With Jak's magic, it didn't take long for her and Bucky to forge documents, change their faces, and get out of the country. She felt slightly guilty when they also manipulated their way into renting an apartment in Bucharest with money Bucky stole, but not guilty enough to change her mind.

"It's nice," she said, looking around the small space, "Real wood floors. You don't get that in American apartments anymore."

"We can hide a go-bag under the floorboards," Bucky agreed.

"What a comfy chair!" Jak sat down in the armchair that had come with the place, "And the wallpaper is… dingy, but it could have been cute twenty years ago."

"Good escape routes," Bucky pointed at the exterior doors and windows.

"We'll need to get something to sleep on," Jak bit her lip as she looked around the tiny studio space. It would be ridiculous to get more than one bed even if they were twin size. It would take up space they didn't have to spare.

Bucky finally stopped analyzing the tactical benefits and looked at her. She felt her stomach roll as she realized what conversation they were about to have.

"What… what are we, Jak?"

"A couple of fugitives in a shitty apartment that I'm pretending is cute."

"It's not that bad," he smirked, "We'll put up some curtains, I can fix those broken tiles over the sink. Maybe a rug."

"To the eyes of our neighbors, we're married," she decided, "Mr. and Mrs. uh…"

"Popa," Bucky replied.

"Doesn't that mean 'priest'?"

"It's the most common Romanian surname. Like Smith."

"Are we Romanian then?"

"Do you speak Romanian?"

"A little. I'm rusty."

"Alright, so we were both born in Romania, we were friends, but our parents moved to the states when we were kids and we thought we'd never see each other again. I applied for a job and it turned out your dad was my boss. We met up again, got married, and decided to return to the old country."

"How long have we been married?" She asked.

"A year," Bucky decided, "Short enough that it's okay if we don't know everything about each other, but long enough that the neighbors won't be surprised if we argue."

"Are we going to argue?"

"I have a tendency to leave the toilet seat up, so probably."

Jak laughed at that. Bucky sat down on the floor across from her chair and looked up at her with a smile.

"No, I'm serious," he went on, "I'll probably forget to take the garbage out. I can't cook to save my life unless it comes out of a box. And worst of all, I can't stand my in-laws!"

"Oh that's alright," she ticked off her own poor qualities on her fingers, "I'm bossy, I'm a neat freak, and I'm manipulative."

"We're a recipe for disaster," Bucky shook his head, "I would give us six months before divorce… if I weren't so head over heels."

Jak felt her breath catch in her chest.

"Are you?" She'd meant the question to come out light and teasing, but her voice cracked. He was quiet for a long, terrible moment, just staring at her face as it grew redder and redder.

"What are we, Jak?" He asked again, softly this time.

"We… we're figuring that out, I think," she pulled her knees to her chest, "It might take some time… is that okay?"

"I've waited seventy years to see you again, what's a little more time?"

"Bucky…" she squeezed her eyes closed, not wanting to ruin the moment, but needing to know before she said anything else to him. "Do you know… I can't remember exactly, but I feel like there was someone. Was I with someone at the Compound?"

"I don't know the details…" he said slowly, his reluctance clear on his face, "I'm just the guy who kidnapped you, remember?"

"I remember you climbing up on a ladder with me," she said, "And trying to punch your way through a window. I remember… seeing you staring at me through a different window in the night. And I remember a bar… but I don't really remember the bar or how I got there or who I was with or what we were doing, but I remember you tried to sedate me and then… there was a coffee shop?"

"Yeah," Bucky cleared his throat, "I think you were on a date when you were at the bar."

"With… Steve?" She asked, trying to think of who she could have possibly been on a date with. "Or… Sam Wilson? Rhodey? Thor?"

"Uh," Bucky cleared his throat and looked away, "With Loki, actually. You were both dressed up and he was holding your hand at one point."

"Loki?" She snorted in disbelief and then saw his expression, "You're serious?"

"He also stabbed me when I tried to kidnap you before that," he pulled aside his shirt collar to show her a scabbed over gash on his shoulder. "Uriah hated him. He wanted to kill him, but said he couldn't because of someone named Odin."

"Loki's father. No," Jak furrowed her brow, "Thor's father, Loki's adopted father? I don't think they get along."

She couldn't remember the details, but she could hear an echo of a conversation if she strained her mind hard enough. A splitting pain pressed between her eyes before she could think of more.

"If I'm getting everything off my chest," Bucky sighed and ran his flesh and bone hand through his hair, "I should tell you all the details. When your father and I came to pick you up from the Compound, when we were pretending to be feds, I saw the goodbye you gave Loki."

"And… it wasn't a professional handshake or disdainful sneer?" Jak guessed, having a hard time imagining her interacting with the self-proclaimed god in any other way. She'd seen him at the gala and she'd disliked him immediately. She couldn't remember knowing him before her father took him out of her memory, but she doubted that she'd liked him enough to go on a date with him.

"Back in the forties, they would have called your goodbye to him 'indecent'," Bucky laughed, but it was a tense sound, "It seemed like you were going to miss him a lot. I've seen guys sent off to war who didn't even kiss their wives like that before they left."

"Oh."

"And I understand if that changes your mind about things," he said hastily, "I'll take you back to him if you want me to. I won't make you stay with me."

"Bucky," she said.

"I know it's been so long since we knew each other in that Hydra base, and I don't hold any expectations for anything to go back to the way it was."

"Bucky."

"I'm grateful for you putting my head back. And I do still have, have, have feelings for you, Jak, but if you don't feel the same, it's okay," he waved his hands around and didn't look her in the eye.

"Bucky, I-"

"If you want to forget me, I'll understand. Hell, if you want to send Loki after me and let him finish cutting me up, well I can't promise I won't fight back, but I'll understand why you did that too. I want you to be happy and if that mean forgetting about me-"

"Bucky!" She slid off her chair onto the floor with him and took both of his hands in hers.

"Yeah?"

"You could tell me I'm the mother of his kids and I still wouldn't remember him," she laughed, "It frustrates me to no end that I can't, but the fact of the matter is that I don't know Loki. I don't know if I'll ever get my memory of him back. I'm not going to abandon you for someone I don't feel as if I've ever met."

"Oh."

"I'm not though, right?"

"Not what?"

"The mother of his kids."

"Hell no," Bucky laughed.

"I just had to be sure," she laughed with him, but didn't let go of his hands. On a whim, she leaned closer to him. "I like how your eyes sparkle when you laugh, James Barnes."

He grinned widely at her. "You've told me that before, haven't you?"

"The second time we met," she remembered.

She'd been tasked with bringing him food. There was no one else around and she had asked him for his name, curious about the handsome soldier that Hydra was keeping locked away.

"Why should I tell you?" He scowled.

"You don't have to," she shrugged, "I'm Ruth. I'm bringing you your food. There's an expression about hands that feed and not biting them, isn't there?"

"You're Hydra."

"I'm not," she huffed, "My father worked with them. My mother… is working with them for now. But we won't stay here. I don't… I am not Hydra."

"Then what are you, Ruth?" He adjusted his position, sitting on the floor. He rested his one arm over his knees and stared at her, blue eyes cutting into her as she stared back.

"I am your waitress, I suppose. I'm no one important," she took a deep breath as she watched him. She hadn't seen such a handsome man in a long time. Not even Captain America had been so beautiful. "I was here yesterday, don't you remember?"

"I remember. You had pink hair yesterday. How'd you get it that color? Why's it blonde now?"

"Why should I tell you?" She crossed her arms and raised a brow, hoping it sounded as flirtatious as she'd meant it.

He laughed and the blue of his eyes seemed to glow brighter. "I'm Sergeant James Barnes. Hundred and seventh infantry."

Leaning forward, he offered his hand through the bars. She shook it, even though she'd been given specific instructions not to go near him after she delivered his food.

"I like how your eyes sparkle when you laugh, James Barnes."

Jak ran her thumb over his knuckles, both the flesh and the metal ones and she savored the memory. She'd liked him from the moment she met him and once he realized she wanted to be in that Hydra fort about as much as he did - not at all - he warmed up to her too. And then it had all come crashing down because of Arnim Zola's science and Jak's mother's magic.

"You know, I cried when they took you away," she said, twining their fingers together, "My mother slapped me and told me to go to my room and forget about you."

"I thought they were going to kill me," Bucky said, "I wish they had. It would have saved everyone a lot of trouble."

"I'm glad they didn't," Jak inched closer to him, their knees touching. "You were the only good thing about that cold, cold place. When we left and moved back to America, I knew that I'd never see you again, but it took me a long time to stop thinking about you."

"I wish I could say the same," he said regretfully, "They took you right out of my head along with everything else. But, I'll tell you something."

"What's that?" She whispered as they both leaned closer.

"You're all I can think about now."

"Good," she moved forward and pressed her lips to his. Their hands separated, but quickly found other holds. His fingers wove through her hair and gently lifted her chin. Her hands locked behind his head and pulled him closer. When they finally took a breath, they were both smiling.

"You know, I'm liking Bucharest better already," he said and then kissed her again.

A note from the author: Hey! The email notifications are working for me again! That's exciting! People favoriting, following, and reviewing and then getting emails about it reminded me that I need to update! So thanks for that lol

Special thanks to CrimsonWitch008 and YaoiLovinKitsune for your reviews! I'm glad you are still enjoying the story! I do intend to post the rest of it here, but I've also started posting on AO3, so if that's your preferred platform, you can check it out there too! I have the same username over there.

YaoiLovinKitsune, I honestly totally agree about Loki and Jak catching feelings too fast. I feel like everything else I write I do slowburns and with this story I was kind of challenging myself to see if I could do something that wasn't as slow, but I'm not satisfied with how it turned out honestly. I am sort of planning a sequel, and I might try to slow things down there, but we'll see.

Thanks, all! I will see you in the next chapter!