Half an hour earlier, Stark Tower

Fury entered the lobby, flipping his S.H.I.E.L.D. ID at the receptionist who tried to stop him.

When he reached the top floor, he was greeted with the sight of all the Avengers and Loki standing in a circle screaming at each other.

"Brother of my friend, you need to calm down. She probably just wandered off - she does that, as you know."

"No Loki I will not calm down! What if Chaos has her? Or Nyx? Or she's been attacked by hellhounds or-"

"Stop!" thundered Fury, glaring at them. Everyone was intimidated except Annabeth, for whom intimidation did not exist, Percy, compared to whose glare Fury's was a fluffy kitten glare, and Steve, who had spent too long being an older brother to Dragon, proud owner of the world's scariest glare.

"What is going on?"

Steve looked at him. "My sister has disappeared. That's incredibly dangerous, because feeling trapped is her major trigger. And last time she felt trapped and couldn't control her anger, she knocked down three major government buildings. That was in 1942, when she hadn't reached full growth."

Loki looked at him. "You were the last to see her. Last night, when you stopped by to talk to her. What happened?"

Fury feigned confusion. "No. I haven't seen her - or I don't think I have. What does she look like?"

"Short, dark hair, seventeen, greyish eyes and a scar running across her face, over her right eye as you face her. Her left from her perspective."

Fury shook his head. "No, I-" Suddenly, a wild rainbow appeared in the corner of the room. Percy frowned.

"I have to take this call." He walked over, touching the rainbow, and Nico's face appeared. "Nico, I'm kind of busy-"

"I hear you're missing a Dragon, so when is a good time to stop by and return it?"

Nico stepped back, and Dragon, cut, bandaged but smiling, appeared behind him, waving frantically.

"Tell Steve I'm okay- oh. He's there. Hey Eagle, I'm good. You okay? Oh, and tell your asshole of an abusive bitchy boss that he's very lucky, because I came within an inch of losing control, and if I had, he'd be dead. Oh, he's there as well. Hey Nick, didn't see you there."

Fury gritted his teeth. "What-"

"Oh, Percy, you might want to call Piper in. I'm pretty sure pirate idiot over there is hosting an eidolon."

The iris message cut out. Percy swore and drew Riptide, pointing it at Fury. "Annabeth, " he called, "We need Pipes here, pronto. We've got an eidolon."

Five minutes later, Piper flew in through the (fortunately) open window with Jason. Percy was still holding Fury at sword point whilst Annabeth tried to explain the situation to the confused and annoyed Avengers.

Piper faced Fury directly. "Eidolon, I command you to leave this mortal."

Strange, metallic laughter tore from Fury's lips. "Foolish child of shallow beauty. This is a second generation Mars."

 Piper glared at the eidolon. "Leave this man now and you will not be harmed. There will be no second warning.”

Reluctantly, the daemon left, Fury collapsing to the floor, his eyes returned to normal. Piper nodded in satisfaction.

"Now, Perce, Annabeth, if you'll excuse us, we were in the middle of a very nice date."

Percy had the grace to look ashamed. (Get it?... never mind.)

"Sorry.”

With that, Piper and Jason left.

TIME SKIP (Several days)

Tony looked up from his Stark Pad. "HYDRA agents are causing a disturbance downtown. Apparently the'very targeted and attacked a civilian for no apparent reason."

He handed each of them files. "Fury sent these over." He looked at Annabeth's and Percy's copies of the file. "Why are yours in Ancient Greek?"

Percy shrugged. "We're both dyslexic, and we find Greek easier to read. We learned it at camp."

File - Level Six Classified
The Winter Soldier
Name - unknown
Age - unknown
Abilities - Appears to be a super soldier similar in ability to Captain America. Incredibly accurate sniper.
Alliances - Affiliated with both HYDRA and the Red Room.
Danger level - nine. Do not approach without backup.

Clipped on was a photograph of a man, most of his face hidden by a mask. It was blurry and clearly from security footage, but Natasha let out a small gasp. Annabeth was by her side in an instant.

"What is it?"

"That man... Yasha. He was one of the trainers in the Red Room."

"Oh," said Annabeth in quiet understanding. "The one who told you your names."

Natasha nodded. "He was the only person who showed us any kindness. He's not a bad person, but they wipe his mind to force him to comply."

Percy sighed. "We've gotta take him in. He's causing trouble downtown."

***

Three hours, two gunshot wounds and a bruised shin later, the man known as the Winter Soldier knelt on the ground. He was applying pressure to the bullet hole in his
arm, glaring violently at Natasha, who was aiming a gun at his head.

"Don't move."

Suddenly, a group of four people in tactical gear came around the corner. All four were wearing deep grey tank tops and black pants, except for the only female of the group, who's top was dark blue, as well as masks over their eyes. Instantly, weapons were aimed at them.

"Whoa," said the female in the front, pushing her mask up. It was Dragon, looking annoyed.

"No pointing guns at my agents. They didn't do anything to deserve that," she frowned. "We came to see if you needed help. but it looks like you've got it covered."
She turned to her team. "Clean up delta seventeen. nAs OUT." she barked, and they moved to begin a methodical sweep of the area, searching for any stray HYDRA agents.

She turned to the man. "Is he a mercenary or an asset?" She queried.

"What's the difference?" said Tony, lifting his mask.

"I was an asset. They have no choice, are normally brainwashed and memory wiped. Mercenaries are paid to kill. They choose."

She walked over to the man, carefully pulling his mask off, and her face paled. She took two small steps back, stumbling, and Clint caught her. She didn't even protest at the contact, staring at the man she thought she had lost.

"Bucky?" asked Steve hopefully.

"Who the hell is Bucky?"

Bucky P.O.V.

(Yes, I know. I wasn’t going to do anything but third person. But I don't know how else to write this.)

I followed my new handler, automatically memorizing the path he took. We went into a room, blank and neutrally coloured. The handler looked at me sadly.

"Do you remember me?" I frowned, confused by the question.

"Yes. You are my new handler." The man shook his head.

"What about Dragon, the girl who was with us?"

"She is an authorised operative. She knows the codes."

The handler shook his head sadly. "This is your room. You can come here if you want to be away from people."

The handler took a step towards the door. "I'm Steve, okay? Your friend Steve. I'm going to see if I can find you some clothes."

The handler - Steve, his name was Steve - left. The Winter Soldier - me, I - sat on the bed, and then stood again. I hadn't been given permission to sit down by my handler.

Ten minutes and twenty three seconds later, the handler returned. "What the - Damn. You've just been standing there?"

I wasn't sure if it was a question, so I remained silent.

He led me into the adjoining room, handed me some clothing and a towel.

"You remember how to shower, right?"

I judged this to be a query, so I nodded. He pointed at the rack on the wall. "There's soap and stuff there. I'll come in and check on you in about twenty minutes, okay?"

I remained silent. He sighed and left.

I wasn't certain, since he hadn't given me any direct instructions, but I was pretty sure he wanted me to shower. I regarded this as the path of action which was least likely to end in punishment.

I showered quickly, shivering at the coldness of the water, before dressing in the new clothes I had been given, a t-shirt, jacket, and jeans, all in black. I pulled the sleeve of the jacket down over my metal hand.

I re-entered the room with the bed, and stood there at attention to wait for further instructions from my handler.

The door was brushed open tentatively by the girl from before. "Bucky?" I didn't respond - whoever she was looking for wasn't here. She saw me standing to attention, and sighed. "Soldier, at ease." I remembered she had access codes, and relaxed. She gestured to the bed. "You have authorised permission to sit indefinitely until retracted."

She sat near me. "Have you heard the stories of the Midnight Assassin? The enhanced ten year old with more kills than everyone else combined?"

I nodded. "That was me. Do you remember a thirteen year old girl crying into your shirt the night you were drafted?"

I thought hard. I remembered a dream I had had, the kind my last handler punished me for.

"There were tiny blue flowers in your hair, and.. And...”

I broke off, confused. That was a dream that never happened. I hadn't been drafted by HYDRA, they had saved my life.

The girl looked at me, tears in her turquoise eyes. Had they been grey? "There is hope, then."

She left the room, and I sat on the bed, alone, confused and sad. I spoke aloud to the empty room. "Stevie was there. He wanted to tell me something..."

Who is Stevie? I can't remember his face. Can't remember his voice.

The handler returned. "Do you want some food?" I thought about this for a second, then nodded. I wasn't hungry - I ate yesterday - but I could eat. I had learned to never turn down food, especially from a new handler who was likely faking kindness to gain my trust.