The Night We Met | Steve / Bucky

fifty-nine - gone, gone, gone

Katherine lay awake in her bed, trying to sleep. She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. She lost count of the nights she lay like this - thoughts roaming her head. This time, instead of thinking of Bucky or Steve or how sick she became - Katherine ran Scott's words over and over in her mind. Time travel is not possible. She repeated Tony's words in her head but something was itching her about it. She felt as though she couldn't lie here helpless. 

Katherine sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She shoved her feet in her slippers and slipped a jumper over her head, keeping the hood up for warmth. She shoved her hands in the front pocket of the jumper and shuffled her way downstairs. The house was in darkness, except from the lamps in the living room. 

Light from Tony's workstation lit the downstairs of the cabin, his voice echoing in her ears as she got closer. "I guess you beat me to it." Katherine spoke, slowly coming down the stairs, approaching his workstation - a large squared table that sat in the center of the room. A large hologram of a Tony's work shone in Katherine's eyes. She tried to make sense of his workings but found nothing. 

Tony snapped his head to the incoming voice, not expecting anyone. He threw a few peanuts into his mouth, munching down hard - something Tony always had to do, eat while working. "What do you know about quantum physics?" Tony asked as Katherine stood by his side, admiring the hologram in front of her. 

"I would have tried my best." Katherine smiled to her brother. There was a slight pause between the pair - each realizing that they were more similar than they thought, "I guess you couldn't leave it alone either?" 

Tony shook his head, typing on the keypad in front of him, "Nah." 

"How long have you been down here?"

"Since dinner." Tony responded. Katherine stood by Tony's side, watching him work, beginning to understand the science talk Tony always talked about. Hours seemed to have passed, but Tony knew that nothing would come of his research, Katherine knew too - but they both had to try. 

"I've got a mild inspiration. I'd like to see if it checks out." Katherine spoke.

Tony looked to her perplexed, "Lead the way." Tony spoke.

"What about inverting it?" Katherine asked, "I don't know if you can or if that sounds stupid, but we might as well give it a shot."

Tony liked her idea, nodding along. They both picked up peanuts and threw them in their mouths, "So, one last sim before we pack it in for the night." Tony walked around the workstation, rubbing his hands together, "This time in the shape of a Mobius strip, inverted please." He spoke to F.R.I.D.A.Y.

"Processing." F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded.

Tony watched as F.R.I.D.A.Y. displayed the Mobius strip. Katherine looked to Tony, "Any good?"

Tony reached out and began moving the holographic image around, "Right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle, factoring in the spectral decomp." Tony looked to Katherine, "That'll take a second." He reached out and took a sip from a water bottle Katherine had fetched some time ago - she opted for a bottle of beer. 

"Just a moment." F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded. 

"And don't worry if this doesn't pan out," Tony spoke. "We're just kinda -" Tony munched down hard on more snacks. 

Katherine walked around to Tony's side, taking a sip of her beer. "Model rendered." F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke. 

Katherine and Tony watched as the model they made rendered - the words 'Model Successful' displayed in front of them. Katherine's eyes widened, spitting out her beer with shock, coughing trying to catch her breath. Tony fell backwards, almost limp, in the chair behind him. Tony exhaled sharply, in shock at the revelation. Katherine eventually caught her breath back, "Shit."