Chapter Six

Sorry if this chapter sucks major balls, I'm determined to write it but I just keep nodding off in the process, I'm freaking tired. But let's move on, shall we?

After she left her lab she all but ran down the hallways towards her uncle. She was more than excited to see what they have come up with so far, she was even more ecstatic to tell them ways to improve it. Walking in she was graced with her uncle and Tony nose deep in a skeleton of the arm they're trying to create.

"Hey. Can I see what you've got so far?" Addilyn drops her notebook on the table and slides into the spot between Tony and Bruce. She pushed her glasses up a bit since they had started to slide down her nose.

"Sure. Just don't touch it yet unless you want to be electrocuted." Tony interjected just as she was about to touch it. Rolling her eyes, she looked at the billionaire.

"Yes dad." Her sarcastic comment rolls off her tongue. Running back around she fetches her notebook, "So I have some ideas. I came up with these after seeing Bucky spar with Steve." She says, flipping to the page that had all her scribbled notes on it.

"Sure, let's see what you've got." Bruce speaks, peering at her over his lenses. Standing up straight and giving her his full attention she nods.

"Cool. So, I noticed first and foremost that his arm is too heavy. I have an idea of what to combine with the Vibranium that still leaves it virtually indestructible." Addilyn added as she shuffled around the cluttered table towards the computer. Quickly typing in her findings, she pulls it up as a hologram so they can all see it. Holding her notebook to her chest she looks at them.

"Magnesium alloy?" Bruce asks her.

Addilyn nods and walks over to the holographic projection, "I know it's probably not what you would have chosen but there's a reason for it." She looks at them, pausing to gauge their reactions before continuing, "Like I said previously, his arm is heavy. It's light enough for him to move with lethal speed but thinking back to videos from before he left HYDRA showed me that it's still hindering him so he can't perform at his full potential. That's why I want to throw in just enough magnesium alloy to make it lighter while not compromising the durability of the Vibranium." As she spoke Bruce stood there, index finger tapping on his chin as he mulled it over in his head. Tony, on the other hand nodded with a clap.

"Brilliant! You are by far the brightest Biomedical Engineer I've come across. I would never have thought of that. You hear that Bruce? Your niece is a real chip off the ol' block, isn't she? I'm impressed." He basically sings her praise, "Now where can we find it? The Vibranium is easy to obtain thanks to our royal host." Tony questions. He makes a valid point but Addilyn is sure she can find some or at least find someone who does.

"I'll figure it out, give me like two days." She states, pulling out her phone she shoots a text to a couple of her fellow engineers. At least one of them can help her out, but until then she'll have to wait. Now that she had put herself out there by asking her friends, that was all she could think about. Her excitement could not be contained.

Addilyn contemplated going to work out a little but her mind was changed when her stomach growled, she had lost track of time. Lifting her wrist to check the time she mentally cursed herself for forgetting her watch in her room, "Dammit. Hey uncle, do you have the time?" she asked and snapped her notebook closed.

Bruce looking up from his work to his watch "It's 8:30. Why?" he inquires, it seems he too has lost track of time.

Addilyn shakes her head "Nothing, I'm just hungry and I forgot to pay attention to the time. I'll see you later okay? Love you." She waves to her uncle then to Tony "Night Tony." She walks out with the door closing behind her.

The west wing was dark and quiet. Either everyone's asleep or they were just hiding out in their rooms. She didn't mind though, she liked having alone time and now that she was staying here, the only time she got that was when she was in her room. Making her way quietly down the hall, towards the lounge she walked in. The first thing she noticed was that the tv was on but it was turned down to where it was barely audible. She walked over to the couch to turn off the tv but her movements were halted when she saw someone curled up on the couch.

Addilyn tip toed over to the fridge, careful not to make any noise just in case they had fallen asleep. When she opened the doors, she was blinded by the bright light causing her groan, "Oh Jesus." Her eyes adjusted and she continued her search for food. While she was face deep in the fridge she didn't hear whomever was on the couch get up, and walk over to the island in front of the fridge.

"Hungry?" A groggy voice speaks from behind her.

Addilyn jumps with a gasp, almost hitting her head on the shelf in the fridge she spins around coming face to chest with Bucky, "Holy crap Bucky! You scared the hell out of me." She exclaims, placing her hand over her rapidly beating heart.

"Sorry doc, didn't mean to scare you." He apologized. Looking up at his face she could see the mirth in his eyes and the small smile of amusement on his lips.

"No, no its okay. I just get scared easily when I'm not prepared." She chuckles, "It's no big deal." She's usually pretty hard to scare but she does not like when things jump out at her, "And please Bucky, call me Addilyn. Every time you say Doc I think you're talking to my uncle." He responds with a nod.

"So, um, if you're hungry there might be some left-over pasta Wanda made in the back. If not we can always make something." He seems a little flustered at the offer to cook her food. She let her eyes stay glued to his face for a moment longer then turned to the fridge.

"Are you hungry?" Addilyn asks from in the fridge. Finding the pasta, he mentioned was there she pulled it out and shut the door with her hip. Wanda must have made enough food to feed an army, the left overs was now the size of a regular family's dinner. She reaches up to grab a bowl, she hesitates to grab another. Looking back at him over her shoulder, "Yes? No? Maybe so?" She asks him.

Seeming to pull himself out of his daydream, Bucky nodded his head, "Sure, I could eat. I'm always hungry." Ever since he was injected with the same serum given to Steve, his metabolism had sped up so fast that he eats constantly. Not only does he always have to eat, but he can eat enough food for all the Avengers and probably their families in just one sitting but he limits himself.

"Alrighty then." She says and grabs down another bowl. She spooned a generous amount into his bowl before giving herself just enough. As they waited for their food to heat up she leaned on the island with her chin in her palm, "Hey Bucky? Can I ask you something?" Her curious green eyes were in constant motion as she looked him up and down. She hasn't really been able ask what exactly the serum did to him and Steve, she only knows the basics.

At the sound of her voice the dark haired super soldier fixes her with his glowing gaze, "Hm?" He pondered.

"You don't have to answer any of my questions if you don't want to. I'm kind of nosy." She states, scrunching her nose at the admittance of one of her flaws. When he doesn't say anything she continues, "I never really got the opportunity to ask Steve but if you remember how you were before the serum, how much did it change you? What exactly did you benefit from it?" She tried to word her question to sound not too invasive.

She studied his face. After she asked her question he looked away and to the floor. She could tell he was putting some thought into answering her question. He didn't break from his look of concentration when the microwave dinged, indicating that their food was done, she grabbed two forks and a pair of pot holders to place under the bowls so they didn't burn their hands. When she placed his down by him he finally looked at her. The reflection in his pale blue eyes reveled all the pain, despair, and horror that being injected with the serum brought. She instantly regretted ever asking him.

"You don't have to tell me." Her voice is small, merciful. She didn't like seeing that look, she never liked seeing the pain in someone eyes. She had seen it enough in her uncles tired brown eyes every time he lost control of the other guy and hurt innocent people. She turns back to her food, about to change the subject but he spoke.

"At first I had no idea. The entire 107 infantry had been taken prisoner by HYDRA and they started to use some of us for experiments, including me. I think it had been a month that I had been a prisoner of HYDRA when Steve came and rescued us. It's a little fuzzy still, always has been. All I really remember before the fighting was seeing Steve for the first time in months only he had changed. He wasn't the same short, scrawny kid from Brooklyn I left behind. He towered over me at the time. I remember telling him that I remember him being shorter." At this memory, a smile broke through the scowl that had been there since asking the question. Addilyn listened intently, sitting on the counter while shoveling noodles into her mouth. She didn't have the heart to tell him his food was getting cold so she just keep eating. His eyes met hers again and she saw a flash of joy, seeing Steve at that moment must have been like a blessing.

When she didn't speak, he took that as his cue to continue, "After he had gotten us out and back to base Steve put together a special team. We were called-" Addilyn couldn't hold back the words that pushed past her lips.

"The Howling Commandos." They said at the same time. When she realized, she had interrupted him she blushed from embarrassment and utter a small apology. He didn't seem bothered by it as he went on.

"Yeah, The Howling Commandos. We completed a handful of high risk missions without any hiccups until one finally got really messed up." The look of pain had returned to his eyes only this time it was worse, it seemed like he was willing himself not to cry. The feeling of guilt once again stabbed her in the gut, "We were trying to board a train that was traveling at full speed. Steve had this idea to zip line down onto the roof of the train then fight our way for control. It was a dangerous but brilliant plan, it almost worked too. But something happened and I couldn't hold on any longer. I lost my grip and fell from the Swiss Alps. The only reason I survived was because of the super soldier serum they injected me in months ago." Holding up his left arm he added, "If I had known what surviving that fall would have cost me other than my arm, I would have killed myself before HYDRA had gotten to me. Ever since then the serum has changed everything about me. I noticed I was taller; taller than Steve, I was always hungry due to the serum messing with my hormones and what not. I was stronger than I had ever been, and fast. I can run faster than a speeding car." He speaks. In the couple days that Addilyn had been in Wakanda this is the most that Bucky has ever said around her. Normally developing any kind of super human ability sounds like it would be exciting but to Bucky, it was a death sentence.

"I'm sorry you've had to go through all of that." Addilyn placed her food down next to her and turned her attention to Bucky, "I know that you still blame yourself for all of the things you've done and I know that everyone tells you that it's not your fault." She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to piece together the right words to say, "But they're right. Everything you did was because they brainwashed you and forced you against your will to be an assassin. That doesn't define who you are Bucky. Who you are inside, the you that grew up with Steve in the forties, that's who you are. I know you still can't remember everything about yourself from back then but that doesn't mean you won't. You know enough about yourself from that time to display those attributes and feelings that I don't even for once, think of you as the Winter Solider. To me you're James Buchanan Barnes, a boy born and raised in Brooklyn, New York who would do anything for the people he cared about. That's who you are." She claimed with enthusiasm. No matter the things he's done in the past, all she sees now is this on-the-mend man who had been forced into a world of death and pain only to finally get out to finally rediscover himself.

Addilyn hopped down off the counter and emptied the rest of her food into the trash before cleaning out her bowl and placing it in the dishwasher. She looked at Bucky one last time and gave him her best smile of kindness, "I'm going to bed okay? I'll see you in the morning." She grabbed a bottle of water before bidding Bucky goodnight and leaving for her room. The walk to her room was filled with thoughts about Bucky and the things he told her. He didn't have to tell her the tale of his adult life but he did anyways, she felt like she had made a new step in being better friends with Bucky. She just wanted him to finally be free of the guilt she knows he's burdened with.

Wow so, this chapter ending up being a lot longer than I expected. And it's mostly fluff, I'm trying to do my best to think of things to work into this fic. Please just bear with me and I promise ill have it all figured out ^.^ Again I really appreciate each one of you3 so if you could please review that would be amazing! Thank you! xoxo