Second Sphere

Okay, I'll sign

"Feathers, in here." Tony calls me into the glass conference room.

I sit down cautiously at one end of the table.

He sighs rubbing a hand over his face, "I know. I know this is a mess. And we all have a part in that." I open my mouth to say something but he holds up a hand to stop me. "And I know why you did what you did. You never officially signed the accords. But you still can. You can still make this right. The last 24 hours we can make that disappear."

I sigh, "Tony, I can't leave Bucky. He didn't do this. You have to believe me." I plead. I need someone to listen. "If I sign this I can't protect him, there's a Wakandan prince who wants his head for a crime he didn't commit."

Tony pats my shoulder and sits down. "If you sign this. Barnes can go to an American psych ward, you can visit him. We can work with that. But if you don't, he goes to some Wakandan cell."

I shake my head, "They won't put him in a cell, they'll kill him."

Tony looks at me sympathetically, "All the more reason to sign, you can protect him this way. We won't let him get hurt."

"Promise me Tony." I look at him tears flooding over.

"I promise." Tony says, "Do you want a pinky promise?" He offers up a pinky.

I take it and let out a shaky breathe. "Okay. I'll sign." I know by doing so I'll be submitting myself to the same testing as everyone else, but that fear is far less than losing Bucky after I just got him back.

I take the pen he offers and sign the paperwork.

Even after signing I'm not allowed to listen in on the psychological evaluation. I'm still in the glass conference room with Steve and Sam, both of whom are less than thrilled I signed.

The blonde agent from before, Sharon, comes in "Here's the receipt for your gear."

Sam picks it up and reads, "'Bird costume?' Come on."

"I didn't write it" she says sarcastically. She clicks on the com system so we can listen in and my head shoots up. She looks at me putting a finger over her lips to shush me and I nod.

The doctor is speaking, "I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James? I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

He looks up, "My name is Bucky."

For the most part the interview isn't interesting. It's slow to get any answers from Bucky.

"Why would the task force release this photo to begin with?" Steve asks.

The blonde shrugs, "Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?"

"Right. It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier." Steve makes a good point, we may not be under Hydra's influence anymore but he wouldn't let himself get caught like that.

"You're saying someone framed him to find him?" Sharon asks Steve.

"Steve, the three of us have been looking for the guy for two years and found nothing." Sam interjects.

"We didn't bomb the UN. That turns a lot of heads." Steve is quick to point out.

"Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him, it guarantees that we would." She says.

I finally speak up, "Unless, that's what they wanted."

Steve looks at me and then he stares back at the screen with Bucky and the doctor.

"Tell me Bucky you've seen a great deal haven't you?" The doctor asks.

He nods. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You fear that if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop. Don't worry. We only have to talk about one." The doctor suggests.

All of a sudden the lights go out in the whole building. We turn to Sharon.

"Sub level five. East wing." Is all she says before we run out.