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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
- 98
- 99
- 100
Chapter Ninety-Nine
No Other Option

It happens at 10pm GMT: every network across the globe is hacked. Every television station, every radio station, social media services across the internet, even digital advertisement boards – if it could broadcast information, then it was targeted. A message was sent to everyone who was in front of a screen, plugged in or wireless.
The message was brief and only lasted three minutes:This is a public announcement. Please stand by on Channel 1917 for important news tomorrow at 10pm (GMT). The content will be for over eighteens only, and is unsuitable for children. We now return you to your normal station.
No one knows who sent it, but it continued to appear every hour on the hour until 9pm the following day. After that, it appeared to be up to you if at 10pm you chose to see it.
If so, turn to Channel 1917 and watch.
*
“Hello James,” Tony's voice is quiet, and somehow he just cannot bring himself to use the name 'Bucky'. It doesn't sound serious enough for the type of conversation they were going to have. He picks up the chair that Coulson left behind and brings it closer to the electric field.
Bucky smiles as if the answer to life had just been revealed. “How did I not guess you were in on this somehow?” he says to Tony as he too sits down, albeit the other side of the force field. He is still pale, with black shadows under his eyes, and despite his calm demeanour Tony can see he is struggling.
“Well you know, limited intellect, you soldiers not as bright as us scientists.....how's the arm by the way?”
Bucky lifts his left arm, opens and closes the hand, turns it and then places it back down in his lap. “Can't complain, needs a little calibration when you have the time,” and Tony nods.
Then silence as each man regards the other.
Tony sighs breaking it, leaning forward and rubbing his hands together, then looks at Bucky. “I need your permission.”
“For what?” Bucky senses the conversation has gone up a notch.
“The next part of your trial,” Tony says, no humour apparent now.
“Okay. You've got it.”
“Just like that huh? No questions, no smart remarks, no....?” Tony opens his hands. He watches as the smile fades from Bucky's face and instead he sees the tiredness in his eyes, sees the decision James' has already made on his own fate.
“Best just to find me guilty, sentence me and let the world move on,” he says quietly.
“And let Hydra win? Let them get a foothold again? Leave no warnings for the future?”
Bucky can hear an anger in Tony's voice that puzzles him. “I don't understand, what is this to you?” he asks him, leaning forward now, adopting Tony's position without realising it. Two very serious men in a very serious discussion.
Tony is quiet at first and Bucky does not think he is going to answer but then he does. “Howard and Maria Stark, killed - murdered December 1991 by Hydra.”
And Bucky's stomach churns and his heart begins to beat faster. He looks away frowning, looks down at the ground and Tony can see he is trying to remember, trying to concentrate. “I killed them?”
“Don't you know?”
“I thought....I thought I had remembered them all but....oh God. So there's even more, more people I murdered, more harm done, more grief, more....” he stands up fast, knocking the chair backwards. His face has gotten paler, his head is beginning to throb as he forces his mind to try and think. His heart starts to race, he starts to sweat. How many more has he killed and not remembered?
Tony also stands, startled by Bucky's reaction. He walks closer to the field. “Hey, hey, James. Look at me...” he tries to catch Bucky's attention but he can see that he has made a mistake. Bucky walks away, turning his back on Tony, both hands are clenched, shoulders hunched and he is talking to himself. “Hey..... hey!” Tony yells and Bucky finally hears him, turns around. The look on his face is tragic. He comes forward, holding his hands up imploringly and crashes straight into the electric field, but takes no notice. His eyes are feverish and his cheeks now begin to redden, his forehead showing a sheen of sweat. And Tony cannot get over how quickly the conversation has deteriorated. How quickly James Barnes has deteriorated.
“You can do it, can't you. If anyone can kill me you can. Got to make sure I'm dead though, totally dead, no chance of coming back. Destroy my body, cut it up, burn it, acid I don't know...” The words all run together, jumbled, and there is a simple frenzied desperation to them. “I was so sure I had remembered everyone, everyone I destroyed but I can't remember Howard. How many others haven't I remembered? I don't remember killing Howard, or Maria, Tony I'm so sorry, you must hate me but you can make sure I don't exist, you can kill me, you can...”
“Shut up!” Tony shouts, hitting the field himself so that their hands are together with just the wall of electricity separating them. He is finding the jumbled words are causing him to panic as well; they are so manic, so pleading. He can see sweat running down Bucky's face and he feels a trickle run down his own back.
And then Bucky falls quiet but his eyes are begging, his hands are still against the field, fingers spread out, pleading. “If I've forgotten them, then how many others have I forgotten?” he asks again.
“James listen to me...” Tony has taken his own hands away and is now kneading his forehead and gesturing to James with the other. “You didn't kill them,” he says and looks at Bucky. “You...did not....kill them,” and Bucky steps back as if the words have stung him. Tony gestures to the chair. “Sit down, you're making me uneasy, I can't think straight!”
Bucky turns as if unsure as to where he is, he closes his eyes for a second, takes a deep breath and then picks up the chair. He sits but his left foot jigs up and down, and it is obviously taking all of his control to sit there. He is uptight, tense, it would not take much to set him off again and Tony doesn't want that. He wants answers.
“You just said you remembered all of the people, does that mean you remember all of the missions?” Tony asks, keeping his voice even.
Bucky nods, then leans forward again: “But not all of the details, just bits and pieces, you know like a jigsaw - but I see their faces. I can always see their faces.”
“Do you remember a mission report from December 1991 named World Fair?” Tony asks and Bucky frowns, searching his memory. A snag – maybe, no, it has gone and he shakes his head. He is still sweating heavily and Tony indicates the bedside table. “Want to get some water?”
Bucky shakes his head impatiently. “Why don't I remember?”
“You were involved in an accident. One on the base where they kept you. A lift broke down. You were trapped in there with Freya. The file said you were electrocuted. Unconscious. It also said they had to decode you. You weren't able to complete the mission, so they sent someone else instead.”
He can see Bucky is trying to remember but there is barely anything; something about a lift, the smell of burning plastic, the smell of his skin burning but then it is gone. “How? How do you know?” he asks Tony.
“When we found your lady friend at the collapsed base, Jarvis downloaded everything he could find in the database there before we blew the place to hell. It's taken a while but all the records are there, including things Hydra didn't want anyone to know. Information they thought had been safely destroyed.”
“But you've never said, you never....” but then Tony sees the truth dawn in Bucky's eyes.
“It was you. You were the one who leaked the original information to Bayer, to the press, to everyone but why? If you knew I hadn't killed your parents, why did you do it?”
“Because when I did it, I thought you had killed them.”
And Bucky laughs. The sound is brittle, loud, there is no humour in it. “Just when I think I've heard it all,” he says.
“That's why were here now,” Tony gestures the room again and now leans back in the chair, feeling as tired as Bucky looks. “I cocked up, I know I did...”
But Bucky interrupts him: “I still killed all the others, I still need to pay for my crimes.”
“Your crimes? They weren't your crimes, don't you see that? They were and still are Hydra's. They want all the blame to go on you, hang you out to dry whilst they slither back into their holes and ride out the storm, then when it's nice and clear, when you've been found guilty and you're dead, they'll slither back out and start again. We will have learnt nothing, and history will have no warning. The blame will be yours and yours alone, and we can't allow that to happen!”
“I appreciate your...candour, but I held the gun, I pulled the trigger, I strangled and cut their throats....I didn't do anything to stop...me,” and now Bucky's throat thickens, his eyes tear up; he feels so tired, so old.
Tony sighs. “I hated you, I couldn't believe it when Steve handed you to me on a plate, it was like a dream come true. Then I discovered you didn't carry out that mission but I still hated you, and I told myself it was because of all the others that had died. I asked myself the same question: why didn't he stop himself? Why didn't he do more? Why didn't Freya do something? And then...” and Tony goes quiet, seems to retreat inside himself.
“And then?” Bucky prompts.
“Then I saw the films. I read the reports on what was done to you.” In Tony's mind are the pictures he knows he will never forget. “You weren't just another one of their victims! Their victims died at the end of a blade, a bullet...you didn't die within minutes. You were taken apart again and again, they killed you again and again.” His voice quietens. “When Janis hypnotised me I was stunned that I nearly killed, no - would have killed the woman who means more to me than life itself. Even now I wake up sweating because I think I've done it, I can see Pepper lying dead at my feet and I couldn't stop myself from doing it.” Tony's focus is totally on James now. “There was nothing you could have done to stop yourself. Nothing. Do you understand?” and Bucky looks away but Tony won't leave it there “Barnes! There was nothing you could have done! Don't be so goddamn stubborn!”
He knows, though. He knows that for the rest of his life James Barnes will always believe in some way he was responsible for taking those lives. He will always see the faces of those murdered men and women.
“So what happens now?” Bucky asks, wanting to change the subject, wanting to stop the ball of panic that keeps threatening to engulf him.
“Now we allow the world to decide,” Tony says cryptically, and Bucky sees the old Tony creep back in. The showcase master. The Iron Man.
Bucky frowns. “Coulson promised me a trial.”
“And you'll get one,” Tony takes out a remote from his pocket and stands, walks closer to the field and gestures to the screen inside Bucky's cell. He presses a button and the screen comes to life. “You have a remote inside the bedside drawer so you can follow everything that goes on....but I'm getting ahead of myself.”
Tony takes a few moments to untangle his thoughts and then he begins. “The current trial is a farce. The information Bayer has is not altogether correct, and if that is put against the files Jarvis found that would be realised but Bayer has managed to stop that information being made public. It has been made inadmissible in court. He doesn't know about all of the information I have, and I didn't want him to because I'm not so sure he is as straight as they come. If you told me he has connections to Hydra then I would believe you. Also, your life is in danger. We discovered a plan that was to be put in place next week. You were to be so say rescued by Hydra and smuggled out of the country, only that would not have been your fate because it was planned by our government. Instead you would have ended up in some government lab somewhere and they would try and copy the serum in your bloodstream, or worse.”
He now starts walking slowly back and forth as his mind works on everything he needed to tell James.
“What happened to you in prison, the hanging, you know...that was planned by Hydra. And there are more plans because Hydra want to silence you. I think eventually one of them would have succeeded. We also found out that there are two ex-Hydra sympathisers on the jury and at least one other juror is being coerced. You didn't have a chance, James, in some way or other you would be found guilty and Hydra would be let off the hook. All of the crimes would have been in your name, gone down in history as yours and Hydra could start again with a clear record.”
“I understand what you're saying but....”
“There are no buts. Even if by the slimmest of possibilities you were found not guilty here then there are other countries lining up to extradite you for crimes you committed within their borders. The whole world wants to hang you...”
“Thanks for that,” Bucky mutters.
“You're welcome. You need a fair trial. You need one where all the details are allowed to be shown and you are going to get one. You're going to have a world trial.”
“A what?”
“The whole world is going to be at your trial, thanks to the wonders of modern living.”
Tony presses the remote again and on the screen Bucky can see some writing appearing and he gets up to read it.
This is a public announcement. Please stand by on Channel 1917 for important news tomorrow at 10pm (GMT). The content will be for over eighteens only, and is unsuitable for children. We now return you to your normal station.
“What the fuck?”
“Precisely, couldn't have said it better myself. This will go out across all stations, all networks, everywhere tonight at 10pm GMT and then on the hour every hour until 9pm tomorrow.”
Bucky turns back to Tony.
“Okay, in a nutshell.” Tony looks at his watch as if suddenly realising he is running out of time. “Every country that has a claim to you will be given the chance to attend your trial with their own jury. Jarvis and I have set up channels which will present both the defence and the offence, no hang on that's football – your defence and well, whatever the opposite is. Prosecution? Anyway, everything will be shown and by everything I mean everything: mission reports, films, files, all of Hydra's dirty washing. The channel will broadcast in every country and not only will their juries and governments be able to see what is presented, everyone in the world will be able to. At the end of it they will have time to deliberate and we will know if you have been found guilty or not guilty, yada yada yada!” Tony presses the switch and the screen shuts off and then darkens. “Questions? No, good. I must go, places to be people to meet...!” and suddenly it seems as though Tony is in a hurry – because he doesn't want Bucky to say no. Doesn't want to give him the chance. Because if he does...
“Wait!” James cries.
“Too late. You agreed, you gave your permission.” Tony is now turning to the door of the other room and Bucky knows once he is through that door he will be alone again.
“But...wait. Tony please wait,” and the sound of panic in James voice stops Tony in his tracks.
He turns and the look on his face is asking James to trust him. “There are no other options. The world needs to know what happened to you, what Hydra is capable of. You need the world to know.”
And James knows Tony is right.
“And when they find me guilty?” he says quietly, and Tony sighs. He wants to say that they won't, he wants to tell Bucky that he has a future but he can't. He knows he can't because he cannot be sure himself that they will not find him guilty.
Tony walks back up to the field. “Then I promise we will help you find peace.” It chokes Tony to say that.
Bucky nods, tries to smile. “One more question?” and Tony nods.
“How did you get T'Challa to help? I murdered his father. I know I did. I see his father's face along with all the others.”
“I showed him the film of what they did to you to finally break your mind,” Tony's voice is quiet, serious. “I did the same with Phil Coulson...although.....” and now the old Tony is back and smiles, “....although Coulson's such a slut for Steve,” and he winks, leaving Bucky frowning.
“Hey. Hey, what d'you mean a slut for Steve, hey Tony, Tony you can't leave me with that!”
“Night Bucky,” Tony says as he leaves the room.
*
Each day takes so long to pass. You have tried to stay busy, tried to keep positive, but it has been so hard. At least when James was in prison you knew where he was, but now? Now you don't know anything.
It is late but Tony has asked you to stay up. He needs to discuss something with you and Steve. You meet him in his study. You have not been in here before, but truthfully to you it doesn't look much different to one of his laboratories. Steve is with you and you sit down opposite Tony. Tony looks tired, pale as if he has not had enough sleep. You had passed a very angry Pepper on the way in but she did not say anything, just carried on walking. It is obvious they have rowed over something.
At first Tony doesn't say anything, just drinks from a glass, the amber fluid obviously giving him some comfort.
“So?” Steve asks. He cannot settle. He is sat in a chair next to you but you can see that he wants to pace. Tony holds the glass briefly against his forehead, then drains it and puts it down.
“Okay....you're not going to like what I have to say,” Tony says.
Steve makes a disparaging noise. “So what's new?”
Tony tries to smile sardonically. “It's about...Bucky, so I need you to listen,” and that gets both yours and Steve's attention. You both lean forward asking the same questions: “Have you heard something? Is he all right?”
“Oh he's fine and dandy....and I can say that because I know where he is. He's safe and I need you to listen to me otherwise this is going to take a very long time and I'm tired!”
Steve goes to stand up but you reach up, touch his arm and shake your head. You both know Tony. He needs to tell you whatever it is in his own way.
“We're listening,” Steve says, sitting back down - but he doesn't look happy.
“We found out that there was a plot to try and take him from the prison, a government plot...”
“Who's we?” Steve asks, and Tony looks at him with a look saying if he interrupts then he will stop and they will hear no more.
“Also, there were Hydra plans to kill him in prison. If the government plot had succeeded he would have disappeared into a government lab for them to try and recreate the serum. That's not all. The information coming out at his trial was damning. As you know Sands is unable to use information Jarvis had found at the camp.”
And suddenly the penny drops. “You took him,” you say to Tony and he smiles at you and nods. “But why didn't you tell us, why didn't you let us see him?”
“Because my dear, time is something we didn't have the luxury of. Up until now there were just three of us who knew where he was. I literally was running out of hours to set up what needed doing to protect him, but now I'm bringing you in on it and I need you to listen to me.”
Neither of you speak. Both of you hold your breath. You want to take Tony and shake him until he tells you where James is and you know Steve feels the same, you can see his hands clench.
“For a start, James knows all of what I'm about to tell you and we are doing it with his agreement, no one is coercing him into it. His trial is a joke. There are Hydra people on the jury and other jurors who will find him guilty because they have no option not to. Also, as I mentioned there is a lot of information we cannot use because it has been ruled inadmissible. The information that Bayer has, is in part incorrect, I should know because....I was the one who gave it to him.”
You don't think you heard right. “Say that again,” Steve says, his body language telling Tony he had better step carefully.
Tony takes a deep breath. “I gave it to him.”
Steve goes to say something but you jump in: “But why? Why would you do that?” It is taking all of your willpower not to get up, not to go over and lash out at him.
Tony looks from you to Steve and back again. “Because I believed he was responsible for my parents' death. Their murder was ordered by Hydra and the Winter Soldier was their assassin. What would you have thought?”
“But I thought Maria and Howard died in a car accident?” Steve says.
“That's what they wanted us to believe at the time, but no. There is even a Hydra mission report on it called World Fair would you believe.” And as he says this he looks at you. Deep within your mind those words ring a bell. He can see you thinking. “December 1991,” he says and you shake your head and smile sadly.
“Dates mean nothing to me. Neither James or I ever knew where or when we were,” you say “but the words World Fair...I know I've heard those before.”
“I believe you and James were involved in an accident on the base. A lift jamming between floors?” Tony prompts and for a moment you close your eyes. Then opening them, you lean forward.
“Yes, yes I remember. They had programmed him and he was due to leave but there was a problem with the programming. So they had to recall him and do it again. I thought he had already left, and I found this out from Adam afterwards. The Soldier and I became trapped in the lift, as you said, between floors. He was trying to get help and he was electrocuted....” your eyes are no longer looking at Tony but into the past. “It was horrible, the power source in his arm started to leak into his body. They lowered a walkie talkie to me and Adam had to tell him to stand down from his mission because he was trying to get out, needed to fulfil his mission.....needed to...” and you stop when you realise what you were about to say.
“...Needed to kill my parents.” Tony finishes for you.
“Yes, I'm sorry,” your voice is quiet. “Adam told me....” and now you don't know whether to repeat what he had said.
“Go on.”
“They had re-programmed him, and Adam said he thought it was because James would have recognised the name of the person he was to kill. They had to use the highest settings to try and get it to set in his mind. I asked Adam why James would have known the target, and he said because it was someone Barnes knew from the past....I remember at the time feeling horrified but thankful that he hadn't been able to go on the mission.”
And you are quiet as you think of how badly he had been injured. Of what Adam had told you later when you yourself finally became conscious again.
“Did he really know your father?” you ask and Tony nods and looks at Steve, who explains.
“Howard Stark worked with the Howling Commandos a lot. He had also worked on the project that I was involved in. When we initially rescued Bucky I persuaded him to trust Howard, to tell him about the early experimentation he had been put under, but then...we lost Buck on the mission and....” there is no need for Steve to go on.
“I'm sorry, Tony,” you say because there is nothing else you can add.
Tony is quiet for a few moments then stirs and sits more comfortably. “We got a little off track...” and he gives you that Tony Stark smile, the sad one where you wish you could hug him.
“Bucky...” Steve says and Tony nods.
“He really is safe and is being well looked after but the trial is still going ahead. It's important that you know that. He needs it to.”
And for the next half an hour neither you nor Steve hardly say a word. Nothing like this has ever happened before. The logistics of it are incredible, the work Tony and Jarvis have put in mind blowing; no wonder you haven't seen him.
A new channel has been created on all television and radio, as well as a new website on the internet - Tony quotes other social media details which mean nothing to you or Steve. All that you need to know is that most people across the entire world - hell, even anyone in space - will be able to view the proceedings, the evidence – everything.
Tony has written an algorithm. It's not perfect but the best it can be in the space of time he had. Every country that has a claim to the Winter Soldier has been listed in the program. Each country can opt in or out depending on what they decide. If they opt out of the trial then they lose any claim they have on any proceedings against James Barnes.
Each country that remains in will have a jury made up of twelve people. The government will have no say in who is on the jury; Tony and Jarvis have set up the parameters for people to be chosen or disregarded. These parameters will include all the reasons why someone would be ineligible to serve in normal jury service. There is also a list of people known to Jarvis of people suspected in some way of affiliation to Hydra.
A list of those people eligible in each country will be drawn up, then, at random twelve names will be chosen. Those people will be contacted and have the chance to either accept or decline. If they decline then the next person on the list will be approached. They will be asked not to tell anyone that they are part of the jury, and they will watch the evidence given at the same time in the same way as the rest of the world. At the end of the trial they will vote either Guilty or Not Guilty. Their names will never be released, and no blame will ever be attached to them in anyway.
In a criminal trial the jury's verdict must be unanimous. All twelve jurors must agree. This will apply in this case, and there will be no coercion from anyone. Jarvis will collect the decisions and if they do not match then he will go back to the group concerned and ask them to vote again. If it continues then Tony and Jarvis will set up a conference call for that group; they will not be able to see each other and their voices will be disguised, but they can at least thrash it out together until a unanimous decision is reached. If it is a hung jury then after the third vote the highest majority will be taken as the verdict – not perfect, but the only thing that can be done.
Tony has even programmed in translation software to account for any linguistic problems that may be encountered. At all times there will be a telephone number each juror can call if they are experiencing any problems of any nature. He hopes he has covered all problems.
Finally, when all of the countries have given their findings, the highest majority will be taken in finding whether or not James Barnes is guilty or not guilty.
If not guilty he will be a free man.
If guilty, he will face the death penalty.
At this your heart starts to hammer. You feel sick.
“And...how?” Steve says, his own voice sounding strangled.
“That will be James's decision,” Tony says quietly.
You all sit there in silence. What can any of you say? Eventually Tony stands, and he looks as if he has aged ten years since you entered the room. You know there is a lot more to the trial than he has told you but there is only so much the brain can take in at any one time.
“Tony." Steve has one more question. “Can we see him?”
And Tony does not know what to say because it is something he could not make a decision on himself. Should he let Bucky see the people he loves or should he be kept in isolation? Has Tony the right to decide that? Should it not be Bucky's decision?
He looks at both you and Steve.
“I'll ask him,” he says eventually, and you have to accept that he will.
You asked if anyone else will be allowed to know what is happening.
“I'd like to bring Nat and Sam in on this.” Nat for her expertise in computers, and he doesn't tell you Sam because he wants someone watching out for the two of you and your mental states.
“You said there were two other people involved in this. Who are they?” Steve asks.
And Tony smiles. “And let you grill them? Oh no buddy. I'll tell you who if I am able to when it all kicks off. I don't want you mounting some rescue mission.” Truth be told it is the reply Steve expected. But Tony hasn't finished. “Look, Bucky needs this. If the world finds him guilty he has already accepted his fate. If they find him not guilty he needs to hear it from them or he will never forgive himself.”
And you both know that what he is saying is the truth.
When you and Steve curl up in bed, you hold on to each other. Neither of you talk because you are not ready to yet. There will be a million questions over the next few days. Tony hopes the trial can start within three weeks, he will be pushing for countries to come back with their replies within forty-eight hours. If they don't reply then they are automatically disqualified. There will be no ifs or buts. There will be no second chances.
*
At 10pm GMT that evening the first message goes out.
'This is a public announcement. Please stand by on Channel 1917 for important news tomorrow at 10pm (GMT). The content will be for over eighteens only, and is unsuitable for children. We now return you to your normal station.'
At 10pm GMT the next day the second is a message telling the world about the trial and how it will operate.
The necessary world governments receive a similar message and an invitation.
*
James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes's future begins its countdown.
- 98
- 99
- 100
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A Bucky Barnes Winter Soldier Fic - The Constant