"Thank you.", Carl nodded. Not too much longer later, Wendy had been filled in with the whole situation. "I guess it's good we haven't really removed much of Tara's baby stuff yet. Clearly, it's still needed; aside from the extra stuff we'll have to get for Susan.", Wendy said.
Carl smiled lightly as they are now in their house, with Tara and Susan asleep, tuckered out from the big day of the forest adventure, the hospital, the rushing back and forth in a car, "Yep...Are you really okay with this? I mean, with a 2-year-old toddler, and now a 13-month-old baby, we're gonna be busy again.".
Wendy smiled as she squeezed his hand while they settled on the couch for it was barely late afternoon, "I admit it was unexpected, but I couldn't dare leave a darling baby girl to the state, and besides, Tara loves her already. I'm sure her parents would've wanted her to be safe and alive and well, in good hands.".
"Yeah.", Carl nodded. He then looked to Wendy. "Should we tell her the truth? That's she's adopted?", Carl wondered as Wendy nodded.
"I think we should. It might be better the sooner she knows. Besides, I'm pretty sure Tara will probably not forget that she found her little sister in the woods.", Wendy chuckled.
Carl chuckled, "That's very true. Tara is quite inquisitive. And yeah, Susan deserves to know the truth...Thank God that she's incredibly healthy...Her parents truly loved her...I sure wish they weren't murdered, especially in New York City so far away...I mean, if you think about it, if they had survived, and Tara was persuasive about seeing Susan...they would perhaps be glad that we saved Susan and such...".
"I agree.", Wendy sighed. "Well, she's here now and hopefully everything will go smoothly with child services... she will be loved as much as if I pushed her out myself.".
Carl smiled, "Yes, we will have a second daughter one way or another.", kissing her on the lips before nodding, "Come on, let's have dinner before our girls wake up from their naps. I'm hungry as heck after today.", with a tug of her hand. "I'll fix you something nice then.", Wendy kissed his cheek as the two of them headed to the kitchen.
-Somewhere else, deep underground, in the desert, in a secret base no one says the name of. -
It was perhaps 0600 pm, and General Monger is in incredible awe yet confliction as they have captured a monster, a legendary werewolf, but to the base's shock upon testing his blood and such, he's truly from the 1940s for no Barnes had existed of his bloodline as far as they can tell. Oh, sure, there are Barnes out there, with men and women of the name, but there never had been a Barnes of military blood anywhere.
"Anything out of him yet?", Monger asked one of the subordinates.
"He's not saying much to us right now... probably still wants us dead. But we looked into it. There are no records of a Rogers living at the address provided on those dog tags, and as for the man himself, army records show no history of a Barnes of his name serving in any unit, especially 3rd Army as the uniform showed. In fact, his serial number matched that of a Jacob Langston Winters, but he apparently was with the US 1st Infantry and killed in Tunisia in March of 1943.", one of the subordinates said.
Monger nodded, "And the dog tags?", and the subordinate sighed, "I don't know how to tell you this, sir, but they are clearly authentic. There's no trademark of the toy companies or such as they usually make mockups for kids and war collectors.".
"A genuine GI from the war...", Monger shook his head. "I wonder if he'll take to authority then.".
"Sir?", the subordinate asked in curiosity and confusion. "Give me some time with him, but I want the full protection in case he wolfs out again.", Monger replied sharply with a nod.
The subordinate nodded, "Yes, sir. Crystal clear.", and Monger then headed down to the interrogation room, and opened the door, looking at the man who widened his eyes, stood up, saluted, "General.".
Monger blinked once, and closed the door, "Sit down, please.", and the man sat down, straight as a board and respectful, watching Monger as he sat down across from him, "I've been told that you are James Buchanan Barnes.".
Bucky exhaled as memories came to him, nodded, "Yes, sir. Can you tell me where I am? I have to find Susan. I promised her parents; my brother and his fiancé, that I can return her back to their arms...We were in war, all of us...Peggy... Margaret Elizabeth Carter, but we call her Peggy, she gave birth to Susan during the war on the battlefield...The war, did we win? Today, it was October 21, 1944...".
"Slow down there, Sargeant. You're going too fast.", Monger stopped him. "Sorry, sir...", Bucky held his head. "My head... there's so much missing, I can feel it."
"Sounds like you've suffered from a lot of amnesia.", Monger said. "Well, for starters, son, the war's been over for a long time. The good news is that it was finally over on September 2nd, 1945.", Monger smiled. "But guessing from your uniform of 3rd Army there... Patton's troops, you were in Europe?". Bucky nodded. "The Nazis surrendered on May 7th. A week after Hitler shot himself and the Soviets took Berlin.", Monger didn't like saying that part. "There's quite a lot of history after that...".
"We didn't get to Berlin?", Bucky asked. "We barely got across the Rhine until March. The Nazis did all they could to slow us down everywhere.", Monger shook his head.
"No... we crossed it... September... Arnhem... then a few days ago... Frieberg... Black Forest...", Bucky whispered.
"I don't know what you're remembering, son... Arnhem, you're talking about Market Garden, it was a disaster, lost almost the entire British 1st Airborne with how botched that operation went.", Bucky looked at Monger for a few moments before the general sighed. "A few days ago, to you... but it's almost Halloween for us... 1984.".
Bucky exhaled in shock, staring at Monger, searching for signs of a lie, but nothing, only sincere truth in his eyes, and he heard that his breathing or heartbeat hadn't even changed..."Oh, my god...Wait, what about my brother, Steve? His full name is Steven Grant Rogers. Or Peggy?".
Monger raised an eyebrow, "You got raised as brothers, essentially adopted each other, hmm?", and Bucky nodded, "Yes, and he called me Bucky...Bucky is my nickname for my middle name...We lived in New York City, in Brookyln. I don't know how, but he got stronger as he was puny, so small...He met Peggy...Peggy was from England.".
Monger shook his head, "I don't know. We looked into the address on your dog tags, but apparently no Steven Rogers ever lived at that location.".
"My sisters, then... I can give you names, dates of births, they might still be alive...", Bucky said. "Son, I don't know how to explain this, but I think... you're from some other world. That's my best guess...", Monger sighed as he replied slowly.
Bucky exhaled deeply, "How is that possible? I promised Steve I'd get his daughter home, back to him and Peggy! Susan! Please, is she okay? Her full name is Susan Viola Carter-Rogers.".
Monger looked away as he was already feeling great guilt at this conversation, especially with what Bucky was trying to do. He was practically imprisoning for life a war hero and probably going to tear his heart out with what needed to be said next.
"She's alright... apparently being taken care of by that family that found you first before we stepped in.", Monger spoke quietly as he looked straight back at him.
Bucky stared at him..."I ain't never going to see her again, am I? I'm not a threat, honest. I only killed Germans in the war when I was wolfing out!", tears filling his eyes.
Monger stood up and turned around, "I'm sorry, Sergeant. No exceptions.". He didn't want to say anything more. It would be one thing to someone unremorseful, but Bucky...
Bucky panted heavily as tears finally came down, his voice breaking, "General, will you please leave the room?", and Monger only nodded silently, opened and closed the door in one swift move. Bucky went into his werewolf form, howling out in angst, heartbreak, and pain as he destroyed the table, the chairs, pounding the walls, "Pack all gone! I don't want to be the lone wolf! Why, why is this happening to me?!", tears falling.
The protection team was heading in when Monger stopped them with a hand, "Let him pour all it out...I don't want Barnes to hurt the other monsters by accident if he hadn't time to grieve properly, especially with his rank. I know people like him. He knows when to let it out when he needs to do it on purpose, and he would blame himself if he knew he hurt me by accident hence why he asked me to leave politely.", watching Bucky with a deep sigh as he kept howling, scratching the walls, crying as he slowly calmed down, shifting into his canine form, pressing himself into the wall in a ball, whimpering and panting and whining.
"How long do we give him, sir, before you move him into Section 1?", asked one of the subordinates, and Monger replied, "Half hour. If he hasn't shifted back to human by then, give him 10 more minutes to recollect himself if the speaker announcement caught him by attention, then.".
"You sure we can't just simply let him go? If he indeed can control...", one man said. "Out of the question, I'm afraid. Orders from the top, always. No exceptions.", Monger gently nodded his head.
The subordinate replied, "Yes, sir.", and they waited for Bucky through the allotted time needed to calm down, and he eventually got quiet, looking at the door, and gave a whuffing sigh before shifting back to human, slowly sitting up against the wall, all out of grief.
Monger took another deep breath as he walked away, he was going to need a few days away from his prisoners for sure after this encounter. A man lost in time; practically everything taken away and his heart crushed... and he was responsible for most of it and couldn't do anything about it.
Another 10 minutes later, Bucky heard the speaker announcement, "All proceed to their rooms. Sergeant James Barnes, stand up for General Monger.".
Bucky heavily got up and stood up at attention as Monger came back in, glancing at the debris, and replied, "Come along, Barnes. It's time for your orientation.".
Bucky nodded, "Yes, sir.", following Monger outside, "Am I to guess that I won't be in the army then?", with a nod. "Technically here, you never were.", Monger said. "Actually, it's basically like if you were never born.". If Bucky could remember his dreams with T, he would've probably remembered her saying about a similar world rather than his own before.
Bucky blinked, "So, I am basically a ghost out there? No birth certificate, no death records, nothing?", and Monger nodded, "Indeed. Look, you are biologically a human, with a gift of wolfing out. Not a born werewolf...".
Bucky remembered something when he mentioned the word 'gift', and exhaled, "It was given to me willingly by an old friend of mine...Unfortunately, I never saw him again as he gave his life for his goddaughter who is, in turn, my niece...He said that I was worthy to have the ability of being a fox-wolf for he saw that I wanted to help in the war, protect innocents, fight evil, and be practically a pack with my family...", with a sharp exhale...He will have pain in his heart for some time...True, it will get dull within time, but it shall be there...
"Listen, I'll just give you some time to yourself to try to get your mind back... I can see you're still struggling with amnesia there.", Monger said as he kept walking on.
Bucky glanced at Monger, "Sir, I have gone through a lot today. I think I can't force my mind to remember everything. I heard that amnesia really takes time, and unless you think that perhaps a punch or something can fix it, I don't want to end up like a vegetable by accident. And I can't be really alone for long...I mean, I am a pack wolf...I need people or things to keep me busy...".
"Well, at least you won't have to worry about being in solitary confinement. We've got some other occupants you can spend your time with. Most... are fairly sociable.", Monger rubbed the back of his neck upon saying that as he was trying to think of the right way to put that.
Bucky nodded, "I can deal with fairly sociable...Wait, where am I?", looking at Monger, seeing nothing that could hint at any familiar things he remembered, like in training camp and such.
"One of the most classified places on Earth.", Monger explained. "A place so isolated and remote that no one could even find it by accident. It's where we keep others like you... the public would know them as monsters.".
Bucky widened his eyes before sighing heavily, "I guess it makes sense for me to be here...I definitely remember that runner screaming and running away, and that guy...he was protecting his daughter and Susan...Werewolves are seen as monsters in every world, I guess...So, what do you got here? 50ft tall woman, vampire, yeti, sasquatch?".
Monger looked at him for a moment before he shook his head, "Something bigger for sure as well as a few others... you'll see in just a moment. It's better if you see them rather than let me describe them ahead of time.".
Bucky nodded, "Fair enough. Er, am I the only human technically?", with a rub on the back of his neck. "Pretty much. Closest to it for sure.", Monger said before he quickly parted from Bucky. "More for my own protection as well as to keep the place secure.", he explained. "You'll understand in a moment for sure.".
Bucky nodded, "Appreciate it, General.", before a door opened up from the top, and with a nod from Monger, Bucky went through, and the door closed after him.
Bucky took a deep breath, and heard voices as he turned around a corner, and his eyes widened in surprise and shock, speechless for a moment as he saw what's ahead of him.
His eyes were easily on the giant bug that was taking up quite a large part of the room for sure, though it looked like it was either being very docile or asleep. And then of course there was a table that three... creatures were nearby. A sort of humanoid fish monster, a blue jelly sort of creature and a cockroach man.
Bucky gulped nervously and was about to step forward when the back of his neck went up, and heard a big huff of air behind him, and his wolf instincts went into flight or fight mode as he turned around to see a gorilla, a about average-sized gorilla who roared at him, thumping his fists and baring his fangs.
Bucky turned into his canine form, growling and snarling, on equal level with the gorilla, standing up tall and dominant, and the gorilla growled as he narrowed his eyes, and ran forward at Bucky.
Bucky charged... and quickly took a jab to his snout as the gorilla moved faster than he expected. Bucky was seeing stars already as he took another punch right to the belly, wondering just how on earth this ape was kicking his ass?
Bucky then saw the gorilla's arm coming again at him, and he rolled over, dodging, and pounced at the gorilla, tumbling and wrestling as he clawed and bit, sounds of growls, roars, and howls filling the air as they drew fur, bruises, blood, and with a roar, the gorilla grabbed Bucky from his back, slamming him into the ground, stunning Bucky.
The gorilla roared, thumped his chest, and snorted, glaring at Bucky who finally gave up, changing into his werewolf mode, surrendered his neck as a sign of submission, "You win. You are the alpha.".
The gorilla sniffed before nodding with a grunt as it shifted into a human man of late 20s, brilliant hazel eyes, natural long black hair, and deep brown skin, smiling wryly, "Well, well, you did really good for a monster, heck, this is the best challenge I had in ages. Any better, and I'd think you'll be a beta wolf in that fur of yours. I'm King Kong, but everyone calls me Mo when it's family. What's yours, werewolf?".
Bucky was stunned for a moment. He knew this ape man... sort of. He remembered seeing a movie about him, with the same name, years prior when he and Steve were teenagers. He quickly came back to reality before he caught his breath once more as he was trying to relax from the fight.
"James Buchanan Barnes.", Bucky said. "Though I usually just go by Bucky." Mo held out a hand, "Nice to meet you, Bucky.", and Bucky, after a moment, grabbed into his hand as he shifted down to human, chuckled, "You make a mean punch, man.", getting up and dusted himself off.
"Decades of practice, Bucky. I lived with warriors, and learned how to ape, literally.", Mo grinned before glancing at him, "But you, you're a newbie at wolfing, I can tell.".