'What's that?' Clara asked.

She was about to arrive at the docks before lunch as requested by Sam, when she found Bucky on the opposite path leading to where they were both headed. They had stopped upon seeing each other, eyeing one another from across the way, the path to the docks an even distance between the two.

Clara had a across-the-body bag slung over her shoulder, and Bucky held a large black and silver case. Both were dressed in their casual clothes, both wearing jackets to keep warm in the chilly, although sunny, weather.

'Sam's,' Bucky grumbled his response. 'Why're you here?'

'Sam invited me,' Clara told him. 'What is it?'

Bucky ignored her, continuing down the path to turn onto the docks.

'I know it's some kind of tech,' Clara said, following after him, jogging slightly to catch up. She gasped, recognising it was Wakandan technology, and recognising the familiar frequencies of a drone. 'You got him a new Redwing, didn't you?'

'No,' Bucky scowled, continuing onto the docks.

Clara clapped her hands together excitedly. 'You got him new wings, too, didn't you? Oh, my God, I can't wait to see his face when he-!'

'Shut up,' Bucky glared at her.

Clara held hands up, dropping back a step to stop him seeing the wide grin spreading across her face - and to get far enough out of reach just in case she annoyed him to the point of Bucky striking out. 'I didn't know you had the ability to be so sweet,' she smiled, her head tilted to the side. 'You really do have a heart.'

He stopped and pointed a finger at her. 'If you don't-'

'Buck?' Sam peered over from the end of the dock, squinting in the sunlight as he recognised the man. Clara leaned around Bucky so she could wave to Sam, who seemed pleased to see her, too. 'Get over here.'

'Just dropping this off,' Bucky told him, walking closer and hefting it onto the back of a pick-up truck. Sam raised an eyebrow, looking at the case suspiciously. 'You can sign for it, and I'll go. I called in a favour from the Wakandans.'

'Sam!' A woman called out in the same instant that a pipe began hissing on the nearest boat, a spray of some kind of liquid bursting from a loosened bolt.

Sam jumped down onto the boat, Bucky hopping down after him, a small smirk playing on his lips as he greeted the woman. 'Hi,' he said simply, his look lingering for a moment before continuing on his way. She said hi in return, giving him a similar look, too.

Clara narrowed her eyes at the two, glancing between them, and then to Sam who was heaving back on a wrench, trying to stem the spray.

'Hold on, hold on,' Bucky said, squeezing in to take the tool from Sam. 'You gotta go up.'

He earned a funny look from Sam when he opted to use his right arm, rather than his left, heaving the metal upwards, the bolt hardly seeming to turn, but closing off the spray nonetheless. 'Why didn't you use the metal arm?' Sam asked, looking from the pipe to the arm.

'Well... I don't always think of it immediately,' he told him, glancing at his vibranium as he open and closed a fist. 'I'm right handed.' Sam snorted a laugh.

'Hi,' Clara said to the woman who had called Sam over. 'I'm Clara, Sam's probably told you a lot about me.'

'Err-'

'Anyway, nice boat,' she commented, looking over the run down antique. 'Does need a new layer of paint though.'

'Among other things,' she nodded. 'I'm Sarah, Sam's sister.'

'Oh! So you know all of his embarrassing stories,' Clara gasped, already thinking about all the secrets she could steal to use in the future.

'I'm not telling any,' Sarah stopped her, someone catching her eye, and she walked off. 'Not there!' She called out to them, directing a few men to move away from a fishmonger stall.

Clara jumped down into the boat, Bucky and Sam talking as they looked over the exposed pipes. 'You want any help?' Bucky asked Sam.

Sam tipped his head towards the front of the boat, gesturing for Bucky and Clara to join him. Sam talked them through the to-do list, giving Clara the less technical tasks, and giving Bucky those that included heavy-lifting. While they got to work, Sam went below deck to have a go at fixing the engine.

They stopped for lunch not long after starting, but got straight back into it as soon as they had finished. After a few hours, they were interrupted by two young boys running over to the boat, Sarah following behind. 'Is Sam here?' The older of the two asked, Clara and Bucky looking up from the railing they were painting.

'I'll get him,' Sarah said, climbing over the edge of the boat, carefully avoiding the wet paint.

Clara watched the younger boy stare at Bucky, his eyes wide as he pat his brother on the arm to get his attention. 'It's him,' he whispered loudly, as if no one else would hear. 'It's the Winter Soldier!'

Bucky smiled meekly, at the child, Clara seeing tension grow in the corners of his eyes. 'Mom said not to call him that, remember?' The older boy scorned him.

'Sorry, Mr Barnes,' the young boy apologised quickly, realising his mistake.

Bucky whistled. 'Don't call me that either, you make me sound like an old man,' he jested.

Clara raised an eyebrow at him. 'You are an old man,' she pointed out.

'Hey, boys!' Sam said, coming up from the engine room, Sarah in front of him and climbing back off of the boat.

'Uncle Sam!' They both shouted out, about to clamber over the freshly painted railing until Sarah held them back by the rucksacks hanging on their shoulders. Sam climbed over the edge to go to them instead, placing a hand of Bucky's shoulder to remain balanced as he did.

'How was school?' He asked, walking away with the two boys either side of him.

Clara and Bucky watched him leave, Bucky's sights lingering on him while Clara looked down to the tin of paint by their feet. 'Did he just leave us to do this by ourselves? After getting us both to fly down from New York?'

'Huh?' Bucky asked, turning to face her when he realised she had said something.

Clara narrowed her eyes at him, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. 'You seriously think you're doing a good job of hiding that, don't you?'

'Hiding- Hiding what?' Bucky pulled his head back in a show of confusion.

'You know what,' she told him, before swiftly changing the conversation to the thing that had been playing on her mind since seeing the two men again. 'Do you think Karli's gonna give up? Ever?'

Bucky shook his head, scowling gently. 'I think she's gonna double down. Do what she can to make a statement - before we get her, at least.'

'You have any new idea's on how we can stop her?'

'Sam's got Torres working on something,' Bucky said, dipping his paintbrush in the colour before bringing it back to the wood.

'Right,' Clara nodded slowly, doing the same with her own paintbrush. 'It's just... What if Zemo's right, you know? What if that is the only way?'

Bucky stopped his brushstrokes, pausing for a moment as he looked across at Clara. 'He said something to you, didn't he?'

'What?'

He sat up a little straighter, Clara thinking she could see his scowl deepen more than it usually did, his suspicions angering him. 'He said something to get you on edge, I can see it. What was it?'

'I don't-'

'Clara, you shouldn't trust him. You shouldn't listen to what he says; it's all just to get in your head - to manipulate you into doing what he can't,' he told her.

Clara shrunk back slightly, feeling almost like she was being scolded. Of course she knew that. Of course she knew Zemo was untrustworthy - she had been telling Bucky and Sam that since Bucky had broken him out of prison. There was no way she had ever, or would ever let him play any kind of mind games on her. Right?

'Look, Sam says there's another way. We should at least try to avoid any more spilt blood,' he said, resting the brush on the rim of the paint can. 'Zemo thinks he's right because he's never given himself any other options. He doesn't see another route to take because he's too afraid to change his ways. You and me, we've got to make sure we don't fall into the same pattern. We have to be better than that.'

Please comment and vote - It lets me know a you're enjoying it!