Chapter 12. Mission

His eyes were closed as the super soldier sat in the chair of the apartment he shared with Peter Parker, waiting for the call to assemble. Although Winter was alone, as Peter had made the journey to the city to write one of his college examinations, he still felt the presence of the young man who had become his friend in the month since he awakened in the operating room. Peter's optimism and visible good nature had been a sharp contrast to his own nature, of always showing an impassive face to those in positions of authority. Despite the assurances of the Avengers and Nick Fury, that he was permitted to show more emotion he still found it difficult to do so.

Unless he was with Winnie. With her mother, Noelle, Winter had successfully reaffirmed an arms length relationship with her, not wanting to overstep any boundaries of propriety between them. But the little girl made it impossible for him to be aloof in her young presence. A slight smile crept onto his face as he remembered the first time he was permitted to accompany the girl alone out to the playground, just a few days before. Noelle, who had taken on the task of cooking a particular recipe that required her attention, was unable to accept the girl's request to go out and play. Her usual playmate, Paul Wilson, another child who had become more familiar to Winter's acquaintance, was with his parents in Louisiana, visiting Sam Wilson's family. Winter had been working out on that day, maintaining his physical conditioning when the AI, Friday, requested his presence in the Barnes residence.

"Advise Noelle Barnes that I require a shower and shall be there as soon as possible," he answered.

When he arrived and was granted entrance into the suite, Winnie ran to him, pleased as always when she saw him.

"Papa Winter! I want to go to the playground but Mama's too busy and no one else can go and I want to go."

She took his hand, pulling him to the kitchen where Noelle, wearing an apron, with her hair tied back and her face displaying some stress, looked up at him.

"I can't leave the cooking process at this time," she said. "I'm making strawberry jam and raspberry jam, and I have to stir them frequently or else they'll burn. Would you be okay with taking Winnie to the playground?"

"You trust me alone with her?" he asked, wanting to make sure of what she was requesting.

"Of course I do," she answered, as if it were evident. "If you could watch her for the next hour, even 90 minutes, then I can get this done and you can join us for dinner. We're ordering in pizza. I've had enough cooking for today."

"May I have some of the jam?" he asked, then felt his cheeks get warm when she grinned at him. "I remember Barnes liking the taste of both."

"You must both have a sweet tooth," she noted. "Alright, you'll get a jar of each. You have a cell phone now, right? I can have Friday call you when I'm finished."

He agreed, then made sure Winnie had her jacket on, and her shoes tied up before taking her by the hand to the playground. At first, he just watched as she climbed the steps to the slide and slid down several times, then he became nervous when she began climbing one of the structures and stood closer, worried that she would fall. When she noticed, she laughed.

"I can jump from this," she boasted. "I'm a super soljur and can jump from the top."

"I'm sure you can," he replied. "But I'm still going to be close."

To prove her abilities, she scrambled up to the top of the structure and poised herself at the edge. Winter felt his heart rate and breathing increase as she stood there. Even knowing that she had done this before in Barnes presence wasn't enough for him to not react. When she launched herself off with a yell, he caught her before she landed, rolling onto his backside and cushioning her landing. It knocked the wind out of him for a moment and he remembered her looking at him with a slightly worried face.

"Are you okay?"

"I am fine, Winnie Barnes," he said, after doing a quick self-assessment for any injuries. "Are you okay?"

"Uh huh," she answered, then climbed off of him and ran towards the swings. "Can you push me?"

Standing up, he followed her to the swings, lifting her into the seat. After making sure she had her hands on the chains, he followed her instructions to push her gently on her back. As she encouraged him to push harder, he watched as she went higher and higher, laughing as her hair streamed behind her. The look of absolute joy on her face touched that part of him in his chest that always seemed to overwhelm him with emotion. This time, he shared her joy, indulging in the happiness that radiated off of her. Although he pushed her for some time, he found her capacity for playing on the swings seemed to be larger than his capacity for pushing her and began encouraging her to finish up. When his phone rang, with a call from Friday advising him that pizza had been ordered he was both relieved and saddened that their play session had come to an end. It had been a pleasant time spent with the little girl. After dinner he read to her and helped tuck her into bed, a routine that he found comfort in.

"Winter," announced Friday, interrupting his meditations. "Please report to the armoury for your weapons check. Quinjet liftoff will be at 09:00. Good luck on your first mission."

He acknowledged the announcement, rose, then bent over and picked up his go bag. It was his first mission as himself, not relegated to the background as he had been when Barnes was still present in their shared body. In the week since the incursion into the daycare he had been given clearance to access the armoury and undertake target practice. Five days ago, he was measured for his own set of tactical suits then called to the quartermaster's office yesterday to try one on. Unlike Barnes, who wore a suit of navy blue, with black pants, Winter's suit was all black, similar to what he wore when he was with HYDRA. It was better fitting than those garments, and the properties of the fabric were evident as it had both wicking and insulation properties, basically keeping him cool in warm weather but warm in cool weather. Also important, at least to him personally, was the built-in protection against projectiles, like bullets, knives, or arrows. The very fact that the Avengers tried to mitigate the personal risk to his body wasn't lost on him. He wasn't just a tool, or a weapon to them. He was part of a team, and his well being was important to them. Before he left the suite, he looked in the mirror and promised himself to bring everyone home.

Several others were already at the armoury checking their weapons, nodding to him as he arrived. There was little joking or light talk at this time as everyone was focusing on the mission. He opened his secure weapons safe, pulling out his preferred weapons, including several knives, handguns, and an M249 SAW Paratrooper light machine gun. He put the magazines into a special carry-on case, with inserts for the handguns and knives. Then he checked the sights and controls of his guns, satisfied that they were ready for action, placing them in their assigned slot in the case. Locking the case, he entered the quinjet, stopping at the locker designated for him. Unlocking it with his thumbprint, he stowed the carry-on case and machine gun inside. Another tactical suit was already hung up in the locker, as everyone had a spare on the aircraft, in case the one they put on in their quarters was damaged during the mission. Adding his go bag, containing a couple of changes of casual clothes, he closed and latched the locker door, then looked to see where others were sitting before choosing his own seat. Carol Danvers and Yelena were piloting the aircraft for this mission. Joaquin Torres came up the ramp once everyone was on board. He was accompanied by the Iron Man suit, already being remotely controlled by Tony Stark. The suit stepped into an alcove, locking itself into position. Torres' cast was off, but he still wore a supportive sling as his arm wasn't quite strong enough to withstand the stress of flying. Sam wasn't due back from Louisiana until the next day but would come by portal if he was still needed to be a wingman.

"The latest mission update is already loaded," said Torres. "You can watch it en route to your destination. Stay sharp and come home in one piece."

Thor, Shaun, and Kate all nodded at him. Winter did the same, following their lead. When the ramp went up the two pilots started up the quinjet, raising it slightly and taking it out of the hangar. He saw Danvers smile a little as she received a message from the tower controller. Turning back to look at Winter, she gestured for him to come forward. Unstrapping his seatbelt, he came up to stand just behind her seat.

"You have someone who wanted to say goodbye," she smiled, then looked forward as Yelena rotated the quinjet so they were facing the building.

On the viewing platform were Winnie and Noelle. The little girl, her face smiling brightly, was waving her hand at him. Raising his hand in return, he waved it several times, aware of that feeling in his chest again. Turning away as Yelena rotated the aircraft back to its forward position, he strapped himself back into the seat. He didn't realize he was smiling until he noticed the others smiling at him. Unlike the looks that Winter would receive from the HYDRA support teams, gestures that disguised their true nature of cruelty and arrogance, these smiles were genuine. He accepted them as the good wishes they were meant to be.

Once the flight path was set the auto pilot was engaged and both Carol and Yelena came to the back to watch the mission update. They were headed to a suspected human trafficking base near the Panama Canal, run by various drug cartels, although it was disguised as a warehouse for cargo transfer. The only reason they even knew about it was because one of the people kidnapped to be sold as a drug mule, or worse, was identified incorrectly. Normally, they looked for people who were alone in life, either on holidays by themselves, or isolated from friends and family, trying to live off the grid. But one of their operatives screwed up and took a person who wasn't alone. A cybersecurity unit of Interpol scoured the dark web looking for anything to trace where the young woman was, supposedly finding her after just two days, when a tip alerted them to her image being displayed on a human auction notice. The auction to sell her, along with others, was both a live and online event. The Avengers were going to disrupt the live event, along with a multi-national special squad.

Five hours after taking off from the Avengers compound, the quinjet touched down about a mile from the site, met there by the special forces squad who were tasked with providing support for the team. Activity had been minimal but the anonymous source who gave them the tip insisted it was the correct time and place. With all of them spread around to breach the site, Yelena and Shaun were tasked with shutting off the power grid that supposedly would open all the locks in the place. Iron Man was providing coverage from the air, while Winter, Thor, Carol, and Kate would enter the facility, forcing the cartel members out into the open where the special forces squad would take them into custody. The Avengers would free the prisoners, keeping them safe as the arrests were made. It was all supposed to be by the book.

Back at the compound as Torres and Stark monitored the mission, Tony noticed some anomalous readings coming from one of the buildings they hadn't entered yet. Sending the suit in closer he looked at Joaquin, pointing out a significant number of ominous shapes showing up on his scan of the building's interior.

"What are they?" asked Torres, peering closely at the screen. "What kind of heat signature is that?"

"If I had to guess I would say killer robots," replied Tony. He activated his comms. "I'm getting some readings from the smaller blue building that you should be aware of."

"We're kind of under fire here," replied Carol. "Our guns don't seem to have any effect. This place has more firepower than we were led to believe. Haven't found any captives yet."

The sound of gunfire and a couple of explosions saw both Tony and Joaquin glance nervously at each other. While Joaquin advised the special forces unit to enter and engage with the enemy, Tony remotely sent the suit into the blue warehouse. As soon he entered the space all the units, at least 100 of them by a quick count, switched on, a red laser-sighted eye coming online, all of them targeting the Iron Man suit. Immediately, their firearms were raised, and they began firing. Blowing a hole in the ceiling, Tony flew the suit out then aimed back inside, launching several small rockets into the space. A spectacular explosion resulted but it obviously didn't destroy all of the units as they came streaming out and heading towards the other buildings. Out of one of the other buildings Carol burst through the roof, while Winter ran out, holding his machine gun like a club, hitting anything or anyone that came close. The others did the same, even Kate, using her bow as a staff. Carol and Thor both rose into the air to join the Iron Man suit.

"It's a trap," she said to the suit's cam. "There are no captives. Someone wanted us here."

The suit took a hit, knocking the feed down. Quickly, Tony pulled up the other feeds, then satellites of the area and zoomed in, watching as their team was pinned down by a much larger, organized force that appeared from nowhere, supplemented by the robots. At just that moment, the alarms for multiple intrusions at the compound came on and both men looked at each other, as if this day couldn't get any worse.

"I've sent the command for the suit AI to take over," said Tony. "I have another suit in the armoury."

Joaquin took his sling off and flexed his arm. "Guess I'm doing what I can. Friday, code Alpha lockdown, all sectors."

Both men began running to the armoury, quickly notifying Friday when they arrived so she would let them in. Half a dozen security staff were already in there, but their chief wasn't one of them.

"Where's Chief Hamilton?" asked Torres. They all shrugged. "Friday? Where is Security Chief Hamilton?"

"Chief Hamilton has disabled his comms link and his tracker," it replied. "Accessing security camera feeds." There was a pause. "He is in the residential wing, approaching the Barnes residence. He has disabled comms access to that sector."

"What the fuck is he up to?" Tony muttered out loud as his replacement suit assembled around him. "Friday, do not give Hamilton access. Disable his security clearance. Notify all external command staff of the intrusion and get that alarm through the comms there. Put us through to Noelle on her cell phone."

Her face came up, looking puzzled but not alarmed. "Hi, Tony. What's up?"

"Did you hear the code Alpha lockdown being announced?" he asked.

"No. That's an intruder alert, right?"

"Yeah, but we're not sure exactly who's attacking," said Joaquin as he put a tactical suit on, wincing as he pulled the sleeve over his almost healed broken arm. "So, you heard no warning at all?" She shook her head. "Hamilton is headed towards your quarters. He's already disabled his comms link and his tracker, as well as all comms in the residential wing. Friday isn't supposed to let him into your quarters, but he may have a way to bypass the lock. Do you have any weapons there?"

"No, Bucky refuses to allow them in here," she replied. She thought for a moment. "I have a cast iron frying pan and some chef knives."

The two men looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"If that's what you have, that's what you have," said Joaquin. "Take him out if you have to. The mission was compromised and I'm sure he has something to do with that as well as this intrusion. Hide Winnie."

"Okay," she said, looking worried. "Good luck."

Friday cut the feed and both men checked each other out, along with the security staff there, giving them the order to take down their chief and anyone who seemed aligned with him. One of them grimaced, a look that was noticed by Tony.

"You have something to say?" he asked.

"Chief Hamilton wasn't happy about Winter being given access to the armoury," he said, sighing. "He said something about proving the guy couldn't be trusted. I don't know what he did but I didn't think the Chief would betray his position."

As they stepped out of the armoury a portal opened and the mission team came through, along with Dr. Strange. Winter went straight to the armoury door.

"Friday, access required for new firearms," he stated, placing his hand on the palm reader and leaning into the iris scanner.

"Access to the armoury for Winter has been deleted," she said. "By authority of Chief Hamilton."

"Fuck," swore Torres. "Access override approved. Authorization, Torres, Lieutenant Joaquin. Code Delta Delta Delta Echo." He looked angrily at the security crew as Winter entered the armoury to get new weapons, followed by Kate and Yelena. "I'm going to kick his ass. We have multiple intrusions. Winter and I will take Hamilton. The rest of you spread out and neutralize anyone who doesn't look familiar, neutralize only as we want to question them. Hamilton might have given them the recognition code so don't use it."

They dispersed and he entered the armoury, finding Winter quickly picking out several new magazines, inspecting them closely before switching them for the ones in his own weapons. Yelena was reloading her handguns, giving him a knowing look before she headed out. Kate grabbed a new arrow dispenser and left.

"All the firearms had blanks," said Winter, tersely. "Hamilton must have got into the weapons' safes and switched them out. Where is he?"

"Approaching the Barnes quarters in the residential wing," replied Joaquin. "I already warned Noelle. She's armed with a cast-iron frying pan and chef knives, as Barnes didn't want any weapons in the quarters."

"Did Hamilton set us up?"

"Looks like it. You ready?"

With a nod the two men left the armoury and began running towards the residential wing.

Inside their quarters, Noelle went into Winnie's room where she was playing. Suddenly, the alarm came on as Friday must have successfully overridden Hamilton's command.

"Hi Mama," said the little girl. "What's that noise?"

"That's an alarm that something is wrong," she replied. "I want you to come with me. You're going to hide and stay hiding until I come for you. Can you do that?"

"Is it a game? Do I get a prize if I win?"

"Yes, it's a game but only if you stay as quiet as a mouse, no matter what you hear? Do you understand?"

Winnie nodded, as Noelle went to the living room and pulled up the cover to a window bench. When she first moved into the residence, Bucky built it for her in the wood shop, a padded bench with room for extra blankets and cushions inside. He built a matching one for Winnie's toys after she was born. Opening the one with the cushions, Noelle pulled everything out except for one blanket and one cushion, then encouraged Winnie to lay down in it. Just before she closed the lid, she looked at her daughter and placed a finger on her own lips.

"Quiet as a mouse, remember?"

"I 'member," smiled the little girl. "Bye."

She waved as Noelle lowered the lid, casually draping a folded blanket on it. Scooping up the others she put them inside the closet, closing the door on them. Then she went to the kitchen, taking out her cast iron frying pan before she pulled out a rolled-up cloth bundle from a drawer. Growing up in the house of two master chefs, Noelle was very comfortable handling knives and had her own professional set that she kept sharpened on a regular basis. Since she couldn't very well carry them on her person without injuring herself, she placed them around the apartment, hidden but accessible. Then she took the paring knife and slid that into a small holster she quickly fashioned out of duct tape and a leather pocket, taping it around her waist under her tunic. A knocking sound on the door drew her attention and she stood close to it but not directly in front.

"Yes?" she called out. "Who's there?"

"It's Chief Hamilton," he replied. "Comms are down during the alarm and I'm just checking to make sure you're safe."

"We are," she replied. "You can check the next place."

There was a pause. "Can you let me in to confirm? Without a visual I can't tell if you're just saying that."

"We're fine, Chief," she repeated. "I can assure you that there is no one else in here."

"Open the door," he ordered, jiggling the doorknob. "Please, let me in."

"Can't do that," she replied. "I heard the Alpha lockdown."

"You can't have," he said. "It wasn't announced in the residential wing. The alarm only just came on."

"Well, I guess you have me there," said Noelle. "I got a phone call not to let you in. What have you done, Chief?"

There was another pause. "He couldn't be trusted," said Hamilton's voice. "Neither of them was good enough for you. I just wanted to get you and the little girl to safety. You couldn't raise her around that killer, so I made a deal to get you out of here."

"By selling the team out on their mission?" Noelle listened carefully, hearing rustling signs outside. She stepped to the side of the door, expecting it to open any second as Hamilton overrode the lock. "How much did they pay you?"

"Enough to give you everything you ever wanted," he answered. "I promise that I'll never raise my hand to you or to Winnie."

"You don't even like her," said Noelle. "I saw your face at the briefing when she told everyone about Bucky. How much did they offer you for her?"

She heard the subtle sound of a gun being cocked and raised the frying pan as two shots in quick succession, then a third, disabled the lock and Hamilton burst in. She swung the frying pan at his head as hard as she could, sending him falling backwards into the damaged door. Just as she pulled the knife out of her makeshift belt Winter appeared and raised Hamilton by the throat, holding him up against the wall. A puffing Joaquin, caught up shortly after. Hamilton looked at Winter with rage and fear, beating him about the head and shoulders until he looked like he was going to pass out.

"Let him go," said Joaquin.

Immediately, Winter released the man and stepped back, his whole being still in an attack posture. Hamilton gasped as he tried to get his breath back.

"I think he planned to sell Winnie and keep me for himself," said Noelle, still full of adrenaline herself. "He admitted to receiving some kind of payout."

"Where's Winnie?" asked the super soldier.

"Hiding, until I get her out," replied the blonde woman. She looked at the frying pan, still in her hand, hefting it easily. "Bucky would be impressed."

A flicker of a smile from both Torres and Winter confirmed they already were.

"Do you have some duct tape?" asked Joaquin. "I don't have any cuffs."

She went back to the kitchen returning with a roll, which Winter took. Roughly, he pushed Hamilton onto his front, then held both of the man's hands with his vibranium hand as he wound the duct tape around them.

"How did Winter get back here so fast?"

"Dr. Strange provided a portal for the team while Friday flies the quinjet back," said Joaquin. "Friday, status update on the intrusion?"

"All intruders have been neutralized and are being transferred to the security wing. Do you wish for assistance in transporting Chief Hamilton?"

"Negative, Winter will be bringing him in." Joaquin stepped away from the door. "He's your collar. Take him in. I'll be there shortly."

Lifting the man to his feet, Winter took him by the elbow and guided him out the door. As Noelle went to get Winnie, Joaquin looked at the damage and requested a repair team. He waited until she returned with her daughter.

"He was quite impressive on the run here," said Joaquin. "Took out several intruders on the fly, hitting all of them with single shots in a way to disable them but no more than that. The mission was a setup to keep them pinned down there, while the intruders hit us here. I'm guessing Hamilton disabled all of our security protocols." He shook his head, obviously disgusted, then rubbed his arm, drawing Noelle's notice. "You'll have to be part of the debrief on the intrusion here, considering you were a target."

"Your arm is hurting," she said. "You should get it back in the sling."

He smiled. "I will, thanks. Good work."

As he headed to the armoury to get out of his tactical suit and put his arm back in the sling, Joaquin realized he would have to be the one writing the report on this intrusion. Carol could do the report on the botched mission. It defied belief that a man who was responsible for the security of every person in this facility could be bought off. Noelle's comment that he was planning to sell Winnie angered him. It was going to be one hell of a debriefing meeting.

By the time he got to the security wing, Fury had arrived at the compound, Sam was online from Delacroix, and Friday had determined that Hamilton had created back doors into everyone's security access, using them to set up the cascading failure of security protocols. He had doctored the armoury access records to make it look like Winter was the one who entered overnight and switched out all the magazines with blanks but made a mistake while changing the access logs into and out of his quarters, transposing two digits in one of the entries, making it seem Winter left and returned at the same time. It was obvious Hamilton had been in a hurry to not catch that error.

"Where is he?" asked Fury, as he strode into the security office.

"In interrogation," said Joaquin. "Winter is with him."

Fury looked sharply at him then at the monitor showing the inside of the interrogation room. Hamilton, sporting a significant bruise on his face, was handcuffed to a table, with Winter leaning against a wall, observing the man. The disgraced security chief was trying to appear calm, but he was definitely uncomfortable with the super soldier's presence. There were security cameras on the cells where the ten intruders were also waiting.

"No IDs, but we're running them through all the databases," said the lieutenant. "I'm guessing they're either cartel, or mob, maybe even Cerberus. He admitted receiving a payout and when Noelle asked if it was for Winnie, he didn't deny or confirm it. That bruise is from her; she clocked him with a frying pan."

"A preliminary examination of the chief's finances has revealed a payment from an offshore account," announced Friday. "It is from a financial institution with a history of financing various organizations with ties to Cerberus, and HYDRA before them. The payment was for 10,000,000."

"Any confirmed identification of the intruders here, or the armed contingent in Panama?" asked Fury.

"Negative, however, several of those taken into custody in Panama by the military and here all have a similar tattoo, of Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of Hades."

The two men stood at the observation window, both of them seething at the betrayal of their security chief. Fury felt angry with himself for not doing more about the looks he noticed on Hamilton's face during the various debrief's with Winter's presence. This wasn't a last-minute thing. The man had been planning this for some time, obviously trying to arrange Winter's capture and Winnie's delivery to Cerberus. With Winter gone, Barnes would be stranded in the other universe forever.

"How was Winter when he arrived back here?" asked Fury.

"Impressive," said Joaquin. "He took out four intruders on the run with single shots to their knees. They'll all live but they'll have a limp for the rest of their lives. When they got out of the building on the mission, he was first one out and went after the enemy using his gun as a club. No hesitation, just pure muscle and tenacity."

"Let's get this interrogation over with," said Fury. "Friday, start recording."

He left the viewing room and entered the interrogation room, nodding at Winter then sitting across from Hamilton.

"10,000,000 payment from a financial institution with a history of financing Cerberus and HYDRA organizations found in your account," started Fury. "You created back doors into everyone's security access, using them to create a cascading failure of protocols. You doctored the cameras showing Winter switching the magazines with ones filled with blanks, but somehow screwed the access logs into and out of his quarters, showing him entering and leaving at the same time. Then you compounded it by trying to kidnap Noelle and Winnie Barnes. Was the money worth it?"

Hamilton said nothing. A sound behind Fury had him glancing back to see Winter cleaning the nails of his right hand with a knife. Smiling slightly, he turned back to the disgraced security chief, wanting to see his reaction to the next question.

"Winter, what did HYDRA do to people who tried to betray them?"

"Usually, they took them to a concrete bunker and shot them," he replied. "A few were used as training subjects for the guard dogs."

"I object to his presence here," grumbled Hamilton. "You're using him to intimidate me. I have the right not to incriminate myself."

"Believe me, if I wanted to intimidate you, I wouldn't need Winter to do it," growled Fury. "I'd take a gun out and execute you on the spot. It would be considered summary justice but would pass the legal smell test because of the oath you took when you were offered the position of security chief of this facility."

Hamilton looked at Fury, not quite understanding.

"He's talking about the oath you took to defend the Avengers, their families, and all support staff from the actions of any enemies, foreign or domestic," stated Winter. "You basically waived the right not to incriminate yourself by agreeing to an immediate trial in front of your superiors if it was determined you performed a traitorous act. In this case, that superior is Nick Fury. If he found you guilty then he also would be responsible for your sentencing and your execution if that was your punishment. I can name the clause and sub-clause on the oath you signed your name on."

Fury's smile grew as Winter spoke, not realizing the man knew the intricacies of the oaths every one of them took in order to perform their highly classified work.

"That's unconstitutional."

"For a normal citizen, yes," replied Fury. "For someone in your position, responsible for the lives of the people in this facility, many of whom have some of the highest security clearances in the country, it's standard operating procedure. The fact you're not aware of this makes me wonder why I offered you the job to begin with."

"Perhaps he falsified his qualifications," said Winter. "I took the oaths seriously when you had me repeat them before clearing me to go on missions."

"Friday, please comb through former Security Chief Hamilton's record and confirm his qualifications," ordered Fury. "We'll do our due diligence and determine if he compounded his treason with falsifying his record." He looked at his watch. "The Federal Marshals will be here in about 20 minutes to escort Mr. Hamilton to The Raft. Since he's decided not to help himself by telling us what exactly he did and who he did it for, there's not much I can do to mitigate his sentence."

He stood up and moved to the door, putting his hand on the doorknob.

"If I tell you everything, will I still be executed?"

Fury glanced at Winter who remained impassive. He turned back to the man.

"I could be convinced to commute it to life imprisonment."

Hamilton tried to lift his hands to his face, forgetting they were handcuffed to the table. He sighed then nodded his head.

"I'll talk."

"Torres, come in here and take Hamilton's confession," said Fury. "Winter, could I see you?"

As they left the room, Torres entered and instructed Friday to begin recording the former security chief's statement. Fury walked down the hallway a bit then stopped and looked at Winter.

"You lied."

"You lied first. I just followed your lead. Technically, all we did was omit to mention that Hamilton's superiors were you, Captain Wilson and Sergeant Barnes, and all three of you would have to sit as a tribunal to judge his innocence or guilt. Since Wilson doesn't return until tomorrow, and Barnes is considered indisposed, that leaves Lieutenant Torres as ad hoc third superior officer in the command structure, although Colonel Rhodes could have also come in since he is still listed in an advisory capacity. With the seriousness of the charge against Hamilton, and the evidence already acquired by Friday, acquittal was highly unlikely."

"You read every word of the oaths document?"

"Of course. Doesn't everyone?"

"I would hope so." Fury looked at the former Winter Soldier again and shook his head. "Tell me how I managed to escape being killed by you, not just once but twice."

"I've been told you're one lucky motherfucker." Fury stifled a smile while Winter's face remained neutral as he said it. "I prefer to think that you're a superior operative who thinks several steps ahead of everyone else. Your survival of my attempts to kill you led to my freedom so perhaps I was meant to fail." A slight smile crossed his face. "Despite your initial distrust of me when I woke up in the operating room, I sense your trust in me has been validated."

"It has. As soon as Torres is finished taking Hamilton's confession and the Marshals transfer him to the Raft along with the others, we'll have the debrief for the mission and the attack on the compound. Good work today."

"Thank you. I would like to shower and change out of my tactical suit if you don't mind."

Fury stood aside to let Winter go past him. As he watched the tall man walk away from him, he thought of the changes in him since that day he woke up, frightened, confused, and ready to fight. Despite Winter's insistence that his original manifestation had been to take on the more violent aspects of the Fist of HYDRA, Fury had been almost astounded at how well the man had become integrated into the Avengers community. Even his overreaction the week before had been a protective response, fearing a threat to Winnie. By what little Torres had told him Winter had acted strongly on the mission and decisively but with restraint during the attack on the compound. His actions had fit the situations. Then he had surprised Fury by accurately reading the room during Hamilton's interrogation, backing him up while reinforcing the severity of the man's crimes. It was going to be hard when they got Barnes back. Winter being relegated to the background again could be seen as the loss of a valuable operative. He cleared his head of the thought and proceeded towards the holding cells, planning to wait for the Marshals there.

Author notes: The interrogation was likely not legal but I would imagine that with the classified work they do, that legal would be a fuzzy term anyways. While I doubt Fury would have summarily executed Hamilton he would certainly have considered it, especially since he hired the man. The scene was meant to show that the longer Winter is alone in Barnes body, the more comfortable he's becoming as an individual. Since the scare he put into everyone just the week before he's already managed to temper his usual reactive state into something more restrained, and in many ways, more effective.