I know, it's been a long time since I've updated, I apologize. Currently, I', juggling a lot, not just in writing, but real life as well, I've recently weathered a family crisis that I'm still kind of dealing with at the moment. Point being, I'm doing the best I can right now, so please try and be patient with me.

And to certain guest reviewers, you know who you are, reviewing me every time I haven't updated after a certain point to tell me to update doesn't make me update any faster. It's actually quite annoying and makes my inspiration for this story take a huge dive. So you're really not accomplishing anything other than making it harder for me to write for this story.

Anyway, on with the show.

Echo Five: I honestly don't have many plans with Korg at the moment, so we'll see.

Jinero: Thank you.

Ellie Bishop: Yep, LOL! Glad it makes sense. Starting but it's a long road. No kidding, such a disappointment.

Guest 1: Glad you enjoyed it. Bobbi will play a role in a certain storyline later on but I don't really plan to involve AOS hugely save Coulson and Bobbi. They might make a cameo but that's it.

Guest 2: Glad to hear it. Not really, the Avengers will be dealing with their own problems while Coulson is dealing with Hive. Plus the Hive thing was a bit too convoluted for my tastes.

Guest 3: Glad to hear it.

Guest 4: I may introduce some of the Defenders like Daredevil but I really don't plan to include anything from Phase 4 as, outside No Way Home, none of it has really impressed me and I've actually been quite disappointed by the MCU going forward.

Stark Mansion

Afternoon

"So, you want something to drink? Or do dead guys drink?" Tony quipped as he led Coulson over to the bar.

"I'm fine, thanks," Coulson said, not taking offense to Tony's barbs, knowing he deserved it. "Tony, look, I know you're angry."

"And what would I have to be angry about? It's not like you let us all think you were dead for over four years. Oh wait," Tony said sarcastically as he poured himself a drink.

"Tony," Coulson said in that voice that always made him listen.

Tony sighed, putting down the drink before turning around to face Coulson. For years, he'd waited to see Coulson again. But now that he had, he just Coulson to leave.

"Why'd you do it Phil? Why'd you let us think you were dead?" Tony finally asked as he looked over at Coulson.

"It's…complicated. At first, I felt like something was wrong, that something had happened to me. Then I started putting together what that was, then SHIELD fell and I was fighting off Hydra left and right. Then I was trying to keep SHIELD afloat while wondering if I was losing my mind, then I was dealing with Inhumans. Finally, I just admitted the truth: I was too much of a coward to come face you all. And for that, I am sorry. Not just to you, but Pepper, Thor, Natasha and the other Avengers. I am sorry Tony," Coulson said and Tony could see the remorse on his face.

"I know. I just don't know what to do with that," Tony said sigh, suddenly feeling weary of all this.

"You don't have to do anything. Just don't shut Fury or Hill out on my account. If half the things I've heard are true, you'll need all the help you can get," Coulson told him.

Tony knew he was right. The Accords were only the beginning; Ross and Zemo were both threats, not to mention Thanos. But he wasn't sure how to trust Fury or Hill anymore. And he needed to work with the people he trusted in order to take these guys down.

Sakaar

Same time

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Thor asked as Valkyrie led him and Wanda into the palace through a secret entrance.

"I've been here long enough to know all the secret passage ways. No one even knows about this beside the Grandmaster, and he doesn't know that I know about it. And no one will question you as long as you're with me," Valkyrie assured them. "So what's the plan here?"

"You get us to see the big guy, we get him out, then we fight our way out," Thor explained.

"That's a terrible plan," Valkyrie said after a moment before smirking. "I like it. Count me in."

Avengers Compound

Same time

In his office, Steve was having a meeting with Helen Cho. Helen was currently reading the file on Bucky's recovery that Steve had gotten from Barton. While Steve didn't understand much of the medical terms used, he was relieved to note when he read it a few days before that Shuri had never used Bucky's name in her documentation of his recovery.

"Where did you get this?" Helen finally asked as she looked up at him.

"From a friend, who asked me to keep their identity and the identity of the patient a secret," Steve half lied and Helen nodded after a moment. "Can you use this to help Bucky?"

"Hard to say. While there are…an eerily amount of similarities between the patient and Sergeant Barnes, there's no guarantee the same methods will work on him," Helen explained.

"But its Bucky's best chance," Steve said knowingly and she nodded reluctantly.

"I'll do everything I can for him, I just want you to be prepared for the possibility that Sergeant Barnes may never be free of Hydra," Helen cautioned him.

"The thing about Bucky is he never gives up. He's a survivor," Steve said, remembering everything Bucky had survived and everything he seen Bucky endure in the recordings. "If anyone can get through this, its him."

"Okay. Then let's start working on a treatment plan," Helen said.

In the gym, Bucky was alone, bench pressing about two hundred pounds. Hearing footsteps approach, Bucky put the barbell down and sat up. Looking over, he saw Natasha enter the room.

"Natalia. Or is it Natasha?" Bucky inquired after a moment of thought.

"You can just call me Nat. Almost everyone here does," Natasha said and he nodded. "So, any reason you wondered off by yourself?"

"Kind of got tired of the way that one guy, what's his name, Rhodey?" Bucky asked and Natasha nodded. "Was looking at me, like I was gonna snap at any moment."

"You better get used to it. They don't trust you; lots of people won't trust you at first once they learn who you are. You need to learn that trust," Natasha said and Bucky raised an eyebrow.

"Speaking from experience?" Natasha shrugged.

"It took months before anyone at SHIELD besides Clint trusted me. It took a year before even he trusted me enough to share the thing he'd kept from almost everyone else," Natasha explained. "Redemption is a long road James. I've been at it for a long time and I'm still not there."

Bucky nodded, deep in thought. It was silent for a moment and Natasha was about to turn and leave him alone with his thoughts when Bucky's voice stopped her.

"Can I ask you something?" Bucky asked and she looked at him wearily.

"Depends on what it is," Natasha noted.

"Is there something going on between you and Steve?" Bucky asked, taking her aback.

"What makes you say that?" Natasha asked surprised.

"You two just seem hyper aware of each other whenever you're in the same room. You seem so in sync, it's like you two can have an entire conversation without even talking. And whenever we bring up what happened between us in the Red Room, Steve always seems uncomfortable, I would say jealous but I'm not sure Steve knows how to be jealous," Bucky mused.

"There's nothing going on between me and Steve," Natasha said but Bucky noticed the slight catch in her voice, only someone as trained in espionage as him would have picked up on it.

"But you want there to be," Bucky accused and she looked away.

"After New York, Clint took some time off to deal with what had happened. Fury assigned me to Steve to help him with the transition into SHIELD. We started off just working together, joking around, I even tried setting up on dates because I could see how lonely he was .Then SHIELD fell, he saw me at my lowest and he didn't judge me, he didn't look at me and see this…monster when he learned about my past. He saw a person and he helped build me back up. And when I left, he didn't try to make me stay, he just accepted my choice," Natasha said, a faraway look in her eyes as she remembered that moment.

"Are you in love with him?" Bucky asked after a moment.

"Maybe. I don't know. I have nothing to compare it to. What you and I had wasn't love. The only kind of love I've ever seen is something I'm sure is beyond me," Natasha said as she thought of Clint and Laura.

"Well, for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure, whatever you feel for him, Steve feels the same way," Bucky said, smiling slightly as Natasha looked at him in surprise. "I've known him since we were kids; I know what it looks like when he has feelings for someone. So if you're afraid of getting rejected, Steve won't reject you. So don't use that as your excuse not to tell him. After everything you've both been through, you deserve some good in your life."

Sakaar

Not long after

Valkyrie led Thor and Wanda, both of whom had cloaks over their faces, into Thor's room. Like she had said, the guards didn't question their presence. Hulk was sitting on his bed when he saw Valkyrie.

"Angry girl!" he greeted Valkyrie happily.

"Hey big guy. I brought some friends of yours," Valkyrie said as Thor and Wanda lowered their hoods.

"Hulk, it is good to see you," Thor said as he approached the bed.

"Friend!" Hulk roared happily as he jumped off the bed, pulling Thor into a hug that would have killed a human.

"Yes, I'm happy to see you to," Thor laughed. "And I am sorry about this. I'll make it up to you later."

Hulk had barely blinked when Wanda raised her hands and blasted Hulk with red energy. He dropped Thor and rolled away, roaring as he clutched his head. Valkyrie watched in shock as Hulk began beating himself, about to intervene when Thor raised a hand, shaking his head. They then watched as Hulk shrank down, his skin turning from green to peach until he was once more Bruce Banner.

"Banner, Banner are you alright?" Thor asked as he cautiously approached Bruce.

"Thor? Wh-what happened?" Bruce as he looked around in bewilderment at their surroundings. "Where are we? What happened in Sokovia? What about Ultron?"

"Banner, Sokovia was a year ago," Thor revealed, shocking Bruce.

"A year? I've been the Hulk for a year?" Bruce asked in shock and horror. "What the Hell happened?"

"Long story. Banner, I know this is shocking and upsetting, but we need to get out of here," Thor told him.

"And here would be where?" Bruce asked, still in a bit of shock.

"You're on a planet called Sakaar," Valkyrie spoke up and Bruce looked over at her. "Hey."

"Hey. I feel like I know you," Bruce said, feeling the strangest sense of déjà vu.

"You kind of do," Valkyrie said, amused when Bruce looked at her in confusion. "So Thor, what's the plan?"

"We steal one of the Grandmaster's ships and go through the big one," Thor said, pointing out the window towards the Devil's Anus.

"The Devil's Anus?" Valkyrie asked in disbelief and Thor nodded.

"It should go get us to Asgard, and from there, we can head back to Earth," Thor said as he glanced back at Bruce.

At this, Bruce wrapped Hulk's pants around his waist like a sheet and walked over to the window, looking out at the Devil's Angus.

"That looks like a collapsing neutron star inside of an Einstein Rosen bridge," Bruce mentioned.

"So, do you know of any of the Grandmaster's ships that can withstand the geodetic strain from the singularity?" Thor asked as he glanced back at Valkyrie.

"And one that has an offline power steering system that can also function without the onboard computer," Bruce added.

"I have just the one in mind. But even with the four of us, it'll be nearly impossible to get to," Valkyrie pointed out. "We'll need to draw some guards away."

"I have a plan for that. But first, Little Witch?" Thor asked as he looked back at Wanda.

"Oh, right," Wanda said, pulling out a small bag and throwing it at Bruce. "We thought you might need that."

Bruce caught the bag and looked inside, relieved to find regular clothes inside.

"Thanks. It's good to see you again," Bruce said and Wanda nodded.

"God to see you to," Wanda said politely.

"So, what's this plan of yours?" Valkyrie asked Thor.

"We need to start a revolution," Thor said, confusing Bruce and Valkyrie as Wanda smiled, understanding.

In the Grandmaster's Prison, Korg and Miek were sitting down when suddenly; part of the wall was blasted open. Kong looked down, surprised when his Obedience Disk popped off. And all over the rest of the prison, Obedience Disks were deactivating and falling off prisoners. Korg got to his feet as Valkyrie walked in, holding a blaster.

"I'm looking for Korg," she declared.

"Who's asking? Well, I know you're asking, but is anyone else asking?" Korg asked as he stepped forward.

"An old friend send his best," Valkyrie said before tossing Korg the blaster.

He easily caught it, looking down at the weapon before cocking it.

"The revolution has begun."

So, Coulson has said his peace, now it's up to Tony to figure out what to do with it. And no, this will not be the last time Coulson appears.

Let's be honest, Steve and Ant both need a push to explore something and Bucky seemed like the best person to give them that.

Next chapter will deal with the escape from Sakaar, so until then.