Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all your reviews. It means so much to me to know people are still reading this story (even though it is drawing out for a ridiculous time and it's twice the length I originally wanted) Your kind words always inspire me to write more. And thank you for ensuring my making the engagement happen the last chapter was the right choice lol. I was worried that it wasn't a good moment but you all have convinced me!

I apologize for the grammatical errors and whatnot. I did this all on my phone, so there's bound to be a million mistakes.

But please enjoy some Lucky fluff! Y'all deserve it after the rollercoaster ride I put you (and will continue to) put you through.

Trigger Warning: Anti-Semitism and mentions of torture.

There's dialogue used in CATFA. I obviously take no credit for it.


Chapter XXXVII

The torture that Zola and Schmidt inflicted never seemed to end. When Lucy thought it was finally over, they would inject her with something else until her veins felt like they were on fire and her body was breaking apart. Her bones ached, her skin felt as though it was being torn off, and her limbs were so heavy it was like they were weighted.

But no matter what they did to her, watching it happen to Bucky too was far worse. Lucy couldn't take it as she heard his screaming in the next room, her heart aching.

The temporary happiness of their engagement lasted only moments, and it was ripped away and crumbled like dust in their hands. It was replaced by bruised bodies, bloody faces, and broken bones. Lucy didn't know how much longer she could handle such traumas, her body taking a serious toll and feeling as though it would shut down.

At least, for a day and a half she had gotten some peace after returning to her cell to recover. Hilda wasn't there for the first couple hours, and Lucy found herself worrying for her terribly. But as she came back once finishing doing her labour, she was happy to see Lucy. Hilda recognized that Lucy looked worse off than the last time they had seen each other, and she wondered how many times they would take her away, and when the day would come that they wouldn't bring her back.

Over Hilda dressing her wounds and trying to care for her, Lucy told her of her reuniting with Bucky. Hilda, of course, cried at the story. Especially when Lucy told her he asked her to marry him.

Hilda exclaimed that they had to escape. After all, there was a wedding to look forward to! But in between torture sessions and more testing, Lucy realized there wouldn't ever be one. One of them would be dead soon enough.

When Lucy was finally taken to another room, she couldn't help but feel her heart flutter when she saw Bucky strapped for a table. Suffering, in pain, and half-delusional, but at least he was still alive.

"I'm afraid your lover has come down with a fever. It's only making the pneumonia worse, unfortunately." Zola exclaimed as he was standing on the side, his eyes trained on his notebook as he scribbled something down.

Bucky didn't even notice as Lucy came into the room. He only kept repeating his service number on his dog tags, half in a stupor of delusion.

"What did you do to him?" Lucy demanded, realizing how out of it he was. It broke her heart to see such a scene, and all she wanted was to go to him.

"Nothing too sinister, I assure you. Although, he did respond to the last series of tests poorly. I'm afraid his brain is having a hard time bouncing back after such trauma." He sighed as he looked over Bucky, causing Lucy to swallow a lump in her throat. She wanted to scream at Zola to stay away from him. But with the guards looking as though they wanted her to react so they could beat her into submission, Lucy figured it would be better to stay composed as to avoid any more pain.

"He is responding differently to the tests than you did. Perhaps, because his system is already so weakened from his illness? But either way, he likely won't live until morning." Zola spoke and Lucy wanted to break down in sobs. He turned to her, and then smiled widely, making her want to punch him in the face. "But don't fret too much. You, my dear, are nearly complete in your testing! There are a few more factors to consider, though. Mostly, of course, to see how you respond not only to physical torment but also emotional. Only some more minor things to look at now. But you have done well." He came forward, looking at her proudly.

It took everything Lucy had not to attack him where he stood. It was all a game to him, and he was treating them like rats to experiment on. "You deserve to be rewarded. Very few could last as long as you have."

Lucy remained silent as Zola stalked over to her. Her fists were clenched tightly together and she bit her cheek so hard she could taste the iron flavour of blood in her mouth.

He came so close to her that she found feel his breath on her face. She didn't lower her gaze for a single second, despite the fact she wanted to burst out in tears at hearing Bucky mutter his identification number over and over again, like something inside him had snapped.

"Enjoy your day off, Dr. Heinrich." Zola only said with a devilish smirk.

Lucy only frowned deeply at his words. Confusion coursed through her, and her mouth dropped slightly agape in surprise. "What?" She demanded.

"I said enjoy your day off. Phase one of your testing has been completed. Phase two will start soon, but first, you may have some time with your beloved. Do make sure he doesn't die, won't you? We've invested a lot of effort and money into him." Zola said so nonchalantly that it was almost like he was telling her to take the day off from work to go to the spa. Lucy knew there were ulterior motives though, and to take everything he says with a grain of salt. She knew he wasn't letting her care for Bucky out of the goodness of his heart.

Just as Lucy was about to open her mouth, he quickly silenced her, "Just umm, be sure to be on your best behaviour. We will still be watching." He said ominously and looked up to an overhanging room above the one they were in. It had thick glass, and Lucy could see the face of Schmidt talking to another scientist. They made eye contact and he gave her a sinister grin as he continued talking to the man who held his attention.

Lucy wanted to ask what type of sick joke this was when Zola suddenly scurried away without another word. Swallowing thickly, she waited until the door shut behind her to race to Bucky.

Her legs couldn't carry her fast enough to his side. She raced over, despite the pain that shot through her nerves from the days of torture, but she didn't care.

Breaking to his side, Lucy leaned down and tried to inspect the damage. "Bucky?" She asked gently, wondering if he could even hear her. His face had a nasty bruise under his right eye. His lips were split, likely from a beating he had to endure, and the left side of his face was an eerie yellow and brown from one of the machines attaching itself to him. "Bucky? Oh my God!" Lucy gasped as she saw how rough of shape he was in, and she wanted nothing more than to break into sobs.

Her voice seemed to snap him out of whatever delusion he was in, his eyes trained on her. She looked at him with concern and tried to think of a way to get him off the uncomfortable table, but Lucy didn't know how to work it. "Holy shit," Bucky only muttered under his breath as he looked at her.

"What is it, sweetheart? It's okay, I'm gonna take care of you." She whispered as she tried to unclasp him from his leather cuffs but they wouldn't budge.

Bucky looked at her in confusion, "Are you a nurse?" He asked her, breaking her heart. His eyes fluttering opens next closed from how exhausted he was. With each breath he took Lucy could hear him wheezing. "What's your name?" He licked his lips, "Because I don't know you but I think I want to."

"Bucky?" Lucy nearly broke out in sobs as she realized he didn't even recognize her. Tears welled in her eyes and threatened to spill over as she tried to somehow get him out of the contraption but to no avail. "Bucky, baby, it's me. It's Lucy."

"Lucy?" He asked with a frown, "I don't…" he trailed off, and Lucy couldn't help but let out of large sniffle and nearly burst out crying. She closed her eyes tightly and a single tear fell down her cheeks. She stifled a sob and tried to compose herself to keep her from having an outburst in front of him and causing him to worry. Bucky continued, "I don't think I know a Lucy. Maybe one. But she yells at me whenever I call her anything but 'Dr. Heinrich'." Lucy looked down to see him smirking wickedly up at her.

"Oh, you bastard!" Lucy called out, absolutely floored he would play such a nasty trick, "How could you!"

"I'm sorry, Pigeon." Bucky coughed, making Lucy wince. He still had his smile plastered to his devious face, "I had to tease ya. But you were really crying for me!"

"Of course I was crying for you, you devil!" She couldn't help but roll her eyes, "I thought you forgot me."

"It's gonna take a lot more than Hydra torturing me to forget your pretty face." He said softly, still gazing up at her.

Lucy huffed frustratedly, "You're awful, James Barnes! You're lucky I don't refuse to marry you after this."

"Hey, hey! Now let's not start taking crazy. I finally caught a dame who's willing to put up with me for the rest of my life. If you call it off I don't know if I'll ever find another one." He tried to chuckle but was cut off by a sharp pain in his chest.

"Not while you're a rotten tease like this, you won't." Lucy scolded him, trying to still claw the leather cuffs off his wrists but noticing how it was useless. There had to be some way to get him upright though so he wasn't lying on the table. "I can't believe you! To play such a cruel joke."

"I'm sorry." Bucky said genuinely and muffled a cough as best as he could, "I shouldn't have done that. I just had to tease ya. If I had known it would make you cry I never would have done it."

"Damn right you shouldn't have." She straightened her dress and finally found a button that raised the table so it went to more of a sitting position. "But I'll let it slide this time. Only because you look so God awful."

"That's so sweet of you to say." He chuckled as Lucy finally got him in a sitting position, even though he winced and hissed in pain, "I suppose I've seen better days though."

"As have I." Lucy didn't know what she looked like. But she could imagine from the sweat marks and bloodstains on her tattered dress and matted hair falling out of its style that it likely wasn't a pretty picture.

"Nah, you're always pretty." He assured her, and then cocked his head, "Though would it have killed you to put on a little lipstick for our date?" He asked her, with pursed lips, trying to conceal his smirk.

"So sorry for not putting effort into my looks when I know I'm about to see you," Lucy smirked, looking down his lips and seeing the horrible split down the middle. She looked around and saw a bucket of snow near Zola's desk.

"I'll forgive you this time," He sighed as he watched Lucy grab a handful, "Although I coulda shined my shoes and combed my hair for you too, I guess."

Lucy placed a handful of snow on his lip, causing him to hiss. "Nonsense," Lucy said gently as he winced at the cold. She looked at his fluttering eyelashes and the gun-metal greyish blue orbs that were curtained by them. His lips were swollen but it didn't stop Lucy from wanting to desperately kiss them. "You're always handsome." She told him softly.

"Good to hear. I was worried that those bastards would do something to my money maker. My looks are the only thing I've got going for me. But I bet I must look real swell right now." He knew that his face was all banged up and his body was slightly broken. He knew she didn't care, though.

"If only the girls in Brooklyn could see you now." Lucy couldn't help but chuckle slightly through struggling to keep her tears still at bay.

"Brooklyn gals." Bucky shook his head fondly as he remembered a time when he had gone and chased after them, "Can't believe I'm engaged to a lady from Queens."

"Do you have a problem with Queens?" Lucy shifted into her hip as she applied more snow to his face, having him squirm a little more under its coolness on his hot skin.

"No. Well… It depends." He tried to shrug but grimaced from using his tender shoulders.

"On?" Lucy asked curiously and cocked an eyebrow. It felt strange to be flirting like this when she knew men above were listening and watching their every move. But Lucy had to pretend they were alone, otherwise, she would go crazy. She just needed a moment of pretending they were the only two people in the world.

"Before we get married I do have to square something up with you." Bucky smiled. Lucy cocked her head. "Because as you can imagine, I can't be gettin' hitched to gal from another borough without checking what baseball team she likes."

Lucy only smiled, biting her lip to keep it from growing too much. She didn't want their overseers to see her as too happy and separate them from one another again. "Well, there's only one team that matters, dear."

"Lucy Heinrich, the next words that come out of that mouth of your better be the Brooklyn Dodgers or so help me God." Bucky threatened through a pained exhale.

She only wrinkled her nose, "Honey, I'm from Queens. The Yankees are my team."

"Jesus Christ, I can't believe I'm about to marry a dame who likes the Yankees!" Bucky shook his head in disbelief. "My Ma's gonna have a fit." He then frowned, asking accusingly, "Aren't the Yankees from the Bronx, though?"

Lucy smirked sinisterly, "Us folks from Queens prefer the Bronx over Brooklyn."

"Traitor," Bucky huffed teasingly, shaking his head at himself, "I can't believe I'm gonna enslave myself to someone who likes the Yankees ."

Lucy smirked, "And I can't believe I'm about to marry a Brooklyn boy."

"We're the best of the best, don't forget it. And for the record, the Dodgers play circles around your boys." He defended.

"Keep dreaming." Lucy only chuckled, "My Brooklyn baby." She teased.

"My Queens lady." He only replied as he chuckled.

"Technically," Lucy knew he would react, "I'm from Manhattan now."

"Christ, that's even worse! The fella's at home are gonna grill me for weeks!" He exclaimed, suddenly becoming aware that they were being watched and they should try to not attract too much attention.

Lucy's smile faded as he quieted. Her eyes flashed to the men standing and watching, simply just taking notes.

"Why would they let us be alone together?" She wondered out loud solemnly.

"Psychological testing." He answered with another muffled cough. Lucy cringed as she heard how bad it was, "I overheard them talking. So, chances are, they're going to do something horrible to us and watch how we respond." His voice was low and quiet, "Add in another factor."

"Another thing to look forward to," Lucy huffed, nearly shaking as she placed the snow on his purple skin under his eye. "I don't know how to get through this."

"Well, I was getting through this thinking about the next time I was gonna see my girl. But she's right here. So I don't know what other pleasant thoughts to hold on to now." He said as he looked up at her, as Lucy's hand grazed his lips, Bucky gently kissed her palm. "You look like a dream."

Lucy nearly broke down, her eyes welling with tears. But she swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to keep herself composed, "What's going to happen to us?"

"I don't know," Bucky said back softly, shaking his head. "But I do know what's gonna happen when we get outta here."

"If we get out of here." Lucy corrected him sharply.

"When." He insisted again, "We've gotten out of hairy situations before, we can do it again." He promised although Lucy could hear the doubt in his voice.

Lucy shook her head and bit her lip, "That was different. This time we can't just shoot our way out."

"Well, have you attempted to seduce one of the guards yet? I tried but they didn't go for the bait." He joked and Lucy nearly smiled. She would have hit him in the shoulder for a wise-crack like that if they had been in any other situation.

"You think you're funny?" She asked with while trying to conceal her grin so she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"A little," He confirmed, "I'm just trying to get my future wife to smile." Her stomach flipped as he spoke. It was hard to suppress the happy butterflies in her stomach when he said such things.

Lucy's smile faded as she realized where they were. "I'm scared." She whispered, "I don't think we're gonna get out of here."

"We are. And as soon as we do, I'm gonna wed you and bed you like there's no tomorrow." He chuckled, even though it hurt his aching chest.

"Crass," Lucy pinched him ever to slightly as she wiped some blood away from his chin. Bucky winced a little and jokingly told her to take it easy, "You kiss your mother with that mouth, Barnes?"

"Please. With the amount of sinning I've been doing, the woman is so holy she'd burst into flames the moment I touched her." He thought of his mother's warm smile and tight hugs. Memories of bloodied knees when he was little and kisses pressed to his hurting skin caused his heart to ache.

"If your mother is such a holy woman how did she have such a rotten man as a son?" Lucy's corner of her mouth twisted in a smirk.

Bucky sighed, "Just naturally a deviant, I suppose. I can't control myself around pretty dames. One smile is all it takes for me to forget my manners."

"You find lots of girls smiling at you around here, soldier?" Lucy joked.

Bucky sighed again, this time more exasperated, "Not as many as I'm used to." Lucy tore a strip of fabric from the bottom of her dress and tried to tie it tightly around Bucky's bloodily wrists from the pinching leather cuffs. "There's one pretty girl, though."

"Oh, yeah?" Lucy asked with a raised eyebrow as she continued caring for him. "What's she like?"

He surprised a smile, "Intense. Smart. Could probably beat the crap out of me and I'd thank her for it afterward." Lucy couldn't help but let out a small laugh, "She's got these big, hazel, doe eyes. A million-dollar smile. And I don't think she even knows it, but she's crazy about me."

"She knows it." Lucy assured him, "But hey, if you like her so much, why don't you marry her?"

"Kinda the plan once I get outta this dump." Bucky assured her, "I promised I'd take her to Hawaii."

Lucy sighed defeatedly and stopped joking. She could still feel the eyes of the observers overhead trained on her. A chill fell over her body as she could feel them staring at her like she was an animal in an enclosure.

She licked her lips before she continued. She ran a hand through his tangled mess of hair. She had never seen him without his hair perfectly swept back. Dugan even having teased him about it before, wondering who he was trying to impress on the battlefield by kept it combed like that. "Even if we get out, we can't go. We have a job to do."

"Oh, we'll get a honeymoon, alright! I'll shoot myself in the foot if I have to get a little time off." Bucky assured her.

"Sergeant, I think you're forgetting I'm your superior officer." Lucy joked playfully "I can have you court-martialed for talking like that." She would never. In fact, she'd make sure there was some other tragic accident too, to ensure she could join him.

"So I traded a German jail cell for an American one? So what? You know, I hear you actually have a bed there and they permit you to use the washroom."

"Sounds like paradise," Lucy rolled her eyes. She didn't mind their back and forth banter. She had missed it so terribly. She would never tell him, of course, but she loved his jokes. He was so brash and loud and confident, but he was sweet and kind at the same time. He was a good man with a good heart, even when Lucy did want to kick him in the shins every so often for another ill-timed joke (which she would pretend to hate).

"If you like the sound of that so much, I might just arrange to stay there for our honeymoon. Forget Hawaii and save some money."

"Oh, joy! That's what every little girl has always envisioned when dreaming about her wedding." Lucy replied with a sarcastic quip.

Bucky looked at her skeptically, peering up at her as she worked. "Something tells me as a little girl you didn't spend a whole lotta time dreaming about weddings. You were thinking about far off adventures and being in charge of some sorry sap like me. Ruling with an iron fist."

"And does the sorry sap think the lady rules unfairly?" Lucy asked skeptically.

"Not this sorry sap, at least. But then again, I'm wildly attracted to you when you boss me around." He chuckled lowly.

"You like it when other superior officers boss you around too?" She asked mischievously as she went to get more ice. The swelling on his lip looked like it was going down even in the last few moments of her trying to tend to him.

"Not as much, no. But then again, they're not you. I get all hot and bothered when you yell at me and take hold of the reigns." He added crassly. She wondered when he got a mouth like that on him. He seemed so confident as he spoke, she wondered how many other times he had told other women similar things. She could imagine them getting all flustered as he whispered dirty secrets in their ears, their cheeks turning pink from his innuendos.

Lucy blushed a deep red, acutely aware of the audience they had, "You're a dirty flirt." She licked her lips and bit then lightly as her stomach flipped in knots. She felt the same as she did when Harry McNally flirted with her after school one time. He was leaned lazily on the wall, staring at her as though she was mesmerizing. A gentle hand reached out to tuck a stray hair behind her ears. Her stomach flipped the same way as Bucky flirted with her, just like that day when she was fifteen. "I bet you talked to all the girls like that."

"And earned a good smack in the face? I don't think so. I'll have you know I'm a real gentleman."

Lucy gazed down at him skeptically, her eyes narrowing in doubt. She didn't believe him for a single second. "Liar." She hissed.

"Honest!" Bucky defended himself, "I have a way with the gals but only because I treat 'em so nicely."

"I seriously doubt that. You're trouble. A downright scoundrel is what you are!"

He licked his lips and quickly corrected her, "I could count on one hand the girls I've been horrible to. I accidentally made Meg Maddison cry by turning her down. Another time it was Julie Dunn for not calling back after taking her on a date. I believe I was called a 'devil' for that one." He sighed, "And then there was Adeline Mcgregor, the pastor's daughter. She was a little too goody two shoes, didn't like to get into any trouble. Perfect for Steve though, I'm sure. Umm… This one dame from London. Mary- I think that was her name. But to be fair, she approached me, and I was shipping off to war in a couple of days… And then there was you." There it was. The broken-hearted girls of Bucky Barnes. Lucy has expected more, only because he had such a way about him. She should have known better though and trusted her gut, knowing he was a good man. "There were others, too." He assured her, "Not many more. But some. They didn't end as badly though."

"Quite a trail of broken hearts you got there." She nodded, cocking an eyebrow. She was surprised she was included in that category. Although it made sense since they were both awful to each other when they first met.

"Only cause I couldn't settle. I was waiting for the right partner." He promised her, their eyes meeting. Lucy's gaze stilled on him as she looked down at his bruised, yet still beautiful, face. "Plus, I'm sure you've left a fair share of devastated men. The boys in school must have gone crazy over you."

Lucy snorted, rolling her eyes, "Yes, I made quite the impression on them. With my German, drunk, of a father, and my ratty clothes, and the bruises always on my face. Not to mention, I constantly had my nose in a book. Only a few ever tried to go out of their way to get my attention. They mostly just liked my sister, Beatrix."

"Well, if we went to school together I would have been worshipping the ground you walk on. And I like how smart you are. Even with your nose in a book and being a goody-goody, you would've still caught my eye." He promised her, making her heart do a tiny flutter.

Lucy corrected him "I wasn't always a goody-goody!" She smirked as she watched his reaction. "I actually caused some trouble in school."

"No! Not you! My God, who even are you?" Bucky asked, scandalized.

"Oh, hush! It was never because I wasn't good at school. Just sometimes I would get teased for being German and my father being who he was by some horrible other girls. And sometimes I would get a little sick of it."

"So, what happened?"

"One time I had to write lines on the board for a couple of hours. Another time I had my hand slapped with the strap. And I was spanked by a nun with a ruler once."

Bucky's eyes shot up, "Never before have I wished to be a ruler so badly."

Lucy flicked his ear for that comment as she smirked, making Bucky let out a little ow. He chuckled at her reaction.

As Lucy kept cleaning him up, her thumb brushed against his bottom lip. She wanted to kiss him like no tomorrow. All she wanted was to place her mouth on his and be consumed by him. But she couldn't. And Lucy was afraid she would never get the chance again.

He was unbearably handsome. Even all bruised up and black and blue, Lucy still found herself wildly attracted to him. If they were completely alone, Lucy wouldn't be able to resist herself. She would have hiked her skirt up and climbed on top of him to straddle his hips. Running her hands through his messy hair she would nibble on his mouth sweetly, coaxing him to open it up to her until their tongues gently met. She'd continue to taste him until she couldn't bear the heat pooling in her loins any longer. In which case, she'd undo his belt and—

Lucy forced herself to stop her dirty thoughts from continuing. They only made her want him more, and the fact that she wasn't able to exactly what she wanted to him drove her insane. All she craved was her mouth on his.

"I wanna kiss you so bad." She admitted, biting her lip to stop herself. She had never felt a longing quite like this. He was a force drawing her in and Lucy tried her hardest to fight off the fire welling deep in her belly.

"I know, Pige. And as much as I enjoy you being the one hovering above me in this chair, at your mercy, and victim to whatever you inflict on me; I hate it when it's one of those guys instead. So, maybe we can hold off on the smooching until after? I don't want to have to give up this time with you."

Lucy nodded, biting her lip even harder until she drew blood.

"But I promise when I get out of these chains I'm gonna kiss you until you're a gasping mess." He wanted to run his hands through her hair and take her face in his grasp and kiss her so deeply that they couldn't breathe.

"I'll hold you to that." Lucy threatened menacingly, but with an underlying smile behind her pressing glare.

"I'm counting on it." He assured her. His low voice, although a little raspy from yelling so much during the torture, created an ache in Lucy's body. The flame of desire that she held for him burned brightly, the need all-consuming.

When Lucy began to figure she couldn't ice his face anymore, she gently wiped her hands on her dirty skirt and sighed. Her thumb brushed against his bruised cheekbone, her touch burning him.

"You're good at that," He laughed lowly, "Shoulda been a nurse."

"You just want me to be a nurse so I could prance around in one of those white dresses with the stockings. Nurses are like a flame that draws you army boys in." Lucy scoffed.

"If you were a nurse we might have met sooner. Lord knows I've flirted enough with them since I enlisted."

"See! You are a dirty flirt." She accused him.

"It's mostly harmless." He assured her, shrugging, "It was hard being caught up in the fighting. The nurses are just about the only pretty things we ever saw. Plus, they always smiled and tried to make us feel better. And they're nice."

"You don't think I'm nice?"

"Err... Yes?" He answered cautiously. Nice wasn't exactly the word that came to mind when he thought of Lucy. But then again, she could be sweet to him when she wanted to be. But nice? No. Lucy Heinrich was not the warm, fuzzy, make-you-feel-like-the-only-guy-in-the-world nice that the nurses were.

"Good answer," Lucy turned around with a smirk on her lips. She was going to see if there were any other supplies that she could use to fix him up, but it seemed like Hydra had a very limited amount to sacrifice to their experimental pets.

As Lucy rifled around looking for something to use, she didn't notice as someone silently slipped into the room.

Eyes set on her, they didn't leave her form a single moment. Entranced, fixated, spell-taken, whatever it was, she drew them in like a type of magic. Feet moved instinctively, and as Lucy teased Bucky, her low laugh nearly caused a heart attack.

When Lucy turned around, her smile fell as she saw a man standing there. Bucky noticed him, not dressed like any member of Hydra. Brown slacks with a cream coloured button-down shirt and suspenders made him look unthreatening but Lucy looked like she saw a ghost.

"I…" Lucy choked out in shock, her jaw falling open as her gaze fell on him. "No." She breathed in disbelief. Her hands fell to her sides limply, and suddenly she looked like she was about to collapse. "No." She gasped again with tears in her eyes as she covered her mouth with her hands in shock.

The man only stalked forward, taking his hands out of his pockets as he approached her slowly.

"No! Stay away from me!" Lucy held her hands up, looking terrified. Bucky wanted to break out of his restraints, seeing her scared expression and wide eyes like she had seen a phantom.

When the man finally reached her, Lucy's chest was rising and falling rapidly. Tears were spilling down her face. She kept muttering 'no' and how it wasn't possible, shaking her head.

To Bucky's shock, what the man next did nearly had him ready to take on the entirely of Hydra's army single-handedly. He watched as the man pulled Lucy in by the waist and slammed his mouth to hers.

A growl burst in Bucky's chest as he had to watch another man mack on his fiancé. And to his even greater shock, Lucy kissed back.

She snapped back to reality in a second, pushed the man off of her, and then looked at him with wide eyes before slapping him hard across the face. The noise of it echoed across the room.

"I guess I deserved that." The stranger said as he bit his lip, rubbing his now reddened cheek.

"Um, excuse me? Hi. Hands off my girl, asshole." Bucky growled lowly. His fists were clenched tightly as he dug his nails into his palms.

The man chuckled, "Your girl? My girl." He corrected.

"No one's girl! I'm not an object for someone to own!" Lucy shot back, looking accusingly at Bucky and then back at the other man. She slapped him again, causing him to laugh slightly but then grabbed her hands and tried to pull her in again. "And you!" She glared, "What do you have to say for yourself!?" She demanded angrily, "You…you shouldn't be here." She looked on in disbelief. Her expression pained and confused at the same time. "You can't be here." Lucy's voice was barely above a whisper.

He only swallowed a lump in his throat. His eyes welled with tears, "I'm sorry," He whispered. He tried to reach for her again and Lucy pushed away his hands while in protest. He looked even more broken-hearted by her refusal than Bucky thought was possible. "Please, I know you're confused, but let me touch you." His voice was thick with an accent, English not being his first language.

"You don't get to come anywhere near me!" Lucy backed away with a timid animal, her eyes not leaving the man for a second. "Is-is this a dream? Some sick delusion they cooked up?"

"No," He shook his head in promise, "It's me, I swear it." His voice broke.

She shook her head again, a tear falling down her face.

"Can someone explain to me what's going on?!" Bucky demanded after seeing some stranger kiss his fiancé.

Lucy swallowed thickly before answering, "This is Daniel." Her voice cracked as she mentioned his name.

Bucky's face fell as she realized that the man in front of her was her Daniel, her fiancé. Alive and well, apparently.

"Alive?!" Lucy demanded and hit his chest, "And speaking fluent English, might I add!" He finally caught her fists and stopped her from continuing her assault.

"Well, I had hoped for a better reaction. Though rage is understandable, I suppose." He cringed as he saw her hard stare. She was no longer surprised. She was angry. Bucky couldn't miss how the men above in the observing room were hastily taking notes.

"How the hell are you alive? I wept for you. I mourned you. And you're here?" She demanded as she grit her teeth. "I had two men come to my office in 1941 and tell me you were captured and taken to some God-forsaken camp."

He nodded, rolling up his sleeve on his left arm to reveal a poorly done tattoo of a number identification imprinted on his skin, "I was." He showed her, "We surrendered and were taken to Poland. Auschwitz, it's called. And I'm lucky. I was separated from the others because I was strong and I was made to work instead. The others were…. They took them to the showers." He said sadly and bit his lip, "They never came back." He took a deep breath, and shook his head as he tried to stutter through a broken voice, "It smelled like nothing you could ever imagine when they burnt them. It rained ash for days. I still feel like it's on my skin even now." He shivered as he spoke.

Lucy sat down on a stool, feeling as though she would fall. She was breathing in and out quickly, her chest rising and falling past its normal rate. She could hardly breathe and Bucky watched as Daniel got to his knees to look her in the eyes.

"This isn't real." She gasped through her tears. "It can't be."

He gently touched her knee and her eyes met his, making her hiccup. For a moment Bucky thought he saw her look at Daniel the way she looked at him, but he couldn't be certain.

"Mon amour," Daniel whispered. Bucky didn't need to know French to know he was saying my love. "It's real. I'm right here."

She shook her head again, her eyes never leaving him, "You can't be. You died."

"I'm right here." He said before gripping her gently by the neck and trying to kiss her softly again. Lucy put her hands on his shoulders to stop him, but before she did Bucky very loudly and obnoxiously cleared his throat to get his attention.

"And who are you?" Daniel asked Bucky quizzically, peering at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Her fiancé!" Bucky shot back, defensively.

"Fiancé?" Daniel demanded and looked back at Lucy in shock. His expression falling as he didn't understand, "I'm her fiancé. We have been engaged for nearly three years."

"Well, we've been engaged for two days! So…Get in line, pal!" Bucky spat, not really sure what to say.

With a tight swallow, Daniel spoke accusingly to Lucy, turning towards her and refusing to meet her eye, "You've been busy."

"You've been dead." She snapped.

He stood gently took her hand, still not getting up from his crouched position so he could look at her, "I know it's hard to understand—"

"It's not hard to understand! It's impossible to understand! Daniel, you died! I had men come and tell me you weren't coming back."

"I promised you we'd always be together. Do you not remember? I promised I'd come back to you." He said lowly, clearly pained after discovering she was recently engaged again.

"How was I supposed to know that?" Lucy burst into sobs, making Bucky's chest well with pain. He hated nothing more than seeing her cry. All he wanted to do was kiss her tears away, but at the moment he was unable to. And instead, Daniel was in his place, shushing her gently and wiping away her tears as he should have been. "They told me that the people they take there always die. There was no hope." As she spoke her face fell as she realized something. "How did you get out?"

He was silent, only pursing his lips together. Shame overcame his expression and he looked down, refusing to meet her gaze.

"Daniel, comment es-tu sorti?" How did you get out? She asked again, this time in French so there wouldn't be any translation issues. Bucky nearly groaned at hearing her speak a new language. He didn't know it was possible to be even more attracted to her.

Daniel onto scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, looking down ashamed, "It's complicated." He whispered.

"No, it's simple. Tell me how." Lucy demanded, her tears had stopped. Now she was looking at him angrily, her eyes bloodshot from crying now filled with fury.

With a small voice, Daniel said in French so Bucky wouldn't hear, "J'ai conclu un marché." I cut a deal. He continued, looking even more ashamed, "With Hydra."

Lucy nearly stopped breathing, "How could you?" She demanded, knocking his hand off of her knee out of repulsion.

"Ma chérie," Daniel pinches the bridge of his nose as he took in a deep breath. He was trying hard to not be emotional as well, "Please, you don't understand—,"

"I understand that you sold your soul to the devil! That you are a traitor! That you betrayed your people, your country, and your God, by working for these monsters!"

"You don't understand!" Daniel stood up and slammed his fists down on the desk aggressively, making Lucy's real in shock. He had never so much as raised his voice at her, let alone hit anything. "You don't understand what it was like!" He clenched his eyes tightly together and brought his fists up to his head like he was in pain, "Lucy, you can't understand."

"Try me!" She hissed.

"Fine! Do you want to know? When I got there they separated us! They took us from our women and children! They made us watch as they shot them down right there or took them to the showers — which by the way, was a room to poison us— not to shower! They made our own beat and shoot one another for a handful of extra rations of pork! I drank puddle water to stay alive. I ate the lice the crawled over my body! I watched as woman after woman disappeared with certain guards, to be assaulted, and then saw their bodies being taken out afterward when their fun was over as if they were nothing more than vermin! I slept on a bunk where I was on top of dozens of other men. The wood so hard that it would have been better to sleep on the ground. The shit would run through the wooden flanks and drip onto us as we tried to sleep, and the smell was like we were already dead. They took away my identity until I wasn't even human. Until I looked at myself and didn't realize who the small, bald man, ridden with sores and scabs wasn't even me! l was treated like a rat, I lived like one until I believed I was one and that they were right! I believed that we deserved to die." He told her as tears ran down his cheeks. Lucy had her face in her palms, refusing to look at him as he recounted the ordeal, "The only thing that kept me alive was you." He hissed, "You were the one thing I thought of constantly. And I prayed so much that I would see you again, until I all could recite were hose words in the night. And I told myself that I would do whatever it took to get back to you, even if it meant selling my soul." His voice broke when he finally finished.

Bucky felt out of place as he heard Lucy sniffling violent and crying hard into her hands. He didn't belong in this conversation, and he wished they had the luxury of being alone.

"When Hydra came, I knew they had sought me out in Paris. I recognized one of the officers and got his attention. And in between one of the guards beating me until I couldn't breathe, the officer could finally hear who I was. They took me with them, and I've been here for six months in charge of their antiquity operation."

Lucy finally raised her head, her face wet with tears and snot. Daniel took out a handkerchief to wipe her face. She let him, grabbing his hand finally and placing a kiss on it. "I'm sorry," She whispered.

Seeing the way she kissed his palm and looked up at him made Bucky feel funny. Now that Daniel was back, would Lucy still want to be together?

"I'm sorry," Daniel said instead and kissed her hand as well, "Je suis tellement désolé, mon amour." I am so sorry, my love.

Lucy looked up at him, slightly laughing through her tear-soaked face, "When did you learn English?"

He smirked slightly, still holding her hand in his and massaging her swollen fingers from when they were dislocated (and thanks to Hilda, placed back in their rightful spots) "In grade school. I just never told you."

"You liar," she scoffed and wiped her nose with the sleeve of her dress, "I always thought it was suspicious you could read ancient Latin, and spoke extinct dialects of Hebrew and Greek but never learned English."

He gave her a soft smile. Bucky watched the two and swallowed deeply as they interacted. He felt all different types of strange and wondered if this was what they were trying to test them with. To tear Lucy in two and break Bucky's heart, while simultaneously probably hurting Daniel also.

"Now, you owe me the telling of the story on how you got here. You're supposed to be in Chicago." Daniel looked back at Bucky curiously with an arching eyebrow, "And how did you pick up that?"

"That, is sensitive, so don't you make fun of him —,"

"Hey!—" Bucky protested only to be cut off.

"I also love him." She looked at Bucky at gave him a soft smile. "So take it easy on him, okay? He's had a bad week." She then sighed and turned back to Daniel, "After I got news about you, I joined the army—,"

"You joined the army? My sweet girl joined the army?"

Sweet girl? Who the hell was he callin' his 'sweet girl'? Bucky mouthed the words to himself in repulsion and disbelief. Clearly, the man didn't know Lucy at all. Lucy Heinrich was a lot of things. But she wasn't sweet, that's for sure. She was dynamite in a dress, a bullet in stilettos. She was a force, a tsunami, a hurricane. She was not sweet.

Lucy crossed her arms, "As an antiquity expert and archaeologist. Pretty much I just grab whatever you try to find first." She smirked, her smug grin turning into a wide smile, "And I'm damn good at what I do."

"So I heard. I was starved for a week for your stunt in Egypt." He smirked, looking down at her proudly and with admiration. He looked back at Bucky and sighed, "And you found your loverboy how?"

"He threw a big stink when I tried to take over a church he had just captured. Gave me some attitude and yelled at me a little bit, and completely disrespected my authority. He stood up to me like no one ever had before, and was a total ass about it." Bucky cringed as Lucy spoke, but her irritated tone changed into one that reflected fondness. "So, naturally I fell madly in love with him." She practically sighed.

Daniel looked over at Bucky with a questioning look, like he was trying to study him.

"It's a true story," Bucky confirmed with a nod. "I was an ass." He agreed.

"Was? Seems like you still are, seeing you stole my fiancé."

"Hey pal, I told you to get in line. I can't help that she's completely obsessed with me." Bucky would have risen his hands in casual defense if they were free, but alas they were still confined by the leather cuffs

"I can't seem to figure out why," Daniel shot off a backhanded insult, but Bucky wasn't bothered about it. He would be irritated too if their positions were reversed.

Daniel only sighed and he looked back at Lucy, "I must admit they sent me here for a reason." He looked down almost like he was ashamed again, "Not just for us to be reunited."

"To see how I would react? A psychological test?" She questioned.

"Yes. They wanted to see if your brain could still process things the same way even after all they've done to you. But also," He licked his lips as he began again nervously as he looked down at his feet, "To offer you another deal."

"If it was anything like Schmidt's last offers, you can tell them to take their deal and shove it up their ass." She replied crassly with crossed arms over her chest.

"Please, my love. Just consider it." He begged her quietly, his eyes welling with tears as he looked at her mangled appearance, "I can't bear to see you like this."

She bit her lip, "What do they want?"

"I'm having a hard time finding an artifact of great value to them. Another supernatural toy I'm sure Schmidt has plans for if the Tesseract's power can't be completely harnessed. You're the only one who I think can find it, and I need your help."

"No," Lucy said harshly without even thinking about it. It made pride well in Bucky's belly as he saw how strong-willed his girl was.

"Please, just consider it." He pleaded desperately, "Schmidt said he would cease your testing. We could work together and be with each other like we always wanted. We could pick up where we left off and get married and have a family as we planned." Daniel tried to convince her even more. Lucy hardly considered it.

"I can't do that.

"I'm begging you to reconsider." His voice was desperate, and Bucky knew how he must have felt. He too, would have done anything to make sure Lucy was safe. "Lucy, I can't protect you if you refuse."

"You know why I can't agree," She snapped a little harshly.

"I can't watch you get tortured like this," He said in a quiet voice. Bucky could hear the sadness in it, recognizing that Daniel was just as much in love with Lucy as he was.

Unforgivingly, Lucy responded coldly, "Then just don't look." Her tone icy and meant to cut. She couldn't believe he could even ask her to do such a thing.

"Lucy," Daniel said seriously, his voice dropping lowly so those observing wouldn't be able to hear, "Sometimes, working for the enemy isn't a bad thing. Sometimes, you get opportunities to steer them in another direction and stall them from their goals. It's accomplished by doing that from the inside."

She shook her head and swallowed thickly, "I'm not a spy." She turned to Bucky, who wished he could disappear into the ground. He felt like he had been intruding in every moment that had past. "And besides," She licked her lips, "I can't go free while other people here suffer."

"Lucy, please," Daniel grabbed her arm softly, trying to convince her. "You don't have to do this. We can be together and outlast this."

"We can't be together." She responded, "We aren't the same people as we were three years ago. The Daniel I knew would never ask me to do such a thing." She took off her Star of David necklace that he gave her, "You should have this back,"

Daniel looked at it in his hand like she had given him back her engagement ring. He looked down at it sadly and then passed it back to her, "I gave it to you. It was a gift." Bucky could see the gears in his head turning, realizing he had lost her. The sadness etched on his face was unmistakable. Bucky thought of how he would react if their positions were switched and his heart ached. He felt for the man more than he ever had for anyone else. To see that woman be with someone else would be have been soul-crushing.

"I'm sorry," Lucy whispered to him, and Bucky saw Daniel process the news.

"I should have suspected this, I suppose. When I thought of seeing you, I always figured we would continue where we left off. It was a foolish dream." He scoffed at himself and moved his glasses out of the way, in a way to try to hide his tears, pretending to pinch the bridge of his nose but trying to keep his emotions in check, "Lucy, even if we can be together, you should still consider working for them. It'll kill me to know you're hurting. I'm sure he would agree," Daniel gestured with his head to Bucky. Although Bucky knew Lucy would never consider working for Hydra in a million years.

"You have to know I wish things were different—," Lucy was cut off by Schmidt and Zola entering the room.

"That will be all Dr. Réhal. It's obvious Dr. Heinrich still refuses to join our ranks. Even when given other motivation to do so." Schmidt said harshly, glaring at Lucy.

Daniel gave her one last look that urged her to reconsider. "Je vais te sortir d'ici, je te le jure." I'll get you out of here, I swear it. Daniel promised as he placed a kiss on her head. Lucy held onto him tightly and breathed him in, the familiarity being too much.

"I'm afraid time is up." Dr. Zola said with a wicked grin, "You responded better than we thought. Although it is unfortunate that you still refuse to comply even when given an out. But no matter! You are still of very much importance to us even if you don't assist Dr. Réhal." Daniel began to leave the room, looking back forlorn at Lucy once more. Every step he took further from Lucy broke his heart, and Bucky could see from her gaze drilling into his back that each step was equally painful for her.

"You okay?" Bucky asked Zola approached with an evil grin.

"No, I'm not." She answered hoarsely, "I'm not okay." She was on the verge of tears again. The last ten minutes had been the most overwhelming moment of her entire life.

"And you're about to be a lot worse." Zola cackled as another guard came in a cuffed Lucy's wrists together.

"I thought I got a day off!" Lucy gasped in devastation, looking back at Bucky. He wanted to seriously hurt someone upon seeing her back in chains. He strained against his own binds, trying to break free upon realizing they were going to continue hurting her.

"Only good girls get days off." Zola replied demeaningly, "You would have been privy to an indefinite time off from torture if you had chosen correctly. Alas, you did not. Therefore the testing will continue."

Upon hearing that Bucky's heart broke once more.


Being a prisoner was awful. Sitting on one's ass until it was sore was awful. Taking orders from the jackass Fritz was awful. Everything, about Dum Dum Dugan's situation was awful.

He hated being in a cage, and he hated that the only friend he had was Gilbert fucking Whiney. Sheesh. The world must have really been coming to an end for that to happen. Of course, he could make friends with the others, but what would be the point of that? He supposed the Candian's weren't too bad. But the English? God awful. The French? Even worse.

Gabe Jones used to be in the same cell but unfortunately was removed to be placed with others. And who the hell even knew if Sarg was still alive? The last time Dum Dum had seen him, he was nearly hacking up a lung a couple of weeks before. Yet, somehow the man still had enough energy to make a smart-ass comment. Dugan respected the hell out of that.

He hoped that if Buck did end up passing away that he at least laid it on them beforehand.

Dugan was lonely, but not in the sense that he had no one to talk to. He had too many people to converse with; the only problem was that they had three collective brain cells shared between the lot of them. And somehow, Whitney had negative brain cells. He supposed it wasn't his fault, though. When you grew up good-looking you didn't have to use your brain.

But if he had to have one more conversation with the man about his conquests, or watch him comb his hair like he was a movie star, Dugan would lose it.

His patience was thinning, and as an ugly guard pushed him back into the cell with the end of his billy club, knocking his hat off. Oh. That did it.

Inhaling deeply and chanting soothing mantras in his head to keep him from strangling the man with his bare hands, Dum Dum only said, "You know, Fritz," Deep breath in, deep breath out. Don't kill him… Yet. "One of these days I'm gonna have a stick of my own." And I'll shove it right up your ass, he thought to himself.

The guard, saying nothing, only closed the cell gate harshly. Once again, Dugan had survived another day of working, only to be returned to the same dismal, dingy cell.

Day in and day out, the routine was always the same.

Almost. This day was particularly odd. Especially when a strange man, donned in red, white, and blue with a patriotic-looking shield attached to his back came into view. He looked like an absolute moron.

But hey, anyone who knocked out a guard and threw him the keys was alright in Dugan's books.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Someone asked the strange man.

"Umm…" He looked a little distracted, trying to see if there were any more guards he had to worry about. "Captain America." He answered finally.

"I beg your pardon?" Flasworth asked, slightly flabbergasted that someone would willingly go as 'Captain America', and do so with pride.

As he unlocked the cells, Dugan stared at a small man, "What? Are we taking everybody?" He didn't particularly like the look of some of them. Especially when they looked an awful lot like the guys they were going to war with.

"I'm from Fresno, Ace." The man replied coolly, showing off his dog tags.

"Is there anybody else?" The man asked desperately and when he mentioned Sergeant James Barnes, Dugan's ears picked up. Flasworth answered before he could speak.

"There's an isolation ward in the factory but no ones ever come back from it." He only replied. Dugan didn't want to tell the man that the chances that Buck was alive were slim as hell.

"All right. The tree line is northwest, 80 yards past the gate. Get out fast and give 'em hell. I'll meet you guys in the clearing with anybody else I find." Jesus, this guy was intense.

"Wait," Dugan called out as he saw the mad man about to run off without any help, "You know what you're doing?"

"Yeah," The star-spangled man let out a confident exhale as he nodded, "I've knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times."

Dugan rose an eyebrow suspiciously as he saw the strange man run off. Looking at Whitney, Dugan asked in surprise, "What the hell did he just say?"

He looked after the costumed man in question, a puzzled look on his disbelieving face. James Falsworth looked at Dugan quizzically, wondering if they should go after the strange man and help him, "Don't look at me!" He exclaimed, "I ain't followin' that whack a-doo!"


Oh, boy! Trouble ahead! Did anyone at all think Daniel would come back? Their reunion was intended to be underwhelming compared to Lucy and Bucky's in the last chapter, but definitely more surprising.

Also, you have NO IDEA how excited I am to start writing Steve on a more regular basis. As much as Bucky is our baby, I know we all love us some good Cap time as well. And Peggy will be having more of a presence too, which I can't wait for because Lucy needs some good female friend time.

Thank you so much for reading, I have the best readers in the entire fandom.

I love you all!

-A

Please don't forget to feed my ego/creativity and let me know what you thought of the chapter through a review! And follow and favourite as well!