Bound By Purpose

Assemble

---Bucky's POV---

"Evelyn?" I say again with a breath. I can still feel her touch on my shoulders and yet she's not here. Looking around from where I sit in the dirt I realize that I don't feel as I had a moment ago. Wanda and the tree sit across the clearing from me, but they're the only two in sight. Wanda is holding her hands out as if she were still holding Vision. Clearly distraught she turns violently searching the ground around her, as if she'd merely misplaced him. Frantically she looks around until she finds me. Steve, Sam, Eve, they're nowhere in sight. "Evelyn?" I cry out as I push myself up from the ground. I run a hand through my hair as I desperately search the tree line for any sign of life. "Evelyn?" I call again. I jog towards Wanda still looking for any sign. Wanda's pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in the crook of her arm. When I realize no one is around I stop in my tracks between my two companions.

I watch as the tree pull himself to stand. "I am Groot?" He asks. He too looks around in search of someone he's lost. I can feel the panic within myself growing. Evelyn.... our child. They were all here a second ago.

"Bucky?" I turn at the sound of a familiar voice. Sam wanders into the clearing with T'Challa on his heels. I let out a sigh of relief and approach  Sam who is equally unnerved. "What the hell is going on?" Sam asks as he shakes my hand. I give T'Challa a curt nod and he returns the favor as the three of us turn to Wanda who is still curled into a ball, rocking back and forth. 

"I just blinked and then..." I think back to every detail of Evelyn's eyes, the last thing I had seen. "They were gone."

"This doesn't make any sense." Sam says turning in frustration. "Where'd Thanos go?"

"They didn't go anywhere." I look back down to Wanda who has raised her head, her eyes glow red as tears fall. "We did."

"What?" I say. I know she had abilities but this is all too strange.

"Thanos won!" She yells. 

"What, you think he did what he said he was going to do, and killed half of all life?" Sam seems scared.

"That's the only explanation." T'Challa says looking between us. My head spins again. How could she be gone? We hang our heads as the realization hits. We'd lost... I'd lost, everything. Eve's smile illuminates my mindscape and her laugh echoes through my ears. I could stay in this state, stay asleep where she still resides, but there's a static sound that forces me to open my eyes and let go of my vision of her. Sam pulls me back as the air in front of us explodes into sparks.

A window to another place opens and a man walks through. He glances around at us and doesn't say a word until his gaze lands on Wanda. She's standing now, her hands glowing, ready to fight if necessary. "My name is Wong." He says plainly. "A friend told me to come tell you to get ready to fight." My stomach leaps at the slim chance that that friend just might be Evelyn. Just like that he turns to go back through his portal but Wanda steps in his way. 

"Who sent you here?" She asks her fingers dancing around a ball of energy she's summoned. 

"It's been five years." He turns back to me. "They were able to reverse what Thanos did but now they need help." Five years? I'd abandoned her again and this time it wasn't just her but our child as well. It's all too much.

Wanda disengages. I see her eyes dart to where she sat before, "Where's Vision?" She asks clearly. 

Wong turns to her but doesn't answer. "Get your army together and be ready at the field where you made your last stand." I look to the guys. T'Challa stands straighter realizing he'll have to step up and be the king of his people once again.