This story follows Buffy as she finds herself drawn more and more into the Avengers' world even as the darkness rising in Sunnydale pulls at her. Mostly off scene, the Winter Soldier events have occurred. Buffy offers her tracking skills to help find Bucky as Faith and Xander deal with the First who is seeking to devour them from below. This will be more plot driven than all previous stories, combining all the characters in the series. Season 7 events from BTVS will occur.
Because what's going on with Cordy is happening at the beginning of this story, I decided to start posting this before finishing the Cordy bit. I hope it's not too confusing for you. Remember, I mostly follow the film versions of characters, not the comics—although I do use some of the comic bit for references for Asgards, mainly their powers.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel or BTVS characters.
Chapter 1: Hydra
******A Few Months Later******
Buffy had decided to take some classes after the New Year at the community college that was a half hour from Clint's. She only signed up for two classes so that she could ease herself back into the swing of things. If something came up that needed her attention, she wouldn't have such a hard time getting caught up.
Things were going so well for her and Dawn. Dawn loved her new school, having gotten involved with the drama department, much to Buffy's amusement. Finally, all the acting jobs she used to put on for their mother to get out of trouble and blame things on Buffy as a kid had a real outlet. Not having to worry about her survival constantly or her sister's had helped Dawn mature into a really great girl. Buffy actually enjoyed being with her. The constant bickering that used to plague their relationship was gone. Things were great.
Willow had sent word with Thor on his last visit to earth that she and Tara were back on Earth and would visit her soon. Odin was sleeping to restore his power, which Buffy found hilarious. Who knew that a god was like a battery?
So far, Faith and Xander were handling the hellmouth without too much trouble. Some dweeb name Andrew, who was a year behind them in high school, caused some minor magical disturbances, but his pal—their old friend, Jonathan, ratted him out. Now Jonathan was giving magical aid in Willow and Tara's absence since he seemed to have an affinity for it. Giles said he was also great with the book stuff, which was good since Xander was frontline guy with Faith and her team of SHIELD agents. Captain American and Nat had gotten called away a month ago and then all hell broke loose for SHIELD.
Her phone rang. "Clint? Are you okay? Is Nat okay?" she asked. Clint had left to try to help when the news broke that Rogers was a wanted man and Fury was dead.
"I'm okay, so is Nat," he replied. "Rogers dismantled SHIELD."
"Seriously? That mean you're unemployed?" she asked in dismay.
"That's the least of my concern. Hydra has infiltrated the World Council. It was behind the target on Rogers—they killed Fury," he said. He wasn't allowed to share over the phone more. "I need you to come to New York, please. Nat says they need the help of a slayer, and Steve doesn't want to pull Faith away from the hellmouth."
"Of course, I'll come," Buffy said. She hadn't seen any action since the day she rose from the dead. It was nice, but the slayer inside of her was growing more and more restless.
"I have more to tell you when you get here. Tony's sending you his plane. Two hours, okay?" Clint said.
"You clearing this with the boss?" Buffy asked.
"Yes, I'm calling Laura next," he said.
"Okay. Be safe. I love you," she said, never knowing when she might get a chance to say it again. Life was too unpredictable, and her brother lived a dangerous life. Buffy, though, had come to adore him in the past six months. She and Dawn couldn't have a better brother. Her mother would've loved him. She wished that he'd gotten a chance to meet her mom when she was alive.
"Me, too," he said. "Be safe." He hung up.
Buffy put away her phone. Time to pack and then have the unpleasant conversation with her sister, who would not be happy that she was going out of town.
*****New York*****
Tony was worried. He'd never seen his friend so upset. Steve actually went out the night before and got drunk. It had taken almost all the liquor at Tony's disposal. After drinking all the liquor in his house, they'd went bar hoppin'. Tony would've been more impressed if things weren't so bad for their friend. Finding out that his best friend Bucky Barnes was alive was hard enough. Discovering that Hyrda had turned Bucky into the Winter Soldier, programming him to kill was devastating to Steve. Then Bucky had run off—after saving Steve's life.
"Where are they, JARVIS?" Clint asked as he got to Tony's tower recently renamed Avengers HQ.
"In the gym, sir," JARVIS replied.
Clint hit the appropriate floor and soon arrived. Sounds of hitting rang out as he stepped out of the elevator.
Tony watched Steve in concern. After the partying the two had done the night before, Tony was barely standing. Steve, though, woke up fresh as a newborn. It was not right! But seeing his friend pound away on his sixth punching bag cooled his jealousy. Steve's demons were riding him hard.
"Steve, knock it off," Clint called out as he came into the room. Tony stood to greet him.
"Glad you're here. He's depressing the hell out of me," Tony said to Clint. "I actually succeeded in getting him drunk last night—much to Pepper's annoyance. She has mostly made me quit drinking to excess. Last night, though, I was trying to be there for my friend. I'm barely functioning, and he's like that!" He pointed to Steve, who was pounding away at the bag still.
Steve hit the bag hard, tearing the chain. After it hit the ground, he turned to face his friends. "Clint," he said in acknowledgment. He reached for his towel. "You have news?"
"I called Buffy. She's coming. No one can track like a slayer. If anyone can find Bucky, it'll be her," Clint said.
"How can a slayer find a person? Aren't they tuned to the supernatural?" Steve asked, frowning.
"Actually, she told me once about her short stint a few years ago working with a military group in Sunnydale. She trained with them and could track them just as easily," Clint said.
"How would that work?" Steve asked.
"I don't how she does it exactly. She does stuff that no one else can do," Clint said with a shrug. "She can count on one hand how many times she's picked up a bow and arrow, and she's almost as good as me—even blindfolded."
"Seriously?" Tony asked, impressed.
"Yes. I don't know everything about being a slayer, but you've worked with Faith. I'm sure you've seen how incredible slayers are," Clint said.
"I have," Steve acknowledged. "But being good at slaying monsters isn't the same thing as being good at tracking down a human."
"Well, what do you have to lose?" Clint pointed out. "We don't want to pull Faith from the hellmouth to do this. Buffy is ready to be out in the field again—I can tell. It's a low risk job for her."
"Bucky's dangerous," Steve said. "He almost killed me."
"But he didn't," Clint reminded him. "In the end, he saved you."
Steve nodded in acknowledgment but didn't say anything. Finding out his best friend was alive had shaken him to his core. Bucky was in every memory he had of his life both before and after taking the serum. To see him so lost and violated broke Steve's heart. It also made him feel guilty. He had left his brother behind. It didn't matter that he didn't know Bucky survived the fall—he hadn't even looked. His superiors had convinced Steve that Bucky couldn't possibly have survived his fall from the train. They were wrong.
An hour or so later, they were in their favorite diner when Buffy came in. She had been there when she visited New York in January. Ironically enough, it was called The Comfort Diner. Buffy smiled as she walked into the place. Clint had a place like that in Iowa that he'd introduced her to. Food was always good and plentiful with reasonable prices.
"Buffy, over here," Clint called out with a wave.
She smiled and joined her brother with Tony and Steve. Clint stood and hugged her in greeting. She sat next to Steve, which was across from her brother.
"How are you doing?" she asked Steve. She hadn't spent much time with the most famous Avenger, but she had great admiration for him. The ultimate soldier combined with the ultimate gentlemanly manners was a potent combination. If Riley hadn't happened, she might've had a major crush on his yummy goodness. Instead, she didn't find solider types attractive at all.
"I've been better," he admitted.
The waitress interrupted with a tray of food.
"I ordered you a double cheese burger and fries with a chocolate milk shake," Clint said.
"You're a good brother!" she said in approval.
"I told him that he was nuts to order a woman all those calories," Tony said with a grin.
"Slayers have fast metabolism," Buffy said, picking up the burger.
"I know. I've seen Faith pack it away," Steve said, smiling.
They ate in companionable silence for several minutes. When Buffy started on her shake, Clint told her in a low voice, "Fury isn't dead."
"What?" she asked, looking up.
"They almost killed him. Put a few bullets in him. It was close," Steve said grimly.
"Everyone but a few think he's dead. It's better this way," Clint said. "SHIELD needs to dissolve at least temporarily until we track down all the Hydra agents."
"I can't believe you guys got so infiltrated," Buffy said, shaking her head.
"Me either," Clint said in disgust. "All of us are going to be interrogated by other agencies. The FBI and Homeland will be all over this—even the CIA."
"Don't be surprise if you have to testify in a public forum of some kind like they did me when my suits came out," Tony said.
"We'll let Nat speak for us," Clint said with a shrug.
"So, tell me about your friend," Buffy said, looking up at Steve.
"Bucky enlisted in the army before me. When I finally made it, we served together. We fought Nazis together. I thought he was dead," Steve said, a look of pain in his eyes as he talk about his friend. "I watched him fall from a train going over a mountain. Some Hydra agents that worked for Germany got a hold of him."
"What did they do to him?" Buffy asked.
"They gave him a robotic arm. I'm assuming he lost his in the fall. They also brainwashed him somehow. He didn't recognize me," Steve said.
"I'm sorry," Buffy said, giving him a look of compassion. "I'll do my best to find him. A locator spell from a witch, though, might be a better bet. Do you have any blood of his?"
Steve shook his head. "No," he said. "I didn't think of it when we were fighting."
"We don't have a witch anyway," Clint reminded her. "Willow and Tara are gone."
"Actually, they just made it back, but Anya could do a locator spell if it was needed," Buffy said. "Giles or Jonathan, their new witch-in-training. A locator spell is pretty simple if you have the stuff."
"I don't have the stuff," Steve said. "I might've gotten some of his blood on my fist or clothes, but I didn't preserve it."
"Who would think to do so?" Clint said in bemusement. He wasn't ever going to get used to the crazy world his sister lived in.
"Looks like you're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way," Tony said.
"We can get started now," Buffy said. She looked at Clint. "Are you going with us?"
"I'm going to be working with Nat on some clean up duty," Clint said.
"Call me if you run into trouble," Tony said.
Buffy got up and Steve followed. "Good luck," Clint said to Steve.
"Thanks. I'll watch out for her," Steve assured Tony.
Buffy glared up at him. "Hey, I don't need you or anyone else watching out for me! I survived the streets of L. A. when I was seventeen and a hellmouth for five years," she reminded them.
Clint grinned and pulled her in for a hug. "I'm your big brother. I'll always watch out for you. When I can't, my friends will," he said, not apologizing.
Tony winked at Buffy and said, "Watch out for Steve. He is a national treasure, after all."
Steve rolled his eyes, refusing to rise to the bait. He was just glad to have someone to help him find his best friend, his brother.
*****To Be Continued*****
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