Tracey watched as Fitz and Simmons worked at the table in the lab. The three were currently in the labs in the tower working on their parts for the mission. The two scientists were working diligently on the bug and their D.W.A.R.F.s as they moved the cameras from one to the other. Tracey and Skye had been working on finding out more on Michael Burnow. So far nothing new, but the two female hackers decided to spend the rest of their time watching their friends do their work. Bruce would help every now and then, but knowing nothing on robotics as well as Tony he only offered advice from what he's seen his friend do. And speaking of Tony…
"What is he doing in that shed thing back there?" Skye asked as she tilted her head to get a better view of where the billionaire scientist was doing. Sadly since he was inside the small room nothing could be seen.
"No one knows," Tracey answered, leaning her cheek against her fist as she leaned on the table. "He keeps going into that room and won't let anyone see what he's doing."
"I don't even know what he's doing," Bruce said with an eye roll. "He's been like that for a month now."
"Odd," Jemma said, peaking a look towards the separate room that faint music was coming from.
"How's the bug coming along?" Bruce asked, walking over to the other two scientists.
"Great!" the female scientist said with a bright smile.
"We're almost done with the um uh the uh…" Fitz said, shaking his hand as he tried to think of a word.
"Transfer?" Jemma offered, a small smile on her face as she looked at her friend.
"Transfer," the male said, not looking her way. "We just need possibly another hour before it's done."
"That's good to know," Bruce said, smiling at the two. He looked at the other two before addressing all four. "I'm heading upstairs for a bit. If you need me, have JARVIS call for me."
"See ya, Bruce," Tracey waved as the scientist left.
A large and bright smile spread across Jemma's face as she looked at the three people around her. "This is so amazing! Getting a chance to work with the Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Oh it's feels too good to be true!"
Tracey chuckled, smiling at the woman across the table from her. "It's fun. But once Tony starts his annoying experiments and needs guinea pigs or starts teasing you you're not going to be enjoying the time with him. Not that it's not great to hang out with Tony, but Bruce is a lot more enjoyable to be with if you're looking for a more quiet environment."
"But it has to be amazing to live with all the Avengers," Skye said, turning to her hacker partner. "I mean it's the Avengers. What are they like when they're just hanging around the tower? Any crazy things happen when no one's on a mission?"
"And not to mention you're surrounded by all these men," Jemma said. She quickly covered her mouth, a blush creeping on her face.
"Well…it's something," Tracey said with a giggle. "Having all these guys around is kinda-"
"Hey, guys."
The four people at the table turned to the doorway to see Bucky walking into the labs and towards them. A bright blush and shy smile covered Jemma's face as she looked at the super soldier. Skye was smiling lightly, but with a perplexed look on her face. Fitz just waved at the soldier and turned back to his work.
"Hi, Bucky," Jemma greeted, the smile still on her face.
"Hey, Jemma," the super soldier greeted in return. He turned to Tracey and placed a hand on her back, smiling down at her. "Hey, doll," he said. "How's it going? Anything new?"
"Nothing yet. Considering the guy was off the grid for a good number of years," the blonde answered, turning back and scrolling through the files on her computer. She missed the smiles the other two women in the room shared as she continued to look at the files. "I get the feeling that this guy erased everything on him."
"Hmm," Bucky hummed, pursing his lips. "I'm sure you two will find something."
"What about you? Anything on his location?" Skye asked, looking up from her own computer.
The metal armed man shook his head and ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. "Nothing on our end. We've looked everywhere. Twice. We don't know."
"Well that's not good," Jemma sighed, pursing her lips.
"But we'll get something once we find that um one man and send the bug with him," Fitz offered.
"Fitz has a point," Skye spoke up. "We just need to get the bug back to that guy and he'll lead us to Burnow." She turned to the two scientists. "How much longer until it's ready?"
"We're almost done," Fitz said. "We just need maybe an hour or less. We aren't entirely sure."
"Sounds good," Bucky said, nodding with a smile. He looked down at his girlfriend. "Tracey, I-"
"Buck," Steve said, rushing into the room. "There's another attack. Coulson, May, and Barry ran into the third super soldier. They're down on fourteenth. We need to get going."
"Got it," the other super soldier said, his brow furrowing as his best friend ran out. "I'll see you later, doll," he said, kissing the top of her head.
"Bye, Sergeant," Tracey said, watching as he left. She turned back and blinked when she saw Jemma and Skye staring at her with bright smiles. "What?"
"You're dating Bucky Barnes?" Jemma asked. It was close to a squeal as she nearly jumped where she stood.
Tracey laughed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am."
"The Bucky Barnes?" Skye repeated. "What's that like?" she asked, leaning closer to the blonde.
"Like any other relationship, but with the addition of worrying about him when he's out on missions," the blonde hacker answered, smiling as she shook her head.
"I bet," Fitz said, frowning slightly. "That has to be hard for everyone."
"Yeah, we're all family here and me and everyone else worry about those who go out on missions," Tracey said, leaning against her hand again. "It's difficult, but we get through it."
"But for now, we need to help them and get this bug ready," Jemma spoke up, turning back to her work.
ooOOoo
"Steve," Coulson shouted as he shot a few rounds at the rampaging man in the middle of the street. "We need you and Bucky to catch him from behind," he ordered. He ducked as a large piece of concrete flew towards him.
"This guy is acting like a five year old who can't get anything at a toy store," Barry said, running towards the man with May. He dodged a swinging fist from the man.
"Yeah, well, he's still not getting anything once we're done with him," May said, kicking the man on the chest.
"Any sign of the other man?" Steve asked as he threw his shield towards the man's back. He caught it quickly and straight after blocked a kick from the man.
"Not yet," Barry said, jumping back as a piece of debris came his way. "Trace informed me on the situation. Do you have the bug?"
"Not yet," Bucky answered. "Fitz and Simmons are still working on it?"
"Well how much longer?" Coulson asked, firing his gun at the man again.
"Hopefully soon," Bucky said, throwing a punch at the man's face.
He ducked and blocked punches from the man and threw his own at him. He spotted the bug on the back of his neck and tried to reach for it, but stopped. He couldn't do that just yet. They needed to find the man and get the bug to him. He continued to throw punches and kicks, jumping back when needed. All around him the other four attacked the man. All were hoping to tire him out, but they knew that it was impossible, especially since he was under the influence of the super soldier serum.
Something ran across the dark haired super soldier's peripheral vision. He turned his head slightly, but turned back to the raging man in front of him. He jumped back and allowed Steve to take over for a few seconds. Looking to his left he saw something. Someone. He narrowed his eyes and looked down an alley. There he was! The man that they were looking for!
"I found him," Bucky stated to Coulson as the director jumped back from the man's swinging arm.
"Where?" Coulson asked, dodging another attack.
"The alley to the left," Bucky said, blocking a kick. "But we don't have the bug."
"Get a hold of one of them back at the tower," the director ordered. "We need that bug now."
Bucky nodded and quickly ran to cover, trying to avoid the raging man and get to a (slightly) quieter place. He pulled his phone out and quickly dialed. "Trace?" he spoke once he heard the phone stop ringing. "The man's here, we need that bug now," he said, not wasting a moment.
"Well good news, Fitz and Simmons are done with it," she answered. "Skye and I'll bring it to you guys."
"What no! Tracey! Do not come down here!" he yelled. He stared at his phone when he didn't hear her anymore. "Shit," he said, standing up as he put his phone away. "Skye and Tracey are on their way," he announced to Coulson.
"Perfect!" the director said. "This is working out better than we had hoped." He dodged another piece of concrete. "Well, as better as it can be with Donky Kong over here throwing barrels."
Bucky swung a fist at the soldier. His blood was boiling and he only took his anger out on the man. He did not want Tracey coming down here. He didn't want her to be in the middle of this attack. She wasn't fit for fighting. He didn't want her to get in the way. No, he didn't want her to get hurt.
He continued fighting the man, hoping to stop him for everyone's sake. All the while he kept sneaking glances every which way trying to figure out where Tracey would be coming from. He had to make sure nothing happened to her.
He ducked a kick towards his head and quickly slammed his body into the man. He knocked him down, but the man quickly jumped back up and swung punch after punch at him. Bucky did his best to dodge and block. Both super soldiers were able to keep up with each other, but both succumbed to a few blows to their bodies.
"Buck!" Steve shouted.
Bucky turned around and quickly fell to the floor when he saw the red, white, and blue shield flying towards him and the super soldier. He flipped back up and started fighting the man alongside his friend. The two came at him from both sides. May and Barry were coming from behind and Coulson was coming from the right. They were overwhelming the man, but he somehow was able to knock a few of them, such as Bucky and May, away.
'Tracey!" Coulson shouted, turning to the blonde woman as he ran up to her.
Bucky whipped his head around, eyes wide. She was here. He watched – as best as he could as he attacked the rampaging super soldier – as she handed Coulson the bug. But once the director left, the metal armed man kept an eye on his girl as she turned to leave. His heart skipped a beat. The man wasn't in the alley anymore. He was slowly making his way along the side towards the blonde woman.
Bucky grunted as a kick landed on his gut and sent him flying a few feet. He squinted through the pain and looked towards Tracey. She was heading towards a side street. That must be where Skye was. His eyes shifted to the man. He was still going towards Tracey. Did he think she had the bug?
"Coulson, give me the bug!" Bucky shouted.
The director caught where the super soldier was looking and nodded his head. The robot was thrown to the metal armed man, who caught it quickly and turned on his heel. His heart hammered as he watched the man gradually reach Tracey. He was moving at a slow pace, not rushing her. That was good, but it still wasn't something Bucky wanted to see. Bucky ran. He ran towards the two. Getting closer he pulled out a gun and shouted, drawing not only the man's attention, but Tracey's as well. She saw the man behind her and took a step back, watching as her boyfriend made his way towards him.
"Get away from her," Bucky growled as he approached the man. "She doesn't have what you want. I do," he said, holding the bug up.
The man's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the bug, but his eyes shifted towards the woman who was making a break for it. He frowned and pulled a gun out and shot at the super soldier. Bucky ran behind a building and quickly shot at the man. His eyes widened as he watched him run after the hacker.
What was going on? She doesn't have the bug and yet he was still going after her.
It didn't matter. He was going to stop him.
The super soldier ran out from behind the building and fired a few rounds at the man. He started running towards him, determined to get to him before he got to her. The man turned around and began firing his gun at him as well. Bucky's eyes shifted over to Tracey and saw her run down an alley, unseen by the man. Good. He turned back to the man in front of him and charged. The man seemed to be ready and ran at him as well.
Wrong move.
Bucky grabbed him by the throat and slammed him down to the ground. He stood over him, glaring down at him. The man only glared back and jumped back to his feet. He wasn't like the super soldier the rest were fighting. He was a normal man. But he was skilled, that much Bucky could tell by the way he was fighting. They kept it up for a good few minutes until the man went flying from a kick. Bucky had it with him. He walked up to him and tossed the bug to him.
"Stay away from her," he growled as he watched the man gather the bug in his hand and made a run for it. He saw him pull something out of his pocket. A phone it looked like. He would have gone after him to get it from him and find out where Burnow was, but he was too far now and he had other things to worry about.
Bucky watched him until he was out of sight before he ran to the alley he saw Tracey run down. Walking down it he quickly side stepped a flying object. He looked behind him where it landed and raised a brow.
"A tin can? Really?" he asked, turning back around to see Tracey walking out from behind a dumpster.
"It was last minute," she defended.
Bucky chuckled as he walked up to her and pulled her into his arms. "Why did you come down here?" he asked, holding her out to look at her. "You could have gotten hurt."
"Someone had to get the bug to you guys," she stated.
"Bruce could have done that," the super soldier said, shaking his head. "You're safe. That's all that matters."
"Thanks for saving me, Sergeant," Tracey said with a smirk.
"Yeah, I'd rather not have to keep an eye on you all the time," he said with a chuckle.
"Oh please, you'd do it either way," the hacker scoffed.
"Right," Bucky said, smiling down at her. He looked back when he heard the commotion from the super soldier attacking on the street. "I have to get going," he said quickly. "Get back to the tower."
"Will do, Sergeant." She watched as he ran away, a small smile on her face. She began to make her way back to where Skye had the car parked and kept an eye out for the man again, just in case he decided to show his face again. She was making her way down the street when her phone began to ring. Looking at the screen her face scrunched up. It was a blocked number. She hesitated before finally caving in and answering. "Hello?"
"Ah Miss Madison," came a male voice. "I was worried you wouldn't answer."
"Who is this?" Tracey said slowly.
"I'm pretty sure you know who this is," he said with a chuckle.
"Michael Burnow," she said, her brow furrowing.
"Very good, Miss Madison," Burnow said.
"How did you get my number?" she demanded.
"Not important," he said. "But what is important is you."
"Excuse me?"
"I'll be staying in touch, Miss Madison," he said, a smile evident in his voice. "But if you tell anyone about this conversation I will kill your brother. My super soldier nearly did last time and I'm not afraid to make sure the job is done the next time. I'm a man of my word, Miss Madison."
Tracey's heart skipped a beat at his words. She stood frozen, her legs shaking as she stared ahead of her. She stayed that way even as the call had ended.
Who was this man?
That's chapter nine! Hope you liked it because I'm glad I finally reached the part that I ended on. Let me know what you think!
If you'd like to ask the Avengers, Madison twins, and anyone else in the tower any questions, hit me up on tumblr. If you have a prompt for Life at the Tower/AUs feel free to message me on tumblr, here, or leave it in a review.
Thank you so much for the reviews. They honest to God make me smile when I read them. I love reading your reactions and thoughts! Thank you so much!