Chapter 10

"Welcome, Miss Madison," Nick Fury greeted as Tracey stepped into the facility.

The hacker looked around, her jaw dropping at the sight surrounding her. She thought that it was hectic at the tower when the team was getting ready for missions (or trying to get a team dinner organized). But seeing all the agents running around trying to get all last minute preparations and whatever else they needed before leaving. And she thought Bucky looking for his socks two weeks ago was insanity.

"Thank you for letting me help out," Tracey said as she followed Nick and Maria through the facility.

"Well we needed your assistance. With the Avengers in Sokovia we needed another pair of eyes looking out from above," Nick explained, nodding towards a couple agents who ran by. "That and Agent Hill requested your assistance."

Tracey glanced over at the dark haired woman next to her, smiling at her when she was given a smile from the female agent. "Any way I can help, I'm more than happy to do."

"Good, glad to have you on board," the eye patch wearing man said.

"What's the plan to help the others?" the blonde woman asked, dodging a female agent as she rushed by.

"Rescue," the ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. answered simply.

"Rescue the team?" Tracey asked, her brows furrowing.

"Rescue as in rescue the people of Sokovia," Maria clarified. "With all the robots Ultron is creating and whatever he is planning, we need to get everyone out of there."

"Which is why we're here to help," Sam said, coming up from behind Tracey and throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Rhodey and I are ready to take down anything in our way and show up the Tin Man."

"Sam! Rhodey!" Tracey said, a grin forming on her face at the sight of her two friends. Through the chaos the past few days she forgot about the other two fighters the team had.

"Hey, Trace," Rhodey greeted, patting the blonde's back. "Ready to give them a fight?"

"Always," she said with a smirk.

"Then you two better suit up," Fury stated, folding his hands behind his back. "I need Miss Madison here to man the station with Agent Hill and I up here. Get down to your positions. We'll be reaching our destination soon. Miss Madison will have contact with you through these," he said, handing the hacker and two men ear pieces. "Get going."

The two males gave a quick nod before leaving the three; Sam giving Tracey a quick wink before heading off. There was one good sign to this upcoming battle. Two extra players on their side was a warm welcome. But it didn't help the weight that was pushing down on the hacker's shoulders. What was happening over in Sokovia? Was Barry okay? What about Bucky? What about everyone else?

Fury led the two women to their posts with the rest of the tech team. Right away once she sat down she set to work. She was in her element, she knew what she was doing after the number of missions with the Avengers. It was too easy. Looking around Tracey saw a line of computers and people with their noses buried in their work. Was this what she would have been doing had she been recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D. like Fury had said? Would she had been able to fight alongside her brother during missions like this before they joined the Avengers?

"Sir, we are nearing Sokovia. Two minutes," Maria announced, her voice snapping Tracey out of her thoughts.

"Get ready, folks," Fury said, stepping up to his platform in the center of the area.

Tracey followed the ex-director's gaze and looked out the front of the vessel, her breath hitching in her throat. Out in front of them, floating thousands of feet in the air where it should not be, was Sokovia. The country was out of place among the clouds, creating this almost surreal scene if it wasn't an omen of death already. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She knew Ultron wanted to destroy the Earth and everyone on it, but to see such a beautiful city used as his weapon, not to mention knowing her family was all on that floating piece of land was terrifying.

"Do we have communications up yet?" Nick demanded as he stared at Sokovia, never taking his eyes off even as an agent replied.

"Communications are linked, sir."

"Where else am I going to get a view like this?" Natasha's voice sounded through the helicarrier's speakers. It brought a bittersweet smile on Tracey's face at the sound of her friend's voice.

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff," Fury spoke out once the communication was linked. "It's about to get better." A twitch of a smile graced the dark skinned man's face when he only got silence at the helicarrier's entrance. "Nice, right? Pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve sounded, a smile clear as day in his voice.

"Ooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury asked.

"Your mother wouldn't be too happy to hear you say those things, Stevie," Bucky teased.

"Hiya, Sergeant," Tracey said, a grin growing on her face and a weight lifting off her shoulders at the sound of his voice.

"Hey, doll," Bucky greeted back. He was safe, but what about Barry?

"Altitude is eighteen thousand and climbing," Maria announced from her spot at a computer.

"Lifeboats secure to deploy," a curly haired man next to Tracey stated.

"Ready when you are guys. Disengaging in three, two," the female Madison twin said, her eyes scanning over the information that flew onto her computer's screen. "Let's get these people off this floating rock."

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Pietro could be heard over the comms.

"This is what S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be," Steve answered.

"This is not so bad," the Maximoff twin said with a light chuckle beforehand.

"It gets better from time to time," Barry joked from his comms link.

"Barry…" Tracey breathed. He was okay. Her twin was okay. Thank God.

Tracey watched from her computer screen as lights flashed on the radar. She knew the only explanation for it was Ultron's minions. And sure enough she saw one out the helicarrier's windows a few yards away with decreasing distance.

"Incoming!" she called out.

"Sir, we have multiple bogies converging on our starboard flank," Maria informed.

Show 'em what we got," Fury said simply.

Tracey nodded, pressing onto her comms link and patching into the links she had with Sam and Rhodey. "You're up guys. Knock them out of the sky."

"You got it, girl," Sam said, a grin in his voice before the sound of air rushed through the link signaling the two's decent from the ship.

It sounded as if it was going well outside. Sam and Rhodey were in the air with Tony taking out the robots. It was calm on the helicarrier. Until rapid beeping filled the air giving off an alert.

"incoming!" Maria yelled before quickly jumping to the ground.

Tracey's eyes widened as she saw a robot flying straight for the ship. In seconds it crashed through the window and agents scattered. The hacker dropped out of her seat and to the ground, pulling the curly haired man next to her down with her.

"Oh, God!" the man cried out.

The blonde looked over and saw the robot dragging its body towards them. Spotting a holster on the man she quickly fumbled and pulled a gun out of it. Furiously she began firing rounds at the robot's head, following Maria's attempts at stopping the thing. Unfortunately no matter what they did the bullets just ricocheted off its armor. It kept crawling towards them until Fury stepped up and stabbed a piece of the helicarrier into its skull.

A slow breath was released as Tracey tried to calm herself down as she stared at the robot. But it didn't work once she heard the eerie voice that was Ultron's coming out of the minion.

"You think you're saving anyone? I turn that key and drop this rock a little early and it's still billions dead. Even you can't stop that."

After a moment of silence it was Fury who brought everyone's attention away from the lifeless corpse. "We need to get those civilians off that city now! Get moving people!"

Minutes seemed to tick by as everyone waited for the boats to load back onto the helicarrier. Everyone watched with baited breath, waiting to see what would happen to the city in the sky. Tracey watched as one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircrafts went off course, flying around the city firing bullets down at the city. She knew agents were being taken down, men and women giving up their lives for this cause. The only thought they all had was getting the civilians to safety. A crash came from up above them and moments later Natasha was being pulled onto the main area of the ship. Everything seemed to flash by as the time wore down before all at once, the city dropped.

All eyes were on Sokovia as they watched the city turn into a giant meteor heading straight for Earth. But just as it began, Tony and Thor were able to blast it to pieces before it made impact.

"Romanoff, Madison, we need you to get the Hulk back," Fury called out. "He's taking the jet off course. He's gone into stealth mode, we can't find him."

"What?" Tracey asked as she stood up and followed Natasha to the computer with communication to their teammate.

"Hey, Big Guy," Nat spoke up.

"We did it," Tracey said, offering a smile into the camera. "We won."

"The job is finished," Natasha continued. "Now I need you to turn this bird around, okay? We can't track you in stealth mode. So help us out. I need you to-"

Tracey's and Natasha's faces fell when their connection was cut off. They no longer saw the face of their teammate. They no longer heard the hum of his vessel's engine or his breathing. It was all blank and silent.

He was gone. Their teammate was gone. Their family member… What do they do now?

ooOOoo

It was at least an hour later when the last lifeboat was boarded back onto the helicarrrier. People were being tended to, checking for injuries and searching for family. Tracey pushed her way through the crowd, searching for any familiar faces of her family. Any of them. That's all she wanted, that was it.

"Tracey!"

Her head snapped to the left where she saw the familiar sight of brown hair and blue eyes running at her. In seconds she was wrapped up in a pair of strong arms and crushed to a firm chest. She smiled as she wrapped her arms around the waist of her fiancé. He was safe. Bucky was safe and sound.

"You're okay," she breathed, burying her face into his chest and breathing in his familiar scent.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm here," he sighed, resting his head on top of hers. "Everything is okay. We did it."

They stayed like that, holding each other and reassuring each other that it was all over and everything was right again. It was just them that was all they needed after everything they had just gone through.

But as safe and secure as it felt, something still pulled at Tracey.

"Where's Barry?" she gasped, her head shooting up to look at the super soldier.

"He's safe. He's over there helping some of the civilians," Bucky said, nodding towards one of the life boats.

Sure enough there was the familiar head of light brown hair amongst the crowd of Sokovians. Tracey let out a breath before she ran towards her brother, calling out his name. A minute later of weaving and pushing her way through the twins reunited, embracing each other amongst the Sokovians and agents. However, it was short lived when the two heard the shouts of Steve and Clint.

"We need a medic!" Clint shouted from where he stood on the last lifeboat. A circle of people were around him and Steve as they knelt down next to something.

Or rather someone.

"PIETRO!"

The Madison twins watched as Wanda shoved her way past everyone, pushing people aside when she reached the soldier and archer.

"Oh no…" Tracey breathed, watching the scene play out before her.

As people dispersed for the Maximoff female, the silver hair of Pietro Maximoff could be spotted. There he laid on the floor, unmoving with multiple wounds scattered all over his body. Wanda knelt over him, screaming and crying as she stared at her brother's – her twin brother's – lifeless body. All she could do was scream and cry as medics rushed over to them. At the sight of one of them reach a hand to take her brother away she blasted him across the room before flinging herself over her brother. It took Clint and Steve to pry her off of him to allow the medics to take Pietro away, only to have it prove to be a challenge to hold the female twin back. She thrashed and screamed, calling out to her brother. Calling his name, screaming for him to wake up. To come back to her.

ooOOoo

"I'm liking this look on you," Bucky said, a smirk on his face as she stared at his girl.

Tracey was standing in front of one of the large windows in the base as she stared at her reflection. She turned from side to side examining her new outfit – her new uniform. She smiled lightly as she adjusted the jacket before turning around to Bucky.

"You like it?" she asked, smiling up at him.

"Yeah, it looks good on you," he said, looking her up and down.

The uniform consisted of a pair of black combat boots, a black jacket that had large, loose collar flaps and a zipper going diagonal down from the left shoulder and down to the bottom of the jacket, a black belt wrapped around her waist the was worn over a pair of dark grey-blue pants. Strapped to her thighs was a couple holsters and pockets. It was a uniform she wasn't expecting. She never expected to get a uniform ever, but apparently since everyone else was getting new uniforms she was being given one as well.

She smiled as she turned back to look at herself again. "Thanks."

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah," she said, turning back around to follow Bucky.

"Tracey," an accented voice called out. The couple turned around to see Wanda approaching them. Just as Bucky and Tracey, she too was decked out in a new uniform. "Can I speak to you?"

"I'll see you in there," Bucky said, placing a quick kiss on the blonde's cheek.

"What's up, Wanda? How's Pietro doing?" Tracey asked once Bucky was out of the hall.

"He is doing well. After Dr. Cho's treatment weeks ago he is doing well. Recovery is all that is left," Wanda answered.

"That's great to hear! When will we see him?"

"In maybe a week or two. His metabolism has helped as well." She paused, biting her lip. "I uh wanted to thank you, Tracey."

The hacker blinked, her brow furrowing. "Thank me for what?"

"Before the battle in Sokovia, the moment before Vision was created," she said, taking a deep breath. "You defended Pietro and I. For no reason given, you defended us even after we fought against you. After I played with your mind. You still defended us. Why?"

Tracey stared down at her feet, sighing, before looking at the other female twin and offering a smile. "Because you are like Barry and I. I saw the videos of the riots you and Pietro went to in Sokovia. I saw the videos of the experiments Hydra did on you two. You both just wanted to protect each other. You were scared. I've done plenty of stupid things with the fear of losing my twin brother, just ask the others," she said with a small chuckle as she thought back to Michael Burnow. "We've all done dumb things to protect our loved ones. You two were protecting each other and doing everything you can to make sure you were safe. I know how you feel. I knew you were good, just scared. That's why I defended you."

It was silent as Wanda stared at her new teammate, tears forming in her eyes. She flung herself at her teammate – her friend – giving the blonde woman a hug. "Thank you…"

Tracey smiled, hugging the female back. "We're all here to protect each other. You're part of the family now."

"You defending us, the Bartons taking us into their family, the Avengers accepting us as one of them, you all have done so much for us and we cannot thank you enough," Wanda said, tears slipping down her face.

"You don't need to thank us, it's what family does," Tracey said, smiling at her. "Come on, let's meet up wit-"

A gust of wind cut the hacker off followed by Sam in full on Falcon gear running past them screaming "Give me back my goggles, punk!" The two females watched as Sam raced after a blue blur down the hall.

"I guess Pietro's joining today," Tracey laughed.

"I guess so," Wanda said, a large smile on her face as she stared after her brother. "Let's go."

Once inside the training room Tracey patted Wanda on the shoulder before stepping off to the side. She watched as Sam finally gave up on his goggles only to have them throw in his face. A smirk grew on the blonde woman's face when she saw Vision and Wanda interact as Pietro and Rhodey laughed at the grumbling Sam. Minutes later the doors open revealing Steve, Natasha, and Bucky. Everyone looked at them expectantly, waiting for whatever they was to be said.

"Avengers," Steve called out as he looked at each of them. 'Assemble!"

A little bit of a cheesy ending with it ending with Steve, but come on we were all mad that he didn't say it in the movie!

I know that I didn't write the big fight in Sokovia, but I decided not to because we've all seen the movie, we all know what happens. But I wanted to give a little bit of insight on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s part so I decided to have Tracey team up with them for their part of the battle.

Thank you to ShunKazamis-Girl for the idea of having Tracey look through documents and such on the Maximoff twins. It helped me come up with the part with Tracey and Wanda and it helped me start off their friendship.

Anyways that's it for the third installment of the Winter series. I'm not sure who all is still reading this and if anyone is still interested in the series, but I have another story in the works that will be the lead in into Civil War. I have a lot planned and I'm honestly excited about it.

I hope you all enjoyed this story and I'm really sorry it took so long for updates.

Feel free to follow me on my tumblr, winter-is-ending, for any updates on what's going on like why updates are taking forever or just for the fun Marvel posts I reblog.

I hope you all have a great day/night and Happy Thanksgiving!