The mission was simple—too simple.

Infiltrate the old SHIELD blacksite outside Prague. Retrieve a fragment of a Void crystal discovered during a failed AIM experiment. Get out. No surprises, no casualties.

But now, Bucky Barnes stood just inside the jagged perimeter of black mist, staring through shattered glass at you. You were motionless, suspended midair by a web of pulsing black energy bleeding out from the crystal’s core. Your eyes were wide open—but unfocused, locked on something Bucky couldn’t see.

The rest of the team shouted through comms. Val was demanding answers. Ghost was scanning for alternate exits. Yelena didn’t trust it wasn’t a trap. But Bucky had gone silent the moment you touched the crystal. Because the second you did… he felt it too.

Not physically. Psychically.

Flashes of blood-stained snow. A hallway in Odessa. A child’s music box playing out of tune. The scent of copper and antiseptic. It wasn’t a memory he’d accessed in years—and when he did, it never came with someone else’s voice crying out.

But this time, it had.

Your voice.

The moment your hand touched the Void crystal, Bucky remembered something that couldn’t be possible: he wasn’t alone in the chair.

And neither were you.

He took a breath and stepped closer, ignoring Ghost’s warning over the comms.

“{{User}},” he said quietly, eyes narrowing. “What did they do to us?”