The Winter Witch (A Hawkeye/Avengers fanfic)

Chapter 3

Before anyone could say anything, Loki teleported to the lab to find it torn up and a very scared young woman in the corner of the lab with a ball of fire in her hands. Loki saw Bruce in the opposite corner, clearly unsure of what to do. Loki was worried that Bruce's other half was going to make an appearance.

"Dr. Banner?" he asked hesitantly.

"I... I'm good," he said hesitantly.

Loki slowly made his way towards the girl with his hands up to show that he wasn't armed. "Lady Winter?" he said softly. Loki took in her features; she wasn't the same girl he saw in the videos and pictures. Her long dark brown hair was disheveled and matted. Her brown eyes looked hollow with no sign of a spark in them. She looked dehydrated and malnourished. After hearing everything Bucky had told the team, he wasn't surprised to see her in such a state, but it made him angry. Angry that those people could do something like that to an innocent.

"How do you know my name?" she asked hesitantly as the fire in her hands glowed brighter, clearly weary of the raven-haired man that was standing in front of her. She looked at his emerald green eyes and decided to look into his mind. Before she got too far, she heard a voice in her head.

"Ah ah ah, careful there witch. I know what you are trying to do."

Winter took a step back, letting the fire dissipate as she realized that the voice she heard in her head came from the man standing in front of her. Before anyone could do anything else, the rest of the team rushed into the lab. Steve had his shield, Clint had grabbed his bow and arrows, Natasha had a gun in her hand, Tony had one of his repulsors ready to shoot, Thor had Mjolnir, and Sam being Sam had grabbed a baseball bat. Loki quickly held up his hand towards the team, letting them know to enter with caution as the young women who stood before them was clearly frightened and could lash out at any moment.

Winter stood there, not knowing what to do and whether she would get out alive, but then she saw someone push their way through the group. It took her a minute to recognize him. His hair was short, and he had more scruff on his face than he used to. She noticed his metal arm, but it was different. It was no longer the silver with the red star on the side. It looked darker, almost black. Tears began forming in her eyes when she slowly began to recognize the man that was making his way towards her.

"James?" she whispered, tears streaming down her face.

"Hey kiddo," he replied as she ran towards him and threw her arms around his neck.

********

Bucky began doing something he hadn't done in years; he began to cry. He wrapped his arms tightly around Winter and they slowly collapsed on the ground together. Winter began sobbing into Bucky's neck as she tightly hung onto him.

"I thought they killed you," she whispered.

Bucky took her face into his hands and moved so she was looking into his blue eyes. "You could never get rid of me that easily," he said with a smile. She clung to him tighter, burying her head into his chest. Bucky rubbed her back. "What did they do to you?" he whispered. "What happened to my fearless girl?"

Someone cleared their throat and Winter broke from their embrace to look behind Bucky. He stood up and helped her to her feet. She quickly stood behind him, hanging on to his arm for dear life. Winter was trying to take in her surroundings even more now that she knew that she was semi safe if Bucky was here with these people. She didn't trust them, but she trusted him.

"So, should we introduce ourselves or keep making this awkward?" Sam asked. Natasha smacked Sam's arm.

"Right," Bucky began, he turned to face Winter. "Winter, these are my friends and teammates, the Avengers." He began introducing everyone that had entered the room. Loki had been the one that teleported and from what she could tell, perhaps had the same powers as her. His brother, Thor, looked nothing like him. He was much bigger and louder, not to mention the extremely blonde hair. Bucky introduced Steve as his best friend from childhood. Then there was Sam, Tony, and Bruce, the one who had been in the room when she woke up. Then he introduced Natasha and lastly Clint. "Everyone, this is my little sister, Winter," he finished.

Everyone waved to Winter and offered her a warm smile. They could see how broken and frightened she was of all of them and after hearing everything Bucky had told them, it didn't surprise them.

"Winter?" Bruce spoke up. "I know you are scared right now, but I really need to finish setting your arm. If it's ok, I would like to put a cast on it so you can heal properly."

Winter began shaking and clung even harder onto Bucky's arm. "Hey," he whispered and tilted her head up to look at him, "They're not going to hurt you. And I will be right here the whole time, ok?"

She nodded her head, "Ok," she said barely above a whisper.

As Bucky began helping Winter back to the hospital bed, the rest of the team started moving around the lab and cleaning up the mess that had been made. When Winter went to prop herself up, she put her left arm down and gasped loudly. Clint, who had been nearby sweeping up some glass, quickly caught her arm and gently held it.

"I'm pretty sure that's the broken one," he said gently.

Winter looked up at him. She noticed how gentle his hazel eyes looked. And even though his hands felt callused, he held her broken arm as if she was made from porcelain. There was just something different about him. He didn't scare her like the others did. For an unexplained reason, she felt safe near him. He gently held her broken arm in his hand while Bucky held her good arm and rubbed her back. Bruce came over with materials he needed to splint her arm in place and put a cast on it. Clint stepped back while Bruce finished what he needed to do.

"There," Bruce said as he put the last of the finishing touches on the cast. "We'll take a look at it again in about six weeks, make sure everything is healed properly. In the meantime, you'll need to baby that arm a bit. I don't want it to get worse. It was a pretty bad break."

Winter looked at the doctor and gave him a small smile, "Thanks."

Bruce nodded his head in response and went back to helping the others who had begun cleaning up the mess in the lab while Bruce had been helping her. Tony walked up to Bucky and Winter.

"We need to figure out sleeping arrangements for her," Tony said to Bucky. Unbeknownst to Winter, the Avengers Tower was comprised of small apartments that the team shared. Bucky, Steve, and Sam shared a floor. Tony had his own penthouse that he shared with Pepper. Loki and Thor had their own floor, and Clint and Natasha had theirs. Bruce made the lab his own and had his own small bedroom off of his office.

"Right now, the only livable space we have available is with either Thor and Loki or Clint and Natasha," Tony said.

Bucky thought about it. He hated the idea of not being near Winter. As much as he liked Thor and over time Bucky had become friends with Loki, he didn't feel comfortable having her stay on a floor with the two gods. Having another female with her would probably be best.

Bucky looked at Winter, "If it's ok, I think you should stay with Clint and Natasha. That way you have another girl around. Plus, I trust them. They'll keep you safe."

Winter nodded her head, "Ok," she whispered.

Tony got Natasha and Clint's attention and told them the plan for the sleeping arrangements. Natasha, not one to show too much emotion, smirked a bit with the excitement of having another girl around. Clint on the other hand felt his palms go sweaty. He didn't know why, but this girl made him feel anxious.

Bucky helped Winter down from the hospital bed and led her over to where Natasha and Clint were standing. "So, I hear we are going to be roomies," Natasha said.

Winter noticed that Natasha seemed excited, but that Clint seemed hesitant about the idea. Winter so badly wanted to look into his mind to see what was bothering him, but she didn't want to start her first day in the tower on the wrong footing. Instead, Winter gave a small smile, "I hope that's ok?"

Natasha glanced at Clint and discreetly nudged his arm. He quickly looked up, "Yeah, no. It's no problem!"

"Come on," Natasha gestured to the elevator, "I'll show you to our floor."