The idea of an alien attack on Earth would have been terrifying enough. Actually watching it happen before my eyes, it was like a nightmare you can't wake up from. That's how it felt on that fateful day in April as fearsome spacecraft landed on the outskirts of a bustling village in Wakanda.

We were sent by the U.N to meet with King T'Challa. He had promised a meeting with us after he had revealed to the world some of Wakanda's... capabilities. So, here we were, standing in a small, busy hotel, watching as the king's home was destroyed.

With each passing moment, we waited for whomever had come down in those ships to finish off their target, and come for us. Instead, we looked on as the ships fell in fire and rubble. We had no idea what was the cause, but we were sure another catastrophic event had been averted, likely by the now outlawed Avenger's. And so, with the looming thoughts of death passing, we cheered on our protectors and thanked the gods for sparing us. Well, until it happened.

Certain it was over, we sat out in a small courtyard off of the hotel, watching the raging flames smolder down to nothing. But it was just the beginning. Spontaneously, people started to disintegrate, one after another. I watched my colleagues fall to dust, like they had never existed. Then I felt it. My hands started to tingle, but as I shook them out, they crumbled before my eyes. I had but a moment to scream before everything fell to black.

Wails and cries of horror woke me with a start. Jumping to my feet, ready to fight, I searched my new surroundings. As my eyes focused, all I could see in every direction was an orange mist. No hills, no vegetation, nothing. Just red desert and orange mist. I looked at my hands, trying to remember what had happened. Right, we had all magically turned to dust.

"What the hell is going on?" I muttered to myself, pushing my dark curls out of my face, wiping the makeup out of my burning eyes.

"Well, isn't that the question of the day?" A man replied, as he approached me from behind.

I turned around, fist up, ready to strike. He caught my hand in his steel fist, unphased by my attempt at defending myself. I gasped, and tried to pull away, but he had an ironclad grip on me. Great, the first person I find in our new world is the Winter Soldier. I had attempted to apprehend him with a team a few years before, and I knew what he was capable of. I begged God to get me out of there, as I tried to calm my fast breathing. He looked from our hands, to my face and back again, trying to size up the situation. I slowly put up my free hand and gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm not going to cause you any trouble Mr. Barnes. I promise. I'm Caroline Smith, and I work for the U.N., and I was in Wakanda to speak with King T'Challa about defense strategies. At least until the people around me started to disappear. Do you know what caused this?"

Bucky sighed, released my hand, and took off into the mist. I watched him fade away, rubbing the pain from my fingers. Suddenly, a cry from the mist made me jump, and I realized how alone I was. So, I ran in the direction Bucky had gone, afraid to be alone. He may have been an assassin, but at least he knew his way around a fight.

As I spotted him in the mist, I tried to stay with him, but he disappeared every time I caught back up. After losing sight of him multiple times, I couldn't take it anymore. If I lost him for good, I would be no better off than when I'd started. So, catching up to him, I slipped my hand around his elbow, trying not to startle him. He jumped at my touch, but gave me a sympathetic smile, and held his arm out to me. My lips twinged into an unsettled smile, but I took his outstretched arm, and followed him into the mist.

we walked fro miles, before the cries died down. The silence was unsettling, like there was no one else left out there to find. I tried not to focus on that concern, instead focusing on Bucky, the only other person I had. He had changed so much since we had last seen him. He was angry and malicious. The man holding my arm, he was neither of those things. Instead, he was gentle, calm, and amiable even.

So focused on my own thoughts, I hadn't realized Bucky had stopped. Clearing his throat, he glanced at me, his eyes darting around. Finally realizing he was watching me, I coughed, and glanced around. It was sudden apparent why he had stopped. Towering over us stood a wall of red stone. It spread as far as you could see in either direction. nestled in the rock, there was a small, partially hidden opening.

"I woke up inside there." He announced, as he pointed entrance. "It's dark, but I think it's the safest place for us to rest, before I go back out to find my friends."

"You're going to let me stay with you?!" I queried, astonished.

He nodded, and glanced around, saying, "I'm not leaving you out here, with who knows what. Just don't try to kill me."

I nodded in agreement, chuckling. Amused, he smiled and gestured for me to go on in. Nervously, I looked around for any signs of others, and climbed in. The tunnel was so low, even with my short, slim build, I found it a tight squeeze. As I fell out of the tunnel, I dropped into an almost pitch black. I attempted to look at my hand, and could hardly even see it as I touched my own lips. But, all the same, it was better than being out in the mist.

As I reached the back of the cave, crawling on all fours, I knocked my head on the sharp wall. Dropping to the ground, I held my head. It had already begun throbbing, and it hurt immensely.

"Ow, ow, ow. I found the end... with my head." I whined, trying to rub the pain out of my scalp.

Bucky rushed back, and bumped into me, asking, "Are you alright? Is it bleeding?"

I rubbed my head, and pulled my hand away. As I ran my fingers across my palm, they came away slick. I groaned and stopped rubbing, applying pressure to the spot that hurt, hoping that I had covered the cut. It was just my luck.

"Well?" Bucky questioned gently.

"Yeah, but it can't be that bad, I barely even knocked it." I replied as I felt the blood pool under my palm and leak down my hairline.

Bucky huffed, and began to rustle around in the darkness. A moment later, he gently touched my knee, pulled back, then continued up my body to my head. He sighed, and moved his body close enough to feel the heat radiating off of him. I stiffened, confused. What was he going to do?

"I have a handkerchief, move your hand, and let me stop the bleeding." He demanded as he slid his hand under mine.

He tried to be gentle, but the pain was intense, making me grit my teeth. The situation would have been bad enough, but now I was dealing with an assassin within reach of my neck. I was acutely aware of his past, and I couldn't forget it. Though I didn't completely trust him, I was grateful for his help. Gently, he placed his loose hand on my back, I assumed to comfort me.

"It doesn't seem to be seeping through the cloth now, so it should stop bleeding soon." Bucky assured me.

"Thank you. Not just for this, but for letting me stay with you out there. You didn't have to let me tag along." I acknowledged, patting him on the leg, hopefully. It was still too dark to tell.

Bucky snickered, "Miss, you act like I'm not doing what any decent human being would do. Why would I leave you alone out there, and why would I let you bleed out in here? Do you think I'm a monster?"

I sighed deeply, trying to think of the right words. Of course he wasn't a monster, but he was right. Any good person would have done the same. Though, he wasn't just anyone.

"You're right. But let's face it. You're not just any person. You're a former assassin, and if you are still anything like you were before, this is a pleasant surprise." I admitted, cautiously.

"I see, you know who I am... Well, I'm not an assassin. I don't do that anymore. I'm just a normal man living a normal life."

"You're file does not account for that turn of events..." I muttered to myself.

He stiffened beside me, and groaned, "You have a file on me?"

I rubbed the blood from my hands as I muttered, "Yeah. I'm sorry. I worked on the team sent to find you all those years ago. But, the file, it's all about your time before you disappeared in Germany. People can change a lot in that amount of time. And obviously you have. Where have you been, if you don't mind me asking?"

Bucky scoffed as he moved his hand from my back.

"Wakanda. T'Challa and his genius sister, Shuri, got that HYDRA nonsense out of my head. I've been living among the people ever since. It was really good for me. That is, until that purple psycho showed up, and we got our asses handed to us." He responded, obviously upset.

I gave the space I assumed he occupied a confused look, and asked, "Who are you talking about? What purple psycho?"

Bucky hesitated a moment, before he hissed, "Thanos. He's some warlord or something from another galaxy. He came to get something called an infinity stone from a friend of mine. Now he has them all, the stones, and he used them to destroy half of the population of Earth. I assume we are not the ones that were spared, and now we're dead, or something..."

I put a hand on what I assumed was his chest, stopping him.

"Please, no more. Let me process what you said for a minute."

He fell silent, but hesitantly placed his hand back on my back. Gently, he ran his hand up and down my spine, comforting me. It was yet another surprise from him. After we had been sitting in silence for some time, he gingerly removed the handkerchief from my head, and sighed slowly.

"I'm pretty sure it stopped. You have a bad bump up there, but you'll be alright." He assured me, sliding away.

I nodded to the darkness, and rubbed my neck, it was wet with blood. I hoped my long, dark hair would keep it well hidden until we could get cleaned up. Though, I couldn't tell you when that would be.

"Thanks again for helping me out. I'm glad I ran into you out there. Do you want to rest, then we'll go out and find your friends?" I queried as I carefully laid back against the cave wall.

"Sure, as long as you're feeling alright, I could really use your company. To tell you the truth, I was starting to lose it out there, before I found you." He confided, as he came to rest close beside me.

"I'm fine, really. I'm glad you found me when you did, because I don't think I could have dealt with the screaming much longer. I probably would have joined them if you hadn't come along." I retorted, trying to find his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I doubt it. You tried to fight me the moment we met, Caroline!" Bucky chuckled. "I know strength when I see it. And you? You would have been stronger than that..."

I smiled, and leaned up against him, closing my eyes. He let out a soft laugh, and leaned closer to me, before resting his head on mine. Within that cave, our unlikely bond had begun. He may have been a killer in the past, but that was not the man I was holding then. So, it was an easy sleep I fell into as I listened to his slow, even breaths.