Superheroes

Your Ghosts Are Real

Stiles and Lydia continue to work with Barnes and Steve about the upcoming task. Lydia finishes with Steve and declares him as ready to be a secondary as possible. She goes back to Cambridge but promises to return when they're ready to trigger the Winter Soldier.

His dad also heads back to Beacon Hills with a promise to keep in touch now that the proverbial cat is out of the NDA bag. While he doesn't get to speak to Barnes before he leaves, they do at least plan to Skype soon. That makes Stiles and his dad happy.

Stiles is very glad that most of his pack was able to visit him before he and Derek go about working on Barnes' trigger words. Derek speaks with Peter - on his own, for Stiles' sanity - more about the process for his peace of mind. He also talks with Scott about strategies and working with a tricky mind.

When he thinks they're ready, when Barnes is comfortable with the full restraint as much as he can be, they plan on the last-minute logistics. Bringing in the rest of the Avengers is sadly unavoidable. They need to have a safe place for the transitions to happen. As much as having a comfortable place for Barnes would be nice, Stiles also doesn't want to tarnish one of his safe spaces. Plus, this is the Winter Soldier they're trying to work with. He would rather not have his apartment turn into the thunder dome.

So they set everything up. Lydia works with Steve over Skype on last-minute details of his part. They have the room, the security, and the sedation to hopefully knock Barnes back into control after Stiles triggers the Soldier. All that's left is to do the triggering.

Natasha watches him like a hawk as he looks at the instructions for activating the Winter Soldier. He has to remain detached as he reads the words, otherwise, he'll be sick over the fucking instruction manual to turn a human being into an unwilling, mind-controlled robot.

After memorizing the words, he hands the book to Natasha and has to immediately take a shower. He only read three pages of the book, which was easily an inch thick. He doesn't want to know what other horrors are in the pages. Part of him is glad that he isn't going to be a secondary for Barnes because his mind is bound to be a dark, horrible place and the other part is horrified that he even has the thought. His respect for Barnes skyrockets even more.

On the day they're set to do the first trigger, Stiles wakes with dread and hope warring inside him. When he triggers the Soldier, he'll be the only one present in a negative pressure cage made of reinforced glass and steel that can contain the Hulk. The cameras inside have already been disabled and removed but the ones on the outside are still present. Steve verified that when the doors were closed, he couldn't sense the surveillance equipment. As much as Stiles is against recording everything, he knows he'll want to watch and rewatch reactions in case he misses something.

There's a single, plastic fold-out chair in the room that Barnes gingerly takes a seat on. Stiles stands opposite him as the doors are sealed and the room pressurizes. He had to fight to be in the cage with Barnes instead of outside it using a microphone to speak. Since they're unsure if the Winter Soldier is aware of everything that's going on, Stiles argues that it's a show of power that he needs.

Stiles focuses on his breathing, taking deep breaths and loosening his shoulders. He's confident in his magic, in his belief, and knows that he's completely safe. He pushes his insecurities aside and watches Barnes as the man fidgets in the chair.

Barnes takes a deep breath and nods at Stiles. Nodding back, Stiles begins to recite the words that switch him into the Winter Soldier. They've gone over the physical reactions that Barnes goes through and Stiles tries to get through the words quickly.

He won't restrain Barnes until he needs to. He wants the Winter Soldier to see him as a possible ally - or as Barnes tells him a handler - for as long as possible. If things go according to plan, they'll see the Soldier many times soon.