Chapter 10

Ana used the strategy meeting the next day as an excuse to delay talking to Bucky a little longer. However, she was easily getting distracted, she tried her hardest not to think of what to say to Bucky.

"Were you able to get anything else out of Anderson?" Steve asked Natasha.

"What he revealed to me, whether he realized it or not, was that he had contacts in Stockholm, but they are expecting the piece to be delivered to them in Copenhagen in a week."

"We still don't have a name for this contact?" Tony asked.

"No."

"What is the intended purpose of this piece?" Steve inquired.

"I think I can help answer this question." Thor said, "Upon further analysis of the sword, I noticed it was made of precious Asgardian metal. It is indestructible, very similar to your vibranium, I believe they intend to collect as much as they can, either to remold the metal to a weapon of their choice, or use its magical qualities."

"Magical qualities?"

"Aye. Valkyries are those who choose those who die in battle and those who live."

"But if the power comes from being a Valkyrie, then what use would a sword be?" Clint, always the cynical one, pointed out.

"The sword itself may or may not be of any magical use, but it may have led us to the last remains of Hydra." Steve said. He said that every time they fought Hydra, but this time he may be right. They'd not heard much of them in the last year, but that doesn't mean they aren't still there. Ana had helped them track down eleven different bases since she'd joined SHIELD, but she'd never been able to find the leader who'd hired her. Part of her was glad. She never wanted to see his face again, but she knew they needed him to put an end to Hydra's reign. She wanted her final revenge for the lies he'd told her. Across the table, she saw Bucky glance at her with concern. She tried to make her face look as relaxed as she could, for his sake. He shouldn't have to worry about her when he might have a mission to focus on. Steve continued on with the meeting. They constructed a seemingly good plan.

"Nat, I need you to find out exactly where this piece was supposed to go. Then we'll deliver it personally."

"Are you sure we should all go?" Tony asked, "Usually when we find Hydra, they're isolated. Now they're in the city, it could cause alarm."

"I have to agree with Tony." Wanda said.

Steve nodded, "So we send a small team. Bucky, Ana, me… Natasha, you'll be on extraction, and Thor, would you be willing to accompany us?"

"I think it would be for the better if I remain here. And upon your return, I must take the piece back to Asgard where it will be safe."

The rest of the room agreed.

In closing, Steve stated, "Nat, you find out where Anderson's contact is, Bucky and Ana, get your gear, and Tony, can you get us a jet?"

Ana POV

We all left the room to attend to our assigned tasks. Wanda followed me out.

"Is there something different about Bucky? He's been acting strange since last night." She asked.

"Have you been getting inside our heads again, Wanda?" I sighed. Wanda tried furiously not to use her powers to know what we're thinking all the time, but she still doesn't have complete control and sometimes the feelings found her rather than the other way around.

"No," Wanda responded, "I can just tell. You've been acting differently around each other."

Ana laughed it off, choosing not to tell her friend what had happened.

The next few days went by and Ana continued to dodge all interactions with Bucky. Focusing on mission analysis and strategy planning. Making sure her rifles were in perfect shape, anything to avoid talking to him since their talk on the roof. The truth was, Ana loved Bucky very much, but she had conflicting emotions about their relationship. She liked being his best friend, not having pressure in their relationship. She didn't feel worthy of him though, and often wondered why he bothered to be around her at all. Most of all, she didn't want to hurt him. She'd never forgiven herself for what she'd done to her brother. But those thoughts needed to be pushed aside for now, so she could focus on this mission without any distractions.

At the time of the mission itself, Ana was informed she and Bucky would be backup, in case the arrest went wrong.

"But why?" she exclaimed, "I was cleared from medical two days ago, and I know exactly who you should be looking for."

"She has a point, Rogers." Nat said from the pilot seat.

"Okay, fine, but I want you to stay low. If anyone from Hydra recognizes you it'll blow this whole thing."

"Well if any civilians recognize you it will do the same." Bucky retorted.

Steve rolled his eyes. It was going to be long flight.

…

Ana POV

After finally landing, the Natasha and I dressed in civilian clothes, and were seated at a small cafe near the museum Anderson was supposed to meet his contact. I felt my heart start to race at the idea we might see my old "employer" from hydra. He was the only one I couldn't seem to track down, and possibly the only hydra general left. As much as I wanted him behind bars, I would rather hope he's already six feet under. I never wanted to see that bastard's face again after what he told me to get me to work for him. He was a part of my old life that I constantly tried to push into the farthest corner of my mind. Natasha must have seen my brief turmoil, because she squeezed my hand, pulling me back to the real world. I heard the crackling of my earpiece. "I see two men circling the perimeter." Steve reported. I looked over my shoulder, just long enough to check for weapons. "Unarmed." I said, "security guards."

"How about the guy with the briefcase, approaching from the left side?" This one Natasha shot down. "Not our guy. He's American; watch is set to New York time."

"Listen, you're looking for someone who's also looking for someone. It's a minute past the meet time, and Anderson would never be late. Look for the guy in the crowd who's confused."

There was a few seconds silence, then Bucky chimed in.

"The guy by the fountain," he said, "White shirt, blue pants."

I looked over my shoulder and sure enough, there he was, checking his watch.

"He's armed." I said, "and undoubtedly has backup somewhere in the plaza, by the direction he's looking, there probably staked out on a balcony somewhere."

I watched Natasha get up, and effortlessly walk to where he was standing. She had uncovered the contact phrase from her interrogation with Anderson, so she would know for sure if this was the criminal they were looking for. I could faintly hear her through my earpiece.

"Darf ich mir einen Stift leihen?"

The man turned to her in surprise.

"I have your piece." She said, "Come with me, and I may give it to you."

The man whispered something low, and suddenly there was the sound of a gunshot. The cafe I had been sitting in went into panic. Several people screamed in surprise at the sound. When a second shot rang out, chaos ensued. This was the hard part of my job; as people scrambled to grab their phones, I shouted above the crowd.

"Go inside and take cover!"

I managed to get almost everyone inside, I instructed them to stay low, and direct them away from any windows.

My Danish was absolutely terrible, the shop manager helped translate for those who didn't understand English, or were too much in shock.

"Civilians are all inside." I reported to Steve.

"Good, keep them there until we have the situation under control." came the response. I watched out the window, listening intently to the sounds coming through the comms while anxiety started to build up inside me. The sounds of punches and grunts filled my ear.

"Have you got them all?" I urged, "People are a little on edge."

"Almost." Bucky replied, "Two down the street an-"

His sentence was cut short. "Bucky? Bucky!" I shouted into my earpiece, "Steve, where is he?! I thought you were covering him!" Natasha yelled.

"I lost visual." Steve said.

Suddenly a blur of movement outside the window caught my attention. Bucky was running, more like limping, after two guys. He finally managed to knock one down, but the other came up behind him and gave him a hard blow to his side. He staggered backwards, but caught his balance enough to block the next swing.

"Steve! Where are you?! Bucky needs help!" I shouted.

"Ana, I can't get to him." he said, I could tell he was running too.

"Then I will." I said

"Ana, no- you're supposed to watch the-" I took my comm out of my ear and threw it on the floor. Like hell would I be bossed around when Bucky needed my help. With one last instruction to all the people hiding in the cafe to stay low, I sprinted out of the shop, and into the plaza where the two thugs were pounding Bucky.

A sudden courage swept over me as I ripped my pistol from my shoulder holster and fired two warning shots. The two men looked at me and smirked. I probably didn't look too threatening in my civilian clothes. One of them came at me and I knocked him flat with just my foot.

"Your boyfriend's grown weak since he left our cause." the second one mocked, kicking Bucky hard, forcing him to groan in pain.

All hell broke loose at that point.

I took one step towards the guy and before he could blink, gave him a front kick to the chest, then elbowed across his jaw, grabbed his arm and flipped him, then twisted it, effectively pushing him to the ground, making him cry out in pain. I cuffed him and ran to check on Bucky.

He laid on the concrete, his breathing heavy and labored, but he was conscious. I began to check for broken bones when he smiled at me.

"What?" I asked him.

"You saved my life."

"So?"

A grin broke out on his face, and he let out a breathy laugh, "That was about the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

I slapped his shoulder lightly, knowing now he couldn't be too hurt if was able to make jokes.

Steve and Natasha finally met us and helped get the scene taken care of and tell civilians it was okay to leave the premises. In the meanwhile I helped Bucky get to the Copenhagen SHIELD vase, where it was decided officially that none of his bones were broken. When Steve arrived, he announced it would be awhile before we could leave because we had to do debriefing with the Copenhagen police force. He also sat down and told me my actions were in violation of a direct order.

"I was helping my friend." I argued, "You would have done the same thing."

"Ana this isn't the time for a moral argument, I need to know that whoever's on my team is gonna do their job."

"I did my part, I made sure everyone was safe, including my teammate. How is that not doing my job?"

Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I understand that, but please in future, wait for some sort of confirmation, okay? For your safety too."

I agreed, somewhat begrudgingly, and went to get myself some coffee, just my luck that Bucky would be there.

"Hey there." He said.

"Hi." I mumbled, pouring myself a cup of the heavenly liquid. I inhaled the steam, and letting my stress melt away for a moment.

"So, I was gonna blow off the debrief and go explore the city, you interested?" Bucky asked. It was our tradition, when we travelled for missions, to explore and go to museums or cafes or parks and just breathe in the atmosphere. I blushed, now not sure whether he meant this to be a date or not. His eyes pleaded so much though, I just couldn't say no.

We walked the streets for some time, taking in the architecture and scenery. Eventually we found a tower, and we climbed to the top. We stopped to admire the view, and I sat down with my book to read, but soon became distracted with conversation.

"Some view, huh?" Bucky had asked.

"Yeah." I sighed, flipping a page.

"Remember last time we were in Copenhagen in the winter?" He asked with a smirk. I sighed and closed my book, knowing I wouldn't be able to read for a while.

"You mean the time you dared Clint to lick the lamppost and his tongue got stuck?"

Bucky laughed at the memory, "That's not what I remembered about it but that was so funny!"

"I can't believe he thought that was only a myth!" I said as I started to laugh too. Clint had stood there with his tongue stuck to the metal pole, screaming for Natasha because Bucky and I were bent over laughing too hard. Now it felt we were reliving that moment. When Bucky finally got his breath back, he had tears in his eyes. He cleared his throat before continuing, "What I actually meant was when we were on the base, and I found you on the roof watching the aurora borealis. You told me it was your favorite view in the entire world and then I-"

"Gave me your jacket saying I'd catch pneumonia if I was out there any longer." I finished for him, "I can't believe you remember that."

He grinned at me, "How could I not? After I told you that you pelted me with snow and told me to 'eff off'."

I blushed, "Oh yeah, that was before I really considered you a friend."

Bucky laughed, "You were something else, doll."

I stuck my tongue out at him and when back to my book. He didn't let me get very far before he asked me what it was about?

"Why do you want to know?" I asked, because he knows I hate being interrupted.

"Because… listen, Ana, I've been trying to say this for days, but I don't know how… but," he took a breath, "I love you, Anastasia, and sometimes I think you love me too, but I want to hear it from you. If you say you love me, I would be the happiest man alive, but even if you say no, I would still respect that."

I felt tears prick at my eyes, and before I had even thought about it, the words slipped out of my mouth.

"I do love you, but I don't want anything to change."

Bucky's eyes lit up for a moment, but then went to his studious gaze, "What do you mean? What would change?"

"I mean what we have right now, the way we talk for hours and watch movies and pull pranks on Steve, I don't want to lose that. Honestly, I wish I could go back in time make sure you never, ever found out my secret! Ever since that day everything has been a mess." I put my face into my hands, too ashamed to even look up. Bucky patted my shoulder, "Don't say that, Ana. I'm glad you're trusting me to help you now."

I sniffed and pushed back the tears threatening to escape, "I wish it could always be like this, just talking to you, but at the same time I see your stupidly beautiful eyes and all I want to do is kiss you in the rain like Breakfast at Tiffany's. But as much as I want to do that, I don't want to think of losing my best friend if you ever… or I ever… if we… " I struggled to even say it.

Bucky's eyes looked hurt, he couldn't hide that no matter how hard he tried. But he simply squeezed my hand and said, "I understand how you feel. I should have thought of that myself. I care about you, Ana, but if that's only as your best friend then I am perfectly okay with that. I would never ever try to be anything else unless unless you wanted me to, because I love you."

He leaned down to kiss my cheek, but I stopped him.

"Bucky I… "

I didn't finish my sentence, but instead pressed my lips to his in sudden courage. Once he got past the initial surprise he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer. I melted into the kiss more and more and I could feel him grinning as we pulled away from each other. We were both wide eyed and breathless from what had just happened. His crystal blue eyes searched mine with such amazement and wonder, and we sat there for what felt like hours. Until Bucky breathed out, "Does this mean you're my girl now?"