Titanium | Barnes (1)

21. Bliss Interrupted

Chancing a glance up, she finds him staring at the gun between them, a frown on his face. "I don't remember getting that," he says.

"It's ok."

"Protocol 21?"

Flicking her finger toward her, she folds the newspaper over so she gets a clear view of both Bucky and the gun. "Uh, always provide your handler with a weapon."

"Thought we were the weapon."

Malka clears her throat as she neatly folds the paper and sets it down before she leans forward, tilting her head up. A sigh leaves her chest feeling empty, a sliver of sunlight hitting her eye just right to make her wince. "Always provide your handler with a weapon should either of us choose to disobey. It was put in place after the Winter Soldier killed the doctor."

Bucky narrows his eyes, letting them dart away from the gun. "Oh."

"Don't worry, you won't keep bringing me weapons," she says with a shrug. "The protocol is deactivated now. It took me three months, so you're lucky I'm here to set you free."

"Three months?"

She nods, looking back at the gun. "Natasha was really confused for a long time. I could never remember handing her the knives, but I kept finding more and giving them to her. I had to unlearn the behavior." Gently grasping the handle, she takes Bucky's hand and places it into his palm, curling his fingers around it. "You have the choice now. It is all up to you."

✗ ✗ ✗

When the phone rings, Malka almost doesn't believe it. She simply lets her head shift from the almost silent news channel in front of her to the phone hidden beneath the floorboards of the apartment. Please stop ringing.

She sighs as she pulls herself up from the couch, away from the destruction on the television claiming her friends are terrorists and slowly removes the floorboard to pick up the cellphone. The moment it touches her hand, the noise stops.

Malka purses her lips as she replaces the floor and curls up on the couch. The metal of the phone seems to freeze her palm as she holds it, pressing it against her chin as her eyes return to the chaos on screen.

Safety is for the naive, and this is simply a reminder that she is never safe. That they are never safe.

The phone rings again. This time, she does not hesitate.

"We have a situation."

"You mean Lagos?" Malka purses her lips. "Yeah, I'd call that more than just a situation, Nat. It's a disaster, and there are going to be consequences." Silence fills the space on the phone before she sighs. "Is Wanda ok? I don't see any names I know on the casualty list other than HYDRA."

Natasha hesitates. "Yeah, she's fine. Look, we need your input."

"I'm not sure why. I'm not part of the Avengers anymore. I just want to be done fighting." Her gaze drifts to the closed door to the bedroom. She had woken up early today and just knew her peaceful fantasy was done.

"Secretary Ross wants us to sign something they're calling the Accords at the UN. It provides oversight to the Avengers. There are 117 countries that—"

"Put Tony on the phone." Anger courses through her bones as she rises to her feet and steps over to the window, pulling the curtains aside an inch to look outside at the quiet streets of Romania.

"Why?"

"I'm assuming he wants to sign, being the idiot he can be sometimes. Now, either put him on or let me talk to everyone."