Work Text:
Misfit Toys
After restraining the foursome, frog marching the lot of them to a broken down building in the middle of fucking nowhere, he informed them that the transport he'd arranged would be arriving within minutes, so that he could drag this group of reluctant heroes back across the country with him. This unknown Bob had become a clear threat that needed to be stopped. Or controlled. Or something, anyway. The little information the group of people before him had given seemed to imply that this Bob had been an unwitting victim, subjected to some version of a supersoldier serum that had given him powers no one could be certain of.
He set Iris, via Cat, to begin the search, as he did not have the time to work out the necessary parameters without letting Nienna know what the hell he had decided to do.
What Bucky did know was that everyone in that facility had been sent there to be killed, Val doing everything in her power to clean up her mess before she could be impeached and tossed out on her ass. He hadn't expected to run into Alexei Shostakov, who had also attempted a rescue, though he had arrived well after the main event had concluded. While familiar with who the man was, neither Bucky nor the Winter Soldier had ever interacted with him directly.
The one thing he had learned since being elected was that the government wheels of anything, never mind justice, turned far too slowly for his taste. And while Nienna had been correct in that it gave him access to all sorts of dirty secrets and opportunities to prevent some of the stupid things from happening, it also tied his hands far more than he liked.
He couldn't just act to prevent them. He had to have indisputable proof.
Thanks to Iris and Cat, he could find it with frightening ease, but getting others to believe it… had turned out to be far more difficult.
On paper, Val had completely divorced herself from the goings-on at OXE. In reality, she still oversaw the research group and authorized the vast majority of the unethical practices conducted there.
On this occasion, reading the packet had in no way been enough. Thanks to Mel, he knew something had been about to go down and had taken it upon himself to act. His words decrying him no longer doing that not seeming to not matter a whole great fucking deal when push came to shove.
Someone had to do something, and he had no one else to call. Sam might be willing to listen and give an assist, but he doubted there would be enough time to explain anything in enough detail and stop whatever was coming.
They had hours, not days or weeks.
Yelena sidled up next to him. "How is your girl?" she asked in a soft voice.
"Good," he responded without really thinking about it. Their second anniversary had just passed. They'd gone back to Waknada for a couple of weeks and had enjoyed spending some quality time together. Then he realized exactly what Yelena meant. "Fuck."
He pulled out his phone and called her, opting not to send just a text this time. No, this was far too important to explain over an emotionless text, even with emojis.
Nienna picked up on the second ring. "Hey, darlin', to what do I owe the pleasure of your voice?"
"Tell me you're not at the apartment."
There was a pause as she surely absorbed his tone. "You want me to lie?" she responded, trying to keep it light, but he could hear the concerned edge in her voice.
"Shit," he muttered. "Can you get out of town? Hell, out of the country soonest?"
"I mean, if absolutely necessary, yes. I'm here for work meetings, including with Matt, but it can all be postponed a few days. What's going on?"
He could hear the undercurrent of worry in her voice, but not for herself. No, she worried about him. And he absolutely loved that about her. He was damn near unbreakable, but she still worried about his well being.
"If you can't get away, stay in Brooklyn, please. Whatever is going to go down, it'll be in Manhattan, the old Avengers tower." The fact that Val had acquired the building for OXE had not been in any of the files he had access to through his job as a congressman; no, Iris had dug that tidbit up for him. Mel's call had simply confirmed it. That system could still gain access anywhere and gave him a huge advantage in situations like this.
Cat was doing what she could to recover the OXE files, which Val was burying and burning. Echoes still existed in the aether of the internet; if anyone could find them, it would be Iris with guidance from Cat. Anything Bucky could get his hands on could and would lead to Val's downfall, even if it wasn't an impeachment. Appointing a new CIA director would be a pain in the ass – all those boring meetings he would need to sit through – but maybe it would result in someone a bit more tranparent and trustworthy running that department.
He mentally shook his head. If he'd learned nothing else, it was that even the trustworthy ones, the honest ones, were not corrupt, per se, but did what was needed in the moment. The amount of compromise necessary to accomplish anything of value often negated the actual value of the final result, regardless of its positive outcome.
"Bucky…" She paused, clearly changing her mind about what she wanted to say.
"Doll?"
She chuckled softly. "I was going to tell you to be careful, but I suspect whatever you'll need to do will make that impossible."
"Yeah. I think it's gonna be bad. But I have help, so that's new." Help, he didn't really know or trust, depending on which one you were talking about. Walker, he trusted not at all, he didn't know about Ava or Alexei aside from their files and Yelena… Well, Yelena had helped him save Nienna, and the two of them had stayed in contact since, so if he trusted anyone, it would be her.
And she said it was bad.
"Help?" Ni asked, a mix of surprise and curiosity in her voice.
"I'll tell you everything when I get home."
"Brooklyn? Or should I meet you in DC?"
They both had to travel a lot these days. Brooklyn and the apartment there was their home, but he had a place in DC, since that's where his work was these days. She also spent a decent amount of time in Wakanda collaborating on various projects there. She had been free of the mind-control nanobots for over a year, but they still worked on the project to identify other victims and create a safe and straightforward removal technique. She spent a fair amount of time there as well. In the end, they decided to keep their marriage... not a secret really, but quiet, and they made it plain to the world that they were together. Did that stop Bucky from trying to use his looks to his advantage on occasion?
No.
Did he tell Ni about it when he used his wiles on people to get info?
Yes.
In fact, she would often give him tips to make those attempts even more successful.
Did he ever feel the need to take those flirtations to their obvious conclusion?
No.
He loved Nienna and would never actually cheat on her for any reason.
That was why she always had such a grand time when she joined him at events. She always made a point to stake her claim upon him, and he could not help but make it clear that he had eyes for no one but her.
"Provided it still stands, Brooklyn. I may be ending my political career early with this move."
She was silent for a long moment, knowing full well everything he had gone through to get the job. Winning the election had been comparatively easy, but doing the job had been a challenge from day one. While he usually excelled at challenges, this one had forced him to reimagine himself and how he interacted with the world. Not a bad thing by any means, but he'd always been more direct with his approaches. Politics required kid gloves and pretty words, not a fist or two to the face.
He'd had some serious issues transitioning from a blunt instrument to a delicate tool and had failed on numerous occasions. All of which he had learned from. But maybe, on this occasion, he should lean into his strengths.
"If that's what needs to happen, then it happens. I know you haven't been as happy as you hoped in the job."
She wasn't wrong, but it was more that nothing had moved with the speed he wanted. Glaciers moved faster than American politics, and he chafed under the restraints he'd been placed under. Even Cat had been frustrated at the constraints she'd been forced to deal with while trying to assist him. The government wasn't thrilled with her presence, but given there were now over a dozen countries that had acknowledged her as a sovereign entity, they couldn't keep her out; they could only set limits on what she was permitted to do as a citizen. However, in truth, that didn't stop her from breaking the rules when Bucky needed her to, typically via Iris, who still had access to so much data that he could never know every secret out there.
"Doll, if I didn't think it was completely necessary, I wouldn't have made the moves I did. And I promise to tell you everything afterwards. I just… I need you to be safe. I can't be there with you to protect you this time."
He could hear her smile across the line when she spoke. "I know. Just come home to me, Bucky. And save the day the way I know you can."
He sighed heavily, once again astonished at the amount of faith she held for him. She knew he wasn't perfect, but supported him, and not some vague ideal that either of them held himself to. She loved Bucky Barnes as he was and who he could be. Every god damned day he loved her even more because of that simple fact. "I love you," he told her softly.
"Love you, too. Say hi to Yelena for me."
The line disconnected then.
He looked at the default picture on his phone, one of her in Wakanda mere days after their wedding, and then darkened the screen, without questioning how she knew he was with Yelena, and tucked it into his pocket.
Yelena looked at him expectantly.
"Ni says 'hi.'"
Yelena shook her head. "Tell me she is not in New York."
"In Brooklyn," he admitted. "She'll get out of town if she can, hunker down if she can't.
"Shit," Yelena muttered. "If this goes sideways, the collateral damage will be high."
Bucky couldn't argue that point since he knew very little at this moment in time. "Tell me everything you know."
Yelena did.
~^~
Bucky remembered that one complaint about the original Avengers had always been that they never stuck around for the clean-up. So, even after Val had tricked them into that press conference, dubbed them the New Avengers, and tried to rush them off-site in order to assert her control over them, Bucky had resisted.
His intent was not to become the team leader, but to ensure they didn't make the same mistakes the previous incarnation of the Avengers had.
So they had stayed and done everything in their myriad powers to assist in getting the place set to rights.
It was tiring but oddly satisfying work. Roads were cleared, debris was piled so that it could be easily removed by the city or by Damage Control, freed people that had been trapped in the rubble, and made certain that the bodies they found, and there had been bodies, were treated with respect as they were retrieved and identified.
Less than a dozen may have died, at least one of whom appeared to have been from a heart attack caused by his time in the Void, but in Bucky's eyes, it was yet more blood on his hands. Invisible, but there, sticky, damp, and smelling of copper. Most of the team members had experience with death and, for the most part, had become inured to it, except for Bob.
While Val and Mel tried to scoot Bob away, especially since he had been the ostensible cause of said deaths, Bucky had insisted he stay. The man with the most dangerous split personality Bucky had ever seen had asserted himself in the tiniest of amounts and done everything his human body could to fix the mess he had created.
He made no apologies, but paid the dues he had well and truly earned.
By the time everything that could be done had been done, Bucky wanted nothing more than to go home to Nienna and revel in the fact that they had both survived the day.
And she had, of course. She'd texted Bucky shortly after Val's announcement had hit the newswires. It had simply been a question mark and a laughing emoji. He'd chuckled, actually amused at her reaction, and sent back a shrug. She knew they would talk later; his only real purpose being to assure her he was alive and well, had survived, and would be coming home to her as she had requested.
Their talk once he'd arrived home was going to be interesting, given he'd gone into politics because he didn't think he could be a hero. Didn't think the world could accept him as one, at least not without Steve or Sam by his side. You know that good guy influence that the former Winter Soldier probably required to not turn back into a killing machine.
And yet… look at what he had done over the last few hours. Look at what all of them had done. Taken a shit situation and, while overmatched and underskilled, still saved the day.
Ultimately, not through the violence they all excelled at, but through kindness and understanding and, of all things, hope.
Mel eventually got them herded back into the building, now called the Watchtower, so that Val could attempt to give them orders.
It went about as well as expected, and Val eventually left with her tail tucked firmly between her legs.
Bob ultimately invited them to stay for the night, if not longer, given there was plenty of room on the completed floors for them to crash in for a day or two as they figured out if they were actually going to do this. None of them, aside from Alexei, liked the idea of becoming the new saviors of the world, but given that Val had just tried to kill the majority of them to clean up her mess, they didn't see many options for the road ahead.
Could they do it? Take on the mantle of hero? Probably.
Should they?
They would have to figure that out together.
~^~
The sun had gone down long before when Bucky stood and said, "I am heading out. I'll be back tomorrow. Talk to Mel about anything you might need, especially you, Ava."
The Ghost in question quirked her eyebrow at him.
"I know you have… health issues that require special… equipment. I just want to make certain you have what you need." They all seemed to know about each other, though not necessarily the details. Bucky was most familiar with Walker and Yelena, but had only minimal intel on Ava and Alexei. Something he would need to correct over the coming days.
She gave him a slow nod of her head to concede his knowledge. "I will be fine. A shower, some food, and a change of clothes are all I require for now."
"Good." Bucky grabbed his jacket and headed towards the elevator.
"And where are you going?" Walker questioned, eyes narrowing, his barely hidden temper peeking out.
Bucky glanced at Yelena, who gave him a tiny nod, confirming she would keep his
secret, then simply answered, "Home."
Nienna had fallen asleep on the sofa, waiting for him. While tempted to simply carry her to bed and permit her to continue her slumber, he instead kissed her on the cheek and said in a sing-song voice, "Honey, I'm home."
It took her a moment to gain consciousness, but when she opened her eyes, she immediately sat up, wrapped her arms around him, and gave him the tightest hug her mortal arms could manage.
"Thank Bast," she mumbled into the side of his neck, causing him to laugh softly.
She'd picked up more than a few things while living in Wakanda for the better part of a year.
He sighed in thankful relief that he had made it home mostly unharmed and was in her arms once again.
Then she said, "You smell like hard work and sadness."
A peculiar combination, but not entirely wrong. "I know, doll. There was a lot of clean up to do, and I… we couldn't just walk away and let others handle it, not this time."
She grinned. "I know. I've been watching the news all day." She leaned her forehead against his. "You did good, James, and I am once again so very proud and amazed by you."
He buried his face into the side of her neck, causing her to hold on even tighter. She somehow just knew that the last few hours had been harder on him than he could currently articulate. "I'll talk about it eventually, but not today, okay?" A promise he had made to her once upon a time and had stuck to ever since.
"Okay," she agreed, and he knew she wouldn't push until it had become clear it was eating at him. Then she would prod and plan a quiet intervention, giving him a safe space to vent all the day had burdened him with. "So, CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is your new boss, I take it."
Bucky sagged. "Kind of," he groused. "That's a tomorrow discussion, doll. After I've had a shower, some sleep, and you."
"In that order?" she questioned, an amused tone in her voice.
"Not necessarily. Why?"
She stood and held out her hand to him. "Because the shower easily holds two."
He stood, kissed her lightly, and then followed her.
~^~
Bucky woke hours before Nienna, the events of the previous couple of days weighing heavily on his mind and invading his dreams. Coming home to his girl had been a definite balm on his soul, but it had not cancelled out the memories he'd been forced to relive to get to Bob and assist him in regaining control over his own body.
He had done a lot of horrible things in his life, not all of which had been when he'd been the Winter Soldier. He'd killed people during the war, sometimes up close and with extreme prejudice. He'd relived a couple of those, along with others from his time as the Winter Soldier, before finding his way to that attic room.
So many terrible things in his past. There remained so much about him that Nienna knew nothing about.
Guilt that he'd dragged her into his world, once again threatening to drown out all the good and light she had brought into his life.
He didn't want to give her up, but if he did this – if he stuck with the whole being an Avenger thing – he knew she would be at an even greater risk of being used against him. Of being hurt either by him or because of him. Yet another reason to keep their relationship a secret.
"Shit," he muttered aloud.
"That bad a day already?" Ni asked as she shuffled into the office with a cup of coffee in hand. Her hair was still sleep-mussed, and she wore not much more than a bathrobe that did little to hide the nothing she most certainly wore underneath.
"Yes?" he responded, both answering her and questioning his own sanity at this point. "Sorry, doll."
She stopped beside him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, but I think we need to." Any decision he made would affect her—affect them—and she deserved the chance to voice her opinions on the matter. He got up and encouraged her back into the actual apartment, where they sat on the sofa; she sipped her coffee and waited patiently for him to begin.
"To be clear, I didn't plan for this to happen. I simply saw a situation going south and needed to try to fix it." The truth, though he hadn't been expecting Alexei or the curve ball the whole Bob thing had thrown at him. "You know I've been working on that Valentina impeachment, right?"
She nodded. "I don't know everything, of course, but Cat has done some digging and I get that's she's been doing some nasty shit on the side, though details are vague. Do you have enough now for the impeachment?"
Bucky snorted. "Well, yeah, but I don't think that's going to happen any time soon."
She raised an eyebrow. "The New Avengers thing?"
He nodded in agreement. "The New Avengers thing."
"So you're taking the job?" she asked, her tone perfectly neutral, not wanting to influence his decision in any way.
He wanted to say 'I don't know' or 'that's what I want to discuss with you,' but what came out was, "Yes."
For her part, she didn't seem the least bit surprised. "Okay. How will that work?"
He chuckled more than a touch ruefully. "I have no idea. I'm planning to head back to the Tower today and see if we can figure it out."
She gave him a hint of a grin. "Probably a good plan." She debated saying more, he could tell, but sipped her coffee instead.
"What, doll? I am not dictating orders here. I want to hear your opinion on this." And he did. He was confident they could work anything out, but that wouldn't be possible if she didn't air her concerns.
"I… what about us? I know we haven't been able to spend as much time together as we'd like, but I also don't want to go our separate ways just yet. Though if that's what needs to be done, I will understand."
He shifted, removed the mug from her hand, placed it on the coffee table, and then wrapped his hands about both of hers. "I do not want that either. In fact, I imagine I'll be based out of the Avengers Tower instead of DC. I don't have to live there. I would much prefer being here at home every night unless I need to save the world or something."
In fact, it would probably be the first time they'd been able to live together for an extended period. When Nienna had been living in Wakanda, he'd visited as often as he could, but it hadn't been nearly enough. Then he'd won that congressional seat, and while Ni had been able to move back to New York, he'd been splitting his time between DC and Brooklyn. They'd had more time together, but since they both had work commitments that pulled them away from the city, living together had been more like ships passing in the night. Coordinating their very different schedules had been a serious bitch at times.
And now this. Throwing away the safe job for one that would undoubtedly put him in danger constantly.
"I need you to understand, all I was trying to do was bring Yelena and the others in to testify against Val, not dive back into being a superhero."
She freed one of her hands to cup his cheek. "I know. As always, you did what was needed in the moment and ultimately won the day. The fact that that viper Val managed to twist it to her advantage is not your fault. I just want you to be certain you want it and do not feel forced into the job."
"And if I say I do?"
"Then I'll back you one hundred percent. Looks like you've got your tech girl back." She gently ran her thumb up and down his cheek, the scruff surely rough against her fingers.
"Why would you want to do that?" His heart damn near ached at the faith she had in him.
"To make certain you come home to me, dummy. I'm not sure what toys Val will be able to provide, but you will always have access to Iris and Cat. Hell, I can design you an entirely new system built to whatever parameters you need or want." She got this gleeful look in her eyes, which told him she'd been looking for a new pet project to work on. "I somehow still have my security clearance thanks to the deal Matt cut with the government, so I can subcontract if needed, or do everything under the table."
Christ. Though he had no doubts, Val and her team knew of Nienna; he had no idea how much they had learned. OXE hadn't been the orchestrator of Ni's abduction thankfully, but she'd been in the news for months after returning to New York and still tended to be a major headache to the government when shady shit went down. Hell, it's why he and others had been targeting Val; they knew something was up, but finding the proof and the direct connection had been difficult and labor-intensive. That whole process of going through legal channels had slowed him down. Iris would have had the data in days at most, even if the info technically hadn't been usable. He would have known.
And now Val would ostensibly be in charge of the New Avengers, though as Yelena had pointed out, they had her by the short hairs. Those three had all the dirt they could ever need on Val and her less-than-legal actions over the last several years. Plus, they had Bob. Though in truth, his memory was more than a tad fragmented.
They had so much work to do just to get started, he realized.
"Bucky?"
"How mad will you be if I say I don't think you should be involved at all?"
"I guess that depends on why," she responded, reserving judgment for the moment.
"Short answer: to protect you. Val is dangerous, even if we have the upper hand at the moment. At some point, she is going to try to regain control and…"
"And you don't want her to use me to control you." Ni didn't sound angry or upset; she understood the dangers that being with him entailed. "That is no different than when you were in DC."
"True," he agreed, "but I can actually see Val kidnapping you and holding you hostage to put pressure on me."
Ni took a moment to think before replying. "Then we just have to make certain that she can't."
"How?"
"I need leverage against her. And if I unexpectedly disappear, it gets leaked."
"That's not a horrible idea, but she has plenty of people to act on her behalf and deny her involvement."
"Bucky," she leaned forward to give him a gentle kiss, "I am a big girl and can protect myself. I fully understand why you don't want me involved, but you can't keep me, us, a secret forever. Doing that will just encourage someone to do exactly that and use it, meaning me, against you. You need to get out in front of it."
"And do what? Announce we're married and have been for almost two years?"
"Are you ashamed of it?" she challenged.
"No. You are the best fucking thing in my life and I want to shout from the rooftops that you're mine–"
"Then let's do exactly that. Yes, there will be people who try to use the relationship against us, but I bet there will be more who try to protect us. I know a baker's dozen of Dora Milaje who would not only throw us a party if we announced it, but would gladly remove the heads of anyone who tried to hurt us. With Yama being at the front of the line."
Bucky didn't doubt that.
"Dearheart, we are both dangerous in our own way. If we stand together, who would dare challenge us? We'd rip them apart."
Bucky honestly couldn't deny that. With the tech Ni had, she could destroy a person's life virtually, while he… well, he would probably take a more direct and physical approach. "Yelena is going to have a field day with this."
"She doesn't know?"
Bucky shrugged. "Suspects, maybe. She probably knows we're still together, but not that we're married… It's not like we had time to sit down and have a chat about our relationships or lack thereof."
Ni snickered. "I'm not saying you have to tell them, but you don't have to hide it either."
He nodded slowly. "Together."
"Yep." She kissed him again, then got to her feet, grabbing her now cool mug of coffee. "You, my dear, have work to do."
~^~
a few weeks later
With Nienna's unofficial assistance, they compiled a list of basic requirements for the Watchtower, beyond the obvious need for suites and offices for each of them. Yes, including Bucky, since he knew there would be times he would need to be onsite for extended periods and would prefer having a bed to sleep in, even if he didn't need to sleep much.
The research level had been significantly reduced and would focus more on helping Bob gain control and creating any necessary tools to get the job done.
All of them were or had been killers at some point in their careers; they needed to decide exactly how far they would be willing to take a situation. No, they would not be renting themselves out as assassins anymore, but were they going to take the stance of never killing again, or only kill when necessary? Bucky rarely used his strength to its full potential these days. It took far more effort for him to injure someone than it would to simply kill them. He had the advantage of almost five years of practicing restraint, so it would probably fall upon his shoulders to teach it to the others, especially Walker.
He suspected that was true for all of them. Of the six of them, only he and Alexei no longer ran on hair triggers. Hell, the three others had literally been sent to kill each other mere weeks ago. Four of them, he had to remind himself. There had been one victim of the fight in that bunker – Antonia Dreykov, AKA Taskmaster – Ava had succeeded in her mission and had successfully killed the other operative and former Black Widow, who had then been incinerated along with a ton of physical data.
Bob, in his Sentry guise, could have easily killed any and all of them, but had held back no matter what had been thrown at him. He had only used enough power to disable each of them without leaving any permanent damage. He'd ripped Bucky's prosthetic arm off with a scary ease. Little chance couldn't tear off a real one just as easily.
And while Bucky was curious as to why Sentry had held back, he had no way of asking him without risking a reappearance of The Void, and enduring that was something Bucky was in no hurry to repeat.
Val had kept away from them for the most part. Every time she tried to assert her dominance and control, Yelena would gleefully take her down a peg or two. Of course, it had become easier to do once Iris had been pointed in her direction. Bucky had been a mix of awed and disgusted at the amount of blood on Val's hands. Some of it even directly on her own, though others had done the majority.
If Yelena had figured out where the intel had come from, she kept it to herself, letting Bucky take the credit when they needed to knock Val down a peg or three.
If they really needed something that they could not acquire on their own, they contacted Mel, who, while still working for Val, had definitely become far more aligned with Team New Avengers. Besides, she was far less irritating than Val, whom Bucky constantly wanted to punch in her smug face.
Which he supposed he shouldn't do on camera, no matter how great the temptation.
Not that he wanted to be on camera, but they had mere days before they began a press tour of all things. At Val's insistence, of course, wanting to stake her claim on the Avengers name before Sam could officially form his own team.
The meetings and discussions over their new logos and uniforms had damn near driven him mad, even as he kind of understood the reasoning. They needed to carve out their niche, and Val wanted to make sure that everything about them, whether on duty or not, associated them with the New Avengers.
Sam had not been thrilled with anything that had gone down that day in Manhattan. Bucky becoming an Avenger was something Sam could handle, but doing it with semi-reformed assassins and wet-work specialists of various stripes instead of with him was another matter altogether.
He'd voiced his concerns to both Bucky and Nienna on several occasions, and while Bucky agreed with him on many of the points, he also knew that everyone deserved that second chance. Ava, Yelena, and Walker could have walked away if they had chosen to. None of them had. Only Alexei had taken to the idea entirely, absolutely thrilled with the opportunity to be a hero once again. He might have preferred doing it for Mother Russia, but given that they were claiming to be world heroes and not American ones, it eased the bitter taste in his mouth.
Bob was, well, Bob. Not a single one of them would turn him away, even if Val thought that ultimately he was a failure as Sentry. Yelena had taken the broken man under her wing, and together they had begun to heal. She had made sure he was included in every team discussion, even if he had little to contribute. He was there, respected, and cared for, with assurances that he and his opinions mattered, which was what he had needed more than anything else.
Hell, look at how people caring about him and not judging him had changed Bucky. The very least he could do was return the favor. And not just for Bob, but the entire team.
Though there were days he'd prefer to drop John off the side of the building to see if he would bounce or splatter on the sidewalk far below.
Somehow, he and Yelena had become the de facto leaders of the team. He hadn't planned it or intended it; it had just happened, and the two of them worked rather well together, wrangling their odd group of misfit toys.
The techs were working on the servers for the AI that would be installed to assist them with the work. In the meantime, they'd been using Iris with some assistance from Cat, even though only he and Yelena knew the truth.
The penthouse, with what was left of the original bar from when Tony Stark had lived there, had become their default gathering place. The plans for the changes had just been finalized and would be worked on while they were on their unwelcome press tour.
Bucky paced the breadth of the room while the others settled into seats, some with drinks, others just looking bored with yet another meeting.
"Barnes, you look like you have been given bad news," Walker said warily.
Bucky paused his pacing and tried to replace his 'resting murder face' with something less dramatic. "Nothing like that." The elevator dinged, and Bucky headed for it. "I have someone I want all of you to meet."
Bucky reappeared a moment later with Nienna at his side.
Yelena's eyebrows went upwards, but she gave Ni a smile and a wave.
"And who is this lovely lady?" Alexei asked, looking her up and down with a more than admiring gaze.
"Nienna Grace, my wife."
The room went dead silent for a long moment before everyone began to talk over each other. Only Yelena got to her feet and moved over to Ni to hug her.
"Shut up," she barked at everyone. Then to Ni, "When did you two make it official?"
Ni gave her a grin. "Two-ish years ago, shortly after we got to Wakanda." She glanced over at Bucky, reaching out to take his hand into hers.
"Besotted," Yelena stated with a grin and a shake of her head. "How did you manage to keep it a secret?"
Bucky shrugged. "She was stuck in Wakanda for about a year while they dealt with her… problem, and by the time she got back, I was in Congress and spending most of my time in DC."
Alexei approached and took Nienna's free hand into one of his own. "You let this captivating woman out of your sight for even a moment? Shame on you."
Ni laughed as Alexei kissed the back of her hand.
Bucky tugged her away. "She's taken, Alexei." He was amused, not angry, and, even more, not surprised by Alexei's behavior.
Walker looked the most upset at the reveal, which made sense given he'd lost his wife and child to his lingering depression, PTSD, and inability to handle his failure as Captain America. "And you brought her here to show her off like some trophy?"
Nienna snorted in utter derision. Bucky had done his best to give her a basic rundown of each individual, not in an attempt to bias her opinions but so that she understood exactly how different and potentially volatile each of them could be, especially Bob, who remained a wildcard in all of this.
Yelena shot John a warning look. "I suspect she's been handling our tech needs up until this point."
Bucky nodded. "We have temporary use of Iris with Cat's assistance now and then. Ni has offered to design an AI specific to our needs if we want it."
"Where else would we get one?" Ava asked.
"Val, through OXE or the government, I imagine," Yelena answered.
Ava snorted. "I would not trust any tech from that woman. If nothing else, it would be watching our every move we made and analyzing it for potential blackmail or elimination purposes."
"Exactly," Bucky agreed, "thus going to an outside source." He nodded towards Nienna.
"And why would she help us?" Bob asked in a soft voice as he stepped into view. He was barefoot and had tugged the long sleeves of his shirt down over his hands, his head dipped down so that you could see little more than the tip of his nose through his hair.
Nienna gave the shy man one of her brilliant smiles. "Well, I have a vested interest in making certain all of you come home alive and well after whatever you might be doing."
"You have vested interest in him coming home, you mean," Alexei rumbled.
Nienna glanced over at Bucky, then stepped away, moving to stand before the remains of the bar. Yes, she did it to show she did not require Bucky to protect her, even from them.
"Well, yes, but unless something has changed, you are a team and protect each other. What hurts one, potentially hurts all of you. So, anything I design will be tailored to your needs as a team: communications, research, and data retrieval. Thanks to Iris, I have access to numerous systems, but the AI is primarily research-focused. You'll need something a bit more interactive along the lines of Stark's Jarvis or Friday programs."
"And you can do that?" Walker questioned with a sneer.
"Yes," Nienna told him in all confidence. "In a day, no, but give me a couple of weeks, and I can have a base model ready for testing, and you can request adjustments from there."
"Your Cat won't be involved?" Yelena asked.
"You would have to negotiate with her. She's her own person now and my partner in Nyte Visions."
"I think she means, are you going to create another… living AI for us?" Ava elaborated, and Yelena nodded in agreement.
Ni shook her head. "I can do lifelike; it's more effective for interactions, but alive? No."
Yelena's eyebrows rose, and she looked at Bucky. "Ni won her patent claims, but the UN, NATO, among others, have banned the use of the tech." He shrugged. "Someone will still try to recreate and use it at some point, but as of right now, Cat is and will be the only recognized sentient AI on this planet."
"On this planet?" Bob squeaked.
Ni gave him a sweet smile that seemed to calm him instantly. Just another reminder that she had learned well at the knee of her semi-famous psychiatrist father. "We know there are worlds out there with tech that greatly exceeds our own; the chances that there are not sentient AIs elsewhere are infinitesimal. That Supreme Intelligence on Hala was a prime example of that. Cat, though she hates it when I say it, is a human in a box. Her life is not all that much different than any other person on earth."
Walker stared at her with narrowed eyes. "How do you know all that?"
Nienna faced him without flinching. "You have no idea what I know."
Something in her tone made it clear none of them would push her around.
"I've offered to help, you can say no. Bucky does not intend to dictate where your tech comes from. My specialty is in AI and control systems, such as creating a program that can run most of the day-to-day operations of this building and assist you with whatever you might need. And while I have some ideas for non-lethal weapons, I am not a weapons designer by any means." She turned to Bucky with a grin lighting up her eyes. "Though I have some really cool ideas for what you could do with nanotech."
She caught Yelena's slight flinch.
"Shielding and such. Think the Black Panther suit, or the modifications to Captain America's suit and wings. I learned a great deal in Wakanda and am now allowed to share it. I won't have access to vibranium or adamantium, but if you guys acquire some, I can then modify it. Or you can always ask Wakanda."
Bucky coughed into his hand. "I don't think they'll assist us."
"To save the world?" Ni argued.
He tipped his head slightly to concede the point.
"So, we're adding you to the team, I suppose," Walker groused.
Nienna shook her head. "Oh, hell no. I am not a hero, and I am definitely not super in any manner. Just smart and know my shit. I am giving you an option, one you might be more willing to trust over Val and her black site labs."
The various team members glanced back and forth at each other, as if waiting for someone else to make a decision.
Bob finally said in a soft voice, "That sounds like a good idea."
Of all of them, Bob had been harmed the most by Val and OXE. Val was a necessary evil for them right now, but none of them trusted her.
"So you want to work behind the scenes and take no credit? Why tell us about your marriage then?" Walker sneered and brought them right back around to the reveal at the start of this discussion.
"To keep Val from using it against us," Bucky explained.
"Which she would most certainly do," Yelena agreed. "Will you be hanging around now and then?"
Ni gave Yelena a real smile. "I think I can manage that, balance the overabundance of testosterone. With three supersoldiers, it must get thick in here."
Ava laughed lightly. "You have no idea." She sidled over to stand beside Ni, "I think I am going to like you."
Bucky sighed softly and relaxed. Walker would be the only problem, but he suspected Ni would win him over eventually. He'd have to warn Alexei not to overdo the overtures, or Bucky would be forced to break him if Nienna didn't do it first. She'd learned quite a bit from the Dora Milaje during her time in Wakanda and still practiced regularly.
As he watched, Yelena grabbed Bob by the hand and dragged him over to officially meet Nienna. The man's inherent fear of rejection eased when Ni gave him one of her smiles and spoke to him in a matching soft voice, including small touches that assured the skittish man that she meant every word she said. Within minutes, he no longer clutched his hands together and had joined the easy conversation the team was having.
Only Walker remained just outside the circle. He was not unwelcome but unfairly angry at Nienna for sticking by her husband when his wife had not.
Bucky moved towards him. "We have our tough days, you know. Being apart for the majority of our marriage hasn't been easy."
"Aren't you afraid you're going to hurt her?" Walker hissed in a low voice.
"Every damn day. And every day she assures me I won't." Bucky spread his hands. "It's part of why I love her. She knows I'm not perfect and cares about me anyway."
"Then you are far luckier than me," Walker groused.
Bucky shook his head. "Look at where you are, Walker. An Avenger. On the path to redemption, if you are willing to stay on it. It won't be an easy path, I can promise you that, but every damn step you take down it is worth it. I know, I've been exactly where you are. I've had my losses and my failures, strayed so far from that path when I lost her." Bucky shook his head. Remembering those dark days still caused an ache deep in his chest that only Nienna's presence could chase away. He often wondered if one of his rooms in The Void had included Ni's death, his failure to save her. Hopefully, he would never know. "Maybe I am lucky, but I worked for every gain I made. The only person who can redeem you is you. End of lecture."
"Walker, Barnes, are you done swinging dicks over there? We have a lot of work to do." Yelena gave him a hint of a smile.
Yeah, this could actually work.
fin