It Takes Seconds to Break Chapter 1, a captain america fanfic

*** And we're back – wow, I really can't quit this stuff… anyway, this is a slightly longer, multi-chapter, "one-shot" and it will tie in with recent Agents of SHIELD stuff, so spoilers ahead I guess if you haven't watched it recently? There were some interesting tie-ins from AoS in the first half of this season that mesh super well with Chapter 4 of 'Until the End', so I'm excited to go there. If you've stumbled upon this, you'll want to hold up and read "Until the End" and then "Remember, Remember" first :)

I'll be posting each chapter as it's ready to go! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this, please read and review (if you're up for it), it's nice to hear from you, and in such a small fandom on this site, it's a nice little thing to boost my wily writer's-ego haha – I appreciate every last one of you! ***

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Chapter One – Exposures

"Ow, ow, Winnie, that's my hair."

"Don't be a baby, we both know that didn't hurt."

"Ow, yes it did."

"Sorry Bucky."

"No, you're not."

"You're right, I'm not – hey, don't rip this one too!"

"Too late… hmmm you should take that off."

"What? My bra?... no, you do it."

"I'm trying…. Ugh…."

"This one clasps at the front."

"You should really wear no bra at all… ah, there we go."

"Better?"

"Very… ow, ow, my hair again."

"Sorry Bucky."

"No, you're not."

"You're right, I'm really not."

"Ow! That was on purpose."

"Yup, what are you going to do about it?" Winnie giggled when Bucky buried his face in her neck as his hand roamed downwards, and then she gasped when he began to show her exactly what he meant to do about her 'accidental' hair pulling. Winnie could feel her heart beating in her ears as she breathed heavier and heavier, Bucky's head moving from her neck, and then lower.

"Oh my god, Bucky…"

"This is good?"

"Stop asking – it's great… oh my god!" She gasped loudly and shuddered happily, and then suddenly froze, her hand flying down to grab the hair on the back of his head again, jerking once as she tried to buck him off.

"Oh my god," she said again, this time in a panicked hiss, "Bucky, there's someone in the house." He looked up to her face and blinked foggily at her, his eyes clouded with an emotion on the polar opposite end of the one filling her gaze. "What?" He managed to say, and she pulled his hair again, scooting away from him.

"Someone's in the house," she hissed. His features tightened quickly and he flipped sideways off the bed faster than she thought possible, reaching for the pile of his clothing on the floor, groaning quietly in discomfort when he had to pull his pants on. The room was dim, the curtains drawn to keep the sun outside, and Winnie grabbed blindly at her clothes. She couldn't find her underthings anywhere; the bra had been tossed by Bucky across the room, landing god knows where, and he had completely shredded her panties when he pawed them off her.

She just managed to yank on her sweatpants and a tank top, pulling the bottom of the shirt down, when their bedroom was thrown open and several armed and armored men came pouring in. Bucky reacted viciously, and quickly, grabbing the nearest man with his metal arm and heaving him like a broken toy across the room. The intruder smashed into the wall and fell to the floor unmoving. One of them shot a tranquilizer dart at Winnie, almost immediately, and though she easily deflected it, sending it directly into the wall, her heart sank – Hydra.

"Grab the girl," the man closest to the door said, the authority in his voice marking him as their leader. Bucky snarled and threw himself at another man, who had stupidly charged him, and Winnie took the opportunity to rip a closet door off its hinges and heave it at one of the men hard enough to partially slam him into a wall; he hung half in and half out of the wall, dead or unconscious, she wasn't sure and didn't care. They were obviously here to retrieve her and likely kill Bucky, and she was willing to kill every last one of them to prevent that, no matter how sick the thought made her.

Two more men went after Bucky after he'd easily dispatched another one of them, and three of them came at Winnie at once. They all shot dozens and dozens of tranquilizer darts at her and she knew that if this were 8 months ago, she would have been hit several times over.

Bucky, however, had been pushing her hard while they stayed in hiding, constantly pushing her to control more and more of her ability. One of his favorite things to do was throw handfuls of pebbles or small rocks at her as she frantically scrambled to deflect them all. She hated it, but now, when every last one of the darts was deflected either into the wall, floor, or back at the shooters, she was savagely grateful.

One of the men on Bucky let out a horrific scream when his metal hand grasped the man's face, squeezed violently and then heaved him in the direction of the window, which the man flew through, spraying glass everywhere. The man who'd barked the order to grab Winnie charged at her now, as yet more intruders piled into the room behind him. Good god, the room is full, she thought wildly as she lashed out at their bigger commander. He feinted side to side as the other men all moved straight to Bucky, obviously intent on overwhelming the Winter Soldier so she could be taken.

When the commander finally lunged at her, Winnie glared and sneered, holding him back by his body armor. As his men died behind him, Winnie backed the frozen man towards the wall and flattened him against it, his shirts and chest plate pressing into his throat, not tight enough to choke, but enough to incapacitate. She glanced over at Bucky and screamed in anger when she saw him get hit in the jaw by one man's lucky fist.

A nightstand flew through the air, slamming into that man and driving him through the wall, into the hallway, through the next wall, through the kitchen, through the outer brick wall and into the yard. She was enraged now and the walls began to shake, along with the floors. The wallpaper ripped and tore as the wall behind it splintered, cracking open. A fissure opened up just below the broken bedroom window and then Winnie fully lost herself.

This was not part of her training, and she could feel the moment of euphoric release when she handed over control of her ability to her rage and ripped the house apart around them, flattening and throwing the cars outside, heaving chunks of roof and furniture debris at the Hydra agents standing guard on their expansive front lawn. Bucky took care of the remaining men on him and rushed over to her, grabbing the hand that was stretched out towards the men on the driveway and lawn, her whole arm shaking violently.

"Winnie," he said loudly, "Winnie! Calm down!" She looked to him, glaring at him and he put both his flesh and metal hand to her face. "Please, control yourself," he urged her, his voice carrying over the sound of their home being obliterated around them, "It's over, Winnie!" She took several breaths and then went fairly limp, sinking to her knees to catch her breath.

The man she'd held pinned to the wall this entire time also sank to the ground as she released her hold on everything around herself. Bucky charged over to him, and Winnie turned her eyes to them, watching as Bucky used the metal arm to hold the man up against what was left of the wall.

"How?!" Bucky yelled, angrily, "How did you know? How did you find us here?" Winnie climbed slowly to her feet, feeling the blood rushing through her limbs and zipping up into her face again as she fully stepped out of the cloud of rage that had just engulfed her so fully.

"You were betrayed," the man hissed at them, laughing in Bucky's face even as he let out a pained groan when Bucky punched him in the gut. "Who?" She asked sharply, "Tell me who or so help me god…" The man laughed harder and then, to her horror, she saw him use his tongue to push out a tooth, which he crunched down on.

His eyes shone with a fanatic's gleam and he spoke triumphantly before he foamed at the mouth and died: "Hail Hydra."

"You've got chunks of house in your legs!" Winnie cried, pulling on his arm to stop him. He let her halt him and she crouched down, to his calves, yanking at the shards of wood and metal that had been stabbing into him. He felt mild relief when they were removed, and then some pain when she tore off ragged strips of her t-shirt and tied them around the wounds. She climbed to her feet and he saw she had barely anything left of her shirt.

"You can't walk around like that," he told her flatly, gesturing at the smooth curve of hip, waist, and stomach that was now exposed after she'd used half her shirt as bandaging. It was not only distracting, but he worried it would attract too much attention as they limped down the road to find a payphone, not to mention the absolutely frigid temperature of the winter's day. Bucky pulled off his hoodie and made her put it on.

"No," she said to him, trying to push it back even as her teeth chattered violently, "You'll be… cold…" she trailed off when she seemed to realize how silly that sentiment was, he had on a long-sleeved t-shirt underneath that he'd thrown on before the fight erupted, and as long as his metal arm was hidden from view, there was no other reason to wear the hoodie. The long sleeved t-shirt fit much more snug to the shape of the cybernetic limb, but he hoped no one would stare too hard if he just kept the hand in a pants pocket.

He smirked at her and then glared, waving a hand at the hoodie. "On. Now," he ordered, and then watched as she slipped it on and zipped it up. It dropped down to mid-thigh on her and the sleeves drooped almost humorously past her wrists, but she just curled the loose ends of the sleeves over and around her hands, and then gestured ahead.

"Let's keep going, the Denny's has a payphone in the parking lot," she told him. He nodded and reached for her hand as they walked. Neither of them spoke about the absolute wreck and ruin of the house they'd left at the end of the long driveway two streets behind them, and neither of them spoke about the near-army of men who'd descended on them.

He, especially, did not speak about how she had completely lost all control of herself and created cracks in the very earth around the house. His only stunned thought upon seeing them was, well, that's new. That was in addition to the absolute destruction of the structure itself. I will talk to Steve, first, he thought, worried about what she had done, for her own sake, but also knowing he would absolutely say the wrong thing and either enrage her or hurt her feelings.

When they reached Denny's, Winnie reached for the phone and immediately began to punch in numbers, not using any change. He watched her, fascinated by the obvious code she was using, and then turned to keep his eyes on the parking lot and street around them.

"It's me," Winnie spoke, "The big bad wolf showed up." There was silence as she listened to the person on the other end of the line. "No, not possible," Winnie added, before taking in an angry breath, "Because, Nat, it's not there anymore, got it?" He turned to her and made a warning face, catching her eyes and mouthing 'calm down'. She rolled her eyes and clenched her teeth, but began taking deep breaths, in through her nose and out through her mouth.

"Denny's," she said, "Two blocks east, by the dumpsters." She hung up the phone immediately and looked over at him. "They're coming," she said quietly. He pulled her in for a brief hug, lifting the hood portion of the hoodie over her head, before laying his cheek against the top of her head for a moment. An elderly couple walked by and smiled at them, before Bucky started to urge her away from the street, saying, "Let's go wait by the garbage."

She laughed briefly, but nodded and they walked swiftly to the back of the restaurant. As they leaned against the back wall of the building, Winnie kept looking over at him, her eyes cautious. "What are you thinking?" He finally asked her, and she sighed, tipping her head back to rest on the wall, her eyes not leaving his face.

"He said we were betrayed," she murmured, "But, by who? Only the Avengers know where we are at any given time, and none of them would have –". He halted her sentence by putting a hand to her arm and gripping her firmly. "Do you know that for certain?" He demanded, thinking that perhaps she was heading down a rather naïve path. She glared at him and threw his hand off her arm.

"What are you even saying?" She snapped at him, angry, "That Steve betrayed me? Tony? Or Bruce?" He shook his head and opened his mouth to answer but she held a hand up, indicating he should remain quiet. "Bucky, seriously? Who? Thor? Natasha? Clint? I don't think so, I would trust any of them with my life!" She cried. He shook his head.

"They are not the only ones who know," he murmured to her, trying not to make her angry, but stubbornly determined that she face the facts.

"You said that Agent Hill knows. Tony's woman knows. Sam –" He was interrupted again when she charged at him, leaning as close to his face as she could get. "You know Sam would never -," she began heatedly, but he put a gentle hand on her shoulder, leaning down a little so he was inches from her face.

"My point is that for two people who are not supposed to exist, a lot of people know about us: where we are, what we are doing," he explained, as calmly and firmly as he could muster, "Winnie, we must be smart; so many of them know and people talk, even if they think they are helping, they still talk." She looked away and took several deep breaths.

"Sorry," she muttered, finally looking back at him, her eyes moving back and forth between his, "I'm sorry, you're right." She closed her eyes and took the last step towards him, pressing herself against him, letting her arms snake around him. He wrapped his own arms around her and rested his chin on her hair. He knew she was still quite cold by the way she shuddered at the contact with his body heat

"Who can we trust then?" She asked him quietly, her breath blowing hot against his shirt. He pulled her in tighter, trying to encase her in his arms and provide as much warmth as possible.

"Steve, always Steve," he replied, "Beyond him, I don't know – these are your people, not mine." The rumble of a car coming closer to the back of the restaurant than a regular patron's would grabbed their attention and they stepped away from each other, Bucky moving to subtly tuck her behind himself.

A brown SUV stopped several feet away from them and the passenger door opened. Steve, wearing a ball cap and green t-shirt, jumped out, immediately running over to them. "What the hell happened?" He asked them both worriedly, his face tight with concern as he took in their filthy and disheveled appearances.

"Hydra," they both answered at once. Steve's expression froze as he absorbed this and he clapped a hand to Bucky's shoulder, nodding at him, before stepping around him and hugging Winnie. Bucky watched, seeing as she put her mouth close to Steve's ear and whispered something that made Steve flinch and pull away, horror on his face.

"Not here," she warned him, glancing back at the truck. He looked over his shoulder and then back to her, then up to Bucky, his eyes wide and disbelieving. "It's just Clint," he told them softly. Winnie nodded.

"Where we are going, how private will it be?" Bucky asked him in a low voice. Steve looked flustered for a moment and then nodded slightly. "There are places we can speak privately," Steve said cautiously, "It's not another house." Bucky took an involuntary step forward. "What?" He asked their friend gruffly, the one word demanding an explanation. Steve looked mildly uncomfortable.

"It's a small SHIELD facility, we've been there a lot lately," Steve explained. "No," Winnie and Bucky spoke at the same time again and he glanced down at her, noting the faint smile on her face that they were sharing words again.

"No, you can't really expect us to go there, Steve, come on," Winnie griped, "You want me to bring the Winter Soldier there? You want me there? Hydra is obviously actively hunting me, and how do you know that this place isn't infiltrated? That some agents haven't held onto their covers for just such an occasion as this? No!"

Steve shook his head at her. "No, no, listen, trust me, it's not what you think, it's a small SHIELD facility, but it's an old one, an unused one, it's just us there, and … well, you'll see, but no one who is actively part of SHIELD is there right now," he rushed to reassure them.

Bucky stepped back, resigned, and closed his eyes for a moment, envisioning just how terribly this might go, the things he might have to do to get them both out of there if it came down to it. Anything, he thought, I would end anyone I had to. The thought made him slightly sad, as if it showed him just how much of the Soldier really remained.

He glanced over to Winnie and saw she was studying him. "Steve, go to the car," she told their friend, "We'll be right there." Steve made a noise like he would protest, and Bucky could see the back of Steve's t-shirt tugging, a gentle reminder from Winnie that she expected compliance.

Steve shook his head sadly and headed back to the vehicle. "What did you tell him," Bucky spoke nearly silently, not turning to look at her. "That we were betrayed from within," she responded just as quietly, "Bucky, what do we do? What if we get there and… well, you know… what if?" He pulled her a few more feet from the vehicle and turned his back to it, blocking the occupants' view of each of them. He leaned down to her ear, so only she could hear him.

"We will do exactly what we did at the house," he whispered to her. She stiffened and looked into his eyes. "It may end up being friendly fire," she murmured in return, "Bucky, I'm afraid that they'll separate us or worse." He shook his head and put his hand to her face for a moment, feeling a twist in his stomach when she leaned into his palm, closing her eyes.

"You know what to do, thought maybe with more control than today, but we have worked on this, Winnie," he told her evenly, "It will be fine." She turned her face and kissed his palm before popping up on her tiptoes and pressing a kiss to his mouth, her arms coiling lightly about his neck as he pulled her to him. He could feel the slight tremor of her fear and it made him grip her more tightly. Anything, anyone.

Steve watched them, leaning together and whispering to each other, neither of their faces visible until Winnie embraced Bucky and they began to kiss.

"What the hell are they doing?" Clint asked dryly from the driver's seat, "They do know they get to sit together right? That they don't gotta bunk separately?" He chuckled a little and Steve looked over at the archer, a strained smile on his own face.

They're saying goodbye, he thought with mute horror, they really think this is the end. He was hurt at the lack of trust they had in him, in the members of the Avengers. He knew though, on a very non-personal level, that kind of worry and fear only came from a strong belief and rock-solid conviction that something was seriously wrong.

He wasn't sure if they trusted him anymore, but he trusted them, especially Winnie, and his stomach began to roil at the thought of betrayal, again, from within. But who? And how? And for god's sake, why?

The ride to the SHIELD facility was awkward and quiet. Clint attempted to break it several times by engaging Winnie in small talk, but it usually fell flat. "So, you're going by Bucky now?" Clint asked, his eyes moving to meet Bucky's in the rear-view mirror. Winnie turned a little to look over at Bucky, a small smile on her face. 'Humor him', she mouthed to Bucky and he grimaced but turned his hard gaze back up to Clint.

"Yes," he responded shortly. Winnie shook her head, watching the back of Clint's head nod a couple times. "Right, ok, so Win, what's going with you?" he asked her, realizing the Winter Soldier wasn't up for banal chitchat.

"Oh, you know, the usual," she replied easily, trying her best to sound pleasant; she had to forcefully remind herself that Clint was not the enemy – he was an ally, a friend, an Avenger. "The usual?" He responded, "Does that typically include splitting the ground open?" Bucky's metal hand shot out, and grabbed Clint's shoulder roughly, causing the truck to teeter slightly as the steering wheel was jostled.

"Shut up," Bucky told him, "Not now." Clint looked ready to respond, but Winnie could see that Bucky's flesh hand had moved around the other side of the front passenger seat and was tightly gripping Steve's arm. "Uh yeah, how about we save that shop talk until later, guys?" Steve suddenly blurted out. Bucky released both men and leaned back in his seat and she blinked a couple times, staring at him incredulously. Well that was subtle, she thought in irritation.

She considered saying something, forcing the conversation wide open, but a glance at Bucky told her how concerned he actually was for her, and she decided that it would be better to wait, especially because of the pinpricks racing up and down her spine at the memory of her anger, her utter rage, and how satisfying it was to watch things break apart in that state.

"Who's there?" She asked Steve carefully, changing the subject. He turned in his seat to look back at her. "What do you mean?" He responded. Winnie waved a hand at him.

"I mean, who is at this facility right now, who can we expect to see when we get there?" She clarified. She didn't miss the split second glance over to Clint, before Steve started talking, and it made her feel strange.

"Natasha is there, Banner too. Things got a little heated for him after SHIELD went down – the military is after him without SHIELD to hold them off," Steve explained, his face clearly unhappy about it. "Really?" She asked, thinking of Bruce, gentle, intelligent, soft-spoken, Bruce, "He's not a threat unless he's truly pushed, and they're actively trying to push him?"

Steve shook his head. "I know, it makes little sense, but the military, the whole damn government, they're after him, us, what's left of SHIELD; it's a manhunt," he explained.

"Sam?" She asked, thinking it might be nice to see the man again. Steve nodded. "He's there too, Hydra tried to kill him as soon as he went back to his apartment, so he can't be a civilian any longer, and he won't go back to the military," Steve's voice didn't sound unhappy about that, but Winnie wondered if Sam was alright with it.

"Tony is in New York, he won't come near us right now," Steve added quietly, his eyes darting over to Bucky. Winnie wilted just the smallest bit and Bucky put a hand on her arm. She looked over at him and smiled sadly. "I think he'll get over it, Win, see the sense in what you've been trying to say about Bucky, he just needs time, it's been a hard couple of years altogether for him," Steve spoke soothingly, convincingly, and Winnie smiled at him.

"You're an unfailing optimist, my friend," she told him, meeting his eyes. Steve smirked a little, saluting her, and turned back in his seat as they rounded the final corner on their journey, coming to a stop outside of an aged, dirty, abandoned-looking dam.

"Honey, we're home," Clint said under his breath.

He held back, Winnie at his side, as they entered the unassuming looking door that appeared to be the entrance. When she realized the direction they were walking in, Winnie had cast out ahead of them and flung the door open before they'd even reached the threshold. The metal door clanged loudly as it smashed against the wall behind it, and Steve had shot her a dirty look.

"Was that necessary?" He asked her sharply, and was answered with a scowl from her. Bucky said nothing, just kept himself rigid, expecting a threat at each turn they took through the damp, dank, hallways. There were hardly any lights at all and he wasn't surprised to hear each of their footfalls echoing.

"I know what you're thinking," Clint said mildly, "It's cozy, right?" Winnie spluttered out a surprised laugh, which echoed up and down the hall, before she clapped her glare back on her face.

"Natasha?" Steve called out, his tone a mixture of a greeting and a warning. "Oh, you're back," she replied, before stepping through a dark door way and joining them as they made their way down the unwelcoming hallway, "Hey Win." Winnie nodded in greeting and the redheaded woman looked back at him, her brow twitching slightly.

"And you," she said, by way of greeting him. He nodded at her and didn't reply. He knew the only people in the facility likely to trust him were the ones who had known him the longest, and he wasn't surprised or upset by their reactions to him. Winnie was though, he could tell she was bristling slightly next to him. He put a hand on her arm and whispered, "Calm down," to her, in Russian. She didn't speak the language, but it was a little joke between the two of them and she smiled a bit.

"She's seems pretty calm to me," Natasha said wryly, not looking back at them. Bucky levelled a glare at the back of her red head, trying to keep down the urge to say something vicious back to her. He always forgot she spoke Russian, was actually born and raised Russian. They had only discovered that Bucky fluently spoke Russian himself when he and Winnie had been watching a movie, and there were terrible English subtitles played over top of a scene where Russian was spoken.

"That's not what he said," Bucky had grumbled, making Winnie look at him, brow scrunched together in confusion. "How on earth would you even know that?" She had asked him, mystified. It didn't take long to put it together after that; much like grooming, driving, fixing things, weapons, and other… more pleasant things – his memory of the ability to speak Russian came back to him as soon as he started to do it.

The dark hallway finally came to an end and they walked into a huge open space, folding tables and chairs in the centre of the room, kitchen appliances and make-shift kitchen surfaces looking out of place on one wall, with a rather large table of multiple computers along another wall.

"Wow, you've been living large, haven't you?" Winnie muttered sarcastically, and Steve turned to give her an exasperated look. "You're behaving a little immaturely," he chided her and she rolled her eyes before strolling to the table and leaning against it. Natasha made her way over to the table as well, dropping into a chair and kicking back with her feet propped up on the table.

Clint moved to the computers and settled himself at the station furthest from them all, where the screens faced away from them; a move Bucky found instantly suspicious. "Are you hungry?" Steve asked from next to him, distracting him from his tense evaluation of Barton. "Always," Bucky answered honestly, his tone relatively flat. Steve smiled with one side of his mouth and gestured towards the kitchen.

He saw Winnie and Natasha engaged in an earnest, low-voiced conversation and decided to leave them to it, following Steve into the make-shift kitchen. "You can eat whatever you want, we take turns going out for food, so there's always plenty," Steve explained pulling open the fridge. Bucky nodded at him and began to retrieve the necessary items to make sandwiches, his eyes darting over to Winnie. Steve took a seat at one of the tall chairs on the other side of the high tables being used as kitchen counters, across from him, his face steady and open, as always.

"She split the earth today," Bucky murmured, trying to keep his face in a calm expression, "I have never seen her do that before. The house was pulled apart around us, which was surprising but not unusual given what she has proven she can do in the past." He glanced up and saw that Steve was watching him raptly, his expression no longer calm, but tight and wary.

"I suppose the ground is a physical thing, so it's not out of the realm of possibility…" Steve's voice trailed off and Bucky shook his head minutely. "To split it like an earthquake?" Bucky asked him softly, incredulously, "If I had not been there to stop her, who knows how deep it could have gone? If she would have been swallowed by the fissure she created." Steve had no answer, only glanced back over his shoulder at Winnie, trying not to look as worried as Bucky knew he felt.

"I don't know what we do about this," Steve finally said, "I have no intention of locking her up." Bucky looked up at him sharply. "You think I do?" He asked harshly, nearly pulverizing the tomato he was trying to cut into slices. Steve shook his head.

"You know that's not what I meant, Buck," Steve said quietly. Bucky closed his eyes for a moment and went back to working on the sandwiches. "You said," Steve told him, "a few months ago, remember? You said, you were training with her, helping her gain some control." Bucky nodded and put his first few sandwiches on a plate, beginning on the next set.

"I am, we are, and it's been going well," Bucky told him flatly. Steve rubbed at his jaw for a moment before nodding. "Then that's all you can keep doing, right?" Steve replied. Bucky nodded. They were each silent as Bucky made several more sandwiches.

"Do you think…?" Bucky's voice trailed off as he twisted the lid back onto the mayonnaise. He looked up at Steve who nodded at him to continue, "Do you think I need to speak with her? Offer her counsel? A warning?"

"Ah, well," Steve replied, getting up and looking uncomfortable, "I don't know if I can give great advice there."

"Why not? You're an Avenger, you're technically her leader, correct?" Bucky asked in mild irritation, "That makes it your job to give me advice, or even, to speak to her yourself." Steve made a disbelieving face at him.

"Maybe if you two weren't sleeping together," Steve finally said bluntly, making Bucky recoil slightly. He met his friend's eye and held the steady gaze for a moment, completely out of his element. "So that changes the advice?" Bucky finally asked flatly, and Steve nodded.

"If you were two fighters on the same team, comrades, or even just friends, then I would say, yes, you need to sit and speak with her, you have more experience with this kind of thing, even if you don't remember it. Your instincts are all intact. You could give her advice, and warnings, perhaps even orders, but now…" Steve trailed off for a moment and stared hard at the pile of sandwiches.

"But now?" Bucky asked, leaning a little towards his friend. Steve looked up at him and gave him a crooked smile.

"Everything's a little more complicated, wouldn't you say?" Steve replied, and Bucky took a step back, crossing his arms over his chest for a moment. He eventually picked up a sandwich and began to eat it methodically, not even aware of the flavor as he did so. Steve took one as well.

"How did you know?" Bucky finally asked, when the sandwich was gone, "About her and me?... that we had… 'slept together'." Steve swallowed the mouthful of bread and his eyes skated away, guiltily.

"Oh, well, you know," Steve said, obviously stalling, and Bucky tilted his head to the side slightly, eyes narrowing. "No, I don't," he responded, "Tell me."

Steve looked entirely uncomfortable and suddenly Natasha's throaty voice sounded from their left, as she approached the counter. "He knows because I told him," she answered simply, reaching for a sandwich. Bucky stared at her, not even sure how to begin questioning her.

"Ooh, sandwiches," Winnie said, following Natasha over a moment later. She grabbed one and took a huge bite out of it, chewing quickly before bringing it to her mouth for a second bite and pausing there when she seemed to suddenly realize the tension around the plate of food.

"Did I miss something?" She asked carefully, lowering her sandwich. Her eyes turned cautiously to Bucky's and he said nothing, trying to keep his face blank. He didn't necessarily mind that people knew, for most of them he assumed it was just a foregone conclusion that he and Winnie would be involved with one another. However, he was not pleased with the notion that, just like the bigger secret of where they were living at any given time, people were discussing something that was not theirs to discuss.

"No!" Steve said, his tone overly-light, at the exact same time that Natasha said, "Everyone knows you're sleeping together and he," she jerked a thumb over towards Bucky without looking in his direction, "Doesn't like that we all know."

Winnie blinked a couple of times and looked down at her sandwich. He watched her carefully, knowing that her odd combination of old world values and new world experience left her at a disadvantage sometimes; she was willing to behave as a 'modern girl' (as she put it), but still felt constrained, and guilty, about a lot of it.

"Well," Winnie said, before taking another bite out of her sandwich, using the food as an excuse not to talk. Bucky grabbed another sandwich and then grabbed the plate and brought it over to the table across the room, dropping it down on the center of it. "What do you guys do? Sit around and talk about us?" Winnie griped quietly behind him.

"You're the one that told me," Natasha said right back, her tone sounding anything but upset.

"That was supposed to be between you and me!" Winnie exclaimed. He turned to see Natasha shrug nonchalantly, taking a lady-like bite of her sandwich. "You never said it was a secret, so I told Steve," she explained, "And a few others."

Winnie frowned at her. "I shouldn't have had to tell you, I thought we were friends," Winnie snapped back. Natasha shrugged again.

"Are we?" Natasha asked her, her tone the tiniest bit teasing, "Maybe you should have told me that first." Winnie glared darkly at the red head and then shot Steve a look that melted from angry to mildly mortified. She turned on her heel and scuttled back over to Bucky, sitting down at the table and grabbing another sandwich. He glanced over at her and took another sandwich himself, noting that her ears were very red, as was the back of her neck.

"I miss the house," she mumbled into her bread. Bucky grunted in response. "Your house is a crater, last time I saw it," Barton piped in helpfully from his seat at the computer. "Even so," she shot back, although the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. Barton chuckled and the clacking of the computer keys resumed. When all the sandwiches were gone, Steve and Natasha must have deemed it safe to return to the table, as they came and sat in the other chairs.

"Where are Bruce and Sam?" Winnie asked casually, flicking bread crumbs to the floor. She was answered with silence and that made Bucky look up sharply, first at Natasha, who maintained a level, placid countenance, and then to Steve, who was holding a very false expression of nonchalance on his face.

"Where?" Bucky asked a little more harshly. Winnie seemed to catch on to his mood and sat up straighter in her chair. "What's going on? You can't tell us? Now who has trust issues?" She snapped at them. Natasha took a deep breath and leaned towards them, bracing her elbows on the table.

"You don't know, because you don't need to know," she told them simply. Bucky leaned back in his seat, not caring for her tone, but deciding to drop the matter. Winnie didn't seem ready to. She shot to her feet and glared at Natasha. "Can we speak somewhere private?" She snapped at the other woman. Natasha raised one eyebrow and glanced over at Steve and then over to Bucky.

"Will you excuse us, boys?" She asked them in a low voice, before following Winnie down the long hallway. Steve looked over at Bucky, raised both his eyebrows, and said, "Well, that should be a fun conversation."

"This isn't private enough," Winnie said firmly, when Natasha tried to lead her into a small room off the hallway. Natasha looked around and shot Winnie a mildly surprised look. "What do you mean?" She asked and Winnie pointed at the ceiling.

"I meant someplace where we couldn't be overheard," Winnie replied, "By anyone or anything." She took a step towards Natasha and lowered her voice, "Somewhere where the walls don't have ears." Natasha studied her for a long moment before nodding and leading the way outside. She followed the agent across the gravel where the truck was parked, up a steep set of metal stairs and then up several more sets of concrete steps. She led Winnie to the top of the dam, where the wind blew harder and they were surrounded by open space on either side of the walkway.

"Will this do?" Natasha asked her, a serious look on her face. Winnie nodded and looked around. "We've been betrayed," she told Natasha simply. To her credit, the red head didn't look shocked, only crossed her arms over her chest and rolled a hand at Winnie to continue.

"It was Hydra today, you know that," Winnie began, and Natasha nodded minutely, "Their leader, we tried to question him, and he told us that he knew where to find us, that Hydra knew where to find us, because we had been betrayed by one of our own." Natasha took a deep breath, her eyes never leaving Winnie's.

"Was that all?" Natasha asked and Winnie nodded, and then shrugged. "Well, it's all we got out of him, before he killed himself. A cyanide tablet in his tooth, I think," Winnie explained. Natasha chewed the inside of her mouth for a moment, briefly gazing out over the side of the dam.

"You don't think it's me," Natasha stated, and Winnie made a quiet noise of agreement. "Or Steve," Winnie added softly. Natasha looked back at her and smirked a little bit. "I suppose I should be flattered," she told Winnie, who only rolled her eyes in response.

"It wouldn't be Clint," Natasha said, her fingers unconsciously running over the small necklace at her throat. Winnie watched her and nodded. "I don't think so either," Winnie agreed, "Or Tony, or Bruce, or Sam, or Hill."

"You forgot Thor," Natasha added, her voice amused. Winnie laughed briefly. "I don't think we register on his radar right now at all, to be honest," Winnie said in a dry voice and Natasha laughed. "Not unless your name is Jane," the red head muttered. They were silent before Winnie grew agitated and began to pace.

"Nat, it had to be someone," Winnie said seriously, "Someone talked, said something to someone else they shouldn't have, it's the only thing that makes sense – I just don't know who." Natasha cleared her throat and Winnie looked over at her sharply.

"What? What aren't you telling us?" Winnie snapped, her irritation flooding her voice. Natasha pressed her lips together and shook her head. "I can't say," Natasha said, holding up a hand to stop Winnie's immediate protests, "Not yet, not until… not yet."

Winnie was getting frustrated. "Natasha!" She cried angrily, "For god's sake! They almost had us today! If I hadn't heard them at the last minute the way I did, they would have made it through the door and tranq'd us both before we could even react!" Natasha gave her a skeptical look.

"You're dating the Winter Soldier, I find it hard to believe that anyone 'almost' got the jump on you," Natasha said wryly. Winnie made a face and looked away. "He was… preoccupied at the time," Winnie managed to say, feeling her ears burn, "He didn't hear them." Natasha blinked at her and then comprehension flitted across her features.

"You weren't," the agent said in flat, amused, disbelief, "You're telling me they barged in on you both while you were –"

"Nat! That's not the point!" Winnie cried, her embarrassment clear. Natasha smirked at her again, her expression a little more teasing.

"You don't need to be so embarrassed over it, you know, it's perfectly natural –"

"Natasha!"

"I'm just saying, you both spent 70 years hard up for each other and now –"

"Oh my lord, this conversation is over," Winnie snapped, waving her hands in front of herself, her entire face burning now, "Just promise me you'll put some thought to what I've said, help us figure this out? And be discreet?" Natasha snorted in a dainty way and her eyebrow rose up again.

"Discreet is something you know I can do," she replied calmly, before her features tightened into something more serious, "I don't like this anymore than you do; we will figure this out."

"That's all I ask," Winnie replied, heading back towards the stairs. Natasha walked at her side and they were both quiet as they made their way down.

"Just out of curiosity, how is a 98 year old man in bed?"

"I will throw you over this dam, so help me god."

"I had been hoping to see Bruce before we went to bed," Winnie said faintly, as she pawed through a cardboard box of clothes, "I wanted to say hi and see how he's handling being stuck here." Bucky didn't reply, only sat back on the bed and removed his shoes. "Ah, here we go," she said in triumph, pulling out a clean tank top and sweatpants for herself.

He watched in growing interest as she began to get changed, prying off the stained and dirty clothing she'd worn all day and slipping into the leftover SHIELD issue clothes that Natasha had produced boxes of. "You should come over here," he told her, as she pulled the pants up. She shot a look over at him, a small smile pulling at the corner of her mouth.

"I don't think I should," she replied primly, bending and picking up her dirty clothing and piling it by the door to their room, "Neither of us has showered and I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted." He sighed a little and nodded, getting up and moving to the bag himself. He could hear her fussing with the bed, trying to arrange pillows and blankets, while he selected a pair of sweatpants for himself. He removed his own clothing and put on the SHIELD garment, staying shirtless, before turning back to her, finding her lying in bed already.

The room was small, grey, and bland, but they had pushed together the two small single beds in it and Winnie had made some quick arrangements with the bedding so that they would have more room. She lay nearest to the wall, on his right hand side, the side he insisted she sleep on; he didn't want her near the other arm while he slept. He had nightmares frequently, and while usually nothing happened, a few times he had lunged outwards and smashed the bedside lamp, or nightstand, and since then adamantly refused to allow her near the arm while he was unconscious.

He climbed in after her and she pulled the blankets up over them both, propping herself up on one elbow as she lay back down next to him. He lay on his back and looked over at her. "Are you tired at all?" She said softly, a nightly question of hers that translated to 'you need to sleep, please sleep'. He shook his head and she sighed, rolling sideways and laying on her back as well.

"I'm sorry," she muttered finally and he twisted to his side, to look over at her, confusion mounting inside him. "Why? Have you done something I will not like?" He asked her. She smiled briefly and shook her head, looking over at him quickly, before staring back up at the ceiling.

"They were after me, Bucky, not you," she whispered, "It's me they want. Anyone around me will be considered a hindrance; in the way." He swallowed and reached for her hand, with his metal one, grasping it lightly and running his thumb over her palm. "No," he answered her quietly and firmly, "You are wrong."

"I'm not though, Bucky, you know I'm not. Hydra wants me, and I'm worried that someone, you, will be hurt," she told him, "You would all have a better chance if you just handed me to them, you know." He narrowed his eyes at her and didn't reply. She turned to look at him and flinched a little at the expression on his face, he tried to dial his glare back, but found he couldn't.

"That may be the most stupid thing I have ever heard," he told her in a low, furious voice. She took in a deep breath and looked away, but he dropped her hand and reached for her face, turning her back to him. "That would solve nothing, it would only create more problems; for you, for me, for us, for everyone," he said urgently, "They will not lock you in a box and leave you there. They would turn you into a weapon and then turn you against us all."

She swallowed hard and bit her lip, and he felt a flicker of regret for being so blunt. "They also would not stop with you," he told her, his tone unchanged, "Hydra will never be content; they want everything." Winnie sighed, her shoulders rising and falling as she did, and he released her face, trailing his hand down her cheek and then up into her hair. He lightly gripped it and she turned to look at him, mild surprise on her face now.

"You will not do anything about this alone," he warned her, "Promise me." She nodded, replying, "I promise, Bucky." He closed his eyes, letting go of her hair and leaning towards her, pressing a kiss to her mouth. He could see the fatigue on her face and knew she needed to sleep; it had been a long day and he thought she might function better, emotionally, if she was able to rest.

"We are safe here for now," he told her quietly, reaching behind the bed to flick the switch on the light, throwing the room into darkness, "Go to sleep, Winnie." She shifted around to lay on her stomach, the way she always did, and he wrapped his flesh arm around her, drawing her closer until she lay her head on his shoulder.

They were both silent for several minutes and he thought she might be asleep when she whispered, "Say it." He smiled into the darkness, his hand tightening slightly on her side; he'd been waiting for her demand.

"I love you."

"Morning," Steve heard from behind himself, turning from the stove to see Winnie entering the room. He smiled and nodded, gesturing at the stove. "Good morning. I'm just making some pancakes," he told her. She grinned and took a seat at the counter.

"That," she told him, her tone satisfied, "Sounds like a great idea – you'll probably have to make about a hundred though." He chuckled and gestured at the multiple pans and the huge griddle set up next to the stove. "Actually, with you two here now, I'm guessing it'll be nearly twice that," he remarked, "Super appetites, you know." Winnie reached for his cup of coffee and took a long sip from it, frowning at the flavor.

"Ew, Steve," she griped, sliding the cup away from herself, "Why do you always insist on ruining your coffee?" She grimaced and smacked her lips and he rolled his eyes as he turned back to the pancakes. Winnie appeared a few feet to his side, and he looked over in surprise, not having heard her get up or walk over.

"Someone's been taking lessons," he commented, swiftly flipping over a couple dozen pancakes in quick succession. "What?" She asked, grabbing a mug of her own and filling it from the coffee pot. "Lessons from Bucky," he replied, "I used to be able to hear you coming from a mile away – you walk like a cat now." She laughed a little and sipped at her coffee, raising an eyebrow at him above the mug.

"Now this is real coffee," she teased him, "None of that namby-pamby milk and sugar." He pointed back at the counter. "Either go sit down and quit disturbing the chef, or grab a spatula," he ordered in mock-gruffness. Winnie laughed again and went back to the counter, sliding herself up to sit on the edge of it, instead of a chair. He peeked several looks over his shoulder at her and couldn't keep the smile from his face.

It all felt so damn normal and familiar to him. Winnie, rumpled and wrinkled from bed, hair a wild snarl, sucking back her coffee like a lifeline, bugging him about his own tastes in the beverage. I miss our lives, he thought reluctantly, feeling a twinge of remorse that he was even having the thought, old lives means no Bucky, though.

He knew that he was sugar-coating the memory, that they had good times, but that the Winnie then was a lot more serious and melancholy, as if even time couldn't fully erase her grief. She was a lot happier now, perhaps more paranoid, and slightly more dangerous, which he supposed would happen to anyone who lived with the Winter Soldier, but there was no denying that she was, quite simply, more at peace.

"Did Bruce and Sam get back?" She asked quietly and he nodded, not turning around. "They're sleeping, like everyone else," he told her. "How is Bruce?" She asked him, concern in her voice, "I can't imagine this is a welcome turn of events for him." Steve didn't answer immediately as he removed the completed batch of pancakes, stacking them on a tray and sliding it into a slightly warmed oven to keep them hot while he cooked.

"SHIELD did more for him than any of us actually realized," Steve answered carefully, "They seemed intrusive at times, always keeping tabs on him, but they let him be, and they kept everyone else off of him, so he could live his life how he pleased." Winnie made a small noise of unhappiness behind him and he resisted the urge to turn around, instead pouring out more batter.

"Now, there's no one left to call the dogs off," she murmured, and Steve grunted in agreement. "What dogs?" A voice came from the hall that led to the dorms, and he glanced over his shoulder to see a sleepy-looking Bruce standing there. Winnie dropped her cup on the counter with a thunk and bounded from her seat there. "Bruce!" She cried happily, charging towards him.

"Hey Winnie," he replied calmly, accepting her exuberant hug with a smile. Steve shook his head a little bit and turned back to his pancakes. After the Hulk had nearly torn her in half, he was surprised at her continued friendship with the mild-mannered doctor, but they had really taken a liking to each other. Winnie had even had another chance to see the Hulk, in New York, after she'd awoken from Natasha clubbing her across the head, and before the Hulk eventually changed back into Bruce.

As the two of them chatted behind him, he remembered how terrified she'd been of going anywhere near the green creature, when they'd joined everyone else on the ruined streets. He could feel her tensing up, there were faint tugs at his clothing and bits of debris all around them had begun to rise from the ground as she fought herself, trying not to be afraid.

The 'other guy' as Banner put it, had turned with an angry growl from where Thor was busily restraining Loki, and the creature had looked around, an unusually dumbstruck look on his face, as one large green hand reached out and batted at a piece of concrete floating by it. Steve was never certain how, but somehow, the other guy knew that Winnie was the source of this fascinating phenomenon and had grunted eagerly at her, before pointing at a car.

"That," Hulk had grunted. Everyone turned round eyes to Winnie, even Natasha looking astonished. Winnie stood in her Nomad uniform, goggles down over her face so her eyes were mostly hidden. "That," the creature said again, pointing at the car. Winnie had simply turned to the car, reaching a hand towards it, lifting it from the ground, and then her brow had crinkled as she swiftly clenched her outstretched hand into a fist, causing the wreck of a car to fold in half.

The creature had made a roaring noise that actually sounded pleased, and then pointed at a bench, which Winnie subsequently moved, shattering it into pieces. Thus began a nearly 15 minute long game of sorts, as the green monster would point at anything that caught its eye, and Winnie would lift the object and rip it to shreds. Everyone else carried on with communication with Fury, greeting the National Guard, other military, the police, and a hoard of SHIELD agents as they poured into the area, while Winnie walked closer and closer to the Hulk. Soon they looked like mismatched friends as she laughed at its reactions to her ability.

Steve hung back, watching with his own growing amusement as the Hulk got a slightly devious expression on its face and pointed at Tony, who was still in the suit, standing with his back to them, talking earnestly to Natasha and an army general. Winnie had stifled her laughter, and, to Steve's disbelief, had elbowed the creature good naturedly, raising her eyebrows to make sure it was paying attention. It grunted and she stretched her hands out towards Tony and he shot off the ground, rose into the air, flipped upside down and yelped angrily when he realized what had happened and why.

"For god's sake Win," he'd griped from the air while she and the green creature killed themselves laughing. Hulk reached up and grabbed Tony and tossed him to the ground. Shortly thereafter, Banner was back and Steve thought Winnie was a little disappointed that their game was over.

Now, making a mountain of pancakes, Steve smiled a little, at the memory, and at the sound of Winnie chuckling quietly at something Banner told her. We should have done this months ago, he thought ruefully to himself, enjoying the sound and familiarity of her laughter and presence, they'd have been safer and it's just better this way.

Winnie and Banner walked over to the kitchen again, Winnie grabbing her coffee and Banner getting himself a mug, sniffing the air appreciatively as he did. "Smells good man," Bruce told him, and Steve glanced over and nodded, a small smile on his face. Bruce disappeared back to the table and Steve glanced over to see him and Winnie sitting with their coffees at the tables in the center of the room. He turned back to the pancakes, deciding he was likely going to need to make more batter.

He idly wondered where Bucky might be, probably sleeping, when he heard Winnie's happy greeting of Sam, her chair sliding back as she climbed to her feet. Then he heard a sharp gasp and the splashing crash of her mug of coffee hitting the ground.

"You're supposed to be dead!" She yelled in disbelief, her voice bordering on a scream. Steve spun around at the sound of her cry and his brow lowered. This should be interesting, he thought, watching as Fury walked into the room carefully, approaching Winnie slowly, with his hands in the air. She was backing away, and Steve suddenly worried that this kind of mental shock might not be good for someone who had so recently snapped.

"How?!" She cried, anger seeping into her voice, as she took another few steps back, holding a hand out to Fury like she couldn't stand to be near him. "You died! I watched it! And then… SHIELD! Hydra! People died! Hydra had me! And Bucky!" She reached a wall and leaned against it, her stance cautious and wary, utterly confused, but not lashing out, to Steve's relief. Fury walked closer to her, his face not guilty, just the normal even calm it normally was.

When he was a couple feet from her he nodded. "I know," he told her in his firm voice, "It was a necessary –" He never got to complete his sentence because Bucky suddenly charged into the room, furious and glaring, and snatched Fury up with his metal arm, like Fury was a doll, and hurled him across the room, away from Winnie.

Everyone started yelling and Natasha and Clint raced into the room as Winnie leapt for Bucky's arm, holding him back when he tried to go after Fury. Everyone got between Bucky and Fury and for a moment it seemed like it was about to all go terribly sideways when Banner suddenly hollered angrily, "Enough! Don't make me get pissed off here guys!"

Breathing heavily, Bucky's angry, glaring eyes slid over to Bruce and he visibly calmed down at the mention of Banner's anger.

"You had better be ready to explain yourself," Winnie growled at Fury, before turning to Bucky, her face furious, "And what the hell?" Tense silence reigned for a long moment before Clint said, "Do I smell pancakes?"

Everyone else tentatively moved towards the kitchen, pancakes and coffee being served all around. Winnie took the opportunity to drag Bucky further down the hallway. He stared steadily at her and she took a deep breath, trying to control her urge to freak out at him.

"You know now he wasn't trying to hurt me right?" She asked him her tone rigid. Bucky nodded at her. "I woke to hear you yelling," he answered her, his tone flat, "And then I came out here to find you cornered, with no one assisting you." Winnie blinked at him, trying to see this from his stand point. These were her friends, not his, and they only just yesterday discovered that someone had betrayed them. She wasn't exactly pleased that he had reacted so violently, but she realized she could understand why he had.

"Thank you," she said softly, surprising him, she knew. His eyes widened slightly and he gave her a suspicious look. "You're not angry?" He asked her warily. She shrugged and leaned in to give him a hug. "It was rash, but I get it," she replied. Bucky smiled at her and then she immediately hissed, "But you are going to apologize." Bucky took a step back.

"No," he responded stubbornly. Winnie blinked, "Bucky, really? You attacked him for no reason!" She cried. He crossed his arms over his chest, the metal one clacking and whirring slightly. "No," Bucky said. Winnie clenched her teeth and waved a hand at him.

"Why 'no'?" She asked him. Bucky levelled an even stare at her. "I would do it again, because until we know who betrayed us to Hydra, I will trust no one, not with your life," his response was firm and she searched his eyes for a long moment. "You are so infuriating sometimes," she finally told him. He surprised her by laughing a little.

"You love it," he told her, his voice lower than before, his eyes regarding her intently, sliding down her sleep-clothes-clad frame, "You look very appealing when you are angry." Winnie rolled her eyes at the sudden shift the conversation had taken, at his ability to so swiftly change his mood and demeanor whenever he decided he was finished with an emotion. She was also mildly irritated with him for being able to duck out of her being angry with him, yet again – it was something she was learning he was just as skilled at as the old Bucky used to be.

"You're impossible," she managed to say as he drew her closer, leaning his face into her neck. "Its fine," he murmured against her pulse point and she chuckled a little.

"At the very least explain to them why you did it, if you won't apologize," she said softly, persistently. Bucky groaned and leaned away, meeting her gaze. He looked back and forth between her eyes for a moment before rolling his eyes slightly. "Will you stop being angry if I do that?" He asked her, tilting his head slightly to the side.

She sighed and nodded and he went back to her neck again. "Bucky," she murmured, "Bucky, stop." He leaned back and shot her a lightly frustrated look. "I really need to get back in there and find out why the hell Fury isn't dead, this is a bad time for you to… be like this," she said, putting both her hands on his arms. He sighed quietly and shot her a hopeful look. "And afterwards?" He asked her.

Winnie chuckled and nodded and he reluctantly stepped back from her, waving back down the hallway to the area everyone else was gathered in. "Go," he told her, his tone flattening seriously, "Go now before I change my mind." She shook her head at him and they made their way back into the open area.

Everyone looked up from where they were seated around the table. Chairs had been pulled in from the desks and other points in the room and two empty ones sat one end of the table; as far from where Fury was sitting as possible, she noted. Silently, she and Bucky grabbed coffee and served themselves heaping plates of pancakes, before taking the empty seats. A tense quiet permeated the room, the sounds of eating being the only noise in the room.

"Well, isn't this unpleasant?" Natasha asked bluntly, and it broke the tension. Bucky dropped his fork with a clatter and locked his gaze on Fury. Winnie couldn't help but notice how everyone else tensed up, and wanted to scold them. "She was yelling, that was all I could hear, and there were elevated levels of stress in her voice," Bucky began, almost robotically, "You had her cornered. My reaction was warranted, though apparently unnecessary."

Silence fell over the room again, and Bucky turned back to his food, his task completed. Fury surprised them by let out a rough chuckle. "Understood," he told Bucky. Bucky didn't look up, merely nodded curtly as he continued to shovel in his food. Bruce and Sam got up and began clearing plates, and Natasha and Clint moved over to the computer terminals.

"So, I'm assuming you have some questions," Fury began, and Winnie kept her eyes on him, nodding. "I was never dead, not that he," Fury gestured at Bucky, "Didn't put enough effort into the task." Winnie met Steve's eyes and saw that he didn't look happy. So, Fury stepped on some toes with his fake-out, she thought with interest, wondering just how much people trusted their former director.

"You can't kill what's already dead," Fury explained, "And there were things that needed to be done, things that needed to be taken care of and looked into."

"You realize that Hydra will kill you if they learned that I failed," Bucky commented easily, pushing his plate away from himself. Fury raised an eyebrow at him and nodded. "I'm sure they will," Fury replied calmly, "Which is why, most people continue to think I'm dead."

"You knew," Winnie said slowly, her eyes dragging from her coffee up to Fury's face, "You knew where we were." Fury stared back at her, his face expressionless, and she was suddenly angry again. "Who did you tell?" She asked him loudly, "Who knows about Bucky and I?" She leaned on the table and pointed at him, "Who did you tell about us?"

Steve suddenly whipped his head in Fury's direction, his eyebrows drawing together. "That's a really good question," Natasha said from behind them, her casual tone not hiding enough of her sudden suspicion. "One you need to answer immediately," Bucky said in a low voice.

Fury took in a deep breath and nodded, clearly not happy. "I know about what happened yesterday," he told them all, "There was a breach, someone knew something they shouldn't have and word spread."

"They almost had us!" Winnie yelled. There was a clatter in the kitchen; her cry had obviously startled someone. "They would have dragged me back to their labs, experimented on me, done god knows what to me!" She continued furiously, "They would have killed Bucky! They would have done things to my mind, turned me against you! Do you understand what that would mean? For you? For everyone?" The plates began to shudder on the table, and she felt Bucky's cool metal hand rest on her back, a silent entreaty for her to be calm.

Winnie clenched her teeth and took several deep breaths, allowing Bucky's hand to slide to her hip and urge her to sit down. Fury still said nothing and Steve got up from the table in disgust. "Who did you tell?" He asked Fury, his voice so hard and serious that Winnie hardly recognized it. Fury looked up at Steve, and then briefly around the room, where he was met with suspicious, unfriendly stares from everyone in it. He sighed in frustration.

"The new director of SHIELD, I told him," Fury finally spat out, "The breach must have occurred there."

"New director?" Natasha asked in an upset tone, getting to her feet and marching over to stand next to Winnie's seat, "I thought the deal was that SHIELD, and with it, Hydra, were dissolved, gone, broken up." Fury raised both eyebrows and frowned. "Hydra merely retreated to lick their wounds for a while, that's all, they haven't dissolved," Fury said, his voice even, "And neither did SHIELD; the world still needs SHIELD."

"For goddsake, Nick," Natasha said, before spinning on her heel and going back to the desks. She threw herself down in a chair and exchanged a look with Clint before shaking her head and clicking away at the computer in front of her again. "So, just as before, it's evident that SHIELD learned nothing and Hydra still has moles in it," Steve stated. Fury shrugged.

"I can't be certain of that," he began, before Winnie got to her feet in a rush. "You can't be certain," she deadpanned, disbelief heavy in her tones, "I would say it's all but certain that's exactly what's happened here."

"We need to visit this new SHIELD and find out where the leak is, and plug it," Bucky commented reasonably. All eyes turned to him and he looked around placidly. "It is the correct choice, the only choice, because our location will not be the only information leaked, there will be more, always more," Bucky explained, "It will not end until they eradicate all that is left of SHIELD, of you, the Avenger's."

Silence reigned again and Winnie suddenly laughed drily at the notion of being dragged back into SHIELDs messes, again. She felt flustered when everyone turned to stare at her and shrugged. "He's right, we need to go and visit SHIELD," she said, her eyes locking onto Fury, "And we need to go immediately." The silence grew thicker and tenser in the room until Fury broke it.

"You can't all go, there are other things," he said meaningfully, looking over at Steve, "Other things that must be dealt with."

"What are you suggesting?" Steve questioned him with authority, striding closer to Fury. The former director got to his feet and took a couple steps towards the door. "I will have an agent I trust come and escort you," he said, pointing at Winnie, "To the new location." Bucky shot to his feet immediately, ready to explode, and Fury waved a hand at him.

"You too, Barnes," Fury told him. Bucky seemed pleased with that and immediately sat down again. "That's not enough, I'm not going to allow it," Steve told him flatly. Winnie looked over at him and realized he was speaking not as a SHIELD agent, not even as Captain America, but as her leader, their leader, the leader of the Avengers. We're aren't SHIELD anymore, not the people in this room, she realized, understanding now why Fury was protecting what was left of SHIELD, and if we aren't SHIELD then we aren't to be fully trusted with SHIELD secrets any longer.

Steve looked over at Sam and then over to Natasha. "You two will go with them," he ordered them, and Winnie was pleased that neither of them argued. "Rogers, you don't understand –" Fury began heatedly, but Steve's brow lowered and he took an angry step forwards. "No, you don't," he shot back, the authority still ringing in his words, "These aren't your people any more Nick, those weren't your secrets to share, and if that's a problem, we can show you the door."

Fury's jaw clenched and he finally nodded curtly. "Fine, I'll make the call," he said shortly, before turning around and leaving the room in a flourish. Winnie blinked at Steve, a little shocked by how quickly it had all turned around. "Thanks," she told him softly and he smiled.

"If you guys are going, it's not as agents of SHIELD," he told her and Bucky, walking closer to them, leaning against the table. "What do you mean?" Bucky asked flatly. Steve smiled at him and then turned the growing grin to Winnie before saying, "You'll need to suit up."

They stood in the small room and stared down at the neat piles of garments on the large table that took up half the space. Winnie reached a tentative hand out and stroked it over her uniform lightly. She hadn't worn it since the day she flew home from Russia with Natasha and Rumlow.

"How?" Was all she asked, her voice quiet. Steve replied from behind her, "You had a lot of them, this one is from our storage locker." She turned to him in surprise. "It's the original one?" She asked in disbelief, and Steve nodded. Winnie glanced over and saw Natasha snatch up her pile of clothing like she was afraid someone would take it. The look on her face stunned Winnie for a moment. The redhead's expression was wary and yet slightly hungry, like she couldn't wait to wear the Black Widow gear again, and was simultaneously ashamed of the fact that she was so eager.

Natasha turned and left the room and Steve nodded at Winnie. "Take your time," he told her, "I know it might be unfamiliar; you won't be going anywhere for a while yet anyways." Steve cast a worried look over at Bucky, who had his back to them as he stood in front of all the accoutrements of the Winter Soldier. As soon as he had laid eyes on it all, he'd moved to stand in front of it and then hadn't moved since.

Winnie followed Steve's gaze and she bit her lip, wondering if it was wise for Bucky to be expected to wear it again. Steve had explained that they had gathered all of Bucky's gear off the floor of Steve's bedroom, where he'd changed shortly after Bucky and Winnie arrived at her and Steve's old apartment, that first day after everything went down.

"Why?" Winnie had asked, her voice still slightly far away at the sight of Nomad folded up neatly in front of her. "I just thought it was a good idea, to keep it all together, it's not just regular clothing," Steve had answered.

Now Steve put a gentle hand to her back and nodded at her, before leaving the room, closing the door after himself. Winnie watched Bucky and reached for him tentatively, placing her hand on his shoulder. His muscles were rock hard, so tense she wondered if he was in pain. She yanked her hand back in alarm when Bucky suddenly whirled around to look at her, his face tormented.

It wasn't anger there, or sadness, or confusion. It was fear. "Bucky," she breathed out, reaching for him again. His eyes moved to hers and she felt something crack in her chest. "I can't," he murmured, "I can't." She nodded and reached for him, pulling him closer to herself by his metal hand. He stared down at where their hands were joined and ripped the limb from her grasp. His breathing was getting heavier, as his eyes grew wilder.

"Bucky, please," she said softly, "It's alright, you can wear anything you like." He looked up at her and licked his lips, a pleading expression on his face. "I won't be the asset," he told her quietly, "I won't be Hydra again." She shook her head and stepped towards him, grabbing his arm and holding tightly, refusing to let go when he tried to pull away.

"Come here," she said firmly, yanking him towards herself, away from the Winter Soldier 'uniform'. He moved jerkily, but came to stand before her. She boosted herself up onto the table and sat on the edge, putting her head a little more evenly with his own.

"You aren't a monster," she told him, "No matter what you wear, you aren't a monster; nothing can make you that again."

"Hydra could," he mumbled and she grabbed his face between her hands, pushing his hair out of the way and holding him gently. "Hydra won't," she growled, her voice utterly unbreakable, "They won't. I won't ever allow it."

"What if," Bucky began haltingly, "What if it's like before, if I put it on, and I become him, the Soldier, the asset? The one from before, the mindless one. If it makes me remember and he wakes up." She was shaking her head before he could finish.

"Don't you see?" She asked him softly, "He did wake up, he realized what they were doing to him, we got through to him, and he pulled himself away. You are him, Bucky, not a mindless monster, but a prisoner of war who finally got free." His pained eyes met hers and she saw the slight widening of them, the brief flaring of hope.

"You really believe that?" He asked her. She nodded. "I really do," she answered, "If you really don't want to wear it, we'll find something else. But if I'm being perfectly honest with you, it's likely the most useful gear for you – it was made to fit you and the way you move, the way you fight – it's not just a uniform, it's armor, it's protection. You'll be safer in it, and be able to do everything more smoothly because of it. Despite how much you hate what they made you do while wearing it before, you have worn it before; it won't get in the way."

His eyes searched back and forth between hers the entire time she was speaking, and she knew the notion of the outfit being worn for utility rather than for image or symbolism was easier for him to handle. "Let's take our stuff and go back to our room and get ready, and if you don't like it, if you really can't stand it, then we'll get something else. It's that simple," she reassured him. He nodded, his expression loosening in something like relief.

"Alright," he responded quietly. Winnie was careful to gather everything up and watched as he gingerly lifted his own things and they walked back to their small room fairly quickly. Bucky dumped his armload on the bed and stepped back, watching as she put her own things down. She stared at him, at how tense he was, and decided they both need to relax, to recharge, to calm down and reboot.

She smiled at him, letting a hint of coy teasing leak into her expression. His own face brightened slightly and this time she was relieved at how easily his moods could change. "I think," she said softly, taking the few steps towards him, "That you and I need to take a shower."

He smiled a little at her and leaned towards her when she grabbed the fabric of his shirt at the shoulders and tugged him down towards her. "A shower," he repeated, his tone quiet, but not unhappy. She nodded and pulled him a little closer, his face coming within inches of her own.

"Yes, a shower," she whispered, "I promised you a reward earlier, didn't I?"