Chapter Seven:

Sophie's POV:

Barton came back to my cell and he had more sugar for me… this time he brought me a cupcake. It was like he was trying to make me like him.

"So, what did Captain Righteous have to say?" I asked him as I ate the cupcake.

He laughed. I couldn't help but smile.

"Steve said that we should let you see Barnes. I'm gonna take you to him."

When I finished with the cupcake he put me in loose fitting manacles and led me to a large room with a glass wall as the fourth wall. They'd be able to watch everything Bucky and I did in that room. They may have agreed to let us see each other, but they weren't agreeing to let us have privacy. At the door to the new room, Barton took the manacles off my wrists.

"They'll be bringing Barnes in in just a minute or so. Don't make me look bad for taking these off of you," he said holding up the manacles.

I nodded at him before sitting at the table in the room. Bucky was brought in a few minutes later. They shackled him to the table. I wanted to say something, but I was trying not to get Barton in trouble since he stuck his neck out for me. When they left the room, Bucky looked at me and noticed my new hardware.

"What did they do to you, Sophie?"

"The collar and the bands block my enhancements. I can't use my pyrokinesis or the portals."

"Do those things hurt you?"

"A little, but that's not why I wanted to see you."

"Then why would you risk asking them for anything?"

"They asked me for the list of scientists that I haven't killed yet. Hawkeye says that if I give it to them they'll capture them so they can't hurt me or anyone else ever again. But Captain America was asking me questions about you, that I wouldn't answer, and I'm not sure what I should do here, Sergeant. Should I trust them? Or do you think either way we're both gonna spend our lives locked up in some cell here as lab rats?"

"Sophie, you have to do what you feel is right. I don't know what they're planning on doing to us, but I won't tell them anything and I appreciate that you're not giving them any intel on me, either. But we both know that deep down, your mission has always been bringing down the men who were involved in what happened with your mother. If you think you can trust them to help you complete that mission, that is up to you."

"But what about you?"

"I can take care of myself."

"But you've become the closest thing I've got to family since Mom died. I can't just ignore that."

"Don't worry about me."

Barton's POV:

I was standing outside the room the Winter Soldier and Sophie were in. Watching them, I could see they cared about each other. His immediate reaction was concern for her due to the equipment being used to restrict her powers. She was worried about him too, no matter how much he tried to tell her she shouldn't be. What shocked me was they weren't using the time to plot a way out.

"What are they talking about, Clint?" Natasha asked me.

"She's asking him whether or not to trust us."

"Seriously? I would think they would be trying to free each other so they could make an attempt at a prison break."

"They're not. They're worried about each other."

"The Winter Soldier is worried about her?"

"He was upset when he noticed the hardware."

"Who knew he could care about something other than killing?"

"From what I'm getting, he came into her life after her mother died. I guess he's looked out for her since then."

"They're each other's vulnerabilities."

"We're not using them against each other."

"You know Steve is gonna wanna know how to…"

"Nat, I didn't tell you this. The speaker isn't on. I'm reading their lips. Officially, we have no intel. Please."

Nat looked at me and knew I was hiding something. She knew better than to push if I wasn't giving the information, so she nodded and let it go. I was grateful that over the years we got so close that we didn't need to give each other explanations, sometimes we just knew that the other needed something and gave it to them. This was one of those times.

About an hour later, Rogers came and told Nat and I to take Barnes and Sophie to their separate cells. Nat went to take Barnes back to where he was being held. I was bringing Sophie when I realized that Rogers was following us. When we got back into her cell, Sophie collapsed on the bed. The equipment to restrict her powers was taking a toll on her, she looked exhausted.

"We gave you what you asked for. Now are you going to cooperate with us or not?" Rogers asked, getting right to the point.

"Cap, she's exhausted…" I tried to stop him.

"She has to make a choice, Barton. We gave her what she wanted in good faith, now it's time to find out what kind of person she is."

Sophie looked up at him and I could tell she didn't like him. Somehow, she pulled enough strength together to get off the bed and come stand face-to-face with Rogers. It couldn't have been easy.

"Fine. One more condition and I'm yours for whatever."

"Sophie, you shouldn't agree to that," I blurted out.

Rogers glared at me. Then he turned back to her.

"What's your final condition?"

"Sergeant Barnes gets released from custody and not followed. You give him his freedom, completely. You do that and I'll let you run any tests you want, tell you anything you want, whatever. Just let him go first. And I want proof that he's actually free. So you'll have to give him a burn phone and a way to contact me in a few days. Once I know he's free, I'll do whatever you want."

"Done."

"Sophie, you don't want to do that!"

"I already did, Clint," she said to me sadly. "This is my fault. I was the one who did the things that had you guys coming for me. Bucky was trying to help keep me safe while I did it. I'm not going to let him pay for my choices."

"I'll make arrangements for Sergeant Barnes. We'll let you see him before he leaves, but I'll tell you now, he may not be the man I remember, Sophie, but he will be angry you bartered your freedom for his," Rogers said to Sophie before turning to me. "Let's go. We should let the team know what's going to happen."

I followed Rogers out of the room and my phone started ringing. He looked at me when I pulled it out of my jeans.

"It's Laura. I need to take this, Cap."

"Take it. I'll get the team up to speed. Come meet us after you talk to your wife, Barton. We need to talk after what happened in that cell."

I nodded at him and answered the call.

"Hey, Honey."

"Hi Clint. Is the news right? Have you caught the enhanced?"

"Yes."

"So you're coming home soon?"

"No. I can't."

"Why not? You said when you caught her you would be coming home. What's keeping you away now? You've been away from your kids for months!"

"Laura, you don't understand."

"What don't I understand, Clint?"

I closed my eyes and sighed. I had to tell her. I couldn't keep hiding it.

"The enhanced is my daughter."

"She's what?"

"My daughter. I met her mother when I was seventeen. I didn't know about her, but when we found intel on her, her mother was my ex. I thought she died when I was seventeen, but she lived until a year and a half ago… And was pregnant when I thought she died."

"And how do you know that she's your daughter, Clint?"

"I had Helen Cho run a paternity test on her when we got her back to the facility without telling anyone. She's mine, Laura."

"So you have a killer daughter."

"That's not fair, Laura. The only people she's killed are the people who ultimately killed her mother and are responsible for her being enhanced. They experimented on her mom when she was pregnant with her."

"You're defending a girl you barely know."

"Someone needs to. She needs someone to look out for what's best for her. And until I can figure out how to tell the team and get her safe, I can't leave her here."

Laura hung up on me again. I took a deep breath and made my way to the team where I just stayed in the background while Rogers finished his briefing. How was I going to tell them Sophie was my daughter?