"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."

Martin Luther King Jr.

           Her memory had come at a time when she needed it most; often times she would drinking her coffee and a harsh memory would rip through her head like a migraine and she'd drop the mug. Only once it had shattered on the floor would Bucky realize what she was going through, and he was always there in a flash. Arms wrapped around her, he would hold onto her in a way that always brought her back down to earth. But this memory, the memory of when she had first opened up to Bucky in the most intimate of ways, it came at a time when it was absolutely needed. She held onto it tight, letting it flood her with the emotion she needed, and she found herself with a smile upon her soft pink lips.

          Bucky was still unconscious, his head having bit hit so hard against the chopper window when it fell from the top of a building, and Ophelia had gotten enough time to process everything and feel as much like herself again as possible. Given the circumstances, she figured she had recovered quite well from her panic attack and the events that had led up to it. Regardless, she had a few people to thank for such a quick recovery during such a frantic time. It didn't matter what was going on with the Avengers or the C.I.A.; it mattered that Ophelia needed the help and the comfort, and both Sam and Steve had stepped up to the plate.

          Sam approached Ophelia, who was seated on the damp floor with her back against the wall. The place itself reminded her so much of Siberia, and yet she tried her hardest not to focus on that. Ophelia pushed her brown hair out of her face, behind her unpierced ears. Smiling up at the man as she had grown accustomed to, she remembered when they had first met. He had seemed skeptical of her, as everyone aside from Nick Fury and Steve Rogers did. It was amazing how much respect she received simply because those two people decided to put their trust into her. It warmed her when she thought of it, and it showed through her smile.

         "You doin' alright, Kid?" Sam asked for probably the tenth time in that half hour.

         "Yeah." For the first time since he had started asking, she really meant it. Maybe that was what he had been waiting for, just a shift in her voice and a brightness in her eyes.

         "You know, I have never seen what you two have." He was crouched in front of her, about two feet away. "I know what he just did seems scary - terrifying really. And as much as I haven't exactly gotten along with the guy, I searched for him for two years and found nothing. He kept you safe all those years, and I'm sorry some doctor decided to screw that up for you."

        "Well... Since when has life always gone to plan?" She raised an expressive eyebrow.

         Sam leaned forward and put his hand on her shoulder, giving her a friendly shake. "Good to have you back."

         Steve was hovering over them then. "You know when I first found him in the apartment, I thought you'd left."

         Ophelia glanced up at Steve, waiting to see what else he had to say.

        "He pretended that he didn't truly remember me, but I knew he did," he expressed. "When he found out the special forces were ordered to shoot on sight, he asked one thing of me."

        "What was that?"

        "He asked me to find you, to make sure you were safe." He saw her lips curve into a small smile, and he carried on, "he loves you, you know."

        "I know," she replied softly.

        Not much more time went by when Bucky finally came to; Steve was peering out the open window at the helicopter patrolling above. Sam called to him when he saw Bucky wake, and Steve turned to walk over. Looking at O, who was still sitting on the hard, damp ground, he nodded at her favourably. She returned the gesture, showing that she was ready for this, but she wasn't going to be there right when Bucky woke. They still didn't know who he was going to wake up as, and that terrified her.

         "Steve?" She heard Bucky's voice and she let out a relieved gasp, though he wouldn't have heard it from where he was.

        "Which Bucky am I talking to?" Steve asked the first hard question of many.

         A pause came, a heavy silence that filled the entire building. "Your mom's name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes."

        Ophelia could hear the smile in his voice and knew that it was indeed Bucky. Her hands went to her swollen and sore neck underneath the blue scarf that Sam had bought for her. She could feel the raised skin underneath her finger tips, and just by gently touching it she winced in pain. Turning her attention back to the men in the other room, she listened for that voice that soothed her on long nights, the voice that brought her humanity out a long time ago.

       "You can't read that in a museum," Steve said.

       "Just like that was supposed to be cool?" There was an edge to Sam's voice; he was mad at Bucky for what he had done, what he had done to Ophelia. "You saw what happened to O-"

       "What did I do?" Bucky asked, then his voice changed and Ophelia felt the hair on the back of her neck raise. "Where is O?"

       "She's okay," Steve told him. "She's just not-"

       "Where is Ophelia, Steve?" Bucky's voice ripped through the room.

        "She's here."

        Suddenly the tension dropped. Guilt filled the void it left. "Is she...?"

        "She can't see you right now," Steve said, his voice raised in a protective manner.

        "What the hell did I do...?"

         Steve explained in brief detail what had happened, skimming over what happened to Ophelia for Bucky's sake and hers. She was still on the other side of the wall, breathing unevenly, trying to listen to every little sound around her. After Steve had told him what happened, Ophelia could hear the large clamp open and Bucky's arm was freed. Closing her eyes, she wanted so badly to go in there knowing he was Bucky once again, but fear held her back. Fear that he would snap when he saw what he had done to her, tell her to get away from him, that he was a danger to her. She didn't want to leave, to part from him and Sam and Steve. She had to make her mark on this world, and if that meant helping Captain America sort this chaos out, she was going to fight for her place among them.

          "Oh god, I knew this would happen," Bucky said, defeated. "Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All they had to do was say the goddamn words."

         "What did the doctor want?" Steve asked.

         "I don't know." Bucky was distracted by thoughts of Ophelia, he had no idea what condition she was in. It was coming back to him, slowly, but he couldn't recall exactly what he had done to her.

          "People are dead. The bomb, the set up, the doctor did all that just to get ten minutes with you." Steve was stern, a true leader. "I need you to do better than 'I don't know'."

          "He... He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept." He paused. "Where we were kept."

           Ophelia rose to her feet, shaking slightly.

          "Why?"

          "Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier." Bucky sighed, and Ophelia realized what he meant. When he went into explaining about the Death Squad, Ophelia started to process just how twisted this whole situation was. She listened to his words, how he explained who they were, the things that they were capable of. He didn't tell them what they had done to Ophelia, or what they had done to him, but Steve and Sam understood the gravity of the situation anyways.

         "He said he wanted to see an empire fall."

         "With these guys, he could do it. They speak over thirty languages, can hide in plain sight. They could take down an entire country in one night and no one would see it coming. They had more kills than anyone in HYDRA history, and that was before the serum."

         "The doctor, can he control them?"

         "Enough." He knew first hand. "Can I... Can I see her?"

         Everyone paused, and Ophelia lifted her head up. There was a collective silence that filled the entire room. Steve shifted where he stood and then walked away from Bucky to check on Ophelia. Coming around the corner, he found himself face to face with her. He put his hand on her shoulder and tilted his head to the side, not wanting to say anything out loud with Bucky listening in. 

           Her green eyes met with his blue ones and she gently nodded, putting her own hand atop of his and squeezing for a brief moment. It was a silent gesture to thank him for the worry he offered, for the protection he gave without question. She was important to Bucky, and she was important to Sam and Steve as well. All of them had gone out of their way at one point or more to protect her, and she would do the same for them.

         Stepping around the wall that separated her and Bucky, she entered his field of vision. His head lifted quickly to study her, his eyes scrutinizing, filled with a deep set regret. When Bucky stood up, Ophelia stopped walking. The man saw her body language, was able to read it with ease, and he shook his head as he began to remember what he had done. 

          Ophelia opened her mouth to speak, her vision starting to fog around the edges as she focused only on Bucky. She didn't care that Sam and Steve were watching, and she didn't notice as they stepped out to give Bucky and her some space. They trusted he wouldn't overreact, and even if he did, he wouldn't do anything to hurt her.

         His hand carefully went to her scarf after he had narrowed the distance between them; Ophelia flinched only a tiny bit, wishing that she had been stronger. The flinch inflicted pain upon Bucky, but still he carried on. He had to see, he had to face it. Once the scarf was removed, his lips parted and a devastated, shuddering breath came from them. The utter remorse and regret in his eyes broke Ophelia, and she quickly wrapped her arms around Bucky and fell into him. 

            The man slowly wrapped his arms around her, as if he was scared of what he might do to her next. Gradually, his arms tightened to the point where he could feel her heartbeat through his own body. Her show of love for him created a domino effect of forgiveness through his body, telling him that he was not to blame, that she did not accuse him of what had happened. He had wanted to tell her to leave, to find somewhere safe, but when that feeling of forgiveness rippled through him, the words didn't make it out.

        She was safest by his side.