Hi, everyone!

I've decided to edit/revise this story, and make it better. I've put a lot of time and effort into this, and I feel like I could do a much better job than what I've done. I've decided to edit this chapter-by-chapter, and edit the inconsistencies and grammar and whatnot. Thank you all for the reviews, the kind words, all of it! This story is so special to me and I hope it can be special to you, too!

-Mandy

April 23, 2011, SHIELD Facility, New York City

"Director, Coulson said you sent for me?" Maggie said, entering SHIELD Director Nick Fury's office. He motioned for her to sit, and she swallowed, rubbing her hands together to quell the nervousness building inside her.

"I did, McGee. I have a job for you, if you're interested. You might just be the person I'm looking for." Director Fury replied, walking over to the front of his desk and sitting down, "You're aware of what we just recently found in the Arctic, correct?"

Maggie nodded. "Captain Steve Rogers, along with the tesseract, I've been told."

"Correct. Were you informed that Captain Rogers is alive?" He asked.

"Yes." Maggie replied, "Coulson said he's still in a coma."

"He is, but we expect he'll wake up soon." Director Fury said, "And, that's why I need you."

"Me? Sir," Maggie stuttered, "I'm an archivist. A linguist. I'm in the HAAALO division. I'm not a regular field agent; why would you need me?"

"Agent McGee, aside from Coulson, you know more about Captain America—more specifically, Steve Rogers himself—than anyone else in this organization. You're in HAAALO for a reason; you're one of the brightest young agents we have; you ranked right up there with Leopold Fitz and Jemma Simmons. If Rogers is as enhanced as his files say, then we only have a limited window until he's awake and asking questions." Fury explained.

"So, where do I come in?" Maggie asked.

"When he starts asking those questions, I need you to answer them. He's going to be alone in a new century, McGee. His family is dead. Agent Carter, one of his only ties to his old life, is not in good health. His best friend, well, you know what happened to Sergeant Barnes. I need you to assess him, and I need you to befriend him, and I need you to help him readjust. He might be an asset to us." Fury said.

"You want me to befriend Captain America? And then recruit him...Into SHIELD?" McGee asked. Fury nodded.

"We need him, if he is as good as all the files say he is." Replied Fury.

"How long do you think he'll be asleep? I mean, he's mostly defrosted." Maggie said.

"Could be days, could be hours." Fury said, "We just don't know. So, McGee, what do you say?"

Maggie thought about it for a moment. Fury really, really wanted her to take this job, apparently. She wasn't sure she was up for the task of playing hero to a newly defrosted super soldier. She was nervous, particularly because Fury had known her all of her life, and this was large job to entrust to her. Then again, she thought about how scary it might be for Captain Rogers to wake up alone in a new century, and she knew what her answer was.

"I'll do it." Maggie said, "On one condition."

"What's that, Agent?" Fury asked.

"I'm his friend first. He doesn't need a handler, he doesn't need a recruiter, he needs a friend. That's my condition." Maggie said.

Fury smiled; one of the smiles that he reserved for the few occasions he was genuinely pleased, and he nodded.

"That's why I wanted you in the first place, Maggie. Agent Hill will brief you,and we'll go from there." Fury said. Maggie stood up and began to walk out, before Fury called to her, causing her to turn out.

"Sir?" Maggie asked.

"Tell your folks I said 'hello', will you? It's been a while." Fury said.

"I'll do that, sir." Maggie promised, opening the door to walk out.

April 24, 2011, Times Square, New York.

Maggie stood behind Director Fury, watching a confused and terrified Steve Rogers look at his surroundings in Times Square, panicking as the Director approached him.

"I had a date." He said, his eyes glassy. Maggie felt a lump in her throat; her heart ached for the man.

"There's a lot you've missed, Captain. Come with us, I promise, we'll explain everything." Director Fury said. Steve looked to him, then to Maggie, and tentatively followed them to one of the armored cars, hesitating before he climbed inside himself.

For the first five minutes, he said nothing; he was observing all of his surroundings, and it was Maggie who broke the silence.

"Captain Rogers? I...I know this is scary for you, but I'm here to help if you need it."

"Who are you?" His tone was a bit harsher than Maggie had expected, but he didn't look angry. He looked heartbroken.

"I'm Agent Maggie McGee. I'm with SHIELD. I work for these guys, in the Historical, Archaeological, Archival, Anthropological, Linguistics Operation Division, otherwise known as the HAAALO division of SHIELD. I can answer any questions." Maggie explained, glancing to Fury just briefly before looking at Steve again, "I know this is overwhelming for you, but, history is kind of my job."

Steve looked at her for a moment,swallowing hard before asking, "The War...Did we win?"

Maggie smiled at him. "We did. Not long after you went into the ice, Captain. Japan surrendered not long after, too."

"And HYDRA?" He asked.

"Once Schmidt was killed, they fell apart. Once their leader was gone, your Commandos captured the rest and took them down." Maggie explained.

Maggie continued answering questions for the Captain the entire ride back to the SHIELD facility. Director Fury wanted him under observation, but Maggie convinced him to let Steve stay with her for the time being. At first, Steve was uneasy, but he eventually agreed to go back to her apartment in Hell's Kitchen, though he looked at her as if she were a crazy person because, as he said, 'Hell's Kitchen wasn't a neighborhood you wanted to be in.". Maggie didn't want his first night awake in seventy years to be spent in the coldness of a SHIELD facility; she'd meant it when she told Fury that she was a friend to Captain Rogers first. When they arrived at her apartment, he'd barely said five words to her, but she was persistent, and hopeful.

"Here we are, Steve. It isn't much, but I live with my sister. She's in medical school at NYU. We went to Columbia together, so I stayed here. It's not much, but it's home." Maggie explained. Steve took a look around, observing the small apartment.

"What'd you study at Columbia?" Steve asked.

"I double majored in History and Archaeology, and minored in Linguistics." Maggie explained.

Steve looked at her, rasing an eyebrow. "You look awful young to be a college graduate."

"I'm old enough." Maggie said, "Besides, I finished high school right after I turned fifteen, faster than anyone else. I'm in my first year of grad school now."

"So that would make you..."

"Twenty." Maggie replied, "I'm twenty years old."

Steve tried to hide his surprise, but Maggie caught on. "I know it's weird, Steve. Some people are talented in mechanics or science, but Tony Stark went to MIT pretty young, too, and now he's Iron Man. I guess for me, it was history and humanities and stuff."

"Stark?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, Howard's only son." Maggie replied.

"Is Howard alive?" Steve's tone was hopeful.

"He died in 1991. A car wreck. Him and his wife both." Maggie replied. Steve's face fell. He sat down on Maggie's brightly colored turquoise couch, sighing heavily.

"Steve?" Maggie said. He looked up at her.

"I want you to know...You can stay here as long as you want. I know it probably doesn't help...But I want you to know I'm here if you need me for anything." Maggie said.

Steve smiled, though it didn't meet his eyes. "Actually, it does, Maggie." He said, "Thanks."

May 4, 2011, Manhattan, New York

"What happened?!" Tony asked, waking up after the Hulk scared him back to life.

"We won." Steve said, finally sitting down and catching his breath.

Maggie sat down next to Steve, her lungs burning from the smoke and ash from the buildings destroyed. They'd won. She hadn't intended to even be in the battle, she'd intended to watch from the helicarrier, but she'd made the mistake of shooting where Director Fury, Steve, and Natasha could see. She was almost as good with a gun as Barton was with a bow, and she did well under pressure. Steve had told her he wanted her in the fight, and she'd agreed, because Steve, Natasha, and Barton had asked. They'd found out she was also great at hand-to-hand combat, because many times she went in to missions without the help of SHIELD's Strike Team.

Over the past two weeks, Maggie and Steve had become quite good friends. He lived with her and sister, Cecilia, but he was still struggling with his demons. He'd been livid when Fury mentioned Loki had the tesseract, and even angrier when he realized SHIELD was using the tesseract to build weapons in the first place. When it came time to stop Loki, Steve had asked Maggie to fight alongside him, and she couldn't refuse. He trusted her, and she trusted him. Even in battle, he hadn't let her down.

"I've gotta call my sister." Maggie said, taking off her jacket and wiping her forehead, "Cecilia is going to kill me."

"We just defeated an army from outer space, and your worried about getting in trouble with your sister?" Tony asked, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Afraid not, Mr. Stark." Maggie said, "I didn't intend to end up here today."

"None of us did, McGee." Natasha said, "Yet, here we are."

Maggie looked over to Steve, her new friend and the person who had saved her twice during the battle. His hands were shaking, his breath was heavy. She bumped his arm with her elbow. Her turned to look at her.

"You good, Steve?" She asked.

This time, his smile reached his eyes as she scooted close to him. "Yeah, Mags, I'm good."

They joined the team for schwarma immediately following the battle, and Steve and Maggie rode back to her apartment in Hell's Kitchen together the next day. It wasn't easy by any means, but they were alive, and they had won. They'd stopped an alien invasion.

However, the following months weren't as easy for Maggie as she'd thought they'd be.

August 11, 2011

In the months following the attack, Maggie had struggled. At first, it was small things: loud noises, the dark, crowded places. Cecilia, her sister, who was in medical school to be a psychiatrist, had noticed right away. Later, Steve noticed she wasn't eating or sleeping much. Tony Stark even noticed, and tried to take her out for her birthday in June, but she barely touched her meal. Natasha, who had been a friend for a while, began to suggest she see a doctor. None of the prodding helped.

However, the problems grew worse after her brother, Joshua, went on his deployment. Joshua was Maggie's twin, her biggest source of support. They'd been best friends for their entire lives, and now Maggie didn't have him to talk to. He couldn't tell her that it would be okay.

Gradually, the nightmares got worse. She wasn't sleeping. Her work was suffering. She was due to start her third semester at NYU for her Master's degree, and she could barely hold herself together. She hadn't volunteered for any assignments with SHIELD, either. She hadn't left her apartment in days, and now Steve was doing just about anything he could to get her outside, or even to the living room.

Today, however, she couldn't take it anymore.

Steve had left, apprehensively, on his evening run. Cecilia was still at the hospital on her rotation for her 4th year of medical school, and wouldn't be back till nearly 9:00 that evening. The quiet was making Maggie uneasy; she couldn't get the memories of the face of one Chitauri warrior out of her head. The alien had come straight for her, snapping its teeth and trying to kill her. Maggie felt like she couldn't breathe. The walls were closing in and she felt as if she couldn't focus. She just wanted it all to stop.

Quickly, she got up and went to the small bathroom, the only one in the two-bedroom apartment. Once Steve moved in, Cecilia had moved her things into Maggie's room without question. Maggie searched the medicine cabinet, finding Steve's razor and the packet of razor blades. She grabbed a blade, sitting in the bathtub and taking a breath.

She didn't feel the pain; she wasn't even sure if she wanted to die, but she knew that anything would be better than what she was feeling then.

She made a second cut. Her right wrist was bleeding now. It would all be over soon.

She moved to her left wrist, and she began to feel dizzy.

She heard the door open, and she heard Steve's footsteps.

He called for her, and she didn't answer. He knocked on the bathroom door. She tried to tell him to go away, but she couldn't muster the words.

He knocked again, and she laid down in the tub, closing her eyes. She heard the doorknob jiggle, before she heard the door burst open, falling over and off the hinges. She heard Steve screaming, but kept her eyes closed.

"Maggie! Maggie open your eyes for me! No, no, no, no...Not now! Not now! Oh God, please, no! Maggie, look at me!" He clamped a hand to her right wrist, taking his phone from his pocket and dialing the one person he knew would be able to help them faster than an ambulance.

"Stark, it's me...Yes, it's an emergency...Maggie hurt herself...She's bleeding, I don't think an ambulance will be quick enough, you have to help me!"

Maggie was drifting in and out of consciousness.

"Yeah, she's got a pulse. I can meet you on the roof. Yeah, call her sister. I didn't know who else to call." Steve was practically screaming. Maggie felt him lift her from the tub. He was running to the roof, as fast as he could, and there Tony Start met him.

"You didn't say it was this bad. You didn't say she..." Stark said, panicking himself.

"Just get her to the nearest hospital, please. I'll meet you there. I've got to call her sister."

"Sure thing, Cap. The one here in Hell's Kitchen looks the closest. Meet us there." Stark said, flying off with a bleeding Maggie in his arms.

Maggie briefly remembered a flash of bright light, and maybe a nurse or a doctor. She tried to scream, but she couldn't.

And then, it all went black.

August 14, 2011, Hell's Kitchen, New York

Bright lights.

That's all Maggie could see.

Blinding, white lights. She looked to her right, and saw a heart monitor and bags of fluid on an IV pole. She looked at her wrists, and saw bandages, and began to remember. She sat up, looking around, and then realized she wasn't alone.

"You're awake." Steve said, trying to ease her worry.

"What day is it? Where am I?" Maggie asked.

"August 14th. The hospital here in Hell's Kitchen. They kept you under a few days, just to make sure your wrists would heal." Steve explained. Maggie laid back down, looking sheepish as Steve sighed.

"Why didn't you tell me it was that bad?" Steve asked, "Do you have any idea how scared we were?"

"Who's 'we'?" Maggie asked.

"Your sister. Your parents. Me. Natasha. Stark. Your friends, Matt and Foggy. Maggie, you almost died." Steve said, "Cecilia had to give you blood."

"I didn't—I mean, I couldn't take it anymore, Steve. All I could see was that alien that almost did me in...I was so scared." Maggie said.

"You should've said something." Steve replied, leaning on her bed to take her left hand, "Do you have any idea how scared I was?"

"I'm sorry." Maggie said, her voice breaking. She hadn't wanted to hurt anyone, she just wanted to make the pain go away.

"Maggie, you could've told me." Steve said, "Your sister is in the cafeteria. I should let her know you're awake."

Steve stood up and walked to the door, before turning around.

"Maggie...You're my friend. I need you to know that." Steve said.

In that moment, Maggie thought she might never forgive herself.

June 18, 2012

Joshua, Maggie's twin, had returned early from his Air Force deployment in October, and received an honorable discharge. He had been injured flying a night mission, the same mission that killed his best friend and one of his partners, Riley. His other partner, Sam Wilson, had also returned home to the states, and now that Maggie was living in DC, she tried to make sure Joshua saw Sam frequently. Unfortunately, Joshua's drinking and narcotic abuse had grown from troubling to downright scary. Maggie had hoped that by moving in with her he would straighten up, but unfortunately for her, that wasn't the case.

"I wish you'd let me help you. You shouldn't be driving." Maggie whispered, sitting at the bar stool with her brother, Joshua.

"I appreciate the offer, Mags. I'm fine, though." Joshua assured her, taking a sip of the whiskey in his glass. He ran a hand through his now dark, curly hair. When he was in the Air Force, he never allowed his hair to get long. Now he was out, and he was lost. His formerly clean-cut appearance looked horribly disheveled, a thousand yard stare gracing his dark eyes. It pained Maggie to watch him; she remembered him when he was young and bright, playing baseball with the boys from school and swimming in the creek by their house.

"You're not fine, Josh. You don't sleep anymore. You spend more time here than you do at home. I can't help if you won't talk to me." Maggie pleaded, her voice breaking.

"Mags, just drop it." Joshua said sharply, ordering a beer.

"Joshua, you're drunk." Maggie observed.

"How kind of you to notice." Josh spat, almost angrily.

"Please come back home. Just get some sleep." Maggie begged, trying to touch his arm. He shrugged away, snorting in anger as he grit his teeth.

Joshua stood up, "You don't get it!"

"What don't I get, Josh? You haven't been the same since you came back! I get that much!" Maggie yelled.

"Why don't you mind your own damn business?!" Joshua screamed, his voice loud.

"Please, Joshua. I just want my brother back. I hate seeing you like this. Let me help." Maggie cried, her voice breaking.

"I text Wilson. I'm going to his place. I can't stay here." Joshua muttered, grabbing his keys.

"Please, Joshua, just come home." Maggie begged.

"You can either come with me or stay your ass here at this bar. Those are your options, Margaret." Joshua replied. He only ever called her by her full name when he was really, really angry. Maggie debated. He was drunk, she knew this. However, all she saw was the brother who took care of her, who helped her with homework and chased off boys. He was broken, ever since coming back from Afghanistan. Maggie had met Sam and Riley a couple of times, when they came home with Josh on leave. Both of them were wonderful guys, and Sam had become sort of a friend to Maggie while they both tried to care for her ailing brother.

"Josh, at least let me drive." Maggie said.

"No. You'll drive me back to your apartment. I know you." He spat, "So are you coming, or not?"

"I'll come with you." Maggie whispered. She knew it was a bad idea. She should have said no. Instead, she got into his car, and tightened her seat belt, and prayed for the best. Then she saw it.

The semi never saw them coming.

They were going far too fast to stop.

All she saw were the bright headlights, and she reached out to hold Joshua back.

When she woke up a week later, she learned Joshua didn't survive the car accident, and they'd had to do reconstructive surgery on her arm, and surgery on her brain to keep it from swelling and to relieve the bleeding.

Steve, Natasha, Tony, and her sister, Cecilia were by her side, but her parents were not.

They blamed her for Joshua's death, and then they wouldn't let her come to the funeral two weeks after that.

Her father wouldn't speak to her.

Aside from her SHIELD friends and her older sister, Maggie was alone.

October 14, 2014

Maggie had been trying to get in contact with Steve and Natasha for hours, but to no avail.

She'd been Rome on an archaeological excavation with the HAAALO Division investigating an 084 when she heard the news that Nick Fury had been assassinated. Her boyfriend at the time, Brock Rumlow had seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet, and she wasn't sure who to trust, after suspicions that a few members of her team may be up to no good. She'd taken the first flight to London, and then took a 7 hour flight to Washington DC. When she arrived, SHIELD was in total chaos. According to her boss, Jasper Sitwell, Steve and Natasha were both fugitives, and if she heard from them, she had direct orders to notify Sitwell and the STRIKE team, which Rumlow was apart of. In the pit of her stomach, Maggie didn't trust the information she was given, so she went to the only person in DC she could think of that wasn't explicitly tied to SHIELD: Sam Wilson.

She banged on his door, hoping that he'd at least be back from his run now. She saw him run up his driveway, and he waved to her.

"Maggie May!" He called, "I'd hug you, but I need a shower first."

"That's okay, Sam-I-Am." Maggie said, "I've got an issue going on at work, and I need your help."

Sam looked at her, and then around the street to make sure they weren't being followed.

"Come with me." He said, unlocking his door and letting her in first.

They walked into his kitchen and Maggie began to explain as he went straight for the refrigerator.

"So, you know I work with Captain America, right? Our boss, Nick Fury, was killed a few days ago. They're declaring Steve and Natasha, you know, Natasha Romanoff, to be fugitives. I don't trust it, Sam. Something is wrong. Really, really wrong."

Before Sam could even formulate a reply, there was a knock at the door. Maggie grabbed her gun and stood behind Sam, waiting in the shadows to see who it would be. When she saw Steve and Natasha standing there, her heart nearly jumped from her chest.

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha said.

"Not everyone." Sam said, inviting them in and closing the door. As soon as they were inside, Maggie set her gun down and ran straight for Steve, pulling him into a hug.

"Steve, you're safe! I was worried sick!" Maggie exclaimed. Steve jumped back, looking at her.

"Mags, I thought you were in Rome?" Steve asked.

"When I heard Fury was killed, I came straight home." Maggie said, "Sitwell told me you and Nat are wanted. They issued a BOLO for both of you."

"Not surprising." Natasha said, "Sitwell is with HYDRA."

"HYDRA? The Commandos wiped them out years ago." Maggie said.

"Except they've been in SHIELD the whole time." Steve replied, "Zola put his consciousness...Somehow, in a computer. We found it. We don't know what SHIELD's using it for but it's not good."

"And we're the only people who know?" Sam said.

"We're not sure." Natasha said, "But I'd rather not find out."

After realizing how dangerous the situation was, Sam offered his help, and showed them the EX-O7 FALCON program that he, Riley, and Joshua were apart of. Once they were able to get his wings back, and once they'd properly threatened Sitwell and discovered the sinister truth behind Project Insight, they were on their way back to the SHIELD facility to try and stop the helicarriers from killing millions of people. Maggie sat next to Sitwell in the backseat, Natasha on her other side, and they were all debating on what their next move would be when they realized they were being followed.

And not only were they being followed, there was a man in the middle of the road, and before they knew it, he was on top of the car, and he'd pulled Sitwell from the window and threw him into traffic.

Natasha pushed Maggie to the far side of the car and moved to Steve's lap, pushing Sam out of the way as the man shot through the car. The man ripped the steering wheel from the column and Maggie grabbed Natasha's gun and moved to Sam's seat. However, it was only a matter of seconds before they were all ejected and lying in a pile, Maggie and Sam pushing themselves off and moving behind cars. Maggie threw Natasha's gun to her, and Sam took down one man and took the man's gun.

"Help me distract him!"Natasha yelled to Maggie, and Maggie nodded, taking her own revolver and shooting at one of the men. The men fired back just as Natasha and Maggie escaped an explosion on the bridge, using their grappling hook-esque tools to make sure they could safely land.

Maggie covered Natasha while she shot at the assassin with the metal arm; and then the two were running to get the man away from Steve.

"We may not make it out of this." Maggie said as they propped Natasha's phone on the curb.

"Well, then, let's give him a fight." Natasha replied. They caught sight of the assassin, and Natasha ran straight for him, using a cable to try and choke him. He threw Natasha into the car, and Maggie ran straight toward him, propelling a knee into his groin and elbowing him in the face. He grabbed her right arm and promptly dislocated her right shoulder, and threw her into a car, causing her to dislocate three fingers in the process. That gave Natasha just enough time to throw a small EMP device directly on to the man's metal arm. However, as they were running away, the assassin grazed Maggie's right arm with a bullet, and hit Natasha directly in the shoulder.

"No!" Maggie screamed, pulling Natasha down beside a car. She applied pressure to Natasha's wound with her left arm, biting back tears from the pain of her own wounds. Steve appeared just as the man was about to shoot them both, and that's when things really took a turn for the worst.

The assassin wasn't just anyone, it was Bucky. Bucky, Steve's dearest childhood friend. Bucky, the man that was supposed to be dead. Bucky, the one person on Earth that caused Steve to stop in his tracks.

Once they were all promptly captured and thrown into the back of an armored van, Maggie thought they were done for. Natasha was bleeding, badly, and Maggie knew that her shoulder needed to be put back in place—and soon. Just as Sam mentioned to the guards that Natasha needed assistance, Maria Hill revealed herself, electrocuting the other guard in the process.

"Man, that thing was squeezing my brain." Maria said, "Who's that guy? And Maggie, why are you here?"

"We'll explain later." Maggie said. And once they arrived and escaped to the tunnels underground, Maggie had never been so happy to see Nick Fury in all of her life. When he revealed what he knew about HYDRA's infiltration of SHIELD and Alexander Pierce's subsequent involvement, Maggie felt like she might be sick. That man was her boss. That man had given her condolences after her brother died. All of it was a lie.

Steve had made the choice: SHIELD was going down. In order to destroy HYDRA, they had to destroy SHIELD. This would cause repercussions, of course, and they all knew it, but there was no other way. They had to stop Project Insight, or millions of people were going to die. There was no scenario in which SHIELD, or Captain America, or Maggie, Natasha, and Sam came out of this unchanged. No, this would alter everyone. Forever.

Natasha was still being treated for her bullet wound, and Steve and Sam had walked outside the bunker. Maggie followed them, leaving Fury to talk to Natasha about why he left her out of his plan.

"You okay, Sam?" Maggie asked. She'd placed a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to face her, offering a small smile.

"Gotta be." He said, "How's that shoulder, Maggie May?"

"It hurts, but it'll heal. So will the fingers." Maggie replied, "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're here with me, Sam."

"I made a promise to your brother, Maggie, to look out for you." Sam said.

"Sometimes you need someone to look out for you, too." Maggie whispered.

Sam had talked to Steve; he'd told him that Bucky might not be the kind he could save. Maggie was glad that Sam had said it, because she thought the same thing.

Steve had stolen his old uniform from the Smithsonian, from the very panel Maggie had helped put together. He'd insisted that she be the historian to head his exhibit, and she'd been careful to get everything right. Maggie helped Steve break in, and once he'd changed into the uniform, they were set to complete their mission.

"Mags?" Said Steve, once he was in his old uniform.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"Am I crazy? For trying to get Bucky to remember?" There was a tone in Steve's voice that told Maggie that he was searching desperately for her approval.

"Y'know, Stevie, my last few hours with Josh, I spent the whole time trying to get him to stop drinking and come home. And, I almost lost my arm, and I almost died, but I don't regret doing it. I don't regret trying. I don't think you're crazy." Maggie said.

"If I can't get through to him, Maggie..." Steve let the rest of the sentence fall; Maggie knew what Steve meant.

"Stevie?" Maggie said, "Look at me. You're going to be fine. We're going to be fine. You're going to be okay."

"You know you can't promise that." Steve said.

"But I'm behind you, Steve. One hundred percent." Maggie promised. He nodded, and they joined Sam and Maria. Natasha had already gone with Nick to meet Alexander Pierce, and Steve had gone to stop the helicarriers. Maggie and Sam had followed Steve while Maria stayed in the control room, and the situation wasn't pleasant outside on the helicarriers. Bucky was there, and he was trying to stop the three of them. Maggie was supposed to take her Stark-designed sniper rifle and keep it locked on Bucky, once Sam dropped her off at the rendezvous point. However, that plan didn't work out quite according to plan, and Maggie wound up being roughly dropped on the banks of the Potomac after the helicarriers began firing at Sam.

Maggie set up her rifle and waited. She heard Steve get shot through the communication devices, and she feared that Bucky would kill Steve before he could destroy the Insight helicarriers. Maggie waited, and waited, until finally, she saw all three helicarriers aim their missile launchers toward each other, and she began to panic as she saw Steve fall from the wreckage. Maggie tried to quiet her sobs as she watched her best friend plunge into the water below, until she saw Bucky dive in after him.

Maggie was at the base of the river when she saw Bucky Barnes pull Steve to the surface using his metal arm. He'd seen her, from below, and swam to where she was. Maggie stared in disbelief as the man—Steve's oldest friend—waited until Steve took a breath before walking away.

"You saved him." Maggie muttered, looking down at Steve and then to Bucky.

"He's hurt." Bucky said, not meeting her eyes as he walked away. Maggie called for him, but he didn't turn back. She sunk to her knees and pulled Steve's head into her lap, trying to get him to cough the water out of his lungs.

"You're okay, Steve." Maggie said, applying pressure to the bleeding wound in his abdomen, "You're going to be okay."

Once Steve had been released from the hospital, he'd declared he was going to find Bucky. Nick Fury had gone underground and Natasha had gone to Russia to find her parents. Maggie left the cemetery with Steve and Sam, following Steve's lead as he searched through the file Natasha had given him.

"Can you read this, Maggie?" Steve asked.

"Sure." She replied, "And I know where to look, too."

"I know it's a lot to ask, Maggie..."

"I'll help you, Steve. I'll do anything you need." Maggie said.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Positive." She said.

"This could take a while." Steve said.

"I don't have a full time job anymore, Steve." Maggie teased.

"Thank you, for this." Steve said.

"Anything for you." Maggie said, "You're my best friend."

"We've got a lead in Europe." Steve said, "Steve and I are headed there."

"I'll keep you posted. If anything changes, I'll let you know."

Once Steve and Sam left, Maggie began to chase down any lead for Bucky Barnes that she could possibly get. She had a promise to keep, and more than that, Steve deserved to have his friend back. Bucky deserved to have people in his court, too, and Maggie was determined to help them both.

For the next eight months, she searched, and she waited, and she chased, with one goal in mind: to bring Bucky home.