IN BETWEEN IT ALL?? BARNES?

   It felt like we had been here forever. The fight still didn't feel close to over.

   We were getting somewhere, at least. 

   Steve was in the vicinity of Rumlow, and through our earpieces, we could all hear it. I was trying to keep up with the sounds of blades and metal while keeping up with my mother.

  We were trudging through the dirt as if we were taking a hike. Once it sounded like Steve had Rumlow dealt with, Mama set off onto a new duty. I just followed and covered her. That was all that I ever did. One day, though, I want to be on my own. Maybe, with someone else covering me. I've come a long way, of course. My parents used to banish me from battles when they were near. At least I get to help them now. But still, I want to grow until I can do it on my own. 

   I wasn't paying attention to Steve and Rumlow anymore until I heard him mutter something that sounded vaguely familiar. 

   "Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky." Rumlow spat with distaste. 

   As soon as I heard the words, I lifted my head to look up at my mother. I wanted to see if she would react to his name, so I didn't say anything. I still didn't know much about who this Bucky person was, but everyone seemed to know him. And for those that knew him the most, which felt to be my mother and father from what I have seen, their reactions toward him didn't seem to be too optimistic. 

   I could see her flinch. She tried to hide it but I definitely saw it. She didn't see me looking but I knew that she could feel my eyes. on her. It went silent between Steve and Rumlow just then. I listened intently to hear what Steve would say next. 

   How did he know Bucky? And if he did, I wonder if he knew where I could find him.  

   "What did you say?" Steve asked with a harsh bite to his tone. 

   Rumlow mentioning Bucky didn't seem to sit right with him at all. He had to know him. Based on his reaction it was safe to assume that they had to be friends in some type of way. And because of that, I was eager to find out if Cap could tell me something about where he was. 

   For some reason, in such a dark moment, I immediately felt excitement begin to course through my body. I tried to hide the smile from my face just in case my mother turned around to see it. Maybe I was finally going to get to meet the man that would always write me notes when I was a bit younger. I had always dreamed of the day that I would meet him. 

   I couldn't help but fantasize about the moment. I wonder if he would look as I imagined him. A long, Russian face with bright blue eyes and short, spiking hair. I wondered if he would be fit, and I wondered if he would be my age. I imagined him to be a bit older. I would always wonder why he would only write to me and not my sisters. I always wondered how he even knew who I was in the first place. 

   What made him choose me?

   I couldn't hide my smile because for once, it felt like I would soon find out. 

   "He remembered you," I heard Rumlow go on, out of breath. "I was there. He got all weepy about it," he begins to raise his rasped voice. "Till they put his brain back in a blender," I heard him continue. My smile immediately faded away and my expression faded into a nasty grimace. I lifted my eyes back to look at my mother's back, and before I could even call out to her in shock and in confusion about the words I'd heard, she turned to me. 

   "Zola, take it out." She instructed it instantly and seriously. I could see the anger in her eyes but most importantly I could see fear. And I would have ignored her. I would have ignored my mother and I would have kept listening if I hadn't seen that fear there.