Rainy Easter means for more posting of chapters!

Hey hey hey! Great to see some people are still around for this story. I appreciate you!

Welcome to kyro232 for joining the adventure.

And welcome back AliceCullen3 and tuckerjnp1! Great to see you still tuning in!

Let's get on with it.

Enjoy

xo

Chapter 42

Messenger

Even through the mask, he could see her smirk by her eyes. He was so taken aback, he didn't notice one of the other Flag Smashers moving to attack him again, until Lex threw his vibranium arm in their direction, causing him to connect with their head and stumble back. She then threw a kick in the third Flag Smashers chest, forcing him back a few feet.

She removed the mask, her dark brown ponytail whipping in the wind as the truck sped down the road. "Hi Bucky," she said with a smile.

He felt his chest tighten at the sight of her smile. "Lex…"

"Duck!" she shouted as she launched herself towards him, countering a punch from the first Flag Smasher she had hit. He stepped back, as the second Flag Smasher got to his feet and moved to attack her, turning and kicking out at him to stop him from grabbing her.

Suddenly, there was the sound of an approaching helicopter and a large disk flying through the air like a frisbee, a familiar clang sounding as it struck a Flag Smasher who was standing over a restrained Falcon knocking him backwards.

Bucky and Lex both turned to look as the 'new' Captain America caught the shield, jumping down from the helicopter, and using the shield to knock down the 'hostage'.

"You know, that thing really doesn't obey the law of physics…" Lex commented, before turning and fighting off one of the Flag Smashers who tried to tackle her. Bucky did the same with the other two.

The new Captain threw his shield again, knocking the two Flag Smashers who had pinned Sam to the trailer away, giving him an opportunity to get to his feet, quickly fighting them off once he was free. The Captain threw it again, just as Bucky and Lex looked in his direction. Both leaned back, letting the shield fly between them and knock down another Flag Smasher behind them.

Behind him, another man, wearing a similar uniform to the new Captain America, rappelled down from the helicopter, knocking another two Flag Smashers away as they climbed back to their feet.

"Sam," the new Captain America called across to Falcon. "John Walker, Captain America," he introduced himself, saluting to Sam. Bucky frowned, glancing sideways to look at Lex, who had her eyebrows raised and was looking at the man in disdain.

"Lemar Hoskins," his offsider introduced himself.

"Looks like you guys can use some help," Walker said, motioning to the Flag Smashers.

As he finished his introduction, the Flag Smashers got back to their feet, the woman running at Walker, who hit her away with the shield, before throwing it. It hit another Flag Smasher, bouncing off him and Bucky caught it, handing it over to Walker as he ran past, clenching his jaw as he did so. It felt wrong and made him angry watching this imposter run around like he was something he clearly was not.

Walker moved to punch at Lex, but she easily dodged him.

"Whoa, dumb ass. Same team!" she shouted, rolling out of the way and frowning back at him as she landed back on her feet. He glanced back at Bucky who nodded. Walker acknowledged with a nod, before throwing his shield again. Bucky shook his head slightly, looking across to see Sam struggling with three Flag Smashers attacking him.

He quickly jumped across to the other trailer, tackling one and knocking him off the side of the trailer. Sam was able to take on the second, while Bucky wrestled with the third. The Flag Smasher grabbed him by the jacket and they both fell sideways, off the trailer, grabbing wildly for the edge of the second trailer.

Bucky tried to grab hold of the trailer with his vibranium hand, but the panelling gave way, causing him to fall towards the road, speeding past down below. He managed to get a grip, just stopping himself from being turned into a pancake, shouting in pain from the sudden stop and force on his shoulder.

Sam fought off the Flag Smasher he was fighting, looking up and seeing Lex fighting on the other trailer adjacent to him. "Yo, Lex!"

She knocked a Flag Smasher off the trailer easily, before looking back to Sam. "Fly boy, hey!"

"Lex, where's Bucky?" he shouted. She dodged a punch, before kicking back at the Flag Smasher, sending him flying off the end of the semi-trailer.

"Down there," she replied, pointing over the side of the trailer she was standing on. There was the sound of vibranium impacting bone, causing Lex to look behind her. The shield richocheted off a Flag Smasher, before flying towards her. She caught it easily, wrinkling her nose in annoyance before looking around. "Where's that clown?"

"Yep, over here little lady!" Walker shouted from the end of the trailer she was standing on. She raised an eyebrow, glancing at Sam with an annoyed expression.

"Little…?" She narrowed her eyes at Walker, before throwing the shield directly at Walker. The shield flew through the air, straight to Walker. He raised his hand, looking to catch it, but it was travelling it at such a velocity that when he caught it, he lost his balance, nearly falling off the semi-trailer.

He looked back to Lex, narrowing his eyes and glaring at her. She simply shrugged and smirked, before looking back to Sam.

Before Sam could respond, a Flag Smasher charged towards him at full speed. Sam looked behind him, seeing a highway sign quickly approaching and jumped into the air, activating his jet pack enough to make it over the height of the sign. He landed, watching as the Flag Smasher charged through the sign, as if it was nothing but paper.

Sam stared in awe, as the Flag Smasher continued running towards him, before shoulder charging him and forcing him to fly off the back of the semi-trailer. He soared backwards, extending his wings from his pack and flew back around the semi-trailers. He tried to fly down the middle of the two, but one of the drivers swerved towards Falcon, making him try and fly down the outside, only to find a sedan there.

Sam flew back and over the sedan, flying above the road, and looking under the trailer to see Bucky clinging to the bottom of the trailer, a Flag Smasher trying to dislodge him by stomping on his vibranium arm.

"That little girl kicked your ass," he jeered at the former Winter Soldier.

Bucky glared at Sam. "AAARRGGHHHH" he shouted in annoyance, looking back up as the Flag Smasher above him moved to stomp him again, dislodging Bucky's vibranium arm from its hold, and it hit the road, beginning to grind and send sparks flying as Bucky tried to stop himself from falling onto the road below the trailer. Sam dropped back behind the semi-trailers, before speeding forwards, knocking away the Flag Smasher trying to dislodge Bucky from the truck.

Lex looked over the edge of the trailer again. "Need some help?" she called down, a smirk on her face.

"I'm fine, thank you!" Bucky retorted, grunting as he tried to pull himself up again, making Lex laugh out loud, before she was pulled back by another Flag Smasher. Sam coasted at the back of the semi-trailers, watching as Lex easily dealt with the Flag Smasher trying to knock her down.

There was the sound of a gun-shot, drawing Lex's and Sam's attention to Walker, who held a gun in his hand, pointed towards his offsider, Lemar, who had been struggling with Flag Smashers, a Flag Smasher falling onto the trailer, holding his chest.

"Really? A gun?" Lex grunted in disdain, looking over to Sam who watched as Walker was then attacked by the girl who had initially attacked Bucky, knocking Walker off the back of the trailer. She then turned and attacked Lex, managing to knock her off the side of the trailer.

Sam watched as latched onto the side of the trailer, clinging to the edge, as the girl walked to the edge and glared down at her.

"Traitor…" she hissed at Lex.

"Fool," Lex grunted back.

"Lex!" Bucky shouted, still using his vibranium hand to stop himself from falling onto the road while holding onto the bottom of the truck with his other arm.

"Lex!" Sam shouted, trying to get her attention. She made a quick glance over her shoulder, but quickly looked back to the girl standing over her on the trailer. "When I say, let go! Trust me!" he shouted, hoping she would hear.

Sam swooped back to the side of the semi-trailers, lining himself up and looking to Bucky once again. He caught Bucky's eye, earning a nod of acknowledgement from Bucky.

"We trusted you!" Sam heard the girl shout at Lex, followed by a stomping sound.

"Awww, that's such a shame," Lex retorted.

"Now!" Sam shouted, his wings pulling back and tilting so he swooped under the first truck and headed straight towards Bucky. The Winter Soldier had managed to pull himself up with his real arm enough to get his vibranium arm off the road and was reaching up as Lex dropped down towards him. Bucky caught her tight around the waist, his body taking the brunt of her fall just before Sam was able to tackle them both, sending them flying beneath the second trailer, just avoiding the wheels. The trio went tumbling into an adjacent field, before finally coming to rest in a heap of tangled limbs.

Bucky groaned, squinting against the bright sunlight that was shining down on them. He felt movement on top of him, opening his eyes slowly. He found Sam on top, looking down at him, grunting as he pushed himself up.

"Could have used that shield," Bucky muttered panting. Sam glared at him, but didn't say anything in response, grunting as he tried to get his bearings.

Bucky felt more movement on top of him. "Get off of me," Lex grunted, pushing herself up, shoving Sam and causing him to fall away sideways. "Jesus Christ, just say no to that extra side of bacon, Sam." Lex pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, looking back at Bucky. He saw her eyes widen when she realized the position she was in and her cheeks flushed pink. He couldn't help but think how much he missed seeing that reaction from her.

"You okay?" Bucky asked, raising his eyebrows at her and smirking, before looking her over quickly as she completely removed herself from over him. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and watched her.

She quickly inspected her arms and legs, Bucky seeing some blood and scrapes here and there. "Doesn't seem to be anything major," she replied, standing up and brushing off her clothes. Bucky smiled, sitting up to look at her better. She was wearing dark green fitted cargos, with black boots and fitted black singlet. She pulled off the ripped wind breaker she had been wearing, discarding it in the field of flowers they were currently regathering themselves in.

Bucky smiled at her, also standing up. "You look good," he commented to her, doing his best to sound relaxed, even though he had a million questions for her.

"Uh, thanks, you too. I like the haircut," she responded, her cheeks becoming pink again before motioning to his hair. He grinned back at her, thoroughly enjoying seeing her flush at the compliment. Her once blonde coloured hair now seemed to be its natural colour, a rich brown. It flowed down to past her shoulders, pulled back into a high ponytail.

"Shall I find you two a room?" Sam commented, a cunning grin on his face as he stood up, looking between the two.

Bucky sighed, folding his arms and looking seriously back at Sam. "Those were all Super Soldiers, Sam."

"I know. You're welcome, by the way."

Bucky frowned and rolled his eyes at Sam, turning to look back at Lex as she moved to take in their surroundings. "And what are you doing here?"

She turned to look back at the pair with a surprised expression. "I think the better question is, what are you two doing here anyway? We are a long way from the US."

"Following intel," Sam replied, narrowing his eyes at her. Bucky gave Sam a sidelong look. He was holding back information from Lex, which meant he didn't trust her.

"Let me guess, the super soldier serum?" she guessed, smirking at Sam. The pair shared a look, before looking back to Lex. "Seems we're following the same intel. Just some of us were doing a better job of it until you pair came in like a pair of rampaging Wakandan War Rhinos."

Bucky cringed slightly, but Sam looked at Lex curiously. "What do you mean, we're following the same intel?"

Lex motioned for them to follow her, and she began walking towards the road. "Come on, it's a long way to the next town."

Bucky began following her, but Sam held out his hand to stop him. "Wait, how do we know we can trust her?" Sam hissed to Bucky.

Before Bucky could argue to defend her, Lex called back. "I trusted you two to catch me, the least you two can do is hear me out before you judge me as enemy of the state." Bucky looked pointedly at Sam, shrugging before heading to follow Lex to the road.

Sam, Bucky and Lex trudged along the road in silence for a short period. Sam was trying to wrap his head around what had just happened, as well as the fact that they had stumbled upon Lex in the middle of the fray.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Bucky suddenly addressing him "Sorry about Redwing."

Sam scoffed, looking sideways at Bucky. "No, you're not." Bucky smirked in response but didn't say anything, and Sam saw him give a furtive glance to Lex, who seemed to be deep in thought. He'd noticed the weird energy between the two.

He glanced over at Lex. He had always wondered why Lex never took the pardon offer from the President, but he had also figured that she was hiding close by to Bucky, but now he wondered if he was off the mark. He knew that something had happened between the two, he just wasn't sure how far it had gotten before she had fled her handlers and gone on the run.

Instead, he decided to break the ice between the two, looking to Bucky. "What's going on in that big cyborg brain of yours?" he teased.

"It's computing," Bucky answered, looking around in annoyance, clearly avoiding looking at him or Lex.

Sam chuckled, seeing the corners of Lex's mouth turning up slightly. She was listening.

"You know what? I can actually see it. I can see the gears turning. Oh, they're malfunctioning, shutting down. Yep, they're on fire."

Lex chuckled finally, causing Bucky to look at her and smile warmly. Sam couldn't help but smile too. He had enjoyed having her around previously, as brief as it had been, and she did have some psychotic tendencies, but she had a decent sense of humour, albeit a bit dark. Steve had seen some good in her, it's the only reason he would have worked so hard to keep her around, surely. And Bucky certainly didn't seem to have bad taste in people, just bad luck.

Bucky looked ahead again, a serious look on his face. "We gotta figure out where the serum's coming from."

Sam sombered quickly. "Yeah. And how in the hell after 80 years are there eight Super Soldiers runnin' loose?" He glanced to Lex, who was now looking back at the two of them. "Lex? Care to share?"

"Depends, what are we sharing?" she asked with raised eyebrows, causing Sam to be surprised. He hadn't expected her to be the type to be secretive about what she was currently doing.

"How about you start with what you're doing in Munich?" Bucky pressed, looking at her pointedly.

"You first," she answered flatly, looking ahead.

Bucky put his hand out, stopping her in her tracks, Sam stopping beside him. "Look, we're not your enemy, Lex. We're your friends."

She sighed. "Sorry, force of habit considering my current situation." She ran her hand through her brown hair, making Sam realise how tired she was looking. Being on the run could really take it out of even a super soldier it seemed. "I heard whispers about someone trying to play god and recreate Erskine's Super Soldier Serum, and I tracked the whispers to this group of…vigilantes? Rebels? I don't know what you want to call them."

"Thieves…" Sam offered bluntly.

Lex raised her eyebrows in response. "If you actually looked into what they're doing, you might rethink that mindset. I'm not saying I agree with their methods, but I definitely understand them," she explained, Sam noting that she looked conflicted as she explained her viewpoint. "Anyway, I followed the whispers and I found this group. But this is not where the serum started. I infiltrated them, acting as if I was from the same place as them and wanting to achieve the same in the hopes of finding out where they came across their serum. I was getting chummy with Karli, that is, until you two clowns showed up with the Walmart Captain America. What the hell, anyway, Sam?" Lex suddenly rounded on Sam.

"What?" Sam said defensively, stopping as she glared at him.

"Why did you give up the shield?" she demanded. Bucky looked at Sam pointedly, as if to say 'I told you so'.

"It's not like I planned on that to happen," Sam retorted in annoyance. Lex was the last person he expected to get angry at him for giving up the shield. She never went in for any of the heroic side of things, usually just happy to have a fight on her hands. She was weird like that. He put it down to her Black Widow training and the unrefined serum that had been used on her.

He was about to continue when they heard the sound of a car approaching, all three turned to see a military vehicle approaching down the road, honking as it approached. "Oh, great."

The 4x4 slowed to a stop ahead of them as they continued to walk. "So, that didn't go as planned, huh?" Walker said from the back of the vehicle as he pushed open the back door for them. The trio ignored him, continuing to walk past, Sam moving to walk on Lex's other side, so she wouldn't be closest to the vehicle. He wasn't sure how much Walker was privy to regarding the previous members of the Avengers fight against Thanos.

"Okay," he grunted, pulling the door closed again. "Let's keep going," he murmured to his driver. The driver continued alongside the trio, Sam glancing sideways in annoyance at Walker. "Look, at least we know what we're up against now, huh? And we're pretty sure it's one of the Big Three, so…"

"Aliens, androids, or wizards?" Sam finished.

"Pretty sure," Walker replied.

"There's no such thing as wizards," Bucky retorted flatly.

Lex snapped her head to look at him with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "Were you not at the last fight with Thanos? There were literally hundreds of them there with us?"

"Are you kidding me?" Bucky groaned, making Sam smirk. He knew there was a reason he liked Lex.

"Then it's aliens, or androids…" Walker continued.

"Or Super Soldiers," Sam added.

"Shit. Super Soldiers, for real?" Lemar asked in awe.

"Yeah."

"Wow. All right, well, then we gotta work together," Walker replied, looking from Lemar to Sam.

Bucky scoffed as they continued walking up the road, not even looking at Walker or Lemar. "That's not happening."

"I think we stand a much better chance if we all just…"

"Just 'cause you carry that shield, it doesn't mean you're Captain America," Bucky countered, looking at Walker with an annoyed expression.

"Look, I've done the work, okay?" Walker argued. Sam felt his mouth form a sneer involuntarily. Just hearing that put him off the guy. Who says that?

"Did it hurt your knees?" Lex muttered, and Sam had to use all his strength to stop from laughing out loud. If Walker had heard her, he didn't say anything.

"You ever jump on top of a grenade?" Bucky continued, seemingly too angry to laugh at Lex, or possibly not hearing her.

"Yeah. Actually, I have," Walker answered. "Four times. It's a thing I do with my helmet. It's a reinforced helmet. It's a long story, but, any…" he sighed, looking resigned at the trio who didn't look back at him, continuing on their way. "Look, it's 20 miles to the airport. You guys need a ride. Guys. Gary, stop. Get in."

Sam finally stopped, putting his arm out to stop Lex, knowing that if she stopped, Bucky would too. They both looked back at him expectantly. He nodded to the car, and both grimaced but as he turned to get into the back of the 4x4 they followed.

They settled into the back of the 4x4, but Bucky was still on edge. Lex was sat between he and Sam, who clearly wanted to make sure she was protected, as did he. He had noticed Sam position himself next to Lex when they had heard the car approaching them, and he appreciated his efforts.

Across from them sat Walker and his offsider, Lemar.

"Okay, so we've got eight Super Soldiers on a bulk supply run. Why?" Walker queried, clearly trying to take charge of the conversation.

"They say their mission is to get things back to the way it was during The Blip. Maybe, they're just trying to help," Lex answered easily. Bucky couldn't help but notice that she seemed slightly tense in front of Walker and Lemar. He couldn't blame her, they put him on edge too, and he wasn't even on the run from anyone anymore.

"They had a funny way of showing it," Bucky muttered, looking sideways at Lex.

"I'm just saying what they said to me, I'm not saying I agree with their methods, don't shoot the bloody messenger," she retorted, glancing back at him in annoyance. Bucky immediately regretted his quick tongue.

"That serum doesn't exactly have a great track record," Walker said, before looking at Bucky. "No offence."

Bucky stared at Walker, his patience wearing thin with the imposter before him. Interestingly, he said it to Bucky and not to Lex, and it made him wonder if perhaps he wasn't aware who Lex was.

"Actually, it had a great track record. The serum was designed to increase everything that was already present within the body, and on every subject that it's been used on, it has accentuated all of their abilities, and even their personality," Lex rebuked flatly, not even phased with whom she addressed in the manner, earning her a frown from Walker. "Give the serum to a shitty person, get a majorly shitty person in return. Basic science, Walker, should have paid more attention in class," she murmured her final words, looking back down the road they were driving along.

Bucky subtly nudged her, giving her a pointed look of warning, but she simply raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes.

Walker looked angry, as if he was about to address Lex, but Sam spoke up first. "We need to figure out where they're going. How'd you track 'em here? The Flag Smashers?"

Walker and Lemar looked uncomfortable then, glancing between each other. "Uh, no, we didn't track them, we tracked you, uh, through Redwing."

Sam stared at Lemar in disbelief. "You hacked my tech?"

"Sorry. It's not exactly hacking. It's government property. Kind of the government," Walker replied with a chuckle, as if it was some kind of joke. Bucky stared at Walker, in his mind he couldn't quite believe that this was the guy America was replacing Steve with. Could he actually get any worse? "Does he always just stare like that?"

"You get used to it," Sam answered, looking at Bucky and then back to Walker, a blank expression on his face.

"It's either that or he starts hitting things, kind of like me," Lex added, also glaring at Walker. "You should be happy with the staring."

Walker looked awkwardly between the trio, before sighing. "Okay, look," he cleared his throat. "You know, things have gotten kind of, uh…"

"Chaotic," Lemar offered.

"Yeah," Walker agreed, accepting Lemar's choice of words. "The GRC, they're doing the best they can to get things up and running smoothly, post Blip."

"Reactivating citizenship, social security, healthcare. Basically, just managing resources for the refugees who were displaced by the return," Lemar explained.

"Heh…managing…" Lex huffed, leaning back into the seat and folding her arms. As she did so, her shoulder brushed closer to Bucky's arm, and it took all his willpower to keep watching Walker and not look at her. He clenched his jaw.

"The Global Repatriation Council does all that. I get that. So why exactly are you two here?" Sam demanded, his voice showing his exasperation as he looked between the two expectantly.

"Well, they provide the resources, and we keep things stable," Lemar answered, motioning to himself and Walker.

"Yeah, violent revolutionaries aren't usually good for anyone's cause," Walker added, smirking with a chuckle.

"Usually said by the people with the resources," Sam added with a smirk as he looked from Walker to Lemar, causing Lex to snigger, looking sideways at Bucky with a smirk. The corners of his lips threatened a smirk, but he was quick to clench his jaw and remain motionless.

"We got a lot of resources," Walker began selling pointedly, nodding to them. "If you guys, if you joined up with us, we could…"

"No," Bucky cut him off, not even looking away. There was no way he was walking side by side with this guy. Something about him put him on edge, and it wasn't just the fact he got the shield illegitimately.

Lemar looked between Sam and Bucky. "I got mad respect for both of y'all. But you were kinda getting your asses kicked till we showed up."

Bucky stared at him. "Who are you?"

"Lemar Hoskins."

"And from what I recall," Lex piped up, leaning forward so her elbow rested on her knee as she pointed at Lemar. "You needed him," she moved her finger to Walker. "To save your ass, using a pistol, not very Captain America like, by the way. And then you," she continued to look at Walker, narrowing her eyes. "Got your ass booted off that trailer, by a little girl." The two men across from them glared at her. "People in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones." She sat back, having rested her case. Now, Bucky grinned at the pair as he saw they were well and truly riled up by his female counterpart.

"And you are?" Lemar demanded.

"The only one here who didn't get their ass handed to them multiple times?"

"Excuse me, I saw that girl knock you off the side of the trailer too," Walker rebuked angrily.

"Tactical withdrawal actually, no need to go breaking a nail when there's no benefit to me," she returned easily, smirking at Walker. Bucky knew that smirk, it was her smirk of success. She'd gotten under their skin. Walker glared at her.

Sam sighed, looking pointedly at Lex before addressing Lemar again. "Look, I see a guy hanging out of a helicopter in tactical gear, I need a lot more than Lemar Hoskins," Sam said flatly, not looking remotely impressed.

"I'm Battlestar. John's partner," Lemar replied, looking annoyed.

"Battlestar?" Bucky scoffed, looking at him dumbfounded. Sam was right, everyone's got a gimmick. He turned towards the driver. "Stop the car!"

The driver pulled to a stop and Bucky stood up, stepping out of the back of the 4x4. He turned to look at Lex, who shrugged and followed him without saying anything, shutting the back door as she did so.

"Look, I… I get it, okay?" Walker called out, clearly trying to placate him. "I get the attitude, I do. You didn't think that the shield was gonna end up here. I get it, Bucky." Bucky narrowed his eyes at Walker, hearing his nickname come out of his mouth soured it and his anger began to build even more. He needed to get out of there, fast. Walker looked to Sam. "And I'm… I'm not trying to be Steve. I'm not trying to replace Steve. I'm just trying to be the best Captain America I can be. That's it. It'd be a whole lot easier if I had Cap's wingmen on my side."

"Wow…" Lex muttered, a bemused expression on her face as she looked back at Bucky. "Could he possibly get any dumber?"

"It's always that last line," Sam said, smiling sardonically as he moved to also get out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Bucky and Lex started walking down the road, Sam following them after shutting the door.

"Let's go," Walker sighed, as Lex turned and flipped them the bird, making Bucky chuckle.

"And it's James Buchanan Barnes to you! Wannabe!" she shouted. Bucky looked at her with a fond smile, as she turned around rolling her eyes. She stopped when she saw them both looking at her. "What? It's true…" she began walking, Sam and Bucky watching her in amusement for a moment before following along behind her.

Lex walked alongside Bucky and Sam as they made their way to a nearby village where she had a safehouse, ready to go.

"So, been keeping busy?" Sam asked, obviously trying to break the ice between the three of them.

"Oh, you know, becoming a high value target for some of the biggest powers in the world can do that to you," she replied, grinning.

"Are you okay?" Bucky asked quietly, looking sideways at her. She'd noticed the furtive glances he had been giving her, even though she tried to ignore them. She felt bad, but she was so happy to see him, it had been months since they had been offered their pardons. Months since she'd turned hers down.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be able to stay with Bucky, he was the only one who could understand the things she had been through, and he was the only one who stuck by her through some really tough times in recent years.

However, when he took his clemency deal, she knew she couldn't stay. The conditions of the deal sounded too much like someone wanting to have control over her, someone wanting to own her. And she didn't like that idea at all. She knew she was a weapon, she knew the damage she could do. She couldn't risk anyone using her like that. And it didn't hurt that this was the life she knew anyway. Constantly moving, on the run, keeping her head down. It had been her life for so long before coming into the Avengers, and it was so easy to fall back into that life.

"I'm fine, Bucky," she answered looking at him and smiling. "You look well, how's civilian life treating you?"

"Yeah, it's okay. Could be better." She didn't miss the undertone to his sentence, she knew exactly what he was alluding too, but decided to ignore it for both their benefit.

"Sam, care to explain the mindset behind handing over the shield to the US government? The same one that wanted to 'register' human beings?" she asked, rounding onto her other friend who walked on Bucky's other side again, seeing as her attempt at the conversation piece was rudely interrupted earlier. She was sure there was a reasonable explanation for Sam's idea to give up the shield, she just couldn't currently see it.

"Yeah, Sam, why don't you explain that one to Lex. Maybe she will understand it a bit better than me," Bucky jeered at Sam, making Lex raise her eyebrows. Clearly there was something else there between the two when it came to the shield.

"Don't even start with me, you two," Sam growled, raising a finger.

"Or what, you'll turn this car around?" Lex returned, smirking at him.

He went to speak, then looked at her with a cheesy smile. "Man, I missed you, Lex," Sam said, before moving across Bucky to pull her into a hug. "It's good to see you, girl."

Lex guffawed and laughed, returning the hug with a pat on the back. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and a force push them apart.

"Alright, break it up," Bucky muttered, his voice sounding annoyed as he pulled them apart.

"Aww, Buck, you want a hug too?" Sam teased, before moving to hug Bucky, making Lex giggle as Bucky gave him a warning glare. "Come on, man, I ain't see our girl in months, what's a friendly hug?"

"I don't care about the hug," Bucky retorted sulkily, not looking at either of them. "We need to figure out where we are going."

"Oh, that's easy, I've got a safe house close by, you can call your people on a secure line to come and pick you up," Lex answered easily, taking the lead in front of them as they entered a small village.

"Us? What about you?" Bucky asked incredulously, grabbing her shoulder and stopping her. She felt like fireworks passed over her shoulder at feeling his touch on her. "You're coming with us."

"Heh," she laughed a little, looking back up into Bucky's stormy blue eyes. How she missed getting lost in those. "I can't set foot back into the US. Not yet. Too many people hunting me. They really, really didn't like me saying no to them, Bucky." That was no lie, just two nights after slipping from her handler's grasp, she'd had a whole Special Forces unit hunting her. Even in Europe they were hunting her, but they weren't as organized after the blip in Europe, so it was easier to dodge the forces hunting her.

"We can protect you," Bucky replied, saying it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, looking at Sam. She couldn't help but notice Sam didn't look as convinced as Bucky did.

"Bucky, what's the conditions of your pardon?" she asked pointedly. Bucky was silent. She smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, guys, I would love to get the band back together in the US, but I just can't right now, but if you end up needing help outside the US again, let me know." She motioned for them to keep following her down the road, turning away quickly, doing her best to hide the sad feeling that had just washed over her.

xo

Krayzee