Thank you for the positive comments and feedback! I'm sorry it took me so long to start writing again - Life happened ya know. But I really love writing and Bucky is one of the most underrated and unappreciated characters of all time. I hope I can do him justice. Feedback welcome! xoxoxo - californiablueeyes

"I've done some research on you Dr. Hartley." Pierce sat behind his desk, his fingers laced in front of him, elbows resting on the arms of his chair. "You were the top of your class at Harvard Medical, have above average IQ, and were one of the most revered physicians in Boston."

I shifted on my feet uncomfortably. He had been staring at me like a fearsome beast eyeing its cornered prey.

"A young woman with the world at her feet and so much promise-" He took a breath and raised his chin slightly, his eyes raking over my body from head to toe. Then he stared into my eyes once more. "And you gave it all up to come here, and work at the local VA hospital. I have to ask, why?"

I winced at the memories that had brought me to this city- the events that had turned my life upside down and forced me to leave my family and friends. Images of my sister's face flashed in my mind.

"I wanted a change of scene. The VA needed trained doctors, so I came." I said nonchalantly. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth either.

Pierce smiled to himself and stood from his chair. He walked around the front of his desk and leaned against it, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Come now Lenna, we both know that's not the real reason." He pulled a remote from his pocket, clicked it, and a screen behind him to the left flickered to life. On it were images of a local news story.

"… A local man was found dead in his home late last night. Investigators say the man may have died several weeks ago due to unknowingly ingesting rat poison…." Images of the dilapidated house I had grown up in flashed across the screen.

I tore my eyes from the screen and looked back to Pierce. He had been staring at me the whole time.

"Not even a single tear for the death of your father?" He tsked.

"That man was not my father." She replied as steadily as she could.

"That's right, your step father." Pierce eyed me again. "He was a real monster wasn't he? A drunkard with violent tendencies who drove your dear cancer ridden mother to her grave sooner than was expected. You and your little sister – Maggie, right? – were taken by Family Services more times than you can count and put into foster homes because of the beatings he gave the both of you in his drunken fits of rage. Yet he always got his act together and sobered up long enough to get the two of you back. Life was fairly good for a few years. You graduated high school early, moved out and started to make a life for yourself. But then he relapsed and 17 year old Maggie ended up in the ER – at the very hospital you worked at – battered and broken beyond recognition. I saw the photos in her medical records it was really quite brutal. So you snapped. And you killed him." Pierce said.

I winced fighting back tears at the memories of that night when Maggie was brought to the ER.

"I didn't kill him. He was losing his eyesight and ingested the poison by mistake. It was an unfortunate mistake."

"A mistake." Pierce smiled and took a few steps nearer to me. "Yes, mistakes do happen I suppose. I also found out that your sister fled the country weeks before the body was found, and you moved to DC before then as well. One begins to question when coincidence becomes good old fashioned pre-meditated murder."

"You're one to talk about murder." I snapped before I could stop myself.

He stared in my eyes for a few moments, and then took a deep breath.

"Well, let's not dwell on the past." He pressed a button on his desk. "What I am really intrigued by is your brain."

"What?" I swallowed, my throat was dry.

"I'd like to run a few tests – to measure the expanse of your cognitive ability." He said this as the doors opened behind me. Two guards entered the office. I knew they were here for me. I knew I would have to pay for insisting on showers for James.

"These two will escort you to the Lab." Pierce said to me. "I think you are smart enough to know it will be better for you if you do not resist."

I wasn't going down without a fight. I tried to bolt but one of the guards snatched me in a vice like grip. I couldn't move an inch – it was pathetic.

"Let go of me, you son of a bitch!" I spat struggling against his grip.

"I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." Pierce moved towards me. He raised the remote to my neck and I felt a sharp pain, like the pricking of a needle.

"You bastard…" I mumbled. Then everything went blurry. And then black.