"I said no!" I hear Steve yell and I start running. I burst into the living room to find everyone's already there. Sam, Steve, Bucky and are on one side while Vision, Nat, Rhodes, and Wanda are on the other. Steve and Wanda are face to face, fists clenched, eyes hard. I rush in and put myself between them.

"Hey, hey, hey. What's going on here?" I ask, pushing Steve back and sliding in front of Wanda. Wanda scowls and throws her hands up in frustration.

"I just want to look into his mind to make sure he isn't a threat!" Wanda reveals.

"And I said no! Hasn't he been through enough?" Steve questions passionately. I turn towards him and place a hand on his chest.

"You need to calm down. I understand how much this matters, but this isn't helping. Calm. Down." I tell Steve while he looks deep into my eyes. He huffs, but releases his clenched fists. I smile at him and turn to Bucky. His eyes are bright with life and hope and fight. He looks more alive than I've ever seen him. "Bucky, what do you say? It is your mind." I ask him. He looks at me nervously, and I immediately know he doesn't want to. He shakes his head slowly.

"No. I'm sorry." He answers, then apologizes for answering. I take a deep breath and face Wanda.

"Okay. Bucky says no, so it's a no. But you can look into my mind." I offer instead. Everyone looks surprised and I hurry to explain. "He's been around me the most since quitting Hydra. I know he isn't a danger. If you look into my mind, see what he's been like, I know you'll see that too." I speak directly to Wanda. She nods slowly and I nod back at her. "I trust you." I whisper and her eyes widen a bit.

"Alright. I think it's worth a try." Wanda says, her fists unclenching and covering themselves with a red sort of mist.

"Fair." Rhodes relents and Natasha nods, agreeing with him. Although her eyes are burning into Bucky's. If it weren't such a serious situation I'd say they were having a staring contest.

"I trust Wanda's judgement." Vision says, albeit hesitantly. I smile and release a pent up breath. Wanda lifts her hands in front of me.

"Ready?" She asks me. I swallow, but nod. She lets her hands hover on either side of my head, then enters it. I take a sharp intake of breath at the intrusion and feel my hands turn into fists. It's not painful, just strange and...uncomfortable. As Wanda rifles through my head I fall to my knees as my vision fades. Noise fades as well, but I can still touch. I feel hands on me, insistent and concerned. I shake my head the best I can to reassure them.

"I'm okay." I do my best to say, and the hands ease up, but stay on my shoulders. Then all feeling is lost as I get lost in my memories.

"But daddy, where are we going?" I ask curiously, jogging to keep up with my dad's long strides. He looks down at me and smiles, he scoops me up and puts me on his shoulders. I giggle and put my little chubby fingers in my dad's curly hair.

"We'll be there soon, V. Mommy is already there and waiting." He tells me and I shout happily in response. He laughs at me and tickles the bottom of my feet. We start approaching a big building covered in vines and dark spots. I frown and lean over my dad's head, putting my chin on his head.

"That looks scary." I observe and my fists tighten in his hair. He winces and pulls me off his shoulders to put me on the ground. He crouches in front of me and takes my hands in his.

"Look, V. Your mom and I have been working on something for a long while, but nothing has worked. We've been working here because other people just wouldn't understand the cost of what we're doing and would try to stop us. Now, we think that part of the problem with our experiments is that they're too old. Their cells, the stuff that makes them up, have matured too much. We need your help to fix this. Okay? Nothing to be afraid of. You're the little miracle that we've been waiting for. You want to help?" He asks me. I don't have to think about it. I nod vigorously.

"Do I get to stay with you and mommy?" I ask, pouting at the thought of being separated. He smiles and nods.

"Of course! You'll be with mommy and daddy all the time." He tells me and I grin widely. He takes my hand and we walk into the building, past some magic doors, until we stand in front of a red, metal door. I smile at it, knowing mommy is on the other side. I gasp, the memory taking the breath out of me. I feel like I'm crying, but I can just barely feel the tears on my face. I don't get any time to breathe before the next memory takes over me.

"Why don't you even care that you're hurting me!" I yell at them, my fingers becoming claws out of instinct, causing me immense pain.

"This is just a slight side effect. The pain will fade the more you shift." My mother explains coolly. Tears fill my eyes and stream down my face.

"I have to go through more pain to make the pain stop? That's stupid." I say spitefully, making my mother frown.

"No, that's just how it works. Come on, V. You're the breakthrough we've been waiting for. Keep shifting. Now." My father commands, but I don't follow. I cross my arms and shake my head.

"No! I'm done. I don't want to be here anymore!" I reject their ideas and march towards the door. I'm grabbed roughly by my mom as she spins me around, but when she speaks her voice is calm.

"You aren't done. You can't leave." She tells me firmly. I rip my arm out of her grasp and keep heading towards the door, at least until I feel a sharp pain on my back. I fall to the ground and turn around, groaning. My mother stands there, heel in hand. I place a hand on my lower back and bring it back to my face, finding blood on my hand. "You cannot leave, you hear me?" She says as she puts her shoe back on, holding onto my father's shoulder for balance. "Now, get up and keep shifting or there will be consequences." She says grimly. I shake my head, my tears coming out faster.

"I won't!" I yell at them. My father sighs and walks over to me. I stare up at him, really wondering if I had made up a past where I had sat on his shoulders. He sighs again, then kicks me in the stomach. I cry out and curl in on myself, but he just kicks me again, and again. He stops and crouches beside me.

"Will you obey now?" He asks me, sounding irritated. I shake my head, unable to do anything else. He rolls his eyes and pulls out things that look like little bracelets, but I know they can't be. "Fine." He says and pulls my hands away from me. He snaps them on my wrists, then my ankles. Then, he takes out a small device with a light blue button on top. He presses it and I scream, writhing on the floor in pain. My fingers turn into claws again and I scratch at the floor. My father releases the button and I take big breaths of air, the pain making it hard to breathe.

"Now, if you obey you won't be electrocuted. If you disobey...well, you know what will happen." My mother lays down the law and I nod. Just wanting to be relieved from the pain. She smiles at me, and I cry harder. They walk out of the room and leave me lying there, blood on my hand and arms wrapped around my stomach. I feel myself sob and desperately wish this would stop. Then, I remind myself about Bucky and that he needs help. He needs a home. I take deep breaths in and out before I feel Wanda choose another memory to explore. I brace myself, before being plunged into my past once again.

I roar at the man and he flinches, then cowers in the corner of the room. "Keys. Now!" I scream at him, putting some gravel in my voice to make it more intimidating. The man shakes his head.

"T-there are no k-k-keys. It's h-handprint o-only." The man stutters. I take a breath, then march forward and grab his hand in mine. I hold his arm out, then rip his hand clean off. He screams, and I flinch, but walk to the keypad in the mirrored room with his hand dripping blood behind me. I press his hand against it and a little light turns green and opens the door. I swing it open and snarl at the man in the corner.

"Now, remember to keep your hands to yourself." I tell him snidely, but keep his hand with me. I may need it to open another door in the future. I sprint, faster than any other human, through the labs. I twist and turn and flip and go as fast as possible until I reach the door I saw my first day here. I smile at it, knowing it leads to freedom. I hesitate in front of it though. I turn around and set the man's hand down on the nearby white counter. I stare at the lab equipment before rushing over. I use my sense of smell to choose the most dangerous and combine them as well as I can. When they start emitting some sort of steam or smoke I put it down on the counter and rush back to the door. I open it so fast I almost rip it off its hinges and step outside it. I shut it to protect me from the explosion I hope is coming and sprint up all the stairs. I open the cement doors the same way I once saw my father do and sigh in relief when they open. As soon as I'm through those doors I feel the ground shake slightly and a loud, muffled boom from below me. I run forwards and out the front doors and fall flat on my face. I blink rapidly to get used to the light, but nothing happens. I reach down and tear off a strip of fabric from my scrubs. I tie it around my head to shield my eyes and finally am able to look around. I stand and brush myself off. I lift my face to the sun and take a deep breath, smiling. Only a second passes, but to me it feels like years. Then I shift into a mangy dog and sprint away from this place. I don't look back, not once. My breath is now coming out in short spurts, but I can't tell what else is happening. I clench and unclench my fists, fighting the reflex to fight.

"Hurry." I push the word out of my mouth, but I have no clue if I actually said it or if it was understandable. I feel Wanda carefully leafing through my memories instead of diving into them. She's new to this after all. Finally, she pulls out my memories of Bucky. This time, as I relive them they seem to be fast forwarded. The memories fly by and make my head spin. At last, I feel Wanda retreating. I can feel heavy hands still on me, then I can hear talking again, then my sight comes back. Although my sight is blurry from tears. I blink and find that I'm on the floor, on my knees and hands. I take deep breaths to steady myself before focusing on the voices around me.

"Ria? Are you okay?" I shake my head and recognize the voice as Steve's. I look over at his sparkling blue eyes and the ground me. He helps me up, but I don't separate myself from him when I'm standing. I need him to keep me upright. Bucky has appeared on my right and I reach out to him, taking his hand in mine. Everyone looks at me, surprised I'd touch something meant to kill with. But I just look at Wanda and find that she's already staring at me, visibly shaken.

"I'm-I'm sorry you had to see that. Are you-are you okay?" I ask her and she laughs without humor.

"Am I okay?" She asks me, incredulous. "My god." She whispers as she looks at me, making shame run through me. I wipe my tears away and meet everyone's eyes in front of me with confidence.

"So, can Bucky stay?" I ask, my voice shaky and tired. Wanda nods immediately.

"Definitely." She responds, to the surprise of everyone on her side. Nat smiles, though.

"Hold on just a second here. He's a fugitive. I can't just-"

"No." I say very matter of factly, interrupting Rhodes. "We've met the conditions that everyone agreed to. There is no and if or buts. He stays. The end." I end the conversation and it only takes a moment for Rhodes to nod. Everyone then disperses. Rhodes heads out towards the lab, hopefully to talk to Tony. Wanda sinks into a chair, still staring at me. Vision is next to her, as always. I even see him brush back a piece of her hair and tuck it behind her ear. Sam follows Rhodes out, no clue where he's going. Natasha sits down as well, but her eyes stay on Bucky. I shut my eyes, relieved and exhausted. Thank goodness that's over.

A/N

*looks at you sheepishly* Sorry...