AN: Hey guys! Hope all you UK peoples had a nice bonfire night! I had been planning to go to my local event but ended up being too tired to go. Recovering from a virus so my body clock is messed up, meaning that currently working on 2 hours sleep and yesterday I slept for 20 hours straight. Joy...

But the show must go on!

Chapter 3 - Quite the looker

Bucky expected this to be far more awkward than it turned out to be. In the beginning he felt completely out of his comfort zone as he sat down across from the nervous artist.

Bucky had honestly been a bit shocked when he learned that Steve was as good at drawing as he was. He'd read about Steve's attendance of an Art College at the Smithsonian but to actually see his friend's art really drove the point home. Bucky didn't really understand what counted as "good art" but looking at Steve's drawings were like staring into photographs. Like staring into memories. If anyone could draw 'X' realistically, it was Steve.

However, for reasons that Buck didn't fully understand, Steve didn't particularly like people knowing that he had this talent. Of course, the entire team knew. Steve was good at hiding his creations but he lived in the same building as 3 ex-assassins. It really showed how much the Avengers respected their leader, not even Stark joked about Steve's talent.

Bucky didn't doubt Steve's creative capability, he doubted his ability to describe the ghost from his mind.

Cap started off by asking for a face shape but Bucky hadn't paid much attention to her "face shape". The Winter Soldier didn't particularly care about appearance, only the mission at hand.

So when Steve started throwing around words like "Square", "Oblong" and "Round", Bucky got incredibly irritable. Round? Of course her face was round, all heads were!

Seeing his friend's frustration, Steve decided to use a different approach asking Buck what he did remember about the girl's face.

It didn't take Bucky long to come up with an answer. He could still picture her eyes in the back of his mind. So alive and bright that they were almost emerald green. Yet at the same time they held a fury that only a survivor could own.

He described them with ease and along the way Steve would give him descriptions and names. Thin almond, proportional, imperial jade.

Bucky didn't really understand it but when Steve let him have a look at his work so far, he could have sworn he was staring back into her eyes. Steve was a miracle worker.

Steve couldn't get the grin off his face as they continued, watching Buck as he tried to visualise her features as they moved from her eyes outward.

Bucky actually enjoyed explaining her to Steve. Describing her face to the best of his abilities, receiving a name for what he was saying and then seeing Steve bring her to life on paper.

Soft angled brow, long nose, Small mouth, Sharp Cupid's bow. Bucky was pretty sure some of the names were completely made up but he didn't really care if they were.

Gradually as the piece progressed, the two went from sitting on two opposite couches to sitting side by side.

Bucky learned that her face shape was actually "Round" which lead him to wonder what on earth a "Square" face looked like.

Bucky found that her hair was the easiest thing to explain, having some idea what Steve's fancy words meant.

In the end it took them a little over 3 hours to get it to a point where Bucky and Steve were both happy with the finished product.

In the end all Bucky could really do was stare at the sketch, taking in every detail. It wasn't exactly how he remembered her, she seemed to have a permanent scowl in his short dream. The only time her brow had relaxed was on the plane when she'd smiled at him.

It felt grounding to have her portrait in his hands, like now he had something physical to prove that she wasn't just a faded memory. She was a real person and this was one step closer to finding her.

He was taken from those thoughts by the sound of the elevator opening, snapping out of admiring the portrait just in time to see Tony strutting his way into the room. "Let's get this party started, shall we?" Tony's tone was, dare he say, "chipper", leading both Barnes and Steve to wonder how the Inventor knew they had finished.

Tony put on his best Stark smile while hold out a hand, waiting for Barnes to pass him the drawing. If either of them asked, he'd tell them that J was set to alert him when they'd finished because they was no way he was about to admit to spying on them.

Bucky passed him the paper with a little hesitance. Tony turned it the right way around as he slowly walked towards his holograph console. What he saw forced him to give out a low whistle. "Quite the looker". He meant it as well.

He reached the console, giving Jarvis the signal to scan the sketch as he wondered what he'd expected this girl to look like. He guessed that he expected her to be some blonde haired Russian chick with a jaw that could crush cans and bite through tires but she looked really pretty.

Not that Russians couldn't be pretty, Natasha was a prime example of that. Speaking of the Russian. "Now we're just waiting on Red and we can get this ball rolling"

Tony turned, leaning on the console as the hologram spread across the large window wall, displaying Steve's wonderful stretch. Tony held back a sigh at Cap's reprimanding stare, not even knowing what he'd done wrong this time. But before Steve could air his grievances, Tony was shocked to hear Barnes respond to him.

"Thank you, Tony"

Tony was stunned to see that Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier actually looked vulnerable as he thanked him. He was slightly sickened to admit that a spark of pity ran through him, hearing those three words. "It's as easy as Romanoff made it sound, really. No skin off my back" Tony shrugged, hoping to brush the conversation under the rug. He didn't get his wish.

"But you didn't have to help me" Bucky continued staring at the hologram of 'X's picture instead of Tony. He knew he could really do with being on the genius's good side. The next 'who knows how long' would be difficult and Tony's skills would be essential to them.

Tony finally let out that sigh he'd been holding since breakfast. He guessed he could be 'civil'. "Well, I'm not just helping you. I'm pretty sure Capsicle over there would melt under the stress of another manhunt. He's getting old, you know".

"Thanks, Tony" Steve's thanks was definitely more sarcastic than Barnes's making both of the other men smile slightly.

"And I have to admit that this girly of yours has gotten my interest peeked, which is a hard thing to do." That was the best Tony could do at the moment. He didn't know if there would be a day when he could forgive Barnes for what he did and he knew he'd never be able to forget it. "Plus I'm pretty sure Nat would have gone all momma bear on my ass, if I'd refused"

"Most likely" They could hear as well as see the smirk on Natasha's face as she walked in, Bruce in tow.

"Brucie! Nice of you to join us." Tony greeted brightly, thankful for the passing of that conversation.

"How's Fury?" Steve asked slipping easily into the Captain mentality. He would never demand information or results, it was impolite and he trusted Nat to do everything in her power to achieve their goal.

"Still Fury" She smirked before turning her attention back to Stark. "Localise your search to the States and work out from there"

Bucky's wandering mind, snapped onto her "She's in America?" He tried to deny that the thought planted a blossom of hope in his chest.

Natasha paused before responding, watching as a map of the USA appeared on the window followed closely by a box full of coding and sprawling text. She gave Bucky her best smile, "Fury seems to think so" She walked forward, taking a seat in front of the window and watching as Bruce went to help Tony out. "He had to call an old friend of his, CIA, I think. They'd heard whispers of an 'X' character crossing the Canadian border a couple of years ago"

"A couple of years ago?" Steve questioned watching Bucky as he sat down on the seat in front of Nat. "She could be anywhere right now". He commented softly, hoping not to discourage them as he joined Buck on the couch.

Natasha gave a light sigh, leaning back into her chair. She'd had to call Fury twice. Once to ask what he knew and the other to learn what his CIA friend told him. The process had been irritating but she didn't come away completely empty handed. "It's the best I've got on her location, However I did learn something interesting"

Bucky watched the smirk spread across her face as he wracked his brain, wondering what she knew. His mind craved information about 'X' like it was food for her memory. Each new fact grounded her in reality.

"There was whispers of an 'X Program', back in the early 90's according to Fury. Something Shield looked into briefly before leaving it". Natasha knew she couldn't take everything Fury said at face value but she didn't see a reason for him to lie to them about this.

Both men frowned at the information but before either could speak, one of the Scientists did. "On the topic of interesting info…" Tony called out from the console, cutting himself off as the window hologram filled with the data he'd found. Apart from being a 'Genius, Billionaire, ex-playboy, philanthropist', Stark was also an amazing multi-tasker. Things like creating micro pressure triggers and spying on his father's obsession and murderer came easy, allowing him enough time to sift through Hydra's leaked files.

Both Steve and Bucky looked at the Genius, confused why he'd cut of his own sentence but then Steve noticed how Natasha was now looking past them at the window. Tapping Bucky's shoulder to get his attention, Steve turned in his seat to view the screen properly. Bucky glanced at Steve before turning as well but the gravity of the information on the window made him stand to get a better look.

A file. A short file with no photo but a file all the same. "Where'd you find this?" Nat questioned absorbing the information. The file lacked a picture to confirm that this was their girl but the name was more than enough.

X23.

Aliases: X, Talon.

Gender: Female.

Date of Birth: Unknown.

Place of Birth: N/A.

Height: 5'6

Weight: 147 lbs

Tony moved away from the console, leaving his programs to run and moved closer to the trio as he explained. "Hydra's leak. Took me some time to find it, they'd hidden it well" He glanced back to see Bruce listening as well. "It's not much, weirdly but it's something".

But to Bucky it was enough. Enough to know that he wasn't just imagining her. Enough to know that they weren't about to embark on a wild goose chase to find a person in his head. She was real.

As the weight of doubt lifted from Bucky, a cloud of confusion descended onto Steve. "Why would they deem her Place of Birth not important?"

Bruce went to answer, reminding most of them that he was still in the room. "She could have been abandoned or an orphan, it would make sense considering they also didn't know when she was born".

"It would have been nice to have as well, I could've filtered my I.D search" Tony tutted before shrugging it off. He was just grateful to have her height and weight, it would help with the CCTV scan.

The present Avengers didn't get more time to discuss the file's content for the following pause was interrupted by the file in question disappearing, followed by Jarvis's explanation. "Sorry to interrupt, sir but we have 68% match on the CCTV scan"

Everyone paused for a second as they tried to comprehend what was happening. They'd found her? "Well, that was quick" Bruce commented, turning back towards the console and bringing the CCTV picture onto the window.

They all stared disbelieving at the picture. It was grainy in quality but Natasha had to admit that the woman did look a lot like Steve's drawing. Without her hood up, it was easy to see her face. Black hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail, green eyes pointing straight ahead and paying no attention to the camera. Navy blue backpack hanging from one shoulder.

Nat had no doubt that it was her but it still confused the hell out of her.

"What?" The half-asked question came out as a whisper from Bucky's lips. He felt like he was in some form of shock. They'd found her, in less than 24 hours but how? She was out in the open, not hiding but why? She was an assassin, she should know how to keep herself hidden.

Tony was the first to recover from the mental whiplash, "Where, J?"

"New York, sir. 42nd street heading southeast to be precise" Once again everyone was left silenced by Jarvis's words.

"She's in Queens?" Steve asked feeling a shiver of doubt and fear run through him. What if Bucky had it wrong? What if she wasn't a friend? What if she was working with Hydra and this was all some kind of trap?

Bucky's thought process wasn't in line with Steve's at all. Sure he was questioning why they'd found her so easily but he honestly didn't care if it was a trap at this point. He needed to confirm his memory. "She's in the city" He said already heading for elevator. He had a location, a lead and now he was going to go find her.

He barely got two steps before Natasha stepped in his way "Barnes, we need to set up a plan of approach before we can go after her".

Bucky huffed out an irritated breath before answering through gritted teeth. "We could lose her in that time." It made no difference to him if she was an enemy. Answers were answers, it didn't matter if they were supplied through a discussion or an interrogation.

Anger radiated from Bucky in waves that would have made most men back down but the Black Widow wasn't one to back down. "She's quite obviously isn't trying to be hidden, she shouldn't end up run for no reason." Natasha didn't understand why 'X' was out in the open but she quite clearly was. "Trust me, it's the exact same thing I said to that idiot whenever you showed up"

Her finger pointed at a surprisingly uneasy Steve. She was right, of course. Every sighting of Bucky had Steve wanting to run out and get him, which is why Steve felt so conflicted now. He could relate whole-heartedly with what Bucky was feeling but at the same time he didn't want to lose his best friend to a Hydra trap. "She's right, Buck". Steve quietly sighed, locking eyes with the brunette when he turned. "We have time. 'X' isn't going anywhere, right now. Let's plan it through so we only have to do this once"

Bucky could see how much Steve meant those words. Maybe Stark was right, neither of them were getting any younger. They may have been youthful physically but mental they were tired. All those years laid heavy on them but Steve seemed to mask his exhaustion well.

"Plus you need a shower before you meet up with your girl, otherwise she will definitely run a mile in the opposite direction". Stark's comment made Bucky look at his clothes in confusion. Sure he was still in his PJ bottoms and hadn't showered that morning but he didn't see why 'X' would care. Knowing how Hydra kept him, she'd probably seen him in worst states. "Go sort yourself out, Jarvis will track her and alert you if anything happens, isn't that right, J?"

Tony smiled fondly as his AI replied "Certainly, sir. You have my word".

AN: Quick thanks to AraelDranoth for the advice, it seemed to work a bit. And can't wait for your new predictions, Paksennarion :)

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please fav, follow and review.

Feedback may possibly be the elixir that cures sleep problems! I don't know for sure but it's worth a shot so help a bro out!

See you next week!