Hey all, so thank you for the reviews, favourites, alerts and reads so far.

Thank you for taking an interest in this project. I am blending the cinematic Marvel with the comic verse so more Marvel characters will be popping up and I have blended elements of an old television show into this and it actually worked out.

I'm pacing this story, it won't rush to get to places. I just wanted to say thank you and I hope you enjoy and I appreciate reviews - I won't hold this to ransom for them but I do love hearing from you all.

I shall be updating every Monday, unless stated otherwise.

Harry had cleared out as soon as he had cleaned the back; leaving just Nora and Eddie. She loved Harry, he had given her a job seven years ago when she'd first come across the diner and never asked questions about her past or why a sixteen year old had been out on her own, with only the clothes on her back. Since then she had called this place home. She had no bank accounts tied to her, something in her had told her to stay as far off the grid as possible.

That lingering part of her kept her from growing attached to anyone; Harry being the only exception to this rule. Even little Eddie, as adorably unkempt and dorky as he was, remained nothing but the kid who cleared the tables and did the dishes.

With Harry gone, she attached her iPod to the stereo and selected Takida. Nora's mood had fallen rapidly; she had been smacked across the ass when bringing the men their second round of drinks and she had growled, stiffening her spine and ignoring the comments thrown round before leaving them alone. Her quiet stranger had been sitting ramrod straight as she had passed by him.

He had finished eating – in record time, she might add – and was still nursing that same mug of coffee.

After a minute or so, Nora had heard heavy boots on the tiled floor and glanced round to find her stranger on his feet and leaving. She was a little down he was leaving first; he had been silent company but it was better than the company of the men at table five. As he was passing by the counter, he nodded towards her and she smiled tiredly back.

Not long after the men finally left; their table a mess and no tips – leaving Nora perturbed by the fact she had not smacked at least one of them round in the slightest for their behaviour. Assholes she had muttered as the door had shut behind them.

She sent Eddie home once everything was tidy and then finished mopping the main floor. Grabbing her bag from the first table, she fished the keys to the shop out and locked the front door.

The night was cool; she fixed her jacket round her tighter while making her way across the lot to where her 1984 white Renault was parked.

It suited her well enough; small and it ran. Nora was about simplicity and for the past few years it had served her well. Letting out a puff of air, she smiled as it dispersed into the night air. Of a night, she didn't need lights like most others; her vision was quite unique – and incredibly keen in the dark. Yet another trait that made her feel less human and more freak.

As she was stuck in her thoughts and tuned out to the world around her, Nora didn't hear the person approach behind her until it was far too late. An arm snaked round her waist, pinning her arms to her sides. Nora cried out in fright, immediately going into fight mode; struggling fiercely against the man holding her to him. His hand comes up to wrap about her neck, taking the breath from her. She bucked against the man, trying to gain a good stance to propel them apart.

His grip tightened and she growled, trying to wretch free as she caught sight of the second man approaching from her front. "Come on, kitten, play nice and we won't get too rough," he teased.

Nora was pinned tight to the man behind her and only had her legs to keep distance between them. The moment he was within reach, Nora lashed out, kicking the inside of his knee almost bringing him down. She blamed the awkward angle she was being held at as to why she didn't do half as much damage to him as she knew she could.

He swore and then slammed his elbow into her stomach. Nora gasped, would've doubled over at the force of the hit had she not been being held up. The world spun violently as her vision tried to clear of black spots.

Her captor had swung them round and she was shoved down onto the hood of a car. Her head connected solidly with the hood, rattling her and momentarily stunning her. It gave her captor time enough to manoeuvre her arms behind her back and he leaned his weight over her.

Nora cringed and groaned as she felt a tongue on her neck. "Get off me!" she growled, struggling against him despite being pinned. A hand on her thigh made her struggle twice as hard, attempting to twist her body until she had the leverage to shove him away. She would break her shoulder at this rate.

He kicked her legs apart and gripped the end of her skirt. He chuckled, lips on her neck as she squirmed. "Hurt less, if ya play along, sweetheart," he said into her ear.

As he started to pull her skirt up, a grunt echoed near them and her captor was suddenly leaning away from her. She heard sounds of fighting behind them.

He was breathing heavily as he stared the third man down. The first lay crumpled to the ground; his neck broken. He had come back. Part of him knew he couldn't leave the woman in the hands of these men even though he knew the outcome would result in their deaths. The Soldier took control the moment he had pulled the car over on the side of the road and gotten out.

The fair haired waitress had shown him kindness without even being prompted to and those men had left him with a bad taste in his mouth with the way they had treated her but he had told himself to leave.

And so he had – she had smiled at him as he'd left and then he'd been in the car, pulling out of the lot. He had gotten barely five minutes down the road when he had pulled over. Looking in the rear view mirror, he could see himself and the road behind him. He looked pitiful; his beard was growing longer again and his eyes were tired.

She had given him a meal and some kindness despite him being a complete stranger. He turned the car back on and turned it around.

The Soldier in him told him to stop before he reached the diner and walk back. And he had. His stride determined and his mission clear. As he had come back to the lot, the scream from the waitress had been enough to kick start a primal need to defend in his blood and he had moved forward fast.

The closest man had his back to him. He grabbed him from behind and without hesitation his neck was snapped and he dropped to the ground. The Soldier was in full control; he didn't care that he was murdering another human; he cared about defending the woman. Who he noted was pinned to the hood of a car by one of the men.

The second man fell to the ground, a knife in his chest when he'd made to charge the Soldier and that is where they came to. The third man stared him down; a knife in hand and his upper lip trembling.

His breathing heavy as anger replaced a need to do duty. These men weren't men; they were dregs of society, lower than he even and the man in him was glad to have returned to help the waitress.

The third man didn't charge him; no, he dropped the knife from a shaky hand after a few seconds. The Soldier refused to leave a witness and he crossed the distance between them and uppercut the man, breaking his jaw before bringing him to the ground and driving the knife into his side.

He tensed up, coughing up blood and grasping tightly to the collar of the Soldier's shirt.

And then it was down to one.

Nora was relieved as the weight lifted off her back but just as she went to straighten up, she was thrown sideways roughly to the ground. She reacted quicker than expected, putting her hands out to take some of the impact off her knees.

She whimpered at the force, biting her lip. "This has got nothing to do with you." Nora dared to look over at the man who had been pinning her to the car. He stood with his back to her, a knife in hand – god, would he have killed her after they were done?

Then she noticed who had come to help her. Her quiet stranger stood only feet away, tense and watching her attacker. Hadn't he left? He had come back? The relief in her didn't last long as she glanced towards the man's friends who had been watching.

They were scattered across the lot; none of them moving. Her heart beat fierce in her chest and she didn't know whether it was from fear, shock or absolute relief. He had knocked them out – right? Nora couldn't see them full from the angles they were lying at – even with her keen sight.

She heard the man standing close to her speak; didn't catch what he had said and then he was lunging for her saviour.

Her quiet stranger on the other hand didn't charge but dropped back, using the man's own momentum against him. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt as they came crashing into each other and her attacker was thrown head first across the lot.

Her stranger was on his feet and advancing on the temporarily stunned man still face first on the ground.

He picked him up and threw a punch. She heard the sickening crunch of bone breaking and winced, even as a small part of her wished she had caused said damage to the prick.

There was a sickening scream and Nora saw the man's arm pulled back at an awkward angle just before her stranger drove his knee up into the guy's stomach viciously. Nora didn't see the knife in her stranger's hand until it was buried deep into the man's chest and he gasped sharply; wide eyes falling to the weapon in his chest as he was held up by the stranger.

Nora felt her stomach twist viciously.

He crumpled to the ground as the stranger let him go, twitching in his last moments of life.

Silence; only broken by the heavy breaths of the man standing before her, fell over the lot. Nora stared at the stranger's back, noticing how rigid he was and then her mind kicked into gear. It screamed at her to move, grab her things and run.

She quickly reached out for her bag, grabbing what few things had fallen out of it as she scrambled to her feet, clutching her bag tight to her chest staring wide-eyed at the man.

"Go." The deep growl startled her.

"My car is over there," she said, pointing toward the tiny car across the lot in front of him. She bit the inside of her cheek thinking she was crazy for asking herself this. "Do you have anywhere to go?" She looked round for his car. He had pulled up in one. Did he walk back to help her? How had he even known?

Her head hurt. She winced as her fingers reached up and brushed over a tender spot just over her right temple – lucky she didn't bruise easy.

He must have heard her wince, because he was suddenly looking over his shoulder towards her. Nora's hand dropped and she gave him the barest of smiles. He turned away again. "I just want to help. You helped me."

"I don't know why I did that."

He was walking back towards the road. Something urged Nora to follow him. His strides were longer than hers meaning she had to move fast to catch up, and her head was pounding. "Well I'm grateful you did. I don't like hurting people."

"They deserved it."

She glanced back round to the bodies sprawled out across the lot. Harry was going to ask a lot of questions come morning. "They deserved to be punished, not killed. Death is an easy escape for cruel people."

Nora reached out as she caught him, grabbing hold of his forearm. He tensed and Nora quickly released his arm, stepping a few steps back from him. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to help."

He turned to face her sharply. "Why?"

She was a little taken back by the harsh tone. "You helped me and you look like you've had a rough week."

He seemed to regard her carefully and as Nora was wondering if she was doing the smartest thing, she felt the pounding in her head increase twofold.

Before she had time to register what was happening, she blacked out.

The Soldier would've let her drop to the ground. He had done his part; she was safe for the night. He could put her up against that small car she claimed was hers and leave. That was what he should of done.

The man in him though moved fast and caught the unconscious woman before she fell to the ground. He shifted her, lifting her up into his arms and glancing down at her. She had to live around here.

His first rational thought was to drop her off at a hospital, at least the staff would be able to keep monitor of her for the evening. When she woke up though there was the risk she would be questioned; they would ask her about him, about what had happened.

He couldn't take the risk of someone who had been apart of HYDRA or S.H.I.E.L.D finding out about him.

If he returned her to her home though, kept watch over her until she woke up at least he could ensure she didn't speak of him to anyone. That was logical.

Heading for his car, he managed to get her into the passenger seat, tossing his bags into the backseat. She had a bag over her shoulder and he pulled it free of her, opening it and finding her purse. Identification always had an address; he knew that from his Soldier days when he needed to take care of any loose ends.

Finding what he was looking for, he read her address and then grabbed his map from the dash. It was forty minutes away, on the outskirts of a small town by the look of it.

Nora was first aware she was in a moving vehicle by the soft sound of the radio presenter from one of the stations was talking about the weather. She moaned softly as the pounding in her head from earlier came back in the form of a dull ache. "What?"

"You blacked out."

She jumped, turning her head sharply and wincing at the pain that shot up her neck in doing so. Her quiet stranger sat in the driver's seat, eyes on the road and a map on the console between them.

Nora glanced round, looking into the back to see three bags and black leather seats. Her bag was resting at her feet. This was definitely not her car. Her nerves spiked as all those horror movies she'd watched over the years came rushing back to her. "Where – where are we going?" Her voice was soft and timid. She didn't want to push the subject but if he was kidnapping her, she wasn't about to go down without a fight. Her hand went to the handle on the door, prepared if need be.

"Your residence," he replied.

Nora was going to ask how he knew where she lived until the smart part of her kicked in and told her he obviously had gone through her purse while she was unconscious. "Why?"

He didn't answer her. She glanced towards his hands on the wheel. They were gloved. One fully enclosed while the other only in a fingerless leather one. She wondered why he was wearing that but given how simply he had taken down the men back at the diner, she gathered military training and perhaps he had a fake hand – but they weren't so moveable were they?

She slowly settled back into her seat. "Nora," she blurted out after a moment.

"What?"

She went a little red. "Sorry. I'm Nora is what I should of said."

He didn't look at her, make a gesture nor spoke.

Okay remember Nora, he isn't the talkative type.

"I don't mean to push, but would you mind giving me your name?" she pressed, looking at him expectantly.

Nora. It was an old name. He remained silent. She didn't need a name for him. He would ensure she was inside and then he would leave her be. There was a danger in staying still for long. Keeping off the grid meant keeping himself moving; give them, HYDRA, less of a chance to pin him down.

He knew they had a tracker in him, in case he ever went AWOL on them, the Captain had cut off a head in Washington but he knew that more were out there. If they wanted him back, they would be tracking him, trying to pinpoint his location.

He tightened his grip on the wheel as she asked for his name again. What was his name? Soldier? Bucky? James? Barnes? They were all from a past that he didn't know whether he wanted to remember anymore.

The pain that would come with his memories – he was steeling himself for the flood that would break the gates to his already shaky state.

"I don't know." It slipped out before he even really considered giving her a false name.

He glanced at her. Her face was dirty; a light bruise was on her right temple, blood at the corner of her mouth and a spilt lip. He frowned at how he paid attention to such detail on the woman. She would be clean in an hour.

Nora seemed to be studying him as carefully as he was her.

Then she spoke softly: "Everyone has a name."

"I have many names," he muttered, "They don't belong to me anymore."

Nora felt for the man sitting beside her. So long ago she had not had a name. Nora was the name she had given herself; it had felt right back then when they'd been asking her all those questions. Who was she? How old was she? How did she get there? Where were her parents?

A flood of emotions came rolling back to her of that night; pain, confusion, and the most prominent had been the fear. Strangers had helped her back then and now here so far down the track she had been kind to a man lost in his path and he had helped her.

She didn't want to seem noisy but Nora honestly wanted to know his name, or a name, something by which she could call him. He seemed to be frowning to. Sighing, she decided to just leave him be. If he didn't wish to give her a name, he in truth didn't have to.

He saw her relax down into the seat and felt something tighten in his gut as she turned away from him to focus on the tree line running alongside the car. She went quiet and he sank into his thoughts. What was his name now?

Bucky had been the nickname of Steve Roger's best friend, a Howling Commando and hero. He wasn't a hero. He was a murderer. He had been a puppet. He had been used so viciously by men who had thought murder was simply a means to an end, that the lives of a few for the many was fine as long as they weren't pulling the trigger personally and weren't caught in the line of fire.

He tightened his grip on the wheel suddenly. They had stripped him of everything he was and made him into the very thing he knew was against his nature and now the past and present of his two worlds were waging war internally with him.

He couldn't go back to being Steve's friend; how could he stand alongside the hero and when he was the very thing the Captain was meant to take down. He couldn't go back to HYDRA and being the Winter Soldier; to be nothing but a toy they could wipe every time they were done with him and then put him in cryostasis.

He could be James though. It was a simple name, like Nora. He didn't need a last name – he didn't need anything but the name. The man he once was, well none of that mattered now. He could be James; a man trying to find himself amongst the ashes of his dead past.

"James."

Sapphire eyes came round to watch him. "James?"

He nodded. "My name."

James glanced across at her and saw her eyes light up a little before she gave him a small smile. "Thank you James, for helping me."