Author's note: This is going to be a Bucky x OC fic set loosely sometime after the events of Endgame and Loki, but WandaVision and Falcon and Winter soldier didn't happen so some spoilers possible quite immediately if you're not caught up, slightly AU though and I may not follow that storyline exactly. Rated M for violence, and romance. This one is gonna be a little dark though at first, you've been warned. Because I love the characters though we're gonna say alternate timeline Loki is aware of his other life and found Thor in the present timeline, Captain America got his happy ending but on his second go around only aged like 10 years because of his super solider serum so is still active just slowing down a bit with age, and Black Widow came back when they returned the soul stone. We're also going to say that before returning the Mind Stone to the proper place in the timeline they used it to bring Vision back and then rewire his brain to function without it but he's more or less just a smart human now, (fairly) happy endings all around! Except Iron man, that one was necessary. Trigger warning: Suicide attempt and SA.

Chapter 1: Captive

"This just in," the newscaster announced, touching his earpiece, "We've just received word that the Sokovia accords have been officially repealed, allowing superheroes to once again operate to their own discretion. This comes on the heels of recent legislation change turning over control and sole access of the global enhanced individuals registry to the Avengers organization. According to a recent statement from Pepper Stark, the new CEO of the organization following the death of her husband, the late Tony Stark, better know by his alias Iron Man, this registry will be maintained for intelligence purposes, and is in the process of being updated. The number of powered individuals known to the community has been on the rise since The Great Return, with many blaming the enhanced community still for the events of the 5 years that is being called "The Blip". Violence against enhanced individuals is also on the rise, and the growing hope is that privatizing the registry will protect the members of our community affected by these growing prejudices, publicizing only those who might pose a threat to the general public."

"Alongside this new push for registration," the newscaster continued, "The Avengers organization has announced a new hotline for reporting powered individuals in the community to be added to the registry, the number, shown below on your screens, is meant for reporting dangerous activity for those you know to be registered, as well as reporting powered individuals you believe to be unregistered."

"Turn that shit off," Bucky scoffed, rolling his eyes while taking a sip of his beer. "I don't know what Pepper was thinking, all this is going to do is start a witch hunt."

"You say that," said Sam, picking up the remote and pressing the power button, "but I heard she's putting you on registry detail. Something about 'not wanting people to feel ostracized' and you 'understanding the unique perspective of being demonized before ever being given a chance'."

At that Bucky rolled his eyes even more. "Of course she'd have to try to be all noble about it," he said, pushing up from his chair and walking to the kitchen in the new Avengers compound, tossing his now empty beer bottle in the recycling before grabbing another one out of the fridge and popping the cap with his metal hand. "I still don't agree with it though," he said, sinking back into his spot on the couch.

"You don't have to like it," said Pepper, breezing into the room without looking up from her tablet screen. "As long as you follow through. I'm glad we over-staffed the hotline call center, five minutes since the announcement and we're at 200 calls and counting, get ready to have a busy schedule Barnes." she declared, before getting into the elevator to get up to the helipad to head back to the city.

"Well that's just… great." Bucky said exasperatedly, scrubbing his hand across his face.

The next three months had Bucky running more missions than he had for the rest of his time with the Avengers combined. Everyone and their brother had been calling into the hotline, convinced that everyone around them was a powered individual.

Bucky flipped through the stack of reports for this week's people of interest frustratedly.

"My neighbor's tomato garden is taller than I am!" one had said, "I'm sure she's got some kind of plant growing powers she's using on them."

"My nephew is a vampire, he is only awake at night and shrieks every time we turn the lights on." said another.

Bucky rolled his eyes, for all the thousands of reports they'd received in the last few months, only three had turned out to actually be powered individuals.

He rifled through the papers until one caught his eye, a report of a mid-twenties to early thirties girl working at the docks who appeared to have super strength. He looked at the attached photo that had been sent with the report, clearly taken from behind, showing a petite girl with loose blonde curls pinned up behind her head. She was thin, but not completely waifish, with some obvious muscle tone showing through her long sleeve shirt, rolled up to the elbows, out of place in the July heatwave. Her long, slim fitting pants revealed curvy, muscular legs, but what gave him pause was that she appeared to be lifting a 50 gallon steel drum in each hand with relative ease.

"I think we've got one," he told Sam, who was sitting across the table from him flipping through a similar stack of reports. Bucky slid the photo across the table to Sam, whose eyes widened a bit at the sight.

"I'd say so," he said, "that's gotta be, what, 800 lbs?" he asked incredulously.

"Give or take," said Bucky, getting up from the table. "This one's not far either," he said passing over the report, "we can get this one knocked out today," he announced as he filed out of the room to grab his gear.

"I guess I'll suit up then," Sam said jumping up and heading towards the armory where his wings and suit were stored.

A couple hours later, Bucky and Sam found themselves at the docks, Sam on a nearby rooftop keeping watch and Bucky tucked in a small alleyway between a couple of warehouses. Just then the woman they'd come there for came around the corner, carrying a steel drum over one shoulder and dragging a small boat motor on a wheeled platform.

Bucky watched carefully trying to verify that she was indeed powered. She turned to set down the steel drum and that's when he heard it, the telltale *thunk* noise that said the barrel was indeed full. "I've got this, I'm going in, hang back," he said through the comm line before heading out from between the buildings warily. At this point there was no reason to believe she was dangerous, none of the other powered individuals they'd encountered had been, but he was still understandably wary.

"Excuse me, Miss?" he called out, "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

She turned around, deep blue eyes meeting his and he noted a frisson of fear appeared to cross her features for just a moment before she abruptly turned on her heel and sprinted off in the opposite direction at an alarming pace.

Bucky chased after her, surprised at just how fast she was running, "Wait," he yelled after her, "I just need to talk to you!"

She dipped deftly between the various pallets and storage containers littering the walkway, glancing briefly over her shoulder every now and then to see if she was still being followed. Bucky was struggling to keep up, clearly she was fast, but he saw his opportunity coming up and dipped between two shipping containers, jumping over some stacked barrels and through another alleyway before jumping out, cutting her off and cornering her. "I just need to talk to you," he said again, putting his hands up in a placating gesture.

"I won't let you take me back there," she screamed, the abject terror clear on her face before she reached forward, and before Bucky could react she had grabbed the gun from his hip and was aiming it at her head.

Bucky quickly reached out, covering the end of the gun with his vibranium hand as the shot she intended for her own skull rang out. As soon as she noticed the bullet hadn't met it's mark, she screamed in frustration and punched him in the stomach. Bucky went soaring backwards and bashed into the shipping container behind him, leaving a sizeable dent in it. Winded and a bit out of breath, he groaned through the comms "A little help here Sam?"

"What happened to you've got this?" Sam asked with a hint of humor in his voice as he jumped from the roof, taking off towards the chaos below. "On route to your location." he stated, sending out his redwing to track her progress as she again ran off, this time jumping upwards and running across the tops of the shipping containers.

Bucky quickly recovered and followed suit, chasing after her again. Sam, sure his position had not yet been given away, ducked down and flew between the containers, popping up on the other side, effectively pinning her between him and Bucky. She leapt at him, screaming, but just as she was about to connect, Bucky caught her arm and spun her back around to him, catching her in his arms and wrapping her in tightly. "Now, Sam!" he shouted and Sam plunged a syringe of sedative into her neck.

She still struggled against Bucky's grip and Sam's eyes widened. "Oh shit," he said, grabbing a second dose and then a third before she finally succumbed and crumpled in Bucky's arms. "What the hell are we supposed to do with her now?" asked Sam a bit incredulously.

"We take her back with us," said Bucky, swinging one arm under her legs and lifting her bridal style before jumping down from the roof and heading back towards where they'd parked their cloaked quinjet.

Hours later, they were back at headquarters, the mysterious girl had been secured into a containment pod similar to the one Bucky had been put into a few years back after the explosion that had killed King T'Chaka.

Bucky and Sam sat off in the security office at headquarters, Bruce, Pepper, and Wanda had been called in as soon as the situation had turned south and they'd taken her in, and one by one they filed into the room to be briefed on the issue they now faced.

"She tried to kill herself," Bucky defended, "Clearly she's just scared."

"Yeah, right before she knocked you into next week," Sam scoffed.

Bucky watched her carefully through the monitors. There was something familiar about her, the curve of her cheek, the curl of her hair delicately pulled back from her face, he couldn't place it though. He was sure though that if he'd seen and old Hollywood beauty such as herself he would remember. What he could place, however, was the rising panic in her eyes as she struggled against her restraints. He'd known that particular fear, felt every bit the caged animal she now appeared to be.

"Clearly there's something going on," Bruce said, "You said, she screamed 'I won't let you take me back there.' Where exactly do you suppose 'there' is. Could she have recognized you from your HYDRA days?"

"It's very possible," Bucky admitted, moving closer to the monitor and scrutinizing her closely. "She looks so familiar, I just can't place her. I've learned most people that look familiar, however, are usually from HYDRA. Do we have the Polygraph built into that restraint system?" he asked, still trying to place exactly where he'd seen her before.

"We do, yeah, those aren't 100% accurate though," Pepper admitted, "And generally less so if we think HYDRA may be involved, most of their assets have gone through some form of training to beat a polygraph test."

"They can't beat me though," said Wanda, "I can just walk though her mind and make sure she is telling the truth."

"Let me talk to her first," said Bucky, turning from the monitors. "There's just something I can't quite place about her."

"You've got 20 minutes, then we send in Wanda," Pepper declared.

Bucky nodded and took a deep breath, steeling himself for any HYDRA related revelations he was about to face.

He approached the secure room she was being held in carefully, punching in the code to open the outer doors.

He stepped into the room with both hands raised, slowly, as if he were approaching a wild animal, containment pod or not.

As soon as she saw him she began thrashing against her restraints. "Please, no. Please, just let me go. I was free, I got free." she wailed, half hysterical at this point.

"Hey, hey, I mean you no harm, doll." Bucky stated quietly. "The containment pod is for your protection as much as it is mine, I can't have you harming that pretty face of yours like you tried to back at the docks."

"You'd hate that wouldn't you, HYDRA scum," she spat, recoiling back from him as he took a step closer to the pod.

Bucky closed his eyes for a moment, so this one was HYDRA after all. He took a deep breath to center himself, fighting down his own rising panic. Every time he thought he was finally done with HYDRA he found himself right back into the same messes all over again.

"I'm not HYDRA," he said calmly.

"Yes you are," she countered. "I know for a fact you are. You're the reason they took me!" she snapped, getting more and more agitated. She was pulling so aggressively now that Bucky was quite concerned that she was going to dislocate a shoulder attempting to muscle her way through the restraint system.

He sat down on the floor in front of the containment pod, both hands still straight out in front of him to be as non-threatening as possible. "So you were a prisoner there, like I was?" he asked carefully and quietly.

"You? A prisoner?" she scoffed. "After all the things you did for them I sincerely doubt that." And yet, she seemed to calm a bit now that he was sitting on the floor. "Please," she said quietly, sounding defeated, "please just let me go. I promise I won't say anything. Surely you can't have use for me anymore, please just let me go."

"Can you tell me your name?" he asked, still trying to be gentle.

"Please," she said, no more than a whisper this time, "please just let me go."

Bucky looked into her eyes and recognized the desperation there and as he watched a tear roll down her face, something in him broke, just a little bit. He couldn't imagine the horrors she'd endured, if his own experiences were any indication. "I'm sorry," he said quietly before rising from the floor and exiting the room. Clearly this was going nowhere. He walked back to the security office and looked at Wanda before saying, "You're up, just be gentle with her."

Wanda took her turn in the secure room, opening the door to the pod and standing in front of the strange girl, who had grown increasingly more panicked, the closer she got. Wanda reached out both hands, her strange red power flowing from her fingertips, through her prisoner's head, and out the other side to form a complete circuit.

The girl's dark blue eyes lit red and she froze, stopping her struggling and going limp like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Everything was still for several long minutes before suddenly Wanda backed out of the pod, her hand over her mouth in horror. Wanda swung her hand, sealing the containment pod again before sprinting from the room, wanting to be out of the room before their captive came to. She came back into the security room looking like she'd seen a ghost.

"What is it?" Bucky asked, almost afraid to ask.

"She's not a threat," Wanda said, taking a deep breath. "But you're gonna want to sit down for this."

Wanda herself sank into a nearby chair, waiting for everyone else to take their seats before starting. Bucky was hesitant to sit himself, but when Wanda gave him a pointed look, he quickly sat down himself.

"Her name is Lucille, but everyone calls her Lucy" she said carefully, looking around to everyone in the room, before meeting Bucky's trepidatious gaze, "She was born in 1920 in Brooklyn. She was a waitress at a little diner around the corner from where you and Steve grew up, a job she got about a year or so after you left the city until she was abducted after the war by HYDRA, specifically chosen with one purpose in mind." Wanda took a deep breath and closed her eyes a moment before continuing, "She was taken for the super soldier program, just, not for the same reasons you might expect. After HYDRA made you into a super soldier," she said, addressing Bucky specifically now, "they had enough serum left to make one more soldier, but they weren't satisfied with one. Knowing they couldn't synthesize any more serum with what they had they set their sights on obtaining a natural super soldier."

Wanda took a long pause, still horrified by the revelations she'd plucked from Lucy's mind. "HYDRA evidently believed that the key to creating more super soldiers was to create a super soldier who was born that way. She was given the codename 'Eve', chosen specifically to be your type Bucky, and you were given the codename 'Adam' for the program," Wanda said, hoping someone would get the hint. She looked around the room, but everyone still seemed confused. Bruce, however, was faster than the others.

"You don't mean…" Bruce trailed off, alarmed.

Wanda waited for Bruce to finish the thought so she didn't have to say it, but when he then wouldn't meet her gaze, she continued, "Yes I do, Bruce. She was taken to be part of a super soldier breeding program, and experimented on relentlessly. Every time Bucky was thawed from cryo, they thawed her as well. They evidently tried artificial insemination the first few times, to no success, but sometime in the early 1970's they decided the 'natural' approach would be best. They didn't brainwash her because they were worried about what affect the shock therapy would have on her fertility cycle, but fresh after every reset of yours Bucky, right before they put you back in cryo, evidently you were given the order to give them more soldiers. For about two decades, every time you were thawed," she said to Bucky now, knowing this would affect him just as much as it did Lucy, "You were ordered to go into the room where she was restrained and attempt to impregnate her. Every time it failed though, and they did more experiments on her to try to boost her fertility. They finally gave up and put her into long term cryo in 1991 after you stole the super soldier serum and they were able to get more soldiers that way. She was in cryo all the way up until The Blip. Apparently after everyone disappeared, someone turned off her cryo chamber, not wanting to waste the money cooling a containment cell there was nobody in. When she came back, the chamber was warm and the base she'd been stored at abandoned, and she broke out."

The room was silent for a long moment before suddenly there was a clattering of a chair hitting the floor. Bucky sprinted from the room, his hand over his mouth looking green. He ran to the nearest bathroom and emptied the contents of his stomach. Bucky had known he'd committed atrocities and war crimes alike in the name of HYDRA during his captivity, but this was an entirely new low. No wonder she'd been terrified of him. He remembered very little of what happened in the HYDRA facilities, and the times immediately following his resets had always been a complete blank. Now that he had the information though, a flash of memory lighted in his brain and a tear rolled down his face as images flooded his memory. He curled up in the corner of the bathroom, resting his head on one bent knee and covering his face with his hands. Somehow the assassinations he could live with. Even the torture had been bearable, both what he'd done, and what had been done to him. This, however, was on a whole other level of evil.