Hello, hello, hello! Thank you for choosing What the Flames took from Us: A prequel to Patch Work. Yes, this is an Ava/ Bucky fiction and yes, it is about before the fire and B&C.

I may not get the characters right, but it is my interpretation of them, mainly Bucky and Ivan. The author didn't go into a huge amount with detail on them so they may seem a tad OC, but I will try my best at it. The first chapter will move pretty quickly, so if you feel it is rushed, it is just the first few, to get it moving. Nothing worse than a story that just drags and drags.

THIS WILL NOT BE IN ONE POINT OF VIEW. It will be in first, second, and third person. I want to touch base with Bucky and possibly Ava's mother.

This will be much longer than Patch Work and if you are looking for a quick read, this is not the story for you. It also isn't a very happy one nor is it light. It has suicide/abuse/tragedy and if any of those offend you, I advise you to find another story by the other wonderful authors on here.

If it is italized, it is Russian and you can translate it on Google, since that is where I get it any way.

Disclaimer: I do not own Blood and Chocolate or any of the characters. I own Ava, Ingrid, and any other characters not from the book. Please do not steal my work or I will have to report you.

'The kiss was gentle, like rose petals on skin and Maria found a sob threatening her voice when she spoke. "I will always love you Robert, even when you are gone." She stroked the cheek of the one she loved, trying to be strong.

"Maria, you will always be the one I lo-"'

Ava closed the book and tossed it back into the box from which it came. Love...it only existed in books like the ones her aunt sent her for her birthday. Good thing her father didn't see them so she could secretly imagine what it was like, even though she didn't believe in it.

She could smell coffee and hear the sounds of footsteps moving around the old Victorian house that her father insisted on buying a while ago when she was 10. Rudy wanted to move to Maryland while the pack made refuge in West Virginia. Her uncle Ivan and aunt Esme bought an inn and from her understanding it was a very large and successful business.

She pushed the box back behind the other boxes that were forgotten in the old attic. Her mother never went past the ceiling door unless she felt it necessary. Climbing out of the square in the attic floor/hole in the ceiling, she heard faint voices. Her parents were talking? Maybe her mother was having a good day. Doubt it.

Being so short she had to hang off the end of the latter and let go to drop on the floor. She was only 15; maybe she would still grow, like her cousin was. Last time she had seen her she was taller than her. Others teased her that a 13-year-old was taller. She didn't really care.

No school today, it was the beginning of Christmas vacation and she knew that she would have tons of chores to do before they left for West Virginia to see her family and former pack. It was hard to be her age and the only loup garou child with in miles. Maybe some time with her kind would help with the loneliness.

"Ava Lene! Are you up! Do not leave that door down again you hear me?" Her father called up the stairs. She found herself groaning and pushing the door upwards harder than usual. She grinned when it made a loud sound. "Don't slam it! Come down here, your mother and I need to talk to you."

He didn't sound too enthused about something and Ava had a feeling she was in trouble about something stupid again. He had been easy to upset lately and Ava wondered if it was because her mother had moved out of their room and into the spare room, claiming she couldn't sleep with him because of his snoring. They knew the truth.

She held her nose when she past the room where the man stayed with them. He was young and a stray and Rudy took him in until he had found a job. Months later he heard of Ivan and Esme's pack and left. She didn't like him. He was too cocky and flirtatious. He smelt like car grease, cigarettes, and after shave. She wasn't sure if she liked that smell.

She made it down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, walking by her father at the table and her mother at the counter to retrieve her cup of black tea, which her mother made her every morning. "Am I in trouble?" She asked, going to sit at the table with her father, not wanting to stand near her skeleton of a mother. The bags under her eyes told Ava that her mother had been out under the morn until the morning.

"No, we just want to tell you want we are doing today." Rudy smiled at her and she noticed that some grey was starting to show in his facial hair. He wasn't that young any more.

His wife walked from one counter to the other in strange silence, every now and then looking at her daughter with those doe like eyes. Ingrid, her mother, was from a strict Siberian pack and her past life scarred her so badly that trying to have a family only worsened her mental condition. Ava didn't know if she had uncles and aunts from her mother's family or if Ava's grandparents were still alive. Talking about her Russian past was taboo and it was taken as the unsaid known. Her mother was a ticking time bomb. She couldn't remember the last time Ingrid allowed her dad to touch her.

"You need to eat." She said, her strange accent twisting her words, and she turned toward the stove and put what looked like bacon and eggs on a paper plate. One thing that Ingrid kept up was the house and feeding her family.

Once the food was in front of her, her mother went back to the counter and looked around the kitchen with those eyes. Ava pushed her eggs around. "So what is it?" She had to push her long, dark waves behind her shoulder or it would become part of her meal.

Rudy sighed and sat back. "I can't go with you and your mother to West Virginia. Work had two people walk out and they are offering double pay for those who work extra shifts. I know you were looking forward to the family going, but our bills are getting harder to pay. Your mom's money stash is disappearing." He looked at his daughter with sad blue eyes. "I'm sorry honey."

She wanted to throw a fit. She wanted to call him out and yell at her mother. She wanted to but she didn't. "I understand. Don't worry about it." She shrugged. She started to wonder if he was really upset about it or that her mother persisted on going a trip, even though he wouldn't be able to come.

On the other hand, her aunt and her mother used to be close friends and her mother had no social life. She barely talked to her family. Ava continued on with breakfast and kept her thoughts inside of her head.

She had been looking forward to this trip, but now, she was just hoping it would go quickly by, like a summer day. She highly doubted it was for family and more for her mother to see if she could make a big escape. If she said she didn't want to go, her dad would have given her a disapproving look and chastised her for being rude. She wasn't in the mood to be told she was a neglectful daughter to a neglectful mother.

When they were packing the car, her father was trying to tell her mother how to get to the inn, since he had been there before. Ava couldn't help but notice how her father looked longingly at the car, as if wishing he could go or that Ingrid would change her mind and stay after all. Ava felt sad for him. How could anyone sit there and live in a dead marriage? When was the last time her mother pasted a longing glance at him or kissed his cheek? Ava had never seen it in her life. Maybe at one time they were young lovers, with eyes only set on each other. It had to have been quite a while ago.

"I wonder if there are any jobs there. You know, so you can have a summer job, da..." Her mother said quietly to herself as Ava tried to stay awake, if she fell asleep, her mother would get lost for sure.

"Yeah..."

"Maybe it will be nice there. There are kids your age."

Ava's eyes shot open. She knew it. It was too obvious. Her mother was planning on leaving. She did this, every now and then. Sometimes she took the car on a drive and didn't come back for days; she used to run into the woods for weeks and when she did she crawled back to Rudy, with teary eyes and sad apologies and promises of it never happening again. Rudy would forgive her and it would all go back to the same thing. But now she was trying to take Ava with her. It didn't surprise her that her mother was doing this, but it didn't mean Ava didn't get angry inside.

If you say something she'll kill us both. She thought bitterly. The sad thing was that thought was true.

"I don't think I could live in an inn." Ava said calmly, trying to tell her mother how she felt without letting her know that she knew about her secret. "I haven't even finished my junior year yet."

Her mother's eyes tightened and her gaze became a glare at the road, but she remained silent. Ava began to feel her anger boil up and she balled her fist. "What about dad? He still has the house; he couldn't leave to come here."

"Doch!" Ingrid said sharply. "Ne budʹ takim idiotskim." She went ridged and kept her angry eyes on the road.

Ava didn't really understand Russian, but her mother used to talk to her solely in Russian, as if she could. Finally Ava caught on to a few things and began to respond. This made Ingrid content, as if her daughter speaking Russian was the only thing Ingrid craved. Since her mother only spoke when she found it necessary, their Russian relationship had slipped into silent stares and duties that neither wanted to carry out. But Ava knew she was being told to be quiet or that she was pushing her limits.

"Da mat'." She murmured.

After hours of silence and thoughts on how she would get out of leaving her father, her mother pulled into a small diner. The woman never ate, so Ava didn't know why she even stopped. Maybe she thought Ava needed food. "Mama, I'm not hungry."

Ingrid put the car in park and looked at her daughter with large eyes. "I thought a shake would be nice. How about some fries?" The last words faded as she stepped out of the car, leaving Ava looking after her as she walked up the little stairs to the door of the diner. Slowly Ava opened her door and got out, her heart pounding. Shakes and fries her mother's idea on how to cushion a painful confession. She did that when Ganma, Rudy's mother, pasted away. Her and Vivian were taken out for shakes and fries and then told by both their mothers that Ganma was no more.

When she walked into the diner, the smell of grease and coffee overwhelmed Ava's nose and it looked like they gutted out a small trailer and tried to make it into a decent restaurant. The result was a tacky, grease filled compartment area with an equally greasy and questionable staff. Ava kept following her mother into a booth and tried to sit still. She would have rather her mother took her into the woods and beat her.

After the waitress did her duties and retrieved drinks and took the orders for a basket of fries and milk shakes, Ava felt her face scrunch in anxiety. What would her mother tell her now, what was she up to now? Ava knew it had to do with the trip and going to the inn in West Virginia and why her father wasn't with them.

"Mama, I really do not want anything." Ava said softly, hoping her mother would let up on her relentless pursuit for grease and diary.

Her mother just stared at her hands and ignored her daughter. The dark curtain of hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail and it revealed the large doe eyes the flitted from object to object. The woman across from her was meant for snow and ice; days and days of forest to run and not be found. Not suburban's and moist heat that made you feel like you never left the shower. She was a woman of the north.

"You get married, have kids, but you never realize how hard it will be." Her mother picked up a salt shaker and moved it in between elegant fingers. "But it is even harder when you move from your home country with a boy who promises that your new life will be better than what you had...and it's not."

Ava bit her lip and tried to keep her breathing even. Her mother was cutting right to the chase. Her mother set down the salt shaker and looked at her daughter. "I love you, very much. Your otets too, oh the goddess knows I do, but I can't stay in that house any more. I can't look in his eyes anymore and bare it. I am going to stay. Your father will come get you, if you want to go home." She tried to keep her eye contact with Ava, but her daughter looked away.

Ava nodded. She knew this what was going to happen. She wasn't going home with her dad like Ingrid said. No, she was going to stay at that inn, with her family and their pack, until she could graduate or until Ingrid decided to let her go. She was not going home any time soon.

"As for school," Ava found her answer. If Ingrid was talking about school then, no this was not a vacation. "You can go to the public school with your cousin and other pack mates or home schooled, like your cousin Sidda was before she left for California."

Ava felt her breathing increase and when her fries were set in front of her, she felt her stomach turn over. She excused herself and ran outside, right before breakfast made its reappearance. She was so angry she couldn't contain her reactions.

How dare she. How dare that woman lie to her so blatantly to her face! And now she was miles away from her home, from her father, her school...her life. She had another year of high school and all she wanted to do was to get through it and get her scholar ship for college. Now she had to start over and try to get a scholar ship in what she knew was a smaller school and had less opportunities. This was shit. Utter shit.

The inn was tucked away in the deep forest areas of West Virginia and it took many more hours of driving and listening to her mother trying to sell the idea to her, but Ava could not be consoled. She was not going to get over this that easily.

But when she saw the inn, it was like a heavy burden was taken off her shoulders. The tall building was old, but sturdy and guest walked around the area and some stayed in the shade of the wrap around porch. It almost seemed like a retirement home though, since most of them were older. A few boys were carrying some heavy bales of hay towards a barn that was downhill behind the inn, along with a few houses and what looked like another in, but Ava knew it was were some of the pack members lived. The houses were for families.

In the garden, there was a tan, tall man with wavy sun bleached hair. When he looked up his smile widened and he waved. Ava offered her uncle Ivan a small wave and a halfhearted smile. The girl with him, who had just as tanned skin and sun kissed hair, turned and her face turned into a sneer. Her cousin Vivian never had high thoughts of Ava or her mother and made it very clear. When her father noticed her unfriendly gesture, he nudged her and said something that made her shrug and wander off down towards the barn where the boys had been carrying the hay.

Ava left the comfort of the car first, not even waiting for her mother to say something and began to walk towards her uncle. Out of all her family, he was her favorite. He always had something positive to say or gave advice that was not to preachy. He held out his arms and embraced her patting her back. "Well hello gorgeous." He stood back and looked at her. "Thanks for the hug and who might you be?"

She laughed lightly at his joke. "Uncle Ivan, it's me, Ava Lene."

He kept up the charade and looked at her with squinted eyes then gave a hearty laugh. "Well, goddess, you are! You are growing up well kiddo. Your dad must be very proud to have such a pretty girl." He looked up and saw Ingrid approaching, her movements a little stiff from driving. "And such a beautiful wife. Hello Ingrid."

She smiled and took her turn hugging her brother-in-law. When she let go she turned and there was Esme, jogging up the hill from the barn and waved. "Ingrid! You made it."

Her aunt looked like she did the last time she saw her. Lean, beautiful, and fierce. A true alpha female. She stood next to her husband and looked over Ava and Ingrid. "Avie baby, you need to eat more, you puny thing, come give me a hug." She held out her arms and gave her niece a tight hug.

After they were done hugging, her uncle had them follow them up to the inn, where some elder couple sat on the porch, whispering to each other. Oh course they did not know that they could hear them, not understanding loup garou existence. "Look at her, that woman, so sickly thin."

Of course they pretended like they didn't hear them and continued in. The interior was rather modern and polished, with the occasional southern touch to it. That is what Ava would have difficulty with...the accents.

While her uncle went on and on, she saw some of the pack in their uniforms, taking a peak at the two new comers. She saw Reneta and Magda standing by a red haired woman she knew as Astrid. When Ava looked at her, her lip went up in sneer. "Wanna go you little bitch?"

Magda elbowed her and Ava turned quickly around and kept following her uncle and aunt. Well, Astrid hadn't changed one bit.

Luckily for her, Ava did not have to share a room with her mother. Instead, they were put into the housing at the back of the inn. It was a nice, small apartment that was well furnished and two rooms. Ava thanked the goddess and quickly put her things away so she could sneak off; it wasn't that hard to get out either. Her window was above the roof and it all it took was her to open it and walk right out and jump down one story. She bolted from the building and went towards the trees.

Running after a long day in the car was like breathing after holding your breath. It was a relief. And the moon was has ripe, making it impossible to sit still inside of a building.

Once inside the trees and sure that no inn guests were in sight, she began to shed her clothes. She jumped as hoots and hollers bellowed from above her. She looked up to see six boys perched in the tree above her, just as naked and with grins stretched out on her face.

"Well are you just a nice sight for sore eyes." The one with the longer, dark hair said. She knew him as Axel, and her father had always warned her to stay far from him.

"I can't see to say the same." She rolled her eyes and continued on.

She heard them drop on to the forest floor and felt an arm wrap around her. "Now, now darling, be nice. It has been a few years since I have seen you and by fucks sake you have filled out." She felt his breath on her ear.

"Yeah she has." One of the twins, Finn jutted around them and stood in front of her. "But no like Vivie."

Her nostrils flared and she flung Axel's arm off her and pushed past Finn. A couple of the boys let out a low whistle. "Well, challenge accepted." One of them said.

She didn't even think twice before taking off at full speed. They wouldn't catch her; they were too clumsy with their unsure feet. She was to small and graceful. She jumped and in midair, felt her bones shift into another form. By the time she hit the ground, she was no longer a small girl with large eyes and long dark hair, but a creature that resembled a wolf. A creature that crushed the earth under feet and howled at the partially ripe moon that appeared between the trees. She was a goddess.

Suddenly, a few dark shapes were flanking her and she skidded to a stop. They were not the boys she had just fled and much larger and the smell the produce were not of adolescence. She stopped slowly and they seemed to be just as equally surprised at her. Two of them were dark, one much larger than the other and the third one had light grey fur.

Oh she knew who they were. She didn't know what was worse, the Five or the motley crew they had just stumbled upon. The bigger one was Gabriel Dirigeant, with his cocky grin and his powerful muscles. The other two were Bucky Dideron and Jean Marcum, Jean being the smaller brown one. Bucky used to be the one that lived with her family and she always had to hold her nose when she walked by his old room. He seemed to recognize her as well because he let out a huff and pawed the ground. Men. That is what they were. Evil men.

When they began to shift back, she followed suit and was greeted with the sight of muscles...and other manly parts. She blushed and kept her eyes on their faces.

Bucky had changed from a raggy stray to a clipped and partially clean man, who still smelt like car grease, cigarettes and after shave. And the last time she had seen Gabriel he was half the height he was and she doubted he could fit through a door.

"Well, hello there baby girl, long time no see." Bucky smiled and his southern drawl deepened with his teasing. She wanted to smack him. She was not his baby girl.

"Who is that?" Gabriel tilted his head and then a big smile spread over his face. "Hey isn't that Ivan's niece, that little girl who beat the hell out of Ulf?" He crossed his arms and her lips hardened and thinned out. Ulf had deserved what he got. No one touched her jello cups. Granted they were only five or six at the time, but she had showed him who not to mess with.

Jean chuckled and nodded, his floppy hair moving with him. "Miss Ava, nice to see you."

She kept her body rigid and her mouth tight. They were about as rude and crass as the Five, when they wanted to be and she was sure that they were enjoying teasing her. She sniffed and held her head high. "Hi."

"You ok tid bit? You look all sick and shit, maybe someone needs to catch you a rabbit." Gabriel winked at her and she blushed furiously. What the hell was his edge talking like that?

"Watch it now, she is only fifteen and Ivan and Esme would have your ass. Her daddy is nothing to piss at either." Bucky kept his blue eyes on her and looked up and down her body. "But it is a shame. You are looking good there baby."

She scoffed and turned and began to walk away. All she wanted to do was run and between them and the Five, no one wanted her to enjoy the night.

"Hey you call me when you turn sixteen alright sweet cheeks!"

Oh baby, oh baby how hot you get me. She mentally called. I wouldn't call you if you were the last man on Earth.

Yay! Finne! Tell me how you like it so far. I know and like I said before, the first couple of chappies will be a bit rushed. This will be quite the story.

Songs I listened to for the chap:

Lana Del Ray- Born to Die

Shiny Toy Guns- Somewhere to hide

Florance and the Machine- Rabbit Heart