Chapter 10

"What is important is you."

That one sentence kept repeating over and over and over again in Tracey's head. It was a broken record. A haunting voice. She didn't want to think of how Michael Burnow got a hold of her phone number. She didn't want to think about what he wanted with her. That was one of the terrifying things. He was some crazed man who was kidnapping men off the street and turning them into his own personal toy soldiers. Is that what he wanted with her? Or was it a completely different reason? She didn't know. She didn't want to know and yet she needed to know. She wanted to tell someone, but she couldn't. Not with Barry's life on the line. But she lived in a tower full of trained superheroes. They would know what to do. But there was something in the back of her mind that was nagging at her thoughts. Telling her not to tell anyone. She was terrified. Not for herself, but for her twin brother. She couldn't afford to have anything happen to him.

"I'll be staying in touch, Miss Madison."

He was going to call again. But when that was he never said. He hadn't called since yesterday. He could call any day, any minute. How was she going to explain to the others if she had to go answer a random call? She lived with trained assassins. Natasha being one. And she was known for reading through people's lies. Not to mention Tracey was horrible at lying!

The hacker groaned and grabbed her hair in her fists, pulling them. She laid her head on the kitchen counter and peeked down at her lap when she felt Dexter's cold nose nudge her knee. The golden retriever looked up at her as he laid his head on her lap and his tail wagged furiously when she scratched his head.

"What am I going to do, buddy?" she whispered, staring solemnly at her pet.

"Do what?" Bucky asked as he walked up behind his girlfriend. "What's wrong?" he asked as he placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them.

"Nothing," the blonde said, a little too quickly. "I'm just trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight," she said slowly as she came up with the excuse. She scolded herself. She felt horrible for lying to Bucky. He was the one person who would do whatever he could to help her. Especially since it's Burnow making a threat on her family.

The super soldier chuckled as he rubbed her shoulders. "I don't think It's the end of the world if you don't make something."

Tracey let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. I'm just kinda hungry and nothing sounds good."

"Hmm," he hummed, resting his head on hers. "I know that feeling. How about pasta? Nothing too fancy."

"Yeah, that sounds good…"

"Trace," Bucky said, moving around so he was facing her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. I'm just tired, that's all," Tracey replied, giving him a small smile.

"Well why don't you get some sleep. I'll make dinner."

"I don't know if I should. You and Steve told me that you used to burn pasta," she said with a smirk.

"Hilarious. You know that hasn't happened since you taught me to cook," he said, gently pushing her towards the bedroom. "Go sleep. I'll wake you up when it's ready."

"Alright, Sergeant," the hacker said as she made her way to their bedroom, Dexter in tow at her feet with his tail wagging.

Once in the room she shut the door and leaned against it, letting out a heavy sigh. She ran a hand through her hair as she padded to the bed. There she fell onto it, burying her face in the pillows. The weight of the situation was weighing heavily on her shoulders. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to throw the stupid pillow across the room. She was frustrated. She was frustrated in herself for not knowing what to do. But she was also mad. Mad at the man who was threatening her family. What was she supposed to do? What did he want from her? The same questions kept repeating over and over again. Swarming her mind. They mixed together with the conversation she had with Burnow as it echoed in her mind.

ooOOoo

"Did you get rid of it?" Michael asked as Joseph walked into the lab. His gaze was hard as he stared at his assistant. A smile twitched at his lips at how rigid the other man stood. Good. At least he knew the gravity of what he did and could have caused in his plans.

"Yes, sir," Joseph said, nodding his head curtly as he stood still, waiting for whatever his boss was going to say next. He opened his mouth, a question forming on the tip of his tongue. "I'm just wondering, sir. Why did you want me to get rid of it? You needed the bug back I thought. We had the bug back in our hands, bringing the plans back together."

Burnow sighed and shook his head. "Do you honestly need to ask?"

"Um yes, sir?" Joseph quirked a brow as he stared at his boss. He was very much confused. Now he was worried he had answered wrong.

"Do you know who had the bug?" Michael Burnow asked calmly. Too calmly.

"Yes, sir."

"The Avengers, yes?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now think about it," Burnow said, standing up from his seat at the table he was working at. "If the Avengers had that bug, what do you think they would do with it?"

Joseph sucked in a breath slowly, nodding his head. "They would have found a way to use it to track our location."

"Very good, Joseph," the scientist said, a sickly sweet smile on his face. "And I told you I needed you to be more reliable didn't I?"

"Yes, sir," the assistant said, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"I told you to find the girl, didn't I?"

"Yes, sir."

"What happened?"

"I had her, sir, but the super soldier, he saw me. He tried to stop me. He gave me the bug and I tried. I tried to get the girl. But I thought I could let her go, bring the bug back, and then go after her another day," Joseph said in a rush, praying his boss would understand.

"What super soldier?" the scientist snapped.

"He was the one with the metal arm. Bucky Barnes, sir."

Burnow stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "And you let the girl go," Michael said, circling the other man. His voice was steady and calm again. "I told you to get her for me no matter what. I don't care if some super soldier stopped you. I need her for my plans. Did I not say this?"

"You did, sir."

"But instead of bringing her here, you thought to bring me a bug that has been tampered with."

"I got rid of it before coming back, sir!" the uniformed man said desperately.

"Yes, you did, Joseph. Yes, you did," Burnow said, walking back to his table. He kept his back to his assistant as he shook his head. "But I did say that I needed you to be more reliable. Did I not?"

"Yes, si-"

Burnow stared at the fallen corpse of his employee, his gaze hard and no sign of emotion on his face. He lowered the gun in his hand and stepped over the dead man's body, casually walking out of the room. He gestured to one of his remaining soldiers, motioning to the corpse in the room. He shook his head as he continued to walk down the hall through the base. His brow furrowed as he thought of how Joseph had put a big setback in his plans. He was going to need a new assistant now.

Entering his office, he sat down at his desk, clasping his hands and leaning against them. He stayed silent as he contemplated his next move. His eyes flickered to the phone sitting on his desk. A sly smile made its way onto his face.

ooOOoo

Tracey laid there, tossing and turning, trying everything to fall asleep. The questions kept running through her head. Michael Burnow's words kept echoing as well. Everything was a broken record only putting more weight on her shoulders. She looked over to Dexter where he was laying at the end of the bed. He was sprawled across it, fast asleep. Tracey groaned and threw a pillow over her face. Of course the dog was able to fall asleep.

She closed her eyes after a few minutes only to have them snap open when she heard her phone ring. She sat up in the bed and stared at the buzzing and ringing device on her nightstand. Her eyes were wide and she held her breath as she stared. It continued to ring for another minute before Tracey reached a shaky hand out.

"Hello?" she said, doing her best to keep her voice steady.

"Hello, Miss Madison. I hope you're doing well," Michael Burnow sounded from the other end.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

"Now now, let's keep calm. I only want to talk," Burnow said calmly with a light chuckle.

"Okay, talk," Tracey said through gritted teeth.

"I admire your team's attempt at finding my location. Using the bug to track me? Very clever. But sadly I caught that before Joseph reached the base." The hacker could hear his smile in voice. It only furthered to infuriate her.

"How do you know my name?" the blonde woman asked. That was one of the many questions that were going through her mind since yesterday. How did he?

Burnow chuckled. "I know everything about you. Let's not forget that Hydra was a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. for years. I was able to get a hold of their files and read up on their agents, their families, and anyone else they had on file."

"So you read up on my brother then? Or me?" she said, her lip curling up in a snarl. Of course he would. Of course he would read up on anyone he needed to. Damn him and Hydra!

"Both of you," Michael said casually. "But I also recognize you and your brother from your features. You have your dad's eyes after all."

Tracey's heart stopped. Her dad? What did he mean by that? Did he know him?

"H-how…how do you know my dad?" she asked in a shuddering breath.

Another chuckle sounded on the other end. "I may have ran into him once on the front lines. You know how S.H.I.E.L.D. is. They sometimes look for help with the army, military, navy, whoever they can get help from. Your dad and his team were helping on a S.H.I.E.L.D. mission once," Michael Burnow explained.

"I don't believe you," Tracey breathed.

"You don't believe me? Hmm, well I didn't expect you to. But if you don't, why don't you look into the S.H.I.E.L.D. files you recovered those months ago? Or ask your brother. I'm sure he read up on that mission back when he was still a part of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Tracey sat there frozen. She felt like the air was being squeezed out of her. There was no way that what this man was saying was true. There was no way that Michael Burnow met her dad. There's no way Barry would have known about that without telling her. There's no way.

"But enough about your dad," Burnow spoke up, breaking the silence. "Let's get back to you."

"What do you want with me?" she said, her voice cracking ever so slightly.

"Now don't be scared, Miss Madison. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Like I'd believe that!" she snapped. She quickly covered her mouth and looked towards the door. She prayed Bucky didn't hear her.

"I'm a man of my word, Miss Madison. I can assure you of that," Burnow spoke. "Back to the matter at hand. I need your help. I need your skills to get me some information from Hydra. We both don't like them and I want information that should rightfully be mine."

"And why do you think I would help you?"

"Because we wouldn't want anything to happen to your brother, now would we?"

Tracey took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. There he goes again, threatening her family. She didn't know what to do. Tell the others and risk hers and Barry's safety or stay silent. But the more she thought about it, the more both choices left her with the risk of getting her twin brother hurt.

"I'll give you another day to decide," Burnow said, before hanging up.

The hacker stayed liked that, the phone held up to her ear. Her whole body was shaking as she slowly lowered her phone. What was she going to do? She felt like an idiot having not told the others about this yesterday, but she was scared. She knew how people acted when they were scared. She'd seen it all the time when attacks happened around the city. People either fended for themselves, helped others out, or were petrified. And this was no difference. Tracey was petrified. It was fight or flight and so far she was in flight mode. Hiding her problems away from her friends and family.

Family.

Barry was in trouble. And then there was her dad. What Burnow said…was it true? Did he actually know her dad? Did Barry know about the mission? More importantly what happened on that mission?

"Trace, baby," Bucky said, cracking the door open and peeking in. He smiled when he saw her awake and walked in further. "Dinner's ready, darling." He frowned when she didn't respond, let alone move. He approached her and knelt down in front of her. "Tracey? What's wrong?"

"Oh!" Tracey said, eyes growing wide once he was in her view. "Uh nothing. Nothing. I'm fine. It smells great!" she said, putting on a fake smile.

It didn't fool the super soldier.

He took her hands in his and stared up at her with concern, his eyebrows arching up. "Tracey, what's wrong? And don't say nothing because we both know that's a lie. Something's bothering you. What?"

Tracey shook her head and continued to smile. "Nothing. Honestly, Bucky it's nothing." She stood up, Bucky following as he kept a hold on her hands. She stared up at him when he didn't let go. "I swear, Bucky, nothing's wrong. I'm just tired."

Bucky kept his gaze on her and pulled her back when she tried to walk away. "Tracey, baby, talk to me. You're worrying me."

"It's just that…" She chewed her cheek, harder than usual. The stress of her situation was seriously taking a toll on her. Should she tell Bucky? She looked up at him and shook her head. "I'm just worried about Michael Burnow and what he's doing. That's all. I want those men he's kidnapped brought back home."

The metal armed man sighed, a small smile tugging at his lips. "We will help them and we will stop Burnow. I promise you, darling," he said, pulling her into his arms. "Everything is going to be okay."

Tracey smiled up at him before wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest. She closed her eyes taking a deep breath before opening them again. Her family was in danger. Was everything going to be okay?

Boom! Chapter ten. Holy crap I honestly didn't think I'd be getting this far in this story. But I'm happy I am and I hope you guys are enjoying it. I'm honestly still nervous about this story. I'm worried its not as good as Winter is Ending, but maybe I'm just being paranoid. Not sure.

If you'd like to ask the Avengers, Madison twins, and anyone else in the tower any questions feel free to message me on my tumblr. That also includes Sharon, Maria, Pepper, Betty, Jane, Rhodey, and Darcy. If you have any prompts for Life at the Tower/AUs, feel free to message me there, on here, or in a review.

My tumblr is winter-is-ending

I also have chapter 11 done if anyone's interested in having that posted soon as well. I'm not sure I should post it tomorrow, later tonight, or wait a bit longer. Let me know.

I hope you guys liked it! I'd love to hear your thoughts, comments, questions, and/or concerns. I'm a little nervous about this story and would love to hear from you. Thank you.