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Could it really be over?

That was what all the news outlets, governments, and intelligence agencies around the world seemed to think: with the fall of the Sokovian Research Base, HYDRA was finished.

Bucky and Maggie had rushed back to their safehouse, and now they were both hunched over computers, trying to find out everything about the engagement in Sokovia.

Maggie knew HYDRA. They loved infiltration, growing quiet and lethal in the shadows. Cut off one head, and two more shall take its place. Was it possible that the Avengers had cut off the final head?

She could see the same war between hope and cynicism in Bucky's eyes – it was dangerous to assume that HYDRA had been completely wiped from the world. And yet, they hadn't heard of hide nor hair of HYDRA for a long time. They'd set up multiple bank accounts full of stolen HYDRA money that would last them a long time, but all the old HYDRA accounts had been found and deactivated. It seemed that once they were exposed to the world, HYDRA had gained an expiration date. It was very likely that the only ones left were people like Vincent Silva, rats who jumped from the ship and went into hiding, leaving HYDRA to burn.

When she thought that, Maggie smiled despite herself. Did that make she and Bucky rats?

She looked up at their safehouse TV, which showed non-stop news coverage of the base's capture.

She frowned. "I think I've been there before."

Bucky looked up from where he'd been monitoring the various "Avengers-Watch" websites and social media accounts. "Sokovia?"

"That research base…" she bit her lip. An image of Baron Strucker popped up, with his shaven head and ominous monocle. "I remember him, he reminded me of the Project Leader."

Bucky shifted closer to her on the couch. "What were you there for?"

Pain flashed behind Maggie's eyes, and she winced. "They wiped me right before and right after, it's all blurry. There was a weapon…" she frowned at the memory of a glowing blue stone. "And civilians." The gaggle of faces, frightened by the sight of the Wyvern. Maggie's stomach sank. "Strucker was involved in human experimentation, they were probably all…" She put a hand to her mouth, and squeezed her eyes shut. More victims, more blood on HYDRA's hands, and she'd just walked past. Bucky put his hand on her shoulder.

"They got him, Meg," he murmured. "He's not going to do that to anyone else."

Maggie opened her eyes. The TV was showing shaky action footage of the Avengers now, and her breath hitched at the sight of Iron Man arcing through the sky, dodging plumes of blue cannon fire. The footage cut to Captain America, presumably after the base had been taken, escorting a bound Strucker to local authorities. She felt Bucky tense minutely, and she leaned into him.

"They're a good team," she said, as another clip played of Captain America and Iron Man stepping onto a Quinjet together. She smiled.

"They are," Bucky agreed. "I don't know if we could've gotten into that base. Alien tech, dozens of troops, an energy shield… they're crazy."

Maggie kicked her feet up. "We would have worked something out."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I'd put you inside a really big wooden horse-" Bucky cut her off with his hands in her hair and his mouth on hers, laughing into the kiss.

After a long moment, he pressed his forehead against hers and sighed. "They got 'em."

His eyes were closed, but Maggie could sense the memories swirling around his head. He'd been in the fight against HYDRA from the beginning, a fresh-faced sergeant from Brooklyn. And now his friend had swung the final blow.

Maggie stroked his cheek. "Bucky, you know… this doesn't mean we can stop hiding." He opened his eyes and she looked into them searchingly.

"I know," he sighed, pulling her closer to him on the couch. "Just because HYDRA as an organisation is gone doesn't mean there aren't people out there who know our words."

She tucked her head under his chin. "As far as the world knows, we don't exist, or we're myths, or we're dead. From what I can tell, most intelligence agencies have given up looking, or believing."

"And the Avengers?" Bucky murmured, as they watched frankly terrifying footage of the Hulk tearing through soldiers. Maggie had read Dr Banner's research papers, and it was hard imagining that measured, logical scientist as this furious beast of wrath.

Maggie huffed a laugh. "I'm not stupid enough to try hacking their computers. But… Steve knows you're alive. And he doesn't seem like the kind to give up."

"He's not," Bucky sighed. "But I just know if he finds me, someone will try to use me against him." Maggie pressed her palm against his chest. "What about your brother?"

They'd talked about this, over and over, but Maggie had no way of knowing if her brother knew she was alive. Mostly she suspected he didn't, but it always came back to the destruction of that base in Canada…

She shrugged. "I don't know." Her voice was barely a whisper. The more she remembered about her life before HYDRA and the more she came into her own as a person, the more she missed Tony. He was one of the last people left alive who had known her, loved her. She knew almost every publicly available fact about him, had seen all his press appearances and footage of his battles. She couldn't watch the press conference after his kidnapping in Afghanistan, when he announced the end of Stark Industries' weapons production, without getting teary-eyed. She was proud of him, of what he'd achieved and what he stood for: the Iron Avenger, protecting the world. Dad had always said he'd had so much potential.

Maggie wrapped her arms around Bucky, and they watched the world celebrate the Avengers' victory over HYDRA.

April 30th, 2015

Avengers Tower, New York City

Deep in a haze of science with Bruce, Tony's brain was occupied with little else. But when they took a break to run a simulation, or rehash their notes, he couldn't shake off the vision – or hallucination – he'd seen at the Sokovian base. The cold darkness, the horde of leviathans closing in on the gleaming blue Earth, the pile of his slain friends. The crushing guilt, the inadequacy.

Maggie's small body lying broken at his feet, with metal on her bones. Her brown eyes, once alight with questions, were cold and sightless.

Steve's dying gasp: Why didn't you do more?

Tony shrugged off the image and returned to his work on the scepter. Hunting down HYDRA had been a good way to get his mind off his utter failure in finding his sister, but now they were gone he needed something – needed this, the next step.

He knew Wilson and J.A.R.V.I.S. weren't going to stop looking, but Tony… Tony had run out of ideas. He had nothing but guesses, a vault of data on the Wyvern that he'd locked himself out of, and a three second video of a woman who might be her. The more time that passed since that terrible night in his labs when the DNA results came back, the more Tony realized just how much he'd failed. He'd failed Maggie when she was just a kid, and he'd failed her every day she was alone in the world with who knew what memories for company. He'd read everything he could about the Memory Suppression Machine, and he didn't know if recovery from that kind of torture was possible.

"Tony?"

He flinched and looked up. It was Bruce, eyeing him with concern from across the lab.

Bruce knew about Maggie. He'd supervised the exhumation and autopsy of the Jane Doe in Maggie's grave. They didn't talk much about it, just like they didn't talk about Betty, but Bruce asked for updates on the search from time to time. He was an odd guy, Bruce, but he understood Tony's struggle on some level. Bruce knew about living with demons.

Tony knew that if he asked Bruce for his help, he would give it.

That hadn't kept Bruce from shooting him knowing glances as Tony tried to convince him to work on Ultron. The only thing threatening the planet would be people, Bruce had said, and his calm eyes had betrayed what he was thinking.

There was a similar look in his eyes now, as Tony rolled his shoulders and got back to work.

"Need a break?" Bruce eventually asked, his voice mellow.

"Nah," Tony said. "We've got work to do."

He might not have been able to protect his sister, but he was damn well going to protect the world.

May 2nd, 2015

Perth, Australia

Maggie and Bucky had spent the last three days settling into their new safehouse, and dealing with the influx of emotions that came with the 'End of HYDRA'.

But then came the news of an attack on Avengers Tower. Bucky and Maggie found themselves glued to the TV and computer screens again, desperately searching for any information they could. The media seemed curious about reports of destruction in Avengers Tower, sounds of glass breaking and gunshots, but Bucky and Maggie were scared. There'd been no news about fatalities, but the Avengers hadn't been seen since.

"Could it be HYDRA?" Maggie asked late into the night, as she flicked through tweets about the attack. "Whoever's left of it anyway, getting revenge?"

"But who would have the resources to attack Avengers Tower?" Bucky asked. And that was what it came down to – anyone with that skill level would be on dozens of threat watch lists.

In a fit of desperation, Maggie tried to hack into the tower itself. She'd never been so bold before, determined to hide in the shadows, but her brother's home had been attacked and she didn't know if he was alive.

"That's… odd," she eventually murmured.

"Hm?"

"It's dead." She glanced up at Bucky and met his confused look with one of her own. "The tower, the Avengers' data, it's all down." She dug deeper, hiding her tracks the whole way, and realized that whatever had happened in Avengers Tower, a cyber attack had occurred at the same time. Then she started to see the signs of some kind of intelligence working through the data at impossible speeds, erasing and changing and thinking. Maggie didn't understand, but she saw enough to be scared. She wiped away her digital tracks, closed off all connection with the tower, and destroyed her tech. Bucky raised an eyebrow at the loss of the computer, but he didn't protest.

"Intelligence agencies have picked up some kind of new threat," he said, lifting the tablet in his hands. "Metal men, hitting weapons facilities and all kinds of robotics and engineering labs. There's too many of them to keep track, and there's signs of enhanced humans as well. Strucker's been killed."

"Jesus," Maggie breathed, still thinking about the insidious intelligence she'd seen in the data. "What have they got themselves into?"

The next day, Maggie's eyes snapped open from a fitful nap to new headlines about the Avengers: JOHANNESBURG DISASTER: IRON MAN AND THE HULK LEVEL BUILDINGS, DESTROY INFRASTRUCTURE IN DUEL.

"Oh god."

Maggie watched with her heart in her mouth as her brother, in some kind of bulky, enhanced Iron Man armor, was beaten into the ground by a furious, roaring Hulk. Bucky appeared behind the couch and put his flesh hand on her shoulder. As they watched, the TV showed cellphone footage of Iron Man seizing the Hulk and throwing him through the air.

"He's crazy," Maggie breathed, her voice hoarse with leftover sleep and panic. "He's just a man."

Her breath hitched in her throat as Iron Man and the Hulk levelled a building, leaving behind a cloud of dust. A news anchor came onto screen, explaining that that was the end of the duel, and that Iron Man had flown an unconscious Hulk away from the scene.

Maggie sensed Bucky shift his weight. "Are you okay?" His hand was warm on her shoulder.

"I…" She watched the footage of the fight as it replayed over and over. Her heart leaped into her mouth at the devastating punches Hulk had been raining down on the Iron Man armor. "He's alive, but… I thought they were friends."

Bucky didn't seem to know what to say to that. He stepped around the couch and sat beside her, watching the TV. All the news anchors seemed to agree that the Avengers had gone into hiding. In the part of her mind that wasn't inwardly screaming at the image of her brother standing up against the Hulk, Maggie was almost fascinated by the shifts in public opinion: at first there was confusion, then fear, and then…

An interview with a red-faced woman aired a few hours later, in which she called for the Avengers to be arrested and then sent to prison. She called them monsters, and cowards.

Bucky turned off the TV.

Silence filled their safehouse, and Maggie felt sick.

"What do we do?" she asked.

Bucky didn't have an answer for her. He slid his hand into hers and they sat together in silence. Maggie didn't know what he was thinking, but she suddenly found herself very conscious of how many miles likely lay between her and her brother. She thought those miles were there for his protection, but she – and the rest of the world – had just seen how vulnerable the Avengers could be. And Maggie didn't know how to help.

May 5th, 2015

Perth, Australia

There were days of public uproar, with nothing but silence from the Avengers.

Maggie had been doing what she could from her small corner of the world on her newly bought laptop: she boosted cyber security for organisations that needed it in the Avenger's absence, assisted another mysterious presence who was protecting nuclear launch codes, and monitored major threats. She was an unseen, often unnoticed digital presence, flickering around the edges of the world's major players. Bucky plied her with food and coffee, while he followed his own lines of investigation into where the Avengers might be.

Now, Maggie's fingers froze over her laptop.

"Captain America's been sighted in South Korea!" she called.

Bucky rushed into the room, and they watched the emerging news about metal men fighting Captain America and a Quinjet in the streets of Seoul. Bucky's face was grim as he watched shaky footage of his friend leaping between moving vehicles and exchanging blows with some kind of metal man.

Maggie hacked into the South Korean police units to try to figure out what was going on, but before she got any answers the Avengers were gone again, leaving a derailed train and a trail of destruction in their wake.

"Whatever's happening," Maggie murmured, her body taut with the stress of the past few days, "they're not handling it."

Bucky's metal hand clenched and unclenched. "It's that robot thing, that's what they're fighting. Can you get any information on it?"

Maggie's fingers stilled over her laptop. "Bucky, whatever it is… it's smarter than me. It's faster than me. It's not just a robot, it's in the Internet, around the whole world, simultaneously. I've been spending half my time just trying to hide my tracks. If I come at it directly we'll have metal men on our doorstep in minutes."

That seemed to bring the situation home to Bucky. He stilled, and something like desperation filled his eyes. "That's what they're trying to fight?"

She nodded, and some of the tension left her body when he pulled her into his arms. "If it helps," she breathed into his shirt, "I think they've got a plan. The Avengers captured some kind of crate in Seoul, and there's been signs of activity back at Avengers Tower."

Bucky exhaled, his breath ruffling her hair. She pressed further into his warmth, and his arm tightened around her waist.

"We should be there," he eventually murmured, and she could feel how much it hurt him to admit it.

She tipped her head back to look up at him. "No," she sighed. "We want to be there. But if anyone's going to be able to use our trigger words against us, it's an omnipresent artificial intelligence with what sounds like an enhanced telepath on his side."

They both took a moment to let that sink in. Maggie hated herself for admitting it, but she and Bucky could only be a liability in this kind of fight. The idea of someone getting into her head again, using her brain and her skills against Tony…

She wouldn't allow it to happen.

May 6th, 2015

Perth, Australia

Maggie and Bucky watched in horror as a whole city rose into the sky. It was quiet in their safehouse, save for the news anchor frantically narrating the situation.

Maggie didn't know how the news anchor found words within himself to speak – this was like nothing that had ever happened before, and she could only watch, still and silent, as the world hung in the balance.

She could guess the artificial intelligence's plan. She wondered when it planned to cut the engines and drop Novi Grad back on Earth. She wondered how long she and Bucky would have together before the resulting shock waves obliterated them. Minutes? Seconds? The calculations running through her mind weren't comforting at all.

Her hand was in Bucky's, near-crushing his with the strength of her grip, but he didn't say a word. His grip was just as tight.

Maggie knew the implications of Novi Grad returning to Earth, but she couldn't stop thinking about her brother and his friends, up there in the sky. Still trying to save the world.

When the city dropped, Maggie couldn't help the sob that bubbled up her throat and out of her mouth, or the tears that spilled down her cheeks. Bucky leaned in closer to her, and she felt his heart pounding.

But then: a beacon of blue light and crackling lightning, as the incoming comet exploded. Maggie took a shuddering gasp, and reached up to wipe away her tears so she could see what was happening: debris fell from the sky, rock and buildings and fire, plunging into the ocean and ground below. The live news feed showed people screaming and running.

Maggie went cold. The Avengers had won, the world had been saved. But she couldn't see Iron Man.

Hand in hand, Bucky and Maggie watched the TV for hours. The news went crazy, talking about the artificial intelligence called Ultron, the battle in Novi Grad, the stories of rescue and bravery as the survivors were returned to the ground.

Bucky and Maggie didn't know what to say.

Then, finally, a S.H.I.E.L.D. spokesperson (because apparently, S.H.I.E.L.D. was back) reported that all of the Avengers had survived, save for a new recruit called Pietro Maximoff.

It was like a switch had been flicked in the safehouse. Bucky and Maggie took in a simultaneous, shuddering breath and threw their arms around each other, pressing skin against skin and crying into each other's hair.

"They made it," Bucky said, rubbing soothing circles into their back. "They're fucking crazy, but they made it."

Maggie laughed at that, and felt her muscles shaking with relief. "They're a good team," she sighed. They're alive. He's alive.

Hours later, after monitoring the news on Sokovia and the Avengers, Maggie turned to Bucky.

"We might not be able to be there," she said, meeting his grey-blue eyes. "But we can be close. We should be close."

Bucky looked around at the apartment, warm and safe. They hadn't left in days, instead taking shifts on the couch watching the TV, or using the laptop. He nodded. "You're right."

Decision made, they began packing up once more. As Maggie reached around Bucky to pick up the laptop, she let her hand trail along his shoulder. After they climbed out of the kitchen window, Bucky rested his hand at the small of her back.

The next time the Avengers came up against something they couldn't handle, Bucky and Maggie would be close enough to do something about it. Just in case.

May 28th, 2015

New Avengers Facility, New York

Tony was going to miss Thor. Of course he didn't say that to his face, instead choosing to crack wise about the hammer.

Tony remembered when Thor had come back to Earth in search of Loki's scepter after the whole deal with S.H.I.E.L.D. He was a loud guy, a fighter, but he wasn't stupid. So he'd noticed that Steve and Tony had their minds on something else other than the scepter. When they pulled him aside to explain the whole evil assassin deal, he'd been startlingly sympathetic. Well, Tony supposed he knew what it was like to have a sibling who'd done bad shit.

"I am sorry that this has happened to you, my friends," Thor had said, clapping his hands on their shoulders with enough force to bruise – well, bruise Tony, anyway. "I wish you the best of luck in finding your sister, Stark, and Steven I wish you the best of luck in finding your brother."

Steve had started at that. "Oh, he's not-"

But Thor just gave him a significant look. "Call on me if you ever need my help." He'd squeezed their shoulders, making Tony wince. "I have an email now."

Now, as Steve walked Tony to his car outside the newly-built facility, Tony reflected on all the changes they'd made – Bruce and Thor were gone, in their various ways, but they'd gained four new Avengers. Some real heavy hitters too, what with Vision and Wanda. It wasn't the armor around the world that Tony had envisioned, but it was somehow better.

Wilson was still searching for Maggie and Barnes, with F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s help, though he'd have less time on his hands now he was training to be an Avenger. Natasha was always there to offer silent, scary support; Barton more or less knew the situation but kept his nose out of it; and Rhodey knew too. Tony sometimes caught Rhodey looking at old newspaper clippings of Maggie, with a hollow look in his eyes.

Tony was… retiring. Kind of. He and Steve had talked a lot about the future of the Avengers, and Tony just didn't see himself training newbies and running missions. So he built a fancy new facility, and he was going to split his time between it and Avengers Tower, or following Pepper around while she kicked ass at running Stark Industries.

Tony drove away, and watched Steve walk back into the facility in his rear-view mirror. In amongst their discussions about the Avengers, they'd sat down with a bottle of scotch and pulled up the CCTV still of the Wyvern and the Winter Soldier, their backs to the camera as they walked away from the burning HYDRA facility in D.C.

"I'm not going to stop searching," Steve had said, his eyes earnest as if he needed to prove something to Tony.

"And all these years I've been thinking you were a 'giving up' type of person," Tony said, taking a swig of scotch. It burned – he didn't drink so much, nowadays.

Steve had opened his mouth again, but Tony kept talking: "F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s on it, just like J.A.R.V.I.S. was, and Wilson said he's going to keep chasing down leads. We get anything fresh, we'll follow it up. They can't hide forever."

There was a long silence after that. Tony hadn't meant to say that last part, he generally tried not to think about the fact that it was so impossible to find her – them – was a sign that they were dead, or trying very hard not to be found.

"We'll keep looking," Tony had eventually said. "But it can't be the only thing we do." The past year had taught him that – he couldn't be an Avenger, squash HYDRA, search for Maggie and give Pepper the time she deserved. So he'd cut it down to two out of four, and he could fit in being a genius inventor and philanthropist in his spare time.

As he drove out of the facility in his orange sportscar, Tony smiled to himself. The simple life. He might not ever get it, but that wouldn't stop him trying.

Eight thousand miles away, Margaret Stark traveled north through India with Bucky Barnes, with nothing but a backpack of junk and a pair of metal wings to her name. Her brother was alive, and HYDRA was gone. She knew she'd never have the simple life, but she had more happiness in her life than she'd ever thought was possible.

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