It didn't make any sense, any of it. Tony had no love for Bucky, and no reason to try to find him on his own; if he had his way, Barnes would be either on the other side of the planet from you at any given moment, or preferably dead, or so you had thought. Steve and Tony were standing statuesque as they watched the scene unfold in front of them, waiting for something to happen, and you still weren't sure what that was supposed to be. The only thing you were sure of was that whatever it was you needed to do, if it would make the piercing screams stop echoing through your skull, you'd do anything they wanted.

"We can't risk having you two together out in the open until we know how you'll react, honey," Tony explained carefully. "The last time he was like this and you connected, it didn't end so well."

"Tony, I don't understand, how did you get him here? How did you find him?"

"I called Steve."

"Like hell," you huffed in disbelief, "there's no way that he'd give Bucky up to you."

"I didn't give him up," Steve joined in. "I needed Tony to help me get Buck away from Hydra, and he needed Buck to bring you home. We compromised."

Tony nodded along as Steve explained, but his gaze never once strayed from you. He was watching for the connection to be made, waiting for the woman he loved to be washed away and replaced with the hints of a soldier that turned his stomach as much as yours was right now. He was beginning to understand, once and for all, that to have you in his life meant that he would have to set his feelings for Bucky aside, and when compared to losing you, the decision was an easy one. So long as this actually worked. "There's no way that I'm letting him out of that cage until I'm completely convinced that you're not getting hurt, (Y/N). If this ends with Barnes back in his brain and you staying in yours, then the locks open, I promise."

"You won't turn him in?"

"I won't."

"And what about Hydra?" you continued. "They'll come for him again."

"We...w-we took care of that," Steve added hesitantly. For the first time, his eyes darted to Tony for just a second before returning back to Bucky. "No one is going to get close to either of you again."

"What? You killed all of Hydra?"

"Pretty much," Tony said. "Whatever is left, we'll deal with it."

The dizziness hadn't settled at all, and the twist and churn of your gut was made worse with each attempt at talking. You sat yourself on the floor slowly, seeing Tony's hand reach out as if he could actually touch you to help; he pulled it back just as quickly, thrusting both hands into his pockets to avoid the temptation of finding their way to opening the lock just to be at your side. "Buck," you tried again, pushing a hand to the glass between you, "do you know me?"

"No."

"Will you try? I'm (Y/N). I'm your soulmate. You know me."

You could hear Tony's discomfort with the term as he coughed away his nerves, and you could see him turning away with a shake of his head in either disgust or fear. You couldn't see his face, but if you were the betting type, he was mad at himself for letting this get so far along. Beyond that interruption of barely even a sound, everyone else was frozen in silence, waiting for Bucky to say anything at all. When he finally did, you could see the twisting, painful confusion swirling in his mind through his contorted expression.

"(Y/N)?" he finally jarred to awareness. His eyes widened in a flash of excitement, but it didn't hold. "(Y/N)? That...that can't be right," he continued, with a shake of his head as if it might clear up the haze that enveloped it. "No, (Y/N)'s dead. I killed her. You're not her. You're lying."

"Buck, no. I'm not, I promise. Let me in and you'll see-"

"I don't think that's the best idea-" Tony tried with a rush forward, but was quickly shot down.

"I'm safe in here, and you're safe out there. Back off, Tony," you hissed. "Bucky, look at me. I promise, I'm (Y/N). You'll see. Come to the glass, please. If you're right, then there's nothing to lose, is there?"

"I suppose not..." he mumbled under his breath. He took the few steps forward to meet you, his hand raised and lined up with yours. The tension in the room outside of your conjoined cells was heightened and you could feel it even through the thick glass that separated you from it. His glance down at his hand wasn't lost on you, and you followed his eyeline to see the tremor in it; the soldier would never feel trepidation over something like this, and the fear that you had hidden thus far began to wane.

This was Bucky, already fighting his way out to get to you. To find his other half, and to let you save him again.

The depth of the barrier between you meant nothing once his hand touched it; the bolt of lightning that coursed through your connection nearly jolted you back from its power. It felt like death and life at the same time, an end and a beginning, fire and ice battling for domination. What Bucky was trying to find, the Soldier was trying to hide away; one of them wanted you there desperately to save them, and the other couldn't force you into silence fast enough. It was up to you to decide how strong you could be, and who you would allow to win.

Tony and Steve had watched it all play out in silence, other than the frantic, incessant beats of their hearts deafening them to anything else. Neither of them knew what was happening in the glass cages that they had trapped you in, and neither dared to consider interfering now. Tony could feel in his gut the moment that you had connected with Bucky, but he couldn't look away from the sight that was like a dagger in his chest. It was a feeling that he would need to learn to live with if he wanted to be with you; he had to find a way to accept that this other man would always be a part of you, and a part of your relationship if he approved of it or not.

"Thank you, Tony."

"Hmm?" he answered, jarring himself back to attention. "Oh...um, yeah...you too."

"I think it's working," Steve nodded towards you, "they look relaxed."

"They're connected. Of course, they look relaxed. Now we just need to see if she's connected to Barnes or his frosty alter ego."

"The Winter Soldier would never let this happen. She's gonna be okay, Tony."

"Promise?"

Steve looked at him with wide, but sad eyes, and no sound came from his mouth. Words were choked into silence in his throat, locked in by the dry weight of emotion and doubt in what he could only hope was true.

"You can't, can you?" Tony smiled weakly. "It's alright, I'm just happy enough to have her home again. I'll take it for as long as she'll let me."

"She won't choose him, if that's what you're thinking. She loves you...you know that, right?" But his friend didn't answer, keeping his stare locked on you. "Tony, come on. She had plenty of chances to go with him, and she always stayed with you. Look, even if she wanted him, I think there's also one very big part of all of this that you're not understanding."

"Oh yeah? Please feel free to enlighten me, then."

"He doesn't want her, not in that way, and she knows that."

~~~

Hours had passed by before you allowed the connection to break, but to you it had felt like mere minutes. Your hands had finally slipped from the glass, away from each other to thrust you both to reality again against your wills. When your eyes opened, you realized that it was time and that neither of you could stay in that hazy realm that protected you from the outside world any longer; neither of you could deny what had to be faced. Tony needed you to either stay or go once and for all, and Steve needed to know if he had his best friend back or if the fight for him had begun all over again. They were locked into purgatory with you, and it was time to let everyone go.

Your body collapsed into a heap on the floor, every muscle in your body aching and trembling with fatigue. Tony hurried to your side despite Steve's insistence that he wait for you to fully wake. His arms felt stronger than you remembered as they slid beneath you to lift you from the floor and to hold you against him.

"I'm right here, sweetheart," he whispered against your hair as he carried you from the room, "I'm not letting you go."

As Tony left, Steve took his cue to go into Bucky's cell, reaching down to help him up once he was sure that it was him looking back and not the soldier waiting to strike. "Hey, Buck, how ya feeling?"

"Like I just got my ass kicked."

"Well, sure, I guess that makes sense. Do you remember much of what happened here? With (Y/N)?"

"So, she was really here?"

"Yeah, she really was," Steve smiled cautiously, "Tony just took her to rest."

"I thought I was dreaming, Steve. She was dead, I felt it when it happened. How is she still alive?"

"Tony convinced Wanda and Strange to block you from her, and they blocked the memories she had of you, so it was like you never existed. To you, it would feel like she had died, because the connection was completely gone. It wasn't his proudest moment, and I think he'll be struggling with that decision for quite a while." Steve paused and waited for a reaction, but none came other than a nod of understanding. "They split up for a while once she found out. She left him to look for you."

"Of course, she did," Bucky groaned. "None of you could've stopped her? No one stopped to think about how dangerous that was for her to go off on her own? I had already killed her once, Steve, and I can't believe how irresponsible she-"

"Woah, Buck," Steve interrupted, knowing that what he was about to say wouldn't sit well, "I asked her to help. That's on me."

"You what?! Are you serious? What the hell were you thinking, Steve? You were there that night at the hospital, and you saw that look on Stark's face when he told us she was dead. How could you risk that happening again, to her...or to him? I thought they were your friends?"

"They are. That's why I asked her, Buck. She wasn't going to stop until she found you, and she didn't care what that meant for her. Asking her to help me so that I could be there with her was the only way to keep her safe. That's how Tony and I came to an agreement."

"Pfft, right," Bucky scoffed, "you and Stark agreeing on something? Like what?"

"That we were both missing the people we loved the most, and that we couldn't live without, so if we wanted them back, we had to work together."