I was standing out front of Tony's lab just as Vision was leaving it. He was wearing a turtle-neck sweater. Looking even more human than the last time I'd seen him. Which must have been weeks ago now. If my memory was correct. And since Chaos was responsible for making these memories so accurate, I was going to trust it.

Tony had given me the okay to leave my cell once in a while. So long as I was wearing the nano-tech and didn't stray too far away. So I took to wandering whenever I got antsy. Which happened to be often.

"Hey, Purple Jarvis," I said with a nod. He looked up and made a sound like he was going to correct me. But then he recognized it was a joke and gave me a pity laugh instead.

He'd been missing for a week. Clara told me her suspicions about why. About who exactly he was sneaking off to see. And since Wanda had gone missing around the same time Bucky did, I had a feeling she might know where he was. And if not, at least she could convey a message.

"Can we talk?"

"I can't tell you what you want to know," he said, already knowing where my thoughts had gone.

"I know. I get it. I just want to have a word." He looked around as if he could sense someone nearby. Or just knowing that Friday was probably listening.

"On the beach. Give me an hour." I nodded.

"Don't be late."

He wasn't. I turned, and that's where I was. Out on the beach out front of the compound. Vision was already waiting for me. He was sitting on a rock wearing the false face he put on so people didn't notice he wasn't human. He looked like a man. Light blond hair and blue eyes, staring out at the setting sun. I sat down beside him and pulled my sweater tighter around myself.

"I don't know where they are," he told me. "I can't tell you what you want to hear."

"Even if you did know, you wouldn't tell me anyway."

He didn't say anything to that. I sighed and breathed in the fresh ocean air. The watch weighed heavy on my wrist. Saltwater had dried to the lenses of my false glasses. But I wouldn't complain about the chance to feel the sun on my skin again. To smell the brine in the air. The pain wasn't as bad today. But it came and went in waves, and each time seemed worse than the last.

"I don't want to know where they are," I admitted. "I know it's better if I don't know. I just—can't shake the feeling that I'm running out of time. And there are things I'll never get to say."

"I can't get a message to him if that's what you're asking."

"I'm not asking for that either. I just think there might be a grapevine scenario. And if you could pass something on to someone who can pass it along, so on and so forth."

"I can't make guarantees."

"I know that too. Just—if my suspicions are correct about this hypothetical grapevine…."

"What would you want him to know?" He turned and gave me a knowing look.

The longer he'd been alive, the more human he'd become. He grew more complex. Learned mannerisms and sarcasm. Falling in love was an unfortunate side-effect of being human. One that I empathized with. And I think he felt the same about me.

Tony and Clara knew love. But Tony knew love with a different passion. A need to protect. Tony was used to getting what he wanted, even in love. The sort of love Vision and I understood was the kind steeped in yearning and pain. Of wanting something you couldn't have.

"I'd want him to know that I miss him. Every day," I told him. "And that I still love him. That I hope gravity brings us back together someday."

He nodded as if those words made sense to him. We had nothing more to say to each other. He knew what I was asking, and I trusted that he'd do it to the best of his ability. We watched the sunset together. The memory was drenched in sadness. But there was comfort in that shared experience of being human in a world full of monsters. And when I felt the ghost of Bucky's fingers gently caress my cheek, I remembered the truth.

But he was wiped away with the memory. I was back in my room in the compound, trying to busy myself by cleaning up. I wasn't sure how long it had been since that sunset on the beach. Weeks. Months maybe. Vision had gone missing again. Gone offline and sent Tony into another frenzied panic. I didn't worry when he dropped off the face of the earth.

But it still startled me when I turned to find him already standing in my living room. I jumped and let out a quick "Jesus!"

"Apologies, Miss Hayes," he said, inclining his head.

I set my hand over my heart. I couldn't feel it. Because this wasn't real. Just a memory. But still, it must have been pounding because my watch gave a warning beep. Vision didn't seem the least bit threatened by it. He was still convinced he was immune simply because he was synthetic. I wasn't sure Chaos cared about that. But she hadn't tried to kill him so far. Emphasis on "so far."

"Is there a reason you barged in?"

"I had something I wished to say."

"Okay—what's that?" He took a deep breath as he worked it over in his android brain.

"If gravity were to bring you and Barnes together again, maybe someday," he added. "I'm certain that it will be nothing short of—well—spectacular."

I stared at him as those words sank in. I knew what he was telling me. Or, more importantly, where the sentiment originated from. Not his mind. But in a bed in Romania. There was only one other person who'd understand what that meant. And that had to be why he'd chosen that specific wording. Friday wouldn't understand. Tony wouldn't be able to trace it. But Vision was letting me know he'd informed his grapevine. And the grapevine had responded. Message received. Sentiment reciprocated.

The emotion hit me unexpectedly hard. The ache of leaving Bucky behind hadn't receded. The yearning hadn't faded. Not for a moment. And it was nice to hear that I wasn't alone in that feeling. I nodded, trying to hold back tears.

"Thank you," I said with a sniffle. He nodded back.

"Have a good day, Miss Hayes."

Then he turned and disappeared through the wall. I shut my eyes and tried to focus. To bring myself back to reality. Not the memories I was leaping through as I hunted down answers to a question I didn't even know. Not that horrible time, and the years after that somehow managed to be worse.

"I don't want to do this again," I told the shadows. "Please don't make me see it again. I can't do this anymore."

She didn't listen.