Chapter Eight~ The Truth

A/N: If you have never seen the Marvel video of the song 'Glitter and Gold' You need to go watch it. MARVEL || Glitter & Gold (collab w/ djcprod) There you go. That's basically the theme song for this chapter.

Three days...it had been three days since the fall of SHEILD, and no one had even bothered to let her know whether or not her friend was alive. Even Tony stopped responding to her calls. Jessika felt shut out. Yes, maybe she was a civilian and this was super secret hero stuff, but these were her friends. And her best friend might have been dead at the bottom of the Potomac for all she knew. Even the news didn't know for sure whether Captain America was alive. There were some channels that said he was fine, up and fighting crime like any other day. Others said that there were rumors of his funeral being planned by the highest authorities in the U.S. Soon enough, she stopped watching the news altogether.

She kept the bar running like there was nothing wrong at all. It gave her a sense of normalcy, having something to do until someone contacted her; though without her friends coming and visiting, it was strangely empty. With the Triskelion was in shambles, so she couldn't exactly go up there and demand to be told what was going on. Jessika had closed the bar early that night, as it was a Monday, a week from the last time she had seen Steve (or thought she had anyway). She didn't even bother to check her email or turn the T.V. on, just went to her room and changed into her pjs.

)0(

It felt like she had just fallen asleep. A knocking on the door pulled her from the dream that she had floated into. Rubbing her face, she tried to remember what she had been dreaming of. She vaguely recalled faces and fire, but she didn't really know for sure. Another series of knocks pulled her out of the fog. Beside her bed, the clock read 2:15 am. Who the fuck was waking her up at two a fucking clock in morning? Who the hell could even get into her hallway at two o'clock in the morning?

Knock, knock, knock.

"Alright, already!" She shouted as she pulled herself out of bed. When she was in the living room, she said. "Keep your fucking panties on. Jarvis, disable the alarm please. I'm too tired to see straight."

"Of course, Miss." That was a good sign. Jarvis would have warned her against opening the door if there was someone dangerous on the other side. "Alarm disabled."

"Thank you." Without thinking, she unlocked the door and swung it open. Then she stopped. Her heart leapt to her throat, choking off her next words.

"Jess," came the sigh of relief. The look was wiped from the man's face when Jessika just stared at him. Steve looked like shit. The right side of his face was beat to hell, all black and blue and yellow. He was favoring his right arm and had it slung across his belly. "It's good to see you."

With wide eyes, she growled. She reached forward and pushed him with all her might, throwing her weight behind her arms against his chest. With little thought to the fact that it would actually hurt her more than him, she started punching him. "Two weeks! Two weeks and I hear nothing from you, not even a peep to tell me you're alive and you say 'it's good to see you'?!"

"Take it easy," he held his other arm out to ward her off.

"No, Steve, I will not take it easy. You fucking heard me calling you that day at the mall and you fucking ignored me!" She pushed him again, making his back hit the wall behind him. It was then that she saw the woman who was with him. The same red-headed woman who had been with him at the mall, and in the fight. "Who the fuck are you?"

Calmly, almost like she was bored, the woman answered. "Natasha Romanoff. I work with Steve."

Jessika just stared at her for a moment. "Right...the 'Black Widow'." She said with air quotes. She knew she shouldn't antagonize this woman, even without Steve's stories, she could see it in her face, the way she held her body. "Do me a favor, Natasha. Tell Steve to fuck off." With that, she spun around on her heel and slammed the door. With his enhanced hearing, Steve heard her grumble, "Motherfucker comes up here at two in the fucking morning after nothing for two fucking weeks and fucking expects me to be ok with that? I don't fucking think so."

Steve rapped the knuckles of his good hand against the door. "Jess, you know I can hear you."

"Fuck off!" Something thumped against the door, presumably a shoe or paperback book from the sound of it.

"Language!" He retorted. His face turned to look at Nat who was standing, arms crossed, an eyebrow cocked at him. "Don't worry, she's always like this when she's tired. She'll calm down in a minute." The door he was still leaning against was thrown open, showing a very irate, red faced Jessika.

"Excuse you?" She spat, the venom in her voice making him wince. "You go off on a mission, telling me you'll text or call when you get back, and then disappear for two fucking weeks. Then I see you on the fucking news, fighting in the streets, then getting arrested. I called you a dozen times, left you nearly a hundred messages, and you couldn't even take three fucking seconds to type 'I'm fine'? I thought you were dead, you big," she pushed against him," stupid," another push, "DUMBASS!" The last push was to his stomach instead of his chest. She had been trying to use her smaller size to put him off balance. It worked, but not for the reason she wanted.

Steve groaned in pain and fell back against the wall. He could feel the stitches being ripped out of the skin, splitting the flesh open again. Under his shirt, blood started seeping from the reopened wound.

"What the hell?!" Her attitude changed in that half a second. "Steve, what happened to you?" Jessika dropped to her knees beside him, trying to pry his hand away from the area so she could see.

He pushed her hand away. "You don't want to see it, trust me. I got shot."

"When?"

"The day that the helicarriers crashed."

"That was three days ago, Steve!" Her eyes were even wider than before as she tried to get to the area. "You should have already been healed!"

"Tell me about it. Hospital food sucks, and the docs think that whatever the bullet was coated in was developed specifically to negate my healing factor."

To Natasha, she said, "Help me get him inside. On the couch." Between the two of them and Steve's help getting him up, they made it into the apartment and dropped him on the sofa. "Jesus Christ." She whispered when she saw the blood coming through the material. "Why are you even out of the hospital? If you can't heal at your usual speed, you could die!"

"I know, Jess. Believe me, I know. I had to come see you." He gave her what was supposed to be a soft, sweet smile, but came out as a grimace because of the pain.

"And you couldn't wait a couple more days?"

"Weren't you just hitting me because I waited so long to talk to you?"

"Shut up, you idiot, and sit still. You should have just sent me a text or called me. I would have come to visit you. God, you're so stupid sometimes." She shook her head.

"Yeah well, I was a little busy trying to take down Hydra." Steve retorted.

"And SHEILD along with it? Good job with the whole leaking secrets thing, by the way."

"Oh, that wasn't me. That was Natasha."

"Oh..." Was the response.

All was silent for a moment as Jessika examined the hole in her friend's belly. But, something had been nagging on Natasha's mind for a while now, ever since the files had been leaked out. She needed to know. "Why were you on SHEILD's watch list?" The younger woman froze, hands clenched around the hem of Steve's shirt where it sat raised to his chest. Steve looked between the two of them, confused.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"When the files made it out onto the internet, something pinged on my phone. I read a bit of it, but when I went to look at it later, it was gone. Erased from the internet. I imagine that if I wanted to find it again, I'd have to do some pretty deep digging, wouldn't I?" The Widow came to stand at the end of the couch so she could look at Jessika's face. "Now, why were you on the SHEILD watchlist?"

She didn't answer. "Jess?" The soldier tried.

"It...it's complicated. I can't really explain..." She took a deep breath. "It would be easier to show you. But, I need you to take your shirt off all the way for me to do it." She said, not looking at either of them. She had sat back away from Steve, so Nat had to help him get the now bloody garment off. Once that was done, she frowned. "This is gonna be really weird, but I need you to sit as still as possible." She told him.

"For what?" Steve asked her.

She didn't answer. Just closed her eyes and rose up into a kneeling position between his knees again. Her hands placed themselves on either side of his head. He watched Jessika take a few deep breaths. With each inhale, it seemed like there was light gathering in her chest. He almost didn't see it at first. But soon it grew, bright enough that it might have been an arch reactor like what Tony had in his chest. Except it was green, dark green. Then she started focusing on the exhales. Suddenly, her whole body shook, more like pulsed, as the light traveled down her arms and her hands started moving. They went back and forth as the light...dark green and silvery power poured out of the appendages. Back and forth, back and forth. Like sawing wood...but more graceful (think Avatar waterbending). Jessika continued to breath, eyes still closed, head tilted like she was focusing on something that she couldn't see, but could feel. Then he felt it. It was warm and soft. He would have even said comforting if it weren't for the fact that Jessika, his Jess, the girl that was supposed to be the most normal thing in his world, was exhibiting power that she had never even hinted about having.

Shh, just relax. A soft brush of something altogether else against his mind. Then, warmth flowed over him, through him, moving with her hands. Steve could taste something plant-like, something green, but without the nasty chlorophyll taste that one got from chewing on leaves. No, it was more like...honeysuckle, was the closest approximation that Steve could think of. He could feel her calming presence of her settle over him, in him, in his mind. Fleeting images passed over his mind's eye, not his own. They were Jessika's thoughts, memories of the two of them filling him to the brim with concern for him and happiness in that moment. Back and back they went, to when they first met, and every day since then. It was a dizzying array of color and feeling. Suddenly, the image of Sylvester stuck right there at the forefront, and the sadness of loss that was associated with his memory. And the anger of it as well. The area Jessika was waving her hands over felt strange. Her hands started traveling down as they continued to go back and forth. Occasionally, her body would pulse again, in time with the little bursts of light that traveled from her heart to her hands.

His skin was itchy...really itchy. Steve tried to raise his hand to scratch at his face, but he found that he couldn't. And when he tried, Jessika made a small noise in her throat. So, he stopped attempting to move. Down and down she went. Her hands moved over his shoulders, never touching, just flowing over him. The bullet graze on his arm burned. He watched the interesting display of lights over his skin, the way that it seemed to seek out the injured parts of him, every bruise and every cut. Now he knew why he was so itchy. It was the feeling of skin and cells healing, repairing themselves as she passed over them. Her hands came to the large bullet hole on his torso, and suddenly his body jerked forward. Her right hand pressed against his abs, the other snaking around to do the same to the entry wound at his back. Steve groaned at the feeling of the power passing through his body like an electrical current. Jessika's head slowly slumped forward against his shoulder. Something warm fell onto his skin. Cutting his eyes as far as he could, Steve saw a line of dark red blood running down his chest...not his. It was Jessika's. Her nose was steadily dripping. Eventually, the biggest problem out of the way, his body was pushed back and she continued down his body, stopping at the graze on his side. Though Steve knew that she wasn't paying attention to what she was touching, his face turned pink when her hands passed over his crotch. He watched her head jerk a little, as if hearing something suddenly, then it went back to the previous position. Down his thighs she went, working her way, first over one leg, then the other. The trail the bullet had let in his leg surged with sudden warmth and then soothing cool as it stitched itself closed.

Finally, the light retreated from her hands, then faded from her chest and she slumped back against the coffee table. By now, her lips and chin were covered in sticky red blood, dripping to stain the once white tank top she was wearing. Her eyes rolled back into her head as it thunked on the table.

"Nat, get her a washcloth. They're in the hall closet. Make sure it's damp!" He called after her as she disappeared for a moment, before coming back with the rag. Steve took it from her, then lifted the dazed woman onto the couch beside him. "Jess? Jess, are you ok?" He asked as he dabbed it on her face.

She tried to sit up, wavering a little, batting at his hand weakly. "I'll be alright. I've never done something that big before. Just gimme a minute."

Jarvis's voice joined the conversation. "Miss, I am receiving some very peculiar reading from your biometrics. Should I contact Mr. Stark or Dr. Banner?"

"No, thank you Jarvis. I'm fine."

"Jess?" Steve prodded. "Wh...what the hell was that?" He was staring down at his chest, where his skin was now flawless. As if he'd never been shot in the first place. Raising his free hand to his face, he felt that it was no longer bumpy and bruised. "Jessika, look at me." He grabbed her hand, yanking her up a little.

"Ow! Steve, let go! You're hurting me!" She yelped, still a little out of it. As if burned, Steve dropped her hand, looking at his own in horror. "It's ok." Jessika told him. "Your strength is gonna be just a little extra for a couple of days. Unfortunate side effect of me healing someone."

"What are you talking about Jess? I...I don't understand."

"I think it's pretty clear, Rogers." Natasha said from her spot on the table. "Your little girlfriend here has been keeping secrets."

Jessika's face turned towards the spy in her living room, eyes narrowed. "You already knew. Didn't you?"

The red-head shrugged. "I knew Fury had been keeping an eye on you for a while now. I didn't know why for sure, but I figured it was something like this. How have you been hiding something like this? Surely something must have happened when you were a child...something that got you on SHEILD's radar in the first place."

"Nat," Steve held a hand up to her, telling her to lay off. But, then he thought of something. "Wait...if you can heal, especially something as severe as a bullet wound...what about-"

"Pop?" Jessika finished for him. She went silent, getting up and stepping somewhat unsteadily into the kitchen. Without speaking, she filled a mug with water and picked out a tea, only to have it snatched from her hand by Natasha. The red head sniffed it, then nodded and handed it back to her. The corner of Jessika's mouth turned up in thanks, then she placed a tea bag in the cup and set it in the microwave. As she watched it go round and round, she sniffled. "I wanted to. I tried, but I ended up doing more damage to myself than I healed him." With a shrug, she said, "Pop told me not to kill myself trying to save him, that his time was up. I'm not strong enough to take on something like cancer. Just look at what happened when I fixed you." Jessika waved her hand around, still not looking at the other two. "Damn near passed out just now. I wanted to do it anyway, heal Pop. But, he would bat me away and walk across the room so I couldn't reach him. That's the thing about this...power. I have to be right there, within touching distance, focusing intently without interruption." The machine beeped at her, and she popped it open to retrieve her hot beverage. Neither Steve nor Natasha said anything as they waited for her to continue while she prepared her tea the usual way. When she finally turned around, she stared into her cup, as if it could give her the answers of to all her troubles. "I don't really know anything about it, to be honest." Her hand raised at level with her face. "Pop made me hide it for so long...no, that's not right. He didn't necessarily want me to hide it, so much as he warned me not to do it in front of other people. He was worried that the government would find out and take me away."

Suddenly, Steve was there, taking her hand. "Jess? What happened?"

She looked up at him with a half smile. "I don't know. Mom and Dad died when I was three, so I don't know if it's a hereditary thing, or if something happened to me when they died. In fact, I don't even really know how they died. I think it was a car accident, but I'm not sure. Pop told me once that I never showed any sign of powers when I first came to live with him. It wasn't until I about five or six when a friend of mine fell down on the playground, skinned up her knee really bad." Jessika's eyes were unfocused, staring downwards at his chest. "It was horrible. She was crying, I was crying, the teacher was freaking out. I remember the blood most of all, running down her leg as Mrs. Settlemire tried to stop it, the metallic tang that worked its way through the air. I didn't know what I was doing, but suddenly, I was moving, pushing the teacher's hand out of the way and hovering over her skin with mine. And then, my vision...blanked. That's the only way I know how to explain it. I don't see, exactly, when I heal. But, at the same time, I do." Her hand started to glow in Steve's, and she watched the light flow around their fingers. "The power, as it moves through the body, I feel the injury, the bad part that needs fixing. When I first put my hand on my friend's knee, it felt...strange to say the least. Warm, and soft, and...I don't...it felt right. I felt her skin fix itself, and in my mind, I could see it all. I don't remember anything after that. I passed out."

"And that was the first time you ever healed anyone?" Natasha asked, snapping her out of the memory, which caused the light to fade out.

"Yeah...it scared me something awful. Not as bad as it did Pop, though. He showed up and ended up taking me out of school for a while. I mean, I was only in kindergarten, but still." Looking back up at her friend, her brows furrowed. "Steve..." She breathed.

"Why did you think you needed to hide this from me, Jess? You know what I am, you know what I do for a living. Did you think I wouldn't understand?"

"I didn't want to, Steve, you have to believe me. It's not that I didn't think you would understand, but years of being afraid of myself make me kind of wary about who knows."

"Who does know?" He asked.

"No one. Not even Tony. I've been wanting to tell you...to tell anyone. But I couldn't. I didn't want you to think any different of me. There's so much I don't know about this, and so many questions that I knew you would have that I couldn't answer, Steve." The blonde behemoth turned his head towards the other woman, the two of them sharing a silent conversation that Jessika couldn't understand. "Steve?" His eyes flicked to look at her, then back to Natasha. "Steve, listen to me. I'm still me, I'm still Jess."

"Really?" Steve's brow scrunched up, his jaw clenching. "Seems to me that everyone's got secrets, and no one is very good at sharing." He took a deep breath and sat up straight, not looking at her. "Anything else you wanna tell me now before it comes out later?"

Trying to lighten the mood, she responded, "I've got tinnitus, it makes me hear really high pitch sounds. Does that count?" He didn't answer her, though the red-headed woman's lips turned up in a small smile. "Look, the only other thing is that I can't heal myself. Not knowingly anyway. If I try, it doesn't do anything and I'm left feeling like crap afterwards. The only time my body has done it without me controlling it was when I went catatonic from the poison."

"Helpful." He muttered.

Jessika sat back, looking him up and down. "Miss Romanoff, would you mind giving us some privacy?"

"Not at all." As the older woman passed her, Natasha whispered, "Go easy on him, he's had a rough couple of weeks." And with that, she sauntered out the door and let it softly click shut behind her. As soon as Jessika was sure the door was closed, she turned back to the man next to her.

"Ok, what the hell happened to turn you into this mopey mess on surly attitude?" Steve mumbled something unintelligible. "Hey!" She put a hand on his naked shoulder, only to have him jerk away and get up. She watched him for a moment as he paced back and forth, obviously seething.

"Everytime I turn around, I find out somebody else I trusted has another goddamn monumental secret. And they're all coming out at the same time because, for some god forsaken reason, the universe has decided that it's time to turn completely upside-down. And you, of all people, I thought I could trust!" He spun around to point at her, causing her to sit shock-still. "All this time and you couldn't have the decency to tell me about this?!" His arm swung out to gesture to her.

"I didn't know how to, Steve! What would you have had me do, just walk up to you and say 'oh hey by the way, I have this weird power of being able to heal people, but I don't really know what it is or how to control it,'? No, you would have flipped out even if I had told you beforehand. Maybe not like this, because everything is amped up-"

"What are you talking about?! First you say my strength is going to be 'extra' for a while, and now I'm 'amped up'. What does that even mean?" With the final word, his fist shot out and caught the door frame. The smashing of wood made the smaller woman jump.

Jessika put her hands up in front of her, palms out, and stood slowly from the couch. "Steve, please, calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" He shouted, scaring her further.

With her face drawn tight, she took a step forward. Then another. "Steve, sweetheart, please. I know this is all really confusing and scary. Believe me, I understand. But, I need you to take a few deep breaths and just look at me." Jess inched around him, keeping his eyes on hers as she tried to lead him through a breathing exercise. "Breathe, just breathe." She pantomimed breathing with one hand, the other slowly moving towards Steve. To anyone looking on, it might have looked like she was trying to touch his arm...unfortunately, Steve wasn't looking in, and he wasn't just anyone.

Jessika yelped as he grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked it away from shelf beside him, causing the pipe she kept hidden there to clatter to the ground. "Jessika, you have seen me fight. You know the kinds of things I go up against on a daily basis. Do you really think that you could do anything with a pipe?"

Suppressing a whimper, she tried to pull away. He didn't let go. Instead, he gripped her tighter and shook her like a ragdoll. Panicking, Jessika's eyes glowed as she threw her free hand out and caught him in the sternum. Her fist, surrounded in light, with an extra punch of energy, cracked against his chest and sent him flying backwards. The walls of the apartment shuddered "I've dropped you before, Captain. While I was sick and weak." She had hoped use of his name would bring him back to who he was...it worked, luckily. Steve blinked, seemingly realizing what he was doing and let go of her hand. His eyes closed and sucked in a breath while he made himself stand still long enough to get his breathing back under control.

"We're fine, Nat." Jessika looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows as she rubbed her bruising wrist, then spun around to see the other woman standing in the doorway with a gun in her hand.

"You sure about that, Cap?" He didn't answer her, so she nodded. "That's what I thought. Miss Wardell?" She looked to Jessika.

"I think we're ok. Thank you. If I scream, then you can come bust a cap on his ass." The man behind her snorted.

"Alright. Just yell if you need me." Natasha nodded again, then closed the door.

"I'm sorry." Steve was rubbing his face when she turned around. "I don't know what that was."

He looked absolutely horrible. It was obvious, that even though she had given him the physical energy, that he was mentally and emotionally drained. "I do." His head shot up. "One of the things about me healing someone is that there's an exchange of energy. I don't know exactly how it works, I just know that I connect with a person like that, things happen. I can...feel them in such a way. It's like I'm inside their mind for a moment and I can see everything. Thoughts and emotions get exchanged and mixed up, and it's really confusing but this is the only way I know how to explain it." She rushed out. "That's why you were so riled up. I'm much more short-tempered than you are, Steve. So, everything that you've been through and everything that you've been bottling up because of your goddamn perfect nature has just blown up. And it's going to be like this for at least a couple of days. Knowing you and the amount of energy it took me to heal you, probably a couple weeks more like."

He stood there for a moment, digesting what she had told him. "All because you healed me?"

"Yeah," she huffed with a smile. "Ain't it a bitch?"

Steve nodded, staring at the floor as he went to sit down on the sofa. "So...Sylvester? You're angry at him?"

"Not at him. At myself, because I couldn't do anything for him. Because I lost him and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it." She sat down heavily beside him. She was so tired. The emotional roller coaster of the last few weeks were catching up with her. "So, who was that man you were fighting on the bridge?"

Steve huffed out a laugh. "Oh, you're never gonna believe me, Jess."

Turning to fully face him, she gave him her best 'really' face. "I just told you that I can influence your emotions because I zapped you perfect with glowing green light and you think I'm not going to believe who some crazy guy with a metal arm is?"

"I almost don't believe it, is what I'm saying."

"From the look on your face, my friend, you really need a beer."

"It's not going to do anything to me."

"I know. But, y'know, placebo affect. It'll help you loosen up." She got up, and half way to the kitchen, stopped. "Should we let your friend back in?"

"Hmm?" He grunted. "Oh, Nat! Yeah, sure." Before Jessika could even get to the door, it swung open and the woman in question walked in as if she had been listening the whole time. Though, to be fair, she probably was.

"I prefer vodka, but I'll drink whatever you have." She stated, perching herself on the armchair.

"Um...I think I have some left over from my birthday last year that Pop never finished off."

Steve chuckled. "I didn't take Sylvester for a drinker." Both of the women stared at him.

"Seriously? Pop owned a bar." Jessika rolled her eyes and grabbed three glasses and the bottle of vodka from a cabinet in the corner. "Every birthday since I was turned eighteen has involved alcohol as a gift from either Pop or one of his friends."

"That's a bit irresponsible." Said the super soldier.

Again, Jessika stopped to give him a deadpan look. "Coming from the man who took a nosedive into arctic waters and woke up seventy years later just to continue beating up on bad guys with your super secret boy band of heroes. No offense," she directed at the Widow as she poured her a glass.

"None taken." Natasha took the offered beverage and downed it in one go, then held the container out for another. Jessika's eyes widened as she acquiesced. "You've been hanging around Tony way too much."

With a shrug, the brunette handed another glass to Steve and then took a sip from the last one. "He's like my brother, so there's no such thing as too much. Anyway, this guy...who is he?"

Steve stared into his cup, then took a long drink of it, coughing at the burn. Then, with a slow smile, he said, "My brother."

)0(

In the days that followed, Steve wouldn't leave her side for anything. He had followed her around ever since he had shown up at her door. When she had to go to work, he sat at the bar and kept an eye on her the whole time. In the month or so since she'd last seen him, Jessika had hired a few waitresses so that she wasn't run off her feet every night. The rest of the Avengers came by as well, making sure that he was ok. Tony eventually found out about her powers and came to interrogate her about it while she bustled back and forth making drinks. He insisted that she let him run some tests and figure out exactly what the limits os her abilities were. It was only when Steve finally ran out of clean clothes and hadn't slept for more than a few hours (and only on her lumpy couch), that he finally went home for the first time since before the mission that started everything. Jessika had partly pushed him to leave. She felt slightly cooped up when he insisted in staying in all day and watching movies. She knew what he was doing. How could she not? He was still worried that someone would come after her, and he didn't want to risk not being there if something happened. After seeing his best friend suddenly back to life, but so torn up, he couldn't bare to think of what would happen if whoever was left from Hydra got it in their heads to use her, too. He was so convinced that he could help Bucky, if only he could find him. During the time that he was sitting at her bar, or up late after she fell asleep, he was doing research and trying to track down his missing friend.

Finally alone, Jessika had taken a long, hot bath and recounted all the things Steve had told her about Bucky...now the Winter Soldier. The silence in the apartment was almost a breath of fresh air. As much as she loved Steve, he could be a little overbearing sometimes. Running her towel over her hair, she hung it up and put her pjs on. It was so hot, with it being the middle of summer, the old A/C unit worked it's hardest to cool the apartment down. Even in her tank top and shorts, Jessika was sweating.

"Jarvis, I'm opening the window." She called out. Besides the alarm, Jarvis did not come inside her room. Sort of a privacy thing she had asked for. The audible chirp of the alarm system out by the front door let her know that he had been listening. The window was stuck, having not been opened in a long time while Pop had been alive. It took a bit of elbow grease, but she was able to finally force it open. The cool night breeze swept her hair back as she inhaled the thick scent of D.C. summer. A scratching at the door made her turn around with a smile. She crossed the room to make sure their water bowls were filled before bed, but was surprised when Miguel immediately began growling through the door. "What's wrong with you? Hush," Jess opened the thin wood to gently popped him on the nose, which usually would have made him stop, but the dog simply continued to raise his hackles at something behind her.

Suddenly, arms wrapped around her, one gloved hand slammed the door shut before being clapped over her mouth and the other pinning her arms at her sides. A muffled screamed made it's way through the hard fingers. In the other room, Miguel barked. Jessika struggled, but the man holding her had such a grip on her that it did little more than make him tighten it. He was taller than her, and stronger by a lot...inhumanly strong. Attempting to use his bulk against him, Jessika raised both her legs off the ground and pitched forward. It didn't do much to throw him off balance; in fact, he growled in her ear and tightened his arms around her even more.

"Stop it!" He hissed. "I'm not here to hurt you." She stopped moving. Once she had, the man loosened his hold, and she took the chance of his hand moving away from her face to bite down on the fleshy part between his thumb and forefinger. He hardly flinched. "Damn it," he whispered more to himself than her. In a flash, he had her jerked around to face him, the wall shuddering behind her back as she was slammed against it. "I said stop!" Something in his eyes froze her on the spot. "That's better. Now, I'm going to take my hand away. Don't scream, do you understand me?" Gulping, Jessika nodded quickly. "Good." Slowly, ready to cover her face again if she opened her mouth to scream, the dark haired man moved his hand away. Then, his other hand removed itself from her shoulder, both raising in a peaceful motion.

"Who are you? What do you want?" She breathed. Jessika briefly thought about calling out for Jarvis, as he wouldn't know what was going on in her room unless the alarm had been tripped...and she had made him disarm it.

As if reading her mind, he got in her face. "I could kill you before that AI ever got ahold of anyone, even your man-candy boyfriend."

Something about the way he talked, so casually but with gravel in his voice as if he rarely spoke, made her stop. "He's not my boyfriend... You've been watching me?" Jess didn't give him a chance to answer. "You had to have been, to know that there was someone else here."

"I need help." His words made her breath catch. "My name..." He trailed off. After a moment, he seemed to find his voice again, and he took a a deep breath. "My name is James Buchanan Barnes." He sounded so unsure, as if he didn't quite believe what he was saying. The moonlight from the window glinted off his left sleeve, drawing her eye. No, it wasn't a sleeve. Her eyes widened as she watched the metal plates and gears shift as he moved.

"Bucky? As in...Steve's Bucky? Supposedly died in 1945, Bucky?" At the mention of her friend, the man's face changed. His eyes were suddenly filled with some great emotion, one that she could understand all too well. Sensing his human's fear, Miguel continued to bark.

A small smile turned up the corner of his mouth. It changed his whole appearance. "I guess." With a sigh, he backed away to turn on the lamp on her bedside table. "You mind getting the mutt to quit. I don't need the whole neighborhood to come finding me here just yet." Jessika had been standing there staring at him. Despite the long hair and general sullen look about him, he didn't look a day older than the photos taken of him way back when. He had fallen from a train somewhere in Europe into a canyon and been presumed dead. Even if he had survived, he should have been well into his nineties by now. "Are you just gonna stand there or what?"

Jumping, she realized that Miguel was still barking. It took her a moment, but she managed to find the door handle while still watching him. As soon as the door was opened, the dog shoved his way past her and settled himself between Jessika and the new man, growling. "Miguel, hush!" She said, placing a hand on his back. The dog looked back towards his person, the hackles on his back flattening, then looked back at the man that now sat in the rocking chair looking quite out of place.

Raising a brow, Bucky leaned forward with a hand outstretched and clicking his tongue. "C'mere, ya mutt."

"He's not a mutt." Jessika said as the dog did as he was bid and crossed the room to sniff at the new human's hand.

"Looks like a mutt to me. All dogs are mutts. Especially ones that wake up the neighborhood." He smirked, rubbing Miguel between the ears.

"We don't really have neighbors. Most of the places around here are businesses. Now, why are you here, Mr. Barnes?" When he didn't answer, she tried again. "Bucky?" He flinched.

"I need help."

"I know, you said that already. But, why are you here? If you need help, I'm sure that if Steve knew you were here-"

"He can't know."

Jessika pressed her lips together. "Why not?!" She hissed at him. "He was your best friend, he's worried about you."

"Because I don't even know who I am. Everything that I do know is a lie, and I need to find out the truth before I can be around..." He stopped. Bucky's voice seemed to become choked off.

"He told me all about you. About how you were captured and experimented on before he found you. He wants to help you."

"He can't."

"But I can?" She snarked.

"Yes." The dark man's head tilted in a rather feral way that made her back up. "My brain has been scrambled too many times to count, and I don't remember anything from before I came out of the freezer. I saw what you did. I saw how you saved him."

"That was something thing completely different that what you're talking about. What I did to Steve was completely physical, and I very nearly killed myself doing it. I can't help you."

"Yes, you can." Jessika took another step back when he stood up from the chair. "There was someone that they used, whenever they would wipe me, I remember that much. He was like you."

"That's impossible! Even I know that Enhanced people never-"

"Have the same powers." He finished. "This was different. The guy was a healer. He used to dig around inside my head and put things back in place. You get inside people's heads just as much, you said so yourself."

"How could you possibly-" she stopped short. "You've been watching me for over a week?"

"Pierce wanted me to go after you before everything went to shit. Told me to keep an eye on you in case the target came here. He never did. At least, not until afterwards. I've been watching you and this place for closer to a month."

At this, she gulped. "You could have killed me at any time. Why didn't you?" Bucky looked at her, a lost expression in his eyes.

"I was ordered not to. Unless you got in the way. So, are you going to help me or not?"

With a hugging laugh, Jessika rubbed her hand over her face. "What exactly do you expect me to do? If you've been watching me, then you would know that I don't know jack shit about my powers."

"Your file said that you studied to be a geriatric nurse, specifically for those with Alzheimer's."

Taken aback, she said, "Yeah, and? I only studied for a couple of years. I never finished."

"But you know enough. I need to remember. I need to know who I am, and what I did all these years that I've lost." He watched her, taking in every little movement. "I know him, but I don't remember. It's there," Bucky tapped the side of his head, "I just can't get to it. Look, I don't care if you tell me to fuck off. Just give me some tips to get me started and I'll be outta here."

Miguel had stopped trying to nose his way under the assassin's hand, and was sitting between the two of them, looking back and forth.

"I'm not going to turn you away. Steve told me about all of the things you've done over the last seventy years, and they were horrible. But I also know that you've been completely brainwashed to the point that you had absolutely no way to fight back. I will help you, as much as I can." Bucky's mouth started to turn up, until she held up a finger to halt his thanks. "I will help you, but I will not lie to Steve. I'm going to tell him that you were here, that I'm helping you. Keep in mind that the only reason I'm doing this is for Steve, not you. He trusts you, so I have to trust him."

"I didn't expect any different. Just know that I won't come around if he's here. So, when do we start?"

With a resigned sigh, she opened the bedroom door to go gather up some of her old books. "You might as well come in here. No point in sitting in my room all night." To herself, she whispered, "Not like I'm gonna get any sleep tonight anyway."

"I'm not staying very long. I just need some information to start."

"Miss Wardell, I was not aware that there was someone else in the apartment. Should I alert someone to Sergeant Barnes's presence?" The AI's voice from hidden speakers caused the soldier next to her to jump.

"Not just yet, Jarvis. As soon as he leaves, then call Steve and let him know."

"But, I must advise against-"

"Jarvis." She said, "No. Just beat it for a bit, ok?"

"Yes, Miss."

Shaking her head, Jessika turned back to Bucky, seeing his eyes darting around the room. "It's alright. I know it's a little weird, but Jarvis won't tell anyone you're here until I let him. Now, come here." With a tentative hand, she led him to sit on the couch. "Would you like something to drink? Maybe a sandwich?" Bucky's eyebrows furrowed, as if he didn't really know what she was asking. "Are you hungry?"

"I...I don't know..." He admitted. "I was never offered anything. They usually just handed me a bowl with some kind of gruel." His eyes got a bit distant. "I don't really remember what real food tastes like anymore."

Jessika just gawked at him. "Shit," she murmured to herself. "You might have to stay here a little longer." Four steps to the kitchen, and she was at the fridge, pulling out sandwich stuff and milk. She piled the bread with deli meat and cheese, then set it in front of him with a glass. "I don't know what you like...so I just kind of put everything on there. You can pull of anything you don't like. This should tide you over for a bit, and I can make you a real meal while you read." The woman didn't even wait for his answer, though he looked close to declining. She just grabbed a few of her books and plopped them on the table in front of him, then turned around to go back to the kitchen. "If you really did get hit with the same super soldier crap as Steve did, even a knock off version, you probably need more calories. You look like you've been depriving yourself of...well, everything. The life you've been living isn't healthy. Even if they did keep you under a sun lamp, it's not the same as the real thing. Supplementing vitamins and nutrients is just gonna make you weaker. Not to mention treating your body like a machine, if Steve's stories are anything to go by."

The whole time she babbled at the man on the sofa, she didn't look at him. Jessika kept herself busy while making the simplest meal she could think of at this late hour, but could get him the calories he probably really needed. When she turned around to grab something out of the refrigerator, his plate was completely clean and the glass empty. She gave him a kind smile and took both back to rinse them off. Bucky didn't speak again until she set a heaping plate of spaghetti and meatballs down in front of him with another glass of milk. He looked at it suspiciously.

"Why are you being so..."

"Nice? I told you earlier. You're Steve's friend. He wants you to get better, and I, for one, am going to help make that happen. Now, you eat. I'm gonna look through some of these and see if I can't find some stuff to help you." Snatching an empty notebook up, she started flitting through pages and pages worth of information, jotting down what she thought was important. Beside her, Bucky hesitantly began eating. Though, by the time she had two pages written down, he was slurping up the noodles like a 15 year old boy scarfing down his mother's dinner.

"So..." He used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth, "What did you find?"

"Well, there's some things here about techniques that you can use to help recall things. Some foods that help with memory."

"Foods?" He scoffed.

"Yes, foods. New research shows that certain types of food are really good for the brain. For example..." She flipped through her notes, "Plums! Plums are great for strengthening memory recall. Here." She handed him the notebook. "Keep this. Whenever you think you remember something, write it down. It'll help put things back in order. Also, writing it down assures that it won't slip away and be completely lost. If you don't know whether something is real or not, let me know. I can ask Steve."

"What if I'm on the other side of the world? I'm not planning on sticking around."

Her lip made it's way between her teeth, worrying the tender skin. She jumped up and snatched a sharpie from the can she kept all her writing utensils in. Reaching over him, she took the notebook back and scrawled her name and phone number inside the front cover. "There. Now you have a way to contact me. Even if you're using a burner phone or something, just text me something to let me know it's you. Send...'real or not real'. How's that?"

"What if I don't want to be found?"

"I'm not going to try to trace you. I know you need time. Steve may not, which is why I said in case you use a burner phone."

"Can't you just zap me with the same stuff you used on...Steve?" He had trouble getting the name out, not that she could blame him.

"I don't know how to do that. I don't know if I can. I've never really practiced with it before now. Tony's trying to get me to test it. Give me some time to figure it out, and I'll get back to you on that. Between what I did to Steve and the stress of the last few weeks, I'm still a little off kilter. And your brain's not exactly peachy keen, darlin'. You've got a lot of personal healing to do before you'll be up to have anyone else poking around inside your melon. You get me?"

"I gotcha." He nodded. "I just want to remember."

"I know. We'll figure this out, ok? But, you need to let Steve in on this. Even if you can't be around him, he has to know what's going on."

"You already said you're planning on telling him."

"I am. But, you need to. He needs to hear something from you telling him that you're not on a murderous rampage. Write him a note or something before you disappear into the night." It seemed he was doing just that as she cleaned up. She almost didn't hear the paper tearing out of the book. When she turned around, he was already gone, the door to her bedroom open and showing through to the window. "Jarvis?"

"Shall I explain the situation to Captain Rogers?" He asked as she walked into her room to close the window.

"No. Thank you. I think I'm safe for the time being. I'll text him. Make sure to set the alarm."

"Of course. Goodnight, Miss."

"Goodnight." It took her less than thirty seconds to compose the message for him to come over in the morning. His response was quick and cheerful.

I'm in deep shit.

)0(

A/N: Yay, finally! This chapter didn't want to be written, you guys don't even know. I am so glad I finally got it done for you, lovely readers. I think it came out alright. I wrote this stupid thing over the course of nearly a month and a half, and it finally came out.

So, here ya go, dearies. Enjoy, read, and review.

AcaciaDawn105