Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jessica Jones had always been a practical person. Thus, it was unsurprising that the day after escaping from a six-month period of captivity, she was already making a list of things that she needed to do. It wasn’t easy - her hands seemed to constantly be shaking, and she was drinking quantities that were large even for her increased metabolism.

She thought about calling her best friend, Trish. They hadn’t spoken in four months. During the first two months, Jessica had been allowed to make occasional calls to put up appearances, but after a certain point, that had stopped too. Jessica stared at the number in her phone (one of very few) and almost pressed a shaking finger to the Call button, but she stopped herself. She wasn’t ready to explain to Trish exactly what kind of hell she had been through. She didn’t have time to dwell on the details - work needed to be done.

Trish had always been pushing her to be a hero. She had never felt so far from being a hero now. Killgrave had made her do such horrible things. And yet, here she was, trying to be a hero and prevent him from gaining control of someone else.

Jessica sat on the couch, drinking a glass of wine. It tasted expensive, and she was sure that Killgrave had forced some store clerk to hand it over for free. You didn’t really need money when you could suggest that anyone do you a favor and they had no choice but to oblige.

Killgrave wasn’t usually one to pay attention to the television, but today his eyes were glued to the episode of Dateline playing as a reporter spoke about some strange goings-on in a town called Westview.

Jessica suspected they were not telling the whole story - they rarely did when it involved magic, or any of the Avengers. And right now, she was looking at a picture of an Avenger… what was her name? Jessica couldn’t remember her “superhero” name… or maybe she didn’t have one. Wanda. Her name was Wanda.

The reporter told some story about an entire town being under a spell, changing their perceptions of reality, before mentioning that Wanda Maximoff was the suspected cause of it all, but she was unable to be found. Killgrave was watching the whole thing with a peculiar look on his face, one that concerned Jessica, as she recognized it. He’d looked at her much the same way when he’d first seen her superhuman strength.

“Blimey, she may be more impressive than you, Jessica! The things we could do together…” Killgrave trailed off. Jessica felt a strange mix of hope and worry, but just smiled. It was all she was allowed to do. But that could change if he were to lose interest in her.

How could someone like her find a way to contact Wanda Maximoff? Jessica would have to put some of her investigative skills to use. Growing up, she had wanted to be a detective. But she didn’t really want to be a cop. More like a Sherlock Holmes-type. She had just landed on “private investigator” when she and Killgrave had their unfortunate first meeting.

If she could contact one of the Avengers, that might be able to get her a solid lead. Was Avengers tower still a thing?

Twenty minutes of research indicated to her that Avengers tower was not a thing. There was a rebuilt compound, but that was upstate and it would take her a while to get there. Maybe there was a member closer to her. She continued Googling and was a bit surprised to see that for the last three months, there had been an active presence on Instagram from a verified account for the Avengers. All of the posts seemed to be from the same young woman, who was calling herself Hawkeye. Wasn’t Hawkeye a middle-aged dude? Jessica shook her head and scrolled a bit further, pausing at a photo of Sam Wilson and James Buchanan Barnes holding hands and grinning ear to ear. The caption was surely written by the same woman: “CAP AND BUCKY ENGAGED!! 🥳😍💍💍⭐️🇺🇸🦾👨❤️💋👨🤵🤵”

It seemed like she’d missed a lot in the last six months.

Jessica was able to figure out that the “new Hawkeye” was named Kate Bishop and that when she wasn’t at the Avengers compound, she was living in an apartment in New York City. Perfect. Jessica decided that she would pay her a visit tomorrow. Her other task for the day was to find a lawyer - she knew one, but they also hadn’t spoken in six months and she was pretty sure that she wouldn’t be willing to take her case. She’d find a smaller firm and see if one of them was willing to hear the real story.

Her first seven calls didn’t seem promising. They were polite, but clearly just hoping to get money from her, and she had a sneaking suspicion that they really thought she was crazy. She sighed and looked at the next number on her list: Nelson & Murdock.

The receptionist had invited Jessica to come to their office that same day, and seemed much more interested in hearing her story than the others had been. Tired of making calls, Jessica decided to take the time to go to the office and see if they were people she could trust.

The door was opened by a tall blonde woman with a warm smile, and something about her made Jessica feel more at ease. Jessica followed her into the office, which was unassuming but still had a comfortable feel to it.

“Feel free to have some coffee, I just started a fresh batch. One of our lawyers is out with a client, but the other is on his way over. He happened to be in the neighborhood so I asked him to drop by and meet you. My name is Karen, if you need anything,” the receptionist said with a smile. Jessica nodded and busied herself with pouring a cup of coffee, taking it black. It might not help with her shaking hands, but it would help offset the effects of the whiskey she’d had thirty minutes ago.

After fifteen minutes, Jessica heard a cane tapping in the hallway and the door to the office opened. Karen strode into the room to meet a man wearing a suit and red sunglasses, carrying the cane.

“Hi Matt, the potential client I told you about is already here. Her name is Jessica Jones. I’ll let you two talk,” Karen said.

Jessica deduced from the cane and sunglasses that the lawyer must be blind. She didn’t bother trying to shake hands and was a bit grateful - her hands had to be clammy and shaky.

“Hi,” she offered, not sure what else to say but assuming that it would be helpful if she made some noise.

The lawyer gave her a smile and a nod. “Matt Murdock. It’s great to meet you, Jessica. Let’s go into the next room and talk.”

Jessica gulped the last of the coffee, tossing the paper cup and following Matt into the room. She sat at the table and Matt sat across from her. She wrung her hands together, not sure how to begin.

“Listen, um, what I have to say is… hard to believe. I don’t really know how to start here…”

“Take your time, Miss Jones,” Matt tilted his head as he spoke, indicating his full attention was on her.

“Jessica is fine. So I need a lawyer because I… well, I did some things. Some bad things. But I wasn’t in control,” Jessica took a deep breath. Get it together and spit it out. “I was… being controlled by someone. Someone with… abilities. Specifically, mind control abilities. I-I know it sounds crazy.”

There was a brief pause before Matt said, “I believe you, Jessica.”

“You do?” She blurted out, even though she could tell that he was genuine. He believed her. This came as more of a relief to her than she had even expected.

“I do. We’ve seen crazier things, haven’t we?” Matt smiled. “I mean, after the Blip, not much surprises me anymore. This sounds like a difficult situation to be in though, how are you holding up?”

Tears welled up in Jessica’s eyes and she took a deep breath to contain them. “I’ll be alright. I just… want to do what I can to stop him. But I needed to lawyer up, just in case.”

“Of course. Tell me all that you’re concerned about, I’m listening.”

Jessica went home feeling that a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Just having one person believe her about the existence of a mind-controller helped her feel less alone. Her hands were even shaking less.

Tomorrow she would pay Kate Bishop a visit. She hoped that would make a second person who would believe her.

Chapter Text

Kate Bishop tapped up the volume on her earbuds a few notches and sped up - pushing herself to run just a little faster. She was on her way to the gym for some practice. Despite having been officially welcomed into the Avengers by Sam Wilson, they had not invited her on a mission yet, so she made it her mission to stay in tip-top shape. She was ready for action… but in the mean time, she was using her marketing skills to give the Avengers an online presence. Ever since the Blip, public perception of the Avengers had been generally positive, but with recent controversy surrounding Spider-Man and the dropping of a Dateline episode regarding Wanda, Kate was feeling like she needed to maintain that public image.

She entered the gym and went straight for the punching bags. Fogwell’s Gym was very low-key and catered mostly to boxers. It was a good place for her to stay under the radar and just focus on her workout. Distracted by her favorite song playing in her ears, Kate was startled when a blonde figure suddenly jumped in front of her.

“Kate Bishop!” The girl exclaimed, “What are you doing in a place like this?”

“Well, normally I get left alone here, Yelena,” Kate punctuated the comment with a smile as she took out her earbuds. Now that Yelena Belova wasn’t trying to kill her childhood hero, she didn’t see much point in pretending that she didn’t like her. “What are you doing here?”

“Stalking you,” Yelena said playfully, “I decided to move to New York City. I enjoyed being here so much for Christmas that I decided to use my passport faking skills and get an apartment.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that part about the passport…and about stalking me,” Kate replied with a grin. “I have a great idea - why don’t we have a little sparring session since we’re both here?”

Yelena returned the smile. “Oh yes! And after that, let’s get that drink we talked about?”

The two young women walked relatively slowly to Kate’s apartment after their time at the gym - they were both tired and had a few bruises, but it was all in good fun. Kate found herself surprised by how easy it was to talk and joke with Yelena - it was like they’d been friends for years. Kate told Yelena all about how Clint Barton had said he was “really” retiring this time and that she should start using the moniker of Hawkeye. When she let it show how excited she was about taking on the mantle, Yelena only engaged in some light teasing about it. Kate did make a mental note of how little Yelena seemed willing to talk about what she was doing in terms of work, but she thought that it seemed that maybe Yelena had some reservations about it. It seemed too soon to ask, but in the back of her mind, Kate was definitely wondering if Yelena might one day follow in her sister’s footsteps and join the Avengers.

As they approached Kate’s building, a woman with black hair who had seemed to be waiting outside approached them.

“Kate Bishop?”

Yelena stepped between the woman and Kate. “Who’s asking?”

The woman blinked. “Me. My name is Jessica Jones. I need help from an Avenger, and you live closest to me.”

Kate touched Yelena’s arm lightly, amused at her reaction to the stranger. “Easy, killer,” she murmured to Yelena before turning to Jessica. “Well, hi, Jessica! Hawkeye at your service!”

Yelena snorted with laughter at Kate’s comment while Jessica gave her a blank look. “I’m gonna stick with ‘Kate’ if that’s cool… so, the issue is that I think one of your friends is in danger… Wanda Maximoff?”

“Oh, I haven’t met her yet, I wish we were friends,” Kate laughed. When the woman didn’t return the laugh she tried to stifle the social awkwardness by clearing her throat and becoming all business. “What… what makes you think she’s in danger?”

Jessica cleared her throat before answering, “I think that a man named Killgrave is going to come after her. I know what you’re thinking, what a stupid name, and I agree… the name is probably fake but I assure you he’s very real. I was… a captive of his, for the past six months. But then he saw a Dateline episode about Wanda Maximoff and he left long enough that I could escape.”

Kate looked interested but skeptical. “Wanda is… pretty powerful, what makes you think this ‘Killgrave’ is a threat to her?”

Jessica gulped. “He can control people. Like… mind control.”

Kate noticed Yelena stiffen suddenly. “Mind control?”

“Yeah. Basically, if you’re around him, he can tell you to do anything… and you’ll do it. It could be something you would never do, but he makes a part of you want to do it, or at least feel an intense need to follow his orders. I don’t know how it works, exactly, but it’s mind control,” Jessica took a shaky breath and tried not to ramble as she continued, “I know Wanda has some insane powers, and she may very well not be susceptible to him, but if she is… and he was able to control her… well, it not only would be bad for her, but he could hurt a lot of people. Think Westview times a thousand, and run by a goddamn psychopath. It’s…not really something you want to risk.”

“I’m in,” Yelena said assertively, “I want to help.”

Kate looked at her with surprise.

“What? I hate controlling assholes,” Yelena said.

Kate shrugged. “Okay… well, Jessica, how about you come up to my apartment and we’ll get into more details? I can call Sam, he would know better than I do how we should proceed. I do know that no one’s heard from Wanda since Westview, so she could be hard to track down. Which might actually be good, because Killgrave won’t know where to find her either.”

Jessica nodded but didn’t look reassured. “He’ll find a way. He always does. Honestly… everyone who knows her at all should be extremely careful.”

The way she spoke made Kate nervous. “Well, maybe we can stop him before he makes much progress?”

“Maybe,” Jessica said with a slight sigh. Anxiety had begun to well up in her as she imagined a group of Avengers trying to take down Killgrave. The number of ways this could go wrong…

Kate could tell that she wanted to say more, but was expecting not to be believed or taken seriously, and as if she’d read Kate’s mind, Yelena piped up again, “I believe you. I’ve been mind controlled before. It wasn’t pretty. I killed so many people I almost lost track. So whatever crazy shit he made you do, trust me, I don’t blame you.”

Jessica blinked in surprise, but immediately some of the tension within her dissipated. She’d expected to have a difficult time getting anyone to believe her about Killgrave, but either she was getting very lucky in meeting the right people, or the world was just crazy enough now that a person with mind control powers wasn’t that unbelievable anymore.

Feeling a small bit of hope, she followed Kate and Yelena up to Kate’s apartment.

Chapter Text

The gnawing feeling in Jessica’s stomach had gradually begun to dissipate as Kate drove her and Yelena to the Avengers compound upstate. She’d felt uncomfortable ever since escaping from Killgrave, like someone was watching her. Everywhere she went in the city, Killgrave could be lurking around the corner, or controlling someone right next to her. The world didn’t feel safe anymore, and she was certain that it never would unless Killgrave was captured.

Kate unlocked the door and strode in confidently, loudly announcing her arrival as she went. Jessica and Yelena followed with some trepidation, but their anxiety was alleviated when Sam Wilson strode into the room - his smile just as warm as it was in photos. Bucky Barnes was right behind him, and while more reserved, seemed pleased to see their visitors.

“Hi Sam! This is Jessica, and Yelena,” Kate gestured to each of them.

“Yelena! Great to meet you, Natasha told me so many stories about you,” Sam said with a smile, and Yelena was taken aback but returned the smile. “And Jessica, great to meet you, too. Kate gave me a rundown on what’s going on, but I’d love to hear from you, whatever you’re comfortable sharing.”

For the third time in as many days, Jessica launched into her story.

Sam sighed, his brows furrowed in a concerned expression. “I see, so we really need to figure out two things here - a way to find Wanda, and a way to stop Killgrave. Pepper gave us use of F.R.I.D.A.Y. when the new compound was completed, so you can use her to scan surveillance videos, facial recognition, comb through some data…”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. is an artificial intelligence,” Bucky clarified when he saw Jessica’s befuddled expression.

“Surely Wanda has been to a grocery store? Or maybe not… I don’t know, maybe she can conjure food out of nothing these days. I can text Dr. Strange, but he usually leaves me on read. He could know how to find Wanda. Those portals he makes would be convenient as hell. But in case we don’t hear from him, we have some other avenues to explore. In the meantime… maybe we can find Killgrave first, if we catch him by surprise, maybe we can bring him in?” Sam suggested.

Jessica swallowed hard. “It’s dangerous. He’ll probably surround himself with people to protect him, and they’ll either kill you or kill themselves. I mean, best case scenario, he tells you to leave him alone and you do it. But more likely, people will get hurt. He’s vindictive on top of being an asshole.”

“I’m a good sniper,” Bucky mentioned, matter-of-factly.

“I don’t know what would happen if he died. I know that his effect on people lasts twelve hours. So who is to say that he didn’t tell dozens of civilians to kill themselves if he got taken out and then they have to do it?” Jessica replied, wringing her hands. “It’s… complicated. He’s very unpredictable.”

“Fair enough,” Bucky said.

“Who knows what he’s doing right now, though?” Sam said with a frown. “He could be hurting people as we speak. From what you’ve said about him… he probably is.”

Jessica bit her lip. “Listen, he’s probably still in the city, and if you go, you’ll have to be extremely careful. Don’t carry guns. Or knives.”

Yelena sighed with disappointment and Bucky gave her an amused look.

“Uh, how about arrows? That’s kind of my whole thing…” Kate said dejectedly.

“Can’t risk that. Maybe bring some tranquilizers, tasers, whatever you can use against an attacker that won’t kill them,” Jessica said, and Yelena brightened a bit.

“I have trick arrows! Some of which aren’t dangerous,” Kate said, also cheering up.

“Eventually, we’ll have to bring Killgrave in. We just have to figure out how. Does he have any kind of weakness?” Sam asked Jessica.

“I don’t know of any. And he’s never met someone he couldn’t control. He told me that.”

“He’s only met people, right? From Earth? Can we get a hold of that raccoon?” Bucky pondered.

Sam chuckled. “I don’t have his email or phone number, sadly. If only we had Vision.”

Bucky saw Jessica’s confused expression and explained, “Vision was an android. I don’t see why he wouldn’t have been immune to Killgrave. We’ve also met a few aliens in our time, but none that I know how to contact.”

Sam sighed. “Listen, it’s risky, but if we go undercover, split up, and just ask around New York, maybe we can get some leads. I don’t feel good about just sitting around waiting until we can get a hold of Wanda, and then still not having a plan for how to actually put this guy away. Jessica, you’re the P.I., I think you should stay here and continue looking for anything you can find online that might give a clue to Wanda’s location, or a way to send her a message, and the rest of us can run some reconnaissance in New York.”

“Roger that, Cap,” Kate said cheerfully. “Should we all pile into my Prius, or can we take some cooler transportation?”

“Undercover and all… let’s take your car, Kate,” Sam said reluctantly. “Let’s head out in the morning, get some rest tonight.”

Kate and Jessica went to their respective rooms first, followed by Sam. Bucky gave him a kiss goodnight and promised to join him later, wanting to have a cup of coffee and some quiet time before bed. In truth, Bucky was feeling anxious about how the next day would go. He stared at the dark cup of liquid, deep in thought, and almost didn’t notice Yelena sauntering into the room.

She glanced at the coffee and raised an eyebrow. “Trying to stay up all night?”

“Caffeine hasn’t affected me since 1945,” Bucky replied with a grin.

“Ahh, I see,” Yelena murmured as she sat at the table across from Bucky.

Bucky felt Yelena’s eyes on him, so he looked up to meet her gaze. The two stared at each other for a moment, and Bucky decided to break the ice - “You’re Natasha’s sister?”

“Yes, did you know her?”

“A little, but not as much as I would’ve liked. Sam spent more time with her than me. I, uh, fought her several times… not as myself. She was really something,” Bucky smiled, and Yelena smiled back.

“The Red Room was very much inspired by the Winter Soldier project, you know,” Yelena said impassively. “I know who you are. And I know that you are probably as freaked out about a mind-controller as I am.”

Bucky had lowered his eyes as she spoke, feeling uncomfortable at the mention of the Winter Soldier project, but he looked back up at the end of her statement. “You’re right. It scares the shit out of me. I never want to have that feeling of being unable to choose my own actions again.”

“Watching yourself do things that you don’t want to do. Killing people you don’t want to kill. Not choosing it, but not being able to forget it, either,” Yelena’s gaze was piercing, but Bucky felt seen. “I killed so many people.”

“So did I,” Bucky said. “Some of them were friends. And I remember all of them.”

“I’ll never forget what it felt like to wake up. To finally get to make choices for myself. Suddenly everything was clear. I went and bought myself a tactical vest,” Yelena laughed lightly.

“It was a slow process for me. But there was a specific moment when I knew I was free of their control for good, and that was one of the best moments of my life,” Bucky smiled at the memory - he could almost smell that campfire in Wakanda.

“Maybe we are uniquely qualified for this mission,” Yelena mused.

“I hope you’re right,” Bucky sighed, feeling some relief at having someone else on the team who truly understood.

Chapter Text

The quartet spent an unfruitful morning wandering around Hell’s Kitchen, trying to see if anyone knew anything about Killgrave. Not having much luck, they met back up at Kate’s apartment to have lunch and regroup. Just as everyone had finished eating and they were beginning to plan out other areas of the city to canvass, Kate’s phone rang.

“Turn on the news.” Even over the phone, Kate could tell that Jessica’s voice was tight with anxiety. Kate picked up the remote and turned on the television, her heart sinking to see the “Breaking News” banner at the top and bottom of the screen.

“Still no answers on what is going on in Central Park, on the Great Lawn, several people seem to be standing around with signs, which isn’t terribly unusual, but there have been reports of shots fired and one of the protestors is holding a gun. Police have arrived on scene but are forming their own line, not approaching the protestors…”

The camera zoomed in on a row of six people holding signs, each with one word, forming the sentence: Avengers…assemble here… or they die.

The first man was holding a gun, and they watched in horror as he brought it to his head and pulled the trigger. The others holding signs seemed unbothered by this, and the next one in line leaned over and casually plucked the gun from the dead man’s hand.

Kate had put her phone on speaker, and Jessica’s voice came through again - “It’s him. It’s a trap.”

“It definitely is, but we have to go. We can’t just let this continue,” Sam said, his jaw clenched.

“That’s what he wants,” Jessica’s voice sounded thin over the line.

“He left us no choice. We can’t just hide while innocent people die out there. Who knows how many people he’s controlling right now?” Sam was decisive.

“Be careful,” Jessica couldn’t say anything more, she knew that there was nothing she could say to stop them… or the panic attack welling up in her.

“Remember what we said. Don’t bring lethal weapons. We all have equipped ourselves with sedatives, in case we need to incapacitate someone,” Sam said as he grabbed his bag containing his suit and shield.

“I’ll need at least three doses,” Bucky said somberly. “Everyone else, just use one.”

Kate looked nervous but grabbed her bow and bag of trick arrows without hesitation. Yelena was already putting on her bracelets to house her Widow’s Bites. As she walked by, Bucky touched her arm gently.

“Yelena… if I become… compromised… keep Sam safe? And yourself, and Kate, of course… I’m just afraid that if Killgrave knows about Sam and I, that he could leverage that against us,” Bucky said lowly. Yelena met his gaze and gave him an understanding nod.

Sam, Bucky, Kate, and Yelena approached the Great Lawn carefully, looking around for a man matching Jessica’s description of Killgrave - British, brown hair, more than likely wearing purple. They didn’t have to look for long, as Killgrave strode out from behind the tallest member of his line of hostages.

“You came! Brilliant! Don’t try anything, or all of these poor people will have to kill themselves,” Killgrave waved at the people with the signs, along with several other by-standers. He was flanked by six police officers with guns drawn, clearly using them as bodyguards. “Also, members of the press can leave now. You won’t be needed here.” Several reporters began packing up their things and leaving at this command.

“Stay there,” Killgrave ordered as he approached them. Kate reflexively reached for an arrow but stopped as Killgrave shook his head. “No need for that. Put the bow down, and get out your phone. That’s all you need to be using today.”

Kate set her bow down and pulled out her phone, unable to stop herself.

“Good, now call Jessica, then hand me the phone,” Killgrave said, and Kate acted accordingly.

Killgrave put the ringing phone on speaker, and Jessica’s voice gave an anxious greeting. “Kate?”

“Hello, Jessica!” Killgrave said cheerfully, enunciating each letter. “I wanted to thank you for your help getting these new Avengers assembled for me. What, you thought you were helping? I know you, Jessica. I knew you would try to help - you always do. Why do you think I let you leave our house? I knew you’d try to find Wanda, or the next best thing.”

“You had me followed,” Jessica breathed quietly, barely able to contain the panic.

“Indeed. But now we’re here, and what better way to draw out Wanda than by causing some chaos with her friends? You just made it easy for me!” Killgrave laughed and hung up the phone, handing it back to Kate.

“Now… shall we?” He paced as he spoke, unable to hide his excitement. “Kate, I noticed you’re quite good with social media… it’s all about marketing, right? I want you to record a livestream today, as soon as I walk away. I want the world to see what happens next, so that the message gets to the right person.”

Killgrave turned towards Sam and Bucky, leering at them. “Kate, I want you use your phone to record these two. Possibly the most recognizable Avengers left, Captain America and his partner, Sergeant Barnes! And what a sweet love story! Once Kate starts recording, I want the two of you to fight to the death. The winner stabs the loser through the heart with this knife,” Killgrave produced a long blade from the inner pocket of his suit jacket. “Won’t that be something? It would truly shock the world to see our great Captain America stabbing his lover through the heart. My bet’s on the Winter Soldier, though, given his decades of experience as a killing machine. What a sad story, finally redeemed, only to revert back to his old ways and kill his fiancé. Tsk, tsk, just tragic.”

Killgrave glanced at Yelena. “I don’t know who you are, honestly, but I want you to take the gun from my friend over there and put a bullet in your brain,” Killgrave gestured at the woman holding the second sign, then tossed the knife on the ground near Sam and Bucky before walking behind Kate. “And… go! Record until one of our dear lovers is dead, Kate.”

Unable to do anything else, Kate started the livestream. Yelena felt a slight pull towards the woman holding the sign, but found that she could resist the urge. She took a step toward Killgrave instead, and noted with some satisfaction that a flash of fear crossed his face.

“Kill her,” he growled to the nearest of his bodyguards, and turned away to make his escape. Yelena dodged bullets from the police officer and ran away to draw the gunfire away from the rest of the group, taking cover behind a tree, where she was able to shoot a taser disk at the man and take him down. Killgrave glanced back, noted that Yelena was a formidable fighter, and sent three more of the officers after her.

Meanwhile, Sam jumped for the knife on the ground, scooping it up and throwing the shield at Bucky’s head immediately after. Bucky ducked just in time to dodge the shield and grabbed it with his vibranium arm. The impact of the shield knocked him off balance for a moment, and he felt a small desire to throw it offensively back at Sam, but he shook his head, throwing off the tendrils of Killgrave’s influence. He was still in control. Unfortunately, his fiancé wasn’t so lucky, and he had deployed the wings on his suit and was approaching Bucky with little recognition in his eyes.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Sam. I love you, and I know that you don’t want to do this,” Bucky tried in vain. He knew better than anyone that what Sam wanted didn’t matter now.

“I have to,” Sam said simply, swiping a wing at Bucky’s face, which he blocked with the shield. Bucky fished out one of the syringes filled with sedative from his pockets with his other hand, uncapping it quickly while dodging a punch from Sam. His best hope was to knock Sam out safely and get him out of here. When Sam came at him again, Bucky maneuvered the shield and knocked the knife out of Sam’s hand. As the knife landed on the ground, Bucky took the risk of getting close to Sam, needle ready. Sam’s suit made the task difficult, so Bucky tried to aim for Sam’s neck, but before he could stick the needle, Sam flew up, kicking the shield with enough force to knock Bucky off balance while simultaneously grabbing his arm, reaching for the needle himself. Bucky opened his right hand and dropped the needle into his left and pushed back away from Sam to catch his breath, only allowing himself a moment before diving for the knife, clutching it in his right hand. 

Bucky put some distance between himself and Sam, who seemed to be planning his next mode of attack, and took the opportunity to look around - Kate was still standing nearby, recording them, while all of the bystanders simply stood watching. His eyes caught Yelena scuffling with two of the police officers that had been guarding Killgrave, and she was easily getting the upper hand now. She didn’t do what Killgrave told her, either, Bucky thought, feeling relieved that he didn’t have to worry about her safety.

Unsure what he could do other than continue to evade Sam’s attacks while keeping the knife and the shield away from him, Bucky thought about throwing the knife as far away as he could without hitting anyone, but was distracted by a soft whirring noise behind him. Before he could turn and look, he felt several sharp stings in his back, whirling around to see Redwing flying towards him, shooting tranquilizer darts as it went.

“Oh, fuck no!” Bucky shouted in exasperation, cursing the fact that Sam had two of these things now as he threw the shield at the one flying towards him. His aim was true, and the shield knocked the first drone out of the sky and he used his free hand to sweep away the darts in his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yelena running towards them, but Sam saw her too and the second drone started flying in her direction.

“Yelena! Watch out!” Bucky shouted at her, knowing that even one of the darts could take her down and feeling like he was going to need her help very soon.

Yelena saw the drone and changed course, taking cover behind some trees at the edge of the lawn, readying herself to shoot taser disks at it.

Bucky’s limbs were feeling heavy from the tranquilizer, and he felt exposed without the shield. He put the knife in his left hand, turning the blade toward his wrist and clutching it tightly, hoping that he could keep Sam from getting a grip on it, while tightening his hold on the needle in his right hand. Sam was flying toward him now, so he braced himself for the impact as best as he could.

Sam crashed into Bucky and they landed on the ground, knocking the wind out of Bucky. Struggling to get it back with the effects of the tranquilizer weighing him down, Bucky kept his left arm close to his body to keep Sam from grabbing the knife, and he tried to get to Sam’s neck once again with the needle, but he was too slow and Sam knocked it out of his hand. Sam went for the knife, and while his vibranium arm was faring much better than his other arm, Bucky still lost grip of it.

Sam knew human anatomy well - the exact spot between Bucky’s ribs and the force with which he would have to plunge the knife into Bucky’s chest to fulfill the order to “stab him through the heart.” Bucky knew it too, and though he was becoming increasingly paralyzed by the sedative, he managed to block the knife with his vibranium hand before it made impact. The knife clanged against the vibranium, not even leaving a scratch, but while it missed the intended target, it still went into Bucky’s abdomen, just below the ribs.

For just a moment, Bucky thought he saw a flash of distress in Sam’s eyes, like accidentally deviating from the order was bringing him back to himself, but then he pulled the knife out. Bucky was able to lift his head just enough to see blood pooling around the wound, and his hand instinctively went to cover it in an attempt to slow the bleeding, leaving his chest exposed. Sam readied himself to bring the knife down again, and Bucky fully expected this to be the end, and the only thing on his mind was worry for Sam’s mental state after it was over.

“Sam… it’s okay,” Bucky managed to whisper, meeting Sam’s eyes. The sedative dulled the pain and he felt that he may very well just pass out before Sam could even deal the death blow, but that changed when a surge of electricity hit Sam and traveled to Bucky’s body as well.

“Sam! Stop!” Yelena was shouting, her voice high with distress. She crashed into Sam with all her strength, knocking him away from Bucky’s stunned form. Before Sam could recover from the shock of the taser, Yelena tackled him from the back and plunged her own sedative needle into his neck, and Sam crumpled to the ground quickly. Yelena rushed back to Bucky’s side, calling his name tearfully.

“Sam…” Bucky murmured, trying to look but unable to move his head enough.

“Sam’s fine, he’s asleep, don’t worry. I’ll take care of him. But he’s not going to ever be okay again if you die, so fucking stay with me, okay?” Yelena said roughly, pressing a hand to Bucky’s wound to slow the bleeding. Bucky gave her a small smile and mouthed the words “thank you” before losing his tenuous grip on consciousness.

“Fuck! Help!” Yelena shouted, looking up at Kate, who was still standing passively with her phone on them. “Kate, stop it!”

“I can’t stop until he’s dead,” Kate said with such little emotion that it made Yelena’s stomach drop through the ground.

“That’s not going to happen! Kate, please,” she pleaded, barely holding back tears, but Kate’s expression didn’t change. Yelena pulled her own phone out of her pocket with a shaking hand and dialed 911, but became aware of sirens approaching and flashing lights across the lawn. She assumed that since everything was being livestreamed that help had been on the way for some time and refocused on Bucky. She was relieved to see that he was still breathing, but the amount of blood coating his abdomen, Yelena’s hand, and the ground beneath him was decidedly less reassuring. Yelena put her other hand over the wound and applied more pressure, trying to calm herself as she did so.

Moments later, EMTs were at Yelena’s side, loading Bucky onto a stretcher. “I need one for him, too,” she said, gesturing at Sam. She noticed a fresh batch of police officers that hadn’t come into contact with Killgrave were attending to the civilians holding the signs, so she turned to Kate. Out of patience, she wiped her hands on her pants and snatched the phone from Kate’s hand, immediately ending the livestream.

Kate tried to take the phone back, but Yelena dodged her easily and opted to throw the phone onto the ground, stomping on it until it was shattered beyond repair. “Enough, Kate! It’s done. Snap out of it!”

To her surprise, Kate did, her face falling as she looked around in horror. “He said to use my phone. My phone’s gone now,” Kate’s voice was small. Yelena swallowed hard, understanding the extent to which Killgrave’s literal words had to be followed.

Kate was staring at the blood soaked patch of grass where Bucky had been lying, her eyes filling with tears. “I just stood here and watched…” Kate’s words were cut off by a sob.

Yelena finally let some tears escape her own eyes and stepped forward, pulling Kate into a tight hug. “It wasn’t your fault, Kate. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Kate whispered.

“He has to be,” Yelena said quietly.

Chapter Text

Jessica wasn’t sure at what point she had slid to the floor to lean against the wall while watching the streaming footage on her phone, but once the video cut away suddenly she simply dropped her phone and buried her face in her arms. All the fear she’d felt at the idea of Avengers coming in contact with Killgrave, and all those nagging feelings that she was being watched were twisting her stomach in knots. All of her fears had been confirmed in the span of five minutes.

Holy shit, was there any booze in this compound? She wasn’t sure there was enough alcohol in the world to stave off this panic attack, and even if there was, she couldn’t get up and find it.

This is all my fault. Killgrave knew I would try to be a hero. Who did I help by doing any of this? I should have run away. I could have moved across the country, changed my name, anything. I’m an idiot… Jessica’s thoughts crashed over her like waterfalls.

Jessica wasn’t sure how long she had been sitting there, but a strange noise caused her to inhale sharply and become as still as possible. She was suddenly sure that she wasn’t alone in the compound.

Before she could get up, a woman strode into the room and looked at her with curiosity, noting her fright with a look that indicated she often felt that others feared her.

“Hello, Strange portaled me here… he said that Sam was looking for me and that it was urgent?” Her voice was slightly accented. “But he’s not here?”

Jessica took a deep breath and staggered to her feet. “Hi, Wanda… my name is Jessica Jones,” she swallowed hard. “I came here because… because I was afraid someone would come after you.”

Wanda cocked her head, looking unsure, and Jessica forged ahead - “I was controlled by this man with the ability to make people do whatever he wants, and he saw you on TV and he… he wants to control you. I…wanted you to be safe.”

Wanda considered Jessica’s words for a moment before responding simply, “Why me?”

“He… he likes powerful women. I think controlling a person with abilities makes him feel even more powerful. And that’s all it’s about, with him. He wants to take your power, Wanda.”

“And what is your ability?”

Jessica realized that of all the people she’d met recently, none had asked her this and she hadn’t told any of them. “I’m just strong,” she replied dismissively.

Wanda raised an eyebrow but didn’t press. “Is everything alright? Where is Sam?”

As if on cue, F.R.I.D.A.Y. made a noise and Jessica nearly jumped out of her skin. “Incoming call from Lenox Hill Hospital. Reply ‘Yes’ to accept.”

Jessica gulped. Of course this place had some kind of phone number. Oh god, what if Killgrave found it somehow and now he’s calling to gloat? But it could be Kate? “Yes.”

“Jessica?” She almost fainted with relief to hear Kate’s voice on the line.

“Kate, are you alright?” Jessica gasped, on the verge of tears again, while Wanda watched with some confusion on her face.

“I’m… I’m alright. Feeling fucked up to be honest. Yelena broke my phone and that was enough to break Killgrave’s spell on me. We’re all at the hospital, Bucky is in surgery so I’m waiting on news while Yelena is taking care of Sam.”

“Listen to me, Kate, you couldn’t do anything else. I know it feels like shit but don’t blame yourself.”

“I know,” Kate said, her voice sounding tired.

“Hey, Wanda is here. We’re going to hang tight until we figure out a plan,” Jessica said as she shot Wanda a look. Wanda looked utterly confused and very concerned now.

“Oh! That’s great!” Kate replied with considerably greater cheer.

“Let me know when you hear something. I need to fill Wanda in on what happened.”

“Well…” Kate’s voice sounded miserable again, “it’s all over the news. Thanks to me.”

Before Jessica could stop her, Wanda had wandered into the next room and turned on the TV.

“Hey Jessica?” Kate was still on the line.

“Yeah?”

“You said Killgrave never met anyone he couldn’t control, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“He couldn’t control Yelena. Or Bucky. They didn’t… they didn’t do what he said.”

“Really? That’s… wow. There has to be a reason for that,” Jessica said, feeling something like hope fluttering in her stomach. 

“Yeah, could be a good lead. I’ll call you later.”

Kate and Jessica exchanged goodbyes and Jessica ran into the room after Wanda, who was staring at the television in shock.

“Sam… tried to stab Bucky? That makes no sense,” she said quietly.

“The man I told you about. Killgrave. He made Sam do that,” Jessica replied. “And he did it because he’s trying to get to you.”

Wanda looked at her in horror. Before they could say anything else, the reporter on the television was saying something about breaking new information and there was a woman on the screen holding a gun to her chin with one hand while the other held up a sign that read “WANDA MAXIMOFF. COME TO NEW YORK OR MORE PEOPLE WILL DIE.” Someone approached the woman and the gun went off, the camera quickly cutting away.

Wanda gasped, her hands covering her mouth. Jessica could have sworn her eyes were turning red, and though that terrified her, she stepped right up to Wanda and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Listen to me, you can’t go. He’s doing this to lure you out. But you can’t take the bait. Look at what happened to Sam!” Jessica spoke more urgently with each word that she felt wasn’t quite getting through to Wanda.

“What else can I do?” Wanda murmured.

“Kate said that Yelena and Bucky couldn’t be controlled by him, so that means there’s something about them that makes them like… immune?” Jessica said, rambling a bit. Wanda was looking at her blankly. “Listen, if we figure out what that is, then maybe we can figure something out here.”

“Who’s Yelena?” Wanda asked.

Jessica calmed down a bit, seeing that Wanda was listening to her. “Natasha’s sister. I think they both got trained in the same place? I don’t know, I just met all of these people.”

“The Red Room. Natasha talked about it,” Wanda said softly. “She said they used mind control on their agents. Other Black Widows.”

Jessica and Wanda put it together at the same time - both Yelena and Bucky had been victims of mind control in the past and had been deprogrammed somehow. That was the key to figuring this out.

Chapter Text

Sam woke up in a hospital bed, his head fuzzy and with no recollection of how he got there. He glanced to his left to see that he was handcuffed to the hospital bed, and when he glanced right, Yelena was looking at him. He looked at her quizzically, and she stared back like she had reservations about starting a conversation with him.

“What happened?” Sam asked finally.

Yelena sighed. “Do you remember anything?”

Sam blinked and felt like something was coming back. He’d been on some kind of mission, but it hadn’t been completed. “Was there something I was supposed to do? But now I’m here?”

Yelena’s face was making Sam nervous. “Listen, Sam, you were… under some kind of influence. Do you remember Jessica Jones? We met her yesterday? She told us about… Killgrave?”

Memories were starting to come back now. “Yeah, I remember her. We went to meet Killgrave.”

Yelena eyed him carefully. “Sam, he told you to do something, and it hasn’t been twelve hours.” She retrieved a syringe from one of her many pockets. “I think you should sleep through the rest of it. Another dose and it’ll have been long enough. Okay?”

Sam wasn’t sure why, but he trusted her, and gave her a nod. As she stood up, the memory of Killgrave’s command finally came back to him. Fight Bucky to the death. Winner stabs the other through the heart. He’d been winning this fight easily, for some reason, but then Yelena had stopped him…

In Sam’s dream, Yelena hadn’t been there.

“Sam… it’s okay,” Bucky whispered, and Sam felt like some part of him was screaming not to do it, but the part that felt an intense need to follow Killgrave’s orders was overriding it, and he brought the knife down.

The blade slipped through Bucky’s ribs, Sam’s expert aim fulfilling Killgrave’s order, and as soon as he pulled the knife out, the mission was complete. Killgrave’s insidious control over Sam’s mind melted away, and for a moment Sam could only stare at the bloodied knife as the horror of what he’d done washed over him.

“Oh my god,” Sam gasped as he flung the knife as far away from himself as he could, immediately bringing his hands to the gushing wound on Bucky’s chest. He pressed desperately, as if he could force the blood back into his fiancé’s body, but with each heartbeat, more blood poured from the wound. Sam finally dared to look at Bucky’s face and see the life leaving his eyes. “No no no, please, Bucky,” Sam stammered tearfully, but he wasn’t sure if Bucky heard him. Within moments, the heartbeat had stopped and Bucky’s body was lifeless beneath his hands.

Guilt and grief overwhelmed Sam as he pulled Bucky closer to him. He could never forgive himself for this.

Sam woke up suddenly, shaking violently with tears running down his face. His left wrist jerked painfully against the handcuffs before he remembered they were there. Someone had put steadying hands on his right arm and shoulder. Sam looked at Yelena’s concerned expression through bleary eyes.

“Bucky?” He managed to croak, unable to say anything else.

“He’s fine, Sam.” Sam didn’t look like he believed her, so she continued, her voice gentle but firm. “Listen to me, Sam, he’s okay. Kate’s with him and he’s doing great. You didn’t even hit any major organs.”

Sam blinked hard. “His heart…”

“Is just fine, Sam. And all yours, I’m sure,” she smiled at Sam and gave his hand a squeeze before settling back into the chair next to him.

An understanding silence elapsed between them. Sam brought his free hand up to his face to wipe at the tears, his brain finally piecing together what had actually happened and what had been a nightmare. Leave it to his dreams to bring his worst fears to life. And yet… he had still hurt Bucky.

Fresh tears stung his eyes at the memory - the knife, Bucky telling him it was okay, the way Killgrave had made him feel like he was a prisoner in his own body, watching some part of himself that wanted to do it… If not for Yelena, he would have gone through with it, exactly as it had played out in his nightmare. He would have killed the man he loved, and there was no way he could have lived with that. He was having a hard enough time grappling with what he had done.

Yelena looked like she was reading his mind. “Sam, you didn’t have a choice.”

“But I did it,” Sam said, his voice small.

“I know. I’ve been there. As has Bucky.”

Sam looked like he didn’t know what to say to that for a moment. “The Red Room controlled you,” Sam said quietly. “Did you ever… hurt someone you loved? Or a friend?”

“I only have friends. But yes… I killed the woman who freed me from the Red Room’s control. Her name was Oksana,” Yelena paused for a moment before continuing, “You just… eventually forgive yourself. It’s one thing to know, logically, that it wasn’t your fault and you weren’t in control, but it’s another to get there emotionally.”

Sam nodded, and they once again sat in silence for a while.

“I want to see him, but I’m scared,” Sam said, more vulnerable than he’d been in front of anyone other than Bucky or his sister in a long time. “What if… I lose control again?”

Yelena glanced at her watch before answering. “It’s been fourteen hours, Sam. There’s no way you could still be under Killgrave’s control. And think about it… is there any part of you that wants to hurt Bucky right now?”

Sam’s eyes once again flooded with tears at the thought, and he just shook his head emphatically.

“Besides,” Yelena said with a reassuring smile, “I won’t let anything bad happen.”

“Yelena… Thank you. You saved him. Me. Us. I won’t ever forget that,” Sam said, looking at her earnestly.

“I promised Bucky that I’d keep you safe,” she replied, but her smile told Sam that she understand his sincerity. “You want to see him, yes?”

Sam wanted to see Bucky more than anything, to truly know that he was okay, and to apologize… but…

“You know that he’s already forgiven you,” Yelena said, reading Sam’s mind once again. “He’d forgiven you before you even did anything to him. He knows what it’s like, to not be in control. We all do, now. You should go see him, he’s worried about you.”

Yelena stood from the chair, pulling a thin piece of wire from a pocket and walking to the other side of Sam’s bed. Before Sam could say anything, she had busied herself with picking the lock of the handcuffs.

“Who handcuffed me to the bed, then?” Sam queried as she finished with the cuffs and offered a hand to help pull him up.

“The cops,” she said plainly, like it was obvious and wholly unimportant. Sam opened his mouth to say something, but instead snapped it shut, deciding that for the moment, all that mattered was seeing Bucky.

Yelena glanced out the window before opening the door and leading Sam down the hallway, stopping just a few doors down and giving a cursory knock before opening the door. Sam felt comforted that Bucky hadn’t been very far from him all this time, and took a deep breath before following Yelena into the room.

Kate and Bucky were watching a funny cat video on Bucky’s phone, but it was all forgotten the moment Yelena and Sam walked into the room.

“Sam!” Bucky exclaimed, his face lighting up in the smile that always made Sam’s heart flutter. He looked so genuinely happy to see Sam, and it made the guilt that Sam was carrying prick at him like a dagger.

Kate quickly vacated the chair next to Bucky’s bed and pulled Sam into a hug.

“I’m sorry, Sam,” she whispered in his ear quietly, and he returned the hug. Feeling her guilt at her inaction helped distract him from the oppressive shame that was eating away at him, but only for a moment - as soon as she stepped back and headed for the door, the feeling was back.

“Let’s get some lunch… never mind that it’s like 4 in the morning, I’m starving!” Kate said to Yelena as she passed through the doorway, a thinly-veiled ruse to give Sam and Bucky some alone time. Yelena gave Sam’s arm a squeeze and then followed Kate out of the room, closing the door gently on her way out.

Sam went straight to Bucky’s bed, barely holding in tears. Partially, they were tears of relief, because Bucky really was doing as well as Yelena had said - aside from being slightly pale and having an IV in his right arm, one could hardly tell that anything was wrong at all. And yet, Sam felt crushing guilt that Bucky was in this hospital bed because of him. Sam sank into the chair next to the bed and wordlessly clutched Bucky’s right hand in both of his.

“I’m so sorry,” Sam managed to choke out, unable to hold back the tears anymore and unable to look Bucky in the eyes. Though he knew it wouldn’t be true, some part of him felt that Bucky wouldn’t forgive him. Or maybe he felt that Bucky shouldn’t forgive him. He certainly wasn’t ready to forgive himself. And yet, Yelena’s words rattled around in Sam’s mind - “You know that he’s already forgiven you.”

Bucky shifted carefully, just enough so he could reach out with his metal hand and touch Sam’s face, gently moving his chin up so that Sam would look at him. “Hey. Sammy. Look at me - it’s okay.”

“No,” Sam said bitterly, his anger at himself superseding the other emotions for a moment. “It’s not okay. I hurt you. I tried to kill you!”

“Sam,” Bucky said firmly, “what you did or didn’t do out there was not your fault. You weren’t in control.”

“But I did it, Bucky, and I can’t… I can’t forget that.”

“Yeah, you did it, but you didn’t have a choice. Killgrave used you as a weapon. I have some idea of what that’s like,” Bucky said, smiling wryly.

Sam was practically hyperventilating at this point. “But…”

“What kind of a hypocrite would I be if I blamed you, Sam?” Bucky said earnestly, and the intensity of the statement immediately brought Sam down from his spiral. He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and listened as Bucky continued, “I know you’re blaming yourself, but there’s nothing you could have done, and what happened is not some kind of moral failing on your part. I felt guilt and shame for what Hydra made me do for so long, even though I knew I couldn’t have done anything else. Even though I knew I would never choose to do those things. You know who helped me truly move past it? You did. So guess what, Sam? I’m going to be right here with you, through this and whatever the hell else we go through. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you forgive yourself for this, and whatever it takes to make sure you know that I could never love you any less.”

Sam couldn’t say anything to that, though part of him still wanted to argue. But everything Bucky had said was true. Hell, everything that Yelena had said was true. There was no logical argument that he could make to condemn himself for what he’d done under Killgrave’s control, but emotionally… it would take some time to get there. Sam sighed and pressed a kiss to Bucky’s forehead, still holding his right hand tightly.

“I love you, Bucky,” he said softly, “and you’re right, about everything. I’m just… how should I put this… all up in my feelings,” Sam managed a small chuckle for the first time in fifteen hours. “On top of what actually happened, I had this horrible nightmare, must have been after Yelena’s second dose of sedative had worn off.” Bucky raised an eyebrow at this, but stayed quiet while Sam continued. “In the dream, I really did stab you through the heart, and you bled out and died in my arms. It was… pretty fuckin’ awful,” Sam finished with a forced smile.

“Sometimes I wish I could punch your nightmares in the face with my vibranium hand, Sam,” Bucky sighed, and Sam laughed out loud. Becoming serious, Bucky used his metal hand to disentangle one of Sam’s hands from his own, and pressed it to his chest. For several moments, Sam just felt Bucky’s steady heartbeat beneath his fingers and took immeasurable comfort in it. Eventually, Bucky shifted slowly, trying to make room for Sam on the bed. “Come here, Sammy,” he murmured, and Sam forsook the chair and carefully nestled beside Bucky, fighting against his creeping anxiety about the future and how they would handle Killgrave.

Chapter Text

Sam and Bucky were able to enjoy about two hours of peace before Yelena and Kate came back to the room hurriedly.

“Hey Sam, the bad news is the cops are coming to question you, but we got a lawyer for you, recommended by Jessica,” Kate said quickly, sensing that Sam was on edge.

The information, however, simply made Sam’s simmering anxiety bubble over. The truth was, he was terrified of anyone outside of their quartet coming anywhere near Bucky. “What if Killgrave got to the cops, the lawyer, or… or, shit, anyone else?” Sam queried, sliding off the bed carefully and gripping Bucky’s hand in his own protectively.

“It’s going to be okay, Sam,” Yelena said with a quiet confidence that bewildered him. Before he could ask how she could be so sure, the sound of a walking cane skittering across the floor distracted him, and their lawyer strode into the room.

“Good afternoon, my name is Matthew Murdock, here to offer legal counsel,” Matt said.

“Hi, um, Sam Wilson,” Sam stammered, and Matt gave him a warm smile and a hand to shake, which Sam accepted.

Bucky, Kate, and Yelena all offered their names in greeting, and Matt smiled around the room. “It’s wonderful to meet you all. Now, I know you were referred to me through Jessica Jones, and I want to reassure you that you don’t need to justify anything that took place yesterday to me. I understand the nature of the threat you were facing and that you all did what you had to. Yelena, I spoke with the officers that you… dealt with, at Central Park, and all of them are in agreement that they won’t be pressing charges. Now, Mr. Wilson, your case could be more difficult due to the unfortunate fact that it was recorded and viewable by the public.”

Kate met Sam’s gaze, looking like she wanted to cry. Yelena picked up on this and put an arm around her shoulder to give her a reassuring squeeze.

Matt continued, “Now, I believe I already know the answer to this, but for formality’s sake, Sergeant Barnes, do you have any intention of pressing assault charges?”

“Hell no,” Bucky said firmly.

“Excellent. Now, it’s possible that the police can still hit you with charges ranging from assault to attempted murder, given the evidence that exists. If it comes to that, I’m confident that we can work with the defense that you were under duress. But I’m going to do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen - and I’m a very good lawyer,” Matt finished with a smile.

Sam felt like he was going to be sick. Of all the things he was worried about, being put on trial had been fairly low on the list. Before he could sit with Matt’s statement and digest that possibility, two police officers barged into the room. Anxiety threatened to overwhelm Sam - the room felt claustrophobic with so many people occupying the space, and despite Yelena coming off cool as a cucumber, Sam was terrified that Killgrave would send someone in with orders to kill them. He glanced at Yelena and noticed that she had her eyes sharply trained on the officers, and while one hand was resting on Kate’s shoulder, her other hand was hovering by one of her pockets, as if prepared to grab something.

Matt was calmly introducing the group to the police officers, however, what he was saying wasn’t registering in Sam’s mind. Focus, you’ve just gotta get through this, Sam thought, trying to calm himself as the lead detective turned to address him directly.

“Good morning, Mr. Wilson. We’re just here to ask some questions and try to figure out what happened yesterday afternoon. Now, from our perspective, having watched the video, you attacked your domestic partner unprovoked, with both equipment that you use in your professional capacity as Captain America as well as a knife. Your lawyer is claiming that you were under duress while completing these actions.”

Sam swallowed hard. “That’s correct.”

The detective looked at him skeptically, and Sam felt like his mouth had never been dryer. “Can you explain these actions and what led to them?”

“We… we were there to investigate an incident with a man we were tracking. Zebediah Killgrave. He was perpetrating harm on civilians and we believe that he intends to do more harm. He has an… ability. He can control others with verbal commands, and he…” Sam took a deep breath to try to keep his voice from shaking. “He told me to kill my fiancé.”

“Ms. Bishop was also coerced to record this,” Matt offered helpfully.

The detective’s assistant cut in. “Did he address Mr. Barnes and Ms. Belova?”

“Yes. He gave Bucky the same command as Sam, and he told me to… well…” Yelena made a gun firing gesture at her own head.

The detective raised an eyebrow. “And yet, Barnes and yourself did not follow these orders?”

“We are immune to psychological subjugation,” Yelena said simply. “Kate Bishop, Sam Wilson, and damn near everyone else on the planet, not so much.”

The detective gaped a bit, baffled by her answer, but before he could question her further, Matt jumped in: “Ms. Belova and Sergeant Barnes have unique past experiences that made them resistant to Killgrave’s influence. The same cannot be said of Ms. Bishop, my client, and a half-dozen of your own officers. Frankly, what Killgrave is capable of can only be described as mind control, and no reasonable person could hold his victims accountable for their actions. All that my client can be accused of is trying to protect the civilians that Killgrave was already targeting when they arrived.”

“But how do we know that for sure?” The detective’s assistant said, peering around Sam at Bucky. “I want to hear from Mr. Wilson’s domestic partner, directly, regarding the nature of the attack.”

Bucky was practically vibrating with rage. “Actually I’m pretty sure that you don’t. I hold no blame for what my fiancé had to do, and I’m going to avoid expressing how I really feel about you being here questioning him, because I’m sure that both he and our lawyer would want me to have more tact.”

The detective and his assistant exchanged a look while Bucky continued to glower at them.

Matt jumped in to diffuse the tension. “Listen, Sergeant Barnes is not pressing charges against his fiancé. My client was acting under extreme duress and would not intentionally cause any harm to his fiancé. I’m blind, and I can see how much these two love each other. The real culprit is still on the loose, and frankly, officers, if you were to arrest Mr. Wilson, or press charges against him, that will only hinder efforts to bring in an extremely dangerous man. I recommend allowing the Avengers to deal with this threat, and I will gladly assist my client in handling the public relations aspect of this once the threat has been removed.”

The officers pondered this for several moments, and seemed to acquiesce. Before too long, Matt was offering to walk them out and Sam finally felt some of his anxiety dissipate. He collapsed into the chair beside Bucky and they squeezed each other’s hands. Kate sighed and sat in a different chair across the room, still looking shaken, while Yelena was looking at her phone, apparently unfazed.

A nurse stopped by to check on Bucky and cheerily informed them that he was doing well, and Sam had finally started to relax when Yelena announced that they’d be having more visitors, and before Sam could ask who that would be, the door opened carefully and Jessica and Wanda stepped into the room.

Sam stood up, in shock to see them. “Wanda! Hey, um, great to see you, but…” he shot Yelena a questioning look, “why aren’t you at the compound? Where it’s safe?”

Yelena walked to the door, shut it firmly, and then turned and strode to the middle of the room, pulling a red vial from her pocket. “This is a synthetic gas we call Red Dust. It will immunize your brain from external control. It’s the reason I can resist Killgrave’s commands, and when you breathe this in, so will you. Now, get close, so you can all get inoculated at once.”

Jessica, Wanda, and Kate gathered close to Sam, and Yelena handed the vial to Kate, taking a step back. “Go ahead, just open it, it is compressed so it will sort of spray out at you. And make sure you all take some deep breaths,” she said. Kate didn’t hesitate, and when she opened the vial, a bright red cloud engulfed the space. Everyone except Yelena took deep breaths of the gas, and when the red cloud had dissipated, exchanged glances. Even while not actively under any kind of influence, they could all sense that something was different. Sam finally understood how Yelena could be so calm - ever since she’d figured out why she was immune to Killgrave, she’d had a plan to make sure that they would all be safe.

For Jessica, the feeling of relief was overwhelming, and her eyes filled with tears. While the Red Dust didn’t heal the trauma of months of being controlled by Killgrave, it did alleviate the constant fear of encountering him again, and that was a big step toward recovery. Wanda avoided reading her mind out of respect for her privacy, but could still sense the weight of what Jessica had been through, and she reached out to touch Jessica’s shoulder.

“He can’t hurt you anymore,” Wanda said softly, “you’re free.”

Bucky and Yelena exchanged glances, both happy to see their friends safe from the threat of mind control. Even though Bucky’s mind was already heavily reinforced by the therapy he received in Wakanda, he still felt a certain sharpening of his mental clarity after breathing in the gas. He smiled and gave Sam’s hand another squeeze as the two of them looked at each other.

“Alright, so, I brought you all together so that you could be inoculated at the same time. I only have one more vial of Red Dust,” Yelena said. “We need a plan for how to deal with Killgrave. We know that he’ll surround himself with civilians as a buffer.”

“So sniping is still out,” Bucky said with some chagrin.

“I’m not sure if there’s a way that we can kill him and be sure that other people will be safe. Besides, what he really deserves is to sit in a tiny cell for the rest of his life, in my opinion. I’m thinking the Raft,” Sam said.

“We need more Red Dust,” Kate lamented, “we need to make sure that everyone Killgrave ever encounters is immune to him. Everyone at the Raft would need it. And if we had more, we can use that to free any civilians that are around him.”

“He’s killing people to try to get Wanda’s attention,” Jessica added grimly, “we need to hurry.”

Wanda tilted her head thoughtfully. “I think I could replicate it with magic.” Everyone turned to stare at her and she shrugged. “It’s sort of like a potion in gas form. I am a witch, after all.”

Kate grinned from ear to ear. “That’s so cool. I think we’re onto something here.”

Yelena fished the remaining vial from her pocket and took the empty one from Kate, handing both to Wanda. “Can you try it without opening it?”

Wanda nodded and examined the full vial carefully, and also cast her mind back to breathing in the Red Dust moments ago. She found herself able to visualize the elements of the gas, and began casting a replication spell, refilling the empty vial. The group stared at her in awe.

“That was amazing!” Kate exclaimed, and Wanda gave her a wry smile. It felt nice to have her abilities celebrated again.

“Okay, we can do this,” Sam said, forming a plan in his head. “Here’s what I think we should do. Yelena, seeing you again would put Killgrave on edge, and you are the one who knows the most about how the Red Dust works, what do you think of going to the Raft ahead of us and inoculating everyone there so that we can put Killgrave away safely?”

“I like it. However, I am not a pilot.”

“I can call a friend who is, and he can fly you in the Quinjet.” Sam pondered for a moment. “So I imagine that Killgrave will want to meet in a public place, kind of out in the open, and that he’ll have a few dozen civilians around him to use as leverage. We need to be able to get the Red Dust to those people without getting too close, so that he doesn’t command them to hurt themselves.”

“What if we made trick arrows that could disperse the gas?” Kate could barely hide her excitement at the prospect. “Do you think that would work, Wanda?”

Wanda nodded and Sam looked at Bucky. “Maybe sniping is on the table, just not sniping Killgrave with bullets, but civilians with little Red Dust bombs?”

Bucky grinned. “I love the sound of it.”

Sam’s face pinched in concern. “Are you up for it, though?”

“Yes, I want to help, and I promise that I’m good to go,” Bucky said, giving Sam a warm smile.

Sam turned to Jessica. “I understand if you’d rather sit this one out.”

Jessica took a deep breath. “No, I want to be there.”

Sam smiled. “Okay, so the plan is that Wanda replicates as much Red Dust as she can while we find out where Killgrave wants to meet and find good sniping spots. Once we’re there, Wanda, myself, and Jessica can distract Killgrave while Bucky and Kate use improvised arrows and bullets to disperse Red Dust on the civilians that he has under his control. Once they are safe, we can restrain him and take him to the Raft, where Yelena will have everyone prepared for his arrival. Does that sound good to everyone?”

“Absolutely, Cap!” Kate said as everyone else nodded.

“Alright, let’s take this motherfucker down,” Sam said with conviction.

Chapter Text

After the initial replication of the Red Dust, Wanda was able to work quickly to produce dozens more doses while also creating new vials for safe storage. Meanwhile, Sam coordinated with Thaddeus Ross to determine how many doses would be required to inoculate all staff and prisoners at the Raft, and contacted Joaquín Torres to assist with transportation for Yelena. Once everything was arranged and Yelena had set off on her mission with a backpack full of vials, Wanda and Kate worked on fashioning trick arrows and bullets that would disperse Red Dust on impact. Jessica parsed through every news story and social media outlet she could find that might give them clues on Killgrave’s next move, and it wasn’t long before another macabre invitation had hit the airwaves.

“He wants Wanda to come to Riverside Park,” Jessica informed the group.

“Alright, let’s all suit up and get some earpieces connected so that we can communicate,” Sam said. Bucky started sliding off of the hospital bed and Sam rushed to his side to help him up. His heart sank at the way Bucky stood stiffly, clearly experiencing some pain but working hard to hide it.

“Are you sure about this?” Sam murmured in Bucky’s ear. His fiancé nodded wordlessly, and Sam knew all too well how difficult it was to talk him down once he had set his mind on something.

Wanda was staring at Bucky, a slight frown on her face. After several moments of contemplation, she cast a spell in his direction and he took a deep breath, relaxing a bit.

She gave Sam a nod. “I can’t heal him, but hopefully that helps with the pain.”

“Thank you, Wanda,” Bucky said sincerely, as Sam gave her a grateful look.

“You’re still taking the wheelchair out of here and to the park. I don’t care what you have to say about it,” Sam said lightly, pressing a kiss to Bucky’s temple as his fiancé gave him a sarcastic glower.

“Let’s go get this son of a bitch,” Kate said, radiating confidence.

Kate and Bucky set themselves up on different buildings on either side of the park, both having a birds-eye view of Killgrave’s set-up. As they expected, he had dozens of civilians behind him, many of them holding weapons. The team also spotted a pair of snipers that Killgrave had arranged on top of the General Grant Memorial, just out of sight of anyone on the ground, but in plain view for Bucky and Kate. Sam took their presence as a sign that Killgrave had lost some of his confidence after the previous encounter.

“Alright, we’re heading in. We’ll distract Killgrave and make him think he has the upper hand, then Bucky and Kate will inoculate the civilians as quickly as they can, and we’ll cart this motherfucker straight to the raft,” Sam said. Nothing in his voice betrayed to his team that deep down, he was anxious to face Killgrave again. He trusted Yelena and the Red Dust, but it was not lost on him how much Killgrave had come so close to taking from him. Swallowing hard, he signaled to Wanda and Jessica to follow him onto the open space where Killgrave would see them.

“Sam, Jessica! What a pleasant surprise!” Killgrave called out, grinning from ear to ear and striding towards them, “And, Wanda, somehow more lovely in person than you are on television, darling!”

Wanda scowled at the smarmy compliment, the group slowly coming to a halt a few feet from Killgrave, who had also stopped walking, instead looking Wanda up and down.

“Let these people go, Killgrave,” Sam said, not hiding the disgust in his voice.

Killgrave simply laughed. “They’re just here to ensure that everything goes smoothly. You and they will be free to go once Wanda and I are on our way. And… since Jessica is here as well, I think I might just take her back,” he chuckled, “who’s to say I can’t have two lovely ladies by my side?”

Jessica felt nauseous at the idea. You’re safe, you’re immune to him, you’re never going back there… She thought, over and over, like a mantra.

Sam was on edge, and though Killgrave had seemed utterly self-assured, he noticed the smallest microexpression on Killgrave’s face as he opened his mouth to speak again, and felt some satisfaction in that fact that Killgrave was a bit scared that Wanda would not be susceptible to him.

“Wanda, come here,” he commanded, his hand outstretched. Wanda walked up to him and took his hand, looking back at Sam and giving him a nearly imperceptible nod. Sam huffed a small sigh of relief - Wanda was only pretending to acquiesce, just as they had planned.

“And Jessica. Come here. And give me a smile, ladies, please,” Killgrave leered as Jessica walked toward him, both her and Wanda plastering fake smiles on their faces.

“Now,” Sam murmured, too quiet for Killgrave to notice, but Kate and Bucky heard him.

First, two “bullets” landed on top of the structure where Killgrave’s snipers were posted, and the Red Dust billowed out from the harmless casings. Killgrave was too busy staring at Wanda to notice, but Sam knew if he turned to walk away he would see the gaseous red substance, and he saw the first trick arrow diving toward the civilians on the ground.

“Stop!” Sam shouted, his voice covering the soft whooshing noise of the arrow. “Leave them alone, you fucking bastard!”

Killgrave sighed, like Sam’s presence was a small annoyance, and stopped basking in his presumed control of Wanda long enough to give Sam his full attention.

“What are you even doing here, Sam? Didn’t things end poorly enough for you the last time we met? Where’s your little boyfriend, anyway?” Killgrave taunted gleefully.

“Fiancé,” Sam growled, all of his anxiety morphing into anger. He was only able to contain it by watching the arrows and bullets falling between the civilians, all perfectly placed by Kate and Bucky’s impeccable aim.

Killgrave pouted his lip mockingly. “Is he dead? Are you here to get your revenge or some such pettiness?”

“That man means more to me than you can imagine, and if he were dead, I’d be here to kill you,” Sam snarled, pulling a gun from his thigh holster and aiming right at Killgrave’s face. “So which do you think it is, motherfucker?”

Killgrave raised a single eyebrow and stared at the pistol skeptically. “You have some nerve whipping that out,” he shrugged, “but you can go ahead and blow your brains out.”

Sam didn’t move a muscle, except for his mouth, twisted into a grin at the look of confusion on Killgrave’s face. He could see the realization washing over him like a bucket of water.

Some noise from the crowd of civilians caught Killgrave’s attention, and he whirled around, staring in disbelief at the clouds of red gas, his wall of insurance milling about confusedly. He marched towards a young man holding a knife. “Kill yourself! Now!” he bellowed.

The young man stared blankly back at him and instead tossed the knife on the ground and backed away slowly, eyes wide with fear. Killgrave spun around and marched toward Sam, who was casually putting away his pistol. 

“What the fuck is this?”

Sam grinned. “Lucky for you, my fiancé and Kate have made all those people immune to you, and we aren’t here to kill you. It’s better if you just rot away in a cell, completely powerless.”

Killgrave was apoplectic, spinning around to look at Wanda. “Will you fucking kill him, please!”

Wanda smiled genuinely, instead using magic to pull Killgrave’s hands together and letting Sam cuff him roughly.

“You’re not going to control us, or anyone else, ever again,” Jessica said, her arms crossed and a smile on her face.

Killgrave swallowed hard and tried to regain his composure. “Didn’t we have fun together, Jessica? Make them let me go! You and I can be together again! I know that you love me!”

Jessica gritted her teeth and marched up to Killgrave. “You know none of it was real. You love yourself so much that you had to force me to parrot it back to you. You’re disgusting.”

Killgrave was speechless for a moment, but eventually aimed more venom at Sam. “If only you’d finished the job on Barnes, I bet you’d be too busy blubbering or trying to kill yourself to come after me, you pathetic poofter!”

Sam barely even felt angry anymore, simply sighing and rolling his eyes. “You really don’t have a modicum of decency, do you? You’ve never loved anyone except yourself. I wish I could make you feel what it’s like to hurt someone you love.”

Something flashed across Wanda’s face and before Killgrave could say anything more, she was hitting him with a powerful spell. Killgrave let out an anguished scream and collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Sam gaped at the scene before him and looked at Wanda quizzically.

She shrugged. “I made him feel what it’s like to hurt someone you love.”

Sam and Wanda exchanged a knowing look as Jessica glanced at the civilians behind them. “I’m going to go help them,” she told Sam. “Have a shitty life, asshole,” she said to Killgrave, who cowered as she passed him.

“I’m going to take him to the Raft now,” Wanda said.

Sam nodded. “Hey, Wanda… thank you. We couldn’t have done this without you,” he gave her a smile, “stop by Avengers Tower sometime. We’d love to see you.”

Wanda returned the smile before levitating and flying away, Killgrave trailing behind her like a balloon while still sobbing uncontrollably. Sam sighed with relief and looked across the park, a smile spreading across his face as he saw Kate joining Jessica to offer support to the civilians, and on the other side of the park, Bucky walking towards him. He walked carefully and was favoring his left side, but he was clearly overjoyed to have contributed to this victory over Killgrave. Sam jogged over to him and offered his arm in support.

“We fucking did it. You’re so amazing,” Sam said lovingly.

“Funny, I was going to say the same about you,” Bucky grinned.

The pair pressed their foreheads together, breathing each other in for a few seconds before closing the gap between their lips. They savored the moment, basking in the warm glow of the overwhelming sense of love and safety that melted away the previous days’ anxieties and tribulations.

Sam and Bucky soon joined Kate and Jessica and once the crowd of civilians has dissipated, Kate pulled out her phone to FaceTime with Yelena, who happily told them that Wanda had already arrived at the Raft and they’d put Killgrave in a cell.

“What the hell did you do to him, anyway?” Yelena queried, “he was an emotional wreck!"

“Wanda gave him something to think about, I guess,” Sam said cryptically, giving Bucky one of his I’ll-explain-later looks.

“Yelena, you were absolutely amazing, and we should do more missions together!” Kate gushed emphatically.

“Seriously, Yelena, if you ever need anything, we’re here. If you want to work out of Avengers Tower, you’re more than welcome,” Sam added.

Yelena hesitated, seeming a bit taken aback by the offer. “I… well, I’ll have to see about some things. But I will think about it.”

Sam offered his hand to Jessica to shake. “You too, Jessica.”

Jessica accepted the handshake but shook her head. “I have a lot of personal shit to put back together. I’m more of a loner, anyway. But, thank you all for helping me, and believing me. I really didn’t think anyone would.”

Before they knew it, Kate was making plans for all of them to have dinner together when Yelena got back to the city.

To Jessica, the world finally felt safe again.