Helmut was about to confess that he had been impressed as soon as he had handed Amelia the handgun. They had gone to practice in a field miles away from any path and he had set up a target on one of the trees. There had been no chance of them going to any shooting range because they would have to leave their details and Helmut preferred the quiet when it came to using weapons. He had handed Amelia the gun and she had instantly taken the safety lock off and aimed it at the target. It took her a moment before she took her shot and it hit just inches away from the central target.

He had taught her how to perfect her aim, feeling slightly hesitant as he stood behind her and placed a hand to her wrist, raising her arm slightly and placing a hand on her hip to turn her body slightly to the side. But he had to confess that she had a good aim on her. Her days of skeet shooting had clearly served her well; he wasn't going to doubt that.

She had remained stood steady as he taught her to control her breathing, but she had to admit that it was slightly unnerving having him breathing down her neck, his front pressed against her body and his hands wrapped around her. They had been close before, of course. He had trained her how to fight, but that had been much quicker. She'd barely had time to register him holding onto her then, unlike standing still in a field where the only noises came from their breathing and the soft hum of the wind.

"You were part of EKO Scorpion," Amelia commented as she drove them home that evening, keeping her speed steady on the winding costal roads as the sun began to set. Helmut sat in the passenger side, hands in his lap and eyes fixed out the window to the side of him.

"I was," he said, wondering just where she was going with this conversation.

"And I don't pretend to be some naïve idiot," Amelia said to him. "I know that if we're going to stop this serum from being recreated and come up against HYDRA then I…there's a chance that I'll have to pull that trigger and kill someone."

"I intend to do my best to ensure that won't happen," Helmut told her, thinking about what Lukas would say if he could see them at that moment in time. He would demand to know what he was doing. He would tell him to stop and to leave Amelia alone. Heike would say the same thing.

The only issue was that there was something about the woman that made it impossible for him to leave her.

"But you can't always make that promise," Amelia said to him, coming to a junction and turning her indicator on, looking both ways as traffic came in a steady stream and she couldn't go. "You mean well, Helmut, and I know that, but you can't always protect me and, despite what you think, I came into this with my eyes open and I know that I might have to do something I never thought I would do before."

"You know that Lukas would kill me himself if he found out I had let you kill someone?"

"He's not here," Amelia retorted, tone curt. "He's dead, Helmut, and the reason why he's dead…why your wife is dead…is because of the exact same thing we are now trying to stop."

Helmut remained silent, pursing his lips together as Amelia finally pulled out and settled on the main a-road for a short while. She stayed a good distance behind the people carrier in front of her, one hand on the wheel and the other moving to her hair. She pushed it behind her shoulder and sighed in exasperation before looking to him.

"Sorry," she said. "I don't mean to snap."

"It's fine," he promised her in a non-committed tone as she let her eyes go back to the road, her hand moving to the gear and shifting it upwards.

"It's not fine," Amelia said to him. "I just…I know it's not healthy to have this much rage or anger inside of me, but I can't help it. Every time I think of what happened in Sokovia…every time I think about how the Avengers get to go home and be happy…it makes me feel sick. They still have their families. They still have the people they love and we lost everything. We lost it all and they're heralded as heroes."

"I know," Helmut promised her, knowing exactly how she felt.

"And I know that we'll get what we want," she promised him. "And if we can stop the same thing from happening to anyone else then we will do, but I also know that it might mean taking a life and I've never done that before, Helmut. Christ, I was a PR Executive. It's not exactly the most exciting job ever."

"And you think that being part of EKO was?" he asked her.

"I think that being part of EKO meant that you knew how to shoot a gun and how to cope with killing the enemy, no matter how depraved they were," Amelia retorted and Helmut suspected she had a point there. "And I know that no amount of training will prepare me for what it feels like to kill someone, no matter how evil they are, but I just need…I just need you to tell me…or try to tell me…how you cope with it."

Looking over her, Helmut saw the apprehension in her gaze. She had never killed and a part of him wondered if she would have the guts to kill. Was it guts or was it conscience? He sometimes didn't know. He had been a part of EKO for so long that a part of him now felt nothing when he pulled the trigger because every time he had pulled it, he had known that it had been the right decision. He had been convinced in his convictions and that was all that mattered. Did it make him a good man? Probably not. But it made him a man with a code. It made him a man who had beliefs.

"I don't think there are words," Helmut confessed, his voice dropping an octave or two as he spoke to her. "I grew accustomed to pulling the trigger and doing what I had to do to protect my country and the men I served with. I hardly lost any sleep as the years went on and I won't lose any sleep when we deal with this HYDRA scum."

"I know that," Amelia assured him. "But there must have been a time when you were apprehensive about making that decision."

"I…it was a long time ago, Amelia," he admitted.

"I don't care," Amelia replied, turning left and returning back to the country lanes. "I just want to know what I can expect to feel."

Helmut shook his head and looked over her side profile, drinking in her features and hearing Heike's voice in the back of his head. "Don't do this. Don't corrupt her. She's good, Helmut, just like you are. You both don't have to do this."

"Adrenaline," Helmut told her, pushing his wife's voice aside. "You will feel a rush of adrenaline as soon as you pull the trigger, but you need to keep it under control because the people we're going to come up against will be skilled, Amelia. They will be highly skilled and you need to learn to control your emotions…but afterwards…the chances are that you will feel a sense of guilt because of who you are."

"Who I am?"

"A person with a conscience," Helmut replied. "No matter who you kill, you'll feel that guilt. Others don't. Some people feel something else…an almost Godlike complex that they were able to take someone's life…that they had another life in the palm of their hands and was able to end it."

"And you?" Amelia questioned, pushing him further.

"I felt a mixture," Helmut told her. "I felt guilt, but I also knew that the man who I had killed would have killed me had I not shot him first. He would have killed me and I don't want to think about who else he would have killed."

Amelia nodded thoughtfully, turning the lights on as the sun now dipped beyond the horizon and Helmut saw the sea appear in front of him and he knew they couldn't be too far away from the apartment block.

"But as I said," he drawled lowly, "I have no intention of seeing you pull the trigger."

"And like I said, you don't know what could happen," she retorted.

"Have you always been this stubborn?"

"Get used to it."

They had gone out early the next morning for a run. Helmut had to admit that Amelia's pace had quickened compared to where she had been weeks ago. Once they had showered and changed into clean clothes, Helmut picked up a document and pushed it towards her. They were sat at the kitchen table and eating bacon and eggs that Helmut had cooked while Amelia had blow dried her hair that now had strands that were flyaway.

"What's this?" she asked from him.

"Our first target," he told her and she nodded her head, picking at the scrambled eggs.

"Who is he?" she asked, looking down onto the face beneath her. He was a relatively handsome man with cropped blonde hair, a square jaw and glimmering blue eyes. She could see that he was wearing a suit and the writing next to him looked like it was written in Russian.

"Ivan Petrov, a former HYDRA scientist who is still working on recreating the serum. He used to work for the CIA and had access to super soldier blood. They've been trying to find him ever since HYDRA was outed, but he appears to have disappeared completely," Helmut commented, picking up his mug of coffee and holding it in his hands as he sat back and Amelia nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear and looking over to him.

"And you got all of this from that?" she asked, pointing down at the writing.

He smirked into his coffee. "I know how to use a translator. My Russian is a bit rusty," he commented. "Anyway, I pulled some strings and spoke to a former member of EKO who works as a mercenary for hire and he's heard whispers that Petrov is in London…intending on hosting an auction for HYDRA memorabilia that he stole from the CIA."

Amelia wrinkled her nose. "And people would buy that stuff?"

"HYDRA had some of the most advanced weapons in the world," Helmut retorted. "It would only make sense that some of the more unsavoury characters would be interested in it."

Amelia nodded. "Guess some people would be," she weakly agreed. "So…when is this auction taking place?"

"In three day's time," Helmut told her. "It's given me just enough time to come up with a plan and that plan does not involve you getting anywhere near Petrov…but I will need your assistance."

"Do you intend to divulge this grand plan?" she asked from him.

"We need to get the gas into the house," Helmut told her. "I've managed to track down enough poisoned gas to take care of the entire room, including Petrov and the rest of the HYDRA fanatics who will be there."

"You're going to kill an entire room full of people?"

"I doubt I would be able to get Petrov alone and this way we deal with more threats at the same time," he told her. "However, I need to get the canister of gas in and from what I can gather, Petrov's house is in the middle of the countryside outside of London and is heavily guarded. I can get in as a guest, but each guest will be searched and patted down."

Nodding, Amelia dropped her cutlery onto her plate and sat back, her appetite seemingly having disappeared.

"And where do I come into this?" she asked him.

His lips twitched upwards and he picked up the piece of bacon she had left. He chewed down on it and spoke slowly.

"All of the serving staff who will be there are females. Petrov is not only an asshole, but a sexist asshole," Helmut told her. "I tracked down the catering team for the party. Believe me, that took a while hacking into databases, but I did it. I need you to sneak the canister in amongst the food."

"And how do you suggest I do that?"

"The night before the party, one of the waitresses will come down with food poisoning," Helmut told her, picking his mug back up. "Angela's Catering will rely on an agency to find cover, as they have done before, and the agency will send you. You can easily place that canister in the catering and keep an eye on it."

"And you think this will work?"

"It stands one of two chances," Helmut shrugged and eyed her with caution. "Of course, no one is making you do this."

"No," she said quickly. "I want to do this."

His lips picked up again and he nodded. "That's that then."

Looking up at the large Manor House, Amelia was doing her best to keep calm. She had a satchel on her shoulder that had the canister Helmut had given her along with the masks to protect them both. She had to get them to him sometime during the auction. She was dressed in a catering uniform and she had to admit that she would have preferred something else to wear. The tube skirt came down to her mid-thigh and she had thick black tights on underneath it. The heels of her ankle boots clicked on the gravel as she moved closer to the building.

She had a name tag on her white shirt that she had buttoned up to her neck and had tied her hair into a messy ponytail. Helmut had left her earlier that day, claiming that they couldn't arrive together or it would cause suspicion. And so, for now, she was on her own.

She noticed Angela's Catering van outside of the back door. She had wandered the perimeter of the house searching for the back entrance, passing by armed guards who were wandering around and guests who were arriving. She saw a small, portly woman struggling to carry trays of food from the van, almost missing her step on the way down.

"Need a hand?" Amelia asked her as the woman stood there, cheeks tinged red and a chef's uniform on her body.

"Please," she responded and Amelia took the tray from her that had been covered in tinfoil. The woman who, Amelia assumed, was Angela, eyed her up and down. "You must be the cover for Debbie."

"Isabella," Amelia said, recalling her fake alias.

"Well, Isabella," Angela said. "If you could take that through there and into kitchen then I'd appreciate it."

"Sure," Amelia agreed as the woman turned to look back in the van at the other trays she had secured into holders to stop them from flying around. "Oh…but I think we might need more tinfoil."

Amelia ripped the tinfoil down the middle, revealing something that looked like a prawn bite. She looked to Angela who huffed and shook her head, muttering about her own clumsiness and cursing herself. Amelia gathered her breath as she took the tinfoil from Angela and she quickly placed the tray onto the end of the van as Angela kept her back to her. She moved the prawns to the side, squashing them all together and then laying the canister and masks on the large silver tray. She moved her shaking hands to recover the tray with tinfoil before heading to the door.

Keeping her breathing calm, she saw the two men chatting there and they searched her bag and patted her down before letting her through, having no care for seeing what was on the tray. Amelia moved around the kitchen, noting other waitresses there who were pulling the covers off the food and checking on the champagne in ice buckets.

"I'll take them."

A woman who wasn't dressed in uniform spoke and held her hands out expectantly towards Amelia. She suspected that she was one of the main members of staff, but Amelia knew that she couldn't give her the tray. She held tightly onto it, her grip making her knuckles turn white as she shook her head at the woman.

"These are ones that had been dropped on the floor," Amelia said. "I honestly doubt that the guests would want to eat bits of dirt or gravel."

The woman rolled her eyes. "Chuck it in the bin and then make a start on serving the champagne."

"Got it," Amelia agreed with her on that one as she pushed an apron towards her.

Amelia took it and somehow managed to get to the bin. As she pushed the food into it, she caught the canister and masks, somehow slipping them into her apron and trying to stop it from looking like there was a large bulge. She placed the tray back on the side and tossed the empty satchel off to the side, knowing she wouldn't see it again and thankful that it had been a cheap purchase from a discount clothing store that morning that wouldn't tie back to her buying it.

Picking up the tray of champagne, she made her way behind the other waitresses down the corridor. The walls were lined with portraits of men and women in fine gowns. The house reminded Amelia slightly of Lukas's old home in Sokovia, but she pushed her fiancé's face out of her mind. Coming to the grand dining room, she saw that it was filled with people who were mingling and laughing, chewing down on canapés and drinking champagne.

The table had been removed from the room to give everyone more space. The fire was lit in the grand fireplace with three chairs sat in front of it and a sheepskin rug in between it. The rest of the space was wooden floors and high ceilings that had been intricately decorated. The walls were again lined with artwork that no doubt cost a fortune. The chandelier was lit and cast shimmers on the walls surrounding it. The wallpaper was floral, a deep red pattern that made the room seem darker than it was. A podium had been set up by one door and a small stage was next to it.

"What the hell am I doing?" Amelia mumbled as she carried the tray in both hands, worried that she might drop it and attract attention to herself.

Heading through the room, she let the guests pick up drinks from the tray as she looked around for any sign of Helmut. She soon found him loitering at the back of the room, looking down at a piece of paper. His eyes kept glancing up and darting around, almost as though he was too scared to be distracted for too long. He had dressed up in a black shirt and trousers, the top two buttons undone. Everyone in the room had gone for the smart casual look. Women wore dresses that were either fitted or loose, their heels clicking on the floor. Most were adorned in the finest jewellery while the men had expensive watches and designer suits on their bodies.

"Champagne, sir?"

Amelia somehow made it to Helmut who picked a glass from the tray.

"You alright?" he asked from her.

"I got it in," Amelia said to him.

"Excellent," Helmut said. "You know what to do next, yes?"

"On my way there now," she said to him.

She let someone take the last glass of champagne from her tray as she left the dining hall and headed back to the kitchen. She took a detour on her way there, diverting into the bathroom off the corridor. Locking the door, she waited patiently until she heard the knock on the door. Opening it, she hid behind the corner as Helmut stepped in after her. Wordlessly, she handed him the canister and a mask. He somehow managed to fit them both into his jacket pocket and she left first without another word, carrying the tray against her chest.

"Isabella, isn't it?"

Coming to the kitchen, she instantly heard Angela call her name. Nodding her head, Amelia stepped forwards. "Yes."

"I need you to take these to our host. He's pretty impatient and all the other girls have left with full trays."

"Of course," Amelia agreed and she picked up the try that Angela was thrusting towards her. She looked down at the food and wrinkled her nose. There were three bowls of dumplings that had a distinct smell coming from them.

Moving back to the dining hall, she passed by Helmut as he left the bathroom. He watched her go, his eyes remaining on her back as she went. He had found himself unable to tear his gaze from her for the most part, only looking away when he was certain she wasn't looking at him. He moved into the dining room and he saw her head over to the three men sat by the fireplace. Loitering around the edge of the room, he watched on as she handed each of them a bowl. But she didn't go after that.

She remained stood in front of them, almost like she was a child being brought before her peers. Helmut gripped hold of the piece of paper he had been given. The memo contained the items going up for sale and their guide price.

"I haven't seen you at these gatherings before."

Helmut had no other option but to avert his gaze from Amelia as she remained talking to the three men, one of them being Petrov. Looking to the woman stood in front of him, he eyed her with caution. He didn't want to appear too closed off, but at the same time, he had to treat her with trepidation. She was dressed in a fitted blue dress, her blonde hair was curled over her shoulder and she had far too much makeup on her face, the line of her foundation distinguishable against her pale neck from where she had failed to blend it in. She had a large gold necklace around her neck, her hair hanging loose and a pin in it that no doubt cost a fortune.

"I'm new here," Helmut informed her.

"I can tell," she replied, brow arched. "I've been to each of Petrov's gatherings before and have never seen you around."

"HYDRA recruited me just before Black Widow released all of our files," Helmut said, playing his part as well as he possibly could. "I worked in Sokovia so have been laying low for quite some time."

"Sokovia?" she questioned. "You were one of the lucky ones then."

"If you say so," Helmut said. He never felt entirely lucky. He often wondered why it hadn't been him who had been killed. He had been on the front line trying to protect the city. His wife and son were supposed to have been safe.

"Well, allow me to introduce myself," she said, holding her hand out towards him as he took a moment to peer over his shoulder and see that the man next to Petrov had taken hold of Amelia's wrist and had pulled her closer to him. Helmut's jaw clenched as he took the woman's hand and shook it. "I'm Jennifer Davies. My father was one of HYDRA'S top scientists during the Cold War period."

"Daniel Blaine," he responded, using his fake alias.

"Not entirely a Sokovian name, is it?" the woman replied to him.

"My mother was English," Helmut retorted and looked her in the eye once more.

"And what is it you do for HYDRA?" Jennifer continued to push him.

"I'm an arms dealer," Helmut said. He knew she would have no chance to work out that the alias he had installed on the HYDRA database was fake. It would be deleted as soon as this event had finished and no one in that room would remember his name or who he was. "I specialise in chemical weapons."

"Impressive," Jennifer commented, picking up a tray of champagne from a passing waitress, giving Helmut time to check back on Amelia as he saw the man stand up alongside her, twirling her under his arm. His gaze was lecherous and Helmut wanted to do nothing more than disarm one of the guards and shoot the man himself as he laughed at something Amelia said and she smiled back.

"I like to think so," Helmut told her.

"And you've come here alone?" Jennifer checked.

"Yes."

"It's just that I noticed your wedding ring," she pointed out and Helmut looked down to the golden band on his finger. "Is there a lucky Mrs Blaine waiting at home for her husband?"

"Unfortunately not," Helmut said. "We divorced, but I don't have it in me to remove the ring. It's become a fixture."

"Divorced," she mused with a nod. She smiled slyly and placed her champagne glass to her lips. Taking a big gulp, she smacked her lips together when she had finished. "I had wondered if you were an adulterer judging by the way you've been staring at that waitress all afternoon."

Helmut's gaze darkened and his brows furrowed as he looked her in the eye. "Excuse me?"

"The brunette with the mousy features," Jennifer said. "Has she taken your fancy? I noted how you kept on watching her and I had wondered if my coming over here might drag your attention away from her and to someone more…shall we say, respectable and not relying on serving people champagne to make a living?"

Helmut already despised this woman, but he had to keep his cool. He remained silent, watching her intently as she continued talking, her own beady gaze fixed on him.

"But I can see it has been a wasted effort. You've been looking at her the entire time," Jennifer said. "And I imagine if you spoke to Petrov he might let you have her…for a price, of course. He doesn't like to be left without members of staff. Then again, it seems that Boris is quite taken with her."

"For a price? She does not work for him."

Jennifer scoffed.

"Honey, anyone who comes here and serves at these parties works for him. Besides, he'll give her a cut. She'll no doubt be relieved. You want to see some of the men who come in here and go after the waitresses. She could do a lot worse than you."

Helmut wondered what that meant, but looking around the room he saw what she was saying to him. But he couldn't let anything happen to Amelia. He had to find a way to get to her before that man did any damage to her. The only issue was that he didn't entirely know what he should do. He took a moment to look the woman in the eye once more and nodded with pursed lips.

"Thank you for the advice," he said and brushed by her.

Moving towards the scene, Helmut saw Amelia walking away and he wondered if she had escaped. She walked by him and whispered quickly, carrying her tray against her stomach. She looked pale and had a stern expression on her face.

"Bathroom. Now."

She stormed off and Helmut looked at the three men, seeing how they were all stood in a circle and chuckling, glasses of whiskey in their hands. Helmut waited a moment before following Amelia out of the room. He moved down the corridor and back to the bathroom, knocking on the door quickly. She opened it and he stepped inside as she slammed the door shut and locked it. She turned her glare onto him and he felt her push him in the shoulders. The shock caused him to stumble backwards as she continued hitting at him.

"Did you know?" she snarled at him. "Did you know what they did?"

"Amelia, I need you to calm down," Helmut urged from her, keeping his voice low and even. But she continued pushing against his chest until he was up against the wall.

"Did you know the type of waitresses they hired for this event? Did you know and still send me in there?"

"I had no idea," Helmut promised her and he reached out to grab her wrists, stopping her from hitting at him any further. He kept her in his grip tightly, refusing to back away as she let herself go still. Her chest was heaving and her eyes were wide and full of anger. Her hair had also fallen from its ponytail as he dared to let her go.

He gently moved his hands to her cheeks, cradling them in his grip and running his thumbs along her cheekbones as he tried to keep her calm. Bending down so that he was at her height, he looked her straight in the eye and saw her anger dissolve slightly.

"He's not going to get anywhere near you," Helmut promised her.

"He…they were negotiating prices, Helmut," Amelia whispered to him. "Like I was nothing but a piece of meat and they…they've had other girls…it's sick. They're sick. The things they do to them. They need to be stopped. We need to go through with this plan right now."

"We need to wait until the auction is in full swing."

"And until then?"

"Act your part and keep calm. Stay in that room and in my eyesight. That man in there is not going to lay a hand on you. I promise you."

Amelia managed to calm her breathing as Helmut continued stroking her cheekbones softly and he nodded to her as she nodded back. Satisfied that she was fine and on board with the plan, he stood up straight once more as Amelia pulled her hair back from her face and into a ponytail. He watched her look at her reflection in the mirror and splash cold water on her face.

"This will all be over soon," he promised her in a soft voice.

"I've got this," she said to him and he watched her slip from the bathroom first.

He returned to the function, hands in the pockets of his jacket as he bided his time until the auction started. Amelia soon returned to the main room and continued serving champagne, Helmut watching her and keeping to himself. It only took another half an hour before the auction was due to start. He had half an hour just to wait until the plan was executed.

Amelia tried to stay away from the three ringleaders as best as she could, but ten minutes before the auction was due to take place, the one whose attention she had attracted walked by her, asking her to meet him upstairs in five minutes. She said nothing as she looked to Helmut and he nodded to her as people were urged to take their seats for the auction to begin. She stayed in the main room, moving over to one of the waitresses and whispering to her.

"Angela says there's been a catering emergency," Amelia said to her. "She told me to ask for all of us to go back to the kitchen."

"Really?" the redhead questioned.

"She sounded pretty stressed."

"Alright, I'll gather everyone."

"I'll do the same."

Amelia had told Helmut that no one working at the event was to be harmed. She drew the line at innocent people being casualties in this event. She nodded to Helmut once everyone was out and saw him sat at the end of a row. Amelia closed the dining room door and moved towards him, placing her tray down on a table. Slipping by him, she took the mask she had been hiding and held it behind her back. Standing at the back of the room, she waited with patience as the auction began and sipped on a glass of champagne.

Looking around the room, she felt no regret as Helmut announced his presence, informing one of the bidders that he was overpaying for something loudly. Her lips turned upwards at his dramatics and she folded one arm over her waist. She had wondered if she would feel any guilt about what was to happen. But she didn't. She felt nothing as she watched the gas lift into the air from the canister and she dropped the champagne glass onto the floor, letting it smash. She placed the mask over her face as the guests began shrieking loudly and some tried to run for the door.

But they got nowhere. They all slumped to the floor in an instant, Helmut remaining stood among them. Amelia stepped forwards and towards him as he held his mask to his nose and his other hand was stretched out towards her. He placed his hand on her back and guided her forwards out of the room. Closing the door behind him, he tossed his mask into his pocket as Amelia did the same and they headed down the corridor.

"Where do you think you're going, sweetheart?"

Amelia turned her head around, looking at the main staircase and seeing Boris descending the steps. He was wearing a silk blue robe, clearly having gotten changed.

"Change of plan," Amelia said to him as Helmut prepared to fight the man, knowing that it would come to that.

"I don't think so," he said to her, coming to the hallway. "I paid for you so you're mine. Whoever this guy might be, he isn't having you."

"On the contrary, she isn't an item for sale and she most certainly is not going with you."

"Really? I would like to see you try and stop me," Boris said and whistled lowly, two guards descending the stairs behind him with guns in their hands.

Looking to them, Helmut knew he could deal with them all, but he had to be quick. He pushed Amelia to the side before they could fire at her. The shots rang out as he ducked down out of their range. Storming forwards, he grabbed one of them around the waist and managed to throw him to the ground, stomping on his arm as he ducked the punch of the other man. The guard on the ground shrieked in pain as Helmut picked up his gun and shot the other one in the head before giving the man on the ground the same courtesy. Looking up, he had hoped that Amelia had ran, but he found her punching at Boris, easily ducking his blows. He wasn't a man with the ability to fight very well and Amelia seemed to be holding her own.

But then he saw Boris twist her arm behind her back and she yelled in pain, the noise gut-wrenching and sending a shiver down Helmut's spine. Something had happened to her. And then he saw it. He saw her dislocated shoulder as soon as he put a bullet in Boris's head and the man slumped forwards.

"Shit…Jesus Christ…" Amelia cursed loudly as Helmut stepped over Boris's body and saw her slam her fist against the wall.

"I need you to stay still," Helmut demanded from her. "We've already attracted enough attention with gunshots so we need to move quickly."

"What're you doing?" she demanded to know from him as he looked to her shoulder. "You can't seriously be thinking what I think you're thinking."

"I have medical training. It's basic, but I can deal with this," Helmut told her. "Bite down on your fist and just prepare for the pain."

"I need a hospital!"

"We don't have time for that," Helmut told her and she shook her head as he grabbed her good arm and moved it upwards, urging her to chew onto her hand. She shook her head, but did as he had asked her. She bit down hard as she felt him move his hands against her shoulder and arm. Bowing her head, she waited for the pain and it soon came. He forced her shoulder back into place and she screamed loudly, the sounds still loud despite chewing on her fist.

Helmut instantly moved his own hand to her mouth to muffle the noise even more as he moved to cradle her against his side, his other arm wrapping around her body as she slumped against him and he dared to move his hand from her mouth as the screams turned to whimpers.

"You're alright," Helmut promised her, his voice soft in her ear. "You're alright, Amelia. I've got you, but we need to get out of here."

Nodding her head slowly, she vaguely understood what he was telling her as he kept her wrapped up in his grip and they left the house, knowing that they had to get out of there soon rather than later.

Helmut had taken Amelia to the hospital on their way back to Norfolk. She claimed that she had injured herself after falling down the stairs and they seemed to believe her. Helmut had sat in the waiting room of the A&E department while she was taken away for an x-ray to see if any of her ligaments or muscles had been damaged. She came back almost three hours later, her arm in a sling and a follow-up appointment ordered. Thankfully, there was only a small tear in her ligament that should heal soon enough.

They had gone back home and Helmut had told her to rest. She had managed to go to her bedroom and change into her pyjamas, opting for a vest top so that she could put some ice on her shoulder to help with the swelling. Helmut had told her he would fetch the ice, but all he could find was frozen peas. He wrapped them in a towel and knocked on her bedroom door before entering.

He found her laid on her good side underneath the covers, eyes slightly droopy. "Ice," he commented, holding up the towelled item. "Well, they are frozen peas, but they'll do the job."

"Thanks," Amelia said and he sat down on the side of the bed. He placed the peas onto her skin, hearing her hiss at their coldness. He kept hold of them so that they didn't slip and they both lapsed into silence.

"You're not coming with me again."

"We're not debating this again," Amelia retorted.

"There's nothing to debate," he told her. "This is too dangerous, Amelia. You dislocated your shoulder, but who knows what else could have happened? I don't want to find out, I know that much."

"It was a freak accident. He just twisted my arm the wrong way."

"Lukas…I promised him that I would protect you and this isn't protecting you or looking out for you," Helmut snapped at her, his voice loud and his eyes full of anger. But more than that, she could see the regret there. He was disappointed in himself. "Heike would kill me too."

"You don't make decisions for me."

"I do when they could get you killed."

"Why do you even care, Helmut? It's not like we're best friends, is it?" Amelia snapped at him. "You don't even like me. I know what you thought about me when I came to Sokovia. I know all about how you told Lukas that he was rushing into marrying me."

Helmut went silent then, pursing his lips and chewing down on his tongue as Amelia managed to sit up, taking the peas and tossing them to the side. She glowered at him and waited for him to try and deny it, but he didn't bother. Instead, he remained mute.

"I heard you that day in the dining room," Amelia said. "Questioning if he was making a mistake…if I was right for him…so don't even pretend that you give a shit what happens to me. I'm doing this for Lukas…I'm doing this to stop anyone else from losing their families to monsters who could kill them without giving them a second thought. If I die along the way then so be it. I don't care. I have nothing anymore anyway and I came to terms with that. But I'm not stopping because of this so don't even think of trying to stop me."

Helmut stood up and backed out the room without another word. He didn't exactly know what more he should say or what he could say. Amelia watched him go and sighed, flopping back onto her side and closing her eyes, knowing that they were going to have a very tense conversation the following morning.

...

A/N: Not sure if anyone is reading, but if you are then I'd just love a quick hello!