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.

13. Chapter 13

In the morning I'd gotten so used to always dressing up like a proper professional. But not today. As I'd made clear to a few people, I was not going to be going through my normal routine today. I had something a little better planned. So as I got changed, I ensured that it was something that I could move around in. I grabbed a pair of white, waist-high pants and a black shirt that I had tucked in. My white pants were tucked into my black military boots. I'd probably get shouted at for wearing something like that during training, but I didn't plan to stick around for too long today.

Every day over the past week and a half I'd been busy doing something or the other. It had been a major pain in the ass. And I was ready to take a day off. It didn't seem like anyone really minded me taking the day off anyways. After the advancement that we'd made with the radiation, taking a personal day wasn't that big of a deal. The radiation had really helped out the advancement with the serum. We were getting close. The only problem we were now facing was the fact that we needed to give part of the compound intravenously and another part orally to stabilize the radioactive effect on the body.

By now, Howard had managed to create the radiation chamber. We had to put it through a few test runs to ensure that we wouldn't blow up Camp Lehigh once it was time to use it for real. We would send it to Stark Industries before we were ready and from there I would stand inside and activate my own radioactive mutation. If the chamber could stand up to me, it would have no problem being replicated in the laboratory. With all of the work that we had been doing, and the big leaps forward that we had taken recently, it seemed like we were getting close to a solution. I had said something about it the other morning while we'd all been working. For a while I thought that everyone would laugh at me, but everyone seemed to agree with me.

On the other side of the camp, the recruits were now three days into Week Six. I felt a little bad for all of them. Week Six was one of the less fascinating weeks that the recruits had to go through. It was also one of the weeks that I didn't have much to do with them, so I spent most of my time in the laboratory. This week was all about camaraderie. They were taking a break from the more intense training of the past few weeks. For now they were helping out with laundry, working in the supply warehouses, and cleaning through the camp. They also worked on some group activities on the courses, which was the most physical they would get this week.

As I twisted up my hair into a loose ponytail, Peggy walked back into the bedroom. I gave her a small smile as she went to fixing her hair. "Things look like they're falling into place for the plan," she said with a small smile.

She was one of the only people that I had told about the plan. I didn't want anyone to know and tell me that I couldn't do it. "I think so. But I still need more time. I need to make sure that everything is working out," I told her as I grabbed the laces on my boots and tightened them up.

"They will. I'll keep the recruits distracted. You go take care of business," she told me.

I smiled at her and gave her a small hug before turning from the room. "Thanks, Peggy," I called back as I closed the door behind me.

Grabbing my pocket wallet and stuffing it down into my pants, I headed out of the barracks. I grinned up at the sun and laughed softly. The weather for the day was perfect. Good. I headed out into the main area of camp and turned towards the labs. I needed to speak with Abraham before I could leave. I needed to know if he would mind giving me the day off. I had been working so much that I assumed that it wouldn't be a problem. But I also knew that in an hour or so it would get really hard to find me. I had to take care of my plan.

As I walked through the camp I smiled at some of the workers that were walking back and forth. Over the past week or so, they had become much nicer to me. It was like with each passing day, people got nicer and nicer. Maybe it was because they were finally realizing that Peggy and I were here to stay and we really did know what we were talking about. Most of the women on the base, though, still despised me. Not just me though. Peggy too. Probably because we were the ones that actually talked to the men. I had seen Lorraine a few times in the recent weeks and each time I hated her more than the last. It was all because she still tried to flirt with Bucky.

Thankfully he always let her down easy. On my side with Bucky, things had been going well. We'd managed to act as nothing more than friends in a business-type relationship, but I was having a hard time with it. I knew that Bucky was too. We wanted to be able to have a real relationship, but it wasn't the right time. And we would both get in a ton of trouble. So we had to pretend that we were just friends that enjoyed each other's company.

Not that it really mattered. Despite how many times we'd tried to act like we were just friends, no one on the base really bought it. Everyone on the base seemed to know that something was going on in between us. Some of the women had flirted with Bucky - something that all of the recruits were jealous of - but he always politely brushed them off. The men couldn't seem to fathom why he did that. Some of them liked to tease him that he was queer, but after a while they had all figured it out. It was me. Bucky had fallen for me. Maybe not in love - I knew that we weren't together long enough for those feelings, despite what my own brain was saying - but he loved me in some way.

As I knocked on the door to Abraham's office, I smiled. Today, we would finally be able to try and act like we were a real couple. We would finally get to give it a try. Abraham opened the door and smiled at me. "Hello, Fraulein," he said as he motioned me into a chair.

I took a seat and began munching on on licorice lace that Abraham always gave his visitors. "Hello, Abraham. I was just coming here to ask you a question. I wanted to know if you would mind giving me the day off?" I asked bashfully. I didn't want to upset him and make him feel like I was taking him for granted. "I know that we're getting close to a major breakthrough but I've been working so hard lately and it's just going to be for -"

"Ja," Abraham interrupted.

My eyebrows shot to my forehead. That had been a lot easier than I had thought that it would be. "Really?" I asked dumbly.

He gave me a knowing grin and I blushed softly. He didn't need to be a mind reader to know what I was planning. "You read my mind and tell me that I'm lying," he said with a little smirk. I laughed softly and shook my head. I tried not to read minds when I didn't need to. "Of course you may have the day off, Fraulein. I had a feeling that you would come and ask me," he said.

"You did?" I asked.

He nodded at me. "Ja. Today is Private Barnes' birthday, isn't it?" he asked me.

My face fell as I stared down at the table. Damn it. There went the element of surprise. It really was his birthday today. All of our birthdays when we were kids were always pretty far apart, so it was always fun to have celebrations from time to time. Bucky was the oldest of us, being born on March 10th, 1917. Today was his twenty-fifth birthday and that meant that I wanted to do something special for him. Mostly because I had missed all of his birthdays for the past few years. In October, I'd be turning twenty-three. Not that it really mattered. I still didn't age. On July 4th, Steve would be turning twenty-four. Peggy was the youngest though, she was a year younger than me.

I stared at Abraham with wide eyes. He knew how old I was. He knew when my birthday was. But how did he know when Bucky's birthday was? "How did you even know that?" I asked Abraham.

Recruits might have had all of their records as public, but why would Abraham have gone through the files? "We have recruit files on hold. And I may be old, but I am not blind. I see the way that the two of you look at each other," he told me. I blushed and laughed. I guess we really were more obvious than we thought. "It's alright, Fraulein, you deserve someone that makes you smile. Go out, enjoy his birthday."

I stood up and walked over towards the door - not before stealing another licorice lace - and turned back to Abraham. "Danke, Abraham. I'll see you tomorrow!" I called out.

"Bitte. Have fun!" he called out to me.

If everything went according to plan, I'd be having a lot of fun. But there were a few people that could still manage to mess things up for me. Of course, I wasn't going to let anyone mess this up for me. I'd been planning today for a week with Peggy's help. Howard's too. And he was the next stop on my list. As much as he liked to mess with me, he did want to make sure that Bucky and I had a nice time today. He knew that I wanted to make up for the last eight birthdays that I had managed to miss. And that meant that I had to do something special.

As I walked to ho hunt down Howard, I ran into the one person that I had been desperately hoping to avoid today. "Victoria!" Chester barked at me.

Turning back to him, I plastered on the nicest face that I could manage. He was no fool. Chester knew that I had something up my sleeve. "What's up, old man?" I asked with a bright grin.

Chester seemed to be having none of it. He was staring at me with an even face. "Today is Private Barnes' birthday, isn't it?" he asked me.

Well, there goes any hope I had that he just wanted to have a nice conversation. So I reverted to my other plan. Pretend like I don't know anything. "I don't know why all of you think that I know things like that. I mean, I saw the paperwork. Yes, it is Bucky's birthday today. You guys should do something nice for him, maybe make the dinner in the mess hall a little less disgusting. Anyways, I'm busy, see you later," I said quickly.

I had been hoping that if I spoke fast enough, I could confuse Chester and get him to let me out of whatever chewing out he was going to give me. "Victoria," Chester snapped as I turned to leave.

"What?" I groaned, turning back to him.

Chester was still glaring at me. "I expect you to not be treating Barnes any differently because it's his birthday," he told me.

A slow grin fell over my face. He might not be my real father, but he knew how to treat me like a daughter. "Of course I won't. If anything, I'll take it harder on him," I promised before turning away and attempting to leave once more.

"Victoria," Chester called me back.

"I'm serious! See you later, old man. I'll behave today, I promise," I told Chester, turning and heading away from him before he could say anything else. The last thing that I wanted was for him to ruin all of my hard work spent planning.

Thankfully Chester didn't call after me. I knew that he would call me out for everything later, but for now, I was going to pretend that nothing had happened. I was heading over to hunt down Howard when I ran into Peggy. "So, are the plans still on for the day?" she asked me as she fell into step with me.

I nodded at her. "They are. But there are still a few things that I have to take care of. You've got the recruits covered for the day?" I asked.

She nodded at me. "Of course. They're only working on the team-building skills and things like that right now. It doesn't take more than one of us to take care of this," she told me with a small smile.

Having been engaged once before, Peggy knew what it was like to do something for someone that meant the world to me. It was probably why she was being so good about helping me out with everything. "Thanks, love," I told her with a small smile.

Before I could walk away, Peggy grabbed onto my arm. "Just remember, I'm going to want to hear everything when the two of you get back."

She was wearing a playful smile and I laughed. "Not a problem. I'll probably want to tell you everything anyways. Now, I just need to get things started. Ah, and there's the first part of my plan. See you tonight. Not sure what time I'll get back yet," I told her. It was kind of a long drive, where I was planning to go. I turned and walked away, spotting Howard almost right off the bat. "Howard! Can I borrow you for a moment?" I shouted at him.

He turned around to me and smiled. Judging by the look on his face, I assumed that it had been a while since he had harassed someone. And that meant that I would be the lucky one. "Just a moment? Pity, I was hoping for longer," Howard said as he stood next to me.

"Shut up. I need your help," I snapped at him.

Howard grinned at me. "Of course you do, darling. It must take a lot to admit that."

One of these days I was really going to bash his head in. But he was the only one that could help me right now. "Can you shut your mouth for two minutes?" I asked. Howard nodded at me, pretending to zip his lips together. "Can I borrow one of your cars for the day?" I asked him.

It was pretty obvious that I had caught him by surprise. "Well, of the many things that I expected you to ask me, that wasn't one of them," he told me. I couldn't help it, I laughed softly. I knew that I was asking a lot. "I have a car here for the day. You can borrow it if you'd like. I can call a car to take me back tonight," he told me.

Unable to stop myself, I jumped forward and caught him around the waist, giving him a tight hug. "Thank you!" I chirped as Howard laughed, wrapping an arm around me. "I owe you."

Howard released me and the two of us stepped back a few inches from each other. Howard was wearing a devious grin. "Oh I might not say that if I were you," he teased.

It was pretty clear that it was a joke, but I still shook my head. "You're disgusting. But thank you anyways," I told him.

"What exactly do you need the car for?" Howard asked me.

Slowly I shook my head at him. He couldn't know. Not yet. "Probably not a good excuse, but I can't tell you. Not yet. I need as few people knowing about it as possible. But I'll tell you the minute that I get back," I told him, knowing that he wanted to know what was going on and why I needed his car. "And I promise that I won't crash your car," I said.

Howard nodded at me. I wasn't much of a driver but Chester had ensured that I did know how to use one - just in case. "You better return that car in the exact condition that you found it," Howard warned me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I already told you that I wouldn't crash it," I snapped at him.

Howard shook his head at me. "It wasn't so much the exterior that I was talking about," he said.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? "What?" I asked dumbly. Howard was giving me a wicked grin, and after a moment, I realized why. "Oh... God! You're disgusting. Thank you, and I hate you," I howled, turning to leave.

I'd barely made it two steps before realizing that I didn't have the keys to the car. Howard was grinning at me, dangling the keys from his hand. I rolled my eyes and walked back to him, snatching the keys from his hands. He laughed as I shoved him out of my way and stomped over to the recruits, tucking the keys into my pocket.

As I walked over to the recruits, I let a small smile slip over my face. I had the perfect idea of what to do today. And now that I had the keys, the last thing that I needed to do was get Bucky away from training. He would love it. I had faith. When we were kids we used to try and convince either Bucky's parents or Steve's to take us to Coney Island almost every weekend. It didn't usually work, considering that everyone was always so busy. But just for today, I should be able to manage to take him away from training to get out there.

It was always one of our favorite places to go. I knew that Steve and Bucky had gone quite a few times. I was pretty sure that I had gone two or three times. It had been awesome, but after being taken by Stryker, I'd never gotten the chance to go back. This was going to be my way to make up for all of the birthdays that I had missed. I knew that he would love it. The only downside to my plan was that I would have to use a somewhat strange way to get him out of the camp. It didn't matter, I just knew that we had to leave soon. Considering Camp Lehigh was in New Jersey and Coney Island was in Brooklyn, it would take us just over an hour. If we left soon, we would be there around ten.

The recruits were inside one of the barracks, folding towels and sheets. I walked inside and took a look around. Bucky was working on sheets in the back of the barracks. "Gentlemen!" I barked. They all stopped what they were doing and stood at attention. "Take a break for a moment, if you will." The men all seemed more than happy to take a break. "Private Barnes, might I have a word?" I called out.

Bucky saluted me. "Ma'am, yes, Ma'am!" he called out. I motioned for him to follow me into the corner of the room, away from prying ears. "What can I help you with?" he asked me.

Well, hopefully he wouldn't freak out too much. "Jessica is currently in the hospital," I said. Bucky's face fell at the mention of his sister. "She's in Brooklyn City Hospital. Nothing serious. A case of appendicitis that's being treated as we speak. However, next of kin are requested to be present during surgeries. You've been pardoned for the day to be at her side, if you'd like?" I asked him.

I knew that he would say yes. He wasn't really close to his sister, but if he thought that she was in danger, he would be there in a heartbeat. "Absolutely. Can I leave now?" he asked me.

I nodded at him and motioned him towards the door. "Yes. You'll come with me. I'll escort you from the camp and into the city. You'll return tonight for training tomorrow," I told him.

Bucky nodded at me and the two of us turned to leave the room. A few of the recruits wished Bucky's sister well and I tried to suppress a grin. He was going to be heated when he found out that we were really just going to an amusement park for the day. As we walked out towards the car I called back to the others that were hanging around. I let them know what was going on and for the most part, everyone seemed to believe it. Although Chester didn't. He gave me a sharp glare and I smiled as we hopped into the car. He was going to let me have it when I got back later.

It was a black, 1940 Packard 120. Bucky glanced at the car as we hopped in - myself in the driver's seat - and gave a low whistle. "Nice car. I wouldn't think that the Army would give you one like this," he said.

Turning back towards him as I revved the engine and started down the road, I glanced over at him. "Oh, it's not from the Army. I borrowed it from Howard," I told him.

Not that it was probably the best thing to say. "My sister is in the hospital and you just happened to get some time to go to Howard Stark and borrow a very fancy car?" he asked me. I grinned at him and looked away. I never was very good at lying to him. "Is there a chance that you've known about this longer than you're admitting?"

"Bucky there's nothing wrong with your sister," I told him, wanting to ease his mind.

Bucky's jaw dropped as he stared at me. "What?" he asked.

I nodded at him. "Jessica is fine. She's working some job over in California. Happily married to that same guy that was courting her when we were kids," I told him. I had slipped into her mind last night so I knew for a fact that she really was still okay. She seemed to be thinking about having a family. It made me smile. "I just wanted to make sure, so I looked her up," I lied.

If he wasn't afraid of dying in a car crash, Bucky probably would have hit me for telling him that his sister was in the hospital. "Vika! Why would you tell me that she was sick?" Bucky barked at me.

"Because I needed a good reason to get you out of training for the day," I told him with a bright smile. Bucky was giving me a stern glare. "Familial reasons are some of the few that recruits are allowed to take a break for. James Buchanan Barnes, welcome to the best birthday of your life! Something to make up the past few years that I missed," I told him.

A small smile had adorned his face when I'd mentioned it being his birthday, but he quickly went back to staring at me with an even look. "And this was the best way that you could start it?" he asked me.

"Well we're going to ignore that part," I told him awkwardly. Bucky turned over to me and after a beat of silence, the two of us burst into laughter. Once we had settled down, I glanced over at him. "I needed a good reason to get you off of the base, and telling them that I wanted to give you a birthday present isn't good enough," I said.

He glanced over at me and grinned. He probably thought that I had forgotten about it. In truth, it had been in the back of my mind since seeing him again after so long. "So was my heart attack worth it?" Bucky asked.

"You're still alive, so, yes."

He grinned at me as the two of us continued roaring down the road. It would take a while, but I knew that the trip would be worth it. "So where are we going on this wonderful birthday adventure?" Bucky asked after a beat of silence.

"And give away the punch line? Yeah, right," I teased him. He wasn't going to know where we were going until we actually got there. "You're gonna have to trust me, kid," I teased.

"I'm older than you," Bucky said.

"Barely!"

Not quite true. "Three years is not barely," Bucky said. I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him. I might not have been older than him, but I was definitely smarter, and that had to count for something. "Fine," Bucky said. I grinned, knowing that he was going to actually let me win this one. "I'm taller than you," he said with a wide grin.

There went that one. He was such a jerk. Bucky knew that my height was the one thing about myself that really drove me nuts. He was almost a foot taller than me. "Asshole," I grumbled under my breath.

Bucky turned over to me and grinned. "Young ladies do not speak that way," he said with a teasing tone.

For a brief moment, a little frown marred my features. Bucky always seemed to like that I was tough, but was there a chance that I might have been too tough? After all, he was still a man. A men wanted a nice woman to be a homemaker and family woman. That wasn't me. "You've got eyes for the wrong person if that's what you're looking for," I finally warned him.

Bucky shook his head at me and grabbed my hand, leaving me to drive with the other. "No. I've got my eyes on the right person. I always have," he told me. I blushed softly and let him press a chaste kiss to the back of my hand. The moment that he let go of my hand, I placed it back on the wheel and focused on the road, trying to brush off Bucky's thoughts.

Thankfully we were able to make the hour long drive without having to stop. It took Bucky most of the drive to figure out where we were going too. It was rather amusing listening to him make a new guess every few seconds. It was also nice just getting the chance to be able to speak to Bucky like we were old friends, not like we were working as professionals and nothing more. Once we made it to the edge of Brooklyn - where Coney Island sat - Bucky managed to figure out our destination. We spent most of the remaining trip talking about our few trips to Coney Island when we were kids. Most of the time we spent laughing.

But the one thing that was making me nervous, the closer that we got, I realized that Bucky and I had never been to Coney Island alone. Come to think of it, we'd never been alone together. Every time that we were somewhere around Camp Lehigh, there were hundreds of other people around. The recruits sometimes, higher-ups and officers others, and Chester and Howard seemed to always be lingering around somewhere. When we were kids, Steve or their parents would always be around. Even if they were sleeping. This was the first time that I could remember ever being alone with him. And it made my palms sweat.

As we continued down the gate of the entrance to Coney Island, Bucky and I kept laughing about the old times that we'd had in Coney Island. They were all so much fun. They were some of my favorite memories. When we were little kids, we would go and eat as much as we possibly could. Steve almost always threw up. Bucky and I would fight to not throw up afterwards. As we got older, we would ride the roller coasters together. Steve would always groan and hope that after each time we went on, that we would be done with them. Of course, we never were. But when we went on them, I would almost always sit with Bucky. I used to love sitting with him. But now the thought of it made me nervous. In camp, things were different. But out here, we were allowed to act like a real couple.

Once we had parked and gotten out of the car, I walked hand-in-hand with Bucky over to the ticket booth. A young man with a freckled face stood at the gate, smiling at the two of us. "Hello, two for the day please?" I asked politely.

"That'll be ten dollars," the ticket master said.

My eyebrows rose. When we were kids, it was only nine dollars for Bucky, Steve, and myself to get into the parks. Apparently inflation and the war had done more damage than I thought. Bucky was digging through his pockets. "I don't have money," he said worriedly.

I rolled my eyes at Bucky and pulled out a ten dollar bill from my wallet. "Duh. Here you are," I told the ticket master, handing him the money. He placed it in the cash register before handing me over two tickets. "Thank you," I said, proceeding over to the turnstile, handing Bucky the second ticket.

Bucky grabbed it and handed it to one of the gatekeepers so that the two of us could walk into the park. It seemed to have expanded in the past few years since I had been here. "You shouldn't have paid for that. I could have afforded five dollars to get into the park," Bucky told me.

He was such a boy. I knew that it would hurt his pride to not pay for his own ticket. But that was too damn bad. It was his birthday and five dollars was just the beginning of what I owed him. "I know that you could have. But it's your birthday, Bucky. I missed so many of them. Let me do something for you," I told him, grabbing his hand.

Bucky smiled as we started walking through the entrance. "You don't have to do all of this," he said.

"I do," I told him before grabbing his hand and yanking him with me. He laughed and walked behind me, wrapping an arm over my shoulder. "Now come on! Let's go do something. What should we start with?" I called out to him.

Bucky glanced around the buildings and I smiled, waiting for his answer. He finally settled on the round centrifuge in the middle of the park. "How about the carousel?" he offered.

My eyes widened as I glanced over at him. "A kiddie ride?" I asked with a little laugh.

Bucky grinned at me and pushed me gently into the line for the ride. It wasn't very long, considering most kids were still in school. There were really only younger and older couples - much like Bucky and myself. "You love it," he teased me.

The group that were on the carousel already began to spin, and I watched them out of the corner of my eyes. It seemed to be mostly toddlers right now - kids that were still too young to be in school. "Okay," I said with a little laugh, leaning back against the railing. We were watching the ride spin as I turned back to Bucky. "I think that we're the oldest people here," I told him.

It didn't seem like Bucky was very concerned. He was merely grinning at me. "Then that means that we're going to have the most fun," he teased. We both laughed and stood together, his arm wrapped over my shoulder. It was a few minutes before the ride stopped spinning and we were allowed on. I walked straight towards a brown horse when Bucky grabbed me and shoved me away. "Wait. That one."

He was pointing towards a pretty white horse. It was the only one on the carousel. And it was also that had pink flowers on the reins. "This one?" I asked him curiously.

There had to be a particular reason that he wanted me to go on this one horse. But I couldn't think for the life of me why. "Yeah. It was your favorite when we were kids. The lead horse," he told me.

A small laugh escaped my mouth as we walked over to it. He was right. When we were little kids, I'd always wanted to ride the lead horse. Mostly because my parents had never taken me to a theme park or anything of the likes. "I can't believe that you actually remember that," I said softly.

"I've always remembered everything important about you," he said.

"That's not really important."

"It is to me."

A small blush rose over my face as the two of us walked up to the horses. Bucky was taking a black horse that was next to the white one. As we walked over to them, Bucky gave me a hand up onto the horse. Not that I couldn't have done it myself. But I appreciated it, regardless. It was rather sweet. Once I had swung one of my legs up and over, Bucky let go of me. As I sat on top of the horse - letting Bucky climb onto his - I glanced around and realized that the few women that were my age were not up on the horses. They were all either standing next to their kids to keep them balanced out or they were with friends on the buggies.

Despite the fact that I probably should have been embarrassed, it was rather funny. Especially the way that they were all staring at me. I let go of the pole that the horses rode on and grabbed Bucky's hand with it. He smiled and began running his fingers over the back of my knuckles. We were both smiling as the horses began to spin quickly. The music was sweet and our ride was amusing as we spent nearly three minutes spinning on the horses. Once we were finally done with the ride, Bucky jumped off of his horse, letting me climb off after. His arms were around my waist, helping me down. I didn't bother to tell him that - like getting onto the horses - I could have done it myself. His hands lingered for half a second too long.

Once we were down, I reached over and grabbed his hand. He let it linger for a moment before pulling his hand away and wrapping it around my waist. I smiled brightly, walking over towards the other rides. "So, despite the fact that we're going on the kiddie rides, is this better than a day at training?" I asked Bucky with a small smile.

He glanced down at me and nodded. "We could be standing in the middle of a ditch in the desert and this would be the best birthday ever," he said. I laughed softly. "The only thing that matters is that you're back here."

The two of us were smiling at each other when he leaned down, placing his hand on the bottom of my jaw. He tilted my head up gently and I smiled when he pushed my head closer to his. The two of us met lips for a moment, sharing the small kiss. After a moment, one of his hands came up to push the hair back off of my face. We were locked together, not really walking, when a small child made a disgusted noise near us. We broke apart and laughed as the very embarrassed mother apologized awkwardly to us, dragging her daughter away.

Not wanting to make any more of a scene, I grabbed Bucky's arm and pulled him with me. "Come on. Lets make it better," I told him softly.

We both laughed as I ran towards one of my favorite things in the park. I used to love it because I felt like I could fly. Of course, that was before I knew that I could fly. But still, we walked over to the three hundred foot iron tower that was one of the centerpieces of Coney Island. It had open sides that allowed people to look all over Coney Island. It was gorgeous. And considering what a nice day this was - other than being cold - we would be able to see all over New York.

It wasn't just me that liked this ride though. Bucky had always liked it too. Neither one of us were ever really afraid of heights. Bucky had always gotten slightly more nervous than I had. But that was mostly because I knew that if we fell, I would survive the fall. Now that would be a tough one to explain. Steve had always hated this ride. We'd used to have to drag him on it, working together to actually physically force him on. Not that it was ever very difficult. Steve was a little guy, and that meant that between Bucky and myself, it was easy to move him.

We showed the man at the gate our tickets and he stepped to the side, allowing Bucky and I to walk into the entrance of the levitating tower. It was the thing that would bring us three hundred feet into the air. There were typically two shaft that were running, but today, only one of them was running. It really wasn't that crowded. There were about eight other people in the shaft with us, including the operator. There was a younger family, the mother and father trying to usher the son over to the edge. There was also an older couple, seemingly enjoying the weather.

The platform took a few minutes to raise all the way to the top. "Take a look," Bucky told me, pushing me over towards one of the telescopes that allowed people to look out forty miles to sea. I looked out and smiled. The view was amazing, just as it always was.

Bucky was standing behind me, his arms on either side of me, glancing over past my head. "Beautiful," I chirped softly, glancing back into the telescope. As I turned it, I realized that I could actually see the old apartment building that we had all lived in. I smiled and stepped back, simply enjoying the cold breeze. "Best view I've seen in a long time," I said.

"I don't know. I've seen better," Bucky told me.

Turning back to him, I smiled. He had been speaking directly into my ear. He was still standing right behind me, pressing me gently against the railing. For once I wasn't embarrassed. I wasn't nervous. This was the way that I had always wanted the two of us to be. It had simply taken me a little too long to figure it out. We smiled at each other before he leaned into me, pressing a small kiss against my mouth. I wrapped an arm over his shoulders and laughed. Our kiss didn't last long as an older couple began to coo softly at us. After a few moments - not wanting to make the others that were up on the platform uncomfortable - I pushed him away from me.

Bucky didn't seem offended about it. He merely grabbed my hand as we walked over to the edge of the platform. "Remember that time when we came here and Steve threw up over the side and hit that poor woman down on the ground?" he asked me.

I let out a very ugly and very loud laugh. That was a pretty hard one to forget. We had been up here when we were kids - myself being nine, Steve was eleven, and Bucky was twelve - after eating lunch. Steve had, very unwisely, eaten two hotdogs before coming on. The two of us had been teasing him about how high up we were before he'd run over to the edge of the platform and puked off the edge. We had thought that it would just be on the ground but when the two of us had glanced over with him, we'd realized that he'd thrown up directly on an older woman that had been standing in line on the ground floor. The whole thing was hysterical, but it had resulted in an accident.

Even thinking about the incident, it still made me laugh. Even after all of these years. "They kicked us out for a year!" I laughed.

They really had. Our picture had been everywhere. We had tried to get back into the park afterwards, but our picture had been up on the walls and they'd refused to let us in. "It was so worth it to see the way that she reacted. I thought that she was going to kill us when we got off!" Bucky said as the platform began to lower back to the ground.

She really did seem like she was about to kill us. The park workers had ensured that she didn't. "I would have protected you," I teased Bucky. The two of us laughed. "Hey, it was better than that horribly dyed hair that she had beforehand."

Her hair really had been awful. She looked like she was wearing toothpaste on her head. Her hair had been slightly white but it had also had this extremely ugly blue tinge. The green and yellow had almost made a fun rainbow. "I think green was a much better color on her," I giggled.

The ride took about two minutes to get back to the ground. When the gates were opened the people that had been inside the ride walked out. Bucky and I walked out with them, hand-in-hand. As we walked around the park, I realized that - for the first time in a long time - I was right where I wanted to be. This was really the right place for me. Not just at Camp Lehigh, working on Operation Rebirth. But with Bucky. He had always been my home. And this right here, how happy we seemed right now, this was the way that I wanted to be. As we walked back and forth, searching for a place for us to get lunch, I finally felt like this might really be what my life would be like.

We were walking past a few of the food stands before I stopped Bucky in front of one of them. I was starving. I hadn't had a chance to get breakfast this morning. "Do you want to get lunch?" I asked Bucky.

He dug through his pockets before turning to me with a guilty face and shaking his head. "Vika, I don't have money," he said.

Rolling my eyes at Bucky, I shoved him into line for food. "I have money, Bucky." He didn't seem to like that I was offering to spend more of my own money. "It's your birthday. I pulled out some of the money that my Dad gave me before coming here. Don't worry. A few snacks here are barely anything. So what do you want?" I asked him as we got to the front of the line.

Bucky shook his head as we stood in front of the cashier that was waiting for us to order. "Nothing," Bucky told me.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Fine."

"What'll it be?" the cashier asked me. He was a younger teenager, probably sick of doing this job just because his parents had told him that he needed to help out around the house.

"A popcorn and corn-dog, please," I ordered.

The popcorn was for me. It was always one of my favorite foods. But the corn-dog was for Bucky. I hated them. But I knew that both Steve and Bucky had always had a particular penchant for them. "Vika!" Bucky barked at me.

"Shut up," I snapped at him.

The cashier actually smiled at us. "That'll be a dollar," he said. I scoffed but dug through my pockets anyways. The prices at this place were insane. I handed him over the dollar. "Thank you," the cashier said, motioning for us to step to the side.

As we did, Bucky glanced over at me. "I said that I didn't want anything," he told me.

I rolled my eyes and stood against the building, waiting for our food to come up. "I don't care. Just say thank you, Bucky," I told him.

Bucky sighed and nodded at me. "Thank you," he said awkwardly. I laughed at him as he leaned in, pressing a small kiss to the corner of my mouth. I grinned at him and stood under his arm as we waited for the food to pop up.

We were waiting for barely a minute before the cashier called out to us. "Here you two are."

"Thanks," Bucky said as he grabbed our food.

"Come on, let's go on Switchback Railway," I told him, grabbing on his arm and tugging him with me.

His eyes widened as he stared at me like I had lost my marbles. "Right after we ate?" he asked me. I glared at him, letting him know that I was going to drag him on it, even if he said no. After a moment he sighed and nodded, letting me pull him with me. "Fine, but if I throw up, it's going to be your fault," he told me loudly.

I laughed and ignored him. He wasn't going to throw up after one ride. Switchback Railroad really wasn't that bad. He'd manage. We walked into the line for it and I smiled, leaning back against the bars as we finished our food. It wasn't a very popular ride, but I had always enjoyed it. I was pretty sure the fact that I liked it was the only reason that the boys ever went on it with me. Bucky and I were sharing each other's food as we waited in line, laughing and relishing in the fact that Bucky was almost done with training.

We ended up waiting about ten minutes before we were finally allowed onto the ride. Bucky and I tossed our plates and cups away and jumped into the car. It definitely wasn't the most thrilling of the roller coasters that they had in Coney Island, but we would manage to have fun. The top of the ride was fifty feet in the air and the ride made a rather large drop off of it. The car went up and down a few hills before hitting a higher hill on the far end of the track. The car would then turn around and do the ride all over again. It only took about a minute before riders arrived back at the station. The problem was that the seats were incredibly uncomfortable. But it didn't really matter. We rode it three times.

We were going to ride it a fourth time when Bucky decided that he didn't want to ride it again, in fear that he was going to end up throwing up his corn-dog. "You big baby," I teased him.

Bucky turned over to me and grinned. "Alright, we'll go on it again, and I'll throw up on you," he told me.

I laughed softly at him and shook my head. He did not want to throw up on me. If he did that, I was going to end his life. As wonderful as he was, the last thing that I wanted was for him to vomit on me. "You do that, and I'll kick your head off of your shoulders," I told him. And it wasn't a joke, despite the fact that we both laughed.

The two of us decided that we still wanted to go on rides, despite the fact that Bucky wasn't quite up to another roller coaster. So we decided to head to something a little slower paced. Not that it was really that slow. It was called the Steeplechase. It was a gravity driven ride that started between twenty and thirty feet up in the air. It was a curving metal track that was an imitation of a real horse race. There were six horses that ran parallel on eleven hundred feet of track. It would coast down a few dips before hitting a hill and using momentum to travel up it. It crossed over a stream bed about halfway through and some hurdles towards the end.

The horses had two seats together that were meant so that two people could ride together. It was so that kids could ride together, they could ride with their parents, or couples could ride together. Plenty of them did, but they were all either married or engaged. Or the women were too weak to be brave enough to do it themselves. When we were kids, Bucky and I would ride together and Steve would race us. It seemed a little weird now, considering that we hadn't really determined what kind of relationship that we were in.

We stood in line for about twenty minutes before we got to the front of the line. Bucky turned towards me awkwardly when we were asked about which horses we wanted to go on. "You wanna ride with me? I mean - uh - do you want to go on the ride with me?" he asked me.

Bucky brushed his hair back over his head and I grinned at him. He really had no idea how to talk to me. It was somewhat cute. Actually, it was extremely cute to see someone else on the awkward end of the stick. "Hell no, I wanna race you," I told him with a bright grin.

He laughed at me and seemed grateful that I hadn't messed with him about the slip of the tongue that he'd had. Of course, it had only given me some strange feelings that were fluttering around inside of my stomach. I brushed them off and jumped onto the horse, laughing and smiling as the countdown began. We rode side by side as the race began. More than once I thought about using the wind to help me along, but I decided not to. I wanted to win this race fair and square. We hit the end after a minute or two and I jumped off, groaning that Bucky had won the race by mere milliseconds. It was because he was heavier. Of course, I was furious. Bucky never beat me at anything.

As we got off, Bucky pumped his fist into the air. I crossed my arms over my chest and shoved into him. "What? That's so not fair!" I barked at him. He continued to laugh at me. "I had you until that last turn."

Bucky laughed at me and slung an arm over my shoulder, pulling him into him. "Sore loser," he teased. And he was completely right. I was a sore loser. I hated losing at everything. "Come on, let's go do something where you can't lose," he told me, yanking me along with him.

Groaning under my breath, I shoved him away from me. "I hate you," I snarled at him.

Bucky didn't seem the least bit bothered that I had said something about hating him. "No, you don't," he told me. And he was completely right. I didn't hate him. Far from it.

The two of us shoved at each other for a moment before Bucky began pulling me towards a dark ride called Trip to the Moon. It was based off of the short movie of the same name. Bucky and Steve had always liked it. I'd always thought that it was a little on the creepy side. We didn't wait that long, considering that the cars took a lot of people all at once. While we waited, Bucky and I sat against the railing, laughing with each other. More than once Bucky and I shared a small kiss. It was strange. To actually be happy, with no worries about anything in the back of my mind. Not training, not where Bucky would end up in a few weeks, and not the truth of what I was.

Once ten minutes had gone by, Bucky and I went into the ride. It started with forty-five passengers climbing aboard the ship Luna III. We would all sit inside in rows and watch a screen in front of the ship. It moved slightly as the ship raised and we watched the movie portion of the ride. It was the only part that didn't creep me out. We saw panorama versions of Coney Island and Manhattan's skyscrapers before passing into the clouds. From there, the ship stopped as we were escorted out.

Of course, the ride wasn't over. This was where Bucky began to enjoy the ride and I wanted to rush out. This part creeped me out. It almost reminded me of a joking version of being a mutant. We got out of the ride and then began to walk around a paper-machie version of the moon. I was always nervous that with everyone walking around, people would start to fall through. As we walked, people in costumes played the Selenites from the movie. Mostly girls. I wanted to light them on fire for spending most of their time dancing around Bucky. We visited the palace of the Man in the Moon with the dancing Moon Maidens - who also seemed to like Bucky - before leaving through the Mooncalf's mouth.

We left the ride nearly half an hour later and I had the burning desire to melt the skin off of my bones and replace it with fresh skin. "I don't care what anyone says, that ride is weird," I told Bucky as we walked towards a different ride.

Bucky scoffed at me as we walked. "You just don't understand it," he told me.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him. I'd seen A Trip to the Moon a hundred times. That whole thing made perfect sense to me. It was just weird. "I understand it just fine, but it's weird," I said.

"It is not."

"I think that you just have a crush on the moon maidens."

The moon maidens were basically girls in bathing suits that were dancing around in something akin to slow motion. They walked around the guests and definitely tried to flirt with the boys. The funny thing about them was that they were wearing these bright vests that looked like tin foil. It was comical watching them pretend to have 'powers'.

And it was also funny that Bucky found them amusing. Maybe one day he'd find everything that I could do amusing. "I think that you'd look nice in those costumes," Bucky said, nudging me gently.

I laughed loudly and shook my head. I'd look like a fool if I ever wore something like that. "Right. Like the men in training don't have enough to say about me. I'm sure that wearing those costumes would make things even better," I said bitterly. I noticed that Bucky's jaw clenched and I sighed, pulling him into me. "Come on, I want to go on the train," I said, trying to distract him.

Bucky's eyes widened. I used to hate the train when I was a kid. It had creeped me out a little bit. But now I wanted to try it again. "Really?" Bucky asked. He probably thought that I wanted to do the roller coasters.

We were pushing those off until the end. "Yeah. Why?" I asked him.

Bucky shrugged at me, grabbing my waist and pulling me with him. "I would have thought you'd want to do one of the roller coasters or something," he said with a small smile.

He was going to ride the roller coasters. But we were going to do it back to back. Until he threw up. That would make it the perfect birthday for both myself and Bucky. "Oh, I do. But I'm going to make you do them all one after another. Just until you throw up," I told him.

He laughed and shoved me gently. "It'll be all over you," he told me.

If he even thought about vomiting on me, be damned the fact that I wanted to hide my mutations from him. I'd light his ass on fire. Or maybe electrocute him. Or drop a boulder on him. Something of that caliber. "Then it'll be your body that I'm delivering back to Camp Lehigh," I told him with a serious face.

We could only last for so long before the both of us burst into laughter. We walked over to the other side of the park and went up to the entrance of the Dragon Gorge Scenic Railway. It was one of the smaller roller coasters in the park. It was also the only enclosed roller coasters in the park. There were two magnificently carved dragons that stood at the entrance to the ride; their eyes glowing a brilliant green. They used to make me slightly nervous when I was a kid. Looking back on it, Bucky always held my hand as we walked into it.

Even now, as we walked into the ride, Bucky was holding my hand. But things were so different now. I would have never dreamed of Bucky kissing me when I was nine. Liar. Okay, so maybe I would have, but I would have never acted on it. We ended up sitting in the front of the car - next to an older couple - and I was grateful. I was still too short to see in the back of the car. The ride was a scenic railroad that went quickly through scenes of a waterfall, the North Pole, Africa, the Grand Canyon, and into the Realm of Hades over the River Styx. That was the only scene that sent a chill up my spine. Somewhere - in the back of my mind - I could remember Stryker once telling me that I had come straight from Hell.

I managed to shake off the feeling as we got off of the ride, but Bucky still seemed to think that something was wrong. "You alright?" he asked me.

I nodded at Bucky, not wanting to admit what I had really been thinking about. No matter what way I tried to think of how to tell Bucky what I was, it never seemed like it was going to come out right. "Yeah. Just not the happiest ending of a ride," I told him.

He sighed at me and wrapped his arm over my shoulder once more, pulling me into him. The wind had a biting cold to it, and I tucked into him. The heat that his body was giving off was ten times better than anything that the flames underneath my skin were doing. "You'll get a happy ending, Vika, don't worry," he told me, pressing a kiss into my hair.

"You so sure about that?" I asked.

It really wasn't meant to come out that way. I didn't want to be down on Bucky on his birthday. This was supposed to be a happy day. Thankfully, he'd always known how to make things bright in a conversation. "Of course. You have me! What could be better than that?" he asked giddily.

I rolled my eyes at him. Pompous jerk. "You're right. Lucky me. I couldn't imagine having anything better in my life," I groaned.

For a moment I thought about bringing up Howard, but he was still a sore spot with Bucky. It would be a while before I could joke about him. "Now some part of me thinks that you might be being facetious," Bucky said.

My eyebrows rose. I wasn't aware that he knew words like that. "Big word. I'm impressed," I teased.

He was no fool. I knew that. But that didn't mean that I didn't want to tease him about it. "Now that was uncalled for. I know plenty of big words," Bucky said. I grinned at him. Of course I knew that. "Come on, I learned them all from you. Whenever we had a spelling test, you would always quiz me all night," he said.

He was right about that. When we were kids and the boys would have a test, we would stay up all hours of the night until they knew the answers backwards and forwards. It was the one way that they were always A students. "I can quiz you tonight, if you like?" I asked teasingly.

It took me half a second too long to realize that what I had said didn't sound very good. Bucky's face went bright red and I wanted to tear my eyes out. "I - I - uh..." he stuttered awkwardly.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! "And I can put my foot in my mouth," I said, laughing awkwardly. Definitely times like this were when I needed to think first and speak second. "Now let's not make anything even more awkward. Come on. See, now it's time for the roller coasters," I said.

Bucky seemed to appreciate that I had at least gotten off of the topic. But every now and again - as he liked to press my buttons - he said something that shocked me. "You can always come by if you want," he said.

It was my turn for my face to go pink - along with my eyes. I glanced away and searched the far reaches of my mind for something witty to say back to him. "I'm sure that the other recruits would love that," I said.

Bucky grinned at me. "I think we'd all have to take turns."

Ew. That certainly wasn't something that I wanted. Some of the recruits weren't half bad, but I didn't want any of them touching me like that. "Nah. You're the only one that I'd actually trust to not bother me. Scratch that. Actually, you'd probably keep me up all night, harassing me to hang out with you. At least Peggy sleeps," I told him.

He grinned at me. "You big baby, you don't know how to have fun," he said.

"I do too!" I barked, shoving him towards the roller coasters at the front of the park. "It's exactly why we're going to go on the roller coasters until you puke," I told him.

"You gonna want me to hold your hand?" Bucky asked.

Yes. No. My pride couldn't decide whether my heart or brain wanted to win over. Probably my pride. "Please. I'll have to hang onto your hand," I snapped at him. There's the pride.

"I wouldn't mind that," Bucky said with a grin.

Once more I blushed but didn't bother to say anything back. Instead, we walked over to the first of the roller coasters. It was called the Mile Sky Chaser. Not that it was a mile long. Or anything like that. I wasn't really sure why it was called that at all. It was only about a seventh of a mile. But it did have a fun maximum drop of eighty feet. The two of us rushed each other onto the ride, eager to see who would call uncle first. I had a feeling that we would find ourselves at a draw. We rode the ride twice together, laughing and cheering the entire time. We sat in the front together both times, trying to tease each other about who was braver.

We were intending to go on a third time too, but we couldn't. It had gone up to a forty minute wait and we really didn't have time if we wanted to do other things in the park before having to go back tonight. So we went to another one of the roller coasters. It was called the Cyclone. It was Steve's least favorite ride in the park. He had thrown up the last time that we were all on it as kids. While we waited in line, I teased Bucky that he was going to be the one throwing up this time. The ride was one of the longest in the park. It was a minute and fifty seconds. It was just like the Mile Sky Chaser, a wooden roller coaster with an eighty five foot drop. It was set in a figure eight design.

We rode it three times before getting off and moving on. To my displeasure, Bucky hadn't thrown up. But he had seemed a little queasy towards the end of the ride. So I decided to try something else. "Alright. Now how about a real thrill?" I asked with a bright grin.

It was one of the rides that we had never been on. Steve was petrified of it and refused to go. We didn't want to go without him, so we had decided not to go. Bucky glanced up at the tower that I was pointing out. A dumbfounded look crossed his face. "The Parachute Jump? I've never actually been on it. Steve was always too scared to go," Bucky said.

So they hadn't managed to go together, even after I had gone. "Getting a little nervous yourself?" I asked him teasingly.

I really wanted him to go on it. I wanted to see how well he would react to the sensation of really flying. "Of course not. I've got you to protect me," he told me as we walked.

We both laughed as we walked up to the entrance of the line. It had a relatively long wait. I assumed that it was because a lot of people wanted to see if they had the guts to actually go on it. It had always been called the Life Savers Parachute Jump - or as most people knew it, New York's Eiffel Tower - and it was one of the most intimidating rides in the park. Probably because of how tall it was. It was over two hundred and fifty feet tall, and there was almost nothing stopping someone from a face plant into the concrete below.

The ride itself was a reasonably simple design. There were two-people canvas seats that hung below a closed parachute. Twelve groups of two could go at a time. The groups would start at the bottom and get harnessed into their seats before being raised up to the top. That was the longest part of the ride. It seemed to take forever. From there the riders were hung over the edge of the ride as they waited for the attendants to release them. The drop was pretty much a free fall, only being slowed by the parachutes. At the bottom, the riders hit the landing pads that were stuffed with springs. Most people managed to fall at the end.

Bucky and I stood in line for well over half an hour as we waited for the ride. Once we finally were allowed to the front of the line, we went to the middle of the ride. The attendant took two minutes to completely strap Bucky and I in. We were holding hands as we were brought to the top of the ride. I noticed that it was mostly kids and younger men that were on the ride. We hit the top of the ride and I jokingly nudged Bucky as we waited to be released. He looked over at me with a glance that said he was slightly nervous.

"Too late to get down, I suppose?" Bucky asked me.

We both laughed and I opened my mouth to respond, but I never got the chance. The ride made a soft groan and before I got the chance to say anything against it, the restraints were released. We went rocketing towards the ground and Bucky and I both let out little shrieks - along with everyone else on the ride. We began to slow as we neared the bottom of the ride, but we never stopped completely. We were still going almost ten miles an hour when we hit the ground. We bounced on the springs for a moment before tumbling and hitting the ground, landing in a mess of limbs.

The two of us were let up by a ride attendant, and as we walked off, I fixed my hair from the fall. Bucky seemed to be a little shaky. I had a feeling that that wasn't his favorite ride. "Could you imagine what it would really be like to fly?" Bucky asked as we walked away.

I smiled at him, trying desperately to not admit that I could fly. Maybe when the day came that I told him the truth, I'd take him out flying or something like that. But I wasn't sure if I could carry his weight. "Probably be pretty cool. I'd like to see you fly. Actually, I'd like to see you try and land. We'd be having Bucky pancakes for a week," I teased him.

He laughed at me and shook his head. "I'd trust you to catch me," he said.

"I'd deliberately let you fall."

Of course, I wouldn't. There wasn't a chance in hell that I would ever really let Bucky hurt himself. "No, you wouldn't. Because I wouldn't let you fall," Bucky told me. I smiled as we walked back over to the roller coasters. Bucky had always sworn that he was an adrenaline junkie, and this was his chance to prove it to me.

Together we walked over to another ride called the Thunderbolt. It was another one of the wooden roller coasters. It was a minute and twenty seconds long. One of the longer rides in the park. It was about eighty six feet tall. We weren't in line long before hopping on. Bucky and I took to the front seat and waited for the ride to begin. Each one of us were nudging at the other as the coaster went up the ramp to the first drop.

The ride hit the edge of the hill before going over it. Bucky and I both screamed as we hit the eight six foot drop. Everyone else on the ride were shouting too. The ride made a large turnaround headed back to the station - mostly since there wasn't a lot of room in this section of the park. The coaster roughly went over two medium sized drops before making another turn and dipping down a smaller drop. I could feel my stomach lurching around and fluttering with every movement. It was nothing compared to how I felt with Bucky. The ride made three small hops - making both Bucky and I laugh - as we went underneath one of the larger turns. The ride made another three small hops and one more small turn before hitting into one last bunny hop and pulling back into the station.

Once we had gotten off of the Thunderbolt, we went onto the Tornado. It was the last of the wooden roller coasters in the park that had a smaller drop - only seventy one feet. It was about half a mile long. Bucky and I were in the middle of the train as it rose to the top of the lift and made a small drop, banking to the right. It went down the first of the big drops before rising up once more and making another large drop, going immediately into a left turn. There were another two big drops - something that had always upset Steve - and one more left turn. The coaster went into a rough, medium sized drop, before going into a wide left banking turn. At the end of the ride were two small hops - like the Thunderbolt - and a right turn as the ride pulled back into the station.

Bucky and I were laughing as we got off of the ride. We were walking back over towards the exit of the park. We were almost straight under the Wonder Wheel - the Ferris wheel in the center of the park. It was huge. A hundred and fifty feet tall. The Parachute Jump was the only thing that was taller in the park. The fascinating thing about the ride was that the cars moved back and forth over the track. It made for a much more interesting ride. It was always one of my favorite things about the park. I liked being at the top of the ride, in the night, with the lights on. It made me feel like I could be out in space, pretending like this world wasn't even here.

As we walked out towards the Wonder Wheel I noticed that the sun was beginning to set. I sighed and wrapped an arm around myself. The air was getting a little chillier. But that wasn't what was bothering me. With the sun setting, it meant that we would have to leave soon. It meant that we had to go so that at least we would have time to get back to Camp Lehigh. We couldn't be back too late.

"Do you want to go on the Wonder Wheel?" Bucky asked me, shattering the peaceful silence.

Glancing over at him, I smiled and nodded. "Sure."

Bucky's P.O.V.

It was the best birthday that he could ever remember. There had been plenty of things that they had done before. Plenty of ways that he had had good birthdays. Some years they went to the movies, other years they went out to eat, sometimes they had family parties, as he got older he held parties with his friends, and he had even been to Coney Island on his birthday before. Most of those things he had either planned for himself, his parents had planned for him, or he and Steve had planned them together.

It wasn't like Victoria was the first girl to do something for his birthday. When he was a kid, his sisters Jessica and Rebecca would help his family figure out what to do for his birthday. They were always the two of that would manage to spill the secrets about his birthday. As he got older, a few girls that he had been courting had taken him out to do something on his birthday.

There had been Mary - who'd taken him to see The Wizard of Oz. She had passed through his life - her attitude simply hadn't been for him - but the movie had remained one of his favorites. Dorothy had taken him out for dinner last year. But he had still paid - as men always did. Vika was the first woman that had ever paid for him. Helen had simply taken him for a walk around town, a picnic, and everything else that cost nothing. It was nice. But she hadn't lasted long. Betty had lasted the longest. He'd dated her for over a year. But she had come to talking about marriage - just before he had left for training. And he simply wasn't ready for that. Not at the time.

All of the girls that he had gone out with were nice, good, girls that would make someone a good wife. But they were never for him. And it wasn't until she had returned that he'd realized why. It was all because of her. Vika. He should have known that he would have never been happy without her. He loved her. It was plain and simple. He was in love with her. He'd never been in love before. He'd certainly liked a few girls before. But he had never loved any of them. He had never realized that he even had the potential to be in love.

There were plenty of things about the other girls that he had been with that he'd liked. He liked that they were all dames, he liked that most of them were funny, and he liked that they all cared for him. But there were simply more things that outweighed those. None of them were really that smart. It wasn't like they were nitwits, they just weren't as smart as he liked. They all wanted to be housewives and mothers. That was all nice - and they were things that he once thought that he would like - but he realized that he didn't want that. Not yet. He didn't like that they all went with whatever he said at any time. He wanted someone to butt heads with. He wanted someone that actually could think for themselves.

And that was all because of her. She had changed everything about him. He wasn't really sure what it was about her that he loved. Actually, he did know, but the list was just too long. He loved that she was the smartest person that he had ever met. He loved how driven she was. He loved that she was going to get her degree for Harvard. He loved how funny she was. She always had the best comebacks and always had something snappy to say. He thought that it was hysterical the way that she could hand anyone's ass to them. He loved that she was able to fight him without thinking about it. He loved that she was tough as nails. And he loved the way that she challenged him.

It was because of her that so many of his ideals on love had changed. It was because of her that this was the best birthday that he had ever had. They were standing in line, waiting for the next gondola to come for them to go on the ride. She was staring up at the ride, a small smile resting on her face. It was the most content that he had ever seen her. He reached around and brushed the hair off of her neck, watching as her grin widened. He smiled, just looking at her. She really was the love of his life.

He would always want her. He would always love her. He knew that. He knew it just by the way that he felt the burning desire for her, every time that he saw her. He knew that one day, eventually, he was going to ask her to marry him. It might not be for a long time, but he would ask her. A few minutes passed and they got onto the gondola. Bucky sat side-by-side with her. One of her hands was on his knee as she looked out dreamily, over the sky. It was beautiful. He knew why she was smiling at it. But it didn't matter. There was a much better view that he could see.

He just wished that she could see it too. He liked just looking at her. He wished that she knew how much he loved her. How much he loved the way that she looked. He knew that her yellow eyes drove her nuts. He knew that she hated them. But the one thing that she would never know was how much he loved them. They were incredible. Everything about her was everything that he wanted. But every time that he opened his mouth and tried to speak, the words got jumbled. She would never know what a bumbling mess she made out of him.

They were at the top of the Ferris wheel when he looked over at her once more. She was staring out the side, dreamily. She was tucked into his side too. "They all look so small, so significant. I just wish that we could stay up here forever. No more problems," she muttered.

Bucky grinned down at her. "I don't know. I've got something that makes all of my problems go away," he said. She turned to him and gave a bashful smile before looking back at the sky. She sat for a few minutes before giving a soft shiver. "Are you cold?" he asked her.

"No," she answered almost immediately.

But he had known her for the good part of his life. She was always good at hiding lies. Sometimes even he had a hard time telling when she was lying and when she was telling the truth. He just knew that right now, she was lying. So he moved forward, pulling the jacket that he was wearing off of his shoulders. It wasn't much - just a thin jacket that the Army supplied for training in the winter months - but it was more than nothing. He slipped it over her shoulders and she smiled, pulling herself into it. It was far too large on her, but it was cute.

She tucked herself into his side and Bucky smiled, reaching an arm around her. She stared off into the distance and out of the corner of his eyes, Bucky could see that the lights were twinkling in the corners of her eyes. She was smiling brightly. It was the happiest that he had ever seen her. She seemed to finally realize that he was staring at her as she looked back towards him. He grinned at her and she moved in, himself meeting her the rest of the way. Their lips met and Bucky smiled into the kiss.

It reminded him of the same way that he had felt when they had first kissed. It was one of the best moments that he could remember. She had been ranting about Stark and how she really didn't like him when he'd known that he was in his window. For the briefest moment after he had kissed her, he had been afraid that she hadn't wanted him to do that. But the moment that she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, he knew that she'd wanted it as much as he had. They ended up staying together for a long time. He didn't even know how long that they were together. They simply stayed together, Bucky wrapping her hair around his hand and gently tilting her head back.

There was something terrifying about being with her, though. And it came as they were locked together. Because for a moment, just a moment, Bucky wished that he hadn't signed up for the military. For just a moment he wished that he had decided to stay. That way he could have watched over Steve and he could have been with her. He would say that it was all to protect her - but that was pointless. He knew that she could perfectly well handle herself. It was really just because he loved her more than anything and he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life. And the moment that he got back, he intended to tell her that.

They were still locked together - what felt like hours later - when someone cleared their throat. "The ride is over," a younger attendant - a teenage boy - awkwardly told them.

Bucky sprung apart from her and saw that she had a deep blush marring her features. "Oh!" he chirped awkwardly. "Sorry, don't mind us," Bucky laughed as he grabbed Vika's hand and tugged her out of the ride.

She placed her head in her hands. "God that's embarrassing," she laughed.

"Being seen with me?" he asked her.

She smiled at him and shook her head at him. "Of course. I don't want anyone to know that I stooped so low as to be with you," she said.

He knew that she was just messing with him. It was one of her favorite things to do. Bucky smiled at her and shook his head, grabbing her tightly and shaking. "I don't know why I like you," he snapped at her.

She smiled at him. "Yes you do." Yes I do.

Victoria's P.O.V.

We had just left the Wonder Wheel. It was like a scene out of a movie. Something that I had never wanted to end. But damn that ride attendant. He was exactly the reason that I had been embarrassed beyond belief. Despite the fact that I was kind of with Bucky - not that we had really defined what we were to each other yet - I didn't want people to be seeing things like that. Not out in public. It still wasn't the proper thing to be doing. We should save things like that for private times.

But I didn't want to think about things like that. So as we walked past the game booths I smiled at the stuffed animals that were hanging up. "Look at those cute little things," I said happily, pointing to the booth where a person could throw baseballs at milk jugs.

"You want one?" Bucky asked me.

I smiled as I glanced over at him. "You gonna win me one?" I asked him teasingly.

He nodded at me and walked over to the game. "I'll try. One try, please," he told the attendant. I handed the attendant a nickel and stepped back, watching him. Bucky grabbed the baseball and chucked it as hard as he could at the bottles. Less than a minute later he had knocked over all three sets of the bottles. I grinned as the attendant groaned.

He stepped back and motioned to all of the stuffed animals that were hung up. "Any one that you'd like," the attendant said.

Bucky grinned at me and I laughed. "Which one?" he asked me.

My eyes scanned over the stuffed animals. Some were cuter than others. There was an otter that I giggled at. It looked like it was about to dive into the water. But it wasn't quite as soft as I wanted. So I looked over it. I glanced at some of the others. There were the simple teddy bears that were rather cute. But they were normal. I'd seen lots of girls carrying those. Things that their boyfriends had won them. I wanted something different. And after a few minutes I finally found it.

"That one," I said, pointing to a snow leopard on the top rack. The attendant reached up and grabbed it, handing it over to Bucky. He grabbed it and handed it off to me, the two of us leaving the stand with a quick thanks. I grabbed the soft animal and tucked it into my arms. "My hero, winning me cheap stuffed animals," I teased Bucky.

He glanced over at me and smiled. "What are you gonna name it?" he asked me after a beat.

For a while I stared at the animal. I wasn't quite sure. Something that had to be with winter. The moment that I had thought of a name and said it out loud, I wanted to slap myself. I sounded like a idiot. "Snowball."

Bucky let a wide grin pass over his face. "Really?" he asked.

You couldn't have named it something normal? "Yeah!" I said brightly, trying to pretend like I wasn't a blithering idiot for calling the snow leopard Snowball. "What?" I asked as Bucky rolled his eyes.

"Vika, you hate the snow. You basically hibernate for all of winter," he said. He wasn't really wrong. I hated the cold. It was one of the worst things about Stryker's lab. The fact that it was always freezing and I was never allowed a blanket. "And winter is your least favorite time of the year. You like the summer," he said.

But there were things about the winter that I liked. "I like Christmas," I argued.

"Everyone does. That doesn't count."

"You are such a pain in the -" I ranted until I ran straight into someone. I stumbled backwards as Bucky yanked me slightly away from the person. Oh! I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," I told the man that I had run into. He was attempting to straighten up. Once he had recovered from the impact, he glanced over at me.

For a moment I thought that he was just another guy. Some random person that I had never met before. But the more that I looked at him, the more that I remembered him. He looked very much the same that he had the last time that I had seen him. Maybe a little less bloody and a little more intact. His blonde hair was cropped, still slicked back over his head. His dark brown eyes were analyzing me the same way that I was analyzing him. My jaws ground together as he grinned at me. Right in front of me stood Johnathan Harper. The same man that had made me miserable, long before I knew what real misery was.

He looked mostly the same, but he definitely looked a little older. Like Bucky, age had agreed with him. But it was the grin on his face that put me off from his new look. "Johnathan," I snarled.

"Victoria Rogers," he purred. I was about to correct him when I remembered that as far as he was concerned, that was still my name. "As I live and breathe. Been a damn long time," he said.

The last thing that I wanted was to actually speak to Johnathan. But I knew that if I wanted to clear the air between us, I had to speak to Johnathan. And I had to do it now. "Bucky, would you give us a moment?" I asked him.

Bucky grabbed my arm and turned me to face him. "Are you sure?" he asked.

After a beat, I nodded. It wasn't like Johnathan would ever be able to hurt me. "Yeah. I'll be back in a few minutes," I told him. Bucky nodded at me and cautiously walked away, keeping me in his line of sight. Once he had gone, I turned to Johnathan. The two of us simply stared at each other. "So how's that knee treating you?" I asked lightly.

To my surprise, Johnathan grinned. "I wondered if you would ever ask me about that. It's not good, thanks for asking. Early onset arthritis. Couldn't walk for months after you attacked us," he snarled at me. I shrugged my shoulders carelessly. It wasn't my fault that he had gotten too big for his britches. "Everyone thought that I was insane. Thought that we were all insane. No record of a Victoria Rogers. Nothing. You had just disappeared. And now, after all these years, you're back," he told me.

My jaws ground together once more. "Sorry to hear about your knee," I said begrudgingly. "But I paid the price for what happened back in that alley, all of those years ago. Still, I'm sorry for I did to you. I overreacted. I was angry," I told him.

No part of me really wanted to apologize to Johnathan, but I knew that I needed to. What I had done was uncalled for. "I guess I owe you an apology too. Maybe all of those Yellow Eyes comments weren't so nice," he said. My eyebrows rose and I almost smiled. It was an apology that I had always wanted to hear. It wasn't as rewarding as I had thought that it would be. "But look at you now. What have you been doing? Where are you working?" he asked me.

"The Army," I answered quickly. Johnathan looked shocked at my answer. "I go back and forth between working for one of the science divisions and training the new recruits," I explained.

Johnathan laughed softly, making my nerves frazzle. "With a girl like you working on something like this, you're going to women on the front lines in no time," he told me.

Well that was surprisingly civil. "That's the end goal," I said.

The two of us stood together in an awkward silence for a moment. Without us barking nasty remarks at each other, we really didn't know what to say. "You here with Barnes?" Johnathan finally asked.

I nodded at him slowly. He had always thought that the two of us had feelings for each other. I hated to think that he was right. "Yeah. We're uh - we're together. Sort of. Being a Sergeant in the Army, I can't get involved with recruits. So until the time comes that he graduates in a few weeks, we're just friends," I told him.

Johnathan grinned at me. "Oh man. Wait until everyone back home hears that Barnes really did actually have feelings for you," he said with a laugh. Some part of me couldn't help but to smile. "Well, it was good to see you, Yellow Eyes. I guess I'll see you around," he told me.

He began to walk away, but before he could, I spoke up. Just because we had managed to get along for a few minutes didn't mean that I wanted him back in my life in any way, shape, or form. "No, you won't, Johnathan. I've made my peace with you. Hopefully you feel the same. Have a nice life," I told him.

Johnathan nodded at me before saying, "Good luck on whatever you're doing, Victoria."

"Thank you," I told him. The two of us shook hands with a curt nod before I turned and walked back over to Bucky. He caught me around the back of the waist, a concerned look over his face. "You ready to go?" I asked him.

Bucky groaned as we walked out of the park and towards the gates. "Already time to get back to the real world?" he asked me.

I smiled at him and nodded, grabbing his hand. "I'd keep you here forever if I could, but someone needs to get out there and win the war," I teased him. He kissed me briefly as we headed into the parking lot. "And Howard will probably kill me himself if I disappear with his car," I joked as I pulled the keys out of my pocket.

Bucky laughed loudly as we searched for the car. "You know, we're pretty close to the apartment that Steve and I share. He should be home right about now, if you want to go and see him?" Bucky asked me.

As I walked up to the car, I froze in my spot. That hadn't really been what I was expecting. I hopped in the car and revved the engine. "Oh, Bucky, I - I don't know. I love Steve, and I want to see him, don't get me wrong. But I don't know, Buck. I'm not sure if I'm ready to see him yet. I just got used to being back with you. I want to talk to him, I just need some time," I told him.

"You're sure? He'd be happy to see you," he told me.

"I know," I said softly.

The truth was that I really did want to see Steve again. But I wanted to get used to being with Bucky first. When the time came, I would be ready to see Steve again. "The Stark Expo and Modern Marvels of Tomorrow Exhibition is right after my graduation. Right after I get my orders," Bucky told me. I nodded at him as we drove through the gates of Coney Island and into Brooklyn. "Steve is meeting me there before I deploy the next morning. It'll be a good chance for you to talk to him," he told me.

"I'll be ready to talk by then," I told him. Bucky nodded at me and our fingers tangled together gently as we drove in silence for a while, back towards Camp Lehigh. A few minutes passed before I turned over towards Bucky and grinned brightly. "So you're going to the Stark Expo?" I asked teasingly.

He was no fool. He knew what I was insinuating. "Shut up," Bucky snapped at me.

"No, I'm serious. You're going and that's great," I told him happily. I was glad that he was going. They were always amusing, seeing what the potential products were that would end up in our homes in a few years. "You're not going to try and kill him while you're there, are you?" I asked.

It was a joke, but some part of me was serious. I had a feeling that Bucky really would try to kill Howard if Howard continued to mess with me. "As long as he keeps his hands off of you," Bucky said.

I laughed softly and rolled my eyes. "You know that he does it just because he knows that it bothers you?" I asked him.

"Well he's successful," Bucky huffed.

Smiling at him, I reached over and tightened my hands around his. He was glaring at the dashboard as we roared down the road, back to the base. "Hey. Still your number one girl?" I asked.

"Always," Bucky said with a grin. "Am I your number one guy?"

Now was the perfect chance to mess with him. One my absolute favorite things to do. "Now that might be a little tough to determine," I teased. We both laughed as Bucky swatted at me. "Do not mess with me!" I barked. "I don't want to deal with Howard if something happens to his precious car," I told him honestly.

I would probably be able to fix it with my mutations, but that would be awkward to try and explain to Bucky. "Why, exactly, did he let you borrow his car?" Bucky asked me.

"Because I'm persuasive," I told him brightly.

He rolled his eyes at me. I really was persuasive. But that wasn't really fair on my part. "You're a brat, is what you are." Very true.

It was always one of Chester's favorite things to call me. "And yet you still spend the entire day with me," I told him brightly. He hadn't had to go to Coney Island. Actually, he did. I would have dragged him even if he'd wanted to spend the day in training.

"A fault on my part," Bucky said.

We both laughed loudly as we silenced ourselves. The road was nice and empty this late at night, and the cool air was seeping through the slightly cracked window. Bucky still hadn't asked for his jacket back. I had a feeling that he wouldn't. Sometimes men who were going to war would give the women in their lives a piece of their clothing while they were gone. But those were people that were together. And were we together? I liked to think that we were. But I really didn't know. We hadn't said anything to each other.

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

"Just did," he responded quickly.

I rolled my eyes and sped the car up a little bit. I was getting nervous. "Stop it," I said with a small laugh. "I wanted to ask you... What are we?" Bucky seemed completely confused at my question. I sighed as I tried to spit the words out. "I mean, what are we to each other? I just - I want to know. Who are we to each other?" I stumbled over my words.

Bucky coughed and tugged at the collar of his shirt. I knew that he was just as uncomfortable at this conversation as I was. "Well... What do you want to be?" he asked me.

"I think that you know the answer to that." He wasn't a telepath, but he didn't need to be. I had made it pretty obvious that I wanted the two of us to be together. I just hoped that he felt the same way.

Howard, Peggy, and Chester seemed to think that he did feel the same way. "You're going to make me be the awkward one," Bucky groaned at me.

"Damn straight."

Bucky laughed as we roared down the road. I heard him clear his throat and I stiffened, knowing that he was trying to gather his thoughts. "I want to be together, Vika. I mean, I want to be with you. I want the two of us to be together. If you're alright with me saying it, I want the two of us to go steady," he told me.

A heavy blush settled over my face. "Yeah. I guess that'd be alright," I said softly. Bucky smiled at me and wrapped his hand over my own that was resting on the steering wheel.

We laughed after a beat of awkward silence and rode together. It didn't take us long to get back to normal. The entire time back on the ride we were laughing and making fun of each other. It was while we were enjoying each other's company that I was reminded of exactly why I loved Bucky. He was the best person that I had ever known. The more time that we spent together, the more afraid that I had become for him. I was terrified that something was going to happen to him once he was deployed. I wanted so desperately to go with him and protect him. But I couldn't. I was a woman and Chester would never let me, even if I could. Even Bucky wouldn't let me go.

It took just under an hour for us to get back to Camp Lehigh. It was pretty late, after ten at night. It was past lights out in the camp and that meant that almost everyone was asleep in their beds. I locked Howard's car and climbed out with Bucky. I tucked the keys into my pocket, intent on finding Howard in the morning. We walked back towards the recruit barracks and I smiled at Bucky. We weren't touching, simply because we didn't want any questions. Snowball was under my arm, a wide smile on my face.

We arrived at the edge of the recruit barracks and I smiled at Bucky, the two of us standing side by side and holding hands. "So, a good birthday?" I asked as I turned to face him.

He moved forward and pressed a soft kiss against my mouth. His hands went to the edges of his jacket as he tugged it tighter around me. I smiled softly. He was going to let me keep it. We stood together for a few moments before he finally released me. Not that I wanted him to. "It's the best birthday that I've ever had. Thanks, Vika," Bucky said.

"You're welcome," I said softly, glad that he had enjoyed the day. It was nice that he got to get a day off. "Get to bed. I'll see you at training tomorrow," I told him.

Bucky nodded at me before disappearing into the barracks. I turned to leave and made it most of the way back towards the barracks when Howard came walking towards me. I smiled at him. He glanced down at Snowball - who was tucked into my arms - and smiled. "That is adorable. Did he win that for you?" he asked me.

"Shut your mouth," I snapped, digging down into my pocket. "Thank you for letting me borrow the car. Here are the keys. It's unscratched and unscathed, I promise," I told him, handing him back the keys.

"Thank you. Did you two have a good time?" he asked me.

"A great time. But it's late, and I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow," I said, walking away.

Howard smiled at me and walked back with me towards the barracks for a moment. He diverted at the last moment, heading out of the park. "Goodnight, Victoria. Nice new jacket, by the way," Howard told me.

I rolled my eyes and continued to walk. As I walked over towards the barracks once more, a small smile passed over my face. Today was definitely one of the best days of my life. It was amazing. I was happy about everything that had happened today. The best part was all because of the fact that Bucky had finally given the two of us a name. We were together. We were going steady. Of course, it was a secret for a few weeks, but it didn't matter. For the first time in my life, I was really with someone.

As I walked, I ran straight into Chester. I smiled brightly, knowing that I was in trouble. I could tell by the angry look on his face. "You bought her a 'get-well' bear and forgot to give it to her?" Chester asked me.

"What do you know, she's allergic to them," I told Chester with a little laugh. I gave him a bright smile and turned to leave before Chester could say anything else to me. "See you in the morning, old man!" I shouted, running over towards the barracks.

The two of us went walking towards the barracks - Chester into his and myself into mine. I walked down the hall quietly before slipping into my room nearly silently. It didn't matter. Peggy was awake and on her bed reading her copy of The Great Gatsby. Peggy glanced up and smiled at me. "How was the trip?" she asked.

"Great. We had a lot of fun. It was one of the best days that I've had in a long time," I told her as I began to get ready for the night. I dropped Snowball onto the bed as I began to change.

"That's nice," Peggy told me. I nodded at her and smiled as I pulled on my blue silk pajamas. Peggy glanced over at Snowball and I watched as a wide grin spread over her face. "Cute bear."

I dropped Bucky's jacket onto my desk and noticed that she didn't say anything about it. I was almost grateful for it. "Thanks. He won it for me," I said softly.

Peggy smiled at me and laughed as she stood from the bed, following me into the bathroom. "Look at you. Acting like you're actually being courted by him, rather than the two of you pretend that you're never going to have to talk about your feelings," she said sarcastically.

"Shut up," I snapped at her. The two of us were silent for a moment before I glanced up at her sheepishly. "We decided that we're going steady," I said at barely over a whisper.

"Called it." I rolled my eyes at her and walked back into the bedroom, Peggy following on my heels. "What's its name?" Peggy asked as we both jumped into our beds.

"Shut up."

The two of us both laughed at each other as we laid down and turned the lights off. It didn't stop the two of us from chattering excitedly for well over at hour. I was surprised that our neighbors didn't come over and bark at us to be quiet. Peggy loved to hear what was going on between Bucky and myself. Probably because her love life had hit somewhat of a dead end for the time being. But the good thing was that she had a lot of experience - and that helped me. When the time came that the two of us finally did go to sleep, I found myself curled up with Snowball at my side.

A/N: Hi guys! I did a lot of research on Coney Island at this time, so everything is historically accurate. I had a lot of fun researching all of this, and that's half of what took this chapter so long to get out. The other being that I was busy with finals. But I just arrived back home for a well-earned four month summer! So this has been one of my favorite chapters to write. I hope that you guys liked it too! Thanks for all of the follows and favorites! Keep 'em coming! Please review! Until next time -A

German Translations:

Danke: Thank you

Bitte: You're welcome

glagla6800: Well thank you, I love you too! Hope you're enjoying the story :)

kuppcake: Thank you! Trust me, the ending to this part of the story probably won't be a happy one, but there will be plenty of happy times to come in the future.

xWintra: Thank you! Sometimes the science that I write about it even beyond me lol. I absolutely adore Howard, I can't stand the stories that ignore him. He's too precious. Plus, I like seeing him as more than the guy that Tony really didn't ever connect with. She's definitely afraid of really hurting someone that doesn't deserve it. Sorry this took so long!

Anonymous: I'm so excited to get Steve back! I agree, science would be much easier to understand this way. Glad that you like Vika and Bucky! She actually doesn't age at all. She will meet the Avengers and the Winter Soldier in the same state that she's in now. This story is definitely gonna be long. Her fears will come to life, but not for a while!