Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

A.N. *Clears throat and waves* Hey guys! So I apologize for the delay. Real life gets crazy. We only have a few more chapters left of this story. Thank you to everyone who is still interested in it. I get a smile every time I see it has been reviewed/followed/favorited! Enjoy.

Steph started to come aware at the none too gentle foot in her side. Opening her eyes, she allowed herself a few seconds to gather her bearings before swatting at the boot that still kicked her.

"You can stop now. I'm obviously awake," she huffed out before moving into a seated position. She clamped her eyes and mouth shut as she breathed through the slight nausea that rolled through her stomach. Damn it. I probably have a concussion.

"How long was I out for?"

"Don't know."

"Who are you?" she still hadn't opened her eyes, but had managed to move against the wall that had caused her current damage.

"Oh, Doll. If you just looked at me, you'd know."

As intrigued as she was, her head was pounding and she still needed a few minutes, to not only come back to herself, but to come up with a plan.

"Why are you here?"

"What's with all the questions?"

"What's with all the misdirection?" she countered, finally cracking open her eyes and sighing in relief when the pain wasn't nearly as blinding.

"If I wanted to hurt you, I would have while you were unconscious."

She had to give him that one. Any good bad guy, would not have missed the opportunity to take out any witnesses.

"Fine. Obviously, you're of the friendly nature-"

"Now, don't go saying things you won't mean in a few minutes. Let's get one thing straight, Doll. I might not have hurt you while you were indisposed, but that does not mean I won't hurt you if you stand in my way of what I really want."

Intrigued, she was. She decided to try standing, which she did successfully, before looking at his face. She held back her shock at the face that floated into her line of sight.

"Bucky Barnes," she whispered.

"Winter Soldier, actually. Bucky died years ago."

"You might be able to fool the Cap with that bullshit, but I've cornered the market on pretending to be something you're not."

She watched as his eyes narrowed, assessing her as a threat. She allowed him his perusal, knowing she did the same while making her triumphant return to the land of the standing.

"Who-"

"Steph," she cut him off. "That's all you're getting from me for now." She pushed off the wall and strode back down the hall, finding her way to Clint's room, hoping he'd be there, but knowing he wasn't. She knew Bucky was following her even if she couldn't hear him. Without turning around or stopping, she decided to give him some answers. "Go on, Barnes. Ask what you want."

She walked into Clint's space and growled in frustration. Slamming her hand down his desk, she was mildly surprised when she heard a hollow sound. While she rooted around the desk, Bucky watched in mild amusement. "What are you doing here?"

She spared him a glance before crawling underneath the desk. "I'm trying to find his secret hiding spot, the cheeky bastard."

"No. I meant here, at Avengers Tower."

"Short story. Stark and Banner were researching some serums I brought them. I came back to retrieve them in order to have something of mine returned."

"And Black Widow beat you to it?"

"Barton and I checked to make sure the building was empty before we arrived. We were informed that she was offline and not in the building. Apparently, we were mislead."

"And Rogers involvement?"

At this, Steph crawled back out and stood, brushing off her clothes. "Don't know." She gave up on searching the desk and moved to leave the room, only to be stopped when Bucky grabbed her arm.

"Tell me."

"I did."

"No. You're lying."

"What do you want to hear? He's involved with Romanoff, at least physically and emotionally. As far as being involved in whatever it is she is doing professionally," she shrugged, "I don't think he is, but I've been fooled before by trusting the wrong people."

"He wouldn't."

She scoffed and yanked her arm from his hold. "You've spent the last how many years running from him? You don't know what he would do anymore than he would know what you would do."

"Steve hasn't changed."

"Whatever. I don't have time to stand around debating Steve's character. I now have two people to save. You have a game of hide and seek to continue." She ran out of Clint's room and disappeared into the stairwell at the end of the hall, Bucky hot on her heels.

As soon as she reached the roof, she turned on him. "I can't let you come with me."

"I wasn't asking."

"Doesn't matter. I don't know you. I don't trust you. You're not coming."

"You really think you can hide from me? Stop me?"

Steph narrowed her eyes and thought through the chances of being able to one up the man in front of her. Growling in defeat, she threw her hands up and started walking towards the jet. "Fine. You can come with me, but I call the shots. You do what I say and if I even think you are a more of a hinderance than an asset, you're done."

Bucky didn't say anything, just moved to the co-pilot seat next to hers and harnessed himself in. Steph didn't spare him a second glance before she took off, calling out for J.A.R.V.I.S once they reached cruising altitude.

"How can I be of service, Ms. Plum?"

"Location of Hawkeye."

"Certainly." A few moments had passed and they were closing in on the Rangeman building before J.A.R.V.I.S came back. "It appears that Agent Barton is offline. I cannot pick up any of his trackers."

Steph rubbed her eyes and growled in frustration. "And Agent Romanoff?"

"She is still offline as well. Would you like me to contact Sir for assistance?"

"NO!" she shouted. "No, that will not be necessary, J.A.R.V.I.S. I'm pretty sure there is just a glitch with Clint's. I will have Darcy look into it. If I need anymore assistance, I will call Stark myself. Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S."

"You're welcome, Ms. Plum."

Steph landed the jet and was just lowering the ramp when Bucky spoke. "So Romanoff took Barton for what reason?"

Steph sighed in exasperation. "You're not going to let this go, are you?" Not waiting for his answer, she walked off the jet and across the roof, entering the building knowing he was right behind her. "I don't think she will harm Clint. The people she is working for on the other hand, want me and they will do anything in their power to get me to them. They already have one of my friends, but it seems I wasn't moving fast enough for them, so they gave her orders to take someone who would."

"Barton."

She nodded and reached for the door on the 5th floor and entering. She didn't spare a glance at the weapons that were drawn on them and continued moving towards Tank's office, walking in without knocking and catching the giant of a man off guard.

"Jesus, Steph. You could've announced yourself at least."

She barely suppressed an eye roll. "Call your men off, Tank. I have someone with me and I won't be held accountable if he shuts them down himself."

Tank's eyebrows furrowed as he got up from his desk and popped his head around his door frame. Cursing under his breath and widening his eyes at who was with her, a shrill whistle left his mouth that caused every head to turn in his direction. "Stand down!"

Every gun was lowered and the men stepped back but didn't go back to their previous work stations, wanting to see what was going to happen. They all knew who the man was, of course. They have been watching the news. They just weren't sure why Tank was giving the Winter Soldier leeway or why he was with Steph for that matter.

Just as the tension started to subside, the elevator pinged, announcing its arrival. Lester and Bobby walked off joking and shoving each other, unaware of the situation they were walking into. Once the silence registered, they both stopped moving and looked around, Lester being the first to see the newcomer.

"Holy shit. It's Bucky Barnes. The Winter Soldier."

Once Bobby looked in the direction Lester was staring, he gaped at the man with the metal arm. "What fuck has Bomber gotten involved with now?"

"Hey!" her indignant cry was heard from her spot in Tank's office.

The men chuckled and the spell was broken, allowing the men to slowly go back to their work. Lester and Bobby gave Bucky a wide berth and joined Tank by his office.

Steph poked her head out and shouted to Bucky impatiently. "Let's go, Barnes. If you want the run down, then get your ass in gear. I need to get back to base and I have a feeling you aren't going to let me leave you behind."

"Steph!", all three merry men whispered harshly.

She shrugged and went back to her seat. Much to their amazement, Bucky followed her order and joined her in the office. Lester and Bobby refused to be left out and followed behind Tank, giving the big man a shove to move faster.

Once the door was shut and everyone was standing, or sitting in Steph's case, comfortably, Tank popped the disc into his laptop and turned it to face Steph.

"It's password encrypted."

Tank nodded. "And you have our-"

"Hector. Right. Ok, well, I'm not a slouch in the hacking game, so I'll give it go." A few minutes after she started, she startled them all when she whooped in glee.

"I take it you figured out the password, beautiful?"

She responded by angling the computer so everyone could see it and pushing play. What they saw had them all cursing under their breath. Ranger was naked and strapped to a table. There were tubes of various colored liquids running to and from both arms. He was barely conscious, slowly moving his head in a negative manner to whatever was being whispered to him by the two lackies on each side of him. As the video faded, Rubio's voice was heard.

"Tsk, tsk, Ms. Plum. One serum for every day you aren't here."