"Woah, wait a minute Buck, slow down. What do you mean you just saw Maddie?" Steve rose slowly from his seat to come closer to a very stunned Bucky.
Running his hands through his hair Bucky thought through exactly what just happened before trying to explain. "I had just gotten up and went to the bathroom to throw some water on my face."
Natasha listening had turned off the heat to the stove to give Bucky her full attention. It's not every day someone starts screaming that they've seen people that had disappeared years earlier.
"When I looked up, she was standing behind me."
"Well, maybe you just imagined it. Maybe it's your mind playing tricks on you Buck. I mean you have been using that system Tony got you an awful lot this past year." Nat stepped closer to Bucky putting her hand on his forearm in an attempt to comfort him.
In frustration Bucky snatched his arm away. He didn't want to be condescended to. "I know what the hell I saw and I swear it was Madison. She said that they were alive. That appearing to me took a great deal of energy and that she was still trying to figure it out."
The scraping of Bruce's chair from the table drew everyone's attention, but what he said next became even more interesting to all three present. "It's not an entirely farfetched idea that with Madison's advanced powers that she is reaching out." Both Steve and Nat turned to look at Bruce like had grown a second head.
"Don't look at me like that," he argued. "We live in a world where people can teleport, I'm a giant green rage monster, wizards and titans and space portals all exist," Bruce walked closer to the group, "so why can't this be true as well?"
Everyone seemed to be lost in thought at the implications of what all of this could mean when Bruce spoke up again, "We all know that Madison has a strong connection with James. Perhaps it's that connection that is allowing her to appear to him. If this is something that she has been working on, then perhaps it will happen again."
"Do you really think it's possible that they are all still alive?" The hope in Bucky's voice nearly brought Natasha to tears. Instead she hid it by dipping her head and hiding for a beat behind her a wall of red hair.
"I'm open to any and all possibilities. Were you doing anything in particular when it occurred," Bruce pressed for more information.
"No, I was just thinking about her, but that's nothing unusual." Bucky gazed down at his hands, embarrassed to confess just how much his thoughts remained on Madison and all that he lost. But it wasn't just Madison, he missed Sam and Clint and so many others that had become like family to him over the past few years.
"You think Bucky has some sort of connection with Madison that might allow her to appear to us…wherever they are right now?" Steve and Natasha hovered around Bruce. The very idea of being able to connect to Madison sparked the last remaining drops of hope they had after all these years without her and the billions of others snapped away.
Bruce thought quietly to himself for a moment before dashing out of the room towards the labs. In his hurry to leave he called back, "I've got to talk to Tony."
Bucky, Natasha and Steve looked one to another before all three set off behind Bruce to the labs. They entered just as Bruce was dialing up Tony's computer for a Zoom call. It took several rings before Tony's face appeared on the screen.
"Well if it isn't my favorite tenants. To what do I owe this unusual pleasure?" Tony sat bouncing his daughter Morgan in his lap as she held a bottle tightly in her chubby little hands. Pepper always joked that she carried Morgan for nine months and that it was unfair that when she came out she looked the spitting image of her father.
Morgan, seeing everyone on the screen began to squeal and wave. Everyone except Bucky waved sweetly back at the adorably innocent little girl. Bucky just sadly smiled a small smile before looking down and away. His eyes filled with unshed tears that he quickly dashed away with the swipe of his hand.
Bruce proceeded to tell Tony about Bucky's experience with seeing Madison. He then began to hypothesize that it might be possible that they aren't dead but in fact in another realm of time and space. "Or it could be that only she is in this other dimension or space realm," Tony finally spoke up.
Tony stood and moved out of frame for a moment coming back empty handed. "We have to assume that she's been spending these last few years figuring out how this new power of hers works." Tony began keying figures into the computer before an image appeared on the screen. "We all knew from Madison's arrival that other universes exist, so the idea of other dimensions isn't so much a stretch really."
"Many religions and cultures believe that loved ones don't really die, they just pass on into other dimensions. That's where the theory of ghosts often come into play." Bruce added more information to Tony's settings.
"So you think that Madison is some sort of ghost?" Steve sat down hard in a nearby chair unable to completely wrap his head around what he was hearing.
"Not exactly, but something similar." Bruce looked at Steve for a reaction.
"I believe Madison somehow saved everyone from being destroyed seconds before or possibly at the same time of Thanos' snap. I think she…they all might be caught up in the astral plane." Bucky loved science, he had always been a bit of a geek when it came to technology and new things, but this was way above what even his imagination would allow.
"Look, I know it sounds hard to believe but just hear me out," Bruce asked, motioning for Bucky and Nat to sit alongside Steve. "The astral plane is the plane of thought, memory, and psychic energy; it is where gods go when they die or are forgotten (or, most likely, both). It is a barren place with only rare bits of solid matter. Some religions call it heaven, some call it the afterlife. Some, depending on what they see call it purgatory. It's all a matter of perspective. But all of those that believe in it all come to the same conclusion that it is possible for someone to visit from that plane of existence. Whether you want to call it a ghost or a specter or whatever doesn't matter, but it does exist."
Bucky took a deep breath before asking his next, very scary question. "So you think that Madison is somehow building up energy that allows her to contact me from this plane? That somehow she's reaching out to me to let us know that they are all alive and waiting for us to figure out how to get them out of there?"
Everyone sat quietly for a moment as they really thought about Bucky's question.
"Essentially, yeah," Tony's voice broke the silence.
"Well how the hell do we do that," Natasha finally spoke up.
"That is the ten million dollar question," Tony added, as he sat back in his chair to think.
Time seemed to creep by, but pass it did still do. The first two weeks after the first sighting of Madison, Steve and Natasha would ask every morning if Bucky had seen her again and every day he had the same answer. The third week only Natasha continued to ask. On the fourth week no one asked, assuming that if it happened again, Bucky would do as he had the first time and let everyone know.
All those weeks though Bruce and Tony had been working endlessly to try to figure out how to access the astral plane. If for no other reason than to try to make it easier for Madison to cross over. Bucky was beginning to lose hope again that he might never see Madison again. Even the BARF program wasn't holding his attention as much as it initially had now that his mind was set on getting the real thing back.
It wasn't until one morning when Bucky was dressing to go out that he had his next encounter. Stepping to his bedroom door to leave Bucky nearly jumped out of his boots when his bathroom door slammed shut behind him. He hadn't seen or heard from Madison in several weeks, and for her to be able to do something physical was very new. Walking slowly to his bathroom door, Bucky needed to double check that he hadn't left a window open or anything that could have caused this sudden action. Seeing nothing inside, Bucky turned to his empty room.
"Maddie, baby. Are you here?" Looking all around Bucky didn't see anything more. "Please, baby. If you are here. Do something else." Bucky waited anxiously, but still nothing changed.
Darkness. That's all there was, darkness. It was the kind of darkness that left you wondering if your eyes were open or closed because you couldn't tell the difference. Madison felt disoriented. The last thing she remembered was looking up to Bucky's panic stricken face as she told him she loved him.
Looking down, but still not being able to see anything, Madison imagined her hand opening and closing slowly. She remembered touching Bucky's face gently, the stubble from his jawline tickling her palm as she caressed his face.
Madison opened her mouth to call out Bucky's name but no sound left her throat. Reaching up to her chest Madison could feel her heart beating a million miles a minute as panic began to set in. Where was she? Where was Bucky and her mom and dad and the others?
'Help' her mouth moved again with no sound coming forth. All around her everything was both terrifying in its emptiness and oddly calming in its lack of anything. Closing her eyes Madison did the only thing that brought her comfort at the moment, she thought of Bucky.
The way his hair fell over his eyes whenever he'd duck his head in embarrassment. The pinkness of his lips especially after a long session of making out like teenagers. The way his breath smelled like peppermint in the mornings after he brushed his teeth or the way he snored slightly when he slept on his back. She thought about how his eyes weren't one shade of blue and how they could change depending on his mood. When he was upset they turned an almost royal blue. When happy they were a light shade of blue. Whenever he cried his eyelashes turned so dark with his tears that it looked like they had doubled in quantity.
Madison's thoughts comforted her, she could almost swear she could see him in her mind's eye. He was standing in the kitchen pouring himself a cup of coffee. She imagined him pouring mounds of sugar in his coffee; he always had quite the sweet tooth. It was almost like he was right there in front of her. 'I love you Bucky' she thought to herself. What she didn't expect was for the Bucky in her thoughts to jump as though startled by something. He looked to be saying something, but she couldn't make it out. That was weird, why would he say something that she couldn't hear? It was her thoughts of him. That didn't make sense. Had she fallen asleep and didn't realize it?
Taking a deep breath Madison realized she actually was suddenly very tired as she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.
In her dreams Madison could picture Bucky again only this time he was standing in front of the vanity in his bathroom. He looked so tired, like he hadn't been sleeping well lately. 'Bucky' she said, again no sound coming from her mouth. He just stared at himself in the mirror. Madison watched as he leaned in and gently touched a scar at the edge of his eye. Madison didn't remember that ever being there and she should know, she had practically memorized every inch of his face.
Standing there, watching Bucky as he stripped down his clothes and stepped into the shower, Madison realized she could hear muffled sounds. Sounds that were slowly becoming clearer and clearer, moment by moment. 'Hello,' Madison called out to the void. The noises became louder, several voices answering back, all sounding terrified.
Madison was growing tired again. She was straining too hard to listen and hold onto this vision of Bucky she was currently watching. It wasn't until she heard her name being called that Madison finally drew her attention away from Bucky's steamy form in the shower.
'Maddie are you there?' It sounded like Peter. 'Pete? Is that you?' Madison screamed, but the sound coming barely louder than a whisper.
'Maddie, can you hear me?' Peter shouted again.
Maddie began hearing other voices calling her name out. Over and over again a new voice called her name. She didn't know if she was actually hearing these people she thought she recognized or if she were in some form of torturous hell.
Peter, Dr. Strange, T'Challa, Sam and Clint…those were the voices she could identify so far that had called her name. She answered each time 'I'm here' to which she typically go her name called out again. This was all very frustrating.
Turning back to her vision, Madison realized Bucky had finished his shower and was back in front of the mirror. She began screaming his name over and over again. Each time, at least to her own ears, she seemed to be getting louder and louder. Madison prayed her voice held out until she was able to reach Bucky.
"BUCKY!," she finally screamed after taking a deep breath.
This time the Bucky standing before her looked quickly into the mirror. She knew he heard her because his eyes widened in either amazement or fear or both, she wasn't sure.
It was then she heard the sweetest sound, a sound Madison was sure she'd never heard again; Bucky saying her name.
She watched as he slowly turned around to face her. His hand lifted to reach out to her as he said her name again. "Maddie?" He said it more like a question than a statement, but Madison didn't care, she had to get her message across fast. She wasn't sure she could hold this forever, whatever this was.
"Oh thank God you can see me," she said, stepping closer to Bucky. His eyes were wide open in amazement or shock, she couldn't tell which.
"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.
She watched as 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.
'I love you Bucky. Please, you've got to get us help.' She didn't know how much of her message actually made it to Bucky. Exhaustion took over and Madison fell to her knees. The voices surrounding her became louder but her vision of Bucky was gone.
Madison could feel the tears building in her eyes as she felt like her heart was breaking in two. Is this what death felt like? Was she in hell? Is that why she could hear so many faceless voices?
All she wanted was her Bucky. All she thought about was her Bucky. But right in that moment as tears poured down her cheeks, her eyes closed as exhaustion took over.
She wasn't sure how long she had slept, but she was aware that the voices had gotten quiet finally. But something had woken her up. Something had mentally given her a nudge causing her to finally wake from the deep sleep she had been enjoying.
Closing her eyes Madison focused on the source of this mental nudge. It was Bucky. Bucky was calling to her in his dreams. She could hear him, but she couldn't see him. He seemed so close she felt like she could almost reach out and touch him. Madison continued to listen and eventually his voice changed. It became less connected, less clear. He must have woken up.
Raising her hands into the air, Madison the one thing that popped into her mind at the time. She released a blast of energy into the void. What she didn't expect was for that blast would actually create a chain reaction. As the energy moved out from her body, Madison could suddenly see Bucky's bedroom. She was standing in his bathroom watching as he stood at the bedroom door preparing to leave. The blast was floating through the room towards him but not before it caught hold of the bathroom door, slamming it shut.
Everything returned dark again. A couple of minutes passed before she could hear her name being called again. At this point she was certain she could pinpoint that voice anywhere. It was Bucky, he was calling out to her to do it again.
Summoning her final bits of stored strength, Madison focused her energy on one more task. Opening her eyes she saw what she had been waiting for. Bucky stood before her, smiling as tears filled his eyes.
"I knew you weren't dead. I just knew you'd find a way back to me."
Madison smiled. She felt something inside of her slowly draining the longer she stood there, but she had to keep trying.
Bucky finally called out to FRIDAY telling her to call everyone that it was an emergency, to come quick.
Madison prayed that she could hold out until they came. She tried to focus on Bucky. That seemed to help, almost recharge her efforts the more she focused on him. It took only moments before Steve, Nat and Bruce all charged into Bucky's room, startling him as they ran in.
Madison watched as Nat covered her mouth with her hand, shock evident on her face. Her dad stared straight at her as he continued to slowly walk forward. Bruce fumbled with his phone as he took it out making a call to someone.
She was getting so tired. This was the longest she had been able to hold a form after what felt like weeks of trying.
Turning back to Bruce, Madison realized that he had called Tony as Bruce held his phone aloft with Tony's face on the screen. "Hey kid," Tony said, amazement on his face. "It's been too long."
That felt like the understatement of the century.