"So you're leaving again?" Liana said, her expression disappointed and more than that, sad. Beside her, Brooks was more or less in a similar state.

Seren sat across them at the kitchen table, feeling quite guilty with her parents' reactions. This time, however, she was determined to make her departure very differently than the first time she left home. She had talked about it with Steve for a long while before deciding that it was what she truly wanted. Now here she was breaking the news to her parents who clearly got very used to having her home again.

"I am leaving, yes," she nodded then reached for each of their hands across the table, "But not the way I did the first time. When I was 18, I just got up and left in such a hurry to finally be who I thought I needed to be. This is different, I promise. Our friend, Tony Stark, he's got an idea for us and I like it. I like the idea of forming my own team with people that I can completely trust. Steve would be right by my side and together we would lead this new team."

"But to fight again? How many times have you almost lost your life doing this kind of work?" Liana said, glancing at her husband for some support. "Tell her she's crazy, Brooks."

Brooks gave a tilt of his head as he considered his words. It was not uncommon to be placed under the same stare. He'd been outnumbered his whole life.

"Brooks," Liana's voice gained a hard edge at his lack of input.

"Seren," Brooks cleared his throat as he set his sights on his daughter, the latter reading herself to hear what she thought would be another disappointed line, "If you're serious about making it different this time then I trust that you'll call us more often—"

"What!?" Liana exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"—and, most of all, visit us more often," Brooks said with a soft smile on his face. "Please."

Seren's face lit up at his acceptance and immediately promised that she would call and visit. She got up and hurried around the table to hug her father and kiss his cheek. "I won't disappoint you again, I promise!"

"Hey," Brooks grabbed her arm as she intended on backing away, "None of that. You have never disappointed us, Seren. Don't ever think that, not even for a second."

Seren's eyes flickered over to Liana who had yet to properly react. "Mom…"

"No, you've never disappointed us," Liana said, letting out an exasperated sigh, "But would it really kill you to stay here with us?"

"Liana…" Brooks gave her a deadpanning glance, "Would you have stayed with your mother?"

"Well, no—"

"And I definitely wouldn't have stayed with my parents, not if I had the world at my fingertips," Brooks said, reaching out for Liana's hand, "I did, by the way…and I got it." Liana rolled her eyes but a smile was trying to break across her face. "Now it's only right that Seren goes out to do the same." He looked up at their daughter and pointed a warning finger at her. "But I'm gonna hold you to your promise, young lady. Call, visit…just make it different, alright? And we'll make an effort too to not be the way we used to be."

"I will, I totally will," Seren said and grabbed her seat again. "You have no idea what this time here has meant to me. I don't think I've ever enjoyed my home so much."

"We have too," Liana said earnestly. "And that's why I'm afraid of you leaving. You'll get swept up in your work again and…you'll forget about us again."

"That won't happen," Seren said sternly. "Because my work is just that — work. It's taken me a while to understand that but I swear that I am finally working on it. My family is more important, my friends, me. I don't want to be the Seren who only cared about work and the world. I want my future to be different — I want my future to be good for me. Even if that makes me sound selfish."

"None of that," Brooks shook his head. "It's not selfish to want things for yourself. I'm glad to hear that you're finally thinking about things beyond work. We can see that you've changed and I'm happy to know that you'll keep changing for the better. We just want you to be happy, Seren."

"I want to be happy too, dad," Seren said with a heavy heart. Looking back at her life, she could have enjoyed her time more but it had always been about SHIELD and keeping herself on the downlow. So much time wasted.

~ 0 ~

Chloe became accustomed to the fact that Bucky didn't really sleep. When she woke in the mornings, he was already wide awake. She took it as a win that he hadn't left her again but she was concerned with his poor sleeping habits. It was no surprise that sleeping wouldn't come easy to him but she figured he would at least give it an honest try at some point if only not to go completely insane from insomnia.

"You can't keep looking over your shoulder in the night, you know," she said after planting a pear on the coffee table for him. He had also yet to feel comfortable enough to go through the kitchen himself. She had no doubt his tolerance for going without food was exceptional but she wanted him to understand that wasn't necessary anymore. "You want something to drink?"

Bucky kept a good distance from her for many reasons, but above all he did it for her safety. She was doing more than enough for him by letting him stay in a warm place. He sat on the couch, eyes shifting from the pear to Chloe who was waiting for him to take the fruit. "No thanks…"

Chloe shook her head at him. "You do realize that I don't bite, right? I think we both know you'd kick my ass. Though give me a few years with these new powers of mine and maybe I'll give you a challenge." She waited for him to respond, at the very least to tell her the logical side of her plan was still a laugh but his face remained stoic. It was truly hard to picture him as the best friend Steve would always talk about. This wasn't him, this was a ghost. The irony.

"I've tried to remember more that can be useful to you," Bucky said, changing the topic strategically. He had no desire to talk about fights nor who would win between them. He wasn't at all desiring to think about hurting her or anyone else for that matter. Not anymore.

"You're not stressing about it, are you?" she lifted an eyebrow at him. At that moment, she seemed older, like a teacher setting limits for her students.

He was not her student. "I'm just doing what you asked," he said. "And I did remember some things…"

"Yeah, like what?" Chloe humored him in hopes of keeping the conversation alive. She learned very quickly that his memories were fragile — more than that they were damaged. Countless years of torture and memory wipes left him very vulnerable and she didn't want to pressure him to remember some thing that might be physically impossible for him.

"About the fail-safes — you were right. I know what mine were, and if I'm remembering correctly, I know what yours might be too."

"Really?"

Chloe's interest had been piqued and so she immediately came to sit on the edge of the coffee table. She didn't want to breach his spatial boundaries, at least not yet. "Well, what do you think they are?"

"Hydra was keen on working with subjects, volunteers, to experiment on them...like me. There, um, there were other soldiers like me...kind of like me. I helped assess whether or not they were ready by, uh…"

"Fighting them?" Chloe presumed. Bucky nodded. "And you think these people could be like me?"

"Not those people but, uh, the other volunteers…there were so many…" Bucky shook his head, eyes filled with remorse, "I didn't meet all of them but the ones that I did…"

"Whatever you did wasn't you," Chloe said sternly, knowing where his thoughts were heading. "It wasn't your fault."

Bucky's eyes connected with hers in a snap. "And what about you and your friend with the short hair? You feel guilty?"

Chloe didn't expect that kind of response and it showed. She swallowed hard and looked away.

"It's not that easy, is it?" Bucky said, letting out a low sigh. "Because at the end of the day, you still did it."

"…well at least neither of us volunteered," Chloe mumbled and looked at him and managed to smile just a tiny bit. "That's what separates us from them. We weren't stupid."

Bucky managed the same little smile. That was one way to put it.

"Do you know anything specific about the volunteers?" Chloe asked a moment later. "I've, um, I've been sort of seeing things…the Hivemind keeps showing me some stuff and I get the feeling that one of these volunteers is meant to be my fail safe."

"I've seen too many to count," Bucky said, "Some of them — a lot of them — die before I get a chance to look at them twice."

"Okay, well how about recent volunteers? Anyone stand out lately?"

"There were a few successful experiments, but I don't know what base they would be in right now. There are bases everywhere and with the fall of SHIELD, I imagine that a strategy they'll put into place is feeding you the weakest bases. Give them time to build up whatever new plan they have because if you think for a second that HYDRA is actually gone, you're sadly mistaken."

Chloe fell silent. She wouldn't be dumb enough to think that they completely extinguished HYDRA from the face of the Earth. Of course there had to be some other links to cut. It just made her stomach churn with fear. "Would you…would you happen to know anything about a scepter? A-a really big stick—"

"I know what it is," Bucky cut her off, "I've seen it."

"The scepter plays with your mind — they did it to Seren and our friend Clint. I can't imagine what they must have been doing with it all this time."

"Experiments," Bucky said knowingly. "They'll use anything they can."

"Did they ever use it on you…?"

Bucky shook his head silently, and Chloe exhaled with relief. Bucky couldn't help the look on his face when she did that. It'd been much too long since someone showed concern for him. The whole thing was a novelty.

"We need to get that scepter back," Chloe decided. She had no doubt that HYDRA was using the scepter for experimentation and if used right, the consequences would be dire.

"That's a suicide mission," Bucky said, shaking his head.

"What? So the alternative is to let them keep it? Let them do whatever they want with it?"

"If we go anywhere near HYDRA, we're dead — worse, we'll be captured," Bucky said. "I have no intention of falling into their hands again."

Chloe couldn't blame him for his stance, but she couldn't let the scepter remain with HYDRA either. She had to talk to Tony again, maybe find Thor and get him to help them find the damn thing since it once belonged to an Asgardian.

"Please eat." She picked up the pear off the table and held it out to Bucky. "I promise I will bring something good for lunch but I really want you to eat something. My friends are like you with increased appetites so I know that you're hungry. Please?"

Bucky stared at her for a long moment. Her eyes were just as kind as the day HYDRA brought her to him. Even now that she wasn't being forced to help him, she was still doing it. "Why?" He blurted, leaving her confused.

"Why what?" she tilted her head at him.

"Why…why are you helping? You don't owe me anything."

Chloe half smiled at him, though still evidently confused. "Is it so hard to believe that I would want to help you?" Her already little smile finished disappearing when he looked away from her. "Sorry, that was…that was stupid…" Of course he wouldn't believe that someone would want to help him after spending decades with an organization torturing him. "Look," she sighed lightly, "I can't imagine the horrors you must have gone through and even imagining them wouldn't do justice to the real things. I get it. Your faith in humanity is shattered and you really have no reason to believe that anyone would want to help you but I swear to you that you can trust me. You can trust me because…because at this moment I myself am broken in many ways. I don't know what I'm doing nor what I'm going to do. We are two broken pieces that maybe, with each other's help, might just get repaired somehow…someway."

She held the pear out to him again. "Please eat. I have to go do more exams with Stark then I'm going to do a few errands on my own. I'll be gone for a while. Tell me you'll still be here when I get back?" She didn't want to be demanding but the desire for him to stay was still etched across her face.

Bucky saw himself as a potential danger to her while she saw him as an ally. One day, if things went like she wanted them to, they could even become actual friends. "It's not safe, Chloe," he said. "I don't...I don't know why you want me here so bad."

"I just told you — I want you to build some trust in at least one person," Chloe said, "Even if it's just me."

The way she regarded herself like she was nothing is perhaps what pushed Bucky to reach for the fruit in her hand. She didn't know it but he already respected her. She was taken by HYDRA, made to lose her friends, and she was still standing.

"I'll stay," he nodded.

~0~

"Vocal patterns seem within normal range for you," Tony said while Chloe sat perfectly still in a chair with electrodes attached to her head. "Dr. Cho's tests pretty much cover everything."

"Tony, I swear it's wrong," Chloe said. "Before, the Animinds would just tell me the facts in my head but now they're taking over my voice. Remember, it's me against like 10 thousand of these things." Her body suddenly shifted and the next time her voice spoke it was not in her usual pattern. "10.2 billion Animinds currently exist."

Tony looked up from the computer with wide eyes. That had been detected and marked on the screen.

Chloe shook her head with a growl. "See!?"

"That was pretty cool, though," Tony said, his lips quirking into a smile. Chloe didn't think so. "They use your speech to get their point across and that's it."

"No, that's not 'it'!" Chloe made a show of yanking the electrodes off her head even when some of them yanked strands of her hair in the process. "They have no boundaries, Tony! They're supposed to be amicable but all they do is give me nonsense information and now they even make me say it out loud!"

"Ever consider it's a two way street?" Tony asked her suddenly.

She paused with the last electrode to meet his gaze. "What?"

"This whole thing, they're getting into your head now so that means, technically speaking, you have the ability to do the same."

Before the idea could thoroughly sink in, Chloe found herself speaking without actually wanting to. "The Animinds can speak to each other through the Hivemind. With enough practice, the power can expand into telepathy territory."

Tony cocked his head to the side. He wouldn't even try to hide his fascination. This was technically the first alien race he met that wasn't interested in invading their world. "Animinds?" He asked.

Chloe's eyes flashed blue. "The human is afraid of us. We only mean to help."

"Aha…" Tony took a few steps back to be able to peek at the computer screen. Even with one electrode to her head, the computer was able to monitor everything. "And while I have you here, why don't you explain how to help this new relationship between you two blossom?"

"She needs to open her mind more, seek answers that she needs through the Hivemind. It is now entirely accessible to her. She knows this, but she refuses to follow through."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that sounds like Chloe."

"She also needs to be at peace with herself. The Hivemind is partly empathic. We feel each other's emotions and she's in conflict all the time."

"Yeah, got that. Anything else you want to tell me that I already know?"

"Family is everything." The blue light on Chloe's eyes faded shortly afterwards. She drew in a breath, admittedly something easier than the previous times the Animinds had taken her over.

"Winters?" Tony presumed. She nodded and silently ripped the last electrode off her head. "Were you in pain?"

She shook her head. "No," she whispered. She pulled herself off the chair with a sigh. "I can hear everything," she said. "Before this, when they would give me all this information I couldn't be here and in the hive mind at the same time. Now everything's different. It's like I'm here and I'm also there and I can hear everything, see and sense everything and it's overwhelming…" Her voice shook towards the end as tears filled her eyes.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Tony was quick to leave everything as it was to calm her down. "Got it, we'll work on it just like we're working on everything."

"Can we really, though?" Chloe sniffed. "Because every day there seems to be something new and it's drowning me."

"I don't think that's what the Animinds want from you…"

"No, but maybe it's what Hydra wanted," Chloe said. "When I had both pieces of the Hivemind inside me, I couldn't control anything. The Animinds were angry. They were twisted. I did things that I would never do."

"Maybe that's because that second piece was altered."

"What?"

"Walk with me." Tony motioned her to follow him through the door. The exams were done for that day.

Chloe silently walked with him towards the elevator. On the way, she noted the various rooms already done with construction. She knew that various more floors were done as well. He'd been working a lot more on the tower lately and he'd yet to tell her why.

As far she knew, the floor they were on now was dedicated solely to the labs. Medbays, exam rooms, and old fashioned workshops were all located here.

She was led into one of the more private workshops and if she was right, it was his own. She stopped three steps into the room when she saw the damn Hivemind tech piece held in the air by a few machines. Just being near it made her feel the jabs of a headache.

"Do you feel something?" Tony asked her. She was casting a wary look at the piece with her eyebrows knitting and unknitting together.

"Yeah, the whispers, they're…they're telling me to connect with it…and do the procedure, basically."

"Come here for a sec," Tony made the nod for the table. "Just for a minute," he promised when she hesitated. She ultimately came to his side but begged him to be quick about it. "This piece had some work done from Hydra. I'm assuming they were trying to mess with the connection of the Hivemind."

"Why?" Chloe asked.

"Well, I'm no evil genius, nor an evil organization, but I want to assume that they didn't really want you to be one with the Hivemind. The Animinds could've stopped and interfered with Hydra's plans. They wanted you under HYDRA's control but they were way in over their heads with this one. They got their wires crossed, literally. They damaged parts of it. That's why you reacted so badly to it."

"Could it really be?" Chloe shuddered at the memories of herself on the Helicarrier...fighting Seren...hurting her…

"Definitely. It was a rushed job, Chloe. It's a miracle you didn't die on the table."

"Oh, thanks, Tony," Chloe rolled her eyes. "So…so theoretically speaking, if you and Helen had enough time—"

"Mm, we do have enough time," Tony reminded her but she went on like he hadn't.

"—would you be able to fix it so it wouldn't hurt me? It wouldn't turn me into a puppet?" Chloe did not mean to imagine Bucky at that moment. That wasn't what he deserved.

"Absolutely," Tony said without a second thought. "I told you my ideas. We could scrap the device and modify it to your needs."

"And it wouldn't go on…" Chloe raised her right hand still in gauze.

Tony shook his head. "No. It'd be absorbed like the first one, just like it was meant to be."

"Great, because that one didn't hurt the first time…"

"Helen and I would try our best to accommodate that."

"I know," sighed Chloe. "Of course I know that. I know you guys are trying. It's just hard."

"Yeah." Tony watched her sympathetically. Chloe wouldn't know it then but Tony held a great respect for her. When she'd first woken up from the hospital and had to work through the fact of what she'd done for Hydra, Tony genuinely thought that Chloe would snap. It was one thing to run and hide but this had been entirely different. She'd done things that she never would have done. She hurt Seren, a woman who was like her sister, and would've definitely tried to kill her if she'd gotten a chance.

But Chloe did no such thing. She pushed through. It was a slow process but she was doing it and that was the point. It was admirable for someone who had lost everything.

"Hey Chloe, why don't you go home?" Tony asked her. "Maybe order some dinner in? I'd offer to take you out but I don't know—"

"No, I'm good, thanks," Chloe said quickly. "I'll...I'll see you later."

The last thing she heard Tony say was to think about things. Of course she was going to be thinking about things. She was actually afraid her mind wouldn't stop thinking about things.

"Animinds?" She decided to call on a whim. Before, when she wanted to access what she was able to from the Hivemind, she would just try to go in. Maybe now she could actually call upon them instead. It would make it a lot easier to do things if she didn't have to physically stop to communicate with them. "Animinds?"

"What do you need?" She actually relaxed when she heard their response.

She was walking down the street, careful to keep her gaze straight ahead and not act like she was talking to an alien hive mind in her head. She didn't need the strange looks from people. "If I connect on every level with you, will it end all this pain?"

"You know pain is always going to be there."

Chloe inwardly sighed. "You know what I mean. If I connect with the Hivemind, will this stop hurting? Will I have full control?"

"You'll always have to train, Chloe. But yes, being connected would give you far better control over our shared abilities."

"What about the clairvoyance?"

"You can work on that, change the aspects of it. It all comes down to that, Chloe. Work. Train. You cannot expect things to get better if you don't work for them."

Chloe stopped at the street light. She had suspected this would be the answer and it wasn't from the clairvoyance. It was sheer common sense that she didn't want to face.

~ 0 ~

Seren stood in her room in front of her old desk gazing through her things. It was amazing that after so many years of moving out, her old high school things were still there. Her mother was a neat freak and kept everything organized, including things in her bedroom. She never threw things away, though, and Seren was grateful for it. As hard as her life had been growing up, she still couldn't bear to throw some things away.

She heard the door opening behind her and a few steps leading to her. Soon, strong arms wrapped around her from behind.

Steve pressed a kiss on her temple. "How'd it go?" he murmured.

"Well…they're not screaming…" Seren said, "But they're not exactly thrilled either."

"Their only daughter is leaving them, I can't blame them…"

"I promised them things were going to be different. I'm not leaving them behind this time…I'm not running away…" Seren had not only made the promise to her parents but to herself as well. She didn't want things to go back to the way they used to be when SHIELD was around. And that was one of the things she had told Tony when they spoke. This new team would be the best version of the Avengers Initiative, what SHIELD was supposed to have helped build.

"If you want to stay longer, Seren…" Steve began when her silence drew for too long.

"I'm good," Seren said, nodding to herself. "You were right to tell me to come here. It really helped me gain a new perspective." She put a hand on one of his arms and gave him an affectionate rub. "I got to be me and…you don't get it, I don't think I've ever been me in my whole life. I got along with my parents, I even talked to one of my old friends…" She had healed in ways she never expected and it was wonderful. "Thank you, Steve."

"I just got you to come. You did the actual work, sweetheart," Steve said, gently swaying them side to side. "I'm glad it helped you. I also talked to Stark earlier and made some clear points. You're in charge. End of story."

Seren smirked. "Ha, and how'd he take that? He is way smarter than both of us combined, so…"

"That he is but he has no idea how to lead a team. Not exactly a people person, if you've noticed…"

They both laughed.

"I mean it, Seren. I know how much the Avengers Initiative meant to you. If we do this, if we form a new team, you're in charge."

Seren hummed while she considered it. "Well, I mean, I will need some kind of co-captain…know anyone looking to fill the position?"

Steve lowered his lips to her cheek. "I might know someone who's interested…" She felt his smirk against her cheek and giggled. "And he's got a great resume, by the way."

"I'm looking for someone with experience…"

"He's got 70+."

"Ooh, but how is he on the looks? I mean, if I'm gonna be working with him closely all the time, I want to be looking at something nice…" Steve laughed lightly behind her. Seren turned around and faced him with a wide smirk on her face, her hands resting on his arms. "But looking at you right now, I think you pass with flying colors…"

Steve rolled his eyes at her. "Oh, I do?"

Seren nodded. "Mhm, you're hired."

"Yeah?"

"Absolutely. Congratulations." Seren brought her arms around Steve's neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

They wasted no time and deepened their kiss. Steve picked Seren up and sat her on the desk. He held her face and tilted her head up, parting her lips to slip his tongue through. Seren moaned with delight and raked her fingers through his hair, using the momentum to tug him closer to her. She loved the taste of him, his scent, his touch — everything about him enveloped her. She could easily rip the buttons off his shirt but Steve would never go for it, not right here.

Panting for air, the two pressed their foreheads together while they gathered themselves up.

"I really hope you don't do this with all your other employees…" Steve said, earning a shove on the chest.

"Shut up!" Seren laughed. She then reached for him and grabbed him back by the collar of his shirt. "You are very lucky I like you, mister."

"I was about to say the same," Steve hummed, gazing at her fondly.

"But you know the truth is that I'm very grateful for everything you've done for me, right?" She fixed the collars of his shirt she messed up. "I don't know where I would be without you."

Steve passed a few fingers through her short hair. "…I was about to say the same thing…"

Seren smiled from ear to ear. "This team of ours…anyone you have in mind? Besides Stark, of course."

"Well, obviously we're gonna have to drag Natasha out from wherever she went," Steve said, tilting his head. "I'd ask Sam but I'm not sure he'd be interested in committing 24/7. He does have other side jobs."

"I was thinking about Clint," Seren said. "I'm sure he's looking for a new job anyways and let's face it, he never misses a shot." Steve chuckled, agreeing. "I was also thinking about Chloe…" Things fell quiet for a moment between them. Seren understood what she was getting herself into. "I know it's gonna be hard…"

"I — that's one way to put it," Steve said, and sighed. "I just don't want you feeling guilty about things that weren't your fault. You've done so much healing lately and as much as I love Chloe, I can't bear seeing you so distraught over her."

"She's like my sister, Steve," Seren said, "I can't leave her on her own."

"I am not saying you have to," Steve clarified, raising one hand in front of him. "I don't want to either. I just think…" He struggled to find the right words that wouldn't upset Seren. He touched her cheeks, cupping her face so gently. "You have earned your happiness, Seren. I don't want to see anyone take it from you. No one."

"That's not going to happen," Seren whispered. She placed her hands over his on her cheeks, taking them down to her lap where she held onto them tightly. "I want to try talking to her, Steve. I need to start somewhere and I promise you that I will prepare myself for the hard battle before me. I don't expect Chloe to talk to me on day one. That'd be nice but very unrealistic. But I'll be okay, I promise."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. I want to do this. I want to build a team that I can trust and I can't imagine it without Chloe."

"Well…" Steve let out a deep breath, "You're in charge so…yes, ma'am."

Seren laughed softly and gave him a peck on the lips. "Highly obedient. Already love your work. But does that make me the Captain now?"

"I wouldn't mind sharing the title," Steve swayed his head, "Actually, there's no one else that could hold the title but you."

"Aw, now you're just kissing up," Seren bopped him on the nose. "I like it. I love this new idea. I can't believe Stark is the reason the Avengers are going to continue."

"Let's not get it twisted here. Stark thought of the idea but you, Seren, will bring it to life. There's no one else who's earned that right."

Seren smiled. "It's only been my dream since forever…since Fury and Atria told me about the Initiative." She looked around her suddenly and reached for a specific book on the wall shelf behind her. Steve was surprised when she opened it and pulled out a folded piece of paper that was definitely not part of the book. "I hid things when I was younger and my parents were really interested in keeping my SHIELD stuff." Seren unfolded the paper that turned out to be a photograph. "That's her," she pointed at the blonde woman in the picture standing next to Atria and Fury somewhere in a field. "The person who really started all this, Carol Danvers."

Steve took the picture into his hands to better look at it. The woman was young and with blonde hair. She radiated confidence with that smirk on her face.

"I've always wanted to honor her with this Initiative," Seren said, gazing at the picture from her spot, "Wanted to make it the best damn team in case she ever returned."

"You obviously did it justice," Steve said, folding the photograph. "No one else but you could've done it better."

"Okay, seriously, there's no need to kiss up," Seren said, taking the picture from him and setting down on the desk. "Now then, I still need to finish packing — again." She tugged him back to her. "We leave in a few days after all…"

Steve nodded. "We should get to that."

Seren didn't let him get away and laughed at his confused face when she grabbed his face. "You are seriously so clueless, lovey." She pressed a kiss on the corner of his lips, then another on his lips.

~0~

Bucky kept his word to himself that wasn't going to raid anything of Chloe's. Perhaps the Winter Soldier would have an obligation to know his associate but that wasn't who he was anymore. He was trying not to be that man anymore. Chloe Winters was not an associate. She was...well, they could start as allies. They were allies.

But this ally was young and slightly spontaneous. Even he, with his troubled mind, could see that Chloe was fractured in some parts. The parts he could see like her inability to control the Hivemind were obvious things in need of work. Other parts, though, the ones she didn't necessarily show weren't that much of a secret either.

Bucky had taken to roaming the apartment when Chloe wasn't there. He didn't open drawers or go snooping through her things. Whatever was out in the open is what he examined. And there wasn't a lot to see.

He wasn't sure how long Chloe had been living in the apartment before he found her but he was sure that by this point she should have more personal things lying around. Pictures of herself, for starters, but there was none of that. He had gone through the living room at least a dozen times and there wasn't a single picture of her. There was nothing in the hallways, not even one of those store bought paintings. There was nothing personal which meant she wasn't attached to anything. She wasn't letting herself get attached to anything. And Bucky knew exactly what that meant because he was going to do the same thing for, what he feared, would be a long time. Chloe wouldn't personalize anything in her apartment because of the fear that one day she may have to take off.

Chloe, who proclaimed herself to be a woman with a plan, was still afraid that Hydra would come for her.

Some part inside Bucky warned him that he couldn't leave her on her own if he felt like what he thought about her was right. If he was truly done being the Winter Soldier, he had to act like he wasn't him. Allies looked out for each other; they had each other's backs.

Bucky heard the front door unlocking. He got up from the floor just as Chloe walked in with several bags hanging around her wrists. Soon as she saw him, she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Do you...do you sit on the floor when I'm not around?" She made a face. "Why?"

He so clearly didn't want to answer. "What do you have?" he made a nod towards the bags.

Chloe smiled lightly. She locked the door behind her then moved into the living room. She placed the bags on the coffee table then brought her hands together. "Okay, so, I thought since you're going to be here for a while...you should probably have some things of your own. I did a little shopping."

"What? No, I didn't ask—"

"I know you didn't ask me to," Chloe gently cut him off, turning her head to meet his gaze, "I wanted to do this. You deserve that. Don't worry, I only paid with cash. I'm not sure if Tony's tracking my credit card bills." He probably would since it was his credit card bills. She started opening the closest bag to her. "And I did have two older brothers so I know exactly how to shop for men."

"Had?" Bucky repeated. He watched the subtle pause of Chloe's movements.

She soon continued on like he hadn't asked her a thing. "I'm pretty sure these will fit you." She had pulled out black long sleeve shirt. To her credit, it did seem like his size. "I bought all long sleeves." She wouldn't go into detail about that. Neither needed it. "There's also razors, shaving cream, all the basic things everybody needs."

Bucky couldn't ignore an odd feeling in his chest as Chloe went on. She wasn't typically animated about anything after coming back from one of her exams with Stark—who could blame her?—but apparently today was different. If it had to do with him, he could maybe feel like he was helping her in some way.

He didn't even protest when Chloe sent him to take a long shower and go through everything she'd bought with her.

~ 0 ~

"This is wild," Kenna laughed nervously as she gazed at the big training room. She couldn't believe it had been in Seren's basement the whole time. "You actually hid this from me?" Seren most definitely did not expect Kenna to whack her on the chest. "I should be offended! Is that an actual target?" She eyed the circular set of targets set across them. "Like the ones on t.v.? Can you blow one up?"

"I knew this was a bad idea," Seren said and crossed her arms with a huff.

Beside her, Kenna laughed again. "Oh, you bet your ass it was! This is insane! I can't believe you actually have a real training room under your house!"

"It's the basement, technically."

Kenna snorted. "No the hell it's not! Nobody has a training room in their basement, just you!"

"Well if you don't calm down, I'm gonna take you out of here," Seren muttered.

"Hey, you're the one who invited me, remember?" Kenna wandered over to the targets to touch. "You're leaving tomorrow and all."

"Yeah, and I thought you might just want to keep seeing the truth about us," Seren said, awkwardly standing in the middle of the training room. "I just didn't think you'd get overly excited about a training room."

"It's just something I don't see every day," shrugged Kenna, turning away from the targets. "Plus, you owe me for waiting this long to tell me the truth."

Seren let out a heavy sigh and gave up. "Whatever!"

Kenna strode back to Seren and thanked her for showing her another part of herself. "But you know this really doesn't change what I think about you, right?"

Seren smiled and nodded. "I know, and I really can't say how grateful I am for that. It does mean a lot. You want to get something to drink now?"

"Aha! Does your mom still make that peach lemonade? I loved that!"

The two women headed back upstairs where Seren confirmed that Liana did indeed still make their favorite drink. When Seren was younger, Liana was so excited that she had made a friend in Kenna and started inventing new recipes for them to try when Kenna was over at the house.

Fifteen minutes later, the two were sitting on the front porch of the house, clinking their lemonade glasses together. The sun was about to set and they wanted to enjoy the air out before it got too cold.

"God, this is still so good!" Kenna laughed after taking a large drink from her glass. She then suffered a mild case of brain freeze. Seren laughed at her. "Don't laugh you jerk!"

"I have to soak up all these moments before I get back to work," Seren said playfully, "And I will remember this fondly, of course."

"Jerk," Kenna spat and took another drink from her glass. "So," she said afterwards, "you're really gonna put a new team together?"

"That's the hope," Seren said, lowering her glass for a moment. "Nothing's set in stone and truthfully, the people I have in mind for this team are kind of all over the place."

"I'm sure you're going to get them together. You're Stardust, you can do anything."

Seren snorted. "Not really."

"You can literally make stars — you'll be fine!"

"It doesn't work like that, but sure," Seren said with a playful roll of her eyes.

"Can I see you make the stars?"

"What?" Seren chuckled when she side-glanced Kenna.

"C'mon, you've shown me everything in your house that had to do with the real you so I think it's only fair that you show me these powers of yours. Pretty please?" Kenna feigned the world's most dramatic pout.

"It's not that big of a deal, Kenna…" Seren said, trying her best not to laugh at her.

"Says the girl who can make stars. Please?"

"Fine!" Seren put her lemonade glass on the porch beside her and turned to face Kenna. The latter did the same with her glass and paid close attention to Seren. She turned her palms over and suddenly a few orange wisps of energy started flowing from her skin.

Kenna watched with awe as the wisps formed into small balls of fire — stars. "It's like fairy dust…" she whispered.

Seren smiled softly. Kenna had a very different view of her powers. Most people labeled her powers as volatile, and they were absolutely correct about it. It's why she was always cautious with them and trying to keep them down low. There was only one other person who saw her powers like Kenna…

"You are literally so cool," Kenna said breathlessly and looked up at Seren. "I can't believe you kept this side of you a secret for so long…"

Seren closed her hands and made the stars disappear. "It's not always pretty, Kenna. Star matter is dangerous and explosive."

"Like supernova explosive?" Kenna gasped. "Wait, can you do that? Can you make a supernova?"

Seren doubted that Kenna would ever see the gravity of her powers, but she didn't hold it against Kenna. It was different when you just looked at them. It was hard to understand what it was to always feel the ghost of the energy under your fingertips and skin. But Kenna was too excited for her to say anything.

"I haven't," Seren responded in the end, "But maybe one day…if I get really mad…"

Kenna chuckled. "That'd be so funny! For us, not for the people on the receiving end!" Seren had to agree with that. "Thank you for showing me," Kenna said, taking one of Seren's hands. "I know it looks like I'm not taking it seriously but I promise you that I really appreciate it. I know that I'm not strong like you and obviously not powerful but if there's ever anything I can help you out with, you can always count on me."

A bright smile bloomed across Seren's face at Kenna's words. "You are more than strong, Kenna. Powers don't define that, trust me. Some of the best people I know have no abilities and God help the people who cross them."

"I know, but…you know…these days it seems like everyone has super powers," Kenna said, shrugging lightly. "It's hard feeling special."

"But you are," Seren pointed to her. "And don't you dare think otherwise. Believe me, if it wasn't for my own insecurities, I would have loved to have been your best friend."

"Well, it's never too late," Kenna said, "I mean, I know the position is already taken buuut…"

Seren chuckled with her. "Nothing wrong with having a lot of close friends and I am definitely okay with another one!"

"Toast to that!" Kenna grabbed her lemonade glass, same as Seren, and clinked glasses together.

The front door opened and Steve came out to check up on them. "You two know it's getting chilly out here, right?"

"And one of us doesn't actually get cold," Kenna said, throwing nods over at Seren, "So trust me, we'll be okay."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, alright."

"Are you guys done packing?" Kenna asked curiously. "Or am I interrupting that?"

"We're done," Seren said, raising her glass up to Steve for a sip. He walked over and took the glass from her. "Now it's just saying goodbyes and all."

"Do you guys even have a place already?"

"Not exactly," Steve said after a quick drink. The lemonade was really good. "But our friend seems to be taking care of it."

"And that's what worries us, really," Seren said, Steve nodding beside her. "We never know what Tony's up to until we see it…"

"Beats living out of a hotel so I say just go with it," Kenna said.

"You're welcome to stop by anytime," Seren promised her. "We can introduce you to our other friends."

"But sorry in advance," Steve said when he thought about the woman meeting Tony Stark.

Kenna laughed. "They can't be that bad!"

"They're not," Seren said, "But they can be a bit intense. Still, I know you'd get along with them great." She would really love to introduce Kenna to Chloe because was absolutely sure that their personalities would sync up so nicely.

"Well, I'm game for anytime," Kenna said, raising her glass for another toast. She laughed when Seren and Steve made to toast with the same glass.

A/N:

As always, I have an AO3/Wattpad account under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)

For the review:

Wonderwomanbatmanfan: Think they just might lmao. The road for Chloe/Bucky is gonna be a long one so that's my warning ;).