Chapter 9. Contact
Over the next three weeks the routine of the Avengers slowly fell back into place. Missions were taken, Fury returned to Washington, while Shuri and Ayo returned to Wakanda. There had been no more connections between Winter and Barnes which should have been alarming, considering they had two within the first 24 hours of his disappearance. Yet, Winter seemed undisturbed by the lack of contact, claiming that he still felt the slender thread of a connection. Noelle took her cue from Winter, believing that wherever Bucky was, he was safe. There were no more reports of portals from the shadow universe, although the analysis of the readings they had on the previous portals continued.
Several trips to the site of the Cerberus facility were undertaken, on the premise of securing soil samples, and studying the destroyed remains of the building to determine if the blast patterns were affected by the vibranium deposit, including whether it had increased the yield of the blast which ultimately led to Bucky's brain injury. Trace amounts of nanotechnology were found in the debris, confirming that some existed but were either destroyed during the explosion, or had also been taken into the shadow universe. It was confirmed by the trace amounts that the technology wasn't StarkTech or WakandaTech based, leading to speculation that Cerberus had created their own. Peter brought up the possibility of taking a trip into the other universe and although it was agreed that at some point they might have to, it wasn't something that could be planned until they had more data. That wasn't going to happen until they had another portal appear or another attempt at contact was made from the shadow universe.
The decision to allow Winter to share a residence with Peter, as his roommate, seemed to be a good one. The young Avenger, already a caring individual with a strong scientific background, provided a strong balance between the honest but sometimes blunt social interactions the former Winter Soldier engaged in, along with a good sense of when to enlighten the man on social cues and situations as they arose. His attempts to instruct Winter on how to cook had produced some fire alarms as the latter forgot the first few times to monitor the meal in the pan or oven. After worrying about how Peter and Noelle seemed to take on the larger share of educating Winter in social niceties, Sam held a meeting with the other Avengers and the decision to include Winter more in their own activities was made. Although Peter sometimes invited people to visit them the numbers were limited, as Winter could find it difficult to handle too many people in one small space. When someone did come over, he proudly showed them his collection of Winnie Barnes original art works, arranged on the fridge and on a large magnetic board that Peter ordered when they ran out of space on the appliance. They would often end up watching a Disney movie as Winter felt it necessary to view them, so that when Winnie talked about them with him, he knew how to respond to her comments. The bond between the introverted former assassin and the daughter of his host continued to grow and strengthen. He smiled more with her, although his behaviour with Noelle and the others was more reserved.
With the efforts made to integrate Winter more into their regular activities, several of the Avengers became used to the specific idiosyncrasies of the man. They all learned how his HYDRA conditioning was still a major influence in his manner, especially when he could be very reactive to a sudden situation, sometimes in a way that could be perceived as alarming. It happened on one of those days when Friday sounded the alarm of an incursion from the other universe.
Yelena Belova and Winter were sparring in the gym, both of them communicating in Russian, as they often did during their sessions. After she initially approached him to spar with her, he found it helpful to speak in what he considered his mother tongue, appreciating the fact she took no offence at his bluntness. He could ask her things about the others that confused him without appearing critical and she would answer him in an equally blunt manner. There was no joking between the pair as they tested each other's abilities, while they both easily slipped into the training routine of their pasts. Their sparring often drew observers, as much out of curiosity as out of a remnant of caution. On this day it was Torres, just because he was still worried that Winter might go too far and hurt his girlfriend, Yelena; Thor, who had often sparred with Bucky and was interested in observing the differences between the two men as they fought; and Carol, who had maintained her friendship with Winter since that first time she comforted him.
The two had just finished demonstrating a very technical but impressive display of various forms of martial arts when Winter suddenly staggered back, holding his chest, with a look of dismay on his face.
"Winnie! NO!"
Faster than the others could react he ran for the door of the gym, nearly yanking it off the hinges. Carol and Thor went after him, just as Friday announced an incursion. They caught up to him as Winter ran towards the daycare, almost shoving people to get out of his way. Just as he was about to break through the door of the facility both Thor and Carol grabbed him, securely holding him even as he struggled.
"You can't just barge in there," said Carol, attempting to get his attention, without resorting to greater force. "There are kids in there and you'll scare them. Friday, where is the incursion?"
"A brief contact in the daycare," replied the AI. "There are no casualties, no indication of physical contact. The children inside are unaffected and are currently taking part in their afternoon nap. The duration of the contact was 3.3 seconds."
Torres and Yelena arrived at that moment, worried that Winter had done something irrational. He was still agitated and looked at the door of the facility, almost whining with the need to get inside. Carol positioned herself in front of Winter, calmly touching his shoulders while Thor continued to block the door.
"Hey, it's okay," she said, using a soothing tone in her voice. "Winnie's alright. Friday checked. They're napping."
"I saw him, felt him here," gasped Winter, pressing against his sternum. "He was angry. They showed him Winnie and he wanted to kill them. She was in danger."
"Take a deep breath," suggested Carol. "Think. You reacted strongly to that. Did he stay angry?"
He took a deep breath, his eyes still focused on the daycare door, then another breath and slowly the panic subsided, his focus turning to Carol.
"No," he admitted, his reaction subsiding. "He thinks he's being judged." A look of agony crossed his face. "He thinks they're judging him for what I did and they're displaying Winnie to punish him."
"Were they actually punishing him?" asked Thor.
It took several moments of Winter thinking, then he shook his head and looked at Thor. "No, I don't think they were. They were surprised at his anger." He closed his eyes, concentrating then a look of defeat appeared on his face. "I don't know why they showed him, but the incursion alert happened right after I felt Barnes. He is asleep again."
A team of four men from security showed up, alerted by others that Winter had been seen in an agitated state running towards the daycare. All of them had their hand on their sidearms and were in an arrest mode. Thor stepped forward towards them, blocking their access to him, not wanting to risk an engagement between the four men and Winter.
"You aren't needed," he stated, authoritatively. "He was responding to the belief the children were in danger. It's under control."
Both Yelena and Torres stood next to Thor, blocking the path to Winter, lending their support. The leader of the team looked at Torres, who still retained his military commission even though he was assigned to the Avengers.
"Sir?"
"It's fine," he said bluntly. "It was an overreaction to an overwhelming stimulus and he's fine now. No need for intervention. We're going to have a debriefing about it if you want to attend." The man started to object but Torres put his hand up to stop the man talking. "I'm taking responsibility for this and giving you a direct order to stand down, return to your normal duties."
With a confused shake of his head, the team leader obeyed the order and they left. Once they were out of sight Torres turned back towards Winter, deciding how to approach this with the still shaken man.
"You have to be more careful," he stated firmly. "If you feel that urge again, you have to tell Friday that you felt the connection with Barnes. It's called covering your ass so that people don't think your past self has taken control again. Do you understand?"
Winter stood submissively as Torres spoke to him then nodded. "I understand. I'm sorry, Lieutenant Torres. I was consumed with the need to save Winnie from harm. They would have intervened?"
"Yeah, they would have tried," he replied. "Not that they would have got here in time to stop you from entering. But it could have escalated quickly, especially if you didn't stand down yourself and people might have got hurt, even you, or Winnie. They would have used extreme force on you, and I don't want to see that. The children shouldn't see that."
"None of us do," added Yelena, then she added more in Russian to make sure he understood. "There are still some who don't trust you, Zima. All they saw was you rushing to get to the children. For all they knew you were in a killing rage."
His face dropped at her words. "I would not have hurt anyone."
"That is why you have to announce your actions to Friday," said Carol, guessing the gist of the Russian words. "Don't give them an excuse to target you. We'll back you up, Winter, always."
"Captain Wilson is requesting a quick briefing to discuss the alarm," interrupted Friday. "You are all to report immediately to the briefing room." The AI must have taken note of Winter's reluctance to leave as it added a caveat. "I will advise if there are any problems in the daycare."
When they arrived there, it was full of almost everyone on the Avengers, plus the head of security and Noelle. Torres went up to Sam and spoke in a low voice to him for several minutes before he called the briefing to order. He stood in front of everyone for a long moment before speaking.
"Friday declared an incursion of the shadow universe on our facility, centred on the children's daycare area at 2:37 pm. The contact was determined to be a micro portal of approximately 1mm in diameter, lasting 3.3 seconds long, centred near Winnie Barnes. It did not touch her, or any other child. The portal came from a location directly above the compound, and went through the building, triggering the new sensors that were installed to detect it, using the parameters detected from the previous portal in Norway, and during another incursion here after the emergency evacuation of the team. According to Torres, just seconds before the alarm was sounded, Winter felt the presence of Bucky Barnes, alarming him enough that he felt Winnie was in danger."
There were several exclamations from others who had been elsewhere at the time. Winter looked at Noelle, who raised her eyebrows to him. He looked down at his hands, unsure of what her unspoken question was. Although she wanted to talk to him separately about it, Hamilton, the head of security stood up at that point, looking pointedly at Winter.
"I want to know what set him off, that he felt it necessary to try and barge in on those kids, who were having their nap time," he stated bluntly. "All I knew was that he was running like a maniac towards the daycare, barely giving people time to get out of his way. If Thor and Carol Danvers hadn't caught up to him, he could have entered that place and done who knows what."
"I would not have injured anyone," replied Winter, his eyes flashing angrily at the security head. "My reaction to the situation came from Barnes himself. He was greatly disturbed, and his first thought was that it was a threat to his daughter."
Hamilton shook his head, evidently not believing Winter. Noelle stood up and faced him.
"Are you angry that your men were unprepared for an incursion or that Winter got to the daycare before your response team, and was ready to protect the children? It's already been confirmed that he has a link with Bucky, who is somewhere in the other universe, a link that is emotion based. Of course, it's going to be a reactive response." She couldn't resist adding one other comment, having felt some hostility towards Winter from Hamilton before. "Or do you still feel threatened by him?"
"Well, we all know what he was," stated Hamilton, looking at the others for support. "You can't tell me a tiger changes his stripes, not really."
"So, you're saying you don't trust me either?" asked Bruce, quietly. "The big guy could come out at any time, yet I don't see you trying to take me into custody after he does. Why is Winter different? He's done nothing to warrant your mistrust of him. He hasn't been the Winter Soldier since 2016 when Zemo activated him, against Bucky's will. He didn't kill anyone then and hasn't killed anyone since 2014 when he was last activated by HYDRA. The trigger words no longer work on him, and he is in control of his actions. Did he overreact? Probably. But he cares about Winnie and reacted as her father did, as any father would."
All of the Avengers nodded their heads at this comment, making Hamilton scowl.
"What else can you tell us about Bucky?" asked Sam of Winter, choosing to ignore the security chief's reaction.
"They showed him Winnie, sleeping," he replied. "At first, he was very angry then frightened for her safety. I was already reacting to the anger he felt. I began to run to the daycare, and the next part of the vision felt like the entity was near him, surprised by his response. Barnes felt judged as if they were showing him Winnie as punishment. Then Friday announced the incursion, and I lost the contact with Barnes. I do not regret acting in Winnie's interest and I would have protected all the children in there, if they needed it. It is ... it is my mission; my purpose now is to protect the Avengers and that includes those who work here and their families."
At that moment Friday interrupted.
"Captain Wilson, I have a request from the daycare to bring Winnie Barnes to the briefing," she said. "There is a new development."
Noelle left the room immediately, running all the way to the facility. While she was gone, Sam approached Winter.
"Are you alright now? Torres said you were very upset."
"I am better, thank you. The strong emotions still surprise me. The anger and fear he felt were different than what I felt from Barnes before. It was unexpected and overwhelming."
"If it happens again, you must tell Friday. We can be alerted to back you up, but if security arrives first, you must stand down. I know that will be difficult for you, for you are conditioned to react to threats but if you don't, they will hurt you and we don't want that, okay?"
He placed his hand on Winter's shoulder as he explained himself, not even considering that the man he used to be would take it as a threat. Even Winter noticed the familiarity of the contact and accepted it, as a friendly gesture designed to reinforce a concern. Noelle returned, leading Winnie by her hand, the little girl holding a piece of construction paper in her other hand.
"Winnie has something to say to everyone," said Noelle. "It is relevant to the incursion alert and to Winter's response."
Hamilton sat down, looking disgusted that a small child was now going to address a security concern. He folded his arms defensively as Sam brought a stool forward for Winnie and picked her up to sit her on it. Noelle stayed beside her. The little girl looked at everyone there, seeing many people that she trusted implicitly. When she got to Winter, she smiled, and he smiled slightly back at her.
"Can you tell everyone what you remember?" asked Noelle. "I haven't coached her, by the way. She woke up and told the daycare manager this before I got there."
"I sawed Papa, in the movie, when I sleeped at daycare," she answered. "He was sad. The mans asked if I wanted Papa to come home. He said Papa Winter has to 'member where the cold place is then come to get Papa. They got mixed up. Papa Winter was s'posed to go to the cold place to talk to the mans."
"You mean your Papa will come back?" asked Sam. "Do you know where your Papa is?"
"In the cold place," she repeated. "Papa will come back from the cold place when Papa Winter 'members where it is. When he 'members he'll get Papa and bring him home."
She looked up at both of them, her blue eyes showing something incredible; the look of someone who fully believed in something bigger than themselves, a look of absolute faith. She held up the piece of construction paper she had, showing it to Sam. He handled it, taking in the image she drew, for a moment. There was a stick figure with a white body and a dark head, except for the left arm which was black. Beside that figure was another stick figure drawn in a darker shade of grey than the paper, which was light grey in colour. The grey figure's face was blank.
"Who are these people?" asked Sam.
"That's Papa," she said, pointing to the white stick figure with the dark head and arm before pointing to the grey figure. "That's the mans from the cold place." She looked at Winter then. "Do you 'member the cold place?"
Winter's face went stony, and he retreated into himself, making Winnie frown. A look of panic began to set in, and Carol came close, touching his arm gently. When he flinched, she looked at Noelle for help.
"Winter, I don't think she's talking about cryosleep," said Noelle, hoping she was reading the reaction correctly. "You're safe."
His breathing became noticeably heavier and more distressed.
"I don't know any other cold place," he stated, his voice sounding strained. "You won't put me back there, will you?"
"Winter, are you experiencing anxiety?" asked Friday. "Please take deep breaths and try to ground yourself by naming things you can see and feel."
Carol kneeled in front of him, making eye contact and taking his hand.
"Hey, look at me. You're alright. No one is putting you back into cryosleep, okay? We wouldn't do that to you. Name three things you can see. Can you do that for me?"
"Your face," he stammered, then he looked down. "Your hands. My hands."
"Yeah, that's good," she replied. "Now two different things you can feel."
He thought for a long moment. "I feel the seat under me." He licked his lips. "I felt that."
"Yeah, I've noticed Bucky licks his lips when he's feeling anxious. Now, can you repeat this after me?" He nodded. "I am safe. I am with friends. What I'm feeling right now is temporary and will go away."
He swallowed nervously, then began to speak when she smiled kindly at him. "I am safe. I am with friends. What I'm feeling right now is temporary and will go away."
Carol took a deep breath, then another, and he followed her lead. No one was expecting the sound of a portal opening outside the briefing room door, followed by the arrival of Nick Fury and Dr. Strange into the space.
"What's going on?" asked Fury. "I was alerted about an incursion." He noticed Carol comforting Winter. "Has something happened to Winter?"
"No, he's just reacting to something that Winnie said," replied Sam, turning to the little girl. "Winnie, honey, can you tell Mr. Fury and Dr. Strange what you just told us? About the dream you had at daycare?"
"The mans in the cold place said that Papa Winter has to 'member," she explained patiently. "Then he has to go there to get Papa and bring him back."
Fury, who could be an intimidating man at the best of times, kneeled down in front of the little girl, making his manner as calm and non-threatening as possible.
"My name is Nick. Have you ever seen the man before?" She shook her head. "Can you tell me what he looks like?"
"I drawed a picture," she answered, gesturing to the paper in Sam's hand. She pointed at the grey stick figure, then at the white one. "That's the mans, and that's Papa. He's very sad but the mans said if Papa Winter 'membered the cold place, he could come there and get Papa and then he would be happy."
"Do you know why they took your Papa?" asked Fury.
She looked at Winter first, smiled, then at Fury. "They got mixed up. The mans wanted to talk to Papa Winter about ... about ... I can't 'member the name but they were bad people that hurt him and Papa a long time ago."
Fury smiled at the picture, then looked kindly at Winnie. "I have one more question and I want you to think really hard before you answer." She nodded. "Were the bad people called HYDRA?"
Winter began breathing heavily again, so Carol took his right hand in hers, trying to keep him calm. Winnie thought for a moment.
"Yes." She looked at Winter. "Don't be scared, Papa Winter. The mans said they can help."
"Is there anything else that he said or that you saw that you can tell us?" asked Dr. Strange, looking down to Winnie. "Anything at all, like colours, or sounds, or shapes?"
"The mans made Papa sleep," she replied. She thought some more. "He didn't call Papa Winter that. He called him Soljur, but I knew that already."
"You know about the Soldier?" asked Fury. "How?"
Winnie shrugged. "It was on TV."
Fury looked up at all the others then looked kindly at Winnie again.
"You've been very helpful," he said. "If the man talks to you again, can you tell Friday to call me?"
Winnie nodded, then climbed off the stool, went over to Winter and raised her hands to him. He looked to Noelle for permission to pick her up, which she gave with a nod.
"It's okay," said the little girl, once she was in his arms. "They're not mad at you." Her face brightened and she looked at Fury. "I just 'membered. He said they'll try to make comtact again."
"Well, that's good to know," replied the director. "Mrs. Barnes, if you want to take your daughter home, we're going to have a classified security meeting. Cap can brief you on the highlights later. Winter, I want you to stay."
He let Winnie down, smiled tentatively at her then at Noelle, as she picked her daughter up. When she left, she didn't turn around, but she did hear the sound of the door closing behind her. It seemed strange that Nick Fury came to the compound via a portal to a debriefing on an incursion lasting only 3.3 seconds. She wondered what else was going to be brought up for discussion.
Bucky – just before the incursion
Something was different. It was almost close to the sensation of feeling a breeze, but Bucky couldn't tell if there actually was one as nothing visually changed in the grey to show a flow of air. Instead, it seemed as if he felt an air mass behind him that was a little colder, nudging him into moving. At first, he resisted it, just to see what would happen. Unexpectedly, he jumped when he felt something definitely poke him in the back. It was just a brief touch, a fraction of a second long, but it was cold, colder than what he ever remembered from the freezing process when he was the Winter Soldier. Whipping around, he looked at the grey void.
"What the hell?" he snapped. "Who are you? What do you want?"
He didn't expect the grey to begin to thicken and coalesce into a slightly darker form, with a head, appendages that were two arms and two legs, attached to a larger shape that was a body. Featureless, the shape of the form didn't seem set, as it gave off tendrils of the darker greys, that dissipated back into the void. Then the form raised an appendage and pointed away from him, past Bucky. There were no words but there was a definite message.
"You want me to go there?" asked Bucky, looking behind briefly. "Why?" A tendril of the grey advanced on him and he realized he was about to be poked again. "Okay, okay, I'm going."
As he walked, he realized there was another thickening happening ahead of him. Like the moment when he found himself in the jazz club this was also a place beginning to form, except this looked like a view through a window. It seemed familiar looking to him, but he couldn't place exactly where until he saw Winnie, lying on a floor mat in the daycare, having her afternoon nap. With a sudden burst of panic inside him, he turned to the grey form; his first instinct was to grab them, but he stopped short of touching them, remembering the cold.
"Leave her alone," he snarled. "She's a child. She's innocent and if you hurt her, I will kill you." The being recoiled from him as if what he suggested horrified it and Bucky breathed in an attempt to temper what he was feeling. "Please, don't hurt her."
There were no words spoken by the form as it was still featureless, but he got the distinct impression that the being, whatever it was, had no intention of harming Winnie. He looked again at his daughter, and realized she was wearing something new, something they had just bought for her.
"Is what you're showing me happening now?" he asked. "That's my daughter, Winnie. She's wearing an outfit we bought just a couple of days before the mission. She didn't wear it before I left so it can't be a memory. How are you doing this?"
There was no answer but for a moment it looked like the being turned away from him, as if it was looking at someone else. Bucky looked in the same direction, but he saw nothing change in the grey space. Then he looked back at Winnie and reached out his hand to touch her face, meeting a barrier that felt like a change in pressure. As his fingertip pressed into it the image of his daughter distorted so he pulled back, watching as it restored itself.
"Winnie," he whispered.
Slowly, her face faded away and he realized his cheeks were wet with tears. Using the sleeve of the shirt he wore he wiped them off and turned to the shadow being.
"Please, don't show her to me again if I'm dead," he stammered, as he ran his hand through his hair. "If I'm dead, just let me go on to wherever I'm supposed to be. Don't keep me here and show her face to me. It's torture, worse than what was done to me before. You'll break me." A thought occurred to him, and he looked up at the being. "Am I being judged for what I did as the Winter Soldier? Yes, I did it, but I had no choice. I never wanted to be him, but they forced me."
He sank to his knees, burying his head in his hands. A tendril came off the shadow being's hand and brushed against Bucky's head, making him slump as it put him to sleep then the image of Winnie appeared again, and the being stood in front of it, before extending what seemed to be its arm towards it, sending a single minute piece of the grey towards her. Unlike Bucky's finger it was allowed to go through the barrier, although it didn't visibly change the surface of the barrier when it did. The being watched as Winnie's face changed, then she smiled in her sleep, and it knew the message had been received. As her face faded the shadow being's shape dissipated and Bucky was left to sleep where he was lying, in the formless space.
Zima – Russian for Winter