Chapter 18
“No, no, I’m not planning to recruit anymore criminals, just this one. I just wanted to run it by you, see what you thought.
“Yeah, not a good history. But, I mean, he deserves a second chance doesn’t he. Not even a second chance really, he deserves a chance. He didn’t really have much of one before, he was what they made him to be. He broke himself free; you have to admit, doing that was impressive and showed a lot of will. I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before. Not the way he did, and he survived too.”
“Oh, no. I am not making this call. I am entirely compromised; this one is up to you.”
“No, I think that sounds good. When he’s ready, maybe we can offer him a place. His family’s all gone. I just hope it will be enough to keep him on our side.”
“If he can stay free, I think he’ll be a good asset. I’m sure he’ll have to learn some new rules. There will be things he used to do as a matter of course, that just wouldn’t be acceptable. But he seems to be determined to be his own man and I think we should encourage that.”
Well, and his expertise is useful to. He’s used to working with high stakes and lots of pressure. If he can get over the change and the culture shock, he should fit right in. It’s not like he’ll be dead weight; it will be similar enough to what he’s used to that he should be good at it. And hopefully that will help him stay on the straight and narrow.”
“No, I never would have asked if it wasn’t for Steve.”
“Having this waiting for him, something to help him feel less like a failure and more like a contributing member… well, it’ll be good. We’ll have to watch him closely though, make sure none of his old associates try to creep back in and use him to get inside. I definitely think he should be monitored. And hey, maybe he'll decide he wants to do something entirely different with his life. Change everything, do something peaceful like become a fisherman, or something.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you get back to work.”
***
Steve gritted his teeth where he stood on the other side of the door to Stark’s office. Pulling his hand back so as to not crumple the doorknob, he clenched his fist.
At first it had sounded like Stark was finally doing something good; something selfless. Acknowledging Bucky’s strength like that. Acknowledging that Bucky needed a chance and that he was so strong to have pulled himself away from Hydra like that. But like always he had to go and ruin it. Talking about him like a thing, implying that Bucky needed watched. That Hydra would use Bucky to get inside the Avengers. That would never happen; Steve was a good judge of character.
There was a reason Steve didn’t want Stark involved with Bucky. It was Steve’s call, not Fury’s, no matter what Stark thought. Bucky didn’t need help to be a good person, he was better than Stark. Always would be. And as soon as he remembered Steve, he'd come back, fight at his side, 'till the end of the line.'