Red Thorn

Chapter 17

Early 2016

It had been about a month since Bucky had arrived at the Avengers Compound. He had technically been in their custody until his hearing the previous day where he was granted a full pardon and considered the USA's longest serving prisoner of war, so long as he kept up with his court ordered therapy sessions, just as Clint had suspected.

The courtroom had been full of Avengers cases that day, with the twins battling for Visas. At first, Stark's idea was to just do nothing about it and if ICE wanted to pick a fight with the Avengers then by all means, let them try. But Red had insisted that they do it by the books because if not it was a disaster in the waiting. Something that, given that she didn't trust or even like them particularly much for that matter, surprised the rest of the team.

Somehow, she had managed to find a loophole in the system that meant that by declaring the Avengers a 'charitable organisation', the twins could receive aid workers visas, making sure to reiterate that they were asylum seekers who 'wanted to give back.'

Seeing as he was now officially allowed to leave the confines of the Compound, Bucky had decided to, or more so Steve had coaxed the brunette into joining him, Red and Sam on their early morning run. Something that the latter was making sure Red knew he wasn't happy with.

"I just don't understand why he has to join us," Sam complained as he and Red jogged side-by-side.

The two supersoldiers were running ahead, saying "On your left," every time they overtook Sam and Red.

"Morning runs were our thing, you know?"

Red's answer came only as a silent raise of her eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it was your thing before I started tagging along, but then it became our thing," he went on, slowing down a little so that he could both talk and run. "But that's not even the worst part!"

Following his lead, Red slowed down ever so slightly, but still didn't say a word. Once upon a time it would have bothered her that she wasn't pushing herself to run as fast as she could, but she had been working on that for a while and she was now able to run at a more leisurely pace.

"It took two-hundred-and-seventy-two days of us running together every single morning for you to feel comfortable enough for you to not wear your mask around me and another thirty-eight for us to have our first conversation." Sam stopped talking for a moment before frantically adding, "Which I am totally okay with. I understand that it is a trust thing and trust takes time, all I'm saying is that--"

"On your left," both Steve and Bucky said as they all but sprinted past the two of them, cutting Wilson off.

Sam sighed, though it was more of a frustrated grunt. "All I'm saying is that he decides to join us for a run and we're right back where we started. I spent months earning your trust and he's gone and fucked that up for me because now here you are, mask on, not saying a word."

Red stopped, one hand on Sam's arm to get him to do the same. "Samuel, we're still friends."

A smile crept across his face as he began running again. "You know I hate being called Samuel, right?"

"Oui," she answered, smirking under her mask.

Before they knew it, the two supersoldiers were rapidly gaining on them, Red hearing them before her running partner.

"Stop faking it, Sam, we saw you stop," Steve called out, unknowingly putting the final nail in his coffin as he ran ever closer. "On your le--"

Without looking, Red reached out to her left. Grabbed a hold of the Captain's arm and pulled down, tripping him up as she did. Before he knew it, Steve was somersaulting through the air, landing flat on his back. Though Red was kind enough to grip his t-shirt to help lessen the impact, albeit ever so slightly.