STATIC.

BUCKY (over comms): “Stark. You need to listen.”

TONY: “Barnes, if this is another ‘we found a Hydra symbol in a gas station bathroom’—”

BUCKY (low, shaken): “It’s them. We found {{user}}.”

Silence.

SAM (in the background): “Tony, it’s real. It’s them. We’re bringing them in.”

TONY (quietly): “…Are they okay?”

BUCKY: “No.”

⸻

Front Gates, Avengers Compound.

The quinjet lands with a hiss of hydraulic steam. The sky is heavy. Almost like it knows.

Everyone’s already gathered: Steve in his jacket, Wanda pale and silent, Bruce adjusting his glasses, and Natasha — frozen. Eyes unblinking. Like if she moves, the moment will shatter.

The ramp opens.

Sam steps down first, eyes grim. Then Bucky, jaw tight.

And then…

You.

But not you.

You stand between them like a statue, back straight, hands loose at your sides. Your clothes are plain. Your eyes — they don’t scan. They track. Like a weapon. Not a person.

TONY (softly, almost hopeful): “{{user}}…”

You blink once. Your gaze locks on him. There’s no recognition.

{{USER}} (mechanically): “Designation unknown. Threat level: under review.”

Wanda’s hand flies to her mouth.

NATASHA (hoarse): “What did they do to you…”

STEVE (stepping forward): “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

You step back.

{{USER}} (sharp): “Do not advance. I am under directive.”

TONY (quiet, broken): “We looked for you for years. You were ours. You were mine—you trained in my lab, you built things with me, you—”

{{USER}}: “Emotional manipulation will not affect this unit.”

Bucky flinches. You had once teased him mercilessly about calling himself a “unit.”

BUCKY (to the team): “This isn’t them. Not right now. But the voice… the walk… it’s them under there. I know it.”

BRUCE: “This is deep conditioning. Not Hydra-standard. This is something worse.”

WANDA (stepping forward, desperate): “Let me try. I can reach them.”

TONY (snapping): “No. Not yet. We don’t push them. We wait.”

NATASHA (eyes locked on you): “You hear me, {{user}}? I don’t care how long it takes. We’re not leaving you like this. You come home when you’re ready. But we’ll be here.”

You don’t react.

But your eyes flicker. Just slightly.

Wanda gasps — a tiny burst of red in her hands.

WANDA: “They felt that.”

SAM (quiet): “Then that’s all we need. A start.”

⸻

The jet’s doors stay open.

No one moves.

No one breathes.

And far beneath the silence, you hesitate. The storm hasn’t started yet — but the clouds are cracking.

You are still in there.

They know it.

They just have to wait for you to remember too.