The Beginning
Author's Note: So this is my first story posted to the archive and I hope you like it. This is a finished work and I will be posting a chapter every few days. Also, for anyone who is interested I am looking for a good beta who could help me improve my writing. The perks of the positions including reading my works before anyone else and lots of chocolate chip cookies (alright there are no real cookies). Just post in the comments section or message me if interested. For those souls who have been brave enough to try my humble offering comments feed my muse but please be kind. :)
The sun was almost a living thing as it danced over the windows of the SHIELD headquarters building in New York and for a brief moment he allowed himself to pause and enjoy the feel of it dancing over his hair and down his skin. He had missed this feeling, being able to just go out in the sun and enjoy simply being. The backfire of a car shaterred his short lived peace and he had to fight the urge to reach for the gun in his belt.
'Progress,' he thought with wary humor as he opened his eyes once more and forced his tense muscles to relax. The first thing he saw as his eyes fully opened was Steve's understanding face several steps in front of him as he waited patiently for him to catch up with him. Bucky's lips twitched slightly as he fought to send a smile his way but he could tell the expression came out more a grimace than a true smile. Despite the lack of a true smile Steve seemed to understand and beemed back at him clearly happy that he had been feeling well enough to come out with him today. Bucky really couldn't blame him, it had only been a few months ago that the very idea of going outside (too many open lines of sight, too many potential enemies/targets, too much everything) had sent him into a panic attack that had had him rocking in a corner for hours with Steve trying to calm him. Now while he didn't think he was well enough to go out on his own having Steve there made it ok. He had a feeling he could do almost anything as long as Steve was there.
He caught up to the grinning dork and bumped him with his flesh shoulder, he still hated to touch Steve with the metal arm even though Steve never made a distinction between the two, knocking him a bit off balance. Steve's grin widened and with an evil glint in his eyes he caught up with him in order to bump him with his own shoulder. Bucky huffed a laugh as he moved deftly out of Steve's way causing him to run into the side of the doors into the building.
The entrance doors shuttered around them and for a moment they both looked at each other in a bit of a panic as they wondered if they were going to shatter around them. Thankfully the doors seemed to have been made of bullet proof glass and while the frames had been shaken no real damage had been done.
Several people were looking at them in surprise causing Steve to blush and Bucky to tense as he prepared for a possible threat but Steve seemed to understand his tension because he stepped in front of him wearing a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, a bit klutzy this morning," Steve said and several of the agents around them responded with fond grins of their own or eyerolls followed by headshakes as they moved back to what they had been doing.
Bucky huffed another near silent laugh which earned him a scowl from Steve. Bucky knew that as soon as they were back at the Tower, where their rough housing wouldn't break anything important, Steve was going to try to get him back. Fortunately for him Steve had always sucked at practical jokes as he could never keep a straight face.
They were crossing the lobby when an agent who had been waiting by the elevators moved to meet them. Bucky tensed once more but Steve deftly placed himself to intercept the man, reading Bucky's mood better than he sometimes read it himself.
"Captain, sir, the director wanted to see you as soon as you came in," the man greeted them as soon as he was in speaking distance. The man kept shooting fearful glances at him as though expecting an attack at any moment and it seemed to Bucky that every small eye movement was causing a spring of tension within him to tighten until it was sure to burst.
"Thank you. If you will point us in the right direction then we will go at once," Steve told the man pleasantly but Bucky noticed that he shifted even more to block Bucky from the man's view. Bucky felt a bit of his tension leave him as the man's darting eyes were blocked but the man's next words ratched his tension up to new levels.
"Captain, the Director only asked for you. I can take the Win....," the man broke off quickly at Steve's outraged and angry stare. "I mean I can take Sergenant Barnes to another room to wait for you sir."
"Sergenant Barnes," Steve said with an extra empathsis on his name "Will be accompaning me, if the Director has a problem with that then the Director will have to wait till I have accompanied Sergenant Barnes back to Avengers Tower and returned."
The man looked vaguely shocked that the Captain America was refusing an order and Bucky vaguely wondered where everyone had gotten the idea that Steve was the perfect soldier. Bucky had been the one to always follow orders, except where Steve was involved, but Steve had never obeyed an order that he didn't like or felt was morally wrong. Really he was a bit worried about how gullible people in the 21st century were.
"I, I .....I don't know if .... I mean Captain I can't just lead an enemy op....," the man was suddenly cut off by a furious Steve Rogers looming over him looking ready to break him in half.
"Don't you ever call him an enemy anything, Agent Dovers. Do I make myself clear," Steve hissed the anger an almost physical presence in his voice. Agent Dovers shrunk away from Steve as though expecting to be killed at any moment but managed to nod his head quickly.
"Good, now where do we go for this meeting," Steve asked visibly controlling his anger as he took a careful step away from the trembling agent.
"I....It ....," the man, Dovers, stuttered still shaking but before he could gather himself Bucky swung around pointing his gun between the eyes of a man who had approached from his left. Several agents reached for their sidearms but the man merely raised a calm eyebrow and held up a hand stopping the agents from pulling their guns with that simple gesture. Instead of calming him the ease with which the man commanded the trained men and women of SHIELD set his teeth on edge. Bucky wondered how easy it would be for this man to set these people against him and Steve. The day which had seemed so bright and full of hope only minutes before now seemed dark and full of threat as he took in the number of Agents between the door and calculated how long it would take him to get Steve out of the building and to safety.
'Too long,' his racing mind screamed back at him 'Too long, the enemies could get off a shot that would hit Steve. They could Hurt STEVE before he could get them to safety. He had to kill them. Take them out before they could get off the shots that could Hurt STEVE.'
Suddenly a shadow stepped between him and the enemy commander and a warm hand rested over his own hands which cradled his gun.
"Buck," Steve said softly running a gentle thumb over the straining tendons of his flesh hand as Bucky realized that he was shaking. 'Panic attack,' some distant part of his brain noted numbly.
Steve's hand shifted over his hands where they held the gun and for one terrified moment Bucky thought Steve was going to take his gun, his only way to defend them, to get them to safety but he simply shifted to put a comforting hand against Bucky's back as he urged him to the bank of elevators.
Bucky was dimly aware of the man from before, the man who was too calm, too much in control saying something to Dovers but his brain refused to translate what his ears were telling him as Steve moved them through the crowd and into an empty elevator. Bucky's knees trembled and without a word he sank into a corner of the elevator with Steve blocking his view of the lobby with his own body.
'No get up. MOVE,' his mind shouted at him as he put together that Steve had turned his back to the enemy. He was defenseless. Bucky had to protect him. They would get him, they would Hurt him, they would.....
"Bucky," Steve said quietly as he rested a gentle hand against Bucky's chest and brought Bucky's own hand, the Metal Hand that had killed so many, up to rest over his vulnerable heart. Bucky wanted to shout at him for how foolish he was putting a weapon over his heart but he found that his lungs refused to draw in enough breath for him to even make a sound even as they worked over time to gasp in small useless puffs of air that did nothing for the darkness creeping in at the corners of his eyes.
"Bucky, feel my heart beat, feel how my chest expanse with each breath. Try to match your breathing to mine, try to let your heart beat in time with mine," Steve's voice floated around him asking impossible things of him that Bucky never the less tried to do if only to erase the worry creasing Steve's brow.
"That is good Buck. You are safe. I will protect you no matter what," Steve whispered as he brought his forehead to rest against Bucky's. Bucky managed a small breathless laugh at Steve's cluelessness. He just couldn't understand that what Bucky feared most was not harm to himself but that they would capture Steve, put Steve in the chair, or use Bucky again as a weapon against the one person who meant the most to him. Steve didn't understand that Bucky was a weapon, a broken weapon, and one might be fond of a weapon for its usefulness but one should never show a weapon the type of unconditional love that Steve showed to him every day. Bucky needed to tell Steve that. That he should turn that love to a person instead of showering it on a monster, a weapon but he was too selfish, he couldn't bear the thought of Steve turning from him and so he clung to him while trying so hard to be a person for him instead of a weapon (broken weapon) whose only real use was to kill Steve's enemies.
'Broken, I am broken,' Bucky thought bitterly as he forced his breathing to match Steve's while wondering when Steve would realize how much of a broken weapon he really was.
The darkness receded from his vision finally and as it let go its hold he tensed once more as he realized that the man from before had followed them into the elevator.
Steve seeing where his eyes were resting smiled reassuringly at him and gestured to the man standing at Steve's back, Steve's undefended back! The thought had no sooner registered before Bucky was tensing to move Steve out of sight of the potentional threat.
"Buck, it is ok. I promise. I trust Agent Coulson. He isn't going to hurt you," Steve said as he moved smoothly to block Bucky's move toward the still calmly waiting agent.
"Bucky you are having a panic attack. LeAnn, your therapist, said these would happen and that to try to ground yourself by reminding yourself where you are and what is going on," Steve told him in a calm voice that contradicted the obvious worry and fear for Bucky in his eyes. Guilt shot through him at that look in Steve's eyes and with an effort he took a deep breath holding it till his lungs burned before letting it out with a whosh. He repeated the exercise several times before he felt calm enough to untangle his fingers from where they had clenched around his gun.
"Buck, do you know where you are," Steve asked softly, gently.
"SHIELD Headquaters, New York division," he answered mechanical then cursed himself silently as his voice came out flat and devoid of emotion, the voice of the Winter Soldier. Pain flashed through Steve's eyes but he smiled a small pained smile of encouragement as he told him "Yeah, Buck, that is right. What is going on?"
"We were coming into SHIELD so that you could finish some paperwork. We were approached by Agent Dovers. Dovers reported the Director of SHIELD required you to report for duty. You refu..," Bucky clenched his hand once more over his gun darting a quick glance to Agent Coulson. He didn't want to say aloud that Steve had refused an order. Steve was a soldier and shouldn't be refusing orders. They might hurt Steve for refusing like they had hurt him when he refused an order. Panic started to set in again but the gentle stroking of Steve's fingers along his flesh hand pulled him back to himself reminding him that he was no longer with Hydra and SHIELD did not discipline its people in the same way. At least he didn't think the discipline was the same but if it was Bucky would burn the place to the ground before he let them touch Steve.
"It is ok Bucky. You can say it, it is fine," Steve assured him with a gentle smile as he continued to stroke his flesh hand.
Bucky swallowed before sending a challenging glare at Agent Coulson who just regarded him calmly "You refused the order unless the asse...I was allowed to accompany you. The confrontation drew the attention of several people in the lobby, Agent Coulson approached. I drew my gun on Agent Coulson. Agent Coulson stopped the others from drawing their weapons. You got us to the elevator."
Steve had flinched when he had almost called himself the asset but he had smiled with such relief when Bucky had corrected himself without prompting that Bucky felt the smile like a warm light in his chest. He might not be able to do everything right but as long as he could still make Steve happy he felt he still had a purpose.
Bucky tried to get to his feet but found that his legs were like noodles underneath him and he crashed back against the wall of the elevator which gave slightly under the impact. He winced wondering if Steve would get in trouble for the damage and knowing he had to get up before they arrived at the correct floor.
"It is ok, Buck. Agent Coulson stopped the elevator with his emergency code so we have all the time we need to sort this out," Steve told him and Bucky loved him a bit more for saying we, for making it seem like this was both their faults when Bucky knew that this whole mess was just because Bucky was broken. Steve would never be crouched in an elevator unable to get up because of something as stupid as a panic attack but Bucky was ever so grateful that Stevie wasn't angry at him for his weakness.
Once more he made to get up and this time managed to force his unsteady legs to support his weight.
"Bucky, you can sit for a bit longer. You don't need to push yourself," Steve said from in front of him where he was still kneeling on the floor looking ready to catch him should he fall forward.
"No," Bucky said softly then more loudly as he realized even Steve wouldn't have been able to hear his soft exhale. "No, people will be curious as to why the elevator was stopped and you have to get to your meeting."
"Sergenant Barnes, I have informed Director Fury that we will be late to the meeting and I can keep the elevator stopped as long as you need," Agent Coulson told him with the same calm expression he had worn when Bucky had pointed a gun between his eyes. This man confused him. Most people when confronted with the Winter Soldier were afraid but this man had not even flinched at the gun pointed at him and even though he still had out his gun the man had not even glanced at it. Bucky wondered if the man was simply so arrogant that he assumed that the Winter Soldier couldn't or wouldn't hurt him. He had had a few handlers like that but generally those handlers had not lasted long as they found out quickly that the Winter Soldier was always to be feared; even when strapped into the chair he was to be feared.
This man with the calm demeanor did not seem arrogant or over sure of himself and Bucky didn't think he was a fool not to see the threat right in front of him but that left him uncertain what the man was about. Steve stood up beside him laying a gentle hand on his shoulder which caused Bucky to realize he had been staring silently at Agent Coulson for the last few minutes as he tried to understand the man. Bucky dropped his eyes, well aware that he had automatically fallen into his role as the Winter Soldier as he stared at the man. Steve became so sad when Bucky's eyes went dead when he was acting as the soldier but he was never afraid. Bucky knew that most people were afraid of him all the time but especially when his eyes were the Winter Soldier's as that was when he dropped the pretense of being anything other than a weapon. Chancing a quick glance up at Agent Coulson he was surprised to still see no fear in the other man's eyes and doubly surprised when the man nodded understandingly at him.
Bucky was still unsure of the man but he allowed himself to relax enough to bump his hip gently against Steve's. Steve threw him a warm smile at the touch before bumping his hip back.
Bucky's mouth quirked up slightly as he ducked his head. His eyes caught on the sight of silver metal still held in his flesh hand and with a start he holstered his gun having not realized that he still held it. He glanced up to apologize for everything but Agent Coulson and Steve merely waved his attempt at an apology aside.
"PTSD is quite common amoung active field agents. I am quite used to its effects from working with my charges and from first hand experience," Agent Coulson told him in an offhanded manner as he typed something rapidly into his phone. Bucky blinked wondering if he had heard the man correctly. Surely this calm man had never fallen apart like Bucky had, he wasn't broken like Bucky.
"If you feel up to it we should get going. If you don't then I can drop you and the Captain in my office and brief you on the meeting afterwards," Coulson told them his voice saying clearly that either option was equally fine in his eyes. Steve looked to him and Bucky realized that Steve would take them straight back to the Tower if he thought this was too much for Bucky and that he wouldn't even think how that might get him into trouble.
"I...," Bucky stopped himself quickly. He had been about to say that he was fine but he had learned in the first few months of being in the Tower that it was best for him to be honest with Steve about his state. He didn't want Steve relying on him only to find that he had crumpled under the pressure.
"Who will be at the meeting," he asked softly. Steve cocked his head questioningly at him but Agent Coulson seemed unperturbed and simply told him "Director Fury, the Avengers Team minus Thor, myself, you and Captain Rogers. A strike will be brought in to debrief but will not stay long and none of them will have their weapons with them. You can leave the room if you like before they come in."
Bucky tilted his head as he considered the offer then slowly shook his head. "Maybe but I will wait and see."
He met both mens' eyes before nodding and drawing himself up into parade rest. Coulson nodded back before typing in a code that had the elevator shooting back up.
Steve was still worried but Bucky could tell that he was doing his best to not hover.
"Bucky, Agent Coulson is the Phil that we have told you about. You would have met him before but he has been busy with a large project and just got back to the states a few days ago. Phil is kind of like the baby sitter for the Avengers," Steve told him. He shot a mischevious smile at Coulson at the last part and Bucky was surprised when Coulson snorted before rolling his eyes at Steve.
"Most baby sitters do not have to file for hazard pay, Captain Rogers, because their charges are certifiable. I still am picking glass out of one of my suit jackets from the time when Stark and Banner burst out half the windows in the Tower with one of their experiments," Coulson snarked but Bucky could tell the man was joking. At least he thought the man was joking, it was sometimes hard for him to tell what people other than Steve were feeling.
"Come on, Phil. It was only the top 15 or so floors of windows that they blew out," Steve countered with a grin.
"I noticed that you didn't say anything about the hazard pay," Phil muttered as the elevator doors opened on a empty, windowless corridor.
"I have to admit we can get a bit rambunctious sometimes," Steve allowed and Coulson's calm demeanor actually broke enough to give Steve an incredulous look.
"Alright, very rambunctious," Steve corrected himself. Coulson forebore to answer him as he stopped at a door mid-way down the hall. He glanced at Bucky for his permission before he opened the door and proceeded them into the room. Bucky quickly took in the room around him noting the hard wood conference table in the middle of the room surrounded by conference chairs on wheels which rolled easily along the linolium floor as Phil took his seat next to Director Fury at the head of the table. Bucky had never met the SHIELD director directly but was familiar with the man's face since he had been the target he had been sent to kill. Thankfully Steve had stopped him from completing his mission but not before he had put a bullet through the Director chest collapsing his left lung.
Fury glanced up as he entered the room but seemed unconcerned that the man who had nearly killed him was in the same room as him and that said man was armed. Bucky was still unsure about a lot of things but he was fairly sure that Fury's behavior was not normal. He thought at least that most people would have wanted to hurt him in turn for having hurt them. The Hydra agents and scientists had always made sure to hurt him badly any time he had attacked them, which they had as soon as they had gotten him strapped into the chair.
Reluctantly, Buck turned his attention away from Fury and Coulson and took in Stark and Banner over in the corner talking about something with their heads bent over a tablet. Natasha was leaning against the left wall in a position that gave her an excellent vantage of any entrances and exits from the room. Bucky wished he could join her but he knew Steve would know he was taking up a defensive position and get that sad look in his eyes again so instead he settled for sitting in a chair near the right corner of the table that would allow him to see all the exits and stil allow him to spring into action at a moments notice.
Steve clapped him warmly on the shoulder as he passed him to greet Natasha. Natasha smiled slightly at both of them and Bucky felt pleased that Natasha liked them enough to allow them to see that smile.
A move from his left had him tensing until his subconcious noted that the movement had just been Director Fury standing up to move to the head of the table.
"Stark, Dr. Banner if you will take your seats we can go over the specifics of your next mission," Fury stated. He directed a hard stare at both Stark and Banner which reminded Bucky of someone, he picked at the memory since it didn't seem to be a bad one then snorted a slight laugh as he realized the Director's stern stare reminded him of one of his grade school teachers.
Steve looked at him curiously. With a flick of his eyes he indicated the Director then said softly "Mrs. Ristera."
Steve looked at the Director startled then burst out a startled laugh as he saw the stern look the man was still giving the two scientists. That stern look was turned on the both of them along with a raised eyebrow and Bucky gripped Steve's thigh hard under the table with his flesh hand and felt Steve do the same to him as they both fought to keep a straight face.
Fury gave them a quelling look and for a moment Bucky truly thought he was going to say in Mrs. Ristera's stern voice 'Gentleman, is their a problem?' but instead the man simply sighed before obviously dismissing them.
"A little over 34 hours ago we sent a strike team to Venice, Italy to bring in an assassin known as Hawkeye. This was not the first time that SHIELD had tried to bring in this particular man. We have been pursuing this man for over fifteen years now and everytime we have gotten close to bringing him in he has escaped," Fury told them as he brought up a blurry picture of a handsome, smiling young man with short blond hair and very muscled arms and back. Bucky blinked slowly as he studied the man's musculature trying to determine how the man had obtained that particular muscle build. It bothered him that he could not tell how this particular build had been formed. Muscles told the story of how a person moved, how they trained, and could allow a skilled observer to guess how the person might move in a fight but this man's muscles were hard to read like a water logged page where the ink had run.
"Wait a sec," Stark interrupted with a bark of disbelieving laughter. "Didn't you say you had been pursuing this guy for fifteen years. He can't be older than thirty. You can't tell me he came on SHIELD's radar as an assassin at the age of fifteen."
"If you had allowed me to speak I would have explained that Hawkeye, real name Clinton Francis Barton, first appeared on SHIELD's radar when he was sixteen for a series of thefts that seemed to be near impossible. SHIELD had sent out an agent to bring the kid in but the agent failed to finish the mission and the kid vanished," Fury and Coulson shared a grim look at the mention of the failed mission. Everyone looked curious at the byplay and Fury catching their looks sighed before explaining "Coulson was the agent I had originally assigned to bring Barton in but at the last minute I had to put him onto another op that had gone badly wrong. My predicesor sent a junior agent in his place thinking wrongly that it would be a simple assignment. Barton led the agent on a wild goose chase before finally leading him into an FBI sting that got the agent arrested along with the criminals the FBI had been going after to begin with. It took us over a week to straighten out the mess and the head of the FBI still gives me grief over the screw up."
Stark laughed out loud at the admission and everyone else seemed a mixture of amused and impressed.
"That is awesome," Stark exclaimed but at a glare from Fury mimed buttoning his lips.
"I am glad you think so. Because of that screw up SHIELD lost the chance to bring one of the best marksman in the world in to work for SHIELD. We didn't even hear anything about Barton for 16 months after that, not until he assassinated a drug kingpin named Gustevo Tullini along with all of his lieutenants," Fury brought up an image of 6 men lying dead around a patio each of them with arrows piercing their right eyes. Steve glanced at him in concern as the image appeared on the screen probably worried that the image would cause a flashback but honestly Bucky was too focused on studying the arrows and their placement to really note that the arrows were sticking out of human corpses. Suddenly the man's musculature made more sense. While he had never seen anyone who fought with a bow he imagined that they must require a lot of arm, shoulder, and back strength.
"Are those arrows? What does this guy think he is in the Lord of the Rings? Has he never heard of a gun," Stark asked loudly to no one imparticular.
"Hawkeye is a skilled marksmen with almost every projectile known to man but he prefers to use a bow," Fury told them as he clicked through the slides showing the dead drug cartel. Bucky saw Natasha's mouth downturn when Fury stopped on a particular slide and Bucky understood why as he studied the projection. The skill that was on display with this one picture was astonishing. Bucky was unsure if he could have replicated the scene with his rifle and a scope. Each arrow was a direct hit to the right eye but more than that it looked like each arrow had gone directly into the cornea of the eye and each shot had been fired in such quick succession that most of the men had not even had time to react before they were dead.
"Does anyone see anything unusual about this picture," Fury asked quietly and each of them nodded grimly.
"Every arrow is directly through the right eye and none of the men had time to run," Bruce murmured as he examined the picture as though it were a puzzle to solve.
"Exactly. Our forensics experts at the time estimated that all six shots would have been fired within a fifteen second window. I don't think I need to tell you that that is an amazing time frame for someone shooting so accurately with a gun but unheard of with a weapon like a bow. Plainly our experts said it was impossible for one person to have done it but from the trajectory of the shots we were able to find his nest and only one person had been in it," Fury told them obviously still impressed by Hawkeye's skill while pissed that they had lost their best shot at getting the marksman on their side due to a stupid mistake.
"Since that first hit Barton has wracked up an impressive hit list that has included everyone from the head of a pedophile ring to a corrupt government head that had commited genocide within his country. In total 104 kills have been attributed to Hawkeye, he has never failed a contract once accepted, and he is one of the biggest persons of interest on SHIELD's list."
"Why has he never appeared on the SHIELD hit lists," Natasha asked and Bucky was unsurprised that she would know the names on that list, even in the short six months since Bucky had been at the Tower Natasha had been sent on two assassination missions.
"Honestly, because Hawkeye has never taken a hit on someone that SHIELD was not already gunning for. On a few occassions he has actually made the kills while our agents were waiting to make their own shots," Fury told them simply.
"So he is an assassin with morals. You don't find that a little weird," Stark asked scratching his head and then immediately ducking as a pencil shot toward his head from Natasha. Bucky knew she had meant to miss or else Stark would be bleeding out right now but he still tensed and placed himself more firmly between her and Steve.
"Present company excluded, of course," Stark quickly said with his hands up in a surrender gesture. Natasha twirled another pencil around her fingers but seemed molified by Starks words.
"You should be very glad for those morals, Stark," Coulson said calmly as he folded his hands in front of himself and looked at the billionare.
"And why is that," Stark asked flippantly and Bucky winced. For a man so brilliant, he could be really clueless.
"Because we know of at least three contracts on you he has turned down. In fact he has turned down contracts on everyone in this room. Sometimes more than once," Coulson told Stark then turned his attention to everyone at the table who stiffened at the news that this man had been offered money for their deaths.
"Well, I have awesome security," Stark tried to cover but Bucky could tell he was a bit shaken which only increased as Coulson said, not unkindly "Stark this man has gotten to targets that even SHIELD could not get at."
"Why would he refuse a contract on me? I fit his pattern," Bucky murmured and Steve turned to him in horror while Coulson looked at him with sympathy that he did not deserve.
Before either of them could answer Bruce took his glasses off his face and started polishing them as he said softly "I have to wonder the same thing about myself."
"Rumor was for you Banner Hawkeye said he didn't go after people who were suffering from an illness they couldn't control. Apparently he also thought you couldn't be blamed for most of the destruction since you had tried to remove yourself from conflict and 'assholes with nothing better to do than make trouble sought you out' his exact words apparenty," Fury growled hands folded over his stomach in a deceptively relaxed pose. "For you Barnes, his answer was simplier, he said he was never taking a contract on a POW who had been tortured for seventy years and brainwashed into doing things against his will. He also apparently put the word out that he would take a contract out on anyone who took a contract on you for anything you did as the Winter Soldier."
Bucky stared at Fury stunned that someone who didn't even know him would defend him so. He knew Hawkeye was wrong, the blame was his, but even the fact that the man didn't blame him had him blinking his eyes rapidly as moisture gathered in them.
'Why do I have a leak,' Bucky thought fighting back the moisture and feeling vaguely ashamed of the moisture. Steve placed a discreet hand on his lower back right above his hip and the warmth of his hand helped give him something to ground himself.
Fury glanced at Natasha as though asking if she wanted the explanation that was given for having refused her contract but she shook her head minutely, her jaw clenched. Bucky could tell from her tense shoulders and distant eyes that she didn't want to hear the explanation not because she knew the contract was undiserved but because she was sure that the people who had tried to take out those contracts had been in the right and that Hawkeye was a fool for thinking differently.
"It sounds like this man has been doing good work, even if he has been going about it the wrong way. Why get the Avengers involved," Steve asked quietly as he studied both Coulson and Fury's grim faces. His hand remained a warm, comforting presence on his hip.
"As I said before, several attempts had been made to apprehend Hawkeye in the past but he had always treated the attempts as a sort of game. Our agents might come out of the game a bit bruised and battered, especially their egos, but he seemed to go out of his way not to seriously injure any of them. Even sent flowers to one agent who had fallen off some steps and broken a leg," Fury told them then added "That changed 29 hours ago when Hawkeye killed three of the strike team sent to capture him before escaping into the streets of Venice. If Hawkeye has changed his game, has maybe decided to work with someone that is against SHIELD we need to know and take him into custody or eliminate him completely."
Bucky tensed at that declaration but shook his head as Steve turned to him. He resolutely turned his attention back to Fury as the man brought in the strike team that had been sent after Hawkeye in Venice. The men and one woman of the team looked exhausted but they all lined up at parade rest in front of the bank of windows in front of the conference table. Bruce and Tony turned their chairs to face the eight people left from the original eleven man strike team giving them their full attention but Bucky found his attention drifting.
The leader of the strike team, Rumlow, stepped forward to present the teams report to the Avengers but Bucky kept loosing the thread of the conversation as he wondered if the real reason they had allowed him into this meeting had not been because of Steve but because they wanted the Winter Solider to take out a possible threat.
At the thought he realized that his hand was shaking and quickly put it under the table to hide it from Steve. Steve who would worry if he saw the shaking but wouldn't understand and Bucky couldn't explain. How could he tell Steve that he wasn't afraid that he couldn't finish the mission but that he was afraid because he honestly didn't want to take the mission. He didn't want to put a bullet in Hawkeye's brain, in a fight fine but not in cold blood, but he didn't think he could refuse. SHIELD knew what he was, they could send him to jail, could execute him without trial, and while he knew he deserved it he didn't want to hurt Steve. Steve thought he had his best friend back and didn't see the monster his best friend had become. He knew he should tell Steve the truth but he didn't want to see Steve hurt or see the disappointment and disgust on his face when he finally learned the truth.
The warm spray of familiar liquid shocked him out of his thoughts and a moment later the smell of warm copper and the sea washed over him as he took a breath. In the space of his first breath and his exhale three more warm sprays washed over the table and Bucky cocked his head as he reached a hand out to touch the tacky red liquid coating the wooden table in front of him. As though in a dream he looked up to see Rumlow and three others of the strike team looking in shock at the arrows sticking out of their chests before they crumbled forward as a final five arrows sliced through the air where the now shattered bullet proof glass had been and into the backs of the five remaining strike team members.
Suddenly the world sped up to normal speed and Bucky vaulted over the table with Steve and Natasha. Steve pushed Stark to Natasha who had grabbed Banner and was pulling the shocked scientist out of the room. Without missing a beat she reached out and snagged Stark by the back of his pants as he stumbled back into them and got him moving in the right direction. Bucky had a moment to hope that Banner would be able to keep the Hulk at bay before all his attention was focused on the man on the roof two buildings away from them. The man matched the smiling man they had seen in the briefing photo but he wasn't smiling now. Bucky had rarely seen anyone with such a look of cold fury about them, the man practically vibrated with his anger as he fitted another arrow to his bow and fired directly at them.
The arrow flew true but unlike the other arrows this embedded into the window sill. Bucky had only a moment two realize what was going on before he was flinging Steve, Coulson, and Fury away from the window as he made his own dive around the table. He upended the table just as the arrow blew out the remainder of the window, raining glass and bits of debree onto them.
"What in the fuck is going on," Fury growled as he swept an enraged stare at the room in general.
"We have to get out of this room," Coulson instructed ignoring Fury's completely retorical question since it was obvious SHIELD was under attack by the subject of their previous meeting. Bucky wondered if anything ever phased Coulson as the four men tried for the door.
Bucky would have sworn that Coulson had been low enough to the ground that Hawkeye should not have been able to pinpoint his location from his vantage point below their floors sight line but as soon as Coulson had stuck his head out of cover Bucky and Steve had heard the near silent whistle of an arrow and pulled the agent back into cover with the result that Coulson had ended up sprawled over Steve's lap. Steve stared down at the man in befuddlement and Bucky felt a flicker of amusement as both men blushed at the exact same time as Coulson tried to scramble off Steve without actually touching him.
Despite the situation Bucky felt a bit better knowing that Coulson could be flustered by at least one thing.
"Stevie, let me borrow your shield. I can draw his fire," Bucky whispered then flinched as Steve whispered furiously back "Absolutely not."
Bucky had known he wasn't to be trusted, he knew he was broken, but he had thought Steve would at least trust him to protect him. The knowledge that Steve didn't trust him even that far was like an actual physical wound to his gut and he actually looked to make sure an arrow hadn't made its way into his middle.
"Absolutely not," Steve told him then went on as he evaluated the room "If anyone is going out there it is me. I am more familiar with the shield and you can help evacuate Coulson and Fury.
Bucky looked up with a hopeful look at Steve and relaxed all over as he realized that Steve had not been voicing distrust in him but had been being his usual self-sacrificing self.
"We are not being evac'ed like civilians," Fury growled low then gestured for them to have eyes on him. "Cap you go first with Barnes on your left. Both of you high, Coulson and I come next covering low. Understood."
They nodded then in quick succession vaulted over the table with Steve taking point, the shield out and ready. They halted at the blown in window as they took in the empty roofs before them.
"He was on the second roof," Coulson murmured as he scanned the area "he could have vaulted to the roof of the commissary but no other buildings would be in reach unless he ran a line between the buildings."
Fury continued to sweep the area with his eyes as he clicked on his ear piece.
"This is Fury. We have a perimeter breach and eight agents down in building C, floor 11, briefing room 1102. The compound is to go on immediate lock down ," Fury paused to glance to Coulson who was checking each agent then nodded at Rumlow "One agent needs medical treatment stat."
Fury made a move out signal and they all backed to the door with Coulson dragging Rumlow. Bucky had offered to carry the man but Coulson had shaken his head saying he would be more useful if it came to a fight than he would.
Bucky checked the corridor then gave the all clear when he saw only Banner and Stark. Banner was leaning against the wall obviously trying to keep calm while Stark was ranting to Jarvis as he grabbed the suitcase containing his suit from Fury. He felt a moment of disorientation as he realized that the whole attack and evacuation had taken less than two and a half minutes.
"Natasha," Coulson questioned Banner who glanced up at the agent with slightly green eyes. Coulson merely raised an unimpressed eyebrow which surprisingly made the doctor breathe out a startled laugh.
"She took off after the attacker once we were safe," Bruce told them as he finally straightened from where he had been propping up the wall and moved to help Rumlow.
Coulson just nodded as Fury continued to issue orders through his comm.
"What the hell was that," Stark ranted and Bucky could clearly still read the tension in his body.
"That was Hawkeye declaring war on SHIELD," Coulson told them grimly.
"A guy with a bow is declaring war on an international spy organization? Seriously," Stark shouted.
"A guy with a bow just took out eight of SHIELD's best agents while the Avengers stood by helpless," Steve reminded him grimly and Stark stilled for a minute before nodding.
"I am going to go scout the area. Do you two want me to drop you off anywhere," Stark asked grimly as he made his way back to the door into the briefing room.
Steve and Bucky both shook their heads. Neither of them were going to make themselves such tempting targets by being dangled in the air.
"Alright, I am off," Stark announced but Coulson stopped him with a hand to his metal chest.
"Stark be very careful. Hawkeye is one of the best and while I am sure a normal arrow would have no chance against your suits what he was firing were definately not normal arrows."
Stark actually seemed to consider Coulson's words before nodding an affirmative and moving back out the door. Bucky caught Steve's eyes and within moments they were both hurtling down the hallway and through the door to the stairs. They took the stairs a landing at a time and in under thirty seconds they were sprinting out of the building and toward the building where Hawkeye had been.
Passing a group of milling agents, tech personnel from their uniforms, Steve pushed the lot of them toward the nearest building while confiscating an ear piece from two of them.
"Get inside and stay undercover till the all clear comes," Steve ordered them as he pushed the last of them through the building's door and they continued their sprint through the compound. Bucky was glad that the compound was outside the city or they might have an even bigger mess on their hands.
Wordlessly Steve handed Bucky an ear piece and Bucky slipped it over his ear while he continued to scan the area his metal arm ready to deflect an arrow at any time.
"Natasha, do you read," Steve said into the comm then continued in silence for a moment before Natasha's voice came over the comm.
"Captain, I am on the roof of the building where the attack occured but there is no sign of Hawkeye. I can't find any kind of line down," Natasha told them as they continued to move through the mostly deserted compound.
"Wait, I see him. He is at the edge of the woods moving north. Unsure how he got out of the building but I am in pursuit," Natasha called before the line cut off.
Thank you all for reading!