★ ★ ★

The sun had disappeared from the once-blue sky long ago, permitting the dark gray storm clouds to make their appearance. Marlena looked up at the darkened sky and let out an annoyed sigh. She never did mind storms—she loved them, actually—but had she known there was a possibility of it storming before she got home, she would have taken her car or at least wore a hooded jacket.

As she continued walking, though, she couldn't bring herself to further worry about the situation in the sky or the lack of head covering. All she could think about was the man who trailed closely behind her and Hallie, his head low and his hands still shoved into his jacket pockets. It was still hard for her to grasp the fact that Bucky Barnes was alive when he should very well be dead. Even if he had survived the fall he would be in his nineties, and this man looked to be in his late twenties.

She didn't doubt that this man was Bucky, though. He looked far too much like the James Buchanan Barnes she grew up learning about from her grandfathers, not to mention, there was just something inside her that told her she needed to trust that he was the man he said he was sure he was. She still wasn't sure how him being here was possible, but she was more than determined to find out.

Hallie glanced back at Bucky with a skeptical look on her face before turning her attention away. The moment she laid on eyes on him back at the museum she had picked up a rather bad vibe. There was something so familiar about him, something so sinister about him that she just didn't like, hated even. She couldn't exactly put her finger on what it was, but whatever she was feeling she knew it wasn't anything good, and she knew that he wasn't anything good. What made matters worse was that her best friend—one of the people she cared most about in this world—had befriended him and was now bringing him to her house. She knew she couldn't tell Marlena what to do, but she knew she could try and talk some sense into her.

"Y'know, it's really strange to bring a guy home from the Smithsonian," Hallie chuckled dryly, "Especially for you, little miss never-gonna-date-again."

Marlena gave her friend a dirty look, and Bucky looked up from the sidewalk at the sound of her words. He felt the same way about her as she felt about him, despite the sinister aspect of it. There was just something about her that he didn't like; he couldn't determine whether or not it was her attitude or the way she carried herself. Either way, he didn't like her and couldn't care less about whether or not she liked him. It was a mutual dislike between the two of them, and they hadn't even known each other an hour.

"It's not like that, Hallie," Marlena assured her friend as she approached her home.

Hallie scoffed and pulled Marlena back by the wrist before she could head up her porch steps. She turned to look at Bucky with a fake smile on her face. "Could you give us a moment, please?" She didn't give the super-soldier the chance to respond before she yanked Marlena away; he just watched from the sidewalk with furrowed eyebrows, his dislike towards the blonde girl only growing stronger.

"What is your problem?" the small girl grumbled as she was pulled behind Hallie's car.

"That man you're courting around the streets of Washington with you—he's my problem," Hallie answered through clenched teeth. "I have a bad feeling about him, I just can't put my finger on it. He's so familiar to me and not in a good way."

Marlena raised a brow at her friend and yanked her arm away. She was being way too paranoid in her opinion. Bucky was not a bad person, nor was he a dangerous person as Hallie was making him out to be. According to Marlena's great grandfather, Bucky was one of the kindest people ever; he wouldn't hurt anyone, except a few Nazi's here and there, as well as a few bullies Steve Rogers came in contact with before he was transformed into Captain America. Marlena couldn't seem to understand why he was familiar to Hallie, though. She never paid enough attention to the details of the Captain America exhibit for him to be familiar to her, and Marlena had never spoke to her about Bucky Barnes, unless she was "fonding" over him at the museum; even then she never gave many details regarding who he was or why she adored him so much.

"I guess that's your problem then, isn't it?" Marlena sassed. "He's not bad, Hallie, he's far from it."

"And how would you know that?" Hallie questioned.

Marlena let out a sigh and ran her hands through her hair. She wanted so badly to explain the situation regarding Bucky to her friend, but for it to make any kind of sense it meant that she would have to tell her about her great grandfather as well; just thinking about that caused her heart to drop to stomach. There were several reasons she had never informed Hallie about her familial past, but the most important one of those reasons had to do with the family aspect of it all. Her grandparents and her father explained to her that keeping the family past within the family was very crucial, not only for privacy purposes, but it was also one thing her entire family had just for themselves—it was what kept them so close together. And though she told Hallie absolutely everything, she respected their wishes more than anything in the world and would not be disrespecting them any time soon.

"I can't exactly tell you, but I need you to trust me. Everything's going to be fine, Hal," she tried to assure her friend.

Hallie rolled her eyes at Marlena and pulled her car keys out of her purse. She clicked a button on the keypad, emitting a loud beep to echo throughout the neighborhood. She had unlocked her car, which meant she was getting ready to leave.

"I wish I could trust you, but I think I'm gonna go with my gut on this one," the blonde grumbled as she opened the driver's side door to her 2014 Nissan Altima Coupe. "If it turns out that I'm right and you end up getting hurt because of it, it's not on me. I'll see you later." She got in the car without another word and practically slammed the door shut before speeding off down the road.

Marlena frowned as she watched the blue car disappear down the street. She knew Hallie meant well, but she was being far too melodramatic about the situation. Marlena knew exactly what she was doing: she was helping a lost and a broken man find his way back to himself. She knew he wouldn't even think of harming her; why would somebody want to harm the one person willing to put everything in their life aside just to help them?

When Marlena remembered the man standing alone on the sidewalk, she snapped out of her thoughts and stepped off of the street. Bucky stood there as he had been for the past few minutes. He was watching her rather intently with a frown plastered onto his face. He could tell she was upset, despite the fact that she now had a smile on her face as she looked at him; her hazel eyes gave her away. He didn't know what it was that sparked inside him, but he didn't like seeing her upset, and knowing that Hallie had been the cause of it only made things worse.

"Are you okay?" he questioned her.

Her smile dropped and she ran a hand through her hair. She was okay, but she wasn't. Fighting with her best friend was one thing she hated most, especially when it was over something as petty as this. She couldn't do anything about it though, and that made matters worse.

"I'll be okay. She can just be a really difficult person sometimes," she answered as she climbed up her porch stairs, gesturing Bucky to follow her.

Bucky shook his head, ridding himself of the urge to make snide remark about Hallie and, instead, followed Marlena up the stairs and into the two-story house as she had told him to do.

The moment he stepped foot inside the home, he was met with an overwhelming sensation of safety and comfort. . .a sense of home. As he looked around at the decor and the structure of the home, an image flashed in his head, permitting a memory he didn't even know he had to find its way to the surface of his clouded mind. He remembered this house; it was a very vague memory, but he remembered it, nonetheless. He remembered coming here with the Howling Commandos while they were on a temporary break from the war. The only thing different about the house was that it had been completely refurbished to conform to the very modernized society of the 21st century. Bucky knew that he would be okay here, though—he knew he would be safe here.

"Mason, I'm home!" Marlena call as she removed her converse and kicked them aside.

The rushed sound of footsteps above caught Bucky's attention, startling him slightly. His head shot over towards the long staircase where a small boy was running down the stairs. He watched as he approached the small brunette girl with a rather excited expression on his face and wrapped his arms around her waist. She chuckled and hugged him back, and the boy removed his arms from around her and focused his attention on Bucky. He noticed the striking resemblance the two shared and could only assume that this boy was Marlena's brother; his brown hair and his green eyes were a dead give away. The resemblance the two shared with his old friend Joseph made Bucky feel a lot more comfortable. He believed being around the two of them—or even just Marlena—could help him regain his memories at a faster rate than he originally thought.

"Who are you?" Mason asked the soldier.

Unlike Marlena, Mason was not as familiar with Bucky Barnes or the story of him and Joseph Claire. Because both their great grandfather and grandfather passed away before he was born, and their father passed away when he was only four, he barely remembered the stories of his great grandfather's time with the Howling Commandos back in World War II. Because of that, Marlena and her mother thought the best thing to do would be to just let the stories end with their father.

Bucky looked up at Marlena with a questioning look on his face. He wasn't sure whether or not to disclose the information regarding his identity to Mason, but a smile and a nod from Marlena was all it took to reassure him.

"I'm Bucky Barnes," he told the boy. The words sounded so foreign coming out of his mouth, but they felt right. He was beginning to come to terms with the fact that he was in fact James Buchanan Barnes; all he needed were his memories and he would be set.

"Oh, that's a cool name!" Mason exclaimed. "I'm Mason. Are you Mar's new boyfriend? She doesn't bring home many guys."

Bucky seemed slightly taken back by the boy's question. He shared the same talkative quality as his sister did, but he had a certain bluntness that Marlena didn't and to him that was startling.

Marlena was quick to respond though, as she noticed the expression on Bucky's face. "No, he is not my boyfriend," she said as she placed her hands on her twelve-year-old brother's shoulders, pushing him slowly towards to staircase.

"That's a shame. He seems nice, Mar—much nicer than that chocolate bar Dylan that you dated last year," Mason scoffed.

Marlena's face contorted in disgust at the mention of her ex-boyfriend, but the expression disappeared as quickly as it appeared. She didn't want to worry about someone of great irrelevance when she had Bucky here. He was her only concern, aside from her exuberant little brother, of course.

"Listen, why don't you go upstairs so I can talk to Bucky? I'll make dinner and bring it up to you in a little bit," she told him as she continued pushing him towards the stairs.

"Can I have macaroni and cheese tonight?" the young boy asked as he climbed up the stairs.

"Of course you can, now go," she instructed him.

He ran off without another word, and Marlena let out a sigh of relief before turning around to face Bucky. She gave him a warm smile and walked over to him.

"If you want to sit down, you can. You can even come in the kitchen with me while I make him some food, but it's totally up to you," she said to him.

"Uh, I'll stay in here. I wouldn't want to get in your way," he told her before sitting down on the couch, eyeing all the different technology scattered throughout the room. He hoped Marlena would also bring him up-to-date with all of the technological advances. The only technology he'd known for the past seventy years—when he was out of cryo—had been machine guns, grenade launchers, as well as the rest of the Winter Soldier's arsenal of weapons; the rest was beyond his comprehension.

Marlena nodded in understanding and turned to head to the kitchen, only to stop when she noticed the navy blue baseball cap still sitting on top of his head. "Hey," she called to Bucky, causing him to turn his head towards her, "you know you don't need to wear the cap anymore, right? You're safe here; there's no need to hide," she said to him.

Her words had conjured up a certain comfort inside Bucky, a comfort that he had been longing for for the past week. He knew the moment he stepped through the threshold of her home that he would be safe, but just hearing the words fall out of her mouth made him feel increasingly better. He was glad that she had decided to speak to him at the museum earlier, despite the fact she had no clue who he was at first.

The corner of Bucky's lips contorted into a small smile as he looked at her. He removed the cap off of his head with his right hand and placed it down onto the coffee table in front of him.

"Thank you, Marlena," he said to her, finally uttering her name for the first time since they met over an hour ago. Marlena could do nothing but smile at him as she took off to the kitchen.