2 weeks later
Rebecca was given her own room, and she was starting to settle into the Avengers facility. Wanda and Steve took her shopping to get her some new clothes and basic essentials. She was quite enjoying her time with Wanda, getting to know her. She knew they would become fast friends. She was getting to know the other Avengers as well. Sam was quite friendly with her, almost to the point of flirting, to Steve's discomfort. That was lost on her, but not on Sam.
Rhodey was a little distant at first, but after a few days, he began to warm up to her as well. About the same time, her and Natasha started a daily training schedule. Natasha was testing her, trying to see what she knew, and what could be done to help her. Rebecca liked training with Natasha. It gave her a chance to speak her native language.
Vision, for the most part, was completely distant, but after Wanda explained his past, and for the fact that he was only a few weeks old, she gave him a pass. Watching how he reacted to Wanda, she knew it would only be a matter of time before he warmed up to her as well.
Steve was sitting in a conference room, surrounded by Fury, Hill, and Natasha while Dr. Cho was giving them the information she found out about 'Emma'
"I've been trying to find out how her powers work, with no such luck. I did stumble upon something I thought you should know," Dr. Cho said. "At first I thought her powers changed her DNA temporarily because I noticed super serum markers in the code. I figured she got them from you, Captain Rogers. But after further review of her blood, long after using her powers on Rogers, I noticed the markers still stayed. I thought it might be a permanent result of her powers, but if that was the case, she would have markers from every person she's ever touched, and I've seen, that is not the case."
"Does that mean she's a super soldier? That she has taken the serum?" Fury asked.
"I thought she was pulling her punches training with me, but this…." Natasha added.
"Not exactly," Dr. Cho said answering Fury's question. "With Captain Rogers, he has many of these super serum markers, but with Ms. Jones… her's are only partially there."
"So she's part super soldier?" Hill asked. "Like they couldn't get it right with her?"
"No…" Natasha said, getting it. Cho nodded to her.
"I think one of her parents was a super soldier…" Cho said. Fury's eyes glanced over at Steve.
"Don't look at me, I was frozen when she was born," Steve said.
"But you're not the only Super Soldier out there." Fury said.
"Bucky? No way…" Steve said. "His mind's been controlled."
"Wouldn't put it pass HYDRA to do something like this…" Hill said.
"But there may be more Super Soldiers out there for all we know," Natasha said.
"True, which is why I wanted permission, to run a DNA test. We have a small sample from your run in with the Winter Soldier… see if we can eliminate a possibility." Cho asked.
"Or confirm one. Permission granted. How long will it take?" Fury asked.
"Once I get the sample… a few days," She explained.
Steve found Rebecca in the gym. Something about all this wasn't sitting right with him and he needed to come to the source. He quickly went to the locker room. He got dressed, to work out, in a gray T-shirt and navy workout pants. He left the locker room to find her punching a punching bag, getting her excess energy out. She was dressed in her normal work out clothes, a breathable fabric that covered most of her body, but didn't leave much to the imagination. Steve took a breath before letting it out.
'I can't have these thoughts right now. She might be…'
Steve came up to her, moving to hold the punching bag.
"Thanks… but I am good," She said, moving away from the bag.
"Natasha thinks you're pulling your punches… that you're stronger than you are leading us to believe," Steve told her. Rebecca let out a huff before taking off the boxing gloves she had.
"She is mistaken," She said, moving to take a sip from her water bottle.
"I'm not quite sure she is mistaken. I've never trained with you before, but I have a feeling, I should be the one training you," he explained.
"Why? You like beating up on little girls?" She teased.
"You're no little girl. If you fight with me, you can use your full strength without hurting anyone else," Steve said. She shook her head.
"I have been using my full strength…"
"They ran tests on you, Rebecca. Your blood carries markers, the same markers I have on my blood, the parts that make me a super soldier," he explained. "Why lie about this? Why lie about your name? I just don't get that."
"Because… it is what you do with that information that concerns me. You put it on tablets…. put it in a file. A file that can be obtained… hacked. Taken. Information they can find me with…" She told him.
"So?" Steve said to her shock. "If they know your here and they decide to come for you then we will fight them. No one's gonna make you go back. Or do anything else that you don't want to do but at some point… you're gonna have to trust us," Steve said.
"I trust you, Steve… I just…"
"Then trust in me. Trust that I will look out for you. I have your back. I will make sure you're safe." He said. She looked at him, with tears in her eyes before smiling.
"Okay. I will trust in you."
"Thank you." He said before adding. "Who's Emma?" She sighed.
"My mother's name. Not very original when it comes to aliases. Emma Jones was my mother."
"I have one last question for you."
"Okay… shoot," She said.
"While you were with HYDRA, did you ever come across a man codenamed The Winter Soldier?" He asked, and immediately wished he didn't ask. He watched as the smile and color drained from her face. She started to breathe faster.
"Hey - hey it's ok. You don't have too…" Steve said, moving closer to her, putting his hand on her arms, steadying her.
"No… it is fine… I just… not expecting that question." She explained. She looked him in the eye. "I have only seen him once. And that one time… was scary." She said. Steve looked into her eyes and could tell that was one memory he didn't want to see.
"I'm sorry I brought up the bad memories." He told her.
"It is fine. You did not know," she said. "Did you come to train?" She asked, trying to change the subject.
"Yes, with you, so I can test just how strong you are?"
"I am not that.." She said, trying to deny it again on habit before he threw a punch at her. She caught it on instinct, with her full strength.
"Scheisse," She said cursed German, caught off guard.
"Not bad," He said, before throwing a few more punches that she easily caught. He could have easily overpowered her but he wanted to test her, not hurt her.
"Are you going easy on me?" She asked, after a few more blows.
"I don't want to hurt you," he said, sending a few more punches to her, before she caught his arm, wrapped it around her neck. She went low, taking out his legs before knocking him onto his ass.
"I am not that fragile," she said with a smile. He chuckled and flipped back onto his feet. They threw punches and moves, finally getting a good work out, something Steve hadn't gotten since he became Captain America. It felt good. She started to not hold back. She was almost giving him a run for his money. Almost.
She swung out again, trying to knock him off his feet and he saw it coming this time. He got a hold of her before she could knock him off balance and pinned her to the wall. They were both slightly out of breath from the fight. Their eyes met and before she could stop herself she leaned in, kissing him in a quick, chaste kiss. He looked at her for a moment, a little bit of shock on his face, processing what she just did. His eyes locked with hers, searching for a moment before he leaned back in, kissing her with a more passionate kiss. Once he felt her powers start to drain him, he backed away from her, nearly pressing his forehead to hers, breathing hard.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that," He said.
"Do you trust me?" she asked. He moved away, so he could look her in the eyes. He could see a slight smile on her face, and he smiled back.
"Of course," He said. Her smile widened as her hand went to caress his cheek. She closed her eyes, took a breath before leaning in, kissing him slowly. He leaned into the kiss for a moment, enjoying the feeling of her on his lips. They kissed for what seemed like forever before she pulled away, panting.
"What happened to your powers?" He asked curiously.
"Still there… I was trained to harness them."
"So you can turn them off when you want?"
"Not quite," she said. She quickly pushed against him, with more strength then she had before, and pinned him to the wall. "I still took your powers, just slower. It is hard to do, but it keeps me from draining the person too much. I get a boost and you can still retain your powers," She explained.
"That's gonna be handy… in more ways than one," He said with a flirtatious smile. She let out a small laugh before she pushed off of him, leaving him against the wall. He smiled at her, watching her walk to the locker room, not sure what to make of their new dynamic, and not knowing he was being watched.
The next few days went by in a flash. Steve had gotten a little closer to Rebecca, trying to explore their emerging feelings. They experimented with light touches and a few stolen kisses, in private, both of them enjoying their secret. They talked about her past, about some of the experiments she had participated to strengthen and control her powers.
He talked a little about his past, his own experiments, the war, and then being frozen, leaving out the parts about Bucky. He was able to talk a little about Peggy without it hurting too much. He talked about seeing Peggy recently. About feeling he lost so much time with her.
"But I guess things worked out," He said, his hand entwining with her gloved one. She smiled at him. "Hey what time…" He said looking at a clock. "Darn, I have a meeting," He told her, leaning to kiss her forehead before he got up, leaving her on the couch they had been sitting on. "I'll be back later," He told her. He left her room before heading to the meeting. He saw that Fury and Hill were waiting for him.
"Sorry I'm a little late," he said.
"Got distracted?" Fury asked.
"Just lost track of time, so what's up?" He asked as he sat down.
"Cho got the results of the DNA match," Hill said, looking at a tablet.
"And?" he asked. He looked at her. He didn't like the look on her face. He sighed. "She's Bucky's daughter… isn't she?" He asked. He knew on some level, he was just denying it.
"The test came back with a 92% likely that Rebecca and James Buchanan Barnes were related."
"That explains why he was out of hibernation so long in 1992," Steve said. He had been using the old SHIELD and HYDRA data they had been retrieving over the past year to piece together the Winter Soldiers timeline. He noticed that Bucky was only ever out anywhere between a few days to a few months, except then, where he was out for nearly 7 months.
"Most likely," Fury said, looking at the conflict on Steve's face. "Having second thoughts about making out with your best friends daughter?" Fury asked, getting a shocked look from Steve. "You weren't exactly hiding it," He explained.
"You don't approve?" He asked.
"Not exactly. Truth, I really don't care what goes on between you two as long as it's consensual. But we do have one concern?" Fury said.
"And that is?"
"Your life, when she drains you dry," Hill said. Steve laughed.
"I can understand that. She can control her powers… somewhat?"
"Somewhat?" Fury asked.
"She can touch someone and only slightly take their energy. She said she learned it when HYDRA was exploring her powers. It's hard for her, but she can control it. It doesn't even hurt." He said with a smile.
"And you?" Hill asked.
"Nothing really noticeable so far. She gets a slight power up and I get to keep my powers." He explained.
"That might be useful… having two fully charged super soldiers in the field." Hill speculated.
"Only if Cap is willing to work with her," Fury said, giving his blessing. "She would be your partner. You would need to train her up, make sure she's ready for missions." Steve liked the sound of that.
"I think she's more ready than some of the other recruits," He said honestly. "HYDRA has already trained her. She can fight."
"What about Wanda? If she can absorb someone's powers?" Hill offered. Steve thought about it for a moment.
"I could ask the two of them, but I still may be more suited because of my healing factor," he said, not liking the idea of sharing her. Fury gave him a knowing look.
"No harm in testing that. If it's not good between her and Wanda, then just you. But having a backup with Wanda wouldn't hurt," Fury offered. Steve nodded before leaving the meeting.
Author notes: First little Twist. I hope you liked it. Her name may have given it away though... let's see if anyone knows why.
