Amelia practically launched herself at Oeznik as soon as she saw him on the runway. Helmut was carrying her bag for her after she had driven them to the airbase and parked up in the private car park, grateful that no one around could see them. Holding her bag over his shoulder, Helmut watched as Amelia beamed widely at his butler and wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him warmly. Helmut almost felt jealous of his old friend. Amelia hadn't done anything but place a hand to his arm since he had gone back to her and he had been too apprehensive to try and hold her.
"Ms Baker, it is so good to see you," Oeznik spoke.
"Do I have to keep telling you just to call me Amelia?" she asked from him and pecked him on the cheek.
He chuckled and nodded his head. "I am afraid so," he said to her and Helmut finally stood before him again, Bucky and Sam loitering slightly behind them and clearly observing the situation. Oeznik looked to Helmut, an almost knowing gaze behind his eye.
Helmut didn't ask him what he was thinking. He had a sneaking suspicion that he already knew anyway. He was well aware of how his butler had berated him for what he had done instead of going away with Amelia. He seemed to think that she would have been good for him and he couldn't help but agree with him on that point. Perhaps she would have been good for him if he had allowed himself to see something other than hate.
"How have you been, Oeznik?" Amelia asked and Bucky and Sam climbed onto the plane, leaving the three of them on the runway and reminiscing.
"Very good, Ms Baker," he told her. "Angela's niece gave birth to a baby boy the other week."
"So she now has three kids, right?" Amelia asked and even Helmut was surprised that she could remember. He always struggled to keep up with how many nieces, nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews Oeznik had. "Two boys and one girl?"
"Very good memory, Ms Baker," Oeznik responded and Amelia shrugged. "But they're all happy and healthy. Angela is waiting for me back in Munich so I can go and meet them."
"But instead he's forced you to come here, huh?" Amelia asked, throwing Helmut a tautning look and the Baron rolled his eyes, still gripping onto her bag for her.
"It's good to see him outside of that cell," Oeznik said.
"Yeah," Amelia agreed on that point. "But don't let him force you to stay with us. I doubt he pays you enough for that."
"I pay Oeznik very well, thank you," Helmut said and Amelia looked to him with a soft smirk once more that he returned, unable to stop himself from grinning at being teased by her. He watched her run a hand up Oeznik's arm before climbing onto the plane. His eyes settled on her back, the smile still on his face. Oeznik continued smirking at the sight of him and Helmut glanced to him with a glare that was hardly menacing.
"Not a word," he urged from his friend.
"Of course not, sir," Oeznik said, but the twinkle remained in his eye.
Climbing onto the plane, Helmut saw Amelia moved to the back of the plane. There was a solitary chair across from the couch and she seemed to have taken it for herself. Bucky was sat on the chair by the door, travelling backwards, with Sam sat across from him. Helmut placed Amelia's duffel bag in the storage cupboard before moving to sit down next to Sam so that he could look at Bucky and observe him. He noted the way he was peering straight down the plane, looking to Amelia as she buckled herself in and looked out the window.
She was clearly lost in her own thoughts. Helmut could see that much too. He turned his head over his shoulder and saw that she was tucking her hair behind her ears. He couldn't help but stare at her intensely, finding himself unable to tear his gaze from her. There was something about her that was still mesmerising to him. It was almost as though he couldn't believe he was free again and so close to her. He was so close to her, but so afraid to touch her, wondering how she might react.
"I have no intention of us staying in Madripoor for longer than we have to," Helmut said as the plane taxied down the runway, Oeznik sat right at the front by the door and staying out of his master's plans.
"And what plan do we have?" Sam questioned. "We can hardly go into Madripoor with our real identities, can we?"
"Absolutely not," Helmut concurred. "Luckily for me and Amelia, our reputations precede us in Madripoor."
"Because of all the trouble you caused," Bucky pointed out to him.
"Regardless, we do not need hidden identities because they know who we are…what we have done…" Helmut responded. "However, if two Avengers were to walk into Lowtown then you should be acutely aware that you won't be walking back out. They despise you almost as much as we do."
"We?" Bucky shot back and Helmut met his gaze once more.
"Me, then," he corrected. Amelia didn't despise Barnes. She didn't really despise Sam. She just despised what they had done. "But the point is that you will have to be other people. Luckily for you, Sam, that means you just have to pretend to be the Smiling Tiger, a gangster who frequents Madripoor."
"And you think I can pass for him?"
"I think you can if you dress appropriately. Again, luckily for you, I know of a place to help."
"Luckily?"
"Well, it is either that or you go in as Sam Wilson and see how long you last," Helmut suggested to him. "Either way, I would suggest you follow my lead. James, on the other hand, your identity will be easier to manipulate…of course, it might be that there is no manipulation required."
Bucky said nothing, hands resting on the arms of the chair as the plane hurtled into the sky eventually. He didn't want to pretend to be the Winter Soldier again. He never wanted to go back there, but he knew that it was what he had to do. It would just be for a small amount of time and he would always be himself anyway. It was just a pretence. Zemo held no power over him now.
As the plane levelled out, Helmut made a move to stand. Bucky glared at him as he went to sit on the couch across from Amelia. She turned herself to face him, forcing a smile onto her lips. It stayed there for a few moments, but Helmut could see through it easily.
"What is it?" he asked from her.
"Do you remember the last time we were in Madripoor?" Amelia wondered from him and he nodded his head.
"Very well," he said to her.
And he did remember.
"I guess I'm just trying to remember that time as opposed to the last time I was there."
"You don't need to come. You can stay here on the plane and not set foot in Madripoor."
Amelia shook her head. She wasn't going to be doing that. She was going to face up to whatever what was waiting for her in Madripoor. Plus, she would quite like to take Selby on herself. Helmut nodded, knowing that she wasn't going to sit on the plane. That wasn't Amelia's style. She didn't do as he wished she would.
"I remember you drinking so much whiskey," Helmut said, distracting her and she was grateful for that. She looked to him, a smile back on her face as she shook her head back and forth. "You sat on that bar stool until they kicked us out."
"I believe that it was you who was insisting on trying all the different types of whiskey," she retorted to him and he chuckled then too. "I had the worst hangover ever the next morning, but at least I didn't do anything embarrassing like I thought I would."
"You did almost trip numerous times," he retorted.
"But that's not the worst thing I could have done."
"And what would have been the worst thing?"
"Making a move on you," Amelia responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "Even back then I'd considered it."
"Really?" Helmut questioned.
"Yeah," Amelia said with a nonchalant nod. "But I didn't really want to be the one to make the first move. I never knew what we were. Hell, I still don't even know what we are, Helmut. I'd kind of given up on the idea of even seeing you again, but now you're here and…shit…I don't know."
Helmut laced his fingers together and rested his hands in between his spread legs. He looked down to the ground for a few moments as Amelia observed him. There was a pensive look on his face, almost as though he was worried about something. Had she said something she shouldn't? She never really knew when it came to Helmut and his feelings.
"If it makes you feel any better, I don't know either," Helmut confessed to her and she chuckled darkly.
"Not really," she responded.
Helmut sighed and leaned closer to her across the passageway down the middle of the plane. Amelia turned closer to him and she eventually stood up and went to sit down next to him. She knew whatever it was they were discussing would be best done in whispers, acutely aware that there were two people sat by and watching their every move.
"I have no intention of returning to that jail cell," Helmut said, turning to look at her, eyes searching her face and drinking in every detail of her. "But I have no intention of dragging you on the run either. You know that, don't you?"
"Yeah," Amelia said with a nod. She did know that. She also knew that she didn't want to see her name in the press again. She had tried to sort everything out. She had a future planned. She was going to start a PhD programme and study, finally doing what she wanted. That was until Helmut walked into her life again.
"And so I think there might be limited options."
"Such as?"
"I am not certain yet," Helmut said and Amelia gulped down the sense of dread that had begun to build in the pit of her stomach at hearing him. She fiddled with her engagement ring that now sat on her right hand, twirling the band slowly around her fingers before she spoke. Her eyes met his and the two of them refused to look away from each other.
"I remember what you had intended on doing in Siberia," she said, recalling the moment she had seen him place the gun to his chin. He had intended on ending it all, the pain and suffering, the loss. It was all going to go away. But it hadn't. Instead, he had been forced to live with it inside some German prison cell.
"I know."
That was all he said to her and Amelia could still feel her stomach churning, a lump forming in her throat. "Just…please…don't do that again because…whatever you decide…just talk to me. Just don't leave me like you did in Cleveland. Can you promise me that?"
"Amelia, I cannot make you promises that I might not be able to keep."
"Please?" she pleaded with him. "You know that, despite everything, I will always be here for you. I will always be there."
"Even after everything?" Helmut questioned. "The way I behaved yesterday? How I treated you in Cleveland? Everything that happened leading up to Siberia?"
Amelia bowed her head. "I can't pretend that I've forgiven you, Helmut," she said. "But the fact is that I know why you did everything that you did and I thought that, in time, I'd forget how I feel about you…that I care about you…but I can't forget it because I know the man you are. I know the man who lived with me for a year."
"I don't know if there's much of him left," Helmut confessed. And that was true. Being locked away for nearly a decade had changed him to an extent. Everything that had happened had changed him.
"He's still in there," Amelia said with a knowing nod. "You're still you."
…
"Are you going to be alright?"
Amelia had knocked on the door to Bucky's suite ten minutes before they were due to leave for Lowtown. They were staying in the exact same hotel that Amelia and Helmut had stayed in the first time they had come to Madripoor. They were sharing a suite, separate rooms, of course. But Bucky and Sam had their own junior suites two floors below.
After changing into her red jumpsuit, Amelia had been grateful that Helmut had been out already so that she could sneak down to see Bucky. She knew that he didn't entirely trust the former Winter Soldier, but she didn't know if his reasons were personal or professional. Amelia had said nothing on the matter, choosing to keep quiet and let Helmut stew. She had assured him that there was nothing going on between her and Bucky, but, even if there was, would he truly care? It seemed like he would based on his reaction from the other day, but Amelia couldn't be completely certain. They weren't in a relationship and, by the sounds of it, there was no chance of that ever happening.
"Me?" Bucky checked and he stepped aside to allow Amelia in.
He noted the way she had kept her hands in the pockets of the pants of her jumpsuits. She had black boots on her feet and a red blazer with brass buttons running down it. Bucky couldn't help but think how she looked like some high-powered businesswoman. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, curls dangling down her neck with some stray flyaway wisps down her cheeks.
"Yeah, you," Amelia said and Bucky closed the door as Amelia helped herself to a glass of his bourbon from the drink's cart. "I know that this plan is dangerous and it can't be easy for you…pretending to be him again."
"I'm trying not to think about it," Bucky confessed to her.
"Well," Amelia began, sipping on her drink, "if it gets too much then we can just get out of there."
"Dead or alive?" he wondered.
"You can never be too sure in Madripoor," Amelia said and Bucky, despite the situation, chuckled at her comment. Her lips arched at hearing him and she finished her drink, placing the tumbler down on the cart once more. "Anyway, we should head down to the lobby. Sam might be waiting. I have no idea where Helmut's gotten to. He left the suite while I was changing."
"You're sharing a suite with him?"
"Two bedrooms," Amelia said, not sure why she had to tell Bucky that. "It's the same place we stayed in the first time we came here."
"Just be careful," was all that Bucky said to her.
"I know what I'm doing."
"Do you?" Bucky retorted.
Amelia sighed and dropped her hands to her hips, frustration taking hold of her. It felt as though she was constantly being questioned about what she was doing, if she knew best. She was getting tired of it.
"Do you have something to say Bucky?" Amelia questioned him. "Because you've been nothing but moody with me ever since you came to me."
"I just don't want to see you hurt," Bucky defended. "And every time you end up near Helmut you seem to get hurt."
"Not true."
Bucky scoffed, folding his arms and his leather jacket squelching on his body at the movement. He cocked his head to the side and arched a brow in her direction almost as if he was saying 'really?' to her. She sighed and flapped her arms by her side.
"I went with him. You need to get it out of your head that he's the cause of everything bad that's happened to me," she warned Bucky. "I know you don't like him and that's fine. I'm not expecting you to like him after everything he's done, but just don't worry about me with him. He's…I don't know what he is…but I'll be fine with him."
"Yeah," Bucky said in a sharp exhale. He wasn't entirely convinced on that point, but a part of him was wondering why he was so invested in the first place. Who Amelia spent her time with was none of his business. Her life was none of his business. He had no right to pry.
"Come on," Amelia said. "I'm not arguing with you over this. We're still friends, right?"
"Still friends," he confirmed for her and she smiled at him before leaving the suite.
He followed her down to the lobby where Sam was already waiting, shifting around uncomfortably in the suit he was wearing. Amelia gave a low whistle as Helmut walked back into the hotel, cheeks slightly tinged red from the night air outside. It wasn't even cold, but he was still wearing his fur-collared coat.
"Looking fancy," Amelia commented to Sam.
"I look like an idiot," Sam complained.
"Nah, you don't," Amelia said to him. "Trust me, you look good. It suits you. Besides, just think of it as a pretence."
How many times had Amelia complained to Helmut that she felt like she looked like an idiot when she was dressed in clothes she rarely ever wore? She could remember him taking her clothes shopping and telling her how she carried off the outfits she had chosen well. He had never made her feel like she looked like an idiot, despite feeling that way herself.
"We need to go. I have a car waiting for us on the bridge to Lowtown," Helmut declared, in no mood for standing around and chatting.
They all nodded and set off from the hotel, naturally dividing into two groups. Amelia walked ahead with Helmut next to her. Bucky and Sam were a few steps behind them, talking to each other in murmurs. Amelia looked over the bridge and towards Lowtown as Helmut followed her gaze. He kept his gloved hands in the pockets of his coat.
"Are you alright?" he asked from her.
She turned her gaze up to him. He looked down to her, eyes meeting.
"Fine," she promised him with a nod. "Just a bit apprehensive, but then again, I always was when it came to us doing this."
"Takes me back too," Helmut promised her. "I know it wasn't a great time in our lives, but for some strange reason, I almost look back on it with some fondness. Particularly the time you were so drunk in that bar. That was a good night."
Amelia rolled her eyes as they crossed the road and moved towards the bridge. "I don't think I've ever had a hangover that bad before and I used to go to Lukas's parties."
Her former fiancé had been notorious for his extravagant parties that went on until the early hours of the morning. Usually he held them for his friends. It could be birthdays, new jobs, babies being born. Lukas would find a way to celebrate them. He was always good like that. She recalled how he hadn't done that for Helmut's birthday, however. It had just been the two men on a quiet night out. Lukas always said that Helmut had been the family man who preferred to be at home and asleep at a reasonable hour. He didn't do lavish parties.
"So, we have the plan ready," Helmut said, changing the topic. "We might attract a bit of attention when we arrive. You know that, don't you?"
"Well aware of it," Amelia promised him. She was under no illusions that Selby would probably not take warmly to the pair of them. "Is this the car?"
"It is."
Helmut held the back door open for her and she slipped into the backseat. She underestimated how tight the squeeze would be between two men. She sat in the middle, Helmut to her left as Bucky took to her right. She tried not to think about the way her arm was brushing against Helmut's or the way his thigh pressed to hers. He apologised quietly, but she promised him it was fine. Sam took the front seat and Helmut spoke to the driver, giving them the destination. Amelia left her hands in her lap, twirling her engagement ring nervously in her fingertips.
Once they had arrived, Amelia followed Helmut out of the car and she took in the familiar smells of Madripoor. They were all silent, clearly adopting their roles and trying not to let anyone bother them as stares were thrown in their directions. Helmut took lead, walking ahead and moving around people, his coat flowing out behind him. Amelia kept her hands in the pockets of her jumpsuit, head held high and the heels of her boots clicking on the uneven surface beneath her. Sam was doing his best not to fidget in the clothes he wore while Bucky was completely lost in his own thoughts.
They looked quite the unusual group. Coming to the bar, Amelia inhaled a sharp breath that she kept to herself. She entered the familiar bar and followed Helmut as he made his way to the bar, eyes falling on them. She heard murmurs of 'that's the Winter Soldier' as they passed by.
"You alright?"
The question had come from Sam. Amelia turned to look up at him as he stood next to her at the bar. She nodded silently, but he could see that her face had turned pale, her cheeks seeming translucent. She had a nervous look in her eye that betrayed the fake confidence her posture afforded her. He managed to nod at her, silently assuring her that things would be fine.
"You've already attracted attention," Amelia commented in a whisper and Helmut peered down to her, nodding his head solemnly. He suspected that would happen. He toyed with the tips of the gloves on his finger as the bartender finally moved towards them and made a comment about how he hadn't expected to see the Smiling Tiger here anytime soon.
"His plans have changed," Helmut said.
"And Ms Baker's?" the bartender asked and Amelia met his gaze. "Selby didn't think she'd be seeing you round these parts again."
"Well, tell her it's her lucky day," Amelia said, an air of arrogance to her. She knew she had to play a certain role to survive in Madripoor. "We need to see her."
The bartender eyed her scepitcally and then turned to Sam. "The usual?"
Sam nodded. Clearly they weren't going to get to see Selby anytime soon, not without the proper steps taken before they got to her. Amelia tried not to blanch as she saw the bartender take a dead snake from a jar and cut into it. She looked away as its guts were on display and Helmut watched on, a smirk on his face. He was enjoying winding them up far too much.
"Ah, Smiling Tiger, your favourite," he commented and Amelia nudged him in the arm.
Three shot glasses were put down in front of them and Sam picked his up, eyeing it hesitantly. Helmut, on the other hand, downed it in one. Amelia turned away from the bar, leaning back against it with her ponytail dangling down her back. Looking up to Helmut, she cocked her head. "You can have mine."
"As you wish," Helmut said and downed hers just as Sam managed to drink his own shot, trying not to pull a face at the taste of it on the way down. Bucky watched him, almost impressed he had managed it. Helmut's grin remained plastered on his lips.
"We've got trouble," Amelia suddenly said, looking into the crowd and noticing a man approaching, three others behind him. Helmut turned then as well, still leaning against the bar with his elbow. He had a stoic expression on his face, giving nothing away as to what he was thinking or intending to do.
"We've got word from up high," the man said, looking between Helmut and Amelia. "You two aren't welcome here."
Helmut shook his head and looked down for a moment, wetting his lips before speaking to the man. "I have no business with the Power Broker, but if he insists then he can either come and talk to me or…" he motioned to Bucky who was pretending to be the Winter Soldier. He stood there, looking menacingly to the man who simply commented:
"New haircut?"
"Or bring Selby for a chat," Helmut finished laying out his options.
The man backed away then, Helmut wondering what he was going to do. He turned back to the bar as Bucky spoke.
"The Power Broker, really?"
"Every kingdom needs its king," Helmut simply responded after rolling his eyes. "Let's just pray we stay under his radar."
"Do you know him?" Sam asked, looking into the crowd once more.
"Only by reputation," Helmut said. "In Madripoor he is judge, jury and executioner."
"We've got a bigger problem coming our way," Amelia said as she saw the man return, but this time he had back up with him. Helmut wanted to groan at loud as he looked to Bucky and spoke in Russian, urging for him to attack. Amelia met Bucky's gaze for a moment and the man laid his hand on Helmut's shoulder.
Bucky instantly snatched the wrist from Helmut's shoulder and attacked the man. Amelia watched on as he dealt with anyone who came for him, landing punch after punch against them. None of them seemed to bother him in the slightest, but the worrying part was how easy it was for him. It was almost as though he had no hesitation with his actions.
"Amelia, no," Helmut urged from her as he saw her take a step towards Bucky. His hand reached out to grab hold of her wrist and he brought her back into line with him.
It was then when someone who Bucky hadn't dealt with moved towards Helmut. He easily twisted his arm behind his back, pushing him into the path of Bucky who knocked him to the ground instantly.
"Didn't take much for him to fall back into form," Helmut commented, almost looking entertained. Amelia glowered at him and the smile fell from his face as Bucky shoved a man onto the bar, hand wrapped around his throat. Sam was next to him in a second, his hand going to his shoulder. But Helmut shook his head as Amelia stayed by his side, his fingers around hers to stop her from going to Bucky.
"Stay in character or the whole bar turns on us," Helmut warned them all.
And the worst part was that they knew he had a point. They had a job to do. Bucky looked up as Helmut spoke to him in Russian again, congratulating him on doing a good job. The bartender then told them that they could see Selby, clearly not wanting anymore trouble. Helmut nodded his thanks and Bucky let go of the man he had been choking, Sam muttering to him. Helmut turned on his heel and left the bar, making his way down the familiar corridors. His fingers were still holding onto Amelia's hand and she had made no move to pull away from him. They were being followed by Selby's men, their guns in their hands.
Turning her head over her shoulder, Amelia caught Bucky's eyes. She mouthed an 'are you alright' and he gave her a soft nod back as she turned to look forwards again. Bucky couldn't pretend he hadn't noticed how she hadn't pulled her hand out of Helmut's, the Baron's thumb running over her knuckles.
"Try to calm down," Helmut whispered so only she could hear him. "Your pulse is racing and your breathing is heavy."
"Seeing her…knowing how she sold me out…I swear that I'd kill her myself."
"I know, but remember that we need to get the information from her first. After that then I'll happily put a bullet in her skull myself."
"And you said you weren't romantic," Amelia mumbled and Helmut chuckled at that.
He gave her hand a final squeeze as they came to the familiar, dark back room. Letting go of her fingers, Helmut felt a sense of longing to pick her hand back up again. But they had to maintain appearances. Amelia stuffed her hands into her pockets to stop herself from anxiously fidgeting.
"You should know that people don't come into my bar and make demands, Baron," Selby spoke.
She was sat on her couch, looking the exact same as she had done last time Amelia had seen her. Helmut nodded and moved around the room, Amelia following him as a cocksure smile remained on his face.
"Not a demand, an offer," he corrected her, sitting down on the couch across from her. Amelia sat next to him, her glare firm and set on Selby. Sam stood and Bucky loitered over Amelia's shoulder.
"I'm amazed to see you're still alive."
"With no thanks to you," Amelia snapped back and Helmut looked to her, seeing the anger in her face. His smirk fell from his face as Selby folded one leg over the other, shifting in her seat.
"I got a better offer for the information I had," was all that Selby said to Amelia. "It was nothing personal."
"Kind of felt personal," Amelia retorted.
"Business is business," Selby said and Amelia wanted to yell at her. She wanted to yell at her and tell her exactly what her business had put her through. She wanted her to know every last detail about how Andrew Edgington had nearly destroyed her to the point where she didn't think she would ever get out of that basement. But she didn't. She said nothing because she knew that Selby might be sympathetic, but she still made the choice that best suited her.
"We're here for information," Helmut said, changing the topic as Selby remained staring at Amelia, the two women refusing to back down. Glancing back to the Baron, she arched her brow.
"I had thought that you were locked in some German prison. How did you escape?"
"People like us always find a way," Helmut said, stretching his arms slightly. "I'm sure you've already figured out what we're here for."
And Helmut didn't doubt that. She knew why they had come last time.
"You're taller than I thought, Smiling Tiger," she said, pointing to Sam who simply shrugged, trying to act completely nonchalant. Selby made a 'grr' noise and twisted her fingers into a claw, clearly toying with him. But Sam gave nothing back. A smile sat on her face and her attention returned to Helmut. "What's your offer?"
"Tell us what you know about the super soldier serum," Helmut began and moved to his feet, "and I give you him along with the control words to control him." He loitered around Bucky, a hand going to his shoulder as his other hand went to his chin, thumb pressing into the cleft of it. Amelia looked on as Bucky remained completely stoic. She was almost amazed he hadn't reacted at Helmut's movements around him.
Selby noticed the way the woman across from her had turned her head over her shoulder to look at the Winter Soldier.
"Word has it that he's no longer the Winter Soldier," Selby declared. "Plus, I know that he came to my bar looking for you," she set her eyes on Amelia then who tried not to look anything other than passive. "And he must have found you. I did wonder why he was so interested after what had happened between you all…what with the Baron controlling him and you being his girlfriend."
"I'm not his girlfriend."
"So you two are still in denial," Selby commented, looking beyond amused with the entire situation she had found herself involved in. Amelia ground her teeth together. "But he rescued you from Edgington, didn't he? And you're repaying him by letting your boyfriend give him to me."
"He's a means to an end," Amelia said, hoping that Bucky knew she meant nothing that she was saying. She just needed Selby to buy it. "Helmut is free now and we have to finish off what we started. If that means giving him up then so be it. He might have saved my life, but that doesn't mean that he means anything to me."
Helmut swore he felt Bucky tense under his shoulders. He didn't look at him, not wanting to know what he might see in his eye if he did.
And then Selby shifted in her seat and seemed appeased. "That's the Baker and Zemo I remember," she said. "I'm glad I didn't agree to kill you both immediately. You were right to come to me. Arrogant, but right."
Helmut moved to sit back down next to Amelia.
"The super soldier serum is in Madripoor. Doctor Wilfred Nagel is the man you want to thank…" she paused and then cocked her head, "or condemn, depending on what side you're on. The Power Broker had him working on the serum, but things didn't go as planned."
"Is Nagel still in Madripoor?" Helmut questioned and Selby stood.
"The breadcrumbs you can have for free, but the bakery is going to cost you, Baron," she said and Helmut shrugged. "And don't get all cute and think you can find him without me."
Helmut knew she had them there. But it was that exact moment that Sam's phone began to vibrate. Amelia sat up straight, feeling a chill run down her spin as Selby demanded for Sam to answer it on speakerphone. He did so, talking to the woman on the other end. He played up the pretence of being the Smiling Tiger, talking to her about a boat and money issues with the bank. Selby moved around the room, a hand running along the back of the couch as her men stood with their guns ready to shoot.
Silently and without anyone noticing, Helmut moved his hand over the couch towards Amelia, grabbing hers. Their entwined limbs were covered by his open coat, but he knew he had to grab hold of her in case things soon turned south. He looked over to her and she glanced to him, shooting him a knowing look.
And then their cover was blown.
"I'm going to have to call you back, Sam," her crackling voice sounded in the room.
And that was that. "Sam?" Selby asked. "Who's Sam?" Before anyone could answer she had barked her next command. "Kill them."
And then a gunshot sounded, piercing the deathly silence of the room. It hit Selby straight through her chest, the woman falling to the floor in an instant as everyone looked on in shock. Helmut reacted quickly, standing up and dragging Amelia with him. Bucky dealt with one of the men as Sam knocked the other unconscious. Bucky took the guard's gun and they all backed into a corner, looking at Selby's dead body and the unconscious guards.
"Who the hell was that?" Amelia snapped, pointing at Selby.
"I don't know," Helmut responded and Bucky held the gun in his eyeline in case of any further attacks. "But we have a real problem now. Leave the weapons and follow my lead."
"You know as well as I that if people think we've killed Selby they'll be a bounty on our heads," Amelia said to him and he nodded. He was acutely aware of that fact, though he was trying not to think of it. "So what's the plan?"
"Get out of here as soon as possible," Helmut said. "Come on."
Amelia clung tightly onto his hand as they left the room through a back door. It took them onto a metal staircase that headed down to the street level. They walked hastily, trying not to attract attention to themselves. But that didn't matter because before they knew it, attention was on them. Amelia heard the beeping of phones and saw faces turning in their direction.
"This isn't good," Helmut said.
"News has already spread," Amelia said. Why else would they be looking at them as they were?
"Wait," Helmut suddenly declared as they came down the main street and Amelia froze on the spot. Suddenly, a man stood across from them opened fire. Bullets seemed to spray everywhere as Helmut crouched down and then took off, giving Amelia no chance to do anything other than let him pull her along.
Sam and Bucky ran in the other direction, splitting up from them. Amelia almost wondered if that was a good idea, but she didn't dwell on it. She was as fast as Helmut was, their arms outstretched as their hands remained joint together. She could still hear bullets ringing through the city and they took a turn down a sudden alleyway, a man coming out from the shadows at the end of it. Helmut easily dealt with him, punching him in the jaw and taking his gun, shooting him swiftly in the head. Amelia looked at his body before looking to Helmut and they heard another gunshot from above.
Looking at the window it had come from, she could see a man dressed in black on the ground. They had clearly been shot by whoever was hiding in the window. But why had they shout the bounty hunter and not Sam and Bucky? They had been right in front of him. Helmut wondered the same thing aloud.
"You seem to have a guardian angel," he declared.
And then a figure emerged from the shadows. She stormed towards them, lowering the hood to the jacket she wore, gun raise in front of her. "Drop it, Zemo."
Helmut did as he was told, placing the gun on the floor and then standing up straight as Sam recognised the woman instantly. So did Bucky.
"Sharon," Bucky commented.
"You cost me everything," Sharon said, but her gun was still fixed on Helmut. "You and her."
Amelia had read about Sharon Carter. She had helped Captain America when he had been on the other side of the law. No one had seen her since that incident, but it seemed she was doing rather well for herself in Madripoor if she was still alive having fled there.
"Sharon, this isn't what is looks like," Sam said. "We're looking for the super soldier serum and Zemo and Baker had a lead."
"Well that explains why you're here and Selby's dead," Sharon said.
"What are you doing here?" Bucky questioned her.
"I was on the run remember?" she pointed out to him. "I stole the wings for his ass," she pointed the gun at Sam, "so that you could save his ass," it moved to Bucky, "to get away from their asses," she flicked between Helmut and Amelia. "And unlike you I didn't have the Avengers to back me up so here I am," she said, flapping her arms by her side. "I don't speak to my family. I can't. My own father doesn't know where I am."
"Listen, Sharon, we need your help," Bucky said to her.
She chuckled and shook her head slowly. Were they being serious? But then she knew that she might need to use them. "This isn't over," she warned them. "I have a place in Hightown where you'll be safe for a few hours."
She turned and left, Sam pushing Helmut forwards and Amelia following him, wondering just what they were going to find in Sharon's apartment.
…
Sharon Carter appeared to be selling fine art to some suspicious characters. She had told them that she might be able to help them find Nagel because she sold to some high profile clients. She was hosting a party that night where she was conducting business and had agreed to help them if Sam could help her clear her name. Amelia suspected all she wanted was to go home, but she didn't know if she was the same woman who had left. There was something about her that seemed off, but Amelia couldn't put her finger on it.
"You don't fancy coming to the party?"
Amelia had gone outside in the large courtyard garden of Sharon's place of business. She had wandered to the edge of it, standing by a railing and overlooking the river in front of her. She could see the bridge to take them back to Lowtown in the distance. There were some boats sailing up and down, lit up and illuminating the dark waters. The water was lapping at the wall, the noise of it almost soothing. The moon was covered by cloud too, barely able to peek through.
Turning her head over her shoulder, Amelia looked to Helmut as he moved towards her. He was carrying two small tumblers in his grip, no doubt filled with whiskey. He held one out to Amelia and she took it in an instant.
"I don't really do parties anymore," Amelia said and he handed her the glass. "Thanks," she added on.
He had left his coat behind and was stood in just his dark jeans and purple jumper, the sleeves sitting snugly against his wrists. His cheeks were red, no doubt from the warmth of everyone in the club. Amelia turned to look back to the building, seeing the disco lights flicker onto the lawn outside, lighting up the flowerbeds and the fountain that was posed in the middle of the lush grass.
"You're missing out," Helmut said to her.
She shrugged. "I'm fine with that," she said. "You haven't been dancing, have you?"
"Why does that sound like you are fearful I have been dancing?"
"Because I've seen you dancing at parties. You're good at the ballroom stuff, but terrible in clubs," she said to him. "You also said that you didn't dance unless you were slightly drunk. Remember New Year's Eve?"
How could he forget? He took a moment to remember that night. He remembered both of them flirting with other people before finally confessing that they had been jealous. They'd spent the night together, claiming that it would just be nothing more than sex. They should have known, in hindsight, that was never going to work out. And it hadn't.
"Very well," Helmut promised her. "And after being locked away for so many years, let's just say I needed some release."
Amelia chuckled at that. "Did it work?"
"Not as well as it could have…and then I wondered where you had gotten to. I wanted to make sure you were alright."
"I'm fine," Amelia assured him. "Pissed off that someone shot Selby before I even had the chance to, but that's life, I guess."
"I cannot say I will mourn her."
"Nor can I," Amelia assured him on that point. "Anyway, how long do you think this party is going to go on for?"
"I am not entirely certain," Helmut told her. "Sharon said that she would let us know as soon as she has news, but I expect it might be another few hours before we get the information we need."
"Alright," Amelia said and she moved to turn to look out onto the water once more, folding her arms over the railing and letting the glass of whiskey dangle in her fingertips.
"I'm happy to stay with you until we have news."
"You don't need to."
"And if I want to?" Helmut responded. "It feels as though we haven't been alone together since we came to you…always has Sam and James loitering."
"Probably to make sure we don't do anything stupid," Amelia informed him and a smirk formed on his face that she noticed. She rolled her eyes, her own lips arching upwards. "Do you just enjoy annoying them?"
"Hard not to," he replied. "There has to be some perk to working with them. Besides, I am just biding my time until it was the right moment to leave them behind…you behind…" he tested the words on his tongue and Amelia bowed her head, peering into the water.
"And if I don't want you to leave me behind?" Amelia asked from him.
He clucked his tongue and shook his head once, solemnly. "Amelia, you do not want a life with me…on the run…looking over your shoulder. You don't want that after everything we've been through."
"I don't know what I want," Amelia admitted to him. "I haven't known what I want for years now, but I know that you…Christ…I still care for you. I still look at you and all of those feelings come back to the surface."
"I know," Helmut offered her and she arched her brow, still looking down and into the river as Helmut mimicked her movements.
"You know?" she echoed his words back to him.
"I've been treading on eggshells around you, Amelia," Helmut said to her. "I haven't wanted to tell you the truth because of what you've been through and I have no intention of overwhelming you. I know you don't want me to treat you any differently and I understand that, but the fact is that I have been doing. I have been doing that because I want to be respectful. I want you to decide what you want."
Amelia finally drank the last of her whiskey and had the courage to look up at him eventually. "Tell me," she demanded from him. "Tell me what you wanted to do."
His gaze darkened as he looked at her then and he sipped on his drink. He spotted the way her eyes flickered down to his lips as he ran his tongue over them. Her gaze also darkened with something that Helmut remembered seeing before. It was lust. It was still there.
"I didn't care that Sam and James were in your house. I would have taken you to that bedroom and let them hear every moan and scream of my name and I would have had no shame. I have wanted to do nothing but remember how you feel against me…taste…the way your body squirms when I touch you…those thoughts…they plagued me in that cell, Amelia. And then when I saw you I realised that I could try and act on them…recreate the past," Helmut said and Amelia swore her breath had grown shallower and more laboured at hearing him, her chest heaving and the hairs on her arms standing up.
"But then you told me what had happened and how it had changed you. I couldn't act out of instinct. If anything were to happen, I told myself it would be because you want it to."
"And if I want it to?"
"You would be certain?"
She didn't give him a verbal response. Instead, she moved a hand to his neck, her fingers cupping the back of his head as she brought his face down to hers. Kissing him, Amelia felt the familiar curve of his lips against his. Closing her eyes, she dropped her glass onto the grass beneath so that her other hand was free and could rake through his soft hair. Helmut deepened the kiss as he felt her pelvis press against his and he moaned into her mouth, his tongue fighting for dominance over her as he moved it along her lips, causing her to open her mouth in surprise. His hands went to her hips, grasping hold of them tightly as he realised that his body was naturally reacting to the friction of her pressing herself to him.
"Amelia," he gasped her name as she went to kiss his neck, seemingly intoxicated by him. "I won't last…it's been too long…" he said to her and she shook her head.
"I don't care," she promised him and she reached for the back of her jumpsuit, tugging the zip down and shrugging it from her shoulders. Helmut noticed the way her plain black bra hugged her breasts and she left the jumpsuit around her hips as she went back to kissing him, whispering into his ear between the urgent pecks.
"It's fine," she promised him. "I want this, Helmut…I want you…please…"
And Helmut had all the assurance he needed. Moving his hands to her thighs, he hoisted her up his body until her legs were wrapped around his waist. She perched on the edge of the railing overlooking the river as her hands went to his belt and he moved to kiss her neck, wondering if he truly could walk away from Amelia once this was all finished.
…
"They've been gone for ages."
Sam looked to Bucky as they stood by the bar, neither one of them entirely in the party mood. Bucky had a bottle of beer in his fingers, clinging tightly onto it. He took a swig of the alcohol and Sam shrugged.
"They won't have gone far," he told Bucky. "As much as I don't like Zemo, he's not one to run away from this mission…neither is Baker."
"I'm more worried that he's somewhere with her," Bucky complained. "Worming his way back into his life."
"Is that what you think he's doing?"
"Yeah."
"But she seems like a strong woman. She wouldn't let him back in if she didn't want him, would she?" Sam responded and Bucky shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't going to pretend that he knew the dynamics between them. He knew nothing except for Amelia had felt betrayed by what he had done. There had been something that had happened in Cleveland too, but Bucky didn't know what the was about.
"Listen," Sam said, seeing that Bucky was lost in thought once more. "I know that she's your friend and you've helped her out with some stuff, but she's not some damsel in distress, Buck. She's not innocent, not by a long shot. I'm not saying she's as bad as Zemo…but I don't think she's on our side either."
Bucky looked to Sam then and met his gaze. He shook his head once. "She's complicated," he decided on saying. "But she deserves better than him."
"Like who?" Sam asked, knowing that he might be pushing things. He sensed that was the case when Bucky didn't answer. The question that Sam wanted to ask was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't have it in him to say it just yet. It felt too personal and it didn't feel as though he was at that stage with Bucky in their friendship. Was it even a friendship?
Bucky's silence and staring continued. "She might deserve better than him, Buck, but that doesn't mean she wants better," he decided to say.
Bucky left then and Sam groaned, ordering himself another scotch. He knew that nothing he said was going to stop Bucky. Wandering back through the club, Bucky checked upstairs in Sharon's apartment before he came to the window at the balcony doors. Opening them up, he just needed some fresh air to get his head together. Closing his eyes, all he could picture was Amelia's face looking back at him in Selby's bar, asking him if he was alright. Running a hand down his cheek, he looked onto the river and then spotted a sight he wished he had never seen.
He wanted to look away. He wanted to tear his gaze away from the two of them, but he couldn't. He could only watch as he realised that it was them, limbs entwined and almost melded together. Amelia was perched on the ledge of the railing, legs wrapped around his waist. He had his arms around her, hand cupping the back of her head as she seemed to bite down onto his shoulder. Her jumpsuit had been pushed down past her hips, her pale skin glowing in the darkness.
He looked away after a moment, moving back into the room and standing against the wall. Bowing his head, he shook it slowly. He should have known this would happen. He should have known, but that didn't explain why a small part of him still felt disappointment in the pit of his stomach.
…
A/N: Quite a long chapter here! There's a longer gap between updates due to work being busy, but hopefully, if anyone is still reading, you can bear with me. Not sure anyone is still bothered by this story but would love to know if you are! Do leave a review, pretty please?
