Girl in Blue

7 - No Deal

"No."

"You haven't even heard what I have to say yet," Tony argued.

"Well then what is it?" Atlas asked.

"Consider me a character witness. I got Ross to let you sign the Accords and all you get is five years probation. That's it."

Atlas only shook her head. "No."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not doing this for myself," Atlas started. "You think I haven't thought about what would happen if I didn't sign, or if I joined Steve in Romania? Well, I did."

"Just consider the future that you're putting on the line," Tony reasoned.

"I have! And Bucky deserves a shot as his future just as much as I deserve mine. You knew that HYDRA was controlling him, and you didn't bother to say anything to Ross?" Atlas asked. Tony didn't say anything, he only stared at Atlas with a blank look on his face. "That's what I thought. No deal." Atlas turned away from Tony again and walked out of the room, finding Steve and Sam in the nearby office. She walked in and dropped in the closest seat. She was angry. Angrier than she had even been in her life. She struggled to keep her irises from turning blue, but they did. Her eyes flickered back and forth from brown to blue as she tried to take deep breaths and control her emotions.

"Atlas?" Steve asked, taking a seat beside her. She didn't say anything. Atlas only stared at the ground with a stone-cold look on her face. "Look at me," Steve said seriously.

Atlas contemplated for a few moments. She knew that just by looking at Steve, she'd calm down, but she didn't want to after the promise Tony had broken. Tony knew that Atlas didn't know who she was without her bending, and putting the power in the hands of complete strangers made her angry - as it should. But in the end, she decided to look up at Steve for the sake of everyone around her. She couldn't lose control. Especially now, since she and the other Avengers who hadn't signed the Accords were being put under a microscope by everyone around them, just waiting for them to make another mistake so the authorities could prosecute them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming from outside the office. A voice came from the monitors that Ross had on Bucky's glass cage. "Hello, Mr. Barnes," the voice said. Atlas couldn't quite tell what the accent was. German - Sokovian maybe. But she knew that this was supposed to be the psychologist. "I've been sent by the United Nations to evaluate you. Do you mind if I sit?" the psychologist asked. Bucky stayed silent. All he did was lean his head back against the headrest, not even looking at the person in front of him. "Your first name is James?" Bucky still said nothing.

"The receipt for your gear," Sharon said, walking in with a small pile of papers.

"Bird costume? Come on," Sam said, glancing at the receipt.

Sharon shook her head and said, "I didn't write it." She then looked around to see if anyone was looking inside the office before pressing a button on something that looked like a telephone. The live feed of Bucky popped up on the small TV that was in one of the upper corners of the office. Atlas gave Sharon a thankful nod for the action.

"I'm not here to judge you," the psychologist continued. "I just want to ask you a few questions... Do you know where you are James?" he asked, getting started on his assessment. Bucky completely ignored his words and continued to stay silent. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

"My name is Bucky," the ex-assassin said softly.

The psychologist continued to ask Bucky questions with no answer in return. Steve looked at his file, looking hardly at the photo that had been taken of Bucky when the UN building was bombed. He threw down the pile of paper and glanced at Atlas. "Why would the task force release this photo to begin with?" Steve asked.