"This is the new place?"

Elizabeth walked beside Tony as he gave her a short tour of the new Avengers Compound. The place was very different from the previous Avengers Tower. Instead of it being tall with many floors, it was all spread out on a large piece of land in upstate New York. Away from the city, nothing surrounding them besides tall trees and mountains in the distance.

"Yeah," Tony answered her. The man walked beside her with a blazer over his usual graphic t-shirts, his signature sunglasses on his face despite them being indoors. "What do you think?"

Letting out a breath of air, Elizabeth gazed at the high ceilings around her. They currently stood in the training room that was bigger than her and Sam's entire house back in Washington "It's big, that's for sure," she whistled out before meeting Tony's eyes. "Seems like a good place."

"You know," he began as he took his sunglasses off and proceeded to lead her out to the rest of the compound. "There's a perfectly good room here for you," he told her.

Elizabeth glanced out the large windows as they walked around, she saw Pietro and Wanda outside on the grass. The two of them laughing about something Vision had done earlier, no doubt. "I knew you were gonna say that," She had been expecting the offer. Tony was always one to make sure his friends were taken care of.

"There's an amazing pool here too," Tony added as he tried to convince her. "Wilson's even got his own room here too, I'm sure it's bigger than whatever you two got going on in Washington." Elizabeth would be lying to say that she hadn't thought about it. "Practically the whole team is here too. What do you say?" he tried once more, noticing the contemplating look on her face.

"I'll talk to Sam," she informed the man, knowing that the two came in a package deal. "See what he says."

"That's all I ask," Tony raised his hands up. The two of them stood side by side, Elizabeth could tell Tony had something on his mind. He tapped his sunglasses against his legs anxiously while chewing his bottom lip.

Nudging her shoulder with his, Tony looked up at her. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"The last time you asked me that question, I created a murder bot." Tony commented as he tried not to notice the way she stared at him. Elizabeth didn't say anything, knowing he would give in eventually. "We did good, right?" He asked her as his eyes darted around.

She tilted her head to the side, not knowing what he meant. "In Sokovia, I mean." Tony rephrased his words as he clenched his jaw. "We did good? We saved the day?"

Thinking of how to answer him honestly while assuring him, Elizabeth nodded slowly with a grim smile on her face. "We did the best we could," she tells the man. "And that's what matters."

Tony was silent for a moment, lost in his thoughts. "Thanks," he muttered before patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. From outside, the two saw Thor and Steve walk into frame, both talking animatedly with their hands. "I should go, Pepper will kill me if I'm not back in time for the barbeque," Tony began to say his goodbyes.

"Alright," Elizabeth says with a smile. Tony began to walk away without another word, the two not very big on affection. Elizabeth called out his name when he was a few feet away. "Take care of yourself," she yelled after the man.

"Always do," Tony replied without turning around.

Elizabeth watched as Tony joined the two blonds outside on the grass, talking for a minute before getting into a bright orange car and speeding off. Thor said something to Steve before looking over towards her with a smile. He raised his hand for a wave as Elizabeth waved back before watching him take off to the sky.

"Does he always just leave like that?" She heard a familiar voice ask behind her.

Turning around, she saw Sam approach her with a smile on his face. "You get used to it," she stated before hugging the older man lightly. Sam stood in front of her, giving her a once over. "I'm fine," she told him.

"I guess," he agreed, somewhat sad that there was nothing for him to scold her lightly on. "Man this place is huge," Sam dragged out the word as he did a full spin to look around them.

"Wouldn't be a bad place to live," she hinted at the question Tony had asked her.

Sam smirked already knowing where this was going. "It is free rent," he mused with a smirk. "What do you say?" They both weren't entirely opposed to the idea, only scared at what the other person thought.

"I say yes," Elizabeth began, "As long as I get the room farthest away from you."

"You know what, it is a win-win." Sam retorted as they both laughed lightly. "I gotta find my suit, Cap said he wanted to see the team." Sam pointed behind them to the large doors that led to the training room.

"Alright, I'll meet you there." She watched as Sam disappeared around the corner to get ready.

Left alone once more, Elizabeth thought of calling the place she stood in home. It would've been fine, she thought, except that it was missing one person. A person she knew that she had to see at the next chance she got.

The sound of footsteps interrupted her thoughts. Turning around, she saw Steve walking toward her in his suit. "You ready?" he asked her once he had come to a stop by her side.

"Yeah," she confirmed. "Did you see Nat before she left?" Elizabeth asked. Natasha had left to go and see Clint's family to give them the news, she hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her before she left. Steve nodded in reply. "How is she holding up?"

Steve let out a sigh as he dropped his gaze to the floor, remembering their fallen friend. "She'll be okay," he replied. "We all will."

"Any news on Banner?" She asked the location of their missing friend, the last they all heard from him being in Sokovia.

"Nothing yet," Steve said as he and Elizabeth began to make their way to the large doors. "But we'll find him soon."

The captain had made a move to open the doors but Elizabeth stopped him. "One more thing," Steve looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You think I can take a small vacation after this?"

***

Climbing up the steps to Bucky's apartment in Bucharest was almost as tiring as fighting an army of robots. Almost, she reminded herself with a grimace once she finally reached the correct floor.

Elizabeth prepared herself as she wrung her hands out before lifting a fist to knock on the door of Bucky's apartment. From behind the door there was the sound of heavy footsteps before the door swung open from the inside.

Bucky stood on the other side of the door with a grey long-sleeved t-shirt, his hair messy as if he had been lying down in bed. She found herself smiling lightly when her eyes met his blue ones. Not being able to contain all the happiness and love she felt when she was around him.

As always, Bucky knew who it would be but he couldn't help the relieved smile on his face when he saw her standing there in a dark green sweater. Without thinking twice, he pulled her into his arms tightly and buried his face into the crook of her neck.

She wrapped her arm around his waist as she smiled into his shoulder. Bucky picked her up off her feet and turned them around to go inside the apartment. He closed the door with his foot before putting her down gently on the ground.

Remembering everything that she had said to him last time, Elizabeth felt her cheeks heat up. "Um, hi," she said meekly before taking a step back so that they were no longer chest to chest. "I didn't get the chance to bring anything," she added awkwardly, hoping that he'd forget about last time.

"Hi," Bucky repeated what she said with a dazed smile as he looked at her properly. "It's fine, but I wanna talk about last time." He brought up the incident as Elizabeth internally winced, not particularly willing to relive her embarrassment.

She waved away his suggestion as she looked around the apartment to avoid his gaze. "We don't have to," she said as her eyes trailed over all the new additions to the apartment. "We can just pretend that it never happened."

Bucky tried to bring her attention back to him as he spoke. "I hate to break it to you," he started when he saw the sigh she let out at his insisting glance. "But I don't wanna pretend it never happened."

"We really don't have to," Elizabeth insisted with a shake of her head. She wasn't in the right place to drag up all the feelings she had for him only to have him shut her down. But if she would've tapped into his feelings, she would feel that he felt exactly the same way.

Bucky reached out to place a hand on either side of her to calm her nervous fidgeting. "Will you just listen," he asked her with humour laced in his voice at her distressed state. "Please?" he added when he saw she had opened her mouth to protest.

When Elizabeth saw the look in his eyes when he said 'please' she knew she was in too deep. Running a hand through her dark hair, she nodded for him to continue as she looked up at him. Happy at her nod, Bucky removed his hand from her arms, much to both their minds protests.

"I didn't mean to say all those things last time," Bucky began anxiously as he thought of what to say. He reminded himself that whatever happens, she loves him too. At least he hoped she still does.

"All those things?" Elizabeth repeated sarcastically. "You said exactly one thing to me," she recapped what he said to her in her mind. The feeling of embarrassment rising back to both her, and Bucky.

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck in slight shame as he remembered how he froze. "That's not what was supposed to happen," he told her as he got all the words he wanted to say to her at the top of his head. "Trust me," he promised at the unconvinced look on her face.

"Well what were you going to say?" Elizabeth asked him with a raised eyebrow. Her curiosity getting to her, wondering what could make him look at her so intensely.

He took a deep breath before opening his mouth to speak. "I love you," he spoke and he knew he had never been more sure of anything in his entire life. He may not even know himself or his past, but he knew that he loved her. More than he even loved himself.

All those days he sat doing nothing but waiting by the door. 'Just in case,' he always told himself. Just in case she came back early. Then when he saw her on the news, he felt like throwing up. There she was risking her life while he saw in the empty apartment doing nothing but hoping that she'd come back to him.

"You're joking," Elizabeth deadpanned as her mouth hung open at his words. She blinked in surprise, her being the one to freeze this time. Stumbling over her words, Elizabeth didn't know what to do except continue to stare at him.

"I mean it." Bucky nodded with his eyes still trained on her shocked face. Reaching out, he took her soft hand in his cold metal one and pressed it to his chest. "I can feel it, and I know you can too," he offered with a deep look into her eyes.

Not believing what was happening, she focused on what he was feeling for the first time in a while. Bringing her eyes up from her hand on his chest she looked up at him with a smile. Everything he was feeling was pure love. Nothing but sweet and innocent love.

"All this time?" She asked not believing if she had only looked deeper into his emotions she would have seen it. Now that it was right in front of her, she felt like an idiot for not noticing it all before.

Bucky nodded as he brought his flesh arm up to her face. He brushed the hair away from her face and pressed his hand to her cheek. "Of course," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "How could I not?"

"I look at you and I remember," he stated as Elizabeth did nothing except lean into his touch with a soft smile. "I remember who I was and who I am. I remember that if everything goes wrong, even if everything ends, I'll be okay."

"Because no matter what happens, I know I'll be okay as long as you're next to me." He continued with a lopsided grin as he gripped her hand tighter in his metal hand. For the first time in a long time, the arm gave someone comfort rather than fear. It gave her love. "When I'm with you I'm happy, and safe. Which is ridiculous because look at you!"

Bucky looked her up and down as they laughed lightly. "You're tiny," he muttered as his thumb stroked her cheek softly. He looked down at her as if to prove his point. Elizabeth couldn't do anything but listen to him as she chewed the inside of her cheek to keep her from jumping on him right then and there.

"But I look at you, and I'm home," Bucky concluded. He looked down at the person he knew meant the most to him. The person that he knew he wouldn't ever let anything bad happen to.

Elizabeth looked up at him, nearly crying from everything she was feeling. She couldn't remember the last time she felt like this. "Well then," Elizabeth cleared her throat before continuing speaking. "Why don't you come down and kiss me, Sergeant."

"It would be my pleasure," Bucky flirted before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers.

Remembering, Elizabeth pulled back from the kiss but kept her face close to his, their noses barely touching. "As much as I'm enjoying this, and trust me, I really am," she began as Bucky gazed at her lovingly. "But you couldn't have said that earlier?" She asked incredulously, realising that this all could've been resolved on the day she left if he had just said something.

"Shush," Bucky said with a frown before wrapping his arms around her once more. "You're ruining the moment," he commented with a light kiss to her forehead.

"The moment could've happened weeks ago," Elizabeth retorted as she moved to lean her head against his warm chest. Bucky wrapped his arms around her tightly and leaned his chin on her head. The both of them relishing in the thought that they finally got what they wanted.

The sound of light rustling from the window alerted Elizabeth as she picked her head off from Bucky's chest. Looking to the window, she saw a small white cat sitting on the window sill. The cat meowed lightly before hopping onto the ground below.

"Who's this," Elizabeth asked as she watched the cat made its way over to them only to nestle itself between Bucky's legs. "Oh, this is Alpine?" She pieced two and two together while Bucky bent down to pick the cat up.

"Yup," Bucky took the cat in his arms and scratched it behind the ears, earning soft purring sounds from the feline. "She kinds lives here now, I hope you don't mind." He brought the cat closer to Elizabeth who frowned lightly at the cat.

"Totally fine," she agreed, having no objections. "Just nice to know who the other woman in your life is," she commented. Chuckling lightly at her, Bucky held the cat out for her to take. Not having any proper experiences with pets, Elizabeth simply patted the animal on the head lightly.

"You're dramatic," Bucky said. The two of them, plus Alpine, made their way over to sit on the couch. They sat down side by side, the cat jumping out of Bucky's arm the minute they sat down. Bucky moved slightly so that Elizabeth's head fell onto his shoulder.

Elizabeth spared a glance at the mattress on the floor, left in the same place that she remembered, making a mental note to get him a proper bed. "But you love me," she teased, happy that she knew the answer that came out of his mouth.

"I do," Bucky agreed before leaning in for another kiss.