Werewolves were real.

Werewolves were real.

It was a lot to take in, but it was all fascinating and exciting. Her words didn't concern Bucky, not at all. Hell, he was even more intrigued to know that werewolves were real. Now he just wanted to understand everything and anything he could learn about them.

"Amazing," he told her as he tried to organize his thoughts, tried to figure out what to ask her first. There were so many questions and all of them important. First though, first came helping. "How many puppies survived Hydra?" He wanted to save those children, any of the ones who had been stolen away from their homes like she had been.

She shrugged and looked down. She looked so sad and small. "I don't know. They separated us years ago,"

Bucky frowned; he could only imagine the torture and pain they could have experienced or could still be living through. "There weren't any in your recent group of agents?" he pressed. He'd help rescue her people if he could.

She shook her head again. "I saw a couple a few years ago. It seems that Hydra kept the Alpha males to work for them. They got distracted in my presence, since they kept wanting to save me and protect me instead of focusing on the missions. I haven't seen another werewolf since that mission," she said softly.

"Were the other puppies all males? Perhaps males just like you for being their own kind?" he was trying to speak to her using the words she was using to try to connect with her. "I'm sorry if I'm asking stupid questions. I'm just trying to get the big picture, trying to understand."

"Most of them," she admitted. "There are always more males than females. But no, that wasn't the issue. The issue was pack rank. The males they kept, the alphas, they're warriors, the biggest strongest fighters, natural leaders. They protect the rest of the pack. I'm an Omega. My role isn't to fight, but to be the heart of the pack. To offer peace and calm to balance their volatile tempers. But when they sensed that I was in danger, that a precious rare Omega was in danger, they rushed to try to protect me from Hydra. None of our commanding officers were pleased," she shuddered at the memory and Bucky fought not to growl at whatever memories were causing that reaction from her. If he growled, he would scare her. That was the last thing he wanted, so he worked to rein in his temper. It took all of his willpower to manage. She kept talking. "Which only made me cry when they were yelling so much about how I was distracting the men. Which just upset the Alphas more, until the Alphas killed the their commanding officers..." She said softly. He heard it in her voice, even though Hydra was terrible and full of evil people, she still mourned the loss of life.

"Then," Bucky paused. He had to ask, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Then why did Hydra keep you?" He had an idea, but one that sickened him to his core. He prayed that his suspicion wasn't true with every fiber of his being.

If it was...

If it was, he didn't know how she'd ever recover.

She shrugged, looked uncomfortable and curled in on herself. "Why do you think? If you want more highly unkillable super soldiers, the easiest way to get them is to breed the highly unkillable super soldiers you already have," she said softly.

Bucky knew it.

Of course that had been the reason.

He couldn't help the whispered 'fuck' that escaped his lips. He couldn't handle the visual. "Had they... have they already used you for that purpose?" he forced the words out. He had to know. He had to know what she'd been through in order to help her.

She blushed and looked away, unwilling to answer that question.

That wasn't helpful.

He didn't want to press her, but he needed to know. At the very least he needed to know medically to help her. Or to get her the medical help she needed.

At worst, he needed to know how many bastards he had to go kill.

He had to press her, had to get an answer from her. So he cajoled. "If you don't tell me now, the doctors will perform testing to find out. Come on sweetheart, save us the time," he added gently. "Please," he couldn't help the begging quality of his tone.

He also had no idea where the word 'sweetheart' came from.

She whined softly at that, cuddling her tail as she did, at the thought of doctors and unpleasant tests, at his curse. She finally nodded, though refused to look at him when she did.

"Yes they've been using you to... to birth more offspring? Or yes you're going to answer me?" He was hoping she was too young for the breeding program. He was hoping against hope that her nod didn't mean what he knew it did.

She huffed in exasperation. He knew damn well what she meant. "Yes, they've used me for that," she finally muttered. "They tried with human males first to see if they could get the offspring they wanted. It didn't take, but they couldn't get the wolves to... perform... without consent so they were going to try artificial insemination next," her tone is clear they hadn't tried that yet. There was nothing good about any of this.

Bucky felt terrible. She'd been raped. Probably repeatedly and often. And probably by men similar to his built, he could only assume. Now he understood why she curled up on herself. "Gwen, I wouldn't do that to you. None of us would. You're safe here," he paused to let his words sink in. "I'm sorry for the abuse and losses they caused you."

"I know most men aren't like that," she said softly with a generosity beyond any saint with what she'd been through. She really did know it. It was still hard to trust, though. "The grumpy man with the stupid hat," she indicated Loki's horned helmet with her hands. He really did have a distinctive helmet. "Said it would be safe with the Avengers," she said in a soft voice and looked up at him hopefully. The poor thing just wanted to be safe.

And loved?

Where the fuck had that thought come from??

And why wasn't it going away?

He shook himself away from that line of thoughts and nodded. "You're safe here," he confirmed. He was interested in learning more about her and her werewolf history so he pressed on. "How old are you? Do werewolves age like regular people?" He was so childlike in his excitement to learn more about her and her people.

She pondered that for a moment. She actually had to think about it. "23, I think. It was hard to keep track in Hydra," she shook her head at his other question. "We age to maturity like humans and then stop aging. I'll look like this until the day I die," she explained.

She scarcely looked 18. That explained why the team thought she was barely legal.

"Wow, that would make you noticeable after a while. I don't age right either. Don't think I can," he admitted. Hydra had messed with him too after all and they still didn't know all the repercussions of that.

She nodded and looked interested, her posture relaxing again, though she had the adorable habit of cuddling her tail. Bucky didn't know what a word strong than 'adorable' was. But that was the word that described her cuddling her tail. "Hydra did horrible things to you too?" She asked, thinking him possibly a kindred spirit.

Bucky nodded, then pulled off the glove on his left hand, raised the sleeve up. He usually hid his metal arm, generally not around the tower, but definitely when he was helping the rescues. He didn't want to scare them. And his metal arm was intimidating at best, downright terrifying at worst. Especially those from Hydra who knew him. "And they screwed up my brain," he admitted.

She reached out curiously and touched his metal arm with a gentle tentative hand. Bucky tried not to recoil, though it wasn't like the arm had the ability to feel. He still couldn't believe this adorable gentle being was trying to touch a monster like him. "I'm sorry they did that to you" she said softly. Even after all she'd been through, the little creature was gentle, caring, and kind. It should've been stamped out of her years ago.

He was so grateful it hadn't been.

"Well, technically I lost my arm in the 40's but they gave me a new arm. At the price of my sanity. They used me to kill a friend and his wife. Almost killed my oldest friend. He is who eventually broke their brainwashing," he explained to her.

She listened to his story with interest and wide eyes, but nodded sadly. "They're terrible people" she said softly. "But we're free now?"

"Yes, little one. We're free. We only want to help you heal and keep you safe, if you'll let us."

She nodded and looked so heartbreakingly relieved. And somehow, inexplicably her relief and calm and peace spread to him as well.

And he found himself caring more for this strange, exotic, enticing little wolf-girl than any of the other rescues, than anyone he'd met since he'd come out of the ice. And he'd only met her less than an hour ago.

Now wasn't that interesting?