Tony sighed. "Prepare a few statements. Make sure Bucky acknowledges that he carried out the deeds, yes, but stress that he wasn't in control." He replied as he exited the elevator. "You really have to lean on that factor, that he wasn't in control and didn't really know what he was doing."
"Right," Steve nodded, taking in what Tony was saying, making a mental note as a reference for later. "Yeah, we'll be thorough," He said, resisting the urge to fiddle with his sleeves out of nervousness.
Tony nodded. "Yeah. Just…I don't know. Try to get the sympathy of as many of the crowd as possible, because that's what'll really decide everything. How people feel about him and what happened."
Steve nodded, glancing at Bucky. "Sympathy, understanding, compassion…we can get that, right?" He took a long breath, wondering what would happen if they didn't. "We can make them understand what happened."
Bucky shrugged a little bit. "Do I remember enough for that?" He asked, shaking his head slightly. He had no idea if he did. If he could do this.
Did he? "You remember enough to know that you had no choice," Steve shrugged lightly as they made their way to the living room, "And I know enough to know that you had no choice. But if you're open to sharing more…"
Bucky shrugged a little bit, then shook his head, crossing his arms. "I'll share what I'm comfortable sharing, and no more." He replied firmly, shaking his head.
"Of course," Steve said with a slow nod, praying that it would be enough. "And..we'll talk about it more, later on?" He suggested, glancing between the two of them, trying to hold on to his hope: his crumbling certainty.
Tony nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I have to go now. Text me if you need something." he headed back towards the elevator.
Bucky nodded, taking a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a moment.
"Mhm, will do." Steve nodded, though Tony was already out of the room. He just smiled and rolled his eyes, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair.
Bucky set the sketchbook and origami book down on the coffee table, letting out a slow breath. He didn't know what to say.
Steve put the stack of books he was carrying next to his sketchbook, sighing. "I'm going to make some tea," He decided, hoping that might settle his frayed nerves, "D'you want some?"
Bucky blinked, then nodded. "Yeah. Sure." he replied, sitting down on the couch for a moment, then getting back up, restless.
Some nice tea will help, He tried reassuring himself, willing his hands not to shake as he brought the teapot out of the cupboard and turned the kettle on. Some nice, calming, pacifying tea. Soon the water was coming to a simmer and Steve placed two mugs on the counter, bringing them down with more force than necessary.
Bucky looked up when he heard the mugs thump down, raising an eyebrow. "No need to break the mugs, Steve. They didn't hurt anybody." he said with a faint glint of humor in his voice.
"I–" Steve tried, smiling despite his worrying thoughts as he shook his head. "I'm just…" He chuckled, looking down, "I'm just overthinking, you know me."
I'm not sure I do. But he nodded. "Right, yeah." He sighed softly, biting his lip a little bit.
"But…it'll be alright," Steve said, trying to reassure himself as he prepared the tea, pouring the steaming water into a sleek teapot and watching as the tea steeped. "It's just…one thing after another," He murmured.
Bucky shrugged a little. "I'm sorry for causing all this trouble." He said after a moment, getting up and walking over. "I…" He shrugged.
Steve looked up from the tea, meeting Bucky with a tired expression. "You aren't causing this," He said with a weak smile, "HYDRA started this, and now we're…ending it, in terms of publicity."
Bucky shrugged a little bit. "Well…if I hadn't fallen off of that train, none of this would have happened." he replied, sitting down at the counter.
"But they took you," Steve said, checking in with himself to see if his hands were stable enough before he poured the tea into two of the mugs. He keeps trying to blame it on himself, Steve realized. "They were the ones who hurt you, and…made you hurt other people. They did this."
"But it would never have happened if I hadn't fallen off that train." Bucky replied, picking up a mug when Steve was done, holding it carefully in his flesh hand.
"So you're blaming yourself for falling off a train?" Steve asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm. He leaned over the counter, warming his hand on the steaming mug of tea. "–Rather than the subversive group of nazi's bent on world domination, which started as a cult?"
He shrugged his shoulders, blowing on the tea. "Well…I'm the one that fell." he replied with another shrug, taking a tiny sip of the tea, trying to test if it was done.