A/N: So this chapter is a bit timey wimey, the flashbacks will be in italic and the rest of the stuff which isn't in a strict time flow either will be in normal style okay? This sort of sets the whole story and yeah, I hope y'all like it :)

Edited: 14/02/2018

Hello everyone who thought it would be a good decision to read this fanfiction. I started writing this late 2013 and I'm much older now but I still harbour some love towards this ol' dog. It isn't my best work by a long mile, I put myself through a lot of stress trying to upload every day which meant I'd do a quick read through to make sure it was readable and then I'd post it for the world to see. Still, this story is something near and dear to my heart despite the fact that I'm now very aware of how bad some scenes are and how badly written it is. I know I'm probably putting you off reading it which I really don't mean to, it was honestly great fun to write and I actually love the bad plot points. So I'm actually encouraging you to read it, just keep in mind I wrote this five years ago when I was younger and lazier with my writing. I mean it has 200,000 reads by this point (a small amount to some, a huge amount to me) so some people enjoyed it enough to read through the entire thing. If you are reading this, I encourage you that once you're done with it to go have a look at Hiraeth, my latest Steve Rogers fanfic which shows how far I've come in my writing and yeah, it's pretty great if you ask me but I'm biased!

CHAPTER ONE

"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form."

― Rumi

"Steve," Summer Scotts breathed out the name, her tone was soft but vacant of any emotion. Her twinkling eyes raised upward as she looked at the large man before her. She still wasn't use to Steve Rogers being this tall, before the experiment the two friends were just about the same height, and now he was this ten tonne piece of muscle which Summer simply couldn't help but find slightly intimidating. "I- I don't understand what you're saying.

The blonde male couldn't hold eye contact with her, he was trying so hard to hide the guilt but it was written all over his face. "Bucky… he's gone, and he's not coming back." His words were cold and the way he was saying it was for the girls own benefit. He'd known Summer his entire life and therefore he'd learnt how to break bad news, she hated people being sympathetic and keeping some of the truth just so she didn't feel any worse. Still though, he couldn't tell her that he was dead, it still didn't feel real to him.

Summer understood some other reasons as to why he was being so cold, she understood that it was also a comfort to him, he was trying to hold back any emotion. He was terrible at doing it though, Summer was the real master and being unable to hide her emotions. Plus Steve was trying to be strong for her, she appreciated that as well, but she didn't feel like he needed to be her strength.

In that moment she simply felt empty, it was like a massive part of her soul had been ripped away and all emotions had been drained from her bodies. It had been a while since she'd felt this way and that was one of the things she was struggling to handle. She tugged at her auburn hair, it was still messy as she'd been woken up by Captain America knocking at her door. "Right," she nodded her head, taking in the words he said.

She wanted to laugh. She wanted to let out a loud, bellowing laugh that would be able to wake up the rest of her neighbours. Summer found it hilarious that their last goodbye had been so nonchalant, not special at all. The pair had been so confident that he'd return to her just in time for their wedding.

Bucky shouldn't have died, he'd told her- no, he'd promised her that he wouldn't die. "And now…" she muttered, trying to search through her acrimonious mind for the right words to use. "I'm alone, he's gone. He left me." She said louder, more bitterly. "He left me." Her voice was beginning to become shaky, the realisation finally burning it's mark in her brain… her fiance was dead.

Summer was sat in the Pineberry bar, a well-known gathering place between her and close friends. This was her favourite place to go as it was the closest place near her house and it was the only place that played good dancing music. Her auburn hair fell in styled waves down her back, framing her oval shaped face, the shade making those freckles of hers even more noticeable. On her body was a navy dress which had an intricate floral design which she loved, her legs were shown off and on her feet were a pair of black combat boots which may have broke the whole 'trophy wife' costume she had on, but in actuality they showed she'd made an effort. Normally you'd be able to find Summer in the pineberry wearing a vest, cargo pants and her favourite pair of slippers.

This red-head was a woman to be reckoned with. She was equally as prideful as she was brave, but also funny when needs be. Emotions certainly weren't her strong point, but what she lacked in the compassion department she made up in her intelligence. Tragically, her intelligence was something which she tried to keep hidden; she'd gone through enough discrimination as it is for just being a female, if she had something else which men were foretold to only have (for instance, strength, intelligence, power etc) then the judgement on her would only worsen.

"Well don't you look gorgeous," a man going by the name of James Buchanan Barnes greeted, wrapping his arms around her waist and gently pecking his lips her freckled cheek before taking his place in the seat beside her. "The usual please Clyde!" He called happily towards the barman who fetched the drink without delay, placing a pint of beer in front of the

"Well don't you look gorgeous," a male going by the name of James Buchanan Barnes - also known as Captain America's partner in crime and Summer Scott's fiance - wrapped his arms around her waist, pecking his lips against her freckled cheek before taking a seat of his own next to her, "the usual, please Clyde!" He cheered happily towards the barman.

"And you look…" she turned her head to finally look at her fiance, but as soon as she saw his familiar uniform clad body, her gleeful flirtatious emotions were replaced with anger and disappointment. "You look like you're going to go on another mission."

If the disdain in her voice hadn't made Bucky realise he was in trouble yet, then the frown on her face surely gave it a way. "It's not even a mission, I like to think of it as an adventurous bachelor party."

"We're getting married in five days," she countered, nostrils begin to flare. He just looked at her like he was some innocent puppy, with wide eyes and pouty lips. She couldn't take it, she couldn't handle him. She finished off the glass of whiskey in her hand before uncrossing her legs and stamping both on the ground like a petulant child. "I can't believe you're doing this to me Bucky," with those final words she turned away from him and began to storm off, out of the bar and into the frosty lit streets.

It wasn't that she was worried about him putting his life in danger, she had a lot of confidence in his abilities and that Steve would take care of him. She was angry that he had agreed to go on a mission only few days away from a wedding which he had pushed for them to have, leaving her to sort out all the complicated stuff and ensuring that he was going to be late. She hated tardiness. "Summer, wait!" She couldn't really escape Bucky, she was currently living in his apartment after being kicked out of hers and so she stopped wasting time and turned around to face him, arms crossed over her chest.

"What, James, unless you're telling me that this is all some joke then I don't want to hear it." The red-head spat defiantly, using her crossed arms to keep some distance between them. She knew that calling him by his real name he would not only feel hurt, but he would also realise the extent of her frustration towards him.

He wrapped both of his hands around her elbows, bending his knees so that they were at the same height. "Listen here future Mrs Barnes, I promise you that I will be waiting at the bottom of that aisle looking dashing as ever in my tuxedo. The only reason I'm going is because someone's gotta look after Steve, he may be as big and as powerful as a fighter jet, but that don't mean he isn't still stupid. And I need my best man at the wedding almost as much as I need the bride, okay?"

His words were of little comfort, she knew something was probably going to go wrong and that would lead him to being late. And if she had to cancel the wedding then she would definitely kill Bucky. However, she did understand his reasoning and trusted him just enough that she took his word. "Fine," she exhaled, not being able to find any amusement in this situation unlike Bucky who had grown a large smile on his freshly shaven face. He leant down and courageously kissed her lips, Summer wishing she had more power over herself when it came to Bucky.

"Come on then," he cheered triumphantly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and guiding her back towards the Pineberry, "you owe me a dance."

Summer and Peggy were sat in a dull room, in it there were five murky brown chairs and the walls were plastered with a murky green colour. It was still dark in the room, even with the four lights on the roof. "This is stupid, Summer, you simply can't do this." Peggy shunned, hands gripping the back of a chair.

"I didn't ask for your opinion on the matter Peggy," she quickly backfired, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "I called you here for support, that, and I'm all out of friends."

In five minutes Summer was to be put into a chamber and have needles stuck in her body, a serum will then be proceeded to inject into her bloodstream and hopefully give her the abilities to allow her to do more than any human first thought possible - if Summer's science was correct, the serum would not only slow down aging for her, but it would also allow her to heal faster and have more brain capacity than the average human being; with these attributes she hoped to help the world in her own special way.

"You could die from this!" Peggy tried to make her see reason once more, "what would Bucky say if he was here?"

She tried not to show the fresh tears that begged to escape, Summer still wasn't done grieving and Peggy certainly wasn't done grieving over Steve Rogers, which is why it was so hard for her to watch another friend turn to serums for guidance. In a way, Peggy blamed the serum, if it weren't for Steve becoming Captain America then he wouldn't be left in the middle of nowhere dead.

"Bucky isn't here anymore," she quipped phlegmatically. "This serum… If I die then it doesn't matter that much, but if I live, well then I can make something out of my life and maybe help save other people."

"Now what kind of talk is that?" Peggy asked, finally moving away from the seats, giving her friend a sympathetic look. The kind of look which Summer had seen too much of in the past few days.

Luckily the exchange was interrupted by the door opening and the one and only Howard Stark entering the room. "We're ready to go," he smiled positively towards the two of them, it was obvious that the scientist was looking forward to the experiment. Ever since he'd witnessed the experiment on Steve Rogers he'd become greedy to have a go with another serum, though with the passing of Abraham Erskine his hopes faded away. That is, until two weeks ago when a unclean, crazy looking Summer Scotts appeared at his office with another serum idea. With her was what looked to be the scribblings of a mad person, but surprisingly they were an incredible compilation of precise equations and ingredients.

She stepped forward and turned to Peggy, noticing that the women didn't look too happy. The last thing Summer wanted was to end up dying alone, having pushed the last person she had away. Sighing, she turned back to Howard, "give me a minute." Her confident tone masked the tension in the air quite well but as soon as Howard left she turned back to Peggy with a remorseful look, "I know you think I'm doing the wrong thing here, and I don't expect you to just change your mind… I just really need a supportive friend right now."

With those final words Summer left to go into the laboratory, hoping that her friend would follow. "One more thing," Peggy stalled, "I once heard about this man who did something stupid because he wanted to feel powerful and secure, he ended up killing millions of people. All because no one stopped him when they had the chance. Of course I'm going to be here for you and of course I shall remain your friend, but if this goes sour then I will not hesitate killing you - I hope you know that."

Summer nodded her head, continuing her travel down a staircase and into the laboratory, mentally preparing herself for the second worst pain she'd ever feel.

"I'm just saying that I wish I could do more like you and Steve, I feel so useless." She mumbled, her eyes were fixated on her hand which was intertwined with Bucky's, they kept moving each others fingers as though they were in some weird finger fight. The two were currently lying together on bed, it was late night and seen as neither could sleep they just cuddled and talked about whatever came to mind, which wasn't a rare occurrence for the couple.

He did an obnoxious grunt in response, "and I'm just saying that you don't need too." He clamped his hands around hers, locking her in a hand hold which struck both of them with a familiar pierce of electricity. "I'm always gonna protect you okay? So don't you ever worry, as long as I'm around not even death himself can get to you, I promise."

"You can't promise that," she tutted while rolling on top his body, their hands remaining now pressing against their two naked bodies.

"I can, and I will." He smirked, leaning over and kissing her lips softly before she could reply with any scientific comebacks - though he did love it when she went off talking about something he would never understand, she would always look so passionate and he found her absolutely gorgeous when that look would appear on her face. "I love you," he said, pulling his lips away from hers for a split second so he could let those three words slip.

A small smile tempted to poison her expression but she simply wouldn't let it be freed, instead she shrugged her shoulders, "I love you more."

He laughed in retort, his laugh making the small smile finally appearing. "Not possible," he backfired, returning to kissing Summer as passionately as the love that burned in his heart.

Seventy years later and Summer now finds herself walking down a hallway with the S.H.I.E.L.D's latest director. The experiment was successful and now she was probably the most intelligent person on the planet, she may have been 82-years-old but she was still fit enough to open her own jar of pickles and had managed to keep her youthful good looks. Often enough she would find herself in a bar being told by some drunk douche that her beauty was wasted. At least her intelligence wasn't though, she was one of the head scientists at S.H.I.E.L.D and could easily say that she knew more of S.H.I.E.L.D's secrets than even S.H.I.E.L.D knew.

"Nick, I still don't understand why you woke me up at this time?" She said with a hoarse voice, rubbing her eyes with both hands and walking blindly down the hallway, Fury having to grab a hold of her elbow and guide her so that she didn't end up walking into a wall. "Couldn't it have waited until the morning, I've been up for three days already trying to perfect the chameleon skin technology."

"And the nation thanks you," he bellowed, interjecting her whining. "But trust me when I say you'll want to see this." The pair reached a door at the end of the hallway and Fury pushed it open, allowing Summer to walk into the room first.

Summer sent Nick a confused look, her raised eyebrow giving Nick a sense of pride as it was very rare that you managed to confuse Summer Scotts. She turned back and saw a large block of ice on the table, three people surrounded it and there were two heaters in the. Whatever was in the ice was large, and blue, and white, and red. Then the realisation hit Summer, "I… Is- It can't be- is that…" She couldn't even form structured sentences anymore, her whole body had become tense and she couldn't even allow herself to blink.

"Miss Scotts," Fury said, stepping closer to her, "say hello to Steve Rogers, an old friend of yours I believe?"