The telephone rang early. Jenny blinked awake and checked the time. Seven thirty. She groaned and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" she said.
"Jennifer, I'm sorry to call you so early, but I need to talk to you."
"Max, what's wrong?"
"Can you meet me downstairs in my room? There's something I need to show you."
She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Sure. Give me a half hour." She clicked off her phone and rolled out of bed. She didn't know what could be so urgent that they couldn't talk about it at their luncheon with the countries senator today. The last piece of protocol before they left tomorrow.
She heard stirring in the next room. Bucky must be waking up too. She couldn't help the small smile that pushed against her cheeks. She thought of last night at the Gala. His hand pressing into her back, and their walk back to the hotel, just enjoying each other's company.
She brushed out her hair and changed into jeans and a tee shirt, tucking it in and swiping on some mascara.
The elevator moved down to the bottom story and she yawned deeply.
When she got to Max's door, it threw open before she could even knock.
"Is everything ok?" she asked.
He gestured her in and looked down both hallways. "Come in, please."
There was already a cup of coffee waiting for her at the little table by the window. They both sat down, and Max put a file folder on the table between them. "What did he tell you last night, after we left?" he asked.
"Bucky? Nothing. We just took a walk."
"So he didn't tell you about what he and Limka talked about?"
She pursed her lips. Bucky hadn't told her anything. Not really. "No."
"And me? Has he said anything about me?"
"No, why are you asking me this?" she said, starting to feel uneasy. She took a sip of coffee to settle her stomach.
Max sighed. "Do you like him?"
Jenny prickled. "Who I like and don't like aren't really any of your business."
"I'm afraid this time, it is."
She rubbed her eyes. It was too early for this. "Just spit it out," she said. "What is going on?"
"I'm afraid our suspicions about the Winter Soldier were right from the beginning." He slid the folder closer to her. Jenny picked it up and flipped it open. Inside were printed communications from Bucky's email address.
"What are these?" she asked.
"Emails crying false allegations about me to try to get me fired."
She stared at the papers, her heart not wanting to comprehend what was on them. She scanned them, her mouth falling open. Max Hoffenn shows consistant refusal of his duties and cannot be trusted to fulfill the job requirements of his station. "I can't believe it. I don't believe it."
"I don't know what other proof you need."
"But why would he do this? I don't understand."
Max took a deep sigh and sat back in his chair. "He knows I'm onto him Jennifer. I know things. Things I've been investigating. Things that Juan and Russel have been investigating."
"What are you talking about?" Juan and Russel? Her solid team?
"Why do you think there are three guards here to escort you around?" he asked. "Wasn't it just supposed to be you and The Winter Soldier?"
She furrowed her brow trying to remember. "Yes…"
"They're here to watch him."
Jennifer put her hand over her eyes in confusion. "But why would the GRC let him come on this trip? And to partner me up with him while they were investigating seems… reckless."
"To kill two birds with one stone. Juan and Russel were here to keep you safe while you did the job the GRC needed you to do."
Jenny sat back in her chair. The pressure of that volcano in her heart, the one that pulsed with excitement last night turned ice cold. Her eyes settled on a picture above the fireplace of a mountain standing tall over a dark forest. The steady peak was covered in snow, still and harsh.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
"I was hired by the GRC to collect evidence against our friend. There's more that he's up to that I'm not at liberty to say. But I do need your help. I need someone who can get close to him so that I can get more intel if you're up for it."
"Who do you actually work for?" she asked. "Show me a badge, something."
Max reached in his back pocket and took out a silver star. "US Marshal."
Jenny took the badge in her hands and stared at it, her face falling. "You lied to me."
"I wasn't at liberty to say. I'm sorry, I never wanted to tell you this way. My admiration for you is genuine." He took her hand, and though she wanted to pull it away, she didn't seem to have the strength. "You are the person who could help me bring him to justice."
Jenny stood abruptly, walking over to the painting. "I don't want anything to do with him," she said. "All I wanted was to do my job."
"You could still do it. But you could also help me. If you agree, I can show you the extent of his betrayal, and it is extensive. We can get him put away forever. Don't you want to leave the world free of freaks like him?"
"I want to go home," she said. "I want to go home, and never see any of your faces again."
"Jennifer-"
"No!" she shouted. "I'm going home. I'm calling Stuart. Good luck with your assignment, I hope you're successful."
She handed him back the badge and went straight for the door. Max caught her hand and pulled her around to face him. "I can't begin to understand how you're feeling"
She stared at the painting again, the mountain silent and un-emotional.
"I know you're upset," he continued, turning the ring on his finger. "But if you change your mind and decide to do the right thing, I'll be here."
Jenny looked down at the carpet and gave a soft nod and opened the door.
She headed straight for the elevator, wishing the floor beneath her was hard wood that she could thump on, instead of soft carpet that muffled her steps.
She hit the "Up" arrow button and climbed inside. As the doors slid closed behind her, a familiar dark metal arm stuck itself inside and they bounced back open. Her heart leapt into her throat. The last person she wanted to see entered the elevator.
"Jenny, I was looking for you," said Bucky.
His gorgeous eyes that pierced her heart last night, now felt cruel and hostile. Those same eyes from when she was a little girl in her grandfather's kitchen.
She stared straight ahead as the doors closed. Alone with a killer that wanted to hurt Max. Bucky ran his hands through his hair, and she noticed the slight tremor in them.
"I want to talk to you about something," he said.
She glanced at him and then back at the front of the ancient elevator as it clunked and started moving.
"We both have the same wounds," he said.
Jenny swiveled her head to him, completely confused.
He growled, biting his lip in frustration. "That didn't come out right. Listen, this is hard for me. I haven't done something like this in so long. Can I just…?" He hit the stop button on the panel, and the elevator car came to a screeching halt. She held onto the railing as she lurched, regrettably toward him and he caught her by the shoulders. She shrugged him off, but he pressed on without noticing. "I know this is crazy. We're on a job. But I think the world of you. You're broken and fragile, but strong and determined. You care for the people you're trying to help. You're beautiful and I…" He lifted his arms into a shrug of surrender. "I care for you. I'm interested. And I'd love to actually take you out once we're back."
What? This was a dream. She could hardly believe the words that had come out of his mouth. A ripple of anger flew down her spine. "No thanks, I'm good."
She watched as his face shifted from hope to confusion. "Why? Last night when we…"
"You just insulted and complimented me in the same breath. Broken and fragile? Why would I want to be broken and fragile Bucky? Those are not good things."
"That's not what I meant…"
"But it's not just that. There's Max too."
Bucky's face went steely. He stepped toward her, his jaw clenching. "What about that prick?" he asked, ice in his tone.
"You tried to have him fired! Why would you do that? Anyone who would do something like that is just cruel."
He took another step forward. "Why so interested in him?"
She took a step herself. "He's been nothing but nice to me. I can't say the same for you."
Another step toward her "You don't know anything about him or me."
"I know plenty. You've killed people. You're capable of unspeakable things, and you do them out of spite and hatred."
He shook his head with a derisive chuckle. "You're so ready to believe in the bad because you can't trust that there's good in anyone. You are broken Jennifer. You can't trust your own thoughts. You believe everyone before yourself. You're a scared little girl pretending to have it all together."
How dare he, how dare he! "And you shoot your mouth off without regard for anyone. You're impulsive. You throw dignitaries across rooms, and then pretend you're not still the Winter Soldier. Who was it who threatened Limka? You think it was Bucky? Right. He doesn't exist."
His nostrils flared and hurt flashed across his eyes. "What about you? Running away from your privilege. Pretending you're a grownup when all you are is a spoiled little girl afraid to engage with the world."
"You bastard!" she said shoving him. "You don't know what I've been through."
"I know you're hiding. I know you've holed up in your own mind," he said tapping his head.
"And you. You think there's a difference between The Winter Soldier and James Buchanan Barnes? You are one in the same and you are the killer." They were right in front of each other, barely a breath between them. She could see the lines around his eyes, the tiny scars on his face, that gorgeous crease between his eyebrows. "How could you ever think I'd want to be with someone like you?" she said.
Bucky put his flesh hand on the wood paneling above her head. She backed up against the wall, as he drew his face close to hers. His smell was all around her, encasing her in his refuge of leather and musk.
"When you think about me at night in your room all alone, is it Bucky you're thinking about or The Winter Soldier?" he whispered, his voice rough and husky.
She opened her eyes to his sea glass colored ones, staring back at her with such intensity she couldn't breathe. His lips were so pink and just a little wet from where he'd licked them.
"I…"
"Which one of us is the one you dream of kissing?"
Her eyes flicked back and forth between his. Oh God, how she wanted to melt into his heat. "I don't…" she breathed.
"You're a terrible liar." His warm, sweet breath was on her face.
"You arrogant son of a bitch," she whispered, her nails combing through his beard, bringing him closer.
Then their lips were together, fast and hard and she could taste the whisky on his tongue. Her fingers sank into his chocolate colored hair as he cupped the back of her head in his flesh hand, the metal one gripping her hip. His mouth was sweet and she wanted more.
She bit his bottom lip and felt the growl in his chest as he pulled her flush to his body, warm and firm. A groan left her throat as she wrapped her arms tighter around his shoulders. He moved his hand down her thigh pulling it up, his fingers pressing. She knew she'd have a bruise there tomorrow.
She hardly had time to take a breath but it was the best way to suffocate. Being against him felt so good; sinful and delicious. The fire burning her hatred and want of him so much that they melded together in the heat.
His kiss was deep and searching, cloying at her inner being. He was drawing her out with his lips and she wanted to follow. But that quiet voice in the back of her head that was being drowned out by her moans was making itself louder. It wasn't safe. She couldn't leave her shelter. With everything she had, she pushed against his biceps and pulled her mouth away with a smacking noise.
Panting like he'd just run a marathon, his eyes slowly defogged and he came back to himself. He untangled his arms from her and put them behind his head, stepping away.
She felt a tear roll down her cheek. "I can't," she said. "I can't."
With a deep sigh, he pulled his hand down his face. "You can't or you won't?"
She couldn't say anything. Her mouth wouldn't work.
"For Christ's sake Jenny. You can't stay in your head forever. Yeah, there's pain attached to trying, but it's what adults do. They try."
"You don't get it. You'll never change."
"And you can't trust yourself enough to know what you want or think. You hurt people by not doing anything. You just exist."
It was like he'd punched her in the gut. Her lust melted away leaving her hollow. "I know enough to never want you," she said.
"You're a fucking liar," he spat out. "I finally know what I want. And God help me it's you."
She bit down on her tongue so hard she drew blood. "You don't want me. You want some girl that doesn't exist."
He threw his head back in frustration. "Apparently," he said.
She scowled hitting the elevator button and the doors slid open. She ran down the hallway to her room, stuck her key in the lock as fast as she could and closed the door behind her with a slam. Tears of humiliation spilled over onto her shirt as she leaned against the door. He was awful. Cruel and unfeeling. Embarrassment gave way to anger. A raging torrent of hate.
That was it. If Max wanted her in on taking down The Winter Soldier, then she would help.