Gold Rings ⚜️ Bucky Barnes X Reader

4: Catching Up

"To be honest, he sounds a bit like an asshole."

Song Bird refused to comment. Shuri just sipped more tea.

"Moving on!"

Song Bird flicked to two missing files showing the God of Thunder and the Jolly Green Giant Can of Whoopass. "Thor and the Hulk are still missing, but that isn't really news to you."

Swiping through the air, Song Bird selected a special file.

"This will be though."

Suddenly, the air was replaced with completely new files, mostly videos of news coverage.

"You probably remember Wanda and Vision."

"Red witch girl and the robot?"

"... In simple terms, yes!" Song Bird exclaimed. "When you went under, their fate was unclear. They were staying at the Avengers base to see if Wanda could get U.S. citizenship through asylum and whether Vision would get personhood, but then..."

Song Bird pulled up classified footage. It showed Vision carrying Wanda as they left the compound before flying off screen.

"... They left. Where to, no one knows. They could be on another planet for all we know, and it caused a lot of trouble for Tony Stark."

Song Bird pulled up a new video broadcasting from inside the U.S. Senate chambers. In the video, senators are asking Tony Stark about whether he knows where Vision and Wanda are and how to apprehend them.

"On the plus side, it took coverage off of asking where you were. On the negative side, they're saying Wanda stole government property and are trying to charge her with treason. Steve, Nat, and Sam are currently trying to find her before the U.S. government does."

"Jesus Christ..." Bucky groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"... That's not all. After those events, the government really began cracking down on Avengers. The only reason they can't touch Steve, Nat, and Sam is because they are technically under the Wakandan military. That's got a host of problems of it's own, but with them being an undercover tactical force, it's usually not an issue."

"So who else did they crack down on?" Bucky asked.

Song Bird looked back at the information she had gathered, piecing together an answer. "Well, just about everyone they could touch. Here -- Scott Lang, also known as Ant Man?"

Song Bird pulled up his photo. It was a cute family photo of him with his arms around his daughter's shoulders. Strapped around his neck was a little black box with a little red light.

"What is that?"

"A tracker. It's to make sure he doesn't go anywhere they don't know about. And it's not just him."

Song Bird pulled up another classified photo, this time of Clint Barton's family. He was there, happy as ever, with a similar device.

"Why don't you have one?" Bucky asked.

Song Bird looked down at Bucky before hiding her gaze among the holographic documents.

"If they know I exist, they think I'm dead. As far as anyone's concerned, Zemo killed me back in that Hydra base, and I plan to keep it that way."

Her eyes glanced out the one window of her home that overlooked her goats. A sly smile crept onto her face before she turned back to her eggs.

"Out here... I'm free." She began, poking her egg with a fork and putting it onto a small wooden plate. "Nothing and no one can touch me. Control me. I'm not a weapon anymore because no one can use me as one."

Sitting down at the table with Shuri and Bucky, she took a bite of her eggs. "And I like that. Only three-- four people know I'm out here. T'Challa, Okoye, Shuri, and now you."

"And the townspeople," Shuri corrected.

"Yes! Them too. But they don't know who I am, properly. Shuri only told them that we're refugees from Sokovia."

Bucky chuckled. "How the hell did they believe that?"

Bowman smirked. "Udajesz, że nie mówisz po angielsku."

Bucky just stared.

"That's 'you pretend you don't speak English' in Polish, but you tell people it's Sokovian and they don't know the difference."

Bucky shook his head in surprise. "Since when did you speak Polish?"

Song Bird went a little quiet. It was unclear if she was thinking or just uncomfortable.

"... I've learned a lot, since you've been asleep. I picked up Polish again. Makes me feel like I'm at home."

Bucky nodded. His eyes seemed empty, as if the mind behind them had gone elsewhere. As the light returned to his eyes, he looked at Shuri.

"Do you think I could stay out here?"

"What?"

"Live here." Bucky clarified. "Doesn't have to be this house, just... Away from everything. The world thinks I'm about as dead as her--" he stated, gesturing to Song Bird, "-- and I'd like to enjoy that freedom."

Shuri bit her lip, thinking.

"It could work," Song Bird offered. "There's that clay hut back in the village where I used to live before I built this place. Maybe Buck could stay there for a little while."

Shuri's lips pursed, but she eventually nodded. "We can see about making that work. You would need to come to the city for neural scans and the like, but it would be easy to make accomodations out here for you."

Bucky smiled. That was all he needed to hear.

Just as Bucky and Shuri left to make arrangements, Song Bird grabbed Bucky's hand.

"Just so you know, you're always welcome here." Song Bird offered. "I'll always take an extra set of..."

She looked Bucky up and down.

"... Hand."

He shot her a funny look.

"Okay, yeah, poor choice of words."

Bucky burst out into laughter. "Thank you," he chuckled, patting her hand before letting go and following Shuri.

As Bucky and Shuri got to the top of the hill, he turned around to look back at Bow--Song Bird's little home.

That was still strange. It felt like he left her home with more questions than answers, but Bucky at least knew one thing.

It was only up from here.