"I'm sorry, you expect me to do WHAT?"

Just as I expected Jade was pissed when Steve and I told her what the plan was, the plan that would keep her safe and alive. Neither of those points, although explained thoroughly by both Steve and myself, seemed to matter to her. She stood in the center of the room while Steve and I sat at the table, fresh out of the shower, her curls hidden in the towel twisted around her head and dressed in the clothes that Steve had brought her, a pair of dark grey sweats and a plain black v neck. Steve and I had asked her to talk the moment she had stepped out of the bathroom, her face still red and her demeanor timid, no doubt still embarrassed from Steve walking in on us kissing. Well, almost kissing. All of the adorable embarrassment and timidness left the moment she heard that we expected her to stay holed up in this motel with me until tomorrow morning, which was the soonest Steve could arrange transport, where she would then have to stay at the compound until we handled the Russian situation. The part where she couldn't contact anyone to let them know she was alright was what really set her off.

"Jade, this is for your safety," Steve reminded her.

"I don't care. I have a job. I have friends. I have family. I call my mother every Wednesday for our weekly chat, if I don't do that she'll know something is up and-," she broke off her eyes going wide. "Oh my god Iris is going to come home today and realize that I am gone. She was at Brandons last night. She will report me missing in a heart beat, especially if I don't answer my phone- oh my god I dropped my phone when that Hans Gruber wanna be tried to kidnap me! Iris is gonna lose it. She will call the damn FBI if she has too! My parents are going to freak out!"

She was pacing now, holding the sides of her head, looking to be in full panic mode. I looked to Steve, eyebrows raised in a 'told you so' fashion. He rolled his eyes at me and rose from the table, walking to her and taking her by the biceps, stopping her pacing and forcing eye contact. I ignored the tinge of jealousy I felt at Steve touching her. She is not your property, Barnes. Hell, she's not even your girlfriend.

"Jade, listen to me," he said, his voice soft, reassuring, just what she needed. "I promise you that everything will work out in the end, I'm giving you my word. But in the mean time, to keep you safe, to keep you alive, you have to stay hidden, you cant talk to anyone because that will put them in danger also. Do you understand?"

Jade nodded wordlessly.

"The safest place and person for you to be with, is Bucky," he said looking at me. Her bright brown eyes followed. I smiled weakly at her, trying, and most likely failing, to be as reassuring as Steve was. "He will keep you safe. He will protect you. And while he's making sure you're okay, I will be handling the Russians," he looked back down at her and she turned to look up at him. "And the moment, I mean the literal second that this is all done with, I will let you call your mom, dad, coworkers, friends, or whoever. Okay?"

She was nodding again, but this time her brow was furrowed. "But…my job…I'll be fired and I am up for a promotion. I have worked so hard for-."

"That in comparison to your life is nothing," Steve pointed out. "This is a matter of life or death, Jade."

She looked torn, but again she was nodding, taking a deep shuddering breath and looking up at Steve. "Okay, I trust you Captain-I mean Steve."

Damn he's good, I thought watching him smile down at her before releasing her arms after a gentle squeeze. "I am going to go. I don't want to stay here too long in case I am being followed, but I will check in tonight, Buck. And I will be back at 7:00am to transport you both to the compound. Okay?"

He looked to me and I nodded. Jade moved away from him and sat on the bed, looking off slightly dazed. I rose from my feet when Steve slipped out the door, hearing the lock engage, but still putting in the chain on the door anyway. I turned back to find Jade had scooted up on the bed and was hugging her knees, her eyes watery. I went to her side, sitting on the bed carefully, my hand came up, wanting to touch her, to comfort her, but also wanting to respect her space it dropped back down to my lap.

"I think…It all just got real," she sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her arm. "I just…I'm sorry…I don't mean to be an emotional mess."

I sighed and dared to scoot closer to her, wrapping my flesh arm around her shoulders and pulling her in towards me. She allowed me too, dropping her knees and leaning into me. She smelt like fresh soap and wild flowers. "No, doll, don't' be. You have every right to be an emotional mess. Just like you have every right to be mad at me."

She tensed at those words, looking up at me. "James, I'm not mad at you. Irritated, yes, but it's not your fault. It's the damn Hyrdo people's fault. You were just trying to live your life, which after everything you've been through, you deserve."

I chuckled softly at her mispronunciation. "It's Hydr-ah, doll."

"Oh," she frowned. "Can I just call them assholes?"

I laughed again. "Sure, Jade, whatever you want."

"So we're stuck here all night?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Till we're moved. I promise you'll be a lot more comfortable at the compound. It's like a luxury hotel thanks to Stark. You can even have my room."

"Thanks, but I wont kick you out of your own room. I can sleep on the couch in the common room."

I scoffed. "If my ma' knew that I let a girl sleep on the couch instead of my bed like a proper gentleman then she'd smack me upside the head. I refuse to let you sleep on the couch. I'll sleep on the couch."

She smirked, finally giving in. "Fine. I will sleep in your bed…so what do we do now?"

I shrugged, looking around the room. There wasn't much too do in a motel room for a whole day. Nothing appropriate anyway. I found myself thinking back to half an hour ago, after I had told her my story, something that I have never really done and seeing the sincerity and genuine sympathy she had for me. I was surprised at how vulnerable I had let myself be to her and even after that she had still touched me, my metal arm at that. I had started leaning in before I even realized what I was doing, thinking about how soft her lips would feel against mine, the moment just feeling right. And she had leaned in too, only confirming what I knew already. She liked me. And then Steve had come in and ruined the whole damn thing. He had apologized profusely while she was in the shower, but with a big goofy proud grin on his face before mentioning offhandedly that he had neglected to bring condoms. I had thrown a pillow at him.

"We can….watch television?" I offered.

I had forgotten how much I hated day time television. It was all trashy talk shows and judge shows and commercials for trade schools, but none the less I found myself leaning lazily on some pillows against the headboard, while Bucky sat at the kitchenette table cleaning his weapons. He had lost interest in the television quickly and retrieved the weapons from places that he had hidden them and begun cleaning them silently with equipment from found in his go bag. I was surprised at how quickly and efficiently he had done the first, almost autonomous in his movements, his eyes dark and glazed over as he worked. I thought about asking him to teach me how to use one of them, in case the Russians showed up, but thought better of it. I had put my faith in Steve Rogers to end this and I didn't want to touch a gun ever. I knew I didn't have it in me to really hurt, let alone kill anyone.

There was a loud metallic sound as he finished putting the handgun he had been cleaning together and I looked up to see him watching me with those captivatingly blue eyes. He rose from the chair and walked over to the bed, taking the remote from where it rested near me and muting the Jerry Springer episode I was watching. I didn't say anything, but looked up at him with a curious frown.

"Get up," he said with a waving motion. "I want to show you something."

"Should I be scared?" I asked playfully.

He smirked. "No. Come on."

He moved to stand in the empty space in between the bed and dresser, waiting for me to follow. I came to a stop about an arms length away, only for him to take me by the hips and draw me in closer. I felt my heart start to race, swallowing so loud that I was sure he heard it, and looking up at him breathlessly.

"J-James," I stuttered.

"Relax, doll, I ain't gonna hurt you," he said softly, his hands remained on my hips and he used them to turn me around so that my back was to him.

My heart skipped a beat as his metal arm came around my chest, caging me in, pressing me back into his muscular chest, his flesh hand coming to cover my mouth. I tensed, but remained unmoving, wondering just what the hell he was doing. I trusted him enough to not bother to fight back, hoping that he wasn't having some kind of relapse back into the Winter Soldier. And then there was the fact of how good he felt pressed against me…

"This is how that bastard was holding you last night, right?" He asked, his voice soft and right by my ear. I shivered at his warm breath being so close to my ear, I couldn't help it. If he noticed, he didn't comment.

I nodded in answer to his question.

"Okay, so I am going to show you how to get out of this," he continued. "First I want you to step on my right foot as hard as you can. I mean really stomp on it. When my grip loosens I want you to elbow me as hard as you can in my left side, it will make me double over further loosening my grip enough that you should be able to grab my forearm, pull me forward and use the momentum and my own weight to throw me over your shoulder. Got it? "

I hesitated, huffing against his palm. He cant be serious.

"Don't you worry about me, doll. I can take it," he said in response to my hesitation. "On the count of three, okay? One…two…three."

It wasn't about him being able to take it so much as my ability to complete the ludicrous task. I knew he could take it. I had watched the man recover from a gunshot wound in a matter of hours. But still I took a deep breath in through my nose and did as I was told, stomping on his right foot as hard as I could, hearing his pained grunt and feeling his hold loosen just a bit. Surprised by my own success I followed through with step 2, bending my elbow and striking him in the side as hard as I could; he doubled over just as he said he would, and I gripped his arm, fingers wrapping around his forearm and yanking as I bent forward, feeling him flip over my shoulder and land on the ground with a heavy thud.

"Oh my god I did it!" I exclaimed excitedly.

Bucky groaned softly on the floor, holding his side where he had been been shot. "You sure did, doll."

"Crap, what the hell am I doing? You're recovering from a gunshot wound. We shouldn't be doing this, James," I said rushing to his side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, trust me," He insisted sitting up. "It's just a little sore."

"No, at least let me check the stitches," I said reached for his shirt.

He sighed, but leaned back on his forearms, allowing me to lift his shirt to see the wound. The wound was already mostly healed, the stitches already beginning to dissolve. What the…I shook my head. "Well you look fine, the stitches are already dissolving. Whatever they gave you that made you a super soldier is some seriously miraculous stuff."

Bucky scoffed. "Yeah, let's go again." He rolled easily to his feet, coming to stand behind me again. "From the top," he wrapped an arm around my chest, pulling me backward, the other hand coming to cover my mouth. His grip tightened, holding me more securely than he had the first time and I tensed, an unexpected wave of heat washed over me at the feel of him pressed against me again. I swallowed hard. "I was going easy on you before. Now I am going to hold you tighter. So it's going to be a little harder this time. On three. One…two…-."

Before he could say three I completed each step, surprised at the amount of strength I had and the powerful sounding grunt that came from my mouth as I flipped him over my shoulder. He hit the floor on his back, groaning again, looking up at me over from the floor in surprise.

"That was good. Again," he said proudly.

He made me do it two more times, the last time I did it before he could even count, surprising him again, leaving him staring up at me with raised eyebrows from the floor. I smiled triumphantly, crossing my arms.

"See, I am not so helpless," I said suddenly sure of myself, when in reality compared to him I was about as scary as a bunny. "I can be Bruce Willis."

Bucky chuckled, getting to his feet again and standing in front of me, holding his palms out to me. "Okay then, Bruce Willis. Punch my hand."

I did. And even I knew it was pitiful before he laughed at me. I scowled. "Really?"

"I'm sorry, doll, but that was just sad. Come on put your back into it," he urged, changing his stance and bracing his arm.

"Well we aren't all highly trained super soldiers, James."

"Come on. Again," he said.

I set my feet and focused on my target, the palm of his flesh hand. I brought my fist back and pushed forward hitting his palm. It was a little better this time, in my own opinion, but still didn't feel right. Bucky looked mildly impressed.

"That was a little better. You set your feet appropriately, but you aren't following through with the punch. Your body is the driving force, where all your power is, use that to push through," he moved again, coming to stand behind me, pressing his chest into my back. I felt my breath hitch in my throat. The coldness of his metal hand slid down my arm, metal digits wrapping around my wrist, before guiding my arm back with his and demonstrating the motions. "Like this, see? You push all the way through, turn your fist as you do."

I nodded, even though in actuality I hadnt heard a thing he said. I was too preoccupied with how much I was enjoying the coldness of his metal touch. The heat that was rushing through me from his proximity was also very distracting. My body went taut in response to the feelings of arousal sweeping through me. Calm down Jade before you start humping the mans leg. I struggled to focus on his instruction, hoping that he didn't notice the reaction he was causing within me.

He noticed.

I felt him tense behind me. "Am I making you uncomfortable?" His voice was hesitant.

Not exactly… "Umm…uncomfortable isn't exactly the word I would use." Horny. That's the word I would use to describe it.

He stepped away from me, coming to stand in front of me so I could see him, he looked confused. "What word would you use?"

I blushed. "Can we just…take a break from this?"

He frowned, but nodded. "Sure, doll. Let's take a breather."

I felt a little relief inwardly, moving away from him to sit back down on the bed and unmute the television. The space was much needed as I felt the heat die down and that pull I felt from him disappear. Yeah, we had almost kissed only hours ago, and I am certain that things would have quickly progressed had Captain "Terrible Timing" America not walked in on us, but I still wasn't sure the timing was right. Wouldn't sex just complicate things even more? What if my attraction was stemming from all the adrenaline and the fear and being stuck in a motel room with him? What if it was like Stockholm syndrome? He wasn't necessarily my captor, but it wasn't like I could leave. We had said before that we would just be friends, shouldn't we stick to that; a least until the crazy mess was over?

Who are you kidding? You were attracted to him before this mess started. You slept with him before all of this. Quit lying to yourself. I rolled my eyes at my own conscience, who sounded an awful lot like Iris, and settled onto the bed, trying to watch Judge Judy and ignore the presence of the gorgeous man in my company.