A/N: I'm putting this up here because I had a request to make flashbacks clearer. Anything that is in italics will be a flashback. In some cases there will be a date added, but sometimes there will not be. The flashbacks for this chapter happen the day after the one from the previous chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

Songs for Chapter:

"Damaged"- Adrian Lux (The Chase)

"I'll Leave the Lights On"- Lapush (Matt & Bea)

"It Don't Move Me"- Peter Bjorn and John (Bea, Ravi, and Priya)

"Fuel to Fire"- Agnes Obel (Bucky and Bea in apartment)

"Give Us a Little Love" – Falluah (Bea in bedroom)

"Click Click"- The Daylights (Bucky in living room)

He felt someone watching him. He didn't know how, but someone was. He slowly looked around and saw a number of people looking at exhibits. No one was staring at him at all. He still felt uneasy. He needed to leave. He turned around to leave when he stopped. Slowly turning his head, he saw a young woman with dark hair and wearing a black jacket with the hood staring at him. She turned her eyes back to an exhibit she was standing in front of and her eyes flicked back towards him. She turned her head and looked around. She started to walked towards him, which to him was a sign that she was the one who was watching him. He quickly turned and quickly walked toward the exit of the exhibit. She quickened her pace, following him.

He started to run through the museum, dodging as many people as he could. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the woman was still after him. A moment of opportunity presented itself to him as he saw a museum worker coming from a door that read stairs. He quickly ran towards the door, slipping through before it closed completely shut. He suddenly saw making a break up the stares as fast as he could.


Bea groaned as the door shut and hit her hand against it. "Damn" she muttered. She quickly pulled out a key card and swiped it on the card reading, opening the door. She'd need to thank Issac for that later. As she ran in she looked up, watching the Winter Soldier run up the flights of stairs. "Jesus Christ superstar. Bloody super soldiers" she huffed. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head and began to run up the numerous flights. This is why she worked out so much she kept telling herself. She looked up and saw that Bucky was at least a dozen flights of steps ahead of her. She shook her head and in a flash was right behind him.

The super solider ran and opened the door to the roof, being stopped by a balcony. He took one look behind him and saw his pursuitor right behind him. The next thing Bea knew, he jumped over the balcony.

She quickly ran and looked won below. "God fucking damn" she breathed leaning over the railing and watched the Winter Solider tumble to the nearby roof. "Okay guess we're going to have to do it this the hard way." She focused on the nearby building and in a flash, she stood right in front of the Winter Solider. He jumped at the sight of her and took off in the other direction. Bea only rolled her eyes as she blinked in towards him once more.

"I can do this all day if you like, but eventually you're going to run out of roof and I'm going to going to get tired of it" she looked at him. She watched as Bucky's eyes looked around, clearly trying to find a way out of his situation. He suddenly screamed and ran towards her, knocking to her to the ground with a thud. Bea felt a pain in her side and a metal hand to her throat as he pulled out a knife to her neck.

Bea struggled from underneath him, but he was overpowering her. It was official. This plan went nothing according to plan. Her lack of oxygen made it difficult to focus on blinking somewhere. Looking up for him, she looked at him pleadingly. "Bucky please" she gasped out for air.

He breathed heavily with the knife almost against her neck. She looked directly at him and something happened. His mind flashed to somewhere else. He saw her. The girl that was under him in the exact same position, gasping for air, trying to fight him off. He had done this before. He shut his eyes and winched as his head throbbed, being pulled back into reality. His eyes went wide slightly looking back down at her. "I…I know you" he breathed.

She stared up at him in confusion. He recognized her. But from where was the better question. Somewhere in there, he knew who she was. She did the only thing she could think of next. "My…my name is Bea. I'm not here to hurt you I'm here to help you."


Bea opened her eyes slowly as the sun shone through the windows. She decided to stay at Matt's for the night after everything that had happened. She opted to no call Pepper to tell her about the incident as she didn't want to worry the assistant further, but also she didn't know how it would be handled. She kept going back and forth whether or not to say anything. She was able to get her way out of it, but at the same time, it could happen again where she wouldn't be as lucky.

The reason she was able to get out of it so easy was because of something that she had been living with for years. It was when she turned 16 that it happened for the first time. She had been driving and hit by a drunk driver. The next thing she knew she was rolling on the ground as she watched her car flip. She didn't understand what had happened. One minute she was in the car, one minute she wasn't. She made it out of the crash alive thanks to her ability. The cops assumed it was a miracle that she came out alive. It continued to happen if she thought of a place or if she wanted to someplace at the house. She never told anyone the truth. Not even Tony.

No one knew the truth until she met Matt. She had been able to control it for the most part, but there were times that she slipped up. She was only human….or something. One night when she and Matt were hanging out, the two of them were almost hit by a car and she used her ability to get them both out of the way. Matt was confused as to what had happened and for a while, she tried to play it off. However, he knew she was lying. He demanded an explanation until she broke down. She told him everything. About the crash and how it happened often. In return Matt revealed something about himself. Even though he was blind, his senses were heightened. He called it "radar senses." As a result, he could able to do things no blind man should be able to do.

She never had a name for her abilities until she told Matt. He called it blinking because in the blink of an eye, she could be everywhere.

Turning over, she saw Matt was wide-awake. He smiled at her knowing that she was awake. For being blind, he was able to live a normal life. It was amazing to her.

"How long have you been awake?" she looked up at him.

"A little while" Matt looked down at her. "And right after, I realized that this bed is most definitely not made for two people." He shifted uncomfortably around the twin-sized bed. She wasn't sure how they managed to fit in it, but they did.

"I could have slept on the couch" Bea smirked at him sitting up.

Matt sat up along with her and just shook his head. "Maybe I just wanted the extra company and warmth. The lack of space was worth it." He reached over and let his fingertips run across her cheek gently. The next thing she knew, his lips were against her own. Bea barely could comprehend what was happening, but eagerly she returned the kiss and felt as he grabbed her, pulling her closer.

Something went off in her head. Something that brought her back to reality. This wasn't right. Not now. Not with everything happening. "Wait…" she breathed pulling away.

She watched as Matt's face fell. "I totally just overstepped bounds didn't I and now I've made things totally awkward."

"No" she shook her head quickly. "It's not that at all. I liked it...I…I uh…think I liked it a lot…"

"I sense a but in there somewhere" Matt raised his eyebrows slightly.

"But the timing is just kind of shitty right now" she responded instantly. "There's just a lot going on and I don't want to screw up something that could be because I'm out of my mind with worry about Tony. Does that make sense?"

Matt nodded his head after a moment and smiled sadly. He looked disappointed, but somehow she knew that he understood her hesitation. "Okay, so how about when your not dealing with a missing guardian, I take you out to dinner and just see where the night goes."

Bea stayed silent for a moment. Matt had just asked her out on a date. An actual date. After all the teasing from friends and everything, they were right. Part of her was mentally kicking herself for being stupid, but a deeper part of her knew that she was harboring feelings for her best friend. Not wanting to lose them, she never acted. That was what she was afraid of most. Losing Matt.

"Your silence is staring to become concerning. I can hear the wheels turning" he spoke snapping her out of her thoughts."

"Sorry" she smiled quickly. "Dinner sounds perfect. I'd love to." She grabbed her phone and looked at the time. "I should probably go. Thanks for letting me spend the night."

Matt's finger tips glided across her right arm. "You're welcome. Are you going to tell Pepper?"

"I'm not sure yet" she told him. She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his own before pulling away almost instantly.

Matt smiled at her and then glared playfully. "Now, you're just being a tease."

"Or maybe I'm just giving you something to hold you over till this is all over" she told him before laughing and getting out of the bed.


Bea took a deep breath as she walked back into her apartment. She felt at ease at the fact that there was no one was waiting to attack her again. Placing her keys into a ceramic bowl, she looked up and suddenly screamed and jumped. Standing in front of her, shirtless, in his underwear, and eating a bowl of cereal was Ravi.

"Beatrice!" he opened his arms with a spoon in one hand and his bowl of cereal in another. "We've been waiting for you. Our favorite ward of a missing celebrity has returned to our humble abode. "

Bea looked at her friend like he was insane. "Ravi what are you doing here? In your underwear. Shirtless. Eating my food" she said looking at him up and down. "One of these days I'm going to come home and this won't phase me."

Bea had known Ravi since they were in high school. His family had immigrated to the United States from England when he was only 14. His mother was from India while his father was from Kenya. The first time they met was purely accidental, as she had bumped into him on her way to class their freshman year of high school. She was the first one not to comment on how he was the new kid or how he talked funny. He was shy and reserved at first, but after becoming friends with Bea, he came out of his shell. She learned how obsessed he was with comics, pop culture, and wanted nothing more than to be a medical researcher. The two were inseparable and when it came time to apply for colleges, they made sure to find good programs for what they wanted to do.

"So if you're here I'm assuming your girlfriend is too?" Bea asked looking around the apartment.

Ravi nodded quickly. "Priya darling, your second other half is here" he called out to his girlfriend. A young Indian woman stuck her head out and beamed running over to her. Priya on the other hand was the daughter of the Indian Ambassador to the United States. Growing up in India for most of her life, when her father was appointed Ambassador in high school they moved to the states. She wasn't from a traditional Indian family. When Bea met her, she was expecting someone who had strict parents and the stereotype of having an arranged marriage already. However, that wasn't the case at all. Her parents wanted her to go to school, but to make her own path. They wanted her to marry into another Indian family, but had decided that whatever happened would happen. She and Bea became roommates randomly freshman year and became fast friends. She was a business major and wanted to own her own shop. In high school, she gained an interest in beauty and fashion and taught herself how to be a hair stylist. There were many nights where Bea let her color her hair outrageous colors just so she could practice.

Now how Bea was able to set up her two friends was a different story entirely. At first, Priya thought Ravi was a complete nerd and Bea thought she would get a little annoyed when he was around. However, one night Priya got left at a party by a date when Bea was away for the weekend visiting Tony. As a result, she called Ravi who came to her rescue almost immediately. The two then went back to his room, watched movies, and talked about their lives. After that Priya never got annoyed with him being around. Bea saw the change in her almost immediately and when Priya began asking more and more about Ravi, Bea knew what was happening. It took a lot of persuading, as Ravi was completely oblivious to the fact that Priya was even interested for her to ask him to dinner one night. Ravi thought it would be a normal dinner with the three of them, but was shocked when she said it would be the two of him. It took one dinner and the two had been dating for two years now.

"What are you doing here?" Bea asked as Priya hugged her tightly. "Pri I thought you weren't coming back until Tuesday."

"When I heard what happened, my dad pulled some string and got me on the first flight back" she replied pulling away from her. "I figured you needed us." She looked over at Ravi who was still eating his cereal and rolled her eyes. "Both of us. I apologize for my boneheaded boyfriend."

Ravi glared at her. "Hey! I'm here aren't I?"

"Are you okay? Any news on Tony?" Priya asked her rolling her eyes.

Bea shook her head. " Nothing yet. I'm okay. I'm just worried and then I got attacked last night on the way home…."

"YOU WERE WHAT?" Ravi exclaimed cutting her off. "Attacked? Here? In this neighborhood? Is the world going to shit? What happened? Who was it? Do we need to call Priya's father and get them extradited to India?"

Priya frowned slightly at him in disbelief. "That's not how it works. How many times do I have to tell you that"

"One day it will happen. Mark my words" Ravi smiled between his two friends. "So spill, what happened?"

"Well I was coming home from getting food with Matt and someone grabbed me in the alleyway" Bea stopped for a moment and frowned. How was she going to explain what had happened. Neither one of them knew the truth. "I kicked him really hard and just ran all the way back to Matt's. I never got a look at whom it was. It was dark and they were wearing a mask."

"Shit. You're lucky" Priya breathed. "You know I can call my dad and we can get extra security around the building. You won't even know they're here."

Bea shook her head back and forth. "I don't need it. I'm fine. It probably was just a random thing and someone was trying to mug me. I'm fine really. Just a bit shaken with everything that's happening."

"Question" Ravi interjected. "Don't you think it's a little strange that the exact same day your legal guardian goes missing, you get nearly killed in an alleyway?"

Bea frowned up at her friend. To be honest, it was a coincidence. But were the two events connected? "Are you saying that it might be connected to Tony going missing? I think we might be reaching a bit?"

"No, no he's right" Priya shook her head. "Bea, maybe it is connected. Getting you to maybe hold something over Tony's head. It's possible. Take it from someone who is on several kidnap lists."

Before Bea could respond, there was a knock at the door. She looked over at Ravi and Priya. "You two expecting anyone?" Both of her friends shook their heads in response.

"Well whoever it is, I'm going to um go find some clothes" Ravi said turning to walk down the hallway.

The brunette walked over to the door and oepned it. On the other side stood a older bald headed man, who's eyes went wide at the sight of her slighly. "Obadiah!" Bea greeted him. "What are you doing here?"

"Beatrice, I'm surprised I caught you here!" the man said in response. Obadiah Slate was the the old partner of Tony's father Howard at Stark Industries. Up until the time that Tony could take over the company, he had looked after the company. Once Tony took over, he continued to be the company's manager and one of Tony's most trusted confidants.

She was surprised that he seemed surprised to find her at her own apartment. "Where else would I be?" she asked him.

"Well I figured you might be somewhere with your friends or getting ready for your new semester" he smiled at her.

"Yeah I just got back from a friends place. Come on in" she said motioning in. "I'm assuming you're here just to check on me or you have bad news" she looked over at him.

"No bad news. No news on him actually" Obadiah sighed. He looked and saw that they weren't alone.

"Oh this is Priya my roommate. Priya, Obadiah" she introduced them to one another.

Obadiah nodded his head. "Nice to meet you. Is there someplace we can talk in private?" he looked over at Bea.

"I'll go see what Ravi's gotten himself into" Priya looked between the pair. "Take all the time you need."

She lead the company's manager to the sitting area. Obadiah look the car that sat across from the couch.

"So what's this all about" Bea said sitting on the couch.

The old man took a deep breath. "Did Tony ever mention to you what would happen in the event of his death?" he asked her.

Bea's brows furrowed at the question. "Um…no…we…uh…we never talked about any of that. I..um…I didn't realize we were at that point yet. He could still be alive."

"I know, but we just need to be prepared for anything. So you don't know that in the event of his death you get everything. The company, his money, any of his assets.

"I'm not really following where this conversation is going. Tony never mentioned anything about a will. Hell I didn't think he would have one. Figured he thought he'd find a way to live forever" Bea said lightheartedly.

"That does sound like Tony doesn't it" Obadiah smirked slightly. "However, since this happened we've been looking at options and we found his will and you get everything."

Bea stared at him further. Tony left her everything. Every single thing? What the hell was he drinking when he did that? She was no scientist. No engineer. Hell she didn't even know what she wanted to do with her own life. "So what does that mean?"

"In the event that things turn out for the worse. I just want you to be aware of what could happen" he began. That being said though, I want you to know that you have a lot of support behind you. If you feel that you want to help with the company, you can, but considering you had never considered a career with the company, you can hand it off. You have options."

Bea's looked at him directly. Her face was emotionless. She didn't know what to say. How to respond. She wasn't expecting any of this at all. Taking a deep breath, she smiled at him. "Thanks for telling me all this. You're right it is better to be prepared for anything. This is just...it's a lot to take in right now. I'm just going to need some time to process it."

Obadiah nodded at her. "Well you have time until we get confirmation of whether or not he is alive or dead." He stood up and looked around the room. "I'll leave to your thoughts and to get ready for school. Kid if you need anything, don't hesitate to call at all. Even though Tony is the one that raised you, I've always considered you to be family."

Bea stood up and walked over to him and hugged him. "Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you get any new information" she said pulling away.

"Of course I will" he nodded at her. She watched as he walked to the front door, opened it, and left the apartment.

She stood in silence for a moment. "You can come out now" she suddenly called out.

She saw Priya and Ravi emerge from the corner of the hallway, their eyes wide as they stared at her. They couldn't believe what they had heard as much as she did. The three friends just stared at one another in silence.

"Okay unless someone else say it, can I just say that, that whole thing was a tad bit of the sketchy side?" Ravi suddenly spoke. He continued to babble on about how it was weird that it had only been around 24 hours and they were already assuming the worst. There was more, but Bea tuned him out.

Ravi was right. It was sketchy. Something didn't feel right. Not at all. She felt the similar feeling she felt only the morning before creep back to her. Something was off, but she wasn't sure what. Obadiah seemed surprised to see her here. Why? He knew she was back at school. Everyone close to Tony did. Her phone buzzing snapped her out of her thoughts. Pulling it out from her pocket, she saw she had a message. Skimming over it, her face of confusion turned into happiness. Priya noticed the changed in behavior and nudged her boyfriend. Ravi only shrugged and nudged his head in Bea's direction to take care of it.

"Okay something's got you all smiling" she walked over to her friend. Come on share with the class."

"It's nothing worth mentioning" Bea shook her head. Priya looked at her curious for a moment. Suddenly, she grabbed the phone and took off.

"Priya no!" Bea protested running after her friend. Ravi blocked his friend as his girlfriend jumped up on the couch phone still in hand.

"Ooh. It's from Matt! Thank you for not freaking out on me this morning too much. I understand where you're coming from. I know we've been friends for a while, but I can't keep pushing my feelings for you aside. I hope it wasn't too forward of me and I apologize for the crappy timing. I appreciate you wanting to put 100% into this without any distractions. I look forward to having dinner and maybe continue what we started this morning. If you need anything, just call" Priya read out loud her voice getting louder and louder. Her eyes went big as she looked between Bea and Ravi. Her mouth slowly dropped open and turned to a huge smile.

Ravi's smile beamed just as much as what Priya was and looked at his friend. "Please tell me this means what I think it means."

Bea shrugged slightly smiling at her two friends before slowly nodding. "We…uh…we kissed this morning."

"YES!" Priya screamed. "I won! I won!" She jumped up and down on the couch, beginning to dance around. "I won the bet. I won the bet" she sang happily before jumping onto of Ravi's back. "You know what that means sweetheart" she said kissing her boyfriend's cheek. Ravi's face fell and he shook his head back and forth.

"Whoa whoa" Bea looked between them. "What is going on?"

"We made a bet freshman year that you and Matt would end up dating. I said it would happen before we graduated and Ravi said it wouldn't happen until after. I won, which means I get to pick where we go during spring break."

Ravi rolled his eyes and pushed Priya off of his back. "But wait, what did he mean about you not freaking out. I need details young lady. Seven years of friendship and I deserve everything. I always get the second hand gossip. So please spill."

"Well I spent the night at his place after I got attacked" Bea began. "We woke up and then out of the blue he kissed me. I liked it. Like really really liked it, but with everything happening with Tony, it's just not the right time. Matt deserves better. I couldn't commit myself to something like that right now. It's not fair to Matt. So he said once everything died down, we'd go to dinner and see where it would go."

Priya shook her head and clapped her hands. "I don't care. It's a start and I love it."


He stared at the woman on the ground with her hands slightly in the ground. The knife was only inches away from her neck. He had the urge just to kill her right then and there, but something stopped him. He didn't want to kill her. Not at all. Killing her wouldn't be right.

Slowly he moved the knife away from her and watched as she dropped her hands, breathing heavily. "You can't help me" he finally spoke standing up. He

"Says who" he heard her call out. "There are people looking for you everywhere. It'll take them longer than what I did, but that's because I'm better than the people looking for you. I know what I'm doing. Even if you ran, I'd still find you. Might take a little longer, but no matter where you run, I'll always find you."

He turned back towards her and saw that she was now standing up. "I'll just kill you then" he said after a moment.

"You won't" she looked directly at him. "You hesitated just now and earlier. You don't want to kill me. You don't want to do any of that anymore do you?"

Bucky just stared at her for a moment in silence. "Why are you doing this?" he suddenly asked.

"I'm much friendlier than some of the people you could run into. I've seen a lot these past few years. I thought the world was one way and its not. The world keeps shocking the hell out of me" she smirked slightly. "Everything is not what it seems. Helping you…it's the right thing to do. No one's going to know where you are. I promise." Bucky continued to stare at her silently.

"Fine you don't want my help, I'll leave you to it. Good luck." With that she turned around and began to walk back towards the door of the roof. However, she felt something grab her arm and turn her around. She looked down at the metal arm and looked back up at Bucky. He let go of her and backed slowly away from her.

"I don't want to do any of this anymore" he told her quietly.

Bea stared at him in confusion. "I'm not expecting you to. Like I said I just want to help you." She heard sirens going past the building and noticed Bucky tense up at the sound of them. They weren't for them, but they needed to leave. "We should probably get out of here, but it's probably best we don't use a car or walk. Blinking it is then." She held out her hand to him.

He stared at her strangely for a moment, unsure of what to do or why he needed to take her hand. He was afraid. He was afraid she was lying and she would be taking him back to do whatever he did.

"You can trust me" she told him. The Winter Soldier looked at her and then her hand. He slowly walked over to her and using his right hand took hold of her own.


The next thing he knew, there was a flash and he was in a unfamiliar hallway. On top of that he also felt very uneasy and sick.

She turned to him, "So you might feel a little…." Before she could finish, he was on the ground, leaning into the nearby trashcan, puking.

Bea eye's blinked a few times. "Yeah…..that tends to happen with some people" she sighed looking around. "Glad I came prepared then." She leaned against the wall of the hallway and looked at her watch. Sometimes this would take a while, sometimes it wouldn't. She had yet to figure out why some people couldn't handle blinking with her.

"You good?" she asked looked down at him. He barely nodded at her and she motioned for him to follow her. The pair walked down the hall in complete silence as they came upon a door. Pulling out a set of keys, Bea put them into the lock.

"So…um this is where I live" she said unlocking the door. "Make yourself at home." Opening the door, he could see a large apartment that was full of furniture. Bookshelves and pictures covered the walls.

"It's not much, but it's home for now. Until I find a new job" she said as she dropped her keys into a ceramic bowl right beside the door. Looking down she saw a large manila envelope with her name on it under her boot. Frowning, she kneeled to the ground and picked it up. She shrugged and put it on the top of her couch. "You can take the spare bedroom. The bed's comfy" she motioned her head to a corner of the apartment as she took her off jacket. As she did so, she winched slightly at pain in her side. "Shower's in my room, so we'll have to share. Make sure you turn the knob slowly left for the hot water unless you want to burn yourself. The water gets warmed up pretty quickly. There's a half bath right beside the spare room if you need it too. I can get anything you think you may need from the store tomorrow.

She turned around and just saw Bucky staring at her. His eyes then darted around the apartment slowly. He had yet to utter a word to her since they got off the museum's roof. She was unsure whether or not that meant he didn't trust her or he was just nervous. In a way his blank expression terrified her. She couldn't read what was going through his head at all. She wondered how much he had remembered, if it was anything. She guessed that she would have a lot of explaining to do, if he ever opened his damn mouth again.

"Food's fair game, so help yourself to anything" she turned and walked towards the kitchen. "I cook a lot when I get the time, you'll have to tell me what you like to eat. I'm assuming you super soldiers do eat?" Smirking, she turned around to look at Bucky who had not moved from his point in the living room at all. Bea took a deep breath and turned to her fridge. "Jesus Christ superstar" she muttered under her breath as she opened the fridge. He was going to be a hard one to break that was for sure.

Looking between the leftovers and snacks, she reached in and found exactly what she was looking for. A bottle of vodka. It was one of those nights and after the week she had she fucking earned it. She screwed the top off of it and took a large gulp as she moved suddenly; she felt pain in her side once more. "Ouch. Goddamn it" she winced as she put down the bottle. She grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and pulled it up. Slowly as she could, a large black and blue bruise revealed itself.

"Well how about that. Anyone tell you, you have one hell of a punch? This nothing though. I've had much worse" she looked up and saw him staring intently at the bruise. There was guilt written all over his face. His eyes flicked back up to her own and he stared quietly.

Bea took another breath and another large gulp of the vodka bottle. "So what are we going to do? Just sit in silence while you stare at me like I'm a lost puppy for another fifteen minutes?" she glared at him while pulling down her shirt. Bucky just continued to stare at her quietly as Bea grabbed the vodka bottle.

"God you must be one hell of a first date" she said as she took another swig of it. "But some people do go for the silent types. Girls and guys dig the broody thing, I guess. Do you even have a girlfriend?" She groaned realizing what she had just said. Getting up, she walked over to him and stood in front of him.

"Okay maybe let's take this conversation in a different direction" Bea spoke. "You said you knew me. Where do you remember me? The hospital? From yesterday? Or was it the very first time? Huh?" Bucky eye's darted away from her own quickly and his breathing intensified.

"Nothing" she spoke shaking her head. "Absolute silence. Brilliant. This is going to be fun." Ooh here's a idea, let's try and help someone. You love helping people. This is going to be a piece of cake. Self-righteous bastard" she muttered under her breath as she walked passed him through the living room. She picked up the envelope on the couch and stopped in front of her room. Taking another swig from the vodka she took a deep breath.

Turning around, she looked at Bucky, whose eyes had been following her nonstop. "So um….I've had a really shitty day. Well make that a shitty week, so I'm going to head to bed. You can keep standing there if you want or go to sleep…or whatever. If you need anything, I'll be in here I guess…." He blinked at her a few times and she just rolled her eyes before slamming her door shut.

Slumping against it, she slid down to the ground groaning. Why was she doing this? Why? Why? Why? Stupid damn feelings. Why her? What did she do to deserve this? Why couldn't she have been someone who would just ignore everything? Be selfish. Ignore the signs. She took another large gulp out of the bottle of vodka and pulled out her phone. She had multiple missed calls from Steve, Sam, Ravi, Priya, and Tony. However, she only had a few voicemails. She went to her voice mail and pushed the play button, putting it on speak phone so she could continue to wallow in self-pity.

The first message was from Tony.

"I'm assuming you're alive" he began. "I haven't seen anything regarding Tony Stark's ward being dead in D.C. Call me back."

The second came from Priya.

"Bea, please call me back. I just saw the news of the attack in D.C. SHIELD was actually HYDRA? Please call. I'm worried" her friend told her.

The third came from Ravi. His message seemed more like a plea and annoyance than anything else.

"So…" he began. "I know you've probably already gotten a million calls from Pri and I, but can you pretty pretty please call one of us back, just so we know you're breathing. I really would rather to not have to plan a funeral right now. I get that you've probably got a million things going on….but it only takes a few seconds to text. "

The fourth also came from Ravi that was a bit more colorful.

"Beatrice Margaret McPherson, I swear to God if you don't answer your fucking phone or call me back I will be stealing one of Tony's suits and somehow fly over there. Come on call us back, Priya's going out of her damn mind with worry" Ravi exclaimed.

The fifth message was from Matt.

"Hey. I…I…um…I know it's been awhile, but I heard what happened in D.C. today. I just wanted to check on you to make sure you were okay. Call me when you can."

The last message was the one that really got a response out of her.

"Bea, it's Isaac. With the leak, I was able to get ahold of more of HYDRA's file on you. I slid it under your door. Call me when you can" with that the final message ended. Frowning she looked down and saw the envelope on the phone. It was all in there. All of the answers she had been desperately searching for. It all was contained in paper. Picking it up and placing the vodka bottle on the floor, she slowly opened it. Inside was a folder that read HYDRA with a classified stamp on the front of it. On the tab was her full name and 6/14/95.

Taking a deep breath she stared at the envelope. She couldn't bring herself to open it. She knew what was inside of it, but she wasn't ready for the whole truth. Standing up, she pulled out a drawer from her dresser and stashed it in there. That would be a problem for another day. When she was ready to face it.

Walking into her bathroom, Bea turned on the light and just stared at herself in the mirror. The woman staring back at her was someone that she would never have thought would appear six years ago. That girl then hid herself. She had seen plenty, but she had yet to get in on any action. That changed the past week. Hearing footsteps in her living room caused her mind to slip back to the here and now. Bucky or whatever he wanted to call himself seemed to have finally moved. Running both of her hands through her head, she groaned. What had she gotten herself into? How the hell was she going to be able to pull this off?

The ringing of her phone allowed for a mental break from that problem. Walking back out to her room, she picked it up off the floor without even looking to who was calling.

"What?" she answered.

"Well hello to you too, Miss I just helped save the world. Thanks for calling me to tell me you were alive" Tony huffed at her in response.

"Piss off Tony" she snapped at him. "I didn't see Iron Man coming to the rescue today."

"I can't come to the rescue if nobody calls me" he shot back. "So…uh….how are you…are you okay? What are you up to?"

Bea blinked and stared across her bedroom. "I'm on the phone with the man who raised me who's pretending to act like he wasn't worried."

"You're such a smartass you know that?" Tony replied. "After everything I did for you, this is the attitude I get."

"I learned from the best" she smirked in response. "How are you? How badly is this going to affect everything?"

"It's unknown at the moment. JARVIS is rerouting the system for everything. Trying to get all the possible HYDRA bugs out" he explained to her. "Now tell me how you are. You sound grumpy. Did you have to go to the hospital? I know how pissy you get when you have to go?"

"No. No" she shook her head. "Couple of scratches and bruises, but nothing I can't handle."

Tony stayed quiet "I can be down there tomorrow morning you know. Hell I can even come tonight."

"Tony…you…you don't need to do that" she told him quietly. "I'm fine really. It's just been a long few days. I just need to process everything. A lot has happened. Everything's gone to shit. Tony listen before anything else gets out I need to tell…."

She heard Tony sigh loudly. "Bea…I…I already saw the files. As soon as it got leaked, JARVIS got a hold of it. It's okay. It doesn't change anything. You're still you. It doesn't matter what words on a nearly 20 plus year old file says."

She smiled weakly in response. "I'd beg to differ on that actually."

"Bea it's okay. You've always been different with certain things. You're special. You can do things no one else can do. " he told her honestly. "We just have an answer as to why now. Don't let it bother you. You fit in with the rest of us. Have you even bothered to read the file?"

"No I haven't. I got a copy, but I just haven't. Like I said it's just a lot to process. Just getting the general idea of it…..I'm taking it one day at a time."

"That's a good way to look at it. Can you do me a favor…can you please get up here next week or something? You…uh…you know how….um…Pepper worries about you. She just wants to make sure you're okay."

Bea smiled sadly. While she knew Pepper would be worried, the real person who wanted to see her was Tony. He had never been good with feelings, even after all the years of taking care of her. "Well tell Pepper, I'll make arrangements in the next day or so. I just need to check with some stuff" she told him. If things with Bucky staying with her went smoothly, what was she suppose to do with him when she was gone?

"What kind of stuff?" Tony asked almost immediately.

Bea sighed and took a moment to come up with what would seem like a legitimate excuse as opposed to how she was housing the most wanted man in the country and wasn't sure if leaving him alone was a good idea. "Just stuff with work mostly. I also told Steve I'd help look for Bucky."

"So the Star Spangled Man and his shiny new pet bird are dragging you further into this? You sure that's a good idea?" Tony hesitated for a moment. "Even after everything? What if he finds you first?"

Well that's already happened and technically she found him, Bea thought to herself. "Tony, I can handle this. Right now I just need sleep and to finish this bottle of vodka."

She could almost hear Tony smirk through the phone line. "I shouldn't be surprised but I am. Besides, I am the one who taught you to drink after all."

"Rough week" Bea said simply.

"I know what you mean" Tony breathed. "Hey listen, get some sleep and if you feel like it call me in the morning. Video chat would be even better so I can actually see you."

"Okay" Bea nodded her head. "Love you."

"Love you too bumblebee." With that she hung up the phone. She was surprised at herself. She didn't feel guilty about lying to Tony about finding Bucky. She frowned slightly and shrugged, she wasn't going to worry about it for the rest of the night. She could convince Tony, but would she be able to convince everyone else?


He watched as she slammed the door violently shut. She seemed frustrated and annoyed with him. He was confused her in a way. One minute, she told him she wanted to help him and the next she seemed as though she wanted nothing to do with him.

Looking around the unfamiliar place, he didn't know what to feel. What was he suppose to do? Slowly walking over to her bookshelf, he looked at the numerous pictures that were placed on it. Many of them were of her with other people. She looked happy in them all. There was something different about her in comparison to each of the photos.

One picture in particular caught his attention further. It was of her standing with someone familiar to him. It was the man on the bridge. The one he thought he knew. Picking it up, he looked at it more intently. He did know that man, but who was he? Was he important? He thought he needed to ask her.

He turned and looked over at her bedroom door. At this point, he heard her talking on the phone to someone. He assumed one of the people in the various photos on the bookshelf. Placing the picture back on the shelf, he decided not to ask her, not wanting to upset her further. He wondered if she would keep her promise to not tell anyone he was here. Could he trust her? Could he trust anyone? Most importantly, could he trust himself? He didn't want to hurt anyone. Not anymore.

"Just stuff with work mostly. I also told Steve and Sam I'd help look for Bucky" he suddenly heard her tell the person on the phone.

Bucky.

Why did that name sound familiar? The man on the bridge said the name to him. The museum exhibit he went to said it was his name and it had a picture of a man who looked exactly like him. Bea had said it to him. Was that his name? Bucky. The name sounded right, but he just wasn't sure.

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the bedroom that Bea told him was his. The room had a decent sized bed with a blue comforter and a few more pictures on the wall. The window was opened and he walked over to it. The city was still busy with cars going from and two places. Looking to the side, his eyes stopped at the sight of her. He wasn't sure if she could see him, but if she did, she wasn't acknowledging her. She sat on the window seal, the vodka bottle still in hand as she looked out into the distance. Even though it was dark, he could see the tears falling down her face. Was it because of him or something else?

He considered the fact that maybe he should just leave. Find someone where else to hide. He could survive on his own. However, she had answers that he needed. For now, he would stay. For now at least.

There you have it! Thank you so much for the reviews and all of the alerts on this story. I was definitely blown away by how many people put it on alert. Please let me know what you think or any suggestions you have. Read and review!