Percy let the door swing shut again quietly behind him, taking a few tentative steps towards Bucky until he was standing barely a metre away from him. His eyes flickered over his face, drinking the sight of him in, while the other supersoldier did the same, the two of them looking shocked, yet in awe of the sudden appearance of the other. The familiarity and gentle recognition left the silence comfortable rather than tense however.

"So you-" Percy blurted out, at the same time James started off with,

"How did you-" They both stopped, sharing matching, nervous smiles. "You go first." He finally prompted gently.

Percy licked his lips, not tearing his eyes away for one moment. "Have you been hiding here the whole time?" He continued slowly. When Bucky nodded his confirmation, he carded his fingers through his hair, exhaling deeply. He should've known. After everything that had gone down because of the Accords and the UN bombing... Then again, who would've expected him to take refuge in a country where he had been the number one suspect in the killing their king?

"I've been in cryo since Steve found me." He explained.

He blanched at that, feeling the colour drain from his face and his eyes widen. "What?" He asked, unable to keep the incredulous tone from his voice.

His face softened and he gave him an attempt at a reassuring smile. "It was my choice, don't worry."

"You-Why?" His eyebrows drew together in a plainly stunned expression.

"You know what it's like." His smile turned sadder. "Having your will stripped from you entirely. Turned into a weapon when only a few words are spoken. Used without a second thought by people who don't care about anything except end results. You know how it feels." Percy's eyes dropped at that, hands tugging at the sleeves of his hoodie anxiously. "So you understand why I wanted them to keep me under. To keep them safe. At least until they found a way to undo my training."

Percy paused at that, mind whirring with thought. He understood, he did. But still, cryo of all things? He could remember how horrible, how terrifying going under had been each time. And he did it willingly? "Wait-if you're out of cryo now, then does that mean-"

"I don't know." He said, shoulders shrugging half heartedly. "They didn't tell me anything about it just yet... But we can hope, right?" They both went quiet for a little while again, Percy lost in his thoughts. If they had somehow found out how to reverse the brainwashing, did that mean it could maybe help him too? "I believe it's my turn."

"Oh right, right, of course."

"How did you get here of all places?"

Percy hesitated at that. "It's... It's a long story."

"I've been in cryo for who knows how long. I think I've got the time."

It was... weird how easygoing and gentle James was being. The lines of tension that always stretched across his shoulders had disappeared, and the hard scowl that usually marred his face was replaced by soft smiles and barely visible laughter lines. It was kind of bizarre, but he actually enjoyed seeing him like this. Seeing him so at peace, not fighting for his life or as an emotionless soldier. He liked the sight of his ex-mentor being happy.

"I guess... It started with S.H.I.E.L.D-or Hydra-hell, I don't even know anymore. But they sent Tony Stark after me." A troubled frown settled on the Winter Soldier's face, but he didn't interrupt him. "He and a group of soldiers broke into my apartment one night, so I obviously fled and bumped into Wanda on the way. Uhm... Quite a lot of things happened after that, and she ended up helping me escape from Stark. She and the others brought me here and Steve told me that I'm apparently under their protection now."

Bucky was quiet for a while longer, looking surprisingly distant. "Do they know?" He finally made eye contact with him again. "About your past?"

He hesitated, before shaking his head. "No." He admitted quietly, before his voice became a bit faster and almost frantic. "But please, please don't tell any of them. They can't know. If they find out about me-"

"Perseus, don't worry. I won't tell them anything you don't want me to. We all have secrets we're scared of sharing." He reached his hand out and lay it on his shoulder gently, jangling the clear pipe that attached the drip to his wrist slightly. "I've got your back." His head tilted to the side slightly and a tiny smile tugged at his lips. "Just like I used to."

Percy pulled a face at that. "Well, maybe not exactly like you used to, because we were both kind of murder-y back then." That managed to pull a soft laugh out of Bucky, a sweet sound that shocked him to his very core.

That was the first time he'd ever heard him laugh.

It was such a stark difference from how he used to know him.

Percy quickly wiped his forehead with the back of his hand to keep the perspiration from falling in his eyes, before returning it to its defensive position in front of him. He took a step back as his mentor took a threatening step towards him, matching his footing almost precisely. His arms ached from the beating of the previous match that they had endured and he felt ready to drop at any given moment.

He dodged to the side at the fist that suddenly flew at him, a glint of silver his only warning as the second arm came at him. He leaned back and tried to retreat, but a knee stopped him from doing so, slamming into his stomach and causing him to double over momentarily. How the hell was a man James's size able to move so quickly?

He threw his body to the side just in time to narrowly avoid another devastating blow, rolling over his shoulders to land on his feet and stand up again. Without giving him any time to recover or prepare for the second onslaught of attacks, James rammed his foot into his chest in a perfect high kick, sending him staggering backwards with a choked gasp. He barely managed to regain his footing before another punch cane flying at his face.

This time he was better prepared.

Instead of retreating, he lunged towards him, ducking his head to avoid his arm. He grabbed a strong handful of Bucky's shirt and yanked it forwards and down as hard as he could. Not expecting it, his mentor continued forward, unable to stop in time, as Percy jumped up, wrapping a leg over his shoulder and the other under his outstretched arm. In one smooth movement he brought his other leg up as well and locked his ankles together, twisted his body and threw himself backwards as forcefully as he could, tucking his chin against his chest and holding his arms protectively over his head as he did. The momentum all combined sent Bucky rolling over Percy and slamming back first into the floor with a resounding thud. Quite a good flying triangle maneuver, if he was being honest with himself. Bucky seemed too stunned at the sudden position change and he used those precious few seconds to his advantage.

Before allowing him to recover, Percy tightened his legs together, putting as much pressure as he possibly could on Bucky's neck, trying to cut off the blood flow as quickly as possible. He knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer.

He gritted his teeth with the strain when Bucky started pushing against his leg with his arm, feeling his limbs start to tremble with exertion as he fought against the much stronger man to keep his hold. He used his hands to hold his locked legs down for more support, but to his tired despair, he couldn't keep his metallic arm from slowly starting to pry itself loose. He could feel his jaw crack at how tight he was clenching it, trying his damned hardest to keep holding on.

Bucky managed to free his bionic arm and, like a zombie rising from the grave, he slowly started pushing himself upwards, forcing Percy up with him and twisting his body awkwardly as they struggled against one another. He flipped the both of them over, and with one hand started pushing himself to his feet, bringing Percy along with him-who was still refusing to let go. Although he struggled initially to account for the added weight and cut off air supply, he still managed to stand up entirely again. In the different position he quickly moved his arms to instead press against Bucky's head, both to keep his balance and hopefully make the process go quicker. After all, the fight would only end when the one of them was unconscious. That was the rule.

'Come on, god dammit!' Percy snarled internally. 'Just go down already!'

Bucky reached his hand back and grabbed him tightly by the shoulder. Percy cringed and squirmed slightly under the painful hold, but didn't shift his legs or arms even slightly. The fingers clenched against him hard enough that he thought his collarbone might actually crack under the pressure. He knew he wouldn't be able to escape now.

But what was the Soldier-

Oh.

Oh no.

Before he knew what was happening, his back slammed into the ground, followed barely a millisecond later by his head cracking against the floor. Stars danced across his vision and his breath exploded from his lungs. But still, he clung onto his hold like a koala to a tree. Bucky got to his feet again, this time a bit quicker, then repeated his actions, allowing himself to drop to the ground with Percy practically cushioning his fall.

The second time around he was forced to let go of his hold, legs accidentally loosening and arms dropping slightly at the sharp pain that exploded through his back and chest. Bucky forced his head free and let go of his shoulder, ripping himself out of his hold and slowly standing up.

Percy lay on the floor for a second or two longer, simply trying get the air back in his lungs. Through the black spots in his eyes he saw a punch coming his way. Forcing himself to ignore the pain for now, he rolled to the side as quickly as he could, narrowly missing the metallic fist that slammed into the ground where his head had just been not a moment ago.

He scrambled to his feet and brought his arms up protectively, falling into a defensive stance. His breath wheezed every time he inhaled and exhaled, and his chest burned like he was breathing liquid fire. He couldn't tell if he had a broken rib or if they were just bruised. He prayed it was the latter.

Percy watched, dread in his stomach, as the Winter Soldier approached him slowly, with all the predatory appearance of a wildcat circling its prey. He tried to get a kick to the chest in, but Bucky blocked it easily, retaliating with a few quick punches. He caught the blows on his trembling arms, knowing that later he would have some nasty bruises everywhere.

He lowered his arms slightly to block a strong kick from his opponent, but didn't manage to bring them up again in time for his mentor's metal hand to shoot out and grasp at his throat. He lurched his arm forward, causing him to trip backwards and slam into the ground once again, his sides twinging with the now familiar pain. He clutched and gasped desperately for a breath that he couldn't quite reach, scrabbling with shaky fingers at the metal hand that had his neck in a death squeeze.

He struggled against him, but it only resulted in the fingers tightening their grip and getting a strangled groan out of his abused throat. Through blurry eyes he could see his mentor's face staring down blankly from above him, darkened eyes already claiming the match as a victory.

He couldn't breathe.

He couldn't breathe.

With his teeth gritted, he started moving his body. He placed a foot against Bucky's chest, who didn't seem to think it was worth the effort to push off, followed by the other. With the last of his strength and energy, he thrust his legs upwards, propelling the supersoldier backwards and forcing the killer grip to rip away from his neck in an admittedly painful move.

He immediately gulped in a greedy breath of much needed air, a strangled cough followed quickly by the sudden rush of air in his chest again. He rolled over onto his side, body going limp and trembling uncontrollably.

He couldn't do this anymore.

He didn't care about the fight, he didn't care that his handler was probably going to punish him severely for this, he just couldn't go on any longer.

At the sound of steps approaching him warily, obviously confused as to why he wasn't getting up, he turned his head to look tiredly over his shoulder at his mentor. "Please," He croaked out, eyes glassy with pain and voice raspy and hoarse. "I can't do this."

For a moment a flicker of doubt passed over his face, eyebrows twitching as if he was going to frown, but a sharp voice caused his expression to fall blank again.

"You know the rules. Finish him."

The last thing he remembered was a fist coming at his face without hesitation.

"Perseus?" A voice pulled him out of his thoughts, green eyes coming back into focus from where he had previously been looking into space. He automatically wiped at his nose with a hand and looked towards Bucky. He found a concerned expression staring back at him, a silent question being asked.

"Sorry, I'm all right." He responded, forcing a reassuring smile onto his face.

"You sure?" He prompted gently, eyes soft with compassion. Again he was struck by how weird it was to see him like this. Like seeing a bear caring for its cub. Almost sweet in a way.

Percy didn't know how to feel under that gaze of his, but he nodded anyway. "Yeah. It's just... Memories." He explained vaguely. James seemed to understand immediately though, lips tilting downwards slightly with a sad sort of recognition.

"I know that our relationship has been... difficult in the past, I guess. But... I hope that we can fix that." A hopeful gleam entered his eyes as he looked up at him. Percy could only blink for a few moments, not quite believing what he was hearing. The man that he had once killed with. Killed for wanted to make things right. The only person he had ever felt a semblance of closeness towards for years before they had been forced apart because they were both becoming 'compromised'.

"I..." He swallowed, hating how small his voice was. "I'd really like that."

A smile brightened the other man's face, one that felt too contagious to not smile back at, even if his own was minute in comparison. He held out his good hand towards him. "Let's start over then. My name is James Buchanan Barnes, but you can call me Bucky." He introduced himself.

He stared at the limb with slight hesitance. This was the hand that had bruised him during training. The hand that had helped him up when he was down. The hand that protected him when he needed it. He took it in his own, shaking it as he looked up again, eyes meeting again. "I'm Percy. Percy Jackson."

He jerked away at the sound of a door opening, looking up to see a young woman enter the room, looking down at a thin, I-pad looking device in her hands. Panic thrummed through his veins and he shared a worried look with Bucky, but he only gave him a reassuring look in response. He tensed, looking like a deer caught in the headlights when she finally noticed him. Confusion clouded over her expression and she looked between the two of them slowly, eyes narrowing.

"Another coloniser I have to take care of?" She sighed heavily, but she didn't actually look very frustrated.

"Ah, no, I-" He paused, her words finally catching up to him. "Wait what?"

"Hmm?" She turned to Bucky in question instead, setting the electronic down onto an empty bed and crossing her arms over her chest. Despite being surprised at her sudden appearances, she didn't look in the least bit intimidating. Just the childishly irritated expression on her face was enough to make him relax a bit.

"This is Percy." He introduced for him, looking more amused than anything else by the confusion on his face. "He got lost and found himself in here." He put in. "Percy, this is Shuri. T'Challa's younger sister." Percy started at the hand that flew out and swatted the back of Bucky's head like she was chastising a particularly cheeky kid.

"Hey! You sibling-less people don't understand what it's like to be introduced as 'his sister' or whatever." She huffed, glaring at the Winter Soldier with an obviously fake heat in her eyes. "It's a dishonour on me, a dishonour on my family, and a dishonour on my cow."

Bucky seemed to find himself at a loss for words, much like himself. "Again," He started, catching the princess's attention. "What?"

A groan escaped her and she tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling, looking as though they had let her down immensely. "Why have none of you watched Mulan? What's this world coming to?"

'Mulan?' Percy mouthed to Bucky, who just shrugged in response, neither of them knowing what on earth she was talking about.

She seemed to let it go pretty quickly however with a single eye roll. "You're so disappointing, both of you. Mulan is one of the best Disney movies and no one can convince me otherwise."

"All... Right." He responded uncertainly, making it sound more like a question than anything else though.

"Ugh, just drop it." She huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "It's a pleasure to meet you Percy, and all that bla bla boring pleasantries." For being a princess, she didn't exactly act like one. Not that he was judging, of course. It was... Weirdly refreshing to see someone act so casual and at ease around him. In fact, it had been happening more and more lately, for some reason. First Wanda, then Steve, T'Challa and Bucky, and now Shuri. A domino effect of sorts. One that he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. "Now shoo, I've gotta check everything's all right with old man Barnes over here and I need some space."

A smile tugged at his lips, knowing that there was no bite to her words. "Old man Barnes, huh?" He commented, ignoring the half hearted glare that the other man sent to him.

"Don’t you dare." He said, a slight hint of amusement edged his words, so he couldn't really take him seriously.

"Yeah yeah." He was about to leave the room when the door burst open suddenly, a frantic looking Steve barging in without any warning. Almost immediately he and Bucky locked eyes. Both of their expressions changed in an instant before his very eyes, into something that he didn't quite recognise.

"Buck." Steve's voice was softer than he had ever heard it-not that he'd known him for very long anyway-and his lips tilted up into a clearly affectionate smile. Relief filled his expression.

"Stevie." His mentor responded just as gently, eyes never leaving his. Percy slowly looked between the two of them in turns, his thoughts clouding over with unveiled confusion.

“How are you feeling?”

He watched their exchange curiously, noting the almost... tense feeling that flickered between them. If that was even the right way to describe the thick atmosphere in the room. It was... Weird, and he didn't quite understand it. He looked between the two of them slowly, taking in everything about them, trying to get a read on them. Anything to figure out a clue. It dawned on him.

Oh.

Oh.

His eyes widened and his eyebrows rose up, looking towards Shuri for confirmation on his theory. By the way she sent him an amused, if not exasperated grin, he knew he was right.

'Well I'll be damned.' He mused, taking in Shuri's eye roll with an amused smile. He simply decided to take his leave, if only to give them some space, and saluted lazily to the princess, who mimicked him lazily in response. He slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him. He wasn't entirely sure what to think about it. But he did know that he was glad. His ex-mentor deserved to be happy. And it was clear that Steve made him just that. It was rather funny to watch, actually. But, he wouldn't say anything to anyone, just in case. Although it was doubtful that there were people that didn't know.

But all in all, the whole meeting went... Well. Better than he had expected, honestly. He felt much lighter after the rather successful morning that he had had, despite his terrible night. He had... Allies? Yeah, he could call them allies. He had allies now. People who would help him. He hadn't had that since he was still under the control of Hydra. SHIELD. Whatever. And even then, they were just people who were making sure that one of their most successful assets didn't die. Nothing more, nothing less.

"There you are." He jolted slightly at the sound of Wanda's voice, glancing over his shoulder to see her walking towards him. Her hair looked a bit dishevelled and she had an almost glazed look in her eyes. Obviously not fully awake yet. He didn't really think about how she had found him, it wasn't important at that moment. "T'Challa told me you'd probably be wandering around somewhere."

"Yeah, I got a bit lost." He said, stopping in his place to wait for her to catch up to him. It wasn't really a lie, so he didn't quite feel guilty about it.

"I kinda gathered." She smiled, amusement edging her words. "Have you had breakfast?"

"I have. What about you?"

"No, not yet."

"Well then, let's go." He prompted her gently. "But you have to lead the way, I don't exactly know where to go."

"Right, of course," She nodded, reaching a hand up to wipe her eyes. "Come on." He followed her when she started walking again, slowing his pace down so that he remained at her side. Silence fell over the two of them like a blanket, the only sound being the quiet clicking of their shoes against the smooth tiled floor.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Percy finally broke it. She raised an eyebrow in response. He knew she meant for him to continue with that tiny gesture. "Why weren't you with the others? When we bumped into each other, I mean. Steve mentioned that he had been looking for you too."

She went quiet for a while at that. So much so that he wasn't sure if he was actually going to get a response. He was resigning himself to the fact that they were going to remain in silence, when she finally spoke up again. "I was going to meet someone." She said quietly. He glanced over at her curiously. Meeting someone? "I… We had planned on meeting after a mission. The others knew about it, and they let me go, of course. I wasn't going to lie about it. I just wasn't supposed to be gone for as long as I was." He almost winced, knowing that that had been his fault. He was to blame for making her teammates worry about her. "I'm just glad they found us when they did."

"Yeah." He breathed out, absentmindedly carding his fingers through his hair. He'd been in such a blind panic that he'd done something so incredibly stupid. But... It was because of that that all of this was happening right now. He wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. On the one hand, he'd gotten to see Bucky again and meet Captain America, which the inner child in him-despite being killed long, long ago-was chuffed about. But on the other hand, he knew that he was in much more danger than usual. Or rather, his current usual. He still had to find out why exactly people were after him suddenly. It had been almost two years since the last attempt from SHIELD or Hydra or whoever. He had thought that he had finally lost them. That he could live a normal life from then on. But, fate was a cruel thing. He'd learnt that the hard way.

He almost jumped at the harsh vibration that travelled through his leg. Immediately embarrassment followed through at how easily he got frightened, a sheepish smile flickering over his face when Wanda looked at him curiously. He fished out the phone in his pocket, not even remembering when he had put it in there. He must've been far too distracted. Well, no wonder. His morning had been terrible. But, a better question pushed to the front of his thoughts.

How the hell did someone have this number?

It was his burner phone. Used only in emergencies and for numbers that he alone knew. For connections, people that he had used to know. So who would have this number? Who would know it? It sent a chill down his spine, dread unfurling inside of him. The number that was shown on the otherwise very bland and old looking phone was one that he didn't even know.

"What's wrong?" He didn't look at Wanda as she spoke, but he knew his expression must've betrayed his unease.

"I don't know yet." He answered honestly. He pressed his thumb down on the answer button, hesitantly putting the device up to his ear. He paused for a moment, hearing only heavy breathing on the other line for a while. "Hello?" He asked slowly.

"Percy?" Relief washed over him. He knew the voice. It was Nico's boyfriend, Will Solace. He'd met the blond a few times before-got along with him even, despite being Nico's ex. He was just such an easy going, friendly guy that you couldn't help but like him.

"Will?"

A wheezing sound came from the other end, followed by a soft sob as the usually level headed man stumbled for words. "Percy, oh thank god I got through to you." A tinge of fear and panic came across when he spoke. Like he was in pain or frantic about something. That, along with the fact that he would never call Percy if it wasn't an emergency, set him on edge completely. Something was wrong. Something must've happened, especially if Nico wasn't even the one to contact him.

"Will, what's wrong?" He asked, trying to keep himself sounding reassuring rather than commanding.

"It's-It's Nico." He sucked in a breath audibly, voice shaking.

His heart came to a shuddering halt in his ribcage. "What about Nico?" He demanded.

"They've got him, Percy. They've got him."