Helmut could hardly believe that he had escaped. He had actually managed to get out of that cell. Feeling the sun on his skin without handcuffs or a guard escorting him brought him nothing but joy. Sitting on his private jet and drinking a glass of champagne that Oeznik had bought him was enough to make him sigh in content. It had been too long since he had enjoyed the taste of alcohol. He had told Oeznik that they were to go to Norfolk. He was going nowhere with Sam Wilson or Bucky Barnes until he had seen Amelia.

If he was free then he would do what he needed to do and, first of all, he needed to visit Amelia. He hadn't told Sam or Bucky where they were going, preferring not to let them in on his plan. Instead, he had been silent, sneaky. Only once they were in the air did he deign to tell them his plan.

"So, Madripoor," Sam began and Helmut looked to him.

They had already gotten into a discussion about super soldiers alongside Bucky discovering that Helmut had found his notebook. He had looked at the names on there. His own was written beneath Amelia's, but her name had been crossed out. Bucky had taken it back, threatening Helmut in the process.

"What about it?" Helmut questioned from Sam.

"Well, you guys talk about it like its Skull Island," Sam commented.

"It was a pirate haven in the 1800s," Bucky exclaimed.

"But it's kept its lawless ways," Helmut replied. "I have contacts there, many of whom perhaps would like to do nothing more than kill me and so, in order to survive, we will need to play our parts. However, we have other business to take care of first."

"And what business is that?" Sam questioned.

"There's someone I need to see."

"What?" Sam snapped at him. "This wasn't part of the plan."

"No, it wasn't," Bucky said, grinding his teeth together. He had noticed the plane change direction several minutes ago, but he had hoped that they were simply avoiding being detected on the flight path.

Bucky knew exactly what Helmut had planned. "I told you to leave her out of this."

"And I have no intention of bringing her along with us," Helmut informed Bucky, taking a sip of his champagne, "but I need to see her before we go to Madripoor."

"Who?" Sam asked, clearly exasperated and confused by what was going on. Who were they talking about? He looked between the two men who seemed to have taken up glaring at each other. Helmut folded one leg over the other, resting his head back against the headrest. Sam threw his hands up in exasperation. "Who?"

"Amelia," Bucky said his name, looking to Sam.

The Falcon's brows furrowed together and rose on his forehead. "Baker?" he checked and Bucky nodded once. "What the hell are we doing going after his girlfriend for?"

"She is not my girlfriend."

"She's not his girlfriend."

Helmut and Bucky spoke at the same time. Sam's head, once again, snapped back and forth between looking at the two of them. He tried to work out what was going on. But Helmut was looking at Bucky with a sardonic smirk, his eyes almost glimmering dangerously as he kept his glare narrowed. Bucky didn't look even slightly entertained. He was just too focused on watching Helmut.

"You said that fairly quickly, James," Helmut said.

"Just stating facts."

"How do you even know her?" Sam questioned. "I thought you just met her once in Siberia?"

"Did he not tell you that he found her in Madripoor? He saved her life and proceeded to play the gallant knight…spending time with her in England…"

"You what?" Sam asked.

"It's a long story," Bucky said and he moved to stand up, needing to get away from Helmut. He moved to the back of the plane and into the bathroom. Slamming the door behind him, he splashed cold water on his face and grabbed the edges of the sink, bowing his head and trying not to let Zemo get into his head. But he was there already. He was there and he wasn't going away anytime soon.

Amelia had gone shopping that morning, needing to stock up her depleted cupboards. She'd spoken to Bucky a few days ago and he had told her that he had ended up in Europe again with Sam. He had been going after a group known as the Flag Smashers. She had warned him to be careful, but ever since then she'd heard nothing from him. She'd text him, but there had been no response. Pulling up to her house, she kept her hands steady on the wheel as she moved down the small country lane.

She hummed along to some catchy tune on the radio, almost feeling as though she was fine. She was having a good day. She'd woken up, used the spin bike she had bought and kept in her home office. She'd started looking up PhD courses again and had then gone shopping.

It had been five weeks since Bucky had left her alone in Norfolk and she was doing as well as she could. She had routine, always planning out things to do during the day. She'd tried to get herself out of the rut she had been stuck in and therapy was helping with that. The nightmares still occurred and she doubted they would stop anytime soon.

As she approached her house, she slowed down when she spotted a black car parked outside of it. She frowned. She hadn't been expecting a delivery. Pulling up on the drive, she turned the radio down using the control on the steering wheel and slowly parked her car out front. Climbing from it, she noticed the driver's side door open on the black car and her mouth gaped.

"Bucky?" she asked from him.

But he didn't smile back. He seemed almost passive. And then the passenger door opened and another man climbed out. Amelia's mouth hung open even wider. Stood next to him was Sam Wilson. He was dressed in jeans, a green top and a brown jacket. Bucky had his black jacket on over his hoodie and dark jeans. What the hell were they doing here?

As Amelia moved towards them, the back door opened and she thought that she was dreaming when she saw him. How was this even possible? She shook her head as she stopped in her tracks, eyes set on him as he closed the door and stood up tall. She watched him intently as he stared back at her, the emotion on his face completely unreadable. He was dressed in a long, dark coat with a fur collar. A purple sweater was on underneath it and he had lighter coloured jeans on his legs with boots and a silver belt around his waist.

"What is going on?" Amelia managed to spit out.

"Good question," Sam spoke and she looked to him. "We might need your help."

"My help?" Amelia asked and then looked back to Helmut. "How are you here?"

"Escaping from a German prison cell is easy when you have the necessary tools," was all that he said to her and she wondered why he sounded so cold and distant. "But Sam is right. We need your help."

"It's the Flag Smashers," Bucky explained to her, moving so that he was stood across from her. "We think they're super soldiers."

She was wearing a plain, long sleeved black top with a short dogtooth skirt, thick tights on her legs with her ankle boots. She'd had a haircut since he saw her last, her curls now sitting just underneath her shoulders instead of halfway down her back. They looked lighter too, almost as though she'd had her hair coloured.

"What could you possibly need my help with?"

"Selby," Helmut simply said and Amelia turned to look at him.

She shook her head. "No," she said firmly.

"You said that we didn't need to bring her to Madripoor," Bucky spat, grateful Amelia had no neighbours so that no one could hear them arguing. "You said that you were here for personal reasons."

"And you trusted me?" Helmut asked and Bucky realised that was on him. He should have known better than to trust anything that Helmut said. He usually ended up lying to him. "No, if we are going to Madripoor to find out who is recreating the serum then we need favour with Selby…Amelia has her favour."

"No, I don't," Amelia snapped at Helmut. "And I am not going to Madripoor."

"No, you're not," Bucky agreed on that point.

"She respects you, Amelia," Helmut reminded her. "You know that."

"She hardly respects me. She respects money," Amelia said, tone tight. She forgot her shopping in the trunk and reached back into her car, pulling her satchel from the back seat. She searched for her house keys. "And why would I come to Madripoor?"

"Because someone is recreating the super soldier serum and we think HYDRA is involved," Helmut said and he saw her freeze at that piece of news. He knew what she was thinking now. "And I have no intention of leaving our work unfinished."

"And that's for you to decide, but I am not coming," Amelia said firmly with a shake of her head. She moved towards the house and Helmut watched her, moving slowly over the stones on the driveway and watching the back of her.

"You know that Selby is more likely to listen to you," Helmut said.

"Yeah, so?" Amelia called back to him. "If you're only here to use me for your mission then I'm sorry, but you've had a wasted trip."

And therein lied the issue. Amelia felt used. She felt as though there was no other reason as to why he was there. But Helmut was acting distant for a reason. He had seen how Bucky had reacted on the plane at the mention of Amelia. It was almost like there was something more there and Helmut was jealous. He couldn't even pretend otherwise. He was jealous that he had been the one who had been able to spend time with her while he was locked away. He was jealous at the thought that Amelia had even let him spend time with her. Not that he would openly admit it, of course.

"No, we haven't," Helmut responded and moved behind her as she left the door open.

Bucky followed and Sam loitered behind. She moved through the hallway to the kitchen, tossing her bag onto the large dining table as Helmut looked around the space, drinking in the modern kitchen with the fancy appliances.

"So…is this what my money paid for?" he asked from her and Amelia ground her teeth together.

"Your money?"

"I did give you four million pounds, did I not?" he questioned from her. "So…this is the house you bought with it?"

"You gave me that money and now you're holding it against me? What the hell is your issue? You turn up here and proceed to tell me that you escaped from a prison cell to try and stop the super soldier serum being recreated…and tell me that the only reason you're here is because you need me to get to Selby…and now you are practically insulting me."

"I am simply asking if my money helped buy this house."

"Not that it's any of your business, but I used the money from the sale of my own apartment and Lukas's house," Amelia snapped at him.

"And did you charge James rent when he stayed here?"

James? He meant Bucky. Amelia slowly began to piece things together. She looked to Bucky as he stood by the dining table, completely silent. Sam looked to him then and tried to piece things together. He slowly understood what was happening, as did Amelia. Looking to Helmut, she saw that his chin was jutting out and his gaze was set on her, harsh and unrelenting. Shaking her head, Amelia couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You're unbelievable," she said to Helmut and moved past him back to the hallway.

He heard her run upstairs and he turned on his heel to follow her, but Bucky grabbed hold of him by the arm. "Leave her alone," he warned from Helmut. "You have no idea what you're saying."

"Don't I?"

"No," Bucky snarled. "So just leave her alone."

"No can do," Helmut said. "I suggest you get off of me, James. I am going to have this discussion with her either way."

"Buck, let him go," Sam said, not wanting to see Bucky being tipped over the edge like he knew Helmut could do to him. He didn't want to see him hurt. He moved a hand to his arm and Bucky instantly let go of Helmut. "He's right. We're in her house…we can't avoid her."

Helmut nodded tensely and proceeded to climb the stairs. He followed the noise of cupboard doors banging to the bedroom at the end of the corridor. It was large with two doors leading off of it. A bed was sat against the wall, facing the full length window overlooking the countryside. A chair was in the corner, a reading lamp hanging over it. There was a dressing table and a chest of drawers in between the two doors. Helmut moved to the door furthest away, treading over the plush, grey carpet.

Amelia was in the walk-in wardrobe, slamming drawers and putting away clothes she had left strewn on the stool in the middle of the room.

"Are we going to discuss this?" Helmut asked.

"What is there to discuss?" she questioned, hanging a dress up on a hanger. "You came here to use me and I'm not going to be used."

"You think that I would use you?"

"Well, why else are you here?" she demanded from him. "Because I haven't heard you say anything other than how much use I will be to get to Selby."

"I thought that you would appreciate me being direct," Helmut retorted. "Besides, it would be for James too. This is his mission as much as mine."

"Bucky?"

"Yes, James," he said. "You two are close, are you not? Why else would he spend so much time in your house after what happened in Madripoor?"

Amelia shook his head. "You've got no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't I?" he questioned, tone terse. "Because it would all make sense, Amelia. Why you haven't come to Berlin to see me…why I knew you were lying to me on the phone about everything being fine…you were lying because he was here. He was here and you care for him, don't you? You've fallen for the very same man whose life we destroyed. You moved on very quickly after you kissed me in Berlin."

Amelia shook her head. "You're jealous of Bucky?"

"I just want to know how long it's been going on and if you had any intention of continuing to lie to me."

"Nothing is going on. He's just a friend."

"Just a friend? You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe what you want," Amelia said with a shake of her head. She wasn't going to do this. She didn't want him to push her any further, but this was Helmut.

"So you're not even going to deny it? How long has it been going on? How long have you been sleeping with him?"

"Shut up!" Amelia demanded from him, finally breaking down. Her hands trembled and she threw the sweatshirt she had been folding onto the floor. It crumpled there and she looked at Helmut, her eyes wild with hurt and anger, tearing up. "Do you want the reason why he was here?" Amelia demanded from him, but he didn't answer. He just looked at her as she began pulling at the top she wore tucked into her skirt. She tugged it over her head and let it fall onto the stool before she turned around, her body shaking.

Helmut's gaze roamed over her back and his breath hitched in his throat at what he saw. Her entire back was covered with scars, running across her pale skin. Some were a darker red than others, while some looked as though they had been deep, the skin raised from where it had healed.

"Amelia…what…" Helmut stammered and she turned to face him once more, reaching for her top and pulling it back on.

"Andrew Edgington did that to me," Amelia said to Helmut. "He caned me…beat me…left me bleeding chained in his basement. I couldn't walk without being in pain for weeks. Bucky brought me home and looked after me."

"Why did you never tell me?" he asked from her and he stepped towards her.

He reached his hand out towards her, but she recoiled from him. She stepped back and he felt hurt ache in his chest. She had never jumped back from it like that, not like she was in fear. His brows knitted together and he continued observing her intently.

"Amelia…" he whispered her name and she shook her head.

"That wasn't all he did," she admitted, voice barely a whisper and mouth drying out. "He raped me," Amelia finally confessed to him and he swore that he felt everything inside of him collapse to the ground. His chest ached and his stomach churned. Amelia wiped away the tears that had spilled from her eyes. "He raped me and filmed it all…intended on showing it to you when he had killed me," she said and Helmut closed his eyes, his head turning light as he struggled to imagine what she had gone through. And he felt like the worst person in the world for everything that he had said to her.

"Amelia, I'm sorry," Helmut said, not sure if sorry was going to cut it or make any difference to her. She remained silent and he didn't move any closer to her. He stayed where he was and she nodded, picking up her sweatshirt from the floor and just dropping it onto the stool in the middle.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to know…because I knew you would just feel guilty that you couldn't help…being locked in that cell," Amelia said to him. "And I didn't want that for you."

"You shouldn't have to think about my feelings, not after what happened," Helmut said.

"But I do," Amelia said to him with a nod. "Because I love you and I thought you knew that…but to hear you come in here…accuse me of sleeping with Bucky…I don't know if you really do know me."

She left then and Helmut let her go. He let her leave because he knew that she needed space. Sinking down onto the stool, he knew that he had been an idiot. He had been a bigger idiot than he cared to admit.

Standing in the kitchen, Bucky looked onto the patio. The sun was setting and Amelia was sat on the couch outside, a book in her lap. Helmut had stayed in the snug. Amelia had been pleasant to Sam and Bucky when she had come downstairs. She had told them to help themselves to anything she had, unpacking the shopping from her car with Bucky's help. She told Bucky that he could have the guest room he had used last time while she had pulled out the sofa bed in her home office for Sam.

"I'm not blind," Sam said, finding Bucky by the breakfast bar that poked out of the kitchen. He sat on the stool on the other side of it, obscuring Bucky's view of Amelia. "Is there something going on with you two?"

"No," Bucky said, shaking his head. "She…she's just a friend. I know how crazy that sounds after everything we've been through because of Zemo, but she's not like him. She's different. She won't do anything to get what she wants, not like him. I found her in Madripoor. She was in trouble. I helped her and spent time with her. We grew close."

"What kind of trouble?"

"The kind that isn't any of my business to repeat."

"Listen, Buck, I get it," Sam said. "But if we're going to Madripoor and she's coming with us then I need to know she isn't going to bring trouble with her."

"She's not coming so it doesn't matter," Bucky said. "And what happened to her…just…it's not for me to tell you."

Before Sam could ask him another question, footsteps moved into the kitchen. Bucky turned around to see Helmut grabbing the bottle of whiskey from a cupboard alongside two glasses. He looked at him sceptically. "Where do you think you're going?" he demanded to know.

"To see her."

"No," Bucky said.

"I'm not going to upset her," Helmut responded and looked to Bucky, both men staring at each other. "She told me what happened."

Bucky remained stoic, not backing down or showing any emotion. Helmut pinched the two glasses together in his fingers while his other hand held the bottle. "She told me everything," Helmut continued. "And I apologise for my behaviour. In fact, I suspect I should thank you instead."

"I didn't help her for you."

"No," Helmut responded. "But I am still grateful."

Helmut moved by him, but Bucky took hold of his arm once more. "Don't hurt her," he warned him.

"Not my intention," Helmut replied.

Bucky dropped his arm from his grip and Helmut slipped outside. He closed the door behind him and moved to sit at the other end of the couch, placing the bottle and glasses onto the table in front of it. Amelia placed her book down onto her lap, her knees bent up towards her chest.

"I thought you might like a glass of whiskey," Helmut said.

He poured the two glasses, handing Amelia one. She took it wordlessly.

"It's the same bottle I used to get," he commented.

"It tastes nicer than others," Amelia admitted to him.

"I told you that the more expensive ones taste better," he commented and she simply nodded at him. He sighed and knew that he had to talk to her eventually about what had been going around in his mind. "We need to talk."

"Yeah," she agreed weakly.

"I am sorry for everything I said," Helmut said. "The way I acted was not proper nor was it how I wanted to act…not after seeing you for the first time in months…I…I just…after being locked in that cell and then hearing James speak about you when he came to me…my mind began jumping to conclusions and that is no excuse for the way I behaved towards you. None of this is any excuse."

"I know," Amelia said to him. "But I just can't quite understand why you'd think that because you know how I feel, Helmut. You know how I feel...even when Andrew was pretending to be someone else…I never wanted him. Did you not even see that? Why do you think I always came to see you? Why do you think I never wanted to talk about him?"

"I know," he assured her.

"And then in Berlin after the Blip when I came back I kissed you," she reminded him. "And you told me to move on from you, so even if I had moved on with Bucky, why would you care? You didn't say anything about Andrew."

"Because he wasn't a super soldier," Helmut retorted. "He wasn't one of them…the very people we tried to bring down. He…and also…you…I thought that kiss had meant more in Berlin…it was selfish of me even to act as I did."

"I haven't moved on, Helmut," Amelia said.

"I know that now," Helmut said. "But when you are locked away with your own thoughts and with you avoiding me, acting distant, then I begin to wonder."

"There's nothing to wonder. We're just friends," Amelia said to him. "He's not a bad man, Helmut. He looked after me when he didn't need to. He's kind and sweet."

"If you say so."

"I do."

"And that would explain why he was so protective over you."

"He saw me after it all…heard the nightmares," Amelia admitted and Helmut felt his stomach churn once more. He continued to watch her. "I avoided you all that time because I didn't know how to tell you and also because I didn't want you to look at me differently."

"I understand."

"I just didn't want that," Amelia whispered once more and shook her head slowly. "I didn't want you to look at me like you pitied me…or like you blamed yourself because I know what you're like. I just didn't know how to tell you and still have what we had because I'm not the same person, Helmut. I'm still me, but there's things that have changed. Every time someone brushes my arm in the supermarket, I freeze. Whenever someone's breath is too close to my neck when I queue for something, all I can think of is him and how he was behind me….and I'm doing better than before, but every so often, I remember everything."

She tossed the drink down her throat and Helmut lowered his gaze to the couch cushion. The sun had now dipped behind the hills, the outside lights had turned on and lit up the patio. Someone had also turned on the kitchen lights too, illuminating the space even more.

"I can't even imagine," Helmut said to her.

She shook her head. "I don't want to," she replied. "But I'm seeing a therapist and it's helping. It helps having someone to talk to."

"I'm glad for that at least," Helmut said to her.

"Yeah," she nodded her head. "But I can't come to Madripoor, Helmut. There's nothing but bad memories there for me. And as for Selby, she was the one who told Andrew where I was."

"Then I have a bone to pick with her."

"Don't," Amelia warned him.

"I'm not going to be deterred," Helmut said and Amelia shook her head. "But you don't have to come with us. Truth be told, I would prefer for you to stay here. I just…I just needed to come and see you."

"I'm glad you did."

"Really?"

"Really," she assured him. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too."

"And after this? What do you intend on doing?"

"Of that, I am not sure," he said. "But I do not intend on going back to that cell. I am taking each day as it comes. I never thought that I would be here with you…back in Norfolk…drinking whiskey…"

"Almost like the old times."

"Almost," he agreed with her on that point. "Anyway, I'll leave you to-"

"-No," she interrupted him, shaking her head. "You don't need to go."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah," she said with a nod. "Just stay here with me, please?"

"You don't need to ask."

Amelia smiled at hearing him say that and she sipped on her whiskey once more, content just being back in Helmut's company once more.

...

A/N: So there's a lot to work out and more coming, hopefully soon! Would love to know what you think in the meantime though!