May 31st, 2011 - New, Mexico

It took months of rigorous training with Natasha before AJ was finally sent on her first mission with Clint Barton, a man who had quickly become one of her best friends. Kuwait, that was where they had been sent. Taking down arms dealers and where AJ was allowed to used her physical skills – not her Cryokinesis skills.

Not many knew about AJ's powers. Fury wanted to keep it that way.

Fury, Coulson, Romanoff, and Barton were the only ones to know about her powers. And Dr. Cho, of course.

In the months after AJ had begun her training for S.H.I.E.L.D a lot had happened.

Howard Starks son had been captured in Afghanistan.

She and Fury had fought when the Director refused to let her be on the team that would try and locate Tony. He told her she wasn't ready for that kind of situation – she had gotten so angry him that a burst of cold energy sent Fury flying into the nearest wall.

He was right. She wasn't ready.

Tony had been found and returned to the United States.

Howards son was brilliant, a playboy, extremely arrogant, and downright careless.

And AJ had never even met him personally

He was Howard to the T.

Well, Howard when AJ had known him.

The footage she had watched of Howard though...he was different. His personality had changed – he had looked so tired. She missed the young man she worked side by side with who talked about fate and destiny. The man she watched in videos did not resemble the man she had considered family.

Tony had changed after his time being held captive. AJ could relate. But, AJ never built a suit of armor and flew around the city protecting the citizens from harm.

Iron Man.

That's what they called him.

Coulson and Stark had agreed that the public would not know that he was the man behind the iron helmet. But, in Stark fashion, Tony announced it at a press conference meant for him to deny the accusations.

He was Howard Starks son, that was for sure.

It had been a little over a year since she had begun her training and, in that time, AJ had gone on plenty of missions.

Kuwait with Clint had been her first, her second in Berlin with both Clint and Natasha this time.

They became somewhat of a trio and placed on many missions together, including AJ's third, when AJ and Natasha had to rescue a captured Clint Barton while in Toyoko.

Her fourth mission had been with Natasha to Greece, where after the job had been done, the two women were grilled on their mission by the WSC – that's when AJ's clearance level was upped to Level 6 by Fury (unbeknownst to the World Security Council.) He hadn't liked why they had grilled Natasha and AJ so hard. Giving AJ higher clearance level was a way to get her into many doors – and to also piss of the WSC when they eventually found out.

It was her fifth mission in Argentina with Clint and Natasha that had been the most disastrous. AJ had been captured and tortured for days. But, no matter how dangerous it was to go after her, Clint and Natasha stormed the building she was being kept in. Natasha, as the proactive one of the duo, used thermal imaging to locate AJ. It was easy enough when the woman managed to make her entire torture chamber the temperature of an icebox.

When they got back to the States, Fury put AJ on medical leave for a month, the torturing she had suffered bringing up too many memories of her time in Austria in 1945. Her powers had been out of whack since Argentina. AJ would be woken from a dead sleep by her own screams and would see that her entire room was covered in ice.

Natasha had been sent to California a few weeks ago on undercover work. She was going undercover as Natalie Rushman, Tony's Starks personal assistant. AJ and Clint had laughed for days imagining Natasha being told to fetch things or go on coffee runs.

The woman was one of the deadliest assassins – not a personal assistant.

Fury had finally pulled AJ out of medical leave and sent her to New Mexico with Coulson after some unusual activity had been detected.

After setting up at the S.H.I.E.L.D outpost in Roswell, AJ and Phil began their journey to Puente Antiguo.

"You hungry?" Phil asked as he pulled up to a gas station.

AJ pursed her lips and thought on it, "What are those chewy fish things called? They're red and fish." She made a face when Coulson began to laugh.

"Swedish Fish." He told her.

"Well, excuse me if I haven't learnt all of the latest candies – I have been focusing on learning about other historical events I missed out on while frozen. Besides, what even makes them Swedish?"

Coulson rolled his eyes and smiled. "Okay, so do you think you can pump the gas?"

AJ looked at him blankly.

"Have you not...have you not done this before?" AJ kept on staring. "Mission upon mission with Clint and Natasha and they haven't taught you to pump gas?" He shook his head. "Remind me to never leave them in charge of you again..."

Both of the agents got out of the car, and AJ circled around to where her senior was standing. (Senior by years involved with SHIELD, obviously.) He swiped his credit card—handy little buggers, they were—and looked back at AJ.

"Alright so, just hold this—" Phil handed her the nozzle, "in here," he said, opening a hatch in the side of the car and unscrewing the cap. "And pull the lever underneath." He punched the button labeled '91' and looked at AJ, who jumped slightly as the numbers on the screen started moving rapidly and gas poured into the tank.

"Just stay here, keep pumping the gas until it clicks and the gas stops. I'm going to grab some sweets."

AJ saluted with one hand, and Coulson walked off, whistling, hands in his pockets. She made herself small behind the gas pump, watching the numbers change on the screen. Technology, she thought to herself with a small smile. This wasn't nearly as impressive as some of the things she'd seen with SHIELD, but the little things still tended to amaze her. It was incredible how far the world had come in sixty-four years.

A gunshot in the gas station alerted AJ suddenly, and her head shot up. She poked it over the side of the pump and watched as Coulson proceeded to take down two men armed with—were those shotguns?—without so much as breaking a sweat. Coulson was a maniac, grabbing one of the shotguns and sending it careening towards one of the heads of the men, and then bashing the other one all the same. She hadn't even heard either of them enter.

She watched Coulson through the glass, interacting with the woman at the register, who was shellshocked. She nodded as Coulson left, a small baggie in hand. The gas pump jolted and the numbers stopped, signaling that the tank was full.

"Took you a while," AJ said wryly with a grin, putting back the nozzle and closing the gas tank.

Both of the agents slid back into the car and Coulson tossed her the Swedish Fish. "Yeah. Had to take out the trash for the nice cashier."

"She did seem nice." AJ agreed.

Coulson hummed.

"Did you get the digits?"

Coulson rolled his eyes as he pulled away. "I'm like, twice her age."

"I'm ninety-four. You're in your fifties, you aren't dead, Phil."

"You look like you're in your twenties."

"I am in my twenties."

"You're annoying."

"You love me."

The phone S.H.I.E.L.D had given her began to ring, a picture of Romanoff appeared and AJ smiled as she answered the phone. "Hey Nat."

"Tony Stark is a real piece of work," Natasha complained. AJ pressed her lips together in a smile, letting out a little snort hearing her so worked up. Natasha prided herself in being able to stay level headed at any moment. But apparently, Tony had gotten under her skin. And not in a good way. Natasha went on to complain about Tony and his reckless behavior with a few very choice words to describe his work ethic. "The man is not a team player, that's for sure."

"Yeah, Coulson isn't really an Iron Man fan either," AJ chuckled, and then looked over at him. "-right Phil?"

Phil response was a snort like scoff.

"He's insufferable." Natasha went on to complain.

"What, handsome playboy genius billionaire not good enough for you?"

"Not really my type."

"Assholes?" AJ smirked.

"Men. At the moment."

That caused AJ to raise her brows a bit in surprise. "I thought you and Clint were...doing the fondue?" A smile formed on AJ's lips at the memory of Howard telling her about a conversation he had with Steve.

"I don't know what that means – but if you're talking about sex. That's a definite no."

AJ chuckled, "Oh, I'll keep that in mind," She could almost envision Natasha rolling her eyes at what she had just said and it made her grin.

"-You're from the 40s, you're straight as a telephone pole," Natasha said in a dry tone.

"Yeah Natasha, you're right, bisexuality wasn't invented until the late seventies, my bad." AJ laughed.

"Ha-ha." Her tone was dry. She then changed the subject, telling AJ about her new assignment, keeping an eye on Bruce Banner. AJ frowned, the man had tried to replicate the super solider serum and it went horribly wrong. They hung up when AJ saw the sign welcoming them to Puente Antiguo.

Phil was oddly quiet.

AJ took that time to eat her Swedish fish.

He then finally spoke up, "Doing the fondue means sex, right?"

She nearly choked on her Swedish Fish as she laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Was that a popular saying in the 1940's or something? Because I have never, in my life, ever heard someone reference having sex as doing the fondue."

AJ made herself have a straight face. "Yes, Phil. Every person in the 40's referred to having sex as doing the fondue – for someone who works so closely with a woman from that time, you sure didn't do extensive research." She teased.

Phil rolled his eyes as they pulled to where Clint was waiting for them.

By the time they arrived at the base, it was dark and pouring rain. AJ had been getting settled when the alarms began to go off.

AJ ran into the tents, jumping over the injured agents who had been knocked out, just in time to see a tall, muscular blonde man drenched in rain and covered in mud attempt to pick up the hammer. He was strong. He fit the description of the legend.

But it was just a legend.

Legends weren't real.

Fate isn't real.

She felt a pang in her heart and gripped tightly onto Bucky's dog tags just above her heart.

AJ still felt his presence. Somedays stronger than ever.

But that wasn't possible.

Bucky was dead.

The man couldn't lift the hammer and he screamed in agony up at the sky, as if someone above had cursed him. Somehow, AJ could feel this man's grief.

He dropped to his knees.

Completely defeated.

_

June 3rd, 2011 - New York

AJ was back in New York.

Thor was real.

Thor.

The God of Thunder.

And not only Thor, but his warrior pals as well.

Adjusting to the 21st century was hard enough but throw in a bunch of Asgardians? Sometimes she felt so over her head. Clint and Phil had been there with her during the mission, both of them executing each order perfectly. AJ both loved and envied them equally. They both made things look so easy. It was the same way with Natasha.

The woman had trained AJ, so the woman in time was able to kick as much ass as the former assassin. But the three of them, Phil, Nat, and Clint...they never seemed shocked by anything. And AJ hadn't even known how to fill the car up with gas.

AJ laid down in her bed, moving up momentarily to pull off Bucky's dog tags from around her neck and then laid back down. She moved her thumb over his name, stroking it.

"I feel so lost," AJ said out loud.

It had become a habit of hers.

Talking to Bucky – well, his dog tags, while she was alone. It brought her little comfort, mostly because she knew that after she was done talking Bucky wouldn't be there to give his response. That she wouldn't see his little crooked grin or watch his lips twitch upward into a smirk whenever AJ would say something snarky.

She knew that he wouldn't grab her hand or kiss the top of her head to comfort her.

And worst of all, she knew that when she began to ramble on about her worries, he wouldn't quiet her by pressing his lips to hers in a breathtaking kiss.

"Red Skull was one thing – but an actual God." AJ couldn't help but laugh, her thumb moving over his name again. "I have seen a little punk from Brooklyn become a beefed-up piece of man meat from a serum that I helped create but...Gods. Howards son flying around New York in a suit of iron, a scientist tried to replicate the super solider serum and is now a very large angry green thing that tore apart Harlem," AJ sighed. "God, I wish you were here." Her voice trailed off in a whisper.

AJ closed her eyes, biting down on her lower lip to keep herself from crying.

"You promised," Her voice rasped and her eyes opened, a tear rolling down her cheek. "You swore to me that you'd come back." AJ closed her eyes again as more tears fell. "It wasn't enough time." Her voice was thick with tears. "A year wasn't enough, I wanted so many more with you, Buck."

She had known that she'd lose him but Bucky had kissed all those worries away and told her that he'd crawl out of his own grave to come home to her and she had had hope. Hope that his words would not end up meaningless, that they wouldn't be an empty promise.

AJ wiped away her tears and under her nose as she tried to keep her emotions in check. "I haven't visited Peggy yet." AJ admitted. "Or gone to see Howards grave. I thought that if I just inserted myself into the new world I'd be fine – that if I could let go of my past and move forward I would be able to survive but," She pressed his dog tags above her heart. "I can't let you go."

It's not like she had tried to let him go or that she ever would – but AJ had avoided all things about her past except for Bucky. She had boxed up all her things that Peggy and Howard had gathered up for her when she woke up and locked them away in her closet. AJ hadn't gone to see Peggy, she hadn't gone to see Howards grave to pay her respect and did not go see the memorial dedicated to Captain America. To Steve. It was just too hard.

But letting go of Bucky seemed absolutely impossible.

There were times that she could feel him. She'd feel him deep down in her soul and drive herself crazy with the small thought in the back of her head that he had survived.

It was impossible.

But she couldn't let go.

AJ sat up in her bed, pulling the letter Bucky had sent her while he was overseas, the envelope had aged – she hadn't. It was still unopened. Today wasn't the day to read his letter, not while her emotions were getting the best of her. AJ looked down at the envelope, seeing Bucky's scrawl of her name written along with her address in Brookyln. She had never given him her address. A small smile crept across her lips, Steve, he must have given Buck her address.

That's how he was able to write to her after Frank had died.

That letter too never got answered.

She ran her hand down her face and then pushed her hair back and away from her face.

If Bucky could see her now.

She wasn't that young woman he had fallen in love with in the 40's. Well, she was. But she had changed since waking up in the year 2010. Natasha had taken charge of AJ's wardrobe so she wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb in her outfits from the 40's.

A lot of darks. Blacks, grays, whites, and dark blue.

Natasha got away with picking her own wardrobe, as did Clint – the two never taking their work appearance too seriously. Or as seriously as Phil did.

So, instead of wearing a woman's business pant suit, Natasha had gone a different route in styling AJ that was similar to her own. Tight pants, leather jackets, outfits that would cause her father in his grave. But it helped AJ feel like she was a part of the new world.

"I have to say, I did a pretty damn good job." Natasha smirked. "You look pretty badass, Frost." The read head had commented.

AJ had made her face blank as she looked at herself in the mirror, trying to get used to the outfit. "I don't feel 'bad ass',"She had used air quotes.

"That's because you're still wearing your hair like you're from the forties." Natasha had moved to stand in front of AJ, giving her a once over. "Do you trust me?" She asked.

AJ made a skeptical face, not liking the mischievous twinkle in her handler's eyes. "That depends on what you're about to try and make me do."

Natasha had grinned like a Cheshire cat, which did not ease AJ's nerves.

The hair had taken a while to get used to, but it had been a year now and AJ could hardly remember the shade of dark brown her hair had once been. Natasha called it Ombré hair. She wore her now shoulder length hair in soft waves or up in a ponytail (mostly while she wasn't working.)

There were times that AJ had to wear the suits while meeting with her superiors while being question on each mission she went on, addressing what they called a council of the high up members of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Honestly, she didn't mind the women's business suits.

AJ just preferred her causal look over it.

Slipping Bucky's dog tags back over her head and around her neck, AJ laid back down and closed her eyes and begged for sleep to come.

It had.

She dreamt about Bucky.

How it was possible to be so happy yet in so much pain while she was dreaming was hard for AJ. But the hardest part of dreaming about was waking up and rolling over on her side to see that he was not there.

_

In July of 2011, AJ had been assigned her first partner. A man named Theodore Adams, a descendent of her old friend; Nathaniel Adams. They had been sent to Florence, Italy together. Theodore was nothing like Nathaniel – the man was rough around the edges and hard to read. With Nathaniel, she always knew what he was thinking. Not Theo.

They had gotten into an argument over just that. "I'm not Nathaniel!" Theo had yelled at AJ.

"Yes, I am very aware of that!" She had yelled back before storming off to try and calm herself down, not wanting to blow their cover by turning the entire city of Florence into a replica of Antarctica. Her powers were linked to her anger and in that moment, AJ had been furious.

Which was why she hadn't been paying attention and got herself captured by the terrorist cell they had been sent to try and shut down. Reckless. Natasha taught her better than to be so reckless. But her emotions had been heightened and Theo had a way of getting under her skin in a very bad way.

Theo had rescued her, following the trail of bread crumbs she had left him and the two had made up before they were sent back to the US.

"I shouldn't have stormed off like that. It was reckless."

"Yeah, it was." Theo agreed, his face still so hard to read. When she narrowed her eyes, his lips twitched up the way Bucky's used to, causing AJ's stomach to clench in a familiar way.

When they got back to the States, AJ and Theo were assigned to work with another team. When Fury introduced them, AJ had to step back in shock.

Agents Brian and Andrew Frost.

Her nephews.

She was thrown into her past, well , her brothers past.

Little Henry. Her youngest brother.

He had gone and had himself a pair of twin boys.

Twin boys, men, who wanted nothing more than to talk about the past, about their mother and father and their uncles. But mostly, they wanted to learn more about the AJ. Their aunt who their father and his brothers had thought they had lost forever.

"We never met or Uncle Sam, but we know he had a daughter." Brian told her on their flight to Tibet, "Juliet Adelyn Frost. She was born a few months after you were pronounced dead to the world."

AJ's breath had caught in her through, thinking of Sam naming his child after her. She had swallowed hard, not wanting her emotions to get the best of her.

That had been the reason why she didn't want to dig into her past and all she had missed. The family and friends she had left behind and the life's they lived.

But Brian and Andrew told her everything she had missed out on.

Westley, sweet Westley, had been killed in action in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. That had been hard to hear. After he had survived Pearl Harbor only to perish while fighting the war was near devastating to AJ.

George and Sally never had any children.

Charles never married.

Henry, her little brother and the father of the twins she was now working with, had married a woman named Margaret Calvinson.

AJ had family.

They were out in the world and literally sitting right in front of her.

"Mom and Dad were forty-six when they had us," Brian motioned between he and Andrew. "-No health problems at all. A Hell of a woman. And Dad...he was the bravest man I had ever known."

"He's the reason why we joined the military and then S.H.I.E.L.D." Andrew added. They both then looked to one another before saying what AJ already knew. "He died when we were fifteen."

Every single one of her brothers were dead.

And just as AJ thought she would lose herself to her emotions, a hand was placed on top of her own. She had looked up to see that Theo, sitting on her right, was the one who was now holding her hand. It felt familiar. Something that Bucky would do.

July 25th, 2011

That was the day she lost yet another family member. Brian. He had been killed by Ilya Fedontenko, who was later killed by Andrew. Brian died by jumping in the way of a bullet meant for AJ. One that she could have easily avoided. He had been trying to protect her and because of that, he had taken a bullet right in the middle of his forehead.

To this day, AJ could still hear the sound of Andrews wails while he held onto his brother's lifeless body. She had only known him for two days and she had already lost him.

Andrew blamed AJ for his brother's death, telling her that he wished that she had really died all those years ago so he'd have his brother back. When Andrew, AJ, and Theo returned back to the US, Andrew had requested time off and a transfer, still blaming AJ for Brian's death.

Fury had offered AJ some time off as well but she refused. She could feel herself growing colder as she began to shut down her emotions.

In August, Fury sent AJ and Theo to Cambodia.

It was there that she succumbed to the desires she had recently felt towards Theo. The two slept together for the first time in Cambodia. She had felt guilt afterwards.

Bucky is gone, she tried to tell herself. He's not ever coming back. He's dead.

So, she continued on with having a sexual relationship with Theo when the returned to the states. Bucky was gone. That's what she kept on telling herself.

In November, Theo and AJ were sent to Bucharest. They had been sent to extract their fellow agent, Amanda Cogswell. They had rescued her and while they had been driving back to their hotel late that night when their car was knocked off the side of the road.

"Go! Get Cogswell out of here!" Theo had yelled at AJ, reaching to grab his gun from his holster strapped to his thigh. "Get to the safety point and if I'm not there in thirty minutes, get your asses to the jets and leave. I mean it."

"Theo – I am not leaving you!" AJ had argued. "We can take them out together."

It was only one man though. A man with a metal arm who she would learn later from Natasha, was known as The Winter Soldier.

AJ and Cogswell had escaped unscathed and Theo had died at the hands of The Winter Soldier.

She felt nothing but absolute rage. No heartache, no tears, just anger. Her partner/lover was dead. And AJ knew she needed to numb that anger before it overtook her.

Natasha had gone against The Winter Soldier back in 2009, even had a pretty little scar to remember it. "He's a ghost story." Natasha told AJ, seeing the look in her eyes. "I spent too much time trying to go after him, I won't let you do the same."

AJ and Amanda Cogswell gave their mission report to Nick Fury as well as the World Security Council, but afterwards, AJ had pulled Fury aside and requested time off.

The request had been filled by Fury.

The man knew from just looking at AJ that she didn't have a handle on her powers anymore and sent her to re-train trying to get a handle on those powers, but this time she was sent to Clint Barton.

In January of 2012, AJ had returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. It was then that Nick Fury told AJ, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanoff the Avengers Initiative, putting the three of them in charge of security of information on the Initiative.

Her first mission back, AJ, Clint, and Natasha were sent to Cairo.

After proving to Fury that she had her powers under her own control again, Adelyn Frost had been sent on her first completely solo mission without extraction.

Even after all of her missions with Natasha and Clint, AJ had never truly felt like she was a true agent. But now?

Agent Adelyn Juliet Frost was a known name, a name that some feared.

Despite all the death and tragedy, AJ did have good moments.

In March of 2012, Clint and AJ had to disguised themselves as spies and broke into the Helicarrier to try and trick Natasha into thinking they were stealing intelligence on the Avengers Initiative. It had been Fury's orders. Fury had arrived to find AJ knocked out and Clint in a choke hold between Natasha's legs. He quickly stopped her and Clint took off his mask.

Natasha had kicked her ass. AJ woke up from smelling salts to see Natasha looking down at her, smirking. "Did you have to hit me that hard?" AJ had complained, holding onto her pounding head. "I see birds."

Clint had laughed and Natasha had helped AJ up, slinging her arm over AJ's shoulder, "That'll teach you to try and go up against your handler."

"Clint was your handler and you still kicked his ass." AJ had complained.

Clint had scoffed, "Uh, she did not kick my ass, I was just about to break free before Fury stepped in."

With Fury, the three of them had discussed their choices for the Avengers.

"Thor." Clint had said.

"Banner." Natasha said next.

And before she could rethink it, AJ's mouth opened and her pick came tumbling out of her mouth. "Stark."

_

April 16th, 2012

AJ had been sent on a solo assassination mission to Kiev.

But mid-flight, a call came in from Fury.

"Sir?" She had said, the words he had said must have been wrong – there was no possible way what she heard him say was even possible.

"Captain Rogers body has been found." Fury said again. "He's alive."

She didn't know what to say. "He's alive?"

"Yes. And when he wakes up, he's going to be very confused."

She understood. But AJ still had to finish her mission.

AJ got on the first flight back to the States after killing her target.

Steve.

He was alive.

And she had just assassinated a man.

That was not something she was going to tell him.

AJ smiled, her friend, she was getting a second chance.

She spent the entire flight back to the States trying to come up with things to tell Steve, about how she was alive or how she hadn't aged or how everything was different in the 21st century. AJ held on tightly to Bucky's dog tags.

"He's alive." She whispered while smiling, still in shock. "That little punk is alive."

AJ would never say this to Steve, but a part of her believed that Bucky had sent her Steve in a time where she needed him the most. That if he couldn't crawl out of his grave to get home to AJ...he'd send Steve in his place.