The final version of her leg was, if possible, even more amazing. It was the same concept—sleep, seamless steel, polished, reflective, beautiful—but the seams that allowed the joints to bend and rotate were even thinner, nearly undetectable. The steel was darker this time around, looking less like a silver mirror and more like dark, polished gunmetal. And, of course, this one had the STARK INDUSTRIES logo engraved on the outer thigh, which she didn't mind.

It made her feel powerful. Whole. And it was a feeling she couldn't put a price on.

They'd been in the tower an additional two weeks for safety, knowing that no one in their right mind would attack the tower. Bucky was doing better and better, and any flashbacks or panic attack he had, he was successfully able to pull himself out of. As she'd always said; he wasn't cured, but he was coping, and it was an incredible thing to see. But, as a result, Mo slowly realized that her presence was slowly becoming less and less necessary, especially now that they were holed up in the tower. Bucky and Steve were spending more and more time together as well, leaving Mo with more time with Sam.

It was on one of these occasions that she sat down with Sam in her room. She'd been spending more one-on-one time with both Sam and Steve, talking to them about their mission. Sam was easier; they'd done this before. Steve, however, kept it all under lock and key, insisting that he was fine. He spent most of his time with Bucky, anyway.

"So," she said, flopping down beside him and rolling onto her side, propping her head up on her hand. "I've been thinking… maybe it's time for me to go."

Sam looked at her. "You wanna leave us?"

"Of course not," she said. "I—I really love you guys. But it's August now, Sam. My classes start up again in a week, and I can't abandon that."

Sam nodded slowly. "You gonna be Doctor Mo?"

"Doctor Fox," she corrected him. "And yeah, after this term I will be. I gotta go back."

"I know," he said, patting her knee—the cybernetic one. She still could only feel the pressure of his hand there, but that in itself was incredible. "When are you telling the boys?"

"After I have my ticket back home," she said, "otherwise I'm afraid I'll stay."

Her heart was heavy. She used the tablet Tony had let her borrow to search for a plane ticket, and she selected one that departed the next morning at 10am. She needed to leave very soon—she had books to buy, she had to move back into her apartment, she had to get ready for her classes. Leaving tomorrow was cutting it close enough.

"Wow," Sam said, looking at her again as she switched off the tablet. Her throat was suddenly tight. She met his eyes. "I'm gonna go talk to Tony," she said, "thank him and let him know I'm leaving. Don't tell the others."

She found Tony in his lab, entering the code he had given her to get in. He glanced up at her, shutting off the holograms that surrounded him, and quirked his eyebrows at her. He glanced at her leg.

"Something wrong?"

"No," she said, playing with her braid. "I, uh, just wanted to let you know I'm leaving."

"Where you going?"

"Back to California," she said, "back to school."

"When you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning," she said. He nodded.

"Well," he said, "it's been fun."

"Yeah," she said sarcastically, and he cracked a smile. "Loads." She shifted and bit her bottom lip. "Look," she went on, "I just wanted to thank you. For everything, really. For saving us, for letting us crash here, for the leg."

"Don't mention it," he said in an off-handed fashion, "it helped ease the guilt of, you know, being the reason you lost your leg. And your friends. Call it even."

"Even," she said, smiling a little and shaking her head.

"That it?" she nodded. "Good. I'll have a car waiting to drive you to the airport in the morning do you're safe. Now scram."

She rolled her eyes and headed out. That had been easy enough. It was saying goodbye to the others that she dreaded, and she had no idea how to do it. So, naturally, she put it off, trying to breathe through the tightness in her chest. She would be meeting the boys in the gym today; she'd begun to really enjoy training with them. She headed down, already dressed in her training clothes.

She found them waiting for her in the gym; Sam was lifting weights and Steve and Bucky were having it out in the boxing ring. She watched them for a while, smiling and oddly emotional. After today, this would all be a memory. Her breath caught in her chest and she swallowed back the tears as they fought it out, Bucky wrestling Steve to the ground and twisting his arm until he tapped out.

They spotted Mo and she put on a big smile, climbing into the ring to face Bucky and, again, it struck her that his would be the last time. Steve passed her and went off to meet Sam at the weights, and Bucky grinned at her and for a moment she felt like falling apart. She watched his face, studied it, memorized him and the way he looked right now. Bucky gave her an odd look. He had no idea that she was leaving, she realized. He thought she'd be staying for the foreseeable future. She looked away form him and got into her fighting stance, looking at him again only when he noticed he wasn't moving.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What? Nothing. Come on," she said, hopping a little, but he still didn't move.

"You're lying," he said pointedly, looking at her mouth. "Your lips are a little swollen and that only happens when you're upset. Probably because you bite them so much."

"Shut up," she snapped. "How do you even notice those things?"

"I'm observant. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, okay? Can we just do this?"

He let it go for a little while and they sparred, but it became very clear very quickly that her mind was somewhere else. When he slammed her back into the mat for the fourth time, he sat beside her with a sigh, lying on his back and looking at her.

"So?" he asked, and she stared at his face. She had to tell him. Her mouth quivered and she looked away from him, staring straight up, trying to control her breathing. He watched her.

"I, um," she hesitated, searching for the words. She wasn't sure why she was so upset. Sure, she would miss him—she would miss all of them—but she had no idea if they'd even care that she was leaving. If they'd miss her like she'd miss them. He brushed his cybernetic hand against her fingertips comfortingly and she turned to look at him again, really looked at his face.

"I'm leaving," she breathed. He blinked.

"What?"

"Tomorrow," she said. "I have to go back to California. Besides, you don't need me anymore. You're doing fine on your own."

"I do need you," he said, looking confused.

"You'll be fine."

"I forgot you had a life outside of all of this," he murmured.

"So did I."

They were quiet. Finally, she just sat up, shaking her head. "I don't want to talk about it," she said. "I just want to enjoy today, my last day, with you guys. Okay?"

He sat up beside her, hesitantly, his eyes scanning her face. "Yeah," he said, nodding. "Yeah, alright."

That night, they gathered in her room for dinner. Tony didn't make an appearance, which was fine. They weren't all that close, and their relationship was an odd one as it was. By this point, Steve was also aware that she was leaving. As they had back in the apartment, Steve and Mo were doing the dishes, but this time they were silent. When the dishes were done they both left the kitchen and met the others in the living room, where Mo plopped down beside Bucky, somehow feeling comforted by his presence.

"So," she finally said, sighing and looking at them. "This is it." Steve nodded, and Sam looked bummed. She took a deep breath. "I, um, I just wanted to say thanks, I guess," she said. "For everything. I figured I'd say my goodbyes now and get them out of the way, you know, so thank you."

She paused and swallowed, gathering her emotions. "I—I just wanted you to know that—well, before all of this I was alone. I'd lost everything. I didn't have any friends, I didn't have any family. All I had was school, really, and the hope that one day things would get better, as cliché as it sounds. But for so long, so long I thought that it wouldn't get any better. But then Sam called, and you guys happened, and… Well, God knows it wasn't easy, but…"

She paused and Bucky grinned a little, shaking his head. No, he hadn't made it easy. She leaned her shoulder into his.

"When all of this started, I didn't think we'd be where we are now," she went on, "particularly with you." She looked at Bucky. "But you, too, Steve. I just—" Her voice broke a little and she felt embarrassed suddenly and she ducked her head. She was startled when Bucky put his arm around her and rubbed her shoulder gently. She gathered herself and looked at them individually.

"Sam," she said, pointedly. She reached for his hand and he took it, giving it a squeeze. "Don't be a stranger. And be safe." He grinned at her. She released him and reached for Steve, who took her hand gently.

"You," she went on, "keep Sam in check. Don't let his ego get too big."

"Hey," Sam said, and Steve squeezed her hand, chuckling. She released him and turned to Bucky.

"And you," she said, taking hold of his cybernetic hand. "You, Bucky Barnes. Take care of yourself." He wrinkled his nose at her. "You are amazing and you are strong. Don't forget that." She'd lowered her voice a little, speaking only to him. He have her a close-mouthed smile, but it was tense, his eyebrows raised.

She released him and looked at them all. "I love you guys," she concluded. "And I hope it's alright that I consider you my friends."

That night, Bucky stayed with her because she didn't want to be alone. He'd moved into his own room a couple of weeks ago, but tonight he'd stayed with her and shared her bed. Maybe it was strange, that she wanted to sleep beside him one last time, but he'd agreed on the condition that she didn't hog the blankets.

She was having trouble sleeping with the knowledge that she was leaving in the morning looming over her head. Bucky had helped her pack her things and they were waiting by the door. She tossed and turned, and he groaned and rolled over to face her.

"Stop moving," he mumbled, switching on the light to look at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. She thought about how, when they'd first met, he hadn't even come out of the bathroom. He'd slept in a bathtub. He had gone for days without showering or eating, he had woken up screaming, he'd been violent in his flashbacks. And now here he was, sleeping in a bed, beside her; he'd grown, the muscle filling out, and he handled his flashbacks on his own. He wasn't the same person she'd met. He was healthier now, mentally and physically. She felt no fear around him. She stared into his blue eyes, eyes that had once avoided hers rather than searched them out, eyes that had been so dark, scared, full of self-loathing were not clear and bright.

"I'm so proud of you," she said softly, and he smirked a little.

"Don't go all soft on me now, sweet'eart," he murmured. Her lip quivered and he sighed, reaching for her with the cybernetic arm. She grabbed his hand and held it for a while. "Get your sleep," he urged.

Bucky had been holding it together pretty well, he thought. No one seemed able to tell that he was actually very upset that Mo was leaving. But he didn't make a big deal of it—there was no reason to. She had to leave, she had to go become Dr. Fox so she could go help other people.

But it hurt a lot more than it should have.

She'd become a steady fixture in his life, and it struck him as he watched her gather her things that she was going to be gone. That meant no more of her dancing when she thought no one was looking. No more singing in the shower, or any other time, really. No more of those hard, no-bullshit looks that made him smile. He carried one of her bags for her, in the elevator beside her, noting that she said nothing and avoided looking at him.

Finally, when the elevator reached the garage level, she looked up at him.

"Thank you for everything," she breathed. "You've helped me more than you know."

And she stepped out. Sam, Steve, and even Tony were waiting by a car for her. He helped her load her things in, the reality sinking in, and she finally turned to them all, a convincing smile on her face.

"Well," she said, "this is it." She hugged each one of them, except for Tony, who stepped back, raised his hands, and then shook her hand. She laughed and when she hugged Sam, he lifted her off the ground, and finally she reached for Bucky, squeezing him before stepping back.

"I'd say keep in touch," she said to them, "but I know you won't." She looked sad for a moment. "Be safe, alright? I don't want to hear anything scary on the news."

The driver opened the car door for her. "Miss," he said, "we should be going if you want to make your flight."

"Yeah," she said. "Alright. Bye, guys." She waved and Sam and Steve murmured their good-byes. Bucky stood stock still, something strange happening inside of him, and he snapped.

"Wait," he said, surging into motion, reaching out and grabbing her arm. He grabbed her and pulled her back to him, sweeping her off her feet quite literally and lifting her off the ground. She gasped and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, clutching him for a moment.

"You're going to make an amazing doctor," he told her softly. "You're going to help so many people."

He set her back down and noticed that her eyes were wet. "Thanks," she murmured, wiping at her eyes. She hesitated for just a moment, her hand lingering on his, before she finally turned away and got in the car, closing the door between them.

Her apartment was the same, but it felt colder somehow, lonelier. She set her things down and wandered around, feeling oddly out of place. How had things changed so much? She'd only been gone about two and a half months. She sighed, texting Sam, Steve, and Bucky that she'd made it home safe, just as they'd asked her to do.

She padded to her room and sat on the bed in the silence, rubbing her hands up and down her new leg, the only proof she had that these last couple of months had even happened. They'd felt like a dream. She ran her hands through her hair, shaking her head a little, a hot tear slipping from her eye. That was the thing about dreaming, she thought. Reality was always waiting.

AN: Done! I really loved writing this story for you guys, and I hope that you enjoy the sequel! It's called Project Lazarus, and I've already posted the first chapter so that you all can head straight over and read it if you'd like. Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this! Here's the summary for the sequel, which is where we'll get to the romance:

After the trial of Bucky Barnes, public opinion of both Steve and Tony has declined drastically. Tony hires a savvy publicist to boost their image, also calling up an old friend to help spin a tale that will win back America's heart. Meanwhile, Steve struggles with his depression and with the notion that the American people are rallying against him and actively planning attacks.

Remember to leave your final reviews! :) Then head over and check out the sequel!