Back on Earth

Bucky watched Madison's heart monitor as it slowed down. He could feel her body getting colder to the touch. Her breathing slowed and her eyes were moving rapidly behind her lids. Bucky knew all of these were signs that Madison was attempting to use her powers.

After Madison's outburst earlier about finding a way to warn Tony, both he, Bruce and Natasha had been working on trying to figure out what to do. The closest they had come was to contact Shuri in Wakanda. She was able to cast a signal much further into space than any of the technology Tony had here at the compound to see if she could reach the ship. As of an hour ago, there was still nothing, but she said she would stay with it and let the crew know if anything changed.

Bucky missed his time in Wakanda. Sure, being at the compound with Steve, Sam, Wanda and Natasha was nice. They felt like family to him. Bruce, Tony and even Peter were all growing on him. But Wakanda was peaceful. There was no conflict. The biggest worry he had while there was to be sure to close the flap to his hut at night so that in the morning the kids wouldn't sneak in on him sleeping and mess with his hair.

Pressing a kiss to Madison's wrist, Bucky made a silent promise to his lady love that he would take her to Wakanda one day and show her how wonderful the place and its people truly were. Chuckling to himself, he just knew Shuri would love Madison.

Even though Bucky was decades older than Shuri, she still called him her little brother. After Shuri and the Dora Milaje had found a way to erase the programing HYDRA had put into his head, Bucky had spent several months living peacefully among the outer tribespeople. He even spent time helping a local farmer to tend to some goats. One he playfully named Steve because it always seemed to get into trouble and needed help. Steve got a big kick out of that when he heard the story behind it, but Nat wasn't so amused when she met her goat counterpart. The tiny goat butted everything with its head and was constantly challenging the bigger animals.

Shuri made it a point to visit him on a daily basis and they would sit and chat for hours about everything and nothing. Watching the sunset over the waters of Wakanda was definitely how Bucky could see himself spending his twilight years.

Laying his head against Madison's stomach, Bucky laid her hand over his head. He was certain that he would feel it if and when she woke up if he were like this. So he didn't give it a second thought when his eyes finally closed in sleep. It had been a very long day and his body was blissfully exhausted.

Hours passed and not only did he not wake up when Madison did, he also didn't wake when at some point Natasha had reentered the room and covered him with a blanket as he continued on in his weird sleeping position. What did finally draw him from his rest were the gentle strokes of his hair as long, soft fingers slipped gently along the shell of his ear.

Madison was wake, she was safe and from the smile on her face she wasn't worried anymore. "Good morning handsome," she whispered softly.

"How long have I been asleep," Bucky asked as he sat upright, stretching the muscles of his back that were screaming at having slept in such an awkward position all night.

"About 12 hours," came Natasha's voice from across the room. Bucky turned to see Nat and Steve sitting up, side-by-side on his hospital bed eating something out of bowls, taking in what they found to be a humorous site.

"You were sleeping so well, I didn't have the heart to wake you," Madison said as she gently stroked Bucky's jawline that was now covered with even more stubble than the day before.

Bucky's stomach took that moment to grumble at not having been fed as he offered to get something to eat for Madison. As Madison watched Bucky race from the room towards the kitchen, she smiled to herself.

"That's the Bucky I remember back when we were kids," Steve said to his daughter. "He was always smiling and happy. He laughed all the time. You bring out the best of him."

Madison couldn't help the blush that covered her cheeks at the compliment.

"I think he's definitely good for our little girl as well," Natasha said, humorously poking at Madison. "She's certainly gained a world of confidence in the short time that she's been with us, hasn't she?"

Steve just smiled playfully and nodded, continuing to eat what turned out to be a bowl of soup.

Several minutes passed before Bucky returned carefully balancing what looked to be a mountain of food on a tray. "What on Earth," Madison laughed as Bucky carefully settled the food on a nearby table.

Bucky looked down at the food, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly before shrugging and crawling back onto the bed beside Madison. Handing her a grilled cheese sandwich and a small glass of milk before reaching for his own and digging in giving Maddie a cheeky grin around a mouthful of food as he ate.

This was how life should be for Bucky, Madison thought to herself. He's been hurting too long, he deserves happiness. The moment of peace was short-lived as Madison realized no one had made mention of Tony, Peter or Dr. Strange since she had been awake. "Were we able to reach Uncle Tony?" Madison turned to Bucky for answers. She watched as he slowly finished a large bite of his sandwich before filling her in. Apparently, deep space signals were being sent out every few minutes trying to find a way to reach the alien ship. But since there was no way of knowing the specific frequency the ship would be using, it was very much like looking for a specific needle in a pile of needles.

"It would have been nice if my dream were real then," Madison mumbled more to herself. Of course the two super soldiers in the room heard her as Steve spoke up asking what she was talking about.

"You dreamed about Tony?" Steve sat up more in his bed, putting his empty bowl to the side and giving Madison his undivided attention.

Looking at the two men and Natasha, they all eagerly waited for Madison to continue explaining. "It was just a dream guys," she said, flushing at receiving all the attention in the room.

"No, you were using your powers while you were out. I could tell," Bucky explained how he watched all of the signs happen that typically meant Madison was engaging a power. "Your heartbeat slowed, you got cooler to the touch, plus your eyes were moving really rapidly as you slept, almost like you were searching for something."

"But they have to be in a completely different galaxy by the time I got here and woke up. I don't have that type of range with my powers," Madison said, turning to look at Bucky.

"You didn't before…but that doesn't mean you don't now," he said. Bucky squeezed Maddie's hand gently in his own offering her support and encouragement. "You're powers are growing more and more every day. We don't know exactly what your limits are just yet. You've not been forced to stretch your muscle yet." The smile on Bucky's face was one of pride and adoration for Madison. He loved that she continued to show just how amazing and special she was to everyone. No one else knew about their conversations during the night after everyone had gone to bed. No one knew how overwhelmed Madison was or how she worried that she wasn't going to be useful in the long-run.

Madison knew exactly what Bucky was thinking. If the smile on his face didn't give it away, his thoughts were as they practically screamed in her head at how in love he was with her and how proud he was that she was his girl. This caused Madison to blush. She loved him too, more and more every day. Often she'd still find herself in awe at how fortunate she was to have found him and the odd turn of events that ultimately led her to him.

"So how will we know if she actually was able to reach Tony and warn him?" Steve looked around from face-to-face of the current inhabitants of the room searching for an answer, but no one was offering suggestions.

The moment of silence was broken as FRIDAY spoke, "Sargent Barnes. Princess Shuri from Wakanda is attempting to contact you sir. It sounds quite urgent."

Bucky quickly got up from his seat beside Madison and moved toward the control panel on the wall. "Send the call down here FRIDAY," he said as he moved out of the way of the projection that quickly filled the screen.

"Hello brother," Shuri's smiling face filled the screen as everyone in attendance looked on. "You are a hard man to get a hold of." Bucky smiled in return to his adopted sister. The people of Wakanda not only saved him from the HYDRA programming, but also helped him reconnect a part of himself he didn't realize he was missing; a sense of family. T'Challa and Shuri had kindly opened their arms and hearts to him and treated him like a brother during his time there. They had even given him a new name of White Wolf, so that he could finally put the Winter Soldier to rest in his past.

"I'm really sorry. We've had our hands pretty full down here recently. Were you able to find anything new about the ship?" Bucky and Shuri had been working on connecting the ship Tony, Peter and Dr. Strange had been taken off in without much luck.

"In fact I have brother, if the giant ship you are looking for resembles a huge donut then I would say we are in luck." Shuri's smile was infectious as everyone's attention was piqued by her news. "Starting about twenty minutes ago we began receiving a distress signal from the ship. It would seem that your friends found a way to return the ship back to Earth's orbit but they are at a loss as to how to land it."

Madison moved to stand beside Bucky in view of the call, "are they alright," she asked worriedly.

Shuri looked quickly at Bucky before addressing the new face, "You must be the lady love my little brother cannot stop talking about," Shuri said winking at Bucky. This of course caused Bucky to blush furiously as he tried desperately to get Shuri to focus on the task at hand. "Focus Shuri," Bucky playfully scolded as he caught Madison's smile out of the corner of his eye.

"We have so much to talk about," she continued addressing Madison, completely ignoring Bucky's signs of distress at being teased.

"Shuri," Bucky called out louder causing Shuri to jump in amusement. "Okay, okay, keep your pants on."

Shuri seemed to be doing something on her side of the call when suddenly Tony's face filled part of the screen. "Oh thank God. I was beginning to think you were a figment of our imagination," Tony said as he saw Madison standing there.

"Uncle Tony," Madison exclaimed, the happiness clear in her voice. "You guys are alright?"

Looking around himself at Peter and Dr. Strange, Tony answered, "We are a little banged up and have probably earned enough travel miles to go around the world a few dozen times, but aside from that we are fine."

Nat was helping Steve stand to his feet as the doors to the infirmary opened up and Pepper rushed into the room. FRIDAY had alerted her to the call. She desperately needed to see for herself that Tony was alright.

"Tony, oh thank God. Where are you? Are you alright? Is Peter there with you? His Aunt May has been calling and is freaking out." Pepper was firing off so many questions Tony couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Pep…" Tony tried to get out, "Pepper, I can't answer any questions until you let me speak." Tony adored Pepper even if he didn't always say so, but his actions always put her first.

"We are alright. You can tell Aunt May that Peter is with me and I'm going to make sure he contacts her next." Tony turned and pointed at Peter to which he gave a returning thumbs up. "Now can someone tell me how to land this flying donut so that we can all have a nice long talk? Right young lady?" Madison was a little taken aback. She didn't think she had done anything wrong, so why did it feel like she was being scolded?

"Mr. Stark, I'm going to relay some instructions to you that should help you land the ship. We will have you land in our region so that your trajectory doesn't have to be changed too much from where your current reentry point is." Tony just nodded as he took in all of the information.

"I would suggest brother that you make arrangements for your crew to join us here in Wakanda in the next 24 hours. The King has some new information and plans that he'd like to go over with you and Captain Rogers." Steve took the opportunity to speak up as he continued to lean slightly on Natasha.

"How long will it take for you to start calling me Steve, Shuri?" This caused the young woman to laugh again at being chastised for referring to him by his title. Friends were far less formal.

"My apologies. I do it more as a sign of respect than anything." Shuri noticed that Steve was holding his side as he laughed. "Did you hurt yourself Captain?"

"He decided to go one-on-one with a blade and the blade won," Nat offered, chuckling. She had spent the last day and a half trying to let go of the scene in her mind of Steve laying in pain and her not being able to do a damn thing about it. Only now did she feel mildly better about the situation since his wound was completely sealed even if it was still a bit tender, that she felt like she could breathe a sigh of relief. Madison's wounds had healed as well. Hers only showed a slight pinkness where she received the blast to the chest. Had she not had the super soldier DNA she would have been dead before Sam could swoop in to the rescue.

Nat still hadn't had a moment to really thank him properly for saving Madison. Bucky too hadn't had more than a few minutes to speak to his friend and thank him for all he had done. He told Sam that watching her fall was like feeling his heart ripping apart at the seams, but the relief he felt when he saw Sam catch her…he couldn't put it into words. Nat had watched the two men talk about the incident and watched as Bucky hugged Sam. Sharing his emotions was still hard for Bucky to come by as part of him still held on to his old fashioned mentality that men were tough and didn't cry. But with Madison around, Bucky was wearing his heart on his sleeve more and more every day. Natasha was certain in the long run this would be good for Bucky. He deserved to feel normal, they all did.

Natasha was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Steve agree to make arrangements for them all to begin heading to Wakanda tomorrow morning. By that time the ship should be back in Earth's orbit and everyone could join up in Wakanda for a strategy session. Shuri had also been looking over some diagnostics that Bruce had sent over previously regarding an idea he had regarding the stone that Vision carried. Bruce believed that there may be a way to separate the two without losing Vision. This would take him out of harm's way of Thanos should it come down to it and allow them to destroy the stone so that he couldn't fulfill his quest of collecting all of the Infinity Stones. Unfortunately, Shuri reported that from what she could see it was a long and delicate process and one best to be started as soon as possible.

So the plan was set. Shuri would transmit instructions to Tony on how to possibly land the ship as well as send out a transmission to the Guardians and Thor to let them know that everyone was meeting in Wakanda. That once their individual tasks were finished, it would be best to head there so that everyone could be in on the planning. It had been months since Madison's arrival and subsequent warning of what was coming and with this latest attack, everyone felt like they were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something big was coming and everyone was feeling it.

It would be best not to face it individually. "We fight together. That is our best chance of taking this guy on and succeeding." Steve took a deep breath, his eyes scanning every face in the room as he finished his speech, "There is no alternative. I'm not sure any of us are ready to pay the price if we were to lose."

That night the infirmary was empty. After a solemn meal together, the Avengers present all headed off to bed early. Tomorrow would mean an early morning and a long journey, even by quinjet, so everyone needed some rest. Sam headed off to his room claiming a movie he wanted to see before turning in. Wanda led Vision by the hand to their room wishing everyone a good night. Bucky was just about to turn down his hallway to his own room when he saw in the shadows Steve slipping into Natasha's room for the night. The smile Nat gave him as she closed the door wasn't cocky or seductive, the only way that Bucky could describe it was that of an old friend looking for comfort.

Shaking his head, he was smiling as he walked into his own room only to find Madison wasn't in bed as he thought she would be. Listening closely he heard the water to his tub running in the bathroom. Walking over to the door he leaned in closely before tapping lightly on the door. If Madison wanted privacy then he would certainly give it to her, no matter how much he wanted to be with her on what could be one of their final nights together before the shit hit the fan.

"Babe," Bucky called softly, just enough to be heard over the running water.

"Come in," Madison said just as softly.

As Bucky opened the bathroom door, he was surprised at how much steam filled the room. Normally, Madison didn't use such hot water, but tonight it was thick enough to fog the mirrors. Upon his entrance Madison turned off the water and faced Bucky. She stood there in a long silk robe with her hair pinned up on top of her head. Bucky couldn't help but stare, she truly was beautiful in every setting to him.

Taking the few steps necessary towards him to close the short distance, Madison reached for the hem of Bucky's t-shirt as she made slow movements to raise it up his chest. He raised his arms allowing her to pull it over his head. Tossing it to the side, Madison ran her fingertips along Bucky's cheeks as she smoothed back the stray strands of long brown hair that had shaken loose from his ponytail. "Have I ever told you how much I love your long hair?"

Bucky only smiled as he settled his hands along Madison's hips. It always felt good to hear how his looks made Madison feel. He wasn't vain, but knowing Madison thought he was attractive did boost Bucky's ego a great deal.

Madison kept her eyes trained on Bucky's as she worked on the belt buckle and eventually moved on to the snap and zipper of his jeans. How a woman could look at James Buchanan Barnes and not think him handsome was beyond Madison's understanding. He had just the right amount of muscle, nothing bulging or veins showing. He had a six pack that made you want to run your fingers down to feel every ripple, which of course she did on many occasions. His back was tight and lean leading down to slender hips that led to the most adorable ass you've ever seen on a man. As Madison leaned in and began kissing Bucky's throat, the one spot on his body beside behind his right earlobe that made him melt like butter, she whispered her request of him.

"I need to feel you tonight, my love. All of you." The seductive side of Madison was like an alter ego. It always surprised Bucky when it came out of her, but he knew that in those moments were Madison's most vulnerable. She didn't consider herself to be some enchantress that could use her feminine whiles to get her way. But to Bucky, she was everything.

Reaching up and untying the belt from her robe, Madison held her arms still as Bucky lowered the robe to the floor revealing her naked body to his hungry eyes. The lust, love and adoration he felt for Madison was overwhelming as he gently cupped her face in his hands, bringing her in quickly to a heated, passionate kiss. Bucky shivered slightly as he felt Madison's hands into his boxers and cup his butt cheeks, pulling his groan firmly against her body.

"I love you Maddie," Bucky groaned out as his kissed left Madison's lips and began a hot trail down her throat to clavicle.

"I can tell," Madison panted out in reply as one of her hands had left Bucky's ass to give his cock a gentle squeeze. "You'll never know how much I love you," she panted out as Bucky's lips found the rosy firm bud of Madison's breast. Having kicked off his boots, pants and underwear, Bucky stood just as blissfully naked as Madison. His lips sucked greedily at the now taught nipple. He wanted every piece of this woman all at once. Bucky's hunger for Madison felt unquenchable as he lifted her into his arms. Madison quickly wrapped her legs around Bucky's waist, moaning as she felt his ridged erection rubbing against her aching pussy begging for entrance.

Careful not to drop Madison or to slip and fall, Bucky eased them both down into the steaming hot tub, being certain not to lose his positioning. Reaching between their bodies, Bucky gripped his hard cock in his hand before he began to tease Madison's clit with his tip. He wanted to be buried deep inside of her more than he wanted his next breath. Rising up slightly, Madison issued the invitation that Bucky would never turn down as he allowed his length to slip deep inside her hot wet body. This would be the beginning of several rounds of both furious and sensual sex for the two lovers. Neither wanting the night to end.