The visit to the Inlet went just as Bucky knew it would. A swim and a wet make-out session. Steve seemed to love it when he was dripping wet but something about it helped him calm down. Bucky wasn't a professional, but that didn't keep theories from forming in his head. Things had been quiet lately. Maybe Steve needed conflict or excitement in his life to 'stay' normal but even if that were true, just knowing didn't help. He couldn't create a crisis out of thin air.

He seized a moment while Steve concentrated on untangling a fishing line to send a message to the Complex via one of his little friends. The rest of the day was routine, their conversation over their evening meal was all about the things they had to do the next day and that night Steve was the passionate one, doing everything Bucky liked until he drifted off. Bucky stayed awake for a while, waiting for the eventual nightmares and once again he had to reach out and hold Steve until he fell back asleep. Settling back down he felt an unfamiliar twinge in his left arm again. Unusual, but probably nothing

Next morning he took his chances, slipping away while Steve was still asleep and put himself in super soldier mode, running up the hill to the big open plain. The memorial garden was almost complete, flowers and glowing Vibranium statues and plaques dotted the landscape. It would soon be time for the Dedication. He lost himself in thought over 'The Great Battle' and all the lives lost. This was where Steve found him, not his Steve, but the man now sleeping down in the village. His life partner, the man who opened his eyes to his true self. The man he would do anything for. The man who was suffering. A shadow passed overhead. A winged object came closer and then touched down. Sam.

"I got your message!" He said. "What's up?"

"It's Steve. We have to talk on the way before he wakes up. He's suffering from some weird separation anxiety. Doesn't want to let me out of his sight." He immediately started back to the village, forcing Sam to catch up with him.

"Steve? The strong, stoic one? That doesn't sound like him."

"I know, but he's having nightmares. A lot. Every night. I think it has something to do with what happened with the Ritikia…"

"You know, if T'Challa hadn't said what he said, I could believe you made it all that up."

"We've been through worse. Hell, even back during the war, it was worse. I don't get it, but something's been triggered."

"You understand I'll just a counselor? I can't diagnose anything? The most I can do is observe and maybe recommend something."

"I'm not that dumb. I'm just floundering here around on my own."

Steve was at the door, the now familiar look of half anger half panic on his face. Visible relief replaced with surprise at the sight of Sam.

"Look who turned up!" Bucky said.

"Sam!" He said. "What brings you here at this time of the morning? You and Thula have a fight?"

"No," Sam said, allowing a chuckle to escape. "The team's almost ready to pack up and come home but they have to do these boring repots and they don't need me for that so I thought I'd come on ahead. You doing ok?" Sam asked as he started to unbuckle his wings.

"Doing great! How long can you stay?" Steve asked.

"I thought I'd hang around today if it's ok?" He placed the wings just inside the door to the house.

"Fine with me! Maybe we can take you out on the lake later. The village gave Bucky a present yesterday. His own canoe," Steve said.

"Your own boat? Just being the White Wolf isn't enough for you, now they gotta go giving you stuff?"

"It was a complete surprise, but it's a good thing. We don't have to borrow a canoe to go fishing. It's not much fun, living on a lake without a boat. Want breakfast?" Bucky asked. The sound of laughter broke through their conversation. It was a few minutes before the start of school so the children were waiting at the goat pen. They expressed delight at seeing Sam. They begged him to fly for them for them and he said he would, later that afternoon. Bucky felt proud of how their English was progressing as he had a hand in their education.

Breakfast was fruit, bread, and fish. Sam went into detail about the work he was doing with Thula and the Wildlife Commission in the backcountry. Steve was behaving as he normally did, much to Bucky's annoyance. Sam would think he was imagining things. It wasn't until he handed Sam a drink he noticed that he was eyeing Steve as if he were taking mental notes of all his reactions and responses. Bucky had to trust he knew what he was looking for.

"So, I heard T'Challa's and Bucky's version of what happened when you all went planet hopping, but I never heard your side of the story. "

Steve stared down into the depths of the clay cup he was holding. "I don't know what else I can tell you. Peter jumped through a portal and we followed him and got mixed up with a half machine half hologram ghost." He was speaking to his drink. "Found a would be sorceress who discovered she had twice the knowledge she had before, because of the Blending, because of what we did, and she didn't know what to do with it. If we hadn't turned up...who knows how she would have turned out."

"But being on another planet! Man, that must have been mind-blowing. Did you take the time to look around? Get to know the people?"

"I was the only one who had much contact with them, and even then just with the community of apprentice sorcerers. Looked like a nice enough place. They seemed ok after Thor and Doctor Strange showed up. I wish they had just invited me to come to visit, instead of pulling me through that…."

"We need some more water," Steve snapped. He picked up the half-empty jug and walked away toward the small well at the end of the village.

"See what I mean?" Buck asked, taking a drink himself. "He'll be fine, and then this happens."

"So they sucked you away from him through a portal?" Sam asked. He put his own drink down and stared across the lake. Bucky was reminded of the time he visited here, all those months ago, bringing with him the suspicion that something was different about some of their friends. He was right. He didn't like the idea of it happening all over again.

"Yeah, but I wasn't that far away and it was just a few hours. It's not like they transported me to another universe." Bucky spit on the ground as he watched Steve pull up the bucket from the well and fill up the jug.

"Hmm…" Sam said. "In my unprofessional opinion, I would say he doesn't like to talk about you disappearing in front of him and that's what's making him so clingy. Maybe...it has something to do with his other life?"

"He's told me a lot of stories, but not everything. I don't know what he's been holding back and there's no one to ask. All his old friends are back in the States."

"That's where I'd start. You'll have to work around him though…maybe we can get a message through..."

"I don't like going behind his back and I wouldn't know what to say. At times, its almost...like he's two different people."

'Maybe he is," Sam said. He bowed his head, his voice lowered as if he were talking to the ground.

"What do you mean?"

"All that crazy merging and blending, maybe something got stuck," Sam said. His voice was little more than a murmur.

"I don't like the sound of that."

"I don't either. It could just be PTSD that's taking its time working itself out. Sometimes it happens, and being 'strong' has nothing to do with it. There are things we can do, that is if Steve will accept help. I'd advise you not to go anywhere, not until we can clear this up."

"I can't go anywhere. He won't let me...and I don't want to. The nightmares are pretty bad."

Steve returned just then, placing the full jug of water down on the stone patio and looked over the lake. "So, Bucky and I are planning to go back to New York, in the spring. Want to come with us? You can bring Thula if she's not busy."

"Sure, that sounds... great," Sam said, raising his head, revealing what looked like a genuine smile on his face. He and Bucky exchanged a glance knowing any discussion of Steve's odd behavior was off the table.