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It has been two years since Steve was arrested. After Zemo exposed his lie of Bucky j
Killing the Starks and Tony went on his revenge path that brought Steve and all of his friends down.
He still can’t believe how all of this ended. Sure he made mistakes, but 27 years behind bars was too much ! It was so unfair !
Yes he should have told Tony about his parents. But how would he have know that the genius would react as calmly as he did, that he would immediately see that Bucky wasn’t at fault ! Tony always seemed so rash and unpredictable, Steve was so sure he would never understand the circumstances. But he did, and it had all made Steve Look bad. He just wanted his best friend save, why can’t anyone see that ? Then there is all the money he “stold” to search for him, which Steve thinks it’s just petty. Tony is a Billionare. He won’t miss what Steve and the others used. So what if they treated each other to 5 star hotels. They were Avengers !
He has heard no news about Bucky. The warden told him that he was too close to the case, and that Steve had no self control when it came to Bucky. While Steve could acknowledge that yes, he might get a bit exited, it didn’t meant they have to keep all the news from him.
He barely saw his team on the Raft. Nat and Wanda were off in the Female half of the prison and he only saw them on the rare ocassions both halfs were United. He saw more of Sam and Clint, but just barely. The warden had decided to keep all the Avengers as separated from each other as they could, in order to avoid them making an attempt to escape (something both Clint and Wanda had tried and failed to do) so most of the time he was lonely.
He also had barley any visitors.
The first one came just after his sentence, it was James Rhodes. The man just wanted to rant and yell at Steve for all the hell he put his best friend through. Steve thought he was exaggerating greatly. They weren’t that bad to Tony, and he certainly wasn’t that perfect either.
The second and only other one was a member of the military to officially revok his title from him. After that, nothing. No one else came to see him.
He heard from his guard that Sam had been visited by his sister, that Vision had gone to see Wanda to cut ties with her, and that Nat spoke with Yelena. None of this conversations ended well.
Steve was curious about Yelena Belova. Aside from Zemo, she was the other he blamed for Tony going against them. Ever since he met her things started to go wrong. Had she done something ? Tony and Nat didn’t get along, but he and Yelena actually got together in a relationship ? There had to be something Steve wasn’t seeing here.
He wished that Tony would come to talk to him. Steve had sent letters from the prison but he has no idea if Tony even got them. He knows if he can just talk to him, then everything could be solved. He and his team could get out of here and be Avengers again.
Steve knows that will happen. His confidence had been shaken by his talk with Zemo, but Steve had quickly regained it. He had been sentenced to 27 years, but he will get out of here quicker. The world would soon see that putting him behind bars is a mistake, that despite the mistakes he made, Steve is a hero and they need him. They need all of his team.
The world will soon realize it. Tony will soon see it. No matter the mistakes, he needs them. They are his family after all.
Until that time comes though Steve will have to endure this treatment not worthy of a hero.
“Rogers !” A guard yelled. Breaking him from his thoughts.
“What is it ?”
“You have a visitor,”
Steve gasped suprised. He hasn’t had a visitor in almost two years !
“Who is it ?”
“Don’t know. Didn’t ask. Now hands behind your back.”
Despite his annoyance at having to behave like a common criminal, he was more focused on another thing.
Who wants to see him ?
“Sit here until the visit is over. Remember no harsh movements or it will be ended sooner. You are being monitored at all times.” The guard said the usual speech and then left Steve.
He is thinking who is his visitor. Tony is the prime candidate, he had seen the light about Steve’s actions and that all this was unnecessary.
But then the door opened, and it was not Tony, but someone Steve never thought he would see here....
“Bucky....”
Standing in front of him was his best friend. The man that Steve had lied for and gotten into this problem for, was here in front of him.
“Hey Steve.” He greeted, sitting down.
“I...how...,you are here.”
“Yes, it took sometime to....get things straight, but I was able to come at last.”
“But How ?” Steve asked. He had to know, after everything he did for him he deserved to know.
“After your sentence. The Avengers were sent to get me, but I decided to just end their issues. I turned myself in. It was actually thanks to your trial.”
“What ?”
“Seeing you at trial, it made me realize I was doing wrong by hiding. So I turned myself to the Romanian Authorities, where I was.”
“You where in Romania ?” That place never came up in their searches. Their next stop was supposed to be Nigeria before all of this happened....
“Yes.”
“Wait...you turned yourself, were you sent to prison !” Steve could barely hide the anger at his voice. If Bucky was sent to prison....
“I thought I would, but I wasn’t actually.”
“What ?”
“I was brought to the UN headquarters in Berlin. Yes I was detained there but you can’t really expect them to do something else. But I was told that I wasn’t gonna go to prison most likely. Aperantly Tony Stark had already made my situation very clear and made the world aware that all of my actions were done under Hydra’s control.”
“He....Tony did what ?”
“I mean, he already had made a lot of headway’s about mind control thanks to his efforts to free all of the Black Widows.”
Steve knew about that, but he was still suprised that Tony helped Bucky...
“So Tony used the Red Dust on you ?”
“No.”
“No, why ?”
“Becasue it wasn’t going to work. The Red Dust was made to ONLY work on Black Widows. To anyone else is just a harmless red gas.”
“So you still have the triggers.”
“Nope. Triggers are gone.”
“But if the Red Dust didn’t work, I don’t understand !”
“Steve I’m trying to tell you. Can you please let me ?”
“Oh...yeah. Sorry...”
“So after I was brought there, I had a trial...”
“A trial, but it wasn’t you...”
“Steve !”
Steve sat quietly.
“Yes, everyone knew that, but they had to make it legally oficial. I was found not guilty for everything the Soldier did, making my status a free man.”
Hearing this caused Steve to have mix feelings. He knew that this was gonna happen, and for it to happen so easy, for Bucky to be a free man, he was so happy for that.
But...he wasn’t there. Steve had done nothing to make this happen. It left a bad feeling on his mouth.
“Then it came time for treatment. That’s where the Wakandians came in.”
“Wakanda.” Steve had heard about the Wakandians from Tony and Bruce, when they were searching for leads to Ultron’s wherebouts.
“Yes. I don’t know of you have kept out of the news, but Wakanda is a very advanced country, it’s actually vibramium comes from. Anyway they seemed to have the tec to cure me, with the help of Stark’s BARF, they were able to cure me.”
“That’s...that’s great Buck ! That means you are back to how you were before !”
“No.”
“N...no. What do you mean no ?”
“Steve. Listen to me very well ok. The Bucky you knew...he’s gone.”
Steve didn’t know what that meant. Why is he saying that, when Bucky is literally standing right there !
“I don’t understand, you are here. The triggers are gone, the soldier is gone, you are just Bucky now !”
“Steve experiences like that change you. I am not the man you remember back in the 40s, and I’ll never be that again. I’ve been the Soldier for more than that already. I’m just a man that is figuring out who he is....”
“But...”
“I don’t even go by Bucky anymore. I go by James now.”
James...no no no ! Bucky hates his real name ! That’s why he calls himself Bucky !
“No Buck...this is wrong, you don’t like your real name !”
“Like I said Steve. I’m not the one you knew. I’m someone new now, I still have those memories, those feelings. But I can’t be that person again.
“No no no ! Why are you saying this ! This is wrong. They have done something to you !
That’s when something horrifying reaches his mind. He said that Tony’s tec was used in him, was this what caused this. Is this Tony’s sic way to get revenge at him from hiding the truth from him ?
“Did Tony do this ? Is he...”
“Yeah they told me you would say that.”
“Buck ?”
“I was told you were gonna say that. Blame Tony for something you don’t like. It’s a reflex you and your friends gained, one of the reasons....you are here.”
“Bucky...What are you...”
“Look Steve, I can guarantee you Tony did nothing. Do you know who was the first person that used BAF ?it was Yelena Belova. His own girlfriend, Steve ! He made sure it was safe for her, it’s safe for everyone.”
Steve could see his point. But he was still not convinced.
“But since we are on the subject. There are somethings I need to ask you. Starting with, what the fucking hell is wrong with you ?”
“Bucky ?”:
“Steve. I remember your mother telling you that lying is bad. What were you hoping to gain by lying to Tony about his parents deaths ?”
“I had no choice Buck. I had to protect you ok ? Tony was gonna do something harsh and,,.l
“But he helped me.”
“I didn’t know how he was gonna act back then ok ? I thought he wasn’t gonna understand ! I was greatly suprised on his reaction ok ? The Tony I knew would have never done that.”
“Base on many people you barely knew Tony at all. An considering your resources come from an organization that wanted to manipulate him, a widow obsessed with making herself look better than him, and a woman that hates him, I am bound to believe them.”
“Buck...it wasn’t like that. I...I had to protect you !”
“Does that make it ok ? Does it make it ok to use the man’s money while lying to him ?”
“Tony is rich ! He won’t mind it !”
“That’s not what’s its about Steve. Is how you felt entitled to use the money of a man you were lying to. I agree with them making you pay back all that money. You need to learn that actions have consequences. Your mother and I used to shield you too much. That’s over Steve.”
Steve didn’t believe this. He thought about how his reunion with Bucky would go, and he never imagined this. Yes he did wrong by lying to Tony but he had good intentions ! Why does no one care about that ?
“Then let’s visit a certain member of your team, I don’t like them Steve, those two men that enable anything you do are bad enough. That Black Widow, She’s an insult for calling herself a hero. She insults her sister and all of the Widows that are ACTUALLY trying to change for the better. But there is one that draws the line, one that I can’t believe you actually trusted on your team. Wanda fucking Maximoff.”
Steve sighted. He knew this was going to happen, with her sentence being the worst, and how much the media slanders her.
“Bucky, whatever you heard, Wanda is not like that.”
“No ? Because everything that I have seen and heard tells me that she’s a person that does deserve to be 40 years in prison. Hell if it was for me I would sentence her to life ! Look, you are the only person in the world that still defends her.”
“Buck. The people don’t really know her. She’s a good kid. She’s a victim of Hydra, just like you !” He said, trying to get him to understand that Wanda is a good person. That’s why Steve added her to the team !
But then Bucky gave him a look of absolute fury and Steve flinched. Why was looking at him like that ?
“She. Is. NOTHING. Like me ! She fucking volunteered to it, I had literally no choice !”
“She was manipulated. She though that they were SHIELD.”
“They aren’t really that different right ? And give me a break. She can read minds, she had to know they were Hydra. Yet she stayed, becasue they allow her to get revenge on the wrong person.”
“It was his bomb that killed her parents. It wasn’t the wrong person Tony just...”
“Oh come on Steve. Taking out the fact that the bomb was a fake. He never shot that weapon, he didn’t even know where it was. When you get in a crash, you don’t blame the car manufacture, you blame the one behind the wheel. She just chose him because he’s the notable name, once again proving why this is a person that deserves to be in prison.”
Steve tried to explain to him once again, but Bucky raised his hand.
“You know. They asked me what I sought coming here to see you. Closure maybe, to get to understand a bit more. To know why you created so much chaos for me. But maybe it was to let something clear.”
“Wha...What is that ?”
He gave him a little smile.
“Steve. You really need to let go of the past. We might look the same, remember things, but we are different people. We will never get the past back. I’m not the man you remember, and I’ll never be again. And you...you aren’t the little Stevie that I remember. That serum might had made you stronger, but it also made your defects stronger.”
“No Buck. Don’t say that please.” Steve started to feel tears coming from his eyes.
“I came becasue I think you needed to hear that. I needed to tell you that.”
Bucky stood up.
“I don’t think Im coming back Steve. We both need to move on.”
“No no Buck please. I don’t have much left. I...I lost it all for you. You can’t....you can’t do this..”
“I know why you did it Steve. That’s why I think this is the best for you. You need to let go.”
With that, Bucky stood up and left.
“NO ! BUCKY WAIT. BUCKY !”
Steve tried to go after him. But the guards were firm.
“Rogers stop or we will taser you !”
“BUCKY NO, NOOO!”
Then Steve felt the shock of the taser. He yelled in pain and was brought down.
As the guards carried him away, saying he lost visiting privileges for the next 4 months all Steve could think is that after everything, he lost Bucky, just in a way that was different way he never imagined.
It was much worst way too lose him.
James walked out of the prison.
He thought he had acomplishes what he went here.
In truth, he didn’t tell Steve everything. He didn’t tell him how, despite the triggers being gone, the Soldier is still here, and James is ok with it. Winter deserves to be free as well.
He also didn’t tell him that he hasn’t lived on American soil since he was freed. He found a new home in Wakanda, where he felt comfortable.
Where he found people that care about him. He found someone he loved.
Just then, he saw the familiar plane and in the door, stood Prince T’Challa.
James’ boyfriend.
One of the things he liked about the future, it was more acceptable to be homosexual. He likes that he doesn’t have to hide that he likes other men.
And while during his time in Wakanda he befriended all of the royal family, he became specially close with the Prince.
“Hello my love.’ He greeted him with a kiss.
“Hey.”
“Did you get what you were looking for ?”
“Yeah, I think I got it.”
“Then let us go home.”
“And please leave all of the affection for when we arrive.” Shuri said from the pilot seat.
James chuckled as the siblings started chatting and bickering like they always did. It made the place he called home more exiting.
He looked back and briefly though of Steve again.
Did he feel bad that his childhood friend was in this situation. A little bit. But Steve made his own bed, and now he must lie on it. He refuses to move on, and until he does, he will never keep getting into trouble.
As for James. He has moved on and is starting a new life, with his boyfriend and his family.
And for the first time in many many years, he is truly looking forward to the future.