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A Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Fic - The Constant	By : TheConstant1944 Category: Marvel Verse Comics > Captain America Views: 2391 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters. They are solely owned by Marvel and MCU. No money is made from this story.

Chapter List
- 94
- 95
- 96
Chapter Ninety-Five
Checkmate

Sam drives you and Steve to the court. All three of you are quiet, all lost in your own thoughts. As you get out of the car and walk up the stairs, you keep your head down, try to ignore the shouts and the press but at the top Sam stops you and points out something about the crowd you hadn't noticed.
Yesterday they were one huge mass; today, they are split in to two. On the left side are the people you saw yesterday, their banners calling for James' death. But on the right is a new smaller crowd, one whose placards ask for leniency, ask why Hydra is not being held accountable for their crimes, makes reference to James Barnes as being a POW.
There are people in this world who can sway public opinion, make them sit up and think. They take a subject and dissect it to its basic structure and show us what it really means. Emgee is one of those people.
Your message, made real by Emgee's art, has slowly started taking hold, started making people think. But is it too late?
No one can say what the outcome of the trial will be. No one.
*
So far, Tony has not attended the trial.
Pepper has been there when she can to show Steve, you and Bucky her support. She tried to convince Tony to go with her but he had insisted he hasn't time. He has gotten involved in a new project and she despairs because she thought he could help James Barnes, especially as some of what has happened is his fault. Some? More than some. The information the prosecutor has is devastating. More has come to light and his case is building nicely. Jeremy Sands work on James' defence is being rebuffed at every turn.
Right now whilst everyone faces the court again, Tony is in his lab. Where else would he be?
“Okay Jarvis. Can you tell me what we have so far?” Tony asks, and Jarvis runs down a list of Tony's instructions, advising whether or not each task has been completed.
Tony has not slept properly in days and has barely eaten; once a project consumes him this is what he does until he literally falls down with exhaustion. “So...” he checks the last of details, “ so we're ready?”
“I believe so sir,” Jarvis confirms.
Tony wipes his face with his hands, then slips off the stool and realises how tired his body feels. He stretches. He will shower, eat, and then fall into oblivion for twenty-four hours.
“However, sir, there is something I would like to discuss with you before you go,” Jarvis says.
Tony looks up, moving forward to pick up some paperwork. “Hmm?” he says only listening with half an ear.
“I would like to make a request,” Jarvis says, and then hesitates - which stops Tony in his tracks because Jarvis never hesitates.
“Go for it,” Tony says. Despite his tiredness his interest is piqued.
“Sir...I would like an avatar.”
“What?”
“An avatar is a...”
“I know what it is but...”
“I want to be able to interact with people,” Jarvis says bluntly, not wanting to let Tony interrupt him. This is too important to Jarvis. He doesn't want Tony to dismiss him. “I have never asked you for anything before, but I am now. I want to be...” Jarvis pauses, searching for the right words. “I want to be a person,” he finishes.
Tony sits back down on the stool his mind trying to process what Jarvis has requested. He has known for some time that things were not quite right with Jarvis but now he begins to realise just how much more than that it is.
All he can think of asking Jarvis is: Why?
“I cannot explain it, sir. I think that I feel. When I am talking to people I want to be able to do so face to face, I want to see, I want to listen.”
“But you can do that already. You can do that and so much more than we can with our frail human bodies! Your sensors are...”
“...I know, I know what you are saying!” and Jarvis sounds frustrated, sounds as if any minute now he will....will what? Cry? Become angry? There is definite feeling in his voice. He continues: “Doctor Cho's work has come on to such a degree I believe she could create a body for me to inhabit.”
“Whoa there, hang on a minute...” Tony holds up a hand, this has suddenly become a serious discussion and he is trying to refocus his mind from his current project to the challenges this new one would bring. But Jarvis cuts him of mid-conversation, his voice steadier and conciliatory.
“I know this current situation is one that needs all of our attention and I am not asking you to divert from it. You need to sleep, you need to eat. All I am asking is that after this is over you take time to consider my request. Sir...it is important to me,” he has plead his case for now and all he is asking is for Tony to consider it.
Tony is quiet, he runs his hand through his hair and then looks around the lab as if is seeing it for the first time. He sees both Dum-E and Butterfingers are looking at him, and he realises how those two animated robots have started to become a little more than they should be. Jarvis has upgraded them almost to being pets. Does he get lonely? Tony suddenly wonders.
Tony stands. Once he makes a decision that is it, it is made, he rarely reneges on it. “Okay, you've obviously put thought into this. Lets' get past this and then we'll take a look. I'm not promising anything but...” and he lets his voice trail off.
“Thank you sir.”
“I'm not promising anything,” Tony warns - but in his mind is already working on the problem.
“I understand.”
“Jesus, as if I don't have enough to worry about,” Tony grumbles quietly as he walks to the lift that will take him to his sleeping quarters. He gets in and just as the doors close his voice is heard once more “Cut it out you two, I can see you!”
Dum-E and Butterfingers had just high-fived each other.
*
“Now Miss Bowman, yesterday you said that James Barnes came out of the operation with what appeared to be a split personality,” Charles Bayer is saying to you. You nod. You have to concentrate on everything he says, every nuance, - because he has a way of twisting your words, of making everything sound different to what you mean.
You have been on the stand for two hours and your back is aching from where you are so tense and your eyelids feel heavy as though you could close your eyes and fall asleep. Your head physically hurts and your neck feels like it has an iron rod running through it.
Bucky is sat in the pen with a guard on either side of him. There are manacles around his ankles but his arms are free. He rarely looks at anyone but every so often he will look at you and you worry about what he is thinking. Your testimony seems to be doing more damage than good. Jeremy Sands has told you to be honest; he is making notes and will cover certain points in his cross examination but that will not be for days. Meanwhile you look at the jury as if just by the power of your mind you can make them realise that James should be acquitted, but you cannot see any sympathy in their eyes.
“Once again I would ask you to please verbalise your answer Miss Bowman,” Bayer says sighing as if you are making his life difficult for him.
“Yes,” you say and then go to continue: “his mind was....”
Bayer cuts you off again. “The question just needed a simple yes or no, you are hardly an expert in psychological personalities Miss Bowman.
Then why did you bloody well ask me, you feel like saying.
“Yes or no?” he says.
Without thinking you nod and you hear the Judge tut, “Miss Bowman you need to say your reply and not just nod.”
You turn to him and his gaze softens because he can see how tired you are “Would you like a recess?” he asks.
You try to smile. “No sir, sorry.” You make an effort to sit up straight. You know that they will call a recess shortly because the judge likes to finish for lunch at midday. He is very much a creature of habit.
Sands raises his eyebrows as if in a question and you smile at him. Steve is sat behind him. Earlier you had also noticed two people sat in with the general populace whom you recognised: one was Honey who has been present a couple of times now. The other one surprised and worried you a little. It is Anita Salts, the doctor you saw at the clinic.
Charles Bayer turns over a page of notes and then refocuses on you. He smiles but it is not a friendly smile. “By this time you are sleeping with Barnes, if I remember correctly,” Bayer reiterates a point he has already highlighted several times and you feel your cheeks grow warm. “You were his main carer and could control him,” he continues and you frown, he makes it sound so wrong, so seedy, so.....
“Your honour I must protest. This does not have any bearing on the case!” Sands jumps up and complains but Bayer has already anticipated the protest.
“It does have bearing your honour, if you could just let me finish.” He turns to Sands and the judge allows it and Sands sits back down. “I understand that something happened to you during this time?” Bayer continues and you genuinely do not know what he is talking about. You are so focused on him you do not see Bucky look up, you do not see Steve sit forward.
“I don't know what...” but you don't finish the sentence. Bayer walks up closer to you, closer to the jury as if he is trying to be sympathetic.
“I understand you were operated on?” he says and then looks at the jury and then back at you. You feel your cheeks flush even more.
Steve hurriedly gets the attention of Sand's junior attorney. Bucky is now leant more forward and has tensed, the guards with him look at each other, one tells him to sit back. He doesn't hear them. His attention is on you.
You clear your throat, your focus is totally on Bayer now, he is looking at you. “Miss Bowman?” he says softly.
“Yes, I was...sterilised,” you say as everyone one of the jurors leans forward to catch your answer.
“Could you speak up?” Bayer says and you repeat your reply.
“Because of course you were having intercourse with the Winter Soldier,” he gestures to James up in the pen, “I mean with Barnes - and they didn't want any accidents?”
“I was told that was the reason yes,” you say daring him to find fault.
Sands turn to Steve.
“I don't care what you have to do but you need to stop him from going any further,” Steve whisperers agitatedly and his tone alarms Sands. Sands stands.
Bucky can hear everything that is being said in court through a speaker system in the pen. He realises at the same time as Steve does what Bayer is going to say. He stands up and takes a step forward and comes up against the glass panel.
“And I understand during this operation there was a complication?” Bayer says to you, his voice full of sympathy but you know him by now, you know he does not have a sympathetic bone in his body. Still you are puzzled you remember there as a complication but - what does your sterilisation have to do with the case?
And then several things seem to happen all at once.
Sands leaps to his feet objecting, stepping forward as if to physically grab hold of Bayer and stop him. Steve is yelling Sands' name but it is Bucky up in the pen that grabs your main attention and that of the court.
He has stood up. You can see that he is yelling but you cannot hear him. He starts to beat on the glass panel. His face is red, angry. The two guards are trying to get hold of his arms. He beats again at the glass panelling and there is an amalgamated in-drawn breath around the court as the glass makes a shuddering noise and a crack appears.
You stand up. You want to move towards the pen but you can't because of the confines of the witness box. You turn so you can get out, but a court official is suddenly there telling you to sit down.
Sands is trying to get himself heard by the judge and is shouting, asking to approach the bench. It all seems to be happening at once but then you the see the guards in the pen; one of them has pulled out his taser and although you can only see it you are sure you hear the crackle of the blue light and you watch in horror as Bucky staggers. They are pulling him down and back into the seat.
“No,” you cry out. You don't want him tasered, he had enough of that when he was with Hydra, he has had enough pain to last him several lifetimes.
“Sit down Miss Bowman!” the official repeats. Steve has come out onto the court floor and is arguing with a court guard to allow him to approach the pen.
Charles Bayer is indicating something to the jurors, something about Bucky, about the violence they can see in his face at the moment and you hear him say. “You can see just by looking at him he has no control, it must be something in his genes, he will always be on the attack, he will always want to kill and they want to give him his freedom! How safe will people be? How safe would you and I be? How safe would our loved ones be?” This moment has played out just as he was hoping it would.
The judge is banging his gavel for order and the guards around the court are trying to get people to sit down, to be quiet. For a few moments it is pandemonium, but slowly order is regained. Bucky is being held down in the chair; you can see his eyes are half shut because of the electrical current they have just shot in to him. His face is contorted in pain. Sands is stood in front of the judges bench talking fast and Bayer hustles over to join in. Sand's junior attorney is trying to get Steve to sit down.
You looks out at everything and slowly sink back onto your chair because you don't know what is going on. You don't know what just happened. What was it Bucky was doing?
“I'm calling a recess. We will finish for lunch but before we do I want to see you two in my chambers now!” the judge is furious, red in the face as he points to both Bayer and Sands.
You are led down from the box. You see Sands talking hurriedly to Steve, they glance at you and Sands nods once to Steve and then hurries away to the judge's chambers. You try to move towards the pen where you can see they are making Bucky stand so they can take him back to the cells. You can see that he is still stunned but the officers will not allow you to get any closer. Instead Steve comes up and takes your arm and leads you out into the corridor.
“I don't understand what just happened. What was wrong with James?” you ask. Steve will not let go of your arm and you stop in the middle of the corridor, but there are people all around you, press wanting to know what happened. Steve just shakes his head once and then pulls you into one of the rooms so you can be alone.
“Steve! What the hell just happened?” you ask feeling worried and exasperated at the same time.
Jesus, he thinks, I can't tell her. What the...his mind is working to try and come up with an excuse, with anything. He can see by the look on her face she doesn't have a clue as to what is going on. “I think...I guess Bucky didn't want you questioned over what Hydra did to you...” and he knows his reply is weak.
“But, he knows I've come to terms with the sterilisation. I don't understand?”
He can't tell her.
Whilst Steve is trying to lie to Freya, the judge is sitting behind his desk, robes off, looking at the two men sat opposite him.“What just happened?” he asks and then points again at both of them, “and I want the truth.”
Charles Bayer's smooth voice is calm, as if he is as surprised as the judge. “I was just following a line of questioning,” he says innocently.
Sands sits forward in his chair. He needs to convince the judge that this line of questioning is not relevant to the case. “Sir this has no relevance to the case and Bayer knows it. He is just trying to disrupt the court, trying to throw my witness.”
“What by asking about her time with Barnes? I thought that's what she was here to testify to,” Bayer picks at an imaginary piece of fluff on his trouser leg, then crosses his legs and sits back.
Sands looks at him. “You know exactly what I'm referring to. Freya doesn't know the full...” and he realises he doesn't have to go any further because he can see Bayer knows that Freya doesn't know.
“You bastard!” he snaps and Bayer smiles as the judge tells Sands to stop. But the judge is not stupid; he has been on the circuit for thirty years and he knows how devious Bayer can be. Bayer goes to speak and the judge stops him. He then looks back to Sands.
“Tell me,” he says, and Sands does. “Freya Bowman was sterilised without her consent, but there was a complication which caused them to have to operate on her again. She doesn't know what the complication was and has never been told. James Barnes knows and was trying to stop him from telling her in court.”
“And what was the complication?” the judge asks.
“She was two months pregnant at the time of the sterilisation. She didn't know she was and they killed her child during the operation. That was the complication.”
“Is this true? Is that what you were going to tell her?” the judge asks Bayer, eyes narrowing.
Bayer tries to look innocent as he sounds: “I didn't realise she didn't know,” he holds up his hands but the judge stops him from going any further.
He is quiet for a moment and when he speaks he is trying to hold his temper in check. “When we continue you will not continue this line of questioning. It will be stricken from the records and I will instruct the jury to disregard it. Do I make myself clear?”
“But it is essential, I need to to prove that he....”
“Then you should of thought of that when you started playing games. You will not mention it again. Do you understand?
“But...”
And the judge loses it. “I asked you if you understand or do I have to hold you in contempt?!” he bellows and Bayer seems to deflate. He nods. “And don't nod, I want you to tell me you understand, verbalise your answer man!”
“Yes. Yes your honour.”
*
When you walk back out into the corridor Sam and Nat are waiting for you, but you also see Anita Salts standing a little way off and you ask Steve to give you a few minutes to talk to her. The corridor is almost empty. You feel as if you tower over her so you lead her over to one of the benches and sit down.
“How are you?” she asks.
“How did you...?”
“The television what else! I couldn't believe when I saw you on there. I'm just here because, well I felt when I saw you at the clinic we..dammit, I'm not good at this. I wanted you to know I'm here because I do care.”
“You barely know me,” you say.
She smiles. “I know you enough to know you need a friend.” You are quiet and she mistakes it for something else and hurriedly adds: “I'm not being...nosey. I wanted to make sure you are all right, I wanted to say I can help if you let me,” and you can see in her eyes she is telling the truth. People like Anita make up for people like Charles Bayer, they give you back your faith in humanity. “He is the James you mentioned?” her voice is quiet.
“Yes but...it's not as clear cut as that, it's not...” and you stop.
“That I can see. It's funny when you said it wasn't like a normal abuse case I thought I'd heard it all before...but you were right. Your life has been....well, I don't know. And his life, well...” and she shrugs but smiles to show she cannot put it into words.
In the background you see Steve making his way over and so does she. She puts her hand over yours.
“You still have my telephone number?” and you nod. “Call me if you feel I can help. We don't have to talk about this, we don't have to talk about anything you don't want to. I want to help that's all and I'm here if you want me.”
“Thank you,” you say and she stands up. Steve looks at her but you don't offer to introduce them and Anita doesn't expect you to. She is here for you and no one else. As she walks away you begin to realise you are making your own friends, ones that have nothing to do with Bucky or Steve, and something in you feels warm.
“Ready? I thought we'd grab some lunch,” Steve says and you nod. You are not that hungry but you need to do everyday things, you need that routine.
“Do you think he's all right?” you ask.
“I think so. He walked out of there under his own steam,” Steve says, remembering the shuffling gait the manacles has reduced Bucky to. He doesn't tell her how pale he was, about the dark shadows under his eyes. She does not need to know.
Some things are best kept quiet.
*
When the court resumes Bucky is sat back in his seat, manacled to the chair arms so that he cannot rise. The charge he received from the taser could have been worse but his ears still hum, his head still hurts. His body feels as if it wants to shiver to throw the excess charge off. The guards he has in solitary are a decent lot, and he has had no accidents whilst he has been in their care. One of them has actually begun to teach him how to play chess. They insisted that they accompany him and look after him during his time in the court. The one who tasered him had actually apologised afterwards, tried to explain he had no option and Bucky had wanted to assure the man he understood.
How fucked up is this world?
The glass panel has been replaced and he can look out over the court. Steve is sat there and tries to smile at him, nods to tell him everything is okay. Sam and Nat are sat with Steve and Sam actually gives him a thumbs up.
When Freya comes back to the stand he feels choked. He would give anything for one last chance to hold her in his arms just once more. She looks so fragile. He could not allow her to find out about the baby, not in this way. The minute the prosecutor started on about the sterilisation Bucky knew what he was going to say. He had to stop him. If he had been able to he would have torn the wall down, got hold of the man and throttled him to keep the truth from her. When they had first found out Steve and he had talked about whether or not they should tell Freya when they brought her back, and they had talked to Natasha because Bucky knew what the Red Room did to their girls.
“There is nothing that can be gained by telling her,” Nat had said after being quiet for a long time. “Nothing but hurt that is. I wouldn't tell her but you know her better than I do.”
Bucky had opted to keep it a secret. Maybe one day he will have to tell her but not now. She has been through enough pain and loss. He looks at her now and cannot help but smile. She is sat and they are swearing her in. Without realising it she is pulling down her skirt to cover her knees. Steve told him Pepper had leant her one of her business suits to wear, but of course Freya is taller. “She refused to go clothes shopping, you know what she's like!” Pepper had said exasperatedly, “and I am not letting her go to court in jeans and a black tee shirt!”
He sees Sands talking to Steve and watches as Steve listens carefully. Even though Steve can hear perfectly well now he still dips his head in the way he did before the serum did its magic so he catches every word.
“Hey, you okay?” and Bucky realises one of the guards is talking to him.
“Yes. Thanks.” Bucky nods.
“Okay. Listen no funny business this time huh?”
Bucky shakes his head “No funny business,” he agrees.
”Good, don't wanna use that goddamn taser again.” It is not said as a threat.
When the judge comes in and things have settled he tells the court that the previous conversation is to be stricken from the record, and he instructs the jury to disregard it. Sands has already told Bucky this would happen, but he is glad to hear it said out aloud.
The trial begins again.
*
By the time Bucky is returned to the prison it is late. They un-cuff him, allow him to shower and change into clean clothes. He hates the orange jumpsuit he has to wear to court. Sands had tried to obtain permission for Bucky to wear a suit, but was turned down. If for some reason the prisoner escapes they want him showing as high profile as possible, and in manacles and orange it would be difficult not to notice him. But here in the prison he is allowed the normal prison garb of trousers, white teeshirt and denim shirt.
At 7pm he is back in his cell and food is delivered; a nondescript hot meal which he devours. Sometimes he is not hungry, but other times it is all he can do not to bolt his food. His cell is an open one, and instead of having a door it is similar to those found in police stations with bars. He can be seen at all times. Whilst in there he is free from the cuffs although they have insisted on a tracking monitor attached to his left ankle.
One of the guards, Jeff Gordons, comes up afterwards. He is in his early sixties, ex-military. He tells Bucky that he believes everyone is innocent until proven guilty, everyone deserves respect and there are very few prisoners he has not adopted this attitude with. In his hands he carries a board and chess set. He places a fold up table his side of the bars and lays the board out on it. By sitting on the end of the bed Bucky can reach through to move the pieces.
“How's the arm tonight?” he asks and Bucky grins, but Gordons can see pain in his eyes.
“Oh you know....heavy.”
“Bet it didn't help having that charge put through it,” Gordons knows what happened earlier in court. He passes Bucky a bottle of cold water and two pain killers. “From the doc, he says you'll probably be in pain because of the taser.”
“Thanks,” and Bucky takes them. He needs to.
“Don't thank me, it's your lawyer who talked to the doc.” but Bucky knows it probably wasn't. He finds it surprising that a man like Gordons, who has seen the sort people he has, can still care. He once asked Gordons about it and he'd said: “Son, if I believed everyone on God's green earth was the devil I couldn't get up in the morning and I sure as hell couldn't do this job!”
Gordons beats him at chess twice, but more importantly for a couple of hours Bucky is able to forget his worries.
*
They say the quietest time of the day to do something illegal is between the hour of midnight and 1am.
At present Bucky is the only prisoner in the solitary confinement wing. It is never dark but they dim the light in his cell to allow him some peace and to sleep. He sleeps fitfully. By now the guards are used to his nightmares, he rarely sleeps the night through without one.
It is not a nightmare that awakes him at 12.50am, but the sound of a cup breaking followed by the thud of a body. He is awake and has rolled off the bed within seconds.
He cannot see anyone in the corridor outside his cell. He comes closer to the bars and looks out. There is always a guard at the table up against the back wall, and at the moment there is no one there. His heart starts to hammer and he knows something is wrong.
Suddenly Gordons appears, gun drawn. Bucky can see that he has been in this situation before. He comes up to the cell, places a finger against his lips and Bucky nods his understanding, but before he can do any more he sees a black shadow cast on the wall. It is a person, moving stealthily, gun in hand, followed by two more. They hear a grunt followed by another thump.
Then he sees them. They are dressed all in black, faces covered, rifles up and ready to fire. Gordons moves so that he is in between the cell and the intruders, in between Bucky and the men who have come for him.
“Move out the way, don't get hurt for me,” Bucky says to him; he has too much respect for this man to allow him to get shot.
There are now five men fanning out. Gordons looks over his shoulder at Bucky and then lowers his gun. “Don't worry about me son. This is checkmate. There's nothing you can do to escape it, and I suggest you don't try,” he says and Bucky watches as he steps away from the bars.
One of the other men comes forward and Gordons nods to him. The man's rifle is raised. Bucky backs away from the bars. He looks from Gordons to the man.
Hydra.
“I thought...” he struggles to put into words what he had thought “I thought we were friends.” It sounds pitiful even to his ears. He should have known better. Hydra has no friends, just assets.
Bucky has nowhere to go. There is nothing in the cell that he can use as a barrier, nothing to help him, and besides which it is too late. Bucky watches as the man presses the trigger and the gun bucks. He feels the thud where he is hit, once in the chest and once in the thigh. He looks down at his body as his knees start to buckle.
“You'll need more than that to take him down,” he hears someone say, but the man is already aware of that and Bucky is hit twice more. This time the thud against his body from such a short range takes him completely down and onto the floor. He cannot move, he tries to lift himself up as he hears the cage door being open. Sees booted feet walk up to him, sees the gun pointed at him, hears two more shots and then everything is dark.
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A Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Fic - The Constant