Come Back With Me

I Loved Her First

"We've been working on recreating the Super Soldier Serum. I have been working on it for years but my background is engineering, not biology. When she confided in me about the twins' enhancements, I recruited her to help me," Howard admits in shame.

Bucky walks across the room and grabs Howard by the throat, slamming him against the wall.

"You're the reason my wife is gone. You better hope we find her because I have no problem killing you again," Bucky growls.

Howard is so distracted by being choked that he doesn't process what Bucky just said but Peggy takes note of it. She knows now is not the time but she will definitely be bringing it up later.

Steve really should have seen it coming but he is in such shock that it takes him a little bit to respond. He walks over and rips Bucky off of Howard and places himself in between the pair. Howard collapses forward and breathes heavily as the oxygen returns to his lungs.

"Bucky, calm down," Steve demands.

Bucky already wasn't a huge fan of Stark. He's seen the way that he looks at his wife. He never did anything about it because he trusts Lizzie and Stark doesn't seem the type to go after a married woman. Plus, he couldn't blame the guy because he knew his wife was amazing.

However, this, this he could blame him for. It is his fault that the woman who everyone in this room loves is gone.

"No, I'm not going to calm down. Why aren't you more mad? Does Lizzie not mean as much to you now that you have your new family?" Bucky says angrily.

Steve knows Bucky is lashing out because he is angry and in pain but he won't let Bucky get away with saying those things.

"You know how much Lizzie means to me. I feel like crawling in a hole and falling apart right now but that won't help her. Don't you dare assume that I don't love her just as much as I have my entire life. Don't forget Bucky Barnes that I loved her first," Steve says.

Bucky knows he's not being rational but his love for Lizzie has never been rational.

Peggy was tired of this testosterone filled spectacle. Her best friend was missing and no matter why she was gone, they still needed her back.

"We are not having a discussion about who loves her most. We all love her and we have to find her, that is nonnegotiable. So, I need all of you to shut up and sit down so we can make a plan about how to get her back," Peggy demands.

All the boys look at her. Bucky glares at her, Steve looks embarrassed, and Howard in shame.

"Sit!" Peggy yells.

Howard and Steve follow Peggy's directive immediately but Bucky stays standing with his arms crossed.

"Don't you want to find your wife?" Peggy growls in frustration.

"I do and I will. I know Hydra better than anyone, you'll just slow me down," he says gruffly.

"Oh, really? It's not like I was on a task force directly responsible for bringing down Hydra. It's not like Steve has actually taken down a Hydra base before. It's not like Howard has weapons knowledge of the kind we might be facing against Hydra. But of course, you know Hydra best and you love Lizzie most so why bother hearing our input?" Peggy says sarcastically.

Bucky knows he's being stubborn and could use the help but he does not want Stark's help. He screwed up enough already.

"I'm not working with Stark," Bucky says.

Steve gets up and walks towards Bucky. He tightly grips Bucky's shoulder.

"I want her back, Bucky. I know you're mad at him right now, trust me, I am too. Lizzie is still out there and Howard has the technology to help us find her. Isn't finding her worth working with him?" Steve asks.

The fight goes out of Bucky at Steve's words. Finding Lizzie is his number one priority. He doesn't have to like it but if working with Stark is the price to pay to find his wife, he'll pay it happily.

Bucky kneels in front of the coffee table and starts unloading things from a bag.

"Carter, do you have a world map by chance?" He asks.

He doesn't look up at her but he can hear her leave the room.

He looks at his notebook and starts looking at different memories. The timeline of his stint as The Winter Soldier is shaky but he still has most of his memories back.

Peggy comes back and places the map in front of Bucky.

"In the 1950's, I was out of cryo four times and I went to three bases other than the base I was kept at in Siberia. The other three bases were in Kiel, Germany; Kamakura, Japan; and Plovdiv, Bulgaria," Bucky says.

As he talks, he circles the locations of the bases.

"I don't think the Bulgarian base was built until the mid to late fifties so we can most likely rule that one out. The most recent tire marks on the airstrip ran towards the east so we can also rule out Japan. That leaves the base in Siberia and the base in Kiel. If he was to take her to the base in Siberia, he would need to stop to refuel most likely in Germany anyways. It is most likely that he will take her to the Germany base and then they will move her from there. I have a feeling they would keep her there though because that was the base Zola was primarily stationed at when he wasn't with me," Bucky says.

"You're sure?" Howard asks.

He glares over at Howard.

"Of course I'm not sure. She could be at any one of these bases or none of them. It's kind of hard to keep everything straight when your brain is being fried and you are being pulled in and out of a glorified freezer. Kiel is just my best guess. We really only have one shot before Hydra knows that someone is coming after them," Bucky says.

Steve decides to interject before Bucky decides that Howard's help isn't worth it and kills him.

"Okay, Kiel it is. Howard, do you think you could put some feelers out in Germany to see if you can find anything?" Steve asks.

"And be discrete, Stark. You already put her in danger once, you better not do it again," Bucky says.

Howard was getting tired of Barnes constantly attacking him. Yes, he presented the idea of working on the serum together but Lizzie is a grown woman and she made the decision on her own.

"I'll do my job, Barnes. Don't act like she means nothing to me. Don't forget that while you were gone, other people took care of her," Howard says.

"Oh, trust me I haven't forgotten. I'm sure you would have loved to take care of my wife if I never came back," Bucky growls.

Howard knows now that he wasn't so subtle with his feelings. He's sure Lizzie has never noticed because she only has eyes for Barnes.

Before Bucky came back, he considered pursuing something with her but he knew that she wasn't ready. When Bucky came back, it only took one look to know that it was a lost cause from the start because they would only ever belong to each other.

He might have even been in love with her but he's never known the feeing so he's not sure. He doesn't feel that way towards her anymore but sometimes he wonders what could have been. He still greatly admires her and of course is attracted to her but he knows he's not in love with her.

"Well, that doesn't matter now does it? She only ever loved you and you married her so get over it. What matters is finding her, that's the only thing that matters. I will do my job and you will do yours and that is that," Howard says.

They aren't friends. They will most likely never be friends. However, right now, they had to be allies.

"Fine, let's get to work," Bucky says.