Dear Inkdrops,

once again, I am so glad you are still on this crazy ride with me!
I'll be honest, this chapter is mostly slightly spicy stuff.
This whole story turned out a lot more romancy than expected, but bare with me, action is coming back again soon. (Meaning next chapter ;))

Disclaimer: I only own my OCs.

Chapter 30: Interlude

She could see his astonishment and happiness about potential news about Bucky, it didn't surprise her. That's why she had wanted the file in the first place, after all. Coulson had known that, too, and she wasn't sure how much he had approved of their relationship. Romantic involvements between agents or associates always made things messier and more complicated, as she had found out herself. Due to his fascination with the Captain, Coulson might have understood her, though. Anyway, this was over, long over, she reminded herself once again. And it was better this way.

"I am not sure how much time we have, but I can give you peace and quiet," Steve interrupted her thoughts with a slight smile, "tell - uhm, make sure I understand - if you need soemthing."

Xandra nodded, watching out of the corner of his eye as he walked over to the bookshelf, picking out a random novel. Their fingerprints would be all over this hut anyway, she supposed, but Steve had been here before. She should wear gloves or something, but it was unlikely someone would come to the cabin just to check for traces. If they came, they already knew she was here, so it wouldn't and didn't matter what she touched. Therefore, she might as well use the extra comforts Banner had provided. Such as books. And coffee.

"This is mine anyway," Steve explained, holding up the cheap paperback, even though she didn't want to know, "I left it here last time I stayed. I kind of had the thought it might come in handy. It's by Orwell. A good book. But you probably knew this."

The woman rolled her eyes, the choice of novel was a little too ironic for her taste at this moment. Then she went back to noting down everything she could remember from Bucky's file - alias, coordinates, potential contacts and weapons, everything SHIELD had collected about him. It was surprisingly and disappointingly little, but at least something Steve could maybe work with in the future. Hopefully after he had helped her, abandoning her in the middle of the woods would be a really despicable twist. After an hour or so, she was finally done. There was no way she could replicate the photos they had added, Steve probably could have done some sketches, but describing it to him would be very very difficult. So, he would have to do without. When she got up and walked over to the man who was now lying on a couch that was very much too small and looked suspiciously like IKEA he looked up, shuffling into a sitting position less gracefully than she had expected.

"Thank you!" he gave her an open and sincere smile before getting up to put the sheets of paper in his duffle bag.

When he passed her Xandra had the feeling he wanted to hug her, but thought better of it. Smart man.

"If you want to, we could play cards," he offered from the other side of the room.

With no wish to read and nothing better to do, she nodded, sitting down on the floor across from Steve's sofa. The man sat back down, toot, starting to shuffle the cards.

"Bridge? Poker? Patience?" he asked a bit distractedly.

Without further thought, she held up three fingers, trying to make him understand she was in fact choosing patience. He nodded, dealing out the cards. When Xandra was looking up again, she could see he had turned slightly red, with a delicate blush around the tips of his ears. It took her a moment to make the connection, but when she did, she could feel herself heat up again, too, despite her self-control. After all, her mind was currently replaying scenes from their last game of cards which had certainly escalated. It had probably been her fault, after she had become drunk during a mission and had talked Steve into playing strip poker with her. Though she could not remember him resisting much. Xandra quickly averted her eyes, but couldn't help the corner of her lips moving up slightly. It had been quite enjoyable, super soldier and all that.

There was very little suspense about how this game would end: Steve was a good player, but she was phenomenal, had been even before the change. The only thing that couldchange the outcome was a really really really bad hand, which happened maybe once every ten games. This one wasn't one of them, so she won by a considerable margin. They went at it again and again, Steve even managed to win a couple of rounds, regularly disrupting her streak. It must have been a couple of hours until Steve finally acknowledged defeat raising his hand in mock surrender.

"I bow to your superior knowledge. Please, let's stop before I lose what is left of my pride."

She smiled slightly to herself as she put back together the deck. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed him rummaging in the kitchen, and after a couple of minutes, she saw him coming back towards her with two steaming mugs in his hands. Of course she could already smell what it was, but still gave him a curious look.

"Paying my tribute to the winner," he said with a almost tender smile, handing her the hot chocolate.

Xandra motioned towards his own cup with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, that is against the sadness of losing," he gave back without a shroud of shame.

It made her smile into the hot chocolate, silent laughing felt far too uncomfortable still. They were sipping the beverage in silence across from each other, almost but not really ignoring each other. After a while, he got up to bring back her mug, probably mostly to have anything to do. As he stopped in front of her, he held out his hand for her to pass him her mug as well. When she looked up, a couple of strands of hair falling into his eyes that looked far bluer than they had any right to be, making him seem almost boyish. The longing that had been at the back of her mind - or was it her heart- ever since she had met him again violently pressed to the front of her mind, grappling with both her normal rationality and the otherworldly detachedness she still couldn't quite make sense of. The conflict must have shown on her face, since the man took the mug out of her hand, putting it down on a small sidetable with his own before crouching down in front of her, taking her hands.

"It will be okay. Whatever it is. I don't know what you are feeling right now, and I know you are still keeping a shit load of stuff from me, but I promise you, you never have to be scared with me, alright?"

She nodded, that at least she could believe. He caught her chin between his fingers, making her look at him. The desire for her was obvious in his face, but mixed with so much repressed pain that her heart ached. So apparently her feelings had finally decided to make an appearance, just when it was smartest to stay detached. For a moment, she played with the idea of trying to willingly call for that calmness, but then decided against it. There was no saying what it would do and whether it would work at all without damage - also, the moment was just too bittersweet to waste. Who knew how many more she would have, given the odds?

Xandra pulled one hand out of his grip, lifting it up to push the hair away from his forehead, lingering longer on his cheek than it necessarily needed to. Steve semed to be held together and falling apart in her hands at the same time and curiously, her heart felt exactly the same way. Her partner mimicked her tenderness, stroking through her hair.

"Alice, what are we doing here?" Steve asked quietly, almost as if talking to himself, doubts on his face.
Do you really want me? Or is this just about feeling anything? was what he was silently asking.

"Do you really want this?"
He sounded vulnerable.

Xandra nodded, giving him a half-smile. The moment their lips finally met she knew where or rather how this was going to end. And she did not care. Also, since this whole experience together would probably result in an atrocious catastrophe, she better enjoy every little bit until then. And since she was not that petty, especially as he was doing that thing with his right hand in her hair at the moment, she would even let him know that...
Both of her hands came to rest at his face, cradling his cheeks, while she tenderly kissed his lips over and over again. Their lips met softly, like a butterfly only touching upon a flower. After a while, he pulled away, a bit dazed.

"Let a man breathe Alice, you are killing me!"

She just smirked, ressuming her kisses on his nose and cheek, but her tenderness was visibly throwing him off. In response, he went on kissing her, letting his hands run all over her body while their lips met and detached over and over again, slowly fuelling the growing need in between the two of them. In a way, it felt like two teenagers making out in a parking lot. Familiar and a little bit awkward after all that had happened between them, shy and insecure of boundaries. He kissed her neck, but was careful not to leave marks, and she pushed herself closer in return. Suddenly, he sat down next to her, pulling her up to stradle his lap. They were so close that Xandra had to tlean slightly back to look at him when they pulled apart again to breathe. Steve looked thoroughly dissheveled and she was afraid she did not look any better. If any enemy would come around now, this would be throughly embarassing, she mused vaguely.

When he kissed her again and again with so much devotion that her head started to swim, her hands came to rest at his biceps, but she did not claw at him, instead only slightly holding on as she surrendered to his ministrations. In retrospect, neither could really say how it happened, but suddenly their tongues touched, igniting a fully different spark. Xandra's breath hitched, even though it was silent Steve could feel the wave running all through her body and it ripped at his self-control. Suddenly, she was on her back on a couch that was absolutely too small for this endavour, effectively caged in. With both hands in her long tresses, he tilted her head slightly to the side, again finding her mouth with his. He did not make any move towards taking things any step further while she had one hand in his hair and the other in the back of his shirt, holding him close to her. This pretense of innocense made the whole experience feel even more intimate. Still, there was a new desperation growing now that made him grip her hair harder, nibbling on her lip from time to time. Suddenly, one of his hands came to rest on her hip pulling up her leg against his. She might have bruises from his tight grip there later (or probably not, judging by her new metabolism) but whatever, the feeling was explosive. Xandra's eyes flew open as their bodys made full contact, and she could see by Steve's scrunched brows how he was valiantly trying to remain in control. Then he pulled away and dropped his hand, breathing heavily as he looked down on her. Then his mind seemed to shift and he quickly leaned back, almost shuffling totally off the couch.

"I am so sorry Alice, I don't know why I did that, I shouldn't have."
He sounded shaken, but more with shock than with desire.

Xandra, having thoroughly enjoyed herself despite her inner emotional turmoil, looked at him in pure confusion. After all, they had both very much consented to this - at least she had thought so. Then it dawned on her that he was freaking out because he had quite literally pushed her around as he wished. She had not minded that either, it had felt nice - more than nice - but he was kidding himself if he thought she could not have stopped their making out at any point if she had wanted. So instead of letting him move back further, she grabbed his arm, flipping them around so they were rolling off the sofa and in between it and the coffee table. It worked surprisingly well, probably also because he was unprepared, still Xandra winced as she hit her knees on the hardwood floor. She raised an eyebrow at the man under her, challenging him to object further. Apparently, he did not feel like it anymore, since he kissed her with as much enthusiasm as before, holding on to her as if his life depended on it. His hands roamed over her shoulders, down her back and then deeper, making her pull back and cock an eyebrow at him at this indecency. Of course she knew how much he appreciated some of her assets, that did not mean she could not tease him for it. However, he would have none of it now, simply pushing her closer towards him, kissing her again and again until she felt dizzy and unable to think straight. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted up and quickly wrapped her legs around his hips, locking her ankles behind his back. From this position she could rake her hands through his hair even better, smiling as he definitely leaned into her touch. Their movements slowed down again, turning deeper and softer, as he held in the middle of the room as if she weighed nothing. As Xandra looked down, she saw he had closed his eyes, the expression on his face almost dreamy. When he finally opened them again, looking straight at her, they held a question. So she whispered "please" hoping he would read her lips and gauge the meaning, and apparently he did, smiling as he carried her from the small living room into the bedroom area.

Are they both ridiculously stupid? Yes. This this going to have consequences? Maybe?!