A Meeting of Minds and Muscle
As anxious as Bucky was about Anwyn going to meet Steve, she was even more anxious than he was. A week after the phone call, she found herself entering the Avengers tower. What if they knew she was harboring him? Would they waste time with a meeting?
She brushed the thought off. No, they would have attempted to kick in her door and apprehend him. There was nothing subtle about the Avengers, with the exception of Black Widow. “Only sensible, methodical person of the whole lot is a woman. Figures…” She thought with a twinge of amusement.
Tony Stark had fast tracked her through security at the tower and she sat in a room over-looking NYC with Steve, Tony and Natasha Romanov. Judging by their behavior, Tony had been briefed about who, and what, she was. Not like it was necessary…her public display of power a month earlier had tipped off anybody with eyes that she was unusual. And possibly dangerous.
Beyond the fact that Sentinels were otherwise, quite literally, shadows…she could only assume the reason nobody had mounted a search for her was because she had been complicit in stopping a massive murdering spree. And Steve pulling a few strings with someone, somewhere.
Steve had hugged her, meeting her at the elevator. He looked genuinely happy to see her. Tony himself had ignored her when she entered the room, trailing behind Steve. Natasha had greeted her, almost warmly, with a half-smile and a nod. The two had the inherent respect for each other the way strong women in a man’s world did. Anwyn was a little disappointed to see that Sam wasn’t present; she’d genuinely like the Falcon. The tension in air was thick enough to cut with a knife and his humor would have been a good buffer for it.
She sipped from the cup of coffee in front of her. “When ya said “meet for coffee”, I assumed ya meant Starbucks, Steve.” Her tone was even but her eyes bored into him, annoyance obvious. He squirmed and looked away from her. Tony caught the look on her face and frowned.
“JARVIS, the fire suppression system is functional, right? In case Firecracker here gets a wild hair?” Steve and Anwyn both glared at him. “Yes, sir. Fully functional.” Came the disembodied reply. Her green eyes followed him as he paced in front of the large window. The man was every bit as infuriating as his father had been, without any of the endearing flattery that came with the sharp tongue.
“I mean, why trust her? This woman isn’t just the codebreaker who used to drink my Dad under the table for kicks. What do we really know about her now other than she lights up like a Christmas tree?” Tony continued to prod. “Trust me Stark. If I wanted ta burn down your little castle, I woulda done it before I willingly walked in here.” Sitting up straight in her chair, Anwyn glared at him as he resumed his pacing.
“She did help stop HYDRA from taking over the world, so that’s enough for me.” Anwyn thought she saw Natasha almost smirk before her face fell back into the cold, disinterested expression she typically wore. She smoothed a few errant strands of red hair behind her ear and leaned back in her chair, propping her boots on the table.
Steve cleared his throat and slid a file across the table. “The tower is more secure, and this is sensitive. This is what we have. I thought maybe you’d have seen something while…working…that might bring some additional insight.”
She opened the folder and took a deep breath. A photo of Bucky in his uniform from the 1940s was clipped to a corner; he’d been so handsome and bright-eyed. Her fingers trailed over the small photo. Without a doubt, she loved him now. But she felt sorrow for the hell that young man in the tiny, faded photograph had endured. Silently, she flipped through the pages, sipping from her coffee occasionally.
They knew more than she thought, at least about his past. There were some schematics about his arm that Rocky might have found useful but she didn’t understand Russian well enough to try to translate and memorize the complex diagrams.
They didn’t have a single lead about his current whereabouts, if the file in her hands was any indicator. Assuming this WAS all they had on him. Making a mental note to have Rocky do some sleuthing into Stark’s files later, she carefully eyed some maps in the folder. One location looked familiar; she and Eira had eliminated every person in the base themselves.
She was quickly memorizing information that wasn’t in their files about the Winter Soldier and was aware of Natasha watching her closely. The woman was entirely too astute and would be suspicious if she read the file too much longer. “This is all ancient history, I’ve…visited… a few of these places a couple decades ago… there was nothin’ ‘bout Bucky in any of em or I woulda launched my own man-hunt.”
Carefully modeling her expression into one of worry and sadness, she closed the file and slid it back across the table. “You think he went back ta wherever they kept him? There are still fragments of HYDRA left…” Steve shook his head. “We picked up chatter that they were searching for “the asset" …why search if he went back?” She nodded thoughtfully, tapping her fingers on the side of the coffee mug.
Tony piped up. “A metal-armed assassin with raccoon make up and anger issues that rival Banner’s isn’t exactly made to blend in. To stay hidden like this requires Alex Jones level paranoia. Or friends in questionable places. Or both.”
Anwyn raised an eyebrow at him as Natasha and Steve stared at him blankly. He stopped pacing and glared at the dark haired woman across the room. “You really haven’t heard anything, Mrs. Barnes?” She saw Steve’s expression shift into one of anger out of the corner of her eye.
The emphasis he placed on her former married name made her irrationally angry. “Llewelyn. You asked for my help, so I’m here ta help. Keep a civil tongue unless ya want me ta weld ya into that red tin can you fly around in.” She snarled.
Quicker than the blink of an eye, she’d stood, crossed the room and was inches from his face for the last part of her tirade. They were the same height, and Tony flinched away from her tone and the bronzy hue that had started to seep into her eyes. Natasha smoothly stepped between them and pushed Tony back towards the window. “You shouldn’t unnecessarily antagonize people who don’t need a flying armory to win a fight, Tony.”
Steve’s hands found Anwyn’s shoulders and gently pushed her back towards her chair. “Out of line, Stark.”
“Get over yourself, Captain Righteous.” Natasha gave Tony another shove towards the window. “Enough.” She hissed at him.
It was no act for Anwyn to bite back tears; she was angry and even having Bucky back…the loss still stung. She’d stewed for seventy damned years, pain that old and deep never truly fades. Angry tears slipped down her cheeks and she found a muscular arm tossed comfortingly over her shoulder. “I know you wanna help him Steve, an’ I do too. If I had anything I thought ya needed ta know, I’d tell ya.” Her voice was strained, sad. It wasn’t an act, she legitimately felt anguish and worry. Though maybe not for the reasons Steve suspected.
She sniffled and caught Tony’s eye from over Nat’s shoulder; he looked a bit sheepish as Steve tightened his arm around her. His blue eyes were soft as he looked down at her and wiped away an errant tear with his thumb. Anwyn watched him, stifling surprise. In this moment, he wasn’t Captain America. He was just Steve, Bucky’s gentle and loyal best friend from childhood. “I believe you. We’ll stay in touch, it’s been really good to see you…and Buck’ll need us both if we manage to find him.”
Anwyn nodded. She did feel a bit guilty hiding things from Steve. He was a good, trustworthy man whom she genuinely cared for. But she’d do anything for Bucky…and he wanted to remain hidden.
Additionally, after Tony’s attitude, she was afraid of what they’d to him if they found him. Lock him up like an animal seemed the most likely scenario in her mind. And she knew that wasn’t necessary, he wasn’t going to harm anybody without provocation or Hydra’s magic words. Tony and Natasha both seemed convinced at her little performance and she couldn’t wait to just get far away from the Avengers.