A/N: Here's the new Chapter as promised guys! If you aren't aware already, I have started a new FanFic called 'Whatever It Takes' starring my newest OC Lena Clairmont with the delightful Captain America ;) Please give it a read! Updating has been tough the last few months since I'm still travelling but I've got some downtime in New Zealand and I plan to write plenty! So weekly updates between this and Whatever It Takes should keep things going! Thanks once again for reading, feel free to follow/favourite and review :)
Enjoy!
~Ladieesailor
CHAPTER 12
.*.
"And stop smashing my things or you can start sharing a room with the Hulk when he's back."
.*.
"This complicates things." Fury turned away from her, stroking his chin as he let out a frustrated growl. "If he is listening to you then somehow you had to have activated him Agent Sullivan."
"But I don't even know Russian never mind knowing the activation words!" Isabelle cried out. "How could I possibly have activated him?"
"You don't, but his mind does, and if he happened to be dreaming about you and that mixed with the nightmares that have been causing him to sleep walk as our favourite alter ego Capsicle 2.0-"
"Alright I get the picture Tony, lets save the guessing for when hes back safely at Stark Tower." She held her hand up to stop him from surmising what she already knew deep down in her gut. She felt a little flutter of hope in her stomach that for now, at least, it appeared she could control him. If she could keep him from getting hurt and from hurting others, then hopefully she could save him both physically and mentally. T'Challa walked towards her, glancing down at the Winter Soldier as he stopped within claw-slicing distance of her body.
"This will always be the face that I see when I think of my Father's death, unless you allow me to aid you in finding this man you claim is the real killer." he raised his voice so that everyone could hear him. "I must return to my people and help them deal with the death of their King, but," he rounded on Fury, "I want to help in any way that I can, and when you require help Wakanda will be there for you, I have a feeling you will know how to contact me when that time comes." a sad smile tinged his lips as he clasped the Winter Soldier's shoulder. "I feel a deep darkness stirring within this one, I hope you can help him before its too late."
"You and us both buddy." Clint muttered.
"Thank you, T'Challa – for understanding, and the offer of your help - I pray we won't need it." Isabelle stuck a tensed hand out, releasing a deep breath when he took it after a momentary pause, before replacing his mask and breaking into a light sprint up and over the shipping containers and out of sight. Returning to the situation at hand she rounded on Steve.
"How did he snap out of it last time Steve?" she had a feeling she knew the answer, but she wanted it confirmed before they took drastic measures.
"He took a couple of dangerous knocks to the head after the battle at the Triskellion, I say lets start with knocking him out and go from there." Steve spoke despondently as he tightened the straps on his shield. If this was difficult for her she couldn't even imagine the effect this was all having on him.
"Let's not make this any messier than it needs to be – Izzy, give him the order to remain still no matter what." Tony hit his wrist and replaced his mask.
"Excuse me?!"
"I'd rather this took a minute instead of an hour so if you could be so kind." Tony motioned towards the still prone Bucky before them all. "As much as I hate to admit it he nearly had us and I'd rather he didn't get away, might as well utilise the fact he listens."
"We were supposed to protect him." She muttered loud enough for them all to hear as she knelt before him, her stomach twisting in both agony and guilt for what was about to happen. Her movement towards him hadn't caused him to stir, instead he remained looking at the floor. Taking two shaking fingers she placed them under his chin and forced it up, so that the Winter Soldier had no choice but to look at her.
"I'm sorry." Her voice broke as she took hold of his chin, oozing as much authority into her next two words. "Don't move, no matter what."
Isabelle closed her eyes as she pressed a soft kiss against his unresponsive lips, before stepping back up and away from him. Without a returning glance she walked steadily back to the car, refusing to watch the man she was growing to love be beaten into unconsciousness. Giving Steve's hand a squeeze as she passed him she nodded towards Clint. "Let's get out of here please."
o.O.o
She had asked Clint to drive them around for a while until she mentally composed herself. Tears would get her no where in this situation, but the dull ache in her chest from the mornings events threatened her composure. So they drove in silence, waiting until Tony messaged them that they had Bucky back at Stark Tower and that he was secure.
"You done the right thing Iz." Clint reassured her as they exited the car into the waiting lift.
"I know." she acknowledged his attempt to make her feel better, although it done little for her conscience.
The drive had also given her time to think about how the events had played out, and there was one little detail that was bugging her. How in the hell had she managed to activate the Winter Soldier in his sleep? That was some kind of realistic-new-level-dreaming-bullshit that she was starting to grasp shouldn't really surprise her in the world that she lived in. It was only a week ago after all that a technologically advanced coffin had saved her life.
The lift came to a jarring halt on the floor of Tony's lab, the opening doors revealing a prone Bucky secured tightly to a table by his limbs and head - surrounded by Tony, Steve, Fury and Natasha. Ignoring their stares she hurried straight past them until she was within touching distance of his body, flinching at the amount of pale bruising that was slowly forming across his face and neck.
"Jesus Christ how many times did you hit him?" she spun around to Tony and Steve, rebuking them.
"Just a couple of whacks with the Caps shield, nothing too spectacular." Tony was fiddling with a small device in one hand as he stuffed blueberries into his mouth with the other. "A lot more effective than simply punching him, if it makes you feel better I didn't even get a shot in."
"You know, you could at least pretend to like him." She growled.
"Oh, I have no problem liking Bucky." Tony bit back at her. "But I have a massive problem with his crazy alter ego causing havoc in a city that's already been through enough, so my apologies Agent Sullivan if I don't show a mass murderer a bit of civility." He tossed the device onto the nearest chair. "When Bucky makes an appearance again I'll go back to being civil."
Isabelle went to retaliate but Steve cut her off with a swift slice of his hand. "That's enough the pair of you, squabbling won't help anyone – what's done is done, lets just wait for him to wake up."
"If we ever bend the rules of time and I go back into the past I'm going to find ten year old you Cap and tell him to choose better friends." Tony growled as he stomped over into the lift. "Anyone else coming with me? It doesn't take all of us to babysit him."
One by one everyone filed out of the room until it was just her and Steve, she watched patiently as he undid his gloves and dropped them to the floor before raking a hand through his hair. Without thinking she closed the distance between them and flung her arms around his neck, pulling him in as tight as her fatigued arms allowed her. "Thank you for being the one to knock him out, I just know if it was Tony the damage would have been much worse."
"Me and you both." He muttered into her shoulder as he reciprocated with a tight squeeze.
"Did you tell Peggy you loved her?" she whispered, so low she wasn't even sure if she had said it out loud. Steve froze against her body, locking them into the hug.
"It's my biggest regret that I didn't." Her heart broke for the sorrow in his voice. Since the day she had met him she had only wished happiness for Steve, but she didn't think he would ever find it, not when his happiness was in the past. "I know it's early days for you both, but when the time is right don't hesitate - you don't want to live with the regret, trust me Iz."
"Izzy?!" Her heart skipped a beat as she released Steve. "Izzy?! Where are you?!"
"Hey hey hey, it's okay Bucky I'm here," she ran over and latched onto his outstretched restrained hand, bringing her other hand to rest on his face. "I'm here." She felt her tears spill over as she was met with the tortured eye's of Bucky. Her Bucky.
o.O.o
"So you remember everything?" Everyone had joined them moments after he had woken up, Tony initially refused to release Bucky from the restraints, but after plenty of pressure from both her and Steve he thankfully relented much to Isabelle's relief – until he turned into interrogation mode.
"Every single little detail." Bucky gave her hand a squeeze as he continued to answer the bombardment of questions with ease. "It wasn't like all the other times, instead of him completely taking over it was as if we shared the body but he was in the driving seat – I was completely powerless to stop him, instead I could only watch." he looked up at her from where he was sitting. "I'm sorry for knocking you out." his metal arm came up, brushing softly against her bruised face.
Isabelle squeezed his hand back, earning her a soft smile.
"But the Winter Soldier stopped the minute Agent Sullivan screamed for you to do so – do you know why Sergeant Barnes?" Fury had remained rather quiet since they had returned to Stark Tower, Isabelle could see the cogs of his mind going into overdrive; she did not like the path this conversation was inevitably going down.
"The nightmare was also different." Bucky's face dropped down as he spoke with a monotonous tone, the one his body naturally used for reporting back to a superior she had come to notice. "I was dreaming normally one second, and then the next I returned to the staging of my nightmares – but I was completely aware that it was a nightmare, yet I couldn't wake myself up, it was as if he was holding me there." The last words came out in a whisper.
"Who?" Tony stepped forward, his eyes alight with the possibility of new information.
Suddenly sheepish, Bucky withdrew into himself slightly. "In every nightmare there's a voice and a figure that taunts me and speaks to me – he's normally orchestrating the nightmare and knows a terrifying amount of details about me and the Winter Solider."
"What did he say this time?" Tony stepped closer as Isabelle held out a warning hand for him to not come any closer.
"That he only had to delve into my mind a little deeper and he found what he was looking for."
"Well don't hold us in suspense Bucko, what did he find."
Isabelle couldn't ignore the unmistakable flinch at the word Bucko – but she could ask questions later, not wanting to ruin the flow of the so far peaceful interrogation.
"The contents of the red book." His face matched the terrified tone of his voice as it crumpled in horror. "The words to activate me, and to answer your question it was Izzy that spoke them in my nightmare, which is probably why he responded to her in reality."
"How is that even possible? Surely a figment of your imagination can't just go rifling through your memories and force you to remember things?" Natasha asked as the rest of the room burst into a squabble of ideas.
"But is he a figment of your imagination?" Fury's voice reverberated over the rest of then, reducing them all into silence.
"I don't recall meeting him but something seems... familiar about him." Bucky answered plainly.
"Well sounds to me like you have an unwelcome visitor in your head Sergeant." Fury turned to a bemused Tony, who frowned when he realised all attention was on him.
"And what do you expect me to do about a figment of his imagination boss? Ask him to politely leave?" he oozed the sarcasm he had perfected over the years.
"Well, you boast you're the best at what you do, and you have this entire lab full of crazy ass bullshit – I'm sure you'll find someway to see what's going on in his mind." Picking up a briefcase Isabelle hadn't noticed until now he turned to all of them as he stepped into the lift. "Our next steps are simple. Keep him here, find out what's messing with his head and remove it before anyone else dies, we lost him for a few weeks after the Triskellion events - whose to say Sokolov didn't find him and do a little meddling?"
"What?" Bucky leapt from the table, tearing his hand from Isabelle's grasp. "Who died."
"That doesn't really matter now-"
"He's a grown man Cap you can't hide everything from him." Tony rolled his eyes.
"Oh yeah because you're the champion of telling people what they need to know." Steve snapped back.
Frustrated, Bucky rounded on her. "Who did I kill."
"You didn't kill anybody Bucky, it was Sokolov, he managed to fashion a mask that was terrifyingly accurate to your own features, and used that to murder-"
"Oh for god sake just tell me who died!" he roared, his neck vain's pulsing in anger as he picked up the nearest thing at hand and launched it at the wall – stunning everyone into silence.
Isabelle remained rooted to the spot, unable to move her body or her mouth to answer. For a fleeting second she wanted to be as far away from him as possible.
"The King of Wakanda." Nat answered for them all, shooting Isabelle a sympathetic glance.
"Oh, so nobody important then." He scoffed as he thrust his head into his hands.
"Look buddy, I don't know if the blows to your head reverted you back to being a teenager but if you could drop the angst that would be a great start to figuring out our next move." Tony picked up the mangled pieces of the tablet that Bucky had thrown moments before. "And stop smashing my things or you can start sharing a room with the Hulk when he's back."
Fury cleared his throat behind them, reminding them all that he was still there. "Get your shit in one sock Avengers, don't make me lose a bet and call in a favour to deal with Sokolov." And with that confusing sentiment still hanging in the air he let the doors of the lift close on him.
"Pfft, call in a favour – as if he has other options." Tony shrugged the comments off as Isabelle shared a knowing glance with Clint and Nat. They weren't aware of them all, but they knew Fury had plenty of cards up his sleeve that he hadn't played yet - he wasn't going to have only one line of defence.
"I need some space to think." Bucky walked over to the other waiting lift, selecting the call button.
"Your not going anywhere." Tony moved to stop him but Steve placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Just give him some time alone, its been a rough day for all of us."
"You've got thirty minutes alone before I come down there, and then we are talking." Isabelle called out to him as the lift closed, but not before he gave her a curt nod in response.
"Maybe it might be best if you left him alone for a while, let him blow off some steam." Clint picked a loose apple up off the floor, slicing it expertly before offering it out.
"That's not going to get us anywhere, Sokolov means business - and we can't afford to remain ten steps behind him anymore." Isabelle took the slice offered to her. "And if there's a chance at all that this nightmare stuff has anything to do with Sokolov I want it gone now - so no, he's not getting the chance to sulk."
o.O.o
Isabelle kept to her word, waiting exactly thirty minutes before she knocked on the door to her room where she had finally located him. No answer.
"Bucky, I'm coming in." pulling down on the handle she pushed the door inwards to find Bucky sat in the middle of her bed, surrounded by the Winter Soldier files she had stuffed away out of sight, and apparently out of mind.
"Fuck." She hissed to herself.
"And when were you planning to tell me about these." No word could justifiably capture the rage burning in Bucky's eye's as he signalled to the files. "When were you going to tell me you had the full detailed canvas of every soul I've ever murdered shoved away in your bottom drawer Iz?"