Chapter 18. Understanding

It had been two weeks since the attack on the compound and since then, Noelle had seen Winter only once, walking away from her while he was with Sam. She called to them, and they stopped then Winter excused himself and hurried away, saying he was late for a meeting. Even though she had asked Sam what was going on he had been reluctant to say anything concrete. Instead, he admitted that Winter was dealing with something personal that he wanted to work out on his own. Considering how much she had advocated for him to make his own decisions; she knew she really didn't have a right to feel left out by that. But Winnie missed him, and more than once asked Noelle to get him to read her a bedtime story. The normally pleasant and cooperative little girl had even experienced a few tantrums when Noelle had to explain that Winter needed some alone time. What was certain was that he was definitely avoiding them.

It wasn't until Winnie went missing, during a morning outing from play school to find autumn leaves for an art project, that Winter willingly showed up with several others to go looking for her. All the children in the compound wore a tracker, in the form of a bracelet that shouldn't have been removable. When the play school teacher found the broken bracelet near the reservoir she immediately called the alarm. Sam, Joaquin, and Tony flew over the vast grounds of the compound, searching for the little girl's heat signature but were unable to find her. As the fear that Winnie had been abducted began to take root in Noelle's mind, the teacher admitted that Winnie had always wanted to explore an abandoned limestone quarry at the end of the property. Several staff had gone out there, using the site as the subject for their art, and she had used their artwork as story starters with the children. There were caves everywhere, and somehow Winnie got it into her head that there were faeries living there, as all of her story suggestions involved finding a faerie family.

As the search crew, that included Sam, Joaquin, Tony, Carol, Winter, John, Peter and Yelena made their way there they realized the magnitude of the search, since the ground was pockmarked with sink holes. There were also caves in the face of the quarry walls, accessible only to those who could fly. As the flyers concentrated their search there the others began to explore the ground caves, one by one. It was trying work, as some of those caves were deep. For John, Winter and Peter it wasn't so bad as they could easily make their way down to the bottom but for Yelena, she had to set up ropes to rappel down then take everything apart when she got back out. Peter offered to pair up with her, as long as she didn't mind being lowered by spider web. By noon, they still had numerous caves to search.

As Winter was just about to leave one of the caves, he heard a little whimper and turned, flashing his light in the direction of the sound. Although he had called Winnie's name before, she hadn't responded and even though he listened when he first entered, he was unable to hear her heartbeat.

"Sweet pea?" he called out, knowing she liked that nickname. "Was that you?"

"No," said a small voice. "I'm not here."

He smiled and walked towards where the voice came from, stepping further into the cave dominated by the sound of dripping water and full of sharp edges. When he passed by a large column he found a tiny alcove behind it. Winnie sat on the floor; her knees drawn up to her chin. She was frowning at the light he carried, so he aimed it to the side. Sitting on his knees in front of her, he tried to determine visually if she was hurt.

"Why are you hiding?" he asked gently.

"I'm not hiding," she replied. "I'm having alone time."

He nodded. "Everyone's looking for you. We thought you were lost."

"I'm not lost. Why don't you like me anymore?"

"I do like you. You're one of my friends."

She sniffed and wiped her nose with her fingers, struggling not to cry. "Then why don't you come over and read stories to me at bedtime?"

"I'm sorry." He shifted so he was sitting cross legged. "I've been trying to understand something and maybe I tried too hard to do it by myself."

"What's wrong?" She looked at him with concern. "Are you sick?"

"No, I don't get sick. I've been kind of sad."

"Why?"

He sighed. How could he explain to this little girl that he loved her mother and wanted her to love him back, but knew that it was impossible? She would think he was trying to replace her beloved Papa and the guilt he felt for that was almost too much for Winter to bear. He swallowed, realizing the truth would be best.

"I think I love someone, but she can't love me back because she loves someone else. It's wrong that I feel that way about her and that makes me sad. So, I've been trying to talk to someone to help me not love that person that way anymore."

"Is she married?"

"Yeah, she's married. She's my friend, too, and I don't want her to stop being my friend."

Winnie nodded her head. "Well, if she's your friend, she'll unnerstand. I love Papa, and I love you and even though I call you Papa Winter, I know you're not my Papa, and that's okay, because I know you love me, too."

"I wish I was your Papa, for real, because I do love you, Winnie. But you're right. I'm not your Papa."

"But someday you'll be a papa for real."

"You think so?"

She smiled, and he felt all of her love in that moment. "Ablosutely." She leaned forward. "I hads a movie in my head when I sleeped. You were married and you hads a little girl, just like me. It made me feel good that when Papa comes back you can be a Papa, too."

"Well, thank you telling me, Winnie." His voice wavered for a moment, and he coughed to control his emotions. "I look forward to being a Papa for real. Now, did you climb down here, or did you fall?"

She stood up and pointed to a part of the cave that had a ledge. "I jumped to there, then down here. I was looking for faeries but there aren't any. It's just an empty cave."

"Okay, I can carry you like a koala bear where you hold on really tight to me, and I'll jump up to the top." She nodded and he stood up, picking up the light and clipping it to his belt, then hitting the comms in his ear. "I found her. She's alright. We're coming out."

He unzipped his jacket, picked her up and made sure she held on tight. Then he zipped his jacket up to enclose her, making her giggle that they were so close together. Walking to where the light from above shone down, he had a better look at the ledge and decided it was probably safer to jump there first, then up through the hole.

"Ready?" She nodded, then grasped his shirt tightly. "Here we go."

The first jump was easy, then he jumped up again, to where John was waiting with an outstretched hand. He grasped it, letting the other super soldier pull him away from the edge, then he unzipped his jacket and lowered Winnie to the ground. The others were soon there and all of them made a big fuss over her, that actually did make her cry. She clung to Winter, and it took him a few moments to calm her down.

"Well, how would you like a ride back to the compound with your uncle?" Sam smoothed her hair as she nodded.

He looked at Winter and mouthed thank you to him, then picked Winnie up and lifted into the air. Joaquin took Yelena, while Tony offered to carry Peter and John. That left Carol with Winter, who made no move to join her.

"You have to talk to her sometime," she said, sympathetically. At the look on his face, she smiled. "It's kind of obvious how you feel about Noelle and Winnie. They call it the elephant in the room. Sometimes, it's better to acknowledge it and talk about it, so that you don't isolate yourself from a solution. You're an honourable man, Winter. The fact that you are experiencing guilt about your feelings for Noelle is proof of that. Don't shut them out."

"I'm afraid," he admitted. "I worry that I'll do something inappropriate. It's overwhelming sometimes."

"Yeah, it can feel like that." She smiled. "For starters, don't ever be alone with her. Maybe, you should take part in some of the extracurricular activities that the compound staff have going. There's a basketball league, badminton, bowling, chess club, and a bunch more. Make more friendships. I head out to town once a week to shoot some pool. You're welcome to come with me. It is a gay bar, but we accept everyone."

"Thank you, those are all good suggestions," he smiled. "Alright, let's go back."

She wrapped an arm around his waist, while he held onto her shoulder. She raised herself up in the air then sped back to the compound where there was another large group of people gathered to greet Winnie as a crying Noelle held her. As Carol landed, Winter smiled at the reunion, then turned to go back to his quarters.

"Winter?" Noelle called to him. He turned towards her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. She was looking for faeries then decided to have some alone time."

Winnie held on to her mother, then whispered in her ear.

"I think that's a good idea," Noelle answered. "Why don't all of you in the rescue group come to the party room for a pizza party. My treat."

He looked at the others, specifically Sam and Carol, who both nodded. So did the others, agreeing to come.

"Alright, I'll be there," he said. "I better go wash up."

Peter went with him, and the others drifted back to their quarters. When the pair showed up at the party room, it was already full as everyone was there. They gathered some pizza from where it was laid out on several tables, then a beer each, and looked for a place to sit. The mood was quite genial, and Winter found that several people wanted to know the details of how he found her. There was talk of either declaring that part of the property off-limits or to hiring a contractor to fill the sinkholes in, but the second suggestion was seen as likely costing too much plus they would have to go through the state to submit that many changes to the landscape.

Finishing his pizza and draining his beer, Winter stood up to leave, getting just outside the door when he heard his name. Turning to Noelle he waited for her to approach him.

"You don't have to leave so early," she said. "Why don't you come over to watch a movie."

"I'm not sure that's appropriate anymore," he replied.

"Has anyone said anything?" She looked confused. "Winnie misses you."

"I know. I miss her, too." He sighed and looked at his hands before daring to look her in the eyes. "I can't be alone with you, anymore."

She looked even more confused, then her eyes widened as she understood his subtext. "Oh. When?"

He shrugged. "I felt it after you and Winnie returned from your refuge. I finally understand this." He pressed his clenched fist into his chest. "I've been talking to someone about it, but I don't trust myself if I'm alone with you. It's better that I don't come over, at least not if I'm alone." He turned to go away then turned back. "I'm going to start going out with other people, as part of a group outing. I won't do anything that would violate the physical bond between you and Barnes. I'm sorry."

He left her there, and she watched him walk away until he turned a corner and was no longer visible. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Sam, with an understanding look in his eyes.

"Did you know?"

He nodded. "Friday told me he was experiencing some distress after you two came back from your hiding place. He was upset, with himself more than anything. Said he was in love with you." For a moment Sam recognized a moment of betrayal in Noelle's eyes. "It wasn't for me to share. I respected his privacy when he said he would bring it up himself."

"What do I do? Winnie misses him but he won't come over alone anymore."

"That's good. He's trying to respect the boundaries of your friendship. Give him his space and let him work it out."

He hugged her, then drew her back to the party room, noticing Carol nodding her head at him. It was good that she told him about her brief conversation with Winter before returning from the quarry. If anything had happened between the pair, whether it was intentional or accidental, it would have torn everyone apart.

The following day there was a meeting of the team working on a virtual probe to access the vibranium universe. Tony's protégé Harley Keener had successfully miniaturized a small projection device, down to a cube shaped unit that measured a cubic cm in size. Inside he and Bruce Banner had developed a full operating system that was configured to activate once it viewed Bucky's face. The power source was still causing issues because it had to work in a zero Kelvin environment and not be warm enough to set off the vibranium in the other universe.

"What's the upper limit of the temperature differential?" asked Thor.

"1 degree K, we think." Harley shrugged. "We're kind of working in the dark here. We can't use nuclear energy because that generates heat. Cold fusion has been a goal for scientists for a long time but it's room temperature so that's definitely too warm. All known forms of power generate heat. We're also looking at laser cooling to bring the operating temperature down but that means we'll need a bigger device to hold the cooling unit."

"We've considered developing a power source that uses vibranium, since that is plentiful in the other universe but so far, our tests haven't come close enough to that 1 K temperature goal." Shuri looked tired as she explained the different issues they had encountered. "On another note, we have a Dora Milaje recruit who has displayed some shaman abilities. She hasn't undergone her ritual in the living vibranium cave yet. I thought we could use her abilities to talk to it and find out if it is part of that other universe. Perhaps, if its genetic memory is developed enough, it can help us find the right power source."

"Alright, keep us advised on how that goes," said Thor. "Tony how goes the development of the virtual projection unit?"

"It's all done," he replied. "We have sound and picture working at room temperature when the probe is connected to traditional power sources. We used Winter to test the activation, as we uploaded all different images of Bucky in his various incarnations. The sound quality was good as was the picture, at least at our room temperature. The sound and picture quality may be affected by the low temperatures, but I think we can compensate for that once we begin testing in a controlled temperature environment. Of the two, we need sound to work more than picture because the goal is to communicate after all."

"Delivery system, Peter?"

"A breakaway projection unit, taken to the edge of a portal into the other universe, probably by Carol, since she can withstand that environment better than any of us," he began. "Just before it enters it will drop off the probe, which will then glide into the vibranium universe under its own trajectory. Since it isn't a vacuum in there it should eventually slow down and stop due to friction with the atmosphere. The covers on the projection unit will be thin plates of solid vibranium and should adjust to the temperature differential, plus we figure since it's a living consciousness there it will recognize it and appreciate the return of part of its solid form back to its fold."

"So, everything is ready except for the power source," he said, frowning slightly. "Dr. Strange, is it possible to use magic to power it?"

He pressed his hands together, then held the Time Stone while he went through several permutations. When he was finished, he had a hopeful look in his eyes.

"I would have said no, but there are some of my colleagues who have backgrounds in the field that may be interested in working on this. I will bring them in on the problem and see if they can come up with something. It's not guaranteed as the living vibranium is the real issue."

"Good, now about the protective suit," said Thor. "With all that's happened have we come up with anything that will allow the transfer of Bucky's essence into the suit with his living body in it, without compromising the integrity of the suit?"

"Yeah, we're running into roadblocks there," said Tony. "The suit has to be self-contained, have its own environmental controls, but have a way to allow for the input of a ... what element would you call a person's soul? I wonder, if we get the communications probe done soon, we can send it and ask the vibranium consciousness for its input. I mean, they took his soul out of his body. They must have a way to put it back, even through a one-way vent or something."

"We'll keep working on it," said Bruce.

After calling for any more ideas or input of any kind, Thor wrapped it up and people returned to their workspaces to continue on with their tasks. It had been two months since Bucky was taken. Even though it had been some time since they last had a vision from him, no one thought that they were doing this in vain. The life of their friend and colleague was still important to them, and they would do all they could to return him.


Bucky

He didn't know how long he had been asleep this time. He was awake now, wandering in the grey. Without his watch, Bucky had no concept of time. He felt no hunger, or thirst, or the need for certain bodily functions. Now that he knew he was alive he wondered how they had kept him that way and for how long. It was a strange existence, that was for sure.

Although there had been some changes in the texture of the grey, he never approached them, thinking that perhaps they were working on something to improve communications with him. So, when he suddenly felt the presence of someone, by the way the hair on the back of his neck suddenly became sensitive, he was surprised to see a figure, slowly forming. It had more detail than the shadowy forms he had seen before. When a face finally appeared, he stepped back unsure of what he was seeing, as it shouldn't have been possible.

"Steve?" he asked, speaking to the face of Steve Rogers as he was when he was 18, small, pale, and fragile looking.

It was a ghostly image, different shades of grey but it was definitely him. Its mouth opened.

"Steve," it repeated, in a voice that didn't sound like him, but Bucky could understand him.

"You're not Steve," insisted Bucky. "You were an old man when I last saw you, when you brought the shield to Sam."

"Not ... Steve," it replied, it's voice still stilted. "Friend."

"Yeah, you were my friend," said the Avenger. "Where are we?"

"Here," he replied.

Bucky smirked. "No shit. Where's here?"

The being turned its head slightly and looked into the grey, where Bucky could discern some change, as if the grey had thickened and darkened somewhat. Then it looked at him again.

"Somewhere."

"Yeah, I'm not stupid," grinned Bucky. "But where is somewhere? Is it a planet, a plane of existence ... what?"

The face frowned, as if it was trying to understand Bucky's words. Might as well start big and work his way down but keep it simple since they were probably still working on trying to comprehend.

"Are we in my universe?"

"No," said the Steve face. "Different."

Okay. "My universe is vast, with galaxies of stars, nebulas made up of gases, solar systems with planets orbiting around stars. My planet is called Earth. Is this place a planet?"

"No, it is the One."

Bucky had read some cosmology books after regaining his freedom, some Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan mostly but had still struggled with the understanding of how the universe came into existence. He knew there were other universes, some of them similar to his own, so it stood to reason that some would be very different. This one certainly was.

"Is the One your god?"

It looked puzzled, turning to look past him as if it was waiting for someone to help.

"What is god?"

"Well, I don't believe in a single god, but I do know a real god, Thor. He's just a man with powers over lightning and stronger than almost anyone I know. In my world, people tried to make sense of the things they didn't understand. They believed a supreme being created the universe, gave them form, thought, speech, laws to live by. They call that belief religion, and some religions believe in a single god, while others say there are many gods."

"No gods, just the One."

Fuck, that didn't help. The being extended its hand towards him and at first Bucky stepped back, but it smiled, in that shy way that Steve had before the serum and gently, with one finger touched Bucky's vibranium arm. Instantly, he felt the cold from the touch, and jerked his arm back, looking at a small frozen spot, the size of a fingerprint on the metal. The face studied him carefully before speaking.

"How?"

Bucky's mind whirled with what just happened. The being had touched him with a cold so intense that it overloaded the sensors in his arm. It left a frozen spot on the small piece of metal that still looked like it was already warming up. Then the one-word question was obviously about the arm.

"How did I get the arm?" he asked.

"Yes." There was a definite sense of excitement on the being's face.

"I had a different arm that was destroyed," replied Bucky. "A place called Wakanda, made me a new arm with a metal they have in their ground, called vibranium. Do you know about vibranium?"

"Yes ... here."

The being gestured to all around him. Then it made a fist, squeezing it tight. When it released the fist, there was a small pebble in its palm. Bucky reached for it, but it withdrew its palm, keeping it away from him.

"Cold."

"Okay, it's too cold for me to touch," said Bucky, looking at the face for confirmation. "It's vibranium?"

"Yes," was the reply, as the being smiled again. It dropped the pebble onto the surface they were standing on. "Wait." After several long moments it spoke again. "Now."

Bucky picked the pebble up, examining it. It was still cold but not painfully so. Placing it between his vibranium thumb and forefinger he tried to press into it, but it didn't work, and he frowned. If his body was here, then it should have allowed his strength to form the raw product. Examining his hand and arm again he noticed, for the first time, that it wasn't quite the same as he remembered. It was almost his arm, but it wasn't. Raising his eyes to the being he spoke, maybe a little harshly.

"Why is my body different?" It looked to the side, extending its fingertips which seemed to dissolve, as if he were seeking permission to speak. "Who are you talking to when you do that?"

Quickly, it looked back at him. "Friends."

"Of you or me?"

"Here." The being gestured to all around him. "The One." It looked like it was contemplating how to explain to Bucky. "You ... alone. Us ... the One."

"A group consciousness," stated Bucky, grasping that the term The One referred to the grey. "My body, is it real?"

"Yes ... made from ..." It pointed at the pebble in Bucky's hand.

"A copy, this body is a copy, made from the vibranium that is here."

That could explain why he didn't feel hunger or thirst, or the need to ... He thought back, to something he had only heard about in Wakanda. A cave, where only Dora Milaje were allowed and only under rigorous conditions. It was part of a ritual they underwent that involved them being exposed to living vibranium, a substance so volatile that the combined body heat of too many people inside the cave could set it off.

"All of this grey substance is living vibranium?"

The Steve face smiled broadly. "Yes. The One lives."

"Why are you so cold and I'm not?"

The being was silent for a moment. Then, it lifted its hand, and Bucky watched, fascinated again as the hand began to dissolve. For a moment, it reminded him of when he began turning to dust after the fight against Thanos in Wakanda, but the being seemed to be in full control of the process.

"The One is cold." It began to reform its hand shape. "Warmer." Then it pointed at Bucky. "Warmest."

Bucky waved at the grey all around him.

"This is the coldest. That's why I feel a chill all the time. When you formed your body shape, you are still cold enough to make me freeze if you touch me, but you are warmer than the One. My body is the warmest. Is that how I am alive?"

"Yes. Organic being need warmer."

"You're speaking better. Are you learning from speaking with me?"

"Yes. Communication is thought and voice."

Okay, so they learned from his mind and now they were learning from speaking with him. This wasn't his body he was in; it was a vibranium copy. So how did he get here?

"Where is my body? Is it back on my world, in a coma, or in cryosleep?"

How could he have dreams of himself in the other universe if his consciousness was here?

"Alive. It functions with the Other."

What the hell did that mean? What did he mean by the Other? Was someone else inhabiting his body? There was no one else, no one. There had been only one other to inhabit his body and he was destroyed when Shuri neutralized the trigger words. Right? He looked at the being, feeling his anxiety increase.

"Who is in my body? Is it the Soldier? He's a killer! You have to send me back. He's too dangerous to leave there."

It put its hand out, as if trying to placate Bucky but he was having none of it. His fists curled and he began to rave, as all sorts of scenarios played itself out in his mind. In desperation the being faced him full on and suddenly yelled in a voice that seemed to push the grey back like a shock wave.

"Stop!"

Bucky stopped, looking at the Steve being, who seemed to be in communion with the One as his hand was unformed again. It took several moments before he retracted his hand from the grey swirling around it. An opening appeared, just like the one he had seen Winnie in before, sleeping in her daycare. He looked through it, seeing himself, but with his hair longer, and his face unshaven, like it often was when he was the Winter Soldier. He wore black combat gear and was armed, but he was with the other Avengers on a mission, except it was obvious they were at the compound. There was no sound, but it was clear that he had taken on Bucky's duties, as he provided covering fire against a hostile force. Bucky's anger slowly left him, but it was replaced by something else, a sense of loss that the Soldier was living his life. The being, who looked like Steve, put himself next to Bucky, the cold radiating off of him, as surely as his own body heat did many times.

"They think he's me?"

"No. Winter." The being pointed at Bucky then gestured all around. "You here, mistake. Winter stay inside ... body."

"You took me by mistake and left Winter in my body. So, he's been there all along." He ran his hand through his hair. "How long have I been here?"

The being looked to the others then turned back with a resigned look on its face. "October now."

"It's October there? I've been here two months. You're sure they know I'm alive?"

"Yes."

"How do they know? Have you been in communication?"

The Steve face opened three viewing holes in the grey. One showed Winter, one showed Noelle and the other showed Winnie.

"You ... share. With thoughts and more." It pressed its fist into its chest, looking at him hopefully as if he could understand what that gesture meant. "Explain."

"My body has internal organs. This place has my heart. It pumps blood through the body, but it also is connected to my brain, my emotions and feelings." He pointed to Noelle. "She is my wife, my mate. I feel her in my heart. We're together and share everything. Winnie is our daughter, created from our love, and we take care of her."

"Winter?"

Bucky frowned. "I was forced to be a killer for some very bad people. Winter is who they turned me into to kill. I thought he was gone. But he's always been there. The killer has always been there. Why did you take me?"

"The others, attack us, for The One. We ... protect The One. Bring others here."

"They didn't survive because your universe is vibranium based?"

"Yes, but more. The One is cold. Your world warm. Too much warm destroys The One."

Bucky thought for a moment. "You took the people from the Cerberus facility after they formed the portal looking for vibranium. They killed some of you in the process, you defended yourself and when we came to stop them you thought we were with them. The portal and the beam were your way of trying to get our world to stop."

"Yes, to take The One back." He gestured to the environment. "We defend. Attacking mistake. Taking Barnes mistake. Wanted Soldier."

"So why was taking me a mistake? Why did you want the Soldier?"

"Fist of HYDRA. Dangerous." It looked at the others. "The One was wrong ... Winter good."

"What do you mean, he's good? He's a killer."

"Serum makes good man ... better. Bad man ... worse."

"Yeah, I know that. It's why they had to keep brainwashing me because the real me kept coming out. They created the Soldier to do their dirty work. I still did it, but it wasn't me."

The Steve being sighed then shook his head. He looked to the side at the others then came back to Bucky and the grey in front of him coalesced into an image, a memory, that filled him with fear. Unlike the other images this one had sound. It was him, seated in the memory processing machine and he watched, horrified, as he was sent through the process again. When he was asked who he was he stated his name, rank, and serial number. Then he was shocked repeatedly, over and over again, until he was exhausted with the pain and trauma, before they began asking him who he was. The process was repeated multiple times. As he watched it, with the Steve being watching him, he was just about to ask them to stop the replay when he was asked one more time who he was.


"I'm who you want me to be," he said, in a drained voice, looking as if he gave up.

"You are the Soldier," said the voice of the HYDRA doctor.

"The Soldier," repeated the man that used to be him.

They left him there, alone, with no guards and he began to talk.

"It hurts too much," he said, as tears streamed down his face. "I can't fight them anymore."

"It's alright Barnes," said another deeper voice coming out of his mouth. "I'm here now. You don't have to do their bidding. I will do it for you. You can sleep while I take over."

"Who are you?" asked Bucky, in his voice. "Are you real?"

"I'm real," the other voice replied. "I'm part of you, the part that will keep us alive by doing what they want you to do. I'm sorry it took me so long to come out."

"I don't want to be a killer," whispered Bucky.

"I know but if you don't, they will destroy you. This way will still hurt but something of you will stay alive. When the time is right, we will turn against them and be free. I promise. Now, rest brother. I'll take this watch."


The scene faded and Bucky stood there, his whole world shaken by what he had just seen. The being that looked like Steve turned to him; his face full of sympathy.

"Pain ... so much pain. You ... good. Soldier ... good. Both live."

"I don't understand."

"Winter chose to kill, protect Barnes."

The scene faded and the Steve being stood near him.

"He's always been there. Why haven't I felt him?"

"When HYDRA fell, both free. Winter chose to help." The Steve being looked to the grey, as if he were debating to say something more. "Cerberus attack home. Winter and others defend."

"That's what you showed me, isn't it?" Bucky looked desperately at the being. "Cerberus came after us. My wife and daughter?"

"Safe. All children safe. Cerberus did not win."

Bucky's lips trembled, as he realized that the being he always thought of as evil had been there, protecting his family while he was marooned here, in this other universe. Winter was him; created by him out of his own mind, not an alternate personality grafted onto him by HYDRA. How would he get home? Could he even get home? It had been a long time since he felt this helpless. What was worse ... there was nothing he could do about it.