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( fifteen. cold shoulder )

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Steve was finally and officially given the ranking of Captain.

And she? Well, she still managed to maintain her job. It did nothing to lessen Phillips disapproval of her, though. Anyway, the feeling is mutual.

They had been all called in a meeting from their Captain.

She had been given a new set of uniform; an ash-brown pencil skirt that reaches her knees, a white blouse, and a blazer with the same color as her skirt. She was given military badges to pin on her. It looked far different than the skinned-tight leather suit she wears as an Avenger, but she liked this look on her. Vintage.

By the time she got to the office, Steve and Peggy were already there.

She couldn't explain why, knowing that Steve had no fault in this, but as soon as she saw him a momentary of fury passed through her. The memory of him flirting with Peggy quickly shot up her mind. She heaved a sigh of irritation as soon as he came into her view.

No matter how much handsome he looked in that military uniform. Dear Lord.

An octagonal table was centered in the room, placed above it was different maps of the world. There were little flags marking the place they needed to go to, and small poles that she was sure represented the HYDRA bases.

"Good morning, Agent Klein." Peggy greeted her with a kind smile.

She could see Steve glanced at her mentioned name. She nodded curtly. "Good morning Agent Carter," He turned to Steve, condemning her voice to a withdrawn tone. He was shortly smiling at her. "Captain Rogers,"

Steve furrowed his eyebrows, dropping the smile. His heart sunk a bit when he was taken aback by her sudden coldness. He returned it evenly, "Agent Klein,"

It only struck the fire within her even more. Her eyes burned. Hot. Melting.

Rogers, you should know never to fight fire with fire.

Peggy easily detected the tension between the two, noticing their full-on glaring. Natasha, especially. "So," She tried to divert the topic away. "We were just discussing the HYDRA bases."

That seemed to bring Steve back to reality. "Right. The fifth one was here in Poland, right near the Baltic. The sixth one was... about here," He started pinpointing all the locations on the map laid out on the table by marking it with a dot. "Probably, thirty, forty miles west of the Maginot line."

One soldier came in to take away the map.

Steve flashed Peggy a smile. Completely ignoring her. "I just got a quick look."

She quirked an eyebrow, giving a lopsided smirk. "Well, nobody's perfect."

He kept his eyes trained on her figure as she walked towards the other side of the room, having that lost look in his eyes.

She felt like pulling her hair out in frustration. He definitely does not understand the language of women. Hotly, she brushed past him. Making sure that he would smell the anger radiating from her.

Sure enough, he did. "Anne." She ignored him, walking briskly to head over where Peggy and Phillips were. His tone became firmer. "Agent Klein."

He stopped as soon as she did. She took in a deep breath, turned around to give him the fakest innocent smile she could muster. "Is there a problem, Captain Rogers?"

"I think I should be the one asking you that, aren't I?"

The fake smile was washed away like that. She gritted her teeth, staring blazes at him. "Everything's just fine, Captain."

Steve still tried to talk to her as soon as she turned on her heel and started walking again. "Anne, Anne!" he hissed. "Why are you acting like this? Did I do something wrong?" Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know.

Natasha wanted to tell him the reason that was bothering her, but she feared that it would absolutely make no sense. Hell, it didn't even make any sense to her. But with every pair of eyes focused on Steve, she couldn't risk causing a scene now. Not here. "Not now, Steve."

He seemed unrelenting but he was glad that she had called him by his name. Not his title. He loved his title, don't get him wrong, but it just sounded so weird when she was addressing him thickly.

Steve sighed, mentally reminding himself to talk about it after this is done. "These are the weapon factories that we know about." He directed his attention to the colonel, "Sergeant Barnes said that HYDRA shipped all the parts to another facility that isn't on this map."

Philips nodded, turning away from the table and ordering, "Agent Carter, Agent Klein, coordinate with the M16. I want every Allied eyeball looking for that HYDRA base."

"What about us?" Natasha asked.

Another blonde-haired agent came in and handed the colonel a file. Natasha furrowed her eyebrows, only seeing this agent the first time since she got here. "We are gonna set a fire under Johann Schmidt's ass. What do you say, Rogers? It's your map. You think you can wipe HYDRA of it?"

"Yes, sir. I'll need a team."

"We're already putting together the best men."

"With all due respect sir, so am I."

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Steve didn't know why she was so mad at him.

He didn't know what he did to get her so riled up like that. He remembered their last conversation very well. Everything they talked about. And he knew that none of it ended up with them on bad terms.

But she was acting the exact opposite.

Ever since they got back from their rescue mission, she's been giving him the cold shoulder. And she knew that she was only like that towards him because he's seen her talking with Becca, Peggy, Bucky, and Howard and notice nothing out of the blue. She shared a laugh with them, a smile, a joke.

But not with him. No. She always has a hot trail of fire sparking in her striking green eyes whenever she sees him, and it was bothering him to an extent. She wouldn't talk to him. She wouldn't even look at him. Every time he tried to she always makes an excuse up.

He couldn't let this go on for any longer.

If she wouldn't talk to him, then maybe he could talk to someone else.

"Bucky!" He called out once he saw him walk out of his bunk. "Buck!"

He followed the sound of his voice. "Oh, hey, Steve. Is this about the meeting? The boys are heading over to the pub right now—"

"I need to ask you something."

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"It's about Anne."

"What about her?"

"Has she—uh, said anything to you, about me?"

Bucky stared at him, puzzled. "Like?"

"If I did something wrong to upset her maybe?"

"Huh?"

Steve sighed in annoyance. "Has she mentioned something to you about something I did wrong or anything? Actually, has she talked about me at all?"

"No." He scrunched his face like it was a weird thing to ask him. "Why? Did you do something wrong?"

"I..." he breathed frustratingly. "I don't know. I don't have a damn clue. Ever since we came back from the mission she's acting strange. She won't talk to me. Just always giving me the cold and silent treatment. I'm completely lost."

A certain glint of recognition filled his best friend's eyes. He tried to shrug it off but Steve already saw it. "You know something."

He quickly denied it. "I don't." he lied.

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't. Why would I even know?" He looked at him disbelievingly. "You think Anne's the type of person to open up her feelings to someone like me?"

"Why won't she open up to someone she's dating?"

"Someone she's what?" Bucky's jaw dropped.

For some reason, that made him step down a notch for a moment. He looked at him, eyebrows knitted in befuddlement. "Err... aren't you two dating?"

Then Bucky laughed. Like really laughed. Steve's confusion turned into humiliation then to aggravation. He clenched his jaw, waiting for his friend to finish his round of laughter.

"Who the hell gave you that idea?"

"You did!"

"Me?"

Steve didn't know if Bucky was playing dumb or not. He clearly remembered the image of him and her conversing at the back while he was up front leading the soldiers when they got out of the HYDRA factory. They may not have noticed him looking but he did. They seemed to be enjoying their conversation that he decided not to interrupt them.

The time when they were around the fire pit? He felt like kicking himself for not being smart enough to sit beside her. Bucky was the one who sat beside her. Not him.

And the way the men were implying that she and Bucky had something? The way Bucky always makes her laugh effortlessly? Making her smile by telling one of his ridiculous pick-up lines? He was envious of him. That he was making it seem she was an easy person to cheer up. To talk to. To laugh with. To... like.

But what does he do for her? Nothing. He can't even strike up a normal conversation to get to know her. He just always blanks out every single time he tries to.

What the hell is the matter with him? He can't be feeling this way about her.

What about Peggy? Well, what about her?

Steve knew for sure that he has certain feelings for the brunette agent ever since he saw her decked out that soldier on his first day in the army. She was the only person who ever believed in him. The only girl who showed interest in him before he became Captain America. One of the many reasons why he liked her. He liked Peggy.

And then she showed up.

This blonde nurse slash agent was always on the verge of his mind. She was always there to constantly gamble with his emotions. With his feelings. He prayed that this was just for a fleeting moment. That it would go away anytime soon now because he was just simply impressed by her.

But it didn't.

He was still having these emotions (whatever these were) until now.

And the thought of her and Bucky together? It just bothered him. He didn't know why. It sounded a petty reason to be... jealous. But it really bothers him.

"We're not dating, Steve," Bucky assured him. "I asked her out, sure. I told you that I would right?"

He remembered that. "Yes."

"But she still hasn't given me an answer. I told her I could wait as long as she needed but we haven't really talked about it again sinec then. I'm cool with being friends with her for now."

"Really?" Steve couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Uh-huh. Besides, it only means that I'm still a free man." He grinned. "Maybe I could actually catch some attention tonight. Been a while since I hung out with a dame."

He fought the urge to roll his eyes. Of course. "Alright. Don't have too much fun, alright? I don't want to risk the possibility of you hitting on any agents."

"One agent, in particular?" He smirked.

Steve blushed. But the truth is, he didn't know which agent was he exactly talking about.

"I hope we see her tonight because she seems pretty down earlier. Agent Carter was practically forcing her to come."

"I hope so. And I hope she finally talks to me. Jeez."

"She will. I doubt she can stay away from you that long anyway. She's probably doing it to clear her mind a bit 'cause her feelings are confusing the hell out of her. Seeing you with another dame might be tough for her to just brush away, you know. Give her time."

It took a beat for his statement to sink in. "Why would she need... why would that be tough—wait," Steve stared at him, perplexed. "What feelings?"

Bucky widened his eyes, realizing what he did.

Oh, shit. She was going to kill him.

"Huh?" he replied dumbly, hoping that Steve would just forget all about it.

Who was he kidding? He was talking to Steve. This guy's brain can store memories even a century from now. "Buck, what did you say? What feelings?"

"You know, I kinda..." He looked around for a chance to escape. "We should probably get going because the boys might be there already."

"The meeting can wait."

"No, it can't."

"Bucky..."

"Steve..."

Steve sighed, frustrated. "What feelings?"

Bucky ran a hand over his face. "Damn it. Anne's going to murder me."

"Just tell me. I need to know." He really needed. He wanted to know. To fix all of this up. "Please, Bucky."

His best friend sighed. "If she asks, you don't say a word that it came from me."

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