New York- Late February

The road Steve Rodgers was driving on was becoming dangerously hypnotic. He'd been on it for over an hour now. His eyes felt as if they were burning—Always a bad sign—And his eyelids kept threatening to shut on him. He hadn't slept at all, in the days since he'd learned Bucky had disappeared from Wakanda. King T'Challa had assured him that everything that could be done to locate Bucky was already being taken care of. But this had done nothing to alleviate the worry that Steve was now feeling.

He couldn't just sit back and do nothing. Not knowing that HYDRA had managed to infiltrate the Wakandan lab and someone had whisked Bucky away. His need to do something, anything, was how he found himself driving his elderly neighbor Mrs. Cavanaugh's silver Nissan Sentra. In danger of driving the car into a ditch or off the side of the inclined road he was traveling on. Heading to the small town of Fairview just outside of New York City.

Annie Duggan lived in Fairview. She had promised Steve she would use her contacts as a reporter to try to help him locate Bucky. Steve hadn't wanted to discuss any important details with her over her unsecure phone line. He stifled a yawn before it managed to make him momentarily shut his eyes. He took a deep breath, trying hard to rouse himself. A better way to go would have been to drink some of the pitch-black, strong coffee riding next to him in the vehicle's cup holder.

But unless he pulled over—something, considering the narrowness of the road he was on, that was not advisable-He was not about to risk reaching for the full container. For that to happen, the split second that his eyes might be off the road could just be enough to send him careening into an accident. Steve wasn't reckless enough to think himself above any and all accidents. Better safe than sorry had been an unspoken mantra in his family, courtesy of his very wise, late mother. All things considered, he chose to obey the mantra this morning.

The coffee could wait. He couldn't help Bucky if he were hospitalized. Instead, Steve did his best to snap himself into alert wakefulness by biting down hard on the inside of his bottom lip. He stopped just short of drawing blood.

"Just where is this road I'm supposed to turn onto anyway?" He wondered, grudgingly. Risking a glance at his GPS. "Shouldn't I have been there by now?"

Taking a turn down an obscure road whose sign he had almost missed. Steve breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, his journey was almost at an end. A sign was posted up ahead on a short, wrought-iron fence. The sign proclaimed Duggan Manor. Steve snorted. DumDum had always told him he'd own a fine English manor house one day.

He pulled the car up to the gate. There was another sign, an older, weather-beaten one, that told whatever visitors that approached to just drive on in. With the engine running as the car stood before the fence, Steve paused to drain half the coffee in the container he'd brought. Only then did he do as the sign requested.

As Steve pulled up to the old, blue house he spotted Annie standing on the porch waiting for him. She looked nice in her slouchy yellow pullover and crisp white slacks. Her strawberry-blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. He parked the Nissan and quickly exited the car.

"It's good to see you again Captain." Annie greeted him warmly as he walked up the steps to her front porch. Then winced at her words. Things were anything but good right now. The information she had to give the Captain was only going to upset him more than he already obviously was.

"Call me Steve. We're practically family remember." He replied, trying to keep the mood light. He didn't want to drag the smiling woman down into the darkness of his world any more than he had to.

"Steve" Annie repeated. "Come inside, we can talk in the kitchen."

She gave Steve a quick once-over, noticing how haggard and tired he looked. Worry was etched heavily across his handsome features. Leading Steve through the creaky front door she took him down the hallway to the heart of her family home. The kitchen in the big house was always one of her favorite places. Airy and sunny. No modern cabinets or anything like that. Just a room full of windows, set into wise, worn walls.

"Have a seat." Annie said, her hand indicating the old oak dining-room table. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Coffee, if you have any." Steve replied hopefully, sinking into a chair.

"Sorry, all I have is tea. Would you like some?" At Steve's nod of agreement, she filled the old teakettle with water and placed it on the stove.

As she waited for the kettle to boil, she eyed Steve with concern. His blue T-shirt had a coffee stain on it, his eyes were bloodshot and fogged over with anxiety. The evidence of his hurt paining her as well. What she had to tell him about Sergeant Barnes would do nothing to easy his pain.

"Were you able to get any information on Bucky or HYDRA?" Steve asked, watching Annie pour boiling water over the tea bags in their cups. Hoping there would be enough caffeine in the tea to keep him going. The longer time went by without any word on Bucky, the worse his imagination about what HYDRA was doing to his best friend got. Imagination, of course, could open any door, turn the key and let terror walk right in.

"So far all I have are rumors." Annie cautioned, as she pulled the tea bags out of the mugs, dropping them into the sink by their strings, stirring a little sugar into hers. She carried the steaming mugs of dark liquid to the table, setting Steve's down in front of him, before taking a seat. "I haven't been able to get any information that would indicate where the Sergeant is."

"I'll take rumors at this point." Steve told her.

No one else had come up with anything. Not T'Challa, or he and Sam, not even Sharon could figure out where Bucky had been taken after leaving Wakanda. All he knew was Bucky hadn't been taken without a fight, and that people had died. After that, nothing. Steve was trying hard to hold on to the faint hope Bucky had escaped HYDRA. But the longer Steve went without any word from his best friend the dimmer that hope got.

Annie nodded. "Nobody knows for sure where Sergeant Barnes is, or who he's with." She paused, considering if there was any way she could finish without causing Steve any more pain. "But there are rumors that Agent Romanoff had something to do with Bucky's disappearance." Seeing the storm clouds of dismay pass through Steve's eyes she hastily continued. "They're just rumors. Nothing concrete. As far as I know, no one has any real evidence to support them." She insisted, soothingly.

Steve paused, his tea mug lifted halfway to his mouth. His body went rigidly still as he struggled against the shocking ramifications of the news; He came face to face with the possibility of his worst fear. Had Nat switched sides? Had he trusted her all long only now to discover she'd been working against them all this time? Or had joining HYDRA been the only way for Nat to protect herself after the fight in Germany. Every answer came back no. But allowing him and Bucky to escape Germany had shot Natasha to the top of Ross's most wanted list.

"No. That's a lie. Nat's like family to me, she wouldn't be involved in this. She would never help HYDRA." Steve growled out, pushing the chair violently away from the table as he stood. Feeling lonelier than he had in years. First there had been the rumors that she'd freed Zemo from the Raft, now this. But try as he might, Steve couldn't shake the feeling that Nat was somehow a part of what was happening.

"I'm not lying. I'm just telling you what other reporters are being told by their sources." Annie said softly, placing her mug on the table to stare at him. Hurt by the accusation.

Steve blew out a breath and paced across the room. "I didn't say that." He apologized, he spun away from her and looked at the wall. "I'm just upset. Just like Bucky, Nat's family, and I feel like I'm losing them both." Dread crept over him like an icy chill, numbing his brain. In this frozen state, his mind offered him only one thought. "I can't fail Bucky this time."

Annie felt a sharp tug of emotion as she always did when she was unexpectedly reminded of the loss of her own family. "I understand." She breathed out, quietly, sadly. Standing she walked over to Steve. Losing the people you loved most, was like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the ache.

Steve turned his head and looked down at her. Her hazel eyes showed the kind of gentle concern his mother's used to have. She laid her hand lightly on his shoulder, and he was soothed by it. Like him, she knew what it was like to lose someone you loved. You didn't get past something like that, you got through it.

Annie left her hand there and spoke with a soft voice "We'll find Bucky. We'll find them both and figure out what's really going on."

Steve felt her words calming him more by the way they were said than the actual words. It felt as if he were wrapped in a blanket of her caring.

Annie guided Steve back to his seat and placed his tea into his hands. "Do you know anyone that might be able to contact Agent Romanoff? Someone she might turn to if she needed help? Maybe she's trying to help Sergeant Barnes, not hurt him."

Steve smiled a little, but the smile didn't spread to his eyes, which looked less tense and worried. Steve ran with the idea Nat was trying to help like a child with a new toy. "Clint Barton. If anyone can figure out what Nat's up to its him."

He looked at Annie probingly. She was all about simplicity, making things better, helping those around her to relax. Perhaps that's why she glowed, it was her inner beauty that lit her eyes and softened her features. When she smiled, you couldn't help but smile along too, even if it was just on the inside. "She's exactly the kind of woman Bucky needs in his life." Steve thought. To Annie he simply said, "Thank you for your help."

Annie rose from her chair, taking the now empty mugs to place in the sink. "Why don't you call Agent Barton while I reach out to my contacts and see if they've heard anything new." Excited to be working on something more important than another story about a garden gnome gone missing. Dr. Fennhoff had told Annie that one day someone would see she was capable of more than simply writing puff pieces for the local paper. She was grateful to Steve for recognizing that and coming to her for help.

Since returning back to her family home, Annie's days more or less had returned to their familiar patterns. Grudgingly rollout of bed when the alarm sounded, make tea, check her blog, start the day. She spent the mornings at the local newspaper office, following up on emails and voicemails, checking the wire service, running a few lead stories past her boss, who never assigned her any of them.

So, in spite of the recent turmoil in her life, Annie's daily routine hummed along with a certain repetitiveness that was starting to grate on Annie. Helping Steve and writing her story about Bucky where the only things putting any excitement into her life.

Steve nodded in agreement and reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone to call Clint.

Columbia

Clint stood in a now shut down HYDRA facility, hands clenched tightly at his sides. He glanced around with a practiced eye. A table in the corner, several beds around the room, none of them comfortable. drab walls all the way around painted a gray color that wasn't very different from their original hue. Fluorescent lights blared down from overhead, unflattering at best, downright painful after a few hours.

And on one wall, covering half the surface, was a message, he could only assume had been painted in blood. "You're going to die the same way they did Romanoff."

Who the hell had died here? The place had already been cleared of every bit of evidence that might have been found. Nothing was left, except the burn pit outside, to give him any knowledge or insight as to what had happened, or how it was tied to Nat. Clint could only describe the dread he was feeling as a slowly approaching train. Like any good nightmare, it didn't matter where you ran because it kept coming just the same.

"What the hell are you caught in the middle of Nat?" Clint asked the empty room.

Columbia had been the only solid lead he'd been able to get on Natasha. But it had been over a month since she'd been reported being seen there. Now he wondered if his best friend was still among the living. His heart and his stomach, his whole insides felt empty and hollow and aching at the thought something may have happened to her.

He had reason to be frustrated. Obviously, whatever had been going on hadn't been reported via normal channels. He'd checked report after report, everything he'd been able to get. Nothing. Now she was gone, others were dead and the mystery of what had happened here shrouded it all. The only evidence to give a hint where to look next was the obvious signs that a professional crew had been there. The question was had it been Fury's men.

He needed to find Nat. He wanted to ask her why she hadn't contacted him. Why she hadn't stayed in touch with his kids. But now he had so many other questions that those got pushed to the back burner. After everything they'd been through together over the years, it hurt to think Nat had simply shut the door on it all, and walked away.

Clint knew he shouldn't be hurt given what had happened in Germany, and knowing Nat's penchant for wanting to handle her problems on her own, but he couldn't help it. She should have known she could trust him. That she wasn't alone anymore. He'd thought that he and Laura had shown Nat what a family was really meant to be. People willing to stand with you, protect you, put their lives on the line for you.

That family had nothing to do with DNA and everything to do with love and trust. That no matter what happened between them, she would have a family that loved her.

He shoved those thoughts aside. What he needed to do now was focus. Clint sorted through important information for a living, made decisions on where a response team should go, what they should do, based on his reading of a situation. Knowing what questions to ask to get the information he needed was his job. And lives depended on his ability to do it well. Damned if he knew where to start now.

He stared at the wall hard, then ran his hand up and down the entire wall. "It's not what I see," Clint thought, "but what I don't see." There were no bullet holes. At least not anymore. He bent down and studied the wall closer. Whoever this was, they were absolute professionals. They'd done a full clean up job. Right down to digging out the bullets and patching and repainting the walls.

Clint was so lost in his thoughts that the thrill of his cell phone made him nearly jump out of his skin. He glanced down to see who was calling. It wasn't going to be one of his better days. He could feel it in his bones. He hit the receive button. "Cap." Clint said by way of greeting.

Steve didn't waste time with the usual pleasantries. "Have you heard anything from Nat lately?"

Clint could hear the worry in the Captain's voice and it set him on edge. "No. Not a damn thing. Why?"

"HYDRA woke Bucky up from cyro. No one knows where Bucky's at."

Clint glanced back at the wall with the message written for Nat. A reminder of his purpose there. "What do you mean they woke him up. Are you telling me Barnes is back to being the Winter Soldier?" His voice had a hard edge to it. If HYDRA sent the Winter Soldier after Nat, she wouldn't stand a chance on her own.

Steve breathed heavily across the phone connection. "I …I don't know. All I know is that people died in Wakanda and Bucky is gone. Everything else is just rumors."

Clint latched on to the last part of Steve's comment. He knew not to trust information they got for free. But rumors could also be useful to a covert operative like himself. "What rumors? And why are you asking me about Nat?" Clint asked, pretty sure he wasn't going to like the answer to his last question.

"That..that Nat was there. She was in Wakanda when Bucky disappeared." Steve said cautiously. He knew how much Nat meant to Clint, and the other man was not going to like what Steve was telling him one bit.

Clint was stunned. Again, he read the message on the wall, written in what Clint was sure was blood. His mind worked through all the possible scenarios that would put Natasha in the vicinity of Wakanda, much less Barnes and came up blank. HYDRA was threatening to Kill Nat, it made no sense for her to be anywhere near the man that could do just that. Nothing about it made sense.

He'd spent a career working in intelligence, and the worst feeling in the world was knowing nothing, being caught up in something he couldn't begin to understand, because: "It's not the enemy you see that gets you, it's the one you don't."

Clint made a disgusted snort in the back of his throat. "Cap, I very much doubt that Nat has gone near the guy that's already shot her twice. I also don't think she had anything to do with setting Zemo free. Are you getting this information from the same reporter that told you about Zemo?"

"Yes, Annie's the one digging up the information." Steve confirmed."We know a redhead was involved in what happened on the Raft." He insisted.

Clint gave his cell phone a black look, then held it back up to his ear. "Nat's not the only redhead on the planet." Clint shot back, stubbornly, as his eye started to twitch. What the hell is wrong with Steve? Clint wondered. Why was the Cap suddenly willing to pin everything that had happened on Natasha? Either the gates of hell had opened, or Steve had lost his mind. "Whatever is going on, it's more likely HYRDA has sent your buddy after Natasha, not the other way around."

"Bucky would never hurt her." Steve replied defensively. But the thought that Bucky might not be Bucky anymore wormed its way into his brain.

"Look Cap" Clint started not unsympathetically. "I know firsthand what a person will do when someone else has control of their mind." Clint began walking around the dusty facility, while he continued talking on the phone. Looking for anything that might give him a clue about where to look next for Nat. "Do you honestly think HYDRA is willing to let Barnes run around without having control of him and his actions?"

"No." Steve replied quietly. "It's just that I can't, I can't…" He became overwhelmed with the fear that something terrible would happen to his friends because he hadn't been vigilant enough. That he wouldn't get to Bucky in time to save him.

Clint cutting Steve off, cleared his throat and said "Look, I'm not trying to be an ass. You've caught me off guard on multiple levels here. But I need more answers than just rumors." He needed to find Nat and do it quickly.

"I know." Steve sighed heavily. "It's just that everything keeps circling back to Nat."

"The truth is a circle Cap, not a straight line. Especially when it comes to Natasha."

"Maybe. But all these coincidences keep happening. What if she didn't have a choice?" Steve asked, echoing Annie's words from earlier.

Clint pressed the heel of his hand to his eye socket, but it didn't work. His brain was still leaking out. Slowly and painfully. "Have you met Nat?" He asked half seriously. "If someone doesn't leave her an option, she makes one for herself."

"You're right. I know you're right. Can you help me find Bucky?"

"I'd love to help ya out Cap. But I need to find Natasha. Let me tell you what I know." Clint replied, the words were clipped, abrupt. "I'm standing in the middle of a HYDRA base. My best guess is that it was still being used until recently. Someone here left Nat a fan letter."

"What kind of fan letter?" Steve asked, feeling more on edge than he had all week.

"One that that says they're going to kill her." Clint replied with steel in his voice. "I'm sorry Steve, but I think it's more likely HYDRA retrieved their Winter Soldier to make good on the threat. I'm warning you, If Barnes hurts Nat, Stark won't be the only one he needs to watch out for." His words were so dangerous and threatening that the air grew colder with their iciness.

Clint understood Steve's need to protect his best friend. But the Cap needed to understand that Natasha was his. If it came down to it, Clint would kill Barnes to protect Natasha in a heartbeat. While he continued to talk to Steve Clint examined the walls and floor in the room and found more evidence of the room having been repaired. Everything pointed to Fury's network of people covering Nat's tracks.

Once again, Steve's world started crumbling away beneath his feet. He wondered how long he could keep going. It seemed that every move he made one of his friends was bound to get hurt by it. "It won't come to that. I'll make sure of it." Then another thought struck Steve leaving him feeling uneasy "Would Nat have gone to Tony for help?"

Clint mulled the question over in his mind then after some serious consideration he said. "Possibly, but doubtful. It's more likely that she's working with Fury if anyone. Nat likes to handle her problems alone. She doesn't like putting others at risk because of her issues."

More likely, Nat was out there taking the fight to HYDRA alone. The woman was nothing if not obstinate. But Clint kept that to himself, Steve had enough to worry about.

"If you hear anything…"

Yet again, Clint cut Steve off. "I'll contact you if I hear any news about Barnes. But right now, my priority is finding Natasha."

"I understand. Do you think Tony might help find Natasha?"

Clint snorted. "I think Stark would tell us both to go to hell. And he's probably already looking for Barnes. He doesn't need another excuse to kill him."

"Probably." Steve sighed, dejectedly. Knowing that Tony would kill Bucky if he ever got the chance. Steve wasn't willing to take that risk.

"Look I'll call Fury and see if I can get anything out of him. Meanwhile, I suggest you get your hands on Barnes' journals. See if Barnes wrote something down that might give you an idea where HYDRA would be keeping him." It was the only option Clint could come up with. He was more convinced than ever that Fury knew precisely what was going on with Nat.

"All right." Steve replied, feeling a little less alone. Clint's suggestion was a good idea and Steve was angry with himself for not having already thought to do that. "Let me know if you find Nat. Or if she needs help."

"Will do." Clint said, then hung up the phone. He reread the message on the wall, angrily pushing the button to call Fury.

Once the call was connected, Clint didn't wait for Fury to speak before beginning. "Where's Natasha? And don't tell me you don't know. I want to know what in the hell is going on."

"I thought you were retired. Which puts you in the don't need to know category." Nick replied grumpily. He'd been expecting this call for a while now and was surprised it had taken Clint so long.

"I'm taking a vacation in Columbia and I hear Barnes is back with Hydra, so I'm pretty God damn sure I do need to know." Clint shot back, angrily. He'd had enough of being left out of the loop and he'd put an arrow through the next person who mentioned his retirement. But Clint also knew it meant this mission was off limits to all but the top level of Fury's network. Something Clint was no longer a part of.

"You're slipping in your old age. Columbia is yesterday's news." Nick informed him.

Clint took an arrow out of his quiver and idly started twirling it between his fingers. Thinking. Talking to Fury was like watching a complicated magic trick. It was all about distraction. While you paid attention to what he was willing to say, it was what he didn't that was important. Something had happened since Nat had been in Columbia.

A large part of Nick wanted to read Barton in on everything that was happening. But Nick knew if he did that Natasha would go off on her own. She'd been very clear on not wanting anyone else involved. There were things Nat wasn't telling him, Nick was sure of it. He needed to make sure she had backup if things got too bad. If she disappeared, that would be impossible. He debated how much to tell Clint. If the man just happened to find Natasha, all the better.

There was also the not so little problem that Nick currently had no idea where Romanoff was or what she was up to. "I'll give you a brief overview, if that get your panties out of a bunch."

"Brief overview my ass. What is going on?!" Clint bit out as he craned his neck from side to side, easing the building tension. Did Fury honestly expect him to sit on the sidelines while someone threatened Nat?

"Do you want me to give you a clue? Or should I relay the message Romanoff left in case you called looking for her. The nice version would be stay out of it, by the way."

Clint got the message. Nick wanted him to find Nat, but if Nat figured out Nick had sent him, there would be hell to pay all around. "What's the clue?" He asked resignedly. Sometimes the two spies and their need for secrecy really frosted his ass.

"First, Barnes is not with HYDRA and no I don't know where he is. Second, Romanoff is off tracking down Zemo. last message I got from Natasha came from Damascus. But that was a few days ago and it was to inform me she was going dark. I have no idea where in the hell the woman went, or why."

Natasha deciding to go dark was nothing new, Clint was used to her doing that in the field. It was irritating as hell when she did it, but not unexpected. Still the news didn't help the numbness that had stayed with him since seeing the message. The tightness in his stomach, the ache in his heart, only increased knowing that Fury didn't know where Nat was or, if she was still all right.

"How do you know Barnes isn't with HYDRA?" Clint asked, suspiciously.

"Sources." Nick replied, shortly. Romanoff either had Barnes stashed away somewhere or she knew where he was. Either way, her not telling Nick meant she had her reasons for keeping the information to herself. Nick trusted her enough to wait and see what those reasons were. Romanoff was the one out in the field, he wouldn't blindly second-guess her calls and put her at risk.

Clint would bet his farm that source was Natasha. Obviously, Nick knew more than he was saying, but he wasn't offering up any details. Typical. The old spymaster never revealed more than he wanted anyone to know. Usually, Clint didn't mind. He was used to it by now. But this threat felt different. Clint's gut was telling him that the shit was about to hit the fan in a big way.

"Syria. Just great. I hear Damascus is crappy this time of year. Oh, wait. Damascus is crappy anytime of the year." Clint muttered.

"It's not my fault half the country wants your head on a spike, Barton." Nick laughed."Maybe, you should try making more friends. Fewer enemies. Not accidentally blow up a museum. Oh, and give Rodgers the same message from Nat I gave you. It's a blanket statement for one and all."

"Of course, it was." Clint said, dryly.

"Try not to get yourself killed by either the Syrians or Romanoff." Nick said before disconnecting the call.

Clint sent off a quick text message to Steve to let him know Barnes wasn't being reprogrammed by HYDRA and no Fury didn't know where Barnes was. He didn't mention anything about Natasha. The irony that he wasn't being any more forthcoming then Fury had been, wasn't lost on him. But Clint wasn't sure that the Captain wouldn't put protecting Barnes above Nat's safety. He wasn't willing to take the gamble.

He made another quick round of the Hydra base, looking for anything that would give him a better idea of what was going on. He was fairly certain Nat had been down here in Columbia when Zemo had been taken from the raft. And now thanks to Fury, Clint knew Natasha was hunting Zemo down. Finding nothing that would help him, Clint left the base and headed for Cartagena.

As he drove, Clint made a mental list of the gear he would need in Damascus. Most of it, particularly the "Scary" stuff as his daughter called it, had already been prepacked in two large backpacks. He'd get the rest when he got there. Right now, he needed to catch the next available flight into Syria. He'd call Laura before he boarded the plane and let her know Nat was still alive, but that something serious was going down and he'd be gone longer than he'd first thought.

As Clint entered the airport he thought about what he would do when he finally got his hands on Nat. His thoughts weren't pretty. It was time for him to do a little cognitive recalibration of his own.