★ ★ ★

Stepping into the Avengers facility, Marlena felt oddly out of place. All she could think about was calling Bucky and relieving herself of some of the weight she carried on her shoulders after the tragedy in Lagos. Her mind had managed to stray away from the Lagos incident long enough for her to think about Bucky and, more specifically, how much she wished she was with him at the moment.

"Marlena," Sam's voice caused her to turn around as she hiked her duffle bag up her shoulder.

Instead of faking that she had the energy to speak, she simply nodded in response, waiting for him to continue.

"Are you—"

"Alright?" She spoke for him, surprisingly, "No."

"What happened. . .it was an accident. No one believes that you intentionally—"

"Ended the lives of several innocent civilians?" She spoke for him again, tilting her head sideways at Steve as he walked in behind Sam. "I don't care what people believe—what people think of me, Sam. I only wish there was a way to bring back those people Wanda and I killed, but there isn't one. So," she turned away to walk with Wanda towards their rooms, "we're going to go clean ourselves up, and we will meet up downstairs later."

Wanda's lips pursed as her cousin spoke, her words causing her to remember the horrors she felt when watching the building burn. In her eyes, she was more to blame than Marlena was, though she knew Marlena would disagree. She glanced at the two men and Natasha before turning to join her cousin, her heart heavy.

Sam opened his mouth to speak, only to be stopped by Steve. His hand on Sam's shoulder, Steve shook his head, "They need some time, Sam."

"Time for?" Natasha questioned, arching a brow.

"Learning to live with the fact that we can't always save everyone. They have to learn to forgive themselves, and nothing you have to say can speed the healing of those wounds up." Steve sighed before turning away.

"I know this mission was hard, Rogers, but we still have to do a mission report for the files," Natasha said, following behind Steve.

"Screw the files," Sam shrugged. "Let's just get our shit together and fly to D.C. Marlena and Wanda don't need to be sulking around this place for the remainder of the day. Besides, I'm sure Bucky's itching to have his girls back home."

"For once, I'm going to have to say 'that's a pretty good idea, Sam.'" Steve glanced over his shoulder at the male, "I'll go tell his girls in a minute."

"You both do realize that we can still hear you, right?" Wanda called out as she and Marlena reached the top of the staircase, though they were no longer in sight of the three downstairs.

"Mind readers, man." Sam rolled his eyes.

"No, Wilson, you're just so damn loud that your voice echoes off the walls," Marlena sassed, though she wasn't in the mood to argue with him.

"I would like to point out that Marlena and I are independent women, by the way. We are not 'Bucky's girls,'" Wanda added, her voice raised so they could hear her as she and Marlena neared their rooms.

"Give it up, Wilson. You can't beat them; they're too damn good at comebacks." Natasha smirked, though she wasn't really feeling it either.

"Not fair; they tag-teamed me."

Marlena simply shook her head as she followed Wanda into her room, dropping her duffle bag on Wanda's bed. Inside the room, they could no longer hear the voices of the others, which relieved them for the most part. Neither of them were angry at Steve or Natasha, or even Sam; they were angry with themselves for what they had done in Lagos.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Marlena kicked off her shoes and proceeded to dig around in her bag for her phone. Pressing the lock button, she stared down at the black screen; it was as dead as a doornail.

"Marlena," Wanda spoke as her cousin padded across the room to plug her phone up, "I can't stop thinking about what happened."

"Me either, Wan." Marlena looked over at her, not knowing what exactly would make her feel better.

They were both feeling the same way, and both were at fault for their actions, making it difficult for either one of them to cheer the other up.

"Listen," Marlena spoke again, "If I hadn't allowed my anger to get in the way, maybe those people would be alive right now. I'm sorry, Wanda. I should've listened to you. I should have stayed in D.C."

Wanda shook her head as she packed her suitcase, "No, I was the one who was wrong. Without you there, there may have been far more casualties. I am the one to blame for this."

Marlena set her phone down on the carpeted floor and walked over to Wanda, pulling her into a tight hug, "This is on both of us, okay?"

Wanda hugged Marlena back, though she was still feeling as guilty as she had before.

"I'm going to my room to shower, but I'll be quick," Marlena said, pulling away from her cousin's arms in time to see Wanda nod.

With that, Marlena left her phone behind to charge while she disappeared with her bag into the hallway and then her own room. Stepping in the shower, she washed away the physical evidence that she had been in Lagos; however, her guilt wasn't as easy to shed. Dust that had clung to her skin after the explosion stung her eyes, along with a few stray tears, and she couldn't help but feel selfish for wishing Bucky was there to wipe those tears away from her, meanwhile Wanda wouldn't have anyone back in D.C. to comfort her. It was times likes this that she really missed having Pietro around; he was always better at cheering Wanda up than she was, but then again, Pietro was good at cheering anyone up.

"Marlena," Steve's voice drew Marlena out of thought, her eyes shifting to the closed bathroom door.

With a quick hand movement, she was able to cut the shower off and step out to dry off her body. Upon wrapping her towel tightly around herself, she stepped out into the room. Steve, slightly thrown off guard, averted his eyes away from her out of respect, "Uh, I just wanted to let you know that Greyson called. He wanted to know approximately when we would be arriving in D.C."

"Is everything okay?" Marlena asked, an eyebrow arched.

"I guess. I mean, he didn't really say, but I assume he just misses you," Steve replied, looking from the floor to his feet, and then from his feet to the opposite wall.

Marlena, finally taking notice of how uncomfortable Steve was, stepped back into the bathroom, a set of clothes in her hand.

"Have you heard anything from Buck?" She asked, tugging on her undergarments from the other side of the door.

"Surprisingly, no," his voice sounded from the room, "Have you?"

"My phone's been dead for hours." She sighed, pulling on a pair of black leggings and a gray Nike hoodie before exiting the bathroom and grabbing a lighter gray beanie from her bag to pull over her damp hair.

Steve looked up from the floor to meet her eyes, "You'll get better, Mar. You know that, right?"

"Yes," Marlena nodded, zipping up her bag, "Thanks for the pep talk, Dr. Phil."

Steve let out a sigh, "Marlena, I'm being serious."

"I know." She looked at him, pursing her lips.

Before he could say anything else, Wanda entered the room, wrapped up in a white bath towel. Steve cleared his throat awkwardly and covered his eyes with his hands, "You guys do realize we all stay here, right?"

"You do realize that this is the twenty-first century, right, Steve?" Wanda snickered, walking over to Marlena and holding her phone out to her.

"Yeah, this isn't 1942 anymore, buddy. Lighten up." Marlena forced out a chuckle before taking the phone from Wanda.

Ignoring the fact that it was only at twenty percent, Marlena paid more attention to the name displayed on the screen.

"What is it, Marlena?" Steve asked, noticing the expression on her face change.

"Bucky left me a voicemail."

"Cute," Wanda said, tilting her head to the side. "It is probably one of those 'I love you' messages, you know, the ones I never get."

Marlena shook her head immediately, "He would have just texted me if it were that." She held the phone to her ear, listening closely.

He sounded rather distant from the phone, though she could hear his voice plain as day when he cursed. His voice was followed by the sound of glass shattering and Marlena's eyes widened.

"What is it?" Steve asked again, stepping closer to her.

Marlena ignored his question as Bucky's voice came through again, this time yelling 'shut up' though no other voices could be heard through the phone. Marlena frowned as she listened to white noise with the occasional rustling of objects in her room.

"We need to go home," she said, pulling the phone away from her ear.

Wanda raised an eyebrow, "Is everything alright?"

"I don't know," Marlena admitted, utterly confused by the strange voicemail. She turned her attention to Steve, "What did you say Greyson said when he called?"

Steve looked tense and shook his head slightly, "He just wanted to know when we'd be back in D.C."

Marlena nodded, picking her duffle up off of the bed, "Get dressed, Wan. I wanna leave now, just in case."

"Just in case what? What did the voicemail say?" Steve questioned, and Marlena held the phone out to him and pressed play.

Within an hour, Marlena, Steve, Wanda, and Sam were back on the quinjet, meanwhile Natasha opted on staying at the facility. Marlena's nerves were shot the whole flight home, and Steve could only sit back and wonder what could possibly be going through her head. After she let him listen to the voicemail, he could see where her concern was coming from. It was a strange situation, and Bucky hadn't answered any of her calls or texts, regardless of the number of times she kept trying.

"You don't think Hydra could have gotten ahold of him again, do you?" Sam asked, looking between Steve and Marlena.

"Doesn't seem possible; Rumlow and his men were too busy fighting us in Nigeria to locate Bucky," Steve answered, running a hand over his face.

"Unless Lagos was just a distraction. For all we know, that could have been their plan all along—distract us to get to Bucky," Wanda chimed in, her face solemn.

Marlena stayed silent, her heart beating on the inside of her chest. She just needed to get home to find out what was going on, otherwise she would start growing impatient, and an impatient Marlena was something none of them wanted to deal with.

"Woah, woah, Maximoff. Let's not jump to conclusions here. Bucky's probably fine; he's probably at home eating and sulking in self pity that he's all alone," Sam offered, though this didn't do a single thing to ease Marlena's worries.

"How close are we?" Marlena finally spoke up for the first time since they boarded the quinjet.

"Not long." Steve sighed, glancing over at her.

Once the jet had landed and they had dropped Sam off at his place, Steve, Marlena, and Wanda headed over to Greyson's to find out what exactly was going on. To her surprise, the door was locked, and Marlena didn't have her key on her. Knocking on the door, Greyson opened it from the other side, allowing the three of them in.

"Where is he?" Marlena asked, pushing past Greyson and jogging down the hall towards the stairs.

"Marlena," Greyson interjected, though she didn't stop there.

Rushing up the stairs and down the hall to her room, she pushed the door open, using her hands to prevent herself from running into the doorway. The room was empty, as was the hole forming in the pit of her stomach as she stepped inside.

Her eyes trailed around the room, first taking in the sight of broken glass covering the floor, then moving to find several objects from her dresser now knocked in the floor. As she approached the dresser, her eyes flickered over to the desk drawer that was half open, and now, empty.

"Marlena, he's gone." Greyson appeared in the doorway, followed by Steve and Wanda.

His words caused tears to well up in Wanda's eyes and concern to contort Steve's face into a look of bewilderment.

"What? Where? Where is he?" Marlena asked frantically, her hand absentmindedly moving to the locket around her neck.

"I don't know," Greyson shook his head, holding out the crumpled sheet of paper Bucky had left behind, "He's just gone."

"What's this?" Marlena questioned, her brows knit together as she took the paper from him and read each and every word carefully.

It didn't take long before the tears began to flow.

"Marlena, I want you to know I tried. I tried to keep him away, but I'm not strong enough. I never intended for this to happen, you know I would only do this if I had no other choice. This is it. This is the end, for now. I've relapsed. I can't stay. I can't put you, Mason, or anyone else in danger. I won't. I don't know when we will see each other again, but know that I'll be thinking of you. Always. Tell Mason and Wanda that I love them. Tell Greyson I appreciate what he's done for me. Tell Steve that I am sorry. Tell him that I'm doing the right thing. Tell him that I know he did the best that he could to help me, as did you. I love you, Mar. I will never stop loving you, sweetheart. I cannot put into words how truly sorry I am for doing this, but this is the only way to ensure your safety. Может мы встретимся снова (may we meet again). Love, Bucky."

"Damn it," Marlena choked out under her breath, a few stray tears finding their way onto the paper in her hands.

"Marlena, what does it say?" Wanda asked, approaching her.

Taking the letter from her hands, Wanda read over the scribbles, looking up at Marlena once she came to the end. Marlena stared at the paper in Wanda's hands, her lips parted, her cheeks red and now stained with tears. Wanda's eyes began welling up, too, and she pulled Marlena into her arms quickly.

"He's gone, Wan. He left," Marlena got out through sobs, her body shaking in Wanda's arms.

Steve walked over to the girls, giving Greyson a pat on the shoulder before stepping past him and removing the paper from Wanda's grasp as she hugged her cousin. After reading it over, he clenched his jaw, looking down at Marlena's trembling body.

"What does this mean?" Greyson asked, unaware of how delicate the situation was.

He hadn't known much of Bucky's less-friendly persona, and quite frankly, after reading the letter, he was glad he hadn't. Meanwhile, Wanda was feeling twice the guilt she had felt after Lagos. She had promised to help Bucky—to prevent this from happening—yet here they stood, holding a goodbye letter from Bucky himself.

"How did this happen?" Marlena asked, her face buried into Wanda's neck.

Steve reached out, his hand resting on Marlena's back, "It'll be okay, Mar. We'll find him. We'll get him back."

Marlena couldn't help but cry; she wasn't weak, but she was no where near as strong as she believed herself to be previously. She was unable to control her powers, and now she was overloading with emotions, as well. She was even more dangerous when worked up like this, but she could not prevent the pain from seeping into her core; Bucky was gone. Her happiness, her strength, and the love of her life was gone, and he had left willingly. He had left to protect her, though she had always told him she'd be with him no matter what. Had that not been enough for him?