Gasping, Bucky reached up and yanked the glasses off of his face tossing them to the bed beside him. What the hell did he just see? "Sargent Barnes," FRIDAY called from the glasses to him.

Slowly Bucky picked the glasses back up and slide them carefully back onto his face. Waiting for him with a very sour look on her face once again was Madison. "That was rude, James Buchanan Barnes. I thought you'd be happy to see me." Bucky couldn't understand what he was seeing. Was this a recording? How was she appearing like this?

"Okay, don't panic. Let me explain what's going on." Bucky watched as Madison slowly sat down beside him on the bed. He swore he could almost feel the bed shift slightly where she would have been sitting. The whole thing startled Bucky so badly he couldn't help but to slide further away.

"This is a program that Tony built to help him deal with some past issues he had with his father and mother." Bucky listened to her voice as she explained. It sounded exactly like her.

"That's because it is me, silly," Madison said as she giggled. Bucky was completely lost. How was this possible?

"Slow down and breathe babe. Let me explain." Bucky listened as Madison explained what Tony had done. Because FRIDAY was the security system of the compound ever since JARVIS was replaced, she recorded everything that was ever said or done on the campus. Tony had massive amounts of data recorded of Madison. Things she said, the way she talked and moved, tons of information that was being written and pieced together so that Bucky could have a virtual reality Madison.

"Tony says you haven't been dealing with all of this very well. You've not been speaking for the past year?" Bucky couldn't hold it in any longer, he openly sobbed as he listened to her voice. The voice he was sure he would never hear again, but that now was scolding him for having shut down this past year.

Bucky opened his mouth, but no sound came out. "I wish I could be there with you. I can only imagine how hard this has to be on you." He watched as she moved closer. It was all so lifelike. Raising his hand, Bucky watched as it moved through the one Maddie had placed on the bed. But it wasn't real. Madison was gone. "I'm only gone if you forget about me my love."

Bucky felt a tear escape out of the corner of his eye and roll down his cheek as he held incredibly still watching as Madison moved even closer. He could see the small fleck of brown in her eye before she closed them, her face millimeters away from his own as he too closed his eyes. "Maddie," Bucky finally croaked out, his voice rough from lack of use.

"There's by man," she said, smiling as she pulled back.

Bucky continued to use the new device, while down the hall Pepper stood at the edge of the hall leading to Bucky's room. Tony wrapped his arms around her growing waist from behind, comforted to have her close. "I hope that was the right thing to do," Pepper worried.

"He needs to find closure. All we can do is be there for him and help him the best way we can." Tony and Bucky had done a great deal of growing and forgiving over the past few years since finding out it was the Winter Soldier that killed Tony's parents. Tony still wasn't the young man's biggest fan, but even he could realize when someone was hurting and needed help. If BARF could do that for Bucky, then that was really all that mattered. Pulling Pepper away from her vigil outside Bucky's hallway, Tony led his soon to be wife back to their room for some quiet time of their own.

Surprisingly the days passed quickly after the first anniversary of the blip. Everyone noticed the significant change in Bucky's mood. He still wasn't speaking much, but he was finally making some effort. When he did speak, it typically was short and to the point responses. Nat even got him to smile one day as he helped her outside in the garden.

Slowly the world was finding ways to settle back down and find a new normal after the blip. People had to find ways to move on without the lost loved ones. That didn't mean that they loved them any less, but no one can live in misery every day of their life.

Although the remaining Avengers did find ways to carry on, this didn't mean that they stopped holding out hope that this could somehow be undone. Bruce worked long tedious hours in his lab going over the science of how the gauntlet worked. Once finally healed, Shuri even joined in on his research looking over the data, trying to come up with theories of how things could be changed. In the end, there was just no way either of them could come up with to recreate the snap. The stones were just too badly damaged. Right now they had the energy of large paper weights. They were worthless.

Soon another year had passed. There were good and bad days for everyone. Natasha seemed to be doing the worst of everyone. For the first year her energy had been trying to hold out hope that all of the super smart people she worked with would find a way to undo this. To bring her daughter back to her. After the second year passed with no new progress her mood continued to go south. Word had finally reached her that her other family, Alexi, Melina, and Yelena had all been caught up in the snap. All were dusted.

Laura, Clint's wife, lost not only her husband but two of her children as well in the snap. Little Nathaniel, the youngest child cried himself to sleep most nights wanting to know where his daddy, sister and brother were. Natasha found herself often trying to console Laura as she mourned the loss of her family. She had always considered herself to be a strong woman both physically and emotionally. She had been trained to be able to take a great deal of pain, but nothing prepared her for this. Natasha felt compromised in a way. She had allowed herself to become a part of so many families and with that love and acceptance came great loss.

The little bit of normalcy she did have after the return from Wakanda continued to fall apart as both Tony and Pepper moved out of the compound. What had once been a happy family of warriors and friends, now felt like a stretched thin group of acquaintances.

Tony and Pepper's daughter Morgan was born not long into the second year after the blip. Tony couldn't continue to watch so many around him living in their sadness. He understood it, yes, but he couldn't allow it to continue to infect his family. So, after many months of working on a new home down by the lake, Tony, Pepper and baby Morgan packed up and moved out.

The compound felt huge with so few of the original members still remaining there. Steve and Natasha had continued to grow closer over the years, now sharing a bedroom instead of living separate. It felt natural, right between the two who had started as friends but found comfort in one another. But all of the love and affection and yes even amazing sex couldn't change the fact that neither of them could move on completely.

Bucky had spent a year loving his new hologram program. What he didn't realize, but others around him did see was that he was losing touch with reality. Bucky would leave in the mornings for work. He would spend his time doing odd jobs around town or working at the VET center before returning home. Rushing in, Bucky typically grabbed something simple to eat and drink, scarfing it down and racing off to his room. Then he would spend the next four hours with virtual Madison before finally showering and going to bed. That was his routine every day. He never deviated from it.

Once Steve watched while in town one day he and Bucky sat in a restaurant eating and a young woman did her best to draw Bucky's attentions. He was completely oblivious to her flirtations, even going so far as to mention that he needed to get home to his "girlfriend". The look on the young woman's face as she realized she didn't stand a chance was heartbreaking. But what worried Steve more was that Bucky was referring to the BARF programming as his 'girlfriend'. The one time afterwards that he questioned if Bucky was becoming too attached to the programing caused him to shut down and not go out with Steve for two weeks to follow. Natasha reasoned that it was better to have a delusional Bucky rather than to have one that never wanted anything to do with either of them. But Steve hated to see his friend slip further and further down this rabbit hole.

The following Saturday morning started out like any other for everyone at the compound. Steve rose early and started a load of laundry. Natasha woke an hour later, getting up to start breakfast for Bruce, Bucky, Steve and herself. Normally half an hour after that Bucky would come trudging in after actually sleeping through the night ready to grab some breakfast before heading back to his room to watch movies or read for the rest of the day. Saturdays had become everyone's lazy day.

Bucky turned over in his bed. He had the same routine every day. Get up, shower, brush teeth, dress, and get breakfast and depending on if it was a week day or weekend depended on if he left the compound. Today was a Saturday which meant that he had to find something to occupy his mind and time. Trudging to the bathroom, Bucky flipped the light switch before leaning against the vanity ready to wash his face to get the sleep out of his eyes. Since using the BARF system Tony and Pepper had given him, he slept practically nightmare free. Last night though was not the case, so Bucky wasn't surprised that he was feeling especially groggy this morning.

That's why when he looked in the mirror he assumed it was his overly exhausted mind that was playing tricks on him when staring back at him was the face of Madison. The woman he loved was standing right behind him. "Bucky," she called to him. This caused him to slowly turn around afraid of what he would see or not see. Bucky fully expected the image to be gone once he turned around but was shocked when the ghostly image of Madison remained. "Bucky. Can you see me?"

Licking his suddenly dry lips, Bucky found his voice. "Madison."

"Oh thank God you can see me," Madison continued.

Bucky's eyes remained wide as he tried to understand what he was seeing. How was this possible? Was this a ghost? Or was he finally losing his mind.

"I don't have a lot of time, this takes a lot of energy and I'm still trying to get the hang of it. Bucky are you listening to me?" Madison said waving her transparent hand in front of Bucky's face.

Bucky could only nod in answer.

"We aren't dead, Bucky." Madison's image flickered and faded even as her mouth continued to move. Just like that, she was gone.

Racing for the door, Bucky made a mad dash for the kitchen where he hoped he would find someone to help explain what he just saw. Natasha's back was to him when he entered the room. Bruce and Steve were sat at the table, one drinking coffee and the other looking through the paper. But everyone looked up when Bucky raced into the room screaming what he had just seen.

"I just saw Maddie."

All three looked on in shock and confusion at what they just heard.