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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐓𝐰𝐨: 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧'𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝

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"Hey Stark," Allie shouts with a happy grin as she descends down the stairs into Howard's lab. She looks over to Howard who is bent over a table with piles of papers thrown haphazardly across it with his large, dorky science goggles still covering his face.

It has now been two weeks since she was released from the hospital and she feels almost as good as new. Her shoulder barely hurts and she has finally been allowed to actually help Howard and Peggy out while the boys are off on missions across Europe.

"Hey Williams, have you come to join me again?" He smiles as he pulls the goggles off his face and half-heartedly tries to organize the papers in front of him.

Howard's lab is a large brick room filled with all sorts of science equipment that Allie barely remembers how to use. It's been years since she was taught science at HYDRA. Thanks to Erskine, she was the only soldier who was taught science since it was considered unimportant knowledge for 'killers'.

"I heard you needed some help." Allie beams as she strides over to Howard's side and looks over the documents that he has strewn across over the steel table. Her short heels make a melodious 'clinking' noise against the tiled floor and bright rays of sunlight beam into the room, making her dark chocolatey hair shine a beautiful a golden color.

"I wouldn't say that," Howard smirks as he reaches over and hands Allie a white lab coat that she quickly shrugs on.

"So what are we looking at today, Stark?" She asks as she looks at various different chemical formula's that have Howard's name written all over them.

"Well, I have been officially ordered by the U.S army to synthesize a drug that will counteract the effects of fatigue and boost awareness for the soldiers to use at the front." He answers with a roll of his eyes.

"They want you to create a drug that will keep soldiers awake?" She questions, baffled. "Why would they want a drug for that instead of replicating what they used on Steve?" Allie frowns as she places the papers back on the table and looks up into Howard's dark coffee-colored eyes.

"They know that nobody can recreate Erskine's work so they want the next best thing, soldiers that never sleep," Howard answers as he walks over towards a collection of strangely colored bottles.

"How long are they wanting it to last?" She asks as she props herself up on the edge of the steel bench and watches him rummage through the various chemicals. He picks a bottle up from the counter that is filled with a neon pink substance and he gives it a shake before he places it back down again with an annoyed sigh.

"A couple of days." He responds as he picks up two different beakers, one filled with a clear solution and another one that is a light blue color. He turns around in a flurry and weaves around the steel benches, picking up sophisticated bits and pieces before shoving them into his lab coat as he goes.

"Stark, this is some dangerous stuff. This could cause lots of unintentional side effects even if you do thoroughly test this. This could even kill the soldiers if you're not careful!" Allie warns and eyes him warily.

"I know Allie, but I have no choice." He groans dejectedly as he walks back over to her with the chemicals now bubbling slightly in both hands.

"If there is anything that I have learned in my life, it is that you always have a choice." She replies, raising her eyebrows as she takes the chemicals from his hand and carefully places them on the table behind her.

"This could help win the war." Howard defeatedly as he tries to step around her but she cuts him off before he has the chance and gives him a pointed look.

"But it could have dangerous side effects. The brain is something that I wouldn't want to mess with, Stark." She warns him and crosses her hands over her chest frustratedly. She saw first hand what chemicals like this did to Bucky, and she wouldn't wish that upon anyone ever. She doesn't want to put someone through the same pain that he went through. She saw how it nearly tore him apart.

"But if you help me, Williams, we would have a better chance of it working properly," Howard begs and Allie shakes her head dismissively, her chestnut eyes hardening as she stares at the puppy face that he is making.

"There's no way in hell that I am going to create a drug that has the potential to do more harm than good." She replies and Howard looks at her in desperation.

"Allie, please! I have been ordered by the government which means that I have no choice!" He pleads and Allie cocks an eyebrow mockingly.

"When has that ever mattered to you before?" She retorts as a smirk pulls lightly at her lips.

"Allie..." Howard groans as he hangs his head and lets out a crestfallen sigh.

"Tell me, what do you actually know about the brain, huh? Do you know what the side effects are of creating a chemical like this?" She questions forcefully as she swings her legs off the side of the bench and stands back up on the concrete floor.

"I know barely anything compared to you, which is why I am asking for your help," Howard responds which makes Allie shake her head dejectedly. "If we can successfully create a chemical like this, we could overpower the Nazi's and HYDRA! We could win the war." He proclaims.

Allie sits in silence for a few moments, contemplating her next words. She knows that she is right. Creating a potion to make soldiers lay awake for hours on end could be exceedingly dangerous and in the wrong hands, it could have disastrous effects.

But on the other hand, Howard does make a good point. The war needs to be won and any advantage that they can take to win should be taken. If HYDRA created a serum similar to this they would be using it immediately, so why shouldn't the U.S?

"And it's only going to the army?" She asks, trailing her gaze from Howard's to the floor as she is almost ashamed of the choice that she is going to make.

"Yes, Allie." Howard clarifies. "And it's only going there once it is fully completed." He continues with a small smile.

Allie sighs when she realizes that she is going to side with Howard. The reward of creating a serum that could give the U.S an advantage over HYDRA is something that can't be overlooked. And as long as their trials are ethical and provide them with the results that they are looking for, it is worth it.

"Fine. But you have to promise me that if any harmful side effects manifest, you won't hand it over to the Army. You also won't test it on people either." She bargains and Howard gives her a dazzling smile.

"You have my word, Williams." He grins and the ends of his dark mustache tip upwards at the action.

"Alright, show me what you've got." She says as Howard takes a step towards her and places both his hands on her shoulders. His smile grows wider at her words and he gives her shoulders a light squeeze.

"You won't regret this." He beams and Allie shakes her head at his words.

"I better not." She muses as Howard removes his grip from her and spins around to lead her towards a similar steel table that is tucked into the corner of the large brick room.

"Well, so far all I have is this. We need to target the relevant area of the brain where fatigue is stimulated and block or counteract the hormone that produces drowsiness." Howard tells her as he draws a rough sketch of a brain on the blackboard that hangs from the wall and writes small annotations around it. Allie has to squint as she looks at his drawing of the brain that more closely resembles a deformed cloud of sorts.

"That's all you've got?" She questions and turns to look at Howard who gives her a bashful shrug.

"Uh, yes?" He answers and Allie lets out a heavy sigh.

"Alright, well... this might be do-able." She says as she looks from the blackboard to the arrangement of chemicals and notes that Howard has sprawled across the table.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. The General also wants it in a gas form." He pipes up as Allie reads over some of his notes. She lifts her gaze up to him at his words and she gives him an annoyed look.

"That's just great. How in the hell are we going to do that?" She groans, throwing her head back exasperatedly.

"To be frank, I thought that you would know..." Howard trails off and Allie lets out another sigh.

"Well then, we have our work cut out for us." She murmurs as she picks up another paper filled with ideas and notes and quickly skims over it. Once she finishes reading that page she trades it in for another but is interrupted by Howard's voice asking for her attention.

"I completely forgot-" Howard starts as Allie rolls her eyes at him. "You are quite good at forgetting aren't you." She mumbles under her breath which causes Howard to give her an annoyed look before he continues speaking.

"How is your shoulder? Are you healing up fine?" He questions, showing genuine concern and Allie gives him a warm smile.

"It barely hurts anymore, I actually have a doctors appointment later to see if I'm ready to be reinstated for duty yet." She tells him which makes him raise his eyebrows in surprise. He couldn't believe that it had already been 4 weeks since her injury and she was already trying to get back into the war.

"Don't rush yourself, Williams. It's alright to admit that you need to take a break." He replies worriedly.

"I know that but it's not fair for me to leave the fight up to someone else." She argues as she pulls out a chair and takes a seat, scribbling down some ideas onto a piece of paper.

"It's not just your fight though," Howard says as he picks up a book about the brain that was lying open on the desk and begins reading through it.

"It's my fight more than anyone else's." She contends as she scrawls down her thoughts on some ways to make this biochemical work.

"Allie, I'm sure Bucky and Steve understand that and they are probably doing you proud right now." Stark proclaims and Allie feels her body seize up slightly. Bucky and Steve are out with the rest of the team on a mission in Italy and she has heard nothing from any of them for a just over two days. They were supposed to be doing some propaganda shoot afterwards but none of the boys in the team have contacted her since they left.

She knows that they can take care of themselves but that doesn't mean that she won't worry about them.

"I'm sure they are too, but it's time for me to get off my ass and help them out." She responds, trying to forget about Bucky and Steve's mission.

"Jesus Christ you sound a lot like Steve." Howard groans as he mixes two chemicals together and he watches it crystallize almost immediately which makes a frown pull at his face as he quickly discards the inadequate solution.

"By being argumentative or doing what is right." She smirks and lifts her eyes up to Howard's who is giving her a disgusted look.

"Both, now stop it! I don't need another notoriously reckless star-spangled man to pick up after." He cries out in mock annoyance and she rolls her eyes at him.

"Have you fixed up my suit?" She asks as she pushes herself up from her seat and hands Howard her notes.

"I have, it's just over there in the closet." He mumbles as he reads her writing, completely enthralled by her ideas. A small wrinkle appears in his forehead as he stares down at the piece of paper, showing how focused he is on creating this chemical. A small curl of hair falls down in front of his tan face and he quickly swipes it away as his eyes stay trained on the white sheet.

"Good. I'm going to need it." She responds right as Howard finishes reading the paper. He lifts his gaze up to hers and raises his eyebrow slightly.

"Need I ask why?" He questions and a small grin pulls at her lips.

"If the doctor gives me approval, I'm going to ask the Colonel to put me back on the team tomorrow when the boys come back." She tells him and Howard shakes his head with a sigh. He knows that there is no point in trying to stop her because she is too stubborn to let anyone get in her way.

"I really shouldn't be condoning this risky behavior but I'm not the one who is dying, so do what you want. The suits in the closet." He replies, pointing to the brown closet that resides in the opposite side of the room.

"A little support would be greatly appreciated." She jokes and gently nudges his shoulder as he turns back around to the abundance of chemicals that sit on top of the desk.

"Darling, we both know that you don't need my support. You are going to do what you want either way and you will succeed because that's just who you are." He declares as he picks up a batch of solutions and begins testing them. His statement makes Allie grin and she can't help but notice the smile that occupies his own face too.

"Thanks, Howard." She responds as she turns to start helping Howard out with the experiment.

"That's alright. Now instead of distracting me, can you hand me that blue vial over there." He instructs and she quickly walks over to the table that he is pointing at to retrieve the chemical that he wants. And for the next few hours, the two of them chat aimlessly as they try to figure out how in the hell they are going to make a potion that will keep a person awake for days.

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Later that afternoon, Allie sits anxiously in the waiting room of the nurse's clinic. She stares out of the window to her right and watches the sun create a beautiful sunset as the day transitions into night. It has now been exactly three days since she has heard anything from the boys and she is exceedingly worried. War is an unpredictable place and it doesn't segregate the worthy from the unworthy.

For all she knows, Bucky could be dead. Or Steve. Or they all could be dead.

But she also knows that they can take care of themselves. They wouldn't be apart of the Howling Commando's if they couldn't. And Steve is too good of a captain to risk his friends lives over a single mission.

But as much as she misses being out there with them, fighting HYDRA, she misses the company. Sure she has Peggy and Howard but every night she goes back home to her room and sits up in silence because she doesn't have Bucky to talk to anymore. The days are fine, she is constantly distracted by helping Howard or training the recruits with Peggy. But it's the night that brings around the haunting loneliness.

You'd think that after all that time alone at HYDRA that she would be used to it by now. But instead, she is even more afraid of it than ever before.

Bucky and her would lay awake for hours, talking, stealing sweet kisses or just laying in each other's embrace for hours on end. It was a luxury that she had never had before. She was so grateful for Bucky staying with her. He made her forget about the horrors that existed in their world. He reminded her of all the good things in life.

He was actually supposed to move back into his own apartment when Allie could look after herself but he always made up an excuse to stay. And she wasn't going to stop him. She had gotten used to the constant feeling of Bucky beside her.

But some nights he did have to leave her.

In the past four weeks, he had only been on two mission, and this one being the second. The first mission was only for 24 hours. She had awoken that morning with a newfound emptiness on the opposite side of her bed. But the following morning, she woke with the familiar feeling of being wrapped up his warm embrace.

But she trusts him.

She knows his ability in battle and she knows that he can look after himself. Surely there is some reason as to why they aren't able to contact her and she just has to believe that he will be back to her soon without a single cut on his whole body.

"Miss Alexandra Williams?" a voice calls from across the empty room, breaking her from her thoughts. She pushes herself up from the semi-comfy chair and she turns to face the nurse that called her name.

The nurse's beautiful strawberry hair flows down in front of her, slightly obscuring her face. Her lips are pulled into a kind smile as her striking green eyes stare at her from across the room.

"If you could follow me, please." She says, her voice as sweet and smooth as honey. Allie gives her a quick nod and follows the nurse who leads her down a few relatively empty hallways. Her baby pink dress swishes as she walks and before she knows it, the nurse ushers her into a small office. A modest desk sits in the corner of the room while the examination table sits in the opposite corner. The room itself is quite stuffy and has the faintest scent of bleach lingering in the air which almost makes Allie scrunch up her nose in distaste.

"Please, take a seat." The nurse smiles as she gestures toward the metal examination bed. Allie shuffles over and promptly takes a seat before she turns her gaze back to the nurse who is now holding a clipboard in her perfectly manicured fingers.

"Ms. Williams, you are here to receive an examination on your shoulder, correct?" The nurse says as her eyes quickly scan over whatever is written on the clipboard.

"Yes and please, call me Allie." She replies with a curt nod.

"Sure! Well Allie, I must ask that you remove your shirt please." The nurse responds, turning her gaze up to Allie's with a smile.

"Right," Allie says tensely as she all of a sudden she feels uncomfortable at the nurse's request. She isn't the biggest fan of revealing her skin due to all of the painful scars that remain from her tumultuous past. Only one person has seen her true self with all the lingering scars, and that's Bucky.

Allie uneasily begins to remove the shirt from her body and she hesitantly discards it at the end of the table. The nurse then walks over to her and gives her a warm smile, noticing her unease.

"Thank-you, now if you could turn around for me." The nurse instructs and Allie does as she is told. She turns and stares at the plain beige walls of the room, her back straight as a board as the nurse begins to prod at the now healed wound on her shoulder.

Allie sits in silence for a few minutes while the nurse looks at her shoulder, occasionally uttering a soft 'mhm' before she scribbles something down onto her clipboard. The longer that Allie sits there staring plainly at the wall, the harder she finds it to resist bouncing her leg in anxiousness.

"Right, well your shoulder has been healing up quite nicely. There doesn't seem to be any sign of infection or lasting injuries." The nurse finally says which makes Allie let out a deep sigh of relief. "Have you been feeling any pain at all?" She asks and Allie shakes her head.

"No, I haven't. "She replies, itching to get out of there and start practicing again now that she is all healed up.

"Good, good. Can you just extend your arm out for me, please?" The nurse says brightly and Allie wordlessly lifts up her arm just as she is told. The nurse then begins kneading at the soft skin around her shoulder, testing to find any pain before she takes a step back and gives Allie a big smile.

"Your shoulder looks as good as new! You are free to return to work." She informs happily as she clasps both hands around the wooden board that is held out in front of her. Allie's eyebrows furrow as she gazes at the nurse in confusion

"Just training?" She asks, trying not to let her disappointment show.

"Personally, I would recommend that you ease yourself back into your previous lifestyle instead of jumping back in head first. But if you aren't experiencing any pain or discomfort, I don't see any reason why you can't." The nurse responds and Allie can't help but let a small smile pull at the edges of her lips.

"Thank-you..?" Allie trails off, looking at the lady expectantly.

"Maisie." She responds as she brushes a small piece of her hair out of her face.

"Thank-you Maisie." Allie continues, giving her a small smile of appreciation.

"It's all right Allie! However, you do look a little underweight darling, have you been feeling faint or physically weak at all?" Maisie asks and Allie shakes her head dismissively.

"No, I'm pretty sure I haven't." She frowns and Maisie furrows her eyebrows as she picks back up her clipboard.

"Alright, is your period often irregular?" Maisie asks and Allie looks at her in confusion.

"My what?" She asks and Maisie's mouth drops completely open as she looks dead straight into Allie's eyes, recognizing her look of utter cluelessness.

"Your period." She tries again and Allie shakes her head. "Menstruation?" She continues and Allie's frown grows even more when she realizes that there is something that is bothering Maise about her lack of knowledge regarding this 'thing' called a period.

"Right, well it is when a lady bleeds from her lower sexual organ as a result of her body preparing itself for pregnancy." Maisie begins to explain to which Allie slightly tilts her to the side, still completely clueless.

"Oh, I-um... I have never bled before." Allie answers and Maisie looks even more shocked and extremely worried. "Is that not normal?"

Allie had never heard of this thing before, and if it such a significant part of a woman's life, she should have heard about it during her training at HYDRA. She had undertaken numerous health classes and yet she had never heard of this before.

"Yes, that's not normal," Maisie responds, dumbfounded. What woman hasn't had her period before?

"Oh." Allie murmurs as she turns her gaze from the nurse to the ground. Once again, there is something wrong with her. She lets out a sigh as she tries to stifle the nervousness that fills her gut. Why can't she just be normal?

"Allie, have you ever had any operations around your pelvic region before?" Maisie asks her and Allie tries to think back to the very first time she was put in surgery at HYDRA.

"I-uh, I think so. I think I might have been five or six though." She answers, vaguely remembering being taken into the examination rooms when she was a young girl.

"Ok, well I'll be back with a patients' gown that you will need to put on and I'll see what is wrong. I-uh, It might take a minute but I should be right back." Maisie stutters as she deliberately averts her eyes from Allie who immediately picks up on the fact that she is hiding something.

Allie was trained in noticing when someone felt certain emotions, whether it be fear or happiness, anger or sadness. But picking up when someone was lying was something that she excelled at. And it didn't take much to realize that something was most certainly wrong.

"Maisie," Allie calls out, her tone unwavering.

"Yes?" She gulps as she turns around to face Allie whose gaze holds quite a somber feeling as she stares back into her eyes.

"I think you know what's wrong." She deadpans as she pushes herself up to face Maisie who desperately wants to tear her eyes away from Allie's but for some unbeknownst reason, she couldn't do it.

"I do." She mumbles and Allie feels her throat tighten up as she utters her next words.

"Tell me."

"Allie-" Maisie begs her but she is quickly cut off by Allie's angry voice.

"Tell me what the hell is wrong with me!" She growls, in a vain attempt to hide her fear behind her enraged exterior.

"I think that HYDRA performed some sort of surgery on your uterus to stop you from menstruating." Maisie begins, successful averting her eyes from Allie's for a brief moment.

"What does that mean!" Allie almost screams, completely fed up with Maisie beating around the bush. She clenches her fists by her side and she takes in a deep breath while she stares down Maisie, pushing her to spit her next words out.

And after a brief, tense silence, she does.

"I don't think you can have kids, Allie," Maisie says, her voice full of pity.

Allie's mouth falls open and she feels her pent up anger dissipate into thin air. She stares at Maisie in silence, not completely comprehending what she just said.

But then the first tear falls.

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A/N - Hey everyone, I'M BACK!

I'm sorry for the long af wait but for some reason, school has hit me harder than that bus hit Regina George this year! I'm drowning in homework at the moment and I have been struggling to find time to work on this chapter. But hopefully, school will start easing up soon so I can finish the story.

OH YEAH! There's only 6 chapters left!!!! We are nearly done with the book so get ready for the end guys :(((

Now onto the questions!!!

1. What did you think of the chapter?

2. What would you like to see before the book ends?

3. How was/is your day?

- Grace xx