We made our way down the sidewalk at a comfortable pace. People stopped to stare at us. I realized then Bucky was a hydra agent to them… an assassin that had killed a lot of people. I now understood his unenthusiastic answer. I kept an eye on the crowd to make sure no one bothered him.

I was relieved when we made it to the sandwich shop without incident. We ordered our food and sat opposite each other, Bucky's back against the wall.

"Thank you for being here for me the last few days. Nat said you barely left my side at the hospital."

He shifted, uncomfortable, before brushing his hair off his face with his hand. He glanced warily around the room. "Steve's right, I need to get this cut off."

I recognized the dodge but went with it. "I'd like to see you with short hair."

He smiled as he leaned toward me. "Aoife…"

I froze as my heart sped up.

He cleared his throat as his expression changed. "Aoife… Stark wanted to know about those files you took." I felt a chill settle in around me. "That's what their meeting is about today."

"Why would he ask you?"

"They wanted to know about your conditioning."

Fear gripped my chest. "Bucky, I don't want to talk about that. It… scares me."

He sat up straight again and nodded. "What do you want to talk about?"

I bit my lip wondering. What did I want to talk about? I think you should ask him out. Nat's suggestion flitted into my head.

"Bucky, I think…" I stopped and sighed then pushed the words out. "Bucky, I like you. I don't know what it is, but I've been… would you like to go on a date with me?" The question startled him. He leaned back in his seat, once again surveying the area. It seemed a subconscious thing for him. When he was unsure about something, he looked for threats. "I'm sorry, it's fine if you don't. I mean-"

"Yes." He interrupted me.

"What?"

He smiled as his eyebrows drew together, a strange expression I'd never seen on him before. "Were you expecting a different answer?"

I looked down at the table. "Well… Kind of. I wasn't sure if you were constantly at my side because you cared or if you felt responsible."

"Aoife," His voice came out quietly but with a force that made me raise my eyes to meet his. "Back when we were… in prison together, you were the only thing that held me together. You pulled me out of their control. Yes, I feel responsible for some of the things that happened to you. But that doesn't mean I don't care about you. And," he lowered his voice as he looked down, "I like you too."

I smiled with relief. "I don't want you to feel like you have to agree."

He sighed. "Are you trying to give me boundaries or are you trying to convince yourself we shouldn't date?"

I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out. I wasn't sure. I closed my mouth again.

He nodded. "You're under a lot of stress. I can relate. Perhaps we should wait until this all blows over. Then we can talk about that date."

I relaxed, releasing tension I didn't realize I'd been holding. "Thank you." I breathed. He smiled and took a bite of his food.

"I haven't seen much of the others since I got back. Vision and Sam seem to have vanished and I haven't heard anyone talk about Banner."

Bucky frowned. "You really care about your team."

"I did bring a lot of them in. Nat got Stark and Banner, I got Thor, Sam, and Wanda. And now you. Even before all that when Fury first started talking about the Avengers Initiative, I was involved heavily in the process."

"So you've been here since the beginning."

I nodded. "I worry about each of them. I never thought to worry about myself. I don't know why I suddenly started thinking about them all."

Bucky nodded. "They've been your family for the past how many years?"

"Ten."

Bucky nodded. "Maybe you should call a meeting. Just to check in on everyone."

"That's a good idea," I replied. Feeling better, I finally started to eat.