AN: There's a new beta in the game now. Aereul's schedule has gotten too busy and a new player has stepped in. YAY.

She wishes to stay anonymous for the time being.

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Chapter 15: Bucky Barnes - Stained Ass Carpet

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No movements. None coming from the road towards the motel.

No familiar faces. None that I could catch on the way here.

No reason to keep the COP .357 clutched between my fingers. But I found myself unable to let go. Still too wound up to leave my perch by the window for more than a few minutes.

I had to be ready for anything.

They will come for me.

Only a matter of time.

Only a matter of time before she would wake.

I could feel this coming to an end. The rather peaceful days of the house now long gone.

Even if this little motel room was likely set up by one of the A.I. ghost's assets. The sheets too clean for the peeling wallpapers. The pile of boxes in the corner sported the same logos as the box that contained the tool to fix the arm.

Likely meant that she had cameras all over this place as well.

No reason for me to keep an eye on the surroundings. She could see far more than I could. Unless it involved SHIELD.

A sharp intake of air sounded behind me and then a muffled scream caught behind clenched teeth. Before the young woman could wake the other motel guests, I turned on the lamp on the night table.

It wasn't the blood curdling screams in the darkness.

Pain.

So clear in her eyes. Her body language.

"You can feel?" I asked in confusion, scrambling through the first aid kit for pain killers.

"No," she breathed out, weakly tugging on my arm. "No drugs."

"You're in pain."

"I'll be okay," she assured. "Eve? What happened to the tingly thing?"

"Might want to wear a certain piece of jewelry so I don't end up electrocuting you," the A.I. ghost said, her voice coming from the phone I left on the table. "Unless you're actually into that sort of thing…. Mr. Barnes, the current's mild and… not… whatever you think it is…."

'Nothing's attached to her head. Not going to scramble her brain,' I tried to reason. Watching her trying to crawl down the bed.

I lifted her hand.

I had the bracelet. The A.I. ghost had been getting me to lend it to her for a minute at a time. To check her status at random intervals.

This time I knew I wasn't getting it back for something time. But I was awake. I shouldn't need waking from a nightmare. Just had to keep my head on my shoulders.

With practiced ease, I slipped it from my wrist to hers.

Almost immediately her muscles began twitching. Her right arm collapsing under her.

"Relax Bucky," she almost laughed out, placing her right hand on the metal arm. The hand wrapped up in a thin metal cast. "Now our hands kind of match."

Both were involuntarily twitching.

"…'Kay. Cutting back on the jokes, and you can stop worrying. The pain's at a more manageable level. It's mostly pins and needles, so kind of ticklish? What about you? Injuries?"

I shook my head, backing away from her fingers ghosting over my left cheek. "I'm functional."

"…Anything broken? Cuts? Bullet holes? Need stitches?" Her hand going for her glasses, which I plucked out of her fingers.

Unable to handle those pale gray eyes staring up at me, I moved to the chair by the window.

"…Did you at least treat them…?"

'No movements.' Not even a car.

"…Bucky…?"

"…What do you last remember?"

"Uhh… freaking the fuck out in the dark? What's that got to do with you treating your wounds or not?"

"I should be the least of your concerns. You should be scared of me."

"What would I – …I'm so lost, Bucky."

"I attacked you!" I snapped.

"Oh…. That…. Eh," she shrugged. "Probably easier to have just shot me a couple of times with the knockout darts? Pretty sure most these injuries was from me fucking around before the crash…?"

"Can you take this seriously for once?!" I demanded, facing her.

Not even a flinch as she stared right back. But her body language changed. Shifting to rest her head against a propped up arm. Fingers threading through those long locks. Ignoring the strands of hair caught in the joints of the metal cast.

"Was I scared? Yeah. The dark kind of does that to me…. Being pinned down did nothing to help. But I know that screaming isn't the best hiding tactic, and Hydra really fucking terrifies you. In that situation, probably wouldn't even blame you if you snapped my neck. Would suck though."

I could only hope that it'd never get to that point. That her blood wouldn't be added to the already long list.

"I wasn't kidding about believing that you don't want to hurt people, Bucky. I see how hard you're trying. Saw it that night a month ago. Even saw it with the Hydra agents…. Of all the people you'd give your mercy to… you try with them. You're a better person than I ever could be. Have a little faith in yourself. The only person I've seen you try to hurt is yourse – …Oh shit. Did you…?"

"No," I sighed, glancing back out the window. Avoiding the panicked gaze and then the relieved grin. "There has to be some line."

'Before you stop forgiving….'

Easy enough to spot her soft smile in the reflection.

"Hurt me knowingly of your own free will. That's my line. Not just physical pain. If you make fun of my sixth toe, I'm going to be so heartbroken."

My eyes fell shut at the rush of relief. The tension falling away from my shoulders. I hadn't destroyed this. Somehow I hadn't manage to destroy what we had with my own two hands.

'But I'm bound to kil – Is she…?'

The COP .357 muzzle found its way back into its holster. My hands found their way to my face, covering my eyes. My forehead leaned against the cool window frame.

"Hey, Bucky?"

"I don't see anything," I sputtered out. Trying to curl into myself.

"How did you get the cast around my ribs?"

"I didn't see anything. She said to tuck it under your shirt and she'd take care of everything."

"Oh…. Thanks. Mind lending me a hand?"

"…Are you finished changing?"

Laughter echoed to my ears. "I can change without flashing people, Bucky, but I'm done."

A sigh escaped me and my eyes wandered back over to her. "Rest. You need it, Valeriy."

"Rest is for the dead," she waved off my words, crawling for the boxes again. The bloody clothes in favor of her usual big T-shirt and much too short shorts.

With a few steps, I blocked her way. A hand itching to reach out to her. To stop her movements. Bundle her back under the blankets. But I could just as easily hurt her. "Rest."

"Rest is for the dead."

Her nose wrinkled in distaste at the notion of staying tucked in bed.

"Got better things to do. Like removing a GPS from another bracelet. There should be one or two in one of the boxes."

"Inside the smallest one."

With a frown, I plucked the box off the pile and settled on the foot of the bed. The Gerber twirled between my fingers, before slicing through the tape. Inside were four of the same bracelets and a very familiar purple toolbox with a dented corner.

Things from the house were sitting in the motel room before we arrived….

I almost jumped when Valeriy's arm brushed past me, tossing a bracelet over her shoulder before digging around in the toolbox.

"So… I'd prefer it if you held the bracelet for me? My right hand's a little too dumb for fine work at the moment. Don't really want to waste time crawling on that stained ass carpet looking for a screw or something."

With a nod, I picked up the bracelet, holding it steady at the height she usually liked to work at. Her knee popped up to support my hand and I couldn't help but shrink away.

"Relax, Bucky." Her fingers closed around mine, pulling to rest my hand on her knee again. "My head's screwed on my shoulders well enough to not bite you."

"That's not – …I don't…. I…."

Valeriy merely smiled. Getting right down to using the tweezers as a screwdriver. Fingers spinning the tool with ease.

A little bite was nothing to be afraid of. Not in comparison to what I could do to her. What I've done. A little bite had nothing on the torture.

"They'll never stop…" I tried when she handed me a tiny little chip, two millimetres long, to crush between metal fingers.

"Probably?"

"It's not just Hydra."

"Everybody who's anybody is looking for you, Mr. Barnes."

"Though, I'm pretty sure I'd be okay if Coulson had gotten ahold of me," Valeriy noted lightly, struggling to keep the screw in its hole long enough to turn it into place.

"SHIELD is Hydra," I stated.

"Not entirely? Coulson's a good person. I could have probably been able to talk my way out…? We used to get along…. Didn't exactly give him the help he wanted when he came to me post death, but I did point him to someone else who could help? Definitely didn't win any points with the whole poisoning his agents thing…. I guess so long as Fury doesn't pop up, I should be okay?"

"Fury?" I repeated. The name so familiar. "He had a… an eyepatch? I think… I think I killed him."

A huffing laugh fell through her lips as her head bounced in a nod. "I doubt he'd stay dead?"

"I shot him in the lung. With a real bullet. Not darts."

"Still pretty sure he's alive somehow. Especially with Coulson being rather spry for a dead guy."

"What does that even mean?"

"A couple years ago, Coulson was stabbed through the… uhh…. It's the torso area…?" she said, right hand gesturing to where a lung should be.

"File you found says the heart."

"Not something one just shrugs off, so the guy had to be straight up dead at one point or another. I highly doubt they could get him medical attention right away either. Not with Loki, the Norse…."

'…They can bring people back to life…?'

"…You know what? There's probably files with what they actually did. Has to be with that bastard F…."

'…There's no escaping, is there…?'

"…well deleted when Hydra decided to reveal themselves. His little hacker girl's rather talented, I must admit. I didn't manage to gather as much as I'd like off their servers with our little intera…."

'…I can't even die….'

"…son got a hold of you, not sure where you'd end up. He's obsessed with a certain blond icon but Fury is? Was? His director. That bastard would probably hole you up at some black site beyond Eve's reach and I wouldn't doubt that he would tor…."

'…They'll bring me back….'

"…levels are making me uneasy…."

'…Have I…?'

"…Oh shit shit shit shit shit…."

'…I should….'

"…Nothing's going to happen to you. You've got us…."

'…I should…?'

"…I got you, Bucky…."

'….I need to go back to – Carpet?!'

Right in my face. A head of dark hair at the edge of my periphery. A warm pressure against my chest.

Scrambling off of the back I was draped over, I barely managed to stop myself from sending a foot at those pale gray eyes when a hand grabbed my leg.

"Shhhh…. There, there. You're safe. You're uhhh… Do you want to go for a walk outside?"

"What the hell happened…?" I asked, taking in my surroundings.

The dingy motel room. The peeling green and orange flowered wallpaper. The stained carpet we sat upon.

"No idea. You kind of just… zoned out…? And lost all the color in your face…. So I thought I'd take you outside? Maybe it'd ground you a bit? Eve said there's no one around…."

"…Were you…?"

Shuffling on her hands and knees. My body draped over her back.

"Were you trying to carry me outside?"

"Uhhh… y-yes…?" she half winced out, as if she knew where this was going.

Stuffing down my irritation the best I could, I moved to return her back on the bed. Only to freeze midway. So easy to break something already broken.

Those big gray eyes staring up at me. I could see the uncertainty in them. The little bit of panic left over. The bit of sweat on her forehead. I could only hope it was due to exertion, but pain had to be a factor.

She shouldn't even be using her right hand. But it reached out to me, along with the other. Even weaving her fingers with the metal ones. A comforting smile, pulling at her lips.

"You're not going to hurt me, Bucky," Valeriy insisted. Confidence so clear in her voice.

I still found myself pulling away. Those fingers so easy to crush. Just a little misuse of strength.

"Bucky…?"

"You shouldn't be on your legs with that ankle. You shouldn't be crawling around on that hand," I told her, deciding to lift her off the floor with two hands on her hips. "Least of all trying to carry me with those ribs. Hairline fractures…. Your bones look like they've got spider webs on them…."

But Valeriy shrugged as I set her on the bed. "To be expected. Broke a bunch of bones a bunch of times."

Again, I found myself unsure if I wanted to know why.

Was it abuse? Was it from the kidnappings?

I didn't like any of the scenarios that drifted through my head.

But the smile she sported made even less sense. "Was a super dumb kid?"

As if that explained everything.

"Fell, a lot. From really high places…. And probably not recommended to be running around labs with all the heavy equipment. Oh and there's this horse… kind of… trampled on me once…. Loads of dumb things. Heh."

"I tried to stop what I could…. I really did. I did my best…. Doesn't help that those casts lets her move around so easily. Could only hope she'd calm down as a teenager. Nope."

"Hahaha, yeah. I remember being able to hop back onto the bike the day after an accident."

"Only to crash into another tree, you dumb idiot."

"There's a lot of trees on the mountain."

'My head hurts….'

She's as much a danger to herself as anybody else.

"But yeah, these metal thingies are great."

Her fingers tapping the thin cast on her right hand.

"Eve uses metal pins to move the bones back into place like puzzle pieces and keep them there. The electricity stimulates healing or something? Gramps made them so we don't grow up with stupidly messed up bone structures with how often we broke them… probably. Good save for fancy ass parties where we have to look per – "

"Your grandfather…. I have…."

There was something there. There had to be with the way her posture shifted back just the slightest.

"…There's a history there," I stated.

Valeriy tensed up completely. Then a heavy sigh passed between us. She held up a finger and grabbed her phone. Jerking back when the screen lit up.

"The fuck did the day go? Don't tell me I slept an entire day. Shit."

Her eyes glancing back to the pile of boxes. Her fingers typing rapidly across the screen.

"You don't have time for this bullshit, Val."

"You're the one who made this bed, lie in it, Eve," spoken with such irritation that my stomach twisted. "I am. So don't make me mute you as well."

She lifted the bottom of the phone to her lips. Clearing her throat.

"This is Valeriy Ayers. Confirmation through D.N.A. and voice."

"Don't do anything you'll regret, Val. You have until six A.M. to get everything ready."

"I blew out her ears in this room. Rather not have her interrupting with her assumptions."

The phone slipped from between her fingers, bouncing onto the bed. Her other hand ran through her hair. Ripping right through the strands that got caught between the metal joints of the cast. Clearly irritated.

"She didn't tell me anything," I pointed out. "I found out on my own."

"Yes, but she's been the one shifting and filtering information so you wouldn't find this out. Especially if it took you this long…. I didn't put her up to it. Just assumed you weren't looking into it…. Eve did it mostly out of protection for me… I think?"

"She believes I'd react badly… and hurt you."

"Or that you'd book it far too early? I highly doubt you'd actually hurt me."

And that's when it hit me.

"…She no longer believes you're safe around me."

"That'd be my guess going off of her line of actions and the timing of them… but all things considered, pretty sure I'm still safest with you around."

"I'm not him. I'm not that her – "

"Shit. I hope I haven't made you feel like you had to be…" she lamented. Head dropping into her hands. "Absolutely suffocating pretending to be someone you're not. Been trying to avoid comparing you with the stories I grew up with. I know they're likely exaggerated. That they'll never be the whole picture…."

"…Why didn't you tell me?"

"…I had no idea how to tell you," her voice so small. "Still don't…. I knew I was digging myself into a deeper hole the more time passed. Dreading the day you'd ask. I'm terrified that this will blow up in my face…. You're my frie – "

"You know more about me than I do, don't you? Was everything a lie?"

The words tumbling out of my mouth, leaving a bitter taste in their wake. My gut twisting and flopping at the physical flinch to her small frame. Tears lining the edge of those distraught eyes.

"I have no idea if I know more about you than you do… and I don't want to make you feel like you had to live up to some past image of you. I need to be better about that. But I can admit to omitting parts and things you don't directly ask about, and I always will. But not to hurt you. Not intentionally. There are things I can't speak of. But I haven't lied to y – "

"The kidnapping's a lie, when you were eight. All the news reports said that you wandered off on your own."

"Damn it, Eve!"

Just about ready to pull out her hair.

"I was forced into lying to the police and media. A kidnapping would look far worse on the family than a careless mistake on my part and the ones watching over me."

Her words spoken monotonously until they would waver and break.

"My friends, my bodyguards, were executed for being in the way…. They weren't even conscious after the crash... Everything was covered up…. I don't know if Eve let you see the pictures, but getting lost in the city doesn't involve being found with an ear half dangling…. You saw the scar…. Though we did try to bury the stories and pictures. People's memories are out of Eve's realm of control…."

A huff blew out her nose. Her eyes fell shut. With each ticking second, her shoulders sagged more and more.

"…You don't have to believe me. I won't make you stay either. But stay long enough for us to get you across the border. SHIELD would be watching everything in and out of the states. Hydra's probably has a similar playbook and more resources from the looks of it? Moving people unnoticed is something we've gotten extremely good at. So let me at least do that."

I couldn't help but look away. Towards the door. To the light between the blinds and window frame of a car passing by. Unable to wrap my head around as to what her agenda could be. What were her motives for keeping away me from Hydra? What could she gain from that?

"You're my friend, Bucky. You were my friend before I knew you were Bucky Barnes or the Winter Soldier. No way in hell could I recognise you under all the clothing and that beard…. You're my friend since the days we sat on a bench eating sandwiches…."

All I saw was her back walking away. I couldn't reach out in time. Not before the door fell shut. A click of the lock separated us. Running water muffled a choked sob.

Left in the middle of the room, I settled back on the chair I had moved to the window. Unable to clear that broken voice from my mind. Feeling what's left of whatever it was that we had crumble at my own finger tips.

Bits and pieces that couldn't fit back together again.

The door out was only a mere three steps away from me.

I wanted to run. Run away from everything. From all this.

I wanted to punch something. Feel it collapse. Cave in. Break.

I wanted to scream. Yell out everything festering inside. Rotting away at my sanity.

Instead, I plucked my notebook off the night table. Flipping through pages and pages of Cyrillic text. Little bits of English managing to show up once in awhile. Taking pen to paper.

Curious gray eyes stared up at me.

Barbeque sauce and coleslaw ghosted over my tongue.

Happy laughter rung at my ears.

Freshly baked cookies filled my nose.

Gentle fingers combed through my hair.

"Friends…."

Looking back on it all… she had my six….

My muscles jumped at the turn of the bathroom lock. Steam rolled into the room as Valeriy silently limped her way to the boxes. Fingers picking at the tape of one of the medium sized boxes. Her hair still dripping with water.

Her back faced me. Purposefully moved so she wouldn't have to see anything that wasn't the corner or the boxes. Nothing was relaxed about her posture. As if bracing for a physical hit. Every movement so controlled compared to how she usually was.

The sound of tape tearing the cardboard grated on my nerves. Too loud in the suffocating silence between us.

That was until a pained gasp had her doubled over. The boxes supporting her and they were slipping from their neat stack in her attempt to keep upright.

Rushing to her, I wrapped my arm around her waist and carried her to the bed. Hopefully, she'd stay on it this time. She shouldn't be on her feet.

As she curled into a tight ball, hugging those broken ribs, waves rippling on her right arm from contracting muscles. Toes of her left foot likely dancing with the pulses of electricity.

I quickly picked up the painkillers again, holding them out to her with a bottle of water.

Stubbornly, she shook her head, pushing them away. Curling into a tighter ball. Focusing on slowing her breathing.

"You're in pain."

A breath of relief escaped me when she took hold of the bottle. That was until she hurled it across the room. It didn't get far with how weak she was.

"Val – "

"Just ignore me," she snapped.

But I couldn't.

And at the same time, I couldn't cross the rift between us.

Bloodshot eyes gave me a glance before she forced herself to sit up with a heavy sigh.

"…I was an addict. I can't trust myself as an addict. I'm not going to risk it. Withdrawal is a pain in the ass. Been in worse shape. I can handle this much. Eve was just shifting something back into place…."

"What about using the stuff you used to numb yourself with?"

"That becomes permanent after a while. I love my sense of touch far too much for that."

Never once making eye contact. Her hair getting caught between the metal joints of her cast again.

I found my hand catching hers, carefully trying to untangle the strands of hair.

"Umm thanks…?"

The smile lacking the warmth it once held. A deep breath drew into her lungs.

"…Eve's still deaf to us…," she stated. "What do you want to know about the stories? Actually what did she show you?"

"Came across one of your buildings."

"Oh… the Swiss H.Q….. Yeah, your face is all over that one…. Gramps seriously loves you. I swear we see your face more than his…. It's how Amber recognised you? We didn't learn about you guys in school since we weren't States' side."

"Who was I…."

Shifting uncomfortably, I tried to settle on the other bed in the room. Get a bit of distance.

"…Who was I to your grandfather?"

"He was a kid you saved in the war? And umm… you taught him how to convert between metric and imperial? He won't admit it but I'm pretty sure you're the one behind Gramps nabbing Marshmallow? I mean my grandmother… when they were kids. It was only ever each other for them."

"I don't remember any of this…."

"A lot was happening for you at that time…? Between the war and all the stuff the Howling Commandos were up to, meeting Gramps probably didn't change anything for you… unlike for him.

"You… sort of became a weird addition to my family? Father hates you for how much of Gramps' attention you took. Though those two rarely communicate with each other anyways…. Even my brother and I aren't entirely sure who Gramps loves more. Us, or you and the Captain…. Gramps… he's still looking for you… in what turns out to be the completely wrong spot."

"Still? Doesn't he know I'm with you? Didn't either of you tell him?"

"I will skin anyone who tells him where you are if you aren't in the room next to his. Not sure about Eve. She's a bit lacking in the skin department…. When it comes to you, Gramps becomes damn stupid. He's disappeared on us before. Found him stripped down to his underwear in late stage hypothermia, and he was still digging in the snow."

'That's probably who she got her recklessness from….'

"All 'cause some blithering idiot let slip to Gramps that we found…."

"Found what?"

"…A bone in your left pinky…?"

My stomach dropped at the words.

"Kind of collected most of your bottom left arm actually…. Still currently combing the Alps. He's never going to stop until you're brought home and laid to rest next to your parents and sisters…."

"They're all dead," I realized. Air leaving me like a punch to the gut.

With no words she confirmed with a single nod. Hair bouncing with the motion.

"…I don't even know their names…. I can't remember them. No matter how I tried…. There's only flashes of faces… of dresses…."

"…I… I know them…. Their names, I mean… and maybe a little about what they've done…? After the war…? I won't say anything unless you ask. I don't know if you want to remember them on your own or not…."

"Do you have a picture of them?"

Maybe that could jog loose a memory.

"…Sorry…." Her head shaking. "They're all in a chamber deep inside Gramps' vault. To preserve everything the best we can. I've only been in there a couple of times and wasn't allowed to touch a thing…. He doesn't use any of the private pictures for display…. I can try to figure out some way to get an image of them to you? Somehow…. Might take a long time…. Sorry."

"…Who were they?"

I needed to know something. Maybe I could remember a flash while she talked.

"Umm… Your father, George, was a wooden toy maker, and your mother, Kathleen, she was mostly a house wife. Rebecca, the oldest of your sisters, she became an artist. Donates a lot of the profit to various charities. Gramps bought a lot of her works. Currently has me trying to track down all of it for when the owners don't want it anymore? She's the one who made the statue of you outside of the Swiss H.Q."

"She made it…. She always wanted to be… always wanted to be…?"

The thought leaving me before the words could. Along with a flash of swirling bright colors.

She picked up her phone, tapping and swiping the screen.

"Was what the little bio thingy she wrote said? The way she talked about art… the world must have been so beautiful in her eyes…. Fuck Eve, why are you being such a little bitch? I'll pull up her bio and what pictures I have of her works when Eve's being a little more cooperative…. Sorry."

I shook my head. I could understand why the A.I. ghost was trying to hide it. She wasn't here to give me answers. Her main objective was Valeriy's safety, which was hard enough with her recklessness.

"Ummm… the Ayers Corp logo's her design too? The mostly there star thing," she added, taking two fingers on each hand and overlapping the two Vs into four strokes of a star.

That was never on the boxes. But they were on almost everything else of hers. All her tools. The ear buds. The bracelets. Though the revolver didn't seem to carry the marking.

A marking my sister created.

"…I have… I have…? Two other… little? Two other little sisters?"

"Mhmm. Bonnie and Irene. Bonnie, the second sister, was most known for her protest work against the Vietnam War. And Irene, the youngest, helped found Doctors without Borders. Turned down all of Gramps' invites to spend the holidays with us. She spent all her time looking after people. When she wasn't, she was smuggling supplies wherever she could. By far probably the most badass person I've ever met."

"…You've met her?"

"Yup. By the time I met her, Auntie Irene was mostly focused on getting supplies to where they're needed. Went on a couple of runs with her for spring break? Nothing phased her. Serious nerves of steel. She didn't blink at gunfire nor elephants."

"Gunfire and elephants…" I repeated blankly.

"Warlords and rampaging elephant in musth? He kind of… had at it with the truck…? And for an old lady in her eighties, she had better stamina than I did, when I was fit… fitter…?"

"Oh…"

Whatever that meant.

'I need a break.'

Too many emotions for me to make sense of.

Torn between wanting to bounce off the walls and burying myself in a deep dark hole.

But one thing was clear. The difference between them and what I've become. It's almost crushing.

"…I'm nothing like them."

"Pretty sure they followed you. Their inspiration."

"I'm no hero… not like them."

"To them you were."

"…What about you? Your childhood image of me must be shattered," I muttered bitterly.

"Actually, quite the opposite?" she offered lightly.

I huffed in disbelief.

"Just hear me out for a moment? When you have every excuse to be an angry man-child screaming at the world like it owes you something, you don't. You could have spent your days curled up in a closet, but you aren't. You've got a seriously good reason to go on some revenge rampage, but you rather not hurt people. And while you're trying to find your way through the shittiest situation, you still have it in you to be saving kids from abuse and girls from kidnappers.

"That's who you've been the last couple of months. You're amazing as you are, Bucky. No wonder they love you so much. Even the me, half scared out of my mind, could see it and got motivated enough crawl out of the damn closet. If only you see what so many others do."

With a smile that still didn't quite feel like hers, she got onto her feet again, and again, headed for the pile of boxes.

Plucking my notebook from the chair by the window, I cracked it open. Pen in hand. Quickly scribbling the information about my family. Names and –

"Bucky?"

A bright peach piece of fabric fluttered from the corner of my eye. Likely a thin dress. Horrible for blending in.

– facts. Every bit of infor –

"What's your thoughts on crossdressing?"

"What?"

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.**.

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AN: I see Bucky's head whipping up like O.O with the last line.