Learn to Fly

Chapter 13

Steve shifted the box of stuff in his hands. He wasn't going to lie, he was nervous about Bucky living with the rest of the Avengers. He couldn't show it though. No, he had to be strong for Bucky. After a harrowing elevator ride, Steve and Bucky stepped into the common room. The room went silent and froze. Peter was the one to get up and greet Steve.

"It's nice to finally meet you Mr. Captain Rogers sir! You as well Mr. Sergeant Barnes sir! Do you know where your rooms are?" He chirped.

"You must be Peter," Steve said, shifting the box so he could shake Peter's hand, "Pleasure to meet you," Bucky did the same, and Steve then took Bucky to his room. When they stepped into Steve's room and set their box down, Steve turned to face Bucky and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "So, er, Buck, would you like to be introduced as my best friend or my boyfriend?" Bucky visibly winced.

"I dunno Stevie. Is it still dangerous to be queer?" Steve merely shrugged. When they re-entered the common room, it went silent again.

"Hello! I'd like you to meet my best friend, James Barnes." A series of greetings were made, and conversation resumed normally. Steve led Bucky to a couch, when Nat came up to the two of them.

"Hey Steve, James. I'm so sorry about what happened at the bridge,"

"It's alright," Steve said. Bucky however remained motionless, inspecting Nat curiously. Finally he spoke up,

"Черная вдова?"

Nat gasped, "Солдат?" Simultaneously, they both whispered, "Holy shit," Nat quickly left. "Hydra, red room. Don't mention it," Bucky whispered to Steve. At dinner, it was tense, but everyone got over that quickly. Bucky ended up seated next to Steve and Pietro, and across from Wanda. After quickly learning of their past, he bonded great with them. Bucky couldn't help but notice the way Tony refused to even look at him. After dinner, Bucky stopped Tony.

"Er, Tony, right? Could I talk to you? I want to apologise about everything that happened when I was being brainwashed," Tony just sighed and rubbed his temples.

When he finally responded he said, "I know, Barnes. None of it was under your control. Really it's not you I'm mad at, just those bitches at Hydra," Bucky agreed, Hydra sucks.

Over the course of the next 2 weeks, Tony and Peter worked diligently on a device to erase the conditioning from Bucky's mind. Even Shuri flew in from Wakanda to help. (Let's just say that it was a nightmare when she met Peter) However, all the hard work paid off. Not an hour after Bucky's mind was set free, a Hydra official snuck in disguised as a psychologist. He repeated the trigger words and Bucky leaped with joy when they had absolutely no effect (after he shot the guy dead, of course). Life at Stark tower returned to normal. Well, what really is normal for a bunch of superheroes?