“We know nothing about her! No file from Hydra, no birth certificate, it’s like she doesn’t exist. And you’re suggesting she joins the team?” Romanoff said in a disbelieving tone.
“What do you know about her, Buck? How often did you work with her?” Steve questioned.
“I trained her some, and that was strictly hand-to-hand combat or weapons training. I wasn’t even aware until we all met her a couple of weeks ago that she had powers. For the rest of the time we weren’t in training, we were kept separate. I only went on a handful of missions with her. Hydra kept her uncharacteristically isolated for some reason.”
“How do you know we can even trust that girl? This could all be a setup to infiltrate the Avengers and make us vulnerable. It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened. And are you forgetting she pushed Clint off a ten story building? She’s dangerous,” Wanda butted in.
“I don’t, and I haven’t forgotten. But have you guys even taken a second to look at the state she’s been in this past week? The way she’s always seeking permission to do the most mundane tasks? She hasn’t said anything, but it’s clear she’s up constantly with nightmares, the rare instances she actually tries to go to sleep. On top of that, she barely eats anything, and she’s barely said more than a few sentences to you all and that was only when you were interrogating her.”
“Get to the point, Barnes.”
“I’m trying to say that although we don’t have much concrete information on her background aside from what I can remember, it’s clear she’s been through a hell of a lot, and it’s clearly still greatly affecting her. No sane person would want to go back to that.”
“But her loyalty could change in a matter of fifteen seconds. Do you even know her trigger words?” Wanda argued.
“While I do, the situation is more complicated than that. Her trigger words are not effective anymore,” Bucky stated, not explaining beyond that.
“She’d be a good asset to the team,” Steve admitted, “but she’s just a kid, Buck, and as you said, she’s already been through so much. How could you ask that of her?”
“Shouldn’t she have a chance at a childhood?” Clint added.
“It’s more than that. She hurt people during her time as the Winter Wraith. She feels guilty and ashamed. This would be her opportunity to redeem herself, clear her ledger,” Bucky glanced at Romanoff, “Coming from personal experience, I know she’d want this.”
“Fine. But you still have Stark to convince, and Ross is a whole other problem,” Natasha conceded.
On the other hand, Steve still looked unconvinced as he crossed his arms.
“I’m not expecting her to join right away, she’ll need some time. But at the very least, she can train as one of us with her powers. What do you say, Steve?”
“If she wants to train with us, she may, on one condition. As Nat pointed out, we truly know nothing about the girl. We need her version of the full story. She’ll have to answer all of our questions with the utmost transparency if she wants to stay. If she doesn’t cooperate, then it’s to the Raft. Any other opinions?” he asked, surveying the rest of his team.
The room showed its accordance with silence.
“Then it’s settled. She’ll officially start full training tomorrow morning. If she shows improvement and trust, then she’ll be able to be in the general public without supervision, and have a chance to just be a teen.”
The team started to file out of the room, leaving Natasha and Bucky alone in the conference room. Natasha was giving him one of her signature icy glares.
“One slip up, and she’s gone, Barnes. And that’ll be on you. Understand?”
She turned and left without waiting for an answer. Shortly after, Bucky departed to give Adina the good news.
~~~~~~
Sitting on the hardwood floor of her bedroom with their backs resting against the bed, Adina and Peter were discussing Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Well, it was more along the lines of Peter delving into great detail about the sacred franchise, while Adina silently sat by listening intently with much confusion.
“And then Savage Oppress finds Darth Maul in, well, pretty much a junkyard, and Darth Maul is even more unhinged than usual, and then—”
“Wait, how is Maul alive? I thought you said he got cut in half in Phantom Menace by that one Jedi guy, um, Olly Wan?”
“Obi-Wan Kenobi. He did, but because he was a Sith, his hatred for—”
At that moment, Adina’s door swung open, interrupting the conversation, and one super soldier invited himself in.
“Parker.” Barnes icily said with an unabashed glare.
“Hey, Mr. Barnes. I was just telling Adina about Star Wars. But I’ll be going now,” he conceded with one look at Bucky’s stern face.
He sprung up from the floor and swiftly headed to the door, muttering a quick goodbye to his new friend. After he left, Adina also got up from the hard floor.
“I did not understand a word that boy just said,” she announced.
“No one ever does, but that’s beside the point. I came here to tell you that you’ll be training in the morning with us tomorrow. With powers. Be ready by 6:30.”
“Really?”
“On one condition. The team wants to know a bit more about your background. You have to promise to be honest with them, even if you don’t know much, even if it’s painful to bring it up. Got it?”
“I promise, Bucky. I’ll comply.”
“And you need to be on your best behavior. No mistakes.”
“Like Hydra? No failures are tolerated. The punishment for failure is…” she trailed off, a faraway look in her eyes.
“No, no, goodness no, Adina. This is not like Hydra at all. I shouldn’t have worded it like that. What I meant was that you need to be loyal to the team. Mistakes are alright, they’ll happen, but you can’t bring intentional harm to any of the Avengers.”
“No punishment?”
“No punishment. You’re safe here.”
Adina nodded her head, though she wouldn’t believe she was truly safe for a long time.
“Alright then. We may as well get that clunk of metal off you,” Bucky said, pointing to her power dampener.
He pulled the remote from his jacket pocket, pushing the center button. The silver cuff fell from her arm, revealing a damaged, raw wrist underneath. The liberated power pumped through her body, feeling like a breath of long awaited fresh air.
As soon as the cuff hit the ground, Adina ran up to Bucky, catching him off guard with a rare hug. The last time she had hugged Bucky, or just anyone in general, was years ago. Bucky remembered it vividly.
The Winter Soldier had escorted the Wraith out of her cell to an awaiting small plane on the outskirts of the base. It was slightly dark with the sun beginning to rise in frigid air with a fresh layer of white powder covering the rocky ground. Their matching combat boots crunched in the snow as he led the way to the sleek aircraft. She must have been assigned to a co-op mission, as there was an older boy similarly dressed in full combat gear already waiting beside the jet’s loading dock. An air of familiarity surrounded the teen, but Bucky couldn’t place where he’d seen him before. Weirdly, Adina had appeared to recognize the boy. When the aircraft landed back at the base that same night in the filthy, polluted slush, the Wraith was alone, bloody, and distraught. Bucky remembered her running up to him, clinging on to the cold Soldier, desperately looking for any sort of comfort before her handler ripped her away and scolded her.
As quickly as it started, Adina stepped back from the embrace, her face aflame with scorching embarrassment. Although the hug only lasted a few seconds, it was much appreciated.
“Um, anyway, I’ve got to go. Y’know, important stuff to do. Bye! Thanks again,” she called as she rushed out of her room, not giving him a chance to speak.
Published: 11/19/22