Chapter 3

Tony stared at the images in front of him. His face was set in a firm look as he folded his arms across his chest. He moved his hand over a picture and swiped it to the left, bringing a new image to the front of the stack. Tracey stood next to him, staring at the image as well. She shifted another image towards herself. She chewed her cheek, squinting her eyes. She zoomed in on it. It was the same photo she had pulled up earlier, the one with Grayson O'Neil and the bug on his neck.

She turned to Tony. "Is this any technology you've seen?"

"No," the billionaire said, his brow furrowing.

"What about possible rivals to Stark Industries?"

"Justin Hammer is still in jail, so he's out of the list. Not like he could make something like this without stealing the idea from someone," he said, grumbling the last part.

The hacker rolled her eyes. "But it is a possibility that it's a rival to Stark Industries."

"It could, but usually if someone is trying to outdo me, they'd say it to my face and try to show off," he said, swiping another image.

Tracey chewed her cheek, fixing her glasses on her nose. She held her arms up and zoomed in on the picture. "This bug is so strange," she said. "I know I don't know a lot about mechanics and what not, but I know from seeing all of your Iron Man suits that you have a certain style to it. Like the plating and wiring. This bug has its own style as well. Do you recognize it?"

Tony shook his head. "No, sorry, Mona Lisa. This is something I haven't seen before. It looks like we're dealing with someone new."

"Well that just leaves more questions," Tracey frowned. She pulled up another file, another video from the bank security footage. She watched as O'Neil fought with Bucky and Natasha. His strength screamed super soldier, but it was how he got that way that confused Tracey. She paused the video and stared at the bug once more. Just as she saw earlier, the legs of the bug were dug into the man's neck. And then there were the veins. "Tony, what if someone tried to recreate the super soldier serum? Look at the veins on his neck. That's not normal and they show up where the legs connect to his skin. It has to be injecting him with something to make him that strong and completely forget everything after it leaves."

"You have a point…" Tony said, rubbing his chin. "This is all weird. The only people we know who are willing to recreate that serum are Hydra. They're the only logical suspect, unless we're overlooking someone."

"True…" Tracey said. She groaned and removed her glasses, rubbing her eyes. "This is ridiculous. The last person they made into a super soldier was Bucky. They wiped his memories and brain washed him into a weapon. I've already erased all the files on the Winter Soldier so they couldn't do the same thing to someone else. There's no way they could have memorized the formula for the serum."

"Don't forget that they were able to hack into your system and take the file on Project Insight back," the billionaire pointed out.

"Yeah, but I was able to get it back. No one's tried to break into my systems since then," she said, placing her glasses back on her face. "I would also know if they hacked into my computer. I've updated it since. No one's getting through."

"And that's why we love you, Picassa," Tony said, placing an arm around the blonde's shoulders and giving her a side hug. "You're more advanced than anyone I know. Second to me of course."

"Second to you?" the blonde woman said, raising a brow. "Who was the one who hacked into your system five minutes into walking into your home?"

Tony glared at her before grumbling, "Still can't believe a graduate hacked into my files…"

"And don't forget it," she laughed. She turned back to the holograms in front of them. She shook her head. "There has to be a way to figure out who's doing this…"

Tony pursed his lips before looking at the time in the corner of his screen. He patted the hacker's shoulder and gently pushed her to the door. "You need some rest, Tracey," he said. "You've been at this since you woke up basically. Do you realize you've been here for more than twelve hours now? It's midnight already."

"I'm fine," she said, swatting at his hand. "I can go a day without sleep."

"Yeah, then that day will turn into three," he teased.

"Says the guy who has been working on something 'top secret' down here for the past few days," she said, air quoting "top secret".

"I've actually been working on this for about a month now, before all this happened," he said proudly. "And why are we bringing the conversation to me?"

"I thought you liked it when we talked about you?" she laughed.

The scientist rolled his eyes and pushed her through the door. "Funny. Just get some sleep."

"What about you?"

"I have something to do."

"Is it that 'top secret' thing you've been working on?" she asked, raising a brow and air quoting "top secret" once more.

Tony pushed her hands down making her grin. "Will you stop doing that? And it's not your business what I do down in my lab."

Tracey rolled her eyes. "You know Bruce would be more than willing to help with whatever project you're working on," she pointed out.

"I know, but this is something I need to work on myself," Tony replied. "Now good night, Tracey."

The blonde rolled her eyes and turned to head to the elevator. "Whatever. Good night, Tony," she said, waving a hand over her shoulder.

ooOOoo

"No. No. No!" the man yelled. He watched as the vitals for the test subject slowly dropped. He slammed his fists onto the table and snapped his head up to where a man laid on a metal table.

Straps were holding his down as he shook about, preventing his arms and legs from flailing. After a few more minutes of this the man went still. The man in the white lab coat stared at the vitals as they finally dropped. He slammed a fist down onto the table and groaned.

"Damn it!"

He went over to the body and undid all the straps. Flipping the dead man onto his stomach, the scientist stared at the metal bug on the back of his neck. His brow furrowed as he watched the bug release its grasp on the man's neck. Once all the legs were released it fell onto the side of the table, laying on its back and legs spread out. The scientist snatched it up and went over to a different table where a bunch of tools laid about. He began tinkering with the robot, glaring down at the mechanics of it. Opening up the bug's back he extracted a small vial. Inside it looked to be a greenish liquid. Or what was left of it. He placed the vial onto a rack and stared at it, clasping his hands together as he leaned his mouth against it in thought.

He groaned as he sat up. "Joseph!" he called out.

A couple minutes later the doors flew open and the uniformed man ran in. "Yes, sir?" he asked, standing at attention.

"The test subject was a failure. I need another person," the scientist said, standing up and pacing. The uniformed man glanced over at the table and stared at the dead man lying on it. Joseph turned his attention back to his boss in front of him as he caught him glaring. The man in the lab coat continued, still continuing his pacing. "I need someone whose body can handle the serum," he stated. "I need you to find me more test subjects."

"Yes, sir," Joseph said, nodding his head. He turned and quickly ran out of the room.

The scientist went back to his table and pulled a bunch of bottles with different colored liquids in them to him. He sifted through them before grabbing two. He poured the contents into a larger bottle and began mixing.

"I need this to work…" he grumbled as he stared at the mixture.

ooOOoo

Bucky laughed as he walked off the elevator. He turned to Steve, who was grinning, and shook his head. "You're full of it. I had you and you know it."

"That's not what Sharon said," the blond soldier laughed. He placed an arm around the blonde woman next to him, who had a smirk on her face.

"Sorry, Bucky. He had you beat in the last round," Sharon said, laughing when the metal armed soldier rolled his eyes.

"You got lucky, punk," he laughed.

"Jerk," Steve grinned. "Maybe tomorrow you'll be able to beat me."

"Whatever you say. I'll see you guys later," Bucky said, waving as he turned to leave.

Entering his and Tracey's room he found the hacker sprawled out on the bed dead asleep. He chuckled as he made his way over to the bed. Pulling the covers over her and placing a kiss on her head before going into the bathroom. Ten minutes later he was showered after the gym and in a pair of sweat pants. He climbed into bed and pulled his girlfriend to him. He kissed her temple and chuckled when Tracey swatted an arm at him.

"Go away," she mumbled, burying her face in her pillow.

"Sorry, doll," he laughed, "you're kind of stuck with me. You chose to date me."

"Unfortunately," she said, turning around so she was facing him.

Bucky smiled down at her as she stared up at him with sleep filled eyes. "You look tired."

"No duh Sherlock," she said, laying her forehead against his chest.

The super soldier laughed at his girlfriend's lack of cursing. It was cute how she avoided it at all costs, but would swear up a storm if she was really mad. He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back. "I haven't seen you all day. Where have you been?"

"Down in the lab with Tony. I've been going over the files from the bank robbery all day," she answered, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Bucky nodded. "Right." He looked down at her and ran a hand through her hair. "How was that? Anything new?"

"Nothing that we don't already know. Tony thinks that it could have been Hydra," she said, looking up at her boyfriend. She chewed her cheek before continuing. "They are the only ones who created another super soldier…" she said slowly. She searched Bucky's face for a reaction.

Bucky's face hardened slightly, nodding his head in understanding. "Me. Right…" he said. His face furrowed in puzzlement. "But you erased all the files from the Winter Soldier project. There weren't any other files with the super soldier serum in them. And if there were I know you would have locked them away from anyone else to see, but us."

Tracey nodded. "Right, but Hydra's the only logical explanation. As of now at least."

The super soldier pursed his lips, staring at Tracey as his mind wandered. It's true that Hydra was the only logical suspect, but they couldn't just jump to conclusions. Anyone smart enough could recreate the serum. There were plenty of people who were geniuses. There was Stark, Justin Hammer, scientists from Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. But who else did they know that could have the brains and the equipment to recreate the serum?

Tracey chewed her cheek as she noticed Bucky's gaze glaze over in thought. She ran a hand through his hair as he continued to think and placed a kiss on his cheek. "You need to stop worrying about it so much right now, Sergeant," she spoke up. "Just sleep. I've already be forced to stop working and come up here to sleep," she joked.

Bucky chuckled and pulled her closer to him, burying his face in her neck. "You're right," he said, his voice muffled against her skin. "But I'm just worried. I don't want anyone else to go through what I went through if it is Hydra."

"I know, sweetie," Tracey said, running her fingers through his hair. "But right now all we can do is look into it and get enough rest while we can. Everything is going to be okay."

Bucky smiled against her neck. "Thanks, doll," he said, kissing her neck.

The hacker giggled and squirmed in his arms. "You need to shave," she said.

Bucky grinned at her. "You're always ticklish there, I don't need to shave," he defended, kissing her neck again.

"No," she giggled. "I'm ticklish on my neck when you have stubble on your face," she said. She squirmed again as he continued to kiss her. "Stop!" she squealed.

Bucky lifted his head and stared at her, smiling lightly. He ran a hand against her cheek and kissed her lips. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too," she replied, running her hand through his hair again.

She stared thoughtfully at his brown locks as she played with them. Bucky closed his eyes as she continued to play with his hair, taking a deep breath in content. It was silent for a few more minutes until Tracey spoke up again.

"You know what I miss?"

"Hmm?" the metal armed man hummed, keeping his eyes closed as he rested his head against her chest.

"Braiding your hair," she stated simply.

Bucky burst out laughing as soon as she said that. He pulled her closer and shook his head. "Really? That's what you miss?"

"Yeah, it was fun," she said, grinning up at him. She grabbed two small sections of his hair and tugged lightly at them. "I can't work with this!" she laughed.

"Sorry, doll, you're going to have to deal with that. I'm never growing my hair out again," he said, grinning as his girl pouted at him. "You can still braid Thor's hair. He likes that. Natasha does it to him all the time when she's bored."

"Fine," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "At least he'll appreciate it."

Bucky chuckled and kissed her. "Good night, darling," he said, closing his eyes.

"Good night, Sergeant," Tracey whispered, kissing his cheek. "I promise everything will be okay."

"I believe you," he whispered.

He opened an eye and watched as Tracey slowly fell asleep. He frowned as he stared at her. He believed her. He always did. But right now, he was also worried something was going to happen soon. They needed to figure out what was going on and fast.

So here's chapter three! I'm again sorry this isn't as long as my chapters from Winter is Ending. I'm doing my best to match the word count from that, but I'm a bit short. Sorry. I'm also doing my best to get this story written. Right now I have ideas, but I'm worried that I won't be able to follow through with the story. I think once I reach the bigger parts of the story I'll be able to get chapters out faster. I'm also still studying my butt off for Econ for the rest of the semester so I'll do my best to continue updating this story and Life at the Tower so I hope you guys can stay with me until my winter break.

If you have any questions for the Avengers, Madison twins, and anyone else in the tower, feel free to leave a message on my tumblr. If you have any prompts for Life at the Tower that you'd like to see me write you can send them to my tumblr, PM me here, or leave them in a review. I accept any and all prompts!

My tumblr is winter-is-ending

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorite, and followed my stories! You guys make my day every time I get an email! Thank you! You guys are amazing!