-I am sorry Bucky -was the only thing that Steve was able to say after they arrived at the compound. They were talking outside, beside the car and Steve wanted to be sure that he would be able to go inside without thinking that he would be a prisoner there… but he was.

-It is for the best Steve, we all know that; besides, we do not have another option, I suppose that I have to say thank you to Tony "for this". -Bucky inspected his human arm, where a GPS had been placed under his skin. The decision had fallen, Bucky accepted all the conditions and left the apartment two days after the meeting of the avengers. He felt desolated and was too afraid of himself to stay in the apartment. Steve had the feeling that he was emotionally falling apart but decided that he would never let somebody to use a code against Bucky again. He had made plans with the others to find the location of the second code because without all the words, they would be not able to erase it from his mind.

Wanda and Vision walked to them

-Even under these circumstances, allow me to say welcome James Barnes- said Vision holding Wanda's hand.

-We had not a chance to know each other better before, but I am here to help you in all what you may need -Wanda extended the other hand to reach Bucky.

-We need friends now -Steve knew how difficult would be to help Bucky without Sury.

Bucky was demotivated but still, could say thank you to both of them before the figure of Maria Hill appeared in front of the building with something on her hands.

-We already know each other Sergeant, please, do not hesitate in calling me if you need something. I asked Steve to tell you the rules of our agreement before you were coming. -She showed him a metal object that she was carrying.

As an answer, Bucky extended his human arm again and she placed the second sensor on his body. This one had a magnetic function and was designed to keep him inside of the compound. Steve closed his eyes and Wanda could see the lack of approvement for that measure.

-Don't worry – whispered Bucky, it feels very familiar.

After that, all of them went inside of the building while a group of figures started to move inside of it. Tony and Natasha were looking the scene from the third level. For a moment, they forgot what was happening behind them, in the lab, where Banner was busy talking with another visitor in the compound: Mia

-We have him Tony, calm down -said Natasha

-You, better than nobody else knows that I have reasons to be not calm.

-I though that you already had forgiven…

-Because he saved Morgan? -Tony was talking slowly and was meditating each one of his words -Yes, I do feel compassion for Barnes, he may be an innocent man but the soldier … do not ask me to forgive him again if he comes back

-The sensors will control him

-Pray for that because if not, then I would do it.

-Be careful, if Steve listens such words, he will start another war again.

-He already knows that Nat, I told him yesterday: this time, he cannot fail by saving Barnes, otherwise, I will save all of us from him.

Nat hated such kind of conversations because somehow, Steve meaned so much for her, from all the avengers, he represented the "one" family she had to protect.

Bucky entered the compound, he received a place in the last level of the building, in the private area where the avenger's suites were located.

-Well, it does not look like a cell -he smiled when he entered the luxurious suite with a glass facade and view to the lake.

-You are going to be alone here, we all have our rooms downstairs, but we share the common rooms: kitchen, offices, and entertainment hall. You should know that most of the day I am training or in missions, but we always meet at the evening when the circumstances allow it.

-Thanks Steve, I guess, I cannot complain, it looks better than the apartment. - Bucky knew that the luxurious suite was a high security fortress, and he would not have a chance to leave the suite if the emergency systems would be activated.

-Do you want to come with me? I am going to visit Banner, he is in the lab with Mia today

-Is she also getting a first-class cell like me?

-Well … she is still not categorized as a top-dangerous person but we will be careful with her.

-Do you have a plan for her?

-No yet, but Tony and Banner want to explore her capacities and that will take some time.

-Does she know that she is a prisoner?

-She is not a prisoner, she is under my care, just like you -Steve smiled and left the room. Bucky followed him. He still felt very uncomfortable about Mia being able to catch his emotions but did not have many choices because he would probably see her more in the future and both would be stocked in the compound for a long time.

When they arrived to the Lab, this one was closed, but they could see some people inside: a couple of technicians and Banner, Tony and Mia talking and making tests.

The rest were observing the scene from outside.

-What you think? -asked Steve to Wanda

-I do not know, she works completely in another level than me

-Can you read her mind? -Nobody was so interested in Mia's personality as Natasha.

-I did it some minutes ago but is not so clear as I would like -Wanda was calmed but even when all of them were expecting to know more about it, she did not say a lot.

-There is nothing there about the kidnap, I could see the boot, the children and the mountains and even…the avalanche, her memories are very painful about that.

-Is it true? Did she stop the avalanche? Asked Steve very serious

-Yes, she did it

-How powerful do you think she is?

-As powerful as the energy she gets- answered Vision -Equal proportional at the moment.

Bucky lowered his head and he wished with all his hearth that she would not come close to him again. He stayed like this for some moments but then, he heard Natasha calling Tony and his reaction was to look for him, inside of the lab, Tony was watching him; he got frozen but could see that Tony was also very worried about what was happening. They were standing both in the same building with only a glass between them. Tony focused on the artifact placed on his arm.

-Let's go Bucky, we can come back later- Steve wanted to save the situation but it was already late. The team could feel the tense atmosphere but none of them were ready to say more. Suddenly, Tony closed his eyes and lowered his head too. He stayed quit for eternal minutes and slowly started to relax his muscles.

-Steve? – Natasha called her friend and made a sign with his eyes – a black fog was flouring the floor where Tony was standing; Mia did not have a mimic on her face but they could see how absorbed she was, she breathed deeply and absorbed the fog coming from Tony through her lips. Her eyes went grey and she closed her fists. Maria ran into the Lab. Banner was not sure about how to react and everybody, including Bucky went in guard. Tony smiled and went outside completely in peace, he saw Bucky again and said with low voice: - Enjoy your suite Barnes. -Then, he left.

-Mia, are you ok? – Maria and Banner started to check her reactions and Bucky, still standing beside Steve locked his eyes on hers -She did it again. -He said.

Mia was also looking to him, she was still serious but there was already an expression on her eyes: mercy.

Another day...

Stop! – screamed Bucky, Wanda moved from her place in the Sofa in front of him to give Bucky a break. Not far from them, Vision observed them in silence. They were trying to find any possible memory in Bucky's head about the book with the second code.

-I'm sorry, It is not my intention to hurt you -She knew that going into his mind was painful and provoked consequences for at least a couple of hours.

-It seems to be like the solution hurts as much as the illness – reflected Vision – Maybe we should try this a little bit slower, you both look exhausted already.

Wanda confirmed this with an exhalation -I should let you rest until tomorrow; your headache and sickness will not go away in the next hours.

The sunset was beautiful, they could see the golden waters of the lake from the living room and the afternoon was quiet, but Bucky closed his eyes, he did not want to move because every single image was making him feel more sick. – We are going for a walk -Said Wand softly and left him there, she picked her Jacket and asked Vision to follow her.

Bucky had been in already two weeks in the compound, since then, he had spent some time with Wanda trying to find answers inside of his head, but they always stopped after some minutes. The sessions were always painful and caused distress in her. Besides, he had the uncomfortable impression, that he was standing naked in front of her because she could see his entire life, and that was an awful experience. The rest of the time he made simple things with Sam and Steve; Rhodey and Banner kept a healthy distance and Nat was avoiding him. They both knew too much of each other's past and did not feel ready for a conversation. He had seen Tony almost every day, but they never spoke directly to each other neither were alone in a room. Still, he had enough reasons to feel safe in that place for the moment, even when it was to mean his prison, it did feel much better than Hydra's underground. Furthermore, he had developed a distraction to his problem: Mia.

The young woman was not exactly a communicative person but was doing her best agreeing to all what Tony, Banner and Maria's team wanted to know about her and let them explore her capacities. Even when she was able to go out to spend the night in her own place, she was almost always there, for this reason, he had time enough to follow her moves and to examine her reactions. Bucky was fascinated about the way she could measure the mood in a room by just entering on it. He was learning to predict her reactions and he also was very aware that she was playing an important role keeping mood so quit every time he and Tony met. One of the things that kept him more interested was the feeling involving every time after the rest of the avengers retired into their suites. He could feel the breeze just before falling sleeping, and he started to think that there nothing something casual on that. However, all that interest he had, was not enough to make him get closer to her because he could not imagine how it would be to deal with Wanda's and Mia's power working on his mind at the same time.

He still was laying on the couch when he felt a new presence in the room

-"Hello Witch"- were his welcome words when he heard her steps, but he did not get an answer, Instead, he felt one of the pillows of the sofa hardly hitting his face. He realized that the move was not friendly and opened his eyes to see Mia crossing the living room in direction to the kitchen. There was no mimic in her face and that was not new, she only smiled or looked softened when Steve was around.

-Sorry – he immediately regrated being so careless because he knew that he was behaving just like Banner and Rhodey did with him. He was frightened about her presence and was making a distance between them – I did not mean to make you angry … -Bucky followed her with his eyes through the room but she did not even put attention on him.

-How was you today? -he asked then. Mia stopped what she was doing and gave him a sight without answering.

-Are you reading me? – Bucky sensed her intentions and felt indagated for her intromission

-I'm not- she kept watching him and seemed to be busy with some thoughts on her own mind.

-Yes you are… you do that all the time -he complained and placed the pillow over his face again. But she was saying the truth. Mia felt disturbed for the way in which he and the others were always avoiding her, but she was trying to understand their reasons. She also knew that this Bucky was not like the one of the future, this one was very afraid about himself and about her and she was trying to give him some space to get used to her presence. Still, she could not see how they could start a friendship. She was deeply immersed in her thoughts but Bucky could hear her saying: -Where is your smile?

-What? – he took the pillow from his face again, then, she realized that she had to be more careful with her words.

- I saw you smiling in the park; it is a pity that you do not do it more often… your eyes sparkle when you do it. – Mia said this, but she was thinking on the few times he had smiled to her in the future.

-Yours too -he could remember the scene in the park too and answered with spontaneous charm- by the way, you are also not a "smiling-queen"

-I must deal with other moods all the time – she spoke sincerely, she was standing beside the café-maker and waited for her cup to be filled. Bucky placed all his attention on her delicate face without make up, she had tied her hair behind her face and looked younger with the tightened Sport clothes from the avengers. He also had time to have a look on her figure and for once, he did not feel like a hundred years old man anymore.

- How can you deal with that? -he showed real interest

-I cannot -her voice was low, and he could see how worried she was about.

-Hey! You had made some good things with your situation, not only bullshit like me

In that moment, she got absorbed for some seconds by the strength of his sight and the beauty of his eyes; she forgot that she was trying not to focus on his emotions as a simple act of respect but then she felt his empathy as an invisible hug around her and that feeling nested somewhere inside of her. The lack of mimic on her face gave place to a fresh spontaneous smile and her natural curiosity did not allowed her to stop.

-You are doing it – Bucky muttered with some irritation in his voice, he moved back instinctively, and she realized her mistake; she felt guilty for this new intromission, she also felt discovered and scolded for something she could not control. She hated to feel always guilty, judged and alienated for that. Her face turned frozen again and started to walk out of the kitchen living her cup still in the machine.

Bucky stayed alone in the room without understanding what was happening but then he realized how embarrassing this moment may had been for her too. Until that moment, everybody was feeling harassed by her capacity, but nobody had though how it was for her to be tormented by the distance that everybody was trying to keep from her. All of them judged her and was afraid of what she could do with their emotions. He still was watching the place where she was standing before and discovered the cup full of coffee.

Once she had left the living room, Mia opened the door of one the balconies and basically felt into one of the sunbeds placed there. She tough about the first reason she had to be there: controlling her problem; she did not want to carry on with everybody's feelings anymore, she did not want to be seen as a mind's infiltrator and feel rejected for that. She hated her own reactions and the way people though that she was using advantage of that the whole time; she was also scared about absorbing to much of other's energy because until that moment, she was the only one there that had seen the real range of it. She closed her eyes and could picture the avalanche coming again, she could see the meadow disappearing and still could listen screams on her head, and those screams caused her such a terror that she pressed her hands over her hears and made her squirm on the place where she was.

-Mia? -Bucky's voice beside her brought her back from her memories -You left your café

Mia virtually soared from her sunbed.

-Are you ok? – Bucky was standing in front of her holding the cup in his metal arm.

She made a short movement with her face and indicated with an almost imperceptible noise that she was ok. He waited some seconds and repeated his question.

-You can leave the cup somewhere; you do not have to come closer if you do not want -This time, Mia spoked with coldness.

- I messed up again, sorry …- He could see that now she was the one not wanting to come close anymore, she was distraught and he felt ridiculous responsible for that.

-I have been too defensive before -he declared – Do you think that we can remain in the same room without searching into each other for five minutes?

-She smiled but it was rather a painful smile than a happier one – I cannot James, I feel you, I feel everybody the whole time, I cannot control it, I am sorry… I wish that I could. I understand if you do not feel comfortable at all with that, so, do not worry, I would not be offended if you keep your distance. -In reality, Mia felt disappointed but had realized that being friend from all those guys in the future would need much longer as she though.

Bucky did not know it, but the serum on his blood had also catalysed the best of him, just as it did it with Steve: he was a loyal, a good and merciful man and completely unable to leave letting Mia or somebody else in distress alone.

-Look at that sky – he said and with this, he made Mia to turn her eyes to the horizon, before she could realize it, he had already given one or two steps and was closer to her. She closed her eyes and felt Bucky.

-You cannot leave, right? -she muttered

-Can you feel that? – He asked while both remained watching the golden sunshine reflected over the lake.

-No, Steve had told me how you really are – She sighed. He was calmed now and delighted with the view; she could feel a little joy on him while he observed entire view and she also felt a very special, unique freeze. She used to think that Steve's breeze was like wine, but this one was like exquisite fresh water on her lips and smiled.

He smiled too, it was real smile and giggled -Not so bad

She giggled too – No, not so bad

-Maybe we can do it again … another five minutes like this?

-ok … five minutes… no more -she was relishing the new experience

Both stayed in the balcony until the sun disappeared.

On that evening, he said goodnight without calling her witch anymore and when he took his pillow and placed it on the floor, just like every night before sleeping, he thought about the possibility of using the bed. That night he needed to feel some comfort again and he felt asleep being sourounded by the same feeling from the recent nights

NOTE: Guys, I realized that Grammarly and office change some of my words even after checking them. Sorry, sometimes the auto correct is a real nightmare. I will try to be more careful on the future.