Archive of Our Own ^beta

Wolves in the World

"There are wolves in the world. And sometimes they are the good guys."

Leverage S2, e1, The Beantown Bailout Job

early November 2027

The press tour went about as well as expected. Val arrived at the Tower for a day or two before flying back to DC and pretending to do her job while Mel spent her time wrangling a bunch of cantankerous superheroes who were not doing as well with the public as their new boss had hoped. This made sense to Bucky, since, aside from Alexei, they had been almost exclusively covert operatives for the majority of their lives. Working from the shadows, rather than standing in the spotlight.

Why Val thought any of them would do well sitting on a stage in front of cameras was beyond him. Nienna had offered bits of advice to ease the transition, and it had helped, but not enough; you could see on each of their faces that the very last place any of them wanted to be was there.

The only ones the public really knew anything about, of course, were Bucky, the former Winter Soldier and now former congressman, and John Walker, the disgraced Captain America substitute and former Army Ranger who had flamed out within weeks of gaining possession of the title and shield.

Of course, people were familiar with the Black Widows, primarily due to Natasha Romanoff and the original Avengers. Those few who actually knew of the Red Guardian were definitely on the older side, though not as old as Bucky.

One hundred and fucking ten, and here he was joining a superhero team when all he really wanted to do was retire and spend time with Nienna.

Given that he'd been the one to convince them to try to turn their lives around, he felt somewhat obligated to stay, but this interaction with the public thing… He would never enjoy it.

Even he could admit it had been his weakest skill as a congressman, at least without a script writer in charge of the words coming out of his mouth. Interviews, especially spontaneous ones, had been the bane of his existence. Some habits from his time at the Winter Soldier had been so deeply ingrained that even after all this time, he found himself falling back into those old patterns, like knowing to remain silent unless his handlers demanded an answer from him. He still had trouble taking the initiative, even with Nienna. Still, he had gotten better, more comfortable with the people he was close to.

This situation did not qualify as that.

Thankfully, for the most part, Val answered the questions. They were literally there to look pretty and show off today's version of the uniforms. Not armour, but off-duty uniforms that he could at least say were comfortable. Slim-fitting BDU pants, snug shirts featuring a stylish A logo, and zipped jackets with the same logo. Ava was the only exception, as she still needed some version of her suit to allow her to use her abilities with ease, but otherwise, it matched perfectly.

None of them could complain about the amount of money Valentina had been throwing around on their behalf. It had become tedious more than anything: fittings, meetings, and reports, and the utter lack of actually doing anything.

So far, there had been no incidents that Val had deemed worthy of their time.

Both Bucky and Yelena had argued the opposite, especially after a major earthquake had left several cities in Nepal in ruins. Val had argued that the lack of transport and equipment designated for their use meant they would be taking resources away from the locals and professionals who were already on site. A fair point, but they had three supersoldiers who could lift incredibly heavy things and free up equipment that could then be utilized elsewhere.

Val kept insisting 'soon' without putting in the effort to make it happen. Based on Yelena's expression, the next major disaster that came across their radar, and they would be heading there regardless of Val's feelings.

Bucky agreed. He could arrange temporary transport on his own, and to hell with Val. If they were going to be a team of heroes, they needed to act like one. Nienna had taught him that being a hero didn't mean saving the world exclusively. Hell, he still occasionally rescued his neighbor's cat from the tree when he was in town—a small thing, but one that stuck in the minds of the locals.

Bucky snapped back to the here and now as he realized he had been asked a question and had missed most of it while musing on his unhappiness with this stupid presser. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

The young female reporter smiled at him and asked, "Why this team? Why not join Sam Wilson in his efforts to rebuild the Avengers?"

Val shot a glare at Bucky, but this time, he ignored her, deciding to answer for himself. "In case you missed it, we hadn't exactly planned this team, no matter what Ms de Fontaine would like you to believe." He tapped his finger on his knee and sat up straighter. "Sam gave me a second chance after the Blip, and I've done my best to earn my way back from the legacy of my years as the Winter Soldier. I saw the same potential in everyone here and figured they deserved the same chance to change their path as I had." He shrugged, then shot Val a sideways glance. "The head of the CIA seemed to agree with that, so here we are." He spread his hands wide to encompass the entirety of those sitting on the stage, including Bob, who sat next to Yelena, doing his best not to look as uncomfortable in the matching uniform as he surely felt.

Val quickly wrapped up the Q after that and shooed them off stage. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to take Bucky to task for his response, but movement from Yelena seemed to change her mind.

"Did you practice for that question?" Yelena asked him as they strolled to the transport vehicles waiting for them. They would be heading back to New York for a few days before a trip to DC to schmooze with government officials. Val's efforts to justify the expense that the New Avengers were turning out to be. "You even gave Val credit she didn't deserve."

Bucky grimaced. He hadn't liked doing that, but it had been the politic thing to do. They had her on a tight leash and just needed to remind her of that fact now and again by tugging on it. "For the record, I meant the words."

"We know," Bob said, once again pulling on the cuffs of his jacket in an effort to cover his hands. The material was not stretchy enough to move, but Bucky recognized the coping mechanism for what it was.

Yelena, without seeming conscious thought, reached out and took one of Bob's wrists into her own, which always caused the man to first look down to where she made contact, then straight ahead, shoulders relaxing at the easy reassurance she provided with the simple gesture.

The poor man had clearly been touch-starved most of his life, a fact Nienna pointed out to Bucky about himself, noting that he had suffered from it, though he'd gotten better over the years. Sam had suspected the condition, but Nienna had been the one to really identify it. She always made sure to touch him frequently, with small touches to his shoulders or arms, or, if sitting, her feet would rub against his. Bucky's bad days had become far fewer over the last couple of years, but he suspected that he would now be doing the hero gig full-time, which meant they would probably be increasing.

He'd damn near drowned himself in her after that encounter with The Void. She'd given him all that he needed, assuring him that she was there and real and with him.

While in his mind it had been an imposition on her time, she hadn't once complained, somehow knowing as she always had that she was the piece that held him together, his lynchpin, and without her in his life, he would quickly fall apart.

It had already happened once; little doubt it would again if he lost her in any manner.

Lucky for him, she still seemed to be completely head over heels in love with him.

Walker grumbled from the seat across from Bucky. "You're thinking about your… girl," using Yelena's usual phrase for Ni, "again, aren't you?"

They could have split up, with half of them riding with Valentina. None of them wanted to spend any time listening to her efforts at manipulation, especially Bob, whose darker side took great glee in her words, while also displaying an ego to match. The deadman switch, which Mel had told them about, had mysteriously vanished, most likely in Val's possession, probably being modified so that if they needed to shut down Sentry, it would keep the Void caged.

If it would even work a second time.

Not that Sentry on a god-like ego trip wouldn't be frightening as fuck, but it wouldn't involve forcing people to relive their worst nightmares over and over again.

Bob might one day be able to control Sentry's powers, but they were in no rush; the issues they as Avengers might deal with were far more mundane at this point.

"And if I am?" Bucky challenged. He hadn't seen Ni in over a week, aside from video calls, thanks to this ridiculous press tour. She had offered to come with or visit when she could, as she was working on an AI system for them to use in the Watchtower, as well as on any contracted projects she had. She didn't have to work if she didn't want to; her, as it turned out, temporary ability at the stock market had faded once the nanobots had been successfully removed, so most of her income was derived from her contracted jobs. Prior to then, she'd stockpiled more than enough money in several offshore accounts that she could probably retire and not do a damn thing for the rest of her life if she so chose.

Instead, she had, with Cat as her partner, fully reopened Nyte Visions and gone back to working nearly full-time. The most significant difference was client choice; she had the freedom to be picky and charge a hell of a lot of money and did so. In truth, she had been the breadwinner of their family, as Congress didn't exactly pay well. Not that money had been an issue. The salary had more than covered the DC apartment, which he no longer needed. It had taken him less than a week to fully move back into the Brooklyn apartment and settle into a routine with his wife.

He liked having someone to come home to more than he had ever expected.

"Can't you let the man be happy?" Alexei groused.

"Yeah," Bob agreed in a rare show of standing up to Walker.

Walker shot a look that caused Bob to swallow hard, but he didn't back down for a change.

"I like Nienna. She treats me like a person. Not a broken toy."

"She likes you, too," Yelena assured him.

She wasn't wrong. On those occasions, Ni was at the Tower, she always offered to show Bob what she was working on, and was endlessly patient with him. Ultimately, she wanted each of them to know and understand the basics of the system she was creating so they could assist in maintenance if needed. The interface would be as simple as possible for a highly complex control system. However, since it was being designed primarily from scratch, she had a default base AI that she would modify to reduce installation time; it was still a complex system that needed to be connected to the dozens of other systems and satellites that would give them access to a plethora of information. Nevertheless, every aspect would be tailored to their specific needs.

Val had not been thrilled about them going to an outside vendor for the computer systems, but hadn't exactly been able to argue with the quality that would be produced, especially given Ni still had her security clearance.

Not that any of them gave a great god damn about Val's wants.

Bucky's phone buzzed then, quickly followed by the bings and dings of everyone else's. He pulled out his phone to see a "Great job, everyone," from Nienna in one of the group chats they had set up. They had several, but only this one included Nienna, although he had others with Sam and Sarah and the like that also included Ni. Those had been awfully quiet as of late. Sam was not happy about the whole New Avengers thing, and Sarah, of course, was taking her brother's side.

She still texted Bucky on his own to make sure he was doing well and updated him on how the boys were doing, but Sam was never included in those.

Bucky had tried to set up a dinner, coffee, or anything else with Sam to explain how this mess had come about, but he'd been so angry that the texts or calls always ended in bitterness and distrust.

Bucky hated it. He had not planned this at all, had intended never to play the part of hero again – barring world-saving events that absolutely required his presence – to do his duty as a congressman and try to better this country and the world from the inside out, and look how that had ended.

Granted, if he had not become Congressman Barnes, he never would have learned about all the nasty shit Valentina had been doing and would not have been there to encounter the foursome who had survived the vault. Would never have learned of the threat Bob could become as The Sentry or The Void.

Bob would have come to New York and possibly never been stopped. The entire world might have become engulfed in the quiet man's inner darkness.

So, perhaps, everything had fallen out the way it had always been meant to.

Bucky was once again wearing a uniform and doing things in the name of god and country.

He snorted at that thought. He'd met gods. Not a single one had come across as what most religions considered godly. They'd just been people with powers and long lives.

Which, technically, made him one as well.

Not a good one in his opinion.

"Does she actually watch these?" Bob asked in a soft voice as he stared at the message on his phone.

"Of course she does, " Walker sneered.

Ava rolled her eyes. "Just because you don't have a personal cheering section doesn't mean we can't appreciate the small one we do have. I like Nienna for herself. Not because she's Barnes' wife."

Walker huffed out a breath and crossed his arms over his chest, looking like he was going to start pouting yet again at the unfairness of Bucky having someone who stood by him when Walker's wife hadn't.

Bucky had neither the time nor the energy to explain that he'd been in recovery when he'd met Nienna and been able to move forward from there. Walker had his most significant failure while they'd been together and expecting their first child. Recovery was a long road, and he'd only just begun it in many ways, and damn if he wasn't fighting it tooth and nail.

"Stop being an asshole," Bob groused. "She's trying to make us feel good when almost everyone thinks that us working together is a terrible idea."

Not wrong by any means. Any one piece of news praising their efforts was countered by dozens of others criticizing them. Ni always pointed out that all they could do was their best. Public opinion was fickle at best; the views of individuals, especially those whom they had saved, would matter more in the end.

The same things she had told Bucky when they'd been dating. He made sure to pass those same sentiments on to the rest of the team, but even he had to admit it was hard when all the headlines seemed to focus on what they had done in the past and not what they could potentially do together in the future.

"Everyone else is wrong," Alexei pronounced in his usual boisterous tone. "We make good team and will get better with time."

Yelena sighed softly. "Words mean nothing; we have to show them what we can do." She locked eyes with Bucky. "We need to be out there helping, not doing fashion shows on early morning TV."

"I know," he agreed. "Transport is our biggest issue. Never mind equipment." He glanced around the group. "I have access to some equipment since Valentina is stonewalling us on being able to provide any, but it won't be the most up-to-date. I imagine with a few calls, each of us can get to more, but do we go through Mel or just do it ourselves?"

"Any missions we get sent on are going to be more covert, I suspect," Ava pointed out, and not wrongly. "I believe all of us are trying to get away from that."

Nods all around.

"So what do we do?" Walker grumbled. "None of us are choir boys; we're good at destroying things and not much else."

"Speak for yourself, Walker," Bob muttered. "Can't we, and by that I mean you," Bob gave a vague wave in all of their direction, "find people to help? Like we did after… after I broke the city? Do we need permission from Val to just go help?"

"She seems to think so," Ava muttered in a dark tone, but she looked to both Bucky and Yelena for a real answer.

"No," Yelena spoke up first. "Next time something happens, earthquake, flood, hell, a robbery at the local bodega, we go. I know the city is full of street-level heroes, and I do not wish to take their place, but we do need to ease the concerns of our neighbors. We want them to feel safe because we are nearby and not like they need to cower in their basements."

Bucky gave her a smile and nod of encouragement. "That's what I ended up doing a lot in Brooklyn. Just helped where I could, even if it was just getting the neighbor's cat out of a tree." When in town and home, he still did that on occasion, mainly because Mrs. Sanchez liked watching him climb the tree. He didn't mind all that much, really, and it served as a reminder that he was just a regular person, no matter how super that serum may have made him.

"Deeds not words," Bob muttered barely above a whisper.

"Yes," Alexei agreed at a near shout, which caused Bob to flinch ever so slightly. "We show them what we can be, what we can do. They will have to put us on Wheaties box."

Yelena did the literal facepalm that Bucky wanted to. Alexei obviously missed his glory days as a hero. Bucky could relate; once upon a time, the Howling Commandos had been the superstars of the military during World War II. Fighting not only Nazi's but Hydra and having an actual effect on the outcome of that war. Walker and his team had received numerous medals and awards before he'd become Captain America.

Huh, of everyone here, it was the supersoldiers who best understood how to be heroes, no matter how far they'd fallen from those high pedestals they had once been put upon.

"Then why are we still doing this stupid press tour?" Ava complained, no little bitter about it. Not a single one of them had liked the idea, but had felt forced into going along with it for the time being.

"Well, the building is still being renovated," Walker reminded.

"We've all slept rougher," Yelena countered. "We can manage without for a while."

There were nods from all around.

"So, are we doing DC?" Bob questioned.

That was not a presser; that was more like a campaign funding dinner. Bring in the team and trot them around the ring to show off their talents to gain support from those with money and influence. It was more for Val, who still had the threat of impeachment hanging over her head, if only in the eyes of certain government members and the public. It had not come even close to being erased by the 'reveal' of the New Avengers.

Some members still called for her head on a plate just for her connections with OXE, her denials convincing no one, especially after the debacle the introduction of The Sentry had been.

"Maybe," Ava began, her mind working hard. "Maybe, but we do it for us. We do it to gain support for us, not Val. She may be the bank, we are the product. We need to show them when push comes to shove, she is not calling the shots, we are."

"Oh, I like that," Alexei chimed in. "All in favor?"

A round of unenthusiastic 'ayes' was given, causing Bucky to chuckle.

"What Barnes?" Walker questioned, his aye just as pitiful as the rest.

"We have a lot of work to do."

~^~

They walked into a chaotic mess upon arriving at the Tower.

Val had shown up first, almost as if she had planned it, and gone inside instead of waiting for them as she usually did. Primarily to inform them again of what they had done wrong.

The team, once again refusing to ride with her, arrived a fair fifteen minutes later, and the instant Bucky stepped out of the SUV, Cat had begun buzzing the damn comms behind his ear.

"What?" he hissed, slowing his steps to let others get ahead. While he had remained connected to Cat and Iris via the comms he'd used prior to this whole Avengers thing, none of the others had been. Yelena might still have her comms from when they'd rescued Nienna in London, but he had no idea if she wore it with any regularity, given it had been a couple of years.

Currently, most of the team's communication was done via their phones, as they had not yet decided on specific equipment for anything, really. That was a task they'd deal with after DC.

"Ni is here working on some tech stuff, and Ms. de Fontaine has… introduced herself," Cat informed him in a tight voice. A voice that told Bucky that said introduction was not going well.

"Shit. Tell her we're on our way up and that killing Valentina would not be in anyone's best interest right now." He ran for the elevator. The others looked confused but followed along, rushing in just as the doors slid shut.

"What's wrong?" Bob asked, sensing the shifting tone of their ostensible leader.

"Ni is upstairs," Bucky answered as if that were enough to explain everything.

"Shit," Yelena added.

Bucky rolled his shoulders, wishing he had at least a knife with him, and noted that, with the exception of Bob, all the others' hands went to their hips, looking for their preferred weaponry.

Bob looked confused, unsure why Ni's presence could be a problem. And he wasn't wrong. It wasn't about Nienna, it was about Valentina.

Val, who lived for manipulation and would take the worst thing that happened to you and twist it, would use it in an attempt to put you under her control. Bucky knew that would be a mistake, as Nienna still had this knee-jerk reaction when it came to her time in London and being forced into that Lilith persona.

And that reaction was in no way related to cowering.

The door opened, and they all rushed out to see Val casually walking towards Nienna, who stood in front of the massive, repaired windows, her face a mask of nothing.

"You have such potential, Miss Grace. Those nanobots worked near perfectly in you; I don't understand why you wouldn't want the opportunity to make use of them. Imagine the skills you could learn in mere seconds with little to no effort required."

"Only at the cost of losing me," Ni sneered, the tone of her voice so icy cold it made Bucky shiver. She was quickly heading beyond anger. "No thanks."

Val literally pish-poshed Ni's comment, much to Bucky's astonishment. "They only do that when we want them to. Or need them to. Your AI skills might be up there with Stark's, but I'm certain there are other fields you could excel at."

Alexei cleared his throat, and Val turned her head slightly to acknowledge their arrival, not that she hadn't been aware from the moment the elevator had begun to move upwards from the lobby.

"Oh, look, the knights in tarnished armour have arrived to save you."

Everyone on the team, including Bob, bristled, which impressed Bucky, given Bob would generally be the first to back down when Val started something, knowing she could easily trigger the Sentry with mixed results on whose side he'd be on.

Ni snorted in derision. "I don't need to be rescued." Ni's clothes… rippled. The shirt and jeans remained in place, though it was apparent something was happening beneath them. Black and silver slid down her arms, ending in fingerless gloves. In her right hand, a staff appeared, similar to the ones the Dora Milaje used, but modified. He recognized it as a copy of the one she'd trained with in Wakanda. Yama had indeed taken her under her wing and taught Nienna as much as she could learn, given such a late start.

He'd not been aware that she'd been working with nanotech to create armor and weapons similar to the Black Panther suits since she'd returned to New York. She still wore the honeycomb and bee necklace he'd given her that fateful July Fourth. She had a set of Kimoyo beads, but had left them in their apartment in Wakanda, so he had no idea where the nanobots that made up the suit had come from. She had never even hinted she'd been working on such a project, though given everything that had happened to her, he couldn't really be surprised.

The Black Panther suit utilized a necklace, while Iron Man's Arc Reactor had powered and then housed his suits, depending on the incarnation. He had no clue what Nienna had used. Hell, he hadn't known she'd even built the thing. Right now, though, it didn't matter.

"Holy shit," Yelena breathed. She turned to Bucky. "Are we sure she's not a hero?"

Ni took on a defensive stance, the extremely sharp-looking tip of her staff pointed at Val, and clear menace on Ni's face. She would not regret stabbing the woman for one second.

"Come now, there's no need for that," Valentina whined in a saccharine sweet tone.

Ni advanced two steps, completed a tricky twirl that ended with the butt of the staff slammed down. It sounded like a gunshot had gone off against the tile of the floor before once again pointing it at Val's midsection.

Bob surged forward, sliding to a stop directly between the two women, hands up in an effort to reduce the tension. "No. Don't do this."

"Damn it," Ava muttered. "I kind of wanted to see Val impaled."

Yelena snorted, not about to argue the point.

Bucky had a more practical view. Without Valentina, the government would shut down this New Avengers grand experiment in favor of Sam's far more controllable team in an instant. Not that Bucky didn't think there was more than enough room for two Avengers teams. The world was a vast place, never mind the entire galaxy, which they were slowly becoming involved with. Six people could never be enough to handle all the situations that might arise.

"Oh, she won't hurt me," Val stated, sounding totally dismissive of the honest-to-god threat Nienna currently was.

"Don't be so confident of that, Val." Nienna sneered the other woman's name, making it absolutely clear she had no intention of playing nice.

"I think your husband would say otherwise," Val countered, confirming what Bucky had suspected, that she knew about their marriage, though for how long she had yet to divulge.

"Her husband does not control her actions," Bucky stated, relaxing his stance, crossing his arms over his chest, and making it very clear that he considered his wife a grown ass woman who could make her own decisions, even if that meant shoving a six-foot-long spear through someone's midsection. If Ni wanted to stab Val, he'd back her choice and then do everything in his power to protect her from the fallout, whatever it might turn out to be. He'd probably make a call or two, and they would head back to Wakanda. Hell, there was a chance Ni would be praised for getting Val removed from office, if a tad violently. "Besides, we need to break in the med lab at some point in time."

Ni got this dangerous grin, causing Ava to chuckle and Alexei to say, "Your woman is a fiery one. I like her."

Bob glared at Val, then turned his back on her and walked towards Ni, the point of the staff mere inches from his chest. It wouldn't hurt him as he, even in his mortal form, had proven to be damn near indestructible, but he knew he had nothing to fear from Nienna. The tip shifted from point to flat as he kept moving forward, the staff shrinking until it had vanished back into the suit itself. He grasped Ni's hand, gently turning it over so that he could see the patterning of the nanotech armour that covered her arm.

"I will not let her hurt you," he said to Ni in a calm, quiet tone that had underlying hints of not-Bob in there.

Val appeared to be quite disgusted at that. "She's not even part of your team."

"Only because she does not wish to be," Alexei explained.

"Fuck," Yelena muttered. "Shut up, Alexei."

Val turned on them. "I know you went behind my back for your tech. Though why you trust her after she created that blasphemous AI system is beyond me."

"You're only upset you didn't create it first," Ava pointed out.

Val grinned. "Can't say we didn't try, but now that the tech is banned…" she shrugged. "It will just take a bit longer."

Bucky hoped Cat would keep her mouth shut on this occasion.

"She's just mad because she can't control me," Cat stated for his ears alone, and even Bucky knew it was the absolute truth. "I'll keep an eye on this sitch, but I have other things to do right now. You good?"

"We'll be fine, Cat," he responded loud enough for Val to hear him. Based on the frown that crossed her features, he'd hit his mark.

Yelena laughed. "Go away, Valentina. We'll do DC, and then we're done with the dog and pony show."

"You don't get to make that decision," Val argued in a vain effort to stand her ground.

"Yeah, I think we do," Bucky added. The entire team shifted forward and toward each other, making it clear they were in agreement on this decision.

Val sighed dramatically. "Fine. I'll have Mel cancel the remaining interviews. There are operational decisions that need to be made anyway. I'll have her coordinate with you?"

"Yes," Yelena answered, then glanced at the elevator, making it clear that now would be the best time for their so-called boss to escort herself from the premises.

She huffed, then, clicking her heels as loudly as she could manage, forced herself between Yelena and Walker, and went to the elevator. None of them spoke until the numbers above the door showed the car had returned to the ground floor.

"Fuck," Walker muttered. He headed for one of the seats, all temporary and about as utilitarian as they could find, and dropped into one. "I really like her less every day."

"Do we still need her?" Alexei also asked, heading for a seat, unzipping the jacket and tossing it over the back of the sofa. "I need vodka."

"We do for now. She has the money, until this Watchtower is finished, she'll need to be involved," Yelena admitted, heading to the makeshift bar that had appeared while they were at one of the pressers, finding a bottle of vodka on the fancy bar cart, and tossing it to Alexei, who caught it with ease. Valentina seemed to like to use it as a psychological tool. She made an effort to appear calm and confident in front of a half-dozen people who didn't trust her at all.

Ava chose a chair to sit on, though she remained on the edge of the seat, ready to move on an instant's notice, watching Bob and Nienna instead of the pair of Russians being Russian. "Do you even get drunk?" Ava asked.

Alexei responded, "Yes, but it takes a lot."

Bucky strode over to where Bob still gently held Ni's wrist. "I got her."

Bob looked over at him. "I did not know she could get so angry."

"Hey, I am right here," Ni snarled. She still had issues with not being recognized as her own person. Nicknames like "darlin'" or "sweetheart" from strangers, no matter how kindly meant, could and would make her outrageously angry in mere seconds. She already had a profound dislike of Val, given the shit she had pulled; focusing her intent on Nienna could be the CIA director's downfall.

Bob's grip tightened, and his eyes went wide in surprise and no little fear.

She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out to a slow count of ten. "Bob, I'm sorry. That anger should not have been directed at you."

He gave her a wavery smile. "I know. You were hurt and haven't recovered completely yet. I understand." He looked around the room. "We all do. But you don't have to be afraid when you're here, okay."

She nodded, and the nanosuit slowly began to retract until she was once again just in her jeans and tee. "Thank you, Bob." She shivered slightly, but Bucky knew it wasn't because she was chilled. She still had bad days, and Val had chosen to press all the right buttons to get her wound up. The trouble was that Ni got angry and defensive instead of cowed.

Being raped both mentally and physically can do that to a person.

Bob stepped away, seeming assured that she would be okay, and Bucky wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against him and kissing her on the temple. "You good, doll?"

He could hear her jaw pop. "Not really. I was intending to be gone before she arrived." Nienna neither liked nor trusted Valentina. They wandered towards the makeshift bar where Ni settled next to Ava on another chair, Bucky standing beside her. Yelena poured her a double of bourbon and handed it to her.

"I think she's been trying to arrange a meeting for a while," Yelena offered up. "When we told her we'd found an outside company for the main system, she'd been…"

"Pissed?" Walker suggested.

"Inconvenienced?" Ava added. "I suspect this place is bugged in ways I can't even imagine."

"Good thing I can," Ni said, her voice husky after downing half of the bourbon. "Daily sweeps right now. You can't even trust the contractors. They could literally be giving info to any of a dozen governments or agencies while they're ostensibly installing the drywall. The ones buried in walls and concrete, we're using localized EMPs to fry permanently. Let me know if you want me not to find a few to feed disinformation through."

Walker snorted at that. "You think like a covert agent."

She shrugged. "I've learned my lesson. Dying changes a person."

Bob started. "You… you died?"

She gave him a smile to reassure him. "Faked, Bob. Then abducted and… and I'm not in the right frame of mind to talk about the rest today. Val's visit has me on a hair trigger right now, so if I walk away, please do not be offended." Her tone devolved into a painfully neutral one as she spoke, which told Bucky that Val had been poking the bear long before their arrival.

Alexei cleared his throat. "So where did the armour come from?"

Ni adjusted the neckline of her shirt to reveal the necklace she was wearing. It was in addition to the one he'd given her that summer in Delacroix. The chain had a distinctive sheen that he recognized, from which hung a heavy pendant that he suspected housed the nanobots that made up the armour, given its matching silver and black color. "It's not as fancy as the Black Panther suit, or as weaponized as the Iron Man suits, but it gives me some basic protection. It can even do a full headpiece if I wear some additional accessories."

"And weaponry," Ava reminded.

"Blunt, but yes. That was my addition. I've ended up fight adjacent just enough to need some extra skills, and they were willing to train me while I was in Wakanda, so…" she shrugged.

"That spear was not blunt," Walker pointed out.

"I was very angry," Nienna told him, her entire body posture just daring him to find out for himself, supersoldier or no. Given she sparred with Bucky these days, she had the chance to hold her own if nothing else.

"Stop," Bucky leaned down and said softly in her ear. "They are not your enemies."

She huffed out a breath, then downed the remainder of the bourbon. "Well, this has been fun, but I'm going to head out. I have programming to do." She stood, setting the glass on the cushion, Bucky grabbing her hand as she did so.

"Doll–"

"Bucky, I'm fine and really do have work to do. You guys aren't my only clients." She faced him with a broken smile on her lips. "I'm not going to sleep tonight anyway."

He frowned. "I'll be home in a few hours, you can at least try when I get there."

She shrugged. "You have decisions to make before you go to DC. If you need to stay here, do so. I'm a big girl, remember?"

"You could stay here, too," Bob offered. "In fact, you should come to DC with us."

"Oh, fuck no. I have too many opinions at the moment to be politically correct."

"Actually, that's not a terrible idea," Yelena said. "I know you're not 'out' with your relationship, but if you don't want Val using it against Bucky, you coming along on his arm might just present us in a…"

"Humble?" Ava suggested.

"Human light," Walker stated. "The Winter Soldier married, and not recently even. That… well, that'll be good publicity for not just him but the entire team."

"And you are already great at handling the press, especially tabloids," Bucky reminded her.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. Is this black tie crap? Are they making you guys dress up or more uniform runway stuff?"

Bucky looked over at Yelena. "I have no idea."

"I'll ask Mel and tell her we'll have a plus one." Yelena lifted her phone, wagged it, and looked at Ni. "I'll text you as soon as we know."

Ni nodded. "I'm sure I can scrounge up something even if it's an actual tux. I look rather good in one."

Bucky chuckled. She'd done that for one of the events he'd taken her to as a congressman; it had both scandalized the older crowd and started a trend with the younger generation, much to the dismay of many. "I keep forgetting how dangerous you are."

She grinned. "Bob, walk me down?"

Bucky guessed she wanted to make amends for snapping at him. Next to Yelena, she had been the most patient and understanding of his situation.

Bob ducked his head and then looked at Bucky as if to ask permission.

"Bob, she asked you, not me."

Bob stood straight and tall, nodding. The pair disappeared into the elevator.

"Bloody hell, Barnes, would she really have stabbed Val?" Ava asked.

"If she'd pushed much more, possibly. What Nienna went through…" He glanced over at Yelena, who had been there for some of it. "The physical damage was fixed, mostly; some of her memories aren't hers anymore, but…"

"We've all had trauma, Barnes, we get it," Walker said softly, for once not sneering when talking about Nienna.

"She's stuck being superhero adjacent," Ava stated. "She'll have the time she needs from us."

"And we make it clear to Val that if she harms Ni, that we will return the favor," Yelena added, the only person in the group to have known Ni nearly as long as Bucky. She glanced down at her phone as it buzzed. "Uniforms for us. Not the armour, but the fancy casual ones."

That got grumbles from pretty much everyone, though those were far more comfortable than the armoured suits that changed design almost daily.

"She wants to know who the extra person is."

Bucky answered, "Tell her."

Yelena did, and they all waited for the response. "Formal. Black with red accents." She sighed. "I think they planned for Ni to join us on this tour eventually." She held up her phone to show the image Mel had sent. "The suggestion."

Bucky rubbed his face in his hand. "Ni is gonna want to wear purple or orange just to be difficult."

Yelena laughed. "Tell her the dress is free. We'll make Val cover the cost."

Bucky nodded. "Good idea. I'll let Ni know later." He knew she was going to need some time to come down from the anger-induced adrenaline high that had been forced upon her. She would likely bury herself in coding until he arrived and encouraged her to take a break. He would have Cat keep an eye on her just in case. Nothing pressing was going on that he couldn't rush home to take care of her.

"So after DC, what are we going to do?" Walker asked.

The elevator dinged, and Bob stepped out, his face etched with a slight frown of concern, though Bucky had no idea if it was about himself or Ni.

"We do our jobs and be heroes," Bucky stated.