"No… night is not here yet... It's too soon for that... normally, we have three meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. In between... when someone's hungry, you can have some snacks... but... why?... didn't you eat three times?" Bucky explained patiently and asked a question that later he believed to be a rather useless one.

"No… no... I got one meal a day and that too, if I …" the woman replied to Bucky, but gulped the condition she was about to share down her throat in horror and shame mixed with disgust.

"I'm not hungry, thank you" The woman suddenly changed her tone from friendly to a cold one.

"Why ?... You need to take care of yourself. You have to eat, you are a nursing mother. If you won't eat, then how will your baby get the nutrients he needs for his proper development?" Bucky sternly declared, blocking the lady's way as she tried to move.

"But I said I'm not hungry, I don't want to eat. What will you do? Force me?" The lady challenged in great horror, tears clouding her eyes .

"No, no, not at all, I will never force you... don't take me wrong... I was just trying to reason with you…" Bucky softened his tone immediately, scared that the lady misunderstood his intentions, " look...I won't let you skip your meals. He was the one who starved you... I won't. I can't, you have a baby, you need to be continuously eating" Bucky added, staring into the lady's pain driven eyes.

"How could you eat once a day when you were pregnant? And that too if … if what?" Wanda asked heartbroken, emphasizing the last word of her question, feeling the pain of this woman who was being fed such a scarce amount of food even while carrying a child in her womb, "that's just criminal".

The woman's heart sank into the depths of her sorrow when she heard the comment, feeling helpless yet blaming herself for something she didn't do. Feeling the guilt of malnourishing her child …specially on those days when she had refused to give in to the abuser's additional demands, lowering her eyes to the ground as she felt utterly miserable.

"Even the doctors said that you and your baby are underfed . The nutritionist has written a whole page of indications on what you should eat in order to overcome it and to be fit enough to feed your child. Hungry or not... you have to eat... for your son's sake " Bucky insisted ,giving a piece of his mind to the stubborn woman, who began to melt when the blue eyed man mentioned her son.

"Come, I've made chicken and mushroom soup. I am sure you will like it" Buck insisted, softly bringing his face a couple of inches closer to the lady.

"Alright, give me 5 minutes, I'll come. But... I can't leave my son here till I eat ?"

"Don't worry, I'll bring your food here."

After the three friends had lunch, Wanda and Natasha left Bucky's place. Even though awkwardly, both strangers went through dinner in a rather separate way after he brought her the food... making way for an even more awkward night.

The brunet had already arranged his blanket and pillow on the sofa in the hall, and was currently staring at the ceiling resting his back on the furniture unable to catch a string of sleep at this time of night. Same was happening to the nameless woman, who was gently tapping her son to sleep amidst this velvety first night in the stranger's house. Even after her son had caught slumber, she continued to tap him, however her eyes were glued to the wooden cupboard of the man. Sadly, despite being given the heavy medicines in hospital, slumber wasn't coming to her… at all. So she thought of taking a tour of this room where she will be staying.

Slowly, she brought herself to her feet and walked over to a framed sketch that caught her attention. When she was standing right in front of it, she could distinguish two women in them. It was Bucky's mother and his sister Rebecca's sketch, that he had drawn because he had no picture of them. As a result, he had sketched it and framed it so he could hang it on the wall . Upon seeing it, an involuntary smile crept into the corners of the lady's lips. But it vanished as soon as a question began bothering her again, as she had tried to dismiss it before... but she realized it was the main culprit that kept her awake at this time of the day. After hesitating for some seconds, she thought of opening the door and seeing if the sergeant was still awake.

Soundlessly, she pushed the door open, and saw that the brunet was indeed sitting on the couch with his head down low, staring at his entwined fingers. Glad to see the man awake, she approached the stranger staring at his back, which was facing her.

"Why?" The woman asked, surprising Bucky and forcing him to roll his head to see who was standing right behind the sofa while he was seated there.

Immediately, he stood up and walked over to the lady, standing in front of her, wearing a puzzled expression on his face.

"What why?" Bucky then wanted to know.

"Why are you letting me stay here? Why did you bring me to your home? What do you want from me in return for this favor?"

" I want nothing from you…absolutely nothing" He replied, calmly to the doubtful woman.

" You paid my medical bills, provided me with a shelter, you gave me the only room in your house, choosing to sleep on the sofa. And you think I won't doubt your intentions?"

" I won't prevent you from doubting me, I understand what you are going through... but I will let the time speak for itself . Then only you will see for yourself that I have no bad intentions"

"But... how...?" the lady insisted, her brow furrowing in deep distress for wanting to know the truth.

"Let 's say... I... I am redeeming whatever I've done in my past" Bucky confessed, not knowing what words to use to state the reasons, as somewhere deep in his heart even he did not know exactly why he had brought her here…the only thing he was sure of was that he couldn't bear this woman being sent to a NGO, that too with a newborn child…away from him.

After speaking these words, the blue eyed man chose to walk back towards his couch and took a seat there, rubbing his face with his flesh hand.

"Redeeming...? What have you done?" The woman asked, slightly scared but in fact… unsure of whether she wanted to know the answer or not...whether she wanted to stay or not?

Notes:

hi guys!!!!!!!!

I really hope that you enjoy this chapter and please , please let me know if this story is causing some curiosity in your minds, and what you think about it ! See you , thanks a lot for eveything!

@Jacquelinelogan922

thank you so much for your comment dear reader! your comments mean a world to me. I have been trying to reply to your reviews, but ended up replying to my own chapters.

yes, she was abducted when she was a child by the villain . She had no access to a proper lifestyle, that is why the scene that I included of her staring herself in the mirror meant so much for this story. Because it was the first time the protagonist saw her face after many many years and saw her grown up face. And a face that carried so much suffering of those lost years.

I hope that you're enjoying the story,much love to you!