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“Whoa, hey. Just slow down,” Tony said, interrupting Steve's rambling.

The group had migrated down to the lab again, now consisting of the entire team minus Thor, who was out with Jane to the best of anyone's knowledge. Nat, Wanda, Bucky, and Clint had cleared various chairs and stools of the tools and papers thrown haphazardly on them to sit down. Bruce, Vision, and Tony were all standing up, the last watching Steve worriedly, who had been both pacing and ranting until a moment ago. You were curled up on a countertop, watching everyone else silently.

“What he's saying,” Bruce spoke up for Steve, who still both shocked and frustrated, “is that traveling through a black hole isn't possible. Anything that gets trapped inside the event horizon is under such harsh gravitational forces that it gets stretched out and broken down into atoms. Nothing can get back outside the horizon, either, since it would have to be going above the speed of light, which is theoretically how one would travel back in time, but only to the point before they traveled backwards. And the only thing that can go the speed of light is… well, light. The energy required for anything larger becomes too innumerable to calculate.”

“Then how else would you explain this, oh scientific mastermind?” Clint asked scathingly, picking at the material of his pants.

“I don't know, okay?” Bruce replied softly, looking at Steve.

You opted to just stay quiet, not appreciating the way that Wanda was looking at you. You'd never really spoken to her that often back in your own- place? world? time? You weren't sure- but the amount of hate and distrust in her eyes at the moment really threw you off guard. Bucky was the only other one who was openly studying you, the others all taking turns to peer sideways at you, making you feel like some sort of circus side show.

“Perhaps (y/n) holds the answer themselves,” Vision suggested lightly, and the comment prompted all eyes to land on you again. You were really beginning to hate this. The android moved over to stand next to you, floating a centimeter off the ground. He rose one hand to you, and the motion suddenly brought a flash of memory to your mind- when he- no, your Vision- had reached out to save you.

“If I may?”

You nodded silently, and the skin of the back of his hand brushed over your forehead.

You gasped as the contact ignited a stream of memories you had no recollection of, unable to help yourself. The world around you faded from your consciousness, and you were once again enveloped in a blindingly bright white light. You were no longer aware of your body as a whole, but you could feel as every cell, every atom, was torn apart from its brethren until no piece of you was even remotely whole. Then they all fused back together, faster than lightning and in a way that was so painful no words could adequately describe it. You could somehow tell that this wasn't something that could be heard, but your super-human hearing picked up on every bit of it and only served to make you more disoriented. The process repeated itself, over and over and over, stretching out into an eternity that lasted only the blink of an eye.

The contact only lasted a moment and then Vision jolted away, leaving you to double over, gasping for air and fighting off a pain that was only a memory. From the corner of your eye, you could see Vision grasp the counter to keep himself balanced, obviously having felt a portion of what you had through the contact. That motion alone had the rest of the group on their feet immediately, wondering what the heck had happened that could bring the powerful android to his knees in a fraction of a second.

You screwed your eyes shut and covered your ears, the memory of that horrible feeling enveloping you. You hated that you had to act this way in front of the others, but the unnaturalness of the situation and the strange pain that was unlike anything you'd ever felt before was driving you to curl into yourself, pulling away from the world that wasn't yours.

A hand on your shoulder was what brought you back, squeezing gently. Much to your surprise, it was Bucky who'd approached you, staring down at you with his usual impassiveness. You could see the conflict raging in his eyes, though, and there was a hint of acceptance as well. That more than anything was what gave you the strength to pull yourself back together.

“What was that?” Steve asked cautiously, tentatively holding on to Vision's shoulder. “Viz?”

“I believe,” Vision started out slowly, massaging his forehead around the Mind Stone, “that (y/n) is telling the truth. I have never witnessed anything like that. My only question is, how did you survive?”

You met his eyes and then shrugged your free shoulder, not quite sure yourself. “I… I don't know. I can't remember much that happened right before I came here. I mean, I remember the PEGC, or whatever Tony had called his stupid machine, but after that it's blank.”

Steve raised an eyebrow at this, and Tony pursed his lips. “Tony built whatever it was that did this?” he scoffed. “I find that hard to believe, considering his current understanding of modern technology.”

Tony glared at him and opened his mouth to say something. Before he could, Natasha interrupted. “Yeah, yeah, break it up you two. You're both pretty. Can we move on now?”

Clint snorted, and you couldn't resist a half-smile. Same old Natasha, that was for sure. Tony turned his glare onto her, but Clint clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Sorry, Cap, but Stark's right. How would you have built something like that?”

“Maybe that's why it screwed up,” Steve said dryly. “He didn't know what he was doing.”

You wanted to correct them, but when your eyes landed on Vision, your words dried up. He was paler than he should have been, and his grip on the counter seemed to have increased. “Viz?” you asked softly.

He turned his head to the side and met your eyes, offering you a small smile that looked more like a grimace. Your voice had caught everyone else's attention, though, and Steve was back at Vision's side immediately.

“You don't look so hot, bud. Why don't you go lie down for a while?”

Vision shot him the most sarcastic look you'd ever seen the android make. “I am an android, mister Stark. I do not require sleep.”

“Well then go meditate, or whatever you do to rest,” Steve shot back. For a moment, you could see your Steve underneath. If you peeled away the layers of ego that should have been muscle, he was the same man that was equally concerned for all of his teammates. But then the moment passed as Vision nodded and carefully levitated himself up and out into the hallway.

“And you,” Steve said, turning on you. You could feel Bucky's hand tighten minutely on your shoulder, reminding you that he had yet to let you go, and saying that the Winter Soldier's mistrust for Tony Stark had apparently transferred over to Steven Stark. “Go get some rest, too. We'll figure out what happened in the morning.”

The group broke up then, and Bucky dropped his hand from its resting place. Tony told Steve that he needed to rest as well, shaking his head and giving up when the blond only told him to shove it up his ass. The super soldier turned to you, offering to show you up to your room.

Bucky trailed after the two of you, not really saying anything, but you were tired enough to not press the matter. Your room turned out to be in exactly the same spot as it had been in the “other place” (as you dubbed it until you could actually figure out where you were), and all of your possessions were in their usual places.

“If you need anything, Bucky and I are right next door, okay?” Tony told you gently. You offered him a smile and a small word of thanks, not in the mood to tell him that you already knew that. Well, Steve was next door to you, and Bucky down one more.

He patted your shoulder one last time before walking on down the hall, and Bucky nodded briefly to you. Then you were left alone in your room, and you sank down onto the bed quietly, letting your thoughts consume you.

Description
“Whoa, hey. Just slow down,” Tony said, interrupting Steve's rambling.

The group had migrated down to the lab again, now consisting of the entire team minus Thor, who was out with Jane to the best of anyone's knowledge. Nat, Wanda, Bucky, and Clint had cleared various chairs and stools of the tools and papers thrown haphazardly on them to sit down. Bruce, Vision, and Tony were all standing up, the last watching Steve worriedly, who had been both pacing and ranting until a moment ago. You were curled up on a countertop, watching everyone else silently.

“What he's saying,” Bruce spoke up for Steve, who still both shocked and frustrated, “is that traveling through a black hole isn't possible. Anything that gets trapped inside the event horizon is under such harsh gravitational forces that it gets stretched out and broken down into atoms. Nothing can get back outside the horizon, either, since it would have to be going above the speed of light, which is theoretically how one would travel back in time, but only to the point before they traveled backwards. And the only thing that can go the speed of light is… well, light. The energy required for anything larger becomes too innumerable to calculate.”

“Then how else would you explain this, oh scientific mastermind?” Clint asked scathingly, picking at the material of his pants.

“I don't know, okay?” Bruce replied softly, looking at Steve.

You opted to just stay quiet, not appreciating the way that Wanda was looking at you. You'd never really spoken to her that often back in your own- place? world? time? You weren't sure- but the amount of hate and distrust in her eyes at the moment really threw you off guard. Bucky was the only other one who was openly studying you, the others all taking turns to peer sideways at you, making you feel like some sort of circus side show.

“Perhaps (y/n) holds the answer themselves,” Vision suggested lightly, and the comment prompted all eyes to land on you again. You were really beginning to hate this. The android moved over to stand next to you, floating a centimeter off the ground. He rose one hand to you, and the motion suddenly brought a flash of memory to your mind- when he- no, your Vision- had reached out to save you.

“If I may?”

You nodded silently, and the skin of the back of his hand brushed over your forehead.

You gasped as the contact ignited a stream of memories you had no recollection of, unable to help yourself. The world around you faded from your consciousness, and you were once again enveloped in a blindingly bright white light. You were no longer aware of your body as a whole, but you could feel as every cell, every atom, was torn apart from its brethren until no piece of you was even remotely whole. Then they all fused back together, faster than lightning and in a way that was so painful no words could adequately describe it. You could somehow tell that this wasn't something that could be heard, but your super-human hearing picked up on every bit of it and only served to make you more disoriented. The process repeated itself, over and over and over, stretching out into an eternity that lasted only the blink of an eye.

The contact only lasted a moment and then Vision jolted away, leaving you to double over, gasping for air and fighting off a pain that was only a memory. From the corner of your eye, you could see Vision grasp the counter to keep himself balanced, obviously having felt a portion of what you had through the contact. That motion alone had the rest of the group on their feet immediately, wondering what the heck had happened that could bring the powerful android to his knees in a fraction of a second.

You screwed your eyes shut and covered your ears, the memory of that horrible feeling enveloping you. You hated that you had to act this way in front of the others, but the unnaturalness of the situation and the strange pain that was unlike anything you'd ever felt before was driving you to curl into yourself, pulling away from the world that wasn't yours.

A hand on your shoulder was what brought you back, squeezing gently. Much to your surprise, it was Bucky who'd approached you, staring down at you with his usual impassiveness. You could see the conflict raging in his eyes, though, and there was a hint of acceptance as well. That more than anything was what gave you the strength to pull yourself back together.

“What was that?” Steve asked cautiously, tentatively holding on to Vision's shoulder. “Viz?”

“I believe,” Vision started out slowly, massaging his forehead around the Mind Stone, “that (y/n) is telling the truth. I have never witnessed anything like that. My only question is, how did you survive?”

You met his eyes and then shrugged your free shoulder, not quite sure yourself. “I… I don't know. I can't remember much that happened right before I came here. I mean, I remember the PEGC, or whatever Tony had called his stupid machine, but after that it's blank.”

Steve raised an eyebrow at this, and Tony pursed his lips. “Tony built whatever it was that did this?” he scoffed. “I find that hard to believe, considering his current understanding of modern technology.”

Tony glared at him and opened his mouth to say something. Before he could, Natasha interrupted. “Yeah, yeah, break it up you two. You're both pretty. Can we move on now?”

Clint snorted, and you couldn't resist a half-smile. Same old Natasha, that was for sure. Tony turned his glare onto her, but Clint clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Sorry, Cap, but Stark's right. How would you have built something like that?”

“Maybe that's why it screwed up,” Steve said dryly. “He didn't know what he was doing.”

You wanted to correct them, but when your eyes landed on Vision, your words dried up. He was paler than he should have been, and his grip on the counter seemed to have increased. “Viz?” you asked softly.

He turned his head to the side and met your eyes, offering you a small smile that looked more like a grimace. Your voice had caught everyone else's attention, though, and Steve was back at Vision's side immediately.

“You don't look so hot, bud. Why don't you go lie down for a while?”

Vision shot him the most sarcastic look you'd ever seen the android make. “I am an android, mister Stark. I do not require sleep.”

“Well then go meditate, or whatever you do to rest,” Steve shot back. For a moment, you could see your Steve underneath. If you peeled away the layers of ego that should have been muscle, he was the same man that was equally concerned for all of his teammates. But then the moment passed as Vision nodded and carefully levitated himself up and out into the hallway.

“And you,” Steve said, turning on you. You could feel Bucky's hand tighten minutely on your shoulder, reminding you that he had yet to let you go, and saying that the Winter Soldier's mistrust for Tony Stark had apparently transferred over to Steven Stark. “Go get some rest, too. We'll figure out what happened in the morning.”

The group broke up then, and Bucky dropped his hand from its resting place. Tony told Steve that he needed to rest as well, shaking his head and giving up when the blond only told him to shove it up his ass. The super soldier turned to you, offering to show you up to your room.

Bucky trailed after the two of you, not really saying anything, but you were tired enough to not press the matter. Your room turned out to be in exactly the same spot as it had been in the “other place” (as you dubbed it until you could actually figure out where you were), and all of your possessions were in their usual places.

“If you need anything, Bucky and I are right next door, okay?” Tony told you gently. You offered him a smile and a small word of thanks, not in the mood to tell him that you already knew that. Well, Steve was next door to you, and Bucky down one more.

He patted your shoulder one last time before walking on down the hall, and Bucky nodded briefly to you. Then you were left alone in your room, and you sank down onto the bed quietly, letting your thoughts consume you.