[Bucky Barnes; R] Uncivil War: Chapter 7 Character/Series: Bucky Barnes; Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: R Notes: This didn't even cover half of what I wanted. Oh well, more chapters to write! Yay! Title: Uncivil War- Chapter 7: Electricity Author:yuuo Word Count: 5231 Summary:"So what've we got here?" Bucky asked, staring over their equipment on the work counter.
it's a bit like being angry it's a bit like being scared confused and all mixed up and mad as hell it's like when you've been crying and you're empty and you're full i don't know what it is it's hard to tell -Elton John
"So what've we got here?" Bucky asked, staring over their equipment on the work counter. He and Bruce had finally organized them, a few days later, and now that they were about to work, it suddenly felt like Bucky wasn't sure where to start.
Bruce twisted his laptop's screen around to sit flat in front of them, then pulled up a 3D display showing off the last PET scan of Steve's brain. "A mess," he replied. "This was taken with the drug still in his system. The problem is, I can't tell if that activity was caused by hyper-exciting a brain function, or inhibiting it."
"So we need a drug that would theoretically do either/or, depending on what it finds."
"Assuming his brain is still doing this, yes," Bruce answered, twisting the image around to view from another angle. "I wish I'd been able to get a post-detox scan. There's undoubtedly withdrawal going on in his brain, or at least was. It's been a week now, any unusual activity associated to that might've stopped by now, too."
Bucky rested his elbows on the work counter and folded his hands on the back of his neck. "But there's no physical damage to account for the amnesia."
"And I have no ongoing scans of your brain from the last two years to form a hypothesis with," Bruce said. "So we might actually be wasting our time up here."
"I'm not going to believe that," Bucky said, lifting his head, but not dropping his hands. He turned his head to look at Bruce. "Something's still wrong in his head, and we have to at least try to come up with something. I owe him as much."
Bruce took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know. I know. But we're going to be playing with his brain chemistry. I'm nervous about that."
"And yet you made us high-powered Ritalin," Bucky said. "A psychostimulant. And you give me Ativan."
That got a reluctant agreement from Bruce. "I know. But those are tested medicines. We're going into completely new territory. We're not building on existing medical knowledge." He sighed and put his glasses back on, looking at the scan again. "Well, I suppose we could try your idea of an either/or drug, maybe find something already existing to build off of."
"What about dopamine?" Bucky asked.
Bruce shook his head. "Wouldn't get past the brain-blood barrier." He sighed, staring at the scan. "I know we want to bring his memory back faster, but we might have to treat it like retrograde amnesia and just keep trying to jog his memory the old fashioned way. Just keep telling him stories, showing him things. I had Tony upload a copy of the old USO and war footage into Junior, we could get them plugged into this computer for him to watch. That'd at least get the war stuff back in his head."
"What about more recent things?"
"I took a page from the Smithsonian's book and have news reports of New York and your jobs in Junior's memory banks, too. That's not going to help with personal stuff, but it might open the door for those memories."
Bucky rested his forehead on the counter. "Okay, new question then. How do we get him to stop remembering that lab like it's fresh every day? I know that takes time normally, but there's gotta be something to help that. It's causing fights and I'm getting sick of it. I can't help him because he still associates me with that."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bruce reaching towards him, probably to pat him on the shoulder, when a bolt of electricity shot between them, distorting the brain scan image into random pixels and sending both of them scrambling back, down on to the ground and back against the wall on either side of the doorway.
"What the fuck was that?!" Bucky demanded, the hair on his arm and the back of his neck standing on end from the electric charge.
"I don't know!" Bruce carefully looked around the corner, as if the bolt had maybe come from that direction- Bucky hadn't been looking up enough to see if it was -and then frowned. Bucky glanced around in time to see another zap hit the far wall of the hallway, followed by a bright glow of light that one of the cats was chasing down the hall.
Bucky stuck his head out of the doorway, watching the cat and the glowing ball. It flared and dispersed, sending more electricity flying and Bucky felt the edge of his hair get singed as he jerked back. He pulled back fully into the room and pressed his back against the wall, breathing hard. "Was that ball lightning inside the building?"
"Looked like it," Bruce said, hands shaking. "Okay, so we have something more pressing to look into. Whether those cats can kill us or not."
Bucky looked up at the display. It was back to normal. "They don't seem able to do permanent damage with that," he said, pointing up at the computer. "Shouldn't that have stayed scrambled?"
Bruce got up, fumbling with his glasses, and stepped over to the counter. He tapped around on the screen, twisting the 3D display around. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong. It's like nothing happened." He looked back at Bucky, who'd stayed on the floor. "I'd want to run a diagnostics to be sure, but it looks like it's working fine."
"Maybe because it's not natural lightning?" Bucky suggested, then positioned himself to stand.
"Bucky, may I-" Maria's voice came from the hall and cut itself off as she stopped in the doorway. She was studying him, blinking a few times in confusion. "What're you doing on the floor?"
"Hiding," Bucky said, then got to his feet. "The cats were chasing a ball of lightning."
Maria's head shook once in the briefest of double-takes. "Explain?" Her questioning tone lilted up at the end to almost a comical level.
Bruce barely looked back at her, still messing with his computer. "There was lightning in here, then one of the cats was chasing a ball of it. It seems our cats are either something other than ghosts, or ghosts are capable of repairing damage they do, because there was a bolt that hit the display and now nothing seems to be wrong with the computer."
"Why would we assume ghosts have capabilities over electricity?" she asked, stepping in and following Bucky to where Bruce was running a scan on his computer.
"Maybe the fire was electric like the authorities reported," Bucky said. "If whatever they are can do the whole 'reversing damage' thing like they seemed to have done with the computer, that could be why the wiring seemed fine when Tony set up the arc reactor."
"And when we investigated," Maria added. "We should tell the others to be careful of the cats. Figuring out what they are wouldn't hurt. But before that, Bruce, can I borrow Bucky for a few minutes? I'll give him back."
Bruce waved his hand. "Go ahead. I'm going to keep running some scans, make sure there's no damage." He shook his head, mumbling how weird it was under his breath. Bucky fully agreed, but Maria had his attention, so he followed her out into the hall, sidestepping the cats that'd been chasing that lightning and halfway up the stairs to the computer room.
"What's up?" he asked, putting one hand on the railing to keep himself balanced.
"Tony mentioned you had an idea for me." She raised an eyebrow. "Or was it Tony's idea?"
"Tony's," Bucky said, knowing exactly what she was talking about, then sighed, running his free hand over his face. "The fights with Steve are kinda coming and going and it's getting exhausting. I'm so focused on getting him out of Hydra that..." He shrugged awkwardly. "Honestly, I didn't think of it, but he recommended taking a day away from Steve occasionally and just spending time with you, if you're up for it."
That earned him one of her small but genuine smiles that was like sitting in the sunlight, warm and bright. "You know I am," she said. "You didn't think of this yourself?"
He felt embarrassed. "No- well, I would've. But I hadn't yet." He shrugged. "I guess I'm just so focused on Steve and getting all of us home. None of us like it here, I want us all home. I want things to go back to normal. I'm afraid to leave him alone at night. He gets awful nightmares."
Maria ran a hand over his cheek. "We don't have to wait until night to spend some time with each other."
He rested his hand on hers. "I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't neglect you in this. I'm not being a very good boyfriend right now."
She leaned down from her perch on a higher step and kissed him. "I think you're doing fine. You're focusing on what it takes to get us all- including me- back to where we're happiest." She straightened. "Would you like to spend that time now, or should we gather the others to discuss the cats? As much as I'd like the time with you, the cats might present a danger that we should assess."
The cats should come first, he knew that. But he grabbed her wrist anyway, guiding her down the stairs to the wall near the the doorway. He backed against the wall, pulling her tight against him and kissed her, parting his lips against hers, breathing her scent in deeply; gun oil and sweet drinks that she refused to give up, even with the healthier diet he's gotten her on.
Maria smiled against the kiss. "I missed this," she whispered against his lips.
Bucky rested his forehead against hers. "I did too. I'm not going to neglect you anymore. We have a different mission now, we don't have to focus only on preparing to go kill bad people. We can focus on the good people."
She drew her head back. "We don't have to do anything intimate, we can stay around the others, but we can spend that time together today. Up in the lounge, grab the couch before Steve and Sharon, just be in contact. I miss this. I miss you."
He pulled her into the tightest hug he dared give her, knowing that he could crack ribs if he wasn't careful. She rested her head on his metal shoulder. "I've missed you," he said, just a decibel over a whisper. "I've missed all my friends. I went into mission mindset and forgot everyone." He nuzzled the side of her face. "Cats first, then if we decide it's safe, lounge. Promise."
She hummed happily against his shoulder. "Holding you to that. But for tomorrow, may I make a suggestion to you and Bruce?"
He tilted his head to look down at her. "What's that?"
"Bruce probably has never worked with amnesiac patients, but I've had agents with psychogenic amnesia. It's similar to PTSD memory. You might want to treat Steve's difficulties with the memories of the lab that way."
That got his attention, enough to loosen his grip on her, hoping she'd take the hint and look up at him. "You know how to treat that?"
"Mm." She shook her head at a sideways tilt. "Yes and no. I've never done it myself, but I've heard from psychiatrists on the job when asking for status updates. But I know that beta blockers and regular re-exposure to the traumatizing event will help relegate it to the past instead of being so fresh. I don't know what kind of medicine a beta blocker is, but it's something to consider, especially if there's nothing else we can do for his memory loss."
He glanced back towards the doorway, almost tempted to get back to work, but he'd promised her. Cats first, because they could pose a threat to his family, although he wasn't sure how to combat that threat, then time with her. He could mention it to Bruce to look into on his own while Bucky spent time with Maria. It wasn't his first inclination, but he promised, and making himself focus on how good that time would feel pushed aside his addiction to work. He could trust Bruce to come up with something on his own.
"I'll mention it on the way to the cafeteria," he said. "We'll gather the others there. More room for us all to sit."
"And the cats congregate there," she said. "We can try testing something if anything comes to mind."
"That too," he said. He took her hand and stepped away from the wall, taking her with him. "Come on, let's get Bruce first. Then we'll see if the other two have their comms on, or if we have to track them down the old fashioned way."
She gripped his hand tightly enough that he felt the biomechtium shift slightly. "I think they're in the cafeteria already, actually. Steve was playing with his paints."
"Nice and easy." He popped his head back into the work room where Bruce was still looking at his computer. "Hey, Bruce, team meeting in the cafeteria about our electricity throwing cats."
Bruce looked back at him, blinking behind his glasses as if he hadn't registered a word of that. "Oh. Okay. I'll take the computer with me."
Maria looked around Bucky. "Something I suggested to Bucky, try to find a beta blocker to help Steve with the laboratory memories. I've seen that sort of reaction to traumatizing memories before."
Bruce blinked a few times again, then looked down at his computer. "Should I start that instead of worrying about the cats?"
"Cats first," Bucky said. "They could be a threat. If so, we need a new hiding place. Besides, Tony wanted readings on the furry little bastards. This is a good time to study them."
Bruce nodded, picking up his computer. "Lead the way then." He barely looked up from his computer at first, then glanced up. "I should stop looking at this, shouldn't I?"
Maria smiled. "Might make it easier to watch where you're going. Especially down the stairs."
"Right." Bruce tucked the computer under his arm. "Lead the way."
Maria was right, Steve was already in the cafeteria, painting the calico cat that normally was following Bucky; she was sitting on the table in front of him in perfect pose, as if she knew her portrait was being painted. Sharon was sitting at the table next to Steve, reading one of her books.
She was the only one that looked up when the others came in. "Is it dinner time already?" she asked, setting her book down, taking great care to not jostle the table.
That prompted Steve to look back. "Looks more like group discussion time," he said, then went back to work. "Just don't move the table."
"Or the cat," Bucky noted. He sat down next to Steve, Maria joining him, still holding his hand. "Be careful of her."
That got Steve to pause and look past his easel at him. "Why?"
"The cats seem to attract unusual electric phenomenon," Bruce said, taking a seat on the other side of the table and laying his computer down on the table. The table stayed steady.
Steve and Sharon exchanged a look, then Steve looked around his canvas at Cali. "What did you do?" he demanded of her.
"Her?" Bucky said. "Other than going through walls, nothing to my knowledge. But we watched one of the other cats chasing ball lightning down the hall. A bolt hit the computer."
"Just the display," Bruce said, once again distracted with his scans. "Nothing seems wrong with it, though."
Steve set his brush down on his pallet. "We're sure it was them?"
Bucky rested one elbow on the table, reaching out to pet Cali, who refused to move, but started looking at Steve like she was wondering why he'd stopped painting. "The cat we saw didn't seem affected by it, and I don't know what else would cause lightning inside without frying the little guy from the heat."
"But the computer that got hit is just fine?" Sharon asked. At Bruce's very distracted confirmation, she looked over at Steve and Bucky. "Then probably supernatural. Unless we have something other than the cats haunting the place, it's safest to assume they're responsible."
Steve caught the look from Cali he was getting and picked his paintbrush back up. "Are we sure they're ghosts, then?" he asked. "I didn't realize ghosts had control of electricity."
"We thought of that," Maria said. "If they're not ghosts, I have no idea what they are. If they are, then they can repair damage their electricity does."
Sharon propped her face on both fists, staring at Cali. "What are you, besides a pretty cat?"
Cali didn't move, but blinked slowly in response.
"Someone who wants her portrait finished," Bucky said. "But other than that, I dunno. I've only had one run in with the supernatural and I was told that was a ghost. I don't know what other kind of supernatural thing they could be." He looked at Bruce. "Tony mentioned wanting information on these guys. We should make up something that can take electromagnetic readings."
"We'll work on that," Bruce said, pushing his computer aside. "After I investigate that stuff Maria mentioned."
"Stuff?" Steve asked, not looking away from his work. "I worry when you two say you're working on 'stuff' without being specific."
"Medicine for you," Bruce said.
Steve paused again and looked around his canvas. "Weren't you already doing that? What does Maria have to do with it?"
"We can't even begin to figure out something to help with the amnesia," Bruce said. "But the PTSD-related memories can be helped by specific beta blockers and exposure to the memory that's bothering you. Maria suggested it."
Bucky looked at Steve. "The lab. We're gonna start on that tonight."
Steve looked vastly underwhelmed. "Can't wait," he said, going back to his painting.
"So what do we do about the cats?" Sharon asked. "Not to interrupt medical talk, but only a couple of us can help with that. Are they dangerous? They seem harmless." She looked over as another one strolled in. "And cute, and I finally get to interact with cats." She leaned over in her chair, holding out her hand closest to the cat. "Here, kitty kitty."
A bolt of electricity jumped out of the wall near the light at the door and bounced about the room with a sharp crackle. Steve fell backwards in his chair, jerking away when one bolt tore through his canvas. Sharon dove under the table. Bruce threw himself over his computer, like he was unsure if it would survive another hit. Maria grabbed Bucky and pulled him down to the ground.
Above them, the electricity stopped as suddenly as it'd started. Slowly, one by one, they lifted their heads, every single one of them looking as paranoid as the others. Steve was the first to emerge from the floor, staring in dismay at his canvas. "I thought you said the damage done was fi-"
Bucky looked over at Steve's cut off and had to rub his eyes to be sure he was seeing right. The canvas repaired itself, new material weaving under and over, the paint restoring to Steve's progress, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Okay," Steve said, the single word a statement unto itself. "If I hadn't seen them going through walls before, I wouldn't have believed you. Now I do. What the hell?"
Sharon looked at Bucky. "Think this is time to call Tony to get us out of here?"
"Getting out of here sounds good," Bruce agreed.
Bucky frowned. It was sorely tempting. It would be smart, too, there was nothing at the Tower that did this. But something occurred to him, something he didn't want to say. It was possible having a problem to solve to protect the team would help Steve stop seeing the dark side of the Soldier. There were a few other things that occurred to him, while his brain was at it. "Maybe."
"Maybe?" Sharon sounded like she wanted to reach across the table and strangle Bucky. She'd have to reach around Cali, who had never moved, it looked like.
"Maybe," he said. "I'm wondering if one of these damn things can follow us somehow. We don't need that at the Tower."
Bruce checked his computer, then sat back, finding it safe. "How likely is that, though?"
"No idea," Bucky admitted. "We'll stick it out awhile longer, just until we can figure out what's going on exactly so we know that if we go back, nothing's going to join us. Just be careful around them."
"A bit ago you were eager for an excuse to go home," Maria pointed out. "Is that really a reason for wanting to stay?"
Bucky shook his head. "I don't want to stay. This is a perfect reason to get the hell out of here. But Tony's likely to just send us somewhere else instead of to the Tower. And that'd eliminate this place as a safe space for the other Avengers. I think we need to stay here and figure out how to neutralize the danger. If not for us, then for the rest of the team. We need this hiding place, especially if things in Israel go sour. The others need us to fix this mess here."
Sharon sighed deeply. "And how are we supposed to do that? We keep checking the wires, we even knocked down a wall. None of us are priests or priestesses of any religion, so we can't perform an exorcism. Unless you think we should try to talk cats into crossing over to the other side."
"Still assuming they're ghosts," Maria said.
"Or that the cats are actually at fault," Bucky said. "It could be something else entirely, we don't know, and we won't know unless we investigate."
Steve pointed his paintbrush at Bucky. "Now you're just being stupid, Buck," he said. "We need to get out of here, even if it means packing back up again. Or even leaving our stuff here."
Bucky ignored the paintbrush. "And again, leave this place potentially dangerous for the other Avengers if everyone has to crash here. There's only so many places in the world that Tony can keep us safe in. It may just need some wiring adjusted. We might be able to stop it by playing around with the arc reactor, I don't know. Hell, it could've been an anomaly caused by something else entirely. We're not even at a hypothesis stage. But I'm not going to chance losing a safe place for our friends. We're adults now, and Avengers, we can handle this. We've handled worse, and after Tony pointing out that we can't run to him over every weird thing, I'm inclined to keep my ass planted and not get chased off by some electric anomalies that might have nothing to do with supernatural cats."
Steve took in one of those deep breaths that said he was angry, but giving in for the moment. "All right. It's not the call I'd make, but I'm not in charge."
"Stop that," Bucky said. "This place isn't a damn mission." Getting Steve out of Hyrda and protecting the others at the same time was, but the place itself wasn't. A technicality he didn't voice, because that was just a fight he didn't want. "And I don't want to hear that bull," he continued. "You'd make the same call at any other time in your life. If these things are dangerous and trying to get us to leave, they're furry little bullies and you hate bullies."
There was another one of those breaths, but it ended with a defeated look. "You're right, I do. Fine. We stay and figure out how to get these things to be willing to live in peace with us." He eyed Cali. "Or get rid of them."
Cali hissed at him, swiping the air in front of her, then took off at a run, off the table, through the cafeteria, and out the door to the hallway.
Bucky watched her go. "You insulted her," he said.
Steve studied his almost done picture. "That's fine," he said. "She seems to be in charge around here, she's going to have to be the one to convince that trying to harm us isn't okay." He took the canvas off his easel, tilting it to let Bucky see. "Close enough to being done."
Bucky leaned over to see. "You've gotten good with the paints," he said. "Neat being able to do art in color, isn't it?"
Steve turned the canvas back to look at it. "It's different," he said, then dropped the canvas like it'd stung him.
The center of the painting burned out, wilting away until the same hole that the electricity had left was left behind. Steve reached out and tapped the canvas around the hole. "It's cold." He looked at Bucky. "Are you sure we shouldn't get out of here?"
"If this continues, we will," Bucky said. "I want out, believe me. But I want to make this place safe for the whole team, and that means we stick around and try to solve the problem."
Plus, there was still the problem of Steve's issues and Bucky's need to take care of them.
Sharon looked at Bruce. "You going to be okay with the occasional zap while we figure this out?"
Bruce nodded. "I know to expect them, and they intrigue the scientist in me. I can work on something to track and maybe predict the anomalies. I agree with Bucky, as long as it doesn't turn dangerous to a degree that we can't fight, we should stay."
"Hearing the arguments, I'm also inclined to agree," Maria said, speaking up for the first time in most of the debate. "We're Avengers. If we can face aliens and Hydra, we can handle a few electric anomalies. I trust us to know when it's time to retreat."
"Glad we all agree," Bucky said, then stood. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going up to the lounge. I promised quality cuddle time to my girlfriend, and as long as there's no more light shows, I'm following through on that." He looked at the others. "You're free to follow us to the lounge, but we lay claim on the couch."
Maria sighed and took Bucky's hand when he offered it. "We don't have to. There's work to be done now."
"What work?" he asked. "We can't do anything but speculate right now. Instead of beating our heads on the table, we'll just relax and let what is, be. And I promised you."
Sharon got up as well. "I don't want to be in this room anymore anyway," she said. She looked at Steve. "We could play Mario, amuse the others. We'll just ignore the cats so they don't zap our machine and lose our save file."
It was a small smile, but a genuine one that Steve gave her, and Bucky internally cheered. It seemed that Sharon was getting herself back into his head, if that smile was any indication. "As long as you let me get through one world without having to use a continue."
"I make no promises."
Bruce grabbed his computer, tucking it under his arm and standing. "I guess I may as well join everyone. I think we could all use a bit of downtime after that scare. We'll figure out what to do about the problem later."
"Good man, Bruce," Bucky said, then helped Maria to her feet. "Come on, we have to go get that couch before Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum over here beat us to it."
Steve gave him a half-hearted glare. "Be nice or we'll run ahead to take it."
"No running," Sharon said. "You have to put your art stuff away. I'll help."
Leaving Sharon and Steve to do that, Bucky and Maria headed out, hand in hand, with Bruce trailing behind them. When they got upstairs, Bruce motioned towards the hall to the watch tower with his computer. "I'm going to go hook this up to Junior, see if she can risk downloading some information on those beta blockers," he said. "I'll be right back."
That left Bucky and Maria alone in the lounge. Bucky moved to sit on the couch, but a look from Maria stopped him. "Right, wrong side," he said, then moved down to the right end of the couch.
Maria got herself comfortable next to him, curling up against him when he wrapped his metal arm around her shoulders. She sighed, a happy sound, and closed her eyes. "I missed this," she said quietly. She was probably still thinking about the potential danger the electric anomalies presented, but for the moment, she was at least losing some of the tension in her muscles. Maybe her mind would finish quieting as they watched Steve and Sharon play Mario.
He kissed the top of her head. "We'll do it more often."
Bucky relaxed against her, letting the feeling of her soothe away the more immediate problems on his mind, let him focus on something other than Steve or those damn cats. Tony was right, he'd have to take some time now and again to get away from the others and just be with Maria. She was a source of strength that he sorely needed.
"Should we leave you two alone?" Bruce asked, his footsteps making Bucky look back over the back of the couch to see him enter. "You seem ready to sleep."
"Naw," Bucky said. "Just comfortable." He pointed his right finger back at Bruce. "No trying to work on serious problems. Unless something zaps us again, it is time to let the adrenaline drop wear off and relax for awhile."
Bruce held up his hands. "No talk from me," he promised, then took a seat. "So we're going to be treated to a video game, it sounds like."
"That's what they said," Maria said, and Bucky glanced down at her to see she hadn't opened her eyes. "Bucky says that Sharon sounds like an evil hyena when she sabotages Steve in that game."
"She does."
"I do not," Sharon protested, walking into the room. She put her book away while Steve, right on her heels, moved to turn on the game. "Are we sure this won't get us za-"
Bucky pointed at her sternly. "No. Adrenaline drop recovery time. We will figure out what to do about that later. Now turn on your game and play."
"You're the boss," she said, and Bucky had to resist the urge to grind his teeth.
No. He was there with his girlfriend and his family to relax and put everything else out of his mind. Lightning cats could wait. Steve's faulty memories could wait. Now was time for cuddles and Mario.
Sharon turned on the game, handed Steve the controller, and sat down with the pad.
Bucky sat back to watch and heckle, Maria comfortably in his arms.