He was perfect, at least in her eyes. He was ridiculously smart, handsome, charming, and the sexiest man she'd ever seen. She'd been in love with him from the very first moment she'd met him, much to Director Fury's dismay. He'd sent her and Natasha in to observe him, and she'd been completely captivated by his undeniable charisma. She'd hoped that at some point along the way he'd see her as more than just a teammate, but he'd never looked at her as more than a friend and colleague while she'd spent years pining away for him.

As she watched the press conference video on her phone, she let out a sigh and silently cursed herself for ruining the only chance she may had had with him. When the Sokovia Accords had divided the Avengers in half, she'd chosen not to follow her heart and had ended up on the opposite side from him. Now she and Natasha were fugitives and she may never get the chance to ever see him again.

She was so caught up in the video, she didn't notice the recently-turned blonde come up behind her until she'd snatched the phone from her hands. She flipped around in her chair and met the angry glare of her best friend.

"Really?" Natasha asked. "When are you going to get over this obsession with Stark?"

YN grabbed the phone back from Nat and closed the YouTube app before sliding it into her back pocket. "I don't see why it's any business of yours."

Nat shook her head and pulled YN to her feet. "Because you deserve better. And besides, didn't you see Pepper standing off to the side? She's obviously forgiven him for whatever he did to cause the latest disagreement."

YN had seen Pepper standing in the back of the room with Happy, but she'd chosen to ignore the other woman. It wasn't as though YN hated her – in fact, it was the exact opposite. Pepper was one of the sweetest people she'd ever met, and she completely understood why Tony was in love with her. Knowing how wonderful Pepper was didn't make it any easier to handle her unrequited love, though.

"What is it about him that keeps me holding onto hope when I know for a fact there is none?" YN asked with a dejected look.

"He has a certain appeal," Nat said with a shrug. "I personally don't get it, but I can see why you would be attracted to him." She gave YN a long look before grabbing her hand and leading her from the room. "You need to hit something – it'll make you feel better."

YN smiled and shook her head as she allowed her friend to lead her toward the small training room they'd set up in the smallest bedroom of the two-bedroom apartment they were currently renting in Prague. After the fight at the airport in Germany, Natasha had flipped sides and now she was a wanted woman just like YN. They'd briefly talked to Tony at the hospital when they'd went to check on Rhodey, but he'd made it perfectly clear that he was washing his hands of them. Now he'd apparently adopted the spider kid, and the two former spies were left to fend for themselves. Once YN had realized that Nat had helped Steve and his friend, Bucky, escape, she'd proposed the idea of the two of them laying low together in Czechia. She knew that Nat had experience being on the run, but YN had always had the security of S.H.I.E.L.D. behind her, so it was more for her benefit than it was for Nat's.

The one thing YN loved about her best friend was that she didn't pull punches – in any aspect of their relationship. When she trained with Nat, she always had to be on top of her game, or she'd end up bruised and bloody. The same rules applied to her personal relationship with the former Russian assassin – Nat wasn't afraid of calling a spade a spade, especially when it came to Tony.

After thirty grueling minutes of intense hand-to-hand combat, YN was exhausted. The only good outcome that had come from her life as a fugitive was the increase in strength and agility she'd gained from training one-on-one with Natasha. She was certain she could handle herself in any situation that came her way, and she was always on guard for the day that someone would come looking for the two of them. Right now, though, she just wanted a long hot shower, something to eat, and the comfort of her bed.

"Are you going to be able to get up?" Nat asked as she reached out a hand.

Looking up from her position on the floor, YN glanced toward Nat's outstretched hand and took a deep breath. Steeling herself for the pain that would come from rising, she grabbed ahold and let the other woman pull her to her feet. Letting out a hiss, she asked, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"What? Caused you enough physical pain to get your mind off of the emotional trauma you put yourself through every time you watch a video clip of Stark?" She gave a nonchalant shrug of her shoulder and turned to leave the room, looking back only to add, "I wouldn't dream of it."

"I wish I could get over him," YN said as she followed her into the hallway.

"You will," Nat said as she gave her friend a sympathetic look. "You just need to find someone better."

"Yeah?" she asked with a disbelieving grin. "And where exactly am I going to find a guy that's not only handsome as sin, but wickedly smart, and has more charm in his little finger than most men have in their whole bodies?"

Nat opened the linen closet door, grabbed a towel, and tossed it to YN. "He's out there, you just haven't met him yet. I have a feeling that when you do, though, you'll forget that Stark even exists."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Bucky asked Steve as he warily eyed the somber looking brunette across the room.

"I've talked this over with Wanda, and she's pretty sure she can remover the trigger words," Steve said as he laid a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

Bucky turned back to Steve. "She couldn't do this while I was frozen?"

Steve took a deep breath and his lips formed a tight line as he considered Bucky's question. "She could've, but after what HYDRA did to you for all those years, I wanted to give you the chance to make this decision on your own."

Bucky hadn't been expecting that answer, and for a moment he had a hard time breathing. The wounds that HYDRA had inflicted still ran deep, but he should have known that Steve, of all people, would understand and respect that. He wasn't sure what he'd ever done to deserve a friend like him, but he knew that as long as he had Steve Rogers in his corner, he could face any obstacle that came his way.

Steve watched the different emotions flicker across Bucky's face, and he knew he'd made the right call. This may not work, but at least he could say that he'd tried. If this didn't work, he knew he'd have to watch his oldest friend imprison himself back in the ice again, and Steve wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it a second time. As it was, he'd barely waited for the cryogenic chamber to turn on before he'd been out the door to borrow a jet from T'Challa. Bucky have may have willingly locked himself away, but the rest of his team hadn't, and it was up to him to save them from whatever tortures Ross had concocted. Finding them on the raft prison had been bad enough, but when he'd seen what they had done to Wanda, all of the pent up anger within him had erupted, and his righteous fury had rained down upon the facility. He'd reminded himself that the guards were simply following orders, and that it was Ross that deserved the brunt of the blame. The day would come when that man received his reckoning.

Waving Wanda over, Steve gave her a proper introduction to Bucky. "We didn't have time go over the formalities before, but this is Wanda Maximoff. She was also experimented on by HYDRA, and in addition to being telekinetic, she can read and manipulate other people's minds."

Bucky had seen her use her powers at the airport, so he'd known about the telekinesis, but when Steve mentioned the mind-reading, his eyes grew large. "You know what I'm thinking right now?"

A smile spread across Steve's face as he saw the look of terror come over Bucky. "You might want to be careful there, Wanda," he warned with a laugh. "Buck was quite the ladies man back in the 40's.

"Not what I meant, punk," Bucky said with a huge grin as he closed his eyes in embarrassment.

"Gotcha to laugh, didn't it?" Steve asked as he squeezed Bucky's shoulder.

Wanda had silently watched the exchange, and instead of making her feel better about what she was about to do, it made her that much more terrified. Seeing the bond between these two men, she was scared of what would happen if she failed. Steve had been there for her during the worst times in her life, and she wanted nothing more than to return the favor. If this didn't work, she wasn't sure she could handle Steve's disappointment. Logically, she knew he wouldn't blame her, but she would blame herself enough for the both of them.

Fixing a sly grin on her face, she gave Steve a side-eyed glance. "I'm sure Sergeant Barnes will be a perfect gentleman, won't you Sergeant?"

"Absolutely, doll," Bucky said as he glanced toward Steve with a raised eyebrow.

"See," Steve said, pointing a finger at Bucky "I knew you couldn't help yourself."

Bucky was genuinely confused as he looked from Steve to Wanda. "What? I can't call a dame 'doll' without you thinking I'm making a pass at her?"

"It's fine," Wanda said with a grin as she watched the two men affectionately bicker with one another. She'd never seen Steve behave like that before, and while she enjoyed seeing him act like a light-hearted young man, she had a job to do. If everything went according to her plan, they would have ample opportunities to reminisce about their lives before HYDRA.

Bucky shot one half-heartedly evil glance toward Steve before turning back to Wanda. "Please call me Bucky."

"Of course, Bucky," Wanda said as his face lit up with a smile that she could only assume had drove women crazy back in the 40's. She might have been affected a few years ago, but since she'd met Vision, he'd become the center of her attention.

"Did you want to wait until tomorrow to begin?" Steve asked.

Bucky took a deep breath before answering. "If it's okay with Wanda, I'd like to start now. The sooner we know if the programming can be reversed, the safer it'll be for everyone."

"I agree," Wanda told him as she gestured for him to lie back on the examining table. "I'm not sure, but this may become painful at times – if you get to a point that you feel you need to stop, let me know."

Bucky shot a glance to Steve who's face had gone from mirthful to worried in a matter of seconds. "I doubt you'll be any worse than HYDRA, so I think I can handle whatever pain you inflict. Let's just get this over with."

Steve stood back and watched as Wanda began to move her hands. Small arcs of red light erupted from her fingertips as she reached out toward Bucky's temples. She hesitated for a moment, but when Bucky nodded his head and closed his eyes, she lowered her hands and placed her fingertips along the sides of his brow. A look of pain came over his friend's face, and Steve made a move to stop her, but he forced himself to hold back. Wanda knew what she was doing, and Bucky had agreed, even though he knew there might be pain involved. He would just have to stand on the sidelines for this one and wait until they were finished.

Hours passed and Steve began to get worried. A thin sheen of sweat had formed on Wanda's brow, and Bucky's face was contorted in pain, but still he waited. Time seemed to crawl as his two friends waged a silent war against the deviations of HYDRA, and he could only hope that they were winning. He'd long ago convinced himself that Wanda was making progress or she wouldn't have continued to poke and prod in Bucky's mind.

After what had felt like an eternity, he saw a look of peace wash over Bucky's face and Steve jumped to his feet. His concentration had centered solely on Bucky, so he almost didn't notice how exhausted Wanda had become. When he saw her legs start to give out from under her, he rushed forward and caught her before she could fall. Scooping her up into his arms, he walked to one of the other examining tables and gently laid her down.

"I'm fine," she whispered weakly. "Just tired."

"It's okay," he told her as he brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear. "You need to rest."

Steve turned to check on Bucky, but one last whispered phrase from Wanda had him rushing back to her. "What did you say?"

She opened an eye and gave him a smug grin before she repeated herself. "It worked."

___________________

Author's Note: Thank you for reading Part 1 of this story! I hope you enjoyed it! Well, we've met our Reader, but it seems as though she's in love with Tony, but he's pretty happy with Pepper. . .where on Earth do you think she's going to meet a smart, charming, and devilishly handsome man?!? Right now she's in Prague with Nat, he's in Wakanda with Steve and the rest of Team Cap, and Tony's back in New York with Pepper. What a mess!. How do you think they're all going to end up in the same place? I look forward to your comments and please consider voting if you enjoyed this part!