Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! The hecticness of summer finally caught up to me. And I'm working five days in a row starting tomorrow, so it is going to continue, but I finally sat down and wrote last night. I got like 7 pages in two hours. I wanted to write so badly. I actually have like 5 chapters in part three, but I didn't want to get caught up posting what I'd already written and then just stop.

So I want to take the chance to say thank you to all of you who have favorited A Game of Trust. I'm almost up to 100 favorites which just blows me away. Wow. I never expected it to take off like that. Seriously. That makes my day. And thank you to everyone reading this story! I have some great ideas coming up and am really excited to take a deeper look at Steve and Aspen's relationship now that it's finally happened.

So I've seen The Winter Soldier four times now and somehow that's not enough. (It's STILL in our discount theatre. I love it!) It will never be enough. Can it just be out on dvd already? And all the Age of Ultron hints and Comic Con photos! That is a big distraction to me when I'm trying to write... Hehe, RDJ called Chris a dorito in an interview. I laughed so hard.

In regards to this little plot we've got going on, I got my resources from the comic wiki, but I changed things up a little to make it more clear in my head. This isn't something we see in the movies and I was getting a little confused about who some of these people are not having actually read the comics, so I'm kind of doing my own thing. I did actually read The Winter Soldier comic on my kindle. I wanted to try reading one so I wouldn't be so close-minded about them. It was a little weird reading it at first, but I have to say I really got into the story and the illustrations were beautiful. I might have to buy vl.2 if it ever goes on sale...

Part Three: Heroes and Villains

Prologue – December 7, 1995

The sound of machinery whirring and clicking beat its way into Barney's head. He couldn't think, couldn't move. There was a numbness that circulated its way through his body until he couldn't even tell if he was still in one piece. He tried to pry his eyes open but it was as if they were made of lead. Finally he managed to open them a sliver letting a sickly light penetrate through the crack. He opened them wider and even the dim light stung his eyes. He was in what appeared to be a small chamber, strapped to a gurney and injected with different liquids that bubbled along winding tubes and connected with machinery he couldn't name. His mind began to panic, but he forced himself to stay calm.

The last thing he remembered was going undercover as a bodyguard for a criminal named Marko. Someone had broken into his mansion, and Barney had taken an arrow to the heart. He shouldn't be alive right now. Whoever the archer was, he had been good. Too good. There was something familiar about the way he'd shot, but Barney hadn't gotten a good look at his face. He'd joined the FBI after a successful career in the Army, his skills on the field making him an invaluable agent, but this time he'd been out-skilled. He thought he remembered someone crouching over him after he'd been shot, a familiar voice saying his name. For a moment he had thought it was his brother, but he had no idea where Clint was. He hadn't seen his brother since he got on the bus and drove away from their old life five years before. He'd faded away before he could see who had stopped to help him. Somehow he had survived though.

He tried to move his arms, but they were strapped firmly down, preventing escape. He tried shouting, but his voice was hoarse and there didn't seem to be anyone in the vicinity. Finally he lay his head back and shut his eyes again. It could have been minutes or hours later when he heard a click and the groan of a heavy door opening. He opened his eyes. A blurry shape was coming toward him from the other side of the chamber. He heard the latch lift and watched as a lean man with a bald, elongated head approached the gurney.

"Hello, Mr. Barton. I'm Elihas Starr," he introduced himself in a simpering sort of voice. Barney instantly disliked him.

"Where am I? What happened?" Barney choked out.

"You've been in my healing facility for three months since I found you nearly dead. This is the first time you've woken up. The healing process is complete." Three months had passed? The bald man began moving around him, undoing wires and tubes. He kept Barney's arms strapped down.

"Who are you? Who do you work for?" His mind went to the list of FBI enemies. Or was this man a friend? As a man who'd been betrayed by his own brother, Barney had learned not to trust people.

"I work for a very important man who has a very important task for you. I'm his personal scientist."

"What are you doing to me?"

"Nothing too drastic. Just a little rewiring."

"What do you mean?" Barney clenched his fist trying to break free of his bonds, but the restraints were made of iron.

"Up until recently we had the cooperation of your brother but seeing you injured seems to have changed his mind about whose side he wants to be on. He's chosen some spy organization that tries to save the world over us. We need a replacement."

"Clint? What do you mean replacement? I'd never work for you!" he snarled.

"Of course you will. With the right persuasion." Now he was hooking another tube up to Barney, piercing his skin with a needle. "I dare say you'll be quite compliant once we're done here."

Barney tried to fight the sensation that took over his mind, but it overcame him. It was like floating. He felt himself forget his anger, forget his brother, forget everything until they were just parts of his past, there but not really important. His mind was compliant. He needed to do what this man asked of him.

"There now," Starr said, his voice sounding far away. "You're going to work for us now. We'll train you up, get you shooting as well as your brother, and then you're going to kill him."

"Kill him," Barney repeated.

"Yes, kill him." Starr clapped his hands together. "The Baron will be pleased," he said. "Very pleased."