Warning: Graphic description of a murder. Emotional trauma of main female character.

As it turned out the mission ended the day after Bucky left. Shaun returned to Reno Airport so when Katy went to pick him up she dropped Bucky off to pick up his truck. He immediately returned back to the hospital as the doctor wished to keep Rebecca in for a few days since she was 2 weeks early. Julia's parents said they would come to visit as soon as Rebecca was home. When she was released Bucky carried her in her car seat while Julia walked slowly out of the hospital with him. When they pulled into their garage Julia turned to Bucky.

"It's good to be home," she said. "Do you think Jasper will like Rebecca?"

"I don't see why not," replied Bucky as he undid the seatbelt that clasped their daughter's car seat. "He liked me."

They went into the house and Jasper made a beeline for Julia, rubbing up against her legs, making all sorts of welcome sounds. He then transferred his attention to Bucky rubbing against his legs which is when he realized there was another person being carried by Bucky. He made a questioning trill then sat down and Bucky looked at Julia.

"Well, should we let him see her?" he asked.

"Let's do it on the couch," she suggested. "We can block him easier if he doesn't react well."

They sat on the couch with the baby seat between them and allowed Jasper to jump up. Bucky uncovered Rebecca and the cat leaned forward sniffing her carefully. She made a little gurgling noise and Jasper looked at where the sound came from. Her hand came out which Jasper noticed but didn't react to at first. Then very slowly the cat extended his paw and touched Rebecca's hand. Her reaction was to wave her hand which startled Jasper but he kept smelling her.

"His mouth is open," noted Julia.

"He's taking in her smell," replied Bucky. "I'm going to take her out of the baby seat."

He unstrapped the restraints and lifted her out cradling her in his arms. Julia put the seat on the floor and Jasper had all of the baby to examine. When he got to Rebecca's head he suddenly began licking her hair and becoming attentive to her.

"I think he likes her," said Bucky. "He's licking her like he's her mom."

They watched with amusement as Jasper rubbed his head against Rebecca, deciding that he liked her. Bucky stood up to put the baby into her room and Jasper followed him all the way. They laid her in the crib then turned on the baby monitor and left her there, closing the door to make sure the cat wouldn't go in and bother her. Down in the living room Bucky sat on the couch with Julia curled up next to him and they watched Rebecca sleep on the baby monitor. He put his arm around his wife and kissed her on the side of the head.

"Now we're a family," he whispered. "I'm a dad, you're a mom. Thank you."

"A family was never in the cards with Mason," she whispered back. "I should be thanking you. We're going to be good at this right?"

"I was a teenager when my sister was born," replied Bucky. "At first I didn't like the crying, the diapers and all the fuss about her. I complained to my Ma about her changing our lives for the worst. In those days parents could hit their kids and I expected to get the belt. Instead she hugged me and told me that I was helping to raise Rebecca as well. She said how I reacted to the baby would indicate if I was a good person or a selfish person. I wanted my Ma to think I was a good person so when Rebecca cried I picked her up and comforted her. When her diaper was wet I changed her. Instead of being jealous of the attention she got I cuddled and played with her instead. The best part about it was she grew up loving me, and trusting me. After Steve, she was my next best friend. Now I get a chance to show my own daughter that I'm a good person. I think we're both going to be good at this."

He squeezed Julia a little harder as they sat and watched their daughter sleep until she woke up crying an hour later. After Julia fed her, Bucky changed her diaper and sat in the rocking chair singing a nursery rhyme song that he sang to his sister so many years before. When he laid her back down in her crib Julia was by his side.

"Nicely done, Dad," she whispered.

"Thanks, Mom," he replied, smiling, and with his arm around her they closed the door.

Julia's parents arrived a week later to meet their latest grandchild. Half expecting to see a pair of tired out and stressed parents they were both a little surprised that Julia and Bucky seemed to have everything in hand. The house was clean and in order, there was no indication that either were losing sleep or having any issues with a new baby in the house. Not wanting to say anything they just observed the couple as they went about their day and realized that whenever one or the other became stressed they would go out on the deck and just breathe while looking around their environment.

"What's Bucky doing?" asked Lydia, the second time she saw him go outside, seemingly doing nothing.

Julia looked up from the kitchen where she was preparing some baking. "He's doing the grounding technique," she replied. "He had therapy for a time and his therapist recommended it for when he needed to de-stress. I've started doing it as well. It's a good exercise."

Her mother still looked puzzled so Julia found one of Bucky's self-help books and gave it to her mother. Opening the chapter she read how the person started with deep breathing until they felt calmer. Then they had to acknowledge five things they could see, four things they could touch, three things they could hear, two things they could smell, then say one positive thing about themselves, finishing with another set of deep breaths.

"This really works?" she asked.

"Yeah, it does for us," replied Julia. "We don't ever want Rebecca to feel like she's causing us stress so we usually go outside to do it or we go into the bathroom if the weather doesn't cooperate. It's only been a week for me but Bucky's practiced it for a while. Until we can start having regular sex again it's our major way of coping with stress."

Julia had always spoken frankly with her parents and siblings about sex. Her type of autism had demanded a level of truthfulness and openness they hadn't explored with their older children. They often thought they covered everything but were shocked when Julia revealed several details of her sexual relationship with Mason. As that marriage progressed they sometimes felt despair that she paired herself with such a cruel man but until she found him in bed with another woman she wouldn't believe that he was toxic. Their concerns about Bucky were tempered by his own deference to them, and the respect he showed Julia in public.

"So you're handling the no sex thing okay, then?" asked Lydia.

Julia smiled mysteriously. "I didn't say there was no sex," she replied. "We're doing mutual masturbation and will move on to oral soon but it's not the same as having him in me. Don't tell Bucky I told you this. He likes to keep our sex life private. It's the gentleman in him."

Lydia coloured a little but nodded her head in acquiescence. "I won't even say anything to your Dad," she said. "If you have worked it out between you that's all that matters."

Bucky took the opportunity of the Devin's visit to go over what they decided for the renovation of their house. After sharing how much their extensive renovations cost Bill indicated he wasn't prepared to pay that much so Bucky suggested they rewire the house so it had an electrical system that was up to code, to renovate the bathrooms, and the kitchen. He showed Bill that they could remove the wall between the main level family room and kitchen as it wasn't load bearing. The wall between the kitchen and living room was load bearing which would increase costs considerably if they wanted to remove that. He also recommended updating the windows to cut down on energy costs but said that could be done at a later date. Without the windows and removing the kitchen/living room wall Bucky estimated the cost to be half what he and Julia spent on their house renovations.

Bill nodded. "That sounds more reasonable," he said. "Lydia and I will discuss it and I'll let you know before we go. Would you be the general contractor on this or Greg?"

"This would be Greg's job," replied Bucky, "since I'm still employed by him. If he's too busy to take it on I'll ask if he's okay with me handling it. Since this other contractor went out of business he's had a lot on his plate so I can't see it being a problem. It means I would have to line up the sub trades. I've worked with almost all them around here so I have full confidence in them to continue the work if I'm called up for a mission."

By the time Lydia and Bill were ready to go back to San Francisco they both decided to go ahead with the renovation and Bucky said he would get Greg's architect to come up with some plans to submit to the planning department. They all sat in the Devin's living room with Rebecca in her grandmother's arms. Her eyes were bright and as Lydia spoke softly to her she smiled at her grandmother. Suddenly Lydia had a thought.

"Bucky, the things that were done to you ... will they be passed on to Rebecca?" she asked.

"I don't know for sure," he admitted. "When I was in Wakanda being treated they indicated that my strength, reflexes, and regenerative abilities were likely genetic in nature. At the time I didn't see myself having children because they also thought I might be sterile with all the chemicals that were pumped into me. They were wrong about the last part, obviously. I've been thinking of asking them if they can run some tests to settle the matter."

"If she does inherit your abilities?" asked Bill.

"It could draw the attention of some interested parties," replied Bucky carefully. "One of the reasons I chose to live here is that this is a small community and people care about us, especially Julia. I already know that no one tells tourists where Bucky Barnes lives. I'm hoping that community support will provide a level of protection for our kids." He looked at Julia and she nodded. "I also built a panic room in our lower level. When I'm on mission if Julia feels unsafe she can lock down the house and go in there. It would automatically trigger an alarm at Avengers headquarters and they would contact her to find out what's going on. They could send in the troops to deal with whoever is trying to get at her."

Bill and Lydia sat back concerned about the revelation. It was one thing to live in a quieter community but it was another thing to actually build a panic room and connect it to the Avengers. Bucky sensed their discomfort and looked directly at both of them.

"I want our kids to have as normal an upbringing as possible," he stated. "No matter where we live security for them would be an issue. When I'm home I'm their security. When I'm not the people of this community and the extras I've put into the house are their security. Will it be enough? I don't know. I'm going to do my best to keep my family safe, just like any other husband or dad."

Both grandparents realized that would have to be enough and they each cuddled happily with Rebecca before it became time to leave. Handing her over to Julia while Bucky took their suitcases out to the car Bill locked up the house and looked at the couple in their driveway. He had to admit that Julia looked incredibly happy as did Bucky. He had no doubt that this was a marriage that would last. The older couple said their goodbyes and as they pulled out Bucky looked down at Julia.

"Do you think I should have told them about the panic room?" he asked. "They didn't seem happy about it."

"They needed to know that you would make arrangements for our security while you're away," she replied as they walked back to their house. "Greg thought it was a good idea and so did Rhodes. You trust their judgement, right?"

"Yeah," he said, then he tickled Rebecca under her chin. "We just have to watch and see if she develops any abilities."

Bucky talked to Greg about the Devin's renovations. As he thought Greg was too busy to be general contractor on it as he and several other contractors had to take over jobs left unfinished by the bankruptcy of Terry Edwards. Greg asked Bucky to take on the general contractor role for the Devin's renovations as well as two other renovation contracts. He also recommended men at two of the job sites who could reliably take over those projects if he was called out on a mission. For the homeowners it was exciting to have a public figure overseeing their project. He made it clear that his Avengers work took priority. After showing them pictures of what he did in his own home they were happy to accept his limitations.

It took a while to get the Devin's plans drawn up, wait for their approval by Bill and Lydia, then submit them to the municipality for approval. Christmas was upon them before they passed all the hurdles and Bucky could begin to assemble a demolition / construction crew. One of the last things the Devin family did before they returned to San Francisco after Christmas was to move all the furniture into the garage so that the house was empty for the demolition and electrical rewiring. That took about 6 weeks, then Bucky's new assistant general contractor took over when he was called out to a week long mission in Africa.

Jason Welburn, originally from Colorado, originally came to Lake Tahoe to work at one of the ski hills three years before. Like Bucky he met a local woman, fell in love and decided to stay. After breaking his leg in a ski accident he realized that he should be a recreational skier only and ended up working for Terry Edwards as a labourer. Like most of Edward's employees he never received his final two paycheques and approached Greg about taking him on. After a couple of weeks assessing him on different tasks at different jobs Greg asked if was interested in the general contractor side of things, seeing a strong ability to organize and delegate. He and Bucky crossed paths several times, working well together. When Bucky asked him to be assistant general contractor on the Devin renovation Jason jumped on the opportunity. Knowing that the house belonged to Bucky's in-laws he put extra effort into making sure everything was done just right. He was checking over the installation of the new drywall where the non-load bearing wall had been to make sure the seams lined up properly. Being the last man on the job that day Jason was puzzled when he heard the sound of a vehicle pulling up to the Barnes house (as it was now known by the locals) since he knew Bucky was still in Africa and Julia was home alone. He looked out the window, saw a dark SUV parked in their driveway and he called Julia immediately.

"Are you expecting anyone?" he asked as he watched.

"No," she replied. "I just heard a vehicle and assumed it was one of your guys leaving."

"No, I'm here alone," he replied. Then he saw two men exit the SUV and put masks on. "Shit, Julia get in the panic room now. Two masked men just got out of the vehicle. I'm putting you on hold and calling the police."

Immediately he called the police, identified himself and said two men with ski masks on had driven up to the Barnes residence in Tahoma. He shifted to another window as he saw them both walk stealthily alongside the house going to the lower level where a sliding glass door was. They tried several times to jimmy it but unknown to Jason the doors had been upgraded to unbreakable glass in titanium frames. They went up on the deck and tried again with the upstairs sliding glass door meeting the same resistance. Switching back to Julia he asked if she was in the panic room and she told him she was already talking to the Avengers. At that moment a portal opened in front of the house and several armed men in tactical gear swarmed out, surrounding the house. Switching back to the emergency dispatcher he told them the Avengers had sent a team in. Within moments they had taken the two masked men down just as the police pulled up. One of the men in tactical gear approached the police and identified himself. He took his helmet off and Jason whistled to himself.

"That was some response," he said to himself.

The man with his helmet off looked up at the window, seeing Jason and tipped his hand to him in thanks. The doorbell rang just after and he answered it to a policeman, followed by the man who saw him.

"Thanks for alerting Mrs. Barnes," said the man, who didn't identify himself. "We're taking them into custody but the police are going to confiscate their vehicle to look for clues. If you would just give your statement to the police we'll let Sergeant Barnes know you were looking out for his family, Mr. Welburn."

"Yeah, no problem," said Jason. "I knew about the panic room but he must have upgraded the sliding glass doors."

The man suddenly tilted his head as if he was listening to something and Jason realized he likely had a comms piece in his ear.

"Roger that," he said to whoever was on the other end then he looked at Jason. "Do you know a man by the name of Terry Edwards?"

"Yeah, he was a contractor here until he went out of business," said Jason. "Left a bunch of us unpaid for our work and quite a few suppliers unpaid as well."

The man looked at the police officer. "You might as well put a national APB out on him," he said. "According to one of our would-be kidnappers he's the man who told them where Bucky Barnes lived. He was offered a boat load of money for the information. We just have to find out who bankrolled the operation. Thanks again, Mr. Welburn. Officer."

Jason gave his statement to the policeman and although he was happy Julia and Rebecca were okay part of him hoped Terry Edwards landed in jail for putting a really nice lady and her baby in jeopardy. Closing up the Devin house he stopped in to see Julia and told her about Edwards.

"He better hope he's in custody before Bucky finds out," she replied. "He'll hurt the guy. Thank you so much Jason. My dad was worried about the panic room but it worked exactly like Bucky said it would."

"I'm glad you're okay," he said. "I'm headed home now. I'll be back at your parent's house tomorrow with a crew."

Julia smiled warmly at him and let him go, locking the door after. By the time Bucky made his video call that evening he was fully briefed on the attempted abduction, including the information about Terry Edwards' involvement. Although he tried to present a pleasant face to Julia she knew he was angry.

"It's okay to show me your angry side every once in a while," she said to him. "Do you think you'll scare me?"

"Honestly, yes," replied Bucky. "I'm a scary guy when I'm angry. When I was the Winter Soldier I was angry all the time. If they don't find Edwards before me I'm in danger of betraying my most sacred promise to never kill again. That's how angry I am."

"Good thing you're in Africa then," stated Julia. "Let Avengers security and the police do their job. They'll find him and find out who paid him."

Bucky scowled and she could practically hear him growling. "Are you alone?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?" he asked.

With a smile Julia propped up the phone, took off her shirt and then her bra. Bucky started to laugh and shook his head at her display.

"You know I love you, right?" he finally said. "Okay, it makes me feel better to see you half naked. It makes me wish I was there with you, my wild girl."

"Then hurry up and get your mission done," she suggested. "I'm lonely in bed without you."

"Message received and understood," he smiled. "I do love you and miss you both. Keep it warm for me."

"I love you too," whispered Julia. "Come home to me."

They broke the connection and Julia changed into pyjamas since she was half undressed already. After feeding Rebecca and putting her down she made sure everything was locked up tight and went to bed. She laid there for some time tossing and turning, still feeling the excitement of the attempt to enter the house. After an hour she got up, turned on the lights downstairs and pulled out one of the cold cases. She read the case file then spread the pictures out on the table and began studying them. Looking at the detective name she noted Rick's name but not Mason's. Then she checked the date. This case was almost 10 years old, before Mason became a detective. She made a mental note to check with Rick but she was sure that was 2 years before they partnered up. As she read the case file she noticed that the medical examiner identified ligature marks on the wrists and the ankles indicating the victim had been completely restrained. Two fibres were found on the body which they were able to link to a type of BDSM cord commonly available at sex shops and through online sales. She looked at a picture of a sample of the rope they were able to match with the fibres and recalled Mason had something similar while they were married. There was physical penetration of the victim but no semen was recovered leading the medical examiner to believe the perpetrator used a condom. Cause of death was asphyxiation from the too forceful application of the perpetrator's fingers on the victim's throat. Looking at the position of the bruises on the victim's throats Julia suddenly touched her own throat and remembered when Mason choked her into unconsciousness even as she begged him to stop.

From deep in her stomach she felt a feeling she hadn't felt since her first marriage. Her brain was going off with all sorts of questions about the evidence but the feeling in her stomach grew and Julia flipped through the pictures again, looking for something. She found two pictures stuck together and gently pulled them apart revealing a picture that had been underneath the other. Running to the bathroom she vomited into the toilet and sat on the floor waiting for anything more to come out.

"Mason, what did you do?" she asked out loud.

She flushed the toilet and returned to the pictures picking up the one that made her sick. The final indignity offered to the female victim were bites to her breasts, multiple bites. Whoever did it cleaned her after, removing their saliva and nullifying any chance for a DNA sample but Julia was sure she saw the bite marks before on her own breasts; marks left by Mason. She looked at the clock seeing it was just past 1:30 am. It was late to call Rick but if she didn't ... Picking up her cell phone she dialled his number which he picked up on the fourth ring. It was obvious he had been sleeping.

"Julia, what's up?" he asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not, Rick," she said her voice trembling. "Someone tried to break into our house tonight while Bucky's on mission. The authorities think they were here to kidnap me and Rebecca but that's not why I'm phoning you."

"Julia, what is it?" he inquired. "I can tell by your voice you're really shaken over something."

"I couldn't sleep so I pulled a cold case out," she explained. "It's a ten year old case, you were lead detective. Before you and Mason partnered up. A female victim, restrained BDSM style, raped, choked, her breasts bitten." She stopped and took in a ragged breath. "Mason did the same things to me and I think the bite patterns are his."

"Are you sure about this?" he asked after a small hesitation.

"The fibre from the cords used to restrain the victim look like cords that he owned, that he used on me," declared Julia, almost whispering as she fought the tears that threatened to come out of her eyes. "The bite marks show a cuspid tooth that was out of alignment which Mason had. She was restrained by her wrists and ankles, spread eagled, I would guess, and died by pressure applied to her larynx. He did that to me and rendered me unconscious. Who knows what he did to me after."

"Jesus, Julia, why did you never say anything?" he asked. "I would have helped you get away from him."

"Because I didn't know any better," she started crying. "I was a virgin when we married and even though I knew the mechanics of sex I didn't understand that good men don't abuse their wives, don't tie them up and rape them. I was so fucking naïve then I was ashamed when I realized how wrong it was."

She could hear Rick breathing on the line as he let her work out her anger and despair. "Julia, I'm coming out to your place, okay?" he declared. "I want you to walk me through it there and I'll take it as a statement while you're telling me because if you're right it means we had a fucking killer working amongst us all that time."

"I can't go to bed knowing these pictures are in my house," said Julia, hiccuping as her sobs subsided.

"Put everything back in the box and put it out in the garage," he said. "Do you have any sedatives, something that will relax you?"

"No, we don't keep anything like that in the house," she replied. "There is a grounding exercise that I could try, I guess."

"You do it then and try to get some sleep," ordered Rick. "I'm going to get dressed and drive out there now so I'm there after sunrise. I'll bring you some fresh baking from the overnight bakery in Sacramento."

Julia promised to try and after she hung up she gathered everything together, put it in the box and put it out in the garage. Surprisingly that helped remove a lot of her anxiety and after running through the grounding exercise as she lay in bed she found herself drowsy enough to fall asleep. Julia's cries woke her up and although it had only been about 4 hours since she finally fell asleep she felt relatively good. After feeding and changing her daughter she dressed and went downstairs to make herself some coffee. She put Rebecca into her bouncy chair and talked to her as she started the coffee. When the doorbell rang she checked the camera and saw it was Rick. Opening the door he raised the bag of baked goods from the overnight bakery and she invited him in.

"Well look at this little cutie," he exclaimed, looking at Rebecca in her bouncy chair. "She's adorable. May I?"

Rick offered his arms to Rebecca and she allowed him to pick her up. Holding her gently he touched her hair and her cheek. He shook his head, smiling at her.

"She has your eyes but this hair is all Bucky," he noted. "She is a little sweetheart. Does she sleep through the night yet?"

"Almost," replied Kate, smiling indulgently at Rebecca. "Can you believe she was blond at birth? You have three, right?"

"Four now," he said. "Two of each. You're already a good mother, I can tell." He paused then looked meaningfully at Julia. "This never would have happened with Mason, you know that right?"

"I know," she said quietly. "Bucky is a good dad. He's attentive and gentle with her. When I did get up in the night with her he got up as well so he could change her."

"I'm glad you found each other," he said sincerely. "You needed a good man to love you and treat you how you deserved to be treated."

"Thank you," she said, then she took a deep breath. "Shall we begin? I'll just put her in her bouncy chair and turn on the TV so she doesn't hear us."

For the next hour Julia presented her case to Rick just like she did any case. Slowly she won him over until he finally sat back as she returned everything to the box. Julia told him that Mason had dental work done after that night he first assaulted her and Rick would likely need a court order to get his dental records. She also suggested a search warrant to find the BDSM cord that he used. Rick turned off his recorder and looked at her meaningfully then he stood up and hugged her. Surprisingly, she let him. Without any more words he took the box from her and went out to his car, leaving immediately. Julia did a quick grounding exercise then picked up Rebecca and played with her for much of the day.