"Do you recall where you were when the sensations were strongest?" Strange asked. "Perhaps start there."

Steve did recall, in fact. So he nodded. "Alright," he agreed. "Thank you. At least now we have a starting point."

Well. He did. He wasn't so sure about Bucky.

Bucky didn't remember the first time he felt the bond, but it didn't matter. He had a vague idea of where to start looking. Maybe. Sort of.

"My pleasure," Strange said. "Please do not hesitate to contact me again if anything further happens." He nodded to them both and left.

Steve glanced at Bucky. "Doing okay so far?" he asked. Bucky could still be a bit unpredictable at times.

"So far," Bucky said, still a bit rattled. "This can't be good, Stevie. There's junk in my head I wouldn't wish on anyone."

"I know," Steve said quietly. They both had things they wouldn't wish on anyone. "Maybe the other person isn't getting any of the bad stuff?"

"I really hope so," Bucky said. "There's not a whole lot that isn't bad, though. And this thing's been in place since way before the thing in DC, Stevie."

"You said years, right?" Steve asked. "Going both ways. That could be good or bad. Maybe the other person hasn't seen anything recent."

"Recent's better than anything further back," Bucky said. "I was in and out of cryo for decades, Steve. I'm messed up."

Steve couldn't really deny that, but then again, they were both messed up. "You and me both, buddy." He shook his head a bit. "Well, if you find her--I'm guessing it's a her, anyway--you two can talk."

"That's a big 'if'," Bucky replied. He shook his head a bit. "Come on, let's head back. Maybe Stark's got something in the tower that'll stop your itching for a while."

"Yeah." Steve got out and walked with him back to the tower, though he never stopped turning over the idea of soulmates in his mind.

Bucky was quiet all the way back, too, similar gears in his mind turning. He just hoped he hadn't somehow messed up his supposed soulmate already before he'd even met the person.

A few days later, Hillary had finally ended up having to take off of work. She'd started to shed, so she started her four-day-long absence from work and was soaking in warm water. She'd shifted away from human form: her legs were replaced by a large, powerful snake tail with copper scales matching the ones on her shoulders. The scales were dull and cloudy, and were already flaking off in patches.

Bucky, on the other hand, had wandered down to a little cafe about six blocks down from the tower. He'd noticed sometimes that the unusual feelings and sensations were a bit stronger when he was in that area, but he had no idea where to go from there. So he wandered his way into the cafe for a coffee and somewhere to sit and think.

Lizzy had given Hillary the tub and the apartment to herself for the moment, and was currently sitting in the café fighting with the owner's laptop. She had a reputation for being able to fix things of all kinds, and the owners usually gave her some freebies. In return, she helped out when she could.

And if she was using some of the Russian swear words she'd learned from her dreams, well, at least no one else knew what she was saying to the uncooperative laptop.

Bucky blinked and glanced around when he heard the Russian profanity. It was definitely not something he expected to hear where he was. He paused when he saw her. There was something about that moment that tugged at him, and he had no idea what it was, but he went over anyways.

"It's a little hard to insult a computer's mother," he commented. "Calling it an overgrown calculator, though, that's okay."

"Well, that depends on who you define as mother to a computer. Manufacturer, designer, or owner?" Lizzy quipped without looking up from the innards. "And it is an overgrown calculator, at the moment it won't even connect to the internet. Or it wouldn't, if all it's bits and pieces were where they belong and not on the table."

"Misbehaving technology?" Bucky asked, eyeing the bits and pieces on the table. Some of it looked uncomfortably similar to what was inside his metal arm.

"Yeah. Not mine, the owner's. I'm taking a look at it for her." Lizzy finally looked up at him, tucking stray hair behind her ear. "And I'm sure I look more than a little crazy."

"I've seen crazier," Bucky said with a bit of a grin. Hell, he'd been crazier, for a long time.

Lizzy smiled at that. "Well, at least I haven't scared you off yet," she said. "That's always a good thing, I've been known to do that."

Sometimes when she was throwing impossibly heavy things at people, but still. She did what she had to in order to keep her freedom and her life.

"Nah, I'm not that easy to scare off, trust me," Bucky said with an easy grin. "Name's James, by the way, James Barnes. Most people just call me Bucky."

"Lizzy Tyler." She grinned at him. "Do you prefer James or Bucky? And how the hell do you get a nickname like Bucky when your name is James?"

Bucky shrugged.

"Middle name's Buchanan," he said with a bit of a grin. "Everyone just calls me Bucky. It's fine."

"Huh. Okay. Works for me." Lizzy attempted to tame her hair again, tying it back in a ponytail. "Well, if you want to stick around and watch me swear at this laptop more, feel free. I can multitask."

"By all means, continue swearing at the laptop," Bucky said. "Impressive Russian, by the way."