Captain Rogers stared dumbfounded at Hank for a moment before he was forced to defend himself from the Winter Soldier.
"Doctor! Make him stop!" He yelled as he continued to block. Without the Soldier’s left arm it was pretty easy for the Captain to defend.
While he kept one eye on the fight Hank was focused on the brain hologram. The moment he had ordered the Soldier to kill Rogers there had been a slight delay in reaction. Even now there were tiny pulses that seemed to hinder the Soldier from fighting his best.
"Soldier I ordered you to Kill Rogers, not to tickle him." Hank ordered once more. This time the reaction was stronger. He saw a stronger hesitation. There… in the frontal lobe. He was fighting off the conditioning on his own. "Soldier! Kill Him!" Hank shouted.
The winter soldier grabbed the first item on his right and brought it high up. The Captain looked frightened for a moment before he knocked the Soldier off balance. The two of them tumbled on the ground trying to get the upper hand against the other.
"Captain I encourage you to keep fighting him. The Sergeant’s brain is fighting off the conditioning on his own every time I order him to kill you." Hank said calmly as he saw from the corner of his eyes Rogers glaring at him.
Rogers began to hit back. Hank looked in awe as the hesitation disappeared from the Soldier. Ah. How strange. Barnes only hesitated when Rogers were in trouble. Not when he fought back… Hank decided it was enough when the sparing became too intense between the two super soldiers. He would now give the ultimatum.
"Soldier move out of the way. I’ll finish the job." Hank ordered and took out what looked like a gun and pointed at Rogers. There. The hesitation was greater. Hank pulled the trigger.
The hologram pulsed strongly as the Sergeant put himself in front of the Captain. All three of them stood still for a moment. Hank saw the brain activity return back to normal. The Neurons were now firing according to Sergeant’s wishes. His will to protect Rogers successfully fought off the conditioning.
"Amazing."
"What the hell was that for!" Both soldiers yelled at him while they breathed heavily from the fight.
"Calm down you two and come sit."
"Doctor Pym what was the thing you shot?" Barnes asked sagging on the chair he sat down on.
"This? This is an anesthetic gun. I had with me just in case I couldn’t stop the trigger. But obviously there were no shots inside. Captain Rogers stop glaring at me and come here so that I can show you the results."
Rogers glare did not lessen but he did stand next to the Sergeant.
"Brains are such amazing organs. Sergeant. The moment I ordered you to attack the Captain there was a slight hesitation that was not there before. You can see right here." Hank pointed to the hologram. "It was slow in firing the neurons to allow your body to move. Now right here. The hesitation disappeared. This is where the Captain began to fight back. It seems that your brain had no longer had to worry about the Captain being injured and stopped fighting the conditioning." Both Soldiers looked shocked. "This is where I took my gun and pointed at the Captain. Here." The hologram pulsed strongly as the neurons fired blue against the yellow. "You completely fought off the conditioning here and shielded the Captain from what you thought was a bullet."
Hank watched the Soldiers exchanging looks.
"That’s why when I fought him in the Heli-carrier he fought me back… But when I was about to drown he saved me?" Rogers asked.
"That’s exactly it. Sergeant Barnes’s protective nature for you helped him to fight off his commands. In other words we really don’t need to have any fancy tech to help Sergeant Barnes. All we need to do is keep putting you in danger when the Winter Soldier is present." Hank laughed as he explained.
"But… How much danger do we have to put Steve through?" Barnes questioned.
"The danger we would have to put the Captain has to increase every time. That is because we would have to fool your brain to think that he is in real danger."
"If it’s to help Bucky I’ll do anything." Steve stated firmly.
"No you won’t" Barnes quickly rebutted.
Hank watched them silently argue with each other through glaring.
"I never said that was how I’m going to cure the Sergeant. Sergeant Barnes the thing on your head is called Brain Anomaly Repairing Neuro Electromagnetic System. This system is going to help shock your brain so that the neurons fire stronger to help it fight off the conditioning. This would have taken at least a month of treatment for a full recovery… But now that I know your affinity to the Captain is so strong… It should take much shorter. It might take less than one week for a full recovery."
XXX
"The boy was attacked?" Hank growled. "Was it because they found out his identity?"
Tony looked solemn before he answered. "No. The assailant didn’t know who he was. He wanted Peter to steal the Killian’s research file."
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"Was is Wakanda?" Tony watched the old man’s face turn red with anger.
"Yes."
"How dare they! I’m going to T’Challa and demand an answer!" Hank brashly got up from his chair.
"Hank! Stop! I can’t believe I’m saying this but don’t do anything rash." Tony yelled through the computer screen before Hank could go out the door.
"Than what will you have me do. Just pretend nothing happened!?" He yelled.
"Yes." Tony replied quietly. "Pretend nothing happened. We will figure out what’s happening over here. You focus on helping Barnes and getting out of that country safe."
Tony watched Hank huff and pace around his room. Tony thought it was time to change the subject.
"By the way… How was the first day of meeting Barnes go?" Hank huffed one more time before he finally took his seat again.
"It went fine. Here I’m sending today’s session right now."
"Hank I don’t want to watch…"
Before Tony could continue Hank cut him off. "I don’t care if you watch it or not. But you and Peter also helped create B.A.R.N.E.S. You should have the files for research purposes."
Both of them stayed silent for a moment. Tony sighed.
"Ok. So how long do you think it’s going to take? A month? Do you think with multiple sessions a day you can shorten the time period? The faster it’s done the better it is for you." Tony asked.
"My analysis is it’s going take about three days."
"What? No way. He was conditioned for 70 years. It should take longer than that…" He asked in disbelief. Years of conditioning did not take days to fix. No matter how awesome of a gadget he created.
"Barnes’s brain is already fighting the conditioning on its own. And even without B.A.R.N.E.S. He can fully fight off the conditioning. Having Rogers with him in the therapy is going to help a great deal." Hank watched as Stark’s eyes flicker in pain.
"They really do have a quite a bond don’t they?" Tony asked.
"Hm. It seemed to me more like a mother taking care of her child to me." The older scientist stated as he thought back at the soldiers’ reactions to each other.
"Well… the faster it’s done the better… Be safe Hank."
"You too Stark."
XXX
"So you don’t have to go into cryo anymore?" Clint asked Barnes as the gang gathered around Steve’s room once more.
"No. Doctor Pym… He believes I can be cure within this week." Barnes answered with a smile. One more week and he can live without the fear of not being able to control his body anymore.
"So… that old bat is amazing huh?" Clint asked as he looked toward to Scott.
"Yup. Of course. If you can enter his lab, there are so many amazing tech! But… I don’t remember him creating a neuro device…" Scott looked thoughtful for a moment as he tried to remember all the gadgets he had saw and played with in the lab.
"Well I’m grateful that he already had something. When T’Challa had mentioned Killian’s research he had mentioned the timeline being something closer to 5 years." Steve breathed out a laugh.
"What are we going to do after this week than?" Wanda asked. "We stayed to help you. But once you’re cured… Are we going to keep hiding here in Wakanda?"
All the members of the previous Avengers looked towards Steve.
"No. We will help those who are in need. We will still be the Avengers… Just in secret."
"Secret Avengers… Hey I like the sound of that!" Sam exclaimed as he continue to mumble the name over and over. "The more I say it the more I like it! The Secret Avengers!"
Clint snorted before he replied. "Stark would have burned you for how lame that name is."
The room became silent suddenly.
Barnes looked around the room and saw the different reactions every member in the room seemed to have.
"So I take it that you haven’t made up with Tony Stark in the last five month?" He asked.
"I… I sent a letter and a phone but at the moment it seems like Tony is not willing to speak with us just yet." Steve replied for the group.
"I see. I’m sorry… I know this is my fault." Bucky said quietly.
"What do you mean? It wasn’t your fault. You were tortured and brain washed! As a person who was brain washed I know the feeling completely." Clint stated. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It was Stark’s pig headedness that broke us apart. If all of us had stood united against the accords none of the event that occurred would have happened." The bowman stated angrily.
"Buck. It’s really not your fault. If anything it was more on me. I made many wrong judgement calls." Steve also replied. "None of us blame you for anything. None of us."
Bucky smiled as he saw everyone in that room nod in agreement.
Maybe he finally found a place he can call home?
XXX
"How’s you aunt doing?" Rhodey asked as he saw Peter slowly coming out of his room.
"She’s fine. Just seemed really tired you know? Being held at gun point seems to have that effect on people." Peter answered with a small smirk.
"And you? You ok?"
Peter silently contemplated the question before answering. "Yeah… actually I’m ok. I always knew that being me… being who I am, will bring danger to those around me you know? But when I saw that man holding my aunt… I didn’t really know what to do. Was I going to reveal my identity? I was hesitating on what action I was suppose to take… But… When Vision came in… I knew we’d be all right. I don’t think I ever mentioned this to you or Mr. Stark… But… Thank you. For being there for me. And my Aunt. Without your help… I’ll still be an awkward teen figuring how to do the whole hero thing."
Rhodey smiled. "You still are an awkward teen figuring out the whole hero thing. But we all had to go through that phase. Even Tony. Actually more Tony than any of us. He was in the whole limelight when he first started. Everyone knew who he was and followed everything he did and blamed him for everything too. Tony understands what you might be going through. That’s why he’s helping you. To let you grow into the Hero you want to be."
Peter smiled brightly. Yes he really was grateful to Mr. Stark to Colonel Rhodes, Doctor Pym and to Vision. His whole life changed when he had met all of them.
"So… What are we doing about the Mystery man who’s from Wakanda?" The teen asked curiously. "I mean… My Aunt loves all the amenities here and all but she wants to go home… Do you think we can go home anytime soon?"
"For now I suggest you and your aunt stay in the Tower until we figure out why Wakanda wants the research." Rhodey answered.
Peter nodded. "Ok."
XXX
T’Challa was furious. He had specifically ordered him to not do anything! But now he found out he went to New York on his own!
"How did he even leave Wakanda!?" He yelled at one of his advisors.
"He… He used a fake identity… I’m sorry you highness. When we took him off from the Cryostasis we did not know he would try to take action on his own." The advisor whimpered at the furious look T’Challa gave.
T’Challa had to figure out how to solve this problem quickly… Stupid politics! He itched to rush into New York and drag that bastard back to Wakanda. Why couldn’t he just do as he ordered! If he had done anything to compromise Wakanda… He would kill him himself.
"Find out where he’s at in New York. Keep a close eye on the Tower! Make sure he does not go anywhere near that building!" T’Challa growled
"Of course your highness!"
The advisors quickly fled from his presence. T’Challa growled once more before squinting his eyes in pain.
"Are you ok your Highness?"
T’Challa looked over to one of his father’s old advisors.
"Yes K’Abi. I’m fine. This whole mess is just giving me a headache."
"Please do get some rest. You have been overworking yourself the last few weeks."
"I can’t rest until I bring that bastard back! K’Abi send some men to New York to stop him by force if necessary."
"Of Course Your Highness."