Elizabeth sat beside Bucky on the couch with Alpine in her lap. The small apartment was quiet except for the occasional sound of pencil on paper coming from Bucky. He sat beside her with an empty notebook open in his lap as he wrote down whatever memories his mind showed him.

"Another memory?" Elizabeth asked him softly as she lifted her head off his shoulder. She stopped her movements on Alpine's soft fur and turned her attention to the person beside her.

Bucky sat still, the only movement in his whole body coming from his right hand which continued to frantically write in the small notebook. "It's Steve," he told her quietly with his eyes still on the paper. "His mother's name was Sarah." Bucky always told her whatever he remembered. Just in case he forgot about it, Elizabeth knew enough for the both of them.

He continued to talk to her about what he remembered while writing it all down. Everything from the last day he had spent with Steve to the colour of his sisters dress when he last saw her. All the while Elizabeth listened in silence, watching how his emotions changed with every word he spoke.

Once he was done and had closed the book in his lap, Elizabeth brought a hand up to cup the side of his face. She turned his head to the side for him to look at her. Bucky smiled at her softly and kissed the inside of her hand lightly.

"You know," she began carefully, already knowing that he wasn't going to be particularly fond of what she was going to bring up. "Maybe you should come back with me, to New York."

He sighed heavily before his eyes dropped to his metal hand with a shake of his head. "You know I can't," he said once he brought his eyes back up to her face. Every time they had this conversation it always went the same way, not matter how many times she tried.

"Why not?" Elizabeth asked sadly as she held his face in her hands. "You can come back with me and we'll clear your name," she pleaded with a convincing smile. "I'll admit the U.S. government is not on our side, or any government to be frank," she said with a grimace as she recalled the Sokovia Accords. Which if everything had gone as planned, would have been signed yesterday.

Bucky didn't say anything, just watched her face closely as she spoke. "But you won't only have me fighting for you," she informed him. "And then once everything is cleared up, we can find a home. A proper one," she added when she saw him open his mouth to object that he already had one.

"We'll find a nice house," Elizabeth said as he brought up his flesh hand to put over hers that still rested on the side of his face. "It'll be nice and comfy with enough room that even Alpine can have her own room." At her words, both of them looked between them to the cat that rested on their tangled legs.

"And we'd finally get a tv," she continued while she tried to catch his eyes that still remained on the cat's white fur. "You wouldn't have to look over your shoulder all the time, we'd finally be able to stop hiding." Elizabeth brought his face up to look at her sadly.

She didn't know how badly he wanted it. How badly he just wanted to be able to have that life with her. To be able to wake up in the morning without having to worry if she had to leave that day. But he was just so scared that he wouldn't be able to give her that life, not with a person with his past.

Looking up at her bright eyes, he took his left hand brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face. The metal leaving a cold sensation on her face. "All I need is you," he told her honestly, knowing that even if he forgot everything about himself, he'd always know he'd need nothing more than the person in front of him.

"I still think you should come back with me," she tried once more as Bucky's hand traced small circles on her cheeks. "You can't stay here forever, you can't hide from the world."

"Did it ever occur to you that it might be better for the world if I stay hidden?" He asked her as they both felt Alpine shift slightly between them.

Elizabeth let his words tumble around in her head before answering him. "I think it's not better for you," she answered. "It may sound selfish but I think we all deserve to be a little selfish once in a while."

He didn't know how to respond to that so he kept quiet and lowered his eyes slightly. "I'm going out for a bit," Bucky's words startled her from the silence. "We're out of plums," he murmured before untangling himself from her hands.

Elizabeth watched him silently as he shrugged his jacket on before grabbing a pair of gloves and his baseball cap. He put on his gloves and made his way over to her, baseball cap in hand. "I'll be back soon," he muttered before leaning down to kiss her lightly on the forehead. "I love you," he told her softly.

"Love you too," she replied before he headed out the door.

***

It was late in the afternoon and Bucky still wasn't back yet. He had left a few hours ago and she was getting worried. She paced around the apartment with Alpine following in her footsteps, thinking it was some kind of game.

She was contemplating on going on to find him when she heard footsteps just outside the front door. Breathing out a sigh of relief she made her way over to the door, but stopped when she felt the hesitance radiating off the person behind the door. That was enough for her to know that it wasn't who she thought it was.

Slowly, Elizabeth bent down and picked up the cat in one arm. She backed up until she was standing a few feet away from the door. Feeling her free hand heat up, she watched as the door swung open to reveal the last person she thought she'd see.

"I knew it," Steve said as he stepped into the apartment with his shield in hand. He wore his full suit with the helmet. He shook his head at her disappointedly before making his way over to her. "I can't believe it," he said in disbelief.

"I can explain," was the first thing Elizabeth said once she had gotten over the shock of seeing him.

"Don't bother." Steve felt betrayed at the fact that he really thought he could trust her, but all the while she was keeping the one person he was looking for away from him. "Where is he?" He asked as he looked around the apartment Bucky.

Elizabeth felt a sharp twinge of pain at his words but she knew she deserved it, after all she was lying to him. "He left a few hours ago," she informed him as Steve glanced a second too long at the cat in her arms in confusion.

"We have to get him out of here." Steve got right down to business, moving to check outside of the newspaper covered windows.

"What's going on?" She asked before setting Alpine down on the couch. If there was one thing they both had in common right now, it was that they both wanted to protect Bucky.

"He bombed the the U.N," he told her curtly. "A lot injured and some dead."

Elizabeth stilled her movements as she shrugged on a leather jacket. "No, that's not right." She furrowed her eyebrows and Steve looked at her questioningly. "He was with me the whole day yesterday, he didn't do it." She didn't have to ask about the wellbeing of her friends and teammates. She didn't sense any grief or sadness from him, so it was enough for her to deduce that they had gotten lucky.

"Well the people who think he did are coming, now." Steve looked at her with a slight glare as he spoke his next words. "If you had told us you've known where he is, none of this would have happened."

"You don't think I tried?" She asked before lacing up her boots. "As hard as this might be to hear, he didn't want to see you. I needed him to trust me, I couldn't do that by leading you directly to him."

Steve took note of how she spoke as if she had known him for a lot longer than he thought. "How long have you known?" He asked her accusingly.

"He showed up at my door after the fall of SHIELD," She decided to come clean. Steve's face fell at her words and he hung his head.

He was at a loss for words as he stared at a space beside her head. "I still can't believe it," he said through a clenched jaw.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth tried, even though she knew he had every right to be mad at her.

"I trusted you, Lizzie." Steve told her with a strong and clear voice. "Well, I mean I thought I could," he added harshly. "You lied to me, to us, for years. I just don't understand why you did it. Tell me, why." As he continued on to speak, his voice raised towards the end.

"I couldn't betray his trust," she said as she fiddled with the zipper of the jacket.

"But you could betray mine," Steve retaliated as if stating a fact. He knew he wouldn't hold it against her for long, he would eventually forgive her. But the fact that she stood in the place of the one person he had been looking for, looking completely at home, made him lose it slightly.

From the door to the apartment, a third voice spoke up just as Steve had opened his mouth. "Don't yell at her," Bucky said sternly as he looked back and forth between the two who stood by the window.

Steve looked at the only person he had left from his past with wide eyes. Watching closely as Bucky made a move to place himself beside Elizabeth, his left arm slightly position in front of her. Steve saw the way he glanced at Elizabeth and already knew she was not only there to keep him company.

"Bucky," Steve breathed out the name of his childhood friend in surprise. "Do you know me?"

He looked at Steve with a tilted head for a moment. "You're Steve," he answered, making the blonde let out the ghost of a smile.

The smile dropped from his face quickly when Sam's voice came in from his earpiece. "They're coming," he informed the two.

Elizabeth and Bucky locked eyes both, already sure what direction this was going on. She tilted her head at him, asking the silent question of if he was sure he wanted to fight his way out of this. Whatever the answer, Elizabeth would stand by him. Her silent question was answered when he took the glove of his left hand, revealing the bright silver metal.

"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Buck," Steve tried, the old nickname resurfacing.

Bucky sighed sadly as he looked toward the front door, the heavy sound of multiple footsteps becoming apparent to the three. "It always ends in a fight." This itself proved to him that he could never have the life he wanted with Elizabeth, no matter how hard he tried.

Elizabeth quickly grabbed the backpack that she brought with her that sat on the table. She opened the zip and carefully placed Alpine inside, leaving the bag open slightly for the cat.

"You pulled me from the bridge," Steve stated to Bucky, recounting the last time the two met. "Why?"

"I don't know," he answered with a glance at Elizabeth who pulled the backpack over her shoulders, Alpine poking its head out of the bag.

Steve shook his head, unconvinced. "Yes, you do."

The sound of a window shattering broke the empty silence that filled the room. Elizabeth looked to see a small bomb roll its way across the floor, stopping by Bucky's foot. He kicked it harshly toward Steve just in time for him to encase it with his shield, minimising the explosion.

A second after the muffled explosion rang out in the air, there was a round of gunshots coming through the window, shattering glass all over the floor. She felt herself getting grabbed by Bucky before he lifted up the mattress and used it to shield them from the bullets.

When the shooting stopped he put the mattress back down and did a once over on her, making sure she was okay. Elizabeth peered over her shoulder to check on both Steve and Alpine, finding the cat meowing softly.

Upon hearing the banging at the front door, Bucky threw the table to wedge the door close. Just then two men entered through the windows making all three of their heads snap in that direction.

A man came through the window right in front of Bucky and pointed his gun at his head, ready to pull the trigger. Bucky stared at the man with wide eyes, freezing as he stared down the barrel of a gun. Elizabeth however, lifted both her arms up and felt the heat rush to her hands. With the flick of her wrists, the man was encaged in a blue hue before getting tossed back out the way he came.

Looking over at Steve, she saw him block a round of bullets with his shield before knocking his opponent out. The blond gave her an exasperated glance with a nod of his head toward the window she through the man out of. She merely shrugged in return.

She heard the back door get kicked down and watched as Steve went to handle the first man that came through, covered head to toe in practical gear. Elizabeth turned to Bucky who stood beside her. "I'll get the bike," she told him as he nodded. "You wanna take Alpine?"

Bucky had opened his mouth to agree but then three more men came in through the back door with their guns raised. "Yeah, maybe you should take her," Bucky says and Elizabeth nods in agreement before concentrating on making their three opponents collapse into a pile around Steve.

"You know where to find me?" Bucky asked worriedly, not liking the thought of getting separated from her.

She smiled at him before turning to the front door which had stopped its banging. "I'll always know where to find you," she replied before feeling the heat rush to her hands. Charging up enough energy, she sent a blast to the door, taking it off it's hinges and sending a few of her opponents flying back.

Walking out the door, she sidestepped a punch thrown her way before kicking her opponent over the railing. Looking down past all of the floors, she saw another group of military personnel make their way up the stairs. She sighed before cracking her neck from side to side.

Ignoring them, she went to the end of the hall and found the door to the fire escape. Opening the door, she peered inside to see it was empty. She had one foot through the door when a bullet flew past her face, nearly taking her ear off.

She whipped her head around to see four men with their guns raised, ready to fire. Her surprise taking over, she raised a hand, meaning to knock them off her feet with a blast of energy. Instead she sent them flying back through the brick wall, making a sickening crack as pieces of brick fell around them.

Elizabeth's eyes widened as she lowered her hand in front of her. The fear at what she had done disappeared slightly when she saw one of the men groan and shift amongst the rubble and bricks. Without looking back, she went through the door and climbed down the fire escape as she headed to the garage.