Eunoia [Bucky Barnes]

chapter 17

"Where is this?" Ava asked Steve as he began knocking on the door in front of them.

"A friend." He answered before stepping back to wait for an answer when a window was uncovered, revealing that this was Sam's place. He looked out at them, confused as to why they looked like hell this early in the morning.

"Hey, man." Sam greeted Steve as the door was opened.

"I'm sorry about this. We need a place to lay low." Steve apologised as Nat interrupted him to get to the point.

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." She informed Sam as he just kept glancing from one person to another.

"Not everyone." He stepped aside and allowed them to enter. Ava smiled thankfully as she walked past him into the home, watching as Sam looked around after them. "There's a shower through there, a washing machine as well if you want to clean your clothes." He told the three of them as they all began thanking him at once.

Ava stepped into the shower and relaxed slightly at the feeling of warm water run down her back.

SHIELD had been her home from the day she had woken up from the ice. Unlike the Avengers, it wasn't her choice to just leave the organisation and move onto another job. Frothing up her hair with Sam's 2-in-1, she allowed tears to fall as they merged with the droplets on her face. It had been a tough couple of days and more than anything, Ava just wanted the feeling of security back. That she'd have her life the next day. Her job the next day. Her friends the next day. Steve's invincible super soldier ways had been destroyed by the newer technology of the world and it made being hopeful that bit harder.

Once her hair was rinsed and her body washed, she stepped out and began getting dressed into the grey vest and black jeans Nat had laid out for her. Ava usually kept her hair down these days but put it up into a wet bun on the top of her head. Walking out, she smiled at Nat, who smiled weakly back as she walked into the shower herself.

Turning out of the bedroom, Ava walked down the corridor to see Steve and Sam talking in the front room. She fell into a seat beside Steve and smiled at Sam when she caught his eye. Ava didn't want to intrude on the conversation so leaned her head back and shut her eyes, allowing her exhausted body some rest.

She was woken up once more when the feeling of someone sitting beside her forced her eyes open. Looking to her left, Ava saw Natasha had joined them in the room as she looked straight ahead.

"You okay?" Steve asked her, obviously sensing her mood as well.

"Yeah." Nat looked at him with a small smile.

"What's going on?" Ava reached out to the other girl's hand in an attempt to bring her comfort.

"When I first joined SHIELD, I thought I was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but.. I guess I can't tell the difference anymore." Nat breathed out shakily as Ava just nodded in understanding.

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business." Steve told her making Ava whip her head round, but a faint laugh from Nat told her that she hadn't taken it seriously. They were interrupted when Sam walked back in through the doorway.

"I made breakfast. If you guys.. eat that sort of thing." He told the three of them as Ava smiled at the sound of a meal.

"So, the question is: who in SHIELD could launch a domestic missile strike?" Nat asked as she rounded up the conversation.

"Pierce." Steve answered as he looked away from Nat.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world." Ava filled in making both Steve and Nat nod.