Bucky was the first one to enter Madison's room. Having super soldier serum running through his veins did give him some perks over the others and speed was one of them. Granted, when he entered and saw Wanda through the open bathroom door cradling the head of Madison, his stunned reaction soon lost him his head start as everyone else crowded around him.

"What the hell happened," he said, too stunned by Madison's current state to come up with much more. Everyone had filed into what was quickly becoming an overly crowded bathroom.

Bucky picked up Madison's hand and he was surprised to feel how clammy it felt.

"I don't know," came Wanda's panicked voice. "She wasn't feeling well when she left you all and rushed in here to throw up. She laid down on the floor because she said she was too hot and the next thing I know I couldn't wake her."

Tears were falling quickly down Wanda's face as she explained what happened. "She's burning up," Wanda cried, looking into Bucky's blue eyes begging for him to do something.

"Bring her in here and put her on the bed," came the voice of Bruce from outside the bathroom.

Not wasting any time, Bucky slipped his arms gently under Madison's shoulders and legs, hoisting her into his arms as he stood. It's amazing what crosses your mind during times like this. What things you notice without meaning to notice them. Madison felt so light in his arms. Even in this sick state she curled into his chest seeking comfort. No one had done that before. For years he had been the Winter Soldier, that meant death and destruction but suddenly in this moment, this frail little thing was clinging to him for safety. Bucky couldn't help how good that made him suddenly feel inside.

He noticed tiny beads of sweat covered her forehead and the edge of her strawberry blond hairline was wet. Her cheeks were flushed with color that hadn't been there earlier. He watched as the tip of her tongue tried to wet her lips that seemed too dry now like she was thirsting for water.

Everyone had to move out of the way to give him room to get back through to the bedroom where Tony and Banner were setting up a small table of tools and medical gadgets next to the bed.

"Just lay her here," Banner motioned towards the bed in the room.

Bucky was reluctant to put Madison down. She felt safe in his arms which confused him. Even she seemed to not want to separate from him as she moaned softly when the cool sheets hit her skin. Her finger tips glided down his arm causing him to shiver at her touch. Laying her gently on the bed he reluctantly moved out of the way as Banner and Tony began attaching wires and monitoring equipment to her body.

From the moment he saw her this morning when he walked into the kitchen with Steve he had felt this strange pull to Madison. Something about her made him desperate to protect her. When the TVA agent had entered the room, his protective nature had gotten the best of him and he had stood in between the agent and Madison ready to take him on should he make a move to harm her. At first he just chalked it up to this new "Avenger" lifestyle; doing good for others just because it was the right thing to do. He was the good guy now, he was no longer the Winter Soldier. It was becoming easier and easier to protect those that needed it. Especially those that seemed to not to be able to protect themselves.

But what really surprised him was when he had touched her.

When he had traveled to Wakanda a couple of years back, they had been able to do some amazing things to help him recover from the trauma of his past. They had worked with him to clear his mind so that the trigger words no longer worked to activate the mindless killing machine that had been put inside him by HYDRA. They had also been able to create another amazing cybernetic arm, so much more advanced than his last one. He could do so much more with it when out in the field and it had so many sensors and neuro-connections that if he closed his eyes, he sometimes could almost believe it was his real arm again.

That's why when he placed his arm around the back of Madison's chair, when his fingers had touched her shoulder, he was shocked that he could feel her. Sure he could pass it off as just all of the sensors doing their jobs. Lord knows there was far more technology working in his arm than he would ever be able to understand, but he had never experienced quite this same sensation before.

Everything before had always felt like he was wearing a glove. He couldn't feel the texture of things with his left hand. Sometimes he put too much pressure on something because he couldn't gauge his own strength and so he often used his right hand first to be safe. But Madison was different. He could feel her. The fine, almost imperceivable hairs along her arm, the flush of skin under his touch. It was amazing and puzzling all at the same time. Bucky had made a mental note to contact Shuri to ask her about these new changes. She had built his arm, she would definitely be able to explain these new sensations.

He was broken from his thoughts by Banner's urgent words to Tony, "We've got to get her temperature stabilized it's dangerously high as it is. If we can't start cooling her she'll start to have seizures soon."

Seizures? What in the world was going on? What could be causing Madison's body to be attacking her like this? Bucky was torn between wanting to be close in case he could help, although he had no medical knowledge so he wasn't sure what help he could be, to wanting to stay out of the way so she could be helped properly.

Moments passed before more medical personnel rushed in pushing carts and boxes of supplies that Bucky couldn't identify.

One nurse pulled out what looked to be a thick blanket that she lay on top of Madison. He would come to find out later that this was a cooling blanket meant to help bring her temperature down. It was almost like packing ice around her body without all of the mess.

"Alright, there are just too many bodies in this room," came Tony's stern voice. "I need everyone that isn't a patient or medical personnel to step out of the room."

Slowly each member began to leave, no one really wanting to go. Bucky would have stood right where he was had Wanda not taken his arm to pull him with her towards the door. "Come on, we'll wait outside," she offered when Bucky looked at her like she was crazy for asking him to leave the room.

Sam patted his friend on the shoulder and gave him a gentle push towards the door to help Wanda move him along. His cyborg buddy really did have a soft spot for the new girl, he realized. This would be interesting to watch play out, that's for sure.

Having gotten a very reluctant Bucky just outside the bedroom door, no one was really surprised when he slide down the wall to take up camp to wait.

No one really knew what to do with themselves to be honest. Everyone just cast glances at the other trying to look less awkward than they felt. So much information had been dropped on them in the past twenty-four hours and everyone needed time to process it. No one more so than Natasha and Steve.

It was Clint that broke the silence first, "I'm going to head down to the garage and check on…that thing," he said before slowly turning and heading in the other direction.

"I should probably go too," Peter mumbled, "I've got homework I need to catch up on."

Wanda took a few short steps over to Nat, who couldn't stop staring at the closed bedroom door she had just stepped out of. She could only imagine what she was feeling at this moment. Wrapping her arm around Natasha's shoulders, causing her to startle slightly, "How about you and me go start lunch," she said, nodding back down the hallway towards the kitchen.

"Yeah," Nat breathed out the reply. "Lunch. Everyone's going to be hungry soon." She moved a bit robotic, unsure of what to do next. Natasha allowed Wanda to lead her down the hallway to the kitchen.

Sam gently tapped Bucky's foot with his own drawing his attention, "You good?"

For as long as Sam had known Bucky he knew him to be a man of few words, so his answering, "I'm fine." Didn't surprise him much. What did surprise him came next.

Sam had only taken a couple of steps down the hall before he heard Bucky call after him, "Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?" Sam said, turning back to face Bucky.

"Would you mind doing me a favor?" Bucky asked.

"Of course not." Sam replied, surprised he would ask him for some help with anything.

It took a moment or two for Bucky to conjure the words. Not because he didn't know what to say, in fact it really was a simple thing to ask.

"Would you mind going into my room? There's a journal on the nightstand next to the bed. Would you mind bringing it to me?" Bucky quickly looked back down at his hands after asking, as if ashamed to admit that he had a journal at all.

Sam measured his next words carefully. Bucky never allowed anyone to enter his room. Even F.R.I.D.A.Y had been programmed not to work in his room so that he didn't feel like someone was constantly watching him. So for Sam to receive permission to go inside was quite the big deal, much less to remove something from said room.

"Sure brother, I'll be right back." Sam said before turning the corner towards Bucky's room.

Bucky sat there on the floor, rubbing the thumb and forefinger of his metal hand together trying to replicate the feelings he had earlier. Sitting there stoically waiting for Sam's return he couldn't help but give a soft laugh as he said, "Steve Rogers with a kid, go figure." Steve smiled his way as he remained leaning against the wall adjacent to his seat.

"Yeah," Steve said, not really sure what more to say to that comment.

"At least you skipped the diaper years," Bucky offered with a cheeky grin to his buddy causing Steve to laugh out loud.

"By about eighteen or so years I'd say," Steve offered back with a deep sigh.

A moment's silence fell between them again before Bucky asked, "She's going to be alright, right?"

The frown that covered his face made the typically subtle wrinkles around his eyes more dominate.

"I sure hope so man. I sure hope so." Steve said before turning to see Sam jogging back towards them, journal in hand.

"Here you go man," Sam said before handing the leather bound journal to Bucky.

"Thanks," Bucky said, offering him a small smile of thanks.

"No problem." Sam responded, shaking his head. Baby steps. That's what Bucky always took. Baby steps, especially when it came to trusting people. He had learned the hard way through years of torture that not everyone had pure intentions.

Taking a deep breath, "Something sure smells good," Sam said, looking back and forth between his two friends, "I guess I'll go see what the ladies are cooking up and see if I can get a taste test going on before lunch."

Sam almost always had a jovial smile on his face, now was no different as he walked off in the direction of the kitchen.

The door to Madison's room opened as a medical tech came out carrying a small case. Both men anxiously tried to look inside to get an update but the nurse was too quick. "Captain. Sargent Barnes," she said as she closed the door behind her and proceeded to the elevator.

"What's in that case?" Steve asked curiously.

"Doctor Banner drew some blood from the patient and needs it to be analyzed," the medical tech spoke, blushing as she smiled at Steve. It was no secret that several of the people working at the compound thought those who made up the Avengers team were attractive in their own way. So seeing someone blushing Steve Rogers' way was nothing new. "I'm just taking it down to the lab to get the hemoglobin tests started. Dr. Banner said he would be out momentarily to speak to you." With that she stepped inside the elevator to take her to the lower levels of the compound where Banner's lab could be found.

It couldn't have been more than five minutes more before the bedroom door opened again and both Banner and Stark stepped out talking amongst themselves. It wasn't until Tony caught the sight of Bucky jumping to his feet out of the corner of his eye that he turned to address them.

Bruce removed his glasses and slid them into his shirt pocket before beginning to speak. "Until more tests are run to be sure, the most I can tell is that she has a virus that is attacking her immune system."

"A virus, is it serious? Steve was notably concerned by the news.

"It could be if we don't figure out exactly what it is. Without knowing what it is, we can't know how to specifically treat her," Offered Tony.

"Can we see her?" Bucky asked, stepping forward to go in as soon as they said yes.

"Not just yet big guy," Tony said, putting his hand on Bucky's shoulder to stop him. "They are changing her bed sheets and clothes. With her fever spiking so high she sweat right through everything. So the staff is going to try to make her more comfortable first. Then you can see her."

Bucky hated waiting. Patience was definitely one of his weakest virtues.

"Good news is that we stabilized her. Her fever is no longer rising and she seems to be in less distress than she was earlier," Banner said while looking over the notes he had made on his tablet.

"And the bad news," Steve asked, aligning himself alongside an ever impatient Bucky.

"We still haven't been able to pinpoint what caused the fever to spike in the first place," Bruce fidgeted nervously. "I'm going to," he motioned towards the elevator, "go and see if they've started the analysis of the blood we took."

"Mr. Stark," came the voice from inside Madison's bedroom, "You can come in now."

Tony had to move out of the way quickly or he was going to be trampled by two super soldiers as they pushed forward to be in the room. Both stopped just a few feet in as their eyes fell upon the heartbreaking sight.

Madison lay in her bed, like some kind of princess waiting for her Charming to come and awaken her from a deep sleep. This would have been a beautiful story if she weren't pale as a sheet. Her hair was slick on the sides where it had probably been wiped off of her face by the staff.

As Steve walked towards Madison's bedside he didn't know why he was only just now noticing how small her arms were and how frail they looked with tubes and wires attached to them.

She may be a twenty year old young woman, but right now in this moment she looked like such a little girl. Steve's heart ached in his chest as some part of him began to think of her as his little girl. No, she might not be technically his, but deep down he felt drawn to protect her just like he imagined he would if he had held her right after she was born. Tears filled his eyes as he realized there was little to nothing he could do in that moment other than pray that whatever Banner and Tony were doing would be enough to help her.

Bucky watched as Steve brushed a strand of hair from Madison's cheek. "I'm going to go check on Bruce's progress with that blood work," Tony said, making Bucky jump. He had completely forgotten he was even still there causing him to gasp out an "okay" to cover his shock. Bucky had been totally lost in watching the scene unfold before him of his best friend tending to his newly acquired daughter.

As Tony stepped from the room, Bucky took a few more steps closer to the bed. Madison looked so peaceful lying there. Her lips had a soft pink to them and her skin had a pale, almost porcelain look to it. She looked very different from an hour earlier. Before, when he had walked into the kitchen and introduced himself to her, he remembered her face had flushed a beautiful dusting of rose against the apples of her cheeks.

As he had turned to find his chair next to Steve he didn't realize that he too had blushed a bit in response to Madison's reaction to him. Steve of course had noticed and had given him a playful jab to the ribs when he sat down. It had been quite a while since an attractive young lady had looked at him that way and of course it boosted his ego a bit.

But right now, that beautiful glow had been replaced with a pale, both literal and figurative, comparative beauty.

"I can't believe she's my kid, Buck" Steve whispered softly.

"The whole thing is hard to comprehend if you ask me," Bucky replied, slightly shaking his head. "Who could ever have imagined that there were other us's in other universes possibly doing the same things we're doing on a daily basis?"

Steve looked over to his friend and thought before he spoke. "She seemed to know everyone this morning, everyone…."

"Except me," Bucky finished for Steve. "I noticed," he said with a sigh. "I guess that means I didn't survive the fall from the train in 44' in her universe."

Bucky's solemn smile and sad eyes said so much in that moment. Would it have been better if Bucky hadn't survived the fall? The events surrounding the Winter Soldier never would have happened. The years of torture he had to endure wouldn't have occurred. But also all of the good that Bucky was currently doing to try to make amends for his past actions wouldn't be occurring either.

Plus, Steve thought, his best friend who he had seen through thick and thin with wouldn't be here to meet his first child. Somehow that thought just didn't sit right in with him.

"Well, she'll just have to get to know you in this universe then I guess," Steve offered his best friend a supportive smile.

"Captain Rogers, Sgt. Barnes, I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but Mr. Stark needs to see you in the lab as soon as possible," F.R.I.D.A.Y announced.

Steve and Bucky were both reluctant to leave Madison's side, but Tony's message made it sound important.

"It's okay," came the unusually timid voice of Natasha from the doorway, "I'll stay with her while you go see what he wants."

Steve and Bucky slowly made their way out as Natasha took a few timid steps forward towards Madison's bed.

Steve cast one last glance back as the rare sight, an unsure Natasha, before softly closing the door behind him and heading for the elevator.