puppet | barnes

14.0

14.1

R A M O N D A
" y o u  w i l l  b e c o m e  s t r o n g e r  f r o m   t h i s "

~

His can of pineapples sat half-eaten on the coffee table. It was a lot for him to take in. Natasha and Tony's betrayal, the lies, the staging, the workings of it all... It was sickening.

And numbing.

We have to keep going,
Bucky.
We have to help
these people even if
they can't.

He nodded slowly. "Shuri's on her way?"

Rosalind nodded.

"As soon as she gets here, we hunt down Steve, Sam, and Scott. We'll figure something out," he said, eyes on his ever-moving hands. Distant soldier still.

Without thinking, she took his hand — the metal cold in her warmth. He tightened his fingers around hers.

It'll work out.
I have your back.

He smiled. "And I, yours. You promise Tony didn't hurt you?" He looked at her, watching for cracks in her truth.

I promise.

He was angry with himself, deep down. He said he'd watch out for her and keep her from danger. He swore.

Though her attire changed, the smudge on her neck — now nothing but a stain — over a scar were two reminders for him.

Don't let her explode.
Don't let her implode.
Protect her.

He reminded himself to me. Then:

I won't.
Not again.

~

14.2

A knock, an entrance of a girl with her heart on her sleeve. Like armor.

In with her came the night.

~

14.3

Banging on a foreign door. Metal hands without someone to hold are antsy and loud, clumsy. Assassins forget to be quiet while babies sleep.

Three enter into a new apartment, facing a captain, an ant, and a bird.

In with them came the danger, the story, the future.

~

14.4

Shuri, Bucky, and Rosalind sat on cushions on the floor, stolen from the nearby couch. Scott, Sam, and Steve sat on the cushion-less couch.

A mother, in charge of keeping an eye on the latter three busied herself in the kitchen, had a young child strapped to her back and kept an eye on Rosalind.

An older child, near ten, played with toy soldiers in the corner. Steve watched him.

"Tony and Natasha have been planning this all. Every moment and word was calculated, every pawn carefully placed. Our teammates have been lying to us, conspiring under the flawed notion that suppression leads to less losses and less divides..." Bucky explained for Rosalind. "Shuri, what do you know?"

Shuri explained late night conferences with T'Challa and Tony, whispers on phones with Natasha, and the more recent endeavors in the Stark Tower:

"Just today, Tony stayed back. He wanted me to prepare a room and sedatives for Rosalind. He wanted anxiety and rage suppressants too. He told me to keep quiet and vigilant. Before he set us loose, he had me fine-tune a tracker." Shuri looked at the hardware on Rosalind's wrist. "It's simple machinery. I can easily take it off."

Later.

Rosalind said, and nodded.

"So," Sam said, "What's the plan, Cap?"

"Considering Tony is no longer a man of his words, nor his actions, we head to the people. He's nothing without backing. If we get the masses on to our side, as most already are, we'll be stronger against him and against those in power."

"Okay," Bucky said distantly, taken by the words of hope like a kite to wind. "Let's head." He stood, extending hands to Rosalind and a Shuri. Those on the couch stood.

Steve approached the woman in the kitchen, and spoke something in a tongue unknown to the rest. He nodded once, smiling kindly. She smiled back with another confirming word.

He was the first out, and Rosalind nodded firmly to the woman. Out they went, onto the street.

"What'd you say?" Sam asked.

"He thanked her for letting us stay, 'putting up with us', and for the food. Then he asked if she could spread a kind word," Scott said, adjusting his suit at the collar.

"I didn't know you spoke Portuguese," Steve said.

"Ditto," Scott said with a crooked, but good-hearted grin. "There was a book in jail..."

"There was a girl in Germany," Steve said, laughing. Rosalind smiled despite everything. They were walking into a war, still laughing about a different one.

Rosalind looked up from the gravel. They came upon a complex.

~

14.5

This was the beginning. They'd battle doorstep to doorstep, and, inevitably win. Natasha would reconcile once again, and though the rift in trust with a double-agent would be hard to heal — it would.

Tony would join the board at SHIELD to advise the government leaders, still against Steve, but being there nonetheless. T'Challa and Shuri flew back home. He applauded her fortitude in standing up for her beliefs, and the patching up wasn't difficult.

Ramonda, in the cavern under the palace, smiled amongst the water. After it all, Rosalind had become stronger from the wounds she once bled from.

After it all, hadn't all of them?