How do you heal?

Chapter 38: Don't You Have To Go

"Hello, Mr. Barnes." Said the dark haired man who entered the room where Bucky was being held. "I have been sent by the United Nations to evaluate you. Do you mind if I sit?"

Bucky didn't answer. He'd laid his head back in the cage he was strapped into, trying to figure out how he got here. Steve and Sam had found him in Bucharest but he'd only had a few minutes to talk to them before King T'Challa showed up. Bucky had explained why he came, the text messages and pictures of Annie and Steve told Bucky that she had seen someone following her and gone to the cops. At least she's okay.

"Your first name is James?" The stranger's voice came into the cage again and Bucky just looked at him before dropping his head. "I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James?" Still Bucky said nothing, he had nothing to say. He didn't understand how he had been set up and he was angry that he was in this situation when he was so close to having a normal, peaceful life. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

Every time the stranger spoke his name he could feel his anger rise. "My name is Bucky." He said. God I hate being called James.

The stranger smiled slightly at finally getting Bucky to talk. "Tell me, Bucky. You have seen a great deal, haven't you?"

Bucky looked at the man with a death glare. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You fear that if you open your mouth the horrors might never stop." Bucky watched as the stranger looked down at his laptop. "Don't worry. We only have to talk about one."

Bucky rolled his eyes and then the power went out. "What the hell is this?"

"Why don't we talk about your home? Not Brooklyn, and certainly not upstate with that pretty redhead, no. I mean your real home." The man pulled a red notebook from his bag and Bucky's heart sank.

"Wait, wait, wait, Tony, slow down. I just talked to you an hour ago. What the hell happened?" Annie nearly shrieked into her phone. Head still reeling from the Loki revelation.

"Well, Red." Tony's voice came calmly through the speaker. "Some whack job unknown triggered worded your boy toy, flipping the Winter Soldier on. He then proceeded to beat the living daylights out of a dozen people including Romanoff and King T'Challa, pulled the trigger on a gun that was pointed at my face, and tried to rip Rogers in half with a helicopter before they and Wilson disappeared."

Annie looked up at Pietro who was standing on the other side of the counter where her phone was on speaker. Thor and Loki sat quietly in the living room listening. She was at a loss for words as tears began to slip down her cheeks.

"So what happens next, Stark?" Pietro asked as he leaned over the counter.

There was a pause before Tony said, "Ah, thing two, there you are. I should have known you would follow the food source."

Pietro rolled his eyes. "Haha, Stark. Very funny joke. Now what happens next?"

"Ross has given me and Romanoff thirty six hours to bring in the three musketeers. I'm headed to New York for back up while Romanoff is working on getting Wakanda on our side." Tony said and Annie could hear the hesitancy in his voice. He was leaving something out.

"And what happens if you find them?" She asked, fearing the answer.

The line was silent for a minute and Pietro walked over and started rubbing soothing circles on Annie's back as her tears began to flow harder. "Most likely prison, Red. In the states if we are extremely lucky but I'm not sure we will be."

Annie turned to Pietro and buried her face in his chest as he asked, "Do you want me as back up?"

"No." Tony said quickly. "Stay there with her. I will try and keep you guys updated."

"I should head back to New York. Stark can't know I was here." Thor said after the call ended and he stepped into the kitchen. "Annie, for keeping my brother's secret I will do whatever I can to help Barnes and Rogers."

Bucky sat in the backseat of the old Volkswagen as he and Sam watched Steve get their gear from Sharon. "Can you move your seat up?" He asked Sam grumpily.

"No." Sam replied. "Why do you sound like someone pissed in your wheaties?"

Bucky sighed and moved closer to the center for more leg room. "Beside the fact that I was framed for a terrorist attack and had my brainwashing triggered you mean?"

Sam turned around and glared at Bucky. "While those do sound like good reasons to be an angry pain in the ass, you are also giving off mad 'kid who had his ice cream knocked out of his hand' vibes, what's up man?"

"I was getting out, Sam. Annie and I were going to buy a house. I was supposed to be done with all this."

Sam's eyes softened. "Hey man, we will figure it out. I know it seems like there is no way out of this but Cap won't let you get locked up."

Bucky let out a humorless laugh. "And what if staying out of jail means going on the run?"

Sam gave Bucky a wide genuine grin. "If that happens at least you know Banannie can make a meal out of anything and you won't go hungry."

"You think she would go with me?" Bucky asked, surprised.

Sam's grin widened. "Yeah man, I don't understand it but that girl is head over heels for you."

"It would be nice to hear her voice right about now." Bucky sighed leaning forward.

"I know, but Stark would expect you to call her so he's probably monitoring her phone. I'm sure she wants to hear from you too."

"Thanks, Sam." Bucky said sadly. While he liked the thought of Annie sticking by his side, he didn't think he could drag her into a life on the run. Away from Alex and her family, always on alert. "You know you're pretty good at that."

"Good at what?" Sam asked, perplexed.

"Seeing the positive. Changing perspective."

"You know I was a counselor before I joined up with Cap, right? Helping people see the positive was a part of my job." Sam said, playfully smacking Bucky's arm.

Bucky looked out the front window and nodded toward Steve with a smile on his face. "Well it looks like I can see some more positives in this situation right now."

Sam turned to catch the end of Steve and Sharon kissing.