"Wait wait wait!" a large warm hand clamped down gently on Melinda's wrist forcing her to look at the man sitting in her car in the passenger's seat.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Melinda struggled desperately to wrench her wrist from the man's firm grip. With her other hand she fumbled for the phone in her leather bag, she had to call the police.

"I'm not going to hurt you." the man said softly, his grip around her wrist slackened a bit but it wasn't enough for her to pull away, "Please I just want to talk to you about something." there was a sincerity in his voice that no criminal could have.

Melinda frowned and she stopped struggling for a moment, this man was definitely familiar. She looked at him more closely now, blue eyes, blonde hair, wide shoulders, he had that White American boy look to him and he had the overall effect of looking at a labrador retriever wagging its tail.

"Fuck." she muttered and sighed letting herself relax, "Captain America." she looked at the man sitting next to her. Didn't he have a better way of making an entrance?

Steve Rogers cautiously let go of her wrist as if expecting her to run but Melinda just sat there in resignation. The man visibly relaxed and then he turned to her, "Thank you." his voice was as diplomatic as ever.

"Why can't you people have a normal introduction." Melinda grumbled trying to calm herself down. The adrenaline rush from before was slowly starting to die down leaving her with clammy hands and a slight feeling of exhaustion.

"Normal introduction?" Steve looked at her questioningly, his perfect eyebrows were raised.

"You know." Melinda rubbed her wrist with a hand, "Like walking up to someone, introducing yourself and inviting them to a coffee shop to talk about important matters." her voice was accusing and she shot the hero a look, "Not getting into someone else's car and scaring them half to death after they just bought cat food in the middle of the day." She had enough of these kinds of entrances. First it was Bucky showing up in her apartment half dead, then it was Tony Stark in the emergency department, and now it was Captain America.

At least he had the sense to look a little ashamed and embarrassed, Melinda noted to herself and then she sighed, "So what is it that you needed to talk to me about." she glanced around the parking lot of PetSmart to see that no one was paying them any attention even though she had screamed earlier, "Are you sure you even have the right person?" she wondered aloud. She had nothing to do with Steve Rogers or the Avengers in that sense. Sure Tony had mentioned that people on the team knew about her but it wasn't like they had any business with her.

"I'm sure I have the right person." Steve gave her a little reassuring smile but that didn't mask the seriousness in his eyes. Obviously there was a situation going on right now but he didn't make an inclination to speak about it. Rather, he seemed to be studying her carefully and whatever it was that he finally saw in Melinda seemed to satisfy him and he began to speak.

"This is some compensation." Steve suddenly thrust a thick white envelope into her hand, "You know...for taking care of.." he swallowed and looked around the car, his eyes touched on the bag of cat food in the back seat, "...my cat." he finally looked into her eyes pleadingly.

Melinda had to bite the inside of her cheek hard to suppress the laugh threatening to erupt from the back of her throat. Whatever people said about Captain America, he definitely wasn't good at lying. He gave off the impression of being a straightforward justice man. No lies, no tricks. If she tried, she could kind of like him.

"Your cat, Mister Rogers?" Melinda had to ask after she got her composure back. She didn't have to open the envelope to know what it was and judging by the thickness of it there was a lot of compensation in there indeed.

"You know with black hair, three legs….quiet and moody." Steve went on his voice was steady but there was a hint of panic.

"Oh no problem at all." Melinda grinned at Captain America almost wickedly. He means Bucky, she realized internally. They were friends? She never kept up with the Avengers or superheroes for that matter, it had never interested her.

"Your cat is doing fine." Melinda gave the envelope back to Steve, "He was very hurt when I found him." she looked Steve in the eyes, "But he's healing up nicely right now."

Something inside of Steve seemed to loosen up and the man let out a quiet breath, "Thank you." he smiled at her and tried to push the envelope back into her hands.

Melinda shook her head and made a point of not taking it from him, "I don't need it." she replied stubbornly. That was a lie. But she was a little scared of taking that kind of money. Early on in life she experienced how easily money could get its hooks in a person and slowly reel them into a different world. Whether that world was good or bad she hadn't wanted to know.

Steve watched her for a moment and then silently withdrew the money and slid it back into the back pocket of his jeans. Whatever her reasons were, they were her own and it didn't feel right to ask or pry.

"Now back on topic." Steve cleared his throat, "I heard that Tony Stark visited you at the hospital." he looked at Melinda with a renewed sort of vigor.

Was this why he had dropped by to talk to her? Melinda blinked in surprise at him. Surprise surprise, she thought to herself dryly. Nothing is as it seems.

"Yes." she replied politely and returned his stare with her own. Where was this conversation going now? She tried to hide the confusion from her face but she knew she was failing miserably.

Steve looked at her for a moment, "I see." he swallowed and looked outside at a man struggling to get his oversized poodle into his pickup truck.

"Is there some kind of issue?" she asked a bit hesitantly. There was something in his expression that told her there was an issue. She just didn't know what kind or how bad.

But contrary to what she was thinking Steve just turned to her with a shrug of his shoulders, "It's not really a big issue." he began slowly, "Just that I would be careful if I were you." his hands were laced together but his thumbs were circling each other slowly, "Tony Stark...is a difficult person to read most of the time and a lot of the time, no one knows what he's planning until it's too late." he glanced at Melinda who was watching him with an unreadable expression on her face, but he continued with his thoughts, "Even if his plans are...very organized and meticulous with every detail specified, there's a bigger chance of it going wrong and blowing out of proportion than it going right with no….lasting consequences." Steve had to cringe at the last pair of words. It wasn't what he had in mind to say out loud, it didn't even come close to what he really wanted to say but for now it would do.

Melinda thought for a moment but all she could do right now was say, "I'll be careful." what Steve said had struck her as true. She had her own feelings about what Tony Stark wanted and what he was up to but it was still too early to make up any conjectures.

There was a moment of silence as the two people sat there mulling over their own thoughts.

"Well...it's about time for me to go." Steve Rogers broke the silence and turned to her with a slight smile, "Tell my cat I said hi." he reached over and opened the car door letting in a cool rush of air into the hot car, "And thanks for taking care of him."

Melinda had to smile at that, "It's no problem." she waved as he got out of the car and closed the door. She watched him walk over to a motorbike parked a few spaces away from her and strap a helmet before she finally looked away.

"Superheroes really are unique people." she muttered to herself as she turned the ignition on her car and switched the gear from park to drive. But it was also true that he had given her much to think about even if he had told her things she already knew. If anything, the unexpected meeting with Captain America had been able to solidify and confirm her feelings of suspicion towards Tony Stark.

What the hell had she gotten herself into? Melinda could feel a scowl forming on her face as anger began to bubble up inside of her. All she had ever wanted was to live a peaceful life and go through the daily motions of it. Sure, the idea of it might seem boring to others, but to her it was the life.

Melinda remembered when she first saw Bucky on her couch bleeding out

and be weary of her. He had been like a wounded wild animal now that she thought back on it. She braked at a stoplight and took a deep breath waiting for the light to turn green.

What had happened? That question continually pushed to the forefront of her thoughts despite knowing that she wouldn't be able to know….or was it that she knew she wouldn't be able to deal with that knowledge?

All she knew of Bucky was that even though his biography was in the Smithsonian and he was listed as missing in action, he was in fact, not 'MIA' but rather alive and breathing. She knew he was the Winter Soldier. Everyone..okay well not everyone knew that but there were circles within the superhero fandom that knew stuff like this. Her friend Danae had happened to know and had shared that information a long time ago before any of this happened. But that was besides the point right now.

The light ahead of her turned green and she pressed the gas pedal to go. The thing about the Winter Soldier, as said by her friend Danae, was the fact that the existence of the said soldier was similar to that of a ghost. Some people see it, believe in it and chase it. Others disregard it as a superstition and laugh it off. Of course this was a bad analogy and no one could really compare the existence of the Winter Soldier to that of a ghost.

The point was, that said Winter Soldier was in her apartment right now. Melinda had helped a dying person who turned out to be a wanted criminal. The sudden realization was just now starting to sink in.

"He's also technically about 100 years old." Melinda murmured and then let out a short laugh. She didn't know the details but this man had lived for a long time.

The Winter Soldier was a killer. So Bucky was a killer. Melinda thought back to the man who quietly sat on her couch and typed away the minutes on his laptop. The man who cooked and cleaned for her. The man who sat down with her at dinner time and talked with her like a friend.

A shiver ran down her spine. It was a strange feeling to realize the differences in her mind and yet she wasn't exactly afraid. Okay, maybe she was a little afraid but in her limited interactions with Bucky she knew he wouldn't hurt her.

"A little late to the realization party." Melinda grumbled to herself as she pulled into the parking lot of Costco. It wasn't as crowded as she had expected it to be and so she managed to pull into a parking space close to the entrance.

As Melinda wheeled her cart up and down the large aisles of food she suddenly thought back to Captain America. The man who hated injustice with a terrible passion. He was friends...at least it seemed to her, that he was friends with Bucky. There must be a reason why they remained so. She mused to herself as she grabbed a large carton of eggs and placed them in her cart.

Oh fuck it. Melinda took a deep breath and let it out. She was making her thoughts too complicated when it was actually quite simple. Bucky was a killer. He wouldn't kill her. He was friends with Captain America. He was...very troubled. Melinda thought back to the time she accidently caught him lost in his thoughts.

In times like those, he felt far away. As if he was living another life in another time and place and the body left behind was just a husk.

His life probably had not been so easy or good to him, Melinda thought to herself as she remembered the dark look in his eyes he got sometimes.

Shaking other thoughts from her mind, Melinda quickly shopped for the rest of the food she needed and by the time she went through checkout, got to her car, and arrived at her apartment it was already 4pm. Time certainly went by quickly when needless errands had to be done.

"I'm back." Melinda called as she lugged in her groceries and the large bag of cat food through the doorway with a huff. She hated to make another trip all the way back out to her car and so had managed to balance everything on top of each other in her arms before speed walking to her place.

"Wow." Bucky commented dryly as he watched her struggle through the doorway.

"You gonna sit there and watch or you wanna help a lady out?" Melinda balanced the carton of eggs in her right arm but managed to drop a large bag of lettuce.

Bucky just grinned but he got off the couch and easily took the load off her arms setting it all down on the countertop making sure nothing fell, "You got another super power or something?" Bucky joked as he watched her pick up the bag of lettuce, "I've never seen someone with so much food in their arms."

"Hilarious." Melinda rolled her eyes but she smiled at Bucky before locking her apartment door and setting her bag on the kitchen table.

All previous thoughts of Bucky that had been stewing in her mind all day vanished. There was no use overthinking everything at the moment. For now she would have to go with her gut feeling, and her gut feeling was telling her to give the man a chance to live like a regular person.