"Figured you'd still be up." Steve heard Bucky's voice from behind him. A glance over his shoulder proved that it was him, standing in the middle of the doorway. His stance was a bit rigid and his metal hand twitched on its own accord, "Mind if I join you?" he asked almost hesitantly. Before, he never would've had to ask - joining him on the stoop without a word and taking a cigarette out of the pack Steve was smoking from. But that was during a time when life was much different than it was now. When it was just the two of them.
Silently, Steve gestured to the space next to him. An indication that Bucky could settle down next to him - which he carefully did. The open pack of cigarettes was offered to him, Steve having already taken one that he was currently, slowly, smoking. Taking one in his metal hand, he used his flesh hand to light it, then passed the lighter back to Steve.
This was familiar. Smoking together the night before a mission or an op. After their friends, the Howling Commandos, were all asleep post alcohol-induced-shenanigans, the two of them would sit by the dying fire and share a smoke or two. Neither one of them could ever sleep easy before a mission; Steve worried about the mission, Bucky worried about Steve. Conversation was easy between them, distracting each other from the op that would come with the rising sun. Settling each other the best they could in times of stress. Talking until their cigarettes were gone, about anything and everything, or absolutely nothing at all. It was practically tradition.
"Do all Hydra safe houses have stashes of cigarettes hidden around?" Steve broke the silence between the two of them, examining the cigarette that was in between his fingers. Whatever awkwardness was between them slowly started to dissipate with the smoke from their cigarettes. Bucky let out a huff of a laugh, then shook his head.
"Not sure, but these have definitely been here since the late seventies." he glanced at the design on the cover of the pack. He wasn't sure who had left the pack there, but he remembered having to wait at the house for extraction after a kill mission. The pack had been there then too. Steve pulled down the corners of his lips and then nodded,
"Well, it won't kill us." he was matter of fact before placing the cigarette in between his lips to take another drag.
"Do you remember…" Bucky started to try and pull the memory that was at the corner of his brain to the surface, "those hand rolled cigarettes that...shit what was his name?" he gestured to his face, "Mustache."
"Dum-Dum." he supplied helpfully with an amused smile. Bucky's eyebrows went up in recognition and he nodded,
"Right, Dum-Dum. He found those hand rolled cigarettes in Verdun and when we tried to light them -"
"They fell apart," Steve finished for him with the smile still on his face. Though it had a hint of fondness to it, especially apparent in the small laugh he gave at the memory, "And we weren't getting another shipment for another two weeks." This time it was Bucky who let out a little laugh,
"Really thought he was gonna lose it." he let himself remember the look on Dum-Dum's face when he lit the cigarette, only to watch it fall apart in between his fingers. The others, Bucky included, couldn't help but burst into laughter at the reaction. He had been so proud of himself, only to be let down so hard.
"He almost did." Steve reminded him with a quick raise of his eyebrows and Bucky let out another short laugh - both of them remembered Dum-Dum's loud cursing at how the Germans couldn't even make a cigarette right, "Can't believe you remember that." he shook his head a bit, ducking it down as he tapped some ash off his cigarette. Bucky took a pull from his, slowly blowing out a steady stream of smoke.
"I remember a lot more than I ever thought I would." he responded seriously; it was true. He never thought he'd be able to remember his own name, let alone things that happened over seventy years ago. But he did. He remembered things he wanted to, and things he didn't, "But there are plenty of things I wish I could forget." he added with a heavy sigh, taking another drag from his cigarette. Steve let out a noise of agreement.
"Ain't that the truth?" he let out a sigh of his own, eyes on the way the ash dropped against the pavement of the stoop. The two of them were quiet again, each thinking about times they wish they could forget.
"You should give Q another chance." Bucky slowly, quietly advised, letting Steve know that he had heard the small fight the two of them had gotten into earlier in the evening. Unsurprising, but knowing made his gut twist a bit, "She wanted to tell you about me. I held her back from it."
"Why?" he asked, glancing over to Bucky to his reaction to the question - but it looked like he was prepared for it.
"Because I didn't want to burden you with all this." he gestured vaguely around himself, but Steve let out a scoff.
"Please, I've been burdened by you since we were kids." Bucky almost rolled his eyes at that,
"If anything, it was the other way around." he corrected him with a knowing look, reminding Steve how often Bucky was there to stand up for him or fight beside him. Steve put his hands up in surrender before moving one to take another drag from his cigarette, "I needed to...figure out who the fuck I was." he added rather seriously, "That day on the riverbank...I was...an in between. Stuck between Him and me." he categorized his dual personalities with a motion of his hands, acting as if it were that simple, "I didn't know who I was." he stared off into the night, losing himself for a moment before coming back, "It took a while before I could even begin to figure that out." he flicked at his cigarette, then added, "She helped me a lot." A small, awkward smile came over his face as he remembered how Q had stuck around despite knowing all the terrible things he had done from her research into the Soldier Program, including the things he wished he could forget - like the night of the mission report the man from the United Nations wanted to know about; December 16th, 1991.
"Yeah," Steve sighed heavily, "yeah, she helped me too." he admitted, not sure if he had ever done so before - at least out loud to another person. Bucky nodded, knowing that was true; he and Q had many talks about her relationship with Steve and how it had progressed and then digressed.
While Steve had still been set in his decision regarding his relationship with Q, it didn't help to hear Bucky's side of what happened. Because it made it clear that she was almost protecting Steve from another round of loss and heartbreak - not knowing which Bucky she would find in her search. She was, yet again, trying to help him. She just had a roundabout, almost fucked up way of doing so.
"Honestly, at first, I didn't even want her to stay, but she was - "
"Persistent." Steve cut Bucky off to offer up, "Stubborn. A pain in the ass." he laughed a little at the last one, then shook his head,
"All true. But she was family. And I hadn't had any of that in a long time." the two of them made eye contact, and Steve gave him a sad smile.
"I'm sorry, Buck. If I had known sooner -" he waved off his apology. It was no use. What was done had been done, "After the...I looked for you." he switched tactics, trying to make him aware of what he had tried to do. Bucky's fist clenched at the reminder of his damning fall from the train, "But the snow…" It had covered any sort of tracks that would help lead him to where Bucky was.
"I know." his voice was thick with emotion. The sad, guilty look stayed on Steve's face as he tried to continue,
"I should've been faster - or tried harder to -"
"Steve," he cut his friend off, not wanting to have him spiral into the vortex of guilt. Long ago, he had accepted what had happened to him. Learned to live it and was finally beginning to move on from it. It was time Steve did too, "it's alright." he gave him a small, tight, yet forgiving smile. Steve let out an emotion filled sigh, gaze softening a bit as he made eye contact with his brother, almost like he was relieved. All he had been searching for this whole time was forgiveness from what he hadn't done and the role he had played in damning Bucky, and it was clear that he was willing to give it to Steve.
"You and me, pal." he reached out to clasp Bucky's shoulder. He gave him a firm nod and an almost easy smile,
"Til the end of the line." he repeated their phrase, remembering how he had said it to Steve after his mother died, the countless times they had said it to each other until they couldn't any more, and then again how Steve had said to him again however many odd years later - desperately saying it as a last ditch attempt to remind Bucky of who he had been. Steve let out a slight laugh at hearing him say it so casually, but so firmly.
"Til the end of the line." he agreed.
The two of them sat outside until their cigarettes were long finished. It had been a long time since it was the two of them - though it wasn't even technically just the two of them what with Sam and Q still inside the safe house. There wasn't much the two of them talked about, not having enough time to really delve into the topics they wanted to: what happened to Bucky after his fall, Q and Steve, Rebecca. So they stayed on the safest topic they knew; what was coming. The plan for stopping the guy who had activated the Winter Soldier only to use him to gain information about what was hidden away in Siberia. There were allies ready to help them get to Siberia, along with adversaries ready to stop them. It was just a matter of how many were on each side, and how the confrontation would play out.
Steve was the one who ended up going back inside first. The plan was set, and gone through twice, so there was nothing else for him to do. Sleep probably wouldn't come, but he could at least try. It had been a long day, jumping from the funeral, to Vienna, then to Bucharest, then Berlin and finally settling at the safe house in Leipzig. The multiple time changes were beginning to take effect. He was wired but could sleep at the same time.
Forever his mother's son, he let Q take the bed that was going to be his before she showed up, opting to sleep on the couch instead. As he walked to the living room, he noticed that the light was still on in her room. He hesitated for a moment, debating on whether or not he should knock. Deciding it would be better not to, he turned away only to see Q walking toward him in nothing but the button up shirt she had been wearing all day and the tight biking shorts (though she had never biked in her entire life) she had been wearing under the skirt of her funeral dress. She glanced up from her phone, startled to see him standing in front of her.
"Sorry," he apologized rather lamely as she tried to tug down the edge of her button up a bit more to cover herself, "I, uh, saw the light on." he gestured to the room next to him where the light was clearly on, "Was thinking about knocking to make sure you were all good…"
"But you didn't." she pointed out, then shook her head, "I'm fine, I was just going to get some water. Didn't realize anyone else was still up." she gestured to herself as if that explained why she was dressed the way she was.
"You? Water?" he was doubtful of her explanation, knowing she was never one to willingly drink water, then gave a pointed glance to her other hand where she was holding a bottle of wine. She followed his gaze, then tilted her head a bit,
"Did I say water? I meant wine." she corrected herself with a little squint and an almost amused smile, "Saw a couple of bottles on display in the dining room area, so I figured I'd help myself." she lifted up the bottle and gestured with it in a circle, "Having a bit of trouble falling asleep." she admitted with a small smile.
"Same here." he agreed with a slight nod. Then took in a deep breath, hands slipping into his pockets, "I'll, uh," he stepped to the side, letting there be enough room so she could pass him, "I'll see you in the morning." she didn't move for a second, then nodded and took her cue.
"Right, yep." she agreed, finally stepping past him and pushing open the door to the bedroom. He started walking down the hall toward the living room when Q spoke again, "Hey, Steve," he stopped, turning a bit to face her. She leaned against the doorframe and gave him an almost nervous, small smile, "I know you said we would talk after all this but…" she trailed off, brows furrowing a bit before she made eye contact with him, "There's a chance, right?" she was talking about the two of them, he knew that, "Of us getting back together." she clarified, not liking how they left things earlier in the evening. These days, she hated when things were left up in the air. It made her think of too many ways it would end.
"I don't know." he answered with a sigh, shoulders slumping a bit. Before Bucky had joined him outside, he had been thinking about him and Q. And even after talking to Bucky about her, he had started to reconsider his decision of not giving her another chance.
"Could you just tell me, like, roughly?" she asked with a raise of her eyebrows. Again he sighed,
"Queenie, I really don't know -"
"Like, percentage-wise." she clarified, cutting him off, "Like, is there a certain percent chance that we could -"
"Twelve." he answered, saying the first number that came to his head, "There's a twelve percent chance, okay?" he let it settle in the air and in his head. The number was right to him. Small enough for her to know that she still had a lot of work to do. Big enough to let her know that it wasn't impossible. She raised her eyebrows up, but he wasn't sure if she was surprised by it.
"Twelve percent?" she repeated him for clarification. He nodded, then sighed again, shoving his hand through his hair,
"Yeah." he agreed and she nodded to herself, looking away from him. Pushing off the doorframe, she considered his answer for a moment, then looked back to him.
"Cool." she pulled down the corners of her mouth, still nodding a bit as she stepped back into her room - the door shutting a moment later. There was a twelve percent chance that they would be getting back together. She could work with that.
The next morning, the four of them loaded up the Volkswagen with the gear and duffels Q had gotten from Sharon. Everyone was prepared for whatever was waiting for them in Siberia - calls had been made for backup, and a game plan had been set into motion, but Q couldn't help but think that it was ending up a little too easy.
For the entire ride to the airport, Q tried to come up with a plan B. And a plan C. Just in case. As much as she wanted to believe that it would be as easy as one, two, three, she knew that wouldn't happen. The news was still reporting on Bucky escaping and had tagged Steve as his accomplice - everyone was still looking for them. Stark included. He would do anything possible to stop them from leaving Germany. If they could time it right, then they could avoid a fight. Though Q had a feeling that wouldn't happen.
Thankfully, the car was quiet, allowing her to really focus on her planning rather than trying to balance her thoughts with the conversations happening around her. She stole a notepad and pen from the Hydra safe house, using it to write down all the possible combinations that could happen in the airport.
Like a baseball coach, she jotted down the strengths and weaknesses of everyone on their team, and everyone who were now against them. While she knew the Vision, Nat and Dawson, and probably Rhodey were going to be on Tony's side, she tried to account for any surprises; like a task force or T'Challa. She drafted potential plays that could be made that would surprise the other side, or allow them a little more time to get to the chopper that Clint had lined up for them. But everything she came up with, always seemed to have some sort of losses on both sides.
By the time they pulled into the airport parking garage, there was a white van already waiting for them. She knew it had to be Clint and whoever he had brought with him. The group unloaded, Q getting out of the passenger seat and folding the seat up so Bucky and Sam could get out. Sam joined Steve on the side of the car closest to the van while Q stayed with Bucky on the passenger side of the car.
"Cap." Clint greeted Steve with a handshake then his gaze moved over to Q, "Proctor." he nodded at her once and she gave him a polite smile and nod in response. They hadn't seen each other since the farmhouse a year prior. She expected the greeting to be a little cold.
"You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice." Steve told him, knowing that Clint had retired after Ultron in order to spend more time with his family. But they didn't have very many options to begin with and they needed all the help they could get. What was waiting for them in Siberia was not something one could take on alone.
"Hey, man, you're doing me a favor." he glanced to his side where Wanda was stepping up next to him, "Besides, I owe a debt." he referenced what happened in Sokovia. How Pietro had sacrificed his life for Clint's. Everyone's gaze shifted to the younger girl, the remaining twin. Bucky was the only one who caught Q's immediate tensing. She let out a slow breath, uncurling her fists as Wanda pulled her sleeves down over her hands,
"Thanks for having my back." Steve gave her a grateful smile. Her eyes were on his face for a moment as she nodded,
"It was time to get off my ass." then she glanced over to Q, "Do the right thing." she nodded once at the older woman, who just lifted her chin in response.
"How about our other recruit?" he moved on, looking back at Clint. The archer stepped over to the van,
"He's rarin' to go." he pulled open the door rather aggressively so that it slammed hard against the other side. Inside the van, whoever was the other recruit jumped out of the nap he had obviously been taking, "Had to put a little coffee in him...but he should be good." the man blinked, rubbing his eyes a bit,
"What time zone is this?" he mumbled out as he clumsily got out of the van. He squinted at the sudden sunlight, taking a moment to let himself wake up. Then, at the sight and realization of who was standing in front of him, surprise took over his face, "Ca-Captain America!" he greeted Steve rather excitedly.
"Mr. Lang." Steve held his hand out for a handshake, which Lang eagerly met with his own hand. They continued shake hands for a minute while Lang took in who was standing in front of him,
"It's an honor." he was beaming at Steve, so much so that Q had to stop herself from laughing. It never got old to see people's reactions to the Captain America, "I'm shaking your hand too long." he immediately let go of Steve's hand, still smiling, "Wow! This is awesome!" he reached out to touch Steve's bulging muscles, only to stop himself, "Captain America." he whispered to himself then glanced around himself to see who else was around. As he did, Q glanced over to Bucky, who just looked confused over the fawning,
"Don't try to tell me this didn't happen in 1945." she muttered to him in Romanian. Bucky looked back at her with a small smirk,
"Usually it was women acting this way." he responded in Romanian, making her raise her eyebrows, "Though Steve would never know how to take it." he spoke like he had witnessed something like that happening. She smiled to herself; clearly things never changed. Bucky continued, "Most men just wanted to arm wrestle him." the corner of his mouth quirked up at the memory. Q tried not to laugh, refocusing on the conversation.
"We should get moving." Bucky called out in English. As well and good as it was to get introduced and have everyone on the same page, there was only so much time they had left until the Soldiers were activated.
"We got a chopper lined up." Clint reminded them all, only to be cut off by an announcement ringing through the airport parking garage. Even if Q couldn't understand German, which she could, she could tell that it was bad news. The alarms were blaring and the emergency lights were going off.
"They're evacuating the airport." Bucky translated matter of factly for those who didn't know the language. Steve glanced to Q,
"Stark?" he asked the obvious question, looking unsurprised by the announcement.
"Stark." she confirmed with a nod. He took in a breath, then looked to the rest of the group,
"Suit up." he ordered in his Captain Voice. It was time to go to plan B.
While Clint, Wanda and Lang got their stuff from the van, Q moved around to the trunk of the Volkswagen to start handing out the appropriate gear. Taking out the shield, she passed it to the person standing closest to her, only to realize a second later that it was Sam.
"Only wish this was mine." he joked with her. She gave him a semi-amused smile,
"One day, maybe someday, Sam." she responded while exchanging the shield for his jet pack. He took it gratefully, then reached in for the duffel bag that held his tact gear. Both Steve and Bucky did the same, everyone sort of scattering to find a semi-private place to change. While she waited, she glanced into the trunk again, eyes on the case that was her last minute request to Sharon. Before she could pull it out and set it up, Steve stepped up to her. Fit in his uniform, he was adjusting the shield against his wrist so that it lay comfortably.
"Any idea how this is gonna end?" he asked with a pointed glance to the front seat of the car. Her notepad was still on the seat, filled with her scribbles of potential outcomes of the scene. Leaning one hand on the top of the trunk, she let out a sigh,
"Not well. Especially now." she told him with a raise of her eyebrows, "But you don't need me to tell you that." she added pointedly. He let out a sigh of his own, then glanced over his shoulder at the rest of their team, "You can try talking to him, but he's not going to listen." she referred to Stark. He looked back at her with a look of acceptance,
"Then we use it as a distraction." she nodded in agreement.
"They had to get here someway, right?" she perked an eyebrow, "Screw the chopper; it wouldn't have held all you guys anyway." she glanced away from him, slowly putting together their plan, "Act like you're going after the chopper, alone, and use Sam's little flyer robot thing to find where they parked their Quinjet. Once it does, that's where everyone meets."
"It's not going to be that easy though, is it?" The plan sounded good aloud, but he wasn't sure how well it would translate on the field.
"Nope." she agreed with a small smile, "But unfortunately, there's only so much I can plan for when there's still so many unknown variables." she told him, "I know what we can expect from Tony, Nat and Dawson, and probably T'Challa, but I don't really know who else Stark would bring into this." she screwed her mouth to the side, having tried every possible outcome she could think of, but knowing there were still ones that could be played. Steve let out a sigh, then nodded,
"So, where should everyone be?" he let her take the lead instead of delegating like he usually did. She took in a breath, then started to lay out the best plan she had come up with.
Everyone understood what their roles were, what to do if engaged, and what the end goal was. No one questioned the fact that it was Q handing out directives rather than Steve; it was almost natural for her at this point - she had been semi-doing it at SHIELD, and her now heightened abilities allowed her to be a little more sure than she had been before. She wasn't the Captain, but she sure could be the Coach.
"What about you?" Steve asked while everyone moved off to get into position, "Where will you be?" There was a bit of worry behind his eyes - both of them knowing how terrible Q was on the field. She gave him a bit of a cocky smile, leaning into the trunk to pull the case forward and pop open the lid.
"Preferably somewhere far and high." she told him, showing off the sniper rifle that was nestled inside. His mouth twitched with a smile, though his eyebrows knitted in slight confusion.
"You know how to handle that?" he didn't want to doubt her skills, but he didn't think he had ever seen her use a gun before. She placed one hand on her hip and nodded in response, pairing it with a little mhm noise, "Guess it runs in the family." he raised his eyebrows at her, a small smile on his face as he remembered Bucky's affinity for his own sniper rifle during the war. She grinned at him.
"I've got your back, Cap." she assured him with a promise, reaching out to rub his arm, "Now, go." she tilted her head in the direction of the airfield. He nodded, hesitated for a moment, then moved to kiss the top of her head before jogging off. She let herself linger in the feeling of his action before refocusing. She had a promise to keep.
With her rifle set up, she let herself look through the scope to take survey the scene before her. The chopper was a few steps in front of Steve, but he was blocked by Tony and Rhodey in front of him, while Nat was on one side and T'Challa - in his suit, was on his other. There was another...thing crouched on top of one of the baggage containers behind Tony. The design on the suit made it seem like it was supposed to be some sort of spider, but she had never heard or seen anything like it before. Either way, it was holding Steve's shield.
Her comm device crackled with Sam's voice, indicating that they had found the Quinjet in one of the north hangers. Locating the jet put the plan into motion. She moved away from her scope to try and take in everything at once: Wanda and Clint were headed out of the parking garage and onto the field where they would be confronted by Tony, Sam and Bucky were inside the terminal - but before T'Challa could go after them, Steve went to stop him, and Lang was going up against Nat. The spider thing swung off toward the terminal - the unaccounted variable that Q could assist against.
Shifting her rifle to a better position, she looked through the scope to see what was going on inside the terminal. Both Bucky and Sam had engaged with the spider thing, trying to hold their own against the new threat. While it seemed to be almost evenly matched with Sam, it also managed to stop Bucky's metal arm with ease - something that shouldn't happen. Whatever the spider thing was, it was clearly enhanced.
Enhancements aside, this had to be the spider thing's first rodeo considering the lack of awareness it had of its surroundings. With it so focused on Bucky's arm, it allowed Q to have an open shot. She pulled the trigger just as Sam swooped in to knock it off its feet. Goddamnit. The shot buried itself in the wall behind where the thing had just been standing, surprising Bucky enough that he spun around to see where it came from.
"Just me." she murmured into her comms, seeing Bucky relax just a bit at the confirmation that it was friendly fire.
Sitting back, she reached for her binoculars to follow where Sam had taken off with the new enhanced being so that she wasn't swinging her rifle around and messing up her angles. She looked through them, trying to relocate where Bucky was as a start point. Only instead of Bucky - who had gone after Sam and the enhanced, her lens landed on a young girl peeking out from around one of the ad columns. Her back was to Q, but even so, familiarity stirred in the pit of her stomach. Brows furrowing, Q lowered her binoculars for a moment before raising them up again to see the girl more clearly. The girl turned to look over her shoulder, allowing Q to see her face.
Shit.
A/N: A lil cliffhanger for ya! Nothing too serious tho lol. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! We're alllllmost through Civil War thank GOD! And, in case it's not clear, Q already knows about Bucky killing Tony's parents - since she had done all that research way back when on him and learned everything. So! All good on the homefront :) Please let me know your thoughts and feelings about this chapter - and the upcoming ones too! I really appreciate any/all feedback. Love you all!