Vex, who hadn't even bothered to try and get some rest, sat alone in an empty barn with her knees up to her chest. Her thoughts were her only companions at the moment but she didn't really mind. The darkness of the barn became too much for her and she let her palms glow slightly before she raised her hand up, a light purple ball of light raising up out of her hand and onto the ceiling, illuminating the room.

"You afraid of the dark?"

The brunette shrugged, leaning her back up against the wall. "I'm afraid it goes a bit deeper than that Mr. Rogers. What are you afraid of?"

Steve took a spot next to Vex, letting out a small sigh. "Surprisingly, I'm afraid of a lot of things."

Vex shook her head, her loose curls moving. "It's not surprising. Everyone is afraid of something. I can sense it."

Steve let out an annoyed breath of air. "Then why would you ask me?" he asked, glancing at her briefly.

She shrugged once more. "I just wanted to know if you trusted me enough to tell me," she answered honestly, sparing a glance in her direction.

"Haven't we been through this already? I trust you-"

"Why? You've just met me Steven, you don't know anything about me," Vex frowned, staring at Steve in confusion.

A smile came to Steve's face, a mixture of sadness and fondness infused into it. "You remind me of someone..."

"Please don't say your mother, you tend to stare at my breast too m-"

"No," Steve coughed awkwardly, his face heating up. "You remind me of Rose, she was my uh...first love."

Vex stayed silent, reading his thoughts and going through his memories and a small smile came to her face. "Thank you. She seems like a lovely woman."

"How-" Steve stopped himself as he thought about it. He narrowed his eyes into slits when he realized that she had went through his mind but shrugged it off when he concluded that it would be better than actually telling her. He didn't know if he actually could tell her.

"You know I met her once, a very driven woman she was," Vex told him, the smile still on her face as she remembered her old friend.

"Seriously? When did you two meet?" Steve asked, completely interested as he watched the brunette next to him carefully.

"It's complicated. Rose knows something about me that no one else knows. I know something about Rose that no one else knows, it brought us closer," Vex shrugged. "I saved her and then she saved me. We were even. She always seemed sad though and she was one hell of a good baker."

Steve smiled, rubbing a hand through his hair gently. "That she was. She was amazing."

"She is amazing," Vex corrected him, frowning at his improper sentence. "She's still alive Steve. I don't know where but she is."

Steve turned to look at her with shock written across his features. Vex sent him a small smile, shrugging. "It was a while back though, I don't even know where she is now."

Vex turned the other way as memories of her and her doppelgänger played in her mind...

New York was surprisingly warm, Vex thinking that the state only received snowfall and rain. Her brown riding boots smacked hard against the concrete as she picked up speed. She looked at the address on her wrist once more before she sighed, turning into an alley. At first, she didn't see anyone, but suddenly, a set of brunette locks came into view and she smiled.

"What do you need this time Rosie?" Vex questioned, placing a hand on her hip with a lopsided grin on her face. "You know, technically you owe me. That's what happens when you-"

"Technically," the other brunette drawled out, "we beat those guys up together but.."

Vex let out a light laugh, her long tresses shaking as she shook her head. "I'm only pulling at your hair Rose, what is the problem and how can I help?"

Rose clasped her small hands together, looking up as she thought of a way to explain her situation to Vex. "Well, remember the last time we talked and I told you about how I thought I was being targeted?"

Vex nodded, placing both hands on her hips as she bit her lip anxiously. "Yes, what does that have to-"

Before she could finish, Rose lifted up her dark grey tank top to reveal what Vex had immediately deemed a gunshot wound below her ribcage. The French woman placed her hands up to her mouth, her eyes wide with concern as she stared at the scar.

"Oh my word," Vex mumbled, hesitantly approaching and placing her hand against the wound gently. She mumbled an apology when Rose winced in pain and took a few steps back. "What happened? Who did this to you."

Rose let out a breath, pulling her shirt down and fixing her attire. "They call him the Winter Soldier. He works for-"

"Hydra, yes I know. My friend the Huntress dated him a few years back," Vex cut her off, her eyes stuck to the floor as she placed her hand under her chin.

"You let your friend date a guy like that?" Rose questioned, her crystal blue eyes wide with fear.

Vex shrugged. "He wasn't that bad Rose, I mean it's not like he tried to shoot-too soon?"

Rose sent the young woman an unimpressed look, making her shrug. "If you are trying to catch him, it will not work Rose, I'm sorry to tell you."

The older woman smacked her lips in irritation, pouting. "But, I-"

"You will be killed, he's been around for years Rose...decades even. As a friend, I am warning you to stay away from the Winter Soldier, he means trouble," Vex told her.

In that same moment, the sound of a gun going off reached their ears and before Rose could react, Vex had placed her hand out in front of her, her eyes turning into a light lilac color. Rose shrieked when she noticed that there was a bullet, mid-air and when she looked up, her eyes connected with harsh blue ones.

Stuck in place, Rose had to be dragged away by Vex, who took her into an abandoned building. The brunette sat her friend down in a broken chair and sighed, running her hands through her hair nervously.

"See! Do you see what I mean Rosie?" Vex whispered harshly, a series of grunts and curses leaving her pink painted lips as she struggled not to yell at her friend. "He almost killed-"

"You," Rose finished, moving Vex before a bullet could hit her. "He almost killed you."

Vex rolled her eyes, grabbing onto Rose's hand while the latter used the other to make the building shake. The Winter Soldier fell along with the rubble and the two identical women took that as their chance, running off.

"Okay, I won't try to find him again," Rose managed between tired breaths.

Vex sent her friend a look. "Is that so?"

Vex hadn't noticed that she had drifted off to sleep while she was remembering her time with her old friend, but she did remember Steve picking her up and taking her back into the house, placing her in the bed and tucking her in.

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