Once A Warrior Princess

Chapter 15~A New Friend

Melody's POV

"It was him. He looked right at me like he didn't even know me," Steve said.

"How's that even possible? It was like seventy years ago," Sam asked.

"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43, Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..." Steve trailed off.

"None of that's your fault, Steve," Nat said.

"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky," Steve said, turning his head away.

"We need to get a doctor here. We don't put pressure on that wound she's gonna bleed out here in the truck," Sam said noticing Natasha's wound. One of the guards threatened Sam with an electric rod, and the second guard knocked out the first.

"Ah. That thing was squeezing my brain. Who's this guy?" Maria asked, taking off the helmet.

Timeskip to after CA: WS because Author is lazy

Steve's POV

"You're thinking about Bucky again, aren't you?" Melody asked, taking a seat next to me.

"How can I not? I don't know what happened to him, but he doesn't even remember me."

"We'll find him, Steve. And then we'll help him remember who he is and who you are. People don't have such drastic 180 behavioral changes for no reason. We'll bring him back, Steve," She said, taking my hand in hers.

"What if there is no helping him?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"Steve, don't forget I am very good with mind spells. If you manage to hold him still after we find him, I can figure out what's wrong with him and how to fix it. My guess is mind control, although I'm not sure what method was used."

"You're sure that will work?"

"It has every other time I've done it," She answered and that helped a little.

For months, Sam, Melody, and I traveled the world, trying to find Bucky. All the while, Melody was cursing herself on not being able to track him with her werewolf senses but since she had never really gotten his scent she had nothing to go off of. Finally, we found him. Sam and I charged Bucky, bringing him to his knees and keeping him there. Melody approached us, her magic dancing down her arms and causing her eyes to go from a beautiful purple and blue mix to almost entirely purple.

"This may hurt a bit. But if you don't struggle it should only be a small pinch," She told him and I'm not sure he knew what she was saying. She placed her hands on his temples and both their eyes turned a matching shade of purple.

"What is she doing?" Sam asked.

"Figuring out how to help him," I answered, even though I wasn't really sure how. A few minutes went by and Melody fell backward, gasping.

"Damn, that is the strongest mind control I've ever seen. But it's a super easy fix. We just have to show him Steve's memories of them," She said, sitting back up.

"That's it?" Sam asked.

"Sometimes the strongest solutions are the easiest ones, Sam," She sassed and he shook his head. Melody cast the same spell but this time, she had one hand on my forehead and the other on Bucky's becoming the mental link between us. It was disorienting at first, but eventually, I was showing him memory after memory and he began showing them from his perspective. It was working!

After a little while, Melody pulled us out. I blinked before I noticed Bucky was looking at me.

"Steve? What's going on?" He asked and Sam and I let him go.

"You were under mind control for 70 years and your super-soldier serum kept you looking twenty the whole time. It's 2015," Melody explained.

"What she said," I agreed.

"And who's the pretty know-it-all?"

"That's Melody. And this is Sam," I introduced.

Timeskip

Melody's POV

I watched as Bucky and Steve talked about all that had happened to them. I listened from a distance, letting them have their moment and then their conversation drifted to me.

"Why do you keep looking at Melody?" Bucky asked.

"I just want to make sure she's ok," Steve said and I smiled. Ever the hero.

"You like her," Bucky said, astounded.

"Hey, she likes me too," Steve said defensively.

"How old is she?" Bucky asked.

"She's 16," Steve admitted. I knew the huge age gap bothered Steve, but he could usually ignore it. Unless someone else brought it up.

"16?! Steve, come on," Bucky scolded and I laughed. "Can she hear us?" Bucky asked and Steve nodded.

"She's been listening in the whole time. She's a werewolf." I didn't give Bucky a chance to rebuttal, I just shifted and made my way over to them.

"You are more set in your ways than Steve is," I said and he laughed while Steve pouted.

Steve's POV

It was a huge weight off my shoulders that Melody and Bucky got along. It had been one of the many things I had worried about before we had found and rehabilitated him. Would he like Mel? Would he be upset that she's only 16? But after Melody explained who and what she was, and proved it, Bucky seemed to relax, and I did too. On the way back, Bucky and Melody bonded, mainly over their love of teasing me, but it made me so happy that my best friend and my girl liked each other.

There was an incident where I genuinely thought Melody was going to kill Buck, though. He was on the floor and she was half shifted hovering over him. But, as it turns out, they were sparring and it went a bit too far.

"You two scared the life outta me!" I said and they laughed.

"Come on, Steve, it wasn't that bad," Buck rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I've done worse damage to people," Melody shrugged. "It still sucks that my spells don't work well on you though," Melody huffed at Bucky who grinned.

"That is the only good use I have found for the damn thing," He replied.

"You two are going to be the death of me," I said and Melody hugged me.

"Don't lie, you love us."