When I wake the next morning I hear voices from down the hall. I pull on the sweatpants that Wanda had left for me and leave the room. I follow the chatter and can distinguish at least four voices. The hallway opens up into a large kitchen and I see there are actually eight people in the kitchen standing or sitting around an island. Silence falls over the gathered group as my presence becomes known.
"Morning..." I stand in the doorway, close enough to the exit to flee if need be. As eight sets of eyes scrutinize me, I cross my arms over my chest to soothe my anxiety.
"Good morning," Steve speaks first, his voice warm. "Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Tony, Wanda, Vision, Bruce Banner, Sam," he points to each person in turn. "You already know me and Bucky. And this," he gestures to the red head standing at his shoulder.
"It's nice to see you, Kit." To my surprise, Natasha actually smiles at me.
"Oh, you know each other?"
"We're very familiar with each others screams," I confirm.
"We trained together in the Red Room," she explains. "We escaped together but-"
"But our paths divided," I finish. She got out and joined the Avengers, I got out and made a name for myself among the people she fights against.
"This has all been very nice. But if we could cut the chit chat." Tony turns and leaves the room with everyone trailing behind him. We stop in an almost cozy sitting area and I follow suit as everyone sits. I perch on the edge of my seat, once again prepared for flight if necessary. "Do you know why we brought you here, Miss Evans?"
"I originally thought you were arresting me," I say slowly looking between Steve and Tony. "But now I'm not so sure." I have my suspicions though.
"That's not totally out of the question." My eyes fly to Steve. 'Trust me,' he had said. He nods back towards Tony, a silent reassurance to continue listening to Stark. "However, we can offer you full immunity for your crimes against the country if you help us."
"All of my crimes?" Hope begins to bloom in my chest. I could come home?
"All of them."
"What's the catch? What do you want from me? I have nothing to add to your little band of misfits."
"That's not true," Natasha speaks so quietly I almost don't hear her. But when I turn to face her, her focus is already on me. Her intensity has always made me uncomfortable. The way her stare strips you down to the bone, as if she can see directly into your soul. Into your deepest secrets. I'm the one to break eye contact with her.
"What's the catch?" I repeat to Tony, trying to ignore the heat generating from Nat's stare.
"We need Keiran Reed." I swear to God my heart stops as he confirms my suspicions. Keiran has been causing quite a stir lately and I knew it was only a matter of time before these vigilantes set their sights on him. "We hear you work very closely with him."
"What?" The whisper is less of a question and more of an exclamation. They're crazy. One, I've been very discreet about my ties with Reed, and I've tried my best to see him as little as possible in recent years. And two, never in a million years would I cross the man.
"Your work with him is no convern of ours. As I said, full immunity. But we need him in custody and you're our best shot." Silence falls heavy over the room. I no longer sit and instead I begin to pace the room. Few things rattle me, but the thought of betraying Keiran fucking Reed terrifies me. I drum my fingers over my chest, pleading with my heart to slow it's beats to the rythm I tap out.
"Do you have any idea what you're asking me to do?"
"Do you have any idea what we're offering you in exchange?"
"He'll kill me if he finds out I even considered helping you!" I absentmindedly run my fingers over a scar across my collar bone caused by Keiran himself.
"From what I've heard, he's very fond of you."
"Fuck what you heard! He will kill me!" My eyes dart to the door and I begin to calculate my chances of getting away. Two super soldiers, Natasha, and who knows what that red man... robot can do. My chances aren't great and just as I'm deciding to risk it, Bucky takes a single side step, placing himself directly between me and the door. I scowl at him and he avoids my eyes.
"I'm guessing this isn't really just an offer. But an ultimatum." To his credit, Tony suppresses a smile.
"Welcome to the team, Evans. Happy to have you."
Over the course of the next week the Avengers brief me on my mission. Since my last visit with Keiran a few very high profile government types have gone missing. Not only have they vanished but within a few days of their disappearance, their entire family is gone. Poof. No trace. Except for one lucky member. Whoever is left behind is murdered and found with Reed's signature; a rose tucked neatly behing their ear.
My job is to get in, find where he's taking these families (or where he's dumping their bodies), collect enough evidence for an arrest, and if I'm lucky, score a confessing from scary mob boss himself.
"And you can't do it... why? You're the Avengers! I'm just a bounty hunter." I've been dragging my feet all week putting off this task as long as possible. Tony is growing tired of my antics.
"We've been over this," he says through clenched teeth. His fingers press tightly against his temple. "After the disaster of the Sokovia Accords, we are trying to minimize catastrophe."
"And chaos follows you. But surely the benefit outweighs the risk."
"You know him," Steve puts in. "He trusts you. He knows all of our faces so we can't go undercover. By sending you in as a double agent we may be able to find these people before they're killed. Kit, I know we're asking a lot from you, but please," Steve reaches across the table we sit at and grabs my hand. "Do this for me. This is the right thing to do and you know it. I still believe you're a good person."
And just like that, as his bright blue eyes pierce mine, I'm transported back to Brooklyn where I made fast friends with a scrawny blonde boy that would eventually become a bonafide super hero. I was a couple years younger than Steve when we met and our relationship mirrored that of two very close siblings. We were both orphaned and lonely. Where he lost his parents to war and disease, I watched my mom slowly melt away due to her own internal demons. One needle stick at a time. I never knew my father.
We grew up together and Steve let me tag along as often as I wanted; despite Bucky's attempt at getting rid of me. Although deep down I think he's always had a soft spot for me.
When I found myself in the depths of Hydra, after the war, I saw Bucky once in passing. The sight of a familiar face felt like a long awaited rain storm during a drought. It felt like a fairytale ending to the nightmare I was living. Bucky, the boy who teased me for my freckles but would always save me the last part of his ice cream cone, was here and he was going to take me away. Take me home.
But when I called out to him, his eyes danced over my face as if he'd never met me. And something about him was strange. He moved robotically as if someone else was telling his body how to move. Looking back now I understand, but at the time it felt like betrayal. As much as I try to ignore it and as irrational as it is, I still hold a lot of unjust resentment towards him.
Sam Wilson clears his throat, bringing me out of my reverie.
"Okay, fine," I concede. Steve smiles across the table and releases my hands.
"Wonderful." Tony slides a folder towards me. I flip it open to find dozens of photos of the missing families and short profiles of each of them. "We've rented out a small apartment for you to stay in for the duration of your mission. It isn't far from here, but not close enough to raise suspicions. We'll do bi-weekly check ins for progress and any significant leads." My head swims with all the new information. As Stark continues to drone on I close the folder and push it away slightly. "Your apartment is ready for you and I'll arrange a car to pick you up in 30 minutes. From the moment you sit in that car the only communication you have with us will be through Bucky."
"What? Why Bucky?"
"No one knows Bucky," Steve says simply. "He's the newest to the team and our faces have been all over, well, everything."
"If memory serves, he was making the front pages recently too." Bucky shoots me a glare, apparently still a little tender over his latest lapse back to the Winter Soldier.
"The only news he made was causing problems for us. No one knows he joined our ranks. Everyone still thinks the Winter Soldier is at large."
"Which makes me very valuable to you," Bucky says quietly. I study his face trying to understand the tone of his voice. He sounds tired. "Guys like Reed love to work with the Winter Soldier." Use. That's what he means. Guys like Reed love to use people like Bucky. People like me. That's where the weariness comes from. Bucky is tired of being used. I'm struck again by how similar we are to each other.