Savage

by awalkerlifeforme

She was everything people feared. She wanted to defend the world but also wanted revenge on those who wrecked hers. The ones who forced her to leave Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes. Now she's back and while Steve attempts to get back the woman he's always considered his sister, Bucky hopes to thaw the ice that has formed around her heart. A heart that he had always believed was his.

30. Chapter 30

Slowly I twisted to the side in the small bed. The sun wasn't streaming through the windows yet, so I knew that it wasn't too late. It meant that there was time for me to lay around before having to get up. Turning my head over to the side, I realized that I was alone in the bed. My head gently raised off of the pillow to see where he was. I was reasonably surprised to see that he wasn't with me. Normally I was the first person awake. I gently moved to sit in the bed and glance around. I spotted the closed bathroom door and nodded. He must have been in there, getting ready for the day.

A few days had passed since Bucky had given me the ring. Fingering at the dog tags that hung around my neck, I smiled into my lap. The ring hung around the chain, making me blush softly. I knew that with each passing day, we were getting closer and closer to the day that he would give me an actual ring. I knew that he was trying to save up the money. It didn't bother me. We would get around to it soon enough. In the meantime, I knew what we meant to each other.

My fingers went up to my hair to start running them through it, trying to brush out the knots. A few minutes passed before the bathroom door opened. I glanced up to smile at Bucky when I realized that he clearly thought that I would still be asleep. He was in his thin bathrobe, his wet hair pressed down against his forehead. His eyes went over to the bed and he stared at me with wide eyes. Our cheeks immediately went red as we laughed at each other. I wasn't sure if he was wearing anything under the robe, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to know. It was too late for him to dart back into the bathroom, so he merely smiled at me.

"We have to stop meeting like this," I teased.

It seemed like we were always being caught in awkward circumstances. Bucky laughed once more and pushed back his wet hair off of his face. "I thought that you would be asleep for a little while longer," he told me.

Shrugging my shoulders, I scooted back against the walls, pulling my knees up to my chest. "You know me. I don't sleep that much. I don't like sleeping," I muttered.

Bucky's eyebrows rose. "I didn't know that," he said.

Maybe I hadn't ever told him about my distaste for sleep. "I never wanted to tell you. When I'm asleep I don't hear anything. Everything seems so dark and I feel so helpless. Even in the dark, I can see everything. But when I'm asleep... Things are different," I admitted, the feeling of helplessness that I felt when I was asleep.

Obviously Bucky understood what I meant. He walked towards me and placed a hand on my knee. "You should have said something," he told me softly.

"It makes me feel better with you here. Doesn't feel so lonely," I whispered.

It was just like I had said before. If there was one person that I could be weak for, it was him. "I'll always be here," he said.

And I believed that. "Thank you," I said softly.

"Don't thank me. It's my pleasure," he said. I smiled at him as he leaned down towards me. "Ti amo." My eyebrows rose. I definitely knew that he loved me, but I didn't know that he could say it in another language.

"Since when could you speak Italian?" I teased.

He had never known other languages. Bucky laughed and shook his head at me. "I can't really speak it that well. There are just a few things that I can say. I had the local kids in Venice teach me that one," he explained.

Smiling at him, I nodded. "Ti amo anch'io," I responded.

With a small smile on his face, Bucky grabbed my ankles and yanked me towards him, I laughed as I slid to the edge of the bed, hopping up to my feet. His arms went around my waist as he gently walked me backwards. I smiled as he pushed the hair back off of my face, the two of us walking straight back into the wall. Laughing softly, Bucky caught my lips in a searing kiss. My hands bunched up into the front of his robe, keeping him pressed against me. We both laughed up against each other as his hands dropped a little lower than he had dared before. Not that it bothered me. Not as long as it was him.

The two of us were standing as close as humanly possible when Bucky pulled away from me, pressing a kiss against my forehead. "Wear something that you can move in," I told him.

"Are we training today?" he asked.

Grinning happily, I nodded at him. It was time to start really training them. "I've been taking it easy on you guys for the past few days." Bucky scoffed, obviously not agreeing with that statement. "But we're going on the first mission soon. I really need to be training you guys as much as I can. And as hard as I can," I said.

Humming softly at me, Bucky shook his head. "Not sure that I like the sound of that," he said.

"Don't worry. I'll take it easy on you."

"No you won't," he shot back.

Smiling softly, I nodded at him. "No I won't," I agreed.

We both laughed Bucky finally released me from his grip against the wall. I grabbed onto his robe and yanked out his knee, tripping him back onto the bed. We went rolling backwards to Bucky's surprise as I landed on him. He laughed softly at me as I slid slightly off to the side, gently laying against him.

Flicking him on the nose, I laughed as Bucky's hand pressed against my lower back, keeping me against him. "See? You have to show me just how strong you've gotten," I said teasingly.

"Never as strong as you are," he said.

And he was right about that. He would never be as strong as I was. "And you really don't mind that?" I asked curiously.

He shook his head at me, making me smile. "Not at all." I smiled at the admission. "I want to tell you something." I nodded for him to continue. "During those years that you were gone... I'll be honest. I went on a few dates," he said.

I was unsure of what he was telling me that for. I nodded at him, knowing that he had been on a few dates. That didn't bother me. He had thought that I was gone forever. "I'm not upset about that. I knew that you would move on. I'd like to say that I wanted you to move on. But I didn't," I said. We both laughed softly. Neither one of us had ever wanted the other to move on. "Still, I'm happy that you tried."

Bucky pressed a hand underneath my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes. "There was never anyone that came close to you. Some of them lasted for a while. But I always knew that none of them were right for me. You were always the only person that was right for me," he told me.

Pressing myself up off of the sheets slightly, I leaned forward and pressed a small kiss against his lips. "Can I ask you something?" I said once we had broken the kiss.

"Sure."

Unsure of whether or not I wanted to know the answer, I spoke anyways. "Did you ever come close to proposing to someone?" I asked.

Bucky looked thrown by the question. He was silent for a moment before answering. "Yes." My stomach gave a funny jolt. I had asked the question, I'd known that there was a chance that he would say yes. "Her name was Betty. I dated her for over a year before coming to Camp Lehigh. We broke things off just two weeks beforehand. I really did think about proposing to her. She had already been talking about marriage. I thought about it for a few days before I knew that I couldn't do it. So I called it off and told her that she deserved for someone else to be with her. I told her that she deserved someone else. At the time I thought that it was just because I wasn't ready. But now I know that it wasn't that... It was because she wasn't you," he told me.

His fingers gently dug into my back. I knew that he had always wanted to be with me. Just the way that I'd always wanted to be with him. "Thank you for telling me the truth," I said softly.

"It wouldn't have worked out," Bucky said quickly.

Raising my brows at him, I glanced over to see a very determined look on his face. "Why's that?" I asked curiously.

Bucky turned towards me and pressed a kiss against my lips, pulling away a second later. "Because she wasn't you. You're the only person that I've ever wanted to be with," he admitted.

We stared at each other before I took a deep breath, knowing that I should say something. "I know that you saw my conversation with Logan." Bucky stiffened slightly and nodded at me. "You should know that I only offered for him to come with me because I wanted to give him a chance to walk away from his quest. And it would have been nice to have another mutant around. And Howard... He's a pain in the ass but he is one of my best friends. That's it. When I said that you were the only person that I've ever been with, I meant it," I said honestly.

There was never anyone else that I wanted to be with. Bucky nodded at me. "I believe you. That kiss with Stark, it doesn't bother me. Hell, it's the reason that we got together," he said. We both laughed at the very awkward memory. "I guess that we both always knew that we only wanted to be with each other."

"I think so." Bucky leaned over to me and gave me a long kiss. A moment later, Bucky got up from his spot on the bed. I knew that he was getting ready for the day. I flopped back into the bed, trying to motivate myself to get up. "I'll leave in just a minute," I called after him.

"No rush," Bucky called back.

If we both had it our way, we would stay in bed for the rest of the day. There was nothing that I wanted to do today other than lay in bed. For a moment I was jealous of all of the women back home that could do just that. I spotted Bucky walking into the corner of the room and my eyes followed his movements. I glanced over at him and smiled. He had dropped the robe off of his frame. He was only wearing a pair of shorts underwear. He was shirtless and the bottom half of his legs were bare. My face heated up slightly, but I didn't take my eyes off of him. It was nice to see him like that. He obviously knew that I was looking at him.

His head turned back to me and he smiled. My eyes briefly darted down to his chest before glancing back up. "See something that you like?" he teased as he walked up to me.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I nodded. Not a typical woman, Bucky. "As a matter of fact, I do," I shot back.

Bucky walked up to me to the point that his hips pressed into mine, gently pressing me back into the wall. His hand placed itself on my hip, moving forward to the bottom of my shirt. He bunched it in his hands, pulling it up just a few inches. It pulled our torsos together as Bucky placed his mouth next to my ear.

"Well you could always -"

"Ring first," I interrupted.

His head snapped back to look at me as we both laughed. I did mean it. The ring had to come first. If there was one thing that I wanted to do traditionally in my life, it was that. Even though I sometimes hated myself for making that promise. "Working on it," he promised me. His hands were still knotted in my shirt. "What's on the agenda today, boss?"

My arms wrapped around the bare skin on Bucky's back, smiling softly at him. "We're training today," I said.

"All day?"

"The first mission is going to be in just ten days. I have to have you boys ready before we go," I told him, feeling my stomach churn. They were going to be fine. I would protect them. "Steve's shield is almost done and I think that Howard finished with the weapons and uniforms. I'm going to go pick them up today and then we're going to train."

He didn't look thrilled that we would be training all day, but he nodded at me anyways, knowing that there was no point in fighting me on it. "So we're learning to use everything that we're going to use out there?" he asked.

"Yes. It's best that you're all well-versed in your weapons of choice," I told him. He nodded at me, releasing his grip on my shirt. "Okay, I need to go get ready for the day. I'm going to head over to the base with Steve to get everything and we'll meet the rest of you down in the ballrooms. See you soon."

"I'll get everyone ready," he told me.

"Thanks."

Once more his hands wound around my back. My arms knotted over the back of his neck as he pulled me in for a kiss. We were pressed together for a moment before he finally released me. I pressed a kiss on the underside of his jaw before turning and slipping out of the room, trying to brush off his thoughts that followed me out of the room. My irises turned a bright pink as I realized that he was probably a little more determined to get that ring a faster now. I quickly darted back into the room that Peggy and I shared, barely closing the door in time to keep one of the Army men from realizing that I was trying to get back into my room.

The alarm was chirping on Peggy's bedside table and I watched as she smacked it, trying to roll out of bed. I did feel bad for her. We had stayed up gossiping last night until she'd fallen asleep, at which point I'd gone over to Bucky's room. I changed into my uniform that Howard had designed while Peggy weakly limped into the bathroom. I brushed my hair down over my shoulders before pushing it back over my shoulders. I pinned back my bangs, not worried about doing anything more with my hair. I had my feet up on the bed as I laced up my boots when Peggy popped out of the bathroom, looking slightly more awake now.

She seated herself on the edge of my bed as she began pinning up her hair. I smiled at her as I continued to lace up the boots. "How's Bucky?" she asked.

My head snapped up to her. "Did you call him Bucky?" I asked.

She glanced up at me and nodded. "Yes. We've come to an agreement."

Raising a brow at her, I smiled. I wanted them to be friends. I was glad to see that they were trying. "I'm glad to hear that. I've wanted the two of you to start getting along. I think that you'd like him," I told her.

"If you like him, that means that I like him, too." Turning towards her, I gave a little smile. I grabbed the dog tags and pulled them off of my neck. The uniform was too tight to wear the necklace tucked into it. "You should wear that ring on your finger," Peggy said as I placed them up on the shelf.

Shaking my head at her, I dropped back into the bed as she started to get ready to leave. "It's not an engagement ring. It's just so that I know how he feels about me, in the event that something happens," I muttered awkwardly. But he would be fine. They would all be fine. "Plus I can only imagine what's going to happen if Chester sees the ring. What if he thinks that I got engaged without Bucky asking for my hand?"

That was all up to him. "Is he going to ask?" Peggy asked as she began buttoning her shirt.

Shrugging my shoulders at her, I began to pick at the underneath of my nails. "I'd imagine that he will. He knows that Chester isn't my father but he also knows how much we mean to each other. He's a proper man. He's going to want to ask someone," I said.

Honestly I wasn't one hundred percent positive that Bucky was going to ask Chester. I had a feeling that he would, but I wasn't sure. "What if he asks Steve?" Peggy asked.

My head turned over to her. That was a slight possibility. I was sure that Steve would give his blessing. "Honestly, he might do that, too. That would basically be like asking my brother," I said.

Glancing over at her, I saw that Peggy was smiling brightly at me. "You two are so cute," she told me.

Rolling my eyes at her, I gently reached out and kicked her leg. "We're just like anyone else," I argued.

"You two are so far from anyone else that it's not even funny," she snapped.

"I suppose that's the truth." We were silent for a moment before I glanced back at her. "What are you doing today?" I asked.

Peggy let out a deep breath. I assumed that whatever she was doing today was something that she didn't want to be doing. "Colonel Phillips wants a full write-up on those other Hydra bases. While you're training the men, he wants to start organizing attacks on the troops to make your infiltration missions a little easier," she said.

Definitely not an amusing thing to spend a day doing, but it was something that she needed to take care of. It was something that Steve and I would have to get involved with in the coming days. "Well I appreciate that," I told her.

While I was training the men, it was nice to know that someone was getting ready for the attacks on paper. "I'm heading out," Peggy said, slipping heels on her feet, turning to leave the room. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Howard got Bucky and I a reservation to that little restaurant downtown," I said.

Peggy nodded, pushing her hair behind her ears. "That's right, I forgot that was tonight." I hummed at her as I stood from the bed. "You know what I was thinking about yesterday?" she asked after a beat.

"Probably something that I won't like."

"Hush," she snapped at me. I grinned at her, having known that my comment wouldn't be appreciated. "You think that the two of you haven't been together that long. It's almost December."

"I was aware of that."

We were entering December in just a matter of days. I was rather excited to spend Christmas with everyone this year. "In January, you two will have been together for two years," Peggy said. I glanced up at her, almost surprised. It felt a lot shorter than that. "That's longer than most people are together before getting engaged."

Coughing awkwardly, I gave her a small smile and rolled my eyes. "I'm so glad that I have other people to keep track of my relationship for me," I said teasingly.

Peggy scoffed, knowing that she wasn't going to get any farther with me. She rolled her eyes at me as she turned to leave the room. "Good luck training the men today. I'll see you later," she called through the door.

"Bye, Pegs," I called after her.

She walked from the room and the door closed behind her. Making sure that I had everything with me, I checked myself over in the mirror before turning to leave the room. I walked out towards the lobby, saying hello to a few people that were lingering out in the hallways. It didn't take me long to make my way into the lobby of the building. Steve was already there and I smiled at him. He had been waiting for me so that we could go to the base together. There were probably quite a few things that we needed to pack up.

He was in his Army uniform, as usual. It almost made me laugh. He really was in his element out here. This was really the place that he had always needed to be. "Ready to go?" I asked him as I walked up to his side.

Steve nodded at me as we turned to leave. We had barely made it out of the building when he glanced over at me. "You didn't have Stark redo the design for the suit, did you?" he asked.

"No, but I really should have," I teased.

"I'm glad that you didn't."

Shoving into him, I laughed as his arm fell over my shoulders. "You know, my designs really aren't that bad. It's like you said, you were getting fond of the suit," I said.

"It looked like a costume," Steve shot back.

He wasn't wrong about that. His previous Captain America had definitely looked like a costume. We could only hope that this one would look a little bit less like it belonged in a cartoon. "Howard's might look a little more tactical, but it'll still look like a costume," I told him.

Steve shrugged his shoulders as he looked down at me. "Well as long as it looks a little more like yours," he said.

Snorting under my breath, I nodded at him. "Skintight?" I asked playfully.

He laughed at me and shook his head. His would definitely end up being made of a thicker material, meaning that it wouldn't be as tight as mine was. "Maybe you could add a little more fabric on the stomach and chest. And make it a little looser," he said, referring to my own uniform.

Rolling my eyes at him, I wrapped my arm backwards around his own waist. "Ever the protective older brother," I teased.

"Always."

We walked in silence for a moment before I glanced back at him. There was one thing that I was curious about. "Even with Bucky?" I asked, knowing that the two of them were closer than anyone else.

Steve laughed softly before nodding at me. "Definitely with Bucky." Perhaps it was because they were both so close to me, and each other, that they could threaten each other. "You know that I threatened him after I gave him that ring?" he asked me.

It didn't really shock me. Plus I knew that they would never really fight with each other. "I'm not surprised that you threatened him. I've threatened him myself," I told him. We smiled, knowing that we could both beat him. "I love you both more than anything. I know that neither one of you will ever hurt me. Not purposefully."

"Not for anything," Steve said fiercely.

"Although I would like to see a fight in between the two of you." I was sure that neither one of them would be able to throw a punch at the other. Not after everything that they had been through together. "I don't think that I've ever really seen the two of you fight. Just the one squabble before he deployed," I said.

That was the only time that I could ever remember them having an argument. Everything before that had just been little disagreements. "That was really the only time that we squabbled. There was only one other time," Steve said.

Curiously, I raised a brow. "Which was?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter," Steve said quickly.

My heart sank into my stomach. I realized very quickly that the past argument had been about me. My smile fell as I guiltily looked down towards the ground. "It was about me," I muttered.

"It doesn't matter," Steve repeated.

"Tell me what happened," I said sharply.

If the argument was about me, I wanted him to tell me what had happened. Steve sighed but nodded his consent. "You had vanished just a few days prior. Bucky was beside himself. He didn't talk to anyone unless it was to answer a question about you." My stomach churned. I had never realized just how much I meant to them. "We were getting worried about him. I was getting worried about him. So I asked what was going on and he told me to leave him alone. It was the first time that he'd ever said something like that," Steve said.

Their friendship had suffered a strain because I'd left. It only reminded me that I would have to spend the rest of their lives making up that one mistake. "Did you leave him alone?" I asked softly.

Steve laughed and shook his head. "No. I kept bothering him about it. And Bucky finally just shouted at me to go away." I cringed at the thought of that happening. "But I didn't. So we just sat together. We didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. There was only one thing that I could think to say," Steve admitted.

"And what was that?"

"I thought that I had lost you. I didn't want to think about losing him, too," Steve said.

"So what'd you say?"

"I'm with you 'til the end of the line."

Smiling softly at him, I nodded. They had already thought that I was gone forever, they couldn't bear to lose each other. "Brothers through and through," I said, patting Steve on the arm.

They really were. They might have been from two very different families, but they really were brothers. They always had been. "He said it back to me when Mom died. I just wanted to be alone. I didn't want to be around anyone. But just like that day, we knew that the other one couldn't be alone," Steve told me.

It was moments like these that I hated myself for ever rising to Johnathan's bait. I should have just walked away from them. "I wish that I hadn't left," I said, guilt weighing down on me heavily.

Steve wrapped an arm around me once more and pressed a kiss down into my hair. "Can't change the past. But we can make a new future," he told me.

"Together," I said.

"Together," Steve agreed.

We walked together in silence for a moment. We were only walking for a few moments before another question dawned on me. "Have you asked Peggy to go dancing yet?" I asked brightly.

Steve narrowed his eyes at me. "We're training today," he said.

Whacking him on the shoulder, I rolled my eyes at him. "Not today, you dimwit." Steve rubbed his arm before looking down and glaring at me. He was such a baby. He needed to just ask her to go dancing. "Ask her before we go out on the first mission. It might be nice for the two of you to speak to each other," I told him.

Steve sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as we walked into the base. "She's still angry with me," he mumbled.

The two of us were heading back towards Howard's workshop that was set up in the back of the base. "You kissed another woman," I pointed out, glaring at Lorraine's office.

"For the last time, it wasn't my fault! Lorraine surprised me," Steve argued.

Rolling my eyes at him, I stepped past the guards into the back rooms. "You should have shoved her off of you," I told him.

"I still don't understand how this is my fault."

Turning back to him, I grinned. "Nor will you ever. Like Howard has said before. A man and a woman will never really understand each other. We just smile and nod and pretend like we care about whatever the other is talking about," I said as I walked into Howard's workshop.

He was standing behind a desk and glanced up as we walked in. He shook his head as he walked over to give me a quick hug. "Spoken like a single woman - which you are not," Howard snapped at me.

"Shut up. Show us what you've got," I told him.

Howard narrowed his eyes at me before motioning us away. "This way," he said.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I followed Howard over to a table laid out in the back of the room. There were quite a few weapons and suits laid out. Everything was stacked against each other. I couldn't even begin to understand how he was able to keep track of whose uniform and weapons were whose. I smiled as we walked up to the table and started to glance over everything. It was quite impressive for only having a few days to make everything. He must have been working overtime to get everything done in time for us to practice with them.

"So whose is whose?" I asked him.

Howard pointed at a suit at the edge of the table. "This is yours, pal," he told Steve.

The three of us crowded around the suit as Howard unfolded the suit to show us. There was a blue helmet that was similar to the one that Steve had stolen from one of the dancers. The suit was made out of a very thick material. The pants were a medium blue that would be tucked into brown boots. He would also have a set of brown gloves that would go almost up to his elbows. There was a weapons belt around the waist of the uniform, a thigh holster, and a holster that went across his body. Across his stomach was a white material, and on his chest was blue with a white star in the center. There were two red straps down over his chest to keep the weapons belt and pants held up.

Giving Steve a quick look, I saw that he was running his hands over the suit. He looked astonished by the sight of it. So I figured that I would speak first. "Looks good. Well done to both of you," I said, knowing that Steve had had a hand in designing the suit.

"All good?" Howard asked Steve.

Steve nodded, smiling at the sight of everything. "Looks great. Thanks," he said.

My attention had been caught on the shield. It looked much better now. There was a red ring, followed by a silver and another red ring before hitting the center circle, where there was a silver star surrounded with a blue background. "Check out the paint job on the shield," I said, holding it up.

Steve grabbed the shield, looking very much in love with the new weapon. "You said that you wanted some paint on it so I took the liberty of matching the two of you," Howard told him.

"It's great," I said.

"It is," Steve agreed.

He played with the shield for a moment before placing it back down. I could tell that he really wanted to continue holding it. It might become rather difficult to separate them. "The paint will scratch off from time to time so just bring it back to me and I'll redo the pattern," Howard warned about the shield.

"Alright."

Howard moved down the table a few inches to show us the next suit. "Sergeant Barnes's," he said.

Both Steve and I scrutinized the suit that Bucky would be wearing. His uniform was relatively similar to Steve's. He had dark brown boots that would lace up to about halfway up his shin. His pants were the same color, just slightly baggier than Steve's were. Howard had definitely taken the liberty to make the men look a little bit more like soldiers, while I looked more like an assassin. Perhaps that was accurate. He had a long sleeved blue tactical jacket that looked to be able to stop any smaller caliber rounds. Like Steve, had had a weapons belt and a cross-body strap that would hold a pistol.

Turning over to Howard, I nodded my consent. "Perfect," I told him.

The three of us exchanged a look and nodded at each other. I had definitely had a good hand in designing Bucky's uniform. I was glad to see that Howard hadn't done anything terrible to it. "Dugan's," Howard said.

He motioned us down another few inches. Dum Dum's looked a little bit more like a tactical version of a classic military uniform. It was perfect for him. And it was particularly good to hide the flaming red hair. His pants were shaped like Bucky's. They were a dark fatigue pattern that were tucked into deep green boots. He would have a black and grey striped sweater that would be placed underneath a deep brown bulletproof vest; that matched his bowler hat. He would have one belt that had holsters for what looked like grenades, a knife, and perhaps a pistol. The back of the vest had a strap for a rifle.

Nodding at the uniform, I glanced over to Howard. "Looks good," I said.

Howard nodded for us to follow him. "Morita," he said.

We looked over Jim's new suit. He would have brown boots that were pressed against his shins with deep green pads. His pants were similar to Bucky's, but they were a deep brown. On his torso was a deep blue tactical jacket that would be covered with a black and blue military vest. There was a cross-body strap that looked like it would be able to hold something on his back. There was even a strap on the vest that would hold more ammunition. It looked good enough to me.

I nodded at Howard that it was good. "Falsworth," Howard said, moving us along.

Steve and I moved down the line so that we could look at James's suit. He was wearing black boots that wrapped just over his ankles. His pants were slightly tighter than the others and they were a darker brown. There was a red turtleneck that would be placed underneath a brown military grade jacket. There was a holster that went under his arm that would hold a pistol and a cross-body strap that made an X across the front of his chest. There was room for explosives on the shoulder.

Once more, I nodded at Howard. That one was good enough and would provide him the room for the explosives that I assumed that he would carry. "Jones," Howard said.

Nearing the end of the table was the uniform that Gabe would wear. His pants were a deep gray that closely resembled Bucky's. He would have a deep brown jacket that would be layered underneath something that appeared to be a dark brown bulletproof vest. Across his chest was a case for high-caliber bullets. There was also a helmet that he would be able to wear on missions.

That one would work. Howard continued moving us down to the end of the table. "Dernier," he said.

We looked over Jacques' suit. I was very glad that we were almost done. His pants were more of a straight leg that were laid over a pair of black boots. I assumed that it was probably similar to the uniforms that the French wore. There was a blue collared shirt that would be layered underneath a brown military grade jacket. There was a belt that hooked around his waist and connected over his shoulder. It was enough that it would be able to hold a pistol and some explosives.

Once I was satisfied that it was everything that they needed, I nodded at Howard. "They all look great, Howard," I told him.

Howard glanced over at me and smiled. "I thought that you'd like them. I took their specialties into account and developed new tools for them all to use. They're in that case over there," he said, pointing to two large trunks. I raised my brow. Howard must have spent a long time on all of this. "Watch Dernier's."

Turning back to Howard, I gave him a long look. "Why?" I asked.

"Explosives."

Snorting under my breath, I shook my head at Howard. "Wonderful. Thanks for all of this," I said, motioning around to everything that was sitting around us. "And thanks for tonight."

Howard nodded at me and placed a hand on my arm. "You two have earned it. Let me know how it goes, tomorrow, alright?" he asked.

"I will."

Steve and I turned to gather everything so that we could leave. But before we could gather everything, Howard dashed over to me and placed a hand in front of me. "Oh, wait!"

"What?"

"I've got a few new things for you, too."

My eyebrow shot up to my forehead. "Me?" I asked him. He nodded proudly at me. "I don't really need weapons."

Howard nodded at me but motioned for Steve and I to follow him anyways. "I know. But I couldn't resist making a few things for you. I got carried away," he told me proudly.

"I'll say. How many of these things did you make?" I asked, seeing the entire table of new weapons.

Howard motioned to the two weapons at the end of the table. "Well those are more for fun. Check them out." I walked towards them and raised my brow. "That's a kakute," Howard explained.

It was an interesting little weapon. It reminded me of brass knuckles. It seemed to be made of iron and had two spikes. I picked it up and started to mess with it. Placing it on my index finger, I tried to hold it both ways. With the spikes were usually turned inward and applied to pressure points by gripping limbs or even the neck, it wound manage to stun an opponent and cause a nasty puncture wound. Maybe kill them depending on where the hit was. If I turned it outward, it would become spiked knuckledusters. I noticed that Steve hung back slightly as I pulled the ring off, placing it back on the table.

"And that is a haladie," Howard said.

Put simply enough, it was a double-bladed knife. It had two double-edged blades connected to the ends of a single handle. The handle on this knife seemed to be a type of durable steel. They were both ancient weapons that Howard had given a modern spin. It looked like it had been designed as a thrusting weapon, although the slightly curved blade could just as easily be used for slashes and parries. It would be able to stand up to most attacks.

"Those are cool. Not really practical," I told Howard.

"The rings..." Steve muttered.

Howard and I turned back to see what he was talking about. "What about them?" I asked.

"You said that the Chronicle only takes a few seconds to kill someone, right?" Steve asked me.

Raising a brow at him, I nodded. "That's if it's injected straight into the bloodstream. Indirectly would take at least a minute. Three at most." A moment later I turned back to the weapons. A grin started to spread over my mouth. I knew exactly what he meant. "You mean to soak the end of the blade in Chronicle. To poison someone. Look at you, starting to work like a spy," I teased.

He glanced over at me and shook his head. I could assume that he didn't like the thought of doing something like that to someone. "Just a thought," he said.

And it was a good thought. "I'll keep the kakute in mind," I said.

Howard motioned towards the other end of the table. "Those are actually yours," he told me.

My eyes traced over to the end of the table and I smiled. These were the modern weapons and he intended for me to use on a regular basis. Weapons weren't my favorite thing in the world, but I might get to liking these. He had a set of five throwing knives. The blade were double-edged and sharpened to a point. There was a pair of black batons, reasonably similar to the one that I had used to kill the Hydra guard, and a pair of new boots. They looked just like a newer version of the ones that I had now.

Picking up the batons, I twirled them both around in my hands before glancing back to Howard. "Escrima?" I asked Howard.

Howard nodded at me. "In the event that you want to keep someone away from you." There wasn't really anyone that I needed to keep away from me. It was easy to keep people away from me. "You fight the exact same ways all of the time. Try to do something different," Howard said, sensing my hesitance.

So I decided to give it a chance. "I'll take a look at them." Flipping the batons so that I was looking at the blunt end, I realized with a hint of curiosity that - despite the fact that the batons were heavy - there was a channel through the middle of them. "What's this channel?" I asked, pointing to the empty space in the center of the baton.

Howard seemed very glad that I had said that. "Use the electricity," he told me.

Holding the two batons in my hand, Howard pushed Steve back a few steps. I brought up an electrical current and shot it through my hands. That was when I realized that the electrical current shot through the baton and out of the end so that if I hit someone with the baton, it would electrocute someone. I would be able to keep the blast concentrated while using it. It meant less of a risk for others and it was a little more fun for me.

"Concentrated blast. I like it," I told Howard brightly. "Nice new shoes."

Howard scowled at me. "Try them on, asshole," he barked.

Grinning at him, I pulled off my own boots and replaced them with the new ones that Howard had made. They were a little tougher than the ones that I had, but they were lighter. "Easier to move in," I admitted.

"Yes. But that's not what I made them for. There was just a tiny bit of the Vibranium left. Press down on the heels," Howard told me.

Raising my brows, I decided to play into Howard's little game. Whatever he had done with the boots, I was sure that I would love it and the men would not. I tapped down on the heels of the shoes and smiled. Automatically, two blades the size of my thumb shot out of the toes of the boots. They were Vibranium blades. Neat. I pulled one of my legs up and gently fingered at them, feeling just how sharp the blades were. One touch would cut someone's throat.

"Press down on the heel again to get it to go back into the boot," Howard said.

Once more I pressed down onto my heels. The blades slid back into the boots. "Hot damn," I muttered.

"Like them?" Howard asked.

"Love them."

Despite how much I liked the new boots, I could tell that Steve wasn't a fan. I had a feeling that Bucky wouldn't like them either. Not as long as they thought that I might use the new shoes on them. "Don't wear those when you're training us," Steve warned me.

Turning back to him, I rolled my eyes. "Big baby." Steve scowled at me as I turned back towards Howard and smiled. "Thanks for everything, Howard. They're great. I'll let you know how they're all working out later," I told him.

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

We exchanged a quick hug as Steve and I picked up everything that we had to take back with us. It was quite a number of things that we had. It was a good thing that the two of us were strong enough to carry everything without a problem. We were heading back towards the barracks so that we could train with the rest of the men. I had a feeling that Bucky had managed to get them together by now. At least, I hoped that he had. As we walked, I noticed that Steve kept looking down at the boots on my feet. He was obviously very nervous.

"You're not going to train with those shoes, are you?" Steve finally asked.

Rolling my eyes at him, I waved him off. He was such a baby about things. "Relax I'm not going to train with the shoes. We're going to be training you with that shield though," I said, motioning to the shield.

Steve looked like a kid on Christmas morning. "Trust me when I say that I'm excited for that," he said.

Smiling over at him, I glanced down to see that he was holding the shield. I imagined that he wasn't going to be letting go of it any time soon. "You're going to be great with it," I said.

"Do you know how to train me with a shield?" Steve asked curiously.

Shaking my head at him, I figured that it would be a trial and error sort of thing. "I've never worked with one before but I'm sure that I can manage," I told him honestly. He nodded blankly at me. "I think it matches you quite well."

Steve gently nudged against me and I smiled, balancing the new uniforms for the men. "What do you know? Captain America seems to finally be coming into his own," he told me.

"Soon enough he might even be able to stand up against a mutant," I teased.

"Don't worry, Vic. You'll always be stronger than me," he told me.

Shrugging my shoulders at him, I nodded. "Trust me, I know that. I just wanted you to think that you'd have a chance," I shot back.

Steve's face fell as he sent me a little scowl. "You're annoying as hell," he snarled.

"That's what a sister is for," I said as we walked through the ballroom doors. All of the men were already there and laughing with each other. "Looks like everyone is here."

Bucky glanced up as we walked in and smiled at me. "So you don't get to beat them up for being late," Steve teased me.

Shrugging my shoulders at him, I walked a little further into the room towards the table. Steve and I dropped everything on the table for the men to sift through as Bucky walked over towards us. "I'll figure out something else to beat them up for," I teased, turning back to Bucky as he came to stand with us. "Thanks for getting everyone here on time."

He shrugged his shoulders and pressed a kiss into my hair. "You know me. Always on top of things," he said.

Rolling my eyes at him, I motioned everyone forward, gently disentangling myself from Bucky. "These are your uniforms. Come on over and get them. Go get changed and Steve and I will lay out the weapons that everyone will be training with. We'll teach you what they are first," I told the men.

They were all chattering excitedly as Steve and I motioned them to their respective uniforms. They all grabbed them before leaving to change. Since I was the one that was laying out the weapons, they would leave. Not that seeing them in their undergarments would have really bothered me. I'd seen worse. Steve went with them to get changed into his own uniform as I began gathering the weapons and laying them out for the men to use. They took a few minutes before coming back, now chattering even louder. They looked very excited about their new uniforms as they came back in to stand across from me.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I smiled at them. They looked good. My eyes locked onto Bucky for a moment before I looked away as the men started teasing us. "Looking good. I'll be moving around to teach you all about them. In the meantime, Steve, you know hand-to-hand pretty well. Work with each other, okay?" I instructed.

Steve nodded and stepped back to teach the other men about their new weapons. "We'll stay out of your way," Steve told me.

Nodding at him, I looked over the men, debating on which one to pull forward first. I wanted to keep Bucky and Steve for last. "Dum Dum, why don't you come over first?" I decided.

Dum Dum walked over to me and took a seat at the table as I handled the weapons. "What are we doing, boss?" he asked me.

"Let's look at everything that you've got." My hand wandered over to the first of the weapons that Howard had supplied at Dum Dum's request. "Winchester Model 1879. Pump-action shotgun. Sixteen-gauge. Twenty-eight inch barrel. Five shell capacity. Not a bad choice, my friend," I said, glancing through the sights, handing it over to Dum Dum.

Dum Dum took it with a little laugh. "And they say women don't know anything about guns," he said, pumping the gun.

Smiling at him, I reached over and grabbed the pistol from his pile. "And you have your side arm. Colt M1917 Revolver. Six shots, forty-five grain." I opened the chamber and spun it quickly before tucking it back in. "I'd recommend using that shotgun unless your back is up against the wall. Shotgun gets you a little more range," I told him, handing over the Colt.

He grabbed it and looked it over. "Sounds good," he said.

"You know how to fight with that shotgun?" I asked.

Dum Dum glanced up at me, obviously surprised with my comment. He shook his head. "No ma'am," he admitted.

"We'll work on it. Go on over with Steve and the others," I told him.

He nodded at me and placed a hand on my shoulder, tucking the weapons onto him. "I like 'em. Thanks darlin'," he said, walking by me.

"I'm glad that you like the choices." He walked back over to the other men and I turned back to them, deciding to just go down the line. "Gabe. Wanna come take a look?" I called out to him.

He nodded at me and left Steve's side to come stand next to me. "What do we got?" Gabe asked as he walked up to me.

Pulling his pile over to me, I showed him the weapons. "Two new toys." Gabe smiled at my wording. "Browning M1919A4 machine gun. Thirty caliber. Largest and most common variant of the M1919. Twenty-four inch barrel. Two hundred and fifty round belt." I reached over and patted the chest where the bullet belt would go. "I'm going to teach you how to use this and we're going to work together. My force fields can keep you safe while you use this to take out large masses of Hydra soldiers," I informed him.

Gabe actually looked relieved at the news that the two of us could work together to take out mass forces. "I'd much rather have you around me," he said, laughing softly.

Smiling at him, I patted his back. "Glad that we're on the same page. You've also got yourself an M1928A1 Thompson." I grabbed the rifle and flipped it in my hands. "You were issued this during the deployment, correct?" I asked him.

He nodded at me. "Yes. Out before Azzano," he said.

"You like it?"

Gabe stared at it for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. He seemed a little more than fond of the Browning. "I'll keep the Browning as the primary firearm," he said, gripping it tightly.

Smiling once more, I laughed softly. That would have been my pick if I was him. "Good. I assume that I don't have to teach you about the Thompson then?" I asked.

"I can manage."

"Perfect. Go on back."

Gabe and I turned back in time to see Steve block a powerful hit from Bucky. The two men went into a quick grapple, Steve, being the better trained, having the upper hand. "They're looking good, Victoria," Gabe told me brightly.

"I'm glad that you like it." He walked off with a smile and I glanced back at the other men. "James. Shall we?" I called out.

He glanced up and gave a slight incline of the head as he walked over towards me and came to stand next to me. "What's here?" James asked, standing over my shoulder.

"Sten Mark II SMG. Not bad. British Armed Forces weapon." They were really the only people that used the Sten. Not that it was a bad gun. "Seven-point-eight inch barrel. Weapon of choice, I assume?" I asked him.

James nodded at me. "I was taught to use it when I was younger," James said.

Perhaps his father had been a hunter and had taught him. It didn't matter. "If that's what you're good with, that's the only thing that matters to me. Here we have your side arm," I said, pulling out the pistol that was sitting on the side. "Webley Mark IV. Forty-five grain. Revolver, six shots. Fifty yard firing range."

James laughed softly and I glanced over at him, wondering what he was laughing for. "It's like you've swallowed a textbook," he explained.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I couldn't help but to laugh as well. "So I've heard." I reached over and grabbed the belt of bombs. "Here's a belt of Mills bombs. Hand grenades, better known as. Seven second delay so be weary," I told him, being very cautious to hand it over.

"Filling?" he asked, looking them over.

"Baratol. Mixture of TNT and barium nitrate with a small quantity of paraffin wax."

"Highly explosive," James said.

"Yes. So, as I said, be careful with them."

James nodded at me as he gently placed the grenades back onto the table with his other weapons. "I will. Thank you, Victoria," he said.

"Not a problem. Head on back." James got up to leave and I turned back to the other men. "Jim. Come on down!" I called.

Jim walked over to me, standing above the weapons. "Lay it on me," he said.

Grabbing the first of his gun, I gave it a once-over. Howard must have gotten special authorization for this one. "M3A1. The 'Grease Gun' as they call it. Forty-five caliber. This is a new improvement of the old version. It probably won't be available to the military for another year. But Howard got an early version for you," I admitted, handing him over the new weapon.

It looked like Jim was in love as he began to look over the weapon. It was the only one that had been with his things. I assumed that it was expensive. "Remind me to send him a present," Jim said, not taking his eyes off of the gun.

Smiling at him, I nodded. "Not a problem. Head back, alright?" Jim turned around and headed back to the other men as I glanced back to their lineup. "Jacques, come over," I called out.

Jacques walked over and looked over my shoulder. "What have we here?" he asked.

Moving towards his things, I motioned to them. "A few different things. Sten Mark II SMG. James has the same one. The two of you will work together on it. And we've also got you an M1A1 carbine. Fifteen round magazine," I said, allowing him to give the weapons a good look. "And I hear that you're an explosives expert?"

Jacques glanced back over at me and smiled, giving me a little nod. "Yes, ma'am," he said brightly.

That would definitely come in handy a little later, during the missions to the Hydra bases. "We'll keep that in mind. Any questions?" I asked him as he was still looking over the weapons.

Jacques shook his head at me. "None. Let me know when you'll need the explosives," he told me.

Smiling brightly, I nodded at him. "Trust me. We will." Jacques and I exchanged a smile as he walked backwards towards the other men, leaving only Bucky and Steve. "Bucky!" I called out.

He walked up to me and smiled as he stood behind me. I rolled my eyes, feeling his chest pressed up against my back. "You didn't get me anything that's going to blow up in my face, did you?" he asked teasingly.

Maybe he wasn't teasing me. That was very much like me to get something that would explode in his face. As long as it didn't really hurt him. "I thought about it." He gently nudged against my back and I laughed as I was shoved forward into the table. "We've got all sorts of fun stuff for you to try out," I said, motioning to the table.

"You designed this, didn't you?" Bucky asked, motioning to his uniform.

Screwing my face up in confusion, I nodded at him. "I had some say in it." Howard had asked me what I wanted Bucky to be in. I'd only made a few suggestions. "Why?" I asked.

Was there a chance that he didn't like it? "It's blue," he commented.

I'd always thought that he liked blue. "So?" I asked, slightly harsher than I'd meant.

Bucky didn't take offense. He merely smiled and slid a hand over my arm. I was very glad that the men were too busy beating each other to a pulp to pay attention. "That's your favorite color," he whispered in my ear.

Ignoring his comment - because it was true - I picked up the guns that were laid out for him. "M1928A1 Thompson. Thirty round box magazine. Slightly increased accuracy from the original model." I handed off the rifle to him as I picked up the pistol. "Colt M1911A1 pistol. Side arm, I assume. Forty-five caliber. Seven round magazine. Very common," I said as I handed that one over to him as well.

Bucky racked the slide back and I smiled. "Perfect," he said, releasing the slide.

We stayed in silence for a moment as Bucky looked the weapons over. "You mentioned to me in one of your earlier letters that you frequently worked as a sniper for your Infantry." Bucky nodded at me. "How do you feel about keeping that status? Protect the men from a distance. Watch over everything that I can't see on the ground," I told him.

Bucky glanced over at me and nodded. "I can do that," he said.

"Good." I reached over and grabbed the next of the guns that I'd personally asked Howard to get. "M1941 Johnson rifle. Rotating bolt, ten rounds," I said, handing it off to him.

Bucky spent a few minutes looking over it. "Not bad," he said, as he placed it back onto the ground. "What did Stark give you?"

Smiling at him, I grabbed my little package of weapons. "Kakute." Bucky did not look happy at the sight of that. "Haladie." I noticed him take a step back at that one. "Throwing knives." He watched me spin them curiously for a moment before I placed them back on the table. "A pair of black batons - mostly used for escrima fighting." I noticed him rubbing the back of the neck, probably remembering the Hydra guard whose skull I had crushed with the baton. "And these," I said, motioning down to my feet.

Everything that had obviously been making him uncomfortable before had gone straight out of his head. His eyebrows rose as he glances down at the shoes. "New shoes?" he asked dumbly.

"Watch."

Gently pressing down against the heels of the shoes, Bucky and I watched as the blades shot out. I noticed the color drain from his face. "That's neat," he said weakly.

"Vibranium blades," I explained.

Bucky smiled at me but I noticed that he was standing back slightly. He obviously didn't want me to kick him. "You're not going to train us with those, are you?" he asked carefully.

Rolling my eyes, I pushed Bucky off to the side, walking off towards the others. "Honestly you boys are such babies. I have enough control that even if I was fighting with them, I wouldn't stab you," I told him.

"Just to be safe," Bucky said.

Just so that he would stop whining, I slipped the shoes off of my feet. It would hurt a lot less if I kicked them like this anyways. I turned back to the others and cleared my throat. "Gentlemen! Everyone have their weapons together?" I asked. They all stopped fighting long enough to look at me and nod. "Let's fight." That earned a great deal of groans. "Line up. Who goes first?"

They all exchanged looks with each other and I smiled, knowing that they didn't want to be the one to fight me. Dum Dum stepped forward and sighed. "What the hell? I'll go," he told me, standing across from each other.

Checking to ensure that the rifle was clear, I nodded for Dum Dum to make his move. He was holding the rifle out to me as the men counted down from three. The moment that they hit one, I saw Dum Dum pull the trigger. I ducked into a roll forward as the gun clicked and rose back to my feet. I grabbed the barrel of the gun and jammed it back upwards into his nose. He groaned as I raised my knee and kicked him in the stomach, throwing him over himself. He grunted in pain as I wrenched the gun away from him and turned it back, finger on the trigger. Dum Dum laughed as he raised his arms to me in surrender, weakly stumbling back to his feet.

Smiling at him, I motioned for him to come forward so that I could explain to him the things that he could have done differently. Obviously he could have fired the gun at me again. I had told him that the moment that I reached for the barrel of the gun to fire. For an average person, the heat generated at the blast would cause them to drop their grip. And, if that didn't work, I had mentioned for him to drop the gun and grab my knee. If he was fighting against someone else, it would be the perfect time to pull the knee out of place, effectively putting someone out of fighting.

Once I was sure that he was alright, I allowed Dum Dum to go back into the lineup. Staring at them for a moment, I grinned towards Jim. He sighed at me. "Jim. Wanna try?" I asked.

Jim walked forward with his rifle in hand. "Gonna take it easy on me?" he asked me.

"I already am," I said.

We both smirked at each other as Jim got down into a fighting position. Just like with Dum Dum, the men counted down the fight. It made it a little easier for us to react at the same time. Grabbing a baton from my own arsenal, I swung it around before grabbing the end. I saw Jim swallow a lump as the men got to one. I swung the baton out towards Jim's rifle before he got a chance to pull the trigger. It hit the edge of the rifle and Jim's weapon was knocked from his hands at the impact. I dropped the baton before rearing forward and kicking him under the jaw. He grunted as he stumbled back and I slid forward on my hand and forward with my thighs, grabbing the rifle and turning to point it at him.

Just like with Dugan, Jim knelt over on his knees and laughed, holding up a hand to stop another attack. I laughed and stepped forward so that I could show him what had gone wrong. I showed him that he should have turned the rifle to the side to stop the attack from the baton. And in the event that he was unable to catch my attack with the baton, I had showed him the proper way to catch my leg and shove me backwards before I could react and kick out with my other leg. He was strong and fast, so it might work on the average fighter.

Grabbing his face and forcing him to look at me, I nodded. He would be fine. "You're not that big. Use that to your advantage," I told him.

It meant that there was a smaller target area. "Got it," Jim said.

He was rubbing at his jaw and I cringed. I might have kicked him a little harder than I had thought that I did. "Sorry about the jaw," I said awkwardly.

"That's alright. Hell of a kick you've got there," Jim told me.

Smiling at him, I nodded. "Thank you." Jim stepped backwards as I looked over the men. "Jacques! Come on down," I called out.

He let out a little puff of air and nodded at me, taking a step forward. I'd spotted before that he was not the best with hand-to-hand combat so I decided that I would take it a little easier on him. James was kneeling down with the rifle upright and I watched as the men counted down. The moment that they got to one, Jacques let off a false shot that I ducked out of the way of. As he attempted to shoot again, I ran up to him, quickly turned to gather momentum, and swept my foot across the gun. It was knocked from his hands as I placed my foot back on the ground and used the other to kick him in the chest, flinging him backwards across the floor.

He had definitely done better with the rifle between the two of us, but he still wasn't very good. I showed him how the best method of attack was to drop the gun and catch my leg, shoving me backwards. In the event that I had managed to kick the gun out of his hands, I showed him another way to catch my leg. It was definitely obvious that he had never been given any formal combat training. As much as I liked Jacques, he would not be good to place in the front of a hand-to-hand fight.

Once he had demonstrated that he at least understood what I was talking about, I stood back and crossed my arms. "Did you do hand to hand fighting in France?" I asked curiously.

He shook his head at me. "Non. I am more of a marksman," he said.

That was what I had been expecting. I would definitely keep him in the background as a marksman. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." He stepped back and I looked back towards the others. "James. Take a crack at it," I said. He stepped forward as the men counted down.

Dashing straight towards James, I made a move to grab the barrel of the gun. He was smarter than Dum Dum. He turned it to the side so that I lost my grip on it. He thought that he had won as he tried to jam it back into my face, but I still knew better than that. Shoving the rifle downwards, I used it as leverage as I grabbed the middle of the rifle and jumped over James's shoulders to stand behind him. Turning backwards so that my front was pressed against his back, I kept our bodies together as I yanked upwards on the rifle and pulled it straight into his throat, suffocating him. We fought together for a moment before he tapped my thigh and I dropped my grip on the rifle.

It was one of the more impressive fights that we had all seen. James was definitely good with hand-to-hand - probably the best behind Steve and Bucky - but he was still nothing against me. I showed him the better way was to just drop the gun before I jumped so that I had nothing to choke him with, and I also showed him that stepping on my foot or driving his heel back into my knee would have helped. He seemed incredibly embarrassed that he hadn't thought about either one of those things. I had reassured him that during a fight, people panic and they forget how to properly fight or think through their movements.

Once the two of us had worked through the movements that I had made, I smiled at him, taking a step backwards. "Not bad. What would you think about a bayonet?" I asked curiously.

His face fell with curiosity before he nodded at me. "I could deal with that," he said.

"I think that it might be useful for you. I'll talk to Howard about it."

"Thank you, Victoria."

Nodding at him, I motioned for him to step back. "Not a problem." I glanced over the rest of the men before realizing that Gabe was the only one of them left - as I was still saving Bucky and Steve. "Gabe. Why don't we go with yours?" I called him out.

Weakly he stepped forward. I'd noticed that he was another one of the weaker men with hand-to-hand. I wanted to take it a little easier on him. With the attack on Hydra just a few days away, I couldn't risk accidentally hurting anyone. Gabe had the machine gun that was very easy to take away. Sliding past him on my knees, I rolled onto my back as Gabe aimed the gun downwards. I leaned backwards before raising my heels upwards and jamming them into the gun. It went backwards into his nose and he dropped it. I flipped upwards to my feet and watched as Gabe came to run after me again. He threw a punch and I caught his arm with my forearm, wrapping my other arm underneath his and turning my back to him, yanking forward and throwing him over himself.

Giving Gabe my hand, I grabbed his arm and yanked him back to his feet. While he was back on his feet I showed him the mistakes that he had made. I showed him that he really had to move faster with aiming the gun. Hydra wouldn't give him time to move the gun to aim. I also showed him that he really needed to keep his arms locked into place so I wouldn't be able to hit him with the gun. And, if all else failed, I showed him how he really had to be careful and not let me trap his arm in between mine.

The moment that Gabe had managed to get his breath back, I moved towards him with a guilty smile. "Not much for hand-to-hand, are you?" I asked as nicely as I could.

"That obvious?" Gabe said through a laugh.

"No offense."

"None taken."

Even though he wasn't good with hand-to-hand fighting, he was good with shooting. That was potentially the more important thing here. "But I do hear that you're a hell of a shot," I told him.

Gabe shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not bad," he said.

That was his way of trying to act nonchalant about something that he was clearly quite good with. "I'll keep that in mind. Take a break." He nodded at me and turned back. I looked back to the lineup and smiled at Bucky. "Bucky. We'll leave Steve for last. That shield will take some time to figure out," I told Steve.

He nodded at me and Bucky stepped forward. He was holding the rifle in his hands as he walked towards me. "See? Now I have something to hit you back with," he teased me as he walked towards me.

"You'll miss," I shot back.

And I meant it. As much as I loved Bucky, I was never going to let him best me in a fight. I was very proud of my fighting status against the men. "I might get in one," he told me smartly.

Best of luck with that. "Okay. Go for it," I said.

It was cute the way that Bucky got down into a fighting position. He was holding the rifle up and straight at me as the men began to count down to the fight. Bucky made a move to raise the gun and shoot, but I was faster. I jumped forward into a cartwheel and as I came to be vertical, I swung my legs past where they should have gone, swinging my body out to the side so that Bucky's gun was knocked out of his hand as my first foot came down. As my second foot came down, I kicked Bucky in the head, making him stumble backwards. The gun was on the floor in between us, waiting to be taken back.

Ducking down into a squat, I moved onto one hand and raised my knees and feet upwards as Bucky stumbled back towards me. My feet went straight into Bucky's stomach as he was thrown backwards. He hit the ground as I hit back to my feet and rolled forward, grabbing the gun. Bucky was trying to get up from the ground as I flipped forwards, landing with my legs on either side of his torso. With the rifle still in my hands, I swung it forward and down into Bucky's chest, pointing the barrel of the gun into his chest. He stared at me for a moment, pulling back from a punch that he was about to throw, and put his hands up.

Smiling at him, I got back to my feet and waited for him to do the same. Tossing the rifle back to him, I smiled slightly. He merely watched me as I motioned for Steve to toss me a baton. I took only one, standing up against Bucky with the rifle. Immediately I sprang forward towards him and swung out the baton. Bucky swung out the rifle and I narrowly ducked away from it. He swung the rifle down again as I managed to hook one of the batons underneath it, using the other baton to swing the rifle up and over, keeping it out of my firing range. I used the force to yank Bucky downwards. His torso was parallel with the ground as I pulled up one leg, wrapping it over his back, and used the other to yank him over himself, sending him sprawling and me into a forward roll.

The rifle had been knocked away from us in the brief fight, and so had the batons. Bucky managed to get back up to his feet and launch himself after me. I grabbed his arm as he swung out to punch me before shoving him backwards, aiming a strong kick into his ribs. He stumbled backwards as I placed my foot back on the ground and swung on it, reaching out my other leg to wrap around Bucky's torso. It caught over the back of Bucky's neck and he placed his hands on my waist, trying to yank me off, but it was too late.

Using the leg that was still on the ground, I went into a frontward dive to roll over myself, keeping my legs wrapped around Bucky's torso as I threw him over myself, into a roll. He hit the ground with my legs wrapped over his neck and chest, keeping him pinned as I reached backwards and grabbed the rifle. Sitting upright, I twirled it in my hands before aiming the barrel straight down at Bucky's chest. He looked at me and sighed, tapping my thigh to concede the fight.

There was a soft blush on Bucky's face as I sprung off of him, handing him back the gun, and taking a step backwards. We spent a long time going over everything that he had done wrong. I showed him the very obvious thing that he should have done at my first impact, which was take a step backwards. He felt very stupid for missing that one. Actually, that was what he should have done during most of the fight. He had done well against the batons, but I had made it a point to show him that he should have jammed the rifle upwards into my nose before I'd managed to flip him. There wasn't much that he could have done about the last move.

We finished fighting and I laughed as Bucky wrapped an arm over my shoulders. He looked exhausted as the men began to laugh at his - admittedly very good - efforts. "Good try though," I chirped at him.

Bucky was still wheezing slightly, trying to suck air back into his lungs. "One of these days, Vika, I'm going to beat you in a fight," he told me, sounding very determined.

"Best of luck," I teased Bucky. He smiled at me before taking a step back so that Steve could come forward. "Alright, Steve, your turn. Let's check out that shield." He stepped forward and I smiled, reaching back to the table. "If you get a weapon, I want one, too."

"That's not fair," Steve snapped.

Turning back towards him, I smiled. "You're not going to be fighting against someone that's unarmed. Trust me when I say that I'm taking it easy on you," I said as I grabbed a knife off of the table.

It was easy to see Steve take a step backwards. "With a knife?" he asked, the pitch of his voice rising.

Placing my hand against the blade, I bent it over itself. "Dull and plastic. It's a practice blade. It won't hurt you," I told him.

"Okay," Steve said, not looking completely convinced.

The knife was lighter than I was used to, but I could manage. The men counted down the fight, taking a few large steps backwards to give us enough room to fight. Shield in hand, Steve came running straight towards me. He raised it in front of himself as I sent a punch straight to the shield, stopping the attack dead in its tracks. Steve was shocked at the sudden stop. Seeing as it was vibration absorbent, neither one of us made a move. Knowing that I had to do something else, I used one hand to wrench the shield off to the side and send a kangaroo-like kick at Steve's chest. He was thrown backwards as I hit the ground, jumping back to my feet. Steve jumped forward into a roll as we made a move to fight again. He was definitely better with the shield.

He came back to swing the shield out to hit me but I managed to grab the edge with my hand, punching Steve in the chest with my spare hand. He grunted as he stumbled backwards and I aimed another hit to his face. As Steve recovered from the hit, I used my other hand to grab underneath the shield and turn it over to dislocate Steve's shoulder. But he was smart enough to know what I was doing. As I wrenched the shield over, Steve flipped with it, landing back on his feet. I raised a brow in surprise. He was learning. Holding the shield myself, I blocked two punches from Steve before tossing it back behind us. Steve came back towards me as I slipped the knife from the holster. I twirled it in my hand once as Steve bounced nervously, no longer having the shield to protect himself with. The knife was coated in black grease paint so that we would be able to see where I would hit him.

Coming towards Steve, we grappled for a moment as I slashed the knife back and forth. He was getting better with blocking the hits. But as I tossed the knife from one hand to another, over Steve's arm, I reached up and slashed the knife across his face. There was a black mark across his cheek. I sent the knife back towards his knee and left another black mark as I moved back upwards, slashing across his chest, leaving a thin mark. Shoving him backwards, he very narrowly missed another cut to his throat as I aimed a punch with my spare hand. It connected with his head and he stumbled back. Steve sent a very well-aimed kick, causing me to drop the knife for a moment as he managed to duck behind me and grab the shield again.

He managed to block three consecutive hits from me before I faked a hit to his ribs - causing him to lower the shield - before aiming a strong hit with his jaw, my fist connecting that time. Steve stumbled backwards as I threw my leg out backwards to kick him. He managed to block the kick with the shield as my back was turned - and that was where he made his fatal mistake.

He turned his back towards my own - placing our backs against each other - and made a move to grab me underneath the throat to throw me over myself, and for just a moment, I allowed him the chance to do that. As he flung me over himself, letting the grip drop, I rotated so that my legs caught his throat as I went to the ground. Steve went toppling over me as my legs locked over the arm with the shield on it. We hit the ground together as I landed on the upside-down shield and his arm that was still trapped inside the straps. The knife was behind us as I reached back to grab it and turned my torso, pressing the blade down against his chest, effectively ending the fight.

In a very rare occurrence, we were both breathing heavily. Steve was panting as my breath was coming just slightly faster than normal. The men were watching in amazement. "You almost won," I said, not liking that possible outcome.

The two of us jumped off of each other and back to our feet. "But I didn't," he said, leaning onto his knees.

"That was good," I admitted.

"Can we do another one?" he asked.

Staring at him for a moment, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Are you sure that you want to do another one?" I asked carefully.

There was a small grin on Steve's face. "You kidding? I'm just getting started," he told me.

Smiling softly, I nodded. If he wanted to fight, we would fight. Once more, the men counted us down. Steve had the shield in one hand as he advanced on me, swinging out with the free hand. I managed to lean back and kick away his hand before rearing back and sending the same leg into his sternum. He was thrown backwards as he threw another punch. I ducked out of the way of the hit, blocking four consecutive hits from Steve with my forearms. He swung the shield out towards me as I ducked down, spun in a squat, and did a one-handed cartwheel, shoving my foot underneath his jaw.

He stumbled backwards as I ran towards him again, jamming my knee into his stomach, knocking him backwards again. He raised the shield so that my punch to his head was deflected. Steve was very surprised as I did a spring forward, turning in midair, and grabbing his shoulders as I was straight over him. We both went tumbling backwards as I landed backwards in a squat. I aimed a hit down to Steve's face, but he managed to block it with the shield, shoving the shield upwards to throw me back. I slid back against the carpet on all fours. As I moved to run at Steve again, he came after me and locked his arms around my throat, keeping the shield over my torso. He wrenched me backwards as I flew backwards into a tuck and roll, facing him once more.

Running back towards him, I jumped upwards as Steve raised the shield. I alternated legs with two strong kicks towards the shield before landing once more. Steve held the shield up in front of his face to block a punch as I leaned downwards and swept out his legs from underneath him. He hit the ground as I went into a front flip, grabbing his arm and yanking him back upwards into a stand with me. He was turned away from me as I reached the arm upwards, feeling it crack slightly at the strange angle that I was bending the shield. Steve cried out as I wrenched the shield off of his arm and tossed it off to the side.

Steve desperately aimed a punch at me but I grabbed his fist with my own. His grip was stronger than I thought that it was, so I wrenched it off to the side before yanking it back the other way, sending the both of us into a sideways roll. It took Steve a moment longer to get back to his feet than it took me, so I used my window of opportunity. Turning my back to Steve, I gave a half twist before jumping upwards and sending my legs straight into Steve's chest. He was thrown backwards across the room as I landed sideways, ducking into a roll to regain my balance.

Walking back up to him, I reached down and gave him a hand up. "You alright?" I asked.

As he got back to hit feet, Steve was shaking his head clear. "Remind me to never fight against you without that shield," he said as he crossed the ballroom to get the shield back.

"You've managed for two years. Don't be a wimp," I snapped at him. He grabbed the shield and I smiled. He was actually a much harder opponent with it. "Alright... I think you've found your niche."

Steve held up the shield and patted it lovingly. "Told you that it was useful," he said.

"Don't get too cocky. Like you said, don't get in a fight with me without it. Put that shield down and let's see who wins," I said.

I could spot Steve swallow a lump in his throat. "No thank you," he said quickly.

The two of us walked over to where the rest of the men were standing. They were all laughing at Steve's misfortune. Of course, they would have been much worse off. "That thing's not too bad," Bucky joked, patting the shield.

Laughing at the two of them, I turned back to the others. "You guys are getting better," I told them honestly.

With each passing day I could see that they were getting a little bit better. "You're just telling us that because it's what we want to hear," Dum Dum told me.

Turning back towards him, I shook my head. "I am not telling you that because it's what I think that you want to hear. I'm telling you that because it's the truth. I can see that you're all improving," I snapped at him.

He gave me a bashful look as Steve interrupted the tense silence. "Think we're going to be ready by next week?" he asked me.

There was never going to be a time that we were completely ready. But we were definitely close enough. "We need to get things together before we're actually ready to infiltrate the facility, but in the next few days I think that we're going to be ready to start the attack on Hydra," I told them.

They all nodded at me. "Anything else for tonight?" Gabe asked.

For a moment I debated on fighting with them as a group or individuals. But after a few beats I decided against it. "I took it kind of hard on you all tonight. We'll work on it again tomorrow." They looked very relieved that I wasn't going to make them fight again. I was sure that they were all tired. "What time is it?" I asked.

Gabe glanced down at his watch. "Just past five," he said.

Nodding at him, I took a step backwards. "Okay. The choice is yours, gentlemen. I have things to do tonight. But it's up to you whether you'd like to take a break and go back to the bar, your rooms, whatever, or if you'd like to stay and continue training," I told him, making it very obvious that my preference was that they trained a little longer.

Dum Dum took the hint as he turned back to the others. "What do you say boys? Train for another hour and get Cap to open up a tab?" he offered, patting Steve on the back.

Steve nodded his consent. "Sounds fair."

"See you boys later. Good job today, by the way," I told them all.

The men turned to leave as I made my move to head back to my room. "Come on, Bucky!" Gabe called when he saw that Bucky was hesitating.

Bucky stayed where he was standing and motioned back to me awkwardly. I watched with an amused quirk of the eyebrow. "Uh - We're going out," he said dumbly.

Dum Dum laughed and patted him on the back. "Good man!" he cheered

"Bring us back something to eat!" Gabe shouted from the other end of the room.

Jim walked over and threw an arm over Bucky's shoulder. "What the hell, Bucky? Not taking the rest of us out to eat?" he teased.

Smiling at their moment, I decided to give them some time together. "I'm going to go take a shower. See you boys a little while later." I departed from the men with quick hugs before turning back to Bucky. "Come get me when you're ready to go?" I asked him.

"Of course," Bucky said. We shared a quick kiss as I turned to leave. The other men were laughing at him, teasing him for the moment of affection. I rolled my eyes as I walked over to Steve.

"Take care of them, alright?" I asked him.

He nodded at me. "Sure thing. You're sure that we're ready to start infiltrating the Hydra bases?" he asked uncertainly.

I knew why he was nervous. If we weren't able to succeed on our first mission, we were risking their lives. Even after we'd told them that they would be fine. "I think so. We're going to start planning this week. Chester wants us to move forward with the attacks. The sooner we get the first one done and prove ourselves, the better," I said.

Steve nodded at me. "We can do that. Enjoy your night, alright?" he said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

Smiling at him, I nodded. "Thanks. We'll probably drop by the bar before heading back."

"See you in a few hours."

I was about to turn to leave when I saw something funny about his arm. "Come here," I said.

"Why?" Steve asked.

"Your shoulder is dislocated."

"I wondered why it felt so funny."

The two of us smiled at each other as I walked behind him. My hand gently pressed against the back of his shoulder as the other pressed against his front. The men watched curiously as I gave the shoulder a rough shove. It slipped back into place as Steve leaned over himself, obviously in pain. I knew that putting back dislocations was not a pleasant feeling.

Steve stood back upright and glanced over at me with dark eyes. "Next time just leave it," he said breathlessly.

Smiling guiltily at him, I gently tapped against his arm, feeling bad about accidentally hurting him. "Sorry about that," I said awkwardly.

"It's alright. Thanks for fixing it," he told me.

"Not a problem. I'll see you later," I said as I placed a kiss against his cheek.

Ignoring the men that were still teasing Bucky about taking me out on a date, I walked out of the ballroom and headed down to hall to my room. There weren't that many people around, considering that most people were still out at work. I softly padded into my room and said a quick hello to Peggy, who was writing something at her desk. I slid off my boots and placed them on the table with the rest of the weapons. Once I had everything together, I walked into the bathroom and hopped into the shower.

A small smile formed on my lips when I realized that Bucky and I really weren't a traditional couple. Men and women normally went out on dates all of the time. I could remember Bucky taking out a few girls in high school and he'd been out with them multiple times, no matter how short-lived the relationship was. But as for us, even after having been dating for some time - we had only been out on a few dates. This would be the third official date that we had been on. We'd gone to Coney Island together for his birthday and we'd gone out on the double date with Steve, Connie, and Bonnie before he deployed.

Once I had washed the shampoo out of my hair, I got out of the shower and let off a quick blast of flames, immediately drying myself off. I grabbed a robe and wrapped it around myself. As I walked out of the bathroom, I headed straight towards my dresser. But almost immediately I breathed out a puff of air. I wasn't sure what I should wear for something like this. Was it formal or did I wear the kind of thing that I normally wore? My head slowly turned back to Peggy.

She was still at her desk. "Hey, Peggy -"

"I've already got your things together," she interrupted. She got up from her chair and motioned towards me. I smiled at her. She must have known that I wouldn't know what to do. "Sit."

"Thank you," I said dumbly.

Peggy rolled her eyes at me but smiled anyways. We chatted back and forth about our days as her makeup brushes went over my face and as she began to curl my hair. I merely sat and let her do what she wanted. I'd learned that it was easier to just let her do whatever she wanted to me. About twenty minutes passed before she finally handed me a dress to step into. She helped me into it and pushed a pair of black high heels towards me for me to wear.

Once she was done with me, she allowed me to get up from the chair and look in the mirror. She had done my makeup reasonably demurely tonight. There was only a hint of mascara on my eyes and I was sure that she had done something to my face. I couldn't tell. Makeup was not something that I was good with. My hair had only been loosely curled, allowing it to fall over my shoulders. I looked different than any other girls that would dress up, but I supposed that was the point. The dress that Peggy had given me was black and off the shoulders, having little cap sleeves at the top of my bicep. The dip in the chest was rather low and I blushed at it. It was tight down my body until the middle of the thighs where it began to flow out to underneath the knees.

It was definitely my preferred look. The dress wasn't quite what I had been expecting, but it was a cute look. "It looks nice, Peggy. Thanks," I told her as I brushed the curls off of my shoulders.

Peggy smiled, looking over her handiwork. "You're welcome. You look lovely," she told me.

"Well it's all yours so I would hope that you like it," I responded. We both smiled at that as I disentangled the Murano Glass from the dog tags, slipping it over my neck. "Steve is going to be in the bar tonight with the men..."

"Victoria -"

"Come on!" I interrupted. She merely glared at me, placing her hands on her hips. "I've dressed up two times over the past two weeks. It's your turn to repay me. Just go. He'll ask you to go dancing." She glared at me and I let out a quick breath. "I promise. He can't be so clueless as to miss a chance."

Peggy was silent for a moment before conceding. "And why do I say that I'm there?" she asked.

"You wanted a dance," I suggested.

She didn't like that one. "Try again," she snapped.

Thinking for a moment, I easily came up with another excuse. "Tell him that Chester needs us to go over the maps in the morning to start planning out the attacks on the Hydra bases," I said.

Peggy thought about that one for a while before nodding. "That could work," she said slowly.

"So you'll go?" I asked hopefully.

"It means that much to you?"

"It does."

We were silent for a moment before Peggy nodded. "I'll go."

Smiling at her, I wrapped her in a hug. "You're a doll."

"Yes - Yes - I know," she said, waving me off.

The two of us stood together with little smiles on our faces as a knock at the door sounded. Glancing backwards, Peggy held me still for a moment so that she could fix my hair. She pushed back a few strands of my hair, rearranged the dress, and gave me makeup one last look before nodding at me. Once she was satisfied, she released her hold on me and I swung the door open. My heart gave a little flutter when I realized that he was in his uniform. It was the same one that he had been wearing when we had gone to the Modern Marvels of Tomorrow Exhibition in New York. He looked quite handsome.

And it was very obvious that he knew it, too. "Don't you look dashing?" I asked teasingly.

He smiled at me and grabbed my hand. My heart gave another pathetic flutter as he pressed a kiss against the back of my hand. "Aren't you quite the dish?" he shot back. I laughed softly at him as Bucky straightened up and looked back at Peggy, realizing that she was watching us. "How are you, Peggy?"

"Have fun on your date," she chirped, flippantly dismissing us to enjoy ourselves.

Smiling at her, I walked over to her quickly and wrapped her in a hug. "I'll see you later. Thanks for helping out." The two of us smiled at each other as I walked back towards Bucky. "Go to the bar!" I shouted after her before we could leave.

I heard something rather profane get called back to me, but the door shut before I could say anything else. "The bar?" Bucky asked.

"Steve is going to be there."

Bucky's grin turned upwards as he shook his head at me. "Still trying to get the two of them to go on a date?" he asked.

"They don't even need to go on a date. They just need to go dancing," I said.

"Think he'll ask her?"

Snorting under my breath, I shook my head at him. "No. But I hope that they'll at least manage a conversation." We both laughed as we walked out of the building. Bucky's arm wrapped around my waist as we headed off into London. As we walked, I glanced up at Bucky. "You know that this is only the third date that we've ever been on?" I asked him.

Bucky looked extremely thrown by that comment. "That can't be right," he told me.

Smiling at him, I nodded, tucking myself a little further into him. The breeze was definitely cold. "It is. We went out to Coney Island during your basic training, we went out to the Modern Marvels of Tomorrow Exhibition partly for my own business and a very failed double date, and now today," I said.

It was cute the way that he had looked very bashful when I'd mentioned the failed double date with Connie and Bonnie. "How about if we count all of the times that you've kicked me around?" Bucky teased.

We both laughed at that. "Well then we've been on quite a few," I said.

Bucky's arm dropped slightly so that his hand went around to sit on my hip. "And to think that we've slept in the same bed. I think that you're a bad influence," Bucky said.

"Shut up!"

The two of us laughed but I could tell that something was still bothering him. And I knew what it was. The thought that we really hadn't been out on that many dates. He hadn't taken me the normal places that a man took a woman. "I'll spend the rest of my life taking you wherever you want," Bucky told me.

"No," I snapped, harsher than I meant.

Bucky's head snapped over to me. "No?" he asked.

"No," I repeated. "We spend it doing whatever you want."

"Vika -"

"I've got the rest of eternity to do whatever I want. You don't have that," I said, reaching my hand around to place it over the one that he had on my hip. I felt it tighten slightly. I could feel his guilt at the thought that one day he would leave me alone, and there was nothing that he could do to stop it. "We spend it doing whatever you want. Because the only thing that I want is to spend as long as I can with you."

Bucky glanced down at me and placed his spare hand under my chin, pressing it upwards so that we could share a quick kiss. "And that's going to happen. We do whatever we want to do," he told me softly.

Once he had released me, I smiled, looking off towards the sinking sun. "Go swimming," I muttered.

"Swimming?" Bucky repeated, obviously surprised.

Turning my head up towards him, I smiled once more. That was definitely one of my preferred activities, not one that I got to enjoy that often. "Yeah. I like the water," I said bashfully.

There was a small smile on Bucky's face. "I didn't know that," he told me.

Shrugging my shoulders, I gently dug the heel of my shoe into the cobblestone. "As stupid as it sounds, I think that there are still lots of little things that we don't know about each other," I mentioned quietly.

"We've got a long time to figure it all out," Bucky told me sweetly.

Smiling up at him, I nodded. We had been walking for a while now and I still had no clue where we were going. Howard had told me that it was easy to find, but it didn't seem to be the case. "Howard told me that the restaurant was just a few blocks away from the base. He mentioned that it was hard to miss," I mumbled as we walked.

"You've got some of the worst directional skills that I've ever seen," Bucky commented offhandedly.

"Excuse you!" I barked, whacking him on the shoulder.

Bucky laughed and wrapped his arm up around my shoulders. "Come on, Vika. Remember when we were kids? We would always get lost whenever we were trying to find someone's house," he told me.

It would usually be Bucky and Steve that would be invited to someone's house and they would drag me with them. That was why I would let them remain lost without helping them out. "You two would get lost. I'd be trying to read their minds to find them," I told him.

Bucky looked surprised at that admission. "Did you ever do that to find Steve and I?" he asked curiously.

"Sometimes," I admitted.

Instead of looking offended, he merely laughed and shook his head at me. "That is so violating," he chuckled.

Glancing up at him, I gave a sweet smile. Bucky cocked his head to the side when he saw my eyes flash a brighter yellow than normal. It was teasing. "Want me to tell you what you're thinking right now?" I asked him playfully.

"Not particularly," Bucky said quickly. I noticed that his colors were coloring slightly. He must have been thinking something that wasn't exactly appropriate. Smiling at his embarrassment, I leaned up and pressed a kiss against his lips.

As much as I'd really been trying not to hear his thoughts, I couldn't help it. They were so loud that I'd heard it on accident. And it made me blush slightly. I deepened the kiss for a moment before ducking back down onto my toes. Although for a moment I kept my mouth by his ear. "I like the tighter one, too," I whispered into his ear.

The hand that he had around my waist tightened slightly and I giggled as I pushed back down onto the heels. Bucky cleared his throat very awkwardly as he let his hands drop from me. He was awkwardly pulling the tie away from his throat. I giggled softly and looked down at my hands. "You're the only woman that I know that wouldn't slap a man for thinking something like that," Bucky said.

"Considering that I was thinking something very similar about you..." I admitted, my irises turning pink.

He grinned at me once more and pressed a kiss into my hair. Bucky pulled back to stare at me and motioned to himself. "You like the uniform?" he asked.

That uniform was definitely one of my favorite things that he worse. "I love a man in uniform. But I liked the way that you were dressed earlier," I teased, referring to when he'd been standing in his underwear earlier.

Bucky's eyes darkened and I smiled, knowing that I'd gotten to him. "How about skipping dinner?" he asked.

And I had known that he would say something like that. As much as I would have liked to hang around and stay in bed with him for the evening, I really was hungry, having not eaten all day. "Hold your horses, I'm starving!" I teased, pulling him along with me. "I'll come over after I get changed."

He smiled down at me and nodded. "What's this place called?" Bucky asked as we walked.

"Howard said that it was called Criterion."

Bucky looked around the block that we were standing on before straightening up. "I think that's it," he said, pointing to the end of the block.

Following his line of sight, I spotted it. Criterion was at the end of the road and I smiled, pulling Bucky with me. My jaw dropped when I saw it. The restaurant looked like it had been a theater, once upon a time. It was gorgeous. Bucky's arm looped in mine as we walked into the building. If I had thought that the outside was impressive, I was dead wrong. The inside had arching ceilings and there were intricate paintings all around the ceilings and walls. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling as arches separated the tables. Most of them were couches that were around the tables and I smiled. Howard had definitely outdone himself.

Bucky blew out a little puff of air and I smiled. This was definitely a little more than either one of us had been expecting. "This place looks a little fancy," he said through a laugh.

Thankfully we weren't the ones paying. I had a feeling that it would bankrupt us. "That's why Howard is paying for dinner," I said, earning a laugh from Bucky. "I told him that I'd pick up a bottle of some fancy scotch that they serve here while we're here."

Before Bucky got the chance to respond, a waiter walked up to us, giving us a very short bow. "Ma'am. Sir," the waiter greeted.

"The reservation should be under Stark, Howard," I said, smiling softly.

The waiter's eyes turned up slightly. I assumed that Howard was probably someone good to have around with all of the money that he had. "Yes, Mr. Stark told us to be expecting you. Sergeant Barnes and Phillips?" he asked us.

"Yes," Bucky and I said together.

The waiter nodded at us and motioned for us to follow him. "Right this way." The two of us followed him to a table near the back of the restaurant. "Here you both are." The waiter pulled out a chair for me to seat myself in, pushing it in after I had sat down. "Mr. Stark has requested for me to bring you a bottle of Glenfiddich Single Malt Speyside Scotch Whisky. Aged forty years. Shall I bring it now or at the end of the meal?" he asked us.

"The end. A glass of Johnnie Walker Black Label now, if you have it?" I asked him.

"Yes, ma'am. Sir?"

Glancing down at the table, I smiled to myself. I knew that Bucky wasn't one for anything high-class. Simply because he thought that it was a little silly. "I'll have the same," Bucky finally said.

"Right away."

The two of us nodded at him as he walked off. Bucky waited for the waiter to leave before glancing over at me and laughing. "You make me look so stupid whenever we go out," he teased.

"I don't think that it's limited to when we go out," I teased. He laughed at me as I reached across the table and gently rubbed my leg against his own.

Exchanging a quick smile, the two of us thanked the waiter as he returned with the drinks. It took quite some time to figure out what we wanted to order, considering that Bucky didn't know half of what was on the menu. But eventually we managed to figure everything out. The food was not anything that I'd had before - and it was definitely a little too fancy for me - but it was nice for Bucky and I to have a night to ourselves. We were probably one of the more annoying pairs in the restaurant. We were laughing the entire time and chatting excitedly. And I was sure that we were going to get kicked out when the waiter brought us fondue.

The two of us were sitting around for a few minutes before leaving. Bucky gently nudged against my leg as I finished off my glass of water. "So what are the plans for tomorrow?" he asked.

"We're going to be doing the same things for the next week. I'm trying to figure out how to arrange the attacks. That's half of what I do when we're all training together. I find strengths and weaknesses and learn how to play them to our benefits. Steve does it, too. We'll figure it out together," I told him.

"That sounds like a good plan."

Glancing over at him, I noticed that he was fidgeting slightly. He had always been the leader. It must have been strange to take a backseat to Steve and I. "We'd like you to help us," I said.

The two of us got up from the table and slowly made our way out of the restaurant. "I'd like to help," he said.

"Great. Then you'll come with us in the morning so that we can start planning," I said. He nodded at me as we tried to push past the tables. "Are you ready?"

Bucky glanced over at me and smiled. "We've got you protecting us. I'm ready," he said, nudging me gently.

As we walked past the entrance, the waiter that had seated us called after us. "Thank you for joining us. Give our best to Mr. Stark," he said as he held the door open.

"Thank you!" I called back.

Bucky caught my hand in his as we walked back out onto the street. I could hear the noise from the bar just a few streets over. "You know, that fight between you and Steve... That was incredible," he said slowly.

"I'm glad that it didn't scare you," I said honestly.

The way that I fought wasn't nice. It was just the way that I always had fought. Desperate to win and unwilling to lose. "Of course not. It's incredible that you can fight the way that you do. You never lose," Bucky told me.

"I'm kind of a sore loser," I teased.

He looked down at me and smiled. "That's okay. You'll always be able to beat me," he said.

And he was right about that. "I might let you win - just once!" I added, when I saw just how excited he looked at the prospect of winning. In the meantime, I saw the men stumble out onto the street from the bar. Peggy was with them, smiling at something that Steve had said. "Looks like they were having fun."

"Peggy's still with them," Bucky said curiously.

Just like him, I was a little surprised to see that she was still with them. We had been gone for almost two hours. "Maybe Steve actually managed to ask her to go dancing," I said, not really able to believe it.

"Let's find out."

The two of us walked up to the men and I smiled as Peggy came to stand at my side. "Gentlemen," I greeted. They all turned to me and gave very sloppy salutes. I rolled my eyes at them. "How was the extra training?"

Dum Dum laughed and patted me on the back. "Well Steve is quite a bit easier to beat than you. But with that shield, it doesn't really matter," he told me.

"Don't worry buddy, you're tough to beat," I said, patting Steve on the stomach.

Steve laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Thanks."

Glancing up at him, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Did you ask Peggy to go dancing?" I snapped at him.

Steve glared at me as he shook his head. I rolled my eyes at him. I should have known that he wouldn't really ask her on a date. "No I didn't but we did sit and talk for a long time." I smiled at him. At least they had managed to have a nice evening together. "It was nice. I'll tell you about it later. I'm sure that Peggy will tell you about it later," he said.

"Probably."

"So how was the date?" I overheard Gabe ask Bucky.

Bucky smiled at them. "It was really good. Kind of a hell of a place that we went to actually..."

As Bucky's voice trailed off in the distance, Peggy walked up beside me and pulled me into her so that they couldn't overhear us. "Do you want to leave with him?" she asked me softly.

"Please and thank you," I told her.

"Go and I'll keep them distracted."

"Thanks, love." Before she could walk off, I ran after her. "Wait! Take this to Howard, will you?" I asked, handing her over the bottle. She nodded at me. "Tell him that I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Sure."

As Peggy walked back to the men and shouted a very loud order at them, Bucky slipped away from the conversation and back towards me. I raised a brow and smiled at him, wondering what he wanted. "Come with me," he said, grabbing my hand.

Laughing softly, I walked with him. We were dashing off towards the base once more and I stumbled over myself. Wherever we were going was somewhere very important. "Where are we going?" I asked him.

Bucky turned back to me and smiled. "I want to show you something," he said.

The look on his face told me that he was extremely excited about whatever we were going to see. I thought about asking him where we were going or reading his mind, but I knew that he wanted it to be a surprise, so I merely went along with it. We walked back into the base but instead of going out to the bedrooms or heading into the ballroom, we went down into the lower levels. We went down two halls before coming out into an underground chamber. Bucky opened the door at the end of the hallway that we were in and I laughed softly. We were standing in the entrance to an indoor pool.

Turning back to Bucky with a disbelieving look, I walked into the room. Bucky followed me and let the door close behind him. "A pool?" I asked, my laugh echoing off of the stone.

Bucky merely smiled at me. "You said that you wanted to go swimming," he said.

"How long have you known about this?" I asked.

Bucky kicked off the boots that he was wearing and rolled up his pants as he walked over to the water, dipping his legs in. I kicked off my heels and followed him, sitting on the edge. The water was cold, but it felt good. "I saw it down here a few days ago. The men were talking about it. Figured that you could come down here and use it when you wanted. It's got the privacy lock," he said, motioning back to the door.

"This is perfect."

Bucky turned towards me. "So you like it?" he asked.

"Love it."

The two of us turned towards each other as Bucky leaned in, pressing a long kiss against my lips. I sighed into the kiss and wrapped my hand around the top of his jacket. His hand was gently pressed against the back of my neck as we stayed locked in the kiss. And suddenly a little hint of mischief welled up in my chest. I leaned back slightly and raised my knees up to my chest, easily kicking Bucky in the stomach. He tried to regain his balance, but it was too late. He tumbled headfirst into the water before popping back out, looking very irritated with me. He was soaked to the bone as my laughter echoed in the small chamber.

Even though there was a scowl on Bucky's face, I could tell that he was having a very hard time not laughing. "You're not funny," he told me as he swam back over to where I sat.

"I'm hilarious." He came to swim up to me as I leaned over and pushed the hair off of his face. "You look adorable," I teased.

Bucky laughed at me as he shook out the water in his hair. I chuckled softly as the little beads sprayed me. "I'm glad that you like it," he said. A moment later he placed his wet hands on my bare thighs, slowly tracing them up underneath the loose skirt. I knew that he wouldn't go too far, though.

But we both knew what he really wanted. "Go on. I know that you want to do it," I conceded.

We both smiled as Bucky hooked his hands underneath my thighs and gave me a quick tug off of the stone tile. I laughed as I slid into the pool and let myself sink underneath. Even under the water I could hear Bucky laughing at me. I did a quick swim back and forth under the water - being able to hold my breath much longer than the average person - before popping up next to him. He was watching me with a smile and I pushed my hair back off of my forehead. We were both still laughing.

The water was slightly too deep for me to stand in. So I swam over to Bucky and gently wrapped my legs around his waist to keep myself upright. His hands were around my back as I grabbed his jacket and pulled him backwards with me. He gasped as we plunged under the water. He took a deep breath and I smiled, releasing my hands from his jacket to push the water out around our heads. The rest of our bodies were still surrounded by the water as we floated underneath the surface, but it was like there was a bubble of air around our heads. Bucky let out a breath and laughed as he looked back towards me.

Bucky gently prodded the outside of the bubble. His fingertips hit the water but the rest of him remained dry. He plunged his arm back into the water. "That's incredible," he said softly.

"You like it?" I asked.

My legs were still around Bucky and they tightened as he twirled us slightly. His hands were wrapped tightly around my back. "I love you," Bucky said, pressing his mouth against the crook of my neck.

"I love you too," I muttered, spotting the water waver slightly at my lapse in concentration.

It wasn't long before Bucky looked back at me and smiled. His pupils were blown wide and I was sure that mine looked exactly the same way. Pulling his head back up towards my own, his lips captured mine in a searing kiss. His hands daringly hooked underneath my thighs and lifted my body onto his. My legs got a slightly stronger grip as he kept one hand underneath my thigh - keeping it attached to himself - as the other went to the shallow of my back. His fingers dug into the dress and I was sure that the material was going to split underneath the grasp he had on it. Peggy would forgive me.

We stayed under the water for a few minutes until Bucky tightened the grip he had on my leg and pushed us back up into a standing position. His legs were down against the ground and myself - being too short to actually stand - decided to wrap my legs tightly around his waist. He gently walked us back so that I was pressed into the stone wall of the pool. The water was sloshing around our waists as Bucky's hand went up to tangle in my wet hair. His other hand was against the top of my thigh, tangled in the material of the dress. It was starting to slip a little lower against my chest, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

My hands went down to the jacket buckle at his waist when Bucky's hands wrapped around my own. "Hang on. The door - Someone could walk in," he mumbled against my lips.

His breathing was fast and so was my own. I turned back from him and gently raised a force field to slam the lock into place. I turned back to Bucky with a little smirk. I could see the reflection of my deep red eyes in the water. "No one's coming in," I whispered.

"Did I ever tell you that I love that you're a mutant?" he asked me.

"You can say it again."

Bucky's lips moved against my own, his voice rumbling deep in his throat. "I love that you're a mutant," he muttered.

Smiling softly at him, I reached forward and grabbed at the buckle on his waist. Easily undoing the strap, I let it sink to the bottom of the pool. Bucky smirked as we easily pushed the jacket off of his shoulders. It made a soft splash in the water as it floated away from us. My mouth was pressed against his own as I felt him bunch the material of the dress much higher than was appropriate - not that anything that was happening was appropriate. He made up for it by keeping his hands at a somewhat-respectable distance. My fingers darted to the top button on his button-up shirt when he pulled back.

My brows knitted in confusion. I'd thought that he was enjoying himself. "Still waiting for the ring, right?" he asked me, making sure that we knew when to stop.

I smiled at him and nodded. "Right," I said, almost regretting it.

The word had barely gotten out of my mouth when he captured my lips in another searing kiss. My heart was pounding as my shaky hands undid the buttons on his shirt. His tie was yanked off of him as I tossed it backwards. I helped pull him out of the shirt as I leaned backwards and grabbed it in my hands, chucking it in a sopping mess onto the tile. He laughed against my mouth as his hands traveled underneath my thighs, dipping the two of us underneath the water once more. My hands sprawled over his chest as one of his hands traveled back up to the strap on the dress. His fingers were gently tugging at it as I brought the air bubble just barely large enough so that we could breathe.

There was a zipper on the back of the dress that had become slightly tugged downwards; I wasn't sure who was to blame for that. Bucky's warm hands slid into the slight opening on the dress, wrapping around my bare back, as we continued to slip under the water. It was one of the rare times that my brain shut down and I allowed my heart to work alone. There was a haze in my brain as his hands dug into the bare skin of my torso. It was safe to say that even though the bit of innocence that I had remained intact that night, we never did make it back to our beds.

A/N: Just in case you were curious, that is a real restaurant in London. Quick note here: I am returning to college tomorrow to move back into my dorm. Now while I'm in college I do take a lot more time to update. I will try and get them out as frequently as I can, but you have to give me some time. Please continue to review though! And thank you for understanding. Thanks so much for the follows and favorites! Until next time -A

rebelforcauses: Thank you! The mutants will be back sometime soon. Haven't quite figured out when, just yet.

Gracie: Thank you! I love putting in detail. To me, it's detail that makes a story great. I'm not looking forward to Bucky's fall either. Trust me. Hope that you liked this one!

racefunhorse: Thank you! I'm glad that you read the chapters multiple times, that definitely makes me happy to hear. It took me some time to come up with that system but I did it once and never stopped. You might be waiting weeks once I get back to school, but I promise that I will always update as soon as I can! Thanks so much for recommending it to a friend! I hope they like it.

.2017: I'm glad that you love it! I could not restrain myself in bed with him either lol.

kuppcake: I'm so glad that you loved this chapter! I just had to put Asgard in there. I love both Thor and Loki. Loki will definitely remember her when it comes time for The Avengers, as for Thor, that's to be determined. The ring was my favorite! The actual ring will come soon enough. I'm nervous for what's to come, too. I'm glad that you liked the trip through the Nine Realms. Hope you liked this one!