The Liberty War || Infinity War & Endgame

Chapter Nine: To Build A Home

Music is "Jade" by Aaron Krause.

Picture is Tatiana Maslany as Emma Barnes.

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CHAPTER NINE: To Build A Home

{April 2, 2018 -- Present Day}

W A K A N D A

So much has changed, and yet it's still the same. Two years have passed, but the world isn't all that different. The Avengers are still the Avengers, only now they're a shell of what they used to be, made up only of Rhodey, Tony, and Vision. Bucky and I are thought to be dead. Steve, Sam, and Natasha are on the run. Wanda isn't Wanda anymore. Grant is MIA as far as most of the world is concerned. Who the hell knows where Nick Fury and Maria Hill are. So much has changed. Sometimes it's hard to keep up.

What Peggy said all those years ago has never rang truer than right now. None of us can go back, sometimes the best that we can do is to start over. I'm not Lady Justice or Lady Liberty anymore. Bucky isn't a Howling Commando or the Winter Soldier. Steve isn't Captain America. We're not heroes; we're refugees. Nomads. Vagabonds. We're what's left when the Avengers sever down the middle.

Catching Bucky up on the events of the past two years takes a little while. I do so with the help of Grant and Shuri as the latter does a few medical tests to ensure Bucky is as healthy as he should be. She even goes as far as checking his HYDRA trigger words: a series of numbers and words of meaning only to HYDRA and their sick minds. To all our relief, they do nothing to Bucky. He's as calm and in control as he's been ever since he woke up.

The first question Bucky asks is obvious: "Where's Steve?"

I squeeze his hand and offer a smile. "We're trying to reach him, Tasha, and Sam. They've hit a snag in Sarajevo."

Bucky's brows pull together with concern. "Are they okay?"

I nod. "It'll just take them a bit longer to get our signal. Don't worry. He'll be here sooner than you think."

Shuri finishes the last of her tests and sets her equipment back onto the table with a grin. "He's as good as new!" she announces excitedly. "The procedure was successful. Bucky, you are as much you as you will ever be."

Bucky's boyish smile covers his face, a blast from the past. "Thanks, kiddo."

Shuri scoffs, "I am not a 'kiddo.' I am an eighteen-year-old woman, a legal adult as far as my country is concerned, with three master's degrees in sciences and mathematics your country hasn't even thought of yet. You are just an old man."

Everyone laughs as Grant chimes in with, "Got that right."

Bucky hops off the examination table and turns to Grant. He extends his right hand, nodding to the twenty-year-old. "I'm sorry about what happened in Washington," Bucky mumbles. "I hope we can start again?"

Grant glances between Bucky and I with a playful sigh. "Well, you are married to my mom, so..." He grasps Bucky's hand, shaking it firmly. "Nice to meet you, Bucky. I'm Grant." They let their hands drop, and Grant turns to me. "I'm so, so sorry, but I have class in, like, fifteen minutes. Can we catch up more later?"

I wave him off. "Go, go! Get to class. I'll see you later."

Grant grins and leans forward to press a kiss to my cheek. "I'm really glad he's back," he whispers, then darts for the door.

"Me, too," I whisper under my breath.

"Well," Shuri intervenes with a childish grin, "I believe my brother has a surprise for you both. Would you like to see it?"