A/N

Three cheers for unexpected fanfiction title change!

Chapter Four:

The room was dimly lit and he could not make out the machines and equipment around him. The doctors had left him alone hours ago but even when they were there, he did not understand what was going on, where he was. They would only flash a bright light on him as they got to work, the light blinding him. The doctors did not listen to his questions and shouts of pain when they were operating on him. They simply did their job, not caring in the least whether or not the anesthesia had worn off (and it did every time).

He was weak. His head was spinning and his body was exhausted but that did not stop him. He struggled against the straps holding him down, wriggling as much as he physically could in an attempt to break free. He grunted in frustration, his voice hoarse from all the screaming he had done in a panic. He would never admit it, but he was scared.

Someone was coming. He could hear heavy footsteps and something being wheeled coming his way. He could also hear someone's heavy breathing. It sounded like a wheeze.

He did not understand how it was possible he could hear someone breathing from the other side of this room, but he could.

The doors opened and the doctors were back. They brought men covered from head to toe in armor with guns strapped to their backs. One of them was pushing a large metal box. He took note that it was their footsteps and the box that he was hearing.

The doctors were dressed differently today. They had goggles over their eyes and some sort of futuristic helmet over their heads. He had never seen that kind of equipment before and if he had seen them at any other time, he would have thought it looked cool but now, now was not the time and place.

"Where am I?" He had asked them, like many times before.

"Lie down, Sergeant." The doctor closest to him ordered.

"WHERE AM I?" He demanded, pushing against his straps once more. The table he was on jerked from his sudden burst of strength. "What have you done to me?" Images of syringes and vials and his arm being sawn off flashed before his eyes. He jerked against the straps again. "TELL ME."

One of the armored men stepped forward and clubbed his head, causing him to black out.

When he regained consciousness he found out that he was no longer lying down. The surface he was on now stood vertically and he soon realized that this position was more uncomfortable than the last. The doctors stood on either side of him and the armored men wheeled the box to stand in front of him.

"Just place her there," the doctor to his right instructed. "Perfect."

He could not find his voice to speak; his mind was throbbing from the hit. He could only watch as the men did as the doctor said and opened it to reveal someone strapped onto a metal board inside. The person was a young girl with a shaved head, purple veins dancing all over her crown, and she was nothing but bruised skin and bones.

"Wipe him," the doctor to his left ordered the girl. "Lift her goddamn head!" He barked when she did not respond.

A heavy metal hand grabbed hold of the girl's head and roughly pulled it back until it hit the metal board behind it. The girl gasped from the force and now that he could get a good look at her face, he was shocked to see that the girl's eyes were pitch black.

"You heard the doctor," the armored man said, voice muffled behind his helmet. "Wipe him."

"Please…" she begged, voice rough like sandpaper. "No more… no more…"

The second armored man did not have patience for her begging and brought something out of his pocket. He strapped it onto the girl's head, forcing it to stay upright. The girl was sobbing.

He could not believe that they had someone like her in their clutches and he knew that somehow she was like him. A prisoner.

She was forced to look him in the eye and that only contributed to shaking her up even more. She grew hysterical.

"I do not have time for this," the doctor to his right seethed.

The armored men nodded their heads. The one who strapped the device onto the girl pressed something on his wrist and before he knew it, the girl began to scream. He tried to look away but the doctors forced him to retain eye contact with the girl.

He was not sure what was happening but seconds into looking into her pitch black eyes, he found images of a skinny boy in an alley way and a small girl tucked in bed playing in his mind before disappearing completely.

Ginny pursed her lips as she slowly took her purse out of her locker in the employee's area. She dazedly took her hair out of the tight ponytail she was meant to keep it in and quietly took off her apron as well. She knew that Steve and Sam were waiting for her outside the restaurant. Steve had personally told her that they would wait for her shift to end.

Ginny did not know what to do. One of her childhood best friends had reentered her life yet she was in no rush to see him again. She figured that Steve would probably welcome anyone from his past with open arms (anyone who was not HYDRA, that is) but Ginny was not so sure she was ready to welcome Steve.

"Take it easy, Gin," she whispered to herself, leaning her forehead against her locker. "It's just Steve…Good ol' Steve."

"Steve?"

Ginny turned her attention to see Stella, a fellow waitress. It looked like it was time for her break and Ginny watched a wide grin form on Stella's ruby red lips.

"You don't mean Steve Rogers, do you?

Ginny knitted her brows together and kept her lips shut. She knew that Stella knew that Captain America and the Falcon had been in their restaurant. Everyone in the building kept glancing at their table, debating whether or not it was proper to go up to them and ask for an autograph or a photo. Steve and Sam could not hide their identity even if they tried. They had both been on the news enough times to be singled out wherever they went.

"I knew it!" Stella squealed, practically dancing in her place. "Wait till my roommates hear that I was in the same room as Captain America!"

"They'd be so jealous." Ginny said weakly, her lack of enthusiasm going unnoticed by the starry eyed girl in front of her. She looked like she was still in college – younger, even. She was probably working for the summer.

"Right?" Stella giggled. "Are you meeting up with him?" She asked in a hushed tone as if it were crucial that nobody knew that Ginny was seeing Captain America after her shift.

Ginny looked away from Stella and busied herself with moving her things around in her bag. She had agreed to see Steve and Sam after her shift. She could not find it in her heart to turn Captain America down on his request. The gentle look in his eyes when he told her that she did not need to see them again if she did not want to brought her back to a time when he was taking care of her when she was sick.

"You don't need to force yourself to go out with us, Gin."

"Maybe…" Ginny sighed.

"What do you mean 'maybe'? Captain America has taken an interest in you, girl! Take the chance!" Stella forcefully placed her hands on Ginny's shoulders, forcing her to look her in the eye. "Can you imagine what it would be like to have Captain America as your boyfriend?"

Ginny could not help but blush at Stella's question. It was embarrassing to think that her coworker thought Steve was waiting for her for that reason. Stella misread Ginny's reaction as she immediately began to dance in her place once more.

"See? I knew you were being silly!" Stella said, brushing off the nonexistent dirt on Ginny's shoulders. "It's a shame that you have to see him in your uniform… I can lend you my lipstick if you want?"

"It's fine, Stella," Ginny quickly said, stopping the girl from reaching into her locker. She could not believe that this girl actually made Ginny wish she left the restaurant quicker. "You shouldn't worry about me. You're on your break. Go eat."

"But –"

"I'll be going now," Ginny interrupted her. "I'll see you tomorrow!" Ginny paused and quickly turned back to Stella. "Oh… and Stella? Let's pretend that this conversation never happened, okay?"

Stella smiled. "What conversation?"

Bucky stood outside the restaurant, a few feet away from Steve and Sam who were waiting by the main entrance. He had opted out of joining them earlier in the restaurant, telling them that it would be better if two well-known heroes confronted the girl instead of two heroes and an ex-assassin who was still trying to get the world to believe he was a good guy now.

Unbeknownst to Steve and Sam, Bucky was also uneasy with the thought that the waitress inside was the same one as the girl in Steve's sketchpad and Sam's grade school class photo.

Bucky was no stranger to the impossible and, like Steve, knew that there was a good chance that their Ginny – Ginny Abbott – was alive and well and young…but he still did not want to falsely hope that another person from his past had somehow made it into the future. What if she was not the Ginny they knew and they successfully freaked out a civilian who had just wanted to live a peaceful life in DC?

"Here she comes," Steve said, breaking Bucky's train of thought.

The Winter Solider looked up from the ground – how long had he been staring at his shoes? – and saw the waitress walk out, bag clutched to her chest and eyes wide and weary. Now that he was seeing her in person, Bucky could hear faint a voice at the back of his head telling him that he knew her. It was the same voice that told him he knew Steve.

"Promise me you'll come back, okay?" Bucky heard her voice in his head, sending a shiver down his spine. "What are you doing all the way over there? Don't be a stranger, Bucky."

Bucky had to stop himself from taking a step towards her.

The waitress gave Steve and Sam a small, tentative smile when she saw them (Bucky noticed that Steve had a giddy air to him, the change in the demeanor going unnoticed by Sam) before turning her attention towards Bucky. He looked her in the eye and waited to see fear or uneasiness in them just like everyone else he has made prolonged eye contact with.

It worked.

Bucky was not sure why he felt what he did. He knew that this would happen. The waitress's eyes shifted to the ground when she saw Bucky and he felt something in him stir. He was anticipating the reaction yet somewhere, deep down inside, he had hoped that she would be different.

A/N

And the childhood friends (and former student) are reunited once more! What will happen next? Stay turned for the next chapter!

Don't forget to leave a comment/review! I love reading about what you guys think! Also, don't shy away from asking questions :)

Thank all you so much for taking time to read my story. I really appreciate it!

Sorry for any typos are grammatical errors that this chapter might have...

I only own what I own!