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.

38. Chapter 37

In the weeks that passed following my accidental connection to the Soul Stone, our team took some time off from hunting down the Hydra bases. Everyone seemed to know that I needed some time off to try and remind myself that I wasn't some super-powered monster. I was grateful that they hadn't pushed me to immediately go back out into the bases. I needed some time to calm down and just be a normal person. It had led to lots of days lost underneath the tangle of sheets on the bed that I shared with Bucky.

There was no doubt in my mind that I had needed some time to relax. It was obvious that the men felt the same. They all looked much better than they had in a long time with the break from the bases. But it was time to get back to work. The time had even come that I'd had to search through the powers that I was left with. I had found that I was still able to phase - which was a little fun since I could now walk through walls - and I could sometimes catch glimpses of other worlds when I really tried. But that was about it. Otherwise, I was back to my usual crazy self.

The two of us hadn't really talked about what had happened that day. It was probably for the better. I really didn't want to think about what had happened that day. It wasn't exactly a pleasant memory. Bucky hadn't even dared to bring it up. He wasn't clueless. He knew that it was a sore spot with me and likely always would be. He also was smart enough to know that it would turn into a fight if we discussed it. It was best to leave the whole thing alone. But I was also no fool. I knew that we would eventually have to discuss it. For now, I was putting it off.

No one had really enjoyed that day all that much. I had managed to scare everyone at the base and had apparently caused quite a bit of damage to the containment chamber I had been held in. While they had fixed it, I'd spent a few days keeping my head down. I didn't like the stares. Bucky had refused to let me leave our room for an entire day afterward. He instead had forced me to stay with him. No one came to get us. I had a feeling he might have asked them to leave us alone. We had merely spent the entire day in bed, just enjoying the rare peaceful air.

We would have both been content to stay like that for the rest of our lives but we had made a promise to work to end the war. That was half of the reason that I was currently with the rest of the men in Switzerland right now. We were on loan to their army to take care of the two Hydra bases there before moving on to Northern Italy in a few weeks. Once we had cleared out those bases we would be heading back to London. We were assuming that it would take about three to four weeks to clear everything out before we were able to return to London.

One of the worst parts of being here was that I didn't have everyone with me. Most of the people on the base here in Switzerland didn't know who I was. Especially because we were out in the field. These people were merely soldiers. They had heard stories about me. But even those hadn't seemed real to them. Now I was here and the newest freak show. I missed having Chester, Howard, and Peggy around - all of whom were still in London. They were some of the few people who genuinely understood me. Almost no one here did.

Currently, I was in the room that I had been assigned with Bucky. It wasn't really a room, actually. We were sharing a tent out on the edges of the field like the rest of the men were. They had all been lucky enough to get solo tents. No one from the Swiss base liked that I was sharing a tent with Bucky - since I was the only woman with permanent residence on the base and it was deemed inappropriate - but I didn't really care. I had made it very clear early on that I wasn't going to be sleeping anywhere else that wasn't with him.

There wasn't much that was laying around in the tent. There was only a very small cot - barely designed for use by one person - that the two of us were sharing. I really was going to be so happy when the day came that I was able to sleep in a king size bed that I shared with Bucky in our house in the middle of the woods that had been designed by Howard. I couldn't wait for those days of peace. In the meantime, the two of us were laying in bed together, having just come back from a planning day. We had been planning our first attack for the bulk of the day.

"Are you okay?" Bucky asked, turning back to me.

He must have noticed that I was running my hands over my arms. "A little cold," I admitted. I would have loved to use the flames but I really didn't want to light the tent - our only place to sleep - on fire. "I'm fine."

"Come here," Bucky said.

We both walked over to the cot that was set down against the lumpy ground. Bucky dropped onto it first, moving toward the edge. I smiled as he opened his arms, giving me some room to slide in next to him. I did so, wrapping my arms over his torso. His arms wound so tightly around my waist that I was sure I wouldn't have been able to breathe without my mutations. His lips gently moved against my forehead and I smiled. I missed those days back at the base in London, locked in our room, tangled underneath the sheets.

"Not used to this kind of weather, are you?" Bucky asked.

"Not really. Even New York was warmer than this," I complained. I had never particularly enjoyed the cold weather. It reminded me of the days being trapped downstairs in our unheated basement when I was a child. "Do you miss home?"

"In a way. I miss all of the familiarity of home. I miss all of the restaurants and theaters. My siblings were a lot easier to keep in touch with when we were back in New York," Bucky said. It had been so long since we'd actually been back in New York. We had been in London for at least five months. It felt like it had been so much longer. Bucky's hands tightened around me. "But everyone I really love is out here."

"Yeah, I understand that," I said, laying a hand on his chest.

"What about you? Missing New York?" Bucky asked.

My home had only ever been with him. "Not really. You know me. I'm not the kind of person to get attached to a place. I love New York. It's home. It always has been. But the truth is that my home is where the people I love are. Most of them are right here in Switzerland right now. The rest are back in London. I'd rather be somewhere that they are," I told him.

Bucky smiled slightly, encasing my hand with his own. "That's really sweet, Vika."

"Do you like it here?" I asked curiously.

So far Switzerland really wasn't my kind of place. Actually, that was understating things. I hated it here. "It's not bad. But I like London a lot more than this place," Bucky admitted.

"Me too," I said.

"Did you leave anything back in London?" Bucky asked.

Almost everything I owned was back in London. Not that the number of things I owned was extensive. "Oh, I left a lot of things back in London. Honestly, I only brought the things that I needed with me to Switzerland," I told him.

"The wedding dress?" Bucky asked, grinning madly.

My jaw almost dropped. I was just barely able to stop myself from doing so. Did he know that I had gone out and bought the wedding dress? No, of course, he didn't know. I hadn't told him when I had done that. He definitely didn't know. I knew that Peggy wouldn't have told him. Partially because she was old-fashioned about those kinds of things and partially because she knew that I would kill her if she said anything to him. Had he seen the dress? I didn't know what I would do if he had seen it. Wasn't that supposed to be bad luck or something stupid like that?

"You assume that I bought a wedding dress?" I asked huffily.

Bucky narrowed his eyes. "How clueless do you think I am?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" I asked him.

"No. Not really," Bucky said quickly, swallowing awkwardly. I smiled up at him. "I assumed that you bought a wedding dress because I knew that Peggy had taken you out shopping a few weeks back. It's the only time you've been shopping since I met back up with you. She had to drag you so I can assume that it was something you didn't really want to do. After you got back you showed just about everyone what you bought with the exception of me. So, let's be honest here. There's only one thing that you could have bought out there."

"Aren't you crafty?" I huffed irritably.

Bucky grinned, knowing that he had caught me. "Going to tell me about it?" he asked.

"No!" I barked. "It's bad luck."

Bucky smiled again, wrapping a strand of my hair around his finger. "It's bad luck to see a bride in the dress before the big day. It's not bad luck just to talk about it."

"You're impatient," I teased.

"About certain things," Bucky agreed.

Of course. He had waited a long damn time for me to fall back into his life. But we hadn't managed to wait the near year until we were getting married to spend a real night together. Yes, we were only patient with certain things. I smiled as Bucky placed his hands underneath my thighs and rolled me underneath himself, pressing a lingering kiss against my mouth. The two of us stayed wrapped together for a long time, barely coming up for air. It was already reasonably late at night. We knew that we wouldn't be interrupted unless there was an emergency at the base.

Eventually, the two of us pulled apart. "Can I ask you about something?" Bucky asked.

The breath left my throat. I knew that we would eventually have to talk about what had happened a few weeks ago. He deserved to know what had happened anyway. But that didn't mean that I wanted to admit it. I didn't want Bucky thinking that I was any freakier than he already did. But I also knew that he wasn't going to judge me. No matter what had happened over the years, he had always been there for me. Bucky stared at me for a long time as I gathered myself. It was time for me to admit what had happened. He would understand.

"Go ahead," I said, knowing that he was waiting for me to allow the conversation. "I figured that we would have to talk about it eventually."

"I'm not trying to upset you," Bucky said quickly.

I smiled at him. He would always be there for me. "You're not upsetting me," I responded, grabbing his hand tightly. "Trust me, Bucky. I knew that once all of that had calmed down we would have to talk about it."

"What really happened while you were... gone?" Bucky asked awkwardly.

"Things were strange. I was in this other world where I was connected to the Soul Stone. I could see all of the dead people that I knew. My parents were there, telling me that it would have been better to let myself get overwhelmed and die. Or to flee Earth. Apparently, I have no idea of the danger I can cause. But I do. I know how much danger I'm putting everyone around me in. But they seemed to think that it was even worse than I had ever imagined things could be. Eternity came forward to ask me to connect to the Soul Stone and learn everything that it wanted me to.

"Apparently I draw some of my power from it, not just the X-Gene, which is where mutant power normally comes from. Someone very powerful wants me to own up to all of the power that I've been given. But to get the Soul Stone means that I would have had to sacrifice the thing that meant the most to me and there was no way I was going to do that. I would never sacrifice you like that. Before I left, Eternity warned me that the day would likely come that I would regret my choice to leave the Soul Stone untouched. He told me that it was the wrong choice. One day I might need that power it could give me," I explained.

There were quite a few times during my explanation that Bucky had merely stared at me confusedly. I knew that he wouldn't understand everything that I had said. Sometimes I didn't understand everything that had happened to me when the Soul Stone had flooded my body. I was honestly impressed that he had even understood as much as he did. His eyes had widened slightly when I had mentioned seeing my parents. But that was when my voice had deadened. I hated even thinking that some part of them was still... alive. I had killed them. I wanted them to stay that way.

Perhaps it was a little cold but so was trying to kill an eight-year-old child. Bucky hadn't spoken yet but I had felt his arms tighten around me. He liked the idea of me potentially leaving the planet about as much as I did. No matter how insane things got, neither one of us ever wanted to be apart from the other. Not after so many years of us being kept apart. A long time passed that neither one of us said anything. I knew that he needed some time to process what I had just told him. It wasn't a simple explanation.

Finally, Bucky spoke again. "Do you think that you made the wrong choice not taking the Soul Stone?"

"Absolutely not," I said immediately. Not if it meant having to kill him. I noticed him let out a little breath of relief. "Whatever it is that's going to come from me not taking the Soul Stone... I guess I'll deal with that when it comes. Until then, I'll be perfectly happy to have you."

"I'll be perfectly happy that you didn't kill me," Bucky shot back.

We both laughed. "Eternity did give me something," I told him. Bucky raised an eyebrow curiously as I leaned over and pulled out the necklace Eternity had given me. "Here."

The was still a slight flickering in the back of the necklace. I could feel something emitting from it. I could only assume that it was the remnants of the power of the Soul Stone. I'd thought about trying to access the necklace to get back to Eternity to ask him about the Soul Stone a few times since I had cut myself off from it but I knew that he wouldn't help me until I promised to go with him. Bucky stared at the necklace curiously for a moment before taking it. He almost instantly threw it back to the ground as he crumpled in on himself, whimpering in pain.

Jumping up from the cot, I grabbed him around the shoulders. "Bucky!" I gasped, pulling him up to look at me. It looked like someone had burned his hand where he had grabbed the necklace. "What's wrong?"

Bucky gently pushed me back as he straightened up. He was wringing his hands together. "Oh, I don't know. Damn it. What the hell is that thing?" he asked, looking to where he had thrown the necklace. "The second I touched it, it was like there was something burning through me. I don't know. It was like someone lit my insides on fire. This horrible pain shot through my forehead. Like the worst kind of migraine you could imagine."

Why did I feel nothing when I touched it? "You feel something when you touch it?" I asked disbelievingly.

"You don't?" Bucky asked, looking quite baffled.

"No..." I whispered, reaching over and picking the necklace up by the gem, demonstrating that I really felt nothing when I touched it. "Eternity handed me this and told me that, if I ever changed my mind about taking the Stone or even learning about its powers, to use it."

Bucky reached for it for a moment before withdrawing his hand. "I don't think normal humans can touch it," he commented.

His hands were still blistered from grabbing the necklace. "I'm so sorry. I wouldn't have handed it to you if I'd thought that would happen," I said regretfully.

Another reason that you shouldn't be with him. You will always end up hurting him. But Bucky merely smiled. "I certainly didn't think that you were doing it to me on purpose," he teased.

"Give me your hands," I whispered.

Bucky stared at me for a moment before nodding and letting me take his hands. They were blistered a little worse than I had originally thought that they were. I waved a hand and pulled the water from the earth, running it over his hands. He hissed slightly in pain but let me surround his water. I knew that he would need a debridement treatment. I took my time completely removing the necrotic skin, warming it to numb the surrounding surviving skin. Eventually, he was left with only the surviving lower layers of his skin.

"What was that?" Bucky asked once I was done working.

"Debridement. I removed the necrotic skin from the burn which left the new skin underneath. Pink and a little ugly but it should start feeling and looking better in a few days," I told him.

"Thanks. That's gross, but thanks," Bucky chuckled.

"You're welcome," I replied.

It was my own fault. He wouldn't have been injured at all if I hadn't given him the necklace in the first place. Like a complete moron. I hadn't even taken a moment to wonder if Eternity had given me something that was only meant for powerful beings to hold. Of course, there was no way that the necklace could have been possessed by a mere mortal. Not if it meant them accidentally being brought to the Soul Stone. Bucky leaned forward and pressed a small kiss against my forehead, letting me know that he wasn't mad about the burn. I smiled weakly at him.

"You didn't think about even going with Eternity to learn about the stones?" Bucky asked curiously, pulling back from me.

We only had a limited amount of time together. I wouldn't spend it searching for power that I wasn't sure I wanted. "No. This is my life, Bucky. You are. I don't want all of that power. This right here, this is what I wanted," I said, grasping his hand tightly.

Bucky stared at me for a moment before his lips turned up in a small smile. "You astound me."

"What?" I asked stupidly.

"You're one of the most powerful creatures on the planet and likely in the universe," Bucky pointed out. I shrugged at him. Since when had I asked to be that powerful? All I'd wanted was a family who loved me. "But you don't want any of it. You don't want the things that you've been given. You want to be a normal person. Have a normal life. You take the intelligence and drive and powers and make them your own. But you don't become the powerhouse you could be and you don't hide from reality."

"That's part of my personality, I think," I told him. Bucky nodded for me to explain. "I love being smart and having so much power in my life. I love not being the stereotypical woman who stays at home and cooks and cleans and takes care of the kids. We both know that I couldn't do that." We both chuckled. "But I also don't want to be this super-powered monster that people run from every time they see her. I want to be an inspiration."

"You are," Bucky said, grasping my palms. "To me and everyone else who loves you. One day to everyone else."

"Thank you," I whispered.

"My pleasure."

How could one person be so understanding of everything I was going through? A necklace I had handed to him that had been given to me by some all-powerful deity had just burned through the top layer of skin on his hands. Most people would have at least been a little bit upset about that. But he acted like it hadn't even bothered him. Bucky stretched out his arms and I smiled, shifting onto the cot with him. I laid over his legs slightly, pressing my palms against his chest, feeling the blood pound through his heart. It was slow. Somehow, he was relaxed.

"What would you do in my situation?" I asked after a brief silence.

Bucky hummed quietly. "I don't think that's something I could ever answer. I can try and pretend to understand what you're going through all day long. But at the end of the day, you're the one who understands what it's like to be a mutant," Bucky reasoned. I nodded at him. He was right. He could try and relate, but he would never truly be able to. "Not me. What I can do is stand here and help you as much as I can. Be here when you need me. Do what you need."

Normally a statement like that would have made a monstrous blush fill my cheeks and turned my irises pink. For once, it didn't. I merely stared at him. Sometimes I had to wonder how Bucky was even a real person. He cared for me no matter what it meant. Even if it meant he didn't get to have a family. Even if it meant he would never get to settle down. Even if it meant giving up everything he had once thought he wanted. His hands slowly traveled over my thighs as a grin played at the corner of his mouth. I might not ever truly understand his love for me, but I would always appreciate it.

"You're an abnormally kind man, Bucky Barnes, and I am forever grateful to have found you," I said softly.

"I'm forever grateful to have you in my life. I wouldn't trade you for the world," Bucky replied.

Even when he really would have been best off doing that exact thing. It would have made his life so much easier - normal. But, as he had always said, normal was boring. I smiled again as Bucky wrapped his fingers around the back of my neck and pulled me in for a long and loving kiss. My hand slowly trailed up his chest as I allowed myself to melt into the folds of his body. It felt like it had been forever since we had been able to just have a normal night together. Just discussing the things we needed to talk about. Even if we were in a tent on a Swiss army base to do it.

When we finally pulled back from each other, Bucky began running his fingers through my hair. "Do you think someone is hunting for the Infinity Stones?" he asked.

Loki's face snapped to mind. But it wasn't him. He wasn't powerful enough to contain them. "Their power is unparalleled. If someone were to have all six of them they would hold infinite power over all beings in the universe. Whether or not someone is hunting for them right now, eventually they will. That's going to be the day that we'll have to worry about them," I said confidently. The day would come that I would likely have to face the music from not taking the Soul Stone. "No one being should have all of the stones in their power. They're spread across the universe for a reason."

Much to my surprise, Bucky started laughing. "Monsters and aliens and things that I never expected."

"Sorry that I have to ruin the illusion of a single planet capable of sustaining life," I said guiltily.

Bucky merely shrugged. "I suppose it didn't really ever make sense. All of these planets in multiple universes. How would our one planet be the only one capable of sustaining life?"

The corners of my lips turned up. "It's nice to hear you think like that."

He smiled back at me. "You've really opened my eyes to all of these incredible truths of the universe."

"We've got the rest of our lives for me to teach you," I said.

"I'll always be happy to listen," Bucky replied.

We smiled at each other again as I laid a hand against his chest. His heartbeat was slowing down. He was tired. But he wouldn't go to sleep just yet. He reached around the back of my neck and I melted into him as I pressed a long kiss against his mouth. It was well into the middle of the night when we finally pulled apart and curled up in the blankets together. I didn't bother talking as it barely took two minutes for Bucky to drift off. We'd had a long day and I knew that he was tired. But I couldn't get myself to go to sleep. After half an hour I was still awake.

Instead of battling with my lack of sleep I decided to try and go for a walk to clear my head. I wasn't really sure what was keeping me up but walks usually helped. Maybe I was just too busy thinking about other things. I seemed to always have my mind in a thousand different places. I slid on a robe and headed out into the chilly air toward the edge of the camp, near the massive fire pit the soldiers liked to hang around. Almost immediately I realized I wasn't alone. Steve was there. I walked up behind him slowly, smiling when I saw that he was gazing down at a compass with Peggy's picture in it.

"That's a nice picture of her," I commented quietly.

Steve jumped in surprise and snapped the compass closed. He whirled back and relaxed slightly when he realized that it was only me. "Didn't hear you coming," he replied.

"Near silent steps. I've always walked that way," I explained. Steve scooted over on the log that he had perched himself on to make room for me. I jumped over it and seated myself at his side. "Where did you get that picture from?"

"It's an official portrait of her," Steve said, clicking the compass open again.

Peggy was in a deep green suit in the picture, her hair and makeup done to perfection like always. "She looks lovely in it," I said, handing the compass back to him. "I couldn't assume what they would do with me and my official portrait."

"You'd look beautiful, as always," Steve said.

I smiled at him, reaching over and grabbing his chin. "Aren't you a sweetheart?" I teased.

Steve laughed as I relaxed my grip on him. We both smiled as I leaned back. "Where's Bucky?" Steve asked, looking around us.

"Asleep," I answered. Steve nodded. "How are you doing, soldier?"

"I'm alright, Vic," Steve said.

But he didn't look completely alright. I could tell by the way his hands were firmly locked around the compass. "You miss her?" I asked, knowing that I was right.

Steve didn't bother to lie. "Yeah, I do." I smiled at him. I really wanted the two of them to be together. But neither one would admit their feelings to the other. "She's still mad at me for what happened with Lorraine."

Steve's accidental kiss with Lorraine had been months ago. "I really doubt that," I scoffed.

"You do?"

"I do."

Neither one were upset with the other. They were just too embarrassed over what had happened to face each other. Steve was quiet for a long time before speaking again. "She's the first woman that looked at me like I was worth anything even before becoming Captain America."

"Because she saw that you had heart."

Steve let out another breath. "Just wish I knew how to tell her."

"Be honest," I told him. "Trust me when I say that she already knows how you feel about her and her feelings are reciprocated. One of you just needs to be the first one to say something."

"Comes easy to some people," Steve said.

Clearly, he had said it without thinking. I knew that he hadn't. Easy was the last word that should have come to mind when they were talking about me. There was nothing in my life that was easy. My entire life had become one nightmare after another. As much as I wanted to try and relax and enjoy my life I knew that it was impossible. There were just too many hardships. One of them was my relationship with Bucky. There were so many things that didn't make sense about that relationship. The only thing that made sense was that we loved each other. Nothing else.

Steve's face instantly paled. He knew that he had said the wrong thing. "You think my relationship with Bucky is easy?" I snapped.

"That didn't come out right," Steve said immediately.

"No, I know. I'm sorry," I said, realizing that I had snapped at him too quickly. "It's just that… my relationship with him really isn't easy. It's anything but. There are so many things wrong about our relationship. In fact, there are more things wrong with it than there are right with it. We're two opposite people. There are so few things that we share. Not our mindsets. Not our pasts. I love Bucky to death but I'm terrified that at any moment I'll lose control and kill or hurt him. It's happened before. It could happen again.

"That's only the beginning. I'm scared that I'll draw dangerous creatures to Earth with my connection to the Soul Stone. They would very quickly realize that he's my weakness. A little closer to reality, I'm scared of the future. Having to one day live without him. Having to mourn him for the rest of all eternity. He wants kids. He tries to downplay it but I know how badly he wants them. I'm scared of bringing another mutant into the world. We are so different from each other but he doesn't see that. He doesn't see the danger or what he's giving up by deciding to stay with me."

Steve was silent for a long time after that. It was a lot to process all at one time. The very different relationship that I shared with Bucky. There were so many reasons for us not to be together. The astounding lifespan difference. Our outlooks on life - Bucky's belief that all things were good contrasted with my belief that no one was genuinely good. My fear of settling down with a family. Steve reached out and clasped hands with me. I smiled sadly as I leaned my head down onto his shoulder. How could two completely different people be together?

It was a long time before Steve spoke again. "So, why stay with him?"

"Because being apart would be worse," I answered immediately. Steve smiled. "I'm willing to take it all. The fear and apprehension, because I know that I couldn't stand to be apart from him. I just take it one day at a time. I think you'd do well to remember that."

Steve smiled at me again, pressing a small kiss against my temple. "You two are great together. Everyone knows it."

"Thanks," I said quietly.

Somehow we really were great together. Maybe it was because we were a good balance to each other. Or maybe it was because Bucky knew how to keep me calm. He knew what to say when I was getting myself wound up. He knew exactly what to do to relax me. He knew that I was so damaged by everything that had happened to me in my childhood. He knew that I didn't need protection, but that I always appreciated his attempts. He was there to say everything I needed whenever I needed it. He was everything that I needed and nothing I'd ever known that I wanted.

"I remember those first few days that you were with us," Steve said, breaking the silence for the first time in a long time. "I remember you were so scared to even speak to us unless we were speaking to you first. But I remember Bucky deciding that he wanted to try and make you a friend."

He was the first person to try and fit me into their family. His family. It only made sense that one day we really would be family. "Yeah. He was the first person who saw me for what I am. You both were," I told him.

Sixteen Years Earlier...

Despite having been invited out with the rest of the Rogers' and Barnes' I was sitting in the bedroom that had been loaned to me. It was the spare bedroom in the Rogers' apartment. Mostly laced with their overflowing belongings. I wasn't really sure what I should have been doing right now. Without my parents trying to kill me or being subjected to horrible experiments, my days were oddly empty. There weren't even textbooks for me to read. I just sat in the house and stared at the walls, trying to relax.

But after everything I'd been through during the first eight years of my life, I couldn't just relax about things. I was still wound up about things. Both of the families were out in the living room chatting with each other. They seemed quite happy to be with each other. Their laughter had begun echoing through the apartment just moments after all gathering. It hadn't stopped since. Both families had invited me out to sit with them but I didn't really feel like I should have gone out there and put myself into their conversation. They were family. I was a stranger.

So, I was stuck sitting in the bedroom by myself. The peace was relatively welcome. It was the first time in my short life that I wasn't terrified I was about to be killed. At least, it wasn't my main fear. My main fear was the family turning on me and forcing me out. Avoiding them was a good way of avoiding that potential situation. I was waiting until dinner. At that point, I would go out and eat and then head back into my bedroom until the morning when I would restart my routine. Go out for food and exchange simple small talk for just the slightest bit before heading back into the spare room.

Both from having heard them say it out loud and hearing their voices in my head, I knew that the family wanted me to come out and speak to them. They wanted to get to know me. But I felt a little awkward about the entire thing. I had broken into their house. I was a complete stranger. And, if I was being honest, I wasn't used to having people wanting me around. What if I began speaking to them and they then got scared of me the longer I was around them? I would have rather just hidden from them and pretended that things were fine.

Most of the family had only exchanged little pleasantries for them. The adults were all nice enough, trying to convince me that they weren't going to hurt me. They seemed almost... like real parents. I really liked the two boys. Steven and James. Steve and Bucky, as the two of them had insisted that I call them. They were the two who got me to speak the most but they had lots of friends from the local school that they went to hang out with. They only spent a few minutes with me each day but that was probably the most socialization I'd gotten throughout my entire life.

There was a knock at the door shortly before they normally had their lunchtime tea. I glanced up. I had heard them coming long before I'd heard the knock. I assumed that it was someone coming to invite me for tea. But I was surprised to see that it was Bucky. He was watching me with a wide smile. I gave a slightly awkward and tense smile back at him. The use of those muscles seemed odd. Bucky was leaned in the doorway by himself. I could still hear the rest of the family still talking among themselves in the living room.

"Can I come in?" Bucky asked carefully.

"Sure."

My body tensed slightly as Bucky entered the room. He remained a few feet away from the bed that I was perched on. "Don't feel like joining everyone out there?" Bucky asked curiously.

"You all looked like you were having such a nice time. I didn't want to intrude," I said honestly.

Bucky's brows knitted curiously. "Why would you feel like you're intruding?"

"Because I'm just a guest in this home. You're all family. You don't know me," I pointed out.

"Let's change that, then," Bucky said brightly.

What was the worst thing that could happen? One game wouldn't be terrible. "Okay," I finally confirmed nervously. No one had ever cared enough to try and get to know me... How did people get to know each other? "How?"

Bucky thought about it for a moment. "We'll play a game. For every question I give you, you answer me and then get to ask me one of your own. Fair?"

For a normal person, I assumed that it would be completely fair. At our age, what kind of secrets could someone normal have? Stealing a piece of candy from a store? Accidentally breaking their parents' belongings? Cheating on a test? All silly things expected of children. But as for me? Murdering my own parents had to be considered unacceptable - no matter what they'd done to me. I hesitated with the game for a moment, knowing that he could find out the entire truth about me. But I would make up some well-concocted lie if he asked anything too personal.

And... it would be nice to make friends with someone my own age. Anyone, really. So, I finally said, "Fair."

Bucky smiled. "Okay..." He thought in silence for a moment before saying, "What can I call you?"

"My name is -"

Bucky's laughter interrupted my answer. "I know your name," he said. I raised a brow, unsure of what I was supposed to answer if he already knew my name. "But I don't like saying your whole name. Victoria is too long and sounds too formal."

My only nickname before this had been 'it.' I wasn't fond to repeat that one. "Take your pick," I offered.

"How about... Vika?"

"Vika..." I repeated, testing the name on my tongue. It sat well. "I like that."

Bucky smiled. "Good. Me too. Okay, your turn."

"Why come in here when you could be out there with the people you know?" I asked.

He smiled as if I had just asked the silliest question in the world. "Because I already know them. I can have a conversation with someone out there anytime," Bucky pointed out. I supposed it was fair enough. "But you've seemed so lonely in here the past few days. Figured that it might be because you never talk to anyone. You deserve to have some company too."

"Thank you," I said honestly.

No one had ever tried to speak with me like another person before. Much less a friend. Bucky would never know just how much this one simple conversation meant to me. "Do you play any sports?" Bucky asked.

Sports... As if I had ever been allowed to leave the confines of my prison of a home. Until I had burned it to the ground, murdering everyone inside. "Not really," I answered. Bucky nodded, looking unsurprised. "I've never had the chance to play any sports. But they always looked fun. They always sounded fun. I do like to run."

"Running?" Bucky asked curiously.

It was the one time I could imagine myself running away from my old life. Leaving everything in the past. Making a new life. "Yeah. I love running. It's something I'm really good at," I said.

One of many things. "We can go on a run one day if you want?" Bucky offered.

I'd have to slow down immensely, but one run couldn't hurt. "Yeah. One day I'd like that."

Bucky smiled, clearly happy that I had agreed. "Good. Alright, your turn."

"Do you like school?" I asked.

Perhaps we could bond over that. I loved learning. Having something that I knew I could excel at. "Nah," Bucky said, shaking his head. My hope deflated slightly. Bucky seemed to notice my disappointment. "It's not that I don't like it. I guess I never really had a reason. I think school is kind of boring. It's just not something I'm very good at. I think I'm one of those people who doesn't like doing things they're bad at."

"I understand," I said honestly.

If there was anything I could understand, it was not liking being bad at something. I had never liked being weak. Not after everything I had been through. No one would protect me so I had learned to protect myself. I could understand Bucky not enjoying school because he hadn't been good at it. But that was something that could be changed. If it meant becoming friends with him, I would have been more than happy to help him. Maybe he wouldn't look at me like the freak who had stumbled into his apartment. Maybe he could see me as just another kid.

"Do you like school?" Bucky asked.

"I love it. Everything about it," I said honestly.

"Really?"

If I could get myself enrolled in the same school they went to, I would be the happiest person in the world. "Yeah," I said. We sat in silence before I decided to just go for it. "Do you want help studying?"

If I had made him uncomfortable, he didn't show it. "Actually, I would love that. My parents would be thrilled if I started getting better grades," Bucky said, laughing slightly. He looked a little bit hurt. His parents must have been angry about his low grades. But that wasn't fair. He was a good kid. He had nothing to be ashamed of. "But... I mean, I'm three grades ahead of you. Are you on a sixth-grade level?"

There was no doubt in my mind that I was smarter than every person in the apartment combined. "Even more so," I said, grinning slightly.

Bucky laughed. "You really like school then?"

"Yeah. I didn't have any friends before... I mean, I was homeschooled," I corrected myself, quickly realizing that he was looking at me like I was crazy. I didn't want him to know just how strange my life and personality really was. "My parents didn't have time to teach me themselves so I did everything myself. I guess I just spent a lot of time studying without anything better to do."

"Why didn't you go to school?" Bucky asked curiously.

"I thought it was my turn," I responded.

He smiled slightly. There was no way that we could talk about the reason I hadn't gone to school. We would never talk about that. I wouldn't talk about that with anyone. "Okay. You're right," Bucky said, holding up his hands in surrender. "Go ahead."

"Why did you not scream when you saw me the other night?" I asked, completely changing the direction of the conversation.

But I wanted to know. Why had he allowed me into his life? Why had they all? "Why would I have?" Bucky asked confusedly.

That definitely wasn't the answer I had been expecting. He would have had every right to be terrified of me. "Have you seen me?" I asked. Bucky still looked lost. "I've got yellow eyes and white hair. I don't exactly look like a normal person. I came stumbling into your apartment in the middle of the night with dirty clothes and I barely spoke to you."

Bucky grinned playfully. "That still hasn't changed."

"Why weren't you scared of me?" I asked.

"Because you looked scared," Bucky answered. I didn't understand. "Vika... I saw how terrified you were. We both did. You looked starving and exhausted. Something had clearly spooked you not long before. You're just a kid. We didn't want to scare you even more. We just knew that you needed to clean up, get something to eat, and get some sleep. Now that you've rested and eaten we can all see that you're just a normal kid. I think your hair is beautiful. Your eyes are incredible. You're just a kid with... a weird deal. But you're sweet. I've seen you be funny when you want. Do you believe me?"

Did he really see how scared I was? Was it really that obvious? Yes. It must have been. Just hours before I had seen him I had killed my own parents. All of those men. They had tried to kill me first though. Was I in the right? Was it my right to survive? I certainly had been starving and exhausted. All my life had been exhaustive. But he saw something that no adult had ever seen before. He saw that I was a person. He saw that I was just like him. A kid. His compliments warmed my body. For once, the heat under my skin wasn't from the fire. It was from... I didn't know.

But the real question was whether or not I believed him. "Yes," I answered.

Bucky looked very grateful that I actually believed him. I did. Because of his thoughts and because of the look in his eyes. "I'm not scared of you, Vika," Bucky said. I liked the nickname he had given me. I was sure that I would grow fond of it in time. If I had that. "None of us are scared of you. We're more confused by you."

"You aren't the first," I said bitterly.

"You know what I think you need?"

"What?"

"A hug," Bucky said, grinning broadly. "You look too grumpy. Come on. You need a hug."

He was completely serious about the hug. But I didn't know how to process it. I merely stared at him for a long moment. The smile never once wavered on Bucky's face. I knew what a hug was. I knew what everything was. But I had never hugged someone before. It was a symbol of... love and closeness. Something I'd never had. I hadn't even had real physical contact with another human being since I was an infant and needed to be held to survive. After I had turned two I hadn't even been touched. But Bucky didn't know any of that. He just smiled.

I hadn't felt someone else's touch since I was a baby. Was this really going to be the first time? I tensed up slightly as Bucky walked toward me and held out a hand. I took it and allowed him to pull me to my feet. His skin was soft and warm. He reached out and wrapped an arm around my back. For a moment I stood ramrod still, unsure of what I was supposed to do. The touch felt so strange. His skin didn't feel like mine. It was weaker. Much more susceptible to being broken. His bones felt thinner. His breathing was quicker. He felt nothing like me.

But I was more comfortable than I had ever been before. He might have been nothing like me but for this one moment, I was allowed to feel like I was a human being, right alongside him. I had seen so many pictures of a hug before. This wasn't quite what it should have been like. It was a little too tense on my part. So, I slowly raised my arms and wrapped them over his shoulders. The entire thing felt... strange... intimate... all in a way I had never felt before. But I liked it. He began shaking us from side to side playfully. I laughed, a sound that was foreign to me.

A long time passed before Bucky finally released me. He stepped back immediately, not wanting to overstep his boundaries before. "See?" Bucky said, pointing at me. "I knew I could get you to smile."

The muscles strained slightly at the new movement. "Feels strange," I admitted.

As I looked at Bucky I briefly wished that he was back hugging me again. I wanted to feel another human's touch. I already missed that feeling. But I couldn't say that to him. Bucky, on the other hand, merely stared at me for a moment. There was something flitting through his eyes. He clearly felt quite badly for me, knowing that I came from a terrible situation before all of this. But he didn't say anything and didn't dare ask about my family. He knew that I couldn't talk about it. I might not ever be able to talk about that part of my childhood.

Bucky finally got sick of beating around the bush. "Look, we're out there listening to the radio right now. The game's on. Why don't you join us?" he offered.

"Do they mind?" I asked carefully.

"Course not. They want you to join," Bucky said. I somehow doubted that they really wanted me out there. "You're still here, Vika. We want you to try and join the family."

There was a word I wasn't used to. "Family..." I breathed.

"Did I say something wrong?" Bucky asked worriedly.

"No, no," I reassured him quickly. "Just... something I'm not used to."

"What's that?"

"Being a part of a family."

Something flashed through Bucky's eyes that I couldn't quite place. The closest I could relate it to was... sadness. "Well, you've got us now," Bucky said happily, clearly trying to cheer me up. Much to my surprise was that it was working. "Come on. Come sit with us for a while. You don't have to say anything but at least come out and be with people."

One night wouldn't kill me. "Yeah, alright," I conceded.

As we walked out into the hallway Bucky asked, "Got a favorite team?"

"What?"

"Favorite baseball team," Bucky clarified. I had never watched or listened to baseball. Nothing fun had ever happened in my old home. "Something for you to root for with us." I shook my head at him. "We root for the New York Yankees."

That meant nothing to me. "I'll root for them, I suppose," I said.

Bucky grinned. "They're great. They've won the World Series so many times already!" he said excitedly. That also meant nothing to me. But I knew that it was something good. "They're our favorite team. You know, one of the things we wanted most was to go to one of them."

"Why don't you?" I asked.

"Those tickets are way too expensive," Bucky explained.

"Something to work for in life," I said.

If he got a good job and worked hard I knew that he could save up money for tickets to a game. Bucky nodded thoughtfully. "What are you planning on working for in life?" he asked.

"Contentment," I answered.

Bucky stared at me. "Not happiness?"

Happiness... Not a single day in my life had passed that I had been even moderately happy. I didn't truly understand the emotion. "If I get to contentment one day... that'll be closer to happiness than I ever even imagined," I said honestly.

"Vika... I've got a prediction for you."

"What's that?"

"You'll know happiness. That and even more."

"Why?"

Bucky smiled. "Because you'll deserve it."

In all honesty, I didn't deserve anything. I wasn't the kind of person who deserved happiness. I barely deserved life. But maybe this place could change all of that. I gave Bucky a smile. The first earnest one I had ever given someone. Bucky looked thrilled that I was smiling. I jumped in surprise as he reached over and laced our fingers together but didn't make a move to pull away. This time I was more than happy to allow him to pull me into a hug. Maybe one day, with a little bit of help, I really would be able to find that happiness.

Present Day...

"We always knew you were strange. That was never a doubt in our minds," Steve told me. I laughed quietly, leaning back to look at the stars. Strange was the nicest thing that someone could honestly say about me. "But you just seemed so... sad. You were only eight-years-old. You should have been happy. But you were..."

"Eight going on a thousand?" I asked, filling Steve's silence.

Steve grinned. "That's a good way to put it."

That sadness that had been in me was one that had never genuinely gone away. It was something that I was unsure I would ever be able to genuinely get rid of. I would always have that personality and those memories. But there were people who made me happier than I had ever imagined I would be. I rested my head against Steve's shoulder as the two of us stared into the fire. I gently wavered the flames back and forth as Steve laughed. He wrapped an arm over my shoulder and pressed a small kiss into the crown of my head. I smiled up at him.

We sat in silence for a long time. "Do you like it here?" I finally asked.

"Not really."

"Why?"

"Seems like everyone out here just stares at me," Steve answered. My head lifted up from his shoulder so that I could look him in the eyes and arch my brow at him. He instantly looked embarrassed. "Sorry. Sorry. I know. Trust me, I know that you're the one who gets stared at."

"We're both the circus freaks," I said.

"No, we're not," Steve said sharply.

"No?"

"We're just people, Vic. Maybe we're both a little bit strange but there's nothing wrong with being strange. The world would be boring if everyone was completely normal."

"That's a nice thought you have there. I wish everyone thought that way."

"One day they will."

"We'll see about that," I said doubtfully.

The two of us sat in silence for a while. Finally, Steve asked, "You don't like being here, do you?"

"Not really," I admitted. I was definitely more acclimated to living in London by now. Switzerland was horrible. "I don't like all the people staring at me like I'm the Bride of Frankenstein. I miss everyone back at the base in London. I miss people knowing about me. I really miss it just being us out there - making the choices and keeping each other safe. Now I have the rest of these assholes to worry about; no, I'm not apologizing for the profanity." Steve laughed. "I miss being one of the only people having to make choices. I don't like following someone's lead."

Switzerland likely wasn't the worst place in the world. But I wasn't fond of being here. The people all stared at me like I was completely insane. No one ever seemed to like that I wandered the base freely. They really did stare at me like I was the Bride of Frankenstein - like I was a monster come to life to kill them. They didn't seem to trust that I wasn't here to hurt them. I really hated that they consistently thought that they could boss me around. I was the leader on the London base. Out here they treated me like I was another worthless grunt.

Even worse, though. Because I was a woman and a mutant. "Trust me, we've always known just how much you hate listening to people," Steve said. I laughed quietly. I would never be able to take orders from someone else. It wasn't in my nature. "I know. Being here is strange. It's not exactly what we wanted, but we're here to wipe out those four bases."

"Which is exactly what we're going to do," I said.

"Of course," Steve said, yawning.

"Tired?" I asked.

"A little bit," Steve admitted.

He, unlike me, wasn't used to being up all throughout the night. I had never really liked being asleep. "Go to bed," I told Steve, patting his hand. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Vic. Love you," Steve said.

"Love you too, Steve. Night," I said.

He likely wouldn't head right to bed - his thoughts were whirring far too fast for him to fall asleep - but I figured that he needed some time to think by himself. I leaned over on the ledge to press a small kiss against his cheek before rising from my spot on the log and heading back toward the tents. The one I shared with Bucky was toward the edge of the camp. As I walked back into the tent I smiled at Bucky. He was still asleep on the cot. He was on his back, shirtless, with one arm tucked behind his head. I slipped into the bed next to him. He instantly jolted awake.

"Sorry if I startled you," I whispered.

Bucky smiled. "That's alright. Where were you?"

"Couldn't sleep so I went on a walk for a little while. Steve was over by the campfire. Went and sat with him for a bit," I explained.

"He okay?" Bucky asked curiously.

"He's fine. Doesn't really like it here. Who can blame him really?"

"Definitely not me. It's kind of miserable being here," Bucky said. I was glad that he hated this place about as much as I did. "I think I've learned by now that I don't want to live in Switzerland."

"Agreed," I said.

I'd thought that Bucky would want to go back to sleep but apparently, I was wrong. "Come here," he said playfully.

Maybe he, like me, was starting to become a night owl. I laughed at him as he wrapped an arm under my waist and threw me to the other side of the bed. I smiled up at him as Bucky leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss against my lips. It didn't take him long to begin pulling at the pajamas I was wearing. We both laughed as he rolled me over again, throwing me underneath him, his fingers tugging at the buttons on my front to undo them. This was definitely one of the best days I'd had lately. We had the chance to just enjoy ourselves, uninterrupted by others.

A while later that night the two of us were laying in bed together with our sheets wrapped up around us. Bucky had his legs tangled up around the sheets while I had the sheet wrapped up around my chest. My legs were thrown over his own as I laid half on top of him. Bucky's arms were wrapped around my torso so that they could lay on the bare skin there. His fingertips were tracing patterns gently into my bare back. He was turned toward me, his lips pressed gently against my temple. I smiled into his shoulder.

"Do you ever think about staying in London?" I whispered quietly.

"What?" Bucky asked, looking at me.

"After the war is over. Do you ever think about permanently relocating to London?" I asked.

It was something I'd thought about a fair bit over the past few months. "Don't think I've really bothered thinking that far into the future. I've been so focused on the war," Bucky said thoughtfully. "Why?"

"Your family is back in New York and I understand that -"

"My family is right here," Bucky said, laying a hand on my chest. I smiled at him. "I love my siblings to death but they're all grown up. They've got their own lives. Kids and spouses and careers to focus on. My main focus is this. You. Steve. Everyone back at the base." I smiled again. He was right. They had their lives. This was his. "Do you want to stay in London?"

"I'm not sure," I said honestly. "It's kind of nice being there. Everyone already knows who I am. They know what I am. Going back to New York would be like starting all over again."

"Tell you what. Once this war is over we'll sit down and figure it out," Bucky said. I nodded my agreement. "I'm sure Howard will want you back at Stark Industries."

I'd almost forgotten that Howard eventually wanted me to work with him. "That's true," I said quietly. "I wonder if Steve will stay here."

"Why would he?" Bucky asked. I looked at him and raised a brow. He wasn't that clueless. Bucky finally nodded in understanding. "Peggy."

"Peggy," I confirmed.

Would Peggy maybe move to the States after the war? "What's been going on there?" Bucky asked.

They clearly loved each other but neither one of them would bend on admitting it. "Who knows?" I asked, scoffing. "Last I talked to Peggy she's still interested in him but a little embarrassed after the whole Lorraine incident. She thinks she scared Steve off. Steve, of course, still likes her but thinks she's furious with him. They're at a standstill. I've thought about just shoving them in a closet and locking it until they can sort out their differences."

Bucky laughed and shook his head at me. "Stay out of it. I know how hard that might be for you."

"You're no fun," I huffed.

"Someone's gotta be the adult in this relationship," Bucky said. We both snorted in amusement. I was definitely more mature. "You should go to bed. We're heading to the Swiss bases in the morning."

"About damn time," I growled.

We were likely only a few hours away from daylight. It was time to go to sleep. Bucky would be half-asleep at the Hydra base if he didn't go to sleep now. We both laughed as laid down to go to sleep. I was excited to just get to the Hydra bases and eliminate them so we could go back to London. I wrapped myself into the sheets a little more slightly as I tucked myself into Bucky's side. By now I really was exhausted. It had been a long day and I really didn't have much motivation to stay awake any longer. But it still took me almost half an hour longer than Bucky did to fall asleep.

In the morning, Bucky was the first one awake. He hadn't moved from the bed. He merely sat and ran his fingertips over my arms and legs. He noticed me stirring and gave me a long kiss. Once we had finally pulled apart I peeled my eyes open and forced myself to sit upright. It was time to get moving. My uniform was laying off to the side. I grabbed the clothes and slowly tugged myself into it. It definitely clung to me like a second skin. Bucky was also putting his own outfit on while slinging his rifle over his shoulders.

A few minutes after we'd woken up, Bucky turned back to me. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

He placed a hand on my hip as I smiled at him. "I think so," I said, tucking my knife down into my holster. "It might be interesting. Dealing with someone else's army."

"Gonna be nice?" Bucky asked.

No. "I'll be nice if they are," I answered.

He clearly knew that I was lying. "That's why I love you," Bucky laughed.

Hopefully, that was only one of the few reasons that he loved me. We both laughed as I pulled him in for another kiss. His arms tightened almost painfully around my waist and I smiled. We remained locked together for a few minutes before finally separating. We immediately headed out toward the airfield that we were ordered to report to the day before. It was on the other end of the camp. We ended up meeting up with Steve and the rest of the men about halfway through the walk. They looked about as confused about this entire thing as I was. But I still managed to smile at them.

"Morning, boys," I told them.

James was the first to pull me into a hug. "Morning, love."

"Ready to show these assholes how the Americans do it?" Dum Dum asked.

The Swiss had remained mostly neutral during the war, but they were with us to get Hydra out of their land. "You're aware that we're on the same side?" I asked him.

"Course," Dum Dum said obviously.

"That doesn't mean we have to like them," Gabe added.

"Fair," I shrugged.

"Have you met any of them?" Steve asked me.

He must have meant the heads of the Swiss base. "Yeah, I've met a few of them. Colonel Accola is one of them," I said, disgusted by the thought of him. Chauvinist would have been too nice of a word for him. "I'm pretty sure that he'll be the main commander of the mission. Means that we're unfortunately going to have to work with him and let him call the shots."

"You gonna be able to handle that?" Jim asked.

"We'll see," I shrugged.

On Chester's order, I had met Colonel Accola a few days after arriving in Switzerland. Colonel Accola was one of the most unpleasant people I'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. He reminded me very much of August Jay - the man on the admission board of Harvard. Colonel Accola clearly believed that I wasn't good enough to be out here. He didn't like how I was the only woman on the base who was an active combatant. Apparently, it had taken him a long argument with Chester to accept me out here. Even now, it was very obvious that he would prefer if I dropped dead.

Not that me dropping dead was much of an option. We all laughed at my blunt statement as we headed out toward the airfield. I didn't want to be anywhere near Colonel Accola, but I knew that it wasn't an option today. As we walked toward the field I caught sight of a number of men who seemed to be ready to move out on the attack of the Hydra base. Right now there appeared to be nearly sixty men coming with us. I raised a brow curiously. Why were so many men coming along on the mission? It was more potential losses of life. I made my way up to the older colonel once I saw him.

Colonel Accola was grey and already balding. It was premature since he was only in his forties. "Colonel," I greeted stiffly.

Colonel Accola glanced over at me. His eyes scanned my body carelessly. Behind me, I could feel Bucky stiffening. "Ah... Miss..." Colonel Accola trailed off.

"Sergeant," I said sharply. Colonel Accola merely nodded at me blankly. He had barely looked at me since I'd walked up to him. "Sergeant Phillips. Perhaps your memory is fading with age? Seeing as we just met a few hours ago, you'll understand."

Colonel Accola finally met my eyes. "Yes, of course." His gaze slowly traveled over the men behind me. He looked no more interested to see them than he did me. "Your team will be comfortable in the back."

My jaws clenched in annoyance. "Of course," I said.

They all looked at me. They seemed quite surprised that I had allowed him to put us in the back. But I knew that it wasn't worth the fight. We would come to the front when the real fighting started. Jim, James, and Dum Dum practically slammed past Colonel Accola as the three of them headed to the back. Jacques and Gabe were saying some not-so-flattering things about the older man in French as they passed. Bucky squeezed my hip as he brushed past me. Steve walked at my side as we passed. Colonel Accola seemed to finally be interested in us.

"Captain America," Colonel Accola said, reaching out to shake Steve's hand. "An honor it is."

I rolled my eyes. Steve merely motioned back to me. "The honor belongs to her. She does the heavy lifting."

The men smiled. So did I. Colonel Accola gave a tight-lipped grin. "Yes... Of course," he said slowly, giving me a scrutinizing stare. "Please, take your seats."

It was quite obvious that he wanted me anywhere but on his plane. That was just too damn bad. I was the one person who could really help move this attack along. They really only needed me, after all. We all sat toward the back of the plane as the discussions began flying around about the upcoming attack. I was the first one to notice that Colonel Accola didn't involve me in the planning. So, I merely sat in the back with the men, quickly giving up on trying to give my input to the attack. I would just manage as usual and handle my boys myself.

There was no doubt in my mind that the Swiss army would be a pain in the ass to work with. I knew that just by watching them train. They didn't work together the way that we did. There was also the simple problem that Colonel Accola hadn't looked into Hydra well enough. He didn't know the way they fought or interacted with each other. He was useless as a leader and likely destined to get most of his men killed unless he began listening to me. Though his chauvinistic attitude would likely stop that from ever happening.

Instead of trying to insert ourselves into a conversation where we clearly weren't wanted, my small team sat in the back and converged on ourselves. The others were clearly too absorbed in their own conversations to even realize what we were doing. So, we began putting together our own plan for the attack since no one else was going to listen to us. This was just going to have to be something that we would deal with ourselves. We would definitely get yelled at for disobeying orders, but getting yelled at was the least of my worries.

Once we finally landed - about an hour after we had left the base - the men up front were evacuated from the plane and sent through the woods to the base. I smiled. Finally, something I would be good at. My hands began sparking at the excitement of the attack. We would still be about a ten-minute walk to the base. I barely made it off of the ramp of the plane before being stopped by Colonel Accola. He forced me and my boys to take a step back as the rest of the men began the march through the woods. I arched a brow, wondering what the hell he was doing.

"You shall wait here," Colonel Accola ordered.

He wasn't talking to my entire team. He was only talking to me. "Excuse me?" I asked, sensing that the rest of the boys were too baffled to say anything.

"The battlefield is no place for a woman," Colonel Accola said sharply.

"Good thing I'm not just a woman. I'm a mutant," I hissed. I made a move to step past him as he held a hand out to stop me. I crossed my arms over my chest. "You don't honestly think I'm letting you lead this charge?" Colonel Accola merely nodded. How I didn't see this one coming was beyond me. "You wouldn't even know where these bases were had it not been for us."

"We are grateful for the assistance," Colonel Accola said stiffly, sounding anything but grateful. "Your services are no longer required."

"Where we go, she goes," Jim snapped, motioning back to me. "It's not an option."

"This is my army," Colonel Accola pointed out. "You are on loan. If I request her to remain here, she will."

"You have no idea what -"

"Okay," I interrupted, holding Steve back. "Okay, I'll stay."

Bucky looked shocked that I had given in so quickly. "Vika -"

"It's not worth the fight," I told him, grabbing his hands. We needed to kill those Hydra soldiers. Whoever was the person to actually do it was irrelevant. "Clearing out that base is much more important than my dignity. It's okay." I motioned for Steve to join us. "You two watch out for each other and for the rest of the men. Understood?"

"We'll keep an eye out," Steve promised.

"Keep watch, yeah?" Bucky asked me.

There was no way that I was letting them do this on their own. I had to watch them and ensure that nothing happened to them without me. "We'll stay overhead. I'll keep an eye on you," I told them.

The men nodded. Dum Dum walked past me and gently nudged the underside of my chin. "Smile pretty girl," he told me. I laughed quietly. "You taught us well."

"Make me proud out there. All of you," I commanded gently.

They had learned well from me. I just had to believe that. I'd taught them for a long time. They had definitely learned. I exchanged hugs with all of the men and pressed a quick kiss against Bucky's mouth before finally allowing them to walk off. We watched them wander through the woods for a while before the plane took off again. I watched them move through the woods from up in the air. There appeared to be about eighty men moving to dismantle the Hydra base. It was far too many. I lingered by the windows to watch over them.

A few minutes passed as a younger man, named Sergeant Willan, walked up to me. He seemed very cowardly to me. "You can't honestly want to walk into that fight," Sergeant Willan told me.

"Trust me, I do," I said sharply.

Sergeant Willan looked extremely confused. "Why?" he asked. "You're a woman."

When would the day come that they would stop using my gender against me? Being a woman meant nothing. I was just a natural fighter. "As I said before, I'm not just a woman. I'm a mutant. I'm stronger than you think. I can handle myself out there," I told him. I thought about letting it drop but decided to go for it. "Let's be honest while we're at it. I like the feeling of killing someone."

While it was the truth, I had said it just to get a reaction from Sergeant Willan. Like most people, he didn't seem to like discussing killing someone. I ended up getting even more of a reaction than I was expecting. The sergeants and others that remained in the plane stumbled back from me. I grinned at them as I let the crackle of lightning erupt over my arms. They wouldn't dare come anywhere near me. I laughed as I walked off and hung over the cargo ramp. I leaned over the edge to watch the invasion down below closely. It was a good chance to watch over my boys without watching myself.

It was what I needed right now. Plus, I supposed that I could intervene if things got bad down below. It was interesting and almost amusing to watch the men advance on the Hydra soldiers. But there were so many problems. Nothing was right. They were doing anything correctly. At least, the Swiss soldiers weren't. They had spread too far apart. There were too many openings for the Hydra soldiers to break into. The soldiers weren't paying attention to their surroundings. There was no way that they were going to succeed in the invasion.

The Hydra soldiers were slowly advancing on all of the Swiss men, including my boys. Absolutely not. My eyes briefly flared red. They were not going to hurt any of my boys. I couldn't care less about the Swiss soldiers. I knew that my boys were paying attention and working together like they always did but it was hard for them to work with the Swiss soldiers running all around them. They were completely distracting my boys from the rest of the battle. I even spotted a younger man get hooked in the leg by a bullet.

Every single person down there would die if I did nothing. There was no doubt in my mind. They weren't working together well enough. There was no way that I was letting that happen. Not even to the Swiss men that I hated so much. They were still human beings. I couldn't let them die for trying to defend their own land. But I especially couldn't let that happen to my boys. I ran toward the open ramp and prepared to jump from the plane when someone stepped out in front of me. I stopped for a moment and stared at him - debating on killing him.

It turned out to be Sergeant Willan. "You are not permitted to enter the fighting," he ordered.

"Do you see what's happening down there?" I asked sharply, motioning down to the ground. Sergeant Willan merely stared at it. "It's only going to be so long before someone dies. If it's one of my boys, I'll kill you. Get the hell out of my way. Or I'll throw you from the plane. Your choice." Sergeant Willan stared at me for a while longer before moving to the side. "Good choice."

It was his only way out of this without me killing him. I needed to be down there with my boys. I needed to save them. Once I was sure they were all going to be okay, I was going to kill Colonel Accola. I ran full-speed toward the ramp and threw myself headfirst out of the plane. I went plummeting to the ground at terminal velocity, ripping through the air. As I fell to the earth I sent out an order into everyone's minds to push them away from the area, including my boys. They were some of the first to move, pulling the unassuming Swiss soldiers to safety with them.

They were smart enough to know that they needed to move out to keep me from accidentally injuring them. I brought up a huge force field that surrounded the Hydra factory to keep the Hydra soldiers from being able to shoot at any of my boys or the Swiss soldiers. Thankfully my thought had been strong enough to get them out of there quickly. The soldiers looked extremely concerned as I created a small hole in the top of the force field and fell through it, hitting the ground. They had finally realized the true danger they were in.

Every single one of them was about to die an incredibly painful death. The Hydra soldiers began barking orders at each other to kill me - an impossible feat. I brought up a second force field around myself as I strolled slowly and calmly into the center of the building, giving my boys and the Swiss soldiers some time to put some distance between themselves and the factory. I let off a blast of flames and electrical current to keep the soldiers at bay. The Hydra soldiers were thrown back into the walls. Many were killed instantly.

Some of the soldiers tried to fight back against it. But it never worked. Not against me. The electrical currently shot through their bodies and fried all of their internal organs, melting into each other. My flames shot into spear-like weapons as they sheared through the soldiers nearest us. After a while, I finished my slow stroll into the center of the building and grinned. I looked up just long enough to ensure that the others were far enough away from the building for me to do what I needed to. Knowing my boys would be safe, I allowed them to regain their senses.

They might enjoy watching my attack, after all. Finally aware that everyone was at a safe distance, I brought up another force field and ensured that it was completely blocking any of the men from getting into the building. I could feel the energy building within my chest. An easy answer. Aggravation was building in my chest from the knowledge that all of those men could have died. My boys could have died because Colonel Accola hadn't listened to me. It didn't take long for my emotions to overtake me and allow the energy to explode straight from my chest.

The radioactive blast was about ten times as strong as it normally was. It surprised even me. But I supposed it was because I was still connected in some way to the Soul Stone. I was thrown onto my back from the sudden energy surge. The entire building took almost no time to implode on itself. The glass from the windows shot out to the surrounding field as the metal from the building expanded and exploded. The entire building collapsed to the ground within seconds, leaving absolutely nothing in its wake.

The boiling pieces of metal dropped to the ground, slicing through the dirt and the bodies of the soldiers. The Hydra soldiers immediately began to drop dead as the radiation rippled through the building. I grinned as I watched the bodies of the soldiers begin to decay. Their skin melted off as their bones crumbled to dust, leaving them suffering throughout their deaths. I held the radiation between my force field and myself as it slowly began fading. But I eventually let the force field drop once I was sure that the radiation was completely eradicated.

Nothing remained. The building was rubble. The Hydra soldiers were left in puddles of bone and flesh. I slowly turned back to where the men were watching me with glazed faces. They weren't used to mind control. They all very slowly began walking toward me, having realized what had happened. Some of them looked terrified at the sight of me. Most of them did, actually. But some looked quite grateful that I had saved their lives. As my skin and eyes continued to glow golden, my boys walked toward me. Bucky instantly pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

When he pulled away I looked him over, praying that he wasn't injured. "You okay?" I asked desperately.

"I'm fine," Bucky said breathlessly. "We're all fine."

"Thank you," Jacques said, resting a hand on my arm.

"Of course," I said, moving to hug them all. The Swiss soldiers were watching us in shock. "I saw what was going on. I had to come to get you. It wasn't going well. I could tell."

"They're not going to be happy with you," Steve told me.

"I don't care," I said honestly. What could they do? Kill me? "I just care that you're all okay."

Dum Dum smiled. "We appreciate it."

"I thought that you hated the Swiss men?" Bucky asked me.

"Oh, I do," I told him. I hated the Swiss men more than anything else. Them and the people who led them. "But the truth is that there is some good in this world and it's worth fighting for. Every human life is worth the same and worth saving. At least when we can still save them."

Mostly since I had just killed about a hundred Hydra soldiers. "You are an impressive woman, Victoria," James said.

"Thank you," I said.

"Trust us, we're the ones who ought to thank you," Gabe teased.

They hadn't done anything wrong. They were only following orders. "It was my pleasure," I told them honestly. We all smiled at each other as I turned back to the rest of the Swiss men. They were still staring at us blankly. "You're welcome," I sneered at them. "Should we return to the plane or would you all like to stare at the place your Colonel sent you to die a little while longer?"

Perhaps it wasn't the nicest thing in the world of me to say, but I was furious that their mistake had almost cost my boys their lives. As soon as we got back to the plane, I was planning on killing Colonel Accola. Actually, I was planning on making it a slow death. Just so he knew how furious I was about this entire thing. The Swiss men all turned and half-ran back to where the plane was stationed a few miles out. I knew that they didn't want to be anywhere near me. Not with the threat of their lives now hanging over their heads. They knew how angry I was.

We all headed out to the plane together. The boys and I were in the back of the group. I could tell that the soldiers were quite embarrassed about what had just happened out there. They knew how close to death they had been. They knew I was the reason that they were alive. We walked for almost ten minutes back to the plane. By the time I arrived at the plane with the rest of my boys, the Swiss men were already inside. As expected, Colonel Accola was there waiting for us and he looked pissed. I walked up to him with a smile.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing out there?" Colonel Accola sneered.

"Saving your men, it seems," I answered.

"You were not authorized to come onto that field."

"Look at what would have happened had I not come. You would have lost at least half of your men. I saved them. Their lives and your own."

"We don't need a woman out here."

"You're right," I admitted. Colonel Accola merely stared at me. "What you need is some common sense." The Swiss Colonel glared at me. "You were outnumbered and outgunned. You knew that going in. You knew that I could come in there and save your men. You refused. I made a different call and saved them. I believe the words you're looking for are 'Thank you.'"

Colonel Accola looked absolutely furious with me. He turned back to my boys and said, "Hold your bitch in place."

The hair on the back of my neck bristled. That's rude. Bucky immediately stepped forward. "If you ever -"

Dum Dum pushed me back. "Watch your goddamn -"

Gabe stepped past me. "She'll kill your -"

Steve towered over the colonel. "You better mind -"

But I didn't need the boys to fight my battles for me. This one was all on me. I raised my palm out to the boys to silence them. Knowing that I had this handled, the boy's voices immediately dropped off. Everyone in the plane fell silent. They were all suddenly interested. I wasn't quite sure where I was going with this, but I was sure that it would be good. I slowly walked forward, forcing Colonel Accola's knees to bend and give way. He collapsed to the ground as I raised a hand and pulled the air from his throat. He began turning purple as the others watched in fear.

My eyes turned black as I stared down at him. Colonel Accola was clawing at his throat, causing blood trails to run down his neck. "His bitch has a name. You will learn to use it. Are we understood?" I asked.

Colonel Accola barely managed to not. Throwing my arm out for a moment, I removed all of the air from his throat. His eyes turned bright red as he desperately grasped for oxygen. I smiled in pleasure as I finally released him. Colonel Accola dropped to the ground, breathing in and out harshly, trying to suck oxygen back into his system. A few minutes later Colonel Accola managed to rise to his knees. He was groaning in pain. I could hear the bones in his knees crunching around. I had definitely done some serious damage.

"Good," I said, grinning.

"We will head to the next Swiss Hydra base and then return to the camp," Colonel Accola told the others, still trying to get air back into his system. "Follow Sergeant Phillips's orders."

"Let's make this fast," I growled, turning to the Swiss soldiers. "You're all to wait here."

"Are you out of your mind?" Colonel Accola hissed.

I whipped around to him. "Have you not learned your place?" I asked sharply. He glared at me but made no move to advance on me. He knew that he would lose. "You want these Hydra bases gone?" Colonel Accola said nothing. "Yeah, I thought so. You want them gone, we'll handle it. But you've proven to me that you can't work with us. So we'll work by ourselves."

"Why don't you show them what you can do?" Steve told me.

Had he just told me to go in there alone? "What?" I asked blankly.

Bucky nudged me gently. "Show them just how useless a woman is."

I grinned, finally understanding. "All right."

The plane had already made the brief trip to the second Hydra base hidden in Switzerland. I walked back to the ramp - laughing in amusement as the Swiss soldiers stumbled back from me - and motioned for them to drop it. Once the ramp was down I collapsed backward out of the plane. The soldiers watched breathlessly as I plummeted to the earth below, directly above the Hydra facility. I didn't bother to slow myself down as I smashed through the ceiling and slammed into the ground so hard that a crater formed underneath me.

As I very slowly rose to my feet I saw the Hydra soldiers all break off from whatever they had been doing before to stare at me. They definitely hadn't been expecting me. I smiled at them, knowing that this was one of those chances to really let loose without having to worry about hurting any of my boys. I dropped back to the ground and punched the concrete that had turned to a crater underneath me. My hit was so hard that two separate boulders rose from the rubble. I levitated them for a moment before winding up and sending two powerful kicks to the boulders.

Both boulders shot straight into the groups of Hydra soldiers. Almost fifteen soldiers were instantly crushed to death as the boulders careened through the opposite wall. We were in a factory and that meant that there were gas tankers on both ends of the factory. I brought up the flames, shooting them straight into the gas carriers at either end of the buildings, causing them to explode. The flames and chunks of metal sheared through the building, instantly killing most of the soldiers, lighting most of the building on fire.

The screams and cries of the dying men echoed through the building. I stood completely upright and smiled as the flames melted over my skin. It felt good to me. As the building began to collapse, I turned to leave the building. My work here was done. Hydra soldiers were collapsing to the ground all around me. Their skin was falling off in pieces as their eyes melted back into their sockets and their blood boiled. I turned to blast back through the ceiling and into the plane when I saw someone who hadn't died yet.

One of the Hydra soldiers - who had flames licking at the edges of his uniform - came sprinting after me. They never learn. I turned back and smiled at him. I phased my right hand as the man ran up to me and phased it straight through his chest. He looked on in shock as I wrapped my hand around his heart, solidifying it. The man began screaming as I ripped his heart straight out of his chest. A little gift for Colonel Accola... I grinned and blasted back through the remaining ceiling as the man dropped to the ground, already dead.

The man's heart still in my hand, I hovered above the facility and looked down on it. I pushed down airwaves as hard as I could into the remaining shell of the building, watching the structure collapse back into the dirt. Just by one glance down into the old building, I could tell that my actions had caused mass casualties. I smiled again as I sucked the air out of the surrounding area to allow the flames to die down and extinguish themselves. No need setting the Swiss woods on fire. I shot up into the air and floated back onto the ramp of the airplane where the soldiers were watching me.

They looked horrified. My boys were smiling at me. Colonel Accola's face was both shocked and infuriated. "You're right. What could a woman do?" I asked facetiously. "Present for you."

Colonel Accola looked completely lost. Which was exactly what I wanted. I pulled the heart back from behind my back and tossed it carelessly over to Colonel Accola. He caught it before realizing what it was. His gaze slowly turned down toward it. The moment that he realized what it was, he dropped the heart to the ground, let out a girlish shriek, and fell backward onto his ass. All of the other soldiers screamed as well, panicking and backing into their seats. My boys looked a little sickened at the sight of a human heart but still managed weak laughter.

"Don't worry. He wasn't using it much anyway," I told Colonel Accola.

He looked like... well... I had just thrown a heart at him. My boys laughed as I turned back and headed to the jump seats in the back of the plane. They followed me. "I probably shouldn't even bother asking but... was that real?" Bucky asked.

"Yes," I said carelessly.

"Gross and impressive," Dum Dum said.

"Thank you," I chirped.

"You fascinate me, Vika. You really do," Bucky said, snorting in amusement. I smiled at him. At least he wasn't terrified of me now. Kind of. "You know that all you've done is managed to make them hate you even more though."

"Oh, I'm aware. But it's better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you're not," I said.

The others smiled. "Good advice to live by," Steve said.

We made our way to the back of the plane willingly that time as the soldiers began the flight back to the base. About an hour later we were back at the base, walking back to our tents. There was supposed to be a meeting about our future at the base - as we had been warned when we'd first arrived that I had acted extremely out of order - but we ignored it, instead, sitting by the fire pit and telling stories about my attacks on the Hydra bases. Much to my surprise, even some of the Swiss soldiers came to sit with us and listen. I was never truly reprimanded for my actions.

A few days later I was up and walking around the campsite. Sometimes I liked just getting out and enjoying the fresh air, which Switzerland definitely had an abundance of. Since the whole heart-throwing trick with Colonel Accola, I had made quite the name for myself. Most of the Swiss men tried to avoid me at all costs, terrified that I would do the same to me. But it wasn't like I carried a purse full of human hearts... My only source of conversation came from the men, who found me just as amusing as ever. It was fine by me. I didn't have to watch my mouth around them.

Currently, I was walking around with my team, discussing the impending attacks. "So... we're thinking to attack the Danish Castle next?" I asked Steve.

"Seems to make the most sense," Steve answered. "It's not going to be easy to reach."

"When was easy ever a part of this?" I pointed out. Before he got the chance to answer, voices drifted into my head.

That's her...

The mutant?

Yeah…

That thing's a freak of nature.

She ripped someone's heart out.

How can they even stand to be near her?

Maybe they should just put her out of her misery.

"Vika?" Bucky asked, realizing that I had stopped walking.

"What?" I said.

"You okay?" Bucky asked.

"Can we just go back to the tents?" I muttered.

"Yeah. Come on," Bucky said.

He gently wrapped an arm around my back to push me forward. As we walked I noticed that almost everyone was staring at me. They knew who I was. The golden eyes gave it away. As did the golden glow underneath my skin from the flames. The men and Steve followed us back to the tents at a close distance. At least we could all crowd in one tent to avoid prying eyes. That didn't mean that people wouldn't still try and stare at me. I hated being the freak again. I missed being at the base in London, where everyone might have still feared me, but at least they were used to me.

Very slowly a young girl broke out of the surrounding crowd and made her way in front of me. I immediately stopped walking. She was right in my way. Was I supposed to brush by her? She didn't look scared. She looked... curious. The men and Bucky backed off slightly as the young girl looked up at me. I was about to speak when a middle-aged woman suddenly ran over and pulled the little girl back from me. The woman pushed the little girl - who was clearly her daughter - behind herself and began muttering rapidly in French.

"You stay away from things like that," the woman ordered her daughter.

"I am not a thing," I replied in French, well-aware she wasn't speaking to me.

The woman straightened up nervously, realizing I understood French. She switched to English. "You are not human," the woman sneered.

Unfortunately, she was completely correct. "No. I suppose that I'm not," I said quietly. "But that doesn't mean that I deserve to be spoken to the way that I have. You'll notice that hardly anyone has spoken to me since I've arrived. Crowds clear out when I come near." I slowly turned to address the rest of the ever-growing crowd. "You don't look me directly in the eye when you do speak to me. No, I am not like you. I am not human. But that doesn't mean that I'm ashamed of who I am. For so long I fought to hide the truth. Not anymore. I am a mutant… and no matter how you look at me, I will fight for you.

"Because I've stood privy to the horrors that people inflict on each other and I will never let that happen to someone else. I know how disgusting humanity can be. But we can also be better. Since when do people attack each other just because we look or act differently? Every one of us standing here right now wants the same thing. Peace. What does it matter if I'm the one fighting for it?" I slowly turned back to the mother. "I'm fighting to give your daughter a better life. To keep her safe. To allow her to be anything she wishes. What's wrong with that? Does that make me a monster?

"Would you rather I let her die?" The mother didn't answer as I turned back to the rest of the crowd. "I hear what you people say about me even when you don't say it. I hear what you truly think of me. There are no flattering thoughts in your mind. You barely look at me as a sentient creature. You treat me more like I'm a walking plague. But that won't stop me from fighting for you. Because I won't let anyone stand, beaten down the way we all have been, knowing that I could make a difference. Knowing that I could end all of this. If you would let me.

"I just ask you to remember something… this could have happened to any of you. Look at your sons and daughters, your brothers and sisters, your mother and father. Look at your friends. Your comrades. Then imagine if they were like me. Who knows? Maybe they are. Maybe they're hiding it from you. Would you treat them the way that you treat me just because they're different? I somehow doubt it. You would love them. No, I am not human. But that doesn't make me a monster." I turned to the mother a final time and said, "I pray that no one ever speaks to or looks at your daughter the way you do to me."

The area was so silent that you could have heard a pin drop. I turned in circles, slowly scanning the crowd. I was sure that everyone on the base was now surrounding me. The mother merely stared at me. She didn't seem to know how to respond. I didn't bother telling her that no response would have ever been appropriate. Steve and Bucky were nodding reassuringly at me. The men were all smiling. I stood at the dead center of the camp, staring at the people who stared right back at me. Suddenly the little girl pushed past her mother to stand in front of me.

"For you," she said.

A thick accent laced her words. I wondered if she had just started learning English to speak to me. Of course, she could have spoken any language and I'd have understood her. The little girl reached behind her back and pulled out a small doll. I could only assume that she had knitted it for me. I fell down onto my knees in front of the girl as she held the doll out to me. It was a human doll that had white yarn knitted into the head for hair. Yellow beads had been used in place of the eyes. It was supposed to be me. I smiled as I gently took the doll from her grasp.

"Thank you. I will treasure it always," I told her honestly.

She smiled as a boy I imagined was her brother ran up to me. "Show us," he said excitedly.

"Show you?" I asked.

"The lights," the boy said.

"You mean this?"

The only thing I could imagine he meant was the lightning I could reflect off of my body. I brought up the currently just enough to spark off of my fingertips. The kids didn't run away. Instead, they nodded excitedly. I laughed as I leaned onto my knees, allowing the currents to travel up and down my arms. Very slowly other kids began pushing past their concerned parents to sit with me and watch the electrical currents spark off my hands and arms. I laughed as they grabbed onto my arms, dragging me with them and asking me to show them more.

I ended up running around the campsite for the rest of the day, showing off my powers to the kids. They loved watching it. I clearly fascinated them. I loved watching the light in their eyes as I utilized what I had once thought was a curse. The men were laughing as they watched me. I used them as test dummies for most of the demonstrations of my powers - resulting in lots of burns and electrocutions on their part. But they allowed me to keep going as it was definitely making the kids happy.

The kids were certainly upset with their parents when they started pulling them away for either dinner or bed. They looked relieved to see that I hadn't killed their kids. I was forced to promise the kids that I would come and play with them for a few hours every day. They wanted it. I was almost horrified when one of the kids threw their arms around my shoulders in a hug. I tensed for a long moment before slowly hugging them back. Those same arms that ripped someone's heart out could also manage to comfort children.

Later that night - after I had spent a few hours with the men talking about the upcoming mission and just having some fun with them - I sat in the tent that I shared with Bucky. Everyone else had already gone to bed. The two of us hadn't spoken much throughout the day. He knew that I needed some time to process what had happened with the kids today. He was finishing pulling on his pajamas as I pulled my hair up into a knot on the top of my head.

"The kids around town really love you," Bucky commented.

I'd known that he would say something about them. "I think I more fascinate them than anything else," I replied.

Bucky laughed humorlessly. "When are you going to get it?" he asked me. I raised a brow. "People aren't scared of you anymore. People are growing to love you. Just the way I do."

People would always be terrified of me. But it seemed that some of them were finally getting used to me. "It's weird. I've been shunned my whole life. Now to have people looking at me like I'm one of them… at least the kids... I don't know. It's weird."

"This is the life I always knew you could have."

"To finally be me… it's… freeing."

"You look happy."

"I am," I said.

Perhaps for the first time since we had arrived in Switzerland, I really was happy. The people out there were finally realizing that I wasn't a monster hellbent on their deaths. I smiled as Bucky slid into the cot with me. I shifted to him and laid down on his chest, watching as I ran my fingertips against his chest. The static from my fingers made his chest hair stand up straight. We both laughed, watching me draw patterns in it. Eventually, Bucky began laughing even louder.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked curiously.

"I can't believe you ripped someone's heart out of their chest," Bucky said.

My jaw dropped. "I can't believe you're laughing about it."

We hadn't really talked about what had happened. I'd just assumed that he had been so disgusted by it that he didn't even want to talk about it. But he found it funny... I merely stared at him as Bucky dissolved into fits of hysterical laughter. It got to the point where his laughter was almost uncontrollable. I stared at him like he had lost his mind. Maybe he had. But eventually, even I began to chuckle. I supposed there was something rather humorous about the entire thing.

Finally, Bucky calmed down enough to say, "My mother always warned me to watch out for a girl who could rip my heart out."

Was that really what Mrs. Barnes had said? I definitely could have seen her saying it. We stared at each other for a long while before beginning to laugh all over again. There was definitely something funny about the entire thing. I knew that Mrs. Barnes didn't mean that when she told her son to watch out for a girl who could hurt him. She would have never thought that it was even a possibility. What would she have thought if she knew that Bucky had gotten himself someone who really could rip his heart out?

In the coming days, we were mostly ignored by the soldiers. I had a feeling that they didn't want much to do with me after learning that I really could rip their hearts out. By now I had just assumed that they would come and grab us when it was time to move in on the Hydra bases in Northern Italy. That was just fine by me. I didn't like hanging out with the Swiss soldiers anyway. They were annoying and weak.

Instead, much to my own surprise, I found myself spending a lot of time with the kids around town. They continuously asked me to show my powers off for them. As usual, the men would come along and allow me to beat them up. The kids liked to laugh and ask me to fight them hand-to-hand. I figured that my quick movements fascinated them. I rolled my eyes at my boys whenever they tried to fight me. I deliberately hurt them even more when they tried to intimidate me. I ended up promising the kids that I would teach them to fight like me.

It was very quiet at the base over those next few days. Almost oddly quiet. I noticed that the soldiers avoided me desperately. They seemed to do anything they could to avoid being caught out in the open with me. Not that it really bothered me. It just became humorous to make jokes about hearts whenever I was near them. Or talking about my ability to hear their heart beating. My boy had a hard time not laughing at my jokes. Over the next week they became quite good at pretending to be afraid of me. Maybe they were actually a little bit afraid of me.

That day, late in the afternoon, I was getting change for dinner in my tent. The kids had just been forced to clear off the base for training. They had been asking me to show them how I kicked back up to my feet. I promised I would show them tomorrow. I was in the middle of pulling off my oversized training shirt when the flap of the tent was pulled back. I already knew that it would be him. I could hear his thoughts a mile away. Without even turning back to look at him, I knew that he was smiling.

"There's a sight I like to see," Bucky teased.

"Oh, I know exactly what it is that you would like to see," I said, turning to him with a little grin.

Bucky smiled. "Still reading my mind?"

When he thought about things like that, it was hard not to read his mind. "It's kind of fun," I admitted.

"I'll think of something gross."

"No, you won't."

"What makes you think I won't?" Bucky asked.

Simply because he was a man, like all others. They were stupid and simple creatures. Bucky might have been my fiancé, but that made him no more difficult to manipulate. I slowly ran my fingers down the length of my shirt, undoing the buttons along their path. I could see Bucky wet his lips against his will. As the shirt fell open, I rolled it back off of my shoulders and allowed it to drop to the ground. I took a few careful steps into him, reaching my hands down to rest on the button of his pants. His thoughts went exactly where I was expecting them to.

"Knew it," I said, grinning.

Bucky huffed. "That's not fair," he said, pulling me back to him.

I laughed. "We have work to do."

"From what I can see, we don't have work to do for another thirty minutes," Bucky said, glancing down at his wrist. "A lot can happen in thirty minutes."

"A lot can not happen in thirty minutes too," I teased.

We smiled at each other as my eyebrows raised slightly. Did I want to do something with Bucky? Absolutely. But there was no way that I was going to let him have this one. It was a test of sheer will and I knew that I had the stronger one. Which one of us could last longer without acting on our impulses? We were both impulsive people, but I was usually much worse. Not today. Bucky stepped forward and placed a hand on my waist, slowly moving into me. His head dropped to the crook of my neck as his lips traveled up against the side of my throat. My heart was fluttering.

My chest began glowing red. "Damn you," I snarled.

Bucky laughed. "Thought you were stronger than that?"

That was when I'd had enough. He could tease me as much as he wanted, but I would always show him that I was the stronger one. I rotated underneath his arm and rested one shin against his stomach as my other leg went back around his arm to hook around the front of it. I twirled underneath myself and rolled against the ground, flipping us onto the cot. As we hit the mattress I rotated back over my own knee and came to rest on top of him, keeping my thighs firmly planted around his waist.

His head was spinning. "Oh, I am," I said happily.

Bucky managed a vague grin. "Now this I like much better."

"Me, too," I said.

We both chuckled as I leaned down to give him a lingering kiss. Perhaps we could use that half an hour before we had to be in command again. His hands immediately fell down to my hips. They tightened against the skin there before traveling up over my skin and settling in the curves of my body. His right hand dropped underneath my thigh to keep me in place. I reached down for the hem of his shirt and began to peel it off of his body. We had enough time. If not, they would have to wait anyway.

There was a sudden call from outside of the tent. "Sergeant Phillips."

If they were already here they would likely already know that we were in here. There was no avoiding it and I didn't want to listen to him calling me for the next thirty minutes. "Oh, hang on. I should probably see what they want," I told Bucky.

"Hurry up," he whined.

"Don't boss me around," I snapped. He rolled his eyes as I grinned, pulling on my shirt and buttoning it back up. Once I was sure that I was decent again, I walked back out of the tent. A captain was waiting for me. "What?" He handed me a letter without speaking. "What's this?"

"Official orders, Sergeant," Captain Schwartz (as his name tag read) said. I raised a brow. What was that supposed to mean? "You and your team have been relieved of duties and shall return to your base within twenty-four hours."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? "We were sent here to take out four Hydra bases. We've only cleared two," I pointed out.

"You have cleared the two bases in Switzerland. We thank you. But your services are no longer required," Captain Schwartz said. "You are to return to your base in London."

Now it made sense... "Colonel Accola requested this?" I asked.

"Yes. The Italian army will handle the remaining bases on their own soil."

"They'll die."

Captain Schwartz frowned. "It is at their own request."

It wasn't worth the fight and I didn't really want to be in Switzerland any longer. At least we would finally go back home. "Fine. We'll be on the first flight back to London. I'll tell the rest of my team," I told Captain Schwartz before turning and walking off, giving him no chance to respond. I walked back into the tent, placing the letter down on the cot. Bucky was waiting expectantly. "Get dressed."

Bucky stared at me. "What happened?" He looked down at the letter. "What is that?"

"We're going back to London. Official orders," I said. Bucky's brows knitted. "Come on. We should tell everyone else."

"Okay," Bucky said slowly.

Once everyone was together I would explain my sudden change in demeanor. I supposed that I couldn't be surprised that the Swiss men wanted us gone. More appropriately, they wanted me gone. But they would end up losing a lot of their own men in the process. Bucky pulled his shirt on and nodded at me. We headed out of the tent and turned to head off to the official planning rooms. That was where the rest of the men had been waiting for us. As we walked in, meeting up with the rest of the men, I dropped the letter in front of them.

"Pack up, gentlemen. We're on the first flight out tomorrow," I ordered.

Their gazes all shot over to me. "I thought we were here for a few days before heading out to Italy," Gabe said confusedly.

"We've been dismissed from action with the Swiss army," I said.

"Why?" Jacques asked.

"You really have to ask?" I said.

They all exchanged a look. "Your actions resulted in our loan being dismissed?" James asked curiously.

I nodded. "Apparently I'm not a team player and blatantly disregard orders."

"We all knew that," Steve teased.

Normally I would have appreciated the joke. But right now I didn't appreciate it. I was more upset that these men couldn't see that I was trying to help them. "The truth is that the men here won't ever accept a woman out on the battlefield, no less a mutant," I told the men. "I attacked him so I really should have seen this one coming."

"You saved us and his men," Bucky pointed out.

But that wasn't the part that they wanted to see. "That is true. But I was given explicit orders and I ignored them. That isn't a quality that's sought after in soldiers. They're meant to obey. Women even more so. I might have saved them but they'll never thank me for it," I said honestly. "But we'll always know what we did out here."

The men all smiled at me and moved forward to hug me, knowing that I wasn't happy about this. "Well I for one would like to thank you for getting us dismissed," James said, finally breaking the silence.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I miss London," James said.

"Bunch of pussies out here anyway," I snapped.

The men all laughed quite loudly at my incredibly blunt statement. But it was true. They were cowardly. "To be fair, you tossed someone's heart at them. That you ripped out of their chest," Steve explained.

"Technically I phased through their chest and pulled the heart out," I corrected him. Steve rolled his eyes. "There's a difference. Trust me."

"Sergeant Phillips," Captain Schwartz called.

Were they preparing to chase us out with pitchforks and torches? "What?" I snapped, turning back to him. "We're leaving but the first flight doesn't leave until tomorrow morning."

"There is a telephone call for you," Captain Schwartz said, looking down at a card in his hand. "A... Colonel Phillips."

"Oh no..." I muttered.

"Good luck," Bucky teased.

"I'll need it," I said. The men all patted me on the back as I walked off and headed into the phone booth. I stared at it for a moment before picking it up off the receiver. "Hey."

"We hear you'll be on your way home tomorrow," Chester's voice said.

"You heard correctly," I said.

"Is it true that you attacked a Colonel?"

"Yes."

"You're being dismissed because he refused to let you out on the battlefield and you did so anyway?"

"Yes."

"You nearly suffocated him just because he called you a bitch?"

"Yes."

Chester was silent for a long time. Then he finally said, "That's my girl."

There was something amused in his voice. I almost dropped the phone in surprise. "You're not mad?" I asked.

"Not particularly," Chester said carelessly.

At least there was one person who wasn't completely furious with me or terrified of me. "That's a good thing to hear. I thought that you wouldn't be happy to hear that I got us dismissed from loan to the Swiss," I told him.

"Don't really give a damn, Victoria. They can manage the rest of the Hydra bases on their land. They'll lose soldiers in the process but that's what they get for not listening to you," Chester said. I smiled at him. I was looking forward to seeing him and everyone else again. "In the meantime, come back home so we can get a handle on what's going on closer to home."

"Can't wait to come back. I miss London. I miss all of you," I said truthfully.

"We miss you too, brat."

I smiled at the phone. "How is everyone?"

"Good. Stark is working on new technology. He's still been poking and prodding at that stone thing. Figuring out what Schmidt wants with the Tesseract," Chester said. I fiddled with my nails nervously. I hated that Howard was touching the Space Stone without me around. "Agent Carter is working with the soldiers to find out if we're missing any Hydra bases. She's making sure that we know which bases pose the most immediate threat."

"Sounds like time well spent," I commented.

"It has been. When are you back?"

"We'll be on the first flight out in the morning."

"We'll be waiting for you tomorrow night then."

"Make a trip out to the tavern. We can tell you all about what happened out here."

"Sounds like a plan."

I debated on leaving out the part about the heart, but I knew that he would hear about it eventually. It would be better coming from me. "Oh, and I can tell you about the heart I threw at Colonel Accola," I said brightly.

"The what you threw at who?" Chester gasped.

"Well... when I was in the Swiss Hydra base I phased through one of the Hydra soldier's chest and literally removed their heart from their body. Once I had it I kept it with me and shot back into the airplane. With what an ass Colonel Accola was being, I took the heart and threw it at him," I said guiltily. "He looked just the slightest bit upset about it."

If I hadn't gotten yelled at before, I was definitely going to get yelled at now. I shouldn't have done what I had but I didn't care. We both stayed completely silent for a moment. I knew that he was going to be furious with me for doing something like that. But, much to my surprise, Chester began laughing. I followed a second later. I was glad that he found the entire situation humorous and he wasn't angry. Then men eventually joined me at the phone, looking quite happy that I was laughing. I might have been helpful on the base here in Switzerland, but I genuinely missed being home.

A/N: Did you all see the Superbowl TV spot for Endgame? I've never been so excited for a single movie before. Let me know what you all thought about it! Thanks so much for the follows and favorites! Please review! Until next time -A

I HAVE A QUESTION, EVERYONE! How soon would you like to see Bucky's fall? I'd like to know if you're ready to start seeing The Avengers storyline and all that follows or if you'd like some more time in The First Avenger storyline.

.2019: Thank you! Hope you liked this one!

xWintra: I remember all of your reviews! I'm so happy to hear that you're reading and reviewing again. I'm definitely still writing it although the updates are slow. I'm really happy that you think the story is unique because I do sometimes get nervous that I might fall into cliches. I really hope that you've enjoyed catching up on the story and I hope you liked this one!

LadyPorterfield: Trust me, I'm so excited to write the Infinity War storyline. I've got so many plans. Can't say whether or not I'll have Bucky die but I do promise to have a lot of Bucky/Victoria in the upcoming stories. Endgame is definitely going to be tough to watch but I'm so damned excited! Especially to see where I want to take things with Victoria in Endgame. I've already got plans. I'm hoping Steve and Tony will see each other again and that they'll have a chance to be friends again. They both lost so much during the last film. I've got a feelings those tears were for everyone, but definitely for Bucky. Thanks so much for the review and I hope you liked this one!