Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

I loved the first Iron Man.

That’s where I begin.

Or maybe I begin with a love of Spiderman, the X-Men and Batman, comics and superheros in general; glued to the Saturday morning cartoons and playing at being the characters in the playground at school during breaks.

But where I begin with the MCU is at the beginning with Iron Man.

What I loved (and still love) is the combination of RDJ and the character of Tony Stark – that moment of truly perfect casting, a simple but effective comic book origin story played out on screen, and the beginning of the MCU – the movie innovation which would change cinematic experience.

I was hooked, delved into the original source material, and became even more of a fan, and so I’ve followed the MCU through all its phases as it builds to what will be the final act in this phase for the Avengers.

However, apart from a small Pepper fic where the bunny burrowed into my mind after re-watching Iron Man, I hadn’t really been interested in writing for the universe.

Until Captain America: Civil War.

I began playing with a couple of plots, and started writing From A to Z back then. Real life got very busy and I stopped. But then I rewatched the MCU in the run-up to Thor: Ragnarok. Trailers started to come out and the muse was tickled again. But it was sporadic, partially because real life happened again.

So when I ended up off work sick earlier in March and the second trailer came out, I figured what the heck, went back through, dumped some sections which no longer fit thanks to the trailers and rewrote parts of the story to reflect the latest information, and finally posted it as I figured I should get it out there before Infinity War comes along and basically makes a nonsense of what I’d thought up.

Storyline and Writing Choices

From A to Z effectively started off life trying to answer the question, ‘what if the battle with Thanos was so bad that Strange sends Tony back in time with the Eye?’

This posed two further questions – how did things end up so badly in the first timeline, and what does Tony change to make a difference in the second? I figured I was going to focus on the second question, revealing the first through Tony’s POV as he goes through the timeline. And it had to be Tony’s POV as he was the only character travelling in time.

So I wrote the first scene of the story – the transition from the first timeline to the second right away and it just streamed into my head in the present tense. The next scene I wrote was the first Plan Z section – Tony waking up in the cave again just as I planned, and his realisation that they’d used the last resort – Strange’s plan Z.  

But the first question wouldn’t go away – how had it gotten to that point? And that comes down to the fallout of the Civil War. So I wrote the first Plan A. And then realised I wanted to play with that concept more.

That was when it crystalized for me that this was going to be a tale of two timelines: Plan A, the original timeline from the fallout of the Civil War to the moment Tony goes back in time, and Plan Z, the second timeline where Tony’s changes make the difference and allow for the happy ending.

I knew then I was going to alternate between the storylines until the full story unfolded. I knew I’d have to be disciplined to keep the sections snapshots as each could have been a full length story of its own, and I also knew I wanted to play with tense – past for A which was the previous timeline and present for Z which was the second.

Lastly, I moved Plan A to before Plan Z – and got my title for the story at the same time.

Themes and Plotting Decisions

The plot of Plan A had to effectively do two things; deal with the fallout of Civil War, and have things go badly against Thanos so the time stone is used

The plot of Plan Z on the other hand has one objective; show how the timeline changes make a difference to ensure victory against Thanos.

However there were some common threads through both.

What follows is part meta on the film Civil War and part commentary on the fic; skip to the ‘what does this mean’ bits through section 1 if you’re only interested in the commentary and then onto the rest of the indented bolded sections…

• Civil War vs Ensuring no Civil War

 There are two factors in why the movie Civil War happens IMO: firstly, the introduction of the Accords and their potential consequences, and secondly (and much more importantly) the relationships within the team.

Accords, Oversight and Political Differences: Steve and Tony

The movie attempts to duplicate the main plot points of the comic story, however, for me, while the legislation is the conflict in the comics, the Accords are not the real point of conflict in the movie. Namely, while they do set Steve and Tony up in opposition to each other on a political front, essentially they are not the fundamental issue between the two characters, as both of them at various times in the movie concede to the other’s viewpoint on the Accords.

The proposed Accords in the movie are presented as ‘you’ve done a lot of damage along with the good, 117 countries are not happy and want you under more formal oversight of a UN panel, and if you don’t want to sign up to that, you’re retired.’ On the face of it, it’s not wildly unreasonable or problematic especially as the Avengers have done damage, and to not listen to the concern and do something to address that would correctly be perceived as arrogance (a point Rhodey makes in the movie discussion to both Sam and Steve).

Further, if you assume only the movie canon at the point of the Avengers’ discussion and set aside any previous knowledge of the comics, the Accords are just an international agreement under the auspice of the UN where oversight of the Avengers by a UN panel is the central change, and retirement is an option if someone is not prepared to sign. There is the potential for the Accords to be worse than what’s on the table, but at the point of the Avengers’ Accords discussion at the Compound, it’s not the reality.  

The argument against them in the movie is also not unreasonable. Steve is against not having the control over where they go and what missions they can take given to someone else, and more than that, he’s against having anyone else in control of the Avengers full stop. He worries that in conceding now, the end result will be the worst-case scenario; registration, forced service, imprisonment. This ultimately is why the ‘safest hands are our own’ statement is a good summary of Steve’s anti-Accords stance.

Both Tony and Steve do acknowledge the other’s position on the Accords at various points in the movie: Tony agrees to additional safeguards being added, he negotiates with visible frustration with Ross and baulks against Ross’ control, and he ultimately doesn’t allow the rules of the Accords to stop him from going to help Steve when there is evidence of a potential crisis which takes precedence. Equally, Steve almost signs with the assurance of safeguards until the news of Wanda’s confinement seems to prove to him that he’s right to not trust the intent of the Accords at all.

Now I don’t deny that through the course of the movie, the Accords become problematic and unreasonable as Ross begins to direct the Avengers who have signed, threatening shoot-to-kill orders, setting unreasonable deadlines, imprisoning Team Cap in the RAFT with Wanda treated inhumanely, ignoring Tony’s evidence and generally proving Steve’s expressed fears around being controlled and used for questionable agendas.

But logically if you accept the premise that the Avengers are meant to be under a UN panel and not reporting directly to Ross himself, the problem is Ross; the Accords themselves if separated from Ross are not. (It’s a bit of a plot flaw in the movie. Why exactly is Ross in the mix and directing things here as in reality the US Secretary of State and a UN panel are very different things.)

However, if Ross is proving Steve’s side of the argument, Steve is proving the pro-Accords side; Steve’s actions in going for Bucky, in keeping Bucky out of custody, in going after the rest of the Winter Soldiers and fighting his former team-mates…all of these actions cause damage without Steve operating under any kind of legal authority and with an internal arrogance that his actions are right therefore if there is collateral damage, that’s OK.

Which is why I end up on Team Iron Man in regards to the Accords, although I acknowledge Tony does make mistakes (his decision on Wanda without involving her in the choice, and his impatience which leads him not to listen to Steve about the frame-up at the airport). But his mistakes for me come from a good place; he’s trying to do the right thing, but he’s caught between an illegal authority using the Accords for their own purposes (Ross) and the actions of Steve and co which do nothing to allay fears.

Admittedly though if someone assumes Accords is equal to SHRA, and that Ross has authority under the Accords (which I accept are both equally valid interpretations to mine) I can very much understand Team Cap’s position, and why Tony in essence ends up painted as an enemy collaborator who is wrong, wrong, wrong to ever accept the Accords or work with Ross.

What does this mean for From A to Z?

I essentially state my interpretation of the Accords in the early sections; oversight taken as a singular concept is not an unreasonable idea, Ross’ actions show there is a valid concern about misuse, and Steve’s actions make a mockery of his ‘safest hands’ position – and Tony is left not in agreement with Ross but equally not fully in Steve’s corner either.

In Plan A, Tony’s inner debate as he contemplates Steve’s letter effectively sets this out, and this flows through to the press conference, and the discussion with Fury in the next section.

In Plan Z, Tony takes the idea of getting out in front of the oversight issue to prevent a worse case scenario, and runs with it; he puts it in place immediately and so the Accords themselves become a non-issue in the main.

The Accords; Other Characters

Vision and Rhodey both speak to their motivations in the discussion; logic and a want to listen to 117 countries and respond to the concern they’ve expressed.

Natasha is pretty open about her motivation in the movie: she wants a hand on the wheel so she can prevent something worse being forced on them, and she wants to keep the team together. In essence it’s not about the Accords themselves for Nat; she sees the political environment behind them and is trying to manipulate that in the team’s favour. But when she realises that Steve is not going to move from his position, she determines she and Tony will need to move theirs, and effectively changes sides, getting annoyed with Tony when he won’t seem to do the same.

Sam also speaks to his motivation; the fear of being controlled and placing loyalty to the team and Steve above loyalty to another authority. He does challenge Steve occasionally through the movie but ultimately his stance is Steve’s.

Wanda is conflicted about the Accords because of her role in Lagos and the ‘stay at home’ confinement which Tony puts in place and which Vision effectively enforces. It’s the introduction of Clint, his ‘Cap needs you so get off your ass and help’ (a succinct call-back thematically to the discussion they have in Ultron) and Vision’s actions to restrain Clint and to take away her choice, which effectively tip Wanda into a decision. Her decision to move forward is effectively a rebellion against the principle of the Accords and the constraints it places on her freedom.

Clint, on the other hand, states to Natasha that he won’t sign because he’s retired (as Nat tells Steve). He expresses no view explicitly on the Accords themselves, but his actions speak to having a problem with the Accords where they hamstring the team from helping; he gets the help Cap needs to stop the other winter soldiers and goes to help himself. At the RAFT, he’s angry at Tony for not seeing that the RAFT, the imprisonment of those who acted outside of the Accords, was a possible outcome.

As for Scott, he seems only interested in the thrill of helping Captain America save the world and his background default is to not worry about the illegality of his actions (he is a thief after all even if his thievery is done with the best of intentions).

Scott’s mirror is Peter, he is only interested in the thrill of helping Iron Man which trumps any concern he has about getting involved.

T’Challa effectively ignores the Accords to pursue his vengeance despite his father being one of the proponents of their introduction; he only signs them when cornered and continues to ignore them.

And Bucky? He’s simply trying to survive.

What does this mean for From A to Z?

Vision and Rhodey continue to support the Accords in Plan A but also support Tony’s challenge on the misuse of them. Rhodey helps Tony set up the oversight in Plan Z.  Indeed the Accords doesn’t exist in Plan Z as oversight becomes essentially a non-issue until the SHRA – but here Tony knows they need to tackle it as a team.

In terms of the SHIELD spies in Plan A, Natasha and Clint…well, in one of the other plots I had been playing around with before From A to Z, Fury was still effectively directing Clint and Natasha as former assets – it came out of the fact that both Nat and Clint effectively make statements about watching backs to Tony and there was a similarity there that nudged my muse bunny and questioned what if the statements were more than coincidence. I took this basic premise – Fury, Natasha and Clint being in cahoots behind the scenes and ran with it for Plan A.

So, when Tony effectively sorts out the Accords, the misuses by Ross, and gets Ross out of the way in Plan A, essentially giving way to Steve’s side of the argument on these things, there is no reason (given I believe Clint is bothered about not being able to help/potential misuse and Nat just wants whichever way keeps them together best), for Clint and Natasha not to come back to the team.

There’s also no reason for Wanda not to come back either but Wanda suffers the most at the RAFT and Plan A had to deal with her coming to terms. Sending her to the X-Men seemed a good call-back to the comics while also enabling Wanda to heal and mentally begin to see Tony and his actions as not malicious but as in line with his stated motivation for keeping her in the compound; protection.

As for the others; Sam is still very much on Steve’s side in Plan A. Scott does not really play a big part but continues his anti-Stark pro-Cap sentiment. Peter continues his decision through from Homecoming to stay local with some help from Tony and the Avengers, until the threat of Thanos becomes too great. T’Challa continues with his own way of dealing with the Accords and oversight through Plan A and Plan Z. Bucky is for the most part isn’t bothered about the Accords themselves in Plan A – he’s recovering in Wakanda and chooses to stay there.

Civil War and the relationships between the team: Bucky, Steve and Tony

I did say that I don’t think the Accords are actually the real focus of conflict in Civil War, and that the second factor – the relationships between the team are much more important. The central relationships are of course between Steve and Bucky, and Tony and Steve so we’ll start there.

In my opinion, the movies have never been able to establish the depth of friendship between Tony and Steve that the comics encapsulate. Part of that is the adversarial nature of their relationship set up from the get-go in Avengers Assemble. The absence of their characters in Iron Man 3 and CA:TWS beyond a couple of throwaway mentions (which ultimately was a creative/business decision) increases the perception they are not friends per se.

While Age of Ultron then opens with the assumption that the team has come together since CA:TWS, it is pretty clear that there is a chasm between Steve and Tony which has its pinnacle when Steve accepts the view of an enemy agent, Wanda, about Tony, and effectively attacks Tony. The ending of the film has them in a friendlier place, but still I don’t walk away from Age of Ultron thinking Steve and Tony are close friends. It’s not a surprise at all for me as a viewer that they end up on opposite sides in respect of the Accords.

In contrast, the other relationship of Steve and Bucky, (which apart from Steve’s drive to fight against evil), is the entire arc of the Captain America films. Steve’s devotion to Bucky and the importance of Bucky and his friendship to Steve is consistent throughout the films.

And this is why the real conflict of Civil War in respect of Tony and Steve is Steve’s decision to protect Bucky, and not reveal to Tony that the Winter Soldier was very likely behind the deaths of Tony’s parents.

Does Tony respond badly? Well, yes. But how is he meant to respond in that moment? He has a man who criticised him for keeping secrets revealed to have kept a secret personally relevant to Tony for years; he’s standing in the room with his parents’ murderer who he has just seen murder his parents in a brutal way. Anger, hurt, the want to strike out is not an unexpected response in the heat of the moment. Steve’s response to try and stop Tony from killing Bucky (and equally for Bucky to defend Steve) is also equally understandable and consistent. Are they ultimately all at fault for the fight and take the fight too far? Yes.

But just as with my interpretation of the Accords, my sympathies end up with Tony. If Steve had not kept his knowledge and his suspicion of the murder of Tony’s parents to himself, the outcome in Siberia would likely have been very different. Tony would have had time to come to terms with it all and would not have felt personally betrayed in that moment. Also, in the exchange during their fight when Steve appeals to Tony with ‘He’s my friend’ and Tony replies ‘So was I’ there is the subtle suggestion that Tony has considered himself Steve’s friend, but Steve has had a different view.

I’m not sure if the writers/directors realised just how badly they painted Steve in having him keep the secret from Tony, especially if you look at Steve’s standpoint in Age of Ultron about keeping secrets and how preventative action is rarely the answer to winning a fight (which was a bizarre argument IMO but let’s not get into that). He comes over as completely hypocritical more so when you take into consideration that he says these things to berate Tony, and yet now in retrospect, he was at the time doing the same to Tony on a subject which was profoundly much more personal and emotionally complicated. And really the apology letter does nothing to alter the sense that Steve is a condescending jerk (although the fault actually lies with the writers who didn’t think that letter through enough).

I do think if I’d written Steve’s POV, that there would have been a great deal of regret and anguish over the decision he made not to tell Tony. Steve is fundamentally a decent guy and he’s done something which has hurt Tony badly; I think he would feel immense guilt and he’s not unaffected at the end of Civil War at having to stop Tony in such a brutal way (unless of course he turns out to be an alien imposter who is just good at acting).

What does this mean for From A to Z?

Honestly, I was going to build Tony and Steve a better relationship in Plan A but then realised as I was writing the meeting in the apartment that the damage to their relationship is too much. Tony questions whether Steve was ever his friend and he just can’t trust him on a personal level, and I also think Tony not using the phone immediately after it was sent would leave Steve feeling wary and distrustful of Tony’s motives again. When they get into an argument, their reactions underscore that they both are estranged.

But just as before they can set aside their personal differences enough to work together. It’s just not enough.

For me, Tony was always in the cold light of day eventually going to forgive Bucky. He’s still hurt for a long time which makes his interactions with Bucky in Plan A awkward and they stumble through their conversation together. I also think Bucky while he does defend himself in the bunker, left to his own devices without Steve in play, might have just let Tony take his shot. So they can come to a point of closure with each other even if they’re never going to be close friends.

In Plan Z, I determined that Tony now has had years to come to terms with his parents, with Bucky’s actions and so when they meet again, Tony is in a good mental headspace and can forgive the other man without hesitation.

But he still struggles with Steve’s decision to be quiet on the topic again in Plan Z; hence having a meltdown and flashback when its used once more to bring a wedge between them. In Plan Z, Steve was always going to remain quiet for me; he and Tony do have a better relationship than in Plan A by the events of the TWS but Steve is still protecting Bucky first.

What I did want to show is how not-OK Steve is all the way through with simply being alive and in the world – and how having Bucky back beside him finally makes it OK for Steve. It’s not really about Tony at all; it’s about Steve struggling on a personal level and clinging to Bucky as a lifeline.

Tony makes a huge effort in plan Z with Steve though so they don’t get off on the wrong foot; they don’t argue in the events of New York; Steve and Nat are confronted not only by Tony on the question why they didn’t involve them in the SHIELD/HYDRA news and Steve doesn’t get the opportunity to keep the secret from Tony for very long. Tony has a better friendship with Steve and so by the end of Plan Z, they are friends in a way they never were in Plan A.

Civil War and the relationships between the characters: Tony and the other Avengers

Briefly, Civil War pretty much places Tony at odds with anyone who isn’t Rhodey, Vision or Peter, with T’Challa not an adversary but rather someone who isn’t Tony’s friend either. Natasha and Clint are both angry with him. Sam is not on Tony’s side but feels responsible for Rhodey.

When the additional characters such as Strange and Thor are added beyond the events of Civil War, the story has to account for their viewpoint as the film itself, apart from mentioning Bruce was unlikely to side with Tony and Nat, doesn’t really delve into it.

What does this mean for From A to Z?

Plan A had to patch as many of the former Avengers back together.

Early with the press conference we see Tony has a close relationship with Rhodey and Vision and this flows through to some individual moments later. With Peter, Homecoming had to be mentioned, but also Tony feeling a sense of responsibility for Peter in Plan A; so we see Aunt May now knows, Tony is still helping Peter out when he gets in over his head and he also involves Peter in the fight with Thanos believing he needs him.

Natasha and Clint come back in Plan A. And I figured they were over being angry with Tony because he’s done a lot to address the concerns with the Accords, gotten rid of Ross and cleared their names. So, some genuine apologies and explanations are exchanged to provide a clean slate. Natasha and Tony also had to have the conversation about why she had also remained silent on the matter of his parents and so I take her Civil War motivation of keeping the team together as her excuse.

Wanda and Tony continue in Plan A to have an awkward relationship but they both as with Nat and Clint manage to stumble through genuine apologies to each other.

Sam comes back once Tony and Steve have there showdown. I actually intended for Sam to fully apologise to Tony but then as the scene continued I realised Sam ultimately wouldn’t do anything differently although he acknowledges Steve’s attitude to Tony has unduly influenced Sam’s opinion of Tony. That scene with Sam also kind of gave me a wake up call of ‘if Steve has known since CA:TWS about Tony’s parents and has been carrying the decision not to tell Tony with him all this time, what did that do to how Steve treated Tony and therefore how others reacted to Tony following Steve’s lead.’

In retrospect, all of Steve’s and Tony’s relationship and its knock-on effect within the Avengers has to be coloured and underpinned by Steve’s decision.

Thor is very grown-up when he gets back in Plan A – this is to recognise the events of Ragnarok but also Thor’s growth from his previous arrogance. He got sent to Earth as a consequence of acting without care of the damage he was causing so the Accords are viewed in that light. He understands Tony’s sense of betrayal and how difficult it is to reach out to Steve because of his own interactions with Loki.

Bruce – well, there was a section with Bruce which got dumped when it became apparent Bruce only gets back moments before Thanos attacks. So in neither Plan A or Z does Bruce’s story change; he’s friends with Tony in Plan A and friends with Tony in Plan Z – the Civil War or its absence makes no difference.

Plan Z on the other hand had to ensure the characters wouldn’t end up in a second Civil War and were closer.

So, I introduce SHIELD and therefore Nat and Clint differently. Natasha is still cool towards Tony, but Clint becomes a much closer friend to Tony through the events of Plan Z, and by proxy therefore so does Nat. She however is still closer to Steve than she is to Tony.

Similarly, Tony meets Thor earlier and gets off on a better foot with him too. They establish a close friendship.

• The Time Stone and Time Travel

This was the second major theme of the story.

Strange gets involved with the Avengers because of the threat of Thanos in Plan A and his section with Tony is effectively the agreement to use the time stone as a plan Z – the last resort. Plan A ends when Strange throws Tony the time stone and Tony goes back in time.

But their conversation in Plan A allowed me to set some constraints; time tries to get back to its previous flow despite the time travel, that Tony had to allow some things to happen because otherwise he would lose his advantage of knowledge.

So things do still happen in Plan Z as they did in the previous timeline – Obie still dies, Hammer and Vanko still attack Tony, Thor still comes to Earth, New York and the invasion happens, the Convergence still takes place, etc. Even where Tony tries to make changes sometimes things still happen anyway, like with Ultron or Peter and Toomes.

It’s only important that losing to Thanos is the one thing that absolutely changes.

In Plan Z, Strange also takes on a more important role because once he becomes Sorcerer Supreme he becomes Tony’s confidant about the time travel. That came out of plotting the scene with the Ancient One. That also raised for me the question on telepathy and Tony keeping the time travel secret, which brought in Charles Xavier. This kind of gives a nod to the Illuminati storyline in the comics but also makes Tony less alone and gives him help by the time Thanos arrives in plan Z.

• The Soul Stone and Tony’s Use of the Stones

 So I always knew I was going to have Tony use the gauntlet/use the stones to save everyone in Plan Z, because his arc reactor protected him in a similar way to the celestial energy protecting Peter Quill.

However, he doesn’t realise this in Plan A but in strategizing in Plan Z he realises what happened last time can give them helpful information.

It was fairly obvious from the initial trailers and speculation that Peter could be gravely injured so I had run with that as a Plan A outcome, Peter dying on Titan and Tony being distraught.

But then when the whole debate about the soul stone being with Tony or on Titan erupted online I rewrote this to include Tony using the soul stone to bring Peter back and instead sacrifices his own soul to it in Plan A.

This then added the scene with the avatars in Plan Z; the stones are using Tony’s sacrifice themselves to correct things.

• JARVIS and Vision

 So I set out with every intention of not having JARVIS, one of my favourite characters, die in Plan Z. Only JARVIS wouldn’t let me.

I got the to the sections on Age of Ultron and JARVIS was in my head going ‘you know I need to die in order to force Tony into creating Vision because he’s part of keeping the timeline straight’. Damn you, JARVIS!

Anyway, I couldn’t resist bringing him back or at least giving Tony the option to bring him back in the epilogue.

• Pepper and Tony

With Pepper being back in Homecoming, and knowing she was then appearing in Infinity War, I plotted Tony and Pepper’s reconciliation in Plan A and their romance in Plan Z. I like them as a couple. She gives Tony his reason for living and fighting to be a better man.

I always knew the fic would end in the epilogue with Tony confiding in her about the time travel.

• The Wider Marvel Universe

So yes I brought in mentions of the X-Men, Agents of SHIELD and the Fantastic Four although the current MCU tends to ignore them all (because of the copyright issues).

The X-Men because there is so much cross-over in the comics and really where Wanda and Pietro were concerned I had no intention of allowing them into the Avengers so packing them off to be X-Men seemed like a good plan for Z.

Also I like Coulson. I’m not overly fond of AOS but bringing in the idea of Coulson still alive and having that team in Plan Z seemed a nice addition.

I also of course had to extrapolate the role the Guardians of the Galaxy play in Plan A and then what they were going to do in Plan Z.

• Timelines, Structure and far too many characters

 Originally having decided to do Plan A/Plan Z alternating, I was going to try to keep a theme in each chapter.

So, the press conferences, meetings with Fury, the introduction of Thor…however the MCU gets very overlapping with Civil War, Strange, Homecoming, Ragnarok and Black Panther so…the structure crumbled in the final chapters.

Also can I just say what a pain in the neck the MCU is in terms of internal coherency where timelines are concerned – case in point Tony’s age when Howard and Maria die changing from Iron Man in the events of Civil War.

And God how difficult was it to keep track of the characters. I realised at one point in Plan A I had killed Rhodey off and had him surviving in the same paragraph.

Also I kept forgetting about Antman.

And the Guardians.

And Clint.

Hopefully Infinity War does better at keeping track of all 63 of the Marvel characters who apparently make an appearance (although the trailers suggest they have also forgotten about Clint).

Sequels and revisits?

Nope.

This is pretty much stand alone and I’m sure when Infinity War comes out it’ll be completely AU in both Plan A and Z.

However, I may at some point complete the Clint fic (I really like Clint as a character) which is partially written when I was doing my playing around, and I may end up writing some time in the future the Steve plot bunny which emerged when I had my moment of ‘oh, but he’s so damaged! Of course he’s absolutely fixated on protecting Bucky because he feels he has no-one and he’s lonely and scared and…!’

But really, nope.

I hope you had fun reading the story and thank you for stopping by to read this long and rambling commentary.