Tuckeyjnp, it took me while, but here's a new one!

Karina, it does indeed! I hope I can keep it balanced!

Thelmski, I loved Endgame as well and was left very… empty… after everything that happened. I try and keep this story as true to the actual timeline as possible and will try to finish it off in a manner that could be inserted into the MCU. I am considering a more AU one for the future, though. Stay tuned!

(0)

Steve joined Lianka in the shower.

After she had left him, spent, in the bed, it took a solid two minutes of violently debating with himself if it was a wise decision to take, if he should repeat their act of intimacy or leave her alone, if it would further affect the relationship of their trio, if he would even be welcomed by her… before allowing the longing in his heart and groin to decide in his stead, leading him out of the bed and into the small bathroom.

He slipped into the shower behind her and she turned to face him with a shy little smirk that told him quite clearly that she was in no way surprised to see him.

At once, he swept her up into his powerful arms and pushed her back against the cool tiles, forcing a gasp from her lips. Lianka let her legs wrap around his waist gladly, feeling his erection pressing against her as he pulled her into a hard kiss. There was more urgency in his motions now, more furious desire as his hands dug almost painfully into the round curve of her ass, holding her up against him. She felt fire awaken within her anew and did not ask… she simply grasped at his cock and guided him into her, loving the feeling of fullness she experienced as he inched into her with a longing groan. Steve's eyes were blown with lust as he slowly filled and she stared into them with hunger, taking a moment to adjust to his length before shifting her hips forward to start moving.

He pushed her into the wall a little more, hot water running down his back and began pumping in and out of her tight slit, drawing gasps of pleasure from her parted lips with every motion. This time, he focused on culling his desire, wanting to see her come first, watching her hungrily as her pleasure grew and her nails found his back, drawing lines of fire across his taunt muscles… her eyes left his only to flutter as the fire within her grew steadily and she squeezed his waist harder with her long legs, deepening his motions and taking more control to allow him to reach the most sensitive spots, to fill her completely…

Lianka pulled back her head and gasped his name as she came, locking her fingers tightly in his hair, pulling harshly at the blond locks… Steve groaned with pleasure at the sensation, which was not something he'd one day thought to enjoy. Still, he fought with himself to remain in control, to not let the pleasure overwhelm him too…

As her climax subsided and she slowed her pace, panting somewhat, Lianka undid her legs from his waist and pushed him back slightly. Before he could protest, she kissed him longingly as she gently slipped his hard cock from her wet pussy, before pulling back with an amused smirk.

A little bewildered, Steve watched her slowly dip down to her knees in front of him, her hand wrapping around his manhood with just enough pressure that he groaned yearningly. She glanced up at him with that devious little smile and it was almost enough to throw him over the edge… and here he was, thinking he had any sort of control over the situation… Steve pressed a hand to the wall behind her to steady himself and let out a string of swears as her warm, wet little mouth found his cock and took it all in almost hungrily. She sucked up and down at a deliriously slow rate, tasting both herself and him, her hand running over the length of him in rhythm and took a small break every few seconds to simply lick up and down his cock, glancing up with a cheeky little grin that held him in a trance. He'd managed to control himself as he fucked her, but with how her mouth was hungrily playing with his cock, with that lustful gaze she lifted to him every time she teased him…

"Lia… I'm going to…"

She ignored him and took nearly all of him in her mouth, which was quite a feat considering his size. He felt her tongue swivel over his head and couldn't hold back any longer. His hand went down to her head and entwined into her wet hair as she slowed her pace suddenly, tending to him with infinite care… he came with a hungry growl and such pleasure that tiny black spots erupted over his vision and he really had to push into the wall to keep his legs steady. Lianka did not let him go until he was done, after which she slowly pulled back until his half-hard member left her pouty lips, before giving it a final, longing lick that sent a profound shiver through his entire body.

She rose to meet him as he caught his breath, still a little bewildered, the blood clearly not back to his brain yet. She was biting at her lip, clearly hiding a tiny smile and made to slip from his grasp and exit the shower…

Steve caught her and pulled her into a very gentle, almost chaste kiss, surprising her.

When he finally let her go, she looked at him quizzically. "Not many men like to kiss after… that…"

Steve shook his head, trying to clear it. "God damn… they should… they really should…"

She beamed him a smile and left the shower. This time, he let her.

(0)

Lianka and Steve spent the next following hour or two chatting in bed, swapping stories. He told her about his past, about the harrowing gap between his two lives, one past and one present. He found himself telling her about the conflict that had arisen between Stark and him, about how he refused to sign the Accords, refused to put life-saving decisions in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats, who could squabble for weeks on end to come to an agreement, often in situations where rapid action was the only course that could save lives… she agreed with him, agreed that no one organization should hold such sway over the masses… that often, individuals were capable of making the hard choices, the choices no one wanted to make and they were then able to carry the weight of the consequences that went with those choices. He found her to be a good listener and easy to confide in… at some point, he wondered if it had something to do with the Sparrow training she'd received, but he found himself feeling guilty at the thought of it… she'd been shaped into what she was, not really by choice and to suspect her of using her gifts on him for nefarious purposes was an unfair accusation. She'd given them no reason to think she was anything less than an ally.

After a while though, she became restless. Steve found he shared her feeling, as they more frequently glanced at the single door to the room, trying to quiet their growing consternation for the person who was not in the room with them… Bucky had been gone nearly three hours and considering their very precarious situation, it was starting to become very unnerving. Both tried to remain calm and composed, giving the Winter soldier the benefit of the doubt, but it was starting to become harder and harder with each passing hour.

They were getting hungry, so Lianka left for a little bit to buy some red beet soup and a couple flavorful sausages at a nearby restaurant. The whole time she was gone, Steve felt progressively more and more unnerved… the silence of the empty room was putting his nerves on edge and when the young woman finally returned, entering through the door in her usual ghostly fashion quite suddenly, he found himself jumping up nervously at the intrusion. Lianka noticed his unease and smiled in an apologetic fashion, brandishing the small, white bag she carried, which wafted in a very delightful smell into the room.

"They had pelmeni…"

Steve had no idea what those were, but he quickly discovered that they were quite delicious as he wolfed down a fair share of them. Anticipating that the soldier would probably have an appetite to go with the serum that had changed his body, Lianka had bought enough food to feed a family of eight. She ate more sparingly, still cautiously hiding her growing consternation.

After they'd eaten, it became obvious they had to consider that something might have happened to Bucky. He'd been gone a solid five hours, as it was now early afternoon, and they had received no news.

Just as they were discussing which of them was more suitable for a reconnaissance mission, her with a wounded leg but fluid Russian, or him in perfect health but unable to even say hello in the Slavic language, the door to the room opened soundlessly.

Steve's arms were up at once, fists clenched unyieldingly as his gauntlets activated and formed shields over his forearms and Lianka drew her holstered gun so fast she appeared blurred, flipping the safety and pointing the loaded weapon unwaveringly at the intruder.

Bucky raised his arms slowly, a mixed look of amusement and shock painted on his face, his mouth twisted into what might have been a mocking smirk. His human hand held a white bag not unlike the one Lianka had brought from the restaurant and his metal hand loosely held a set of car keys.

"I appreciate the welcome, but if you don't mind…"

Lianka made a strange noise, somewhere between a growl and bark of laughter, but did not lower her gun. "What the fuck took you so long?"

Bucky cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Steve, who had lowered his guard and retracted his gauntlets, but who seemed to share Lianka's sentiment, nonetheless. The Winter Soldier sighed, thinking it prudent not to mock the woman further and slowly laid the bag onto a nearby table, along with the keys, and faced the pair.

"I just wanted to give the two of you ample time to get better… acquainted…"

By the way Steve suddenly flushed red, Bucky knew he had struck true. But his amused smirk was cut quite short when Lianka, still aiming at him, moved her index from the guard to the trigger and curled it there menacingly.

"Okay! Okay!" He conceded, quite alarmed. "I tracked down an old contact who I thought could let us know where we stood with Hydra."

Lianka finally lowered her weapon and holstered it. "Was that prudent?"

Bucky shrugged. "Nothing is prudent in these sort of situations… you know this. However, he was able to tell me that we're in more trouble than we thought: although Hydra has no idea where we are, they do suspect we are alive and are actively looking for us… but that's not the worst of it. We're also being tracked by the KGB, at Hydra's demand."

The young woman made a hissing sound, her teeth clenched. "Blyad… And you're sure of this? This contact of yours can be trusted?"

Steve was following the exchange without a word, consternation on his face.

Bucky nodded gravely. "He can be trusted. He's an ex-Hydra agent, a defector from years ago. He fled the organization shortly before I myself was… removed. He disagreed strongly with Project Insight because of the sheer control and death toll it would create. I probably would have been tasked with finding and eliminating him if I hadn't been freed. And the only reason he agreed to talk to me at all was because I'm being chased by Hydra and the KGB, meaning I'm on his side now…"

Lianka sat down heavily onto the bed and sighed, hiding her face in her hands.

Steve looked at her, then at his friend, who was wolfing down a fair share of leftover pelmeni, and seemed at a loss himself. "What now?" He asked, unsure.

"Well, we sure as hell can't leave the country legally now… we'll get flagged at the first airport or bus station we reach…" Bucky grumbled between two bites.

Lianka looked up, pensive. "We need to leave through the wilderness… bypass any border. Our best bet is through Estonia, if we stay away from major centers and get our hands on snowmobiles… from there,we beeline through Finland all the way to the north coast and get a boat. One that can get us as far as Svalbard. We'll be able to approach the coordinates we got from the jet and find the Hydra base off the coast. But it's a very long way… might take two weeks. And we have to proceed carefully."

Bucky had delved into the bag of kielbasa. "Well, I got us a car, so we can at least get to Estonia's border without a hassle."

Lianka cocked an eyebrow at him, cautious. "A stolen car?"

"No." The soldier grinned. "My contact had a spare one he said I could take. Made me promise to ditch it somewhere remote and gave me five days before he declares it stolen. It gives us amble time to reach Estonia, from where we cross the border either on foot or with borrowed snowmobiles, after which we get through Finland."

"In a borrowed car…" Steve grumbled, very ill at easy with all this theft.

Bucky sent him a sideways glance and hid a cheeky grin. "C'mon Steevie, you're an outlaw now! Gotta get used to all this…"

"I should have signed those Accords…" He grumbled under his breath, but no one cared: everyone present knew very well that Steve would have never signed those papers, no matter how crooked he felt due to his new way of life.

"There's a military surplus store not far from here. We can get some equipment… we'll need a few things if we want to survive a struggle through the Siberian tundra. Mother Russia isn't a kind and forgiving parent." Lianka said softly, her words strangely ominous in the tiny room.

(0)

They were off within the hour. They had paid for the motel for a few more days up front, but they didn't bother to ask for their money back; if anything, the extra days might throw off pursuers, who could be brought to believe the trio was still in the area.

The car Bucky had inherited from his contact was a dingy SUV with big wheels that could probably take on the apocalypse. It wasn't fancy or flashy and looked just like any other Russian vehicle, meaning they would at least remain inconspicuous throughout their ride. Bucky had also managed to find a vast array of dehydrated meals to replenish their stores once he'd learned they would have to make a run for it. At the military surplus store, they geared up with better coats, pants, gloves and hats that would keep them warm even on snowmobiles. At the risk of seeming inconspicuous, given it wasn't the season for outdoor activities, they also purchased tarps and sleeping bags, as well as tiny propane stove that would allow them to cook their meals in the wilderness. Without further due, they packed up and drove off, moving slowly and checking their tail often.

Nowadays, the KGB was vastly considered a disbanded myth. Foreigners and locals alike were led to believe that the organization had fallen after the Cold War, but most people were too clever to fall for the ploy: too many people were still apprehended for petty crimes that involved anti-nationalism and other such ideas… it was clear that the population was still being monitored to some degree by a force bent on remaining secret.

Lianka knew all too well that the KGB was still operational: she'd been a part of it, as had her parents, which she had told both men. The only way for any of them to survive as agents for Wakanda was to hide in plain sight as agents of Russia. She had never delved far into the organization and, as such, did not know how far their reach still extended, but she knew that they could have eyes and ears everywhere.

Their trek north was uneventful, but Steve was glad to see that no awkwardness had seeped in amongst them. Altogether, they acted as though nothing had happened between them, even though he knew that Bucky was probably aware of what had gone down between Lianka and him. The young woman treated them as acquaintances and allies, remaining a tad distant the whole time they were under more stressful circumstances, which made them all feel like they had a strong working relationship.

Bucky checked her leg every day for three days, until he saw the cut had healed properly. Steve could not help but notice that every time his friend touched the young woman, his hand would linger on her bare skin just a moment too long, with just a flash of hesitation that betrayed how much he would have wanted it to stay there. However, Steve also found that he did not mind these brief moments in the least… as much as he felt understood by the young woman, he also knew that Bucky and she shared a common ploy that almost made them kindred spirits. He was glad that his friend had someone like her… someone who understood what it was to be a spy, to be in danger every waking moment, to work for people who you did not want to work for… he figured that Natasha would have gotten along well with Bucky for the same reasons, had she not picked Tony's side.

At the thought of his old friend, who he hadn't seen or heard from in almost a year, Steve grumbled wordlessly and sat back in the passengers seat of the shaky SUV, closing his eyes as he tried to rest a couple hours while Lianka drove and Bucky dozed in the back.

They hadn't stopped much these past three days and they were approaching Estonia, which meant the hard part was yet to come and he suspected he would need his rest.

(0)

That'll be all for now guys, sorry for the long wait. I'm good at finding excuses, but truth to the matter is that I had a lazy period after school ended, where I did a bunch of things and put off writing for the longest time, thinking I'd have time later… then I started working and immediately started doing like 60 hours a week… however, I have calm bouts at my job and can write a bit, so hopefully I'll be able to pick up the pace!

As always, review and thank you so much for your interest in this story, you guys rock!