VITALITY ↝ B. BARNES [1]

[9]

Longing

Rusted

Furnace

Daybreak

Seventeen

Benign

Nine

Homecoming

One

Freight Car

Elysia's blood turned to ice in her veins as the words appeared on a holographic screen in the middle of the conference room, along with the same old photograph from Bucky's file that Tony had shown her back in Arizona. The rest of the team all sat around the table, reading over the words as a heavy silence fell over the group.

"Alright," Tony announced, breaking the silence. "All of you know what these words do, we've been over this several times. You're all to be on alert with Barnes walking around the building, to protect him from being exposed to them, and to protect anyone else that might find themselves in his vicinity should these words ever be spoken aloud. Any questions?"

"I can't believe Tony's actually agreeing to this," Natasha murmured to Elysia, catching her attention as she looked over at the redhead.

"His behavior's shown that he's stable enough." Wanda pointed out from her other side. "Besides, if anything happens, Vision and I would be able to incapacitate him again in a heartbeat. Trust me," the Sokovian woman said with a smirk. "They know the kind of damage I can do."

"If there's no questions, then it's time." Tony announced then, rising from his chair as the hologram disappeared from view, taking the words away with it. "Remember, eyes up at all times. Until Sparky and Drs. Valente can get those outside of his head, he's free to walk around the compound so long as those words never reach his ears."

Tony led the team out of the conference room as they walked back to the interrogation room where Bucky was still being held, Steve hot on his heels. The rest of the group watched with bated breath from the other side of the viewing glass as Steve and Tony walked into the room to meet Bucky, the latter flipping a switch so the metal crusher loosened against Bucky's arm, setting him free.

Bucky stared down at his metal arm, rotating it back and forth and finally moving it again for the first time since his initial meeting with Elysia, Tony, Carlos, and Fernanda. He smiled over at Steve, who watched his movements in awe, finally being able to stand eye-to-eye with his best friend in peace for the first time in seventy years. Tony stood stiff, as if waiting for the Winter Soldier to lose control at any second and begin wreaking havoc against the Avengers, though to their relief, the moment never came.

Elysia watched as Bucky and Tony shook hands, and Steve led the three of them out to the observation room so he could begin giving his best friend a tour of the Avengers Compound, to see more than just the two rooms he'd been privy to over the past week. They stopped short in front of where Elysia stood between Sam and Wanda, and Bucky's eyes quickly found Elysia's before he gave her a grateful smile.

"Good to see you on your feet," Elysia said.

"Welcome to the compound," Wanda greeted, their first conversation since she'd held him under her control back at the HYDRA base, though Elysia couldn't even begin to guess what had been going on inside his brain during that night.

Bucky nodded back at her in greeting. "Ma'am,"

"Your room's upstairs," Steve said to Bucky, nodding back at them before leading him back towards the door. "We'll get you settled in, and later on I'll show you the rest of the compound."