"Welcome home, Miss Flint."

I jumped at the sound of FRIDAY's voice as I entered the compound late Sunday evening. T'Challa had just dropped me off a few acres away from the compound and I was hoping I could sneak in quietly without disturbing anyone, but clearly I wasn't about to sneak past the eyes and ears of this facility.

"Hey, FRIDAY. Keep it down, I don't want to wake anyone up," I said. "And don't tell Tony I'm-"

"Don't tell Tony what?" The light flicked on in the kitchen, revealing Tony sitting at the table. The drama queen really set himself up to be sitting in the dark when I got home. "That you're..." He shot his cuff and checked his watch. "Two hours late?"

I sighed impatiently, my eyes rolling and walked into the kitchen. "I find it really hard saying goodbye to Clint and his family, so do the kids."
No, it just takes a long time to travel from Wakanda. And Bucky is stubborn... So am I. 

"Yeah? Well, next time be home by six, I don't want to call a search party," Tony said.

I fought back the urge to roll my eyes. I pulled my bag further onto my shoulder and walked further into the compound. My eyes were on the elevator so I could quickly get to my room.

"You don't have to call a search party each time I'm late," I said.

"So it's going to happen more than once?" Tony asked.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him. 

"No, that's not what- Tony this is the first time-" I began.

"What's the probability that you go running off to find Captain Spangles? You're a criminal, so if you go missing, that puts you in more trouble than you're already in, and, it puts me in trouble," Tony pointed to himself.

"The probability is zero to one," I answered. "The one chance is only probable if you keep treating me like a kid and having a stroke each time I break one of your rules."

"Those rules are set up to keep you out of trouble with the UN," Tony argued, standing up.

"I'm already in trouble with them, you said so yourself," I replied. "I honestly couldn't give a damn about them and what they'd do to me if I got in more trouble."

Tony stared at me, not in shock but in a loss for his own words. This man wanted to argue, but with the way I was holding my attitude, this wasn't doing him any good.

"Got anything else you want to say?" I asked, holding out my arms. Tony put his hands on his hips and looked down. "Okay, I'm going to my room."

I turned and headed towards the elevator. It opened upon my arrival and I stepped inside letting the door close behind before I turned back around to press the button to my floor.

~

James the kitten was running towards me as soon as I opened my bedroom door and turned on the light.

"Hey there, little soldier," I smiled down at him as he jumped around me and attacked my feet playfully. "I missed you, too."

I kneeled down to scratch behind his ear. The chain around my neck hung down and James got up on his back paws to bat at the one dog-tag that remained on the chain. The other dog-tag was back in Wakanda, now hanging around Bucky's neck. I stood back up and threw my bag onto my bed. I walked to my dresser, pulled out a clean pair of pajamas, changed, walked to the bathroom and began brushing my teeth vigorously, still worked up over my feud with Tony.

Staring at myself in the mirror I began to notice the difference that Bucky mentioned; I was skinny. My arms had lost a bit of the muscle I had gained after so many years of fighting with the Avengers. My waist was smaller, my legs had a wide gap between them in comparison to when I had more of an hourglass figure. Being alone in the compound for a year had definitely taken its toll on me. I didn't put much thought into eating regularly, I spent a lot of time in my room just sitting.

"I'm paying more attention to feeding you than myself, James," I looked down at the kitten who was laying at my feet, preventing me from moving.

Once I finished brushing my teeth, I carefully pushed James off of my feet and walked to my bed. I threw back the covers, and collapsed onto the soft mattress. In comparison to the mat on the floor in Bucky's hut, or even just laying up against him, this felt like the most comfortable bed I had ever lay on. A chirp came from James as he jumped up onto the bed and curled up next to me. I rested my hand on his soft fur and slowly pet him until sleep over came me.

~~~

The smell of bacon must have summoned Rhodey out of his room, because as soon as they left the pan, he was walking straight into the kitchen, eyeing the bacon.

"Eyes on the prize, Rhodey?" I turned my attention to the eggs in the pan.

"Oh, yeah," Rhodey picked up a strip from the plate and took a bite from the crispy meat.

"Tony left already?" I asked, surveying the kitchen and living room.

"Yeah, late last night," Rhodey nodded. "He was pretty pissed, what happened?"

"I was late," I shook my head irritably. "I don't know why he's so worked up over everything I do, it's frustrating."

I turned off the stove and grabbed a plate. I pushed the scrambled eggs onto the side and grabbed two slices of bacon.

"He's been really stressed since Germany," Rhodey replied, grabbing himself a plate. "Haven't seen him like this since after New York."

"I understand that, but can he take it out on someone other than me?" I sat down at the table, Rhodey took a seat across from me. "Or just, not take it out on anybody and go to therapy?"

"I think," Rhodey said through a mouthful of eggs and I eyed him, he swallowed before continuing. "That you are the closest person to who Tony is really angry at."

"Steve," I said.

"Exactly. But look who's not here," Rhodey looked around. "So, you are his target."

"Great," I raised my eyebrows and ate some of my breakfast.

"He's also mad at himself," Rhodey added. "But what can you do when the person you hate is yourself?"

"Attack the closest person," I said.

"Bingo," Rhodey nodded.

"Can't you talk to him?" I asked. "You two are best friends, and Pepper isn't here to see what's happening."

"I've tried, Ellie, but I think it's best that we leave it to him to figure it out."

I nodded, trying to find comfort in the thought of leaving Tony to figure out why he's an asshole, maybe that's best for him. I looked down at my plate, scooped up a large fork full of warm eggs and swallowed them. The warm sensation in my throat caused my face to twist in discomfort.

"Isn't that a bit too hot for you?" Rhodey's brow furrowed.

"Yeah, it hurts like hell, but I'm hungry," I replied.

"Okay, slow down, wait for it to cool off," Rhodey reached forward and pushed my hand back onto the table before I took another bite. "I'm glad you're eating, just don't hurt yourself."

"Thanks," I grabbed the glass of orange juice and took a few sips.

"What, does Clint not feed you?" Rhodey asked.

"Oh no, Laura is a wonderful cook, full meals everyday," I replied. 

"You're stress eating," Rhodey pointed with his fork, resting his elbows on the table.

"I don't think so," I shook my head. 

"Then why are you eating so much when a week ago, the most you ate was an apple in the morning, crackers and cheese for lunch and maybe skipping dinner?" Rhodey inquired, tilting his head.

"Maybe I realized that I should eat something before I become so skinny that the wind blows me away," I shrugged and Rhodey quietly laughed. 

"Maybe," he looked down at his plate. "Did Clint get onto you?"

"Sure," I answered. I mean, he would have, if I actually went there.

"Plan on doing anything today? Other than sit in your room doing who-knows-what?"

"I don't know, maybe skate, get off my butt and walk around the compound lawns," I said, glancing out the window and noticing it had gotten a bit dark. "Wait, how early is it?"

"It's 9:23," Rhodey answered, looking at his phone.

"FRIDAY, what's the weather forecast?" I called out.

"Thunder storms are in the radar for this area," FRIDAY answered. "Going outside wouldn't be a smart idea."

"No, it wouldn't," I sighed.

"Just turn it to snow," Rhodey waved his hand at the window.

"Mmh, it doesn't work like that, sorry to say," I laughed.

~~~

The rain became a background noise as I lay on the couch in the living room. The entire room had a gray tint to it, none of the lights were on and every now and again a flash of lightning turned the walls white for a split second, followed by a roll of thunder. The patter of James' paws on the floor would pass by as he ran back and forth between the kitchen and living room. Rhodey was in the conference room, from the couch I could see him talking with a hologram of Secretary Ross, but their conversation was unknown to me, I don't have a skill in reading lips.

"What do you think they're talking about, James?" I asked aloud and the patter of feet ran by. I switched to a Transatlantic accent. "The search for Captain Rogers and his accomplices still goes on! We haven't found any of them since the break in at the Raft, despite our advanced technology. Captain Rogers is really good at hiding, who knows how long he will continue to be off the grid."

I stopped my announcements when I heard a thump against one of the walls. I sat up and looked at James who sat, shaking his little head.

"Did you run into the wall, you little klutz?" I swung my feet over and stood up from the couch.

I walked over to the kitten and picked him up. I cradled him against my chest as he began to purr, and looked up out the window at the rain that beat down. Rain never bothered me, it's better than having a hot sun. I always enjoyed the cool temperature after a heavy rainfall, it was also fun to freeze the puddles in my front lawn back in Manhattan. My eyes flicked up to the grey clouds that blocked the blue sky, the thick blanket stretched out as far as I could see.

"Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky. Stormy weather," I began to sing loudly. "Since my man and I ain't together, keeps raining all the time." 

I turned away from the window and glanced about the living room. Rhodey glanced at me from the conference room before turning back to Secretary Ross. I laughed aloud and wondered if there was some place in this entire facility with some old vinyl records. It would be better than my off-key singing. I set James down and walked towards the conference room where Rhodey's conversation with Secretary Ross continued. The glass door slid open and Rhodey looked over at me, Secretary Ross stopped speaking at my entrance.

"Hey, El, what's up?" Rhodey asked.

"Do we have any vinyl records?" I asked.

"Uhh... Not that I know of," Rhodey blinked.

"Miss Flint," Secretary Ross greeted.

"Mr. Secretary," I nodded and turned my attention back to Rhodey. "I'm going to look around the storage unit, see if there's anything."

"Okay," Rhodey nodded.

I left the conference room and made my way towards the elevator. I pressed the button that would take me to the basement, down there we store everything. I'm pretty sure my old suit may be there somewhere. The elevator began making its way down and the doors slid open. The lights flicked on and I was greeted with rows of shelves. Some of them had drawers, some had boxes, some just had random items laying about, like an old tape recorder? Not sure why that was there.

"FRIDAY?" I called out.

"Yes, Miss Flint?"

"Do we have any vinyl records down here?" I walked forward and stood in front of a shelf.

"Yes, on the third row of shelves."

I looked left and right at the rows of shelving units, blankly. There had to be about twenty rows and I was not about to walk down all the way to the third row.

"To your left, Miss Flint," FRIDAY spoke.

"Yeah, I know," I breathed out and walked quickly till I got to the third aisle of shelves where filing cabinets were lined up. "Wait these are all vinyls?"

"No, they are documents, but vinyl records can be conveniently stored like a document into cabinets."

"Ah, so which cabinet?" I asked.

"They're lettered alphabetically," FRIDAY replied in almost an impatient tone. For an AI she had quite the attitude. 

"Of course they are."

At last I came to the stack of filing cabinets labeled 'R' and if that wasn't it, I would move onto 'V'. I pulled open the drawer, not expecting it to be very long, but I ended up taking about two steps back before the drawer was fully opened. My eyes scanned the different files that separated each document, only looking for the word "Record." Which probably was wrong.

Rogers, Captain Steven. Romanoff, Natasha. Rhodes, Colonel James. Repulser Designs.

"Okay, so vinyl records is not under 'R'," I said aloud, shutting the cabinet and moving on to the filing cabinet labeled 'V'. I opened it and stepped back, scanning the different document labels.

Vision. Vinyls.

"Aha!"

I reached forward and pulled out the stack of vinyls that were tied together with a string. The first record on the stack was Abbey Road, The Beatles. One of the many records by The Beatles that Tony had me listen to, apparently I had missed an entire change in music history, and boy, I was right. I closed the filing cabinet and made my way back to the elevator.

"Miss Flint, if you don't mind me asking, what are you going to do with those?" FRIDAY asked.

"I'm going to listen to them," I stopped before I entered the elevator. "What else?"

"How?"

"Oh," I looked down at the stack of records in my hands, not having realized that I have no record player. "Does anyone here have a record player?"

"Who living in this tower would have a gramophone other than you, miss?" FRIDAY asked.

"Steve..." I answered, looking up at the ceiling and sighing.

The last time I had been in his room was a couple of days before the Accords were put in place, I can't imagine anyone else had gone in there since.

~

With the stack of records under one arm, I reached forward and turned the doorknob and pushed open the door to Steve's room. I stepped inside, flicked on the lights, closed the door behind me, and took in the sight of the empty room. The bed was placed in the center of the far wall, the pillows sat at the headboard, the covers tucked neatly underneath them and a blanket folded at the foot of the bed. A few feet away from the bed was a tall dresser, all of the drawers were pushed in, and on the top were two framed photos.

I got closer and smiled at the black and white photo of Steve and Bucky. I could tell it was very old because Steve was small and skinny, and a young, short-haired, clean shaven Bucky towered over him with his arm around his shoulder. Both of them were smiling so wide it must have been taken while they were laughing. I smiled fondly at the two. Next to that photo was a picture of Steve and I in our suits, standing in front of a frozen Chitauri Leviathan, pointing at the monstrosity with our thumbs and big smiles on our faces like we were tourists visiting a landmark in New York City. Steve's helmet was off and his hair was disheveled, my hair was slowly falling out of its ponytail and a scratch stretched across my cheek, but despite how exhausted we were, we still smiled for the camera that Natasha held.

I turned away from the two photos and found the gramophone on a desk in the corner of the room. I walked up to it, finding that it already had a vinyl record on it. I squinted my eyes and tilted my head at the small writing.

"It's Been a Long, Long Time." Kitty Kallen.

On a chair next to the desk was the record case, so I carefully took the vinyl from the gramophone and placed it back in the case. I then sat down on the floor, and laid out all the records in front of me, sorting them together by band or year. A couple of the records were Beatles, there was a Nirvana record, ACDC, Ozzy Osborne, a bunch of classic rock albums that were most likely owned by Tony. Then I found all the albums that were to my liking; Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday, Judy Garland, and Ethel Waters.

"Score," I said aloud, taking the Ethel Waters 'Work From Nine' record and placing the vinyl on the gramophone.

I placed down the needle and the record began to spin. A crackling noise came from the horn before a brass melody began to play. I recognized it to be the instrumental song Royal Garden Blues. This horn melody played for awhile and I sat back, listening to the cheerful tune, tapping my fingers on the floor to the beat and smiling to myself. The song ended and the introduction to Craving Blues played, and Ethel began to sing.

"Some people crave for lovin'
Some people crave for gold...."

The music faded into background noise as I closed my eyes and imagined my old house in Manhattan, sitting in my living room with my parents. My dad reading a book, my mom working on embroidery and I would be sitting on the floor as I am now, listening to old records. It was times like this when I realized how much I dearly missed them, missed hearing their voices, seeing their faces, their touch. My eyes opened again when the familiar string melody came to my ears. 

"Don't know why

My mind instantly went to dancing with Bucky and the rest of the Howling Commandos. I smiled again, I missed them too. I missed the old days, I missed the simpler times, I missed my family. I made family here, but that fell apart too. This feeling of longing put a weight on my chest, this really was some stormy weather.

There was a scratching at the door and I stood up, opened the door and James wandered in like it was his own house. He found his way to my assortment of vinyls and sat in front of them. I closed the door and joined him on the floor, breathing in through my nose and smelling the familiar scent of Steve.

How long would it be before I saw him again? Out of everyone in the Avengers, he was the best company. We had similar lives, we went through most of our lives together, we understood each other, we were brother and sister. I could count on him for pretty much everything and he could count on me. Now we are miles apart and I don't know where he is. Perhaps Bucky knows, I could ask him this weekend. Steve tells him everything and he tells everything to Steve. I should bring these vinyls the next time I visit, get his memory jogging.

My eyes fixated on the Doris Day record, the title 'Dream a Little Dream of Me' and I remembered the monitor of Bucky's dreams while he was under, and hearing the song on a HYDRA mission. I leaned forward and picked up the case, stood up and lifted the needle off the Ethel Waters record. I put away the vinyl and placed the Doris Day record on the gramophone. The vinyl began to spin, there was a crackle, then an instrumental introduction, followed by Doris Day's voice.

"Star shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper 'I love you'
Birds singing in the sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me..."

I sat back down on the floor and drew my knees up to my chest, listening to the calming music that filled the room.

"Miss Flint?" FRIDAY spoke and interrupted my moment of peace.

"Yeah?" I looked up.

"Colonel Rhodes requests that you come to the conference room."

"Right now?"

"Yes, Secretary Ross wishes to speak with you."

"Great," I