There's a Stranger Things spoiler in here for season 2...its in the first paragraph of Jade's POV in the third sentence so fair warning. Also there's some russian in this chapter. I dont speak russian so I left the translations up to google translate and if theyre wrong I apologize lol

"Look alive Barnes, we're five minutes out from the compound."

I didn't bother to open my eyes or remove myself from where I laid across the seats of the Quinjet. I grunted a response to show Natasha I acknowledged what she had said and put my flesh arm over my face to shield my eyes. I had spent the last week and a half with her in a tiny remote Russian village, posing as newly weds on a very odd honeymoon, which just so happened to be ten minutes away from a newly formed Hydra base that we promptly infiltrated and destroyed. The mission was supposed to take two weeks, but Natasha and I were an efficient team, and we were returning early. I was happy to be going back to the compound, back to regular running hot water, decent food and my bed.

I had welcomed the mission as a distraction from the situation with Jade, able to keep my mind away from thoughts of her for most of the mission, it wasn't until I was lying on my cot in the dark at night, trying and failing to sleep that she crossed my mind. Our 'date' replaying over and over in my head, the sound of her laugh, the light in her eyes when she talked about something that excited her or made her happy, the blush that touched her cheeks when I dared to flirt, but most of all the way my name rolled so sweetly off her tongue. I liked her. She made me feel things, things that I had thought I'd never feel again. And while there was no guarantee that it would work out between us, it had still been nice to find someone who didn't seem terrified or nervous in my presence, who didn't know the terrible things I had done and seemed to like me. I had thought about texting her once or twice after asking Natasha to show me how and what to do in case I needed to text someone in the future, but couldn't have if I wanted too. It was too dangerous while on a mission, the message could be intercepted and she would be in real danger then and it also would have put Natasha and I at risk. I knew that I was doing the right thing, even if I didn't like it.

The Quinjet landed right on time, just as the sun began to set, Steve waiting for us on the tarmac as I stepped off the jet, slinging my duffel over my shoulder. Steve was always waiting for me when I returned from a mission that he didn't come on, coming forward to hug me as if he hadn't seen me only a week and a half ago and missed me.

"How did it go?" Steve asked when he finally released me from his embrace.

"It went fine. Base was destroyed, Nat got all the intel. No one left behind to tell the tale," I shrugged. "Job well done if you ask me. I'm eating, hitting the shower, and then going to bed."

I patted Steve on the shoulder, pausing to high five Natasha and then went into the compound, stopping in the kitchen to see what was available in the fridge for me to eat. I settled for left over pizza even though I had no idea how old exactly it was, chowing down on two slices before taking a long hot shower. I climbed into my bed after toweling off, appreciating the firm, but soft mattress which was much better than the cot I had been sleeping on for the past week and a half and tried to sleep. And failed miserably. I slid out of bed after an hour passed of staring up at my ceiling, pulling on my jeans, blue Henley, leather jacket and boots; walking out of the compound.

I took Steve's motorcycle, something he had given me permission to do whenever I chose, and drove into the city, parking it safely before setting off on foot. I told myself that I was just taking a walk, that I just needed some fresh air, but of course found myself across the street from Jade's apartment building ten minutes later, barely five blocks from where I had parked Steve's bike, looking up to where I knew her apartment was. I lied to myself again convincing myself that I wasn't hoping to see her, that I was just making sure that there was nothing suspicious going on around her apartment, no threat of danger, meaning Hydra. A reckless thought of going up to her apartment crossed my mind, of knocking on her door, telling her the truth and seeing just how she'd take it. If she'd risk the danger, if she'd be willing to try. I leaned against the building behind me, shaking my head at myself. I couldn't do that and it was mostly out of the fear of rejection.

And then I saw her, coming down the street, dressed in blue scrubs, her curls pulled back into a pony tail, a messenger bag hanging across her body and headphones in her ears. She was too preoccupied with her phone to notice my presence, taking sure steps to her apartment building without even looking up once until she reached the stairs leading up to the buildings door. I stepped back out of the direct light from the street lamps above, letting the shadows come over me just in case she decided to look back this way, realizing just how creepy that I would look and hoping she didn't.

That's just what you need Barnes, to have her think you're some creepy stalker.

It was that moment of course that she chose to turn around quickly, forcing me to duck very ungracefully behind a parked car. I felt foolish hiding from her, my eyes peeking through the windows just barely to see her sweeping the block with calculated eyes. I hid completely when her eyes neared the car, kneeling and waiting for the seconds to pass before I could look again, hoping that she hadn't caught me.

I had made up my mind about James Buchanan Barnes and the decision was to do my best to forget the man. I knew he was a man of mystery, but he clearly had a lot of secrets considering he had supposedly died in 1944. The man looked damn good for almost being a hundred and dead. I had to admit that he had been on my mind more than ever, especially seeing that memorial display of him. I had briefly thought of googling his name, but was too scared of what might pop up. He was best friends with Captain America, the token boy of perfection and goodness and patriotism, and he was living with the Avengers so he couldn't have been that bad, but perhaps he wasn't all that good either. While Iris found the mystery of him exciting and thought I should seek him out to ask my very appropriate questions about his past, I had decided against it. I was going to let him ghost me and I would move on with my life.

A big bowl of ice cream and some Stranger Things on Netflix was calling my name. Iris was at Brandon's, her on again off again non committed friend with benefits, meaning I would have the apartment to myself and there would be no arguing over who was watching what or taking the good spot on the couch. After a 12 hour shift, 6 of which I spent covering for another nurse who had called in sick, I was ready for a hot shower, something sugary and to fall asleep to the sounds of David Harbour aka Daddy Hopper being a loving, if not awkward father figure to Eleven. I reached the steps of my building when I felt a chill run down my spine, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, a eerie sensation of someone's eyes on me washing over me.

I turned quickly, looking around the surroundings of my building and the opposite street, clutching my keys with my pepper spray keychain and phone in my hands. The city of New York never slept and so there was always someone near, except tonight our block was oddly quiet and empty, a car hadn't even driven by. Living in New York, there was always a possibility of being assaulted or mugged…or for an alien invasion, that was just statistics, so I was always prepared with some pepper spray and a vague memory of some defensive moves I had learned at a women's self defense class that I had taken with Iris a few years ago. I swept the road and surroundings once more, seeing nothing particularly suspicious aside from the ominous emptiness of the block before rolling my eyes at my own paranoia. Stop watching so many horror movies, Jade. I turned back to the stairs to go into the building finding a man coming out, feeling a little hint of relief to finally see someone else. He paused, holding the door open for me and I smiled politely at him.

"Hey," he said making me halt just before stepping over the entrance, pulling out one of my ear buds to hear what he had to say. "You're Jade Johnson right? You live in apartment 3H?"

I hesitated. Do I know this guy? He was a handsome man, tall and broadly muscular, his hair brown and cut short to his head on the sides and left a little long on the top, eyes green. He smiled pleasantly, with familiarity, but I swear I had never seen this man before in my life. Oh god am I about to be served with a court summons? "Umm…yeah? Do I know you?"

He moved so quickly that I wasn't sure what happened next until my back was pressed into his hard chest, one strong arm around my waist, hugging me to him, the other used to place a large hand over my mouth that muffled my screams. My phone and keys dropped quickly from my hands, my body immediately beginning to thrash on instinct, kicking and squirming as I tried to scream uselessly against his palm. He was completely unphased by my struggles, lifting me by my waist as if I weighed nothing and walking quickly down the steps as a black van came screeching to a stop in front of the building, the sliding door thrown open to reveal an armed man waiting inside.

Panic seized me instantly and I struggled harder, and it was uselessly, as we neared the van, my heart pounding and my throat already hurting from the loud screams I was making that barely sounded like a whisper thanks to his hand. My kidnappers accomplice stepped out of the van, setting aside his gun, reaching out and taking hold of my kicking legs, holding them together before trying to help carry me into the van.

He never made it.

I barely saw the flash of metal through the air before my legs were dropped back to the ground and the man who had been holding them hit the cement. The man holding me tensed behind me, backing away quickly and pulling me with him, allowing me to see James Buchanan Barnes stepping into view, in one fluid motion he took the large assault rifle from the unconscious mans body and aimed it right at me and my captor, one blue eye looking down the mounted sight, a look of pure rage on his face that made me tense. My kidnapper kept me in front of him and his hand over my mouth, using me as a shield, leaving a lot of himself pretty exposed considering he was nearly double my size. He kept me in front of the important parts though, his chest and most of his head, his large body hunching over slight to put part of his head behind mine. I stood frozen in his arms, unsure of what to do, afraid to move.

"Актив," my captor growled from behind me, his hold on me tightened almost painfully.

"Отпусти ее," Bucky said through clenched teeth.

I blinked. He speaks Russian? Of course he speaks Russian.

"Пришло время вернуться домой," the man said again making me wish that I had taken a more useful language than French in high school. Should have taken Russian so that I would one day be able to translate what my would be kidnapper was saying to my one night stand.

Bucky didn't like whatever the man had said, his teeth gritted so hard that it made a sound, his face scrunching in anger and he took a single step forward, metal finger moving to the trigger. "Я сказал, отпусти ее."

"Either she comes or you come," the asshole taunted, jerking me against him to punctuate his remark.

I come? Come where? What the hell is happening? I whimpered loudly against the palm over my mouth and looked at Bucky, he lifted his eye from the sight, his expression softened just a bit. I wondered briefly if he was going to do it, offer himself for the girl he had, had a one night stand with to the man who clearly was a Russian villain and probably would have zero reservations about killing me.

"Jade," Bucky said making my eyes snap to his. I looked at him wide eyed and panicked. "Run."

In the blink of an eye he was lifting the gun sight back to his eye and I heard the gunshot. I felt something warm splatter on the side of my face and I was falling suddenly, landing on my back still atop the Russian villain who was cursing in pain beneath me. Run Jade. Run. I scrambled to my feet, doing as Bucky had said, running quickly in the opposite direction as fast and hard as I could, not bothering to look back, afraid of what I would see, especially as another gunshot rang out making me flinch. Before I knew it I was in a darkened alley, bright lights and bustling people enjoying the New York night life on the other side, and I was desperate to get out there to them, to get help, to have someone call the police.

A hard hand gripped my arm as I neared the edge of the alley, yanking me to a stop and I screamed loudly, feeling my back hit the brick wall. I was fighting again, kicking and swatting before I heard the familiar voice. "Easy! Easy! It's me," Bucky growled as I looked up to see him looming over me.

The fact that it was him did nothing to help me relax, I was pissed. I had just nearly been kidnapped by a Russian villain and then had a gun fired in my general direction by the man I barely knew standing before me. No, I was livid. I shoved him hard, he didn't budge and my wrists ached, Jesus Christ why its like trying to push a two ton boulder, but he looked down at me in surprise.

"What the hell, James?! What the hell have you gotten me into?!" I snapped ignoring the brief pain in my wrists. "Who was that?! What is going on?!"

He ignored my questions, taking my face into his hands, my breath hitching in my throat and turning my head to inspect the blood splatter on the side of my face. "Are you hurt? Did I hit you?"

Was I? Did he? I did a brief mental check for pain or for my body alerting me of injury or discomfort and found none. Aside from the adrenaline coursing through me so quickly that my heart was pounding and every single nerve inside of me feeling like it was in fight or flight mode and my panting that was dangerously close to turning into hyperventilation I was okay.

"No," I shook my head and swallowed hard. "No, I am fine."

Bucky nodded once, turning to look back in the direction that we had come from. "We have to move."

"What? Move whe-."

He took my hand tightly in his own, cutting me off and bolted out of the alley, dragging me along, my feet barely able to keep up with his fast pace and wondering just where the hell he was taking me and what he had gotten me into.

Translations according to google:

Актив- Asset

Отпусти ее- Let her go

Пришло время вернуться домой- It's time to come home.

Я сказал, отпусти ее- I said let her go.