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There was a long moment that you thought asking Howard Stark for help was the wrong thing to do. Maybe it was the empty look in his eyes as he stared right past you, or the gape of his mouth as he did so. No matter what it was, it was making your skin itch.
“Mr. Stark?” you asked. He had thankfully convinced the others to give you the room for an unidentified amount of time. It felt like you’d been talking for hours to Howard about your abilities, and all through it he had said something about kinetic energy, dark matter travelling through time, and needing a connection to the place you wanted to go to. Now he was speechless, something you thought might be a rare sight.
The quiet seemed to alarm those waiting outside the front door. A quick knock was the only warning you got before your time with the genius was interrupted. You turned your head, expecting to find Agent Carter, but instead found Bucky. “Everything okay in here?”
Howard didn’t respond so you nodded. “I think so.”
Howard was staring at you, mouth slightly agape. He hadn’t blinked in quite some time and you were starting to rethink your answer.
“What did you say to him?” Agent Carter asked. She stepped around Bucky, her tone teasing. “I think we’d all like to know.”
Captain America came in behind her, a grin on his lips at Carter’s playful jab. It was enough to knock Howard back to the present and he stood, holding his hands up. “I need to work some things out.” He came towards you and before anyone could interject he grabbed your face in his hands and gave a light shake. “Oh boy, this is--this is brilliant.” He stepped back, pointing at you. “I cannot wait to see what happens.” There was a moment when something occurred to him. “I do see what happens, right?”
You nodded before you could stop yourself.
“What do you mean?” Captain America asked.
Howard patted him on the shoulder, eyes unfocused as he moved towards the door. “Just gotta--run some numbers. You”--he pointed at you--”stay right there. I have some ideas on getting you back to the future.”
You tried not to roll your eyes at his phrasing, and once he vanished out the front door you were left with three people staring at you.
“The future?” Captain America asked, eyebrows raised.
You licked your lips. “I’d rather not get into it.”
Agent Carter watched you for a moment. You were shocked that they weren’t asking more questions, but they were smart enough to figure things out. She gave you a nod, a single motion to signal that she had figured it out--maybe even believed it.
An hour passed without hearing anything from Howard. Well, anything that made sense. He’d been drawing diagrams and numbers in notebooks, showing them to you as if they would ever make sense. You did a lot of nodding and smiling when he asked you something. Eventually you had to signal Bucky for help, blinking twice for help. He suggested you take a walk, clear your mind for whatever upcoming test Howard kept mentioning. He whisked you out before anyone could object, helping you into a coat and ushering you out the door.
“Thanks,” you said. Your footsteps crept through the snow, and Bucky followed your pace. “I have no idea what he was saying.”
Bucky chuckled. “That seems to be the theme when Stark’s around.”
So far all you understood from Howard Stark was that having an emotional connection to a person, object, or place was what allowed you to travel. Since you’d gone physically this time around you must have had a strong connection to this place, both geographically and emotionally. You’d frowned, needing your escape then.
While history was interesting, you didn’t have any kind of connection to this place. It’s not like your grandparents or any family was from the area, nor did you have a link to the people here now.
“You’re quiet,” Bucky said, drawing you from your thoughts. You stuffed your hands into your pockets.
You blinked, snow crunching beneath your feet. “Sorry, just thinking.”
“You kinda look like Steve when you do that. Too many thoughts keeping you from what’s around you.”
You furrowed your brow, pace slowing. Bucky lifted a hand and pressed a finger between your brows, giving you a gentle push. “We’ll figure this out.”
You stopped and took your hands out of your pockets and held his wrist with both hands. You lowered his hand, looking at the thick calluses on his fingers and palm, noting the amount of dirt caked under his nails. “Bucky…”
“Don’t go apologizing for something you didn’t do,” he interrupted. Your eyes lifted to meet his. “Or what you haven’t done yet.”
“What?”
Bucky took your hands in his. They were warm, impossibly so in this kind of cold. “I may have caught a word or two from Stark’s mumblings. I don’t know much, but you’re from the future?”
You were quick to pull away, taking a large step back. “You can’t know that!”
Whatever warmth you’d been feeling disappeared. You began to pace back and forth, hands patting on your cheeks as you thought of the consequences of your actions. You weren’t disappearing like Back to the Future, nor was the world quacking with this news. What happened when the timeline changed? You began to mutter to yourself, trying to figure out how to handle this.
“Hey, hey,” Bucky called. He followed you towards the trees, grabbing your elbow. “Don’t go running again.”
“I’m not.” You shook your head. “I just...I’m way out of my league right now.”
Bucky nodded. “I know the feeling.” He reached out and touched your other arm to turn you to him. He kept his hold on you, ensuring you couldn’t run if you’d been lying.
“If I tell you something, will you promise not to ask me any questions?” You matched his worried gaze. When he nodded you went on, “In 2018, meet me here? I can’t...I can’t give you many details, or any actually, but will you meet me here in the future?”
“What--”
“No questions,” you interrupted. “And this is only if Howard can get me back there.”
Bucky smiled. “I was going to ask what day, sweetheart.”
“Oh.” You swallowed audibly, wondering if this was the right decision. “May 29th.”
“It’s a date.”
You smiled, though it didn’t reach your eyes. There was a needle in your heart, piercing painfully deep. You reminded yourself that he does have a future, he lives. He becomes a free man.
Bucky finally let go of you with his left hand and lifted it to your cheek. His thumb rested on your chin as his other hand went to your waist and pulled you closer. Each of you leaned in, close enough you could feel the warmth of his breath over your lips. Just as your eyelids fluttered closed a shout made you jump back.
“I’ve got it!” Howard Stark stood in the snow, no coat or sweater to protect him from the cold. He held a small stack of papers in his hands, waving them in the air. “I know how to get you home, kid!”