[Leipzig AU] a means to a necessary end

[nerves_of_ice]

It's a long flight from Berlin to Novosibirsk and the secret location far beyond it, even in a Quinjet. They spend the time planning and coordinating. Bucky describes the structure and security of the facility itself as best he remembers. Tony calls up plans and blueprints from god knows where and throws them into the middle of the plane for all to see. They're not the same as what Bucky remembers, they figure out fairly quickly, but they're better than nothing.

Tony also takes over the back of the plane and snaps at anyone who comes close, doing something that involves shifting screens and models of buildings and wave patterns and a human skull, and the eventually the low humming grind of a machine. Soon after, he stalks back up to the front of the plane and shoves a set of custom-fabricated earplugs at Bucky, who stares at them and then at Tony.

"Noise-cancelling all the way to total sound blackout. Tap the end of the earpiece to deafen yourself," Tony informs him. "Last thing we need's for you to be his puppet." Bucky starts to stammer a thanks, but Tony growls something under his breath and stalks back to the back of the plane again to work on something else. Steve catches Bucky's eye and shakes his head, and Bucky decides to leave well enough alone.

Sam advises everyone to rest in shifts; Bucky knows he's not wrong, but neither he nor Steve can do it, and after a while Sam stops trying to convince them. Natasha sits with him for a while, her eyes dark with concern. They don't say much, but there's no need to.

A Snowcat is parked outside the door of the facility when they land. Bucky's jaw sets in hard lines at the sight of it, and he trades a look with Steve.

They're already here.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

The kitchen's quick. By the time Sam shows up, a bleary-eyed Tony Stark in tow, the hotel's servers are setting up what looks to him like a miniature continental buffet on a table at the side of the main room. At least it's not as profligate as the avalanche of ice cream had been the night before.

Bucky leans back against the wall with his coffee and just watches.

[from_the_outside]

Once the servers are finished, there's a long few moments where everyone fills up a plate or gets a bowl of cereal or refills their coffee from the samovar the kitchen had provided.

There's a few more moments of silence as people blunt their hunger with a few bites of fruit or pastry, then Steve looks around at them all as one by one they set their plates in their laps and focus.

[nerves_of_ice]

It's different, but familiar all the same. How many times has he looked to Steve for leadership, waiting for him to start some kind of team discussion? He can't remember. It's been a long time.

If he lets himself, he can almost see Jim and Gabe out of the corner of his eye, or hear Dugan and Dernier arguing with each other good-naturedly about something. He doesn't look, doesn't listen, but instead lets the memory wash over him and fade.

Bucky tips his head back very slightly and catches Steve's glance for an instant. The promise he gives may be silent, but it's absolutely clear.

(till the end of the line)

"Okay," Steve says. "A lot's happened in the last few days. I don't know exactly what today holds for any of us, but I guess I can start with this." He draws a deep breath. "I don't want to lose you. Any of you. I understand you have your reasons. But I'm still not going to sign the Accords."

[from_the_outside]

There's a pregnant silence, and then Tony Stark groans and pushes himself into the back of the chair he's sitting in until he's almost horizontal.

"Come on," he says. "That's what you're leading with? Okay, look – "

He sits up and looks around the room, lifting his hand. "Raise your hand if you knew Cap was never going to change his mind about the Accords."

After a second, Natasha shrugs and lifts her hand; Tony stares at Sam, who rolls his eyes and flicks a few fingers up. "There's that enthusiasm," Tony says, witheringly, and turns back to Steve. "So can we table that? Huh? Because it's going to be a longer discussion than five minutes over a semi-stale pastry, and we have more immediate things to talk about, like: when is Natasha going to get to interrogate Zemo? Can we negotiate time for the Avengers in that, or will it have to be jointly, with the Task Force? Hm?"

He glances between them all again. "Or how about this one: how are we going to keep the Manchurian Candidate over there out of custody?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"I just thought you should know," Steve says. "In case it changes anything." Sam claps him on the shoulder. "And we love you for it, man. But Tony's right. We'll come back to that."

Bucky's pretty sure Sam's statement's an expression of solidarity as well as redirecting that conversation to another time - Sam hadn't signed either, he remembers - but he can't focus on it beyond that, as Tony's last question's thrown his thoughts into a scatter of static. He stares at him in blank, stunned surprise.

"What?"

[marvel_npc]

Tony taps at his own ear. "Not still wearing those earplugs, are you?" he asks, sharply sarcastic. Nat rolls her eyes at him, and he sighs hugely. "Look, you've been useful to them. Now you're a problem they've gotta solve. And the easiest way to solve that problem is to bury it in paperwork and red tape."

He lifts his hands as Sharon Carter turns towards him, indignant. "I'm not saying Deputy Commander Ross would make that call. But Secretary of State Ross? In a heartbeat – assuming his heart hasn't given out on him after all this. Again."

[nerves_of_ice]

"No, that part I know," he manages. One thing's for sure, Tony's sharpness is a good way to snap him out of his shock, abrasive though it might be. "I wasn't expecting you to do anything about it."

He can almost feel Natasha's glare trying to burn through his skull. "I mean - I still did the things I did," he says, shifting course slightly. "I'd understand, is all."

[marvel_npc]

"Great. So maybe try and understand that we?" Tony gestures around at the people in the room – Steve, Sam, Nat, and all the others who aren't here but who are still Avengers – "Help people. Okay? We don't abandon them to disappear into shadowy government facilities."

He stares at Barnes, trying to will the guy to let it sink in. "Those are the other guys. Not us."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Message received," he murmurs. "Loud and clear."

He notices that Natasha's eyes have gone dark in the instant before she busies herself with getting a refill for her coffee, her back to the room. He doesn't look at her; doesn't dare look at Sharon, either, as he adds,

"I've been told I have a few issues with trust. But I'll work on it. Promise."

[marvel_npc]

"Great," Tony snaps, then relaxes back into his chair. "But seriously, what should we expect out of this debrief?"

He's looking at Agent Carter, who seems to blink herself out of her thoughts.

"You've worked with Ross," she tells him. "He'll want to know everything that happened, and he wants to nail Zemo to the wall. And as far as the Accords go, I think he'll be happy to have set a precedent where all of you and the Task Force could work together without anyone getting railroaded."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Useful," Sam observes. "Both for Natasha getting a crack at Zemo with whoever the Task Force would want to send in - or them just letting her take it and listening in, or whatever - and for the future too."

Bucky walks over to ostensibly get more coffee for himself, and slants a sideways look at Natasha, who gives him a small, wry smile, and mouths 'later.' Sam continues, "How much trouble is Secretary Ross gonna be? Tony, you know him best probably, but he sure didn't seem like a guy who's used to hearing the word 'no'."

[marvel_npc]

"Let me put it this way," Tony says. "My voicemail was full within an hour of us taking off for Siberia. Hell, I wouldn't put it past him to show up, demanding answers."

He can feel a headache spiking behind his eyes and takes a deep swallow of his coffee, hoping the caffeine will keep it at bay. "I mean, I guess technically I work for him, but I have historically been a terrible employee."

[nerves_of_ice]

"He's part of the reason the Task Force released Zemo's name," Bucky informs them, as he comes back with his coffee and takes a seat on the other end of the small sofa.

"That's right," Steve confirms. "Ross - Deputy Commander Ross, I mean - wanted to stave off the chance that the Secretary might get more political in light of the bombing being blamed on Buck- on an 'enhanced individual.' He agreed with us that wouldn't lead anywhere good."

[from_the_outside]

Sharon can't help but look pleased; she tries to meet Bucky's eyes, a small smile on her face.

He must have listened to her. And Ross must have, too. It's not real trust, not yet, but it's a start. "Deputy Commander Ross isn't the world's biggest fan of the Secretary," she says. "Not that he'd ever come out and say it. But the Task Force is a United Nations initiative, not a US one. He's CIA like me, but ultimately he answers to people other than the Secretary."

[nerves_of_ice]

He catches Sharon's glance as she looks at him and gives her a small nod and an answering flicker of a smile.

"That could be useful," Natasha observes. Sam looks at Sharon. "What's your read on how your boss's going to feel about Bucky going free?"

[from_the_outside]

She looks back at Bucky and tries to give the question the consideration it deserves. What she has in Ross isn't blind faith, after all; she trusts him because of what she's seen and heard and experienced while working with him.

"He'd want to make sure he doesn't disappear again," she says. "I think he'll probably want a few long talks, just him and Bucky, to try and get a read on him. But there were a million times a HYDRA agent could have sabotaged us over the last few days. Bucky worked with him and helped get one of his agents out of the soup while simultaneously apprehending and detaining Zemo. Ross isn't going to want to lock him up... but..."

She's wry, but she knows this is likely. "He's probably also going to want Bucky to stay under Task Force oversight until his situation is cleared up."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Oversight. What exactly would that mean?" Steve asks, leaning forward in his seat.

Bucky wants to warn him not to get his hopes up, but a glance at Tony Stark, who's frowning into space while he shreds the last bits of his pastry, causes him to think better of it.

[from_the_outside]

She shakes her head. "Could mean a lot of things, from staying in the dorms here to a Task Force agent coming along with you to just checking in once a day or so. This isn't a police force; you're probably looking at a liaison kind of deal – so long as everybody's convinced Bucky's not a danger. Which they will be," she hastens to add.

"And Ross isn't about to go stepping all over the civil liberties of someone who just helped him out."

She glances a wry look around the room. "Which isn't to say he'd be fine with Bucky just walking out. It'll take a while to untangle the knot that is everything the Winter Soldier carried out on HYDRA's orders."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Checking in. We could do that," Steve decides. "That's not so bad."

Bucky looks dubious, but continues to hold his silence. There's a lot of maybes involved, for everyone.

[from_the_outside]

"He's not going to start with that one, Steve," Sharon cautions him. "That is best-case scenario. Your best bet is to negotiate for a liaison you feel like you can trust. Agent Riley's not a bad choice; you've all worked with him. And he's not likely to be a hardass about the whole thing."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Which one's Riley?" Tony asks. Sam gives him a look, the kind of look that says 'man, you have got to start learning people's names.' Tony waves it away with one hand. "The one who pretended to be me," Bucky murmurs. "Upbeat kind of guy."

"I think he's sweet," Natasha says, with a wicked smile.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon huffs a laugh. "He's sweet," she says, "and a good agent. And he knows and respects you all. But I really can't stress this enough: it's not going to happen today."

She looks at Bucky, then at Steve. "No matter how much you might want it to, Steve. There's a lot to figure out. No getting around that."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Hmm," Tony says, staring up into space. "FRIDAY? Send a message to Legal, tell 'em I've got a challenge for them." He looks at Bucky. "You're staying awful quiet."

Bucky shrugs. "Nothing to say."

[from_the_outside]

"I'd expect those to be the two main topics of interest," Sharon tells them. "Bucky and Zemo. And he'll want a report on everything that happened at the facility in Siberia."

Not to mention her own report, but that's not something the others need to worry about.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Okay then." Steve looks around at them all. "Anything else we need to discuss before we head over?"

Bucky shakes his head, and looks at Tony.