Rise of the Phoenix (L. Laufey/Odinson)

3.

Bucky runs his fingers through his hair as he, Steve, Tony and Bruce watch the surveillance from Nina's room, Nina in her corner, eyes flickering around, observant before she looks down at the grape in her hand.

"She doesn't trust us" Bucky points out. "See" he points to the screen as she peels the outer layer of the grape. "She thinks we poisoned it..." Steve glances to Bucky who tries to hide his emotions, his twin sister doesn't trust him or Steve, it's a pretty big hit to the gut. Bucky takes a breath and looks to Steve. "Did you tell her?" Bucky asks him. "About the charcoal and boxing?" Steve shakes his head.

"No" Steve assures him.

"She really did remember that" Bruce offers. "Took her four days to get the details down but she did actually remember that..." Bruce moves to his folder at his side and grabs a note book. "I made her write it down" Bruce holds out the note book to Bucky who takes it. "Her handwriting is....it can use some work but....it's legible" Bucky opens the book, Bruce is sort of right, her handwriting is legible, but it's nothing new, her handwriting is exactly the same as when they were younger. There are scribbles every where, clearly she's just been writing when she got anything. Lots of mention of fire. Even sketches. Little drawings of buildings on fire. People on fire. It's disturbing. "She likes the fire" Bruce offers noting Bucky's eyes on the page. "It calms her down" Bucky's eyes flicker across the page taking in the notes.

"Cause that's the first thing that comes to mind when you think fire" Tony mumbles. "Calm"

"To her, yeah" Bruce offers. "It's safe for her because she knows it can't hurt her...it's why she likes that bubble of heat around her, it's a defence....ready to attack"

"It's also why she won't take off that suit" Steve comments realising why Nina has refused to take off her Hydra suit. "If she has to fight" he notes Bucky's gaze. "If" Steve assures him. "The suit I am guessing is suited to her needs, her abilities, it's not going to burn?" Bruce shrugs a little and then nods.

"Reasonable assumption" he offers.

"But the clothes, they will" Steve adds. "She's remaining prepared..."

"Like Terminator" Tony adds, Bucky lets out an annoyed breath through his nose but lets the insult go. "I'm serious, that first week in Wakanda Shuri said she confiscated a number of weapons off of you, she had no idea where you were even getting them from" Bucky hums a little thoughtful, it's no different, not really, just instead of a physical weapon it's her entire body.

"What the hell did they do to her?" he asks sadly, knowing that though Hydra broke him, tore him apart and built him back up, whatever they did to Nina, it was so much worse. "I mean seriously what the hell?"

"Most of the data from the early experiments are missing" Tony offers motioning to Nina's file. "We have no idea what they did to her, we have no idea what changed her....even her blood work is so....confusing, it changes"

"Changes?" Steve asks, Tony nods.

"Yeah" Bruce answers. "It's amazing....under extreme heat the blood cells generate this shield around themselves, under cold they heat up, burns off poisons, her blood it's...."

"Fire" Bucky mumbles. "Like they pumped her full of fire and it changed her" he offers, Bruce gives him a sad smile.

"There is also levels of the serum in her blood" Tony informs them. "But it's different to both of yours"

"Bucky's is different anyway" Steve offers. Tony nods.

"And I am guessing all the other Winter Soldiers' would be too" Bruce counters. "That was probably the first experiment"

"She trained with me" Bucky admits, they look to him. "Trained against me..." he looks to Steve. "I hurt her"

"Bucky" Steve whispers. "It's not your fault" Bucky looks down.

"We fought each other and neither of us had any idea who each other were" he lets out a breath. "They stole my sister from me, stole me from her and then forced us to fight...like it was some...sick twisted game" he growls, his metal fingers curling into his palm. "I want my sister back, Steve, I want her back...."

"We're trying" Steve assures him.

"Trying?" Bucky scoffs. "Like when you tried by locking her up in the looney bin?" Bucky snaps, Tony and Bruce both look from Bucky to Steve who blushes a little and rubs the back of his neck.

"Buck" Steve whispers. "I had no choice. She drove herself mad with grief after..." he pauses and shakes his head. "She wouldn't eat, she wouldn't sleep, she just cried and screamed at me" Steve's feature shift into pain remembering how bad it was. "What was I suppose to do?" he asks quietly.

"It wasn't grief..." he snaps. "It was damn frustration" Bucky corrects. "She kept telling everyone that I wasn't dead but no body would believe her" Bucky argues. "And maybe if you'd listened to her....then everything bad that happened, everything with Hydra, all of it....it wouldn't have happened to us......" Steve stares at Bucky, like he hasn't told himself this over and over and over again since finding Nina, since finding Bucky, knowing how wrong he was, how right Nina was all those years ago. He knows. He knows all this, but hearing Bucky tell him, hearing the blame in his voice. Bucky realises what he's said and swallows thickly, guilt and hurt overtaking his senses. "Steve" he whispers apologetically.

"You're right" Steve tells him and then walks away, leaving Bucky standing there. Bruce and Tony share a look before they collect their work.

"I've got a session with your sister" Bruce offers. "I'll find you later" Bucky nods a little as Bruce flees the uncomfortable room, Tony takes a breath, wants to say something, wants to say something inappropriate and something serious, he's trying to figure out which one to go for. In the end he choose neither. He just leaves Bucky alone. They won't ever get along. It's just something that is never, ever going to be possible. Bucky lets out a breath and shakes his head. He should apologise to Steve. It shouldn't have come out like that, he knows, he knows Steve did his best for Nina.