LIGHTNING ▷ BUCKY BARNES [UNDER EDITING]

5| KIDNAPPED

The following days were quieter than Valerie expected. And she loved every bit of it. She felt at ease and didn't worry about Tony's words for a second as she continued to live her life. But all good things always come to an end. It was late in the afternoon and the sun just settled behind the horizon of New York leaving the city in pure darkness outside from the twinkling red and white lights from the airplanes flying over New York. The air was cold as always despite it being the middle of spring. The coldness sends a shiver down Valerie's spine once she stepped foot outside the Time office, ready to go home for a good nights sleep.

Although she stopped dead in her tracks when her phone vibrated in the deeps of her pocket. As she fished for her phone she stopped at in front of a small hot dog stand, putting up her index finger to indicate the man behind it to give her one hot dog. As the man prepared it, Valerie pressed the green answer button despite not knowing who was calling because the number was a private one. "Hello?" she said as she waited for a reply on the other end.

"V-Valerie..." his voice was weak as if he hasn't slept for ages, hoarse and dry as if he hasn't drunk in hours. Valerie frowned in worry, her eyes wandering from the hot dog being prepared to the people passing her by. "Winn? Are you okay? Are you sick?" she calmingly said as she paid the man behind the stand when she received her hot dog. The woman started making her way down the street again as she patiently waited for her best friend to answer. "Help me." he sighed. The words were almost inaudible but she heard them, along with whispers on the other line that wasn't Winn's. "They say to turn yourself in at central park, at the north of the lake in a week. 1 am and not a second later. If not I..." his voice broke and he started sobbing. He was scared, Winn was so scared. "They'll kill me..."

Valerie looked straight ahead of her as if she was being sucked into the void. This could've been a prank, sure, but it wasn't. After what happened at the Avengers tower, after what Tony said about the enemy, this wasn't a joke. Winn was hurt, he was crying and he was scared. And before Valerie could reply to her best friend, asking him who 'They' were and where he was, the call ended. Her stomach, even though she just ate, felt empty as she broke off into a run towards the one place she really thought she'd never return to: the Avengers tower.

•••

The A on the tower shone in all its glory over the city but the only thing on her mind was how she'd get into the tower. It was late at night and security knew who to let in and who not to. She, like the rest of the civilians, was one of the many people that couldn't enter the tower without any notice. So when she casually walked in and tried not to look into the eyes of the security she failed miserably as she looked into the eyes of one buff security man. The woman started running towards the open elevator as the man followed closely behind her, trying to stop her. As she ran she saw the elevator close its door making her running phase faster. She managed to successfully slide between the thin opening, smirking at the security guard from the inside of the lift before it closed in front of her eyes and taking her to the top floor.

The doors opened up again her brown eyes were met with Tony's ones who smiled knowingly at her. "You run devilishly fast, woman," he said, stepping aside to let Valerie in. She looked at him skeptically before looking down at the tabled in his hands, showing the live security video of the lobby. She quickly walked into the living room where she was met with a blond man known as Captain America who gave her a warm smile despite him not knowing who the woman was.

Tony sat down in the chair opposite of her, a glass table keeping the two a distance away from each other as they watch one another skeptically. "I need your help," she confessed. The corner of Tony's mouth twitched up slightly. He loved how she looked like an independent woman, and she might be, but in the end, she came knocking on his door for help. "Why?" he asked, eying Steve in the corner of his eyes as he was listening in on the whole conversation. "They took my friend. They want me to hand myself over to them in a week." "Who's them?" Valerie sighed, jerking up her shoulders as her eyes landed on the glass table that reflected the lamp above it, not wanting to look at Tony nor Steve. "HYDRA," Steve answered, making the both of them look up and look at the blond. "Who else wants humans with powers?" he explained. Of course, he knew about her, Tony Stark can never really shut his mouth but it did surprise her he only told the Avengers and not the whole wide world.

"What are you asking from us, Jones?"

"Just help me get him back. I'll do anything." she practically begged as her eyes got glossier with every second, "Please." she never thought she'd beg for anything, least of all at the Avengers. But she was desperate. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to save her best friend but she didn't want to turn herself over and let them control her.

"Okay... how about," Tony took a deep breath as he made up his mind, smiling at her when thoughts popped into his mind, "we'll train you so your powers will be to good use in a week. We'll help to get your friend back but that means HYDRA won't be in the shadows any longer. So when the time comes, we need you to fight along with us against them."

Valerie nods her head, taking in the words of Tony Stark and not for one moment did she consider all of the downsides of the plan as she looked Stark dead in the eyes and said: "Deal."

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