"Well, if she's an Avenger then she won't mind going on a mission, then."

I turned around to face Nick Fury.

"L/n," Fury said in greeting.

"Fury," I said nodding.

Steve and Bucky stood next to him, looking frustrated.

"L/n, you have a mission," Fury said.

I perked up.

"There's a man called Ricky Valdez. He comes from a rich family, and he's gotten caught up with Hydra. Selling women that he drugs to Hydra for them to experiment on," Fury explained.

My fists clenched.

"You will need to infiltrate a party and find proof of it," Fury said. "Something that even his money won't be able to save him from."

I nodded slowly.

"Another thing – you can't wear gloves," Fury stated.

There was an outburst of protest from my teammates while my jaw just dropped.

"What's your game, Fury?" Bucky asked angrily. "You know she's still sensitive to skin to skin contact."

"Echo is associated with gloves," Fury said calmly. "If she's not wearing them, then she'll be less recognisable."

"Sir, I can't control it," I said.

"Well, you have three weeks to work on it," he said, handing me some files.

He then left, leaving us all in a stunned silence.

"We should probably get to it then," Wanda said.

"Training y/n should be our top priority," Steve said.

"I'm not helpless, you know," I said. "I've been trained to be a spy."

"By who?" Tony asked.

"By me," Bucky said.

We locked eyes across the room. We held eye contact for a moment before I looked away.

"So, it's just the telepathy," Nat said.

I nodded.

"Y/n and I have already made progress," Wanda said. "She's pretty good with just a casual brush past."

"Well, let's get started," Steve said.

"We need a volunteer," Wanda said. "If y/n is at a party, multiple people are going to brush up against her at once. We need someone who will be okay with y/n possibly seeing their memories."

"I'll do it," Clint said after a moment. "I know that the rest of you have really bad memories that you don't want to relive or share."

"Are you sure?" Natasha asked.

She wanted to make sure her best friend would be okay.

"I'm sure," Clint said, nodding. "Do we start right now?"

"Probably in the training rooms would be best," I said. Everyone except Wanda looked at me in confusion.

"I – uh... sometimes when I... get lost in the memory, sometimes I kind of..."

"Lash out with her power," Wanda finished. "Accidentally."

"Don't want to ruin your expensive ornaments," I said to Tony.

Tony chuckled.

"Off you go, then. I'll come up with a list of other things you'll need to learn," Tony said.

"Like what?" I said. "I'm ready for this. Minus the powers."

"Can you walk in heels?" Tony asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Stilettos?" he asked.

"No," I sighed.

"Can you dance? Formally?"

"No."

"Can you –"

"Okay, okay! I get it!" I grumbled.

Wanda, Clint, Natasha, and I left for the training room. I gave the files to Steve before I left, letting him look through it.

We arrived at the training rooms and I stood in front of Clint.

"Okay, Clint. Just brush against her," Wanda said.

I took off my gloves and stood, waiting for Clint to touch my hand. He brushed the back of his hand against mine. I saw a glimpse of a house and a farm before it was gone.

"Good!" Wanda exclaimed happily.

I smiled at her.

"Try again," she said.

Clint brushed my hand and I saw a flash of a woman's face. It lasted for only a split second before I was back in the present.

"Excellent!" Wanda beamed.

We continued to do that a few more times until Clint could brush up against me randomly and I wouldn't get stuck inside a memory. There were only brief flashes, but there were gone almost as soon as they appeared.

"Okay, we're going to try prolonged contact now," Wanda said. "Clint, grab onto her hand."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Clint grabbed my hand and I saw flashes and glimpses. I saw three children, drawing at a table. I saw Natasha in a blue dress with a gun in her hands. I saw a child in the middle of ruins, and a ship flying towards Clint.

Stop, I thought. Concentrate.

More memories flooded my mind like flashes.

"Okay, stop," I heard Wanda say.

Clint's hand left mine and I was back in the present.

"That was pretty good," Wanda said.

"But I saw so many flashes," I said.

"But you didn't get stuck," Wanda said. "You were able to leave as soon as Clint let go."

I pursed my lips.

"You've come a long way," Natasha said.

We continued training. I didn't get much better, but at least I had improved. After a few hours, Tony had come up with a list of things I needed.

"Can you do a smoky eye?" he asked.

"A what?" I said.

"I'll take that as a no," he muttered. "So, we just need to focus on the heels and dancing."

"Thor, Steve, Tony, let's teach her to dance," Natasha said.

I was lead to a ball room that I had no idea existed. I wore my gloves and Tony put on some music. Steve rolled his eyes at Tony and he just chuckled.

"Forties music," Tony explained.

I nodded, understanding.

"Okay, Thor, you go first," Tony said.

Thor grabbed my hand and placed it on his shoulder. He then grabbed my other hand in his and placed his hand on my waist.

"Follow my lead, Lady y/n," Thor said kindly.

He began stepping this way and that, and I followed. I stood on his toes quite a few times. He twirled me out, and then back in, and I accidentally elbowed him in the stomach.

"Sorry, Thor!" I exclaimed.

"You have... quite strong elbows," he wheezed.

"This isn't going well," I said.

"It's okay," Natasha said. "We can try again."

"Let's try more of a sway," Tony said. "Steve, that's your specialty."

"That's the only dancing I can do," Steve grumbled.

He held and positioned my hands the way Thor had. We swayed on the spot, moving our feet only slightly.

"Why can't I just dance like this?" I asked.

"Because the person you're impersonating – Elizabeth Jones – comes from a rich family and has had dancing lessons since before she could walk," Tony said. "Valdez and the rest of the people there will be expecting you to be able to dance properly."

"And you all know how?" I asked.

There were nods. Thor would, because he was royal. Natasha probably knew because she went on missions that required it. I assumed that Steve knew from either the same thing, or just because he grew up in the forties. And Tony because he threw and attended parties at least once a month.

Three hours later and I was still murdering everyone's toes. Bucky had come down to tell Steve something and decided to stay and watch.

"At least she's not wearing heels yet," Tony said after I'd stomped on Steve's toes again.

"I think it's time for food," Natasha said.

"Yes, Sam's cooking!" I said happily.

"Why are you so excited?" Bucky asked, a slight snap in his tone.

I frowned at him.

"We all know that Sam is the best cook in the tower, besides Pepper," I said.

Bucky frowned and Steve nudged him. I ignored the strange exchanged and walked up to the kitchen.

Why was Bucky acting snappy? Had I said or done something wrong? Maybe he was just in a bad mood.

I ate dinner in silence. Everyone else took it as tiredness, and honestly, part of it was. But the other part was deep thought.

Since when had I cared what Bucky thought? When did everything change? It was strange, one moment, we hated each other's guts, and the next we were... friends. Still a bit cautious around each other, sure, but friends, nonetheless. Except now he was giving me the stink eye and being a bit of an ass.

"I'm going to bed," I said, standing up from the table.

"Goodnight," everyone chorused.

"Goodnight, y/n," Bucky said.

I smiled at everyone and walked to my room. I got changed into my pyjamas – which consisted of an over-sized t-shirt and shorts – and wriggled into bed.

I closed my eyes, and only one thought filled my head.

Bucky was the only one who had said my name. It shouldn't have meant anything, but it did.