Chapter Five

Tracey yawned as she stared at the glowing screen in front of her. She was currently sitting at the counter in the communal kitchen on the top floor. She had been staying up late the past two days since she and Steve brought Bucky to the tower working on recovering the SHIELD files from the internet. Dark circles were starting to form under her eyes and she was wearing a pair of baggy sweat pants and a oversized T-shirt. Her pajamas. Next to her computer was a bowl of Apple Jacks and a glass of orange juice. She wore her glasses, which was a very rare thing. She only wore them when she was too tired to put her contacts in. Which was this morning.

She yawned once more, typing away at her laptop. "You're almost done, Tracey," she said, motivating herself to get the job done and finally take a needed break.

Her head hit the computer; she groaned into it. "Why do I do this to myself?"

She heard the elevator doors open, but didn't even bother looking up. No offense to whoever just arrived, but she didn't care who was walking in. She needed sleep, or just a nice break. Whatever she could get. She still didn't even look up when she heard two chairs pull out next to her.

She heard a chuckle next to her and groaned once more. "Stop laughing," she mumbled into the plastic of her laptop.

"Is Tony driving you insane?" came Steve's voice.

"No, I haven't gotten any sleep because I've been working on getting these files," she answered, her face still against the keyboard.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Why haven't you gotten any sleep? You know you can take a break from getting the files."

"Because I am an idiot," Tracey said, lifting her head up to look at him. "Whenever I have something to work on, whether it's a bunch of paintings to sell or as of now hacking, I tend to get little sleep because I want to get it done as soon as I can. I'm a workaholic."

Steve chuckled. "Why don't you take a break?" he asked, getting up as he went to grab two bowls.

Tracey noticed Bucky was the one who had sat in the other chair she had heard being pulled out. She smiled at him, waving quickly before turning back to Steve. "I don't want to. Lord knows what sort of crazy people are out in this world looking at these files with all the information and blueprints for weapons and such and try to recreate that?" she said, making Steve laugh at the over dramatic scenario. Although he had to admit with everything going on in the world, who knew who was out there trying to do exactly what Tracey was talking about. "I need to get all these files off the internet as soon as I can."

Steve placed the bowl in front of him and Bucky, grabbing the box of Apple Jacks and milk from in front of Tracey. "Look," he said, pouring the cereal before handing the box to Bucky. "You need a break. I'm planning on taking Bucky out to see New York and show him some old places we used to go to. Why don't you come with us? We've all been cooped up in the tower and could use some fresh air."

It was true. Since the day everyone came to live in the tower no one had left. Well except for Sam and Barry. The two had gone around seeing the sights, Barry showing Sam the best restaurants and attractions. Pepper had been working on paperwork for Stark Industries and Tony and Bruce had been down in the labs working on whatever they always worked on down there. Tracey of course had been working on retrieving the files and that left Steve and Bucky. The two friends had spent the past two days talking. Steve felt that just keeping Bucky in the tower to rest up was a better way to start with gaining his memories back and for his health. Steve had recounted memories with Bucky, reminding him of old times from the forties. Lucky enough the brunet had remembered a good bit of what Steve had described, while there were some that he still didn't remember, but listened none the less.

Tracey had sat down once with her computer just listening to the stories of what life in the forties was like while she worked. It was interesting to hear what things were like back then compared to now and it was sweet to see Steve smile brightly when Bucky would contribute to some of the stories, recounting the memories together.

The blonde ran a hand through her already messy hair, leaning back in her seat. She closed her eyes, opening them up to see Steve looking at her expectantly. She glanced over at Bucky only to see him just eating his cereal. She guessed he was listening in on the conversation, but not saying anything. He still didn't talk much to anyone else but Steve. He had at least relaxed a bit more around everyone. Just a bit.

She glanced at Steve to see the same expectant look still there, but with a smile. She groaned, throwing her hands in the air.

"Fine! I'll take a break and go with you," she said, starting to eat her cereal before it got too soggy. "Just stop giving me the dang Captain America puppy dog eyes."

Steve raise an eyebrow at her. "Captain America puppy dog eyes?"

"The 'I expect better from you. God bless America and have a slice of apple pie darn it!' look," she said, giving him a mock salute.

Bucky snorted into his cereal, making the two look at him. Steve just gave an annoyed look to the blonde as she smirked at him.

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose before finally chuckling. "I don't know who's worse with the jokes. You, Tony, or Natasha."

"You're glad I'm your friend. Now be quiet and eat your cereal," she said, going back to her own bowl.

ooOOoo

"So where are you thinking of going?" Tracey asked as she, Steve, and Bucky walked out of the Avengers' Tower lobby.

The three had separated after breakfast and met up in the lobby. Steve had wanted to change so that he and Bucky wouldn't be noticed and when Tracey got down to the lobby she couldn't help but giggle at the get up Steve was wearing. He was wearing a baseball cap, glasses, and hoodie and in her opinion the glasses didn't completely help. But hey who knows. Bucky was dressed in the same outfit he wore when he showed up at Steve's apartment, only this time cleaned thanks to Pepper.

Steve looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand. "Well," he began, "I was thinking of taking him to some old places we used to go to. Hopefully that will bring back some memories. He's doing well so far." He turned to Bucky, patting him on the back and got a small smile in return. "Also, I plan on going to see our old neighborhood."

"That'd be a great place to go," Tracey said. Her face lit up soon after, an idea springing to mind. "I know a great place to check out. It's this amazing pizza place with the 'best pizza around'," she said, air quoting "best pizza around". "Maybe a slice of New York pizza will jog some memories."

Steve grinned. "That's a good idea. Plus, I think we could use some lunch," he chuckled hearing Tracey's stomach growl.

"Hey. One bowl of cereal isn't exactly filling," she defended making him laugh even more.

"It is not my fault you chose working over eating," he shot back with a smile. "Where is this pizza place?"

"It's on forty fifth and Madison," Tracey said, taking a moment to think of the exact location.

Bucky watched the two interact. Ever since the memory of Linda, whenever he ran into Tracey he would sometimes have flashes of more memories with the blonde woman from the forties. The recent one he remembered was of him and Steve – the scrawny Steve he's been seeing in a lot of memories lately – talking. He had seen Steve sitting in a chair while he, himself, was pacing around.

"What am I doing wrong?" Bucky exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air exasperatedly. "I'd like to take her out, get to know her, but she keeps rejecting me."

Steve placed his sketch book down. While his friend was pacing around, not saying anything until now, he had taken the chance of using a pacing Bucky as a reference for a silly drawing he'd show him later, once he had cooled down. "Maybe she's shy," he said, putting away the pencils. "You know how she is. She's a sweet gal, but she's very timid."

"I know that, Steve," Bucky said, rolling his eyes. "But that doesn't solve the problem. What do I do to get her to agree to go out with me?"

"Don't worry too much about it, Buck," Steve said, getting up and placing a hand on the frustrated brunet. "I'm sure she'll agree sooner or later. After all, she does like you."

Bucky whipped his head up from staring at the ground to face his friend. "Wait she does?"

It was gone just as fast as it came. It was short, but it pegged the question of what happened to Linda and him? He still didn't remember much. Sure, the memories with Linda weren't as important as others he remembered, like his family, but as Steve had said to him "Every memory is just as important as the next."

Bucky had smiled when his friend said that. He was doubtful that all his memories would come back, but Steve believed they would and he knew he would have his back. He doesn't remember everything, but he remembers enough to know that Steve would always be there for him. Bucky wanted to do everything he could to return the favor. He just didn't know how yet.

"What do you think, Buck?" Steve asked, breaking Bucky's train of thought.

Bucky looked up and blinked. "Huh?"

"How does pizza sound to you?" Steve said, a smile on his face.

"Pizza? Uh yeah…sounds uh good."

"Awesome," Tracey said, smiling at the two. "Follow me."

"Tracey, I'm pretty sure I remember where forty fifth and Madison is," Steve said, chuckling as he and Bucky walked beside the blonde.

"Yeah, but you've also been frozen for seventy years, I highly doubt you know what pizza place I'm talking about."

Steve laughed. "That's true."

"You guys will love it," she said with a smile.

ooOOoo

The three were seated at an outside table at the pizza place. Little Italy was the name of it. At the moment they were sipping on their drinks as they waited for the pizza they ordered not too long ago. Bucky was quiet as usual, watching Steve and Tracey talk and the people around them.

Steve patted his shoulder having noticed Bucky observing their surroundings. He knew his friend wanted to break the habit. He had said so. Over the past two days the two had been hanging around Avengers tower feeling that going out in public would make Bucky uncomfortable. They had spent the days talking. Mostly Steve, but Bucky would listen intently to whatever he said. The sandy blonde haired man had recounted numerous memories of them growing up. Bucky had thrown in his own comments and points of view every now and then. Both were happy to know that he was slowly gaining his memory bit by bit. Bucky was relieved to know that none of the images he was seeing were fake when Steve would assure him by telling the full story of the memory, which would further help Bucky remember the moment.

During their conversations, Bucky had hesitantly told Steve about his time at HYDRA. He knew that it was time to tell his friend and explain to him how he had lost his memories. The anger Steve was feeling was evident on his face and at that point he had promised Bucky that he would do anything and everything to help him get all his memories back.

"You helped me out of so many tight spots growing up," he had said, looking at Bucky with a determined face. "It's my turn to help you."

Bucky looked back at the two after staring off into space and staring at the many people walking by yet again. He caught a glimpse of something and noticed faint bruising on Tracey's neck. He cringed remembering that it was his fault that she had them. It was his fault he hurt her. He stared down at his lap before looking back up.

"Tracey…" he said hesitantly. He flinched when both she and Steve looked at him.

"Yes, Bucky," she said, a smile on her face, encouraging him to continue.

"I'm…I'm sorry," he rushed in nearly a whisper.

She blinked and raised an eyebrow. "For what? You did nothing wrong."

Bucky took a deep breath. "For…for hurting you…"

Tracey tilted her head slightly, her eyes scrunched up a tad in confusion. She saw where Bucky's eyes were looking and it clicked. She touched her neck. She had forgotten that she had a few bruises from when he had choked her. She laughed.

Bucky looked at Steve in concern and saw that Steve was smiling at him. He didn't understand why Tracey was laughing and Steve was smiling. He had hurt her the first night he found Steve.

"Sorry," Tracey said, a bright smile on her face that made her eyes crinkle. "I wasn't laughing at you, I was just laughing at myself. I completely forgot about my neck. Anyways, it's okay. You didn't mean to hurt me. Plus I forgave you the minute it happened." She smiled at him, letting him know that what she said was the truth. She knew the moment he had woken up in Steve's apartment that morning and had grabbed her neck that he didn't mean to. He was still on edge after everything that had happened to him. Of course it wasn't his fault, but HYDRA's.

Bucky smiled lightly in return. It wasn't a big one, but he smiled either way. He was honestly surprised that Tracey had forgiven him, but glad that she had. He felt a slight weight lift from his shoulders knowing that he was forgiven.

However, he felt another weight right after the one that just left. He looked up as Steve patted his shoulder. His friend was smiling at him and he smiled back.

"I've told you a hundred times, Buck, everything will be okay."

"I heard you, punk…" he said, the smallest of smirks on his face as he stared at the table.

Steve couldn't help, but grin from ear to ear. He hadn't heard Bucky call him that since nineteen forty four. It felt great knowing that his best friend was slowly coming back. He shook his head, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, giving him a one armed hug. "Jerk."

Tracey grinned as she watched the two super soldiers. Her face lit up even more when she saw the waiter stop at their table with the pizza. "I know I said this earlier, but you guys will love this," she said, taking a slice and putting it on her plate.

"I don't think I've ever heard of Hawaiin pizza before," Steve commented on the half of the pizza that Tracey had picked out as he grabbed a slice of pepperoni from the other half.

"It's so good," Tracey said, taking a bit. "Probably didn't hear about it because it was invented long after your time," she joked after swallowing.

Steve rolled his eyes, taking a bite from his. Bucky grabbed a slice next, folding it in half before taking a bite. Steve watched laughing.

"Looks like you still eat pizza the same way you did back in the forties, Buck."

Tracey looked over and giggled when Bucky shrugged, still chewing his bite. "Like a true New Yorker."

"I guess it comes naturally," Bucky replied, another small smile gracing his features.

It was true. While he watched Tracey and Steve grab their slices, images of him and Steve at a pizza parlor popped in his head. Even when he grabbed his own slice he automatically folded it as if it was a regular thing. It probably was for him back in the forties and feeling that it was gave Bucky comfort and relief that he was slowly becoming James Buchanan Barnes again.

The three continued to eat, Steve and Tracey holding the conversation throughout the meal, with the very rare comment from Bucky to Steve. The other two understood, he was still unsure of himself and felt more comfortable with Steve out of everyone so far. They grabbed a to-go box for the leftovers before heading away from the restaurant.

"You were right, Tracey," Steve said as they made it to a crosswalk, waiting for the walk signal. "That was pretty good pizza."

"Told you," she said with a smirk. "Now what's next on the agenda?"

"I was thinking we could head to our old neighborhood now, if that's alright with you?"

"Sounds good, but I feel that is something the two of you should do. I've got a few errands to run anyways so I'll meet you two later," she said. "Oh almost forgot." She shoved the pizza box in his hands.

"Why am I taking it?"

"Because I'm planning on looking at apartments and I'd rather not hold a box of pizza while talking to the landlords."

"You could always bribe them into letting you get the apartment with pizza," he said with a grin.

Tracey laughed. "That's not a bad idea, but I'd rather not take my chances. I'll see you guys," she said, waving as she walked away.

Steve shook his head, turning to Bucky.

ooOOoo

"It feels like nothing has changed, huh?" Steve asked, his hands on his hips as he and Bucky stood outside an apartment. He sighed. "And yet it has at the same time."

He and Bucky had taken the subway to Brooklyn and made their way to their old neighborhood. Now, here they were standing outside a brick apartment complex staring up at it. Steve had a small smile on his face as he looked around them, remembering the years they had spent living there. Bucky on the other hand stared with curious eyes as he looked around as well. His eyes landed on a set of metal steps and trailed up to a wooden door. He slowly made his way to the door, placing his hand on it once he reached it.

"This was your apartment…right?" he asked slowly staring at the door in a sort of state of wonder.

"Yeah," Steve said, coming up behind him.

I'm with you 'til the end of the line, pal.

He heard himself say the familiar phrase. A past self. He saw him and Steve standing in front of this door, both of them had solemn faces. He remembered it was the day Steve's mother had died. He made the promise to always be there for him, just as Steve was there for him now.

He turned to Steve who was staring at the door as well with a smile on his face. He turned to him, his smile getting bigger.

"You know your old apartment is down that way," he said, pointing to the right down the street. "Do you want to go see it?"

"Yeah…I'd like that," Bucky said, a smile on his face as he followed his friend's hand.

The duo came up to a similar looking brick apartment, this one however, was one story taller than the last.

Bucky smiled as he stared up at it. Images of him coming and going with Steve flashed through his mind. One image was of him, in a different area, with his little sister Rebecca. It was of him walking her down a street to a school. He looked down the road and sure enough there was a school not too far down.

"Is that the school we went to?"

Steve looked where Bucky was staring and laughed.

"Yeah, that's where you saved my ass a good bit," he said, shaking his head. They got into a few fights on the playground.

They leaned against the chain linked fence once they reached the school yard. Their eyes roamed around the playground, taking in the nostalgia.

Bucky's landed on a far off corner of the yard. He narrowed his eyes as he felt a memory pushing its way to the top trying to focus more on the corner. He slowly zoned out as the memory surfaced.

There in the corner of the playground were three children. Two surrounded a small blonde haired boy. The blonde boy was backed up into the corner, glaring up at the two slightly taller boys.

"Why are you defending a girl?" one boy with dark hair said, sneering down at the scrawny kid.

"Because it's the right thing to do!" scrawny kid defended. "You shouldn't bully everyone on the playground Marcus."

Marcus glared at him. "Jimmy, think we should play some dodge ball?" he asked, turning to the boy next to him, who was in fact holding a dodge ball much to the smaller boy's luck.

"Yeah! Wanna play, Steve?" Jimmy grinned, raising his arm high, ready to throw the ball at the poor kid's face.

"Hey!" a new voice cried out.

The three kids turned to see a boy just about Jimmy and Marcus's height approach them.

"What do you want, James?" Marcus said.

"Leave him alone!" the little boy, James shouted.

"Make us!" Jimmy taunted.

James pouted as he glared before charging at Jimmy and head butting him in the gut knocking him on his bottom. He turned to Marcus and was ready to attack him only the bully ran off, followed by Jimmy, before he could do anything. James smirked, satisfied with his victory. He turned to the skinny boy.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I had them on the ropes," Steve pouted.

James grinned and laughed. "You're tough, but you're too small to take on Marcus and Jimmy. I'm James by the way," he said extending his hand. "But you can call me Bucky. My middle name is Buchanan, but I like Bucky better. It sounds cooler, don'tcha think?"

Steve shook his hand, smiling up at the dark haired boy. "Yeah! I'm Steve!"

"Want to play tag, Steve?" Bucky grinned a toothy grin that had one missing tooth.

Steve looked down at his shoes. "I can't run around much, I have ash…as….asthma," he fumbled. "I want to play though…"

James laughed. "That's alright! How about we play catch? I can run and get the ball if it gets away!"

Steve's face lit up. "You'd play catch with me?"

"Why not? You seem nice and fun to be around!" Bucky said. "Its better than constantly getting into fights every day. Why do you always end up fighting Marcus and Jimmy? I always see you come back from recess with a bruise or something."

"They keep bullying Mary Glaston," Steve said with a glare. "It's not right."

"I'll say," Bucky said, a matching glare on his face. He quickly went back to his bright grin. "Come on! Let's play before recess ends!"

"Okay!" Steve said as he and Bucky walked over to the large toy bin by the schools doors.

Bucky blinked as he registered where he was. He was still leaning against the fence with Steve. He looked over at his friend and saw that he had a smile on his face. He raised an eyebrow making Steve chuckle.

"You had the same zoned out look on your face you get whenever you remember something. What was it this time?"

Bucky couldn't help, but let out a smile that was bigger than usual. "I remembered the day we first met."

"Really?" Steve said, a grin on his face. He shook his head. "That was probably one of the best days of elementary school for me."

"Why?" Bucky said, a smirk on his face. "Because you gained a body guard?"

Steve barked out a laugh. "I'm glad to know that there's still some humor in you, Buck. Come on, jerk. There's a bit more of the neighborhood we should see before we get back to Tracey."

"Punk," Bucky said as he and Steve walked down the road again.

ooOOoo

"So how was it?" Tracey asked as she ran up to the two once they finally found each other after texting and searching the busy street.

"It went well," Steve said. "I think Bucky wasn't the only one remembering things there," he chuckled.

Tracey grinned. "That's good. A bit of nostalgia is always great." She turned to Bucky. "Did you remember anything else?"

Bucky hesitated before nodding his head. "Yeah…I remembered a few a good bit…"

Tracey beamed. "That's great!"

She caught a glimpse of Steve's proud smile as he watched Bucky interact with her. Bucky was coming a long way after just a few days of being back with Steve. Of course there was still many many many more memories to get, but that kind of thing takes time. So does being able to talk with someone. She could tell that Steve was happy that Bucky was gaining so many memories back already, but also proud that the brunette was warming up to at least one other person besides him. It was a long road to recovery, but it will be worth it for Bucky.

"So," Steve began. "How was apartment hunting?" he asked, handing her the nearly forgotten pizza box.

Tracey rolled her eyes as she took the box. "It went great! I now have an apartment so I'll be able to keep a bit of sanity while having to work with superheroes."

"I'm sorry, who agreed to work with Tony to get those files back?" Steve retorted with a laugh.

"Oh shush," she grinned. "Anyways, I'll be moving out in about two days or so. I'll just need to pack up the few things Tony left for me at the tower and get the rest out of storage."

"Will you need any help?" he asked.

"Thanks, but I think I'll call Dave and ask. He's been blowing my phone up with texts and calls. I may have missed a few calls while trying to get the files back," she said giving a sheepish shrug. "I have answered of course. I leave for one day to go to DC and he think's I've gone missing or something." She sighed. "Anyways, lets head back to the tower. I want to make sure Barry and Tony haven't blown anything up yet."

Steve laughed. "That'd be a good idea. You know you'll be missed at the tower, Trace."

"It's not like I'm leaving forever, Steve," she said as the three made their way through the bustling crowd of New York to the Avenger's Tower. "Plus, someone is going to need to help Pepper keep you guys in line," she said with a wink.

Steve shook his head laughing. That was the understatement of the year.

Okay, so the other day I was in a huge fit of laughter, I was in tears. My friend, mokonahapuuuuuu, and I were talking about the meaning behind names. We started talking about our names and then she brought up Tracey and said that Tracey is the variant for Theresa which means "summer". I was staring at my computer screen speechless for a good three minutes before I started laughing. I didn't even know that! I honestly just liked the name Tracey and went with it! So apparently I have paired up winter and summer together!

Also thank you for those who wished me luck with getting a job. I successfully got one! Which also explains why this chapter is a bit late. I am really sorry about that. I have been busy and also have had a slight writer's block. Not a major one at least because this chapter turned out just how I wanted it to. So thank you again to those of you who wished me luck :D

One more thing. I am on tumblr and have seen a lot of rp blogs and thought it would be fun to try and make one. I honestly just made it for kicks and giggles with Tracey, Barry, and the Avengers. It's basically a Marvel and rp blog for the story. I have always wanted to try and make an rp blog and I love to rp. Its fun and it helps you figure out small details about characters you create and headcanons haha. So if any of you want to ask questions for Tracey, Barry, and the guys feel free to drop on by and leave a question! You can find the blog under:

winter-is-ending

Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter. If you can leave a review, I'd love to hear what you guys think so far. Any helpful critiques are welcome! I'd love to improve and see what you guys think and have to say. Thank you and have a great day!