Bucky knew you wouldn't speak to him straight away. He knew you would be internally fighting your thoughts, trying to figure out what the hell to do next. He didn't mind. He'd been patient so far, he could wait a little longer.

He knew that you didn't regret having sex with him. The next day when he accompanied you through the limited areas of the compound, he could see it on your face that you didn't regret it. He saw the way your eyes glossed over when he looked you up and down after you opened the lab door. Bucky saw how your hand lingered on his chest when you stumbled in the hallway and he caught you. He heard how your heart sped up, but resisted the urge to smirk until he'd let go of you and started walking again. He saw you interact minimally with Nick, keeping him at much more of a distance than you had before.

So, he was being patient. One of these days, you'd either shout at him again, or kiss him. Either way, you'd both crossed the line that he'd been wanting to cross since he first met you.

Nick ended up leaving two days after that night, much to Bucky's delight, after he learnt of Tony's next tactic and realised that he wouldn't be much help. At the next evening meeting, the team were sitting around the table, and you and Bucky were standing by the wall. Not talking to each other, not even standing particularly close. But you were very, aware of his presence.

You still hadn't worked out your situation with Bucky, but you knew there were two ways it could go. You didn't know which outcome you wanted anymore.

You kept remembering what he said when you were both on the bed. 'Keep your secrets. Keep hating me, I don't give a shit.'

As the days had gone on, you felt more and more guilty as the sentence replayed in your mind. After what Nat said, you'd been thinking about what he must have gone through, because you knew Hydra, and you knew what they were capable of. He wasn't a mind-numbed idiot that fell under their propaganda of a better tomorrow. He wasn't a willing participant. He wasn't in control. He was a lab rat to them, just like they wanted you to be.

He still irked you as a person, because he was arrogant, closed off, stubborn, and commanding. But you didn't think you hated him as much anymore. Although you were starting to hate the fact that every time you looked at him, he was looking at you. Watching you. Like he was waiting for you to do something, but you really had no idea what to do next.

Other than kiss him.

Tony had been rambling on for a while before you realised you hadn't taken in a word of what he'd said. You hoped Bucky had, considering he was responsible for you now. You didn't like the lack of autonomy.

You refocused on the room when the team started getting out of their chairs and leaving the room. Tony walked up to you and Bucky.

"You all ready?" He asked you.

"I...yes?" You answered, hoping that was the right answer. Ready in terms of everything? Or ready to do whatever he was rambling about?

"Good, as soon as you give the word, we'll get it all in motion."

Tony walked away before you could ask what he was talking about. Were you going somewhere? Was something else happening? You looked to Bucky who just nodded to the door, then started walking. Well, Bucky clearly knew what was going on, so you just followed, letting him lead you to your room.

Once you were inside, the whole journey having been silent, you stood aimlessly by your bed while Bucky stood in the doorway. He had his arms folded over his chest, his shoulders practically touching each side of the doorframe, and he watched you. You played with your tongue.

"What's wrong?" He asked after a minute or so. God, that was the question wasn't it?

"Uh..." You started, before looking around. "What am I supposed to be doing?"

Bucky started to smile, before he caught it, and set his mouth back into a straight line.

"You weren't listening." He clarified.

"It's not like I have a say in what happens to me anymore, so why should I?" You huffed. He chuckled, his arms dropping and stepping into your room. He went to your closet, pulling out a suitcase, and threw it on the bed.

"We pack. We're leaving today. Going to a safehouse." He said simply. You nodded, and walked over to your drawers, pausing as an onslaught of memories flooded your brain.

His mouth on your neck, his body pushing against yours as he-

"Need any help?" Came his husky voice in your ear. You felt yourself tense, your skin erupting in goosebumps, his chest grazing your back ever so slightly.

You swallowed. Inhaled. His fingers grazed the back of your arm.

You shook your head.

Not now. Not here.

You pulled the first drawer out, stepping back, subtly pushing him away, and grabbed whatever clothes were on top. You turned and threw them in the suitcase, then moved to the second drawer.

He watched you, not helping in the slightest, because the show before him was far more entertaining. Hearing your breathing speed up, your heart drumming in your chest. He could smell the sweat on your skin, as you stressed about moving around him without acknowledging him.

After you got the final things out of the bathroom, you zipped your suitcase shut, and breathed out what felt like your first full breath since you walked into this room. You rested your hand on the top of the suitcase, not looking at him.

"What now?" You whispered, fully aware that he was watching you.

"We leave." Was his response. You pulled the suitcase off the bed, and headed to the door, seeing him pick up a backpack on his way.

"What's that?" You asked, pointing at it when he turned around.

"My things."

"It's tiny."

"I don't need much." He said, and you definitely didn't miss his eyes moving down to your lips briefly.

Without another word, he led you out of the lab to the elevator, and you automatically moved to the corner, and Bucky automatically moved in front of you, pressing the button to the ground floor. The elevator doors shut with no interruption, and no other sound present.

The doors opened again when they reached the garage, a time limited access granted for the team only, closed off to the rest of Stark employees. The team were already there, loading bags and boxes of weapons into cars, glancing at you briefly as you walked in with Bucky.

Steve offered you a small nod, Sam smiled a little. You nodded back to each of them, letting Bucky lead you to the third car from the front. A standard black 4x4 with tinted windows, different to the others, which were all various types of hatchbacks. Deliberately chosen to be less conspicuous than 5 identical cars following each other. Tony was watching Happy pack his own car in front of yours. It all seemed very solemn, like something really bad was going to happen.

You went to the boot, it lifting up automatically as you approached, and put your suitcase in. Bucky threw his backpack beside it, then his hand was on the small of your back, guiding you round the car to the passenger seat door.

You got in, closing the door, and looking round at everyone through the windows, Bucky talking to Tony, Clint and Nat getting their car ready. They didn't seem to have your sense of foreboding; they were just walking around, getting their equipment ready with some kind of ease that you assumed they'd acquired from years of missions.

The driver door slammed shut, and you turned round to see Bucky settling in behind the wheel. He leaned his elbow on the wheel and turned to you.

"They're gonna lead us to the first freeway," He said, his eyes tracking over the garage through the windscreen for a moment. "Then we're gonna split up into three, Sam and Steve will follow us," He said as he pointed to them. "Then Nat, Banner and Clint will go a second route, and Stark, Wanda, Rhodey and Vision the third route. They'll make their own way to the safehouse over the next few days."

He looked at you. You knew you just looked confused, but you couldn't hide it. Why were they all coming with you, when they knew Hydra were tracking you down? Why had they all agreed to help out someone they barely knew? What had Tony told them, because it surely wasn't the whole story? Why would they trust someone they knew was lying to them?

"Hey." He said, getting your attention when his hand went to your knee. "It'll be fine."

You couldn't take his touch, not at the minute and shoved his hand off your leg. You had so much adrenaline bubbling away that you needed to focus on keeping it dampened now. And him touching you was not dampening it down. He licked his bottom lip, then shifted back in his seat to face forward.

Within minutes, the sounds of various car doors shutting echoed through the garage, the team disappearing into the cars as they got ready to leave. Engines hummed into life. Headlights turned on.

Your heart thrummed in dread as the first couple of cars started driving out of the garage. Then, your car moved as well, following the procession. The night sky stretched out above you, and chose to focus on that instead of the compound walls and gates that you were now going through. The sense of imprisonment didn't leave you as Bucky drove down the road, taking you to your next enclosure.

You didn't want any of this. You wanted to be up there, you thought as you kept staring at the stars. With Thor. Free.

You'd gotten two minutes out of the compound, when you looked back at the road through the windscreen, watching Tony's car in front of you. It was a crap car, and Tony didn't do crap. You smiled to yourself as you thought what he must be saying in the passenger seat to Rhodey, ranting about how he had all the money in the world and couldn't even drive in style.

Your smile wiped off your face when you suddenly saw sparks under Tony's rear wheel.

You screamed when the back of the car exploded.