Locked Within Their Labyrinth

Finalised Seperation

"Uh huh. Yeah? Ok I'll be right there." Bucky moved the phone across to his other ear as he shouldered his way through the office door, his hands full of unfinished paperwork. Fury had set him up in a nice little place with a cute view. It was small and cramped but it was better than a cubicle or an office shared with six other people.

The plant on his desk was in dire need of a watering but right now he had more urgent matters to attend to, namely the denouncing of his wife. He didn't want to do it but for the sake of staying out of a federal prison, he'd do it. He made his way down to the first floor where the main conference rooms were held. Inside Thaddeus Ross and a team of lawyers were seated at a large table. Bucky made his presence known and invited himself to sit down. A sheaf of documents were pushed under his nose but he gently moved them to the side and levelled his stare at Ross.

"First of all I want to know exactly what you are planning. I didn't think this covered your area of expertise."

"I deal with threats to national security and that includes your wife, and as of now, you. I'd hate to see you in prison Barnes but until I'm sure you can be trusted I'm afraid that's where you'll have to go."

"What would you have me do?" Ross gestured towards the papers sat besides him.

"All I'm asking is for you to denounce her. You are technically an American citizen whereas she is not. You denounce her and she is stripped of all protection from the American government. When she is caught she will be unable to utilise any of her human rights."

Bucky frowned. "Unless I'm mistaken she is still human General. That in itself should be enough." The smile Ross wore was nothing short of malevolent.

"Actually Barnes you are mistaken. She may be a human biologically but without a birth certificate to provide evidence the simple fact is that she doesn't exist. And neither will you if you refuse to sign those documents."

"Is that a threat General?" Bucky leaned against the table, his shirt sleeve rolled up to reveal his metal arm. "Because I don't respond well to threats."

The General remained unperturbed. "Sign those papers Barnes. Otherwise you're just another victim in the long list of people the Black Widow has led to their downfall, only this time you had an option to avoid it unlike the countless other innocents." Bucky sat back.

"I need to think on it."

"Unfortunately we can't let you do that. We can't run the risk of you disappearing so I'm afraid we're just going to have to remain here until you make your decision." The General sat back with an entirely too smug look on his face. Bucky was torn. On the one hand even if his hunch was wrong and Nat really was an evil person he didn't think she deserved whatever fate was awaiting her from the General. On the other, he really didn't want to go back to being a fugitive.

"Can I at least grab my paperwork from my office? I have a feeling I might be here for sometime and I really need to file some reports."

"You shouldn't be here awhile. Is the decision really that hard to make? If you outright refuse we can have you arrested in seconds and those pesky reports will no longer be an issue."

"Tempting as it is General, I'm going to have to pass. I need some time to think, time you're refusing to give me, and meanwhile my work load is mounting. Unless you want the Director on your asses I suggest you let me finish those files." The General glowered but dismissed one of his men with a wave of his hand.

"We'll get you those reports but until they arrive I suggest you think heavily about where your loyalties lie." The General stood from the table, dusting off imaginary dirt from his blazer. "I'll be back before the end of the day for those signatures. If the pages are blank I'll be taking you instead. Good day Sergeant Barnes." He left, the documents still lying in front of Bucky.

He allowed himself a moment of vulnerability in which he scraped a trembling hand through his hair before pushing it away. He didn't want to do it because he still clung on to this small feeling of hope. Hope that she wasn't what she was presenting herself as.

Someone rapped on the door before letting themselves in. In his hands was a tall stack of pretty much every sheaf of paper from Bucky's office. He groaned. It was going to take an age for him to sort through them all. The agent dropped the pile heavily on top of the divorce papers, sending loose pages scattering. "Sorry," he grunted, bending over to shuffle them together. "Wasn't sure which ones you wanted." He set the paper on the table and lumbered towards the door. Bucky could still see his frame hovering at the entrance. How cute, he had a guard.

Time winkled on and the sun sunk lower and lower. The shadows in the conference room moved from corner to corner until they were almost completely engulfed. Where Bucky sat in his seat, his back hunched in the same position he'd been in since this morning, his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier. The routine for filing was monotonous and mind numbing. He'd stopped feeling the cramp in his hand about an hour ago and in front of him sat two piles, one significantly smaller than the other. He'd barely made a dent in his work. His limbs became heavier as sleep invaded his mind. He curled even further forwards until his head was lightly resting against the unfinished report. He hadn't signed the papers so he'd probably go to prison. That was fine though, Stevie would get him out. He always did. Feeling comforted Bucky allowed himself to drift off, succumbing to unconsciousness.

The sound of the door opening roused him from his slumber. It can't have been more than 20 minutes since he fell asleep, although now the entire room was dark. Not for long though as someone switched on the light and flooded the room with brightness.

General Ross strode towards him. He reached for the documents Bucky had absentmindedly put on the side. Bucky sat up straighter, preparing himself to be taken into custody. However, much to his surprise, the General slipped the papers into a briefcase at his side and eyed him with something akin to approval. "Glad we came to an agreement Barnes. Congratulations, you're once again a single man." And with that he swept out of the conference room and left Bucky blinking in confusion.

He hadn't signed the divorce papers. He hadn't. Somewhat automatically he started combining the piles, using a blank sheet of paper to separate the work completed from the uncompleted. He struggled with the stack, the bottom pages fluttering awkwardly between his grip, and yelled at someone he didn't know to hold the elevator.

Back in his office he sank back in his chair completely and utterly confounded. The paperwork was back in it's correct drawers and his desk was some semblance of tidy when his phone pinged with an email alert. Not his mission phone but his personal Stark phone. He opened it warily. Over the day he'd received 5 unread texts and 3 missed calls and his inbox was full with the usual spam content, except the most recent one.

It was from an obscure email address, most likely one of those ones that deleted itself after ten seconds, and read congratulations on the divorce. You have full custody of Liho so look after him.

There was only one person who could've sent that, unless it was Clint playing a prank which he highly doubted. His confusion cleared somewhat. Somehow she must have forged his signature, the only question now was why?

A/N Guess who's back? Btw not having a birth certificate is a legitimate problem a lot of people face. Without one they are denied healthcare, legal service and a ton of other things we take for granted. Which is stupid because clearly they exist if they're standing in front of you. So yeah, just wanted to make you guys aware in case you ever come across someone in that sort of situation so you can help them out. :)