—Bucky POV—
Bucky walked into the conference room to find Tony, Steve and Sam looking over some of the files on y/n. He took a seat next to Steve and went to get grab some water.
"How was your walk? You were gone for a quite a while" Steve asked.
"Uhh well... I ended up near y/n room when I heard a scream coming from behind the door. I guess when Wanda was helping out with recovering her memories it got to be too much. I ended up talking to her for a little bit before FRIDAY said that Tony wanted to talk to me here. Where are the others?" Bucky responded
"Clint had to head home for one of the kids music recitals, Bruce is on a video call with Shuri to start with a plan to remove the chip from her neck and Wanda and Nat went for a walk and I think y/n is joining them." Sam responded
"I wanted to talk to you about what you can remember of what kind of conditioning Hydra did on you. If you are ok with talking about it. I think it would with understanding what they might have done to y/n. From what I can gather from these files they tested a rudimentary version of the program they used on you. Like a test run to see what worked and what didn't. That would explain why they didn't use you until the late 50's." Tony said
"I mean I don't remember much besides the chair that they used to shock me and that they used the trigger words. And I'm not sure if Wanda would be able to get anything from my memories they are pretty scrambled." Bucky replied.
"Hmmm... Maybe I can find information on that chair that they used. Perhaps the chip that is in her neck did the same thing but more concentrated." Tony responded he opened his tablet and started typing away, he was probably seeing if there was any files on hand about the chair or trying to hack into the old Hydra files.
"I think I just read something about what the chip did and how it worked" Sam said looking through a pile of files he had stacked up next to him. "Ahh yes here it is" he said finding the file.
"Do you think I could take a look at that? I need to know what y/n went through. I just need to figure out how to talk to her, what and what not to say. I don't want to say anything that might set her off." Bucky asked holding out is right arm.
Sam looked over at Tony and then at Steve, raising his eyebrow. Tony nodded and Sam handed over the file to Bucky and he opened it up and began to read over the file. There was a name for the project that they used for her, Strix. There was no mention of her name anywhere they only ever referred to her as the subject or Strix. As he read over the file he learned that the chip was inserted into her neck shortly after the explosion. They ran multiple tests by shocking her and seeing how best to control her. If Bucky understood it correctly after they shocked her by running an electoral current from the chip they would use a device to play a high pitched sound which would then make her compliant. After that they would give her the mission they wanted to complete.
He looked at the location where she was being held. She was held at a different location to where he had been held. He closed the file and handed it over to Tony, he figured if anyone would be able to understand the file in detail and how to remove the chip safely it would be Tony, Bruce and Shuri.
"I'll take this too Bruce and get a copy scanned over and sent to Shuri. Between the two of them they should be able to figure out how to get the chip out safely and reverse the programming." Tony said taking the file and leaving the room.
"How are the two of you holding up?" Sam asked as he started stacking the files in the centre of the table. "I mean you two haven't seen her since the 40s and now she is here and well learning everything she has been through since then." Finished Sam.
"I still can't believe it. I mean I've already been though this once before with Buck. But seeing y/n walk off the plane talking to Nat... that brought me right back to school. Seeing her around high school taking to her friends then seeing Buck and I and she would say bye to her friend and walk over to us. But if I know y/n she is a fighter and is strong. She will do absolutely anything for her friends and her loved ones. I just hope she hasn't lost herself too much along the way" Steve said leaning back in his seat.
"I got to say. When I saw her walking off the ramp and heard her scream... I almost didn't want to believe it at first. And then she started to faint and I just ran to catch her. She looked so peaceful and tired in my arms. But she still looked exhausted like she hadn't slept in ages. But this morning she looked so well rested. I'm just so happy that I have her back... I mean I think I have her back? I want to go back to the way we were before everything. But I don't know if we can, we both have bee through so much." Bucky responded.
"Well, I don't if you will be able to get back to the way you were before all of this. But, do you want to? I mean do you want to forget everything and pretend nothing has changed. I'm sure the two of you can create something just as strong. From what the two of you have said about her it sounds like you had a really strong bond. A bond that even time, a bunch of mad scientists and cryo can't break. I think all of you just need time to get to know each other again. Time to figure out how to navigate everything and start anew here and now" Sam responded.
"Buck you know y/n, she takes everything in her stride and is stubborn. She is going to want to move forward and reconnect with us." Steve reassured Bucky.
"It will take time. I would be happy to help with the process if you want" Sam offered
"Thanks Sam, I wonder if it would be helpful for her to have someone to talk to about everything. Maybe Natasha could help. She seems to have an established relationship with her. I think it would be helpful for her to have someone to talk too. I know it helped for me talking to Steve." Bucky thanked Sam. As much as Sam annoyed him at times he did have a good insight into somethings.
Sam looked at his watch. "I got to run. I have to run a group therapy session at the VA in an hour. See the two of you tomorrow" Sam got up and left the room.
—Y/N POV—
"I've got to say. This place is pretty impressive. How is this place funded?" You said as you, Nat and Wanda walked outside.
"Tony funds the whole thing. All the money he inherited from his father and from Stark Industries. He uses the money from that to fund everything, including our suits, gear and healthcare. After he found out where the weapons his company were selling was going too he stopped selling weapons and changed direction." Nat replied.
"Inherited? When did Howard die?" You asked
"Umm.. 1991. It was a hit by Hydra, made to look like a car crash" Nat responded looking a little nervous.
"A hit? Why? Did Howard know something?" You ask.
"He figured out how to recreate the super solider serum. Hydra didn't like that and wanted to be the only ones with super soldiers running around. They used the Winter Solider to do the hit." Nat responded
"The Winter Solider... I heard that name once or twice when they had me. Wait James was the only other person that Hydra had under their control at that time. Was that him?" You responded.
"Yeah, Barnes was the Winter Soldier. But our friends in Wakanda managed to reverse the programming and now he is free from it." Nat said.
"So is the plan to contact those friends again to see if they can do the same for me?" You ask
"Thats the plan. The Wakandans are very nice and helpful. Some of the nicest people I have ever met." Nat said.
"What about you Wanda? What is your story?" You ask.
"I grew up in a small country called Sokovia, my parents died in a bombing when I was 10. My twin bother and I were trapped under rubble for days until we were dug out. Hydra found us and promised that they could help us get revenge on those who hurt us. What we didn't know at the time was that while we thought it was Stark responsible it was someone else who had bought his weapons." Wanda explained
"You have a twin?" I asked. At that moment there was big rush of wind and standing in front of us was a young man with sliver hair.
"Y/n, meet my twin brother Pietro. He was also experimented on and was giving super speed. Pietro, this is y/n she is a new recruit." Wanda said.
"Nice to meet you Pietro" you say reaching out your hand shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you as well, y/n. So what brings you to the Avengers?" Pietro asks.
"That's a long story. But short answer is that I hope that they can help me wipe out some of the bad I have done. That and get the Hydra programming out of my head. Like you they experimented on me." You responded.
"Who, that's rough. But good to see you got out too." Pietro responded.
"So what have you been up today, Pietro? I hope you haven't gotten into trouble around here. You know we are lucky that Mr. Stark lets us live here after everything that happened." Wanda said in a stern voice.
"Hey! I wasn't the one that got into the Avengers minds and gave them bad visions." Pietro teased.
"Right... all you did was run circles around Clint and punch him a few times." Wanda retorted.
"I'm sorry you did what to the Avengers Wanda?" You spun facing her.
"It wasn't my finest hour. But Ultron... a crazy robot with the aim to wipe out humanity told me that getting inside the Avengers minds and showing them their worst fears was they way to break them. But Clint helped us see that the Avengers could help save the world and weren't the ones tearing it down." Wanda replied
"Wow you certainly miss a lot when you are kept in cryo for 70 something years and only being brought out to do Hydra's dirty work." You joke.
Pietro looked at you with wide eyes. "So what, you are like the female Winter Solider or something?" Pietro asked
"Well not exactly. They called be Strix after the bird from the Greek myth, the bird of ill omens and metamorphosis. But yes they did use me on multiple missions to 'help them shape history and change humanity for the better'. Complete assholes if you ask me." You say rolling your eyes and using air quotes for Hydra's missions statement.
"Wow, Hydra really likes to ride that Greek mythology. But yes I totally agree, they are complete assholes." Pietro responded. "Anyway I have got to dash off. Mr. Stark wanted to work on my suit so I don't overheat or my clothes burn off me when I run around". He smiles and says goodbye to all of you and he runs off again leaving a breeze behind him.
"Does that ever get any less shocking? I mean your brother is fast... like super human fast." You say looking at the direction at which Pietro took off.
"Speaking from experience ... no." Nat responds "Come this way there is a nice garden around back that Pepper added. She says this place needed a place for us to go and calm down and get out of our heads." She said leading you and Wanda down the path towards the other side of the building.
"Pepper?" You ask
"Pepper Potts. She has basically taken over and runs Stark Industries and is dating Tony. I swear if it weren't for her he'd be dead 10 times over and a complete mess. She also helped design this place" Nat said.
The three of you turned the corner and you stopped in your tracks. What you saw in front of you had to be the most beautiful garden you had ever seen. There were colourful flowers, huge trees with benches under them where you could sit and read and a little river running through with little bridges where you could walk over. You also saw a little vegetable, fruit and herb garden. You saw butterflies and birds flying around. This place was so peaceful and quiet.
"Wow... this place is beautiful" you said walking through the garden and smelling the flowers. "Wait is that a peach tree!! I can't even remember the last time I had one." You said walking up to the tree and looking up at the fruits.
"Thank you. I'm glad you think so. And to answer your question yes that's a peach tree. Looks like they are ready to be picked. Would you like to try one." Said a lady with light strawberry blonde hair reaching up and picking one of the fruits off the tree and handing it to you.
"Really?! Thanks. I'm y/n l/n by the way" you say taking the fruit from the lady.
"Oh you're the new recruit Tony was telling me about. I'm Pepper Potts, it's lovely to meet you. I hope Tony wasn't too harsh the protocol of keeping you apart from the rest of the group until he feels he can trust you. But you seem really sweet" Pepper said with a huge smile on her face.
"Oh don't worry. I completely understand where he is coming from. After everything that I did, even if it was against my will. Tony needs to make sure that I won't snap and attack all of you." You responded. You took a bite of the peach, it was so sweet and juicy.
"Oh my god! This is delicious." You say
"That's good to hear that Tony wasn't too harsh. I'm glad you like it" Pepper smiles. "I'm going to go and get a basket to pick the ripe ones and bring it to the kitchen. Maybe I'll try and make a peach cobbler to go with that vanilla ice cream that Laura made for us." Pepper said she said bye to the three of you and headed inside.
You took a seat and continued eating the peach. You leaned back on the bench and looked around you. "I could get used to this place. After being on the run and hiding these last two years, this place feels safe. All I've ever wanted since escaping that horrible place was a way to get rid of the chip and have a place to call home" you say taking in the beauty around you.
"Well, if I have anything to say about it I'll make sure that Tony lets you stay and be a part of this team, we could really use someone like you. Plus I like having you around, the more ladies around here the better. The boys are always getting into all sorts of trouble. I also think that Barnes would love having you here as well." Nat says taking a seat next to you.
"I second that. Even though I just met you I already know that we are going to be friends. If you don't mind me asking apart from the serum they gave you and the fight training. What else did Hydra do... Nat mentioned something about powers?" Wanda said sitting to the other side of you.
"It is a little hard to explain... I could show you. Is that ok Nat?" You ask Nat.
"As long as you don't actually destroy anything here. Pepper would not be happy about you burning down her trees." Nat responded
"Right... that probably won't be the best idea if I want to join the Avengers" You respond. You look down at your hands and focus on just making the smallest purple glow in them appear. After a few moments you closed your hands again and the light went out.
"Wow! Thats impressive, so what can you do with that?" Wanda asks
"I can blast the light out in streams and move things around with the energy. Though I never understood where this ability came from. I just had it after one of the times they took me out of Hydra and had run experiments on me." You responded
"I have a similar ability expect my light is red." Wanda said. She lifted her hand and wriggled her fingers and a brought a small rock over to her hand from the stream. "My abilities came from the stone in Loki's sceptre but I don't think Hydra had that when they had you." Wanda said
"I guess the answer to that quest would be found in the files." You say finishing up the peach.
"I'll mention that to Tony when I go talk to him a little bit. We should head back inside. It's going to get dark soon. After today I think we all need a good nights rest. We can try and see if we can recover more of your memories tomorrow." Nat said standing up and heading back to the building.
"Yeah that sounds like a good idea. I do feel a little tired now that I think about it" You say standing up and following Nat, you put the peach pit in the compost pile that Nat showed you. You, Nat and Wanda walked back the building. Wanda went off to find someone called Vision so you said goodbye to her when you got into the building. Nat walked you back to your room.
"I'll come by in the morning and walk you to the common room and kitchen area. That way you can meet everyone again and get to know them a little better." Nat says leaning against your doorframe.
"Would Tony be ok with that? I mean he just met him and he said he needs time to see if he can trust me. I wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardise does that." You say taking a seat on the bed.
"I'll have a talk to him now. I needed to talk to him about a mission he wants me and Steve to go on at the end of the week" Nat replied, she took a look at her watch "I better head over now. See you in the morning. I'll send a message over FRIDAY about what time. And If Tony says no to you joining us at breakfast I'll come by and have breakfast with you here." Nat said.
She closed the door and left. You got up went over to your bags and started to unpack. You put your clothes in the closet and your toiletries in the bathroom. You took a seat on the bed and took a look around your room here. You wondered how long you would have to stay in this room before you were able to move the main living part of the building.
"FRIDAY? I was wondering if you happened to know when my boxes will arrive from my apartment?" You asked
"Your boxes are expected to arrive by tomorrow afternoon. I can have your stuff sent directly here or kept in storage until Mr. Stark lets you move to the main part of the building." The AI responded.
"Well I don't know how long it will take for Tony to trust me and let me move to the main living part of the compound. So I guess I'll have my stuff sent here. It would be nice to make this place a little more like home" you respond. Your stomach grumbled.
"FRIDAY. Is it too late to get some food?" You asked.
"It is not. Would you like to order something to eat?" FRIDAY responded
"Yes please" You grabbed the tablet and ordered something to have for dinner. After eating your meal you went to the bathroom and got ready for bed. You grabbed one of your big shirts and crawled into the bed. You turned the lights off and went to sleep.