Wanda's declaration had everyone looking down at Madison's sleeping form.
"What do you mean, Madison said it to you?" Tony was intrigued with this new revelation.
Wanda was confused why this was a big deal. She closed her eyes and focused again on Madison's mental voice.
"She says she heard you say, 'I wish I knew what the hell was going on here,' so she answered that she didn't know either."
"Wanda, I never said that out loud. I was thinking that." He stepped slowly around the bed, coming closer to Wanda. "So if you didn't read my mind, and you didn't tell her what I said, then how did she know what I was thinking?"
Everyone in the room remained in stunned silence at this new information.
Nat was the first one to break the stillness of the room as she asked, "Is it possible that she has a power that we don't know about?"
"Between the TVA Agent showing up and the big reveal of her being you guys kid," Bucky motioned to Steve and Nat, "she didn't have a whole lot of time to tell us much about herself, really."
"Wanda, try something for me if you would," Bruce motioned for Wanda to take Madison's hand again. "Tell her to focus her energy and listen to the voices in the room and tell us what she hears."
"No one say a word out loud, but I want you to all start thinking of one specific thing…just keep repeating that one thing in your head, over and over again," Bruce said.
Wanda took Madison's hand in hers again to establish a stronger mental link. She explained that they were going to try an experiment, to not be scared that everything was fine. She asked Maddie to focus all of her energy on listening to the voices in the room and to tell her when she heard someone speak.
You could have heard a pin drop, it was so silent in the room.
Bucky jumped slightly when Maddie's foot started tapping as though to a beat. His wide eyes looked across each face trying to figure out who the culprit was that was singing in their head. Nat's smirk gave her away immediately.
Wanda reached again for Madison's hand and closed her eyes to 'speak' to her.
"She said that she thinks she heard Bruce talking about a formula he was working on, but she didn't really understand it all. Nat, you've apparently got some song stuck in your head that she keeps coming back to. Something like, 'I want to be your slave, I want to be the master'?" Wanda's smirk was too much for Nat. She burst out laughing.
"What? It's a good song. It was all I could think about on short notice, sorry." She laughed when Steve just shook his head and smiled.
"Bucky," Wanda tried desperately to hold the laugh in as she watched Bucky's cheeks turn pink.
Everyone was waiting for Wanda to fill them in on what was so funny and why Bucky looked like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"I watched it the night before. The stupid song just popped in my head and now I can't stop humming it to myself," he said, covering his face with his metal hand. "Mary Poppins," he muttered under his breath as he groaned.
No one could hold in the laughter with that announcement. The big, bad Winter Soldier was singing tunes from Mary Poppins in his head.
Bucky's hair fell forward covering part of his face from view as he rubbed at his eyes in embarrassment at having been called out for watching a Disney movie.
Wanda's smiled faded slightly as she turned more serious. "She wishes she could answer your questions Steve. She really does."
"Tony, you don't have to be afraid of her. She would never intentionally hurt anyone," Wanda stated emphatically.
Tony and Bruce seemed to be having their own mental conversation before Tony spoke, "Wanda, tell Madison what just happened and once you think she understands, ask her how long she's been able to do this?" He added the 'please' as an afterthought.
Watching the expressions on Wanda's face would have been comical in a different setting. She seemed to almost be arguing with Madison.
"She's confused. She can't read minds. Or at least she couldn't before. She wants to know what's going on. Why can she hear thoughts all of a sudden?"
Wanda, or I guess it was actually Madison that had some very valid questions, ones that Tony and Bruce were determined to figure out.
Bruce placed his hand on Madison's shoulder to try to comfort her and was suddenly stock still.
"Bruce," Tony jumped up and rushed around to the other side of the bed where Bruce was standing.
After a moment Bruce pulled his hand back and opened his eyes. "I saw her, I saw Madison," Bruce announced to the others.
"It was like she was standing there in this empty room. Suddenly I was standing there with her," he explained.
Bruce rubbed his hands together as though he could still feel the connection between him and Madison as he stepped back slowly towards the door. "I'm going to go back down to the lab and work on this. I'll let you know if I come up with anything." Turning and stumbling slightly as his shoulder hit the door jam, he was quickly out of sight.
Tony rose to his feet, "I better go too and make sure he doesn't break his neck getting downstairs."
The elephant in the room seemed to be on everyone's mind but no one knew what to do next.
"I guess I'll go and try to contact Fury again. See if he can shed some light on this mystery guest we will be having soon that is supposed to bring the life altering event," Steve said taking a step towards the door. "Do you want to come help me, Buck?"
Bucky was torn. He felt strongly compelled to stay. At the same time he knew he needed to share what he had heard when he was attempting to be sneaky and listen in on the conversation the agent had with Madison earlier.
Looking up, Wanda caught his eye and with a knowing smile of support she shook her head yes and motioned for him to leave. He would definitely be back soon to try out this new connection that Bruce had with Madison to see if it would work with all of them. With him.
He was almost out the door when Steve gave a slight chuckle, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious really does stick in your head doesn't it?"
"Shut up!," Bucky shot quickly back.
"Don't worry, I was watching The Wizard of Oz the other night," Steve offered as a consolation to his friend.
Bucky shivered slightly, "No way man. Those flying monkeys freak me the hell out."
"I know right," Steve answered back, patting his friend on the back.
Their voices continued to trail off down the hall as they got further away.
"And that is who I apparently decide to have a kid with?" Natasha stated to Wanda with a smirk on her face.
It felt good to laugh. For one moment in this confusing, complicated, far too overly emotional day, the ladies felt okay to smile and enjoy the others company. The problems could wait, at least for a few moments.
Steve and Bucky set up camp in the conference room across from Bruce's lab. They could see him and Tony having a heated discussion over something, but neither wanted to interrupt, they already had their hands full with their own task.
Both men took a seat at the conference table while Steve used the network computer to connect a facetime call to Director Fury's office. Both men were lost in their own thoughts as they waited for it to connect. Before long Fury's face appeared on the screen.
"Gentlemen. I just left you all a little over an hour ago. If people learn we are meeting like this they may begin to talk," he said, his voice dripping with his dry sense of sarcasm. "How is our newest visitor doing? Any changes since I left you?"
Steve and Bucky both glanced at one another, each silently asking the other as to who should do the talking.
"You both have horrible poker faces, so just spill it," Fury said already settling in for this conversation to be a doozy.
"Maddie spiked a fever. Bruce ran some bloodwork and said that she's fighting some sort of infection, but he isn't certain what is causing it, or how to treat it." The concern in Steve's voice was evident. This was technically his child and he was beginning to feel a very real pull towards needing to keep her safe. He couldn't help but also realize that so far he sucked as a parent, he couldn't even keep his own kid from getting sick.
"We have a level one quarantine protocol running currently. So far there seems to be nothing any of us have to be worried about catching." Tony's voice startled Steve out of his self-loathing, not having heard him enter the room.
"Well keep me updated throughout the day on her progress. This major event that we're supposed to be preparing for is very short on details and I have a feeling that young lady maybe holding all the answers we need." Fury was a no-nonsense type of man and he wasn't interested in letting this subject matter sit for too long before he would be forced to take direct action. Who knows how long exactly there was to plan for this event. Answers were needed and they were needed now.
"Actually Nick, we've been working on that already. Bucky said that he had overheard some information that might be of use to our planning out what to do next." Steve, Tony and Fury all turned their attention to Bucky who had up till now been sitting quietly listening. The spotlight suddenly being cast on him made him feel slightly anxious. "Alright Sgt. Barnes, let's hear it." Fury said, turning the meeting over to Bucky.
He cleared his throat before beginning to explain, "You see, the agent and Maddie went into the living room and started talking and I couldn't help but overhear a little bit of what they were saying."
"You mean you were eavesdropping, don't you Barnes?" Nat was stealthy when she wanted to be and right now Bucky was thinking how they needed to put a damn bell around her neck or else he was going to suffer a heart attack one of these days with the way she snuck up on him.
He watched as she settled into a seat across from him next to Steve. Her smirk she cast him didn't help to remove the frown from his face. "Is Maddie alright?" He said slightly rising to his feet ready to get to her room quickly.
"Easy tiger," Nat said, motioning for Bucky to retake his seat. "She's fine. I left her with Wanda, they were having a heated discussion about which movies had the best heroes in them."
"I thought you said she wasn't conscious right now," Fury's raised, agitated voice could be heard from the monitor.
Steve, Nat and Bucky all looked slightly guilty at having forgotten to mention this detail to Fury. How did one explain exactly what happened to Madison? According to her she couldn't read minds and so her being able to do it now was a real mystery. But according to Wanda, Madison could do it almost as good as she could.
"Let's circle back to that in a minute, shall we," Tony spoke up after having read how uncomfortable the room suddenly was. "Barnes, you were saying before you were so rudely interrupted," Tony gave a Cheshire smile to Natasha acknowledging how much she liked to get under Bucky's skin sometimes.
"Uh, yeah. As I was saying," he restarted the tale.
Everyone sat silently hanging on every word Bucky had to share about the bits and pieces of conversation he had overheard between the agent and Madison. Some of it seemed just that, bits and pieces, not really making much sense without the context surrounding it. One thing that he did say that got the others attention was that Madison had some major changes that needed to be made in this universe otherwise half of the entire population everywhere could be wiped out with the snap of a finger.
"So I would assume then that you all will help and support whatever changes she needs to make to prevent his catastrophe from occurring," Fury said, casting his gaze on every member.
Mobius had said that Fury would need to get the others on board with the adjustments Madison was going to need to make without delay. Barnes' need to be overly nosey just made his life a little easier.
"Of course, we'll help in any way that we can," Nat said, turning her attention back to Fury.
"Mobius wasn't able to tell me much about what was coming other than to say the alien entity is referred to as Thanos." Tony began scrolling on his tablet again probably Googling any information that could be found on this new player.
"I'll save you the time, Stark," Fury announced, "there is nothing out there about him. Nothing on record or deep undercover."
This seemed to startle Tony. The United States military and covert operations always seemed to be able to dig information up on just about everything and everyone. When Thor and Loki made their appearances in New Mexico and New York, the US government had huge files already on them both. So for them to have nothing on this new character meant that he was far outside anyone's realm of reach.
"I've put in a call to a group of defenders I know. They have been bouncing from galaxy to galaxy for the past several years. I'm sure if they don't know anything, they will be able to get information on him. As soon as I hear from them, I'll let you know." Fury brought up a diagram that had brightly colored stones on it for everyone in the room to see.
"These are called infinity stones." Everyone sat forward more in their seats and grabbed the individual tablets that were sitting in the charger in the middle of the table. The picture that was on the big screen suddenly popped up in front of each Avenger present.
"Come to find out, these are going to be of significant importance to this next stage we are about to enter. We unfortunately only know the location of a few of the stones and how to get them. Peter Quill and his crew, I'm going to send them to Xandar to try to retrieve the power stone. That's this purple one right here," Fury said indicating the stone on the screen.
"Quill and his crew," He chuckled a little as he added, "they call themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy," to which Tony could be seen to roll his eyes at when he heard the name, "they were the ones to put the stone there when Quill defeated Ronan the Destroyer."
A flashing file suddenly appeared on the tablets and each person tapped on it to open a picture and details on Ronan.
"Quill was the one to put it there, I'm going to persuade him to retrieve it and bring it to Earth."
"The other two stones we know of might be harder to reach. This bright green one," Fury indicated to the team, "is currently being protected by a Doctor Steven Strange in New York. Let's just say he is quite attached to it and not too keen on the idea of giving it up."
"Well, we'll just have to persuade him to help us," Nat said.
"And where's the other stone," Steve asked as he looked over the information as it loaded on his tablet. "That's why I need to reach Thor," Fury stated, "It's in the tesseract that he took back to Asgard."
"You've got to be shittin' me," Bucky's outburst surprised everyone since he had been so quiet they almost forgot he was there.
"Steve doesn't like language like that, Barnes," Nat said, glancing out of the corner of her eye towards Steve.
"You know what Romanoff," Steve said, turning slightly in his chair to better address Nat and her smartass remarks.
Nat just kept smirking knowing that would never get old no matter how long ago it seemed to be that Steve had called Tony out on his own language on a mission.
Mr. Squeaky Clean Rogers was known to drop an 'F' bomb or two when he got really riled up and right now he was on the edge.
"Play nice children," Tony smirked as he called Steve and Nat down for their misbehavior in class. "So you have a call into these Guardians, you are also looking for Thor. What do you suggest we do in the meantime until you hear from any of them?"
"I would suggest you start rounding up some support. If this fight is coming to us, we better start reaching out to our friends and let them know the battle we are all about to face." Fury leaned forward in his chair to address Tony's question.
"I'll put a call in to Wakanda and speak to T'Challa and see if he can plan for a meet up to discuss what's going on," Tony said, making a note to himself to do just that.
The door to the conference room opened and Bruce walked in. He was making notes on his file as he reached for a chair to take a seat.
"I was monitoring the meeting in the other room, it looked like it was about my turn to speak so I figured I'd join you." The mild mannered doctor always surprised people when they met him. You would never imagine there was a raging green monster inside of him waiting to burst out. That was something to admire about Banner, he really seemed to have it under control most of the time.
"Right. So what is this about Madison being awake but not being awake that was mentioned earlier?" Fury was readying himself to have all of the information. If he didn't know all of the elements to the problem, then there was no way to know how to make the next move. It was all like a big game of chess. You had to see all of the pieces and attempt to anticipate the moves several attempts ahead. Otherwise, you could end up being on the losing end. Right now, he wasn't sure how many pieces were even on the board.
"As you know, Madison got very sick right before you left. She came down with a temperature that spiked very high that we ended up having to sedate her to begin cooling her down."
Bucky was none too pleased with this new tidbit of information thrown out there. "What the hell do you mean sedate her? She's not just asleep." The anger on his face was growing by the second.
"Initially she passed out, that was her body responding to whatever was going on with her. But once we got her settled, yes, I sedated her." Bruce's face showed remorse for not having told anyone this other than Tony who was in the room when the action was taken.
"Why the hell did you do that?" In a different scenario, Bucky being so protective of Madison would have been sweet.
"She needs to rest to fight whatever is going on with her. Sedation at least allows her body to reach the realm of rest she needs. It really is in her best interest." There seemed to be true regret coming from Bruce at having to take this step. He never liked to force any type of treatment on someone, informed consent was always best.
Tony used his tablet to broadcast a diagram of what looked to be blood cells for the room to see. "And just what am I looking at here, Stark," Fury asked after having studied the image for a moment.
"This is a blood sample we took of Madison earlier. Now, normally, a person has both red and white blood cells. Depending on how your body is performing there may be more or less of one over the other." Tony stood from his seat and began to slowly circle the room as he explained.
"Madison has three times as many white blood cells in her body right now than a normal person might." Stopping back at his seat, Tony used his silence to emphasize the point he was attempting to make.
"In short, whatever is going on with her, she's very sick right now. It looks as though her white blood cells are actually absorbing her red ones. Whatever this thing is, she's losing this battle badly." Banner had a grim look on his face as he pronounced Maddison's fate. "That is why it's important we keep her sedated, until we can figure out how to help her fight this thing," he said, looking directly at Bucky.
Bucky looked down at the table, slowly opening and closing his metal fist to try to calm himself down. Sam had told him focusing on small tasks like this would help him to reign in his frustration whenever he felt himself losing it. Bucky took a few more deep breaths before asking, "What she's fighting right now, does it have anything to do with why she can hear our thoughts then?"
Fury's interest was really peaked now. "Hear your thoughts? When did this all happen?"
"Earlier when we were in Maddie's room, she answered a question that Tony didn't ask out loud. Come to find out that she can hear our thoughts even in her…" Bucky paused to look at Bruce… "sedated state."
Fury sat back in his seat with a deep sigh. This day was just getting more and more complicated. He couldn't help but to wonder if the TVA agent had known about Madison's ability before he disappeared. If so, then why wouldn't he have told him about it? There were just too many questions and not enough answers to go around.
"Actually, I have a theory about that," Bruce stammered out.
"Tony and I were kind of arguing about this earlier," Bruce looked at Steve and Bucky pointing behind him towards his lab.
"Yeah, because it doesn't make sense. We have no way of explaining it so that's all it is, a theory," Tony said, frustration evident in his voice that Banner would even bring up such a thing.
"Nevertheless," Bruce said, redrawing everyone's attention back to him, "my theory is this. Madison can read minds. She can do that thing she did with me where she kind of brought me into her mind's room."
Everyone seemed to be hanging on every word Bruce said, all of them trying to wrap their heads around what he was hypothesizing.
"Who do we know that can already do all of that?" He asked, knowing that they would all come to the same conclusion that he already had.
"Wanda," Nat asked, not really seeing the direct connection just yet.
"Exactly." Bruce stood quickly from his seat to emphasize his point.
Bucky and Steve just looked at one another as if to ask what language everyone else was speaking, because right now, neither understood where this train of thought was going.
Bruce really thought they would have figured out what he did by now, but instead he continued to explain. "When the agent was here, Wanda sat close to Madison. She even held her for a brief period. She touched her arm and hand. She even held her when she passed out on the floor. Several times she made direct skin-to-skin contact." Bruce was pacing franticly now, his thoughts seemed to make his feet want to move faster.
"What if, Wanda's powers to do certain things were transferred or copied to Madison? What if she absorbed a copy of her power?" Bruce turned to the room…all eyes were on him as if waiting for more.
"I know it's kinda farfetched."
"Kind of?" Bucky said, scoffing at the idea.
"Wait," Bucky suddenly spoke, "I sat with her too…does that mean she copied something of mine?" His eye roll was a clear signal that he thought this whole idea was ridiculous.
"Well," Bruce attempted to hedge his answer, to try to soften the blow a little.
"What exactly is special about you Barnes?" Tony was less subtle. He might have been able to move on from the shared mutual past of his family and the actions of the Winter Soldier, but from time-to-time the bad blood between them still reared its ugly head.
Bucky looked almost hurt by this statement. He slouched a little in his chair and his hair fell down covering his eyes as he absorbed the blow. Bucky knew he wasn't anything special. But hearing it thrown at him didn't make him feel great.
Steve hated to see his best friend hurting once again. Seemed all this world ever threw at Bucky was pain and suffering. For over seventy years Bucky never truly knew what it was to be happy, to feel special for all the right reasons. Oh he was special alright, but being a superior killing machine wasn't exactly what you bragged to your best girl about.
"Wait," Steve turned to Bruce, "Wanda can manipulate emotions too can't she?"
"Yeah, she basically gets into your mind and can make you see or feel whatever she wants you too," Natasha answered for Bruce.
"Bucky, you were awfully protective of Madison when the agent showed up. Do you remember how you were feeling during that time?" Bruce began making notes on his tablet as Bucky thought about what he'd been asked.
After a moment or two he spoke, his voice softer as though he were giving away a treasured secret. "I just felt this strong pull to be near her. To protect her." He focused on what he was feeling at the time. "I remember feeling fear, but it wasn't like it was my fear, if that makes any sense. It was like I could feel my pride building inside of me the more the fear built. Like I had this need to protect. When I had my hand on her arm, or when I held her against me, it was like I felt this sense of peace settle over me like a warm blanket."
"Do you think Madison was manipulating his emotions?" Nat asked gently trying hard not to shake any true feelings Bucky might actually be feeling towards Madison.
Bucky was silent as the others talked. Could it be that these feelings he seemed to be developing for Madison weren't real? That thought hurt him more than he realized and he could feel his eyes begin to pool with tears. Tears were a sign of weakness and that was one thing he couldn't afford to become in the eyes of the others. He was already the mental case to them, did he really need to be the cry baby to them too?
He tried to wipe at the corner of his eyes without the others noticing his movements, but of course Steve was always watching. Ever the tortured soul, would there ever be a day when he wouldn't feel like Steve's pet project that needed healing and taking care of?
"No, I don't think Madison manipulated him." That one statement hit Bucky like a punch to the gut. To have the closest thing to a medical doctor validate his feelings for Madison weren't manipulated meant a great deal to him. Banner waited until Bucky was looking back at him before he continued. "She didn't seem aware at all that she could do anything much less how to control these new powers. If anything I think she was projecting her feelings, not changing the feelings of those around her…otherwise we would have all noticed a change in attitude towards her."
Bucky let out the breath he had been unaware he was holding in as he allowed what Bruce to say sink in. He needed to see her that much was clear to him. Whatever feelings he may or may not be feeling for her, one thing he was sure of, it felt good to be around her. Even if it did end up being a manipulation, for once in his life he felt lighter and happier without having to put so much effort into it. Sometimes carrying around the burden and guilty of his past memories was exhausting. Being around Madison was relaxing.
Realizing the conversation had turned in a direction that really didn't require him, Bucky stood to his feet and announced his departure. "I'm going to go relieve Wanda and sit with Maddie for a while. She's probably not eaten anything yet, and you all sound like you have this covered for now. Just let me know what, if anything I can help with."
With that, Bucky handed over his tablet to Tony as he walked by and out the door. As soon as he was out the door he hurried down the corridor towards the stairs. The elevator was really too slow.
Everyone watched as he left. Everyone in the room seemed to understand where Bucky was at in his head right now. Everyone got it and everyone in their own way was happy for him. For once James Buchanan Barnes smiled a real genuine smile without having to be asked and everyone knew why he was smiling.
Everyone got it, everyone except Nick Fury. "Is that going to become a problem," Nick asked from his office.
"Is what a problem?" Nat snapped, hostility building in her voice. "The fact that for once Bucky seems happy? That he's not the brooding, killer that HYDRA made him out to be?"
Steve gently placed his hand on top of Nat's to try to calm her down, or at the very least to offer her some comfort. The anger in Natasha's face melted away at the touch of Steve's hand as though she didn't even realize she had snapped. If this was a sign of mama bear Nat, then everyone better look out when she comes out in full force.
"Bucky is looking after Maddie while she's getting better. I don't think you have anything to worry about," Steve said, looking directly at Fury. "We'll contact you as soon as we have more details on our end regarding both subjects. Until then, please let us know what you can come up with."
Steve Rogers, ever the peacemaker ended the call with director Fury before more could be said to piss off his apparent 'other universe' wife.
"I'm sorry I snapped. He just pissed me off," Nat said, looking down at the polish that covered her nails.
"Apparently," Steve said, turning more towards Nat's chair. "Do you want to tell me what's going on in your head right now?"
Nat closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It's what Bucky said when we asked him how he felt earlier. He said he felt this need to protect her. That when she was afraid he felt better being her protector." Undesired tears began to cloud Natasha's eyes as she tried to regain her composure. "I know what that feeling is like. I know how much better that feeling can make you feel about yourself and about the things you've done in the past. When you feel that long enough, it's almost like you can feel yourself healing from the inside out."
Nat looked at Steve. Her lips were pressed together as though she were holding in a sob as a lone tear trickled down her cheek. She took a deep cleansing breath before she spoke again. "Of all of the people here, don't you think he deserves a little time to enjoy that feeling? A little time to be reminded that he is the good guy, the hero in this scenario. Maddie is doing that for him, even if it's just for a little while. I think it will do him good."
Nat reached up and wiped at her face. She couldn't believe that she was crying over this. Ever since finding out she was technically a mother, something inside just started connecting with Madison. She may not be a small child, but some part of her, a part that was growing by the minute, already accepted her as her daughter. And that made her feel so good inside.
Nat got to her feet and pushed in her chair. "I'm going to my room for a little bit. Will you all hold off on contacting King T'Challa for a little bit? I'd like to be here when you make the call, if you don't mind."
"No problem," Tony said, not looking up from his tablet. He waited until Natasha had left the room before placing his work down on the table and looking intently at Steve. "And I thought my family was screwed up, Rogers. I think you have officially inherited that title."
The deep breath Steve Rogers took was one of realization that he suddenly had a much more full plate on his hands than he had ever had before.