Bucky performed his checks carefully making sure that everything was in order, making sure that the plane/jet/thing...whatever Wakandan advanced flying object this was, was set to return to Wakanda once he had landed in the way Shuri had shown him how to do and then set about getting ready to leave.

Of course, it couldn't be as simple as that, and as he was getting ready to close the ramp, Steve and his merry band came jogging out and over to him.

"Bucky what are you doing!? Where are you going?" Steve shouted.

"I'm leaving Punk, I'm heading to New York," Bucky grunted standing so he was blocking access to the ramp. He noted that the Dora were shuffling around the outside of the building, their eyes intent upon them, and he knew that should this issue get...forced, they would help him.

None of them really liked the outsiders that had set up shop in Wakanda, taking advantage of T'Challa's kindness, Bucky was the one that they liked the best as he made his appreciation clear, he got on with the Princess, and it had been obvious that he was not going to be sticking around once he was better. At least it had been obvious to them.

"New York? What...why?" Steve frowned as he and his group reached Bucky.

"I'm going back to throw myself at the mercy of Tony Stark and let him do what he deems is right with me, I'm better now, I'm not going to trigger and do any harm accidentally," Bucky shrugged.

"His mercy? He has no mercy!" Clint spat making Bucky turn to raise his eyebrow at the angry little man.

"Funny, he seems to have a lot of mercy considering he put your family into protective custody to guard them against repercussions from Ross or the public for your actions in this, his mercy means that your kids and wife are still alive for you to convince to forgive you,"

"It's Stark's fault…"

"I am going to stop you right there before I finally lose my temper with hearing that yet again and break your jaw. Stop blaming others for your actions, and stop making Tony Stark your scapegoat. You chose to leave your family even though you were retired and get involved in something that had nothing to do with you. You know what I would have given if I had a pretty partner and kids to go home to and retire with after the war?"

"I was there to help you!" Clint snarled.

"No, you were there because Steve called and you jumped without looking into it. My guess was you heard that you were going against Stark and you jumped at the chance, not caring why really, this hatred that you have of him goes way back beyond this. My guess, you're jealous of him," Bucky shrugged.

"Bucky...we were trying to help…" Steve stared.

"Yeah you were, and as normal, your idea of help is going in fists swinging. It ain't 1940 anymore Steve, and this situation required diplomacy. You were trying to help, and our friendship means a lot to me, but Steve you need to take a good long hard look at your actions and reactions, because you have changed into someone that I am not sure I recognise, and you need to start thinking and not just reacting, the world isn't that simple anymore, and it will swallow you up,"

"I haven't changed!" Steve, shockingly, got angry.

"You left Stark lying bleeding and hurt in that bunker, you think the Comandos or Peggy would be proud of you for an action like that?" Bucky shook his head, his heart hurting a little at the expression on Steve's face, but he needed some cold hard truths.

"Don't bring them into it!"

"Stark was Peggy's godson! What do you think she would say?!" Bucky snapped.

"What...no she wasn't," Steve looked so thrown it took the wind out Bucky's sails.

"Yes, she was,"

"He never spoke about her, he wasn't at the funeral!"

"He never spoke about her because he thought you knew and he didn't want to bring up a sensitive subject with you. He wasn't at the funeral, because he had to choose between being there and going to the Accords. He said that she would rather he honour her memory by trying to fix the worlds rather than crying over her," Natasha said softly.

"Steve, it is all over the internet," Bucky sighed. "It took me three quick googles to find it,"

"No!"

"Look for yourself Steve," Bucky shook his head. "I've got somewhere to be. Look, take care of yourself, and be careful,"

"I won't let you leave!" Steve said firmly.

"What like a handler?!" Bucky said angrily. "This is my choice, Steve, like it was my choice not to have the Witch rooting around in my brains, this is what I mean about not knowing who you are, you ignored me saying no and tried to have her do it anyway! I have a choice Steve, and I am making it. This was the endgame all along. I agreed to the treatments and the work and the therapy so I could go back as someone safe for Stark to choose what he wants to do with me,"

"He attacked you in the bunker, why do you feel so guilty?" Sam frowned, and Bucky just stared at him for a few beats before he pressed his face into his hand.

"Steve, did you learn anything!"

"It has nothing to do with them!" Steve stared at him definitely.

"Nothing to...Steve they are fugitives because they followed your lead, they chose to follow you, and you're keeping things from them? Same as you did Stark," Bucky shook his head disappointedly.

"What are you keeping from us?" Natasha frowned.

"Don't!"

"Don't tell me what to do Steve Rogers. I killed Stark's parents," Bucky told the group and watched as they flinched back, staring at him shocked. "HYDRA ordered it, they didn't die by accident, HYDRA sent their weapon to take them out. Steve knew, has known for a while from what I could gather. When we were in that Bunker Stark came to help, he was there as a friend, Zemo showed him the video of me...of me killing Howard and Maria Stark. He attacked because he watched me kill his parents and I was right there in front of him. He was also furious because Steve had kept it from him. We left him in bad shape. He wasn't sulking as you have indicated. I would guess he was recovering,"

"You left him wounded?" Sam looked at Steve as though he hadn't seen him before.

"You...you kept that from him? Fuck Steve, his parents!" Clint shook his head.

"You had the nerve to stand there and berate him how many times for keeping secrets about Ultron, which he kept for a couple of hours at a party...when you knew you were keeping that from him?" Natasha shook her head.

"Once set of parents for another, karma is a bitch," Wanda said smugly.

"Oh shut your face you twisted, psychotic, angry little shrew," Bucky snapped, all of them staring at him open-mouthed. "He didn't kill your parents!"

"Barnes, it was his bomb," Clint shook his head.

"And? Stark Industries created millions of bombs, do you think that he made every single one with his own hands? And unlike you lot who seem unable to do any research I looked into it. America wasn't at war with Sokovia at that time, Stark Industries only sold bombs and weaponry to the American Government officially, unofficially Obadia Stane was selling weapons under the desk to people, the same man that had Tony Stark shot with his own bomb, kidnapped, and then ripped the Arc reactor out his chest to power the Iron Man suit that he had had built. Tony Stark defeated him. So if you want to get technical about it, a terrorist group bombed your parents, the bomb was sold under the table by Stane to them, and Tony killed him. If anything Tony Stark avenged your parents. He didn't kill them,"

"He...he did! It was his company!" Wanda shrieked.

"Actually he had only taken his place within the company six months before, he wouldn't have finished even signing the paperwork for that and getting to know the company, so there is no way that he would have been able to perform the checks. And the only thing that he is guilty of is trusting someone that he thought loved and cared for him, someone who had been in his life and was assigned as his guardian by his parents. He had his heart, literally, ripped out for that trust. I think if you are looking for payment, that is payment enough," Bucky glared at her.

"And he has spent every minute from the moment he found out about his weapons being sold trying to make it right, even though he had no clue," Natasha said absently.

"I…" Clint took a step back and then walked away from them, and Bucky would guess where his hatred for Tony had started, and he had found out that that hatred had been completely misled.

"You...you should go, Tony...he won't kill you," Natasha said to him, visibly trying to pull herself together.

"You could come with me," Bucky offered.

"I have some wrongs to make right," Natasha shook her head sadly.

"Bucky, don't…"

"Tony Stark deserves the right to decide what he wants to do with me, I will see you around Punk. Sort your head out," Bucky clapped him on the shoulder before turning and walking up the ramp, as the ramp shut he saw Natasha and Sam holding onto Steve stopping him from chasing Bucky.

And then he took off.

"Boss," FRIDAY very rarely called his phone unless there was an absolute emergency. And he could only think, what now?

"What is going on sweetheart?" Tony asked.

"I have an...unusual situation here at the Tower," She said slowly.

"Ok...what is going on?" Tony asked even as he sped up his car, wincing at the thought of the additional speeding tickets he was about to get.

"James Buchanan Barnes broke into the Tower approximately 10 minutes ago, I only became aware of him 3 minutes ago when he reached the Hulk room," FRIDAY said still sounding baffled.

"Why was he outside the Hulk room?" Tony said more to himself than FRIDAY.

"He requested that I lock him in it using Hulk protocol, after he removed his prosthetic arm, weapons, all of his clothing bar his underwear and stepped inside it," FRIDAY answered anyway.

"Right…"

"He has just asked me to inform you that he is here for you to deal with him as you wish, and he wants to make sure that you know he has no weapons for him to attack you with and that he is now in control of himself so he won't attack you accidentally," FRIDAY relayed faithfully.

"Bloody Super Soldiers. Tell him I'm five minutes away and to get his butt out the Hulk room," Tony huffed.

"He is refusing to leave Boss, and seems quite put out that I told him I have unlocked the door," FRIDAY was sounding completely bemused now.

"Just...keep him company till I get there," Tony rolled his eyes, speeding up a little more.

"...Miss FRIDAY, I have been working on yoga, it is quite relaxing," Bucky Barnes was saying to his AI as he reached the Hulk room.

"Doctor Banner appears to have thought so too,"

"Do you mind telling me why you are mostly naked, and minus your arm sitting in the middle of the Hulk room?" Tony sighed, stepping over Bucky's clothes and arm and stepping into the room.

And there he was, Bucky Barnes, sitting in the middle of the massive Hulk room, crossed legged and wearing only a tight pair of black briefs, one-armed, man bun, looking a hell of a lot better than he had the last time Tony had seen him.

"I am here for you to get justice however you see fit," Bucky said lightly, not moving a muscle.

"Were you all this dramatic in the 40's really? Put some bloody clothes on and come to the living room like a civilised human being," Tony threw his arms up and stomped out the room, leaving Bucky staring after him.

Bucky followed FRIDAY's directions and found himself stepping into the living room where Tony was sitting on the sofa waiting for him.

"You can put your arm on," Tony sighed seeing Bucky carrying it.

"I like leaving it off sometimes," Bucky admitted setting it near him on the sofa as he sat cautiously as far away from Tony as he could.

"Suit yourself, coffee, tea?" Tony asked motioning to the coffee machine in front of him on the coffee table.

"What is going on?" Bucky asked, beyond confused now. He had been expecting Tony to call the UN and have him locked away in the deepest darkest hole.

"I'm showing you that you're a drama queen," Tony said dryly, throwing some paperwork he had sitting on his lap at Bucky.

"This...this is...what?"

"It is paperwork making you an official citizen of the United States again considering that you were reported dead, it is also documentation listing you as a Prisoner of War, one of the longest I think, and putting your actions up to and including Leipzig Airport as a result of being a Prisoner of War and pardoning you. You have backdated wages and pension that I have set up in a bank account with decent interest for you, the card is in there as well along with your new passport and social security information,"

"So, I am just being charged for Siberia then," Bucky nodded in understanding.

"Aunt Peggy said you were the ones with the brains out of you and Rogers," Tony said dryly.

"That isn't really saying much," Bucky said, thinking about Steve back in Wakanda, but was startled when Tony snorted out a laugh.

"True. You're being charged with nothing. A clean slate," Tony shook his head.

"But...why?" Bucky frowned.

"Sorry to disappoint you Tasty Freeze, but I don't want revenge or justice on someone who is the innocent party, probably the only innocent party in that whole fight. I have been through a hell of a lot of therapy and sorting through my thoughts, feelings and all that icky stuff, as well as doing research into the Winter Soldier program, I am sorry for the intrusion, and I realised that I was taking out my anger at what happened to my parents, and my betrayal at Steve lying to me on the wrong person,"

"But, I killed them," Bucky frowned deeper.

"No, you didn't. HYDRA did, you were most definitely not in the driver's seat. And before you say about fighting harder or stopping them, I have seen the research, you were fighting, you were fighting hard, the amount of times they...forcefully wiped you shows that. They thought that they would be able to stop using the...the chair on you after a couple of years, 70 years later they still were. Someone who fights that hard isn't to blame," Tony shook his head.

They sat staring at each other for a few moments, both of them trying to readjust their thoughts as they took in the changes in the situation.

"Siberia, I went into fight mode because it was programmed into me, Princess Shuri helped me get that under control. I have a choice now when I use my violence, I don't just react," Bucky explained, for lack of anything else to say.

"The triggers?" Tony asked.

"Gone. She used some Wakandan technology I won't even pretend I can start explaining. Something about disrupting the brain waves that react to the triggers," Bucky shrugged.

"If it helps, I forgive you for being stuck in a situation that you had no control over," Tony said softly. "And I am sorry about what happened to you,"

"I'm sorry, for what happened to you, for what you lost because of my hands and body, and what happened with the Avengers, Steve is a moron," Bucky rolled his eyes when Tony looked at him wide-eyed. "If Peg told you I was the intelligent one, then she told you I was the one that called a spade a spade and told Steve when he was being an idiot, didn't buy into that Captain America shit,"

"Yeah she did," Tony chuckled.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Bucky said before starting at the expression on Tony's face. "What?"

"You're the first person aside from my three friends to say that. Thank you," Tony smiled sadly.

"Was she as amazing as she was when she was younger?" Bucky asked, he wasn't sure where they stood or what the hell was going on, what the atmosphere around them was.

"Even better. When she first went into the nursing home, she caught one of the carers hitting one of the residents there. She had the guy pinned in seconds and had a revolt going in minutes, the staff there have to be the most up and up in the country," Tony laughed.

"She was an amazing woman," Bucky smiled.

"She was," Tony nodded. "I...I have supper coming, would you like something to eat?" Tony asked.

"I...sure," Bucky had no clue, but if it was what Tony wanted.

"I'm just going to go change, I hate suits when I am at home. FRIDAY will keep you company," Tony said before leaving the floor, wondering why the hell he had asked the man to stay.

He just didn't know what to do with him, he had clearly come here expecting for Tony to...god he didn't even know, kill him? Lock him up? Beat him up and lock him up? And he was sitting there with his sad blue eyes and unsure.

And maybe Pepper and Rhodey were right, maybe he had a thing for collecting wounded and broken things.

When he walked back onto the floor he realised that the food must have been delivered while he was gone, because the small dining table that he had near the windows had two plates of steaming food sitting on it and his sitting had a glass of coke as well, Bucky was sitting awkwardly at the other sitting.

"Miss FRIDAY told me to set the food out!" Bucky said quickly, standing when he saw Tony.

"Have you been bossing people around again FRIDAY?" Tony asked, slightly amused making his way over.

"He was sitting staring at the bag like it was about to explode, I thought that it would help for him to do something," FRIDAY explained.

"I hope it is ok?" Bucky shuffled nervously.

"It is fine," Tony snorted taking his seat, Bucky scrambling to sit only once he had. Tony rolled his eyes once again and grabbed the empty glass from in front of Bucky's setting and poured half his drink into it, before starting to eat.

"I don't really know what to say to you, I thought I would be going to prison," Bucky said halfway through the meal where Tony had been holding the silence only to see what the other would say.

"Honestly? I have had this conversation a million times, and I never really got passed the whole, I forgive you, hope you forgive me for trying to beat you stupid in that bunker, I figured Steve would be filling a lot of the silence, to be honest,"

"I left him back in Wakanda," Bucky said quickly, realising the question there in Tony's voice, and noting the slip of the use of the familiar.

"Why? I figured he would be clinging to you like a limpet," Tony asked.

"He was until he tried to have the Witch poke around in my head," Bucky sighed.

"What?" Bucky's eyes noted the way Tony's frame tensed and his hands gripped hold of the knife and fork in his hands.

"Yeah, he said that she would be able to get in and undo the trigger words quicker than Princess Shuri. I said no and he told me that it would help and I wouldn't be so worried about the trigger words anymore, he gave her permission to go ahead even though I said no about 20 times," Bucky noted Tony's dropped jaw.

"What happened...did she…"

"No, I punched her, then punched Steve. Then told Princess Shuri what had happened and she flayed him alive. Told him that he was doing exactly what HYDRA had done to me by trying to take away my permission and fiddling around with my head against my consent," Bucky nodded.

"Wow, brutal!" Tony said, impressed.

"She was quite impressive," Bucky nodded.

"Wanda did she…"

"She didn't get anywhere near my head, and I wanted her nowhere near me. She volunteered for HYDRA that doesn't speak of good mental health," Bucky rolled his eyes.

"That's partly my fault," Tony sighed turning to look out the window.

"I thought you were meant to be smart!" Bucky blurted out, meeting Tony's eyes when he turned to look at him wide-eyed. "Come on, did no one look up her accusations!"

"You did?" Tony asked quietly.

"I got fed up of her blaming everything on you because you killed her parents, which one even if you had wouldn't be an excuse for her behaviour!"

"Are you saying I didn't?" Tony asked, with so much hope in his voice Bucky shook his head with a soft sigh.

"You had become part of the company six months before, Sokovia and America weren't at war with each other or fighting which means…"

"Stane," Tony said with understanding in his eyes.

"Yes, as I said to her if anything she owes you, you avenged her parents, you didn't kill them," Bucky said, watching Tony's amazing brain spin as he took in the information and adjusted how he had been seeing things.

"It is still my fault, if I…"

"If I am not at fault for something I wasn't in control of, then neither are you," Bucky interrupted softly, not wanting to push their odd truce that they had formed, but not able to allow the man to blame himself.

"I should have known what he was doing," Tony sighed.

"You trusted him and cared for him, that he betrayed that is on him and not you. Trusting and caring is something that I wish I still had in me," Bucky smiled.

"I think you still do. You have too much life in you to want to die, you trusted that I wouldn't kill you," Tony challenged.

"Too much life?" Bucky tilted his head, he hadn't thought about it that way before.

"You escape HYDRA and its control, and you made a life for yourself, a normal life enjoying normal things, working, eating, sleeping, exploring from what my information has told me. I can see it in the way you speak to FRIDAY, the way you look out the window, you want to explore and see it,"

"I guess you're right, I would have let you do whatever, but I knew you were a good guy, I figured prison was what I had to look forward to though. But...I want to see what is out there now, how things have changed and what is happening," Bucky smiled staring out the window at the skyline that was so different to the one he had seen as a boy.

"If you want to explore, there are rooms available in the Tower, to use as a base," Tony determinedly didn't meet Bucky's eyes as he spoke, leaving the Super Soldier to stare at him open-mouthed.