When I wake up it's still dark out. When I look at the clock it reads 3:30 am. Regardless of how early it is, I know there's no way I'm going to be able to get back to sleep. To my right Bucky's asleep, his head buried under his pillow, and snoring lightly. A small smile makes its way onto my lips as I look at him. It was a good night for him. He didn't have any night terrors the entire time he was asleep. I'm glad. He deserves all the sleep he can possibly get.

I quietly slip out of bed, dress, and pull my hair back from my face into a ponytail. Stepping out onto the balcony I start to do a simple morning workout. It's not technically morning quite yet, but it's close enough and habitual enough that I'm just going to do it anyways.

I start by doing simple stretches, pulling my one human arm across my body, holding it, and then moving on to do toe-touches, lunges and a few other assorted stretches. When I'm done stretching I go into doing push-ups. When I do physical work outs by myself, meaning I'm not sparring, I end up getting a little lost sometimes. This happens to be one of those times. Due to the faux super soldier serum that I got dosed with and my metal arm, I don't really feel the physical fatigue until hours later, so I accidentally end up doing about 150 push-ups. From there I do about 100 squats, jumping-jacks, mountain climbers, and when I'm all done with that I step to the railing of the balcony and look out at the city. Based on the slight lightening of the sky I would say that it's somewhere around 4:30 or 4:45 by now. There are a few cars in the dimly lit streets, probably people on their way to or from work. The city is still asleep and unaware of me, just the way I like things.

In an instant I'm up on the railing, my back to the city. I reach up and jump lightly, managing to latch my hands onto the lip of the balcony above me instead of plummeting to the pavement of the streets below. I smile to myself before I continue with my workout. I alternate between pull-ups and chin-ups for a good two or three minutes. When I'm done I swing my feet to build up some momentum so that when I let go I can land on our own balcony again. When I'm on solid concrete again I start to go through some yoga routines. I start in a standing mountain pose and then I move into a pretty energetic routine. I start out in warrior one on the right, then into warrior two. After I go into triangle, and then almost immediately go down into downward dog, upward dog, then planking down to the ground. After holding the plank for about 30 seconds, I plank to the left, to the right and then back into plank. I hop up to a crouching position and rise to standing again. I repeat the routine on the left and then I slowly go through a much more relaxing routine. Cat cow, sleeping swan, star post. All of those relaxing poses that are perfect for cooling down and stretching after a workout.

After a while I get tired of laying on the cold concrete and I eventually peel myself up off the balcony and head back inside to take a shower. I strip out of my sweaty clothing and step into a waiting lukewarm stream of water. I bathe quickly, soaping up, rinsing off and getting out in under ten minutes. When I exit the shower I'm confronted with my wet reflection. I'm immediately hit by how tired I look. There are dark circles under my eyes and my shoulders are sagging, partially because of the weight of my right arm and partially because of the odd schedule my body is on. I turn away from my reflection to towel off and get dressed. I pull on my underwear and clasp my bra before turning back to look at myself again.

This time when I look at myself I see the scars. The even lines on my thighs, the circle around my wrist, three dots in my collarbone, the severe scarring around the plating of my arm, even the odd, out of place bite mark on my hipbone. I turn around to look at my back to find lash marks. If I didn't know better I could easily mistake it for road rash. I turn back around to look at myself head on again. This time I run my thumb over the disk on my bicep and, suddenly, I almost look like myself again. I feel sad, nostalgic and sick to my stomach all at once.

suddenly the door opens and Bucky's in the bathroom. I freeze, but his back is to me, and I take the opportunity to grab for my towel before he can turn around, but it's too late.

"Shit, (Y/N), I am so sorry I- wait." He pauses momentarily pointing to my body, his brows furrowing. "Are those teeth marks?"

"Uh, yeah." I answer, slowly wrapping the towel around me like a cape. "Yeah they are."

"How do you have teeth marks on your hip?"

"Well, they're not so much marks as they are a collective scar." I explain. "I couldn't tell you how I got them other than saying "someone bit me" because, for the life of me, I cannot remember."

"O-okay, sorry I'll just-"

"I'm actually done in here, so you can just do whatever it is you need to." I say gathering up my sweaty clothes. "And don't apologize." I open the door and step out. "It's not like I've never seen you half naked before."

"Alright." He nods.

I laugh lightly and close the door behind me. He was so flustered seeing me in my bra and underwear. He's usually so unaffected by stuff like that so it's a little unexpected.

I shuffle to our shared room and grab the hangers holding my outfit for the day. It consists of a pair of fitted black slacks and a flowing white blouse with a peter pan collar. I toss the towel onto the bed before retrieving my white camisole and black compression shorts from my suitcase. I put on the compression shorts and camisole before slipping into my slacks and tucking the camisole into the waistband. After buttoning up my blouse I allow myself to fall backwards onto the bed and just stare at the ceiling.

As soon as Bucky walks into the room, the phone rings from inside the small purse I brought with me. I find an unfamiliar number on the screen. Either someone's got wrong number, or it's Johannesson. It doesn't matter, so I pick up.

"Up bright and early, I see." I was right. It's Johanneson.

"Yes ma'am." I say lightly. "What's the plan for today?"

"A car should be there for you two in the next four hours or so. It'll take you from the hotel to the families home. They've invited you for brunch."

"Brunch? Seriously?"

"I've never had brunch." Bucky says. "What's it like?"

"Bucky wants to know what brunch is like." I relay.

"It's pretentious."

"She says it's pretentious."

"Great." Bucky says, his voice tinged with sarcasm.

"I'm gonna put this on speaker so I don't have to be middleman here." I tap the screen to change the audio and place the phone beside me on the bed. "So what are we supposed to do at brunch?"

"You're going to get to know the family. She says. They're going to ask questions to try to get to know you too, but they should be relatively simple. If the answer isn't in the files we gave you, just bullshit it. It's better than blowing your cover."

"Alright then, bullshit it is. Anything else?"

"Yeah, stay calm. I know you guys aren't spies, but right now you really have to act like you are. We can't afford a freak out."

"Don't worry, we already got that out of the way last night." My words are met with a loud snort from Bucky.

"You what?!"

"Don't worry about it, ma'am, we've got it all under control." Bucky says from the closet.

"Whatever, just make sure you're downstairs for the car when it gets there. Go over your information and be safe."

"Will do. But I can't specifically promise you that we'll be safe, but we sure as hell can try."

"You better."

"We won't let you down." Bucky says.

"Alright. I'll see you when the car arrives at the hotel."

The line goes dead and Bucky and I just look at each other a new tension settling in the room. I fall backwards onto the bed again, letting out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. Bucky quietly heads back to the closet to get dressed.

"She's more stressed about this than we are." I comment.

"Yeah," Bucky's voice is slightly muffled by the closet. "Does that worry you a little bit? That she's freaking out so much, I mean."

"Yeah, it's a little disconcerting." I sit up and grab the files from the bedside table. "Does she really think that we're gonna screw up that badly?"

"I don't know, but we can do this." He says, stepping out of the closet. He's wearing a pair of gray slacks and a white button up shirt.

"You clean up nicely, Barnes." I comment.

"You don't look to bad yourself." He chuckles quietly. "Do you want to go over our bio's before the meeting?"

"Definitely."

-Four hours later-

"Good to see you two again." Carla says.

"Same to you." I nod to her.

"Please get into the car." A low voice says from inside the vehicle. It's more than a little disconcerting, but I shake it off as best I can and climb into the back seat. Bucky quickly follow suit and soon we're on our way through London.

It's vastly different from New York. The building structure differs from the massive and towering skyscrapers in the city. The weather just adds to the long list of differences.

It's not long till we reach the restaurant where we're meeting the family. Bucky and I brush our thumbs over the disks on our arms a few times just to make sure the device is working. Once we're sure everything is in place and alright, we take a collectively deep breath, release it, and get out of the car.

Carla leads us through the front door, past the materde pulpit and into a room off to the side of entryway. Once inside we are met by a group of about five people. They all rise from their seats. All of them, aside from one rather elderly woman who is seated in the most cushioned seat in the room. Everyone looks at Bucky and I expectantly, but we have no clue what to do.

"Hello, all!" Carla greets the room, her tone markedly more cheerful than we've ever heard her in the few interactions we've had with her.

"Johanna." A middle aged woman nods to her. "It's good to see you again."

"Same to you, Caroline." Carla said on response. "You look well."

"I see you've brought friends" The woman Carla addressed as Caroline nods at Bucky and I.

"Ah, yes," She looks back at us, gesturing for the two of us to step forward. "These people are Zane Turner and his future wife, Adeline."

"Hello," I say quietly, dipping my head to the group of people. Bucky moves closer to me, gently taking my hand in his.

"It's nice to finally meet you." Bucky says quietly, his tone respectful.

"It looks like you've brought us a fine couple of kids." The man on the left of Caroline says. "Are you sure we can trust them?"

"I wouldn't have brought them here if I wasn't, Jack."

"Alright, but since when does your judgement mean we're just going to admit them?" He asks, his tone suddenly more terrifying. "Since when does your opinion dictate law?"

"Jack, let the girl be." A soft but commanding voice says. I search for the source of the voice, only for my eyes to land on the elderly woman sitting in the chair. "I think they'll be a lovely fit."

"T-thank you, ma'am." I manage to stammer out. Something in her voice and eyes is really disconcerting.

"Come here." She says, waving us over to her. I look back at Carla, unsure of what I should do. She just nods to me.

Bucky and I quietly make our way over to her, weaving through the rococo-esque furniture. We kneel in front of her so that she doesn't have to crane her neck to look up at us. She hooks her finger under my chin, turning my face at different angles, looking me over thoroughly. When she's done with me she moves on to Bucky. I feel myself break out into a cold sweat as she examines him closely, looking deep into his eyes. The Winter Soldier's face is well known throughout every faction of Hydra, or so I thought. She releases his face and looks up at the younger people around her.

"What is it, Mother?" Jack asks.

"Get them chairs, they will sit beside me." She says. Two seats are quickly placed on either side of the woman and Bucky look at each other, both us rather confused. "Adeline, you will sit on my right side. Zane, you will sit on my left."

"Yes Ma'am." I say, my voice quieter than it's ever been. We wordlessly take our seats on either side of the woman and sit quietly. Everyone else in the room takes their own respective seats around her.

"Now that that's settled, I suppose that we should introduce ourselves." She says, looking very pointedly at everyone around the room. "You've already made the acquaintance of my son, Jack, and daughter, Caroline. The man beside Caroline is her husband, Oliver and then the young man across from you is James, my nephew."

"Hello." James says, eyeing me with a look in his eyes that makes me want to squirm.

"Stop it, James." The woman at my side says. His eyes snap up to his aunt, his expression angry for a moment before softening.

"I'm sorry." He says, his voice surprisingly course for his soft features.

"Good." She nods. "And you must be wondering who I am."

"I must admit, I am." I remark.

"My name is Rosalind Smith." As the words fall from her lips I feel my blood run cold and my human hand starts to tremor ever so slightly. "What's the matter, Dear?" She asks. "You've lost your color."

"I, uh," I swallow dryly, trying to quickly come up with an excuse. "I just suddenly feel a little nauseous. It must have been something I ate."

"James, go fetch the tea." Caroline says, shooing James away. He huffs loudly before rising from seat and leaving the room.

"Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourselves?" Oliver pipes up from Caroline's side.

"What do you want to know?" Bucky asks.

"How did you two meet?" Jack asks, suddenly much more cordial than he was only moments before.

"Do you want me to answer this one, or do you want to, Zane?"

"I think you tell the story best." Bucky smiles at me,emotion never reaching his eyes.

"Alright then," I smile back at him before diving into the story. "We met our senior year of college-"

"What school did you attend?" Caroline interrupts.

"Oh, University of Washington." Bucky quickly answers. "We were both English majors."

"Yeah, I walked into our Shakespeare 300 class five minutes late and the only open seat left was next to Zane. He was really nice about not pointing out that I was late and we ended up becoming really great friends. Somewhere during finals week we ended up spending a lot of time together writing our term papers."

"Something clicked with her and I've never wanted anyone but her." Bucky adds.

"That is such a sweet story." James says sarcastically as he re-enters the room, pushing a rolling cart laden with foods and tea in front of himself. "Almost sounds like a lie."

"James." Caroline hisses, obviously chastising the young man.

"What? I'm simply saying it sounds made up." He shrugs. "Where did you two grow up? You're both from Washington, I assume."

"Yeah, we are." I answer looking over st Bucky for approval before moving forward. He just looks slightly panicked, so I move forward. This information wasn't in our bios, so I've got to come up with it on the spot. "I lived in Lynnwood for about five years before my parents moved us to a little town north of Everett. Zane grew up in Lacey. He actually lived pretty close to Saint Martin's college."

"See, James." Oliver says, his voice soft. "She knows her way around the place." He turns back to Bucky and I, looking at us expectantly. "I really must ask, what is Pikes Place like?"

"That's not pertinent, Oliver." Rosalind says, her tone warning.

"Really, I don't mind answering." I say, glancing at the woman beside me before looking back at Oliver. "It's kind of crazy. There's always a ton of people there, the noise is high and it's extremely crowded, but there's so much to see. There's foods and little shops to look through and you would all probably love the flower arrangements they sell."

"What about the, uh... The, uh..." Oliver snaps his fingers at me as he tries to gather his words. Finally he gives up and starts making a tossing motion. "You know!"

"Oh! Are you thinking of the fish market?"

"Yes!" He cries.

"It's definitely an experience." I chuckle quietly at his reaction. "But I personally prefer the Pacific Science Center and the EMP."

"The EMP?"

"The Experience Music Project. There's a lot of historical music stuff on display. It's really interesting if you're a music buff."

"I guess we'll have to make a trip out there some day." Oliver says, seemingly to himself.

"Is there anything else you want to know about us?" Bucky asks.

"Well, it's clear you two don't have many issues with commitment..." Oliver muses. "Rosalind, is there anything you'd like to speak to them about?"

"I think I might, yes." She clears her throat almost delicately before speaking again. "You are aware of what we do, are you not?"

"Yes, I believe we do." I nod.

"Do you have any issues or qualms with any of our practices?" I swallow thickly before even attempting to respond.

"No, ma'am. We are fully prepared for the weight and responsibility." As I speak I swear I can hear my voice growing quieter. "We've heard many good things about your branch."

"We're young." Bucky adds. "We want to make a difference."

"Alright, I think that settles it. We'll send you a few important documents within the next day or so. We'll get your accommodations address from Johanna." I nod in acknowledgement.

"Okay, we'll look for that." Bucky says, nodding himself.

"Now," She claps her hands together softly, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "Who's hungry?"