January 2nd, 2015
Avengers Tower, New York City

Sixteen hours had passed before relief filled Mary's body when her baby was born. But the relief was soon filled with dread when she never heard the cries of her precious baby girl. Her second daughter never took her first breath into the new world. And no one knew how to tell Mary the news that Sarah Winnifred Barnes, was a still born.

"What's going on?" Mary pleads, sweat beading off her forehead as Steve and Tony watched Stephen and Bruce attempt to revive the baby girl, but it was no use. The umbilical cord had wrapped itself around the baby's neck, cutting the airflow almost instantly.

"Why don't i hear crying? Stephen what's going on!" Mary shouts as Bruce quickly takes Sarah, washing her. Stephen steps forward to his mentor, blocking her sight of Bruce with her baby.

"Mary, i need you to take a breath." Stephen instructs his mentor and friend, he glances at her brother and godson, shaking his head briefly. Tony's eyes widen, his eyes wont look away from Bruce, but then he knows Stephen needs to tell Mary alone, so he kissing her cheek before leaving the room, tears welling in his eyes as he shuts the door behind him.

Steve wont look away from his sister, her deathly pale skin, her deep sunken hazel eyes as she stares down her apprentice and friend. He refuses to leave her side. He wasn't there for Becca's birth. But he was there for Winnie's.

"Sarah Winnifred, right?" Stephen says, making sure he got the name right, Mary nods slowly.

"Yes, that's her name, why wont you let me hold her?" Mary asks, Steve slowly comes to the realization that something is wrong with Winnie.

Stephen hesitates, he dreads telling her, but he has too, "The umbilical cord.. was wrapped around her neck, cutting the airflow to her brain."

Mary's hazel eyes widen, "Winnie.. is a still born?" She whispers, tears falling from her eyes as her mind tries to comprehend what Stephen told her. Her heart shatters into millions of pieces as Bruce walks over slowly, holding out Winnie for Mary to hold.

The mother takes her baby girl into her arms slowly. Her baby's skin is a pale blue, she can make out a tuft of blonde hair on the top of Winnie's head. She's smaller than what an eight month old baby should be, indicating she had passed most likely at seven months or possibly six. Which would explain why Mary was sick so often recently.

Mary begins to shake as she kisses her daughter's forehead slowly, her hazel eyes closing as her lips touch her daughter's cold skin, tears fall from her eyes. "My baby girl.. my Winnie." She whispers, her voice cracking.

Bruce hesitates, his heart breaking as he watches his friend hold her baby, "Mary, she needs to be buried." He suggests, "But she can't stay like this. Her body wont last."

Mary's eyes open, something inside of her snapping, "No!" She shouts, "No one is doing anything with her!" Mary snaps, "She is my baby!"

Steve's blue eyes cloud with tears as he watches his sister begin to deteriorate in front of his eyes. His sister, a once vibrant woman who loved everyone and everything she ever came across. Gone in an instant, a shell of who she once was now remains.

"Take her from me and it's the last thing you'll do." Mary snaps at the men, cradling her daughter in her arms, hugging her close to her chest.

"But Mary-"

"No!" Mary screams, cutting Stephen off. Natasha bursts into the room, seeing what's happened, her heart shatters as she witnesses her friend and who she considers her sister scream in heartbreak.

"Mary?" Natasha whispers, trying to get her friend's attention. Mary's head snaps over to look at Natasha.

"What." The grieving mother grits out, "You're not taking her from me either."

Natasha shakes her head, "That's not what i was going to do. But don't you think we should clean her up? Dress her?" She suggests, trying to play to the mother inside of Mary to see if she'll willingly give up her baby if it meant changing her.

Mary hesitates, looking down at Winnie, nodding slowly, "She needs clothes.. she's cold." She murmurs, her mind playing with her, tricking her mind to believe there's still a chance at bringing Winnie back, "Can you get her warm?" She asks Natasha.

"Of course." The spy replies, nodding slowly at Stephen and Bruce as she carefully takes the baby girl into her arms. Her heart breaks more when she sees the state Winnie is in, "I'll dress her and get her warm." She says as she walks out of the room, Bruce following after her.

Steve can only look at his sister in shock and sadness. He knows that Mary knows that Winnie isn't alive, but how she's acting points to the fact that she's in denial, unwilling to come to terms that her baby died.

"Lizzie.. are you okay?" Steve asks quietly.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't i be?" She replies, her hazel eyes producing tears without her knowledge, "Why- why am i crying? Winnie's fine."

Steve looks at Stephen, telling him quietly to give them some space. The surgeon nods, squeezing his mentor's hand before he leaves the room.

"Mary, Winnie.. she passed away." Steve tells his sister, his blue eyes shedding their own tears as he watches his sister closely.

"What? No.. Nat has her. She's fine, Steve, Winnie's fine!" She shouts, shaking her head slowly.

"No, Mary's she's not. Winnie's with Ma and Pa." Her brother says, his Brooklyn accent showing itself as he begins to break down as well.

Mary's head snaps to look at her brother, "She's.. with Ma and Pa?" She whispers.

Steve nods, getting on his knees, keeling a firm grip of his sister's hands in his own, "Yeah, she's safe with Ma and Pa. They already love her so much." He murmurs.

Mary nods slowly, "That's good.. They've been so lonely." She says softly, looking at her brother, "Stevie? Why are you crying? Winnie's with Ma and Pa."

The next day, Mary is laying in her bed, refusing to eat anything that's brought to her. Her mind has come to terms with that she's lost the precious gift Bucky left her. How she was going to tell him broke her heart even more.

She laid in the middle of her bed for hours, clutching onto a Winnie the Pooh baby blanket the team had bought for Winnie. Her tears had stopped hours ago, but her sobs continued. She thought they'd never stop. Mary's startled out of her daze as she hears her window being opened. A sharp intake of air and footsteps coming towards her bed.

Mary had no clue who was in her room, it seemed like the person disabled Jarvis, which meant the person was an intruder. If the intruder was there to kill her she would welcome death with open arms.

But death never came.

She felt a dip in her bed and a cold, metal hand rest on her ankle, "Mary?" The intruder says. Mary recognizes the voice to be her husband's.

She doesn't move to acknowledge her husband, her breathing is shallow and short. Bucky looks her over slowly, she is in a nightgown, her hair is damp, she bathed recently he figures out, but he smells the iron smell of blood coming from in between her legs. And then he notices that her stomach isn't as large as it was the day prior.

Mary had the baby. But why she wasn't happy about it stumped Bucky. He just saw her yesterday, the two of them so happy about Winnie.

Something happened to the baby.

"Mary? What's wrong? What's happened." Bucky asks his wife slowly and cautiously, he can see that her state is fragile. Both mind and body.

"Winnie." Mary replies softly, her voice cracking and hoarse.

"What about Winnie? Where is she?" Bucky asks.

"Gone." Is all the mother can say, "She went home to be with Ma and Pa."

In that instant, Bucky's world comes crumbling to pieces. Everything he's built in his mind about what he could come home to in the future is gone in seconds. His world, his light, his little nurse, is a shell of who she was. The light is gone from her beautiful hazel eyes, her dark chocolate colored hair is limp and lost of life, her normally slight tanned skin is deathly pale.

His wife will never be the same, and he can't be there for her which sucks the air from his lungs. He can only watch the love of his life deteriorate in front of his eyes.

Bucky's flesh hand begins to rub circles on her back, hearing the sigh from her is enough to know he's doing something good for her. He lays down on the bed slowly, watching his wife shift herself to lay her head on his chest. His arms wrapping themselves around her small frame.

"How?" He asks quietly.

Mary hesitates, tears begin to fall from her eyes once more as it replays over and over again in her mind, "The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck. Cutting the airflow to her brain." She whispers into his chest, her small, shaky hand grips the fabric of Bucky's shirt.

Bucky's breathing stops as he hears how his daughter died, his heart breaking again. "Mary.. I-"

"Don't say anything." She cuts him off, "Just don't. Please. I don't know if i can handle reliving it again. Everyone saying their sorry whenever they see me is driving me insane." She snaps quietly.

All Bucky can do is nod, "I wont say anything then." He replies, seeing in her hands a Winnie the Pooh blanket. He knows it was meant for his baby daughter, but she'll never get to use it.

Soon Mary is fast asleep on his chest, her breathing steady as she grips tightly onto his shirt. The husband still wide awake as tears flow silently from his eyes, his head leaned against the wooden bed frame as he stares up at the ceiling. Glow in the dark stars decorate the ceiling, causing him to smile but he drops the smile just as quickly as it appeared on his face.

He has to leave her. Again. Becca is waiting for him at their safe house.

He slowly moves Mary off of him, tucking her in the bed. He thinks, he wants to leave her something of his, but he has nothing to offer her. His ring was taken from him when his arm was torn off his body from the fall.

All he had were the clothes on his back, but he would gladly give her them if it meant her happiness in this time of darkness. But he knows Mary too well despite the spotty memories of her in his mind. She would be furious with him for not keeping himself warm in the snow.

So he makes a rash decision. He leaves her room through the window he entered in. Rushing through the snow to a flower shop. Most flowers are withered due to the snow and cold weather, but he knows Mary's favorite flowers last through the winter.

When he get back to the tower, he's holding two roses, a red one and an orange one. Winnie the Pooh's colors.

He sets them on Mary's nightstand with a yellow ribbon tied around them. He knows she can preserve them, whether that's drying them out or keeping them in a book. He just wants her to have something to remember him by. Because he doesn't know when he'll see her again.

Bucky leans over his wife, pulling the blankets past her shoulders, kissing her cheek, "Ty lyubov' moyey zhizni. svet v moyey temnote, samo dykhaniye v moikh legkikh. Ty moya prichina dlya zhizni. Tak chto prodolzhay zhit. (You are the love of my life, the light in my darkness, the very breath in my lungs. You are my reason for living. So keep living.)" He whispers to his wife, writing what he just said in her notebook, placing it on top of the two roses as he walks to the window, leaving her once again.

Present Day

Few days pass, the team had been going through files upon files of documents looking for anything and everything they could use to track Ultron. "He's all over the globe. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs, reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place." Maria says to Steve and Mary as they walk out of the elevator and towards the group surrounding the table full of boxes and papers.

"Fatalities?" Steve asks as the three walk up the stairs.

"Only when engaged. Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears and something too fast to see." Maria answers back, Mary's eyes widen.

"Maximoffs." Mary whispers, Steve rubs her back briefly as he nods in agreement.

"It makes sense he'd go to them. They have something in common." Steve comments.

Maria shakes her head as they reach the top of the stairs she hands Steve her tablet after pulling up a picture, "Not anymore." The two siblings look at the picture on the tablet, Strucker murdered in his cell with the word 'Peace' written in his blood on the wall behind his body. Ultron's figure standing in the background.

Mary gasps, her hand covering her mouth as she stares at the picture before following her brother to the rest of the group, "I know he did horrible things, but did he deserve to die like that?" The two siblings make their way to the rest of the group, Steve hands Thor the tablet with the picture. The Norse god's eyes narrow.

"What's this?" Tony asks as Thor slaps the tablet against the genius's chest in anger.

"A message. Ultron killed Strucker." Steve says sternly, still holding a small grudge against his sister's godson for creating Ultron behind his and the team's back.

Tony looks over the picture, cringing in disgust briefly, "And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us." He teases, only Becca laughs but soon realizes the tension in the room. Bruce hovers over Tony's shoulder, looking at the picture with fear in his eyes.

"This is a smokescreen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Natasha asks as she and Mary sit on each side of Becca. The teenager rests her head on her mother's shoulder while her hands are in the redhead's hands. Surrounded by those who love her, making her feel safe.

Steve puts the pieces together in his mind, "Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." He states, smiling down at Becca, his hand smoothing down her hair in a gesture of comfort that his niece gladly accepts.

Natasha nods, typing quickly on the computer in front of her, "I bet he-" She trails off as her eyes narrow, "Yep. Everything we had on Strucker had been erased." She says.

Mary looks at the group, smirking, "Not everything." She says, "I still think we should be using hard copies over digital." She comments and soon everyone is surround by boxes full of old files on Strucker.

"Known associates. Well, Strucker had a lot of friends." Steve murmurs as he pulls out a file, opening it up and reading it over. Mary nods, then continues to pull out files pertaining to the dead Hydra scientist.

"Well these people are all horrible." Becca mutters under her breath as she reads over some files about the people Strucker was in contact with. Mary nods in agreement, flipping open another file.

As Becca opens another file, Tony points to the picture, "Wait, I know that guy." He says to his sister. She stands up, handing him the file as she looks it over with him, "From back in the day. He operates on the black market arms." He says as he hands Thor the picture of the man. Steve and Mary shoot him both accusing looks and Tony raises his hands in defense, "There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very "Ahab"." He finishes, Mary takes another picture from the file, looking over the man.

"Ulysses Klaue?" She says, reading his name aloud, Tony nods in confirmation.

Thor's eyes scan the picture, then points to something in particular on Klaue's neck, "This." He says, Tony leans over, looking it over.

"Uh.. It's a tattoo. I don't think he had it-"

"No. Those are tattoos-" Thor says, pointing to the other markings on his neck, then points to one in particular, "This is a brand."

Mary looks over at the picture, nodding, "He's right, it's a brand. I haven't seen a brand like that in decades." She murmurs. Bruce walks over to the computer, typing in the dealer's name, pulling up the brand.

"Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way." Bruce confirms, rolling his seat back to show everyone. Becca walks up, typing in some more coding to track down the dialect's origins.

"What dialect?" Mary asks her daughter.

Becca pulls up the country the dialect is from, looking it over multiple times, "Wakanada?" She tries to say the name, shaking her head, "Wa-Wa-Wakanda." She says. Mary, Tony and Steve all look at each other.

"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods.." Tony trails off, looking between Mary and Steve as they all glance at Steve's shield.

"I thought your father said he got the last of it?" Steve questions.

Becca looks at her family, "I don't understand.. What comes out of Wakanda?" She asks, stepping towards the three of them. Mary looks down at her brother's shield once more.

"The strongest metal on Earth." Mary answers.

Steve leans towards Tony, "Where is this guy now?" He asks.

Mary is seated inside the quinjet with Bruce while the rest of the team are infiltrating the ship yard, "Everything will be fine, Bruce." She says, trying to reassure him but mostly herself. Her nerves are getting the better of her and Bruce can see it. He knows panic attacks and he can see Mary going through one.

"Are you telling me that? Or yourself." He replies softly. He's worried about her mental state and what all of this will do to her. The two of them look over at the laptop screen, seeing Ultron come into Tony's view. Mary can see Becca on the left of her brother.

"Please stay safe.." Mary mutters into the coms.

In the ship yard, Ultron yells at Klaue when Tony speaks up, "Ahh, Junior. You're gonna break your old man's heart." He quips as he lands on the catwalk in the ship, Thor and Steve flank him from behind while Becca is standing slightly behind Tony, her rifle in his grip.

"If I have to." Ultron says dryly, his head turns to Becca, "Why do you put up with them? You could unlock your full potential with me by your side, Rebecca." He says to the teenager. Pietro and Wanda watch the group of four but their eyes are trained on Becca.

The teenage girl hesitates, "Because I was trapped in evil all my life. I won't go back." She answers, tightening her grip on her rifle.

The red glowing eyes of Ultron's narrow slightly at her answer, "Pity for you to die at such a young age."

"We don't need to break anything." Thor says to Ultron, referring back to Tony's comment.

"Clearly you've never made an omelet." Ultron quips. Becca's blue eyes look up to her brother, Tony looks back at her.

"He beat me by one second." He replies.

Pietro steps forward slightly from behind Ultron, "Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark. It's what, comfortable? Like old times?" He asks, referring to the bombs and weapons below them.

Tony shakes his head, "This was never my life." He replies.

"You can still walk away from this." Steve says to the twins, trying to get them to back down from the looming fight.

"Oh, we will." Wanda says bitterly, smirking at the men.

Steve steps forward onto the catwalk more, "I know you've suffered." He starts to reason with the twins but Ultron cuts him off by groaning.

"Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war. I'm sure your sister is the same. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but.." He quips, pretending to throw up.

Thor grips his hammer tightly as he steps onto the catwalk as well, "If you believe in peace, then let us keep it." He states.

"I think you're confusing peace with quiet." Ultron retorts.

"Yuh-Huh. What's the Vibranium for?" Tony asks, changing the subject quickly.

Becca can see Ultron smirking as he answers her brother, "I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan." He says, waving his arm in the air before clenching his fist, using the gravity around them to pull the four towards himself and the twins then shooting a repulser at Tony, sending him flying into the metal wall behind him.

"Buddy!" Becca yells as the twins start to attack her, Thor and Steve. The iron legion soon comes out and one tackles Becca to the ground. She groans as she shoots it with a smaller hand gun that was attached to her thigh. She quickly uses her super strength to tear the head off. She stands up, looking at all the fighting happening. She looks up, seeing Tony fighting Ultron.

When she turns around, she's tackled to the ground once more by a blur, Pietro. The older boy looks down at Becca, "You know, you could still join us." He says.

Becca narrows her eyes, "Never." She flips herself, sweeping her leg under Pietro's knocking him down, "I've been to hell. I'm not going back." She snaps, making her way to her uncle as he throws her shield past her, dismantling a legion drone that was behind her. Becca grips the shield out of the legion, swinging it back to her uncle.

"You're getting good using the shield." He comments as he swings one of his legs down onto an oncoming legion drone. Becca smiles before she and her uncle attempt to advance Wanda, but her magic sends them backwards. Becca groans as she stands up. Gunfire from Klaue's men soon ring out in the ship.

Steve kneels down and swings his shield, but Pietro uses his speed to knock Becca's uncle onto the ground with a punch. Thor sends Mjolnir towards where Pietro was. Becca blinks her eyes as she sees Pietro attempt to grab the hammer. He's sent flying along with the hammer down to the containment part of the brig in the ship below everyone. Becca raises her rifle at Klaue's men, shooting back at them when they try to advance her. She turns around to see a man with an electric arrow planted into his chest.

Becca looks up to see Clint, she smiles at him, "Thanks Uncle Clint." She says softly into the earpieces. She jerks back when a drone comes towards her with her uncle's shield. Steve jumps over her, grapping hold of his shield and pinning the shield against the drone's neck. Thor quickly intercedes and swings Mjolnir against the drone's head, detaching it from the body. When Steve jumps down to where Pietro is, he sends his shield flying, knocking three of Klaue's men unconscious before catching it and knocking Pietro back down to where he was.

"Stay down kid." Steve grits out, Becca jumps down to stand beside her Uncle. Steve jogs off while Becca squats down to look at Pietro.

"You know, you could join us." She suggests, "You don't have to fight for him." Becca adds, referring to Ultron. She stands up, only to be knocked down by Wanda's powers. Becca gasps in shock and pain when Wanda flicks her wrist, sending her magic into Becca's mind.

Back at the quinjet, Mary is pacing anxiously as Bruce stands up and presses his fingers to the com connected onto the jet, "Guys.. Is this a code green?" He asks.

"Yes." The reply is staticky and broken, Mary tries to stop him but Bruce pushes the button to open the door to the jet.

"Bruce, I don't think that was the team." She says, walking outside with him, looking around. They both can hear the gunfire from a distance. Mary can hear her brother talking over the coms.

"Thor, status?" Steve asks.

"The girl tried to warp my mind. Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty.." The Norse god replies but quickly tails off.

"Thor?" Mary says, walking back into the jet, "Steve what's going on?" She asks, but she receives no reply, causing her anxiety to creep back into her mind. "Natasha, do you copy?" She asks, but again, no reply.

"Becca? Baby?" She asks her daughter, no reply. She looks at Bruce, "I've lost the connection." She tells him as she hears Clint.

"Whoever's standing we gotta move!" He calls to the team, "Guys?" He calls out once more.

"Clint? What's going on!" Mary says, her heartrate spiking as her breathing begins to get faster and unsteady.

"Wanda, she attempted to mind control me, but I stopped her in time." Clint replies, "Mary.. I don't think the others were that lucky." He murmurs, the mother gasps in shock, tearing pricking the corners of her eyes. She looks over to a part of the open jungle, seeing the twins.

Mary's hazel eyes widen as they both look over at the jet. She yelps in surprise when Pietro is standing behind her, holding her arms down tightly, "Why are you doing this?" She asks him, "You don't have to do this, you can stop this right now." She pleads with them as Wanda moves her hand, her fingers twitching as her red magic flows out of her hand.

"But we don't want to stop." Wanda says, smirking as she flicks her magic towards Mary's head. Pietro releases her as she collapses onto the ground, the twins then leave her and go after Bruce. Mary then sees flashes of the past year replay in her mind. Winnie dying in her arms. Mary screams in agony as she clutches her shirt, breathing heavily.

"No!" She screams again, tears falling from her eyes, "Not my baby! Take me! Leave her alone!" She says out loud while her mind plays Winnie's death over and over again. Her mind then jumps to her depression and anxiety. Mary's standing in front of a full length mirror. She's dressed in grey leggings and a sports bra. She cries out in her mind as her body slowly deteriorates in front of her eyes in the mirror, her ribs slowly becoming more prominent. Her cheeks and eyes sinking inward.

The reflection then tilts it's head at Mary, "Do you see what you look like? This is what you've become." The reflection snaps.

"No, I never wanted this.." Mary says in reply, curling into a corner, tucking her knees close to her body as the reflection comes out of the mirror, stalking towards Mary. "Leave me alone!"

"You did this to yourself, you know. And it's slowly killing you from the inside out." Mary's skin and bones reflection states harshly, "You killed Winnie. You didn't save her! What kind of mother are you if you can't protect your own children, hm? Becca was taken from you and tortured for seventy years!"

"I didn't know where she was! I looked for her!" Mary replies, tears streaking her face as the reflection continues to belittle her.

"Not hard enough. She was turned into a killer because you couldn't protect her!" The reflection snaps before fading away, leaving Mary to her own thoughts. She grips her hair, rocking back and forth in the corner she is sitting in when she looks up and she's in her bedroom back in Brooklyn back in the 40's. She's dressed in her emerald dress and her make up is done like it used to be while her hair is pinned out of her eyes. A knock is on the door before it opens, a figure walks in, scaring Mary when she looks up to see Bucky dressed in his Army uniform.

"Doll? Whatcha doin' on the floor?" He asks, his Brooklyn accent is thick like it was before Hydra. Mary smiles softly when Bucky pulls her up off the floor, kissing her forehead. "I promised i'd be back."

Mary leans into him, shutting her eyes only to open them when Bucky backs away from her, "Where are the kids?" He asks her. Mary panics when she looks down at her hands and sees a baby onsie Becca wore in her hand and Winnie's blanket in the other.

"I- I don't know.." She stutters out, Bucky scoffs in disgust, his whole demeanor changes in an instant.

"How could you lose them, Mary?" He snaps, "They're our children! You were suppose to protect them!" He shouts, Mary backs up against the wall, shaking her head repeatedly.

"I can find them." She starts, but Bucky holds out his hand, stopping her from saying more.

"How can I love you when you can't keep our children safe. When you let the most evil people on the planet kidnap Rebecca. When you killed Winnifred! You killed Winnie, Mary! You let Hydra take Becca!" Bucky shouts, walking towards her slowly, terrifying Mary with every step closer he takes.

"But James, I-"

"Save it. I can't even look at you." He says, turning away from Mary, starting to walk out the door. Mary scrambles off the wall, rushing to Bucky, grabbing his hand. Tears are streaming down her face.

"No! Please, James! I can find them! I can get them back! I'm a good mother." She pleads, "Don't leave me, please!" but her pleas fall on deaf ears when Bucky thrusts Mary away from him. Her body slamming against the dresser in the room.

"You're pathetic. No one ever cared about you. Everyone around you dies." Bucky snaps at her once more, "You're not fit to be a doctor or a mother." He finishes by slamming the door behind him.

Mary cries out, her body curling into a ball on the floor, "I'm a good mother. I'm a good mother. I'm a good mother." She repeats over and over again, trying to convince herself when she loses consciousness.