My Name Is Bucky

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Steve had been gone for about three hours before I decided it was in my best interest to spy on the meeting. Steve's floor was adjacent to the stairs, so I kept my socks on but took my boots off and headed towards the stairs.

I carefully balanced my weight on them to make sure I made no noise. When one of the steps creaked slightly, I flinched in instinct. The memory of an electric stick digging into my side was seared into my mind. Old habits die hard.

I got as far down the staircase as I could without being seen or heard. I saw Tony, Natalia, Steve, and two other men I have never seen before. One had long, blonde hair, and the other had a short haircut with a bow and arrow slung over his shoulder.

"Steve, this isn't an easy mission. It's long. We'll be gone for days at least," Natalia said cooly.

"At most?" Came Steve's reply.

"Months."

Tony stepped forward. "And even with the help of Wanda and Vision, we are leaving this base unguarded. That means leaving your unstable lover here, alone."

"He is not my lover," Steve stepped up to Tony's face, inches from his nose. "You Listen to me, he is a victim."

"Say what you want. I'm not leaving him here to destroy my tower. Our tower. What if he goes off again?"

"We still don't know what makes him do that," replied the blonde. "Perhaps, maybe, Steve is what makes him go rogue?"

"No," Steve snapped and turned on the new man. "You weren't there when he remembered. He remembered because of me. I am what keeps him sane. If I go on the mission, he goes."

The bow and arrow man stood up. "Tony, I gotta agree with Cap here. The winter soldier is also a real good asset to have on your side of the fight."

"And if someone on the other side knows how to turn him?" Natalia looked at the man.

"Well," He said, "you trained with him and dated him. Shouldn't you know?"

She shook her head slowly. "It was a guarded secret."

"So the chances of anyone on the other side knowing are slim to none," Steve concluded.

"Are we certain that this new threat isn't HYDRA?" The blonde questioned.

Tony sighed. "I don't know what to tell you, Rogers."

Steve sighed for a second, thinking. I quietly placed my foot down on the step in front of me, prying to see more.

Steve looked at tony. "I'm not losing him again."

"We're not asking you too," Natalia looked at Steve fondly.

Tony looked at Steve "in the events that Barnes comes on this mission, how will we know that you will have full focus on the goal and not him?"

Sam, who had been silent throughout this whole interaction, looked at the staircase in just the right angle and spotted me. "Well why don't you ask Barnes?" Everyone glanced at him. "He's right there," he pointed at me.

I stood up, knowing I was found, and walked down the steps. I was met by Steve, who scanned my face for any emotion whatsoever.

"I told you to stay upstairs," he whispered.

"You we're gone for two hours. And I don't recall ever listening to what you told me," my head pounded with the memory, and I clutched my head.

Steve looked back at tony. "He's capable of his own part in the fight. But is he ready to?"

"That's what we've been saying, Steve," Sam sighed. He gave a defeated look. "We need to approach this at a different angle. Make teams. Cap, me, and him," he gestured at me, "will all stay on one team together. Barnes has seen us the most, we know what he's capable of. We stay more on defense and distraction while Wanda, Natasha, and Clint work on the extraction. It's nothing they can't handle. Obviously, Bruce is still out and therefore unavailable. That leaves Tony, Thor, and Vision, aka the heavy hitters, to do some real damage in the main facilities of the enemy base. Once we extract the weapon, we bring it back here. We don't know what it's abilities or uses are. Of course, this all happens after the scoping. So that means my team will have to go in last because we're noticeable, unlike Natasha's team."

There was a moment of silence, and his gaze pierced into mine, almost as if it were a challenge. I shifted my weight onto my other leg, staying where I was.

Tony nodded. "Alright, why didn't he get the talking stick this entire meeting?"

The blonde man looked up. "Are we sure we can do this without Rhodey and Banner? It's plausible, but you can't ignore what they have to offer."

Natalia nodded. "We'll be fine, Thor."

Tony drew is hands out, and a blue hologram appeared in between them. "Obviously, Romanoff's team moves in first. Mine will be in a day or two later, me hiding because no one can ignore my dashing looks, and then Wilson's team last." He typed ferociously on the hologram before looking at Steve. "And, oh, by the way, if Barnes so much as makes me think he's gonna hurt somebody, he's off the mission and in containment until we get back. Understood?"

"You can fall to me instead of acting like Steve's my translator," I growled at tony.

Tony smirked. "Glad we're in agreement."