The Winter Witch (A Hawkeye/Avengers fanfic)

Chapter 7

Bucky looked up to Winter and smiled. "I thought I was supposed to be the optimistic one?"

Winter smirked, "I guess you've rubbed off on me."

There was a gentle knock on the door and Natasha poked her head in.

"Hey, Pepper and I were thinking that today might be a good day to get you out of the tower and go shopping."

Winter furrowed her brow in confusion, "Pepper?"

"Tony's girlfriend," Natasha replied.

"Oh, um, ok."

Bucky could tell that Winter was hesitant to leave. She had been locked up for so long, being in the outside world scared her, especially considering the last time she managed to escape, Hydra found her and dragged her back.

"I can go with if you want?" Bucky said.

"Are you sure? I don't want to drag you away if you don't want to go."

"No, it's no problem!"

Natasha nodded her head towards the hall, "Clint mentioned he would tag along too if you liked."

"There, then that's settled, we'll all go." Bucky smiled.

Bucky and Natasha left Winter's room to let her get ready. Natasha had brought some clean clothes for her to wear that would be suitable to wear in public. As they made their way back to the common area, Pepper was already standing there waiting for them. Winter was surprised at how sweet and kind Tony's girlfriend was. Pepper was dressed very business-like with her strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail. As soon as Winter had stepped off the elevator onto the common floor, Pepper had instantly walked over and warmly introduced herself. As their small group started gathering their coats, Tony came walking into the room.

"Where are all of you going?"

"We're taking Winter shopping so she can have her own clothes," replied Natasha as she slipped her leather jacket on.

"And get her anything else she needs for her room," chimed in Pepper.

Tony gestured towards Clint and Bucky who were awkwardly standing by the girls. "And the Bobbsey twins?"

"Someone has to keep an eye on us girls," Natasha smirked.

Sam and Steve walked in. "Are we going somewhere?"

Natasha sighed, "We are," as she gestured towards their small group.

"Why can't I go shopping?" asked Tony.

"Whose going shopping?" asked Thor as he and Loki made their way into the kitchen.

"The girls are taking Winter shopping. I personally would like to get out of the tower. Anyone else?" asked Tony.

Before Natasha and Pepper could protest, all of the boys had grabbed their coats. Before they made their way down to the garage, Thor looked over at Loki.

"Brother, you may want to change into something that is a bit more appropriate," he said while gesturing towards Loki's outfit.

Loki rolled his eyes and sighed, "Fine." And with a flash of green, he was dressed in Midgardian clothes like his brother.

"Should we see if Bruce wants to go?" asked Steve.

Tony shook his head, "Nah, he's locked himself up in the lab, he won't even notice we're gone."

Winter had never been shopping in her life and was suddenly overwhelmed by the sheer size of the shopping mall. Pepper and Natasha managed to shoo all the boys away so they wouldn't interfere with their helping Winter. After much discussion and emphasis that Pepper and Natasha were more than capable of keeping Winter safe, Bucky reluctantly agreed to join the rest of the boys in their manly quest of purchasing more video games for the tower.

Natasha and Pepper dragged Winter into one of the stores where they proceeded to pull everything off the racks and pushed Winter into one of the changing rooms. Two hours later, Natasha and Pepper were handing the items to the cashier. They found everything from loungewear, jeans, tops, dresses, and even formal wear that Winter insisted she would never need but Natasha and Pepper brushed her off, knowing the type of parties Tony liked to have. They even managed to find her various types of shoes and jewelry that would match almost every outfit. While waiting for Pepper to finish paying for the items, Winter started feeling a sharp pain in her head. She tried to brush it off but then she heard it. The various thoughts of everyone around her.

She first noticed that the cashier was side eyeing her and glancing at Winter's arms. Winter looked down and realized the sleeves of her shirt had ridden up after the numerous wardrobe changes she had gone through. Her scarred arms were exposed, including the small cast on her wrist. Winter self-consciously began pulling her sleeves back down. The voices in her head began to get louder as she slowly backed out of the store. Pepper and Natasha were too busy finishing up their purchases to noticed Winter had disappeared.

The voices kept getting louder and louder. Winter began to panic. Clutching her head in her hands, she slid down a wall she had backed up into and hugged her knees. She didn't know what to do. The pain in her head was excruciating and the voices kept getting louder. It was like a jumble of voices; she couldn't make out what any of them were saying. In her moment of panic, she mentally screamed out the first name that came into her mind.