A/N: Really short chapter. :/ Ah, well, I'll just have to post the next one soon then. Not sure if I like the developments, but it's too late to change them now (at least not without pulling a Twisted and rewriting everything taking it down and putting the new content back up. I hate that though). I just hope I'm balancing Loyalty's strengths and flaws well enough, that and that everything gets sufficiently foreshadowed so it doesn't come out of nowhere. As always Construcitve criticisms welcome. Reviews would make a great holiday present!

Disclaimer: I don't own Captain America

Chapter 6

Soldier glared at Steve before he turned and went after Loyalty. She was moving quickly and soon he couldn't sense her anymore. Bucky cursed in their head.

She's running faster than she had before, Bucky thought, how?

Something about her presence was starting to change before she ran, Soldier thought, stopping at an intersection in frustration. He scanned the crowd in hopes of finding a clue of which way she might of gone, when he noticed a familiar man in a black suit approach him. Agent Sitwell stopped right in front of him, his body tense, but his face the impassive mask he always wore.

The agent cocked his head to the side slightly, "Both HYDRA and SHIELD have been looking for you."

Soldier stiffened and fingered his gun. The agent's eyes flickered towards the movement before he said, "I would suggest looking in New Jersey. You and your new friends might find your answers there."

Sitwell turned and began to walk away when Soldier asked, "Who are you? Just who are you working for?"

Sitwell looked at him grimly, "The same as you hopefully, my country. Give Agent Coulson my regards. And my apologies."

The agent slipped back into the crowd and disappeared around a corner. Soldier stared at the direction the agent had gone for a minute, before someone bumped into him, and gave him a confused look.

The question is, Bucky thought, What's in New Jersey? And if I was a shy girl with two exotic animals where would I go?

That's two questions, Soldier pointed out with a roll of his eyes before he turned towards the zoo.

Well, you know, Bucky thought, put that way it seems pretty obvious.

Loyalty hated her true form. She had disliked it before the circus had happened, but afterwards she loathed it. It honed her already unnaturally sharp senses making every too bright, too loud, too… much. She always felt like she had been dunked in boiling water, every nerve on fire. Even with her eyes screwed shut the light of the setting sun leaked through, dancing painfully on her eyes.

The constant dripping behind her was a drum next to her ear, and the concret on her back was a thousand pebbles tearing at her skin. The red wolf pup in her lap whined, no real meaning behind it, just a sound of worry. She winced when the sound assaulted her ears, but she buried her face in his side anyway.

The normally soft fur was rough to her oversensitive skin, and she felt tear run down her face.

She sensed Scary-man climb over the gate to the zoo, but she was too worn out to care. Her shoulder blades had finally gone numb, and Loyalty wasn't sure if she could stand anyways.

Footsteps approached her, and she curled into a tighter ball, wishing for just one moment that one of her siblings was there. She wished for Empathy's cool hand, Diligence's stubbornness, Valor's jokes, Endurance's sarcastic quips as he pulls her to her feet...

A fresh wave of tears poured from her eyes, and she bit back sobs. She wanted to go home. The footsteps paused a couple of feet away from her, and she couldn't muster up the mental energy to open her eyes to see the look on Scary-man's face.

Next to her, Cora hissed a warning, and the rest of the red wolf pack that surrounded her growled. One of the mothers hovered near her leg, just close enough that Loyalty could feel her heat, but not touching and aggravating her nerves.

"Wings?"

Loyalty took a hiccuping breath, and furrowed her brow. That didn't sound like the scary man. She pulled her face away from the pup, and squinted her eyes, feeling her wings quiver in pain behind her.

The man standing in front of her certainly looked like Scary-man, and he had the same presence. She hoped that no one would be desperate enough to fake being him that they would chop off their arm and replace it with a metal one, but she wasn't too sure.

"Y-you're not Sc-cary-man," she whispered.

The man blinked and flexed his fingers, a look of wonder flashing through his eyes briefly. He slowly crouched down to her level, before taking a seat.

"Technically he's me," the man said, then winced, and a rueful smile made its way across his face, "As much as he'd like to deny it."

"B-bucky?" she asked quietly, thinking back to the drive into the state.

"Hey kid," Bucky said quietly, "It's nice to finally meet you in person."