#judywrites

“You’re grounded.”

I blinked in shock. About a million reactions ran through my system before I chose the most professional one. I laughed. “That’s the first thing you say to me?” I snickered as I stared at an amused yet affronted Tony, an annoyed Natasha and a fuming Steve. “I’m not a child, Tony. You can’t…ground me.”

“Well, I can’t fire you, can I?” Tony shot back and I realized very quickly that although his initial response was comical, nothing about their reactions were comical. I was in deep shit and I knew it.

“I mean, you can–”

“–and he should,” Steve growled and I had to refrain from rolling my eyes.

“As much as I’d love to,” Tony shot me a hard look, “we need you.”

“Do we at least get to compromise on my inevitable form of punishment?” I cut in, waving my hand to regain attention.

“Depends on what you’ve got.” Steve folded his arms over his chest but I didn’t miss how his eyes flickered over to Bucky.

I sighed and tapped my fingers against the back of the tablet as I struggled to form my thoughts together. “Carol Raulson – the computer engineer, isn’t real. She doesn’t exist.”

“That’s fantastic,” Natasha mumbled sarcastically and I resisted the urge to throw a few choice words her way. Instead, I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay on track.

“Her real name is Jolene Kaplan. I think so, anyways. It’s the only logical explanation. I don’t know anything about her since I haven’t had time to run an extensive search but I do know that Jolene was Bucky’s target. Whether it was for a hit, a kidnapping, whatever the motive was behind it, she was the target. My guess was Hydra was planning to attack while she left the building or in the transition from her handlers inside the engineering firm to DCGSE. It wasn’t specified fully what the assassin’s purpose was or why they were even running the mission. Bucky doesn’t really remember any specifics from the mission, either. He said he was in the middle of briefing when everything went to hell, or whatever the fuck happened. Kotevsky, the Russian, is also someone he remembers. Not much, but he remembers him from somewhere cold. I’m taking a wild guess that Kotevsky may have been around during Bucky’s time with the Soviets but I don’t know. I won’t know for certain for a while.” All of the words came out in a rush as I attempted to get all of the information out while being as convincing as possible. When I finished, I was panting slightly.

There was a stretch of silence as they glanced at my face, then Bucky’s, then at each other before Tony finally broke the quiet. “How long will you need?”

“Well…” I stalled as I pondered how to broach the touchy subject. While I hesitated, a low and throaty sound pulled my attention away for a second. All four of our heads turned to see Bucky glaring at me with such fervor I was surprised I didn’t melt into a puddle right there. I rolled my eyes at him as I turned back to my audience. “In order for me to really make any sort of headway with this, I need to–”

“No,” Bucky suddenly snarled and I whirled on him with a deadly glare.

“Honestly, this doesn’t concern you. So if you could let me speak without rudely interrupting me, I’d greatly appreciate it.” Bucky glowered at me, his entire body stiff and wound tight. But I didn’t care. If information was wanted, it had to be done.

“What the hell is going on?” Natasha snapped, obviously not pleased to be kept in the dark the way she was. I shot a warning glare to Bucky as I turned back to the three of them, all in varying degrees of confusion and bewilderment.

“I can find information on Kotevsky and Jolene via the regular channels but it might not be enough. I want, no need, to get a hold of the mission files for the Winter Soldier and–”

“No,” Tony interrupted, “absolutely not.”

My jaw dropped. “But, you don’t understand–”

“Are you out of your mind?” Natasha hissed, suddenly catching on too.

“Yes, but I don’t see how that matters–”

“What are you talking about, Tony?” Steve cut in, throwing me a stern look as I began to protest louder.

“In order to get to the Winter Soldier mission files, darling Hannah here needs to infiltrate a Hydra base and–”

“Absolutely not.” Steve wheeled to face me with a heavy scowl etched on his face. I opened my mouth to argue but he didn’t let me. “Hannah if you think for one second I’m going to let you go on a mission all by yourself to a Hydra base you’re out of your mind.”

“I won’t be alone,” I shot back. “I’ll take someone with me. Natasha can go.”

“No I won’t,” Natasha deadpanned and I glared at her. Some friend, I thought to myself.

“You are not sacrificing other people for this…this suicide mission.” I could tell he was trying his absolute hardest not to yell at me but it seemed with each word he was getting closer and closer to failing at that. “Goddammit Hannah, you’re smarter than this.”

“Honest to God, can we please relax,” I interrupted with a sigh. “It was just an idea, okay? Obviously I was going to run it by you first. I’m just laying out my options here.”

“No it’s not,” a voice piped up behind me. When I turned around Bucky’s eyes were on me as he muttered out the words that I was pretty sure would end my life. “She was planning to go on the mission with no mission plan, whether you agreed or not.”

“No mission plan?” Steve all but screeched as my jaw dropped.

“You mother–” I didn’t have a chance to finish my sentence before Steve absolutely unloaded on me.

“What the hell is a matter with you? Do you have no care for your own safety at all? Or the fact that this is Hydra here? This isn’t something you do behind a computer screen, Hannah. This is real, this is real life and you’re treating it like some sort of joke. Do you even understand the repercussions? Do you understand what would happen to you if you were captured?”

“I wasn’t even going to do it!” I protested. Total lie. It was such a bad lie I had trouble executing it. I justified myself but saying that if I didn’t lie, Steve would’ve keeled over from a heart attack. “I swear, I was just throwing ideas around that’s it. Jesus, Steve. A little more trust in me, please? I may be reckless but I’m not stupid.”

“I don’t care,” Steve seethed. “You are not to leave this compound, do you understand me? Not unless one of us are with you and it’s cleared by me first. I’m not kidding around with this, Hannah. Whatever this information is, we will find it some other way.”

“Okay,” I acquiesced with a nod of my head. Steve released a breath as he stared at me with hard eyes. “I swear Steve; I’ll stay inside the compound.”

He seemed to accept that as his shoulders relaxed a bit and he nodded. “Good,” he responded gruffly. “Now, go. Get to work. You said we had twelve hours, right?”

I nodded as Tony stepped up with a light touch to my shoulder. “C’mon, kid. We better get started now.” He flashed me an encouraging smile. He had been on the other end of Steve’s temper tantrums too many times so I knew he would be the safest person to go with. I bit my lip and kept my head down as I passed around Steve and Natasha. As soon as I was behind their backs, I whipped my head up and gave Bucky the most murderous glare I could muster. His eyes were on me and there wasn’t a single shred of remorse or apology in his gaze. In fact, he looked a little smug. I snarled quietly before Tony’s voice broke my stare.

“Your lab or mine?” He grinned. He already knew the answer. Nobody went into my lab except for me. No exception.

“Yours.” I answered stiffly. I tried to control my anger but it was taking everything to not turn around and give Bucky a piece of my mind. He had the audacity to call me untrustworthy? What a fucking hypocrite. God, if I ever saw that two-faced bastard again I’d–

“Hey,” Tony’s voice broke my thoughts as I suddenly realized we were already in the elevator. “You alright?”

“Yeah, of course.” I lied straight through my teeth as I flashed him a smile. “Sorry, just thinking about where to start.”

“How about those phone calls? I want to hear this politician’s voice when he isn’t sniveling like a little kid.”

I snorted as I leaned back against the elevator. But when I shut my eyes, all I saw was Bucky’s smug face.

***

“Motherfucker,” I swore as I stared at my five computer monitors. Series of texts ran through on the screen, all blinking with keywords that made no fucking sense.

I had managed to uncover all of the deleted calls and scrubbed audio files between the politician and Kotevsky. Deciphering them was pretty easy too, but all of a sudden the bastards decided to use their brains and started speaking in code. I was in the process of trying to decipher their secret language and had gotten nowhere. I had four hours left until this supposed drop somewhere and I was about as close as I was eight hours ago.

Wedding.

Gift.

Reception.

Bride.

Groom.

It all would sound like a normal conversation if you were to hear it on the street or in a café. But in the world of espionage and terrorism, this was anything but an innocent conversation.

The wedding, I had deduced so wonderfully, was hopefully the main event with the reception possibly being a rendezvous point afterwards while the gift was perhaps whatever the politician was selling. The bride and groom were what I assumed were codenames for the politician and Kotevsky. Again, there were no facts. Only theory. And that was about as far as I got with that.

I had lasted about ten minutes in Tony’s lab before his horrific need to constantly fill the silence with some sort of irrelevant comment and his horrible messiness forced me out. I tasked him with working on the identity of Kaplan and if there was any connection with Raulson while digging deeper into Kotevsky. I figured that would be more difficult but turns out I was so wrong I embarrassed myself.

Now, I was stuck staring into a sea of code and secret language that looked so goddamn appealing on TV shows but the second it presented itself in real life I questioned every decision that led me to be in my position. I banged my head against the table as I began muttering to myself, sounding certifiably crazy but hey, might as well play the part.

“Wedding…wedding, who the fuck wants to go to a wedding?” Kotevsky and the politician I told myself bitterly and groaned. “Okay, okay,” I muttered to myself with a deep, cleansing breath that sort of sounded like I suffered from whooping cough. “Think. The wedding…what type of wedding?” The politician was fancy and flashy. Even when he was selling secrets, he set the drop at a fancy hotel with all eyes on him and a pretty girl on his arm. He had an expensive taste that was obvious with his financial records. I mean, who spent 500k on a single fucking fountain pen? He used his wealth and riches to show off and intimidate his competition and colleagues – though I wasn’t too sure how intimidating a fountain pen was but hey what the hell did I know. “Someplace fancy, someplace new.”

But I knew Kotevsky wasn’t a pushover. While he had played into the politician’s hand, he still had control. He had the money, he was the payday. And while the politician threw around that he had other buyers lining up, I was sure Kotevsky doubted that. Politicians lie, especially one as slimy as this one. He’s make a compromise, some way that he’d have the advantage. “Home field advantage,” I mumbled. Anyone was more comfortable on their home turf and with a deal like this, I had a feeling that’s exactly what Kotevsky would want.

Tony had managed to figure out that Kotevsky was in fact Russian, but the rest of his files were heavily encrypted. He and FRIDAY were still working on trying to decrypt it. I felt a zip of excitement down my spine. I was close, I could feel it. My fingers typed furiously as I tried to figure out where there was going to be some sort of grand opening of someplace rich and fancy as all hell. I knew the politician – whose name was John Arnold Smith, how much more boring white politician who fucks anything that breathes because his wife is more of a business relationship rather than a bond of true love and chooses to betray his country because apparently his boring, white, rich life isn’t exciting enough – would want something fancy. A statement. Whatever this deal was, it was worth a billion cash. It would establish him; it would make him a well-known figure in the legal and most definitely the illegal world.

A dozen popped up in the Moscow area and I was able to narrow it down to three. An art gala for some stuffy French-Italian artist who swore God spoke to him through the splatters of his paintbrush, a museum grand opening honoring all of the czars of Russia, and a hotel opening owned by some prince from the Middle East, most likely Israel from the look of it. I knew for a fact that the politician travelled to Russia under a pseudonym. I uploaded his picture to TSA and began scanning all of the images from Sheremetyevo for a match to good ol’ John Smith’s face. The second it popped up, I’d get his passport information and I’d nail the smarmy bastard.

Hopefully. Maybe. This was a perfect example of me thinking that I definitely had the answer when in the end, it was obvious, that I most definitely did not.

The moment the search began, a sharp knock rapped against my door. “Yeah?” I called out.

“Room service,” Tony yelled.

“I didn’t order anything,” I retorted as I drummed my fingers against my table.

“Lemme in, Han, we gotta talk.”

“Not a chance, Stark. Whatever you need to say, send it in an email if it’s that important. If it’s not, it can wait.”

“I prefer face to face communication. It’s good for the soul.”

“Has Pepper got you doing those stupid yoga videos again? You’re starting to sound a true yogi.”

Tony was silent for a moment. “Hannah. I need you to talk to Barnes.”

I snorted as my mouth twisted into a scowl. “Forget it. I don’t do interrogations.”

“This isn’t an interrogation. Think of it at as a friendly conversation at a bar. Except you’re not in a bar, you’re in a holding cell. And it’s not really a conversation, you’ve got scripted questions and what not.”

“So basically an interrogation.” I deadpanned.

“Sure, sure, nuances,” Tony admitted nonchalantly and I rolled my eyes. “Hannah, if we want to make any headway we need to get Barnes to talk.”

“Alright, send Steve in. Or Natasha, our resident expert on interrogations.”

“Already done, Han. Even I went in. He won’t say a word. This guy has been around for almost a hundred years, and about seventy of that was spent with Hydra. He doesn’t even flinch anymore.”

“So why the hell do you think I’m going to make a difference?”

“Because he talked to you.”

I swore under my breath. God, fuck Bucky Barnes. “Listen, Tony. I’d love to be the knight in shining armor here but honestly he didn’t even say much. And I’m pretty sure that’s a one-time deal.”

“That’s bullshit Han and you and I both know it,” Tony snapped. “You’re our best shot at this. C’mon kid, show us how versatile you really are.”

“Fuck off,” I muttered. I didn’t want to do this. I shouldn’t do this. Bucky Barnes was none of my business. He helped me once that was it. And of course that backfired because apparently confidentiality meant nothing to him. But Tony was right. I had just barely made some sort of headway after eight hours of nothing; he had only been able to find Kotevsky was from Russia, around Moscow but nothing too serious. Nothing to launch an investigation. We were dry, we were desperate. And unfortunately, we needed Bucky. I sighed heavily and dragged myself out of my chair as I took one last longing glance at my monitors.

When I opened the door Tony jumped to attention and I wasn’t surprised to see Steve loitering at the end of the hallway trying to act nonchalant. “There she is! What’s it like to see actual sunlight?”

I glanced up at the fluorescent lighting. “I wouldn’t know,” I shot back. Tony flashed me a grin as I frowned and snatched the case file from his hand. It was painfully thin and I had to hold back my frustrated sigh. “Alright Flag Pole,” I called out to Steve as I walked down the hall. “Let’s go do an interrogation.”

“I’m going with you?” He glanced at me curiously when I slammed the file into his chest.

“What part of ‘I don’t do interrogations’ did your star-spangled brain not understand?” I shot him a look as I continued down to the elevator. “I’m just going to stand there. I’m not talking to him again.”

“You think it’ll work?” Steve asked his voice incredulous as I jammed the elevator button and willed the elevator doors to never open.

“It’ll have to,” I grumbled as the doors pinged open and a slew of SHIELD agents tumbled out, all moony eyed as they stared at Steve. I rolled my eyes and pushed past them and typed in the code to get us to sub-level.

“Eager?” Steve mused with raised eyebrows but his smile faltered at the poisonous look I threw him.

“Eager to get this over with,” I muttered as I folded my arms. Steve nodded and didn’t say anything else as the door shut. FRIDAY’s pleasant voice spoke about the weather and today’s current events but I didn’t listen. When the doors opened again, Steve stepped out and the floor was just as quiet as it had been when I had first gone down eight hours ago. It was unsettling.

We reached room 12 and Steve punched in the code that swung the vibranium doors open. Once inside, I saw Sam was across the room. He made eye contact with us and walked over, his shoulders stiff.

“He won’t talk, Cap,” Sam muttered, his voice quiet. He sighed heavily and then his eyes met mine, brown irises filled with concern. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

“I’m doing the interrogation,” Steve whispered. Sam seemed shocked as he eyed me curiously. I avoided his gaze as I stared at the cement floor. I moved to the corner of the room as Steve spoke with Sam for a few minutes longer. I kept my eyes on the guards instead of on Bucky, refusing to give him the satisfaction. I didn’t even see Sam walk over to me until his voice was in my ear.

“Why aren’t you running this?” Sam asked. I met his gaze, trying to look confused but he wasn’t having it. I sighed and rested my shoulder against the cold stone wall.

“I don’t want to,” I muttered. “Besides, I’m not adverse in interrogation or any of that shit. This is something you guys do. I’m just a girl with a computer.”

“You’re more than that, and you know it,” Sam frowned as he shot a glance towards Steve. “What’s really going on, baby? You locked Tony, Steve and Nat in here just to speak to Bucky. Now you won’t look at him. What’s going on? If he did something to you, Hannah. We need to know.”

I swallowed thickly as I toed the ground with my sneaker. “He’s just not someone I want to be around. Is that so hard to understand?” I looked at Sam, begging him to drop it. Really, I was just angry at Bucky. He and his big mouth had gotten me ‘grounded’ as Tony said and now the situation was even worse than it had been before. And it pissed me off.

“Okay,” Sam acquiesced and I breathed out a sigh of relief. “That’s not hard to understand. What is hard to understand as that you’re actually trying to pretend that you’re not pissed at him for foiling your master plan.”

I whipped my head to face Sam, who wore the smuggest smile on his face. “What are you talking about?” I hissed.

“I know you don’t believe in best friends or relationships, but as your unofficial best friend who knows you like the back of his hand, I know when you’re mad, baby. And you’re furious.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re not my best friend,” I snapped. “And so what if I’m mad? Doesn’t change anything.”

“No,” Sam mused. “But doesn’t mean you’re not still going to be mad. I also know that this makes you even more motivated to do exactly what you aren’t supposed to do. So, when are you going on this unsanctioned, highly dangerous mission?”

“I’m not,” I shot back and crossed my arms. I didn’t like how Sam was digging into my brain. I knew Wanda was the only one who could actually read brains but I seriously wondered if Sam didn’t possess some ability too. “Besides, I’m grounded, remember? Steve won’t let me out of his sight.”

“Sure he will,” Sam shrugged. “We all know he’ll calm down eventually. And you’ll wait until he does. And that’s when you’ll go. So my only request is, let me know when you go, okay. I’m always down to kick some Hydra ass.”

“Okay, bird-brain,” I rolled my eyes. I turned my attention on Steve as he stood before Bucky. Every muscle in his broad back was stiff, his arms folded in a defensive stance. He was speaking quietly to Bucky, loud enough for the soldier to hear but quiet enough that we couldn’t. I risked a glance at Bucky and saw his eyes were trained on the floor, unblinking and unwavering. I frowned as Steve leaned forward, almost imploring Bucky to look up. The brunette didn’t move a muscle. The only thing that moved was his left hand. There was a slight jerk in his fingers, like an electric shock was going straight through his left hand.

“Have you had any luck with the politician?”

“Smith?” I shook my head. “I’m searching surveillance at Sheremetyevo to see if his face pops up. I alerted TSA too, see if they can get him at departure and had them expand the search to private airfields.”

“Can they do that?” Sam asked.

“Government can track anything.” I muttered. I averted my eyes back to Steve and Bucky. Steve was pacing now and I could see the agitation. From the side profile of his face, his jaw was wired so tight even I could see the muscle tic from where I stood. And my eyesight was shot from staring at a computer screen my whole life. Bucky’s gaze still remained trained on the floor, but his fingers still twitched. It was like he couldn’t look at Steve’s face, even if he wanted to.

“S’kinda weird, y’know?” Sam whispered to me as we both watched Steve and Bucky. “How Bucky won’t look at Steve. It’s like he doesn’t want to believe that’s his best friend.”

Something clicked in my head at Sam’s words. It’s like he doesn’t even want to believe that’s his best friend. “What if he doesn’t?” I murmured.

Sam gave me a disbelieving look. “Han, I saw the two of them in Berlin. Bucky never forgot Steve. I mean hell; in Bucharest he protected the damn guy even with his head all over the place. He pulled him out of the water at Triskelion. You don’t forget someone like that, a best friend. They’re with you for life.”

They’re with you for life. “What if he’s doing that now?” I whispered to myself as the pieces came together.

“What?”

“Sam.” I turned to face him. “What if Bucky is protecting Steve now?”

Sam’s brow furrowed. “Han, baby, what are you talking about?”

“He knows. Bucky knows something. He’s not telling Steve. I know it.”

“Alright, alright,” Sam acquiesced. “Talk to me, what are you thinking?”

I caught my lip between my teeth as my brain hurried to fit all of the pieces together and as it did, an image began to form. A very blurry, very sketchy picture that probably didn’t mean anything but it definitely meant something. Maybe.

“Bucky can’t look Steve in the eye. Why?”

Sam shrugged. “Dunno. I think it’s because he can’t.”

I turned to Sam. “He can’t?”

Sam’s face turned dark. “On one of the…trips Steve and I took, we came across a Hydra facility where they had some, uh, soldiers in training if you will. Very early in the process. But they couldn’t look us in the eye, and they wouldn’t speak. We finally figured out they would only speak when addressed and we had to give them permission. It was engrained within them.”

“They saw you as superiors,” I murmured. “The ultimate control.”

Sam nodded. “I think that’s why he can’t look at him. He sees Steve as superior to him.”

I shook my head. “It’s more than that.” I sighed as I began playing with the tips of my hair, tugging and twirling. “Sam, I don’t think he’s not looking at Steve because he views him as his superior. I think he can’t because it’s Steve.”

“I don’t follow,” Sam frowned.

I turned to face him. My voice became hushed and faster as I got more excited. “You said it yourself, Sam. The type of friendship Steve and Bucky have – it’s for life. Nothing could break it. With that type of closeness, I mean, they know everything. What if Bucky is afraid that Steve will read him like a book? Know exactly what Bucky is hiding without Bucky having to say a single word.”

“So, you think this whole not looking each other in the eye thing is because Bucky is scared? That it has nothing to do with Hydra?”

I shook my head. “I think if Steve were to give Bucky an order, Bucky would follow. He’s been made to follow orders. But he can make decisions. He chose to talk to me. I didn’t tell him to talk to me, I never gave an order. I merely asked. And he responded. So he can make his own decisions, but maybe only to a certain point.”

Sam nodded slowly, as if the puzzle was just beginning to form in his head too. “What if Bucky doesn’t see you as his superior?” I whipped my head to him and narrowed my eyes, a warning for Sam to tread very carefully. “I’m not saying you’re less than him, baby,” Sam defended himself quickly with an assuring smile. “All I’m saying is Steve kind of screams the whole I’m the boss I make the orders aura. You’re much more laid back. Maybe Bucky felt that he didn’t have to answer to you, that you weren’t there to give him orders.”

I relaxed my rigid stance as I thought about what Bucky said. It was interesting theory and I struggled to make sense of it all. I turned to Steve and found him talking to Bucky again, his face closer to the electromagnetic wall.

I stepped away from Sam and moved closer to Steve, careful not to startle Steve. “Steve,” I prompted softly. He looked away and I was floored by the look of pure exhaustion on his face but it melted away into impassiveness as he walked towards me.

“What is it Hannah?”

“Steve,” I swallowed. “You need to order Bucky to look at you.”

There was a beat of silence. “What?” His empty voice made me shift uncomfortably. I felt like I was asking someone to kidnap a child. And essentially, I guess I was. If the child was freewill and the ability to make your own decision.

“You have to,” I murmured.

“Hannah. I am not going to force him to do something.” His voice was fierce as he bent down to my face, his blue eyes chips of pure ice.

“Steve,” I forced myself to meet his chilling stare. “I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t have to. He knows something. Trust me, please.”

My heart cracked as his face twisted into one of pure anguish. “Hasn’t he been ordered around enough?” He asked his voice tight with pain.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. Steve nodded and I watched as his face turned to stone and his voice became hard as rock, void of emotion.

“Bucky, I need you to look at me.” His voice wavered but Bucky didn’t. I flashed him a sideward glance. His shoulders stiffened and it almost looked like he was bracing himself. “Soldier, look at me. Now.”

Bucky turned his head. But it looked like someone was pulling an iron chain and he was doing everything he could to fight back. But when his eyes met Steve’s, I felt as if I had been sucker punched.

The look of pure hatred that scorched in Bucky’s eyes made my stomach churn. But Steve’s gaze didn’t falter. “I know what you’re doing,” he murmured. “Don’t do this, I need to know.” Bucky didn’t look away, but there was so much more than anger in his eyes. I had never seen a look so loaded before in my life. “What are you trying to hide? Who are you trying to protect? Is it Kotevsky, is it Hydra, who is it?”

There it was. The finger twitch. The moment Kotevsky left Steve’s mouth, Bucky reacted. It was slight, almost invisible. But it was there. I turned my head to look at Sam, whose eyes were narrowed. He saw too.

“You know,” I whispered, my voice shell-shocked. Bucky didn’t look at me, but I know he heard me. Steve snapped his head down as his brow furrowed into a knot of confusion. I ignored him as I stepped forward. “What is it, what is it about Kotevsky that you know?” Bucky’s gaze didn’t waver and I felt that tiny flutter of anger in the pit of my stomach. I swallowed to try and calm myself down as I spoke softly. “Who is Kotevsky, Bucky? What is he going to do, is it the drop tonight?” Bucky turned his face away, but I saw. The slight tremor of fear that skittered across his face. Right before his features turned to marble. I reeled back as it dawned on me. “The drop…you know. You know about the drop.”

He didn’t answer, his face stoic. Like a statue. “Jesus,” Steve whispered behind me.

I ignored him and dropped down to Bucky’s level, tilting my head as I tried to meet his gaze, no matter how hard he tried to avoid mine. “Bucky. Tell me, please. I need to know.” The silence that followed was deafening. “What are you so afraid of?” I prompted softly. He finally met my gaze, and it was pleading. Begging me to drop it, to walk away. My breath stuttered in my chest but I refused to look away. “I will find out,” I told him firmly and willed my voice to remain steady. “You know it’s just a matter of time.”

“I know. I’m just hoping you run out,” he murmured, his voice rough. I frowned heavily as I gripped my hands tightly together. There was that flare of anger again that threatened to lash out. I took a deep breath and willed myself to calm down.

“Why?” I whispered. “What do you know? Bucky, please. Something is happening; something big and we need to stop it.”

“No you don’t,” he gritted his teeth. “Please, drop it. It’s not important.”

“Yes it is,” I argued as my face grew hot. I was getting angrier and angrier by the second. “If it’s worth a billion dollars then it must be pretty damn important.”

Bucky winced. “It isn’t. Let it go.”

I held back a snarl as I stood up suddenly, my glare fixated on Bucky. “He knows,” I muttered to Steve. He nodded as I turned on my heel and stormed out of the room. “Useless,” I muttered to myself the whole way up to Tony’s lab. “Absolutely, utterly, useless.”

I slammed the keypad outside Tony’s lab and jammed in the code. Out of my peripheral I saw the red lines scan my face and a red dot appeared. “Unconfirmed facial scan. Please turn to face the–”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” I shouted as I turned to bang on Tony’s door as the stupid scanner kept reading my face. “Tony, open this fucking door or so help me–”

The heavy door swung open as Tony stood before me, a shit-eating grin on his face. “You were saying?”

I growled as I stomped past him, throwing a middle finger to the scanner and the disembodied voice. “Kotevsky,” I spit out. “What do you have on him?”

“Jesus, Barnes really got your knickers all in a twist,” Tony snickered but stopped the moment I glared at him. He cleared his throat quickly before he sauntered towards his monitors, ignoring the piles and piles of junk that threatened to suffocate the spacious lab. “Nothing. I ran his face through every government operated security camera in the entirety of Moscow and found nothing. I don’t think he is in Moscow, Han.”

“No, he is,” I muttered. “Smith is way too over the top. Moscow is the capital, it holds the most importance. That’s where he’ll want to be.”

Tony snorted. “God, you sound like my shrink. Watching too much Criminal Minds lately?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, I just hang out with you too much,” I quipped. Tony attempted to look affronted but I could see the smile fighting its way.

“What have you got so far?” He asked as he plopped down on his leather chair.

I sighed and shook my head. “A bunch of coded conversations. I’ve pretty much guessed that the wedding means the main event – maybe a grand opening of some sort. The reception is the actual drop-off. But I’m also pulling this out of my ass so really I have no idea. I have searches running for his face at Sheremetyevo and through TSA. If he’s cocky enough he’d go through the international airports.”

“You don’t think he’d use a private airfield?”

I shrugged. “I’m hoping he doesn’t. Even if he does I have the ones that he frequents under surveillance. I’m really hoping his ego comes in the way of his intelligent thinking and somehow we get a hit.”

“So really, we have nothing.”

“Exactly,” I sighed as I leaned against the table.

“Barnes came up dry?”

A sour look came across my face. “Drier than the Sahara. He didn’t give us jack shit. He just said it wasn’t important or whatever the hell that means.”

Tony scowled as he shook his head. “He’s hiding something,” he muttered into his coffee cup.

“Or protecting something,” I added.

“We just don’t know what or who,” Tony finished and we both shared a grim look. Bucky was the missing puzzle piece. He was just the piece that refused to cooperate. Just as I was sitting and contemplating all of the ways that I could kill someone without getting caught, my phone dinged. I pulled it out of my pocket and when I saw the notification, I jumped up and nearly catapulted myself to the nearest computer.

“I found him,” I explained to Tony before he asked. He perked up instantly and came to stand beside me as I sent the information to Tony’s monitor. When the successful search popped up, I almost laughed.

“Is…is that a fake mustache?” Tony sputtered as he tried to hide his laughter. There was Smith, in all his mediocre glory, wearing the fakest mustache known to man and this god awful fedora that made Patrick Stump look fashionable.

“Jesus, I hate politicians,” I moaned as I minimized his picture. “Alright, he arrived at Sheremetyevo about four hours ago. He then–” I followed CCTV throughout the airport before I found him climbing into a town car, “–gets into a town car which is taking him…somewhere. That I’m going to find out.”

“That’s what I pay you for,” Tony remarked sarcastically but I ignored him. I ran the plates of the town car and found it linked to a private limo company that contracted out limos and cars to very high-end and prissy clientele.

“God, do I love wire transfers,” I grinned as I followed the bank and found an account in Switzerland tied to the name Noah Trilnoj Dohms.

“What kind of name is that?” Tony snorted as I entered that name into the limo company clientele list that I oh so conveniently hacked into. “Who names their kid some plain name like Noah and then give them a middle name like Trilnoj?”

“I mean, your parents named you Anthony so you’re not far behind on the whole plain name list.”

Tony scoffed. “I’ll have you know that Anthony means highly praiseworthy. I’m anything but plain.”

“Yeah, but the Greeks associated Anthony with flower, so like you said,” I turned to him and gave him a mocking smile, “I guess you really are anything but plain, hm?”

Tony’s mouth opened and closed – sort of like a flower in bloom – as he searched for an answer. I smirked as the monitor dinged and the ever so plain Noah Trilnoj blinked at me. “You know,” I mused, “maybe I should make you a flower crown. Those are highly praiseworthy, aren’t they?”

“Shut up,” Tony snarled and I couldn’t help but laugh as I pulled up Noah’s sheet.

“Well,” I hummed. “Looks like Mr. Extravagant is staying at an equally extravagant hotel.”

Tony leaned over my shoulder, seemingly forgetting my quip. “Ararat Park Hyatt Hotel.” He rolled his eyes. “How American.”

“Well, he is American,” I looked over at Tony with a raised eyebrow, “and are we going to forget the little fact that you won’t stay anywhere unless there is a Marriott stationed nearby?”

“Hey, I like the food. Plus they have the softest towels.”

“Do they really?” My voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Oh, definitely. Softer than a baby’s bottom. Especially when they’re snuggled around your–”

“Yep! Okay, moving on,” I yelled, waving my arms in the air. Ignoring Tony’s amused chuckle, I easily moved through the servers at the Hyatt and easily found where Noah was staying. “He’s in the Winter Garden Suite, checked in about…two hours ago.”

“Do you ever wonder if your fingers are going to fall off?” I whipped my head around to stare at Tony, my eyes narrowed as he shrugged nonchalantly. “I mean, you type so fast and practically drill your fingers into my poor, fragile keyboard. I’m just wondering if it’s possible for them to actually just fall off, y’know.”

“God, you’re hopeless,” I rolled my eyes towards the sky and pushed back from his desk. “And your keyboard is a projection onto your desk, jackass. I hardly doubt it’s seeing some damage.”

“The whole table vibrates when you type. The whole table.”

I tutted softly in mock sadness as I patted his cheek. “My apologies, il mio fiore. I’ll make sure to send your desk a thank you basket for putting up with my brutal ways.”

I didn’t give Tony a chance to answer before I sprinted off, snagging a tablet in the process. All I heard was Tony’s voice bouncing through the lab as he yelled: “Did you just call me flower?!”

I pulled out my phone and dialed Sam’s number. He picked up on the first ring. “What’s shakin’ bacon?”

“Smith just checked into the Winter Garden Suite at the Ararat Park Hyatt Hotel about two hours ago. I’m cross checking now but I’m pretty sure there is an art opening about five miles from there tonight.”

“Hey, HP found something,” Sam said away from the receiver. He was back within the moment. “You think this could be him?”

“Oh, I know it’s the slimy bastard. He’s under the alias of Noah Trilnoj Dohms–”

“What kind of name is Noah Trilnoj Dohms?”

“Oh God, not you too,” I sighed heavily as I nearly dropped the tablet in disappointment.

“No, but seriously Han. Think about it. I mean…Noah and then–”

“Moving on, Sam,” I spoke sharply as I reached my cave. “He’s wearing this god awful mustache which is really what you should be focusing on.”

“Mustache? Like Tony’s mustache bad? Or me during the 80s bad?”

“Try Charlie Chaplin bad.” Sam whistled beneath his breath and I had to stop myself from laughing. “I’m sending a photo to you and Steve now. I’m inside the GPS of his town car so if the key even comes near the car I’ll know about it. I’m working on the security system to see if they’ve got cameras inside the suite, I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“Alright, you’re the best baby,” Sam cooed into the phone and I rolled my eyes as I hung up.

I set down the tablet that was connected to the GPS system of the town car as I brought my monitors back to life. I quickly wrote a code and began hacking into the security system, which took me all of twenty minutes. I soon found myself in the Winter Garden Suite where the lovely Johnny was staying. Nothing was really going on, it seemed like the security detail was completely relaxed, some of them even conversing. They obviously had no worries. I tapped into the audio and began downloading all of the audio while I let it play into my earpiece.

Nothing interesting was happening, just quiet murmuring. Smith was nowhere to be seen. But even then, I could definitely hear him, and whoever he was with. And from the looks of it, so could his unamused body guards.

“On zvuchit kak slon.” One of the guards muttered to the other. After a quick Google Translate into what he said because shockingly, I wasn’t fluent in every language, I nearly choked on my spit. It sounds like an elephant.+

As I scanned over the security tapes, heading back to when they first entered the room, my eyes caught a flutter of white that fell to the ground when Smith opened his briefcase. I quickly froze the image and zoomed in. It turned out to be a piece of card stock with elegant script in what looked like silver cursive.

 ◊              ◊              ◊

THE PLEASURE OF YOUR COMPANY

IS REQUESTED FOR THE EARLY SHOWING OF

Treasure Nukus

Named after IV Savitsky

MONDAY March 16, 2017

FROM 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM

THE PUSHKIN STATE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

FORMAL COCKTAIL ATTIRE

◊              ◊              ◊

“The wedding,” I whispered with an exhaling breath. My fingers shook with excitement as I quickly searched Treasure Nukus. It was some set of paintings from the State Museum that apparently was a great representation of Asian culture. Either way, it was big. One quick sweep of the invitation list told me it was extremely secretive and a very expensive list. Big money was going into this showing and it was just an opportunity for people to show off their wealth and importance. It was Smith’s playing field.

I immediately rang Sam. “What’s cookin’ good lookin’?”

“I found it.” I practically panted out like a rabid dog. “I found the wedding. Well, I think so. It’s the closest that I’ve gotten and it makes sense because…well, it just does. It has to. If it doesn’t you have full permission to punch me in the face.”

Sam laughed. “I’ll remember that, baby. Now, tell me. Where is this lovely wedding that I have a feeling me and Steve are invited to?”

I grinned as I relayed what I found to Sam. “So, essentially, I’m shipping you off to sunny Moscow.”

“I’ve always loved how the Kremlin looks in the middle of the night,” Sam shot back unenthusiastically. “So, you’re all packed baby?”

“Packed?” I narrowed my eyes suspiciously as I clicked the monitor and let the video feeds play at real time.

“Well yeah, someone’s gotta go say hi to the good politician.”

I nearly dropped my phone. “I’m sorry…what did you just say?” I nearly screeched. “Are you out of your damn mind? What the hell have you been huffing down there?”

“Baby, we already sent Nat in so he’d recognize her and know we’re onto him. Wanda is too noticeable after Lagos. Hill is too in love with Fury to leave his side for more than ten minutes. So, that leaves you HP.”

I sputtered as I desperately grasped on some way to get myself out of this. “I’ll die out there Sam…I can’t, you can’t do this to me. I do not spy. I’m an awful spy.”

“Baby, you’re the best damn spy the world has ever seen.”

“Yes, behind a computer screen. Away from people.” I pressed my hand to my forehead and I immediately felt it break into a sweat. “God, are you trying to completely botch this mission?”

“Not yet,” his grin could be heard through the phone. I huffed out a breath as I stared at my monitors miserably. I suddenly had a sickening image of Smith’s wrinkly hands running up and down my back as his thin, papery lips pressed against my ear. I was gonna throw up.

“No, nope, absolutely not.” I shook my head and shot up as I began to pace. “I am not, no way. Send someone else. I quit, I resign, and I’m faking my death if I have to.”

“Oh, come on Han…” Sam’s voice faded away as a flicker of movement caught my eye on one of the feeds. It was the one that was trained on the living room, yet the hallway that led to Smith’s room began to show someone walking down it. A man walked out, shirtless with the top button of his pants undone. His dress shirt suddenly appeared as a pair of hands pulled it onto his broad shoulders. The gaunt body of John Arnold Smith emerged; his thin smile caused a shudder to dance down my spine.  But what happened next caused me to shoot up with a shocked gasp.

Smith leaned down and pressed a hard kiss to the lips of the man, his fingers brushing over his face.

“Oh my God,” I breathed out before a smile lit up on my face. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”

“Hannah, what is going on? Talk to me, what happened?” Sam’s frantic voice suddenly registered in my mind as I grinned widely.

“I think the real question is: are you packed, Sam?”

There was a heartbeat of silence before Sam spoke. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” I tapped my finger to my chin as I watched Smith say goodbye. “It seems to me that Smith doesn’t really like redheads, or brunettes, or girls, for that matter.” I could literally hear the thoughts clicking in Sam’s brain. “And Samuel…it seems to me that you are exactly his type.”

“No,” he immediately said. “Nope, not happening. Nice try Hannah. You’re lying, I know you are.”

“Am I?” I gloated as I sat back. “Besides, would I ever lie about someone’s sexual orientation? I may be a cold-hearted bitch, but I still have a heart.”

There were voices in the background and I heard Sam hiss, “Don’t agree with her. There has to be another way. No way, this isn’t happening.”

I held back my laughter as I watched Smith wave goodbye as the man left the suite. I had to make sure to send Smith a thank you card after all of this.

“So, baby,” I leaned forward in my chair with a wicked grin, “What color suit are you going to wear?”

TAG LIST:

Sophia vs The Real World

Avengers Facility: Upstate New York

Sleep, what an odd word.

I almost laughed out loud when Bucky told me to go to sleep. It was cute that he was making sure that I got enough rest, it really was. If the thought wasn’t so hilarious I probably would’ve melted at how adorable it was.

I didn’t sleep. In fact, I couldn’t sleep. I could rest, I suppose, but sleep? And dream? Not a chance.

I didn’t want to tell Bucky that, or even try to explain to him how the hell that worked because even I wasn’t totally sure. Plus, I had dropped enough metaphorical bombs on him for the time-being. I figured he deserved a break.

I hadn’t meant to tell him about Zolo, or about anything regarding his past. It was a bit fucked up that I had been there for a good majority of his life as the Winter Solider. It wasn’t even a little bit, actually, it was completely fucked up.

But Bucky had practically begged me to tell him. It was his life, a part of his life he wanted to forget but also a huge missing piece that he was desperately trying to figure out. His eyes had been my undoing. Big, blue and desperate as he stared at me, it was like puppy dog eyes but a 1000 times more potent.

I could feel the warmth of his skin against my cheek still, and on my hands I could feel the warmth and the cold his hands provided. I found myself tracing the back of my palm, imagining what it would like to be that warm all the time.

I was so consumed in my own thoughts that I didn’t hear the door open as my favorite redhead walked in. “You’re awake.” I turned my head and had to keep myself from rolling my eyes as she approached the cell wall. She had breakfast in her hand and I was willing to bet money that there were potatoes on the plate.

She pressed a few buttons on the tablet in her other hand and a space in the wall appeared – just as it had been for the past three months – and she placed the plate on the little tray underneath the window.

“You should probably eat, it’s going to be a long day for you,” she suggested but she and I both knew I wouldn’t be touching that plate of food. Probably why she didn’t even give me a chance to take the food (not like I was going to) as she sighed heavily. Natasha tapped her tablet for a bit before the entire wall disappeared.

She then pulled out the weirdest contraption I’d ever seen until my brain caught up and realized that it was handcuffs for my hands and ankles but it was all connected with chains and various other buckles. It looked like a strait jacket but without the actual jacket material – just the buckles and straps.

She didn’t speak as she walked forward and locked the cuffs around my wrists, leaving now room for me to move. Every time I tried, I felt the bite of the metal dig into my skin. She didn’t angry as she clamped the ankle cuffs in place but she didn’t look apologetic either.

“C’mon, Tony wants to see you,” Natasha muttered. Normally, I wasn’t so dressed up when I went to go see Tony, but perhaps after my last little show and tell they decided to take precautions. Smart I thought to myself. Bucky’s face flashed in my mind, the twisted features when I said the same thing to him about the government. I had never seen him so angry before. In fact, I hadn’t seen him angry at all before that moment.

I followed her – well, more along the lines of shuffled since the chains only allowed me to move so far. I had to be careful with how long my strides were. I could easily break through the chains but I didn’t want to freak them out any more. I didn’t need another week and a half of isolation.

So, it was slow going but we finally made it to Tony’s lab. It was huge, spanning so large I couldn’t see the other side of it and it was filled with gadgets and toys, half-finished projects and coiled wires. Today, there was an audience. Wanda and Vision, the two little mind readers and the one who shot the arrows, I had no idea what his name was. Carl? Connor?

“Welcome back,” Tony announced as he emerged from behind a towering pile of metal. I gazed quizzically at him as he walked forward, his hand hidden behind his back. Gone was the snarky remark that begged to be thrown out as I watched his arm. Hm, definitely something. “Nat, uncuff her. The whole point of this is to give her more freedom, now you’re just suffocating her.”

Freedom? Now I was very curious. I tilted my head as Natasha unlocked the handcuffs, looking anything but pleased with the situation as she narrowed her eyes menacingly at me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I dropped my hands to my sides, ignoring the pain that flared around my wrists.

“This wasn’t my idea,” Tony seemed to defend himself. From what, I wasn’t sure. “Vision and Wanda seem to think this will help, but if it were up to me you would’ve been in an entirely different situation.”

Like in the hands of the government, I thought to myself. Bucky would never allow it I wanted to gloat, to brag, and to shove it in his face. But I knew that would do nothing aside from get Bucky in trouble. Because I was 99.9% sure his little late night excursions would not be approved of if anyone knew.

I was still confused by Tony’s words until his hand revealed itself and I saw a massive syringe clutched in his hand, his thumb already hooked through the hole. Dark green liquid filled the canister and it seemed to be moving, flickering beneath the bulbs.

“Microchip,” Tony explained, seeming immensely pleased with himself. I had never seen one in liquid form before, and my interest piqued tenfold. He nodded to my arm and I stretched it out, suffering from déjà vu as I remembered all the times in his lab when we did this. Every day. Same tests. Same results. At least today it was a bit of a change.

Tony began explaining what the microchip did or more aptly what it was supposed to do. As I stared at the liquid tracking device, I knew it wouldn’t work. Even though Tony gloated about how he had made it fit to track a super-soldier, I knew it still wouldn’t suffice. I wasn’t a super-soldier or Vision. I was something different.

Give me something, I heard Bucky plead in my mind. I knew what he had really meant. Talk to the others, tell them something. I didn’t want to. In reality, I really had nothing to say. I couldn’t give them the answers they wanted. I didn’t have the answers they all seemed to think I had magically stowed away in my inner garden of knowledge.

But I realized now, I could tell Tony the microchip wouldn’t work. A part of me – a very large part of me didn’t want to tell him. Being tracked wasn’t exactly something I looked forward to. Having my every move monitored definitely was a giant pain in the ass and made me feel like a child that was sent to its room, confined to a single space. So, really, I could very easily not tell Tony about the chip and go on my merry way and not have anything to worry about.

Yet, all I saw was Bucky’s anguished face. The normally sky blue irises had darkened to a navy blue and I saw true fear in his eyes. The prospect of me going to the government scared him. I could see it, even though I knew he’d deny it the second I ever mentioned it. He wanted me here, at the tower. But in order for me to stay, I had to speak. And while I was very content with keeping my pretty little mouth shut and remaining a mystery, all I heard Bucky’s pleading voice and something twisted in my chest. It was all I needed before I said: “It won’t work.” Oh, here we go. Tony jerked back and glared at me, his face affronted.

“Excuse me?” He looked like I had punched him in the gut and told him the world was ending all in the same second. I sighed and leaned against the table. This is for you I thought to Bucky and made a mental note to myself to remind him of that next time I saw him.

“The microchip, it won’t work. It’ll dissolve in my blood the second you insert it. You’ll never track me with that.”

“This chip does not just dissolve,” he hissed. “It’s not like some…tablet that disintegrates in water. This is top of the line, brand new technology that was imported straight from Wakanda and–”

“I don’t care where it came from, it won’t work,” I told him, trying to keep my frustration at bay. It was like he refused to believe I was different, yet the whole reason why I was here was because I was different.

Tony began to launch into another tirade that I absolutely had no care for. Before he could react I snatched the syringe from his hand with blinding speed and turned to the petri dish that sat idly on the table beside me. I quickly dispensed the microchip into the clear dish and watched as the liquid bubbled and solidified into an unassuming tiny chip.

I turned to Natasha as I eyed the impressions of the knives and weapons that peeked through her clothing. “What metal are your knives made of?”

“Excuse me?”

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. “Your knives. What are they made of?”

“Adamantium and vibranium,” Natasha finally answered as she regarded me cautiously. I frowned. Neither of those would break my skin. They’d barely scratch me.

“Do you have any celestial bronze? Or imperial gold?” I turned to Tony who looked at me as if I had three heads. Of course he wouldn’t know what I was talking about. Celestial bronze and imperial gold were extremely rare, even rarer than vibranium and Adamantium. They only affected a small portion of the population and they were so rare they were considered a myth. Just like me.

“I mean, I’ve got regular gold princess. I got lots of that, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

This time, I did roll my eyes. “No, too weak,” I muttered as I glanced around the lab. There had to be something. But there wasn’t. There was lots of stuff that could hurt a lot of people, all types. But not me. I realized how pretentious that sounded, like I was something special and ethereal. Which wasn’t what I was going for at all. It’s just how I was made. Unfortunately, nothing I could do about that.

I knew I’d have to go straight from the Earth itself, something I didn’t really enjoy doing but desperate times called for desperate measures. This wasn’t exactly desperate but in order to ensure that I wasn’t totally insane, it was desperate enough.

“Do those windows open?” I asked Tony, nodding towards the large bay windows.

He stared at me, completely mystified. He nodded though and the Robin Hood turned to open one of them. I walked towards the window and took a deep breath, smelling the fresh air. The sun was warm and welcoming and I watched as a little blue jay fluttered onto the window sill. It saw me and ruffled its feathers proudly and sang a stunning tune. I smiled as it hopped around, obviously proud of itself. I held my finger out and the bird completely bypassed my crooked finger and flew to my shoulder, nestling itself into the junction of my neck and shoulder. I let him stay there as I leaned my head out of the window.

I closed my eyes and focused my mind on the mines on Olympus. Soon, I could smell the musty Earth and the faint trickle of water and the stifling smoke from the forges. In my mind, I was there, with a pick axe over my shoulder and my skin black from grime and soot. My eyes fixated on a tiny pebble that was as black as the rock around it. As I walked closer, I could feel the power that radiated from the tiny circle. My hands reached out and I brushed off the dirt and found a dull piece of celestial bronze, humming with energy and practically begging to become a part of another piece of weaponry. I pressed the pebble into my palm and when I opened my eyes again my hand was clenched into a fist and I could feel the nugget of bronze warming against my skin.

I walked back to the table, ignoring the gaping stares of those around me. I pressed harder on the bronze and felt the pebble shape into a thin stick. I quickly held the piece of bronze in my hand and pinched the tip off, revealing a sharp edge. This is gonna have to do. If they thought I was crazy before…

With a sigh, I rolled my shoulders and pressed the sharp front against my palm and dragged an opening against my once untouched skin. Immediately, golden ichor – the blood of the gods – flowed from the cut and spilled into my palm. I dipped my hand forward and watched as four droplets fell against the microchip. Almost instantly, it folded in on itself like it was trying to become smaller. Smoke curled from the chip as my blood bubbled and collected around the chip like an angry, golden cloud. Soon, all that was left was a tiny puddle of my blood. The microchip was gone.

I dropped the celestial bronze and it melted into the worktable as the cut on my hand healed within seconds. I turned my head to Tony who looked about two seconds away from passing out or suffering from a stroke.

“See?” I nodded towards the now smoking petri dish. “Your microchip didn’t stand a chance.”

“How?” Was all he managed to say and I was surprised that it was slightly coherent.

I shrugged. “Who I am, chemical makeup. I dunno it’s just how it is.”

“But…when I ran those tests, all of that…why did I get results?”

“You didn’t.” I shrugged again. “They came back normal or inconclusive. Your systems identify unknown substances but unnatural substances. They aren’t equipped to handle that sort of information or results, so they just revert to normal or inconclusive.”

Tony blinked as he stared at me and he suddenly laughed, short and clipped and stressed. “I can’t…we’re going to talk about this later.” He motioned between the two of us. “This conversation is far from over.”

I wanted to laugh but I managed to hide it in a form of a smile. “Not much else to say.”

“Oh, sweetheart. I always have something to say.” He flashed me a lopsided grin and I couldn’t tell if I should feel creeped out or smile in return. “But, this has gone on for too long. We have a team meeting in five minutes and since I can’t track you, you’re coming with us.”

I frowned, having no interest in showing up to a meeting and it seemed like most of the room agreed with me but Tony didn’t give anyone a chance to protest. He strode straight to the door and didn’t wait for anyone to follow, we just did.

I was behind Tony and Natasha and the guy – gods what was his name? – walked behind me at such a close range I could feel their breath on my neck.

We walked through different hallways and doorways and I honestly had no idea where the hell we were until Tony stopped in front of a mirrored door which was extremely unsettling when I realized that the whole wall was actually a mirror. How narcissistic did you have to be to have a whole wall of mirrors in your place? Apparently, Tony Stark was narcissistic enough to find it necessary.

Tony swung the door open and I had to lurch forward to grab the handle as it threatened to swing shut. Rolling my eyes, I pushed open the door and stepped inside.

There was a long oak table that spanned across the room and fifteen cushioned leather chairs surrounded the table. Four of them were occupied with Steve, Sam, a guy whom I didn’t recognize, and Bucky.

But what caught my eye were the walls. They weren’t mirrors on the inside. They were holographic screens, depicting different events across the globe. Fires burned in California, buildings rose in Dubai, streets swelled with people in Tokyo and caution tape crisscrossed behind a news reporter in Toronto. Every major city was broadcasted on the screens and it seemed to be scanning for major news that was shown on the main screen at the north wall of the room.

“Scott, nice of you to join us,” Robin Hood shouted from behind me and I flinched at the sudden noise. The man whom I hadn’t recognized – Scott – looked up and grinned with a sort of boyish charm that made him look about five years younger.

“Clint, it’s good to see you buddy,” Scott bypassed the outstretched hand and went straight for a smothering hug. Clint! That was his name. I knew it started with a C.

The others breezed by me and I cautiously hung in the back as I watched everyone said their greetings and took their seats. I watched as Tony stood at the head of the table, his eyes flashed to me every few seconds as he spoke to Natasha.

“C’mon,” a thick voice said beside me and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned and saw it was the other red-head (why were all the girls redheads here? I felt oddly out of place), Wanda. She smiled kindly and for once I didn’t feel this insistent prodding at the base of my skull. She wasn’t trying to poke around in my head for once. “You can sit next to me.”

I narrowed my eyes skeptically at her, wondering if the seat she pointed to was booby trapped or something. “Are you gonna try to scrounge through my head again or are you over your little scavenger hunt?”

She smiled yet she visibly flinched and I suddenly felt a bit guilty. She shrugged apologetically. “I don’t know. I might keep looking, I sort of like looking at all the dogs you send my way.”

I couldn’t fight off the smile that twitched at the corner of my lips. She winked playfully then sat down and gave me a pointed look. After a second of hesitation I sat next to her and folded my hands in my lap as the table fell quiet.

“Well, glad you could all make it,” Tony began and I wanted to scoff at him but I kept my mouth shut. Everyone shifted in their seats and I allowed my gaze to lazily flicker over everyone. Natasha and Clint were muttering about something and their eyes kept glancing over at me then skittering away whenever I caught their stare. I fought off the urge to roll my eyes. Steve was listening attentively to Tony while Bucky sat beside him and looked enthralled with the pen that flipped between his fingers. I watched, mesmerized as the pen rolled effortlessly until suddenly the tip of the pen stopped and pointed right at me.

My breath froze in my chest as I looked up and was met with silver irises that danced with quiet amusement, hidden behind a sheet of ice. I raised my eyebrow and his right eye dropped in a discreet wink that was only meant for me. I quickly tore my eyes away and tried to ignore the warm heat that spread from my stomach to the top of my head. Gods I needed to relax. It was literally just a wink. It wasn’t like he proclaimed his love to me. I shook my head angrily trying to clear my head.

I turned my attention back to Tony and my breath froze in my chest for an entirely different reason. The north wall screen had changed to a bunch of documents and all of the lettering had black lines through them. But I didn’t care about the black lines. What I cared about were the words that weren’t blacked out.

They were in Ancient Greek.

“These are the files that we were able to download at the base in the Katun Mountains,” Tony claimed as he motioned to the screen. “As you can see, pretty useless.”

“What the hell are those words? What language is that?” Clint pointed to the Ancient Greek lettering as his brow furrowed.

“No idea,” Tony shrugged. “FRIDAY can’t decode it. It doesn’t register as a dialect. It might be a form of code that Hydra has created that we just haven’t been able to crack yet.”

“What about the redaction lines?” Natasha tilted her chin to the thick black lines that blocked out most of the information. “Can you remove them?”

Tony shook his head and his lips twisted in irritation. “They aren’t normal redaction lines. There’s code embedded in the lines. FRIDAY is still trying to decode them but everything she throws at it gets rejected or destroyed. Think you’ve got some contacts that can help?”

Natasha frowned as she stared at the documents. “I’ll see. I’ve never heard of redaction lines being encoded, but maybe someone else has.” She stood up and walked gracefully out of the room while tapping on her cell phone.

Tony turned his hard gaze to me as his eyes narrowed. I immediately tensed and braced myself for whatever he was about to throw at me. “Since you’re our resident expert on Hydra…you have any idea what any of this means?”

I ground my teeth together as I struggled to keep my face impassive. Resident expert on Hydra, who the hell told them I was the encyclopedia for all things Hydra? Whoever it was I hoped they stayed out of sight because I was going to kill them next time I saw them.

I sat back and drew patterns against my legs as I looked away from Tony. My eyes fell on the pen that was trapped in Bucky’s hand. The tip was pointed to me – again – as if to say your time to shine. I flicked my eyes up and saw Bucky staring at me. His eyes held nothing but his eyebrow curved up.

Give me something.

I glanced down at the pen again and found myself shifting in my seat. Like I was intimidated by a fucking pen. But the more I stared at the tip, the more restless I got. Could you believe it? The tip of a pen was slowly convincing me to speak. I was going crazy, I had to be. It was the only logical explanation.

I clenched my jaw and tore my eyes away and looked at Tony who was staring at me expectantly. Actually, so was everyone else. I released a tiny sigh and looked at the Greek lettering.

“The words are Ancient Greek,” I finally said and tried to ignore the various looks of shock on everyone’s faces. I felt like I was the main act in the circus. The main freak in a group of freaks.

“Uh, not to sound like an asshole,” Scott began saying. So you’re about to sound like an asshole I thought to myself, but kept my mouth shut. “But Ancient Greek is a pretty well-known dialect. I doubt that would stump FRIDAY.”

“It’s an ancient form of Greek known as Mycenaean Greek which was spoken by many Greeks in the sixteenth century up to the twelfth century,” I spoke calmly though I was a rage of annoyance inside.

“What are you our resident expert on Greece too?” Tony narrowed his eyes and this time I did roll my eyes.

“Well, Tony, some people are experts in more than one area. As a self-proclaimed genius, I would’ve thought you would’ve understood that. Perhaps you’re not as intelligent as you think you are.” His face blanched and then brightened to a lurid shade of red within a span of three seconds. Before he burst an artery, I continued. “As I was saying, Mycenaean Greek is the oldest form of Greek there is. It’s normally written in Linear B format–”

“What the hell is linear B?” Clint interrupted.

“A type of script. Like your alphabet is written in Latin script, the Mycenaean Greek is written in Linear B.”

“Linear B is an ancient form of script that was deciphered in 1953 by Michael Ventris. FRIDAY has the largest archive of ancient dialects as well as some alien languages. Deciphering Linear B should not give her any issues.” Vision spoke and I immediately decided I liked his voice. It was cool, calculated, measured. Like a robot. A refreshing change from the annoying chatter that came from Tony’s mouth.

“Because what’s on that board isn’t Linear B.” I pointed to the few letters that peeked out from the redaction lines. Each image could mean so many different things it was hard for me to understand. But the different option each image presented, I didn’t like where the context of the document was heading towards.

“Then what’s it written in?” It was the first time Steve had spoken during the entire meeting but he looked the most interested out of everyone.

“It’s written in Linear A.”

“Jesus Christ enough with the lines,” Clint muttered but I pointedly ignored him.

“Linear A is a dialect that Linear B is derived from,” I explained as carefully as I could. “Basically, Linear A is an unknown writing system that has never been deciphered. No AI in this world would be able to decipher it because there is no reference to go off of. It would be like trying to decipher a bunch of keyboard smashes. It’s impossible.”

“Then why can you understand it?” Sam asked. He didn’t look like he was accusing me of something – again, another refreshing moment – but he looked totally confused. I pressed my lips together as my chest tightened.

Give me something.

“Because I was alive when Linear A was used.”

“Um when was that, exactly?” Scott raised his hand and I had to resist the urge to call on him like a school teacher.

“2500 B.C.”

“How old are you?” Tony gaped at me.

“Didn’t your mother tell you, it’s rude to ask a woman what her age is?” I smiled sickly sweet at him. He scowled darkly as he pointed to the board.

“Can you understand this or not?”

I looked at the Greek symbols that jumped out at me. They seemed to swim before my eyes and I had to blink a few times just to focus. I frowned and shook my head. “No. Not without the rest of the documents. There is too much possibility with what the meanings of the symbols could be. It’ll be pointless to try and decipher when the meanings could change so easily.”

“Awesome. Just what we needed,” Tony muttered and silence fell over the table.

I sat back as my frown deepened. Linear A was an ancient, ancient form of writing that only a select few understood. It belonged to a civilization so old I had almost forgotten about it. But Mycenaean was associated with Linear B. Someone had to have found a way to take one language and manipulate it into a completely different writing system, one that only a small group understood much less could write. Whatever was on those documents, Hydra really really wanted no one knowing. And that’s what concerned me.

“Wanda, go show our Encyclopedia to her room.” Tony turned to me pointed a finger at me. “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll have a tracker for you soon.” I just smiled at him and ignored his heavy scowl as Wanda stood beside me and motioned for me to follow her.

I happily scurried after her but not without a quick glance towards Bucky. His eyes were focused on Tony but the pen was pointed in my direction. Instead of it being still, he flicked it back and forth, as if it were waving to me.

“I’ve lost it,” I muttered to myself before I ducked out of the room and welcomed the blissful silence of the hallway. Wanda wove in and out of the corridors and I had to struggle to keep up. Soon, we arrived at the elevator and I breathed out a sigh of relief because it was something I knew. It was normal.

The doors slid open and I followed Wanda inside and immediately retracted my previous statement.

The elevator was anything but normal. There was a TV screen that took up the wall to the left of the doors and images flickered past, revealing what looked like a promotional video for SHIELD and the facility or whatever building we were in. There were no buttons on the right side of the doors, just a square glass door with a tiny screen to the side of it.

“It gives you food,” Wanda said as I peered at the glass. I whipped my head at her, shocked. She tapped the screen and wouldn’t you know it, there was a whole menu. Think of all your favorite fast food restaurants and then throw in a few random healthy options to feel good about yourself and then you had a perfect description of the menu.

“North campus, the fourteenth floor please,” Wanda spoke and I was about to ask who the hell she was talking to when a voice suddenly responded.

“Yes, Miss Maximoff. What music would you like to listen to?”

She glanced at me. “Uh, High School Musical,” I blurted out. Wanda stared at me as – wouldn’t you know it – Breaking Free filtered through the speakers. While my cheeks flushed I didn’t regret my request one bit.

“A classic,” she smiled wryly at me and I couldn’t help but grin in return.

“Will that be all Miss Maximoff?” The despondent voice spoke again.

“Yes, FRIDAY, thank you.”

“Vision requests you in his quarters once you have finished.”

“Thank you FRIDAY.” Wanda’s cheeks blushed a faint pink. Her and the robot? Interesting.

We rode in silence as Troy and Gabriella belted out probably the most iconic song in the entire High School Musical trilogy. I tried not to sing along because that would probably make the situation even more embarrassing, Wanda broke the silence. “What was it like?” She asked. “Back then,” she quickly clarified when I frowned in confusion.

I shrugged as I dug out memories that were buried in cobwebs. “Smelly. We hadn’t quite mastered the concept of hygiene at that point. And hot. Also hadn’t mastered the concept of air conditioning.”

Wanda laughed as the doors pinged and slid open to reveal a single black tiled hallway that had doors that lead to two different staircases. One side the wall was glass, the other was metal. Wanda led me to a metal door and motioned to the keypad beside the door.

“You can set up your own four digit code and scan your hand. All the security here is biometric. Tony will get you into the system later today.”

I had a strong feeling that I wouldn’t have much access but went to the keypad typed in a four number code. I followed the instructions and got my handprint locked into the door and soon the door slid open after a successful ping from the keypad.

“Every Avenger has their own floor in this building. I’m on the third floor, if you need anything.” Wanda’s smile was apologetic as she glanced into the room. “Sorry, you were such short notice so we didn’t really have another room for you.”

I shrugged and breezed by her before stopping in my tracks.

The room was huge. It was easily twice the size of my apartment. There was a small kitchenette to my right and another door to my left was propped open and I saw that it was the bathroom. The floor was covered in a beige carpet and the bed was low on the floor with a plain white duvet. What caught my attention was the span of wall in front of me. It was entirely made of glass and for a brief moment I wondered if that whole side of the building was glass, but I didn’t care. The view was beautiful like something straight out of a painting or a postcard.

“You can decorate it any way you like,” Wanda added. “It’s yours. You do with it what you’d like. Sorry it’s small, like I said. You were short notice.”

I nodded mutely. This was small? I would hate to see what their big would look like.

“Well, if you need anything. Floor three.” She smiled awkwardly before she shut the door behind her. Silence enveloped the room and I hadn’t realized how much I missed it. Today had been hectic, a huge contrast to the past however many months I was locked in my cell. I couldn’t tell if I liked the change or not.

I glanced around my room, mouth open at the sheer size. I cautiously stepped forward, towards the windows and saw two other hallways that led to who even knew where. I didn’t have the energy or the mental capacity to find out at that moment.

You can decorate it any way you like.

Bucky’s smile was all I saw for two years, seven months and eighteen days.

He had become Bucky after the first date, his first name was used when I was annoyed with him or teasing him, same as mine was to him. He became a permanent fixture four months after our first date, seemingly worming his way into my life and made me forget what life was like before him.

I was happy. He made me happy, he made my mundane life suddenly burst like a kaleidoscope of laughter and colors and happiness. He was everywhere, I saw him in the simplest of things. I saw the silver of his arm in the moon. I saw his smile in ice cream and chocolate and everything sweet, I saw the mahogany of his hair in crowded park benches and blooming trees.

Being with Bucky was easy. It was so easy I didn’t even have to think about it. He was there when I needed him to be there but understood when I wanted space more than anyone else I had ever met. He understood when I was so stressed that sometimes I’d need a hug but most times he’d just make sure I was properly fed and slept well and in a few days’ time I’d crawl out of my shell and curl into his lap where he’d kiss away my mumbled apologies.

The only time it got hard was at night when I’d wake up to him mumbling and trembling. He didn’t thrash or punch or kick. It was like he was paralyzed with terror until I was able to coax him awake and he’d bolt up, panting and gasping for air as he’d look at me with wide, empty eyes. He’d pull me in close and I’d hold his huge body against mine until his erratic breathing calmed. I never asked about his nightmares. The few times I did it led to horrible fights that left both of us miserable and hurt.

So I learned not to ask and we fell into a pattern. As long as I didn’t ask or pressure him, he’d tell me when he was ready. Which was rare, he never told me anything about his nightmares until one night.

He woke up shaking and drenched in sweat and I opened my arms and let him curl into me. His arms held me impossibly close and his breath was quick against my collarbone. “They take you from me,” he whispered and I had to strain to hear him. “Every night. And they make me watch as you…as–”

“Sh,” I hushed him quickly as my heart tore in two. I didn’t know who they were, I assumed it was Hydra or whoever tore his life apart and left him to mend the broken pieces. And to know they were still affecting him like this, it made me want to cry for him and want to carry his pain all at the same time. “I love you. No one is ever going to take me away, I promise.” He calmed down faster than he did most nights, like a piece of his burden had melted away. But I was wrong. They never did take me away, Bucky’s demons.

Instead, they took him from me.

He left. Without a word, without a text, without a call. I came home from class one day and all of his stuff was gone. It was like he had never even been there. The only slightest inclination that I had left of him was the pendant of a rose that hung around my neck. Gifted to me on our two year, it was Bucky’s way of saying he loved me without ever saying it. He liked to call me petal; it was his nickname for me. I didn’t know why, he never told me and whenever I asked he got oddly silent and kissed me until I was breathless.

There were nights where I’d grip the rose so hard the shape would be bruised in palm for days until I furiously tried to rub it away, angry at him and myself.

For a long time, I thought he was dead. Perhaps, he had gone on a mission and never returned. But Steve never visited, no one did and I was pretty sure I was supposed to get some sort of notification if the love of my life suddenly fell off the face of this Earth.

But I got nothing and then in a newspaper one day, I saw him receiving the Medal of Honor alongside Steve, his lips pulled into a smile.

And I was angry. I wasn’t sad anymore. All the tears I shed, all the times I screamed into my pillow over a broken heart were gone. The gaping hole in my chest closed up and hardened over. I became bitter. I was angry at him for just leaving, leaving me by myself with no explanation, nothing. I was furious that he didn’t have the audacity to try and tell me something was wrong, to talk to me. He didn’t even try. He just…left.

So I stopped mourning over Bucky Barnes. Every time I saw a picture of him smiling and with Steve, or Sam, it drove a nail through my heart but I didn’t let myself dwell in the pain. I moved on. I burned every picture we had together and deleted every trace of him from my life. He had moved on, he was living his life, why the hell couldn’t I?

I graduated university and promptly threw myself into graduate school until I got my masters. My research propelled me into a doctorate at the age of twenty-six. At the ceremony my picture was printed in the newspaper for being one of the youngest holders of a doctorate in my field. I got a small column, but it was front page and my smiling face was there. Even in the picture, you could make out the rose pendant over my white gown, the one thing of Bucky I could never get rid of.

I walked home from work one day, whistling as I thought about the last piece of my congratulatory cake from my parents that were waiting for me to devour at my apartment. I saw a figure leaning against the wrought iron fence that caged in the front garden of my apartment complex. I didn’t think much of it, since there were people milling out there all the time. Until the figure became clearer and I froze into place.

It was him. Bucky, my Bucky. Leaning against the black iron, his hair had been cut short, but long enough for someone to drag their hands through and get a good grip. He was leaner but he was the same. His arms folded across his broad chest and the same stubble that dusted his strong jaw.

“Hi petal,” he whispered and my entire world came crashing down. The hard knot that had formed in my chest seemed to unravel in a second. But I refused to let myself fall to his feet like a lovesick fool (which I probably would have done if I didn’t have a shred of self-control). I deserved an explanation, I deserved a fucking apology.

“Why?” Was what I managed out.

“I saw your picture in the newspaper,” he murmured and there was a flash of pride in his eyes. “Youngest person in your field with a doctorate. I just…wanted to say congratulations.”

“Congratulations?” I wanted to scream. “That’s all you have to say to me? After all these years, you want to say congratulations? That’s it?”

“Petal–”

“No, James. You don’t get to petal me. You’ve got some fucking nerve coming back here after all this time. Congratulations? That’s it?” I shook my head and forced the hot, angry tears down my throat. I was so angry I was vibrating. “Is that all you were going to do? Drop by say oh by the way, congrats on your life! So glad I was there to see it and just waltz away again? Is that it?”

“No,” Bucky sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. He fell silent as he seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say as he toed the ground with his boot.

“I’m so mad at you,” I whispered. “I’m so, so mad at you.”

“I know, petal. I know.” He took a step forward and I winced. The pain that twisted his face went straight to my stomach but he didn’t move any closer. “You should be. You should hate me.”

But I don’t. I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch him, I wanted to yell at him and make him regret every second that he left me. But I couldn’t do it. Not with him, right here, finally here. I wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms and forget everything. But I couldn’t do that, not yet.

“Just…tell me why,” I finally forced out. “Was it me? Did I do–”

“No,” his voice was so fierce it shocked me. “God, no, it wasn’t you. Don’t think for a second it was you.” He shook his head as he brushed a shock of hair from his forehead. “I wanted…I was trying to protect you.”

“From what?” Bucky shook his head as his eyes begged me to understand. I didn’t. How could I? “Protect me from what? I deserve to know.”

I watched as his throat worked tightly before he fiddled with the buttons on his jacket. After a long stretch of silence, he finally spoke. “It…things were getting, bad. At the tower. Hydra was starting to infiltrate the systems and was getting information…valuable information. And they were threatening everyone, everyone’s families. Clint had to relocate his wife and kids four times because of Hydra.” He chewed his lip for a moment before he glanced at the bushes that peeked through the rails of the fence. “They didn’t know about you. Nobody did. But, if Hydra found out about you…do you know what they would’ve done? My nightmares would’ve become a reality. I couldn’t…I can’t let them do that to you.”

“So you left,” I said bluntly and this time Bucky flinched.

“I put it off for as long as I could,” he whispered. “It was…it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. Leaving you. And I couldn’t tell you, you’d want to come with me or you’d beg me to stay and honestly I would’ve. I’d do anything for you. But I had to do this. I had to keep you safe. Charlie, you have to understand. I did this for you.”

I shook my head and I didn’t realize I was crying until Bucky made a soft sound in the back of his throat. He hated when I cried. It was the one thing that made him crack. I wiped furiously at my cheeks and hid my face by looking at the ground beneath me. “It sucked,” I whispered.

“I know, baby, believe me.” Bucky’s breath rattled in his chest. “I wanted to come back, I thought about it every day. But Hydra…they weren’t stopping and it took so much longer than anyone thought. But I never stopped thinking about you, I never stopped.”

“You could’ve told me,” I whimpered as I tried to keep the sobs from my throat. “I would’ve understood…we could’ve figured something out.”

“Maybe. I couldn’t take that chance, Charlie. I couldn’t put you in danger. Not now, not ever.”

“What about now?” I asked as I heard a car honk off in the distance. “Is Hydra gone?”

“For now.” Bucky didn’t sound too convinced.

I shook my head as I pulled my hair back and finally met his eyes. They were churning with anguish and an ancient pain that was only just beginning to shine through. “So what do we do now? You come back and we pick up where we left off? Then Hydra comes back and you leave me alone again? I can’t live like that, Bucky. I can’t give you everything and watch you walk away again, I can’t do it.”

Bucky took a step forward, and another, and another until he was right in front of me. “I’m not asking you to do that.” His voice was so soft and sweet and just how I remembered. Some of him had changed, but most of him was the same. “I have…I have an idea but it’s not something we’ll talk about now. I just…I had to see you, Charlie. These six years…it’s been hell without you. I thought I could do it, but I can’t.”

“I was so angry at you,” I murmured as I stared at him. “I thought…I didn’t know what to think. I thought you were dead, and then I thought you left because of me, then I hated you then I hated myself. Then I just got so angry…so fucking angry. And I tried to move on, I tried to forget you but I can’t. And I just…I missed you Bucky. I missed you so fucking much and there was nothing I could do about it.”

He reached a hand out and caught a fluttering curl and tucked it behind my ear. A zip of electricity passed over me when his fingers brushed against my skin. His fingertips trailed over the line of my jaw, then my cheek, my lips, my nose and my eyes as if he were re-mapping me. His touch passed over my neck and collarbone before his palm rested against the side of my neck, right where my pulse was.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered and his voice cracked. “I’m so sorry, Charlie…you have no idea. You have no idea what I would give to take these last six years away and make them into something good. I never wanted to hurt you. I never knew…I’m sorry, petal. God, I’m so, so sorry.”

“I know.” For years I imagined how this moment would go, how I would yell at Bucky and tell him off. How I would be strong and brave before him. But I realized now that perhaps the bravest I could be was forgiving him. He had punished himself enough, I could see that. I wanted to be angry at him but suddenly it wasn’t worth it.

“I’ve missed you,” he whispered. He took another step forward and I couldn’t help but reach my hand out and touch his chest, just over his heart. Just to feel his heart beat and believe he was real. Bucky’s hand covered my own, his left one, covered in a glove.

“How long can you stay?” I asked and Bucky’s breath caught in the back of his throat. It was as if time was suspended and we were delicately treading along, not wanting this moment to be shattered.

“I don’t know.” He brought his head down and pressed his lips into my hair and breathed deeply. “For a little bit, but not long enough.”

I nodded and stepped back to unclip the chain that held the necklace around my neck. I took his left hand in my own and laid the pendant in his palm. “So you have something to remember me by, whenever you have to leave again.”

“Charlie, I can’t–”

“Bucky please,” I stopped him in a soft voice. “It’ll…um it’ll make things maybe a little easier. Just to remind you that there’s a home for you. Wherever you are.”

Bucky nodded as he closed his hand round the pendant. He brought his fist up and kissed his clenched fingers as he brushed his thumb along my jaw. I don’t know what it was, the tenderness of how he touched me or just the whole situation in itself, but a wave of emotion that I had been holding back crashed over me and I lunged at Bucky, throwing myself onto him.

He caught me easily and pressed me so close to him as I felt his muscles contract and pull beneath me. I breathed out a sigh that I had been holding in as I buried my head into his shoulder, breathing in all of him.

“I love you,” he whispered and the last bit of resistance that I had in me melted away as he pressed kisses into my neck. “I love you, I love you, I never stopped loving you.”

I started crying again as Bucky pressed my back against the fence as his hands roamed every inch of me and his lips pressed against my collarbone, neck, face, forehead, everywhere he could reach. “I love you too, Bucky,” I sighed against him and it felt so good to say it. “I love you more than you know.”

He released a strangled sob as he clutched me so close to him I almost couldn’t breathe. “You have no idea…what – dear God Charlie, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that.”

I started laughing. It was so good to laugh again. And even when Bucky kissed me, I couldn’t stop smiling. He laughed too, deep and throaty and when he pulled back his lips were red and glistening and his eyes sparkled again.

“Before we get any further,” I said as Bucky leaned down to kiss my jaw and cheek. “What’s this plan you mentioned? I want to get all the serious stuff out of the way before we start anything.”

Bucky froze and when I leaned back to look at him, he suddenly reminded me of the nervous guy who had asked me out in the dining hall all those years before. “I – um, okay.” He nodded, mostly to himself, and took a deep breath. “I love you, more than anything in my entire life. And you’re it, y’know? You’re all I want and um…I kind of know I can’t really be without you. But the world…s’not getting any better so. I was gonna leave, the Avengers, and all. To be with you. But Tony convinced me to stay but I said I would only if there was some way to protect you. Properly. And he came up with something which I think could work. It’s a long shot but it’s something and I, um–”

“Buck,” I laughed. “Spit it out.”

“Okay, okay. Yeah, totally. Spit it out. Right.” He shook his head before he stared me deep in the eyes and blurted out, “Come live in the tower with me.”

“What?” I gaped at him. “The Avengers Tower…like the Avengers.”

“Yeah, uh, I know it’s a lot. It’s a huge change. And I know you just got this gig with the university, not that I actually know that or looked it up or anything, whatever. Anyways, um, it’s just; it was the only way I’d stay. But if you’re not up for it then I get it, I do. It’s a big change and it’s a lot to ask but–”

“Yes.”

“–we already sort of lived together, well, we did live together, before everything so it won’t be so different but still it’s change and–” his voice suddenly faded as his brain connected with his mouth. “Wait…you said yes.”

“Yes,” I repeated with a smile. “I did.”

“You actually said yes. Just like that.” Bucky stared at me in shock as he slowly processed what I was saying.

“Just like that,” I reiterated. “I’ve wanted to move out for a while. I’ve been trying to find something closer to the university. The Avengers tower is a five minute walk. What have I got to lose? Besides, Bucky, it’s the Avengers. Why the hell would I ever say no?”

Bucky blinked. Once. Twice. Then he smiled. His beautiful, brilliant smile that split across his face and he laughed like he did when he didn’t have a care in the world. It was rare when he laughed like that, but I always remembered when he did.

“So, you’re saying yes? We’re doing this?”

I laughed as I threw my arms around his neck and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips that he followed when I pulled away. “Yes, Bucky. I’ll move in with you.”

He kissed me hard, all lips and hot breath as he braided his fingers through my hair and secured me to him. Once I was sufficiently breathless, he pulled away with the brightest sparkle in his eyes. “You’ll love it petal, honest. The place has got a balcony so you can do your studying and grading and look over the city and we’ve got the whole floor to ourselves so we’ve got a living room, kitchen, everything. You can decorate however you want to, I’ll repaint whatever, whatever you want Tony already said the floor is ours so we can change it however we want to.”

I giggled like I was five years old again when Bucky breathed out a sigh and pulled me in close again. He spun me around and I couldn’t even suppress the grin even if I wanted to. “Never thought you’d be so excited about decorating,” I teased once he set me down again.

He looked at me with serious eyes and it knocked the smile off my face. “Charlie…I thought you hated me, I expected you to hate me. To tell me off, to turn me away and never want to see me again. Now, you’re moving in with me. It’s…surreal.”

“Hate you? How could I hate you?” I repeated the same words he said to me at the dining hall and suddenly we were young and stupid and hopelessly in love all over again.

“I don’t deserve you,” he whispered as he kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes and reveled in the warmth of him, a part of me savoring it just in case this was all just some fucked up dream.

“C’mon,” I whispered as I pulled back and threaded my fingers with his. “There’s one more person you have to apologize to.” Bucky’s brows furrowed until he heard an insistent barking from one of the third floor windows. In the second window from the left, my black lab was paws up against the window, practically throwing himself against the glass as his eyes locked on Bucky. Bucky tilted his head back and laughed as he allowed me to tug him into my apartment complex.

And the moment I saw him embrace my dog and talk to him in hushed, apologetic tones for the next half hour, I knew he would stay. And I vowed to myself that I’d never let anything take him away from me.