Imagine If You Assembled the Avengers: Volume 1

If You Can Dodge a Wrench (Barnes/Stark x reader)

When Steve returned home to deliver the news that your older brother Bucky had been lost, you weren't able to accept it. There was no way he was telling you the truth, no matter how many times or how many ways he said it. Even as you hit him when he held you tightly and whispered into your hair how sorry he was, even as his tears dropped down from his face to mix into yours, you weren't about to accept this. This cannot, and will not be true.

You were going to find him.

The terrain was rugged, and the weather unyielding, but that didn't change your resolve to find your brother. You traveled for weeks, alone, cold and weary, but fiercely determined. Once you had reached the region that Steve had described, you began to regain hope in your mission. That was when they overtook you.

When your eyes opened, you were in a dark and wet room, surrounded by soldiers wearing uniforms that you didn't recognize. There was pain everywhere, and your head was spinning. "Do you have my brother? James?" Your voice was gravelly and quiet. "Who are you? Where is he?!" No answers would be coming, as a hit to your head knocked you out once again.

"If she wants Mr. Barnes so badly, put her on ice with him. Perhaps they can provide HYDRA with a productive future together."

You were the one constant that Bucky was allowed to remember, and he was yours; it would guarantee your strength as a team for the HYDRA cause. But when HYDRA fell along with the only life you now knew, you looked to your older brother for guidance. He always took the lead and you always followed.

"(Y/N), the man I saw, the man I fought with, I knew him. I've been trying to think of his name." He looked to you with questioning eyes, looking to you for answers to quiet his mind. "Do you remember someone by the name of...Steve...?"

~~~

"Oh, Buck, I don't know. Are you sure we can trust the others? I know Stevie said he does, and believe me, I trust him, but after all the things we've done..."

As you stood at the doors to the Avengers tower, Bucky held your hand tightly; almost too tightly. You knew how nervous you were, but he was determined to make a better life for you both; to turn a new leaf, to do good things that would make up for all of the bad.

"We're gonna be ok, kid. You trust me too, don't ya?" He looked down at you, now concerned that you weren't ready for this. "I've been working with them for a while now, and they're on the up-and-up. They've accepted me, so they will do the same for you."

You gave his hand a tighter squeeze, smiling to reassure him, "I trust you boys, despite my better judgment. You two ain't nothin' but trouble."

"So, are you guys gonna just stand around all day, or are you gonna get your asses in here?" You turned to see Steve standing in the doorway, arms crossed and a huge grin on this face.

Bucky reached out to Steve, pulling him into a quick hug and a swift pat on the back. "Yeah, yeah, we're comin'." Steve grabbed your hand to pull you in for a quick kiss to your forehead and then led you inside.

~~~

The tower was nicer than any other building that you had seen in all of New York. Bucky said that you two could live here if you worked with the Avengers, but HYDRA had made you promises too; promises that were never realized. You were telling the truth when you said you trusted Bucky and Steve, but history has made you a bit skeptical. When the elevator arrived to its destination, the doors opened to deliver you to your new teammates, ready to finally meet the sister that Bucky never shut up about.

"Everyone," Steve began as he led you towards the group, his arm securely around your waist, "this is Bucky's sister, (Y/N). She's like a sister to me too, so be nice." He pointedly glanced at a man in a black t-shirt, who had quickly made his way to you.