All I Want Is Everything

Wins and losses

I still remember how much I used to need you
Tried so hard to please you, but you didn't need me
You knew I loved you, knew I always would be there
You just did what you wanted, you didn't care
All the cards were held by you
There was nothin' I could do

Laura Branigan, Solitaire

After the call with Steve, Ella focused on the arm. She put her head up and looked around when she signed a great contract with Flerken, three albums in ten years along with other opportunities as they presented themselves, and, crucially, all rights to her music and her masters would revert to her in five years. This was retroactive and covered "Honey" too.

After the signing, Loki took her out for a celebratory lunch, and she told him more about the music she'd written for Shield and they talked about her upcoming work with Scott for RCA. Nick also knew about all of this, she'd insisted on being transparent, and Nick was interested to know that she was open to writing for other acts. Loki was doing well for himself, having all the clients he felt he could represent effectively, and his star was ascendant at ACA.

After that, she emerged only occasionally, for grocery shopping, occasional phone calls, the occasional night out, and once to measure Bucky's right arm, shoulder, and hand extensively. She and Rhodes talked at least twice a week, and by mid-August, she had a working prototype. She put it in her tote and went over to Bucky's. Mrs Barnes answered the door, looking flustered at the sight of her.

"Hello, is Bucky home?" Ella asked politely, just like she had growing up.

"Yes, he is, Ella," Mrs Barnes replied.

"May I see him?" Mrs Barnes stepped back and swung the door wide.

"Go ahead, Ella," she said as Ella came in. "Follow the sound." Indeed, Bucky was drumming. And it sounded better than she thought it would at this point.

Ella followed the beat down a hall and knocked on a door to what was apparently a spare bedroom converted into his practice room. Bucky looked over at the noise, sweaty from the work he was putting in and he looked vital and alive. "Come look!" he said, gesturing her over, spinning his drumstick, and he showed off an elaborate system of pedals. He'd added another snare so that between his right hand and his feet, he could produce complex sound.

"That sounds really good," Ella said. "It's different than what you did before but it's... I don't really know how to quantify it. It's... snappier? Harder? I don't know. It's cool and distinctive." Bucky beamed.

"Been working hard."

"It shows. And without further ado...." She reached into her tote bag and withdrew the arm, holding it by the shoulder and extending it to him hand first. He grabbed the hand, bracing him for the weight, but he was surprised.

"What is this?" he asked. "It's so light. I thought it would be steel." He started to examine it closely.

"Rhodey has friends in far-flung places, it's from an asteroid. They call the metal vibranium and it has sound-dampening properties which should help with drumming. It's the weirdest stuff, there's not a place for it on the periodic table of elements, it's not an alloy—there is an alloy, apparently, called adamantium, but it's actually heavier, more expensive, and less versatile. And it's not a radioactive element, so that's a plus." Bucky burst into laughter.

"This is amazing," he said. "Can I look at it in a mirror?" They went to a bathroom and she stood behind him to slide it carefully over the stump of his arm and hold it into place on his shoulder.

"Wow," he whispered. "This looks amazing. It is badder-assed than bad ass. How will it work?"

"I have a simple rod set-up for the bones and joints of the arm. The hand was the tricky part and Strange had to help a lot, but we have that too now. I think he told you that they'd be surgery?" Bucky nodded, meeting her eyes in the mirror. "Good. There will be two implants. One in the shoulder, a cuff to keep the arm on your body. There's a release mechanism on the collar that works with the shoulder part that allows it to slide off for maintenance, upgrades, or just because of the weight. We've cut down the last gram, but it is still going to be a little heavier than your flesh arm. Then there will be a collar on the residual limb that will attach the metal 'bones' and 'muscle' and protect the interface from damage. Strange will rearrange the nerves to interface with the artificial ones that Rhodey has produced. He's almost done with the construction of that; they're going into the novel material we're using for muscles so they can respond like natural nerve and muscle. It has to be created in layers, because we are trying to match your muscle types with the artificial stuff. I don't understand it well, but I don't have to, I'm not making it. There's slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscles, other considerations... And it has to be durable, you wouldn't believe the numbers I got from you and the other drummers who let me get data. So it's taking awhile but we're almost there. Then the assemblies have to be attached to the structural component and it's got to be fit into this structure. Strange's genius is that the artificial nerves will respond just like natural ones once they're introduced to each other. He's going to call you this week to set up the surgery. The two implants have to be healed before we can attach the arm. Go ahead," she urged, "use your hand to move the joints on the arm. It's flexible now, it just doesn't have the inside stuff yet."