Chapter 8

.*.

"It won't be the last time, I promise."

.*.

Isabelle clenched her teeth as she kept her body pressed down against Bucky's, ignoring both of their coughing fits as they helplessly inhaled the toxic fumes of the billowing smoke from her bedroom. Her ears were ringing with a deafening silence as Bucky tried his hardest to move her, but she needed to make sure there were no more explosions before she allowed them to get up. The last time she had heard that noise, one of Tony's Iron Man suits had self-imploded when Clint had accidentally hit the trigger switch for the 'emergency destruction' that was in place should the suit fall into the wrong hands. So when she had heard the distinct siren she somehow knew what was about to happen, although thankfully she had tackled Bucky out of the way just in time. At least her instincts were still sharp and intact, despite her numerous emotional breakdowns in that week alone.

"We have to get out of here Iz." Bucky spluttered as the fumes from her burning bedroom grew stronger, affecting both their vision and their ability to breathe. Not wasting anymore time he grabbed her arms and pushed her off of him, allowing himself to stand up. Without hesitating he grabbed both of her hands and pulled her up onto her feet, placing one arm across his mouth and the other over her shoulders as he guided them away from the fire and headed for the front door - but, just as he went to open it a sporadic thought caused Isabelle to stop in her tracks.

Oh god. Her Bedroom, Bucky's files - the box.

Rolling her body out of Bucky's grip she sprinted back to her bedroom without a thought for her safety, ignoring his shouts for her as she disappeared into the billowing smoke. Just before she had tackled Bucky to the ground out of harms way she had managed to kick the wailing phone to the other side of the room against the window wall, keeping the majority of the damage to that side of the room. Her curtain's and bed were a raging inferno, the flames licking up the walls were fanned further into the room towards her by the wind blowing in through the broken windows - she had to work fast. Covering her mouth with her left arm she went to her bedside cabinet first which had been knocked over by the force of the explosion, the contents lying everywhere. Ignoring everything else scattered across the floor she grabbed Bucky's files and scooped them up under her right arm - she had a feeling that Natasha had stolen these and couldn't risk their destruction if they were the only copies that weren't compromised by Sokolov. Backing away from the encroaching flames she turned quickly and started feeling around for her wardrobe door, finally, after plenty of fumbling she grasped the door handle and yanked it open. She knew from muscle memory exactly where the metal box was, yanking it open she stuffed the files inside before slamming it shut and pulling it up into her arms against her chest. What she forgot to consider was the rapidly growing inferno as she turned to be met by a fiery wall of heat that had engulfed all but the spot that she stood, it was so close that it singed her arm hair and stole what little moisture was left in her mouth. She was frozen to the spot, coughing her guts up, momentarily terrified and unable to remove her gaze from the dancing flames before her.

"IZZY?!" Bucky's strangled cries came from her left, she could just about make out his hunched figure through the thick smoke by the burning light of the fire. She went to call back to him through her coughing fit but she only inhaled more smoke, causing her to wretch and fall forward towards the flames. She braced herself for the pain but the burning sensation didn't come. Instead, a steel grip caught her and swooped her up before rushing from the room. She watched her apartment fly past in her vision as Bucky ripped open the front door and sprinted down into the clean, open air. All the while she kept an iron grip on the box, not wanting to be parted with it.

He dropped her rather unceremoniously to the ground outside, causing her to land with a thud on the stone surface of the alleyway as he bent over and continued to cough up the black smoke that had invaded his lungs - Isabelle joined him as the smoke still clawed at her neck, suffocating her. Realising she was still clutching the metal box she turfed it to her side as she bent over, expelling as much of the acrid smoke from her lungs and throat as possible.

"What the hell were you doing?!" Bucky admonished her with his hands on his knees as he wheezed slightly, recovering from his coughing fit.

"Me-memories." she managed to hiss out with a splutter as she fought to clear her airways.

His face softened at those words, almost as if he understood. He sat down beside her, rubbing her back as she continued to cough and splutter, occasionally throwing a 'sorry' his way which he had apparently elected to ignore.

"Just don't do it again, the whole running into danger with no help - you scared me Iz." she didn't have to look him in the eye to know that they were full to the brim of anger. She nodded to the floor, not intending to keep such a promise - she always found herself in the middle of trouble and that wasn't going to stop anytime soon. "What the hell was that anyway, Sokolov?" he asked, glancing around him. By now the building fire alarms were going off and the rest of the occupants had begun to pour out onto the alleyway and head towards the street. Isabelle tugged his arm and shuffled herself behind a dumpster, signalling for him to follow - it was best for now that they weren't seen.

She took a few breaths as her back hit the stone wall of the building opposite, testing her lungs to make sure her coughing fit was over before answering him. "The Internal Network on our phones must have been compromised, I knew Tony had mentioned that we would know about it if it was but I didn't think he meant by literally blowing them up." she almost laughed. Almost. The blast had nearly killed them. It didn't make sense, it was too violent for Tony, what did he expect them to do, launch the phones out of the window and hope they didn't hit anyone on the ground?

"Stark doesn't bloody do things by half measures does he." Bucky grumbled as he pulled bits of her wall from her hair before pushing a stray strand behind her ear and resting has hand on her face. "I didn't appreciate nearly losing you to an exploding phone." the words were a whisper, but they vibrated against her skin. She felt a tingle of joy at the thought that he was concerned about losing her - it had been so long since someone had cared for her in that way - and admittedly she didn't mind it, despite the circumstances.

To say she was confused about her and Bucky was the understatement of her life. They had went from nothing to something in such a short space of time, when they had awoken that morning she expected herself to be full of regret - but instead she just found herself wanting him more. Drunk Isabelle had finally done something right. A sudden need to be close to him encompassed her thoughts, clutching his hand that was still pressed against her cheek she curled in against him, and he seemingly, gladly wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like that for a while as they held onto each other tight, Bucky occasionally planting a soft kiss on her forehead, ignoring the steady build of people around them.

It was only when Isabelle sensed people looking at them that she reluctantly disentangled herself from him and stood up as she chanced a glance up at her window to see how bad the damage had got. What she didn't expect to see was some of Tony's Iron Legion already on the scene, blasting water into her apartment and helping people escape. As if on cue, Iron Man landed in front of them, the mask flipping up to reveal a startled Tony.

"What the hell did you guys do?!" he yelled as he stepped out of the opening suit, his fists balled up at his side.

"What did we do? What the hell kind of warning is that for an Internal Network being compromised?!" she lunged at Tony but Bucky caught her as her fingers skimmed his arm, holding her back against his body.

"Iz, there's people watching." he hissed in her ear.

"I don't care!" she struggled but he refused to loosen his grip. "I've lost everything because your apparent protocol for being compromised is to bloody blow everything up!" she spat at him.

"Izzy... the Internal Network is intact, that wasn't the phones." Tony cocked his head at her in confusion as he signalled for Bucky to let her go. As soon as his grip loosened she slid out and launched herself at Tony, who grabbed her outstretched fist with ease and twisted it behind her back, pulling her in against him.

"Izzy, your making a scene, calm down. Now." he ordered in her ear, keeping his grip firm and locking her in place. "What in the hell gave you the idea that the Internal Network was compromised? Do you think i'm stupid enough to put a bomb in the pockets of the few people around that can protect this Earth?!"

She stopped struggling at those words. He was right, how could she think he would do something like that? Be capable of something like that? But Bucky's phone was most certainly the cause of the explosion, and they were Tony's creation - so he had to have something to do with it. "Then why did Bucky's phone start going mental and explode? It made the exact same noise your suit makes in self-destruct mode." she demanded.

"Look, Izzy, I don't know, we can figure this all out when we are all back at the tower but for now I need to make sure everyone in your building is accounted for and as much of your apartment is saved as possible." he released his grip on her arm and let her stumble away from him, she rounded to see him step back into the Iron Man suit, letting his eyes meet Bucky's.

"Get her back to the Tower, I won't be long." and with that the suit moulded back over his body, coming to life as it flew off to join the Iron Legion in their task.

Isabelle could only stand and watch along with all the other bystanders, her heart sinking as the flames still burned across the second floor - despite the efforts of the Iron Legion - they weren't going to be able to save anything at all. Everything that mattered was in her room, her most precious possessions were in the metal box which she had thankfully remembered to rescue - but everything else, it was all gone. All of it.

"We better flag a Cab down." Bucky pulled her by her arm and moved them out of the alley and onto the street, her metal box clinched underneath his arm. She followed wordlessly, zigzagging behind him until they found a part of the road where traffic was still streaming - within seconds of him sticking his hand out a yellow cab pulled over. Opening the door for her, Bucky signalled for Isabelle to get in before he slid in beside her and slammed the door shut.

"Stark Towers." he gruffly barked at the cab driver, who only stared incredulously between them in return.

"Yeah, figures." he chuckled as his eyes rested on Bucky's arm before he pulled away from the side walk and darted into the morning traffic, which had slowed almost to a standstill as they all stared at the burning apartment on the second floor surrounded by Iron Man and his Legion. Isabelle's cool exterior wasn't mirrored on the inside - if Tony was adamant that it hadn't been his technology that set the phone off then who had?

o.0.o

They sat in silence for a while as the driver rambled on, until it finally became apparent to him that they weren't up for a chat. Grumbling to himself, he turned the radio up and closed the barrier window between them and him, allowing them at last some privacy.

"If it wasn't the Internal Network being compromised, then what the hell just happened." Bucky gave her a side glance as he spoke softly, still worried about the driver hearing them.

"I don't know, but somehow this has Sokolov written all over it." she rubbed her elbow with her thumb as she crossed her arms, refusing to let the fear show on her face that somehow, her apartment had been compromised without her even knowing.

"Hey, the main thing is that we are both okay." he gently placed a hand at the top of her thigh. The gesture warmed her only for a second before reality dawned on her. Turning towards him she spoke softly, also weary of the cab driver. She didn't trust anybody around her anymore.

"Bucky, whatever this is between us has to take a back seat." she let her hand fall down on top of his own, knotting her fingers through his hand before reluctantly removing it from her leg and placing it on the seat. "We can't let the Avengers see anything going on between us or more importantly Sokolov, besides, dealing with Sokolov has to come first, if we start spending our time worrying about each other we will become blinded to whats around us - like we did this morning." she swallowed the lump in her throat as his face became unreadable, withdrawing his hand from her grip to his own leg. "We've been compromised most likely because of my behaviour the last few days, I need to become an Agent again and that means no distractions." No matter how badly she wanted the distraction currently sat beside her.

"Which means no us." the words sounded bitter in his mouth.

"Bucky, I'm not saying never, but we both know that if we don't give dealing with Sokolov our full attention more people are going to die - we just had a lucky escape." she took his hand in hers again, allowing herself this final familiar touch.

"I know Iz, I know." he squeezed her hand once before letting go. "But it doesn't mean that I have to like it." he let his hand rise to her face, once more brushing a strand of hair behind her ears before catching her off guard as he cupped her face and pulled her in to meet his lips. He didn't hold back, immediately parting her lips with his own. He was fast and aggressive as his tongue dipped tentatively into her mouth, to which she enthusiastically responded, forgetting herself for a moment. They were lost in their little bubble of them, she pulled him closer so that their bodies touched as his hands moved from her face, feeding their way through her hair as their heads rolled and followed the movements of their lips, her hands cupping his delicate angular cheeks. Without meaning to she allowed a low moan to escape as he stopped their kiss so that his lips could explore her neck - her elation was immeasurable as her groin flared with passion. It was only when a loud knock sounded in front of them that they snapped out of it, Bucky broke away first from her body, his hands still in her hair, both of them completely breathless as he looked at her with complete longing.

"We have arrived, any chance of paying and getting out? I gotta get back on the road y'know, bills to pay?!" the cab driver rudely barked at them, but Isabelle ignored him as she kept her eye's on Bucky's.

"And that is why this has to stop." she let her hands drop from his chest as he dropped his own from her hair. "We lose ourselves."

"I'm sorry, I just had too. One last time." he gave her an apologetic smile, tinged with a hint of sadness.

"It won't be the last time I promise, but its for the best, trust me." she squeezed his arm before letting go and turning her attention to the impatient driver, realising that they didn't have money. "Put this cab on Mr Stark's tab, he won't mind, I'm sure he has an agreement with your company."

Without another look at Bucky for fear that she would regret her decision, she slid back over to her side of the car and grabbed the metal box, exiting out onto the street before the entrance into Stark Tower. When Bucky joined her from the other side of the cab they walked over, allowing the hidden scanner to take a composite of their bodies to confirm their identity before the doors opened, allowing them in. They made a beeline straight for the lift, pressing the button for the top floor.

"So, whats the plan?" Bucky kept his gaze on the mirror in front of them as they entered the lift - Isabelle was shocked to see their ragged reflection, she ran a hand through the singed ends of her hair - she was a complete state. Their clothes stank, completely embedded with the black scorings of smoke, but other than that thankfully, Isabelle couldn't see any lasting damage on either of them.

"Well, firstly, I have a heck of an apology to give Steve." she rubbed her temple, the memory once again dawning on her of their argument. "And then, we go after Sokolov, if your phone exploding has anything to do with him then we are clearly just sitting ducks."

Bucky nodded, keeping his eyes firmly on hers in the mirror as he spoke. "Well, I hope your mentors discovered something to help us."

"Yeah, me too." she breathed as the doors opened. She hadn't even taken her second step out of the lift before Steve appeared in front of her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug.

"Thank god your both alright." he released her before clasping Bucky's hand and pulling him in for a quick hug too. Isabelle smiled, Bucky hadn't hesitated like he had last time Steve had hugged him, instead he almost appeared completely at ease.

"Steve," Isabelle touched his arm lightly as he let go of Bucky, he turned to face her, his face hard to read. "I am so, so sorry for our argument, I was such an ass hole and you didn't deserve the way I spoke to you. You were right, Oslo isn't worth it. I promise I will talk it all out with a shrink back at HQ."

He was on her immediately, pulling her back in against his chest. "The past few days have been crazy, especially for you Iz, let's just leave it in the past."

"No, Steve, you have to understand how sorry I am, it wasn't acceptable even with my circumstances." she pulled away so that she could look him in the eye, trying her best to keep her emotions at bay. "Don't let me off the hook like that."

"Izzy, it's already forgotten, I forgive you." he smiled as he nudged her arm with his own. "Plus, we've got bigger issues from the sounds of it." his face turned from a light-hearted smile to one of dismay. "Nat and Clint should be here anytime soon, then we will decide how to deal with Sokolov."

"If it wasn't Tony's security that blew my phone up then what was it?" Bucky stepped beside them, sharing a concerned glance with them both.

"I can answer that one for you Buck." Tony landed with a resounding thump on his platform outside, his voice still echoing from the Iron Man suit as he stalked forward, carrying a charred black device in his hand. They walked towards him to meet him as his suit was stripped from his body and he entered inside.

"What is that?" Steve took the object from Tony's hand, examining it.

"Well, right now it's just a hunk of charred metal, but before the blast I'd hazard a guess and say it was the cause of the explosion in your apartment." When he was met with confused silence from them he carried on. "I had Jarvis scan it, from its programming it seems its design is to take over a phones software and destroy it from the inside out by any means necessary." he retrieved the device back from Steve. "When I made these phones I did put a self-destruct mode into it, but I didn't actually create any code to connect the self-destruct mode to any command." He took the device back off of Steve, flipping it over in his hand. "Whoever created this is smart and extremely educated in the world of computing software, they practically enabled this device to build a bridge between the self-destruct mode and it's operation. I'd be impressed if it wasn't for the fact that we were the targets."

"You thinking it was Sokolov?" Steve raised his eyebrows amongst the group.

"Well, I would hazard a guess to say that he's not working alone, but what I will say is that my plans for these phones were in SHIELDS system, so at least we have confirmation that it wasn't just The Avengers Initiative and One Armed Wonder Boy over there's files that were hacked." Tony crumpled the charred remains in his fist, the anger evident in his eyes. "But most likely any file attached to our name, which means he knows absolutely everything about us."

Tony continued to ramble on but Isabelle stopped listening as her blood ran cold, without thinking she reached out for Bucky's arm, clasping it as she turned to him. "He got into in the apartment." realising what she was doing she released his arm and instead grabbed the back of the sofa and lent against it. "When the hell did he get into the apartment?"

"C'mon, Izzy, we don't know that it was def-"

"Oh, yeah, right Cap because it was one Izzy's many other enemies with her address?" Tony cut Steve off. "Your right Iz, Sokolov did get into your apartment, god knows when." he waved the device at her, "this was neatly fitted under your dresser, not a rushed job at all, and since you've occupied it since you were both put into hiding it means it was fitted before hand."

"But that's impossible!" Isabelle proclaimed. "No one knew where I lived!"

"Apart from one person." Tony held up his fore finger.

"What are you trying to say?" Isabelle whipped her head around with the rest of them to see Natasha standing by the lift, her arms crossed, with a look of absolute thunderous fury on her face. "You wouldn't be calling me a traitor now would you, Stark?"