Control (A Bucky Barnes Fanfiction)

Epilogue

 Tony thought it was best the Avengers made a graceful exit from New York City to Upstate New York. It was a bit more out of the way and the compound itself was impressive. And very Tony. Extravagant as ever. No expense was spared for the state of the art facility. Natasha made good on her promise on fixing Adeline's hair. It was just as short as Steve's now and Adeline found it horribly unflattering on her. Natasha disagreed, gushing about how wonderful she looked in any hairdo. Though, Natasha was a convincing liar when the need arose, so it was difficult to know if she was telling the truth. What Adeline could make out was the underlying sadness. She had begun her search for Bruce who went AWOL after the mission. Bruce's absence was felt throughout the compound as the science departments were being set up downstairs. Without Bruce. Tony made sure to leave an area for him when he came back. It was thoughtful and betrayed Tony's usual aloof and joking façade.

Thor along with Tony and Clint all returned to their respective homes. Wherever that may be. It left those without a home at the base. Unlike Steve, Adeline didn't feel quite at home here although the new routine would be somewhat of a help. Her old routine was scrapped at this point. She needed a different routine as she finished unpacking her things into her room. She had requested a quiet corner of the compound with a view of the forest.

"Hey, how's it going?" Steve asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Good," Adeline said. "Well. Alright. I've been fine. How are you holding up?"

"Just as good as anyone," Steve said. Burying Pietro was hard. Wanda took it the hardest as he was her only family left. But Adeline couldn't get his glassy eyes from her mind. She felt an immense amount of guilt. She constantly felt that she could have saved him. If she just tried hard enough she could have saved him.

"Has Sam gotten in yet?" Adeline asked and Steve nodded.

"Just pulled in about an hour ago."

"Anything?" Adeline asked.

"About Buck? No, nothing too unusual," Steve said. "CIA still has an open investigation that seems to be on the backburner, but it's obviously not a priority."

"Right," Adeline mumbled. She didn't expect anything new, but it still stung, knowing that Bucky wasn't a top priority.

"We'll find him," Steve assured. "We've got more resources now. We've got a team. We can do this."

"Okay," She breathed, tossing an empty cardboard box to the side. "We'll find him." He offered her a smile.

"You ready to start your new routine?" He asked.

"As long as I can watch my home improvement show in the evening," Adeline teased.

"I'm sure we can work with that," Steve said with a smile, draping his arm over her shoulders. "But first we've got training." Adeline let out a groan, walking toward the gym with him.

"Training already? You're awful. I was thinking my routine would include more relaxing activities."

"Sorry to disappoint, agent," Steve said, smiling down at her.