"The street lights were slightly blinding as Melody watched the city slowly fade out of sight. Her stomach was in knots as she stared at her friend Sharon. The agent's long blonde hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, the severe expression on her face reminding Melody of the look she saw when she told patients that their loved one didn't make it./p

"Are you going to tell me what we're doing here?" she asked finally, running a hand through her hair. The dark blonde hair felt greasy and Melody winced-how long had it been since she showered last? She didn't know. Her last shift at the hospital had been twelve hours at least so it had probably been before that, unless she'd forgotten to.

Sharon's phone call had been shocking to say the least and very distracting as a result. Her friend hadn't said much, but given how covert she was being Melody guessed it had something to do with Steve Rogers and the Avengers again. Sharon sighed as she took a left turn down a lonely dirt road. Melody's stomach twisted seeing it. She hadn't been back in years.

You know Steve," Sharon said, voice careful as though she was hedging around a dangerous topic. Which, Melody realized she probably was.

""Yes, I remember him," she commented with a dark smile. "He saved my life when New York was attacked. My ER would have been a much bigger mess and that morgue would have had more bodies in it if it hadn't been for him and his team."

Sharon smiled. "Good, so please remember that when I ask you to do this for him."

"You got it."

The breaks of the car creaked as Sharon pulled into the driveway and there, nestled against the black forest of pine trees rested a large white house with a porch. Melody's childhood home-for twelve, nearly thirteen years of it at least, her grandparents place had served as her home until she'd turned eighteen. Her mother hadn't been able to bear being there after John Frasier had died. It had been bad enough that the house had been put in Melody's name after she'd graduated from medical school.

Moria Frasier hadn't been able to part with the place, but she hadn't been able to keep it either.

Melody hadn't been able to live there, but she hadn't been able to part with it.

Too many memories.

Sharon cut off the engine and the sputtering machine died, leaving only the quiet of the night. "What do you know about the Winter Solider?"

Melody blinked. "Next to nothing, just that he's an assassin. Did Rogers get in a brawl with him again? I understand he might not want that publicized but depending on how bad his injuries are I cannot just patch him up here. I'd need pain-killers, a surgical team, proper equipment-."

"He doesn't need surgery and he did get into a brawl with the Winter Solider, but he's fine. It's the Winter Solider that needs your help," Sharon frowned. "Wait, sorry, it's Bucky Barnes that needs your help."

What?" Melody tried to process the information.

"Hydra brainwashed him back in the 1940s, turned him into a weapon, took away his will and took away his memories. The last time he encountered Steve they started to come back.

Sharon paused, blue eyes flashing towards Melody's pale face, silently asking if clarification was needed.

"Following," Melody replied. "And?"

"He's a criminal now, for crimes he never wanted to commit. Crimes others forced him to commit. If he's caught he'll be thrown into jail, no questions asked and he won't get a fair trail."

"Yes, and where do I play into this?"

"He can hide here and you can help him. You be his link to the outside world."

Melody scoffed. "Are you serious?"

"As Nick Fury," Sharon said with a complete poker face. "He won't run too far-he wants to be close to Steve, just in case something happens. You know Steve-he isn't always wise when he picks his battles. Bucky knows that and...And in case he picks a more dangerous one, he wants to be close by, be there to help his friend

Melody nodded. "Alright, and?"

"And he needs a place to hide and he needs someone that can go between here and everywhere else freely. Someone who isn't being watched like I am or other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. And what's more...well if he gets injured in the next intergalactic battle that hits New York, he's going to need medical attention and he can't walk into a hospital to get it."

Which is where I come in," Melody said, finishing her friend's thought. "I bring enough work home with me already," she smiled again as she thought of the stitching and suturing kits she'd stocked up on in case the Avengers knocked on her door again.

"Yes," Sharon agreed, a hesitant and hopeful smile coming to her face. "Look, Mel," the other woman grabbed her hand. "I know how much I'm asking. But I know you-you are a good person. You save lives everyday. You take people who've suffered through traumatic and life-threatening situations and you save them. You give them a second chance. So please, give him one."

Sharon's eyes were huge and imploring and Melody closed her own eyes, shutting out the old house with too many ghosts.
Sounds assaulted her mind-the ghost of her past would not be shut out so easily. Unseen though they were now, there was no way to block out the noise they made. Laughter, shouting, crying, screaming and the finality of a gunshot blasting through the house./p
Melody opened her eyes and then stared at the key chain in her hand. It was just a gold circle with the words them he who saves one life saves the world in time carved in the center.

Her hand closed around the metal. Seventy-five, car-crash, mother The words brought back other ghosts, ones even louder and more vibrant than the ones in the house. The blaring siren of the ambulance, the bloodied, broken body on the structure, the hysterical broken voice as the woman asked for her child./p
Melody's hands becoming stained with blood as she tied a bandage around the mangled limb. The seventy-five pitch black stitches Melody had placed into the gouge that had traced the length of her leg when the bleeding was finally under control.

The card a year later, and the key chain that had come with it.

The memory shut out the ghosts and Melody opened her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm in."
Sharon beamed. "Let's go inside and say hello. He's waiting."

Hello there! I'm Adrienne! I'm new to the community so if things seem funny at first, I apologize. I'm still getting the hang of things. I'm aware that most of the chapters have HTML coding in them, I do not know why. When I began adding the story in my doc manager it was all normal. I've contacted support and am waiting to hear back. I've manually edited this chapter myself, but I have forty-one more to go and I won't be able to do that quickly. Sorry for the inconvenience.

This story takes place between two of the MCU films. It's post Winter Solder and pre-Civil War. This is my first fanfiction of the MCU so any feedback is welcome and thank you so much for reading! :)