A/N: Hi All, sorry for the delay in posting. If you feel like it, feel free to check out my instagram account for some new fan art :) you can find me at touchnotthecat89. Hope you enjoy this next chapter! -Cat

Chapter Twenty-Three

Steve

We are in an abandoned warehouse, close to a canal and I try and wrap my mind around the image in front of me. Sam trying to make sure an unconscious Bucky's arm is tightly restrained in the industrial vice while none other than Madeline Wayne stands on the other side of his unconscious frame taking Bucky's pulse.

"Madeline," She looks up at my voice. She still looks like a drowned kitten, her blonde hair still wet. The fact she had Sam's leather jacket on, which looks huge on her, doesn't help, "A second?"

She purses her lips, like Madeline didn't like the idea of walking anywhere away from Bucky, but after glancing at him and Sam, she does walk over to me. I put some distance between myself and Bucky and thankfully Madeline keeps pace. I turn eventually, standing in a doorway that leads out on to the docks, "What are you doing here?" I start with the most obvious. Finding her in the helicopter had been a shock, finding her nearly managing to drown herself trying to get Bucky out of the helicopter had been an even bigger shock.

"They found us, I don't know how." She begins frantically, sounding breathless. Her eyes are huge as she looked back at the room Bucky was in, like she hated having him out of sight. I can't help but see the bright red marks on her neck, the ones that look sickeningly like finger marks, not to mention the redness and swelling across her left cheek, as well as the goose egg that is forming in the right upper corner of her forehead. "But we got made, and they just swooped in. Rhodey found me trying to get back to Bucky and took me into 'custody'-"

"No," I shake my head interrupting her, my brow furrowing, "How did you get here? Why were you with Bucky in Bucharest?!"

She blinks and looks back at me like she hadn't thought to say, "Oh," She says, "I'm his doctor." She says it like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

I shift my weight from one foot to another, I am actively trying not to think about the fact I have no idea what is going on. Are Tony and Nat ok? Is Sharon ok? Bucky nearly brought the building to its knee's and here is Tony's twenty-something niece just telling me off the cuff she is Bucky's doctor? "What do you mean his doctor?" I ask patiently.

She swallows, "I have been helping Bucky try and figure out what HYDRA did to him. How they managed to control him. My research allowed me a unique perspective." I remember she is a neurologist and had been working on a study regarding memories having a genetic imprint or something.

"How long have you been working with him? How come Tony never mentioned-"

She rolls her eyes, "Do you honestly think Tony knew?" She has a point, She took a deep breath, "Two years ago Bucky appeared in my office. He told me everything." Her eyes were hard and I know she is telling me the truth, I realize this girl may know more current information about my old best friend than I do, "And I swore to help him. I have been keeping Bucky out of sight since then, trying to buy time so we could figure out what was going on with his brain."

I look at her and think about the gala at the Smithsonian when I first met her, the last time I saw her. That wasn't more than two years ago... Suddenly finding her in front of Bucky's display takes on a new slant, "You've done a good job," I say irritated.

She looks back over her shoulder at where Bucky is again, "Not good enough,"

"So, he is lucid when he isn't...?" He seemed... better when I found him in the apartment. He was making sense, he didn't seem to want to fight, yet he had. But then in the compound... I trail off as she meets my eyes.

"Completely," She says, and I realize how relieved she is that someone is actually listening to her. "This is the first time that he has ever..." Her eyes unfocused and I find myself looking at her neck again.

"Been the true Winter Soldier?" I finish for her. She looks at me and her eyes look tortured and she simply nods, "Ok, Sam will drive you back to the city centre and drop you off, then you can call Tony and-"

"What?! No!" She snaps interrupting me, "I'm not going anywhere!" She crosses her arms over her chest glaring up at me.

I purse my lips, "You can't stay here, not with us. It isn't safe."

"I have been with Bucky for the past two years, I think I know what I can and can't handle,"

"This isn't the same. Tony wouldn't want you getting caught up in this and I can't do that to him."

"Frankly Captain, I don't care what you can and can't do." Her eyes looked fierce in comparison to a few moments ago when she had looks so concerned. "I am not leaving Bucky's side. I have been his physician for the past two years and the only one invested in figuring out what is going on in his brain. I have no intention of leaving him," She snarled up at me, "I haven't yet and it is going to take a hell of a lot more than just you to make me. Now if you don't mind, I have to go check his vitals."

Madeline turned on her heel and marched away from me back towards Bucky and Sam. I turn and face the canal. Worry is building in my chest. Having her here complicates things more. It will make Tony angrier and that will not help Bucky's case. But all the same, I find myself having a hard time arguing with her, firstly because if what she says is true, we need her. To help with Bucky, to give his case credibility. But I also feel the risk of her getting caught in the cross hairs. I also have a hard time forcing her to stand down since if I was in her position, could I walk away?

Well, obviously not. Bucky is my best friend, I can't walk away from him now. Even when half of the people I love are telling me to stand down or step aside. So how can I demand it of her now?

I find myself thinking of Nat for some reason. She just floats into my head. I remember seeing her on the other side of the board room glass. Standing with her back to me, watching Bucky converse with the fake doctor. I think of her trapped in one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s cages long ago. With Barton the only one to help her out of her maze. But she found her way out. Funnily enough, she is the very reason I have faith in Bucky. I see her now, even with the knowledge of what she used to be, what she has done and she was still my Nat. The one who risks everything to do good. The one who threw away her happy ending to come and help me save the world...

The one who didn't agree with me any more...Not mine.

Sometimes I feel like I know why she has sided with Tony. I just keep seeing the fear in her eyes, that day we all discussed the Accords. The way she seemed to be trying to look right into my soul, the fear in her eyes.

My brow furrows. Nat never let fear dictate any decisions. Why would she start now?

I take a deep breath and look out over the water, glancing up at the thrill of helicopter blades above us, the search is getting fast and furious now, "Hey Cap," I turn at Sam's voice and see him standing looking over at me. Here we go.

A/N: Hi all, super excited to be bringing Madeline Wayne, my OC back into the story. If you are curious as to exactly how she ended up here, check out my story All Pieced Together, and if you just wanted to read the parts relevant to this story skip to Chapters 49 through 51, however I would recommend reading the whole story to really understand Madeline and Bucky's journey. Anyway know, let me know what you think! Thanks for reading -Cat