Chapter One

"Finish it. 'Cause I'm with you 'til the end of the line."

Bucky Barnes emitted a strangled cry as he was jerked into reality from his nightmare—a nightmare that not a year ago had been his actuality. He pushed his hair from his forehead, his hand becoming slick with sweat. There was a timid knock on the door and a few seconds later a blonde head poke through the door.

"Another nightmare?" Bucky simply nodded as he unfolded his legs from the sheets. "You need to remember what I told you, Buck, that it—"

"It wasn't me. It wasn't my fault. Thanks Steve, but that doesn't really help. I may not have been able to control my actions, but I am stuck with the memories." All the pain and chaos that I had caused… he cast a glance at down at his left arm, composed entirely of metal and tried to gather his thoughts. When he looked up Steve's eyes had drifted to Bucky's unorthodox appendage as well. Bucky cleared his throat gently and Steve sighed heavily.

"It's going to get better, I'm not saying that it's going to be easy, but things will get better, and besides, HYDRA is gone." Steve gave his best friend a knowing smile. "Anyway, Stark sent me to get you he has something to show you, I guess."

Bucky groaned. He had a short temper and his fuse was practically non-existent when it came to Tony Stark. Bucky could only take so much. Steve laughed as Bucky threw on a shirt and trudged down the hall to Stark's lab.

"Ahh, there he is! Winter is coming!" Tony announced as Bucky appeared in the room, as he did every day since Steve cohered him to move into Avenger Tower. Bucky groaned again, and Tony laughed heartily at his own joke.

"Did you call me down here just with the purpose of spouting off that lame joke, or is there a reason?" Tony took awhile to regain himself and Bucky tried his hardest not to whack him off of the stool he was perched on.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep last night, so I created this holographic anomaly to that will disguise your arm and make it look like normal flesh and blood."

Bucky brightened at Tony's words. "Are you serious?" Tony nodded, a smile of satisfaction painting his face. "Yep, so no more wearing long sleeves and gloves when we go out, Tin Man," Bucky barely registered the wisecrack about his arm. "Which is good, because you sort of looked like the Unabomber. Especially with that hair… when are you going to get a haircut?"

"When it will be ready?" Bucky asked, unable to contain the excitement in his voice.

"It's already finished," Tony's smug smile widened. "Shall we try it?" Hell yes, Bucky thought. Bucky positioned himself in the seat that Tony had just vacated and he began to attach wires into his arm and was tapping away furiously at a screen. He directed JARVIS to begin uploading the holographic function and Bucky got more excited by the second. Steve had been trying to get Bucky out in the world and experience the 21st century as a newly reformed Soviet assassin, but having a conspicuous metal arm had made that tough.

"Okay, let's give it a try," Tony said finally as he disconnected the mass of wires from the arm. He began to furiously tap away at a number of buttons on the screen once again and then he stared at Bucky's arm in trepidation. Bucky was beginning to think that it wouldn't work when the metallic sheen of his arm was replaced with the projected image of flesh. Bucky gaped at his left arm, slack jawed in awe.

"Am I good or am I great?" Tony said, clapping his hand on Bucky's shoulder.

"Tony, I have no idea how to thank you… I—" Bucky struggled to find appropriate words. Tony waved off his fumbling attempt. "You're welcome." Tony said with deep sincerity in his eyes, as he handed Bucky a small remote that controlled the holograph. It was moments like these when Bucky was reminded of why he liked Tony Stark. Behind the cheesy one liners, he was a genuine person. Bucky nodded and flashed him another smile before he left the room.

He was intent on finding Steve to he could proudly present his arm to him. Steve was seated at the kitchen table, with his nose buried in the newspaper, mumbling indignantly about the inflation in today's world.

"Steve!" Bucky all but shouted as he burst into the room. "Steve, look!" His jaw dropped and he slowly set the paper on the table. The look of surprise on his face slowly turned to one of confusion. "How?"

"Stark! He created this holographic function so I can disguise my real arm." Bucky flexed his arm, watching it excitedly. "I mean, it's still metal, but you know, this makes going outside a lot easier. I won't get any more questions or curious stares." Fearful was a more apt word.

Steve met Bucky's eyes, his excitement rising to meet Bucky's. "Bucky, this is amazing," Steve reached out, as if to touch his arm, but then he thought better of it and pulled his arm away.

"Yeah, it's nice that I can pretend that I was never a brain washed assassin that tried to kill his best friend," Bucky joked, but he saw hurt flash through Steve's eyes as he remembered. Dammit, maybe I shouldn't joke. Steve gathered his emotions and pasted a smile on his face.

"We should test it out; come on, let's go get breakfast."

x x x

If I ignore it, it will go away, Raelynn thought hopefully as she tugged her comforter over her head, a vain attempt to muffle the blaring alarm clock. It didn't work. And to add insult to injury, a high pitched mew had joined the shrieking alarm.

Rae groaned into her pillow. Nooooo. A fuzzy face and an equally fuzzy set of paws found their way under the blankets and the mewing intensified. "Okay, okay! I'll feed you if you shut the heck up!" Scooping up the overexcited Russian Blue kitten, Rae shut off the alarm and then padded her way down the hall to the kitchen. The tiny kitten meowed gratefully as Rae poured food into her bowl and immediately began to scarf if down.

"You're welcome, Boots." Rae let out a huge yawn as she raided the fridge for her own breakfast. After finally settling on toast, Rae made her way to the bathroom with Boots quietly in tow. "Are you going to help me get ready for work?" The cat pounced onto the countertop as and cocked her head to the side. She knocked over a tube of mascara and a palette of eyeshadow with a satisfied meow.

Rae rolled her eyes. "Thanks." She methodically got ready for her day, mentally preparing herself for the hectic atmosphere of the popular café that she worked part-time. I can't wait to serve impatient, stingy tippers.

"Alright, Boots, I'm off to the café. Hold down the fort for me while I'm gone." Rae smiled to herself as she locked the door behind her and walked down the hall. Rae's feet aimlessly dragged her six blocks to the café.

Emilie, a waitress that worked with her greeted her with a tight smile as Rae came in the door. "Hey, Rae. The café is booming today," she threw a nod at the crowded restaurant before she rushed off with a stack of plates balanced on her arm. Rae groaned internally.

Rae went into the servers' locker room and changed into her uniform top and tied her apron around her waist as if she were preparing for battle. With her pad out and a patient smile on her lips, Rae ventured out into the dining area and addressed the first two people that we in her section.

"Hello, I'm Rae. I'm your waitress, what can I get you today?"

"Hi, Rae! I would really love some pancakes right now," the blonde man said brightly. Rae quickly made a note of it on her pad and then she diverted her attention to the blonde man's dark haired friend. "Good choice. What about you, what can I get you?" He had been staring intently at Rae the whole time, but when she met his eyes, he quickly looked away when Rae addressed him.

"Er… coffee. Coffee's fine for me." He mumbled.

"Okay! Be back with those, gentlemen." Rae smiled at both of them and then went to place their orders. She returned ten minutes later, placing down plates and a cup. "I brought you a muffin on the house, just in case you change your mind. Enjoy!" With that, she was off to attend to other tables.

x x x

Bucky slid into the booth opposite Steve and watched him excitedly explore the menu. "I want pancakes. I think that I'm going to get pancakes." Steve said happily. "They have really good pancakes."

Bucky was tempted to make a joke about how he had missed pancakes during his stint as a brainwashed hired gun, but he thought better of it.

Steve laid down the menu. "So has Natasha still been harassing you?" Bucky nodded and Steve chuckled. "Yeah, she was pestering me about asking a girl out for awhile. Finally, I asked Sharon out."

"Your neighbor that turned out to be a SHIELD agent that also happened to be Peggy Carter's niece?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"Mm." Bucky ran his finger along his left arm. I'm pretty sure that no one can handle this arm, or the baggage that comes with it. He was about to change the subject when he was interrupted by a slightly accented voice.

"Hello, I'm Rae. I'm your waitress, what can I get you today?" Bucky made the mistake of looking at her. Whoa. He didn't even realize that he had been staring at her dark red hair and amber brown eyes. Am I staring? Shit, I think I'm staring. Stop staring! He wrenched his gaze from the waitresses' bright red hair and he became captivated by the fiberglass table. Wait, didn't she ask me a question? Oh, crap. What do you want, Bucky? Answer!

"Er, coffee. Coffee's fine for me." Bucky managed to spill out, avoiding her eyes. He didn't look up until Rae had vanished from the table. Handled that well, he thought.

"Well, that was painful to watch," Steve said after a second.

"Shut up."

"Wow, Buck. You're off your game." Steve stifled his laughter. "She was pretty though." He said as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, god. You sound just like Natasha." Bucky attempted to look casual as he looked out of the window.

"Sorry, sorry, I know that you have other things on your mind. I'll stop and I'll tell Nat to as well."

"Thanks." Bucky mumbled. She was really pretty though. If I was my old self, I'd have flirted with her easily. But I'm not my old self... This stupid arm ruins everything.

He was jerked out of his bout of self loathing when a blueberry muffin was thrust in front of him. "I brought you a muffin, just in case you change your mind." And then she disappeared after placing Steve's pancakes in front of him.

"She brought you a muffin."

"Shut up." Bucky repeated, but he smiled in spite of himself.

x x x

"Seriously though, you should ask her out." Steve said as they returned to Avengers Tower.

"He should ask who out? Cara from Logistics?" Natasha Romanoff's voice came from the couch.

"No, this waitress lady from the café down the street."

"The one with the dark red hair and Romanian accent? Ohhh…" Natasha wiggled her eyebrows.

Seriously, what was with these people? "How did you know that?"

"Really? I'm a spy. I know everything, Barnes."

"Ugh, I'm going to my room." Once in the quiet confines of his room, Bucky sat on his bed. Maybe I should ask her out… he looked down at his arm. Or not.

x x x

Rae happily shoved her uniform back into her locker and changed her shirt. After a long day of being on her feet serving people food, she just wanted to lie in bed with her cat and read.

"You have the late shift tomorrow, right?" Emilie questioned as she popped into the room.

"Yes, I have classes tomorrow." Rae groaned as she realized that she still had a paper that she had yet to finish. Well, looks like I'm pulling an all nighter.

"Too bad, you might not get to see that cute guy that was staring at you this morning."

"Oh, the one that came in with the blonde guy that looks an awful lot like Captain America? Yeah, he was cute," Rae giggled at how flustered he seemed to get whenever she said something to him.

"I think that he has a crush on you. You should have seen the way that he stared at you, girl." Emilie shut her locker door. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow girl." She wiggled her fingers at Rae as she walked out the door.

Rae laughed again at Emilie's declaration. It was pretty flattering to think that some shaggy stranger had a crush on her, but really, flirting with customers was part of her job description. It had worked too; she'd gotten a pretty generous tip from the duo. She walked home, her mind a haze of random cute boys and the dread of writing papers.

Boots lovingly greeted her as she opened the door, immediately rubbing herself against her leg. The kitten let out a sharp mew as Rae picked it up. "I know, I know, hold on a minute, will you?" After feeding the impatient animal as fast as she could, she set about to procrastinating by emerging herself into a much deserved bubble bath.

She had planned to stay in the bathtub forever, but that proved to be impossible when you were in the possession of a nine month old kitten. Boots was frantically meowing and wildly jabbing her paws underneath the door. Sigh…

"Stop worrying," Rae said, opening the door. "I'm alive, although I probably won't be after I finish working on this paper." Rae sat down at her desk and began to work on her paper, her lids growing heavier with each word that she typed. So sleepy… let me just close my eyes for two minutes…

Two minutes elapsed into two hours and eventually Rae didn't open her eyes again well into the next morning.

"Shit!" Rae sat upright in her chair, knocking over various papers in the process. "Shit!" Rae uttered again as she dared to glance at the clock. She was fifteen minutes late for her first class and she hadn't gotten anywhere with her paper. Great. Haphazardly tugging on a pair of jeans and pulling on the biggest hoodie that she could find over her head, she frantically collected her books and laptop and ran out the door, barely remembering to feed Boots on her way out the door. Well, today's going to be an interesting day.