out to the living room, Will was ready to activate their return portal. Merton hugged Victoria.

"Looks like I won't see you for another 30 years," he quipped. "Take care of your family and yourself."

"You too," she smiled, then she stepped back.

The portal opened and Bucky went through first, followed by Merton shortly after. As they waited for the signal that he was through Will looked at her.

"I guess I won't ever be back to this time," he said. "Tell me, how did Rita take my death?"

"There were times she cried in the stacks," said Victoria. "You were her first love. Everyone else knew her as Miss Warren, spinster librarian. You made her believe she was a beautiful vibrant woman ready to embrace love."

"Is she still alone?" he asked.

"No, she found a good man and they got married before he was called up," said Victoria. "She's probably pregnant although she doesn't know it yet. You loved her too, didn't you?"

He nodded. "I almost gave it all up for her," he admitted. "Resident historian, security chief of this borough, on a track to be eventual chair. Then I got involved with that gang of thugs going after Sam Wilson. Not on my watch."

"You're a good man Will Meredith," she said, addressing him by his real name.

The signal that Merton was through got his attention and he gave Victoria a sad smile. With a nod he entered the portal and Victoria watched it begin to get smaller before disappearing completely. She went through the rooms, making sure nothing was left behind then went to the landlord's office, handing him the key. Thanking him for the short-term rental on behalf of the war effort, she gave him $50 for the trouble he would have to go through in cleaning it and changing the linens, an unheard of amount for the times. From there she returned home, opening the door to the sight of her two daughters, Ariel and Peri, learning how to bake cookies with their grandmother, the mother of her husband Edward. After hugging the 10- and 7-year-old, she put her apron on and asked if she could bake some cookies, too.