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The operation to relocate the Winter Soldier was, by all accounts, a failure. Granted, the accounts are jumbled. Half of the team escorting him has no idea what happened, because the last thing they remember is being touched by someone in a mask before they slipped into what the doctors have described as some sort of coma. Those who didn't go down that way were shot and busy dealing with injuries.
Lucky Ava, she got to try both.
Her report has been made, though. That they were attacked by a trio of mutants. One in a rock form that seemed resistant to harm. One a speedster. One all black - literally black, not racial black - who seemed to be able to put people down with a touch. Bucky's mind slipped to the Winter Soldier, and he tried to escape again.
Outnumbered, with the rest of her team down, Ava shot him in the head. She was conscious long enough to see him fall before she took a bullet to the shoulder herself, then slipped into a coma like the others.
*
It's this report that Steve is reading as he's seated at one of the desks in the SHIELD headquarters. He doesn't work for them, not any more, but his relationship with Peggy and Nick, and because everyone knows he would drop everything to help any of these agents, many of whom he has beers with on Saturday night, give him a bit of leeway.
He swallows hard as he sets the report down and looks off towards the distance of the far end of the room. In twenty four hours his life has fallen apart. First Jack and the dear John letter. Now Buck. His blue eyes trail up towards the clock. With the impending war against the Soviets, he figures he has about 10 hours to mourn his best friend.
*
In the medical bay, the rhythmic beeping of the monitor next to Ava's bed speeds up as the girl starts to stir, a pop of electricity snapping between her fingertips and setting off a buzz in the machinery. She stirs with a groan, eyes screwing tightly closed for a moment before they start to open.
And then there's a muffled curse in Russian as she tries to sit up and discovers the bullet wound in her shoulder. And another, more quiet as she remembers what led her here.
*
The movement seems to jostle Steve out of his mind a little bit. He stands quietly, reaches for his cup of coffee and makes his way towards the hospital room. He stands in the doorway, looking at Ava as he brings the mug to his lips. Part of him thinks he should be more angry with her than he is. At this point who could blame her? How many chances is James Barnes supposed to get?
*
Ava reaches up with her good hand to scrub at her face, shifting uncomfortably in the bed. It takes a couple tries, but she manages to find the controls for the bed, raising the back until she's almost sitting up. Which is when she can see the Captain standing at the door.
"I am sorry, Captain," she says quietly, without hesitation. "It was what he wanted."
*
Steve isn't making eye contact with her as she rises in her Frankenstein like manner. Instead his eyes are on the floor. The only response at all is a deeper purse of the lips before he finishes the glass of coffee and holds the cup haphazardly in his hands. "Are you alright?"
*
Ava draws her knees up toward her chest under the blankets, closing in on herself. "I think so?" She starts to shrug, glancing away, only to wince at the movement in her shoulder. "I am shot, but it will not kill me. Though I think that the shooter was hoping it would." Which just brings back the memory of the bullet hole blossoming in Bucky's forehead. The spray of blood. The blank eyes as he fell.
"He asked me to. More than once. If it looked like he was going to be free, if there was a chance he would hurt someone else or lose himself."
*
Steve's lips part as he nods and looks back down to the floor. He doesn't respond but he knows that she's right. It's what he wanted. "Did SHIELD recover the remains? I'd like to have a funeral."
*
Ava glances toward the bed next to her, then shakes her head. "I asked when I first woke up. The first time…the first time, they were able to revive him." The first time, she just used her powers. Sometimes, the simple ways are the most effective. "They said that the people who attacked us took the body. It didn't make sense at first, but…perhaps they hoped to be able to replicate something in him."
*
Just like that, a whole new host of problems to look into. Good thing he's starting to get some help. The bad news is the problems are getting bigger. "Any idea who it was?"
*
Ava grimaces. "They were mutants." And it's not an answer she likes, from the sound of it. "They said something about it as they were attacking the van. I do not know how truly organized they were, but…the stone one and the fast one were not pulling their punches. The black one, I am less certain. It may just be the nature of his powers, but it seems as though everyone he touched survived. And I did not see him throw any punches, or reach for a gun."
*
Steve nods, "Will you tell your bosses to contact me if they get any more on this? I'd like to help if I can." He breathes heavily. Not quite sighing, but definitely deflated.
*
"I will," Ava promises, nodding once. And after all, it seems she keeps her word when she gives it. "I am sorry for what happened to him, Captain. If- The Red Room has been a dark place. They have much to answer for."
*
"I'm not sure it wouldn't have happened at some other time by some other person. Kind of believe this was always going to happen someday." Steve looks up finally as he sees her and leans against the doorway. "What's the recovery time?"
*
"They think several weeks," Ava wrinkles her nose. "But there is a nurse at a clinic in the city who I think can reduce that time considerably. Once I can break out of this place." The faintest smile flickers across her features, rueful. "So, maybe two weeks."
*
Steve nods, "Well good luck getting better. If you need anything, SHIELD can get a hold of me."
*
"I think that I can find you, Captain," Ava says quietly, dipping her chin. "And I will, when I get a lead on the people who were behind all of this. I thought we had finished them. Now I think perhaps I was mistaken."
*
"I think you're right." Steve gives her one last look, gives a nod, and turns to walk from the hospital room. He has somewhere to go: the old neighborhood. Taking a walk stands to help his mind.
*