7th October, 2016

Standing in lab, Bucky kept his gaze focused on the waterfall outside. He was silent, completely lost in thought over what had just happened. He had never wanted Steve to turn against his friends, not for him. And now they were outlaws. They were on the run and Steve's reputation had been tarnished. As soon as he had dropped the shield, Bucky had felt that familiar sensation of guilt eat up at him. He had felt it plenty of times before. But he had one more thing that he had to ask from him. He knew that it was selfish of him, but he had to try and save her. He needed to save her.

He could still remember her stood there on the edge of the Potomac. She had collapsed down onto the bank, not caring about ruining the dress she wore as she sunk into the wet sand, hovering over Steve's body and looking at him, checking his pulse. She had looked at Bucky, her eyes wide and wet. Her hair had been strewn around the top of her head, falling down her back in messy curls.

"You need to go…Bucky…please…I'll look after him…get him to safety…but you need to go before they find you."

And he had. He had ran off, his mind in complete disarray. It was only now, as he stood in Wakanda, did he realise that he should have dragged her with him. She would have protested, as she always did, but he would have forced her. He would have flung her over his shoulder and taken her. He would have kept her safe.

"I…there's a favour I have to ask from you," Bucky said to Steve as he came to stand next to him.

Bucky was dressed in trousers and a white vest, his metal arm having been ripped from him. In a way, that had almost felt liberating to see it get abandoned. HYDRA had given him that arm. They had turned him into a weapon. How many lives had he taken because of that arm? He didn't know, and he didn't think that he wanted to know either.

"What's going on, Buck?" Steve enquired, looking over to him.

"There's this girl," Bucky said and then chuckled, shaking his head. "No, she's not a girl, not anymore…she's a woman…her name is Victoria. Victoria Wallace."

Steve nodded thoughtfully. "As in the daughter of Roger Wallace?" he asked from Bucky.

"You know him?"

"When S.H.I.E.L.D. released all of HYDRA's files, his name was pretty prominent. He was one of their best scientists…files say that his daughter, Victoria, worked underneath him in HYDRA."

"No," Bucky said and Steve could hear the vehement denial in his voice. He looked to his friend, his gaze intense and serious. Steve could only stare blankly at him, waiting for him to explain. "She was never part of HYDRA. She hated them…despised them…but her father controlled her. He manipulated her…she…she was good, Steve. She was the only ray of light in that dark hellhole."

"So you knew her well?"

"Yeah…from what I remember," Bucky responded. "She would come to me whenever I needed fixing up from a mission. Other times, she would just come and bring me food…sit with me…talk to me…we…we played chess quite a lot. She taught me after I fractured my arm and they couldn't send me back to sleep."

"You know…I can't get her pardoned, Bucky, not now," Steve said. They were all outlaws. They were all on the run.

"I know," Bucky whispered, "but I just need you to go to her…find her…tell her to come back with you, to get away from her father. I need you to find her and tell her that she can be safe here. I spoke with the King. He agreed."

Nodding, Steve could see the pain in his friend's face. Whoever this woman was, she clearly meant a lot to Bucky.

"I should have taken her with me, Steve," Bucky said. "She was there…that day on the Potomac when the hellicarriers fell. She was the one who called the ambulance for you. She stayed with you until they came."

"That was her?" Steve questioned.

"Yeah," Bucky said. "She told me to run before her father found me and I ran. I ran away and I left her. I should have taken her with me. I should have forced her to come and now she's with him and I don't know what the hell he would have done to her…how he would have hurt her…"

Steve gulped, his mouth drying out. He didn't know if he wanted to know anymore. But he had to. He had to keep digging because he wanted to know just what Bucky had been through. He had to find out. "Hurt her, how?"

"He…while we were both in HYDRA, he had this idea," Bucky's brows knitted together, lips parting softly. "There was this one time when he hit Victoria and I retaliated. I lashed out and I tried to strangle him because…well…clearly I felt protective over her. She was just a girl at the time, Steve. She was a teenager."

Bucky's hand went to tap against his thigh nervously. "He discovered that I still had emotions…that I was still capable of caring for something," he continued. "He wanted to try and break that out of me. He would use the machine to clear my mind. He would tamper with it…tweak it…determined to use it to remove any trace of Victoria from my mind and any emotion that I might have. He figured that if he could make it so that I felt nothing then I would be under HYDRA's complete control even more than I was. The Winter Soldier programme had gone wrong because they still had emotions…were volatile…if HYDRA could wipe that out of us then they would have an army of complete robots…but so long as I still felt things…cared for people…then there was a chance that I could rebel. But I was never strong enough to do that, not when they said the words."

"You were under their control, Buck," Steve placed a hand on his shoulder. "You couldn't do anything. You know that."

"But I should have," Bucky whispered. "Anyway, he would…he would hit Victoria in front of me…to see how I reacted…to see if he could completely break me down. But it never worked. They restrained me so that I couldn't stop him, but I still showed emotion. And she…she would just take it, Steve," Bucky gasped for a breath then, eyes scrunching shut tightly. "She would stand there and she would take it. She would tell me not to react. She would beg me not to let what they did to her effect me, but I couldn't. I couldn't because she…she was kind to me. And I left her. I left her with him."

"You…after D.C…your mind wasn't your own, Buck."

"I remembered enough to remember her," Bucky said firmly. "I remembered her and I should have gone back for her. I should have done that. I owed her that much."

"Have you seen her since? Do you have any idea how I can locate her?"

"She came to me in London a while back," Bucky said. "Before I went to Bucharest, I was in London. She came to me and told me that her father had been watching me. She gave me all the information he had on me in a file and told me to leave. She…she walked out the door and I let her go, Steve. I just let her go."

"She…I know that this is hard for you, Buck, and I don't pretend to understand, but she made the choice to go."

Bucky shook his head, turning to look at Steve, his gaze sad and soft. "It was never a choice, Steve," he whispered. "So long as he is alive, then she will always feel that she never has a choice…but please…tell her that I want her back. I want her with me and I want her safe."

Steve nodded and he took a moment to gather himself before he dared to ask Bucky the question that had been burning on his tongue ever since he had heard his friend speak in such a gentle tone.

"Buck," he said, meeting his gaze, "Victoria…do you…well…do you love her?"

Bucky looked away from Steve then. He kept his mouth closed and his face remained passive.

"I…I don't know," Bucky responded in a whisper. "But I just want her to be safe."

"Okay," Steve nodded. "What do you want me to tell her?"

"Tell her…tell her that I remember everything. Tell her that I remember her and what she did for me," he said. "Tell her that she can be safe here in Wakanda, that she won't need to look over her shoulder, but even if she's still scared, tell her that I'll protect her…that I want to keep her safe…that I want to play chess with her…that I want her to remind me how to dance…just tell her…tell her that I want her, that she's enough for me."

Steve felt his chest ache at his friend's words. He had known Bucky most of his life. He knew how he was with women. He was smooth. He knew all of the best lines to make women swoon. He'd never heard him speak so earnestly before. He'd never heard him speak from the heart like he just had.

"And you're sure you don't love her?" Steve asked, his tone teasing.

Bucky chuckled. "I don't know if I can," he said to Steve. "I have things that I need to tell her that could change everything, but if I can get her here then at least I know she is safe."

"What do you need to tell her?" Steve enquired.

Bucky shook his head. "I can't tell you," he whispered, looking down to his feet. "I know you're my best friend, Steve. You always will be, but this is something that she deserves to know first."

"That's fine, Buck," Steve promised him. "And I'll tell her all of that."

Nodding, Bucky heard Shuri call his name.

"Sergeant Barnes," she spoke and he turned his head over his shoulder, "we're ready for you now."

"Coming," Bucky promised and she gave him a soft smile before going back to her computer. Turning back to Steve, he clasped him on the shoulder. "See you on the other side?"

"I'll be there," he promised and leaned in to embrace him, holding his friend tightly in his grip. Bucky rested his chin on his shoulder and closed his eyes for a moment. He hoped that this would be it. He prayed that this would be the end of his nightmare and he could wake up and be free. He wanted that more than anything. He longed for it. "And I'll try and find your girl."

Bucky shook his head. "She's no one's girl," he said. "She has a mind and a will of her own. You'll soon see that."

"Doubt you'd mind her being your girl though," Steve retorted. "Never heard you talk about anyone like her. She must be special."

"She is," Bucky said and began to walk to the chamber, whispering under his breath. "She's too good to be mine."

Steve pretended he didn't hear. He pleaded ignorance. He gave Bucky his own privacy and wondered just what he would find when he located Victoria Wallace.

…

Opening the only closed door down the corridor, Victoria entered the room to find Bucky changing into a clean shirt. He pulled it down over his stomach as she caught sight of his bare skin, but she made no comment. She had seen him shirtless numerous times before. Most of the time, she pretended it didn't bother her. It was only towards the end of his imprisonment when she began looking differently at him.

"I get that you're pissed," she said and Bucky's arms folded over his chest, waiting for her to explain herself. "And I get that, perhaps in hindsight, it wasn't the right idea…running off like that…but I did it because you had bigger fish to fry."

"The fish are the same size," Bucky retorted with a shake of his head.

Victoria scoffed, closing the door behind her, not particularly liking the idea of Zemo and Sam hearing their discussion. "Bucky, come on," she demanded from him, "the Flag Smashers are bigger than me…bigger than what Alistair could have done to me. I'm just one person."

"Not to me," Bucky responded firmly. "You were never just one person to me and I thought that you knew that."

"I don't know what I know," she shrugged her shoulders. "When it comes to you, I never know anything. You've always been an anomaly to me. You've always confused me."

"What was so confusing about me begging you to stay with me in London?" he asked her. "Or sending Steve to you? How is any of that so confusing for you?"

"Because I didn't know if you did it because you cared or if you felt guilty," she responded to him. "And I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you if I went with you…if they found us…"

"And I understand that," Bucky promised her. "But you would have been safe in Wakanda. They would never have even gotten close to you…and you…I told you that I wanted you to come with me because I cared, not because I felt guilty. I cared, Victoria."

"And I know that, deep down," she promised him. "But did you only care because I was the one who looked after you? Was that the sole reason?"

"No."

"But how do you know?" she wondered. "I was the only one who saw you in that place…who looked after you," she continued talking. "I mean, it would make sense if you felt that you cared because of that and no other reason. I would understand that, but the issue was…I cared more than that."

"What?" he asked from her and she looked around the grand bedroom. She moved around the bed while Bucky stayed the other side. She ran a hand down one of the posts on the four-post bed, looking at the expensive wooden material.

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" she whispered, the question rhetorical before she continued talking, holding onto the wooden post, her grip tight on it and her knuckles turning white. "I cared so much for you, Bucky," she said. "At first, I felt sorry for you, of course I did…but then…as the years went on and you…you were the one person I looked forward to seeing. You started talking to me more…showing an interest in me…and I…I wondered if it was because you were the only person who was kind to me if that was why I felt so deeply for you, but then during my Masters course when Marcus asked me out, I told him that I couldn't go out with him…I didn't know why at the time. I was almost twenty-two and I had no idea how old you were or when I even started feeling things for you."

She let out a deep breath.

"And I thought it was just some stupid crush because you showed an interest, but when you'd gone…I thought about you every day. I never stopped thinking about you…wishing that things had been different. But what does it matter? You probably thought I was just some dumb kid who fancied you."

She sat down on the bed then, her back to him. He stared at the back of her head before he moved. He sat down on the other side of the bed, knowing that this would be easier without looking at her.

"I tried to block out what they did to me," he admitted, leaning forwards and clasping his hands together. "But the only things I want to remember are the times with you…when you would come to me…and at the beginning, it was strange because you were a kid. You were just sixteen, Victoria…but then I had no idea who I was…and you…you changed right in front of me and it's weird. It's weird because I remember the exact moment I started to care more than I should."

Victoria remained silent, acutely aware that he was on the other side of the bed, the mattress dipping slightly under his weight.

"It was after I'd been sent to kill Steve…when I was back in the facility and you were there. I…I just remembered Steve. I remembered him and I remembered my name. You were yelling at me as they tried to wipe my memory, telling me that I was a good man and even when they had me strapped down…it was your voice I heard. It was always your voice and I realised then that maybe I could be a good man…maybe you were right…and I wanted to be that man. I wanted to be him…for you…because you put so much faith in me…"

Victoria closed her eyes and felt a tear roll down her cheek.

"And I knew it was wrong. I'd known you for so many years and you were only in your early twenties and I was…Christ…pushing on for a hundred…but I couldn't stop it. I couldn't help how I felt and then when you wouldn't come with me in London I wondered if you just didn't want to be with me…and I would have understood that. I still do understand it, Victoria."

Victoria took a few moments to herself and Bucky did the same.

"I wanted to come," Victoria responded honestly. "But I was too scared to go…too scared that they would find us and you would resent me for that…resent me if they got you back…and I…I didn't want that. I never wanted you to resent me."

"I'd never have resented you," Bucky promised her.

"And I'd never have been enough."

Silence lasted between them and Bucky finally turned his head over his shoulder so that he could look at her back. "What?" he asked from her, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"You'd have seen that eventually, Bucky," she promised him. "I was never enough for anyone…my own fiancé didn't even just want me…and you…you might have thought that you felt those things for me, but you would have seen eventually that I wasn't worth all of the worry. I'm not worth it now. Why do you think I went to Alistair by myself?"

He moved then, refusing to listen to anymore. He didn't move to his feet. He simply crawled across the mattress, kneeling behind her. He grabbed her cheek, turning her gaze around to meet his, her head to the side. He moved his other hand to cup the back of her head, tangling into her hair and holding it in his vibranium fingers. "Don't you ever say that," he demanded from her, seeing the tears in her eyes. "Do you understand me? Don't you dare ever say that you're not enough."

"But I'm not," she said. "I…I've never been enough for anyone…"

"That might have been true for your father…your fiancé…everyone in that God-damn facility who simply used you…but not to me," Bucky said firmly. "You were everything to me, Victoria, and I'm not saying that simply because you were the only constant in my life. I'm saying that because I genuinely cared about you…because you…you were everything to me."

She said nothing in response to him, not sure she could say anything back. She moved a hand forwards, resting it on his chest, feeling his heartbeat underneath her fingertips. She let out a shaky breath that she had been keeping in and Bucky bent forwards, his forehead pressing to hers, eyes firmly closed and face scrunched. That little crease in between his eyes and above his nose formed and she watched him.

"And now I've told you this…I…there's something else I need to tell you."

"No, you don't," she said, a hand going to rest on top of his on her cheek.

"I really do. I should have told you ages ago," he began.

"Bucky, it's okay…I know."

"No, you don't."

There was a sudden knock on the door and Bucky wanted to curse loudly. "What?" he demanded, voice hoarse and angry.

"We need to go," Sam responded. "We don't have much time until the funeral starts."

"Shit," Bucky mumbled.

"Go," Victoria said to him, picking his hand up from her cheek and squeezing it in her grip tightly. "I'll be here when you come back."

"Do you promise?" he asked her. "Promise me that you're not going to run away."

"I promise," she said to him, running a hand through his soft hair for a moment. "I promise that I will be right here."

"Okay," Bucky said and he managed to move from the bed, pushing himself to his feet. "And then we'll talk."

"Fine," Victoria nodded and she remained sat on the bed.

Bucky began walking to the door, turning his head over his shoulder to look back at her just once. Shaking his head, he noted how she had wrapped her arms around her waist, almost as though she was trying to warm herself up. Bowing her head, she cried softly and he left her alone.

…

October 20, 2011

Victoria went as quickly as she could from the museum back to the facility. She had to see him. She had to see Bucky and tell him the truth. Her head was spinning with everything that she had just learned and she was doing her best to stay composed, but she was finding it increasingly difficult. She got back to the facility, scanning the pass on the main door and walking by the guards without a word as they let her through, knowing exactly who she was. Coming to the corridor where they kept James…Bucky…she looked to the guard.

"Is he still in there?"

"Your father has put him to sleep," the guard said.

"But…he was supposed to do that tomorrow," Victoria blurted out and the guard eyed her with a sceptical stare.

"Why does it matter?"

"Because…" she trailed off. No. She couldn't tell anyone else what she knew. If she did that then they could use it against him. They could stop her from getting to him and telling him the truth. How would he react when she told him? Would he believe her? Would anything come back to him? And so she shook her head. "Doesn't matter."

"What is it with you and the freak?" he dared to wonder and Victoria looked him in the eye as he shrugged his shoulders. "Just wondering what is going on between you two."

She didn't bother humouring him with an explanation. Instead, she turned and walked away, heading to the lab to find her father. He was working silently and didn't even acknowledge her as she came into the room. She went to sit down in the armchair, tugging her legs underneath her body and leaning her head back against the material.

She would tell him when he woke up. She would keep what she had learned to herself. But looking at her father, she knew that he knew. She knew that he knew everything.

…

Victoria roamed around Zemo's apartment. She didn't want to snoop, but she had to admit that it was a fascinating place. The architecture was quite something and the decorations were also very arty. She picked up a cup of the Cherry Blossom tea he had made, pulling a surprised face as it tasted quite pleasant. It tasted between than she had thought that it might. Heading over to the sofa, she sank down with the cup in her fingertips.

"We have a bigger issue now."

She looked up to see the three of them returning to the apartment. Zemo had a hand to his head and Victoria arched a brow.

"What happened?"

"The new Captain America showed up," Sam said. "He came for Zemo and Karli."

"And did you find Karli?"

"She got away," Bucky commented, shrugging out of his jacket. "He destroyed all of the serums before Walker got there and knocked him out cold with the shield."

She noticed the glare that Bucky sent Sam at that point. He watched him for a few moments and Victoria suspected that the shield was perhaps a bone of contention. Did Bucky know that Walker was going to become the new Captain America? She knew how close Bucky was to Steve.

"And thankfully I don't have concussion," Zemo said.

"And how do you know you don't have concussion?" Victoria questioned him.

"Because I can see how many fingers I'm holding up," Zemo said, holding up three fingers in front of his face and Victoria rolled her eyes at hearing him say that. She stood up and pointed to the sofa, placing her cup on the coffee table.

"Sit down," she demanded from him. "I'll get a compress and then I'll take a look."

"I didn't know you were a medical professional."

"I'm not," Victoria responded, "but I bet I know a hell of a lot more than you do."

"I wouldn't argue with her," Bucky spoke clearly.

She looked over Zemo and he had to admit that he was shocked that she even bothered to care that much. She kept the compress to his head as Sam used the laptop to get in touch with Sharon and Bucky drained a glass of whiskey.

"You should rest for a while," Victoria said to Zemo as he moved up from the sofa and she watched him head on over to the kitchen. He grabbed his own glass of whiskey and she rolled her eyes. "And you shouldn't drink, either."

Bucky couldn't help but let his lips pick up. He remembered Victoria's stern voice when he moved and he wasn't supposed to. She would demand for him to sit still and he would usually do as she asked. He might have been HYDRA's top assassin, but he still found himself unable to disobey the orders a young woman.

"So…" Victoria spoke, moving to her feet and heading into the kitchen. "What's going on? What's the plan?"

"The plan is simple enough," Sam informed her. "We're going to have to deal with Walker and the Dora Milaje…persuade them both that Zemo is actually useful to us."

"That will be easier said than done," Bucky snorted. "Because something ain't right with Walker."

"What do you mean?" Victoria enquired.

"Well, I know crazy when I see it," he said to her.

"Won't argue with that," Sam said.

"And you shouldn't have given Walker that shield," Bucky said firmly.

"I wasn't the one who gave it to him."

"Sure as hell wasn't Steve who did," Bucky retorted.

Victoria remained stood where she was. There was clearly an atmosphere and that shield was a sore subject. Victoria would find out more when she could, but at that moment in time she had no chance to ask any questions. The door had already slammed open and she jumped back, thinking the worst for a moment and Bucky instantly moved to stand in front of her.

"Time's up," John Walker's voice entered the apartment and Victoria looked over him.

She had seen him on the news, of course, wondering just how a man could live up to being Captain America. The expectation on his shoulders would be enough to make him crumble. She could understand that.

"He's shorter than I was expecting," Victoria murmured and Bucky couldn't help but darkly chuckle, throwing a look behind him as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Just stay back, alright?" he urged from her and she nodded.

She took a few steps back, looking at Captain America and the other man who she seemed to remember to be called Hoskins or Battlestar, depending on if he wanted to use his new superhero name. He was Cap's new right hand man. She loitered by the back of the room, arms folded over her chest, simply observing the sight in front of her.

"I'm ordering you to turn him over," Walker said, pointing to Zemo who moved to the bookshelf against the wall, holding his drink in his hand. He seemed completely unbothered by what was going on.

"Hold on here," Sam said, standing up and moving to face Walker. "Shield or no shield, the only thing that you're running in here is your mouth. Now, I had Karli and you overstepped. He's actually proven himself useful today and we're going to need all the help we can get for whatever is coming next."

"How do you want the rest of this conversation to go, Sam, huh?" Walker wondered from him and Bucky poured himself another drink as Victoria frowned at him. She went to stand behind him again, peering over his shoulder.

"You can't be that worried if you're stood here drinking," she whispered up to him.

He turned his head to the side and looked down to her. "I could take him in my sleep," he mumbled.

"You reckon that-shit!" she exclaimed, a spear flying out of nowhere and landing in the tiled pillar with besides Walker's head. That got Bucky's attention. He stood up straight, putting the glass down and moving a hand to Victoria's shoulder, urging her backwards.

"Now I'm worried," he admitted.

She nodded and retreated, knowing that she had the gun in the waistband of her jeans. But this wasn't her fight. This wasn't anything to do with her and she knew that she would probably be more a hindrance than a help to whatever was about to go down.

Three women dressed in red entered the apartment and Victoria looked at them in awe. She had never seen three women look so strong before, walking with such confidence and purpose, weapons in their hands. One of them looked to Bucky and spoke to him in a different language. He seemed to understand what she was saying as he looked down and sighed.

Walker was the one who took the lead then, moving and telling the woman to calm down and that they could talk things through. But she was done talking. He placed a hand on her shoulder and instantly she lashed out at him, sending him flying through the air while his partner got involved and the three women began to fight the two men.

"We should do something," Sam said, standing back as Victoria watched the women fight with grace.

"Looking strong, John!" Bucky called out and Victoria swore she heard that Brooklyn accent of his.

"Bucky," Sam warned and involved himself in the fight, Bucky feeling that he had no choice but to intervene, moving over to the woman who had spoken to him moments ago.

"Ayo, come on," he pleaded with her. "Ayo, let's talk about this."

Watching the fight, Victoria barely noticed Zemo out of the corner of her eye. He was heading into the bathroom and she frowned. What was he doing? She slipped around the walls of the room, keeping well back before moving to the door Zemo had just disappeared behind.

"Holy shit," Victoria mumbled, seeing that the bathtub had been moved, a drain pulled up from the floor. Turning back to look into the room, the seven of them were still fighting. "Hey! You have a situation!" she snapped, but none of them were listening to her. "Bucky!"

But he was fully involved in trying to calm Ayo down. Looking to the hole, Victoria rolled her eyes, once again patting the gun in the waistband of her jeans. Cursing under her breath, she climbed into the space, slipping down and moving through the tunnel, wondering where it led to. She wasn't in it for long. She saw the light above her, a ladder against a wall. Climbing it, the drain cover above it was already pushed open.

She climbed up and came to a quiet alleyway. Looking down it, she wondered which way Zemo had gone before she swore that she saw him rounding the corner. Pushing herself to her feet, she followed in his direction, pulling the gun out from her jeans and holding it by her side, following him round the alleyway. Rounding the corner, she jumped at seeing him.

He was stood a few metres away, his own gun raised in her direction. She lifted hers and aimed it straight at him. His lips quirked and he chuckled. "I knew that you would be following," he said.

"Then you should really head back there."

Zemo shook his head. "There is nothing for me back there except for the return to a prison cell," he said to her and she tilted her head to the side. "We both know that people like Karli…they are too far gone to be redeemed."

"Perhaps," Victoria shrugged. She wasn't going to disagree with him on that point. As far as she could see, Karli was a radical. She was dangerous. "But that doesn't mean you can just run away."

Zemo shook his head. "I'm tired of running," he assured her. "James will know where I am. I am going home for one final time and he will come for me…he will do what we both know he is good at doing and then that will be it."

Victoria took a few moments to consider what he was saying to her. She lowered her gun, not knowing if that was a stupid thing for her to do or if she had some misplaced trust in Zemo not to shoot her. But something told her that he didn't see her as the enemy. He didn't see her as a problem. He kept his gun raised, however.

"You think that he will come and kill you?" she asked from Zemo.

"It is what he is programmed to do."

"No, it isn't," Victoria said firmly to him.

Zemo shrugged. "We will wait and see," he responded. "Either way, I accept my fate. I accepted my fate long ago…did you never feel that way? Did you never just want the pain to stop?"

She remained mute and he nodded.

"I will take that as a yes," he whispered over to her. "But I believe you have something that keeps you going…someone worth fighting for…or am I wrong?"

"I don't know what you mean," Victoria denied.

"The reason you wouldn't give James up when I came to you…is it because you love him?" Zemo questioned from her. "It would make sense…the reason why he has been hovering around you…the way he has been acting…do you think he loves you too?"

"I don't know," Victoria answered him honestly and he nodded.

"Well, let me give you some advice," he said, "if you do love someone then do everything you can to keep them safe because the pain you feel when you lose them is impossible for you to comprehend. That's why I won't run anymore."

He backed away then, still keeping his gun aimed. But Victoria tucked hers back into the waistband of her jeans, wondering if he had a point in what he was saying to her. She let him go, watching him walk away before turning around and going back to his apartment, her mind going back to Bucky.

20 July, 2011

Victoria had sat refreshing the results page of her university website. She was due to get her results that morning and she had spent the previous night before not sleeping. It was ridiculous, in the grand scheme of things, did a grade really matter? But it made Victoria feel ordinary. It made her feel like a normal, young woman, who just wanted a good grade.

And then the page finally refreshed to show them. Looking over them, her lips arched as she saw that they were all above seventy per-cent. She had gotten her first. She smiled and Roger looked over to her, seeing her face light up and he arched his brow. "Good news?" he asked from her.

"An overall first," she responded to her father.

"Clever girl," he chuckled at her. "And now you move onto your Masters."

"In September," she confirmed with a nod of her head.

"I confess, darling, I never thought that you were so clever," Roger said and Victoria remained silent. She took the backhanded compliment. He could never just give her praise. He always had to insult her. "But perhaps you might come in use to HYDRA soon enough."

"I…I should go and check on James," Victoria said.

"Of course," Roger said and she closed the lid of the laptop before moving to her feet and heading on down the corridors, moving towards the cell. He had returned from his mission that morning in the early hours and was due to go to sleep later on in the day.

The guards opened the doors and Victoria entered, finding him resting on his back on his cot. He sat up as soon as she entered and she smiled at him. "How're you feeling?" she asked from him.

"No cuts…no broken bones…"

"Makes a change," Victoria said to him.

He never told her about the missions he was sent on. He never talked about the people or what he had been forced to do and Victoria didn't ask. She knew what he was sent to do and she felt partly responsible. People were being killed because of HYDRA and Victoria had no idea how to stop them. She had no idea how she could do that or who she could tell.

"It was today, wasn't it?" James asked from her.

"You remembered."

"You were nervous," he responded.

"When am I not?" she asked him and he moved his legs from the cot and she sat down on the edge of it instead. "But I got the grades I wanted. Everything turned out okay, which is a miracle."

"Why is it?" he questioned from her. "You're clever."

"I don't know about that," she responded with a scoff. "But I'm happy with my grade. It means that I definitely get on the Masters course which is exciting."

"You're still going to do the course?"

"I am," she confirmed with a nod of her head. "I already started buying textbooks and I was in the Apple store looking for a new laptop."

"What is the Apple store?" James questioned her and she forgot that he didn't know everything about the modern times. He still had so much to catch up on.

"The Apple store is this massive shop," Victoria said to him. "They sell computers…phones…laptops…it's like one of the most popular brands…really expensive…and the store is always busy. I spent forty minutes just queuing up to get an appointment one time because I thought that my laptop was broken. It turns out that I had just been pressing the wrong button. I felt like an absolute idiot, but I'm just not that great with technology."

"You'd be better than me," he told her.

"I don't know," she shrugged, "I'm pretty incompetent."

Shaking his head, he peered over to her. "You're anything but incompetent."

"I hear congratulations are in order."

Victoria turned her head to the side from where she sat on the cot. Ivan entered the room and Victoria bit down on her tongue. James watched her with intrigue as he stood behind the bars of the cell, chewing down on a piece of gum.

"Guess so," Victoria simply said to him.

"Your father has said that I'm okay to take you out for a celebratory drink," Ivan responded and James heard Victoria's teeth grind together.

"I'm good, thanks," she said.

Her father had promised her that they would have this discussion after her Masters. She wasn't going anywhere with Ivan. She completely refused to even be near him.

"It was more of a…shall we say…demand, than request," Ivan responded, his lips turning upwards and James could tell that she was clearly uncomfortable. She stood up then, tugging on the yellow summer dress she wore so that it fell down to her calves. She adjusted the beige jumper on top of it and shook her head.

"I don't think so," she said to him and looked to James. "I'll be back in a bit. I need to talk to my dad."

He only nodded and Victoria left the room, not giving Ivan another glance. The guard locked the cell behind her, but he didn't move. He remained where he was, chewing on his gum loudly, his gaze roaming over the asset.

"It's weird," he commented. "She would rather sit here…with you…than go for a drink with me. What is it that she sees you in? As far as I can see you're just some brainwashed machine."

James didn't retaliate. He stayed where he was, not bothering with a response. It's what they wanted from him.

"Do you think about her, soldat?" Ivan wondered. "Because I do. I think about how she would feel…what's underneath those clothes…feeling her beneath me…that bratty mouth wrapped around me…how I could make her scream my name. I bet she's a virgin too."

James glared over to Ivan, hands clenched tightly by his sides. His jaw clenched and Ivan saw his gaze darken. He was getting to him. He knew that much. He found it fascinating, really, what went on in the asset's mind.

"I'll let you think about that," Ivan commented, "knowing that you'll be going back to sleep tonight while I'm out with her...what I could do to her."

James kept silent still, but the anger inside of him was building up. Ivan laughed and left the room. James swore that he would take care of Ivan one day. He would see to it that he would make him pay if he dared to lay a hand on Victoria.

….

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone reading! Do let me know what you think!