Next Target: Clint Barton

1 - She's gone

"It's only been five days since the blip and you want to get back to work already?" Steve was pulled up from the tablet he was looking to see Bucky standing to his left with a blank look. Steve hadn't been the same lately, Bucky knew how much he missed Natasha and how much pain he must've been in. But that didn't stop him from wishing for his friend back. 

Steve gave his friend a blank look, one that was full of hidden sadness, though Bucky could see right through it. "It's what she would have done."

Bucky grabbed his friend's shoulder and looked at the ground before nodding sadly and walking away, leaving Steve to his work.

He didn't talk about it much, but he missed Natasha a lot too. During the two years when they were on the run, Steve would often come to visit Bucky along with Natasha when they weren't busy silently helping people. The pair had formed a sort of friendship with one another. They bonded over their terrible pasts and she helped him remember that he wasn't just a rabid killer.

After the final Battle with Thanos, Bucky decided to join the Avengers and try to do good in the world. The new Avengers were formed of Steve, Bruce, Thor, Peter Parker, and Sam and the Guardians and T'Challa and Okoye would lend a hand if and when needed. The new SHIELD, run by Agent Coulson, was also a major ally and would often work together with them on low-level threats.

"Hey Cap, we got something." Sam told Steve from across the room and directed him to the large monitor at the front of the room.

"I was able to get into the hard drive we got from the base and found this security footage on it."

Steve, Bruce and Bucky along with a few SHIELD agents watched as the screen showed a security video in one of the labs of the Hydra base. A man wearing purple armor with a red cape walks into the frame. His face was hard to see because of the large metal helmet he wore that covered his entire head except for the very front of his face.

"We dealing with Gandalf or what?" Buck remarked at the look of the man's ridiculous getup.

They all chuckled and returned their attention to the screen.

The team watched as he went through the lab, looking through all the weapons that were there and not taking anything until he opened a metal briefcase. The contents of the case were unidentifiable in the terrible quality video. He then looks at the camera and lifts his hand and the footage goes dark.

"What happened?" Steve asked as he stared at the black screen

"The footage goes dark from there, like someone broke the camera." Sam explained

"But he was the only one there."

"That's what I'm confused about Cap."

"See if you can run his face through facial recognition." Bruce said in his Professor Hulk form.

"Already tried that, nothing popped up. Probably because of that bullet casing on his head."

"Ok, well for now you guys look through the archived Hydra files and see if we have anything that'll tell us what he stole. I'm gonna go ask T'Challa if Shuri has any ideas to help us track this guy." Steve told his team before going to leave the room.

"Oh Sam."

"Yeah Cap?"

"Find anything on Wanda yet?"

"Not since she showed up at the SWORD facility, you know I'm thinking she doesn't want to be found."

"Maybe not, but she doesn't need to be alone right now."

---Meanwhile---

"Alexei! Did you eat the last of my peanut butter?! I just bought that!" Yelena yelled out of the kitchen to Alexei who was sitting on the couch in the living room with Melina.