Chapter Text
"You don't know who you're messing with!" I scream at my abusers, finding joy in the strength of my words. The sound echoes back into my ears making me smirk until a hard force slams into my ribs. I refrain from screaming; not wanting to give them the satisfaction. I laugh instead. The man in a black Hydra uniform looks at me in shock at my reaction before his features melt into a look of rage. He steps closer and wraps his fist around my neck squeezing so hard I start loosing air. Regardless, I spit blood into his face making him release me to wipe the liquid off with a scowl.
"You really are a psychotic bitch aren't you?" He ask with an amused rough voice. I can feel my eyes go cold and despite the pain in my body I lift my head up to glare at him. "I'm a Stark you walking sack of human garbage! And when they find me, I can promise you you're dying first!" I growl at him with the little breath I can muster out. In response to my outburst an electrical shock is sent through my neck.
"You know, you keep saying that but-" The man tightens a leather strap around my forehead slamming me into the metal headrest. "They still aren't here are they Death Angel? It's been six years, they aren't coming!" Every fiber of my being wanted to argue with the man in front of me. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to fight back. I'm not giving up, I never will, but a part of me knows that they can't find me. Maybe they never will.
"I have a name." I say weakly and out of breath. "Is that so? Tell me Hellion, what name would that be?" I open my mouth to reply but all that escapes is a whimper. My head burns at even trying to think of a reply. I know I'm a Stark. I know that's important, but in honesty....I have no clue who I am. The guard knows it too.
"Sweet Dream's Death Angel. Boss has a mission for you." With that said a blinding pain fills my body as the metal pads press against my temples. I can't help but be grateful when everything finally goes black.
Bucky POV
Wakanda always takes on this warmness in the early mornings. The sunlight sends a hue of orange and yellow across the sky that makes the world seem peaceful. It's one of the many things I treasure about the life I live here. I can't imagine something more soothing then the sunrise displayed before me each morning.
I'm grateful for everything the king has done for me. I owe him and many people of the world a lot. That being said no ones ever called in one of those favors, not until now.
"Good morning Sargent Barnes. You are looking well." I smile gently in response to the princess. "Hey Shuri, what can I do for you?" I question thoughtfully while turning to look at the brilliant young girl. My face immediately falls upon the sight in front of me.
"Where's the fight?" I ask gesturing to the vibranium prosthetic in the girls arms. I don't wait for a response as I approach the new piece and inspect it.
"Stark called a little while ago requesting your assistance." The girl answers apologetically with a frown.
"How did he know?" No one other than Steve, Sam, and the Wakanda royalty are suppose to know where I am.
"Steve I assume. They have promised us your safety, you have become family to us. We would not let you leave if we did not think it was important" Shuri explains simply. This leads me to believe not much information was given.
"Then what are we waiting for?" I ask dryly although the light hearted smirk let's her know I'm teasing.
~Time skip to the Avengers Tower~
I find myself on edge as my transportation settles on the landing pad of the tower. For starters, I have no clue what I'm about to walk into. Secondly, I have a new arm now that I haven't gotten used to. And to end us off, last time I checked Tony hated me.
With all these worries circling through my head I sigh and step out of the plane. To my relief Steve walks outside only moments later.
"Hey jerk." At his words my smile relaxes and rush towards him. He grabs my metal hand and pulls me into a short hug. "Punk." I respond instinctually before patting his shoulder and pulling away.
"It's good to see you Bucky. Never thought I'd miss that hobo hair." Steve jokes which I can tell is clearly for my benefit. In a true best friend manner he's trying his best to ease my anxiety and worries. Unfortunately it's not working.
"You too, now what's going on?" I hear the Captain sigh before walking towards the inside, I follow his lead. "Listen Buck I'm sorry for dragging you into this. You know I wouldn't have let you come if it wasn't important."
"I know." I answer wearily. His lack of response was making me more tense by the second, but I don't bother pushing for information. I figure someone will tell me something eventually.
After a moment of walking in silence Steve approaches a door. I tense up and reach for a knife upon hearing murmurs from beyond the entryway. Steve pats my shoulder in reassurance before opening into a conference room. I feel myself relax slightly at the sight in front of me.
Surrounding a large meeting table is well...everyone. Natasha, Bruce, Clint, and Sam are sitting next to each other joking and teasing. Wanda, and Vision, sit on another end talking in quiet whispers. Thor, Loki, and Peter Parker are standing near each other as Spider-Man ask a million different questions. However, it's Tony, and Pepper that catch my attention. Pepper is running a hand up and down Tony's arm clearly trying to comfort the stressed out man. Although admittedly she looks equally as distraught as he does.
The room goes from talkative and light to silent within seconds. You could hear a pin drop in that room as all eyes turn to look between me and Stark. Everyone seemed to be trying to read the tension in the room.
"Tony." I hear Steve call rather softly. The billionaire turns his head and locks eyes with me. I can see the anger built up behind his eyes, but it seems as though his resolve shatters rather quickly.
"I called all of you here because it's time we set the past aside. We've all done some pretty messed up shit and honestly I'm over it. I need your help, so if everyone agrees to assist than you have a home in this tower. And you better agree because I kind of already built rooms and floors for everyone so there's that." Tony says in a bit of a rush. To be fair half of the team had already been living in the tower for half the time. The rest had been on the run but that seemed irrelevant now. No one says anything for a long moment. That's when I realize they're waiting for me to make the first move. Everyone else had already made up their minds.
"Which floor?" I ask simply, but it's enough. Everyone knows the acceptance and forgiveness behind my words. Tony sighs in relief as the room breaks out into smiles.
"Pepper will um tell you about your rooms and such in a minute. Cap?" Tony says gesturing that it was Steve's turn to speak.
"As exciting as a reunion is you're probably wondering exactly what sparked all of this. Well, the answer is Hydra. We got some information from Fury a few days ago. It's a file case for another super soldier. A human similar to Bucky and me. Our job is to tract this person down, capture them, and if everything goes well, we rehabilitate them." Steve says catching all of us up to speed.
I take a moment to process the information given before nodding. "Well, I guess I understand why you dragged in the unstable 100 year old man." This earns me a few chuckles throughout the room.
After that we all spend a few hours catching up and gathering more information. When the sun started setting Pepper told us what floor each of us were on and set us off to get some rest. On the first residential floor is Natasha, Bruce and Clint. The three of them sharing a floor because Clint would be staying with his family as much as possible. The second floor serves as housing for Wanda and Vision. The third floor has Peter, and Sam who quickly took a liking to each other's sense of humor. The floor above them is where me and Captain have been located. Above us is our lovely host Tony and Pepper. Finally, the top floor has our Asgardians who can come and go from the roof as they please.
It takes a little bit, but eventually we all get settle in to our respective living areas. Steve and I enjoy a quiet meal before I finally break the silence. "We live in a strange world now. You ever think about how we don't belong here?"
"Constantly." Steve says with a familiar chuckle. "But you know what, this is our world now. It's different but just as beautiful and dangerous as the one we left. If anything we're needed more now than we ever were."
"You make a decent point." I say while reaching out to sip on my beverage.
"What are you thinking about Buck?"
"What do you mean?" I answer, playing naive to the question. I just want to hear him say it out loud, so I'm not the first to address the elephant in the room.
"I mean, this isn't your average villain. This is a battle we've been fighting since 1942." Steve says with an intense but light hearted tone only captain America could pull off.
"Hydra is full of the most ruthless philosophies I've ever encountered. Every last one of them work to get results. So what do I think? I think the pour human we're after is going to put up one hell of a fight unless we can find an anchor. I never would have gotten out of there without you. We don't know if this person has a you."
"You could have pulled through without me. No matter what though, we're going to save this person. What they're doing...it's not their fault. It's Hydra's." I nod my head in acknowledgment to Steve's words. "I can't wait for the day we burn a fire under their ass." I smirk as Steve let's out a knowing laugh. We sit and talk for a little while longer before settling in for the night.
Death Angel POV
The dull drowsy sensation and pain of a hangover is what greets me in my conscious state. My thoughts start out in a blurry haze with my ears ringing. However, that does nothing against drowning out the piercing noise of a speaker in my cell.
"вундеркинд" A thick Russian accent speaks through the system. My eyes shoot open in fear and dart around before settling on the nearest camera.
(Prodigy)
"четырнадцать" I pull against my restraints with a newfound desperation.
(14)
"парить" A scream of frustration leaves my mouth. "Stop please. Please. Don't do this!" I cry towards the people I know must be watching using a weak voice. The consequence of speaking out comes in the form of another familiar shock to my vocal cords.
(Soar)
"страсть" My face falls downwards before I struggle violently against the restraints on my wrist, waist, and neck. All in vain as it only adds to the growing pain.
(Passion)
"обычный" The pain in my head overwhelms me. I shake my head from side to side trying to alleviate as much pressure as possible.
(Ordinary)
"Феникс" My mind starts to blank on why I'm even fighting. Why am I struggling the sweet release of handing over control?
(Phoenix)
"вечный", "my name is...is...H..ha...Stark. I'm 20...I" I begin mumbling helplessly to myself.
(Eternal)
"подавленный" My mumbles have turned into barely audible incoherent whispers as my mind falls further into the cold yet inviting darkness.
(Despondent)
"мужество" I feel my body tense and twitch against my will. Every muscle prepares itself for pain and battle. Every instinct I have readies for a mission.
(Audacity)
"послушный" Everything goes numb. My mind slips into a familiar place and my body surrenders.
(Dutiful)
"Я готов отвечить" My response is instinctual, programmed into me. I look up to see a man in front of me, the "mission man" as I know him. He will give me my orders.
(Ready to comply)
"У нас для вас новая миссия. Выследите и убейте бывшего агента Гидры Джеймса Бьюкенена Барнса, известного как Зимний Солдат." The man states in a disturbingly desperate tone.
(We have a new mission for you. Hunt down and kill former Hydra agent James Buchanan Barnes, known as The Winter Soldier.)
I nod in understanding, and the moment they unstrap me my mission begins.