Helmut had done what he needed to do. He had stayed behind in the facility and they had come to him, just as he had imagined they would. He had watched them as they came to the realisation of what had happened. Barnes had walked into the main room behind Rogers and Stark, but he had a look on his face that seemed to suggest her knew what was going to happen. He looked apprehensive and his gaze kept on going to Tony.

Had Amelia told him? Had he bumped into her? If he had then surely he wouldn't have just let her go? Helmut didn't know, but he didn't dwell on it for too long. It was all coming to a close. He left them to fight, knowing that they would cause more damage than he ever could, physically, of course.

Leaving the facility, he came outside and felt the cold air on his cheeks. He inhaled a sharp breath and walked through the snow towards the edge of the cliff. Finding a rock, he perched on the side of it and looked into the distance. There was nothing for miles. He was truly alone now. He closed his eyes for a second and thought about his wife, her image in his mind as she smiled at him, declaring how much she loved him.

Tugging out his phone, he found the voicemail that he had played over and over again whenever he had spare time. He heard her voice and looked at the mountains in the valley in front of him, observing the way the snow hung off of them. Was Amelia out there somewhere? Had she left? Had she truly gone? If she had then it would be what he had wanted, but at the same he felt despair at knowing he wouldn't see her again.

"You should have seen his little face…just try, okay? I'm going to bed. I love you."

He looked down to his phone and deleted that voicemail, seeing that there was only one left. He wanted to press the phone to his ear once more, but he didn't. He lowered it and deleted it before Amelia could talk and profess how much she loved him and wanted him to come back for her. Looking at his empty inbox, he pocketed his phone once more and sniffed, looking up and into the distance.

He knew that there was someone behind him. He had grown used to knowing when to expect imminent danger. But he didn't move. It would be too late now.

"I almost killed the wrong man."

T'Challa. Helmut should have known that he would be following Barnes.

"Hardly an innocent one," he replied.

"And this is all you wanted," he questioned, stepping closer to him slowly. "To see them rip each other apart."

Helmut looked down, the snow now falling in a soft flurry. The soft breeze dislodged his hair, a strand falling into his forehead as he prepared to tell the man behind him why he had done what he had done. He deserved that much from him.

"My father lived outside of the city," he said. "I thought they would be safe there. My son was excited. He could see the Iron Man from the car window. I told my wife don't worry…they're fighting miles away from us…we're safe from harm. But they weren't. I still remember going to find them and it took me two days…two days I searched through the rubble and the dust."

He let out a soft breath. He didn't want to remember his family like that. He never wanted to remember them so cold and lifeless. That wasn't his Heike and Carl. They were always so bright and full of life.

"My father was still holding my wife and son in his arms," Helmut continued, not turning to look at T'Challa. "I sent my best friend with them and he was with them too…my friend since childhood…his fiancée…I can still her cries when I told her. I can still hear her screams from the nightmares."

He began toying with his wedding ring once more, twirling it around his finger slowly but persistently.

"We agreed to work together to destroy them, me and her. She wanted revenge as much as I did, but she would never have gone to the lengths that I've gone to and I never wanted her to. I promised her fiancé that I would look after her and I tried to," Helmut confessed. "I tried to take care of her, but I fear that I failed."

"The woman with you," T'Challa said. He had heard about someone coming to him back in Berlin.

"Amelia," Helmut said her name. "She's everything I am not and that is why I need to be certain she is safe…she had nothing to do with any of this. She wanted to destroy them, but she would never have done it this way. She'll be fine in the long run, I know that. But right now, I only hope she has gotten away from here."

"You care for her." T'Challa observed once more.

Helmut chuckled darkly. "Falling for my best friend's fiancé had never been part of my plan. It almost blinkered me momentarily, wondering what it could be like if I gave all this up. But I couldn't. The Avengers took everything from me. And they just went home. We knew we couldn't kill them. More powerful men than me had tried, but I knew that I could get them to kill each other."

T'Challa continued to watch him and Helmut nodded his head once.

"I am sorry about your father," he told him. And that was true. He was sorry about what he had done. "He seemed a good man with a dutiful son."

And Helmut knew that. He could see it in the way T'Challa had acted. He had come for him. He had come to find the man who had killed his father, just as any loving son with able means would do.

"Vengeance has consumed you," T'Challa said and Helmut remembered Amelia's earlier words to him that had practically been those too. She had told him that. And she had been right. It had consumed him and he couldn't see anything beyond it. "It's consuming them," T'Challa whispered. "I'm done letting it consume me. Justice will come soon enough."

Helmut shook his head. There was no justice, was there? There was nothing. Placing the gun to his chin, he prepared to pull the trigger. He was ready for death. He would welcome it.

"No!"

His finger pulled on the trigger at the sound of her voice. T'Challa was there in an instant too, absorbing the power of the bullet as Helmut found him wrapped in his arms. T'Challa pulled his arm around Helmut's neck, hauling him back and against him, wrangling the gun from his fingers. Helmut knew that there would be no chance to escape the prince.

Turning his head to the side as T'Challa eased off of him slightly to haul him to his feet, he saw Amelia stood there and staring at him, her eyes wide and full of shock at what she had just witnessed. Shaking her head slowly, she felt her hands tremble by her side as T'Challa looked across to her.

"Amelia?" he questioned from her.

Her eyes moved to him and she nodded. She had turned pale white, only her cheeks slightly tinted red from the cold. Helmut avoided her gaze, wondering what she was doing. Why had she come back here? What did she think was going to happen by coming back? He didn't know and he didn't speak to ask her, preferring the company of silence.

"You'll need to come with me," T'Challa told her. "I believe that you have some business that needs to be dealt with."

"You were never going to Madripoor, were you?" Amelia asked from Helmut and he continued to avoid her gaze. He didn't know if he could stand to look at her. "Why?"

It was a simple question but with loaded connotations. Why? Where did he begin? How did he even answer that question? He finally managed to look up and over to her, T'Challa still keeping his arm twisted behind his back.

"Why?" Amelia repeated to him.

"Because there was no other option," Helmut responded to her.

"Yes, there was," Amelia responded. "There was always another option."

"Not one that involved me giving you what you deserved."

Amelia was quiet then, not certain of what she should say back to him. She was doing her best not to cry and yell at him, knowing that she had to remain composed. She did all that she could to stay like that and T'Challa knew that he had to move. He had to take Helmut back to the Centre. He had to take Amelia there to find out what it was she did know.

"Come on," T'Challa said. "You have a lot to answer for."

…

Amelia had undergone intense interrogation for hours on end over what she knew Helmut had done. All she could do was admit the truth. She told them how she wanted the Avengers destroyed for what had happened. She admitted to being full of rage and vengeance. But she had no idea what Helmut was doing. She told them the truth on that. She told them that she didn't know what he had planned at the UN. She had no idea he framed the Winter Soldier.

And there was nothing linking her to any crime, except for wanting revenge, but she had done nothing to get it. Helmut had ensured that. They had questioned her about her whereabouts with Helmut, searching her apartment back in Norfolk, but they found nothing. As far as they knew she had simply been his companion. Helmut had said the same.

"He's signed a confession," Everett Ross declared, walking into the interview room where Amelia had been held for the past day and a half. He waved a piece of paper in Amelia's direction as she picked her head up from where she had rested it on the table. "He's admitted to everything and has insisted you had nothing to do with anything he's done."

"I see," was all that Amelia could say to him. She should have suspected that this would have happened. She should have known and not been so ignorant to it. He had told her that this was his plan and he had gone through with it.

"So…it's still weird…you two spend a year together…wanting revenge…but you know nothing and nothing links you to what has happened."

"He's good at keeping secrets," Amelia said to Everett, uncertain on what else she could say to him. It was true. Helmut was very good at keeping his cards against his chest.

"You're not wrong there," Everett said. "But I suggest you stay out of trouble and away from criminals. We'll be watching you."

"So I can go?"

"You can go," Everett confirmed to her, longing to know if there was anything she was hiding. He suspected there was. He could see it. But he knew that he wasn't going to get it out of her.

"And Helmut?" she wondered.

"Will be transferred to a cell in a prison in Berlin where he will be spending the rest of his life."

"Can I see him?" Amelia wondered and Everett pursed his lips at hearing her, wondering why she could possibly want to see that man. "Please, I just need…I need an answer," she said to him. "It would be five minutes and then I'll go."

Everett considered her request. Perhaps she might say something to him that she wouldn't tell them? He suspected that could be a good possibility. Nodding once, he agreed to her, well aware that he could just listen into what was happening. He moved to uncuff her from the table. She massaged her wrists, trying to get feeling back to her fingers before standing up.

They had made her change into a grey sweatshirt and sweats, plain sneakers on her feet. Her hair had fallen from its ponytail and was now sticking up at all different angles on the top of her head. Following Ross from the room, she continued rubbing her wrists as she felt eyes settle on her, people whispering about who she was and what she had done. She ignored them, keeping her gaze to the floor and not giving them the satisfaction of seeing her being affected by them.

"Stay behind the yellow line in there," Everett said, standing outside of a closed door. "You have five minutes and then I will come for you."

"Thanks," Amelia said.

He pressed his pass card against the scanner and the red door slid open. Amelia stepped into the room, hearing the door close behind her. The room was sparse, the ceiling high and the walls white washed. The only thing in it was a red box in the middle of the room, made entirely of glass and steel. The yellow line on the floor was a good metre away from it too.

And he was there. He was in the box, handcuffed and restrained, unable to move far or do anything except for sit on the chair he had been placed on. Amelia moved towards him and his gaze met hers, his lips in a firm, thin line.

"You shouldn't have come here, Amelia," Helmut told her.

"I had to," she replied. "I had to come and say goodbye."

Helmut was quiet then, not certain on what he should say to her. She finally stepped just behind the yellow line, not daring to inch over it. She didn't know what to do with her arms, feeling them hang limply by her sides and her head pounding after hours of interrogation, crying and thinking.

"You were going to kill yourself," Amelia whispered, stating the obvious and not being blunt about it. "Why?"

"You know why," Helmut replied.

She shook her head. "No, I don't," she retorted.

"Because there was nothing left," Helmut told her. "There was nothing left for me and I wanted the pain to end…the guilt to stop…"

"The guilt?"

"Guilt that I felt like I was betraying my wife by falling for you."

Amelia's brows knitted together and Helmut sighed. He owed her this much now. This really was a goodbye because there was no chance that he was going to get out of whatever cell they put him in. He wouldn't see Amelia again; of that he was certain. And now that he was face to face with her, with nowhere left to run and no agenda to pursue, he had nothing left.

"I told you those things in the facility to get you away from me because it had always been my plan to…" he trailed off, not needing to tell her his intentions. "As soon as I realised the only way to destroy the Avengers was by use of more…bloodier methods…I knew there would be no out for me. I couldn't flee to Madripoor."

"Why not?"

"Because what would my life have been, Amelia? I would have been lonely. I had already lost my family and you…you were the only one I had," Helmut declared. "But you would never forgive me for what I had done and I was not subjecting you to a life in hiding."

"Why did you do it?" Amelia asked from him. "I just…I know revenge consumed you…us…but not to that extreme. Not to do what you did."

"That's where you're wrong," Helmut said. "It did consume me to that point."

"And me? Did you not even think about me?" Amelia wondered. "I know it sounds incredibly selfish, but I…if we hadn't have let ourselves be so consumed by hate…do you not think that we could have done something else? We were happy, weren't we?"

"Perhaps you might have been able to move on," Helmut said. "But I never could and that's not because you weren't enough, Amelia. You were more than enough, but so was Heike and Carl. I had to do this because of what happened to them."

Amelia nodded once. She understood. She understood all too well what motivated Helmut. It took her a moment to compose herself, sniffing loudly and then peering upwards, looking to Helmut once more as his eyes remained fixed on her completely.

"Can you just tell me the truth now?" she questioned from him. "Because I'm probably not going to see you again, Helmut…just tell me that you didn't mean anything you said…that that night wasn't you lying to me."

Helmut sighed softly and peered down, his eyebrows rising on his forehead. "Don't torture yourself," he urged from her. "Just go and forget me."

"That's where you're wrong," Amelia said, wanting to step closer to him, but she couldn't. "It's going to torture me not knowing."

"Fine," Helmut said, giving her what she needed. "When I told you not to go that night, I meant it. I do want you…did want you…and it was never my intention to use you. I pushed you away because you really do deserve to move on and find someone who is better than I am. Your love is wasted on me, Amelia."

"But it might not have been if you had just let yourself feel something other than hate," Amelia responded.

"But I made my choice," Helmut said. "And while I felt no guilt about what we did…I did start to feel guilty when I also realised that I was lying to you about how I didn't feel anything deeper than friendship because the truth is that I could easily see myself falling for you too. I had to stop myself because Heike…it was like I was dishonouring her…betraying Lukas…I didn't want to get in too deep. I tried to stop myself."

"And did it work?" Amelia wondered.

"No," he confessed. "But it is too late now."

Amelia said nothing, silent tears falling down her cheeks. She heard the door behind her open and Ross's voice filled the room. "Alright, five minutes is up," he commented.

"Take care of yourself, Amelia," Helmut urged from her, not knowing what else he should say back to her. It took him a moment to swallow the lump in his throat as Amelia felt Ross move a hand to her shoulder, silently urging her to turn around and follow him out of the room.

She did her best not to start crying for what could have been as she just nodded to Helmut, not knowing what she should say back to him. But he knew. She didn't need to say anything. He nodded back to her and saw her turn around, watching the back of her head as she walked away besides Ross. Only when the door was closed did Helmut move a thumb to the corner of his eyes, one at a time, and wipe away the tears that had formed there.

…

Coming back to England, Amelia just felt numb. She didn't feel anything but emptiness. She had no large luggage with her, except for the satchel and duffel bag she had taken to Siberia that had been taken from the motel they had left their things in. They had been confiscated from their room, Ross claiming that his men needed to search all of their belongings. She half expected her apartment to be trashed when she returned home.

She had landed in Norwich airport and had taken a taxi back to her apartment on the seafront. She wanted to do nothing more than climb into bed and just stay there, wallowing in her own self-pity for a few days. She knew it wouldn't do anything to help or make her feel better, but it was what she needed. She paid the taxi driver a fixed rate, passing the money over after she had taken some out of a cash point at the airport.

He continued looking at her in the rear-view mirror, Amelia oblivious to his staring as she looked out of the window instead. She rolled up the sleeves to the grey sweatshirt that she still wore and swore to throw it, and the joggers, away as soon as she got home. Stifling a yawn, she observed the countryside on her way, wondering what was happening to Helmut. Was he going to be okay? Would he be able to cope with an entire lifetime in prison? She didn't even want to imagine what he was going through.

And the worst thing was that she felt guilty. She felt guilty she couldn't stop him. She'd killed people before too. She should be in the cell right next to him, but instead she was free to live her own life. She knew that she would be constantly watched, of course, but that was to be expected. Why did she not just wake up and stop him from going through with his plan?

"Whoa…I think you might have an issue getting into your apartment."

The taxi driver soon snapped Amelia out of her thoughts. Glancing out the window, her heart rate increased and blood pumped into her ears. Outside of her apartment there were people crowded around the building.

"What the…" she trailed off.

"It is you, isn't it?" the driver asked and she looked back to him and then out the window again. "The terrorist's girlfriend?"

Amelia didn't answer him, wondering what the heck was going on as he parked up and dozens of eyes turned onto the car. Amelia heard yelling, the noises impossible to decipher, but none of them sounded happy. Had news spread about her involvement with Helmut? How did it happen so quickly?

Picking up her satchel, she threw it over her shoulder as lights flashed into the car, photographers pressed up against the window and trying to get her photo. Amelia covered her face with her hand, hair falling into her cheek to try and protect herself. Grabbing her bag, she held it in her hand and opened the car door. The noise grew even louder.

"Amelia, Jemma Jones from Channel Four, would you care to comment on the events in Vienna?"

"Ms Baker, Derek Smeath, the Norfolk Reporter, is there any truth to the rumours that you're pregnant with the Baron's baby?"

Amelia didn't even deign that with a response. She tried to keep her head down and force her way along the long path to her apartment building. She managed to push her hands into her satchel and find her keys on the way, ignoring the yells from journalists who continued to ask outrageous questions. But they weren't the only ones there. Amelia heard yells from behind them as she continued to fight her way to the front of the queue.

"Whore!"

"You should be locked up with him, you lying slut!"

Amelia had no idea who those people were, but she could hear the venom behind their words as they continued shouting at her and she swore to hold herself together until she got inside. She'd be safe inside of her apartment.

"Look at her! She knew everything…sharing his bed…of course she did!"

"Murdering bitch!"

"Alright, alright, I think that's enough."

Amelia looked up at the voice that had suddenly appeared alongside her. The man it came from was tall with broad shoulders and was dressed in a three-piece suit, his tie hanging loose around his neck. His hair was neatly cropped, hanging just into the nape of his neck. It was a dark brown and his eyes were a soft green as he looked to the crowd and held a hand up, trying to diffuse the situation.

She had no idea who this man was, but he was suddenly moving an arm behind her to try and protect her from the swarms of people who were pushing against her.

"You'll get what's coming to you!"

Amelia was so close to the door when she felt it. She heard it, but her brain didn't register what was happening. And then her vision blurred. A tall, burly woman had forced her way to the front of the crowd, standing directly in front of Amelia. She spat with as much force as she had, the pool of saliva landing on Amelia's face and stopping her in her tracks as cheers rose up and the woman almost enjoyed being applauded, hands in the air like it was some kind of victory.

"Really?" the man next to Amelia asked and he pushed her out of the way and someone from the crow threw a bottle and it landed just over Amelia's shoulder.

Placing his fob against the access pass, the front door to the apartment block unlocked and he held it open, ushering Amelia inside. He pulled the door shut quickly, the crowd now locked outside but journalists still yelling for her attention and others for her blood. Wiping her face with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, Amelia wanted to do nothing more than burst out and cry, humiliation overcoming her.

"Ignore those lot out there. They're just pricks," the man said to her and he offered her a kindly smile. "You'll be old news come the end of the week."

"Who are you?" Amelia asked, ignoring his pleasant commentary.

"James. James Peterson," he told her and pointed up. "I live on the fourth floor. Moved here a few months ago."

Amelia nodded, vaguely recognising him. She must have seen him in passing when she had gone to put the bins out or something. "Well, thanks for your help," Amelia said and moved over to her letterbox, unlocking it with her key as James remained stood in the lobby, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck and wondering if he should say anything to her.

Gathering her mail, Amalia quickly flipped through it. There were just notes from journalists offering her money for her own story. Apparently when people thought you were the naïve girlfriend of a terrorist they were willing to offer a lot of money to hear your thoughts. She dumped them all in the bin in the corner, not even bothering to look through them or read them properly.

"Listen," James said to her and dropped his arms by his side, swinging his keys around his finger. "If you want…or…you know…need someone to talk to about everything, someone who's not a journalist, then I'm apartment fifteen."

Amelia was about to tell him that was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want to talk about everything. She wanted to forget it. But she just nodded her head, saying nothing and moving to the staircase instead of waiting for the elevator with him. Climbing the stairs to her apartment, she dropped her bags on the floor as soon as she was in and locked the door behind her.

Moving into the sitting room, she could hear the crowd still. Their yells had died down, but the buzz of chatter was loud even through the double-glazed window. She spotted a new laptop on her dining table, no doubt courtesy of Helmut's butler. Everything looked how she had left it, minus the files with information on the Winter Soldier and HYDRA. Everything was back in its place and felt normal.

But nothing was normal. Sinking onto the sofa, Amelia finally started to cry as she came to the realisation that nothing would be normal again.

...

A/N: Okay so we have a few filler chapters coming up but there will still definitely be some twists and turns as well. I'm thinking of bringing in Bucky a bit more too. Still need to work out to handle the Blip! Thanks to everyone reading those who review. It really does help keep me motivated! Let me know your thoughts and anything you want to see!