Chapter Text
The school bell seemed to take days to finally ring. Peter was exhausted from patrolling late last night and was thankful that he’d agreed with May to take tonight off to have one of their Friday night movie nights they used to love so much.
Peter hurried out of school, doing his best to avoid Flash and jumped on the train home. It took nearly an hour for the train to reach his stop, as the busy Friday rush was paired with a faulty vehicle, as the train would keep sputtering and slowing between stations.
If was a relief to finally see his apartment building looming closer as he walked home, and Peter was so exhausted he barely noticed the haggard looking man climbing the stairs to the top floor of the building beside him with a large duffel bag on his shoulder and a cardboard box in his arms. Peter’s mind flicked into life as the man turned down the same corridor as Peter.
Turning around, Peter frowned as he caught a brief glimpse of the man’s face beneath his hat and vaguely recognised the chiselled features, though they were masked by a shaggy beard and long hair. Peter shook off the feeling of recognition when he couldn’t place a name to the face straight away, and merely took out his key and began unlocking the door, as the man with the box did the same at the once-empty apartment down the hall.
So, he must be their new neighbour.
Peter knew he should say hello and introduce himself, but he was tired, and his spidey-sense had been bugging him since he entered the building. So, Peter just went into his apartment, threw his bag on the ground and flopped onto the sofa, falling asleep almost immediately.
***
“Hey, Peter!”
May’s jolly greeting caused Peter to jump, startled awake, and almost fell off the sofa.
“Oh, I’m sorry, honey! Were you asleep?” May asked as she hung her coat, put down her bags and approached the couch where Peter was laying.
“It’s fine,” Peter said, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he sat up against the back of the sofa. “How was your day?”
With a smile, May sat back on the sofa next to Peter and began playing with his curls. “Oh, you know. Janet was being a pain again in work, but other than that it was pretty normal. I bumped into our new neighbour on the way up here.”
“Yeah?” Peter asked, suddenly more interested – maybe May would know where he recognised the man from.
“Yeah, he seems nice,” May said absently as she began placing an online order at their local pizzeria on her phone. “We chatted a bit. He said his name’s James and he’s living on his own. Oh, and he said he’s working at the mechanics, I think the one near the opticians you used to go to.”
James? That wasn’t ringing any bells in Peter’s head. Maybe he just looked like someone Peter knew.
“I thought it’d be a good idea if we took him some flowers or something tomorrow as a house warming gift,” May continued.
For some reason, this made Peter laugh. “I saw him when I came home before, he doesn’t seem like the sort of guy who likes flowers.”
“Really? I was getting a bit of a gay-vibe from him,” May said. They both giggled. “What do you suggest we get him then?”
“I don’t know,” Peter shrugged, getting up from the sofa to head to the kitchen. “A beard comb? Hair ties?” Peter threw some bread in the toaster. “Something more manly? Beer?”
“I think we’ll stick with flowers,” May laughed. “And stop eating, I literally just ordered pizza.”
“I know, but I’m really hungry,” Peter shrugged.
***
It was too early to be up and about on Saturday morning, but that didn't stop May from dragging Peter to the supermarket.
Peter was leaning heavily on the shopping cart as he lazily followed May around the store.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” May announced hurriedly as they strolled down the isle lined with loafs of bread. “We need to get James from next door flowers… and I’m thinking something else as well – I don’t want him to get the wrong idea from the flowers… how about one of those mini gift-boxes of different teas – he looks like he could do with some tea in his life.” Peter was barely listening at this point but stood up straight when he heard his name. “Peter, can you go and find some manly-ish flowers from the little florist’s bit please?”
“Manly flowers,” Peter laughed to himself as he walked off.
Peter decided that blue would be the most suitable colour, don’t ask why. So he grabbed a medium sized bunch of delicate blue flowers with white ones of the same species mixed in, that he didn’t know the name of and found May again.
“What?” he asked May when she frowned at the herbal teas in her trolley and the flowers in Peter’s hand.
“It just looks like a self-help hamper; but it’ll have to do,” May shrugged, making Peter laugh. “Let’s go.”
***
Peter rolled his eyes as he left the apartment with the flowers and selection of teas for James. May had insisted that he had to take them in case James thought May was trying to hit on him, despite the fact that May was still convinced he had a ‘gay-vibe’.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and he stopped in the hallway to check it. It was Tony asking him to bring the suit to the lab tomorrow to do a system fix. Peter smiled and continued down the hall. Hearing from Tony had given him a spark of confidence, and he knocked on the door in the politest knock he could manage.
His confidence fizzled out however, when he heard movement and the door timidly being opened.
Maybe it was Tony’s text that had sparked his memory, or maybe it was seeing the man’s face without a baseball cap shadowing his eyes – either way, Peter instantly knew where he remembered the man from. Leipzig airport.
This was the guy with the metal arm, who Peter now knew was the infamous Winter Soldier.
As if to confirm his suspicion, Peter glanced at the man’s left hand, and found it covered by a glove, though the sliver of silver visible just below his sleeve gave him away.
The hand was suddenly swiped behind the man's back and he stepped forward in the doorway in a way that should be intimidating, but Peter’s spidey-sense had surprisingly died down since he realised who the man was.
“What do you want, kid?” The Winter Soldier said gruffly, looking down at Peter with intrigue and annoyance.
Peter faltered. “Um, I brought some gifts… my aunt got them… we live in the apartment down the hall… uh, it’s flowers and tea…” He handed over the flowers and teas.
James/the Winter Soldier looked at them suspiciously for a moment, before taking the gifts from Peter’s hands.
“Thank you… very much,” James/the Winter Soldier replied, looking a little nervous and a lot less intimidating.
“Um, I’m Peter by the way,” Peter said awkwardly. “And May’s my aunt.”
The man seemed to hesitate for a second. “My names James,” he said at last.
“Nice to meet you,” Peter nodded.
“See you around, kid,” James said hurriedly as though he was trying to get rid of Peter.
Peter took the hint and began back down the hall. The man’s voice from behind him stopped him. “I’m sorry,” James called after him. Peter looked back to see the man standing a little out of the doorway looking hesitant. “Thank you.”
“It’s okay,” Peter shrugged, and continued back to his apartment.
Once he was home, he shut the door and made a bee-line straight towards his bedroom and started up his computer. He searched ‘The Winter Soldier’ and an ungodly number of articles popped up as results. Scrolling through to look for more recent results, Peter noticed a trend in most of the results from the last two years; most of them were talking about the Sokovia Accords. He selected one published a few months ago from a news website that caught his eye titled, Sergeant Barnes pardoned for the Winter Soldier’s crimes.
Following the signing of the New Sokovia Accords earlier this week Sergeant James Barnes, known by most as Bucky, has been recognised as being innocent of the notorious crimes under The Winter Soldier’s name.
Barnes, along with the other Avengers, signed a revised version of the Sokovia Accords to finally settle their differences and legal issues. Tony Stark along with his legal team have been working tirelessly on improving the accords to fit the needs of all the Avengers as well as the Government. Perhaps one of the most prevalent articles in the New Sokovia Accords is a whole section dedicated to the decriminalisation of Mr Barnes and the recognition that Mr Barnes himself is not in fact The Winter Soldier.
The article details that Mr Barnes was heavily brainwashed and influenced by the Nazi-started terrorist organisation HYDRA. Mr Barnes was believed to be dead for 72 years, but was found to have been kidnapped and manipulated by HYDRA and turned into the Winter Soldier. Officials have proven that Mr Barnes was not in control of his actions as he’d had his memories wiped and his fundamental nature militarised. The New Accords show an understanding of Barnes and the Winter Soldier being different people in that they have two separate consciousnesses.
Previously, it required a number of codewords to activate the Winter Soldier instincts in Mr Barnes, but after a few years treatment in Wakanda and by the Avengers’ own medical team, Mr Barnes can now contradict these instincts should the codewords be used. The Avengers’ head medical professional, Dr Helen Cho, has deemed him safe to be out in public.
Peter stopped reading after that. He already knew everything there was to know about the New Sokovia Accords and Mr Barnes pardoning, and this article didn’t mention anything about him moving out of his home with the Avengers.
Clicking off the website, Peter noticed a new article had just popped up and instantly grabbed his attention. It was an online magazine he used to read that focused on the lives of ‘superheroes’, sort of like a celebrity gossip page, but much more interesting. Spider-man had even had a few articles written about him on that page.
The title was made Peter instantly click on the site.
Bucky Barnes has Reportedly Moved Out of the Avengers Compound, sources state.
Since the ex-soldier was pardoned of the numerous crimes committed by the Winter Soldier over a year ago, James ‘Bucky’ Barnes has been living alongside the newly reformed Avengers in their private compound in upstate New York. However, sources have found out that he recently decided to move out of these living spaces.
The Avengers Compound was built in 2015 and designed by Tony Stark, who also paid for the building. Though the security is tight and no reporters have ever been allowed in, we know that this facility has a gym, training area, medical bay, admin offices and laboratories as well as living quarters for the Avengers. Since the reformation, almost all the Avengers have been staying there, though some only part time.
However, an inside source has now let slip that Bucky Barnes, war hero and old friend of Captain Rogers', has decided to leave this residence. No one knows yet why he left, although a few have speculated that he is seeking isolation to recover from the rehabilitation treatment he had to undergo to ensure he was now free of the Winter Soldier's consciousness.
Whatever his reason for leaving the Compound, his decision should be respected and we urge the public to keep knowledge of his location to themselves unless the situation significantly escalates.
No word yet from the Avengers about Mr Barnes departure.
The article went on more to explain Steve and Mr Barnes’ history and the New Sokovia Accords.
Peter sat back from his computer and span in his chair. Obviously James (Bucky) wasn’t a threat, so Peter should just leave it be, but he couldn’t help but wonder why he’d left the compound.
As if on cue, Peter’s phone buzzed again with a text from Tony prompting him for an answer about tomorrow, since Peter had forgotten to reply to the first.
“Hey, May?” Peter shouted through his wall. “Can I go to Tony’s tomorrow for a bit?”
“Of course, honey, just don’t be back too late because you have school on Monday,” May said from the kitchen in reply.
Smiling, Peter wondered if he should ask Mr Stark about Bucky as he got out his homework and began to power through it so that he could spend his evening with May.
***
After an early(ish) morning patrol, Peter got back to his apartment and changed, before getting into Happy’s car and riding to the compound, with his suit stuffed in his backpack. Happy was his usual glum, introverted self, so after a few minutes Peter gave up trying to talk to him and resigned himself to playing games on his phone.
Happy grumbled a short, “Bye, kid,” once they reached the compound, and left him to make his own way to the lab. Peter knew the compound well enough by now to know the best way to get to the lab without bumping into any of the Avengers - which would be awesome, but Tony didn’t want any of them making the link with Peter’s alter-ego by mistake, and so Rhodey was the only one who’d met Peter for now, while the others had just met Spider-man a few times. The elevator took him straight to the lab, and Peter was about to step out when FRIDAY stopping him, having not opened the doors.
“I’m sorry Mr Parker, but due to the Nosey Avengers Protocol, I must warn you that Captain Rogers is currently talking to the boss in the lab,” FRIDAY told him. “Boss would like you to wait near the elevator in the lab, and out of the sight while he finishes up the conversation.”
This was a first. Tony usually asked not to be disturbed by the other avengers when Peter was due to come around.
“Okay, I’ll try,” Peter answered. The doors opened, and Peter instantly heard raised voices coming from deeper in the lab. The elevator was usually unseen from the far end of the lab, so Peter would be safe from sight if he stayed up this end.
Peter allowed himself a moment to excitedly think to himself, Oh my God I’m in the spying on Captain America, before he composed himself and sat at one of the many workbenches and couldn’t help but listen to the argument taking place across the way.
“Please, Tony,” Captain Rogers asked, half demanding, half begging. “I just want to know where he is, I want to make sure he’s safe.”
“Steve,” Tony said sternly. “I have told you, I don’t know where he is, I just gave him some money to help him out.”
“But you just said he contacted you,” Steve argued, his voice raising several decibels.
“Only to tell me that he is settled in and he is doing okay, he didn’t tell me anything else,” Tony replied, staying deliberately calm.
“But you could find out where he is easily, I know you could,” Steve countered. “I’m his oldest friend, I deserve to know. Please.” He sounded a little heart-broken at that.
“I’m sorry, Cap,” Tony apologised, sincerely. “I swore to him that I wouldn’t tell you, even if I did know. He wants to do his own thing for once, you just need to leave him be for a little while. And… if you don’t mind me saying, I heard a fair bit of your little argument, and it did not sound like you were each other’s ‘oldest friends’.”
“I didn’t mean to…” Steve began, but cut off with a sigh.
“Listen, I’d help you if I could, honestly,” Tony said. “But just leave him to cool off for a bit and try to make his own way in the world and I’m sure he’ll reach out again at some point. For now, though, I have a visitor who is probably already here, and I don’t want to keep them waiting.” Peter noticed how he said this a bit louder and took it as a hint to him to get hidden. He jumped silently to the ceiling and hid behind a support pillar.
Footsteps approached the elevator.
“You’ll tell me if he contacts you again though, right?” Steve asked hopefully.
“Only if he wants me to, or if he’d in immediate danger,” Tony said. “And I’ll try to keep the press off of his trail, that article last night was just a slip up and FRIDAY’s already taken the it down.”
“Thank you,” Steve said hesitantly before Peter heard the elevator doors shut.
“Peter?” Tony called into the room once Steve was gone. “You in here?”
Peter crawled out from behind the pillar and dropped down in front of Tony with a small, “Hi.”
“Jesus, Peter!” Tony gasped as he jumped. “You’re going to give me a heart attack!”
“Sorry,” Peter giggled. Tony rolled his eyes but pulled the backpack off Peter’s shoulder and fished out the suit, before guiding Peter towards his main workbench.
“How much of that did you hear?” Tony asked as he began turning the fabric inside out to access the wiring.
“Only the last bit,” Peter shrugged. “I didn’t hear any names… but you were talking about Bucky Barnes, weren’t you?”
Tony side-eyed Peter suspiciously. “You saw that article last night?” Peter nodded. “Then yes, we were, but don’t go telling anyone what you heard okay?”
Peter nodded again but grew curious. “Do you really not know where he is, or were you just saying that to throw off the Captain?”
“I actually don’t know, he’s only told me that he’s moved into a place and he’s doing fine,” Tony replied, turning back to fiddle with the suit.
Something in Peter’s mind told him that if Bucky Barnes didn’t want Tony to know where he was living, then it wasn’t up to Peter to say. “Why is Mr Barnes talking to you and not Captain Rogers? I thought they were friends… and I thought you weren’t,” Peter asked.
Tony sighed and frowned at Peter. “I shouldn’t be telling you stuff like this, but since it’s you I’ll ignore your morbid curiosity. So, you’re right, Bucky and Steve are friends and they were pretty close, but they got in a big fight a few weeks ago, and Steve really lost his temper badly. The thing is, Bucky was getting cooped up and paranoid because Steve was following him round like a lost puppy and being a mother hen. So, after the fight Natasha and I agreed that Bucky needed some space; so I offered to lend him some money to find his own place to stay if he wanted to. He left right away and lived in some hotel for a while, but now he says he’s found an apartment and a small job and the freedom is doing him good. I’ve told him that if he wants to come back he can, and he said that if we need him for avengers stuff he won’t mind, but he’s basically retired now.” Tony finished his story and pulled up the schematics of the suit on his computer.
“So… are Mr Barnes and Captain Rogers not friends anymore?” Peter asked.
“It’s more difficult than that, bud,” Tony explained. “They’re the only connection each other has to their lives before the war. I think Steve’s not getting that a lot has happened to
Bucky since then, and now Bucky has all of his Bucky memories and most of his winter soldier memories back, things are difficult and confusing for him. More so than for Steve, since he was in the ice and it was just like waking up for him. For Bucky, his whole mind got re-wired and he was a completely different person for over seventy years. That tends to mess a guy up..”
It made sense for Bucky to want space, since Peter had heard Captain Rogers practically beg Tony to tell him where his friend was, he guessed Steve was just obsessively over-protective as Bucky was basically all he had.
Peter hummed as he thought, thrumming his hand on the table.
“What are you thinking about?” Tony asked, putting his hand in Peter’s to stop the tapping.
“Nothing,” Peter muttered.
“Come and help me then,” Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes. Peter smiled and sat next to Tony to work on upgrading the suit.