As they walked down the white hallway, Kate got a strong whiff of something cooking. Whatever it was smelled heavenly. Her stomach growled. She could not remember the last time she had eaten actual food. The scientists usually gave her some sort of runny mix of whatever they found in the kitchen. Only Dr. Erksine had cared enough to feed her properly. Kate had learned to live with the constant hunger. Over time it just became a dull throb and she could usually push the pain to the back of her mind.

"So, what is your favorite thing to eat?" Natasha asked. She had started out walking ahead of Kate but fell back a little when she realized how far ahead she had gone. Kate had not walked farther than the small space in her stone room since she had been transported out of Germany. She had heard the scientists talking about the end of a war and needing to transport important scientific research out of the country. That was…about…sixty years ago? Seventy? She didn't even know what year it was anymore. Her slashes were always based off of the guards' Christmas celebration. They would have a party and then wouldn't return for a few weeks. A lot of the weaker captives died during that period. Dr. Zola referred to that period as the test of will power. She had hated Dr. Zola. Her one gratification from her inability to die was that she had outlived him. When she heard he had been captured she had never felt such gratification before. It was cruel but she secretly celebrated.

"Sweetie? Are you okay?" She hadn't realized she had stopped walking. Her breathing was a little heavy; this hallway probably was not as long as she thought but compared to the walk from her stone room to the white room at the Hydra headquarters it was taking forever.

"Kate," she murmured. Her voice was low and scratchy from lack of use other than crying and screaming.

"Is that your name?" Kate nodded and continued walking, trying to go a little faster this time.

"Do you have a last name? If we knew your last name we could try to track down your family." It only took Natasha a few steps to catch up to her. This time when Kate got lost in thought she kept walking, refusing to let this strange woman see how damaged she was. "Do you know where you're from?"

"It doesn't matter," she murmured. That was all she could bring herself to say. Her father was gone before her brother was born. Her mother was most likely dead too. And her brother…Steve, oh Steve. He died during the war. She distinctly remembered the day one of the soldiers flung that newspaper into her cell. The headline was all she could focus on: "Captain Steve Rogers Presumed Dead." Kate couldn't bring herself to read the rest of the article. There was no consolation in it. Her brother was dead. For nearly a year after that day she hadn't felt any pain during the experiments. Her entire body had gone numb. She had felt there was nothing left to live for; no one would be waiting for her out in the world if she ever escaped. Tears stung her eyes and she blinked quickly before Natasha could see another sign of weakness in her.

The end of the hallway contained a set of elevators and a staircase. Kate glanced between the stairs and the elevators, trying to decide how to ask Natasha if they could use the elevators. Before she could open her mouth Natasha pressed the "up" button and the doors to the small metal box opened with a ding. The ride to the top floor was brief as they had only been one floor below. No wonder she could smell the food cooking. It took almost no time for the doors to open again and the smell to become overpowering. Laughter filled her ears. When was the last time she had heard genuine laughter? The laughs of everyone in the cells were always dry, lacking happiness and hope.

"Are you ready to meet the rest of the team?" Natasha waited to exit the elevator until Kate was ready. Was she ready? If Natasha was truly telling the truth and this was not Hydra, what did she have to be afraid of? Maybe her prayers had been answered and she could live a normal life. Well, as normal a life as someone like her could live.

Kate took a deep breath and stepped onto the shiny black floor. They were in a small entry way with an archway ahead of them. Glancing at Nat, she gave a small nod. Nat smiled back at her and walked into the larger room. It was an open floor plan with sofas and chairs spread out around a short table. On a raised platform behind the sitting area was a large dining room table and chairs. The wall to the left of the table and sitting area was all windows that overlooked a massive yard with a forest beyond. To the right of the sitting area was a kitchen, the center island surrounded by people.

"Nat! There you are! Has the girl wo-" one of the men pushed himself back from the island and began to walk over, stopping short when he noticed Kate was only a short distance behind the red-head. The man had short brown hair, cropped closely to his head like the guards. Faint stubble covered the skin above his lips and on his chin. His blue eyes were wary as he stared at her, muscled shoulders and arms tensing. It was the same reaction new guards had to her when they were going through training. Their final test was to fight her off and subdue her, a way to ensure that they could easily get the special tranquilizers into her should she ever decide to try and escape. Maybe even a way to remind her that she could never succeed if she tried. Her spirits were always lifted when she won, which happened on their first try normally, but most won on their second try.

"Hey guys. This is Kate. We were wondering if you left any food for us?" Nat stopped by the couch and glanced back at Kate, gesturing for her to come meet the large crowd.

"There's plenty, trust me. Vision has not yet learned portion control, despite the fact that he doesn't actually eat anything. He makes enough food to feed an army," a voice spoke from behind a girl with long brown hair and a red jacket. A moment later a dark skinned man in a wheelchair appeared. He rolled his chair until he was slightly in front of the island. He placed his hands in his lap and looked curiously at Kate. His intense gaze made her wrap her arms tight around her body.

"If I was feeding an army there would not be any food left," a man with purple skin and a yellow gem on his forehead responded. Kate could not place the sound but there was something off about his voice.

"It was a joke Vis. Do not take it personally," the brown haired girl laughed. Her voice had an accent. It was not German but it still made a shiver go down Kate's spine.

"I have gotten better at picking out jokes since you have been gone, dear Wanda. Only personal jabs at my abilities are still hard to pick out. Also sarcasm," the rest of the group laughed as the purple man moved away from the island and came towards Nat and Kate. "Hello Kate, it is very nice to meet you. My name is Vision."

Kate looked at Vision's outstretched hand. Something tugged at the back of her mind. A memory of her mother explaining normal social greetings, but it was so long ago. She was supposed to…do something with it? Hold it? Hit it? Shake it?

"He's an android. The gem in his forehead brought him to life. He won't hurt you," Nat moved to stand next to Kate, her hand hovering above her shoulder. Kate looked up at Vision's face. He looked human, the only difference was the color and the gem. Her eyes focused on the yellow gem. Something about it stirred a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. A humming started in her ears. The entire world stopped as she stared at it. "Kate?"

"It is okay Natasha. She may take a while to warm up to me," Vision's voice snapped her focus back to the people around her. He dropped his hand and gave Kate a small smile. "Why don't we get you some breakfast?"

Kate nodded. The thought of food calmed the humming in her ears. She followed Vision and Natasha as they made their way over to the crowded island. Natasha stopped next to the man who had first spoken and introduced him as Clint. The brown haired girl said her name was Wanda. Rhodey was the name of the man in the wheelchair. Next to Wanda was Sam and across from him was a man named Scott. Vision went over to what must be their refrigerator and opened it.

"Kate, what would you like to eat?" He called back to them. She glanced between him and Natasha, unsure of the correct answer.

"Just give us whatever you can, Vision." Natasha seemed to understand Kate's unspoken communication more.

"So Kate, where are you from?" Clint asked. Everyone turned to look at her. Kate could feel her cheeks heat up. The last time she was the center of attention in a group this size she was hooked up to a bunch of machines and focusing on a large spear with a blue crystal. In the back of her mind she knew that they were not the same as the scientists, Natasha had told her that not even ten minutes ago, but she could not help the nervousness that took over her body.

"How's Bucky doing?" Rhodey asked. Everyone turned to look at him but he was looking at Kate. His expression was unreadable to anyone else but Kate saw the look of understanding in his eyes.

"He went back under cryo freeze until the Wakandan scientists figure out how to get the programing out of his head," Clint answered. Bucky. The name sounded familiar…

"Bucky?" Kate murmured.

"He's a friend," Sam answered, his voice tight on the word 'friend.'

"Winter Soldier." Kate remembered the day Karpov had brought her to the battle area to watch Bucky fight the others. He laughed at her, telling her that her brother's childhood friend was dead even though she could see him standing right in front of her. She knew that wasn't Bucky anymore but she still wanted to hope. She could bring him back. She knew she could. But Karpov would never let her get close enough to try.

"Yeah, they need to get the Winter Soldier programming out of his head. He's afraid that someone else like Zemo will get ahold of the code."

"Makes sense. We can't afford another incident like the one in Bucharest," Rhodey shook his head in agreement.

"I can help," Kate said, her voice strong. This was something she could do. Something she was sure of. She was sure of her own abilities.

"What?" a few voices asked.

"I can help Bucky."

"Kate, I don't think you understand…" Natasha went to put her hand over Kate's shoulder again but she pulled away.

"He's a friend and I can help him," Kate couldn't tell them how, it would only scare them. They would see her as a weapon just like Hydra did. But she needed to help Bucky, for Steve.

"He's more Steve's friend than ours but, Kate you don't…" Sam didn't get to finish. Kate heard the name.

"Steve?" Why did Sam say her brother's name? No. It couldn't be the same Steve. He died in 1945. "Steve is dead."

"Kate," a voice called from behind her. She turned and saw two men standing just outside of the opening that led to the elevators. The taller of the two stepped forward. She stared at his face, taking in every detail. She had only seen it on the newspaper the Hydra soldier had thrown at her on the worst day of her life. She took a few steps forward, focusing in on his blue eyes. The man in front of her looked almost nothing like her short, skinny, nervous brother, but his kind blue eyes were still the same. Nothing could stop the tears.

"Steve!" Her happiness propelled her forward and she jumped into her brother's arms.