Hearing Thor's voice over the loud speaker was both thrilling and scary for everyone involved. Tony was changing so many settings trying to get the signal stronger that Madison and Bucky could hardly keep up.

"Thor? Thor can you hear me buddy," Tony said into the receiver.

"Yes, I can," came Thor's response, still slightly breaking up and crackling between words.

"Thor, this is Tony. Hang on there, I'm trying to clear up the signal." As Tony continued to adjust the settings the computer screen started to change from fuzz and static to show a pixelated image of Thor.

"I… you… and… hear….but…." the connection continued to crackle and pop. "There's so much interference because he's apparently to close to a nexus cluster," Tony explained as he made more adjustments.

"Thor, move the ship south 600 yards," Tony said into the receiver again.

"Say…again," Thor said.

"Move the ship south 600 yards," Tony all but yelled this time into the receiver.

"I'm not sure louder will help," Bucky muttered which only earned him a glare from Tony.

Slowly the picture became clearer and clearer until finally everyone could see Thor completely. Tony cast an 'I told you so' glare over his shoulder back at Bucky.

"Ah, that is better." Thor's smile was a wonderful surprise after everything that Tony had been through in the last few days.

"Woah, are we going for the Pirates of the Caribbean look there buddy," Tony asked seeing that Thor had apparently lost an eye.

"That is unfortunately a very long story," Thor said, looking down and away not very keen on talking about the matter at the moment. Looking back toward the screen he continued, "Your message sounded urgent."

"It is, you've got to get out of that quadrant right now, Thor or everyone on that ship is going to die," Madison practically yelled the order to move the ship back to Earth causing both Tony and Thor to look at her like she had lost her mind.

"Hello, sweetheart have you heard of a little thing called 'tact'," Tony said before turning back to address Thor. "I know this is going to sound completely insane but you are just going to have to trust me on this one buddy."

Thor leaned forward after giving Madison another once over.

"I have so much to tell you with no time to do it, we just need you to change your course and head to Earth now as fast as you can go." Tony began getting some readings on his tablet he read over before speaking again.

"I've got the schematics of your ship. It appears that from your current location and at top speed you should be able to reach Earth by early morning. I need you to change course to these settings now and floor it." Tony keyed in some information a few moments before Thor confirmed that he had gotten them. A dark haired woman behind Thor took the information and walked further away hopefully to begin making the changes in their flight.

"Tony, what is going on?" Thor was visibly worried by the lack of information and yet did what Tony asked deciding it was best to get him and his people back to Earth.

"You are going to run into trouble if you don't get to Earth soon, trouble you won't be able to survive." Madison had been biting her thumbnail deep in thought trying to decide what exactly she could tell Thor about the dire situation he was facing. The agent had said she would be given some leeway on what she could and couldn't do, she just hoped this fit into that technical grey area.

Tony's look of shock at Madison's demand told Madison all she needed to know. He understood that Thor was going to have a run-in with Thanos and that had to be prevented at all cost.

"Yes, warp speed and all of that. Please do it now!" Tony's brain started working overtime thinking through exactly what Madison couldn't tell him. It was all making sense now.

In the background you could hear the woman's voice announce that the new setting had been charted and that it would take about seven hours to complete the journey at full speed.

Tony took a deep breath and tried to school his features before looking back into the screen. "I'm going to leave this connection open as long as possible. If you run into any problems please let us know. Otherwise we will be seeing you in the morning."

Thor gave a wave goodbye before the screen went dark. It wasn't like before, this time it was as though the signal had been paused instead of not transmitting at all which seemed to be a good sign.

"So that was Thor huh," came the calm voice of Bucky who had taken the seat behind Madison.

"That's right, you never met him," Tony realized as he turned to face Bucky. "Oh you are going to love him."

Madison and Tony both leaned back in their seats, shocked that the signal had finally connected and that so far it seemed the details needing to be changed were actually happening.

"You understand right?" Madison's question was directed at Tony who could only look at her in stunned silence and nod.

Bucky didn't like being left out of the loop but for once chose to remain quiet instead of asking for an explanation. He assumed that when Madison could tell him what was going on she would.

Looking down at the tablet in her lap, Madison realized that she actually did have a lot more details she could add to the timeline now, assuming that these changes worked. "I guess I'll go work on this some more," she said, getting up from her chair. She walked out of the lab as if in a daze, obviously deep in thought. Bucky wondered if he should go after her or let her be alone in her thoughts.

"She's going to need you these next few days," came the unexpected voice of reason of Tony. Bucky turned to look his way as he continued, "I'm sure right now her head is firing off a million different scenarios of what if's and such. She will need a sounding board and you are probably the best person for her to talk to."

Tony actually smiled at Bucky. "Everyone else in this place is in some way connected to her timeline, but you. You are the wildcard my friend," he said as he pat Bucky lightly on the back. "You are the only person in this entire place she can tell things to and it will have no direct effect on you because you didn't exist in her universe."

Tony laughed slightly at the confused look that covered Bucky's face. "She doesn't have to walk on eggshells around you trying to figure out what she can and can't tell you. As long as you promise to keep her secrets and not to interfere, she can tell you just about anything."

Bucky breathed deeply as he thought about what Tony was saying, "That won't go against the rules the agent sat down?"

Tony just shook his head, "He said she couldn't tell any of us directly what we had to change about our lives, which she had to directly change herself. She can't affect your life because she has no knowledge of you other than what she's learning right here, right now."

Bucky stood from his chair realizing the weight of what Tony had said. "Save the cheerleader, save the world," he chuckled, walking to the lab doors intending on going to find Madison.

"Something like that," Tony muttered, giving a slight wave as Bucky jogged off towards the stairs. "I have got to talk to Pepper about cutting that kid's TV time down," he muttered to himself long after Bucky had disappeared.

Bucky knocked on Madison's bedroom door but realized after popping his head in that she wasn't there. He then proceeded to look all over the house for her, even going so far as to checking with Wanda and Nat before finally breaking down and asking for help.

"FRIDAY," Bucky asked?
"Yes Sargent Barnes," came the AI voice.
"Could you tell me where Madison is currently," he asked, realizing he could have done this sooner and saved a lot of time?
"Madison is currently sitting on the deck down by the lake," Friday answered.
"Thank you," Bucky said, feeling a little silly telling a computer thank you, but doing it all the same.

Before stepping out the side door Bucky grabbed a throw from the back of one of the couches to take with him. It was just after midnight and the night had brought in the cooler temperatures.

As Bucky walked from the compound toward the dock he could just make out Madison's form sitting near the edge of the pier. His slippers barely made any noise as he walked and he was pretty stealthy anyway so he wasn't surprised when Madison startled as he lay the soft throw around her shoulders.

He thought about joking about making more noise next time but stopped himself when he realized Madison was crying. Sitting down quickly beside her he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his side, "Oh god Maddie please tell me what's wrong."

Madison didn't speak, she just buried her face against his t-shirt, and wrapped her arms around his waist. The position was terribly awkward and in a different circumstance the little squeak of surprise Madison gave when Bucky easily lifted her and sat her in his lap would have been hilarious. But right now all he cared about was why she looked so heartbroken and what could he do fix it.

Tilting her head gently back he wiped the strands of hair from her face and spoke, "Hey, calm down pretty girl and tell me what's wrong."

Madison bit her lower lip not sure how to explain what was going on in her head. Bucky tilted his head slightly, and smiled before reaching up and pulling it free. "What did I tell you about that," he said before leaning in and kissing Madison softly. The kiss only reminded Madison of how much exactly she had to lose. Trailing quick kisses down Bucky's jaw she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck.

Bucky's strong arms felt like heaven to Madison but she was still feeling so…she couldn't decide on just one emotion she was feeling. She felt all over the place. "What if I can't do this? What if nothing changes and I lose everyone all over again?"

Bucky tightened his grip slightly pulling Madison's body snuggly into his. He was afraid of this too but had no one to tell his worries to. "You are going to do the best you can and we are all going to do the rest."

Madison pulled back to look Bucky in the face. "I can't lose you," she said sniffling through her tears, "not when I've just found you."

Bucky's heart but overjoyed at realizing how much Madison cared for him but also breaking to see her in such pain. If this is what it meant to be in love with someone then he wasn't sure how people were able to tolerate it. All he wanted to do was take away her pain. So he did the only thing he could think of right then to calm her down…he kissed her.

Not one of those kinds of kisses that made you feel like passion was building so much between two people about to tear their clothes off but rather a kiss that he hoped conveyed exactly what he was feeling. Faith, trust, comfort, yes desire and maybe even love although that felt too soon to be saying out loud.

Madison's crying had all but stopped as they continued to kiss. "You aren't in this alone Maddie. I won't let you do this alone," Bucky declared looking into Madison's eyes as he rested his forehead against hers.

"Now come on, it's getting too cool for mere mortals out here," he said laughing, trying to ease the tension. Very carefully and with an absolute demonstration of strength and athleticism, Bucky got to his feet, still holding Madison in his arms, wrapped tightly around him. Her squeal of delight made Bucky laugh and smile as she hooked her feet together behind him. "If you drop me I'm telling my dad." This just made Bucky laugh harder as he carried Maddie back inside the compound.

"You need rest if you are going to try to kick my ass tomorrow in training," he said as he walked slowly down the hall towards Maddie's room.

"And what a cute ass it is," Madison mumbled, she thought she had said to herself. That comment earned her a tickle to the ribs cause her to squeal in delight again making Bucky rush to her room, shutting the door behind them trying to shush her. Together they were going to wake the whole house.

The next morning came far too soon for everyone. Yesterday had been a fun, leisurely day but today had to be different. Each member of the crew knew that going forward a lot of planning and preparing for the upcoming battle would be what their day consisted of.

Each member trudged slowly into the kitchen to grab a bite before heading to their different assignments for the day. Tony had left a digital wake up call for everyone explaining what had transpired after most of them had gone to bed last night. So almost everyone was prepared for the sight of a huge space craft settling onto the landing pad several hundred yards away from the living quarters of the compound. Everyone except Madison.

"Holy shit," she exclaimed over the rim of her cup of coffee as the ship settled into view.

"Language young lady," Steve said, casting a smirk Madison's way.

Everyone except Bucky and Madison made their way quickly out the door to greet the new arrivals. Slowly hundreds of people made their way off the ship to stand in the lush green grass of the Avengers compound.

"That man has no concern for lawn maintenance," Tony murmured to Pepper as they got closer to where Thor was standing next to Loki. This earned him a love tap on the shoulder and a laugh from Pepper.

Each of the men one by one stepped forward to offer a welcoming handshake and hug to Thor and a begrudging nod of acknowledgement to Loki. The ladies were quick to hug Thor as well, welcoming him and saying how glad they were he made it safe. Bucky and Madison had made their way out to the ship as well, hanging back from the crowd.

Bucky, having never actually met Thor, only hearing stories of his work with the other Avengers and Madison because she knew her Thor, not this one. It was plain to see that the two universes were very different in some aspects and so she felt it was the wiser decision to hold back and let others introduce her.

"Thor, I'd like you to meet one of my oldest,…" Steve began.

"Literally," Clint chirped up.

"…and best friends and fellow Avenger James Bucky Barnes." Steve held his arm out in the direction of where Bucky stood next to Madison. Buck stepped forward slowly to accept the hand of greeting Thor was offering.

"Any friend of the Captain's is a friend of mine then." Thor announced turning his attention to Madison, "And just who is this fair-haired angel?"

Bucky did not like where this was going so he quickly stepped back and wrapped his arm securely around Madison's waist, snuggling her into his side. "This is my girlfriend Madison," Bucky said blushing as he realized what he had just said. Out of the corner of his eye he could see both Natasha and Wanda smiling and giggling to each other as well as Sam standing to the side smiling like a Cheshire cat. Bucky knew he was going to have to live down so much teasing after that little slip-up. "She's Steve and Nat's daughter," Bucky announced casting a big smile Steve's way trying to take some of the attention off of Madison.

Thor's face was one of shock, awe and confusion as he looked back and forth between Steve and Natasha then back to Madison. "How long was I gone exactly?"

Clint thumped Thor on the back before saying what everyone was thinking, "It's one hell of a story brother."

Everyone was sitting around the kitchen table watching as Thor shoveled an ungodly amount of food into his mouth. Madison couldn't help but smile as she realized that some things didn't change no matter what universe you were in. What was unsettling was the way that Loki constantly stared at her. Every time Madison had looked up he was looking at her as though analyzing her every movement. Bucky was also none too happy with the amount of attention Loki was sending Madison's way and nothing he could do seemed to send a clear enough message to Loki to back the fuck off.

"So you are telling me," Thor said around a mouthful of bread, "that there is a being named Thanos that is going to use the Infinity Stones to destroy half of the life in the entire universe?"

"That about sums it up, yes," Steve said, taking a sip of the coffee he was slowly nursing.

"And this little one is your daughter from another universe similar to ours that has been transported here to warn us so that we might stop the events that happened in her time from happening here?" This time he concluded his summation with a hearty belch that made Natasha and Wanda roll their eyes in disgust but made Madison laugh.

"You know I forgot how you so easily grasp basic concepts, Thor," Tony smirked, "life just hasn't been the same without you here."

Thor just gave Tony a huge smile before stuffing another roll in his mouth.

"And just how do you intend on wielding the stones once you are able to collect them all," Loki said choosing that moment to speak up. His slick tone reminding Madison more of a snake's hiss rather than the fun loving man she knew in her own time. This Loki made her uncomfortable. Madison reached over and laid her hand in Bucky's, gripping it tightly. Turning to look at her he slipped his metal arm down her back and rested his hand on her hip to pull her closer to him. Bucky could practically feel how uncomfortable Madison was at the moment.

Bucky's brain was screaming at him to grab Madison and run, but he couldn't let Loki and his tricks get to him. Steve had told him plenty of stories of Loki and his schemes and how he was a master manipulator who loved to see how much he could rile up an opponent. Bucky wasn't having any of it.

"Steve, Tony, not to be rude, but if you don't need me and Madison for this I think I'll take her down to the gym and get started on that self-defense we talked about last night." Bucky looked directly at Tony trying with all his might to convey with his stern gaze that they were leaving now so to go along with what was just said.

Tony got the message and of course played right along, to Bucky's relief, "that's a great idea. I'll join you guys down there in half an hour or so to see what you've covered."

Bucky and Madison rose to their feet intending on fleeing the room as quickly and as discreetly as they possibly could, but it was Wanda who jumped up as well offering to join them. As the trio made their way down the hallway, Madison and Wanda linked arms, walking side-by-side towards the dorms. It wasn't until they were completely out of earshot that Wanda finally broke the silence, "was it just me or was that Loki guy giving you the creeps too?"

Madison could practically hear Bucky's jaw grinding as he clamped his teeth tightly together. "I have a feeling I'm going to hurt him before this is all over," he said as they stopped outside of Madison's room.

Leaning in he gave Madison a quick kiss on the lips before declaring that he would meet them downstairs in the gym as soon as he had a moment to change into some loser clothes. Madison then opened the door to her room as Wanda followed in behind only to find dozens of boxes and bags sat on her bed. "What is all of this," she asked, eyes wide at the number of items covering her bed?

"Well we didn't get to go shopping so Nat and I took the liberty to order some things for you. We got your sizes from your first set of clothes that you wore here that first night. I hope we weren't too off base on your style."

One by one Madison opened the boxes and was pleasantly surprised by how close to her style the girls had been. The one exception was when she pulled out a pink stripped box marked Victoria's Secret. "Uh, Wanda, I think this might be a secret that Victoria needs to keep to herself," Madison said as she peaked into the box before quickly shutting the lid and placing the box on the bed.

Wanda was doubled over laughing at Madison's reaction. After she finally calmed down enough to breath and talk she went on to explain that every girl should have something like that to make them feel sexy, especially around that special man in her life. Wanda's over exaggerated wink only made Madison blush more at the thought that others were thinking about her nonexistent sex life.

"Wanda, Bucky and I are nowhere near that stage and I…" Madison faltered a little on her words because she found it actually hurt to think them, "I'm not sure if he would want that with me anyway. He's always such a gentleman with me. The most we've done is kiss and cuddle. He never even attempts to go further than that." Madison stood in front of the full length mirror and analyzed herself in the new shorts and t-shirt she had slipped on from the purchases on the bed.

Her hips weren't voluptuous like her mom's, she didn't have the full pouty lips like either of the girls did. Although she liked the coloring of her hair it typically just sort of lay there down her back without any bounce or pop to it like Wanda's did. She turned sideways analyzing her profile view before tossing her hands up in disgust. "Why would he want to be with me?"

Wanda was not hearing anymore of this. She jumped to her feet and forced Madison to turn and stare back into the mirror. "Who are your parents" she demanded?

"Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers." Madison couldn't see where this was going but she was being held pretty firmly in place and so she figured that meant she wasn't allowed to leave just yet.

"Nat has always been known for her beauty and grace, not to mention she can kick ass as well." Madison started to speak and tell Wanda how she was no Natasha Romanoff, but Wanda cut her off with a shush to be quiet. She continued, "Steve Rogers was a doll before the serum and a beef cake after the serum, so you've got amazing genes on both sides of the family. Are you really gonna stand there telling me that when you mix those two batches of DNA together that you think that's gonna make an ugly baby?"

Wanda couldn't stand it anymore, "You want me to tell you what I know," she added as she tapped her temple lightly. Madison knew this meant she was going to tell her what she heard from Bucky's head, from his personal thoughts. Part of her wanted to automatically say no because that was just too private and an intrusion on him. But another part of her needed to hear it. So instead of saying anything Madison just looked at Wanda.

"When Bucky looks at you his heart starts to fly. The palm of his hand gets sweaty and if you've never noticed he tends to blush around you an awful lot." Madison ducked her head as she smiled, sharing that same tendency to blush just as Wanda had described of Bucky.

"When he's not around you, he's thinking about you. When he's thinking about you one of the things he tends to focus on is your hair. He thinks about how much it smells like strawberries. Did you know that he thinks your height is adorable compared to him and that he thinks you fit into his side perfectly?" Madison's blush only got more intense as Wanda continued on, tears filling her eyes to think that Bucky liked her so much already.

"Okay, okay, I get the idea," Madison said, wiping her eyes with her fingers, trying to compose herself.

Wanda smiled and threw in one last item that she was practically bursting to tell, "He calls you Shortcake in his head."

Both girls burst out laughing at the adorable pet name, certain it would be a while before anyone heard that one out loud. As Madison slipped on her sneakers and both girls made for the door, Wanda decided to throw in a little something extra for Madison to think about before heading downstairs. Reaching back to turn the light off Wanda added, "Oh and don't ever call him James unless you or he is in trouble. He loves that you always call him Bucky, it makes him smile. But I will say this, calling him 'Sarge' might get you more than you bargained for", Wanda added with a wink.

Madison stopped dead in her tracks before asking, "How did you know what..." Wanda just tapped her temple and continued to walk down the hall as she laughed.