Us Against the World: A Captain America: Civil War AU Fanfiction

Chapter 17: The Final Verdict

We sat again, went through the motions of rising for the judge, and then sitting again. 

'Jury, your representative for the verdict.' A middle-aged man with greying hair stood, wearing wire-rimmed glasses and cleared his throat. 

'After viewing the evidence in full, and taking into account the witnesses' testimonies both for and against the defendants, we can conclude that Adelaide Lehnsherr and James Barnes are innocent of any and all wrongdoing and did not commit crimes with HYDRA of their own volition. Therefore, we believe that they must be set free, with appropriate security measures, and treated according to their status, and must be allowed to sign the Sokovia Accords as future Avengers.' The audience clapped. I'd been rather zoned out when we'd walked in, and sat there in stunned silence as the room cheered. I felt a slight shake on my shoulder and turned to see Bucky there with a smile on his face. 

'Adelaide... baby, we won. We're free.' 

'We... we are?' 

'Yeah. We're free. We're okay. We did it.' 

'Are... are... are you sure?' I stammered unsuredly. 'Are you sure you didn't hear them wrong?' 

'No, doll, I heard 'em right. We won.' I let out a choked sob, and all but collapsed into his chest, letting the tears flow for the second time that day. I sat up after a while, and looking into each other's eyes, my lips collided with his. We broke apart, him and I both breathing hard as he stroked a lock of hair back behind my ear. 'I love you.' 

'I love you too.' 

We were released within the hour, and almost collapsed when the power-restraining collar was taken off of me. We were allowed to sign the Accords and soon after, we were allowed out of the courthouse, escorted by Steve, Natasha and the police out to a different car, one that Steve was driving. The both of us, as well as the other Avengers, all but fell into the backseat, laughing and crying with joy. As the vehicle drove away to the sound of cameras flashing and people cheering, Bucky and I kissed for the second time that day. 

Later that evening... 

'I would like to propose a toast,' Tony said, standing to his feet, clinking a spoon against a glass. We all looked to him, standing at the end of the table, holding his glass of champagne. 'I would like to toast Bucky and Adelaide, and say good luck in your future. You guys deserve the world and I know that everyone at this table couldn't be more grateful for you two lovebirds being here, and for being apart of the Avengers. To freedom... and to the new Avengers.' 

'To freedom and the new Avengers!' the room said in unison, toasting to the speech, clinking glasses and drinking deeply. During the meal, as the room filled with chatter, Bucky and I sat together, in seats next to each other, drinking our wine, watching the room fill with laughter and love as Clint attempted to throw a meatball at Steve so he could catch it in his mouth, and Natasha scolding them for throwing food, and Tony and Bruce talking science, with Wanda and Vision enjoying a quiet moment of their own, and Thor laughing along with Sam at a joke that he'd made. Bucky leaned over to me, whispering in my ear. 

'Wanna get out of here?' I met his eyes. I let a smile slip past my lips as I stroked his jaw with my thumb. 

'Yeah, sure.' I put my glass down and taking his hand, we snuck out of the common room and down the halls to our room. He leaned over and opened the door with his hand, kicking it open the rest of the way, then kicking it shut.

I know I said I'll write a StuckyPhoenix book, I don't know if I want to. I'm thinking I'll write another book titled something like 'Adelaide Lehnsherr: A Diary,' or something like that. If I do, which I definitely might, it's gonna be about her recording her memories and such, up until the events of TFATWS. 

Anyway, that'd be a pretty cool book to write. 

But, onto the epilogue!!