Chapter One

"Please! Just give me a few more days, I can pay the rent then!" Tracey begged.

She looked at her landlord, her eyes pleading for her to stay in her apartment. It had already been a long day and she just wanted to sleep. But fat luck that was. The moment she unlocked the door she is stopped by Mr. Davidson with the news that he wants the rent. Early to be exact. She wasn't supposed to pay until next Friday, but of course here he was with a glint of amusement in his eyes. Tracey knew the fifty something year old man probably got a kick out of evicting people, however, he preferred to get money over that any day. His greed was something that didn't shock her after two months of living in the apartment complex. It's not like he cared anyways. He had his own place to live so why should worrying about others well-being matter to him.

"Sorry no can do. If you don't have the money you don't have an apartment," he said with a shrug.

"I have the money just give me a few more days!" she pleaded.

"Rent was due today. Be sure to have your things out by tonight," he said taking his leave.

"Asshole," Tracey muttered once the man was out of earshot.

She turned around to her door and stared up at the yellow eviction notice taped to it. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to prevent her from tearing the paper down she unlocked her door. Once inside she was met with the sound of nails scraping the wooden floor. Coming to a skidding stop was a golden retriever pup, whose tail was wagging madly as it stared up at her, its tongue lolling out of its mouth.

"Hey, Dexter," she cooed, kneeling down to pet the puppy's head. "Are you hungry?" she asked. The puppy started spinning around and jumping up at her legs. She laughed as she walked into the kitchen and gathered up the dog food and food bowl. Dexter barked happily at her as he heard the food being poured into the metal bowl. Tracey laughed as she placed the bowl down and the golden retriever nearly knocked it over as he basically nose-dived into the food. She sighed. "I don't know what we're going to do buddy."

She looked around at her apartment. All the furniture, knick knacks, and other bits and pieces around each room were needed to be boxed up and moved to a storage unit by tonight. How that was going to be managed in such short time was beyond her. She didn't even have the money to rent out a storage unit and a moving truck. She didn't even have boxes to pack everything in anymore. Her twin brother had borrowed them three months ago when he moved to DC. She groaned as she ran her hands through her hair. She slumped down in her arm chair and rested her head on the back.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone as the ringing echoed through the living room. Pulling it out she saw a picture of a red haired woman and a dark haired man, who was wearing sunglasses and flashing a peace sign with a cocky grin while a laugh was gracing her face.

"Hey, Pepper," Tracey greeted, putting the phone to her ear. "How are you?"

"Hi, Tracey, I'm doing well," came the reply from the other end.

"Is Tony behaving?" Tracey asked with a laugh.

"As much as he usually does," Pepper said, laughing along. "I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch with me. We haven't talked in a while and I wanted to see how things are going with you."

Tracey smiled, trying to hold back a sigh thinking about her current predicament. "Lunch sounds really good right now. I need a breather."

"Great! How does Shwarma sound?"

"Isn't that the place Tony keeps on recommending to me?" Tracey questioned.

"The very one," Pepper laughed. "Apparently it's really good."

"Alright, I'll see you in about ten minutes or so."

"Sounds good. See you there."

Tracey ended the call and ran a hand down her face. Lunch sounded good right now, especially getting a chance to talk to Pepper. The ginger woman always had great advice and was someone Tracey found to help ease stress whenever life got too hectic for her. Getting up and grabbing her purse off the kitchen counter, she made her way out the door.

ooOOoo

"And he just kicked you out of your apartment?" Pepper asked. The two were currently waiting inside of Shwarma waiting on their meals. Tracey had just finished telling the older woman about her situation that happened before she arrived. "Where are you going to stay now?"

Tracey sighed and leaned her cheek against her hand. "That's the next thing I have to worry about. Right now I have to figure out how to get all of my stuff out by tonight. He didn't even give me a set time just said to have them out by tonight."

Pepper chewed on the inside of her cheek trying to decide what to say next. She looked down at her lap and busied herself with her phone as a text chimed in. Tracey raised an eyebrow at Pepper's antics. Her friend never looked at her phone during lunch dates with her unless it was Tony and it was something important.

Tracey leaned back in her chair, taking a drink from her tea, and chuckled. "What does Tony want? Did he blow up his lab?" She grinned at the red head.

Pepper chuckled. "No, he hasn't done that. Although I'm waiting for it to happen any day now. He actually wanted me to talk to you."

Tracey sat up straighter in her seat. "Me? What does he want me for? I don't think I could be any use to Stark Industries."

"He wants you to retrieve some files. Files from SHIELD," she began.

"Couldn't he do that himself? I've never worked with SHIELD before, he has."

"He wants you to retrieve the files from SHIELD that were released over the internet after what happened in DC. Now that SHIELD is basically non-existent he wants to read up on all of the things they've been hiding."

"Couldn't he have asked me himself?" the blonde questioned.

"He would have, but he is currently reading all of the files now that he can read them without breaking into SHIELD itself," Pepper explained. "And I know you're going to ask 'why does he need me to recover the files if he's already reading them?'. The reason being is that now that the files are out in the open and anyone can read them he doesn't want everyone to panic if something serious is found in the files. He also said he wants to repay Natasha for helping him during the Whiplash and Justin Hammer incidents by retrieving the files that are about her."

"But why me? Couldn't he get someone from SHIELD to retrieve those files themselves? I get that they are no more, but wouldn't it make sense to have someone from SHIELD get back the information that they released?"

"From what he knows of what happened in DC some SHIELD agents were double agents and worked for another organization known as HYDRA. That being said he doesn't want someone who used to work for SHIELD to retrieve the files in case they are someone from HYDRA. He believes that HYDRA is still out there and if they get their hands on information from SHIELD who knows what could happen. That's why he wants you. He trusts you, especially since he knows you're a family friend of mine. He also believes you'd do a better job at retrieving the files than anyone else, considering the fact you were able to hack into his data base the first time you came to visit," Pepper concluded with a smirk.

Tracey laughed at the memory. The first time she had moved to New York Pepper had helped her move in, along with her boss at the time - and now current boyfriend - Tony Stark. She had just graduated college and was visiting the two and had gotten curious as to what Tony was working on and managed to break down his firewall and read his files on his Iron Man suits. It was amusing to see Tony's face shift from stunned to impressed.

"You're the best hacker he knows and he could really use the help, Tracey," Pepper said.

Tracey pursed her lips as she thought the proposal over. She already had a part time job as a waitress at a local café and sold paintings at Central Park on the side. Would she have time to work on retrieving the files from SHIELD as well? Not to mention the fact that she just got evicted from her apartment and needed to move all of her things out of it and then find a new place to live. She furrowed her brows before looking at Pepper.

"I don't know. I already have to move out of my apartment and look for a new one. I also have that waitressing job and I don't know if I have the time to help him. I can't just quit, I need the money," Tracey explained.

Pepper smiled. "Don't worry, he's willing to pay you. We can hire people to move all of your stuff out of your apartment and if Tony has a problem with that then he can come talk to me about it. As for your apartment, what about your boyfriend? Dave?"

Tracey groaned. "I asked him if he wanted to move in together, but he's been dodging the question for a month now. He could at least say no, I'd be cool with that."

"Haven't you two been having problems lately?" Pepper asked, taking a sip of her water.

"Yeah…" Tracey trailed off. "He's complaining that I spend too much time working at the café than I do with him. He knows I need the money. Plus he's been a bit um pushy."

"Oh," Pepper said, her mouth forming an 'o' shape. "Well like I said before when you started dating him, I wasn't so sure about him. He's just so different from someone I thought you'd actually date."

"I know," Tracey sighed. "He was so nice when we first started dating now he's just a bit distant and his temper has caused him to get into fights which annoys me. I don't know. Anyways back to Tony. As I said my life's a bit hectic and I need a place to stay."

'Sweetie, you can stay at the tower until you find a place to stay," she offered, smiling.

Tracey laughed. "Isn't it already a bit full with the others coming and going now and then? Heck doesn't Barry stop by sometimes whenever he has to relay a message to Tony from SHIELD? Well used to."

"Yes which is why you can stay at the tower," Pepper repeated. "Look I know it's a bit chaotic right now, but we are willing to help you out and Tony is offering to pay you, better than what you get at the café. Please? He's been getting no sleep these past few days since the DC incident reading up on those files. I worry about him and with your help I'm sure he can get back to a normal sleeping schedule."

Tracey chuckled. She leaned back in her seat once more, contemplating over the offer. Pepper looked at her expectantly as the blonde thought. Tracey sighed as she smiled up at Pepper.

"Alright, I'll help him out."

"Thank you, Tracey," Pepper smiled.

"No problem, Pepper."

ooOOoo

Tracey looked around the airport trying to see past the sea of bustling heads, who had just come off the plane she had arrived on. She had just taken a plane to DC to meet up with Barry and Steve, after having met up with Tony and discussing a few things about the work she would be doing with him. Tony had asked her to visit her twin and Steve in the hopes of getting any further information on the recent events that occurred at DC. She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. There was no way she was going to find her brother in this mess. She stood on her toes trying once more to see over the crowd. Her face lit up when she saw a familiar face with blonde hair standing off to the side. Grabbing her bag she pushed her way through the reunited families and friends and made her way over to Steve.

"Thank goodness!" she exclaimed once she reached the super soldier. "I didn't know if I was going to make it through all those people. How are you, Steve? Wait, where is Barry?" she asked, noticing her twin wasn't with him.

Steve smiled. "It's good to see you too, Tracey. It's just me, Barry couldn't make it, said he had some other business to attend to."

Tracey rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, he's cleaning his apartment, isn't he?"

Steve laughed and shook his head. "I tried to cover for him. He should know not to hide things from you."

"Well duh, I've lived with him practically my whole life, I know what he's like," Tracey laughed as she followed Steve out of the airport. "So, are we taking that motorcycle of yours?"

"Nope," Steve answered, stuffing his hands in his hoodie. "I have a friend who offered to drive us."

"Oh really? Who is it?" she asked once they were outside. She shielded her eyes from the glaring sunlight wishing she had brought her sunglasses.

"That's him," he said, pointing to a black Infiniti. "Sam, this is Tracey Madison," Steve said to the dark skinned man in the driver's seat once they reached the car.

"So you're Barry's twin sister? It's nice to meet you, I'm Sam Wilson," Sam said, sticking his hand out the window to Tracey.

Tracey smiled and took his hand. "It's nice to meet you too Sam."

"So where to?" Sam asked, pulling out onto the street.

"Barry's apartment, I need to talk to him about something," she answered just as her phone chimed. Looking down she saw a text from Barry. "Well scratch the part about me talking with him. He just said he had to go do something."

"So that's a no to his apartment?" Sam asked.

"No, I have a spare key. I just need to get something of mine from him really," she said with a shrug.

"Alright then."

ooOOoo

After having gotten her few books and movies from her brother's apartment, Tracey had spent the day roaming around DC enjoying the sites and taking a break at a small restaurant she remembered Barry mentioning to her, saying he'd take her there the next time she visited. As the day went on clouds started to fill the sky, slowly turning into dark gray ones. By the time she was done sightseeing she had called a taxi to take her to the airport so that she could grab a ticket for her flight back home that night. Unfortunately, when the taxi had gotten to her location at the restaurant it had started to down pour which resulted in her having to sit in line to get her ticket for a few hours only to be told that the flight was canceled due to severe weather. And after grabbing another taxi she called Steve asking for a place to stay to wait out the rain for a little bit. Now here she was sitting in the super soldier's apartment and spending a good few hours chatting.

"I can't believe all that happened here," Tracey said incredulously.

She was currently sitting in his living room, grateful that he had insisted that she was welcome to spend the night. Looking out the window she could see the pouring rain through the street lamps and hear the rain tapping loudly against the glass. Steve and her had started talking about what had being going on with their lives since they last saw each other (which was around the time after the Chitari attack in New York). He had just finished telling her about the events that took place in DC. She rubbed her eyes out of exhaustion as Steve walked into the room with two mugs filled with steaming tea in each hand. She thanked him when he handed hers before he took a seat on the couch across from her.

"Well that explains why Barry had called saying he was in the hospital a few weeks ago," she said, recalling her twin brother calling her up the day the incident with HYDRA went down with his usual cheery attitude. She shook her head at the thought of how her twin was a SHIELD agent in the first place. She blew on the tea before taking a sip. "I can't believe that your best friend, Bucky, is actually alive."

"Yeah. I was shocked myself," Steve said, running a hand through his hair as he sighed.

Tracey frowned, her face growing with sympathy as she could see the dark circles under the super soldier's eyes. His hair was disheveled compared to its usual neat style. She stared at him as he stared out the window lost in thought. Following his gaze she, again, watched the rain beat down on the street outside. She looked down at her tea before turning back to him.

"How long have you been searching?"

"Nearly a month now," he sighed. "I've looked around DC in case he, for some reason, stayed here. He's probably in some other state by now."

"Do you have any idea where he might go? I mean it's like you said, he's wandering around with no memory of who he is. Don't you think he's probably trying to find some place that seems familiar to him in some way in hopes of regaining some fragment of a memory or two?"

"Yeah, I've thought of that as well," he said, taking a sip of his tea. "My thoughts are he's probably in New York. Most likely Brooklyn, I hope."

"Right, didn't you two grow up there?" Tracey questioned.

Steve nodded. "That's why I'm planning on going back to New York City with you when-"

He was cut off by loud pounding coming from his front door. The two shared a looked before they turned their heads to the door, sitting in silence, before they heard the pounding start up again. It was midnight, which made them wonder who could possibly be making a visit at this hour. Tracey blinked as she stared at the door that was visibly shaking from the blows to it.

Turning to Steve she asked, "Were you expecting someone?"

"No," he said slowly, placing his mug down as he gradually made his way to the door.

Tracey stood to follow, but was stopped by Steve holding his hand up behind him, not bothering to look back at the blonde female. Taking the hint, Tracey backed up a bit as she watched Steve grab his shield, which was off to the side resting against a wall, and approach the door as the banging continued. Slowly, Steve reached for the door knob and with one quick motion opened the door and held his shield out in front of him ready for any possible attack.

Trying to look around his large build that was taking up the entire door way to see who was there, Tracey saw Steve lower his shield to his side as he stood stock still. Creeping her way over to him, she peeked over his shoulder and gasped at what she saw.

Standing in the hall outside the door, dripping water off his person thanks to the rain, was a man, who looked like he had seen better days. The man was wearing a pair of faded jeans with the ends of the legs frayed, ripped, and covered with mud; his feet were covered in an old pair of sneakers. On his torso he wore a plain black T-shirt with a jacket over it. Covering his dripping hair was a baseball cap. His face was covered in the makings of a scruffy beard; dark circles laid under his eyes that matched Steve's perfectly. The man looked a little gaunt, most likely from lack of sleep and food was Tracey's guess. He was looking down at the ground between him and Steve, but would also look up at the super soldier with sad, nearly vacant eyes as if he was lost.

Tracey didn't even need to ask as to who the man was and hearing Steve finally speak, her assumptions were correct.

"Bucky?"