"Don't do that, don't give me hope," Bucky's voice broke as he listened to what Steve said. A way to get them all back. He had dreamed about this possibility for so long and now Steve was offering the chance to change everything. Could it be real?
"I just wish I was able to offer it to you soon, bud. But it's real." Steve watched as Bucky slowly rose to his feet, Madison's astral form following his every movement.
Finally turning and facing Steve, Bucky looked him in the eyes…blue meeting blue. "We can get Madison back?"
"We can get everyone back." Steve smiled to his friend. Madison's smile was just as large as her father's. She had been hoping for this day for some time now. Seeing everyone in so much pain, feeling the pain and loneliness of those she was trapped with…it was all becoming too much for her to bear.
Steve would have wrapped his daughter up in a hug if he could have he was so happy about the latest news. Tony felt certain he could work out the math given time. Madison was smiling from ear to ear even with her eyes full of tears. But what neither of them were ready for was Bucky's reaction to the news.
"Don't give me hope, Steve." Steve watched as his best friend rose to his feet, steadying himself before taking a few short steps away, his back still too him.
"I'm not sure I can take many more failures." Bucky's head fell forward. Steve watched as his hand came up and swiped at his face, wiping away tears he imagined.
"This time we know we can do it," Steve said, coming up to stand behind Bucky. Resting his hand on Bucky's shoulder Steve continued. "Do you remember Scott Lang?"
Bucky slowly turned to face Steve as he recognized the name. "The guy that could change his size? The one that helped us in Germany?"
Steve nodded as he explained everything that had happened in the past hour to Bucky. Steve finally convinced Bucky to come to the lab to hear what Scott was offering and to be a part of the work being done.
Madison had exhausted herself and had to step away for a little while, but just as she always did before leaving, Steve watched as she and Bucky tried to touch hands before telling one another they loved the other. Bucky was always left sad as he watched her form fade away. This new suggestion that Scott and Tony were working on had to work. Steve wasn't sure how much more mentally Bucky could handle of this separation.
Another month passed by before any kind of test run could even be attempted. Scott had what he called Pym particles that allowed him to shrink down to microscopic size thus allowing him to travel into the quantum realm. Steve was very happy that Tony and Bruce understood the science behind it because often he felt lost listening to the men talk.
Back in the 1940's it was common for young men to have a basic education of reading, writing and arithmetic but rarely much more than that. Luckily for Steve and Bucky their parents both believed strongly that young people, both men and women, should be educated beyond just the basics and sent them to a local community college. At the moment though Steve knew the conversation was far above his pay grade and had no problem allowing the smarter men to do the talking.
"So we've got to find a way to allow us to control the passage of time as we pass through it, rather than time passing through us. Sorta like a time travel GPS?" Bruce plugged some numbers into a program on his computer before looking up to Tony for confirmation.
Tony had been working on what looked to Steve to be a watch of some sort. "What we need to figure out is the Mobius strip, or rather the inverted Mobius strip."
Steve sat in his seat in the lab listening to the conversation between Tony and Bruce much like one might watch a tennis match on the lawn. Back and forth they threw ideas and concepts to one another, each either dismissing or feeding off of the idea and building on it. It was a welcome change of scenery when Nat and Pepper entered the room, both carrying drinks for everyone.
"Where's Morgan," Steve asked after taking a sip of his drink. "Did you leave her upstairs with the nanny?" Steve asked Pepper after she took a seat on the couch next to Natasha.
She and Natasha looked at one another and smiled before Pepper explained that Morgan was actually being looked after by Bucky.
Bucky typically steered clear of Morgan, more afraid that he might hurt her unknowingly with his strength. Plus, he didn't exactly consider himself to be 'kid friendly', so this piece of news surprised Steve. The knowing little smile shared between the two women peaked Steve's curiosity even more, but he decided to leave it until later when he would ask his friend instead. Bucky would give him a straight answer. He might be a man of few words, but those he did speak were always honest and straightforward.
Bucky sat Indian style on the dock watching the occasional fish that swam through the shadow he cast on the water below. He hadn't been of much use to the crew lately. His melancholy mood had taken a firm hold over him and wouldn't seem to let go, so lately he just tried to stay out of everyone's way. Yes, he was hopeful for this new course of action that did seem to possibly be a solution to getting everyone back…however as the days passed, more and more he became disheartened of the problems surrounding it ever being resolved.
So deep in thought and loneliness he didn't hear the soft patter of little shoes that walked along the dock behind him. "Are you feeding the fishes too, Mr. Bucky," a sweet, happy little voice said from behind him.
Bucky turned and saw the most terrifying thing. Standing at just 3ft 5inches, wearing pink shorts, a Care bear shirt, and tiny sneakers that lit up when she walked, Morgan Stark had the ability to stop Bucky's heart and make him break out in a nervous sweat all at the same time.
It wasn't that Bucky didn't like kids. His younger sister Rebecca had been much younger than him growing up and so he was used to having them around. Granted that was quite some time ago, and his sister had long since passed away, but he hadn't been around children since his enhancements had been made. He had always worried that he could be unknowingly too rough with them. Looking down at his metal hand, Bucky flexed it slowly before answering Morgan's question.
"No. I…umm…just came here to think. It's quiet." Bucky spoke softly to Morgan. He hoped that would be the end of his time with the little girl. He had told her he wanted to have quiet time so surely she would turn around and go home. But the fact that she was just barely four years old apparently played a large factor into being able to pick up on subtle hints from adults as he watched her plop down beside him on the dock. She hung her legs over the edge and pulled a large bag of what looked to be bread crumbs between them. "Mommy said that fish like bread. Do you think fish like bread, Mr. Bucky?"
Bucky couldn't help the smile that creeped onto his face as he looked into the little girl's big brown eyes. She was the spitting image of Tony with the gentleness and heart of Pepper. "I don't know if fish like bread," he said as he watched her stick her little hand into the bag to grab a small handful. "How about you toss a few pieces in and we'll see."
Morgan nodded her head furiously in happy agreement as she reared back her arm and let a handful of bread chips fly. They both watched as one tiny fish after another quickly surfaced and gobbled up the treat. Squealing, Morgan clapped her hands with delight that the fish did apparently like her treat. "Can we give them more, Mr. Bucky?"
Her little smile made Bucky smile even as he fought off tears from filling his eyes. "How about you just call me Bucky." Morgan nodded her head again as she gave a big 'okay' with a thumbs up. Bucky held the bag for Morgan to take another handful to toss to the fishes as he enjoyed listening to her delightful laugh.
From the house Pepper and Nat watched as little Morgan did for Bucky what hadn't been done in quite a while, she made him smile. Pepper had no qualms in walking away to go find her wayward husband knowing that her little girl was in very good hands.
Half an hour passed between the two new friends finished with feeding the fish. Bucky found he didn't mind Morgan's endless chattering on about the importance of knowing all about each Disney princess. His somber mood brightened with the little girl by his side even as the day continued to slowly fade into dusk of night.
As the oranges, pinks, purples and yellows of dusk settled over the sky, Bucky led Morgan to the elaborate swing set Tony had installed at the compound for his daughter. Morgan had begged endlessly for Bucky to push her in the swings and eventually he had relented. As they walked, Bucky pointed to the tiny lightening bugs that began to slowly filter out across the lawn.
"They look like twinkie lights," Morgan exclaimed as she gave chase to one.
Catching up to her, Bucky knelt down and gently caught one in his hand, opening it enough for Morgan to look inside. "The glow, the glow that you see, that comes from a chemical reaction called… bio-luminescence."
"Bio-goomie-nesses," Morgan tried to repeat after Bucky to which he just chuckled and agreed.
Opening his hand wider the tiny bug only took a few seconds to recognize its freedom and zipped to the sky.
After getting Morgan settled into a swing, Bucky gently pushed her from behind. The little girls' squeals of delight made Bucky smile. Even when she tipped further back in her swing, making Bucky's heart leap into his throat, scared that she might hurt herself and she exclaimed with joy that he was upside down.
They had been swinging for several quiet minutes before Morgan began with her questions again. "Bucky," she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her, "Why were you sad earlier?"
Continuing his due diligence of giving Morgan a push to keep her swing going, he thought for a few minutes before answering. "I have someone that I miss very much and I'm just really sad that she's not here with me right now." Bucky didn't want to complicate things by getting into too many details, but he also didn't want to lie to the little girl either. She had already spent the majority of the day making his a little brighter, it was the least he could do was be honest.
"Is she one of the ones that the bad man sent away," Morgan asked as she continued to pump her legs to help keep the swing going.
Bucky always hated acknowledging that Thanos had in fact won that battle. That millions of people had been taken away from those that loved them all with the literal snap of someone's fingers.
"Yes," he simply said. Bucky took a deep breath as his mind returned to the image of the woman he loved.
"Mommy says that lots of people got taken away by that mean man. Are daddy and Uncle Bruce gonna be able to get them back?" Bucky walked around to the front of the swing so that he could look Morgan in the face. Night had fallen and it was time to go in for supper.
"I really do hope so," he said as he bent down to her level after helping her out of the swing.
Pepper always thought that Morgan had an old soul. Even when she was born she just seemed to be able to tell when people were in pain, or what to do to make them feel better. She was never a big crier, she just enjoyed watching the people around her.
When Bucky's sad blue eyes met Morgan's soft chocolate ones she just knew what she had to do. Stepping forward, Morgan wrapped her tiny arms around Bucky's neck as she snuggled in close to give him one of her biggest hugs. Somewhere inside Morgan just knew that Bucky needed it and she loved giving hugs especially when they were to make someone feel better.
Gently wrapping his arms around the little girl's frame, Bucky did all he could to fight off the tears that threatened to spill down his cheeks. Something as simple as a hug both broke him and made him whole all at the same time.
Scooping the little girl in his arms, Bucky walked slowly back towards the porch of the compound. It wasn't until he had hit the patio did he realize he was being watched. Madison's form stood there, tears streaming down her smiling face as she enjoyed the sight of seeing him with the little girl.
As he opened the door and lowered Morgan to her feet, Bucky asked her to go in and find her mom and he would be in in a moment. Seeing Madison's astral form, Morgan gave a big grin and a wave to her before skipping off to find Pepper.
Slightly uncomfortable at having been caught caring for Morgan, Bucky rubbed at the back of his neck unsure what to say or how to explain himself. But Maddie didn't need an explanation, in fact she loved every second of what she saw. In her eyes, she saw a little girl working a miracle on the man she loved.
Once Bucky did finally look up at Madison, he didn't have to say anything as she said it all, "You are going to be an amazing father someday."