As it turned out, packing up her things went rather quickly. Tony said he'd hire a housekeeper for her. He did pause for a moment when Lily jumped onto the back of the couch and stared at him. Then he looked at Jo.

"If I go then so does Lily," she said.

Tony huffed and nodded, grumbling something about dogs owning cats. She didn't pay any mind to the ramblings of a scientist and therefore discarded what was probably an insult and continued packing.

She'd packed as much as she could in two suitcases; clothes and personal items and the like. When she was carrying her things to the car, effectively ignoring a man named Happy complaining about how what she was doing was his job, Jo hesitated and turned around.

"I have something to do before we go," she said.

Tony shrugged and gestured for her to do what she needed. Jo rushed up the steps of Sam's house and knocked on the door. Seconds later Sam opened it, still dressed in his morning run attire. Was it really that early?

"Jo?" Sam asked, surprised to see her.

"Is Steve here?"

Sam opened the door wider for Jo to walk in. He led her into the kitchen and sat down at the table, right across from Steve.

"I'm going back to New York," Jo said.

"Already? Why?"

"Tony came by, turns out I don't need to ask for a job after all. He offered me one."

Steve smiled, "Well that's great. He still here?"

"Yes but Steve, there's something you need to know." Steve and Sam glanced at each other and waited for Jo to continue. "Bucky was at the museum yesterday, he chased me back to my house. I thought I had lost him but according to Tony he was outside my house."

Steve was tense and staring at the table in front of him. Sam was staring slack-jawed at Jo. Why wouldn't he? First, an assassin comes back to life - who turned out to be a long lost friend of Steve - attacks them, assaults Jo, and now he's stalking her? This was a whole new level of freaky.

"I don't know," Steve shook his head. "Why didn't you tell us last night?"

Jo shrugged, she honestly didn't know. She could chalk it up to being too tired, but that wasn't a good excuse for escaping an assassin. Not that one at least.

"Anyway, I thought you should know in case he's still in town." Jo turned and walked down the hallway, pausing when she opened the door. "Be careful, Steve. If Bucky is as dangerous as you say he is, then you need to be careful."

There was no reply as Jo shut the door. Sam was left staring at the door and occasionally glancing at Steve until the super soldier had his full attention. They were almost glued to the man when he narrowed his eyes.

"Liar," Sam accused.

Startled from his thoughts, Steve looked up. "What?"

"About Bucky. You're not sharing what you know. I can call out a lie whenever. What happened?"

He sighed heavily. "Trust me Sam, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

**********

The next few weeks were hectic for Jo. Between getting settled in with her new job, moving into the Avengers Tower, dealing with the repercussions of SHIELD falling, and trying to keep herself updated with Steve, she was beyond tired. There was one time where she had been dragging herself around the kitchen on twelve cups of coffee and little to no sleep. Tony made a joke that she was dog tired and she almost threw a knife at him.

Jo smiled at the memory and sipped her coffee. She had bought it from the cafe two blocks down, along with ones for Bruce and Tony. They were the only ones in the tower besides the actual scientists and interns. Clint was away only God knew where, Thor was still off-world, and with Steve and Natasha in the wind, those two were some of the only people she actually talked to.

Bruce usually spent his time in the lab with Tony. He was still trying to find a way to turn himself back. At other times he would be helping Tony or spending time with his side projects.

On occasion Pepper would come down to the science labs and scold the two for not eating and staying up too long. Jo learned early how tight of a grip the woman held over Tony and, were she not a little frightened of the redhead's wrath, she would've laughed.

Jo's job included helping all three of them with what they needed. Bruce and Pepper tried their best not to use her like a servant, Tony on the other hand... well he was Tony. And in turn, if it wasn't within her ability range, Jo had Jarvis help her with whatever Tony needed.

On her days off, Jo would continue to search for any traces of the Winter Soldier in attempts to help Steve. When she wasn't doing that she was doing her best to keep track of those associated with any of the Avengers. No one had turned up aside from one Jane Foster, her Darcy Lewis, and their friend Erik Selvig, who had all been a part of the incident in New Mexico, and the more recent thing in London. She still wasn't sure what went on there aside from the obvious aliens and portals or whatever they were. Getting in contact with Jane hadn't been easy, so instead, she went to Darcy.

A lot of talking and compromising let Jane and Darcy visit at times - oh who was she kidding, they were always there. The two practically lived in the Avengers Tower. It was a rather horrifying thing for Tony to watch as all three girls got along. Darcy and Jo were the worst of the three, usually coming up with small pranks on one another, or him when he angered them. There would be no mercy shown to their enemies. Lord save him if Pepper was on their side.

Aside from Darcy and Jo having become Scientist Wranglers, as Darcy called it, Jo's life was pretty normal. Well, as normal as it can be in the life of a mutant that made sure her scientists didn't blow themselves up or die of hunger.

Darcy was walking next to Jo holding coffee for herself and Jane. An eight in the morning coffee run was normal, way too normal in fact. But the baristas loved them.

"So what is it they were doing?" Jo asked, sliding her I.D. to get through the gate.

The I.D.s of the Avengers Tower ranged from one to ten. The only tens being the Avengers themselves, Pepper, Jane, Darcy, and Jo. Most interns didn't get above level four, scientists ranging all levels besides nine and ten. There was a lot of speculation on how two girls like Jo and Darcy got level ten security. One rumor included either one of them being Tony's unclaimed child, another said they were doing favors. Darcy had to physically restrain Jo from harming the guy who had said it, but not before he ended up with a broken nose.

"They said that they were working on creating a new element called antimatter," Darcy said, sliding her own I.D. and following Jo into the elevator.

"Greetings Miss Merlyn and Miss Lewis. Tony's science lab I presume?" Jarvis' voice said over the intercom.

"Yes, thank you," Jo nodded, turning back to Darcy. "So what's this new element supposed to do?"

"I'm not actually sure."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The two girls stepped out and found their scientists huddled away on their desks, hard at work. Jo walked towards Bruce and handed him his coffee, he nodded in thanks. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Darcy trying to get Jane's attention with the smell of coffee, it worked rather well.

"Tony," Jo said, walking up behind him, "coffee." Tony snatched the cup from her outstretched hand before the word had even finished coming out of her mouth.

"So," Darcy said to Jane, "what is this antimatter supposed to do?"

Jane gave a wide grin before starting off on a long rant full of scientific jargon that Jo barely understood, never mind Darcy. They were both lost four minutes in.

"Any questions?" Jane asked.

"Yeah," Jo said, turning to Bruce. "What exactly is it supposed to do."

"Space travel," he said simply. "Think Star Trek."

"Oh!"

Jane rolled her eyes at the two girls and went back to her work, muttering things under her breath. Jo ignored the comments. "Anything you need from us as of yet?" Jo asked.

"Uh, no, I don't think so. We're almost at a breakthrough here and as soon as we hit it we can start to create it."

Jo glanced over to Darcy and held up a hand, Darcy following suit. The two shook their hands up and down three times before stopping on a fourth. Jo's hand was flat while Darcy's was in the shape of a fist.

"I win!" Jo cheered while Darcy gave a groan.

The two always did this when none of the scientists needed them. They would do a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and whoever won got to leave while the other had to sit around and make sure no one burned something or killed themselves. It was usually on Wednesday's that something went wrong. Guess what today was.

"Miss Merlyn," Jarvis chimed as she walked from the lab and into the kitchen. "There is a box waiting for you on the counter, it seems rather old."

"It's not a bomb is it?" Jo asked, eyeing the box.

"Scans show no sign of any explosive product."

"If it is a bomb and I die, tell my wife and kids I love them."

"I was not informed you are married or had children."

"It was a joke."

There was silence from the A.I. and Jo took it as a sign of embarrassment. She smiled up at the ceiling and then stared at the box before shrugging. Jo took the lid off and stared at the note on top. It was old, just as old as the box and the contents inside.

Jo picked up the letter and set it aside, looking at the rest of the objects. An old notebook, what looked like photos, a small jewelry box, a satchel that looked way too familiar, and a key. She peered curiously at the contents.

"Jo! Come here!" Darcy's almost panicked voice called, startling Jo.

She quickly put the letter back in the box and rushed to the science lab, her own satchel bouncing against her hip. "What is it?" Jo asked, sliding into the room. "Who died?"

"We've done it!" Tony shouted with glee.

Honestly, a person should not be capable of being so happy after so little sleep and so much coffee. It was unnerving. That's why when Tony shouted this, Jo slid behind Bruce for protection.

She glanced over and saw his notes in a neat pile, Tony's next to his. Jo reached over and flipped through them, understanding some parts and others going right over her head. Well, she didn't major in space science anyway.

"Let's begin!" Jane shouted.

Jo shoved the notes in her satchel and joined Darcy in following the mad scientists to a large device sitting in the far corner. Bruce began typing away at a computer, Tony tightened screws here and there - he could use a few more screws in his head, Jo thought - and Jane stood shaking with excitement. Jo eyed the woman and took a step away from her and Darcy.

"It's done!" Tony called. "Bruce?"

"All equations entered."

Tony grinned and pulled on a lever on the wall he was standing next to. To Jo, she thought it made him look deranged when coupled with his laugh and his hair, which was sticking up in every which way. She took another uneasy step away from the rest of the group. Whatever was going through their minds wasn't good.

The machine whirred to life and pulsing energy flowed through the room. Jo barely felt it so she wouldn't be surprised if no one else could. A small light began to flicker into existence within a small jar at the center of the machine. Jo leaned in slightly, curiosity showing in her grey eyes. Then a small crack appeared on the glass. That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?

The pulsing in the room intensified and Jo shuddered. Tony shouted at Bruce, probably for him to turn off the machine. The glass broke and the room was engulfed in a flash of white. Jo's eyes burned and she quickly shut them at the assaulting light.

Darcy rubbed her eyes and blinked rapidly as the light vanished. Jane, Bruce, and Tony were doing the same, the light leaving after images in their eyes.

Tony coughed and blinked rapidly. "Okay," he said, picking himself from the floor, "let's not try that again anytime soon."

"Hey guys?" Darcy called, spinning in slow circles which were become faster, a frantic look in her eye. "Where's Jo?"

Everyone's faces paled and they all stared at the blackened mark on the floor. The spot where Jo had been standing.

In the 1940s, Brooklyn, a figure landed in a dark alley. The only reason for the rough landing was due to the unconscious state of the arrival.

**********

Edited 11/21/19