A/N: Hi!
Allie liked having work days with Natasha. She would play quietly or read in the office, and Natasha would work at the desk. But when Natasha was just reading information or thinking, she would sit on the beanbag, and Allie would sit curled up next to her.
Today, Allie was drawing the African jungle, and Natasha was efficiently hacking SHIELD's numerous databases. There was soft classical music playing in the background, courtesy of JARVIS, and there was a plate of cookies on the desk.
"Hm."
Allie looked up at Natasha's dissatisfied 'hmph'. "What is it, mommy?"
"I don't know, malyshka, something strange." Natasha tapped at the keys again. "There's some sort of AI blocking entry into certain areas of the SHIELD database..." she muttered to herself in Russian for a bit. "JARVIS, get Tony down here."
"Right away, Agent Romanoff."
Allie sat in Natasha's lap and tried to braid her hair while Tony hacked his way past the strange AI. "This is really weird," he said, "like, weirder than JARVIS, weird. I can't get into the AI's programming at all."
"What can you get?" Natasha asked.
"IP address? I think?" Tony pulled up a map. "Somewhere in New Jersey. Camp Leighton." His eyes widened. "Isn't that where Steve trained before he was Cap?" He and Natasha shared a glance. "J, assemble the Avengers."
"Yes sir."
When they told Steve, he looked like someone had punched him in the gut. "HYDRA's running some sort of AI from that base?" he asked, once Tony had explained everything in his rambling fashion.
"Yes."
Steve nodded. "Tony, you and I will go to Camp Leighton and investigate."
"Take me with you," Clint added. "You need someone to watch your backs."
Steve gave another sharp nod. "All right. Thirty minutes, guys. Let's go."
Allie stopped him on the way out, and held up her arms for a hug.
He scooped her up and hugged her tightly.
"Be safe, Steeb," she said firmly.
"I'll try my hardest, doll."
"Do or do not," she admonished. "Dere is no twy." She kissed his cheek and wriggled down to say goodbye to Clint.
"Did she just quote Yoda at you?" Tony asked, astonished.
Steve grinned slightly. "Yeah."
Tony wiped a fake tear from his eye. "Our baby's growing up so fast." He slapped Steve on the shoulder and went to suit up.
A~A~A~A
Camp Leighton was less than an hour away, and Coulson and Natasha were their support on comms once they touched down.
The camp appeared deserted, but Tony tracked the energy signature to one of the armories. Clint stayed back to guard the exit while the other two broke in and headed underground. What they found was...
"Welcome back Captain Rogers," said a voice from Steve's nightmares.
Steve felt himself turning white as a sheet, and Tony subtly grabbed his bicep. "Whose voice is that?" the genius asked.
"You were supposed to be dead," Steve said, not hearing Tony. "I thought you were dead."
"You thought the Winter Soldier was dead but here we are," the voice said gleefully.
"Okay, seriously, who are you?" Tony asked, annoyed.
"Oh excuse me, Mr. Stark. I am Dr. Armin Zola."
Tony's jaw dropped. "You are the computer?"
"Yes."
"You're whose been protecting the HYDRA division of SHIELD," Steve said calmly.
"Clever isn't it, Captain? No hacker can infiltrate a human mind."
A~A~A~A
Clint steadied his breathing from his sniper perch, his eyes sweeping the air and the ground for any sign of movement. As soon as Iron Man and Cap had gone into the bunker, they'd lost communications. The bunker was probably lined with lead. All Clint could do was wait, and report 'no change' to Coulson and Natasha.
Ten tense minutes later, a muffled explosion sounded. And from Clint's horrified point of view, the entire underground bunker collapsed in on itself. "Cap!" he yelled into the comm. "Iron Man! Anybody!"
A cough, and then a rustle of movement from a nearby stand of trees. "We're fine," Steve rasped. "Came out the sewer line just in time. The bunker's gone."
Clint sighed in relief when he saw both of them come out from the trees, looking distinctly charred. "You okay, Cap?" he asked.
"I'm fine." Steve still looked shell-shocked.
"Fine being a relative term that means not fine at all," Tony added crisply. "Let's go. HYDRA knows we're on to them."
They returned to the base and briefed the rest of the team. Tony did most of the talking, and Steve added terse comments when needed.
"I think now would be a good time to go to Defcon One," Tony finished soberly.
"Agreed," Coulson said. "From this point forward, no one except us goes in or out of the Tower."
Clint cleared his throat. "We've just painted a neon target on our backs, I know," he said, "but what about Allie and Pepper? They can't stay here and be targeted with the rest of us."
"Where can we send them that HYDRA can't reach?" Coulson asked, his tone compassionate.
Clint glanced at Thor. "How about Asgard?"
Thor shook his head. "The Bifrost has not been repaired yet, and to travel by dark matter is too dangerous for a mortal."
Natasha reached over to take Clint's hand. "We'll just have to be better than all of HYDRA," she said, giving him a crooked half-smile. "Easy as pie."
A~A~A~A
The first attempt on the tower came the very next day. The two HYDRA agents got halfway through the first layer of decryption in JARVIS's elevator protocols before he locked them out and sprayed the area with knock-out gas.
The second attempt was sneakier - someone wearing a mask of Fury's biometric readings managed to get into SHIELD's mainframe, and through there, into JARVIS's backdoor. They accessed the video cameras before JARVIS managed to kick them out.
HYDRA now knew about Bucky, and their priority was to retrieve their fallen asset, either dead or alive...
The third attempt on the tower came at three-thirty in the morning. No one was awake except JARVIS - and Bucky. He'd been fighting off the remnants of a nightmare when the alarm sounded. He jolted off the couch and reached for the weapons and comm he knew were under the coffee table. He was armed and ready for battle by the time Steve, no, Captain America, entered the living room.
"You okay?" his long-time friend asked him.
Bucky nodded, calmly checking the magazine of the gun. Full. "I think they know I'm here."
"Good bet." Steve winced as an explosion sounded. "Everyone all right?" he asked, raising a finger to his comm.
"Fine," Clint said.
"I've got Allie," Bruce chimed in.
"I have an eye on the intruders," Natasha said calmly.
"J, how are our protocols doing?" Tony asked.
"Fine sir."
"Good."
"They still outnumber us three to one," Natasha said, "and that's including the bots and civilians."
Steve grimaced. "Don't worry Buck. We're not going to let them take you."
"Maybe it would be better if-" Bucky started.
"No," Steve said firmly. "They can't have you."
"The Cap has spoken," Clint added over comms, grinning.
There was a sudden clang from somewhere. "They have breached the elevator," Thor reported, and grunted in effort.
"On my way to you," Steve said. "Bucky, go back to where Bruce and Allie are. I don't want you getting hurt."
Bucky went. He made it to the second-to-top floor just in time to see Bruce drop to the floor, a thick tranq dart protruding from his neck. "BRUCE!" Allie shrieked, and shrieked again when three HYDRA agents popped out of the vents.
Bucky reacted on instinct, throwing himself forward to cover Allie. He got off one shot before the HYDRA agents took cover, and he pulled Allie behind the bookshelf. "Snake," he breathed quietly.
She shifted into a tiny garter snake, and he watched her move behind the bookshelf. That was one less thing to worry about.
"Asset," the HYDRA agent called. "We have secured the tower. You can come out of hiding. Bring the shapeshifter."
Bucky's teeth gritted together. "No," he said.
There was a pause, and then a sigh. "He's broken through programming," one of them muttered. "We'll have to recapture and wipe him."
"Use the keywords," the other one urged. "He might help us in subduing the other Avengers."
Bucky's heart dropped into his stomach, and two seconds later, he decided. He burst from his hiding spot, a furious calm in his eyes as he methodically dropped all of the HYDRA agents in the room. "Stay," he ordered in the general direction of Allie, and stalked off silently to finish his mission. No one was going to touch his team.
Natasha and Tony, pinned down inside the gym of all places, watched in astonishment as Bucky burst into the room like an avenging angel and took care of the problem in less than a minute. He leveled a glare at Natasha and Tony. "Allie's behind the bookcase," he growled, and went to help Steve.
As soon as the HYDRA agents were neutralized, Bucky lost the wild look in his eyes, and sagged heavily against the nearest wall.
"Buck?" Steve was suddenly beside him, and touched his shoulder. "You hit?"
Bucky shook his head. "I just realized... I didn't do what they said." He gave Steve a slow grin. "I chose not to. I didn't follow orders."
Steve beamed at him, and grabbed him in a hug. "I'm really proud of you, Bucky," he said.
Bucky shoved him away, ducking his head. "Whatever, punk. It was about time, wasn't it?"
Thor clapped him on the shoulder. "You fought well, James," he said.
Two floors above, Tony was trying to revive a still-unconscious Bruce, and Natasha was hugging Allie tightly. "I'm okay mommy," Allie was saying, her voice muffled in Natasha's shoulder. "Bucky totally saved me."
"Yes he did," Natasha said, smiling. She stood, scooping Allie onto her hip. "How about we go back to bed?"
Allie shook her head. "M'not sleepy no more."
"Okay." Natasha went to find Sam. "Could you sit and watch Mulan with her while we deal with this?" she asked, gesturing vaguely.
"Sure," Sam said, patting the seat cushion next to him. "C'mon Allie, let's defeat the Huns."
"Yeah." Allie climbed onto the couch and turned into a puppy, sprawling happily against the soft cushion. She fell asleep half a minute into the opening credits.
Sam paused the movie and glanced at the ceiling. "JARVIS, where's Clint or Natasha?" he asked.
"Agent Romanoff is interrogating the intruders," JARVIS said. "Agent Barton is on his way to you."
"Oh. Cool."
Clint came in a minute later, and smiled when he saw the sleeping puppy. "Not tired at all, huh," he said, leaning over to pick up Allie.
She shifted into her regular form and leaned her head against Clint's neck. "Not sweepy," she slurred. "Mobee."
"Tomorrow, baby, I promise."
"Mmkay." Her little fingers twisted in the collar of his pajama shirt, and she sighed sleepily.
Clint kissed her forehead. "Love you, sweetheart." He nodded to Sam. "Thanks, man."
"No problem." Sam turned off the movie and went to see if Steve needed another pair of hands.
Clint took Allie to her room, and tucked her back in bed. He sat on the bed and watched her sleeping face.
"Captain Rogers wishes me to inform you that Dr. Banner has awoken, and you may stay with the little miss," JARVIS said, sotto voce.
Clint smiled. "Thanks, J." He took his shoes off, put his bow and quiver down, and laid down next to Allie.
She curled into his side immediately and gave a sleepy mumble.
He smoothed her hair, and thanked whoever was out there that Bucky had decided to side with the Avengers over his former masters.
A/N 2: All right, so, NaNoWriMo started today. Either I'll update this a lot because I'm procrastinating on my novel, or I'll actually find my inspiration for the novel and put Puppy Love on the back burner till December. So we'll see. It will not be abandoned either way, this I vow! :D