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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫: 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞

May 23rd, 2016

Bucharest, Romania

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It was only a few hours later that Allie found herself back home in Bucharest with a very confused Bucky. Having been brought back by one of Melaina's portals of darkness and landing rather awkwardly smack dab in the middle of Bucharest. Definitely surprising some of the citizens who saw her evaporate out of a portal of murdered light because that was completely usual. There's nothing strange about that at all.

Immediately running away from the hoard of completely stunned onlookers, Allie quickly made her way home, wanting nothing more than to crash into Bucky's arms and never let go. She practically sprinted to their apartment, weaving her way through the concrete streets until she recognized the decrepit facade of their residence. And the second she opened the door to said apartment, she was bombarded with so many questions she thought she was drowning in them.

Bucky, rightly so, was very much confused with what had happened that morning. He had barely woken up when Allie came rushing through the door yelling a jumbled mess of words that included something like a funeral, Melaina, and Steve. He didn't have any time to question what she was actually saying before she was out the door with a mumbled goodbye, leaving him to stare at the wall for a good couple of minutes trying to piece together what in the hell he just witnessed.

So upon her return that afternoon, to say that Bucky besieged her with questions would be an understatement.

That was a rather tiring hour, to say the least.

After Allie, calmly this time, explained what had gone on, she had finally felt the weight on her shoulders dissipate when Bucky wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her into his hold. She hadn't realized how much the funeral had affected her, how the loss of Peggy had plagued both her body and her mind. Sure, she knew she was upset and sad about her passing, but the comfort of Bucky's hold had been enough to release a new wave of sadness from her body. A sadness synonymous with grief and longing.

Bucky, recognizing her sorrow, offered for them to go for a walk around the city when she calmed down a bit. Hoping the change of scenery could distract her from the poisonous thoughts taking root in her mind. That the combination of fresh air and rich aromas of the marketplace could act as a temporary distraction.

Withholding the fact she had only just returned from a walk around the city, Allie agreed. Knowing that just being in Bucky's presence would ease her sadness.

So that's what they did.

Bucky pulled on a maroon sweatshirt and some gloves as Allie slipped on some more comfortable jeans and a sweater and they left their apartment. Pulling their dark snapbacks over their heads and entwining their hands together as they walked through the streets of Bucharest. Casual chatter flowing between them as they ambled along the concrete footpaths, all until Bucky decided to ask about the one issue that had been hanging over their head like a black cloud.

"So..." Bucky cleared his throat awkwardly. "How was he?"

"He was upset, understandably. Everything is being thrown at him all at once and now he loses Peggy, it's like the icing on the cake." She answered, letting a melancholic sigh fall from her ruby lips. "He just can't catch a break."

Bucky shook his head, recalling his own memories with the brunette bombshell that was Peggy Carter. A woman that had impressed him every day that they had spent back together in the army. "Peggy was such a great woman. At least she died peacefully."

"She truly was." Allie agreed unable to stop that one little thought that kept plaguing her mind. A thought she knew she had to stop thinking, but nonetheless couldn't manage to stop. No matter how hard she tried.

"Doll." Bucky murmured, tightening his grip on her hand and forcing them both to come to a stop in the middle of the walkway. His deep cerulean eyes boring into hers pleadingly, his tone gentle but devout. "You know that wasn't you, that was HYDRA."

"I know." She sighed. "Trust me I know."

"It could have also ended a lot worse than it did. She came out alive, and that was because somewhere deep down you knew who she was." He continued, hoping to persuade that malicious voice in her mind that refused to stop reminding her of that fateful mission back in the '50s.

"I guess so."

Recognizing the forceful tone in her voice, Bucky stifled his objections knowing that she wasn't entirely listening to them anyway. Knowing that Allie was too wrapped up in her own head to be convinced otherwise. So in a last-ditch effort to show his support, Bucky pulled her towards him and placed a tender kiss to her forehead. His lips blazing fire against her icy skin, warming her to the core like a match to kindling.

She sighed into his touch, her eyes gazing up into his as he pulled away and tightened his hand around hers. Their feet moving in synchrony as they started to walk again, heading towards the slightly busy market place without another word. Indulging in the comfort of a single joining of their hands.

Of course the first place Bucky dragged Allie to was the fresh produce stand, towards a little store owned by Andrei. The vibrant colors and delicious aromas distracting her momentarily from the slight crack in her soul that threatened to rupture. Her eyes gazing across the rows and rows of fruit, a colorful bounty of treasure and yet the only thing Bucky ever wanted was plums.

"Bună Andrei! / Hello Andrei!" She spoke as they approached the stall.

"Bună ziua voi doi! / Hello you two!" The man replied, an amiable smile pulling at his lips.

Grinning back at Andrei, Allie turned her eyes down to the fruit as she heard Bucky happily converse with the shopkeeper, a sight that made her smile. Their mundane life in Bucharest had always been something that she loved, and seeing Bucky converse with someone that wasn't herself aided to the illusion that they were just a normal couple living a relatively normal life. An illusion she knew was bound to shatter.

Her thoughts were suddenly brought to a halt when her phone erupted with its usual chimes, a sound that seemed to be all too familiar as of late.

Lifting the device out of her pocket, she gave Bucky a light frown and a quick apology to Andrei before she shuffled away. Bringing the device up to her ear as she found a quiet corner where she could speak. A frown pulling at her lips as she noticed it was Steve calling her again, knowing that something had to be wrong for him to be calling her mere hours after he last saw her.

"Steve?" She answered. "Is everything alright?"

"Have you seen the news?"

"Wha—No? Why, what's going on?" She stumbled over her words, surprised at his urgent tone.

She heard Steve sigh softly over the phone before he spoke."Bucky blew up the Vienna Accords. He blew it up." He whispered, almost as if he too couldn't believe it.

Confusion and shock entwined to create a feeling that Allie had never known, rendering her completely wordless at Steve's confession. Briefly silencing her usually loud mind as she struggled to comprehend the accusation she just heard.

"Wha—"

"I know it's hard to believe but it's true. I think he is the Winter Soldier again."

"No he didn't! Bucky did not do that!" She finally managed to speak, the shock that had previously controlled her body morphing into a sickening feeling of dread.

"They have pictures tying him to the scene, Allie. It was him."

"No he didn't!" She shook her head resolutely, knowing that Bucky had been by her side for the last few hours. And even when she was in London for the funeral, there was no way Bucky could have got from Bucharest to London and still managed to beat her back. There was no way...

But she couldn't tell Steve that.

"Allie... Look, I'm currently in Bucharest. I just wanted to let you know that I have to bring him in." He spoke, the parasitic feeling of dread that resided in her body multiplying at his words.

"Steve, don't do this." She pleaded, but unknowingly for Steve, she wasn't begging for the reason he thought she was.

She wasn't begging for him not to come to Bucharest, not to do his job and apprehend his best friend and her lover. She wasn't begging for him not to discover the grand lie she had been upholding for years. No, she was begging him to not come and ruin the small life she had managed to build for herself, a life she shared with Bucky. The selfish inner part of herself that wanted to continue living her life free from the mess of her past. A past that was seemingly catching up to the both of them.

"He'd do it for me" Steve murmured as Allie shook her head nervously.

"Steve, please don't do this."

"I've got to go, Allie. Stay safe." He responded, hanging up the phone as a strangled cry fell from Allie's lips. Her hand going up to cover her mouth as she realized that her world was crumbling around her.

She was going to lose Bucky, Steve and the entire rest of the mundane life she had built for herself. It was all crumbling down right before her very eyes. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Dropping her phone back into her jean pocket, Allie wiped the two twin tears that had leaked from her honey eyes. Trying to compose herself before she would be forced to tell Bucky what had happened. Having to break the news to a man that deserved a peaceful life even more than she did.

Unfortunately she didn't even have enough time to contemplate her strategy before a gloved hand found its place on her waist, pulling her around to face the sparkling cobalt eyes she loved but was dreading to see.

"Buck." She spoke in surprise. "What—"

"We need to go home." He demanded, instantly wrapping his hand in hers as he started dragging her away.

"Now."

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The run home had scared Allie more than anything had in her entire life. Fear had hung around her neck like a noose, allowing just enough air into her lungs to keep her alive but tight enough to know the end was near. Its chilling voice whispering into her ear, crippling her sanity and weakening her body. Making even the basic movement of running all that more difficult, stifling her ability to talk.

For the entire run home, Bucky's hand had been enclosed around her own like a vice. Dragging her along the concrete path as her mind struggled to come to terms with her approaching reality.

Steve would be there, he would be at her home. Their home.

Her only surviving best friend was going to discover the truth she had hid from him for so long, a truth he deserved to know a long time ago. She knew she was a terrible person for hiding the fact that she knew were Bucky was from Steve, the man she was living with. Despite knowing that Steve had spent every hour of every day searching for Bucky, she still kept it from him.

What kind of person did that?

It wasn't long before the pair were approaching their apartment, resulting in a dreadful wave of realization to dawn on Allie. She had been so caught up in her own guilt that she hadn't even told Bucky that Steve was up there, that his best friend was waiting for them to return home.

So not only was Allie a terrible person, but she was also quite dumb. Incredibly so.

"Bucky, stop!" Allie yelled, cementing her feet into the ground and forcing the two of them to come to a stop. "Stop!"

Turning around to face her with a stunned look, Bucky pulled her hand lightly. "What, Allie? We need to get our stuff and run!"

"It's too late." She whispered.

"No it's n—"

"Steve's already here!"

"What?" He spoke, his words dripping with disbelief.

"He called me, Bucky." She replied, turning her eyes up to their building. "He's up there."

Bucky's lips fell closed and a brief moment of silence passed between the two of them. The new information churning inside his head as Allie fought the urge to bite her nails in anxiety. But knowing that time wasn't on their side, Bucky squeezed her hand and pulled her towards their home.

"Doesn't matter. We need to get our stuff and go."

Wordlessly, she followed after Bucky, climbing the seemingly never ending staircase. Her mind tauntingly reminding herself of what laid upstairs, the confrontation she would be forced to make. With each step that reality becoming more and more daunting, nearly making her want to turn her back and run far away.

But she kept going, knowing that what was going to happen was inevitable. Ignoring the nervousness that burned in her veins as the door to her apartment came into sight. Her heart thundering anxiously in her chest as Bucky approached it, opening it softly with little hesitation.

Pushing her nerves away, she followed after Bucky. Entering her home and immediately catching sight of Steve and Melaina who stood facing away from herself and Bucky.

Steve was donning his Captain America gear, the navy blue ensemble that Allie hadn't seen in quite some time, at least not in person. His iconic shield was hooked in one hand, reflecting the soft sunlight that filtered in through the windows as he seemed to be holding something in his other hand. Something she couldn't see.

By his side stood Melaina, her gold and obsidian armor glinting as she moved. Looking like pure catastrophe as her dark hair fell in loose waves down her back. Allie could tell that Melaina knew they were there, noticing how her body tensed the second they stepped into the room.

The air was knocked from Allie's lungs as Melaina's emerald eyes met her own, completely devoid of any emotion. No friendliness, no anger, no confusion, just an ocean of pure jade. Allie's muscles immediately tightened at her gaze, no longer certain if the woman before her was a friend or an enemy. If Allie's lies had turned the woman she looked up to against her.

But when Steve turned, that's when her glass heart broke.

Upon glancing at her frightened figure, his electric blue eyes lost their light. Overwhelmed with a blend of shock and betrayal, a combination Allie wished Steve had never look at her with. The fragile organ within her chest shattering into millions of insignificant smithereens as Steve's entire body drooped, a pained gasp falling past his lips.

"Allie..." Steve whispered, disbelief forcing the oxygen out from his lungs as he stood cemented to the ground. "W—What are you doing here?"

"Steve, please just give me—"

"Have you been with him the whole time?" He interrupted, his voice shifting from surprised to accusing almost instantly. Anger beginning to swirl in his usually bright cobalt eyes, leaving her shaking in her boots.

"Steve..."

"How long?" He seethed. "How long have you been lying to me?"

"Steve, please!" She pleaded, her eyes glassy with unshed tears.

Steve's eyes softened slightly at the wash of desperation that overwhelmed Allie, recognizing that look of inner turmoil that had plagued her so often. His resolve weakening with every tremble her body made, anger dissipating until he felt a slight wave of compassion for his friend.

"We'll talk about this later." Steve sighed, turning his eyes over to the man he came here for. His body tensing as he gazed at his former friend that he hadn't seen since the fall of Triskelion.

"Do you know me?"

"You're Steve." Bucky piped up after a brief pause. His words cautious as he maintained Steve's gaze. "I read about you in a museum."

Allie immediately turned to Bucky in confusion, knowing that Bucky knew much more about Steve than that. If anything, Bucky knew more about Steve than she did, nearly remembering the entire past the two had shared from kids to soldiers in the army. And she did not have the faintest clue as to why he was blatantly lying to his friend even though their cover was blown.

"They've set the perimeter." Allie heard Sam speak into Steve's earpiece, her body tensing at his words.

Noticing Allie's stiff posture, Bucky tightened his grip around her hands. Forcing her eyes to meet his, wordlessly conveying to him her worry, how they were being surrounded by their enemies and she wasn't sure if they were going to make it out of this one alive.

Steve didn't fail to miss that exchange, observing the way Bucky's eyes lovingly met Allie's, how her worry seemed to wilt away when she looked back at him. Reminding Steve of how the two used to act back in the war.

"I know you're nervous, and you have plenty of reason to be." Steve interrupted the two, setting aside Bucky's journal with an imploringly look. "But you're lying."

But Bucky just shook his head, ignoring Steve's statement. "I wasn't in Vienna. I don't do that anymore."

"He wasn't Steve. If you aren't going to trust me anymore at least trust me on that." Allie added, desperation dripping from her voice like sickly tar.

Sam spoke up again into Steve's comm device but Allie missed it this time, too engrossed in the thundering of her heart as she faintly picked up on the sounds of footsteps echoing outside their apartment.

"Well, the people who think you did are coming here now. And they're not planning on taking you alive."

"That's smart. Good strategy." Bucky nodded, the footsteps outside becoming loud enough for them all to hear.

"Would you still say it's smart when it extends to her as well." Melaina retorted, cocking a brow as she gestured to Allie.

Bucky's jaw clenched at Melaina's words, glaring at the Greek as he tightened his hold on her hand. Watching as the Goddess' gaze met Allie's, a curt nod and a tense smile etching at her lips as they exchanged wordless communication. Somehow understanding that Melaina was not mad at the former soldier, but she wasn't entirely happy either.

"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Buck." Steve pleaded to deaf ears, ignoring the sound of the Romanian special forces setting up shop right outside the door.

Removing his gloves from his hands, Bucky responded. "It always ends in a fight."

"You pulled me from the river." Steve added, this time his voice urgent and somewhat angry. "Why?"

"I don't know."

"Bucky." Allie begged, forcing his guarded cobalt eyes to meet her anxious honey ones.

"Yes you do."

"Breach. Breach. Breach."

Before Allie had the chance to react, the window to their apartment was broken as a smoke bomb was thrown into the room. She was immediately collected in Bucky's arms to guard her from the attack, sheltered behind his hulking frame and metal arm as her world was plunged into chaos. Her sanctuary ruined as her reality came crashing down on her with unforgiving force.

Forcibly reminded that she was a criminal, and her reckoning was nipping at her heels.

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HEY EVERYONE!!!

I am so very sorry for the 3-week wait for this chapter but everything has been a bit crazy rn and I hope you guys forgive me!!

I know this chapter is really short but it took everything in me to even get it up today and I am still not very happy with it. I might come back later this week and see if I can make it at least readable. I am going to try my very hardest to get back to my regular updating schedule and have the next chapter ready to go next week!

And I also would like to mention the passing of Chadwick Boseman. He was an incredible man, with an incredible story that I know will inspire the world. His contribution to the film industry and more importantly the presence of POC in all aspects of film has been revolutionary. In Marvel especially, he became a character and a hero to the people that had been underrepresented in film for so long and I know that his legacy will continue despite his passing.

Rest in power and peace, King.

And for this chapter's questions:

1. What did you think of the chapter?

2. Who's ready for Civil War?

3. What's the best era of music?

Missed you all lots

— Grace xx