A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update, the past few weeks have been hectic. I also considered scrapping the idea midway through and struggled with that, but I hope you injoy! Remember Rate and Review please!

Steve and Bucky walked down the street together. Bucky was nervous at first about the stares he would get, but he quickly found that not many people noticed. Just as they were about to reach the reflecting pool, a young boy stopped Bucky.

He tugged at the edge of Bucky's shirt, trying to get his attention. The two men stopped and knelt down in front of the boy. "Hey there," Bucky said, smiling at the kid. His eyes were red and puffy and his nose was running. "Are you okay?"

The little boy shook his head and scrubbed at his nose. He had tears running down his face. Bucky shifted a little closer. "We're gonna take you over to the bench okay? We're gonna help you."

The little boy nodded. Bucky picked him up carefully and walked over to a nearby bench. He set the little boy down and Steve and Bucky sat on either side of him. "What's your name?" Bucky asked.

"Jo-Johnny." The little boy hiccuped.

"Johnny," Steve started, "My name is Steve and this is Bucky. Where's your mom?"

The little boy shrugged. "I don't know." He whispered. Steve and Bucky looked at each other.

"Johnny, we're gonna help you find her, Okay?" Bucky smiled at the kid. "Steve, go see if you can find her. I'll make sure Johnny's safe."

Steve recognised this as code for "I would like to not draw attention to myself just yet." He nodded and made his way into the crowd, calling for Johnny's mom.

"Johnny, why did you come to me for help?" Bucky asked, he was genuinely curious. Surely a little boy would find him and Steve imposing.

Johnny pulled his pant leg up, revealing a small prosthetic that went up to his knee. "Cause you're like me." He whispered, looking at Bucky's metal arm. "But your arm is way cooler than my leg." His face was lighting up and his tears were drying.

Bucky smiled at Johnny. "Thank you. But your leg will be super awesome when you get bigger I promise. And don't let anyone bother you about the leg, because you can do anything twice as well as them with that leg."

Johnny giggled. "Do you mean it?" He asked, looking up at Bucky.

Bucky smiled at the kid. "Of course, I wouldn't lie to you."

The two continued to talk as Steve walked over with a very relieved mother. She was thanking him up and down for finding her son, going on about how she was worried about him and his leg. Steve just smiled and told her it was no problem.

When they reached Bucky, they could see Johnny smiling and laughing with Bucky. The woman, Sara, breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry for the trouble, I really am Mr..."

"Rogers." Steve finished, smiling at her. "It's no problem, really. I think Johnny may have helped my friend more than we helped him." Steve mused.

Sara gave him a quizzical look before walking over to her son and thinking Bucky up and down. Johnny smiled and waved at Bucky until he was out of sight.

Steve walked over and smiled at his friend. "Ready for this?" He asked with a grin.

Bucky smirked at Steve. "Always." Bucky responded, pushing himself to his feet. "Let's go."

The two walked down the reflecting pool until they were standing at the edge of the massive lawn. Steve began to survey the area, looking for any suspicious activity. Bucky stood next to him, gazing at all the people. He was listening and watching carefully when he heard Steve breath "Nat?"

Bucky whipped his head to look over at Steve. "What?" He questioned, skimming the crowd until he saw a woman walking confidently towards them. The moment their eyes met, the small smile on her face dropped.

Steve stepped protectively in front of Bucky, shielding him from the woman's glare. He nodded at her.

When Natasha Romanoff reached the two men she stopped and crossed her arms, glaring menacingly at Steve. "Care to explain this?" She sounded perfectly calm but he could sense that she was ready to rip his head off.

"Uh, Bucky came home." Steve attempted feebly. "It's okay though Nat. It really is Buck."

She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. "I'll trust you on this one Steve, but why the hell are you here? Shield's been destroyed."

"I got a text. An unknown message said to meet here at 5." Steve went fishing in his pocket for the phone.

"A mysterious message signed with the letter C?" Nat cut him off. "Yeah, clint and I got it too."

"Who the hell do you think it is?" Steve asked, giving up on the phone. Bucky stepped out from behind Steve looking sheepishly at Natasha.

"Someone with our numbers and the name of C. An ex shield official?" She nodded slightly at Bucky as she spoke. She and Clint had talked about it already. They had discussed the idea that it could be Coulson, but quickly discarded it. They had figured that if coulson was alive, he would have told them by now.

"I was thinking, maybe it's Co-"

"No." Clint stepped out of a crowd of passing people. "I sure as hell wish it was him, but it can't be. He's dead." He looked quickly at Bucky and then back at Steve. "He's with you?"

Steve nodded. "Who else could it be? Some higher up that we've never heard of?" Steve shook his head. "I just can't shake the feeling that it's Coulson."

Two women dressed in black stepped out of a passing crowd. "If you four would follow us, we'd like to take you to C."

"And who would you be?" Natasha looked expectantly at her.

The woman slowly and carefully pulled out a badge and flipped it open. "I'm agent Melinda May of the new Shield. I would like to take you to the director."

Steve narrowed his eyes. "Fury's not like this, it's not his style."

May smirked. "We're not taking you to Fury."

Steve looked at the group. Clint shrugged and Natasha gave him a small nod. Bucky looked rather confused.

"There's no harm in checking it out." Natasha stated. "Anyways, it's been too long since we worked together." She turned to address May. "Lead the way."

The woman nodded at her younger friend and they walked together down the path, towards the back of the monument. The two didn't even look at the guards as they passed to walk to the back of the monument. There, they pulled open a cellar door.

The younger girl leapt down into the darkness, leaving May with the group. "We'll take a shuttle over to HQ from here." She looked at the group and raised an eyebrow. "We don't have all day."

Natasha and Clint walked down the stairs followed after a moments hesitation by Bucky and Steve. May came last, shutting the door behind her.

The three avengers and Bucky sat together on one side of the small shuttle. May and her friend sat across from them. May seemed to be completely at peace, but her friend kept looking at them. Steve smiled as he saw her eyes continually looking at the group. She seemed to be trying very hard to act professional.

Steve stood and walked over to her, extending his hand. "Hi there," He said good naturedly. "I'm Steve, and you are?"

She took a deep breath and looked over at May before looking at Steve again. He could see her excitement and slight panic behind her eyes. She quickly took his hand, struggling to remain professional. "I'm uh, oh wow," she blushed, "Skye." She finished quickly

"It's nice to meet you Skye." He chuckled. "Do you know where we're going?" He asked.

"The hub, where you'll meet the director." She responded. It seemed she was going to remain as closed as May.

"Would you mind telling me who the director is?" He tried.

"I'm under strict orders not to."

Steve sighed. "Worth a try anyways."

As he turned to walk away Skye reached out and grabbed his arm. She felt her heart leap. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, who's the other guy over there. The one who wasn't at the manhattan battle." She had a feeling that she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it from Steve.

He looked over and smiled at his friend before turning back to Skye. He settled into the seat next to her. "His name Is James Buchanan Barnes, but everyone calls him Bucky. He was my best friend in the 40's, he still is. But you probably know him best as the Winter Soldier." He saw recognition in her eyes as he mentioned that name. Hydra got a hold of him and wiped all of his memories. They turned him into a weapon. But he's here now, and he's with me." Steves normal smile dropped. "Just, do me a favor and don't bring it up around him, it's a bit of a touchy subject."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry." Skye looked away, embarrassed.

Steve smiled at her. "It's okay, I understand that you're curious. I'd just really appreciate it if you treat him like a person and not something else."

Skye nodded. "Of course. He looks like a good guy."

Steve smiled. "He's the best person I've ever known." Steve stood and walked back over to Bucky's side, chatting idly with his friends.

May turned to Skye. "Be careful around Barnes, we're still not sure how stable he is."

"Steve seems to trust him. I think that's good enough for me." Skye responded calmly, watching the four interact.

The train slowed to a stop and May stood. "If you would all follow me, I'll take you to the director."

She lead them up into an elevator, as the group stepped inside,they were addressed by a robotic voice. "State your name and purpose." It said calmly.

Steve slid his leather shield bag off his back and down to the floor in front of him for easy access if necessary.

"The old voice system has yet to be replaced." She stated calmly, punching numbers into a keypad. "It doesn't do anything, but we haven't had the time to change the audio."

Once the elevator had reached the desired floor, May strode out into the plain hallway. Here was one door on one side of the hall, and a small door on the other.

"You'll wait in this room until the director is ready for you." May explained, flashing her badge at the sensor and opening the largest door. The four friends exchanged glances and walked in carefully.

May closed the door behind them. "Come on Skye, we have weapons training." She began walking down the hall. Skye looked longingly at the door for a moment and followed.

"May, how do you think they'll respond?" She asked.

May just shook her head. "I have no idea."

Steve sat down on a small black sofa. He looked around at the room. The walls were matte black and bare. There were a few lights lining the edges of the wall and a plain lamp hanging from the ceiling.

"This is so not Fury's style." Natasha said, looking at the room with him. Bucky stood near the door, obviously uncomfortable. Clint was inspecting the walls and ceiling for surveillance cameras.

Steve shook his head. "Definitely not Fury. Maybe Hill?"

Clint shook his head. "Nah, Hill doesn't work this way either." He paused for a moment. " I still feel like it's-"

"No." Natasha cut him off. "It's not Coulson. He's dead." She shook her head. "We've been over this, all of us. I wish he was alive, I really do. But we have to accept that Coulson died that day. There's no way around it."

"Well Fury managed to find one." A new voice chimed in.

Everyone's head snapped to look at the speaker. Coulson was standing in front of them, smiling gently. "Sorry for all the secrecy, as you know Shield isn't a popular organization right now."

The group stared at him, completely shocked. "You died." Clint said, staring at Coulson. "You were stabbed, you were completely dead. How the hell are you here?"

"Why didn't you tell us you were alive!" Natasha spat, angry and hurt that he kept himself secret.

I'm sorry." He said simply. "I was under strict orders from Fury to keep quiet about it."

"Alright, so where is he then?" Clint demanded.

"I'm not quite sure. Fury decided that he was done with Shield. The world would never trust the organization while he was in charge."

"So who's the director then?" Steve inquired, moving to stand by Bucky.

Coulson smiled softly again. "I am." He stated simply. "I'll answer all your questions soon, but let's go inside my office.

Steve looked at Bucky, ignoring the rest of Coulson's speech. "Buck, it's okay. You're with me." Steve whispered to Bucky. "Come on Buck, it's okay." Steve coaxed his friend from the corner.

Bucky shook his head. "I shouldn't be here Steve, I'm an enemy, a traitor."

Steve was about to argue when he felt someone touch on his shoulder. He turned and was met with Coulson's kind face. "Steve, could I speak to for a moment?"

Steve nodded hesitantly, smiling at Bucky before walking over to his friends. Coulson turned to the ex-assassin.

He smiled and extended his hand to Bucky, "It's an honor to meet you ." Bucky blinked a few times, hesitantly taking Coulson's hand.

"An... Honor?" Bucky asked.

"Yes, an honor. Everything that you did with the Howling Commandos, it was really quite amazing!" He gushed. Coulson was well aware that Bucky didn't remember much, but he was hoping he would remember just a little of that.

"That was a long time ago." Bucky mumbled. The only reason he knew about the Commandos was because Steve had taken him to the Smithsonian exhibit. "You know what I've done recently. It shouldn't be an honour to meet me.

Coulson released Bucky's hand. "You didn't do anything wrong ." He said growing serious.

Bucky shook his head. "You know exactly what I did. I'm a monster, I shouldn't be here." He insisted, turning and reaching for the door. Coulson stopped him just short of the handle.

"As the Director of Shield, I have recognised that it was hydra that murdered those people. I also recognize you as a friend of this agency. You are not a monster, you are a brave man, and you belong here just as much as the rest of us." Coulson insisted. "I have spent time with traitors and murderers, you are not one. You are a good man who was forced into a bad situation." He willed Bucky to understand.

He frowned and shook his head. "I remember it though. Their blood is on my hands."

"No." Coulson insisted. "That blood is on hydra. James buchanan Barnes is not hydra, you, are not hydra. The winter soldier is hydra."

"One in the same." Bucky grunted.

"No," Coulson looked into his eyes. "You're really not. It's your choice, but I'm about to brief the team." Coulson smiled at him one last time before walking back to the group.

Steve stood to meet Coulson. "What did you tell him?" He demanded.

"I told him the truth. Just give him a minute." Coulson whispered. "It's good to see you again cap." He added.

"You were dead Coulson, what happened?" Steve asked, still looking at Bucky in the corner.

"That's what I'm about to explain." He walked to a small wall panel and placed his hand on the sensor. A previously unseen door swung open to grant access to a larger, more comfortable room.

Natasha walked calmly into the office and the others followed. The inside of Coulson's office was spacious and brightly lit. There were tinted windows covering the far wall. The other two walls were covered in massive computer screens. Each one displayed different things, most looked to be surveillance cameras with different titles.

The group made themselves comfortable on the chairs and looked expectantly at Coulson. Bucky had slipped in at some point and he was sitting close to Steve. Coulson sat down in a chair across from them and sighed. "I should tell you all, this was a miracle. I never expected or even really hoped that this would happen." And so he began to tell them all the truth of his revival. How Fury had ordered the T.A.H.I.T.I project to go into motion, effectively bringing Coulson back from the dead.

When he was done, the group sat in stunned silence.

"So Fury wasn't lying when he said you were dead." Natasha whispered.

"I can answer more questions later, I promise. But I need your help." He looked at each of them. "You are my friends and my allies, and what I'm asking of you is not just for Shield, it's personal. I've had a bit of one on one time with hydra and it nearly cost my team." Coulson stood and walked over to the monitors. "These security feeds have been hacked by a trusted member of Shield. She has confirmed that they have no way to know that we can see these. Each feed is labeled with the corresponding base. Sand Box, Slingshot, Tree house and so on. They and many others are important Shield facilities." Coulson explained.

"If they're so important, why haven't we heard of them?" Clint inquired, genuinely interested.

"Fury believed in the compartmentalization of information. There was an awful lot that none of you knew. For being our elite group, your clearance was remarkably low." He looked over their expectant faces. "I can't afford to compartmentalize. There are only a handful of people I trust anymore."

The small group nodded. "So what's important about them?" Natasha asked.

"Each one is unique. Some hold criminals, others hold alien tech. Others are just research bases. The big thing is, the names in red are controlled by Hydra." Coulson sighed, looking at the board himself. "As you can see, we're at a bit of a disadvantage."

"And you want us to help you get these bases back." Steve finished for him.

"I would like it if you would help." He shook his head. "I know it's a big job, and I know it's a lot to ask. These bases contain some of the most dangerous people and things that we know of. I can offer a few people to help, but it's not going to be easy." He looked hopefully at the small group.

Clint and Natasha looked at each other. "We're in." They stated in unison.

Bucky grabbed steve's hand with his own. "I'm in." Steve mimicked his response.

Coulson sighed with relief. "Great, there's just one more thing. I have to confirm it with Stark, but I would like for all of you to move in to the Avengers Tower."

The four looked slightly startled at this. "You mean you want us in Tony's shoe boxes?" Clint mumbled.

"If my sources are correct, he had designed and built each of you an entire floor. Customisable to your wants and needs. I'll be contacting him separately about this, so I'll send you all a text later with the details." Coulson answered truthfully. "In the meantime, Skye will take you home or May will show you around. Whatever you prefer."

Clint and Natasha walked out together, nodding at Coulson. Bucky followed shortly after. Steve however, stayed.

"Sir." He started, getting his friends attention. "It's good to see you alive." He said simply before walking out. Bucky stood just outside the door waiting.

"Do you want to go home?" Buck asked, wrapping his hand with Steve's.

Steve smiled up at his friend. "I think we have a lot to talk about." He hummed, pulling Bucky to follow Skye down the elevator. "But it can wait until we get home."