Chosen

Chapter Thirty-Seven

It has been two weeks since the battle in space. It has been two weeks since the tornado of events that remain as a blur in my memory. Those two weeks have been a mixture of various effects caused by the war. I have begun training Alex in Reinforcer. His training is minimal since I have been mostly out of order. Training has consisted of enabling Alex to use the suit efficiently. Like he said, he knew the basic idea of how the suit functioned but not all of its little tricks. Seeing Alex in his suit eliminated some worries and created new anxieties. In the end, I have no doubt that Alex will not become a strong partner.

Everyone is back at the Avengers tower and is dealing with their aftermath their own way. For some, these days have been spent mourning for the loss of Tripp. Antoine Triplett's funeral was the day after we returned back to Earth. The funeral service was short, but personal. Flowers from all of the individuals Tripp was able to touch in his short life decorated the stage. Director Coulson gave a eulogy on behalf on their team. It was the most heartfelt speech that I have ever heard Phil speak. I could recognize the words from each of the group written into the homage.

The women of Coulson's team were very teary eyed. Fitz was there to comfort Simmons and a new man whom I have never met before, Lincoln, was there for Skye. It broke my heart to see Mrs. Triplett, his mother, crying throughout the entire service. A couple other men and women sat with her, childhood friends of his, and they too had a steady stream of tears down their faces. If I was not so drained, their sadness would have undoubtedly brought tears to my eyes.

The day after the mission, I slept the entire day as many agents did. The team still aboard the shuttle did not touch down on Earth until around four in the morning. Alex gratefully flew me back to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters where I was relieved to be able to take off a damaged Magnetar. I did not stay at the office long for there was little report to actually file on my part. I was free to go home after being assessed by a doctor and believe me when I say I slept from five that morning to five the next morning. According to Alex, I did not even make it to my bed. I passed out on the couch in the living room. Finishing a war to such a degree in space manages to take everything you have to give and then some. I vaguely remembered waking up to use the bathroom but other than that, I was out like a light. With me asleep as dead weight, apparently Tony had to move me to my bed. I should have weighed less actually; my hollow Emergency Ring leg weights considerably less than my regular bionic prosthetic.

Even with access to new legs, I had to wait another week and a half before I could reattach the new prosthetic. Due to my torn base I was required to keep my stump bandaged with no extra weight until it healed. I was forced to use crutches until that time came. I was thankful to have my advanced leg back instead of the hollow one. Tony was not joking when he said he had multiple backup limbs for me. The morning before the funeral, my dad showed me to a storage closet that was full of black metal legs. It did not take Tony long to build a new arm for Bucky. Before a week passed, Bucky was sporting a new, shiny, metal arm. My dad listened to Bucky's wishes for an upgrade; his new arm is now similar in style to mine but still metallic silver. Also, now in place of the red Soviet star a red, white, and blue Avengers 'A' is embellished on Bucky's shoulder. I was allowed to see the artwork up close and I easily recognized the uniqueness of the hand-brushed strokes do not match Jarvis's precision. I remember how Steve kept finding his way down to the lab occasionally during the duration while Bucky's arm was under construction. I overheard Natasha questioning Steve about the new emblem, but he refused to comment. Clint has yet to receive his miniature arc reactor-powered hearing aids, however. Those should become usable within the next month.

Being home was peculiarly discomforting for the first few nights. Making the transition back to normal life felt wrong after such an ordeal. I mean something as simple as playing with Mojo and Bo began to freak me out. The familiarity of meeting Bucky back in the theatre in the middle of the night and training with Natasha in the gym reminded me of a time before the loss of my grandparents it just did not feel acceptable. After a few nights of uneasiness and restlessness it became clear to me what I needed to do.