Okay, so now we're really going to find out what happened ;) Please review!

8.

For three days, Steve stayed at her side. They talked and he finally came to realize all the pain she had been through. Anne told him everything, from the moment her father died up until then.

She told him she had ran away from the people who wanted to find her a new family and had moved into an old abandoned apartment on a bad part of town. For days she had just sat there, crying, letting the pain consume her. She didn't eat or sleep, she didn't move. One day she just got up, her pain turned to rage, and just started punching the wall, as hard as she could. That's when she had started training herself. The more she punched and kicked, the more her anger was calmed and the less she thought of the pain.

After a week she finally left the apartment in search of food. What happened during the next past weeks wasn't something she was proud of. She stole food, water and a bow and some arrows. And she kept doing so to survive. So she herself had become a criminal without even noticing. She got the first part of her training by watching an instructor of Wing Chun through the gym window. Anne went on like this until she met James. It happened one evening when she was walking back to her apartment. She had robbed a handful of bread from a bakery when a mechanical hand stopped her in her tracks. She felt the cold metal around her wrist. The fist started getting tighter around her wrist until she finally dropped the bread and screamed. Anne still remembered every word he said that night.

"You know, you're not supposed to steal."

He let go of her wrist and picked up the bread.

"And what are you doing exactly?" She asked him, cunning.

Anne saw a small grin appear upon his face. He was tall, full of muscles, with shoulder length brown hair and deep green eyes. He had a mechanical arm with a red star on it and wore soldier clothes.

"It's called eating... I'm hungry."

And he took a big bite out of the bread.

Anne felt strangely drawn to that man. She could see from his eyes he was lost, desperate... He was suffering just as she was. Suddenly he turned around and started to leave.

"Wait!" She called. The man stopped.

"If you don't have anywhere to stay, you can stay with me."

She didn't know why she had asked, nor why he nodded and followed her there. Maybe he was tired of being alone. He had taught her many things, especially about fighting. And she had grown with his teachings. They spent most of their time together and Anne grew more attached to him than she should have. James noticed this. He noticed it every time they would fight. Her eyes lit up every time they spoke.

He taught her how to fall from a roof without getting hurt, to slide on cars... Everything, and she loved it.

Anne gave a full account of what happened, leaving out only a few details. Some things were left better un told.

James noticed how feeling Anne was becoming towards him. But he let it pass. She was getting better every day. She was getting stronger. He needn't break her heart just yet. But as the months passed, something strange started to happen. He started taking a liking to that girl. He liked her quick-witts, her determination... She was strong and he liked it.

One evening, as they were training, he pinned her against the wall. And then it happened... He did it without thinking. He didn't even know why. She was just so strong, so full of pain and suffering... Just like him. James leaned in and kissed her. All of a sudden, all of his feelings and memories came rushing back. Steve, the war, the fall, the pain... They came back so quickly he got scared. He pushed Anne away shocked and ran his hands through his hair.

"James? What's wrong?"

What was he doing? All of a sudden, he noticed his mechanical arm and stared at it shocked. That's when he remembered more. The torture... They cut off his arm and put that monstrosity on him.

"James?"

He looked back up at her and saw the fear in her eyes.

"J-james?"

Bucky Barnes. That was his name. James Buchanan Barnes.

"Steve... "

"James who is Steve?"

"He... He was my best friend."

Bucky closed his eyes. Images shot through his mind.

"I... I tried to kill him."

"James what are you talking about?"

"MY NAME IS BUCKY!" He yelled without even thinking and pushed her against the wall once more. This time he saw genuine fear in her eyes and tears falling on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry."

And he backed away and turned around.

After a few minutes, he felt a small hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?"

He was quiet for a few seconds and then made a quick reply.

"I remembered."

Anne came in front of him and smiled.

"What did you remember?"

But he couldn't tell her. It would only frighten her. He looked in her big blue eyes and felt the rush of feelings from before come back. And he kissed her again, pulling her towards him, pressing his body against hers. He felt her hands in his hair pull him more towards her. What he was doing was wrong. But he couldn't stop it. He had to leave. He had to let her live her life. She couldn't do that with him there. He didn't know why he had even come with her that day, six months ago. Maybe because he saw something in her that reminded him of himself.

He woke up the next morning. Anne's head was on his bare chest. He moved her slightly away and got up. Then he left. He needed to figure some things out. He needed to understand what happened. Bucky left Anne a letter. He didn't explain why he had to leave, but he told her to go to Steve. He could help her. He could show her a way. He could show her how to live again. Without pain, without suffering. Steve was the best man he had ever known. But he begged her not to tell him anything about him.

When Anne read the letter she hated him. She started crying and she burned it. She didn't want to remember him. He broke her heart.

Obviously she didn't tell Steve any of this. She couldn't. It was too painful and besides, she did make a promise. She was keeping it, in a way. She had found Steve and Bucky was right, he was a great man. Just how much she didn't know yet.

"After he left, I started working on the streets. Got a suit and started fighting for real, until a few weeks ago, when SHIELD contacted me and brought me here."

The Captain was happy she had shared so much with him, but he couldn't help but feel that she was still keeping something from him. Something about the mysterious James. He was almost sure he must be Bucky, but he didn't have enough evidence. When he asked for a description, Anne just said she rather respect James's decision to not tell anyone. She didn't add the "especially him" part.