Savage

by awalkerlifeforme

She was everything people feared. She wanted to defend the world but also wanted revenge on those who wrecked hers. The ones who forced her to leave Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. Now she's back and while Steve attempts to get back the woman he's always considered his sister, Bucky hopes to thaw the ice that has formed around her heart. A heart that he had always believed was his.

35. Chapter 34

There was no light in the room yet. The sun hadn't quite risen over the peak of the horizon but I knew that it would be time to get up soon enough. It meant that I had to get up and start getting ready. We would be making the plans for the Grecian Hydra Base attack soon enough. That was what we really needed to do. Destroy the Hydra Uber Tank before they got it into mass production and got it out into the Allies. So on with the day that it went. I lifted my head just slightly off of Bucky's arm - waking him up in the process.

For a moment I felt a little badly for it. But I knew that it was the right thing to do. He had work to do as well. He opened his hazy eyes and smiled down at me, looking almost drunk. His arm wound down over my waist and tightened slightly as I smiled up at him. His fingers pressed gently underneath my chin to pull me into a kiss. We were still wrapped together when a little streak of panic shot through my chest. We weren't alone. Someone else had somehow managed to enter the room.

Stryker... Had he somehow managed to find me? That was where my thoughts immediately went to. Because I knew from the thoughts and signature of the third person in the room that they weren't somewhere from the base. In that second that I thought about what to do, I realized that it was another mutant. Not Stryker. But it wasn't Logan either. This was someone completely new. And it wasn't someone that I would dare let hurt Bucky. So I shoved him back off of me and went into action.

It looked like Bucky was about to say something, but I pressed down against his chest - likely hurting him - before vaulting over his body. He looked like he was about to ask what was happening, but I found our intruder first. I wrapped a hand around their throat and shoved them back into the wall, ignoring their pained grunt. Bucky instantly jumped up from the bed and turned on the light, realizing that something was wrong. It was a man that appeared to be our age; cropped brown hair and light blue eyes.

For just a brief moment I was glad that I was wearing a black slip and silk robe; not just my underwear. "Should I get someone?" Bucky asked, breathing heavily, likely wanting to be the one to threaten the man, not having me standing so close to him.

"No," I answered quickly.

Until I was sure what was happening and who the mutant was, I was using power negation on the man. Despite the fact that he was relatively strong, he was completely unable to fight me. And I realized something else as I held onto him. This was not his true form. The man that I was holding onto was a shape-shifter. This was just the form that he had used to get here. Very slowly and cautiously, I released the man. I saw that Bucky was giving me a concerned look, grabbing the gun that he left sitting on the bedside table.

"Show me who you really are," I ordered.

Even if it hadn't been an order that I had forced into the man's mind, I knew that he would have done it anyways. I could sense it radiating off of them. A desperation for me to see who they really were. The man sent a quick look at Bucky, who didn't have the gun aimed at him, but did have it in his hands. The man finally nodded and I took a step back, keeping myself in between him and Bucky. Just in case. The man took a few steps off to the side and I watched carefully as his skin raised in bumpy patterns - traveling up and down the length of his body.

As I watched in fascination - having never really met a shape-shifter before - Bucky watched in horror. I knew that he still wasn't used to seeing mutants. He likely never really would be. The man immediately started taking the form of someone completely different. He shrunk to someone just about a foot shorter than me. A child. It was, indeed, a mutant. The man ended up being just a little girl, maybe eight or nine. She had roughly patterned blue skin, deep red hair that was slicked back over her head, reaching her shoulder blades, and brilliant yellow eyes, similar to my own.

"Why are you here?" I asked, trying not to sound too harsh.

She was just a child. I wasn't going to attack her. I instantly motioned Bucky to put the gun down. I could see the girl's cautious stance. "I - I saw your article. In the papers. So I came here. I wanted to find you," the girl stuttered.

"You wanted to find another mutant," I reasoned.

Of course... She likely thought that she was alone in this world. "A what?" the girl asked.

Her voice was soft and wavered slightly. She was nervous. "Mutant. That's what we're called. You and me," I explained, trying to smile at her.

"Mutant..." she repeated.

Very slowly, I moved towards her. I could see the protection in her stance, but I knew that I was the only one who could get close to her right now. "Yes. We're not the only ones. There are lots of other ones," I said.

"Is he one?" the girl asked, pointing at Bucky.

"No. No. This is my fiancé. Bucky Barnes," I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him over.

To Bucky's credit, he didn't look panicked to see her. Bucky simply walked over and smiled sweetly at her. "Hello," Bucky said happily.

Bucky reached out and gave her his hand. The girl looked back at me and I smiled, nodding my head. She eventually allowed him to shake her hand. But she barely touched him before pulling her arm back. She was clearly too afraid to touch him for too long. So I nodded for Bucky to take a few steps back from her. Eventually I moved up to her. She seemed a little more open to having me shake her hand. Her skin was rough and her nails were long, but at least she managed to give me a tight grip before nervously taking her hand back.

"My name is Victoria. Victoria Davies," I introduced myself.

The girl nodded. "Raven. Raven Darkholme," she said.

Raven Darkholme... That was an interesting name. I liked it. It already sounded mutant enough. "Are you hurt?" I asked, checking over her body.

She had no visible wounds, but I couldn't be sure. "No," Raven whispered.

"Do you have a home?" I asked carefully.

If she was anything like me, home wasn't something fun to think about. "No," Raven said quickly.

We were cut from the same cloth, it seemed. "What about your parents?" I asked, very carefully this time.

"No," Raven answered shortly.

We could have been the same person. It was clear enough what had happened to her. The same thing that happened to so many of us. "Alright. Come with us, Raven. Are you hungry?" I asked, knowing that I had to do something for her.

"Yes," Raven said, almost gratefully.

For a moment she smiled at us. Bucky and I exchanged a happy grin with each other. I had figured that she was hungry. I could tell by the way that she was standing. I recognized the stance of someone who was slowly starving to death. It must have been a long time since she had gotten to have a proper meal. The poor thing. Her skin raised in the bumpy pattern again as she shifted forms again. Now she was in the form of a little girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. It must have been what she normally did. A perfect replica of a little girl.

Before we could leave the room, I stepped in front of Raven. "You don't have to do that, Raven. You are a mutant. It's not something to be ashamed of. I used to be just like you. Terrified of what everyone thought about me. My yellow eyes and white hair... They were a laughing stock. I'm not afraid for people to see me anymore. I don't want you to be either," I said, trying to convince her to be her real self.

It was horrible to be the different person. It was horrible to be the one who barely looked human. I knew how she felt. But she had it even worse than I did. To have blue skin... Her hair could have been passed off, but not that skin. My hair - although very odd - wasn't inhuman. I could pass as someone who was reasonably normal. But those eyes, I knew exactly how it felt to have eyes like that. I could understand why she wanted to not be blue, but the people here would understand. My friends, my family, would all understand.

"I don't even look human," Raven said sadly, rubbing her feet against the ground.

"Really?" I asked. Raven glanced up at me. "I see a normal little girl."

"I'm blue," Raven said grouchily.

It was the same way that I had once told both Chester and Peggy that I could light myself on fire when I had expressed my fears that Bucky wouldn't love me if he knew the truth. "Well I can light myself on fire," I countered.

"But at least you're not blue," Raven said slowly.

That was true, but I would never say that to her. She was normal to me. She was human. "You're different. I like different. All of the men here like different," I said, shooting Bucky a glare that Raven couldn't see, letting him know that he better go along with it.

"Really?" Raven asked.

Knowing that I was counting on him for this one, Bucky stepped forward and smiled at Raven. "Yes. We all love Victoria in our own ways. She's different, too. So you've got blue skin. It's kind of swell." Raven smiled and blushed in her human form. "Those eyes you've got there? I fell in love with a girl with eyes just like them," Bucky said, shooting me a look.

Instantly I smiled at him. Raven looked between the two of us, smiling for the first time since I had met her. "Do you... Do you think that someone could ever love me?" Raven asked Bucky.

"I do," Bucky said immediately.

For just a moment I saw a real kid. Someone cute and innocent, just the way that I had once wished that I could be. "Come on. Let's go get you something to eat," I said, placing my hand behind Raven's back.

"You have food?" Raven asked, perking up slightly.

That time both Bucky and I laughed. Our trying to cook together would have made for a good story. "We don't have any food. Neither one of us can cook," I said. Raven smiled softly. "Not a traditional woman."

Bucky walked over and wrapped an arm over my shoulder. "That's what I love about her," Bucky told Raven.

Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, I gave Bucky's hand a quick squeeze before stepping away from Bucky and pulled my robe around me, tightening it to hide everything vital. As I did so, I noticed how happy Raven was, being around the two of us. I could take a guess without having to read her mind that she had been through a very similar childhood to the one that I had been through. It made complete sense. My actions showed that I was a mutant. Raven's appearance showed that she was one. Her parents must have constantly kept her locked away.

"There's food in the mess hall. We can introduce you to everyone. They'll be down for breakfast soon," I said reassuringly.

"Okay," Raven said.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, I smiled softly at her. "Don't be nervous. They'll love you," I said.

There was no way that the men wouldn't love her. They all liked kids anyways. Raven might not have been the most traditional kid on the planet, but if they got over my appearance and oddities, they would get over hers. And I would kill them if they didn't. The three of us headed to the dining room, Bucky giving me a sweatshirt to place over my torso. We kept Raven placed in between the two of us, my arm looped over her shoulders. I smiled as we walked in. The men were all already there. Peggy, Howard, Chester, and even Steve were there too.

At least we would all be able to get this over with quickly. Steve glanced back at us and snorted at Bucky and my own appearance. He hadn't noticed Raven - who was now hiding behind us slightly. The rest of the men looked back and started to laugh. I was sure that we looked rather silly. We were both in our pajamas, I was draped in Bucky's clothing, my hair was a mess, and we were both barefoot. Chester sent me a nice scowl as the rest of the men started to make jokes and Howard and Peggy exchanged playful remarks about us.

"So hungry that you couldn't even remember to get changed?" Steve asked teasingly.

"Be quiet," I snapped, instantly silencing the large group. "We have someone for you to meet. Everyone. Come here, please." They all stood from the table to see what was happening. I stepped off to the side and pushed Raven forward. "This is Raven. Raven Darkholme. She'll be staying with us for a little while. We met her this morning."

Peggy was the first one to recover from the shock of seeing the new addition. "Hello, sweetheart," she chirped, walking over to us.

Chester followed a moment later. "Let's get you some food. Agent Carter?" he asked.

"Of course. Come with me. We'll get you something to eat," Peggy told Raven.

Before she could walk off with her, Raven turned back to me, as if asking if Peggy would hurt her. "You can go with her. Trust me. She's good," I said, hoping that she would believe me.

Peggy smiled and gently placed a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Come on, darling. My name is Peggy," she introduced herself.

Raven seemed a tiny bit hesitant at first, but she eventually managed to take my advice, believing that it was okay to trust Peggy. Peggy looped an arm around Raven's shoulders and walked off with her. For a moment we all watched the two of them leave. It looked like Peggy was trying to get her to chat as they headed into the food line. Knowing that there was now damage control to be done, I turned back to Chester with a small smile. The men were all giving me sidelong stares, wondering what the hell had just happened.

"Who the hell is that?" Chester finally managed to ask.

"She's a mutant." The men raised their brows. Of course, because right now they couldn't actually see her mutation. "Remember that documentary that they put out about me? The one that revealed that I was a mutant, and everything about us?" I asked.

"I remember it," Chester said slowly.

It hadn't gone over well. People still thought that it was science fiction creation. But those of us who knew mutants... we knew that it was real. "She saw it," I reasoned with Chester, who was still scowling at me.

Obviously he didn't believe that it was a good enough reason to have her here. So I tried another tactic. I turned back towards the kitchen and let myself into Raven's mind. Being a child, it was extremely easy. It turned out that our early lives had been almost identical. As a little child, her mutation was so abnormal to others that she feared going to school. Unlike me, she had been the one to avoid it. Her parents, also fearful of her mutation, had at one point tried to kill her. Just like mine did. Eventually, after years of abuse, Raven ran away. The only difference was that she hadn't killed them.

Then I turned back to Chester, having finally realized who Raven was. "Her parents tried to kill her, Chester. Sound familiar?" I asked shortly.

The rest of the men cringed slightly. "She came here to meet you?" Howard asked.

That was only a part of the reason. I assumed that she was mostly just very lonely, not that I could blame her. "To find someone just like her. And she found me. I'm going to take care of her," I said determinedly.

"We'll help," Bucky stepped in, knowing just what this meant to me. "She's a sweet kid."

It was my job to protect mutants. That was what my documentary had been about. I wanted mutants to know that they had a safe place to be with when it came to me. They had a place where they could learn about themselves and make some friends until they were ready to have a real home. It was just too bad that they hadn't believed that the film was real. But it didn't matter. Those who came to me would find protection. Because I could never let someone - especially not a kid - be treated the same way that I was.

"She looks terrified," Jacques said, looking back at Raven.

Just the way that I had been at her age... "She is terrified. She didn't tell me much of what happened to her, but I can tell. She just needs some help. I want to help her," I said irritably.

They were going to help me help her. It wasn't a choice. "We're not an orphanage. We're in the middle of a war," Chester said, not entirely unkindly.

Taking a calming breath, I nodded at him. He was right. But she needed help, just for a little while. "I know that. I don't want to run an orphanage out here. I just want to keep her here until I can find someplace better for her to go. She goes out there and someone finds out who she really is, she'll be killed. The world still doesn't like people like us," I said.

"How would they find out?" James asked.

"You can tell that she's a mutant," I said.

As long as she wasn't trying to hide out in her secondary form. "What's her mutation? She looks normal to me," Dum Dum said.

"Do I not look normal?" I hissed, before thinking better of it.

"I - I -" he stuttered nervously.

Immediately I held up a hand to stop him. "Sorry about that. I know that I look a little strange," I commented, realizing that I shouldn't have snapped at him so suddenly. "She's a shape-shifter. She can take on the form of another person, anyone else."

"Can't you do that?" Gabe asked.

"No. What I can do is force you to see an illusion of myself where I've altered details. Nothing about my actual being changes. She can actually shift her appearance without altering their minds," I explained. "Like most mutants, she'll live longer than average. Maybe two to three hundred or so. Regenerative healing - not nearly as advanced as mine - and superhuman strength."

"Is she trained?" Steve asked.

It seemed to me that she had just recently realized that she knew how to use her powers. "No. She's managed to learn to control her mutations but there doesn't seem to be any formal training," I explained.

"What do we do with her?" Bucky asked carefully.

It felt like we were talking about a stray animal. Which, in a way, I supposed that we were. She was a stray in her own right. "Honestly, I'm not really sure. We keep her here for a while? Can we do that?" I asked Chester.

Chester glared at me for a moment as I gave a small smile. Finally he sighed. "We'll find a place for her," Chester conceded.

I knew that he would bend to my will after a while. "She can stay in Peggy and I's room for a few nights until we can find a better place for her. We'll all take care of her," I said, ignoring Chester's scathing glare.

Everyone knew that I slept in Bucky's room, but no one commented on it. Probably because everyone knew that we weren't doing anything right now. "Can we really make this work?" Steve asked slowly.

"Yes, it will." The room remained silent. "Right?" I asked sharply, when no one spoke.

"Right," Bucky said quickly, sensing the danger in my tone.

"Right," Steve added.

"Right," Howard said, coughing awkwardly as I sent a glare to him.

"Thank you, boys," I said sweetly.

They all knew that I would have killed them if they hadn't agreed. But they were good men. They would be perfectly willing to help a little girl who was homeless and in trouble. We all turned as Peggy finally returned with Raven. Instantly I had to cover up my mouth as a bark of laughter escaped my mouth. Her plate was piled high with food. It was more food than the boys ever ate. It was the same amount of food that I had eaten when I had first escaped from Stryker's lab. Honestly, the two of us could have been twins if I was about a decade younger.

Spotting her plate piled high with food, the boys started to laugh, too. Raven looked a little uncomfortable so I was very glad when the men stopped laughing and merely gave her friendly smiles before looking away. They knew that she was nervous. They merely watched quietly as Raven seated herself next to me and gave Peggy a pleading look. Peggy plopped down on her other side and Bucky moved over to allow the girl a place to sit. I sent him a grateful smile for not making a fuss over the new eating arrangement.

As I ate breakfast, stealing my food from Howard's plate, I noticed that Raven was sitting very close to me. Howard tried swatting my hand away more than once, but one zap to his wrist and he stopped fighting me. Raven was the first to laugh at my movement. Everyone else started laughing a moment later. We ended up sitting through a mostly quiet breakfast. The boys spent breakfast chatting back and forth softly, watching their mouths and trying to slowly integrate Raven into the conversation. Their voices were much lower than they normally were.

But I noticed that Raven still looked a little uncomfortable at the conversations around the table. Maybe I should have tried with just her. "Raven?" I called, silencing the other conversations. "Do you want to come out with me for a little while?"

"Where?" Raven asked.

"Is there anything that you need? Some clothes, food, or maybe just a day out on the town?" I asked her.

There had to be something she needed. When I had come to Chester, I hadn't had anything. Only the one coat on my back. "N - No," Raven stuttered, her eyes darting back and forth between the others at the table.

Obviously she wasn't comfortable talking about anything that she needed. She was just grateful to be here. "You'll be safe with us, Raven. I promise. We can go out there together." Raven looked just the slightest bit excited at the thought of going out. "When's the last time that you just went outside to enjoy the outdoors?" I asked slowly.

"Never," Raven answered immediately.

Just like me, she had been hidden from the world and treated like a monster. "There are some pretty cool sights around London. And there's an ice cream parlor about two blocks away. We can take you," Dum Dum offered nicely.

Raven smiled and looked back at me. "Will you take me?" she asked.

An ice cream and time with a new mutant. It worked for me. "Of course. We can all go," I said, motioning around the table. Just a moment later I spotted the hesitant look on Raven's face. She didn't trust the others just yet. Only me. "Or... just the two of us can go." Raven now looked much more comfortable. "Can you boys handle everything?"

The men exchanged irritable glances with each other again. I knew that they were upset with me for babying them. "You know, we're not as useless as you think that we are," Steve snapped. "We've got it, Vic. You two enjoy yourselves."

"Thanks. Are you ready to go, Raven?" I asked.

"Okay," Raven said.

"Come on," I said, grabbing Raven's arm and pulling her up. "Just wait over there, okay?"

"Okay," Raven said, walking to the far corner of the dining hall.

She was standing just about thirty feet away from us when I turned to the rest of the men. "We'll be back in a little while. You sure that you guys can handle everything?" I asked.

"We'll be fine, Vika. We can handle everything. Go have fun," Bucky said, standing up and putting a hand on my arm.

"You're sure?" I asked.

"Go before I make you go," Bucky teased.

Doesn't work like that, darling. "You're not the one that can make me do anything," I snapped.

If either one of us could convince the other to do something, it was me who could convince Bucky to do something. Bucky laughed and gently nudged me a little away from the table. "Okay, fine. Go... or come back to our room with me," he said, dropping his voice.

Which was a good thing, because Chester would have definitely killed him for it, and the men would have never let it go. "Damn you," I whined, wishing for a moment that I could go back and spend some time with Bucky in private.

"Have fun," Bucky teased.

Just before I walked off, something occurred to me. "Hang on... Did you say our room?" I asked playfully.

Instead of getting embarrassed like I had thought that he would, Bucky grinned. "Problem?" Bucky asked.

"No. I like the way that it sounds," I admitted.

"Me, too. I'll see you later," Bucky said.

At least at a time when we didn't have a peanut gallery watching our every move. But I had a feeling that they would always be watching our every move. For some reason, they were fascinated with the two of us. I couldn't wait for Steve and Peggy to get together so that they would leave Bucky and me alone. I leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss against Bucky's mouth, trying not to linger. But I knew that we both rolled our eyes when the men started to hoot and howl at the kiss. I could hear Chester's thoughts loud and clear in my mind.

Get off of him.

Oh, Chester...

He would always be my father, despite the fact that we hadn't known each other more than three years. But it didn't matter. We would always pick on each other. Right now was going to be my moment to pick on him. So I looked Chester in the eye and let out a psionic blast through his skull - quick and relatively gentle - so not to permanently injure him. Chester leaned over, howling in pain. As he straightened up, scowling at me, I turned back and blew a kiss at him before stalking off with a little laugh. He was definitely thinking some very rude things at me.

When I caught up with Raven, I saw that she was smiling at me. "They all love you," she commented.

"I love them too," I said.

Together the two of us started walking out of the dining hall and into the entrance hall. Before heading out, I needed to get changed. I couldn't go out in public wearing the strange menagerie of clothing that I was wearing right now. Raven followed me into Peggy's room as I started rifling through my things, considering that I hadn't moved many of my things into Bucky's room. I changed into my black long-sleeved silk shirt and a pair of white cloth pants before slipping on my black boots and nodding at Raven that I was now ready to leave.

We had just moved out into the street when Raven turned to me. "How did you meet them?" Raven asked.

"All of them?" I asked, referring to the men and Peggy.

"Yes."

"Well I met them all at different times. It's kind of a long story actually."

Raven gave me a playful look. "I have time. And I know that you do too."

She was right about that. I literally had all of the time in the world. I smiled at Raven as she smiled back at me. She would live a long time, too. Not as long as me, but definitely centuries longer than the average person. But where was I supposed to start with the entire story? It was a long one. And it all started during the unhappiest time of my life. My early childhood. I wasn't sure that I should mention that to Raven, who had clearly had a hard time with her own childhood. But I supposed that she deserved the truth.

"Okay. I guess it would probably make more sense if I told you the entire story. My entire story," I said slowly.

Was she really ready to hear everything? I had never even told someone everything. Only shown Bucky and Steve. "I thought that you told the whole story to the papers?" Raven asked.

There had been large chunks of my story cut out to the papers. All of the gruesome details and many of the names. "No... No. I only told the papers parts of the story. I didn't want them to know everything about me. It would have only made me a little freakier to the people that were always afraid of me," I said, knowing that she would understand.

"Will you tell me?" Raven asked.

"Of course. Not like you can find me very freaky."

"I'm the one with blue skin."

We both smiled as I wrapped an arm over her shoulder, pulling her into me and starting at the very beginning. "It all started the day that I was born actually..."

So I launched into the story of my life. The full one without any details barred. I knew that she wouldn't want me to leave out the gory details, so I didn't. Despite the fact that she was young, I knew that she would be able to handle it. She had seen some horrible things herself. She would know that everything that happened to me was in the past. Just the way that one day everything that had happened to her would be in the past. Raven listened with rapt attention as I started my story that would likely take up a huge chunk of our day.

Starting with that fateful day that the doctors had broken into the hospital room where I had been born, I shared everything from my life. I would have shown Raven, but people on the streets would have seen. I really didn't need them seeing my eyes turn into a galaxy. That would have alerted everyone here that I was a mutant. So many people didn't know and I kind of liked it that way. My words were harsh but they were truthful as I explained everything that had happened to me; the two of us walking through the gardens.

We were taking a long walk through them, much longer than the one that I had taken with Bucky on the day that he had proposed to me. Raven listened intently to my story, never interrupting me. She just listened. I told her all of the events from my birth and painful childhood with my parents, to the meeting between myself and Steve and Bucky, to the years that I spent with Stryker, to finding my boys again, to now being in the Army and having people know about mutants. Being truly myself for the first time in my life.

Once I was done with my story - which had ended up taking about two hours - I had allowed Raven a chance to get everything off of her chest that she needed to. Just like when I had first found out what I was, I knew that Raven would have a ton of questions about everything. She ended up asking me a lot of questions about everything that had happened to me. From Bucky and Steve to Stryker and just being a mutant. She seemed especially interested in everything that had happened between me and Bucky, from the very beginning.

"So you two really met after you broke into their house?" Raven asked.

Snorting at the now-hilarious memory, I moved Raven out of the garden and out towards the main road. "It was Bucky's apartment, actually. Yeah. I broke in the night before Christmas just looking for some food and water. Someplace to sleep for the night before moving on," I explained.

"Did you know that you loved him right then?"

Did I know that I loved Bucky? I just knew that I was happy that someone wasn't trying to kill me. "No. Not for many years. But I knew that he meant the world to me for a number of years. I just recently realized quite how much he meant to me," I said slowly.

"It's really sweet the way that they all love you and you love them."

"They're good men. All of them. I can see everyone and everything. There's no use in hiding anything from me. I can look into their minds and tell how good they all are."

Raven smiled softly at me. "It's nice. They all mean something to you."

"What's that?" I asked, confused.

They all meant the world to me. That was what really mattered. Raven smiled as we walked, scuffing her boots against the stone. "You treat Chester like your father. Steve is your best friend. Peggy is almost like your sister. The men that you work with are like your annoying little brothers. Howard is protective like an older brother," Raven explained.

"Quite observant for someone that young," I teased.

Raven smiled at me. "Weren't you the same way?"

Still am. "Yes. I was. You're very bright, Raven."

"Thank you."

She, like me, likely had heightened intelligence. She was far too smart for a normal nine-year-old. "Tell me something. Do you know what you want to do in your life?" I asked, after a brief stretch of silence.

A saddened look crossed Raven's face. "No. I've just been searching for somewhere to live. Somewhere to try and feel like I belong," she said slowly.

That was the exact thing that I had once said about myself, right when I had walked into Bucky and Steve's lives. "Well I understand that. I spent a long time looking for somewhere that I belonged. For a long time I never thought that it would happen. But I realized something eventually," I said.

"What's that?"

"Home doesn't always have to be a place. It can be... with people. People that mean the world to you."

"And they're your home."

Those ten people out there meant the world to me. They always would. "Yes. I love them all. Steve and Bucky... I can't imagine what life would be like without them. I love them so much that I am terrified to lose them. I tried to close myself off for a long time. I'm not usually afraid of anything. But I am afraid of losing them. It makes me feel weak. That's not something that I'm accustomed to," I explained slowly.

"So why do you stay with them?" Raven asked.

Because I can't ever bring myself to ever leave them. "Because... to be without them would be even worse. Trust me, I know how that feels. I take the risk," I admitted.

"What about when the day comes that...?"

Her voice died. She wouldn't have dared actually talk about their eventual death. "I won't be ready. I'll never be ready. But I'll try and dwell on the time that I got to spend with them."

In actuality, it would tear me apart when they died. But I just had to appreciate the time that I would get with them. "I hope that I can find someone who means to me what they mean to you one day," Raven said softly.

"You will, Raven." I gently brushed the hair back off of her forehead as she smiled up at me. "I'm absolutely positive that one day you're going to find the person that means everything to you. It doesn't always have to be romantic either. Steve and Howard. All the rest of the men... There's never been anything between us, but I love them to death," I said, grinning brightly.

They might have all been pains in my ass, but I loved them. There was no way that I would trade any of them for the world. Although sometimes I did wish that I could make them mute. They clearly knew that I was sleeping with Bucky every night - though I assumed that they figured that we hadn't gone much further than just misplacing a few articles of clothing - but they definitely never let it go. We were now getting comments about it on a daily basis. At least they kept it to a minimum around Chester and I hoped that they would keep it down around Raven.

The young girl smiled at me as I grabbed her arm and gently tugged her with me. Now that my story was finished and I had gotten everything that she deserved to hear off of my chest, I knew that it was time to try and have a nicer night. So the two of us made our way out to the ice cream parlor. I knew that the men would be getting nothing done but, to be fair, I wasn't really getting anything done either. So I walked up to the counter, bought us the largest sundae that was on the menu, and sat down to share it with Raven by the back windows.

"Can I ask you something?" Raven said, breaking the silence.

"Of course," I said, wiping some whipped cream off of my hand.

"Have you ever told Bucky how you feel?"

What was that supposed to mean? I was reasonably certain that since Bucky had proposed to me and I had said yes, he knew exactly how I felt. "He knows how I feel," I said, for whatever reason, muttering it.

"I mean really told him. I can see it in your eyes."

"See what?"

"Love. In its purest and most precious form." My jaw almost dropped. Raven had barely known me for a few hours, but she already knew exactly the way that I felt about him. The way that I was too cowardly to admit to him. "It's the look that I wanted to see when my parents looked at me. It's the look that I hope that someone gives me one day," Raven muttered.

It was the look that I knew someone would give her one day. We all deserved it, and I could only hope that we would all get it. "You're far too intelligent for nine-years-old," I teased. Raven smiled at me. "Listen to me, Raven. You're going to get that look one day. I promise you that. Someone is going to look at you the way that Bucky looks at me. Because you're a sweet girl and you deserve it."

"Thank you." We ate our ice cream for a while longer in silence. "Promise me something?" Raven finally asked.

"Okay."

"Tell Bucky how you feel."

It was the same thing that Logan had once said to me. Maybe we mutants were all the same. "Okay."

Raven gathered a mouthful of ice cream, making me laugh. It was smeared all over her face. Clearly this was the best meal that she had had in a long time. I knew how that felt. "This is really good, by the way," Raven said, through a mouthful of chocolate sauce.

"I'm glad that you like it. How about a burger? There's a place not far from here," I said.

Raven's face brightened. "Absolutely."

"Let's go, sweetie."

So we went to the burger place. There was a reason that I had suggested it, far more than just because I liked burgers or that it was close by. It was mainly because a burger had been the first food that I had eaten after leaving Stryker and it had been one of the best meals of my life. I knew that Raven would love it. We ended up going out to eat and spending much of the day, just the two of us. Raven had eaten more that day than I had seen someone eat in a long time. I could tell that she was genuinely enjoying herself, maybe for the first time in years.

We spent a long time at the burger place and I ordered Raven enough food to last someone a week. She got an order of onion rings, fries, two large hamburgers, a soda, and even a few pieces of chicken tenders. I had never seen someone look so happy to see food. It was enough to make me laugh. I assumed that she had mostly been stealing food or scavenging from trash cans. Maybe even breaking into someone's apartment or home. It was just what I had been doing when I had run into Bucky and Steve.

After we were done eating - which had taken almost two hours - we headed back to the park. Raven mentioned to me that it had been the first time in years that she had actually been able to play. Her childhood, like mine, had never really existed. We mostly ran back and forth and hung around on the jungle gym. I could hear people thinking about how terribly they felt for me. Having been a teenage mother. I merely ignored them. Eventually I moved Raven off to show her the place where Bucky had proposed to me and told her all about how he did it. I could see how fascinated she was.

As we picked a comfortable spot in the park to have somewhat of a picnic, I leaned down and talked to the Raven about everything that she wanted to talk about. As I had expected, she wanted to mostly talk about mutation. My own experiences, what I knew about us, and how I had seen the rest of us be treated. I explained all about the mutants that I had met and how we weren't even close to being the only ones in the world. I told her all about Logan, the Weapon X Program, and the other mutants that I had learned about.

Then I explained to her what I knew about mutation. It was a good thing that Raven had an enhanced learning and processing capability. I knew that whenever I talked about mutation to Bucky, Steve, Peggy, or anyone else, they didn't really understand. They just got a dull glaze in their eyes. At least Raven understood. I explained to Raven why mutations appeared in certain people and not in others. I even decided to explain to Raven that likely one or both of her parents likely had the X-Gene, which essentially made them mutants too.

Once we were done talking about mutations, I decided that the two of us needed to head back in private. There were things that I wanted to see from Raven and things that I knew she wanted to see me do. So we headed out into one of the training rooms and spent a long time showing each other our powers. I was absolutely fascinated watching Raven transform. I did make it a point to tell her that she was quite good for someone her age. I made it a point to let her know that I wasn't nearly as good with my own powers as she was with hers when I had been her age.

Raven was also quite fascinated watching me use my powers. She, among many others, had a blast watching me use them. She asked if she could touch the flames on my hands, but I warned her that they were real and would burn her. She loved the electricity, asking me to do it for almost ten minutes. She had even laughed when I had shown her my own form of shape-shifting, turning myself into Raven in her mutant form. I made sure to tell her that I thought that it was the prettiest that I had ever looked. She clearly appreciated that.

It was well past sunset when the two of us realized that we had been gone for well over ten hours. It was the least work that I had done during the daytime in months, and I reveled in it. But Raven was just a child and it was time to get her to bed. So the two of us headed back and sat with the men for their late dinner. Raven remained mostly silent through the meal - likely nervous being back in mixed company - so I decided to take it upon myself to explain to the men what we had done all day as we ate. I noticed that Raven stayed very close to me, not daring to move away.

We ended up spending the evening sitting with each other out in the lounge. It was the first time that we had spent the night in the lounge since the first day that we had arrived at the Army base. We usually just sat in the tavern and chatted and danced. But we couldn't today, considering that Raven was a minor. We also knew that Raven wouldn't enjoy the noisy atmosphere. But it was nice tonight, letting the other get to know Raven. I made sure to keep Peggy with us, knowing that Raven trusted her a little more than the men, just because they were men.

Hours passed while we all sat and laughed. Raven took a long time to get a little more accustomed to the men, but eventually she was laughing and joining in on the jokes with the rest of them. I was extremely happy to see how easily she was fitting in. Eventually the clock started to chime that it was getting to be midnight and I knew that it was time to leave. Raven seemed to be getting tired anyways. The men all said goodnight and left as I promised Bucky that I would be back soon - leaving just Peggy, Raven, and me.

Now came the issue of finding Raven somewhere to sleep. There was only one place that I knew had an extra bed. "Do you want to stay with Peggy? There's an extra bed in her room that I used to sleep in," I said.

"Oh," Raven said, obviously bothered by the idea that I wouldn't be around. "Well -"

As much as I didn't love the offer that I was about to make, I decided to go for it anyways. One night wouldn't hurt. "I can stay with you, if you'd like? I just usually sleep in Bucky's room," I said.

Raven obviously sensed my desire to stay with Bucky. "No, no. Stay with him. I'll be alright," she chirped.

"Are you sure?" I asked her carefully.

The last thing that I wanted to do was take her in and then leave her. "Positive," Raven said confidently.

Peggy smiled and stepped up to Raven, gently placing her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "We can have a girl's night. You can go through my closet if you'd like?" Peggy offered.

That was enough to entice any girl. Peggy's clothes were beautiful. Raven smiled softly. "Sure."

"Goodnight, darling," Peggy chirped, giving me a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight. See you in the morning?" I asked Peggy, groaning.

It was all because I knew exactly what she wanted me to do tomorrow. "You're definitely not getting out of it," Peggy snapped.

As much as I was dreading the day of girly glee, there was a little part of me that was kind of happy about the upcoming shopping trip. "You know... I don't think that I want to get out of it," I admitted.

"Really?" Peggy asked, surprised.

"Really. I think for the first time since the proposal, I'm genuinely getting excited about the wedding."

"Good. It's something to be excited about."

Raven had simply been watching our exchange with a little smile. I leaned over and gave Raven a small hug that she instantly responded to. "Goodnight, Raven. I'll see you two in the morning," I said.

"Goodnight, Victoria," Raven said.

"Night, Vicky," Peggy said.

The three of us smiled at each other as I turned around and walked off. Peggy instantly pulled Raven off to the side. I knew that she was trying to keep her calm and relaxed about being separated from another mutant. I stalked off down the hallway, overhearing that Peggy was going to bring Raven to go get some chocolate before bed. That poor girl's going to be sick. At least she would have a good day with a lot of food for the first time in a long time. I quietly walked down the hallway and slipped into the room that I now shared with Bucky.

He was perched on the bed, shirt off and leaning back against the wall. "I wasn't sure if you were coming back tonight," Bucky said, looking up from the paper that he was reading.

"Raven said that she was fine just staying with Peggy. I offered to stay if she was uncomfortable," I said.

"She doesn't want to pull you away," Bucky said.

"I know."

Slowly I closed the door behind me and walked over to the bed. "It's sweet, the way that you watch over her."

"I've never really spent an extended period of time with a mutant before. At least, as a free woman." Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed Bucky cringe. "It's nice to be with her. Even for a little while."

"What do you mean?" Bucky asked.

That was the truth that I didn't want to admit to myself. We wouldn't be together forever. "I'm not sure that she's going to linger here," I admitted.

"Oh?"

"She feels intrusive. Like I used to."

"Like you used to?" Bucky repeated.

Perhaps that was one thing that I had never told him. How I really felt when I had first lived with his family. "When I first came to your apartment, when we were kids, I used to feel like I was stepping on everyone's toes. There were a number of times when I thought about leaving in the middle of the night," I admitted.

It had gone on for almost a year before I had finally relaxed and let myself settle into life with his family. "You did?" Bucky asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you?"

Because I was too afraid to leave you and Steve. "Don't ask questions you know the answer to," I said.

Bucky smiled and grabbed my hand. "I'm glad you stayed."

"Me, too."

Leaning over, I pressed a small kiss against Bucky's mouth. "Come here," Bucky whispered, breaking apart our small smooch.

"Ask nicely," I teased.

For a moment I stood up and tried to walk away. Bucky leaned out of the bed and kicked me in the butt. I laughed and stumbled slightly before turning back to him and scowling. Bucky was grinning as I walked back over to him. He was still perched on the edge of the bed. He laughed as I walked over and stood in between his legs. For a moment, Bucky leaned up to me - which was very easy considering how short I was - and ran his hands through my hair, pulling me down towards him and into what quickly became a searing kiss.

A small giggle erupted out of my mouth as he grabbed me underneath my thighs and yanked me up into his lap. We both stumbled slightly when he grabbed me and rolled me underneath him. The same way that he had done so many times before. I couldn't help but to giggle as he pressed a few kisses into my throat and hairline, trailing his lips straight up my neck and across my jawline. My legs locked together with Bucky's as he grinned against my mouth and nudged me in the side of the butt, making me laugh.

Just a moment later his hands started tugging at the bottom of the shirt that I was wearing. Just as we had done a thousand times before, I quickly lost the clothes that I was wearing. But as usual, he didn't take too many clothes off. We both remained in our underwear. One day we would get there, but today was not the day. Because of the icy air that was surrounding London, I grabbed Bucky's robe off of the floor and wrapped myself in it. Bucky pressed a small kiss against the top of my head as I curled up into his side, placing my head in his shoulder and arms on his chest.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Bucky asked quietly.

"I have a date," I teased.

"Cute."

"Always. What did you and the boys do today?"

Bucky stared at me for a moment before scowling. "You're trying to make sure that we did something productive."

"Well I could read your mind but I figured that I'd give you the chance to tell me the truth."

"I appreciate that. We trained a bit."

Judging by the waver in his voice, I assumed that his statement was mostly a lie. So I rolled my eyes and gave it a go. "Let me take a guess. You spent an hour working on training and then you went and spent the rest of the day in the tavern and only returned when you knew that I would be back," I reasoned, knowing immediately that I was right.

"I thought you weren't going to read my mind?" Bucky snapped.

"I'm not reading your mind. You're just that predictable," I teased.

Bucky scoffed and flicked me on the forehead. "Thanks, sweetheart."

We both smiled as I glanced up and looked around the barrack. It was tiny, barely larger than the bedroom that I had lived in as a child. And right now it was the only place that we could really call home. "I can't wait to get out of this stupid barrack," I groaned.

"Gotta have a place to live after this," Bucky teased.

"We have one," I said blankly.

"What?" Bucky asked.

That's right. I probably should have told him that I was getting a house built for us. "Howard is building us a house. I told him that he could. I guess... I probably should have told you about that," I said, making Bucky laugh. "It was originally just something that he was doing for me. A house in the woods that's near Stark Industries. Where I intend to work afterwards."

"That sounds nice," Bucky said.

"Really?" I asked.

"I'll live wherever you are."

"What if I wanted to live... say, at the bottom of the ocean?"

"If that's where you want."

"How did I wind up with you?"

"I'm very persistent."

We both laughed at that. I supposed that was the truth. He was persistent. As many times as I had tried to tell him that we could never work together, he had always ignored me and said that we would. At least he always had faith in us. I leaned up to Bucky and pressed my lips against his, the two of us exchanging a long kiss. I pushed myself up slightly and smiled as his arms wound tightly around me, keeping my body almost pressed against his. He eventually rolled me underneath him again, running his hands up my thighs, underneath his robe.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked, breaking the kiss.

"Sure," Bucky said, his hands stilling against my thighs.

"Do you want kids?" I spit out before I could stop myself.

That was something that had always bothered me. I thought that he wanted them. And me... I wasn't sure. "I'm fine with whatever you want, Vika," Bucky said, obviously trying to avoid the fight.

But this was something that we had to honestly talk about. "Tell me the truth. Don't think about what I want. I want to know if you want to have them," I said seriously.

Bucky's face fell. He was silent for a while. "Yes... I would like to have them," he admitted. "But -"

"I think I'd be willing to have them."

It came out before I could stop myself. But it wasn't a lie just to make him happy. It was the truth. Bucky released me, sitting straight up and looking me directly in the eye. "Really?" he asked.

"Yes. But only with you," I said seriously.

Bucky smiled, taking my hand in his and pressing a kiss against my palm. "We have time. Lots of time. We can figure it out," he whispered.

"Okay."

"Do you really want them?"

For a long time I hadn't even thought that I would ever get the chance to have kids. "I'm not sure," I said honestly. I didn't want to get his hopes up for me to change my mind. "I guess I never thought about it before. For so long I was just concerned with... being. I don't know, having a life outside of being a mutant. Kids were never really in my mind. But I know that you want them."

"It's not something that we have to talk about right now, Vika," Bucky said, pressing a hand against my cheek. "You okay?"

"What do you mean?" I asked dumbly.

"I think you're worrying about the future."

"Yeah, I think I always do."

"You don't need to worry about the future."

That wasn't what I meant. Not just the next few years. The next few decades. When time would start to take its toll... "I'm not talking about the immediate future. I'm talking about... decades into the future," I said, cringing at the thought.

Bucky stared blankly at me for a moment. "You're talking about after I die," he finally said.

"Yeah... I am."

Bucky gave me the same pained look that he had whenever we started talking about that point in the future. "Vika, I'm not gonna die. I'm not gonna die for a long time, okay?" Bucky asked. I nodded weakly, hurting at the thought of him dying, even if it was just from something as simple as old age. "We've got a lot of time before we get there. What's got you all upset?"

"Just thinking about being a wife, I guess," I admitted.

Bucky pulled me into him, letting me throw my legs up over his. "What do you mean?"

"Thinking about actually living together. Being together. The war isn't going to go on forever. The world is eventually going to move on. And then what am I going to do?" I asked. Bucky just stared at me blankly, not understanding what I meant. "I've never lived without a fight. I've never lived without constantly feeling guarded. Let's be honest, Buck. I can't live in a world without a war."

For the rest of eternity, I would always be a fighter. I couldn't live without a war. "I don't think that's true. Vika, you're never gonna just be my wife. You'll always be Savage. You'll always have a mind of your own. You're going to work with Howard at Stark Industries. That's where you put your focus when this is all over," Bucky said.

"I'm sorry that you can't have a normal life with me," I muttered.

"Stop. I don't want a normal life. I want you."

"You have me. Always."

"That's all that I want. That's all that I've ever wanted."

Bucky's hands gently tightened over my thighs. I smiled softly and let my fingers intertwine with Bucky. "I asked Howard to build a porch," I finally said, earning a funny look from Bucky.

"A porch?"

That was what I really wanted. A place to just sit and relax. I had told Howard and I knew that he would do what I wanted. And then some, more than likely, knowing Howard. "Yeah. I like the idea of having a porch. It's a place that we can sit and read. Swing on a bench that overlooks the woods. Have a cup of coffee in the morning," I said softly.

Bucky smiled, pressing a kiss into my hair. "That's a nice vision that you have. I like it," Bucky whispered.

"Want to know the full one?"

"Yeah, I do."

"It's early in the morning. The alarm went off. We got out of bed, you made coffee, and poured us both a cup, and then we go out to the porch. You sit on the swing. I drape myself over your lap - wrapped up in your sweater. We just sit and drink our coffee and laugh. Talk about everything and anything. It's peaceful. Because there were always so many people that I hated in the world. But I realized something lately. To hate someone is a terrible burden to bear. It's not worth it. I just want to find peace in life."

"Have you found it?"

There would never be total peace in my life, but I had come pretty close, right here, right now. "I have. With you. With Steve and Chester and Howard and Peggy and all of the rest of the men. That's where my peace in life is," I said.

Bucky grinned again, running his fingertips over my shoulders. "I like that vision that you're having. We're gonna end up there. When the war is over, when the house is built, that's what we're gonna do. The first day," Bucky said.

"What about unpacking?" I teased.

"You're a mutant. Can't you do it all really fast?" Bucky asked.

"One of my mutations is not speed-unpacking," I snapped.

Although it would definitely help with having me around. We would be able to unpack about three times as fast as a normal person could, considering that I was a lot stronger and faster than the average person. We both laughed as Bucky wrapped his hands around my waist and flipped me off of him, rolling me underneath again. I smiled as he pressed himself down into me and pulled me into a long kiss. Minutes passed that the two of us just stayed together. There was a peace in the air. It was the happiest that I had felt with him in a long time.

This was the first time in a while that I had really felt like there was a chance that we could both be happy for the rest of our lives. At least, that we could both be happy until Bucky was gone. We were both so happy together. I was happier with him than I had ever thought that I could be. The whole thing just felt strange. Like I was living someone else's life. But I loved it. Eventually we broke apart and Bucky laid back against the bed, letting me lay my head on his stomach. I was a little lower than him, letting him run his hands through my hair.

"You okay?" Bucky whispered.

My eyes were slowly slipping closed at the feeling of his nails running through my hair. "Perfect. That feels nice," I mumbled.

"Go to bed. I've got you," Bucky said, running the strands of hair through his fingers.

It was one of the many times that I knew that Bucky wouldn't dare go to sleep before I did. He had so often done it before. Stayed awake just to make sure that I could go to sleep. I smiled and tucked into Bucky's shoulder slightly. It didn't take me long to start to doze off from his touch. I noticed that he never went to sleep. He merely stayed awake, pressing his hands through my hair, occasionally muttering sweet words to me. It didn't take long for my chest to start to glow gently, illuminating the room as I fell asleep.

Hours had passed when I finally managed to wake up. This time it wasn't the glow of my skin that was waking me up. This time it was the sun that was starting to stream through the windows. Bucky was still asleep but he had clearly fallen asleep in the middle of stroking my hair. His fingertips were still gently lingering in my hair and my head was resting in the crook of his shoulder. As much as I would have loved to stay here and day and just lay with him, I knew that I had to leave soon. I had to check on Raven before heading out to go wedding dress shopping with Peggy to have a good time.

Despite being a little nervous to finally go wedding dress shopping - making the whole wedding suddenly get a lot more real - I was a little excited. I had never been shopping for something like that before. It could have been a lot of fun. As I tried to force myself to get out of the bed, Bucky very slowly slipped from the bed - trying not to wake me up. He didn't realize that I already was. I merely let him get up to start pacing around the room. He was pacing back and forth and looked very much half-awake. The only thing that he was wearing were his boxers.

"Morning, handsome," I teased, rolling onto my side to face him.

Bucky turned back to me with a little smile. "Handsome, am I?" Bucky asked, walking back over to the bed.

"You're very handsome. And what about me?" I asked.

"Read my mind and find out," Bucky teased.

"Or you could tell me."

"You want to know what I think about you?"

As long as it's nothing rude. "I do."

"I love you so much. I can give you a hundred reasons why," Bucky said.

I wasn't even sure that I could give Bucky a hundred reasons why I loved him. "I doubt that," I scoffed.

Bucky grinned and took the challenge. "When I'm with you, you show me who you really are. You have such a beautiful smile and that smile always makes me happy. I love the way you look at me, like I'm somewhere in between the light of your life and the most irritating person in the world. You think I'm handsome no matter what. Everything that you do melts my heart. The way that you walk, talk, smile, and laugh. Just like that. We're our own independent people, yet when we're together, we're inseparable. No matter how others see me, you make me feel special.

"You put up with my crap and all other imperfections. You treat my family right because they're your family too. We can act like the biggest idiots on the planet and make the most ridiculous faces, yet we still see each other as the cutest people on earth. The way that, even though you're the woman, you're still the protector. I can be as ridiculous as I want without worrying that you would love me less, 'cause you always tell me I'm the apple of your eye," Bucky said teasingly, waggling his eyebrows.

Snorting under my breath, I shoved him away from me. "You're a moron," I snapped, allowing him to press a hand on my hip.

"You always give me surprises. When I hear your voice in a noisy crowd of people I know that it's you and I can't believe that I'm lucky enough to be with you. You always give me your honest opinion. You would come across the sea, just because you think I'm your whole world. You keep little mementos of everything we have done. You would protect me and would do anything to stop me from getting hurt. Even when you're angry, which is scary as hell, you're still adorable. You find the beauty in everything and show me how to appreciate it. Just like with the cosmos.

"Whenever you touch me, it makes me never want to let you go. You challenge me and give me honest life lessons on how I could be a better person. The passion that you have for the Army and saving the world. The way that you check in just to make sure that I'm okay. The heat that runs under your skin all the time. That terrible sense of humor that you have. I have all the faith in the world that you're going to make an amazing wife. Despite how awful your childhood was, you're the best person that I know. Just knowing that you care about me more than anyone else.

"I love you not only because who you are but also because who I am when I am with you. You take good care of me and stay at my side all the time. You're the funniest person that I know. The way that you kiss me to get me to stop laughing at you. You're an amazing singer, even though you never let me hear you. Believe it or not, you are very patient with me. I love just getting to wrap my arms around you. You try to cook even though you can't. I love your ingenuity. You love my cooking even though I'm a pretty awful cook.

"You remember everything that's important between the two of us. Those horrible nicknames that you give me... idiot, moron, twit, and stupid. I love them. The little days when you find a nice park and we go for a walk together, just to get away from things. The way that you have a comeback for everything. The way that you love the pool. You always know what I'm thinking and what I'm going to say. When I'm upset about something, you always know what to say. You always make me feel better when times are tough. You put up with my love of baseball.

"You make me interested in books and reading. Even though you could hide anything you wanted from me, you don't. You don't pretend to be anyone that you aren't. You explain everything to me, even when you know that I don't understand what you're talking about. The way that you crinkle your nose when you laugh. Maybe not everyone loved you, but Steve and the rest of the men love you, and that's all that matters to me. When I first met you I looked into your heart. I knew you were the one. I love how your voice sounds when you whisper in my ear. Sends chills down my spine."

"Bucky!" I barked, my face burning with embarrassment.

He grinned, knowing that he had gotten to me. "You like the truth, even when you pretend that you don't. We're not very similar, you and me, but that's what makes us great. And you never try to change me. I love just being able to sleep next to you. When I dream of my life partner, the only person that I can see is you. I love listening to you interrupt me, and that's often. You deal with my planning things and only complain minimally. I love the way that you treat our friends, like they mean the world to you. You order me around, and I love it.

"You can I love you in six thousand languages and I can't understand five thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight of them." We both laughed at that. "We don't fight, mostly because I know that I'll lose. You're one hell of a dame on the outside, but you are even more beautiful on the inside. You promise that we'll spend our life doing what I want. We can spend the whole night together doing nothing but talking and hanging out and it's still an amazing time. I've seen guys try to talk to you but you never give them the time of day, because I'm the only one for you," Bucky teased.

"Cocky," I joked.

"Learned from the best. I could tell you anything, some really dark things, and you wouldn't think less of me. Despite everything that happened to you, you're nice to everyone. You always laugh at my jokes, even when they aren't funny at all. You always yell at me to take better care of myself. You're a terrible artist but you still draw little cartoons with Steve. You might look a little serious but you always dance around the room even though you're terrible at it. You actually understand baseball, even if it bores you.

"You can fix everything that goes wrong in my life. You appreciate everything I do for you and never take it for granted. You give me serenity in the midst of struggle," Bucky finished, almost surprising me with his words.

There were moments that Bucky was anything but the fool that I liked to tell him that he was. This was one of those moments. He was being surprisingly brilliant. For a long few moments I sat in silence and thought on his words. They were the sweetest things that I had ever heard him say. He had said some extraordinarily sweet things, but never anything quite like that. Not even the day that he had proposed to me. It had taken me far too long to realize that he genuinely did love me. He absolutely adored me.

It was just the way that I adored him. He was my entire world. Him and the other men and Peggy. They meant the world to me. But no one could ever mean to me what Bucky did. I just wished that I could tell him that. What I did know was that I would never truthfully deserve him. I wasn't good enough. But I would try as hard as I possibly could to deserve him for the rest of his life. Because I didn't want him to ever regret choosing to spend the rest of his life with me. But I couldn't manage to formulate those words.

Instead I managed to say, "That was only eighty."

Bucky laughed and nudged my hip, shoving me backwards. "Shut up. I'll spend the rest of my life giving you even more reasons," Bucky promised.

"You don't have to do that," I whispered.

"I want to," Bucky said.

He's too good for you. He always will be. Shifting slightly in my seat, I took a deep breath and wiped away a tear that had been forming in my eyes. "Just in case I had any doubts about the wedding," I mumbled.

"I don't want you to ever have a doubt in your mind. I love you and I'm not going anywhere. Not anytime soon," Bucky promised.

"Good. Because I want to keep you for as long as possible."

"You know how to keep me here."

It was the exact same thing that would keep me here. Just spending some time with him. I laughed under my breath as Bucky leaned down over me. But a moment later I wrapped a leg around his own and flipped him, pressing myself down into him. As time passed, Bucky continued rolling the two of us around the bed, coming close to flopping out a few times, laughing wildly. It was just the way that we were. Having fun with even the simplest of moments. Bucky's hands wound up and fingered at the sleeve of my slip, ultimately pulling me up so that I was sitting in his lap.

"What?" I asked, confused as to why I was sitting in Bucky's lap now.

"Nothing. I just like looking at you," Bucky whispered.

Laughing under my breath, I gently nudged him. "Charmer," I teased. Bucky merely grinned. "I'm serious. You are very charming. You say things to me that I never thought that I would hear."

Bucky gave me a look that was in between a scowl and a saddened stare. "I mean everything that I say to you. You never got the chance to hear these things from anyone else. Not someone else that you loved, not your friends, and not your parents. But you have me. And I'll say those things to you for as long as I can," Bucky promised, running his hands through my hair.

Say something to him, dimwit. "All those years ago when we first met, the second I looked at you I knew that there was something about you that I needed. Turns out it wasn't something about you at all. It was just you," I whispered.

Well that was much better than I expected. Bucky raised a brow, very surprised at my words. "Would you look at that? You're capable of romance after all," Bucky teased, nudging my shoulder.

"Shut up," I barked.

"You have me. All of me. Forever. I just wish that we were somewhere a little better suited for two people in love," Bucky said, motioning around the barracks.

"That's the thing. There is never a good time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single moment," I said softly.

"What was your moment?" Bucky asked curiously.

What was my moment? That moment that I had fallen for him. Not necessarily in love, but in a desperation. "That first day that you looked at me. When you saw me you didn't treat me like I was a monster. My white hair, yellow eyes, and dirty clothes meant nothing to you. You treated me like a friend when you didn't even know my name," I explained, remembering that first day.

"I knew from the second that I looked at you that I wanted to be with you. I used to tell Steve that I was gonna marry you," Bucky said.

Did he really do that? "You got your wish."

"It's the only thing that I ever really wanted."

We had both gotten the one thing that we really wanted. "I was thinking about something. Why don't we sit down soon and start talking about planning the wedding? Really planning it," I said suddenly.

Clearly I had surprised Bucky. "I'd love that. But you're sure?" Bucky asked, surprising me. "You've been kind of looking for a way out of it."

He was right. I had been looking for a way out of it. "I guess that I've been thinking about something else recently. I don't care how hard being together is, nothing is worse than being apart," I mumbled.

My words were the complete truth. Being away from Bucky was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. "Then let's do it," Bucky said, grabbing my hand tightly. "Let's plan the wedding and let's get married. Let me share the rest of my life with you. No matter what happened to you in the past. No matter what you've done. No matter what you will do in the future. I will always love you."

That time, not only my cheeks warmed from his words. Now my entire body was starting to warm. To my surprise, I started to turn a gentle red, just the way that I had done last night. That was when I realized the truth. I didn't start glowing red because I was in the mood - although that might have been a part of it. I really started glowing red when I was truly and genuinely in love. In the purest form. Just the way that Raven had said.

"So I suppose that I can't tell you that you're being corny?" I teased.

"You can but I won't believe you," Bucky said. The two of us laid together for a while before Bucky spoke again. "When are we going on our next mission?"

"Probably next week. We're going to Greece. That Hydra Uber Tank that they have - the one that Willem was telling us about on the last mission - needs to be destroyed before they complete it and put it in mass production. That'll only make our job harder," I explained.

"Do we know how we're going to do it?" Bucky asked.

"Not yet but we're going to talk with Steve and the others about how to do it."

"Okay."

A moment later I gently shifted Bucky off of me and moved to get up. Peggy would murder me if I was late. "I need to start getting ready. I'm going out soon," I said.

"Where?" Bucky asked curiously.

"None of your business," I snapped playfully.

Bucky smiled and gently flicked me on the nose. "What are you doing about Raven today?" Bucky asked after a beat.

Honestly I wanted her to come with us, but I had a feeling that she would want to be alone. That was just the way that she was used to being, just like I had once upon a time. "Peggy and I are going out for a while. Shopping and whatnot. Girl's day. I'm gonna ask Raven if she wants to come out with us. Get her off of the base for a little while," I explained as simply as possible.

"It's sweet. You treat her like a sister."

"I've never really been this close to a mutant for an extended period of time." Logan and I had honestly only spent about three hours together in total. "It's nice. And Raven... I don't know. I guess that I see something in her," I muttered.

"You see yourself," Bucky reasoned.

"Yeah. Just tell me, we're just alike, aren't we?"

We had so many similarities to each other. We could have been sisters. "Yes. You two are. I'm glad to see you with someone like you... You're my girl, my world, but there are some things that I just can't share with you. And this is one of them. I'll never be a mutant," Bucky admitted. At least he realized that this was the one thing we would never share. "I'm glad that you can be with someone exactly like you."

"So I'm your world, huh?" I teased.

"You know that," Bucky said.

He was my world, too. We both knew what we meant to the other. I smiled at Bucky as the two of us curled together up on the bed. I had to leave, but I was stuck right here for the time being. Bucky laughed under his breath as I got to my feet and grabbed my hand. He pulled me into him and dipped me backwards. Clearly I wasn't getting out of this without some harassment. I giggled as he once more pushed me back against the bed and the two of us collapsed onto it. We rolled together as Bucky began to pull off the strap of the slip that I was wearing over my undergarments.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked, breaking the kiss.

We both should have known that he was going to do that. I half wanted him to. Bucky laughed as he grabbed the strap of my slip again. "We're not getting married for almost another year. Can you wait that long?" Bucky asked teasingly.

"No," I said honestly. "Can you?"

"No," Bucky admitted.

As if that was good enough reasoning to continue right now, Bucky continued messing with my strap and I gently pushed him off of me. "Not right now... I have somewhere that I need to be," I muttered.

"No... You can stay here," Bucky whined.

"There's something important that I have to do. As much as I'd like to stay in bed with you all day."

"Going shopping?" Bucky asked blandly. I smiled guiltily at him. "You getting me a present?"

It was the one moment today that I would get to mess with him. To pay him back for the many times that he messed with me. "The present isn't what I'm buying. It's what's underneath, when you get to take it off," I whispered in his ear.

Bucky was clearly stunned. "What?" he asked dumbly, his heart thumping in his chest.

Payback. Without giving him a moment to say anything else to me, I jumped off of the bed and headed into the corner of the room, grabbing Bucky's robe and slipping it back over my shoulders. "See you later!" I called back.

"No!" Bucky cried, sitting bolt upright. "You don't get to say that and just leave!"

"I love you," I teased.

"Love you, too," Bucky mumbled.

He obviously knew that there was no way that I was going to tell him what I meant. But he would figure it out if he really thought hard enough. Although he could be a little thick about things. I tightened the knot on the robe that I was wearing before slipping out quietly into the hall and heading back to the room that Peggy and I still technically shared. Peggy was sitting on the bed, fully dressed and waiting for me. Raven was reading one of my books on mutation, but she glanced up and smiled at me as I walked into the room.

"Morning ladies," I chirped.

"Good morning," Raven said, placing her book down.

"Good evening?" Peggy asked teasingly.

"Shut up," I snapped. Peggy grinned brightly as Raven giggled under her breath. "There's someone else here." I turned to Raven and smiled at her. "Hi, Raven. How are you settling in?"

"Good. Thank you," Raven said softly.

"Do you need anything else?" I asked her.

"No," Raven said quickly.

Already I could tell that she was going to stay here. But I really wanted her to come. "I'm heading out for a little while, okay? Peggy and I are going to go shopping for my wedding dress," I said. Raven's face broke into a little smile. "Would you like to come with us?"

Raven was grinning softly but she shook her head. "You should go with your friend. I'm sure that it will be beautiful," she said.

"Thank you. I'll show it to you when I come back," I promised.

That was if I even managed to buy one. "Okay," Raven said.

Grabbing the blank check from Howard off of the dresser, I smiled back at Raven. "You can go out to the mess hall whenever you want, okay? They'll get you something to eat if nothing is set out," I said, having already instructed the mess hall workers to give Raven whatever she needed.

"Thank you," Raven said.

"You're welcome. We'll probably be back by lunchtime," I told her.

"Have fun," Raven said.

"Feel free to use anything you want while we're gone," Peggy told Raven.

Despite the fact that Peggy was already prepared to leave, I wasn't. I brushed my teeth, gathered a pair of regular clothes, and slipped a pair of boots on my feet before nodding to Peggy that I was ready to leave. The two of us slipped out of the room quietly and quickly. We didn't want the boys to know what we were doing right now. They were terrible at keeping secrets from each other. Obviously Bucky would know that I was getting my wedding dress eventually, but I didn't want him to know that it was today.

"Raven really didn't want to come?" Peggy asked as we walked out of the base.

"No. She feels like she's being intrusive," I said.

Peggy shook her head, a look of sorrow replacing her previously excited one. "That's such a sad story that she's got. She was telling me a little bit about her family, before she left them," Peggy said.

So she had opened up to Peggy while I had been with Bucky. I was glad to hear that. Raven needed to talk about it. "She's mentioned them to me before, too. It's a story that most of us go through. The mutants, I mean," I explained, seeing Peggy's confused face. "Having parents try to kill you because they fear and don't understand you."

"That's what your parents did, right?"

"Yes."

"She must remind you a lot of yourself."

"She does."

Raven reminded me exactly of myself. "You're looking happier these days," Peggy said after a beat.

Was I happier these days? Yes. Definitely happier than I had been in a long time. "You know, I think I am. For the first time since the proposal, I'm really getting happy about the wedding. Excited, I guess, would be a better word. I've always been happy about the engagement," I explained.

"I'm really happy to hear that, Vicky. You should be happy. You've got someone to spend your life with," Peggy said.

"Part of it," I muttered sadly.

"He'll stay with you. Even after he's gone. His memory will always stay with you."

"I just keep trying to remind myself that his death is a long way away."

"Exactly. It's a long way away. You don't have to think about it for a long time."

She was right about that. Everyone was right about that. Bucky wouldn't die for decades. I just had to keep reminding myself of that. We stayed in silence for a while as we walked through the cobblestone streets. "Do you know where we're going?" I asked suddenly.

Peggy nodded, motioning up the street. "Yes. It's the same store where I bought my own wedding dress," Peggy said.

My heart dropped into my stomach. I had almost forgotten that, once upon a time, Peggy had bought her own dress. Was she okay with doing this for me? "What ever happened to yours?" I asked carefully, unsure of how she felt about it.

"I donated it. It felt too strange to keep it with me and it would have been a complete waste of money to just get rid of it," Peggy explained.

"I'm trusting you to tell me what looks good on me, since apparently I have no sense of style," I growled.

"I never said that you had no sense of style," Peggy said, affronted.

"I was referring to Howard," I said.

He was always telling me that my sense of style was absolutely terrible. Not that I really had one. I just wore clothes to make sure that I wasn't naked. We both laughed as we entered the wedding dress store. Instantly my knees locked when I walked into the store. There were rows upon rows of wedding dresses. Lace and satin and silk and tulle and so many other styles that I couldn't even begin to name. There must have been thousands of dresses in here. How would I ever look through them all and find one that I liked? What if they all ended up looking exactly the same?

"That's... a lot of white," I mumbled.

"Wedding dresses tend to be white," Peggy said.

Turning to her, I let a little glare settle on my face. I knew that wedding dresses tended to be white. "It seems so pure," I said.

"That's the point."

"We both know that I'm one of the least pure people that you'll ever meet."

With all of the things that I did... I was definitely not pure. Murder, torture, and my somewhat non-innocent nights with Bucky. "I don't think that's the purity that they mean," Peggy teased. We both laughed as I rolled my eyes at her. "Wait a minute. You two haven't -?"

"No!" I barked, knowing what Peggy was getting at.

We could manage to wait a little while longer... I thought so, at least. "Well I don't know! You spend your nights in there," Peggy said.

"I have some self-control, you know."

"Ladies," a woman's voice called. "How can I help you today?"

Peggy and I both turned back to see who had come in. It was clearly a woman who owned the shop. Or an employee, at least. She was smiling at the two of us, her eyes darting back and forth between us. The woman seemed to be in her early thirties and very clearly British, from her accent. She was probably four or five inches taller than me, slim, and wearing a plain black dress. Her eyes were a piercing blue and her hair was just like Peggy's, done up in the same victory curls. She looked more like a bride than I did.

Her eyes were mostly lingering on Peggy. She must have thought that she was the bride. Which would have made a little more sense. "We're looking for a wedding dress," I said dumbly.

The woman's lips turned up in a smile as she laughed softly. "Yes, I assumed that much. My name is Clarissa. I'll be assisting the two of you today," Clarissa said. We both shook her outstretched hand. "Who's the bride?"

"I am," I said.

To my surprise, Clarissa didn't look bothered by the fact that I was the bride. She looked surprised, but still happy. "Wonderful. Congratulations!" Clarissa cried happily.

"Thank you," I said.

"How long have you been engaged?" Clarissa asked.

"Not long. A little over a month." Clarissa smiled brightly at me. "This is my best friend," I said, pulling Peggy forward.

"Peggy," she introduced herself.

"And I'm Victoria," I added.

"Good to meet you both." Clarissa's eyes traveled over me and I saw the recognition dawn in her eyes. Please, not today. I don't want to be a mutant today. I want to be a bride. "You look very familiar," Clarissa commented.

"I suppose I just have one of those faces," I said, shrugging.

We weren't going to play this game. She wasn't going to find out who I was. Thankfully Clarissa didn't push. "Ah, I see. Well let's bring you back. We can talk a little bit about what you're thinking of wearing, the wedding itself, your groom, and I'll see if I can start narrowing down the choices," Clarissa said, motioning for me to follow her.

"Okay," I said.

Clarissa motioned for me to follow her. Peggy and I walked off into a small room with just a pedestal, full-length mirror, and rack for the dresses. "When are you getting married?" Clarissa asked, the both of us taking our seats in the two chairs that were sitting out. Peggy remained standing.

"January of next year."

"Good. Wonderful. Lots of time to get a dress in case today doesn't work out. But it will," Clarissa said, spotting my concerned look.

"You'll find one," Peggy consoled.

"Tell me about your fiancé."

"His name is James. Bucky - that's his nickname. That's what everyone calls him. He's twenty-seven. Just a few years older than me. We grew up together with our best friend. We fell out of touch for a number of years but got back together a little over two years ago. He's in the Army and just got back from deployment a few months ago," I said, telling her the watered-down version of the truth.

"I'm glad that he came back," Clarissa said, smiling at me.

Well... I more had to go and get him back... Peggy and I exchanged an amused smile. "Thank you, I am too," I whispered.

"Where are the two of you getting married?"

Right... That was probably an important thing that we should have discussed. "We haven't picked a location yet. It might be something small. I wasn't even ready to come dress shopping yet, but she insisted," I said, motioning to Peggy.

Clarissa sent her a little smile. "It was a good choice. Do you have a venue idea?" Clarissa asked.

"Somewhere outside, maybe."

We had both always loved the outdoors. "Lovely. And a budget?"

"Umm... No, I don't," I muttered.

Howard's money was no issue, but I definitely wouldn't be letting him spend too much on the wedding dress. Something that I would only wear once. "That makes things easier," Clarissa said, giggling. "Do you have a style in mind?"

"Style?" I repeated dumbly.

"She's not big into wearing dresses or skirts. She doesn't know much about anything when it comes to weddings," Peggy stepped in.

Clarissa merely laughed and shook her head. "We have a ball gown," Clarissa said.

Before I got the chance to ask what a ball gown was, Peggy shook her head. "That'll be far too large for her. Trust me, you'll hate it," Peggy said, looking back at me.

"Okay. I'm relying on you," I told her.

"We have our more popular A-line dresses," Clarissa continued.

"That could work," Peggy muttered.

"I'll keep that in mind." Clarissa looked me over for a moment and I smiled awkwardly, trying to straighten up and show off my figure. "You might look nice in a trumpet style," Clarissa finally said.

"That's not too different. That could definitely be a good choice," Peggy said.

Trumpet... Like the instrument? I didn't dare say that for fear of sounding stupid. "Shall we start pulling some dresses and see if we can find one that you like?" Clarissa offered.

"Uh... sure," I muttered nervously.

Clarissa smiled and placed a reassuring hand on my knee. "I know that it can be a little overwhelming when you first start shopping. Not to worry. We'll pick out a few styles until we find one that you like," Clarissa said.

"Thank you," I said.

She would be able to find a dress for me. I genuinely believed that. It was her job, after all. As Clarissa left the room to start searching for dresses, Peggy walked back out with her. She was seated on the couch just outside the room so that she could watch me try on all of the dresses. I felt a bit like a dress-up doll, but I didn't say anything. I merely undressed and put on the silk robe that Clarissa had left out for me. Almost ten minutes had passed - during which I played with my flames, quickly putting them out when Clarissa finally came back with the dresses. There were a huge amount of them.

They were draped all over her. They looked heavy and extremely overwhelming. "That's a lot," I muttered.

Clarissa smiled as she spread the dresses out on the rack for me to see them. "It just means more choices. Do you have one that you would like to start with?" she asked.

I can't even tell where one starts and the next begins. "Dealer's choice," I said.

She must have been expecting for me to say that. I'd had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to pick one. They all looked exactly the same to me. Clarissa smiled and moved to grab a dress out of the middle of the rack. She pulled it out the bag and brought it over to me to try on. I was utterly shocked about how long it took to get me into the damn dress. Ten minutes, maybe. I was instantly uncomfortable being in it. The dress was heavy and awkward-feeling. If I had to fight, I would have gotten caught up in all of the material.

It didn't even look like it was me that was in the dress. The dress itself was interesting. It had little puff sleeves that went just a few inches below my shoulders. It was a mostly loose-fitting white fabric. Silk, I thought. It went down to the floor and pooled out slightly around my feet. I definitely would have tripped myself on it. There was also a beaded belt that went across my waist, cinching the material there and giving me a figure. There were even some diamonds on the belt. There was a slight dip in the fabric around my chest that showed off more cleavage than I was used to.

"What do you think?" Clarissa asked, sensing that I was done looking over the dress.

"It's... nice. I don't know," I muttered.

What did I really think about it? It was... a dress, I guessed. "Probably not, then," Clarissa said, smiling. She didn't look bothered that I couldn't figure it out. "You'll know when the right one comes. Would you like to show it to your friend, anyways?"

"Sure. I think she'll kill me if you don't," I teased.

Peggy would want to see all of them, no matter how ridiculous they looked. Clarissa smiled and opened the door, allowing me to walk out in front of Peggy. "You look beautiful, Vicky," Peggy said as I walked up onto the pedestal.

"You like it?" I asked.

"I think that it's beautiful. But I don't think it's... you," Peggy said.

"Me either," I admitted.

"How about we try another one?" Clarissa offered.

"Absolutely," I said.

So we headed back into the fitting room. I pulled off the dress with the help of Clarissa before slipping into the next one. I ended up hating it even more than the first. There was a lace overlay on the top of the chest and cap sleeves. There was a very slight dip in the neck that seemed a little too innocent to me. The bodice was tight and had little buttons down the front before expanding slightly at the hips. It puffed out down to just below my knees, where it stopped. It looked like I should be at a tea party. I had never felt more like a cartoon character.

"What about this one?" Clarissa asked.

"No. Not this one," I said immediately.

Clarissa nodded. "Should we show Peggy?"

Despite not liking the dress, I knew that I should show her. "Sure." The two of us walked out into the main hallway where I walked up onto the pedestal. "What do you think?" I asked her.

Just like me, Peggy instantly shook her head. "It's not something that you would ever wear," she said.

"I thought so too," I agreed.

"Not to fear. We'll find you something," Clarissa said determinedly.

So I went back into the fitting room and continued trying on dresses. Time after time again. The first one she had shown me afterwards had been extremely expensive and not at all my style. It had long sleeves that puffed out and cinched in at the wrists. The neckline went up to the top of my throat but it was sheer. There was a diamond pattern that went over the top of the sleeves and down the middle of the chest. The skirt fell without a shape and had odd bumpy patterns on the material. There were even two funny additions of material at the hips. I instantly said no.

The next one had been a little bit better. For a moment I had even come close to saying yes. But I really hadn't liked it that much. There were small buttons that went up the back of the dress that was a complete lace pattern. The cap sleeves, top back of the dress, and front of the chest were all a sheer lace. The actual dress was tight down the bodice before expanding just slightly at the hips. It would have been lovely, except the fact that there was layer over layer of lace that went down to the floor. It felt a little bit like wearing rolls of toilet paper.

After that had been another extraordinarily expensive dress. The sleeves were tight and a sheer lace. But I actually liked them. Like the other dress, the top of the back and front chest were a see-through lace. There was no dip in the chest but the straight line across my chest actually looked nice. The top of the dress wasn't half-bad, but the bottom of the dress was stupid. It flowed out to about twice the size of my hips. It was all lace and looked like the dress was eating me. There was no way that I could even walk in the dress.

It hadn't taken us long to figure out that we needed a lighter dress. The next dress had a very similar top style to the one before. It had tight long-sleeves that were covered in lace. The bodice was a sweetheart neckline. I almost wished that it was only that part, but it would have been too revealing. The bottom of the dress was another stupid one. Why were they all so large? It had alternating layers of lace and tulle that expanded, getting larger and larger with each layer, until the dress hit the floor. It was another dress that was far too large for me.

The last one was the real one to catch my eyes. I had never thought that I would like a dress like that, but it was beautiful. The sleeves were lace and tight on my skin. The top of the chest was see through and had a low neckline. It was lower than I was expecting, but it was lovely. The dress only flowed out a little bit, working with my natural movements. The front of the bottom was silk, but the back was the same lace as the sleeves. It trailed back behind me by about two feet, but it only made the dress even prettier. Was this the one?

"How about this one?" Clarissa asked, floating the excess material around my legs.

"Yeah. I really like this one," I whispered.

"Wonderful!" Clarissa chirped, knowing that I thought that it was lovely. "Time to show Peggy, then?"

"Yeah. Let's show her," I said.

Together we walked out and I immediately saw the same light in Peggy's eyes that I'd seen in my own when I had first spotted it. Clarissa helped me onto the pedestal before floating out the skirt again. "That's gorgeous," Peggy said happily.

"I think I really like it," I said.

"He'll love that one," Peggy said.

"You really like it?" I asked, turning away from the mirror and back to Peggy.

Peggy nodded and got to her feet, looking over the dress a little closer up. "I love it, Vicky. And I think you do, too," she said.

"I think so. I think that I really like this one," I said honestly.

"What do you think? Ready to say yes?" Clarissa asked.

It would definitely cement the thought that we were getting married. Peggy sensed my hesitation. "You've already been through the hard part. Getting him to ask you to marry him and getting up the guts to say yes. Come on, you love that dress. I can see it," Peggy goaded.

"What do we think?" Clarissa asked happily.

"Yes. Yeah, I'm gonna take this one," I finally said.

"Wonderful!" Clarissa cheered.

The two of us walked back into the dressing room to get the dress off. Once it was off, back in the bag, and I had gotten changed back into my old clothes, the two of us walked back out and joined up with Peggy. Clarissa had given us each a flute of champagne to drink while we worked out the details of the dress. Clarissa made sure to take all of my measurements for the alterations that would have to be done before I could actually take it with me. It would take a few weeks to shorten the hem of the dress and open up the material in the chest slightly - seeing as it was now too tight.

As we drank the champagne and figured out what we wanted to do with the outfit for the wedding, Clarissa rang up the dress for me. It ended up costing about a thousand dollars. I also let Peggy talk me into helping me pick out some jewelry and shoes for the wedding day. She had even managed to get me to buy a veil that felt a little silly to have. I had forced Peggy not to go too over-the-top with everything. Ultimately Clarissa packaged everything up, handed me a photograph of the dress to show everyone, and let me pay for it with Howard's blank check.

"Best of luck, dear," Clarissa said as we made our way out of the store.

"Thank you," I said.

We both said goodbye to Clarissa and thanked her for all of the help that she had given us. I was convinced that I never would have found a dress without her help. The two of us made our way out of the store together, giggling the entire time. We put the magazine inside of the bag from the store to make sure that the boys couldn't figure out what we had done today. But I did want to show them the dress eventually. Bucky was going to be the only one to not see it. Peggy and I were almost back to the base when I glanced over at her.

"Thanks for making me do that," I said.

Peggy smiled and wrapped an arm over my shoulders. "My absolute pleasure. You really do look beautiful in that dress," Peggy said.

"Thank you. It was the only one that I really liked."

"Good. Because it definitely looked the best on you."

"Finally I'm actually getting around to doing bridal things," I teased.

It would definitely make Bucky happy if he figured out what the two of us had been doing all day. He seemed to have thought for so long that I was just never going to get around to doing bridal things. We both laughed as we walked into the entrance hall of the Army base. No one was standing around, which I was grateful for. I wanted to hide the bag before anyone could see. By now I was absolutely exhausted from changing back and forth, but it had been a good day. We walked back towards Peggy's room and I smiled when I saw that Raven was perched on my old bed.

"Did you get the dress?" Raven asked, eyeing the bag.

"I did. Would you like to see it?" I offered.

"Yes, please," Raven said happily.

Dropping the bag, I rummaged through and pulled out the photograph from the magazine. "We only have a picture of it. In the meantime it's at the store, being fitted for me. This is it," I said, showing her the staged photograph.

Raven stared at it for a moment before her lips turned up in a large smile. "That's so pretty."

"That's what I thought, too," I said.

"You'll look beautiful in it."

"Thanks."

"And Bucky will love it," Raven added.

"That's what I'm hoping," I said, blushing softly.

Peggy snorted from the corner of the room and I turned back to her. This had to be going nowhere soon. "It's not the dress he'll like. Trust me, he won't want to wait to take it off," Peggy teased.

There it is. "There are children present!" I barked.

But it ended up not really bothering her. She, like me, had been through a terrible childhood. She had never really gotten the chance to be a child. She was used to hearing crude remarks, just the way that I had been. At least right now it was teasing. Instead of getting embarrassed - like I was - Raven was laughing along with Peggy. After a moment even I started to laugh. Because Peggy was right. All three of us dropped down onto my old bed and chattered back and forth about the upcoming wedding and showing off my new accessories.

We had even spent a long time thinking about a future mutant name for Raven. Peggy and I had suggested Phantom, Exo, Cryptic, and Ruse. But I knew that she would have to pick one for herself. The three of us ended up spending the night having dinner together, not bothering to go out and speak to the men. We could do that alter. It had definitely been a good day for us girls. But eventually I did get up to leave. I told Peggy and Raven goodbye - thanking the girls for a good day - before heading back to my own room with Bucky.

"Hi," I chirped, closing the door behind me.

Bucky glanced up from the bed. He was scribbling something in the journal that he instantly put down. His lips turned up in a smile. "There you are. Starting to think you forgot about me," Bucky teased.

"Had a day with the girls," I explained simply.

Bucky smiled as I walked over to the bed. "That's nice. What did you do today?"

"Went shopping."

"You went shopping?" Bucky asked disbelievingly.

"Is that so hard to believe?"

Maybe it was that hard to believe. I never really had gone shopping before. It was always one of my least favorite things to do. "I remember my mother having to drag you to the store once a year because you hated shopping," Bucky teased.

Laughing at the memory, I nodded. "That's right. She did do that." We sat in silence together for a moment before something dawned on me. Out of our families, only Bucky's siblings would be there to see the wedding. "I'm sorry that she can't be here to see it," I mumbled.

"That's okay. She'll be watching," Bucky said.

"Will she be proud?" I asked.

Bucky smiled and nodded at me. I would have loved to see what Mrs. Barnes would have thought of our pairing. "Yes. I think she will be proud. She always wanted me to find a girl that I loved. I found one. The only one," Bucky said, pressing a hand against my throat.

"Good. Because I found someone that I loved too. The only one," I said.

Bucky leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss against my mouth. I smiled, running my nails over his thighs. When we pulled apart I saw that he was smiling at me. "Do I get to see what you bought today?" Bucky asked.

"Eventually," I said.

"But not now?"

"Not yet."

"That's not fair."

"Life's not fair."

"Now that's uncalled for."

Grinning at him, I nodded. "Totally called for." We sat together in silence for a little while before I asked, "What did you boys do today?"

"We took Raven to the tavern," Bucky said.

My jaw almost dropped. "You took a little girl to the tavern?" I asked accusingly.

Even I wouldn't have done that! And I was next to useless when it came to caring for children. "It's the middle of the day!" Bucky snapped, as if that made up for taking a nine-year-old to a tavern. "They weren't doing anything out there. We just sang and danced with her a little bit. She mostly hung back and watched, but I think she had a good time."

At least she had gotten to have some fun and hadn't spent the day inside and by herself. "Good. I'm glad she did." Another brief silence passed before I glared at Bucky again. "You didn't let her drink, did you?" I asked.

Bucky scoffed at my lack of faith. "You think we're so useless."

"Yes, I do."

We didn't say anything for a moment. Then Bucky started to laugh. He knew that I would make fun of him for the rest of his life. It would never stop, no matter how old we got. A moment later, Bucky leaned over and knocked me back onto the bed. I started giggling as I rolled over and went sprawling underneath him. A moment later we started tugging at each other's clothes, slowly disrobing ourselves. Mostly because I wanted to be rid of the scratchy clothes. As I slid on my robe, I leaned forward and pressed a small kiss against Bucky's throat, feeling him rumble deep in his throat.

He had always liked when I had done that. For a while we chattered back and forth. He told me about how Raven had been adjusting and I told him a little bit about my shopping trip. We stayed locked together in a loving kiss for a long time until I finally started drifting to sleep. I ended up falling asleep on Bucky's chest as he laid a hand on my bare back - having slipped off my robe earlier - running his fingers up and down my spine, whispering sweet words in my ear. Many of them were about the wedding. I knew that I was extremely lucky to have found someone like him.

And I knew that I would always be thrilled to have someone like him with me. Because he was so much better than I deserved. For a while he continuously stroked my skin, keeping me pressed right up against him. In the coming days - during the time that I could convince myself to get up out of our bed - I spent a ton of time with Raven. Getting to know her, talking about anything and everything that she wanted, taking her out to get the best kind of food that I knew, taking her on a shopping trip, and even training in mutation with her.

My life was becoming a little strange. Monotonous without the constant trips out to the Hydra bases and constantly preparing for them. But it was nice to be a little different. Although I knew that I would have to get back to my old life soon. No more playing mutant or bride. As more days passed - during which the wedding dress was delivered to me - I found myself in the training room one morning. The men were currently working out the final pieces of the puzzle on how we would defeat the Grecian Hydra base. It would be a tough one, with the Hydra Uber Tank out there.

But we would manage that. I would manage that. I was the person who could figure it out. But for now, it was their problem. I already knew most of the plan and they would keep me updated on it as we got closer to the mission date. Today I was up earlier than almost everyone else. I was planning to see Raven once I was done working out my frustration from having not fought with anyone lately. I wanted to chat with Raven about her schooling and where she wanted to go after everything. The war and whatnot. Suddenly the door burst open and Peggy stumbled in.

"She's gone," Peggy breathed.

"What?"

Peggy took a few deep breaths, coming to stand in front of me. "I'm sorry, Vicky. Raven is gone. She left in the middle of the night. I thought that she might have just been out for the day but she's gone. She left this on your bed," Peggy said.

Raven had left? Without even telling me... Peggy handed me over a folded-up note. "Thanks," I mumbled, unfolding the paper and reading over it.

Victoria,

Thank you for everything that you've done for me. You saved my life out there. But now I'd like to repay the favor. I'm just a little kid, like you said. I've got my entire life to live. I genuinely believe that I'm going to find someone out there. Another friend. Just the way that you have been to me. You showed me that I have the capability to make a real life for myself. And that's what I'm going to you. For myself. For everyone like us. To show them that we deserve a life, just like they do.

But I can't do that with you. And it's not because I don't want to. I'm so sorry to have to tell you this. I want to stay with you, and I can tell that you wanted me to stay, and that's exactly why I have to leave. Because I see the way that you change when you're around me. Trying to help me find my own life. Find a place in yours. You already have a life, Victoria. You have a man that's going to be your husband one day. A man that might give you your own family one day soon enough. You have your father and best friends to watch out for.

You have a real job and you've managed to find a purpose in your life. That's something that I can only dream of having right now. I'm going to continue dreaming of it until I have it. I know that I can have it. You've shown me that I deserve that and nothing less. You're the person that taught me that. You also taught me that it's so hard to start your life over. And if I were to stay with you, that's what you'd be doing. You'd be starting over with me in your life. And you can't have that. You deserve the life that you already had when you met me. Let me find a life for myself.

Tell Bucky and everyone else that was kind enough to help me that I said goodbye. Let Peggy know that she was so wonderful to me and I'll always have her in my heart. I wish you and Bucky all of the happiness in the world. I really do. You're both such wonderful people and deserve to have a happy life together. I know that you as long as you can.

I hope that I can make you proud. And I certainly hope that we can meet again one day.

With love,
Raven (Mystique).

So she had left. She hadn't told me because she knew that it would be too hard. She knew that I would try and stop her. She was right about that. I would have wanted her to build her life here, with us. But she didn't want to do that. She was tough, just the way that I was. She needed to do this all on her own. Just the way that I had felt that I needed to be on my own after my horrible upbringing. At least she had picked out her mutant name... Mystique. It was much better than anything that I could have suggested. And I genuinely wished both Raven and Mystique the best.

"What's it say?" Peggy asked carefully.

She wanted to make sure not to annoy me. She didn't know how I felt right now. Heartbroken, but completely understanding. After all, I had once come close to doing this same thing to Steve and Bucky and their families. "Says that she's grateful, to say goodbye to everyone that helped her, and to tell me that I deserved all of the happiness in the world. She's gonna start over and find her own place to do it," I mumbled.

Peggy gave a soft sigh as I handed her the letter back. "She's only nine," Peggy whispered.

"And where do you think she got the idea? From me. I told her the about how I'd run away after killing my parents, finding Steve and Bucky. She's probably hoping for a similar situation," I said, almost wishing that I hadn't told her about that. "And I was only eight."

"Will you go after her?" Peggy asked after a beat.

"No," I said immediately.

"Why not?"

"Because this is what she wants. And I know what it's like to want to start over."

For a while longer we were both silent. "You liked her," Peggy finally commented.

"Yeah. It was almost like having a little sister," I mumbled.

Peggy walked over to me and pressed a hand on my shoulder. I knew that Raven would be happier like this. That's why I was trying not to be too angry. "Maybe you'll meet her again one day," Peggy offered.

"Maybe," I said slowly.

"Come on. Cheer up!" Peggy chirped, pulling on my arm, trying to get me out of my funk. I knew that Raven would have wanted me to be happy, which was exactly why Peggy was trying to mess with me. "Put on the dress."

"Why?" I asked.

Steve suddenly walked into the room, and judging by the saddened look on his face, he likely already knew that Raven had gone. "Because the two of us want to see it," Steve said. I looked back at him and smiled. Steve walked up and pulled me into a long hug. "Peggy already told us that Raven left. Sorry to hear that she's gone."

"She has to have her own life," I said, knowing that Raven had done the right thing for herself. "Of anyone in the world, I think that I can understand that. I just hope that she's happy, wherever she finds herself."

"She knows where to come if she ever needs anything," Steve said.

He was right about that. Raven always knew that she had a place to come back to if things didn't work out in her new life. "Yeah. She does. I just hoped that she might stay for a while," I said sadly.

Steve wrapped an arm over my shoulders. "It was just like you. She had to get out of here and find a place to make her own life. A life that hasn't been carved out by someone else," Steve reasoned.

"Yeah, you're right. As much as I hate to admit it," I said begrudgingly.

The three of us stood in silence for a little while as we walked back to my old room. I saw that everything had been cleared out. Raven had taken all of her things and left the room in pristine condition. "Put on the dress," Peggy goaded again. "Steve wants to see it, right?"

Steve smiled at her and nodded. "Right."

That meant that I had to try it on. I knew that they wouldn't let me get out of it. "Okay. Fine. Out!" I shouted at Steve, pushing him towards the door. "You can come back once I have it on."

"Alright. I'm leaving, I'm leaving," Steve said, putting his hands up.

Thankfully I had Peggy with me, because I never would have been able to get into the dress without her. She made sure that it was pulled correctly in all of the right areas and confirmed to me that it was fitted properly. As I put on the dress - leaving off the shoes and accessories - I could see Peggy getting more and more excited. Even I was getting excited. And when we let Steve in, I saw that he, too, was excited. Eventually Howard had come burst into the room, teasing me that it was his money and he deserved to see it, also letting me know that he loved it and it was money well spent.

Eventually we heard Bucky knocking at the door. "Are you all in there?" Bucky asked.

No one answered him for a moment. That was enough to signal him that something was wrong. The door started to open when I brought up a gust of wind and slammed it shut. "Private meeting, Bucky!" I called.

"How is that fair?" Bucky shouted.

It was enough to make everyone laugh. For a moment I searched through the minds of everyone around us, looking for her. I knew that Raven wouldn't have gotten far. Despite the fact that I wouldn't go after her - knowing that this was something that she wanted and needed to do on her own - I wanted to let her know that I cared about her. I wanted to let her know that she could always come back and see me. Right now it seemed like she was working on a way to get back to the United States - New York, judging by what the port said.

Good luck, Raven.

She was clearly a little surprised by my voice in her mind, but she didn't jump or scream. She merely smiled, relief flooding into her body. Thank you for everything, Victoria. I hope we meet again one day.

We will. I have faith in that.

I'll see you again, one day.

We would. I genuinely believed that. Knowing that it was time to leave Raven on her own, I pulled back from her mind and returned to my own. In the future we could catch up. Maybe spend some more time together. But for now we had our own lives to live. Just like my departure from Logan. Everyone was still laughing in our room as Bucky and the men stood on one side of the doorway, Steve, Peggy, Howard, and I on the other. I smiled at the sight of them, realizing that I was genuinely happy. I just hoped that one day Raven could find the same happiness in her own life.

A/N: A very sweet chapter. Raven is gone for now, but we might see her again at some point. We will see Logan again at some point too. So I'm sorry about how long this chapter has taken. I really didn't like the way that it was coming along and I kept getting writers block over and over again. But it's finally out and I've got a plan on where I want to take it! Thanks for follows and favorites! Please review! Until next time -A

lovingvamp346: I'm so glad that you love the story! It would definitely be nice for them to be able to marry before his fall. But that may or may not happen. That's very good reasoning for them to marry, but it would also be even more heartbreaking if he fell before they married. More emotional turmoil for Victoria, too, which is always fun. Sorry this took so long, but I hope that you liked it!

rebelforcauses: It would be nice of them to get married before, but we'll have to see. Look at that, she met up with Raven! Being a little girl, Raven was definitely afraid to meet the guys. But at some point she might see Logan again, and you know that he'll definitely want to meet them.

.2018: I'm so glad that you loved it!

Verona1700: So glad that you liked the chapter! I love writing Victoria and Bucky's scenes. They're so much fun to write together. They both have positives and negatives. It would be nice for them to be married for a while, but it would be very fun to write the emotional turmoil that Victoria goes through if they don't get married before the fall. I'm leaning towards not having them marry beforehand, just like you said. Sorry it took so long, but I hope you liked it!

Tumblr-0-Trash: I'm so glad that you thought that the last chapter was beautiful! That would definitely be extremely heartbreaking and I do like that idea. I'll probably decide on what I want to do a little ways down the line. Thanks, and I hope that you liked this chapter!

Crazy Devil Girl: I'm so glad that you love this story! Sorry for the terribly long wait for this chapter, but, as you can see, I haven't stopped working on it. Hope you liked this one!