Chapter eight

"Wait! Let me get this straight. You threw Dave at a wall?" Barry said, a smile cracking on his face.

Steve sighed, rolling his eyes. "Yes."

It had been two days since the relapse incident. Steve, Bucky, and Tracey had agreed to keep it between themselves. Bucky was horrified that he had relapsed and kept apologizing to Tracey (since Dave didn't show up yesterday). He didn't want to hurt anyone and yet he had hurt someone he didn't even know. Now he, Steve, and Barry were sitting in the living room on the top floor of the tower

"And I'm hearing about this now?" He turned to Bucky. "You are now my favorite person!"

Bucky didn't know whether to be happy or upset. He had thrown Dave against a wall when he had relapsed back into the Winter Soldier. He was trying to get back to himself and yet Barry was happy?

"We didn't say anything because Bucky wasn't happy that he did it. He didn't mean to," Steve explained.

"Yeah, I understand," Barry said, nodding his head. "But it's Dave. He deserves it. So don't feel bad about it, Bucky." He smiled at the super soldier on the couch next to him. "Trust me, he deserves it. He doesn't treat Tracey with any respect at all."

Bucky quirked a brow. "He doesn't?"

Barry shook his head, a scowl forming on his face. "No. He doesn't treat her well at all." Barry sighed. "Tracey and him have been together for three years now."

"They have?"

"Yeah," Steve spoke up. "I still don't understand why she's with him."

"That's because it's Tracey," Barry stated. He ran a hand through his hair shaking his head. "Like I said, Tracey and Dave have been together for three years. And as you know he's rude, uncaring, and just an asshole. He doesn't treat her with any respect. He will show a little compassion to her every once in a while only to go back to treating her badly."

Bucky stared at the ground, brow furrowed. He had remembered a few times in the past where he and Steve had pulled guys away from girls at bars when the man was being rude and disrespectful to the woman. He remembered he had grown up knowing how to treat a woman right, that's what his mother had taught him. Seeing how Dave and Tracey interacted the day before, he could tell that Dave certainly wasn't any sort of gentleman. It did peg the question as to why they were together. Tracey was a sweet girl. Caring and always thinking of others before herself.

"I know how he is," Steve said, "but he hasn't hit her yet? Has he?"

Barry shook his head. "No, thank God. But he has hurt her in more ways than one and I've seen how it affects her. She has called me after dates before asking me to come over. As soon as I see her she's either red in the face mad or holding back tears only to break down. He's never given her a single compliment, only criticizes her. Tracey and him have been on and off for a while. She believes everyone has good in them and deserves a second chance."

Bucky looks down at this comment, thinking back to what she had said to him not too long ago. She had told him he was a good person, he wasn't a monster.

"She just keeps wishing every time that when he says he's changed he means it. I've told her to stop. She tries, but she wants to help him. I don't know what she could do to make him change He never does. I've witnessed some fights between the two when I visit her. She's not a pushover, she can and will stand her ground. I'm worried that one day he's going to physically hurt her."

"Tracey's smart," Steve said. "She has to realize that she can't stay with him if he's going to act the way he does."

"The thing is, not only does she believe everyone is good, it's also because of our dad's death."

Bucky's attention was drawn back to the light brown haired man in front of him. He blinked. "She told me about your dad… What…what does he have to do with her and Dave?" he asked slowly. He was still getting used to being around people, but he had come a long way since the first day he met Barry.

"Losing our dad was hard on all of us. Once she found out that I was working for SHIELD she always worried about me coming home. Same goes for the rest of you. She doesn't want to lose anyone else she cares about. I think if Dave left her she'd be heartbroken, but would get over it. However, I think if they broke up she'd be afraid of finding someone else. I don't think she wants to see people in her life leave. At least that's what I think. Of course she wouldn't tell me if that's the case. She doesn't like people to worry about her."

"But does she actually care about Dave?" Steve asked.

Barry scratched his neck. "Honestly, I couldn't tell you."

Steve sighed. "Like I said, Tracey's smart. She'll realize she doesn't need to be with him."

"I just hope it's soon," Barry said just as the elevator opened.

"Guess who I ran into on the way up here," Sam said with a smile as he, Natasha, and Clint walked off.

Before any of the three on the couch could greet the newcomers, Clint headed straight for Steve once he saw the super soldier.

"What the hell, Steve!" he shouted.

Everyone stared bewildered by the archer's sudden outburst. Barry looked at Steve with a raised eyebrow as the sandy haired man just stared puzzled.

"I leave for a mission for a week and come back to SHIELD is shut down?"

"Did you try turning it on and off?" Barry said with a grin.

Clint glared at him before turning back to Steve. "What the hell did you do?"

Sam was snickering while Natasha tried to hide a smirk on her face. Steve on the other hand was trying to decide whether to laugh or calm the man down. He turned to Natasha noticing the smirk.

"You didn't tell him?"

"Well, when I found him and started telling him he wouldn't let me finish," she started. "I figured I'd have a little fun and see what happens when we got here."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Of course you did." He turned to Clint. "What Natasha failed to mention to you was that HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD for a while now. That's why everything that you heard about what happened in DC happened."

Clint turned to Natasha. "Nat, why didn't you tell me before we even got here?"

She smirked. "Like I said, I wanted to have a little fun." She turned to Steve, her smirk growing. "And speaking of fun. I ran into Sharon a while ago…"

Steve's face fell. "You what?"

Barry grinned and leaned on his knees. "Yeah I bet you 'ran' into her knowing you," he said, air quoting.

"Nat, what did you do?" Steve said.

Bucky couldn't help but let a grin loose. "Who's Sharon?" he asked Steve.

Steve's eyebrows rose as he saw his best friend's grin and everyone around him staring at him intently. He could feel his cheeks heating up slightly, remembering how he had tried to ask the ex-SHIELD agent out. That is until everything went downhill because of HYDRA. He pushed Bucky away from him as the other super soldier gave him a knowing smile. "She's just someone who used to work at SHIELD."

Nat smiled. "Yeah, and didn't you ask her out for coffee?"

Steve narrowed his eyes at the red head. "I never told you that."

"I know, she did. We caught up a bit. I also gave her your phone number," she said, crossing her arms and leaning back on one leg as she smiled triumphantly at the super soldier.

"You did what?" Steve practically shouted.

"So you're finally getting a date huh, pal?" Bucky said with a smirk.

"Now you decide to make jokes in front of everyone?" he stated, throwing his hands in the air exasperatedly.

Natasha turned to Bucky. "So you're on our side now?"

Bucky's face fell and he felt the eyes of everyone on him. He looked up at her and could feel his insides churning. He saw Clint eyeing him. Bucky stared at the ground. "Uh yeah…" he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Turns out he showed up at Steve's apartment," Sam said. "Man's been a pretty awesome member I'd have to say." He grinned at Bucky, who returned it with a small grateful smile.

"So he's the Winter Soldier?" Clint asked.

"Was," Nat corrected. "And after being with HYDRA for so long, I'm surprised you haven't tried taking them down yet."

Bucky looked back at the ground. "…I want to."

Steve put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it. "We actually have a situation with HYDRA at the moment."

Natasha's face scrunched up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Tony had hired Tracey to extract SHIELD's files from the internet," Steve began. "Which by the way, your files are in good hands now."

Natasha nodded, a small smile on her face. "Well darn. I was hoping to see some more intimidated faces on the streets when I go out shopping."

Steve rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Anyways, Tracey was able to retrieve all of them, except one went missing."

"HYDRA hacked her I take it," Clint asked.

"Yeah," Barry answered. "Right now she's working on breaking into their system and getting it back."

"What file was it?" Natasha asked.

"The helicarrier blue prints."

Her brow furrowed. "After all that, they are still trying to go through with it." She shook her head. "I was just finally relaxing after everything." She shook her head. "I was just finally relaxing after everything."

"Yeah, if you count hunting me down relaxing," Clint mumbled.

She punched his arm. "Oh hush. I was looking for you to tell you what happened before you showed up to a destroyed headquarters. You should be thanking me." She turned back to the three men on the couch. "Anyways, where is Tracey? I could use another girl to talk with."

"Too many guys for you?" Barry asked with a chuckle.

"Just a bit," she said. "I can only take so much testosterone."

"Well she's at her apartment. I think she said she was going to meet up with Dave before coming here."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "He's still around?"

"Unfortunately," Barry replied, leaning his cheek against his hand.

"Right, don't you hate him or something?" Clint asked.

"Basically."

"You haven't met him?" Sam asked the archer.

"A few times, briefly. He was what Barry had told me about him, which is an asshole."

"Understatement of the year," Barry mumbled.

"I'm gonna have to talk with Tracey about that," Natasha said.

"Let me guess," Steve started, "you're going to play match maker with her?"

"No," she answered. "I'm going to be convincing her to break up with him then I'm going to find someone for her. Barry, you worked with someone at SHIELD about your age. What was his name again?"

"You mean Matt?"

"Yeah, he was cute."

Barry shook his head. "I don't think Tracey will want to date him."

"Why not?" the red head asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"He's got a girlfriend."

"Damn…" she muttered.

"Just let her be, Nat," Steve said. "If she ever does break up with Dave she'll do it when she wants to and date on her own time."

"Well good news is that Bucky here threw him at a wall," Barry said, patting the dark haired man on the shoulder.

Bucky chewed his cheek, looking away from everyone. He didn't catch the amused glint in Natasha's eyes or Sam snickering.

Clint smirked. "Bucky, you are going to fit in just fine here."

"I didn't want to hurt him…" Bucky mumbled.

"It was a relapse," Steve said, squeezing Bucky's shoulder reassuringly. "He relapsed to the Winter Soldier and Dave had gotten in the way. He didn't mean to hurt him."

"Relapse?" Clint asked, raising a brow.

Steve sighed and looked to Bucky. He didn't know if his friend wanted everyone else to know about what happened with him at HYDRA. He patted Bucky on the shoulder when he nodded his head slowly, giving the sandy haired man the okay to continue. Bucky didn't want to be the one to tell the story. He didn't want to relive it.

"Bucky told me while with HYDRA he had his memory wiped after every mission. So I guess while he's trying to recover he will have relapses," Steve explained.

Sam nodded. "Well, we're here to help, Bucky. Just so you know," he said with a smile.

Steve smiled. "Sam's good at this sort of thing, Buck. He runs a group where he helps those who've been through things like what you've been through."

"If you ever want to talk, just come find me, man," Sam said, grinning. "I'd be happy to help."

Bucky smiled. "Thanks…"

"So, you ready to go?" Steve asked the dark skinned man.

"Yeah, what about you two?" he said with a chuckle.

"We've been ready for a while. You're the one we were waiting on," Barry shot back with a smirk.

"We're heading out running, we'll be back in an hour or so," Steve said to the other three. He turned to Bucky. "Do you want to come? Some fresh air could be good instead of sitting around with these two." He laughed when he heard Clint make a complaint.

Bucky laughed. "I think I'll pass. Maybe next time."

"You sure you're not scared you won't beat me?" Steve smirked.

"I could take you on in a heartbeat, punk," Bucky said, a grin on his face.

"I would pay to see someone whoop his spangled ass," Sam laughed.

Steve laughed, shoving Bucky as he got up. "Jerk." He waved to the remaining three as he, Barry, and Sam made their way to the elevator. "See you guys later."

It was silent once the three men left. Bucky sat on the couch, staring out the window, not sure what to say to the two newcomers. He was so used to Sam and Barry now, but he didn't know anything about the two in the room with him. He had no idea what they were like or what to say.

He watched as Natasha claimed one of the arm chairs while Clint sat on the arm of the sofa on the other end away from Bucky, staring out the window. Neither said anything to the ex-assassin and the ex-assassin didn't say anything to them. That is until Clint spoke up.

"You know," he started out slowly. "I know what it's like."

Bucky looked over at him, staring with an eyebrow raised. "Know what?"

"Being brainwashed."

Bucky blinked, brow furrowed in confusion and wonder. He should have known that Natasha and Clint have some sort of background history. He had learned that Bruce can turn into a giant green monster which helped him bond with the scientist. He was able to get some advice on staying in control, especially after the relapse. Tony had told him about how he became Iron Man those few days ago. Sam willing to talk with him and help him with whatever he could. Then there was Steve. Like him he knew what it was like to be out of his time. He was grateful for his best friend being here with him. He was surprised, but at the same time appreciated the fact that he had these people to help him through his recovery.

"You do?"

"Yeah…" Clint said. He took a deep breath, breathing out a second later. "I don't know if Steve told you about what happened a couple years back here in New York, but I had been caught up on the wrong side for a while."

Bucky nodded. He remembered Steve telling him about the Chitauri attack. However, he did leave out a lot of details. He only said it was when The Avengers first teamed up and how originally no one had gotten along. "Steve, mentioned a bit." He saw Natasha lean forward a bit, listening to them talk. "What happened with you?"

Clint ran a hand through his hair. "One of our teammates – our friend – Thor, he had a brother named Loki. He used some sort of scepter and got into my head. He brainwashed me and made me turn against the others. It wasn't until Nat over there smashed my head into a metal pole that I was back to my old self." He chuckled when he saw Natasha smirk his way. "So, yeah, I know what you are feeling. I know how you feel towards HYDRA after everything they did to you."

Bucky stared at him for a minute. Yet another person was here who knew, in some way, what he had gone through. He smiled. "Thanks."

"Not a problem," Clint smirked. "Like Sam had said, everyone is willing to help. I may have just met you, but if you need to talk, I'm here."

"Ты часть команды сейчас," Natasha spoke up.

Bucky whipped his head around. He stared at the red head as she smirked at him. His eyes widened. He knew that face. Not just from DC, but from years ago. Memories flashed in his mind. He saw a small girl, maybe five years old. He was training her. It flashed to her as a teen then a grown woman. He recognized a group, KGB he believed. He and the red haired woman had been teammates at a time. His mind flashed to an old Winter Soldier mission. Another gunshot sounded in his head. He was staring down at a plane wreckage and the woman was in it with some other men. He had shot her.

Bucky backed up slightly, staring wide eyed at Natasha. She continued to smirk before closing her eyes and leaning back. She looked at him nodding her head.

"You remember then?"

"We were partners once…back in Russia…" he said, the realization slowly adjusting.

Clint's attention was snapped to the two. He turned to Natasha. "You two know each other?"

She nodded. "He was my mentor. He was the one who trained me when I first became Black Widow."

Bucky bowed his head. "I'm uh…sorry about shooting you…after the plane crash I mean…" he said, peeking up at her only to bow his head again. He didn't know what she'd say. Tony forgave him for the mission with his parents. But what would Natasha say.

"It's whatever," she said, waving a hand. "I've had worse." She smirked at him. Plus it makes for a great story. And cover up stories are always fun to make."

Bucky let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Yeah…"

"Right, he's the one who gave you the scar," Clint commented. "Took me forever to get the real story out of her," he laughed.

"Had to know I could trust you," Nat said, quirking an eyebrow to go along with her smirk.

Clint smirked back. Looking between the two he spoke again. "So being your mentor, what you're saying is, he's better than you," he grinned. It didn't last. He was hit in the face by a pillow and fell off the arm of the couch.

Bucky smirked, chuckling at their antics. "Well, she's been with SHIELD. Who knows who's better."

"It's me," she said, smirking. "We can see who's better down at the gym."

"I'd pay to see someone kick your ass, Nat," Clint laughed, dodging another pillow.

"Maybe another time," Bucky said.

"Just let me know when you're ready to get beat up old man."

Bucky was about to make a comment on the old man quip when the elevator opened. The three looked up to see Tracey walking in with her laptop and a few notebooks in hand like she always did. She smiled greeting them.

"Well its about time you showed up, Nat!" she said. "Pepper and I have been dealing with all these guys by ourselves. We could use the man power. We both know I lack it so someone has to kick their butts," she joked. She turned to Clint. "No offense Clint."

The archer chuckled. "You don't think I already know I can't beat Natasha up? She's a few leagues ahead of me in hand to hand."

"Yes, but no one can beat you in archery," Tracey smiled. "You're still number one."

"Damn straight," Clint grinned.

Tracey walked over and sat down next to Bucky. She grinned. "What's up, sergeant? Didn't feel like running with Steve?"

He smiled at the blonde. "Nah, didn't feel like it." He raised an eyebrow. "Sergeant?"

She giggled. "Well from what I remember, you were a sergeant in the army. I used to call Steve 'Captain' all the time, but he got annoyed once Tony started saluting him whenever I called him it."

"You don't mind do you?" she asked.

"Not at all," he laughed.

Natasha smirked as she watched the two talk. A glint flickered in her eyes that didn't go unnoticed by Clint. He rolled his eyes shaking his head as he got up, walking to the kitchen. He knew exactly what his partner was thinking.

"Don't even think about it, Nat," he whispered as he walked past her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, the smirk still on her face as she watched the two. She got up and followed him to the kitchen.

"I know that look in your eye. You had that same look when you were trying to set Steve up with that girl from resources a few months ago. It's Tracey. Give up while you still can."

She chuckled, opening the fridge and grabbing a soda. She opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by said blonde.

"Hey, Natasha!" she called out from the couch. "I'm going out on a date with Dave tonight. Do you think you could help with my hair and makeup?"

"No problem," the Russian spy answered. "What are you going to wear?"

Tracey stood up. "Well I don't know what we're going to be doing in all honesty, but I thought this would be good." She gestured to the outfit she was wearing. A simple blue blouse, jeans, and a pair of black heels. "What do you guys think?"

Clint rolled his eyes. "I'm not really the one to ask about fashion. I think it looks nice though."

"I like it," Natasha said. "It's simple. And like you said you don't know what you'll be doing."

"I think you look great," Bucky answered with a small shrug. "What they said…"

Tracey smiled not catching the smirk Natasha was giving Clint. "Thanks!"

"Lets go to my room," Nat said, heading to the elevator. She smirked as she walked by Clint. "What was that about giving up?"

Clint shook his head as the two women left on the elevator. "This will be interesting," he muttered, grabbing a beer and cracking it open.

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for the late update! I've been busy at work and packing for school. I finally got off work and headed to the beach only now I'm helping my parents with their business and fixing up a house. Along with that I had NO IDEA what I wanted to happen in this chapter. Finally figured it out. I wanted to bring Natasha and Clint in. I especially wanted to have Clint come in and complain about SHIELD being gone. Thank you to my friend Darkargo for the line Barry said after that haha. I also had a last minute idea of Nat plotting to set Tracey up with someone and turns out Bucky and her are the new victims of her playing Cupid.

Speaking of Nat. What she said in Russian was "You're part of the team now." I honestly couldn't think of what to have her say. I wanted her to say something in Russian to trigger the memories, but I was stuck.

Another thank you to At LoLevad and mokonahapuuuuuu for letting me bounce ideas off of them. Love you guys!

If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to message me here or on tumblr. I have an RP account where you can ask the Avengers and Madison twins (and Dave, if anyone is interested haha) any questions you have. It's a fun thing I've always wanted to try out on tumblr. Just look me up under winter-is-ending

And seriously, I'd love to get questions for the characters. Lots of times when I'm on tumblr I get bored. I love getting asks from people on tumblr with my other blogs. It SERIOUSLY makes my day. Getting anything from people makes me smile! So if I got a question even for Tony or Clint I'd be ecstatic! So feel free to drop questions to anyone. (Also it gives me an excuse to use gifs because I love using gifs for reactions. They're the best haha :D)

Finally, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry nothing exciting happened, but I hope its good enough. I liked how it turned out, although most likely when I look back at it I'll see errors somewhere.

I'd love to hear your thoughts so please leave a review. I honestly LOVE it when I get reviews. I literally will smile like no other when I get an email saying I have a review. I will even go back and reread them when I'm having a bad day or writers block. They make me smile and mean so much to me! So to any of you who have reviewed THANK YOU!