Song: Ghost by Halsey

I got to see my bestest friend this weekend! That is why I am so unforgivably late with this update. I'm sorry for the wait but not sorry for spending time with my bestie. She's amazing and awesome and everything you'd need in a best friend. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, thanks for the lovely reviews!

Nova motioned for James to drag his chair over to the spot she was arranging to work on his arm, not wanting him to be uncomfortable while she worked. Most of the precautions she'd taken while working on something of this caliber were pushed to the back of her mind. James already looked to be a slightly sick shade of green as he carefully placed the chair near her, slumping into it. She never asked, but he slowly peeled his shirt off, scowling deeply as he did. If he wasn't in such obvious emotional distress, Nova would have appreciated his build.

"Okay, I'm going to use this handheld device here to do an initial scan. It shouldn't hurt at all; it just uploads the metal components into Tony's servers to give me an idea of what we're working with," Nova explained, holding up the scanner she was planning on using. James eyed it speculatively and Nova hoped he wouldn't break it. It would definitely put a damper on her project and she wasn't going to go through with it if it got him that upset. "If anything hurts at any moment, tell me. This isn't supposed to hurt right now; it's just imagining to get an idea of what metals have been used and if there are any booby-traps that have been laid. I don't care if it's a muscle spasm or full out nerve pain, let me know and I'll stop."

James nodded slightly, shoulders tensed. Nova waited a moment to make sure he wasn't going to back out before she turned on the little wand she was using. It took visual readings as well and uploaded them into FRIDAY, who would process the information and give Nova a full review to work with.

Starting at his fingertips, Nova slowly and methodically started to slide the wand over the surface of his arm, standing at the end of James' knees. After a moment, he started to relax, his human fingers loosening from the chair where he had pressed them. The process was painless and quick; Nova had done the same thing a hundred times. Then again, she'd never really used it on an appendage connected to an actual human being before. But Vision had promised her he hadn't felt a thing. Nova still wasn't one hundred percent certain if Vision felt pain like humans did, but she took his word for it. He was supposed to be some celestial superhuman or something. No one had really explained how Vision came about. He just appeared one day.

"How's it feel? Any pain, numbness, or tingling?" Nova demanded, stepping between James' knees to reach past his forearm.

"It doesn't do anything," James admitted, sounding a little surprised. Nova didn't take it personally—she knew he just wasn't used to not being hurt. Which was incredibly sad. No one bothered to teach him that his arm didn't have to hurt. It brought the burn of rage to Nova's stomach as she very carefully instructed James to lift his arm. Once he complied, she ran the wand over the rest of the metal, biting her bottom lip as she took in the scar tissue that surrounded the base.

Whoever had done this to him was a monster.

"It's not supposed to do anything. It's imaging, that means it give me a picture and scans and various components but doesn't actually change anything in the arm physically. It's pretty nifty, if I do say so myself," Nova smiled down at him as she pulled back, ready to put it away.

"You have to go further," James interrupted, reaching out to catch her with his human hand.

"What do you mean?"

"The metal goes under the skin. So do some of the connections. You have to go at least to my spinal cord on the back and to my sternum on the front," he informed her, watching innocently as Nova stared down at him, speechless.

It took a minute for her brain to catch up and she was immediately pissed. Not only had they fucked with his arm and taken off the flesh he still had left, they'd instilled the entire thing directly into his spine? Did they not know how dangerous that was? Even HYDRA had to have some people who listened to medical ethics. They'd basically thrown ethics out the window when they'd worked on James and Nova wanted to find the HYDRA assholes that had done this to him and end them. One wrong move would have paralyzed him. Or worse, killed him.

If he had died, there was no doubt in Nova's mind that HYDRA would have kept going until someone else lived. James was the best candidate because he had a version of the serum in him. It gave him advanced healing, advanced stamina, advanced strength, and peak human durability. All things that had been integral to his survival for so long. Without those, he'd have never survived HYDRA.

"Okay, sit still," Nova ordered, biting back any comments she could make about how vehemently she wanted to destroy any remaining HYDRA scientists. James was watching her carefully as he sat up, pulling his back off of the backrest on the chair and letting her run the wand over his shoulder blade. Thick welted scars ran across his back in ropy tendrils, crossing patterns that brought nausea to Nova's gut. His long hair just brushed the tip of the highest scar, the raised skin pale. Muscles bunched and jumped when she brushed her fingers over one particularly long scar that went from the scar on his left shoulder all the way across to the his right. Pulling back as soon as the scan was complete, Nova moved to scan his chest, swallowing hard in an attempt to distract herself from what she was doing.

She wasn't there to look over his scars or kiss his wounds. He trusted her to work on his arm and that was a big step for James. Nova wasn't about to ruin it by asking the burning questions that roiled just below the surface of her calm mask. Questioning people had been fun when she was little. It wasn't until she hit the awkward teen years that she realized not everyone would be impressed by her incessant need for knowledge. If she had to bet, Nova would say that James was one of the people who wouldn't approve, especially if the subject was his past.

Running the wand over James's chest carefully, Nova fought the urge to ogle him like a teenage girl seeing her first naked man. It wasn't like he's stripped for her amusement. But he was defined in all the right ways and sinfully gorgeous even with a shirt on. It was super unfair that he looked ten times as sexy without it.

The scars across James' chest caught her eye and she ran a finger over a particularly large bullet wound, eyes falling to examine a knife wound that was just this side of fatal. His skin was warm and soft against the tips of her fingers and she brushed along a scar that was obviously stitch closed that crossed between his pecs right where his sternum was. She assumed that was where they'd worked the wiring in with all the grace of someone who didn't give a fuck about his life. It was damn near impossible for Nova not to jump back to that fact. Why didn't someone care about him? Why didn't someone save him?

She got that the Army assumed he'd died in action and that no one thought he was alive so why would they go looking to free a suffering POW from HYDRA clutches. But she didn't understand how people could know what was happening and not try to help him. Were people really that terrible? That they could see the way HYDRA treated him and just let it go? What possible reason could they have for that?

Nova's lips, pressed tightly into a thin line, tilted down at the corners as she recognized all of the similarities between Evie's scars and James'.

Evie's scars were just as bad and the sight of their shared scars brought tears to Nova's eyes. She had read Evie's file a million times. It wasn't that she was nosy or anything- though she was- she just had to know. Evie was her best friend and she didn't want to make her talk about things that were uncomfortable for her. And the Evie who came back after the first HYDRA incident wasn't the Evie that had left. Nova had had to relearn her best friend, not that Evie was at fault for that. After she'd gotten more stable and realized she was safe, Evie had told Nova some of the more gritty parts. She hadn't gone deeply into detail, but Nova knew. She knew what those assholes had done to her. It sucked that HYDRA was even still around and it was worse that her friends, the people she cared about, ended up in their clutches.

"It doesn't hurt anymore," James spoke softly. Nova started, almost dropping the wand she'd been using as her head snapped up to meet James's eyes. His lips were tilted in a sardonic smile that didn't spread to his eyes. "It was almost eighty years ago now."

"But it doesn't feel like it, does it? I mean, you're not really over a hundred. You weren't allowed to live all of those years," Nova pressed, tilting her head and wishing she could hug him again. Just to remind him that not everything had to hurt. Because someone needed to keep reminding him that life wasn't about pain. It was about happiness and love and surviving the worst the world had to throw. James had definitely survived the worst and he deserved happiness now.

"Some days, it feels like I lived all of them," James admitted, his human hand reaching out and brushing along her cheek. Nova forced a small smile, glancing up to stop the tears from falling.

"Then we'll just make you some new, better memories to think about. Christmas is coming up, so we need to get some gifts while we're out too. Buying for the family is a trainwreck, don't give yourself a panic attack worrying about that. I was thinking we could look for gifts for Steve, Evie, Natasha, and Clint. Sam's got a thing so he's not coming. And I don't think you know the rest of my relatives. But that means that you'll have a nice memory of the joy of Christmas shopping," Nova teased gently, hoping to snap him and herself out of this funk. It was still early, she didn't want to waste a whole day feeling shitty.

"I've Christmas shopped before," James huffed, as if he was insulted she'd think he needed help. Or at least wouldn't have memories of doing it. Nova placed the wand she'd been using on the counter and glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, really? In 1943?" she asked, a small smile trying to work its way onto her lips.

"I did go shopping in 1943. If I remember right, I got my sisters presents. I was working down at the docks, so I had some pocket change I used to get them some trinkets. Rebecca, Winnie, and Ida were my sisters. Rebecca got a bracelet I found in the market. Silver, I think. I gave Winnie a slingshot. She was always more energetic than my other sisters and she loved it. Said it was the best damn gift anyone ever got her. Ma wasn't too proud, but she didn't try to take it away. Ida got ribbons for her hair. A rainbow of colors. She had the lightest hair out of all of us and dimples to match," James informed her, eyes far away as he remembered.

It didn't take long for James's manner to relax, his posture slumping a little and his eyes focusing harder on her than before. Nova still smiled fondly, wondering if James knew what the memories did for him. He'd been able to talk in first person this time. He knew he had done those things, that it had been him that had three sisters.

"What's a doll like you doin' in a place like this?" James's mouth opened and Bucky's Brooklyn accent slipped out. Even the smirk on his lips grew larger, larger than life, really.

"Just doing my job," Nova shrugged, rolling back onto her heels and taking in the current situation. She hadn't met Bucky without a visit from not-James yet, but maybe she'd get lucky. She didn't quite know about James, but Nova knew that not-James definitely wouldn't like him. Aside from occasional jealousy over Bucky being the man Steve wanted James to be, she was pretty sure the two personalities would get along just fine. James had those parts in him, it just wasn't easy to pull them out and put them away like he used to.

"Nova, right sweetheart?" Bucky grinned at her when her jaw fell.

"You… you remember me?" Nova spluttered, blinking quickly as her mind started to really work. So far, not-James and Bucky had seemed to only remember details before a certain date or life event. So, Bucky was still stuck in the forties. Nova wasn't sure exactly where, but he was in the forties, probably right before the raid he died on if she had to take a guess. And not-James…. Well, Nova assumed not-James's memories went from the train fall to the fall of SHIELD. Or, at least, up to right before the assignment that would change not-James's life forever. And James, he had a mix of memories. He had all of the memories from his days with the Avengers and such, but he also had memories of other times too. Like he knew Steve's mother's name and that they had to stuff newspapers in his shoes to make them fit. Or like how he knew karate and systema from his days as not-James.

How could Bucky start making new memories? And why was this the first she'd noticed of it? Not-James didn't recognize her. At least, he didn't say he did. Then again, Bucky was more forthcoming with information, so it was possible that not-James did remember but didn't want her to know that detail.

"Course I remember you, sweetheart. I told you I never forget a pretty face," Bucky flirted, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. The other weird thing about Bucky was that, physically, he never seemed to be surprised. If he noticed his prosthetic, he didn't mention it. If he realized his hair was longer than regulation, it didn't seem to bother him. It brought up a whole slew of questions Nova wanted to demand answers to, but she figured that wasn't the best way to go about this.

She was the first to admit she was no psychology expert, but maybe they needed to find one who would know what to do with all of… this.

"You did say that. I just wasn't sure how far I could believe you. Now, hot stuff, what's on your mind?" Nova teased, leaning against the table they were placed by. Bucky barely spared it a glance, seeming to focus completely on Nova. She didn't mind talking to Bucky, he was sweet and funny and open in a way that James wasn't. But it still unnerved her to see another man in James's body. James was a good guy too. And she wished that there was a way to bring all the personalities together so that he didn't see the physical separation of his past.

"Just thinkin' 'bout a pretty girl," Bucky flirted shamelessly, pulling a laugh from Nova's lips. He grinned as soon as she gave in, a quirk of his brow all the confirmation she needed to see to know that he knew he was cute. This was the Bucky that her grandpa had talked about at length over the years. This was the man who went on dates almost every Friday night before the war and this was the man who obsessively protected a young, fragile Steve Rogers. If it was another time, Nova could see herself falling for a man like that.

"Don't you know it's rude to think about another woman when you're already with one? I swear, men these days," Nova clucked her tongue and shook her head in mock disappointment, keeping her smile firmly in place so he knew she wasn't serious.

"You sell yourself short, sweetheart. With eyes like that it's a wonder you haven't already been snatched up. You got a fella at home waitin' for you?" Bucky pressed, sliding his eyes up and down her length and leaving a warm trail in his wake. The smirk on his lips deepened as he eyed her, seeming to like what he saw. Because overalls and Christmas sweaters were just so sexy.

"Who needs a man? I got a lab full of anything a girl could dream of, a job to keep me afloat, the chance of a lifetime to create something to change the world. Who's got time for mind games and dating?" Nova shrugged casually, almost believing herself. Dating wasn't something she thought about often. When she'd gone to Sci Ops, she was too young to really start a relationship and she'd been neck deep in motor oil and grease. Even if someone looked twice, it was only a casual thing. After what happened with Maggie, Nova had decided not to try and make things permanent. After all, people left so easily these days.

"Don't have to need a man far as I can see. Wantin' one is a different story. And the way you look you could have any fella in a mile radius at your beck and call with just a twinkle of the eye," Bucky offered, shrugging a shoulder casually. Nova softened a little to him. He wasn't just chatting her up, though he was trying to. He looked honest and that was something she appreciated. He didn't tell her she was some supernatural beauty, but he did compliment her in a gentlemanly way. No wonder the ladies went crazy for him back in the forties.

"You know, I never understood why everyone was all about dating when I was younger. Seems to me that having a boyfriend just ends in more work," Nova raised an eyebrow while Bucky laughed, a deep, belly laugh that Nova had never heard from James. Then again, she'd rarely seen him with a real smile on his face and Bucky was all smiles all the time.

"I promise not to make you have to work, sweetheart," Bucky teased.

The door to the lab sliding open put him on immediate alert and Nova tensed as the smile that was so naturally brightening those dark eyes slid right off as if it had never been. Returning to awareness was James, who placed himself resolutely between Nova and the elevator. At least, she thought, it wasn't not-James.

The doors opened to reveal none other than Pepper Potts.