Right Here - Chase Atlantic
It's happening again
Well, I don't give a fuck about your friends
I'm right here, here
Oh, baby, take a look around
I'm the only one that hasn't walked out
I'm right here, here.
As the four of them made their way back outside, Bucky caught up to Amara and watched the girl as she walked, her head held high.
"I wanted to say thank you. For helping me, and for understanding. I really-"
"Stop talking. I don't want to hear it. And don't thank me for helping you, and for understanding, because I don't. Nor do I want to. I didn't do this for you. I did it for my family. As far as I'm concerned you're still the guy who murdered my grandparents," Amara said harshly, before speeding up and leaving Bucky to trail behind her, a sullen look on his face.
As they exited the base, Amara saw T'Challa, standing and waiting for them with Zemo outside of the Quinjet.
"Your highness," Tony said, "Wasn't aware you were invited to our little get together."
T'Challa nodded at Tony and Steve.
"Miss Stark. I see you were successful," T'Challa said.
"Yeah, kind of," She said. Amara gestured to the restrained Zemo on the ground next to him, "So were you, it seems. Thank you for your invaluable help."
"Thank you for allowing me to see the truth. My father's true murderer has been captured. My country is indebted to you. All of you. Should the Avengers ever need any assistance from our humble country, Wakanda would be happy to deliver."
Tony and Steve nodded once at T'Challa, a sign of mutual respect and Amara opened the entrance to the Quinjet, ushering the others in. Tony grabbed Zemo on his way inside and threw him straight into the containment cell at the back.
"You'll be okay getting home?" Amara asked the king of Wakanda.
"I will be just fine, Miss Stark," he said.
Amara nodded and smiled before he turned around and walked away in the opposite direction. But her eyes caught onto something.
A set of, what appeared to be, footprints. Only they were far too big to be regular footprints.
There was a possibility that it was nothing. Just a pattern made with the snow by the wind, but Amara knew it was something else. She just didn't know what.
She decided that she only had the energy to deal with one problem at that moment, so she shook her head, closed the latch and headed to where everyone else was standing, awkwardly.
She looked at Steve and how he was looking at Tony, as if he needed to say something, but Tony just walked over to the cockpit and sat there, not wanting to talk to anyone.
Bucky had moved towards the side, almost hiding away from the others.
"Amara?" Steve asked as he approached the girl.
Amara looked at him and sighed in annoyance, "What is it, Steve?"
"I just wanted to apologise."
"You knew. This whole time and didn't tell him. That's a real dick move, Steve," Amara chastised.
"I know, I thought it would be easier for him to not know."
"It was easier for you, Stevie. He had a right to know."
"I know that, now. You're right. I shouldn't have hidden something like that from Tony, I was just afraid of what he might do. When I kind of figured it out, I didn't know him all that well. I didn't know how he'd react and then the closer we got the more scared I got of ruining the Avengers."
"I can understand that. That doesn't mean he won't be pissed at you for the next ten years."
"He has every right to be. Both of you do," he said, smiling sadly at his friend. "How's Nat?"
"She left straight after the airport. No one knows where she is. Turns out she loves you too, though."
Steve smiled at the thought of Natasha, "She does?"
"Yeah," Amara nodded, "She just realised too late."
Steve nodded and kept quiet for a few moments.
"For what it's worth, I never wanted to hurt Tony," Steve said. "No matter what he thinks of me, now, he was my friend."
Amara smiled bitter sweetly at Steve Rogers, with whom she had been so close to a few hours ago, "I know. But that's exactly what you should be saying to him. Not me." She grabbed Steve's hand and led him towards the cockpit, where Tony stood up from his seat. "Which is why you two need to talk."
"Amara, I don't want to talk to him," Tony said, facing his daughter and pointing an accusatory finger at Steve.
"You told me that I had to get on a plane with Peter when he hated me because we needed to fix things between us. You said it was because you didn't know when I was gonna see him again. Dad, I don't know when you two will see each other again. So you two have to fix this, or at the very least, make it better than it is," Amara explained.
"Kid, I don't care about fixing things, he should have thought about that before-"
"I don't want to hear it!" She held up her hands to silence him. Then she pointed at both of them. "You're gonna try, both of you. And you're gonna make up," she finished before walking away.
"Tony... I know what I did was wrong, I just..." Steve began before trailing off.
"What do you have to say? Huh? What could you possibly say to make what you did seem okay?" Tony scoffed.
"I have no defence. I know I hurt you, Tony. I guess I thought by not telling you about your parents, I was sparing you. But I can see now that I was really sparing myself. And I'm sorry. I truly regret not telling you the truth when I easily could have. I've been on my own since I was 18. I never really fit in anywhere. Even in the army. And I've only ever had Bucky, he's all the family I have," Steve explained.
"You had us. You had the Avengers," Tony said, staring seriously at Steve's face.
"Tony, we all need family. The Avengers are yours. They're Amara's. Probably more so than mine. You, quite literally, brought us together. That's why you tried so hard to keep us together. And I understand that. I'm grateful for that. But I need you to understand that Bucky is my family. My oldest family. I've known him since we were kids. And the Bucky that I know, could have never done what he was forced to do by Hydra. And I know that means nothing to you, I know that. Hopefully, one day you can understand," Steve paused, looking for any sign of any readable emotion on Tony's face. When he saw nothing, he quickly added, "I'm sorry about that, too, by the way. Breaking us all apart."
"Yeah, you got a lot to be apologising for," Tony agreed.
"My faith's in people, I guess. Individuals. And I'm happy to say that, for the most part, they haven't let me down. Which is why I couldn't let them down either. Even if it meant losing my friends. Just like I told Ross, the Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. And we did exactly that, on our own. And I'm happy that you finally see the truth in that, Tony."
"Yeah," he nodded, speaking quietly and still not wanting to meet Steve's eyes.
"But I also see why signing the accords was a good idea, too. I know why you did it. I don't think there was a right answer. I don't think there ever will be. And that's what makes this so difficult."
"What, that both of us were wrong?" Tony asked.
"No," Steve shook his head. "That both of us were right."
Tony looked up at Steve.
"I know it'll take time to trust me again. To forgive me, if ever. But just know, that no matter what, I promise you, if you need me, I'll be there. As your friend."
Tony just nodded at Steve.
Steve held up his shield, "You know, this thing has stuck by me. Howard made it. It was like I was carrying him with me. He was a good friend... I think you should hang onto it. It belongs to Howard. It feels wrong, holding it after everything."
Tony lifted his hand up to grab the shield, "Thanks, man," he put his arm through the strap and looked down at it, frowning. "...But, I uh- as much as I hate to admit it... he would've wanted you to have it," Tony shook his head, handing the shield back to its real owner, who simply smiled.
—————
From the other side of the jet, Amara was watching her father and her friend from a distance. She smiled bitter sweetly at their begrudged, temporary, reconciliation.
She felt a presence approach her and she didn't have to turn her head to realise who it was.
"I know that you're not the biggest fan of me, right now, or... ever. But I just wanted to retry giving my gratitude towards you. Thank you. You helped a man that you barely know, and who you seem to hate, even after everything you found out about him."
"Probably doesn't come as a surprise when I say I only did all this for Steve. God knows why, because he was the one who hid the truth all this time. There's just something about him. A goodness. And because of that goodness, I know he was only trying to do the right thing. Even if he went the wrong way about it."
"Steve's just like that. He's always been like that. Honest. Good. Things I tried to be, you know, before..."
Amara nodded.
"The worst part about what Hydra did, is that they made me forget Steve. He made me who I was. The goodness, the kindness, selflessness, he taught me all of that. And Hydra undid that in hours," Bucky said, sadly, "A lifetime of memories, of Bucky Barnes, reduced to ashes. And there was nothing I could do."
Amara looked at the man.
"There's not a day that goes by that I'm not wracked with guilt over what I was forced to do. Your grandparents are no different. Maybe more than others. Howard Stark was a good friend in the 40s."
"What was he like?" Amara asked, against her better judgement.
"He was a great man. Intelligent. Bit of a playboy. He used to say that he didn't know if he'd ever be able to have a family. If he was ever a family man. Deep down he knew it, though. He wanted that. I'm happy to know that he got it, in the end. It kills me to know that I'm the reason he couldn't see his family grow," Bucky looked down and shook his head.
Amara nodded, tears forming in her eyes, "My dad doesn't really talk about his parents. It's kind of a tough thing for him to even think about. All I know is that Howard used to talk about Steve a lot. Like a lot. That pissed my dad off. It's part of the reason why he wasn't the biggest fan of Cap when they first met. And why it took so long for him to warm up to him."
Bucky hadn't looked up, yet.
Amara breathed in, "I know you didn't mean to be caught up in this. You didn't know what you were doing, and you probably had no idea that Steve was covering for you, cause that's the kind of guy he is - he doesn't need to be asked - but, all of that bonding, their friendship... it's all gone. Or, at least, it's suffered a huge blow. And that is because of you. Knowingly or unknowingly. That's not gonna heal anytime soon."
"I'm sorry," Bucky said; sadly.
"And I believe you. But taking responsibly is a big thing for my dad. And there's nothing we can do about it, now."
"Amara," Tony called his daughter over to where he was still standing with Steve.
"You guys... good?"
"Not fully. But I can understand when some matters trump others," Tony began.
"Something is really off about this," Amara said.
"This?" Steve asked.
"Yeah. This whole situation. Someone worked really hard for us to separated, and to destroy each other. And conveniently for Zemo, the accords did exactly what he wanted," Amara began.
"Planted the seeds," Tony finished for her.
"You're saying Zemo had someone on the inside?" Steve asked.
"Maybe. Or maybe Zemo was the person on the outside," Amara said.
"What do you mean?" Steve furrowed his eyebrows.
"I mean...as much as Zemo can say it's for revenge, to get rid of the Avengers, why did he split us up? I mean, yeah, we've broken apart but half of us are still operational. If he really wanted to end the Avengers, why couldn't he have done something to get rid of us right there and then? Especially if he had others on the inside."
Tony stroked his beard in thought, "She's right. It doesn't add up."
"My guess? The guy on the inside, whoever they are, they wanted to divide and conquer. Zemo did the divide part for him, and now he's..." she gestured to the holding cell on the ship, where they had left the man, "...inactive. That leaves the other guy to go to whatever means necessary to "conquer", right?" Amara said, nodding along as she voiced her thought.
Steve and Tony both looked down, weighing out the possibility of Amara's theory.
"Okay, so who could this other guy be?" Steve asked.
Amara thought back to her dream. Could it really be Ultron?
"That's not important, right now," Tony said, abruptly.
"'That's not important, right now?' Tony what else could possibly be more important?"
"I think I might know something..." Amara interrupted, causing the others to listen to her.
"What do you mean?"
"Dad already knows this, but, I had another dream. Um, I knew about the book. The red book that Zemo used to activate the Winter Soldier. My dream, it warned me that it was bad. And it also seemed like it was warning that he wasn't alone. And I mean, I don't know for sure, but it seemed like Ultron."
"Ultron?" Steve asked, gravely. "But that would have showed up on the system. Tony made sure of that. Any movement any switch of consciousness, if tracked by Tony."
"Yeah. I know it seems crazy, believe me, I know that. But my dreams have always turned out to be true. I don't know how else to explain it. But think about it, synthetic vibranium? Who else would need that? Most people don't even know it still exists. But last time, Ultron got it straight from the source."
"Maybe..." Steve trailed off.
"We have to think about next steps."
"Next steps?" Amara asked.
"Well, if Ultron's really back in the picture, then we need the team. The whole team," Steve said.
"That means you have to publicly apologise to Ross," Amara said. When she saw the hardened look on Steve's face, she turned to him, "We need the team, doesn't matter how. Other things are more important, right now."
"Yeah, I was kinda thinking more immediate next steps. Damage control. PR. That king of thing. The other guy is someone we have to deal with when we get to it. I mean, we've realised that the accords are flawed. But now what?" Tony rubbed his beard, in thought.
"You're right. But, there's not much we can do. We already signed on the dotted line," Amara said, shaking her head.
"Just like Ross wanted," Tony said looking at Steve.
"We have to try and amend them. Change the terms," Amara nodded.
"You really think Ross'll let that happen?" Steve asked, unconvinced.
Amara scoffed, "No... but we have to try. We need to get the others, too."
"I don't know how we're gonna do that with Super Barnes over there considering he's a wanted criminal," Tony said.
"You think he'll lock us up?" Steve asked.
"What do you think?" Tony asked, sarcastically. "You two are already on his bad side just from refusing to sign. Now that you're fugitives of the law, I'm guessing you got promoted to kill list."
Bucky stepped forward, "I think I have an idea."
"His opinion means Jackshit to me," Tony said, becoming aggressive again, refusing to face him. "I don't even know why we brought him here."
"Let's hear him out, dad," Amara said, gesturing for Bucky to continue.
"I'm the one they want. I'm the one they want in chains. If I turn myself over, would that... help things?"
"You'd be willing to turn yourself over? For us?" Amara asked.
"Buck. Are you sure about this? Think about what might happen," Steve asked, unsure.
"You're in this mess because of me. It only seems fair that I'm the reason that mess begins to go away. It's clear that whatever Hydra put inside of me is still there. All it takes is the activation words and I'm programmed to kill. I'd be safer in a cage." Bucky replied. He looked at Amara, "Besides, I need to take responsibility for all the pain I've caused. And this is how I start."
Tony nodded once at Bucky, then stroked his goatee, deep in thought. "So what? We take Barnes and Elmo-"
"Zemo," Amara quickly corrected.
"...up to Ross and use them as a bargaining chip to free the others?..." Tony trailed off, thinking, "You know, now that I've said it out loud. That's not a half bad tactical move."
Amara nodded, her eyebrows scrunching together, "We show him all the evidence against Zemo and show him he was wrong about Bucky and maybe even the accords. After all, they're the things that stopped us from investigating further, right? We prove that the others were only trying to find the real culprit, hopefully get them released. We can ask to amend the accords and hopefully, come up with a better alternative." She looked at Steve, "One where everyone's happy. And then we can start working towards this other guy," she nodded. "We could spin this whole thing to our advantage."
"If they even let us land without putting us in cuffs," Steve breathed out.
She looked among the three men in front of her for any sign that they had any ideas on what will happen when they land.
"Hopefully, if we give 'em Barnes and Zemo, they might be willing to listen," Tony said.
"And if they don't?" Amara asked.
"Then we move to plan B," Steve said.
Amara pursed her lips, nodding solemnly, she had a bad feeling about this.
(A/N: Happy New Year guys!!!! Thanks for sticking with me and this book!!! Only a few more chapters to go!!!)