The pounding of Kayla's head was loud enough to drown out her chattering friends, but that didn't change the fact that she wanted to beat them for letting her dance like a shit-faced fool until three in the morning. She was pretty sure she made out with somebody, but the more she tried to remember what man was lucky enough to be her last kiss before getting strapped to Steve forever, the more convinced Kayla became that it was actually Natasha Romanoff who's mouth she was ravishing in the handicap stall of the women's bathroom.

"Shhh, she's awake!"

Wanda's hiss somehow hurt Kayla's head worse than the talking, and she grimaced as she pushed herself up, massaging her head in the spot Doctor Strange had cracked open just a few months ago, "What time is it?" Kayla mumbled as she scrunched up her nose. She refused to open her eyes, feeling assaulted enough by the sunlight filtering through the open drapes leading to their balcony.

A mug of coffee was sat beside her king-sized bed, along with three aspirin and a scone. "It's eleven-thirty. We already had breakfast in the Executive Lounge and brought you back some." Tiffany explained gently, knowing well how to deal with the hung over woman, "To be completely honest, I didn't realize you were gonna go so hard. But your loyalty to Steve is to be commended. You turned down a record twenty-seven men to dance, and then asked Wanda to eat you out in the taxi."

"That didn't happen."

"Yes, it did. And it was very uncomfortable." Wanda whispered and Kayla finally opened her eyes to find the Sokovian smiling, "I didn't by the way."

"See, I was right." Kayla yawned and grabbed her coffee, tossing the aspiring in her mouth before downing the burning liquid in one shot, "How many drinks did I have?"

"We lost count, because we were also drinking, but Natasha can hold her booze like a champ and Wanda started drinking water around one-thirty." Tiffany explained as she gestured over her shoulder at Nat and Wanda at the table in the sitting room, "Wanda cut me off around two, but we decided to let you keep going since it's your bachelorette weekend."

Kayla groaned loudly and shoved the scone in her mouth, chewing through her migraine as she waited for the aspirin to kick in. "When do we head to the spa?"

"In a half hour."

"Can you push it back?"

"I could, but I'm not going to." Tiffany teased as she handed Kayla a full plate of breakfast, "Eat up Bride-to-Be. We're going to get massages, facials, and then drink prosecco while we sight see."

Kayla shrugged and shoved a piece of bacon into her mouth, humming happily through her fog, "More booze?"

"It's a bachelorette weekend. Wine is our water." Tiffany explained as she walked away, grabbing her own water bottle to sober up before dragging her friends to their spa reservation.

Once alone, Kayla grabbed her phone, thankful somebody had enough foresight to plug it in. She pulled the plug and massaged her temples as she let her eyes adjust to the screen, noting she had a text from Steve.

I know I'm not supposed to text you while you're at your bachelorette weekend, but I just wanted to tell you I love you. I love you so much, and I'm so ready to marry you.

"Oh, he fucked a stripper." Kayla mumbled to herself, biting her lip at the notion as it fled quickly from her mind. Her Steve would never.

I love you too. And I'm always happy when you break the rules for me. Never think you can't reach out to me. I'll never ignore you.

She placed her phone face up on the table so she could wait and see if Steve would respond. As the clock ticked closer and closer to noon, Steve didn't respond, meaning he wasn't up. It wasn't surprising, it was five-thirty in the morning his time, but Kayla was still worried about him. She was worried about Steve, because as much as she wanted him to have fun, she didn't want to imagine him with anybody else. She didn't want to share Steve Rogers, not even at his bachelor party, and the idea struck her that she wanted Bucky at her wedding to solidify that she was Steve's, and whatever brief affection she might have shared with Bucky wasn't real.

"Hey," Nat said gently as she leaned around the door, bringing Kayla's fuzzy mind back to reality, "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I am actually." Kayla smiled broadly. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and pushed herself to her feet, wavering a little as she stumbled to the bathroom, "Let me shower real quick, wake up a little. I'll be ready to go."

"We have to leave in five minutes."

"I got this." Kayla assured the assassin, and Natasha just motioned for Kayla to hustle as the woman disappeared into the bathroom to make herself presentable.

Once Kayla was out of the room, Natasha picked up her phone and typed in Kayla's password, bringing the screen to life so she could read the message Kayla had received from Steve. She huffed a little at how vague he had been, knowing he needed to rip the band aid and admit that he'd made out with a stripper because she looked like Peggy Carter, and almost busted his zipper because he felt overwhelmed by the amount of comfort the stranger gave him in the face of marriage. Instead, he only told Kayla the result of the encounter, that he was ready to marry her because she was the only modern woman who saw him for more than Captain America. Which both insulted and hurt Natasha, because she cared about him and wanted him to be happy.

The water turned off and Natasha quickly sat the phone back down and scurried into the living area to join Wanda and Tiffany as the smaller woman spoke on the hotel phone with the spa, explaining why they would be late and asking for them to make an exception for the infamous Kayla Ellis.

"So, you split quick last night. How was your time with Lady Liberty?" Tony asked as he stumbled into Steve's hotel room from the suite next door.

Steve raised his head from the paper he was reading and groaned, "It was fine. Did you give her the other ten grand?"

"I took her word for it when she said you were into it one moment and running away the next." Stark shrugged, looking around Steve's hotel room with fake interest, "Did she get you hard?"

"Maybe."

Stark laughed loudly, clearly pleased, "Did you bring her back here, or did you get it on in the bar?"

"She gave me a lap dance. It was... it was nice, but I realized it wasn't real."

"Well, duh, we were at a stripper club, genius. What the hell did you think we were trying to do?"

Steve blushed, ducking his head and folding his paper back up, "There was a moment with her, when I felt something. And it scared me because I started to wonder if I was making a mistake." Tony's smile dropped and he looked like he was about to have a panic attack from Steve's confession, so Steve continued, "I kissed her."

"You aren't supposed to kiss the entertainment, Rogers-"

"I wasn't planning on it, but, it just kinda happened."

"And how you feel about it now?"

"I feel like it solidified that I'm marrying the right woman and I'm ready to be Kayla's husband." Steve told Stark, feeling his heart swell with excitement. "I want her. I need her."

Tony nodded, checking his watching and sighing impatiently, "Good. Great really, seeing as you're marrying her next week. So, I'm guessing you want to cancel the stripper cruise?"

Steve chuckled as he stood, "Yes, please. I think I've had enough strippers for a lifetime."

"I'm sure you'll experience enough stripping from your wife. She is Kayla Ellis after all."

By the time the girls finished their prosecco bike tour of Prague, Kayla and Wanda were a little stumbly, but the future Mrs. Rogers was raring to go. Wanda laughed loudly, a sound that was both endearing and alarming to Tiffany, who was used to the young woman's normally quiet demeanor. "Another round of drinks for the single ladies!"

"Single and unmarried are two very different things." Kayla slurred as she took the bottle from Wanda and drank straight from the neck, "But another round sounds good to me!"

"Only if you're willing to share with an old friend of the groom."

Natasha whipped around at the sound of Brock Rumlow's voice, but the other three just turned and stared at the metal man in confusion, "What the hell?" Tiffany asked as she stumbled back a step, before Kayla told her to run.

The Black Widow lunged at the armored STRIKE member, sending her right knee into his groin as he blocked her punch. She tried to elbow him, but he grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground as he strode towards Kayla and Wanda, "I hear congratulations are in order Miss Ellis. Sorry to hear Daddy won't be around to walk you down the aisle."

Every muscle in Kayla's body felt like it was about to snap from how tense she was listening to Rumlow taunt her, but she held her ground. He stepped around Natasha to face the blonde. She raised her chin defiantly as Wanda placed a force field between her friend and Rumlow, but she wasn't steady enough to put up a decent fight. Perhaps it was the alcohol blazing through her veins or her impending nuptials to Steve Rogers, but Kayla smiled and answered, "I've had everything ripped away from me. I've put my life back together piece by piece, and there's no pain you can enact that I haven't felt before."

Famous last words...

"I'm not here to cause you pain. I'm here to destroy your husband." Rumlow roared and pulled a gun to shoot the force field repeatedly, forcing Wanda back as she tried to keep it up. Another bullet bounced off of the red force field, and Wanda looked to Kayla nervously before using her free hand to grab a car from behind Rumlow and pull it towards him. However, she wasn't coherent enough to aim correctly, and the car slid past Rumlow and slammed into the car Tiffany was hiding behind. The brunette darted out of the way, rolling on the ground to get out of the way as Rumlow laughed, "Looks like your new friend's had a few too many!" Wanda's shield dropped and he prepared to take her out until a second gun went off from behind Rumlow, causing him to turn and face down Natasha.

Of course Natasha Romanoff had a loaded weapon on her the whole time. Of course the Black Widow would be prepared to be attacked during Kayla's bachelorette party. Why wouldn't she, that was the natural state of Kayla's life, being in mortal danger anytime Steve Rogers wasn't around. "Nat!"

"Go, I've got this!" Natasha yelled over the sound of gunfire as sirens wailed in the distance, promising help on the way. Rumlow stormed towards Nat with his gun drawn, and she leaned to the side to avoid a hit before ducking and kicking him square in the chest. She grabbed the gun and fired both at him, until his ran out of bullets.

Another few shots, and her gun followed suit, and she looked past Rumlow to see Wanda hiding behind a car with Tiffany while Kayla stood in front of it, making sure Natasha was okay. Without the armor, Nat would have easily been able to overpower the man, but she didn't stand a chance without backup. She spared a quick glance to Kayla before Rumlow reached her, grabbed her hair at the nape of her neck, and pulled her back before brandishing a knife from inside his suit.

Before he could deliver the finishing blow, Kayla yelled from behind him, "Hey! I'm the one you want. Leave her alone!"

"Don't tempt me," Rumlow warned as he swung the knife around to try and slice Kayla's throat. She fell onto her back, looking up as he knelt over her, "There's nothing I'd love more than to carve out your heart and lay it out on Cap's doorstep for what he did to me."

Swallowing hard, Kayla crawled backward, leading him away from Natasha lying in the road, and the place Tiffany and Wanda hid behind an abandoned car. The other people were scattering in terror, but Kayla couldn't figure out how to get away. At least she'd told Steve she loved him that morning. She never did check to see if he answered.

Kayla gasped as Rumlow shifted the knife in his gloved hand, preparing to plunge it into Kayla's chest. She slammed her eyes closed and waited, until she heard the sound of the blade smashing against metal, followed by a frustrated growl from Rumlow.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Natasha sprinting towards her, vaguely hearing her yelling Kayla's name over the sound of the yells that erupted from the few bystanders filming the fight. Kayla whipped her head around to see the man who saved her, and her breath was stolen from her lungs when she realized it wasn't who she expected.

Rumlow's knife had been wrestled away from him, and was currently being spun by the Winter Soldier as the masked assassin held his ground between Rumlow and the women. He looked over his shoulder to Kayla, and she couldn't see his full expression, but his cold eyes held more anger than she'd ever seen, even when he was trying to kill Steve. When he turned back to Rumlow, he grabbed the man's armor and yanked him forward so he could thrust his knee into Rumlow's chest, causing the shorter man to slide back from the force.

Natasha helped Kayla to her feet as Bucky surged forward with his hands curled tightly until he stood face to face with Brock Rumlow. He sent a left handed punch against Rumlow's helmet, then kicked him back farther away from Kayla and Natasha as they darted to the sidelines.

When Bucky reached Rumlow, lying on his back and groaning in pain, he placed his heavy boot on Rumlow's chest and leaned down to snarl, "If you so much as think about touching them again, it'll be the last thing you ever do in the land of the living."

Crossbones leaned his head back and laughed, "Oh yeah? You're gonna stop me?"

"I'm not going to kill you. But if he was here, you'd already be dead." Bucky snarled as he pressed harder, then released and kicked Rumlow in the head to knock him unconscious. His piercing eyes scanned the group of cops who had arrived and had their guns trained on him, and he slowly backed away from Rumlow before disappearing into the crowd.

Kayla jogged after him, stopping and panting when he vanished from her view. She leaned up on her heels, trying to find the man, but there were too many cell phones in the way taking her picture, "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Saving our ass." Natasha breathed from behind Kayla. "He's a ghost. It's what he does. I'm just glad he wasn't trying to shoot me this time."

"That makes two of us." Kayla murmured as Tiffany ran up to her and threw her arms around her best friend, "I'm okay. We're okay. You okay? Where's Wanda?"

"We're all okay." Wanda said as she appeared behind Tiffany, "A little embarrassed maybe, but okay."

Kayla saw Nat motion towards the police officers who were trying to reach them, wanting to ask a few questions about the attack.

"What the hell happened here?" One of the policewoman asked Kayla, who kept scanning the people being held back by police tape. "Do you know who that was?"

"The guy who tried to kill us or the guy who saved us? Yes and no." Kayla answered quickly, keeping her voice low as she looked up at her friends, "Brock Rumlow worked for Hydra. He's a terrorist, and he tried to kill me because Steve Rogers stopped his plan last spring."

"You're aware that the other man was the Winter Soldier... the famed assassin who worked for Hydra." Another police man said nervously, "His identity was leaked when you Americans had the security breach last year."

"I mean, SHIELD was an international agency, so I wouldn't necessarily blame us Americans." Kayla chuckled, but the officers weren't laughing. She stopped abruptly, and shrugged, "Listen, it's pretty common knowledge that my brains a little messed up. Maybe it was the Winter Soldier, but I can't be sure. I've had a few too many for this shit-show tonight."

With a brilliant smile, Kayla dismissed herself as an unreliable witness, and the officers released them to go back to their hotel in the back of a police van.

To everyone's surprise, Tiffany's phone was ringing before Kayla's, and it was her nervous fiancé who started the stream of panicked conversations.

"What the hell happened? Are you alright?" Sam asked and Tiffany nodded before telling him she was okay. She looked to Kayla grimly as the blonde gazed out the window sadly. Tiffany put Sam on speakerphone and said, "Hey, Babe, I put you on speaker so we can all talk. We're okay though, right?"

"I was shot yesterday, in case anybody's curious." Natasha called into the phone, smirking at her friends before adding, "It was Rumlow. He's alive, and apparently he's not too happy with us."

"Shit." Sam grumbled and his voice sounded farther away as he called away from the receiver, "It was Rumlow."

"Kay? Honey, what happened?" Steve exclaimed breathlessly, clearly just entering the conversation.

Kayla perked up at the sound of his voice and snatched the cell from Tiffany's hand to speak with her fiancé, "Brock Rumlow was here. He came after us... he came after me."

"I'll kill him."

"I know you will, but I'm okay. We're all okay..." Kayla took a deep breath as the van pulled up to the hotel, "Did you see who saved us?"

There was a long pause before Steve spoke, "I did. I don't really believe it though."

"Yeah, uh, it was a surprise." Kayla said as she took the phone off speakerphone to speak to Steve privately as they climbed out of the police van, "He vanished as quickly as he appeared. I didn't even get a word in."

"We'll come get you."

"We have the quinjet, we'll be home first thing tomorrow morning, we just want to rest-"

"I don't want you there another moment." Steve's voice was deep and commanding, and Kayla shivered a little at how cold he sounded. "If you aren't here by daybreak, I'll collect you myself. I don't want you anywhere near Rumlow... or Buck."

Tiffany held the door open for Kayla, keeping a close eye on her boss as she powerwalked through the lobby, "Steve, we're tired. We aren't flying out of here right now. If you want to come, come, but we'll be there by lunchtime tomorrow. I just want to sleep. We'll be okay." She promised as they approached the elevator, "Honey, we gotta go. I promise, we'll be home tomorrow. I can't wait to see you."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Kayla handed the phone back to Tiffany as the elevator started rising to their floor. None of the women spoke as they rode, staring ahead blankly in a state of shock. As the doors opened, Natasha bolted out first, already having her key in hand to open the door and let them into their suite.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom." Wanda said quietly before scurrying away, but she froze when the hotel door closed on its own.

The four women turned to see the Winter Soldier standing in front of the door, blocking their exit. A dark masked covered his mouth and nose while his eyes glared right through Kayla. She swallowed and took a step forward, wondering if this was the heartless killer or the man she'd once called her friend, "Bucky?"

His eyes darted between Wanda, Tiffany, and Natasha; lingering on Nat before they shifted to Kayla. He reached up and pulled off his mask, dropping it on a coffee table near the door, "Hey."

Kayla released her breath and nodded, taking a few steps forward to grab Bucky's right arm, "What are you doing here?"

"Aren't you glad I showed up?"

"I know you didn't get here from Bucharest in the three minutes we were trying to fight him off." Kayla retorted, sizing up the man, "Why were you here?"

He looked to Kayla's friends, as if wondering if he should speak the truth in front of them. They had no intention of leaving, though. Bucky dropped his gaze, his long, dark hair falling around his face as he mumbled, "We had unfinished business." He raised his head to meet her eyes, causing her to melt a little from how gentle they looked after simmering with fury earlier, "I had to tell you something before you got married."

She was baffled by this, but Natasha wasn't. She sighed and nodded towards the bedroom, telling the others to give Kayla and Bucky some time alone. Kayla looked back at her, but Natasha just nodded at Barnes, "Thanks for the assist. We owe you."

Bucky chuckled and looked to Kayla, "Maybe we can just call it even?"

She glared at him, running her tongue along her teeth as the door to the bedroom closed, "What is it? What's so important that you came all the way to Czech Republic to tell me?" Kayla grabbed his right forearm with her left hand, and noticed him staring sadly at her ring, "Bucky-"

"I love you."

Kayla blinked slowly at his confession, feeling her stomach drop to the floor. "What?" She gasped, reeling from this revelation, "What are you-"

"I cared about you. You helped me put the pieces back together, and I did look for you. I tried to think of a way to get you out, but I couldn't. I was scared of going back to Sokovia, and I knew he'd come for you." Bucky took a deep breath as Kayla stared at him with a slack jaw, unable to form a response, "I thought about you all the time. I missed you. And I regretted letting you go. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I love you. I love the idea of you, and when you showed up yesterday, I panicked. But I had to tell you before you married Steve."

"Bucky..." Kayla cried, pressing her fingers to her scalp beneath her short hair, "It's him. It's always been him."

"Yeah. I remember that." Bucky answered sadly, licking his bottom lip and taking a step towards Kayla, causing her to step back instinctively, "Why wouldn't it be? He's Steve. Everybody loves Steve now that he's Captain America."

Kayla's devastation turned to anger and she stepped back up to Bucky, shoving her finger in his face threateningly, "That's not fair, and you know it. You know what Steve means to me, and if you really do remember him, which I believe you do, you know how much he means to you, too."

"Meant. It's different."

"If you spent all of five minutes with him, it would all come flooding back." Kayla told the man, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes, "Come back with me."

"I can't, Kayla, don't you fucking get that? I can't see you with him, because you're right, he does matter to me. He was my best friend, but I love his fiancé... you don't think that'll be a problem?"

"We can figure that out." Kayla's voice broke as one of the tears finally fell from her eye, "I care about you too, don't you understand that? You could have a family. You could have Steve and I in your life, you are the one standing in your own way." She reached up and cupped his jaw. He stiffened, but she grabbed his other cheek and held him tight, "For a brief moment in time, I was all you had, and I get that you're clinging to that... but even then, we knew that wasn't forever."

Bucky shifted his jaw back and forth and placed his hands on his hips, causing a small grin to form on Kayla's painted lips, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"You can have a life with the Avengers. Steve and I will make sure you want for nothing, this is your chance to finish the puzzle. What'dya say?"

He sighed and reached into the pocket of his black leather vest, pulling something out and grabbing Kayla's wrist with his metal hand to place it in her palm. As his metal fingers scraped against hers, he whispered, "I think these belong to you."

She looked down at the metal chain as he walked past her, farther into the apartment. With her other hand, Kayla picked up Steve's dog tags and studied them, rubbing her thumb over his name fondly, "You've had them all this time-" When she looked up, she realized he was gone.

Kayla looked around cautiously, unable to find the Winter Soldier anywhere, "Bucky?"

The door to the bedroom popped open and Tiffany came barreling out, looking around with Kayla, "He loves you?"

"He's gone."

"He loves you, Kayla! You have to let him go!" Tiffany shrieked, looking over to Natasha and Wanda for support, "Steve can't ever find out about this..."

Kayla's mouth twisted to the side as she looked down at the dog tags again, then up towards the balcony, realizing the curtains were blowing in the slight breeze, "Just because it's complicated doesn't mean I should hide it. I'm not about to start our marriage with a lie."

Kayla was surprised they didn't pass another quinjet in the air on the way back to New York, seeing as they didn't leave Prague until six the next morning. They arrived at the Avengers Compound around eight, and Sam was waiting on the tarmac as Natasha landed the jet.

His fiancé came sprinting out at a speed Kayla hadn't seen before, and Tiffany dove into Sam's arms when she reached him. He held her tightly as she wrapped her legs around his waist before kissing him passionately. Wanda cleared her throat and Natasha threw her arm around the younger woman and led her towards the glass doors.

The remaining woman looked around sadly, realizing her soon-to-be husband was nowhere to be found.

Once Sam placed Tiffany back on the ground, Kayla approached hopefully, "Where's Steve?"

Sam looked around, seemingly just as confused as Kayla by Captain America's absence, "I guess he's at your place? I don't think he slept well last night. I could hear him pacing the halls."

"Hmm," Kayla started towards the sliding glass doors with Tiffany and Sam to her right, "Okay, I'll find him. Thanks." Kayla gave Tiffany a halfhearted hug and picked up her pace to find Steve.

When she reached the living quarters, Kayla slowed down to look around the pale, cold walls devoid of life. It reminded her a little bit of the Hydra base in Sokovia, but she didn't want to tell Steve that. It was a temporary solution for them. Steve had been very adamant that once married, Steve and Kayla would find a place of their own nearby, and he'd commute to the compound instead of forcing his wife to live there. He wanted the white picket fence so the kids could play out in the yard with the dog. He'd been picking out real estate nearby while Kayla recovered quietly, trusting him to plan out their life. All she needed was him.

Suddenly, a door flew open and Steve came charging out with his shirt unbuttoned and his hair wet. He was moments from slamming into Kayla when he looked up from buttoning to see her standing in front of him, "Kay?"

"I told you I'd be home first thing in the morning." She said quietly as he tossed her up by the hips and caught her thighs so she was above him, "Did you miss me? Or did you have some pretty stranger to keep you company?"

He slowly lowered her to the ground, looking like she'd slapped him in the face, "What did Nat tell you?"

"Excuse me?" Kayla spat, suddenly realizing Steve was hiding something and Natasha had known about it, "What the hell happened?"

"So Nat didn't tell you about the..." Steve trailed off as Kayla's jaw hung open. He didn't know the last time he'd seen her eyes so sad, and he quickly scooped her up bridal style and carried her into their apartment before closing the door with his boot and setting her down. She continued to stare at him with her sad green eyes that broke his heart, "We went to a strip club."

"I'm aware."

"There was this girl. She was Betsy Ross, it was a whole ordeal."

"A stripper named Betsy Ross?"

"She played Betsy Ross at Williamsburg, she's a stripper at night. Stark paid her twenty grand to get me hard."

Kayla snorted and nodded, "Okay, that tracks."

"She did."

"Okay..."

"And I kissed her."

Kayla's eyes widened again and Steve twisted his hands together anxiously. She didn't respond, which only heightened his sense of guilt and dread, "I'm so sorry. There was just something about her, and I got swept up in the moment and I kissed her. And then she said- she said something that really hit me. She said I wasn't what she expected."

"You get that a lot, Steve."

Steve sighed as he pulled out a kitchen chair and straddled it, draping his forearms over the back, "This was different. It reminded me that you see me. You see beyond what's expected of me."

"Well, I'd hope so, I'm marrying you, not your superhero alter ego," Kayla laughed. "What happened after you kissed her?"

"I ran away and texted you."

She shook her head and pulled out the chair beside Steve to straddle it like he was, staring him down as she leaned her chin on the chair back, "Is that it? Like, you kissed a pretty stripper and then left? It's okay. I'm not mad at you."

He reached for her hand and grinned, "Really?"

"Really, I love you. You can't scare me off that easily. If you pull that shit after next Sunday though, it'll be a different story."

"Noted." Steve stroked the back of her hand before pulling it to his lips to kiss, "I love you so much." Kayla smiled nervously, unable to hide her feelings from Steve, which caused him to panic, "What? What is it?"

"So, something happened. I did something, that you didn't know about, but I did it for you!" She stammered, feeling Steve's grip tighten on her hand, "Before we went to Prague, we went to Bucharest."

"Bucharest?" Steve asked, leaning forward and narrowing his gaze, "Why?"

She sighed, "I wanted to find Bucky and bring him back. I thought it would be a nice surprise. I thought... I could get through to him." At Steve's hopeful expression, she added, "I found him, and- and he said no."

"That's why he saved you guys?"

"I didn't know he was in Prague- but he followed us there. After he saved us, he- he told me..." Kayla swallowed hard, knowing what she was about to say was going to change the way Steve thought about his long lost best friend forever. He'd chosen to save Bucky over her, he'd seen Bucky as the most important person in his life, and she was about to put a wedge between them. She was the reason Bucky wouldn't come back. "He told me loved me."

Steve's brows almost reached his hairline and his gasp caught in his throat, causing him to cough, "He- Bucky loves you?"

"Apparently." Kayla grumbled, looking down at the floor, "I didn't know."

"What did you tell him? Do you-"

"Steve!" Kayla croaked, looking up and grabbing his hands, "I told him it was you. It was always you. It always will be." She tilted her head and smiled, "I thought I was doing a nice thing. I didn't realize what I was getting into. I'm sorry."

He stood quickly and Kayla scrambled to follow him, reaching out to grab Steve, but he turned and grabbed her upper arms. When she looked up at him though, she didn't find any anger, or even sadness, all she could see was joy, "Thank you for trying. And thank you for telling me what happened. Is he okay?"

"He seems to be happy enough." She admitted, "He's made a life for himself. He doesn't want to leave it."

"Then we're gonna let him go. Maybe, in time..." Steve trailed off as he looked out the sliding door leading out to the big lake behind the compound, "He knows where to find us. We don't blend in very well."

Kayla shrugged and pulled his face down to kiss his lips, "We'll work on it."