August stood as close to the wall as she possibly could, opposite side of the room from him. She slowly took a bite of the cooked pheasant that Steve had brought her, her gaze never leaving his face. Steve and Sam stood nearby, staring too.
He rubbed his hands together, visibly uncomfortable with all the eyes on him.
"It was 1989," His voice was low. "I was assigned to take out an engineer living in Minsk. He had some weapon designs that they wanted. I get there and..."
"I met him." August nodded. "SHIELD had me looking into Hydra assassins that were considered cold-cases as a training exercise. My partner, Fury, stayed in New York to monitor me. I was just there to see if the elements were really able to pick up extra clues that forensics might leave behind. Never thought that a piece of hair found in Cancun would really end up leading me to the guy."
Bucky did not look at her. He kept his eyes cast towards the fire.
"Ms. Haze was like a bat out of hell," He half-laughed. "Nearly ripped my good arm right out of its socket. I was coughing up bits of dirt for weeks afterwards too. They had to drain the water out of my lungs with a tube. That's when they gave me a new assignment. They decided that they wanted her, or at least to analyze her DNA and figure out how to replicate it. Sent me on a fake mission to Paris to try and lure her in."
August sunk onto the floor, sitting cross-legged. Steve passed her the hairbrush that he had found in the car, and she went to work detangling her curls, still staring at him.
"Mr. Stark- Howard, that is- and Mr. Pym had designed this suit for me. Vibranium spandex. It was supposed to amplify my abilities while protecting me from bullets, punches." She nodded. "Wore it for the first time when I went to Paris. It was incredible, like I was one with earth, water, air. It kept me from being utterly terrified over what I was about to face. It kept him from punching a hole all the way through my chest."
"I felt your ribs crack. Knew I punctured a lung, if not more-" Bucky's eyes quickly flickered up to her, but then back down, incapable of standing the intensity of her angry stare. "I was supposed to kill you."
"I escaped."
"I let you escape. That was the first time that I...snapped out of it, halfway through a mission. They spent months probing my brain after that, reprogramming me so it wouldn't happen again."
August swallowed thickly. She continued detangling her hair, her gaze slightly softening.
"After seeing the look in my moms eyes when I woke up from surgery, I told Mr. Stark I was done. He could find somebody else to chase the Winter Soldier. I'd go to my training sessions, I'd work on teams, I'd close cases with Fury. But this solo mission was over. He wasn't happy, but he let me off the case. I spent a few months with Fury in California after that. Celebrated the new decade with him and our friends, Carol and Maria, and her daughter." August finished with her hair, setting down the brush. She wrapped her arms around her knees. "My birthday comes and passes. I go home to visit with my family for a few days after Fury and I wrap up Carol's case. Life is moving forward, I'm forgetting about the man who nearly killed me. Then, one night, Enola and I are in the kitchen arguing about something stupid."
"You missed your dad's birthday. She was pissed that you forgot."
August blinked.
"You heard that?"
Bucky nodded.
"All of it. I had been tracking you for months before I finally figured out where your family lived. There was a bug in every room of that house," He rubbed his jaw, finally looking up to match her gaze. "You had just turned twenty-three. You and your dad are both Capricorns. You were so up your own ass about your own life, you forgot about his birthday. It didn't bother him, but your sister was mad. She yelled at you. Loudly. I decided to get close while you were distracted, figured it would be easy enough to get you from behind. But you looked in that damn window."
"Saw your reflection. Just...fear," August sighed. She felt like her chest was collapsing just looking at him. "Anguish. Rage. Guilt for bringing you straight to them. I knew I had to protect them."
"You exploded. It was a defense mechanism. Definitely sent me running." He held up his good arm, rolling his sleeve up to reveal deep burn scars that slithered from the top of his bicep to his elbow. "You got me hard, right in my good side. But your family survived. Burned, but alive. If you hadn't done that, you likely wouldn't be here right now to tell this story. I wasn't allowed to let you escape again."
August nodded, trying not to cry. Part of her had always suspected that she had been the root cause of the fire, but she had been desperate for someone to blame it on. Sure, Bucky had been the one to force her hand, and SHIELD had been the ones to stick her in a coma for so long. But ultimately, she was the one to start the blaze.
She wiped her eyes.
"There are other things to think about right now." She nodded. She looked up at Steve, who was watching her with concerned eyes. "You've gone and made a right mess of things with Tony. I'm going to help you fix it."
He nodded, standing up straight.
"We're meeting with Sharon tomorrow. She's going to get us some supplies so we can get out of this country." He looked over to Bucky. "Buck, this isn't going to be easy."
"I know," Bucky finally tore his eyes from August, looking to his best friend. He rubbed his temples. "You three shouldn't even be helping me. I can't imagine why you would."
"We've all been pawns in someone elses game before." Her voice was hoarse. She could not believe what she was saying. She feared this man. Hated him, even. "Everyone deserves a second shot."
"I'm just saying that this is going to be hard. For all of us. Buck, are you sure you're ready for this?"
Bucky nodded.
"I can handle it."
The foursome was silent for a moment. Sam loudly yawned.
"Then for heavens sake, can we please go to bed? If I'm going to commit crimes tomorrow, then I at least deserve a solid eight hours."
August stifled a laugh. She stood up, padding across the room, noticeably making a wide arc around Bucky. Steve handed her a bundle of clothes.
"Nothing fancy," He sighed. "But better than a soaking wet prison jumpsuit."
She pulled a face at him. Stepping into another room, she pulled off her shirt. She wrung out her bra, shaking it on the ground to get the last water droplets out, before clipping it back on and pulling on the blue sweater. August stepped into the black sweatpants before heading back into the main room.
Sam and Steve were already nodding off, both sleeping on their bellies, using their arms as pillows. Bucky was still sitting up, staring into the fire.
She sighed, hesitantly moving to sit a safe distance from him. She wrapped her arms around her knees. They were quiet for a long moment.
Minutes passed, only silence and the boys even, loud breathing filling the space in the room.
"Do you-"
"I don't-"
They both clamped their mouths shut, staring at each other. Bucky blushed.
"Sorry. Go ahead."
"No, no. It's fine. You first."
Bucky gave her a strange look.
"The things I did were so terrible. How on earth are you okay staying here, helping me? Nobody would blame you if you left."
"And went where?" August cocked an eyebrow. "I broke out of prison to be here. And to be completely honest, if I had known the reason why I was coming here, I might have stayed put. But Steve saw something in me when everyone else was pushing for me to rot in prison. After I woke up I was terrified, I would have done anything to escape. Steve was the only person to treat me like a human being."
"Mm," Bucky nodded, pursing his lips. "He's always been like that. Too good."
"That's why I came here. Because he's done a lot for me, and if I can help in any way, I owe him that. But I'm staying because I don't hate you. I did a lot of terrible things in the name of the people who were controlling me, too. We're both just pawns."
Bucky looked up at her, his intense eyes practically drilling a hole in her skull.
"Does it ever get any better? Healing from that?"
August shrugged. Without even noticing, she had become comfortable in his presence. Her shoulders were relaxed, her eyelids drooping with tiredness.
"I dunno. I mean, I've only been awake for a little over six months. Not really out in the world or anything. But having good people to help you along...that's what makes it worth it."
He thought on that for a long moment.
"Ms. Haze?"
"Mmm?"
"I forgive you for trying to kill me."
In her half-asleep state, August snorted quietly.
"Call me August, please. Ms. Haze was my mother."
She heard him chuckle quietly.
"I'll see you in the morning, Ms. Haze."