"Does it freak you out too?" I asked quietly, looking away from Bucky as I combed his hair with my fingers.
"…Sometimes." Steve said quietly. "I can usually shake it off pretty well, but not always."
"…I'm sorry." I said softly.
Steve shrugged. "I knew what I was signing up for when I joined."
Thunder shook the house again and I yawned.
I dozed off eventually, curled up on the floor next to Bucky and I woke up a short time later to a particularly loud clap of thunder. I frowned and sat up, noticing that Bucky was mumbling something in Russian that I couldn't understand. I looked around and saw Steve standing up and leaning against the fridge.
"He started doing that about fifteen minutes ago." Steve said quietly. "I don't suppose you know Russian?"
I shook my head and bit the inside of my lip.
"Sometimes he goes into his head and he won't move or talk for a few hours." I told Steve. "But this seems worse than that…"
Winter didn't stop mumbling to himself until the storm blew itself out in the early morning. I drifted into sleep and jerked myself awake several more times and every time that I woke up Steve was still awake, watching Bucky with tired, worried eyes.
I woke up to the morning light after what seemed like three nights and I yawned and sat up.
I had been moved back into the spare bedroom by someone; likely Steve.
Bucky wasn't next to me. I noticed that the bathroom door was closed and I edged out of bed and tapped gently on it with my knuckle.
I heard shifting on the other side.
"Come in." Bucky said quietly and I felt my face flush.
"Are you decent?" I asked.
"…Sure."
I felt my face flush farther, but I poked my head in the door.
Bucky had filled the claw footed bathtub up with ice that he was lounging in, looking me over lazily.
I frowned, confused. "That can't feel good?"
He shrugged and moved his gaze from me. "It's familiar."
I frowned a little bit and edged into the bathroom farther.
"How do you feel?" I asked after a minute.
"…Disoriented," he mumbled. "Maybe a little hungover."
I grimaced sympathetically.
"I'm sorry that you saw me like that," he said bitterly.
"I'm not." I answered and he looked up at me. I shrugged. "They were asking for it. If you hadn't been there to beat them up, who knows what they would have done to me."
Anger crossed Bucky's face.
I bit at my fingers and watched him in silence for a minute.
"I need to see Isabel." I said finally. "I wanted to go back to the Smithsonian and see her there, I figured it would be a little safer than just waltzing up to her house."
Bucky frowned.
"I knew you wouldn't approve, but…" I shrugged halfheartedly. "I'd feel better if you went with me."
Bucky contemplated that for a minute. "If you see her to let her know that you're alright you could be endangering her." He said.
I sighed heavily and sat down on the floor and put my face in my hands. "Ugh, I know. But I really really really need to talk to her, Bucky."
Winter put his chin on the edge of the bathtub and looked down at me.
He scowled somewhat.
"When are you wanting to go?" He finally gave in.
I lifted my head hopefully. "As soon as possible."
"Alright," he said quietly. "We should go today."
I pushed myself up and glanced around the room for a towel for Bucky and I strode across the bathroom to get one out of the linen closet.
Bucky got out of the ice bath, having no concern about modesty, and I felt myself blush into the closet.
When I got the courage to turn around after a minute to hand him the towel, I knew that my face was bright red, but I forced myself not to make any weird faces at him or let my eyes wander off of his eyes.
He hadn't noticed and he nodded a curt thanks for the towel and started drying himself off.
I darted out of the bathroom just as Steve poked his head in the door.
"How is he?" He asked me.
"He's –" I began, but stopped when I heard the bathroom door open behind me.
Bucky walked by me, not self-conscious in the slightest, using the towel to dry his hair.
"…Good." I finished lamely.
Steve smirked.
"I'll, uh, let you get dressed," Steve chuckled and closed the door.
Bucky raised one eyebrow at me.
"He doesn't want to invade your privacy." I explained. "Most people don't want to be seen by other people when they don't have clothes on."
"Huh." Bucky mused and I heard a belt rattle as he put pants on. "Should I act like that?"
"No, not necessarily." I said, my back to Bucky. "Steve just doesn't want to make you uncomfortable."
"I don't care, though." Bucky said. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah." I answered, looking behind me to make sure that he was dressed.
Steve was sitting on the couch, a strawberry hue still coloring his skin, but he seemed nonchalant as Bucky told him that we were going for a walk. Steve smiled and said to call him if we needed him and we left him with Io.
We got a taxi to the museum and as I paid for our tickets I got Bucky one of those self-guided tour things with headphones that jabbered over everything so that hopefully he wouldn't hear the word 'Sputnik' again.
I held his arm as we walked to help him avoid bumping into people and I started looking for Isabel.
We had the misfortune of bumping into Tristian and he recognized us immediately.
"Hey, Alex and Chris!" he beamed toothily at us. "What brings you two here?"
"Do you know where Isabel is?" I asked him, glancing at Bucky to make sure that he was alright. His eyes were flitting through the crowd carefully, but he looked fine albeit uneasy.
"She's back in her office," he said, sniffing loudly like he had a cold. "I was just headed there myself, I could show you where it is."
I couldn't exactly refuse without suspicion, so I let him lead us to the back of the Smithsonian through an employee door.
I was just about to tell Tristian not to blurt out that we were here, but that was exactly what he did as we rounded a corner and he stopped in front of an open door.
"Hey Iz!" he said loudly and I scrunched my face up and resisted the urge to hit him. "Alex and Chris are here to see you!"
I instantly heard something being dropped and feet dashing across wood floor and Isabel leaned out of the door, eyes wide.
She gawked at us for half a second before regaining her composure.
"Tristian can you give the three of us a moment?" She asked calmly and I could tell that wasn't what Tristian wanted to hear, but he reluctantly agreed and walked away.
The second he had rounded the corner Isabel swept up to me and lifted me off of the ground in a very tight hug that took my breath away.
"Stella where have you been!?" she exclaimed, trying not to raise her voice too much as she spun in a circle with me. "I've been so worried about you!"
I hugged her back, happiness washing over me. "I know, I'm sorry. I was scared that if I contacted you something bad would happen to you."
Isabel sat me down, glowing at me, and I noticed Bucky watching us intently.
"OH!" Isabel exclaimed. "I have something important to tell you, come into my office."
She ushered us into her office and closed the door and shut the blinds in the window of the door.
There were posters all over the walls and filing cabinets everywhere and a large desk that was neat but full of papers. A purple beta fish drifted around in a bowl on her desk.
"Sorry I had to take the other chairs out; Tristian leaves quicker if he doesn't have anywhere to sit," she said, pacing the room. "Steve Rogers and his friend Sam Wilson contacted me after the two of you left."
I opened my mouth to tell her that we had already met up with them, but she didn't pause to even take a breath in what she was saying.
"They seem trustworthy to me and they're just trying to help you. In reality you would likely be much safer with the two of them then you would be on your own."
"I know, they caught up to us and we're both staying at Steve's house," I interjected quickly.
Isabel paused to take a breath like she was about to go into a well thought out speech about why we should trust Steve and Sam but she stopped herself and looked at me. "Oh. Well. Good."
I nodded, picking at my fingers in worry. "Yeah, uh, he got caught by HYDRA again," I said, nodding to Bucky who was still wearing the headphones and couldn't hear anything we were saying. "Steve and Sam caught up to him before I did and now we're doing our best to avoid running into them again."
Isabel frowned in concern.
"There's also been a girl following me around," I said, shifting on my feet. "She calls herself Ghost and she can disappear into thin air and cling onto sheer surfaces and no matter where I go she's always following me."
Isabel shivered. "That's startling. Is she…" She paused as if she was trying to find the right words, glancing at Bucky. "…Augmented? By HYDRA?"
I shrugged. "I have no idea. She said something about HYDRA pissing her off, which was why she was helping keep them away from me, so that isn't out of the realm of possibility."
Isabel nodded. "I can see why you avoided coming to see me."
"Hm," I hummed in agreement, feeling a pang of guilt.
I didn't want to think about HYDRA or Ghost, so I quickly changed the subject.
"How have you been lately?" I asked warmly.
"Good, I've made another friend," Isabel said. "Well not really; we just met two month ago, but she seems to really like me."
"That's great!" I beamed. "What's her name?"
"Mary," Isabel beamed. "She doesn't have museum experience, but she's great to bounce ideas off of, she's very creative."
I was completely relieved. Relieved that Isabel had been safe in my absence and relieved that she was happy.
"Tristian is still hounding you?" I asked.
Isabel rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "Oh yeah. I love this job and I really want to work here, but he won't take no for an answer. He thinks it's endearing but it isn't."
I grimaced. "Have you told your superiors that he's been bugging you so much?"
"Yeah, I have, but they say it's harmless." She said, crossing her arms. "And it is, I guess, it's just extremely draining."
I glanced at Bucky. Maybe if Bucky said something to Tristian it would help make the message a little clearer.
"One of us could talk to him." I suggested innocently.
Isabel laughed. "I'd love that, believe me, but I love working here and him bothering me isn't enough to jeopardize things. Mary seems to intimidate him, so I've been hanging out with her as often as I can."
I grinned. "I'd probably like Mary."
"You would," Isabel said and a moment of silence followed.
"If you don't leave too soon, well, and if it's safe to contact me again… maybe you could meet her." Isabel said hopefully.
"Yeah." I said softly. "I'd like that."
I paused.
"I don't think we're going anywhere, but I can never be 100% sure."
Isabel nodded. "I understand."
Isabel shook off the downtrodden look she had on and smiled at me. "It's a relief to know that you're both alright, though, and if you ever need somewhere to hide, my door's always open to you."
We talked with Isabel for about an hour, but she was at work after all, so we couldn't stay all day. I promised that I would contact her again whenever I felt it was safe to and she assured me that that was perfect. I didn't want to say goodbye to her again and I made my chest hurt to hug her in parting again.
Steve was visibly tense as we walked in the door, but he relaxed like he had been anxious for us to return.
We ate dinner together and Bucky and I retreated into our room for the night.
I woke up alone the next morning, but that wasn't unusual. The boys usually got back from their morning run at eight and I was usually awake before that.
I made myself some coffee and watched the sky get lighter, happy that the dark chill of winter was finally lifting.
Io was lying down in front of the door as usual when she leapt onto her feet and bared her teeth at it silently.
Panic twisted my stomach and I put my coffee cup down without making a noise and I backed into our bedroom where there were several guns under Bucky's side of the bed.
I crouched behind the bed with my back to the wall, the handgun shakily trained on the door as Io paced in front of it.
For a few tense minutes nothing happened and all I could hear was blood pounding in my ears.
I frowned and lowered the gun, wondering if something was wrong with Io's sensory apparatus.
There was an ear splitting crash behind me and I felt something grab be around my waist and shards of glass cut my arms.
I whipped around to see some man with horrible scaly green skin had burst through the window behind me and he grabbed me and dragged me out of it.
Io leapt on him but he swatted her off easily. I shot at him but I saw that my bullets weren't piercing through the scales on his body. I also noticed that they weren't scales; his body was covered in shards of a sickly green crystal. His eyes were yellow and slit like a lizard and he screamed at me, showing off long fangs of the crystals that covered his mouth and he leapt out of the window with me.
I heard Io screaming and I heard a crack as we hit the pavement and my vision left me.
