★ ★ ★

New York City was absolutely beautiful during the autumn season, and that was one thing that had caught Marlena's attention the moment she entered the city. The last time Marlena was in New York, she had been in Brooklyn with Hallie and Bucky. And, although still beautiful in the summertime, it could not compare to what she was experiencing at the moment. Not even Washington could compare, and this alone made Marlena want to pack up everything and move to the big city immediately.

She still was not aware of where Steve was taking her, nor was she aware of who he was taking her to. Had she been paying the slightest bit of attention to the two men who were knee-deep in a conversation, she probably would have had some idea as to where and who he was taking her to, but she was far too focused on the scenery, so focused that she wasn't even aware that the car had stopped.

"Marlena," Bucky called, startling her slightly.

She turned to look at him. "What?"

"Are you going to get out or what?" he asked with a chuckle.

Marlena looked back out her window and saw that they had in fact stopped, and she turned back to Bucky, nodded, and followed him. The brisk autumn air hit her like a ton of bricks, and she pulled her jacket over her chest before looking at the building she now stood in front of.

Her mouth fell open in shock, unable to believe her very eyes. She was standing in front of the Avengers Tower, and the luminescent letter A sitting many stories up only further confirmed that. She had seen the building so many times before in pictures and videos, but she had never once seen it in real life. Even if she was given the chance, she never would've imagined being this close to it either. It made her wonder exactly who Steve was taking her to see, and the thought alone made her incredibly nervous. She knew Steve was an Avenger, and she knew Sam and Natasha were as well, but she actually knew the three of them personally. All she knew about anyone in this building was that they were very significant people compared to her; in her eyes she was nothing compared to them.

"Who the hell are you taking me to see, Steve?" Marlena asked, averting her attention away from the enormous building and to the super soldier standing in front of her.

Steve turned around and smirked at her before continuing into the building.

When Marlena made no move to continue on, Bucky grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the building, much to her despair.

The inside of the building was beautiful and exceedingly luxurious, just as Marlena expected it to be; even the workers were beautiful. This was just another factor that made Marlena feel even more like a nobody, especially considering the way she was dressed compared to everybody else. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun and she wore black leggings, black and white Nike Free Runs, and a grey Nike sweatshirt; everyone else wore pantsuits and heels.

"Hey, Maria," Steve spoke, catching Marlena's attention.

She looked over to see a large reception desk, in which a woman with dark brown hair and beautiful blue eyes sat.

"Hey, Steve," she smiled, glancing past him to look at Bucky and Marlena before averting her attention back to him. "I know Bucky; I assume the girl is Marlena?"

Steve nodded, and Marlena was left to wonder how the woman knew her. She looked up at Bucky with a questioning look on her face, and he only chuckled in response before pulling her to his side.

"Okay, well he should be in the training center," Maria told Steve. "Nat's been giving him hell about not training as of lately, so she's practically forcing him. He's expecting you, though."

Steve thanked her before heading back over to his two companions. He led them to the elevator and hopped in, wasting no time at all in politely instructing JARVIS to take them to the training center. They arrived moments later, and the moment Marlena stepped foot outside of the elevator, she was met with a room very similar to the one she was trained in back at Hydra. This room, however, was bigger, a lot more technological, and lacked the Hydra agents she so dearly hated. Instead, the only bodies occupying the room were those of Natasha Romanoff and a man she recognized immediately as Tony Stark. He was not at all who she was expecting to see.

"Krovavyy ad (Bloody hell)," she murmured, running a hand over her face.

Bucky looked down at her and chuckled. Had he not been so focused on the situation regarding Marlena, he probably would have been worried about facing Tony, considering the fact that he was the one responsible for the death of his parents, but he wasn't. Marlena was his sole focus, and she would remain his sole focus until she was finally rid of the mental curse Hydra had bestowed upon her.

"If it isn't Captain Spangles himself," Tony chimed as he removed himself from the floor. "We've missed ya, buddy—well, everyone else did."

Steve sighed and pulled him in for a quick hug. "It's always a joy getting to see you, Stark."

"I know," he chuckled, moving to look at the couple behind Steve. "I'm assuming these are the ones you spoke to me about on the phone."

Tony studied the two of them, but his gaze was focused more so on Bucky. He knew who he was, he knew how dangerous he could be, but he was willing to look passed it for the time being in order to help Steve. He was still very skeptical about the brainwashed soldier, though, regardless of how drastically his mindset had seemed to change since the Washington attacks. He highly doubted Bucky would be a threat to him, but if it came down to it, Tony could apprehend Bucky with ease. He had the technology and the brains to do so, so he could only hope for Bucky's sake that he kept himself under control.

"Yep," Steve answered. "This is Bucky and Marlena."

Marlena studied Tony fairly intently, unaware of what was happening inside her mind. It felt as if she were standing in a Tony Stark database. As she looked at him, she found that she knew more about him than she thought she did, and it was much the same if she glanced at Steve, Bucky, or even Natasha. This seemed to be another branch of her power, one that she felt she could do without.

"It's nice to finally meet you both," Tony started. "I'm—"

"You're Anthony Stark, but you go by Tony for short," Marlena started, unable to stop herself. "You were born on Friday May twenty-ninth, nineteen-seventy to Howard and Maria Stark, both of whom were killed in a car accident when you were only twenty-one years old, or at least that's what the records say."

Tony, Steve, and Bucky gaped at Marlena, while Natasha just chuckled.

"Looks like you've got yourself a fan, Stark," Natasha said, patting him on the back.

Marlena snapped out of her trance and shook her head quickly. "I'm so sorry. That's never happened before."

Tony looked to Steve. "Is this the girl with the weird psycho mind powers you asked me to fix?"

"Yeah," Steve answered, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm heading out Stark," Natasha said, glancing at the three in front of her. "It's good to see you three again," she smiled before heading over to the elevator.

Tony let out a hum and looked down at Marlena, his mind moving at a million miles an hour. "This could be difficult. I may need Bruce's help to counteract whatever compound she was injected with, but it will definitely be a painful endeavor."

Tony walked over to his duffle bag, which sat against the wall, and pulled out a medical syringe. He had placed it in his bag in case Natasha grew to be too brutal during their training sessions and he could not take it anymore. The fluid inside the syringe was made to knock someone unconscious the moment it entered their bloodstream, and for this procedure, Marlena would need to be comatose, otherwise she would be subject to an extreme amount of pain, and Tony didn't necessarily feel like dealing with a screaming twenty year old girl for hours. He thought now was a better time to begin than ever.

"What's that for?" Marlena asked as she eyed the syringe in his hand.

Tony only smiled and shrugged before shoving the small needle into Marlena's neck. Her eyes widened and she gasped as she felt the mysterious fluid moving through her body. Bucky and Steve looked at Tony in shock and anger, unsure of why he would do such a thing.

"What the hell was that for?" Bucky exclaimed angrily, catching Marlena's now-unconscious body in his arms before she could fall to the floor.

"You wouldn't mind carrying her to my lab, would you?" Tony chimed. "I have a ton of work to do."

He took off towards the elevator, and Bucky looked at Steve, that same angry expression still on his face. Steve only sighed and shrugged before taking off toward the elevator. Bucky had no choice but to follow after him.