(Disclaimer: I took liberties with a portion of Coulson's past during this chapter. If it completely negates things that we've learned in the series, I apologize and hope you can overlook it.)
Chapter 4
Hearing his friend's phone ring, Bucky watched as Steve looked at the screen before sending it to voicemail. "Sharon again?" He inquired, exchanging a quick look with Sam.
Steve nodded as he tucked the phone away in his pocket.
"When did you start dodging her calls?" Sam asked then.
The first Avenger shrugged. "I don't know why she's trying to call. She's the one that ended things in the first place." At the time, he hadn't blamed her, after all, he couldn't treat her like a proper boyfriend ought to have. But that wasn't to say that he hadn't been hurt by their parting of ways. Like her aunt, she'd been a difficult woman to get over. Months after their break-up, he'd realized that just as he hadn't been enough for her, she hadn't been enough for him.
"Maybe she's regretting her decision…" Bucky said in a pointed manner.
Steve shrugged. "Well, nothing much has changed in my situation," he replied, knowing that even if he were to entertain the idea of reuniting with her, the same issues would end up becoming a sore point between them sooner or later. "Has Natasha recruited you to take up her cause or something?" He asked then, wondering why Bucky was mentioning such a thing.
"Just trying to get a feel for things," Bucky excused.
A feel for things? "Why?" Steve asked, not at all comforted by Bucky's explanation.
Instead of giving his friend an answer, Bucky noticed Daisy a short distance away. "Oh, look, there's Daisy," he said, changing the subject. Walking past Steve, he made his intention to speak to her known. "She's a pretty dame, isn't she?"
"You're supposed to be on my side," Steve said from behind, but followed him regardless.
"He got a thing for brunettes?" Sam asked in a whispered tone.
Steve snorted. "He's got a thing for women, period."
Pushing ahead, Bucky entered the area she was occupying. He took notice of the various drawings hanging on the wall but chose not to comment on them. "How did the Tai Chi work out?" Bucky asked her.
Pressing the tape against the wall in order to make sure it stuck to it, Daisy turned to look him. "Not as well as May would have liked," Daisy replied as she smiled at him in acknowledgement. "It was a much shorter session than she's used to." She reached for another piece of the white construction paper and attached it onto the wall, directly underneath the other one. "Natasha and I sparred for a bit and by the time I left the gym, she and May had started."
"Decided to do a little redecorating?" Sam asked, looking at the various drawings hanging on the wall.
She offered him a sheepish smile. "These were drawn by the same Inhuman girl that saw the end of the world. Because she can't always tell the difference between visions of the past, present and future, she draws them."
"So, you're studying them…" Sam finished for her.
She nodded. "Just…seeing if there's a solution here that we haven't thought of," she said, referring to Coulson's predicament.
Steve looked at the various drawings and tried to see if he could make sense of anything. However, the pictures showed him nothing more than a child's imagination. One picture was of, what he assumed was a giant person having eaten several little people, another was a couple on what looked like a beach. "You believe in this?" He asked, hoping his voice held a neutral tone. "In the notion that people can see the future."
"I do," she replied simply, not even bothering to lie. "Within reason, anyway."
"What do you consider 'within reason?'"
"While I don't think I'll be calling the 'psychic friends network' anytime soon, I've had three people predict something that either directly involved me or affected me." She was easily able to discern the skepticism on his face. "Because of Robin's prediction, we were sent to the future. If we weren't, me may never have discovered the end of the world. Now, because we know, we can take steps to change it." All three of her companions still seemed skeptical. "You don't believe in it."
Steve shook his head in negative. "I don't," he agreed.
Daisy shrugged. "Fair enough," she allowed, not even bothering to argue her point. They were entitled to their own opinions.
"That's it?" Bucky asked. "You aren't going to try and argue your feelings on the matter?"
"I wasn't planning on it, no," she replied simply. "You have your opinions and I have mine, we'll just have to agree to disagree."
"Just out of curiosity, who were the other two people?" Sam asked.
Next to him, Steve turned his attention on Daisy. He was curious about that as well.
"The first time it happened, it was the Hydra associate that was in the Kree temple that transformed with me. Of course, I didn't believe anything that she had to say. I was convinced that she was using her powers to manipulate those around her." It was what she would have done prior to going through terrigenesis.
"What was it that she'd said?"
Instead of repeating the prophetic words, she began explaining that time in her life. "At the time, I was torn between two lives. SHIELD was so much more than a job for me. It was the first time I'd ever felt like I was part of a family, but then I met my biological parents. Hydra had come out and SHIELD was changing, and when I found an entire community of Inhumans…" It hadn't so much felt like home, but it had been nice being surrounded by others who'd struggled and overcome the difficulties she'd been going through at the time. "My mother was an Inhuman and she was weary of humans, so when I showed up so involved with SHIELD…she wasn't the happiest. I had arranged a sit down between the then acting director and Jaying behind closed doors. No one knew what happened, except that Jaying was shot and Gonzalez never made it out of the building. I didn't understand how something like that had happened, regardless of the changes SHIELD was undergoing. I was told to choose a side."
"And you couldn't," Steve finished for her.
Daisy nodded in response. "I sought Raina out and asked about the confrontation, if she'd seen it. She said she had, but that she hadn't said anything because she knew I wouldn't believe her. She told me that she'd come to the realization that her destiny was to help me fulfill mine. She said that Jaying was intentionally misleading her people and that it was my destiny to lead the Inhumans." After she finished hanging up another drawing, she continued on. "Admittedly, I doubt the last part of that will ever happen, but she was right about Jaying."
"And the other time?" Steve asked before he could help himself.
Arching a single eyebrow, Daisy offered him a smile of amusement. "I thought you didn't believe in all this?"
He couldn't help but smile back at her. "Maybe not, but it does make for an interesting story."
She hesitated for a moment before nodding her head once. Setting down the remainder of the drawings, Daisy cleared her throat.
"This can't be good," Bucky whispered for Steve's ears as Daisy completely sobered up.
Steve didn't say anything in response, but his thoughts fell in the same direction.
"Robin's father was also an Inhuman. He had the ability to show someone glimpses of an individual's future death."
"Like that person's own death?" Sam asked for clarification.
"Sometimes, but not always. But the death they were shown always affected that person directly." She licked her lips. "When I say glimpses, they were more like…flashes," she clarified. Instead of meeting any one person's gaze, she blankly stared ahead.
A frown bit at his lips as he looked at the brunette. Listening carefully to her words, an unease settled in Steve's chest. The way she tried to explain it further…it was as if she was speaking from experience.
"A view of Earth from space, one of SHIELD's quin jets in distress, a necklace floating and what looked like the beginning of an explosion…" She trailed off, thinking of the visions she'd seen on the roof before mentally shaking them from her head. "Enough to know that someone on the team was going to die, but not enough to figure out who." She explained Hive and falling under his sway before going into his plan and her contribution to it. "By the time my link to him was severed, it was too late, his plan was already in play. The only solution was to get the gas off Earth before it was released."
"But the jets can fly on their own," Steve said.
"That was the initial plan, but Hive wasn't going anywhere and because we couldn't risk killing him without the possibility of him inhabiting another body, the plan changed. When the necklace from my vision came into my possession, I knew what I had to do."
Sam frowned. "What changed?" Needless to say, the fact that she was standing before him meant she hadn't died in space.
"After realizing my intention, my boyfriend took my place. He used his powers against me to knock me out of the jet before he locked himself in with the warhead and Hive and took off. I tried talking him down over the coms, not wanting him to pay for my mistakes." She smiled sadly. "Got to save the girl and the world."
Bucky tilted his head as he studied her form. "Mind control…" He trailed off, focusing on the part of her story that hit a little too close to home.
She nodded. "Sucks, doesn't it?" Daisy asked, though the question required no response. She watched as Bucky dropped into one of the chairs in the room. "Even if the others were able to forgive me for the things I'd done at the time, forgiving yourself can take a lot longer."
The former assassin smiled humorlessly. "Tell me about it," he mumbled.
Assuming that her words drew up some unhappy thoughts for him, she looked away not wanting to intrude on that. Steve, who had been silent since she started talking about Lincoln's decision to take her place, also appeared to have lost himself to one thought or another. Wow, way to bumb everyone out…
"Hero all around then," Sam summed up kindly.
She offered him a heartfelt smile and nodded. "To this day, I don't know if I was supposed to be in that jet or if it was Lincoln all along, but the vision came true. So, yes, I believe that some people have the ability to see the future. I've experienced it too many times to not believe in it."
Listening to Daisy's story was a little too close for comfort for him. Steve couldn't help but remember his own bittersweet conversation with the girl that got away. Clearing his throat, Steve forced the melancholy thoughts away. "I'm sorry, I just don't…see it," he said then, not wanting to slip back into his memories. "It's easy enough to reflect on events of the past and assign them to a picture she drew, but the pictures are vague enough to be interpreted in multiple ways."
She eyes trailed over to the pictures she'd hung up before looking to the remaining ones that had yet to be hung. "Maybe some of these are nothing more than a girl's imagination," she allowed, thinking on a picture of a what she assumed was a mother and her blonde daughter. It was innocent enough, something any child could draw. Gathering the remaining stack, she looked over a picture in her hand, unable to make out who the people were in it. "But this?" She asked, showing Sam and Steve the drawing and pointing at a purple figure that towered over everyone else in the drawing. "This has to be more than just her imagination." Because really, how many little girls drew a big purple monster that wasn't a 'flying purple people eater?' The song itself had started to fade into obscurity when she was a child, so she doubted Robin had ever heard it.
Steve shook his head in negative. "Or it could just be the purple Teletubby," he argued. He watched as Daisy attempted to chew away a small smile. "What?"
"Nothing," she denied. "I just find myself impressed that you know what a Teletubby is." She controlled her amusement and sighed. "I'm not asking you to believe, Steve. I was simply explaining why I do."
Bucky looked from Daisy to Steve. "What the hell is a Teletubby?"
"Seeing you and May this morning, reminded me of the old days," Coulson said as he claimed a seat next to Natasha, setting a folder down in front of him.
She nodded. "Me too," she admitted. "You know, when Hydra came out and immediately started killing those agents that they deemed as their biggest threats, I thought she was among those lost."
"If she hadn't been assigned to the bus, I think that might have happened," he admitted, thinking back on the time. He'd been wrong to have ever questioned May's loyalty. Shaking the thought away, he asked the question that had been on his mind. "What really happened between the Avengers?" While each team had talked about the past few years, like them, Natasha and Steve managed to gloss over a few things.
There was no denying the meaning behind his words, and she didn't even bother to pretend otherwise. "The Sokovia Accords…Bucky…" Natasha exhaled a deep breath. "After the events in Sokovia, a grieving mother tracked Tony down. I don't know what was said, but she was convincing enough that Tony did a complete 180 in his feelings. By the time the Accords were introduced, he and James Rhodes were all for them and Steve wasn't." Coulson nodded. At the time of them, he'd talked Daisy into signing along with it, regardless of her personal feelings. "Steve and Tony always fell on opposite sides when it came to most things, but when it came to the Accords, neither was willing to budge on their view."
He nodded, knowing how stubborn both men could be. "But still…Captain America, a war criminal? Captain America?!"
She couldn't help but smile at the 'fan-boy' he could still be where Steve was concerned. "After Steve realized that Bucky was The Winter Soldier, we spent months trying to find information on him and trying to track him down. During our search, we learned that Hydra had a hand in killing Howard and Maria Stark."
"It wasn't a car accident?"
"There was an accident, but they didn't die in it. I don't know what Stark had been working on, but it was enough of a threat to Hydra to send an assassin after him."
Coulson put two and two together and winced. "That's rough," he voiced, knowing that at one time Howard and Bucky were friends of a sort.
She nodded. "And you know how impulsive Tony can be… Tony wanted vengeance and Steve wouldn't let him kill Bucky. Tony felt betrayed by him and they came to blows. We've been on the run since. Wanda was with us for a while, but she's since gone off on her own."
"What about Clint and Banner? What do they have to say about it?" He asked, curious to hear the answer. He wondered what Thor thought, but seeing as he wasn't on Earth, he wondered if the Asgardian was even aware of the rift that split his teammates.
"Clint felt the same way as Steve in regard to the Accords…and Bucky. You remember what happened when we dealt with Loki," she said, referring to the mind control Clint and others had been placed under. "Because of that, he can't help but feel a kinship to Bucky," she replied, watching as Coulson digested the news. "He's been on house arrest since everything happened. I think he was tempted to join us, but he didn't want to leave Laura and the kids behind and chance not being able to see or contact them."
"And Banner?" He prompted when she made no move to mention him.
"Has been MIA since Sokovia." No one had seen him since his departure. "He's probably the only one that could have talked any sense into Tony where Bucky is concerned," she shared, knowing how quick the friendship between the scientist and tech billionaire started. "Thankfully, T'Challa has opened his country to us and has helped Bucky tremendously."
"And you spend most of your time in Wakanda?"
"No. In the beginning we did, Steve didn't want to leave Bucky alone for too long, but we did grow restless. Since Bucky has improved, we travel more. He doesn't usually join us, he's still not comfortable with the idea of being out in public for too long."
Coulson nodded before looking down at the folder in front of him and pushing it in front of Natasha.
"What's this?" She asked, opening the folder and looking at the top page before flipping through the rest.
"It's a list of SHIELD safehouses abroad that I know for a fact have been cleaned up and are safe once again." He watched as she perused the pages. "I don't know if any of these appeal to you, but if you guys run into something along the way, I wanted to let you know that you're more than welcome to use any of these."
Natasha beamed at him before leaning over and embracing him. "Thank you."
Coulson returned the affection. "You're welcome."
"Phil, about yesterday…" She began.
He pulled away from her. "Can we not talk about this?" He'd already talked to May the previous night and he was sure Daisy would be next in an attempt to change his mind.
Seeing that he was already weary about what she may say, she closed her mouth before opening it once again. "You know that Melinda and Daisy aren't going to just accept your decision lying down, right?" In fact, most of his team seemed to be of the same mind as the two women.
He nodded. "I know."
"Okay," she offered him a small smile. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm totally with them on this."
A wry smile decorated his lips. "I figured you would be."
"You've got a good team here. And I don't just mean May and Daisy," she told him. "I can see how far you guys have come."
"It hasn't been easy."
"No. 'SHIELD' and 'easy' aren't two words that usually belong together in the same sentence," she allowed. "I guess it's safe to assume that a majority of the reason why the Avengers hadn't been busy is because of your team…"
Coulson considered her words for a moment before nodding. "Probably," he modestly replied. "But just so you know, I kept Theta Protocol going," he said, referring to the term used for the Avengers. "If we face a situation that we can't handle the team knows to reach out to Maria Hill." It had always been his plan as a last resort.
"Hey, Phil," she asked after a beat. "Why didn't you tell us you were alive?" She asked before she had a chance to change her mind. "I heard what you said yesterday, but…I know there's something more to it."
"Growing up, my father told me stories about his time in the war. He was part of the 107th that Steve rescued. He spoke of Steve and the Howling Commandos," he began. "Whatever he'd seen from the outside made an impression on him, so when he spoke about it to me, it stuck with me. And I grew up wanting to be like them, a hero, but not wanting to be the center of attention like Cap. In college I learned how SHIELD had shaped everything and I set my cap at it and I never looked back. I was young and eager, I lived and breathed SHIELD." He'd been completely satisfied by his decision. "Even after I matured, I never regretted my decision to not marry and take a desk job. And then I met Audrey."
Natasha smiled sadly as she thought of the woman that he'd once crowed about.
"She was the first woman I'd met since joining SHIELD that even made me think about the possibility of having a life outside of it," he admitted. "After my death, I struggled with the idea of not being able to return to my former life, not being able to see her. I wondered what would have happened if Loki hadn't killed me, what my life with Audrey would have been like," because there'd been no doubt in his mind that that was where his relationship with her had been headed. "It was the hardest order I've ever had to follow," he admitted, not having another choice at the time. "I threw myself back into the job, but it wasn't the same."
"You found a new normal."
"I did." And it was something he was sure that he wouldn't have been able to do if he'd never been assigned to the bus. "Being on the bus allowed us to live in our own little world and it was easier to live that way. When the dust settled after Hydra, and I was at the helm, I thought about going to you guys, but…"
"You didn't want to be reminded of that other life," she finished for him.
He nodded once in agreement before giving her a lopsided smile. "This is the first time that I ever told anyone that."
She offered him a sad smile in response. "Steve tries to avoid thinking on his past too," she shared quietly.
After a pregnant pause, he offered her a smile. "There's also the fact that I didn't want to take the chance of you guys trying to lure Daisy away from me," he added, hoping to lighten the conversation. Though being an Avenger meant they did things no one else could do, there was also an air of celebrity status that went along with it and he was worried she would have enticed away.
She giggled then and nodded, able to see that happening. "Your girl's not going anywhere," she told him after a moment while she patted the back his hand.
After saying her goodbye to Sam, Daisy blinked as Natasha stepped up to her.
"You have our numbers, don't you?" Natasha asked for one final time. Even though Steve informed her that he'd already given them to Daisy, she needed to hear it from the brunette.
Daisy nodded. "Already programmed into my phone," she told the other woman. "And Steve's already asked me to keep you guys up to date on the progress with Coulson," she tacked on for assurance.
"Good." She looked the brunette over, not missing the strain that Coulson's news had already placed her under and the worry behind her eyes. "I'm sure that everything is going to work out," she said placing a supportive hand on Daisy's shoulder.
She wished she had that faith. "How do you know?"
"I've worked with May before. I know the determination she puts into everything and I see that in you." She removed her hand from Daisy. "You guys are going to find a cure for him."
Daisy offered her a smile and changed the subject. "Thanks for showing me that move earlier, I can't wait to try it out."
"Of course. It was nice to spar against a new partner," the natural redhead said. She leaned in and hugged Daisy. "Take care of yourself."
"You too," Daisy said returning the embrace before releasing her. She watched as Natasha approached Coulson and threw her arms around him before looking to the person standing before her. Upon seeing Bucky Barnes standing in front of her, she gave him a sincere smile. It wasn't until she realized that there was an air of consideration on his face as he looked her over that her smile dimmed. "What?"
Bucky shook his head in negative. "Nothing," he excused, aware of the fact that Steve was right next to him. Not wanting to risk saying anything that his friend could overhear and question him about later, he offered her a smile. "I just really enjoyed meeting you," he offered.
Really? That was what prompted the look? Again, she felt as if she'd missed something. However, instead of saying anything about it, Daisy nodded. "Me too," she responded.
"Maybe we'll see each other again," he said then with a shrug of his shoulders.
"If you ever want to get away from all that opulence at the palace in Wakanda, you're always welcome here," she said, extending an open invitation.
He smiled at her. "I'll keep that in mind," he bent over and grabbed one of her hands. "Ms. Daisy, it has been a pleasure," he told her dramatically as he placed a kiss on the back of her hand. Standing up, he winked at her before walking away.
With a smile on her face, she watched him walk away before turning to look at Steve, whom was also smiling. "A charmer, that one," she said while shaking her head.
Steve nodded, wearing a wistful smile as he turned around to look at her. "That was nothing, you should have seen him in the old days. I think Peggy is the only woman that didn't fall for his charm," he replied, his smile fading as he thought about those days.
Sensing the turn in his thoughts she cleared her throat to capture his attention. "You guys are lucky that you have found each other," she told him.
He offered her a half-hearted smile.
When it was apparent that he was going to comment on it, she changed the subject. "Thank you for your offer to help with Coulson. We don't exactly know what we're walking into in regard to the government, so…"
"Of course, I meant every word," he immediately responded. "As for everything else, good luck with all of that." They already had enough on their plate and he hoped that they'd be able to concentrate on saving the world and Coulson rather than deal with the government. "Just…take care of yourself and your team."
She nodded. "You guys headed back to Wakanda for a while?"
"We haven't really decided," he shrugged. Bucky, as much as he'd enjoyed his time away, wanted to get back. "We may not officially be the Avengers anymore, but it's hard to just sit back and…" he trailed off, not sure of the word he wanted to use.
"Relax," Daisy supplied for him with a smirk on her face.
He nodded. "Something like that," he murmured.
"Daisy, sorry to interrupt, but we have a potential situation," Mack said approaching the pair. "We discovered a beacon that sounds similar to what Voss spoke about."
"I'll be right there," she told him before turning back to Steve. "And it begins…"
"At least you can say that your life will never be boring," the former Avenger observed. "Good bye, Daisy."
"Take care of yourself, Steve," she responded softly.
He dipped his head at her before stepping away to join the others. As soon as he approached them, Bucky fell next to him, behind Natasha and Sam.
"Nice group," Bucky said.
Steve nodded. "They are."
"And I really like Daisy," the former assassin added as an afterthought. Giving his friend a side glance, he watched for any sort of reaction.
"Of course, you do," Steve murmured. He couldn't help but shake his head at his best friend. "I'll be sure to pass on your regard the next time I speak to her," he told Bucky.
"Please do," Bucky said, his facial expression taking one of earnest. Turning around, he looked at the woman they'd just departed from who was busy talking with Mack.
Stopping along with him, Steve followed his line of sight before looking back at his best friend with raised eyebrows. At first, he'd thought his friend was joking, but the attention that Bucky seemed to hold for her had him second-guessing his original thoughts. "In all seriousness, if you want me to, I will," he offered.
Turning back to Steve, Bucky chuckled before he threw an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, punk. Let's get to the jet before Natasha decides to take off without us," he said, pulling the enhanced man along with him. "Hey, Stevie? Do you remember the night we saw the fortune teller?"