Bucky

I'm positioned on a ridge high enough to keep an eye on the camp while making sure that no soldiers make a surprise attack from within the forest. Although right now the only person I can see in my sites is Ada.

She's been down there for two hours, observing the camp from a distance and occasionally stopping to make notes in the notebook she carries. She's thorough and more focused on the mission at hand than anyone else right now, even Steve.

Steve had pulled me aside at one point to remind me to stay focused with Ada here, to make sure that we aren't getting carried away, but I think we both underestimated just how serious she is when it comes to a mission. It's a good thing he never pulled her aside to try to lecture her about conduct otherwise the friction would be worse than it already is.

I don't know how those two lasted five months on the road together doing USO shows, because after three days they can hardly have a conversation without bickering. Although knowing them both it doesn't come as any surprise. They might fight like cats and dogs but they do care about each other, they have each other's backs, that much is obvious.

They're both just damn stubborn with completely different outlooks on almost everything, and neither of them are ever willing to back down from a fight. I might have also suggested to Steve that he'd be making his life easier by nodding along and doing what she says considering I'm yet to see her come up with a bad plan of action, but Steve won't back down and she won't bite her tongue to save his pride if she knows better than he does.

I admire that about her, hell from the moment we met it was how she asserted herself that caught me by surprise and left a lasting impression. I might not have been completely fond of it at first despite the effect it had on me, but she's upfront with little tolerance for bullshit and that is definitely something I've grown to appreciate.

She's a realist through and through and out here that's what's needed, she balances Steve out as a leader and picks apart any fault she can find in a plan. As frustrating as that is for him, it's going to keep us alive. And as much as I admire that side of her, nothing beats that spark in her eye she has when she lets herself dream for a rare moment or two.

At first I couldn't understand why Steve was hesitant about her, but a lot of pieces of that puzzle have fallen into place since. There's a duality to her that can't be denied and that's sometimes hard to reconcile. Sitting in that meeting with the Colonel and the rest... even now I struggle to reconcile the things I heard this infamous agent do with the woman that's been on my mind since the moment I laid eyes on her in that lab, but it doesn't mean it's deterred me from her.

If anything it's done the opposite.

There's a soldier, a deeply serious and abrupt person with her mind set on the fight, and then there's the Ada that only a few people know. Most people meet the former first, like Steve did, but I met the latter. Both of those sides to her are equally true, the soldier that's trained to do what has to be done and compartmentalise, and then the person she is away from that violence.

It's something I can recognise in myself.

Knowing just part of how she was brought up, and having lived through what I did in that factory, I'm in awe of her. That she can be as caring as she is after everything they did to try to kill that part of her. I don't know how she survived years of that torture, but she did, and she's given me hope that my mind can heal from it too. She's evidence of that.

Steve might not understand that part of it, and I pray to god that he never does. He might think I'm crazy for being with her but god knows I've never wanted anyone in the way that I want her.

In the way that I need her, and by some mad stroke of luck she wants me too.

I look back through my scope to find her shoving the small notebook inside her utility belt and she looks back in my direction, scanning the ridge until her eyes find me with expert precision. Her face softens and a smile plays at her lips, her hand resting over the pistol holstered at her thigh. The red suit hugs her figure tight, accentuating the same curves of her body that I burned into memory just a few days ago. Steve's lecture might not have been unwarranted because god knows it took me a day or two to be able to take my eyes off of her.

Seeing her almost naked is one thing, and it's a sight I'll never willingly forget, but seeing her out in the field with a gun in hand might just have that beat. For just a moment my mind wanders back to that stolen moment before we flew out from London, and maybe I did get a bit carried away but it sure as hell wasn't without impressing her.

She's not like any woman I've ever known, and this connection I have with her isn't like anything I've ever shared with anyone before. Right down to that type of chemistry. Feeling like I'll die if I can't touch her then and there, and the fact that she returns every bit of it.... I've never been this desperate for someone before and there's no mistaking the fact that she feels the same. She's forward in every aspect of her life, and sex is no different.

The things that I would do just to have a night with her right now-

I have to mentally kick myself when I start going down that train of thought, not just because I'm trying to be a gentleman, but because Steve's right about needing to focus when it comes to Ada. Although I'd still be in the same predicament regardless of if she's right beside me or in London.

She begins to make her way back towards camp and I can finally let out a breath of relief, having started to worry about her until I'd gotten up here to take the first half of the night watch and check where she'd ended up. I would have gone after her but she's made it clear that we need to trust her and let her do what she's trained to do, which is also why I haven't been interfering in her spats with Steve.

Respect is the most important thing to her, and I've gathered that she'd appreciate my quiet support more than me taking over a situation that she can handle, because even after knowing her for this short time I can't imagine a situation that she can't handle through sheer determination alone.

It's not long before I smell cigarette smoke and she appears soon after, her hair out of place from the wind and her face bare, and she's never looked more beautiful.

"Hey," she says softly, and I realise that we haven't talked since her literal fight with Steve. I was stunned by what she did after watching the team fail to take him down despite their hour of trying, and despite all the surprises that have come with knowing her she never fails to bring out another when I least expect it.

And I keep finding more reasons to never make her mad.

"Hey," I say, glancing back over towards the camp where everyone's settling in for the night. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I've never been the best sleeper," she says, looking towards the Hydra base. "So you're the poor bastard that took the night watch?"

"I'm the sniper," I say and she looks at the rifle that I leave set in position. "Thought I'd be the best one to keep watch from up here, scope the area before we attack tomorrow."

She nods approving and asks "Mind if I join?"

Warmth spreads through me at the thought of having her close, of being alone with her. "I thought I was the one that asked obvious questions?" I say and she smiles with a shake of her head before sitting beside me with her legs stretched out, no doubt remembering the one I'd asked when I had one over my shoulder.

"Well, I believe the answer was quite evident," she says, looking from my lips to my eyes and I hum in agreement, still thriving off the way she said my name in the aftermath alone. She looks back down to my lips, a mischievous glint in her eye as she teases "I do have a new appreciation for your mouth."

If it wasn't clear then, I'm beginning to realise that she might just like it better when I'm not a gentleman, but still I play along, although not without dropping my voice. "Any time sweetheart, it's my pleasure."

She hums and I can see the shift in her eye when she mentally kicks herself for that same strain of thought, leaning forward to cup my face and gently caressing the side of my mouth with her thumb.

"You make it almost impossible to keep a clear head," she says fondly and I can only laugh.

"And what do you think you do to me?" She smiles now before withdrawing her hand and looking back out towards the base, reminding us both of where we are. "It would be good to hear what other insight you've got since you disappeared after you threw Steve on his ass."

There's a proud gleam to her eyes, but I see an increasingly familiar concern behind them. "It wasn't too much was it?"

"It got your point across," I say, not blind to the fact that she's more than apprehensive when it comes to her past, of what she was taught to do. Especially when it comes to how we perceive that. "It surprised them, all of us to be honest. They've seen you handle a gun but that was something else."

It was as shocking as it was impressive, seeing a five foot five woman that's built like a ballerina throw a supersoldier down on his back, but it got the desired effect. Hell, I'm almost tempted to ask her to pull that move on me.

Her face is serious and I reach over to rest a hand on her knee, squeezing lightly. She smiles to herself before covering it with one of her own, her eyes bright when she looks over at me and admits "I might have been wanting to do that for the past three days."

"I could tell," I say with a laugh. "Poor Steve, he just can't get a break can he? First Carter, then you, and then you again..."

"I promise I don't dislike him as much as it seems," she says with a sigh. "In fact I am rather fond of him, it's just- he is very... headstrong."

"And you aren't?" I tease and she wears a not-so-guilty smile. "And don't worry sweetheart, I know. You're just very different people with different ways of going about things."

In truth they've got a lot in common personality wise which is why they clash, hard headed and insistent, but they'd both be offended if I said so. Something else they've got in common.

She hums in contemplation. "I am quite headstrong, and it's served me well for the most part." She rubs her wrist, and my stomach sinks having put together how the scars there came to be. "And I dare say I'll need to be to deal with a group of soldiers."

I'd never paid much thought to a woman's role in all of this before meeting Ada, never had anyone challenge the general idea I've had about it and I know it would be the same for them, but Ada sure has a way of uprooting the way a man sees the world.

"Those guys weren't sure about you at first," I admit to her, since she'd call me out for saying otherwise. "But you've sure as hell got their respect now."

She looks over at me, her thumb stroking the side of my hand. "And yours?"

"There's no question about mine," I assure her, taking her hand and bringing it to my lips. She doesn't even know the half of it. "You saved my life."

I want to say more, to try to express just how deeply grateful I am for her, but I can't manage to find the words. I'm not sure they even exist. There's no physical way to describe to her what it is to wake up from that nightmare and see her face, to know that the nightmare's finally over and she's there to nurse wounds that I still can't comprehend. I've tried to explain it to her, but I'll never be able to do it justice.

After all, there's no way to put into words what it's like to fall in love with someone in an instant.

"And I'm sure that you'll be saving mine soon enough," she says, and her face suddenly turns more serious. "James, I- there's a conversation I've been meaning to have with you before tomorrow." My brows furrow together and I lean in to listen, struggling to hide my sudden panic at those words. "I know that you care for me and that it's going to be instinctual for you to want to protect me, but it's incredibly important that we're focused solely on the mission."

I swallow hard, anxiously asking "Are you... are you saying we shouldn't be doing this?"

"No, no," she quickly clarifies and reaches to take my face in her hand. "Buck, I'm certainly not saying that at all. I'm just saying that when we're out there I don't want you to be worrying about me." Relief floods through me and she strokes my cheek. "I'm saying that we need to trust each other enough to do our jobs without worrying about each other if we run into trouble, or at least no more than we'd worry about the others. To compartmentalise."

I nod in agreement her, although I know that it'll be slightly easier for her than it will be for me. Between her and Steve I think all I'll be doing is worry, although mostly for Steve.

I cover her hand with mine and turn my head enough to kiss the inside of her palm, nuzzling into her hand. "You had me scared there for a second, love."

"Trust me Buck, I'd never be mad enough to even think about letting you go," she promises and her brown eyes are warm. "I'm just glad that I'll be out there with you."

"So am I, sweetheart," I say, moving close enough to kiss her forehead. "And trust me, I'm not crazy enough to think about letting you go either. Especially not after seeing what you did to poor Steve after he made you mad."

She shoves me playfully and we're both laughing. "For the record I was mildly annoyed, not mad."

"So I definitely don't want to see you mad then?" I jest and she shakes her head with a smile. God she's got a beautiful smile.

"I can hardly imagine you giving me a reason to be genuinely angry with you," she dismisses and for a brief moment I think back to girls who have cursed me out or walked away after I'd given them very valid reasons to be angry with me. I just know that I can't screw up like that with Ada.

I've never been a womaniser like some other men back at headquarters, Ada's made it clear what she thinks of that, but I'm not exactly a priest either. For a long time I hadn't wanted anything serious, hell most guys my age are married by now, but I was happy enough at the thought of going on how I was and enjoying the attention I got. I didn't feel a need to settle down, or perhaps I just never found the right person to settle down with.

That's something else that changed when I met Ada.

I've always known that someday I'd meet someone and get married, that was never in question, but it had always been a very vague idea of when and who.

Now I know who that someone is, the only question is when.

What I learned in that meeting doesn't change that. What she said shocked me, and if I hadn't been horrified by the brutality of her upbringing before then... Agent Carter had pulled me aside before I could go after her, to explain exactly what they'd done and what it meant for Ada. Peggy had looked me in the eye when she'd finished and without saying another word made it very clear that I had a choice to make.

To let her go gently without making false promises to her, or to accept that part of being with her would mean not having children the way most people do. I'd be lying if I said it was something most men wouldn't care about, and as much as I do want a family of my own someday, the decision was easy for me.

I still took the time before I went and found her to think it through, knowing that I couldn't make empty promises just because I was desperate to keep her, but I also know that blood isn't what makes a family. I know that if we adopted I'd love those kids the same as I would otherwise, because they'd be ours, and so I kept coming back to the same answer for a question I hadn't even realised I'd been asking myself.

That she's the one.

She's the woman I want to marry.

If I told Steve that he'd think I've lost my mind, but I know plenty of men who've run to the alter after knowing their wives for less time than I've known Ada. Even now, I think the only thing that's stopping me from going and buying a ring the moment we get back to London is the fact that she can't get married with the job she has. It would have to wait until the war's done.

"Sweetheart, I can promise you that I'll be trying my best not to," I assure her and she hums happily, smiling as I peck her cheek, and despite promising each other that we wouldn't get carried away out in the field I'll be damned if I don't get five minutes to be like this with her.

She seems to feel the same, leaning in to gently press her lips to mine before offering "I can take over the night watch if you like."

"It's alright," I say, not wanting to admit just how reluctant I am to fall asleep. Not when I'm about to walk back into one of those factories. Not with Hydra so close. "I'll stay up and keep watch, you sleep."

"Who's the supersoldier here?" she says and I playfully roll my eyes before she turns my face back towards her. "I'm not going to be sleeping either way, so I can stay up."

My stomach sinks a little upon realising that she's in the same situation as I am, even if she seems to be handling it better, and so I sigh before bringing her into my arms. "Guess we'll just have to compromise then by both taking the night watch."

"Oh no you're sleeping," she insists, and I know it's because I took watch the other night as well. "I'm watching."

She goes to stand only for me to catch her and pull her down into my lap. "Compromise, remember."

She sighs heavily in defeat, resting her head on my shoulder and looking up at me, our faces a mere inch or two apart. "You're annoying."

"You're stubborn," I counter and her eyes brighten.

"Better get used to it."

"Oh I plan to," I promise her, lacing her fingers with mine. "And what better place than a behind enemy lines?"

Her answer comes with little hesitation. "A bedroom."

"It's a close second," I admit, desperate to have her all to myself. To show her just what she means to me. To wake up with her in my arms. "But that might have to wait a little while."

She looks around in discontent at our surroundings and hums in agreement. "It seems so, but I can wait." She lifts our joined hands up, playing with my fingers before bumping my nose with hers. "Although I dare say I'll be growing significantly more impatient the moment a bedroom with a lock's in reach."

I laugh against her mouth, kissing her softly. "You and me both sweetheart."

She kisses me once more before readjusting herself, moving to sit beside me so we can keep a proper look out now that the men are actually drifting off to sleep.

"So" I begin, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. "Since we're here for the next few hours tell me stuff."

"More of my horrible upbringing?" she jests with a soldier's humour.

"All the little stuff," I say and she tilts her head towards me. "Like what's your favourite colour."

"Blue," she answers and intentionally meets my eye, never failing to make my heart jump like I'm a teenager again.

"Hmm, I like red," I say, looking down at her lips and then to the suit she wears. "Your turn."

She thinks for a moment before asking "Favourite novel."

"The Hobbit," I answer and she smiles.

"I like that one too," she says and looks out into the night sky towards the east, and there's a longing in them that I don't expect. "It's strange, growing up in the Soviet Union you're isolated from Western culture, taught how terrible it all is, and then I'd go to America to spend the summers with my dad and I'd indulge myself in it as much as I could. I'd read all the books that were banned and anything to do with psychology, power and propaganda. I could never get enough of it."

I think I could listen to her going on like this for hours just to hear her talk, to admire that mind she's got, but I still can't help but tease her.

"Ah yes, little miss smarty pants," I say and she scrunches her nose up at me. "Doesn't want to admit she likes fantasy."

"I said I liked it!" she exclaims and I'm smiling at having her all riled up. "But yes, I do like fantasy. It's always been a nice escape."

Her voice turns a little more somber, and god knows she's no doubt needed an escape more than most people. Even after having had the time to process everything she's told me over the past few weeks, I still can't stomach the thought of what they did to her.

I hold her a little closer and have to hide the anxiousness in my voice as I ask "Have you thought about what you'll do with your life once the war's done, once you won't have to escape anymore?"

There's a look of faint amusement in her eye. "Howard had actually asked me something similar earlier in the week."

I can't ignore the pit in my stomach when she mentions him, she'd said they were just friends but she'd neglected to mention just how close they are. It's something that took me by surprise in my first few days working within the SSR headquarters, and the rumours I'd hear about them sure didn't help, but I believe her when she says that she doesn't see him that way.

Still, she admires him and he's not shy about wanting more than just friendship, and she's got to know that even if she chooses to ignore it. Regardless, it doesn't make it sit any easier just how close they are with one another. Especially considering the support he's given her with this contract which is something that I physically can't give her. He's their weapons contractor, an obscenely wealthy man, he has an influence that I don't.

I want to give her everything I can, but sometimes I wonder if everything's enough.

"Doctor Erskine had once asked me the same question as well," she continues and I force myself to ease up before she notices. "Although I was in a far different position then, actually... he'd asked me it after he'd overheard Howard teasing me over this soldier that he'd caught me kissing one night out in New York." I can't help but smile now at the thought of that and she teases "Such a terribly handsome man and such a good kisser too. I do wonder what came of him."

"Lucky for me I guess we'll never know," I jest and she smiles before thinking seriously about the question.

"I- the thing that might be difficult to understand when it comes to how I see the future is that growing up I was told I never had a place in this world," she says and her voice is hoarse. "I was born and raised with one purpose in mind, and if I stayed in the Soviet Union I probably would have been shot dead when I'd outlived that purpose. Hell, the only reason I wasn't was because of the serum."

"Ada," I immediately breathe, trying to refute that, but she just shakes her head.

"It's the truth, my mother told me as much," she says and I'm left speechless. "It's alright, I've come to terms with that part of it, but... until very recently I believed her when she told me I had no place. When I'd had that conversation with Erskine he saw that, and he told me that he hoped that someday I'd believe that I belong in this world. That was one of the last things he'd ever said to me."

For a moment I catch the tears she blinks away, I'd never met the doctor but I can't deny the lasting impact he's had on Steve, and her as well as it seems.

I rub her shoulder, holding her close. "Seems like he was a wise man."

"He was," she says with a pained smile. "He protected me when no one else in the world did, and I'll be forever grateful to him for it." She swallows hard before saying "It- it was Peggy who was able to snap me out of that state of mind when no one else could, because that conditioning... sometimes I wonder if it's ever going to completely go away."

Her eyes are glazed over and she sets her jaw as she looks at the Hydra factory in the distance, in the same way that I've done countless times since we set up camp.

"Between the conditioning I received in Russia and what Hydra did to try to make me more compliant I was never able to imagine a future for myself," she continues. "It physically wasn't possible for me to even dream of it, but Erskine was clever. He asked me about the type of future I imagined for my sister and it was the typical white picket fence sort of life. A family, marriage, kids-" her expression falters slightly and I hold her closer. "To have the freedom to choose whether or not she wants those things rather than have that choice made for her."

"That's what we're fighting for isn't it? So their generation's free to make those choices," I say, but I know for her that choice is more complicated. She was never given one. But, what she's talking about isn't impossible. Even if she believes it is. "And you? What choice would you make?"

She meets my eye and I see the same vulnerability that was there that night in the alleyway, and her voice is quiet, as if someone might take it away if she speaks too loud. "I want it."

She searches my eyes in worry until I cup her face and tell her "I want it too."

I want it with you.

Her eyes widen and she smiles a little, but her lip trembles slightly. "And... would you mind if that family looked different to most people's?"

We spoke about it that night, vaguely and hypothetically, not like this. When two people are trying to figure out what they are to each other marriage and kids aren't usually the first thing they talk about, but it's important to her and I know what I want with her, and she deserves to know it too.

"I'd be happy to adopt," I say with no room for doubt or misinterpretation and tears fill her eyes, a silent question rests on the tip of my tongue.

Can you see that type of future with me? Do I mean to you what you mean to me?

Any questions I have are answered when her lips meet mine and I taste tears. I bring my hand up to wipe them away and she holds it to her face, grasping it tight. I let myself imagine it; a life with her.

I don't think I've ever wanted anything more.

When she pulls back her eyes are bright and she holds my face in her hand, she opens her mouth but words seem to fail her, and she says something else instead. "As for freedom... freedom is something I've never truly had," she tells me, smiling with a tear slipping down her cheek. "I'd like to learn what it's like."

"I might be able to help," I say, wanting to dry those tears. "What do you say, you and me, we go to New York and visit Coney Island?"

She laughs, her accent finally slipping through. "Well I've never been on a rollercoaster so there's a first time for everything."

"Just don't get sick on me now."

"Buck I've jumped from a moving plane into the middle of a warzone. I think I'll be fine on a rollercoaster," she laughs and raises her eyebrows at my surprise. "Supersoldier remember?"

I laugh and kiss her forehead. "How could I forget? You kicked Steve's ass."

"You held yourself better than the rest against Steve," she points out before her brows draw together and she traces my cheekbone. "Strangely well."

"I was a three-time welterweight boxing champion," I remind her and she seems to be contemplating something before she shakes her head and dismisses whatever comes to mind. "And by the looks of it I'll be the one teaching Steve how to fight properly considering he went right from bootcamp to a stage, unless you want to step in for me."

"I'll happily leave Steve's hand to hand training to you," she agrees, gently running the tips of her nails through my hair. "As long as you get some sleep and let me take over watch."

"I don't think so."

"Sleep, you took the watch the other night as well," she orders and I just about groan when she removes my arm from around her. "Now."

I can't help my slightly childish comeback. "No, you."

She raises her eyebrows at me and uses her lecturing voice. "James-"

"Adelina."

"James-"

"Lina."

She blinks in surprise when I call her that, her voice suddenly breathless. "James-"

"Alright I can't argue with you when you sound so good saying my name," I say and pull her close, still keeping an eye on the camp below. "Can we stay like this for a while at least?"

"Fine," she agrees with pretend annoyance before admitting "I like how you say my name too."

"Adelina," I murmur spacing out the syllables. "It's a beautiful name. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

"You're a charmer you know that right?" she laughs softly, colour coming to her face.

"I know," I assure her, as if she's any less of one. "And you- I don't even have words to describe you, but I know what I want you to be."

"And what's that, James?"

I tilt her chin towards me, meeting her eye. "Mine."

"Well then you're an idiot," she says, and leaves me in suspense for only a moment. "Because I already am."

My heart skips a beat and I bring her hand up to my lips, kissing it softly as I swear "And I'm yours."

She leans in to kiss me before she rests her head on my shoulder, and I hold her close as we look north towards the factory, not knowing what the morning will bring.

By the time Steve comes to take over the second half of the night watch she's asleep on my shoulder and he raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"I was wondering where she was, seems I guessed right."

She's still sound asleep, her breathing steady, but then again I'm not the only one who's been on alert since we landed here.

And it's because she's still asleep that I say "I'm in love with her, Steve."

He doesn't know what to say for a moment, having to take a moment to comprehend what I've said, because in all the years we've known one another I don't think I've ever said anything like that to him before.

"You barely know her."

I could say the same thing to him about Agent Carter, but I don't.

"I love her," I say again and he nods slowly, seeming more concerned than anything else.

"Get some sleep, Buck," he says and she begins to stir. "You'll need it."

Slowly she lifts her head and looks at Steve through narrow eyes, still half asleep, until suddenly they widen in alarm and she reaches for the knife in her belt and I'm grabbing her wrist.

"Woah, woah," I say while Steve steps back in alarm and she exhales shakily, looking around at the environment before slowly sheathing the knife. "It's alright."

Her breathing's unsteady and she presses her eyes shut, my heart pounding in alarm. "Sorry, I just- the last time I was somewhere like this I had to sleep with both eyes open."

She hasn't said much about the time she spent in Europe after she escaped Russia, but she was crossing enemy territory while trying to keep herself and a kid alive. That says enough.

"Come on sweetheart, let's go back down by the fire and try to get some sleep before morning, Steve's taking over watch,"

She nods in agreement and lets me help her to her feet, holding onto my hand as we begin making our way back down the hill and Steve watches her in concern. I give him a quiet nod, telling him that I've got her, and the men are still asleep when we make our way down by the fire.

"I'm okay," she says quietly, her breathing having steadied slightly. "Let's- let's sleep."

I nod and take my rucksack, lying down first with it beneath my head and I open my arms for her in a silent offer which she quickly accepts, laying down beside me and resting her head on my chest- just above my beating heart.

"Sweet dreams, Lina," I murmur, and she exhales in a way that's somewhere between a laugh and a scoff, but still she takes my hand and holds it close.

"Sweet dreams, Buck."

I kiss her forehead and hold her close, not caring one bit what the guys will think when they wake up to see us like this, not when I have her in my arms.

~

Ada

The next morning Bucky's positioned on the ridge with his sniper rifle as we close in on the base. I'd woken up in his arms, and I just pray to god that it won't be the last time. The boys will bust in guns blazes as they do, while I take advatage of that distraction to infiltrate and gain what intel I can.

With my silenced pistol in hand I find my way in through one of the now abandoned back entrances since all troops are rushing towards the fight. The factory is smaller than the one Steve and I infiltrated, far smaller thankfully, and since we strategically placed detonators beneath the surround tanks before making our attack that's one less issue we have to worry about.

I work my way through the halls, clearing them as I go in search of any sign that Zola's been conducting his experiments here but unfortunately there's no sign of him or Schmidt. I'd hypothesised that they would have relocated to a base closer to the Reich, and unfortunately it seems I'm correct.

Even so, I just need one officer who knows where they may be.

And so I make my way to the top floor to the operations room where the chief officer overseeing operations will no doubt be monitoring the situation below from the security systems. Killing everyone in that room is one thing, that's easy enough, but killing everyone except for that officer and ensuring that he doesn't bite down on a cyanide pill before I can subdue him is another.

An armed guard stands by the door, and I can rely on his helmet blocking his peripheral vision enough for me to round the corner and take him down with a silenced bullet, rushing forward to grab his body before it can make an impact with the ground and alert anyone inside.

Slowly I lower the body to ground and stand with my back to the closed door, listening to get an approximation of the number of people inside. It's a small factory, and I can assume that there may be two or three technicians inside with the officer. Technicians that are unlikely to be armed with anything but a side arm.

And so I bust in, immediately reaching for the officer and kicking his legs out beneath him as I take out the technicians in a quick succession of headshots, and I have the officer in a headlock before their bodies have hit the ground.

He struggles against my hold as I reach into his breast pocket, digging until I find the cyanide pill and throw it aside with a spiteful smirk "You won't be needing that."

He struggles, reaching in vain for his side arm that I grab and use to put a bullet in his foot, tightening my hold on him until he loses consciousness. The moment he falls limp I let him go and shut the door, barring it to keep out any surprise attacks before I strip the officer of most of his clothing to ensure he doesn't have another hidden cyanide pill, binding his wrists and ankles. I crush the cyanide pill beneath my boot on my way out, holstering my smaller silenced pistol in exchange for my heavy fire pistols and make my way to the fight.

By the time I locate the action I come up behind the line of Hydra soldiers being pushed back, with the Howling Commandos fighting their way through. Bucky's entered the fight with his submachine gun now that the fight's moved inside the building. I reach into my belt for a grenade and moments later their defensive line is broken, allowing the unit to isolate and surround the remaining soldiers.

As expected, none surrender.

Once it's done Bucky looks around and nods to himself, seeming relatively alright considering he's back in a Hydra base, and he looks over at me standing across the room, relief crossing his face. It's then I catch a flicker of movement from the open doorway he stands in front of and the men are jumping at the sound of a bullet being fired. They look to see me with my pistol raised and then at the dead Hydra soldier behind Bucky, his own pistol still in hand.

"Shit," Morita says. "That could've been bad."

Bucky huffs something that sounds almost like a laugh, giving me a thankful nod as Dernier asks "Can we set the explosives?"

"Set them, but first I want you to clear the building," I instruct and I look over at Steve to find him breathing heavily, his jaw clenched as he looks around the room and then down to a splatter of blood on his suit. "Steve." He jolts a little when he hears my voice but it snaps him out of it. "I have an officer unconscious upstairs, follow me up. You too Bucky."

The men get to work and I hear Bucky checking in with Steve who gives him an assuring nod before they follow me through the building, Steve with his shield raised and Bucky with his rifle positioned at his shoulder.

"I took out any soldiers that still guarded the back entrance, so it should be clear but keep an eye out," I tell them. "They seem to have been using this building as a warehouse rather than an operational factory. I couldn't find any evidence of prisoners either."

"Still can't be the warehouse they shipped the parts to from that other factory," Bucky says in frustration. "Different types of parts and definitely not the amount we'd been putting together."

"That's alright, I've got someone who might know where they were shipping too," I say and they both blink in surprise when they enter the room to find the officer tied up and unconscious, although Steve isn't so certain.

"Is he dead?"

"No, he'll wake up soon enough once he gets some more oxygen to the brain," I say matter of factly and explain "You have to keep them in the headlock after they pass out to kill them."

"You choked this guy out?" Steve exclaims, looking between myself and the larger man.

"Would you like a personal demonstration of how I did it?"

"No, no I do not," he says quickly and Bucky bends down to test the bindings around the officers hands and feet, taking a pulse just to be sure. He sees the bullet wound in his foot but doesn't comment on it.

"He didn't try to take cyanide then?" Bucky asks, a little confused when he takes in the officer's state of undress and the clothes on the ground.

"Oh no he had cyanide, I just had him in a headlock before he had the chance to take it," I say and he nods, quietly impressed. "And I stripped him down in case he had another pill stashed somewhere else in his uniform since most suicides occur during prisoner transport when they're left alone for two seconds."

"Huh," Bucky says while Steve grimaces.

"So, you boys wanna drag him out or should I?"

"Down three flights of stairs?" Steve questions.

"Well you could drop him down but then you would kill him," I counter and Bucky picks up the feet, nodding for Steve to grab him by the shoulders. "I'm going to take what files I can before Dernier decides to light this place up, when you get down there can you ask the boys to come and help carry some of these filing cabinets to the truck?"

"Sure thing, sweetheart," Bucky says as he lifts up the officer's legs and remarks "This guy's not as heavy as I thought he'd be."

"Well I am carrying the top half of him," Steve points out and I watch as they awkwardly make their way out the door with him, hearing them in the hallway "Are you going down the stairs backwards or am I?"

I shake my head with a chuckle and take my time to study the officer's desk, picking up a framed photograph of a woman and a child and removing the back of the frame to find their names written on the back of the picture. Frieda and Adolf. I make an audible sound of disgust at their son's name and take the photograph so I can use it as leverage during interrogation.

Knowing that the files I collect will be given to operatives in London I hastily flick my way through them, desperate for any information regarding my mothers involvement with Hydra. An answer to the question I fear. Is she still working with them despite the fact that it would be treason?

The only files on hand are relevant to the factory and its operations, with no record of Zola's experimentations or any possible connection to her. The information within will be of use to the SSR, but not to me.

"Lina?" I hear Bucky say and I look over my shoulder. "Steve's got him in the truck, he's woken up but he isn't putting up a fight. The others will be up here to bring the files down after they've finished setting the explosives, then we'll set the place to blow."

"A successful mission then," I say and he comes over to see what I'm looking at. "There's nothing on Zola, but I'll see what I can learn when I interrogate the officer."

He nods with his hand on my waist and asks "You'll be the one interrogating him?"

"It's what I was trained to do," I say, even if it'll be under far different conditions to what I'm accustomed to. "Phillips will want us back in London as soon as possible so they can get the intel and the prisoner, so we'll drive back out to the main camp and organise a flight back."

He nods again, quiet for a moment before he says "We'll be taking out each of the locations on that map, what will you do when we eventually run into Zola?"

"Things that Steve won't approve of," I answer quietly and meet his eye, mentally recalling my conversation with Peggy. "But it'll still be nothing compared to what Zola's done."

"They'll want us to take him prisoner," he says roughly, his tone indicating that he won't mind what I do either way.

"I don't intend for him to have a quick death," is all I say before the rest of the men come in and I step aside. "Take the filing cabinets and bring them to the truck, then we're going back to the main camp."

"Yes ma'am," they say and I watch as they take the files out of the room, leaving it almost bare and Bucky takes note of my frustration.

"We'll get Zola," he promises me, bringing his hand up to squeeze my shoulder as he guides me out of the room. "We won't let him get away."

I nod slowly and take a moment to look at him, allowing myself to feel relief that he's alright despite the blood on his boots, but as long as it's not his that's all I care about.

~

Two days later we're back in London, and per instruction I've kept my distance from the prisoner until now. To allow them to conduct the proper processes and do this by the book.

"Now, considering we know how Soviets do things let me reiterate that we do not do things like the Soviets," Phillips says to me within his office. "You cannot so much as lay a hand on this prisoner, and if you're as good as you say you are then you won't have to."

"Can I have a revolver?" I ask and he sighs before nodding.

"Yes, as long as you don't pistol whip or put a bullet in him," he says, permitting a certain level of psychological manipulation. "Do what you do, just don't break the Geneva convention. Unlike in the east there's standards we need to follow when it comes to prisoners of war."

"I don't enjoy unnecessary violence," I say but he raises his eyebrows doubtfully.

"Now we both know that's bullshit," he says and informs me "Agent Carter will be going with you to oversee the interrogation."

"Fine by me," I say and an hour later we're being brought to the POW facility where the officer's being kept, Peggy and I sitting together in the backseat of a car.

"So, how was your first sanctioned mission in the field?"

"I underestimated how little patience I have," I admit to her and she chuckles knowingly. "I did throw Steve on his ass though."

Her eyes widen and she chokes a little. "Why?"

"To prove a point," I say and she doesn't have any argument with my methods there at least. "And before you ask, yes, I was highly responsible considering the... circumstances within the team."

I can't say that I was before we left London but that's a different story.

She raises her eyebrows, neither of us stating the situation with Bucky explicitly when the driver of the car is SSR. "I'm glad to hear it, by all accounts the mission was a success beyond anything we expected considering the intel you collected."

"It was," I say proudly, even Phillips had to begrudgingly admit it. "And I'll continue to make them regret not putting me to work sooner."

She smiles proudly and there's so much I want to tell her, but I know it will have to wait until we're alone in our shared room. Even now I feel the urge to cry when I recall Bucky's words to me, that he'd be happy to adopt, and with it the silent promise that he sees the same future that I do.

A future together.

We enter the facility and are directed to the interrogation room where the prisoner's been brought and we look at him through the double sided glass that Peggy will be watching through.

"Now, Peg," I say, lowering my voice. "You won't like what you're going to see. It won't break any laws, but you still won't be happy about it."

She's apprehensive now and her voice is still "Just get the information that we need, because you might have been able to capture this one but there's no promises that we'll be able to secure another prisoner this high ranking."

I give a nod and enter the room, the prisoner immediately sitting upright at the sight of me. The way his eyes widen tells me everything that I need to know, that he remembers.

"I'm Agent Morgan, I work for the Office of Strategic Services," I tell him considering the SSR is a classified division, following the appropriate procedur and speaking in German. "However you would know me as Adelina Vetrova, the Red Widow."

He swallows hard. "You shot me."

"I did," I say proudly and ask "Have you been treated as a prisoner of war would be by Germany?" He doesn't answer that and I hum, circling the table he's shackled too. "It is Nazi policy to shoot female Soviet prisoners of war is it not? I imagine this situation must be quite humiliating for you."

He simmers in his seat while I smile, refusing to speak.

"Although in the east you do tend to kill surrendering soldiers, especially if they even appear to be Jewish. I've witnessed such massacres first hand after all," I continue and he slowly pales. "The SS and the Gestapo torture prisoners of war, yes?" Again he does not speak and I say "So does the Soviet Union, although its greatest victims may just be its own people. Doctor Erskine had once told me that the first country the Nazis invaded was their own, and that could also be said for the Stalin and the NKVD."

"You would know all about that," he finally says and I come to stand in front of him, taking the revolver hidden beneath the jacket of my dress uniform and placing it on the table.

"Yes, I do."

Still he remains defiant. "This is not the Soviet Union, and your government opposes the execution of prisoners of war. Publically at least."

"Precisely," I say and his eyes widen. "It's not like anyone would say a word if I did. You'd be familiar with such processes." He watches in apprehension as I take my revolver, spinning the chamber. "It's also illegal to rape and butcher civilians but the Nazis have no reservations about that, well, at least not in the East."

He turns paler, but still insists "That land belongs to the Reich, land that was taken by the Treaty of Versailles, and as such we may do as we see-"

"I don't give a shit about what you say the Treaty of Versailles took from you," I state rather frankly and his jaw drops in offence. "Those territories never belonged to the Reich, they were forcefully annexed."

"You are Russian, by that logic you are saying that the Baltic States don't belong to the Soviet Union."

"Agreed," I say and he only grows more frustrated. "The day the Soviet Union falls I fill weep with joy, just as I will the day the Nazis are defeated."

He shakes his head disapprovingly. "Stalin would put a bullet in your head for those words."

"Yes, he would," I agree, although I know my death would not be so quick. "But not before I live to see the Reich fall. You might behave yourselves in France and pretend that you follow the rules of war, but those east of the Reich know the truth and so will the rest of the world once this war is done and you and the rest of your ranks are put on trial."

He just scoffs. "Do you think your own soldiers don't do the same? Just ask the Italian women what they think of the mighty Allied nations, or any woman from annexed Soviet territory what they think of the Russians. Tell me, were you part of the NKVD force that patrolled East Poland in 1939? Our countries were still allies then after all."

"No," I say firmly, my hand tightening around the revolver. "And I have no false illusions about the crimes committed by all sides of this war, and if I caught a member of my own unit participating I'd shoot them dead on sight."

"So you draw the line at rape, but not the murder of innocents?" he mocks and the longer he speaks the longer any mercy I had fades. "Tell me, how many lives has the famous Red Widow taken? The lives of innocent men, women, children..."

He watches as I flick the hammer at the back of the revolver and I half expect Peggy to come in, but she doesn't, and so I continue with a change of strategy.

"As a woman I could imagine nothing worse, marrying a man and having his child, sending him off to war believing with my whole heart that he's doing the right thing, not knowing the truth of what so many soldiers do," I continue, feeling the photograph inside my jacket pocket. "Perhaps once I was even naive enough to believe that Soviet soldiers didn't partake in such things until I saw with my own eyes the true barbarism of both the Red Army and the Nazis and learned that we truly are just all animals at our core. Animals whose primary instinct is to protect our own."

"Except for your mother of course," he says and I don't allow my surprise to betray me, and I listen as he gives me precisely what I'm seeking. "I was shocked when she actually retrieved the Jewish girl from Zola's custody." Slowly my blood turns cold at having confirmation that they identified her. "I had not been part of the operation that extracted her, but it had been my operational facility she was brought to before she was transported to that factory your men destroyed several weeks ago. All of this was off the record of course." He studies my face, but no amount of training could hide the rage in my bones. "You want to know what they did to her, if she was harmed?"

I remain silent, and he gives me the answer that brings equal relief and heartbreak.

"Our soldiers were smart enough to not rape the child sister of the Red Widow, but your mother happily allowed Zola to conduct his experiments in exchange for her eventual return to the Soviet Union. A private arrangement, but not a new one."

I feel the revolver in my hand and I know Peggy is waiting on the other side of that glass, prepared to intervene at any moment, and so I pull out something that can wound more than any weapon could.

His body freezes at the sight of the photograph, but any apprehension I'd had about bringing his family into this is long gone. "Your wife Frieda is very beautiful, blonde and blue eyed, Hitler must love her I'm sure. And your son Adolf appears to be the same age as my sister, an unfortunate name indeed."

He chokes up. "He is named after the Fuhrer."

"Precisely," I say and he scowls. "Although I don't see a mustache-"

"Do not mock the Fuhrer."

"I'll mock who I like," I say and remark "I've never approved of corpses being displayed for public ridicule but I would make an exception in Hitler's case."

He tries to hit a nerve that was severed along ago. "Would you mock Stalin?"

"Ah, Stalin. God knows every man and woman in the military fears him. I cannot count how many officers I've seen shot dead on impulse without trial for merely displeasing him, or how many of those executions I've carried out myself. I imagine it must be the same for Hitler and his inner circle." He remains silent, a telling sign, and I smile to myself. "You know my background, so you know what I've done. I killed many enemies of Stalin, but I also witnessed what was done to their families. I take no joy in killing innocents, but I know many in the Gestapo would take considerable joy in it."

"Hitler rewards loyalty," he tells me. "As long as I serve the Reich I have nothing to fear."

"Except for me," I say with a smile. "I know ways to leak information to the Gestapo, whether that intel is true or not doesn't matter to them considering they have quotas to fill. I have a very long list of questions for you, so let's make this simple. If you answer me honestly I will ensure the Gestapo believes you haven't breathed a word against them, that you are unwaveringly loyal to your Fuhrer and to Hydra, but if you decide to be obstinate then I will ensure that they believe you're a traitor to the Reich and your family will pay in blood for it."

He clenches his jaw in one final moment of defiance. "Hail Hyd-" he flinches when I fire a bullet directly beside his head, close enough that he can feel the breeze of the discharge and that defiance immediately disappears following the shock to his system.

"Whoops, my finger slipped," I say with a laugh. 'Silly me."

He sits there shaken and afraid, and so I lean over the desk and ask him "The lives of your wife and son, or Hydra? It is your choice but if you refuse to cooperate I will ensure they have enough fabricated evidence against you and your family to execute the lot of you regardless of the answer you give me."

He remains silent, but his resolve wavers.

"Their lives are in your hands," I reiterate and push the photograph forward. "It's your choice, and if you do not choose I'll make the decision for you." The quiver of his lip answers for him and I ask "Schmidt and Zola. Tell me everything that you know."

~

Two hours later I leave the interrogation room with an almost full notebook, and yet we're only a fraction closer to finding Zola and Schmidt. Their current location is unknown and I have half a dozen more locations to add to the map. As expected he was unfortunately ignorant of the aims of Zola's recent experimentation and what was done to Bucky in that lab.

While it's not a personal victory, the intelligence acquired will be invaluable to the SSR, but Peggy won't meet my eye when I pass her the notebook and she utters only a few words "You threatened to have a child murdered."

I nod slowly, but the image of my sister covered in blood and brains is still scarred into my mind. "I did, and I dare say I'll do it again before the war's done." Finally she looks at me with her arms crossed over her chest in pure apprehension, staying silent as I argue "Don't expect me to take the moral high ground with men like him. They were empty threats, but he had to believe them."

She repeats herself, her voice grave. "You threatened to have a child murdered."

I search her eyes, realising that despite all her research she truly doesn't know the extent of what I've done. She doesn't know I've done far worse than just make empty threats to have a child killed. She knows of what I've done to Soviet Officers, to grown men, but not the rest. Slowly I see the realisation and I look at my best friend, seeing someone I've tried to forget reflected back in her horrified eyes.

"I was six years old the first time they put a gun in my hand and told me to shoot a man with a bag over his head," I tell her, needing her to understand even if she never wants to speak to me again. "I was seven when they made me strangle my best friend to death after I was beaten bloody because I was too weak to break her neck. I've been killing children since I was one." She turns horribly pale and her lips part in shock. "Then when I was put into the field I knew every time I pulled the trigger that if I hesitated they'd suffer a slow death and I'd be compromised." And I say the same thing that I'll be telling myself until the day that I die. "I didn't have a choice."

But a quiet voice in the back of my mind whispers that I still did it.

She opens her mouth but no words come out, and I give a stiff nod before moving past her with my dignity until she reaches for my wrist to stop me from leaving, pulling me back just as I reach for the door of the viewing room we find ourselves alone in.

"Ada," she says, her voice thick with unexpected emotion, and I refuse to look at her despite her pleading. "Adelina."

I pull against her, but stop when she reaches for my face and forces me to look at her, her other hand still wrapped around my wrist. My breathing's uneven as I hold her eye, fighting desperately to conceal the tremble in my body, but she knows me too well.

Upon seeing the panic in my eye she releases my wrist and instead her hand slips down to hold mine, grasping it tight while I try to shrink away from her, but I can't when she has me cornered between her and the door. When her thumb moves along my jaw my heart pounds in fear, and I have to remind myself that she isn't physically strong enough to break my neck, even if she was she wouldn't know the right way to do it.

Even so, that fear doesn't fade nor does the pounding in my heart. Not fear of her, no, it would be misplaced if it was in response to any threat she posed. Instead it's the fear of something far more delicate falling into ruin, a fear that's new to me and yet seems to permeate every moment of my life these days.

The fear of being scorned and abandoned by those I've grown to love.

"Ada," she says slowly, her eyes wide with concern now at my current state. Not knowing that the only times I've had a woman's hand touching my neck like this is when we were trying to kill one another. "I am not afraid of you."

"No, not afraid," I say, knowing that Peggy is rarely ever that. "But you're disgusted."

She searches my eyes before carefully saying "You are a product of your environment, raised to believe that even the most extreme acts are necessary, because you were fighting for your life from when you were a child and that violence was all you knew. Your first response to a threat is to take the most extreme action on hand to cut the head of the snake before you even know if it's venomous because you were raised amongst the most lethal."

I'm silent, holding my breath as she holds my head still and grasps my hand tight.

"You aren't the only one who's done things that they aren't proud of in this line of work," she reveals and I search her eyes, finding only truth in them. "But I need you to look around. You are not in the Red Room, you are not actively fighting for your life. This is not kill or be killed. You aren't going to be beaten or starved or whatever else they did to you just because it might have taken a few more sessions to wear him down. We are fighting a war, yes, but threatening innocents will not get us any closer to ending it." She hesitates before saying "It won't bring you any closer to getting your sister back."

I'm forcing back tears now, still defiant. "And how many deaths do you think that man has been responsible for-"

"When I came to interrogate you I could have easily walked into that room with a revolver and threatened the life of your sister if you refused to cooperate, but I didn't," she says firmly, a harsh reminder of my place. "You would have no doubt found some way to kill me where I stood if I had."

I swallow hard before confirming "Yes, I would have."

Her red lips part, but aside from that the revelation doesn't seem to phase her. "Which is why I am asking you to show the same courtesy to prisoners in the custody of the SSR that I showed to you. Yes he is an evil man, that I do not doubt, but it is not for you to decide his punishment. Your work is done now. You have been my responsibility since the moment I met you, and it is my responsibility to ensure that you do not take these matters further than necessary."

My throat tightens and the only takeaway I have from those words is "Your responsibility?"

"Ada," she says softly, desperation creeping into her voice. "You know what you mean to me, but two things can be true." She looks down at our joined hands before reluctantly informing me "I'm going to recommend to the colonel that you aren't to act as an interrogator unless the situation is dire."

"I don't care about that," I say weakly when I feel her moving to let go of my hand, instead, pulling her closer by her waist and struggling for words. "Peg... I was a very different person before I met you."

"I know," she says gently, stroking my cheek. "And you don't have to be that person anymore Ada. You're free." Slowly she eases my ragged breathing. "You aren't going to be on the other side of that glass again. I've known your past from the start, and I swear to you that I'm not going to turn my back on you now, I just want to make sure that you stay free." I'm blinking away tears as she looks me in the eye and says "You're my best friend, and you're more important to me than you could ever know."

I inhale shakily and she brings me into her arms, my voice trembling "I love you, Peg."

"I love you too," she says and I hold her tight, breathing in the familiar scent of her perfume. "And I'm proud of how far you've come."

I pull back with an emotional smile, still holding her by the waist. "You know, everyone keeps asking me what I want to do when all of this is over. Howard's trying to recruit me into whatever madness he's going to be putting together and Bucky... he told me that he's happy to adopt." Her eyes widen and she smiles for me, knowing how much that means to me. "And I just- all I know is that I don't want to lose this... this family. You, Howard, Bucky... even Steve."

"I can't speak for anyone else," she says honestly. "But you'll always have me."

And so I bring her into my arms one more time before we make our way back to headquarters arm in arm, each of us blushing slightly when we enter to find Steve and Bucky near the entrance as if they'd been conveniently waiting there in the chance of running into us.

Steve looks at Bucky expectantly who clears his throat and asks "So, would you ladies care for a double date out to the pub tonight?"

Peggy raises her eyebrows at the audacity and she says "If Captain Rogers would like to ask me when this is all over then I may just consider it."

Peggy leaves me with them and I shake my head at the pair of them before warning "It might take more than a fortnight to get back in her good graces after accusing her of sleeping with Howard."

He presses his lips together, visibly kicking himself. "Yeah, that's what I thought, but in my defence I really thought that was what fondue meant."

Bucky shakes his head as well now and gives him a comforting pat on the back. "It's alright, there's always other-" he catches my expression and quickly corrects himself. "Just keep working at it and don't go near anyone else and you two should be fine in no time."

I hum in agreement, before turning my attention to Bucky. "I believe I have a meeting with the colonel tonight, although if Sergeant Barnes would like to escort me to church in the morning I wouldn't be opposed."

"To church?" he says slightly incredulously but can't argue with the fact that we certainly need it. "I'd be honoured, agent."

I smile, subtly squeezing his hand as I move past them to step inside the building, knowing that he and I still need to find some excuse to sneak away together for a night. Until then an outing as innocent as church will have to do in the meantime just to spend a few hours almost alone with him.