── I AM HOME ──

── ☆ ──

Bucky didn't realise how much he truly craved Alessia until she walked out of his arms during the party. After the initial entrance having everyone stare at him and Alessia, he managed to relax with her by his side. He watched as she made her way past people waving hello and greeting others kindly. He admired her confidence and the life that she had despite all of the darkness that stormed their sunny days.

Bucky could feel Steve's eyes on him, finally pulling his eyes away from Alessia as she turned a corner, Bucky looked over to him as he sat on the stool next to him. Tony and Nat, who had come over to speak with the former soldier about his new presence in the building and his connection to Alessia had walked off to talk with other party guests, leaving Steve and Bucky alone to talk.

Bucky could see the hesitation in Steve's eyes, "I'm not fragile Steve, I have a grip on myself." He smirked at Bucky's comment, "I've gotten this far, I can get by on my own." Steve scoffed before placing his hand on Bucky's shoulder, "But the thing is Buck, you don't have to." He smiled at the words remembering a time that Bucky said that to him... after Steve's mother's funeral.

Bucky shook his head before lifting his glass to his lips, his eyes finding their way back to the area Alessia had gone. "You really care about her, don't you?" Steve's question startled him. Of course, he did. He had no doubt in his mind anymore, he loved Alessia with all his heart. He go through all of the pain again if it meant that she would be in his life reminding him that happiness is real.

Bucky looked at Steve who held a genuine smile on his face, "She's my girl Stevie, I wouldn't have made it this far without her. She kept me sane, helped me hold onto my memories." He closed his eyes, he knew that if she wasn't here, he wouldn't have come back to face any of this. Without Alessia, he would've gone into hiding, facing his nightmares by himself while living in constant fear of being taken again by Hydra.

"I'm glad you have each other, she's quite amazing," Steve spoke, both of them looking towards the area she had wandered off to. "That she really is, not planning on taking her from me, are you?" Steve chuckled at his comment, "You know there was only one woman for me." He knew who he meant, Peggy was the perfect woman for Steve and Bucky hated that Steve didn't get his life with her.

"Besides, Alessia is like a younger sister to me. She's family." He smiled at Steve, he was glad that he felt that way because she wasn't going anywhere. Steve inhaled deeply, "Is it just me or is she taking too long?" Bucky noticed Steve was nervously tapping his leg like he always did when nervous. They shared a glance before nodding at each other, getting up and making our way over to the bathroom.

The bathroom door was open and she was nowhere to be seen, "I'll go ask around and check the whole floor, maybe she got stuck in a conversation." Steve made his way back towards the party as Bucky looked around, something felt extremely off and he couldn't help the painful clutch that rested in his chest.

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Bucky continued looking when he noticed a piece of cloth on the ground, lifting it up, something fell to the ground. He lifted what seemed like a metal badge, looking at it as his heartbeat quickened. He twisted the badge in his hand, the Hydra symbol staring back at him in a taunting way, he lifted the cloth slightly, noticing the chemical smell.

Red. That's all he could see at this moment, someone had managed to sneak in and take her without anyone knowing. He turned around, Steve stood frozen as Bucky's metal hand clenched around the Hydra badge. "T-They took her," he couldn't process the words that left his mouth as Steve punched the wall beside him.

The whole party when silent as Steve stood angry, turned to Tony who had approached them cautiously, "What's going on?" Bucky began taking deep breaths, he wanted to scream and punch something but he had to stay calm. He'd let that anger out on all of the bastards that took her, he was looking forward to seeing the fear in their eyes as he crushed their throats.

Bucky placed his empty hand on Steve's shoulder before holding out the cloth and badge to Tony, "Some asshole has a death wish, they got in and took Alessia." Tony's eyes widened before pure anger overtook them. He turned around, "Party is fucking over, get the hell out if you don't live here!" Everyone ran to get out not waiting to piss off the man any more than he was.

He turned back to the two soldiers, "Both of you follow me." Steve and Bucky followed behind Tony leaving Nat and Bruce to empty the building of their guests, keeping a watchful eye on the people that left. The Avengers made their way into Tony's main lab where he had a wall of transparent screens showing all of the cameras of the tower, Tony was beyond angry at the news after becoming close with Alessia during this time.

Bucky heard the door behind them and turned to see a large group of people enter, Nat and Bruce led them in. Steve let out a breath, "Everyone, this is Bucky." Bucky nodded curtly before letting his eyes wander until a man approached him, "You're the one my sister cares so deeply about." Bucky looked him up and down as he held a pained expression. Bucky knew all about Aiden through Alessia, seeing him alone was quite a shock.

"Why are we here and what's going on?" Another man spoke up catching Bucky's attention, his face seemed familiar as he side-glanced him. Steve stepped forward, "Alessia has been taken, Sam." The man, Sam, froze the moment it was said, "When do we leave then?" Steve smiled at Sam's response, "As soon as we get more information." Sam nodded before sitting on a chair.

Bucky looked back at Alessia's brother remembering the stories she told him of her older brother, Aiden. He looked like he was about to break down as a woman approached him, leading him over to a couch by the windows. While they waited for Tony to find out what had happened, Steve took the time to introduce Bucky to The Avengers and Alessia's crew, Team Exo who all seemed to be calm about this.

Bucky felt irritated by their apathetic behaviour towards their friend being missing and he couldn't stand it anymore. "Why are you lot so calm about this?" He demanded. Marcus was the first to speak up, "Alessia is a super-solider, well trained and despite all the pain she's been through, she is well-put-together." He sighed, "I know for a fact that she'd be given them hell until she either finds a way out or we save her." He leaned into his seat, "She trained this lot and I taught her what I know. If anyone could survive whatever they throw at her, it's her."

Bucky processed his calm words and understood why Alessia would hang around him, his mature demeanour was enough to relax him slightly. He knew Marcus was right, she was strong but he didn't want her to go through any of this. Marcus reminded Bucky of Colonel Phillips and Dum Dum Dugan with the way he held himself.

Suddenly, a loud voice caught their attention followed by a glass shattering. "Aaron, is this guy familiar to you?" Aaron got up from next to Marcus and walked over to the screen, Bucky followed behind him. The moment he looked at the man holding a cloth over Alessia's mouth before injecting her with some liquid, her eyes full of fear as he spoke to her.

Aaron froze for a moment as a similar look of fear appeared on his face, "That... That's not possible..." He began shaking as Alina walked up to him, placing her hand on his shoulder while comforting him. "He died, we watched him from outside as the building exploded when we escaped." His legs tumbled from beneath him, Tony and Bucky caught him before he hit the ground.

They helped him back over to the couch, Steve stood next to Bucky. "Tell us everything Aaron," Steve spoke with a tone no one expected from him. Nat lifted her head, "Steve, you need to stay calm. I know you are protective of her, considering in the short time you've known her she's become a sister to you-" She stopped after Steve glared at her.

── ☆ ──

Aaron let out a shaky breath, "Evan Anderson, that's his name." He lifted his head to look at everyone, "He's a Hydra loyalist and a major believer in the preachings of Johann Schmidt in his time in the forties. He created his own rogue organisation known as 'Tempolize'. They are all about trafficking people and making them powerful, more than super-soldiers. We've been working to destroy them."

Tony, Steve and Bucky sat down on the opposing couch that Clint and Bruce pushed over for them while Aaron collected his thoughts. "They enhance people?" Bruce asked before Aaron nodded in response. "It's more than that, it's like cell mutation. The serum already enhances senses, strength and agility. They then make you go through an immense amount of pain in an attempt to unlock abilities."

He let out a quiet sob, "They would put you in situations where any ordinary person would die, like submerging you in water or placing you into a freezer." He lifted his hand turning it so his palm was facing the ceiling. Suddenly, a small flame appeared in the palm of his hand causing some people to gasp loudly, Jesse and Marcus looked shocked. "Why didn't we know?" Jonas asked.

He shook his head, "Alessia is the only one who knew about it, not even Hydra knew that I could." A tear fell from his eye, "They locked me in a giant kiln, they found out I was fire resistant and believe it could further mutate. Alessia urged me to never let them know about my pyrokinesis because then I wouldn't have to become a brainwashed weapon."

Bucky winced at his words knowing that she wasn't wrong about that, "Sorry Bucky." He gave him a small smile and nodded before he continued, "Did Alessia go through all of that too?" Sam asked hesitantly, clearly not wanting to think about her going through it.

Aaron looked at Sam without saying anything, everyone went quiet not really knowing what else to say. "Did she ever develop any powers?" Thor questioned. Aaron shook his head, "She was mostly resistant to everything in their eyes but she didn't develop any powers." Tony let out a frustrated sigh.

We all turned to him, "Alright Pyro, how about we get on with where he would take her, how he possibly survived and, oh yeah, how we save her?" Aaron nodded at Tony's clear annoyance. "I have no idea how he would've survived the explosion, maybe he was an experiment too." He thought deeply, "He won't take her out of the states, he has too many enemies for that. Most likely an old Hydra base where he has access to everything."

Tony turned to the screens, "J.A.R.V.I.S find out what you can about Evan Anderson and hack the files that were leaked from Shield for any possible locations in the states." He turned to everyone, "Alright, you all can sober up, sleep or train. The moment I find out where she possibly is, we'll suit up and storm the place." Everyone nodded before heading in their own directions.

Bucky stood up and followed Steve as he approached the elevator, "Wanna do some training?" He asked Bucky as he looked at him, he was finding a way to distract himself. Bucky was partly thankful for Marcus' words, he knew she was strong and that was the only thing holding him together. He also knew that if he went running in without backup or a plan, she'd scold him for it.

He nodded at Steve as they headed down to the gym, Steve walked in and remove his suit jacket before stopping and looking over to a small room. He walked over to it and stepped in, Bucky slowly followed his steps before noticing what he was looking at-

BANG

── ☆ ──

Author Note
I've been editing this story from First Person to Third Person. If they're any mistakes, let me know!

I also hope you are enjoying this story, I do love The Avengers and basically anything Marvel, so I really hope you are liking my own adaptation of the MCU.

-Rose <3
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