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𝑷 𝑶 𝑽
❝ 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚎 ❞

╰ ⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸ ╯

ㅤ𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃. He remembered falling asleep holding Gwen, but what he found when he opened his eyes was a pillow tucked under his chin. He wondered where she was as he sat up on her bed, rubbing away the sleep from his eyes, before finally spotting the clothes she left for him. He chuckled a little as he read her note, grabbing the clothes and stepping into the bathroom.

After he did his business and changed, he walked back out to her room, eyes landing on the clock that read 08:34. He nodded to himself before stepping out of her room, pulling the sleeves down his hands as he realized that there was a possibility someone might see him trying to sneak out.

And he was right.

Just as he closed Gwen's door, he turned and made eye contact with Hotch, whose eyebrows were already raised.

Hotch tilted his head, his wet hair flopping a little. He had obviously just got out of the shower. Spencer could see that he also wore a similar outfit—he could only assume Gwen or Viktor gave the team clothes to sleep in as none of them carried a go-bag—but instead of the SHIELD insignia that was on his, Hotch's had the words 'STARK' printed on the front.

Spencer was about to open his mouth to try and give a sorry excuse when Hotch cut him off, saying, "I'm not even gonna ask." And they left it at that.

Hotch walked back into his room, then walking back out with a still sleepy Jack, while Spencer walked towards the kitchen. He found the rest of the team there, even Viktor and Alina. But Gwen was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Gwen?" He asked, while accepting a plate of eggs and bacon from Viktor, who was comically sporting an apron that read 'Be nice to me or I'll poison your food'. He didn't know if he should take the threat seriously or not.

His question made Viktor and Alina exchange looks as he found himself a chair that faced the wall. Even Penelope looked uncomfortable, but the rest just looked as clueless as he was.

Finally, Alina relented. "She's upstairs in the terrace. She's um...talking to someone."

"Who?" He frowned. He assumes the reason why Penelope looked uncomfortable was because she knew who Gwen was talking to. Knowing full well that their tech analyst was not the best at hiding things, he turned to her. "Garcia?"

"Oh fine!" She pouted. She turned to Viktor and Alina who each gave her a look of disbelief. "Look, okay, I'm sorry, but never have I been the best at keeping anything, especially something as juicy as this."

"Juicy?" JJ asked incredulously. "What's so juicy about the person Gwen's talking to?" Will, of course, had clued her in about everything the team had talked about with Gwen. She was a little bit wary, mostly because the safety of her kid's being threatened, but Gwen herself has been nothing but a sister to her, so it wasn't that difficult to accept her true identity.

"That, my fine furry friend, is because the man she's talking to is none other than Bucky Barnes."

"Oh my God!" Emily suddenly exclaimed as she put the pieces together while holding up her fork. "Holy fuck, Bucky Barnes is her ex! James Buchanan Barnes. She told me she 'dated Steve's best friend'. I can't believe she was talking about Steve Rogers."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," JJ gaped a little, sharing looks of realization with the other women of the BAU. "He's that James?"

Even Derek was invested in their conversation as he joined in. "Bucky Barnes? As in Captain-America's-best-friend Bucky Barnes?"

"The Winter Soldier?" Spencer suddenly joined in, which made everyone's amusement cease. Alina looked at him a little indignantly. He didn't notice everyone looking at the space behind him. "She dated the Winter Soldier?"

"That's not who I am anymore, kid," a voice suddenly spoke. Spencer immediately turned around and found himself being stared down by steely blue eyes. He gulped.

"You never were," Gwen spoke softly from behind Bucky, who turned to face her as she entered the room. Everyone else was silent as they watched this exchange. "You are not the Winter Soldier. You are not what HYDRA forced you to be."

Her words carried more weight than anyone outside of the inner circle can understand, so the way Bucky reacted confused them a lot. He gave her a sad smile, walking closer to her and whispered something into her ear that was undiscernible to the rest of the team. She then returned the smile, tapping a finger on to his metal shoulder, and nodded.

Bucky turned to face Viktor and Alina, giving them each a nod, before he gave one last look to Spencer. There was an awkward silence that accompanied their stare-down, and Spencer felt himself shake a little under the soldier's intense stare that seemed to seep right into his soul. Before he could say anything, Bucky spoke.

"You better take care of her, bean pole." And then left.

Gwen stared at his retreating back, a fond expression on her face, before she smiled at the others. "Good morning."

Spencer was still sitting on his chair in shock. Though Bucky Barnes was probably an inch shorter than him, he was still a super soldier, and Spencer would be completely reduced to a pulp if he ever went against the man—not that he would. He pursed his lips a little as jealousy started to bloom from deep within him.

Who was he compared to Bucky? He was just a nerd who worked for the FBI. He struggles with marksmanship, he moved awkwardly—he's been told he carries his gun as if it was the heaviest thing in the world—and he's been called a pipe cleaner with eyes. Just like Bucky said, he was a bean pole. Even he couldn't deny that. And compared to every man Gwen has probably encountered in her time working with Avengers, he was...nothing. So what did Gwen, a brilliant and enhanced individual, see in him? Was she just entertaining his feeling because she felt bad for him? Was she--

"You okay, doc?" Gwen whispered to him. The nickname made the tips of his ears turn pink. "You look..."

"I'm fine," he curtly replied before occupying himself with the food.

"...okay..." She looked at him confused before she shook it off.

"Miss Finley, dad said you're called Miss Gwen now," Jack suddenly spoke up, which broke the tension in the room. He ran up towards her and lifted his arms, asking to be carried. She obliged, carrying him into her arms and placing him on her hip.

"You can call me whatever you want, Jack, may it be Finley or Gwen," she smiled at boy, who nodded excitedly.

"Can I call you Miss Gwen? I like it better."

"Of course, little man."

"Can I meet Captain America now?"

His innocent question made everyone smile, and Alina couldn't help herself from stealing the boy from her best friend, smiling as he willingly moved into her arms.

"I'll drag Captain America by his ear just so you can meet him, I swear to you," Alina vowed. The image of the tiny woman dragging Captain America by his ear—who was practically a foot taller than her—was enough to bring a huge grin onto Hotch's face.

Gwen finally sat down on the chair next to Spencer's, thanking Viktor who handed her a plate of her own. "Nice apron," she told him.

"Blagodarya," he replied with a smirk, patting the apron he wore that looked tiny on his body. (Bulgarian: Thank you)

Derek laughed, nodding at Viktor. The two had gotten along swimmingly well, both of them having a thing for making sure their muscles were practically bursting at the seams. They also both enjoyed being the biggest man in the room. Although now, Viktor practically dwarfed him, but despite his stature, he was a gentle giant. They've exchanged workout techniques.

Alina sat next to Hotch as she settled Jack in between them. She noted the small smiles on everyone's faces and grinned at Gwen, who was finally as free as a bird, as the whole team knew who she was now; who she truly is.

"So, since you're a superhero," Derek suddenly spoke up. "Do you have a superhero name?"

Gwen scoffed as everyone suddenly turned their attention towards her direction as they chewed on their food. "I'm not a superhero, thus I don't have a superhero name. I do, however, have a codename."

"Which is?"

"Well, they all call me Viper."

Emily choked on her bacon, reaching for her glass of water to help clean her airways. Once she can finally breathe properly, she exclaimed, "God, that brings so many bad memories!"

The team all laughed at her words, and even Gwen let a smile slip as she replied, "Yeah, I heard about the dude who called himself 'Viper'. Let me tell you, I'm more deserving of that name, thank you very much."

"Amen, sister." Emily sipped on some more water and gestured towards Viktor and Alina. "How about you two?"

"Oh, no, no codename for me," Alina shook her head while chuckling. "I'm just a mere doctor in the presence of superpowered individuals."

"Don't be so modest, Lina," Viktor scolded. "You're the smartest one in this room. No offense, Dr Reid."

"None taken," Spencer meekly smiled, looking directly at Alina. "What kind of doctor are you?"

"MD and PhD," she admitted, turning shy all of a sudden. "I work in the labs with Dr Banner and Dr Cho."

Spencer gaped, all traces of negativity suddenly disappearing from his body as he began to enthuse over some of his favorite scientists of all time. "You work with Bruce Banner and Helen Cho?"

Alina grinned at him, nodding energetically. "Yeah, they're awesome."

"Awesome?! They're incredible!" Spencer exclaimed, beginning to gesture with his hands as he talked. "Dr Banner's work on anti-electron collision is unparalleled, and Dr Cho's research with U-GIN and their advancements in biotech..."

As Spencer rambled, Gwen's thoughts drifted to the conversation she had with Bucky.

"James? What are you doing here?" She asked, a little apprehensive as she stared at the man she used to think she'd be spending the rest of her life with.

Bucky gave her his signature tight-lipped smile as he looked down at the knife he caught, twisting it around expertly as he sighed. "I heard you were going after Kuznetsov. He's..."

"I know," she nodded. "You didn't have to come here just to tell me that, though."

"It's not just that, Gwen," he shook his head. "You know my history with that guy. I came here to give you some insight."

"Right, I...I almost forgot he was the Soldier's handler at some point."

Bucky continued to look down, afraid to meet her eyes. "Well, he's uh...he's got contacts mostly in the east coast. From what I've been told, he's been staying at one of his contacts' cabin somewhere in New Hampshire," he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, finally making eye contact as he handed it to her.

"How'd you...did you go through his old contacts?"

Bucky shrugged sheepishly, looking back down again, shoulder-length hair following the movement. Gwen almost wanted to reach forward and run her hands through them just like she used to; he always loved how she'd brush them with her fingers.

Gwen shook away the intrusive thoughts and read through the paper, smiling a little as she oddly missed the sight of his handwriting. She looked back at him and saw him staring intently at her, eyes full of regret and sorrow.

She clenched her jaw as her smile slowly faded. "Is that all?"

"Gwen..." Bucky trailed off, his voice gruff. It sent shivers down her spine. "Can we talk?"

"About?"

"Gwen...please..."

"Wow," she scoffed. "'Please'? Seriously? Why should I listen to your little 'please' if you never even listened to mine?"

Bucky ran a hand through his hair, tucking some of it behind an ear. "Just..."

Gwen sighed, moving closer to him and offering a hand. "Come on, upstairs to the terrace. Fresh air will help."

He only nodded and took her outstretched hand in his flesh hand. He almost wanted to interlace their fingers together, but he let go as soon as he stood up. Gwen shook her head at him before he quickly followed her up the stairs and out to the terrace. The both of them gazed at the sunrise, in sync as they took a deep breath.

Bucky turned and watched Gwen as she closed her eyes, basking in the gentle heat. It was almost summer, and the breeze carried by spring was slowly shifting into the warm summer season. He knew it was her favorite season, and every time summer came, she just seemed to always glow. He missed that.

Gwen finally opened her eyes and looked at him, realizing that he's been watching her. "Speak."

"I'm sorry--"

"Sorry isn't gonna cut it--"

"I know, okay? I know." Looking away from her, he faced the horizon. Walking closer to the edge and leaning against the railing, he continued. "But...regardless, I am sorry. I don't know how else to express it. That day...they were still trying to flush the Winter Soldier out, and..." He scoffed at himself, clenching his jaw. "I attacked you, Gwen. I tried not to but he was in control. I tried but I couldn't fight it off and...Gwen, you...you could've died. I never wanted to see you hurt...but I did...I hurt you...and the best thing for me to do, to keep you safe, was to keep you away from me."

She rolled her eyes at him, crossing her arms as she walked towards him. She reluctantly reached out for his metal hand and made it face upwards as she placed her right hand on top of it. She hesitated before slotting her fingers through his, the vibranium cool against her skin.

She sighed, still holding his hand up. She could tell Bucky wanted to clasp their hands together, but his fingers remained open. "So...you didn't want to hurt me...but decided to break up with me? James, that hurt me...way more than when the Winter Soldier took over. Heartbreak is always more painful than any physical beating. Why didn't you realize that?"

"Gwen...princess..." The old nickname made her lower lip tremble, prompting Bucky to lift his flesh hand up to gently cup her chin. This caused her to make eye contact with him, and they both just stared into each other's watery eyes, both fighting hard not to let a tear slip. "I love you. I always will. I know you'll never forgive me. I know you," he chuckled bitterly. "But I want to let you know that I'll always be here for you. I'll always wait for you."

Gwen finally let a tear slip, gently removing his hand from her chin as she leaned forward to press her forehead against his, relishing in his presence as it practically swallowed her whole.

He moved his hands down and softly grazed the skin on her hips as his fingers slipped past the waistband of her sweatpants. Gwen shuddered against him and pulled him closer.

"I love you too, and I always will," Gwen admitted. "But I can never forgive you for what you've done...for what you've said. Your words..." She pursed her lips. "I'm sorry, James."

"I understand," he whispered, pulling away to hold her face with his flesh hand as he pressed a kiss on the top of her head. "And again, I'm sorry." He then pressed a kiss on the tip of her nose. "I hope you'll find someone who won't hurt you like I did." He could tell they had an audience, but he paid the onlookers no mind.

"I think..." she pulled away from him and stared into his blue eyes that used to remind her of home. "I think I already did."

He sucked in a breath before nodding. He finally detached himself completely, turning away to face the horizon again. "Tell me about him."

Gwen snapped out of her reverie when little Henry said one word that had most of them panicking: "Snake!"

Almost immediately, JJ dropped her fork in shock while simultaneously lifting Henry off her chair as she stared down at the giant snake that was peaking from underneath the table.

"U-Uh...Gwen," JJ shakily called. "If you don't mind..."

"Oh, right, don't worry," Gwen tried to smile reassuringly as she stood up and went around the table to gently grab onto the snake and lead him away. She lifted him up and that's when the team fully realized how big the snake actually is. From what they could tell, it was at least seventeen feet as it loosely wrapped itself around Gwen's entire body, his black and brown scales reflecting the light. "He's not actually venomous. But I do apologize for him, I told him not to come here. He probably got a little curious. Sorry for that."

JJ felt herself relax slightly. She realized that this was Gwen and not Finley, and Gwen was basically the queen of serpents. She'd have to get used to it somehow, after all, they were family. "It's...it's okay...I think. You sure you've got a handle on your...um...friends, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Gwen shrugged, walking back to her seat with the snake still wrapped around her. Spencer leaned forward a little to examine the snake's head, when it slithered towards him and wrapped around his shoulders, the rest of his body still on Gwen. She smiled warmly at the both of them as she sat down before she continued, "They're very docile. The only time they ever really attack is if I'm in danger."

"Guard snakes instead of guard dogs," Rossi chuckled. "That's one way to scare off burglars."

"It's a big ass snake," Derek stated with a little scoff of disbelief. "How many of them are in this place? Just so I know which ones are friendly, of course."

Gwen gave him an amused smirk. "There's four. Severus is the smallest, he's the biggest," she gestured to the one wrapped around her and Spencer, oddly pulling them together as he slithered all over them. It weirdly began to resemble a wedding cord.

Jack tilted his head in curiosity, not at all afraid of the serpents just like Henry. "What's his name?"

"This little...well, not little...this big fella's named Bakunawa, Baku for short." They all watched as the snake lifted its upper half and rested his head on her shoulder. "Named him after the mythological, moon-eating dragon serpent from Philippine mythology. He's pretty cool."

"He's a reticulated python," Spencer informed them, a small smile on his face as he spoke. It was a little odd to have a nearly two-hundred pound practically hugging him and Gwen together; he was thankful that the snake was merciful about his weight as some of his body was resting on the floor. "Did you know that reticulated pythons are considered the world's longest snake and among the heaviest? They're really interesting, actually. They're known to be non-venomous, like all pythons, but they're still ambush predators and don't need the venom because they use their entire body to wrap around their prey and kill them by constriction."

He didn't notice the way Gwen gazed at him lovingly as he rambled, but everyone else did as they shot them knowing smiles.

"What?" He asked once he noticed the others.

"Nothing, nothing, just..." Emily began to grin. "That was very interesting, Spencer. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he grinned proudly.

"By the way, where is Severus?" Emily wondered.

Gwen chuckled before lifting her arm up and pulling up her sleeve. There was a tattoo of a snake on her forearm. Emily frowned at this, and was about to question why she suddenly had a tattoo, when the ink began moving. As it moved her up her arm and inside her hoodie, they watched as a bump suddenly formed from beneath her sleeve, and they all gaped once Severus peeked his head out from the hood, resting by Gwen's ear.

"He's with me everywhere I go," she told them with a smile. "He's usually on my right thigh though."

"That's badass. Now I get how he was there when we were attacked," Derek commented before tilting his head towards Viktor. "What about you? You got a codename?"

Viktor let out a booming laugh. "Yes, yes, of course. They call me the Golem."

Rossi raised his eyebrows, getting over his initial shock at Gwen's little display. "Fitting."

"Thank you."

"Hey, what's wrong?" Gwen asked Spencer as they settled back into her room. She was gently petting her only female snake she lovingly named Medusa, a seven-foot-long black mamba, as she laid back against her headboard while Spencer sat at the very end.

Spencer pursed his lips before answering. "Gwen, now that I know who you are and all, do you actually see me as a potential love interest?"

His wording made her raise her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I just..." he sighed. "I don't know. I couldn't help it...I compared myself to Bucky Barnes and that led to me overthinking and just..."

"You know, you shouldn't compare yourself to anyone, doc, especially my ex," she told him. "Nothing good will come out of it. All that's gonna do is make you feel bad about yourself, and I don't want that to happen. Not to you."

"Yeah, but, most females generally gravitate towards men who are physically--"

"That's statistics, Spencer, don't consider me a statistic," Gwen shook her head at him. "Don't sell yourself short. Yes, I see you as a potential love interest. And I don't care if people think you're a spaghetti noodle. You're a wonderful person, Spencer."

"A spaghetti noodle, really?" He rolled his eyes a little. "Well, if that's the case..." A cheeky smirk replaced his crestfallen expression. "Do you...do you want to go out to dinner with a spaghetti noodle sometime?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." She laughed. They both gazed at each other, smiling as they enjoyed each other's company. Their moment was ruined when a knock came upon the door and JJ peeked in.

"Hi, sorry," she grimaced. "Strauss called. We've got a case."

Gwen nodded. "Thanks, Jen. Just give us ten minutes to get ready."

"Right. I'll see you guys outside." JJ nodded at them, winking at Gwen, before she left and close the door.

"Back to normal, I guess," Spencer shrugged, standing up from the bed and walking over to where he kept his clothes. He stopped. "I just realized I don't have extra clothes."

"We can stop at your apartment later," Gwen told him. "The others probably don't have extra clothes either, so we'll have to stop at theirs too. Plus, the kids have to be dropped off. Don't worry about it too much."

Spencer smiled a little, holding his clothes in one arm as he walked over towards her. "I just realized. I'll have to call you Finn at work." Gwen gave him a confused look. "Just...now that I know your real name, it feels kind of strange that I have to call you by your fake one." He gazed down at her before suddenly kissing her cheek, grinning as she turned a bright red. "Oh, how the tables have turned."

She smacked his shoulder, pouting a little. "Shut up."

author's note: yes, severus is always with gwen. i'm not exactly sure if i ever dropped this particular easter egg, but at some certain points, gwen taps her leg for reassurance, it's where severus is usually hugging her. can't remember if i actually included it in the final outputs though.

anyway, meet gwen's children!! (the ones i've mentioned, at least):

severus: a saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus), he's about 22 inches/1.83 feet/0.56 meters, the smallest of them all. very tiny but very aggressive, is the one that's the quickest to strike. the most protective of the bunch. he's very sweet and acts like a puppy.

bakunawa: a reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus), 17 feet long/5.18 meters, the biggest and heaviest. non-venomous, but is a constrictor; he basically can squeeze the life out of anyone he wraps himself around. he's a cuddler.

medusa: a black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis), the only female of the bunch. she's also the most dangerous, the fastest, and can strike in rapid succession. most of her victims die. she's a bit of bitch, an attention seeker. loves to be petted though.

gwen has another snake in her penthouse, but they won't be introduced until later on. gwen sees her snakes as family more than protectors (unlike what most people assume). they're the only ones that understand her...literally. because of gwen's abilities that all relate to snakes, she tends to find much more comfort with them compared to humans. 

i'll be explaining more about how abilities + how she got them in upcoming chapters.

lmk what you think about this chapter!! point out any spelling/grammatical mistakes for me if you find any. thank you all so much for the votes and comments!! this book has nearly 2k votes already,,,, which is incredible.

it's sort of back to normal in the next few chapters. hope you guys enjoy :)