"You growled this morning when you woke up."

Fairy looked at the man from under her baseball cap, surprised. They had both been in relative silence since they left the house an hour ago. They walked the streets of the city having left their car a few blocks over. Both blended in well amongst the people, the only real thing that set them apart was Fairy's scars on her face. "I did?"

A nod answered her "I thought Cheza had taken over again."

Fairy lowered her head a little uncomfortably. "I don't know if she will again or not… We've never had the collar off before. I really don't know how all of this will work." She told him and she really didn't know. This was new for her. Sure, Cheza was able to take control with the collar on and most of the time she did but she was unsure of just how much her other side was going to affect her now that they were free. "Didn't mean to frighten you."

The super soldier nodded again, silence taking over the two as they entered a small store and starting reacquiring supplies. Bucky kept close to Fairy as the two went down each aisle, he held onto the basket as they picked things off of the shelves. It wasn't going to be a lot but they needed to stock up on food and medical supplies. Fairy looked at the snacks lining the shelves in the aisle they currently were in. There were a lot of gummies that Fairy didn't recognize but looked good all the same, she wasn't really sure why she was drawn to them. Maybe she liked them before she was taken?

Bucky was down the aisle a little ways from her looking at protein bars and jerky. He would look up every now and again to her to make sure she was still within eye sight. He didn't want any HYDRA agents to attack them and least of all didn't want Cheza to suddenly appear.

"Were you in an accident?" a small voice to her left asked.

Fairy looked down to find a little boy standing next to her staring wide eyed up at her. He had short brown hair and dark brown eyes. The corner of her mouth lifted slightly "Yea."

"That must have been really bad." He said.

"It was." She was getting a little uncomfortable but he didn't seem like he meant any harm, just a curious kid who saw someone different.

"Can you give me the Gushers there?" He asked pointed to the candy, it was a little high for him to reach. Fairy smiled a bit more and grabbed the box handing it to him. He happily eyed it with a big grin on his face "Thank you miss!"

"You're wel-" Fairy was cut off by a woman pushing her cart passed the aisle and standing still.

"Julian!" She called out a little annoyed. The little boy immediately ran off to her with his candy in his hand, happily explaining to her that this is what he wanted from the store, Fairy didn't hear a word of it.

Julian.

That name made her stand rigidly in place. Her mind taking her back.

"Short stack! It's almost time to go!" Fairy called from her room, grabbing her bag for school. She was in dark bellbottom jeans and a colorful sweat shirt. Her hair hung just passed her shoulder, a colorful thick headband held her bangs out of her face. She ran to the kitchen to find her mother finishing up both her and her brother's lunches for school.

Her mother was a relatively short woman with chocolate brown hair and bright blue eyes. She smiled as her daughter walked into the room, school bag flung over her shoulder and notebooks in her arms ready to go. "Is Julian still up there?" She asked.

"Yea. He's being a pain in the butt." She said grabbing her lunch. She turned to see her brother walking into the kitchen, hair slightly disheveled suggesting he finally woke up not too long ago and couldn't tame his wild locks. He had the same blue eyes and chocolate brown hair as his mother did. Fairy took after their father, mirroring his black hair and green eyes.

"You're the pain in the butt Fairy Floss!" He said grumpily. He grabbed his lunch bag, he only ever called her Fairy Floss to tease her or when he was annoyed.

"Not my fault you didn't want to wake up, brat."

He pouted slightly before the two headed to the front door, their mother in tow. They wished their mother goodbye and said that they loved her. Both headed down the street towards their schools. Fairy was in high school which was right across the street from her brother's elementary school. The two walked in silence for a bit.

Fairy looked to her brother. It wasn't like him to be so quiet. "You ok, little guy?" She asked softly. She watched as her brother fidgeted a little. He seemed a little unsure of something. "What's wrong short stack? You got a girlfriend or something?" She asked a little teasingly.

Her brother blushed a little and shook his head furiously. "No!" He went on the defensive. He looked away from her, fidgeting with the straps of his school bag.

"Then what's wrong brat? You're being too quiet."

"I…" her brother began, breathing out a deep sigh as they walked. "Joey Thompson and Gregory Jamison keep picking on me during lunch time." He seemed embarrassed by telling her that. He looked up to his big sister, she was always so adventurous and stood up to anyone who tried to mess with her. He also knew she could heal like nothing had ever happened to her, he found it pretty cool. He wouldn't admit that to her though.

"Oh? You want me to kick their butts?" She asked starting to go into big sister mode. She didn't like hearing her brother was being picked on and if he wanted her to she'd happily go to detention for kicking someone's butt for him.

Julian shook his head no. "I just… I just don't like going to school when I know they'll pick on me. They're pretty mean." He said softly.

When they reached their schools, which was just two blocks away from their home, Fairy stopped him in front of his. "Jules, look at me." She said to him, his bright blue eyes turned to her. "You need to stand up to them. Even if they beat you, even if you get in trouble. If you don't they'll keep bothering you." She said softly. She put a hand on his shoulder. Julian smiled looking up at his sister. "Just kick them in the balls, that'll teach 'em"

This made the two of them laugh as they parted ways to their school.

Bucky saw her go rigid and feared the worst. He was in front of her in an instant looking into her eyes, they were still green but she wasn't focused on anything. She was stuck in a trance. His worry and anxiety were starting to rise. "Fairy, look at me." He said putting his hand on her cheek, she wasn't moving though. "Farren, look at me please." He tried again bending slightly to get her eyes to focus on him. At the word please, her eyes looked up to him, sadness creeping into the bright orbs. "You with me doll?" He asked hoping that the little kid hadn't said something to upset her, or worse, he was some kid HYDRA recruited. Bucky would have seen it all if that were the case.

"Julian… I… I remember." She said, her voice cracking slightly.

"Remember what, sweetheart?" Bucky had put the basket on the floor between them and held her head with both hands now, the smooth leather of his gloved thumbs gently rubbing her cheeks. "Tell me what you remember Fairy."

"Julian was my brother…. I had a brother." She said softly, her eyes shinning but the tears didn't fall from them, she was trying her best to keep herself together.

A small smile spread across his face looking down at her "That's good Fairy, that's good." He said quietly, he was trying his best to soothe her. "Remembering is good."

"I want to leave now Bucky." She whispered to him. "I don't want to be here anymore."

Bucky nodded, he let go of her face and picked up the basket with his covered metal hand, his other reaching out and taking Fairy by the hand. He walked with her to the cashier and quickly paid for their items before leaving. Bucky never took his hand from Fairy though, his fingers interlaced with hers. She was still lost in thought as they walked back to their car.

When they reached it, Fairy sat in the passenger seat looking sadly towards her lap. Bucky put their items in the back seat and began to drive away from the city back towards the house they were occupying. Bucky kept looking over to her while they drove to see her still lost in thought, her hands clenched in her lap. When they reached the house, Bucky cut the engine but didn't move to get out of the car. He could see anger now replaced the sadness Fairy had been feeling.

"Talk to me doll."

"…HYDRA killed them Bucky." Fairy said. "They killed my family and I can't even remember them." Fairy said softly.

"But you remembered something." Bucky countered.

Fairy looked at him then, anger and hurt in her eyes. "How do you do it Bucky? How do you keep surviving knowing what they've done to you?" Her voice cracked then and she turned her head away. Her jaw clenching trying her best to keep the tears away, it wasn't working.

Bucky unbuckled himself, got out of the car and walked to the passenger side. He opened the door and knelt down in front of her. She remained buckled, her shoulders slightly shaking from her crying. Bucky took his gloves off and reached his hand up to her chin where he gently turned her face towards him. A soft smile on his face that showed sympathy. "You take one day at a time. If you can, you find something to focus on and work towards that." He gently swiped her tears away with his thumb.

"… What do you focus on Bucky?"

You. "Surviving. Hopefully finding peace away from what I've done and what's been done to me." He said retracting what he really wanted to say, though there was some truth to his words.

Fairy smiled at him, her hand coming up to wipe away her tears. She unbuckled herself and snaked her arms around Bucky's neck, pulling him in for a hug. "Thanks Bucky. Needed that." She mumbled.

Bucky wrapped his arms around her body holding her in a gentle but firm hug. "Any time, doll."

The agent had been following them in the city. They both were smart and hard to keep track of, weaving in and out of the crowds of people. He kept his distance as best as he could, only getting close when it was absolutely necessary but even then he would make sure there was someone between them at all times.

He only needed to observe them at the moment and while he was confident in his abilities to defend himself he was not looking to engage them in anyway; self-preservation was king right now. He followed into the store when they entered and found himself looking at chips which was in the same aisle as the two, a basket was in his hand to make himself blend in as much as possible. He looked as though he was deciding on which kind he wanted, the soldier stood a few feet away from him while the beast was down the aisle looking at some candy. He kept his eyes to himself until he noticed the soldier move quickly in front of the now rigid girl. He only looked at the two from out of the corner of his eye.

What was this? The soldier was comforting the beast? He was speaking soft words to her? Calling her affection names like they were lovers?

The agent's curiosity nearly got the better of him, he almost turned to gawk at the two. Instead, he turned away and walked down another aisle. He kept his eye on them as they left the store, then followed along. He eyed them as they walked hand in hand, he took the burner phone out and snapped a few pictures before getting into his own vehicle and following the two. He kept a safe distance away from them. The agent went back to his spot a few yards away and took out a camera with a zoom lens. He took picture of the two embracing each other. The agent quickly sent off the images he captured to the number in his phone.

The response was quick.

"Return to headquarters."

AN:

The next chapter!

Sam: To answer your questions in as much mystery as possible because I'm a mean author; You'll see. MWAHAHA!

LoveFiction, Char, and Guest: Thanks for the reviews! ( LoveFiction: Don't worry it'll happen).

Hope you enjoyed!

~Twisted.