Marlena and Sam sat on the couch in the loft of their hotel room. Peggy's funeral had been over for several hours now, and the two of them had been hanging out in their hotel room for the past hour and a half. Steve had wandered off somewhere; Marlena wasn't sure where either. Sam had only informed her that he needed some time alone, which didn't exactly settle well with Marlena. Despite what had happened between the two of them at the church, Marlena still wanted to be there for him. Steve was her friend—her very best friend—and she didn't exactly feel comfortable knowing he was running around the city in such an emotional state.
The incident at the church had been weighing heavily on Marlena's mind since she had returned back to the hotel with Sam. Steve's actions had taken her by surprise. He had kissed her, and that was something she never would have expected him to do. She believed it to have been done in the heat of the moment, but Natasha's words regarding Steve's apparent feelings for Marlena made it harder for her to accept that it had been just a "heat of the moment" kind of thing. She wanted to talk to him about it, but he was nowhere to be found. He had left his phone in the hotel room as well, which eliminated any hope of contacting him.
As Marlena sat, her thoughts still lingering on what had happened, she couldn't help but feel as if she had betrayed Bucky. For almost two years, Bucky's affection had been among the only thing she had ever known. Yes, Bucky had technically ended their relationship when he left nothing but a tear-stained note for her to find, but that didn't make a bit of a difference to Marlena; Bucky would always have her heart no matter what happened between the two of them. And though Marlena hadn't been the one to instigate the kiss, she still felt it was wrong. Just the feeling of someone else's lips against hers felt wrong, regardless of whether or not that person was Steve—a person with whom she was very familiar and comfortable with.
Sam nudging Marlena was what tore her from her thoughts. She looked over at him to see a rather perturbed expression on his face. Sam had noticed something wrong with her since the two had left the funeral, though he recognized that it was different than what had been going on with her during the past month or so. He had noticed something different with Steve as well, but he had more skill in the department of hiding his feelings, so he couldn't be too sure. He could only assume that something had happened between them while they were in the church, and he had been itching to know if his assumptions could be confirmed.
"I've been calling your damn name for like three minutes, but you're so consumed by your thoughts to pay attention to me," Sam remarked.
Marlena rolled her eyes and removed the box of Cheez-Its from his hands, shoving a handful into her mouth. "The world doesn't revolve around you, Wilson," she countered with a mouth full of food.
He snatched the box back from her, placing it behind his back so she couldn't reach it. He needed information from her, and he needed to make sure that information wasn't interrupted by her obnoxious chewing. "I need you to tell me what the hell is wrong with you."
"What you need to do is give me back the damn box, you fatass," she grumbled.
"I might after you answer me."
Marlena sighed and slumped down in her seat. She could tell by sifting through his mind that he was onto what had happened between her and Steve back at the church, but she didn't exactly want to talk about it, at least not before she talked about it with Steve himself. "Nothing's wrong, aside from the fact that my mom's dead, I killed a bunch of innocent people, and the love of my life left me in an attempt to keep me safe, when we all know I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."
Sam gave her a dumb look. "I am one second away from punching you in the face just to test that theory. You think I don't know when you sneak your way into my mind? You know damn well what I'm referring to, so I suggest you tell me."
"When did you turn into my dad?" Marlena scoffed, propping her feet onto the coffee table in front of her.
"No, no—never a dad," Sam answered. "I'm simply an annoying older brother who can't seem to mind his own business when it comes to his little sister's pathetic life."
"Glad to hear it, bro."
"Answer me."
Marlena let out a sigh and looked down at her hands. She knew Sam wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted. She just hoped she could threaten him to the point of him being too scared to say anything about the incident after telling him. "If I tell you, you better not say a single thing about it. I will cut the wires in your stupid little jetpack and then cut the cords on your parachute so you'll experience anything but an easy landing. Just remember—two can keep a secret if one of them is dead."
Sam blinked, clearly unaffected by her words. "I'm not afraid of you, but go on."
She rolled her eyes and muttered an 'asshole' under her breath before beginning. "Okay, to make a long story short, Steve. . .he kissed me today in the church. . .after everybody left."
"I told that fucking idiot to be careful around you," Sam groaned, running a hand over his face.
Marlena's brows furrowed in confusion as she listened to his words. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't tell him I told you, but I've known about his. . .feelings. . .for quite some time now," he answered her, a small laugh escaping him as he did.
"How the hell did I not know Steve had feelings for me?" Marlena exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "I'm a damn telepath; I don't understand how this very crucial piece of information got passed me, or even Wanda for that matter."
Sam shrugged, interlocking his fingers together as he thought. "You see, the thing is, I don't think Steve knew he had feelings for you until just recently. . .like, I don't think he wanted to accept that he did. Barnes is his best friend, as are you, and he didn't want to jeopardize either of those relationships. He never acted on his feelings, nor did he talk about them to anyone aside from me; that probably has something to do with the reason why you remained so oblivious, aside from the fact that we started spending more time at the compound rather than at our own homes. I think with all the shit that's been happening lately, however, he's been feeling more vulnerable than ever, which is probably why he acted the way he did. But yeah. . .Steve likes you. . .a whole fuckin' lot. Kinda seen it comin', though."
Marlena ran a hand over her face, unsure of how she should take the information. Steve had feelings for her, that much she knew. She also knew that Steve was afraid to jeopardize his relationship with her, which was more than likely what she believed he was afraid he had done after he had kissed her. Marlena refused to allow his feelings or even a simple kiss to ruin her relationship with Steve, though. She didn't want to lose him, especially not now. She needed him, and the thought of him not being there terrified her.
"Who knows, though?" Sam started again. "With Barnes outta the picture, maybe you two can finally get together."
"Dude," Marlena warned him, a glare on her face.
Sam held his hands up in defense. "It's just a suggestion."
"One that I would never take into consideration. I love Steve to death, but I could never love him the way I love Bucky—I could never love anyone the way I love Bucky," Marlena told him.
"Understandable," Sam said, finally pulling the box of Cheez-Its from behind his back.
Marlena snatched them from him before he had the chance to grab any. "Excuse you, but I'm the one going through the emotional turmoil of life here—not you."
"I'll just go get my own damn food," Sam grumbled before heading into the kitchen.
Marlena simply chuckled and focused her attention on the television. An American show she had never seen before was playing on the TV, but before she could delve too far into the program, the screen switched to that of what seemed to belong to a news station. The words BREAKING NEWS flashed across the screen, followed by footage of an explosion and a fire. The moment the word VIENNA made an appearance, Marlena grabbed the remote and turned the TV up, calling in Sam as she did so.
"A bomb hidden in a news van ripped through the UN building in Vienna," a news reporter spoke. "More than seventy people have been injured; at least twelve are dead, including Wakanda's King T'Chaka."
Marlena sucked in a breath at this information, her worry for Natasha's wellbeing seeming to grow. She wondered if her friend was okay or if she had been among the seventy injured, though it scared her to think that she could be among the twelve dead. She didn't want to lose anyone else.
"Glad I didn't go to that shitfest," Sam scoffed as he sat back down on the couch beside Marlena.
She shushed him and averted her attention back to the television screen, where new footage was being played.
"Officials have released a video of a suspect who they have identified as James Buchanan Barnes or The Winter Soldier, the infamous Hydra agent linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations."
Marlena grabbed the remote and paused the TV, an instant wave of nausea overwhelming her as the information nestled itself into the soft tissues of her brain. She could hardly breathe as she stared at the screen—at a picture of Bucky's half covered face—and this worried Sam slightly.
Marlena wanted to cry; she wanted to scream, she wanted to punch, she wanted to kick. She could not bring herself to do any of those, however. She was too focused on the devastating fact that her Bucky—the one she hadn't seen in over a month—had fallen victim to the entity he had tried so desperately to escape for two years and was now a suspect in a crime he never would have dreamed of committing, a crime that she couldn't help but blame herself for. She was beginning to regret leaving him more and more with each passing second.
"Mar, you need to calm down," Sam said cautiously as he reached out for her.
She got up from her seat immediately, pacing around the room in an attempt to control her breathing, though that didn't seem to work very well. "I need—I need to find him. W-we need Steve; where the h-hell is Steve?" she exclaimed as she pulled at her hair.
A single tear fell from her eye, but she wiped it away quickly before heading over to the door. If she couldn't get a hold of Steve, she would find him herself. She needed to find Bucky, and the only way to do that was to find Steve first.
"Marlena, where are you going?" Sam called, running after her.
Marlena ignored his calls and hurried down the hallway, not even bothering to care that she wasn't wearing shoes. She made it to the elevator and began her aggressive assault on the down button. It seemed as if it had taken hours for the elevator to arrive at her floor, and when it finally did, Marlena was more than thrilled. Sam had made it his mission, however, to prevent her from going anywhere, though the elevator doors had yet to even open. She was too emotionally distressed, and he could not allow her into the public as she was, with or without shoes on.
"Marlena, calm down," Sam said as the elevator doors finally opened, tightening his grip on Marlena before pulling her further down the hall.
Steve and Sharon, who had been standing in the elevator, furrowed their brows as they watched the confrontation between Sam and Marlena, unsure of how to respond or what to do.
"I need Steve—I need to find him," Marlena exclaimed as she struggled in his grasp. Had she not been so focused on finding Steve so she could find Bucky, she would have forced her way out of his grip using her abilities. "Let me go, you jackass."
Steve's expression softened slightly at Marlena's exclamation, and he stepped off the elevator, Sharon following closely behind him. "Sam," he spoke, stopping both Sam and Marlena in their tracks.
Sam turned around to look at him, and Marlena pushed him off of her before running over to Steve. Steve noticed the expression on her face and opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, only for her to cut him off.
"Vienna," she breathed out quickly, grabbing his arms tightly within her grasp. "He was in Vienna, Steve. We need to find him; we have to find him before he hurts somebody else."
Steve exchanged a look with Sharon before looking back down at Marlena. "What are you talking about, Mar? What's going on?"
Sam stepped towards them, a sigh escaping him as he looked between him and Marlena. "There's something you need to see, Steve."