Being one of Clint's close friends, you had the benefit of being friends with the Avengers too, spending so much time with the group that you had all but become one of them without having to do all of the work that came with the role. It also meant that you had become close enough to fall prey to the temper tantrums, sarcastic wit, and usually playful teasing that came with it all too; one of your favorite offenders being Tony, though you would never tell him that.

"Hide and seek? Really?" Tony scoffed, standing at the center of the Avengers compound living room with an accusatory finger pointed in your direction. "She cheats!"

"Do not!" you argued, rising from the couch in a huff to face him, throwing your hands up in frustration. "Never have I ever used my invisibility to cheat! Maybe you just suck at this game, you sore loser!"

"Guys, we can play something else," Clint offered.

"No, we're playing this!" Tony countered. "I am not a sore loser, you'll see!" He stopped with his mouth open to say more, but stopped to realize what he had just said. "I mean...you'll see when I win!"

"Quality save, Stark. Fine," you relented, "line up. FRIDAY, count it off from twenty."

"Nineteen, eighteen, seventeen..."

You each ran in all directions, the six of you who had decided to play laughing as you separated. You caught Tony glancing back over his shoulder to see which way that you had chosen to go, only to be met with your tongue poking out at him petulantly as you continued on. Making your way towards the far reaches of the back of the building, you decided to make things harder by going to one of the smaller structures across the grounds rather than staying inside this one; there was a small building not too far away that looked perfect.

Steve quickly found Tony, then Clint, Wanda and finally Natasha, leaving only you as the final player hidden. When Steve couldn't find you on his own, they searched as a group, only to still come up empty.

"Wanda, find her," Steve commanded sternly, now beginning to feel nervous. "Game's over."

She closed her eyes and focused on the energies around her, weeding through them to find your unique signature in her mind. She read the energy in each building, one at a time, until she reached the last one on the compound and came up empty. The energy from her mind flowed through the gardens and woods and still found you to be nowhere nearby. "I cannot find her anywhere, Steve. She's not here."

"She's not just playing invisible?" Tony asked cautiously.

"I would still be able to sense her, as that's only a shift in her outward appearance," Wanda replied softly. "(Y/N)'s gone."

~~~

Bucky was sitting quietly in his room, reading a painfully dry and insanely boring Avengers manual filled with drabble about rules, behavior, care of your gear, accountability, and some garbage about effective communication in team building that he skimmed past faster than anything else. If he wanted to talk to someone, he'd just call Steve.

He had only been a resident of the compound for less than a week, and at Steve's insistence, he would be held out of missions for at least the first month as he acclimated to his new life and role in the larger world around him. They needed to rebuild his image from Hydra assassin to lifesaving Avenger, and it would take time; time that clearly included boring him to death.

His eyes burned from all of the reading, worsening when he tried to rub the pain away; closing the book and tossing it aside, he stood from the small desk and stretched his arms over his head, feeling the tension pulling and hearing a few cracks in his joints. "You're so damn old, man," he mumbled to himself, shaking off the fatigue that was only spreading rather than abating. The bed looked almost too comfortable, but with nothing else to do other than the reading that was putting him to sleep anyway, he decided to nap.

Bucky's head was almost touching the pillow when the building flooded with red flashes of light and the halls echoed with the emergency alarm to call the team to action. He saw his metal hand twitch from the corner of his eye, eager for anything exciting. "Stop it," he muttered, wringing his hands together and continuing his plan to lie down. He just about made it too, when his door flung open to show a frantic Captain barging in.

"Buck, I'm gonna need you on this," he commanded frantically, "(Y/N)'s missing."

He bolted upright and swung his legs over the bed, but if he were being honest with himself, he wasn't sure if he was excited just to have a mission, or if he was genuinely worried about someone that he barely knew yet. "Are you sure she didn't just do that...weird...invisible...thing?

"I'm sure. We were playing hide and seek-"

"Hold up," Bucky raised his hand, halting Steve, "are you kidding me right now?"

"We got bored-"

"Oh, hell no! Don't even start with being bored! You have no goddamn idea what boredom is, my friend, until you've gone blind reading the Avengers manual from hell."

Bucky could have sworn he saw the start of a pout from Steve as he replied, "I wrote that manual."

"Of course you did, Steve," he sighed with a knowing shake of his head, "of course you did."

~~~

When you woke up hours later, you felt the change in environment as a hostile one before you had even opened your eyes; the room itself was cold and filled with voices that you didn't recognize. A sharp pain stabbed at your arm, followed by a searing burning that grew up and into your shoulder, chest, and into the rest of your body, forcing your eyes finally open.

"Shhh," a deep voice hissed next to your ear, thrusting his hand out to cover your mouth, "don't scream. It will only make this worse, do you understand?"

You nodded in compliance, though it took every ounce of strength as the pain began to build. He cautiously removed his hand, watching you intently for even the smallest sign that you might try to holler out. His hand smelled of antiseptic and bleach, and the lights behind him were glaring and harsh, stinging your eyes as you looked past him. Gathering your senses, you tried to render yourself invisible, but it wouldn't work; shifting every bit of concentration that you had, you tried to shift yourself and your energies to mask your form, but no matter how hard you focused, you remained fully visible to him.

"Where am I?" you whispered, almost without enough sound to carry your words. "What did you do?"

"They won't let you use it. Your power. They've taken a great deal of blood from you, so you probably feel weak, right?"

"You could say that," you agreed, but weak wasn't the right word. You felt as if you were barely alive, and for all you knew, that could be the truth. "What do you want?"

"I don't want anything from you. But they've drained you to study about your power and to find a way to replicate it. If they could harness it and make themselves able to walk the earth unnoticed, then the global reign of Hydra could begin. The injection that I've given you is to keep you alive until you are no longer needed."

"How thoughtful."

"It is," the man scoffed, "because I have the other injection right here that could kill you. Would you prefer that I use it now?"

"I would say yes in a heartbeat, but I really want to be here to watch when the Avengers find you. I can't wait to watch Clint put an arrow through that pretty head of yours."

"Listen, I don't agree with what they're doing, okay?" he whispered harshly now, leaning in closer. "But I don't have a choice here. They watch every move, listen to every word, and this was the only way for me to get close enough to you and what I need."

"So I'm lucky enough to get the humanitarian?"

He turned and grabbed the other syringe from the cart next to him and ripped the cap away, tapping the barrel with his finger and pushing a few drops from the tip of the needle for you to see. "Hardly. I don't want you to die for them, (Y/N), but I also can't live for them anymore either." He closed his eyes and slammed the needle into his thigh and depressed the plunger to it's stop, almost immediately beginning to convulse and dropping to the ground in a seizure that shook him violently for a moment. His stillness came quickly, his eyes frozen open and looking in your direction; you couldn't look away from the final gaze that was so peaceful and full of relief that you found yourself just a bit jealous of it.

~~~

"So when was the last time you were hooked into the murderer network?" Tony asked Bucky, seeming to be completely serious. "Any little birdies telling you who might want to abduct a see-through?"

"Are you always this much of a dick?" Bucky retorted, taking a few steps closer to his new teammate, slowly crossing the hangar bay with a growing annoyance in his expression.

"Buck, don't take it personally. He gets this way when he's worried, but he won't admit it," Steve answered, but was staring intently at Tony. "If we ever try to help he shuts down, so you have that to look forward to."

"How do we speed up that process?"

"Alright, Robocop, I'm sorry, okay?" Tony caved. "He's right, I'm worried, and I don't like this feeling of knowing absolutely zero. We have no leads, no prospects, nothing."

"Well, maybe not nothing," Bucky offered, still watching Tony skeptically, "I know a guy."

~~~

Steve and Tony stood silently and in complete shock as they watched Bucky work; Steve had seen him as the Winter Soldier enough for his lifetime as far as he was concerned, but Bucky insisted that this was the only way to get the information needed on how to find you. He had to step back into the role to get close enough to one of his old Hydra companions, and to have enough rage to break him.

"Her name is (Y/N)," Bucky snarled, "can turn invisible, hangs with the Avengers here and there, ring any bells for ya?"

"No, it...doesn't..."

The fingers of Bucky's metal hand twitched and tightened around the man's throat, lifting him from the ground and over Bucky's head. "Wanna try that again?"

"Maybe..." he struggled more, "maybe I can think...of something..."

"Do better."

"Okay...okay," he coughed, grabbing and clawing at Bucky's hand to release him as his eyes bulged in the panic of lost oxygen, "she's always been close to you."

"What the hell does that mean? We don't have time for cryptic bullshit." Tony finally stepped forward as Bucky released his grip slowly. "She's close to us how?"

The man grabbed his throat and rubbed away at the screaming red marks left behind that likely left permanent reminders in his skin, sucking in tight breaths until he felt a small relief that he might live after all. "That's the thing about invisibility, Mr. Stark. Just because you can't see it, it doesn't mean that it isn't there. Sometimes we can look and look forever, only to find what we are seeking right in front of us."

"She's still at the compound isn't she?" Steve blurted out. "We haven't looked everywhere. Come on," he turned away, running back towards the jet with Tony close behind.

Bucky waited a few seconds for the two to get just out of sight, turning to his former companion, "thank you for your cooperation." His hands thrust forward, snapping the man's head to the side with a resounding crack, releasing him into a lifeless heap at his feet. "I'm sorry," he whispered, immediately regretting what he had to do, feeling a little bit nauseated at his own actions. He knew that he had to do it so that the man wouldn't tell his own team that they were coming, but it didn't diminish the remorse at playing the soldier role again, and how easy it was for him to take it on.

Maybe it would have been easier to just stay on the run as he had for those years before Steve found him, he thought. Maybe it would have been easier to just stay invisible.

Part 2

As soon as Clint got the call from Steve that they were returning to the compound to widen the search there, he hurried to the mission room to gather his gear, purposefully collecting only his best arrows for this; he didn't want to spare your abductor any pain, but he wanted to be sure that they lived long enough to learn their lesson too. He slung his quiver over his shoulder to hang securely against his back, snapping his bow closed with one swift snap of his wrist before making his way to meet the rest of the team in the hangar bay. The jet had just come in for landing as he opened the door, hurrying to the center of the room to join Natasha and Wanda.

"What's the plan?"

"Steve said they had a tip that she's still on the grounds somewhere," Natasha shrugged. "That there's maybe somewhere that we haven't already looked. That's all he said."

"But we've been from end to end," he sighed, bouncing anxiously on his heels as he watched the jet door open. "I don't know where he thinks she could be. All I know is that when we find her, I get first crack at the asshole who took her."

"We all know that, Clint."

"Is it that obvious?"

Natasha smiled, gently and slowly pulling one of his arrows from his hand, sliding it into the quiver with a quiet chuckle, "your hand has been twitching over this thing since you got here. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're itching to shoot it, Barton."

"Wanna hear my plan?" he asked excitedly with a devious grin.

"No, not at all," she backed away, hands raised, "I'm sure it's appropriately gruesome and effective, so thanks anyway."

"Damn right it is."

"I'm sorry that you had to do that, Buck," Steve offered quietly, walking down the jet ramp next to his friend, "I'm sure it was tough on you."

"I'm fine."

"I'm sure of that too, but I'm still sorry about it."

"Okay," Bucky nodded, taking long strides to brush him off and towards Clint to step in front of him. "Hey, you guys ready? Stark was able to find some old plans and maps of the extended grounds in his dad's files, and it looks like there are a few random sheds on the far side of the lake that we didn't know about. Sounds to me like a pretty easy place to hide someone."

"Then let's move," Clint interjected, taking a step but halting at Steve's hand on his arm.

"Slow down. If we go in hot then we could lose the element of surprise. We'll split up," Steve commanded. "Barton, you and Natasha take this zone," he paused, pointing at a grainy and blurred old map on his tablet, "Stark and Wanda over here, and Buck and I will take this one. If she's here, we'll find her."

~~~

"How do you feel?"

"Drained," you sighed weakly, "but I suppose that's to be expected when you've left only enough blood to keep my heart beating."

"We can't have you strong enough to use that miraculous ability of yours," the agent replied, "we wouldn't want you to slip away when we still have so much to do."

"Yeah, that would be a shame."

"So tell me, how did you come about it? Are you one of those mutants? Was it given-"

"Hey," you interrupted harshly, "I happen to have a few friends who are one of those mutants, so take care how you speak."

"Apologies," he bowed with a slight tip of his head, "but my experience has never proved that mutants make for worthy friends-"

"I'm sure they say the same about you."

"Hmm, well, perhaps. However, we aren't here to talk about me. Let's get back to you, shall we?"

"Back away from her now," Bucky warned, standing in a dark corner of the small building to hide his form, "and don't even think about trying to run."

"The soldier," the man growled, turning towards him, "I had thought you disappeared, but to find out that you've sided with the Avengers is truly a heartbreaking disappointment. So much work wasted."

"Your feet haven't moved. Back away."

"Make me."

You closed your eyes in both secondary embarrassment for the idiot who dared to challenge Bucky, but also so that you wouldn't be such a close witness to the carnage that was sure to come. Heavy footsteps charged past you, and you felt Bucky's hand touch your leg on the way past, as if he were trying to reassure you that he was really there; only a few steps were taken when they stopped, and the familiar whoosh of an arrow being shot cut through the air, followed by a loud thud.

"Come on man, I was looking forward to this!" Bucky groaned, turning away with his hands up in defeat.

"Not as much as I was," Clint replied under his breath, hurrying to your side. "Hey, (Y/N), you look like hell."

Bucky made his way to your other side, drawing a knife from his boot to begin to cut the ties away from your wrists and ankles with firm snaps. "Rude, Barton. (Y/N), you look...um...can you walk?"

"I don't think so."

"Alright, I've got you," he whispered, leaning in close, "just put your arms around me and hold on, okay? You're safe now. I won't let them anywhere near you."

Clint watched Bucky slide his arms beneath you with a look of shock in his expression and his mouth hanging open slightly, not really certain about what was happening between the two of you. He had only known Barnes for a week or so, and had no real gauge on what kind of a man he was other than that Steve trusted him with his life and had trusted him enough to bring him onto the team. Seeing how you responded to him, however, quickly washed away any doubts that he had and made him just be thankful that Bucky was being so protective.

"Thank you," you whispered, leaning your head against his chest, "thank you for finding me."

"Uh, yeah, I helped..." Clint scoffed, falling in to walk behind the two of you. "A little credit perhaps? At least for that awesome shot?"

Bucky stopped and turned around, allowing you to see your friend and give him his own thanks for his part in your rescue, but more so to shut the guy up so he could focus on getting you home. "Yes, thank you, Clint," you smiled, "you're my hero too."

"I haven't felt like a hero in so long," Bucky whispered, and you almost missed it when he turned away as if he had caught himself speaking aloud when he meant to keep the words inside. He glanced back at you for a second with an uncomfortable clearing of his throat, walking again to make his way from the building and to get you back to the main compound grounds.

"Well you are," you reassured, "and I owe you."

"Never. Never will you owe me anything."

It was clear to you now how much Bucky was like Steve, in that they were both stoic and determined to do right, no matter what the personal cost to themselves; you had heard rumblings amongst the team that Bucky was having a hard time acclimating, much as you had when Clint first introduced you, and it gave you an idea of how you might repay him despite his declination.

"Would you mind staying with me for a while when we get back? I feel like I can barely stand up, much less feel safe on my own until I know that no one else is coming for me."

"I won't let that happen. I'm not going anywhere if you don't want me to."

"I think we can help each other you know? I've been here long enough that I can help you figure out how to survive this group of screwballs."

"Could you maybe..." he stopped, glancing back to be sure that Steve was well out of earshot before turning back quietly, "maybe help me figure out that ridiculous manual?"

"Oh my god, the one Steve wrote?" you laughed. "You're on your own, pal, sorry. I'd rather get captured again than lift the cover of that thing."