Chapter Text
Bucky woke up from a restful sleep to the sweet sound of silence. Warm rays of sunlight flooded through the large windows in his room. He turned over in his bed to find Sam sitting next to him, typing away on his laptop. The same scene every morning for the past week. Bucky smiled. It was perfect.
“Good morning, Sammy.”
“Hey sleepyhead.” Sam put his laptop aside, leaning down to plant a tender kiss on Bucky’s lips. “I can’t stay long. John and I are heading out.”
Bucky pouted. He was sure it looked childish but he didn’t care.
Sam laughed. “It’ll just be a few hours, man. Then you have me to yourself the rest of the day.” The bed dipped as he got up to head to the bathroom.
Bucky flipped over on his back with his hands behind his head. A boyish grin fixed on his face. He couldn’t help it. Having Sam here in the Tower with him changed everything. He felt so…calm. His sleep was better, his recurring headaches were better, and the coffee was definitely better. The sound of Sam humming in his shower fluttered the butterflies in his stomach. Then the smell of Sam’s body wash from the now-open bathroom door filled the room.
“I’ll start some coffee for you,” Sam leaned over and gave Bucky another quick kiss. Bucky relaxed deeper into his pillow, letting the peaceful thoughts take over. Perfect, he mused. It’s all so perfect. This feels so right. Bob and I can grab some groceries and maybe watch a movie. Then the rest of the day will be just me and Sam.
He yawned. Contemplating whether to go for his morning swim in the pool or just spend a few minutes in the sauna. Maybe he could do both.
Then a realization hit him. Sam never told him where he was going with John. Weird. If they were going to the gym, Sam would have just said so. And wouldn't have said "heading out" since the gym is just a few floors down. Maybe they were going to talk to that hypnotist Sam mentioned? But why be secretive? A conversation from earlier in the week came to the forefront of his mind:
“We promised no more secrets, Sam,” Bucky said through clenched teeth. “Everyone is starting to notice you two whispering, then stopping when anyone else enters the room. Ava even came to me. She’s so worried about John. But he won’t tell her anything. What’s going on?”
“I already told you what's going on Bucky. Bob’s voice is in our heads. All the time. Telling us horrible things about ourselves. Making us re-live our worst memories vividly in our dreams. John’s been in that terrible void TWICE now. With what he’s had to survive…it’s a lot for one person.” Sam sighed with exhaustion. “And I think he’s getting worse.”
“Then just TELL me that, Sam. Don’t go sneaking around trying to fix things on your own. I want to help.”
“ I don’t tell you everything because you have such a soft spot for Bob. I get he’s struggling, just like all of us. But he’s dangerous. And you let him—”
“That’s not true Sam. He’s doing great. He can control it. All of it...He's fine now.”
Sam stared at him. The look on his face showed he was holding back his response. Instead he just shook his head. “Whatever, man. Look, if it’s something important, then I’ll tell you. I promise.”
“That’s not good enough for me. I want to know everything. Besides, I can help." Bucky grabbed his arm. "Let me help Sam.”
“You can help by getting us into Wakanda. They got those trigger words out of your head, right? They have the technology and intelligence to help us. Maybe even to help Bob—”
Sam's voice faded as Bucky walked away. He wasn’t ready to reach out to them. Not just yet.
“Buck!” Sam was at his bedroom door again, interrupting his thoughts. “I need your help!” The look of panic on his face urged Bucky out of bed immediately. Sam was sprinting, but Bucky was still feeling too groggy to move any faster. He followed Sam down the long hallway through the kitchen.
Shit. Bucky came to a screeching halt before he could crash into the body that had just appeared, blocking his path. “Hey Bucky! I found out there are even more of those Minions movies. Do you want to—"
“Not now, Bob,” Bucky waved him away impatiently. “Sam needs help.”
He raced into John’s room. Sam was standing nervously at the closed bathroom door.
“I can’t open it. It’s locked. And I think something’s wrong.”
Without hesitating, Bucky took a few steps back, then ran towards the door with his left shoulder. It didn’t budge.
“Fucking reinforced doors,” Bucky grumbled. He felt a dull ache in his shoulder where the prosthetic met skin.
“John? You’re gonna have to unlock it so we can help you,” Sam called through the door. They could hear the shower running. And so faint, it was almost a whisper, John’s voice. “I-I c-can’t.”
Bucky rolled his left shoulder, loosening it up to try breaking the door down again.
“I can open it,” a small voice behind them offered. Bob was standing in the bedroom doorway, toying with his long sleeves. He looked shyly from one of them to the other, waiting for permission. Sam’s eyes told Bucky it was his decision to make.
“Okay,” Bucky agreed hesitantly. “Fine, Bob.”
Bob closed his eyes. His chest rose with a deep inhale. Then he raised his hand and made a pushing motion. The bathroom door burst open with a loud THUD. Steam flooded out the door making it hard to see at first. Bucky followed Sam inside.
John was sitting on the shower floor with his head against the wall and his eyes closed. The sweatshirt and sweatpants he had on were drenched. But what startled Bucky the most was John was shaking…no shivering.
“S-so c-cold,” he mumbled through chattering teeth.
Sam reached for him under the shower stream, but quickly pulled his hand back in alarm. The water was HOT. Bucky turned the faucet off. Together they lifted John out of the shower, to the bathroom floor. His pale skin was starting to blister from the hot water. Despite the hot shower, his hands were ice cold to the touch.
Sam quickly wrapped John in towels. “We’ve got you. You’re safe, okay?”
John blinked, confusion clouding his eyes. He was trembling so hard Bucky worried his teeth might chip.
“We need to get him warm—fast,” Bucky muttered, scanning the bathroom for anything else. Bob lingered at the door, gaze fixed on John, worry lining his face.
“I’ll grab blankets,” Sam said, rushing out quickly, pushing past an idle Bob. Bucky knelt down beside John, trying to ignore the pain in his own shoulder. “Hang in there, John. Stay with us.”
Sam reappeared, arms full of blankets. Together, they bundled John, then guided him out, away from the steamy bathroom. Bob trailed behind, silent.
They settled John on his bed, the blankets layered up to his chin. John’s skin was clammy and pale, the serum already healing the heat blisters. His eyes flickered open briefly. Bucky’s stomach dropped. John’s eyes were completely black, including his sclera—eerily similar to the dark version of Bob. “I-I’m s-sorry,” he said weakly. “I just w-wanted to be w-warm—”
“Don’t apologize,” Bucky said, relieved his voice sounded stronger than he felt. “We’re here. You’re gonna be okay.”
Sam frowned, glancing at Bucky whose face was probably mirroring the panic they were both feeling. “We need to get him help. Now. Can you make it happen?”
Bucky looked at Sam. Then back at the shivering John.
“Yeah, yeah. I can do it.”
Sam turned to the other man in the room. “Bob—you call Joaquin and tell him we need a lift out of here ASAP.” For another moment, Bucky watched John’s labored breathing, worry gnawing through his stomach. Shit. This was bad. This was really bad. He rushed back to his room, closing the door behind him. He leaned against it for a second to steady his breathing.
Looking at his vibranium arm, he knew there was no other choice. John was sick. And he couldn’t let his pride hold him back from doing whatever he could to help his friend.
He tapped the pattern Ayo taught him for emergencies into the crook of his left arm. A tiny compartment opened below his elbow; dropping three, black kimoyo beads. His shaking fingers rubbed them until they were glowing a bright turquoise blue.
“Ndifuna uncedo, Ayo” he whispered in Xhosa to the beads. [I need help, Ayo.]
At first, nothing happened. He stared at the glowing beads. Watching them get brighter and brighter. And then he saw her. A tiny holographic image of Ayo’s face loomed above the beads in his hand.
“Molo James.” [Hello James.]
“Ayo.” A wave of relief washed over him. She had answered his call.
“I’m sorry to reach out like this. I don’t…really know what else to do. My friend…he’s really sick. He needs help.”
Ayo tsked. “Your American hospitals cannot help him I assume?”
“We can’t exactly trust anyone here with this situation. Things are…complicated with our government.”
Ayo’s holographic image flickered, her composed eyes taking in Bucky’s anxiousness.
“Is it life or death?” she asked calmly.
Bucky nodded. “I wouldn’t reach out if it wasn’t. We might lose him, Ayo.” His voice broke. Shit. This was supposed to be his team. And he was failing at protecting them. Bob turned dark during their Delacroix trip despite his assurances to Sam that Bob was safe. And now John was still feeling the effects of being trapped in the void. What if Sam hadn’t been here to notice John was declining? What if John didn’t make it? What if—
“Then you must move quickly, James,” she said, voice low and urgent. “Tap the beads when you arrive. We will have an escort ready for you at the border. I will let General Okoye and her Majesty, Queen Shuri, know you’re coming.”
He nodded, swallowing hard; his eyes blurring with grateful tears. “Thank you, Ayo. I owe you—again.”
Her lips curled into the briefest hint of a smile before the projection dissolved into threads of blue light. Bucky closed his hand around the kimoyo beads, feeling the warmth of their energy, then slipped them into his pocket.
The next hour blurred as he acted on adrenaline. He grabbed a duffel bag and packed a few changes of clothes and toiletries for himself and Sam. Then he helped Bob pack a bag despite his ongoing protests not to come with them. Sam warmed several cans of soup for John to take in a thermos after also packing a bag for him.
Bucky breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the hangar jet landing outside. Joaquin left the aircraft running and rushed inside to help Sam load John and their bags.
“What are they going to do to me?” a small voice asked next to him. Bucky turned to see Bob was standing next to him.
“I’m sorry for what I did to John. To all of you. But please. Don’t make me go there. I don’t want to be a science experiment.” Bucky’s heart cracked seeing the fearful tears in Bob’s eyes. He wrapped him in a hug.
“Hey, they won’t do anything you don’t want them to. And I’ll be with you the whole time. I got you.” Bob sniffled. He wasn’t convinced.
“Joaquin will be there too,” Bucky pulled away from the hug with a wink. That brought a shy smile to Bob’s wet face.
“Fine. Okay. Let’s go.”
Bucky typed a quick message on his phone then boarded the waiting plane with Bob at his side. The hum of the engine was comforting. They were heading to Wakanda. The military jet would get them there in just under five hours. John just needed to hold on a little longer. Shuri will know what to do.
10:38 AM Bucky
Hey team. We’re stepping out for a bit. John isn’t feeling well but we will be back as soon as we can
10:40 AM Ava
Tell us where you’re going, we’ll meet you there
10:45 AM Yelena
Bringing home a surprise! When will you get back?
11:01 AM Ava
Bucky what’s going on? How is John doing?
12:15 PM Ava
Where are you guys? Someone answer their phone dammit!
2:59 PM Ava
Hello? Where is everyone?
********
[2 hours earlier]
Yelena tapped her fingers impatiently on the tiny circular table in front of her. Where was he? She had been coming to this coffee shop for months. But when Sam moved in this week, he told them about a spiderling man he was trying to find in New York. Yelena had gasped when she saw the grainy picture in his file. She had definitely seen him before at this coffee shop. So she had come in every day this week, hoping to get a glimpse of him again to report back to Sam. But no luck. And she was losing her patience.
“Your dad is gonna blow the ‘secret’ part of this secret mission,” Ava whispered beside her. They both looked to where Alexei was talking animatedly with the friendly barista. She had a green and pink apron; long, curly brown hair; and a shy smile. Alexei gave her some wrinkled bills and returned to the small table with their drinks: black coffee for Yelena, a tiny kettle of herbal tea for Ava, and a caramel latte for himself. Extra foam of course.
“Ahh! Look at this!” Alexei pointed to the smiley face design floating in his foamy drink. “It gets better every time we come! I must give my compliments.” He got up before either of them could protest.
“This is ridiculous,” Yelena hissed at Ava. “We don’t even know why we’re looking for this guy. It’s not like he’s done anything wrong. New York is full of like a billion people. How are we supposed to ever find him?”
“And what are we supposed to even do when we find him?” Ava added with annoyance. “Let’s just finish our drinks and go home. I don’t want to leave John too long anyway. He’s been acting strange.”
Yelena nodded in agreement. She looked over her steaming cup at Alexei who was laughing with the barista again. His voice carried through the tiny shop.
“No one makes lattes like you Miss MJ! My daughter and I come here all the time, you know.” The barista smiled humbly.
“Anything for my best customers,” she answered. Alexei gave a hearty laugh that echoed in the tiny shop.
“Say…you look familiar,” Alexei told a customer standing next to him. He was a shorter man with a wave of brown curls and a dark red backpack.
“You too, man…Do I know you?”
“Oh! If you eat the Wheaties cereal you have probably seen me. Even Miss MJ here told me she has several boxes!”
“Yup, that’s me. I just loooove Wheaties,” the barista said in a sarcastic tone. She began removing pastries from the small oven behind her and putting them in the display case. The other customer laughed and turned to pull some bills out of his pocket.
Ava and Yelena could see his face clearly now. They exchanged looks of surprise. Shit. There was no mistaking the face of the man from Sam’s file. Yelena put her face in her hands. “Damnit Alexei,” she groaned.
“Well thanks again for the smiley face latte. I look forward to what you do next time! And nice meeting you sir.” He walked back to their table with a huge smile on his face. When he sat down he leaned in, as if to tell them a secret.
“That guy I was talking to? I think he’s that actor from those dinosaur movies. He must have used my limo service recently,” Alexei explained to them in a low voice. “New York limo service is way more exciting than DC. All those boring politicians and suits. But here? They have real stars.”
“No, Alexei. You recognize him because that’s our target...Oh damn. Now he’s leaving. We have to follow him. Discreetly.” She narrowed her eyes at Alexei.
They left their unfinished drinks and raced outside into the heavy New York pedestrian traffic, looking both directions to find where he went.
“There!” Ava said finally. The man was now crossing the street to their left. They took off after him, following at a distance for a few blocks. Yelena kneeled down to play with her shoelaces when he stopped at a fruit stand to buy an orange. Then they resumed following him at a distance for several more blocks until he came up on a short brick building. It looked like it had no more than six floors. He pulled out a set of keys and walked inside. The brick building loomed in front of them, windows reflecting the taller surrounding buildings.
Ava glanced at Yelena, then at the door the man had disappeared into, her jaw clenched with determination. “We need to know where he’s going,” she whispered.
Yelena nodded. “But we can’t all go in after him or we’ll blow the whole thing.”
Alexei peered through the building’s front window. “Perhaps he is meeting someone up there. Or…maybe he knows we are following and this is a trap.” His words hung in the air, heavy with the implication of danger.
Yelena chewed her lip, weighing their options. Then she made up her mind.
“Ava, can you go in and see which apartment he goes to?” Yelena suggested.
“On it!” Ava walked up to the door. She looked around to make sure no one was watching her, then phased through.
Yelena and Alexei lingered near the entrance, keeping their heads down and trying not to draw attention. Taxis honked and a steady stream of people swept past them on the busy sidewalk. She paced back and forth while Alexei tried—and failed—to look inconspicuous by casually whistling an off-key tune and looking anywhere but at the door.
“We should have brought our comms,” Yelena grumbled.
“Or the limo. This has been a lot of walking.” She bit back a smile. They waited for what seemed like hours. Then Ava reappeared next to them.
“I think…I think he saw me.” Her eyes were wide with fear.
“What? How is this possible?” Alexei asked.
Ava shook her head in response. “I don’t know. I was walking behind him, invisible. And he just stopped. He turned around. It was like…he was looking right at me. Like he could see me.” She shook her head again. Trying to make sense of what just happened.
But Ava was determined. “We need to move in now. If he knows someone is on to him, he could be deleting evidence and files. This is our one chance.” Ava looked back and forth between the other two, waiting for a response.
Yelena could tell Ava was going to blame herself if this recon mission went south. She ran a worried hand through her short hair. She wasn’t ready to give up yet either. The idea of going back home to tell Sam they hadn’t found anything caused a sickening feeling of dread in her stomach. This felt like a big opportunity. A chance to move away from Valentina, a chance to prove themselves to Sam, and to some extent Bucky. “How about I cause a distraction. I can get him out of his apartment, while you go in and take a look around. What number is it?”
“414.”
“I can stand guard in the stairwell. Just say the word if you need backup,” Alexei offered. Ava phased in to open the door for the other two from the inside. They passed a row of mailboxes towards the stairwell. Then up the stairs silently. Slowly turning the handle to the door of the fourth floor, Yelena turned back to look at them. Alexei and Ava nodded reassuringly back at her. Ready, their eyes said.
She took a deep breath, closing the door quietly behind her. As she walked down the hall, she started coming up with a story to tell the man. Is it possible he knows his neighbors? If so, she can’t pretend to be one. But no way he knows every person on every floor right? Yelena closed her eyes. Her photographic memory brought up the name Rosa Johnson, Unit 303 labeled on one of the mailboxes they had passed downstairs.
Before she knew it she was at 414. She pressed her ear against the wooden door first. Inside, it was completely silent. Here goes nothing, she thought.
Dun dun dun-dun dun. She knocked a playful tune.
Yelena looked back towards the stairwell. Ava was walking toward her. And then she was gone. Alexei shot her a thumbs up before silently closing the door in front of him. The sound of hinges squeaking turned Yelena’s head. The mysterious man had opened the door.
“Hiiiiiiiii,” she said cheerily. He raised an eyebrow.
“I need some help. I’m cat sitting for Ms. Rosa downstairs. But her cat ran out the door when I went to get the mail! She’s somewhere…in this hallway. Can you help me catch her?”
“Oh no! That sucks. Of course. I can help,” the man smiled at her. Yelena was surprised to see how young he looked. He was definitely a teenager. Maybe 18 or 19 at the most.
“I’m Stacy by the way,” she lied easily.
“Peter.” He took a step forward like he was going to follow her down the hall. “Now what does the cat look—” Then he froze. A deep frown on his face. One foot was still inside his door. The man closed his eyes tight and scrunched his face. It looked like he was trying really hard to remember something.
“Ummm, what is happening?” Yelena asked. Then his eyes popped open, wide with some realization.
“Wha—” She attempted to ask again but stopped. Peter turned his back to her and aimed his wrists in his apartment. Right at the empty space in front of his open laptop. White webs flew out towards some invisible target.
“What the hell?!” Ava appeared in front of his laptop with the white strings covering her shirt and hair. “What the hell is this stuff?!”
“You can turn invisible? That’s awesome! How? Also wait, who are you? And why are you here?” Peter’s brown eyes were a mix of confusion and awe.
“That’s a lot of questions, Peter. Slow down.”
Peter turned around realizing Yelena had followed him inside.
“Are you—Did you follow me? Who are you guys?”
“Can we talk about whatever the hell is in my hair?!” Ava interrupted urgently.
“It’s my web fluid. It should dissolve after a few hours,” Peter told her. Ava’s eyes glared intensely at the phrase “a few hours.”
Yelena finally let out the laugh she had been holding in. This was utterly ridiculous. She thought they could do this on their own, but in a matter of minutes they had blown their whole cover. Ava was standing in the center of his tiny apartment with what looked like silly string in her long hair and all over her purple shirt. The open computer in front of her giving away their plan. At least Alexei was—
“It sounds like the jig is up! Hi again. It’s me! From the coffee place.” Alexei appeared in the doorway behind Yelena. Peter’s mouth dropped.
“Are you here to kill me?” he whispered.
“What? No way! We just came to say hi! On behalf of Sam Wilson.” Alexei walked in and closed the door behind him.
“Captain America? He, um, he knows who I am? How?” Yelena noticed his eyes were wide with fear. A guy his age should be excited to be on a superhero’s radar, she thought. But he seems deathly afraid. Odd.
“How do you all know Sam Wilson?” he asked sheepishly.
“He’s kind of our roommate,” Yelena answered.
“Brilliant. That’s all great. What a cheery meeting. Now can we please talk about how the hell I get this stuff OFF of me!!”
“Oh yeah sorry. I have a web remover you can use,” Peter offered. He made to turn around, but then abruptly faced Ava again. He shot another web out of his wrist: this one hit the laptop and pulled it back into his other open hand.
“Wowwwww,” Alexei voiced the amazement they were all feeling. As soon as Peter left the room, the trio began to whisper urgently.
“We’re so bad at this you guys,” Yelena laughed. They had to figure out a plan. There was no way she could go back to the Tower and tell Sam they found his target, oh and by the way the target blew their cover, oh and also they got no useful information.
“Well you didn’t distract him well enough!” Ava accused. Her eyes flashed with anger and annoyance. She was pulling at some of the sticky substance on her shirt with disgust, but it was only sticking to her hands and making the mess worse.
“Me?! Maybe you weren’t invisible enough! He knew exactly where you were!” Yelena shot back.
“Ladies! We can argue about who messed up later. What is the plan for right now?” Alexei hissed.
Yelena opened her mouth to speak but Peter had just returned. He was holding a spray bottle labeled in messy black marker: WEB REMOVER (PROTOTYPE).
“This helps it dissolve faster.” He tossed it to Ava, who caught it with one hand and immediately began spritzing her shirt. “I’m…uhh sorry. I thought you were breaking and entering. Well, you kind of were. Honestly you owe me an apology—” His voice trailed off seeing the deadly glare Ava shot his way.
“I mean, only if you want to say sorry. It’s totally cool. No hard feelings. I have nothing for you to steal anyway. Except my computer, but its really old.” He plopped himself on his couch and looked at the odd group of strangers standing in front of him. “So…who are you guys?”
“The New Avengers!” Alexei offered proudly. Ava rolled her eyes and continued spraying herself.
“Not exactly,” Yelena countered.
“Well then, just Avengers,” Alexei corrected with a smile.
“No, no. Not that either.” Yelena looked at Peter. “We’re in between names right now. Still figuring things out.”
He nodded as if that made sense. “So…not here to kill me…then…here to recruit me?” Yelena couldn’t help but notice the hopeful tone in his question.
“Oh, absolutely not. That’s way above our pay grade!” Alexei gestured upward with his hand. “And that would require so many meetings…and a team vote…oh and the paperwork. So much paperwork! Nope. Nope. No way.”
“Oh.” Peter’s face fell in disappointment.
Yelena stared at him. For some reason she felt like they could trust him. He had the ability to tie them all up with his sticky strings, and yet he didn’t. Maybe she could save this stealth mission after all.
“The Watchtower on Park Avenue in Midtown. You know it?” She asked. He nodded.
“Come back there with us. We can explain everything to Sam. He will be so happy to meet you.”