When Pierce left, Bucky silently followed behind him and Clint found himself alone in the cell. Alone with nothing to do but think. For a moment, his mind tried to wander to the memories of his family's death. Copy or not, they were still his family and it hurt to think about them. Thankfully, Clint was able to catch himself before getting too deep into it. With not much else to do, Clint worked on improving his mental shields. An hour or so later, a loud siren ripped through the silence in the room. Clint screamed in surprise and at the sound as he clutched his ears to dull it. He tried to remove his hearing aids or turn them off but these people had his file and knew what sounds he could hear. The sound still stabbed into his ears and head. Clint was stuck, suffering.

The archer writhed on the floor for maybe a minute or more before his vision caught sight of what else was happening in the room. While he was suffering, two men, both wearing what Clint could only assume was noise canceling headphones, entered the room with a tray and a gun. One man leveled the gun at Clint even as the archer basically spasmed on the floor while the other headed toward what Clint now saw as the door to his cell. Focusing on it through the pain, Clint watched as a small slot opened and the second man pushed the tray into the room. Once it was far enough in, it closed and both men took their dear sweet old time leaving. Clint watched and a minute after the door closed, the sound ended. It took another minute or so before Clint could finally hear somewhat normally.

"Try not to share that next time?" Pietro suddenly whimpered in Clint's aching head. The archer winced. He hadn't meant to share it with everyone. But the combination of working on his shields and surprise at the sudden sound, his whole shield fell. Everyone heard and felt what he had. Guilt flooded his pores and he half wondered what happened with Bucky. Was the man able to cover himself?

"Sorry," Clint replied, trying to quickly put up his mental shields again. Figuring the conversation was now done, Clint glanced at the food. He hadn't been able to eat in nearly half a day when he had been awake and then he had been knocked out. Not that long for him admittedly but normally he's not staring at food when he can't get to it. Slowly, he shuffled himself over to the food. Without really thinking or questioning it, Clint began eating. Three bites into the meal, he realized his mistake. "Shit."

"What?" Three voices echoed in his head even as Clint felt sympathetic humor from Bucky. Of course Bucky would understand.

"Food drugged?" the sniper needlessly asked. Clint mentally hummed before glancing back at the meal. Too late now, might as well keep going, "K. I'll watch for you."

Oddly, Clint felt comforted by the fact that Bucky would be watching his back. He was even more grateful that he hadn't shared that over the link. Figuring everyone else would basically be okay and trusting they could watch each other, Clint finished the meal. Not five minutes later Clint was unconscious on the floor, a puddle of drool slowly forming by his head.

Bucky worriedly watched the monitor showing Clint's unconscious form. Through the link, the assassin could feel the archer's dreams. Wanda had taught them how to block out dreams during training so it was easy to not get sucked up into the happy fantasy Clint was seeing. Nightmares were harder to block, especially Clint's. Most of the archer's nightmares were based on real memories and so it was much harder to ignore. Somehow it being based on something real, that made the pull stronger. Almost like the mind wanted to share the horror. But Bucky wasn't going to question it. Instead, he'd just do his best to ignore it whenever it came up.

"He can't escape," A familiar voice mentioned behind the assassin. Bucky stiffened out of reflex. He never really liked someone standing behind him and the War and sniper training just made it worse. Slowly he turned to see Steve join him in watching the monitor. Since Steve arrived at Hydra Headquarters (a.k.a. S.H.I.E.L.D HQ), Bucky hadn't gone through to many 'training' exercises, gotten frozen, or any other of their typical steps in dealing with him. It was a nice relief, especially since that was one thing everyone worried about with sending Bucky back. What if Hydra tried to brainwash himself again? Even worse, what if they succeeded and the link made it that all of them got hit with it? "He'll be there for life."

"I know," Bucky whispered, praying his fear did not leak through. Everyone had talked about the downsides of this plan. One of them was that Clint was locked up for good and there was no turning back. Thankfully, Steve either didn't notice or didn't care.

"He deserves it, disgraceful," the Captain snarled. Bucky glanced at him. He had heard Steve sound like that before and with it aimed at Clint, the sniper couldn't help but wonder what happened to his friend. For some reason, he felt a strong desire to defend Clint. He shifted to full focus on Steve.

"What if he didn't do it? What if he was framed?" the assassin wondered, half defending Clint and half actually asking. Steve paused to consider it and frowned. Bucky could almost see the thoughts racing through his friend's head.

"Then I hope we figure it out before its too late," the man commented. Bucky frowned just as Steve looked over to him. "There is talk he might get a death sentence before the month is up."

Bucky prided himself in giving no outside reaction to those words. He hadn't heard anything but then again, he also hadn't really left the monitor since the alarm that wreaked havoc on everyone's head. While he had assumed that Clint's plan would never work, he had honestly believed that Clint was right in his ideas. Why didn't Clint believe him? Steve, figuring his moment was over, nodded a goodbye and walked off, leaving Bucky to himself. The man was alone for only a few more minutes before Bucky sensed a team of six suddenly coming into the room and surrounding him in a familiar pattern. Bucky forced himself to stay relaxed, like how he used to be programmed too. Thankfully, the team that tended to collect him was usually scientists or meat heads and so none of them would notice that he wasn't fully relaxed.

"Soldier, here," one of the men commanded. Bucky mutely headed over, trying to act like he was still under Hydra's control. Again, none of them seemed to notice anything was amiss. The man who called out was Bucky's lead programmer. Bucky never saw fit to learn the man's name, just kinda called him Word Guy. The men around him shifted, almost preparing for a fight. Bucky tried to relax his stance more but that just made them tense. "Let's get you back to you room."

Bucky nearly paled as he thought of the metal chair that they'd strap him to before assaulting his mind to get rid of memories, emotions, and the most recent programs. Were they finally through with him? Did they have Steve fully under control without him around? Even with his internal panic going on, Bucky went silently with the men. The halls rapidly emptied of people whenever they caught sight of the little parade and it wasn't long before Bucky realized they weren't headed to his normal room.

More people seemed to line the hallways down here but they all scattered fast upon the group's approach. One door didn't close fully in time before Bucky passed. He snuck a look in and was surprised to see it looked like a small apartment. These men were bringing him to the dormitory/living quarters. Soon after realizing this fact, the group stopped by a door. Bucky glanced at it. 666.

"Well, if that ain't a bad omen, I don't know what is," Stephen mentally muttered before Bucky slammed his shields up harder. He really didn't want everyone prying into his mind at the moment. God forbid this was some sort of trick and his chair had been moved into here. Word Man opened the door before waving Bucky inside. The assassin did as told before looking back to the scientist for more orders. Just like the well trained little puppet they remember. No matter how much Bucky's stomach turned at playing this little act. He honestly couldn't wait to go after these men and get his revenge.

"The bosses put you next to Rogers. You will stay here unless directed otherwise or it's meal time. If Rogers seeks you out, stay with him. Understood?" Word Man basically demanded. Bucky mutely nodded, still waiting for an actual directive. The man sighed. "Расслабиться."

Immediately, Bucky relaxed his stance and then headed to the bed as if to lay down. Even though not under their command, Bucky still remembered what to do with each command. Especially ones they used a lot. As he spun around to start laying down on his bed, Bucky noted the group had left and his door was slowly closing behind them. Bucky smirked and stopped himself from laying down for a moment. Then he thought better of it and finished laying down. They could have cameras watching him. He needed to act how they wanted until he was certain. Bucky waited almost a full minute before his eyes began to meticulously track around the room. A few moments later, Bucky got up, certain no one was watching him. Fools.

The room he was given consisted of a desk, bolted to the ground, and chair with nothing inside. A closet filled with clothes he distantly remembered using once or twice on various missions as Winter Solider. An attached bathroom with minimal toiletries. Apparently Hydra didn't trust him to have any of his weapons. So. Not as foolish as I thought. As an assassin, Bucky would have plastered the room with various weapons, some hidden for use, others on display, and some even in states of being cleaned or being repaired. Disappointed with the lack of even a razor blade, Bucky focused on what he could use in the room. The bathroom held nothing but the sink. Would be hard to use that against an opponent, but worth it for maybe one lucky hit. The closet had hangers amazingly built in so they could not be removed. He tried breaking a piece off only to find they were reinforced with adamantium and so they could not be broken off. The cot, like the desk, was bolted to the floor and the chair would be too obvious if he removed or changed it.

"Fuck," Bucky silently cussed. Then he glanced up. Hydra was still in a S.H.I.E.L.D base and it was well known it both groups that Clint loved venturing through the vents to spy/practice other agent's spatial awareness. It was also known that Fury had enlarged the vents to hold the archer throughout every base. Bucky smiled. "Thank you Clint."

Yanking some clothes out of the closet, Bucky quickly made it look like he was sleeping on the cot. Then, he moved to his chair so he could get to the vent. Using a slit in his metal hand, Bucky slowly removed the bolts holding up the vent cover. Once it was removed, Bucky pocketed the screws, slipped the cover into the vent and got off his chair. Slowly, he pushed it back over toward the desk before jumping up onto it. Aiming himself, Bucky jumped off the desk and caught the edge of the vent. Sighing in relief at only having to do that once, Bucky pulled himself up and in before backing up to fix the vent into place, reversing the screws to hold it in place. Everything was just about back into place when there was a knock on the door. Bucky froze.

"Barnes?" Steve's voice called from outside the room. Bucky grimaced. "James Barnes?"

Since waking up, Steve hadn't once called him Bucky. Apparently, Hydra told Steve that he had memory issues and it was better to call him James or Barnes. Bucky wasn't surprised. In the other reality, it was Steve calling him Bucky that first caused the issues with his programming. Thinking even more about it, Bucky actually enjoyed Clint and the others calling him his old childhood nickname. That must be why Hydra disliked it so much. Suddenly, the door opened and Steve worriedly stood in the doorway. He looked slightly surprised and Bucky assumed he must have knocked so hard the door just kind of opened.

"Oh! Sorry!" Steve softly cried upon the sight in the room. Bucky nearly snorted in amusement when Steve desperately grabbed for the door and tried his best to close it. It took him another minute or so before it actually sat straight enough to look mostly closed and stay that way. Once it was set up, Bucky sighed. He'd have to remember to get that fixed later. As the sniper went to move to go check on Clint, a nightmare hit him, hard.

-NIGHTMARE-

"You left," Tony Stark commented, not even looking up from his bottle. The sight line focused on the bottle. A Brewmaster Armageddon, the 2nd strongest beer in the world. A sigh escaped as a thought passed. Don't be chuggin' that. Thankfully once the thought passed, Tony slowly sipped from the bottle.

"How many?" Clint's voice replied. Tony shrugged and for a moment, one could almost see the genius wonder if he ever tried keeping track or just simply hadn't cared. Slowly, the image of Tony moved closer before a hand reached to take the bottle away. "You're done."

"Yup," Tony muttered, uncaring over apparently Clint removing the bottle from his hand. Clint looked around. Bottles littered the floor and it looked like Tony had been at it for a while. Thankfully none of the labels seemed to be the same but it made one wonder, how much alcohol had Stark just consumed? Guilt swarmed through Clint even as he examined the rest of the place. Steve's artwork was gone. Bruce's science books and glass animal collection was gone. Even Natasha's 'hidden' weapons were missing.

"Oh, Jesus, Tony," the archer groaned. Clint barely had time to turn back to Tony before an uncoordinated fist hit him in the eye. Tony and Clint both tumbled onto the coffee table, shattering it under their combined weight. "Fuck man!"

"NO! NO! YOU DON'T GET TO DO THAT!" Tony screamed at the archer before moving in for another punch. Clint defended himself this time as he was prepared for it. But he worked hard at not hurting Tony even though the genius seemed determined too. In fact, they were still fighting over the pieces of the glass coffee table and Tony was barefooted. Clint couldn't help but wince and wish they could move their half fight into a different area. "You don't get to come back in here acting like you never left!"

"Tony," Clint tried but Tony shook his head even as he pushed Clint away. The archer used that moment to back away some more, putting space between them so Tony had to telegraph his moves more. It also got them further away from most of the glass shards on the ground. But Clint could still see the red footprints that Tony was leaving behind.

"You left. Then Pepper... She... She nearly DIED! Then they all left me. I was ALONE!" Tony sobbed. Clint winced, the guilt getting worse. He honestly hadn't thought about what could have happened at the time. All he knew was that he couldn't handle the situation and he needed to leave. His own memories would haunt him to the point that he'd never be able to help Tony or Pepper. It was horrible yes, but Clint needed to worry about his own sanity as well as the others.

"Tony, I didn't mean for that," Clint moaned, wanting so hard to explain but unable too. He had asked permission and had been denied. No matter what, he couldn't say anything. And boy right now did he really want to say something, give an explanation.

"My daughter died and everyone left me," Tony growled as if Clint could do anything about it now. Clint yet again winced, hard, thinking back to the panic of learning what was happening. He had known once Bruce stated what was going on that all their attempts would be futile. They would be too late. He had seen it before when his own son was lost the same way. At the time, Clint couldn't say anything. Even now he couldn't and the guilt was killing him.

"Tony," Clint moaned, unsure exactly what he'd say but wanting to try and diffuse the moment. Tony shook his head.

"Get out," the genius hissed, apparently back to extreme anger. Clint froze at the tone. "Get out."

"What?" Clint asked, praying he had heard his friend wrong. Tony looked at the archer with such an intense face that Clint nearly shuffled back in alarm.

"GET OUT!" the genius roared. "You aren't welcome here!"

"Tony, please," Clint tried to beg, feeling the extreme despair from Tony being left and him being removed from another group he thought of as family. Tony moved to punch him again. This time, Clint saw it coming and caught the billionaire's fist to stop him from hurting himself.

"J! Security!" Tony screeched. Clint released Tony as if he had been burned and jumped to his feet. Tony feel back on his ass and winced as a piece of the coffee table dug into him. For once, Clint didn't move to help him.

"I apologize sir, my systems seem to be disrupted," JARVIS smoothly lied. Clint raised an eyebrow while Tony scoffed. Neither man had thought that the AI would side with Clint. Sighing, Clint shook his head. Staying here any longer was pushing his luck anyways. JARVIS would call Rhodey for help if Tony really needed it. And Rhodey had no bonds of old friendship with Clint to stop him from seriously hurting the archer.

"Forget it, I'll leave," Clint mumbled, slowly heading out. Tony gave the archer a miserable smirk which told Clint that the genius wasn't really certain he wanted Clint to leave. Clint promised himself he'd stay in New York. He'd watch over Tony the best he could. Even though it would be from a distance. It was the least he could do after everything. They had been so close.

"Good, no one wanted you here anyway," Tony added as Clint slipped from his view. Clint grunted in soft reply in the entry way as he tapped the elevator's button. It hurt that Tony was so violently angry with him but... He could understand why Tony was so angry. It must have horribly hurt him to have everyone leave after such a horrible moment. Clint should have returned sooner. Stopped everyone from leaving. Something...

"Sir does not mean that," JARVIS retorted softly. Clint nodded, knowing that Tony actually did mean it. Didn't mean he wouldn't regret it once he was sober. But for now, those words were meant.

"Yeah. Thanks," the archer muttered as the elevator arrived. "Keep me appraised?"

"Yes, Agent Barton," JARVIS replied as Clint entered the elevator and felt it rapidly descend.

-END NIGHTMARE-

Bucky snapped into himself faster than he lost himself to the nightmare. He snapped out so fast that his head nearly smacked onto the vent above him. Rethinking over what he had just witnessed, Bucky prayed that what he saw was just a simple nightmare. But... Something about it told Bucky that it was a horrible memory. One that Clint highly regretted and wished to fix.

"Oh, poor Clint," Wanda commented through the link. Apparently the nightmare or memory had been strong enough to pull everyone into it. Bucky didn't feel as bad about viewing it now.

"Jeez. Makes you really feel for the guy," Pietro added. Bucky nearly nodded in agreement.

"Concentrate everyone. I have a feeling this will get worse," Stephen warned. Bucky didn't reply to them. He simply increased his shields. God help them if Hydra is in the middle of talking to him and one of Clint's nightmares catches him. For a moment, Bucky went into his mind to reinforce the shields but something drew him out. Something sharp and slightly painful. Almost like a slap across the face.

"Clint!" Bucky exhaled as he realized the archer was forced awake by a slap. Moving carefully but quickly, Bucky slid through the vents till he got to Clint's cell. He wasn't even fully to the cell when he heard voices drifting up from it.

"Do you enjoy this world?" the first voice asked. Bucky took a moments before he realized this was a man that Clint called Jasper Sitwell. While Bucky had never personally met him, through Clint's memories, the assassin could clearly picture the traitor. Nearly balding guy with glasses. Almost like a smug little turtle dressed in a suit.

"And here I thought you were threatened into being Hydra. Guess you always were scum," Clint scoffed. Sitwell chuckled as Bucky finally appeared in the vent. Apparently, while Clint was still unconscious, Sitwell had either gone in or more likely sent some men in to strap Clint down to a chair. The archer could hardly move and Sitwell was stalking around him like some sort of proud lion guarding his kill.

"Yes, such scum that I am now part of the group that will rule the world," Sitwell stated, unknowingly contradicting Pierce's early statements of having already won the world. Clint suddenly let out a bark of laughter that continued for a minute or two. Bucky frowned along with Sitwell as they stared at Clint. Something was hilarious to the archer but neither man could tell what that was.

"HA! You guys are so fucking stupid," Clint laughed. Sitwell snarled, not liking Clint insulting him. Even though the duo never tended to hang out much, Clint still knew how to piss the man off. "You haven't even taken over and yet you're all acting like you've won."

"Cause we have!" Sitwell argued. Clint laughed again, making Sitwell visibly uneasy. "We have! No one can stop us!"

"I know a few people," Clint muttered, suddenly deathly serious. Sitwell gulped but basically tried to ignore the sudden change in the archer. But everyone could tell that Sitwell was shaken. Clint couldn't help but give the man an evil smirk that made the older agent shudder slightly.

"Once the Triskillion is finished-" Sitwell began. Clint paled, blocking out the rest of Sitwell's big speech. To cover his mistake, Clint barked out another bit of laughter, making Sitwell pause.

"The Triskillion? That old piece of junk? It was brought down once," Clint snarled, the humor slowly disappearing from his voice. Sitwell's eyes narrowed. Though the man had worked with Clint before and knew some of the archer's tricks, having them done on him, was throwing him. "It can be brought down again."

"By who? A dead red headed Russian and a man who's so lost in this time that he doesn't get he joined his enemy? We already took them down!" Sitwell cried. For a moment, Clint wondered about Sam Wilson. While he hadn't met the man personally yet, he hadn't thought to check on him. Hopefully he was okay. Bucky's frown deepened. He wondered who Sitwell was really trying to convince, Clint or himself. At this point though, Bucky truly believed Clint to have the upper hand, even though he was tied to a chair.

"There is more of us then just them," Clint cautioned, not giving any names. Bucky grimaced, wondering if Clint was now spilling too much information.

"Who? Banner? He's locked up nice and tight. Can't even get a book on science. Stark? He's so into keeping up his sexual image that he can't even see his weapons being sold off to the bad guys of the world. Heck, most days he's so far into a woman's pussy that he doesn't even realize he'd basically on house arrest," Sitwell explained. Clint raised an eyebrow, almost as if he was expecting to hear more names. Apparently Hydra only believed that the Avengers would challenge them. But there were so many other heroes out there. "No one can stop us."

"Sure, keep deluding yourself," Clint scoffed, not willing to name the hundreds of other heroes who could and would stand up to Hydra if Clint failed.

"You too," Sitwell laughed before leaving the room. As soon as the door closed, the chair's locks all disengaged. Clint jumped to his feet and both Bucky and Clint watched as it slowly disappeared into the ground. Clint huffed in amusement.

"So, Stark actually finished those furniture nanobots," he joked, unsure if that really was what the chair had been made of. There was a lot of S.H.I.E.L.D tech that the archer had never seen or heard of. Some of which Tony had made, some of which came from old Hydra tech and even more came from the sudden appearance of Thor, Loki and the Chitauri. Clint didn't even get a chance to relax after that before someone else entered his cell, thankfully without any added security.

Okay, still a little later than I intended... Sorry for that. But this story is almost to it's close and I'm worried that it's sequel will not be finished in time... UGH! Trying to write with two little kids hanging all over you is so much harder than I first thought.

Clint and Darius are still well. Clint had his first set of dental surgery, basically just a sealant over some teeth. He is a few years early for it but considering his genetic issue, he's pretty much gonna be early for everything regarding growth. Because he was early for it and his normal interaction with the dentist, he was given some laughing gas to keep him calm. In the end he did so well and there was no issues with it at all. Darius on the other hand is trying to take over this note. I think I'm spending more time deleting what he is typing then actually typing myself. Best move on, lol.

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Katie MacAlpine - No, Pierce was not talking about the Time Stone. Actually, while I mention what happens in the MCU, my story should be mostly considered an AU. I didn't want it to be originally but as I was already typing out an idea, the MCU kinda betrayed me by using some of my ideas in a different way. As for the rest, well, it should hopefully be explained above. Don't want to ruin too much. I'm sorry that you have been having problems as well. Life just loves to cause so much trouble, lol. Stay strong as well and hope to hear from you soon!

Shades of X - I'm glad you love the story. This one was so fun to write and I'm glad that everyone else is getting to enjoy it. It makes me happy to hear that you like how I captured the characters. I find it funny when I write a section of my story where I mention something with the characters and during the next comic release or (when the show is on) episode said character has the same detail come out. For example, two days after I first wrote of Clint's aversion to magic there was an episode in Avengers Assemble: Secret Wars where Clint states that he hates magic and I couldn't stop laughing for a good half hour over it. Glad you love this and hopefully my posts won't be as slow as they have been.