Something soft and furry was touching Bucky's face and he opened his eyes to Jasper's paw. He was perched on Julia's pillow but was gently reaching out with his paw and touching Bucky. Lifting his head Bucky saw he was alone, but the bedroom door was open and he could hear sounds down in the kitchen.

"Were you sent to get me up?" he asked the big orange cat who made a soft trilling sound at him.

Reaching out he scratched the cat behind the ears, then sat up for a moment before he rose from the bed. They did it, they slept together and it meant something. To him it meant a lot. He leaned over the foot of the bed and grabbed his underwear, pulling them on, then he pulled his jeans on and picked up his shirt. After washing up in the bathroom he headed down the stairs barefoot pulling his shirt on. Julia was in the kitchen making breakfast and he watched her until she noticed him. When she did notice him she stopped and watched him back. Slowly walking to her he put one arm around her waist and brought her close, his free hand stroking her hair as he bent over and gave her a soft but intense kiss that she returned with a smile.

"Hi," she said tenderly, when he pulled away. "How do you like your eggs?"

"Sunny side up," he said. "Are you alright?"

She nodded smiling. "I'm great," she replied, breaking a couple of eggs into the frying pan. "Thank you for last night. You made me feel wonderful and I haven't felt like that in a long time."

"It was pretty good for me too," he said, leaning against the wall, still watching her. "I didn't even mind being woken up by Jasper."

"He must have pushed the door open," she said. "Sorry about that. I hope he was gentle with you."

Bucky laughed. "Yeah, he was," he replied.

Julia finished making his eggs and put them on a plate, then added bacon, hash browns and a couple of slices of toast. "Go out onto the deck," she said, handing the plate to him. "There's juice and coffee out there. I'll be right out."

Bucky went out the door and saw she had made a little al fresco setup with some wild flowers in a vase on the table as well. Smiling, he placed the plate on the table and pulled the chair beside him back for her when she came out with her plate. After she sat Bucky felt her toes on his and looked down to see her bare feet, complete with red nail polish on her toenails.

"Well, I guess you didn't make it home last night," said a voice and they both looked up to see Sam walking towards them from next door.

Julia looked up at Sam and smiled. "There's a plate in the oven for you," she said. "I hope you like scrambled eggs. Go ahead and get it then join us."

He went inside and came out with his plate, poured himself a coffee and watched the body language between Bucky and Julia as he began eating.

"So ...," he noted. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine," said Bucky, looking at Sam in that way he sometimes had. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"No reason," replied Sam. "Are we going to tackle more repairs today?"

"I have other plans myself," said Julia, before Bucky could reply. "I'm going shopping with a couple of girlfriends. We're driving to Reno. So you won't be distracted by me being around. In fact, I have to leave in about half an hour, so eat up."

Bucky and Sam smirked lightly at each other. About twenty minutes later the two girlfriends came walking around from the front. Bucky recognized them as both being at the bar and they were reintroduced by Julia as Rhiannon and Trish. Bucky helped Julia clean up the dishes while Sam talked to them while they walked back to the front of the house. Before they left the house Bucky went upstairs to get his footwear and to straighten the bed. He turned around to see Julia watching him so he sat on the edge of the bed and put his socks then boots on. Reaching out he pulled her close and held her hands, kissing them.

"I would like to stay over again, if that's okay with you," he stated. "But it's your decision."

Her face lit up and she kissed him softly. "I want that, too," she replied, lightly touching his face. "I wasn't sure if I should ask you, in case you said no."

"Sweetheart, I would never say no to you," he replied softly then he stood up and enclosed her in his arms, giving her a sensuous embrace that began to arouse him. "I better let you go now or we'll never get out of this room."

Smiling shyly she backed up and he followed her out and down the stairs. After she entered the security codes he walked her to her friend's car and kissed her briefly again before saying goodbye and watching them drive away. Then he turned to Sam.

"It was meaningful," he said. "What you said about giving and taking was right on the mark but in the worst way possible. If I ever see the guy I'll probably kick the shit out of him. Let's get started on something."

While Sam sanded the new deck boards and the new hand rails Bucky went up on the roof as there were some broken cedar shakes. With a piece of chalk he marked them then went down to get the replacements, a hammer, roofing nails and a pry bar. Bob had said there wasn't a safety ring on the roof so Bucky exposed the top overlap and fastened the ring to it, then looped his safety harness into the ring, pulling on it to make sure it was secure. One by one he started pulling the old shakes out, cutting the new ones to fit and sliding them into place. Then he nailed them and tapped them up so their bottom line was lined up with the other shakes. Sam called to him about an hour into it and asked if he wanted water, tossing a bottle up.

"I'm done the sanding," said Sam, standing below on the deck. "I'm going to stain the repairs next. After that do you want help up there or should I go onto the next thing on the list?"

Bucky pulled the list out of his back pocket. "Some of the side shingles are damaged as well," he said, "if you want to start on those. I don't know if there's another ladder though."

"I'll look and if there isn't I'll just do the ones that are within reach," replied Sam. "What's next after that?"

"Front door trim," said Bucky. "You could check that out, it doesn't say what the problem is. After that is replacing the front door light fixture and the fixtures out on the deck. Take your pick, really."

Bucky took a break a few hours later to make a sandwich and rehydrate before he went back up. It was warm up top but he didn't mind so much as he could think without interruption up there. Mostly he thought about Julia, and their night together. Her admission about her naïveté being taken advantage of by Mason really bothered him. It's not like there weren't guys like Mason back in the 40s because there were but it wasn't how Bucky had conducted himself. He knew of guys who would slip a girl a Mickey Finn to have their way with her; had beaten a few up as well when they did it to a girl of his acquaintance. They called it date rape now which didn't soften the experience any. But if Mason deliberately hurt Julia for his own pleasure and didn't stop when she asked, in Bucky's opinion that was a line that no man should cross. It turned on the protective part of him in a big way.

As he finished the last repair and walked up to unscrew the safety ring, then restore the top overlap he looked up at the sky and saw it was overcast. Taking his phone out he checked the weather. There was rain forecast for the evening. Might be a good night to have a fire in the fireplace.

"Coming down," he called out to Sam.

"Just in time," said Sam. "See the forecast for tonight?"

"Yeah, rain," said Bucky. "I'm going to gather the end cuts and bring them in. We can have a fire tonight."

"Which house?" asked Sam, smiling.

Bucky just looked at him. "I'm staying over at her place," he replied. "We can still have the fire here but I'll wait until she gets back. Speaking of which, they've been gone a long time, haven't they?"

"About 7 hours," replied Sam. "I'm sure everything is fine."

Two hours later Bucky was pacing the floor back and forth, wondering what the hell was going on. Finally, once the sun set he had enough and he looked at Sam.

"Can you put the suit on and fly the route?" he asked. "I'm worried they've had an accident and can't phone. I'll follow in the truck. You can link the comms in the suit to my phone, right?"

Sam nodded and put the suit on. Once Bucky locked the house up they checked the phone connection and started out. Thinking they took the Mt. Rose Highway route they checked that out first as it did have some hairpin turns that they could have easily had an accident on. It had rained there and the roads were slick enough that Bucky had to slow down.

"I see something," said Sam. "Let me get closer. Shit, it's them. Three heat signatures. I'm calling it in as they'll need air rescue but I'm going down there to see if I can do anything. You stay at the top. It's just before the scenic outlook stop on the highway south of the Tannebaum Event Centre according to my GPS."

Bucky drove to where Sam had indicated and got out of the truck peering down into the darkness. In the distance he could hear sirens coming and he called Sam on the phone.

"I can hear sirens," he said. "But I can't see you or the wreck. Can you deploy Red Wing?"

Then he saw a light appear below him slowly rising and realized Sam had done just that, deploying Red Wing with a light underneath to light the scene. When the emergency vehicles approached he waved them down and directed them to where Red Wing was hovering.

"Is that Captain America?" asked the one paramedic, seeing Red Wing light up the scene. "What's he doing here?"

"We're on holiday," said Bucky. "We're acquainted with the three people in the car. They were late coming back from Reno so we went looking for them."

"Damn, you guys are good," said the paramedic, then he spoke into his shoulder radio. "MVA, multiple injuries, and believe it or not Captain America is on the scene. We're going to need air rescue as the vehicle is down the mountainside about 90 feet."

There was a pause while they confirmed. "He was a para-rescue man in the Air Force," said Bucky. "He's probably giving them first aid right now."

His phone rang and it was Sam, asking to speak to the paramedic. Bucky handed him the phone and he relayed Sam's information to the air rescue unit which was on its way from Reno. The man handed the phone back to Bucky and he asked Sam if Julia was okay.

"She's banged up a bit, possible concussion," replied Sam, "but she'll be okay, I think. The other two are worse off as they were in the front seats and the front of the car is badly damaged."

Bucky listened as he could hear Sam talking to one of the women, who was in pain. He admired his friend for his calmness and professionalism on the scene. He wasn't sure he would be as calm if he saw Julia in pain. The paramedic asked Bucky if he could move his truck forward so they had more room when the air rescue brought the injured up. He did and by the time he returned police were on the scene blocking bystanders. Fortunately the paramedic had already said Bucky was allowed as he was an off duty first responder who was first on scene. He winked at Bucky as he said it. Within a couple of minutes the air rescue helicopter arrived and two men were lowered down. They joined Sam, and Bucky could hear the conversation on the paramedic's shoulder radio. Sam relayed the information he had on the women's vitals, as his suit did have the capability to measure vital readings among other things. They decided to take Julia out first as she was easier to extract and less injured. Calling for the stretcher to be lowered they put a neck brace on and slid a back board under her before the one paramedic and Sam loaded her onto the stretcher. Bucky's phone rang and he answered it.

"They're loading Julia right now," said Sam. "She's asking for you so you should go to the hospital with her. I'll catch up with you later. I'm going to see this through."

The helicopter pilot got the okay to rise and he carefully lifted the stretcher before repositioning over the roadway where the ambulance paramedics took over removing Julia from the stretcher and onto their gurney. She called for Bucky and he ran forward grasping her hand.

"I'm sorry," she cried when she saw him. "We were having such a good time and then the road was slick just before the turn. Rhiannon tried to brake and she went right over the edge."

"Baby, you're okay," said Bucky, quickly. "You let them look after you and I'll follow in the truck. Do you want me to phone Janey?"

"Yeah, she'll call my parents," replied Julia, then she began to cry again. "If you two hadn't come looking for us I don't know if we would have lasted the night."

"Don't think about it," said Bucky, then he looked at the paramedic. "Where are you taking her?"

"Renown Regional in Reno," said the paramedic. "It has a level II trauma centre. The other two ladies may have to go to Las Vegas. If they are, the medevac helicopter will transport them."

Bucky watched as they checked her out then the paramedic nodded at him and said they were ready to transport her. Running to the truck he waited for the ambulance to pass by him then he drove behind it. They had the lights flashing but not the siren so he figured she wasn't seriously hurt. Once they got out of the mountains he called Janey and told her what happened. About ten minutes later she phoned back to say she and her parents were flying in to Reno as soon as they could. Could he pick them up? He agreed and said he would let Julia know first before he headed out to the airport. An hour later he was at the Reno airport waiting for the flight.

"Hell of a way to meet the parents," he thought to himself.

He saw Janey come out first and she hugged him then introduced him to her parents Bill and Lydia. Both were so happy that he and Sam had taken it upon themselves to find the women. When they arrived at the hospital they would only let two people into her ER cubicle at a time so Bucky and Janey waited in the waiting room.

"You okay?" Janey asked. "How bad was it?"

"The car was down about 90 feet," said Bucky. "The front end was smashed right in. Julia was in the back so she didn't get hurt as bad as the other two. The paramedic figured the other two would be airlifted to Las Vegas."

"I'm so glad you two were around to look for them," said Janey. "They would have been there all night if it weren't for you and Sam."

"Sam did the hard work," said Bucky. "He flew down there and gave them first aid. I just drove."

Both of them sat there quietly but Bucky could see that Janey was dying to ask him so he spared her the trouble.

"I stayed over last night," he admitted. "It meant something to both of us. If I ever see Mason I'll hurt him."

Janey had a slight smile. "Join the lineup," she said. "He really was a bastard to her. Did you find anything out about him?"

"He's already cheating on the girlfriend," said Bucky. "Our San Francisco colleague doesn't like him and Scott likes pretty much everyone. He knows a police officer who heard of Julia and wasn't happy they cancelled her contract. She was well respected, apparently. Other than that he couldn't find much evidence. I told him to stop but he said he would stay on it for a couple more days."

Bill and Lydia came out to say that Julia was being taken for X-rays and a CT scan. They sat in the waiting room with them until one of the nurses said they could all come back as Julia was in a larger cubicle. When they got there Julia reached for Bucky's hand and held it attracting the notice of her parents. Bucky smiled a grim smile but didn't say anything. Julia looked at her parents and sighed audibly.

"Bucky is a gentleman," she said. "We were friends first before we kissed."

For a moment Bucky thought she was going to tell them he had slept over the previous night but Janey quickly intervened.

"Bucky is one of the Avengers," she said. "His partner is Captain America. They've been staying at the Johnson's place in exchange for doing some house repairs."

"Bob Johnson is an IT guy at our compound," added Bucky.

"Well, if it wasn't for you and Captain America we wouldn't be wondering why our daughter is holding a strange man's hand," said Julia's dad, in an overly serious manner, then he looked at Bucky, "A man known as The Muscle. John told us about you."

Julia laughed and her dad leaned over to pat Bucky's shoulder. Bucky grinned slightly, still unsure of himself. When the doctor came in to give the results of the CT scan and X-ray he said he would leave but Lydia, Julia's mom, wouldn't hear of it.

"You deserve to be here," she said. "Go ahead doctor."

Fortunately there was no serious damage, just minor whiplash and a slight concussion from when she hit her head against the window. They would keep her in overnight and if nothing came up in that time she could likely go home in the morning. The group stayed for another hour and then asked Bucky if he would take them back to the house in his truck. On the way, Bucky called Sam who informed him the other two had been airlifted to Las Vegas and had given him permission to get their belongings to the top. A couple driving back to North Tahoe said they would bring the purchased items the next day, after he did a selfie with them. The police took their purses. Sam was almost back to the Johnson's house and would let himself in.

"Tell him we want to meet him and thank him personally," said Bill. "I want a selfie, too."

"Did you get that?" asked Bucky. "Julia's parents want to meet you and get a selfie."

"Suit on or off?" joked Sam.

"Suit on," laughed her dad. "If you don't mind."

Sam waited until Bucky and the others arrived to do the picture with Julia's parents. It wasn't the greatest picture as it was done in the middle of the night but Bill said it was something his sons didn't get, a picture with the man while wearing the suit. After saying good night to Julia's family Sam and Bucky talked for a brief time.

"The other two, how bad?" asked Bucky.

"Compound fractures, some internal damage," replied Sam. "They're lucky they're alive. If the car had flipped I don't know if any of them would have survived. Julia?"

"Nothing broken," said Bucky. "Concussion, minor whiplash. They'll likely release her tomorrow. Good work today."

He stood up and they said good night to each other. Bucky lay in his bed later thankful that Julia would be alright but certain that her parents were likely to stay there for several days, perhaps even long enough that the one night with her would be all that would happen between them. If he was her father that would be his choice so he couldn't fault them. The accident likely ended whatever they had before it ever really started and he accepted that.

In the morning Bucky started up the coffee and made breakfast for himself and Sam. If Julia's parents drove her car to pick her up from the hospital he wouldn't be needed as chauffeur either. He and Sam could replace the damaged shingles on the sides of the house today. As they set up outside Janey came out and watched them for a few minutes.

"Aren't you driving us to the hospital today?" she asked Bucky.

"I figured you would take her car," he replied.

"We would but the keys are missing," she replied. "They're likely in her purse which is at the police station until she picks them up after she's released from the hospital. Could you take us, please?"

Sam smiled and shrugged. "Go ahead," he said. "I've got this."

Bucky took the tool belt off and handed it to Sam, then went inside for the truck keys. He walked over to the other house with Janey and was greeted with a hug by Lydia, Julia's mother. Bill, her dad, apologized for imposing on him one more time but Bucky waved it off. Ten minutes later they were on their way and drove the route where the accident happened. Bill asked Bucky if he would stop and they got out to look at the site in the daytime. The car was totalled as they had to cut the roof off to extract Rhiannon and Trish. It also looked a lot further down than 90 feet. Lydia started to cry then she turned to Bucky.

"If you hadn't decided to go looking for them they would have been stuck there all night," she said, with her hand on his arm.

"Sam did all the hard work," said Bucky, reluctant to accept any thanks.

"You still cared enough to get out here to try and find them," said Bill. "You're a good man, Bucky."

Bucky nodded and took a breath. After a few more minutes of looking Julia's family had enough and they continued on their way to the hospital. She was up and sitting in a chair in her hospital gown. The neck collar was gone and other than bruising from the seat belt there was no sign she had been in an almost fatal accident. Janey brought a change of clothes for Julia as they had cut her clothes off of her the night before. With a smile she took them into the bathroom and changed while the others waited for her. After a short while waiting for the doctor to sign off on her release they were finally able to leave. Like the night before Julia put her hand in Bucky's as they walked out. Although he felt conspicuous it didn't seem to bother her parents or Janey so he rolled with it. Once again, Julia sat in the front while the other three sat in back. They stopped at the police station where she was given her purse as well as the other two purses from her friends after promising to make sure they received them. On the ride back to the house Bill and Lydia looked at each other, then at Janey and all three nodded.

"Julia, your mother and I are thinking of flying back tomorrow morning," said Bill. "Janey is going to stay another day or so. Are you okay if we go?"

She looked at her parents through the little mirror in her sun visor. "Yeah, I was going to suggest it," she said. "Really, I'm fine. Just a little sore from the seat belt cutting into me. Bucky's going to be around for another week so he can watch out for me as well."

"As long as you're okay with it," said Bill. "I worry about you being on your own here, even though that's what you want. You know you can live here as long as you need to but don't isolate yourself, okay?"

Bill put his hand on Julia's shoulder from the back seat and she placed her hand over his. Bucky watched the interchange and made eye contact with Janey through the rear view mirror. She mouthed the words "later" to him and he focussed back on the driving. When they arrived back Julia, Janey, and Lydia went into the house while Bill hung around the truck. He looked at Bucky and took a deep breath.

"Julia told us that you slept together," he said then put his hand up in deference. "I'm not angry or anything like that. That was a big step for her, a very big step. Mason ..."

"She told me some of it," interrupted Bucky. "I wanted to hurt the guy."

Bill nodded uncomfortably. "We've always tried to make Julia feel she could live independently but even you can see that she needs someone to count on," he said as neutrally as possible. "She has strong feelings for you and I'm afraid when you leave she'll spiral again. That's not on you because you don't really know her or what she went through in the past 5 years. Thank you for being a friend to her first."

"You want me to end the romance but gently," stated Bucky, as he watched Bill's reaction to that statement. "What if I want to continue it?"

Bill looked at him, trying to understand exactly what Bucky was saying. "But you're an Avenger," he replied. "Don't you have to go back?"

"We have a couple of Avengers based in San Francisco," replied Bucky. "What if I decide to base myself here and stay with her? Would you object to that?"

"No, but do you love her that much already?" he asked. "You've barely known her a week."

Bucky swallowed and looked Bill in the eyes. "When I was drafted in 1942 there were guys in my boot camp who met a girl on a Friday night and married her by the following Monday," he said. "It was war time and if she was the right girl you committed to her from the start. I looked some of those guys up when I gained my freedom and many of them stayed married for 40, 50 plus years. I'm not saying I want to marry Julia tomorrow but I do want to stay with her. First we were friends and now it's more. I had already accepted it was likely over because I thought you and Lydia were staying and wouldn't want me to keep seeing her. But if you're trusting Julia enough to leave her alone then I'm asking if you trust me enough to stay and have a relationship with her."

"I do trust you," replied Bill. "Just don't hurt her, not like Mason did."

"I'm nothing like him," stated Bucky firmly.

Bill nodded in understanding and the two men went their separate ways. As Bucky walked to the side of the house he saw Sam standing at the base of the ladder and realized he heard everything. With a sigh he jerked his head toward the house and headed inside. It looked like someone else wanted to add his opinion to the mix.