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.

41. Chapter 40

When I woke up in the morning, I immediately began grumbling grouchily. I wasn't ready to wake up yet. I had been in the labs until well into the night. In fact, I was sure that I hadn't even left them that long ago. I'd been working with Howard and Peggy to figure the chain of command in Hydra. Bucky had already been dead asleep when I had gotten back to our room. I was extremely jealous that he had been asleep for hours before I had finally passed out. I had barely gotten three hours. I groaned angrily as Bucky leaned over to turn our alarm off.

As Bucky turned back from the alarm, he smiled down at me. "Good morning."

"Shut up," I growled, throwing my arms over my eyes.

Bucky snorted. "I really like how nicely you treat me."

I slowly dropped my arms from my eyes as I moaned guiltily at him. "I'm sorry, Bucky," I said, grabbing his hands. He pulled me into him, throwing the blankets back over me. "Howard and Peggy had me in the labs until the middle of the night. I only got out because I slipped out while the two of them were in the middle of an argument."

"It's fine," Bucky said, waving off my uncharacteristic snap at him. "I didn't even hear you come in last night."

"I debated on waking you up and making you miserable too but even I'm not that cruel," I admitted.

Bucky laughed. "Much appreciated."

I smiled up at him slightly. "Okay. Alright," I said, trying to motivate myself. "Just give me a second and I'll be ready."

It looked like Bucky was about to speak as I pushed the blankets back off myself. I had just thrown my legs over the edge of the bed when Bucky pushed me back down. "Vika - Hey, Vika," Bucky said slowly. I raised a brow, wondering what the hell he was doing. "Go back to sleep, okay? I'll let everyone know that you had a long night and are going to sleep in for a little while."

"Bucky, come on, I've got to get back to the labs," I argued.

"To do what?" Bucky asked knowingly.

We had hit a standstill in the labs. There was really nothing to be done until we knew where to hit Hydra next. But I didn't like being useless. "I don't know," I admitted. "See if I can help Howard figure out how to remotely power down the Hydra weapons. Or maybe I'll go with Peggy and Steve and see if we can track down where the Red Skull is going next. Train the boys."

Bucky shook his head. "Vika… you've barely slept the last few nights -"

"Part of which is your fault," I interrupted.

We grinned at each other. It was the truth. Once we were both back to the room at night, it would normally be well over an hour before we were actually ready to go to sleep. "Didn't hear you complaining," Bucky barked. I laughed gently, nodding my agreement. "Go to sleep. I'll tell everyone you're catching up on your sleep."

"You sure?" I asked suspiciously.

"Yeah. Go back to bed."

"Okay. Thanks."

"Of course." Bucky pushed himself out of the bed, walking over to the dresser to grab his clothes. "By the way," Bucky said. I glanced up. "Did you know that we're getting married in five months?"

A small smile formed on my lips. "That soon, huh?" I asked.

"Traumatizing thought, isn't it?" he asked.

"Having to spend the next seventy or so years with you? Horrifying. Truly," I teased.

We both laughed again as I rolled onto my stomach, tucking my head in my hands and watching him get changed. "I'll see you in a few hours," Bucky said; his own way of telling me to stop watching him and go to sleep.

"Bye," I chirped.

He briefly strode back to the bed to plant a soft kiss on my lips. I smiled and leaned back into the bed, closing my eyes and breathing out slowly. As I heard him moving around the room though, I opened my eyes and watched him. Watched him peel off his shirt and pants, replacing them with his fitted army uniform. I debated on shocking him as he brushed his hair back. Ultimately, I decided to leave him alone. He turned back before he left, well-aware that I had been watching him. I winked at him as he rolled his eyes, slipping out of the room. I smiled and rolled back over in the bed.

Things had been surprisingly good with me since I had gone with Bucky to destroy the remnants of my disastrous childhood. I wasn't sure exactly why it had helped me so much, but it had. Unfortunately, the news did break to the public that the recreation of my childhood home had been devastated in another fire. There had been very little doubt that it was me, meaning I had somehow made it back to New York. They had shortly after instigated a nationwide manhunt. Of course, I was no longer in New York - a fact which Chester had already had to vouch for me with.

Naturally, my actions in New York that day had only served to paint me in an even worse light. Everyone now thought that I was the monster who had destroyed the one piece that remained of her parents' legacy. They thought that I had decimated the few remains of a facility doing so much for the 'disturbed' people like me. I hadn't made things better for myself. I had only made myself the villain all over again. But I didn't mind. I had settled on ignoring any and all reports having to do with me and what they thought of me. So had the others at the base.

Things at the base had been surprisingly good over the past few weeks. Peggy and I had spent a lot of time together planning the wedding (she did, at least), laughing about Bucky (and our moments of bonding in the middle of the night), and actually occasionally doing our work. Sometimes. Howard liked to get me to come and drink together while we worked - it wasn't a good combination for him. But it was funny to me. I still regularly trained the boys. Steve and I spent a lot of time walking through the gardens, talking about anything and everything.

As far as my relationship with Bucky had gone, things were much easier between us. We enjoyed our nights together and the occasional date night - whether it was spent having a picnic, hiding under the sheets, or just teasing each other as we play-fought. Bucky knew that I was doing much better after destroying my old life. The others had also seemingly noticed that I was far happier these days. I was still a grouchy person - as I had always been and always would be - but I was much more cheerful than I had been lately.

It took a few minutes of me moving back and forth in the bed before I could finally begin to drift off. My head was spinning with thoughts of what needed to be done today and what needed to get done first. Eventually, almost five minutes after Bucky had left our room, I finally managed to drift off to sleep, Snowball clutched tight against my chest and dreaming of a roaring train storming through a wintry land.

Bucky's P.O.V.

The moment that he walked into the base, he noticed that everyone was looking around for Vika. He wasn't surprised. He had never come to the base without her. It was a little weird. They all knew that she was the leader of their team - no matter that everyone outside of the base said that Steve was. Bucky smiled at the others as he walked over to the map of the Hydra bases. Their team was already gathered around the table, waiting for their instructions for the day. Just like those in the hallway had, they looked very surprised to see that Vika wasn't with him.

"Where's Vic?" Steve asked as Bucky walked up to his side.

"Didn't get much sleep last night. I told her to stay in bed for a while," Bucky explained, motioning between themselves. "We have it handled."

"Not much sleep, huh?" Jim asked, waggling his eyebrows.

There were a number of chuckles from the other men and good-natured slaps on the back to Bucky, who was bright red. Steve was shaking his head in disgust. "Oh, god, please don't," Steve groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She's like my sister."

That was one conversation the two of them would never have. Steve knew Vika too well. "She was just in the labs all night last night," Bucky rambled, making things no better for himself. "When she came in she was too tired -"

"Buck. Stop talking," Steve interrupted.

"Right," Bucky muttered.

As the men continued to laugh, Dum Dum clapped his hands together and leaned back. "Sounds like a good day to take a trip to the -"

Just as he was likely about to make his offer of spending the day in the tavern - as the men so often liked to do - rather than actually do their work, Dum Dum gasped and leaned down against the ground. It sounded like whatever had just happened to him was extremely painful. Bucky was about to call for an ambulance while the others darted up to him to make sure that he was alright. But it had passed. Dum Dum straightened up a second later, breathing heavily and looking a little embarrassed.

"Just kidding!" Dum Dum yelled to seemingly no one.

"Psionic blast?" Howard asked knowingly.

Bucky nodded understandingly. Naturally, Vika would have known that they were planning on goofing off since she wasn't around. "Yep," Dum Dum answered.

"She does that to me when I do something to annoy her," Howard said, rubbing his forehead.

"To work then?" Steve offered.

They all knew that Vika - even half-asleep - would be listening to ensure that they were doing their work. Everyone began muttering their agreement as they went off to do their own jobs. The men all headed back to the Hydra map to begin plotting their next attack. Peggy and Howard walked off conversing softly about the new weapons designs. Chester walked off with another colonel. Steve and Bucky both lingered around the lobby of the base. Once everyone was out of earshot and long gone, Steve turned to Bucky, who was watching him curiously.

It was obvious that Steve wanted to say something so Bucky nodded at him to just spit it out. "Jess called me yesterday, you know," Steve muttered quietly.

Bucky's head snapped over to him. "My sister?" he asked.

"Yeah," Steve said. Bucky swallowed thickly. He hadn't spoken to any of his siblings since the day he had essentially kicked them out of London. "She didn't think that you would answer if she called you so she called me and asked me to give you a message."

Well, she was right about that much. "What was it?" Bucky asked carefully.

He had a feeling that he already knew. Something about his siblings wanting him to really think through the wedding before they went through with it. "She wants to talk about Vic and the wedding," Steve explained.

Bucky rolled his eyes. His siblings just wouldn't leave it alone. "I'm sure that she wants to ask about what happened when we went back to New York last month," Bucky reasoned.

Steve's voice was very hesitant when he spoke again. "You ever think about inviting them to the wedding again?"

"Sometimes," Bucky said honestly.

He wished that he could have just stuck with his guns from when he had uninvited his siblings to his wedding. But it was hard. It wasn't what he had expected. He had always wanted his siblings to see him get married. They had all wanted to be involved in each other's weddings. They all wanted to have their surviving family members around on their wedding days. Bucky hated that he had missed both Jessica and Rebecca's weddings. He hoped to be there for Justin's. He had so desperately wanted them to be there for his.

Steve and Bucky were silent for a long time. "Look, I think Jess and Becca and Justin always wanted me to find some nice girl to settle down with. Have a family and the white picket fence. The All-American Dream. Wife at home with dinner ready and the kids on her arms," Bucky explained. Steve nodded his agreement. "But those are their families. Not mine. I'm not under some delusion that I don't see who Vika is. I know who she is. I know what she's done. I've seen her snap someone's neck without even touching them. She's not nice. She's not friendly. She doesn't particularly like kids."

The more that Bucky explained the way Vika was, the more he realized why other people might have been concerned about them. They were two completely different people. Bucky had grown up as friendly as could be while Vika had been completely isolated. He had grown up following the traditional ideals. Vika had grown up as a monster who was stronger than anyone else in the universe. Bucky wanted to give everyone a chance. Vika tended to think the worst about people. But he knew and loved her. He knew that she was more than what met the eye.

Steve smiled at Bucky. "But?" he prompted.

Bucky smiled back at his best friend. "But she's the one for me," he said simply. Steve grinned, having known that it was the truth. Vika would always be the only one for Bucky. "I never needed that kind of family. I grew up with it. I'm ready for something different."

"She's a big jump," Steve reasoned.

"She's worth it," Bucky said quickly.

"She is," Steve agreed.

When it came down to it, Bucky knew all of the little things about Vika that no one else knew. He knew about those little things that made her better than anyone else. He knew that her favorite things to eat were junk food that would have given a normal person a heart attack. He knew that she would get herself into laughing fits so intense that she couldn't breathe for minutes afterward. He knew that she actually loved having romantic talks in the middle of the night. That she had to sleep with the window open, couldn't function without at least two cups of coffee, and loved dogs.

Bucky knew, without a doubt, that Vika was the one for him. They all knew that. The question was now who was the right woman for his best friend. "What about you, big guy? How are things coming with Peggy?" Bucky asked Steve curiously.

Steve's face turned a slight red. Bucky smiled. "There's nothing going on," Steve muttered under his breath. A moment later, he leaned down and groaned in pain. "Go to bed, damn it!"

Naturally, Vika was still listening in on their conversation. Bucky knew that he would hear about it from her later. "You'd almost think that she enjoys doing that," Bucky teased Steve, patting him on the back.

"Vic enjoying hurting someone? Shocking," Steve said, still groaning in pain. They both laughed as Steve pushed the hair back off his forehead. "I don't know, Buck. For most of my life, I didn't even know how to talk to women. Peggy's the only one who showed any interest in me before becoming Captain America. I just don't know how to ask her out. Never had to ask someone out before. You always did it for me."

"Well, I can still do it for you if you'd like," Bucky offered.

They both laughed again. Bucky had always gotten Steve his dates. But things were different now. Steve was finally coming into his own. "No," Steve said determinedly. "I've got to do this one on my own."

Bucky nodded understandingly. "Vika's still determined that it'd be a good idea to ask Peggy as your date to the wedding."

"Maybe it's not a bad idea," Steve admitted.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Bucky asked.

"Fair point," Steve said.

"Steve! Bucky!" Peggy shouted, running up to them.

Both men whipped around. "What?" Steve asked nervously, sweating for fear over whether or not she had just heard what they were talking about.

Bucky shook his head. "We weren't -"

"Where's Victoria?" Peggy interrupted.

All arguments died on their tongue. Peggy looked extremely concerned over where Vika was. "Still sleeping," Bucky answered her. "Why?"

"Wake her up. We have news," Peggy demanded.

"Of?"

All three of them whipped around, scared out of their minds by Vika's voice. She was dressed in her uniform and standing just behind them, looking far more wide awake than she had earlier. "God! Don't do that," Peggy hissed, placing a hand over her chest. Vika simply stared at her. "Are you real or am I talking to an illusion?"

"I'm real," Vika answered, walking up to stand in between them. Bucky wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I felt yours, Howard's, and Chester's blood pressure start to go up and figured that something was happening."

"That's really disgusting but actually quite useful," Bucky told her slowly.

Vika flashed a smile. "I'll say." She turned over to Peggy and narrowed her eyes. "What's going on?" she asked.

Peggy didn't answer her, instead, looking behind them. "Colonel Phillips," Peggy greeted.

They all turned back to Chester, who walked in between Peggy and Vika. As usual, he looked like his grouchy self. But there was something else there too. He looked almost concerned about something. Just behind him were the rest of the men. They all looked slightly nervous. Vika shifted back to look at them. Bucky glanced over at her to see if she would give him any indication of what was going on. She didn't. Her face was as passive as ever. She didn't even look slightly concerned. Chester came up to them with the rest of the men in tow.

"We have received some information from a reliable undercover source that Arnim Zola and Johann Schmidt are both being regularly moved for their own security. Schmidt's location is almost impossible to track as they've kept his location only between a select few of his men. Zola's been hidden for months. But we recently received information that early next year he'll be transported by train into Switzerland," Chester explained. Vika straightened up. "As a native, he'll be welcomed back and well-protected."

They were silent for a long time. Naturally, Vika was the first to speak. "So, we get to him before he gets there," she said simply, her hands glowing with built-up energy.

Chester shook his head. "Not so fast. Zola is being moved around through underground locations right now. Civilian cities." Vika rolled her eyes but nodded anyway. Bucky knew that she normally wouldn't have cared about attacking a civilian city, but she was trying to prove that she wasn't a monster. "It's almost impossible to reach him without risking hurting someone."

"But on the train, he'll be vulnerable. Open to attack," Vika reasoned.

She was the only person to understand what Chester had been getting at. Chester nodded at her. "If we can't catch the Red Skull, if we're moving too slow, we need to find a way to get one step ahead."

"Zola is Schmidt's right-hand man. If anyone will know where he's going, it'll be him," Vika said.

"Exactly. We plan the attack on the train," Chester ordered.

"It'll have to be a small-scale attack. If we all go, we'll risk someone seeing us before we can get to Zola. They'll move him and we might have to wait another six months before we get a good shot at him," Vika said quietly.

"Can you do it?" Chester asked her.

Her hands began radiating a bright orange light as a small grin formed on her lips. "No problem."

"This stays between us," Chester ordered them. Everyone nodded. "No one else - no one on this base can know about this."

"You have our word," Vika said.

Chester nodded. "Plan the attack and bring it back to me."

"Do we know when the train is moving through?" Vika asked.

Bucky could practically see the wheels turning in her head. "No precise date just yet. I'll keep an ear out," Chester said. Vika nodded thoughtfully. "I'll be back. I've got to see what I can do about getting more information on Zola's move."

"I'll come with you," Peggy offered, walking off with him.

It didn't take long for everyone to move off to do their own things. Bucky waited to see what Vika would do. She appeared to be trapped in her own mind for the time being. She was shifting back and forth on her heels, staring at the far wall. Peggy and Chester headed off, chattering away about the potential time frame of the mission. The men followed them a moment later, briefly stopping to let Vika know that they would start figuring out a plan to eventually capture Zola. Bucky gave Steve a slight nod and he turned to walk off, leaving Bucky and Vika alone in the hallway.

A moment later, Bucky reached out and wrapped an arm around her hip, pulling her into him. She still looked to be lost in deep thought. "What do you think?" Vika asked him after a while.

Bucky let out a deep breath. "I think it'll be great to finally end this. We've been hunting down Hydra for almost a year," Bucky said, trying to refrain from letting her know just how tired he was. "We can be ready for the next step."

"Next step?" Vika asked, raising her white eyebrow.

Bucky gave her a teasing grin as he wound an arm around the back of her waist, pulling their torsos flush together. "An early retirement," he said, pressing his mouth against her throat.

She laughed, pushing him back away from her. As she stepped back, she pushed the hair back off of her forehead. Her smile slowly faded. "I overheard Steve saying that Jessica had called for you," she said quietly.

"Mind your business," Bucky told her. He tried to smile at her but her face remained passive as she stared at him. Bucky let out a breath. "Yeah, Steve said she called."

"Are you planning on calling her back?" Vika asked, ignoring his teasing attempts.

"Maybe eventually," Bucky said honestly.

As much as he would have loved to talk to his sister, he didn't want to get in another fight with her. "If she called you, it might mean that she's willing to talk," Vika reasoned. Bucky let out a deep breath. The tables seemed to have turned. Now it was Vika who wanted to talk to his siblings and him who was trying to avoid them. "You should call her back. See what she wants."

Bucky ran a hand through his hair nervously. He didn't want to have to hear his siblings harass his fiance again. "Oh, Vika... I don't know," Bucky said awkwardly. She folded her arms over her chest and glared at him. "The last time that we had a conversation, it didn't really end well. I don't want to have to hear their opinions again."

"What if they've changed their opinion?" Vika asked.

"What if they haven't?" Bucky shot back.

"Why would they be calling again if they hadn't changed their stance?" Vika offered. Bucky hated that he didn't have a good answer to her question. Just the way that he rarely did. "They would know that you would be planning on hanging up on them again. They've had a few months to think about things. They might have seen the light."

"Vika -"

"Do this one thing for me, please," Vika said, coming forward and grabbing his hands, pulling them up against her stomach. "Call her back."

Bucky let out a deep breath. He knew that he had to do it. He had never been able to refuse her something. He wouldn't be able to refuse this one either. "You really want me to?" Bucky asked, brushing back the hair on her forehead.

"I do," Vika whispered.

Bucky stayed silent for a long time before eventually nodding at her. "Okay."

If there was one thing that Bucky already knew, it was that Vika didn't give up until she got what she wanted. He had a feeling that she didn't really want to have to face his family again. It hadn't gone well the last time. More than likely, she just wanted him to solve the problem that he had with them right now. She had grown up without a family. She didn't want him to have to go through the rest of his life without one. But if he wanted to invite his siblings back to the wedding, they had to make sure that they could still get married when they had originally planned to.

"What do you think about the wedding?" Bucky asked her.

"What do you mean?" Vika asked.

"Chester said that Zola will be moved early next year. What if he's getting moved at the same time we were planning the wedding?" Bucky said.

Vika shrugged. "It's not really like the wedding would be that hard to rework," she pointed out. Bucky let out a breath irritably. They had waited so long. He didn't want to have to wait any longer. "Bucky, there's only about ten of us actually going. Peggy offered to cook with the guys. Everything we need is already at Chester's house. Honestly, we could move the wedding around if needed. You nervous that we'll have to change the date?"

"I don't want things to keep interrupting us," Bucky told her.

A small smile formed on Vika's lips. "We'll get married when we said we would, Buck. I promise," she said, stepping into him. She wrapped her arm up over his shoulders. "Looks like I'm not the only one worried about the clock ticking away."

"Guilt, I guess," Bucky admitted, feeling his stomach churn in knots.

"For what? The circle of life?" she asked.

Bucky swallowed thickly. "I wish I could stop it. Death."

"No, you don't," Vika responded immediately. He felt her hands tighten in the short strands of his hair. "This isn't something that I would ever wish upon someone else. It's a terrible curse."

To have to live forever and watch everyone you know die? Yes, it must have been a nightmare. He couldn't imagine what it would be like. She would live for all of eternity with no end in sight. Bucky stared at her sadly for a long time. He hated the fact that one day he would leave her alone. No matter what, she would always be alone. There was nothing that he or anyone else could do to stop it. All he could do was ensure that they would be as happy as could be while they were together and he was still alive.

It took Bucky a long time to realize that Vika's eyes had turned a deep blue, the same way they always did when she was upset about something. As per usual, she was upset over the impending end of their relationship. It would eventually come, no matter what they did. Bucky let out a deep breath as he came forward and wrapped an arm around her waist. She smiled gently as she leaned up and placed her chin into his shoulder. He felt her breath against his throat as the heat in her veins spread over his body. He wrapped her shirt around his hands as he pressed them into the shallow of her back.

Bucky could feel Vika shaking slightly against him. He smiled down at her, wishing that they could just stay like that forever. He never wanted to leave her. When the two of them finally pulled apart, Bucky leaned down and pressed a small kiss against her mouth. She smiled up at him as they broke apart, moving back to press a longer kiss against his mouth. They were together probably a little too long when they finally broke apart again. Bucky, overheating slightly from more than just the heat in her veins, noticed that her eyes had glazed over a slight gray. He raised a brow at her curiously.

What had happened in the mere seconds they had been together? "What's wrong?" Bucky asked her cautiously.

"Steve is on his way," Vika answered, her eyes fading back yellow.

"What for?" Bucky asked curiously.

The same moment the words had come out of his mouth, Steve came bursting back into the room. The rest of the men, Peggy, Howard, and Chester were trailing at his back. Steve was panting and looked quite nervous as he said, "The president is here."

Victoria's P.O.V.

It took a lot to surprise me. In fact, very few things surprised me these days. The President had, for some reason, come to make his way out here to the base. If it was our president, he had certainly made a long journey. It wasn't for nothing. He had to be coming out here for one reason. He was coming out here to tell me something. I doubted that he would have made a personal visit just to see how the fight against Hydra was going. That could have easily bee done with a simple phone call. No, he was definitely here for something else. He was here with a threat.

"Of the United States?" I asked Steve for clarification.

"Yeah. Rumors are running everywhere, all over the base. Apparently, a flight just landed with him and the Secret Service," Steve explained. I nodded slowly at him. It wouldn't be long before he arrived. "Everyone's saying that the president is heading here."

"The hell would the president be doing here?" Bucky asked dumbly.

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked, turning to him.

Howard whipped around, looking quite irritated with me. "Okay, we can't all be endless fountains of knowledge," he snapped. I rolled my eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "What's he here for?"

"What they all come for," I answered blankly.

"You?" Bucky asked curiously, turning to me.

"Me," I confirmed.

"Why?" Dum Dum asked.

I shrugged carelessly. "It's very likely that he's come here with a threat."

Everyone turned to look at me. Steve, Howard, Peggy, and Bucky all looked concerned. The men looked confused. Chester had no discernible emotion on his face but I knew that he was bothered by the idea of the president coming all this way to see me. "I don't get it," Gabe said, finally becoming the first to shatter the silence. "You've hardly spent any time in New York over the last two years. What's the point of coming here to threaten you when you haven't done anything to warrant it?"

What was the point of ever threatening me? They were morons. It was just what they did. Sought to destroy that which they didn't understand. "They're not focused on what I've done. They're focused on what I could do," I explained. The boys clearly didn't understand what I meant. "They're worried over what I have the potential to do. Drop into the White House if I'm bored. Kill the President. Destroy Congress. Burn the White House to the ground. They're not thinking about what is. They're focused on what could be."

"What's the point of threatening you?" Jim asked. I arched a brow at him. "All they're doing is drawing your attention."

At least someone understood why it was a bad idea to threaten me. I smiled at Jim and shook my head. "They're not the smartest people in the world," I told him. Jim laughed quietly as I turned to the rest, gave them a brief incline of my head, and turned to the entrance of the main hallway. "Let's go meet our visitor."

Bucky was the first to jump forward, wrapping his hand around my wrist. "Vika -"

"It's okay," I interrupted, gently pulling out of his grip.

He still looked extremely concerned about me but it was something that I would handle later. We would talk about what was going to happen later. Together, our team walked through the halls, in between the people who were milling around and watching us curiously. I stood in the lead, ignoring any of their attempts to talk to me. Any conversations that we would have were going to have to come at a later time. Right now, I wanted to stay focused on the fact that the president was here for me. I wanted to keep him focused on me - not on any of my friends.

Bucky and Steve were following immediately behind me. I could tell that both men wanted to reach out and pull me back out of view of anyone here who could have caused me any trouble. Howard, Peggy, and Chester were behind them with the rest of the guys trailing in the back. Everyone else at the base was standing around the edges of the building. They were walking back and forth nervously or staring at us as if hoping we might tell them what was happening. Steve was right. The president was here. I could hear his thoughts running about his mind as we walked into the entrance hall.

They couldn't be there listening to this. I stopped just as the entrance and turned back to the others who all stopped behind me. I nodded at them to remain in their spots. This was something that I was going to have to handle on my own. But I was still happy to know that I wouldn't be completely alone. My friends and family would be right behind me, just as they always were. We walked in through the entrance hall and into the welcome wing. I spotted a young man named Horace speaking nervously with President Roosevelt. There was a large crowd standing around watching.

As I started to move forward, Bucky wrapped a hand around my wrist again. "Vika -"

"Wait here," I demanded, gently pulling out of his grip. Bucky merely stared at me sadly. It looked like he wanted to say something else, but he decided against it. I turned to everyone else. "All of you. I can handle this one alone."

Bucky didn't move to follow me but Chester did. "Victoria -"

"I'm fine," I interrupted.

This was something that I had to do on my own. I couldn't have my father running after me to try and protect me from the Big Bad Wolf. I had dealt with much worse than the President of the United States since I was an infant. It took me a moment to reassure Chester that I would be okay. That he didn't have anything to worry about. I smiled at him and gave a final nod before turning and walking back into the entrance hall. President Roosevelt appeared to be arguing with Horace, who looked quite terrified of the wheelchair-bound man.

President Roosevelt had his arms crossed over his chest. If it had been in his range of motion I assumed that he would have been tapping his foot impatiently. "Is Sergeant Phillips available?" Roosevelt asked shortly.

"Do you mean Colonel Phillips?" Horace asked nervously. "His office is right through there." Horace motioned back to where Chester's unoccupied office sat. "I can alert him that -"

"No. I meant Sergeant Phillips," Roosevelt interrupted sharply. Horace seemed to shrink to about half of his size. I straightened up and took a few steps forward. "I'd like to speak with her."

Horace slowly shook his head, trembling obviously from head to foot. "Mr. President, I'm unsure whether or not Sergeant Phillips will be available to speak with you," Horace explained weakly.

"Tell her I'll wait," Roosevelt said determinedly, drumming his fingers impatiently against his wheelchair handle.

That was enough of Roosevelt bullying some young barely-of-age man. "Tell her yourself," I demanded tonelessly, stepping forward.

Every head in the room whipped around to me. The people who had been standing in front of us, blocking me from President Roosevelt's eye line, stepped back toward the walls. Roosevelt wheeled himself around so that he could face me. He very slowly wheeled forward as I motioned Horace to take a few steps back. I strolled up to Roosevelt, who was sitting in an adapted dinner-table seat. His eyes had widened in surprise - and maybe fear - upon seeing me for a brief moment but had now returned to their stony glare from before.

Horace attempted to step back into the fray of things. "Sergeant Phillips -"

"You're dismissed. Thank you," I interrupted stonily, never looking away from Roosevelt, who in turn hadn't looked away from me.

Horace nodded awkwardly. "Yes, Sergeant."

He stepped back with the rest of the crowd. My friends were close behind me but hadn't come up to my sides at my request. President Roosevelt opened his mouth to speak when I cut him off. "Not out here. Come. My office is this way."

No one looked particularly thrilled that I was walking off with President Roosevelt alone. Everyone looked extremely nervous as they met my eyes. But I was determined to look forward and stare at the wooden door that led into the small office I called my own. I didn't use it that often - I spent most of my time either down in the training rooms, with Chester in his office, or in the labs with Howard. In the back of my mind, I could hear Bucky and Steve's thoughts running frantically as they were clearly concerned about me. But they didn't say anything out loud.

What would there have been to say, anyway? I had already made it extremely clear that I needed to do this and I needed to do it alone. I only glanced back once to see Bucky and Steve exchange a worried look with each other as I walked off. President Roosevelt wheeled after me, ordering the Secret Service to stand guard outside. I knew that the president had dismissed my actions before working for the Army because of my willingness to cooperate with the war efforts. But that was then. This was now.

Things had changed. I had recently made my return to New York and had left a trail of devastation in my path. I had destroyed the remains of Stryker's lab and had once again burned down the ruins of my childhood home. I had killed nearly twenty men while back home and had blatantly ignored the arrest warrant that was essentially designed to keep me out of New York. At this point, there was definitely a good chance that Roosevelt was here to tell me that I was under arrest. Or something of that caliber.

As we walked into the small office, I allowed Roosevelt to roll in first before closing the door behind me not meeting anyone's eyes. Once the door was fully closed, I turned back to Roosevelt, who was watching me closely. "I'd tell you to take a seat, but..." I smiled playfully at Roosevelt, who scowled back at me. Chuckling under my breath, I walked over to the drink cart situated near my desk. "Coffee?" I offered, more politely this time.

Roosevelt shook his head immediately. "No, thank you."

The 'thank you' sounded quite begrudging. "Whiskey? I'm having one," I told him. Roosevelt merely stared at me. I shrugged at his refusal and turned back to the drink cart to pour myself a glass. Without actually facing him, I knew that he was watching my every move closely. "You sure? It's not poisoned." I raised up the decanter. Roosevelt continued to stare at me as I tilted back the glass and took a long drink. My eyes sparkled slightly in amusement as I watched him debate on how to broach our conversation. "How would you know, though? I'm immune to all poisons and toxins."

"Are you?" Roosevelt asked.

"Let's not pretend that you don't know everything about me," I demanded. My eyes fell down to the large manila folder sitting in his lap. His grip tightened slightly. "That's a nice-sized file you've got there. It tells you everything about me, doesn't it?" Roosevelt didn't answer, practically telling me that I was right. "Everything that your people are willing to say, anyway."

Roosevelt shook his head slowly. "I'm not interested in what a file has to say about you."

Yes, he was. "Why lie to me? It's ineffective," I pointed out.

Roosevelt swallowed and nodded. I planned on shutting down any of his lies almost instantaneously. "This file tells me everything I need to know about you going into this conversation," he said, patting the manila envelope.

My eyes barely darted down to the file as I smiled at him. "I highly doubt that."

"Fine," Roosevelt snarled, his lips falling into a thin line. "This file tells me everything that I care to know about you going into this conversation."

"Which is nothing," I answered.

Any slight hint of amusement had long-since left his lips. He looked absolutely furious to see that I was speaking the way I was to him. I assumed that no one ever had. "Do you actually know who I am?" Roosevelt finally settled with saying.

"Who doesn't know who you are?" I replied.

"I'm not sure how much attention you pay to what's going on outside of your field of vision," Roosevelt said fairly.

"Everything. I'm always aware of everything that's going on in every corner of the world. Including your own," I answered numbly.

Roosevelt looked completely confused at what I had said. If Roosevelt really wanted to know how smart I was, I would show him. My eyes glazed over a slight gray as I looked into his past. It was muddled with everything between his twisted family life, his attempt to sway the corruption of politics, and his attempt to keep the peace during a time of war. When my eyesight finally returned to normal, and I was once again facing Roosevelt, I had already learned everything about his life that I needed to. And it was fascinating.

"Franklin Delano Roosevelt," I said slowly, accentuating each syllable in his name. "The Thirty-Second President of the United States, beginning your term in office in 1933 and continuing into the present day. A Democrat yourself. Currently running for your fourth term. Director of the federal government during most of the Great Depression where you would implement your New Deal domestic agenda in response to the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. You built the New Deal Coalition, which has realigned politics into the Fifth Party System.

"Let's turn the clocks back. Born in Hyde Park, New York, on October 27th, 1858 to a Dutch American family made well known by Theodore Roosevelt, the Twenty-Sixth President of the United States and William Henry Aspinwall. You attended Groton High School, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School, and went on to practice law in New York City. In 1905, you married your fifth cousin once removed, Eleanor Roosevelt. Oh, my. I'd imagine most people didn't like that. Your mother, more than anyone. Together you have had six children.

"You won election to the New York State Senate in 1910 and then served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. In 1921, you contracted a paralytic illness, incorrectly diagnosed as polio, and your legs then became permanently paralyzed. While attempting to recover, you founded the treatment center in Warm Springs, Georgia, for people with poliomyelitis. In spite of being unable to walk unaided, you then returned to public office by winning election as Governor of New York in 1928.

"In the 1932 presidential election, you defeated Republican President Herbert Hoover in a landslide. You took office while we were in the midst of the Great Depression. During the first one hundred days of the Seventy-Third United States Congress, you issued a profusion of executive orders that instituted the New Deal. You instituted major regulatory reforms related to finance, communications, and labor, and presided over the end of Prohibition. My personal favorite, might I say. You then won a landslide reelection in 1936.

"You ran successfully for reelection in 1940. That victory so far makes you the only U.S. President to serve for more than two terms. With World War II looming after 1938, you gave strong diplomatic and financial support to China as well as the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union while we remained officially neutral. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, you obtained a declaration of war on Japan the next day, and a few days later, on Germany and Italy. Finally taking action against those who have hurt your people.

"Assisted by top aide Harry Hopkins and with very strong national support, you worked closely with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in leading the Allies against the Axis Powers. You supervised the mobilization of the U.S. economy to support the war effort and implemented a Europe first strategy, making the defeat of Germany a priority over that of Japan. You've also recently initiated the development of the world's first atomic bomb. As I said, you're currently running for a fourth term. Shall I go on?"

Roosevelt was silent for a long time after I finished speaking. I was leaned back in the chair with my legs crossed and my arms folded over my chest. The only thing that I had noticed was that Roosevelt had straightened up slightly when I had mentioned the development of the worlds first atomic bomb. It was something that hadn't ever been spoken about anywhere outside of the White House. But it didn't matter. It was in his head and now it was in mine. And it was a fascinating idea shooting through the far reaches of his mind.

For a long time, the two of us settled for staring at each other. Obviously, neither one of us wanted to be the first one to speak. I wanted him to think through it all. He wanted me to apologize for my words. But I refused to speak. I merely tilted back the crystal glass and downed the remaining whiskey, watching him through the glass the entire time. Listening to the gears turning in his head. Waiting to see how he would react to my statements - out loud, at least. I listened to the clock tick away the minutes as Roosevelt drummed his fingers against the handle of his wheelchair.

It was a long time before Roosevelt finally spoke again. "That's impressive," Roosevelt said tonelessly.

If he thought that was impressive, he was in for quite a shock down the road. "That's nothing," I admitted, waving him off flippantly. "Anyone with a lot of time on their hands and a penchant for the Dewey Decimal System can figure that out."

"How do you do it?" Roosevelt asked curiously.

"Do you really care?" I responded.

Roosevelt began slowly nodding. "I care about the way your mind works. I want to know -"

"If I could just think on anything for a moment," I interrupted, well aware of what he wanted to say. "Find access to the nuclear launch codes that you don't want anyone to know about. A few years ago, the attack on Pearl Harbor was all anyone could talk about. December 7th, 1941. A day that will live in infamy. That's what you said. Wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"That was the incident that you needed to launch the United States into the war. I wonder just how much people will talk about Hiroshima and Nagasaki?" I asked, my yellow eyes glowing playfully. Roosevelt's spine straightened as he reached back for the gun he thought he'd hidden so well. I allowed him to pull it from his waistband before speaking. "Drop it." His hand instantly released the gun and it clattered to the ground. I leaned back, smiling at him. His forehead was beading with sweat. "Let's not get hasty and do something we regret."

Without a doubt, Roosevelt looked terrified. Actually, it was a mix of terror and fury. I knew that he couldn't believe what I had just said. How I somehow knew that he was planning on dropping two atomic bombs on two civilian cities in response to Japan bombing Pearl Harbor. It wasn't a wise choice but it might have been somewhat interesting to see how it would go. It would certainly set the world on fire. I smiled at Roosevelt as he searched for the right words. Each time he opened his mouth to speak, the words died on his tongue.

I simply waited with my legs crossed, smiling at him, waiting for him to figure out how he wanted to broach the subject. "How did you know?" Roosevelt asked a long while later.

My grin only became wider. "Like most men, your mind is weak and susceptible to invasion. You're untrained to evade my... curiosities," I said, my eyes flashing white for a moment. Roosevelt might not have noticed, but I did. His hands were shaking. Like they all were, he was afraid of me. "Reading your mind is as easy as reading a book."

A practically animalistic growl escaped his throat. "If you -"

"Don't start making threats you can't follow through with," I interrupted, leaning toward him. He stopped speaking, more than likely because he didn't know where to go from there. "Are you afraid that I'll tell all of your loyal little minions that you're planning to devastate hundreds of thousands of lives? That would be interesting. But it's not to fear. I have no intention of repeating your decision to drop nuclear bombs on two civilian cities to anyone. Not here and not back in the United States. I don't really care.

"In fact, it might be rather amusing. Not for them, certainly. But to watch how both sides react? That could be fun. It's interesting, isn't it? Just how far we're willing to go to defeat our enemies. Places you never thought you could go. Take yourself, for example. You try to hit them where it will hurt the most, targeting civilian areas, hoping that the Japanese will see the light on what their fighting is causing. In the process, you pay no mind to the people that both sides are hurting the most. The innocent private citizens." Roosevelt swallowed subconsciously. "But you don't care. You never have."

Roosevelt slowly began shaking his head. "I love my country and all of the people in it."

We all loved the people we were supposed to take care of. But we so often forgot about everyone else. "That's interesting," I said, drumming my nails against my thigh. "I'd be willing to bet that Emperor Hirohito feels the same way."

No matter what, we were all about to lose far too many of our own people. Too many innocent people were going to die because of the growing egos of a few men. The two of us stared at each other for a long time, no emotions on either one of our faces. Roosevelt appeared to be lost in thought from my previous statement. I couldn't help but wonder if he might have been rethinking the bombings that he was planning on Japan. Likely not. They were already well on their way to being planned. I was almost interested to see what might happen.

As despicable as it was, I wanted to know how the world would react to the first atomic bomb being dropped. Both sides. I folded my arms over my lap and leaned forward in my seat. "You wonder if I'm as smart as people say I am," I said slowly. Roosevelt nodded somewhat nervously. "The fact is, Mister President, I'm much smarter."

Roosevelt scowled at me. "How does someone even know that much?"

"It's not about my knowledge base," I admitted. I was already smart. But it was my ability to find out anything I needed to know that made me more intelligent than any creature on Earth. "It's about the fact that anything I don't know, I can find in seconds. You can fight it all you want, I'm in your head. I'm in everyone's head. You are powerless to stop it."

"There has to be a way -"

"There's not. There's no way to block me," I interrupted him. I'd never found anyone who had been able to truly block me. "Anything you've ever wanted to keep secret from someone, any deep desire you couldn't say out loud, I know it. I know it all."

Roosevelt knew that he wouldn't get a reasonable answer out of me. So, he settled on going for the emotional response. "It must be difficult to make friends when you always know exactly what they think of you."

I shrugged carelessly, although a brief memory of my time in high school shot through my head. All of those memories about the students who had hated me as much as they had. They might not have said it out loud, but I had always known. "Not as difficult as you might think. My friends and family care for me more than I could have ever hoped for. I don't need to know what they think of me," I said honestly.

"Family?" Roosevelt asked curiously. "I thought they were all dead."

"The blood ones," I explained.

"You killed them," Roosevelt said knowingly.

"Yes, and I took great pleasure in it," I admitted.

"You took great pleasure in it?" Roosevelt asked, sounding disgusted.

At the time, it had been nothing short of horrifying. Now the memory brought a smile to my face. "You would understand if you had parents like mine," I told him.

My parents had deserved everything that had ever been given to them. In fact, they deserved even more than what I had given them. "I don't think I could ever understand someone enjoying killing their own family," Roosevelt admitted. I stared at him. Most people's family would give their lives for each other. Mine had done the opposite. "Those are the people who gave you life. They welcomed you into this world."

"And then immediately sought out a solution to remove me from it," I responded.

"No one just reaches for a way to kill their child," Roosevelt said disbelievingly.

How nice it must have been to come from a family that wouldn't even be able to fathom such a thing... "My parents did," I said tonelessly. "I assume that you didn't come here to speak about my long-dead family."

Roosevelt shook his head. "No, I didn't."

"What can I help you with, then?"

"Are you willing to help?"

"Depends."

"On?"

A small grin tilted up on the edge of my mouth. "A multitude of things. What's in it for me. What you want in the first place. When it needs to happen," I admitted. It was very seldom that I did something just because it was the right thing to do. "So, say your piece."

Roosevelt's jaw gave a slight twitch. "I have one very specific order for you," he said, raising his voice as high as it could go without yelling. I smiled at him, narrowing my eyes. "I would like -"

"You're not in the position to be ordering me around though, are you?" I interrupted, tilting my head to the side. Roosevelt looked shocked that I had interrupted him again. It would never make sense to me how men thought that they could threaten people so obviously more prepared than they were. "It's part of any battle-planning strategy. Learn when you're outmaneuvered."

"I am not -"

"You are, though. Aren't you?" I asked. Roosevelt remained silent. "Just admit it. We are not on the same level and you know that." I leaned back in the chair and smiled at him. "Here we sit, two of the most powerful people in the world for two very different reasons. You control the most powerful army in the world. But your army means nothing to me. I could wipe it out without a second thought. You're no fool. That much I do know."

"You sound as though you like to think that I am," Roosevelt said.

"I think everyone is a fool compared to me," I told him honestly. "But I don't think that you are completely brainless. That's how I know that you wouldn't come here just to threaten me. That's a death sentence for anyone. Would the President of the United States really be willing to risk his life?"

Roosevelt swallowed. "You wouldn't."

Oh, but I would. "Are you a gambling man?" I asked him.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Roosevelt asked, stunned.

"If you're a gambler, I would understand why you came here. You're willing to gamble your life away. If you aren't a gambler, it means that things must be bad for you to come to me."

"The world is at war."

"So I see," I chuckled.

"You are well-versed in the subject."

War was perhaps one of the things I knew best in the world. "So I am. And I'm also growing bored with this game," I sneered, leaning forward on my knees. "Don't try and appeal to my better humanity. It's not there. Trust me. Don't bring the innocent deaths that I could stop into it. Let's skip all of this and get to the point. Why don't you just come out and tell me why you've come here?"

Roosevelt nodded. "As you've made clear, you understand war and army tactics. One of those is knowing when you're outmatched."

"Thank you for recognizing it," I said, grinning.

What was it that he wanted? For me to end the war with a single action? I supposed that I could have done that. But what fun would that have been? The two of us stared at each other for a long time. I smiled as I took the whiskey bottle and tilted it back to my lips, downing a good portion of the drink. Most of it was gone by the time I put it back down. I almost laughed at the look on Roosevelt's face. He didn't know enough about me. He came to me woefully under-prepared. I took another two swigs of liquor before placing the decanter back on the table.

When I really looked at him that time, I finally realized exactly what it was that he wanted. At least, part of what he wanted. "You've come to bargain," I said bemusedly.

"I am not fool enough to believe that you can be trusted," Roosevelt said bluntly.

I nodded blankly. "That's a fair statement."

"I've come to offer a truce."

The very idea of him coming to offer me a truce was more than a little amusing. This would go whatever way I wanted it to. But I was willing to listen. After grilling him just a bit. "Are you really in the position to be offering a truce? From what I can see, you're low-man-on-the-totem-pole," I teased, knowing that I was grinding on his last nerve.

"I might not be able to hold anything over you -"

"True."

Roosevelt's eyes narrowed again as he scowled at me. I highly doubted that I would ever see a smile on his face. At least if it was directed at me. "But I do know someone who I could threaten," Roosevelt said slowly, not daring to look from my eyes.

It was easy enough to know that he was referencing potentially hurting Bucky. And he would never see the light of day again if he touched him. My eyes began blazing a deep red. "If you touch a hair on his head, I'll rip out your vocal cords and hang you from the ceiling fan with them," I growled, my voice adopting an animalistic snarl.

"You'll never get the chance. You will never set foot in Washington," Roosevelt barked.

"Because they would stop me? Those men who swear to protect you? If you dare come after him, if you dare hurt him, I will have nothing to stop me. You will have nothing to threaten me with. I will murder every person that stands between the two of us. And then nothing will stop me from killing you. I promise that it won't be fast. I'll drag it out. I've got quite the imagination. We can spend a long time exploring it. Just the two of us," I purred, drumming my fingernails against the handle roughly, chipping away at the wood. "You won't be dead. You'll just wish that you were."

"You can't beat all of them," Roosevelt said.

But his voice wavered slightly, indicating his doubt over his own men's capabilities. "Yes, I can." I reached down onto the holster on the edge of my shin and pulled out a sharp throwing knife. "It doesn't matter what they do to me. I don't feel it." I took the blade of the knife and ran it down my forearm, slicing all the way down to the bone, releasing the skin a moment later. It sealed itself, leaving no visible scar. Roosevelt looked on in obvious horror. "It's nothing," I said, shrugging carelessly and placing down the Chronicle-stained knife. "But I'll bet you won't feel the same way."

"I won't kill him," Roosevelt said slowly.

"Wise choice," I told him.

But Roosevelt wasn't done. "But I will ensure that he is as cast out as you are," he continued. I raised a brow, motioning for him to continue. "You are a monstrous plague on my country. For now, he's still just a good soldier who was lucky enough to come back from being a prisoner of war. That could all change once the two of you are married. I'll implicate him in any and everything you do."

A slight chill ran over my spine. That could easily end with him being eligible for the death penalty. "He's under my protection now and always," I hissed.

"Can you keep that close of an eye on him?" Roosevelt dared me.

My teeth ground together. He was not going to hurt Bucky. No one was going to hurt Bucky. Not if I had anything to do with it. The two of us stared at each other for a long time. The sparks were crackling off of my fingertips. This was the one thing I had never wanted. To somehow put Bucky in danger because of who I was. Because of what I'd done. I couldn't do that to him. But I also certainly wasn't going to walk away from him. I wouldn't ever leave him, but I was at least willing to try and play his little game.

"I won't leave him," I said determinedly. Roosevelt didn't look happy with my choice. "But I'm willing to at least hear you out."

If whatever he wanted wasn't that bad, I would gladly do it if it meant saving Bucky. "My men are currently waiting for word. Put out a target on you both, or leave you to live out your own lives," Roosevelt explained.

"Go on," I said, mostly out of curiosity.

"I will pardon you from every crime you've been accused of committing on our land."

My eyebrows shot up. "On what terms?"

"You disappear."

Was he really the moron that I thought he was? Since when had I walked publicly through the limelight? "Haven't I already done that? Your people wanted to make a documentary about me. Your cameramen keep coming here and photographing us," I told him. I'd never wanted to have any type of celebrity to my name. "I would happily live here in complete silence."

"That is my point," Roosevelt said. I raised a brow curiously, not understanding what he meant. "As long as people know you are here, they will always want to know more about you. They will always want to see what you're doing."

"I have no interest in publicity. I'll be avoiding them," I said carelessly.

"But they will not avoid you."

He was very likely correct. The media would never forget about me. I was too interesting. I laughed gently, finally shifting back in my chair. "This is out of your hands and you know that," I said.

Roosevelt shook his head. "Not yet. This can still work for us both if you're willing to cooperate."

"I'll not be cooperating with you," I hissed. I wasn't cooperating with anyone. I would only be doing what I wanted. "I'll give you my own demands and nothing more. You will leave with that or nothing."

"We're at a standstill then," Roosevelt reasoned.

A standstill meant that no one was walking out of this with what they wanted. "It's not a standstill. I know what I want and one way or another I will get it. I'm here working to end Hydra. Once I do, I'll happily slip away into retirement," I said truthfully. Roosevelt didn't look like he believed me. "You'll never see me again. Unless the day comes that you need me. Believe it or not, I'll always be here to protect those who need it."

"Why?" Roosevelt asked curiously.

It was a question I had asked myself many times over. "Because not everyone's a monster. Most people are just trying to get by. They don't care who sits in the White House, or Congress, or the House of Representatives. All they care about is coming home to their friends and family at the end of the day and sliding through life with some semblance of happiness. They'd just as soon ignore people like us. Power-hungry and powerful. Those are the people that I'm here to protect," I answered honestly.

"I have no intention of ever hurting innocent civilians," Roosevelt said, sounding a little offended that I had suggested he was capable of doing such a thing.

"Nor do I," I said. As long as no one attacked me, I wouldn't attack them. "While I will follow through with my promise, you won't. You're planning on attacking two civilian cities."

"I'm only doing what needs to be done to end the war," Roosevelt said stubbornly.

"As am I. Which is why I'm telling you that it's time for you to leave," I said sharply. We were done with this conversation. He had come here for nothing. He was going to leave with nothing more than his life. "I do not agree to your terms. I'm not vanishing now or once this is over. Not because you want me to. If I ever leave the public eye, it'll be my own choice."

Any intention I'd had to flee the public eye after finishing my work with the S.S.R. had long gone. Now I wanted to stay - if nothing else, just to annoy him. And he knew it. Roosevelt scowled at me again as I smiled back at him and slowly rose from my seat. I tipped the bottle back and took a long slug from it before slamming it back down onto the table. I walked over to the door to let him out and Roosevelt slowly wheeled himself after me. We were almost to the door - my hand was on the handle - when he reached out and grabbed me. I ripped myself out of his grasp and stepped back.

"You'll regret not even trying to agree to my terms," Roosevelt said.

Was he kidding? I was one of the worst people to threaten. "No, I won't," I told him honestly, smiling slightly. "You're a man of power. You've had it your entire life. How strange it must feel for you, to have to bargain with someone you know that you can never beat."

"You'll put him in danger, being with you," Roosevelt said.

"It's a risk he seems to be willing to take," I said, shrugging. "You've wasted your time coming here."

"I hoped you would see to reason."

Reasonable for him. Life-changing for me. "Leave my fiancé and promise to never set foot anywhere that anyone can see me ever again?" I asked rhetorically. "That doesn't sound very reasonable to me."

"You know that it's the right thing to do."

The right thing to do... Was there ever really a right thing to do? "Okay. Would you also prefer me to walk away from the fight with Hydra? If I walk, so will the rest of them," I said, motioning carelessly out toward the lobby. Roosevelt's eye twitched slightly. We both knew that my team was the only thing keeping Hydra at bay. "I'll leave the fight in your very capable hands. I'm sure you can manage this fight yourself."

"You know that we need you," Roosevelt said regretfully.

"I do."

"Which is why I've pardoned you."

A humorless laugh escaped my throat. "Are you expecting a 'thank you'?"

Roosevelt shook his head. "No. Even if I demanded one, I doubt I would receive it."

"You are correct," I told him, turning back and placing my hand against the door handle again. I had apologized to very few people in my life. He would not be one of them. "And on that note, our time here is over. I have better things to be doing than entertaining a conversation that is clearly destined to go nowhere."

"You know what denying my offer will do?" Roosevelt asked, causing my hand to still against the handle.

"I'm aware. I just don't care," I admitted.

For a brief moment, I turned back to face Roosevelt. His face was impassable but I saw it. The hint of fear that they all had. We stared at each other for a long time before I nodded, motioning Roosevelt to the door. He leaned down and began wheeling himself toward the wooden door. He was mere inches from it when I reached out and stuck my foot in between the crossbars of the chair, halting him in his tracks. The president looked up at me in surprise. I smiled at him, pressing my arms against the armrests of his chair, leaning down over him.

"One last thing, Mr. President," I growled, remaining dangerously close to him. He pushed himself as far back into his chair as he could go. "I respect that you came all the way here, knowing what I might do to you if I disliked the way our conversation went. Takes guts. But I'll leave you with a warning. If you ever come here and threaten me again, it will be the last time you threaten anyone. You don't have the power here. Are we understood?"

Roosevelt jumped slightly as I slammed my hand down into his chair. I grinned and patted his knee, standing back upright. "One day someone will knock you off of that high horse," Roosevelt told me, still shaking slightly.

"I'd love to see the man who tries," I chuckled. "So would you, I'm sure, but you'll be too dead to see it."

Roosevelt's forehead broke out in a thin sweat. "You are a nightmare."

"Not yet," I warned, my eyes flashing white.

"I hope you know that, once the war ends, you're free game," Roosevelt said.

"When wasn't I?" I asked. He merely scoffed, pushing his wheelchair forward. His hand was almost around the handle when I spoke again. "A question for you. When you're out of office, will you be free game?"

His hands tightened over the wheels on his chair for a moment as I smiled knowingly at him. If he hadn't been nervous before, he certainly was now. For just a moment, Roosevelt hesitated. I could feel the spike in his blood pressure even from here. I watched from the corner of my eyes as Roosevelt placed his hand back on the handle of the door and shoved it open. He wheeled out into the hallway, which was currently filled with the people who loved me - all of whom had been listening to the conversation. Roosevelt stopped and stared at them.

His eyes scanned over the crowd for a moment before landing on Bucky. I straightened up slightly, walking out of the office and closing the door behind me. "You're a good soldier and a good man," Roosevelt told him. The entire lobby went silent. "You could have a good life back home. You're willing to give it all up to be with someone like her?"

Roosevelt hadn't even given me a glance at his mention. "You wonder why she is the way that she is? Why don't you listen to yourself one day?" Bucky asked. I smiled at him, although he wasn't looking at me. His eyes were firmly locked on Roosevelt, daring him to say anything. "How would you feel if someone spoke to your wife that way?"

"My wife would have never done what she has," Roosevelt said determinedly.

Probably true... "Maybe. But we'll never know, will we? Because your wife has always been treated well. Everyone loves her. Imagine what it must be like to live in a world where everyone treats you like a disease," Bucky told him.

Roosevelt stared disbelievingly at Bucky as I smiled at him. "She has you under some kind of spell."

"Yes. She does," Bucky said, finally looking over at me. I gave him a slight nod, grateful for what he had said about me. Finally, Bucky looked back at Roosevelt. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

There was a slightly starry look in his eyes. I almost laughed at him. Maybe I had accidentally put him under some kind of spell. Steve broke through the crowd to walk up and place a hand on Roosevelt's shoulder. "Mr. President, thank you for coming and expressing your concerns about Victoria, but we can handle it from here. We'll stay out of your hair. You can show yourself to the door," Steve said, not completely unkindly.

"Protecting her will only doom yourselves," Roosevelt warned the men standing around me.

But they didn't look fearful of his warning. In fact, no one on the base looked slightly bothered by his words. That time, Howard was the person to speak. "With all due respect, we know what we're doing. Victoria is family and you are no longer welcome here."

"I'll escort you out," Chester said, walking up to Roosevelt's side. "And then you'll never set foot on my base or threaten my daughter again."

"She's not yours," Roosevelt said.

"Yes, she is," Chester responded immediately.

He didn't give another word before ordering Roosevelt toward the door that would let out on the main street. I couldn't believe the way that people were speaking to the president. He could control a lot of their future. But they didn't care. They were going to do whatever it took to keep me safe. Even if it meant potentially damaging their own futures. I had never respected the people that I worked and lived around so much. Even those people whose names I had never even bothered to learn. All of those people who had come out of their offices to watch what was happening.

None of them looked particularly thrilled with the way that Roosevelt was speaking to me. I was almost surprised. Surprised that they weren't urging my boys to give me up. Some of the people standing near me tried to grab my arms and push me back - in an attempt to hide me, I supposed. I forced them to step back. I didn't want them to stand in front of me. I could stand off against President Roosevelt myself. This was my job. As he went to be escorted out by security, I stepped forward, knowing that he had one final thing to say to me.

Just as he had known I would, I stepped in his path. He glanced up at me just long enough to say, "This won't be the last time that we see each other."

"No. I do believe that you're right about that," I replied quietly.

This was nowhere near the last time that we would see or hear from each other. We stared at each other for a while longer. No one spoke as we did. It was only when Chester planted a small kiss on my forehead and walked off that President Roosevelt gave me a slight nod, turned in his chair, and rolled off with him. The rest of the crowd around us slowly began dispersing as I shot them a sharp glare. Howard, Peggy, Steve, Bucky, and the rest of the men stood with me. Bucky wrapped an arm around my waist as I leaned my head down on Steve's shoulder.

None of the men looked like they wanted to ask what had happened. No one wanted to be the person to set me off. But Peggy had never been afraid of having a tough conversation with me. "What did he want?" she asked quietly, once the lobby was empty.

I'd known that she would be the person to speak first. "It doesn't matter. I didn't give it to him," I told her.

"Victoria," Peggy sighed, placing her hand on my wrist. "What did he say?"

"Does it really matter? He's gone and he's not coming back. We're still being funded and the United States is leaving us alone," I told her, my voice containing just enough of an edge to warn her that I wasn't in the mood to talk about it. She eventually decided to nod and let it go. For now, at least. I grabbed Steve's wrist and pulled him with me. "Come on! Dinnertime. I'm starving."

No one looked quite done with asking me what had happened, but I didn't really care. That conversation had been private. The only thing telling them would have done was make them all panic. It was over and Roosevelt was gone. That was all that mattered. I wasn't going to repeat it. This was one secret that I planned on keeping. It would only hurt them to know exactly what had happened in that room anyway. So, together we all made our way out to the dining room. Bucky placed his hand on my hip, keeping me pressed against him.

It didn't take long for everyone to begin speaking about what they had been before. Although, the conversations seemed a lot tenser than they had been. I could tell that they were all hoping for me to admit what my conversation with Roosevelt had been about. Peggy and Howard chatted softly with Chester about Hydra. The men attempted to keep their conversations lighthearted. Steve and Bucky remained at my sides as we walked, neither one speaking. The rest of the crowd had followed us out, realizing that there was nothing more to watch here.

When we had finally walked into the dining hall, most people seemed to have gotten back to normal. But not us. Our table was much quieter than it normally was. We were mostly silent for a long time. At the beginning of the meal, at least. It took me three separate times of telling the others that everything was fine for them to finally start speaking like normal. I smiled awkwardly at everyone else as I sipped on my cup of coffee, too preoccupied with my thoughts to actually eat anything. My actions didn't go unnoticed by Bucky or Steve.

Thankfully, they didn't seem keen to say anything. They had joined in with the others in laughing and chuckling about some movie that had just come out. Something I had never heard of. But it didn't matter. I liked seeing how lighthearted things had become so quickly. But I knew that - as nice as the conversation was for now - the others were planning on speaking to me later about what had happened. I stayed mostly silent, drinking my coffee, seated in between Bucky and Steve. About midway through the meal, I felt Steve's hand lay on my knee. I glanced up to see him lean into me.

"Bucky's going to want to talk to you about it later," Steve said, keeping his voice low.

"I know," I said.

The moment that we were back in our room tonight, I expected Bucky to ask me about it. "It was about you, I'm guessing?" Steve asked carefully.

"Yeah. As expected, he wants me to vanish," I said bluntly.

"You disagreed?"

"Of course."

"Good," Steve said.

"Good?" I asked dumbly.

Wasn't my refusal to vanish going to end up being something terrible? "You deserve to have as much of a life as anyone else," Steve said, tightening his grip on my knee. "You don't deserve to have to hide in the shadows because people are afraid of you and what you are. You should be able to enjoy your life."

Enjoying my life wasn't really something I had ever experienced before. And how fair was that? "Believe it or not, I'm finally starting to enjoy it," I told him honestly. Steve cracked a slight smile. "For the first time ever, I have a family. You and Bucky have given me one."

"We might have had something to do with it. But we're not really the ones who gave you what you needed," Steve said.

What was that supposed to mean? My brows knitted in confusion as I looked at him. Did he mean that his parents had been the ones to give me what I needed? After all, they were the ones to give me a place to live and call home. They were the ones to take me in when they could have easily handed me over to the authorities. They might not have ever really been parents to me, but I supposed that Steve was right. They had done so much for me. But that was also when I realized that he didn't mean his parents. He meant someone else.

No. Steve hadn't been talking about his own parents. He was looking over my shoulder and I glanced back, realizing quickly that he was staring at Chester, who was going over some paperwork by himself at the table behind us. I smiled. He was right. Chester really was the one who had brought me out of the destructive path that I had been sure to head down. He was the one who had brought me to Camp Lehigh where I had met Steve and Bucky again. He had introduced me to Peggy, Howard, and Abraham. He had been the one to give me the life I needed.

For just a moment I looked in between Steve and Bucky. Bucky was now watching us, seemingly finally getting interested in the conversation. Just as I was about to leave it. I leaned up and placed a kiss on Steve's cheek - giving Bucky a slight smile - as I rose from my seat and walked off. I strutted past our table to Chester's and took a seat next to him. He broke away from his work to look up and stare at me. We rarely ate together. He looked very confused as to why I wasn't sitting with my friends like normal.

"You look like you want something," Chester commented, placing down his paper.

"I do," I said honestly.

"What's that?" Chester asked.

"To say thank you," I said.

"For?" Chester asked curiously.

That was a list that never seemed to end. "For everything you've ever done for me. I don't know how often I've said it but I know that it hasn't been enough," I told him.

Chester looked almost in pain from what I had told him. He had never liked me feeling like I owed him. "You never need to thank me. I did what I did because you were a kid who was in trouble. You were a kid who needed some kindness in their life," Chester said, turning to look at me. "I continued to do what I did because I ended up loving you."

A small smile turned up on the corners of my lips. "Most of my life I thought that I would never find a parent," I said quietly. I'd thought that the parents I had killed would be the only ones I would ever have. But I was wrong. In fact, they had only been a brief blip. Chester was the parent I had really gotten. "You gave me something I never thought I could have."

"You deserved it. You still do," Chester said, brushing the hair back off of my forehead. "No matter what that asshole says."

"He's the president," I pointed out.

Chester shrugged. "Doesn't matter. He insulted my daughter."

Another person who cared more about me than they did about the person who essentially ran their home country. I stared at him for a long time. He really was a great and caring man, no matter what anyone said about him. Eventually, I reached out for his hands and closed mine around his. He looked very surprised at my sudden affection. But I didn't care. I hadn't really ever shown him just how much I cared for him and he deserved to know it. He deserved to know just how much I appreciated everything he had done for me. He had helped save my life.

"Let's go on a walk," I said suddenly.

It was something that I rarely offered. Chester raised a gray brow. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure. I just want you to come with me. I need to talk to you."

Chester took a moment before nodding. "We'll go to the gardens."

"Okay."

Anything to be together with him for just a moment. Just the two of us with no one else - not even Bucky - around. The two of us slowly rose from the table, leaving all our paperwork and food. I could tell that everyone at my previous table was curious as far as what we were doing. But I didn't want to tell them. This might have been the one thing that I kept to myself. I took Chester by the hand and led him to the entrance of the dining hall. I briefly looked back toward the others who were staring at the two of us curiously. I knew that I needed to give them a brief explanation before I left.

Briefly, I stopped beside my table. I exchanged kisses on the cheek with Peggy and gave Howard a quick kiss on the cheek as well. I agreed to a girl's day with Peggy and told Howard that we would talk in the morning. I exchanged hugs and kisses with the guys as I walked off, each of them telling me that they were proud of me. Steve kissed me on the cheek briefly and told me to come and talk to him when I was ready. I had agreed and thanked him for accidentally urging me to talk to Chester. I gave Bucky a brief kiss on the lips just before leaving. He gently squeezed my hip as I did so.

Chester was standing just off to the side, glancing away as I kissed Bucky. "I'll be back later," I told him quietly.

"Take your time," Bucky responded sweetly.

We smiled at each other briefly before I gave his arm a brief squeeze, turning and walking out of the dining hall and off toward the gardens. I smiled slightly guiltily as we walked, winding my hand through Chester's arm. He gave a slight smile and placed a hand over my own, ensuring that our arms remained linked as we walked into the gardens. They were lit up with a number of candles around the paths. Chester did seem to be a bit concerned about me after my very sudden decision to have a serious talk with him. But, for a while, he said nothing about it.

Instead, he allowed us to remain in silence as we traveled back further and further into the gardens. We had been walking for almost ten minutes when Chester finally decided to push me to talk. "Want to tell me what's going on?" he asked.

So much was going on that I would never have enough time to say it. I smiled at him and shook my head. "No." Chester smiled at me. "It just dawned on me that I haven't seen you much lately," I said, tightening my grip on his arm. "I wanted to spend some time together."

"That's guilt," Chester pointed out.

I laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"What did Roosevelt want?" Chester asked.

Never one to beat around the bush. Of course, neither was I. "For me to disappear," I answered, just as bluntly.

"And what did you say?"

"I would do as I damn-well pleased."

The corners of Chester's lips tilted upward. "I'm glad you stuck up for yourself."

"Thanks, old man."

My feet gently kicked against the rocks lining the pathway. As much as I didn't want to admit that it was bothering me, I kept remembering Roosevelt's warning to me. To him, more likely. "You alright?" Chester asked, sensing my hesitance to speak.

"Roosevelt didn't exactly threaten me. I mean, not in the way you'd think," I said dumbly.

Thankfully, Chester had always been good at reading me. He didn't need me to explain the gritty details. "He threatened your fiancé?" Chester asked.

"How'd you know?" I asked curiously.

"The best way to threaten someone who has very little regard for their own life is to threaten to life of someone they love."

Everyone knew that I was careless with my own life, considering that it was almost impossible for me to risk my own. "I don't want him to get hurt because of me. I don't want him to be cast out in society because of me," I said quietly. I had never wanted to be the one to destroy his life. The one he'd had before me. He deserved a good and normal life. "He doesn't understand just what being with me entails."

"Give the boy a little credit. He might not be as smart as you but I don't get the feeling that he's a complete moron," Chester told me. We both smiled, considering that once upon a time, not long ago, Chester had always referred to Bucky as a moron. "He knows what a life with you means. He knows that it means that he might not ever get to take up a normal job and live in some boring suburban neighborhood. He knows that. I think he's made it pretty clear that he doesn't care."

"I guess I just remember hearing their conversations when we were kids about what their lives would be like," I muttered.

"Oh, yeah?" Chester asked curiously.

"Yeah," I said dumbly. Chester smiled at me. All of our lives were so different from what we had initially been expecting. "Neither one of them really ended up where they thought that they would."

"What did they think?" Chester asked.

10 Years Earlier…

The three of us were sitting in Steve's apartment, just as we normally did during the summer. We would have loved to be at the beach but it was too far away. Perhaps one day we would get back. Before we all graduated from high school. It was just weeks out from the start of my freshman year of high school. I was glad to finally be back in school with Steve and Bucky - all of us together. But they were both nearing the end of their high school experience while I was just beginning my own. I would end up spending two full years alone.

Bucky shook his head at Steve. The two of them had been arguing among themselves for a long time. "I don't get you, man," Bucky said, whacking Steve on the shoulder.

"Because I don't think that Dorothy is the best-looking gal in your class?" Steve asked.

"No! Because you refuse to ask her on a date," Bucky said.

"I don't want to go on a date with her," Steve reasoned.

"I see you staring at her in the halls," Bucky argued.

"So do you," Steve pointed out.

"I've spoken to her," Bucky told Steve, which was fair. He had the innate ability to chat with anyone. No matter who it was. Steve usually hid in the shadows with me. "She could really like you if she got to know you."

"She won't," I said suddenly.

Both of their heads snapped up to look at me. I was perched up on the couch while the two of them were seated on the carpet. "Thanks, Vic," Steve said, running his hands through his hair nervously.

"That's not what I meant." Steve nodded as I shifted around to look at them. "She won't like you because she's got eyes for you," I told Steve, shifting my gaze to Bucky, who looked quite surprised at my blunt statement.

"How do you know?" Bucky asked me.

"Trust me, I just know," I told him.

The day would never come that I could admit to Bucky just how I knew that so many girls at our school liked him. "Okay. Fine," Bucky said, looking back at Steve. "What about Ruth Heathers?"

Steve shook his head. "I don't think she even knows that I exist."

"Do we have to talk about this?" I snapped.

Listening to the boys talking about their prospective dates was driving me up the damn wall. We couldn't talk about literally anything else? "I'm on Vic's page," Steve said.

Bucky looked up and wrapped a hand around my ankle. I gently kicked him away from me."What's wrong, Vika?" Bucky asked playfully. I ignored him, somehow annoyed that he was talking about potential dates for both himself and Steve - which was sure to leave me out of the picture. "Come on, you know that you'll always be our number one girl."

"Yeah, whatever," I said, glaring at him.

"How about you figure out a potential date for Vic?" Steve offered, definitely throwing me under the bus.

"No," Bucky and I snapped at the same time.

"Why'd you say no?" I asked immediately, looking up at Bucky.

"You don't need a date," Bucky said defensively.

Not that I wanted a date, but how was I the only one who wasn't allowed to have one? "So, you two morons are allowed to talk about who you're going to date but I'm not allowed to even consider a date?" I asked Bucky.

"No one here's good enough for you," Bucky said.

That was a pathetic reason. I rolled my eyes as far back into my head as they would go. "And how about if no one here is good enough for either one of you?" I asked, looking between the boys.

The two of them were so much better than anyone else at the school. We all deserved something better than what we had. I knew that, in time, we would all manage to get it. Apparently, the boys appreciated what I had said. They both smiled at me as we all shifted back to sit on the couches. Steve was sitting on the single seat next to me, hanging upside down out of it. Bucky was lounging on the loveseat in the corner. He got up just long enough to grab my hand and pull me off of the three-seater, pulling me onto the couch with him.

It didn't take me long to drape my legs over his, leaning back against the rest on the other side of the couch on the rest. "I want to see the world," Bucky said, twirling my white hair in between his fingers. "Meet people from every corner in it."

"When the time comes to settle down?" Steve asked him.

Bucky shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I like what Mom and Dad have. Simple home, a couple of kids, and parents with decent jobs. A nice and quiet life," he said.

"Yeah," Steve said, nodding his agreement. "That sounds nice."

"What about you, Vika?" Bucky asked.

Settling down wasn't something I could ever do. What the two of them wanted was something that I would never get. No matter how much I ever wanted it. "No," I said, shaking my head slowly. "I don't think I can have this life."

Bucky and Steve exchanged a baffled look. "What do you mean?" Bucky asked.

"I'm not going to settle down like this," I said, motioning to the room around us. It was nice. But it wasn't me. "There's a lot that I want to do and a lot I want to find out. My future won't include kids or a husband. Not right now, at least."

"That sounds lonely," Steve said, frowning.

"It'll be fulfilling in its own way," I said quietly.

Perhaps it wasn't something that they would ever understand. In fact, I knew that it was something that the two of them would never understand. But that was okay. I just wanted them to have their happily ever after's. I smiled at the two of them as the night passed and we eventually moved on to much happier topics - like dragging Steve to a haunted house this Halloween. It was just past midnight when Steve drifted off to sleep. Bucky and I chit-chatted for a while longer before he finally decided to leave for the night. I walked him to the door so that I could lock it behind him.

Bucky pushed open the door and stood in the threshold, grinning down at me. "Night, Buck," I said quietly.

"Goodnight, Vika," Bucky said, pressing a small kiss against my cheek. He was about to leave when he turned back. "Hey. Were you serious about living on your own?"

"Yeah," I said simply.

"What about us?" Bucky asked, obviously referring to himself and Steve.

"You'll come and visit me, right?" I asked him, a little hint of sadness in my chest at the idea of never seeing the two of them again. "You two can bring your pretty wives and kids and I'll get to see what I missed out on."

The boys still didn't look convinced. "You never know. You might change your mind," Bucky said.

"Doubt it," I said.

"Do you think I could change your mind?" Bucky asked.

"Could I change yours?" I shot back.

Bucky gave a slight smile. "I'll see you in the morning."

"See you," I said, watching him leave and closing the door behind him.

Present Day…

Our lives had changed so much. We hadn't ended up anywhere near where we thought we would. "Seems that neither one of you were right. You're getting married and he's not going to have those simple but respectable jobs," Chester said. I nodded at him. No factory workers or stay-at-home mother's for us. We would never be those people. "People change their minds, Victoria."

"It's just tough wondering if I've really derailed his life," I muttered. "The way his siblings think I have."

Chester smiled at me. He took my arm and tightened his grip on me slightly. "I think he's perfectly happy with the life he has. Don't spend the rest of his life worried about him. He's a grown man who can make his own choices. He chooses to love you," Chester told me.

"Thanks," I said quietly. Normally Chester would have made up a whole list of reasons he hated Bucky. This was almost sweet. He was trying to convince me that no one was ever going to keep Bucky away from me. "He's growing on you, isn't he?"

"No," Chester snapped.

"Yes, he is," I teased, shoving his shoulder.

"No, he isn't," Chester said, shoving me right back. I smiled at him. I knew that he liked Bucky, despite how hard he had tried not to. "I'd sooner kill him than live with the knowledge that he's with my daughter. But he makes you happy."

"He does. When nothing else can make me smile, he can," I admitted quietly.

"Everyone deserves to have someone like that in their lives," Chester said.

"Who's yours?" I asked.

"You are," he told me, placing his hand on the side of my cheek.

Turned out that it wasn't just him who had saved me. I had saved him too. "Thanks for giving me a chance, Dad," I said quietly. Chester smiled one of his rare smiles at me. One of the ones I had only seen a few times before. "You helped me put my life back together. You gave me a parent. Two new best friends. You gave me back the love of my life and a friend that I'd never be able to replace. You gave me a family."

"All I did was give you a chance," Chester pointed out.

"You're one of the few to even do that," I told him.

"Your boy gave you one too."

"He's given me much more than just a chance."

The corners of his lips tilted up slightly. "I wish more people loved each other the way you two do," Chester said.

"The way we do is almost dangerous," I said.

It wasn't something I would have suggested for anyone else. "Isn't that what makes love fun?" Chester teased.

A laugh burst out of my mouth. I was surprised by Chester's words. He rarely spoke like that. In fact, I'd rarely even heard him discuss love, likely because he hadn't really ever been in love himself. "You're my father. Aren't you supposed to tell me that I should be practical and settle down? Have a few kids and retire into peaceful solitude?" I asked bitterly.

Wasn't that exactly what everyone wanted me to do? Leave and never return. "Knowing you as well as I do, I know that that's just not who you are," Chester said. I shrugged. I honestly wasn't sure who I was. What I was capable of doing. That was something that I would only be able to answer in time. "You'll be terrorizing that boy until he dies."

Another bark of laughter escaped my mouth. "That is true."

"Speaking of. Go be with him," Chester said suddenly.

But we had been out here together. "What about -?"

"Victoria," Chester interrupted. My mouth immediately snapped shut. Chester didn't look the slightest bit upset with me. "Go be with your fiancé. I know it's where you want to be."

There wasn't a hint of self-pity in his voice. In fact, he sounded happy to have somewhere that I would always want to me. But I still wanted him to know just how much I loved him. "Let's go to dinner tomorrow. Leave the base a little early," I suggested. Chester looked a little surprised but nodded his consent anyway. "I think we can trust them not to blow themselves up if they're left alone for a few hours."

"You so sure about that?" Chester asked.

We both smiled at each other. I knew that the boys were fully capable of blowing themselves up if left alone for too long. "No," I admitted. "If they do blow themselves up it'll give us a good laugh."

We both laughed again as Chester leaned down and pressed a light kiss against my forehead. I smiled at him, pressing my hand against his arm. "Goodnight, Victoria," Chester said quietly.

"Night, old man," I replied.

This was perhaps one of the most peaceful nights I'd had in a long time. We both smiled at each other as we linked hands again and turned back toward the barracks. We remained in complete silence as we walked back, just enjoying the peace that we had. The peace that we both wanted. It took a few minutes for us to get back to his quarters. He slipped inside, giving me another brief kiss on the cheek before I kept walking. I continued on down two more halls toward my own room, feeling much better than I did before dinner. I stopped at the entrance to my door, feeling lighter than air.

Pushing the door open as slowly as possible, I walked into my bedroom quietly and closed the door gently behind me. The lights were off considering the late hour, but I could tell that Bucky was still awake. His breathing was measured, indicating that he was somewhere between wake and sleep. I slipped into the bathroom, pulling off my clothes, leaving me in my undergarments, and walked back toward the bed. Even though his eyes weren't open, Bucky pulled back the sheets and opened his arms to me as I slipped into the bed. I smiled gently, laying in his arms.

His eyes still weren't open. I smiled at him, pressing my head into his shoulder. He pressed a kiss against my hairline. "Do you remember when we were kids and you told me that I didn't need to go on a date?" I asked quietly, shattering the peaceful silence.

Bucky gave a slight smile. "Yeah."

"Why did you say it?"

It took him a little longer to answer that time. "Because I was being selfish," Bucky admitted, sounding guilty about it. I glanced up to meet his eyes. "I knew that I liked you but I wasn't ready to tell you how I felt." A smile cropped up on my face. If only we had admitted our feelings for each other back then... "All I knew was that I couldn't stand the sight of you with someone else."

Of course... I'd seen the slight twitch in his back when he'd seen me with Logan in my memory of escaping Stryker's lab. "I'd like to be the bigger person here, but I'm glad that, for just a second, you felt the way I did whenever I saw you with some pretty girl," I told him.

Bucky's chest rumbled with laughter. "I never knew it bothered you that much."

"It did. I just didn't know why."

"I should've said something to you a long time ago."

What could have happened had he told me all those years ago the way he really felt about me? Would I have never run off that day after school? Never ran into Johnathan in the alley and injured his friends? Never run into Stryker? Never found Chester? Never gone to Camp Lehigh? Never brought Steve there? Never had him become Captain America? Never launched the fight against Hydra? Instead, we might have already been married. We could have even had a few kids. I'd have been a housewife. He would have had some factory job with Steve. No, the right, albeit painful, thing had happened.

"No. I'm glad you didn't," I told Bucky, obviously surprising him. "Everything that's happened to me has happened to me for a reason. For everything Stryker did to me, he taught me one very valuable lesson. Don't hide what I am. I'm strong and he knew it. He tried to keep me weak - just like my parents did and just like I tried to do when I met you. He taught me how strong I could be. He's the reason I met Chester. He's the reason I came back to you as the person I really was. That's part of the reason I got Steve to Camp Lehigh and trained him to be Captain America. It's the reason we saved you and I revealed who I was to the world. It's the reason I now have a real family. Stryker gave me the greatest gift I ever received. I just didn't know it until now."

Bucky looked astounded that I had finally admitted what my time in Stryker's lab had done for me. It was a monstrous thing that had happened to me, but it was time for me to admit that Stryker had done some good. He had trained me to use my powers to the extent of my ability. He had shown me that I was stronger than I had originally believed. He had given me a reason to fight. He had taught me that I had to rely on myself - and no one else. He might have taught me to be cold, but he had also taught me to be strong.

"If I had told you how I felt back then, would it have changed things?" Bucky asked quietly.

I thought about his question for a long time. No real answer ever came to mind. "I don't know. I don't know that I would have been ready to hear it," I admitted. If he had told me back then, I probably would have run from our feelings. "I think we needed to be apart for a while so that, when we were back together, we knew just how much we really meant to each other."

"I was so in love with you," Bucky said, staring up at the ceiling.

"Was?" I teased, glancing up at him.

"Am," Bucky growled, reaching over and whopping me in the leg. I started laughing madly. Once I had calmed down, I glanced up and saw that Bucky was smiling lovingly down at me. I raised a brow curiously. "Every girl I took out, I compared her to you. What she said, how she thought, what her plans for life were."

Was that really what he had done? "Why did I make such a big impact on you?" I asked.

"I don't know," Bucky admitted.

That was the only answer I needed. We didn't know what the other had done to enchant us to each other so much. It didn't matter. We had simply loved each other for most of our lives. Bucky rested a hand gently against the side of my face and I smiled, leaning over to roll on top of him as we exchanged a long kiss. Bucky tangled his hands in my hair as my hands fell down to his bare stomach, tracing along the muscles that led to his hips. I could feel the muscles against his abdomen contracting with my touch.

Once we had finally separated, I leaned back down against his chest. "How's Chester doing?" Bucky asked.

"I'll never get used to hearing you call him that," I told him honestly. Bucky laughed. He probably couldn't believe it too. "He's okay. Happy that I'm happy. Not so happy that we're sleeping together."

"I can't believe he knows," Bucky groaned, driving his face into my hair.

I laughed and gently pushed him back. "We're not the most subtle people in the world."

Literally, everyone at the base knew about our midnight rendezvous. But they wouldn't say anything for fear of what I might do to them. "I don't think I've ever seen you be subtle about anything," Bucky teased.

Oh, no. Subtlety was not a trait I possessed. "How's everyone else?"

"Worried."

"About my meeting with Roosevelt."

"Yeah. What did he want?" Bucky asked.

I'd known that we would end up here eventually. "It doesn't -"

"Don't tell me that it doesn't matter," Bucky interrupted, already well-aware of where my comment was going. I let out a breath and dropped down against the pillows. Bucky leaned over me, pressing his hands on either side of my head. "It does matter, Vika. Tell me. What did he really want from you? What did he come all the way out here for?"

"He wanted what everyone wants," I said quietly. Bucky nodded for me to continue. "For me to get lost. Go into hiding and never come out."

"You said no?" Bucky asked.

"Of course," I said.

"Was that it?" Bucky asked knowingly.

He knew that things had gone further than that. He was right. There was no point in hiding what Roosevelt had said. Bucky deserved to know the threat against him. "He thinks that you're a fool for being with me. He claimed that, if we don't call off the wedding, he's going to put out an arrest warrant for you. He's going to make you an accomplice to everything I do," I explained slowly.

For a long time, we were both silent. Eventually, Bucky nodded slowly. "Okay," he said simply.

"Okay?" I asked.

Was that really all he had to say about this entire situation? "What else should I say?" Bucky asked me.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"That the threat of Roosevelt putting an arrest warrant on my head would make me want to walk away from you?" Bucky asked. I fell silent, unsure of what I was supposed to say. He was right but that wasn't something I wanted to tell him. I honestly didn't want to get him thinking. "I know who you are. I know what you've done and it hasn't scared me off yet. I knew the risks when I proposed to you."

"Even this?" I asked, waving around us.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "I wish I hadn't asked."

"I knew you would," I told him.

Bucky chuckled under his breath. "For better or worse, right?"

"Right."

Bucky flopped back onto the bed. I laid in the crook of his arm, both of us staring up at the ceiling. Bucky's fingertips ran up and down my leg as we watched the ceiling fan spin around and around. "I'd stay right here, forever, if I could," Bucky whispered.

Yes. Staying right here sounded nice. I smiled up at him. It was my turn to say something sweet, but I could never resist a good chance to mess with him. "What if you had to pee?" I asked him.

Bucky's face fell into a thin line. "I hate you."

But he didn't. And we both knew that. We laughed together as I leaped on top of him. Bucky wasn't able to keep his balance as I pushed him back against the headrest of the bed. I positioned myself over his hips, keeping him pressed against the bed. Not that he seemed in any immediate hurry to push me off. My hands wound up Bucky's sides as they came to rest in his hair. He smiled at me as I pulled him in for what quickly became a searing kiss. His own hands wound down around my back to rest in the shallow of my spine.

They slowly wound up my back, his fingernails digging into my skin, as they found the clasp of my bra strap. I felt his fingers twist slightly to release the clasp, allowing it to fall from my frame and onto the bed. He reached for it and immediately tossed it off to the floor. My hands traveled down to the waistband of his pants as I undid the knot on them and pulled them off of his body. He laughed at my eagerness and grabbed me around the hips, tossing me onto the other end of the bed - the only time I ever let him push me around. The rest of our clothes followed quickly.

Later that night, well after I had originally jumped on him, the two of us laid in bed together. Bucky was still panting gently. My breathing had long since returned to normal. My skin was glowing a gentle red underneath the skin. I could see the pattern of the flames (or maybe it was the radiation) flowing through my veins. Bucky's fingers followed those flows for a little while. It had always fascinated him. In a way, I supposed that it fascinated me too. I smiled at his touch, wishing that we could stay here forever.

Out the window, I could see the vague hint of twilight in the air. It had been a few hours since I had first laid in bed with Bucky. We had spent a good deal longer together than I had initially expected. But these moments with him were the best. The ones where no one and nothing else mattered. Not his ticking clock and my mutations. Just the fact that the sheets were so twisted around our naked bodies that I wasn't quite sure how we would be able to get out of them. A problem for another time, I supposed. I didn't think that we would be getting much sleep tonight anyway.

My head was currently resting gently on Bucky's chest. He was sitting up on the pillows that were pressed against the headboard. One of his hands were running through my hair, twirling the strands around, as the other gently ran over my hips and lower stomach. I was placed in between his legs. One of my hands rested against his bare thigh as the other rested on top of his, our fingers linking together. My eyes were closed as my heart rate slowed to just above thirty beats per minute - it was the most relaxed I had been in a long time.

"I don't care what they threaten me with," Bucky said, finally shattering the silence around us. My eyes remained closed as a smile formed over my lips. "Nothing's bad enough to make me throw this away."

Finally, my eyes slowly opened as the smile spread. I leaned up off of his chest to turn slightly and meet his gaze. His eyes were sparkling slightly as he leaned down and pressed a long kiss against my mouth, his hands tangling somewhat painfully into my ruffled hair. It didn't take long for me to push myself up onto my knees to lean over him. Bucky's arms wound down over my lower back to push me up against himself, keeping not even a centimeter of space between us. This was the life that I had always lived for and no one, not even President Roosevelt, would take it away.

A/N: So, like most people, I finally got around to seeing Endgame. I won't put any spoilers for those who haven't gotten the chance yet. If you want to know anything about Victoria's eventual tie-in to Endgame, message me. But now I'm so excited to get there! As always, thanks for the follows and favorites! Please review! Until next time -A

.2019: I'm so glad to hear that! Hope you liked this one too!

.witch: I'm really happy to hear that you loved the last chapter! I won't post here whether or not they'll get married before the fall to avoid potential spoilers for anyone else. If you want to know though, feel free to message me! It will go all the way through even into Endgame, so be prepared for a long story! Hope you enjoyed this one!

Crazy Devil Girl: I'm so glad that you love the story! I've really loved writing it. I'm so excited to get into the future movies. As much as I love The First Avenger, I'm ready to move on. I'm going to skip pretty much to the future, but I will gradually reveal what happens in the nearly seventy years between them likely through both flashbacks and her own stories. Maybe even from other people telling Steve about her. I'm so excited to get her with Tony and the others! Especially Natasha. I already have their story planned out. Oh, her relationship with Loki will be wonderful in the Avengers. Here's hoping that you've enjoyed this one! Love 3000!