In the two years that Magdalena had been with the Avengers, not much had changed. Or, rather, everything had changed, but it had changed for the better, so Magdalena supposed it wasn't a bad thing this time.

Natasha had taken her responsibility as Magdalena's 'parent figure' very literally and the two had gotten closer than Magdalena had let the others get. She still lied that her nightmares had been a one time thing and, thankfully, she hadn't had any nightmares where she was given injuries that Natasha would see around her clothes.

The worst one had made the gunshot wound in her stomach reopen from the time she'd been shot by the Winter Soldier but Magdalena had just stitched it up herself, not even speaking a word of it to Natasha. She trusted her, but not that much. Some things Magdalena would always keep to herself.

There had also been quite little known developments on the investigations into the Red Room and HYDRA. Fury had been working hard to keep up his end of the deal, but they were like grains of sand mixed into a large pile of shit; incredibly hard to find.

But Magdalena had helped him on missions and, in turn, she'd developed relationships with him, Maria Hill and the rest of the Avengers.

Fury treated her like a grandchild, one he found irritating but still loved having around. Maria treated her like a niece, or like a friend, always offering her ear if Magdalena ever wanted to talk. She didn't, but the offer was nice.

Bruce had taken Magdalena to his lab, once, to show her what he was working on. Magdalena had found it quite interesting, but the thing that made her even more interested in the man was how he stared at Natasha like she put the sun, moon and stars in the sky just for him to see. He was in love and Magdalena couldn't wait to start teasing him about it.

Tony and Pepper had become like an aunt and uncle to her, even if Magdalena very often still refused their love. It didn't phase them. Tony would just laugh and tell her she was a little Romanoff in the making and Pepper would tell her to tell him to shut up if he annoyed her. They all knew Magdalena would tell him, anyway, but they were nice enough that Magdalena couldn't help but let the occasional nickname or quick display of affection slide.

When Thor visited from Asgard, he and Magdalena would train in the training rooms to see who could do the most damage to Tony's robots with their respective abilities. Thor always won, with his God strength, but Magdalena really wasn't far behind him. Thor had dubbed her Mighty Maggie and declared her a warrior of Asgardian quality. Magdalena had told him to shut up, but she secretly loved the nickname and spending time with him.

She, Clint and Steve were also quite close. Clint had worked with Natasha to devise a training program for Magdalena and Steve had helped her with her endurance so she could make her powers last longer without feeling so exhausted. They were like a family.

A fucked up one, sure, but a family nonetheless.

Magdalena supposed that being a part of this family was how she got roped into taking down the matriarchs of her other 'family', the family containing the father that had experimented on her in the first place.

"Are we nearly there?" Magdalena asked, feet on the dash of the Lamborghini Natasha was driving so they could get Steve. The three of them had a mission.

"Yes," Natasha nodded. "Feet down, Maggie," she added.

One more thing that had changed: Magdalena now went by Maggie when she was with the Avengers. Natasha and Tony had been the only ones to use the nickname at first, Natasha because she hoped it would provide comfort Magdalena and show that Natasha cared about her, Tony because he liked teasing her and knew the nickname drove her crazy at how personal and intimate her life now was.

She had relented eventually. The rest of the team had followed suit. Magdalena was just glad that nobody except Natasha shorted her name anymore than it already had been. Natasha alternated between calling her Maggie, Mags, kid, honey, you name it.

"Sorry," Maggie said, pulling her feet off the dash. She wiped the dirt from her converse off the dash with the sleeve of Natasha's leather jacket she'd stole.

She'd supposed that, since Natasha was giving her personal nicknames, Maggie could steal her clothes. Natasha had asked why she was wearing her lucky leather jacket the first time it had happened, but Maggie had just smirked and Natasha had let her wear it whenever they both knew Maggie needed a bit of a boost.

"Here we are," Natasha said, pulling up where Steve was talking to a man outside of the Smithsonian. She rolled the window down with a smirk. "Hey, fellas. Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? We're here to pick up a fossil," Natasha teased.

"That's hilarious," Steve rolled his eyes at the two giggling assassins. He walked over and opened the passenger door. "In the back, Maggie," he said.

"No fair," Maggie rolled her eyes but climbed into the backseat, leaning through the middle to stay in the conversation.

"How you doing?" Steve's friend smirked at Natasha.

"Hey," she flirted.

"I'm gonna vomit," Maggie whined.

"Can't run everywhere," Steve smiled at his friend.

"No, you can't," he agreed.

Natasha put her foot down and sped down the road.

"How was training, kid?" Steve asked, pulling his seatbelt on. "Belt," he added.

"Nope," Maggie smirked. "It was good. I levitated a bus for a whole hour with just my mind," Maggie said.

"That's cool!" Steve gasped, turning to look at her. "Are you gonna start on controlling objects while having physical combat now, too?" he said.

"Nat?" Maggie asked eagerly.

"She can," Natasha nodded. "She proved she's capable," she said.

"Yes!" Steve and Maggie grinned like little kids.

"I can't wait to see," Steve said.

"I know. I'm gonna kick your ass, Rogers," she said.

"Oh, it's on, little Romanoff," he grinned.

"Shut up," Maggie rolled her eyes.

That was also one of her many nicknames, but this one was reserved for Steve and Clint because they were the closest to Natasha and Maggie out of everybody else.

Maggie had hated it. Some part of her, the Red Room and HYDRA trained part, still did. But Maggie had been taken in, despite every bad thing she'd done, and she'd been given a family that genuinely loved and cared about her. So, she had come to love it. She was like a little Natasha and, considering Natasha had to legally adopt her to keep Maggie from being sent back to Russia, she kind of was a Romanoff.

"Alright, kids, stop fighting," Natasha laughed.

"Yes, mom," Maggie and Steve teased, sharing a look before Maggie leaned back into her seat to give Natasha some peace.

"The target is a mobile satellite launch platform: The Lemurian Star. They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago," Brock Rumlow said as Maggie, Steve and Natasha got geared up on the Quinjet.

"Any demands?" Steve said.

"A billion and a half," Rumlow said.

"Why so steep?" Steve frowned.

"Because it's SHIELD's," Rumlow said.

"So, it's not off-course. It's trespassing," Steve said.

"I'm sure they have a good reason," Natasha sighed, tightening the backpack around Maggie's chest.

"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor," Steve said.

"Cheers to that," Maggie sighed, pushing Natasha away. "You're fussing me. Stop. I'm gonna be fine," she said.

"I know," Natasha said, turning to Steve. "Relax, it's not that complicated," she said.

"How many pirates?" Steve said.

"Twenty-five, top mercs, led by this guy. Georges Batroc," Rumlow showed them a photo of Batroc on the monitor. "Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had thirty-six kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties," he said.

"Hostages?" Maggie said.

"Uh...mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell," Rumlow said, pulling up Sitwell's photo on the monitor. "They're in the gallery," he said.

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve said. Rumlow shrugged. "Alright, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, little Romanoff, you'll kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get 'em out. Let's move," Steve said.

"STRIKE, you heard the Cap. Gear up," Rumlow said.

They all moved to the ramp to dive off.

"Secure channel seven," Steve said into comms.

"Seven secure," Maggie and Natasha chorused.

"Did you do anything fun Saturday night?" Maggie smirked at Steve. It was a running joke now for Maggie and Natasha to try and set Steve up with someone.

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so... No, not really," Steve said.

"Downer," Maggie rolled her eyes.

"Coming up by the drop zone, Cap," the pilot said.

"You know, if you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she'd probably say yes," Natasha said.

"That's why I don't ask," Steve said.

"Too shy or too scared?" Maggie smirked.

"Too busy!" Steve said, jumping out of the jet.

Maggie laughed and grabbed Natasha's hand, the two of them jumping at Steve's signal that the deck was clear.

"What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you? She seems kind of nice," Natasha said as they landed.

"Secure the engine room, then find me a date," Steve said. Maggie laughed as she climbed over the fence to jump to the lower deck.

"She's multitasking," she chimed, dropping out of his line of sight.

"Yeah, what little Romanoff said," Natasha smirked, dropping down after Maggie. "Okay," she said, grabbing Maggie's hand. "You remember what Fury said?" she said.

"Yeah. Meet you in the computer room when I've killed the engines. Go. I got this," Maggie said.

She didn't know why Fury wanted the information taken from the ship but it wasn't her job to ask questions. It was her job to get on with the shit at hand and then go home and avoid sleeping to avoid bad nightmares.

"I know you got this," Natasha smiled, tucking a loose strand of Maggie's hair behind her ear. "Go," she said.

"I know," Maggie said, hurrying towards the engine room to get it clear.

"Well, this is awkward," Maggie muttered as Steve and Batroc slammed down on the door they'd kicked open. Batroc was unconscious but Steve was staring at Maggie and Natasha as they downloaded information onto the hard drive.

"What are you doing?" Steve said.

"Backing up the hard drive. It's a good habit to get into," Natasha said.

"Rumlow needed your help. What the hell are you two doing here?" Steve said, storming over to the computer. "You're saving SHIELD intel," he said.

"Whatever we can get our hands on," Natasha nodded.

"Our mission is to rescue hostages," Steve said.

"No. That's your mission," Natasha pulled the flash drive out. "And you've done it beautifully," she said. She grabbed Maggie's arm to leave but Steve pulled Natasha back.

"You just jeopardized this whole operation," Steve said loudly.

"I think that's overstating things," Natasha said.

Maggie heard a click and she turned, watching with wide eyes as Batroc threw a grenade at them and raced out of the room. Steve blocked the bomb with his shield, grabbing Natasha and Maggie. He jumped through a window and the three of them slammed against the floor as the room exploded.

"Okay," Natasha panted. "That one's on me," she said.

"You're damn right," Steve muttered.

"Someone's angry," Maggie rolled her eyes, getting to her feet. "C'mon, pussies. Let's go," she said, yanking them both up with her.

"What have I told you about that word?" Natasha said.

"Oh, this is so not the time to play mom, Nat," Maggie laughed, surveying the burning room. "Ship will go down soon. Let's go," she said.

Maggie and Natasha burst into the viewing room of the OR that Nick Fury was being operated in.

"Is he gonna make it?" Natasha said desperately.

"I don't know," Steve said, a weird look on his face.

"Tell me about the shooter," Natasha said.

"He's fast and strong. Had a metal arm," Steve said.

Maggie felt her blood run cold. Metal arm, fast and strong. The Winter Soldier.

"Ballistics?" Natasha said.

"Three slugs, no rifling, completely untraceable," Maria Hill stepped into the room.

Maggie's stomach dropped.

"Soviet made," Natasha assumed.

"Yeah," Maria said.

Maggie's feet stepped backwards like they were on autopilot. She turned and left the viewing room, picking up her pace as she tried to find a bathroom she could break down in.

She could feel her powers burning in her fists, a soft white glow emitting from her palms. She shoved them into her jacket pockets and kicked the bathroom door open.

She slammed it shut, it automatically locking with her powers. She slid down to the floor against the door and buried her face in her knees.

Maggie's hand slid under her shirt and over to her stomach, fingers scratching against the gunshot wound that had only just started healing again from her nightmare two months ago.

"You're okay," Maggie whispered to herself as she tried to catch her breath. "You're okay. He isn't here. He isn't here. You're okay, Magdalena. You're fine," Maggie whispered.

"There you are," Natasha greeted Maggie as she left the bathroom a few minutes later.

"He died, didn't he?" Maggie muttered.

Natasha just nodded. They walked down the hallway in silence, Maggie stopping when a glint of silver caught her eye in the vending machine.

"Hey, Nat?" she said.

"Yeah, Mags?" Natasha said.

"Can I have a few bucks?" she said.

"What for?" Natasha said.

"Hubba Bubba," Maggie pointed at the chewing gum in front of the flash drive. Natasha looked up and smiled softly at Maggie.

"Whatever you want, kid," she said, handing her a few bucks to get the gum and the flash drive out of the vending machine.

Maggie sighed as Steve shoved Natasha into the room Maggie was already hiding out in. He backed Natasha against the wall with a glare.

"Where is it?" Steve demanded.

"Safe," Natasha said. It was on Maggie, because they both knew Steve would never fight Maggie like he would fight Natasha if he had to.

"Do better!" Steve cried.

"Where did you get it?" Natasha demanded.

"Why would I tell you?" Steve said.

"Fury gave it to you. Why?" Natasha said.

"What's on it?" Steve asked.

"I don't know," Natasha shrugged.

"Stop lying!" Steve said.

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers," Natasha said. Maggie smirked slightly.

"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?" Steve said. Natasha faltered for a second before coming clean.

"Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in, so do you," Natasha said.

"I'm not gonna ask you again," Steve said, shoving her against the wall again.

"I know who killed Fury," Natasha said quietly. The room fell silent for a few seconds. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists, the ones who do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last fifty years," Natasha said.

Maggie stiffened as she heard the name. The Winter Soldier had shot her years ago on a mission her father had sent her on. She had only been eleven.

"So, he's a ghost story," Steve said.

"Five years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran, somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff, I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me," Natasha said. She pulled up her shirt to reveal a scar on the side of her stomach. "Soviet slug, no rifling. Bye-bye bikinis," Natasha said.

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them, now," Steve scoffed.

Maggie's hand ghosted over her own scar, in the exact same place as Natasha's, and handed her the flash drive out of her pocket.

"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried. Like you said, he's a ghost story," Natasha said. Steve took the flash drive from her.

"Well, let's find out what the ghost wants," he said.

Maggie followed them out of the room slowly, dread still filling her stomach.

This was getting dangerous. This could reveal the truth about how Maggie got her powers to Natasha, her connection to HYDRA, and, considering Maggie had been lying to her for two years after Natasha had taken her in, she knew this was a very messy road to go down.

Still, if it could give Maggie some answers, she was going to take it. She had to know what the hell Bucky Barnes wanted from Nick Fury. Or, rather, who had sent him to kill Nick Fury.

"First rule of going on the run is; don't run, walk," Natasha said quietly as she, Steve and Maggie walked through the mall.

Natasha was wearing a hoodie and jeans to change her appearance, while Steve was wearing jeans, an oversized coat and a cap to change his. Maggie was wearing an oversized, pale blue t-shirt and black gym leggings, with a pair of blue converse. She had a black hoodie over it, the hood pulled up to hide her blonde hair.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off," Steve muttered.

"Here," Maggie motioned to the Apple Store beside them.

They hurried in, Natasha pulling the flash drive out while they got ready to try and find out what was going on.

"The drive has a Level Six homing program, so, as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are," Natasha said quietly.

"How much time do we have?" Steve said.

"Uh, about nine minutes from-" Natasha plugged the drive in, "Now," she said.

The two others waited while Natasha started typing rapidly.

"Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands," Natasha said.

"Can you override it?" Steve said.

"The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly," Natasha smiled confidently. "I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from," Natasha said.

A man with long hair in the employee uniform walked over.

"Can I help you guys with anything?" he smiled. Natasha quickly turned, wrapping her arms around Maggie and Steve.

"Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some holiday destinations for our daughter," Natasha said.

"Right. We're getting married and we have a child," Steve smiled awkwardly. Maggie forced a smile on her face as he wrapped an arm around Maggie too.

"Congratulations. Where do you guys thinking about going?" the apple employee smiled. Steve looked cluelessly at Maggie. The employee's eyes fell to the laptop, which was showing New Jersey on the screen.

"New Jersey," Maggie smiled sweetly up at him, swapping her Russian accent for her American one.

"Oh," the employee nodded. He studied Steve for a few seconds. "I have the exact same glasses," he said.

"Wow, you two are practically twins," Natasha said sarcastically, typing on the computer again.

"Yeah, I wish. Specimen. Uh...if you guys need anything, I've been Aaron," the employee smiled and walked away.

"Thank you," Maggie called after him.

"You said nine minutes, come on," Steve muttered to Natasha.

"Shh, relax. Got it," Natasha said. The computer beeped, Wheaton, NJ. "You know it?" Natasha asked Steve.

"I used to. Let's go," Steve nodded. He grabbed the flash drive and the three of them hurried from the store, blending in with the crowd. "Standard tag-team. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you two hit the south escalator to the metro," Steve muttered, noticing two agents walking towards them.

"Shut up and hug Maggie, laugh at something I said," Natasha muttered.

"What?" Maggie and Steve said.

"Do it!" Natasha hissed. Steve wrapped an arm around Maggie, the three of them laughing fakely as they passed the agents without so much as a glance.

"Get off," Maggie muttered when they were free, pushing Steve's arm off of her.

"Escalator," Natasha said.

They hurried onto the escalator, Maggie searching the mall with her eyes while Natasha and Steve did the same.

"Kiss me," Natasha looked at Steve.

"What?" Maggie and Steve chorused.

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable," Natasha said quickly.

"Yes, they do," Steve said.

Natasha grabbed Steve's head and pulled him into a kiss. Maggie groaned and covered her eyes with her hands.

"You're basically like, my mom and dad. Stop it. It's weird," Maggie muttered.

Natasha pulled away from Steve and grabbed Maggie's hand, intertwining their fingers before Maggie could protest. She let it happen. She was feeling dizzy with how paranoid she was getting and Natasha had always been able to calm her down.

"You still uncomfortable?" Natasha muttered to Steve as they hurried down the steps.

"It's not exactly the word I would use," Steve said sarcastically.

"I hate you both," Maggie said seriously.

"Love you, too," they chorused. Maggie groaned.

"Ugh, since when did I sign up to have a mom and dad?" she whined quietly.

"When you joined the family, kid," Natasha laughed, squeezing her hand.

"I don't want it," Maggie said flatly.

"You love it," Natasha smirked.

Maggie rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else. It was easier to let Natasha win right now.