The Other Stark

Chapter 27

"Bucky, you'll have to talk to her eventually," Nat said, standing outside his room door, trying to get him to leave that room for the second time that day.

"She just asked you to pay her a visit, just to talk. Tory isn't angry at you. Get out! It's been four days already."

"Where's Steve?" he asked, lying on his back at the bed, ignoring the woman's pleads.

"Doing some training with Wanda, Clint, and Sam," the redhead answered, impatient. She reached for the doorknob and went into the room, not asking for permission.

"Come on! You two need to talk."

Nat sat on the bed, tickling on the sides, making Barnes rush out of bed, grinning.

"She said that if you're not going to her, she's coming to you."

He sighed in defeat, not wanting her to come looking for him in the state she was in. Even though Cho had helped her heal from almost everything, she couldn't fix bones and bruises, so her ribs and leg were still healing, body full of purple and green.

"Okay. Fine. I'll go."

...

Tory had the table pulled to the bed, computer in front of her. Bruce sat beside the bed, papers and books opened beside him.

"That's really good. But I wasn't thinking on erasing those trigger words with physical surgery," she commented, looking over the new notes she had from the past two weeks of his and Cho's research.

"And how were you thinking of doing it?" Banner asked, taking his glasses off, eyebrows raised.

"We can't make him go through another painful memory surgery. It's going to trigger him in the worst ways. We have a lot of other resources to use, we just need to make sure his mind is ready," she said, hearing a knock from the door before Bucky entered, stepping in, hesitantly.

"I'm going to the lab then, see what we can do," Bruce said standing from his seat, closing the books and stacking the papers together, walking to the door.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. give Dr. Banner full access to my research. When you finish reading, you'll know what I'm talking about, Bruce. It's a much better option and I already know who can help us."

When Tory was left alone with Bucky, silence fell in the room, neither of them knowing what to say.

"Well, you're not talking... Then I will. I'm not mad at you, okay? Have I ever judged you for anything that you did? You have no control over it, nothing."

"Don't think you don't deserve happiness just because of what you did in the past. You're family now Buck, no matter what you do," the woman informed him, his heart pounding faster from listening to those words. Barnes knew he could count with Steve, no matter what, but this? He never expected.

"Now that I made things clear, come closer, cause I need to tell you something's I've been up to the last three months. But promise me you'll not isolate yourself from everyone because of some bullshit. I'm doing everything I can to get you free from these suffering you've been through," she answered.

"And how's that? Is that even possible?" the man asked, frustrated, trying his best to ignore the constant voice that told him he didn't deserve all of these.

"So we're good? No hard feelings?"

He nodded, taking a seat at the chair everyone else sat on.

"Right... So I'm freeing you from the trigger words for good. Bruce and I are almost done with the research, and I already know how to do it. It's going to take some time because we need to be sure you're ready, and I want to be sure it will work 100%. I'm doing everything I can for it to be painless."

The man looked at her with wide eyes, not sure if what he heard was true. He felt that was the thing that held him from doing things the most. Without the trigger words, there wasn't Winter Soldier to be controlled, he wouldn't have to wake up every day afraid is snapping at someone.

"Buck? Did you listen to what I just said?"

"I think so."

"You deserve to live the life you couldn't with people that care about you, and this second chance will give the opportunity to know who you really are, a fresh start."

He had a thankful smile spread around his face, eyes shining with new light as if someone had just given him a new purpose to fight for.

"I-I..." Bucky stuttered, trying to find the words to say something to Tory.

"Just give me a hug. I know you're not that good with words," she said, opening her arms as he left his seat and got closer to her.

...

Almost a month had passed by when Tory was discharged from the hospital, still not cleared for training, or missions, or anything that involved moving too much. Unfortunately, no one in the team was able to accompany her out of the hospital, even though her room was four floors above. The Avengers was currently on a mission, for two weeks now, not leaving anyone, but Bruce to keep her company, for Steve and Tony's dismay.

So Tory took the time to work with her fellow science partner on the process they were doing with Bucky. They had already started, Wanda getting two to three sections with him every week, to put everything inside his head in place, so when the time came, he would be ready for her to get in deeper and do what she needed, without worrying something would go wrong.

The idea to help Bucky was, actually, simple. After doing some research on how Wanda's powers worked, Tory came to the conclusion she could not only enter people's mind but change and erase memories. Her powers were much more complex than imagined, all because of the gem Vision carried on his head. Wanda just needed to search for the words that triggered him, and all the moments that it had been said to Barnes, taking them away.

"Anything new?" Bruce asked, distracted with the liquid he was pouring inside a test tube, then placing it in a gallery.

"He's coming back in a bad state of mind, after another fight. We all know how Bucky gets after fights," the woman thought out loud, closing her laptop, stretching herself on the chair.

"Don't you think we could, I don't know, take some of those memories he has, murdering people, children? That's the worst part of all this. He'll be free form the words, but all the worst things he did will still be in his nightmares every time he closes his eyes," Bruce wondered after he stopped measuring the H2SO4 he needed to put on the beaker.

"I can't decide this. The memories are his. I'll talk to him if Bucky feels comfortable and he's okay with it, I have nothing against," the brunette declared.

"Any news on when they are coming back, by the way?"

"No. Thought Steve would have told you," he said, with a smirk, knowing both of them were getting into something serious, even though, none of them had said a word to the team, or labeled it.

"Well, last time we talked was like, five days ago, so..." Tory informed him, walking to the exit, still not moving freely because her ribs still hurt.

"Where are you going? You aren't supposed to leave the tower," the scientist warned her, stepping ahead.

"I've been locked here for a month. Fresh air is needed. I think I'm going shopping, or maybe do some groceries, cook. I just need to do something with this much spare time I have."

"Just don't drink alcohol, you're on meds," Banner reminded her, acting like the doctor he was.

"Roger that!" she shouted, before disappearing from his view.