Woot woot. Last chapter in her Origin Story! Iron Man 3 is starting up as soon as I can finish laying out the document into chapters. This shit was all written June-August and amounts to more than 200k words, so now I'm finding time to rewrite over the old chapters I had written when I was a shit writer. I mean, I still kind of am, but I've definitely improved from my past self. Anyways, T. Rycbar is stupid or something. Enjoy the chapter.

IDon'tOwnMarvel

It was a whole month before Steve saw Lincoln again. He got maybe two phone calls in that time period, which was nice since he was never super willing to leave her alone in the first place. It was good to know that she wasn't dead or being tortured...again. Though, to be fair, she was most likely only calling him because she knew that he had no clue how to track a phone call. If SHIELD was given any idea of where she was, they definitely would have tracked her down and dragged her back by now, especially since Fury had been so pissed off.

Come to think of it, most of them had been pretty peeved that I wouldn't give up her location. Steve thought. He had to assure them that she was safe and well, even though she wasn't around. It was also necessary to tell them that she wasn't going to be going back home for reasons he could only make an educated guess on.

"I mean that it's gone. Seven billion individual people all lost forever-"

He winced at the memory. Her world was gone. That much he knew. What he didn't know was how she managed to be the only one to survive, or how an entire population and planet was wiped out. On a more important note, however, those kinds of questions weren't ones that he could ever see himself asking. Therefore, he refrained from mentioning it to her when she stepped into the apartment again through one of those sparkly portals in those cool robes all the wizards wore.

He offered her a small smile, despite having had little to no warning that she was showing up today. "Welcome back?"

She barely looked at him before sighing tiredly and collapsing on the couch. Frowning to himself, he followed her partway into the living room just to make sure that she wasn't bleeding out or injured in any way. She looked relatively fine if you counted out the fact that she looked way too tired to be conscious.

"Are you alright?" He asked, eyeing her carefully.

Lincoln turned her head from having it buried in the cousins and gave him an exhausted look, as if the mere idea of talking would knock her right out. "No. Let me sleep."

Without another word, she rolled over on the couch with her back to him. Steve checked his watch. It was only six o'clock which seemed awfully early for anyone, let alone a teenager, to go to bed. Shaking his head, he left her alone and went back to eating his dinner in the kitchen. He did wonder why she was so tired, being the normally chipper person she was. This wasn't at all the same person he had willingly left behind at the Sanctum, nor was it the one he had described to Bucky.

Bucky.

While Lincoln was away, Steve had spent most of his time hanging out with his old friend on the helicarrier. It made him almost excited when Bucky had started poking fun at him again last week. He would have to introduce the two of them. Maybe after she's not so tired.

He did wonder if he should call someone and let them know she was back, but that question only bothered him for a moment before he decided that asking her would be better. He could also, in the very least, just wait until she woke up.

The only problem was that he never did ask her right away since she never did want to wake up while he moved about his apartment the next day. Well, to be fair, she was awake, but she didn't ever willingly move to sit up or walk around. He made sure to offer her food too even when she said she didn't want any. It was nice to see her eating it too despite her previous claim. The action almost reminded him of what his mother used to do.

After roughly 36 hours of making sure she was still alive and somewhat well, they were approaching the visiting day for Bucky. He didn't want to miss that, but he also didn't want to leave Lincoln alone in the apartment. Steve didn't suspect that she was unsafe in any way, but he did have to worry since his mother never seemed unsafe either. Not to mention, she was technically a kid with a record of disappearing, so leaving her behind without supervision didn't seem like the best plan. Luckily, Lincoln decided to speak up that same day about something other than her usual 'not hungry' remarks.

She looked mildly annoyed when she looked over at him in his chair. "Why are you being nice?"

He paused his reading, having not expected to hear from her at all. Giving her a quick once over, he just shrugged. "I care. Also, I like to think I'm a pretty nice person."

"You weren't though." She pointed out, staring at him. "Why are you nice now?"

She was right about that. He hadn't been very fair to her when she first showed up. That didn't mean he couldn't change though.

He lowered the book to his lap, avoiding her piercing stare. "I wasn't and I'm sorry. I didn't know how to thank you for helping Bucky. I just got a little stuck in my head…I think."

There was a brief silence from her side of the room when she looked back at the ceiling, tossing the stress ball she always had on her. She nodded lightly. "I did do that."

"You did." He agreed, watching her now for a moment before bringing up his own question. "Are you back?"

She caught the ball and inspected it. "Yeah."

"Should I call someone?"

Lincoln went back to being indifferent, shrugging and rolling back onto her side. "I don't care. Knock yourself out."

He sighed and sat back in his chair. "Well, it was kind of up to you."

"I couldn't care less," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself.

Steve furrowed his brow at the kid, already trying to drum up ways to get her out of her own head. She did have a good future here if she tried. It was the 'getting her to try' that was the problem.

"You can't sleep all day." He said, deciding on a less subtle approach with her.

"What are you, my mom?" She grumbled, using a more sarcastic tone. "Oh wait, can't be. She's dead."

Okay, something definitely has to be done here. 'What' was the unanswered question. What were you supposed to do to help someone who's entire family and planet died?

He did have a few ideas.

"Come on, get up." He stood too, motioning for her to move.

"No." She tensed up on the couch, probably trying to sink into it.

Steve didn't give in so easily and crossed his arms. "I'm going to see Bucky today. You're coming too."

"Can't make me."

"He wants to meet you." He waited for another conflicting response and when he didn't get it, he went on. "It'll be good for you."

Lincoln turned around at that and wrinkled her nose at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you won't be sitting around here feeling sorry for yourself."

"That's not what this is." She shot back, only a little less confident than before. Steve caught on to this fast.

"What is it then?" He challenged, staring her down now.

She stared at him for a minute in distaste before scowling and sitting up. "Fine, but if he starts giving off bad vibes I'm turning back."

He narrowed his eyes at her in confusion when she picked up her backpack and started towards the bathroom. "...what?"

There was the tiniest smirk on her face when she opened and shut the door behind her. She knew exactly what she was doing and it did make him feel a little better to know that she was well enough to try and confuse him when she was annoyed.

Maybe she will bounce back from this. You know, if this is something people can bounce back from.

Lincoln had changed into her regular clothes before they left out the front door. She was leaving willingly, but looked to be very put out by the effort she had to put in. The subway took them to the Upper East Side Manhattan where they met up with the agent that was always around to take Steve to the helicarrier. Agent Todd was very ready to phone Fury as soon as she caught sight of Lincoln too. Steve stopped her before she could though with some excuse about how it wasn't necessary.

Lincoln looked amused if anything by his dismissal of the task. "Keeping it on the DL, are we?"

Steve didn't bother questioning her unfamiliar slang this time while she sat down in the seat across from him and just shook his head at her antics. He was a little nervous about introducing Bucky to this version of Lincoln, but he did need to get her out of the apartment. She might feel a little better if she could see some of the good she had done in this world already. It always helped him to know that he could be useful even in this world. Sure, it was weird and unfamiliar, but that didn't mean he couldn't still help people.

It wouldn't be an accurate statement if I said that I wasn't at least a little excited to see Bucky. I definitely would have preferred to stay on the couch, but meeting Bucky was a close second in things I wanted to do with my life. It wasn't like there was a lot I did want to do anymore, so being subjected to something that I didn't see myself hating sounded nice enough.

The first week had me feeling pretty awful, as if I had done something wrong and didn't actually deserve the chance to live. Then, at one point when my mind decided that the people of my world would be disappointed in my lack of work, I realized that their opinion didn't matter. After all, how could they be disappointed if they were dead?

I did cry a few times from homesickness, but eventually, as horrible as it sounds, I ran out of fucks to give. Learning how to use the lightning power was pretty cool too, despite the exhausting headaches it kept giving me. I even made a few friends before I was dropped back off in Steve's apartment. I brought my mostly finished journal along too. The thing was filled with all the information I had, so all I had left to do was add sketches to the profiles of people I didn't have pictures for. There were pictures online for some of the people, so I just printed them out and taped them in. I took a polaroid of Kaecilius just to add him in when he said he didn't mind. The guy had no clue who I was, so it was fine.

The ride in the Quinjet to the helicarrier wasn't as long as I had expected it to be and had us landing in no time at all. I sighed and grabbed my bag, secretly hoping that Natasha and Clint weren't on board. I could deal with Fury, but there was a certain amount of guilt surrounding the idea of talking to the two assassins again. I was pretty sure that wasn't something I was ready for yet.

We made our way through the halls of the helicarrier and I followed close behind Steve who, by the looks of it, knew where we were going by heart. Eventually we came across a bigger room with a reinforced metal door.

I winced. Jeez, are they really keeping the guy in there? That can't be comfortable.

I was wrong, of course, because after Steve put in a pin code for the door and stepped in, it looked significantly nicer. It was much bigger than the cubicle rooms I was used to having when I was here. Built like a tiny studio apartment, it had a bed, a tiny kitchen, a wooden door that no doubt led to a bathroom and a table with four chairs against a wall. Bucky was sitting on the bed very comfortably with a kindle of sorts in hand and not even acknowledging our entrance into the place.

Why do all the old people here read?

"You're late." He commented, keeping his eyes on the small handheld device.

I put my hands in my pockets, still taking in the area. Steve answered while wearing a small smile. "Ungrateful."

Bucky looked up with his eyes immediately falling on me. He smiled too. "Who's this?"

I shrugged indifferently and looked to the floor. "Lincoln."

His smile widened but I pretended to ignore it by letting my eyes continue to wander around the room.

"It's nice to meet you." He said, standing up and pacing over to extend a hand for me to shake. "I kind of feel like I have already from what Steve tells me, but you know, still."

I took the hand cautiously and gave Steve a weird look right before we were invited to sit down. When I stopped staring at the rest of the room in favor of finding out why they were so quiet, I noticed them both looking at me. I squinted. "What?"

"Nothing," Steve shook his head lightly. "You just haven't said anything yet."

"Well, I have now." I said, looking back at Bucky. "What's, uh...They have you locked up?"

He chuckled a little. "Yeah, it's just until Agent Romanoff and Barton finish tracking down that book."

I nodded in understanding. "Because of the brainwashing thing."

"Yeah," He agreed simply. "The brainwashing thing."

"So what has Capsicle said about me?" I asked, still a little curious about that. It was also just nice to speak to someone I hadn't met yet but still knew.

"Capsicle, huh?" He asked back, grinning like a dog who had just been thrown a bone. "I haven't heard that one yet."

"Oh, now you've done it." Steve rolled his eyes jokingly.

Bucky smirked at his friend before turning back to me. "To answer your question though, he said you were a friend. I haven't heard much about you as a person. It's really more about what you've done."

"Done?" I looked at Steve suspiciously. "Done what?"

"Like kicking Hydra to the curb, and helping Steve rescue his favorite damsel in distress." Bucky listed out, acting like I was someone worthy of praise. "He also said that you closed the portal over New York."

I shrank back at the support, looking away. "Well one of those was unintentional."

"Still."

I opened my mouth to speak again, only to be rudely interrupted by a new voice. "I was beginning to think you left."

Fury stood in the doorway while I rolled my eyes and leaned over to Steve. "Watch out. It's Mr. monocular."

He smiled a little and Bucky snickered. "Busted."

"Where'd you run off to?" Fury waltzed over and took a seat next to Bucky, effectively filling up the table to max capacity.

"I could tell you, but I don't think you two would get along." I snipped back, maintaining the staring contest we had going.

Fury raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"She's nice."

He avoided the rude quip and skipped to a different topic. "You won't be heading home."

I stiffened and forced back any chance of an emotional response. "Sorry to disappoint."

Fury didn't say anything in return, dropping a silence over the room while we stared and refused to communicate.

"What did you need?" Bucky broke through the quiet after a few seconds.

"I came to see what she promised four weeks ago." Fury stated, not moving his eyes from my own.

Ah, the lightning. Boy, do I have a treat for him.

I had the tiniest smirk growing on my face while I rubbed my hands together in the way I learned from working in Kamar-Taj. Soon, little crackles of purple sparks started to dance across my fingers. Then, with a short snap of my wrist, I flicked the shock at Steve, startling and damn near knocking the guy out of his chair while Bucky immediately started laughing. Both Fury and I had small smiles, maintaining eye contact and avoiding the pained and annoyed look we were getting from Steve.

"Happy?" I tilted my head at him, Bucky still snickering at Steve's expense. Said Spangled man was no doubt glaring right back.

Fury nodded in approval of the show. "You have it under control?"

"I don't plan on killing anyone with it."

He leaned back in his seat. "Good enough. What is it?"

"Thanks for asking. No one has yet." I gave him a condescending smile. "It's from when every molecule of my being was shredded and put back together at the edge of your universe. Apparently inter-dimensional travel has it's side effects if you aren't a wizard."

"I see." He crossed his arms over his chest and gestured vaguely at me. "How'd you get there?"

Oh, he just had to ask. My stomach twisted at the memory of everything I loved, so instead of answering out loud and risking choking on my words, I pulled out my second language.

{My universe.} I paused, taking note of the concentrated face Bucky had. {Died}

Fury narrowed his eye at me when he no doubt picked up on my uncomfortable shift. {How?}

{Burned.} I clamped my jaw shut and ignored the lump in my throat. {Nothing left.}

Steve was displaying various levels of confusion while Bucky looked almost sad. It also felt wrong telling him, but there wasn't really much of an option with the guy. He was probably already pretty pissed that I had taken off for a month, so I might've owed him this one in the very least. I turned to Bucky after noticing that he definitely was listening. {Don't tell.}

He nodded and signed back. {Sorry.}

I cleared my throat and looked to the table, playing it off with an uncomfortable chuckle. "It's alright. Do you have everything you need for now?"

Fury stood without another word and disappeared out the door, leaving us alone again.

Steve broke the uncomfortable silence with a shake of his head. "I have got to learn ASL."

I turned back to him with half a smirk. "But it's so fun to see you confused."

He frowned at me then. "When'd you learn to do the electricity thing?"

Bucky looked at Steve quickly. "Wait, she hasn't done that before?"

"Yeah, first time on a person actually." I smiled at my obvious lie.

Bucky laughed again while Steve just looked appalled. "And you used it on me?"

I did have a pretty good time talking with Bucky and Steve. The former and I decided that no day was complete without poking a little fun at Steve. We laughed about how short he used to be while Steve just glared halfheartedly at our gossiping. It was probably one of the better conversations I'd had in a while, or at least since I found out my reality was dead. It was a nice change of pace and had me forgetting for a brief moment, all of the countless problems I had in my life.

You know, it's almost like I have an origin story of my own now. I thought, following Steve out of the room. Maybe I actually can fit in here with all these tragic backstories. After all, there's no one telling me I can't...

Credits roll. Special shout out to T. Rycbar for helping me edit some of this shit. (Also TheSarcasticKnight for giving really long and helpful reviews)

Fade out bitches and prepare for the end credit scene from this movie.

Okay, Linx, first real mission. I bounced on my heels with my heart racing. We got this. Just buy some time for the civilians to get out. That's not so bad, right?

I poked my head around the other side of the pillar to where the deal was going down and suddenly felt sick. Good lord, that guy is scary.

"Okay," I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, calming myself before I pulled the bandana up over my nose and mouth. I took one more deep breath before finding my que and refusing to give myself time for second thoughts, sprinting out of my hiding place in a dead beeline towards my mission.

I can do this.