One Year Prior
Sleep was just out of my reach, the deep tendrils reaching out to pull me in.
The dark of the night was broken up only by the sliver of the moon's rays slipping into my darkened room from my window. The silence of the complex, alerting me that everyone is asleep, lulls me and brings me close to sleep. I snuggle deeper into the blankets of my bed, my eyes slipping closed and my consciousness slipping away slowly.
Tap tap
I freeze, my tiredness slipping away instantly. My eyes whip open and my heart jumps at the odd noise against my window. I furrow my brows, waiting another second in the silence. When the sound doesn't continue, I figure I must have imagined it and let myself relax once more.
Tap tap
This time I sit up in my bed, my brows furrowed. I definitely didn't imagine that. Slowly, I climb out of my bed, the cool air brushing against the part of my legs not covered by my shorts. The large shirt I wear reaches down to my thighs, protecting me more from the cool air conditioning. I slowly walk up to my window, apprehension roaring through every fiber of my being. My room is on the third floor, so whatever this is, it's deliberate.
My heart is pounding in my chest as I slowly approach my window, letting my senses reach out. My heart jumps into my throat when I feel the presence of a heat signature outside. Could it be a fan? Sure, I've found them following me before but this is a little extreme. With cautious hands, I slowly pull back my curtain and look down. My eyes widen and my heart jumps into my throat.
Is that Bucky?
I quickly undo the latches on my window and throw it open, pushing the upper half of my body out to look down at the man standing outside my window three stories down. My eyes are wide with surprise, my mouth parted slightly.
"Bucky?" I question quietly, a happiness I can't put into words pooling within me, "What are you doing here?"
My boyfriend smirks and I can see it even from up here.
"I missed you" he simply responds, making my stomach flutter.
"So you came all the way from Wakanda because you missed me?" I ask, smiling down at the man.
"What can I say? We do crazy things when we're in love," he responds, shrugging, "Even stealing a Quinjet and escaping in the middle of the night"
I laugh, the sound bubbling out like it only does when Bucky is around. I motion for him to wait and quickly shut my window, slipping on a pair of shoes and silently leaving my room. As quietly as I can, I slip from the compound and into the cool night air, the moon beaming down on me as I jog around towards Bucky's heat signature. When I see him, I sprint up to him, crashing into him and pulling him into a tight hug. I haven't seen him in two months.
"T'Challa is going to be so mad when he notices you're gone" I state, pulling back to smile at my boyfriend. Bucky smirks and winks at me, his metal arm wrapped securely around my waist.
"You're worth it"
My heart jumps and I shake my head slightly at the man before me.
"You're crazy" I inform. He smiles, bringing his other hand to my cheek.
"And you love me anyway"
I don't respond, but instead meet his lips with mine. He instantly responds, pulling me closer to him. Still after all this time, kissing him takes my breath away. When I pull away, breathless, a permanent smile is etched onto my lips.
"I feel like a teenager all over again" I observe, making Bucky laugh, "Except I never had the guts to sneak out when I was a teenager"
"Well it's nice to know you will for me, doll"
"I'd do anything for you, Barnes" I assure, bringing my lips to his again.
Present Day
The memory is sudden and takes me by surprise when the Quinjet lands outside the complex.
I don't know why it comes back to me now, but I can't help but smile to myself at it. This always happens when I'm away from Bucky. My thoughts always manage to wander back to him and stay there. As we climb out of the jet and make our way towards the compound that Steve, Natasha, and Sam used to call home, it takes everything in me to focus on the situation at hand.
"You got second thoughts about that?"
The sound of Secretary Ross's voice echoes through the compound as Steve, Sam, Wanda, Vision, Sam, and I walk up to the room where Rhodes is speaking with a holographic council.
"Not anymore" Rhodes answers, turning his attention towards the glass door to the room that slides open when we walk up.
The six of us walk in, catching Ross's attention. His eyes burn across the group, landing with a fiery agitation on Steve.
"Mr. Secretary" Steve greets formally, nodding to the man who put me on trial not a few days ago.
"You got some nerve, Captain" Ross states, walking up to us, "I'll give you that"
"You could use some of that" Nat interjects, looking smugly at the hologram of the man. His eyes flick over to me, a knowing look passing through them as he nods at me.
"I knew you were lying through your teeth" he says, his eyes sizing me up, scrutinizing what they see.
"Nothing you haven't done before" I quip, raising an eyebrow at the man who I very much dislike. He just grunts and turns his attention back to Steve.
"The world is on fire and you think all is forgiven?" Ross states, making my eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
"I wonder who gave you those words" I state, dragging his attention back to me for a moment.
"I said you broke the law," Ross begins, looking almost like he's conceding to me in a way, "I never said you were wrong"
Even through the fire and frustration of his gaze, I feel an odd sense of accomplishment flushing through me. It's nice to know that what I said that day in court stuck, even with someone who has a heart as hard as Secretary Ross's.
"I'm not looking for forgiveness and I'm way past asking for permission," Steve says, answering Ross's previous question, "Earth just lost your best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too"
Ross stays silent, simply clenching his jaw and turning around to Rhodes.
"Arrest them"
"All over it" he responds, swiping his hand through the air and clearing out the holograms. As soon as they're gone, his phone dings.
"That's the court marshal" He informs, staying silent for a moment before a smile creeps onto his lips, "It's great to see you, Cap"
We all smile and step forward into the room, greeting Rhodes. Cap steps forward and shakes his hand.
"You too, Rhodey"
Rhodes hugs Nat and then me, smiling when he pulls back.
"It's like your always in three places at once" he remarks to me, making me laugh slightly.
"Tell me about it"
Ever since I saved Rhodes from being paralyzed that day two years ago, him and I have been close. In a way, I feel like he thinks he owes me a debt. He doesn't owe me anything, though. I did it because it was the right thing to do, and I'd never let myself forget it if I hadn't.
"Well, you guys really look like crap," Rhodes states, making a smile of amusement pull onto my lips, "The past few years must've been rough"
"Yeah well, the hotels weren't exactly five star" Sam responds.
"I think you look great"
At the sound of the foreign voice, I furrow my brows and turn around towards the heat signature that has walked into the other side of the room. We all turn to face the person and I can practically feel the shock ripple through each person as our eyes land on who I place to be Bruce Banner.
I can't stop my eyes from widening slightly at the sight of the doctor. Fury had told me time and time again how smart this man was and it had always been a dream of mine to meet him. When he went missing yeas ago, I was convinced that it would never happen. Yet, somehow, here he is.
"Oh yeah, I'm back" Bruce states, smiling awkwardly at the group. Beside me, Natasha stiffens.
"Hey Bruce"
I whip my gaze over to her, seeing the smothered smile on her lips and the brightness to her eyes that hadn't been there before.
No. Way.
She totally has a thing for the Hulk.
"Nat" Bruce responds, nodding to her and thus confirming my theory.
"This is awkward" Sam whispers, making me bite my lip to keep my chuckle at bay.
Bruce's eyes flick over the group, pausing on me and filling with a sort of confusion. I know he has no clue who I am, so I give him a warm smile and step up to him.
"I don't think we've met formally," I state, extending out my hand, "I'm Dawn"
He hesitantly reaches out and shakes my hand.
"Bruce" he responds, pulling his hand back and furrowing his brows at me, "Formally?"
The next few minutes are filled with Steve and I explaining my history of helping the Avengers from the shadows and my HYDRA experimentation. When we got to the subject of my powers, Bruce was especially interested. While the group moved into one of the offices and pulled up a few images of the two aliens we fought earlier, he asked me question after question about my powers. It was nice in a way, almost as if this encounter would have happened had I met him when he was still around with the Avengers.
"Oh," Sam interjects, walking up to the two of us, "And she's sleeping with Steve's best friend from the 40's"
My eyes widen and I slap Sam's arm hard.
"Sam!" I exclaim, my cheeks flushing. He shrugs, chuckling slightly and stepping just out of reach in case I hit him again.
"What? I thought it to be crucial information about everyone's favorite snake girl" he informs. I can't help but laugh at him, shaking my head slightly at the bird man and turning back to a very confused Bruce.
"It's a long story" I simply state. He nods and, within a few minutes, we're ready to talk about whatever is going on with the spaceships and a missing Tony.
"He's called Thanos," Bruce states, rubbing his hands together nervously as he talks, "He wants to get control of all six infinity stones"
"Infinity stones?" Sam asks, confused.
"They're six stones that help balance the universe in power," Bruce responds, walking up to the holographic screen in the office and pulling up a picture of the stones right next to the picture of the two aliens, "Space, time, mind, power, reality, and soul"
We all nod, taking in the information. Even though I don't know much about the infinity stones, I do know that one is in Vision and one is in the Tesseract, the cube that caused so much trouble back in 2012. It doesn't take a wild imagination to think of the kind of evil a person must be to want that much power.
"What does he plan on doing with them?" Steve asks, turning everyone's attention back to Bruce.
"From what I heard," He begins, his wavering voice betraying how afraid he really is, "Wipe out half of all living things"
Shock rolls through the room and I feel my blood run cold. I've helped the Avenger's save the world before, but this concerns more than just our world. We're talking annihilation on a universal scale. The very thought makes my head spin and my knees weaken. Whoever this Thanos is, he must be on an entirely different level of powerful.
This war could be the end of half of all life if we don't win.