A/N: YAY 4 chapters already! Pictures show the little cottage :) Next chapter is already in the making and will be up in asap (probable next two days)!

Bucky opened his eyes and found himself in the living room, which they had seen on the picture just a few seconds ago. The walls were made out of white bricks and tall windows were placed here and there flooding the room with light. There was a dark brown leather couch situated across from the fireplace, a little coffee table made out of steel and glass was separating them. In general the cottage had a rather minimalistic and modern feeling to it. Not really what one would have expected from a cottage in the woods. Bucky was in awe looking at the modern style of the cottage, it was not what he had expected, but he could have, after all it had been one of Tony Stark's lodgings. "In case of emergency" the billionaire had told him, while Alice had been looking at the pictures. One could also clearly see Pepper's touch around the house, a couple of pillows on the leather sofa and armchairs as well as a few blankets hanging over the back of the couch. There were also a few plants dotted around the room, which were no doubt placed there by Pepper's instructions.

Bucky looked over to Alice, only to find her gone, he turned completely and came face to face with the kitchen, where he found Alice looking through the cupboards. "It is very..." Bucky started, his fingers tracing over the wooden surface of the breakfast bar, which separated the kitchen from the living room. "Modern? or very Tony?" Alice turned around looking at Bucky, smirking slightly. "Both." Bucky chuckled, before he turned around to explore the cottage. The first room had been rather open, merging the kitchen, living room and dining room, one door seemed to lead outside to a little patio, while one door led into a hallway, which had two doors lined one wall and one door on the other. The single door was the master bedroom. Bucky chuckled to himself, this was so Tony. A king sized bed was placed on one wall, a fireplace opposite the bed and a dresser to the side. The other two doors turned out to be a bathroom and another bedroom. When he had a look around the bathroom, he thought that Alice might actually really enjoy the bathtub, as soon as the thought had crossed his mind, his brows furrowed and confusion washed over him. Why should Alice enjoy the bathtub? How do I know that? He shook his head to get the thoughts out of his head, when he heard Alice coming down the hall. "Oh, a bathtub, I didn't use one of them for more than half a decade." Her voice echoed off the walls. "This place is nice, isn't it?" She had turned to him, her hand running over the metal bathtub. "Better than what I'm used to." Bucky grumbled, earning an agreeing nod from Alice.

"I found some minced meat and caned tomatoes, we could make some spaghetti bolognese for dinner, I remember you loved it back then." Alice smiled slightly, when she sat down next to him on the couch. "Sounds good. I don't really remember it, but apart from Steve you seem to be the one to know me best." Bucky's brows furrowed slightly. "I'm sorry." Alice's mumbled words, startling Bucky and his head snapped up to face her. "What are you sorry for?" He was clearly confused, Alice had nothing to be sorry for. "Everything."

Her voice broke slightly, she had hoped he wouldn't notice but he did and he suddenly had an urge to comfort her, wrapping his flesh arm around her shoulder. "I should have looked for a way to get you away from them. God knows how many opportunities I had, but I didn't..." a sob escape her mouth, interrupting her little speech. "It's just they threatened to kill you and I just couldn't live knowing you died because of me as well. I was so selfish." She was full on sobbing now and without thinking much about it, Bucky pulled her into his arms, her head pressed into his chest, while tears soaked his shirt. It felt like someone was squeezing his heart, seeing Alice like that. "Alice, nothing of this was your fault. HYDRA are at fault not you." He leaned back a bit, to look at her face. "But it is my fault you ended up with them."

Alice was full on sobbing now and as soon as the words had left her lips, Bucky froze. It had been her fault? "Alice, what do you mean?" An uneasy feeling grew in Bucky's guts. What if Alice is still part of HYDRA? What if this was all a trick to get him back?

"I was there when you fell off the train. I tried to catch you and teleport you to safety." Alice stuttered, her breath hitching occasionally from all the crying. "I wasn't used to teleporting with other people and..." She took a deep breathe trying to calm herself down, while Bucky's uneasiness started to fade. "I accidentally k-knocked into some rocks... Bucky, it's my fault you lost your arm. If I were able to teleport properly, nothing would have happened to y-you." She was getting proper worked up about everything. "I didn't want to risk killing you with my teleporting skills, so I decided to get help and l-lead them to you and I was so shaken up by everything that I didn't pay attention to who I was leading to you. And, god, I should have, because it was HYDRA but I didn't realise until we were back at their facility." Tears started to fill her eyes once more, but Alice tried to hold them back, feeling like she had already cried enough. "I'm so sorry, Bucky." Her breathing hitched. Like it always did after she had cried, Bucky thought, before he was shocked once more about how well he seemed to know her without knowing or rather remembering it.

Bucky wasn't angry with Alice, after all she had tried to help. One side of him wished she hadn't, his dead might have been easier on Steve and herself and he wouldn't have had to go through all of the horrible things HYDRA had done to him. But the other side was glad, because now he was reunited with his best friend and Alice, even though he wasn't really sure yet, what Alice was to him. "Alice," Bucky started, watching the woman, playing with her fingers, avoiding his gaze. "stop beating yourself up about it. You tried to save my life and in a way you did. Without you I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be reunited with neither you or Steve. And, god, I'm glad to see my best friend again." A small smile was playing on his face, when he had said the last words, reassuring Alice that he in fact was not angry with her and yet she was still not done beating herself up. "Let's cook those spaghetti. Come on, doll." Bucky took her hand, before pulling her up. He froze slightly when the pet name slipped his lips. He turned around, curious about Alice's reaction to it and only found her smiling.