Rise of the Phoenix (L. Laufey/Odinson)

4.

Bucky takes a deep breath heading into his and Steve's wing of the facility, set up for them, minimum technology, vintage where they could, just to make things easier. Bucky walks silently to where he can sense Steve, the soft light of the living room ahead of him,

"Steve" Bucky starts seeing his friend sat on his couch, head in his hands. Steve lifts his head to look at him, knowing how sorry Bucky is, he knows.

"'S'okay, Buck" Steve assures him trying to give a small smile.

"No, it's not" Bucky argues. "She's my sister but she was your friend too, I just....I forgot" Steve nods a little. "It's okay for you to be upset about her. I let my brother brain get in the way, to have her back....." Steve looks down at his hands, both of them lingering there in silence a moment. Steve breaks it. 

"You weren't there" Steve whispers, eyes threatening to cry. "You didn't...." he pauses. "I lost both of you that day on the train" he adds. "Because when you fell....part of her went with you" Bucky looks down. "Then I told her" Steve shakes his head. "And it was two days" Steve offers. "Two days of screaming, crying, and she..she just wouldn't stop. I had to leave, I had to finish it, I had to go after Red Skull and....I didn't want to leave her alone" Steve sniffles. "Because I was terrified that I'd come back and she'd...." he looks away, the implication left there, Bucky knows what Steve was afraid of, how bad Nina was. Bucky's lip trembles hearing this. "I did what I thought was best" Steve stands and brushes his hand over his cheek. "And I made it worse" he admits. "Seeing her like that" Steve motions beyond them, along to the med bay, to the room Nina is in. "And knowing it's my fault"

"Steve" Bucky whispers shaking his head. "How is it your fault? You didn't take her, you didn't hurt her, you didn't..." Bucky stops and shakes his head again. "It's not your fault"

"If I'd stayed with her" Steve offers. "If I'd just...done more to help her, If I didn't just run straight back into the fight. If I'd I don't know, done something else"

"That's a lot of ifs, Steve" Bucky comments moving towards him. "If you'd stayed with her the world could be under Nazi rule" Bucky offers. "If you'd stayed with her Red Skull and Hydra would have gone on to hurt more people....If you'd stayed with her she could have gotten worse, made herself ill...." Steve looks to him. "Steve, everything happened, it did, and yeah, it sucked, I mean it really, really sucked, and it was hard, and it hurt and maybe it would have been better if we lived and died normal" Bucky shrugs. "But we didn't, by some screwed up destiny you are here, and I am here and now she's here too....the three of us, back together again. To be getting back my old self, some of him anyway, and now we can do that same for her, we have to bring her back, we have to make it all right" Bucky's crying now. "We have too" he adds pitifully, too emotional now. Steve steps closer to him and grasps his shoulder. Steve nods and gives him a smile.

"Yeah, we will" Steve assures him and then pulls him into a hug, Bucky clings back to him. 

...............

Nina sits on her bed, one knee to her chest, the other rested flat, her hair has been pulled back from her face and sits a mess at the back of her head, her hair too big, too thick to fit properly in any form of hair tie. Her notebook, her newest one sits open at her side. More images of fire. Dangerous. Like her. A tear slides down her cheek. Memories from Hydra are proving the hardest for her to remember. The screams. The smell. The way it felt to watch as she burnt.....people, buildings, anything. They told her it was for the 'greater good', that she'd help them create the perfect world. They lied. They hurt her. Broke her and lied to her. Gave her abilities. Set her blood on fire. Fire is something she's always been drawn to. Not many know, in fact only Bucky does, Nina had a thing as a child for fire. He'd caught her more then once with their father's matches, sat on the floor of her bedroom and burning paper, books in her trash can. As she grew up it got worse, she'd disappear to the park or behind the back of the school and just...burn things. She doesn't remember when it started. But Hydra. Hydra unleashed it from inside of her. As a young woman she settled on smoking, despite how much Bucky complained. Never around Steve, he wouldn't be able to take the second hand smoke, not with his weak lungs. She blinks. Memories. She looks to her notebook and grabs the rubber pen before she writes. About the burning, the fires, the smoking. Steve. She'd met him first, not Bucky. She'd been weaving through a crowd when hands had grabbed at her. Bullies. She knew them, it wasn't the first time they'd targeted her, she was small and her hair was huge, but they only ever targeted her when Bucky wasn't around her. They threw her down, laughed at her. They were just bullies, big bullies. And then there was Steve. Tiny, weak, pale little Steve. Placing himself between her and them. Defending her. It had thrown the bullies a little. But they'd laughed it off and then walked away. She thinks it's because they'd seen Bucky behind them, approaching, glaring, even then Bucky was a little terror. When the bullies left, Steve relaxed, turned to her and smiled, so soft, so friendly, she burst into tears and he was so confused. Bucky picked her up off the ground and thanked Steve. No one had ever stood up for the twins before, hence the tears, it had been Bucky and Nina against the world and screw everyone else for so long..... And then it was Nina, Bucky and Steve against the world. Until it wasn't. Hydra. Hydra tore everything from her. She lifts her eyes, a glare on her face, her jaw tightly clenched. Hydra turned her into a monster. They did that to her. They broke her. Tore everything that was her from her. She stands from her bed and takes a few deep breaths. Her anger coursing through her hot. Like fire. It is fire. Her abilities reacting to her anger. She holds up her hands as they are engulfed in flames, doing nothing to hurt her, it won't, fire is her friend, her protector. It's trying to defend her from her own emotions now. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath trying to calm herself down. The fire simmers before extinguishing. Opening her eyes more tears flow down her cheeks. She scrubs at them, trying to stop them.

"Nina?" she's startled by the voice behind her and she throws up her shields again, the warmth surrounding her, fire licking at her fingertips. "Hey, it's just me" Steve offers holding up his hands, she nods a little and lowers her hands, fire retreating. "Just...came to check on you" he tells her. She nods a little and closes her notebook on the bed, she's not really ready to share. She touches the cover and turns back to him. "How would you like a tour?" he asks, she looks to him, searching his eyes. "And well....the other were wondering if you wanted to have dinner with us" he adds rubbing the back of his neck. "Wanda's been driving Buck mad"

"Clothes" she offers, he smiles and nods.

"Yeah, she wants to make sure you have clothes" he raises an eyebrow at her. "You don't have to" he assures her. "This is your choice, we're not going to make you"

"I'm sorry" she tumbles out before covering her mouth a little with her hands, he frowns at her.

"Why are you sorry?" he asks her stepping closer, she shifts and takes a step back causing his to pause, he knows it's not personal, it's because she's afraid, can't trust herself, Bucky was the same.

"For everything" she answers lowering her hands from her face. "For...hurting people"

"No" he stops her shaking his head. "Not your fault" he tells her. "Bad people made you do that" he growls slightly. "Not you...it was not you" she looks away from him, her jaw ticking, she's trying to control her emotions. Bucky had trouble in the beginning to, old personality clashing with the new. Memories haunting and taunting.

"Can I have a shower first?" she asks turning back to him. "And....clean clothes" she whispers.

"Of course" he assures her. "You can use my shower it's better then the one down here" he adds with a small smile, trying to reassure her.