Chapter Text
Nick Fury was not pleased. He watched Tony Stark with a constant glare, letting him know exactly how he felt about being dragged out to an undisclosed location in the Pacific Ocean. They were aboard Stark Industries’ transoceanic laboratory ship. The fact that Tony had dragged them to the middle of the ocean to show them some project made him think that this was going to be a big headache.
Steve Rogers stood to Fury’s left. He looked peeved about being in the middle of God-knows-where too, especially at the request of Tony Stark. Tony had welcomed them into a brightly lit room with a panel of controls and a long, human-sized capsule. Bruce was plugging away on a keyboard next to the capsule when they entered. Since Bruce was lost in his own world of biology and applied sciences, Nick turned to Tony.
“Dammit, Tony. What is this? I don’t need any more bad publicity. Did you two do something illegal?” he asked, staring at Tony with a look that could wither even the most cheerful flower.
“We’re good, Nick. We’re in international waters and that means they don’t have this kind of thing covered in the rulebook,” Tony said, hopping on one of the stools that sat in front of one of the panels. He spun around on the stool and looked over Bruce’s shoulder. Tony appeared satisfied; Bruce looked annoyed.
“Wait. Just wait a second. The last time I saw a human-sized tube like that, a bad thing happened, Stark. What is this? Why are we here?” Steve asked, clearly wanting some straightforward answers.
“Relax, Captain Patriot, or whatever you call yourself—” Tony started
“I call myself Steve,” he replied with a definite edge in his voice.
“Right. Well, you know what happened when we tried to make Bucky a new arm?”
Both Steve and Nick looked alarmed the moment he brought the incident up. Bucky, who had been quietly looking around the lab since they arrived, looked up at the mention of it. Bucky was still adjusting to life with the Avengers. His adjustment, however, was like that of a skittish animal that was learning the touch of a friendly hand for the first time.
“What the hell, Tony?” Nick asked, his voice growing louder.
“You see, we tried to replicate Bucky’s DNA to reconstruct an arm in a process similar to cloning. Now cloning is generally not permitted in most countries, and that was not our intent anyway. We weren’t trying to clone an entire human. Just the arm. We did it successfully, but with the rest of the body attached…and alive…and female. Something went wonky with the Y chromosome and we got another X instead. In short, a female Bucky,” Bruce said, breaking from his work to explain the science.
“We know you created a girl Bucky. It happened and we’re attempting to deal with it. I suppose she’s still with Natasha and Hill back at Stark Tower,” Nick said, getting impatient.
‘Right. Well, I, uh, decided to snip some hair off of Steve over there, to keep on file just in case he ever lost a limb, or four,” Tony answered matter-of-factly.
“You what?” Steve asked, riled by Tony’s flippant attitude toward his personal space.
“Oh, I got curious. I wondered what you would look like as a female, Cap. For science, of course,” Tony continued, smiling at Steve.
“I’m going to kill him,” Steve said calmly, looking at Nick as if he were waiting for a signal.
“I didn’t exactly know about this. Tony started the process,” Bruce said, looking over and pointing at Stark, “But he had trouble stabilizing her. Once she was alive, well, I couldn’t just let her die, so I had to step in to help,” Bruce explained.
“Who let you two work together?” Steve asked, exasperated beyond belief.
“I think we ought to meet her,” Bucky suddenly said in a calm voice.
Everyone stared at Bucky, but he seemed unfazed by the attention. Steve sighed and shook his head. He really wanted to kill Tony, he truly did, but he knew better than that. Thankfully Bucky was around, still keeping him from tussling. He had seemed indifferent when he found out he was accidently cloned as a female. Steve, however, had been pissed. Now, he was livid. The science nerds had crossed a line, twice now, but what was done was done. They couldn’t undo it now.
“Might as well,” Nick agreed with a resigned, but sour, face.
Steve managed a nod, but he was still shaking in anger.
Bruce bent over and tapped away on his keyboard again. After a moment, the capsule opened. She stood there with her eyes closed, her blonde hair tousled from the confines of the tube. She resembled Steve in obvious ways, but she was softer. Everyone was stunned and speechless. Everyone but Tony of course.
“You look good, Steve,” Tony said with a sarcastic sidelong glance at him.
If Steve hadn’t been so shocked, he would have jumped over the console and wrapped his hands around Tony’s neck.
The blonde’s eyes shot open. Everyone jumped back, and Steve instinctively reached for his shield. Bucky gently took his wrist and put it down, reminding him to be wary, but not rash. Her strikingly blue eyes jumped to each of them, regarding each of them with bewilderment. No one moved. If she was an exact copy of Steve, then she had his super soldier abilities. The last thing they needed was a spooked clone of Captain America wreaking havoc on a floating laboratory filled with hazardous materials.
A noise came from the woman. It was an awkward groan, like she was testing out her vocal chords for the first time. After a moment, she managed to clear her throat. Her lips parted as she looked at Tony directly.
“Can I get out of this now?” she asked in a shockingly clear voice.
“Fine, fine,” Tony answered with a groan, “The groaning was a nice touch though.”
She rolled her eyes and lithely hopped out of the huge tube. Nick, Steve, and Bucky just stared. She didn’t waste a moment before walking straight up to Steve and sizing him up with her eyes. “So I came from your DNA? This all feels weird. I’m not sure how I should address you. Steve? Mr. Rogers? Captain? Captain Steve? Captain Rogers? Captain America? Regardless, it’s really nice to meet you,” she said eagerly and held out her hand.
Steve stared at her with wide eyes, his mind reeling. It really was like looking in a mirror, but with a woman looking back instead. What was bizarre was how adjusted she seemed compared to the female clone of Bucky, who had come out wildly looking around her. The female clone of Bucky had made him remember how Bucky had shown up at Stark Tower, wild eyed and desperately looking for him.
“She’s…” Nick began, unsure how to finish his sentence.
“Well-adjusted?” Tony offered, an impish grin on his face, “Yeah, she is.”
“The truth is, she’s been awake about a month. Tony just wanted to put her back in there for dramatic effect,” Bruce said sheepishly as he hid a grin behind his mug of tea while taking a drink, “I…uh…played along. But don’t worry, Steve. Tony didn’t create her on a whim. It turns out Bucky’s hair sample was contaminated with yours.”
“What?” Steve asked, still trying to understand and adding after a pause, “I did give Bucky a haircut when he showed up at Stark Tower. He had more than a few bad knots that were going to be a mess to untangle. Is that when our hair got mixed together?”
“That’s likely. Her self-assurance came through a sort of crash course on being human,” Tony explained further, motioning towards the female “Steve”. “She’s incredibly smart. She’s read about two hundred books. I don’t know where that comes from”, looking pointedly at Steve, “You should be honored. She’s read your biography over and over.”
The woman suddenly looked embarrassed as she picked up a worn book that sat next to Bruce. She handed it to Steve with an embarrassed smile.
“Would you mind signing it?” she asked, suddenly less aggressive than she had been previously, “I like reading it because sometimes I feel like I remember the things written in there, like boot camp. I remember the feeling of my boots sinking in the mud as the rain came down mercilessly, how it felt to be chilled to the bone with so much gear weighing me down. I remember my lungs feeling like they were almost ready to burst from the seemingly endless running. But then I remember growing up with Bucky. I remember this one night on the railroad tracks, but it wasn’t in the book. I remember being a kid, walking beside Bucky and throwing pebbles at the tracks for no good reason, and –”
“Stop,” Steve interrupted as he stared straight through her, “Don’t say anything more.”
Any levity in the room had evaporated. Even Tony sensed the heavy atmosphere and refrained from speaking.
“Those are my memories. Mine. Tony, what gave you the right?” Steve said, his voice icy as he spun on Tony.
Both Bruce and Tony looked baffled. Neither of them had known she had his memories. She hadn’t said so. Bucky’s clone hadn’t, so they were not expecting Steve’s to either. In addition, there was no logical reason for her to have any of his memories. She was a clone, sure, but she had not gone through his life experiences first-hand.
“Steve, we didn’t know,” Bruce said quietly.
Steve said nothing as he stared a hole into the floor. He believed Bruce, but he was still angry. Those memories from his adolescence were sacred to him. In those days it was just him and Bucky, and they were determined to take on the world. It was a naïve and childish notion, but it was theirs. That was before he let Bucky down, before he couldn’t get to him in time, before HYDRA had gotten to him. It was their golden age. He was learning to accept what had happened to Bucky and move forward together, but this…this brought his guilt to the forefront of his mind once again. He couldn’t take it. Wordlessly, he left the room, leaving everyone else stunned.
“I’ll go get him,” Bucky said as he followed Steve out.
“He may need some help,” said Nick going after them, glaring at Tony.
“Did I do something wrong?” the female “Steve” asked, looking both hurt and confused.
Tony shook his head and answered, “No, it wasn’t you. Give him some time. I know he’s your hero and all, but he’s got some serious issues from his past. He blames himself for things beyond his control. It’s not you, so buck up. You’re fine. How would you like to meet the rest of the Avengers?”
“Can I?” she asked, elated at the prospect. She looked to Bruce and back at Tony as if asking her dads for permission.
“Hey, now. You don’t need our permission. You’re a full-fledged adult,” Bruce said with a reassuring smile.
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Bucky rounded yet another corner in the labyrinth that Tony Stark called a ship. Steve needed a minute to get his thoughts together, but he would come out of it in one piece. He always did. He finally found Steve leaning against a wall in one of the hallways. Bucky took the spot next to him and glanced over. Steve’s arms were crossed, and he was looking at the floor intently. Bucky said nothing for a moment, and then he decided to interrupt the silence.
“That was something else,” he offered, giving Steve an opportunity to unload. It worked.
“You can’t even remember our childhood together. Why is it that Tony and Bruce can’t help you remember, but they create some sort of aberration that can? Is she even human? What do I even do with this? I mean, what is she to me exactly? I just can’t believe she has the memories we’ve been so desperately trying to get you to recall. There is no fairness in it. It’s almost cruel,” Steve said, growing quieter near the end of his harangue.
Bucky let him settle a moment. Steve Rogers didn’t let many people see him like this, not that it occurred often. This was an extreme situation, and Steve was responding with anger and uncertainty. For Bucky, finding out he had been cloned was confusing, but he was not angry. Bruce and Tony had the best of intentions, but he had wished they had consulted him first. He didn’t want his flesh and blood arm back. They thought replacing the arm that HYDRA had affixed to him might help get him back to his old self, but they had the wrong idea. He didn’t see the metal arm as an oppressive reminder of his past; it reminded him of how strong he could be. He was able to remember the time he spent with HYDRA as they made him into the Winter Soldier. They tortured him in every way imaginable, but he wouldn’t break. It took careful planning and systematic methods to finally break him, but he had held out much longer than most people would have. He held on for Steve. In his sleep-deprived condition, they had shown him a corpse wearing a uniform identical to Steve’s. It wasn’t him, of course, but he couldn’t tell since he was practically hallucinating at that point. Seeing the lifeless body of whom he believed was Steve Rogers was the final blow that made him give up. It was clever of HYDRA, he had to give them that. He wouldn’t have believed the newspapers reporting Steve’s death; he would have had to see the dead body himself to believe it.
By that point, he was putty in their hands. He stopped resisting them, too tired and too sick to keep their mind games at bay. Yes, HYDRA had supplied him with his metal arm, and yes, he had spilled so much blood using it. However, that same arm saved Steve from drowning when he went down with Bucky in the helicarrier, and for that, he loved it.
Bucky had taken the existence of his clone in stride. After all he had been through, it just didn’t seem like that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. He remembered that he had left to get his thoughts together and that after aimless wandering and pondering where he would go, he had decided to find out more about the Steve Rogers the public knew. He had heard about the Captain America exhibit in the National Air and Space Museum and had paid a visit to the exhibit, but he was not expecting the effect it had on him. The old wartime footage and memorabilia instantly sparked memories of the war, of Steve, and of HYDRA, memories that he himself had forgotten that he had. He had a mental breakdown in the middle of the exhibit. No one recognized him as Bucky Barnes with his haggard, half-crazed appearance, but he did have a destination burned into his mind: Stark Tower. That was where he could start looking for Steve. He was part of the Avengers and so was Stark (Howard's son?), so he decided to go looking around there. He recognized now that his decision made little sense, but it was one that had actually yielded results.
Bucky remembered that when he had arrived at Stark Tower, he had probably looked sightly psychotic when he had asked the men at the security station to speak with Steve Rogers. The guards had thought he was just a crazy bum, and just when they were about to escort him out, Tony Stark himself had showed up, looking just like how Bucky remembered Howard. Tony had later explained that he had programmed JARVIS to recognize Bucky’s face, should he should show up on the premises, and alert him immediately. Tony was cautious at first, probably because he could see how fragile Bucky was under his crazed countenance. He had called for Steve immediately, who had just gotten back to New York from some trip, if Bucky remembered correctly...
“Steve,” Bucky said, interrupting his own thoughts of the past, “I know it’s confusing, but I’m not angry about this. You’re mad, but not for yourself. You’re angry for me, for my lost memories, but don’t be. Don’t take it out on her. She didn’t ask to have your memories. In fact, she didn’t even ask to exist, but she does and you can’t hold that against her. Whatever she started out as, a glob of DNA or whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. She’s a sentient human now. We’ll adapt, yeah? We always do. At least, that’s what you tell me.” He smiled and searched Steve’s face for some sign of calm.
Steve actually let out a little laugh and said, “Yeah, that we do. I know I’m not being fair. I just don’t know what to do with her. It’s almost like I suddenly have a twin sister. How do you suddenly have a twin sister at our age? I don’t know, Bucky. I’ll work this out in my head, but I need some time.”
Bucky nodded; he understood. Steve would come around. He probably will end up liking her, but for now he needed space from his new clone. He would talk to Nick about getting separate transports back to the Avengers Tower. He could ask Nick to say that Steve had an obligation to attend a march for the armed forces in California, which is why they would take separate transports. That would avoid any hurt feelings. Steve actually had such an obligation, but not for two more weeks.
“Wait here. I’ll ask if Tony has a spare helicopter or something lying around. Rich guys, huh?” he asked with a small grin, actually managing to pull a chuckle out of Steve.
“There he is,” Bucky thought to himself, relieved to see the wry smile Steve flashed whenever one of them made a playful jab at Tony.
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She was finally getting her land legs. She had even made it out of the elevator without falling, only tripping slightly; being on land was proving to be a challenge after living the entire span of her life so far on a ship. Tony and Bruce stepped out after her, Bruce making sure that she didn’t fall flat on her face (again) while Tony absentmindedly did something on his cell phone (which he of course designed). She stopped at the top of a small set of stairs, taking in the room in front of her. Tony had explained with virtual blueprints the layout of the Avengers Tower on the trip over. It had only taken a few minutes for her to memorize the layout of the tower and its plethora of floors, but seeing it in person was different. The ship that she had been on for the past month wasn’t without its comforts. She had been given her own room, had been to a library, had meals with them in a kitchen, and had watched television with Tony in a living room with a bar. This room was similar to the layout but bigger. One whole wall was windows and a door that led out to a large balcony overlooking the city. To her right was a bar area, which Tony had made a beeline for immediately after they exited the elevator, appearing to actively avoid the left side of the room.
That side of the room, which Bruce was guiding her to now, had two huge couches with a large glass table and two armchairs between them. These chairs faced a large fireplace, a real one, not like the fake one on the ship. On one side of the fireplace was a door, leading to the stairwell. Bruce stopped her behind the chairs, and she looked at the four people in front of her, three of them on one couch and one on the other. Fury, she remembered. She recognized the two women sitting next to him as Agent Hill and Natasha Romanoff from the files that Bruce had given to her to acquaint her with the rest of the Avengers. The woman sitting alone and curled up on the couch, arms around her knees, she only knew as the female clone of Bucky, as that was what Tony and Bruce called her. Barefoot and dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants, she did resemble the Bucky she met, the only difference besides being female was that she had both of her arms and not a metal prosthesis. Short messy brown hair could be seen under the hood of her jacket. Wearing a look of someone who was being thrown into an immersion crash course of life and was way in over her head, the woman turned to look at her and Bruce before turning to gaze back out the window.
“How’s she doing?” Bruce asked Natasha, inclining his head towards the woman.
“She doesn’t talk much, and when she does, it’s not always in English. Whatever Bucky can do, she can do, including knowing multiple languages and not remembering anything. This her?”
“Yes, this is – “
“Steve’s girl clone,” a voice said behind them as a man dropped down from the rafters above, landing next to Tony, who spilled his newly-made drink in surprise. She recognized him as Clint Barton as he walked toward them, leaving Tony softly swearing at him under his breath as he cleaned up the mess.
“Thank you, Mr. Tact,” Hill said, standing up as her phone started ringing, Fury following suit. They walked out the doors leading to the balcony, Hill giving Steve’s clone a once over as she passed. Shrugging, Clint perched on the back of the couch next to Natasha, eyeing them with an observant look.
“Well, that’s all we can call her, just like she’s Bucky’s girl clone,” Clint said, gesturing across the table, “You braincases didn’t think to give them real names? Basically calling them Thing One and Two just doesn’t seem right to me.”
“We are in the room, you know,” Steve’s clone interrupted, a hint of irritation creeping into her voice, “Whether she and I are clones or not, we’re still human in every sense of the word.”
Clint immediately apologized, saying, “Right, sorry. None of us meant any offense. We just don’t exactly have anything to call you besides ‘she’ and ‘her’. Hey” – he called, catching the female Bucky’s attention – “What do you want your name to be? Bucky Two is just sounding tacky in my head.”
Raising an eyebrow at him, the woman answered quietly in a foreign language, her voice clear and with strength, before returning her gaze out the windows. Natasha half smiled, turning her head to look at Clint, who had a perplexed look on his face.
“She said ‘What could I call myself when I don’t know who I am?’”
“Fair point,” Clint conceded, turning to look at her and Bruce. “What about you, Steve Two? Do you know who you are?”
“Vaguely, I suppose,” she responded. “I remember some of the things that he – I mean Steve – did. I remember more and more as time goes on.”
Natasha raised an eyebrow at Bruce, who just shrugged. Clint seemed fascinated, and regarded her with consideration.
“Have you thought of reversing his name? Going by the feminine version?”
“Hmm,” Tony mused, making his way over, his remade drink in hand. He walked over and sat next to Bucky's clone, oblivious to the prickly look she gave him. “Let’s see. That would make you Stephanie Grace Rogers, bookworm, and Little Miss Talkative next to me would be Jamie Rebecca Barnes. God knows that those two popsicles can just keep their middle names to themselves. These are better.”
“Rebecca? Stephanie? Can’t call them that all the time, Stark. Three syllable names are a pain,” Clint grumbled, “No offense, Nat.”
“Point taken, Katniss, but let the ladies decide,” Tony said, gesturing to his left and right.
“I like it. You could call me Stevie for short, if you prefer,” the newly dubbed Stevie answered.
“I like it better than Steve Two. What about you?” Clint asked, trying and failing to catch the woman’s eye. Tony poked her knees to get her attention, causing her to jump and fall off the back of the couch.
Standing up fluidly, she glared at Tony, cautiously walking away from him and towards Stevie and Bruce, saying, “It’s fine. Becky’s good, but don’t call me Jamie.” Pausing, she studied Stevie, as she continued on past to the stairwell door. She exchanged a look with Bruce, and the door closed silently behind her.
Bruce looked over at Natasha who nodded, resigned. She stood up and pulled Clint along with her. They left the room through the same door leading to the stairs. Clint waved at Stevie, giving her a half smile as the door closed.
“Did I miss something? What was that all about?” Stevie asked, looking at Bruce and Tony.
“She, I mean Becky, is having a hard time adapting. She doesn’t have Bucky’s memories, like you have Steve’s. Because of that, she doesn’t have the same sense of identity as you, nor the resources you had as there are no books written about Bucky Barnes,” Bruce said, looking towards the stairwell door, concern coloring his voice.
“Give her time, she’ll be fine,” Tony said, setting his glass down and standing up. He glanced out the window, watching Hill and Fury greet the STARK INDUSTRIES helicopter landing on the small helipad outside. Clearing his throat and sounding slightly nervous, he turned to Stevie and Bruce, smiling a little more than normal, and stared to push them towards the elevator. “Let’s go find your room,” he said brightly as he shoved them into the elevator and the doors closed behind them. Bruce raised an eyebrow and gave Tony a bemused look. Tony actively avoided making eye contact as he prattled on about living arrangements for Becky and Stevie.