When you arrived at the hastily agreed upon meeting point that Walker came up with, there was no one in sight. It was a dark and eerie old warehouse, the only sound around you an annoying constant drip in the distance, just loud enough to grate on your nerves and add to your already incessant anxiety over the situation. You ventured out slowly to look around into each corner, details hidden by shadows and lifting clouds of dust as your feet moved across the uneven surface of the old concrete floor. You had no idea why Walker would choose a place like this other than if he wanted complete removal from view; to hide something that he trusted you with, though you had no inclination as to where trust would come from. You had no idea who the other was beyond name and loose associations. Maybe he was counting on your life as an Avenger to define your character, or maybe it wasn't that at all; maybe it was your Stark name and resources that he needed. He wasn't exactly held in the best regard after his antics across the world in such a short time as Captain America, and maybe he needed a well-known face to represent him.

He must have forgotten that Steve was your friend. One of your best friends, and to see this guy carry the shield made you physically ill. Whatever it was, you wanted nothing to do with it. You had only one purpose and reason for even being here, and he would soon know exactly what that was.

"Walker?" you whispered harshly, as loudly as you could without being too obvious. "Walker, are you here? Walker...OW! What the hell?!" you shouted out, feeling a stab into your thigh as you turned one of the dark corners into the next room. "Son of a bitch!"

"Quiet!" Walker snapped. "Just sit down before that kicks in."

"Before what...kicks in?" You stumbled slightly, feeling your head quickly begin to swim and your vision cloud over. "What did you do?"

"Started an experiment."

Grabbing your head, you leaned against the nearest wall, feeling his hands take your arms but you couldn't shake him away. Your feet felt heavy, then up your legs and to your torso, followed by a searing heat that built in your chest and felt as if you could breathe fire. If only you could, you might have a chance of getting away. "Walker-"

"Just sit down, okay?" he urged. "It won't take long. Just try to relax."

"Relax?! What did you do?!"

"I couldn't take it myself until I could see it with my own eyes. I had to guarantee the serum was safe first, and you were willing to meet."

"The...the serum? Are you fucking kidding me?!" You slid down the wall, pushing your hands against it to try to stay up, knowing that if you gave in then you'd be fully at his mercy. You tried to connect with Bucky, the first time in so long, hoping that he was open to you so that he would know, but you had ruined that chance with your last meeting. You gave it all of your might to stay on your feet, but they betrayed you and you finally fell to the ground. "I don't want this."

"I'm sorry, (Y/N)," he answered flatly, his expression lifeless from the little of it you could still see. "But if this works, I have big plans for us. Plans that you'll follow if you ever want to go home and see Morgan again."

~~~

The next time your eyes opened, the warehouse was gone. You felt like you had slept for an eternity, and the energy you had lost was returned in excess that made your body yearn for movement and your brain eager for stimulation. Bright lights now took the place of deep shadows, and you no longer sat on an unforgiving dirty floor; instead, you felt the comfort of a soft bed and warm linens, clean and crisp around you, almost impossible to deny until you saw his face staring back at you.

"You're awake," John sighed. "I was starting to worry."

"Where am I?"

"You're safe, don't worry."

"If I'm with you, I'm not safe," you countered. Pushing yourself up, you spun your legs over the side of the bed and sat very still, waiting to see if the dizziness had gone and if you had the strength to stand. Much to your surprise, you felt an energy within yourself like you could do anything with ease, and your vision had never been sharper. "Oh my god," you groaned, lowering your head into your hands, "it wasn't a nightmare. You did this."

Walker stood quickly and crossed the room to kneel in front of you, his eyes searching yours eagerly once you finally looked up to acknowledge him. "So, it worked? How do you feel?"

"Very murdery."

He pushed back and stood straight, taking a few steps away from you and the glare that was boring into his soul. Now that the serum had become a part of you, and you were feeling the success that he wanted for himself, he looked scared of being the only one in the room with a disadvantage. "(Y/N), this isn't a bad thing."

"How do you figure?"

"You're a super soldier now," he tried. "You can have anything. You can live so much longer for Morgan. You can lead the team where Tony left off-"

"Don't you dare say his name to me," you hissed, rushing to your feet and crossing the room towards him. "He would kill you for what you've done to me, without a second thought. I might just carry on that legacy for him."

Walker raised his hands, pleading for you to stop and listen, "(Y/N), I need you to help me, and this was the only way I could make that happen. I needed to know that I could take the serum too, and then with you at my side we can stop Karli and her band of terrorists before more people die. You want that too, right? A better world for your daughter? So that she doesn't have to live in fear every day?"

"Stop talking about my family like you know me. You don't know me at all."

"I know that you're an Avenger, and that means making the world safe. That's who you are, (Y/N), and this serum will help you make that happen."

"No. I don't believe for a second that you have an altruistic bone in your body. This is for your own gain, right?"

"A happy side effect, yes," he conceded eagerly. "But once this is over, we can move to the next thing and the next, until it all gets back to the way they were."

"Before the snap?"

"Yes."

"That's never going to happen," you said, shaking your head and pushing past him towards the door. "Nothing will ever be the way it was, not for me, so this was all a waste of your time, Walker. I have no reason to help you."

"No," he goaded, "but you do have Sam and Bucky to save."

You stopped in your tracks and turned towards him, the heat growing in your cheeks as your anger built at even more names that he had no right to utter. "What do you mean?"

"They're out there right now, trying to take on Karli themselves, trying to reason with her rather than trying to stop her. They broke Zemo out of prison, (Y/N). They're not thinking clearly, and they're going to get themselves hauled to prison if they keep this up. They need you to talk sense into them, they'll listen to you. Maybe more than ever, once they see what you can do now." Walker paused and cautiously stepped closer once more. "I know that you have no love for Zemo, (Y/N). Help me bring him in. He needs to pay for what he's done to you and everyone you love. Help me stop Sam and Bucky from letting him get away with it all."

~~~

Despite the gnawing ache in his chest that was telling him that leaving you behind was the wrong decision, Bucky gave in to Sam and Zemo, leaving to continue their hunt for Karli in hopes that they would find her before Walker did. They all knew that if he found her first it would only make everything worse and put more innocent people in danger, and now Bucky feared that you were one of those people. Even with the past that haunted him every day, if he was a part of a loss like that, to be a part of you getting hurt or causing Morgan to lose another parent, it would be insurmountable, and those other voices would be drowned out with a new terror for him to suffer. After a nearly silent plane ride, with Sam speaking volumes of disappointment through his stare alone, Bucky all but stomped his way into the next safe house with Sam quickly trailing behind and trying to talk some sense into his reluctant co-worker.

"You saw wrong," Sam argued, "there's no way that she's in with Walker. It makes no sense."

"I know what I saw, Sam."

"Yeah, I've heard that before. Listen, let's just entertain that you're right and figure that out. If we can't, then maybe you need your eyes checked. (Y/N) would never be on his side, no way."

"You're seeing something in her that's no longer there, Sam. You're clouded by it and your history," Zemo added quietly. "Her interaction with Bucky in that club was heavy with resentment. It could be felt from across the room. She has changed into something else...something darker and not the person that you've known for so long. The person you have once loved is gone."

"That's our friend you're talking about," Sam warned. "She's been through hell and back but she's still (Y/N)."

"I certainly hope so, for her sake, and yours," Zemo nodded towards Bucky. "Having a soulmate on such a tortured and destructive path cannot be an easy prospect to face."

"She did it for me," Bucky answered readily. "She never gave up on me until...until Tony was gone. But I don't blame her anymore. I have to let that go. After seeing her again, I know that I need to stay with her and pull her back from this. She did that for me so many times that I've lost count."

"And you are a better man for it?"

"Absolutely. I'm standing here today because of it. Because of her."

"Then why are the two of you so divided now if she brought you this acceptance of yourself that you were unable to find on your own?" Zemo took a seat across from the other two, genuinely interested in the answers he was getting. Normally he would be pushing like this with an agenda, to break down his enemy, but in this moment, he was purely nothing more than curious and seeking understanding of a dynamic that he found fascinating.

"I don't know, Zemo," Bucky sighed. "All I do know is that when Tony died, he took her with him. I haven't been able to really connect with her since then, and I don't know if I ever will. But if I can't, it doesn't matter for me. I just want her to find a way to be okay, and if it turns out that's without me, then that's how it has to be. But I refuse to stand by and let her destroy herself like this. Nothing good can come from associating with Walker, and I'm going to find out what's happening. I know what I saw, and I'm putting a stop to it whether she likes it or not."