A/N: Oh my goodness. So, this is my first FanFiction ever and I would really appreciate it if you gave me any feedback. I am still figuring out how this website works. (:

I recently got into Marvel's Cinematic Universe and I completely fell in love with Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier. If I ever mess up on any details, please feel welcome to send me a PM or leave a review.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). However, I do own my original character (OC) Addison Roberts and her story line.

This first chapter doesn't have much action, but it gets the ball rolling. You have to start somewhere, right?

I sincerely hope you enjoy and stick around.

Simple.

Normal.

Peaceful.

That's how Addison Roberts saw the life that she had built for herself after college. Granted, after graduating from George Washington University, the first two years were hectic and consisted of bouncing between assistant jobs at local healthcare clinics. There were times when she had to stretch her monthly pay check just to make ends meet. In those two years, Addison had gotten six hours of sleep a night — if she was lucky. The stress from her job, her personal life, and figuring out how to keep herself afloat were cause for unbelievably high stress levels. Of course, that is the reality for any recent college graduate.

The whirl wind stopped two years after she graduated with her degree in business administration. Her mother had decided to retire early and leave her flower shop to her only daughter. Becoming a small business owner and a florist brought stability back to Addison. She couldn't remember what the feeling entailed and though it took time to adjust, it was a welcome change. Addison thrived in her new environment. She was busy enough with her business that she didn't have the time to think about all that had happened to her before she got to this point in her life. The haunting events of what happened years ago always lurked in the back of her mind but she didn't let it take control of her — whether it be a conscious or subconscious decision.

It started as any other day. Her alarm clock rang at six and she was out of the shower by six-thirty. After getting dressed, she walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen that was connected to the living room. The apartment was small and only had one bedroom and bathroom, but it was all that Addison needed. Grabbing the first thing that she came across, the twenty-five year old grabbed her purse hanging off of the coat rack, her phone on the charging cord from the table near the front door, and headed out the door to face the seven story descent to the lobby of her apartment building.

"Is it really that hard to hire someone to fix the elevator?" Addison grumbled to herself as she reached the bottom of the seven flights. Every morning Addison asked this question and every morning she would have to catch her breath for a moment. It wasn't that she was out of shape — it's just that she never exercised regularly. Every New Year's Eve she would promise herself to start exercising daily but then after a week of keeping her commitment, the brunette would stop and just tell herself that next year would be different. And it wasn't like she needed to exercise everyday. The woman ate right and only allowed herself junk food once a week. Addison saw this as a fair trade off for not exercising as much as she could.

Climbing into her year-old Kia Rio, Addison threw her purse into the backseat and scarfed down her plain bagel and turned the car on after finishing her sad excuse for a breakfast. She pulled out of the parking garage and pressed the speed dial on her phone, patiently waiting for the person she was calling to pick up the line.

"I just got in from my run. I had a late start today," the voice of Sam Wilson spoke through the speaker.

Sam Wilson never answered the phone with a simple "hello" when she called. But, he didn't need to. Addison and Sam had known each other for seven years and were fast friends from the moment they had met. Her older brother, William, had introduced them before he was deployed overseas. William, Sam, and their friend Riley all served in the same pararescue unit. Addison had branded them as a military version of the three stooges. But, that all changed after Riley was killed in action. Sam had returned home after their friend's death and started to work with soldiers who had PTSD at the local Veterans Affairs office. Her brother, however, stayed in the field of pararescue and ended up giving his life for his country when a mission went haywire.

Addison had been starting her sophomore year of college when she got the news that her brother had passed. Her grades quickly spiraled out of control and she became consumed with her grief. Sam was there for her and helped her get her life back on track slowly, but surely. Addison was forever grateful for her friend.

"Let me guess, you had a riveting conversation about patriotism and duty with Captain America again?" she teased.

About a month ago, Sam had come home from his morning jog one day and called Addison raving to her about how he ran around the National Mall with Captain America. To say Sam had a little moment of being starstruck after meeting the world's best soldier would be an understatement. However, Addison didn't believe her friend and teased him about it mercilessly.

"Something along those lines," Sam replied. "I'll be ready in half an hour."

"I'll be there in twenty. I can start the coffee for you so you won't be too late," said Addison before she ended the call and turned on to the road that would lead her straight to her friend's neighborhood.

When she arrived at Sam's house, Addison unlocked his front door with the key that she had and made a bee-line for the kitchen. Without thinking, she acted out of habit, turning on the Keurig machine and grabbing two travel mugs from Sam's cabinets that he kept on his bottom shelf. Being five-foot-two wasn't something that was an advantage to Addison. She absolutely hated it when people would tease her about her height. To her, being short wasn't "adorable" as others would say; it was just a hinderance. The former pararescuer had learned a long time ago not to mock her about her height and tried to make things easier for her to access wherever he could.

As she pressed the button to brew the first cup of coffee, Addison unlocked her phone and looked at her schedule for today. All she had going on was getting a new shipment of vases for her shop which didn't come until after her lunch break. Locking her phone and placing it on Sam's kitchen counter, Addison took a brown curl in between her index and middle finger before looking at the split ends. A frown grew on her face at the sight of damaged ends. She just got a hair cut two weeks ago.

Before she could examine her hair further, Addison heard the shower shut off and a stumble come from Sam's bathroom. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the coffee machine, filling up the second travel mug before heading to her friend's fridge to grab the creamer. While Addison was doctoring up the caffeinated beverages, Sam emerged from his bedroom and gave the short, olive skin toned woman a squeeze on the shoulder.

"You know, for a former pararescuer, you should have better coordination," she gently teased, referencing the ex-soldier's fumble in the bathroom.

"Hey, now," Sam began. But he couldn't finish his statement. Addison shoved his coffee into his hand, grabbed her mug and phone, and started to push her friend towards the front door.

"Let's get a move on, Wilson," she said. "We're going to be late. And by 'we', I mean you. I'm my own boss. I can't be late."

"Keep rubbing it in, why don't you," he responded as he climbed into her tiny car. Addison let out a chuckle as she locked Sam's front door and scurried to her car.

While unpacking the shipment of vases, Addison heard the bell above the shop's door ring and she turned to welcome whoever had stopped by. A blonde, average height woman was standing in the doorway. She was wearing a pink pair of scrubs and had a far off look in her eyes as she looked at the flower display by the front of the shop.

"Hello," Addison chirped with a smile on her face.

"Hi," the woman greeted back.

"Is there anything that I can help you with today?" the store owner asked as she moved away from the vases to give the customer her full attention.

"I'm looking for flowers to send that mean 'I'm thinking of you' but not in the heavy way," said the woman as she scanned all the flowers in front of her with her eyes. Looking up at the short woman in front of her, the woman gave a small laugh. "Does that make sense?"

"That makes perfect sense," Addison reassured her. Gesturing over towards the right side of the shop, she and the woman in scrubs walked over to a stand that had replicas of flowers that held the sentiment of wishing someone better and warm thoughts. "This first bouquet has white roses and Oriental lilies. The lavender carnations help to offset the white so it's not too bright. It comes with a purple vase to help tie it all together. The arrangement is generally bought for people recovering from an illness."

The woman gave a nod of her head. Addison continued on to the next bouquet, seeing as her customer wasn't completely sold. "This next arrangement sends a hopeful sentiment. It is very bright, seeing as all the flowers are yellow. You have flowers ranging from Peruvian lilies to roses to chrysanthemums. The little accents of green you see are green hypericum berries to help draw attention to the individual flowers and not the general color of yellow."

"It is really pretty, but I think it's a bit too bright for what I'm looking for," the woman told Addison, who nodded her head.

"I think I know one that may work for you," the brunette said. She gently ushered her customer over to the opposite side of the display table and pointed to the flowers that were on display in the middle. Addison looked over at the woman on her left and saw a gentle smile on her face and she instantly knew that this was the one. "This is one of my favorite arrangements. The yellow carnations bring out hope while the purple Peruvian lilies and statice flowers give off a comforting feeling. The green fern leaves accent the flowers and give the arrangement a down to earth feeling." Casting a glance at her customer she could see that she was still smiling. "And if you look, there is no vase that shows off the stems. The white washed wooden basket gives the bouquet a more genuine appearance."

"This is perfect," the woman remarked. "I'll take it."

"Great! Now, there are three sizes for this arrangement. The small size is only thirty, the medium is forty, and the large is fifty. All of the sizes give the same visual, the only thing that varies is the amount of flowers that can fit into the different size bases," Addison said as she guided the woman towards the front desk to fill out an order form.

"Bases?"

"Bases are these blocks of styrofoam that we put in the bottom of the bouquets that aren't made of glass. It keeps them in place and helps keep the stems from getting damaged," she explained.

Her customer nodded her head. "I think I'll take the medium size."

Addison nodded her head in understanding. As she started to type the order into the computer, the florist spoke up. "If you don't mind me asking, who are the flowers for?"

"My aunt," the woman exhaled. "She has dementia."

Knowing better than to offer her sorrows, Addison just gave her a warm smile. "Well, I'm sure she'll be touched by the flowers."

The woman gave her a genuine smile as a thank you. Turning back to the computer, Addison entered the rest of the order's details into the computer before turning back to her customer to get the billing information and delivery location.

"What name would you like to put down for the order?"

"My name is fine. Sharon Carter," the woman responded.

"And where would you like it to be dropped off? We could deliver it to your aunt, your apartment, or you could come here to pick up the arrangement," Addison offered. "Just a forewarning, there is a delivery charge."

Sharon gave the woman behind the counter a kind smile and decided to pick it up from the store. After receiving payment for the order, Addison handed her customer a copy of the receipt and bid her farewell.

"The flowers should be here in the next two days. When they come into the shop, whoever is here will give you a call for you to come and pick them up," Addison told her.

"Alright. Thank you so much…" Sharon trailed off, hoping that the woman would give her a name.

"Addison."

"Thanks, Addison," Sharon said before giving a wave and exiting the shop.

Returning to unpacking the shipment of vases delivered to her shop, Addison remained busy putting them away before closing. After watering the flowers and checking to make sure that the back door was locked one more time, the florist left her shop.

She was driving down the street before her apartment building when she saw flashing lights that belonged to three police cars and one ambulance. Slowing her vehicle as she passed the scene, she saw the team of medics pulling a gurney between them with someone strapped to it. Addison felt unease creeping up in her throat, threatening to choke her. Seeing the still body on the gurney was bringing back memories of that ill fated night three years ago. If she would have allowed herself to think of what happened, Addison knew that she would fall back into a hole of wallowing. Instead, she swallowed and pushed her memories to the back of her brain where they usually remained.

As she was passing the scene, Addison saw a familiar figure standing in the threshold of the building. Standing in her pink scrubs, Sharon Carter was staring at the back of the ambulance with a blank expression on her face. Once the building and flashing lights disappeared from her sight, Addison let out a breath that she didn't know she was feeling. She was shocked that she saw her customer from earlier today standing and watching a man get carried out to a vehicle that would soon be heading to the nearest hospital. She quickly pushed the slightly disturbing scene out of her head as she pulled into the garage of her apartment building and busied herself with looking for her apartment keys in the bottomless pit that was her purse.

Addison walked into her abode a few minutes later and set her purse, keys, and phone down before heading to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. Unscrewing the cap to the water and taking a gulp, she made her way over to her couch and unceremoniously threw herself down on the furniture. She grabbed the remote that was next to her and turned on the television, seeing what the news had to offer her.

"A shooting in downtown residential D.C. leaves many people feeling panicked in their own homes. Stay tuned for more coverage after the break," the female news reporter said as clips ran across the screen before cutting to a commercial. Addison quickly recognized the clips as the scene that she drove by on her way home from the store. This grabbed her attention immediately.

Before the news came back on, her phone started buzzing. She quickly made her way to the device and accepted the call once she saw who was calling her.

"Hija, are you okay?" the worried voice of her mother flooded through the phone. "I saw what happened on the news and I know that's how you drive home everyday."

"I'm fine mamá," Addison said as she moved back to the couch to watch the news that was now muted. "I drove past the scene on the way home. I didn't know it was a shooting."

"The world is getting to be a scary place," her mother fretted. "I don't like you living alone in that city. Why couldn't you have accepted Sam's offer of staying with him when he asked?"

"I'm more than capable of living on my own. I've been doing it for more than three years now," she huffed.

"I know, I know. I just get worried about you, Addie." At those words, Addison's eyes flickered shut and she felt a bit homesick. Hearing her mother's Puerto Rican accent wrap around her name made her miss the woman more than she would care to admit. "I can't imagine what your father would say if he were still around. He would probably drive to Washington over night and drag you back home," her mother said in the somber tone she always had when she spoke about Addison's father.

"Mamá," the daughter spoke in a hushed tone.

"I'm sorry," the older woman apologized. "I've just been missing him a bit more than usual these days."

"I know," Addison responded. "I miss him, too." She took a deep breath before changing the topic. "How is everything back home?" With that, the two women lapsed into a comfortable conversation that lasted for an hour and a half. Hearing her mother's continuous yawns was the only reason the conversation didn't go on for long.

"Go to sleep mamá," Addison cooed to her mother. "I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay. Goodnight, querida. Love you."

"I love you, too." Hanging up the phone, Addison let out a yawn herself before heading to her bedroom to go to sleep.

A/N: I apologize for another author's note. I promise these won't happen twice every chapter.

That was just a little introduction to get everything going. If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to leave a review or send me a PM.

Next chapter will involve more of everyone's favorite characters.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed!

- beccatopaz