And another chapter. Big thanks to everyone who favorited/followed or reviewed my last two chapters. Thanks to Vanvi~ for their encouraging comment. Also, to The God Of War Kratos~ Yes, Clint is Natasha's boyfriend, he doesn't have a family in this one. XD. Also to one of my favorite readers, Super Shadow 2018, thank you so much for the suggestions and compliments. Though sadly, I already have a plot for this, but I might make alternative reveals. And may the force be with you to! And thanks to leoms6477, I do intend to finish this story, because the same thing bothered me. It might take awhile but I'll do what I can! Also to Tallow-CrimsonS, I love your profile, XD. And Ghost, I STILL LOVE ALL OF YOU FANS! - I just like to procrastinate.
And to themugglepadme, XD. I saw your comments and I just had to write more, please keep commenting. I was laughing evilly the whole time. And I have to torture Stevie! It's my JOB.
~ PaleWolfsHowl.
(PS: This will not be a slash fanfic, Steve and Bucky are just very close brothers, even though they're not related.) PSS- I started writing this chapter a month ago, XD. and yes, Khani, he did.
Saying Winter was nervous would be an understatement. He was internally freaking out, what was he supposed to do? And in his panic, he was saying literally whatever sarcastic thing came into his head. And he was getting anxious with Natasha's eyes following his every move. How was he supposed to say sorry to Stark? When the moment he said anything they would all hate him. He had killed their friend's father! And what would Steve think? Surly he'd hate The Assassin for doing such an evil deed.
And the movie wasn't helping his stress, with Steve and Natasha trying to follow him. Why couldn't they do, like anything else? Swimming with hungry sharks would be safer! He didn't know how he'd bear it if his movie self killed Natasha or Steve. It was all just too much.
And the fact that now that some of the shock of meeting human beings that didn't either try to kill him, hurt him, or scream at the sight of him, was wearing off. Making him even more self conscious, anxious and worried. How long would it be before Steve finally lost patience with him? His attention was brought back to the movie after that last, depressing thought.
[Steve and Natasha go to the mall disguised as a civilian couple]
Natasha Romanoff: First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk.
Winter nodded silently in agreement, the red head was right. He hoped Steve would just listen and take the advice.
"How do you know? Go on the run often, huh, Natasha?" Stark said with a snicker, and Winter was careful not to look at him, drowning in guilt.
"Well she is a Russian Assassin turned Spy. So it's not exactly shocking, Tin Can." Maybe- Archer Clint pointed out. Winter wasn't looking, but he'd assume that Stark was pouting at The Maybe- Archer.
Steve Rogers: If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off.
"That's right, Captain, be positive." Winter mumbled under his breath, but Steve obviously heard him, and smirked. At least he wasn't mad.
[they go to a Mac store to use one of their computers]
Natasha Romanoff: The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are.
Steve Rogers: How much time do we have?
Natasha Romanoff: Uh...about nine minutes from... [she pops the flash drive into a MacBook Pro] Now. [we see several SHIELD vehicles heading their way] Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands.
Steve Rogers: Can you override it?
Natasha Romanoff: The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly.
"Yeah, clarify that, why don't we, Natasha?" Maybe- Archer Clint laughed, shoving Natasha slightly. Winter was starting to really think they were courting each other. He'd been trained to recognize affection, after all.
He watched as the other Assassin rolled her eyes at her friend. Yeah, the humans' were blind if they couldn't see this.
They all needed to be trained in the ways of Hydra- wait, no, then they'd have to kill themselves. Oh well, guess they'd just have to stay blind.
It was honestly kinda scary that he, a brainwashed, assassin, ex- sergeant, could recognize affection, and they, the kinda normal people couldn't.
[Rumlow and his team pull up outside the mall and head inside] [back at the Mac store, Steve and Natasha continue to try and find out what's on the flash drive] I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from.
Apple Employee: Can I help you guys with anything?
Natasha Romanoff: Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations.
Stark let out a snicker at that, and Winter had to muffle a snicker of his own as he glanced at Maybe- Archer Clint's face.
Winter then glanced at Steve, who looked a mix of shocked and embarrassed. And his face was red? Was he choking, no, what would he have choked on? Was he having lung failure?
Winter's concern grew, turning into an off frenzy of totally sane thoughts. Was Steve going to explode? Honestly, he needed to learn to control his ever growing ability to go down these tracks of random thoughts.
But if Steve wasn't dying then why was he so… red? Should he ask someone, or would that make him look stupid. He decided to maybe look stupid, just to make sure The Captain wasn't dying.
"Why's your face doing that?" He asked bluntly, motioning towards Steve's face, for some reason, his face became redder at that.
What was going on? And why had Stark fallen off his seat laughing- if you could call that a laugh-? Maybe- Archer Clint also bellowed out a laugh at Winter's question.
"I- it's like t- talking to a c- child!" The man exclaimed, making Stark laugh louder. Winter felt like he should be offended, but he momentarily forgot what a 'child' was.
Winter just huffed and looked back at Steve, staring at him to see if his past self's friend was dying.
No, now Steve's face was red, and he seemed to be containing a smirk. Winter felt so betrayed- not really- the little punk.
Wait what? What was a punk, and where did that thought come from? It had seemed like an echo, something long gone come back to haunt him.
Why couldn't he remember anything? Why couldn't he just remember what his thoughts meant? Why did Hydra have to break him?
It took a few minutes for everyone to settle down again and continue watching.
Steve Rogers: Right! We're getting married.
"So believable." Natasha said, sarcasm lacing her voice. And Steve's face did that thing again. Turning bright red.
Winter pouted underneath his mask, and asked his question again. Steve just groaned and hit his face in his hands.
Stark looked gleeful as he yapped out an answer. "It's because he's embarrassed, Robo Arm."
Oh, that explained it. Make sense to- wait, what had Stark called him?
Apple Employee: Congratulations. Where do you guys thinking about going? [Steve looks at the monitor and sees the signal traced to somewhere in New Jersey]
Steve Rogers: New Jersey.
"You need lying training." Winter said mildly, he was still glaring at Stark though, so he didn't see Steve's undignified face.
"Is that even a thing?" Maybe- Archer Clint asked with great interest.
"Yes, doesn't everyone get trained in lying?" Winter asked with honest confusion, tearing his eyes away from Stark to look at the other man.
Maybe that was just a Hydra thing, but wouldn't being in the military require the ability to lie?
Stark snickered out a 'no'.
Winter patted Steve's back gently, everyone deserved lie training, this poor Captain.
Apple Employee: Oh. [the employee looks at Steve for a moment] I have the exact same glasses.
Natasha Romanoff: Wow, you two are practically twins.
More noise flooded through the room at that comment.
But this time Winter was silent, speaking of twins. How soon would it be until Steve figured out who he was? Obviously, Steve wasn't expecting it, so he hadn't noticed the similarities between Winter and his old friend. And in the beginning of the movie, Winter hadn't had any memories, he'd completely belonged to Hydra.
But as time went on, more and more things came back to him, he knew he was acting more like James Buchanan Barnes. And Winter knew he could never be who he had once been. So what was the point of trying?
But Steve wasn't stupid, and if the movie didn't reveal it, then he would figure it out. And Winter couldn't let that happen. Steve couldn't know who he was no matter what. The Captain would be heartbroken to see his old friend was a monster.
So for Steve's sake, Winter's old identity could not come out.
Apple Employee: Yeah, I wish. Specimen. Uh...if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron.
"Speaking of names, do you have any clue what yours is?" Steve asked randomly, looking towards Winter.
The Assassin went as tense as a spring, and curled in on himself. He wished he didn't know his old name, he wished he had never remembered that.
Steve noticed Winter's negative reaction, and gently moved a hand up to his metal shoulder.
Maybe it was a sign of trust, putting his hand on Winter's metal arm. An arm that could easily kill him in a second. And if not kill, then seriously injure.
"I- I-" Was all Winter was able to choke out, he was aware of the other Avengers eyes locked on him. He tried to focus on Steve before he freaked out. He managed to lock his icy blue eyes on Steve's darker blue pair. It calmed him for some strange reason, made him feel safe.
Winter only remembered bits and pieces, large gaps spaced in between those, but he remembered how he used to feel about Steve. He had thought of Steve as a brother. But what did that mean? A brother was just offspring from the same Mother or Father as Winter, and he was pretty sure he didn't have any. So what did it mean when Winter felt that way towards Steve? They weren't related, they looked way too different for that.
"It's okay." Steve said quietly, kindness in his voice. "You don't have to say anything; you can just tell me when you're ready."
The pure acceptance in Steve's voice warmed Winter to the core. For once, he felt like he could sleep, something he hadn't been able to truly do for years. And he was so exhausted, he felt drained after this day full of surprises and terrors, and reliefs. It took a lot out of a person to change so much in just a few, short hours.
And Winter wanted to draw out his time with these humans as long as he could, so he hoped that the girl would let them have a break to rest.
"Thank you." He whispered to Steve, before burrowing back into his seat. In his exhaustion, he didn't even realize he had just leaned into Steve's shoulder.
By the time he'd noticed, it was too late to jerk back and pretend it hadn't happened. He tensed a little, but Steve didn't seem to mind, he only seemed surprised. But he just kept gently rubbing Winter's back.
Winter once again noticed Natasha's green eyes gazing into the side of his head. Never before had he been so thankful for his mask.
Steve Rogers: Thank you. [as Rumlow and his team are in the mall looking for Steve and Natasha] You said nine minutes, come on.
Natasha Romanoff: Shh, relax. Got it. [they find the signal is coming from Wheaton, NJ] You know it?
Winter noticed Steve stiffening a little at the place's name. He wondered why, what had happened to the Captain at this place? Should Winter feel compelled to destroy it? Maybe his past self had known what it was?
Winter tried to think back to The Before, but it only gave him a sharp headache. Thankfully, Winter had been forced to become accustomed to pain, so he didn't flinch. Really- it wasn't that bad. Or at least, that's what he told himself as the sharp ache turned into a pouding pain.
Don't be so weak, Asset. He heard the words echo through his already aching head, and grimaced a little under his mask.
Steve Rogers: I used to. Let's go. [Steve pulls the flash drive from the computer and they walk out of the store] Standard tac-team. Two behind, to across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro. [as two agents are coming straight towards them]
Natasha Romanoff: Shut up and put your arm around me, laugh at something I said.
Winter had watched most of that in a kind of daze, but he managed to perk up at Natasha's words. Ignoring the pain, he smirked under his mask. "Making a move on The Captain, eh?" He asked, though everyone could tell he wasn't actually asking a question.
Natasha glared at him mockingly while Steve turned a bright red color. Winter felt a twinge of satisfaction run through him, he felt like he was reclaiming some old lost piece of himself.
It was nice to feel satisfaction again, after all this time. As The Winter Soldier, he'd felt trapped, unable to feel things. Unable to feel anything.
"No, idiot. I'm obviously too good for him." Natasha shot back at him, grinning demonically. Winter really did enjoy this woman, too bad he'd almost killed her once.
Steve looked taken aback and cried out. "Hey! That's a little harsh, don't you think?" He looked indignant. It was.. hilarious.
Winter smirked. "It's true though." The two assassins exchanged a smirk, it was too fun to mess around with The Captain.
Steve pouted a little, though he looked happy. He still hadn't stopped rubbing Winter's back, so any damage Winter and Natasha had made seemed to be forgiven.
Steve Rogers: What?
Natasha Romanoff: Do it! [Steve quickly puts his arm around Natasha and laughs] [inside the Mac store one of the agents looks around]
"I have to agree with the Manchurian Candidate, Capsicle." Stark informed Steve, grinning maniacally. Winter watched as Steve sighed in exasperation. "Why does everyone always bully me?" The Captain asked mournfully.
Winter tilted his head a little, wasn't it obvious? Steve just reacted so perfectly to every little jab.
"Isn't it obvious?" He spoke his thoughts aloud, looking straight at The Captain, who had turned a little to look at him after his comment.
As Steve stayed silent, Winter finished what he was trying to say. "I mean, you just.. React like an embarrassed school girl." He informed his old friend, gesturing towards Steve with his human hand.
This earned laughter from Stark, Natasha and Maybe- Archer Clint. Even the doctorish guy laughed a little. Steve just glared at Winter, amusement in his eyes.
Jack Rollins: Negative at the source.
Brock Rumlow: Give me a floor rundown.
SHIELD Agent #2: Negative on three.
SHIELD Agent #3: Negative on two.
Brock Rumlow: Snake the upper levels, work down to me. [as they are going down the escalator Natasha spots Rumlow on the escalator next to them going up, she turns to Steve]
Natasha Romanoff: Kiss me.
If Steve had been expecting a morale of remorse, his hopes were sadly crushed as pretty much everyone in the room almost fell over laughing, including Natasha. Winter almost felt bad for him, but it was just too good.
Stark let out a low whistle once he'd gotten his laughing under control. "Going for our little Steve? Are you Natasha?" The so-called 'Iron-man' snickered.
Steve buried his head in his hands, looking defeated. Winter reached over and patted him on the back, and deciding to be a good person for once, turned to look at the others in the room. Winter looked calmly over the laughing heroes, smirking a little under his mask. "Hey, look at him, you're all embarrassing him." He waved his human hand, gesturing towards the embarrassed Captain. Winter turned a little to look down at his old friend, and before he could think, spoke. "Aren't you embarrassed, Stevie?" Stevie? Where on earth had that come from? Though, The Captain jerked up to look at him with a loom of shock. Oh. That's why he'd thought Stevie instead of Steve, oops.