Steve lapped up a little bit of the spilt liquid, then his ears twitched towards Dallas and he began to growl and move towards them. Amora placed her hands on her hips and looked around with a sigh, "What a waste." She grumbled before laughing and summoning the Bifrost to send her back to Asgard.

Tony dropped his helmet as he paused next to Sam, "Did she just leave?"

"I think she did!" Sam said as he threw himself at Tony, forcing them to the ground just as the Hulk was sent flying over their heads. The Hulk landed on his feet and roared as the dark sky began to grow slightly brighter, signaling that it was almost daybreak.

"Where's Cap?" Tony yelled as the Hulk reached back and thoughtlessly grabbed Dallas before flinging the woman through the air. Sam and Tony both skyrocketed upward with Sam catching the panting woman.

He set her down and she wobbled a step, cocking her gun and turning towards the Hulk as Sam grabbed her arms, "Where's Denny?"

"Denny?" She asked, blinking before realizing she'd dropped the bunny, "Oh no…"

They turned to see Steve slinking towards the rabbit, sniffing it, and then grabbing the scruff of her neck with his teeth. Sam and Dallas sprinted forward, but the wolf turned towards them and growled ferociously with the bunny swinging from his jaws. Sam looked up to see Clint load his bow and pull it back, waiting for Sam to give him the word to shoot. Dallas pulled out both guns, her hands quivering as she aimed at the wolf, "Call it."

Steve dropped Denver to the ground and sniffed her before starting to circle her. Sam dropped his head, knowing they were out of time, "Do it."

"Wait, stop!" Dallas yelled as she bolted in front of Barton, causing him to drop his bow, "Don't."

"He's gonna kill her-" Sam argued, but she just put one hand up to Clint and the other to Sam to stop them.

"Look!" Dallas gestured to Steve as he plopped down, curling his massive body around the bunny. He pressed his long snout against her and eyed the humans suspiciously as a soft whimper came from his throat. Dallas took a deep breath as Sam lowered his gun, "He's protecting her."

Thor released a pained bellow as he stumbled to the ground, pulling everyone's attention from the steps of the tower. Sam jogged to the bottom, seeing him lay down to rest, "The sun's coming up."

Steve raised his head howled, welcoming the sun and the realization that the Avengers had failed.

Dallas looked to her right to see Bucky approached, squeaking his nose weakly as he tried to cheer her up. She smiled weakly, reaching over to grab his hand and give it a squeeze before turning back to Sam. "So, this is it? This is forever?" She asked sadly, as Tony and Sam looked out over the people who were beginning to file out from their hiding places back into the street.

Suddenly, Dallas felt the world around her begin to spin and she fell against Bucky, crushing her eyes closed as she held her head. He quickly grabbed her waist and asked, "Are you alright, Doll?"

She blinked and looked up at him, then down to the gun in her hand and screamed as she dropped it. She buried herself into Bucky's chest, weeping openly as Natasha sprinted forward and carefully pried the second gun from her belt and scooped up the one of the ground.

"What's happening?" Tony asked as he turned to see Bucky pull off and discard his red nose as he rubbed the sobbing woman's back. When he turned back to the Hulk, he saw him panting over Thor's human form as the demi-god pushed himself to his knees.

"Thor!" Tony yelled as he sprinted towards the man, followed by Sam, Nat, and Clint. When they reached him, Tony quickly grabbed the man under the arm and hoisted him to his feet, looking him over closely, "I don't understand."

"I don't either, I was a bilgesnipe. I was fighting with Banner, what happened?"

"There was a woman named Amora. She said she was sent from Asgard to collect you, she accidentally cast the spell." Sam said as he looked up, realizing all the pedestrians were looking around in terror and shock, "You know her?"

"Amora?" Thor grunted bitterly, leaning over to catch his breath, "The Enchantress? She's a terrible witch. If she did this, she did this on purpose. Luckily her magic only lasts till daybreak."

Tony and Sam exchanged a look, "Then why would she bring an antidote? Something to wipe it away, she said she needed to get it to you to turn you back. She said you could help everyone."

Sam gestured to the shattered vial and Thor knelt down, pressing his fingers on it before wiping them on his cape, "This isn't meant to break her spell, it's meant to perpetuate it. She meant to keep me a monster, probably to overtake Asgard, she's tried to do that before."

Tony felt his stomach drop in panic, "So you're saying this shit makes her magic permanent?"

"Yes, which is why it's a good thing nobody got the change to drink it." Thor said as he pressed his hand to Tony's metal shoulder.

"Oh God." Tony said as he whipped around, taking everyone's gaze with him. "Cap lapped it up."

When Dallas turned around and realized her human niece was still curled up against the massive wolf, she screamed into her hands and Bucky pulled her back, holding her with his metal hand as his human one held her hands to her mouth to keep her quiet. "Shhh, don't draw attention. We don't want him to hurt her."

Steve raised his head to look at all the humans before laying it back down around Denver, pressing his snout against her chest as she started to stir. When the child opened her eyes, she looked over and saw that she was pressed up against the wolf and squealed, grabbing his ear roughly and barking at him excitedly.

"Oh my God, he's going to eat her." Dallas shrieked before trying to bolt forward, but Bucky grabbed her by the waist and held her back as she tried to get away. "Let me go, we gotta get her away from him."

"You sure about that? I think he knows." Bucky whispered against her ear as she wiggled in his grip, "He was looking for her. Leave them be."

Dallas finally elbowed Bucky hard in the stomach and whipped around, "Do not tell me what to do. I almost spent the rest of my life as a brainless assassin, and I liked it, so I'm a little fucked up, and I just want to check on my niece, okay?"

Bucky's heart broke at her words. He nodded and backed away, gesturing towards Denver and Steve, "Fine. Be my guest."

Dallas turned her attention to Denver and the wolf, but Steve suddenly bared his teeth and growled at her as she approached. She put her hands up, but he just shifted to his feet and barked loudly at the woman, causing Denver to start crying.

"I want Daddy!" She yelled while she stood and leaned against Steve, not understanding what was happening. She tried to toddle towards Dallas, but Steve nipped the back of her onesie and lifted her off the ground, turning and trotting away with the child screaming in his mouth.

Dallas turned to Barnes with pure anger, and the rising sun made her look like an angel of death with how tight her facial features were held. It somehow made Bucky like her more. "Well, fucking do something, Mr. Leave Them Be!"

"All hands on deck looking for Denver, except for Thor and Banner. Once Bruce calms down, see if you two can figure anything out with Steve. I'm gonna check the city, make sure there aren't any other problems that need solving. Sam will take to the skies with me and Clint and Romanoff will do what they do best. If anyone can find them, it's us." Tony told everyone before addressing Dallas specifically, "We're gonna get her back. I promise."

"And Steve?" She asked a little more desperately than she'd intended, clearing her throat, "I mean, we should make sure he's okay, right? We'll find a way to get him turned back, right?"

Thor didn't look optimistic about their chances, but he chose not to say anything, instead leading Banner back into the tower while everyone else spread out to look for Denver and Steve.

Bucky lingered a few more moments to stare at the rising sun past the skyline, annoying the impatient woman shivering on the steps. "Aren't you gonna go after them?" Dallas called from behind.

Bucky chuckled and pushed his hand through his hair, then raised his fingers to his lips and let out a long whistle. His whistle was met with a high-pitched howl from just around the building, causing Dallas to sprint forward towards the sound as Bucky chased after her.

When they came around the corner, they found Steve curled around Denver with his tail over her lap and his long snout hung over her shoulder as she cried softly. When he saw them, Steve growled, but Bucky just knelt in front of them and raised up his metal hand, "Hey, Punk. I don't know if you're in there, but I know you care about her." Steve's lips curled back to reveal his sharp teeth, but the sound that emitted from his throat caused Denver to cry harder and try to wiggle away. Steve grabbed the back of her bunny costume to hold her. Bucky moved closer with his hand outstretched, "Come on, Rogers, let her go. She's scared."

"Uncle Bucky, peeze!" Denver shrieked and turned to whack Steve's canine face hard. He released her and whined, quickly standing, and backing away as the little girl ran into Bucky's arms.

"Denny!" Dallas cried as she reached them, quickly taking the child from Bucky, "I'm here, you're okay." Dallas pushed back her hair and unzipped her costume, checking her bare chest and arms, "Did he hurt you?"

"Where's Daddy? I want my Daddy!" Denver sobbed. The terror she was feeling was written across her face as she looked around.

Dallas pressed her against her collarbone, drawing her first easy breath in hours as she watched Bucky try to wrangle Steve. "He'll be back soon. We'll figure something out."

If we don't, she'll lose both of her parents. Just like Brooklyn and I.

Bucky suddenly grabbed Steve's mouth with his metal hand, latching down to keep him from biting him as he slung the animal over his shoulder to carry him into the tower. When he reached Dallas, he grunted under the wolf's weight, "Is there somewhere I can put him?"

"In his place, I guess." Dallas murmured as she watched them go, seeing Steve squirming desperately in an attempt to look past Bucky to see Denver and Dallas. At least he understood that Denver was important to him. She wasn't so sure there was any more of Steve left beyond that.

Bucky managed to get Steve into his apartment, but there was only one thing on the wolf's mind, and it was getting Denver back. He snarled wildly and tried to bite at Bucky, but the Winter Soldier shielded himself with his metal arm. Steve tried to sink his teeth into Bucky's arm, only to get a mouthful of metal, which caused him to let go and whimper, licking his teeth painfully as he watched Barnes.

When he finally got to the lower level, Bucky found Tony, Dallas, and Natasha hovering around a screen over the table, watching as Steve violently scratched at the elevator doors. Tony rubbed his face roughly, "I don't know what to do. I did this, I told the witch to have him drink it."

"Did you know what it did?" Natasha asked softly and Tony just laughed.

"Yeah, I knew it turn Captain America into a wolf for the rest of his life. That's why I had her do it." He bit back sarcastically, holding his mouth in his hand as he watched, "She told us that was the antidote. She wanted Thor to drink it."

"What's Thor saying about it?" Dallas asked nervously.

"He's saying the same thing as before. The potion makes her magic permanent, which is why she had so little of it." Tony sighed, watching as Steve stood on his hind legs against the elevator doors and howled so loudly, they could hear it through the floor. "The only good thing he said was that Steve didn't drink all of it. Thor thinks that the spell will wear off eventually, we just don't know how long."

"So, we're just supposed to lock him in his apartment until he changes back?" Dallas questioned as she stood and walked over to her open apartment door, peeking in to make sure Denver was still asleep. When she saw the girl sleeping soundly, she turned back to the Avengers, "What are we supposed to tell Denver? She wants to know where her father is."

Bucky looked at his metal arm, seeing the slight dent from where Dallas had shot him earlier. It was only a few inches above the teeth marks that he didn't feel, "Maybe we can tell her the truth."

Dallas scoffed and took a seat next to Natasha, "You're kidding, right? You want to tell her that the wolf is her dad?"

"She seemed happy with him before we interfered, and he understands that he doesn't want to hurt her. She decked him in the face, and he didn't so much as nip at her, that has to mean something." Bucky argued, looking to Natasha pleadingly, "He's connected to her, her knows that. If we let them spend time together, it might bring him back faster."

"You don't know that." Dallas argued, but Natasha raised her hand, telling the woman to stop. Dallas gasped sharply in frustration, "Don't tell me you agree with him. What if he hurts her? God forbid, what if he loses it and tries to eat her? We don't know where his mind's at."

"But he's crying for her." Natasha gestured to the screen where Steve was pacing back and forth, trotting around the room as he whimpered. "I'm not saying we should drop her off there and leave her, I'm just saying maybe it won't hurt. We might be able to get a blood sample, run some tests, whatever Banner needs to figure something out. She's the key."

"She's a child!"

"She's his daughter!" Bucky snapped back at Dallas and glared up at him with fiery hazel eyes and a scowl. Bucky unclenched his fist, unsure when he'd tightened it, "You're being selfish."

"You're being an idiot." She bit back, looking to Stark, "Please tell him this is a terrible idea."

"I agree with Dallas, we can't risk it. Not until we know what's happening in his head." Tony said quietly, turning off the screen as Steve curled up on the floor to sleep. "It's been a long night. It's going to be a long couple of days. I'm gonna work with Banner on making him a sedative, maybe we can knock him out long enough to run some tests, and we'll see where we're at tomorrow, alright?"

Bucky looked to Dallas, who stared down at her hands sadly. "Alright."

Natasha stood up, and Dallas looked after her desperately, as if not wanting the woman to leave. But Natasha walked with Tony to the elevator, allowing Bucky and Dallas to rest after their long night.

After a couple of tense minutes of silence, Dallas finally spoke, "I'm sorry for shooting you. It was an accident."

"If I hadn't wandered into your line of fire, you would have killed Steve." Bucky said thoughtfully and Dallas swallowed. Bucky saw how guilty she looked and added, "I get it. None of us were in our right minds. It wouldn't have been your fault."

"I'm just really scared." Dallas admitted barely above a whisper, "What if we never get him back? What if Denver never gets to see her Dad again? What do I do then?"

Bucky sat down beside Dallas, but she scooted away a little, causing him to stiffen, "We'll figure something out. We have to."

"But what if we can't? You can't be so naïve; this is beyond anything we as humans understand. This is space magic. I get it, because I love him too, but we need to plan for the worst, Barnes."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because if we never get Steve back, I lose everything." Bucky said quietly, resting his elbows on his knees to hold up his face. "He's the only reason I'm here, and if he never becomes human again, I'm out on the streets. I lose him, I lose Denny, I lose you and everyone else, and that scares the shit out of me." Bucky's tense body quivered as he sucked in a long breath and continued, "I was alone for so long. Your sister was the only good thing I had in my life, and even she was ripped away from me whenever I wasn't needed. I don't want to be alone again."

Dallas grabbed Bucky's hand and squeezed it tight, "You'll never be alone." He looked up at her and saw her eyes were watering, "Worst case, if you get kicked out of the tower, you'll come and live with me and Denny, but you'll never be alone again, do you understand? I need Steve as much as you do, and if we lose him, we'll stick together, okay?"

Bucky nodded a little, swallowing down the lump in his throat, "Okay." He was thankful that she'd offered him a home, but he was heartbroken that she admitted to being in love with Steve.

As promised, Tony had a sedative ready within the hour, and he tasked Barnes with administering it. Bucky entered Steve's apartment warily, finding him laying stretched out on the ground. When Bucky appeared, Steve raised his head and sniffed, then howled and laid his head back down, keeping his eyes locked on the man who approached. When Barnes raised the dart gun, Steve didn't so much as flinch, as if he'd given up on even trying.

The dart hit him in the side, and he jumped to his feet and turned on Bucky, snarling wildly as he charged at the assassin. Bucky stepped back into the elevator, disappearing as quickly as he emerged. He hit the emergency stop, listening as Steve scratched at the metal doors, until the growling subsided and a loud thunk was heard.

"He's out. You got him?" Tony asked over the PA and Bucky just nodded, opening the elevator doors to find him slumped on his side with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. The Winter Soldier felt pity for the animal. He desperately tried to think of him as nothing but a wolf, because if he convinced himself this was his best friend, he'd feel even worse about how they were forced to treat him.

Luckily, the news from the lab was better than expected.

"It's amazing." Banner said as he studied the screen beside him, "His cells are trying to correct themselves. There's nothing causing the cellular change, but the serum must know he's not the peak of human condition, so it's trying to force him back to the way he was."

"So, he's gonna be okay?" Dallas asked under her breath, looking at the screens from beside Bruce. She swiped one of the screens to the side, studying it quickly before adding, "According to this, the serum is specifically targeting his brain. Mentally, he's barely human, it must realize that's the first place to start…" She smiled brightly at the man beside her, "Think of the applications if we could harness this. It would attack cancer and AIDS; it could trick the body into producing insulin for diabetics. If administered to expecting mothers, it could all but eradicate birth defects and hinder birth complications."

"Uh, since when are you smart?" Tony asked and Dallas glared at him, blinking slowly to show how displeased she was with his comment.

"She's a genius." Natasha offered casually, and everyone turned to her curiously, including Dallas. She opened her mouth to ask how she knew, but Natasha cut her off, "Sitwell told us she was targeted for Project Insight because of how smart she was. I believe he said your SAT scores were fifteen fifty and your IQ was one-eighty-five?"

"That's higher than Einstein!" Bruce yelped.

"Not as high as me, though." Tony grumbled as he walked past, staring down the woman. "Why didn't you say anything?"

She shrugged, "Wasn't important."

"Really? Because it sounds like you could be really useful." Tony answered, but she just crossed her arms and leaned against the table, turning to look beyond the glass box that held Steve.

They'd put a tube down his throat to help him breathe, as well as administered more anesthetic to keep him under. Despite this, his tail twitched every once in a while, a blunt reminder that Captain America was struggling to regain his humanity. He didn't understand that he had a human daughter who was crying for him, begging Sam and Pepper to take her to Daddy. He didn't know how scared Dallas was that she'd never see his smile again.

"Tony's right, Dallas, we could really use you." Bruce said quietly, breaking her from her thoughts. She groaned and turned, storming out of the lab without a word. Bruce and Tony exchanged a glance, but neither went after her.

"She's gotta go to work." Bucky said quietly from the corner he'd been hiding in, "She's about to lose her job."

"Great, good thing she'll have one here." Tony quipped, but Bucky just shook his head and sighed.

"She likes her job. She just wants a regular life. She didn't ask for this. None of us did."

"Actually, all of us did." Tony corrected, gesturing to Natasha, Bruce, and Steve. "We all signed up for this job. Cap agreed to the serum. Bruce agreed to test his serum on himself. Romanoff decided to stay and fight, even after defecting, and I decided to own the fact that I'm Iron Man. So, we did ask for this, in one way or another. Even you."

"I was drafted." Bucky snapped, looking over to Steve as his long hind leg kicked in his sleep, "Unlike him, I didn't want to run into war. But I did, and I agreed to follow him, so I guess that's me agreeing to being captured by the Russians and experimented on until I couldn't remember my own name."

Barnes stormed off, leaving the three Avengers to stand silently in his wake. Nat looked at Steve and pressed her hand to the glass, dropping her head sadly, "You gotta pull through this Steve. We're falling apart without you."

Steve slept through the rest of the day and through the night until November 2nd arrived. He slept through Dallas not coming back to the tower, Bucky avoiding the team, and even Pepper and Tony discussing what to do with Denver if Steve never returned to normal.

Dallas didn't return after her shift ended, and the Avengers began to wonder if she'd abandoned Denver and struck out on her own. Bucky, who didn't appreciate how little they thought of the woman, texted her and found out she'd been stuck at work longer than expected checking up on the pregnant mothers who had a traumatic Halloween experience due to Amora's magic.

When dawn broke though, Steve felt the sunshine breaking through the windows of his high-rise apartment. He was aware that he was on the floor, but he didn't mind. He felt wrong, like he'd slept funny and his limbs weren't as they should be. Steve remembered wanting Denver, but aside from that, everything was fuzzy and unclear. He remembered curling up with his daughter, protecting her, keeping her close. She was screaming and crying. She'd smacked him in the face.

She'd been afraid of him.

Steve suddenly raised his head, understanding that something greater was wrong. His whole apartment stunk like animals. His senses seemed to be stronger, making the smell overpowering. He looked down. What should have been his hands had become large paws. Scrambling to his feet and looking over his shoulder he found his long, grey fur leading to a fluffy tail. Lifting his paw to his face, he pressed it to his nose, finding it long and connected to his mouth. Running his tongue along his teeth, he found them sharp and he turned to his mirror, realizing he was a wolf.

The memories came flooding back, foggy as they were. Denver was a bunny, and he had to save her. Dallas kept trying to shoot him, Clint even tried to shoot him. He just needed Denver. He needed to save her. Did he save her? He saved her, right? He leaned down, keeping his tail in the air as he stretched his back, trying to remember the last time he was with her. He remembered her screaming and crying. She was human then. She was normal again. Why wasn't he?

He stood and moved to the elevator, carefully standing up on his hind legs and towering over the button panel, at least seven feet tall standing like that. He dropped back down and tried to hit the button with his nose, but the touch screen didn't take and he barked at his angrily before backing away in panic. He couldn't talk. How the hell was he supposed to get anyone to realize it was him?

Looking around, he realized he was in his apartment, so they must have known it was him, but judging by the claw and teeth marks all over everything, they probably weren't planning on hanging out with him to figure out how to fix it.

Suddenly, the door slid open and Bucky emerged cautiously, eyeing Steve with nervous blue eyes. Steve barked excitedly, happy to see his best friend, but Bucky just put up his left hand to keep him back. Steve saw slight teeth marks on his arm and realized he'd attacked Bucky. No wonder he was scared of him.

Steve laid down and whimpered, placing his paws over his nose to show he was sorry. It was demeaning to act like a sad puppy, but if it made Bucky forgive him, he'd do it happily.

Bucky chuckled and set down the massive steak he'd brought, "Thought you might be hungry, Punk. Stark would have had you eating table scraps, but I'm… not ready to accept that you're… this."

Steve stood up and moved over to the plate, sniffing the steak before placing his paw on one end and tearing off a chunk, wolfing it down hungrily. He felt like he hadn't eaten in days.

While he ate, Bucky dared to place his hand on Steve's head. He slowly stroked from his head to his neck, and Steve was moments away from curling up against his leg from the attention. He'd loved when Brooklyn scratched his neck, but this was somehow better. He was in heaven, and Bucky seemed to understand, laughing to himself and beginning to work his metal hand through Steve's fur.

"You're in a good mood today." Bucky hummed as he sat down and leaned against Steve's bedframe. He watched Steve curiously, then murmured, "Dallas said it looks like your super serum is trying to correct your brain… do you know who I am?"

Steve barked happily, licking his long tongue up Bucky's stubbly cheek before panting at him. Bucky's eyes widened as his mouth dropped open in happy shock, "Steve?"

The wolf leaned forward on his legs, letting his tail wag in the air as he barked loudly, then sprinted towards his dresser. He jumped up on his hind legs, inadvertently knocking over most of his things, but he managed to grab the framed photo of him and Bucky from their time during the war and brought it over to Barnes, dropping it in his lap and barking again.

Bucky rubbed his face roughly before tugging the wolf into his lap to hug tightly. Steve was startled by the gesture, but only because Bucky had worked hard to keep him at arm's length the past few months. He still didn't remember as much as he'd like, and he didn't want Steve to think they were back to the friendship they'd had before he fell. This though, this was more vulnerability than Bucky had shown Steve before, and it meant the world to him.

Steve licked Bucky's face instinctively and the man laughed and pushed him away, "They said there's nothing they can really do to speed this up, but the doctor is hopeful that you'll make a recovery. It just might take some time…." He paused, scratching Steve's head and studying the massive creature that was so gentle with him, "I suppose you wanna see Denny?" Steve barked loudly, sprinting away from Bucky to stand near the elevator.

Bucky grunted as he stood and walked over, putting out his hand to stop Steve, "Hey, it's not that simple. Dallas doesn't want her near you until you're more yourself. You can't just waltz through the tower right now; it'll freak everyone out. You stay. I'll bring her to you. Dallas is at work; it'll be a while before she gets back."

Steve whimpered and laid down, looking up at Bucky with big sad eyes. He was thankful they weren't blue, because if he could see Steve in those eyes, he'd crack under pressure, "Stay. I'll bring her to you, okay?"

He kept his hand up as he backed into the elevator, requesting to be taken down to the common area. He knew Natasha was babysitting, and she'd be suspicious of Bucky for wanting to take Denver by himself, but Bucky wanted to test if his theory was true. He wanted to see if Denny could bring back Captain America.