A/N: Okay, so just a quick note before we get started. This story incorporates the X-Men, and for it to make sense with this story (as the MCU does not include mutants), what I have here won't line up with either the movies or the comics. However, this chapter is the primary one that uses any X-Men other than my OC. The others will feature them much less, and therefore be less confusing (hopefully). Also, to be clear, this starts at the end of The Winter Soldier.

I would also like to apologize in advance for any mistakes as this is unedited.

And that should be everything. Enjoy!

Shocked and concerned gray eyes stared at the television. The screen still showed the continuous loop that the news station had set up of the Helicarrier crashing into the Potomac. It had been running for the better part of the day now, and Vivian was sure that she would never forget it.

This was, of course, nothing too far out of the ordinary for the world anymore. Especially for her. After the alien attack in Manhattan, it seemed that the world would never been the same. This was a cause for concern for any rational human being who wanted to simply live a safe and normal life, but for Vivian and those she lived with, it could be the start of something much larger and worse as well.

Vivian forced the horrified expression on her face to lessen some after Kitty, who was sitting on the opposite side of the couch, let out a low breath and turned to face her. "Crazy to think that all of this is happening. Makes me worry for what will happen next…"

Vivian chose not to reply, only furrowing her brow and pursing her lips in response. Vague as she was, Vivian knew exactly what Kitty was referring to. Years ago, the idea of hiding peacefully in a mansion full of other naturally enhanced people, away from the prying eyes of anyone who may scream "monster" once they figured out that they weren't like them, seemed relatively easy. Now the world had turned into an unrecognizable place with super-powered people coming out of nowhere and near-global catastrophes hitting an all-time high. It was only so long before a particularly brave mutant came forward and opened the world's eyes to their existence, or they were forced to intervene and save the world themselves when the Avengers ultimately failed.

While the thought of no longer having to hide who she is was a liberating one, the knowledge of what would happen to her and her kind after was enough to sour it entirely.

And Vivian knew better than anyone what exactly people thought of mutants. She was a lower-level telepath, nowhere near possessing the capabilities of Professor Xavier or even Jean Grey, but powerful enough all the same. So she was blessed with the gift of always knowing what people thought of her (and everything else). It was hard enough dealing with the occasional distasteful thought about her outfit that day slipping through her carefully constructed walls, but hearing her parents' terror and hate-filled minds scream at her when she showed them what she could do was enough to permanently turn her off from the idea of sharing it with anyone else again.

She had been fourteen at the time. Professor Xavier had found her shortly thereafter, and he had fixed everything, wiping her big coming out moment from both of her parents' minds and then taking her away to his school that was full of people like her. People who wouldn't fear or hate her simply for what she was. He had saved her from the hatred reserved solely for that which one doesn't understand. And he had saved her from herself as well.

But Vivian didn't like to think about these things, having always preferred to remain happy despite what life threw at her—at least outwardly.

That was a challenge on days like today though, when she had a terrible sense of foreboding and only had it amplified by the minds of all of the others crammed into the living area to stare at the screen in quiet wonder.

Moments later, a breaking news reel appeared at the bottom of the screen and the news anchors were quickly changing topic.

"Breaking news—Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, has reportedly been taken to an unnamed hospital to undergo treatment for what was only described as "severe injuries." These injuries were likely received from what sources are calling the Winter Soldier." As the title left her mouth, images of the mysterious assassin began to pop up on the screen. Some of them old, some of them from as recently as that day. Most of them were unfocused and clearly taken from a poor quality cell phone camera. But one struck Vivian rather hard. It was a close up of the man's face, his hair wild and partially obscuring the only part of his face that wasn't covered by his black mask. But unlike many other pictures, this one depicted him without his (honestly, atrocious) goggles on; and what Vivian saw in the surprisingly stunning blue eyes made her blood run cold.

Nothing.

She had never seen eyes so devoid of any emotion before, and it left her rather unsettled. Which made the next words out of the woman's mouth come as even more of a shock.

"And it appears, according to several files recently released by the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, that the identity of this assassin has finally been revealed. And we can hardly believe it." More images graced the screen, this time one of the man in what looked like a cryogenic tank, face lax and hair still long and tangled. But the one that they placed next to it left Vivian, and all of the other students in the room, rather confused. It was a face that most of them knew, as it was in many of their history textbooks. In fact, it looked like the exact picture that Vivian remembered seeing in her books, with him in his uniform and his hat slightly askew.

It only took a moment of staring at the two pictures before the resemblance became clear and confusion gave way to silent horror.

But that couldn't really be Sergeant James Barnes could it?

The woman currently handling the news sure seemed to think so. "These leaked files confirm the Winter Soldier's identity as James Buchannan Barnes, former Howling Commando member and best friend of Captain America."

It was unfortunately that moment that Professor Xavier decided to intervene. "Kitty, would you mind shutting that off? There's no need to continue gaping over it when there are lessons you all could be working on, agreed?"

Kitty rushed to grab the remote and turn the TV off, stammering an apology to the professor. The room, which had been mostly full of younger students, quickly emptied as well.

You seem worried.

Vivian turned in her seat to face the professor as he rolled into the room, tilting her head in acknowledgment at the thought that he projected towards her. She merely allowed him to further explore her thoughts in response, having long ago learned that there was no point in trying to hide anything from him. The professor was one of the few people she trusted with her thoughts anyway.

Ah. I see. You're concerned what this sudden leak of information and destruction of a major government organization may mean for us and our safety.

Vivian's lips quirked slightly in response to his quick deduction. Well, among other things, yes.

Professor Xavier returned her half-hearted smile. Well rest assured Vivian, we will do all we can to protect both ourselves and the humans from whatever lay ahead.

"Okay," Kitty interrupted their internal conversation. "I know you're both doing that creepy thing where you talk to each other in your heads, and I need you to stop. I feel so left out."

That earned Kitty the first real laugh out from Vivan all day. "Sorry, Kitty. I just forget sometimes."

Kitty merely rolled her eyes playfully in response before turning to the professor. "Was there something that you needed professor?"

"Not at this moment, no," Xavier shook his head. "I merely wanted to relay that you both should get some rest, as I have a feeling I will be needing the two of you to partake in a rather large mission tomorrow morning. Meet me in my office at eight o'clock, sharp." And with that, he wheeled around and out of the room.

Kitty and Vivian shared a skeptical look. "Well… that wasn't ominous or anything."

Kitty returned Vivian's sentiment with an exasperated nod before checking her watch. "Jesus. It's only 8! What kind of mission could he be sending us on?"

Sadly, Vivian didn't know the answer to that question. But regardless, she decided to follow the professor's advice and head up to her room for the night.

That was the plan, anyway.

It turned out that Vivian was not actually in for a restful night's sleep.

Vivian was actually no longer a student at Xavier's Institute for Gifted Children, having graduated six years ago and since gone to college. She was now back at the mansion, in a tentatively permanent status. She had graduated college two years prior, with a degree in English that had thus far gotten her nowhere, and had been bouncing around for a while now trying to decide what she wanted to do. So here she was, back at the only childhood home she cared to think about, deciding whether she wanted to take the professor up on his offer to actually teach some of these kids. Something Vivian didn't exactly find thrilling.

In the meantime, she made herself useful by looking after all of the girls on her floor. Making sure they didn't get into too much trouble and were alright. It was as she was making these rounds that Vivian was pulled into one girl's room to help her with her Geometry homework (something Vivian could only mildly lend any assistance in) and as she left her she had found another girl sobbing uncontrollably in the bathroom for unknown reasons and she had to try to coax the necessary information out of her and talk her down.

It was now just after 10 p.m., which was not really all that late. However, after the day's events, Vivian wasn't quite ready to sleep.

Instead, she pulled out her laptop and began digging through the files that Natasha Romanoff had helpfully leaked onto the internet for more information about the Winter Soldier.

Vivian had always been a fan of history, World War II in particular. This, naturally, made Captain America and the Howling Commandos her childhood heroes. And she had always held a soft spot in her heart for the only member to die in the war efforts.

Vivian was no stranger to sacrifice, and that was likely what drew her to his story then as well as now. It was just rather sad to learn that his sacrifice had not ended when he fell from that train in 1944, and it only got worse from there.

So, that was how Vivian spent her evening, scrolling through file after file on the Winter Soldier and all of the horrors that he faced during his time with Russia and HYDRA. Seven decades worth of torture that she couldn't even imagine.

When she could no longer stomach the images and words (many of which she relied on google translate to help her understand) that assaulted her, she closed out of all of the tabs she had opened. She laid in her bed for a moment, breathes low and shallow as she tried to ease the nausea she felt enough to find sleep. However, she quickly realized that that wasn't meant to happen. Instead, she decided that she still had a morbid curiosity that was pushing her to get up and rummage through her closet to find an old World War II history book that she had stashed there some time ago.

As it turned out, the book had an entire section dedicated to Captain America and his Howling Commandos and their lives, before, during, and after the war. It was around one in the morning when she settled back into bed, the book clutched tightly to her chest, and began to remind herself of history that she had long forgotten. She didn't fall asleep until 4 a.m. or so, and when she did she was still draped over the book, and though she would never admit it, there were a few tears that had managed to streak down her cheek and land on the open pages.

She had never had a personal connection to either Captain America or his lost best friend. She did, however, feel a deep sense of hurt for both of them at that moment when she was faced with all that they had lived through and all that they had lost. All in the name for their country, spectacularly full of people she knew would never thank them, and would even push for James Buchanan Barnes' execution were he ever to resurface.

The last thought Vivian was aware of before she finally allowed herself some rest was that she hoped that he never did, for his own sake.

"Why do you look like you were hit by a truck?"

Kitty's sudden question had Vivian snapping out of her semi-unconscious state, lurching forward in the uncomfortable wooden chair that she was currently residing in. She arrived in the professor's office only a few minutes ago, at ten minutes to 8. At the time, she had been alone, but it appeared that Kitty had finally arrived.

"Oh good. For a moment, I was worried that I only felt like I've been struck by oncoming traffic. I'm relieved to hear that my pain isn't only inward."

Kitty giggled at her friend's dry humor. "Late night?"

Vivian sighed heavily and tipped back in the chair as Kitty took a seat in the one beside her. "Yeah, not the fun kind though. Just up all night doing some… research."

"Research?" Kitty questioned, raising a slender eyebrow in response to Vivian's vague answer.

Luckily, she was saved from having to reply by the sudden appearance of one of their students who came bursting through the door, huffing loudly.

"Sorry I'm late!" Cassidy panted as soon as she entered the room.

Vivian and Kitty shared a look before turning back to the girl. "Um… it's alright. The professor isn't even here yet. But..."

"What are you doing here?" Vivian finished, sadly not in the mood to beat around the bush after only three and a half hours of sleep.

"Oh!" the girl, a seventeen year old with bright blue eyes and curly blonde hair, chirped. Vivian normally found her rather cute, what with her being the literal embodiment of a ray of sunshine, but this morning her cheeriness wasn't all that welcome. "You didn't know? I'm going on this mission with you."

Kitty cocked her head to the side in confusion. "You are?"

Cassidy nodded excitedly, her near-permanent smile turning wicked. "Oh yeah. Actually, I'm the one taking you."

Vivian's eyebrows shot up in surprise. If Cassidy was taking them, that could only mean…

"Ah, it appears that Miss Baker has beaten me to the big reveal as to the nature of your mission." Professor Xavier wheeled through his office just as Cassidy took a seat in the corner of the room. He smiled at them pleasantly as he rolled behind his desk, ignoring both of the older girls' confused expressions.

"You're sending us back in time somewhere?" Vivian questioned, though she was more than sure that that was the answer considering Cassidy's particular… talent.

"Yes."

That was the only answer that they received. Both girls shifted uncomfortably and shared a look.

"Well… where? And, uh… why?" Kitty tentatively questioned.

"And why us?" Vivian added hastily. It was rare that anyone outside than the core X-Men team were asked to complete a mission, so she was rather skeptical.

"All in time," Xavier chided amusedly. "This came up rather suddenly with yesterday's events, but what I need from you is information."

This did nothing to answer the more important aspects of their questions, and Vivian was quickly losing her patience in her sleep-deprived state. And while she was sure the professor was already aware of this, as he didn't have to try to read one's thoughts to do so like she did, she made sure to project it rather forcefully. Just to be sure.

The professor only chuckled in response to her efforts. "All right, I suppose you can know the details."

Vivian smiled icily. "Oh, thank you."

"As you can imagine, the recent SHIELD leak has compromised a lot of classified information. Some of these files indicated something rather… disturbing," the professor finally revealed, ignoring Vivian's sass. At their blank looks, he continued. "In the interest of remaining proactive in our efforts to remain hidden from the outside world, we had a system run through all of the files that were released. Most were clear of any knowledge relating to mutants, but there was one that gave us reason to be concerned."

Kitty sighed heavily and Vivian muttered, "There always is."

The professor chuckled at their less than enthusiastic responses. "Indeed. Fortunately, it wasn't much. Only a paragraph or so in a file of Dr. Erskine's that details some of the experiments he observed at HYDRA. But it is enough to warrant a follow-up."

Kitty furrowed her brows. "So what is it you want us to do exactly?"

"Well, that is where it gets a bit… complicated. For now, we'll call it a reconnaissance mission. Which answers your question as to why you, Miss Grant. You and Miss Pryde are the best that we currently have that are suited for such a mission."

Vivian nodded solemnly, gray eyes narrowed as she tried to process everything the professor was telling her. "Okay, so… Where exactly are we going?"

Professor Xavier allowed his lips to quirk up into a small smile before replying.

"Not far… only Brooklyn."

Vivian snorted. "Alright. Brooklyn when?"

"1943."

"…Oh."

"Where did the professor say he got these clothes again?" Vivian questioned, tugging on the hem of her rather short dress in annoyance. Which only created further problems with the upper half of the dress. She huffed in annoyance before giving up on making herself decent, resigned to the fact she would just have to travel back in time with everything she had to offer on display.

Kitty giggled at her friend's current predicament. "He didn't. Not a good fit for you?"

"Apparently whoever these belonged to wasn't 5 foot 6 and didn't have boobs."

This only furthered Kitty's amusement. "Well, she may have had boobs. Just not your boobs."

Shortly after, the girls were joined by their younger companion, who, as always, came running from the mansion to the agreed upon waiting place of the front lawn.

"Hey guys!" she greeted breathlessly, before her eyes quickly took note of Vivian's struggle. "And hello to you too."

Vivian tried to suppress her grin. "Yes. I get it. They're pretty out there, but there's not a whole lot to be done about it unless you have a more extensive 1940's wardrobe."

"Oh, no," Cassidy shook her head. "Not complaining. Just happily acknowledging."

"I see you found your period-appropriate clothing alright," Professor Xavier noted as he interrupted their similarly related conversation with his appearance. "Are you girls ready?"

All three girls nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"Good. Now, one more time, please go over the plan."

Cassidy happily obliged. "Take them to Brooklyn in 1943. Find Dr. Erskine."

"We get close enough to him for Viv to try to read him and find out what he knows," Kitty smoothly took over. "If we need to, we can initiate an interaction with him to get whatever answers we need. Remove any memories of this interaction. If we believe a follow-up with Hydra is necessary, travel back to confirm."

"And try not to look like we're from 2014. Or reveal our powers. Or die," Vivian added helpfully.

"Excellent," the professor approved with a smile and a nod. "Then I think you are ready."

Vivian closed her eyes briefly before turning to face her companions. Cassidy was bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet, looking like she was ready to take on the world while Kitty eyed her wearily out of the corner of her eye with her arms crossed and a look of determination on her face. Vivian sighed heavily. This was going to be a long trip.

"Okay!" Cassidy chirped. And then with a wave of her small, manicured hand, a large, swirling purple hole opened in front of them. She turned to the others. "Ready?"

Vivian shared a resigned look with Kitty one last time before the each grasped one of Cassidy's outreached hands, collectively stepping through the portal into what was, hopefully, 1943's Brooklyn.

Vivian walked determinedly, head bent down with her vibrant auburn hair obscuring most of her face. She had only been in 1943 for about an hour and she was already lost.

Upon their arrival, the girls had set out in search of Dr. Erskine, who was supposed to be somewhere around Brooklyn looking for recruits for Project REBIRTH. They had decided it would likely be quicker if they split up and sought the doctor out, checking all of the enlistment centers they could find. Cassidy had accompanied Kitty, who would be discreetly peeking through the centers, looking for the man that was featured in the picture that the professor had shown them. This left Vivian to roam the streets of New York on her own, trying to search through the thoughts of anyone who may lead her to her target.

Unfortunately, Vivian's telepathy was typically manifested as a distinct buzzing at the back of her head that she had to tune to find a clear channel. This meant she was continually flipping the channel from person to person, concentrating on trying to find anything helpful, though she didn't even know what that would be. And this left her rather vulnerable and confused when she searched through the mind of the 100th or so person she had passed and realized she had no idea where she was anymore.

Vivian huffed and did a quick 360, looking all around her for any familiar landmark. But she supposed she wouldn't find any. She had been too focused on her task of creeping through people's thoughts to pay attention to her surroundings, and a lot had changed in the 70 years it would take for this Brooklyn to turn into a Brooklyn that she was even remotely familiar with.

She paused for only a moment longer before deciding to turn around and go back the way she came, hoping that she hadn't subconsciously made any turns she wasn't aware of. She would try to find the diner that she had agreed to meet Kitty and Cassidy at that evening and try to stay closer to it, maybe buy a map on the way. And by buy, she meant discreetly steal as she had no usable money. That thought earned another unhappy exhale from Vivian's painted red lips. No money meant she probably wouldn't be eating until they found Dr. Erskine and retrieved the necessary information. Fabulous.

It was as Vivian was contemplating how long she could last while mercilessly being deprived of food that she was interrupted by a rather unpleasant, drunken man shouting at her from across the street. She didn't realize that he was even talking to her at first, as he was mostly just yelling and waving his arms around a bit. But after she quickly took stock of her surroundings, she realized he was crossing the street and heading straight for her.

Deciding she didn't really want to deal with this at the moment, she picked up her pace and quickly changed direction. Which turned out to be a mistake as the moment after she turned she found herself faced with a dead-end alley and the man had finally caught up with her.

"Hey, sweetheart. You goin' somewhere?" the man leered at her from behind.

Vivian rolled her eyes in exasperation, about to quietly step into his mind and make him go elsewhere. But something the professor had warned her of earlier made her hesitate. The problem with Vivian using her telepathy to control the actions of others was that she wasn't supposed to change anything in the past if she could help it. What if she told this guy to get lost, and he wound up going somewhere that would get him killed or otherwise significantly alter the timeline?

So, though it pained her, Vivian realized this idiot would have to make his own decisions, which would hopefully lead him to whatever path he would have been taking had she never entered his world.

With that thought in mind, Vivian took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and turned to face her new friend.

He was probably late 20s, early 30s with shaggy brown hair and glossed over brown eyes. He was rather large, about 6' 5'' and somewhat impressive muscles were visible through his tight gray t-shirt. He was clearly pretty gone at this point, despite it only being 4 in the afternoon, and he was leaning casually against a nearby dumpster for support. Vivian relaxed slightly at the sight, thinking he didn't appear very threatening in this state.

She smiled in what she hoped to be a reserved, but friendly way before replying, "Oh yeah, just meeting my boyfriend at the diner."

She had hoped that the mention of her fake boyfriend would be enough of a suggestion for the guy to move on, but she was sadly mistaken.

"A boyfriend, huh?" the man slurred, eyeing her up and down in a way that Vivian decided she most definitely did not like. "And he lets you walk around like that all by yourself? Don't he know it's dangerous out here?"

Vivian furrowed her brows and frowned when he took a slow step forward, taking one back as well. She wasn't really sure what he meant by like that, but she didn't appreciate it and had no qualms about sharing her displeasure with the idiot. "No. I don't need a man to take care of me, and I don't appreciate you suggesting otherwise. Now if you'd let me be—"

Vivian tried to move past him, but was quickly cut off when the man moved much faster than she had thought him capable of in his state, grabbing her arm and whirling her around to press her against the cool brick wall. She gasped in surprise and slight pain as her head cracked against the wall, and then tried not to vomit when the man leaned down and whispered in her face, "Well, I disagree, doll. Girls like you shouldn't be out by yourself and you shouldn't be talking to me like that neither. That man o' yours should teach you some manners, but since he's not here, guess it's up to me." And with that, he chuckled and reached down to start to slide his hand up her partially exposed thigh.

Vivian held back the involuntary gag that tried to surface at the revolting combination of his words, the smell of his breath, and the feel of his touch on her skin and was about to utilize the years of training the X-Men had provided her with to take him down without her powers, consequences be damned, when a strong, deep voice interrupted them.

"Let her go."

Vivian breathed a slight sigh of relief at the thought of someone else coming to help, hoping that the man would just let her go for fear of an impending ass-kicking, lessening the chances of Vivian royally fucking anything up. But when Vivian looked over her attacker's shoulder to see the man who had so gallantly come to her rescue, she had to look down. Which was a pretty bad sign.

And it only got worse. She honestly couldn't believe that such a strong and commanding voice had come from such a small man, but there was certainly no one else around. And while she admired the guy for coming to help her, despite the fact the man that currently had his hand trying to work its way up her dress was roughly twice his size. And she doubted that he would be able to scare the guy off, as she had hoped.

The drunken idiot clearly noticed this too and let out a too-loud laugh that made Vivian flinch. "Oh yeah? And who are you? Her boyfriend?"

"No," the same voice replied, still confusing the hell out Vivian because it sounded so familiar and out of place. "But you obviously aren't either, pal."

Mr. Day-Drinker apparently found that hilarious and let out another roaring laugh. "Yeah, well we'll see about that, won't we sweetheart?"

And with that he was leaning towards her again, and Vivian quickly decided that she didn't like where this was going and attempted to bring her knee up and into his groin. However, the man appeared to still have pretty decent reflexes despite his drunken state and blocked her attack by kicking her leg back against the wall. She cried out in surprised pain but quickly fell silent when the man let go of her arm to only grasp her throat instead, lifting her up and slamming her back against the wall.

Vivian narrowed her eyes in anger at being bested a second time by this idiot, and was about to strike him again when her maybe-savior hit him with something from behind.

The man cursed and thankfully dropped Vivian, who fell rather ungracefully to her knees on the rough pavement. The relief was short lived, however, when she saw him round on the kid who had saved her.

"Alright, that's it punk—"

"You're the punk," the small, blonde man cleverly threw back before taking a swing. Vivian winced at the sight. His small fist appeared to barely make contact with the man's face, who in turn simply laughed and delivered a punch of his own directly into the small guy's stomach. The force was strong enough to make him double over and briefly stumble to the ground, groaning in pain. Vivian saw him start to get back up, which was when she decided to intervene this time.

Popping up from her place on the ground, Vivian swiped at the gigantic man's legs with her own, taking him by surprise and sending him down to the ground with a stunned grunt. Deciding it was time to cut her loses, Vivian scrambled to the blonde man's side and grabbed his arm, trying to pull him up and urge him to run away with her. This idea was short lived, however, and Muscles decided to reach forward and grab her by her long, now tangled hair and throw her back into the side of the dumpster with a loud crash.

Vivian groaned in pain and caught herself, once again, on her hands and knees. She looked up to see the man give her blonde friend another punch, this time to the face, that sent him to the ground once again before he rounded on her. His eyes were no longer glassy and looked rather murderous instead.

Vivian was quickly realizing that she had sadly underestimated this man, and was beating herself up pretty hard about letting him lay his hands on her not once, but three times. She was determined not to let it happen again as she slowly rose to her feet to face him.

This appeared to be unnecessary though, when another voice interrupted their stare-down. "Alright, pal. I think you've had enough. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Vivian contained the urge to roll her eyes at the cliché, and tried to look over the shoulder of the man in front of her to take a look at her new, hopefully more adept savior (though she didn't really need the help, thank you very much, she was just… conserving energy) and see if he would be able to handle the situation without her interfering. Unfortunately, her view was blocked when her attacker turned around to face him instead.

He laughed again before saying, "And you think that's you?"

The other guy didn't laugh, but Vivian could hear the hint of a smile in his voice when he replied, "Well I don't think it's her. So you might as well give me a shot."

Muscles laughed one last time before taking a swing at the newcomer—and promptly fell to the ground after missing and apparently being hit in the face instead.

"Jesus!" Vivian exclaimed, recoiling and falling back to the ground in shock. He had actually just knocked his mountain of a man out with one punch to the jaw.

This time, the mystery man did laugh. "Nah," he drawled, Brooklyn accent coming out loud and clear. "You can call me Bucky."

At this, Vivian's still-shocked gray eyes snapped from the unconscious man lying before her to the blue eyes of the new man who was now extending a hand to her. She didn't take it though, finding herself lost in the eyes of a man she had just spent several hours researching the night before. He was gorgeous, there was no denying that, but that wasn't what shocked her into her stupefied silence. It was the look in those crystalline blue eyes that took her breath away, so full of mischief and happiness. A far cry from the dead eyes of the James Barnes from her time, or even from the haunted and distant eyes of the man he would be in less than a year.

It was in that moment that a small piece of Vivian's heart broke for this stranger who had no idea what he was about to be subjected to.

Bucky, on his part, took her silence as a bad sign and furrowed his brows before asking, "Hey, doll, you alright?"

Vivian stared at him for only a moment longer before blinking and trying to refocus her thoughts. She swallowed thickly and croaked out a pathetic "yeah" before taking his hand and allowing him to help her up.

When she looked up to his face again, he was smiling at her and whereas moments ago Vivian had felt her heart break, this time she felt it do something very different, in the form of speeding up and beating erratically, taking her breath away once more.

Vivian wasn't typically the type of girl to take one look at a guy and be putty in his hands, but it appeared that 1940's Bucky was apparently an exception to that rule.

And boy, did that put her in a lot of trouble.

A/N Alright! So, first chapter is out of the way. I really hope you all liked it, and please let me know if you did. I'm still not sure about writing this, so any kind reviews will definitely motivate me to do so, and probably fast if they're nice enough ;) Also feel free to leave any constructive criticism or ideas as well.

Thanks for reading!