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While Pepper worked two days earlier in the week after very sternly giving her number to Heather and Coulson to call if ANYTHING changed, she gave up, took a few of her unspent vacation days, and has been living under SHIELD's watch pretty much full time at the Baxter Building. There have been so many statements, drawings of Bucky, reports as SHIELD agents try to get more information out of her about what Stark might have lost, and she going through STACKS of files she's brought from SI trying to figure out what is missing from inventory. The one thing she demanded was that someone get a message to Steve Rogers. ~Captain America, I know you are a very important man. I know you are busy. But, if you have 10 minutes, I'm staying in apartment 43 of the Baxter building. I'd like to talk to you about a man you knew as James Barnes. - Virginia Potts~
So, that's where she is today, going through inventory files, curled up on a couch in the big apartment. She looks a touch sleepless, but not near so bad as it has been. Making progress helps.
*
Steve Rogers doesn't have to go far to find Virginia Potts. He lives, after all, at the Baxter Building and has ever since his girlfriend Jack was nearly killed at the hands of an assassin meant for him. From then, cost or not, Steve knew he needed something more secure. He simply cannot be everywhere at once.
The door opens near Apartment 43 and Steve Rogers makes it to the destination in just a handful of steps. He knocks at the door, waits for the answer, and once it happens, he begins. "Ms. Potts, I got your message. Thanks for contacting me. You have news on Bucky?"
*
The knock gets an immediate call, "Coming!" From a somewhat perky, professional voice. Pepper unfolds herself from the couch and slips into her high heels (no one can dare see her relax). She tugs on her suit coat, buttoning it quickly as she dashes over to the door and pulls it open…
… to reveal *Captain America* himself. Pepper's eyes widen, red lips parting wordlessly for a few heartbeats. She didn't really expect him to come. One beat. Two. She really should say something. He asked her a question. Quickly, Pepper then stammers out, "Captain! Yes… goodness, yes, please, please…Come in. Do… do you want coffee, or something? Tea? Food? You eat a lot. I mean, I read…that… you eat a lot… Not because you're rude! I mean, because of your metabolism, the changes… I just mean… Never mind. Come in." Pepper's now blushing almost red as her hair.
*
Steve can't help but chuckle. He's had this experience for about 6 months now, ever since he was thawed out of an iceberg, where people will seem overwhelmed at his presence. Because he was over in the war, he never really understood the impact he had over here.
"Coffee doesn't do much for me, honestly. If you've got some water, that would be great."
*
"Sure! Of course. Water. Just…sit, relax. I… I'll be right back!" Pepper shuts the door behind him, giving him one last, nervous smile before she double times across the apartment and goes for water in the kitchen. She comes back out with a glass of water for him and some coffee for her, because she *clearly* needs more coffee. "Here. I…I'm sorry to have bothered you. I can't imagine just how busy you are. But… he… He asked after you. He wanted me to get your help. *You*."
*
"Bucky asked for me? You know him?" Steve seems to fold into business quite intensely. Probably because this regards his best friend. "I've run into him twice, I think. Each time it didn't feel like he knew who I was. What did he say?" He sits forward and folds his hands with his elbows on his knees and looks at her intently.
*
The redhead sinks back down into the couch, studying Steve a bit more critically now. While there were a few moments of die-hard fangirling, it didn't last. They had business to do and business always came first in Pepper's mind. But this was beyond business too, this went heart deep for both of them. She draws in a slow breath through her nose. "… I don't think… he remembered either, really. Not the man I knew, at least… Jack. I knew him as Jack. I…" Her eyes flicker to the ground for a heartbeat or so, "…hell, I think I was in love with him… or who I thought he was." After that moment of confession, still not really having answered his question, her eyes narrow again on him. Out of seemingly nowhere, she asks quite directly, "…Can you tell me what happened? The day with the train?"
*
Steve seems disappointed that Pepper has dodged his question. The invitation, he thought, was to share information. In his mind he goes back to the actual message and that wasn't the message at all. In his zeal and his concern for his friend, he jumped, but now he gets the feeling he's being pumped for information.
"Most of the world pretty much knows what happened. In the middle of the battle, Bucky fell. Most thought he died, but he didn't. I didn't make it too much longer after that, to be honest."
*
Her expression sets quietly, pale eyes quite serious now. She crosses her long legs, wrestling with herself on how much to say. Pepper takes another slow breath, calming heart and thoughts with that hint of focus. "…Captain, I… I don't know you, at all, really. I know what they say about you, but I don't know you. Still… everything I've heard says you… You are a good man. One of the best. And when I finally managed to… find Jack's mind in… all the mess of everything, he asked for you. But…" Maybe she's getting ahead of herself here. Another breath, a slight furrow of her brow, "I… found him in dreams. If that makes sense. I have a friend — I guess you could call her psychic… like some of those mutants. She… was able to help me find him in dreams. So… I saw a lot of things. But over and over it comes back to that train. He just keeps playing it in his head. And every time… he remembers you pushing him. But it doesn't seem right. That doesn't seem you. But that's what's in his dreams. And yes, he fell, survived, somehow… the Russians found him down river. Did… did this to him."
*
Steve shakes his head, "I didn't push him. In fact, I tried to prevent him from falling." There's a sad sigh as he breaks eye contact and sits back on the couch and thinks. "If what you are saying is true, and you have information about him through someone else, I think you should contact a SHIELD agent right away and turn it over. I have no clue where Bucky is, but I know he needs help. And I know he's dangerous."
*
"…I… I already did. I've given everything I know to SHIELD, five times over. Gone through… every moment of the last six months with him. Every inch, tried to… remember anything I could. I don't know how… how I missed… what he was. God, I was clueless. But… caring for someone does that to you, I guess?" Pepper admits with a weak smile, sinking back a bit deeper in the couch. "But when I finally… really got through to him, in his dreams… He asked for you. I didn't think he'd ask for a man who pushed him. I…I think they really… Messed him up, Captain Rogers. The Russians, that is. His mind is all… fracture. Pieces. There's so much more of him behind what they did but… he can't get out."
*
Steve nods sadly, "Well, that fills in a lot of the missing pieces. Trying to figure out what happened to him has been difficult, but it would make sense that the Russians got to him and altered his mind."
"Has he tried to contact you? Or do you have any idea where he might be hiding?"
*
A slight shake of her head about him contacting her, "No…not since the mess at Stark Industries. I was the one who reached out to him and it took… took a lot of getting through. I don't know if he's hiding. I think he's… trapped. The Russians have him again. Aren't letting him out. Are messing with his head again, reinforcing whatever… Brainwashing they do. But… he told me his next target they gave him. The Ambassador from Egypt. He's supposed to make a gas line explode on 4th street to take him out. We don't know when this is going to happen. SHIELD has it all monitored. They… they're gonna help bring him in, but… I think he wants you there. I think it'll help. If anyone can… can get through the mess in his head…"
*
Steve nods, "I'd like to be there too." It kills him that he should be elated his friend is alive, but he's miserable because of the circumstances. "Have the Egyptians been notified?"
*
"I…don't know. Coulson. You should ask Agent Coulson. He seems to be managing the… mission." Pepper gives an almost shy smile, "I'm just a secretary. They don't tell me anything." That's a HORRIBLE lie, but one her brain has mostly bought into. Ah, society. She takes a sip of her coffee, then, just remembering it now, before she speaks a touch softer, "…He… he's still a good man, Steve. He's been good to me. I met him… about six months ago. He took care of some muggers. Kept me safe. He was staying at the VA, told me he was a veteran. He… he was always a bit.. off. I figured it was shell shock from Korea. I… I didn't know… But he's a good man. He… cooked dinner for me. A lot. Took… really good care of me. There's a good heart in there." And the look in her eyes is aching. She can't really hide how much she misses him, even behind her business face.
*
"I'm sorry that this all happened to you," Steve says, looking back at her with his own version of the pain. "I can tell you this: Whatever happens, I will do my best to make sure he's safe." The idea that he might not be able to worries him, but he has no idea how much of the old Bucky is even in there. As soon as he saw Steve, Barnes attacked. There may not be any hope at true rehabilitation.
*
Pale eyes flicker back up to him, nodding quietly, thankfully, as he says that he'll do his best to keep Bucky safe. Pepper seems to believe that and it's complete relief to her. "I…I know. I will too. I want to be there… when it happens. I'm trying to make sure. Maybe we… we can talk to the other parts of him. I know they are still in there, Captain — My Jack, your James… he's in there. We just have to… to pull them out."
*
"I hope you're right," Steve replies as he gets to his feet, leaving the rest of the water behind. "Ms. Potts, it was good to meet with you under better circumstances. Please let me know if you hear from Bucky. I'll return the favor if I do."
*
Pepper stands respectfully as well, giving him a tilt of her head, politely moving to walk him to the door. She's not just going to abandon him to leave, she wasn't that kind of person. "It… it was good to meet you too, Captain Rogers. I'll let you know the moment I hear anything." She pauses at the door next to him, daring to let one hand come up and rest on his muscular arm. "…We'll get him back. We will." She reassures him. Apparently, she has more hope about it than he does.
*