Steve walked into the living room, carrying a pile of sheets in his arms. "Hey, Buck?"

Bucky looked up from his book.

"Do you mind if I change your sheets?"

Bucky shook his head.

Steve walked over to Bucky's room. He dumped the linen in a corner of the room, and started stripping the bed. He noticed something.

A manilla folder poked out from under the bed.

Steve didn't want to snoop, but a manilla folder? Where did Bucky even get that, and why was he keeping it under his bed? He picked it up and opened it.

It was filled with HYDRA intelligence: locations of safe houses, code signals, the names and addresses of HYDRA enemies, personnel files, everything.

He kneeled down and looked under the bed.

A pile of the folders squatted under the bed.

Steve shoved the folder in his hands back under his bed, and started making the bed.

Bucky wasn't working for HYDRA, he couldn't be. But the files seemed to show otherwise. But maybe he was collecting evidence. HYDRA wouldn't let him take their files, would they? HYDRA was collapsing, though. Maybe emergency measures meant the Winter Soldier got to keep his intel wherever he liked.

He grabbed the dirty sheets and walked out to the laundry. He needed to talk to Sam. He may not have much experience, but two heads had to be better than one.

He went back to the living room. "I'm just going for a walk."

Bucky nodded.

Steve walked out the door, and jogged down the stairs. Once he'd put a distance between himself and the building, he called Sam.

Sam answered. "What is it?"

"I found a bunch of HYDRA files under Bucky's bed."

"What sort of files?"

"It's a mix, honestly. Some about HYDRA, some about it's enemies."

"Does this mean-"

"Bucky's not a mole." It flew out of Steve's mouth before he could stop it. "At least, I don't think he is. Looking at the files Natasha gave us, he was pretty much exclusively an assassin."

"HYDRA's collapsing though."

"Still don't think HYDRA would send him. He can't be faking all his problems, and I think they would stop him from being a reliable... anything, really."

"Then what else could it be?"

Steve flopped down on a bus stop bench. "I don't know. I'd like to think he's gathering evidence, or something, but-" He sighed.

"I'd suggest talking to him, but considering the circumstances..."

"I'll work something out."

XXX

Steve sat on the couch, scrolling through his email history, trying to find some clue on how to contact 'nr.' He could make a good guess at who it was, he only knew one person with those initials. But knowing who he was looking for didn't make any easier to find her.

He frown deepened, and he put the StarkPad down, and picked up his mobile phone. This wasn't going to work. This was stupid. She'd almost certainly changed her mobile number. But he didn't have any better idea. He went into his contacts, and selected Natasha's number. He held the phone up to his ear.

He expected to get a 'this number is no longer available' almost immediately. He didn't. It dialled. He expected it, after a few rings, to give that message. It didn't.

Natasha answered after a few seconds. "Steve?"

"Nat?"

He could hear her smile on the other end of the line. "Who else did you expect? You called my number."

"I honestly expected you to have thrown the phone out by now."

"What, and not be able to help the Winter Soldier tried kill you?"

"Bucky. His name is Bucky."

"He can be both. I'm both Natasha and the Black Widow."

"Anyway, I need to ask a favour."

"What sort of favour?"

"It's about Bucky. I found HYDRA files under his bed. I don't want to think he's a mole-"

"I kept KGB files close. Information is power. But I also thought of running back about as often, and the Soldier's programming is much deeper."

Steve grimaced. "I already told you, his name is Bucky. This is not my preference, it is his,"

"-Bucky's programming is much deeper."

"Thank you. I need to talk to him about this, but Sam and I need back up."

"If he is a mole, do you really think he's going to tell the truth when we confront him."

"Do you think he's going to let us live if he's a mole?"

"Touché. So, you just want someone else on hand in case he turns violent."

"You also probably have a better understanding of this sort of situation than either me or Sam, but mostly that, yes."

"Good thing I stayed in DC then."

"You stayed in DC? All your covers are blown!"

"Well then I'm a fool. When are you planning on doing this intervention?"

XXX

Bucky watched Steve and Sam.

Sam leaned on the kitchen counter, sipping hot chocolate and watching the muted nature program on television.

Steve sketched on the couch, strokes fast and hard.

They were tense. Bucky could see it in the curl of their fingers, the set of their shoulders. Maybe he was imagining it, but he didn't think he was. They were waiting. Even Sam, he usually seemed to radiate calm, looked like he was ready to spring at the slightest thing.

It was the way HYDRA acted around him.

Bucky pushed down that thought. He'd been spending too long investigating. His nerves after getting caught hadn't died down. Steve and Sam didn't think of him the same way. They didn't act around him the same way.

Steve looked up from his sketchbook. "You remember Nat? Redhead, killer kick?"

"She was fighting HYDRA with you?"

"That's her. She's going to be coming over in a little while. Sorry, I forgot to tell you."

Bucky shrugged. "It's okay." The comment put him even more on edge. Steve didn't just forget to tell him things. Especially not about things like people coming over.

There was a knock on the door.

Steve levered himself up from the couch. "That'll be her." He opened the front door, and Nat stepped in.

She stayed back just in front of the door, even when Steve tried to lead her forwards.

He went back to the couch.

Sam walked out of the kitchen, and leaned on the doorway between it and the living room.

They surrounded him, wall on his left, Nat in front of him, Sam and Steve on his right.

Bucky caught the glint of Steve's shield behind the couch.

This couldn't be deliberate. Sam and Steve wouldn't surround him deliberately, would they?

"We need to talk, Bucky. I didn't mean to snoop, but I found HYDRA files under the bed."

"Is this what this is about?" Bucky pointed around the circle.

"We weren't sure how you'd react."

"Break the circle."

"Bucky, it's for-"

Nat stepped away from the door, and sat on the couch, a polite distance from Bucky.

He was still surrounded on both sides, but he had a clear run to the front door, assuming Nat didn't stop him.

He leaned back. At least he wasn't penned in a circle.

"Are you willing to talk now?" Steve asked.

"I was gathering evidence. I worked out where their base was, but I wanted find out what they'd done that I didn't know about and prove it."

"He's not lying," Nat said.

"Bucky, you don't need to find out what they're doing," Steve said.

Sam nodded. "It's not your responsibility."

"But it is! I knew how to find them, and that means I've got to find out about them. So they don't do it again." He left the 'it' unspecified. He didn't even know what he meant by it, but he didn't care. He had to stop them from doing it again. Any of it. All of it.

Nat turned to him. "May I see the files?"

Bucky nodded and stood up. He walked over to his room, got them out from under the bed, walked back, and handed them to Nat.

She flicked through them, looking at each page. "This is more than enough to prove their identity, and their address. I'm pretty sure the police would kill to get these." She looked up from the files. "Though I don't think that would be necessary for them?"

Bucky shrugged and hung his head. "I don't really have any ideas of what to do with them. If you want to give them to the police, I don't care."

"In that case, are you going to stop now? You've been doing a number on yourself," Sam said.

"You noticed that?"

"It wasn't exactly subtle."

"I was trying to do it quickly. So I didn't go back."

"Then maybe this is a good reason to stop."

XXX

Bucky flopped down on the couch, watching the first channel that came up on the television. Steve had called to tell him he'd been held up, and to Bucky's surprise, there was a limit to how much he could read of his own biography.

The news came on, and he listened to it as it droned on about this or that. Then a news story came on that actually interested him.

The newsreader stared straight at the camera as a picture of Rumlow with his hands behind his head, and the caption 'HYDRA RAID' swam on to the screen.

"This evening, reports have come in that the Metropolitan Police have raided a suspected HYDRA base, due to an anonymous tip off. Ten people have been charged with crimes ranging from espionage to terrorism, and are not eligible for bail."

The camera switched to a man standing outside, microphones right up in his face. A strapline swung into view, saying 'John Engelson, Metropolitan Police Commisioner.' "Normally this would be SHIELD's job, but with them gone, we have to look after ourselves more. We're lucky that this went so well, and we're even luckier to have gotten the tip. This only shows the importance of anonymous tips to our work-" He went on, but Bucky wasn't paying any more attention.

He felt... happy? He couldn't quite capture the word for the feeling. It was definitely positive, and he could vaguely remember experiencing it, but he couldn't place it. He smiled anyway. Sometimes getting the right word didn't matter.

Steve opened the front door and walked in.

Bucky turned his head to face him. "Is this what doing good feels like?"

Steve smiled back. "Probably."

XXX

Bucky sat in Sam's office.

"I'm kind of surprised," Sam said.

Bucky cocked his head. "How so?"

"I expected this to take longer, especially with your setback, and especially considering how complex your case is. But you pretty functional now." He shrugged and dipped his head to the side. "You'll always have to work around your PTSD, and I wouldn't be surprised if you needed more therapy later, but right now, I don't think any more."

"I don't need to come back next week?"

"You won't need to come back for a long time, hopefully. Don't act so shocked, you've come a long way. You've gotten much better at dealing with flashbacks; and you have both nightmares and those a lot less often, and you've regained more memories than we could have hoped for really. I'm quite comfortable saying you're done here."

"Should I leave now?"

Sam nodded. "Probably."

Bucky stood up and walked out. He felt odd, unmoored. But all that Sam had said was true, and if he thought that meant he was healthy, well, he was the expert.

And as he walked out the main doors, it felt good to know he wasn't the Soldier anymore.