Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Being in cryo is kind of like a dreamless sleep.

Your body is frozen, your organs suspended between life and death, allowing time to pass in the blink of an eye. Sure, waking up to your innards defrosting was a painful process, but it was always a game when your eyes finally opened to the real world again:

How long had passed this time?

Days?

Months?

Years?

For Bucky, it was usually the latter. For Rune, however, she would be given at least one. There’d been times where she’d barely been under twelve hours when HYDRA decided they needed her gift. Others, they didn’t need her until they needed the Winter Soldier. Either way, going to sleep was almost a relief, her eyes drifting close as the freeze washed over her, her sleeping soldier always her last memory before the darkness closed in.

This time though, Rune dreamed.

She dreamt of her parents. She dreamt of a young red headed woman. She dreamt of a newspaper with a man dressed in red, white, and blue. She dreamt of twins, her personal stars. She dreamt of a man with piercing blue eyes and a cruel smile. She especially dreamt of her soldier. Of their missions, of nights spent remembering erased memories, of bloodshed, of pain, of even more nights spent licking wounds, of promises she swore she’d keep. No matter what.

More than that though, Rune was warm.

Never once had she gone under inside warmth. It was always piercing cold when her eyes closed, pain needling through her limbs before she finally succumbed. But this time there was no pain, no cold, no numbness. If anything, it felt like being stretched out on a sunny beach, the sand soft and warm around her. Occasionally she’d feel an ache or two in her bones, almost like a growing pain, but she’d take that over the pain of cryo any day. In fact, she’d take floating in this warm place over a lot of things.

But, like all good things, the warmth came to an end. More abruptly than the cryo ever did. One minute she was wrapped in beautiful sleep, and then next she was sitting up, gasping for air, and completely covered in—

“What the hell?”

Her voice cracked, throat raw like it always was after a long sleep, but the goo was new. And—as she finally took in her surroundings—so were the multiple agents wearing SHIELD uniforms. Especially Maria Hill, who was standing mere feet from here with her palms raised. “Rune Crow?” Rune glanced her over before nodding. None of them had their weapons raised, though some looked like they had twitchy trigger fingers. Not that it was a problem—Rune had already come up with three different escape plans. “My name is—”

“Maria Hill,” she finished for her as she wiped at the gunk on her face. With her eyes clearer, Rune finally noticed how very naked she was. That was—also new. But also not the first time she’d been bared to a room full of agents. When the questioning paused, Rune glanced up to find Hill staring at her. She shrugged. “HYDRA had a lot of SHIELD agents they kept tabs on. You were number three.”

Hill seemed ready to continue her line of questioning, only to falter at her last statement. “Third? Who is second?”

“Coulson.”

“Is it because of the whole alien resurrection thing?” Rune nodded. Hill rolled her eyes before seeming to snap back into SHIELD mode. “Do you know where you are right now?”

Rune took a moment to glance around the room. “I’d assume a HYDRA bunker, but that doesn’t explain the goo,” she stated before splashing her hands in said goop. Hill wrinkled her nose at it. “Usually, I wake up in a cryo chamber, handcuffed and muzzled. So, this is a rather nice surprise.”

A multitude of emotions flashed across Hill’s face before she neutralized them again. “Do you know what year it is?”

“No. I never know the year I’m woken up in. That’s usually briefed to me after the defreezing process is complete.”

Hill glanced briefly exchanged glances with the agent on her left before turning back to Rune. “What is the last thing you remember?”

“I remember what I always remember before going under. I remember…I remember….”

When Rune tried to think back on the last memories she had, however, there was nothing. Brief flashes of—memories? Dreams? Of something came to mind, but it definitely wasn’t being forced under the ice. Or into the goo. And there were no memories of—

Rune moved before any of them could react, the warmth in her muscles making it much easier for her to snatch Hill’s weapon than the ice ever allowed. Her eyes narrowed at Hill as she aimed the barrel directly between her eyes, her vision tunneling instead of counting out how many agents in the room now had a gun on her. Hill, to her credit, merely lifted her hands again, though was much more tense than before. “Rune, calm down.”

“You’re SHIELD.”

“Yes. We already went over this.”

“What we didn’t go over is where my soldier is.”

Hill’s brows furrowed in legitimate confusion. “Your soldier? We don’t know—oh.”

“Smart girl,” Rune complimented. “Where is he?”

“A lot has happened since you went to sleep, Rune.”

Rune pressed the muzzle firmly against her skin, her eyes narrowing. “That is not what I asked,” she warned. “Now, answer, or else I will force it from you.”

A couple of agents gasped; well, if they hadn’t known who she was before, they at least knew what she could do. “Barnes is safe, Rune. He’s been back and forth between Louisianna and New York to help with new SHIELD recruits when he isn’t busy helping Captain America.”

This caused Rune to falter, her chest catching; Barnes was not only alive, but he was with SHIELD? He was helping SHIELD? Something else pierced through the peaking bliss. “Of his own free will? You can’t sit there and tell me SHIELD isn’t using him as their own pawn like HYDRA did.”

Hill didn’t even twitch at the accusation. “Barnes was able to free himself of the words during his stay in Wakanda. From the minimal information we received, you were actually the one who helped him find the fix.”

“He’s free?” Rune choked out, her hand beginning to shake. “He’s—the words are gone? But, if I helped him, then that means—”

The world went black before her knees could hit the floor.

When Rune woke again, she was hooked up to multiple beeping machines and—of course—was handcuffed to a very stiff hospital bed. Considering she pulled a gun on Maria Hill, she was expecting a little more security than a single pair of cuffs. Though she was thankful for the sports bra and spanx they dressed her in. And for whoever cleaned the disgusting goo from her skin. As she took in the room around her, she realized it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out where she was: nearly every piece of equipment had SHIELD’s signature symbol on it. What did surprise her, however, was the sleeping figure in the bed just across the room.

What the hell was Tony Stark doing in a SHIELD hospital?

The door opened before she could think passed that question, Dr. Helen Cho walking in with her nose nearly buried in her tablet, two nurses on her heels. “Dr. Cho? You working with everyday patients now?” Rune questioned as she sat up from the pillows.

Dr. Cho stopped dead in her tracks as her head whipped up to stare at her. “You know who I am?”

“HYDRA was very interested in your work.”

Seeming unsure of how to respond to that, she simply nodded before tapping at her tablet and approaching the side of her hospital bed. “To answer your earlier question, I only step in to help patients under very dire circumstances. Which makes you and Mr. Stark my top priority right now.”

“Even though I’m a HYDRA agent?”

“Ex-HYDRA, if I read correctly,” she offered with a smile that Rune sheepishly returned. “Now, I am going to ask you a series of questions, merely to see where your mental status is.”

“Shoot.”

Dr. Cho typed something onto her tablet. “What is your full name?”

“Rune Lilliana Crow.”

“What were your parents’ names?”

“Amelia and Barrett Crow.”

More poking at the tablet. “What is the last thing you remember? Take your time in answering.”

This question again. Instead of immediately going into attack mode, Rune took a small breath and closed her eyes. More flashes of memories burst to life, but at least this time they were a little on the clearer side. “I remember chains. Being dragged across a dirt floor and thrown into a cage. I remember a muzzle. But that’s—that’s all.”

Which wasn’t a lie. Not too long after they locked her up and muzzled her, they took her out of the cage to—to do what else to her? Whatever it was, she didn’t have the answer. And not having answers made her more twitchy than normal. Dr. Cho typed wildly at her tablet for another few seconds. “Do you remember anything about your time in Wakanda?”

Rune’s brows furrowed. “Where? I don’t—I’ve never heard of that place before.”

More poking. “How about a place called Kodiak, Alaska?”

Realization, just like earlier, hit her like a brick. “I died, didn’t I.”

The hesitation in Dr. Cho was brief, but noticeable enough for an experienced profiler like herself. “What makes you think that?”

“My cure to the words engrained in Bucky’s mind were hidden in Kodiak,” she explained. “Also answers the mystery to why I woke up in a puddle of goo instead of an ice block.”

“You are taking this information surprisingly well, Miss Crow.”

Rune sighed before flopping back against the pillows. “I always knew one day I’d die for him. Just didn’t think anyone would want to bring me back. Was it HYDRA or SHEILD that cloned me?”

“What makes you think—”

“If I died the way I think I did, there were no pieces of me left behind. Plus—“she moved the sheets from her stomach to reveal smooth pale skin, “—I ain’t got a belly button anymore.”

“It was HYDRA. Though we haven’t decrypted the programming of the pod you were found in yet, so we are unsure of how long you have been growing in that bunker.”

“If you ask me, I’d say it was a week max after Pierce threw me into the pit. I remember—I remember them pulling me back out to do some kind of procedure on me. A feeding tube, maybe? Since I doubt they wanted to risk taking the muzzle off to feed me. But everything after that is blank.”

“I will send that information to the engineers currently working the system.”

Rune watched the doctor’s fingers fly across her screen for a few minutes. “When did I die? What year?”

Once again, Dr. Cho hesitated, watching her for a tense few seconds before answering. “You died in the early days of 2017.”

“And now? What year is it?”

“2024,” she answered bluntly. As if she wanted to rip a band-aid off. Rune, however, was used to sleeping decades away. That is, until Dr. Cho continued with, “a lot has happened since you passed away. Events we will ease you—”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“No offense, Dr. Cho, but I’m used to the world passing by as I sleep. You have no idea the things I’ve slept through, the wars I’d missed. I’m used to having a screen update the world around me. So, please,” she begged as she pushed herself sitting again, “just give me the quick version.”

“I don’t think that is a wise choice considering your current condition.”

“Come on, doc. Nothing could be worse than anything HYDRA has done to me. You can observe the entire time, if you want. Just…tell me.”

There was almost a full minute of silence before Dr. Cho waved her hand through the air, a screen seeming to appear out of nowhere. Man, technology in 2024 kicked ass. “Pay attention, as this program will give you the important cliff notes of events from the last seven years.”

Whatever Rune imagined happened during the years she was growing in a HYDRA cocoon, this—any of this—wasn’t it. Wakanda opened its doors to the world, the same place with the power that helped Bucky. The Red Room had finally been terminated, permanently this time. Prince Harry got married. Toys-R-Us and Sears closed down. Janet van Dyne returned from another realm.

And then, Thanos.

Millions believed to be dead. Millions left to pick up the pieces. Five years worth. Many souls couldn’t survive the decimation, the mental and emotional toll it took. Until a miracle in the weird little Ant-Man appeared. Then, there was resurrection, time-travel, one of the fiercest battles in the world’s history that never once touched Earth’s soil. A battle that ended with the loss of two Avengers. Spiderling and—

“HYDRA cloned Stark too, huh?”

“It seems so, yes. Though we believe his process started later than your own. Right before Thanos’ arrival, to be exact.”

Well, that explained why he was sitting here in a SHIELD hospital instead of wherever billionaires received health care. HYDRA was never against having another bright mind under their belt, so why not clone another human while they were at it? Especially a genius their very own will-bender could force to create all sorts of weaponry.

As the images continued to scroll through—revealing an incident involving Wanda and the idiotic agency who dared try to recreate Vision for their own gain—one of the final headlines caught her eye. “Wait, what? Pause. Just what the hell—Steve Rogers hands over Captain America title?”

“To Sam Wilson, yes.”

“I don’t—what the hell does it mean Steve Rogers is missing? Presumed dead?”

Dr. Cho glanced to the nurses who were busy checking Stark’s stats before leaning in close to Rune. “Supposedly, when he went back through the timelines to return one of the many stones they borrowed, Steve Rogers did not return. Instead, he remained in the past to marry Peggy Carter. Grew old with her and everything. Then, only returned to pass down the shield to Sam Wilson before supposedly disappearing again. Although I heard rumors SHIELD is merely hiding him out somewhere no that Peggy has passed away.”

Rune’s head was spinning. This was—nothing about this made sense. Steve loved Bucky. Was ready to tear the world apart for Bucky! He wouldn’t just leave him behind like that! Not after all the work they did to free him from the words. Not after losing him for another five years to whoever that purple chin bastard was! No. This was all wrong. And Bucky—

“Bucky,” Rune gasped in horror. “Is he here? Is Bucky Barnes here at the compound?”

“I don’t—“Dr. Cho’s eyes shifted to her handcuffs. “Mr. Barnes has not been brought into your resurrection just yet.”

“I’m not going to hurt him. Never did as his handler, wouldn’t dream of it now,” she pleaded. “Besides, you can tell them I escaped if you’re worried about getting in trouble. I just need to know where he is. I need to see him.”

Once again, her eyes shifted around the room before she held the tablet’s screen up to her. “I’m afraid I cannot give you that information. I’m sorry, Miss Crow.”

A map of the compound was expanded on the screen, zooming in on the training room which wasn’t too far from the hospital wing. It took Rune a total of ten seconds to pop her thumb out of socket and slip her wrist free. Dr. Cho winced. “Thank you.”

With that she threw the blanket over Dr. Cho’s head and bolted from the room, ignoring the yells following her as she escaped the main doors and slid into the hallway. Security would be on her instantly, some possibly trying to head her off if they were warned in time. Despite seeing a woman baring only a sports bra and spanx sprinting passed them, none of the agents she passed tried to stop her. Much to her luck. As she passed what seemed to be a cafeteria of some type, the voices began to echo from all around her, signaling that her window was closing. She needed to get to Bucky before they caught up. The last thing she needed was a bunch of unconscious SHIELD security men left in her wake. Wouldn’t exactly look good for her mission to prove she was ex-HYDRA.

Just as heavy boots began to squeak a little too close for comfort, Rune finally found the double doors hung with a massive sign labeled Training. She barreled through them, not daring to slow down, and nearly took multiple unsuspecting agents down in the process. All of them stared at her in surprise, others already taking a defensive stance. She paid them no mind as her eyes scanned the crowd of heads, desperately searching, until she finally found the one she’d come for. Even in a sea of millions, she’d be able to spot him. His hair might be shorter, the bags beneath his eyes darker, and the arm completely different than the silver one he’d adorned under her care. But this was him. Her солдат.

“Bucky!”

His head instantly whipped around, eyes wide as they locked onto hers. The tears burned behind her eyes as he stared at her, mind obviously unbelieving; this was it. After so long, nearly a decade of dreaming and hoping, here he was. Flesh and blood once more. Suddenly he was running at her, breaking through the agents he’d just been training with no care in the world other than getting to her. She took exactly two steps into the rapidly splitting crowd before she was engulfed by everything James Buchanan Barnes. His arms wrapped tightly around her middle, his fingers digging painfully into her skin as he buried his face into her shoulders, his body already shaking with sobs. “Rune,” he choked out. “Is this real? Rune? Rune. Rune.”

She hushed his chanting as she ran her fingers through his hair, the other arm squeezing unmatching shoulders in an attempt to bury herself further into him. “I’ve got you, мой солдат. I’ve got you.”

Bucky’s knees gave out at the words, Rune doing her best to ease them to the ground before regathering him into her arms properly. The doors burst open behind them but, thankfully, none of the security agents dared separate them, leaving them to their bubble. It felt like an eternity they sat there, but after almost five minutes Bucky gently eased himself away, only daring to go as far as pressing their foreheads together, snot be damned. “How?” he heaved out. “How are you here?”

“HYDRA liked me so much, they created a second one.”

“What the hell?” Bucky pulled away again to stare at her, eyes roaming over every inch he could see. “They cloned you? How could they have possibly had the science to back—you have no bellybutton.”

“Right!? Feel it! There’s literally nothing there!” She snatched his human hand from her waist before pressing it to her stomach, Bucky’s brows nearly disappearing into his hairline. “And the pod I was in? Totally shaped like an egg.”

“They hatched you? What kind of Sci-Fi bullshit is that?”

“You’re a nerd.”

Bucky snorted, nearly causing a snot bubble. “Like that’s news to you.”

Rune answered by peppering his face with kisses. “God, I missed you.”

“You have no idea, Rune.”

“Not to interrupt the moment,” Hill sighed, Rune glancing back to find her standing in front of the SHIELD security team that’d been chasing her. “But you need to return to the medical wing. Doubt Dr. Cho approved of you running your newly awakened body through the compound halls.”

“I’m coming with her,” Bucky stated sharply.

Hill rolled her eyes. “Like I’d dare come between you two. I’ve heard the rumors, and no thank you. Come on Crow, Barnes.”

Barnes didn’t let her walk back to the medical wing. Instead, as soon as they were both standing, he swept her up into his arms and followed Hill back through the winding halls. Not that she was complaining; sprinting wasn’t the best idea for her newly formed legs, but desperate times called for desperate measures. In fact, she’d nearly fallen asleep by the time she was set back into her hospital bed, Dr. Cho winking at her as Bucky sat in the nearest chair and took her hand into both of his.

Then, exactly two seconds later, he spotted the other occupied bed. “Holy shit, is that Stark?” Bucky hissed. “He’s alive?”

“He is clone number two. Apparently, they were so happy with my progress, they got greedy and went for a second.”

“You’re terrible at withholding information, you know that?” Hill mumbled.

“Does Pepper know? Morgan?” Bucky asked.

Morgan. Stark’s kid. Right, he married Potts and they had a kid.

Dr. Cho looked to Hill, who nodded begrudgingly, before answering. “Yes. They are on their way here now.”

“When were you going to tell the rest of us?”

“In a couple of days. At least until we got a better understanding of how the hell HYDRA was able to pull something like this off. Should have known that was never going to happen with Rune being awake first and you being on the grounds,” Hill grumbled as she rubbed irritably at her forehead. “Now, with all the clone-talk that happened in the training room, we have to bump our timeline up.”

“Sorry.”

“Liar. Anyway, until we officially inform everyone of this newest event, you do not leave this room unless Dr. Cho permits it, understand? We still don’t know how developed your body is. How much further it might have to go. So, sit, stay, and listen. Understood? Same goes for you, Barnes. We will need all the help we can get to keep an eye on this one.”

“No argument from me,” Bucky agreed.

“Be back to check on you later, then,” Hill warned before leaving through the main doors, the remaining security team members on her heels.

As soon as the doors stopped swinging, Rune beamed at Dr. Cho. “Thank you, Dr. Cho.”

“I have no idea what you could be referring to,” Dr. Cho cleared her throat. She had to bite her lip to keep her grin at bay. “For now, I have no further examinations, or questions, for you. Nurses will be in and out to check vitals, but besides that, you will need rest. Understood?”

“Yes. Won’t move a muscle.”

“Good. I will return, but until then.”

With a bow of her head, Dr. Cho took her leave. That’s when Rune finally looked back down at Bucky whose eyes were already glued to her. “What?”

“I just—guess I can’t believe this is real.”

Rune smiled as she tugged at his arms, coaxing him from his chair as she scooted over on the mattress to give him room. He obediently climbed onto the bed and laid on his back, right hand tucked behind his head as Rune laid on her side to get a better look at him from his left. “You better believe it, because I ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

“I’ve heard that before.”

The bitterness wasn’t missed from his tone, his eyes suddenly glued to the ceiling as they glassed over with an array of emotion. Rune gently cupped his metal bicep with the hand not holding her head up. “Dr. Cho gave me the seven-year crash course.”

“So, you know everything.”

“Mostly.” A couple beats of silence. “Want to talk about it?”

“No,” Bucky answered sharply. Another beat, then he heaved out a sigh, tears prickling his eyes again. “Not yet. I can’t—”

“Hey,” she hushed him again before moving to tuck her cheek against his shoulder. “We’ve got all the time in the world. I’m not going anywhere.”

Bucky swallowed thickly as he turned to press his head to hers, human fingers linking with metal ones. “Never once thought I’d actually have something to thank HYDRA for.”

“Right?”

A comfortable silence washed over them, the white noise beginning to lull her to sleep. “Rune? If you were just born, how do you have your memories?”

Rune shrugged. “No idea. Apparently, the computer geeks haven’t gotten to the core of the pod programming yet. But, considering I’m blank on the last seven years and remember nothing about what happened in Wakanda, or Kodiak, HYDRA only managed to snag thirty-nine years of my life.”

“So, you don’t—you don’t remember dying?”

“No. But I can guess how it happened.”

“You died, to save me.”

Rune nudged his head until they were eye-to-eye. “And I don’t regret it. Never have, never will.”

He shook his head, forever in disbelief. “But—”

“I promised you this freedom for decades,” she reminded him. “I’m just sorry it took so long.”

“Never apologize for that.”

“And you stop believing your life wasn’t worth saving. Because it was, and it always will be.”

He stared at her for a long time again, searching for something, before relenting and pressing their heads back together. “Спасибо.”

“Пожалуйста,” she mumbled. “Now hush, I want to watch TV on the fancy gadgets they have now. I mean, you don’t need monitors anymore!”

That got a light chuckle out of him, warmth filling her chest at the sound; God, she had missed this. “You should get some sleep. I mean, you were just born, after all.”

“You couldn’t pay me to miss seeing Pepper and Stark reunite. Especially if they have a kid together.”

“Nosy.”

“Besides, I’m curious to see if he even remembers me. Would help us dictate where his memories ended.”

Rune, however, didn’t fall asleep. Instead, Bucky did, not that she was complaining. She doubted he was sleeping very well, especially not with all the travelling between the compound and Sam’s place. So, hearing the soft snores was like music to her ears. Just as she hit the halfway point through some movie called Monday—one of the main characters looking very familiar for some reason—she heard a groan from across the room. Her head perked up only to find Stark shifting uncomfortably in his bed, his eyes fighting to open.

Not seeing any nurse in sight, and Bucky’s massive form blocking her own call button, Rune slipped from Bucky’s grip and crept over to his side. It took her a few seconds to find his nurse call button but, as soon as she pressed it, a hand grasped her wrist. She snapped her head up only to find Stark staring wildly at her. “Where—where am I?” he grit out.

“You’re at a SHIELD headquarters,” Rune explained slowly, allowing his brain to catch up to his surroundings. When he stared down at the wires attached to his skin, Rune twisted her hand to grasp his own. “They’ve got you hooked up to a couple machines to monitor your vitals. That’s all.”

“I know you.”

Rune smiled. “I’m Rune. But you used to call me—”

“Blueberry?” She nodded. “Jesus, I thought you were dead.”

“I was, but HYDRA apparently wasn’t happy I died. So they made another.”

“So, what? They cloned you?” he chuckled. When Rune didn’t argue, or deny it, Stark gaped at her. “Holy shit, you’re a clone?”

Rune waved at her smooth stomach with her free hand. “No bellybutton or anything.”

“HYDRA did that? Didn’t think they had those kind of brains over there.”

“I didn’t either, and I worked for them.”

When Rune glanced to the hospital doorway, with still no sign of the nurses, there was another tug at her hand. “Rune?”

“The nurses will be here any—”

“I don’t have a belly button either.”

Shit.

Sure enough, when Rune dropped her gaze, he’d lowered the sheet to reveal nothing but pure, smooth, skin. “So uh….what happened to me?”

Hearing the shake in his tone, Rune kicked the nearest chair over with her foot and sat down, never breaking contact. “Welp, I already ruined the surprise for half of the compound, so why not add you to the list?”

Bucky, mercifully, showed her how to work the monitorless screens around here, though Stark had to help her find the same file Dr. Cho had shown her. As the video played, the paler Stark became, his hand lightly shaking in her grip. Rune remained silent through the whole thing, her hand gripping his tightly in her own in an attempt to ground him to reality. Rune was used to missing out on time, on once-in-a-lifetime events. But Stark? Not even close.

When the video finally ended, Rune closed the screen, soaking the room in silence that seemed to ring over the beeping monitors and a snoring Bucky. Even from here she could see him drooling into her pillow. “Wow,” Stark finally spoke. He looked clammy, but oddly comforted. “I—guess I finally got my shit together and married Pep. Had a kid and everything before I kicked it.”

“From what I’ve heard, she’s grown up to be just like you. I mean, with a much better support system that is taking care of her emotionally, mentally, and physically—no offense to Howard or anything.”

“None taken.”

“Apparently her, and Mrs. Potts, are headed here.”

“Yeah?”

“Should be here any minute.”

“Think—think they’ll be happy to see me?”

Rune rolled her eyes as she wrinkled her nose. “If my little ass is happy to see you, those two will be over the moon.”

The nurses finally opened the door, Dr. Cho on their heels. Her eyes, however, immediately locked onto Rune before she sighed. “I am assuming he knows?”

“What?” Rune shrugged with a blinding grin, her peripheral catching Bucky as he shifted into a sitting position, the ruckus obviously having woken him up. “He is the one who noticed his lack of belly button. I just helped him the rest of the way.”

“Mhm. That is enough for tonight, Miss Crow.”

Rune shrugged before releasing Stark’s hand, who gave her a wink in thanks. When she returned to her own bed, Bucky immediately helped her back up. “He ok?”

“As ok as he can be. It’s a lot to take in for someone who has never lost time before,” she explained as she slid back beneath the scratchy sheets, Bucky curling his metal arm around her shoulders. “I think it will help him to see Mrs. Potts and their kid.”

“Does he remember anything about Morgan?”

“Judging by how he responded to seeing the events of the last seven years, I’d say they stole his memories from just before Thanos showed up. There was no recognition of the purple grape when he appeared on the screen, and I know it would have guaranteed some kind of response out of him in seeing the man he basically killed himself to stop.”

“Five years then, give or take.”

Rune nodded. They watched the nurses bounce around Stark for a while, Dr. Cho following a similar line of questioning she had for Rune. “Buck? Did you ever meet Morgan?”

There was a faint shiver through Bucky that she ignored. His arm gripped her tighter. “Pepper, she uh—she found me a couple months after Stark’s funeral. After Ste—after Sam became the new Cap. We met in Central Park and just, talked. About Stark. About my past. About their future. Morgan bought us ice cream. It was—it was a good day.”

“Have you spoken since?”

“She checks in on me sometimes, though less so since I started talking to Sam more.”

“That’s good to hear,” Rune said with a smile, Bucky returning a small one of his own. “And how is Sam?”

That had Bucky rolling his eyes with a groan. “Obnoxious. Did you know he gave up the shield? Put it in some museum? Only for the bastards to give it to some—some idiot who was too big for his own britches.”

“From what I read, things worked out in the end though!”

“Barely,” he snorted. “But, I guess things could have been worse. Sam hasn’t blown too much shit up while galivanting around the world.”

“Does he know who I am?”

“Yes.”

“Think I could meet him someday?”

“He’s going to be terrified of you.”

“Oh, how fun.”

Bucky nudged her in warning, Rune laughing in response. “Speaking of, do you still have your gift?”

Oh. Rune hadn’t actually thought of that. “I’m not sure. Don’t really have a want to try it out, you know?”

“Really?”

Rune sighed as she snuck an arm around his waist, her head bumping against his shoulder again as she stared at the projected screen in front of them. “I’m tired, Buck. I died using every influence I had within HYDRA to free you. I died thinking my time here as подавитель воли, the bender of all will, was over. But, now that I’m awake again, I want all of that to stay dead. You know?”

Bucky wrapped his free arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. “I will take you however I can. Even if it’s just as you, Rune.”

Chapter Text

Living on the compound was…weird.

Before, when she was a teenager living on a SHIELD compound, things were a lot different. There were a lot less agents, there were no alien threats, or threats of those with special abilities, and the technology was a lot less—well, twenty-first century. In fact, the day before in the cafeteria, she stabbed an innocent cleaning robot with a butter knife when it appeared out of nowhere to take her plate. Bucky, however, found it hilarious. She was given a special key card that allowed her into certain wings of the building. The least important rooms, of course, because—as always—once HYDRA, always HYDRA to these people.

She’d been here for a week now. For the first three days, Bucky refused to leave her side. Not that she was complaining; she hadn’t slept so well in decades. Both of them were there to witness Pepper Potts and Morgan Stark reunite with Stark, a moment that nearly brought tears to Rune’s eyes, though she’d never admit it. From there she was introduced to Pepper Potts, who never got to meet her before she passed on. Stark was able to leave the compound after the second day, which wasn’t that surprising; apparently, he had a better scientific lab that served as his own personal medical wing he was moving too, the lucky bastard. He’d left with promises to return as soon as he found out more about what had happened to them, and how they were recreated. When she too was finally released from the medical wing, she was given clothes, a phone, and her own room on the compound, only a couple doors down from Bucky’s, and apparently directly next door to Sam’s. After the fifth, she was given permission to help train SHIELD agents alongside Bucky. Physically only, of course. Hill already had orders from Fury to muzzle her the second she even attempted to use her gift. Bucky wasn’t happy about the threat, but Rune was used to it.

Today, the seventh day being on the compound, however, she found out Bucky was leaving.

“Can’t I come with you?” she pouted as she watched him continue to pack his duffle.

“I already tried to get you permissions to come with, but Fury isn’t having it,” Bucky grumbled. “But it’s only for a couple of days, I promise.”

“I expect you to keep in contact with me. Everyday,” she warned with a grumble. “And if you’re not back by Thursday night, I am stealing a jet and hunting you down.”

He laughed before kissing her head, his hand cupping her neck to pull their foreheads together. “по рукам.”

Rune relished in the contact, her fingers curling around his wrist as she sighed. “Мне тебя не хватает.”

“я тоже.” He kissed her again before pulling away and disappearing into the bathroom. “Believe me, if it was anyone but Sam calling, I’d have told them to shove it.”

“I’m glad you have Sam.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The thing we can’t talk about yet.” Silence. “So, yes. I’m glad you had Sam here. I know you two aren’t two peas in a pod, but he got you to open up better than your therapist could.”

“Yeah, well, Sam has experience dealing with people like me,” Bucky mumbled. “Came easy to him, I guess.”

“And that is why I’m glad.”

“He’s still an asshole, though.”

Rune laughed, watching Bucky’s grin widen at her through the bathroom mirror. He stuffed multiple bottles and a toothbrush into a medicine bag. “Have you seen Steve since he gave Sam the shield?”

Bucky’s hand froze, medicine bottle nearly cracking in the grip of his human hand. She didn’t push, though; she knew how sensitive this whole situation was, and she couldn’t blame him.

She just wanted to understand. For decades Rune heard the stories of their childhood. Of their time through the war. She knew Bucky loved Steve, and it didn’t take a genius to see that Steve loved Bucky. Even before they finally told each other the truth; I mean, who the hell goes to war with the entire world just to save their best friend? Who rips apart every HYDRA bunker left in existence to find a cure for him? And they were in love. They’d confessed to each other while healing in Wakanda. Steve wasn’t even sure he wanted to pick the shield back up if given the chance! But…like always…the world needed Captain America again. So, Steve rose to the plate, tried to save the world once again, but then…she couldn’t even imagine what it was like having to watch someone you love, someone you’d lost over and over through life, fall to literal ash at your feet.

And then spend five years, alone, with no way to bring them back.

“No,” Bucky finally answered, which was more than she was expecting. “I watched an eighty-year-old Steve Rogers hand the shield to Sam on a park bench, and I—I’m a coward.”

Rune made an unhappy noise as she walked into the bathroom and wrapped herself around him. “You are the furthest thing from it. You were hurt, and the one person who could have given you the answers, wanted nothing to do with giving them to you anymore.” Bucky nodded, his metal hand gripping hers as he stared mindlessly down into the sink. “What did he say to you that night? After the war was over. When you were reunited, what did he say?”

“Everything I wanted to hear,” Bucky whispered, his fingers tightening as his voice became tight. “He kissed me, told me he missed the shit out of me, and that he was never letting me out of his sight ever again. We showered together before he went to the meeting with the rest of the team.”

“Where he found out he was returning the stones.”

He nodded. “When he came back to our room, he told me everything up front, but swore to me it was safe. That he knew exactly what he needed to do, every step, and would be back in the literal blink of an eye. Said I could stand and watch the whole thing if I wanted to. But, the morning of, when he stepped onto that platform and hugged me, it felt—”

“Like something changed.”

“I don’t know if he changed his mind about us or if he changed his mind about being in the future or…if being with Peggy really meant more to him than what he had here. But, the second he disappeared from that platform, I just knew the bastard wasn’t coming back.” Tears had slowly begun to trickle down Bucky’s face. “Always knew I wasn’t good enough for Steve Rogers, just hoped that—”

When he shook the words off, Rune slipped herself free and turned him to face her, her thumbs gently drying his cheeks. “Steve loved you, Buck.”

“Obviously not enough to stay.”

“Where is Steve now?”

Bucky snorted before ruffling her hair. “I am not telling you where he is.”

“Why not?”

“Because I am not letting you hunt him down and drag his wrinkly ass back here to try and fix things,” he warned, obviously knowing her like the back of his hand. Dammit. “He made his choice, Rune. We just have to deal with it.”

“Fine, but I’m not happy about it,” she grumbled. “Also, I am sleeping in your bed while you’re gone and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

Bucky left exactly an hour later, leaving her to roam the compound aimlessly again. It allowed her mind to wander, which—wasn’t the best thing. Rune may not remember her brief time with Steve Rogers, but she’d read his history. How he broke through almost a century of brain-washing and torture with a single word. How he was ready to tear SHIELD from the inside out if it meant also freeing Bucky. How he spent two years trying to find Bucky and bring him home. And five more years trying to return him home. Steve Rogers was in love with James Buchanan Barnes, and nobody could tell her otherwise.

But what bugged her more than anything? Was the fact Bucky still had that stupid arm. Steve went back in time. Went back to before Rune was even born. Did Steve really not even try to save him? Even try to hint to SHIELD that HYDRA already had their tentacles in them? Was Steve Rogers really that selfish of a man, that he would choose to marry a woman, the same woman who wanted to protect and save the world, and refuse to do anything about the horrors of the future to come? No, she couldn’t accept that answer.

So, since nobody was really keeping an eye on her for the next few days, Rune read. She sat in their research library and roamed over every book, every paper, every article about what happened both before and after the Endgame War. She learned about every stone, how each one was obtained, and how Steve was supposed to return all of them. Rune read until her eyes were sore, and then she started watching news reels and videos. She even fell into the deep hole of YouTube conspiracy theories! Though some were out of this world—like how the Avengers should have just gone back in time and killed baby Thanos—others started to make the actual events seem a little more logical.

It was three in the morning when she finally couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore and decided she’d better get some rest. She’d been texting back and forth with Bucky during his free moments, and now even he was yelling at her to go the hell to sleep.

спать, засранец

As she was texting him back, her fingers flying to cuss him out in Russian, she suddenly bumped into another figure. She squawked, nearly dropping her phone in the process. “Shit, sorry.” When she glanced up to find Nicky Fury standing there, however, she sighed. “Oh, it’s you. Figured I wouldn’t see you in person considering you keep using Hill as your messenger.”

Fury nodded. “I’ve got a lot on my plate, Crow. Sorry I haven’t properly said my hellos.”

Rune rolled her eyes. “We both know you’ve been avoiding me.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you still feel guilty.”

Fury’s throat clicked as he swallowed, but he played it off as he crossed his arms. “I don’t follow.”

Rune finished her text to Bucky before shoving it back into her pocket. “I don’t know, maybe because you broke the promise you made me when I was 16?”

The flinch was the exact thing she was waiting for. For forty years she’d imagined how this conversation would go. Imagined what would happen the day she came face to face with Nicholas Fury again, the man who desperately wanted to use her gift for SHIELD’s benefit and didn’t care how young she was. The man who let Alexander Pierce take her without so much as a fight to keep her. To save her. To protect her, like he’d promised. “I’m sorry, Rune.”

“When I disappeared, did you look for me? Did any of you look for me? Or did you just write me off as another runaway orphan and chuck my shit into the dumpsters?”

“I thought you’d found something better.”

“And you’re a terrible liar, Nick.” His eye dropped to her boots. “You know, it took my dumbass a month to realize you weren’t coming to save me. I fought tooth and nail to keep out of their clutches because I swore you were out there. That you just needed a little more time to find me, just a little bit more. Shows what an innocent eighteen-year-old knows. Finally, one day I woke up and forced myself to accept you weren’t coming. That Pierce knew you were never going to come. And God, Nick, I was so fucking angry. Angry that you let me fall into the hands of the people who killed my family. Angry that I was so blinded by your words that I actually thought I meant something to SHIELD. To you.

“So angry, that I planned on burning all of you to the ground.”

That caught his attention. “What?”

“I planned on ripping both HYDRA and SHIELD from the inside out. I am the bender of wills, nobody could stop me if I did not want them to. And God, I could have gotten away with it, too. You know I could have.”

“Then why didn’t you? Why didn’t you kill us?”

Rune felt her phone buzz, a smile pulling across her lips as she brushed her fingers over it. “After I decided my plan, I finally relented and let HYDRA begin their training on me. Let them feel like they’d won, for a little bit anyway. But then, on my second day of training, I was introduced to a man with a silver arm. The same silver arm that I watched strangle my mother to death.”

“Barnes.”

“How lucky was I, huh? Here I was, already planning on destroying the planet, and now I’m being handed my family’s killer on a golden platter? It was the best day of my life! Until…until I looked into his eyes. And that’s when I saw James Buchanan Barnes. A soldier who had been tortured, and shredded, and glued back together into a monster of HYDRA’s creation. A man who no longer had a voice of his own and instead was strung up like a puppet to tentacles of the true monster. So, I put my plans on hold. Put all my anger into helping release this innocent soul who wanted nothing more than to be free. Unfortunately for us, but lucky for you and HYDRA, I found out about Steve Rogers. The key to freeing мой солдат.”

“You wouldn’t have been able to find Rogers if SHIELD was decimated. And without HYDRA, SHIELD wouldn’t exist.”

“Smart man,” Rune agreed. “Looks like you lot have a lot more to thank Bucky for than you originally thought. Without him, you wouldn’t be alive right now.”

“Rune—”

But Rune held her hand up to silence him. “I am almost fifty years-old and I am tired. I’m tired of being used, I am tired of being forced into a fight that is not mine, and I am tired of being angry. So, you have nothing to worry about, Nick. Right now, all I want is to be by Bucky’s side, and to live the rest of my life in peace. Your precious new SHIELD is safe from me.”

With that, she slipped her phone from her pocket and continued back down the hallway, leaving Nick Fury behind and desperately ignoring the shake in her hands.

The next day, as she finally dragged herself out of bed, she made her way back towards the library. As she opened Bucky’s door, however, she found Hill standing down the hall. Knocking on the door to her own room. When she spotted Rune watching her from Bucky’s doorway—after a full minute—she rolled her eyes. “You could have said something.”

Rune’s grin widened. “Watching you knock endlessly at my door is the best way to wake up in the morning.”

“It’s noon,” Hill mumbled as she approached her. “Anyway, I am here to tell you that you are no longer on SHIELD’s no fly list.”

“I thought I couldn’t be released until they finished deciphering the program?”

“Yeah, well, Stark claims he’s almost at a breakthrough himself, but he needs your help since you’re the original clone.”

“So why not just clear me for Stark’s place—”

“No idea. Fury is the one who cleared you, so ask him,” Hill cut her off. “Until then, get your ass to Stark’s. I’ll send coordinates to your phone.”

Sure enough, once she’d changed out of her comfies and made her way out to the landing pad, a Quinjet was already waiting for her. She handed the coordinates over to the pilot before strapping herself in for the short—apparently twenty-minute –flight. When they landed, Pepper Potts was waiting for her. “I’m glad you were able to make it on such short notice.”

“However I can help,” Rune offered with a smile before following Pepper inside.

Since Stark’s death, Pepper bought Morgan and her a simple cobblestone home in Tarrytown, NY on five acres of land. Though Rune wouldn’t call six bedrooms, eight baths, in a massive gated community simple, but she grew up in foster care and then with SHIELD and HYDRA, so. The location also had a large garage with a three bed and two bath carriage house that—since his beady eyeballs opened—Stark had already turned into his own personal research lab. “He’s in here.”

“You wouldn’t say?” Rune teased as Pepper opened the door for her.

“Tony?” Pepper called as they made their inside. “Tony, our guest is here!”

Stark’s head popped up from behind what looked like a replica of the pods they were found in. “Blueberry! Glad you could make it.”

“Hi, Rune,” came another voice.

Rune smiled when she found Morgan sitting in a chair right next to Stark. “You helpin’ your dad, Morgan?”

“Yes, she is!” Stark said proudly. Rune would bet her left leg Morgan was the exact replica of her father, with the beauty and kindness of her mother. And the man was enjoying every second of it. “Want to tell Rune what we’ve figured out?”

“Daddy had kidney stones.”

Stark whipped around to squint at her. Morgan only smiled wider. “What she meant to say is, HYDRA doctors are—”

“Language, Tony,” Pepper warned before making her way over to Morgan and sweeping her into her arms. “Want to help me make daddy and Rune some food? We might even get Happy to join in.”

Morgan cheered the entire way out of the garage. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Stark mumbled happily, watching them until they disappeared.

“I told you that kid is going to grow up to be your twin.”

“And this time, I’m going to do it right.”

Rune believed him, too. “Alright, what’s this about kidney stones?”

“Right! So, I went through some very old, dusty, HYDRA files and figured out how they managed to upload our memories.”

“I still don’t understand how that is possible.”

“Come, and be educated, my young berry of blue.”

“I’m fifty years old, you know.”

Stark froze mid-roll of his chair. “Seriously?”

Rune rolled her eyes, unable to hide her smirk. “Another time, Stark. Now, tell me about how HYDRA is smarter than we thought.”

“So, actually, HYDRA kidnapped the genius who was actually doing research on finding a way to physically collect human memories. FRIDAY, please pull up the files on Dr. Anton Chekov.”

“Russian, of course,” Rune snorted.

“In case you didn’t know, while Rogers was taking down SHIELD and HYDRA a couple of years ago, they found out that this crazy bastard,“ an image popped to life, Rune’s jaw grinding at the sight, ”Arnim Zola, was able to help Peggy Carter and my old man, transfer not just his memories, but his conscious, onto a billion mile tape that was essentially turned into a super computer. Pretty fancy for the era we were born in.”

“That bastard was saved? And they believed he was helping them? No wonder HYDRA was so heavily intertwined into SHIELD!”

“Breathe, blueberry,” Stark attempted. Rune did, taking a couple deep inhales before nodding for him to continue. “Anyway, once news was leaked that SHIELD succeeded in keeping a human conscious alive, Dr. Anton Chekov here decided to see if he could take it one step further. FRIDAY?”

A video popped up of a mouse walking through an intense looking maze, cheese centered in the middle. “He started his research with mice. He’d have one mouse succeed with finding the cheese in the maze, record their memories the same way Zola’s were transferred, but then—”

“Would transfer the memories to a host,” Stark continued. “It took him a few tries….two years worth, actually. Then, in 2017, he succeeded. Unfortunately for him—”

“HYDRA had been watching him.”

“Doesn’t matter how many heads you chop off, those damn tentacles will always be lingering,” Stark sighed with a shake of his head. “Anyway, since cloning was such a last year thing to the world, they’d already perfected their version of the craft.”

He motioned to the pod he’d recreated. “Usually if SHIELD has it, so does HYDRA.”

“Yup. So, using the stolen research, and combining it with their knowledge of cloning, they started what I call, Project Dolly.”

“Because of the sheep?”

“Definitely because of the sheep.”

“If they took my memories from the pit though, and they didn’t get the research until 2016, how did they preserve them? And why?”

“I’m assuming the same way they preserved Zola’s. That was never the mystery, it was transferring that conscious to another living being they struggled with,” he reminded her. “And considering they planned on you rotting away in Greenland, I’d say they kept your memories for one reason and one reason only.”

“My gift.”

“Nobody has ever been verbally able to control the conscious. Doubt HYDRA wanted to lose it, especially after losing the one thing that was keeping you from destroying them.”

“Buck.”

“The famous popsicle himself. So, after getting the research they needed, they dusted off your memory tape, uploaded it into the cloning pod, and here you are!”

“Then I’m assuming, once they realized they’d succeeded with me, they wanted more. And, since their precious Zola was caput, why not recreate the most famous genius out there?”

“I had surgery right before the whole Thanos thing to remove this massive kidney stone.” Of course he would have the damn thing in a vial on display. “Considering I was still rebuilding from—certain events that happened at my old place, I had to go to an actual hospital. It was a nightmare.”

“I wonder if they were going to wait to wake you up until after you died of old age?”

“Missed Parent Trap moment, if you ask me,” Stark tsked. “Honestly though, I think the snap ruined all of their plans.”

“Half of SHIELD gone means half of HYDRA had to have gone, too. With the world in more chaos than HYDRA counted on, they abandoned us.”

“Meaning we’ve been growing for seven and six years.”

“And would probably still be growing if a bunch of agents in training hadn’t accidentally found us.” Stark shrugged as he spun around in his chair. “Tony? Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“What did you tell Morgan? About you being alive?”

Stark came to a sharp stop, his back to her. Rune, patient as ever, didn’t push. “We told her the truth. I mean, being my daughter, means she is going to see a lot of crazy things. Already has, really, so why not add one more thing?”

“So, she knows you’re a clone. That the original Stark is dead.”

“Pepper and I never wanted to lie to our kids, if we ever had any. This world is—different than the one we grew up in. There are aliens, and cyborgs, and people with abilities that could kill you with the snap of a finger.”

“Or use their voice to force you to kill yourself, instead.”

Stark turned to face her as he nodded. “We agreed to tell her the truth, and let her decide if she still wanted me to be—you know…”

“Her father.”

“Yup,” he popped the ‘p’. “We gave her a full day to think about it, to make a massive decision for a five-year-old. And do you what she decided? That, even though I am in a different body, even though I might have a different mind, I was still her dad. And that she loved me 3000, in this life and the next.”

Rune ignored the burning in her eyes. “Pretty mature for five.”

“Takes after her mother in that way. No way in hell that came from me.”

“She’s a great kid, Stark,” Rune complimented. “And you and Pepper are great parents.”

“Thanks, blueberry.”

She stayed at the Stark’s place through dinner before returning to the compound. Almost as soon as she returned to Bucky’s room, however, her phone rang. She could already bet she knew what this conversation was going to be about. “Здрасте, Любимая моя.”

“Don’t try and butter me up,” Bucky warned. “Что ты сделала, Rune?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Then why was I just informed that you are officially off of SHIELD’s no fly list?”

“Oh.”

“How about how you never told me you were going to Stark’s.” Rune didn’t bother answering as she sat heavily onto his bed. “So, I’ll ask again. What did you do?”

“I just had a conversation with Fury, that’s all.”

There was a pause. “Considering there haven’t been any alerts about his death, I’m assuming it went ok? I know your feelings towards him have never been…positive.”

“That’s an interesting way to put it. It went as well as it could have.”

“You promised me you wouldn’t burn the place down to the ground, remember?”

“I told him that too. Besides, I’ve hit the same snag that tied me up the last time I wanted to burn HYDRA and SHIELD to the ground.”

“And what’s that?”

“Steve’s not here.”

“Rune…” Bucky sighed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Not until I get answers. Proper answers, not the bullshit everyone keeps trying to pass off.” She could hear him nodding on the other line, multiple voices echoing from the background. “I’d like to meet them someday.”

“Sam’s семья?”

“I mean, I know I’m not the best thing to bring to family dinners, or—or anything. Most of my stories involve SHIELD or HYDRA missions, and those are full of death. Not to mention my gift. I can try to share stories of when I was a kid, but most of the foster homes I lived in were full of abuse or—maybe I shouldn’t go. I can’t even share stories without death or—without—"

“Rune. Rune, stop.” Rune clamped her jaw shut. When had she started crying? “все в порядке. Дышать.”

“Прости,” she hiccuped, her hands beginning to shake violently. “мне так жаль. мне так жаль. мне так жаль.”

Bucky was trying to say something to her, his voice loud in her hear, but it all blended together under the panic that was quickly taking over. Her chest was tight, her vision tunneling into the rug beneath her feet. She was chanting…something, in Russian, but right now all she could hear was the piercing ringing. What the hell made her think she could ever be normal? Ever enjoy a familial dinner? A friendly gathering. She didn’t deserve those things. It didn’t matter if they were men, women, or children; she murdered, she tortured, she betrayed, and she controlled.

And her mind was sane the entire time.

There was a reason she was alright with dying to save Bucky. Because there was no way Rune Lilliana crow, the Will Bender, could ever return to civilization. Not really.

Mercifully, the ringing stopped.

And the world went dark.

Chapter Text

Cold darkness.

Now this was what Rune was used to. This lost unconsciousness. This darkness.

“мојa месец?”

Rune opened her eyes. Was someone—calling her? How was that possible? When she glanced down at her hands she realized they were glowing; her entire body was glowing red. A familiar red. “Hello?”

“мојa месец?” the voice called again from the abyss in front of her. “Не разумем.”

That’s when it hit her, her brows raising in surprise as she began to walk towards the voice. “моја Звезда? Where are you? I don’t—”

There was a flash of red magic that stopped her in her tracks, her nerves going on edge until a familiar face shimmered to life in front of her. Rune relaxed instantly before smiling. “Look at you! You have grown so much, Wanda.”

Rune expect a laugh, or a roll of her eyes. What she didn’t expect were the tears to instantly well and for the small witch to throw herself into Rune’s chest where she broke down into sobs. Rune gathered her into her arms, hand cupping the back of her head, before she began to quietly hush her. “Причај са мном, моја Звезда. Молим.”

“You died,” Wanda choked out, her fingers painful where they dug into her clothes. If she could see them now, she’d most likely see sparks of magic erupting from her skin. “Everyone died. There’s no one—no one left.”

She had read up on what had happened to her little star. Her Wanda. And it felt like her heart broke with every turn of the page. Not only had Pietro and Rune died, but once Wanda left Wakanda to run away with Vision, Thanos arrived and ripped that love straight from her arms before she was obliterated into dust. When Thanos died and the world returned to it’s shambled version of peace, Wanda was left alone. No Vision. No Steve. And with Clint on lockdown because of his deeds as Rōnin, who could she have possibly turned to for help? It didn’t surprise her when her magic tied so tightly with her emotions—her depression and anguish—that it cast an entire town into a twisted television show. It was her safety bubble. A bubble that was, of course, popped after that asshole from SWORD went in like a corrupted Rambo. Leaving her with more magic than she came with, and an even bigger hole in her heart. Where Wanda disappeared to after that, nobody knew. Not even Rune had been able to find her.

Until this bizarre encounter. Not that Rune was complaining.

“Look at me,” Rune finally coaxed once her sobs had calmed. “Come on, Wanda. Let me see that face.” Reluctantly, Wanda pushed away just enough for them to be nose to nose. “Do you remember what I told you during training with your brother?”

“No.”

“Who were you before the experiment?”

“Wanda Maximoff.”

“Who were you after the experiment?”

“Wanda Maximoff.”

“I taught you and your brother to never lose yourself. Especially not when you found yourself alone. I taught you to never get lost in what labels, what pressure, what darkness, they put on you. You are Wanda Maximoff, one of the strongest women I have ever met. A woman who nearly defeated a purple Titan on her own.”

Wanda sniffled as Rune dried her eyes. “They call me Scarlet Witch. Say I have chaos magic.”

“I’m assuming that has to do with what happened in Westview.” Wanda nodded. “Emotions make us do crazy things, you know. But, more than anything, it means we are able to still feel them.”

“I hurt people, Rune,” she whispered. “Everyone said I was a victimizer.”

“People fear those who are different, strong. Will say anything necessary to try and get rid of those people faster. Mob mentality. But, if any of them had taken the time to see all that you had gone through, all that you had lost, I don’t think they’d have judged you so harshly.” Wanda nodded meekly, but said nothing more. Which always meant there was more she wanted to talk about, but didn’t know how. “Причај са мном.”

“I don’t have anyone to turn to for help anymore.”

“I’m here now, am I not?”

“You died.”

“But apparently I can be cloned,” Rune clarified. Wanda’s eyes widened. “So, if this body dies, I can just be recreated again. And again. And again. Like a robot.”

“Who is to say you will not leave?”

The ‘like Steven’ was left hanging between them. Rune tucked a finger beneath the woman’s chin before lifting it so they were eye to eye again. “I have no intentions of leaving you again, моја Звезда. Besides, I have plans on fixing a lot of the damage that has been done while I've slept. Of reuniting those we lost.”

That caught Wanda’s attention. “How?”

“Still working the details out, but soon. Can you wait for us just a little bit longer?”

Wanda stared down at their hands before nodding. “I—I can do that.”

“Then it is a promise.” Wanda giggled—a sound that would always bring a smile to Rune’s face—when Ruse lifted her right pinky. Wanda wrapped her left around it. “Good. Now, I think it is time I woke up.”

“Хвала, мојa месец.”

“For you? Always.”

Then, their little world was engulfed with an even brighter shimmer of magic.

When Rune woke, she felt a cool metal hand on her cheek. “Rune? Rune, wake-up,” Bucky’s voice begged. “Rune!”

Her brows furrowed at the shout, her face turning away from the noise to bury into scratchy cotton. “Веди себя тихо.”

Bucky breathed out a sigh of relief before she felt a heavy head fall against her arm. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled as her eyes finally fluttered open. She was in the medical wing again. Great. “What am I doing here?”

“You have been unconscious for a total of twenty-nine hours,” Dr. Cho answered.

“How long?” Rune squawked. When she attempted to sit up, the world violently spun. She collided roughly with the pillows again as her fingers gripped her temples in agony. “Fuck, my head.”

“Stop moving,” Bucky hissed.

Dr. Cho fiddled with the buttons on the machine hooked up to her IV. Slowly the pain began to dwindle, allowing her to open her eyes again. “What happened?”

“We were on the phone when you had a panic attack.”

“I’ve never passed out from a panic attack before,” Rune snapped.

“But this isn’t the same body you had before,” Dr. Cho reminded her gently. “Do remember your body was forced through a rather traumatic growth process, as it physically progressed from an embryo, to a twenty-year old, in the span of less than ten years.”

“And then forty-years-worth of memories were stuffed into your brain,” Bucky added. “You have to go easy on yourself.”

“Mr. Barnes is right. We do not know how this body will react to situations your previous body had been through.”

Rune didn’t—never once in her life had Rune been told to take it easy. She was always being pushed to be better while she was with SHIELD, and with HYDRA going easy resulted in punishment. Then again, this was an entirely different life… “Rune?”

“Yeah,” she finally answered, a little reluctantly. “I’ll take it easy.”

Dr. Cho nodded as she poked at her tablet. “In a couple of days, I am going to bring you back in for further examinations. Mr. Stark as well.”

“Thank you, doc,” Bucky said as Dr. Cho took her leave. As soon as she doors closed, Bucky ran metal fingers roughly through his hair. “You scared the shit out of me, you know that?”

“I already told you, I’m sorry. It’s not like I meant it.”

“I know you didn’t. I just…”there was a long pause. “I thought I lost you again.”

“Bucky.”

“This whole you being alive, clone or not, feels like it is too good to be true. Every night I go to sleep terrified that I am going to wake up and all of this—that you’re a figment of my imagination. That I’m still in that damn cryo-chamber and all of this is some fucked up dream.”

“It isn’t.”

“Sometimes I wish it was,” he whispered, his head falling into his hands. “Sometimes I feel like it was easier back then. Just being the soldier.”

There was no way in hell Rune was letting those thoughts slide. So, she slid onto her knees, and cupped his face between her hands. “Послушай меня,” she ordered. “I would rather slit both of our throats right now than see you back in their hands. To see you tortured in that fucking chair, or frozen behind a pane of glass where I can’t reach you. I did not fight, for over twenty years, just to see you give-up.”

Bucky’s hands pressed hers deeper into his skin. “I’m sorry.”

“I am here, can’t you feel it? And I promise you, now that we are truly free, I will do whatever necessary to stay by your side. Until the day we die of old age.”

“обещать?”

“я обещаю,” she said before kissing his head. After giving his cheeks a couple of squeezes, she tucked herself back under the hospital sheets. “Now, get in this bed so we can continue watching that series you’re obsessed it.”

Bucky rolled his eyes as he slid onto the mattress next to her. “You’re just as obsessed with Parks and Rec as I am. Don’t lie.”

“I never lie.”

Which was complete bullshit and they both knew it. They’d almost finished the third season when she felt Bucky snoring against the top of her head. She couldn’t help her grin as she continued the mindless ministrations of her fingers up and down his flesh arm; poor man was so touched starved that a little bit of caressing had him completely passed out. Good, he needed it. The bags under his eyes were finally starting to fade.

Knowing she wasn’t going to be sleeping anytime soon, however, she shut down the monitor less screen and opened her phone. She had multiple windows open in her browser, most with subjects on the Thanos war, a couple of files on how the Avengers were able to defeat him, and anything and everything she could conjure up about the soul stone. That little bastard was the key to this, she could just feel it, but she needed a bit more evidence before she could start spilling her conspiracies. So, until then, she researched and collected and—

An article on the mysterious death of Natalia Alianovna Romanova stopped her mindless thoughts. Rune’s heart sank as she read through it, through her life, through her history. Maybe it was because of her interaction with Wanda earlier that day, but suddenly she felt a deep sense of sadness for her Spiderling. Natasha, who had been through so much, sacrificed so much, just so she could be apart of a true family. And this family she’d found, it was a good family. A broken one, but still good. Of course she chose to sacrifice herself to save the world. To save them. And in return all she got was a pathetic excuse for a funeral. Like her sacrifice had been tossed aside for the grandness of Stark’s. Stark, who those HYDRA bastards believed deserved a second existence…not Natalia.

It was then, as she continued scrolling, she came upon a familiar face. “Yelena?”

Bucky shifted, Rune holding her breath as she watched him reposition himself until he was far enough down the mattress to tuck his head against her shoulder, his arms crossing over his stomach. She wrapped her arm around his head, giving him a softer surface and allowing her to run her fingers through his hair. Once he’d settled again, she returned to her phone. Yelena Belova. She remembered this innocent girl from the Red Room; she’d recognize those bright eyes anywhere. Had watched the start of that innocence being sucked from her soul, the same way it had from Natasha’s. But why was her name here with Natalia’s? After making sure Bucky was for sure asleep, she pulled up the screenless screen again. Here she was able to poke through whatever SHIELD records she had access too. “Computer, pull up any information you possess on Yelena Belova.”

There was a spinning wheel and then a chime as a small file popped up. On paper it was small, but after having spent some time with the KGB and personally inside the Red Room, she could read between all the lines. Natasha and Yelena knew each other. Rune wasn’t entirely sure how, but their time together wasn’t long before they were pulled into the Red Room and torn apart. Looked like the bastards had succeeded in complete manipulation of the mind during their time there, too…it’d been the entire reason Rune and Bucky had been brought in to work with them. They wanted to pull everything they could out of the infamous подавитель воли. Their key to the best assassin team in the universe. She’d hoped they wouldn’t find the solution, the key to endless mind control, but she was wrong. Who knew how long they’d been controlling other Widows. Controlling Yelena.

It looked like her Spiderling and the innocent one had found each other again, though. Had finally brought down the Red Room, together. Finished what Natasha had started. God…how had Yelena taken the news? Had she been able to visit Natasha’s tombstone? Did she even know about it? Everything in her screamed to find Yelena. To talk to her. So, Rune began her search. From what she’d learned, Yelena had taken on the mission of freeing the remaining sleeping Widows that were still out there in the world. Rune was able to follow her across the world before she suddenly she seemed to disappear…until two days ago when Rune found signs of her back in the states.

Which couldn’t mean good news.

“Buck,” she violently poked Bucky’s arm after sliding her arm from around his head. “Bucky, wake up.”

He grunted as he rolled away from her. “No.”

“Wake up. We need to go.”

When she flung the sheets off of her legs, only stumbling a bit when she got her feet back on the ground, Bucky immediately sat up. “Where the hell are you going?”

“We are going on a hunt.”

He must have finally noticed the still lit screen hovering over the bed. “Yelena Belova? Who is that?”

“Someone we met in the Red Room. I don't believe you worked with her, and she was so young, I’m not surprised you don’t remember.”

“She knew Tasha.”

“It was because of her and Spiderling that blasted place is finally gone,” Rune explained as she pulled her clothes out of the plastic bag hanging on the end of the bed and began to hop into them. “Now, we are going to find her.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve been researching her for the past hour and something is very suspicious about her latest stop. So, we are going to go check in on her.”

“She’ll probably shoot us when we show up.”

“Darling, who doesn’t shoot at us when they see us?” Bucky seemed to want to argue, but came up with nothing. “Come along. We are heading into the city.”

“What the hell is she doing here?”

“No idea, but we’re going to find out. Put your boots on, you’re driving.”

They got into the city within the hour, then spent the next few following Yelena’s last whereabouts. If she had been a regular SHIELD agent, they’d probably spend most of their time walking around in circles before returning home with their tails between their legs. But, Rune knew how to think like a Widow. Like an assassin. As they passed Central Park, however, it was Bucky who spotted someone familiar first. “Barton?”

Clint Barton swung around, eyes wide and brows raised despite the multiple butterfly bandages covering his face, before he broke out into a smile. “Barnes!”

“What the hell happened to you?” Bucky questioned as he approached him and the dark-haired woman standing just behind him. “Did you piss a cat off?”

Rune stayed behind, letting the men catch up as Clint introduced the woman behind him as Kate Bishop. While she watched on, however, the hairs at the back of her neck suddenly sparked. She glanced around, trying to act casual, when she spotted the tiniest glint of binoculars from behind The Falconer statue. Slowly Rune made a wide birth around around the statue, through the trees, until she spotted the blonde woman she’d come here hunting. Yelena was sitting at the base, scope in hand as she watched the exchange between old friends. Rune watched her for a few minutes, she could see the shake in the hand not clutching the scope, the way her jaw was clenched. Considering she was watching the solider, who helped beat them into submission, make an exchange with the hawk she was obviously hunting, Rune couldn’t be surprised.

So, she stepped from the shadows and stood mere feet away. “Здрасте.”

The only reason the knife missed Rune’s head, and embedded into the tree behind her, had to have been because of the tremor surging through Yelena's body. “Вы.”

“Hello, little one,” Rune said with a small smile.

She didn’t dare move from her spot; she wanted Yelena to stay here, not run away. “You’re dead,” Yelena whispered in horror. “You—you died.”

“Apparently the people I was forced to work for liked me so much, they made another.”

“I don’t—don’t understand.”

“I am a clone. I might have my memories, but this is not the body I was born with. The body you met,” Rune slowly explained.

Yelena’s eyes narrowed. “And your gift?”

Rune shrugged. “I do not know, nor do I wish to find out. If you believe I am here to use it on you, than you have nothing to fear. If anything, I am here to thank you.”

That seemed to knock the poor girl off of her feet. “What?”

“You helped free all of those Widows. Are still working hard to save those who are lost out there,” she complimented. “And you prevented future children from suffering like you and Natalia did.”

It was at Natasha’s name that the anger she’d expected surged forward. There was another knife, a distraction that Rune dodged before blocking the sharp kick that followed; damn, the girl still moved as fast as she had back them. “You tortured us!” she shrieked, throwing more punches. Rune miscalculated a swift punch to the sternum, the force knocking her backwards. She sharply rolled over her shoulder and managed to stumble back to her feet though, just in time to block another punch; Christ, Dr. Cho was right. Her body was not ready to handle these kinds of fights. “You ripped through our minds. You helped them control us! It’s because of you I became a mindless slave!”

Rune found an opening that she abused, slamming all of her weight into Yelena and sending them both crashing to the ground. She pinned the blonde’s hands above her head, her ankles forcing down the knees. “I’m sorry, Yelena.”

“No, you’re not!”

“I am! I followed their orders for selfish reasons, and Natalia and you were hurt because of it. A lot of Widows were hurt because of it,” Rune apologized. “Try and believe me when I say that if when I woke, and the red room was still standing, I’d have joined you in tearing them down piece by piece. Especially Dreykov.”

“You lie!” Yelena shrieked, though there were tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. “What selfish reason could you have had?”

“Влюблённость.”

Yelena froze, her bright eyes staring up at her. “You were in love?”

Slowly Rune stood, her hands raised palms up to show she was no longer going to attack. She then walked back over to the statue where she patiently waited for Yelena to follow, though cautiously. Once she was close enough, she pointed to where Bucky and Kate were laughing at an exasperated Clint. “Everything I did while with HYDRA, was for him.”

“The soldier,” Yelena whispered.

“He was a man stolen from his time, tortured, manipulated, and abused until they perfected their best soldier. His actions were not selfish like mine.”

“His were out of fear, like mine.” Rune nodded solemnly. “And now? Is he—”

“The words that once held him like a leash are gone. Bucky Barnes is free to be his own person.”

“Is that his name? Bucky?”

“He prefers it, yes. James is a terrible name.” As the two watched the trio interact with each other, all lost in their own little bubble, something occurred to Rune. “You’re here to kill Clint.”

“Yes.”

Yelena didn’t even try to deny it. “Because of Natasha’s death.”

“He killed her. He is the reason she died on Vormir. Left to rot on that miserable planet while he was able to return home to his precious family.”

Which—she wasn’t wrong, but she also wasn’t right. So, without thinking, Rune snagged Yelena’s wrist and began to drag her towards the group. “What the hell?” Yelena struggled, but failed miserably. “Let me go!”

“Today we are not assassins. Today we are adults who have shared trauma and need to speak about our emotions, like human beings. Not the soulless creatures we were trained to be.”

When they got about ten feet away, the trio finally noticed the minor kidnapping coming towards them. Rune stopped a few feet away, her grip tight despite Yelena trying to pinch her fingers off. Bucky’s brows rose. “Wow, you found her!”

“She was hiding over there, stalking Barton.”

“So that’s why she came back to New York.” Bucky seemed to frown at his own words. “Wait, no, I still don’t understand.”

“Clint?” Kate called softly.

Clint was staring at Yelena, his eyes wide and his own hands shaking at his sides. “You’re—you’re Yelena. Natasha’s sister.”

That seemed to clue Bucky in, who quietly cursed under his breath, Rune finally realizing how the two women knew each other before they were trapped within the Red Room. When the silence seemed to cover all of Central Park, Rune continued to pull Yelena forward until she could grab Clint’s wrist. Seemed like they needed another push that Rune was happy to give. “You two were Natasha’s family. You were her people, her сердце.”

Yelena’s breath hitched, Clint swallowing thickly.

“Natasha died. And do you know who she died for? Not just to save humanity. She died for you two. She died to keep you safe. Now don’t you two dare ruin her sacrifice, or I swear to the heavens I will use my gift to force you both off of the edge of a cliff.”

Slowly Rune released them before she backed up to Bucky’s side, his hand immediately clutching hers as they watched the two stare in silence at each other. “Can…”Yelena hesitated as she seemed to try and find the right words. “Can we talk? Somewhere?”

“Please.”

As they turned to leave Yelena offered a small smile to Rune who winked in response. Then, they watched as Clint and Yelena walked off through the park together, Kate following hesitantly behind. “She was here to kill him, wasn’t she?”

“I don’t know if she could have done it. Beat him to a pulp maybe once she found the perfect moment to get him alone, but I don’t think she’d have killed him. Clint meant a lot to Spiderling.”

“Like she meant a lot to all of us,” Bucky agreed. “Did you find the answers you needed from her?”

“Maybe.”

“Come on, I’ll take you to my favorite pizza joint. I’m starving.”

Rune nodded before they began to walk the opposite direction through the park. Rune curled the hand not holding onto Bucky’s around his metal bicep. “Hey, Buck?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell me again how Karli Morgenthau kicked your ass.”

Bucky sputtered out a laugh as Rune grinned at him. “I know you’ve seen the videos.”

“I know, but tell me more. And don’t skimp on how you and Sam kicked John Walker into the ground.”

“Fine, you brat.”

When they returned to the compound, they settled in Bucky’s room for leftovers and movies. Rune had just returned from her room after changing out of her jeans, only to find Bucky frowning at his phone. “What is it?”

“I need to go back and help Sam. I mean, I did promise him a couple of days, and he only got one.”

Rune winced. “Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Bucky reminded her before pulling the sheets back on the bed for her to crawl in. “If anything, I’m glad your body held up long enough to survive Belova’s ass kicking.”

“I definitely can’t take the punches I use to.” Which was true; Rune had multiple dark bruises across her skin that would have barely shown during her HYDRA days. She sprawled out like a starfish as soon as Bucky threw the sheets back over her. “When do you leave?”

“In the morning.”

He didn’t sound happy about it. Rune unburied a hand to squeeze his forearm. “I’m going to be fine, you know. Won’t even leave the compound this time; Stark is coming here Thursday for more testing with Dr. Cho, Fury is in the office all week, and Hill is always keeping an eye on me.”

Bucky made an annoyed sound before tossing his phone and flopping backwards into the pillows. “I know, it’s just—”

“Going to be awhile before you feel comfortable leaving me on my own, I get it.”

“Promise me you’ll be safe.”

“I already promised you.”

“Promise me again, засранец.”

“Fine,” she grumbled before rolling over to face him. “I, Rune Crow, promise you, James Barnes, that I will be the epitome of a potato while you are gone. No rash decisions. No stupid actions.”

“Could have used less sass, but I’ll take it.”

“Good boy,” she teased before kissing his nose. “Now, go to sleep. Sam shouldn't be forced to deal with cranky assholes in the morning.”

“He’s gonna.”

“спать.”

As she watched Bucky’s eyes close, her fingers beginning to trace his face, the shell of his ear, before pushing through his hair, she silently apologized. The plan Rune promised Wanda was slowly coming together. She knew what she had to do, knew how to get what she needed, and knew where she had to go once it was formed, but she couldn’t put anything into motion until she spoke to one last person.

Steve Rogers.

“Soon,” Rune thought to herself as Bucky fell asleep beneath her touch. “Soon, everything will be back to normal. I’m going to make sure of it, I promise.”

Chapter Text

The second Bucky left the next morning, Rune was back to her research.

About Steve, at least.

If Steve truly had gone back in time to be with Peggy, why was there no proof? Sure, there are other timelines, other universes that were traversed in, but those Peggys were not Steve’s. He wouldn’t have just waltzed off with some random Peggy. Right? So, why was Peggy legally married to one Daniel Sousa? And why did her two children have his last name? The fact they had children at all was amazing considering, based on the notes she’d studied a long time ago about Project Rebirth, Steve wouldn’t be able to have kids. Although adoption was a good second plan…

Right, back to the problem at hand.

The point was, why had nobody questioned this before? Had everyone just taken that wrinkly Steve's word for truth? Had not one damn person fact checked him? Was the shield he handed over even the right shield?!? To get the truth, she called the one person who disappeared before anyone could question her about Steve’s story.

“Who is this?” Sharon snapped as soon as she answered. “How did you get this number?”

Considering the sly woman, who’d recently been cleared of all charges and able to return to the states and her old job, probably found her signal pinging off of the SHIELD compound, she wasn’t surprised by the sharp greeting. Hopefully she wouldn’t figure out she stole her number from Bucky’s phone; less he knew about this conversation, the better. “Sharon Carter, right?”

“That wasn’t what I asked.”

“My name is Rune Lilliana Crow.”

Dead silence. Which was the usual reaction to her name, dead or alive.

“I’m going to guess you recognize that name.”

“You’re dead.”

“Does anyone stay dead in this universe, Miss Carter?”

More silence.

“What do you want?”

“I just have a few questions for you. And no, not about your shady black-market dealings.”

“I don’t know—”

“I’m ex-HYDRA, my dear. Did a bit of research on you before I called. Found your footprint in a few dark alleyways, your fingerprint on a few stolen goods, but, since you helped Bucky and Sam, I’m willing to pretend I saw nothing and never speak of it again.”

“What do you want to know?”

“I’d like to ask about your childhood. About your Great-Aunt Peggy.”

“Fine. Ask away.”

“Was she married to Steve Rogers?”

“Excuse me?”

And that was the response she was hoping for.

“No, my aunt was not married to—that doesn’t even make any sense. My Great Uncle Danny was married to Great Aunt Peggy. I think I’d remember if Steve Rogers was at Christmas dinner with us. What the hell kind of question is this?”

“One that has answered everything I have ever questioned since I woke up. Thank you for your time, Sharon.”

“Aren’t you going to tell me what’s going—”

Rune hung up and quickly blocked Sharon’s number. Rude? Yes. Did she care? Right now, no. Right now, she was in shock, fury, relief, and determination. Besides, she wasn't supposed to know Steve Rogers had gone in time and fucked everything up.

It meant that Steve either stole the life of another universe’s Peggy, or this wasn’t their Steve at all. She was praying for the latter, but who knew what had happened to Steve during the five years after the snap. All of his marbles could have fallen out for all they knew, and worming his way into the life of another universe's Peggy was not beneath his morals. Either way, Rune was going to figure out what the hell was going on.

Once she found him, that was. Cracking SHIELD security around his most recent file was turning out to be harder a task than she’d hoped. Bastards.

The knock at her door had her groaning. Didn’t people know by now that she practically lived in Bucky’s room? Annoyed, she slid from Bucky’s bed and opened the front door. There was someone in front of her door alright, but they weren’t alone. And the tactical gear they wore belonged to—“There she is!”

Rune slammed the door just in time for three bullets to strike it. She sprinted across the room and snagged her phone before ducking behind the bed, thankful she had Hill on speed dial. Originally she’d done it as a joke, to make her listen to multiple buttdials, but now it actually came in handy. “Come on, pick up. For the love of—”

“What is it Crow?”

“We have a breach in—“someone slammed their weight into the door, the hinges threatening to snap. “We have intruders in the common rooms. Pretty sure I know who they’re here for.”

“Starting lockdown. Try and hold them off until we get there!”

The door finally gave way at the same time alarms began to blare through the building. Multiple shots rang out, but when they imbedded into the wall just next to her head, she realized they weren’t bullets at all; these were tranquilizer darts. They didn’t want to hurt her. They wanted to take her. Thankfully, Rune didn’t have the same objective. She snagged the glock Bucky had hidden under the bed and immediately opened fire with four shots. She struck one in the neck, and a second in the knee, before she bolted into the bathroom and slammed that door, too. More darts struck it at the same time she locked it. Knowing she couldn’t just hide in here, she smashed out the window screen and slipped through.

As soon as her bare feet hit the grass, however, she found three more men waiting for her, dart guns raised. Rune didn’t waste time, shooting one three time in the legs, crippling them, before she slipped the blade from her pants and lunged at the closest. She slashed at them, keeping them distracted while she kicked out the knee of the second soldier still standing. They were desperately trying to tranq her, but thankfully Rune had enough memory to keep herself afloat. She just needed to wait for her window, which came not too long after. One of the soldier’s faltered, giving Rune an opening to jam her blade into their side and use their pained stumble to slam them into their partner. Both of them hit the ground with a painful thumb before going limp in the grass.

At the same time, the bathroom door shattered open, and the surviving solder tried to slip through the window after her. Rune ran, blade at the ready, only to turn around the back of the building and find a team of ten men waiting for her. Jesus, how many people had they sent? That small hesitation, however, gave one of the approaching soldiers time to shoot. She ripped the dart from her throat as fast as she could, but already the world was beginning to spin. Panic surged through her as the men began to close in, two more darts piercing her thigh and hip. What should she do? What could she do? She couldn't let them take her. Her plans weren't complete yet, she needed more time.

As soon as her knees gave way, Rune covered her ears and screamed, the sensation vibrating the world around her in a way that felt safe. Familiar. Deadly.

“Stop!”

And then, there was silence.

Nothing. Not even a breath or a crinkle of grass.

Slowly Rune uncurled herself to find every single soldier dead in their tracks, guns still raised, their chests barely moving with each breath. Not a single twitch. Not one eye blinking. Well, that answered the lingering question about her gift.

“Crow!” Hill’s voice finally called out. Multiple heavy footsteps echoed from behind her, but she couldn’t turn away. Her entire body was shaking, her heart wedged so far into her throat she couldn’t speak. The world was going black, and fast, her torso beginning to slump into the grass. Hill, mercifully, snagged her before she could completely fall forward. “Hey. Hey, now, stay with me. What happened?”

“Dart.”

Hill followed her pathetic attempt at pointing to the darts in her legs. “Hill, they’re—unresponsive," one of the agents called, others poking and prodding the entranced HYDRA soldiers.

“Guess that answers that question,” Hill repeated Rune’s earlier thoughts. “They’re lucky that’s all she did to them. Anderson, help me get her to medic, now. The rest of you, haul these assholes down to holding. Don’t let a single one out of your sight. Come on, Rune. Let’s go see Dr. Cho.’

Rune, however, slipped under the second she was lifted from the grass.

This time, when she woke up, it was to a squinting Stark. He poked her nose, probably not for the first time, nearly causing her to sneeze. “Rude, Stark.”

“Hey, she lives!” he cheered. “How are you feeling? Let me help you sit up.”

Slowly he eased Rune against the pillows before adjusting the bed controls to help her sit up more fully. “What the hell happened?”

“HYDRA agents. Not sure if current or not, but they definitely knew who you were,” Hill answered from where she’d apparently been standing in the doorway.

“How? I don’t—only a handful of people knew I was awake.”

“We wondered the same thing, until Stark noticed something about the cracked programming he’d finally received from our IT team.”

Stark pulled up the holo screen to reveal blueprints of the pod they'd been created in. “After SHIELD did their digging into the exact process of our cloning and memory replenishment, I went a little further. I wanted to know how long they wanted our process to last, and what exactly they were going to do with us once we hatched.”

“What did you find?”

“This.”

A multitude of code and other programming jargon spilled across the screen. “Stark, my brain isn’t functioning right now. Please, explain.”

“To start, there is an alert system built within these pods. That way, anyone monitoring our progress, would know if the pod was destroyed, if the program failed and we were left to rot, or if the pod ever opened.”

“Someone lingering in the HYDRA world must have gotten that alert. Went to the bunker, found it empty, and then hunted us down.”

"More like hunted Rune down," Hill reiterated. "Getting you and your gift would make taking Stark down a piece of cake."

“And that’s not even the best part.”

“Great. Spill it.”

“We were never supposed to get all of our memories back. Only some.” Rune frowned. Stark continued. “There was one more step that was supposed to happen before we were woken up. This program was set to start in six months.”

“An alteration program," Rune gasped.

“Bingo. They only wanted us to remember bits and pieces of our past lives. So, after they loaded our memories, they intended to dice and slice and insert their own fake memories to make us believe we were HYDRA’s men all along. Well, more dedicated to it than you actually were, at least.”

“Make us dedicated to their cause because that’s all we were supposed to know. Because we were so obedient to HYDRA in the past, we were expected to continue that dedication.”

“Yup. And with my genius and your mind-bending skills, they’d have been unstoppable.”

“Think we could have broken through this programming? Gotten our memories back?”

“Only if we were able to organically get them back. Apparently, those downloaded memories of ours, had a one-time use. No second tries.”

“Fuck,” Rune groaned as she rubbed her hands over her face. “They must have come for me so I could bring you in on a leash and they could finish the programming.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Did you have any security breaches at your house?”

“Not yet, but I’ve raised FRIDAY’s security protocols just in case. Nobody is getting near my family.”

“And we had Stark check out our security, too. See how this group was able to get on base without alerting us.”

“And?”

“Laundry,” Stark barked out with laughter. “They used the oldest trick in the book! Crammed a bunch of their men into a laundry van, unloaded, and waited until night fell.”

Rune gaped, Hill pinching the bridge of her nose. Well, that was...both embarassing and hilarious. “How long was I out this time?”

“Forty-six hours.” Fuck. “That tranquilizer they gave you was meant to keep you knocked out for days. Stark and Cho were able to reverse the effects rather quickly though.”

“I also might have-maybe possibly-alerted popsicle yesterday about what happened to you,” Stark mumbled; he at least seemed a little bit sorry about it. “He should be here any—"

“Rune!”

Bucky nearly tore the door off it’s hinges trying to get it open, Hill just barely moving out of the way. “—minute. He moves fast for being half robot.”

“What the hell happened?” Bucky demanded as he stalked into the room.

This time, he wasn’t alone, Sam Wilson marching in right behind him. Rune smiled when he stopped next to her bed and hovered over her, metal and flesh grasping her hand. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“That’s not funny. Did HYDRA really attack you?”

“Afraid so, popsicle. And, based on the tranq they filled her with, they planned on keeping her, too.”

“Fuck,” Buck cursed, his knees shaking before finally giving out and sending him crashing into the chair.

“It’s alright, Buck. I handled it.”

“That’s not the point!”

“She did handle it, Barnes,” Hill attempted to reassure him. “In traditional Crow fashion.”

“That mean she got her mojo back?” Sam questioned.

“Just ask the fifteen tranced agents hanging out in our holding cells.”

“So, you have your gift back?” Bucky questioned. Rune nodded. “Well, at least that I can count on to keep you safe. Because apparently I can’t leave you alone for a single day without you getting yourself put in the hospital wing.”

“Прости. I didn’t go looking for it this time, I swear.”

“I know,” Bucky sighed as he pressed her fingers to his lips. “Just scared the shit out of me, is all.”

“You gonna introduce the new Cap to Stark and me?” Rune asked, hoping to raise the mood a little.

“Yeah, yeah,” Bucky grumbled. “Sam, this the new and improved Tony Stark, and this is Rune Crow.”

“That the new Star-Spangled ass of the world?” Stark grinned before holding his hand out. Sam shook it with a grin. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. Again. Gotta say, this is super fucking weird considering I watched the old you practically implode.”

“Bet that was a sight to see,” Stark chuckled.

“Stark,” Rune warned before offering a smile to Sam. “Hello, Sam. Thank you for at least trying to keep this dumbass out of trouble.”

“Gotta say, it’s a hard job. Glad to finally meet you, Rune.”

“Wilson, since you’re here, mind if I pick your brain about your new suit?”

“It’s Wakanda made, you know.”

“And I would love to hear all about it. Shall we? Hill, coming with?”

“Got other things to do. Paperwork, mostly.”

Once the room emptied to just the two of them, Rune glanced over to find Bucky staring at their hands. She gently shook them. “Buck?”

“If your gift hadn’t worked, they would have taken you.”

Rune wanted to argue, but this time she couldn’t. As much as she’d like to think she’d have gotten out before they could start messing with her memories, she couldn’t convince herself. If the tranquilizer worked as well as Stark had said, she’d have been unconscious just long enough for them to get what they wanted. “Maybe.”

“I’m not leaving again.”

“Buck…”

“No, I’m serious. Not for a few weeks, at least. Not until I feel confident you’ll be ok on your own.”

That…wasn’t ideal considering her plans, but the look he had right now was proof there was no talking him out of it. Looked like she was going to have to tweak a few things. “Alright.”

“Thank you,” he heaved out a sigh, his head hanging. “Jesus, I don’t have the emotional capacity for this shit.”

“Have to say, getting shot at isn’t as fun as it used to be.” That at least got a small chuckle out of him, though he didn’t lift his head. She shook their joined hands again. “Parks and Rec?”

“Yes, please.”

Sam joined them a couple of hours later with popcorn. Turned out, he had plans to stay for a couple of days and help with training. There was always a chance SHIELD would need to bring the new Captain America in to assist, and they needed to learn how to work together with his fighting style. Each Cap was unique, afterall. Rune made promises to come and watch, maybe even give a lesson on how to fight like an assassin. No will bending, of course. Just ass-kicking.

By the time nine o’clock came around, Dr. Cho cleared her to return to the common rooms, as long as she took it easy and reported in the next day for a check-up. Bucky decided to spend a couple of hours with Sam, Rune passing on the hangout and claiming she was going to turn in early. But, instead, she wandered the compound until she found Stark in one of the labs. He instantly perked up at the sight of her in the doorway. “Blueberry!”

“I thought you’d have gone back home by now.”

“Eh,” he shrugged before tossing the piece he was fiddling with onto the table. “Pep and Morgan are visiting her family down in Florida. Her parents don’t know I’m back from the land of the dead yet, so I had to stay home. Got bored and decided to wander around this place and help wherever they needed it.”

“So hospitable.”

“What are you doing up and around? Thought the doc told you to take it easy. As in, bed rest.”

“Please, like I have ever taken it easy a single day in my life,” she snorted. “I had questions, actually. Was hoping you could help me answer them.”

“My, my, is the bender of wills a secret science nerd?”

“Complex formulas have never been my strong suit. But, I was watching a movie about teleportation, and was hoping you’d give me some idea of how modern teleportation would work. Didn’t the Avengers use something similar to destroy that giant purple grape?”

Stark burst out laughing. “Oh my God, I am using that. Purple grape? I have neverheard Thanos called that before. It is beautiful,” he heaved out through his laughter. “To answer your question, they used more of a time-travelling situation, not a teleportation. They were going to different years, going to places they already had been. Teleporting is a bit different.”

“Impossible?”

“Based on what I read up through previous me’s notes, it’s a similar process. They used Pym Particles to allow travel through the quantum realm, and used a specialized machine to get them to the timeline they needed. Fascinating stuff, really.”

“Think those Pym particles could help the people trying to teleport?”

“No doubt. Configurations of the platform would need to happen to make sure you weren't torn to shreds during the process, and that the coordinates were exact so you could not only land safely, but were able to return with a press of a magical button. A little complicated. Not impossible.”

“These people were trying to get to Mars. I mean, got to be impossible to planet hop!”

“The Avengers managed to transcend to a whole other dimension when they needed to get to Asgard.”

“Thor’s home.”

“Yup. If they could get him there, they could get you anywhere. Even to Pluto, if you needed. As long as you had enough Pym Particles to power the ride, of course.”

“How many would you need for a trip there and back?”

“Based on the research videos and files describing every detail, one vile there, one vile back,” Stark theorized. “But getting those things from Hank Pym would be like pulling teeth. Even though it saved his skin, the man didn’t seem all that happy we used his invention. Not to mention went back into the past to steal more.”

“Rumors are that his wife is literally made of them because of her time in the Quantum Realm.”

“I’ve heard that too,” he agreed. “I would love to meet that woman, but I also don’t want to get shot by Hank.”

“Smart man.”

“Did you know that platform is still set up at the cabin?”

Rune immediately perked up. “They never tore it down?”

“Nobody seemed to want to return to the place they had my funeral. Can’t say I blame them.” Rune nodded as she sat back into her seat; well, that platform sure made her plan a hell of a lot easier. “So, you got your gift still, huh?”

“Apparently.”

“You happy to have it back?”

“No.”

That seemed to peak Stark’s interest. “Really? How come?”

“Because this gift got my parents killed. This gift got me sold into HYDRA. This gift has killed hundreds of people. People hunt me just to try and use my gift to their advantage,” she explained. “The only good thing my gift ever did was allow me to protect Bucky Barnes. To spread fear through those who found joy in using him. In torturing him. But now that he is finally free…”

“You have no need for it. No want.”

“Exactly.”

“Either way, it’s good to have you back with the land of the living, too. Can’t say I could have picked a better person to be cloned with.”

Rune stood from her chair to walk across the room and kiss his cheek. “Thank you, Stark. If I don’t see you tomorrow, be safe getting home, alright?”

“I will, as long as you take care of yourself. And try staying out of trouble.”

“Try, I will. Good-night, Stark.”

Thankfully, when she returned to Bucky’s room, it was still empty, his laugh echoing up the hall from Sam’s room. Good, he needed the unwind after everything that had happened. Feeling the exhaustion sinking into her bones, Rune chucked her jeans into the corner of the room and crawled under the sheets. Yes, she had a lot of work to do. Yes, she probably should start collecting her ‘assistants’ right away, but right now she needed to shut her brain down and sleep.

Rune only woke again when she felt the mattress dip, a cold metal arm wrapping around her waist and pressing against her bare stomach. She inhaled sharply, elbowing Bucky when he snickered into her shoulder. “засранец.”

“Прости.”

“And you’re a filthy liar.”

“Go back to sleep. We’ve got a long day of training tomorrow.”

They lay there in silence for a long while, Bucky’s breathing slowly evening out. He hadn’t had a single nightmare since she was essentially born. In fact, he hadn’t been dreaming at all, leaving him more restful than he’d been in months. More restful than he’d been since Steve left. Her hand slid down his wrist until she could curl her fingers through his. “Buck?”

“Mhm?”

“What would you have done if I woke up and didn’t remember you?”

“You mean the pod? How HYDRA planned on changing your memories.” She gave a little shrug. “How many times did you have to do that with me? How many times did they put me in that chair, erase everything I ever knew, yet you still pulled me back? Reminded me of who I was, where I came from, who I lo—loved. For decades you did that for me, so you bet your ass I’d spend even longer to return the favor.”

She squeezed his fingers. “обещать?”

“Rune, we won’t let them take—”

“Promise me, Buck. Just…Будь другом.”

Bucky pulled her tighter against his chest before kissing her hair. “я обещаю.”

Rune fell asleep with the pain in knowing that, to heal this man’s heart, she was going to have to break it just a little bit more.

Chapter Text

It had been a busy week for Rune. A hard one at that considering Bucky refused to let her go more than five feet without him.

But, now that she knew her gift was still with her, it made things a little bit easier. She had done research on the scientists, researchers, agents, and other bodies that passed through this compound, gathering intel on the ones she could use to her advantage. All together she gathered eight men and women, ordering them to prep the platform at Stark’s old cabin for her travel to Vormir. She needed five members working on coordinating the platform, while the rest broke into Hank Pym’s lab to steal enough Pym Particles to get her safely there, and get her passengers safely back. Of course she’d ordered them to stay hydrated and fed, abusing SHIELDs inner funds to have groceries delivered. Would SHIELD notice? She highly doubted it; sure, science wasn’t her strong suit, but she was pretty advanced in the tech industry.

An advancement that finally, finally, paid off. It happened while she was watching Bucky and Sam training the new agents. As she watched the recruits attempted to fight a flying Sam, who looked like he was having far too much fun at their expense, she’d been continuing her efforts on cracking the most recent file on Steve Rogers. After almost a full two weeks, her attempts pinged with results. It took everything in her not to cheer or laugh or squeal in excitement when the file exploded across her phone’s screen. Here it was, all the details SHIELD had collected from this wrinkly old Steve. Just the picture they’d had of him made her want to punch him in the nose. None the less, she got what she finally needed to put her plan into motion.

Steve Roger’s address.

Rune had come up with an elaborate lie about having a meeting with Fury about her status with SHIELD. About possibly joining Bucky and Sam on missions, sometimes with and sometimes without, the use of her gift. She might have been a clone, but she was a good asset. She was also a good liar, putting all the emotion into it so she could convince Bucky to give her two hours alone. That she would be fine, Fury would help keep her safe, and that she would return right away. Would even be back in time for them to have dinner together. Reluctantly he agreed, as long as she promised to text him updates.

Though she sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him that she was currently standing in front of Steve’s door.

Well, pacing, more like. Shield had put him up in a small house in the Suburbs, pretty much making sure he didn’t go a step outside without a SHIELD agent right behind him to intercept anyone who would possibly recognize the wrinkly Captain America. Said SHIELD agent was currently asleep in his car, his partner also snoozing on the porch chair. She did promise to never use it on certain people, but she never promised never to use it on strangers; stranger danger, after all. But now that she was here, just in front of the steps that would lead her to his front door, she didn’t know what to do. There were so many thoughts and emotions rushing through her right now, she wasn’t sure which ones to focus on. To put forward. Anger? Sadness? Disappointment? Punching him probably woudn’t solve anything; she would also risk breaking a finger and she couldn’t risk bringing that home to Bucky. Steve didn’t deserve her tears, so that was out of the question. And her disappointment was practically suffocating her. Disappointment in his choice to disrupt another Peggy’s life. To go back in time and refuse to help stop anything that happened. To rip the heart out of Bucky Barnes’ chest after giving him the world in Wakanda. Giving him the love he’d wanted from him since they were kids. Only to shred it to pieces without an explanation and then showing up in the body of an old man and pretending Bucky didn’t exist.

So, Rune chose not to think as she marched up the steps and knocked three times on the door. Exactly fifteen seconds later, the door opened, and there stood Steven Grant Rogers. This Rune had never met the man, but she’d seen enough pictures to recognize his face. Though this face was wrinkled, hair white, eyes as bright and blue as the day the bastard was born. He blinked at her a few times before tilting his head in confusion, brows furrowed. “Can I help you?”

“Excuse me?” Was he—was he being serious right now? “Yes, you can help me. You can help me by explaining yourself.”

Steve glanced around the porch, not even asking about the unresponsive SHIELD agent three feet to his left. What the fuck? “I’m sorry,” he lightly chuckled. “But, do I know you?”

Oh hell no.

Rune swung before she really thought about it, pain shooting up her hand as it connected directly with Steve’s nose. He yelped out before stumbling back into the couch, bouncing off, and then colliding roughly with the carpet. She stormed in after him, slamming the door behind her and locking it tight. “Are you serious right now? What the fuck is wrong with you, Steve? You know exactly who I am!”

Steve laughed through the hand covering his gushing nose. He fucking laughed! “I really am sorry, but I don’t know who you are. You see, I am an old man now. My memory isn’t so great.”

“Bullshit. That serum coursing through you keeps that brain of yours plenty intact,” she snarled. “Which is good, because you’re going to need that speedy recovery of yours after I’m done with you.”

“Can I ask what I did?”

Rune gaped at him. Yes, in Bucky’s stories, Steven Grant Rogers was a little shit. But this—this was beyond words. After everything—everything that had happened after Thanos’ death, he had the balls to ask this? So, Rune decided to remind him. “You left, you selfish bastard! And more than that, you ran off with another Peggy! Were your friends not good enough? After everything they’d done, everything they’d sacrificed to help you, this is their thanks? You abandon them without so much as a good-bye? An explanation? You just hand over that stupid shield and hide like a fucking coward? God, Natasha would be rolling in her grave right now if she could see this.”

“Alas, she doesn’t have a grave to roll in.”

Before she could rationalize her next action, she swiftly pulled a knife from her belt and threw it sharply into Steve’s right knee. He screamed, curling into himself to cling to his leg; hey, she promised not to use her gift on Steve. She never once promised not to harm him. Rune crouched down in front of him, fingers dancing over the knife’s handle. “You really have become a selfish bastard since the last time I saw you.”

She twisted the knife, grinning at his agony.

“You know, I get wanting to live a quiet life in the suburbs. To get away from all the fighting, death, and chaos. But abandoning your family? When they need you the most? To bombard the life of a woman whose future was bright without you, who had probably moved on, is fucked up. Especially when you had someone here who loved you just as much, if not more. Who would have given you whatever you wanted, whatever you needed, to be happy. Who just wanted to be by your side for the rest of your lives because they loved you more than anything in this world. And instead, you threw it in their face without so much as a good-bye.”

“Look, I might have left you behind, but I was in love with Peggy,” Steve grit out. “I would have never been happy with you in this timeline. No matter how much you loved me.”

Wait…what?

Something was wrong here. Very, very wrong. So, throwing all caution to the wind, Rune crawled over to Steve’s face and grasped his chin between her index and thumb. “I want you to listen to me,” she ordered, her voice winding through him as her gift took hold. “I want you to answer everything I am about to ask you with honesty. Only the truth. No lies. Is that understood?”

Steve was struggling to fight it, his jaw tense as he stared up at her with wide eyes. “N—what—“but it was no use. Nobody could fight her ability. After another twenty seconds, Steve’s body went completely limp as he nodded. “Yes.”

“Good. We will start off easy, then. What is your name?”

“Steven Grant Rogers.”

Rune’s eyes narrowed when something clicked in her brain. “You’re not from this universe, are you.”

“N-no.”

A mixture of relief, anger, and worry washed over her. “Where is the Steve Rogers from this timeline?”

“I don’t know.”

“How did you get here?”

“When the Avengers began their hunt for the stones, they created a wormhole in my world,” he said, obviously reluctant as his brows furrowed. “We took advantage of it.”

“We? Who the hell are y—“Rune’s stomach sank as her grip tightened on his chin. “ты есть HYDRA.”

“Да.”

She’d always wondered this while researching about all the timeloops the Avengers caused. How would it effect the other dimensions? Would they be able to intercept our time? Take our place? More than that, what about the dimensions that were polar opposite of this one? Where Rune never had her gift, where Bucky Barnes was never taken by HYDRA, where Steve had taken his place instead and became HYDRA’s best assassin. Who could believe Captain America would switch sides? Nobody. That pretty boy charm would have convinced anyone. Did convince everyone! Explained how he was able to hand over a shield to Sam, though. Where the hell was the original one?

“Welp, I can’t exactly leave you here, can I? Not when I now have to bring this dimension’s Steve Rogers home from wherever the hell he got lost.” She shook her head before slipping the pistol from her thigh holster and standing. She aimed it between his eyes. “Счастливого пути.”

Then, she pulled the trigger.

Not wanting the body to be found just yet, she whispered sweet nothings into the ears of the sleeping SHIELD agents. “He is fine, you do not need to walk in and check on Steve. Just stay outside until ordered otherwise.”

Then, she got back into her car, and drove back to the compound, her entire body shaking as her mind raced. Steve hadn’t abandoned them. He hadn’t left Bucky behind to imbed himself into Peggy’s life. No, the dumbass got lost out there, and now she had to find him. But how? She didn’t even know what order he returned the stones—

But she did know someone who would know. She poked Stark’s number, the phone ringing through the car. “Blueberry! What can I do you for?”

“Do you remember which stone was the last Steve was supposed to take back?”

“What?”

“Sorry, it’s kind of an emergency.”

“Ooook,” Tony answered a little cautiously before he called for FRIDAY to pull up the files. “Got the order right here. If he followed it correctly, he was supposed to return the Soul Stone last.”

Of fucking course it had to do with that little yellow bastard.

“Beautiful. Thank you, Tony.”

She hung up before he could say anything more. Steve’s last trip had been to Vormir. His last trip was to return the soul stone. But what happened? Did the stone require a sacrifice to return it? Or—fuck, or did Steve try and get Natasha back? But when it came to his sacrifice, he couldn’t give whatever it was up, resulting in his own soul being trapped. That actually made more sense than it should have. Dammit, what the hell was she going to do? Rune had already planned on how she was going to get Natasha back, but now….now she needed a second to get Steve’s ass home.

Home and back to Bucky.

When she returned to the compound and opened Bucky’s door, she found him sitting at the table with Sam, both of their cheeks full of Ramen. God, Rune wanted to cry, to spill everything to him. But, she kept strong and forced a grin. “Always knew you two were chipmunks.”

“Shadduff,” Bucky mumbled before forcing himself to swallowed. He winced. “How did it go with Fury?”

“Fine,” she lied, piecing a story together in her head. “It ended up being an awkward video meeting. In his office…”

“What was the point then? You could have done it here in your pajamas,” Sam pointed out.

“That’s what I said,” Rune sighed before dropping into the chair between them. Bucky slid her his bowl; she took a small bite before pushing it back. “Anyway, he’s giving me one week mandatory training, and then after that he will baby step me into outside missions. If I succeed at not fucking those up, I can join you and Sam.”

“Hell yeah!” Sam exclaimed, Rune high-fiving him. “Could use the company. Better than grumpy pants over here.”

“My staring has gotten better.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“When do you go home, Sam?” Rune questioned. For not at all selfish reasons. Nope.

“Tomorrow afternoon. It’s my nephew’s birthday party on Saturday, so I get to help set up.”

“Sam invited us if we wanted to go,” Bucky added. “What do you think?”

“Sure. We can handle training tomorrow, get a good nights rest, and then fly out bright and early on Saturday,” she agreed with a smile, ignoring the way her heart sank.

If only she could keep that date.

“I will add you two to the list then! Let me call Sarah. You met her yet? You’re gonna meet her now.”

Rune desperately tried to keep her attention pinned on meeting Sarah and her children, but her mind was in sixty places at once. She needed to make a call and make sure they had enough Pym Particles to bring another body home. Needed to make sure the platform expected three bodies to return from Vormir. And more than that…as much as she wanted to be selfish, she couldn’t trade her own soul. Would be a bit counterproductive for what she decided to sacrifice for Natasha. So what else could she give? What else could the soul stone want?

Love

That’s what Clint had told everyone the soul stone wanted. To give up someone you love. Maybe…something you loved would be a good enough substitute? Her heart fluttered into her throat as she watched Bucky laugh at something Sarah said, his metal hand clutching his chest. She loved this man. Loved him more than anything else in this entire world. And, as long as he was happy, she’d give—well, she’d give everything up for him. Including…

“Rune?” Bucky called. Shit, she hadn’t noticed they’d stopped talking, his metal hand now clutching hers. “You ok?”

“Yes! Sorry,” she laughed shakily. “It’s just been a long day. Fury’s conversation threw me for a loop. Wasn’t expecting he’d let me out to play with you two so soon!”

“I, for one, am excited,” Sam offered. “But, I am exhausted myself. Gonna talk to Sarah about the p-a-r-t-y in my room and turn in for the night. See you two in the morning.”

“Good-night, Sam.”

Once the door shut behind him, Bucky gently shook her arm. “Hey, you sure you’re ok?”

Rune’s phone buzzed, her eyes glancing down at her screen:

Everything is ready.

“Rune?”

She knew what she had to do. But—God, she was scared. What if this didn’t work?

“Rune, please say something.”

Could she ever face him again? Knowing she couldn’t bring Steve home?

“You’re starting to scare me.”

“Can we lay down? I don’t—I’m tired.”

“Of course,” Bucky readily agreed. Rune flopped down onto the mattress first, half of her face smushed into a pillow. “Want to talk about it?”

Rune waited for him to get comfortable, his metal hand pushing flat against the pillow by his head. No, she couldn’t talk about it. Instead, she was going to have to do the one thing she always swore she wouldn’t. Her eyes began to burn as she cupped his cheek, her thumb brushing through the stubble. “You know I love you, right? That I would never purposefully hurt you.”

Metal pushed her hand tighter against his cheek. “Of course I know. I love you, too, Rune.”

“And, you know I would do anything to make you happy, right?”

His brows furrowed as her tears began to fall. “Rune?”

“You remember my promise, right? Don’t let me forget. Don't give up on me.”

“I won’t, but I don’t—”

“I love you. And I always will, no matter what happens next.”

“Next? What are you talking about? What is going on?” She pressed their foreheads together, her eyes refusing to look up into his concerned, almost scared, ones. His fingers linked through hers. “Rune?”

“Sleep,” she ordered, her voice washing over him instantly.

He tried to fight it, could see the way his body tense, his brows tight. But, as always, nobody could fight her. When his body went limp, Rune sobbed, her fingers digging into his clothes. Why did it always have to come to this? Why was she always having to hurt him? She pressed a small kiss to his slack lips, gently brushed her thumb beneath his left eye, then stood and marched out of the room.

She arrived at Stark’s cabin a couple hours later to find the entranced SHIELD workers surrounding the platform. “Is it ready?” she asked as one of the heads of the project approached her.

“Any minute now. You have impeccable timing.”

“With Dr. Banner’s notes, we were able to recreate the route back to where Rogers was supposed to return the soul stone,” his assistant added.

“And with the extra Pym Particles you were able to—well—”

“Steal.”

“Yes. With thosee Pym Particles, we have enough to sustain not only your departure, but your return with two extra bodies.”

“Good,” Rune praised as she stared at the platform currently buzzing with energy. “When can we start?”

“Now, if you wish.”

“Then, let’s proceed.”

She set her things aside before strapping the pym suit’s activation button to her wrist. As soon as it was secure, she pressed one of the buttons, the suit suctioning to her skin. She glanced down at herself before nodding; kind of like wearing spandex. After she slipped the two other wrist bands from her backpack into her belt, she approached the platform. She waited for the signal from the head scientist before stepping on and settling at the center. Her heart was racing, her head spinning with so many questions: will this work? Would she be able to get both of them back? If not, how could she possibly leave one behind? No, she couldn’t think like that. This was for Bucky. This was for the people who’d lost too much trying to save the world while she slept. She had to do this, no matter what.

“подавитель воли?” Rune ripped from her thoughts. “We are ready when you are.”
Rune nodded before pressing the button again, the helmet clicking into place around her head. “Ready.”

“Three…”

She could do this.

“Two…”

She’d moved boulders for her soldier before.

“One…”

And she’d move the entire planet of Vormir if it meant keeping that promise.

Suddenly, sparks flew and Rune was sucked through blinding lights she swore would suffocate her. But she held on, gritting her teeth and clenching her eyes. Seconds felt like minutes, hours, her skin beginning to vibrate so violently she swore it would tear. The lights were blinding, even from behind her eyes.

Then, there was nothing.

When Rune dared to open her eyes again, she was standing in a pool of water that glowed with the reflection of a sunset. Vormir’s sunset. Holy shit, she’d made it! Trusting the notes from Banner’s journal about Clint saying the planet’s air was safe for humans, she pressed the button once more, being sure to avoid the red one. As soon as she was free from the suit she heaved out a breath; how the hell did superheroes wear spandex all the time? Ignoring the trailing thoughts, she began to make her way towards the only structure visible for miles.

She began to hike up the steps, ears straining for any sign of the supposed guardian of the stone. A guardian who did not take long to make themselves known. “Welcome, Rune Lilliana Crow, daughter of Amelia and Barrett Crow.”

The figure attached to the voice made their appearance as soon as she reached the last steps. Rune’s brows rose. “Wow, Red Skull? This where they sent you after Cap blew you up?”

He didn’t answer, his eyes roaming over her. “You do not seek the soul stone. Instead, you seek two souls that reside here. One who sacrificed for the stone’s use, and the other who could not do the same.”

Rune grit her jaw; she was right. Steve was here. “Yes. I am here for the souls of Natalia Alianovna Romanoff and Steven Grant Rogers.”

“You do know that Natalia gave her life for the stone.”

“And, as you said, her soul is still here. A sacrifice would not be freed so easily.”

Once again, his eyes roamed her body as he floated around her; her heart felt loud, like it was racing into her ears. “One sacrifice will not receive two souls, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And you believe what you have to offer is enough for the soul stone to return those you seek?”

“Yes.”

“Pray tell, what is your first sacrifice?”

She’d rehearsed this part in her head at least one-hundred times over. How she would get Natasha back. “In exchange for Natalia Romanoff, I give my ability to bend wills.”

Red Skull’s boney brows rose. “You are sacrificing your gift? The one thing that kept your life valuable to those who wished to use it for their own gain?”

“Yes. It has taken many souls, and many souls were taken to gain its use. I feel like it is plenty valuable for a place like this.”

“Interesting. That is indeed a large sacrifice, giving up your worth, your voice,” he pondered. “Alright, and what will your second sacrifice be?”

This part—this was going to be the hardest part of them all. She hadn’t had time to rehearse this. Not considering she’d just found out the Steve on their earth was a fraud. This, her second sacrifice…was going to be her largest and most painful. “In exchange for Steven Rogers, I give up something I love. Or—the memories of someone I love.”

“Hmm? Do explain.”

Rune’s eyes began to sting as the tears welled, but she stayed strong and forced her voice to even out. “Since my true love is not here to sacrifice, I instead give up what has kept me going during our time apart. Instead, I give up the one thing I cherish between us, the one thing that keeps the darkness at bay.” She gulped down a sob before turning to stare him dead in the face. “I give up my memories of James Buchanan Barnes.”

“The memories of your love include the memories of your past, you understand. You will have no memories left, as he is part of all of them. And yet, you still wish to sacrifice this?”

Ignoring the ache in her heart, the agony in her stomach, she clenched her fists. “Yes.”

Red Skull suddenly took in a deep breath, his arms rising, before a grin pulled across his face. “It seems, the stone is satisfied.”

The yellow mist engulfed her faster than she anticipated, her eyes clamping shut as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

I’m sorry, мой солдат.

Chapter Text

When Rune’s eyes opened, she was sitting in the middle of a glistening horizon of water, the sunset practically making it glow. It was—beautiful. That’s when she realized she was no longer alone; two other figures were now sitting across from her, their eyes glued to each other. “St-Steve?”

“Natasha!” Steve exclaimed before practically tackling her in a crushing hug. Rune briefly feared for the safety of her bones when he pulled back. “What—how is this possible? How are you here?”

“I don’t know. I—I died. Clint and I struggled, then I let myself fall and—”that’s when the woman spotted her, her brows practically rising into her hairline. “Rune?”

Steve sharply turned to face her, too. “Rune? How—how are you here? Did you have something to do this?”

Rune glanced between them with a frown, suddenly very uncomfortable. Slowly she began to shuffle away, eyes shifting for anywhere she could run to. “Rune?” Natasha called as she pushed herself into a crouched position. “что случилось?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out. Her hand practically slapped against her throat as she stared down at the water in horror. She tried again, but more silence. Her voice—she couldn’t speak. Thankfully seeming to see the tension and panic rising in her, Steve took the risk of approaching her, hands open to prove he was no threat. Rune’s eyes whipped up to him. “It’s ok, I’m not going to hurt you. May I check your pack?”

After a few seconds, she slowly nodded before shifting to rise up on her knees. With gentle hands, he searched through the pouches and eventually emerged with two wrist bands. Both similar to the one she wore on her own wrist. “She has pym suits,” Natasha breathed out. “She was the one who saved us.”

Steve, however, didn’t seem relieved by that information. Instead, he continued to face her. “Rune, do you know where we are?” Rune tried to voice her ‘no’ aloud. Nothing. She shook her head instead. “Ok. Do you—do you know who she is?” She shook her head again, eyes beginning to burn. Should she know these people? Why couldn’t she remember? Why couldn’t she speak? And where the hell were they? “How about me? Do you know my name?” She shook her head more harshly this time. These people claimed she knew them. Claimed she should know where they were. But—there was nothing in her mind. All she could remember was her name. “It’s alright, Rune. Let’s get you standing.”

Once on their feet, Natasha and Steve strapped the bands onto their wrists. They instantly pressed the black buttons, suits suddenly slapping tight against their bodies. Rune flinched as she stepped away, eyes wide. What the hell was that? “Let me get that for you,” Natasha offered before pressing the same button they had. An identical suit sucked over her body, nearly skintight. She flailed even more when a helmet clasped over her head. Natasha chuckled as she gently grasped her arm. “It’s alright. See? We have them too.”

Rune’s body relaxed minutely when helmets popped over their heads as well. After a brief explanation on pressing the pym suit button, Natasha took her hand tight in her own with a warm smile. Oddly enough, it helped relax her a little bit. These people seemed nice enough, and they hadn’t tried to kill her yet, so for now she would go with the flow. “Three, two, one.”

There were screaming lights as they spun through a painful vortex, the air ripping from her lungs. Almost as soon as it’d started, however, the world went quiet again. Now, they were standing outside of an older cabin, a metal platform firm beneath their boots, and the sound of a lapping lake loud behind them. The area itself, however, was abandoned. “There’s nobody here,” Steve frowned.

“Which means our little troublemaker here either did it solo or—”

“Used her gift to make it happen. Makes sense.” Gift? What did he mean by gift? That’s when he seemed to spot something just next to Rune. Resting against the base of the platform was a black backpack, one Steve immediately began shifting through. “Her cell is in here! And she’s got multiple missed calls from—”

Steve’s breath hitched, Natasha’s grip tightening on Rune’s hand. “From who, Steve?”

“Bucky,” Steve whispered out, voice tight. Rune’s stomach leapt at the name, though she had no idea why. “And one from Sam. I’ll call him—him first.”

After Natasha pressed both of their buttons, returning them to their normal clothes, she helped Rune off of the platform before retaking her hand and leading her to where Steve was pacing a hole in the ground. “Anyone?”

“Sam!” Steve suddenly beamed. “Sam, I need—what? No, I’m not in the—why the hell would I be in an old folks home? I mean, I get I’m almost one-hundred, but come on, Sam.”

Rune stared up at Natasha who giggled. “He looks good for his age, doesn’t he?”

How old he actually was, Rune was too scared to ask. Whatever his skin regimen was though, she’d have to get it from him. She might skip on his gym tutorial though; he looked stronger than she could ever hope to be.

“We—no, Sam, listen to me. We are at the cabin. Yes, the same cabin you last saw me at,” he explained desperately. There was a lot of yelling from the other line, another voice suddenly adding to the shouting. “Rune is here. She was the one who pulled us out. Yes, us. Natasha—“he turned to smile at her, “—Natasha is here with us. No, I do not have dementia! Would you just get here? Christ sakes, thank you.”

“That sounded like it went well.”

“It sounds like—“Steve worried his lip between his teeth, “—it sounds like they didn’t know I was missing. How is that possible?” Rune frowned; that was sad. He was their friend, wasn’t he? When Steve stared down at the phone’s screen after the phone call ended, he gasped. “Natasha, look. The date.”

“It’s been almost a full year.”

“How the hell are we going to explain this to them?”

“Well, apparently they believe you never left, and they thought I was dead, so they have at least two surprises coming for them.”

“Three,” Steve whispered as his eyes dropped to Rune again.

So, she was supposed to know the other people coming to rescue them. What had happened to her back there at that place? That planet? And how were these people supposedly back from the dead? “Come on. Let’s get warmed up in the cabin. It’s freezing out here.”

It wasn’t long after they’d settled in front of a fire, and had brewed tea from whatever they could find in the cupboards, that they heard multiple engines roaring up the road. Steve immediately went to the window, revealing four dark SUVs speeding down the road. The second they heard multiple car doors slam, he threw open the front door and stepped outside. “Steve?” a husky voice called out. “Is that—holy shit it’s you!”

Natasha led Rune to the door just in time for them to see Steve and a dark-skinned man to collide in a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you, Sam!”

“You aren’t wrinkly anymore!” Wrinkly? Had he been an old man before we got stuck on that planet? Was that his secret to youth? Planet hopping? “God, it’s good to have you back, man.”

“St-Stevie?”

Steve’s head snapped to the voice coming from the passenger side of the car. A dark-haired man with a metal arm stumbled around the hood of the car, metal finger nearly denting the metal as he used it for support. His eyes were wide, his human hand shaking, as he stared at Steve. As if he was afraid to blink in fear the blonde man would disappear completely. Slowly Steve approached him, hands open wide as if approaching a wild animal. “It’s me, Buck,” he whispered with a soft smile. “It’s really me.”

As soon as they got within touching distance, Bucky gently cupped his face, fingertips curling into the side of Steve’s hair. He laughed wetly. “It’s you.” He sharply pulled Steve into a hug, his face burying into his neck as his breathe hitched. “Holy shit it’s you.”

Leaving them to their moment, the man named Sam approached them. “It’s good to see you, Nat. Real good.”

“Now you’re stuck with me for even longer.”

“So, Vormir, huh?”

“Trust me, I still can’t believe it myself,” Natasha sighed out as she glanced down at Rune. “Can’t say I will for a very long time.”

“How about you?” Sam questioned, snapping Rune out of the trance she was in watching the hoards of men scour the area. “Couldn’t include us in your plan? Feel like knocking Buck out was a little harsh. We aren’t completely useless you know.”

Rune just looked at him, at a loss for how to respond. Not that she could. So, she glanced up at Natasha for help instead. Natasha gave a small nod before sliding further between Rune and Sam. “Things—happened on Vormir.”

“No shit. You’re back from the dead and Steve ain’t an old man anymore.”

“We came back, but a lot of Rune didn’t.” Sam’s brows knitted together as he glanced from Rune back to Natashsa. So, she pressed on. “She can’t speak, and from the looks of it, she can’t remember anything passed her childhood.”

Sam’s eyes closed as he groaned. “Fuck.”

“Rune!”

All of them turned to find the metal armed man making his way towards them, Steve right on his heels. “Buck, you don’t—”

“What the hell, Rune? Did you really have to fly off to Vormir on your own? We could have helped! And—“he came to an abrupt stop a few feet from the porch steps. Rune hadn’t realized she’d been staring at him in horror until the amusement fell from his face. “Rune?”

Sam thankfully intervened just as Steve caught up behind him. The men were whispering low enough that Rune couldn’t hear, but with each passing phrase she could see Bucky’s shoulders slump lower and lower, his eyes staring at her in his own horror. Why did this man look more upset than the others? And why did her heart ache to comfort him and wipe the tears that had begun to stream down his face. “Welp, I think I know what happened here.”

A woman with brown ponytail approached them from the shadows, a taller man with a black eyepatch hot on her heels. “Looks like Miss Rune has had a busy week.”

Natasha didn’t move away from blocking Rune. Who were these people? “Fury. Hill. Nice to see you’re still alive and kicking.”

“Same to you, Romanoff,” the man said with a genuine smile. It quickly faded, however, as he waved a leatherbound book in the air. “Looks like our little assassin has been planning this stunt since the moment she was born.”

“Really?” Sam questioned.

When Fury made eye contact with her, Rune continued her silence. Wasn’t like she had any answers for them anyway, or a way to voice such answers. Either way, whatever she did, they weren’t happy about it. Whether it was bringing Steve and Natasha back, or doing it behind their back, she wasn’t sure. He handed the book to Maria who flipped it to the last few pages. “I really hope someone finds this thing. As you can tell, I am responsible for the missing Pym Particles, and I am responsible for the SHIELD workers who have been missing the last week. I didn’t do this out of ill will. I did this because—because I hated seeing everyone so sad without them. Without Spiderling and without the real Steve.

“Yes, the real one. I found out mere hours ago that the wrinkled man who gave Sam the shield was an imposter. A trick played out to keep us from going out and finding the real Captain America,” Maria read aloud. “Fucking worm holes?”

Bucky’s head whipped up to Steve who looked just as confused and horrified. “A trick?” Steve asked. “A trick by who?”

“As soon as we learned another Steve had called in, the supposed original Steve, we alerted the agents who were supposed to be monitoring the Steve who gave Sam the shield. Those agents did not respond, unfortunately, which I think is what Rune wanted. What she planned. So, I sent more men to check on the situation. Once inside, however, they found the older gentleman deceased with a single bullet between the eyes,” Fury announced. All of them stared at Rune who tucked herself further behind Natasha. No, she—did she really murder someone? “Judging by Rune’s notes, that Steve was not from this time. Found a disconnect in the universes that allowed him into our dimension and he took advantage of it. She also claimed that the deceased Steve had been apart of HYDRA. You didn’t join HYDRA now, did you, Rogers?”

“Of course I didn’t,” Steve defended.

“Didn’t stay in the past to marry Peggy Carter either, right?”

“No!” Steve argued before turning to Bucky. “I loved Pegs, but I never wanted to stay in the past. I wanted to stay here, with you, but I—”

“Got stuck on Vormir,” Bucky finished for him, hand slipping into his. Steve squeezed it.

“Were you able to return the stone?” Sam asked.

“I asked to get Natasha back, but it wanted me to sacrifice something that I-I just couldn’t. I was selfish,” he whispered. “Before I could even think of running, I was engulfed in this yellow smoke, and then—I don’t remember anything.”

“Looks like Rune figured out that you didn’t marry Peggy after all. At least not from this dimension,” Hill said as she flipped through the book. “Sounds like she went to confront the wrinkly-you about abandoning everyone. Abandoning Bucky. Instead, she found an imposter who easily confessed under the pressure of her gift.”

So, she really did kill someone. At least it sounded like she had a good reason for it. Kind of. Maria continued reading. “Originally, I only planned on saving Natasha. From what I read through Banner’s notes, through Clint’s interview, I realized the stone required the sacrifice of something important. The give and take of something I loved. It was an easy choice, really, though living without a voice is going to be hard. Maybe Clint can teach me sign language?”

Rune was getting really tired of everyone staring at her like she was some monkey at the zoo. This time, even Natasha turned to her. “You—your power. Your voice. You gave all of that up, just to save me?”

Rune shrugged; it would explain her sudden muteness. Plus her notebook just confirmed it. “There’s more,” Fury added, nodding his head for Hill to continue.

“The second sacrifice isn’t—isn’t going to be so easy. But, it’s necessary. Steve deserves to come home. He deserves to actually grow old and wrinkly with the love of his life. And, as always, I can’t break my promise. I already broke one promise and I can’t bear to break another. So, if that means giving up the most important thing to me—if that means giving up the memories of the man I love more than life itself—so be it.”

Rune knew they were staring at her again, so she continue to avoid any of their eyes. So, that’s why she couldn’t remember anything. She gave it all up, just to save Steve. To save Bucky. “Rune,” Bucky suddenly whispered. He was slowly walking towards her, Rune’s heart racing. “You did all of that just—you sacrificed all of this, to save Tasha? To save Steve? That’s why—fuck, that’s why you made me promise, isn’t it.”

Against her will, her eyes began to burn, her throat tightening. Why was she getting so emotional over this person? Unless…before she knew what she was doing, she shifted from behind Natasha and slowly, hesitantly, began to meet him at the steps. “He’s going to be mad at me, going to call me crazy for going through with something that took so much from me,” Maria continued to read. “But, James Buchanan Barnes is my soulmate. And, memories or not, I know someday I will love him again. He promised.”

As soon as they were close enough, Bucky pulled her into his chest. His lungs were hitching, causing Rune’s eyes to well even faster as she finally lifted her arms to cling to the back of his shirt. “You’re so stupid,” Bucky sobbed into her hair. “You’ve saved me time and time again, but this—it was too much. You always do this, no matter how much it hurts you, no matter how much it takes from you. No more, ok? Let me start taking care of you for once in our long ass lives.”

He pulled away just enough to cup her face with his metal hand, a sensation she surprisingly did not flinch from. She had loved this man once. Apparently had sacrificed everything to bring him and the blonde man together again. If her memories truly were gone, could he be the key to getting them back? Maybe. Just…maybe. Realizing he was waiting for an answer, she nodded before burying herself back into his chest. This felt familiar. Felt safe. Like she’d be alright if she stayed with this man. These people.

“What will happen to her now, Fury?” Sam asked what everyone was probably wondering.

“Granted, stealing research, stealing rare Pym Particles, bending the will of multiple scientists, researchers, agents, murdering a trespasser, and going on a rogue mission to Vormir with stolen pym suits, are very illegal actions and are cause for arrest,” Fury began before pausing for a long while. “Her actions did result in two of our best team members returning to us, so I don’t think there is any reason to take her in. I feel like she has sacrificed enough in exchange for her deeds, anyway.”

“So, let’s pack her up and head back. We now have a shitload of paperwork to do, a body to recover, and so much debriefing,” Hill groaned. “Like, so much.”

Rune glanced up at Bucky, a sudden desperation to never leave his side surging through her. Bucky must have seen the panic in her eyes as he cupped her cheek again. “You’re riding with me, alright? You’re squeezing between me and Steve in the back.”

Then, he took her hand and lead her to the same car he arrived in.

Memories or not, Rune knew she did not like hospitals. At least this time she had the blonde man, Steve, and the red head, Natasha, lying in the beds across from her. Like bunkmates. The man, Bucky, and his friend, Sam, were slowly pacing the room, Maria Hill standing in the doorway. A nice woman named Dr. Cho was examining all of them, making sure there were no adverse effects from being on Vormir. Or, apparently, having your soul sucked into a stone and then spat back out. Which was something she was still trying to wrap her mind around.

As Dr. Cho began to finish with Steve’s exam, there were shouts coming from down the hallway. “Slow down, birdman! Watch out—come on, that nurse didn’t do anything.”

Someone came bursting into the room passed Hill, his feet stumbling underneath him and causing him to hit the floor and slide across the tile. “Jesus, Barton!” Bucky exclaimed.

This man, Barton, paid them no mind as he scrambled back to his feet and immediately threw himself at Natasha. The pair clung to each other for a long time, both of them murmuring something that Rune couldn’t quite make out. After almost a full two minutes, Bucky finally sitting at the edge of Rune’s bed, Barton pulled away. “How?” he croaked. “How are you here? You died. I watched—”

Natasha quietly hushed him as she bumped his forehead with her own. “Rune. She made a deal with the soul stone in exchange for my freedom.”

Barton whirled around to stare at her, Rune’s cheeks burning as she fiddled with the sheets in her lap. “You—you saved Tasha?”

“She can’t answer you,” Bucky mumbled. “She traded her gift, traded her voice.”

“There are plans to teach her sign language though,” Hill chimed in. “Could probably use your help, Clint.”

“Of course!” he exclaimed. “Anything you need, kid. You just name the place.”

She nodded her thanks before picking at the sheets again. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Clint turn to Steve and frown. “Weren’t you an old man?”

“No!” he denied. “That man was an imposter who tried to take my place.”

“Apparently, in another dimension, Steve joins HYDRA. He’s a little pouty about it,” Natasha explained.

“Of course I’m pouty. And I would never join HYDRA.”

“So then, where the hell have you been?”

“With me, on Vormir,” Natasha answered. “Tried to save me after returning the stone. Didn’t have much luck, so he got stuck, too.”

“Rune was the one who figured out that wrinkly Steve, wasn’t our Steve,” Sam said. “Also put a bullet in his head, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“Savage,” the other man who’d come in with Clint cheered.

“In exchange for saving Steve, though,” Natasha continued, “Rune had to give up her memories. She doesn’t remember any of us.”

Clint whirled around again but Rune refused to look at him. Bucky grasped her ankle. It helped a little. “She doesn’t remember anything?”

“No, but I’m working on ways to possibly get some of her memories back,” the doorway man announced. “I have the file her memories used to be on, so there is a chance some got imprinted. So, here’s hoping.”

“We will take anything you can get us, Stark,” Bucky responded.

The room fell into many conversations, Rune quietly listening to all of them as she attempted to put pieces together about who she was. So far, she’d learned she had a superpower that she gave up to save the redheaded woman. She worked for bad guys who cloned her because she didn’t want to work for said bad guys anymore. And, to save the blonde man, she had to give up her memories of someone she loved. Which took all of her memories passed the age of six.

“Hey,” Bucky called, interrupting her thoughts. “How are you holding up? I know this is a lot to take in.”

Rune grabbed the whiteboard that was given to her when she arrived.

Can’t really process.

“I know. But, I promise, it won’t be this chaotic in a couple of hours. People are just excited to have all of you home.”

Even me? I didn’t sound like a great person. I killed people. Hurt people.

“Hey, listen to me,” Bucky coaxed with a squeeze of her ankle. “Everything you did, you did it to protect us. Me, Steve, Natasha—you put yourself through everything to keep us safe. That does not make you a bad person.”

She used the sheet to erase the marker before continuing.

Promise?

A look of something—sadness, pain—flashed through his eyes before he offered his pinky. Rune couldn’t help her smile as she wrapped her own around it. “I promise.”

She believed him.

When Rune woke again, the room was empty besides a sleeping Steve, Natasha, and Bucky where he was sitting in the chair next to Steve’s bed, snoring. After everything that’d happened in the last couple hours, she was happy for the silence. She pushed herself up against the pillows before gently sliding the leatherbound book from beneath her pillows. Hill had given it to her after they’d gotten to the compound. Said she’d know where to find it if she needed to investigate it again. Rune had briefly flipped through it before tucking it under her pillow, too overwhelmed by the room full of people. But she did notice something on the last two pages.

Dear Rune.

And there, listed in bullets across the front and back of both pages, were lists of her favorite movies, favorite color, favorite food, favorite memories, and even special skills she apparently had. Was popping the perfect bag of popcorn really a special skill though? When she came to the last two bullets, she gently ran her fingers over the ink.

*You have loved James Buchanan Barnes in every life you have lived.

*Your name is Rune Lilliana Crow and this, is your family. It is broken, but healing, and still full of love. Always full of love.

As she looked at each of them—Steve, Natasha, and Bucky—and thought back on today, she realized it was right. This group was full of so much love and excitement to see Natasha and Steve come back. Such sadness and protectiveness when they realized what Rune had sacrificed to bring them home. Sure, she couldn’t remember a damn thing about what she did—about these people—but she felt safe here. Like maybe, this group really could help her get her memories back. And, if not, well…

Rune wouldn’t mind making a few new ones with them.