"Y/n? Jesus Christ are you okay?" Nat burst into Y/n's room, slamming the door behind her and pulling her into a clinging hug. Y/n chuckled softly, given that Nat was never much of a hugger.

"I'm fine Nat, I promise." She pulled out from Nat's arms, giving her a reassuring smile. "Nobody was killed or injured, thankfully."

"Steve and I both saw the explosion from downtown, we weren't sure if we should've helped out."

"I'm sure as hell glad you didn't Nat, that was your special night out, which by the way you haven't even told me about yet!" Y/n gestured for Nat to sit on her bed, pulling out a bottle of wine from under her bed.

Nat raised an eyebrow. "It's two in the morning Y/n."

"Your point?"

Nat glanced at the clock, then back at Y/n who was shaking the bottle teasingly.

"Fine. One glass."

Y/n beamed and handed Nat a small glass she had saved the night before for this very occasion, filling it generously. She then poured one for herself and held up her glass.

"To first dates and world saving." Y/n quipped, to which Nat clinked her glass against hers. "To being a goddamn Avenger." They each took a long sip and sighed contentedly.

Nat set her glass down and faced Y/n. "As much as I want to talk about my date, you know me well. This attack is priority, I need details Y/n."

Y/n picked at her thumbs anxiously and nodded. "I know, it's just..."

"Just what? It's okay, you can tell me."

"What that man said... to me. And to Bucky-" Y/n subconsciously grabbed her drink and took a long swing, knowing that it wouldn't do anything to abolish the pit feeling that hadn't left her all night.

"Never mind. I'm sure Sam and Bucky already told Fury every single detail of what happened. He was a HYDRA agent on a suicide mission, and he's most likely part of a new assembled group of leftover HYDRA affiliates. That's it." Y/n stood up to put away her empty glass, turning her back to Nat.

Nat knew that she was purposely lying. Y/n knew better to never lie to her, who was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best and highly trained agents. The Red Room was built on lies. Nat would have to ask Bucky or Sam for full details later.

"He took me to Coney Island." Nat spoke from behind.

Y/n's shoulders perked up and she turned on her heel. "He did?"

"Yeah until I dragged him onto the scary rides. I almost feel bad now, he was trying so hard to sound like he was willing to go on them." Nat smirked, remembering Steve's expression when they were in line for The Thunderbolt.

Y/n let out an amused laugh. "The country's greatest soldier was scared of a few rides?"

"I'm not sure what he was expecting exactly." Nat shrugged, swirling her drink around her glass. "After these few years of working together, I thought he knew I wasn't into the rom-com cliché."

"Aw c'mon." Y/n hopped onto the bed next to her. "He probably learned that you can be a softie."

Nat threw her an slightly offended look. "Oh please, I'm just a master of pretending."

"Face it Nat." Y/n patted her on the shoulder. "You're in lovvvvee."

Nat shot up off the bed and slapped Y/n's hand off of her, who was giggling hysterically behind her. "Alright I'm leaving your stupid ass and going to bed."

"Steve and Natasha sitting in a tree." Y/n sang teasingly. "K-I-S-S-I-N..."

"Goodnight Y/n." Nat glared from the doorway, her eyes softening for a moment. "I'm glad you're okay."

Y/n nodded, waiting for Nat to shut the door like Y/n always asked her to do before leaving. She threw her head back into her pillow, pulling it into her chest.

Her worst nightmare had occurred in just one night. HYDRA had found her, they knew she was an Avenger now.

It had been single-handedly a miracle when Nat pulled her off the streets from the clutches of HYDRA and into the pure safety of the Avengers, where up until now, had allowed her to stay off their radar.

"Why now?" She had wondered. For the longest time, she always anticipated that HYDRA could lurk into the building at any given moment, and drag her back under once again. After months and months of waiting, she finally allowed herself to relax, coming to the conclusion that HYDRA had truly fallen and had given up on obtaining one of their enhanced soldiers.

She gazed up at her ceiling fan and and stared at it numbly as it spun. She thought back to when she was first taken, where she had been kept in cryo for years that felt like seconds. Once taken out, almost instantly, she had been thrown into a dingy room filled with a few dozen people, all waiting to be injected with the luminous blue serum.

A sudden buzz from her phone on her nightstand pulled Y/n from her thoughts. She groaned and lifted her head, patting her hand around the table until it came in contact with her phone. She squinted when the bright screen beamed in her face in the dark bedroom.

It was a random number.

Who is this?

Oh sorry. It's Bucky.

Bucky? How did you get
my number?

I got it from Steve. Don't
worry, I'm not a creep

All good :)
How are you feeling?

I don't know honestly.
What a way to end the
night.

I'm just glad you're ok.

Are you?

Been better.

I told Fury everything.
There's nothing to worry
about Y/n, we're having a
meeting tomorrow on how
we're gonna approach this.

I know. You're right.

Bucky frowned as his eyes swept over her messages. He had replayed it, over and over. That look on her face, one of rage.

Fear.

Even Avengers had their own demons, something that people sometimes fail to realize.

Steve had explained to him how long they'd been chasing HYDRA, and that was even before the knowledge of their super soldiers.

"If only Y/n could understand." He thought to himself. "She has no memories of any of it. Does she even get nightmares?"

Of course he knew he couldn't blame her for something like that. It wasn't something the Wakandans did themselves, she just happened to have every HYDRA assassination wiped clean when they removed the brain washing components.

At least, that's what Nat and Steve told him anyways.

The memories were by far the worst part of returning to anything that could be considered a normal life, aside from the guilt. Living with Tony was already hard enough, despite the amount of times Tony assured Bucky that the whole situation had been water under the bridge, that they could remain teammates from then on.

It just didn't feel that simple.

He suddenly heard the familiar knock sequence of his best friend. Two short knocks, followed by one longer one.

He tossed his phone to the foot of his bed and lugged himself to the door. He opened it to find Steve holding a bottle of whiskey.

"Just like you asked."

Bucky gave him a small "thanks" before popping the cap off with his thumb and taking a long swing.

"Fury's launching a layout of our strategy tomorrow. Nine o'clock meeting, be there." Steve told him, watching the contents of the bottle disappeared within seconds.

"This crap tastes nothing like Eddy's stuff." Bucky grimaced, holding out the bottle to read the label.

"That was almost 80 years ago." Steve shrugged. "Plus, this is the expensive stuff Tony likes."

Bucky placed it on the counter and trudged back to his room. "Yeah well, expensive doesn't hit close to home."

Steve took it as his queue to leave him be, turning to the front door. "Just let me know if you need anything Buck."

"Yeah, thanks." Bucky threw him an earnest smile, which faded as soon as Steve closed the door behind him.

♥︎ The next morning ♥︎

"Team meeting Wanda, get up." Y/n knocked repeatedly on Wanda's door, laughing when she opened it finally and glared tiredly. "I was up."

They entered the conference room and took a seat next to each other. Nat gave them a scolding grin, glancing at the clock behind her.

"We're two minutes early." Wanda defended. "Plus, we're not nearly as late as-"

"MORNING GOOD PEOPLE!" Thor boomed at ever the right moment, earning a few stifled laughs and "good mornings" from the team, mostly still half asleep.

Fury soon walked to the end of the long table, turning on the screen in front, displaying a recap of the event from the night before.

Y/n chewed on her bottom lip as she watched the explosion for a second time, looking down shamefully when a recording from social media showed her going off on the HYDRA affiliate.

Wanda squeezed her hand beside her, giving her a sympathetic smile. Y/n was too busy watching the different recordings to notice Bucky stare sorrowfully from across the table.

"These bastards never know when to quit, as we've learned these past few years." Fury began, turning to the screen. "If they choose to keep on coming, we're gonna have to keep fighting, till they finally decide to lay off."

"Our guess is that we can find them near the old base." Maria informed them. "It's possible their intention is to lure us in."

"It's obvious." Sam said, folding his arms. "They're waiting for us to waltz into their trap so they can get their hands on Bucky or Y/n, whether they join the attacking forces or stay behind here at the tower. They want them isolated."

"I'm fully aware of that Wilson." Fury smirked. "I don't plan on handing them over any time soon."

"So what's the plan." Bucky questioned quietly.

"Simple." Fury turned off the screen. "We go in and kick their sorry asses. Y/l/n and Barnes will be safely used as bait. Both are fully capable of fighting."

"But Director Fury." Y/n spoke. "Bucky and I both found files of the two of us in the facility. They have it completely planned out. They know how they're going to get ahold of us."

"She's got a point." Tony said from the back, lazily slumped in his chair.

"They want us to hesitate, and if you know anything about me, I don't hesitate." He told them simply. "I've got it handled, there's nothing to worry about."

"We plan on sending all of you out in three days. For now, we have to be patient." Maria stated, gazing around the room and receiving quiet nods from the team.

"This doesn't feel right Wanda." Y/n murmured once Fury and Maria had left the conference room. "HYDRA knows it all, our weaknesses, our history. I'm just not so sure about any of this."

"We just have to trust Fury and the team." Wanda told her, standing up and taking Y/n's hand. "That's all we can do right now."

Y/n nodded and followed her out of the conference room.

"I'm taking Vision to the cinema, you take it easy okay?" Wanda smiled, patting Y/n on the shoulder.

"Yeah."

She started making her way to the kitchen for breakfast, where Steve and Bucky were discussing the meeting privately.

"I'm just saying." She heard Steve say. "There's only one way we can draw them out. We haven't found any sign of another base, and you two are the only people they're interested in talking to."

"Talking? Are you even paying attention?" Bucky scoffed. "I doubt all they want from us is a nice little conversation over coffee."

"Look, we'll be right there. This is HYDRA we're dealing with, we have no other option but to trust that we know what we're doing."

"Yeah, and you definitely did a great job in discovering that half of your S.H.I.E.L.D coworkers were those exact people you claim you have control over." Bucky said coldly before storming off.

Y/n quickly ducked into the hall when he walked past, retreating back to her bedroom in silence.

"No, I'm sorry Fury."