Uh... warning for really gross violence up ahead guys. It's really fucked up.

Dean spent days wondering what the hell he should do. He couldn't just accept that his whole purpose for the past three years of his life had gone to waste. If Essie was gone… now what?

What could he possibly do. He was too smart for any normal job, and anything beyond that would abuse his intelligence. SHIELD would have him build some nuclear weapon, and the FBI wouldn't be much different. No matter what happened, he was fucked because he would either be overused or underused.

Perhaps he could become a waiter or a simple computer technician? He could feign being stupid if it meant he'd actually get paid every once in a while. It would at least give him something of a job and he could play dumb. That was, of course, until someone found out who he was.

Dean leaned back in his chair, his converse-adorned feet propped up on the console. His eyes glazed over the destroyed time jumper. Wires were everywhere, sprouting out from all sides of the circle and some still sparking. Panels fell off, revealing different insides and hanging by a few screws.

A frown appeared on Dean's face as he remembered the blood red eyes of Essie and her screams as she vanished through that very same contraption. The Stone reacted with red negative energy when Essie was either using it too much or was under some emotional turmoil. However, Dean highly doubted it was either. It was because she was time traveling— a forbidden art.

He was terrified.

The look on her face… That scream. It was seared into his memories and stopped him from sleeping when he saw how inhuman she looked. It was as if her mouth grew larger, her blood red eyes widener, and the pain only seemed to magnify from there. She sounded like she was screaming loud enough to rip through time itself, when infact time was ripping her.

Dean knew Essie could handle physical pain very well— she was a master at getting destroyed and rebuilding herself. But mentally? That was where Dean became afraid. It was a place he couldn't fix.

There were many times Essie has been in a kind of pain where he couldn't help.

His name was Don Regardo, a mobster in Italy. He was smuggling millions of gold blocks to China in an attempt to restart the opium trade. Essie had stopped him, of course, but not without a price.

"I have a visual," Essie whispered, her finger coming up to press the small device on her ear to communicate with her true eyes back at base. Dean was typing away, glancing up to the large monitors that were zoning in on Essie's location in the Italian Warehouse. He saw the different figures walking along the warehouse floor, armed, and pacing.

"He has 50 men, scattered. I'm zoning in on them now for movement patterns," Dean said aloud, knowing his microphone would capture the message and send it to his partner.

Essie's jaw tightened,"I'm going to get a better look. Regardo's on the phone. Do you think you can trace it?"

"Not a problem. Give me 5."

The agent was up on a high rise, gazing over the ledge and peering down at Don Regardo. The man paced back and fourth, his gold chain swinging around his white, open collared shirt and blank slacks. He wasn't a particularly large man, but he had a bit of a gut. She was hidden away, about 3 stories up, and waiting for the right moment to jump down.

She watched Regardo scream at his men, who Essie found to be rather stumpy. The short stature of his men were rather odd, in fact. Too odd. Why would he get a group of people who wouldn't be as strong as a full sized human. "Dean, I think Regardo got a band of midgets to be his entourage."

"Well, go knock them down. I got a trace on the phone call, Regardo just sent the ship out and it's ironically done old school with he. Apparently, he has a key to the gold and it's only that key that can get to it, so that's your in," Dean informed through the earpiece.

Essie didn't even respond. Her body seemed to act on instinct as she swung her legs over the railing and dropped three floors down, landing as smoothly as a cat on the concrete surface. She immediately stood up, her bright eyes piercing that of Don Regardo. The phone fell from his hand as he whispered,"You're here."

The woman didn't respond, but simply began to analyze the situation. She saw two masked men right behind him, 8 on the second deck to the left and right, as well as a few sniper points she could faintly make out from a tiny reflection of the gear.

"We can make this easy, Donnie, or hard," Agent S explained,"You can give me the key, and you spend time in jail, or I take the key from you. Simple enough?"

The man watched her carefully, before a large, gold-tooth grinned brimmed on his lips. His wide eyes grew manic as roaring laughter escaped his throat,"How about neither!"

Essie sighed. They always did it the hard way. The woman frowned, and sudden flicked her wrists. A blue spark emitted from her shoulders and trickled down to her wrists, where two, large blades appeared. Essie grabbed the handles to her twin blades, swirling them in her grip. She noticed how the soldier's shifted nervously, before she heard a noise she never thought she'd hear.

A cry.

Someone was crying. A child was crying and she couldn't exactly pinpoint where. It was a muffled cry, as if the child couldn't breathe.

Essie's body stiffened. Regard was keeping children nearby when he knew she was coming? He knew there'd be gunfire and yet he kept a kid nearby.

"Where's the kid," Essie demanded, her stance growing more offensive and ready.

"The kid? The kids? The children," Don mused, shaking his head,"What do you think, I run a nursery? No no, I don't own a nursery." His body walked to one of his men, short in stature, and removed the mask. What was standing there was not a midget, but a child. A boy no more than 10, with brown messy hair and bright chocolate orbs. Tears were running down his face as he hiccuped, a gun strapped to his hand an mechanical collar around his neck. "I own a child army."

Essie felt her heart sink down into her chest. Her breathe escaped her lungs and her eyes grew wide. Children. Innocent, beautiful children. Essie's body trembled. Her very bones shook in horror as she stared at that little boy's face, tear-streaked and scared for his life. Her head shifted to glance at all of the masked figures around her and noticed that their legs were shaking every so slightly.

"Let him go. Let them all go," Essie hissed, shooting a glare at Don.

"I would, but you see, they have to do what I say or this little collar on their neck? You see it? It goes boom if they don't," Don chuckled, roughly patting the boy's head,"But of course, there is a trick to it all. A key. There is a single key that will unlock all of their necks."

"I'm going to—"

"Ah ah ah," Don chortled, stopping Essie's words,"You're right. It is the same key as the key to my shipment of gold. But, here is the fun part, Agent S. You have to… find the key. It's hidden somewhere in this building."

Agent S' hand shot up to her ear,"I need a full scan of—"

"Not in the physical building," Don continued,"But… in one of my beautiful, darling soldiers."

The woman froze. She felt horror seize her voice as she stared at him in shock. Her head rocked back and fourth in disbelief as she realized what he was saying. The key was inside of one of the children… probably swallowed by force or something. She highly doubted the kids could tell her who ate the key, and she knew if she killed Don all them could die.

Her eyes grew hazy as a slim layer of wetness broke over her vision. She was able to pull back her tears as she sneered,"You're a monster."

"Says the monster herself," Don fired back, shrugging as he rang his fingers through the small boy's head of hair. "You can either kill a few, find the key, and some make it out alive, or kill them all and lose the cargo ship. Do anything outside of this and everything goes 'poof'."

Before Don could say a another word, Essie dove down onto her hands and whirled her body around. She flicked her heels and two spring loaded cuffs bursted out of her heels and wrapped tightly around Don's feet and hands.

Agent S sneered to the wiggling man,"Don't you dare move."

Her gaze fell on the small boy, and the other unmasked child as well. Her eyes watered as she whispered to the brown haired boy,"I'm going to try to get the collar off of you, okay?"

Slowly, carefully, she approached the small child. He was trembling when she knelt down in front of him and Essie found she was as well. She swallowed thickly as she spoke so slowly,"I'm going to scan the collar."

She raised her finger to her ear and clicked the earpiece. A see-through film appeared in front of her eyes, almost like goggles. On it, she was able to see the intricate details of the collar spread out. Dean was able to work on his side to scan the collar as well to see what he could find. She had her technology rip it apart, only to feel her hands clench tightly into fists.

"You see it, don't you," Don chuckled on the ground, squrming,"Any harm to the collar, or me, would result in them all dying. A full-proof plan! I've have you out-witted yo—"

"Shut your fucking trap!" Agent S hissed, momentarily glaring at the scum on the ground before turning her eyes back to the child.

She didn't even know his name, and yet he stood there so afraid. He didn't know what to do but to cry, sniffle, and let himself stand there in front of the one woman who had the smallest chance of saving him. He could go home to momma and the new baby. He could go hug his daddy who was coming home from the big fights his momma told him about.

"What's your name?" The woman spoke lowly in a broken voice.

"Mikey."

And yet, he didn't know what to do when he saw a gun barrel appear to his head. She was going to make it painless.

"You're going to be an angel, Mikey," Essie cried to him in the gentlest voice, before her finger fell onto the trigger and pulled it back. She caught the body in her hand, dropping the gun to the floor as she cradled the newly dead to her chest. He was still so warm, and his cheeks were still wet from the tears he was crying. Agent S gritted her teeth and hugged him into her body as a blade came up from her wrist. With a cry erupted from her mouth, she dug the blade into his stomach and began to search for the key.

By the time she was on the 4th child, her movements became more mindless. She apologized to the small, blond haired girl with bright green eyes, no older than 10, before whispering that it'd be painless and she'd be an angel. Agent S, with blood dripping down her face and mixing with tears, gritted her teeth and wrinkled her nose as she sent the bullet straight through that little girl's face. Once the child was dead, she more easily sliced open the body and began to dig, ignoring the wet tears continually strolling down her face.

Out of the 50 children soldiers, only 23 survived. She was able to remove the collars with the key, and release the 23 children. The other bunch were shredded to pieces along the cold, hard concrete flood that was stained in blood and soaked organs.

By the time she moved to Don Regardo, he was shaking in his shackles that she actually did it. It wasn't long before Essie's eyes grew red, and then everything… everything became red. Dean had never witnessed a more brutal murder than what Essie did to Don Regardo that night. It was a night that changed her forever.

Dean sighed into his hands, running his fingers along his scalp before he began to type on his keyboard. Out of habit, he did a facial recognition scan to see if anyone took a picture in 1943 that could be Essie and that he'd know she was alive. After a week, he programed the scan to be consistently checking, and when he'd open the program, he'd see if anything came up.

Normally, nothing was there. It was a blank, empty screen with no results.

However, when Dean found himself staring at an old picture of a woman, standing on a Nazi tank in the middle of an Allied base with a beautiful, healthy grin on her face, Dean's body became alive and a large grin swept across his once disappointed expression.

It was Essie. She was alive, and she was fighting.

Essie swept her hair up into a high ponytail. Her bright eyes stared up into the sun as her hands rested on her hips. She had 4 more days to prepare the Commandos for the invasion, and 4 more days to figure out how she was going to sneak out of the armory to a General's tent and steal information on Hitler's location.

Yes, she cared very much to help the Allied powers win the war, and truthfully, she enjoyed getting to know Dum Dum Dugan and how he was half drunk during training, or the skillful nature of Jim Morita. He was fun to teach a blade to since he knew the basics of the Japanese katana. She even had a hell of a time perfecting her English accent with James as she said,'bloody hell' every time he nearly landed a shot. Nearly.

But at the end of the day, her mission was her mission.

Essie was standing by a tent, waiting for a certain someone. Not before long, a woman came out carrying a box and handed it to the woman. "I don't know how you wash that thing," the woman remarked,"But I got it as clean as I know how."

"Thank you," Essie smiled brightly,"I appreciate the effort. I'm sure it's wonderful."

The woman nodded her head and retreated back into the tent.

"Seems everyone is giving you favors," A familiar voice spoke to her that made Essie grin.

Essie whirled around,"Well, Barnes, if only you knew how to charm someone."

Bucky's jaw dropped, a smile playing at his lips. He tightened his jaw and straightened upwards, his eyes flashing with some sort of excitement as he spoke elegantly,"The gentlemen of the Howling Commandos coordinately invite you to join us for supper."

The woman didn't look amused,"I said charming, not a stick up your—"

"Hey, hey," Bucky fought,"It was pretty good."

"Is that how you invite all your girls out?" Essie retorted, shifting up to him before she added,"because I don't think you'd fend well."

Bucky pursed his lips,"And all I was doing was inviting you to dinner."

"If you want to ask me on a date," Essie laughed, placing her hand on his shoulder tenderly as she gazed up at him with overly dramatic,"All you have to do is ask."

A small blush rose up on Bucky's cheek as he shook his head. Words escaped his mouth and when he found his voice he fired,"You really think that's how I'd ask a girl to a dinner date?"

Essie simply shrugged,"Seems like it."

Essie and Bucky, together, began on her way to the Howling Commando's barracks, the place there they often sat together for dinner. Bucky's tongue flickered out to lick his lips as he found himself trailing beside Essie,"I'd take her dancing first before dinner to see if she can have fun. Dinner involves a lot of talking, you know? And if I can't have fun with her then I can't be serious with her too."

The sun began to set in the distance, and there was a soft glow of the orange sky appearing beyond the trees.

"I'd take him to a gun range," Essie murmured.

"You'd take a first date to a gun range and you think I'm not charming," Bucky snickered, shaking his head,"You're never going to find a guy that can handle you."

Essie scoffed,"I can be a very wonderful person, Barnes."

"You don't even consider dancing as a date!" Bucky ran his fingers through his long, brown tangled head.

"It's how I grew up. I think I'd like to go dancing one of these days," Essie spoke aloud, rather distantly. "Back at home, we hardly dance for the fun of dancing itself." After all, dancing in 2015 meant clubbing which in turn, meant grinding on men. It wasn't for the joy of dancing itself… it was more like a mating ritual. It was primal, seductive, and not… fun. 1940's dancing was purely for the joy of dancing itself, a style that has been lost.

"Where is home?"

"New York," Essie replied easily, knowing very well the New York Bucky knew was quite different from her own.

"Ah, the city of dreams. I'm from Brooklyn," Bucky added, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

"Brooklyn," Essie repeated, knowing the place she imagined was far different than Bucky's home. "Mom and dad there?"

"Uh, no. My father," Bucky easily replied, but Essie saw the slight tension run along his jaw. "My father was a soldier at Camp Lehigh back in the states. I'm the oldest of four, and we stay with my mom. She's a beautiful woman."

"She raised you well."

"Yeah?"

Essie smiled,"I'm alive because of you. At least she gave you good judgement."

"What about you? Secret Agent Secret must be able to tell something about her home life," Bucky pestered. Truthfully, he didn't expect an answer.

He didn't expect to hear anything when her voice grew soft and she began talking,"I grew up with two beautiful parents and two sisters. I was the middle. My father was a doctor, and my mother stayed at home. I was always an odd child— I thought too much. My mind was never there but thinking of things grander than in existence. Things grew complicated, and when I became who I am, I had to separate from my family. They think I'm dead now."

Bucky stopped,"Dead?"

Essie did too,"If I didn't, then they could get hurt. They were relocated by the government as a favor and were given new names. They were told they were targeted for a Nazi raid for an undisclosed cause, so they didn't fight it." Essie spoke a little bit of a lie to adjust to the time zone, seeing how her family was under the Witness Protection Act of 1970. Her family was actually told there was a murder attempt on their life.

"Do you know where are they now?"

"Kentucky. I do my secret stuff sometimes and check up on them a few times a year," Essie began to walk again, crossing her arms in front of her body and hugging the box close to her,"They are doing alright."

"Do you miss them?" Bucky asked curiously.

The woman nodded, a slight pained expression flickering across her eyes before they were gone,"I miss them more than anything, but they are safe."

The two walked in silence from there. Bucky didn't know how to respond. He wanted to keep pressing onwards, but he knew she wouldn't reveal anything as to who she really was. Everything she spoke could've been a lie, seeing how she refused to tell Bucky really anything. But something deep in his chest told him he could trust her, and that she wouldn't hurt in the way everyone is expecting her to.

There was a bit more humanity inside her bright blue eyes than she led everyone to believe.

"Guess some people can have the serious talk before dancing," Bucky hummed as they neared the barracks. Bucky grinned as his large hand fell on the top of Essie's brown mop of hair, giving it a small scruff. He used to do this to Steve sometimes as a sign of brotherhood, but for now? It was a thank you. He saw Essie's jaw drop in disbelief and he knew he had to run if he didn't want to get his ass kicked.

I know this was a heavy Essie chapter, but I just wanted to add more depth to her before we continued. One more chapter of pre-invasion, and then bad-assary will occur.

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