#i love that you can’t take a picture in volgograd without it looking like a nightmare

[skipp3r]

(Motherland Calls- Volgograd)

[medeafive]

i’d love if you could write anything about the early days when buck was still the winter soldier and nat was in the red room and him flinching and being on edge as she breaks through his mind control, i feel like it would be soft to see how gentle and careful and slow she would be with him and how unknowingly rough he’d be at first because he’s not used his body for anything other than violence for so long

Hey, sooo funny story... I started writing something in response to this and then it started getting loooong so I started writing something shorter (so you would at least have something) that's now winding up quite long, too.... So I'll post snippets of both here and post the whole stories when they're ready (you'll have to keep your eyes open for that, sorry).

Both are Red Room era fics. The first snippet is the start of the first fic, so that should be self-explanatory, and the second story is them getting snowed in in a cabin during a mission (classic) - so the punishment they'll refer to in the snippet below is for their targets getting away, they're not having an affair (yet).

Snippet 1 (Breaking)

The Winter Soldier has a weakness and Natasha Romanoff knows it.

It must seem like a small thing to the untrained eye, to the idiots behind the cameras in the training hall, but she knows better. She knows exactly how he flinched when her fingertips touched the inside of his right wrist, the human one, between the glove and the jacket sleeve, bare skin. A vulnerable spot. A soft spot. An intimate spot. It must have looked like she had somehow hurt him, through the cameras, but all she did was softly touch his skin.

And then she punched him in the face.

It's not a place for softness, the Red Room, not a place for flinching. It may seem small but it is a big thing, the biggest thing, the biggest possible weakness. He's human. Deep down, he's human. And she's going to break him.

She's not so sure about her own humanity anymore. She's been here for over a decade and this place has formed every part of her being. She is the last one, the strongest one, and they're not going to break her anymore but she worries sometimes about what they've already made her, what she has become.

Futile, of course. She needs to focus on what's ahead of her. The Winter Soldier is not allowed to kill her, she knows that, he's not even allowed to severely injure her. They didn't tell her the latter about him. She knows they did something to him, made him stronger, faster, more enduring, though they don't seem to quite understand it. He is all that but she can tell, while he's highly trained, he's not as highly trained as her. Worst of all, he's still somewhat human. He reminds her of herself a couple of years ago, when there were still some of the others around, when she didn't have that implacable façade yet. She almost feels bad for him.

The Red Room has changed a lot over the years but there is still only one locker room next to the training hall, and it still very purposefully has no cameras. Bad shit happened in here, again and again. But the Soldier doesn't even look at her when he takes his gear off and changes. She likes that about him. At first, she thought it was one of his inhuman traits, having no interest in seeing her naked, but maybe it's actually a human trait, not wanting to victimize her. She'll have to find out. She waits for the right opportunity and one day when she's late, he's already warming up, she doesn't take the opposite locker, she takes one on his side, not too far from his.

He trains her or she trains him or they both train each other, under the watchful camera eyes, and she's too busy dodging to touch him again. Plus, she really wants to see his reaction up close, without cameras. He's barely in the locker room before he discards his jacket and rips his shirt off, muscles glistening with sweat, she always admires the scars on his shoulder because she knows how painful that must have been, and she decides now is the time. She telegraphs her movement before she steps into his space, arms raised defensively, and he doesn't flinch but tenses, not looking at her. "You got a lash there," she says.

He doesn't say anything, only his eyes twitch, and she reaches out slowly, very slowly, she can tell he's breathing faster, and just when her fingertips touch his cheekbone, the one she punched a couple of days ago but is already fully healed, he flinches, hard. She pulls her hand back, pretending to look at her finger. "Oh. Lost it."

He meets her eyes and he clearly knows, knows he just showed an opening in his defenses he can never close, knows that she saw it, intended it, knows that she's the kind of person who'll dig her claws in and rip him apart. She takes a step back, holding his gaze, then pulls her shirt overhead. His eyes drop immediately, he clears his throat, focusing on his own stuff. She changes quietly, efficiently. He takes very long with his pants.

She leaves with an "until tomorrow," and they both know it's a threat.

Snippet 2 (Only Us And The Snow)

"What do you think they'll do to us?" she asks.

He shrugs with his right shoulder. "I don't know what they'll do to you."

"So you know what they'll do to you?"

His fingers tighten around the bowl, just the right ones. It would probably burst otherwise. "Yes."

She doesn't want to make him relive it. The skin on his knuckles still doesn't look good. "Do you want more ointment?"

He breathes out, perturbing the streams of steam. "Yes."

She gets up and gets the tube. He's already holding his hand out to her. He clearly likes this, even though he still flinches at times. Likes being touched. "Anything I can do?" she asks quietly, caressing his knuckles.

He gives her a confused look. Of course. "About your punishment," she specifies.

He shakes his head slowly, watching her fingers work. "About anything else?" she tries.

He breathes out, not taking his eyes off her hands. Maybe he'd like to be touched more. He won't tell her, though. She tries to think of more excuses but can't come up with any right now. "Your hands are warm," he says slowly.

His is cold, even if she rubs it. She nods, waiting for him to say more, but he doesn't. "I'm used to the cold."

"I hate it," he says.

She dips between his knuckles. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He flinches. "I- I hate it."

"Then you should take the second blanket," she replies. "I don't really need it."

He nods. She lets go of his hand but he doesn't drop it, so she takes it again, now inspecting the back of his hand. "Is it cold? Where you are from in America?"

He looks at her with confusion. "Where I am from?"

"You must be from somewhere," she points out.

He shakes his head. "I don't know."

She presses both of her hands around his. "Would you like me to tell you? Where I'm from?"

"Yes," he says, somewhat too fast.

"Mhm." She takes her right hand off his to grab the tea bowl and take a sip. "Well. I was born in Volgograd, back when it was called Stalingrad. You know it?"

"Yeah," he says. "It's not that cold."

"Haven't been there in a long time," she admits. "I remember it basically in ruins. Everywhere I trained was much colder, at least in my memory.”

“And where were you next?” he asks.

“Everywhere,” she replies, stilling the movement of her hands. “Everywhere.”

“Yeah,” he agrees. “Me too.”

She chuckles. “It’s almost poetic. Now Stalingrad is Volgograd and I am now… this, and you don’t even know what you were before.”

“I was never anything else,” he says.

“Are you sure of that?” she questions.

He flinches, pulling his hand back. She doesn’t push it, instead getting up to put the checkers board back in the pantry. He stares out of the window. The snow is not really getting any less thick. She throws a few small logs into the fire so it won't die. She's used to waiting, too. Waiting in the cold.

"What were you?" he asks tensely. "Before?"

"A dancer," she says, not caring whether it's true. She has developed her doubts over the years. "Long ago."

He frowns, staring at the dancing snowflakes. Maybe he's trying to picture it. "Really?"

"I'm not sure," she admits. "No way to know."

"So you don't- you don't really know you ever were- anything else," he states.

"No, I know that," she replies. "I feel it. In my bones."

"I don't feel it," he admits.

"I do," she says. "I feel it in you."

He flinches hard. It scares him. "I thought you're not scared of me," she remarks.

He breathes out, doesn't reply. She shrugs, poking around in the fire, stirring it up. "Fine. Don't talk to me."

"I'm not scared of you," he insists.

"What are you scared of, then?" she questions.

"Feeling," he says. "Punishment."

She dissolves her braid. "Only us and the snow."

[darylandbethfanforever9]

Downfall Of Us All: Chapter 13

Downfall Of Us All

Chapter 13

AN: Sorry, for the wait. I’ve been feeling down recently. I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter.

"Yeah, we know her, she's the bitch who stabbed me and killed our two children. I'll deal with her," Clint said darkly, a dangerous expression on his face. Something told Lilia that Clint would not make Laura's death quick, no he'd make it painful and slow. "Her real name is Ekaterina Kravchenko, she was born in Russia, Stalingrad which is now known as Volgograd. She was born on the 4th of July 1986," Lilia said grimly, showing a picture of Laura on the screen.

"We don't have a lot of information on Laura, what we do know is that she's dangerous and she's a master spy. We believe that these two are operating the program together, and we need to be careful. These people are dangerous." She said warningly, when she heard her phone ring.

It was her father, Mihai Dumitrescu. "Excuse me, I just need to take these phone call." Lilia said quietly, moving out of the room, causing everyone to stare. "Who's that on the phone to her?" Scott Lang asked curiously, Tony shook his head at him warningly. "Her dad, Dr Mihai Dumitrescu. He lives in Romania, Budapest but he does a lot of volunteer work in third world and war-torn countries. He's in Sokovia, at the minute." Tony explained quietly, as he took over the meeting.

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"Papa, are you alright?" Lilia asked worriedly, her father wasn't exactly a young man anymore but that didn't stop him from helping people. God bless him, she was proud of her father and his kindness. "I'm fine, Lily. I've just finished a surgery, it's complete chaos over here again. Serbia is fighting for control of Sokovia again, people are terrified." Mihai said concerned. Lilia felt her chest tighten at his words, and she heard alarms going off, she frowned. "Papa, what's going on?" She asked anxiously, worry surging through her like a firestorm. She felt worried for her father's safety. "It's nothing, that explosion wasn't anywhere near us. I love you, Lilia," Mihai said quickly, knowing he didn't have long. "I love you too, papa." Lilia said bravely and wiped her eyes as the line went dead. She sat still for a moment, before sobbing quietly into her hands. Her dad had to be alright, he had to be. He was her hero, he always came home safe and well.

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"The Extrimis serum killed this woman, the baby was born stillborn as a result. Given what they've used, it seems they're improving because the latest victims gave birth without any complications." Helen informed the team, and Fury. "So, what killed them?" Steve asked wearily, Helen sighed grimly and pulled down the sheet, so they could see the third victim's throat. "Yulia Zarhenkova's throat was slit, minutes after giving birth. The same MO was done to Nadia Nadarević, and Elena Nikolayev." Helen said grimly, and swallowed. "Tony, there's no easy way to say this but Pepper is pregnant with your baby. When we explained to Pepper's doctor what was going on, she informed her doctor that she was pregnant. She was.... scheduled to have an abortion today, at 2:30 PM." Helen explained gently. Tony's face turned cold at her words, he'd always wanted children with Pepper. It was why he'd become like a father to Peter, and Pepper was planning to abort their baby? "Could the baby survive? Despite the Extrimis?" He asked quickly, urgency in his voice. "It's possible, you did have the Arc Reactor and it could have genetic impact on your baby," Helen said carefully. Tony nodded, and swallowed as he looked at the rest of the team who were in shock. "I need to be alone, just for a few hours." He said numbly and headed to his lab. No one stopped him.

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"So, patient twenty-five is pregnant along with patient twenty-six, and you're sure our candidate isn't the father?" Dr Lozchenko asked intently, Laura nodded. "Positive, the fathers are Iron Man and Thor. The two women were scheduled to have abortions, neither of them wanted the child." Laura confirmed smoothly, a smile on her face. This was their advantage. Once the two women were in the late stages of pregnancy, they would induce them. The Avengers would be distracted. It was perfect.

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"So, you wanted to kill your baby with Tony Stark? And you wanted to kill your baby with Thor? Looks like you two aren't such nice women." Rumlow said cruelly, eying the two women who were hooked up on IV drips. Jane sobbed openly, she didn't want children and that was why she'd broken up with Thor for the final time. He wanted children, she didn't. Pepper said nothing, she was too busy staring at Rumlow who was absently running his hand over her stomach. "None of you three are like my girl. She's beautiful, she's got light blonde hair, and big china blue eyes. Plus, she's got breasts that I'd loved biting and cutting. You should hear the sounds she made, and she put up more of a fight then you two did." He said viciously and pulled out a video camera. He looked at her coldly and forced her out of the bed. She got up shakily, feeling nervous. "Strip for me. And I'll give you a taste?" He offered teasingly, Pepper was shocked at what he was offering.

"What?" Pepper stared at him in shock. Rumlow grabbed a handful of her strawberry blonde, dragging her out of the room and pulling out the IV while she cried out in pain. Dragging her into the next room, with sterile white walls and a narrow bed, he slung her out into the floor. "Let's make a deal," he told her, grinning. "You want to make things easier for yourself? You tell me things about Tony and you tell me things about a certain…" Looking at the phone in his hand, he read, "Lilia Dumitrescu." Pepper stared at him in confusion from the floor. "She's a new employee at Stark Industries… I interviewed her, but I don't know a lot else. She's a new addition to the AI team." "Whatever you've got," he told her, "whatever you know about her. About him. Tell me and make things easier for me here and things will go better for you." "So tell you what I want to know and… not fight you?" Pepper wanted to make sure she understood what he was saying. "Yeah," he smirked. "The intel I'll get from you either way. The easy way or the hard way?" Pepper started to quietly cry, wanting an end to this nightmare. "I… I thought you liked it… when we fought you." "I have the other two for that," he said, seeming amused. "Besides, that can't be easy on an older gal like yourself. What do you say?" Shaking, Pepper thought over her options. It didn't take her long to reach a decision. She nodded. Rumlow's face lit up. "Stand up." Pepper climbed unsteadily to her feet, trying to stop her tears since they were pointless. "Now, strip," he ordered. Pepper pulled the hospital gown off and sat down onto the bed.

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Sophie, since she was little had used cooking to calm her nerves. It was barely working today but it was working. With each day bringing some fresh horror, she needed to do something to feel normal again. Grace caught her making dinner, smiled and jumped right in. They were so used to working together in the kitchen, long hours side by side and it was a small bit of comfort for them. Natasha came to grab the remains of her green smoothie from the fridge, grinning at finding them there. "What in the world are you two up to?" the gorgeous spy asked with a grin. "It smells wonderful." "Dinner," Sophie told her. "Something so I can feel like me again." "It doesn't hurt that we have everything imaginable in here," Grace told Nat with a wink. "Beef Wellington," Sophie told the spy. "With brussels sprouts and baby carrots. Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. And a cake to die for, pun intended, for dessert." Nat raised a brow but still looked very happy. "Let's talk portions, have you seen how much these guys can eat?" Nat wondered aloud. Sophie nodded. "Well, I've been thinking about that. I'm sure with their enhanced metabolisms, the super-soldiers have quite an appetite." "Bucky does," Nat winked at Sophie. "Clint, however, is the bottomless pit. At least he was before… Okay, let's make a plan here." "You cook?" Grace asked. "Hell, no. I can burn water. But no one has ever been able to out plan me," Natasha assured them. "Fair enough," Sophie told her with a grin. "Let's make that plan." And what a plan it was. It involved adjusting numbers and thank goodness they had time to pull more off, coming up with a salad, and the perfect wine. "We should have a movie night," Nat told them. "It would be a perfect way to finish up a meal like this. What do you think?" The sisters nodded, happy. Steve happened by as he came looking to see if anything had been planned. His face lit up to see the bustle in the kitchen. "What's going on in here?" he came to stop, hands on hips. "Dinner, Cap," Nat told him. "A home-cooked meal," he told them. "Sounds great. What can I do to help?" Steve started carrying platters out to the sideboard and table in the dining room. Nat winked at Sophie. "You couldn't have come up with anything better to charm Bucky," Nat told Sophie. "Good job." Sophie felt her face heat up. "I thought everyone would maybe enjoy it." "Especially Bucky. Come on. You know he likes you," Nat told her. Glancing past the spy, Gracie was nodding her agreement.

Sophie said nothing but smiled happily, as she started focusing on the dessert while Grace and Natasha helped with it. The large Beef Wellington was cooking in the industrialised, oven in the large kitchen. The Beef Wellington finished cooking, and she took it out of the oven, before putting it on a plate. It was steaming hot, and the pastry was perfect. "The Wellington's done, and so are the vegetables, and sauce. Just need to get the cake in the oven," Sophie said relieved, Grace and Natasha smiled. Once the chocolate cake was prepared into the baking tray, they put it in the oven, and set the timer. Natasha, Grace and Sophie put the food on the table. "Holy shit, that smells good." Tony said hungrily, he and Lilia had been looking over all of the files, Clint and Grace had found in the HYDRA base but so far had no more luck. "The cake will be ready after we've eaten, it's just in the oven." Sophie said softly, seeing Bucky sitting down next to her, and she gave him a shy smile. He smiled back, and passed her the plate with vegetables as she put some on her plate. She then passed it to Grace, who had some and gave it to Clint. It was like a proper family having dinner.

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Bucky honestly thought he would burst out of his jeans, after eating the deliciously cooked Beef Wellington with steam cooked vegetables, asparagus and hollandaise sauce. He had to unbutton his jeans, but he still had room in his stomach for the chocolate fudge cake that Sophie, Grace and Natasha had cooked. "Damn, that meal was better than what restaurants serve up," Bucky said amazed, Sophie smiled at him as the timer went off, and she went to get the cake out. The smell of dark chocolate wafted through the air, causing everyone's mouths to drool in hunger. Bucky actually felt his stomach growl in hunger. "I don't usually eat chocolate, but I'm letting go for tonight." Bruce declared seriously, and Sophie came out with the cake. It sat on a cake stand, smelling and looking delicious as she cut slices for everyone. Bucky bit into it, and felt the fudge melt on his tongue, bringing back memories. His mother and Steve's mother, both baking cakes for them on special occasions. Or, when it was their birthday, or to celebrate something. "This is delicious, dolls. You three knocked yourselves out." Bucky said impressed, causing them to smile. And Sophie smiled, her blonde bangs falling over her forehead. He smiled back at her.

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Unsurprisingly, there was still a lot of chocolate cake and once everyone got changed into their pyjamas for the night. The team were trying to decide what movie to watch.

Horror films were out of the question, considering what they'd found out. Clint didn't feel like being scared tonight and sat on the velvet sofa next to Grace. Lucky sat on his dog bed, with Salem, Starling and Custard all dosing off, while Tom sat on the armrest. The fluffy black and white cat, lightly snoring. The other cats, were sitting on people's laps, or on the sofas. Wanda had Patch on her lap, while Bruce had Paul on his chest. Bucky and Sophie had Bonnie, and Jack. Thor and Loki had two Norwegian Forest cats sitting on them, both were so fluffy it was like fluff mania. Loki stroked the cat affectionately. Sam, Sharon, Steve, Natasha, and Helen were all sitting comfortably on two other sofas. While, Tony and Lilia sat next to each other comfortably, and her ginger cat sat by them, Rubio. "Can we watch a funny film? I really don't wanna watch Alien VS Predator." Scott said uncomfortable, the film had always freaked him out. "How about Star Wars?" Peter suggested optimistically.

"Star Wars." Tony raised his brows. "Original trilogy? Prequel trilogy? Or sequel?" "No," Clint called. "I veto the prequel trilogy. It sucked!" "The one with Qui-gon? That one's good," Peter argued. "Which one had the teddy bear planet?" Wanda asked, snuggling with the cat. "I liked that one." "What is Star Wars?" Thor asked curiously. Tony rolled his eyes. Natasha got up from her place, walked by Tony to the console and simply typed in an entry. Tony turned around to see Jurassic World load up. Then he looked really excited, clapping his hands together. "Yes! Watch this, guys," he said, further typing into the console. When the room darkened, Grace looked around, seeing minor projections behind them, all around the room. As the opening sequel started it looked completely 3D. "Oh wow, Tony!" Clint was excited. "How the hell did you do this?" "Well, as I was developing B.A.R.F, I thought wouldn't it be neat to use this for 3D movies for that fully immersive experience?" "Wait, can we do this with pornos too?" Clint teased, Nat slung a pillow that narrowly missed Grace and hitting Clint in the face. "It's not a bad idea," Sam threw in there prompting Sharon to shove him off the couch. "Children!" Nat yelled. Steve and Bucky looked fascinated by the technology, especially one of the four raptors appeared to have walked around the couch. Thor looked around with wide eyes, trying to decide if any of it was really. Loki, shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

By the time, the teen and his younger brother were stranded in the park, Nat had snuck into the kitchen and made three huge bowls of popcorn, passing those around while everyone watched the action all around them, the sound lending an atmosphere that truly was immersive. Steve kept his eye on Bucky who seemed a little nervous at first but who came around pretty quickly, only occasionally ducked and dodged. Grace noticed him grin at them later, then she saw why. Sophie's hand was tucked into Bucky's. That was a good thing she thought. Grace had curled into Clint's side, so he threw his arm around the back of the couch, so she could be more comfortable. By the time the new mutant dinosaur came on the scene, his arm was just wrapped around her, pulling her even closer. Feeling so safe and comfortable wasn't something Grace felt a lot since the loss of her parents. It was nice, and she enjoyed it, letting it lull her in a happy place. She dozed against Clint, catching him looking at her in her peripheral vision.

He smiled at her, and she smiled back as they watched the film. It was very suspenseful in parts, particularly when it was revealed the mutant dinosaur had raptor DNA. The film ended with Claire and Owen left the hospital, bit Grace couldn't wait to watch the sequel. It had been enjoyable, and the team wanted to watch another film. So, they decided on Star Wars: Return of the Jedi with the cute teddy bears. 'I can get used to this, I can,' Grace thought peacefully, and leaned into Clint, who held her close.

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Sophie sat next to Bucky as Star Wars: Return of the Jedi played, she could see Grace drawing cake designs on her sketchbook, and she had ideas too. Like plans for an Ewok and C - 3PO cake, or just generally a Star Wars themed cake. She fondly remembered for Peter's tenth birthday, they’d hosted a Star Wars themed birthday party for him. "Aww, these teddy bears are so cute. Look at how cute they are," Wanda said adoringly, Lance Hunter rolled his eyes as he watched the film with them. "Darth Vader redeemed himself, I believe." Thor said quietly, as they saw Darth Vader grabbing Palpatine and throwing him into the electrical grid. Everyone nodded in agreement, Bucky sat next to Sophie as they watched the ending of the film. Luke cremating his father and celebrating with the others. "And the moral of the story?" Loki asked intrigued, he had secretly enjoyed this film, as much as it pained him. "That people can always change, Loki." Sophie answered softly, and squeezed Bucky's left hand tightly, Bucky felt his heart swell with emotion towards her. She was a very special dame.

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Sophie and Grace took the team to visit the Melnychenko Drăgoi cake bakery and were shocked by what Tony's renovation team had done to their store. It was beautiful, and it had that homey feel around the shop that only their parents could bring to the store with Zach. Three framed photos hung behind the store, of their parents and Zach. Grace felt tears of happiness sting her eyes, as she stared at their beloved store. She looked at Tony who had his hands in his pockets and pulled him into a hug. Sophie joined the hug, and the two women hugged him tightly. Tony seemed to understand what they were saying silently, and hugged them back. "Tony, we can't thank you enough. How much do we owe you?" Sophie asked thickly, trying not to burst into tears. The store felt like home, like their parents were here with them. Tony looked at them both seriously and smiled genuinely at the two young women. "Could you make me a cake? Anything that had chocolate and coffee in it?" He asked hopefully.

"Every day if you like," Sophie told him, swiping at her face with the back of her hand. Grace ducked behind the counter with her and they got to work while the others took a look around the bakery. Bucky caught Sophie's attention, pointing to Zach's photo on the wall. "Is that Zach?" Sophie nodded quietly, not wanting to draw Grace's attention while she helped her to get the cake started. Bucky stared up at the image with sad eyes, studying it for the longest time. "You knew him, didn't you? Rumlow?" Sophie asked quietly. Bucky nodded. "He was part of Pierce's S.T.R.I.K.E. team. I knew him very well. Fortunately, Zach has Grace's eyes." Sophie knew that was true. "What is he like?" Grace had cut them a glance, but Sophie was reasonably sure her sister didn't know who they were talking about. Bucky moved closer as she got out flour, baking powder, and eggs. "World-class combatant," Bucky said keeping his voice low. "He could street fight, knew martial arts. He was a tough son-of-a-bitch. At least he was until the Triskelion fell. He was supposed to take out Steve, with my help. That didn't work out so well for him." Bucky watched her work, while Grace chatted happily with Nat, Steve, and Clint. "You worked with him?" Sophie wanted to know. "I wouldn't word it like that, doll," Bucky explained. "I wasn't his equal. I wasn't even his subordinate. I was a tool he wielded like the rest of them. I wasn't even considered… human." Sophie's heart sank. "You know that's not true, right? You are so much more than they made you believe." "Was I?" Bucky dropped his gaze, looked embarrassed to be there. "You're a hero," Sophie told him. "No matter what happened during those years HYDRA held you captive." "I don't know what your history books told you, doll," he whispered. "But it wasn't that I was a hero." "Don't argue with a lady," Steve said quietly as he passed by, winking at Sophie. Sophie grinned at that. "Not that I'm one to disagree with the captain, but I think your status as a hero or not is dependent on perspective. You're a hero to me." "What did I do to earn that?" Bucky asked, a corner of his mouth tipping up. "Well, you're my mentor, aren't you?" Sophie asked, beginning to mix her dry ingredients. "You didn't sign up for that. At least, I know you didn’t. But you had to take on a scared, unwitting child of HYDRA agents. All you've done is watch over me, try to comfort me, keep me safe. What is it that a hero does again?" Bucky fought a smile, wasn't quite successful. "So how long have you had this shop? How long were you working in here?"

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"We've owned the store since we emigrated here from Ukraine, Odessa. Our parents were worried about the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster, so we moved here in 2001. My parents had saved up money, and we opened the Melnychenko Drăgoi cake shop." Sophie said fondly, thinking of her parents.

Bucky smiled at her words, he could see how much she loved her parents and she wiped her eyes.

"The third and fourth photographs are of our grandparents, mama's parents and papa's parents. We never got to know them, they died before we were born," She explained quietly, seeing his questioning look.

Bucky squeezed her hand tightly, his own maternal grandparents had been killed during the Holocaust for Jewish and Romani. It left a bitter taste on his tongue. Because once again, children were being ripped from their mothers, and fathers. He hated the new President, and what he stood for

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