Six

New York City was big, and there were too many people in it. I couldn't keep track of all of them, and that made me uncomfortable. I didn't know if I'd ever been here before; maybe on a mission? Some things looked familiar, but I couldn't be sure. I really couldn't be sure of anything.

I looked around at the busy streets. There were so many people. I tightened my leather jacket around me and crossed the road. A taxi cab skidded to a stop mere inches from me and honked loudly. I turned toward the driver and glared at him. His eyes went wide and he quickly drove around me and out of sight.

I'd found out where Avenger Tower was, and it was my mission to get there. No, I reminded myself. It wasn't my mission, it was my choice. It was my idea. I was done with missions. The General had been my last one, and I'd failed. I'd tried so hard; I'd had the Winter Soldier in my sights. I'd hesitated and someone had clocked me in the side of the head, and when I woke up they were gone. I'd never know why I hesitated. That split second had altered the course of my life. It wasn't like me to hesitate. Everything I did was planned, methodical, calculated. Truth be told, I didn't seem to have much emotion. Maybe I never did. Maybe it had been trained out of me. It's hard to have emotions when you have no identity.

I approached the door, opened it, and went in. I breathed a sigh of relief. The foyer wasn't crowded. It was basically empty. I could relax a bit; I'd had my guard up since I'd gotten off of the freighter that morning. I'd been on the freighter for weeks, stowing away to the USA. I'd colored my hair to try to disguise myself, hopped a train across Europe, and snuck onto the boat, staying hidden the entire time. It hadn't been that hard. No one ever checked the spare rooms way below deck once we were out on the ocean. It had been a long journey though, I had to admit. There wasn't a lot to do on a freighter while hiding, and I had never been out of cryo this long. I shook my head and returned to the present moment. The entry hall spanned only part of the length of the building, but it was still a big, bright, sunlit room made entirely of windows on one side. Rows of chairs lay before me, with a TV on one side playing a video about Stark Industries.

There was a receptionist in the corner of the room. I approached her. She looked up from her computer screen.

“Welcome to Stark Industries' Avenger Tower. How may I help you?” She smiled. She had red lipstick on her teeth, and dark hair. Her name tag said “Shirley.” I sized her up. She wasn't anyone to worry about. She could be easily dispatched if necessary.

“I need to see Captain America.” I replied.

“I'm sorry, he's not here.” Shirley smiled up at me.

“He lives here. I need to see him.” I explained. I really didn't think the concept was that difficult to understand.

“He doesn't live here. I'm sorry miss, but he's not here.” Her smile was beginning to fade.

“I came a very long way. It's very important that I see Captain America.”

“You don't understand. He isn't here. I can't get him for you.” Shirley looked like she was getting frustrated. I didn't understand. Captain America was an Avenger. This was Avenger Tower. He had to be here.

“No, you don't understand.” I leaned forward over her desk. “Things are about to get very unpleasant for you if you don't get me Captain America. Right now.” I was resisting the urge to draw my weapon.

“I can give you the address to his fan site.” Shirley replied.

The urge was overwhelming. What the hell was a fan site? I reached under my jacket and pulled my handgun out. I set it on the desk. “Fan site this. Where's Captain America?”

Shirley screamed and ducked under the desk. She must have hit an alarm or something because I heard the front doors lock shut, and five guards ran out wearing body armor and carrying rifles. I regarded them wearily. If I took them all out, the likelihood of Captain America helping me wasn't very good, right? I sighed. I hated to step away from a fight I knew I could win. But that's what I was doing. Stepping away from fighting for the time being.

“Drop the weapon!” One of the guards was yelling at me. I looked longingly at my pistol, but left it on the desk and stepped away, putting my hands up.

“I need to see Captain America.” I repeated.

“Yeah, whatever lady.” The guard replied, and another one approached. I let him handcuff me. It'd be easy enough to slip the cuffs later if I needed to. “Why would Captain America decide to come see you?” He turned to a third guard. “Another insane fan.”

“I'm not a fan.” I looked at him coolly. “I need his help. I know he helped the Winter Soldier.”

Everyone in the room stopped and looked at me like I'd divulged some kind of secret. I didn't know what I'd said, but it had gotten their attention.

“What did you say?” Shirley peered out from beneath her desk.

“I said, I need his help. He helped... someone I know.”

Shirley turned to the guard. “Russ, no one knows about the Winter Soldier. He's not public knowledge.”

The guard, Russ, shook his head. “God damn it, I thought today would be an easy day.” He turned to the guard who had handcuffed me. “Put her in interrogation room 1. I'll call Maria.”

The man holding my cuffs pushed me roughly towards the door. “No, don't call Maria. I need Captain America.” I called over my shoulder. I let the idiot push me down a hallway, and through a door, into a small room with a table and two chairs. A mirror was along one side. I knew it was actually a window. I let out a huff. I didn't want to talk to whoever this “Maria” was.

The man sat me down on one of the chairs, and cuffed my hands to the table. Russ the guard had followed us in. “How do you know about the Winter Soldier?” He asked me.

“I used to work with him.” I held my chin high. “Tell Captain America that my name is Six, and I will speak only to him.”

“Who do you work for?” Russ asked.

“Tell Captain America that my name is Six, and I will speak only to him.”

“Seriously? You come in here waving a gun around and you're making demands?”

“Tell Captain America that my name is Six, and I will speak only to him.”

* * *

Maria made her way down the elevator and out into the hallway on the first floor of the tower. She sighed. She had better things to do than deal with some lunatic trying to get into the tower. She wasn't even sure why Shirley had called her down; the protocol for such things was just to call the police.

“Russ, what's going on?” Maria approached the tall, blonde guard.

“This woman came in and pulled a gun on Shirley. We have her cuffed in there.” Russ indicated the door he was standing beside.

“Why haven't the police been called?”

“Ummm... because she knows Bucky is here. Somehow. And that isn't public knowledge.” Russ frowned. “Shirley made it pretty clear, no one is supposed to know he's here.”

Maria shook her head and peered into the window of the small room. She saw a tall blonde woman sitting at the table calmly. She looked closer. A fake blonde. She had a half inch of roots growing in. “Do we know her name? What does she want?”

“She says her name is Six, and she'll only speak to Steve.” Russ shrugged. “I pegged her for another weirdo fan until she mentioned the Winter Soldier.”

Maria did a double take into the interrogation room window. “Shit.” She swore under her breath.

“What? Do you know who she is?” Russ peeked into the window as well.

“Yes, I do.” Maria turned back to the elevator. “She didn't kill anyone?”

Russ shook his head 'no.'

“You and the other guards are very lucky she didn't kill all of you. Keep her locked in. Do NOT go in there.”

“Where are you going?”

“To have Tony put on his suit and come guard the door.” Maria stepped into the elevator. “And to call Steve. Russ, I repeat, do NOT go in there. There's a reason she didn't just come in and cause a massacre in the lobby.”

“There were five of us, Maria, we could have handled it no problem.” Russ rolled his eyes. Maria stuck her hand out to stop the doors of the lift from closing. She stepped out and approached Russ once again.

“No, you couldn't have. She's Hydra. She took Natasha and Bucky and threw them out of a plane, she almost killed him, twice that we know of. When I tell you this is a dangerous woman, I mean this is a dangerous woman. You're only alive because she let you live. So don't open the door, and let me go get Tony so we make sure she doesn't decide to murder anyone, all right? Will your ego be okay with that?”

Russ looked at the ground. “Yes, sir.”

“Thank you.” Maria turned on her heel and got back into the elevator. “Friday, please tell Tony that we have a situation in Interrogation that requires the Mach 128.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Friday replied as the doors closed, leaving Russ standing forlornly in the hall, and Six sitting patiently in interrogation.

* * *

Steve was juggling keys and two bags of groceries, trying to open the door to his new apartment in Brooklyn, when his phone began to vibrate in the back pocket of his jeans. He slammed the key into the doorknob, quickly let himself in and set his bags down, and answered the phone. The screen said it was Maria Hill.

“This is Steve.” He spoke into the receiver.

“Steve, it's Maria. There's a... situation at the tower.”

“Crap. Did Tony hit Bruce with a paintball again? Because Bruce is going to keep hulking out every time he does that.” Steve sighed. It seemed like everyone had lost their minds since he'd moved out a little over a week ago. He'd had to break up two fights already, and talk Banner down off of the roof and out of Hulk form once. Clint had been gone at his farm and hadn't been there to “dad talk” everyone, and Natasha had been off wherever she'd been going lately, and hadn't been able to talk the Hulk down. Everything had gone downhill and as usual, it had been left up to Cap to fix it. He'd never know how the greatest band of heroes in the world was really just a bunch of hooligans living together in a tower.

“It's not Bruce or Tony.” Maria sounded guarded.

“What is it then?” Steve was getting a bad feeling.

“There's a woman here who wants to see you.”

“Who is it?” Steve was trying to think. He couldn't imagine who it would be. He had a few exes but none that would show up at the tower; he was pretty sure Peggy's nurse had his number. Who was at the tower for him that was freaking Maria out so badly? “Do I know her?” He added.

“According to the mission debriefing, no. But she knows you. And Barnes knows her.” Maria paused.

“Maria?”

“Yeah, Steve, I'm here. Sorry. I was making sure Tony got down to interrogation with his suit to keep the situation under control.” Maria continued.

“Why does Tony need his suit? What's going on?” Steve was really not getting a good feeling now.

“Six is here, and she say's she'll only speak to you.” Maria finally came back on the line, less distracted.

“Six?” Steve froze. What was Six doing in New York, and why did she want to see him?

“Yes.” Maria said forcefully. “I'm pretty sure it's her. She asked for you specifically.”

“And she didn't kill anyone?” Steve was flabbergasted.

“No.”

“I'm on my way.”

“Okay. I'm about to call Barnes.”

“Don't do that. I'll go get him myself.” Steve grimaced. Bucky was not going to be happy that such a shady character from his past had shown up in their city.

“Please hurry. I don't know how long I can keep Tony out of interrogation. It may end up as a bloodbath.”

“Send Nat in. She's good at questioning. She's back right?”

“Yes she is. She got in last night. Will do.”

* * *

Mayday opened her eyes and stretched. She looked across the room, out the window of her second floor apartment. Their second floor apartment. She rolled over and threw an arm around Bucky, who was still asleep in the late morning light. He sighed, scratched the stubble on his chin, and rolled over on top of her.

“Damn it, Bucky!” She giggled as his hands went up to her sides and started to tickle her.

“I'm asleep. What are you laughing for?” He smiled into her shoulder as she struggled to push him off of her. “I'm asleep, I'm not doing anything!”

“Oh my God, stop... ack! Stop tickling me!” She shrieked with laughter. “You are such an asshole! Stop it!”

He planted a kiss on her lips and rolled off of her. “Well, since you asked so nicely...” He settled onto his back in bed, looking over at her with soft eyes. “What time is it?”

“Ten. We officially, finally, slept in at our new place.” Mayday grinned. They'd been here only a few days, and every day they'd been up early, be it to move more stuff, to deal with the landlord, or Steve coming by to get Bucky to go break up shenanigans at the tower.

“Finally.” He rubbed his eyes. He liked the new place. It was an upstairs unit in a lower rent area of Brooklyn. Frankly, it felt like home. The city had changed a lot since he was young, but it felt the same. A single mother lived on one side of them; he had played basketball with her son one evening. On the other side, was a young guy with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, who was currently working at a Starbucks. It was a nice little place, a few blocks from Steve.

The moment was short lived, however. Someone started pounding on their door.

“Oh for the love of God. Can we not have a minute to ourselves?” Mayday groaned, rolling off of the bed and padding out to the living room. “Put some clothes on, will you?” She called back over her shoulder.

“Just get rid of whoever it is and come back to bed! I refuse to put clothes on. I am a man and this is my castle, and-” He heard the door open and hushed voices in the other room, so he stopped to try to hear.

“Just put some clothes on, Bucky!” Mayday shouted back a moment later. “You can do your 'this is my castle' spiel later.”

“Buck, I need to talk to you.” Steve's voice carried through the apartment. He sounded worried. Really worried.

“Shit. Is Banner on the roof again?” Bucky pulled on a pair of lounge pants and followed his girlfriend into the living room. He stopped when he saw the look on Steve's face. “I take it it's not Banner...”

Steve shook his head. “Listen pal, it's not good so I'm just going to say it. Six is at the tower.”

“Christ. I anyone dead?” Bucky asked.

“No. They have her in interrogation. She came in... asking for me, oddly enough. Says she won't speak to anyone else.”

Bucky sat down hard on the couch. He closed his eyes. “Shit.”

* * *

I sat calmly in the interrogation room. I had looked around, assessing my situation. I could slip the cuffs if I needed to. They'd disarmed me completely, but I could get out if necessary. It wasn't necessary though. Something I'd said had thrown them off and I was pretty sure they were calling Captain America.

I'd been in there a good half an hour when the door opened, and a short redhead and a tall brunette walked in. I regarded them coolly and faced forward again. Neither were armed; a good move. I'd let myself be taken willingly, but they apparently knew not to bring a weapon in where I could get to it. The tall one looked like she was capable, but she didn't carry herself with quite the amount of discipline to make me worry that I couldn't take her. The redhead, however; she'd be hard to fight. She seemed to slink everywhere. She looked familiar too. However, neither of them was the man on the bridge. Therefor I didn't care.

They weren't so easily dissuaded though. The redhead approached the desk, leaned across it, and looked me right in the eye. I was pretty sure she was the woman who had been after the General. My hackles rose. I calmed myself down. The General was not my mission anymore.

“What are you doing here?” She asked me slowly.

I looked up at her. “My name is Six and-”

“I know who you are.” She glared at me. “I had a concussion because of you. I almost killed you, out in the snow in Siberia. I should have. Now why are you here?”

“I need to speak with Captain America.”

“Well he isn't here. You can speak to us.” The brunette sat down next to the redhead.

I shook my head. “Only Captain America. Only the man on the bridge.”

“Listen, you're in no position to be making demands.” The redheaded woman sat down across from me. “Steve is on his way. But you need to talk to us first.”

“Who is Steve?” I asked her. I'd asked for Captain America. I didn't want to speak to this 'Steve'.

The women looked at each other. The redhead frowned at me. “You're kidding, right?”

I shook my head. “I know no Steve. I need to speak to Captain America.”

“Steve is Captain America.” She arched an eyebrow at me. “How do you know Steve, er, Captain America?”

I pondered for a while whether I should speak to these two women or not. They seemed to know Captain America. Or Steve. I decided I could tell them a little bit.

“He helped the Winter Soldier. He was always dreaming about the Captain. I came to find help.” I finally said.

They both nodded slowly. “You work for Hydra.” The tall one stated bluntly.

I shrugged out of my jacket and held out my left arm. I shook my head. “I left. I took out my tracker.” I ran my hand over the healing remnants of a nasty scar. The tracker had been injected deep into my upper arm. It had been difficult to remove. They'd found me that first night anyways. I kept myself from thinking about it. The taller woman drew in a sharp breath.

“You took that out yourself?” She asked.

I nodded. “Who else would take it out?”

“I thought maybe a friend or... nevermind.” She shrugged.

“I have no friends.”

* * *

Steve, Bucky, and Mayday arrived at the tower as quickly as they could. It had been a somber drive to the building. Bucky wasn't so sure now that he'd made the right choice in letting Six live. He hadn't actually expected her to show up at their home. He'd thought she had a chance at leaving, but he'd really fully expected to have to kill her next time they had to stop the General.

Steve couldn't figure out why Six would want to speak to him, of all people. He had asked Bucky, but he had gone radio silent. His friend was in shutdown mode. Mayday was going stir crazy, trying to get Bucky to respond at all. They went through the garage and into the back hallways, approaching the interrogation room through a long corridor. Tony stood outside in the Mach 128. Russ the security guard was with him.

“It's about time you two deviants showed up.” Tony quipped as they rounded the corner. “Maria said I'm absolutely not to start shit with Six. I say I have a shoulder mounted missile, but she insists that won't solve the problem.” He was going a mile a minute.

Steve peered through the one-way glass. Maria and Natasha were sitting across the table from a tall woman with bleach blonde hair. He pushed a button below the window, and listened to what they were saying for a minute. Then he turned to Tony.

“I don't think a missile is going to help the situation.”

“Nonsense. There is basically no situation that a shoulder mounted missile can't help.”

“Have you slept lately, Tony?” Mayday asked him.

“Sleep is for the weak.”

“Yeah, that's what I figured.” She sighed and stood beside Bucky, who was peering into the window, a cold and distant look in his eyes.

“Why do you think she's here, Buck?” Steve asked him.

Bucky shrugged. “If she hasn't killed anyone, I'd say she's really here for help. But then again, I know firsthand she's good at espionage. She may just be hosing us.”

“That may be true, but couldn't they send someone we wouldn't immediately recognize and suspect?” Mayday asked. Everyone looked at her strangely. “What?”

“I didn't think you of all people would be so quick to defend the chick who keeps trying to ill your boyfriend.” Tony pointed out.

“I'm not defending that. I'm just saying, Hydra infiltrated SHIELD for years. This would just be stupid to send a familiar face to spy on us. That's all.” She replied.

“I'll go talk to her. See if I can get to the bottom of it.” Steve approached the door. “I... I think you should stay out here, Buck.”

“Yeah. So do I.” Bucky affirmed. “I may have let her live, but she's no friend of mine.”

* * *

The door opened, and a tall man filled up the door frame. He looked at me, suspicion in his weary eyes. I was pretty sure it was Captain America. Steve. When I'd seen him he'd been far away, and in uniform. Now he looked like a regular man, in regular clothes, but I recognized him. I felt a small pang of hope flutter through me. It was the man on the bridge.

“Nat, Maria, I'll take it from here.” He nodded at the two women.

“I'm not leaving you alone in here with her, Steve.” Nat said to the man.

“I'll be fine.” Steve put his hand on Nat's shoulder.

“I agreed to be taken into custody. I'm not a threat.” I stated. Did they really not know that I was sitting here willingly?

The redhead, Nat, turned to me. “I'm not real big on trusting you, sorry.” She turned back. “I'll stay in the corner. Let you have your space. But I'm not leaving.”

“Fine.” Steve nodded. Maria left, and he slid into the seat across from me. He was a big man with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He put his jacket on the back of his chair, acting nonchalant. He wasn't doing a good job at the act. The other woman was true to her word, and stood in the corner, still as a statue. I wondered where she'd been trained. She had a lot of discipline, it was obvious.

Steve turned to me. “Six.”

“Captain.”

“Just call me Steve.”

“Steve.”

He regarded me sternly. “How did you get here?”

“I've been traveling for a month. I took a train, and a freighter.” I replied truthfully.

“You changed your hair.”

“A disguise.”

“How did you get away from Hydra?” He was looking me up and down.

I indicated my arm again. “I woke up in Siberia and I decided to leave. I made it to a little house in a town nearby. I took out my tracker but they found me the first time I ran.”

“They found you the first time? You escaped more than once?”

I nodded. “After they found me I was interrogated but I wouldn't talk. They wanted to know what happened there, at the base. Who I fought, who was there, everything. I didn't tell them.”

“Why?”

“I... I'm really not sure.” I paused. I'd wondered what had made me decide to run, several times in the last few weeks. I was pretty sure I had it figured out. “They ordered me to be killed, for treason. Death by firing squad.” I sat and looked into Steve's eyes. He was trying not to show emotion, but I could tell he found the words 'firing squad' horrifying. I shrugged.

“So why aren't you dead?” He asked.

“The firing squad wasn't so lucky that day.” I replied stoically.

He gave me an incredulous look. “You fought off a firing squad?”

I nodded again. “They weren't well trained. I'd assume you restrain the person who's going to be shot with something they can't get out of. They didn't. I won, and I left again.”

“You were stabbed and bleeding out when Buck and Natasha left you.” Steve's eyes skirted down to my side.

I lifted the side of my shirt. I had a scar there too. Steve averted his eyes. “It's okay, I don't need to see it!” He protested.

I put the hem back down. “I stitched myself up. It wasn't as bad as it looked.”

He sat and regarded me for a long time. His eyes kept vacillating back and forth between coldness and concern. “Why are you here?”

“You helped someone... someone I used to know.” I trailed off. There was no reason that this man should help me. He didn't know me, and the last time, the only time I'd seen him, I'd tried to kill his friend. I wasn't sure what it was like to have friends, but I was pretty sure you didn't want anyone to kill them. But the Winter Soldier had put all of his faith in this man, and I'd learned that much of the world did, as well. “I need help.”

“You think that because I helped Bucky get out of Hydra, I'll help you?” The line of his jaw was set in stone. He didn't look happy.

I was confused, though. I was talking about the Winter Soldier. I looked at Steve, frustrated, and asked him, “Who the hell is Bucky?”

Continued in Six pt 2: Glory and Consequence