Hello! Just a note and some background for where this is going. This follows the events of "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" as the GRC tries to clean up the mess they and John Walker left behind. \

There will be some ties to the show, the comics and "Agent Carter" (Man I miss that show...). Leave a review if you're into that sort of thing! I could use some feedback since "enemies to lovers" and slow burn is pretty new for me. Thanks! Enjoy :)

*UPDATE. This story has been edited to include Bucky's POV in a bunch of chapters. I realized that without his perspective, this story just wasn't working for me. Hope you enjoy!

~Alice

Jenny swiveled at her desk, turning circles in her chair. Her head was full achingly full as she stared down at the mountain of paperwork on her desk. In the last month, she'd taken on eleven new Global Repatriation Council cases, and hardly had a break. No matter how many cases she resolved, there seemed to be more folders added to her inbox every day. They needed more agents, but there never seemed to be enough funding.

She pulled her strawberry blonde hair back into a ponytail, blowing out a deep breath.

"Hey, you," said a voice behind her.

She spun to find her friend Nicole, stomach slightly swollen, three months along.

"Hey," she said back with a forced smile. She wished sometimes she could make her face do what her emotions should make it do. Nicole was more than a welcome break, pretty much her only friend at this point in Jenny's self-isolation. But this week it seemed harder to smile than normal. Harder to push up her gratitude to her stubborn face.

She took a deep breath and pushed the smile higher to her eyes. There, that felt right. "How's baby?" she asked as Nicole took in her pile of file folders with wide eyes.

"Baby's hungry. All the time." She tore her eyes away and held out her hand.

Jenny smiled and reached into her snack drawer and pulled out a packet of almond butter. She knew Nicole wanted to comment on the almost teetering pile of papers but she couldn't have done anything anyway. Instead, Nicole ripped it open and squeezed it into her mouth. "So, this weekend." She said with a sticky tongue. "Margaritas at El Toros? I'm buying."

"Um…" Jenny pointed at Nicole's stomach.

She patted the bump and shook her head. "Don't worry. I'm your designated driver. You get drunk, I'll live vicariously through you."

Jenny knew that would be her response, but she wanted to hear her say it anyway. "I'd like to, but look at this..." said Jenny gesturing to her desk. "And I've got an early case visit Monday…"

"Come on," Nicole whined. "I need to coax you out of your funk. You've been grouchy for a week."

Jenny bit her lip. She'd tried not to show it, practicing smiling and laughing so that no one would ask her what was wrong. Apparently it hadn't worked.

"Please?" asked Nicole sticking her bottom lip out. "I'm going to get you sauced, and then you can tell me what's been going on with you. I'm a good listener." She propped her elbows on the files and fluttered her long black eyelashes.

Jenny smiled, and it felt more natural, now that Nicole saw through her. "Sure, that sounds nice actually." She was still nervous but being seen felt… freeing. She couldn't tell her everything. People tended to run for the hills when she told them the truth. But she could give her a modified version. Which meant only one margarita.

"Good. I'll text you later. Oh! The real reason I came by, Stuart wants to talk to you."

Jenny wrinkled her nose in confusion. "Stuart? Why?" Why Jenny's boss sent a proxy and hadn't just called her desk phone made her nervous. More nervous around this anniversary than she cared to be.

Nicole pointed at the desk phone just out of Jenny's eyesight. Jenny shoved the files over, and saw her blinking voicemail, completely full.

"Oh," she said. Dread still spread over her. How could this work make her feel so good about life and simultaneously make her so tired and overwhelmed?

Nicole gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze and left her cubicle.

…

"Jennifer, come in," said Stuart. Jenny's boss's boss was a tall, by the book sort of man, bald on top with dark fringe around his head. The kind of guy who had pictures of his kids all over his office but never talked about them and didn't want to make small talk with anyone who brought them up. Jenny liked that. He wasn't braggy, but he was still proud and kept his private life private.

She closed the door and sat on the other side of his desk. "What's up boss?" she asked nervously, trying to make her voice as casual as possible, praying he hadn't found out her secret.

He leaned back and tossed a file at her. "I heard through the grapevine you have combat training," he said casually.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, and her breath came out her lungs a little too vigorously. She stared at him for a moment, grateful that it wasn't about her secret, but confused about his statement. After a few moments she recovered, realizing she hadn't answered him, and he was still waiting. "Oh, um. You heard wrong."

Stuart shifted and narrowed his gaze, indicating he didn't believe her.

She crossed her leg and tightened up, not sure where this was going, but feeling like she should be honest. And maybe think about pinching Nicole later for revealing this little tidbit since she was the only one she'd told about this. "I have training in several different martial arts, but I've never fought in a war, shot a weapon or stormed a fortress."

He smirked. "Ah, that makes more sense."

Jenny pursed her lips, wondering why on earth this would be of use to him in the slightest.

Stuart took a file out of his drawer and threw it in front of him on the desk. "I have an assignment for you," he said.

She stared at the folder in front of her, not moving to grab it. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away. The mountain of already bursting files on her desk loomed at the prospect of another case. And a particularly violent case? She'd been able to handle herself in some crazy situations in the past, but she wasn't sure if she was up to actually defending herself while trying to help someone.

"You know the Flag Smasher debacle basically crippled us for a while," he said folding his hands over his stomach, just letting the file lay threateningly between them. "I don't know if you heard, but the displacement vote got postponed again. We've had our share of recent… press. More negative than ever," he said, rocking back in his chair.

"I just heard this morning."

"I think it's a good thing honestly. The higher up don't know what the hell they're doing, and it makes our job harder when they think they do. But while they get their shit together, we have some time to smooth things over. What I'm about to offer you won't be easy. This is a peacekeeping op. A sort of… liaison to the people job. Three months in the field."

Jenny felt her heart speed up a bit. It sounded an awful lot like her grandfather's plans for her. Before he was murdered.

"I recommended you," said Stuart. "You're personable, you can mediate between people like no one can. You can get people to do things they would never do."

"So I'm a master manipulator?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light, but definitely confused by what he meant.

"You know people well," he continued, ignoring her poor joke. "You anticipate what they're going to say and meet them where they're at. It's a gift. We need someone like that while we clean up this mess the senators left us internally."

"What about my cases?" There was no way that she could leave them now, not when they were so short staffed.

"HR gave the go ahead to hire three more people, so you're obsolete at this point."

It took her a moment to realize he was throwing a joke back at her and relaxed. But she also, realized that it must have been Nicole. She'd been the HR person to ok the extra hires.

Coming to her desk every day, even when Jenny was out on a case, leaving her encouraging post its for her to find when she came back. She knew how much Jenny needed a break, and how overwhelmed she was. All thoughts of pinching her friend dissipated. Knowing it was Nicole made her want to say yes. To not let down both Nicole and Stuart's faith in her.

But there was a part of her that still wanted to say no. She'd been trained in diplomacy her whole life, and she could do this assignment in her sleep. That didn't mean that just because she was good at it that she'd ever enjoyed it. People staring at her, talking in front of crowds. It wasn't nervousness, or fear of public speaking. It was hiding behind the façade of something she didn't want to be. She wasn't the put-together perfect trust fund nepo-baby princess that her family and friends wanted her to be, and she could never live up to their expectations. Especially her grandfathers.

"If you take it, it could open huge doors for you," said Stuart.

"The media training… I-"

"They're waiting for you downstairs," he said, pushing the folder closer to her.

She took a deep breath when she realized she wasn't breathing, the decision tumbling around in her brain.

He leaned forward when she didn't answer, his eyes boring into her. "I recommended you because you believe in what's right and doing the right thing. You don't bullshit people when you talk to them. If something's wrong, you say it in a really gracious way. And that's why I turned down all the other applications and went straight to you."

She didn't know if that was strictly true since she kept her secret so close to her chest. But he was right in that she never liked to see people hurt by an unkind word.

"You want this, I promise," said Stuart, still pushing the folder closer. "It's right up your alley."

Jenny drew in a deep breath. Lord this was getting more tempting by the second. It might be different to do this under her assumed name. No one knowing who she really was. Her grandfather's death and the years between bought her some anonymity, and it might be healing to do press without his agenda. "Alright," she said quietly.

He leaned back finally and smiled. Not triumphantly, but enough that she could tell he really wanted this for her, but would never say it out loud. It warmed her heart to know that he was pulling for her in this way, especially after so many years of men commanding her to do things. "Don't tell me you're not leaping out of your chair for this," he said instead.

She grinned then. "I am. Thanks Stuart."

"Great. Sign this, and this, and I'll send you down to media for some training. We want to get the ball rolling ASAP."

She read over them making sure to note any clauses she didn't like or wanted to negotiate, but to her surprise, they were clean documents. Written up with a lot of her comfort and ease in mind. Nicole had her hands on these too, she was sure. Damn, she almost had no choice now. Jenny pulled out a pen and signed quickly before she could change her mind.

Three more signatures. Jennifer Wallace. She still had to be careful after three years not to sign her real name. She clicked the pen and set it on the papers with finality and pushed the NDA, waivers, and contracts back to him.

"Oh! One more thing before you go, I almost forgot," he said taking the documents and shuffling them together on his desk. "I'm sending you out with protection. A partner."

She breathed a sigh of relief. If he was sending her out into the heart of the turmoil, she wanted some sort of security. Krav Maga and Ju Jitsu were fine for one on one combat, but not for a crowd.

Stuart leaned over his phone and pressed the intercom to his assistant. "Kelsey would you send in our guest?" Stuart started to gather the forms together. "Poor guy, waiting out there for so long. He was a controversial choice, but he seems to be on our side. Appealed to his sense of latent altruism. If the rumors are true, then his brain is fixed."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

The door opened and her protection walked in. His presence took up the whole room. The black leather jacket he wore, the smell immediately sharp, sweet and overwhelming. Jenny's heart dropped painfully into her stomach as she forgot how to breathe. His hair was shorter and he had a beard now, but she'd never forget those eyes.

She lurched from her chair. In front of her, staring straight into her, was the figure of her childhood nightmares. James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, The Winter Soldier.