Junior America

Chapter Fourty Nine

"Friday? How do the tests look?" Natasha asks as she bit into her apple. It was strange having Steve and Wanda in the building again, considering the events of what happened in Leipzig/Halle Airport. Surprisingly before the kid napping, Matt had convinced Tony to let a few of his friends he held grudges against in the building in behalf of herself, though Tony allowed them in bitterly.

"As Steve feared, part of her memory has been wiped, the last thing she remembers was when her car exploded and she was with someone called 'Faye'. Anything between that day and the day she befriended Wanda is difficult to find."

"Nothing? Nothing at all, does she remember Junior, Emma?" Steve says, stressing about his friend.

'What about Bucky, they couldn't have wiped out Bucky!'

Wanda seemed to notice Steve's thoughts, he was thinking loudly. Finally, she too spoke, "Maybe they were trying to specifically erase something from her memory, but why exactly?"

Steve wasn't buying it, what was the point of taking away memories of Bucky. He hasn't made contact with Matt since D.C. Steve was surprised that Matt hadn't made any contact with Bucky in so long, but he saw the bits of sadness everyday within her eyes around sunset. And before the battle in the airport, Bucky insisted keeping his location secret from Matt, although Steve did already mention to her that he was close to finding him. And the she was pretty updated on news.

But now was different. Bucky has been erased from Matt.

Wanda and Steve took the elevator to check up on Matt. In the amount of time since Wanda had joined the Avenger and the Accords, Matt had a lot of time to bond with Wanda. Knowing Matt, Wanda made sure to bring as many wholesale European cookies she could hide her in pockets up to Matt's room.

"You don't express your concerns for the little bear," Wanda said, receiving a sigh and Steve looked at Wanda. "How do we tell her the truth about Barnes?"

"I don't know if we should yet, we both know her well enough that she'll go on some crazy chase to find him, out of all of us, she's the only one that was able to keep her alias a secret. She might blow it trying to find him," Steve sighs again as the elevator opens to the floor where Matt's room was located.

She was looking at the board in her room with pictures of Bucky plastered all over, but none with her in it. Matt noticed there was even a few of her old wallet sized photos of Bucky, unknown to her that those pictures were once one of her most prized possession in a war she no longer remembered.

"Oh, lord," Wanda says, "Steve, I hope you know how to handle this."

"Hey, Matt," Steve says.

"When did I put this up?" Matt says,"I never noticed this. Was I trying to help you find your best friend?"

Steve and Wanda looked at each other, Steve was better at finding the emotions within his facial expression.

"Yeah, what exactly do you remember," Steve asks, waiting for Matt's response.

"Something about Hydra messing with his mind, more severely than what they recently did do me. He was very heroic and brave before the train accident," Matt says, her face saddening.

"You remember?"

"Well, yeah. I've been told the story plenty of times," Matt says, completely intrigued with the pictures. "I don't remember you mentioning he could pass for a Calvin Klein model."

"You weren't the only one that thought that," Steve said,"quite well with the ladies must I say," forming a scowl on Matt's face, but recomposed herself.

"Well, look at that built, sorta like your but..."

"Someone have a crush?" Wanda teases, elbowing Steve, then whispered,"This is going to be an interesting reunion when we find Barnes."

"Reunion?" Matt perks up, looking her two friends who were still standing by her door way.

"You heard that?" Steve says, surprised Matt picked it up from quite a distance

"I can hear whispers up to twenty feet away from me," Matt says in a matter-of-factly tone.

"That's also new," Wanda says, looking up at Steve who shared the same concerned look upon their face.

"All these new abilities showing up, yet I'm trying to figure out the purpose of this," Matt says as a brilliant ball of light appears from her palm. "According to my mother, it's protection."

Silence fell among the three, it was loud, echoing through all of them. When Matt's memory was intact, she told Wanda about when Emma had dolled her up for dates with Bucky. How Emma's cookies were wonderful and chewy, until Matt's own cookies which somehow always turned out fluffy.

—

"What are we going to do?" Steve said putting his head into his hands. Steve promised Tony to watch out for Matilda, which was the only reason why he'd even let Steve ten feet within Matilda, and now Bucky was completely out of the picture. But deep down Steve had a duty that he had to serve for Bucky,  Bucky would usually be the one to watch out for Matt, but after the accident he kept distance from Matt for her own safety.

Steve and Wanda were in a coffee shop nearby the Tower, for they couldn't risk the chance that Tony may overhear Bucky's current condition.

"Get him out of the ice," Wanda hisses, nearly knocking down Steve's latte.

"Do you have any idea how angry Tony would be when he finds out we hid him away, or that we snuck him into Stark property for a reunion with Bucky's lover how has no idea who he is?"

"She's a big girl, maybe not physically, and this may be a fast way to jump back into memory lane but he loves her!" Wanda says in a hushed remark.

"Stark's going to arrest Bucky."

"Not if Matt can help," Wanda smiles as she sips on her drink, "either way, I already called T'Challa. Barnes is going to recollect himself and get his act together, or as much of it as he can before we send him back to New York. You will have to explain to him the situation with Matt."

Steve looked at Wanda with disbelief. All this to make her ship happen. How could she appear to take this so lightly? Did she understand the severity—

"Steve, you think so loudly. I care about Matt, I've felt her aura whenever she comes across a happy memory of Barnes and I don't have the heart to keep her away from that."