AN: This AU has many sources, but these are the main ones.

One, the song that plays during Ted's final monologue from How I Met Your Mother, it's called Downtown Train by Everything But The Girl.

Two, the idea of Dæmons from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, and how they may appear in the MCU.

Quick explanation: Daemons are an external manifestation of a person essence or soul, as an animal. They can talk and act as though they are independent of their person, despite often having similar views.

Thirdly, but not initially, the song For Good from Wicked

Fourth, I'll mention in dedications.

Dedications: For Sian, for being the Ruth to my Abbie, every day, for life(spoilers, also the third inspiration). For Maddy, as she helped me with my bad grammar, bad timing and plot points. Also dedicated to Catryn, my cat, for her excellent displays of Cat gymnastics.

A Long Road Part 1: Try So Hard To Break Out Of Their Little Worlds

1. It was at times a long and difficult road.

Inside the chamber, Steve Rogers was in excruciating, horrific pain. His back was twisting, breaking and repairing at every single vertebrae. His ears popped; everything became louder and clearer. He knew it was the effects of the serum. He was glad he was clamped up, or he may have fallen when his legs broke and stretched. Muscles ripped and reformed, stronger than they'd ever been before.

The plus side was his breathing, despite the humidity of the chamber, became surprisingly better. He noticed his heart pounding in his ears became slower, and less erratic. His stomach felt surprisingly better too, like someone had thrown a needle of penicillin straight into it. The constant burning he felt in the area between his back and his lungs sputtered out. His head became clearer. This led to him feeling more awake than he ever had before.

Despite this, everything he had and was hurt. Then he remembered the army, and he bore through. Others needed him.

Then, as he thought it was dying down, he felt a new pain. A much deeper pain, the type of pain that was not just physical - not that having your body splinter, break and grow around you didn't hurt. No, this was like a giant was pulling his heart, still beating, from his body. This pain affected him beyond even that, on an emotional level. Steve felt like some deep dark secret was being forced unknowingly, unwillingly into the open. He wanted to catch it, drag it back into him, but it was being pulled out like steam out of a kettle. He felt like he had done some horrible betrayal, like he had murdered his best friend, in his sleep.

It was getting unbearable, he wanted to faint or throw up, but old habits kicked in and he knew he might die if he did that. Then it was over, and he suddenly didn't feel like he was being tortured alive. However, he did feel like something was missing; something important had been ripped from him. It was like a hole had been torn from the essential him. He felt somehow incomplete.

He decided not to think about it too much, as right now he needed to get out. It was hot in the chamber, and humid. He felt like he may drown in the heat. He was vaguely aware he had grown in height.

The chamber opened and he exhaustedly half fell and was half helped out. He was suddenly aware he was at least a head taller than everyone, and wow, the floor was that far away. Cheering erupted from somewhere. His hearing was better, and so was his eyesight, not that that had been particularly bad before. At least he hadn't realised it had been that bad.

"We did it," Steve mumbled in exhausted awe. He felt sticky; he really wanted a shower, and a glass of water.

"We did," Dr Abraham Erskine agreed.

"How do you feel?" Agent Carter, Peggy asked tentatively. She seemed shorter… it was a bit weird.

"Taller," he replied honestly.

With his new, improved eyesight, she looked so stunningly beautiful, he felt his breath hitch. From her dark brown eyes, to her marsh coloured suit and soft brown curls, which he realised weren't just brown but went from shades of mahogany to midnight. She looked slightly in awe of him too. There was something in her eyes that he'd never seen before, at least never directed at him. He blushed, slightly. She reached out gingerly and touched his now very firm chest. He felt like saying something, but what could he say? The scientists were ushering him somewhere. Someone handed him a white t-shirt, which he shrugged on.

Suddenly one scientist screamed in fear. They all turned to see what had scared him. A giant tan wildcat was standing by the side of the pod.

He suddenly felt an indescribable feeling. Whatever it was, it was special. He'd remember until the day he died. It was as though there was a peculiar rightness in the giant cat being there. It was as though he was designed to have her walk beside him, watching and protecting. It was like a part of a bizarre jigsaw fit suddenly. He felt like he should recognise it as though it was a long lost friend.

It looked tired, a little scared and very shocked. Steve mused to himself that cats usually do not look scared or shocked. He felt as though the feeling was mutual though, because he knew a wildcat could kill him, and how had it gotten here? He felt his heart tighten when he looked at it.

"What the-? GET THAT THING OUT OF HERE!" A slightly terrified Howard Stark yelled. Three fairly big soldiers ran towards it, as did Steve. Although unlike the others he had no intention on hurting it.

It leapt back in fear, landing about 7 metres away from them. Steve found that as it had moved from him, it had hurt slightly just below his ribs, and his heart beat wildly. He felt nauseous, he quietly wondered if the serum hadn't removed a particular ailment. He stepped towards it and the nausea eased slightly. That was odd.

The animal fixed its eyes on Steve, and it was like being struck with lightning. It had grey eyes, which almost faded into the white of her eyes. It was almost like he recognised the wildcat, which was odd. While a fan of circuses as a child, he'd never in his life seen a wildcat like this before.

It had felt the pain too - he noticed she'd scrunched her nose up when he'd felt the pain. It had also growled in confusion too. His heart tightened again, like he was having an asthma attack… but this felt different, protective - almost loving.

Putting his hands out in front in non-confrontational way, he edged towards it.

"Nice cat… I'm not going to hurt you. You're confused, I get that, but we're not going to hurt you. Good girl," he shushed soothingly.

With a jolt, he knew he was saying the truth, and he really didn't want to see the cat hurt. He felt protective of her. He wasn't even scared of her, but for her, like she was a little sister, or Bucky in girl form, which was really weird. The cat seemed to make a snorting noise, at that thought. It was like it had read his mind. Also he was convinced she was definitely a girl.

"Steve… this doesn't look like a good idea. And it looks more like it's interested in which one of us it wants to eat, rather than confused!" Peggy hissed at him, concerned.

Steve looked at the big cat again. No, she didn't look like anything Peggy had described. That's when he noticed, he understood the wildcat, what she was feeling, and to an extent, her thought process. He knew the face it was making: she wanted to fight. It was a face he always made, before he went to fight for someone who couldn't protect themselves. He suddenly understood the wild cat wanted to protect and fight for him; she had heard him screaming. She was scared for him, like he was for her. They both realized this, because she understood him too. She was scared too; scared of the men with guns, and because of this he felt scared with her. It was like she was part of him, and then he knew: It was because she was a part of him. He knew that as well as he knew his own name.

They edged near each other; Steve outstretched his hands towards her. She trusted him, for some reason, and vice versa. He wanted to touch her, reassure her, so much. A part of him wondered, since she had seemingly appeared out of thin air, if she was even corporeal.

Suddenly a soldier grabbed her, pulling her away and she screamed a human and oddly cat-like screech.

At the same time, Steve felt like he was being violated, and he fell to the floor. He could hardly breathe He suddenly felt weak, sick, limp. He felt disgusted at the soldier for even daring to touch her. Everything hurt; it felt like something inhuman was trying to pull something precious and deep from him. This was uncontrollably wrong, no one should ever touch the cat.

The wildcat too seemed to droop, suddenly looking weaker, sick, dull and small.

He, too, screamed in pain. His entire being reached for the wildcat to be left alone. He all but stared into those magical, almost silver eyes. His every laboured breath was hers. Every ounce of energy he had belonged to her. It was like everything began to go quiet, until only her agonised, terrified screams were in his head.

"No…" he groaned, as she was pulled further, further away. He felt his heart burn, as she was tugged and pulled away from him. Suddenly he saw the pain reflected back at him. He screamed, some unknown energy found, "STOP! LEAVE HER GO!"

He ran to the soldier and shoved him, harder than he intended, away from the cat… his cat, HIS. She stopped screaming. Everything felt normal again – well, as normal as it gets after you've just been injected with some weird serum, that makes you taller, stronger, enhances your senses. He all but fell next to her.

There was a quiet moment. Suddenly, despite the need to grab her, pull her close, tightly, he very gently touched her fur. It was soft and warm. She felt so alive, beneath his fingers. He curled his arms around her, and pulled her close. She leapt up slightly, digging long, pointer clothes into his t-shirt. Relief flew through him.

Eventually, he stood next to it, in a defensive stance. Almost everyone - including Peggy, who looked vaguely worried - had a gun drawn on them. She was staring at them, and giving Steve looks like he'd grown another head, which he might just have done, he mused. Erskine, however had his head in his hands, and something like German swearing could be heard.

"Steve… Thank you," the cat murmured, in a clear strangely beautiful female voice. Some people gasped, and someone fainted, as it was not often wildcats a) appeared in top secret government labs, or b) tended to talk, ever.

"No problem," Steve answered honestly, a little bewildered. He was having a conversation with a talking wildcat. He added, "Er… What, who are you?"

Before the cougar could talk, Erskine looked up, and gently spoke to her. "You appear to be a Puma Concolor Couguar, am I correct? A mountain lion or American cougar, an apt creature for one so brave."

"I guess… I mean you are the doctor. This is how I appear, and if you say I'm that, I'm that. Am I a real one though? No, I don't think I am," she answered directly. She then cocked her head to one side. "You've seen a thing like whatever I am before, haven't you?"

"I have, and you're right you're not," Erskine confirmed, smiling sadly, "the last one I saw was in the shape of an Aquila Heliaca, an Eastern Imperial Eagle, except its beak and talons were red."

"Doctor, you're not making much sense. What is this beast? And where did it come from? And how the hell can it talk?" Col. Philips pointed out, seeming a little bit annoyed.

Steve nodded, feeling slightly overwhelmed, yet he felt defensive over the cougar. She wasn't a beast! However he wasn't quite sure what on earth was going on. A talking cougar had somehow appeared in the room after his transformation (or maybe during it). She felt like a part of him, which was very weird. He could also read her thoughts, which was even weirder. The only person who had seen anything like this happening before was Erskine, who was being mysterious about it.

"Colonel, she is no mere beast. As I said, I have only ever seen something of her type before, a 'Wesen der Seele'. A… creature of the soul, I think that is correct," Dr Erskine explained.

So this thing, this cougar, was someone's soul. That wasn't weird, at all. Steve mused. Then he remembered something Erskine had said the night before, 'The serum amplifies everything that is inside…'. That meant that the Cougar was his, his soul... that would explain a bit. He was, oddly, ok with this. Suddenly Steve realised something with feeling of dread in his stomach.

"The last one… the Eagle creature of the soul, it belonged to Schmidt, didn't it?" Steve blurted out loud in realisation, and then added, hurt, "The soul-creature thing is a bi-product of a compound of the serum. Did you know this was going to happen?"

Quietly he felt the soul-cougar, his soul-cougar he realised; rub her nose against his palm. It was oddly comforting, as opposed to the way that soldier had grabbed her, and that had hurt loads. He quickly checked around him. He noticed a semi-circle had appeared around him and the soul-cougar. Some were still staring at him, some at the giant soul wildcat. Erskine, Peggy and the Colonel were at the front. All aside from Erskine had a gun aimed at the duo.

"No, I didn't. I believed I had fixed it, exchanged certain compounds for others. Alas, I was right, however the serum does reveal the moral fibre within," Erskine smiled sadly.

"What the… explain yourself, Doctor. What do you mean, creature of the soul? Where did this thing come from? Also, I'm pretty sure it talked earlier. And I am here for super soldiers, not morality animals!" Colonel Philips argued, sounding more confused, and considerably more annoyed. However, it wasn't Erskine who replied.

"I came from Steve," The soul-cougar answered simply, stepping forward. Unsurprisingly that got everyone's attention. By this point Steve had put his hand on the back of her neck in a reassuring way, again surprisingly comforting, for both of them, a small part of his brain supplied. "I am not sure what I am, a soul-creature, maybe. All I know is I am Steve, Steve is me, but at the same time we are different. I don't want to attack anyone, unless you hurt someone. How am I talking? I am unsure, but I know I am not simply some dumb beast… All I ask is would you not touch me again. It really hurt us last time."

The nervousness in her voice at the last part seemed to contradict the fact she was in the shape of a giant wildcat, and some laughed. Some soldiers put their guns down after that, as, noticeably, did Peggy. Steve was glad that she believed the soul-cougar. More than that, she trusted the soul-cougar enough to be Steve and not attack them. This meant a lot to him, and he felt his heart beat faster slightly. Out of the corner of his eyes, Steve saw the soul-cougar look at the floor looking a little shy, looking up at Peggy with grateful eyes.

"Of course… ma'am. And I should explain to everyone else. She is a bi-product of the serum, as Steven pointed out. He is now as you say a super-soldier, but a part of this process does something to the soul. It reveals not only the person's true nature physically, but a part of the soul is transmuted into this soul-creature," Dr Erskine explained, "From what I saw of Schmidt and Sterben, that's the name of his soul-creature, the eagle, you can only move a certain distance from each other without it being painful. If the soul-creature is harmed, then so is their human; a scientist named Dr. Zola told me of this. He had apparently found this in some of his early… patients. For a living creature to touch a soul-creature is a form of violation to the human and the creature. It causes them both a great, deep pain, as you are touching their very soul."

The man who grabbed the soul-cougar scrambled back in shock, looking at Steve apologetically. Steve smiled at him, so that he'd be at ease. Any people who had had guns aimed at Steve and/or the soul-cougar lowered them immediately. Apparently even those who probably didn't quite believe Erskine didn't want to kill Steve, or his soul incarnated as a cougar.

"So it makes Rogers and it more hindrance than a help? Anyway, how can Rogers touch it?" Colonel Philips asked.

"Colonel, just because I cannot let another human aside from Steve touch me, doesn't mean we won't be helpful in the battlefield. I am in the shape of a giant wildcat. Don't tell me if you didn't see a giant mountain lion running towards you, you wouldn't be a little scared. I could easily take out things like guns, as they are not living creatures. Also, I am a she, not a it!" The soul-cougar looked dangerous, growling the last part in annoyance. She then added in a slightly softer voice, "Steve and I can touch, because…"

"…We are one and the same," Steve finished for her. She looked at him with an odd look on her face. He smiled slightly at her; she pushed her head against his hand in response. He could see a few people give them weird looks. Peggy and Erskine smiled softly.

"So let me get this straight. Rogers got injected with the serum that turned him into a super soldier. A bi-product of this was a part of him, or 'his soul', got taken from him and transmuted into a cougar. Weirdly this is a blessing and curse, as if the cougar is hurt so is Rogers. Also no one but Rogers can touch her or he'll feel like we're violating his soul. However it is a cougar, which are quite scary creatures, and with a bit of training and tech could be useful. It talks, and seems to have its own mind, but seems a bit like Rogers too, as in it really wants to help. Oh, and to top it off, Schmidt has one of these things, too, and it is, of all things, an eagle," a slightly stressed Howard Stark surmised. Then, smiling awkwardly, he added, "It seems weird, yet reasonable to me. I wonder if I can make armour for her. Nice to meet ya, cat."

"Would it be helpful if I added that Zola told me those who had 'Wesen der Seele' and were injected with Serum can move up to twelve metres from each other, before they become unable to any further without severe damage?" Dr Erskine added, awkwardly. Steve remembered the pain in his chest when the soul-cougar had leapt too far away. So maybe he wasn't sick, and all these new palpitations were the cougar. Colonel Philips simply rolled his eyes, yet another thing he had to worry about. However right now this was not his problem, so far they only had Rogers and he looked like he liked his soul-thingy so…

"I think this could develop into something quite interesting," Peggy remarked. Before she added to the soul-cougar, "Ma'am, may I add you do have a certain viciousness. This I have found to be quite helpful in the army. Also that you have a rather stunning fur."

"Thank you," The soul-cougar replied, slightly nervous. She knew that Steve liked this female, so she decided to help, "We were glad to note you were one of the first people to lower your gun, and approve of me."

Peggy blushed. Stark sniggered, sneakily giving $20 to a female scientist. Steve found the fact people were now talking to him but not him, or at least a part of him, really weird.

"This is going to definitely be interesting. As long as she promises to defend our country every day, and to fight for the life of the free-born American, I recognise her as a soldier. Well, maybe with more of you, there may be more understanding of these Soul-things. How do you like Brooklyn now, senator?" Philips, smiling, asked the senator, who stood looking impressed. Philips approved of the cat as long as it wanted to help their cause.

"I can think of some folks in Berlin who are about to get very nervous," the senator replied, smiling. Steve grinned, he did it. Then he looked at his soul-cougar. She looked at him, and gave him a look which he realised was her happy face. It looked like she was smiling, and he felt her happiness. They'd made it.

"We're in," Steve grinned, only slightly aware that until this morning there had only been one of him.

"We're in," She replied, her eyes bright, knowing and ready.

BOOM! The upper gallery exploded. Everyone ducked; Steve flung his arms around the soul-cougar. A man in a suit with black hair and wearing spectacles ran at the machine. He grabbed the singular blue unused vial of serum.

As he went to leave, he turned and shot Dr Erskine.

The soul-cougar and Steve dashed to the doctor. The doctor was dying, already surrounded by a pool of blood. The doctor simply looked at them, tapped Steve's chest, and muttered, "Wildcats are known for being very brave creatures. A soul-creature reflects what is on the inside."

Steve was dimly aware of Peggy shooting at the man who had shot Erskine, and someone calling after him. The doctor died slowly, looking old and vulnerable. Steve realised at some point in the last few weeks the man had become a surrogate father, in place of a father he had never known. He felt his heart rip into tiny pieces.

He knew he was sobbing. However, he shoved his grief aside, because the man who did this was still out there and that made him beyond angry. Erskine had been an innocent man, and he had been shot.

He noticed the soul-cougar gently and quietly placing her nose on Erskine's head. He understood why she had done it, to respect the man who made them, more than that, given them a chance: a chance for him to help, to be healthier, to live, to enlist; and for her to simply exist.

They looked at one another, pure anger raging through their veins. Springing to their feet and paws, they ran upstairs, following the man. Steve was glad to note, the soul-cougar could keep up with him in his faster than normal, super soldier run. Once outside, they noted the mass of injured people lying on the sidewalk. Peggy was aiming at something - a cab, driven by Erskine's murderer, speeding towards her.

Steve ran forward, caught her, and moved her out of the way. The soul-cougar waited patiently for the cab to pass, before she met Steve half way and they began to run after the Cab. Steve apologised to Peggy as they left. They were both fast, and they used Steve's knowledge of the Brooklyn streets to catch up with the cab. They weaved in and out of people, cars, big streets, alleyways. The soul-cougar only stopped for half a second, as Steve pulled himself out of a wedding shop window he'd crashed into. They both leapt a fence with ease.

Steve leapt onto a truck, climbing to the roof, then leapt from vehicle roof to vehicle roof, trying to catch up with the yellow cab. Meanwhile the soul-cougar weaved her way in between vehicles, narrowly avoiding tyres. As soon as Steve landed on the cab, the soul-cougar ran beside it, trying to steal the gun from the man's hand. Steve ended up simply holding on for dear life as he was nearly shot by the man. The soul-cougar nearly got herself shot twice. Then the man flipped the car.

The soul-cougar ran up to Steve as he fell, putting her head against his hand, helping him up. They dived out of the way swiftly as a bullet sped towards them. Steve picked up the taxi door to defend himself, the soul-cougar hid behind him slightly, so that she wouldn't be a target. A few people had also began pointing at her too and screaming.

Then the German man grabbed a boy. The soul-cougar felt her heart stop in fear, knowing Steve felt similarly. They both chased the man into the pier, ducking and avoiding bullets. When they caught up with the man, he pointed a gun at the boy. Steve put his hands out to show he meant no harm; similarly, the soul-cougar lay down. Children were very innocent, she realised.

Then he pushed the boy in the river.

Steve ran to the side, intent on saving the boy. The soul-cougar stayed away from the water, it looked a bit gross.

"Go get him! I can swim! Cool cat!" the boy yelled up. Also children were desperately brave, the soul-cougar mused.

Steve ran along the edge of the river, following the German man. Quickly the soul-cougar realised what he was going to do. Although not a real cat, she still didn't like the idea of water.

"Steve, I don't think this is…" she began, but too late. He jumped.

At first nothing; then the pain began. She knew she had to jump in or risk being - what had Philips called her? - a hindrance. She leapt, shoving her fear of the cold, gross wetness aside. Unlike Steve she didn't go underneath to get the German, instead paddling on top, intent on staying partially dry and clean. The wet body of the German man suddenly went flying out of the water and onto the side of the pier.

Seconds later, Steve had climbed up a ladder to confront him. She was right behind him. She shook herself, noticing the bottle of blue liquid smashing against the floor as Steve gained the upper hand. A part of her was sad that this made her one of two creatures of her kind, one of whom were evil. More importantly, she noticed the man was down and she crawled over to him, snarling.

"Who the hell are you?" Steve yelled, grabbing the man.

"The first of many. Cut off one head…" The German man replied, biting something in his mouth. "…two more shall take its place. Heil Hydra!"

Then some foam appeared in his mouth, and he died. Steve dropped him in surprise.

"What's Hydra?" The soul-cougar asked him, confused.

"No idea," he replied, just as confused. Then he stared at himself, realising what he had just done. She realised this had been the first moment he'd really noticed what he looked like, since he'd changed. He stared at himself. She then wondered what she looked like.

Steve stared in shock, gone was his frail, scarred, little body. Instead of his short skinny arms, he had muscled bound, long arms. He flexed his fingers, even his hands had grown. He had just chased a car through Brooklyn, leapt a two metre high fence and stopped a submarine, he realised. He was so much taller, too. He noticed he looked generally more toned in other places too, like his legs, his chest, and probably his back. He guessed his stamina had increased. He guessed there were a lot of other things, but at that moment, his mind swam in shock.

That's when he looked at the creature next to him. She was about just over two metres in length, and about 50 cm in width, and 90 cm in height. She had thick, long, tan fur, which seemed slightly lighter under the chin and on her underbelly. She had dark brown tips on her ears, and a dark tip on the end of a very long tail. She had a pink wet nose, which was surrounded by a small ring of dark fur, which trailed up to and around her eyes. She was oddly beautiful, but also looked incredibly ferocious and dangerous. She stood a little slumped. There was something very honest about her grey eyes. Steve looked at them, closely, They seemed to flow from the black of her iris to the white of her eyes seamlessly.

He then realised something else: she was him, or at least a part of him. They were one, she was a part of his soul, and he'd never get back. No, that wasn't right, he realised. He had her, she had him. They were a team; they were the same entity in two bodies. She was a manifestation of his inner-self. He silently felt pleased and humbled that at least a part of him was as brave and wild as this cougar, not as something predatory like a tiger, or eagle. Peggy had been right, this soul-cougar was pretty, and he felt a just little weird that she was his soul-cougar.

"We should go," The soul-cougar murmured gently, sensing Steve was not in the mind set of giving any orders. A crowd had begun to form, gawking at the pair.

"Hmm," He grunted in response, and quietly they walked off. He added quietly, "We should really think up a name for you."

"Agreed," She answered.

When they got back to the lab, they were still trying to deal with the mess caused by the spy. They told Peggy, Philips and Stark where they could find the body, and the submarine, and what had happened at the docks. Peggy thanked him for helping with the German spy, gave him condolences for the loss of Erskine. Philips simply asked if he would come back in the morning.

Together, Steve and his soul-cougar left. It rained miserably. The soul-cougar walked alongside him. Most people ignored her, thinking it was a big dog, or they were busy avoiding the rain. Some people did notice; some stared, one woman screamed, but Steve apologised, saying she was tame. They made a silent agreement not to talk in public as that might scare people even more. On the way back Steve popped into a few small shops. Firstly for some groceries, then a few others for some clothes, as he realised nothing he owned would fit him anymore. At least he had something he could donate to the Sally Army this month.

They went back to Steve's flat; he had been allowed to come home that night. When they got back to the flat, Steve made dinner in silence. The place was mostly bare as he had given most of his wooden furniture to the war effort. It was a simple flat really; it had one room which doubled as a kitchen with a table and two chairs shoved to one side, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. He'd sold his old flat for this slightly smaller one a few years after his ma died. Bucky, his best friend, lived with him now whenever he was on leave.

On the plus side, it had a communal toilet. It was small, dysfunctional, but a toilet; and it was more central to the rest of Brooklyn.

"Is this our mother?" his soul-cougar guessed quietly. Her nose bumped against a framed sketch of a woman with greying blonde hair in a low bun, and blue eyes. It was the only picture in the room of a woman. She was too old to be a sister, or girlfriend. Even then, Steve appeared to live a life of Bachelorhood.

"Yeah, she's my mom… and yours I guess too. You being me. She ain't around no more," he replied, looking at the old sketch. The resemblance to Steve was a little uncanny, even if her son was no longer frail and weak. Unbeknown to him he was now stronger than either of his parents ever had been. "Do you eat anything?"

"Nah, well if I was bored I might, but I don't really have to eat unless I want to," she answered. She looked at an open sketch book, as she did a name nudged at her mind. A flash image of a man in military regalia flickered through her mind. Like a tap had been switched on, more images –more memories appeared in her mind. However none of these were her memories, they were Steve's. They were both of theirs. She closed her eyes, asking aloud. "Is that Bucky?"

This made Steve turn to look at what she was looking at, which was indeed a half-finished sketch of his best friend. He'd been drawing it from memory. It had been of the last time he'd seen him, at that science expo, looking excited and strong. Happy and healthy, the opposite to what he had been that night.

"Yes, how did you know?" He responded softly, carrying his meal over to the table.

"Don't be angry," She murmured quietly, eyes clenched shut. She explained, "But I sort of share my memories with yours. The pictures just triggered a lot of them."

She lolled her head in shame. Steve approached her. He looked at her momentarily, realising that she was possibly in shock from only coming into existence today, and was probably learning these things at the same time he did, and just as shocked as he was. He quickly enveloped her in a hug, and she sort of fell into it, rubbing her head against his chest. They stayed like that for a few minutes, both feeling a little overwhelmed by the events of the day.

"Why would I be mad? I'm not mad, it would be hard for me to be mad at you. You're scared, and I'm scared too. We may have been through some hard things today, but we're not alone. We have each other to lean on in our time of need. I'm glad you have my memories, and I'm glad I have you. Don't ever think any different. I think times ahead may be hard for us, long and difficult, but we won't be alone," Steve told her, smiling. She smiled back at him.

Steve knew suddenly this may be the beginning of a great friendship, even if from a cynical point of view it was with himself. Quietly he got up and ate his supper. After a few minutes she came and lay next to him by his feet.

After supper, and cleaning up, Steve felt tired after all the weird, difficult, sad events of the day so he went into his room, changed, and fell on the bed. His soul-cougar looked torn between lying on the floor next to him, or on the bed. He remembered her words from earlier: I am not simply some dumb beast… She was right, and at this moment he could really use her company.

He tapped the bed softly. She gently pulled herself up on the bed, crawling up beside him. She looked nervous. He didn't mind sharing his bed with her much; she was a part of him, after all. To show he didn't, he threw an arm around her. It felt weird, but he knew it would be okay, someday.

"I still need a name," She murmured quietly, looking at him.

"How about Mary?" He asked.

"Too religious, how about Linda?" She replied.

"I feel like then everyone will call you Lind, Sharon?" He asked. He'd always liked that name.

"Nope, I'm not right for a Sharon. Patricia?"

"While I may be as Patriotic as the next man, I don't like that name. Athena?"

"Nope, I'm not one for taking airs. Sandra?"

"No, Carol?"

"Do I sound like I can sing?"

"Good point." He agreed.

They continued for half an hour, neither deciding on a name the other didn't like. Finally after being quiet for a few minutes, Steve asked, "What about Abbie?"

"Abbie?" The cougar responded thoughtfully, and slightly sceptically.

"I was thinking after Erskine, his name was Abraham, and…" Steve begun.

"Yes," The cougar answered.

"What?" Steve replied, surprised, since they had previously rejected Abigail.

"It honours the good doctor even though he isn't here. I like Abbie. I am Abbie," she declared happily. She smiled at him, which he returned. Then his eyes widened in shock and grief.

"Oh god! It just hit me, Erskine's dead!" Steve whispered, removing the block he'd put on his grief from earlier, eyes shining. He covered his face with his hands. She looked at him before wiggling her way over to him, and tucked up against him. Slowly she poked her rough tongue out and licked his hands, she quietly nosed his hands off this face. He was crying. He laid his head against her neck; he wrapped his arms around her too, protectively. He cried for a long time into her shoulder.

Abbie didn't mind. She knew how much this doctor had meant to Steve. To both of them

Eventually, Steve pulled his head off her neck.

"Feel better?"

"A bit, not really."

"He died to give us a chance, and we have to use that chance, Steve."

"Agreed. Night, Abbie."

"Night, Steve."

They slept like that side by side, Steve hugging her slightly, warm and safe in each other's presence.

AN 2: This is Abbie: mrwellssocialstudies2. wiki. farmington. k12. mi. us/file /view/ Cougar. jpg/ 215501252/Cougar .jpg [Remove spaces]

A cougar as a spirit means: Using Leadership Power Wisely and Without Ego, Balancing Power, Intention, Strength, Gaining Self-Confidence, Freedom from Guilt, Cunning, Savagery, Fury, Remorseless, Hunting, Seeking of Freedom, Balancing Intention, Power, Coming into Your Own Power, Courage, Swiftness, Balance

~Perlog Annwyl aka Meg