The call
Although he had tried hard not to, Bucky must have fallen asleep at some point because he woke up when Clint gently stroked his cheek.
“Wake up, babe. Nat is calling she’s got some important news.”
Bucky took the tablet Clint handed him.
“… Natalia?”
“James!” She sighed in relief as his sleepy face appeared on her screen.
“What have you got?”
“Before Clint came back to your apartment, we had a meeting with Bruce and Wanda. So, after I heard what happened I called her and to make it short: I could win her for your surgery team. But not only her: She contacted Stephen Strange, you probably know him, the wizard guy with this awesome cloak, and he is also willing to assist. Considering that he was an excellent neurosurgeon before he got his powers makes things even better. And there’s one other person… uhm- ok, Clint you might not be happy with that but…”
Natasha hesitated.
“C’mon Nat, spit it out” Clint called on her.
“Ok, so… via Bruce, Doctor Erik Selvig, a woman named Darcy Lewis and Jane Forster we could contact Thor and-“
She took a deep breath.
“Loki consented to help as well… I know, Clint-” She hurried to say as she saw Clint dangerously furling his eyebrows. “You and Loki aren’t exactly what you call best buddies but look: We have three extremely talented sorcerers here with one being a former surgeon. On top of that Shuri and Tony with their brilliant minds that god knows come from-“
“I heard that!” Nat was interrupted by call from the cockpit.
“Yeah and this will be first and the last time you get to hear a compliment from me like that!” She shouted back but the corners of her mouth were twitching before she turned back to the topic.
“Anyway. We got all these people and as far as I can overview this you couldn’t get a better team, James.”
Bucky twisted his mouth.
“I hope you don’t expect me to jump around, covering everything in confetti over this considering that I already had to undergo this surgery one time and it obviously didn’t work out. Seriously it scares the fucking shit outta me, Nat. But I think you’re right. I couldn’t get a better team for this.”
Clint’s thoughts were still circulating about their previous topic.
“I don’t trust Loki.”
“I thought you’d say that.”
“Nat, what else did you expect me to say? This bastard fucked up my mind an awful lot back then. And I don’t have to remind you what memories and actions that can trigger! You experienced it yourself. I don’t want him to fucking mess up Bucky’s brain.”
“Them!”
“What?”
Natasha sighed.
“Loki is non-binary, Clint! Anyway-“ she struggled for words.
“Look, I don’t trust them either. Nearly no one does, even Thor has his struggles with them. But they have changed since then, Clint-“
“He has his struggles with them?!” Now Clint started to get angry. “Throwing Thor into an arena with an obviously furious Hulk and leaving him to nearly die? That’s what you call ‘struggles’?”
“Clint, we’re talking about Thor. He is a god. Of course, he wouldn’t have died. And-“
“Remember when Thor told us that Loki tried to stab him when they were kids? He was eight at that time! What kinda sibling does this? And besides, they just scare the shit outta me, okay?!”
“You are not playing fair. They were kids!”
“Yeah but would you try to stab your own brother at that age?”
“You know I don’t have family like that.” Natasha’s tone became a touch colder.
“But if you did?”
“Well, sometimes like in this case the thought of stabbing you crosses my mind, yes!” She snapped back.
“They killed Coulson!” Clint yelled.
“Guys!” Bucky interrupted them. “This is still about my brain that’s going to be experimented on and, not to be impolite but I think we can all agree that I am the one of us who has the longest experience with being brainwashed. And to be clear I want Loki in my surgery team, okay? As long as they get along with Wanda and Strange and they all together magically don’t mess something up I am okay with that.”
He looked Clint in the eyes. “I really am.”
Clint took a deep breath in and out. With an angry stare in his eyes he got up.
“I need some time to think.” He said and went to the back of the jet.
He knew he shouldn’t leave Bucky alone like this but the short yet heated discussion with Natasha about Loki joining the surgery made him angry. How could she dare agreeing to that? They were talking about Loki and Clint really hoped he didn't have to remind her in detail what the god’s manipulation had triggered in her brain and that they both were the only people who had suffered severely from Loki’s actions during the following time.
Loki maybe had changed but a person's true core never would. And in Loki’s case this was being mischievous, inscrutable and, that they never did anything they couldn’t earn a profit for their own. To be clear: They always wanted something in response. And if this had to be in the same extend as his help, Clint didn’t want to imagine what the god's demand would be for literally saving Bucky’s life. And this uncertainty caused a very bad feeling in his stomach region.
Right now, he wished to be back at that time when they all lived at the Avengers Tower together. Then he just could sneak out and go hiding in vents where he had plenty of time to think and clear his brain. Instead he sat in a jet that flew with a breakneck speed to Wakanda to get his boyfriend’s mind erased from trigger words that had caused him to be the most efficient human killing machine of all time, including being the murderer of Tony Stark’s parents. He had never really understood how Tony was capable of even being in the same room with Bucky, but he thought highly of him for that.
Clint let his eyes wander over the scenery.
Peter sat in a corner throwing things in the air and before they hit the ground, he caught them with his spiderwebs and repeated the game. He was obviously bored but also looked very tired and tensed at the same time. Tony was involved into another discussion with Jarvis while Steve was reading a book but threw inconspicuous looks on Bucky every few minutes. The latter however didn’t notice it, at least Clint thought so, because he was still talking to Nat. They were quietly talking in Russian and even though Clint understood everything that was said he didn’t pay attention out of respect of their privacy. As Bucky and Nat had called each other by their actual names during the videocall, Clint became even more aware of seriousness of the situation. This was nearly the only Red Room habit the two had re-established besides sometimes dancing ballet together, after Bucky got rid of the Winter Soldier. At least that’s what they thought, and they only addressed themselves like that when they had a very serious and intimate talk. Sure, no one could say that he and Nat were less close than Bucky and she were. Especially when they teamed up, they were invincible, not only in bed, but their relationships were yet different.
Eventually Clint went back to Bucky who had stopped video calling with Nat and spent the rest of the flight being lost in thought while Bucky lay in his arms. They didn’t speak much especially not about Loki, but Clint could sense that Bucky’s inner unrest increased by the time the jet started its final decent.