Summary: Bucky is recaptured by Hydra where their scientists conduct more experiments on him. There he meets an unlikely ally, an innocent looking young woman who is hiding a much darker side. Meanwhile Steve has tracked his best friend and discovered his location and is preparing to mount a rescue mission with the help of some of his fellow Avengers. Can they save Bucky before it's too late? And who is this mystery woman? Co – Written with Dixon – Vixen 13. Bucky/OC, Steve/Sharon, Clint/Natasha, Tony/Pepper. Rated M for graphic violence, language and eventual sexual scenes.
Soldiers And Spies
Chapter 11
Bucky and Eva shared a shower together and were now in some comfortable clothing. Bucky wore a pair of black sweatpants and a grey tank top. Eva also wore sweatpants but was wearing a black tank top. All of the team were exhausted from the fight and had headed into the living where a huge stack of pizzas were waiting for them.
"Stark how many pizzas did you order?" Steve asked astonished as he surveyed the kitchen where the mountain of pizzas were as well as some desserts that Tony had ordered too.
"Well Pepper wanted a chicken and pepperoni pizza, I wanted a chicken, ham and pepperoni one. I ordered a pepperoni, chicken and jalapeño pizza for Eva while Bucky had a Brooklyn pizza, the same with you Cap. I know you two like a lot of meat on your pizza. While Natasha has a ham, jalapeño and red onion pizza, and Clint has his spicy Cajun pizza. Sharon has the red pepper, spicy ham and herb pizza. And I ordered a couple more pizzas with different things." Tony said casually. "Let's be honest Cap you look like you could eat a mountain of food to keep up with that body!" Tony laughed.
Eva looked amazed at what Tony had done and Bucky shook his head and chuckled. While Sharon looked amused at Tony's comment on Steve's physique. They all grabbed a pizza box and began tucking in.
Bucky could smell the herbs coming from Eva's pizza as she pulled off a slice and started eating. Bucky bit into a slice that had a lot of ham on it and groaned. "I forgot how food has changed for the better." Bucky commented amused, as Pepper turned on the TV and put on the news.
"Yeah, the food we ate sometimes was disgusting." Steve said remembering some of the god awful bland food they used to get given.
The team ate their food in a comfortable silence as they let the events of the day wash over them. Well except for Tony, who was blabbering on about some new technology that he was working on to Pepper, who just seemed to be nodding in agreement to all he was saying. Pretending as though she understood, even though she really didn't even know half of what he was saying.
"Hey guys, I just want to say something real quick." Steve began as he finished a fourth slice of pizza. "I don't want to talk too much about this, and I know we had a really rough day today, especially you Natasha. I think it's best if we take at least four or five days to recover from this one. There's no point running ourselves into the ground trying to stop HYDRA. The last thing we want is one of our own getting seriously hurt, or even worse." He said, not able to finish that sentence.
"I'm with you on that Cap." Clint said as he put a protective arm around Natasha. "Nat's got four cracked ribs, a sprained ankle, and a busted knee, not to mention the nasty cut to her head along with the concussion. She's gonna need time to heal before we go back out there."
"If Romanoff isn't ready by then, we could always go without..." Tony said before he was cut off by Natasha.
"No fucking way." She said as she gave him a death stare.
"Never mind." He said hurriedly as Clint gave him the same look.
"We are a team, and we do this as a team." Steve stated.
"I know. Sorry Romanoff, I didn't mean any offence. I just..." Tony said.
"I know Stark, you just want to get rid of HYDRA. I want the same thing, and I want to be a part of it."
"We won't go anywhere until Natasha is healed, right Steve?" Bucky said, as he was holding tightly onto Eva's hand.
"Right." He smiled at Natasha and she nodded in appreciation as she rested her head on Clint's shoulder.
"So HYDRA is building an android army from Vibranium?" Pepper asked dumbfounded and slightly shocked from what Tony and the rest of the team had told her earlier.
"Yep, and we fought some of them like five hours ago." Sharon said grimly. She did not like the vibes she was getting from thinking about what HYDRA's plans could be. They heard the phone ring and Sharon answered it, before putting Fury on the screen so he could talk to them.
"Well the person who stole the large amounts of Vibranium has been identified. Brock Rumlow, now going by the name of Crossbones." Fury said grimly, causing them to stare then while Eva and Pepper looked confused.
Bucky growled darkly.
"I remember him, he was there in the room when Pierce ordered the scientists to wipe my mind after I started remembering Steve and what Zola had done to me." Bucky said bitterly.
"Well he's back and pissed off. I suggest you get Sam Wilson to join you as this man is going after anyone who pissed him off. That means Rodgers, Wilson, Carter and Romanoff need to be kept safe." Fury said gravely.
"He sounds like an asshole." Eva commented as she laced her fingers with Bucky's, soothing him and calming his anger. He relaxed and kissed her gently on the cheek before he turned to the others.
"Trust me, he is. I've got the scar to prove it." Sharon said darkly as she held up her right wrist which had a faint scar on it from where Rumlow had slashed at her.
"That son of a bitch." Steve growled enraged.
"Language Captain!" Tony shouted loudly, mocking the way Steve always slips back into his 1940's self and scolds anyone who curses, which made everyone, including Fury laugh.
"I'll go get in touch with Sam." Steve said as he got up and left the room after Fury had ended the call.
"Great, looks like we have another player in the game." Clint said grimly.
"As if we didn't have enough to worry about with HYDRA, and that bitch Yelena is still in the wind. No doubt we will be seeing her soon after I killed her friend Marina." Natasha told the team.
"Things just got a whole lot more complicated." Eva agreed.
"Enough of work talk. How about some dessert!" Tony exclaimed, making everyone smile.
When everyone had got their dessert and settled in Tony put a movie up on the big screen for them all to watch. It was called Hummingbird, starring Jason Statham, which had all the ladies interest. They all sat together watching the movie with their respective partners enjoying their food and the company of their friends. They knew it wouldn't last forever, but for now, they were simply a group of close friends enjoying a movie night.
Bucky watched as Eva came out of the bathroom after getting herself ready for bed. She was dressed in a grey tank top and black sweatpants.
She got in and curled into his side with a sigh of relief. He held her close and buried his face in her neck. He loved this woman so much and if something happened to Eva... He'd be broken.
"I love you." He said quietly but meaningfully, cupping her cheek with his metal hand and felt her lean into his touch as she brushed the hair from his face tenderly.
"I love you too."
When the movie was over, Clint helped Natasha back to her room. She was still pretty sore, and really exhausted. He stopped by one of the training rooms on the way and grabbed some pain killers from the medical kit.
Helping her out of her clothes, he left her in just a tank top and her underwear to sleep in. As he helped her up onto her bed, he handed her a couple of pills and a bottle of water to wash them down with. "Need anything else?" he asked.
"Yeah." She said softly. "Stay with me?"
"If you're sure that's what you want." He said with a questioning look.
"I'm sure. I don't want to be alone tonight." She confessed.
"Fair enough" he replied as he removed his shirt and pants, climbing onto the bed with her in just his underwear. Settling in beneath the blankets Natasha rested her head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart. Clint absentmindedly brushed his fingers through her hair, it was soothing and helped her to relax. He felt the tension begin to leave her body as she slowly melted into him. She fit perfectly against his body and he couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't taken this leap earlier.
As the events of the day played through Natasha's mind, she couldn't stop the tears that escaped from her eyes. She had never felt this weak and vulnerable before, and she wasn't sure what it was that had her feeling that way. "You okay Tasha?" Clint whispered in the darkness as he felt her warm tears fall onto his muscular chest and he held her tighter.
"I don't know why things are getting to me like this, I feel so weak."
"You are anything but weak Nat, trust me. You took a beating today, but not once did you give up. You fought hard to protect your friends, to protect me. I'm sorry that you had to kill that girl, but we all know that it was the only way." He reassured her.
"It's not like I haven't killed before. It's my job, I've done it so many times… too many times. But something has changed inside of me Clint. I feel so much more now. In the Red Room, they trained us to be cold and calculated. They trained us not to feel any emotions. But now... I feel every little thing." She confessed.
"That's a good thing. Feeling means you're human. It means you're alive. It takes a stronger person to kill when they know they don't want to. It's not weakness you feel. It's remorse".
"I was so scared that Marina had killed you." she whispered as more tears fell from her eyes. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
"I'm okay. I'm here and I'm still in one piece" he said as he ran his hand up and down her back reassuringly. "But you know that I would die for you. I would lay down my life if it meant saving you." He said very seriously. "I love you Natasha... you know that right?" he admitted as he kissed her forehead. It was the first time he had said it out loud, and he was a little worried it would be too much for her.
"I do... and I love you too Clint." She replied placing a kiss on his chest.
"Get some rest Babe, you'll feel better in the morning I promise. I'm right here for you, I'm not going anywhere… ever." He said as he held her tight in his muscular arms. She snuggled in close to him, enjoying the safety of his embrace as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Bucky looked at Eva who was fast asleep in his arms, her chest rising and falling gently as it rained outside. The sky was dark through the curtains and he held her close. This woman meant so much to him, he really did love Eva, more than anything. But he had always been afraid that she would see him as the monster he really was, or at least the monster he believed himself to be, even if people tried to tell him it wasn't true. He was 'The Winter Soldier'. That will always be a part of him. She didn't care though, she still loved him, regardless of the things he had done, and he loved her.
He sat up a little with her still in his arms, looking at the bruises from the fight with HYDRA and he kissed her on the cheek tenderly before simply watching her sleep a while.
She stirred a little and woke then and smiled up at him, her blue eyes sleepy but alert as she looked up into his grey ones.
"What's keeping you awake?" She asked softly, stroking his stubbly right cheek causing him to lean into her touch with a sigh of contentment as he swallowed.
"That guy… Crossbones. He was there when I got my mind washed by Pierce, he was there in the room when I got beaten by Pierce." Bucky admitted and he felt Eva's anger almost radiating off her skin.
"You went through hell because of those bastards, I wish we could kill them all." Eva said angrily and Bucky looked at her. Seeing how angry and upset she was for him, it almost made him proud in a weird kind of way. It only proved to him more, how much she really cared for him.
He kissed her sweetly before cuddling back down and holding her tight.
As the next few days passed by the team tried to get as much rest as possible. Their troubles with HYDRA only seemed to be expanding as they discovered more and more people working with them. They knew they all had to be on top of their game if they were going to finish this.
Natasha and Clint were down in the armoury cleaning their weapons when Tony came sauntering in. "Hey Romanoff, I got something for you. Wanna come down to my lab?"
"Sure thing, Tony." She replied as she got up with a little help from Clint and limped to the elevator. Because of the Red Room experiments done to her, she healed at an above average rate. Her sprained ankle was back to normal but her busted knee was giving her grief. Sharon said she may have torn her Anterior Cruciate Ligament when Marina kicked her hard in the knee causing it to hyper extend. Even with her heightened healing powers and rehabilitation sessions with Sharon, it was going to take a while to fully heal.
As they arrived down in Tony's lab he presented her with what looked like a brace of some sort, made out of a very strong but flexible material she had never seen before. "What is this?" she asked a little confused.
"That my dear, is a knee brace, made especially for you out of a material that Jarvis and I created. It is extremely strong and flexible. It will allow you to move your knee in any which way you desire with your crazy gymnastics fighting style, while providing extra support and helping to heal your ACL faster. It's very lightweight and thin so you will barely even know it's there, meaning you could wear it all day long if you wanted to" Tony smiled.
"Wow Tony... I don't know what to say... Thank you" she said a little stunned at his kindness. It wasn't often Tony did things for other people. He was a genius, but he was a slightly self-centred egotistical genius.
"My pleasure. The team wouldn't be the team without you with us." He stated simply.
Without a second thought Natasha threw her arms around him and gave him a hug.
"Woah... what... is this a thing with her now?" He asked Clint, looking a little confused that the once cold and calculated badass assassin just gave him a hug.
Clint just gave him a nod and smiled. "Thanks man." He said as he gave him a clap on the back. Effortlessly Clint lifted Natasha up onto one of Stark's benches and rolled up the leg of her sweatpants. He slid the brace up her smooth leg and positioned it around her knee, making sure it was strapped up just tight enough. "Give it a go." He smiled as he lifted her back down to the floor.
Natasha did a lap of the room, walking with ease and without any pain or discomfort. "Tony this is amazing!" she exclaimed, before breaking into a full sprint down the hallway, stopping abruptly on her bad leg and then sprinting back. "Wow! I can't feel any pain at all." She smiled. It was the first real smile Clint had seen since she got injured, and he relished every second of it.
Eva was relaxing on the sofa as they all needed time to recover from the fight, both physically and mentally. She was reading a book while Bucky sat next to her, watching the news in a comfortable silence. His arm was wrapped around her close and she leaned into him smiling. After a while she decided to cook them all brunch, as they were all getting pretty hungry and she headed into kitchen.
Bucky watched her quietly as she began cooking and baking some recipes from her memory. He remembered his mother used to make him and his four younger siblings breakfast or treat them to homemade chocolate chip cookies that he'd always share with Steve.
"What are we making?" Bucky asked curiously as he watched her get up a cooking site on her IPad. He approached her and glanced at the screen to see a recipe for Oladi pancakes.
"Oh my god, is that what I think it is?" Natasha called out excitedly as Bucky read out the name. Bucky laughed at Natasha's excitement, and the rest of the team came in then looking curious.
"Oladi pancakes is one of my favourite foods. I might cook some Ukraine food too, as my mother taught me how. As well as Russian food, not to mention Polish food too." Eva admitted as Bucky began to help her.
"So your mom was Ukrainian?" Tony asked curiously, Eva nodded as she stirred the mixture quietly.
"Yes...she...was. My maternal Grandparents were Jewish and lived in Kiev but during the war, half of my maternal family were killed by Nazis. My Mother's aunt, her husband and three eldest children were killed in the Babi Yar Massacre. My Father didn't have it much better, his eldest brother died in the Riga Massacre. So...my family have a very painful history with the war." Eva said sadly.
"I'm sorry, Eva." Steve said quietly, he'd witnessed the concentration camps himself and he knew that Bucky had experienced what it was like. He was a POW.
Eva shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "Don't be, they're happier where they are now."
"How old were the two of you when you were recruited by the Red Room?" Sharon asked quietly, she knew Eva and Natasha had been young when they'd joined.
"I was only seven years old." Natasha said quietly.
"I was eleven years old. Sometimes I think my parents would be ashamed of me." Eva said grimly.
"Being in the Red Room was never your choice Eva. It was never anyone's choice. Your parents would be so proud of the brave young woman you are today. Fighting for a country you have adopted as your own. Fighting for the memories of your loved ones. Don't ever doubt that." Bucky told her as he placed a sweet kiss to the side of her head and continued to help her cook.
"Bucky's right. You girls are amazing. To go through what you have, and come out of it so strong and courageous. That's definitely something to be proud of." Steve told them.
"I sure as hell wouldn't want to be in a fight with you." Tony laughed. "Either of you. Chicks are scary enough when they're mad… no offence Pep." he quickly added as he smiled at his girlfriend. "Throw some crazy Red Room training and Cirque De Soleil type moves in there and that's just down right terrifying." He said making everyone laugh.
"Oh this smells amazing!" Pepper exclaimed at one of the dishes Eva had prepared with assistance from Bucky.
As they finished up cooking Eva laid all the food out on the kitchen counter along with a stack of plates for everyone. They each grabbed a plate and loaded it up with food before sitting down in the living room to eat and talk together. They were like one big family, and Eva was finally starting to feel like she had a home again.
"Oh my god Eva, this is delicious." Natasha grinned as she swallowed down a mouthful of food.
"So good." Clint added.
"You can cook for us anytime." Steve smiled.
Eva couldn't think of a better bunch of people to live with. She was happier than she had been since her parents passed away. She almost felt normal again.
"What the hell are these cookies? They're delicious?" Tony exclaimed through a mouthful of cookie and Eva smirked at the man in amusement.
"Pyraniki, Russian honey spiced cookies and save some for Sam, Steve he's coming to stay with us." Eva said sternly to him as they all enjoyed the brunch when Sam Wilson came in.
"Hey Sam." Steve said warmly as he stood up and gave him a quick manly hug and Sam grinned at him as he was offered a plate and helped himself to some Oladi pancakes and sausages.
"Hey guys, so what's going on?" Sam asked everyone curiously as he noticed Bucky and Eva sitting together on the sofa.
"Well, we think HYDRA may have gotten their hands on nuclear weapons, and some alien weapons that they stole from SHIELD and a sceptre that can control people." Steve explained gravely. Sam looked horrified.
"Jesus, is that why Crossbones is in on it?" He asked cautiously as Eva served out some Grenki toast and smiled.
"Yeah, we think they're building an android army to attack SHIELD, and maybe the whole of America." Sharon said grimly and Sam looked dumbfounded.
"This sounds like Terminator." He said finally.
"Oh trust me, I feel like a Terminator I literally have some metal bones and freaky powers." Eva said laughed, but in a way still being serious.
"I get that reference!" Steve exclaimed, having finally watched the Terminator movies with Sharon a few weeks back, and everyone laughed at the Captain.
Enjoy and review.