"Hello James."

"Hi."

"I'm sorry I haven't visited you in a while."

Bucky stared at Lucy blankly without another response.

"I'm going to get you out of there."

"Sure."

"I need to persuade some people though and it might not be tomorrow, but I'll get you out of there."

"Jarvis, have you found anything?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Lucy. I have run into a few encryptions that I must decrypt before going on."

Lucy sighed and nodded. "Thank you for the help, Jarvis."

"A pleasure as always, Miss Lucy."

"Jarvis? What's going on?"

"I have found a massive file that could be of great use to us, Captain Rogers."

"Cap, what's he talking about?"

"I brought Tony up here as well, Jarvis, not that you can't see that already, but-"

"Great idea, Captain Rogers. I have found a file that seemingly contains everything from Miss Lucy's birth to present day on this server."

"What's the server on?"

"From what I can understand, it is on a private server-it is covered in dozens of encryptions."

"I can see that." Tony murmurs, eyes shut as his Extremis goes to work.

He pauses and looks over at Steve.

"That girl, her name is Ariadne Pierre, right?"

October 31, 2014

Lucy glanced up from her novel and then back down. "Did you need something, Tony? You've been standing there for ten minutes."

"It's Halloween. We're having a little party, but you haven't come out of your level for days."

"I don't think I should party."

"Why? Why shouldn't you party?"

"Because I," Lucy murmurs, "am failing. I still haven't managed to find the formula, I couldn't bust Bucky out of prison, I can't figure out what to do with my life."

"Oh c'mon, Lucy. That's not you at all."

Lucy stared at Tony for a good moment before looking back down at the fine text on the pages.

"This is only ephemeral. This is just a slump. What's that syndrome called-YIPS? Let us get you out of it." Tony urges, taking a seat on the bed with her. When she didn't respond, he sighed and scanned his eyes around the room. His fingers glimmered with the gold of his Extremis virus before it transitioned back into his skin.

"What if I told you Bruce wanted to run tests on you?"

...

"How about it I told you that we fixed the meal replacement issue?"

...

"What if I told you Thor was running on a rampage looking for you?"

...

"What if Cap called it?"

"Then I would assemble." She simply says.

"Miss Lucy, Captain Rogers is calling for the Avengers to assemble."

"What time is it?"

"It is currently 8:45PM."

"Tell him I'll be right down. Oh, and have you found anything on those two agents?"

"I have 12 out of 36 total encryptions completed."

"Nice work, Jarvis. Thank you."

"There is a briefing before suit up."

Lucy paused and glanced up at the ceiling as if she could see Jarvis. "Why?"

"It was authorized by Agent May. Captain Rogers is looking to assemble in the communal floor to visit the briefing together."

And Lucy knew she couldn't defy Melinda. She stood from her 6-day-old spot on the bed and stretched her limbs. Relaxing and feeling the molecules of water and nitrogen on her skin, she phased through the floor and compacted on the communal level.

She should have known, but she had placed trust into Jarvis. There was a party composed of multiple higher-level S.H.I.E.L.D. agents along with the Avengers and even Thor was present.

The manipulator sighed and Tony looked over before his face broke into a wide smile.

"You made it!"

"Did you tell Jarvis to lie to me?" She suddenly demands.

"Of course not!"

"It was me."

All turned to look at Steve who stood at the far side of the room in a dark burgundy button-down. He had a glass of wine in his hands as he shrugged.

"Tony was getting distressed because you wouldn't come down so I called an assemble. What else did he say to you?"

"He told me that Agent May had authorized a briefing before suit-up."

Steve broke out into a resonant laugh and Lucy sighed.

"That's a good one! It got you to come out here, didn't it?"

"I'm going back to my room." Lucy declares, abruptly ill-tempered.

"Oh no you're not! We're making you and Steve have a drinking contest!" Tony exclaims, stepping in the way of the manipulator.

"Oh that's even better!" Lucy cries, sarcasm and annoyance oozing from her words. She looked pained and clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I really don't want to be here. I will not be any fun, so when I am fun, you can drag me to a party. I'll see you in the morning."

Lucy phased through the ceiling this time with a slight whooshing sound.

When she arrived on the aircraft landing of the Avengers Tower, she let the raw breeze flow through her hair and whip past her body. It was as if the air was kissing her skin.

The manipulator could feel the bitter coldness of water vapor on her own molecules and furthermore the strange emptiness of nitrogen along with the weight of argon traces. It was electrifying.

"Time to think?"

"Time to relax." Lucy replies, listening to the reverbations of his footsteps against the steel. The Captain soon stood next to her and handed her a glass of alcohol. She received it with no hesitation or protest and instead took a sip before walking further towards the edge of the landing. He followed her lead and they stood peering over the glimmering lights of the city.

"Kind of dangerous, don't you think?"

"Standing on the edge of a very tall building?"

"Mm-hm."

"I'm kind of dangerous too, don't you think?" Lucy asks, levitating the whiskey out of the glass.

"We all are."

Lucy hummed. "Then I'll catch you. If you fall, that is-I'll catch you."

November 24, 2014

"Tony? Tony?"

…

"Bruce? Bruce-!"

"Yes?"

"Come here, please."

"What do you need?"

"Look at this."

Lucy made a 'zoom-in' motion with her hands and the small holographics that was projected before her expanded into large 3-D models. The two images looked nearly identical.

"What are they, some sort of chemical compositions?" Bruce asks, spinning them.

"Purple is the Immortality Project, the red is what HYDRA was administered."

Bruce paused and furrowed his brows before pushing his glasses up further onto his nose. "No."

"I know."

"It can't-"

"But it-"

"And then-"

"What sort of language are you guys speaking? Sure ain't English." Clint says as he steps off of the elevator with an arm thrown over Natasha's shoulders.

"That isn't English either, Clint." Lucy quips before turning her attention back to the screen.

"So they-"

"Exactly."

"How?"

"I don't know." Lucy nearly sobs, throwing her hands into the air and pushing aside the holograms.

"We've got a problem on our hands." Bruce breathes, shoving his fingers through his hair.

"What's going on?" Natasha asks, speaking for both assassins.

"We synthesized the Immortality Project serum from samples of blood from the Spectrum Squad, Steve, and I along with scans of Agent Pierre and Snyder, but we also synthesized the HYDRA Six's serum. Look at them." Lucy explains before pulling them back up.

Clint and Natasha stared at the brilliant colors before glancing back at their other teammates.

"They're almost exactly the same." Clint comments.

"Oh, no." Natasha whispers.

"What are we 'oh, no'-ing about?" Steve asks as he walks into the scene of concerned Avengers. Tony was overshadowed by the latter's large frame and looked just as confused.

Bruce began to explain to the two about the similarity between the two serums as Lucy leaned against a nearby table, seemingly numbed by the news.

"And now?"

"We've got an enormous problem on our hands."

Lucy cursed under her breath and tapped her foot impatiently. "But what can we do?"

"We can infiltrate their base. Search for more information." Steve replies with substantial conviction.

"And what, destroy the nearby cities while we're at it?" She interjects, raising her eyebrows.

"Just because you created the Project, you suddenly turn into a pacifist?" Tony questions accusingly.

"Don't you dare call me a peacemonger-I fought for this country. You expect us to go in there and destroy everything just so we can get more information on a serum that we already know about? I created the damn thing; why should we even bother with it anymore?"

"The people are now in danger-"

"Were they not in danger already? This had been a fact even before we discovered it." Natasha says.

"We are dangerous and likely more dangerous than anything else out there. If they fall, we'll catch them."

"When did the ever-so scrupulous Femme Fatale become so meek and pliant?" Clint wonders aloud, staring up at the ceiling as if he was searching for answers.

"I've never been meek or pliant-I've become… oh, what's the word-"

"Jaded," Steve finishes, looking just as weary as the manipulator. "I know."

She let out a sigh and shrugged affirmatively. Her eyes met Steve's and seemed to thank him in a way that none of the others could.

It must have been the age.

"Did you put the pie in yet?"

"The pie? I thought you said add the rye-"

Laughter came from all corners of the living area as various aromas wafted from the kitchen. Thanksgiving was only around once a year, but the chaos that came with it made up for the lack of recurrences.

Tony laughed at his mistake while Bruce facepalmed for the unintended action while Natasha stood near the stove as she stirred the pot and kept her chuckles to herself.

"Steve won't be happy once he hears you put in the rye instead of the pie."

"Unhappy isn't exactly what I would call it," Steve declares as he walks into the room with a grocery bag that had a container of butter. "Did you really put in the rye instead?"

The engineer shrugged sheepishly and watched as the Captain rolled his eyes in amusement. Clint snickered as he placed silverware onto the dining table.

"Where's Lucy?"

"Not back from her mission yet."

"Where did they send her this time? Vancouver?" Bruce asks.

"Whitby. Agent recruitment."

"She's got a way with the people, I'll say that." Tony mutters.

"Do you think this is her first Thanksgiving with family since her service?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was."

The turkey sat cooking in the main oven while the rolls and pie baked in the other. The six members of the Avengers relaxed in the living room while the TV idly displayed the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. The sun was setting rapidly and the fireplace roared with the burning of cedar and pine.

"Do you think she'll be here in time?"

"She told us she was on the flight back this morning. I can't imagine there would be a delay with the S.H.I.E.L.D. flight."

"At least she isn't late for the dinner."

Thor leaned back into the couch and sighed. "The fatal maiden worries me."

"I don't think there is anyone who doesn't worry about her."

Steve took his attention away from the television program and from the ongoing conversation to stare down at the moon imprinted into the titanium of his bracelet.

I'm sorry I can't be there in person for your birthday.

I got the chance to make this a little while back, but hopefully

the titanium is fused together well. Enjoy the flowers and I'll

see you later. Tell me if the bracelet is too tight-

I'll adjust it for you. ~Lucy

His thoughts drifted to think of when she had decided to send the flowers and how she had missed the magnificent fireworks that came that night. Steve wondered if she had taken his necklace to Whitby, but decided that it would have been foolish of her to do so. He forced himself to drop the topic and focused on the fabric of his T-shirt. Steve let out a deep breath and glanced back up at the bright LED shine of the television.

"Only God knows how hungry I am-where's the food?"

All looked over with some form of glee and delight in their eyes to see a fatigued Avenger standing near the elevator, though she had opted to take her way instead of the elevator.

"Turkey should be ready soon."

"Sure hope so. If that turkey isn't at least ten pounds, I will eat both my serving and Hawk-man's serving."

"Oh hell, then I'm eating Tin Man's food."

Tony scowled at Clint and Lucy chuckled as she set her duffel bag down by the elevator door. Steve facepalmed at the sight of her shirt in some sort of embarrassment and flattery.

"In my defense, I took the first shirt offered to me by Agent Hill-and she handed me the only Captain America shirt available," Lucy says, holding her hands up in surrender. Her shirt was a dull heather navy blue with a faded print of Steve's shield. "At least I'm not wearing a shirt with your face on it."

"The news is still hounding S.H.I.E.L.D. about who you are. They're finding more pictures that include you in them." Natasha tells Lucy.

"I'll have to tell them one day."

"Who, the reporters?"

"The whole world, I suppose."

"They'll appreciate it."

Lucy had no response to the comment and merely took in a deep breath before taking a seat on the couch next to Clint.

"Did Agent May discuss with you the Index?" Clint asks.

"Not yet. I don't want to be there."

"As far as I know, they'll have you demonstrate your powers and leave it at that." Steve says. Lucy smiled.

"That won't be all they make me do." She says with a nonchalant shrug and sadness in her eyes.

"Why don't you have Agent Pierre and Snyder do it? You trust them, right?"

"I don't know them all that well," Lucy says. She refrained from mentioning her loss of memory and continued. "Do they Index? Why are they always together?"

"They're Indexing Specialists. And regarding your second question-they're like Clint and I. Partners." Natasha explains, throwing a friendly look at the marksman who was already giving her the same look.

"Maybe they'll do me a favor." Lucy sighs, snuggling back into the couch and feeling the formation of the leather of the couch. Steve eyed her carefully and glanced at Natasha, sharing a silent conversation that all but Lucy caught.

"I'm going to go check on the turkey since we only have a few minutes to go." Steve declares, standing from his spot on the couch.

"Then I'm going to take out the yams." Natasha also declares, glancing around at the group as Lucy looks to be falling asleep in her spot.

"Do not fall asleep before our feast, fatal maiden-Lucy. The fun has yet to start." Thor says, a smile that could rival that of a golden retriever's.

"I'm not falling asleep. I'm just resting my eyes. And my brain." Lucy replies as her words slur.

Steve opened the door to the oven and prodded at the flesh of the sizable bird before shutting the oven. He didn't really mean to check on the turkey.

"What do you know about those two agents?" Steve asks as he turns around and faces Natasha.

"They were administered her Immortality Project sixteen years ago. They haven't aged a day since then. They looked frightened when they saw Lucy at their extraction."

"So what are they to her?"

"That's what we need to find out. They were more than just co-workers to her, Steve. Pierre told the jury that." Natasha whispers, rolling up a bag half-full of marshmallows.

"We've-Tony and I-have been digging. Jarvis found something but he's only a third of the way through the encryption." Steve replies.

"Why did they work with her and why does Lucy have no idea who they are?"

"We need to go." Steve says, glancing over at the living area where Lucy seemed to be sleeping soundly.

Natasha walked back in first and grinned at the sleeping manipulator.

"Why do the two agents know her, but not vice versa?" Clint signed, staring at Natasha. She shrugged and shook her head. She motioned between her and Steve.

"We should have done more research on cooking turkeys." Steve suddenly says with strong emphasis on 'research'. Clint formed his lips into an 'O' to acknowledge what was going on. Tony and Bruce glanced between each other cluelessly.

"We'll have to tell you about it." Natasha adds, looking towards the two scientists.

"Tell me about what?" Lucy asks through a yawn.

"Cooking turkeys."

"Mm… count me out of that conversation. I was in charge of cooking all of the turkeys back when we were home for the holidays. No, scratch that-I was in charge of cooking the chickens."

"Chickens." Steve says, raising an unimpressed brow but with an amused expression on his face.

"It was back when they first started canning whole chickens. They didn't have cans big enough or enough metal to put entire turkeys into cans. So we got chickens instead. Gelatinous, whole chickens." Lucy says, with a look of retrospect and disgust.

"They had that?" Bruce asks quietly but with a similar air of pure disgust.

"They still do. I managed to make it taste a little better, but anything was better than what we got."

The team listened in as if an elderly woman was telling them a childhood memory, and in a sense, it was true.

"We never got the A-rations because we were so far out, but we always got B-rations and C-rations. The guys would never finish their meals because they knew I was different. They knew I ran faster than the rest of them so they would give me their crackers and stale bread. I think that's how I survived those days. I got promoted to colonel-"

"And you were in the military for how long before that occurred?" Steve asks skeptically.

"Hmm…" Lucy ponders, turning her eyes up at the ceiling in thought. "I was in the military in 1915, and I was on a sabbatical on special terms in between the wars to go become a doctor also under special terms. That was 1919. I came back from medical school in '24? And the war started up again, I got the second dose of the serum in '41. I was… hmm, I was active duty for gosh, was that really 21 years?"

She paused. "If you count my time in inactive duty when I was in school, that's 26 years."

Steve burst out into uncontrollable laughter before composing himself and speaking. "If you count the years on the ice, that's at least 90-something years."

Lucy joined in on his laughter as well and shrugged. "That's true. I wasn't declared dead in absentia until I got out and started running. And for you, what, is that 70-something years?"

"I feel like I'm listening to my grandparents talk about the 'good ol' days'." Natasha complains, smiling.

"I'm too young to be your grandmother." Lucy jokes.

"Tell us more about your culinary skills in the days of battle." Thor urges.

"Okay, okay. Well, I just tossed everything into the oven because we managed to get a kitchen cleared for Thanksgiving."

"Was this World War II?"

"Oh yeah. The first tragedy I wasn't deployed at all. I just helped with stratagems, even though they never really listened to me.

"Tim helped with the stuffing and the mashed potatoes which weren't exactly mashed at all under his supervision. Bill was in charge of the rolls and they ended up a bit more cooked than we would have liked it to be. Linda cut herself opening all of the cans of corn and Jim nearly cut his own finger off chopping the carrots. It was chaotic and not as well done as our mothers probably would have been able to do, but we could all taste home that day. I was on mid-watch duty that night and I could hear the conversations between everyone. That may have been the only day I watched my infantry cry." Lucy recalls. She smiled. "And it was so cold. It snowed the next day and one of the men chucked a snowball at me… so I made him do push-ups. I will never forget that day."

Just as if she were just on time, the kitchen timer rang to signal the readiness of the turkey. Everyone stood to migrate into the kitchen and set the table. Food was passed around the table and placed onto dishes.

Lucy paused and looked up at Steve at the other end of the table. She raised her glass full of brilliantly colored shiraz. "I'd like to propose a toast."

Without hesitation, the rest of the team grabbed the stems of their glasses and looked at her expectantly.

"To friendship which is now more than camaraderie, to the appreciation we now hold for each other, the thanks that we see in each other's eyes, and the love that we feel tonight."

"And also to the glorious feast that stands before our eyes,"

"The justice that we attempt to serve,"

"And to the feeling of family when we're nowhere near our own."

"We have become our own family."

Lucy raised her glass a bit higher with a quiet and dignified 'thank you' as 'cheers' were heard around the table followed by crisp clangs of the wine glasses.

"Let's dig in!"

There was not much talk between the teammates as they consumed their first Thanksgiving meal, as they instead basked in both the robust flavors of the food and the feeling of warmth that was usually only brought by the presence of one's family. My first Thanksgiving with family.

About half of an hour must have passed before they were interrupted. As Jarvis spoke, heart rates rose in anticipation and nervousness.

"I apologize for the interruption, but Miss Lucy, you have a phone call. It is urgent."

"Excuse me for a minute." Lucy mumbles before standing and letting the chair scrape against the tile. She picked up the Starkphone on the kitchen counter and answered with a short 'hello?'.

All had paused their eating to listen to her speak on the phone.

"Are you sure?"

She sounded calm, but it was always hard to decipher considering there were master assassins and gods in their world.

"Okay. Well, we'll-no, I'll deal with that. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you."

The manipulator placed the phone back onto the polished granite and headed back to her seat.

"What's going on?" Tony asks.

"Nothing. Let's enjoy our dinner." Lucy insists, picking up her fork and prodding at the remains of her dinner on the plate.

"Lucy…"

It was Steve's typical warning tone but she ignored it and shook her head no.

"I'll let you know after dinner. No need to worry so much-I've got it under control."

As the Avengers got back to their meal, Lucy cut through her roll as she mouthed "Jarvis, please run facial recognition." She could almost hear his operating system process her action and begin the task.

"I received a mission yesterday." Clint declares.

"Where are you going?"

"Iowa."

"What for, is S.H.I.E.L.D. making you start a farm in case we run out of food?"

Clint and Natasha shared a discrete look before he continued.

"I have more recruitment on some marksmen."

"When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Lucy flinched and stared at Clint. "Clint-"

"It's somewhat imperative that I go." He elaborates, shrugging as he sips his wine.

"Gotta do what you gotta do."

"It's all in our job descriptions, hmm?"

The Avengers rested in their living area as the TV ran another special for the holiday.

"What did the phone call say?" Tony suddenly asks.

"James Barnes escaped from S.H.I.E.L.D. containment."