To say the duffle was cramped and stuffy would be beyond an understatement. I could not move at all, and every breath I exhaled only added to the rising temperature and increasing staleness of the air around me.

     There was also the fact that I could see practically nothing. Steve could drop me at any minute without warning, and there would be nothing I could do to anticipate or break my fall. I was extremely vulnerable and completely at the mercy of these two men right now.

     We proceeded quietly for several minutes before Bucky's voice broke the silence. "What about all those things on your list?"

     List? What list? What is he talking about?

     "Shoot! I forgot about that! Do you think that you can take her back while I go get this stuff?" Steve asked.

     My mind reeled as to what the "list" and "all those things" could possibly be.

     Bucky agreed. "Sure."

     "Here are the keys," Steve offered, and a light jingle followed his words.

     Steve then set me on the ground, and Bucky put the duffle's strap over his good shoulder and lifted me off the ground.

     "Be back soon!" Steve said as we started moving again.

     Bucky walked differently than Steve did. He balanced my weight against his right hip instead of slinging me diagonally across his back. I felt safer with him carrying me, which was completely ridiculous. He only has one arm, so logically, I should feel less safe with him carrying me. It was almost like Bucky could feel my pain, and he quickened his pace so as to end my suffering sooner.

     We must have climbed several flights of stairs because his gait morphed into a rhythmic upward motion a few minutes later.

     I heard him fumble to get the keys out of his pocket and unlock something. The creak of what sounded like a door followed behind it. We walked a short way before the creak happened again followed by two very different sounding clicks.

     I was set on the ground again. Bucky unzipped me from my prison. I sat up and took in a long, deep breath of fresh air before getting to my feet.

     A quick survey of my surroundings showed it to be a run-down apartment. There were two doors and a couple of dirty windows. A few bags were over in one of the corners, but otherwise, the place was bare.

     I turned to Bucky. "So Steve is 'Captain America,' but who are you?"

     "A friend," he replied softly.

     I frowned. "That's vague. What's your story, Bucky?"

     He laughed nervously. "My story. I don't think you want to hear about all of that, Doll."

     "I want to hear it."

     "Trust me, you don't want to hear it right now," Bucky told me.

     "Yes, I do," I insisted.

     "Okay," he said with a resigned sigh. "I was born on March 10th, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. Met Steve and we became best friends as kids. Joined the Army in 1941 and fought in World War II until I was captured by HYDRA and experimented on. You know how Steve was also experimented on, and fortunately, he came and saved me. Steve and some of our friends and I ended up making this group called the Howling Commandos and we fought against HYDRA and the Nazis. On February 1st, 1945, we were on a mission, and I ended up falling off of a train into the river gorge below. Everyone thought I was dead. But I survived the fall because of the experiments HYDRA had done on me. Or most of me survived; I lost my left arm. HYDRA found me and gave me a metal arm just like yours. They brainwashed me, and I became their puppet. I did whatever they wanted me to do. After every mission, they would freeze me until they needed me again. I was theirs for almost 70 years. Two years ago, they sent me to kill Steve, and I almost did. But seeing Steve triggered my memory and broke the brainwashing. I've been hiding for the past two years trying to get all of my memory back until Steve found me and everything went down."

     I stood there dumbfounded, trying to take in everything he had just told me. "uhh....wow...."

     The poor man looked down at the floor anxiously.

     Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. "Bucky, do you know my story?"

     He looked up at me with pain on his face. "I know part of it."

     I nodded slowly to encourage him to go on.

     "HYDRA used you to test an experimental form of the Super Soldier Serum. They gave you the metal arm and brainwashed you. Eventually, they made us fight each other. Do you remember that?" Bucky asked gently. "Do you remember me?"

     I knew what he was telling me was the truth, but it felt like there was more.

     "Not really," I confessed. For a moment, my eyes met with his. "But I want to remember you."

     Bucky turned away from me like I had slapped him. An awkward silence took hold of the apartment until my stomach growled.

     Having been given the chance to try and change the subject, I ran with it. "Do you have any food? I'm starving."

     He pointed to the bags in the corner. "There's apples, peanut butter, and bread in that top backpack. Help yourself."

     Rummaging through the bag, I found the desired items. I did not realize how hungry I was until I started to eat.

     A knock at one of the doors made me jump a few minutes later.

     Bucky went over to answer it. "Это кто?"

     Steve's voice called out from the other side of the door, "Buck, it's me."

     Bucky unlocked the door, and Steve came in with two plastic bags on his arms.

     "How was shopping?" asked Bucky.

     "Alright."

     "Well, I think you're going to need to go to the store again tomorrow because Doll has done a number on our food supply," Bucky informed Steve.

     I grinned sheepishly and stopped eating. What had been a partial loaf of bread was now completely gone, along with three apples and a good deal of peanut butter. I was not full, but at least I was not as hungry as I had been before.

     Even though doing something as exposed as taking a shower is probably not advisable when you are staying in a strange place with two men you hardly know, I felt so gross that I did not care about the risks.

     "I want a shower," I informed the boys.

     Steve handed me the two plastic bags and gave me a towel and a wad of clothes from the bags in the corner.

     "That should be everything you need," he told me.

      "Thanks. Where's the bathroom?" I asked. Steve and Bucky pointed to the other door. 

     Before I got to set my things down in the bathroom, the lights flickered and then cut off. I readied myself for an attack. Yet Steve and Bucky both seemed calm in the darkness. 

     "The power here really does suck," Steve laughed.

     "Hold on, I have an idea," Bucky offered from the other room. He entered the bathroom with a lit candle. 

     "It's not great, but you should be able to see enough to shower." Bucky set it on the high built-in ledge at the far end from the shower head.

     "I'll leave you alone now," he said, closing the door behind himself.

     I turned the lock on the flimsy door even though I knew it would not do much if someone really wanted in.

     Peeking in the plastic bags showed a toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, a hairbrush, a bottle of shampoo, a bottle of conditioner, a bar of soap, a bottle of lotion, and a lip balm. So these were the "things" they had been talking about.

     My clothes were soon in a pile on the floor. My blonde hair was greasy and matted. I should probably be thankful that I can not see myself well in the cracked mirror above the chipped sink.

     Turning the tap on, I tried to recall the last time I had bathed aside from the bloody shower that I could not forget, but nothing came to mind.

     I grabbed the shampoo, the conditioner, and the bar of soap before stepping into the shower. The water was colder than I would have liked, but I made do with it.

     As the water ran over my perfectly formed muscles, I had the strange feeling that my body had not always been like this. Uncomfortable with this thought, I tried to think of something else.

     The candle Bucky had brought me was just a plain emergency candle. There was nothing special about it, but the gesture of him getting it for me made me feel special.

     The drops of water on my skin sparkled like diamonds as the flame danced about. It was beautiful in a strange way. Water intermixing with fire. I watched the ring of wax around the wick grow as time went by.

     I squeezed a bit of shampoo into my hand and rubbed it on my head. Scratching my scalp, I lathered up my hair. After rinsing out the suds, I worked a squirt of conditioner from my tips up to my roots.

     Since I had no washcloth, I ran the bar of soap over my body. It had a light, clean scent that I could not quite identify. 

     I rinsed the soap off of my skin and the conditioner out of my hair. My skin was left smooth, and my hair felt like silk.

     After turning off the water, I stepped out of the shower and put the candle on the sink.

     Not wanting to be naked outside of the shower any longer than I had to, I patted myself quickly with the towel and pulled the clothes over my still-damp skin. The tight-fitting black tank top and comfortable grey sweatsuit were short on me. Whoever's clothes these were was also bigger chested than me, but a large bra was better than no bra at all.

     I put the towel over my hair and twisted it up onto my head. After brushing my teeth, I put some lip balm on my chapped lips and exited the bathroom with the candle in hand.

     I found Steve and Bucky both lying on blankets on the floor. 

     "It's been a long day for us. We're going to bed," Steve said sleepily. 

     I whispered, "Good night."

     An extra blanket was spread next to Bucky. I put the candle down next to the blanket and lay down. I could feel the cheap, uneven, wood-like floorboards through the thin blanket. Trying to get more comfortable, I made the wet towel and my hair into a little pillow. I blew out the candle and closed my eyes, but I already knew I would not be able to sleep.