𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝

The Quinjet soars through the air with Steve at the wheel and I look out the window. I notice Tony and Rhodey chasing after us, Sam flying behind them. Sam shoots at them but they dodge the blasts easily.

A bright yellow beam shoots through the sky headed straight for Sam and my heart drops.

"Come on, Sam" I mumble under my breath in worry.

The man dodges the laser and it instead hits Rhodey in the chest. His suit malfunctions and he starts falling towards the ground.

"Rhodey" I gasp, my eyes widening in horror.

I watch Rhodey's suit hit the ground before we get too far away to see anything at all.

I sit down at the back of the jet and my mind wanders to Tony's earlier words.

"Maybe we can still be friends after all this, Novikov"

Something tells me that it'll be a long time before Tony and I are ever friends again, making me frown sadly. Tony and Pepper were some of the first people to accept me into their home and offer me friendship after I escaped HYDRA. Of course the Stark man would make comments and tease me as often as possible, but I did it right back.

Our friendship grew from a mutual decision to insult each other at any chance we can, much like Sam and I. Although Sam and I fight more like siblings where as Tony and I argue like a father would with his daughter. I don't mean to be incredibly cheesy when I say that I've only ever had one father figure in my life and he made it perfectly clear how he feels about me, but Tony treated me like a daughter, or at least a niece.

I feel somebody sit down next to me but I don't look up, knowing that it's James.

"Are you in a mood right now?" James asks me.

"Why? What did you do?" I groan.

"I didn't do anything" He shrugs.

"Then what do you want?" I ask in confusion.

"I want to hold your hand" He admits and I look at him in surprise.

"You want to hold my hand?" I smile warmly.

"Just hold my hand, dammit" He huffs, holding out his hand.

I grab his hand and intertwine our fingers, leaning my head on his shoulder.

"Do you remember me?" I ask curiously, rubbing my thumb over his knuckles.

"I remember a little. But the way I feel has never left me" He answers and I furrow my brows in confusion.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I didn't know your name or who you were, but I knew that you were mine. I didn't want to hurt you, even when they ordered me to. You were stuck in my head" He explains and I grin, looking up at him.

"Yours?" I question him.

"Yeah, you're mine. It just feels right" He nods with a grin.

"I like the sound of it" I hum, squeezing his hand gently.

"I'm glad" James sighs, placing a light kiss on my head.

We sit in still comfortable silence, neither of the three of us making any attempt at starting a conversation knowing that we would all rather be quiet.

I notice James roll his metal shoulder as if it's in pain and I frown.

♔ flashback ♔

I numbly drag my body towards my cell of a room, feeling exhausted and beaten. As I enter the room I find James sitting down on my bed, angrily clawing at his metal shoulder. My expressionless face morphs into a look of sadness and I quietly close the door behind me.

"James" I speak up but he only claws harder with a frustrated grunt, trying to pry the metal arm off "James, stop that"

"I want it off, Stas. Get it off" He tells me desperately, eyes filled with tears as he battles to rid himself of the mechanic arm.

I walk over to him and pull his hand away from the metal before grabbing his chin, making him look up at me.

"You're hurting yourself" I frown in concern and a tear rolls down his cheek.

"Help me" He pleads, gently grabbing my wrist with his flesh hand before moving it to his bloody metal shoulder.

"I won't help you pull off your arm" I object in disbelief.

"It's not mine. It's theirs" He retorts in anger, glaring at no one particular through his tears.

I sigh softly and climb onto his lap, straddling him and cupping his face in my hands.

"Listen, I know that it's not ideal...but it's all we have to work with right now, okay?" I tell him sympathetically and he nods sadly.

"I just- I don't want to hurt you, doll" He whispers fearfully, holding my waist with his flesh hand while his metal hand stays by his side.

I carefully reach out and take his metal wrist in my grip, causing him to flinch. He watches me in worry as I lift his hand up to cup my cheek before nuzzling into the metal with a warm smile on my lips.

"I'm not afraid of you, James" I assure him and he relaxes under my touch "I know that you would never hurt me"

He smiles at me weakly and I kiss the metal palm before placing it on my waist. I wrap my arms around his neck and place a few soft kisses to his cheeks, making him smile wider and pull me closer into a hug. He lays back and I peck his forehead before snuggling into his arms.

♔ end of flashback ♔

"Are you okay?" I ask the man quietly and he looks down at me.

"Yeah. My shoulder just took a hit" James shrugs.

Using my free right hand, I reach over and gently pull the shoulder of his jacket aside to see the scarred skin attached to his metal arm is beginning to bruise. I turn my head and realise how close our faces are, our noses almost touching.

"Sorry" I apologise, pulling away from the man.

"I don't mind" He assures me, squeezing my hand lightly.

I smile softly, my eyes turning to Steve who's eyes are on the windshield but I can tell his mind is elsewhere.

"What's gonna happen to your friends?" James asks and Steve lets out a sigh.

"Whatever it is...I'll deal with it" Steve declares.

"I don't know if I'm worth all this, Steve" James frowns.

"James" I drawl off and he lets go of my hand, a guilty look on his face.

"What you did all those years...it wasn't you" Steve tells the dark haired man "You didn't have a choice"

"I know" James replies, looking at his childhood friend "But I did it"