"It's alright, sweetie... we're all together again.", Peggy whispered reassuringly. Susan cried happily, "This is the happiest day of my life!", as her true parents hugged her, with Henry in the middle, hugging her as well, babbling.

Realizing that they are in the middle of a street, they managed to get to the Murphy house, with introductions all over the place, and stories were shared as the day progressed, unknowing that Tara's day is going to be the opposite.

For Tara, her mind was focused on one thing alone, reuniting with her future husband. They practically were all but married, she thought, everything was ready, just the Quantonium meteor that struck her, and Susan had thrown a major spanner in the works. It was alright to her in her head. They'd just have to quickly get things set up again, perhaps after their child was born so they could see if she could shrink back down to a much more reasonable height and try this again.

She was running as fast as she could along CA-99 South; the long distance not stopping her as her larger size was giving her better stride, plus exhaustion seemingly was having no effect; like the Quantonium was making sure she could get there as soon as she wanted.

Bucky was lucky to catch up as quick as he could, and gave a whuff, and kept following Tara, glad that his Quantonium is keeping his stamina as good as it could be.

Soon, they got to Fresno, and after asking around, Tara found the news building where Derek works, and got there, with Bucky hiding in the shadows.

Bucky was trying to control himself, every part of him was screaming to find Derek first and tear his throat out with his own teeth, but he was trying to stay in control. He wasn't a monster, not like Derek was. He killed in the past, probably plenty of decent Germans who just fought on the wrong side, but that was the sad nature of most war. So many on both sides were decent folks that never would've taken a life had they not been thrust into combat.

He took another breath as he was hopeful to at least watch out for Tara; to at least keep being a guardian to her even if she easily could handle herself now from like anyone crazy enough to try and mug or something.

Tara went up the fire escape of the news building after she shrunk down to 25ft tall, seeing that she couldn't fit inside, with the ceilings of each floor being at least 15 ft.

She looked through the windows and doors that came out to the fire escape, asking for Derek, and was told that he was near the top of the building, about five floors down from the rooftop. She counted the landings of the fire escape, and when she was sure of it, she looked through the window, knocking and asking for Derek.

Tara eventually came across a curly haired, pixie cut, strawberry blonde who nearly jumped when she saw her. "Sorry! Sorry!", Tara apologized as Lacey took a deep breath to regain herself there.

"It's... it's alright...", Lacey breathed as she tried to get it normalized once more. "Can I help you?".

"You know where I can find Derek Dietl? He's around these floors, right?", Tara asked as Lacey's mood darkened, "Why are you asking?".

Tara blinked softly in confusion, but still smiled lightly, "He is my fiancé. Well, still, I hope...", knowing the story Monger weaved, and it has been three weeks. Lacey blinked in surprise, "Really? He never said anything about that part.", recognizing the long-brown haired woman easily. After all, she was on tv earlier, fighting that robot...

Derek told everybody that he knew the giantesses, genuinely shocked and surprised to see them alive and well, fighting a giant robot, for god's sake!

"He... he didn't say we were engaged? We almost got married the day... this happened to me.", Tara motioned to her body.

Lacey shook her head, "It... it comes as much as surprise to me. He certainly didn't act before today that he was engaged. He didn't even mention that when he said he knew you and the other one, Susie, right? All he said was that he knew you from high school and college and he thought you two had died a few weeks ago. First few days he first showed up, he was trying to flirt with me.".

Tara narrowed her eyes, "I see...", before exhaling deeply, "First of all, my sister Susan and I aren't clearly dead. Second, I need to talk with him. Can you go find him and tell him that I'm waiting on the rooftop? I could barely crouch in there if I tried, but I don't want to wreck the walls accidentally and all.", not revealing the fact that she's with child, and she doesn't want to accidentally bump into anything that would hurt her baby.

Lacey nodded, "Okay, I will do that...", wondering how Tara is blind to Derek's secrets and all, especially when she's so beautiful compared to Lacey, and turned to head deeper into the hallway, wanting to stay and convince her that Derek's bad news, to tell her what he had nearly done to her, but she has a big feeling that Tara wouldn't believe her at the moment.

Tara then left the window and headed up the stairs on the rest of the fire escape, getting into the rooftop, glad that it's a warm night.

Lacey looked around; first for another one of her female co-workers just to make sure she wasn't alone with Derek. After she found one and convinced her to help hunt for Derek, the two of them found him before Lacey told Derek that he had a visitor on the roof. Derek looked at her for a moment before Lacey dropped the bombshell, "It's your fiancé.".

Derek briefly stared at her for a moment before realizing that she wasn't kidding. He quickly thanked her and started to make his way up top.

Lacey was concerned for Tara in a strange way, and decided to follow Derek a few minutes behind, not wanting to get caught, and carefully made her way up to one of the rooftop shed-like windows, seeing that it was open, hearing Derek and Tara's voices, unknowing that when she pressed against the wall to hide in the darkness next to the window, her recorder turned on, clipped to her belt.

Meanwhile, the moment Derek got on the roof, he looked around, somewhat worried for his life if Lacey was about to attack him or something... only to find Tara looming right over him. "Uh... Tara... you're... you're alive!", he laughed before she smiled.

"Yeah... I am... apparently saved the world too from what I've heard. I'm not sure if those G-Men have gotten to you yet exactly about what really happened on our wedding day, but no, Susan and I weren't killed by a gas explosion... we experienced an explosion of another kind...".

Derek exhaled, "I guess your giant size is what destroyed the church...", and Tara nodded, "Pretty much, though I can't get down to 10 ft tall like Susan does in size-changing...This is the farthest, smallest size I can be because...well, because I'm pregnant with your baby...it's a boy...", with an excited, nervous smile.

Derek's eyes widened as he heard that. "You... you're pregnant? How long?", he stammered.

"Three months since your birthday, remember? I know we got really drunk and all, but... I guess the condom and the Plan B didn't work. I didn't know until a few weeks ago. Wasn't having any of the usual signs... it's a bit of a long story... but, it's the truth... we're going to be parents, Derek!", Tara excitedly said. "I was just so desperate to get back to you... if not for Susan and some of the others, I might have lost my sanity in that monster prison!".

Derek shook his head, "No, no, no, this isn't happening! Do you realize what this means for my career?! No, you have to terminate it!", and Tara widened her eyes, "But Derek, this is our baby! I mean, we did this together, and we both consented even when we were drunk.".

"No, you didn't consent! You were drugged, okay?!", Derek shouted, looking up at Tara, panting heavily. Tara looked at him, "W-what? Derek...It was a party...Sure, there was alcohol, but there weren't drugs at all. You literally had a rule for that, especially with your job.", confused, trying to find an explanation.

"Well, there was, alright!?", Derek snapped. "Someone was slipping roofies, and you got one of them and wouldn't get off of me, you were just begging for us to go all the way, claiming that it was fine since we were going to get married and all! I just... I just couldn't say no to you, you were giving me the sad face and I just... I was fairly drunk myself and foolishly gave in, didn't really think that it was a bad idea, so we did it!".

Tara frowned, trying to understand what Derek's saying, and got more confused as she knows herself...After all, her parents drilled it into her, and she never, ever took drugs willingly...Sure, she drinks alcohol, but not like an addict or anything, only on special occasions, and even the alcohol was less strong at times...

She only accepted some alcohol in the party, that part she can vaguely remember...She shook her head, "I never take drugs, ever...", suddenly remembering what Susan told her, and looked straight at Derek, "I never take drugs willingly! What did you do?! Tell me, Derek!", her finger poking Derek's chest sharply and painfully.

"I told you! You got drugged by one of the other guys at the party!", Derek tried to argue. Lacey was wide-eyed as she listened; half tempted to run out and yell that he tried to assault her when they went on their one date the night before. But she stayed still and kept eavesdropping.

'"Tara, you...you didn't consent willingly... Tara, he fucking bragged about raping you to his buddies! He said he drugged your drink that night and then you tried to fight and all, but he ended up binding and gagging you!"' Susan's words kept echoing in Tara's head. In less than a moment, something snapped. Derek soon found himself in Tara's grip as she was slowly squeezing the life out of him.

"YOU RAPED ME, DEREK! YOU DRUGED ME, THEN BOUND AND GAGGED ME AND THEN YOU RAPED ME! YOUR OWN FIANCE! I LOVED YOU! I WAS GIVING EVERYTHING TO YOU!", Tara roared.

Derek pleaded, "DON'T KILL ME, PLEASE! TARA, PLEASE!", struggling to breathe and fight, and Tara snarled, "You were supposed to be there for me! Instead, you were selfish for your needs! You are a fucking bastard!".

Derek spats back, "You are a monster! You are a bitch of a monster, and I'll be glad to get rid of you! I hate being in your shadow, literally! I don't even want to be a father to a monster brat! I used you, fine! I did it! I drugged you, bound and gagged you! I raped you! Women are supposed to fall all over me, but you, I knew there was something wrong with you, even before all of this changed!".

Tara's eyes widened, her heart breaking in a trillion pieces as she now remembered everything and threw Derek hard against one of the vents on the rooftop, sobbing and crying as she ran to the edge of the building and jumped, shifting back to 50 ft, running furiously to nowhere.

Lacey was herself shocked, horrified, and devastated, realizing that one of her fellow women, even if she's a giant, is not any different to any women who was in the same situation or similar at least...She heard Derek groaning in pain, whimpering as he's injured in quite a few places, with his previous leg injury re-broken again.

Lacey narrowed her eyes, and then noticed something out of her eye, and looked down, widening her eyes in surprise when she realized that her recorder was on all this time, and raised an eyebrow, deciding to leave Derek for a long while before she pretends to ask someone to go up and check on Derek, figuring out a plan somehow to out Derek for good, but she doesn't want to put the confession on camera...

After all, it is Tara's business too...Lacey is too humble to do it to her like that...She whispers to herself, sighing heavily, "I hope she is okay...".

Meanwhile, Tara, exhausted, horrified, upset, mad, sad, and much more, was having tunnel vision, crying and sobbing as she fell down to her knees somewhere in a field, hugging herself before feeling the baby bump, and realizing that she doesn't want to raise a child of rape, especially from that bastard, barely noticing a water tower, and ripping part of it, going to harm herself by terminating.

"I'm sorry...", Tara sobbed as she felt anger. "I know you're as unwitting in all of this... but I just can't let his... spawn come into this world... especially since he's probably already infected you...". She started to aim the chuck of steel that she had in her hands and was ready to stab herself.

"Tara! Don't!", Bucky screamed as he tried to stop her. Tara didn't hear him, having that tunnel vision, and got closer, and Bucky ran furiously, shifting into his large wolf form, hating to do this, but bit into Tara's hand, startling Tara to drop the chunk of metal, and out of her tunnel vision.

Tara blinked, seeing the bite mark on her hand, seeing Bucky, and then the chunk of metal. Screaming out loud, shrinking down and huddling into a ball, sobbing as Tara realized that she was about to murder an innocent life like that, her own baby!

"Tara!", Bucky got up to her and shifted back to his normal human form. "What the hell were you trying to do there? Kill yourself!?", he shouted as Tara sobbed.

"N-no... kill my baby...", Tara admitted as Bucky was horrified to hear that. "She was right, Bucky... Susan was right from that night... and I didn't believe her! I want to die!", she screamed.

Bucky didn't hear the conversation as well as he could, having been several floors down from the rooftop in the fire escape, but there were moments he heard clearly when she was enraged. He jumped down from the fire escape in his wolf form, running as fast as he could after Tara, barely making it in time.

Bucky dropped to his knees, caressing Tara's shoulder, "No, Tara...You cannot do that to me, to your sister, to your parents, to our friends...We all love you...You are not a monster, not a murderer, and you are not going to die. We all need you here...Your son needs you...He's still you, Tara.".

"But I don't want him, Bucky! What if he just ends up being like Derek, even if I raised him perfectly? What's in Derek's head that made him like that? What if he passed it on to our son? I don't want that, Bucky! I don't!", Tara sobbed.

Bucky sighed heavily, trying to think of something before he thinks of an idea to snap her out of it...He hopes he will not get slapped for it...

Bucky quietly asked, "Wouldn't you want him if it was only a simple drunk night, with one of the other guys yet with exceptions? Dr. C...Link...me...", knowing that there were alcohol rewards if the guys were on good behavior, back in prison...He himself got drunk admittedly a few times when he was homesick and even after nightmares of the war and all.

"Bucky...", Tara tried to speak but just couldn't slow down her crying. "It's not like a drunken mistake... I was violated! Raped! Derek took what should've been a special moment for me and I can never get it back! All that I have for it now is a growing... fetus... whose own father doesn't want... I've lost everything tonight, Bucky! My fiancé, my future... maybe even my family when they learn...".

"Tara! Don't think like that! You know they'd never hold this against you! Susan... she...", Bucky bit his lip, thinking maybe it wasn't a good idea to spill the beans that Susan already told him and Mo about what happened weeks before, behind her back. But... it may also somewhat save her, at least knowing that Susan was still there for her even after all this pain and suffering Derek caused.

Bucky then nodded to himself, "Tara...Susie told me. Steve and Peggy already knew. And I told Mo, but we never told the others...I'm sorry...But Susan wanted to tell someone who would believe her, she didn't want to suffocate with the secret all alone...after what you did to her...She had forgiven you, but she didn't forget...".

Tara sniffled as she just rolled over. "And now I feel even worse for how I treated her... I defended Derek... Why did I side with him and not her? I should've known she'd never make that kind of accusation unless it was the truth.".

Bucky sighed as he slowly rubbed her back. "It's okay, Tara... I know you don't think it right now, but you're a strong woman... I mean, look at what you did today. You took that robot on with almost no fear, ran up its arm, ended up paving the way for the others to shut it down. You're a hero, Tara... and a good person.".