Lukas kept a smile the whole visit, but Natasha could see the tension keeping his movements stiff. When they left Carter to sleep, and Barnes and Rogers were talking, Lukas walked straight out of the facility, ignoring the request to sign out. Natasha gave him a few minutes to chill, but when he didn't come back in, she went looking for him, wondering if he'd left.

He hadn't. He was standing at the end of the driveway, beneath the old oak tree losing its leaves beside the open gate, but he hadn't crossed to the sidewalk outside the property. His arms were folded, as he stared across the road at the office park mostly hidden by other trees.

"Lukas?" Natasha approached him, not surprised to find him upset by seeing his friends aged and close to death. "You okay?"

His brow knitted and he shook his head. "I should have come back," he murmured. "It is distressing to see someone who once was so sharp, reduced and frail."

"At least you get to see her again. And she recognized you."

Lukas shook his head. "Not for long."

That had been true. Natasha had hung back out of sight to be less added confusion, but she had heard Carter greet him by name, and ten minutes later call for her brother because she didn't know the stranger by her bed. Barnes had gotten her calmed down, and after that, she'd greeted Steve as if he'd walked in the room for the first time. It had been sobering to Natasha, who knew the stories about Peggy Carter, and obviously distressing to both Steve and Lukas.

"There's nothing you can do, just try to-" Natasha started, but then his head jerked up and she fell quiet.

"There is something I can do." He whirled and started back toward the building, Natasha springing after him.

"What? What are you going to do?" she asked. "Can you heal her?" She thought of the stories she'd read about the Norse gods and though she knew now that most of them had nothing to do with the reality of Asgard, she added, "Or give her immortality?"

"The first, perhaps. Immortality? How do you-" He glanced at her puzzled. "Oh, you mean the apple story? No. We are long-lived by race, not by magical apples." He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "It is a pity though. Magical apples would solve so many problems."

She shook her head at his back, as he didn't stop at the counter on his way in, either, and found the lounge where Barnes and Steve were talking.

Lukas waited until she'd entered, and he shut the door, getting the two men's attention. "Lukas?" Barnes asked.

"I have… a proposition," Lukas said. He brought his hands together before him, rubbing a thumb on his opposite wrist before saying, "There is a possibility I could help Margaret. Her mind," he corrected hastily, "Her body too if there is a specific ailment, though I cannot reverse aging, but I speak mostly of her mental confusion."

Barnes looked at him and then rose to his feet, closing the space between him and Lukas, to look into his eyes. "You can help her?" His hand seized Lukas' forearm. "You really think you can?"

"As I helped you," Lukas said, glancing at Barnes' prosthesis arm. It was nearly indistinguishable from a flesh one, and Natasha hadn't known the skin on it was false until she'd noticed the hairless sheen to it. SHIELD or Stark had done an amazing job with it.

"Wait," Steve said, standing at that. "You helped him? I thought it was a blood transfusion. Is that what you want to do with Peggy?"

Lukas and Barnes' eyes met and Lukas inhaled, with a brief grimace, before admitting, "No. My healing of James was never my blood, Steven. I healed his injuries with my powers."

"You knew this," Steve said, blue eyes accusing his older friend.

"He asked me to keep it secret. So I did."

"It was a better explanation for his abilities," Lukas said. "We thought it might save him from anyone believing he could be the key to a version of the serum."

His face was a mask and his tone level, but Natasha inwardly winced, realizing that this lie might have saved Barnes from anyone trying to get the serum from him, but having healing blood in the story had contributed to why he'd been taken prisoner and tested again. Strucker had wanted something that had never existed.

"But that is the past," Lukas said, flicking his fingers. "What it means is that I believe I can help Margaret. It is not without risk," he added. "If she is too weak, I cannot attempt it, as healing always takes some from the patient. But if you and she would allow it, I could at least examine her and see if I could improve her condition."

Barnes looked at him for a long moment, seeming stunned by the offer or turning it over it in his mind. Since he didn't speak, Lukas added, "I understand if you would rather not take the risk. It has been a long time since we knew each other and I know I damaged your trust-"

Barnes gripped his arm tightly, cutting off his words. "I trust you," he declared. "Good grief, how could I not, Lukas? No, I'm just… To think I could get Peg back." His voice wobbled and he had to bite his lip. "It's been hard," he confessed. "Sometimes she's back, she's there, but then she doesn't know who I am. Or she thinks the kids are small, and so they're strangers... I'd give anything for them to get their mom and grams back."

"Well, you don't have to give me anything," Lukas said, trying to smile, but his touch was light on Barnes' arm. "I'll see what I can do, James. Try to make up for my absence, at least a little."

Rogers looked skeptical of what he was going to do and still a bit annoyed that he hadn't known the truth of Barnes' rescue, but didn't try to interfere. Natasha watched, curious what Lukas was going to do.

At the door, outside her room, Lukas instructed, "Steven, keep the door closed. I don't want any well-meaning employee to interrupt. The rest of you need to stay out of her view. And do not interfere, unless it looks as if one or both of us is dying. That will mean something has gone very awry."

Barnes took a step forward, "Lukas-"

"Lighten up, James, it was a jest. It may not work, but no harm will come to her, I swear." Lukas opened the door and strode in again, heading straight for her bedside, opposite the door, so he could draw her attention away from the others following behind him.

Carter stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled weakly, but happily. "Lukas! Mister Onsdag, you've come back! It's been so long."

Lukas' smile didn't shift a hair, as he greeted her as if for the first time, "Margaret. You look well."

She coughed a laugh, and pawed weakly in his direction. "Such a liar."

He caught her hand in his. "Nay, you do. Old, but we all grow older or we die, Margaret, and I am pleased you chose growing older."

"But you're the same," she said and frowned, growing confused. "Is it not so long then? I thought-"

"Sweet, strong Margaret," he murmured, raising her thin fingers to his lips. "You know I am a different breed, a wolf among hounds. And I am here to help you, if you will let me."

"Help me? How?"

"Your memories. Perception. To help you recognize your children as they are today, grown."

Her voice, so small, so helpless, made Natasha's heart, once so hardened, crack, as Carter said, "I forget, sometimes. I know I do."

Then, so quietly, in a gentle voice she had never heard him use before, not even to Lila, he asked, "Margaret, will you let me try to help you? Will you trust me to help you?" She nodded slightly, but it was enough. He smiled a bit. "Then I shall." He settled on the bed, cross-legged, and lifted her head and the pillow beneath it into his lap. He set his fingers lightly on both sides of her head, smoothing the white hair, and said, "Think of your oldest memory from when you were a child. As far back as you can. A favorite doll. Your brother. Playing in the garden, or your nursery. Do you remember?"

"We played pirates," she said, voice hoarse but her eyes were clear, fixing on the past.

"Pirates," he murmured and his smile widened in soft amusement. "Remind me to tell you my pirate adventure. Think back to when you defended your ship against pirates, Captain Peggy." The sound of her usual first name sharpened Natasha's attention, as both Lukas and Carter closed their eyes. "We shall make that the beginning of the path, and join all the other paths back to it where they are broken. She's stronger than she looks but this may take awhile," he said, in exactly the same even tone, but to the observers not to her. "It is very fine work, and I have not done its like in some time, so I request your patience."

For a minute, he sat there, Carter's head in his lap, fingers at her temples, and didn't seem to breathe.

Beside her Barnes rubbed at his upper chest and shoulder area with his right hand and his brow knotted curiously, as he stopped rubbing and looked at his flesh hand as his fingers curled. He glanced at the bed. "He's doing something," he murmured. "I feel it. That's weird. Haven't felt something like that in a long time."

"Is it… bad?" Steve asked. "Should we stop it?"

Barnes grabbed his arm when Steve shifted his weight to walk. "No. Let him try."

A sound in the hallway outside distracted Natasha and she looked out the small window in the door. "Nurse incoming," she warned.

"On it," Barnes said and hurried out to block the nurse from interrupting.

Natasha turned back when it seemed Barnes had the problem in hand. What Lukas doing looked odd, but not dangerous or harmful; the danger came from knowing that Lukas was, somehow, doing something in her head. That knowledge was making Steve tense, and Natasha slid closer to him so she was in position to stop him if he tried to interfere.

But as it continued, she began to be uneasy herself. Lukas' brow furrowed and his jaw clenched, as whatever he was doing seemed to get more difficult. Carter had to sharply inhale, as if she'd been holding her breath, and started to pant lightly, while Lukas didn't seem to be breathing at all. His fingers trembled on her skin.

Though bright in the room, it became apparent that the faint sheen across his hands and her face was not because of the sunlight slipping through the window blinds, but a glow he was causing.

Natasha watched, wondering when she should intervene or let Rogers intervene. That 'jest' of Lukas', that one or both of them could die, made her think maybe it wasn't such a jest at all, that there was a not-zero chance that could happen. Director Carter was an admired hero of SHIELD, and that loss would be tragic, but it would be even worse for those left behind: her family, Steve, and definitely for Lukas, who would probably never forgive himself if she died doing this.

Since 'never' was going to be a very long time for someone who could potentially live thousands of years more, she stepped forward when Carter gasped again and moaned in distress.

But Lukas murmured under his breath, and she heard distinctly 'yes' and that sounded encouraging, so she stopped, tense but willing to wait.

Carter inhaled sharply and Lukas' eyes flew open, looking alarmed although he saw nothing before him. He pulled his hands away from her head, and his shoulders slumped, his eyes closed again, and he panted lightly for breath.

All was silent, until Lukas stirred and opened his eyes again. He looked weary, but formed a smile, glancing at Natasha and Steve. "It worked. Fetch James."

Natasha opened the door to call him in, as Lukas gently removed himself from the bed. As he stood, he gripped the decorative knob of the corner of the headboard to steady himself, when he wavered and his legs nearly folded beneath him. He stayed there, taking some long breaths with his eyes closed.

Barnes re-entered and went straight to the other side of her bed. Her eyes found his, and she exclaimed, "James. James! I remember! I remember all of it, I remember everything." Her eyes filled with tears, as he sank down to the floor to gaze into her face, taking her hand.

"Peg, Peggy, oh Peggy." He bent his head over her hand, overcome. She gazed at him in such open joy, it made Natasha smile, too, and then her eyes flicked over and found Rogers.

"Steve. Oh, Steve, come here," She lifted her other hand to beckon him closer, as well. "I'm so glad you're back. And you look the same, it's a miracle."

Lukas watched them with a half-smile, happy for them clearly, but seeming a bit apart. He turned to leave them to their happy reunion, closing the distance to Natasha and no doubt intending to slip from the room.

But his absence was noticed. "Lukas," Carter called him back and he returned to the bedside. When she reached out for him, he took her hand and she tugged him closer. "Lukas. I am so sorry," she said. "I saw … We should've found the rest of them. We didn't look hard enough-"

"No, Margaret," he reassured her. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Especially when I abandoned you."

"Oh, sweetie," she said, shaking her head, and pulled his hand up to kiss it. "You did nothing of the sort. I knew you'd be back when you were ready. But I wish it had been a happy return."

"It is," he told her. "I'm happy to see you again."

Their eyes held for a moment, Carter's aware and sharp, a younger woman, but a wiser woman, too. "I'm happy to see you, too." She glanced at the hand she was holding and looked to Barnes. "James. Take this boy someplace to sit down and give him food. He won't tell you but he's exhausted."

Lukas looked a bit askance at being called 'boy' but a pleased smile hovered nonetheless, as he admitted, "I could eat something."

"Will do, and I'll be back afterward," Barnes promised.

"Take your time. I'm going to rest." She let go of Lukas' hand and flicked her fingers to send them all away.

In the corridor Barnes grabbed Lukas around the shoulders into a sudden hug. "Oh my God, you did it. You did it, thank you. You… That's Peggy in there again. All of her. You brought her back."

Awkwardly, Lukas patted Barnes on the back. "You are very welcome."

Barnes pulled back and frowned at him. "What was she talking about though? Apologizing for what?"

Lukas couldn't hold his eyes, casting his gaze away. "Touching her mind meant she also touched mine. But she thought what happened long ago was recent. It was nothing. Though I am hungry. Is there a place here to get real food? Because those vending machines are an abomination…."

As Barnes led him down the corridor, Natasha and Steve followed more slowly. Natasha wasn't surprised he was keeping up the lie he'd told Steve, that nothing had happened after he'd arrived, but she wished he'd be honest about it, even if he didn't want to talk about it. It wasn't going to stay a secret. But it was his choice to make, and she went along with it.

Next to her, Steve heaved a sigh, and since it was the kind of sound people made for attention, she glanced at him. "You okay, Rogers?"

"Yeah, I just- I don't know. I'm glad I get to see them, but they're so different. Lukas looks the same, but he's doing things I never saw before. Makes me realize everything's changed."

She let that digest and offered, "Just remember they're changed for Lukas, too, and he deals with aging and death a lot worse than we do."

"You'd think he'd be used to it by now."

She shook her head. "Not when he avoids it as much as possible. He told me he used to move on when people noticed he wasn't aging; that means he moved on before they could age, too."

Expression more thoughtful, Steve looked in Lukas' direction. "Didn't think of that."

But then, conversation ahead caught her attention and she quickened her step to hear what Lukas and Barnes were talking about.

"You met Queen Brigitte?" Lukas sounded pleased. "I hope she was well."

"She was," Barnes said. "And I spent a while there, helping out." he held out his prosthesis hand and clenched the fist. "Hauled a lot of bricks."

Lukas glanced at him. "Thank you, James. I appreciate that you went there, for me."

"Hey, least I could do." Barnes shrugged and pushed open the door to the facility's cafe. "Take a seat, I'll get the food. What do you want?"

Lukas glanced at the menu written on the chalkboard on the easel. "A chicken and cheese sandwich should suffice."

Steve went up with Barnes, and Natasha who wasn't interested in early dinner, waved her hand to pass and followed Lukas at the table with the view out to the courtyard. He sat heavily, nearly collapsing into the chair, and looked outside, gaze somewhere far more distant.

"Hey," she murmured, sliding into the seat next to him. "You doing all right?"

He glanced at her. "It was draining but food will help."

Which didn't answer the question, but since the answer was probably 'not really' she didn't pursue it. She watched Barnes and Rogers quibble about who was going to pay at the register, though they settled on Rogers carrying everything and Barnes paying for it.

Steve set the tray down and slid it to in front of Lukas; the tray held the requested sandwich, green salad, potato chips, pudding, and a bottle of water. "Go ahead," he invited.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Lukas asked. "This feels awkward and rude."

Barnes scoffed. "Did we just create a miracle? No. Dig in. I'll eat with Peggy later." He smiled. "It'll be good to eat together again, like it used to be. When she brought me into SHIELD – this was in the early days, just after it spun off from the SSR- " he explained in an aside to Steve, "we'd have lunch together. " His smile turned wry. "Your ghost was sitting with us for a couple of years before I got up the courage to ask her on a proper date."

"Years? You? Damn, now I know you were lost without me," Steve teased and bumped shoulders. "So tell me about my namesake. Is he in SHIELD?"

Barnes laughed. "Hell no. They both went as far from SHIELD or the military as they could. Funny when Howard's kid followed in his footsteps, but no, Stevie's a pediatrician, and Lucy's a professor at Georgetown."

"Wow, smart. They must get it from Peggy," Steve teased.

But Barnes wasn't offended. "Oh, they did. Definitely."

As Natasha listened, she let her gaze roam, reflexively checking her position and the new people entering the lunchroom. There was no danger of course, but there was a nurse in scrubs trying to take a photo with her cellphone.

Natasha turned and lifted her shoulder, to obscure her own face and Lukas'. There was nothing she could do to obscure Steve's though. The nurse worked here, so she knew who Bucky Barnes was, and if she was taking a picture, she'd recognized Lukas or Steve, too.

"I texted Lucy to drive over as soon as she can, so make sure you stick around," Barnes said and pushed back his chair, full of impatience. "I'm going to check on Peg."

"I'll go with you?" Steve said, half in question, but Barnes waved him up. When they left, the nurse took another picture.

Captain America's return was about to go viral, Natasha thought with a sigh. She could go take the phone, but that wasn't going to stop her from posting about it, nor anyone else.

Lukas scraped the sides of the plastic cup to get the last of the chocolate pudding. For someone who had claimed to want only a sandwich, he'd devoured everything on the tray. "I find myself eager to meet-" Lukas interrupted himself, to ask her, "What's wrong?"

"Barnes is a public figure," she explained. "I think that woman over there just recognized Rogers by association. Cap's return is going to be known soon."

Lukas set his spoon down, grimacing. "We knew it would happen," he said, more to convince himself than her. "Perhaps people will not be convinced when his appearance hasn't aged, unlike James'."

"There will be doubt," she agreed. But she didn't want it to linger there, because that smacked of willful blindness. Lukas needed to be prepared for the truth. "But unfortunately I think the public is already primed for the two of you to return at the same time, so there won't be as much as you'd think. And you heard the news reports from Sokovia already mention you."

"I know," he agreed heavily. He spun the water bottle with meditative attention. "I feel this should be of no real concern to me. Notoriety is not, in itself, a problem. It can be enjoyable, even."

She shook her head. "You were notorious among the wrong people," she added quietly. "Twice. Of course you don't want that kind of attention."

"Which is ridiculous, because I am aware that those sort of evils are not common. They had incredible luck, striking when I was weakened; their ambush would not work today. So public attention should be nothing to me. Inconvenient, perhaps, but ultimately, appreciation is always better than the opposite, right?"

She listened to this attempt to perk himself up, and gave a bit of a smile. "I do my best work without attention, so I can't answer that."

He regarded her in some surprise. "No public attention, but surely some, from your employers? Even your opponents, I should think, give you much respect. And certainly I appreciate you and your many talents."

It was her turn to be surprised – not only was he sincere, he didn't say anything about her looks, which she expected, especially when she knew he was attracted to her. "Well, thank you."

He smiled at her, amused. "Even if you do mock my dislike of aeroplanes." He stood up. "Shall we see if Lucy has arrived yet?"

He was about to leave behind his tray and the debris of his meal, but hesitated when he noticed several disapproving glances sent their way. But he figured it out immediately, returning to their table to bring his tray to the disposal area.

Natasha watched from the door, nodding to herself. It was taking him awhile to adapt to this time, but he was also quick to read people and take his cue to fit in, when he wished. He'd make a good SHIELD agent, though he was understandably reluctant about the idea right now, he had told Fury he'd join the Avengers Initiative. She could suggest spying, interrogation, infiltration – those seemed to be a good fit with his talents – and perhaps SHIELD could find Lukas and her a mission together to ease him into it. Plus, he needed something to do; aimlessly floating wasn't good for anyone, and especially not someone floundering after trauma and cutting ties to his family.

It would be good for him to meet Lucy, and hopefully the two would get along, so he could add her to his connections that would survive Carter and Barnes' proximate death. Both were old, and Natasha knew enough about medical charts to be able to read Carter's, to know her age was catching up with her. They would both die, if not soon as a human would figure it, definitely soon for Lukas.

They had to pass a restroom on the way back to Carter's room. The door was propped open and there was a notice out front to close it for cleaning. Natasha's nose twitched at the smell of bleach; it was nothing she smelled often anymore, since modern cleansers rarely contained strong concentrations of chlorine bleach, but they'd used it in the Red Room. The smell reminded her of scrubbing the bathrooms until her fingers were raw. And of learning how to use the bleach to make chlorine gas.

But Lukas reacted as if he'd been shot- recoiling so hard he slammed himself against the opposite wall. Natasha whirled, alarmed, thinking he had been hit by some kind of weapon, and started to reach under her jacket for the sidearm at her back.

But it wasn't necessary. His eyes were wide and glassy, unblinking and unseeing, trapped. His breaths were desperate and ragged, and he held his hands out to either side, pressed against the wall even as he slid down it to sit on the floor.

Shaking, he held his hands in the uncomfortably cruciform position, as if pinned.

She didn't dare touch him and provoke an attack. With his strength returned, he could harm her without any awareness of doing so.

Kneeling out of his reach to the side, she called softly, "Lukas! Lukas, can you hear me? You're safe- come back to the present. Come back to me."

He didn't seem to hear her, letting out a soft moan of terror and pain that was meant to be a scream.

... tbc...