Two big things happening in this chapter. Or rather, two big reveals... Hope you like it! Also, this is a rather long chapter, sorry to everyone who doesn't like longer chapters ':D

Once again, thanks to everyone who followed and favorited!

Love . Fiction .2017: :)

Make You Feel My Love
~Book IV~

Disclaimer: I do not own Civil War or any other Marvel characters in this story. All I own is the story I've come up with and my own characters.

Chapter 17

Leaving the premises, Sam turned on the ambulance's sirens to make it look like they were truly leaving to take the guard, or rather the disguised and unconscious Bucky, to the hospital. Though they quickly shut it off again when they were far away enough for the soldiers not to hear them.

Finally being able to relax, Maria took off the helmet, combing her fingers through her tangled hair before turning around to look at Steve and Bucky.

"How's he doing?" asked Maria.

"Still asleep. We gotta find a safe-spot before he wakes up though. I'm not sure if the cognitive re-calibration worked…" answered Steve, having taken off his helmet as well.

Maria smirked, "I understood that reference."

Steve bit his lip while trying not to laugh, knowing it was not the time and place to do so as they were still on the run. Though he could not hide the smile and the glimmer of amusement in his eyes as he looked over at Maria, "And I understood that one."

"Can ya'll stop flirting and tell me what the hell cognitive re-calibration means?" asked Sam, keeping his eyes on the road.

"He hit Bucky really hard on the head," shrugged Maria, winking at Steve before sitting back down in her seat.

She heard some shuffling from behind her and found Steve's head suddenly poking out in between their seats, looking at the road.

"I was thinking an abandoned building. Though… It might be too cliché and end up being the first place they look for us," sighed Sam.

"They'll be busy fixing what was damaged… I don't think they've noticed yet," replied Maria, shaking her head. "I vote for abandoned building."

"At least until sleeping beauty back there wakes up," added Sam before Maria turned her head to look at Steve.

"Steve?"

"Sounds good. But I won't risk staying there longer than necessary," sighed Steve.

"What's the plan now, by the way?"

"We're fugitives… We can't bring Wanda along. The kid's just a kid. We'd ruin her life," said Sam.

"On the other hand," argued Maria, "If she stays locked up like that, her life will be ruined too."

"I agree. I'm not one for letting anyone be without their freedom," agreed Steve. "I say, we see what the deal is with Bucky and then we get Wanda."

They drove for an hour, getting to the outskirts of the city. There were not many abandoned buildings, though after a while, they did find one that looked particularly creepy and completely empty. It had three stores, yet none of the levels had any windows. Whether the windows had been broken by someone or whether the weather had taken them out, Maria was unsure of. All she knew was that it smelled of murky substances and marijuana in there.

They left the ambulance a few blocks away from the abandoned warehouse, keeping it intact so that, whoever found it, could return it without finding anything missing. Then, they carried Bucky all the way to the building, scaring a few homeless people in the process as they most certainly looked like a gang who had just murdered someone, before removing his outfit and leaving him in his usual jeans and red shirt, sat up in one of the rooms. Afraid that he might lash out again once he woke up, they pinned his metal arm in an industrial vice so that he would not be able to move at least that arm; the most dangerous arm. Though they kept the rest of this limbs unattached to anything, not wanting to give Bucky the signal that he was their prisoner either.

Once more dressed in their normal clothes, albeit they were a bit dirty now, Steve, Maria and Sam stood in front of Bucky, watching him with uncertain eyes. Not uncertain because of who they were watching, but uncertain because they did not know what to do next. Finally, Sam spoke up.

"I'll keep an eye on him. We'll take shifts," said Sam, positioning himself in the doorway. "Get some rest."

Maria scowled at him as he looked at her when saying the last part. Though she could not deny the fact that she was completely done with everything. Her legs felt as if they could give in any second, and although the pain in her stomach had subdued once more, her body ached from lack of water and sleep.

Steve followed Maria to a nearby corner, away from the room Bucky was in and away from Sam. She let herself glide down along the wall until she was in a sitting position, her knees curled up against her chest. Steve watched her for a while before kneeling down in front of her.

"You… You don't have to come with us."

Maria wanted to glare up at him; wanted to tell him to bugger off and that she was strong enough to stay by his side… Though she couldn't. She felt so fragile, so weak… She felt pathetic.

Her eyes rimmed with tears and she looked away from him, letting out a dry chuckle, "God, do I wish I could…"

"Why can't you?" asked Steve.

She kept staring at the wall opposite of them, avoiding to look at Steve, "I promised you I would stay by your side… That I would help you find Bucky and stand by your side no matter what. I can't just break that vow."

"You can if it means you'll be okay," pressed Steve before shifting. One of his hands gently pressed against her cheek, guiding her face back to look at him. A lone tear slipped down her cheek, which his thumb quickly wiped away. His compassionate eyes looked down at him, gently coaxing her to do as he pleaded. Though she shook her head at him.

"I can't. I have to stay with you."

"Alright," he sighed, smiling gently at her. "I can't say I'm complaining. But… Try to stay out of fights. Each time you use your powers-"

"It gets worse, I know. But I always bounce back again. It's just… I'm just weak. And I don't know why," sighed Maria.

"Weak? You just held an entire chopper with your powers… But I understand what you mean."

Steve shifted again, sitting down next to Maria and gently putting an arm around her shoulders. Her hand found his, and they intertwined their fingers together as she rested her head against his chest.

"I don't know what will happen now… I don't know where we'll end up. And I know this is not the conventional way to do it, but I figured that I had already done it the conventional way once…"

A smile crept up on her lips as Steve shifted slightly, pulling something out of his pocket. She could feel him tense up, unsure of what her answer would be. Though she already knew. The way his arm around her felt as protecting as ever, the way she could not bear the thought of not being by his side and help him… What would the reason have been to say no?

In two of his fingers, he held up the engagement ring he had given to her over a year prior to that very moment. She had always wondered where it had gone, worried she might have lost it in the ocean when she had died. There was something odd about seeing it there in his hand. It looked so tiny compared to his fingers, so precious and fragile. Though she figured that was what their relationship had been before; fragile and precious. Now, they had gone through everything a couple could go through, and they were still sure of their choice. Now, that ring did not represent a fragile relationship anymore…

"Did you even have to ask?" she whispered, holding out her hand and giggling as she felt him relax.

He fumbled slightly when putting on the ring, having only one hand to do it as the other one was still keeping Maria close to him, though eventually, it was back on her finger. And now, the ring did not look so fragile anymore. Now, it strengthened her and her decision to stay with him.

"What made you ask again?" wondered Maria, staring down at the ring and their once more intertwined hands.

"I've wanted to ask since you returned back from, uh, the dead. But I couldn't… Things were a bit-"

"A bit shitty… Yeah."

Steve chuckled at her words before continuing, "But then you came back again… I got to hold you again… And just now, when you told me your reason for going through all this pain… I just knew."

She felt him nuzzle into the crook of his neck, placing a soft kiss to her shoulder, and she smiled while leaning into his kiss.

"I love you…" she whispered, straightening up slightly so their cheeks touched, their heads leaning in against each other.

"I love you too…" he whispered back, tightening his grip on her.

"I suppose congratulations are in order?"

The sudden voice caused both Steve and Maria to jump, though mostly Maria. The shock of Sam's sudden presence made Maria's body tense up, and a seer of pain flared through her stomach and down her legs. She groaned, placing a hand over her stomach while curling in against Steve, letting the wave of pain pass quietly.

"Sorry…" sighed Sam, kneeling down in front of Maria while Steve simply stayed quiet, tensing up again and gently placing his hand over hers on her stomach. "But… He's awakening."

"Steve…" breathed Bucky.

The three heroes had been watching him wake up. The first thing the poor man had noticed was his arm stuck in the vice, and Maria hoped that he did not feel any pain. Then, his eyes had flickered up towards Sam and Maria, his eyebrows furrowed even though he seemed to recognize them slightly. Though it had not been until his eyes had locked with Steve's that he had begun to speak.

"Which Bucky am I talking to?" asked Steve, causing Bucky to look away, a pained expression in his eyes.

"Your mom's name was Sarah. You used to wear newspapers in your shoes," mumbled Bucky, the faintest hint of a smile appearing on his lips as he remembered that last part and Maria relaxed, knowing now that it was the real Bucky, and not the Winter Solider they were talking to.

"Can't read that in a museum," said Steve, earning a nod from Maria.

Sam scoffed, "Just like that, we're suppose to be cool?"

"What did I do?" asked Bucky, reading Sam's anger correctly.

"Enough," breathed Steve, shaking his head.

"Oh God…" mumbled Bucky, looking away again, tears appearing in his eyes. He was indeed not faking his remorse, and Maria felt sorry for the man. At least Maria had made the choice when killing all those people for Hydra… Bucky had not had a choice, apparently. "I knew this would happen. Everything Hydra put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words."

"Who was he?" asked Steve.

"I don't know," replied Bucky with a shake of his head.

"People are dead. The bombing, the setup. The doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know'," pressed Steve.

Bucky shook his head, staring back up at Steve, "He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."

"Why?" asked Maria, causing Bucky's eyes to flicker to hers for a second before he once more looked away from everyone, seeming ashamed.

"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier…"

"There's more Hydra Super Soldiers?" asked Maria worriedly.

"Four men, one woman. I… I stole the formula… I stole it from Stark – Oh, God, Steve… I killed Stark…"

Maria glanced at Steve who tensed up his jaw, a muscle jumping.

"You didn't," said Maria, shaking her head. "The Winter Soldier did. They made you."

"But still… He was my friend," sighed Bucky.

"Who were they?" asked Steve.

"Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in Hydra history. And that was before the serum."

"They all turn out like you?" asked Sam, earning a shake of Bucky's head.

"Worse… They could barely be controlled by Hydra back then. I don't know what they did with them…"

"The doctor with the red book, could he control them?" asked Steve.

"Enough," agreed Bucky.

"Said he wanted to see an empire fall…"

"With these guys he could do it. They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night. You'd never see them coming," informed Bucky, a worried look on his face.

"He could destroy the world…" breathed Maria.

"This would have been a lot easier a week ago," said Sam, stepping over to Steve. "When the Avenger's was still a team."

"If we call Tony…"

"No, he won't believe us," sighed Sam.

"Even if he did…"

"Who knows if the Accords would let him help," scoffed Sam, shaking his head.

"We're on our own," deduced Steve with a sigh.

"We need more people. This is a threat to the world. Ultron was difficult with our whole team… Imagine… Imagine this." Maria's voice was shaking slightly.

"We need a team," confirmed Sam. "I know a guy."

"Clint could help… For his family, he would give up retirement."

"Wanda would also help us," said Steve.

"Okay… So, our next step is to gather the team."

"I'll call Clint, he can pick up my guy on the way along with Wanda," said Sam, earning a nod from Steve before he left to find a phone.

Maria and Steve turned back to Bucky who was still, patiently, sitting with his arm stuck in the vice.

"Will you help us?" asked Steve.

For a while, Maria was sure that Bucky was going to say no. She could see his head faintly shake, his eyes darting around the room as he thought about the proposition. Steve most certainly picked up on his hesitance and began to try and convince him, telling Bucky that it would be like in the past, back when it was Steve and Bucky fighting together during the war. Though it was not helping at all.

It's not like back then… Bucky had never killed for Hydra then, thought Maria, watching the two men cautiously.

"Do it to prove that you're not what they created."

The words shocked both Bucky and Steve, probably because in reality, Maria had nothing to do with Bucky's decision. She was not his friend and Bucky did not know her. Though, in that room, Maria was the only one out of the two who had worked for Hydra; killed for Hydra. She was the one who had pulled away from that life on her own. She was the one who knew what Bucky was going through.

"Do it to prove to yourself you're not what they created."

Bucky watched her with hesitant eyes, "You're Miss Dalton, right?"

Maria swallowed thickly as she realized Bucky knew about her due to her past. Though she pushed past her fears and doubts and took a step forwards, nodding her head.

With a smile, she showed to Bucky the ring Steve had just given her, "Soon to be known as Mrs Rogers."

Bucky stared long and hard at the ring, and Maria kept her hand there, visible and steady. Steve was watching, catching Maria's eye from time to time.

"I've broken free… I'm not what they created-"

"They didn't brainwash you though."

"No… But they used me…"

"Artur did. I know…" mumbled Bucky, his eyes looking back towards his metal arm stuck in the vice.

Glancing once towards Steve, Maria walked forwards and opened the vice, freeing his arm. Bucky seemed slightly shocked, though still retrieved his arm, moving his metallic fingers around as though they were stiff from having been in that position for so long. Then his eyes looked up at Maria, seeing the same uncertain eyes that she had first been met with when she met Steve Rogers, the man out of time.

She reached out her hand to him and, after some seconds of hesitation, he took it with his one good hand and stood up from the chair. He stared into her eyes for a while, letting go of her hand, before turning to look at Steve.

"I'll help."

Steve smiled, placing a brotherly hand on his shoulder, "I knew you would."

"So… Who's going to join?"

Steve and Maria spent the next couple of minutes explaining the concept of the Avengers to Bucky; who the people were and not just what the Winter Soldier had heard from Hydra files, and what had happened lately. Bucky seemed sorry that things had gone downhill, noting too that both Steve and Maria's eyes lightened up when they spoke about the Avengers, though he did not seem that interesting in the smaller civil war that was taking place in the team. Instead, he seemed more interested in their achievements as a team, not to mention that he seemed interested in Asgard once Maria had told him about that.

"A metal man?"

"A robot. Like in one of those pictures we used to watch back in the days at the local cinema. Just… Much realer," joked Steve.

They had sat down on the murky floor in the same corner Maria and Steve had gotten engaged in, sitting in a ring while talking and reminiscing.

"Strange… And Stark – uh, Stark's son made it?" asked Bucky, furrowing his brow. "I knew he could do much… but… wow…"

Maria smiled, "Yeah, that's Stark for you."

Footsteps were heard entering the building, and soon Sam appeared, out of breath. All three tensed up at the sight of him, though he held up his hands to calm them down, "Don't worry, I'm just no super soldier and get out of breath when running down four damn blocks to get to a pay-phone…"

He leaned forwards, putting his hands on his knees as he took deep breaths.

"And?" asked Steve. "What did Clint say?"

"He's helping. He figured he can't enjoy retirement all that much when the world is being taken over by crazed super soldiers."

"He'll get Wanda?"

"Yup," replied Sam, straightening back up, "And he's bringing the guy I told you about too. And all of their gear."

"Where to?" asked Bucky, earning a swift glance from Sam before he looked over his head towards Maria and Steve.

"Berlin Airport… We figured we gotta get to Switzerland before the doc."

"We'll be sitting ducks there though," said Maria worriedly. "The CIA will figure we'll try to leave the country… They'll be waiting for us."

"All hell's going to break loose if Stark and the others are sent over there to apprehend us," realized Steve before sighing. "We'll have to deal with that if it happens."

"And if it happens," added Maria, "we'll need our gear."

"Great… The CIA have our gear…"

"Sharon," said Steve, smiling. "I'll see if I can get to her. Where's the pay-phone?"

"Take a right and then just run until you see it," explained Sam.

"While you're out there… We're going to need a car to drive to the airport," said Maria, giving him a pitying look. "Sorry, I know you don't like stealing."

"Borrowing," corrected Steve as he stood up, "otherwise I won't be able to do it."

"As long as we don't have to run anywhere," sighed Sam as Steve passed him by, exiting the building.

An awkward silence fell over the three heroes left. It would not have been awkward, had Sam not acted so strange towards Bucky. Maria knew why, of course, and couldn't help but understand – Bucky had, after all, tried to end his life several times already now and obviously not made the best of first impressions on Sam. But Bucky was a part of their team now, and Maria could not help but feel like Sam could at least try to forgive him for Steve's sake.

Trying her best to not show her discomfort, she smiled up at Sam, not missing the fact that Bucky evidently turned his back on Sam to face Maria completely.

"You wanna join us? The floor may be dirty but… it's… uh, okay?"

Sam promptly ignored her request and sat down a few meters away from them, picking on a rusty nail he had found in the wall. Maria glanced at him and back to Bucky, who stayed as quiet as he could, barely moving. From one of the holes in the walls that used to be a window, some sunlight shone through and was reflected off of Bucky's arm. It hit Maria on the arm, though it did not warm up the tension in the room the way it warmed up her arm. She sighed, knowing it would be a long couple of minutes until Steve returned again.

Her stomach churned suddenly as Steve's smile after he mentioned Sharon's name flashed before her eyes. Jealousy entered her heart and she frowned… Though she soon realized that the frown was not because of the jealousy, and that the weird feeling in her stomach was not because of it either.

"Oh God…" she breathed, quickly standing up with a hand over her mouth as bile rose up.

Stumbling and staggering, she made her way outside before promptly throwing up whatever she had gotten to eat that day. Once it was out, everything became worse. There was no pain, but she felt even weaker than she had before. Her knees were shaking and the world felt far away. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a homeless woman scowling at her before leaving her sight. With shaking hands, Maria pushed back her hair, moving away from the puddle on the floor.

"M…" breathed Sam, having followed her outside. He placed his hands on her shoulders, steadying her. "Damn… That's kinda nasty."

"Lead me inside," breathed Maria, her hands gripping his shirt as her knees buckled. Sam quickly grabbed her around the waist, doing as she had requested with a hard look on his face; one she recognized from Steve when he got into his military mode.

Still shaking feverishly, Sam let her slide down the wall in the corner again until she was sitting down. Her head was resting against the wall and she saw Sam sitting down next to her, his hand still on her shoulder. Bucky was staring at her, clearly confused and worried.

"She was fine a minute ago…" he said shakingly.

"M, please… Seek help from a doctor-"

"I'll be arrested the moment I show my face in public. I have to stay with Steve…"

"Is she sick?"

"No, she's-"

"I'm fine," shot Maria, giving Sam a glare before her facial expressions softened, her energy barely being enough to even care that Sam was worried about her.

"You're not. M, I gotta tell you something. Remember back at the CIA base? When they checked your vitals and stuff? Well, when you ran out, Nat made me stay behind to look at the results. M, listen to me when I say this… Your body healed itself after that fall...

"M…

"You are pregnant."