Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

First Encounters

“Sam Wilson!” At the shout, both Sam and Bucky turned from their supervision of the squad of recruits that were running laps around the track.

“Uh oh.” Sam muttered under his breath. Bucky frowned, and watched warily as the owner of the voice, a small brunette woman with glasses and curves for days, approached them like she was going into battle. She didn’t seem overly threatening, physically at any rate, but Sam seemed to be steeling himself to be on the defensive. Bucky looked her up and down again, intrigued.

Sam grinned at her when she was close enough and turned up what Bucky was sure he thought was his charm.

“What can I do for you Doctor Lewis?” He asked her. The brunette was not fooled at all by his tone, which made Bucky like her already, and marched right up to him and jabbed him in the chest with a bright red tipped finger.

“You promised me a lab.” She accused.

“So I did. And you do in fact, have a lab.”

“Ohhhh no, shield boy. When you called me up and invited me to come on down to this circus, you promised me, and I quote, ‘a top shelf lab with all the best equipment a brilliant astrophysicist like yourself could need.’ What I have, is a big empty room with three tables in it. You, sir, turned on that Louisiana charm and lied to me through your goddamned teeth!”

“Well, to be fair, I didn’t expect you to turn up at the door practically the next day, the equipment you asked for has been ordered…”

Her eyes narrowed and she jabbed him again, much to Bucky’s amusement.

“I told you when I was coming. Right then and there. You said ‘great! It’ll be ready when you get here.’ An empty lab is not ready, oh Captain my Captain. I told you if you wanted me to Science! for the Avengers, I expected the digs to do it in. You better believe that I am going to be your personal nightmare until I get what I was promised.”

She punctuated each statement with a prod to Sam’s chest, to the point where he took a step back, she was poking him so hard.

“It’s on the way, I promise. It just wasn’t as fast as I thought it would be. You asked for some pretty unique items.”

She huffed at him.

“Look buster, I may not be Jane, but I’m the only one around here who knows how her shit works. If I don’t get my lab squared away pretty pronto, I will open up a rainbow bridge under your bed and send you to the ass end of the universe in your shorts. Understood?”

Sam straightened, and even Bucky had to resist the urge to salute her.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Eugh. Your military is showing, tone that shit down.”

With that she turned and stalked back into the building behind them. Bucky may or may not have watched her until she disappeared behind the tinted glass. Sam let out a breath and shook his head. Bucky grinned at him.

“Who in the hell was that?”

“That was Dr. Darcy Lewis. Astrophysicist. Expert in the field, currently on the planet at any rate. She has a history with Thor.”

“She’s….something.”

“She’s a pain in my ass right now is what she is. It’s not my fault. The list of equipment she said she needed was as long as my arm and half of it I’ve never even heard of. If FRIDAY wasn’t an AI, she would have cried. And the woman came with some kind of a space van full of her own equipment.”

“A space van? That’s not a thing.”

“Man, it is definitely a thing, you should see it, it looks like the Millennium Falcon had a baby with a postal truck. Thing looked like it was on it’s last legs too.”

Bucky tried to picture it, but was coming up short.

“You said she has a history with Thor?”

Sam laughed and turned back to the recruits, who were now being put through some serious calisthenics by the instructor of the day.

“Yeah. You should read the file sometime, home-girl electrocuted him with a taser.”

Bucky blinked once and looked back to the building, where she had suddenly reappeared in an open door.

“Hey! Tall, dark and studly! How about you come and make that arm useful? I have a van full of shit that needs moving!”

Bucky snorted, and behind him, Sam chortled.

“Oh look out, you’re on her radar now man.”

“Taser, you said?”

“Uh huh.”

Bucky nodded once and turned on his heel, heading towards where she was waiting, arms crossed and toe tapping.

“I’ll take my chances with that over the ass end of the universe.” He called back, over Sam’s indignant squawk of protest.

This was going to be interesting.

Chapter Text

Bucky had to admit, Sam was right about one thing. The van that she led him to was parked halfhazardly in the backlot and looked like it had been driven out of the pages of some pulp sci if magazine from back in his day, and then dragged backwards through the trenches before a bomb hit it. It was covered in gadgets and equipment, dirt, dust and debris. Hitched to it was a silver camper that was in considerably better condition.

Dr. Lewis unlocked the back door of the van, and seemed to be struggling with opening it.

“Damn thing always gets stuck.” She muttered.

“Here, let me.”

He stepped up next to her and she let go of the handle to let him grasp it with his left hand. He gave it a firm tug and it popped open with a little resistance, but it was considerably less troublesome than it had been for her.

She grinned at him.

“I just knew you were going to be extremely useful. I’m Darcy, by the way. I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself properly before.”

“Bucky. Watching you dress Sam down was absolutely my favourite thing to happen today, so don’t worry about social formalities.”

She laughed and clambered up onto the bumper of the van.

“His recruitment spiel was very good, I’ll give him that. I mean, I didn’t have anywhere else that I was going in a hurry, so of course I was going to accept, lab or no lab, but the dude straight up promised and didn’t deliver. If Captain America promises something, he’s gotta follow through, y’know?”

She started shoving large pieces of equipment in his direction, and he grabbed the closest one, lifting it easily onto a shoulder. She stared at him.

“Dude. How much can you carry with that thing?”

“Uh, without hurting myself, a couple tons.”

“Holy shit. That’s impressive. Will you be offended if I call you in to haul all my heavy shit?”

He grinned up at her.

“It would be my pleasure, do- Doc.”

He covered his narrow gaff by picking up another piece of equipment that she’d shoved at him, one that had a handle, in his other hand. He may still be getting the handle on a lot of things in the 21st Century, but he knew that ladies did not always appreciate the kind of pet names that were ingrained in his century old upbringing. He might joke about it, but he didn’t really want to get on this woman’s bad side.

She hadn’t noticed. Or if she had, she didn’t say anything. She jumped down from the van, holding a third piece awkwardly under an arm while she got her footing before she transferred it to both arms.

“I’m in Wing A, it’s this way.”

He followed dutifully, he knew where Wing A was, but he didn’t make a habit of visiting the labs, and had no idea what space had been set aside for her.

“Sam tells me you’re an Astrophysicist?”

“That’s me. If you’d told me ten years ago that I would be the world’s leading expert on this shit I would have laughed in your face and asked you if you were confusing me with Jane. But here I am. So in demand that Captain America himself is calling me up and offering me a job.”

“How’d you get into it? No offense, but you’re not like any other scientist I’ve ever met.”

“I will take that as a compliment, even though I’m pretty sure that most of the scientists you’ve met are probably candidates for the title of biggest asshole in the universe and should be on a list for an ass whooping, if they’re not already dead.”

Bucky looked down at her, surprised. He supposed that she’d probably had to read up on some files. She wasn’t exactly wrong, but he liked that she was so straightforward about it though.

“But, to answer your question, it fell on me. Pretty literally. Once upon a time I was interning for Jane to get my science credits to graduate with my degree in Political Science, then Thor dropped out of the sky and we hit him with the van. Twice.”

Bucky stifled the urge to laugh. He was going to have to go and read the file on Thor.

“The rest of it is kind of a long story, but the end result is, I went back to school and got my second doctorate in it. You can put those over there.”

They had arrived at her designated lab space, and she was right, it was an empty room with a couple of tables and a big whiteboard. She had set out a lap top on one table, and that was about it. He put her equipment down in the corner she’d pointed to.

“Anyway, it was just in time too, because then the Blip happened, and suddenly I was the only person on the planet that understood Jane’s work, which pretty much led directly to being my own brand of important in the field. I guess that’s why your boy called me up. At least I assume it’s not because he likes being threatened.”

Bucky chuckled.

“Sam’s not ‘my boy’. We’re…”

He paused. A couple of months ago, he wouldn’t have called them friends. But, the truth of it was, on top of this ‘not partners’ thing that they had out in the field, Sam was probably his closest friend right now. Not that he was going to tell him that.

“You’re buds, whether you guys feel comfortable enough in your manly business to admit that or not.”

Bucky smirked.

“Doesn’t mean I don’t like to see him squirm though. How serious was your threat by the way?”

She giggled at him as she led the way back out to her massive van.

“Absolutely serious. Well, mostly. I am literally the only one around here who knows how to do it right now. All I need are those sticks -“ she pointed at a set of spikes that were about waist high. “And the remote, which is somewhere in this bag.” She held up an over the shoulder carry all that seemed to be overfull of small gadgets. “But I’m not that mean, the most I’ll do is mess with his head a little. Making people think you’re going to do something terrible to their person is much more fun than actually doing it 99% of the time. The other 1% is when the person actually deserves to get bitch slapped.”

Bucky shot her a grin and scooped the sticks up under his right arm and grabbed up the last large piece with his left after he helped her down from the van. She locked it back up again.

“Think we’ll put these front and centre of your new digs, Doc. Maybe stick a sign on ‘em that says ‘ass end of the universe - this way’. I’ll make sure Sam sees them at least once a day.”

She laughed again.

“Oh Bucky…you and I are going to get along just fine, aren’t we? C’mon, I have nothing to do with the rest of my day now, let’s get coffee.”

Chapter Text

3.

“What is that?” Bucky looked up from the report he was reading through.

“Hm? What’s what?”

“That. Is that…homemade banana bread?”

Sam was pointing at the generous chunk of the absolutely homemade banana bread that he was having with his coffee while he read through the old files on Thor and Jane Foster. The rest of it was squirrelled away in the mini fridge in his quarters. Bucky grinned.

“Why, yes. Yes it is.”

“Where did you get homemade banana bread?”

Bucky made a great show of slicing off a slice, spreading a nice layer of butter over it and taking a big bite.

“The Doc made it for me. Said it was a thank you for helping her move her shit.”

Sam stared at him.

“Unbelievable. I get threatened daily with the prospect of being dumped on some distant planet, and you get delicious baked goods? Unfair.”

Bucky shrugged and took another big, teasing bite.

“Maybe you’ll learn not to make promises you can’t keep.”

“Aw, c’mon man. She can’t keep holding that over my head, how was I supposed to know half of the shit she needs is coming from overseas?”

On the day after she had practically poked a bruise into Sam’s chest, Bucky had tagged along when Sam had gone to tell her that it would be another two to three weeks for some of the stuff she needed to arrive. And he had laughed when she looked pointedly at the set of spikes sitting right next to the doorway with Bucky’s sign on them.

The day after that, she moved one of the spikes, and when Bucky had deliberately walked them past her lab on their way out to the gun range, he had taken immense pleasure in the wan expression on Sam’s face when he saw that one of the spikes was missing.

He knew where it was. It was back in the back of her truck. He wasn’t going to tell Sam that.

“I dunno. She seems pretty set on it. She’s held onto a pretty solid grudge against someone she calls ‘Agent IPod Thief - RIP’ for 12 years.”

Sam groaned.

“How did she even make that? It’s not like we have a fully functional kitchen around here yet.”

“More’s the pity.” Her voice cut in, and she dropped into a seat across from them, spreading out her notebook and a sheaf of printouts, along with a big cookie tin and a massive coffee. She opened the tin and offered Bucky his choice, he grinned and swiped three chocolate chip cookies while Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. She pointed at Sam with her pen.

“The kitchens in the apartments you’re building are pretty decent from what I’ve seen, but what you need is a big communal kitchen that people who stay here on a permanent basis can use during the day. The cafeteria is okay, but people who like to eat their own food will appreciate having fridges and microwaves and toaster ovens in a central location. That way they don’t have to go back to their places to heat shit up if they have an experiment running.”

“Uh. Yeah, that’s a good idea. Noted. I’ll make sure to tell Ms. Potts.”

“You do that. Any news on my telescope?”

Sam’s face brightened.

“Actually, yes, it’s scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. The shipping company was given instructions to deliver it directly to you.”

Her face just about lit up when she beamed at him.

“Fantastic! For that, you can have a cookie.”

She opened the tin again and offered it to Sam.

“Really? You’re not going to slam my fingers in the lid are you?”

She put the lid down on the table, as far away from the tin as possible while still being within reach and smiled widely at him.

“Cross my heart.”

He stared at her for a moment before he tentatively reached for the tin and grabbed a cookie as fast as he could.

Her smile turned into a grin when he bit into it and groaned.

“Holy shit, Lewis. These are the bomb. How did you manage to make these?”

She shrugged and started scribbling in her notebook.

“I have my ways. So listen, as fun as it has been to mess with your head, I have a better idea. I’m going to incentivize you.”

She waved the cookie tin in his general direction. Sam sighed and Bucky grinned.

“Look, Dr. Lewis….”

“You might as well call me Darcy. You’ve eaten my cookies, that makes us friends. Sort of. Probationary friends. Like I can see that we’ll eventually be pretty good friends, but right now I’m still kind of annoyed with you.”

“Darcy then. You know I can’t magically make things appear.”

“Oh really? You can’t just flap your wings and speed up a shipping schedule? I’ll edit your Wikipedia page.”

“Your sarcasm is noted.”

“My sarcasm is legendary, dude.”

She scribbled some more in her notebook and finished her coffee in an amazingly short period of time.

“Okay boys, I gotta bounce, but I’ll see you later, Bucky?”

“Sure thing, Doc.”

“Bye Sam.” She waggled her fingers at Sam with a grin and bustled her way out of the lounge.

Bucky watched her go, and in doing so, failed to notice Sam watching him.

“What was that about, ‘later’? Please tell me you’re not going on a date with her.”

Bucky looked sideways at him as he finished off the slice of banana bread.

“Thought you wanted me to be doin’ things that got me out in the world? Socializing and all that crap.”

“I do. But you two are already a pain my ass. I can’t decide if it’d be better or worse if you start dating her.”

Bucky rolled his eyes.

“Relax. We’re just friends. We get dinner and plan our next nefarious plots against you.”

“Nice. Thanks so much.”

“Anytime.”

Chapter Text

4.

When he arrived at her lab at around 5:30, she was sitting on a stool in front of one of the work tables, her lap top open next to her and the pile of printouts from earlier spread out across the table top.
She was chewing on the cap of her pen, and behind her on the white board looked like Math, but was clearly more advanced than the tenth grade math he’d last studied way back in the day.
She had a dry erase marker jammed into her hair and her glasses were sliding down her nose.

Bucky knocked and she jolted like he’d fired a gun next to her ear.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No, it’s okay. I got lost in my data.” She rubbed her eyes under her glasses and knocked them slightly askew. When she stretched though, Bucky had to avert his eyes to avoid getting caught staring at her chest as she popped her back and neck. He might have told Sam that they were just friends, but he knew that he was fighting a pretty strong attraction to the petite scientist. She was all curves and dark hair, and he knew that with her personality she would have been exactly his type of woman back in the day.

“What is it that you’re working on?”

She groaned.

“Officially, or unofficially?”

“How about officially?”

“Cataloging and mapping all the energy signatures and background radiation that generated from all of the business that went on here eight months ago. With the data that Rocket had in their spaceship computers I have the start of a pretty good compendium of energy signatures and their corresponding extraterrestrial sources, it’ll help identify incursions on Earth in the future. But we also want to understand any effects these things may have on our atmosphere and our own background radiation, so, the mapping.”

Bucky was fascinated. He remembered loving science and technology many many years ago, before he became a living breathing science experiment. He was starting to rediscover what Sam called his ‘inner nerd’, though at the moment he preferred fantasy novels and things that were removed from his own experiences. Sam had started him on something called Star Trek though. What she was talking about seemed very Star Trek.

“Sounds like a big job.”

“We’ll, there’s a reason I’m still working on this seven months later. There’s still data and readings from the event itself that I haven’t even looked at. And, when Sam finally pulls through with the fancy toys he promised me, I am absolutely sure that I will find even more in what I’ve already been cataloguing. It is a huge amount of data to work through.”

“No kidding. And what about unofficially?”

She sighed.

“Looking for Vision and Wanda.”

Bucky blinked at her.

“Pardon?”

Darcy turned towards him and he found himself pulling up a stool next to her. The frown on her face was pretty deep, not an expression he had seen before. She was usually always smiling. It took the span of a second for him to realize that the bubbly personality that she employed around others was exactly that, a tool she used to mask what she really felt. He should know, he did something similar. He should have realized sooner. They all had their baggage and Dr. Darcy Lewis was no exception.

“You know about what happened in Westview, New Jersey, don’t you? You had to have read the reports at least.”

Bucky nodded.

“That was a clusterfuck. We didn’t get notified until after it was all over. Sam just about hit the roof. He ripped all of the alphabet agencies a new one for not contacting any of the remaining Avengers. Now there’s a standing order, for any situation involving a member of the Avengers team, he’s the first person they call.”

“Good. Because I will bet that if any of you guys had been there it would have gone very differently.”

Bucky frowned back at her. He hadn’t realized that she’d been there. The FBI Agent, Woo he remembered the man’s name was, and Monica Rambeau’s reports hadn’t mentioned anything about Darcy Lewis. But, then he remembered that both reports heavily recounted an astrophysicist who had requested to remain anonymous. Both had sung praises for her work during the incident. She’d been the one to figure out what was happening in that anomaly, if he hadn’t already been impressed but how fucking smart this woman was, this would have solidified it. A thought struck him and he snapped his fingers.

“You were the scientist that sent your report to Agent Woo three weeks later, written on a napkin in magic marker.”

She smirked.

“Debriefs are for the weak.”

Bucky returned the smirk, but hers slipped a little as she cast her eyes away, back to her computer.

“I don’t debrief very well. I have an aversion to Jack booted thugs trying to be my friend, it raises all my hackles. I make baby agents cry and senior agents want to arrest me to make me stop talking. I go on tangents and get distracted by shiny things. It’s better for everybody if I lone wolf it out of there and do my own debriefing. And after all of that… I needed to decompress.”

“I can understand that.”

“So anyway. When I left New Jersey I may have ‘borrowed’ the tracking monitor that acting Director Douchewad was using to monitor the ‘not real’ Vision’s energy signature, because the ‘real’ Vision tracked on it too. Once I mirrored the program and tweaked it so that it was compatible with my computer programs, I was able to get started, and since I disabled the program on their machine pretty permanently, I sent it back to SWORD with an apology post it. Basically that means I can keep working at it without the fear that SWORD might turn up and want their gear back.”

Bucky was sure that his eyebrows were in his hairline. Every time he talked to her, she managed to surprise him.

“The new Vision’s signature is different of course, because one Vision was a construct from Wanda’s powers, which were augmented by the mind stone. The other one is missing the mind stone, so he reads a little more like Ultron did, though, thankfully with some differences. I’ve been trying to find them so you guys can bring them home.”

To say that he was impressed would be an understatement.

“That’s pretty amazing.”

“Well, it would be better if I was getting anywhere. Wanda knows how to hide, she masked her energy signature after she left Westview. I can only pick her up on my current instruments when she drops her guard. Which is pretty much never. That’s why I need access to more advanced satellites and better analyzing equipment. And Vision… I don’t know what happened when the two Visions had their clash of the Titans, but he took off pretty quickly, and I’m only able to pick up the remains of his signature after he leaves an area. I’ve been trying to see if there’s a pattern to where he’s been. Might be able to predict where he might go next.”

“Would he try to find Wanda himself?” Bucky mused out loud. He didn’t know them at all, he’d first met them when they had arrived in Wakanda before Thanos’ attack, and he hadn’t spoken to them at all. Darcy shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know. The not real Vision, he would have. He was made up of all of Wanda’s love for him, and the love she knew that he had for her. This Vision…. I don’t know what he knows about his past, what he knows about Wanda, if he’s even able to understand human feelings let alone feel them himself. I don’t… “ she trailed off, frowning then turned back to look at him again.

“I’m not an engineer, or any kind of expert on cybernetics or artificial intelligence. But, I had to read all the files in order to understand what I was working with, and from the original files on Vision, he was made up of a lot of different components. He was equal parts Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Stark’s old AI program JARVIS, Ultron and then the mind stone on top like a glowing yellow cherry. What Princess Shuri was trying to do before the inevitable happened was separate the mind stone from Vision safely so that he retained what made him ‘him’ without it. It would have worked if she had been able to do it. When SWORD rebuilt him, they just rebuilt the Android, the the physical aspect of him. They didn’t enable any of his memory or the programming that helped him be, for lack of a better word, human. If he did try to find Wanda… his last order was to kill her. I would hate for that to be his first instinct upon finding her.”

Bucky hadn’t thought about that. He made a mental note to reach out to Barton, see if he had any ideas on where she might go. That might help Darcy narrow her search.

“There’s not a lot of data on what happened between the two Visions. But. The way the one took off suggests to me that the not real one might have done something, maybe activated some of that missing information for him. A little bit like the heart meeting the mind kind of thing. If he did that, then maybe he’s trying to sort that out for himself. I hope so.”

“You’re pretty invested in what happens to them.”

She cracked a smile.

“That’s actually exactly what I said when I was watching the sitcom footage that Wanda was creating. At the core of the whole incident was a young woman who had been through hell, more than once, and just wanted a bit of normal in her life. What she and Vision could have had together…. That doesn’t happen for everyone, and it’s incredibly sad that it won’t happen for them the way it should have.”

“You went into that energy field, didn’t you?”

She was quiet for a long moment before she swallowed and nodded sharply.

“It was hell. I won’t lie about that. It sucked, hard. You know what it’s like to not be in control of yourself. And on top of that, the grief….. The people who had to deal with it for longer than a couple of hours, I won’t be surprised if they never don’t need to see a therapist. But, it also wasn’t Wanda’s fault. She was overwhelmed with her grief and had no other outlet to turn to. Her powers reacted to that and tried to protect her from it. I don’t disagree that she’s insanely powerful. But she’s not some kind of villain. She needs a hug. And a good therapist. And maybe to understand what she’s capable of so she can check herself before she wrecks herself.”

She put her computer into sleep mode and shut down anything else that needed to be shut down.

“Anyway. What’s the cafeteria got for dinner tonight?” She asked as she gathered up her sweater and her ever present bag full of notebooks and pens.

“I didn’t check. It’s Friday though, they usually have lasagne on Fridays, along with the usual stuff.”

She wrinkled her nose.

“Ehhh. I dunno, I’m not feeling cafeteria lasagne, even if they’re the highest end cafeteria chefs Stark Industries money can provide. Tell you what, I’ve got the fixings back at my place for bad ass chicken fajitas, you interested? I’ve even still got some homemade guacamole.”

“How can I say no to homemade guacamole?”

“No same person can.”

Chapter Text

5.

To his surprise, Darcy led him out behind the compound, and straight to where her big silver bullet of a camper was set up.

“You’re living in this? I thought you were living in the Res building.”

He looked it over while she unlocked the door. It was a few years old, but it was built to last and it had been connected to the power grid expertly, so at least she wasn’t roughing it out here. But even though the residential building was not complete, He knew that the completion schedule was timed to the arrival of personnel.

“I was supposed to be, but one of the molecular biologists arrived early with her kids because her husband is an asshole and took her having the better job as a personal insult and decided to divorce her. Her unit wasn’t ready. She was going to have to get a hotel while they waited, and she has a toddler. Since the apartments are exactly the same, I offered her mine. I’ll take hers when it’s ready. I’m good to bunk out in here until then. I’m used to it.”

She opened the door and stepped up into it, motioning him to follow her.

Inside, it was fairly cozy. The kitchenette was directly on entering and the sleeping area was to the left, at what was the back of the camper. The front of the camper was set up as a living area, though it shared space with piles of books at the moment. Darcy slung her bag and sweater into the sleeping area and out of the way.

“Make yourself comfortable.” She waved at the seats in the front. The kitchenette was far too small for two people to stand in, so he moved over to the seats to get out of her way.

“What do you do for water?” He asked, curious. The tap in the sink ran when she turned it, but he hadn’t seen a water hookup.
She laughed.

“There’s a tank and a filtration system, I refresh the tank every two weeks, unless I’m on the road somewhere and have to delay it. I only use it for cooking here though, so I won’t need to refresh it as often. Anything else I get from the facilities inside. The showers in the ladies locker room of the gym in there are amazing.”

“Huh. These yours?” He picked up a pile of books and shuffled through them. There were physics and astronomy textbooks intermingled with novels and other non fiction books.

“Most of them. Some are Jane’s. I borrowed a few of her resources when I went back to school. Others came with this thing.”

Something delicious smelling was starting to sizzle.

He found a dog eared copy of the Lord of the Rings sandwiched between a biography of Marie Curie and a novel with a decidedly racy cover. He barely had time to raise his eyebrows at it when it was whisked away and shoved into a cabinet.

“Hey, you were around when The Hobbit was first published, weren’t you?” She asked, clearly trying to distract from the other book. “Have you had the chance to read the Lord of the Rings yet?”

He grinned, but let her off the hook.

“I have. I read it in Wakanda when I wasn’t tending to the goats.”

“Goats?”

She blinked at him, like she was trying to make sense of that statement, and he chuckled.

“Yeah, after they brought me out of cryo and Ayo and Shuri got the triggers out of my head, before Thanos and the fight there, before I got this,” he waved his left hand “I was helping them out with some of their livestock. It was…therapeutic.”

“You were a goat farmer.” Her lips were slowly spreading into a wide grin and she giggled at him. “Gotta say, that sort of eats into your badass reputation a little.”

Bucky grinned back at her.

“That’s why it’s not in my file.” He told her with a wink. She outright laughed and turned back to the vegetables she was chopping.

“Leaving goats aside, what did you think of it? Was it as good as the Hobbit was when you first read it?”

“I thought it was great. All of it. The world that Tolkien created is just so…vivid. He put a lot of work into the lore and legends to make it feel as real as our world, with a rich history and cultures. It’s an amazing world to escape to.”

“Right? One of my favourite things about Tolkien as a person is that he loved language, and translated a lot of the Middle English works that are studied in schools still today. He created the languages in his books, grammar and syntax and everything. That is amazing to me.”

“Do you read a lot of fantasy books? I have a lot of catching up to do, I could do with some recommendations.”

“Oh, dude. I can hook you up with recommendations from now until the end of time. You into sci fi too?”

“Some. I liked it more before, but some of the hard science fiction that’s out there now hits a little too close. Sam’s introduced me to Star Trek though. I like it.”

She nodded in understanding.

“Okay. Trek is a great place to work from. I will need you to read The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I’ll find my omnibus and loan it you. It’s sci fi comedy, nothing too dark. You‘ll probably enjoy Dirk Gently too. Read the books, and we’ll watch the television show after. And then when you’re done with those, ask me about Red Dwarf and we will go on a journey.”

“Okay, that sounds like a plan.”

“You bet. I promise, you will not regret it. Let’s see, what else is there… you will probably enjoy anything written by Terry Pratchett. And Neil Gaiman, and actually they collaborated on one that is an absolute must read….”

Bucky pulled out the little notebook that Steve had left him with, and opened it to a new page. He watched her flit about her kitchen as she talked, jumping from one series to the next and expounding on various adaptations of books that he might be interested in. He wrote them all down.

Soon enough she kicked down a little fold out table and brought her ‘badass’ fajitas over to it with plates and forks and a series of little bowls with all the fixings. It looked and smelled delicious.

“And here is the famous guacamole.” She finished with flourish, putting the bowl down before she sat on the other seat.

“I can’t believe you did all this in that kitchen.”

“I’m magic. Wait till you see what I can do in a real kitchen.”

“I look forward to it. Maybe you can teach me some new stuff.”

“You cook?”

He wasn’t offended that she looked so surprised. Most people were surprised to learn that he knew his way around a kitchen. He wasn’t brilliant by any means, but his ma had hammered some skills into his skull when he went off on his own so that she knew he could be self sufficient. Then Steve had moved in with him when his Ma passed away, and he was absolutely hopeless in the kitchen. Bucky’d learned what he could so that he could keep Steve fed as well as himself.

“Used to cook for us back in the day. Steve was useless in the kitchen. Knew how to boil water and even that could be hit or miss. He got better here I think, but I’ll wager I’d still out cook him. Most of what I remember how to cook is all pretty basic though. This is out of my wheelhouse.” He pointed at the spread between them.

“This isn’t too hard. And I bet you’re a fast learner.”

He grinned at her. She wasn’t wrong. He’d been quick to pick up skills before, that’s how he got to be such a good marksman even before HYDRA had turned him into their favourite puppet. The serum only enhanced what was already there. Now he was even quicker.

“I’d actually like to learn how to do my own sushi.”

“You like sushi?”

“Love it. Used to get it all the time before we shifted operation up here. There was a great little place close to my apartment. Used to eat lunch there with my neighbour pretty regularly.”

He hadn’t been able to go back there after he’d told Yori the truth about what had happened to his son. He didn’t want to take that away from him as well.

“I admit, sushi is beyond me. I can do a passable California roll, sort of. Maybe we can learn it together?”

She was grinning at him around a mouthful of fajita, and damned if it wasn’t one of the most endearing things he’d ever seen.

“Sure, why not. When that fancy kitchen gets built in the main building, we’ll take it over and drive everyone crazy making sushi.”

She made a face and wiggled in her seat like she’d just thought of something.

“What’s Sam’s position on sushi?”

“He hates it. ‘Why you wanna eat a raw fish man? That ain’t right.’”

Darcy giggled at his impression of Sam and pointed her fajita at him.

“We are definitely going to make sushi in that kitchen. If only to see his reaction.”

“Doll, you read my mind.”

Chapter Text

6.

“I don’t know who’s in charge of the shipping companies we use, but the guys who dropped my three thousand dollar telescope in a heap in my lab suck.”

Darcy was perched on a hurdle watching Sam explain a drill to the new recruits. Bucky looked up from the munitions inventory that he was supposed to be reviewing. It was boring as hell, but he’d lost the toss.

“Were they supposed to set it up or something?”

“No, but they were very rude when I asked them if they wouldn’t mind taking the two hundred pound lump of metal up to the roof where I want to set it up. Thing is fucking heavy, even using a hand truck.”

“Is this you trying to ask me to come and help you move it without actually using the words?”

“It might be. Is it working? I can throw in sad puppy dog eyes if that’ll help make my case.”

Bucky chuckled and closed the inventory down. He could finish it later.

“C’mon Doc. An Astrophysicist of your caliber needs her telescope.”

She grinned and hopped off the hurdle, looping her arm through his as they headed back towards the main building.

When they reached her lab, sure enough, there was a pile of large boxes on her floor. A hand truck was partially wedged under one.

“See? So heavy my mere mortal strength can’t even get the hand truck under it.”

“I got it.”

He lifted the box with one hand and she slid the truck under it.

“Alright Doc, where’re we going with this?”

She pointed directly above her head. Bucky made a face at her.

“Elevator?”

She laughed and pointed to a small door on the other side of the lab.

“Yeah, it’s over there. Despite not having my equipment yet, I have to admit this space is pretty perfect. Roof access built in. Usually we’ve had to haul things around and up flights of stairs. The muscles I built lugging around Jane’s shit….”

He looked at the boxes on her floor and did a quick mental catalogue.

“Seems like more here than just a telescope.”

“I needed a rotating platform to be able to move it around. Otherwise trying to get 360 view of the sky when I need it is going to be a pain in the ass.”

“You would think that they’d come with their own platforms.”

“Some do. But this model has the best resolution and range, and it doesn’t have it’s own. You learn how to adapt quickly in this field.”

“I see. Alright Doc, you get that elevator going, I’ll take care of the heavy lifting.”

She grinned at him.

“Perfect.”

It didn’t take too long to haul the components she needed up to her roof. It was a neat little space, plenty of room for the telescope plus anything else that might be needed. It seemed a bit like a balcony, really, a guardrail up to keep from having an accident in the dark and overlooking the majority of the compound. He could just see the track on the other side of the compound from where he was standing while she fluttered around opening boxes.

“Right. Platform first, Darcy.” She muttered under her breath. “Are you hugely busy right now? I could use an extra pair of hands to hold this up while I get it put together. I can compensate you in baked goods or dinner?”

He laughed.

“You don’t need to bribe me, Doc, I’m happy to help out. You’re prettier to look at than Sam’s mug, and the only other thing I’ve got on right now is a munitions inventory that makes me want to stab myself with a spoon. This is much better by comparison.”

“But you won’t say no to a banana bread?”

“I won’t say no to banana bread. Or dinner.”

She grinned at him.

“Deal. Hold this still for me.”

They worked in silence for a while. Darcy put the bottom of her base together with relatively little problems. It was the supports and the upper part that were a bit more problematic, needing to balance in a set of tracks and rest evenly in place before she could screw it down. She directed his hands where she needed them.

“So, I have a question that I want to ask you, but I’m not sure if we know each other enough for me to ask it.” She said eventually.

Darcy pulled herself out from under the platform and set to one of the legs of it with a screwdriver. He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Oh yeah? What kind of a question?”

“Sort of a personal one. But, I promise it’s not about the arm or anything to do with how you got it.”

Bucky made a contemplative noise in the back of his throat while she repositioned one of the platform legs and screwed it into place.

“How about you ask it, and if I answer it, then you know that we know each other enough?”

She laughed lightly.

“That’ll work. Okay, remember you don’t have to answer if it’s too personal..” she fiddled with the platform leg for a moment while her jaw worked, she seemed like she was trying reword her question before she even asked it. “Why didn’t you take on the shield? I mean, it’s totally cool that you didn’t, I’m just having a hard time imagining that Captain Rogers wouldn’t have given it to you.”

He blinked. It wasn’t exactly the question he was expecting. But it was one worth asking.

“That’s the second million dollar question, isn’t it? The one that nobody asks because they’re too busy being bigoted assholes asking why Steve would give it to Sam.”

He was aware that his voice had taken on a bitter inflection, but it was not directed at her. She looked up at him with a curious expression to let him know she was listening. He shook his head.

“I know there were media outlets back when Walker imploded and came up on charges that thought that I deserved it. You know, the ‘Cap’s best friend’ angle. The one who’d been through hell and come out the other side. Thought it was a great redemption story. There were just as many who thought me taking it would be a terrible idea. But the truth is, I never wanted it. When Steve told me what he was thinking about doing…. He did ask me if I wanted the shield. It was me that told him to give it to Sam. There’s just too much symbolism attached to Captain America, too much for me to be comfortable enough with to be able to manage along with everything else that I deal with on a daily basis. Besides, if I have to live in a spotlight, I’d rather it be because of what I accomplish as myself, not as someone else. I’ve done enough of that to fill a lifetime.”

She was quiet while she adjusted the platform so it was level.

“That’s totally fair. I never thought about it like that, although I suppose I should have. As much as Jane inspired me and I’m the gatekeeper of her work, I wouldn’t want to be defined by her achievements. I’ve made my own way.”

Bucky watched her wiggle around under the platform again, and contemplated his own curiosity.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure. It’s only fair.”

“Where is Jane? I read all of the files, but they got very vague after the blip. You talk about her a lot, and it just seems strange that she wouldn’t be invited to be here with you.”

She stilled for a second and then he saw her sigh deeply before she moved back out from under it and motioned for him to let go. The platform stayed in place and Darcy patted it in satisfaction.

“That’s a tough question to answer because in all honesty, I don’t actually know exactly where she is. Or when she’ll be back. She…”. Darcy bit her lip and fiddled with her screwdriver. “She got sick. She was already this tiny little thing, and she was losing too much weight, I told her she needed to see a Doctor even before the blip took her. She finally went after everything came back. She didn’t share the diagnosis with me, but based on the signs… it’s probably cancer. She came out of that appointment and told me she was going to explore space while she still could. She managed to get a supply of whatever drugs she needed for the first part of her treatment, and she said she would come back when she ran out or needed to move on to the next phase of treatment. Before the blip she’d come up with a version of her spikes that you could wear, so, she took that and took off. I got a message to Thor to look out for her, but…”. She shrugged. “It really sucks, knowing that my best friend is out there, but not knowing if she’s okay.”

If there was any sentiment that Bucky could relate to, it was that. He knew, on an intellectual level, where and when Steve was, and knew that the punk wasn’t going to do crazy things that would draw attention to himself, but that didn’t mean that the idiot wasn’t out there getting into trouble again. He imagined that it would be much worse if he didn’t know where he was.

He sat down on the rooftop next to her, and she gave him a small smile.

“I suppose you know a little bit of what I’m talking about.”

“Little bit. At least I know where Steve is. And I did tell him to go do it. He’d said that he wouldn’t go if I needed him.”

“Didn’t you?”

“Course I did. I’ll always need him. But, he went against the country he once died for, became a fugitive for two years, all for me. There are still some days when I don’t think I was worth it, but I have remember that to him, I was. All the same, I couldn’t ask him to be miserable for me too. He deserves to rest. And if anyone deserves a little happiness in life, it’s him.”

Slowly, she looped her arm through his, pulling herself to sit a little closer.

“You know you deserve to be happy too, right?”

He smirked.

“Who says I’m not happy?”

“I do. Or, maybe it’s more that you’re not unhappy. Which is a place to start. You fill your time with training and superheroing, but are you really living the life that you fought so hard to reclaim? Life is more than just, this.” She gestured to the compound as a whole. “But is just this going to make you happy in the future?”

Bucky contemplated her words. He didn’t have an answer for her. Not right now.

“How about you? Are you happy?”

She smiled up at him and rested her head against his shoulder.

“I’m not unhappy.”

Bucky chuckled.

“Well, I hear that it’s a good place to start.”

Chapter Text

7.

She was in the middle of lecturing Parker when he found her in her lab a few days later.

“Look kid, I get that you want to branch out your academics, and I’m more than happy to give you an internship, but my rule is no superheroing in my lab.”

She held up a hand when the kid went to protest.

“No, no, no. That means that when you are here, there is no hanging from the ceiling, no sticking things to a wall, and, first and foremost, do not throw webs at me!”

“I’m really sorry Dr. Lewis, I didn’t mean to shoot at you, I’m just still a little hyper aware of movement and you caught me off guard - “

“Just get it off my arm, kid.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Don’t you ‘ma’am’ me, I am not old enough to be a ‘ma’am’. You call me Dr. Lewis or Darcy, because I like you. Despite the fact that you’ve stuck me to my own table.”

“Yes, Dr. Lewis.”

Bucky moved further into the room and could see that her arm had been stuck fast to the table next to her, still holding one of her data collecting toys in her hand. Bucky remembered very keenly how sticky that stuff had been. He’d never had the time to dig it completely out of his old arm the last time he met the kid. Sam still muttered occasionally about it gumming the Red Wing controls.

“There a problem in here?” He asked, making the kid jump a mile high and half and whirl around, on guard again. He held up his hands. “Whoa. Take it easy.”

“Oh, Sergeant Barnes. With the metal arm, right, I forgot you were here now. I’m really sorry, I didn’t…”

“It’s okay kid. You okay Doc?”

She nodded.

“It’s fine. Peter’s just a little high strung today. And I’m not trying to be punny.”

“Need a hand?”

“Uh, well, actually…”

He ended up spending a good twenty minutes helping to unravel Darcy’s arm from the table, listening to Parker babble out apologies every other minute until she finally snapped and told the kid to stop apologizing.

“I get it, kid, I really do. It doesn’t just go away, I almost zapped Erik a couple times after London because he surprised me, don’t apologize for being you, just roll with it and when you make a mistake, fix it, okay?”

He nodded, and the rest of the time the kid was in her lab was spent extracting her arm and listening to them talk back and forth on theories and ideas that went over his head. The Parker kid was smart, if a little excitable.

She wiggled her fingers and rubbed life back into her arm once it was free.

“Alright. See you next week, Pete. Don’t be late!”

The kid nodded and made to leave the room, but paused for a moment.

“Sergeant, do you mind if I ask you to train with me before I go? With school and all, i haven’t had a chance to work much with you guys and…”

“Sure kid. Gym tomorrow, 6 am.”

“Okay, great, I’ll see you then, bye Dr. Lewis!”

Once he was gone, he turned his attention back to Darcy, who was smiling slightly.

“He’s… something else.”

She laughed, but it was more wistful than anything.

“Yeah. Poor kid, he was real close to Stark, it’s been hard for him now that he’s gone. He lost a mentor and a parental figure all at once. I’m not sure that Stark even really knew how much the kid looked up to him.”

“That why you’re going to let him intern for you?”

She shrugged.

“Astrophysics is not his preferred field of study, but he’s interested in the tech that I monkey around with, thinks that maybe that’s an avenue he’d like to explore. Plus I could use an extra pair of hands, and I’d rather him than some random kid out of some pretentious university.”

“Didn’t you go to a pretentious university?”

“That’s how I know.”

He laughed at her exaggerated wink.

“Anyway, you’re the one that agreed to spar with him at an ungodly hour of the morning. Don’t think I didn’t see that little bit of heart showing through, Mr. Tin man.”

“Ain’t heart if I wipe the floor with him.”

She shrugged.

“You won’t. You’ll teach him proper, Sarge. Or my name isn’t Darcy Lewis.”

“Hmph.”

“Uh huh. I bet you dollar.”

“A what?”

“A dollar. I bet you a dollar that you’ll be nice to him and give him proper pointers on how to improve his battle skills.”

Bucky smirked.

“No bet.”

“Party pooper.” She nudged him with her shoulder, and he tilted off balance on purpose. She giggled at him as he righted himself and poked her shoulder in return.

“Hey listen, I wanted to talk to you about your side project.” He said when he straightened up.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I sent a message out to Barton, about Wanda, to see if he’d heard from her at all. He sent back a message to come see him at his farm. I was going to take a quinjet out there tomorrow to talk to him, did you want to come?”

“You can fly a quinjet?”

“Uh…yes.”

“Wicked! I’m totally in, I could use a change of scenery.”

“Great. We’ll go after lunch?”

“Sure. My schedule is open tomorrow.”

“Perfect. Cafeteria’s got club sandwiches today, you had lunch yet?”

“These the ones that come with the deep fried dill pickle?”

“Yes.”

“Brilliant, let’s go.”

Chapter Text

8.

For being ‘retired’ there was a lot about Barton’s farm that spoke to his life as an Avenger.

There were targets set up in various trees and other spots in the spacious acreage that the man owned, and that was just the start.

They were well hidden to the untrained eye, but Bucky had clocked at least three surveillance cameras on the property, and that was just along the path he’d taken in. He knew without a doubt that if they weren’t a friendly, there’d have been some kind of response to his landing the quinjet in the field. As it was, the man himself was sitting in an upper window of his house and Bucky would bet even money that he had an arrow trained on them as they descended the ramp.

“That was so cool. I’ve never been up in one of those things before. I can’t believe what I was missing out on.” Darcy chattered away as they made their way across the field in the direction of the front door.

“And you! Mr. Humble pie over there. What else can you fly?”

Bucky shrugged.

“Pretty much anything. Choppers, small planes. Jets.”

“Dude. I need to get you to take me flying more.”

He chuckled at her as they made their way onto the porch.

They were met at the door by a dark haired woman who reminded him a lot of Darcy, albeit older.

“Sergeant Barnes, Dr. Lewis? Clint said you were coming. I’m Laura.”

Darcy immediately gave the woman a hug, which she returned enthusiastically, if slightly bewildered. Bucky just shook her hand.

“I’ve met your husband, you deserve all the hugs.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you too.” Laura laughed. “Come in. Clint’s lurking around upstairs, I’m sure he’ll be down in a minute. Please don’t mind the mess, I’ve told the kids to clean up their junk or I’m going to throw it out, but until I actually do it they won’t believe it.”

He smiled at her and shook his head.

“No need to worry on our account Mrs Barton.”

“Just Laura is fine.”

She went about picking up some of the clutter in the living room, and after a few moments they heard a noise on the stairs.

“Hey Lewis, you’re looking good. Hey man.”

Barton appeared at the bottom of the staircase and nodded at them in greeting. Bucky nodded back, but Darcy crossed her arms and sent him a playful glower.

“Barton. You still owe me an iPod.”

“Seriously? Haven’t seen you in what, a decade, and you’re still hung up on that iPod.”

“It was brand new! I had to replace it! Do you know how long it takes to save up For a new iPod on an intern’s non existent wages?”

Bucky watched the exchange with an amused smile, and Laura shook her head and gracefully exited the room, though he heard her yelling for their children to come and clean their mess as she did.

“It wasn’t even me that took it! That was Coulson.”

“Yeah well, it’s not like he left it to me in his will.”

Barton rolled his eyes and stepped off the stair.

“You are something else, Lewis, I swear.”

The other man clapped him on the shoulder on his way out onto the porch, expecting them to follow him.

“C’mon, let’s talk out here.” He said. They followed him out and across his property until they entered the barn. It was a pretty standard barn, tools and bales of hay littering the interior. Darcy got distracted by the chickens and cats wandering around outside, but what caught Bucky’s attention was a beat up tractor in the middle that had parts of it’s engine sitting out on a drop cloth. He approached it, eyeing it with interest and Barton shrugged ruefully.

“It’s acting up. Whatever Stark did to it back when we were hiding out here during Ultron… I can’t figure it out.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow at him.

“Carburetor needs a cleaning. And based on this -“ he swiped a finger through some of the collected oil on the engine itself “you managed to get dirt in the oil tank somehow.”

Barton stared at him a moment.

“Didn’t know you knew much about engines.”

Bucky shrugged.

“Army teaches you a lot of things. Cars may look different 80 odd years later, but an engine’s still an engine.”

“Huh.” The other man grinned and tossed him a rag. “If you do the carb, I’ll clean out the tank.”

Bucky grinned back and they got to work.

“You got the message?” He asked after a few minutes of companionable silence. Barton nodded.

“Yeah, I did. I’m just not sure how I can help.”

“You were the closest to Wanda outside of Vision.” Darcy reappeared, and she’d somehow managed to catch a cat, who was contentedly snuggling into her chest as she scratched it behind the ears.

Barton shrugged.

“Maybe, in a ‘good Foster Dad’ kinda way, yeah. Like, I dispense the parental advice and she takes it because it’s good advice and makes sense, not because I gave it, kind of thing. She was so young when we pulled her out of Sokovia, and she’s a good kid at heart. Bit of a tendency to mope, though her reasons were legitimate. My kids do the same thing now, only they do it over things like getting the Xbox taken away, not losing the only family they know. Anyway, someone had to remind her that being upset was okay, but wallowing in it doesn’t do any good. That’s all I did.”

“She hasn’t reached out to you at all?”

Barton shook his head.

“Nah. That’s not unusual though. Like I said, ‘Foster Dad’. She likes me well enough, but it’s not like she owes me anything. After Sokovia, her home was that compound for a while and then it was wherever was safe while she was persona non grata in the US. Those two years before the blip I didn’t hear from her much. Would have blown her cover, and probably wouldn’t have done me any favours either. She hasn’t come to me, but if she didn’t go back to the compound, I might have a few places to look at. You said you’re trying to find her and this reanimated Vision, right?”

“Yeah. I’m drawing a lot of blanks looking for needles in haystacks though.” Darcy said. The cat seemed to be purring in her ear and she was mildly distracted, giggling at it.

“I thought maybe if she had somewhere to focus on, it’d help her get a lead.” Bucky added on her behalf, since she didn’t seem to be getting to the point.

“Makes sense. Alright, only thing I can think of is the safe houses I used when I needed to be completely off grid. No one knew about them except Nat. I think I’ve got a few of hers still in my books as well. Wanda knew them, I shared them with her a while back, just in case.”

“That’d be great. I’d appreciate it.” Darcy said , glancing up from the cat. “This is the best cat. I want a cat. Are pets even allowed at the compound? I’ll check. I mean, I could totally keep one in the camper. But I bet I can talk Sam into letting me have one.”

Bucky laughed and moved on from the carburetor to wiping down the other engine parts covered in gritty oil. Barton produced a can of clean oil and refilled the oil tank, and they got to work putting the tractor back together.

After a while of working in silence, one of Barton’s boys, the youngest one, appeared at the barn door.

“Daddy, Mommy wants to know if your friends are staying for dinner?”

Bucky raised his eyebrows at Darcy who shrugged, still scritching the cat’s ears.

“Course they are. We’re doing burgers, right? Plenty to go around.”

“We don’t want to impose…” Bucky started, but Barton just waved at him.

“Please. We rarely get visitors, most of the time that’s how we like it, but sometimes we like to play nice hosts. The burgers are awesome, and I know Laura’s got a cheesecake in the fridge that would be wasted on just us.”

“We’d be happy to stay, thank you.” Darcy told him after a beat. Barton turned back to the boy.

“Thanks Nate, tell Mom I’ll be right there to help with the burgers.”

The boy ran off, and Darcy followed him sedately, muttering something about helping Laura out as she went.

“Thanks for the help here, man. I’m more of a hammer and nail kinda guy, engines are not really my thing.”

“No problem. If you keep the carb clean and try to avoid getting dirt in it, it’ll be fine.”

They followed behind Darcy up to the house, where there seemed to be a level of controlled chaos.

The kitchen was abuzz with activity, Darcy had been handed a tomato and a knife to slice up, while Barton’s daughter was stirring up a potato salad, and Laura was handing the boys plates and cutlery to set the table. Barton took one look and steered him out the sliding door of the kitchen where there was a barbecue smoking away with a plate of uncooked burger patties awaiting their fate. There were a couple of beers sitting next to the plate.

Barton grinned and handed him one.

“This is where it’s at.”

“Nice set up out here.”

“Yeah. It’s not fancy but it gets the job done.”

The two Barton boys ran past them out to the picnic table that was sitting under a tree. Barton opened the barbecue and started sliding the burgers onto the grill. Bucky settled himself on the low wall that separated the patio from the yard and took a pull from the beer. It was surprisingly good.

“This is good stuff.”

“Yeah? I like it, it’s a local guy, about three miles south of here, he experiments with microbrews. No two beers taste alike, but they’ve all been good so far.”

“Cool. Been looking for a decent beer. Everything Sam drinks tastes like piss water.”

The other man laughed.

“Yeah, I don’t suppose anything mass produced is going to taste anything like what you’re used to from back in the day.”

“Do not get me started on the travesty that is Coors Light.”

Barton laughed again and went to flip the burgers.

The younger boy, Nate, climbed up onto the wall next to him and poked his arm.

“Is your whole arm made of metal?” He asked. He seemed to be watching the visible plates shift as he moved. Bucky held it out, palm up, for him to look at.

“It is.”

“That’s so cool! What can you do with it?”

“Lots of things.”

“Like what things? Can you pick up a car with it?”

“I could, yes.”

His eyes rounded and he grinned.

“What if it was on fire?”

“Well…the rest of me might get a little singed, but I could still lift it.”

“And throw it?”

Bucky smirked.

“And throw it.”

“Wicked! What else can you do with it?”

“Well…it can do all that big stuff, but it can also do lots of little things. See the fingers?” He wiggled the fingers to draw his attention. “They work like your fingers do, they feel and sense things when I touch them, but different.”

“Different how?”

“Well, they can tell me your temperature and how fast your heart is beating. If I touch this wood, they’ll tell me how old it is, what it’s been treated with, how strong it is, any imperfections in the surface. All kinds of things.”

“That’s so cool.”

“It is, really.”

“Is it heavy?”

“Not as heavy as my old one was.”

“Does it hurt? Where it attaches?”

Bucky smiled slightly at that question.

“Sometimes.”

The boy smiled back at him and patted his left shoulder lightly.

“I’m sorry that it hurts. I hope that everything else it does for you makes up for it.”

Then he hopped off the wall and went chasing after his brother, yelling about the ‘super cool arm!’ As he went. Barton clapped him on the right shoulder.

“Sorry about that. He doesn’t always know when to leave a topic alone.”

“No, no… it was fine.”

He went to go back to his beer, but caught sight of Darcy watching him through the patio doors, with an odd look on her face. He waved at her and she seemed to startle out of her reverie enough to wave back before she went back to the mushrooms she was cutting up now.

Barton cleared his throat and nudged him with the handle of a spatula.

“So what’s the deal with you and Lewis?”

Bucky frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you didn’t reach out to me and fly her all the way here out of professional courtesy. What’s the deal?”

Bucky chuckled and shook his head.

“There’s no deal. We’re just friends. I like her because she’s a firecracker and she gets under Sam’s skin.”

“Ha. She’s definitely something. She’s a pain in the ass, but she’s a good person.”

“Yeah, yeah she is.”

“Maybe there should be a deal.”

Bucky glanced up at him, but Barton was innocently flipping his burgers.

“What do you mean?”

“Take her out on a date. She obviously likes you.”

“She…”

“No, no. I saw her watching you and Nate chat. Those were what my daughter calls ‘heart eyes’, she was making at you. I think you should give it a shot.”

Bucky was struck by the absurdity of it. He barely knew the man, and he was trying to give him relationship advice. He shook his head.

“Nah…dating’s not really for me.”

“What makes you say that?”

“The fact the the last date I tried to have failed miserably.”

“Was that this century?” Bucky rolled his eyes.

“Yes, It was this century. It was… very badly timed, I shouldn’t have agreed to it. I wasn’t ready.”

“Okay, I suppose that’s fair. But, man, you can’t just give up.”

“Did Sam put you up to this?”

Barton laughed and shook his head.

“Nah man. I just have nothing better to do with my time except get in people’s business. Or so my wife tells me.”

“Well, thanks, but the Doc and I are friends. Besides, even if I wanted to take it further…she’s smart as fuck. She baked me banana bread as a thank you for helping her out. Nobody does that in this century. What the hell would a gal like that want with a guy like me?”

“You know, I thought the same about Laura once. About 20 years ago. I’m glad that I stuck with my gut, and not my head.”

“You’re not a formerly brainwashed super soldier from the 1940s.”

“No, but you don’t get into my line of work by being an upstanding citizen. I had my demons. Still do. Could argue that I have worse demons now.”

A dark look crossed his face and he laughed humourlessly. “It’s funny, I talked Wanda out of feeling sorry for herself more than once, but in the end I couldn’t take my own advice.”

Bucky had read the reports. There had been several from Colonel Rhodes, and one that Barton had written up himself before he’d gotten on a jet to come back here. They had all outlined some pretty grisly scenes. But, it was nowhere near as exhaustive as his own kill list. And the guys that Barton had killed…

“They were all bad guys, Barton. If anyone was really concerned about them being dead, someone would have called for your head long before now. The world is a better place without them in it.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that I did what I did. That as soon as I lost my family, the only way I could deal with that grief was to resort to violence.”

Bucky shrugged. He was in no way qualified to talk anyone through this kind of thing, not when it was something he worked hard to get through every single day.

“Look, all I can tell you is that losing what makes you human makes you do inhuman things. No amount of counselling makes that go away, believe me. The best thing you can do is whatever makes you feel like you’re clearing the red out of your ledger and move on.”

“Is that what you’re doing?”

“Trying to. Some days are better than others.”

“Hm. I get that.” Barton breathed deeply and then nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Having them back though, that makes it easier.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“We all need some kind of normal. Just something to think about.”

Chapter Text

9.

It was nearing midnight when his phone rang, an unfamiliar number flashing up.

“Barnes.” He knew his tone was terse, but it usually weeded out spam calls fast.

“Uh, I’m sorry to disturb you sir, but I have a Darcy Lewis here and yours was the first number in her contact list.”

He sat up sharply.

“Who is this? Where’s Darcy?”

“That’s Doctor Darcy Lewis to you, dude.”

To his immense relief, he heard her scold the speaker through the receiver. Which meant she was okay.

“I’m so sorry, my name is Frank, I’m a bartender at Hops.” Bucky frowned. Hops was a bar in a town a couple miles away. What was she doing out there at this time of night?

“Is she alright?”

“I’m afraid I had to take her keys away from her.”

“I see.”

“She really should be getting home, but the bus stopped running an hour ago and this town only has a couple taxis, and they’re all busy.”

“I’ll come and pick her up. I’ll be twenty minutes.”

“Great, thank you.”

He woke Sam and made him come out with him, so he could drive the extra vehicle back. Bucky wasn’t sure what she had driven out there, she usually only drove the Frankentruck when she was doing something to do with ‘science’, for anything else she took a car from the motor pool.

“The hell is she doing out at this time of night?” Sam grumbled as Bucky bundled him into a car.

“I dunno, but I’m going to guess she’s really upset about something if she’s gone and gotten shitfaced off site.”

This was really unusual behaviour for Darcy, and Bucky was worried. He may not have known her for that long, but he felt like he’d come to know her well enough to know that this was out of the norm for her. She baked when she was upset, she didn’t go off and get so drunk she couldn’t drive.

Sam yawned beside him.

“I am not driving the Frankentruck back,” he said, “not in the dark and not on an hour’s worth of sleep.”

“That’s fine. I’ll drive her car back. I can drive anything.”

The rest of the trip was made in silence save for Sam’s yawning. When they got there, it was pretty obvious that she’d driven her truck. There were only a couple of other cars in the parking lot aside from Darcy’s truck, and it was easily twice as big, so it was easy to spot. Bucky got out of the car and Sam slid over into the driver’s seat.

“I’ll be asleep when you get back, call if you need anything, but please try not to need anything.” He said before he turned the car around and drove off. Bucky rolled his eyes. He was going to eat a whole dozen of Darcy’s cookies in front of him and not share a single one.

Bucky made his way into the bar, checking out the place as he went. Streetlights lit the parking lot and the Main Street beyond, there were cc tv cameras pointed at the entrance and what passed for a dance floor Inside, plus one pointed at the bar itself. There were two other patrons, a couple that appeared to be on a date, plus a waitress and the bartender behind the bar.

Darcy was sitting on a bar stool with a glass of water sweating condensation onto the bar top in front of her, and looking decidedly unbalanced.

The bartender, an older man with greying hair, caught his eye and waved him over. Darcy saw the movement and looked over her shoulder, her face lighting up when she saw him.

“Bucky! Hiiii!” She waved, but the action made her wobble on her stool. She very nearly fell off, but for him stepping up behind her and catching her before she did. She giggled and latched onto his shoulder with a wide grin.

“Hey doc. You a little soused?”

“Me?? Never! I might be a little drunk though.”

He laughed under his breath. This was going to be entertaining.

“Alright then. How about we get you home?”

“Pfft. What home? I don’t have a home. I live in a camper behind a quasi military compound. I’ve lived in and out of that camper for five fucking years. More, even. It’s hardly ‘home’.” She groused. Bucky accepted her keys from Frank with a smile and a nod, and helped her down from the bar stool.

“Well, it’s a place to lay your head, isn’t it?”

She made another scoffing noise but gamely put one foot in front of the other as he led her out the door with an arm around her waist.

“What’s brought this on, doll?” He asked more to himself than to her. She answered anyway, thought not exactly directly.

“Hmmm. I like it when you call me ‘doll’.”

Bucky blinked.

“Oh yeah? I thought that kind of name was frowned upon these days. Condescending, was the term I heard applied to pet names like that.

“Oh, believe me, if you were anyone else I’dda bitchslapped you into next week first time you said it. But, you’re you. S’different.”

“How so?”

“Because you only say it when you forget when you are. That’s the original you, and it gives me warm fuzzies.”

He was not exactly sure what he was expecting to hear, but it wasn’t that.

“The original me, huh? You like that guy?”

“Nawww. That Bucky, I’m sure he was a great dude, but you’re better than him.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” She stopped letting him lead her along, pulled away from his side to stand in front of him with her hands on his shoulders as she stared up at him.

“You listen to me, Bucky Barnes, and listen good. You are the best man I have ever met. And I’m not just saying that, I have met literal gods. You have been through all kinds of hell, and you’re still here. You could have gone with Steve. You could have gone back to Wakanda and kept goats. No one would have faulted you for either of those choices. But staying here, supporting Sam, being YOU right here right now, that might have been the hardest choice to make, and you continue to live that every day. That old Bucky, the only reason I like knowing he’s still in there is because when he comes out, it tells me that you’re comfortable enough around me to forget all of the shit, even if it’s just for a moment, and just be a guy talking to a girl.”

She shook him, or tried to. It would have been a laughable attempt if she wasn’t so drunk. But she got her point across.

“Okay?”

“Okay…doll.”

A grin spread slowly across her face but she frowned when she dropped her hands from his shoulders.

“Eugh. Everything’s all spinny.”

She wobbled, and Bucky grabbed her around the waist again before she toppled over.

“C’mon, Darcy, time to get you home.”

“Ugh. Didn’t we have this conversation already. Don’t have a home.”

“Sure you do. It’s with me.”

She grinned again and patted his cheek fondly.

“Sweet talker. Be careful that I don’t remember you saying that, you’ll find me living in your apartment if you’re not careful.”

“I dunno, doll. I could get used to your cooking on a regular basis. Free home cooked meals sounds like a great deal for me.”

She swatted him, but missed and almost tipped out of his arms.

“You’re so hilarious.”

“Yeah, but you like it.”

They got to the truck and Bucky unlocked the passenger door. It was a bit of a trick, getting a very drunk and very uncoordinated Darcy up into the seat, even more entertaining to get her buckled in, she kept trying to insist that she could do it herself, but couldn’t match the ends of the seatbelt in the dark, which led to him half leaning over her to buckle her in.

It was when he was buckling himself into the driver’s seat that she snagged his sleeve.

“I do like it you know. All of it. I like it because it’s you.”

Bucky gave her a soft smile as he started the truck.

“I like it too.”

She was dozing before they turned onto the main street.

Chapter Text

10.

“Eugh. I don’t feel good. Where’s the floor gone to?”

“It’s still down there, doll. Don’t worry about that.”

“Okay. Why are my feet over there instead of between me and the floor?”

“Because your feet aren’t working so good right now. I got you though.”

“Are your feet on the floor?”

“My feet are on the floor, doll.”

“Okay. As long as one of us has feet on the floor. Floors are tricky, never know where they might be. Where we goin’?”

“You need to get some sleep, doll. I’m taking you to my spare bedroom so I can keep an eye on you while you dry out.” He’d thought about taking her to her camper, but nixed that idea - he couldn’t imagine trying to maneuver her in that thing.

“Mmmmm. My hero.”

Bucky reached his apartment door without any further comments, but he was presented with the problem of opening his door while also trying to keep Darcy steady. She was smaller than she appeared to be, he attributed it to the abundance of sweaters and her larger than life attitude, so it wasn’t that he couldn’t carry her, but she was still drunk as a skunk and she wiggled. A lot.

“If I put you down, you gonna be able to keep your feet for a second while I open the door?” He asked her. She frowned up at him.

“Hmm. Maybe.”

“Well, let’s chance it. Live on the wild side.”

He set her feet on the floor, but kept an arm around her waist, which proved wise when not a second later she tipped to one side. His arm kept her from falling over, and she tilted into him instead, draping herself against his side.

“Ooooh. Nope. I said floors were tricky.”

“That you did, doll.” He was at least able to get the key inserted and from there Friday opened the door for him. He scooped Darcy up again, much to her amusement.

“Man, if this is what it takes to get treated like a Disney Princess, I might go get hammered more often.”

Bucky chuckled but shook his head.

“Nah, doll. You want to be carried around like a princess, I’ll do it for you sober. Don’t need to be killing your amazing brain cells for it.”

“You’re so sweet. I love it when you’re sweet to me.”

“I’m not sweet.”

“You are. You’re the sweetest man ever. But don’t worry, I won’t tell. It’ll be our little secret.”

“Okay doll. C’mon. Let’s find you a bed.”

He headed down the hall and kicked open the door to the unused spare bedroom of his apartment. The bed was made up as it had been when he’d arrived at the base, and he set Darcy down on it carefully before he flipped on the bedside lamp.

She blinked up at him blearily, for all her chatter and drunken silliness, exhaustion was starting to set in. More than just physical exhaustion though, she looked absolutely drained.

“I’ll get you some water and a painkiller. Help take the edge off the massive hangover you’re going to have in the morning.”

“Mmm.”

She tilted sideways and landed her head on the pillows with a sigh.

When he came back into the room, she had managed to get her sweater off without actually moving positions, and her glasses were sitting on the bedside table.

“Darcy, doll. Drink this down before you go to sleep.”

“Mm. Comfy.”

“I know, sweetheart. But you’ll regret it in the morning if you don’t.”

He coaxed her back up to a sitting position and got her to drink the water with the painkillers. Then she flopped back onto the pillow. With a sigh, he knelt next to her and lifted her feet, one at a time to get her shoes off and her feet up on the bed.

He was draping a throw blanket over her when she caught his hand.

“You asked what brought this on.” She said, and it was the clearest she’d spoken since he’d collected her at the bar.

“I did. This is so unusual for you, and it’s worrying me.”

“M’sorry. I don’t mean to worry you.”

“No, it’s okay. Don’t apologize. But…will you tell me what’s bugging you?”

She huffed a deep breath and closed her eyes for a long moment, he thought that maybe she’d fallen asleep after all, but she squeezed his hand and cracked them open, though she didn’t look him in the eye.

“Seeing you, interacting with Nate Barton the other day. it made me….feel things. Things that I don’t usually get bothered by.”

“What kind of things?” She met his eyes now, dead serious.

“I absolutely love my life, right. I worked hard to get where I am, I am proud that I am where I am and I wouldn’t change anything that’s happened to me for the world.”

“Okay….” He wasn’t sure what to say to that, but he didn’t have to say more, her eyes slid away from his again and she continued.

“But sometimes…once in a blue moon, I get reminded that I’m 35 years old I don’t have…. I mean…. I live a basically nomadic lifestyle with few friends and and even fewer opportunities for the kind of relationship and family type life that Clint Barton has somehow managed to carve out for himself out there. I was never one to get all maudlin about babies, but being out there and seeing how he did it, and watching you be adorable with Nate I…well. It reminded me that if I want something like that, my biological clock is ticking away like a crocodile after Captain Hook.”

Bucky wasn’t entirely sure that he could accurately account for what his face was doing at that moment. He thought it might be stuck somewhere between slack jawed surprise and thoughtful support.

He shook his head slightly and squeezed her hand.

“I…”

“You don’t have to say anything. I’m not looking for sympathy here, I promise. I just… you asked, and that’s why. I needed a night to wallow, and all my girl friends went off to space and haven’t come back, so, the bar. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”

She made to take her hand back, but he held onto it with a reassuring squeeze.

“Darcy, you are the smartest woman I’ve ever met. If it’s something that you want, I fully believe that you’ll figure out some way to make it happen.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Get some sleep, doll.”

“Will you stay? Just until I fall asleep?”

“Sure thing. I’ll stay as long as you want.”

Chapter Text

11.

Bucky flung open his door before Sam could finish knocking.

“Hey, quiet. Darcy’s still sleeping.”

“She’s… here?” Sam’s eyebrows hit his hairline.

Bucky rolled his eyes.

“Get your head out of whatever gutter it’s fallen into. She was drunk. She’s sleeping it off in the spare room.”

“Still… this is a little more involved than just helping her get home after a bender.”

“You haven’t seen the inside of that camper of hers. This was easier.”

“Did she say why she was out getting blitzed?”

“Uh, yeah. She did.”

Sam sat at one of his kitchen stools and stared at him expectantly. Bucky handed him a cup of coffee.

“Well? C’mon man, I’m dying of curiosity.”

“She….it was me.”

Sam leaned back and raised an eyebrow.

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific.”

Bucky shook his head.

“When we were out at Barton’s place the other day, one of his kids came and talked to me about the arm. Sweet kid, really, I answered his questions and when he ran off to play with his brother, I saw her looking at me strangely.”

“Oh. I think I get where this went. Got her thinking about kids herself, huh?”

“Something like that. She says she doesn’t usually get broody about stuff like that, but I can’t really blame her. Sometimes things like that sneak up on you.”

“That’s a bit heavy. How’d you respond?”

“Told her that if it was something she really wanted, she’d figure out a way to make it happen.”

“Smart. Though I’d have to admit, I almost expected you to say that you offered to help her out.”

“Don’t be a dick.”

Sam smirked at him, the bastard, waiting for him to say more.

“Look, I’m not an asshole. I’m not going to go making her promises that she won’t remember.”

The other man at least had the courtesy to look abashed.

“No, I know that, man. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t tease you about it. It’s just with the way you two look at each other sometimes…. But anyway.”

“Yeah, anyway.”

Sam narrowed his eyes at him, and Bucky could practically see him engage his Therapist mode.

“Is that something you ever wanted yourself? Family? Kids?”

“This life doesn’t exactly lend itself to settling down, you know.”

“Barton made it work. But forget the life for a second. I’m just asking whether it was something you ever wanted, before.”

Bucky snorted into his coffee.

“Before the war, you mean? Before my life became a nightmare?”

He didn’t remember everything from before the fall. There things that his brain chose not to remember, which he has been told is normal after the kind of trauma he’d been through. But he remembered enough.

“I did once. It was always one of those things that was going to be ‘later.’ We were so young, thought we had all the time in the world. It was something that we’d have after the war, when we came home. Only I never came home, not really. But yeah, once upon a time, family was something I wanted too.”

“And now?”

Bucky laughed sharply.

“Now, I’m not sure that I can even have kids. It’s not exactly the kind of thing that Hydra tested for. And if I ….” He frowned down at the countertop.

“If I could have kids, I don’t exactly live a safe, stable life. I do stupid shit like jump out of airplanes without a parachute, and I follow your ass around fighting super powered bad guys. What kind of life would that be for someone like Darcy? And…”.

“And?”

“And even she did want that, I still have a target on my back. I’d make her a target too, and I’d make any kids targets. How could I do that to her?”

Sam contemplated him for a moment while he drank his coffee.

“Those are valid concerns. But, can I just say one thing?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Darcy could be very good for you. She already is. If you really are just her friend, that’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that. But don’t deny yourself the something more because you’re worried about the ‘what if’s’. That’s not fair to either of you.”

Bucky drank more of his coffee to avoid having to say anything.

It was at that moment that the door for the spare room opened and a shape that vaguely resembled Darcy stumbled into the bathroom at the end of the hall.

Both he and Sam winced at the retching noise that came out of that bathroom over the course of the next couple of minutes.

“So, the next batch of recruits are on their way up from the classrooms starting Monday.” Sam changed the subject masterfully as they heard the water start running in the sink. Bucky nodded.

“Saw that. Hill said there were some promising marksmen in this group, scored high in the standard tests.”

The bathroom door opened and she emerged looking more than bedraggled, her clothes were wrinkled and her hair was a wild tangle, half hiding a face that still looked a little green around the edges. She’d lost her socks sometime during the night, and if his cursory once over was right, she had monkeyed out of her bra at some point.

She lurched over to the kitchen island and sat next to Sam. Or rather, hunched over the counter top with her head buried in her arms. He put the largest mug he could find in front of her and filled it with coffee. He assumed the noise she made was a grunt of approval.

He bit back a smirk and continued talking to Sam.

“If they’re as good as she says, I’ll run them through some more specialized training routines, might be able to get a decent sniper squad yet.”

“Did I tell you that Dr. Pym was moving his base of operations here? Lang’ll come once his daughter’s semester is over.”

“He’s not going to tear himself in half again, is he?”

“I think he got that sorted out.”

Darcy made a noise that sounded like a wounded Yeti.

“You guys talk too loud.” She groaned.

Sam’s lips twitched with a suppressed smile.

“Breakfast, doll?”

“Eugh. Only if it’s loaded with carbs and grease. Tequila is not my friend, I need to stop listening to it’s siren call.”

“Tequila is no one’s friend.” Sam commiserated.

“Bacon and egg sandwich sound okay?”

“With cheese?

“And potato patties.”

“I might love you.”

Darcy sat up slowly, pushed her hair out of her face, and pulled the coffee in to take a long slow sip of it. Bucky hid his grin by turning to the fridge and grabbing the eggs and bacon out of it.

“Oh, that’s like ambrosia.” She muttered into her coffee.

“You got any big plans for this weekend, Doc?” Sam asked her. She raised a dubious eyebrow at him.

“You mean aside from convalescing from this mother of all hangovers? No. After Bucky feeds me and lets me use his shower I’m going to go back to my camper and veg out with Netflix.”

“You still waiting on an apartment?”

“I knew what I was signing up for when I gave mine up.”

“Hm. Well, I heard one of the towns around here runs a farmer’s market on Sundays. Thought maybe we could all go check it out.”

Darcy snorted.

“You want to take Bucky to a small town farmer’s market?” She giggled.

“Hey, I like farmer’s markets.” He protested.

“I’m sorry, I’m just having a hard time picturing it.”

“Be easier to go to them now that I’m not trying to be invisible, actually.” He commented. He popped English muffins in the toaster oven.

“Sounds like there’s at least one taker. Darcy?” Sam was trying to give her some kind of puppy dog eyes, but she just rolled hers and waggled her hand at him in dismissal.

“Oh, alright. Be good for me to get out of here for an afternoon anyway.”

“That’s the idea.” Sam said. Darcy frowned at him.

“Did you just ‘therapist’ me, Sam Wilson?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Bucky put a sandwich down in front of each of them before anyone could say anything else, and tossed potato patties onto the plates next to them.

The smell of the grease made Darcy’s stomach rumble and she sighed happily around a mouthful of sandwich.

“Ohmigod, this is the best.”

“Oh, by the way, Sarah’s coming to visit next week.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Season’s winding down and the kids have some kind of school holiday”.

“Who’s Sarah?” Darcy asked.

“My sister.”

“You have a sister? Excellent. She’ll be on my side then.”

“Your side of what?”

“Everything. She’s a woman, of course she’ll take my side.”

Sam levelled a stare at her that she returned with far more sass than Bucky might have expected given how rough she was at the moment.

“This is going to be me worst nightmare.” Sam muttered.

Darcy just grinned triumphantly.

Chapter Text

12.

Sunday was a crisp, clear autumn day, the sunshine made it just warm enough that Sam and Darcy only needed light coats while they wandered through the farmer’s market.

Given the size of the town itself, the market was much larger than would be expected, but apparently it was more of an ‘area’ market, and people from quite a few of the nearby towns and villages came to set up stalls.

Despite it being autumn, there was still a lot of fresh produce being sold. Late season corn, apples, lots of different squashes, pumpkins, and peppers and a lot of preserves and honey. Interspersed among the farmers were local bakeries selling fresh pastries, a couple of local breweries with samples of their concoctions, there was one stall where a cafe from one of the nearby villages had set up a couple of carafes and were shopping their espressos and lattes, and there were more than a few folks selling other goods, handmade jewelry, wood works, quilts, blankets and the like.

Sam had disappeared after they stopped to grab samples of the coffee, Bucky wasn’t entirely sure where he’d disappeared to, but since that left him alone with Darcy he didn’t mind so much. He just had to concentrate on not staring at her legs. She had forgone her usual jeans this morning and was wearing a pair of leggings that left nothing to the imagination.

“Hey, what do you think of this pumpkin?”

Darcy was hefting up a pumpkin that she could barely get her arms halfway around.

“I think it’s huge.”

“Well duh. I meant for carving. Halloween is coming, you know.”

“You could carve a dozen faces in that thing.”

“Right? It’ll be a perfect centrepiece. I’m getting it. Then I want to go look at the peppers over there. We need some for the jambalaya.”

“What jambalaya?”

“The apparently top secret Wilson family jambalaya recipe that Sarah promised she’d show me how to make because Captain Stars and Stripes can’t cook it to save his life.”

Bucky held back the laugh at her jab at Sam, he got stuck on the more perplexing part of her statement.

“Hang on… how did you manage to get in touch with Sarah?”

She rolled her eyes at him.

“Please. Emergency contact info is so easy to get a hold of. She’s the second one he has listed in case of Captain America brand recklessness going awry. Here, hold this for a minute.” Bucky grabbed the massive pumpkin from her while she paid the vendor.

“Who’s the first?

“You.”

Bucky was taken aback, but Darcy just chuckled.

“C’mon, are you really that surprised? You’re his friend. Besides, you have no room to talk, your emergency contact list is remarkably similar.”

That was true. At the time that Maria Hill had cornered him about filling out his HR related info, Sam was still the only person he knew well enough to be an emergency contact. And then he’d put Sarah down because she was the only other friend he’d had and he figured for the times when he and Sam were out getting into trouble together, he needed someone else on it. Obviously Sam had similar logic.

“FYI, I totally added myself to both of your lists, if you’re going out Avenging together, and Sarah’s out on the water, you need someone else.”

Bucky shook his head, of course she did.

“When did you talk to her?” He was immensely curious.

“Last night. I sent her a text in the afternoon introducing myself, told her how much I enjoyed teasing her brother and asked her if she needed anything picked up in advance of her visit. She called after dinner and we talked. I can’t wait to meet her, she seems awesome.”

“She is.”

Darcy raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?”

“She asked after you. Are you guys…close?”

Bucky laughed and shook his head.

“Not like you’re thinking. For one, Sam threatened to have me fed to the fishes if I tried to flirt with her. For another, I think she’s adopted me as another wayward brother to look after.”

Was it his imagination or did she looked relieved?

“Ah. Well, I told her you were doing fine, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Course not. So. Jambalaya?”

“Yes! I have never made one in my life, Sarah said she’d teach me, so I can make it for you guys when Sam’s been good. Let’s put this bad boy in the car first though, I’m not going to make you carry it all over the market.”

A quick trip back to the little car they’d checked out of the motor pool to come out here and then he was following her between stands evaluating the peppers and onions. She was deciding between a couple of red peppers when she glanced up at him out of the corner of her eye.

“Bucky?”

“Yeah?”

“What I said Friday night… I don’t want you to think… I mean…”. Darcy’s face was turning an interesting shade of red. “I don’t want you to think that I’m secretly making some kind of nefarious baby making plot about you, because I’m really not, you’re my friend first and foremost and….”

“Darcy….”

“I just don’t want things to be weird.” She said quickly, looking anywhere but at him. The guy manning the stall looked at him with an expression of wide eyed sympathy.

“Doll, we live in a quasi military compound with Captain America and the Hulk. We have a wizard and a spider kid on call and there’s a talking raccoon flying around up in space trying to get me to sell him my arm. Things are already weird.”

She laughed, and her eyes sparkled with mischief.

“That’s not counting the rest of the batshit crazy crew on that ship. And the actual facts God of Thunder up there with them, and the glowing space lady - who, by the way, I want to talk to because damn, she is amaze balls. And don’t forget the Ant guy.”

“Right. The guy who is either really tiny or really big and all around overly enthusiastic. Did you ever hear about the time he thought he was going to tear himself in half?”

“Like… at the waist, or longwise?”

“He was non specific on the direction of the tearing.”

She giggled and finally picked a couple of peppers. The vendor was now looking at them like they were crazy, but took the money when Bucky handed it to him. Then she looped her arm through his and they made their way into a lane that seemed to be principally jams and jellies.

“You know, if someone had told me way back when that one day Bucky Barnes would be hauling my drunk ass home from bars and perusing farmer’s markets with me I would have told them to ease up on the crazy. But, I gotta say, I kinda like it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Ooh, Bucky, look! Fresh donuts, we have to try them, they smell amazing.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Chapter Text

13.

They found Sam again in the last row of stalls, which mostly consisted of handcrafted items. Sam’s nephews both had birthdays coming up, and he’d been looking for something unique for them.

Darcy was having a field day with all of the knitted items, but it was the seller at the end of the aisle who really attracted her attention. She was a leather worker, and Bucky had initially gravitated to her stall because she had a selection of knife sheaths and holsters that interested him, but, there was also a box of kittens that the woman’s daughter seemed to be in charge of.

“OMG they are adorbs. Can I pet them? How old are they?”

While she was crouched down playing with the kittens and talking to the girl, who Bucky would peg at twelve or thirteen, Bucky turned back to the table.

He always had a use for a good knife sheath, and the woman’s work was really good, but it was an odd looking belt that really caught his eye. It looked like it might be a tool belt, but not like any he’d ever seen before.

“What’s this? Tool belt?” He asked the seller. She grinned and nodded.

“Yeah, it was custom made for a friend of mine, she’s a carpenter, but found that commercial tool belts didn’t fit her very well, the shape was no good for her hips. This is contoured to account for the shape of a woman’s hips.”

“Huh. Some of these just don’t look usual for tools, is all.”

“Like I said, custom. She liked to have her phone on hand but wanted it protected, so the pouches have covers, plus she carries pepper spray, fortunately she’s never needed it, but she never knows where she’s going to be working and likes to be prepared.”

As Bucky examined the belt, he kept thinking back to that satchel of Darcy’s that was still packed full of handheld gadgets that she was updating to make her work more portable. He’d never seen her taser, fortunately, but he knew she kept it in her bag, though she had bemoaned being able to find it in an emergency.

“…there’s not a lot of ladies out there who work in construction, so I’ve had a bit of trouble trying to sell these on, but they were worth making.” The seller continued as he thought.

“Yeah.. well, I happen to know someone who might get some good use out of something like this.” The seller glanced over at where Darcy was snuggling a little white kitten with a happy grin. The daughter gave her mother a thumbs up and the woman turned back to him.

“As a special bonus, I’m authorized to offer you a choice of kittens with any purchase.” She said with a laugh. Bucky chuckled.

“Oh yeah? The boss gave the okay?”

“Their mother is her cat, so she gets to determine who is good enough for one of her kittens.”

“Fair enough, sold. And I’ll take one of the large knife sheaths as well.”

The woman bagged up his purchase with a smile.

“I’m sure that your girlfriend will love it.”

Bucky blinked, but there wasn’t any point in correcting the woman, she didn’t need to know about what their relationship was or wasn’t. He just nodded and took his bag from her. She handed him another bag with a small collar and a supply of kitten food, plus details of the vaccinations that she’d had.

Sam appeared at his elbow.

“Did you just buy Darcy a cat?”

“No, I bought Darcy a tool belt for her gadgets. The cat was free with purchase.”

Sam laughed, but Bucky ignored him and went over to where Darcy was still playing with the white kitten.

“Bucky, isn’t she the most adorable thing? I think she likes me.”

“Well, I hope so, doll, cause she’s stuck with you.”

He held out the bag with the cat stuff in it in front of her and she stared at it for a second before staring back at him.

“You got me a kitten? Really?”

“Really.”

Suddenly he found himself with an armful of happy woman, she was somehow managing to hug him while holding the kitten in one hand, and before he’d even clocked the movement she’d planted a kiss on his cheek.

“You really are the sweetest.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You keep telling yourself that, but you don’t fool me. Sam! Look, Bucky got me a kitten!”

“I saw that. But you know a kitten is a huge responsibility, right? You gotta feed it and clean its box…”

“Yeah yeah, you’re very funny ‘Dad’. I’m going to train her to poop in your apartment.” Darcy rolled her eyes, but she was still grinning.

“Well, that’s marginally better than being sent off to the ass end of the universe.”

Bucky laughed and steered them towards where the car was parked.

Chapter Text

14.

The first clue that Bucky had that Sarah and the boys had arrived was the sound of feminine laughter coming from the newly finished common kitchen. He easily recognized one laugh as Darcy’s and it didn’t take long to figure out who the second one was.

“You should have seen his face! It was priceless!”

“I wish I had seen it, probably would have made my week.”

“Ooh, remind me later, I have pictures you need to see.”

Bucky paused in the doorway to survey the room. The space was pretty empty, it was late afternoon, and most people had retired to their quarters, or at least had no use for the kitchen. But, Darcy and Sarah were in the kitchen area proper, a pot of something delicious boiling away on the stove and Darcy was wrist deep in what looked like bread dough. There was a bottle of wine on the counter and both of them had glasses within easy reach.

There was no sign of Sam, or the boys, Bucky assumed that they were all off somewhere together, they weren’t going to let a pair of kids just wander around the complex on their own.

“Ladies.” He said. They both jumped, surprised at the interruption, but both of them smiled at him.

“Bucky! Come on in, I was just telling Sarah about the time I glitter sprayed the shield.”

Bucky snorted at the memory. She’d managed to get her hands on some fancy glitter paint and painted over the shield just before Sam was due out in the training field - which wouldn’t have been an issue except that that day they were running battle simulations, which meant that all Avengers in residence were in full battle suits. Sam had shown up with the glitter shield and a sour look on his face grumbling about ‘Dr. Lewis’ artistic proclivities’ and Bucky had laughed very, very hard. The recruits had maintained their composure though, which said a lot about their commitment.

“Took him hours with a scrub pad to get that off. It was beautiful. Hi Sarah.”

“Hi Bucky. It’s nice to see you.” She came around the kitchen island and gave him a hug, which he returned.

“Good trip?”

“Yeah, it was alright. Airport was a madhouse, but that’s normal.”

“Where are Sam and the boys?”

“Sam took the kids down to the fancy gym you guys have here to swim in the pool and climb that rock wall. Once they knew it was there it was all they could talk about.”

“Hmm. And what’s going on in here?”

He nodded toward the massive pot boiling away on the stove.

“That, is jambalaya. It’ll be ready soon, once Darcy gets those biscuits in the oven.”

“And girl talk. A lot of girl talk.” Darcy added.

“Sounds dangerous.” He teased, and she laughed.

“You know me too well, Sarge. Of course it’s dangerous.”

“Anything I can help with? I mean with the food, not the girl talk.”

“You definitely do not have the prerequisites for girl talk, but if you want you can do the salad, we haven’t tackled that yet.”

Bucky nodded and fished out the salad ingredients from the refrigerator.

“This is going to make a lot of salad.”

“Well, we decided to make it a bit of a party tomorrow night, to celebrate getting this kitchen done and well, actually getting most of this compound done now. So some of this is for that.”

Bucky frowned. He was still largely uncomfortable with parties. Darcy paused her biscuit making to put a hand on his arm and ducked to meet his eyes.

“It’s mostly just going to be us, Bruce is going to come out if his lab and Maria Hill is down for it, and we’re sending a quinjet for Barton and his family. It’s just that Pepper Potts and Colonel Rhodes are coming in tomorrow for that meeting with the DC suits, it seemed like a great opportunity for a thing. But you don’t have to come, if you’re not comfortable.”

Bucky held her gaze for a moment, but nodded.

“It’s okay, doll. I’ll be okay.”

She nodded and patted his arm before she turned back to her biscuit dough, and he caught Sarah’s raised eyebrow as he turned to a cutting board. He raised one back at her, and she grinned knowingly at him. He chuckled lightly to himself and set out the carrots for chopping. She’d definitely adopted him, whether he liked it or not and he could sense the ribbing coming his way.

“How’s the boat?” He asked her, to make conversation.

“Purring like a kitten.”

“Mm! Speaking of kittens! You need to meet Alpine.”

“Alpine?”

“She’s my kitty, Bucky got her for me last weekend at the farmer’s market. She’s the most adorable thing.”

“He did, did he. That was sweet of him.”

“No it wasn’t.” He interjected, but Sarah just laughed at him.

“If you say so.”

“Bucky seems to think if he keeps protesting it, it’ll make it not true, but he’s still the sweetest.” Darcy teased, winking at him.

“No, I’m not.”

He winked back though, and dropped the carrots into the salad bowl. Darcy blushed, and put her biscuits in the oven. Sarah, watching all this with an amused expression, took a sip from her glass of wine and looked pointedly at Bucky.

Never let it be said that he could not take a hint. He finished the salad in record time and put it in the fridge.

“Why don’t I go see what Sam and the boys are up to? Let them know that there’s going to be food soon.”

“You do that.” Sarah agreed, and just about shooed him out the door. He was not sure what made him stop just outside of view, but he did.

“I feel like I should be asking you what your intentions are.” Sarah said to Darcy. Something clattered, obviously dropped from Darcy’s hands in surprise.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Honey, the man bought you a kitten. If you don’t have intentions, then you need to talk about that with him pronto, because he does.”

“It’s not like that. We’re friends.”

“Uhhuh. Denial is a River in Egypt.” The last part was said in a sing song tone that Bucky had never heard Sarah use before.

Darcy laughed, high pitched and nervous.

“He did say that you’d pretty much adopted him.”

He could almost hear Sarah’s shrug.

“Man follows my idiot big brother home one day and doesn’t have any family of his own left. Someone needed to step up and look out for him.”

“See, I knew you were awesome.”

“Of course I am. Now then, Doctor Darcy Lewis. What exactly are your intentions towards Bucky Barnes?”

Darcy laughed again, but it was softer, not as nervous sounding.

“Shit, I don’t know. He’s so desperately out of my league.”

“How do you figure that?”

“C’mon. He’s Bucky Barnes. Besides being an incredibly attractive man…”

“Translation, sex on legs.”

“Honestly, I’m not about looks one way or another, but he’s also a world famous Avenger. I’m just me.”

He heard Sarah scoff right along with his own near silent one.

“I’ve just met you, and even I can see that you’re not ‘just’ anything. I don’t know your history, Darcy, I really don’t. But, you’re working here, with the Avengers. That’s a really big deal. You must be pretty awesome yourself if you’ve earned a place here.”

“I know. I know that I’ve earned it, I worked damned hard to earn it and not be seen as ‘the sidekick’.”

“And that still doesn’t answer my question.”

Bucky heard Darcy snort.

“Alright, alright. Honestly I don’t have intentions the way you’re thinking, okay? He is… I never expected to find someone like him. He’s smart and funny and gets in on my hijinks. He cooks with me. He carries my stuff and does little sweet things like bring me a coffee or let me feed him and bake him treats. And he takes care of my drunk ass when I do stupid shit like get shitfaced in bars. He’s the best guy I’ve ever known. And yes, maybe I would like to be more than friends, but I’m not going force anything. I value our friendship too much and he’s lived so much of his life without any choices, I can’t…. It needs to be his choice to pursue whatever he’s comfortable with.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Does that answer your question?”

“Yes. Yes it does. More wine?”

“Please.”

Bucky decided it was time to beat it before he caught hell from either woman for eavesdropping, no matter how informative it had been.

Chapter Text

15.

The spaceship landing out on the lawn was a rather unexpected surprise. On their way back to the common areas from the gym with Sarah’s boys in tow, he and Sam saw it through the windows first.

“The hell? We didn’t get any kind of communication from the Milano, did we?” Sam muttered. Bucky shook his head.

“Nah. Nothing on the logs, the next check in with Quill wasn’t until next month.”

Sam shook his head.

“Then this is either really important, or not important at all.”

“Cool! Are aliens invading?” Cass and AJ were pressed up against the glass watching the ship land with eager eyes. Sam steered them away.

“Go on, go find your mom. You can meet them later.”

Their disappointed groans filled the hallway, but one look at Sam’s stern face and the sound of Bucky’s arm shifting sent them on their way. Bucky led the way outside, where the Milano was just lowering it’s ramp.

Bucky had met the motley crew of the Milano here and there, in Wakanda on the field and then again here, in the aftermath. They had a standing invitation to come earth side whenever they needed to, they just had not been back since the ship took off after the battle all those months ago.

The first one out was Thor, tall and overly enthusiastic.

“Friends! Greetings!”

He clapped them both on the shoulder when he reached them. Sam winced. Bucky smirked.

“Hi Thor. What brings you guys to town?” Sam asked.

“We were in the sector and decided to make a, what is it called? Pit stop!”

“By that, he means he’s eaten through all our supplies and we don’t have any credits to hit up anywhere else. Hey man, how’s that arm doing?”

The raccoon had followed Thor down the ramp, and nodded to him as he passed. The tree kid was close on his heels and offered a soft ‘I am Groot’ as he passed, head buried in what looked like some kind of game. The blue woman, Nebula, prowled past next, grumbling about testing the shooting range. Bucky watched her go, she set off all of his internal alerts, but the raccoon vouched for her, and she had been instrumental in fixing everything.

“Of course we also wished to catch-up with our friends here, now that reparations have begun here.”

Quill followed Nebula down, in mid argument with the big grey guy, Drax, and the woman with the antennae followed them.

“We got quarters here still, yeah?” The raccoon asked. Sam nodded.

“Yeah, there’s rooms. C’mon, we’ll show you.”

Sam extracted himself from under Thor’s arm and indicated that they follow him to the doors. Through them, he could see Darcy waiting, and as soon as they opened to show her clearly, Thor tensed beside him, which he thought odd.

The raccoon though, reacted very differently.

“Hey sweets! Didn’t know you were here now!”

She waved her hands and grinned.

“Surprise! Hey Rocket. You didn’t tell me you were coming, I don’t have cupcakes ready.”

“Yeah, unscheduled pit stop, thanks to the great Asgardian Appetite over there.”

“I told you he ate a lot. Hi Thor.”

“Hello Darcy.”

Bucky frowned at the stiff, almost uncertain greeting that Darcy was giving Thor. And he was confused about Thor’s behaviour, the man was notoriously boisterous, even with people he didn’t know all that well, as evidenced by the enthusiastic greeting he and Sam had gotten.

“You guys gonna stay a day or two? We’re having a thing tomorrow. Gonna be lots of food.”

“That is most excellent, I am sure that we will be happy to stay.” Thor said, she looked at him and smiled slightly, then she turned on her heel and headed inside. Thor looked like he wanted to say more, but instead he followed Sam without another word.

Concerned, Bucky opted to follow Darcy.

He caught her hand when she was halfway down the corridor.

“Hey, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be fine?” The snap in her voice and her ridged posture told him otherwise.

“I don’t know doll, how about you tell me? Thought you and Thor were friends?”

“We are. I mean, we’re not, not friends.”

She pulled her hand from his grasp and folded both arms over her chest.

“But?”

Darcy bit her lip and glanced around. When she looked back at him, she seemed to realized how defensive she’d gotten and she relaxed with a sigh.

“But even your friends can hurt you sometimes. I’m going to make cupcakes in the fancy new kitchen. Come help me.”

She turned away and marched off, leaving him to follow.

She was already pulling out equipment and ingredients when he rounded the same corner he’d been listening from earlier. He helped her get down some things that had been placed too high, then settled across from her on a stool while she rifled through everything and banged a few things around some.

“I honestly didn’t expect to still feel like this.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

She sighed.

“After London, he stuck around, you know? I mean, yeah, he was doing the horizontal mambo with Jane, but he was also helping me keep her focused by helping with the food and getting her to take breaks. I honestly think her Nobel prize winning paper wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if he hadn’t been there. And we became pretty good friends. Comrades in arms, kinda thing.
Then, well, YOU happened in DC and SHIELD fell, he went off to help the rest of the Avengers clean house, and then…we never really got the full story about what was spooking him back then, but he was around a lot less, and Jane got fed up, broke up with him and that was that. And then…”

She snapped her fingers to illustrate.

“I completely understand that he felt like he had failed. And not just himself or his dad or whatever. In addition to his planet and his people, half of the life in the universe, that’s a lot of guilt to carry, whether justified or not. Thor, despite having grown as a person in his time on Earth, and has learned how recognize his own failings, has never really had to deal with anything like that. It was okay to be depressed. It was a shit time, everyone was depressed. But it’s recognizing that and working out how you handle it that’s important. Some people do handle it better than others. I heard Captain Rogers started some kind of group therapy thing in New York. Therapy of any kind isn’t necessarily for everyone, but there are healthy ways of dealing with depression outside of a therapist. Drinking all the alcohol and eating all the pizza in Norway was not healthy. Sitting around playing online video games and screaming at teenagers all day was not healthy. I absolutely love Korg, he did his best to keep Thor alive, but the poor dude is not equipped to handle a massively depressed Asgardian. And Valkyrie, she is just amazing, but she was trying to keep the rest of the surviving Asgardians stitched together as much as she could, since Thor had basically checked out.

“Anyway. I get a message from Korg saying that Thor was having a really tough time, it was the anniversary of the snap I think, the first one, and he needed help. I went out there with a list of vetted therapists, resources for cognitive behavioural therapy, services that could be accessed online for depression care, for handling grief after the passing of a loved one, which I thought was really fitting and helped me handle a lot of my own grief. I didn’t expect him to welcome it with open arms but…”. She sighed heavily.

“He was angry?”

She nodded.

“He was so, so angry. And it wasn’t that he was angry at my presumption in suggesting one or all of those options, because I can understand that, I had to find what worked for me, and I didn’t enjoy having people recommend things to me. But he was angry that I even thought he needed help. He was ‘Thor, God of Thunder and he was above such human plebeian nonsense, and how could I of all people think so little of him…’ Well, I don’t take being screamed at lying down. I screamed back at him that he was being an obtuse idiot and he was going to destroy himself if he kept going the way he was. We screamed at each other for a while and we said things to each other that shouldn’t have been said. Then I tazed him again and left. I stayed with Valkyrie for the night and then went home. I kept in touch with Korg to offer him moral support and suggestions but I haven’t talked to Thor since then. When Jane took off into space, I sent a message to Rocket for him. I thought I’d put it behind me. But, I guess I hadn’t. He’s still my friend, but I’m still mad at him.”

Bucky shook his head.

“It’s hard to get over a fight with a friend. Especially when you know that they’re going through a lot. This, right now, what you’re feeling? It’s very normal.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know. Thanks for that, it helps. Maybe now that he’s getting his shit together, we can talk like adults.”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

“Yeah, always positive, that’s me. Alright, morose talk over, measure out this flour for me, I need five cups.”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am.”

He saluted her with a grin and she giggled. He got to work measuring out her flour while she started with butter and sugar in a mixer.

“Why does the raccoon call you ‘Sweets’?”

Her giggle turned into a full on laugh.

“Oh Lordy. So, picture, if you will, a Darcy Lewis circa five years ago. Her best friend and mentor has disintegrated before her eyes, no one anywhere is picking up the phone. Desperate, she sends out the emergency ‘please come save me now’ broadcast alert that Thor gave Jane before they broke up, hoping that someone will pick it up and come and get her out of buttfuck nowhere Norway, because she has no car and can’t get a hold of anyone who normally refreshes their supplies so dehydration and starvation are distinct possibilities. While she waits, she bakes, because what the hell else is she going to do?
When help does show up, the water supply is running low and she hasn’t showered in two days, her hair is an abominable mess, makeup failing to hide that she hasn’t slept at all and is wearing a cardigan that saw better days twenty years ago. It’s Thor, looking like death, and in tow is this walking, talking raccoon who saunters in, picks up three cupcakes from a plate and says after he eats one; ‘well, you ain’t much to look at sweets, but we can be friends if you keep making these.’ I just about tazed him on principle.”

Bucky laughed. He’d have paid to see that, actually.

“Anyway, he’s been calling me Sweets ever since. I probably should be offended, but we also talk astrophysics a lot, he’s been incredibly helpful with my cataloguing project and he talks to me as an equal, regardless of whether it’s on gaseous anomalies or buttercream icing. He’s just as smart as Jane or Stark and has been a great sounding board while I didn’t have Jane, or anyone else, really.”

“I still can’t imagine what it must have been like during the blip. Steve told us some, but it’s hard to imagine.”

Darcy breathed deeply and focused on mixing her eggs into her batter.

“For me, it was just incredibly lonely. Everyone that I knew was just gone. I didn’t have a large social circle in the first place. Having it get drastically reduced all of a sudden really made it apparent.”

“And what about your family?”

She shook her head.

“Only child of only children. My parents died in a car wreck when I was in college.”

“I’m sorry, that must have been rough.”

“Thanks. It wasn’t awesome, I’ll tell you that. But that’s why I needed the six science credits in the first place. I had to take some time to handle their estate, and even with taking courses in the summer term I came up short. My only options that term were a biology class I would have hated, or try to get an internship. Jane’s was the only one posted at the time.”

“And so it began.”

“And so it did.”

“You ever regret it? Ever think about what might have been different if you’d gone with that class?”

“Sometimes. Usually only when I’m in the middle of life threatening situations. But most of the time, I think that I would make all the same decisions again. They’re what got me here. And, you know, despite there being a lot of bad, there’s so much more about this life that has been so good, I can’t imagine not living it.”

The cupcakes were in the oven and Darcy was debating over icing flavours when they were joined in the kitchen by Thor.

He appeared at the doorway looking apprehensive, which Bucky privately thought meant that he was likely hoping to mend the gap between himself and Darcy. She had seen him standing there, and Bucky saw her tense up again.

He cleared his throat, and stood up.

“How about I let you guys catch up, huh?”

Darcy shook her head and reached out to grab his hand tightly.

“No, please stay. We’re making cupcakes, right?”

Bucky looked between them but nodded and sat back down.

Thor stuck his hands in the pockets of the jeans he’d changed into and looked awkward.

“I am sorry that I have made you feel uncomfortable in my presence Darcy. I never meant…I wish to apologize properly.”

Now Bucky felt uncomfortable.

“I am sorry, Darcy. For my behaviour in general and towards you specifically. You were trying to help me and I behaved terribly. For that I apologize. You were right. I was not handling my guilt properly and it was a destructive path that I let myself follow.”

Darcy swallowed and loosened her grip on his hand, finally looking up at Thor.

“Would you be standing here apologizing to me if you hadn’t been able to reverse what happened?”

Thor blinked.

“That is a fair question. It is true that being able to put right the mistakes made have greatly helped improve my state of mind… But I do believe that if none of that had happened I would still have…what was the phrase you used? ‘Pulled my head out of my ass’ eventually.”

Darcy rolled her eyes.

“Someone would have smacked some sense into you you mean. Someone strong enough to actually smack you.”

“No. You tried to fell me with your lightning box once more, my little lightning sister. The only time that you have done that in the past was on our first meeting when you did not know me and were afraid of me. When you did it again, I knew that I had crossed a line, become someone that frightened you. I knew as soon as you did it that I was in the wrong, but… I could not… I was not ready to seek the assistance you were attempting to offer me. I did not feel that I deserved it. Our altercation only compounded that feeling.”

Darcy sighed, and finally let go of his hand and turned to actually face Thor. Bucky started inching toward the door.

“You’re my friend, Thor. You were the only one I had left. It hurt that you weren’t taking care of yourself and it really hurt me that you weren’t even willing to hear me out.”

“I know. I am sorry Darcy. I was not a good friend to you. You deserved better. I should have been better. What’s more, I am sorry for what I said to you. It was a cruel, unworthy thing to have said. I should never have said it.”

“I said things that I shouldn’t have said too.”

“Nothing you said was untrue.”

“Still, I…”

Thor shook his head.

“No, in this you must allow me to shoulder the regret. I said to your face that I wished you had disappeared instead of Jane. It was a terrible thing to say, and it was not true. I was most glad to still have you, Darcy. I am sorry that I made a mess of our friendship.”

Bucky had mostly edged out the door, but he saw Darcy smile, a real smile this time, and she moved over to poke Thor’s bicep.

“You’re all muscly again. How’s space?”

The words didn’t mean anything to Bucky, but they must have meant something to them, because Thor almost visibly relaxed and scooped her up into a bear hug that she returned.

“Space is fine.”

Bucky smiled to himself and left the room entirely.

Chapter Text

16.

Bucky counted himself lucky that the suits never wanted his input in the big meetings like the one going on in the big boardroom that day. Most of the time even Sam managed to avoid them, but today they wanted Captain America’s voice, so, Sam had put on a suit and joined Colonel Rhodes and Pepper Potts in the meeting along with Maria Hill.

And while he had poked fun at Sam’s tie and Sarah had fussed over it being straight before she and Darcy took the boys into town to finish the shopping for the evening’s festivities, it left him at a bit of a loose end once he was done with his morning run and had put the fresh recruits through their paces in the rifle range.

He’d been up to the Ops Centre to catch up on anything going on, there was nothing of particular interest. The raccoon and Quill were doing maintenance on their ship, and he’d pitched in with an extra hand here and there. Apparently the vibranium arm came in handy when handling superconductive wiring.

He had settled into one of the cafeteria tables with some of Darcy’s leftover lasagna from the other night and another one of her book recommendations when someone pulled out a chair opposite. A quick glance told him that it was Thor. Intrigued, he put his book down.

“Greetings. I wish to join you for the midday meal.” He said, indicating the tray of cafeteria lunch that he was carrying. Bucky raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

“I don’t mind.”

“Excellent! I should like to get to know you better, Sergeant Barnes. I expect we will be called upon to battle an enemy together in the future.”

The same thought had crossed his own mind. He took a bite of his food.

“You can call me Bucky.”

“Is this a nickname?”

“Yeah. My full name is James Buchanan Barnes. I’ve always just gone by Bucky.”

“If that is what you prefer. You are a friend to Steven Rogers, are you not? I was provided with files at one point, but I do not recall all of their contents.”

Bucky smiled.

“Yeah. We grew up together.”

“Hm. I have seen you in the field of battle, you are quite valiant.”

“I don’t know about that. But I can hold my own against most things that want to kill me.”

“But you are skilled. You have extensive training.”

“Sure. The best training that Uncle Sam could provide circa 1943, plus a dose of super serum and 70 odd years of Hydra programming.”

“Ah yes. That was you.”

“That was me.”

“I am sorry for the atrocities that you have endured. If I may say, you have survived well.”

“Thanks, I think. It’s not exactly wine and roses, but it’s getting better day by day.”

“Indeed. I understand the feeling.”

Bucky took a moment to really look at the other man. Dressed in civilian clothes, he looked a bit like a lumberjack, complete with plaid flannel, but he looked better than he had before he’d taken off in the Milano. Darcy was right, he had dropped most of the weight he’d been sporting just a few months ago, and the shadows in his eyes were lighter.

“You seem to be doing better too.”

Thor nodded.

“Someone wise told me once that I was being an obtuse idiot. I have made an effort to listen to those words. I still made the error that allowed Thanos to complete his goal in the first place, and disrupted the lives of millions of people for five years. I must live with that. Restoring those who had been lost has helped. I am making my amends to those that I have wronged further.”

Bucky nodded.

“I get that. I did something similar. If I can offer advice, only do it if it means something to the person you wronged, otherwise it doesn’t help. I had to have that pointed out to me. It was easier after that.”

Thor nodded contemplatively while he ate a burger. Bucky had some more of his lasagna.

“You and the Lady Darcy seem quite close.”

Bucky choked. What the hell was this, high school? Did everybody have to comment on his relationship with Darcy?

“The Doc and I are friends, yeah.”

“But you both wish for more.” Thor grinned at him, something must have shown on his face because the man laughed. “Do not worry, it is not obvious to all and sundry. I just happen to be particularly attuned. And Darcy is my friend still, despite my mistakes. She deserves happiness and comfort. Yesterday I could see that your presence gave her both.”

Bucky shifted in his seat. He wasn’t entirely sure but it looked like he was about to get some Asgardian version of a shovel talk. He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be mildly terrified.

“Look, whatever is going on between Darcy and I…”

“Is between you. I have no wish to interfere. I do believe that Darcy would do worse to me than electrocution if I dared to meddle in her personal affairs. She is most formidable.”

“Tell me about it. She’s so smart she’d have ten different ways to dispose of a body untraceably before she even thought of murder. And it’s hard not to be intimidated by a woman who knows how to rip open holes in space.”

Thor laughed.

“Indeed. We are of a kind, you and I, in our respect for fearless, intelligent women. I only wished to say, do not hesitate overlong in your pursuit. Though I have yet to know you better for myself, it is enough for me that she is happy. And I believe that after all that we have all gone through in our lives, Darcy included, happiness is deserved.”

Bucky blinked. He hadn’t been expecting that.

“Thank you.”

Thor beamed at him and they both finished their meals in comfortable silence. When they were both finished, Thor eyeballed him from across the table.

“You have a similar strength and ability as Steven, do you not?”

“We didn’t exactly run comparative tests, but theoretically, yes. Plus the arm.” He waved the vibranium fingers in Thor’s general direction.

“Would you care to spar with me? I find it difficult to train when confined to a ship the size of the Milano, and while my shipmates are enthusiastic, they are not a great challenge. I could use…a change of pace.”

Bucky grinned.

“Meet me in the gym in fifteen?”

“I shall see you there.”

Chapter Text

17.

“Hey, tall dark and studly. Come make yourself useful, we have bounty.”

Bucky chuckled at Darcy’s waggling eyebrows. Sitting next to him, Thor raised his eyebrows at the exchange, only for Darcy to poke him in the arm.

“You too, Mr. Muscles. The way this party expanded we needed to hit up the booze store big time.”

“Thought someone said there was stuff ordered for it?” Bucky said as the men followed her out to the minivan that she and Sarah had used to head into town for what Darcy had deemed ‘essential’ supplies. Somehow over the course of the last 12 hours the little celebratory shindig had become an all out Halloween party with all the bells and whistles. Employees living on site were invited to bring their children, activities and treats had been arranged accordingly.

“Oh sure. The jambalaya’s huge, but even that won’t be enough, so Pepper’s terrifyingly efficient assistant has ordered in a metric ton of pizza, chicken wings and I think an entire menu’s worth of Chinese, and Barton is going to be doing up hot dogs and burgers for the kids. But we needed desserts and booze for the adults later, and I do not trust a purchasing flunkie to order the right stuff, in the right quantities. Plus we were going to go into town today anyway.”

She shrugged and gestured expansively at the wide open back end of the van, where Sarah was standing with a box against her hip, the boys were already being dispatched into the building with boxes of their own. She blinked at the sight of Thor, and raised an eyebrow at Darcy.

“Oh right, Thor, this is Sarah, Sam is her brother. Sarah, this is Thor. You probably don’t need me to tell you who he is…”.

Thor shook Sarah’s proffered hand enthusiastically.

“It is a great pleasure! Please, allow me to assist!”

Thor took the box she was holding and grabbed two more out of the back of the van before he started heading back inside. Bucky smirked at her awestruck look and reached in to grab a couple more out. They were filled with alcohol.

“Am I going to have to carry you to bed again, doll?”

Darcy laughed and Sarah snorted.

“Not this time. At least, not because I’m too drunk to walk.”

She winked and smirked at him and Bucky grinned back, hefting the boxes and turning back to the building.

They were steps away when the unmissable sound of a quinjet approaching the landing strip made them turn around, just in time for it to fly around. Through the clear cockpit window he saw Barton at the controls, saluting them with a grin. Darcy made an exasperated noise.

“Show off. C’mon, we better get this all inside. People are starting to show. When’s that meeting supposed to be done?” She asked. Bucky shrugged and shouldered open the door for her and Sarah.

“Last text I got from Sam was a meme of a guy trying to hang himself with his own tie and series of bored emoji faces. If I had to guess, I’d say not soon enough.”

Both women laughed and led the way to the cafeteria. There were a couple of guys moving things around, getting the place set up more comfortably. Outside on one of the patios, a large barbecue was in the midst of being set up. The boxes of ‘bounty’ went straight to the kitchen and started getting unboxed. A wine rack had appeared in the corner and Bucky got to work unloading a box of the stuff into it.

“I’m going to need that pumpkin brought in.” Darcy commented. The massive pumpkin that she’d bought the weekend before was sitting outside the door of her camper, waiting to be turned into a Jack o lantern. “Cass and AJ have some slick ideas for it, they’re going to carve it up for the party.”

She winked at the pair of them, and they grinned back at her.

“I can get it for you.” Bucky offered.

“Would you? That’d be terrific.”

“I’ll come with you.” Sarah offered. Bucky shot her a look, and all she did was raise her eyebrows at him. There was no reason for her to come with him, her entire purpose had to be to needle him. And he couldn’t get away from it this time.

“Oh, Bucky, show her Alpine while you’re there. We didn’t get the chance yesterday.” She tossed him the key for her camper as she turned from a bag full of what looked like decorations. “Hey, Thor, gimme a boost, would you? I can’t hang these properly from down here.”

Sarah cleared her throat and gestured to the door. Bucky nodded and led the way out.
She waited until they were outside before she pounced.

“So. Tell me about what’s going on with you and Darcy.”

Bucky rolled his eyes.

“Knew you were going to bring that up.”

“Of course you did. You listened, right? Yesterday, when I was asking her about you?”

“You planned that?”

She rolled her eyes at him this time.

“Of course I did. You men are all alike, need to stand with runway lights on to bring you in to land. But, it wasn’t all you, she had some dampers on her signals. I figured if I wasn’t sure, you sure as hell weren’t, so I did you a solid.”

“Huh. Well, thanks for that, I think.”

“So? C’mon Bucky, Sam is hopelessly single right now, and he’s older than me still, so I am getting my big sister groove on through you.”

“You know I’m actually older than both of you, right?”

“Pfft. On paper, sure. Maybe physically, I’m willing to give you that. But emotionally? Socially? Please. I have years on you.”

Bucky laughed and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Alright, alright. You win.”

“And?”

“And nothing. I’ve probably been more than a little sweet on her since the moment she started reaming out Sam on the training field.”

Sarah smirked, but didn’t say anything.

“I always liked women with sass. I may not remember all the names or all the faces, but I remember that the ones I liked best were smart, knew it, and weren’t afraid to let you know it.”

“Your mamma raised you good.”

“She did, didn’t she? Ain’t that something.”

They had reached Darcy’s camper and Bucky stuck the key in the door to open it up.

“What she said about our friendship, yesterday, that’s pretty true for me too. That means so much to me. Maybe more because I don’t have a lot of friends. I wouldn’t want to lose that. But, without you and your ‘big sistering’ I wouldn’t know for sure that she feels the same, so, thank you for that. Everybody’s been giving me all this advice - maybe it’s time to figure out what I’m going to do about it.”

“You could start by getting her to move in. Why is she living out here in this? I mean, it’s cozy and it fits her unique personality, but Sam said there’s residential buildings for the employees here.”

“Darcy gave hers to a woman who came up here early because of a divorce. She had young kids apparently. She’s waiting for one to be finished now.”

“I see.”

“I also think that part of her doesn’t want to give this up because of the history behind it. It belonged to a friend of hers. They were pretty close, and she misses her.”

“Poor thing, is her friend…”.

“No. She’s alive, but she’s gone on kind of a huge trip, and Darcy hasn’t heard from her in a while.”

“I can imagine how worried she must be. This must be the kitten!”

Sarah bent and scooped Alpine up from where she was prowling around their feet. Alpine mewled at her, and nuzzled her face, much to Sarah’s delight.

“That’s her.”

“Did you seriously get her this kitten?”

Bucky laughed and explained how Alpine had come home with them that day, Sarah grinning at him the entire time and petting Alpine behind the ears.

“Well, she’s the sweetest thing. I’m not surprised Darcy liked her so much. And she’s alright out here?”

“Honestly, I think she likes it. Darcy brought her to my place for a day because it was closer to the labs and she cried the whole time. She came from a farm, so I think she’s used to roughing it a little.”

“She likes the fresh air.”

“Yeah. Might be a problem when she does get a place, but for now?” He shrugged and bent to check her dishes. He refilled the water and put down a little more food for her.

Sarah put her down and Alpine went straight for the food.

“Alright. We’re here for a pumpkin?”

“Yeah. That was it next to the step.”

“What? That thing is huge!”

“Kids are gonna love it”.

Chapter Text

18.

Cass and AJ did love the pumpkin. They fell on it with a ton of ideas, and then the Barton kids came in and got in on it.

“Hey man.” Barton greeted him when he and Laura followed their children into the room. “Nice place.”

Bucky shook his hand.

“Thanks, we like it.”

“I’m gonna steal some time in the shooting range before we go.”

“You might need to wrestle Nebula for the private lane.”

Barton made a face, one that Bucky commiserated with.

Bucky didn’t scare easily, but that woman was extremely unsettling. And from what he’d read about her, this was a vast improvement. She had been invited to the party, and had declined, rather forcefully. Thor had said something about being threatened with disembowelment. Although, she had greeted Rhodes rather cordially when he’d arrived earlier.

“I’ll just, work around the training schedule posted I think.”

They were distracted by an excited squeal, and suddenly there was a little girl, a little younger than Nate Barton, running across the room, headed for the pumpkin carving.

“Hey Happy.” Barton greeted the large man in a suit who was following her at a sedate pace, the pink sparkly backpack he was carrying looking rather hilariously incongruous with the professional air.

“Hey Clint. Hello Sergeant.”

“You on babysitting duty today?”

“That’s one word for it. Morgan had preschool for the morning and Pepper didn’t want to disrupt her routine too much. She asked me to just bring her up here when she was done for the day. She’s been asking me questions the whole way here. I know she’s a smart kid, but I keep forgetting how much of Tony she has in her. She’s a smart little cookie. Don’t be surprised if she wants to look at your arm.”

He said the last part pointing right at Bucky, and Barton laughed.

“She’s what, three? Four? Of course she’s going to want to look at it, Nate’s been talking about it non stop since you guys visited. Look, even now, they’re making friends and plotting world domination. Whatever you do, don’t give either of them a screwdriver.”

Barton pointed at the table, where Nate and Morgan were chattering happily back and forth. Nate was making some expansive gestures with his left arm and pointing over in their direction.

Someone produced a couple more pumpkins from somewhere and soon enough anyone not working on the big monster pumpkin had their own to carve - though Darcy, Sarah and Laura were monitoring carefully and pitching in with knife cuts as needed.

“Are we carving pumpkins? That’s awesome!”

Bucky whirled around at the new voice. Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne had appeared at the door, a dark haired girl behind them that he took to be Lang’s daughter. She grinned and went to join the older kids at the big pumpkin.

“Hey, it’s you, with the arm! I like the new hair, man, it looks great. Hi Clint.”

“Hey man.”

Lang shook both their hands vigorously, until Hope nudged him. He joined the kids at the table while she hung back to say hello.

“Sorry about that. He can be a little…excited.”

“It’s fine. You want something to drink?” Bucky asked her, and they moved their way to where the beer and wine had been set up, along with a selection of non alcoholic beverages.

“Thanks, that’d be great. Uh, I’m not sure who’s actually running this thing…”

“I think at this point it’s running itself.”

She laughed.

“Well, my father sends his regrets. Since he’ll be coming here soon to set up a new lab, he doesn’t want to make two trips, at his age. At least that’s what he says. My mom just thinks he’s trying to hold onto his crotchety reputation.”

Suddenly there seemed to be an influx of people in the room, and Sam’s gleeful discovery of the beer told him the meeting had finally come to a close.

“Hey guys. Looking like Halloween up in here. This shindig just keeps on evolving, huh?”

“Think you can blame the Halloween thing on Darcy.”

“I didn’t think it’d be anybody else.”

Bucky clocked movement behind him and caught sight of Sharon Carter approaching them.

“Sharon? What are you doing here?”

“She’s one of the suits from DC.” Sam said, handing her a beer.

“Got invited to stick around for the after party, hope you don’t mind.”

Sam shook his head.

“Nah nobody minds, come on in, have you met everyone?”

*

Darcy found him after the kids had finished the pumpkins and were telling each other spooky tales and doing creepy face makeup. The adults attending had all broken off into smaller groups talking amongst themselves, and when the food had come out, there’d been a leisurely shuffle in the direction of the tables.

“Hey. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine, doll. This is turning out to be quite the party.”

“Yeah it’s pretty nice. The kids’ll wind up soon and we’ll start getting more adult-y in here.”

“You mean there’s more?”

“Well someone’s suggested dancing. I don’t suppose you dance, soldier?”

Bucky laughed.

“Once upon a time, yes. Not sure I can keep up with all you young folks and your moves though.”

Darcy giggled, caught his hand and twirled herself under it. Her skirt flared out as she did it, offering an appealing look at her legs.

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about old man.”

She stopped suddenly in mid turn, and seemed to be looking at something across the room.

“What’s the matter, doll?”

“That woman, the blonde one that Sam was introducing around.”

“Sharon Carter?”

“Yeah.”

“What about her?”

“She’s not going to be sticking around, is she?”

“Don’t think so. She got reinstated to the CIA, Sam said she was one of the DC people who came down for the meeting today. She’s formerly a SHIELD agent.”

“Okay. That’s good, I think.”

“Why? She say something to you?” Bucky had no idea why Sharon might say anything unfriendly to Darcy, but if she had they’d be having serious words.

“No, not really, nothing beyond acknowledgment of of my name and profession. But I do keep catching her looking at me, like I’m some kind of insect that she’s got under a microscope. It’s weirding me out more than the sight of Rocket and Thor decorating cupcakes with Nate and Morgan is right now.”

Bucky glanced over at where Sharon was talking with Sam and Maria Hill. She wasn’t paying any attention to anything other than her conversation at that moment, but Darcy was not paranoid, if she said that Sharon was watching her, he believed her.

“Okay. Let’s keep an eye on it, and you tell me if she says anything to you or does anything else.”

Darcy nodded.

“I’m going to go grab the treat bags Pepper arranged and make sure the small lounge is set up for the kids to watch a movie in. That woman is a fucking miracle worker.”

She kissed his cheek briefly and then took off.

Chapter Text

19.

Bucky stood in the corner for most of the rest of the party, just watching people interact. After the kids had gone off with their treat bags to another room where there were movies set up, people had gone for seconds on the food and generally relaxed more into casual conversations.

He watched Sharon for a while and still didn’t see anything strange going on. But he also found his attention drawn by Pepper Potts when he wasn’t watching Darcy tease people out onto the dance floor.

She had been nursing a glass of wine most of the evening, and was now talking with Rhodes and Sam about something that had them all laughing. When she stepped away into the kitchen, Bucky left his corner.

He had never been able to make any kind of amends with Tony Stark. It was the one thing from his time as the Winter Soldier that he couldn’t atone for, and that bothered him. He had no idea what he was going to say to the man’s widow, but it was the only place to start.

“Excuse me, Ms Potts?”

She turned from where she was perusing the wines Darcy and Sarah had brought in and smiled at him.

“Hello Sergeant Barnes. Please, call me Pepper.”

He wasn’t sure what he’d done to earn that honour, but he’d take it.

“Call me Bucky then. I wanted to… that is….” He frowned at his own inability to get words out. “I never got the chance to apologize to Mr. Stark. About his parents. I know it doesn’t mean the same, but..”

“Wait. Before you say anything else, I have something for you. I should have gotten it you before now, but I didn’t want to just send it over, and this was the first I’ve been able to get out here to bring it in person.

She held up a hand that told him she wanted him to wait where he was, and she went over to where her blazer and handbag were sitting next to a chair and rifled through the handbag briefly.

When she found what she wanted she came back over to him, her gaze on the little gadget in her hand.

“He recorded it before he left that day, he did a few messages to different people, Bruce, Steve, me and Morgan. This one surprised me, but I suppose it shouldn’t. It’s been a long time since Siberia, and once he was able to look at everything more objectively, I think that he understood better.”

“You know what’s on this?”

“I didn’t want to give you something that would hurt you, not when you’ve been recovering so well. Watch this, and talk to me when you’re ready, okay?”

He nodded, and she pressed the gadget into his hands. She poured herself a new glass of wine and went back to the party, striking up a conversation with Sarah and Darcy.

He was dying of curiosity, and he knew few people would miss him for a few minutes. He ducked out a patio door that led into the courtyard, where there were tables and umbrellas set up for outdoor eating during the day, and away from the barbecue set up. He picked a table at random and sat, then pressed the button.

Tony Stark’s face appeared in front of him, looking eerily real in the dark of the evening.

“Hey, Manchurian candidate. Don’t turn this off, I promise I’m not about to start spewing invectives at you. But, bear with me a bit because I’m not exactly sure how to say what I need to say here, I might ramble.

“I don’t know how much you’ve read up on since being back in the world, but I wanted to talk a bit about the thing that happened with Ultron. That whole incident is what uprooted Sokovia, what started everything with Zemo that led to us being in Siberia that day. And it all happened because Hydra got Wanda Maximoff to flip a switch in my head.

“I should clarify, after Loki and his minions in New York and the army I saw when I went into space, I was already pretty freaked. I’d already started the project, the switch was already half flipped. But she got in there and she pushed it the rest of the way, and…. Well.

“What I’m trying to say, probably very badly, is that while I thought I was exercising my own free will and trying to do the right thing to protect the world, what had actually happened was that Wanda had played on my fears and turned me into a puppet, dancing on the end of the last of Hydra’s strings, doing what they wanted me to do, even though they weren’t there to see it, and it went spectacularly bad.

“Once I sat back and understood that about myself, and read through that godawful file that the Russians had on you… I realized that the only difference between us in our particular situations is that you didn’t even have a concept of free will. It’s taken me a couple of years, but I get it now. Hydra used people as tools, and the Winter Soldier was the biggest, baddest tool in their toolbox.

“So. I will never forgive Hydra, and I can never forgive the Winter Soldier for what they did to my parents… but, James Buchanan Barnes, I do forgive you, on behalf of the Stark family, because you didn’t have a choice.”

Bucky let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“I know you’d gone all native in Wakanda, but if this crazy thing we’re doing tomorrow works and you ever decide that you want something different for choice mechanical arms, even if it’s just to have one for Sunday best, hit up Project MC in R&D. They’ve been updating the specs on your old arm for the last seven years, they’re probably itching to get it into production. And, see Pepper about some financial stuff. I’m sure that the government has given you some kind of back pay and hazard pay and whatnot, I’m also sure it came with a long leash. This might help with that.

“If we can’t have peace in our time, at the very least we need to find a measure of peace for ourselves once in a while. I found mine, And I really do hope that you can find yours. Good luck.”

The recording reached it’s end and the man’s face disappeared, but Bucky found himself staring at the spot where it had been, not entirely sure what he should do next. He didn’t even realize that his cheeks were wet until the sound of the door opening behind him had him running his right hand over his face in reflex.

“Bucky? Are you okay?”

She appeared as a silhouette against the light coming from inside.

“Yeah doll. I’m okay.” He answered. His voice was rough, he could hear it and he knew that she could too. He just wasn’t sure if she would call him on it or not.

Darcy paused, and he could feel her looking at him in the dark. But, instead of saying anything, she just rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you coming back inside? If I remember right, you still owe me a dance.”

He grinned, and pocketed the gadget.

“You always know how to twist my arm, doll.”

“I’m a professional arm twister. Jane’d tell you.”

He turned to her and all he could see in the light from the room behind was her smile and her outstretched hand. He reached up for it and curled his fingers around hers, letting her tug him up. When she made to let go to go back inside, he didn’t let her fingers slip away.

Chapter Text

20.

“What does this look like to you?”

The question wasn’t directed at him, but the tone of Darcy’s voice made him sit up straighter from where he was lounging in her lab. She had pestered Sam into getting a sofa for her lab space, her official request had referenced ‘fostering a collaborative workspace’ but really she wanted a comfortable spot to nap on while she waited for results. She and Parker did use it when they were working on something together, but Bucky also liked to use it to escape and do some of his own work without interruption. Nobody came to Darcy’s lab without a good reason for being there.

Parker leaned in closer to the computer she was working from and peered at something she was pointing at.

“It looks like an energy spike?”

“That’s what It looks like to me too. That doesn’t make sense though.”

“Why not?”

Darcy shook her head.

“That’s an area I scanned last week, and picked up residual radiation from Vision, even with the new spectrometer, the signature should be more degraded than that.”

“That looks new, like it just happened.”

“Right. And… I don’t think it’s Vision, look. It reads like him on the surface, but it doesn’t match up with his energy output. It’s something else. I’m going to run the rest of this data through the new spectrometer, see if it’s isolated or if it’s a trend.”

Bucky stood up and came to look over their shoulders.

“Something going on?” He asked. Darcy jumped, she must have forgotten he was in the room with them, that happened often.

“I don’t know. Maybe? I need to dig around more, give me a sec. Pete, can you pull up my tracking data for Vision and put it up on the big screen for me? I want to see what kind of overlap there is here.”

“Yeah, yeah sure.” Parker switched over to the other computer she had running and pulled up a tracking map on the holodisplay screen she had. He watched her work, her laser focus and the way her fingers moved over the keys and screens a thing of magic.

“Oh…shiiit.” She breathed, and then she sent a second tracking map up to the screen. It floated and settled over the original.

Nearly all of the points matched up.

“Someone’s following him. Or, something, maybe. I don’t know what it is, but it’s generating an energy signature that has some commonalities to Vision’s. How did I miss that?”

“You weren’t looking for it. You were looking for Vision’s signature. And you weren’t looking back at the places he’s already been.” Parker pointed out.

“I should have been. I only picked this up because I was testing the new spectrometer. Idiot.” She smacked her hand against her temple in a self deprecating move, but Bucky grabbed it before she could do it again.

“Hey. You didn’t do anything wrong, doc. What matters is that you found it. What else can you tell us about it?”

She frowned at her screens and started throwing reports up at the big screen.

“It’s definitely not Vision. It doesn’t match what I isolated from Westview. There are common elements that are present in Vision’s signature, but on a level like… you and me, we’re both human beings, you know? But what makes him uniquely Vision is not present and this signature has different spikes. I’m running it against my catalogue to see if I have any of the other components identified to help narrow down what it might be.”

“Okay. That sounds like a great start.”

“It is definitely hitting up all the places that Vision has been in, or at least most of them. So that leaves the question of, is it actually following him or is it just a massive coincidence. If it’s following him, how is it tracking him?”

“And it’s not Wanda?”

“Definitely not. None of the markers for Wanda’s signature are there.”

Something beeped and Darcy opened up a file to scroll through what looked like a comparison chart, shaking her head. Parker squinted at it as well.

“Whatever it is, it’s throwing off a mega exothermic reaction.” He said. Darcy nodded absently.

“It’s like… someone supercharged one of the Iron Legion and then hooked it up to a different kind of power source.”

“What kind of power source?”

“Well, not lithium ion, if that’s what you’re wondering. I don’t know, it’s not anything we’ve seen before.”

“I’m going to call Sam.”

Sam appeared in the lab within 10 minutes.

“What do we have?”

“Something weird.”

Darcy gave Sam the rundown, and Sam’s frown deepened with each passing moment.

“So, what we have is an unidentified person using potentially dangerous technology to follow around another largely unknown and potentially dangerous element. We have no idea what this Vision will do if he’s cornered. It could be bad.”

“Very bad.” Darcy agreed.

“Can you get us a precise location on that energy signature?”

“Uhhhhh, maybe? I mean with this set up I can get a geographical area, but I couldn’t tell you that the source was sitting in a bistro on State and Main. With some refining, I might be able to narrow it down some more…”

“What about the mobile spectrum isolator?” Parker piped up.

Darcy shook her head once, but then seemed to change her mind.

“Maybe, yeah. That might work better on the ground, but it’s not ready yet, unless you think you can finish the upgrades on it, like soonish?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s no problem, give me a few hours to focus on it, it’ll be good to go.”

“Anyone want to translate?” Sam looked about as steamrolled as Bucky felt.

Darcy, her fingers flying over keys and spinning through read outs like mad, didn’t even blink.

“Pete’s been upgrading some of my shit, that’s what his internship with me is focusing on, the tech that we use to measure and analyze astrophysical phenomena. Half the shit that Jane used was made from toasters and duct tape, mine is a bit of an improvement, but only just. Pete also had a great idea for an app based platform to run all of the scanned data into a smartphone for storage and basic analysis, it’s been working for some of the smaller things I use, my gravimetric field detector worked like a charm, it’ll mean that I don’t have to haul an entire computer set up out into the field, just the stuff I need. I mean, obviously it’s not meant for full in depth analysis, I still need my equipment here for that, but…”

“But it’ll let you hit the ground running.”

“Yeah. Save me putting my back out carrying equipment if I need to go out in the field again, like another Westview or something.”

Sam shot Bucky a contemplative look.

Something that felt a little like a lead stone sank in his gut and he shook his head.

“No. That’s a terrible idea.” He said. Sam shook his head, and pointed at the read outs flying across the screens.

“Do you know how to read any of this? Because I don’t. And if we want to find out what this is, we need to have someone on hand who can interpret the data quickly. We can’t rely on relayed directions.”

“She’s a civilian.”

“With an incredibly impressive history of keeping herself alive in extreme situations.”

“Sam.”

“Bucky.”

“Wait, hang on, what? Are you talking about bringing me with you into the field for this?” Darcy tuned back into the conversation, pulling her attention away from her work to fix Sam with an intent glare.

“Yes.”

She opened her mouth to let loose what Bucky was sure was going to be an invective filled tirade, probably with many points about talking about her like she wasn’t standing right there. But she breathed in and then blinked.

“No…you’re actually right, dammit. There’s no point in doing the upgrade on the isolator and then just sending it with you, it’s not like a metal detector that’ll bleep when it finds what you’re looking for. You have no idea how to read any of what it’ll spit back at you, or run a comparative analysis. And as much as I’d love to send Pete and his awesomely Spider-Man self, he’ll only be able to help so much, and you need someone who knows what this shit means. Shit.”

Bucky shook his head. Even he had to grudgingly admit, with no better solution at hand, she was going to have to come with them.

“We can outfit you in tac gear, if that’ll make you feel safer.” Sam offered.

Darcy laughed and held her hands out in front of her chest, displaying her assets like a game show host.

“Dude, there is no way these puppies are getting into a Tac vest. And, small point of interest- tac gear is largely useless against non physical threats. I refer you to what happened to Monica’s vest in the Hex.”

Sam made a face. Bucky remembered that sub note. Fascinating, and also proving her point. The vest had done nothing to protect it’s wearer from Wanda’s magic, it had instead just become part of the narrative. That did NOT make him feel any better.

Darcy sighed and looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Ignoring the other occupants of the room, Bucky reached for her hand and tugged her around to face him.

“Hey, look at me.”

She did, eyes large behind her glasses and although she was definitely running through probably a thousand worst case scenarios in her head, she wasn’t scared, just not comfortable.

“I don’t like it, not gonna lie about that. But, you’re the smartest person I know, and I’m smart enough to know that if you don’t see another solution, then there probably isn’t one. So, if we’re going to do this, I want you to understand that whatever happens I will keep you safe.”

“You can’t promise that.  No, seriously.” She held up a hand to stall any protest he might have made.  “There is no way in any universe that you can promise that because the weird shit that happens when I go out on the ground with an Avenger involved is so weird that it defies prediction. Thor dropped to earth and a giant decepticon levelled a town in New Mexico because someone was pissy about his brother being the first born.  He turned back up in London and Jane got possessed by a red alien mist stone and space elves turned up in big ass spaceships to ruin our day. Wanda Maximoff’s terrible, no good day.  Every single fucking time I step out of my lab and into the field with an Avenger present, something absolutely insane happens and no one, no matter how hard they try, is going to be able to protect against the unpredictable.”

She held his gaze while she spoke and he had to admit, once again that she was right. How could he protect her from something if they had no idea what it was?

“Alright, I’ll buy that. But if I can’t keep you completely safe, how about I promise that I will do my best to keep you alive.”

She offered a small smile.

“I’ll take that.”

“Okay. We’ll get some stuff together. Let us know when you’re ready Darcy.”

Sam pointed out the door, and Bucky followed him out, hearing Darcy make Parker promise to look after Alpine if they were gone for longer than a day as they went.

“I still think this is a bad idea.” He told Sam.

“I know. I don’t like it much either, but we can’t go in blind. We can’t afford that, not after the Flag Smashers.”

“Yeah.”

“Come on, let’s get suited up.”

Chapter Text

21

Darcy pinged them to meet her in the hangar bay about three hours later. She had changed from her semi-professional clothes that she wore on days when Parker was working with her because, in her words ‘I’m supposed to be the adult here, gotta set a good example for the kid.’ She had traded them for a long sleeved shirt, a pair of worn in jeans and a pair of sturdy boots. She was holding a sweater over her arm, and her satchel was hanging off her shoulder.

Bucky eyed the satchel and was glad he’d remembered to bring the tool belt he’d bought her. He pulled it out his go bag and presented it to her.

“Here Doc, this is for you.”

She eyed the leather in his hands.

“What is it?”

“Tool belt, but made for a lady to wear. It was meant to be your Christmas present. I thought maybe it’d be more convenient than your bag for gadgets.”

She took it and unfolded it, holding it up to see the various pockets and loops.

“Oh no way. This is awesome. There’s a space for everything, even my taser!”

Bucky chuckled.

“Yeah. I thought so too.”

“Gimme one second.” She dropped the bag onto the ramp of the quinjet they were standing on, and fastened the belt around her hips. Once she was satisfied, she crouched and fished out everything from her satchel, all her tools and gadgets and phone all went into the various pockets, and her taser hooked into a loop right where her hand could reach it. When she stood, she shimmied a couple times to get the feel of it around her hips and practiced grabbing the taser out of the loop a couple of times, and seemed happy with it, because she turned to them with a grin.

“Okay, let’s get this show on the road. Hey, minion flunkie, take this, have it sent back to my lab or something.”

She tossed the empty satchel to one of the recruits who had finished loading the quinjet, who caught it with a polite, ‘yes ma’am’.

Sam hid a chuckle behind his hand.

“Okay then, Doctor Lewis. Where are we going?”

“I ran a worldwide scan and did an analysis before I left the lab. The strength of the signature is the highest in Israel. So, my best educated guess is that its owner is still there. I picked up Vision’s signature on the old spectrometer there four days ago - I haven’t picked him up on that machine again since. The latest scan I have, run on the new spectrometer shows Vision’s signature in China, same level of degradation that is evident on the other scans, so he’s not there now. Pete’s going to stick around here and run the scans on the hour and send me the analysis. We can keep on top of if the new guy moves.”

“Okay. Israel it is. Got a city in mind?”

“It narrowed down to the vicinity of Acre.”

Sam nodded and headed into the quinjet.

Bucky gestured for her to precede him.

“After you, Doc.”

She nodded and turned to enter, but she stopped and turned back around to face him.

“Hey listen. Before we flip the professional switches completely… There’s something I should probably tell you.”

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“Yeah, me too.”

“It’s just…if I say it and something happens out there, it be like it jinxed it or something. But I also don’t want to go out there without…”

He grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together and held them up between them.

“When we get back. When it’s done and we’re back safe and sound, we’ll have a conversation about this. Over dinner. A nice one, with candles and everything.”

“Okay. I can live with that.”

“Good. Let’s go, doll, before Sam comes looking for us with his ‘Captain America is disappointed in you’ face on.”

“He has one of those? I thought that was a Rogers thing.”

“Steve taught him. Don’t ask me about the details, it was a really long and boring night.”

He didn’t let go of her hand, but tugged her along behind him up the ramp into the jet, hitting the button to close it behind them.

Darcy let go of his hand to settle into one of the seats behind the pilot seats. Sam was standing up in the cockpit running the preflight check and Bucky joined him.

“Gotta say, that outfit does great things for your ass. Yours too, Sam.”

“How about we stop ogling asses and get strapped in”.

“Aye aye Captain.”

Darcy saluted Sam with a saucy wink, but she strapped herself in obediently. Sam passed them both earpieces.

“Parker’s got one too, so he can talk in real time if needed, Doc.”

Sam settled in the pilot’s seat, and Bucky started strapping into the co-pilot’s seat.

“Oh great, Pete, you there?”

“I’m here, Darcy. Everything’s good here so far.”

“We haven’t even taken off yet, Pete. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

“See you soon?”

“You better believe it.”

“Wheels up.” Sam said.

The hangar bay doors opened and they were off.

Chapter Text

22

Acre was an old city. Bucky had never been there, though he had been to Israel a few times over the years.

It was a port town, and he listened to Darcy rattle off several tidbits of information about the history of the city and the archaeological finds that had been discovered underground.

When they got close though, her chatter turned from the history of the city to the more pressing matter of trying to find what they were looking for.

“Whatever it is, it’s got an IF signature like you wouldn’t believe. I’ll be able to track it from that alone, but it’s also emitting other radiation that I can pick up in the spectrum isolator.”

“IF, like in Infrared?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Huh, I thought you would be looking at fancier stuff than IF.” Sam commented. Bucky could practically hear Darcy roll her eyes.

“I look at all kinds of EMR, dude. That’s electromagnetic radiation, by the way, in case you needed a science lesson. I don’t criticize how you Captain America, do I? You stay in your lane, I’ll stay in mine.”

“Did you just use ‘Captain America’ as a verb?”

“Dude. Portals to the other side of the universe.”

“Right, I’m sorry Doctor Lewis, please continue.”

“Damn straight. Alright, so human beings register at wavelengths of 10 micrometers, normal body temp, right, except maybe for Bucky, he runs a little hot with that enhanced metabolism of his, he probably hits 11 or 12. This thing, whatever it is, was registering at wavelengths of 25 micrometers, but whatever it’s using as a power source is draining, it’s dropped down to 20 micrometers in the last hour.”

“It’s running out of juice.”

“Yeah, my guess is that it’s too much for the power source, it’s burning through it fast. If it drops to 10 micrometers, it’ll be harder to isolate, but not impossible, like I said, it’s emitting other radiation that I can isolate. The problem will be, how fast will it drop to zero once it hits 10.”

“So, we need to find it fast.”

“Yeah. And hope that it doesn’t have friends.”

“We’re on approach, where is it?”

“Strongest readings are coming from the old city, which could be a problem. Lots of old landmarks there, it would be terrible if any of that got wrecked in a fight.”

“We’ll be careful, Doc.”

“Uh huh. And I’m sure whoever is behind this will be just as conscientious.”

Bucky shrugged. He was too busy looking around for potential landing places close by and coming up short, and he could tell Sam was drawing a blank as well.

“We’re going to have to land outside the city.” Sam said. “Maybe that will draw it out away from the historic landmarks.”

Darcy made a derisive noise in her throat, but didn’t say anything else.

They had clearance to fly in the city’s airspace, and they were fully visible, so it was hardly a secret that they were coming in. He had argued with Sam about using the stealth tech, but there was something to Sam’s argument that making it look like a routine stopover would be more disarming. They were going to attract attention one way or another, and given the city’s historical landmarks he hoped it worked.

They landed on a green area of land on the other side of the city, inland, rather than the coast. They’d need to cross the city on foot.

Darcy was the first out of her seat. He and Sam had to chase her down to make sure she didn’t exit the jet unattended, for all her nervousness about being in the field, once she put her mind to it, she was definitely a force to be reckoned with.

“It’s definitely coming from the Old City, it’s practically dead ahead.” She said, glancing up from the screen of the phone she was using to collect the data from her isolator. “Pete, building a map function into the isolator app programming was a stroke of genius.”

“You like it? I wasn’t sure if it would work, so, awesome!”

“Like a charm, kid. Like a charm.”

Sam raised an eyebrow at him as she set off on a quick march into the city, following whatever it was that was giving her the direction. Bucky shook his head and followed her, prepared to pull her out of the way of anything came at them.

“The IF emissions are still dropping, it’s down to 18 micrometers now. But we should find it before the power runs out.” She called back to them.

“I’m going to send up Redwing - the aerial point of view will help. I’ll be able to pick up the infrared too.”

Darcy waved at him distractedly, frowning down at the screen.

“It’s moving…coming closer I think. I’m getting mixed readings now, it’s emitting gamma radiation too, not alarming amounts, just enough to trace, and there’s another signature that I haven’t been able to identify, as the IF drops, that signature is getting stronger, I’d say it’s a sign of the power source degrading.”

They reached what looked like a plaza, the area seemed geared for tourism, and it was crowded. Darcy frowned and shook her head.

“There’s too many people, and with the sun it’s too warm. This close, it’s confusing the isolator, it can’t pick out the higher level of micrometers.”

“Redwing too. All he’s picking up is an amorphous blob.”

“He? Do you anthropomorphize all your toys?” Darcy tossed the tease over shoulder while she pulled what he assumed was her isolator out of the belt and fiddled with it. “I mean, I suppose I could get on board with that, I think the isolator looks like a ‘she’, maybe I’ll call it Phylis.”

“Yeah yeah, har de har har. Can we focus?”

“I’m switching the tracking to pick up that mystery energy signature instead.”

Something in the air changed. Bucky could feel it, and he saw Sam register it too.

“Darcy…”

“Hold on, I’m getting it now it’s….wait. It’s not as strong but it’s closer…it’s…”.

Something rumbled, and the people around them took notice.

“It’s underground. Shit! Bucky! The tunnel, there’s an historic Templar tunnel running underground to the port, it’s right under our feet!”

Bucky dove for her, catching her around the waist, the momentum of it sending them out of the way just as the ground under their feet exploded outward, something large and mechanical bursting up from underground.

While debris was still falling all around them, he heard Sam activate his wings and take off after it.

“Get her back to the jet!” Sam ordered through the comms.

Bucky got to his feet, one arm still looped around Darcy’s waist, guiding her to her feet with him. She was furiously swiping through the screens on the phone, and aiming it at the sky, where Sam and whatever it was were circling around.

“Holy shit, I didn’t expect to be right!”

“What?”

“Remember how I said it was like an Iron Legion had been supercharged? That’s exactly what that is!”

She evaded his grasp, running into the crowd of people who were trying to escape the plaza and the mid air battle that was going on.

“Wait, Darcy!” He ran after her.

“Pete, can you get Friday patched in here?”

“Yeah, one sec.”

There was a beat, then the AI’s voice came over the line.

“Yes, Dr. Lewis?”

“Friday! We have a rogue Iron Legion out here, can you shut it down? How is it even…how did they even get the parts?”

“I’ll do what I can, Dr Lewis.”

“Darcy, we need to do as Sam says.”

She waggled her fingers at him in acknowledgment, but didn’t change course.

“All of the Iron Legion were destroyed during the Ultron debacle, they had to to keep Ultron from moving into another one and starting it all again, I thought Stark had collected all of the parts. That thing looks like it’s been cobbled together from the parts of four or five separate units. Friday?”

“I’m sorry Dr. Lewis, the unit’s operating system has been replaced with something incompatible with Stark tech. I can’t establish a connection.”

“Someone gutted an Iron legion and installed their own operating system. That’s… impressive. And also probably why it’s draining the power source so quickly.”

Across the plaza, Bucky clocked a group of armed men emerging from the same tunnel that the Iron Legion thing had been in, using the conventional entrance, rather than coming through the ground.

“Darcy! We need to go, now!”

“We need the CPU. Sam! Can you get it’s CPU?”

Something exploded over their heads.

“A little busy right now!”

The men across the plaza spread out in a formation and one of them took aim at Darcy where she was standing, holding her phone up in the air. Bucky growled and threw himself in front of her, a bullet ricocheting off his arm mere seconds later. That got her attention, and she took in the new threats with wide eyes.

“We need to go. Now.” He told her, while he hustled her behind the cover of a vehicle, keeping his body between her and the guns the whole time. Overhead, the machine accelerated away, Sam hot on it’s heels.

Darcy, because of course she wasn’t going to just let him get her out of there, opened the door of the truck they were tucked behind, and crawled over to the driver side.

“What are you doing?” He asked her when she produced a screwdriver from her belt and proceeded to pop the ignition of the truck to get at the wiring.

“Hotwiring this truck. Can’t follow them on foot. We’d never make it. We need that CPU if we want to know who reconstituted that thing.”

“Darcy, you are not driving into a battle.”

“Of course not. I’m driving you into a battle.”

Outside, the men were starting to approach the truck. She huffed and the engine roared to life.

“Bucky, we’re not running out of here in one piece! Get in the fucking truck and let’s go!!”

With a frustrated huff, Bucky hurled himself into the passenger seat and Darcy hit the gas. He watched their would be pursuers disappear from view out the back window as she accelerated through the streets, heading in the direction that Sam was in.

“You’re a little bit nuts, you know that, right doll?”

She grinned at him.

“Maybe. But you love it.”

He chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah I do.”

Chapter Text

23

Somehow, whether it was Sam’s doing or something else, the aerial battle had been taken outside the city limits. Darcy beetled their commandeered truck in that direction as straight as she could, barring the restrictions of the city’s streets.

“Where did you learn how to hot wire cars?” He asked as they drove, keeping an eye out for anyone in pursuit.

“Call it the lingering benefits of a misspent youth.”

“Oh yeah? Any other lingering benefits I should be aware of?”

She gave him a sidelong stare, he knew her eyebrow was raised even without having to see it.

“You mean aside from the side career as a hacker extraordinaire?”

“Yeah, besides that.”

She laughed and made a right to get around a building.

“Remind me to tell you about the pole dancing classes I took in college sometime.”

Bucky blinked.

“I dunno doll, that sounds like something you’ll need to demonstrate.”

The tires squealed as she made a left to get them back on track again and she grinned at him.

“Look at you, being a smooth mother fucker. You’re on.”

She manoeuvred around a parked car and narrowly avoided hitting a man walking a dog. A moment later they barrelled beyond the city limits, and she directed the truck off the road to follow where Sam and the Iron machine thing were slugging it out.

Darcy hit the breaks just in time to catch Sam in the windshield as the machine threw him around.

“Holy shit balls!”

They both opened their doors at the same time, diving out of the vehicle a split second before Sam caught a blast from the machine’s repulsors against the shield, sending the truck flying backwards with him still sitting on the hood.

The blast didn’t last long, only a few seconds, but it was powerful enough that the truck was half way back to the city limits when it stopped. Bucky rolled to his feet, and squared himself up against the opponent. Out of the corner of his eye, he tracked Darcy also getting to her feet.

Before they could do anything, the thing swooped at them. It didn’t seem to specifically target either of them, it aimed a repulsor blast at Bucky while it reached to knock Darcy over.

Bucky blocked the blast with his arm, and beside him, Darcy sidestepped the incoming swipe, and jabbed her taser at the shoulder joint as it passed. There was a shower of sparks and Darcy yelped, yanking her hand back, shaking it.

“You alright?” He asked, the machine had continued on its trajectory and was flying up over their heads again, one of it’s arms hanging limply from the shoulder and sparking generously.

“Fine. Just got a feedback jolt. Happens sometimes when you tase something made of metal.”

He nodded and followed the machine’s movements. It wobbled in mid-air, like it was having trouble keeping itself up.

“Doc. The power source?”

She pulled her phone from its pocket and glanced over the data, whatever recalibration she’d done had worked.

“All time high. It’s working over time to keep it going. It can’t last much longer.”

“And you want it’s CPU?”

“Yeah. If we can get into it, we can track back, see where it was getting its orders from, maybe even see who built it.”

“Where is it?”

“Based on the scans I have taken of the unit, Sergeant Barnes, I have been able to determine that the central processing unit is most likely located behind the centre chest plate of the unit’s torso.” Friday answered.

“You’re sure?”

“Chances are 98.8 %. This unit has been compiled using multiple Iron Legion units of varying marks. The torso is a mark 4 version, which housed the computer operating systems in the torso. The operating systems moved to the cranial sections when the Mark 5 was completed. The cranial section of this unit is from a mark 3 unit. While it is possible that whoever assembled this unit could have made changes to the interior assembly, it is more likely that they would have used the existing framework to create their set up.”

Sam landed next to them.

“I thought I said to get her back to the jet.” He said. Bucky huffed.

“You try getting her to go back to the jet, lemme know how that goes. Make it fly low. Doc, you may wanna back up a bit.”

This time, she listened, and she turned on her heel and ran off out of range. Sam threw the shield at it, knocking it back, and he followed with a thruster blast and punched it so that it ended up low enough that when Bucky came running up underneath it, he grabbed it by the ankle with his left arm and swung it around, making it crash into the ground with a resounding crunch.

It wasn’t done yet, it got back up, but the repulsors were no longer fully functional, so it couldn’t fly over his head, instead it ran at him, head smashed in and barely hanging on. Bucky leveled the arm and let it crash into him like that, his arm punched clear through the torso, leaving it writhing for a moment on the end of his arm before it managed to pull one last blast from its repulsors and knock him on his back.

Since it was stuck on his arm, it came with him, he kicked it and turned his arm at the same time, sending it flying over his head and into a heap somewhere behind him.

But in his hand, he had everything that had been in the chest.

He lay there on the ground for a moment, catching Sam’s fist bump as he walked by to examine the remains.

“I had it on the ropes, man.” Sam grumbled, making Bucky laugh as he sat up.

“Are you gonna recycle all of Steve’s lines? Because I will punch you in the face if you tell me you can do this all day.”

Sam’s answer was a laugh.

“Bucky!”

Darcy came running back and he suddenly found himself with an armful of her when she threw herself at him, arms flinging around his neck and shoulders tightly.

“Hey doll.” He said. She pulled back and started patting him down wherever she could reach, ending with her hands cupping his face so she could look him in the eye. He found that he’d covered her one hand with the one not holding the computer parts without realizing it.

“Are you okay? Holy shit that was amazing. Scary as fuck, but amazing.”

“I’m fine. No even a scratch, promise. Here, is this what you need?”

He held out the jumble of electronic parts that he’d grabbed out of the thing’s chest. Her eyes lit up and she moved her hands to take it from him.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s got to be, otherwise the murderbot would still be going.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“The tech guys could take a look at it and backtrace it, but this thing was tailing Vision, I feel like I need to be the one to get into it. I’ll hook it up to a non networked computer when we get back to the compound and get hacking.”

“We should bring this back to the compound too. My guess is that Ms Potts would like to know what happened and how, given it’s Stark tech that was supposed to be in a trash heap somewhere.” Sam called over, still poking at the remnants of the robot with his boot.

Darcy stood awkwardly and brushed herself down with her free hand, letting Bucky get to his feet.

“If I remember correctly, and it has been ten years, Stark Industries did it’s own clean up and recycling, the computer components had to be destroyed entirely, but the robotic components were recycled into other products, mostly medical equipment - giving back, y’know?”

“Means there was a slip up somewhere. Someone missed some pieces before someone else scavenged them, or…”

Bucky let the thought trail off. It seemed impossible to believe that someone would have had the foresight that would have to be involved to collect random parts of Iron Legion robots ten years previously and put them to use now.

Darcy frowned down at the mess of parts and wires in her hand.

“Or, someone on Stark’s payroll picked up a souvenir or two from the clean up effort.”

He nodded.

“I can’t believe that someone would have anticipated needing a bastardized Iron Legion.”

He shrugged. He didn’t either, but there were plenty of possibilities. Maybe the person had collected the pieces with good intentions and they fell into the wrong hands somehow. Maybe they’d needed a quick buck. He’d have to look into it more when they were back at the compound.

Darcy took hold of his hand when he went to go over and join Sam at the robot, letting him tuck her arm alongside his. He looked at her, assessing. The adrenaline rush of the situation was wearing off, she was putting on a brave face, but he could feel her fingers trembling between his, and he could see in her eyes, the overwhelmed look he remembered in young privates in the trenches. She needed to sit down somewhere safe.

“We should get back to the jet.” He said, tugging her past Sam and nudging him in the back as they walked by. “Might as well bring the thing, don’t need whoever had it’s leash trying again.”

“Yeah, well, first off I’m going to have to handle the local authorities. You guys go get the jet, I’ll handle this, should be ready to go by the time you get it over here to pick me up.”

In the distance, they could hear the sirens of the local emergency response. They weren’t far from the city limits at least, but getting back to the jet on foot was going to take a little while, since it was practically on the other side of the city.

He shook his head, Darcy wasn’t going to be able to manage it, given the severity of the shock that seemed to be settling in. Though he had no doubt that she would try. At that moment, she swayed on her feet, and he caught her elbow to hold her upright.

“Hey. Hey, doll, you’re okay, I’ve got you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m…. Sorry, I should be used to this by now.”

He shook his head.

“Don’t be sorry, there’s nothing to be sorry about. Just because you’ve been through shit, doesn’t mean this is the same shit.”

She laughed.

“Yeah alright, I suppose that’s fair.”

The first police car came to a stop a few feet away and several officers piled out, Bucky considered it a good sign that they didn’t have their weapons drawn. An ambulance and a few more police cars were right behind.

“C’mon. Let’s see if we can get ourselves a ride.”

Chapter Text

24.

It wasn’t until late in the evening that Bucky managed to free himself of the rigorous debriefing and get out to Darcy’s camper.

Despite the trail of destruction, the authorities in Acre were reasonable. They recognized that most of it was caused by the machine, and were happy that they had managed to avoid wider scale destruction. Nobody had been injured in the skirmish and the owner of the truck that Darcy had hot wired was happy to take a cheque as compensation for it.

It hadn’t taken long for Bucky to get Darcy back to the Quinjet, once they had given statements and Bucky had ultimately insisted she get looked at by the EMTs that had appeared on the scene with the ambulance.

They’d gotten back to the compound with their bounty in decent time, all things considered, and they’d had to check it all in with tech, including the mass of wires and circuits that Darcy had in her possession, even though she was taking on the responsibility for analyzing it.

At some point Parker had appeared and the two scientists had disappeared off to the labs while he and Sam were left with Hill and a conference room.

All of that finally led to where he was now, standing outside the door of her camper, debating on knocking. It was really late. Too late for that dinner with candles that they’d been talking about.

At the same time, he’d watched her be completely reckless in the middle of a crazy situation, and his mind kept replaying the moment that that gun had been aimed at her. All it would have taken was an extra second delayed reaction, a minor shift in position, any number of small differences that could have ended in only two people walking off the jet when it landed back at the compound.

And that was driving him insane.

He knocked.

She must have been just on the other side because she threw open the door almost immediately. She’d showered, her hair was still damp, and she was wearing yoga pants and a giant T-shirt with some kind of cartoon bear on it.

She blinked at him for a moment.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“Look… I know it’s too late for that dinner, but…”

Before he could get the rest of the words out, she’d all but jumped on him from inside her doorway.

He caught her instinctively, her arms wound around his shoulders and her legs around his hips, and in the scant second he had to consider what to do next, she was already kissing him.

After that, he didn’t think too hard about kissing her back. She was a comforting weight in his arms and he shifted his grasp on her waist to tangle his fingers in her hair, his other arm shifting under her thighs to hitch her higher, much to her approval, if the pleased groan she made was anything to go by.

It was banging against the wall of her camper that made him come to his senses. He eased back, leaving a series of gentle kisses against her mouth before he rested his forehead against hers and just breathed with her for a moment.

“You want to talk about that something?” She asked, more than a little breathlessly. He nodded against her and let her legs drop to the ground.

She let go of him only enough to twine her fingers with his and drew him into the camper with her.

She pulled the door shut behind him and ushered him over to where she had made the seats of her living area into a couch, and she cleared a bag of knitting and shifted Alpine over to a cushion.

“Hold on a sec.”

She left him sitting there for a second while she rustled around in her kitchen. When she came back, she had two fat candles in her hands and a cookie tin tucked under her arm.

“Here. Candles and dessert.”

He grinned and pulled his lighter out of his pocket to light the candles after she set them down.

“Perfect.”

She grinned back and sat, setting the tin between them, but didn’t move to open it. When he looked at her after he tucked his lighter away, she looked nervous. Probably the most unsure of herself he had ever seen her. For whatever reason, that gave him some courage to start talking.

“I never expected this.”

“Expected what?”

“This. What we’ve been skirting around all this time. I never expected…you.” Her hand was resting on her knee, just inches from his own on the small sofa, and he reached for it slowly, linking their fingers. “You know my history, doll. Putting myself back together after everything has been a long hard road. It will always be a hard road to walk. When I came here, I expected to just continue on as I was, doing what I could to help, because that was what I had to hold onto. But then you marched into my life and… I didn’t know I could still feel this.”

She looked like she was about to say something, but he stalled her a moment.

“My first attempt at dating after coming back should never have happened. Looking back on it, I think I only agreed because it was all tied up in my guilt over things I did as the Winter Soldier. I wasn’t ready, and I didn’t think I ever would be. I’d written off that part of living life without really realizing why I was doing it. But then you appeared, full of sass and smart as fuck, and I think I was halfway in love with you before I really realized which way was up again.”

The smile she gave him was wobbly, but bright.

“I didn’t expect you either. The way my life goes, I never expect any kind of…permanence. I know I give him a hard time, but the honest truth is, when Sam called me, I had nowhere else to go. After Westview, the research project I’d been attached to was cancelled. I wasn’t in any frame of mind to go looking for a new one right away either. And if you stay out of the academic circuit for too long, you look less and less relevant in the scientific community.”

She sighed deeply and frowned down at their entwined fingers.

“I’m used to being overlooked. Underestimated. Both on the professional and personal level. I’m used to having to go above and beyond to make people register my existence. I came here expecting to have to keep doing that, to have to plant my feet and shout until someone acknowledged me. And even then, a part of me half expected that it wouldn’t last, that Sam would decide he didn’t need me after all. That day out on the track, that was part of me grandstanding. And you looked at me and you saw me, even though you didn’t know me at all, and when you’re used to everyone glossing you over, feeling that is addictive. I wanted more. But, I also knew I wanted to know you more too, and I’m so glad that I do.”

Bucky squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.

“And for the record, I’ve been halfway in love with you since then too. I just… knowing your history, I didn’t want to pressure you.”

He reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

“I get that. And I’m really grateful for it. And I know that we would have gotten here anyway, but I gotta say, doll, watching you throw yourself into danger today really hammered home that if I don’t do something now, I might miss this chance, and I really don’t want to.”

She giggled, and shifted over so that she could tuck herself under his arm.

“Same here. At least you’re much less squishy than I am.”

“Hey, I like how squishy you are.”

“You’re such a sweet talker.”

She grinned and he met her halfway when she stretched up to kiss him again.

Chapter Text

25

“Sergeant Barnes, we are receiving a transmission New Asgard.”

Friday’s voice still disconcerted him from time to time, but he was getting used to her presence in the Ops Centre.

“Who is it, Valkyrie?”

“It appears to be from Thor. It is to the attention of Dr. Lewis. Dr. Lewis’s lab is not currently configured to receive holographic transmissions.”

Bucky sighed. For all that she was an intelligence, there was still a lot about Friday that kept the fact that she was artificial close at hand.

“Alright, just tell her she’s got a phone call and get her up here to take it.”

“Will do Sergeant.”

It only took a few minutes, her lab was on the other side of the compound, but soon enough there was a clattering of footsteps outside of the door and Darcy was bursting through the door.

“Friday said there was a transmission for me?”

Bucky nodded and pointed her toward the holo emitter.

“From New Asgard apparently.”

“Oh?” She moved over to the system and keyed the sequence to accept the transmission. “Valkyrie and Korg have my cell number, they shouldn’t need to - Thor?”

The big God appeared on the holo pad in front of her with a large grin. When the space crew had left after the Halloween party, Thor had promised to do his best to keep in touch more, and let her know immediately if he heard anything about Jane.

“Hello Darcy! I have a surprise for you.”

“Really? You know I love surprises and…JANE??”

Bucky abandoned all pretence of reading through the day’s logs and turned his attention to Darcy.

Thor had been replaced on the holo emitter by a woman with dark hair, similar to Darcy, but much smaller. And Darcy screamed with pure joy at seeing her. It made Bucky smile.

“Jane omigod Jane! Thor, you found her, or she found you, or you found each other, whatever I don’t care, I’m just so glad to see you! I want to hug you, but that would just end up with me face planting onto the console.” She hopped up and down with her hands clenched in front of her face, blocking some of the wide grin. The woman on the holo pad was grinning back.

“Are you okay, Jane? Have you been taking your meds?”

“I’m okay, Darcy. I promise. I’m not taking the meds anymore.”

“What? Why not?” She froze and eyed her friend up and down. “Did something happen?”

“It’s a very long story, too long for this transmission. We have…a thing.”

“A superhero thing? I can’t believe I’m missing a superhero thing with Thor. But, Jane, honestly, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Darcy. More than fine, I promise. Listen, when I get back, we’ll talk about everything properly but for now I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry.”

“Dude, for what?”

“The way I left…you deserved more than a note. I should have talked to you.”

“Jane, it’s fine.”

“No it’s not. You always put me first, until I made you put yourself first. I owed you some of that in return.”

“Jane, you’d just been diagnosed with a major illness. If ever there was a time to put yourself first, it was then.”

“Maybe, but I still feel bad that I didn’t talk to you. Especially after I’d already been gone for so long. I feel like I let you down.”

“You didn’t. Jane, you would never.”

“If you say so. I’m still sorry.”

“Okay. If it’ll make you happy I accept your apology.”

Jane grinned back at her.

“Thank you. I have so much to tell you, but it’ll have to wait. But I have some data to send you, I’ll send it through on this channel. It’s amazing! I think it’ll really help you with your project.”

“That would be awesome.”

The image flickered and Jane Foster looked at something outside of their view.

“Yeah, okay. Darcy, I’ve got to go, we’ll talk soon.”

“Of course we will. Be careful out there, Jane.”

“I will. You too, okay?”

“I’m always careful. See you soon.”

The women waved at each other and then Jane’s image flickered and disappeared. Darcy sagged against the console and turned it off before she dropped her head into her hands and rested her elbows on the edge. It took him a minute to realize she was crying.

“Hey…”. Bucky dropped his report and moved over to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and guided her to sit down on the step. “It’s okay doll, I got you.”

She buried her face into his shoulder and grasped a fistful of his shirt as she cried.

“She’s alright…”. She managed to croak out. “I didn’t realize how worried I was until I saw her there.”

Bucky nodded. He understood that feeling all too well.

“She looked pretty good. Healthy.”

“She did!” Darcy exclaimed through her tears. “She looked amazing. Whatever happened, it was good. I’m sure it’s going to be a wild story.”

“I’m sure it will. Especially if Thor was involved.”

“Ha, you’re not wrong.”

She sniffed, and leaned back to brush her fingers over his shoulder where she’d left a wet mark.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to turn into a mess.”

Bucky just shook his head and absently tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

“You’re not a mess, doll. You just got some really excellent news, after being worried for a long time, I’d be feeling the same as you if that was Steve.”

She smiled a watery smile and leaned her forehead against his.

“Thanks. You always know just what to say, don’t you.”

“Pure accident, I assure you.”

She giggled and slung her own arms around him to hug him.

Behind them, someone cleared their throat and they turned to look up at Sam, giving them a raised eyebrow.

“Hey Sam.” Darcy said, not moving an inch.

“Hey Darcy. What’s happening here?”

Bucky stood them up.

“Doc just heard from Dr. Foster.”

“Oh yeah? She alright?”

“She is fine. Better than fine. She’s amazing. Okay. I’m going to go be ridiculously relieved and happy somewhere else. Later?” She asked Bucky. They had plans to watch a movie in her camper later, with dinner.

“Later, doll.”

She kissed his cheek and flounced out, leaving him and Sam staring after her. After a moment, Sam slapped his arm with the tablet he was carrying.

“No hanky panky in my Ops Centre.”

“Shut up, Sam.”

Chapter Text

26.

As it happened, Ms Potts was very interested in knowing everything about the mismatched assembly of parts that had been at one point, about seven or eight different Iron Legion units, once the tech guys had gone through and identified as many of the separate parts as they could by the serial numbers.

She was so interested that she appeared in the Ops Centre a few days after their adventure in Acre with a terrifyingly efficient personal assistant in tow who took extremely detailed notes of both Sam’s and his recount of the whole thing, and then took off to the labs in a flurry of high heels and barely contained fury.

Needless to say, both he and Sam followed after her without having to think about it.

The tech guy on duty in the robotics lab was appropriately awed by their sudden appearance in the lab, and Pepper made for the containment area they were keeping the parts in.

“There were eight different serial numbers, the report said?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am. Most of the major components were identifiable by serial number. There are a few other parts that aren’t Stark tech, we’re still trying to identify and track where they might have come from.”

“And all of these units, do we know anything about where they were when they went offline?”

“That’s been harder to do, ma’am. The tracking data for the Iron Legion was heavily corrupted when Ultron took control of them ten years ago. The best we’ve been able to determine is that two of the units were destroyed in Sokovia before Ultron was developed, but we’re still working on that.”

“It’s probably a safe bet that most of it was built with parts from units that went down in Sokovia.” Sam offered. Pepper nodded.

“I would agree. We launched a massive clean up in Sokovia after Ultron, but it wouldn’t have been hard for someone to make off with bits and pieces before we got there. Even while we were there.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed.

“I apologize,” she said to the tech, “I don’t mean to imply that your work is anything less than exemplary here. I just don’t like to see Tony’s work corrupted.”

The tech shook his head and waved it off.

“Of course. None of us do, Ms Potts. We’re working on it. We hope to be able to give some more answers on some of the other components soon.”

“Thank you. Now, the reports said that Dr. Lewis was working on the CPU that was taken from the unit?”

“Yes ma’am. She has been working on that in an isolated lab, for safety reasons.”

“And where is that?”

“I can show you.” Bucky told her. He’d been in to check on them periodically since Darcy had set it all up.

“Wonderful, lead the way Sergeant.”

It was a small lab space adjacent to Darcy’s usual lab, so she was still in proximity to her regular work projects while she was working on this.

“Darcy was worried about trying to backtrack it using the compound’s network, so she set up a laptop on a separate network to run some diagnostics on it.” He explained as they walked. Behind them, Sam snorted.

“Her exact words were ‘I don’t want whatever numb nuts created this to be able to blow us up by remote control, because that would suck.’”

Pepper didn’t laugh, but she did smile down at her phone.

“This isn’t her usual area of expertise.” She said after a moment.

“It’s not, but it’s an area that she is knowledgeable about, and the kid’s been making the most of his internship on this one.”

Parker was really coming into his element on this. Darcy had given him carte Blanche to find, buy and build the entire set up, she had outlined what she needed in order to be able to get into the CPU and pull out its data safely, and the kid had reappeared the following day with three laptops, a smart monitor and a burner phone with a major data plan. All of the laptops had some kind of issue which had led to them being dumped into a tech reclamation facility that Parker knew about and liked to hit up when he needed something.

Within an hour, he and Darcy had cobbled together a working laptop with a secondary hard drive, and using the smart monitor as their hub, they had gotten started.

That had been a few days ago.

He opened the door to the little lab office after a sharp knock to let them know someone was out there.

“…whole thing is balls, I tell you.” Darcy was in the middle of some form of rant that Parker was paying rapt attention to, even though the look on his face was more on the indulgent side than scholarly. They were used to this by now.

“How’s it going in here, Doc?” He asked, catching her attention. She spun out away from the desk to face them, taking in Pepper’s presence with a flicker of eyelashes.

“Balls. It’s absolute balls, right now. Hi Pepper.”

“Stumbling block?”

“You could say that. The backtracking was working, the CPU was still functional once we got it connected to a power source, and made sure there weren’t any nasty booby traps. It looks to me like this thing’s been in multiple hands over the last ten years. It’s a Stark CPU, the original Legion programming is still there, way down under the other programming that’s been overlaid into it. There’s a set of diagnostic command codes, the kind a first year computer student would use to try and troubleshoot a problem on a PC, clearly someone trying to boot it up and obey commands. That goes on for a while, then another set of codes come in, these ones are trying to initiate a start up sequence, but without the Stark key code, the legion Buddy would have stayed the silent sentinel. Whoever was trying to get him running knew more than the Diagnostic kid, but, was terrible at hacking. He was all over the operating system trying to crack into the CPU mainframe, and only succeeded in activating some dormant Ultron programming.”

She paused for a breath and Parker took over.

“This is where we think it must have gone to someone with more experience in robotics, after the start up codes, there’s a system wipe. Not a good one, otherwise we wouldn’t have found the other programmer’s work, but the next guys tried to write a whole new operational code on top of the overwritten data, thinking that they had a clean slate, only the wipe only made the coding get jumbled up. So, the new operational code was still picking up old Legion programming, the diagnostics and the startup commands and got very confused.”

“Like if you put all the parts of a skeleton in a barrel and then tried to build a human being from a new rib cage and pulling random parts out of the barrel.”

“Now, there’S an image that’s going to stick for a while.” Sam muttered.

“Anyway, i’m sure that whoever was trying to get it to work was very surprised when it came to life and simultaneously tried to start up, defend the premises and take over the world in the span of 60 seconds. We can see from the boot history that he got shutdown almost immediately and stayed off for several years. Then, we get a more recent time stamp on the coding. And it’s much more sophisticated. They were able to build out an operational program baseline outside of the unit; and when they loaded it, they didn’t piggyback on what was there, they just bypassed it, and created a new start up profile, like how if you have a computer with multiple user profiles. The profiles all use the same basic equipment to function, but are completely independent environments. It’s sitting in on top of all of the other inactive coding, running off the power supply and operating nice and quiet.”

“That all sounds very promising. What’s the stumbling block?”

“It was being operated by a remote signal, like we suspected. However, the remote signal was being bounced around the planet like a high tech ping pong ball. I got as far back as a server from a wifi cafe in Austria before it splintered and turned into an insane set of threads. Untraceable without a reliable automated signal tracer - which we could probably build with a little time and the right parts but by then…”

“Whoever was ultimately responsible for operating it will have had time to pack themselves up and cover their tracks further.”

Darcy nodded.

“Like I said, complete balls.”

Pepper straightened.

“There’s not that many groups that would have the means to route a signal like that. And just about all of them are…”

“Government.” Darcy agreed with Pepper’s assessment. “The only ones that aren’t are Stark Industries, which we can hopefully rule out for obvious reasons, and SHIELD, maybe SWORD. I’m still fuzzy on how connected those two are. But, I have to mention SWORD, because acting director asshole was the one that had Vision’s body in the can, waiting to use him for his own nefarious purposes. Dude is pretty incarcerated now, but who knows who else in that shady sack of shades might have an interest in reacquiring Vision?”

Pepper nodded.

“It’s a lead. I’ll put out some feelers at SHIELD, someone there still owes me favours I’m sure.”

“If it’s not them, then someone is using some CIA level tricks to hide their tracks, and I’m not sure that I like it.” Darcy swivelled back around to face their jerry-rig of a set up.

“In better news, we may be able to track some of the physical history of this CPU, based on the geolocation of the codes used.”

“You can do that?”

“Sure, if you know what to look for. And you can access it. Now, we know that once upon a time this thing was first based in New York. The first base code has a geolocation embedded into it that pin points where it came from. From there, we can work out where all of the other codes were entered, based on the geolocation relative to New York. It might help us figure out the hands that it passed through. Get us a few more leads.”

“Sounds good, Darcy. Thank you, I appreciate you going outside your usual world for this.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll have a report on this soonish, Pete’s going to proofread it for me when he adds in his two cents worth.”

Beside her, Parker blushed, and she grinned widely as she nudged him.

“What, don’t deny it, the last report we did you took out all my colour commentary. Made it all slick and adult like. Boring, but professional.”

“Well… I mean, I just didn’t think that ‘flung him around like a mother- uh…rag doll’ was entirely appropriate for a report that Maria Hill was going to read….”

Darcy snickered but went back to her diagnostics. Pepper inclined her head and the men filed out of the room with her.

“Well, I have to say, I’m not exactly thrilled with this development, but, I can see it’s well in hand and we have got some material to work with. I hope to hell that there isn’t another one of those monstrosities out there.”

Bucky had to admit, he rather hoped there weren’t either.

Chapter Text

27.

“Are you going to be alright without me around so often?” Parker looked like he was about to start crying and Darcy pulled him into a hug.

“I’ll be fine, Pete. But, thank you for caring. You did a great job here, and you know I wrote you a glowing reference to go with your college applications.”

“You did, and I really appreciate it. Aunt May sent you this, by the way.” The kid backed up away from Darcy’s hug and held out a container.

“Is that her banana walnut loaf? Thank you!”

Pete grinned.

“She also sent a recipe. It’s not ‘that’ recipe, but it’s almost as good, she said to say, sorry that the other one is like, a Parker family secret, but you’ll love this one too. And she said that you were probably smart enough to figure out what you can do with that recipe to make it taste exactly like this one anyway, so…”.

“It’s okay, Pete. I completely understand, I appreciate it all the same. I’m going to miss you, you know.”

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Keep me updated on school. If you need anything…”

“I’ll let you know.”

Bucky suppressed the urge to chuckle as the kid made his way down the corridor. They’d said their goodbyes first, before they’d reached her labs, figured it was better to get it out of the way. His internship period was over, and he was back to full time classes, as an official Avenger he was still going to be around, just less frequently, and not specifically in Darcy’s labs.

Darcy sniffled and turned back to her workstation.

“Hey.” He said, gently taking her hand. “Kid’s smart and resourceful, he’ll be fine.”

“I know. And before you say anything, I know that I’m acting completely ridiculous, it’s not even like I’m never going to see him again, he’ll be back this weekend for that training you guys are doing on civilian evac protocols, for fuck’s sakes. I dunno, we gelled so well and I got used to having him around. Part of it might be that I miss having a like minded person around to talk to and bounce the science off of, and the kid totally understood all my movie references, even if his context for them made me feel old. Just, ignore me, please, I’ll be fine in a moment. Change is part of life. This life, even more so.”

He nodded, but waited with her hand in his while she composed herself. Suddenly, she laughed, making him raise an eyebrow at her.

“Sorry… it’s just that, Pete’s a teenager that I’ve only known for a couple of months, and I feel like a mom sending her kid off to his first day of school. If I’m this bad now, imagine how I’d be with my own kid.”

It was the first time that she’d brought up children since the weekend he’d brought her home from bar, drunk off her ass and feeling broody about her personal life situation. He wasn’t sure if she was looking for any kind of response, but, he felt like he needed to say something, at least.

“Hey, all this means is that you care enough to be worried about their wellbeing, my Ma, she bawled her eyes out on the first day of every school year. Twice, once my sister started going.”

She sniffled more and squeezed his hand.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, at least if I’m going to be embarrassing, it’ll be for a good reason, instead of a bad one. Like forgetting to pack them a lunch or something.”

She untangled her hand from his to push her hair back out of her face and twist it up into a ponytail.

“So listen, I still owe Sam my report on what we dug out of the geophysical records that CPU had in it, but I can tell you right now that there’s probably only one or two locations that are still viable as search locations.”

“Oh?”

She tapped at her laptop for a moment and then pulled up a list of geographical coordinates, the longitude and latitude, accompanied by a street address and photo of what was at each location. Some were buildings, others looked like empty space.

“The early ones, right after New York, those all seem to be gone. I’m not totally surprised, it’s been ten years, and the locations all went through some major upheavals in the intervening time, some of it was super hero related, but most of it just city restructuring and old buildings getting demolished to make way for new ones.”

“Makes sense.”

“The ones that do still exist, I think we can look into the histories a bit, try and pinpoint the most likely suspect from the tenants in the records.”

“Are they all some kind of office building?”

“Yeah, that’s the interesting thing. I half expected to find at least one residential location, y’know, some kid in his parents’ basement mucking around with it in his spare time because he could, but nada. All office spaces.”

Bucky frowned. It was still a needle in a couple of haystacks. They were looking at ten years worth of an unknown number of tenants across at least five buildings. Darcy winced at him.

“Yeah, I know. Not really narrowing it down much, is it? Do we have guys who can do this analysis? I’m not up for combing through all this.”

“Yeah. Well, at least I’m pretty sure we have analysts that can look into this faster than you can on your own. If we don’t, I’m about a thousand percent sure that Stark Industries does.”

“Hm, yes, you’re right. If nothing else, leverage the terrifying power of Pepper Potts. If that woman ever decides to take over the world, she’ll do it, and I will not stop her.”

Bucky smirked.

“Neither will I. Hey, have you made any more headway with tracking Vision?”

She shook her head.

“Not really. Even with the shiny new spectrometer I’m still chasing ghost traces. But, I did figure out how our rogue Iron Frankenstein was following the signal traces.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, that’s in my report too, but it was my old monitoring program. Someone put a remote program through a back door in the original program that I didn’t realize was there until I ran it through some more advanced diagnostics.”

Bucky frowned.

“This was the program that you ‘borrowed’ from SWORD, wasn’t it?”

She nodded.

“Yeah. When I mirrored it, I also inadvertently mirrored the back door as well. And then, I folded it into my data tracking process for Vision. While I made sure no one else could use the original unit itself, I didn’t safeguard the program well enough. I did my best with what I had, but my guess is someone with access to the original thing had tricks up their sleeve.”

“Is it still a problem?”

“No. When I got the new spectrometer, I rewrote the entire program from its base code, only using what I needed, the backdoor access wasn’t part of the program code I needed for tracking Vision, so it was omitted. They can’t do the same thing again. But, it does explain a few things. They knew how to get into the program and look at my data, but didn’t know what it actually meant. I think they thought that the data points I was plotting were following Vision in real time, not that he had already left a location.”

“Computer smart, but not astrophysics smart.”

She grinned.

“Exactly.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, doll, but someone would have to know about that program to know that there was a backdoor to it.”

“No correction needed, you are right on the money.”

“So, that means that whoever sent that thing, had connections to SWORD.”

“Bingo. Narrows our haystacks a little on that front. I wish Monica was around, she’d be really great to have in our corner right now.”

“It’s something we can factor into the analysis though, right?”

“Absolutely. I don’t know enough about SWORD’s affiliations to be able to say for sure that it’s definitely someone currently working there, but definitely has connections. Maybe acting director incarcerated has some insight.”

Bucky nodded.

“I’ll talk to Sam about getting a visit with him.”

“Make sure to tell him I said hi when you do.”

“Sure thing, doll.”

Chapter Text

28.

Acting Director Hayward (Former) was being held at the Raft. He had been deemed too dangerous for the general prison population, not necessarily in the physical sense, but in the sense that he was intelligent and manipulative, and no one wanted to risk him talking inmates into a prison riot.

Bucky landed the quinjet on the surface of the submergible prison with some trepidation. He had not been incarcerated here, but even the outside of it it felt too much like the Hydra facilities that he remembered. Sam, on the other hand, took a palpable pause before he stepped off their ramp onto the surface.

Bucky was actually a half step ahead of him before he realized it.

“Hey, what’s up? Usually I’m the one following you.”

Sam shook his head and squared his shoulders.

“I’ll be alright, it’s just. The last time I was here, it wasn’t exactly all sunshine and roses.”

Somehow, in between everything that had happened to them over the past few years, Bucky had forgotten that at one point, Sam and everyone that had stood with Steve for him had been captured and put in the Raft for a time.

He nodded.

“Steve never did tell me how he got you guys out.”

Sam laughed quietly.

“Well for a guy who has a reputation of being such a fine upstanding citizen, he can work his way around locks exceptionally well.”

This time Bucky laughed.

“That’s a holdover from when he used to forget or lose his keys all the time. Plus, when he wasn’t built like a brick shithouse, his fingers were long and slender, very good for picking locks. Though, it does seem like these locks would be a bit of a challenge, even for him.” He eyed the biometric scanner and electronic counter measures critically.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure he had a little help from Shuri for getting past the first doors, he didn’t really get into those details, but by the time he got to the cells, he’d worked his way through all of the guards, disabled the communications and shut down the power grid in our section. Once he got our actual cell doors open, Wanda and I just followed him out the door and into a boat.”

“Just the two of you?”

Sam shrugged.

“Barton and Lang, they had families, kids. A life that meant that this kind of a rap sheet was bad news. They took a deal that was offered and no one blamed them. I mean, Barton’s youngest was just a toddler at the time. I wouldn’t have wanted to be telling his wife he was doing time in the most maximum security of prisons on the planet. Wanda and I, we didn’t have the same responsibilities, we were pretty free to be outlaws. Though, Sarah did have some words for me about it.”

“I’m sure she did.”

They had reached the door, and Bucky paused before they signalled for entry.

“I don’t think I ever thanked you. For what you did back then.”

Sam shook his head.

“It was nothing…”

“No it wasn’t. Not to me. You didn’t have to risk your neck for me, I wasn’t anyone to you. But you came out and fought against your friends for me, when I still felt like I didn’t deserve to still be breathing. So, thank you, Sam, for being there for Steve, and for me. For being a friend when I didn’t know I needed one.”

Sam cleared his throat and looked at his shoes. After a moment, he looked back up and held out his arm. Bucky grasped his forearm and Sam gripped his back.

“You’re welcome. And know that I don’t regret one minute of it, and I would do it all again if I needed to. Just like I know you’d do the same for me.”

They stood look like that for a moment before where they were sunk back in and Bucky chuckled ruefully.

“Alright, now that we’ve made prison awkward, let’s go in before they submerge this thing again?” He asked. Sam laughed and hit the call button.

They were met inside by a prison warden who was almost ridiculously awed that they were even there, to the point that Bucky was certain that he was either going to trip over his own feet or wet himself.

Director Hayward was being held in what passed for ‘minimum security’ in a place like the Raft. Meaning he was in something like a regular prison cell instead of the kind of enhanced secure holding area that Sam and the others had been in when they had been here.

Bucky stood at the back of the interrogation room that they were provided to question Hayward in, and watched as the man was ushered in. He wore a standard prison jumpsuit, but wasn’t cuffed, presumably another indication that the man wasn’t as threatening as the majority of the population on this rust bucket.

He seemed intrigued by his visitors, raising an eyebrow and sauntering over to the chair opposite where Sam was sitting.

“Gentlemen. Such distinguished visitors. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Sam leaned back in his chair and watched the man carefully for a moment.

“We have some questions about previous SWORD operations that we were wondering if you might be able to help us with.”

Hayward’s demeanour didn’t overtly change, but Bucky could see him stiffen slightly, his face hardened almost imperceptibly.

“Anything I have to share about SWORD was confiscated by your people already. I wasn’t there, but I heard they went through my office pretty thoroughly.”

“We’re not really interested in your files. We’re more interested in your memory.”

“I see. Well, ask away, I can’t guarantee that it’ll get you anywhere though.”

“During the Westview incident, you had a device programmed to track Vision within the anomalous field. We know that you were attempting to ascertain whether that Vision was the same as the one that you had rebuilt. We want to know more about that device.”

Hayward watched Sam for a long moment then sat back to mirror Sam’s posture.

“I’m not a tech expert. I got handed the thing and told what buttons to push. I’m not sure what else I can tell you about it.”

“It seems like a pretty specific piece of equipment. A tracker, just for Vision.”

“The Vision was a SWORD asset. Museums tag their valuable pieces. Banks track their cash shipments. It was a form insurance, to ensure that the asset would be recoverable.”

Sam eyed him coolly.

“Who would have had the authorization to green light that kind of device? Just you, or was there anyone else who would have called that shot?”

“For a project like the Vision, all of the peripherals are approved by the sitting Director.”

“Or acting Director, as the case may be.” Sam said.

Hayward inclined his head.

“Roughly how long did it take to complete the device?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It was built into the project plan from the outset. When Westview happened, all I did was ask them to deliver it with some slight modifications.”

“So you could track Wanda’s Vision on it as well.”

Another incline of the head.

“How many other people would have detailed knowledge of how the program worked?”

Hayward sat slightly forward, resting an elbow on the table.

“Well, any of the techs that worked on it, I assume. Probably whoever QA’d the thing.”

“What about anyone higher up than you?”

The man shifted again.

“There was no one higher than me.”

“Hm. Indeed.”

Bucky straightened from where he was leaning against the wall, and Sam stood.

“Well, thanks for the information, Hayward. We’ll let the guards know to escort you back to your cell.”

“That’s it? That was all you wanted to know?”

Sam nodded at him.

“Sure was. Much appreciated.”

“Wait, I might know more! I had access to everything, I could tell you about….” He waved his hands, losing his controlled composure now that he was losing his audience. Sam shrugged.

“That’s okay. That’s all in those files you mentioned, I’m sure. But thanks again.”

“But…”

Sam left the room, the door open for Bucky to follow, and Hayward deflated in his chair. Whatever he was expecting out of this conversation had not gone according to his plans, which made Bucky smirk slightly.

As he strode past the table, Bucky paused and waited until the man looked up at his face.

“By the way, Dr. Lewis says ‘Hi’.”

He punctuated his words with the kind of jaunty wave that Darcy liked to use, and smirked harder when the man’s face paled and he looked around, as though she might melt out of the walls.

He left the room before the man could say anything else.

Bucky met Sam back at the entrance, where the ridiculous warden was attempting to ingratiate himself further and met Sam’s raised eyebrow.

“He was answering to someone higher up.” Sam said. “The man obviously has no idea how to control his body language.”

Bucky agreed.

“Maybe not within SWORD itself, but outside of that agency, maybe even inside another. Or someone outside of all of it. We need to figure out who was pulling his strings.”

“I’m sure we have someone who can pull his record back at HQ.”

“Yeah, let’s get back. You want to come over to my place for dinner? Darcy’s making enough spaghetti to feed a small army.”

“She do garlic bread?”

“From scratch.”

“Sold.”

Chapter Text

29.

Bucky slapped a file folder down in front of Sam and slid into the seat opposite him.

“What’s this?”

“One of Hill’s analysts dug up Hayward’s info.”

“This is it?”

It was a very slim folder, considering the man had been made the Acting director of a quasi government sponsored organization.

“The man was completely unremarkable, up until he was named Acting director of SWORD. He had a brief military career, made the rank of Sergeant before he was honourably discharged after a couple tours in Afghanistan. He worked briefly with SHIELD before Steve exposed the Hydra roots and it went through its massive upheaval. SWORD recruited him after that. He was some kind of weapons specialist with the Army, which explains why an organization focused on extraterrestrial or otherwise other-powered weapons would be interested in him. He worked his way up there for a couple of years, and then the Blip.”

“Right. SWORD was founded by Nick Fury, but he was dusted in the Blip along with you, me and the rest of our half of the universe. Maria Rambeau was the director from inception, but she got sick, if I remember the files right.”

“Right. She developed cancer and passed away during the Blip. In the absence of any other authority figure, Hayward volunteered to step in as Acting director until a suitable candidate could be found. Obviously they never found one in the five years of the Blip. And now that everyone’s back, including Nick Fury and Monica Rambeau, there are better candidates. Even though Westview was only weeks after the Blip was reversed, he had to have been feeling some pressure.”

“He was probably expecting to be offered the role on a permanent basis. Westview could have been a chance for him to show his chops. Instead, he crashed and burned. Pretty literally, thanks to your prettier half.”

Bucky chuckled and started setting out his lunch. Nothing fancy today, a sandwich and a bag of chips.

“And he has no affiliations that could possibly be considered suspect?”

“Nothing obvious.”

“So, dead end.”

“Just about. I’m having whatever was confiscated from his home and office brought here for the techs to go over. Maybe that’ll turn up something. But for now, the whole incident at Westview seems like an aberration, based on his official file alone.”

“Well, that’s just bullshit.”

Darcy appeared at Bucky’s shoulder and dropped a pile of parts on the table next to him and then dropped herself onto the chair beside him with an exaggerated thump. She had a sandwich of her own in hand, which she pointed at them as she talked.

“That douchebag was way too cool for this to have been outside of the norm for him, and he was most definitely superhero-phobic. Hi.”

Bucky leaned over to let her kiss his cheek when she leaned up to do so.

“Hi. What’s all this?”

“What’s left of the power source that was running the Frankenlegion. I ran it through my spectrum analyzer and got some contradictory results, so I’m trying to piece it back together to see if there’s anything visual that might tell us where it came from.”

“Contradictory, how?”

“The closest analogy I can come up with in layman’s terms is it’s like someone attached a DC power adaptor to something that takes triple A batteries. Way too much power running through it and basically overclocked the thing.”

“To the point that it burned it out.”

“Exactly. And it’s contradictory because if I was trying to make a robot that could go around beating things up for me, I would make sure that my efforts weren’t going to waste so quickly. But gold star to the man with the metal arm. Actually, with that colour scheme, that would look pretty cool with that arm.”

Bucky grinned and stretched said arm around her back while she sorted through the parts. A lot of them were unrecognizable lumps of melted metal, others were merely singed. Sam made a face at them.

“Must you do that in public?”

Darcy looked up at him over her glasses.

“What?”

“Be all adorable and shit. I mean, I’m happy for you and everything, but you’re also kind of sickening.”

Bucky saw Darcy’s smirk form and mirrored it with his own.

“What, you mean it bothers you when we do things like this?”

Bucky tugged her closer to him and buried his face in her hair, she giggled as his breath tickled her neck and tilted her head back to let him do it more, grinning.

“Or this?”

He dragged her, still laughing, onto his lap, and wrapped his arms entirely around her, resting his chin on her shoulder to smirk at Sam again.

She kissed his cheek again, and reached for her work once more, settling further into his lap with a grin.

Sam made dramatic gagging noises and stood up.

“Alright, alright, you’re a pair of trolls. Now you’ve put me right off my lunch. I’ve got a meeting with Hill in fifteen, but I’ll see you out on the training field at 3.”

Bucky waved at him as he left. Darcy snickered, but made no move to get off his lap now that their victim was gone.

Bucky relaxed his arms and reached for his sandwich again, prepared to eat while she worked, and munched on her own sandwich.

“This is nice.” She said eventually.

“What, me chewing in your ear? I’m sure it sounds very sexy.”

She laughed again, and turned so she was a little sideways, eyeing him in mostly profile.

“Sir, you could read the phone book from inside a well and it would sound sexy. But I meant, this.” She gestured between them. “Teasing Sam aside, just, being together like this. It’s nice.”

He looked around the cafeteria, at the people going about their day, mostly ignoring them, and smiled. It was weirdly domestic, as domestic as life got at an Avengers compound at any rate.

“Yeah, this is nice.”

Chapter Text

30.

“Hey.”

Bucky looked up from a report he was trying read on what the techs had found on Hayward’s computer. There were deleted emails that they’d managed to unearth from its hard drive, they were definitely coded, and they had yet to find the key for it, it mostly looked like gobbledegook.

Darcy was in front of him, which was unusual, she didn’t venture into the command centre very often unless she was requested.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I got an email from Jimmy Woo.”

“Your FBI friend?”

“Yeah. Said he’s in the area on some case, wanted to meet up for some coffee.”

“Okay. You taking a motor pool car, or your truck?”

“He says that he just wants to get coffee and catch up, but on the off chance that he thinks that’s some kind of smart code for ‘I need to use your brain’ I’m taking my truck and my tools.”

“Smart move.”

She looked around, made sure no one was looking and darted in for a quick kiss.

“I’ll be back later, or I’ll call if it ends up being a big thing after all.”

“Okay, Doc, if it goes late I’ll make sure Alpine’s looked after.

“You’re amazing.”

“See you later, doll.”

“You know it.”

She winked at him and then sashayed out of the command centre.

He spent a few hours trying to read through everything the tech guys had given him, but it was mostly frustration, they hadn’t figured out the key, all they had was that he was emailing these coded emails to someone he’d nicknamed PB in his contacts.

None of it got them any closer to a target or any kind of clue as to what was happening. He sighed and rubbed his face as he dropped the folder.

“That sigh looks a little heavy.” A voice spoke next to him. He turned, and found Scott Lang standing a short distance away, taking a look around the room.

“When did you get here?”

“A few minutes ago. Unless you meant here at the compound, then it was a few hours ago.”

“Relax, I’m just surprised to see you. Thought you were in California.”

“Ah, yeah. Cassie’s doing a ladies weekend with her mom, and Hope is helping her Dad finish the packing for his lab. I thought I’d come and get my bearings a bit better. Halloween was a fun time but…”

“Didn’t leave a lot of time for scoping the place out. C’mon, I’ll give you the dollar tour.”

“Dollar? Not twenty five cents?”

“Inflation.”

Scott laughed.

“That’s funny, you’re funny. I’m glad to know that about you.”

Bucky smirked and gestured for him to follow as he led him around the ops of the command centre, showed him Hill’s office and the space that he and Sam had sort of taken over as their office space when they were trying to look semi professional.

For all his enthusiasm, the man did know how to be serious, and Bucky could see him cataloguing the information he was giving him as they went along.

They got to the science wing, and Bucky paused outside of Darcy’s lab.

“I’d show you inside, but Darcy’s actually very particular about people being in her lab when she’s not there.”

“Yeah, I can get that. Where’s she at anyway, I was hoping I could get her to give me the recipe for those cupcakes she made at Halloween. Cassie likes to bake, see. Y’know, when we’re not off superheroing.”

“She met a friend of hers for coffee. Actually you know him, don’t you? FBI Agent who worked with her at Westview, Jimmy Woo.”

Scott frowned.

“Yeah, I know him. You sure she met him for coffee? Did she fly out to LA just for kicks?”

“What? No, she said he was on a case nearby, wanted to catch up.”

Now the frown was deeper.

“That’s not possible. Woo’s working a drug case in LA right now, I just talked to him before I left. She can’t be meeting him here.”

*

*

*

Bucky’s skin crawled uncomfortably as he stared at Lang.

“Friday.”

“Yes Sarge?”

“Tell me we have tracking on Darcy’s truck.”

”Dr. Lewis had her own tracking systems in place when she arrived at the facility. She gave permission for me to integrate them into the compound’s security network.”

“Find it.”

He was already marching towards the hangar bay, quinjet requisition pulled up on his phone. He was vaguely aware of Lang following him.

“I cannot locate Dr. Lewis’ vehicle.”

“Shit. Where was it last on the radar?”

“I am sending the last tracked coordinates to your phone and the quinjet’s navcom.”

“What about her phone? Any signal from that?”

“Negative Sarge. Dr. Lewis’ phone was last tracked in roughly the same location as her vehicle.”

“Right. See if you can figure out what happened that made her go dark and alert Sam.”

“Sarge, Captain Wilson is not on base right now.”

“Shit, that’s right. Well, send him a message anyway, in case he needs to pull strings somewhere, Lang, you got your suit?”

”Ah, yeah, yeah I do.”

“Good, you’re coming with me.

“Me?”

Bucky nodded sharply.

“Sam’s in Louisiana. I need an extra pair of hands and someone watching my back, can you do that?”

Lang looked a little shell shocked, maybe starstruck, but he shook himself and nodded back with confidence.

“Absolutely.”

“Then suit up, we’re leaving in ten.”

Chapter Text

Friday had tracked Darcy’s truck and phone to a spot along the interstate, roughly halfway between the compound and New York City.

“Satellites picked up a massive electrical surge
In this general area, approximately two hours ago, Sarge.”

“That what knocked out the tracking?”

“I believe so. That kind of power surge would have overloaded the electrical system of the truck, and possibly also rendered her phone useless. I have yet to determine the source of the surge. It does not appear to have been incidental.”

“Could she have kept driving? Gotten help somewhere?”

“Unlikely, if the truck’s systems overloaded it would have led to a complete vehicle failure. It is a rather old vehicle, Sarge.”

“So, her truck stopped, and her phone’s not working. Darcy’s smart, she wouldn’t sit around waiting for someone to come by.” Scott put in from his seat behind Bucky.

Bucky agreed. Darcy would not have sat around, she would have tried to find the nearest phone, even if it meant walking to the nearest town.

“Sarge, you are approaching the last known location of Dr. Lewis’s vehicle.”

Bucky pulled up external cameras on the jet, and Scott leaned forward to peer out a window.

“Holy cow. I think we found it.”

Bucky’s blood ran cold as the image sharpened on the screen. Darcy’s truck hadn’t just been immobilized. It was on its side, in a ditch, fire and smoke billowing from the engine and a hole that was punched clean through the metal siding.

He hissed.

“It was a goddamn trap. Friday, I want the email Darcy got from ‘Woo’ analyzed, it’s a fake and it was good enough to fool Darcy, which is saying a lot.”

“On it, Sarge.”

“I’m landing this bird, get ready to move out.” He said to Scott.

He dropped right down onto the interstate. For a large highway, it was pretty quiet, but it could have been wall to wall traffic and he would still have landed the thing smack in the middle of the road.

He was down the ramp almost between one breath and the next, running for the truck, Scott following at his back.

For a moment he didn’t know what to do next, whatever had happened, it looked like the truck had been totalled, for anyone to have survived seemed impossible and his heart climbed up into his throat painfully. Scott put a hand on his shoulder.

“Let me. I’ll go in, see what’s going on. My suit’s fireproof.”

Bucky nodded, still staring at the wreckage.

Scott jogged toward the truck and disappeared from view as he shrank down.

The wait seemed interminable, but after what was probably only a few seconds, the man popped back into his original size in front of him, his helmet snapped back to reveal his face.

“She’s not in there.”

Bucky almost lost control of his knees, the relief was such a physical wave. He ended up having to bend over and breathe deeply for a moment, while Scott continued.

“The airbag deployed, and the driver’s seatbelt is mangled to all hell, it looks like she cut her way out of her seat. There’s some blood inside, but not a lot, she probably banged her head or scraped herself when the truck flipped, or when she climbed out. And I found this.”

Scott handed him over a slim rectangle - Darcy’s phone. It wasn’t entirely burnt up, but it was definitely damaged, and inoperable.

Bucky straightened as he took it and slipped it into his pocket.

“Friday.”

“Yes Sarge?”

“If she was injured, and on foot, how far could she have gotten in 2 hours?”

“The average human walking speed is approximately 3 miles per hour, adjusting for Dr. Lewis’ height and athleticism, she could manage anywhere from 2 to 3 miles. However, depending on the nature and severity of any injuries, her walking speed would be impaired. Given those variables, I would estimate a slower speed, perhaps 2 miles per hour maximum.

“Can you scan a radius of 4 miles from this point? Look for heat signatures that are bigger than the usual wildlife.”

“Yes Sarge.”

“She would have kept to the interstate, right? Better chance of getting seen by a passerby.” Scott said. Bucky shook his head.

“If she was disoriented, it’s hard to say. She may have started in a straight line and then veered away, she could be thinking of trying to walk to a nearby town, and gotten lost.”

“Yeah, okay, good points.”

“Sarge, you’re right, I’ve got a heat source 2.3 miles to the west.”

“In the forest? Why would she go into the forest if she was hurt?”

“There appears to be two additional heat sources that do not match local known fauna. They are some distance from the third, but they are gaining ground quickly.”

Bucky’s blood boiled.

“Someone’s chasing her?”

“It would appear so, yes. She is slowing down. It is likely that she is tiring.”

“Who in the world would be chasing down an astrophysicist?” Scott asked. Bucky shrugged.

“I don’t know. If I had to guess, the same person that sent a bastardized Iron Legion chasing after Vision.”

“What does Darcy have to do with Vision?”

“She was trying to track him down. Her program was what found the robot that was chasing him.”

“That business in Acre?”

“Yeah. Friday, options? What’s the fastest route to her?”

“The forest canopy is too dense to land the quinjet. Sergeant Barnes, with your enhanced physicality, you are faster on foot than Dr. Lewis’ pursuers.”

He nodded.

“Then we run. Give me the coords. Scott…”

“I’ll shrink and ride along. If we’re going for stealth, that’s the way to go.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Scott shrank down and a moment later signalled him that he was all set. Bucky wasn’t sure where he’d settled, and he didn’t much care. He memorized the route that Friday showed him on his screen and took off running.

*

At the pace he was running, even over the uneven ground it only took him a handful of minutes to reach the rough area of where Friday had tracked Darcy’s heat signature.

He slowed down as he approached, wanting to try and take advantage of the element of surprise as much as possible.

As Friday had stated, there were two of them, mercenaries by the look of them, the kind of men that might be hired in places like Madripoor. They were large, definitely armed, and definitely dangerous.

Bucky slipped between trees now, getting close enough to hear them talking to each other. Not smart, considering that if they wanted to catch their quarry, they shouldn’t be broadcasting their location, but as it was it was a blessing, because it was probably what had kept Darcy ahead of them.

“…still stings, man.”

“Yeah, cuz she zapped you with some kind of super taser. Shouldn’t have gotten so close. You’re probably lucky you’re not a drooling mess right now.”

Bucky smirked. That was his girl.

“If she wasn’t so pretty she wouldn’t be worth all this trouble.”

“Hands off, remember. Boss wants her unharmed.”

“Maybe for now. But after she gives up whatever it is the boss wants, then it’s open market.”

Bucky’d had enough. He stepped behind them and tapped one on the shoulder. The man whirled around and collided with Bucky’s fist.

“That’s my girl you’re talking about, asshole.”

He’d knocked him back into his compatriot’s arms and the pair of them, growling faced him, sizing him up.

Bucky smirked.

“Hey Scott? You ready?”

“Oh, man am I ever, throw me at em.”

Bucky took the suggestion literally and reared his arm back and threw like he was throwing a baseball.

Midway across the space, Scott reappeared and tackled both men to the ground. One was out cold, the other rolled and scrambled to his feet, only for Bucky to pick him up by the collar and toss him at a tree.

Considering how highly trained they both must have been, it was over surprisingly quickly.

“Sarge, I’m picking up Dr. Lewis’ heat signature about 50 feet ahead, she’s stopped moving.”

He looked over at Scott.

“Go. I’ll take care of these guys.”

Bucky nodded and took off at a jog.

He found a little clearing about 50 feet away, his screen told him that he was close.

“Darcy, it’s me.” He called out. In the dark, he could make out the shapes of some trees as bush along the ground, but the trees were blocking a lot of ambient light. After a moment he heard some branches shifting on the other side of the clearing. “That you, doll? It’s alright, it’s safe to come out now, I’ve got you.”

There was a long pause, but then,

“Bucky?”

He breathed in relief and made his way over to the other side, where a tree was shaking more purposefully.

“I’m right here, doll, are you alright?”

“Shit, Bucky I have never been happier to see you, and that’s saying something. There were these guys with a fucking rocket launcher, they shot my truck and it damn near exploded. I managed to get out before it set me on fire. But I hurt my arm when the truck flipped and I lost my glasses somewhere, so I couldn’t see very well, and I tripped over some giant ass tree root and killed my ankle, now I can’t walk so well and those guys were chasing me, who the fuck are they??”

He almost laughed, the entire spiel was exactly the kind of thing he would expect from her, so, injuries aside, she was alright, and that was a major relief.

“We don’t know yet, doll. We just knocked them around some too, so they won’t be talking just yet. We’ll take ‘em back to the compound and detain them. They hurt you?”

“No. I got out of the truck before they could get close enough to incapacitate me. Tased one of them and ran off while he was twitching on the ground, tripping his buddy up.”

“Good girl. Now, where exactly are you?”

“Uh. Up here. I may need some help getting down.”

He looked up, and finally spotted her, up in the branches of the tree that had been shaking earlier.

“How’d you get up there with a bum arm and leg, doll?”

“Uh, adrenaline and a healthy dose of self preservation. And great difficulty. But now I can’t get down. I kinda figured this was my last stand, I couldn’t keep going on my ankle, I either had to go high or low, and if I was going to end up spending the night out here I wanted to be off the ground. If they found me up here, then… at least I did everything I could.”

He shuddered at that thought.

“Okay. Let’s get you down.”

She was just high enough up that he couldn’t reach her easily. They ended up with a compromise of her leaning down to slide into his arms. It kept her foot off the ground and she could use her good arm to hold onto him. Once he had her, he squeezed her a little tighter than he normally would have. It did not escape his notice that she was squeezing back just as hard. He pressed his forehead to hers and breathed her in.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re alright.”

“I knew you’d come after me.” She told him.

He hitched her slightly in his arms to get a better hold and started working his way back to where Scott was waiting with their captives.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I knew, if I didn’t call, you’d start looking for me and eventually someone would figure out what happened. You are way faster than I thought you’d be though. Not that I’m complaining about it, but I was banking on not being found until morning.”

“Hmm. Well, you can also thank Scott. He was the one that told me you couldn’t be meeting Woo here in New York.”

“What?”

“Apparently they’ve stayed friends. Woo’s working a case in LA, Scott talked to him before he came out here.”

“But… the email I got, it was definitely from his email account.”

“Friday’s looking into it. We’ll figure it out. But for now, let’s get you back home, yeah? I think a visit to medical, a bath and a bed are in order.

“You’ll get no arguments from me, take me home, Bucky.”

Chapter Text

32.

They were practically swarmed by medical personnel when the ramp lowered back in the compound’s hangar bay. And not just medical, he was pretty sure that everyone who knew Darcy even a little bit was crammed into the free spaces of the hangar, from IT techs to Maria Hill - though he expected that she was there to debrief him more than anything else.

Over the cacophony of voices, all of which were causing Darcy to flinch closer to him with each moment, he was glad when Scott took a nominal charge.

“Alright people, let’s back it up some and let Doctor Lewis have some breathing room. The Sergeant will take her to medical to get looked at, ok?”

The press of people lessened, especially after Maria blew a sharp whistle and ordered everyone back to whatever they’d been doing.

Somewhere out of the crowd, Parker appeared.

“What are you doing here?”

“Friday called me. I came right away.”

Bucky nodded in understanding. Darcy was important to the kid. When she heard his voice, she pulled her face out of Bucky’s shoulder and looked around for him.

“Hey you. You didn’t have to come all the way out here for me.”

“I know. But I did anyway. What can I do?”

“Can you go feed Alpine?”

Darcy held out the key to her camper, which Peter took gingerly.

“Sure thing. I’ll come see you in medical when they say it’s okay, okay?”

“Okay.” She smiled, but then winced when it pulled on a cut on her face from the crash.

“C’mon doll. Let’s get you looked after.”

He followed the medics down the hall.

***

Considering that she had survived a major vehicular accident, as well as a couple hours in a forest, injured and mostly blind, it was a surprise that Darcy wasn’t more injured than she was.

As it was, she had broken her arm in two places when the airbag had gone off, and she’d managed to do a number on the ligaments in her ankle in addition to a hairline fracture in her foot. She had a mild concussion, and several cuts and bruises, but she was otherwise fine.

“Given the state of the vehicle that Dr. Lewis was in, she should have been more severely wounded.” Maria Hill told him as they stood outside her hospital room while a nurse on duty helped her change into something to sleep in.

“She should be dead. They shot a fucking rocket at her truck. That all she has is a busted arm and a few scrapes is a miracle. Have we made any headway with figuring out who they are and where they come from?”

“No. Their prints haven’t come up in any databases, so we don’t have any ids yet. We’re running facial recognition now, but it could take a while. One came to about a half hour ago, he’s yelling at the walls about his rights. The other guy’s still out. I figure you’re gonna want first crack at them.”

“Oh, you bet.”

“We’ve towed her truck back to the compound, we’re going over it with a fine toothed comb. Friday’s still backtracing that email, but she’s managed some analysis on the source of the EMP that knocked everything out.”

“Yeah? Friday, what have you got?”

“It’s still preliminary, but using satellite data and video footage taken from a variety of sources, I have been able to put together rough video of what happened. Sending to your devices now.”

Intrigued, Bucky pulled up the video file that popped up on his phone, Hill doing roughly the same thing with her tablet.

The video was cobbled together from a lot of different sources, security cameras from various buildings she passed on her way to the interstate, traffic cameras along the route she took, some dash cam footage from the few vehicles she’d passed along the way. It mostly showed her going along about her business, but after about thirty minutes, the screen lit up white like the flash bulb of an old camera.

“That’s the EMP. It’s hard to tell from street angles, but when you look at the satellite imagery of the area, you can see all signals go dark.”

The video switched to the satellite, showing the area in video as well as localized energy readings and Friday was right, everything flickered off at the time of the flash. The satellite camera that Friday had tagged into zoomed in onto the area, and he could see Darcy’s truck start slowing down.

“Dr. Lewis was bringing her vehicle to a safe stop after she lost power, however, that was when the two gentlemen in our holding cells appeared on the scene.”

The picture zoomed out from Darcy and then back in on the two figures that had appeared on the opposite side of the interstate. One of them was holding a rocket launcher, and they watched it fire off a rocket that slammed into the side of Darcy’s truck, sending it careening off the side of the road, ultimately landing on it’s side, engulfed in flames and a hole ripped into it.

“She was lucky that truck was army surplus. Anything else, she wouldn’t have walked away.” Hill murmured. Bucky was acutely aware of that.

“After this, the satellite begins moving out of range of the area, I was unable to pick up any more visual data.”

“I’ll send a team out to that area of the interstate. These dickbags didn’t just drop out of the sky, there must be a car hidden there somewhere. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find some wallets.”

“I’m going to have the conscious dickbag brought up from holding.”

“Use room 2A. It’s got a wonky light, makes people antsy if they’re in there too long.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow at the woman, she just shrugged.

“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.”

“Right.”

They split, and Bucky put in a call to the security guys to bring up their unwelcome guest to room 2A.

***

Hill was right, the room was definitely making the guy twitch. One of the overhead lights had a slight whine to it and it flickered sporadically, and very randomly. Every time it flickered, he would flinch and look around.

This was the guy that Bucky had punched in the face. He suspected that Darcy’s taser was probably the reason the other guy was still down for the count.

Scott appeared on one side. Parker on the other. Scott was still in his suit, and Bucky noticed that Parker had his on under his hoodie.

“This is one of the guys who shot at Darcy?” He asked. Bucky nodded.

“They were trying to kidnap her.”

“You don’t bring a rocket launcher to a simple kidnapping.” Scott said. Parker cracked his knuckles. Bucky held up an arm.

“Okay, we’re not all going in there to shake him down.”

“Aw, please? I don’t get to play good cop bad cop very often.”

“She’s my friend, Mr. Bucky, I have to…”

“Kid, I appreciate the offer, but I think this is not something that she would want you to do. Pretty sure she wouldn’t even want me doing it, but it’s technically part of my job description. You stay out here, watch him for any tells that we might miss, okay?”

“Okay, fine.”

Bucky was pretty sure that if he wasn’t trying to be super professional, the kid would have scuffed a shoe on the floor.

But, he stayed put while he opened the door. Scott followed him inside.

Their prisoner watched them warily as they moved into the room. Scott pulled out the chair opposite and sat down, while Bucky prowled over to a corner and stood with his arms crossed. Like with Sam, he let Scott start the conversation.

“You got a name?”

The man smirked at him and said nothing. Scott shrugged, non-plussed.

“Well, that's okay. We don’t really need a name anyway. After all, if we don't know who you are, we can't turn you over to the proper authorities, right? I bet you think that’s pretty clever. But see, that actually works out great for us, especially my friend over there. Because if we don't know who you are, you're stuck here with us. By the way, there’s no Geneva convention for the guys who shot a rocket at the Winter Soldier’s girlfriend.”

The man blinked, and his eyes flicked over to Bucky in the corner. The lights chose that moment to flicker, and the whine from the overhead light seemed overly loud in the ensuing silence.

Scott clapped his hands loudly, causing their prisoner to jump in his seat.

“Now then! Where were we? Right, I remember. Who do you work for? Who put out the order on Dr. Lewis?”

The man swallowed and flicked his eyes back to Bucky again. Bucky didn’t change his expression or move, except to clench one fist slightly, the creak of the leather glove he was wearing audible. The guy seemed to have an ounce of self preservation still, because he swung back to Scott and started talking a mile a minute.

“We don’t know who hired us, the job came over email to our boss. Said they wanted a scientist from the Avenger’s place brought in, said they had a way to get her off the compound and gave the route she’d take so we could ambush her. We weren’t gonna do anything to her, the boss said the contract specified that she was to be brought in unhurt.”

“You fired a rocket at her truck. You have a pretty loose definition of ‘unhurt’.”

The guy shook his head.

“The instructions said she’d probably be in an armoured car, and we’d need to get her out. We figured the RPG would do the trick.”

Scott stared at him incredulously.

“Why wouldn’t you feign an accident or something? Get her to stop the truck. Or wait for her to get to her destination and get out? Why risk losing your target in a fiery explosion?”

The guy blinked at him.

“Huh. We didn’t think of that.”

Scott looked for a moment like he wanted to pursue that line of thought, but he shook his head and changed tactic instead.

“Right. So your boss, he got a name?”

The guy clammed up immediately. That was interesting.

Bucky stepped away from the wall, and Scott stepped outside the room.

Chapter Text

33.

When Bucky closed the door to room 2A behind him, Scott and Parker were still standing at the two way with an Asian man in a suit, he assumed this was Jimmy Woo.

Bucky addressed the security detail that had been waiting at the doors.

“Take him back to holding. Separate cell from his friend. And whenever the other one wakes up, bring him up here. Maybe he’ll have more information that we can use.”

Ultimately, the guy hadn’t known much more than he’d told them already. He had never met their boss face to face, he got emails with instructions. His buddy had been working for their organization longer, he’d said, had worked more jobs, may have met the Boss in person. It wasn’t solid, but they had a little more than they’d had an hour ago.

He stepped over to the others.

“Dude, that… remind me to never get on your bad side. You are really scary.” Scott told him, still watching their prisoner through the glass. The man had not actually pissed himself, but he did seem to be trying to check if he had or not, and was hindered by his cuffed hands.

Bucky hadn’t even laid a finger on the guy. What he had done was pull a chair right up in front of him and sat there, knee to knee, and subtly shifted the plates in his arm, all while staring at the guy unblinking until he freaked out and started chattering about his entire past with this group of mercenaries, and his name, at last.

Not the one that would be on the ID they would eventually find in the car that Maria Hill was looking for, that was a clean alias, but his actual name was Todd Walford, and he’d been in law enforcement before he became a Merc.

“Let’s get background on this guy. I want to know where he came from before he ended up with this gang.”

All three men agreed with him. He zeroed in on the newcomer.

“You Agent Woo? Bucky Barnes.”

The man nodded and held out his hand.

“Jimmy Woo. It’s nice to meet you, though I wish it was under better circumstances. I got a call, told me someone had used my email to try and trap Dr. Lewis. So you know, I’ve turned over my phone and laptop to your guys to have a look at. If someone within the bureau or with similar clearances has compromised my equipment or my network security, I don’t trust our analysts to examine them within our own systems. Too much risk the culprit will see the investigation.”

Bucky nodded.

“Good call. Friday’s working on that mail. It was legit enough to fool Darcy, which means it’s either a really good fake, or someone used your email remotely. That’s what we’re theorizing right now. What we don’t know is why someone wants to kidnap her.”

Woo shook his head and shrugged.

“I know she was tagged for Westview because she’s one of the foremost astrophysicists on the planet. But I don’t get why someone would want an astrophysicist that badly that they wouldn’t just ask her for a consult.”

“Maybe it’s not the astrophysics they want, maybe they think she knows something else. Do you know about her side projects?”

Woo shook his head.

“We kept in touch after Westview, but it’s not like she sends me weekly reports. Most of the time she just sends me weird memes and Facebook reels in the middle of the night. I’m never sure if she just forgets that we’re in different time zones or if she’s trolling me.”

Bucky chuckled.

“Oh, she’s definitely trolling you. You and Sam are her favourite people to pester like that.”

“I’m not sure how I should take that.”

“Only as one of the highest compliments. She only does that to people she cares about.”

“She sends me cute cat pictures. Like, all the time.” Parker told them.

“Man, I’m jealous now. How do I get on Dr Lewis’ trolling radar?” Scott asked.

“Oh, believe me, once she gets a new phone, you’ll be on the receiving end of something, she knows what part you had in rescuing her.”

“Awesome.”

“Anyway, you were saying about her side projects?” Woo brought the conversation back around.

“She’s been trying to find Wanda and Vision.”

Woo frowned.

“Wanda disappeared after Westview, and the last we saw of Vision, he disappeared after his Westview counterpart did something to him during their fight.”

“Darcy’s been tracking him, but she hasn’t been able to track him in real time. By the time he shows up on her equipment, he’s gone. She’s been trying to track patterns. Lately we’ve had some pretty odd things happen that we think are linked to that effort.”

Bucky and Parker gave the other two men the rundown of Acre and where they’d landed in the investigation into that robot. Scott knew some of it already from having read the reports but he didn’t have the whole story.

By the time they were finished, security was hauling the second man into 2A. Woo looked contemplative.

“Sounds like someone wants Vision, pretty badly. And they think that Darcy is how they’ll get him. And you’ve talked to Hayward?”

“He was useless. So were his effects. He doesn’t know why they were rebuilding Vision, he was reciting whatever party line whoever installed him at SWORD gave him, I’m sure.”

“Can I play good cop this time, Mr. Bucky?”
Parker asked. Scott clapped a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him sympathetically.

“Kid, I don’t think, and I mean this with all due respect, but I don’t think these guys would take you seriously as any kind of cop.”

Parker sighed dejectedly.

“It’s the voice isn’t it?”

Scott made a face at him but didn’t comment either way.

“Why don’t you take Agent Woo and see how Darcy’s doing?” Bucky suggested. The kid’s face lit up.

“Yeah, yeah sure, I can do that. This way Agent Woo, sir.”

When they were gone, Bucky looked to Scott.

“You up for round two?”

“Oh you bet.”

*

Darcy was sitting up in her bed in the Med wing talking animatedly to Woo when Bucky made his way over there later in the day.

Her face lit up when she saw him and she waved him over.

“Bucky, thank Thor you’re here, will you please tell Jimmy in plain man speak that none of this is his fault?”

Bucky raised an eyebrow.

“Plain man speak?”

“Yeah, you know. How men talk to each other.”

“We usually use English. Well. At least when in English speaking countries.”

“Okay, remind me to circle back to that later. I just mean, explain it to him in plain language because he doesn’t believe me when I say it, and I’m tired of the long face.”

Bucky sighed and sat on her other side.

“Friday’s determined, with the help of your equipment, that it was an extremely convincing fake. The account it was sent from was created outside of the FBI secure networks. Whoever made it knew what FBI emails look like and copied everything. It wasn’t your fault.”

Woo smiled tightly and patted Darcy’s knee.

“Alright, alright. It wasn’t my fault. But I’m still allowed to be sorry that you got hurt.”

“Alright. I can get behind that. Are you going to be sticking around for a bit?”

Woo nodded at her.

“I passed my case off and took a short leave of absence. Unofficially, I’m at the Avenger’s disposal for a couple weeks. I know you guys have some pretty fancy tricks and toys here, but I can still be helpful.”

“Awesome. I’ll give you a tour when I’m mobile enough.”

“Don’t worry about that. Parker’s offered.”

“Oh good. Pete’ll take care of you.”

She yawned suddenly and Woo stood.

“I’ll take that as my cue. Get some rest Darcy. I’ll come by in the morning.”

“Night Jimmy.”

When he was gone, Bucky shifted his chair closer.

“How you feelin’ doll?”

“I’m on all the drugs, so right now, pretty awesome. But I know it will not be fun when I come down. How’d it go with the goons?”

“So-so. We got their actual names out of them, and we know they were hired by a third party, but they’ve never met that third party face to face. However, Hill found their car, and there were a couple cell phones in there. Wiped, but tech thinks they can restore them. Maybe we can get something off those.”

“Hmm. We think this is connected to Vision, right?”

“That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

She nodded.

“Who would want him that much to go to such lengths?”

Bucky shrugged.

“Right now, your guess might be better than mine. I don’t know doll. None of this sits right, and I don’t see a way to solve it with what I know yet.”

“We’ll figure it out. Just, I would prefer to not be dead when we do.”

“You and me both. I’ve ordered increased security, and if you feel the need to leave the compound before we solve it, you take someone with you. Me preferably, but Sam is an option. Scott too.”

“Oh, speaking of, I owe him a thank you for coming to my rescue. Can you find out what kind of cake he likes?’

“I can. Also, tech sent over a new phone for you. Your old one was fried, but apparently it was backed up. They were able to move everything to this one. And Scott put his number in there for you.”

“Oh perfect. I saw a great gif the other day that he would get a kick out of.”

Bucky smirked.

Darcy yawned again.

“Tired, doll?

“Yes, but I’ve also been too keyed up to sleep.”

“What can I do?”

She looked at him for a moment, then shimmied over so there was space in the bed beside her.

“They won’t let me out of here until tomorrow, but I don’t want to sleep here on my own. Will you stay?”

Bucky was already climbing onto the bed and gathering her up with an arm around her shoulders.
“Go to sleep, Darcy. I’ll be right here.”

Chapter Text

34.

This was the second time that Bucky was carrying Darcy into his apartment. Medical had cleared her to leave the wing, but had instructed that she remain within the main building for the time being. Since she had a cast on one arm and one leg, that made getting around difficult anyway.

At least this time, someone was holding the door open for him.

Parker deposited the cat carrier containing a yowling Alpine on the floor of the kitchen, next to her litter box and bowls, and opened the door for her to exit. She emerged and looked around before marching right back into the carrier and staring out of it with a distinctly unimpressed look.

“I don’t think she likes it, Mr. Bucky.” The kid said. Bucky huffed and set Darcy down on the sofa.

“Yeah, she didn’t care for this place last time either. But she’ll have to manage, she can’t stay out in the camper on her own.”

Darcy grunted and waved a hand. Bucky put the tv remote in it. She was coming off of the strong painkiller cocktail they’d given her the night before and it was like she was hungover all over again. She still had to wait a couple hours before she could take a round of the lesser painkillers the doctor prescribed as a replacement.

“Are you guys going to be okay? I can stay longer, I’ll call Aunt May…”

“We’ll be fine, kid. You know Darcy wouldn’t want you missing school on her account.”

“Okay. But, I’ll come visit this weekend, okay? And promise you’ll call me if you need help with catching the ringleader.”

Bucky nodded.

“Of course. You’re top of the list.”

“Great. Thanks, I guess I better get going then. Bye Darcy! Feel better!”

Darcy’s answer was more groan than language but she managed to smile at him.

After he left, Bucky brought her a coffee, pressing a kiss to her temple as he handed it to her.

“You gonna be okay for a little bit? The dispensary should have your pills ready by now.”

“Mm. Yeah. I’ll be fine. You will be my absolute hero if you bring me my painkillers.”

“That mean I’m not already your hero?”

“Mm. ‘Course you’re already my hero. But bringing me my drugs will make you my absolute hero. Big difference.”

He chuckled, got her a blanket, and headed out the door, locking it behind him.

*

She was asleep when he got back. Bucky was not surprised at all. He put the pill bottle down on the coffee table in front of her and fished the remote out from where she had it tucked under her pillow.

He got himself a coffee, settled under her feet, resting both of them in his lap, cast and all, and flipped through options until he found something to watch.

*

She woke up about halfway through Notting Hill and reached for the pills with a groan. Once she knocked them back and swallowed a healthy swig of water to go with them, she peered at the TV in confusion.

“Are you watching Notting Hill?”

“Mhmm.”

“Are you watching it by choice, or did it come on while you were asleep?”

“Something wrong with Notting Hill?”

“No! No, nothing’s wrong, I like it. It’s just…not the sort of movie I would expect a guy to pick out himself.”

“I happen to think Notting Hill is a perfect movie. Just don’t tell Hugh Grant I said that, or he’ll never talk to me again.”

"…wait. You know Hugh Grant? Like, personally?”

“Well, not well. I ran security for him at a charity event a couple months before the new facility broke ground and we started basing operations out of here. We still text occasionally.”

“You are blowing my mind right now. Why did Hugh Grant need Avengers level security?”

“He didn’t, really. But I needed something to do while we were waiting for things to get established. Did a few things like that for a bit.”

“You are a deep well, Bucky Barnes. A deep, deep well.”

“The deepest.”

“So, what is it that you like about it?”

Bucky shrugged.

“I don’t know. There’s something nice about the idea of a famous person and a normal, everyday person finding happiness together. I also enjoy the camaraderie of the friend group.”

“Hmm. Yes, I agree. The friends and the ‘found family’ aspect of it are part of what make it for me. I also like the way that other relationships are portrayed. And I think, as I get older, it’s Max and Bella’s relationship that speaks to me more.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Not only did this man stick with her and support her during what was probably the hardest, most horrifying period of her life, he loves her so much, he refuses to leave her behind for the dramatic conclusion, he makes sure she’s included, which he must do for everything. That’s a love that’s been built on a solid foundation and has only gotten better with time. I love that.”

“Plus, you do like to be carried around.”

She giggled.

“Yeah, that too.”

“I can kind of relate a bit to Honey and Spike, when I think about it.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Weird but wonderful girl decides that out of all the guys out there, this is the one that’s worth her time and attention. Even blindsides him a bit. Definitely a familiar story.”

Darcy laughed.

“Well, when you put it that way…”

She reached her good hand for his where it rested on her hip and laced their fingers together.

“I’m glad you’re here with me Bucky.”

“I’m glad you’re here with me too.”