Chapter Text
“So… shawarma?” Yelena asks after everything’s cooled down and the cameras are all gone.
“Really?” Walker sneers, “Are you serious right now, cause— cause that’s not funny—“
“I mean, it’s a little funny.” Yelena chuckles, which obviously means Alexei has to follow with loud boisterous laughter, even if he clearly doesn’t know what’s going on.
“What?” Bob asks, looking between them, “What’s wrong with shawarma?”
That just sends them all into overlapped, chaotic fighting that Bucky has no willpower to entertain. He rolls his eyes a bit as he turns to the street, tuning them out.
The street’s a mess. Crashed cars and rubble scattered over the expanse, and it was markedly empty where they were still standing, a testament to how quickly everyone scattered after the chaos started. Even the cameramen and Val fucked off to who knows where once the hype died down. Probably getting a nap somewhere. Jesus. Bucky could go for one of those.
It was almost bizarre to think all of that went down only hours ago. It all happened so fast, honestly. One moment, they’re fighting Valentina, next they’re running through mazes of memories, fighting Bob(?), and now they’re with Val. Sort of. Whatever. It was giving Bucky a headache to think about, honestly.
All he really got was that he was back in the fighting business. Figures. The new name sucks, though. He liked what they had before— the—- Thunder… whatevers. He wasn’t really listening to the lore. A little preoccupied punching shit.
Always one fight to the next , he thinks as he sighs to himself, metal fingers flexing by his side.
At least, this time, it’s a fight he chose.
“—an Old Avengers reference, Bob. It’s really not that confusing.” Bucky tunes into bits and pieces of the conversation, which is still somehow on shawarma.
“I, I mean, I just don’t really get it.” Bob mumbles, to which Walker groans again.
“Aside from questioning why you even know that reference,” Walker says, and Bucky has the urge to point out that Walker clearly knows it, too, “I think I’d really like to leave this fucked-up street, now. It’s depressing.”
Yelena glanced around at the street, though her amused expression doesn’t leave, “Yeah, we can go,” She crosses her arms, “And I watched the musical, dude. I’m an Avengers expert , now.”
“Of course! That is why you are leader, and not grumpy Barnes.” Alexei cheers as he slaps a hand on Yelena’s back. Bucky’s a little impressed that she doesn’t even stumble at the force of it.
“Let’s just go.” Bucky mumbles, turning to walk down the street. The way everyone falls into step with him immediately makes his lips twitch up in amusement a little. Not a leader, huh?
“I am kind of hungry, though.” Bob pipes up, “If we’re, uh, still taking requests on that front.”
“I could eat.” Yelena agrees.
“Sure, what the hell.” Walker.
“Yes! We must feast!” Alexei.
Bucky waits. His brow furrowed a bit as the last voice doesn’t pipe up, and Walker just continues talking.
“Not shawarma, though. I’m not a fan.”
“Wow. Is it too spicy for you, Captain American ?” Yelena teases, but Bucky’s not really listening to her. His steps dont falter, but he sends a discrete glance behind him, glancing over the team.
Walker’s ears are going a bit red as he scrunches up his face indignantly. He’s roughed up, knock-off outfit dusty and hair greased up. His shield is still bent like a Taco, but Bucky doesn’t look at it very long. It’s not important, anyways.
Yelena is next to him, with Alexei leaning over her head, hand on her shoulder. The two seem similarly beat up, but they’re walking with confidence. Doesn’t seem to be injured.
Bob is lingering by Alexei’s side, giving a tentative smile, which looks more like he’s lost than anything. Bucky’s kind of getting the vibe that the kid’s always lost, though, so he doesn’t bother. Bob’s the least roughed up of them all, anyways.
Bucky’s still not quite sure what just happened, honestly. Bob was in the midst of the chaos, though, so Bucky keeps a closer eye on him.
And then, lastly, off to the side, walking silently, is Ghost. Ava .
Right. That’s what was missing. Bucky observes her for a moment, assessing for visible injuries. She moves without any labor, keeping up with the group, but her mask is up, and she’s silent.
“Fine, fine. Thai?” Yelena says, and Walker bristles.
“I… cant… have that… either,” He says slowly, irritation rising, “You’re doing this on purpose.”
“Doing what?” Yelena asks innocently, and Walker starts gritting his teeth in earnest, so Bucky speaks up.
“Ava.” Bucky says, and everyone snaps their eyes to Bucky. Ava’s steps falter to a stop, but her mask moves up smoothly to look in Bucky’s direction, at attention.
Bucky feels a bit awkward, for a moment, as everyone stops walking momentarily to look at them. He’s not sure what exactly he wants to get from Ava, but his hands feel a bit restless in the silence. He almost goes to ask ‘ damage report ?’ which is dumb and stupid, and so last decade. Christ, he already worked through that in therapy. Twice. But some things are just second nature.
He can tell something is off, but he stops himself. He recognizes his first instinct to assume physical damage, and steps back mentally. This might be a different problem. One he can’t see. Or solve with a bandaid.
Good job, he almost hears Sam’s voice in his head, you used that mushy head of yours first. Who would’ve thought I’d see the day!
“What’re you feeling?” Bucky says, and then nearly physically cringes at how that sounds, so he slaps on, “About food.”
Bucky swears he hears Sam sigh, I take it all back.
Ava’s mask stares at him blankly, and Bucky almost thinks she hadn’t even heard him. The others all look at Ava, waiting for a response, and she seems to tense up.
Then, she crosses her arms jerkily, hunching her shoulders, and bites, “I don’t give a shit.”
Oh-Kay, then. That’s. Helpful.
Bucky’s saved from having to deign that with a response when Alexei gasps, “We must have borscht!”
“Borsh-wha?” Walker turns back to Alexei, confused. Yelena rolls her eyes, but Bucky perks up a bit.
“ Borscht ,” Bucky corrects absently, thinking, “I might know a place.”
“Aha!” Alexei exclaims, “The Winter Soldier will know the real food. Good, old fashioned, Russian cuisine!”
“Oh, cool!” Bob grins, while Walker looks hesitant.
Bucky changes their trajectory towards the only Russian joint he knows in the area. It’s a bit of a walk, but considering they’re already bickering again, the others probably wouldn’t mind.
“It’s not spicy! I swear!” Yelena laughs, while Walker refuses to believe her. Alexei doesn’t make it any better by describing it as a bright red soup, and Bob just snickers along.
Bucky can’t help but notice the silence from Ava the whole way there.
———
In the end it takes them ten minutes longer than necessary because Walker and Alexei somehow end up having an arm wrestling match in the middle of the street. How they even got to that point, Bucky doesn’t know (and frankly, doesn’t care).
They pull up to Streecha as the sun just begins to dip in the sky, painting the clouds a hazy purple. Six vagabonds pile into the near-empty restaurant, looking dusty beyond high heavens and more than a little like they all got run over by the same bus. The staff doesn’t seem to care, though, ushering them around the largest round table in the corner.
“Is this everyone?” The waitress turns to Bucky, and he startles for a moment before he nods. He thinks he might never get used to speaking to random civilians like this.
The waitress beams and walks off, leaving him to settle in the seat between Walker and Yelena, if only to keep them from clawing each other’s faces off. Thankfully, the hunger seems to have outweighed everyone’s will to fight, so they’re blessedly civil as they settle in.
Well.
Everyone but Ava.
“Really, Walker, you must try it.” Yelena is saying as Bucky turns to look a few steps away from the table, where Ava is still standing, “It’s just comfort food.”
Her mask is still on. She looks like she’s hesitating, and every now and then, her head tilts towards the door, then back to them.
“Sure, whatever.” Walker agrees, before he looks up to see Ava standing, scrunching his nose, “Uh. Are you gonna sit down, or…”
“There’s a seat next to me,” Bob says, “If you, uh, want it.”
He smiles. Ava’s mask stares back. Her head tilts to the door once more, and Bucky gets the feeling he knows what she’s about to say before she says it.
“I think I should leave.” Ava says, and all the conversation dies immediately.
Yelena turns to her, opening her mouth, but it’s Alexei that gasps, incredulous, “ No , you cannot go before trying the world famous Borsht!”
Not really world famous, pal, but okay. Ava just huffs softly behind her mask, a sound that only the enhanced at the table probably get.
“I’m not hungry. Besides,” She shifts her weight, “The fight’s over. We don’t have to… hang out any more than necessary.”
A ripple of unease. Yelena frowns a little, “Well, considering we’re officially a team now, I don’t think it hurts to have a little food together, no?”
“Team.” Ava mumbles, “So, you guys are actually buying into all that? Whatever bullshit Val’s pushed on us, this time?”
“Not like we have much of a choice.” Walker says, eyes hard, “She announced us as the Avengers’ replacement in front of everyone. Yelena’s got the right idea. We can’t just run off and a fade into the background, now, so we might as well use what power we have to do what we want to do with it.”
Bucky’s a little taken aback by the genuine thought out behind those words. He’d give it to Walker. He understands the situation better pretty well. Bucky almost forgets the man has played his hand at politics before, though it had ended pretty badly for him.
But, for all that Walker understood, he didn’t seem to notice how his words seemed to egg Ava on more. Her fists clenched against her sides.
“And, what?” Her voice is sharp, “You guys are just okay with that? None of us are meant to be in the spotlight. What are we going to do when people start actually looking into our— our pasts. You think they want to be protected by a bunch of no good, criminal—“
“Ready to order?” A voice cuts through, and the group jerks their heads over to where the waitress is standing, smiling, pen and pad in hand.
The atmosphere feels heavy, now. The silence drags on for a beat too long before Alexei smiles at the waitress.
“Six bowls of Borsht , madame, and a couple plates of pierogis , if you will.” He orders. Ava snaps her mask to him, but doesn’t say anything as the waitress happily takes the order down on her own pad.
“Is that all?” She asks, to which Alexei nods.
“For now. We may be here a while, though. We are feasting for a victory well-earned.”
“Of course.” The waitress says before gathering the extra menus, and trotting off.
The moment she’s out of earshot, Ava sneers at Alexei, “Why did you order for me? I just said that I’m leaving, so don’t—“”
“Where will you go?” Yelena cuts in.
Ava falters. Sputters. “I… back. To my place. I’m not homeless .”
“And then what?” Yelena continues, a quiet challenge in her eyes, “Val’s gone. No more missions. No more fighting. What do you plan to do without it?”
Something snaps, and Ava steps back rigidly, hands shaky, “Whatever the hell I want! I don’t have to be here. I don’t work for anyone, I’m not anyone’s tool, and I certainly don’t need the likes of any of you —“
“ Okay .” Bucky mutters as he stands in the middle of the tirade, taking two strides to get to Ava.
“— and I— wha—!” He promptly scruffs Ava by the back of her hoodie, drags her to the table, and plops her down on the seat he was in.
She sits there, stunned. The rest of the team looks dumbfounded, too, blinking at her. Then to Bucky.
Bucky nods, “We’re ordering vodka.”
That breaks Walker out of his stupor, scrunching his nose, “Dude. Half of us can’t even get drunk.”
Oh, right. Shitty enhancements. Bucky thinks about it.
“Two vodkas, then.” He says, and turns on his heel to go order at the bar.
By the time he gets back, the table has settled into awkward silence, staring pointedly away from one another. Children . They’re actually children.
The vodkas get set around them, and Bucky takes the seat next to Bob, who smiles at Bucky. He still looks painfully lost. Lost Bob.
Yelena stares down at her glass, a little amused, “Can I at least ask why vodka?”
“It’s good.” Bucky says simple as he knocks back the first glass. Alexei lets out a low whistle, impressed. It burns in Bucky’s chest for about four second before the sensations all but disappear. Fuck Hydra.
Yelena watches him for a moment, before she turns her eyes to her glass. She picks it up and downs it. Her face scrunches up, but she doesn’t cough or flinch.
“That,” Yelena mutters, “Was not good.”
Alexei booms with laughter, grabbing his glass and downing it easily. Walker follows, though he only gets halfway before he shakes his head and puts it back down, muttering a ‘yeah, no thanks.’
Bob marvels at the drink for a moment, as if he’s entranced by it. He picks it up, almost hesitantly, and takes a sip. He waits. Then, he puts it back down, and for some reason, that seems to entrance him, too.
They all look at Ava.
Her mask stares down at the drink. Her finger taps the edge of the glass, restless.
She repeats, “I don’t have to be here.”
This time, it sounds like she’s trying to convince herself.
And— Bucky gets it, he thinks. He thinks about his first days in Wakanda. How it was fine, going there, when Steve told him they were going help Bucky. That they wanted to heal him. But the moment he actually got there, and they told him he couldn’t leave until they were done— for his own safety, and everyone else’s— everything changed. Like a flip had been switched in his brain, the change of “you can get help” to “you need help, and you can’t leave until you get it” made him short circuit. Those first couple of weeks were awful. Both for him, and the wakandans trying to wrestle a foreign super soldier into medical attention.
Maybe, that’s what Ava is feeling, now. He knows a little bit about Ghost. She was part of SHIELD for a long time, after all. He wonders how long she’s been going from one dictator to the next. She just got free, and now, it feels like they’ve trapped her in the same cage all over again.
Bucky gets it. He really does.
So, he acquiesces, “You don’t have to be here.”
Ava’s mask snaps up to him, “I… what?”
Bucky rolls his eyes. Picks up the second glass.
“You can walk through walls ,” He mutters, then downs the drink. It burns. He sets the glass down. “You don’t have to be anywhere .”
Ava stares at him. The waitress comes back, and sets down bowls of bright red soup. Ava continues to stare. Only when everyone’s served— watching Ava, as if whatever she’s about to say will be some sort of final verdict— do her shoulders start to go down.
She looks down at the drink. Then, “Fine.”
Everyone brightens a little, so she adds hastily, “Only— because I’m hungry. I can leave whenever I want to.”
She looks back at Bucky, as if for confirmation. Bucky just shrugs and picks up his spoon. It seems to be enough of a confirmation for her.
“Okay.” Ava says, quietly, “Okay.”
Her mask pulls back, finally, and she downs the vodka. Everyone cheers, for some reason. They’re sound pollution in this poor diner, but nobody seems to mind or care, considering they’re the only ones there. Alexei immediately digs into his food, explaining some story about his childhood and his grandmother’s borscht recipe, and Yelena only groans twice in between it. Walker actually ends up liking the taste, even though he doesn’t admit it. Bob is done with his bowl in seconds, and asks for more, which makes the whole table laugh. Even Bucky’s mouth twitches upwards.
Ava grows more relaxed as the night goes on, and she finishes her bowl, too. He can tell that the conversation isn’t over. She brought up some good points, after all, about their pasts. There was no doubt the public would be just waiting to latch onto any reason to denounce them, especially when they were being compared to the Avengers. To people like Tony, Thor, Bruce. To people like Steve Rogers.
(They were nothing like him. There was nobody quite like Steve Rogers at all.)
But tonight, they didn’t bother trying to figure it all out. They drank vodka and ate Russian food and bickered about inconsequential shit because New York nearly got swallowed whole by a dark blob of depression and, godammit, they earned this. If they wanted, they could go for a third round of vodka and there wouldn’t be a soul who stopped them.
Bucky didn’t know about Ava, but that sounded pretty freeing to him.