A/N* First of all, let me apologize for the blip in chapters. The cold where I live has done quite the number on my internet service. Which has required me to go elsewhere for my homework and writing- everything is taking a bit longer rn. But hopefully, it's fixed? I've been told they're running a new cable underground so if I disappear again for a week that may be why. My brother's birthday is tomorrow so that is why this chapter is coming out today.

Secondly, I've never written a romance before so I want to thank you all for sticking with me. I wasn't sure which direction Aubrey and Bucky's relationship would take but I think I did it justice in this chapter and can continue to do so.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

"He's right in there" a guard murmured as he led Aubrey, Sam, and Bucky down a blank hallway dotted with doors, each one holding a dangerous prisoner.

"Alright, thank you, if we could just get a moment."

"Alright," the guard ambled away, standing by a door at the end of the hallway.

"I'm gonna go in alone"

"No way" Aubrey's voice came out furious as she crossed her arms. Bucky had barely acknowledged her since they'd left Baltimore.

"Yes way, Sam is an Avenger and we all know how he feels about that.-"

"Yeah but it's not like you two were frolicking in the sun together," Sam cut in

"But he's obsessed with Hydra. We have a history together, I don't want Aubrey a part of this, I'm going in alone. Trust me, I got it."

"You can't talk like I'm not here!" She hissed but he ignored her and stormed toward the guard that waited by Zemo's cell door.

"I'm going to murder him, I swear I'm going to find out what's wrong with him and then murder him."

"So something is actually wrong." raising an eyebrow, Sam shot her a look.

"Yes? No? Maybe? I don't know, he's being weird…he's been weird."

He made a noise but didn't respond for several minutes. "Maybe I can -"

"No, Sam. He'll open up when he's ready…I hope.-" swallowing, she backtracked, voice softening. "-I think.-" Aubrey's mouth opened to say more but Bucky reemerged and they left swiftly, both she and Sam struggling to keep up with his brisk pace. Once they'd gotten outside, Bucky seemed to know where he was going. Before too long, they had broken into a large, abandoned-looking warehouse. However, it felt anything but abandoned on the inside. Once they had found the light switch, they found the warehouse full of tools and a car that looked expensive. Sam and Bucky had been arguing back and forth and she had been mostly tuning them out. The only thing she'd gleaned from the conversation so far was that Zemo may have been breaking out of the prison at that moment, all because of Bucky. The Wakandans would not be happy about it when they found out.

"-Where are we man?-" Sam broke off from what he was saying as he crossed his arms. The whoosh of air coming through a doorway sounded to their left and none other than Zemo came through the door. "-Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing here?" he surged forward but Bucky stopped him.

"I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't let it happen, we need him."

"No, you're going back to prison!"

"If I may" Zemo took his guard's cap off, looking somewhat sheepish.

"No!" both of the men yelled at once. Conflicting emotions arose in Aubrey as she slipped past the two and came near Zemo. They kept arguing as she shot the Baron a look, hissing.

"You don't make a move without our permission." he nodded and repeated the motion when Sam mirrored the words a moment later.

"Okay Zemo, where do we start"

"I need to get a few things in order before we do anything, let me call in some favors" Zemo began striding towards another room. Sam's eyes darted from Aubrey to Bucky and he gave her a smirk before following after Zemo.

"And I'll come to supervise."

"No, Sam. I can-" Aubrey stepped forward.

"Nooo, Aubrey. You are going to stay here-'' widening his eyes meaningfully, Sam glared at her before pointedly looking at Bucky-." with that, he turned and followed Zemo. "-You know what I mean Aubrey." he called out before disappearing from sight. Pacing past Bucky, Aubrey leaned against one of the large pillars that held up the warehouse roof, keen eyes trained on the Super Soldier in front of her.

Bucky stayed where he was, facing the door Zemo had come from, arms crossed and body stiff.

The two sat in uncomfortable silence for what felt like hours. The minutes ticked by and finally, she couldn't take the silence anymore.

"What did I do to deserve this-'' she motioned with her hand to his stiffened stance and wary eyes. "-...I thought it was us vs the world…I...I thought we were on the same page…I...I don't know what I thought but evidently, it's not- '' Aubrey trailed off when he shot her a stormy look.

"Stop. Just stop." his chest heaved raggedly as he turned away, shoulders trembling.

"Bucky?" Aubrey breathed, attempting to step closer.

"Stop-" His ragged voice turned into a growl. "-Just stop Aubrey."

He'd said her name. Not Brie…Aubrey.

She opened her mouth to respond but Bucky shot her a withering glare before turning and storming out the door. It rattled behind him and Aubrey was glued in place, shock working its way through her. He hadn't been like this since….forever. Worry began to nibble at the edges of her mind as she slowly unglued herself from the floor. It wasn't hard to track his movements, they were jerky and left a clear path through the undergrowth surrounding the warehouse. Streams of light left shadows on the ground, distorted by her own as the weeds and brush crackled beneath the combat boots. As she went, her mind tried to figure out what had caused such a relapse. Of course, nothing could've caused it and he was just having a bad day but surely that wasn't it. With everything going on with Walker and the shield she wouldn't be surprised if that had caused something inside his mind to break loose.

It'd been a while since she'd had a day like that but it was bound to happen eventually, it always would be. They couldn't escape it. Something cold and sad pinged in her chest as Aubrey climbed over a log, its rough edges biting into her bare palms. Crackling sounded up ahead and she slowed. Automatically, her body scrunched into a slightly crouched position, lowering her center of gravity. Up ahead metal flashed, sunlight reverberating off of it and drawing her eye. A thunking noise followed quickly before the motion repeated. Carefully sidestepping a particularly sharp-looking branch, Aubrey made her way around the small clearing where Bucky had ended up. It didn't take long to find a point from which she could see his side profile. Any response she could have said to his earlier outburst evaporated at the sight of him throwing a metal-armed punch at a curved oak tree. The plant seemed to have endured years of abuse from nature, with branches and bark twisting every which way and leaves growing from odd places, but it was nothing compared to the heavy blows Bucky was aiming at the tree. Splinters flew off, catapulted yards away to where they would wither in the grass. Bucky paused, shoulders trembling as Aubrey leaned to the side in an attempt to get a glimpse of his face, but he was turned too far to the side. After a brief hesitation, he stopped, staring at the gaping indent that was now permanently etched into the bark. She knew he most likely had heard or sensed her but she wasn't ready to go face him yet, mind still trying to summon up words to try and help him.

He will open up when he's ready. Raynors earlier words echoed in her mind. Maybe he wasn't ready.

But maybe he needed to be ready, if whatever it was stayed any longer he would implode. Heaving a breath, Aubrey slipped out from amongst the berry bushes and thistle. His shoulders stiffened and his voice was hard.

"You should've stayed behind."

"Raynor told me you would open up when you're ready. I've seen that something has been bothering you and you haven't said anything to me. I've been waiting, and you've said nothing. I understand if you need more time to process whatever it is. Bucky, but I need to make sure you know that I'm here for you.-" the words gushed out, forming faster than she realized possible. Her mind had been empty and confused just a moment ago, but it appeared that her heart had known what needed to be said. Bucky stilled, and she watched as the muscles in his back tensed. He mumbled something but it was lost to the wind and as she tiptoed closer, he repeated it.

"Maybe he was wrong."

Brows scrunched in confusion, Aubrey stopped directly behind him, face wrinkled. "Who? Steve?-"

Bucky gave no answer except for the shallow rise and fall of his shoulders.

"-...You think Steve is wrong about what." She knew, deep down she knew exactly what he was saying but Aubrey needed to hear it to know for sure.

The shallow rise and fall had ceased for several seconds before he seemed to deflate, a word coming out in a tangle of air. "Me."

"What?-" it was barely a word, more of an intake of breath. Summoning up her courage, Aubrey shifted, coming to stand in front of him. Bucky's gaze dropped to the ground as he gave a weak nod. "-No, Bucky, surely you don't believe that…What would make you think that?"

"Because if he was wrong about the shield then he was wrong about me."

"No, Bucky. He wasn't wrong about the shield. Sam is a good person, we both know that. He did what he thought was best at the time. No one told him what the government was going to do. Steve….He was the most honest….wholly good person I know. He wasn't wrong about you, never has been.-" He'd grown stiffer with every word and cut her off mid-sentence, anger lacing the words.

"Then why'd you side with him?" He didn't yell. But the tone made her wish he had, it was almost like a slap to the face. The biting words left a painful sting behind.

"Is that what you think?-" they came out slightly more hissy than she would've liked. "-"I didn't side with him, I stopped you from tearing him apart. Did you forget that there are lives at stake here? We don't have time to stand around and exchange shots. I get that you don't like him, I don't either but until that changes, he's-"

"Stop" his voice trembled as Aubrey's frown deepened.

"Buck?"

It was almost like that one little word had been the last thing holding him together. Bucky's head slowly raised and when he met her eyes, she saw the shimmer of unshed tears.

"Maybe Steve should've left me to drown."

"No…No, he shouldn't have. How can you even say that? Steve wasn't wrong about you, you're an amazing person Bucky, a good person.-"

"No, I'm not"

"-Yes you are, you're trying to be a good person now. We aren't talking about then. You're exactly where you are meant to be. You're who you need to be. No one is expecting you to invent world peace. Alright?"

"I've been seeing them…when I sleep." he met her eyes once again and she watched a tear trace a path down his roughened face.

"Why haven't you said anything?"

"Because you've barely been around and when you are…it's...I don't want to add to whatever else is bouncing around up there."

Summoning forth a last bit of courage, Aubrey surged forward, arms wrapping around his neck. She waited for him to tense, push her away, like had with her and others so many times before.

But instead, she felt him sink into her touch, his head nestling into her neck and arms at her torso.

"I'm sorry-" she whispered. "-Sorry that I seemed unapproachable, sorry that I haven't been able to be with you. That the government pulled us apart. There's a lot of things I'm sorry for."

"I guess we are just sorry people" She felt his broken chuckle rumble in his chest. A moment passed in silence, and then,

"You don't have to forgive Sam right now but…you can't let his actions change what you think of yourself….I-'' hesitating, Aubrey felt the words forming in her mouth, words that had only ever bounced around her heart and it was in that exact moment that she realized the gravity of the feelings that had she'd kept pushing away. Sucking in a shallow breath, tears slipped from the corner of her eyes."-I…I really like…maybe love who you are, Bucky. And I wouldn't change you for anyone." the words felt odd in her mouth…oddly right. He pulled back. That indecipherable emotion that she'd seen so many times in his eyes flashing once more.

"Brie…I...I don't..can't..I.." he trailed off and she gulped.

"You don't have to say anything…I..those words just came out...I think they've been bouncing around for a while. It's okay to ignore them." She backtracked, the new ground making everything scary. She'd never done this before. Ever.

His arms tightened around her waist ever so slightly. "I don't deserve this…I don't deserve you.-" pausing, Bucky swallowed "-I don't want to see you get more hurt."

Chuckling softly, she snarked "that's why I keep you around."

"I think I like the idea of that."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm-" he let go, seeming rather reluctant. "-I think…I think we see how this goes..and…for what it's worth Brie, I really like you too." His face tinged a pale pink as a grin lit up Aubrey's face as it warmed.

"So, we're good?"

He nodded "We'd be better if you'd-"

"I hope you two have made up because Zemo's throwing a fit about how long it's taking" Sam's voice cut in, coming through the commlinks in both of their ears.

Bucky growled something incoherently under his breath before repeating something else louder.

"I'm going to murder you in your sleep tonight Sam."

"I look forward to it princess" was his snippety reply as the two began picking their way back through the underbrush towards the warehouse. Something warm and new buzzed around in Aubrey's chest as she listened to Sam and Bucky bicker. It was something she'd been attempting to push away for far too long.

This was new…and terrifying, it felt as though they had jumped off a cliff into the unknown….

And yet…It felt right.