Martha took a moment to center herself while they waited for Tish to get dressed. She closed her eyes and sat on the edge of her bed. A few seconds later, she felt a pair of strong hands on her shoulders. "You alright?" Steve asked.

"Yea." Martha opened her eyes and leaned into him, desperate for the comfort of his contact. "Just a bit overwhelmed, but I'm better now. Thanks to you."

"My pleasure," Steve told her with a quick kiss to her temple. "So I take Tish is coming along?" Martha nodded silently. "Is that a good idea? When we find Bucky…if we find him…" His voice took on the usually pained strain it did whenever the topic of conversation turned to Bucky. "We don't know what condition he'll be in. Are you sure you want to expose your sister to that?"

"I've told you about what the Master put my family through. Tish is a survivor. She's tough. Fearless really," Martha informed him. "Plus, she's promised to behave. No more outbursts."

"Speaking of which…" Steve lowered his head so that his lips were near her earlobe. "Gorgeous Steve with the magic fingers?" he questioned.

"Keep taking the piss and you're gonna be sad Steve with the broken fingers," she threatened playfully.

"Doesn't seem very doctorly of you," Steve commented, moving to sit next to her on the bed.

"Good thing for you that I'd feel guilty afterwards and nurse you back to health," Martha promised.

"A house call from my favorite doctor? I might be willing to take one for the team," Steve replied, pressing his forehead against hers.

"I think I can squeeze you in for an appointment," Martha told him before leaning in for a gentle kiss.

Somewhere to her left, she heard Sam clearing his throat, spurring her and Steve to pull apart. "Still here," Sam reminded them.

Tish had returned from changing and stood next to him with her arms folded over her chest. "Are they always this way?"

"You know, I haven't spent that much time with the two of them together," Sam confessed. "But from what I can tell…yea they are."

"It's sorta sweet, yea?" Tish replied. "You know in that way that's nice in small doses, but has the potential to make you ill."

Martha scoffed softly, pulling away from Steve completely and standing up. "Are you done?"

"Are you?" Tish challenged.

"Pack it in," Martha said. "We need to get serious. We have a mission."

"So what's the deal anyway?" Tish asked. "Where are we going?"

"Texas," Steve answered.

"Texas?" Tish scoffed. "Why in God's name would we go there?"

Sam quirked a brow. "You got something against Texas?"

Tish turned her gaze towards Sam. "Obviously I'm not from this country, so I may be misinformed, but from what I can tell the only good things to ever come out of Texas are Beyoncé, Blue Bell ice cream and those cute little uniforms that the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders wear," she reasoned. "Oh! And Dr. Pepper."

Sam shrugged. "Well she's not wrong."

"We're looking for someone," Steve informed Tish. "He's a friend, but…he's not really himself at the moment."

Martha put a consoling hand on Steve's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Why do you think Bucky would go to Texas?"

"We think he's backtracking," Steve explained. "Revisiting the sites of some of the Winter Soldier's past crimes. He's probably hoping to trigger some memory."

"That makes sense." Martha nodded. "But I'm assuming we're not just going to be roaming freely without a plan. I mean Texas is bigger than all of the UK. Talk about your needle in a haystack."

"Like I said before, we've got a lead," Steve reminded her.

"Which is?" Martha pressed.

"We're going to Dallas."

"Dallas?" Martha repeated. She mentally ran through what she could remember about American history in order to figure out what would draw Bucky there. The Winter Soldier wasn't just some generic hired hand. He was a skilled assassin. Hydra wouldn't use him to kill just anyone.

"Do you think we'd get to see Southfork Ranch?" Tish asked.

"I don't think that's in Dallas proper," Sam answered.

"Oh well." Tish sighed. "Alright then, what about that park or whatever where the president was shot?"

"Dealey Plaza," Steve supplied with a heavy sigh. "And as a matter of fact, that's exactly where we're headed."

Martha gasped. "Bloody hell." She looked at Steve with wide eyes. "You think the Winter Soldier was behind the Kennedy Assassination?"

Tish glanced from face to face. "Wait. Seriously?"

"Well they always said there was a second gunman on the grassy knoll," Sam pointed out.

"But that was like fifty years ago, wouldn't he be old?"

"No older than me," Steve answered.

"He wouldn't have aged," Martha informed her. "He'd be in peak physical condition."

"Naturally," Tish said with a scoff. "Anything else I should know?"

Sam glanced at Tish with a shrug. "He has a cybernetic arm," he added.

"So let me get this straight," Tish began. "We're searching a young looking, elderly, amnesiac super assassin with a metal arm that may or may not have committed one of the highest profile crimes of the 20th Century?"

Sam nodded. "Essentially."

"What sort of weird arse conspiracy theory shit are you lot into?" Tish demanded.

"I'll explain along the way," Martha promised. "If we're going to make it to Dallas we need to get moving."

Between Martha, Steve and Sam's connections, they were able to secure a private plane to take them to Dallas. During the flight, Martha quickly caught Tish up on the Bucky situation. "Blimey," Tish replied once Martha was done. They both looked at Steve who was huddled up with Sam discussing a plan of action. "I should have known though. You always did go for the sad ones."

Martha sighed softly. "What's that supposed mean?"

"Simmer down, I'm not having a go," she insisted. "I'm just saying you've always been happiest when you've had someone to look after. It's just who you are, Dr. Jones." She turned her gaze back towards Martha. "The question is if he looks after you as well."

Martha kept her eyes on Steve, who briefly glanced her way and gave her a smile before resuming his conversation with Sam. "He does," she confirmed, facing her sister fully. "I think he's the one, Tish."

"Is it that serious?"

Martha nodded, eyes finding Steve once more. "Yea, it is."

After her conversation with Tish, Martha swapped seats with Sam and Steve filled her in on the plans for when they landed in Dallas. They'd split up so they could cover more ground, Martha with him and Sam with Tish. She could tell Steve was nervous and a small part of her wasn't sure if he would be happier finding Bucky or not. On one hand, she knew he was desperate to have his best friend back, but the uncertainty of Bucky's condition was weighing heavily on him.

As it were, the trip to Dallas led to another dead end. They asked around, but no one had seen anyone matching Bucky's description. Or if they had, they were being incredibly tight lipped about it. With the exception of Sam granting Tish's wish to see Southfork Ranch, the whole journey had been for naught. By the time they returned to Manhattan, Steve was feeling dejected and retreated to the Tower alone. Martha took Tish back to her flat with the promise of making up for the lost quality time.

Once Steve was in better spirits, he and Martha made plans for Tish to visit the Tower and meet the other Avengers. Needless to say, the elder Jones was ecstatic about encountering both Thor and her celebrity crush Tony Stark and documented the occasion with several selfies that she promptly posted to Instagram. Natasha, unsurprisingly, refused to take any photos, but she and Tish shared vodka shots and the latter made a point to learn where the redhead had gotten her leather jacket. Clint was probably Tish's favorite by far, because he shared her sense of humor and knack for inappropriate outbursts. All in all, Martha was glad to see that Tish seemed to enjoy herself and got on well with Steve and his friends. Once or twice, Tish complained about Sam not being able to make it to the gathering, but it didn't stop her engaging Bruce in a lively conversation that thankfully only left him blushing instead of green.

When the time came for Tish to return to England, Martha found that she was sadder than she expected. "I'm going to miss you," she told her sister during a tight embrace.

"I'll be back," Tish vowed as they pulled apart. "Tony promised to introduce me to Pepper Potts. Says if I send him my CV there might be room for me in the PR department at Stark Industries. Plus, I wouldn't mind see that Dr. Banner again," she added with a smirk. "He's geeky as all get out, but he's still a bit adorable, you know?"

"I know, but what about Sam?"

"Him as well." Tish beamed. "You know me. I like to keep my options open."

"Who knows, you might make a deep meaningful connection after all."

Tish rolled her eyes. "Doubtful. I'll leave the happily ever after to you and Mr. Perfect."

Martha grinned. "So you think he's perfect?"

"Perfect for you," Tish clarified. "I got him alone for a little bit during the party to see what he was about and he's definitely one of the good ones. He has my approval."

"One down, three to go," Martha replied with a quiet chuckle.

"Well Leo was all over my selfies, mouthing off about how his sister was tight with the Avengers, so I think he'll be easy to convince. Mum and dad might harder to win over, but if they see what I have, they won't be far behind."

Martha pulled her sister into one last fierce hug. "Thank you, Tish. For everything."

Tish scoffed. "I didn't even do anything."

"Yes, you did," Martha insisted. "If it wasn't for your pep talk in the beginning, I may not have even given Steve a chance."

"Yea? Well you can thank me by letting my pick my own maid of honor dress and making sure one of the cute ones is best man," Tish teased. She gave Martha a quick peck on the cheek and picked up her bag. "I better go. Don't want to miss my flight."

"Stay out of trouble!" Martha called out to her sister as she watched her move towards the security checkpoint.

"Only if you get into some!" Tish answered back before disappearing from Martha's sight.

An hour later, Martha was getting off the train from Queens that brought her back to Manhattan. As she disembarked, she got text from Steve about another lead on Bucky. She sent him a quick reply to let him know she was in if he needed her. "My kind of trouble," she mused to herself.