December 22nd, 2014

St. Petersburg, Russia

Seven months.

Seven months had passed and Andrew still hadn't woken up from Terrigenesis. He was still cocooned in the stone and it seemed that AJ was the only one who still believed that he would wake up. Kai told AJ that it hadn't taken him that long to come out of the cocoon (that's what Thor had described it as) after he had touched the Obelisk. But surely every Inhumans experience was different. AJ didn't even know how long she was encased in the stone before she broke through – that information had died with Dr. Reinhardt.

Andrew was Inhuman, she refused to believe otherwise. Because if he wasn't, that would mean that AJ would lose yet another person she loved. And she really didn't think she could handle that.

Both Steve and Tony grew increasingly worried when AJ refused to leave the Tower. She even stopped with her quest to find Bucky, shutting down the project she had started with J.A.R.V.I.S involving the facial recognition system SHIELD had had before the fall. They knew she needed to get out – needed to focus on things that weren't Andrew related. She was obsessing – AJ had performed numerous tests on the rock, even asked Thor to swing his hammer at it. He refused, telling AJ he didn't feel comfortable doing it. So, AJ grabbed Steve's shield and threw it with all her might at the rock, yet it didn't even crack.

AJ just wanted Andrew out. She wanted him alive – to see him again and watch him smile with their friends. He had Henry's smile. AJ couldn't be the reason why another one of Henry's sons died. It would break her.

Steve had asked if she wanted to help him and Sam search for Bucky again, hoping to divert her attentions from Andrew to Bucky. But she had refused, saying she wouldn't leave Andrew. AJ knew that it frustrated Steve, but he had to understand why she couldn't search for Bucky right now. She'd be too distracted the entire time to even focus. When AJ did finally join the search again to find Bucky, she wanted to give it all the attention that it deserved. No distractions. She wanted him back so badly, but Andrew...she couldn't leave him. AJ remembered how confused she had been when she woke up on that operating table – it had been terrifying and she didn't want him to be alone.

Bucky is alone too.

She tried to push thoughts of him to the back of her mind. I was hard, because she still loved him so much and missed him every single day – but she owed it to her little brother to stay with his son.

Tony had offered for her to come with him on business trips but she told him no, too.

It wasn't until Natasha showed up and asked AJ to cover for her on a mission that she begrudgingly left the Avengers Tower, all for the sake of Natasha being able to spend time with her girlfriend, Dr. Jordan Connors.

With AJ refusing to leave the Tower, her Avengers duties had been piled onto the rest of the team, mostly Natasha seeing as she was the only other female. AJ knew that she owed Natasha at least a week alone with her girlfriend. So, AJ agreed, on the condition that Natasha would stay in the Tower and monitor Andrew while she was gone.

Natasha had agreed, and now AJ was in St. Petersburg with Clint to gather Intel on a Russian arms dealer who had worked closely with Hydra before the fall.

It was good for AJ to be around Clint. He always knew when her moods shifted, could always tell when she had something on her mind, or when she was holding back. AJ and Clint were usually always on the same wavelength when it came to missions. It was like they were one mind working together. It's also why she agreed to go on the mission for Natasha. AJ knew that if she was a little bit off, he would sense it and be able to read her next move. It's what made them such a great team.

Their target was Aleksei Ivanov.

6'4", blonde hair, ice blue eyes, 43 known kills, weapon of choice: a flame thrower – which was absolutely barbaric, but the guy apparently got off on causing people pain.

Aleksei was also a notorious ladies-man.

When Natasha had gotten word that the Russian arms dealer was back in St. Petersburg, she'd known that AJ would be the one to have to go. Not just because Natasha wanted to spend time with Jordan, but because Natasha knew Aleksei from her time in the Red Room.

Natasha shared very little about the Red Room – it took a lot of trust for her to finally open up to someone about her time there. And even then, she didn't say much. AJ knew what they had done to Natasha, she knew that they had trained little girls to be killers and that she had made a name for herself as one of their best assets – but that was all in her past. Clint had gotten her on the straight and narrow. Well, SHIELD's definition of the straight and narrow. She was still a very skilled assassin. Or, was.

Natasha hadn't told her anything else about the Red Room. And AJ didn't blame her. The past was an incredibly hard thing to discuss; especially when it wasn't pretty. But she had still assured Natasha that if she ever wanted to talk, she would be there for her no matter what.

"Wow, that was bold."

AJ ignored Clint's smart remark in her ear as she let Aleksei slide his hand up her leg. She batted her eyelashes at him and pursed her lips. They were at a club that he owned and AJ needed to get him to the back room – once in the back room, she could knock him out and Clint could take out any remaining guards. Then they would interrogate the arms dealer on his next deal with Hydra so that Steve and the team could take them out. The sooner they got the information, the sooner she could get home to watch over her nephew.

"You're lucky you didn't get paired up with Tony and Steve. They would not stand for this."

Did she like being pawed at like a sex doll? No, not at all, but sadly, that was part of the job when it came to working for SHIELD, or now, the Avengers. With Natasha being more widely known throughout the world – that left AJ to play the femme fatale.

Natasha had given her a makeover. One that AJ had protested, quite vigorously, because of... Bucky. Even though she couldn't search for him – if he ever came looking for her, she wanted him to be able to recognize her. But there really was no winning an argument with Natasha when it came to missions.

Her hair had been bobbed, ending at the middle of her neck and the blonde was now more prominent that it had been before. It was completely straight instead of messy waves and AJ wore incredibly dark eye makeup and dark brown contact lenses.

"Thor would be pretty pissed, too, if we're being honest."

AJ moved to push her hair behind her ear. While doing so, she lifted her middle finger and heard Clint chuckle at her response.

At least Clint didn't mention Bucky. They wouldn't be able to complete the mission if Bucky was brought up. Even though he was constantly on her mind. On missions, AJ took pride in her professionalism, which meant she had to put Bucky in the back of her head and focus. But AJ didn't know if she would do so well on her task if someone else brought up Bucky.

AJ threw her head back and laughed, her hand pressed against Aleksei's chest as she listened to him tell incredibly inappropriate jokes in Russian.

(Good thing Steve wasn't paired up with her on this mission indeed.)

"You have a filthy tongue." AJ replied in Russian. She smirked and let her hand move down Aleksei's chest. She moved closer to the man, trying not to tense when he moved his hand to her waist. She pressed her lips to his ear and whispered; "I'd like to see what else it's capable of."

"I want to vomit." Clint groaned.

When she pulled away from Aleksei, he was smirking too. He took her hand and led her away from the booth they were sitting in. AJ didn't bother to look back to see where Clint was – she knew that he was watching her and likely already on his way to where Aleksei was taking her.

"Where are we going, Aleksei?" AJ giggled as he pulled her through the crowds of people, sweaty bodies grinding against each other while the floor vibrated from the bass of the music.

"Someplace private," He shouted over his shoulder.

Good. That's exactly what she wanted.

He dragged her through the doors that led them to the back room of the club and once the they shut, Aleksei pushed her against the wall roughly. AJ let out a little squeak, surprised, but she kept her game face on. "So strong." She purred, reaching for his shirt and yanking him towards her.

"You have no idea." He said as he gripped her hips and lifted her up. Reluctantly, AJ wrapped her legs around his waist and let the man attack her neck with sloppy kisses and rough bites. She fake moaned and scratched roughly at his neck to put on a good show. (Though, she probably scratched at his neck rougher than necessary. But the guy got off on another people's pain – for all she knew, Aleksei might like that.)

But she absolutely hated that he was touching her. His hands were too rough and each time one of his hands began to wander up her dress AJ had to repress the urge to knee him in the groin.

Finally having enough and just wanting to get the job over with, AJ grabbed at his face and forced him to look at her. His pupils were dilated with lust. AJ tried her best to match that look. Apparently, it worked because Aleksei gripped her by the back of her neck and smashed his lips against hers, giving her several heated kisses.

With each kiss she felt his grip on her loosen, his body growing a little heavier, and then suddenly his body lumped against hers. AJ pushed him off of her and slid down the wall a little, fixing her dress that he had hitched up right before Clint walked in.

He narrowed his eyes at her neck and the marks Aleksei left.

She ignored his looks and motioned towards the man now lying face down on the ground. "Tie him up and gag him." AJ ordered Clint. "I assume you were able to remotely shut off all the security cameras?" She looked up at the one pointed at them.

He nodded and did as AJ said.

Tony had come up with a gadget that, with the click of a button, could deactivate and wipe the memory every single security system or electronic device in a facility. And thankfully for them, the device seemed to work.

"What's that lipstick called again?" Clint asked as he threw the 6'4" man over his shoulder. AJ used a piece of cloth to wipe away the dark shade of red.

"102 Sweet Dreams." AJ answered as she followed Clint down the long hallway, grabbing her gun from under his shirt as well, as well as her dagger. "Really popular in the 40's. Peggy used it."

"Hmm," Clint said with a grunt and kicked open a door that led them to a closed off area where they could interrogate Aleksei.

"How many guards did you take out?" AJ asked him.

"Six." Clint replied. "But we need to do this fast – people are going to notice him missing."

"Oh, come on, Clint." AJ walked next to him now. "He's a ladies man – surely he can last longer than ten minutes." She mocked in a dry tone, causing her partner to let out a scoff and drop Aleksei hard onto the chair and tied him up.

After a few more minutes of Aleksei still not waking up, Clint looked over at AJ and motioned to the tall tied up man. "-Do you thing, Adge."

She smirked and moved forward, pressing the tip of her finger to his neck where she could feel his pulse. A shock of cold left her finger and jolted Aleksei awake. "Hello." She spoke in English now.

Aleksei breathed heavily through his nose and tried to pull out of his restraints. "Bitch!" He spat out in Russian. AJ watched as his neck turned a dark shade of red from where she had touched him with her ice. He was lucky she didn't go full strength and give him a nasty case of frost bite.

AJ's lips formed an 'O', "Ooh, harsh." She retorted sarcastically. "Let's make this easy on you, Aleksei; you tell us where your next shipment to Hydra is going and you won't die."

And then Aleksei did something neither AJ or Clint expected. He told them what they wanted to know.

Clint moved closer to AJ, whispering in her ear, "I don't like this."

It was too easy. She saw that, too.

And then the arms dealer laughed.

"Did you really think that I did not know who you were, Miss Frost?" Aleksei spoke now in English. "Your face is all over the television and newspapers." His accent was thick and AJ almost wished he would go back to speaking in Russian. (It was easier to understand.)

The doors opened and Aleksei's men filled the room with their guns pointed at both AJ and Clint.

For the first time, it seemed, she and Clint weren't on the same wavelength seeing as when she looked over at her partner, he had already seemed to anticipate it – but AJ hadn't. Clint was already holding up his gun and when AJ looked closely at him, she could see that beads of sweat were rolling down his face.

"Awfully hot in here, fellas." Clint said with a smirk.

AJ knew what he meant right away. Aleksei and his men obviously thought that by raising the heat in the room, AJ's powers wouldn't be as effective. It was a good attempt, information probably given to them by Hydra. But after D.C and Bucky's arm heating up enough to break through AJ's ice – Tony had pushed the hell out of her to grow stronger.

And she had.

Not to mention that her healing powers were finally back to normal.

But, AJ hadn't noticed the temperature rising and because her mind had gone back to Bucky and D.C for a brief moment, she wasn't fast enough to move out of the way before one of the men fired his gun at her. She staggered backwards, her shoulder had been hit, but AJ was quick enough to grab for her gun and fire at the men, just as Clint had already been doing. When she had used all her bullets, AJ went at the men with her knife, as did Clint.

Someone came at her with a knife that looked identical to the one Bucky had used on the bridge and AJ became distracted again. A sharp pain shot through her abdomen from another gunshot wound and she fell down on her knees. She heard Clint yell her name, and then another sharp pain in her knee as a bullet tore through it.

She got mad, and everything went white.

AJ lost control, the pain was too much, Bucky's face was flashing in her mind and she could hear Clint screaming her name. Plus the added bonus of the sound of more gunshots going off – it was too much.

When her vision finally cleared, AJ found that the entire room had been covered in solid ice...including all the men in the room. AJ looked up to see Clint hovering over her and sighed out in relief, glad to see that he was safe. Thank God for Tony and Bruce and the damn wristband.

"Are you okay?" Clint asked her, getting on his knees as he lifted AJ a bit, pressing down on her wound.

"Ice." She said wincing at the pressure he was putting on her stomach.

"Adge, Tony says you have to start letting it heal without the ice." Clint reminded her.

Tony didn't want AJ relying on ice to heal her, even though it was the quickest way to ease the pain. He wanted her to rely on the accelerated healing that came with her inhuman powers, but it hurt too badly. "Please." AJ begged in a whisper. "It's too much."

She could see the conflict in Clint's eyes, but he did as she asked. Yanking a knife out of one the now frozen solid men's hands, he pressed the frozen blade to AJ's wound and the pain instantly started to wear off. AJ breathed in and out slowly, letting her body do the rest of the healing.

"We need to get out of here." Clint told her. "Can you walk?"

AJ nodded, letting him help her stand. "My contacts burn."

"Your contacts are gone, Adge. I think they shattered after you went all white eyed." Clint said, wrapping AJ's arm around his shoulder so he could support her.

"Well that's a bitch." AJ rubbed at her eyes. "I probably have shards of the contacts sticking my eyeballs now."

Clint chuckled and pressed his finger to his ear, "-J.A.R.V.I.S – is our ride ready?"

"It should be arriving right now, Legolas."

AJ chuckled and Clint groaned.

They walked over to the window and looked down to see that one of Tony's self-driving cars parked under the window waited for them. AJ glanced at Clint and watched as his brows knitted together.

"Security system is back up and running. Three armed guards are heading your way." J.A.R.V.I.S informed them. AJ pushed off of Clint a bit and opened the window.

"You jump, I jump, Jack." AJ said with a smile. Clint rolled his eyes at her reference.

"I hate that Wilson showed you that movie."

They jumped out of the window at the same time, landing with a roll so that they wouldn't injure themselves. The sound of people yelling in Russian made both of them to run towards the car. AJ got to the driver's side first and Clint didn't have time to argue with her, seeing as they men who had been yelling were now firing their weapons at them.

Clint waited to complain until they were on the road. "We made it out of this alive and I'm going to end up dead anyway because of your damn driving!" He groaned as she swerved into oncoming traffic. "Jesus, AJ!" He cursed when she began to rub at her eyes, smearing the dark eye makeup while trying to get the shards of her contacts out of her eyes. "J.A.R.V.I.S take control!" Clint told the AI.

AJ huffed, moving herself into the backseat so that she could try to remove the shards that were now slicing at her eyes.

"Here," Clint tossed her a water bottle. "The ice will melt after you pour some of it in your eyes."

She did as he instructed, and the burning stopped. AJ sighed and moved to get back in the front seat. Clint had shifted to the driver's side while she had been in the back, but she didn't feel the need to complain that he was driving now.

Even though he was a terrible driver too.

"What happened back there?" Clint asked as AJ wiped off her makeup. She didn't answer but could feel his eyes focused on her. "Bucky?"

AJ hated that he knew her so well in that moment. "Yeah." There was no point in trying to deny it.

"You'll find him, Adge." Clint reassured her. "It could be tomorrow or next year – but I know you'll find him. You love him too much to let him go. And I'm pretty sure it's the same for him, too."

No, AJ didn't think she'd ever be able to let him go.

And she never wanted to.

But could the same really be said for Bucky?

"I totally blew the mission." AJ said as she rested her head against the window.

"We'll get the information another way."

"How?" She snapped at him. "I killed everyone in that room, Clint." AJ shook her head, "All because I couldn't control my emotions."

Was it any surprise, though? It was the 22nd of December...and Bucky had fallen from the train on the 23rd. She shouldn't have agreed to go on this mission, but she had wanted Natasha to have the happiness she deserved. Natasha was in love and AJ remembered how that felt.

AJ took in a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Clint didn't say anything. He just grabbed her hand and held onto it the entire car ride back to the quinjet. It was comforting. It was something Bucky would have done. And with that, the comfort turned to despair and AJ wanted nothing more than to get back to New York.

Not just to monitor Andrew.

But to hit the bars. Hard.

Drinking her pain away wasn't healthy. But it helped numb her.

Which was what she wanted right now.

To feel nothing.

To be numb.

_

December 27th, 2015 - New York

Steve found her in the lab.

When he returned to the Avengers Tower Steve knew that it was pointless to go to AJ's bedroom. AJ spent her all her time in one place for the last couple of months: the lab. According to Natasha, AJ had started to sleep in the lab instead of her bedroom. Steve hated that AJ wasn't opening up to him or any other of her their friends. He knew that she was struggling – they could all see it. Banner had told him that AJ had been lashing out at Dr. Palani whenever the man mentioned Andrew or made snide remarks about Bucky. They all knew that if AJ didn't talk to someone about her anger and frustration soon, she'd do something she'd truly regret.

Maybe she already has? Steve frowned at the thought.

Tony had called Steve after AJ and Clint had returned from their mission in Russia to tell him that he was worried about AJ's powers. They were beginning to become compromised by all the emotions she was keeping bottled up inside of her. Tony had explained what had happened on the mission and how AJ had lost control, how her powers had wiped out every single person in the room except for Clint, who had thankfully been wearing his wristband.

"I shouldn't have pushed AJ into this." Natasha had told Steve. "I knew she wasn't ready."

It wasn't just because she wasn't ready. AJ was spiraling and no one was able to help her.

And now Steve had to bring her more news that would upset her.

"No luck?"

AJ must have sensed him entering the room, because she had yet to look up at him. Steve watched as his friend continued to focus on the microscope in front of her instead of turning to look in his direction. He licked at his lips. "None."

A normal person might have not noticed that AJ had flinched and the way her entire body had tensed at his answer, but Steve had known her longer than anyone.

"Maybe Hydra has him." AJ suggested. Steve frowned at her monotone voice – almost like she had finally lost all hope. "That or he's dead."

That caused Steve to flinch. "He's not." He stressed to his friend.

AJ finally looked away from her microscope and over at Steve. He noted that her eyes were red and puffy and that they had dark bags under them. She had been crying. She had changed from the last time he saw her. AJ's hair was shorter and blonder. It was currently thrown up in a messy bun, and because of how short she had cut it, it was falling out of said bun.

"Really?" AJ challenged him in a raspy tone. "It's either one of those two options, or we finally admit what we've been dancing around saying since D.C." Steve frowned when her eyes turned cold and her tone grew bitter. "That Bucky does not give a shit about us anymore."

Her words felt like a blow to his chest. "How can you even think that?" Steve exclaimed.

"How can you not?!" AJ raised her voice, the rasp making it cut in and out. "He saved you from drowning, Steve – he took his dog tags back. He remembers. He just doesn't want us anymore." Steve's face fell with each word AJ threw at him. But she didn't seem affected by his sadness like she normally did. She had changed so much. "Before Bucky fell from the train I told him that I thought something bad was going to happen to him – and Bucky told me that even if he did die that he would crawl out of his own damn grave to come home to me...so where is he, Steve?" She asked him and motioned around the room they stood in. "Where is he?" AJ repeated again but this time her voice broke.

Steve moved forward to wrap his arms around her, only to have AJ take a step away from him. He sighed and shook his head, wanting her to see reason. "Jay, Bucky is still in hiding for a reason."

"Whatever," AJ wiped her eyes quickly to try and hide the fact that a tear had escaped. "I have work to do, so if you'll excuse me." She pointed to the door.

Steve shook his head. "No." He told her. "We're going to talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about." AJ said, her voice monotone once again as she walked over to the large piece of stone that Andrew Frost had been encased.

"Yes, there is." Steve followed after her.

"Go away, Steve."

"Jay, look at me."

She spun around to look at him. "What is there left to say, Steve? Do you want to tell me for the thousandth time about how you think Bucky is in hiding to protect us? That he doesn't want to hurt us? Fine. I, however, am a realist who relies on facts, and the facts are that Bucky hasn't come home to us." Her eyes filled with tears again but her voice sounded harsh. "But if you want to continue on with this little crusade to find a man who clearly doesn't want to be found – go ahead. I, however, am going to focus on saving the one family member I have left."

Steve shook his head and took a step closer to AJ. "Andrew is not the only family you have, Jay. He may be your only blood relative but we are all your family. Me, Tony, Natasha, Clint, Thor, and Banner. Hill and Fury and Jordan. Even Palani. And we are not going to let you go through this alone. If it makes you feel better to push us away, go ahead. But we're not giving up on you." He declared as AJ crossed her arms over her chest and clenched her jaw. Steve moved to stand in front of her now, but she refused to meet his eyes, so he lifted her chin with his fingers and forced her to look at him. "And no matter how hurt you are feeling right now...you know that Bucky is your family, too."

"Get out." AJ ordered him.

Steve dropped his hand to his side and inhaled deeply, he but didn't argue with her. He knew when to walk away from a fight with AJ. She was so goddamn stubborn that she would not listen to reason right now and Steve knew that. So, he would let her continue to work through her pain tonight and when she was ready to talk to him – he would be there to listen.

After leaving the lab, he headed down the long corridor and ran into Kai Palani exiting the elevator. "Hey man." The bio-chemist greeted Steve. "Any progress?"

In what? Getting Andrew out of the stone or getting AJ to finally let go of all her built-up emotions.

"No." That word answered both questions. "And I wouldn't go in there if I were you."

"Eh," Palani shrugged. "She's more bark than she is bite, and if she does bite, I'm protected by this bad boy." He pointed to his wristband with a smirk.

Steve didn't exactly like Dr. Kai Palani, but he was helping AJ find some way to free Andrew from the stone. They both knew he was only humoring her. The only way Andrew would ever break free of the stone was if he were truly Inhuman. It had been months now, yet there was still no change. Steve and Kai did not believe that Andrew Frost was like his aunt. They did not believe that he was Inhuman, and even though they agreed that it was not healthy for AJ to hold onto the hope– both of them knew she needed to get to that realization on her own. Hopefully when AJ accepted the fact that her nephew was gone...she'd start to get back to the way she once was.

Steve knew that she would be wrecked, absolutely heartbroken, but AJ would get through it just like she had gotten through every other obstacle in her life.

"Do me a favor and keep an eye on her tonight?" Steve asked Kai.

"No problem, man."

"Thanks." Steve got into the elevator. Once the doors closed and he could no longer see Kai Palani, Steve called out, "J.A.R.V.I.S, when was the last time Adelyn ate?"

"According to security footage – the last time Miss Frost was seen eating was yesterday evening."

Steve looked down at his watch and shook his head in frustration. "Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S. Can you have Ms. Potts bring her down something to eat? AJ has never been able to tell Pepper no."

"I will relay your message to Ms. Potts right now, Captain Rogers."

Steve got off the elevator and headed for his bedroom in the Avengers Tower. Stark had put his right next door to AJ's so Steve could keep an eye on her. Yet, he had the feeling that AJ wasn't going to be sleeping in her room tonight, just like every night for the past few months. If she did end up sleeping in the lab, Steve would go down there and bring her up to her own room. (He hoped without her kicking and screaming the entire elevator ride up to their floor.)

Once he got to his room, Steve laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, intending to take a quick rest. It had been a long couple of weeks – it had been a long year. He just needed a little shut eye and then he'd be better equipped to handle AJ and her stubbornness. But when Steve opened his eyes again, the room was pitch black, and his phone was going off.

He sat up in his bed and turned on his lamp. When saw that the picture flashing on his phone was of AJ, he quickly grabbed his phone. "Jay? Are you okay?" He answered his phone.

"It's Palani. You or Stark need to get here ASAP."

Steve could hear the sound of a person laughing in the background and AJ yelling at someone. Dammit. He got out of bed and threw on his brown leather jacket. "Where are you?" Steve asked, "What happened?"

"Sending you the location." Kai went quiet for a second, so Steve tried to listen in on what was happening in the background while he searched for the keys to his bike.

"Oh, come on, honey. It was only a compliment. Just show me a little bit of what you got."

When he found his keys, Steve headed towards the door only to stop abruptly.

"Shit!"

He tensed at the sound of Kai cursing. "Palani?" He asked while holding his keys in a fist.

The phone went dead and Steve ran out of his room.

The location of AJ's phone was now gone and Steve still had no idea where she was. "J.A.R.V.I.S wake up Tony now and tell him to meet me in the garage! AJ's in trouble!"

Steve was just entering the garage when J.A.R.V.I.S finally got back to him.

"Mr. Stark is already on his way to AJ's location – he left five minutes ago."

Five minutes ago?! It hadn't even been five minutes since his phone rang– how the hell did Tony know something was happening?

"He knows where she is?"

"Yes. Would you like me to give you the address?"

Steve got on his motorcycle and told the A.I. to give him the name of the place AJ was. Thankfully it was a bar that he was already familiar with and could get to easily. He got there within five minutes and jumped off his bike after parking it in front of the bar. He could hear Tony speaking loudly in the bar.

"Don't worry about the damage – I'll pay for it." Steve heard Tony say as he walked in. Tony met his eye and gave him a quick nod, letting him know that he was handling the situation. Steve looked away from Tony and saw Kai leaning against the bar next to AJ who was looking down at the ground.

Steve then quickly scanned the room and saw a man with a bloodied and bruised face laying unconscious on the ground. He held his breath at the sight and quickly went over to the man. He was trying his best to keep his anger and frustration inside, but the blood dribbling out of the man's mouth was enough to send him into a blind rage. He inhaled deeply to calm himself down and got down on his knees to check the man's pulse. Steve breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a steady pulse. AJ hadn't killed the man.

"The guy had it coming." Kai said, causing Steve to whip his head in Kai's direction and glare. "Men who harass women are a waste of space."

"Shut up!" Steve seethed as he got up, stalking over to Kai and AJ.

"What happened?" He demanded. AJ remained silent, not able to look him in the eye.

"The asshole was shoving his damn phone in her face." Kai started up again but one look from Steve silenced him.

He looked back to AJ when she finally spoke up. "Either I punched him in the face or Kai did, and if that had happened, the guy would have died."

"True." Palani agreed with a chuckle. "Hell, I wanted to knock him out thirty minutes ago but AJ told me not to."

Steve watched as the small amount of people in the bar messed with their phones, complaining that they weren't working. Tony took that moment to smooth things over and charm the small crowd with a smile. Thankfully, there weren't too many people in the bar. When Steve had scanned the whole place earlier, he had found that, excluding himself, Tony, AJ, Kai and the bartender, there were only four people.

Steve listened in on what Tony was now saying to those four people. "I'd like to pay for any emotional trauma you may have suffered tonight, as well as any damage to your personal affects." Tony said causing Steve to furrow his brows in confusion. "How about five thousand dollars for each of you?"

The four smiled widely and accepted Tony's hush money. Because that's what it was. He was paying them to keep quiet, and they seemed to know that. Once Tony finished paying them, he walked back over to the bartender and wrote him a check too.

"It'll cover a new security system for you." Tony smiled as he ripped the check out of his check book and held it to the bartender. After the man took the check, Tony gave him a quick pat on his shoulder. He then walked over to the man who was unconscious on the floor. The billionaire kicked him with his foot to jerk him awake, but the man only groaned in annoyance. "Open your eyes, sleeping beauty." Tony kicked at him again. "Wake up, frat boy!"

The man opened his eyes and looked up at Tony who was now crouched beside him. Steve watched as Tony moved in closely and began to talk in a soft, yet threatening tone.

"Here's what's going to happen here – we are going to forget all about what just went down and you are going to receive a nice payment that will cover much more than your medical bill." Tony said as he pulled the man to his feet. "And on top of that, you will also be receiving a restraining order from Ms. Frost and will not be allowed within," Tony tapped on his chin as he decided on a number. "One hundred miles of her." He glanced over his shoulder at Steve. "...is that too excessive?" He asked.

"I'd make it 500 miles." Kai piped in.

The man snarled as he looked at AJ. "That bitch hit me."

"Watch your mouth, punk." Kai said in a deep voice and began to walk forward, only to have Tony stop him.

But the man continued on with his rant against AJ. "She should be arrested!"

Tony hummed and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, unfortunately for you – there were no witnesses to your accusations."

The guy looked around the room and saw that the four people who had been in the bar were now gone and when his eyes drifted over to the bartender, the man was heading to the backroom while whistling happily along to some song that Steve didn't recognized.

He then looked back at Tony and glared. "-So, you can go home empty handed with a broken nose and bruised ego– or you can go home with a fat check in your pocket, a broken nose and bruised ego but with no memory of what happened tonight. Deal?" Tony raised his eyebrow.

The man shook his head in anger but agreed. "Fine. Deal."

As Tony began to write another check, Steve turned his attention back to AJ and Kai. "We're leaving, Jay." He told her and surprisingly, AJ didn't argue with him. She willingly got up from her seat and moved to stand next to Steve while hanging her head down low. Shame. He could feel it radiating off of her.

Tony walked up to them and placed his checkbook back in his jacket pocket before clapping his hand on Kai's shoulder. "Thanks for following protocol, Palani."

"Protocol?" Steve looked from Kai to AJ and then back to Tony.

"No problem." Kai shrugged. "She's like an annoying little sis that's always gettin' herself in trouble."

Steve went to open his mouth but he didn't get the chance to speak. "-I'm decades older than you, Palani." AJ snapped at him.

"You did however fail by calling Captain Grandpa here." Tony said. Steve glared at Tony. "I told you specifically to call me if this happened again."

Steve looked down at AJ who continued to avoid his eyes. "Again?" He didn't sound angry. Just concerned. "This has happened before?"

"Once or twice." Tony shrugged it off like AJ beating a man bloody was no big thing. "Adelyn, you want a ride back to the Tower?"

AJ nodded her head and walked over to Tony, only to have Steve grab at her arm. She slowly looked over her shoulder at him. "AJ...this has happened before?"

Tony groaned in annoyance.

"-I'll take that ride, Stark." Kai interrupted, breaking the tension. "Frost and I walked here." Kai looked over at Steve and gave him a small smile – letting him know that he was trying to help him get a moment alone with AJ.

"Fine." Tony agreed. "But no singing Aladdin this time, Palani. It made me feel incredibly uncomfortable and a bit used if I'm being honest."

When they were gone, Steve let go of AJ's arm and watched her turn to face him. "Talk to me." He urged her, his voice desperate and pleading.

She took in a shaky breath and shook her head. "I'm just tired, Stevie." The second her voice broke, Steve pulled her into his arms and she began to cry. Stevie...God, how long had it been since she called him by that nickname?

"It's okay." Steve whispered as he continued to hold her.

She inhaled sharply before spoke again. "I didn't mean what I said about Bucky." Her voice was smothered by Steve's shirt but he was able to understand what she was saying. "I miss him." AJ admitted. "-and I need him and I hate that he's not here." She cried. "My world is falling apart and...I need him. I need Bucky and he's not here."

Steve smoothed down her hair and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, fighting back his own tears. "We'll find him, Jay. I promise."

She sniffled and let go of Steve. "I know...I'm sorry." She wiped at her tears.

Steve took a moment to study AJ. She looked so small and vulnerable. He moved his hands to rest on either side of her face and leaned down to look in her eye. "I know you want to be here for Andrew but...I think you need to take a break from the city for a while."

She shook her head and pulled away from him. "I can't leave him, Steve."

Steve's hands dropped to his sides and he placed them on his hips. "What if I stay at the Tower while you're gone?" He suggested. She shook her head at that, clearly not sold on the idea. He took a step forward and smiled. "I'll even sleep in the lab if you'd like." He teased, making AJ smile softly.

It was a genuine offer – but Steve was so desperate to see AJ smile that he had worded it as a joke. She had smiled though, and the color was starting to come back to her cheeks. Steve wanted nothing more than to keep her smiling.

But her brows furrowed as she frowned. "You would take a break from looking for Bucky?"

Steve nodded his head. "To help you? Yes."

AJ huffed out a noise that sounded a bit like laughter and hugged Steve again. "Thank you." She whispered.

Steve rubbed her back. "I'm always here for you, Jay...don't ever doubt that."

When they got back to the Tower, AJ asked Steve to sleep in her room with her for the night. Steve agreed, and being the gentleman that he was, slept on the floor by her bed. But when he woke up to the sound of AJ crying in the middle of the night, he climbed into the bed and pulled her close to him. He let her wet his shirt with her tears until she finally fell back asleep. Then he stayed put and listened as she breathed in and out at a steady pace. He stayed up the whole night so that if AJ did wake up again – he would be ready.

Steve would let AJ cry on him for as long as she needed and he wouldn't leave her again. He decided that he would send Sam on a solo mission to find Bucky's location while he stayed back in New York. AJ had needed him, but because his focus had been on his search for Bucky, he had been coming and going all year while AJ was back here suffering, alone. Though it was incredibly hard for him to do –Steve would leave the search for Bucky to Sam, for now.

AJ needed Steve and he was going to be there for her no matter what.