Paige is a single mom, part time accounting student, and almost full time bartender. One night she bartends for a charity event and meets Bucky Barnes, one of the Avengers. Finding him interesting and different from other men she has dated she inv...
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After subduing Carter's men and rescuing the Graingers, Fury and Mackenzie had sent SHIELD teams to search both of Carter's safe houses from top to bottom, taking multiple boxes of files back with them the day before. They also brought Ethan and Melanie Grainger back to a new SHIELD safe house, where they would stay for a few days while arranging for legal representation with the American embassy as Ethan would face charges for several bank robberies. It would be the embassy's job to make sure the French and Spanish authorities were aware he was forced to commit the crimes and had been instrumental in helping to arrest all of the accomplices. It was hoped the couple's return to the United States would happen soon, considering Melanie was just a few weeks from her due date.
The man who had impersonated Nick Fury with a nano mask was yet to be identified, as neither him nor his accomplices were talking and so far, their facial recognition search had failed to turn up any leads. Sharon Carter had disappeared and was presumed to be back in Madripoor. Her website, recruiting people for the alternative cancer treatment had also gone dark, and SHIELD's IT team were unable to track its origin.
The call from the NYPD to Bucky's cell phone occurred while the team was in the safe house early Friday morning preparing to drive to the airport, having done their part in stopping the robberies. He had just finished packing his go bag and weapons satchel, carrying them down to the main floor. Breakfast was being prepared and like always he loaded up his plate. When his phone rang, he looked at the call display and frowned when he saw it was NYPD.
"Barnes," he answered tersely. Right away his brow furrowed, and he stood up, looking at Sam first, then at Fury as he learned about the assault on Paige. "I'll be there as soon as I can." Hanging up he swore. "Kane assaulted Paige, hurt the manager that was working with her."
"Is she okay?" asked Sam. "What the hell happened?"
"I guess he got fired for hitting on Paige again while we were here. Took it badly and decided she needed to be taught a lesson." Bucky looked up Wong's phone number. "I'm going to ask for a portal."
Fury coughed politely. "This is the person that Maria Hill has looking over your books?" he asked. "You're involved with her?" Bucky gave Fury an impatient look. "By all means, go. Hill was impressed with her. We protect our own, Barnes."
Sam agreed to take Bucky's things on the quinjet while he phoned Wong asking for a portal to the location of the bar. Within a couple of minutes, the sparkling circle of a portal began and expanded large enough for Bucky to walk through. When he came through, he saw several police vehicles with their lights flashing, cops everywhere, and crime scene tape covering the front of the bar, extending to the alley. As he stepped out of the portal several officers were unsure of his arrival but the one who called him vouched for him and waved at him to come inside the perimeter.
"She's just over here," he said, walking towards the ambulance. "She should get checked out at the hospital as he did knock her down. Has a few scrapes and she's quite sore."
