Bucky laid on the ground for a long time, his eyes closed as if he was simply enjoying an afternoon nap.

It had taken a while for William to get a hang of himself again and fall back into the safe shell of an emotionless façade he had cocooned himself into over the years.

His grey sheets were dirty now, smeared with blood that he had tried to wipe off his hands.
The fingerprints had dried dark brown, a heavy contrast against the light colour.

William didn't try another attempt on the man's life, realizing he hadn't stood up for himself. Hadn't even tried to bargain for his life, he'd just laid there, allowing this to happen.

What the hell was wrong with this Bucky?

William narrowed his bloodshot eyes as the man shifted slightly, pushing himself up carefully and avoiding any eye contact although Will was glaring at him.

He had healed, for the most part, with just a few measly bruises left underneath the dried blood on his skin. As if he had been beaten up weeks ago, so he healed fast.

He didn't show any signs of being in pain, nor being uncomfortable in any way. The man was completely relaxed and William thought that maybe he had hit him a bit too hard and he had some kind of brain injury now.

Why was this man playing with death?

Bucky leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling as if he was deep in thought.

William didn't like his presence, it was unsettling. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists, feeling drained of energy, though it was as if his instincts still forced him to be alert no matter how tired he was.

Being stuck and locked up again was taking a great deal out of him.

Bucky's gaze drifted over to William's clenched fists and he nodded to himself as if he had finally come to a conclusion about something. The man then slowly stood up, making William hold his breath.

Would he be punished now for his actions? Was this it? What would be their style of torture? Surely a method that required pain and a lot of it. Would they use electricity? Saw? Would they use knives to slice underneath his feet and palms? Or maybe water instead? Would they stick him inside of a metal box to mess with his instincts? Would they bring him pieces of flesh and weak, sick prey to torture the crazed beast? Only to stab it once it showed any signs of breaking through?

Whatever they were going to do, William would face it head-on.

He watched as Bucky crouched slightly, making himself seem smaller. His back was turned towards Will, it could be taken two ways, either he sees him as no threat and shows that he's above him. Or he shows him that he's vulnerable to William's attacks.

He had a damn arm made of metal and he basically refused to protect himself? Bucky had definitely lost a screw or two somewhere.

The man left the cell without another glance back, and William was grateful to finally be alone. He dragged himself to the tiny bathroom to scrub off the dried blood, rubbing his hands red even after all signs of his crazed episode gone.

When he went back to the cell, he noticed a plate of food. He tried to ignore it, but his throat was dry and his stomach was as empty as his mind had been the first day he had fallen out of his cryo chamber.

So reluctantly, he sniffed the glass of water to detect any sort of poisons in it. He grabbed the glass and tossed the water down the sink, then refilled it with tap water and gulped it down. He wolfed down the piece of bread that sat on the tray next to the unknown food before crawling back to his corner and dragging the sheets off the bed to drape them over his shoulder. He sighed and closed his eyes.

He was convinced the woman wouldn't leave him alone for long, so he allowed himself to fall into a light slumber.

Tony Stark marched down the corridors of SHIELD, the dog and Morgan jogging along with him. He detected a lot of new faces as he walked by offices with glass walls. A lot of people stopped what they were doing and stared blatantly.

Tony didn't care, he was probably a sight to behold as he marched down the super secret corridors with a dog who kept sniffing everything and a daughter who tried to convince Tony to give her the leash.

"Stark?"

He halted and turned towards the agent.

"No, it's Vision. Of course it's me. I retired but I haven't been gone for that long!"

He scoffed, rolling his eyes as he tried to pull the dog back as she was adamant about sniffing all around a little trash bin.
Morgan had stopped her fussing and stood next to her dad, looking up at agent Hill cautiously.

The agent smiled at his response, almost missing the man's snarky attitude.

"Of course, what can I do for you? This isn't exactly a place for a family vacation you know."

A few passing agents slowed their pace, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation but as soon as Hill threw a fleeting glare at them, they scattered.

Young idiots in the making.

"Looking for the big man himself, heard he's in the house today."

Hill nodded as if she had expected that answer.

"Of course, would you like us to drop Morgan off at daycare?"

Tony's eyes went wide as saucers, she asked what now?

"You have daycare... In SHIELD headquarters?"

Maria smirked at his gobsmacked stare as Morgan voiced her disinterest in daycares.

"We are a modern organization and do try to make the lives of our agents easier. You should know what it feels like to do what we are doing and have a child to worry about. So, we make sure they get the childhood they deserve all the while keeping them safe from the enemies of SHIELD."

"And what do they teach them there? Martial arts before lunch and poison recognition before parents come to pick them up?"

The agent shook her head, of course he'd think that.

"No, but we want to avoid... This." she said, gesturing at the dog, Morgan who was sitting on the ground next to the dog and Tony, who looked rather sharp in his silver suit except for the old hiking backpack he had slung over his shoulder.

He glared at her.

"She stays with me. I don't need her to suddenly go all Ninja on me and start crawling the ceiling when we get back home. Now where's Trench Coat Man?"

"We don't teach kids here anything like that, Mr Stark. Director Fury is on the 12th floor, you'll find his office there." Maria said, stepping aside to let the small party pass. Tony seemed to think for a moment.

"Is anyone else here?"

He asked almost nonchalantly, switching his hands that held the leash as the dog walked in circles around him. Maria raised an eyebrow.

"You have to be more specific, sir. There's quite an amount of people here."

He squinted his eyes at her behind his sunglasses. She knew exactly who he was talking about.

"Thunder Thighs? Robin Hood? Little Red? Come on, don't play stupid with me, Special Agent Hill."

He knew that everyone had mostly moved out, no one actually wanted to live in SHIELD HQ. His Tower had been a whole different environment, a bit cosier. Fury had tried to keep them in the building, made them all comfortable living spaces, but it wasn't what it used to be.

Although Tony didn't much care for what everyone was up to - if he had to guess, he'd say they were all still running after Fury's every command - it would still be nice to see them every once in a while.

"Captain Rogers is in the building. But you already knew that, didn't you." she said, looking at him closely.

"Had a hunch, the whole building reeks of patriotism. Anyways, let's keep this tour bus going Peach, we've got places to be. Have a wonderful day Deputy Director. Don't teach babies martial arts!" he yelled over his shoulder, grabbing Morgan's shoulder on the way to tug her along with the restless dog.

As soon as Tony entered Fury's office, he released his daughter and the dog, letting them go about their business in the confined space.

"Good to see your arrogance hasn't vanished after your retirement." the Director of SHIELD growled out, shuffling with some papers on his desk as he narrowed his eyes at the dog who ran laps around his sofa and Morgan who kept running after her with a wide smile.

"Please, it's called confidence."

He said with a huff, giving a brief, longing look towards Fury's liquor cabinet and all the gems on display. Though he was convinced it was a distraction to some kind and the cabinet was a secret door to some hidden dungeon or something.
He dragged his dark eyes away from it and took a seat on the armchair right across from Fury.

"What do you want, Stark?"

He said, dragging his gaze away from the giggling girl on the floor who was being suffocated by the large dog.

"What a warm welcome. Anyways, I've got a delivery to make. Where have you locked up Little Steve?"

There was a pregnant pause before Fury raised one of his eyebrows, making Tony snort.

"Not that Steve. You know, the one who has a dog problem."

Fury's eye darkened.

"You mother-"

"Kids in the house." Tony cut him off, grabbing a pen to twirl it between his fingers. Though it suddenly turned into a tiny dagger. That was awesome.

"It's Captain's personal affairs, not my place to include you, Stark."

He said, pulling the stack of papers back as if to say the conversation is over. As if anyone could dismiss Tony Stark like that.

"You know your lies don't work on me. You might have convinced Mr Righteous but we all know everything that happens here is only when you say it will."

"And you don't think people are capable of change?" he looked pointedly at Tony when Dog and Morgan ran over to a small desk. Neither having a care in the world.

"No, not people like us."

The Director sighed, telling someone over comm to get Rogers in his office. Tony could barely hide the smug smirk, until he realized Steve was going to come barging in any moment.

"What's in the bag?"

Fury asked, taking the pen-dagger from Tony. With a click, the blade was hidden inside once again.

"No weapons, you know you can't bring your weapons from the front. Everyone knows you gotta use the back door. So just some crayons and colouring books. "

Fury wasn't really worried, he knew if the girl was along for the ride then Stark wouldn't really be up to anything stupid.

"What's your business with him?"
His voice was filled with authority, but Tony had learned to look past that. After all, he had years of practice.

"I thought you said it was Icicles business this time?"

The billionaire answered, shrugging off the backpack to drop it on the floor. He straightened his suit jacket and leaned back into the soft chair.

He ignored Fury's steady gaze as the door opened, halting as they were greeted by Morgan.

"Hello, Mr Rogers and Metallica!"

The girl squealed as she ran past them to catch up to the big dog who trotted towards Tony. Bucky Barnes felt his eyes widen in horror as he watched her tackle the dog who was trying to climb on Tony Stark's lap.

There was a child in the room.

Steve closed the door, throwing a wary glance at Director. Was there something big going on that they had called Stark over? He was a bit worried to have Bucky in the room with him. Although things had settled down between the two, it was no secret that Tony wasn't his biggest fan.

Bucky was more worried about the child.

"Stark." Steve greeted him, stepping closer to the two, Bucky remained standing near the door, crossing his arms as he looked curiously at the dog.

"Rogers, I'd say it's nice to see you but that'd be a lie."

Steve knew he didn't really mean it, his greeting lacked the usual venom that he used to sting people. He just sighed and looked at Fury for answers.

Dog sniffed the air after Tony had pushed her off his lap, his soft brown eyes landed on Steve curiously, though she didn't move from Stark's side. He noted the dog's midnight colour fur and brown and white markings on her muzzle and paws.

"Is everything okay?"

Whatever was going on, he wanted to get it over with and return to the surveillance room. Though he must admit, the fact that Stark was involved made him slightly apprehensive of the situation. He did not want to be involved in another case of aliens or otherworldly threats. He would if it came down to it, but his priorities laid elsewhere.

"Stark is here with Mini-Stark and their miniature bear. I think it is clearly a sign that no, things are not okay. Now, why don't you enlighten us on why you dragged half of the zoo with you and how on Earth do you know about the Rogers situation?"

Bucky tensed, having a slight hunch about what was going on.

"I'm here to see a friend of mine, who I believe is our mutual acquaintance. Since he suddenly disappeared on me, it's not that hard to guess who decided to snatch him away from any kind of normalcy."

He said, turning to look up at Steve who was standing next to him. Dog stood up hesitantly, scenting the air as she cautiously made her way towards Bucky who looked at her for any signs of hostility. He tilted his head when she sniffed his boots, tail high as she scanned the scents.

"What?"

Stark sighed in annoyance, giving Morgan his phone as she had been trying to find something interesting to do.

"Don't play dumb with me, that's Parker's forte. I want to know what you've done with Spy. Or as you call him, William."

Bucky's eyes snapped up, pools of ice glaring at Tony.

"How do you know about him?"

Steve crossed his arms while Fury just leaned back in his chair, looking curiously at how it would play out.

"As I said, we are friends. Don't think he's that much of a friend of yours or Metallicas right now is he?"

The silence was enough.

"Knew you'd fuck it up."

"Dad!"

Tony apologized, telling Morgan not to pay attention to them.

"What's it to you? He's my brother, therefore I'd appreciate it if you tell me what you know and why you're here."

Steve said defensively, he wanted to know everything. There were too many questions, too many blank pages. William was a closed-up puzzle, and Steve wouldn't stop until he got all of the answers. How had he ended up in the 21st century? What had been done to him to make him turn into this humanoid wolf creature?

And if Tony had some kind of answers, Steve needed to know.

"Well, you asked me to do some research didn't you? To be fair, I didn't know he was your brother at first. I came to drop off some things, I'm sure he misses his belongings so, be a sweetheart Rogers and lead the way to his room."

Fury frowned, realizing instead of asking his agents, Steve had turned to Tony for information. Sure, they were old pals but it was enough to make Fury realize Steve hadn't wanted William to end up in SHIELD.

"I think what the Captain wants to know, is how do you happen to know him?"

Fury asked before Steve could open his mouth, it was obvious how tense the Captain had become. He had become easily agitated ever since William had been brought in. And frankly enough, Fury had no time for the two to get into another civil war and destroy his base and billions of dollars worth of tech.

"Met in the woods, had a movie night, some drinks, a pizza, nice warm cuddle afterwards. You don't only have to make friends on the field, Fury."

"Tony." Steve warned through gritted teeth, making him look up at Captain with annoyance.

"Found him beat up by your agents, he stayed with me. And then he had a funeral to attend. Now for f- heavens sake, can we get going now?"

Bucky tried to figure out if attending a funeral was a code for something or had he really had friends in this day and age? Had he been around for longer than they had thought? Had someone close to him fallen while on mission? Was he currently working for someone? But he dismissed the idea, he wasn't sure William was currently working, he seemed... Lost. He looked away from the dog who looked at him suspiciously. Was it even a dog or one of Tony's bots?

"Fine. But I need you to tell me everything."

"I already did." Stark said pointedly.

"Yeah, he already did." Morgan added with the usual snark of a Stark as she mimicked her dad's expression.

Steve looked between the two, his eyes softening as they landed on the little brown-eyed girl who had gone back to her game. He was happy for Stark, he'd seen the mess he had been living in. The constant stress that led to sleepless nights and rivers of caffeine that kept him awake throughout numerous nights. And there he was, he'd put alcoholism and insomnia behind him. He retired to be there for his family and make sure his wife and daughter had his undivided attention.

Sure, he knew Tony couldn't ever let 100% go of Ironman, but he didn't need to.

With a sigh, Steve straightened his back, glancing towards Bucky who looked strangely at the dog who had decided to sit down and stare up at him almost in an accusing manner.

"Okay."

Bucky's eyes snapped up, obviously not liking the idea as he scowled at Tony.

"He's gonna overwhelm him, Steve." he finally said, refusing to make eye contact with Tony as the man turned his upper body around to glare at him over the chair.

"No I'm not, besides, we're friends, old pals. It sounds to me like you're in a bit of a pickle there, Iceman 2.0."

"Then it's settled. Rogers go and entertain Stark, I want to get rid of the wet dog smell in my office." Fury said

Tony stood up, throwing the backpack on and grabbing the dog's leash.

"Peach, you're gonna stay here and play chess with your new Uncle Mastermind over there." then he leaned closer to Morgan to whisper in her ear. "And find out some secrets, spill the tea later on in the car for me."

The little girl's eyes sparkled with strong determination as she looked at Director for the first time from head to toe, assessing her new challenge with sheer curiosity as she jumped closer with the chair.

Fury threw Tony one of his most chilling glares. He did not sign up for babysitting, especially little Stark. He had mission reports to read, oversee the new and still green agents and put together teams for secret operations.

He simply didn't have the will nor patience.

"Steve, I'm serious."

Bucky said, not moving from the door. If it was anyone else, he wouldn't of had intertwined. But there was a familiar possessiveness and shame that made him alert. Like Steve, Bucky wanted it to go well. Wanted Willian to have it all a bit easier than it had been for him. There was a plan that had already formed in his mind, Steve and him had talked it through, had stayed up for hours to discuss how it would be. Had had numerous meetings with Fury to make sure he won't send in his scientists to start picking through William's organs and bloodwork to figure him out. They'd worked hard to make sure that he wouldn't be placed in a more uncomfortable position.

Adding Tony Stark to the mix wouldn't be good, Bucky was wary of the man's loud and snarky demeanour.

"Look, I'm not here to break up the supersoldier band you're building for yourselves. I'm here to drop off his baggage and make sure he's still breathing in this blasted building that reeks of testosterone, secrets and expensive pens."

He said, standing up to snap the leash on the dog's collar. For a moment, he admired his work. The collar really did look good against the dog's dark fur, he almost patted himself on the shoulder for the impeccable work. He hadn't lost his touch.

"Bucky, it's okay. I trust him."

"Well, I don't. If he ruins it, it'll be on you." his voice lacked any kind of emotion as he stepped aside to let them pass.

"I don't like you either, Elsa. Deal with it."

Stark said, giving Morgan a small wave as he left her sitting across from Fury who looked murderous. He'll live.

"Why are you taking the dog?"

"To make sure someone is allowed to bite you if you annoy me."

Steve sighed, brushing past the two as he took the lead. He was sure that if it was possible for him to get a headache, he'd have a migraine by now.

"Buck, you know I want what's best for him. And since Tony says he... Knows Will, then maybe it could be a good thing?"

"We are way past any maybe's, Steve. We have a plan and we have to follow it. Mistakes happen if you refuse to follow the plan."

Tony just couldn't help but pipe in "Sometimes the best plan is to have no plan at all."

The bewildered look the two threw at him only made him roll his eyes. They moved down long corridors, heading lower into the heart of the building.

Of course they had locked him up. The realization made Tony feel dreadful.

"I'm not going with him, he can't associate Stark with me. And there's no way in hell you're going if you want to establish any kind of relationship with him in the near future."

Bucky said after they had all fallen into a comfortable silence.
He couldn't go there with Stark, he wasn't willing to risk that paper-thin trust that they had built over the days. It wasn't much, it was barely there to begin with. But it was something, it was a beginning.

"Yeah I think it would look bad on my behalf if he saw me with you two, no offence or anything, but for some reason, I don't see how he could be very buddy-buddies with you while you all just lock him up in the dungeon."

William glared at the food on the plate. It was out of his reach. He only had to take three long strides and he'd have it.

But what would be the cost?

His biggest fear was Arsenic. It had no scent, no colour and no taste. He wouldn't die of it of course, but it would be an immensely unpleasant experience. He flinched and rubbed his temples as he felt another memory make itself known.

He'd been poisoned, numerous times in fact.

He was convulsing on the floor, staring up into the iron-coated ceiling with one lightbulb hanging from it. His muscles were aching from being taut as a bowstring for so long, his insides churning as foam and blood dribbled down his chin. He couldn't stop the involuntary cramping of his body as his insides burned. He kept falling in and out of consciousness. The soup he'd been eating was all over the floor.

He was snapped out of the long-lost memory as he heard the usual sound of heels clicking against the white floor in the distance, getting closer with each step.

He stared at the opposite wall, refusing the acknowledge the woman who was like a mosquito to his ears. Whatever he did, he just couldn't get rid of her annoying voice.
He almost tilted his head when he detected another set of footsteps joining her, though they were slightly muted against the echo of her heels.

He frowned at the whining sound, someone was huffing and puffing as the commotion only got closer.

"Oh this place is just fantastic Jazuat, I see you've used the colour hopeless just about everywhere."

A familiar voice crumbled, definitely not impressed with the environment around them.
His eyes snapped towards the glass wall as soon as they rounded the corner.

"Mr Stark, this place is not for the eyes of interior designers and its function does not require it to be pleasing to the eye. It is a workplace, not a workshop."

He ignored everyone else as he carefully studied the dog who kept bouncing up and down, making it nearly impossible to walk her properly. Her large and fluffy tail kept propelling around, her tongue lolling out from the side of her mouth as her bright, honey eyes made contact with Williams.
Her long, impatient whines cut through the stillness of the cell as she tried to find a way in, sniffing the glass wall to find an opening.

"Open the damn door Uma."

"I cannot, sir. The protocol forbids me unless I have a permission to do so."

"Fucking imbeciles. FRIDAY, override the updated protocol and open the bloody door."

"Yes sir"

"No! You-" Jazuats cries fell on deaf ears as the door hissed open.

Tony relaxed his hand and the leash slipped through his calloused fingers as the dog darted into the room, making a beeline towards the man who was sitting in the corner furthest away from the see-through wall.

To Uma's surprise, the man opened his arms wide as the dog crashed into his chest. The big animal kept rubbing herself against the pale man, her tail wagging faster than it had when she'd seen Tony. She slid on her back, waiting for belly rubs but couldn't help herself and scramble up just to crash herself into his chest and awaiting arms once again.

And William showered her with all of the affection he could, hoping it was enough to apologise for leaving her alone.

He felt his aching muscles relax in her presence, his finger combing through her clean fur as he carefully tried to look her over although it was no easy feat as she kept bouncing around and trying to wrap herself around William all the while making sure he was giving her belly rubs and his undivided attention.

"This is not your dog."

Uma Jazuat said, still staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of her.

"No, it is not. I prefer alpacas."

William didn't care that they were there, he recognised Tony Stark immediately. He hoped the man had nothing to do with his hostage situation, but he had found dog. How?

He looked up, making eye contact with the woman for the first time after he had tried to kill her. He was still not sorry about that. Her brown eyes flashed with fear although she tried to cover it up immediately, too late.

He managed his most chilling glare to make her go away, he wanted to hear what Stark had to say for himself. How was he there? How had he found the dog? Had he been following them? Had he bugged them?

"I think he wants you to scramble and go back to work with all other minions."

The longest chapter by far, 4663 words. The goal was 5000 but I'm tired and want to update.

And would you look at that, it's like, half of the avengers are almost assembled, which Avenger are you most excited to read about in the upcoming chapters?

Would shorter chapter be better or do you enjoy longer one's?

You know what I love? When I apologize to my readers about a terrible chapter and the comments are like "stfu bro 💖"

It melts my heart 🥺

Anyways, shoutout to people in the last chapter comment section!

Confetti438, Iustatia, germpatriot, sAlLyfAcE-, moreyrodriquez, Ren1826, christy0800, _rubyack3rman_, -GossipGirls-, Xio_fi_chan, meabhmcilwaine, -GossipGirls-, blueoatmeal, munechild-, _Anonymous_Rosetta, Withouthope7, Marvelseaweed_brain, Holy_Water_123, @NFuglsang3, Lovegoods_, yourgaydonotdeny, Wintergaurdian, macsfuckingworthless, 1192LittleBean27, florallwaters, Herasan145, RaesRecords.

And of course, my beloved little ghosties!

Thank you all so much!

- K