Brock absent mildly pushed a chair over with the toe of his boot and slung his gun behind his back.

"And another empty, dusty base," he said, surveying one of the large deserted rooms of the base with disfavor. "What, that makes seven now? Not that I'm complaining."

"You? Of course not," said Clint, rolling his eyes. Setting his bow down, he took a seat in one of the abandoned chairs, and started to tap his fingers impatiently. "I just wish we could narrow things down a bit faster without going to every single base."

"We're not just finding no trace of Strucker, we're not finding trace of anybody having even thought about these places in months."

The others had gathered in the room by this point, having finished their survey of the base. Bucky crossed his arms and leaned back against one wall. "Well, if you have a suggestion of a better way to work through the list…"

"Maybe we shouldn't be starting with the Africa bases." Brock turned to Clint. "Sokovia is former Soviet Union. Maybe Strucker is more likely to have moved to another former Soviet base. After all, his work in Sokovia is more likely to have brought him in contact with other bases in the same political region than in say," he waved a hand, taking in the base around them, "a base in Burkina Faso."

Clint considered it. "You may have a point. We started with these since they had an easier time staying off the radar but we should consider which ones Strucker is more likely to have encountered." He turned to Bucky. "The list is back at the safe house. But I'm assuming there are quite a few bases in the former Soviet Union area on there?"

Bucky set his jaw, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He thought he knew where this would end and it left a sick, twisted feeling that he hadn't had since Wanda first cleared his mind. "A number."

Clint nodded. "Maybe we should try those for a while then. We can look over the list when we get back and maybe you can consider which one might be best suited to Strucker's purposes."

There was a pause, Bucky considering whether or not to say anything. But then did it really matter if he answered the question now or after he pretended to peruse the list. He knew the answer without looking over it. He could lie of course; maybe they'd find Strucker somewhere else and never have to go to that base at all. But he couldn't bring himself to lie to Clint. Least of all to merely protect himself. And what if Strucker was there and he lied? Any blood would be on his hands then, and they were coated enough as it was.

"There's a base in Siberia," he said shortly. "I don't know if Strucker ever knew about it. But I know it has a large lab facility."

Clint frowned, studying his face a little too closely. Bucky, not meeting his eye, pushed away from the wall and turned away. "We won't be able to access it easily. You can only reach it by air."

"I might be able to arrange some transport," said Brock with a shrug. "I should be able to get a hold of a Quinjet for us. Just don't ask too many questions about where it comes from."

Clint only half acknowledged the comment, he was still watching Bucky.

"It's dusty in here. I'm heading outside," said Bucky shortly, "let me know when you're ready to head out." And he left the room.

"Bruce!"

"Hey Thor," said Bruce, punching the commands into the espresso maker and turning to greet him.

"I have been looking for you."

"Really? What's up?"

"I wish to ask you a favor."

Bruce eyed him. "Uh-huh?" Thor was looking suspiciously nervous.

"I-…would you mind...traveling to Asgard with me?"

Bruce blinked. "Seriously?"

"Indeed. I have given a great deal of thought to what you said. How loss can be used to lead us to an appreciation of those still in our lives. And I…I wish to visit my father. While we did not part on bad terms, there was still strain there. I would like to spend some time with him. And if I fail there, I will have faced the past. But I don't wish to go alone. I worry that my friends, my father, perhaps even his advisors, will all urge me to return to Asgard. That is out of the question. But having a friend at my side would…help, to have a close friend at my side. I would bring Jane, but she and I discussed it and I think given my last time on Asgard it might not be…the most diplomatic choice. Not for my first return. I hope one day I can bring her there for a visit and she and my father could become better acquainted, but for now, I hoped you would be willing to come."

"To…Asgard?"

"Yes."

"Set foot on an alien planet?" Bruce's face broke into a grin. "Oh Tony is going to be so jealous."

"Tony is going to be so jealous of what?"

Bruce and Thor both turned to see Tony coming down the staircase towards them.

"I've been invited to visit an alien planet," said Bruce grinning, completely unable to resist the temptation of bragging. "We're going to Asgard."

"Really? You invited Bruce and not me? I'm hurt," Tony deadpanned.

Thor laughed. "It is a sensitive, personal visit. I thought someone with tact would be a good idea."

"Ouch." Tony mockingly placed a hand to his heart. "You really know how to kick a man when he's down."

Thor turned to Bruce. "Thank you." He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Will you be ready to leave tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? I-, eh." He shrugged. "I suppose. Tomorrow it is."

"Thank you."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second." Tony turned suddenly seriously. "Tomorrow? How long are you planning on being gone? Remember we have that gala in a week and if this is just an elaborate way of getting out of going-"

"No, no," assured Thor. "We will only be gone a few days at most. You have my word."

"I expect you at that party, eight o'clock sharp and in your tuxes."

"We'll be there," promised Bruce.

"You'd better. Or I'll stick Natasha on you both."

Clint hung up the phone and stepped out onto the porch, where Bucky was standing, propped up against one beam, apparently lost in thought.

"That was Brock. He's got the transport sorted. We can head out tomorrow."

Bucky nodded.

It was late. There was the chirping of night insects, mosquitoes buzzed around, and drifting over the wall came the sound of music from a nearby open air bar. Only one light shone on the porch, and it cast long shadows across the wood and Bucky's face. But even if Clint couldn't quite make out his expression he could see the tension in his shoulders and the way he stood, his arms crossed, his fingers digging into his arms.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes," said Bucky shortly.

Clint considered for a moment. "Are you sure? Because ever since we talked about Siberia you haven't seemed okay." Bucky let out a huff and turned away to lean against the porch railing. "Is there something special about the Siberia base that I don't know about?"

The silence that followed was so long that Clint didn't think Bucky was going to break it. But at last he did. "It's where they kept me. Between missions or when they wanted to work on 'improvements'…it's where I was first taken after I fell from the train. It's where Dr. Zola-….Let's just say I have a whole lot of really bad memories from that place."

"You don't have to go back there," said Clint. "We can check it out without you."

Bucky shook his head. "If I start letting the past scare me I'm never going to stop. And I said I'd help to find that scepter. I'm going to see it through. All the way."

"…Bucky, you don't owe anyone anything. You don't have to do this. I didn't push it last time, and I know why you said you didn't want to go find Steve. But…maybe you should rethink it. Despite the reasons you gave…Steve cares a great deal about you. And I know he must be looking for you."

"I'm sure he is. But he's not going to find what he's looking for." Bucky continued to stare out across the garden. "When I joined the war, I didn't do it rashly or in some idealistic patriotic furor that didn't count the cost. I knew that when I left home I might never make it back again. I knew I'd see things and do things I might never be able to get out of my head. I might be maimed, shot, or blown up. But there was so much death. Our country had been attacked, and Hitler was cutting swathes through Europe, taking lives brutally, senselessly...I counted the cost, and I thought there was no sacrifice I was not prepared to make if that was what was asked of me, in order to do my part to stop the war and stop anymore loss of innocent lives." He flexed his metal arm. "But I was wrong. If I had known...if I'd been told what sacrifices I would have to make, I never would have left Brooklyn...even if it met the difference between winning and losing the war. I'm no hero, Barton. The Bucky Barnes that Steve is searching for doesn't exist anymore. He died a slow and torturous death at the hands of Hydra. What I am now? Well it's a lot more than I was before you found me. And I owe you and Wanda a lot for that. But it's still not the Bucky that Steve knew."

"Maybe he doesn't care?"

"Maybe not. But maybe I do." He ran a hand through his hair. "I have to go with you to Siberia. As much as the idea makes my skin crawl. Everything that happened there...ignoring it isn't going to make it go away. So I'll face it. But I appreciate the offer to sit it out."

"You're probably right. But one day you're going to need to face Steve too."

Bucky gave a humorless chuckle, and then added after a pause. "You know you remind me a lot of him sometimes."

Clint blinked in surprise. "I don't have a whole lot in common with Captain America."

"Really? Because," he jerked his thumb back towards the house, "you've inspired two lost super powered twins and one very angry Hydra agent to chase around the world looking for a missing scepter for no other reason other than it's the right thing to do."

"Yeah, well…Steve never would have ended up a Hydra agent, barring a very healthy dose of brainwashing and memory wipes. Neither excuse I have."

"Maybe not. But he could be just as bloody stubborn as you." Bucky shot him a grin. "And he never stopped pushing himself to be better. Maybe he'd never have joined Hydra. But if he had, he'd be doing exactly what you are doing right now."

Lost for a response, the two men stood there, the night growing steadily darker, the music now joined by loud voices and laughter. At last Clint pushed off from the railing and turning, started heading back into the house.

As he opened the back door he was arrested by Bucky's voice, as the man said over his shoulder, still looking out over the garden, "You're right. I know. Some day, I need to talk to him. I need to face him just as much as I need to face Siberia. But…I want to know exactly who I'm facing him as. Because he deserves that much from me."

"There's one thing you are wrong about," said Clint. "You say you're not a hero anymore? What you've survived, yes, you are a hero. Because you're still fighting." And with that, he went inside and left Bucky alone to the night.