Chapter 14. Questions

Headache. Fury could feel it forming right behind his left eye. Quickly removing the eyepatch that he began wearing again after the Avengers were re-formed, he rubbed the area hard, hoping to dissipate the pain before it got worse. Sliding open a drawer in his desk he found the bottle of pain killers and took a couple out, then poured a glass of water. Better to get ahead of this otherwise the pain might push him to lose his cool when he really began the interrogation of Rollins, Garcia (how did that asshole manage to avoid being picked up since the Triskelion battle), the team of intruders and the second visit with Hamilton. He swallowed the pills, then opened his computer, looking at everything they knew so far, as he added the new information into a timeline that now started just before the mission to Norway, the time where Friday said the initial change to its matrix had been made. That additional information had made it clear there was something going on; HYDRA's evolution into Cerberus, the presence of the vibranium under the Norway facility, and now the discovery that an intact memory suppression machine was hidden somewhere under the order of the head of the CIA. He added this failed attempt to take Winter in Panama, the attempt on Noelle and Winnie Barnes here, followed by the infiltration of Rollins and Garcia into the marshals' squad sent to take the prisoners into custody.

What he wouldn't give for Hill right now. He could bounce thoughts off her all day, trusting her analytical skills more than anyone else. The only one who had even approached that level of objective scrutiny was Winter, his skills in observation had confirmed the feeling Fury had about the marshals' squad. He brought up a camera in the security office, where Winter still was, watching as the security team processed the six marshals who had surrendered upon realizing they were compromised.

"Friday, would you request Winter to join me in my office?" he asked.

His cell phone rang, and he answered it, the name on the display that of the Attorney General, the man in charge of the United States Marshal Service. As he spoke to the understandably angry man, over how the marshals were compromised he saw Winter approaching towards the glass wall of his office, waving at him to come in. The call ended and he looked at the man with Barnes' face and body. He was growing his hair out, letting it become long, similar to how he wore it when he was the Soldier. There were many similarities between the two but also differences as this man still kept his guard up, except around Noelle and Winnie. After the few moments of unexpected extreme reaction that had initially caused concern, his behaviour had been exemplary.

"Sit, please," Fury said, gesturing to the chair. "That was the Attorney General. They found the bodies of the two marshals that Rollins and Garcia impersonated. It appears they were both kidnapped on their way to work late yesterday. Rollins was supposed to be in custody in the Raft, but he was impersonated by another man who killed himself with a poison tooth implant, meaning they have a major security problem there which the Attorney General is dealing with. It also means they planned on infiltrating the marshals' service, knowing the attack this morning wouldn't work and putting them in a position to get inside here. Until they discover the person who is behind the switch, there will be no prisoner transfers in or out of the facility. In fact, it is shut down completely, which is unfortunate because I was hoping to have you talk to the one person in there who would be thrilled to meet you and perhaps provide us some intelligence."

Winter's face didn't change. "Barnes would not approve of Baron Zemo speaking with me. He would attempt to take control of me and use me to escape or worse. Not that he would succeed."

"True." Fury fixed his gaze on Winter, only just realizing he hadn't put his eyepatch back on, but the former assassin didn't seem affected by the old injury. "Do you know what a sounding board is?"

"I'm assuming you refer to a person whose objective reaction to your thoughts serves as a measure of the effectiveness of the ideas you are considering."

"You would be correct," said Fury. "I had a very good sounding board with Maria Hill. Trusted her with my life and she never let me down. A Skrull terrorist killed her, disguised as me and I could do nothing but watch her take her last breaths wondering why I killed her." Winter said nothing. "Enough of memory lane. I wish to use you as a sounding board while I'm here. Some things have come to light."

He told Winter about Friday being compromised, which allowed Security Chief Hamilton to find out about Noelle Barnes' pregnancy, his inquiries about when Winnie Barnes' abilities began to manifest and the inquiries into reprogramming Winter back into the Asset, presumably using the memory suppression machine that seemed to still be in existence somewhere. Then he gave him the final piece of intelligence he received that prompted him to return to the security area.

"Originally, several of the ones taken into custody in Panama were thought to be Cerberus based on tattoos of a three headed dog they wore. Turns out only three had real tattoos, the others had temporary ones that came off with the application of rubbing alcohol. Chief Shore tried the same on the ten that attacked here. Five of them had a real one, the others had a fake one."

"Why claim to be part of a terrorist organization?" asked Winter, a crease appearing between his brows. "Does Hamilton have one?" Fury shook his head. "You're checking the team of marshals?" He nodded his head. "An alliance would be the obvious answer, but the fake tattoos indicates that perhaps the initial infiltration was against Cerberus, using them to gain information on their attempts to access the vibranium universe. After the death of King T'Challa there were several attempts made by CIA backed black ops groups to acquire Wakandan vibranium. Perhaps this was another roundabout attempt designed to obscure the origins of the real perpetrators. Yet, Rollins and Garcia were actual HYDRA operatives. I can't see them agreeing to work on an intelligence operation for another agency." He thought a bit longer. "What if the changes to Friday's programming were undertaken prior to the Norway mission in order to allow us to confirm the presence of vibranium there. Cerberus may have been the group who found it, but the same intelligence operations that tried to enter Wakanda before learned of it and let the Avengers expose it. The shadow forms extracting the vibranium surprised both of us, resulting in them changing their plans. It's a stretch but I think at this point you are interested in hearing any theories."

"I think you're on the right track but the attempt to take you, Noelle Barnes and her daughter lead me to believe there are multiple outcomes on the table from more than one agency. The marshals were supposed to be gone before we even started the debriefing but were still there when I returned afterwards. That made me curious. Why were they here for so long?"

The former assassin sat still as he went over various scenarios in his mind. Then he fixed his gaze on Fury.

"Trojan horse? There are now 12 hostiles stuck in our detention area, along with six more possible hostiles if their identities as federal marshals can't be confirmed," said Winter. "They're being checked for hidden electronics and molar implants but what if ..."

He stood up and looked at Fury with alarm.

"What?"

"Their clothing. Rollins and Garcia may have weapons built into their clothing."

Winter bolted out the door, running towards the detention area. As he did so a klaxon sounded, then Friday announced an altercation in the detention area. Armed only with three knives, he slid one out as he came to the doorway, peeking through the window. There was no one visible at the desk in the intake area. Fury joined him a minute later.

"Cameras are down," he said. "Friday has no eyes inside."

"This isn't the only way in or out."

"There is a back door to a loading dock where prisoners are removed from the premises, loaded directly into prison transport vehicles. Friday, advise Avengers on site to split up and guard both exits from the detention area."

There was no response and both men looked at each other, realizing they were it. Somehow, Friday had been silenced after giving the initial alarm. The sound of feet running made Winter look past Fury to see backup coming, Torres, Yelena, and Banner. Torres looked almost sick with anger.

"Thor, Danvers, and Shaun have gone to the loading dock. Tony's trying to restore Friday. We couldn't get into the armoury at all."

Winter spoke. "Noelle and Winnie?"

"Winnie was in the daycare, so Noelle was headed there. Hopefully, she got inside before the klaxon sounded. The security barriers should have come down to protect the kids there as soon as it went off." He gestured towards the door into security. "What are we looking at?"

"Possible Trojan horse situation," said Winter, then realized he had spoken over Fury.

"Go ahead," said the director. "I think you're on top of this."

Without hesitation the former assassin continued. "I have three knives. Any weapons?"

Yelena brought a knife out of her boot. Banner showed his fists. Torres and Fury looked at each other as neither had a weapon. Winter handed his two extra knives to them.

"Alright, Banner and I will enter first. Yelena next. I don't want to kill but we need to incapacitate. Hands, legs, knees are the best targets. Stay alert, watch your backs."

Banner allowed Winter to take point, keeping enough of his anger at bay to avoid barging through. Behind the desk, Winter noticed a body on the floor, face down. Kneeling, he felt for a pulse, finding none, and shaking his head. Banner's green colour began to deepen.

"You are impervious to bullets in your full state," stated Winter, before they went through the door into the heart of the detention area.

"Yes." The doctor's voice was deeper, curt, revealing barely suppressed anger. "Me first."

Without waiting for an answer Banner shifted his position, standing before the closed door. His usual bulk grew considerably, and he looked back at Winter, his mouth curling in an angry grin.

"Wait."

With a nod, Winter retreated slightly then watched as the Hulk came out in force, bursting through the door with a roar he felt inside his own body. The intruders opened fire on him with the guns taken from the security team. Glancing through the opening of the now broken doors he watched as Banner advanced on them, tossing men aside like they weighed nothing, until he was standing alone, roaring in his triumph. Just as Winter was about to enter, he felt a hand on his arm, looking to see Fury shaking his head.

"Wait," he said. "He needs a moment to calm down. Otherwise, he'll attack you." He looked behind him at Yelena. "You think you can do what your sister did to help bring him back?"

She looked back at Torres, who looked worried but left the decision to her. It was something that had been discussed before but since Bruce rarely went on missions it had never been put into practice. Then she nodded and stood up in front of the open door. Slowly, she approached Banner, speaking so softly to him that Winter could barely make out what she was saying.

"Hey, Big Guy. The Sun's getting real low."

Banner whirled around to Yelena, grimacing menacingly at her. She stopped her advance then appeared as meek and small as she could. Slowly, she glanced at the carnage of human bodies around them before looking back at him.

"The job is done. The Hulk did good, but it is time for the doctor to come back."

"Hulk saved Avengers."

She smiled. "Yes, the Hulk was a hero. Yelena's proud of him."

He grunted, then seemed to lessen in stature and retreat into himself until Banner's face and sad eyes looked up at her, smiling weakly.

"It's okay," she said. "They didn't deserve to be treated kindly. They killed Preston out front. We need to check the rooms and find the others."

Carol came through from the back, noticing the six men laying broken on the floor, then at Bruce's stature. "We have some serious injuries back here. I can get up to medical for more help since Friday is still offline, but we need you, Dr. Banner."

He nodded, then looked at Yelena then the others. "Check these ones out for the medical team to work on while I go in back."

He disappeared into the back, while Winter and Torres advanced on the ones who were on the floor, quickly determining who was still alive. Three were dead, including Garcia. Winter checked his clothing and found what he was looking for, pulling out a thread from the trim of the uniform. Torres and Yelena, who were trying to make the three alive ones stay still until a medical team arrived looked over at him.

"It was something that HYDRA developed as part of their infiltration units," he said. "Multi-purpose thread. If they were arrested and put into detention they could pick at the seam and get to it. Some threads were strong enough to cut through metal bars. Other threads could be stretched to activate an explosive function. They would have a minute to wrap it around what they wanted to destroy before it exploded. The localized explosion would be enough to destroy a small target, but not injure the user. They wanted to be arrested, but why?"

"Why indeed," muttered Fury. "Testing our defences? Analyzing our response to the threat? Distraction? Why now?"

He stepped through into the back where Banner was monitoring Shaun as he performed CPR on Hamilton, but the doctor shook his head at Fury's unspoken question. Shore was leaned up against the wall, looking battered while holding an obviously broken arm, seeming despondent at the number of his men who were down. Fury kneeled beside him.

"They cut through the cell doors then ... used the threads as garrottes," he said, looking up at his boss with anguished eyes. "Killed two of my guys instantly, took their guns, then unlocked the doors of the original intruders. The one you called Rollins pulled Hamilton out and said he had failed. Failure was punishable by death. Shot him, then shot the marshals. Then he made a phone call and told whoever was on the other end that the message was delivered. They wanted you to come here, wanted you to see this."

"Rollins, is he alive or dead?"

Shore gestured with his head over to the side where Thor stood guard over the intruders who were still alive. Rollins sat, disheveled but relatively unhurt, a smirk still on his face. Fury approached him, fighting every instinct to smack that smirk off the man's face.

"Told you that you had no idea who you were dealing with," said the former STRIKE team member. "Give us the Asset, the wife and the child and we'll leave the Avengers alone. Otherwise, we'll keep coming until we get what we want."

"No," said Fury. "But you're going to give me answers."

Another medical team came through the door as well as the rest of the compound security team, those who were not on shift at the moment. As they took in which of their team members were dead or injured, Shore pulled himself up to perform his duty.

"New locks are needed on the cells. Strip the survivors and issue them paper jumpsuits," he said. Then he looked at Fury. "I think it's time we call in someone who can get into their heads."

"I think you're right," said Fury. "Whether she'll help us is another matter."

He turned and left, headed towards his office, then changed his mind and headed towards the daycare. When he got there, he wasn't surprised to see a large number of staff waiting around outside the doors, which were still in secure mode. Placing a phone call to the daycare staff inside, he learned the manual release command was not being recognized, so he texted Dr. Strange. All of these attacks were really showing him the deficiencies in their defences. They had become too comfortable in their own abilities to protect themselves from attacks. Hubris was always going to be their downfall. A circular portal opened, and the daycare staff appeared, sending individual children out to their parents. Noelle and Winnie appeared, easing his concerns about their whereabouts.

"Wait here with me," he said to her, then he turned to the others. "There was an attack on Friday at the same time as an incident in the security detention area. Friday is being rebooted while the detention area is now secure. Return to your quarters until further notice."

There was considerable grumbling, which was understandable, but he dealt with the few comments by agreeing completely with those brave enough to say something. After making sure the daycare staff were all out, he texted Dr. Strange to close the portal and to come to the compound.

"How bad is it?" asked Noelle, as she carried Winnie in her arms, while they walked towards Fury's office.

"Bad, Friday is down, several intruders and security staff dead, more injured," he said. "They want you, your daughter and Winter. Otherwise, they'll keep coming." He hesitated then turned to her so there was no possibility of misunderstanding. "That is not happening."

She nodded, but deep inside she was afraid. This day had been stressful with the earlier attack, the encounter with Chief Hamilton, then the connection with Bucky ...

"We're okay, Bucky," she thought, over and over as they got closer to Fury's office. Somehow, she had to send him that message. "We're safe for now."

The Shadow Universe

It was like being hit repeatedly with waves of emotions, fear, adrenaline, determination, anger, confusion. All of them giving Bucky a muddled view of what, he didn't exactly know. He sat on the surface in the grey trying to make sense of everything that was flashing in his mind, as if he was there, home. Using some of his grounding techniques to calm himself he pictured being in an office with Fury, talking to him about something, but once again there was no sound and the man's face wasn't in focus enough for him to lip read. Then he felt a current of fear run through him and he was running through the hallways of the compound, towards the detention area, peeking through the window, seeing no one. That in itself, was strange, since there should always be a person on duty at the intake desk. He turned, seeing Fury behind him but they didn't advance as he only had his knives with him. Why was he carrying knives inside the compound?

They were joined by a disturbed Torres, a determined Yelena, and an angry Bruce Banner. Why was he there? What was happening that Bruce felt it necessary to be there at what seemed to be a potential altercation. He and Bruce entered the intake room, finding a body behind the desk. His hand sought out the neck pulse then the view shifted from side to side as the man was obviously dead. He looked at Banner and saw the beginning of the transformation into the dangerous Hulk, still possible even though Bruce maintained a balanced connection to both his human form and Hulk form. Now he was looking at the complete Hulk, who said one easily discernible word to Bucky. "Wait."

Barrelling inside the detention area the Hulk pounded the half dozen men who had opened fire on him, men Bucky didn't recognize. Wait, yes, he did, as a couple of them were men he shot at in his previous vision. They were tossed aside as if they were rag dolls then the Hulk stopped and roared out his victory against them. Yelena stepped past him, and right away Bucky spoke out loud.

"Careful, we've never tested Hulk De-Escalation Protocol in real life circumstances."

He knew by her posture that's what she was doing. As it happened in front of him, he held his breath until it became obvious that Bruce's appearance was changing back to his hybrid form. The look of anguish in his eyes affected Bucky immensely, feeling for the gentle man who likely knew he had killed while allowing his primal self to defend the compound from what was obviously a hostile force. Carol emerged from the back and slowly, Bruce got up, retreating further into the detention area while he and Joaquin checked the others, determining three were dead, three still alive. When the medical teams arrived, he stood up and entered the back area himself seeing even more carnage, but this wasn't because of Bruce. Thor was there, as were Shaun and Sergeant Shore, a look of utter desolation on his face. As Bucky viewed the bodies, he noticed several men wearing the uniform of the Federal Marshals. Turning towards where Fury was standing, he saw the man hidden behind him, sitting on the floor. When Fury changed his position Bucky realized it was Jack Rollins, former SHIELD STRIKE member, HYDRA goon and obviously, based on the look on his face, the architect of what just happened in the detention area. God, he wanted to smack that look off of the asshole's face.

"Hey!" He shouted out to the grey, standing up as he did so. "What the hell is happening? How can I be there and here? Who attacked the compound? How did a HYDRA thug get inside there?" There was no answer, no thickening of the grey into a shadow being, no response whatsoever. It only made him even more furious. "I'm talking to you! My family and friends were in danger and I'm here, but my body is still there. What did you do to me?"

He raged, ran, yelled, and raged some more but nothing responded until he came up to an invisible barrier. Pushing against it did nothing so he turned around and came up against another barrier, then two more invisible walls boxed him in. Even though he kicked and punched, it kept getting smaller and smaller, until he realized he was being restrained. It didn't stop his anger, but it did stop his struggles and he allowed himself to slump and stop resisting. Gradually, the walls retreated enough that he could sit again and actually lean against something. Shakily, he ran his hand through his hair then looked at the grey.

"Please, tell me what's happening. Explain how I can be here and there at the same time. Is my family safe? Are my friends, okay? Please."

Then he heard Noelle's voice in his head, at first it was so soft that he almost missed it.

"We're okay, Bucky. We're safe for now."

Over and over, he heard it, like a mantra, that soothed him, until he curled up on the surface and went to sleep.

Around him the grey swirled and thickened as shapes formed then fell apart numerous times. Until The One were able to master the ability to form a shape capable of producing sound it was safer for Barnes to remain in a non-responsive state. It would also give the other beings the opportunity to deal with the attempts by those wanting to take control of the Winter, Noelle and Winnie entities. Then perhaps they could focus their attention on the task of creating a device to communicate directly with The One. Every access to their world that The One witnessed through the Barnes showed his community displaying intelligence and integrity. There was no doubt that they could create a direct communications flow between them. When that was done, the beings in the other universe would be asked to release the portion of The One still held captive on their world. Barnes could go home. The missing part of The One could come home. Everyone would be satisfied.