A few days had gone by. One's where Bucky noticed Y/N had gone back to hiding herself away in her room. Only coming out on occasion to take Ryker for a walk and to get food. And even then, she was sneaky enough to keep attention away from her outings. 

Bucky had noticed the only other people going into her room were Nat and, on a few occasions, Clint. With the little bit he was able to get out of Nat, he gathered that she was doing nothing but researching and devising a plan for the mission Tony had shared with her. All her time and energy was spent on that one case file. He still couldn't wrap his head around it. 

Had he gone over the original file a few times in hopes he would find something that he'd missed? Yes. Had he looked into it even a fraction of what he was capable of? No. After learning that Y/N had a personal connection to it, he wanted to give her the space and respect to tell him the details when- and if- she was ever ready.

He hadn't known Y/N for long, but in the short time, he had developed a deep respect for her and would rather not disrupt that by digging into her life outside of what she had told him.

In doing so, he continued to stay in the common spaces so that if she ever did come out for a break, he might spot her. 

Currently, he had found himself dozed off for the last hour after reading a book in the living room of the floor of their apartments. The thing waking him up wasn't an alarm or his body coaxing him back to the real world but a wet feeling on his hand. He wrinkled his nose, still groggy from a deeper nap than he planned to have, and pulled his hand to position under his pillow, away from the wetness.

However, all that did was promote the source of the moisture to assault his face. He backed away lazily and put his hand up in defense before opening his eyes to see Ryker smiling at him, now resting his chin on the ledge of the couch, waiting for further attention.

Bucky blinked away sleep and sat up, looking around the room for his owner, but it was empty besides him and the dog.

"Hey, boy. What are you doing out?" he sat up, patting his head and running his other hand through his hair to fix whatever bedhead he had. His back arched slightly as he stretched from the awkward position he'd knocked out in.

Ryker barked in response, and Bucky shushed him with a laugh for his loudness. In response, Ryker let out a softer bark that was close to a whisper instead.

"That works too," Bucky laughed at his antics. "But really, where's your mom?"

As he looked around, there was no sign of any other Avengers in the area. Nat, Clint, and Sam were out on a mission that came up the night before, and it sounded important. He didn't get the details on it, but Sam said they most likely wouldn't be in cell phone range and would be gone for a week.

He would have offered to help, but they seemed to have it covered, and he found himself wanting to hang back at the compound for his own reasons.

Steve had gone out of town for something relating to a friend at the retirement home. He said that one of the residents had a niece or something outside of the state that needed help moving, and he had offered to lend a hand. It had also happened to be a niece who had visited a few times at the senior center, and apparently, the two hit it off really well.

Either way, most of the Avengers were gone besides Tony, Peter, and Banner, but they were always in the down-under lab and rarely came out from there.

Bucky was in the hall now with Ryker by his side as they walked to the den, but no one was there. Then they walked to the kitchen. No one was there. Then, just as they were turning the hall to Y/N's room, she busted out with a phone to her ear, and a sense of chaos smacked Bucky like a wave.

She ran into his chest, but Bucky caught her by the arms to better steady them both.

Instead of rushing to apologize or even acting surprised at the collision, she immediately rushed out her worry.

"Where's Nat?" she said, dropping the phone down.

"Um," Bucky stuttered, thrown off by the question. "She- she's on a mission. Why? What's wrong?"

"Clint?"

He still had his arms around hers as she looked up at him, frantic for his answer.

"Same mission, and so is Sam. Steve's out of town, and Tony, Peter, and Bruce are all down in the lab." He decided to tell her everyone's whereabouts, hoping to ease her panic.

"Shit," she said under her breath, looking down and then turning back into her room with purposeful steps.

She left the door open, too worried about whatever was going on to shut it and keep the new guest out.

"Are you... ok?" he asked, peering into the room, but stayed at the threshold in case she wanted space.

"I need to leave," she muttered, running around the place, grabbing random papers and what looked like a flash drive.

"Leave? Like, go home, leave?" he asked.

Ryker, who had been at Bucky's side the whole time, slowly walked into the room, clearly feeling the tension himself and being apprehensive.

"No, no," she shook her head. "I just... I figured out their next stop."

She never stopped in her rush as she began packing what looked like a go bag and a few other random things Bucky didn't take the time to analyze fully.

"Who's next stop?" he asked.

That finally snapped her out of her frenzy, and she stopped to look at him. Ryker let out a small whine, and after a second, she registered him and gave a small pat to her bed, where he jumped and positioned himself next to her before she let out a breath she had been holding in.

"It's a long story," she replied before, more calmly yet purposefully, she started to pack again.

Whatever new data or findings she had were clearly on a time crunch, and from what Bucky did know about the case, he shouldn't have expected her to stay forever, especially when a lead like the one she was hinting at had come up.

"I'll help," he stated, no question behind it.

She stopped for a moment, assessing him as she did, and he wanted to fidget in his spot but kept firm in his stance.

"You don't have to do that," she shook her head after a second, turning to the next thing to pack. A fight on why he didn't have to help was pushed to the side, and Bucky was grateful that she wasn't giving him a lesson on not jumping into the battle just because the trumpets sounded. 

"I know. But I want to," he said, taking another step in.

She looked as his foot crossed the doorway and then looked back at him.

A look of sorrow and pity flashed so fast across her face that if he hadn't been one to monitor her every expression, he wouldn't have seen it. But he was constantly examining the emotions that painted her features.

"It's sweet of you to offer, but you don't even understand what I would be asking of you. You only know the storybook version of my life, and the real thing isn't as simple as that, unfortunately."

"You think I haven't seen the raw and bloody side of this world?" he said with a noncomedic laugh. If she had truly felt any of his emotions in their time together, she would know it wasn't sunshine and rainbows in his head. And something has to happen to someone to kill those things off initially. He watched as she didn't answer but instead went into the connected bathroom and started packing toiletries. "Listen, I don't know what this mission is about one hundred percent or how all it connects to you. I figured I'd give you privacy in that area, but knowledge or not, if you need help, I'm more than happy to lend it. And if you're worried about the mission being too much for me, I can promise I've been through worse."

She still didn't respond; she continued her packing in the bathroom. Eventually, she came out and leaned on the doorway, and he could see the exhaustion from the past days of research and likely upsetting informational findings on her face.

"It's because you've been through worse that I don't want to put this on you."

He made a small sad grin at that before shrugging.

"What's one more mission?"

Her face never lifted to a smirk or a smile at the retort like he meant. Instead, she laid her head on the wood paneling of the door frame, and her face stayed serious. In a second, the feeling of sorrow and tenderness filled the air. Clearly, she wasn't trying to veil her feelings or energy with him, and Bucky could sense every bit of solace radiating off her at his comment.

It was more than what he said, and she hated that he didn't look out for himself in these positions. Much like his friend, he threw himself in the way of danger as soon as he needed to. But not purely out of the feeling of needing to save those around him, but because of a long past of a guilty conscience that felt the need to be healed by selfless acts.

He stayed where he was but shifted in his spot as he felt her analyzing his own emotions and energy. She was studying him with serious eyes, and he didn't know how to respond.

"Really. I can- I want to help," he spoke up. "You're out of backups, really, since I'm not sure when Sam, Nat, or Clint will be back. I doubt you want to team up with Tony, and Banner doesn't really go on missions unless it's a code green. Parker, the kid, he uh, he has school tomorrow so..." he began to ramble. Anything to direct the attention away from him, but it didn't work.

She slowly walked toward him and raised a hand to his face. He didn't feel the need to pull back or escape the touch. No. Instead, he froze. The only other time she had gotten this close was when she made him feel as though he was walking on cloud 9, clear of the pain and hurt that weighed him down on a regular basis.

And, like before, he felt a sense of ease wash over him. Like the feeling of a breath that you never realized you were holding, releasing after a long and much-needed cry. It was the relief of what tight strings holding your social posture together were, becoming loose and letting you fall into a stance that could only be called alleviation.

This time, instead of being winded by the change, he was relaxed and close to folding over in his spot at the feeling.

"Your guilt will ruin you," she whispered to him with an only slightly hidden, saddened gaze.

They were face-to-face. Mere inches from the other, all he could do was look back and forth between her eyes as if searching for the answer to preventing her prophecy. And surprisingly, instead of a solution, he saw conflict and grief in her Y/E/C eyes.

"But that's not my right to say." Her tone set back to even as she backed away and sighed, running her hand through her hair. "I could use the backup, but I'm not necessarily asking you. You have the option to stay home and say no. An option I'm hoping you'll take for your own sake." She paused, seeing her comment gave him the go-ahead rather than the hint that it wasn't worth it. 

"When are we leaving?" he asked, watching her return to her bags. Ryker lay on her bed with his head resting on his paws as he watched the two.

"As soon as I can get a plane hotwired and out of here."

"I'll meet you in the hangar in 10," he nodded, heading to the door. "Where exactly are we going?" 

Her response was hesitant. "The infamous country of Russia," she sighed, stopping for a second to send him a flat smile.

"Good times."

________________________

There was no need to hotwire a plane as Tony gladly lent one to the two. However, it still cost her a quick conversation about where they were headed and what leads she had gathered.

She gave him the summarized version of where they were going and the plan for when they got there, but she summed it up in a hurry. She left Ryker at the compound; even if he was capable of a mission, she wasn't sure now was the time. Tony and Peter promised they'd watch over him while she was gone, but Peter was the most excited about the chore.

Once the coordinates were locked in, Y/N organized her compiled files in a space away from the cock-pit. One step of the mission was planned out, but knowing anything about this life, you have to be ready for 100 different alternatives of what you'd be getting yourself into.

Bucky had volunteered to fly for a while even though autopilot could have saved them both the task. He figured giving her space where he wasn't looming over her in the smaller jet would be best for the both of them. She would come and tell him what the mission consisted of when she was ready. She wouldn't leave him out of the know if he were her backup, which was another thing going through his mind.

Why would a being as strong and powerful as her need a man with a gun? Did she really need the backup, or was he setting himself up to be the guy in the chair this time around? Not that he would mind. If it helped her in any way, it would be worth it. 

Lost in his thoughts, combing through all the possibilities of what this mission could be and what his purpose was here, he didn't notice her creep beside him and sit in the chair parallel to him.

"So do you like flying cause you're in control?" she asked casually, leaning back in her chair and looking out the window with one leg brought up to her chest and foot positioned in the seat with her.

He didn't flinch but turned quickly to the question.

"What?"

"No purpose behind my questioning, really. Just wondering since you've practically come into this whole mission blind, and this could be considered the first thing you've had control over," she shrugged, never breaking from the view ahead. "You haven't left your station."

He shook his head but couldn't help the slight smirk that formed.

"No, I just figured I'd give you some space until you're ready to fill me in. I know this is important and personal to you, so I'm working through this at your speed," he nodded, looking from her back to the sky.

Her gaze turned back to him. It was hard to miss when whoever she set her sights on could actually feel her studying your every move and emotion like a movie projector surrounding you.

"Thank you, by the way," she smiled softly. "You're- you're right. This whole thing has been really hard looking into, and the entire process of it resurfacing has been rough... to put it lightly."

"I'm sorry that you're having to face this. I may not know what it all means, but from what I've gathered, I know it can't be easy," he said sincerely. It was an understatement as he had been on the other side of this situation with Steve. To what extent, he wasn't sure, but losing someone only to have them resurface as a weapon was something he knew all too well. 

"Nothing for you to be sorry for. It's the world that came crashing in on me, not you," she laughed lightly, getting more comfortable in her seat. Her more fun and easygoing personality, whom Bucky had met for the first time in her room, was coming out slowly. "Can I just say I was expecting a very different version of you after hearing about you from Steve. You seem shy and quiet around me."

"Hate to tell ya, but you're a little intimidating," Bucky whispered the last part with a joking look to her.

"Me? No," she waved off. "I've never heard that one before."

"Maybe it's the age. Maybe it's the source of your power. Maybe it's the fact you can lift 70 years of stress off my soul in a single touch. I don't know, but whatever it is, it's a hint alarming," he lifted his shoulders.

"Hmm, yeah. I can see how that would freak a person out," she nodded in agreement before smiling brightly at him. "I've seen how it has freaked people out. Yet somehow, you're still here, willing to take on a job with someone you hardly know and fight something you know nothing of. Tell me... Why is that?" Her chin rested gently in her hand as she peered at him, waiting for his answer.

He paused, waiting for the answer to come to him, but really, it wasn't something said in words. It was all just a feeling he had.

Sure, he was intimidated by this woman who had done more than most could say they even dreamed of doing, but all he really felt was a suffocating cloud of faith when he walked into her atmosphere. A feeling of trust most had to spend decades with him for him to develop toward them. Because of that, he would follow her just like he had Steve all those years ago, to now.

"You don't have to respond," she said once he had figured it out. "Whatever it is, I really do thank you for helping me."

He nodded in response and could tell no words were needed. She understood somehow what he would say if he could put it into words. There was a long second of silence as they just relaxed, knowing their respect for each other until Bucky couldn't take it any longer. 

"If you don't mind me asking though... This mission? What exactly is it?"

"Right. That could be important to know as the copilot to the whole thing," she chuckled, but the light tone was slowly easing back, and a more serious energy was growing. "It's a long story that only a handful of people know. Up until this last week, of course."

"Is it about that girl? The one in the video?"

Y/N stared off into the clouds in front of them and had a distant look. She didn't answer the question as she got lost in what looked like a far-off memory. It took a minute before she started her story.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" she asked, not answering the question, but her own showing a hint as to where she was going.

"After everything I've experienced and learned from this world, I wouldn't say no. But I haven't really thought about it," he shrugged.

She nodded in understanding before continuing. 

"I never really felt like I saw any examples of it either until I met Marley." She paused with a small smile, cursing her lips. "Tony, of course, could be an exception to my pain in the ass, little brother, but they still have their differences."  Her smile fell. Her eyes were lost in another world, playing a memory like a movie in the backdrop of clouds before her. "She was a twin soul to my sister. Something so sweet and pure branding the earth again is hard not to notice. Even before I had my powers, I could get a glimpse of people's souls and intentions in life. My sister, Rosie, always had a white glow around her."

She rested her head back in the chair, picturing that same tone of white. In her hand, a mimic of the color illuminated.

Bucky couldn't tell if she was doing it for him to see or subconsciously as she thought back to it. Either way, he watched up close as her powers wielded effortlessly in her hand, dancing through her fingers like a whisp of power. 

"In 400 years, I hadn't seen anyone else's like it. It showed just how much of an honest, uncorrupted, and bright human she was. She would move mountains and bring peace where we needed it most one day..." she sighed. "But, the world wasn't ready for that kind of unadulterated love yet. It diminished that light before giving it the chance to heal it."

Bucky watched as the hurt of losing her sister all that time ago showed fresh on her features. Even as much time had passed, her wounds from it hadn't fully healed... Maybe never would.

"About 15 years ago, we were on a mission that involved a group of mutants. We didn't know exactly what we were getting ourselves into, but from what we had gathered, someone was finding those who were born with an enhancement and using them for their own selfish needs. We later learned that those that we found and some that we fought were against us at their own will. No brainwashing,