Wakanda: 2016

The small, thatched brown hut sat isolated on the grassy plain, its size paling in comparison to the large backdrop the African Jungle supplied around it. It was almost picturesque, a moment that could have easily been captured for the entertainment of National Geographic or some silly travel magazine. Goats and chickens littered the surrounding area, grazing from the short grass that had been yellowed by the heat of Wakanda's scorching sun.

Charlotte's crystalline gaze swept over the scene from the top of a grassy knoll settled in the distance. Even from here, it wasn't hard to see that this place offered him something he hadn't experienced since the war, since before the events that led them to this moment were set in motion—peace.

It had taken the pair years to get here and even now they were still kept apart.

There was a piece of her that understood the need for separation. The logical part of her brain knew that James needed his own space to think and grow after the hell he had been through—that they had been through. She was part of his past and the reminder of that while he was still attempting to stave off the chill the winter had surrounded him in could be detrimental.

The logic was sound—didn't mean she had to like it.

It was the passionate side of her brain, the part of her that had spent what felt like an endless number of years, days, and hours working tirelessly to find him that was to reign in. The pair had spent over seventy years separated by death, oceans, and the seven circles of hell. There wasn't a need to keep them apart now that they had finally found one another again.

Good lord, he needs a haircut. Even as Charlotte thought this, she couldn't help but admire the way his shoulder-length chestnut looked tied up in a messy bun on the back of his head as he worked. He was chopping wood again, his muscles flexing, sweat dripping down his forehead as he swung the ax again and again. Her inner hussy was drooling at the primal sign before her, begging to be put out of her misery.

It was such a normal act, chopping wood, that anyone who looked at the scene presented would never know that this man was capable of crushing someone's skull with just his hand—the flesh one.

Charlotte watched longingly as his brow furrowed in concentration. He always did like to stay busy. There was a calm to him that she had never seen before as he drove the ax into the wood with scary precision. She wondered briefly if it was harder for him to shop with just the one arm, even with his superior strength.

Her mind filed that question away for the day they were fully reunited.

T'Challa had taken the metal arm Hydra had forced on him. It was an attempt to remove his mindset from being the Winter Soldier, but Charlotte knew there would always be a part of him lingering in the back of James' mind, threatening to claw its way to the surface. Even now, after so many decades, she still fought the darkness the Tesseract had created inside of her own mind. The important thing was that James was learning to progress forward and leave the past behind.

She just hoped that didn't include her.

Her body itched to go to him, her power drawn to his. Instead, she wiped at the tears that had escaped her stormy eyes with a trembling hand. Apparently, she was a masochist. Each morning she rose with the sun just to stand and watch him from afar knowing she wouldn't be allowed to interact with him. As much as they were each other's calm, they were also volatile together. Two people with a past that needed reconciling.

Both experiments of a fading regime.

Hydra.

"He is doing well, Zomlilo," Okoye stood beside the petite blonde, whose hair was so light it seemed as if it were almost silver. The stunning Wakandan's posture was more relaxed than normal, even robed in her battle uniform. Her dark eyes were carefully assessing the woman whose face was contorted in pain as she watched the man she loved from afar.

Zomlilo. It was the name Okoye had bestowed upon the woman the first night they met. The night she nearly brought the royal palace down on their heads. It meant Fiery One.

"And soon you will be reunited."

There was a hint of longing in the Wakandan's normally rough voice. It was apparent to Charlotte that her friends' mind had wandered back to W'Kabi, the man she loved who had not only betrayed her but T'Challa as well. The blonde shivered at the memory of Killmonger as ruler of Wakanda. T'Challa had been thought dead by his cousin's hand which left Charlotte trapped inside the walls of his palace at his mercy.

Another man who sought to use her as a tool.

"All will be well." A soft smile twitched on the blonde's red lips at how soft Okoye's voice was. It wasn't often the General of the Wakandan Army attempted to provide comfort, even with words. She was more apt to sass than anything else, but Okoye could see how much the separation was eating at the woman. She felt the same about W'Kabi, even with his betrayal. Love like theirs never went how.

If there was anyone Charlotte could relate to, it was Okoye.

It had taken Charlotte nearly seventy years to find James. The blonde had chased down every dark lead, fought her way out of every dead end, and refused to give in until she found him. In the end, he had found her.

Well, he had crashed into her.

Sort of.

Charlotte could still feel the fissured in her heart that he had created, albeit unwillingly. There had been no recognition in his eyes when he first saw her as the Winter Soldier. He had been cruel, unfeeling, and calculating in his attempt to extract information from her for Hydra; the complete opposite of Bucky who had always been big smiled and radiation warmth.

Once you got past his smug arrogance.

"Does he…" Charlotte swallowed hard, biting back a sob. Gods, she was overly emotional these days. She had adopted an eerie calmness and stoic countenance for so many years, but a few months in Wakanda had her reduced to a sniveling child half the time.

She placed the blame firmly with T'Challa and his damn therapy sessions.

"Does he talk about me?"

Okoye smiled, her brilliant white teeth shining against the backdrop of her flawless espresso skin. The was the picture of a Nubian Queen with her full dark lips and perfect figure. Charlotte had seen her cut down men twice her size without a second glance, witnessed her fight like a lioness protecting her pride, and reduces those around her to wailing messes, all with grace and utter surety.

Jealousy snuck up the blonde's spine, the little green monster rooting itself deep in her mind at the thought of such a strong and beautiful woman getting to spend the time she craved with the man she loved. The man she had dedicated her life to.

"It is getting him to shut up about you that it the problem," Okoye teased with a large grin. Even the guards behind them snickered. "Never have I met such a man dedicated to his woman as he is to you. If you were to ask him, he would say you hung the stars."

Charlotte let out an unladylike snort.

That line seemed like something Steve would have said back in the day, not James.

"I miss him," It was mournfully true. She missed everything about the man she diligently watched from a distance for the last year. First, while he was in suspended animation and now, while he played Old McDonald on his little farm.

Even being on the run with him, in constant danger, was more than she could ever ask for. Bucky had clung to her as the Winter Soldier, their connection transcending the gutted mess Hydra had created out of his mind.

There were times when the James she knew resurfaced at just the sound of her voice and for the longest time she clung to those moments while Pierce had her locked away, just as she had clung to his memory when she thought him dead in 1945.

"You have never told us how you met," One of the guards, Karabo, spoke up from behind her. She was one of her regular guards, always curious, especially about the outside world "I have always wondered what it is that drew the two of you together. The White Wolf and Zomlilo. The Phoenix."

The White Wolf.

That's what they called him now. A new life and a new name. It seemed somewhat fitting. Wolves were loyal and Bucky was one of the loyalist people you would ever find. Something that was amplified by the super-soldier-serum.

"Hydra was the reason we met…"

Chuckling, the blonde thought back to the day they first ran into one another. The memories of so long ago began to resurface to the front of her mind. Over time so many of the memories had begun to haze around the edges and disappear altogether, but not that one.

It had been an uphill battle over the years to keep the important ones intact as time seemed to blend together. Steve, being frozen for seventy-odd years, had it easier. Hard to make memories when buried beneath the ice. And James, his super-soldier serum allowed for stronger memory retention, but a lot of them had been erased by Hydra over the years. Made it easier to fabricate new ones.

Meanwhile, charlotte had to soldier on through the years, struggling not only to stay alive but sane as well. Her safe house was filled with decades worth of journals, an attempt to preserve her most precious memories before they disappeared forever. The Howling Commando's had done their best to help her throughout the years after James' supposed death and Steve's disappearance, but it wasn't enough.

As much as she wished it had been. They were her family, but Steve and James were so much more.

"…But Steve was the reason we fell in love."

A/N: OO got so inspired by the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. If you haven't seen it...do, it is amazing...and also because there will be spoilers here if you haven't. This takes place throughout the MCU universe, mostly bucky/OC-centric. Will bounce around between the 'present' and the past. Will post it here and under 'avengers'. hope you all love it! Till next time