In the hallway of a cheap motel, Roxanne walked past several room doors before stopping at a particular one. This was the one the guy at the front desk said he was staying in. The "he" in question being the Winter Soldier, or rather, James "Bucky" Barnes.

It had been roughly two months since Ro had offered to help Steve, AKA Captain America, locate the fugitive who had once been his close friend by doing an independent search. Her new friend and mentor was also doing a search on his side, and he undoubtedly counted on more people than just her, with better equipment, no doubt. Ro was basically a one-woman search party showing people a picture on her cellphone and following vague leads. To avoid raising suspicion, she usually claimed that the man she was looking for was either her cousin or brother.

Despite her humble means, the young woman was compelled to continue searching on her own. Not only because her determination to try and help this man somehow was resolute, but also because she was convinced that her solo search presented her with two subtle advantages. One, she too had been homeless at one point in her life, which meant that she had a good enough idea of the type of places someone with nowhere to go might gravitate toward, which were the places where she needed to look and ask around first. Two, she didn't call attention to herself. As someone who had spent her entire life maintaining a low profile, she had far fewer chances of being recognized in advance than the literal leader of the Avengers, which would help make sure Bucky wouldn't make another escape before she even got to where he was.

However, as the search continued, Roxanne couldn't help but wonder if that very thing had probably already happened at least a couple of times. Ro had come close to spotting Bucky's location on a few occasions, particularly in the past month or so, but in all the places where the rumors and clues lead her, she ended up finding nothing. Yes, the people she asked were likely to mistake the man she inquired about for someone else entirely, but there was also the extreme likelihood that the man in question was moving constantly to avoid being found at all.

In spite of this, something was telling Roxanne that her target may be getting closer than before. Not only had the people who were able to at least partially recognize Bucky's image increased lately, but the leads were also becoming more precise. All the "last week"-s and "a few days ago"-s that she had been getting were slowly becoming "yesterday"-s and "just this morning"-s. She was undoubtedly getting close.

It all brought her to this small roadside motel in a humble part of Winchester, Virginia, where a nearby grocery store owner had claimed to have seen Bucky enter. When she entered and asked the guy at the front desk about him, he had gone as far as telling Ro the room number that Bucky was currently staying in and informed her that the man had gone out a little less than an hour ago but had not checked out yet.

Thanking the clerk, the hero-in-training went up the stairs to the second floor. When she finally was in front of the room with the number that the clerk had given her, she stopped and hesitated, a feeling of apprehension taking over her.

Despite having learned so much about what had happened to Bucky in the past and genuinely desiring to lend him a hand, she also couldn't forget about the vicious assassin who had tried to kidnap her a few weeks back. How ironic that the roles had now been reversed and she was now the one after him!

She wasn't quite sure which version of this unpredictable man she was going to come across, and frankly, she was terrified at the idea of him being more Winter Soldier than Bucky Barnes when she meets him again.

Taking her backpack off, she unzipped it and saw the flip phone that Steve had given her sitting right on top. Just as he had promised, he had been calling occasionally, every two weeks or so, only to receive mostly unfavorable results every time. The thought of calling Steve's number and telling him that she seemed to have actually found where Bucky was staying crossed her mind, but she soon decided against it. After all, there was a chance that the clerk was wrong and Bucky wasn't even staying here at all, and she could potentially get Steve's hopes up for nothing. She needed to make sure first.

Besides, as scared as she still was of the Winter Soldier, Roxanne wanted to believe that there was still enough of Bucky in him. The Bucky part of that man, having recently deflected from the evil organization who had brainwashed and used him for decades, would probably be feeling extremely lost and confused, not to mention alone. Roxanne was all too familiar with those feelings. While he would presumably feel hesitant to trust a complete stranger at this time, maybe, just maybe, he could be reasoned with to accept help from someone who seemed sincere enough and would accompany her willingly. Yes, Roxanne knew she was being naive, but something inside her urged her to at least try. Hopefully, she wouldn't regret doing so.

Rummaging further inside her bag, the young woman found a lockpicking tool that she had gotten from SHIELD, one of not too many tools she had taken with her on her journey. Judging by how inexpensive the whole place looked and the fact the door had a keyed lock instead of one of those electronic ones that used key cards common in most hotels, Ro's target didn't seem all that worried about security.

With some difficulty, the girl managed to get the deadbolt unlocked. Now, the only thing keeping her from opening the door was the chain lock, which she took care of easily. In the back of her mind, Ro hoped she had brought enough money with her to replace that. A part of her couldn't help but feel like she was crossing a line that she normally wouldn't, but she had already come this far, and it was too late to back down.

The first thing Ro noted as she peered into the room was how dark it was with the blinds of the room's single window being completely shut. The second thing that she noticed was that, save for the motel furniture, the room seemed completely empty. There were no visible signs of anyone currently occupying this space whatsoever.

Gulping, she tentatively stepped through the door and called out, "Hello? Is anyone here?"

She took another few, careful steps forward. She was about halfway inside the room when she felt a distinct tingle on the back of her neck. No sooner had the tingling started when the lights suddenly came on and she heard the door slam shut behind her.

Before she had the chance to turn around, she heard a distinct click coming from where the door was, accompanied by a low, masculine voice demanding, "What are you doing here?"

Ro stiffened when she realized exactly what she had just walked into. "You're such an idiot!" she mentally reprimanded herself. "How on Earth did you think that simply walking into a room with a dangerous ex-HYDRA assassin was a good idea? Stupid!"

She didn't answer the question, but instead raised her hands, spreading them away from her body.

"I'm unarmed" she stated as she tried to keep her voice as steady as she could, though her slightly agitated breathing gave her away. "I mean you no harm."

"That didn't answer my question. I said, what are you doing here?" the voice demanded once again, louder this time.

As the person behind her stepped closer, Roxanne felt a metallic pressure at the back of her head, undoubtedly that of a gun being held against her. Once again gulping down her nerves, she replied, "I'm looking for a friend of a friend of mine. His name's Bucky. Do you know him?"

"I don't know anyone with that name," the voice answered almost immediately.

"Y-you don't?" Ro had a feeling she knew who she was talking to, and this person definitely knew someone with that name. However, she often felt a tingling sensation on her temples whenever people lied, and that tingle was completely absent at this moment. So, either this guy was an incredibly gifted liar, or he had absolutely no idea who he was.

"No, I don't." No tingle. Out of the two possibilities, the latter seemed more likely. "Now, tell me who you are, or I'll shoot."

"Okay, okay. Just let me turn around, and I will," Ro countered. After the longest pause in Ro's life, her hostage-taker finally answered.

"Go ahead."

Keeping her hands raised, Roxanne slowly and cautiously turned around to face the guy who was threatening her. She raised her eyes to take a good look at his face.

As she suspected, he was indeed the guy she was looking for. He was no longer wearing his Winter Soldier uniform and instead donned casual clothes in several layers, including dark gloves and a baseball cap. As soon as they were facing each other, she locked eyes with him. The last time she had directly looked into those eyes, they were like a dead man's, soulless and unfeeling. This time, however, this time, they seemed different. This time, she could see just the slightest bit of fear glistening beneath the surface.

A flash of recognition crossed Bucky's eyes as he studied Ro's face, causing his glare to soften.

"You're Arachne," he said to her. Ro visibly bristled at the sound of that name.

"No, I'm not," she quickly insisted. "Arachne is who someone else wants me to be. My name is Roxanne." She gritted her teeth as she took a breath and forced herself to calm down. "So, uh, what's yours?"

Bucky slowly lowered the gun, dropping his face along with it.

"I-I don't know," he replied hesitantly. "I know I had one once, but I can't remember it."

"You can't remember your own name?" Ro asked, sadness creeping into her voice.

Still not looking up at her, Bucky shook his head no.

"So, what did people call you?"

"A lot of things," he answered pointedly. "Nothing that really qualifies as a name."

Ro looked away as she let his words sink in. She thought back to the promise she had made Steve before volunteering for this mission.

She had promised to let Steve know as soon as she found Bucky. Well, she found him. However, Bucky's reaction to her presence alone told her that further pressuring or overwhelming him would be suicidally unwise, and Roxanne had no idea what Steve would do once he got her call. Worst case scenario, Captain America arrives at the door with a back-up team ready to gun Bucky down the moment he got too agitated, which was the definition of "overwhelming." Ro felt far too much sympathy for this man to put him through anything like that. Furthermore, she wasn't about to drag a potentially unstable amnesiac all the way back to New York against his will either. If she did that, then she'd be no better than the monsters who turned him into the Winter Soldier in the first place.

Roxanne slowly brought her hands down in front of her but kept them away from the rest of her body.

"So, I've thought about it, and I don't think you're the guy I'm looking for, so I'm just going to go," Ro said, taking a step towards the door. Without missing a beat, Bucky raised his gun and pointed it at her, forcing her to stop in her tracks. He was once again glaring at her intensely, but the fear she saw in his eyes earlier had grown into full-blown panic. "Uh, are you not letting me leave?"

"What are you planning on doing if I let you?" he countered.

Bold of him to assume she was planning anything. Ro bit her lip as she carefully chose her words. Gosh! What if she ended up saying the wrong thing? Would he really shoot her over that?

"I-I don't know," she replied hesitantly. "I honestly didn't have much of a plan going into this." Never had Ro ever seen a man's face go from fear and anger to total confusion so quickly. Afterwards, Bucky just kept looking from her to the gun and back again as if he was trying to decide what to do with her, which he probably was.

After the longest minute and a half in both their lives, Bucky finally lowered the gun and opened the door.

"Get out," he said to her bluntly. Ro did not need to be told twice, quickly rushing out the door and letting him slam it behind her. Once she was outside, however, instead of leaving, she stopped and just stood there as a pensive expression crossed her face.

Ro slowly turned around and faced the door, the door standing between her and Bucky. She knew he would never admit it given his background as a soldier and a (forced) assassin, but Ro could tell that he was scared and confused. Not knowing who you really are can do that to a guy.

Every bit of sense in her told her to just walk away and leave him be. Granted, in order to do that, she would also have to lie to Steve and, consequently, break the promise she made him.

Maybe she should just web up the door, tell Steve where they are, and let him handle the situation when he gets here. Besides, Ro didn't know for sure that Steve was going to show up in all his star-spangled glory with a trigger-happy back-up team. Best case scenario, Steve shows up with just Sam or Natasha for back-up, and Steve convinces Bucky to turn himself in to the Avengers. Assuming that being face-to-face with a past he can't even remember doesn't cause Bucky to freak out and try to run away.

Even if Ro did web up the door, he could still escape through the window. Then, she'd have to fight him to keep him from leaving, and he'd win. More importantly, the guy already had more than his fair share of people throwing punches at him and forcing him to do things he didn't want to do. When was the last time someone showed him even the smallest gesture of kindness?

Out of all the horrible choices that she had to choose from, there was only one that seemed less damaging than the others.

Ro planted herself in front of the door and just stood there. She didn't have to wait long before the door swiftly swung open revealing Bucky about to run out of the room with a rucksack. He stopped in his tracks, and his eyes widened when he saw her.

"Uh, you're still here?" he said to her in confusion.

"I, uh," she replied with some hesitancy, "I've had enough time to think about my next move, and, well, I've decided that I'm going to try to help you remember your name."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm going to help you remember your name," Ro repeated much more certainly, "and not just your name. I'm going to help you remember everything else about yourself."

Judging by the way Bucky was staring at her, he probably didn't believe her. After a moment, he scoffed.

"Yeah, sure, you are," he retorted as he attempted to push past her, but she planted herself in front of him unmoving. "Get out of my way."

"I don't think so," Ro countered.

"Look, you don't seem like a bad person, and I don't want to hurt you, but—"

"I won't tell anyone where I found you, okay?" Ro interrupted. "Everything that went on here today is staying between us. You have my word."

Bucky rolled his eyes and snapped back, "Do you really expect me to be risking my neck on your word?"

"Okay, then, what do I have to do to prove that you can trust me?"

Bucky shot her another unbelieving look, and then sighed exasperatedly before grabbing Ro by the wrist and pulling her back inside the motel room.

After shutting the door behind them, Bucky pulled Ro towards the room's only table and ordered, "I want everything in your bag and on your person on this table."

Roxanne rolled her eyes but did as she was demanded. She emptied the contents of her backpack on the table, which consisted of the flip phone, her wallet, her smoke bombs, the lockpick, and a pair of earbuds. Then, she proceeded to empty her pockets, which only contained her personal cell phone and some change. Once she was done, she turned the pockets in both her pants and her jacket inside out for transparency. Bucky's face grew more and more confused as he studied the contents on the table.

"That's all you brought with you?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, that's everything on my person that's not my clothes," Ro snapped, "and don't even think about asking me to go through a strip search."

Bucky floundered to find his words, completely taken aback by Ro's assertion. "I-I was not going to make you go through a strip search."

"Sure, you weren't," Ro replied sarcastically. He really wasn't. The lack of lie tingles told her that much. She was just feeling incredibly annoyed, and judging by the way Bucky was looking at her, she was annoying him right back.

The man once again looked through Ro's belongings and asked, "You were seriously planning on taking me on with nothing but a few smoke bombs, a lockpick, and whatever this thing is?"

He picked up Ro's cell phone with his right hand and looked it over quizzically.

Ro snatched her phone out of his hand, stuffed it back into one of her pockets, and answered, "That is extremely personal. Please don't touch it without my permission."

She grabbed her wallet off the table and added, "This is extremely personal too," before shoving it into a different pocket.

Bucky looked over what was left on the table and repeated, "So, this is seriously all you were planning on taking me on with?"

"I wasn't planning on taking anyone on. In fact, I wasn't expecting you to be hostile," Ro retorted.

"You've seen what I'm capable of, and somehow, you came in here not expecting me to be hostile?" If there was a limit to how confused Bucky could get, Ro was testing that limit.

"I also saw you pull my friend out of the river," Ro countered. "You could have just left him there to drown, but you didn't."

Bucky turned away from her as he recalled that memory. Something about that man he had saved felt familiar like the two of them may have been friends once, but honestly, Bucky didn't even know why he had saved that guy. He looked back at Ro contemplating whether to tell her all that. She certainly seemed trustworthy enough, but he wasn't quite ready to trust her with that kind of information yet.

"I did one non-hostile thing among several hundreds of hostile things, and that one thing was enough for you to assume that I wasn't hostile?" Bucky pointed out.

"Look, let's just both agree that I'm not very smart, okay?" Ro snapped.

"If you were, you would have left already," Bucky agreed.

The girl rolled her eyes before seating herself in one of the empty chairs in the room, searching her thoughts. She knew just emptying her bag wasn't enough to get Bucky to trust her, not fully anyway. She needed to do something else to show him that she genuinely wanted to help him, but what?

"Um, hey, do you have anything to eat?" she asked him, going with the first idea that came to her head.

Bucky sighed, unzipped his rucksack, and pulled out half a loaf of sliced bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a spoon.

He placed them on the table in front of Ro, saying, "It's all I've got. Help yourself, but make sure you leave some for me, alright?"

Ro nodded as she got to work making a sandwich. Once she had finished making it, however, she held it out to Bucky instead of eating it herself.

"Here," she said to him. "I thought you might be hungry too."

He was, not that he would admit it to her. He stared at the sandwich as if it were a snake before turning to stare at the person who made it.

"You saw me make it right in front of you. It's totally safe to eat."

The man just kept staring at her and not taking the sandwich.

"Okay, what if I make another one, let you pick which one you want, and eat whatever you don't pick? Does that sound reasonable?" Ro suggested, setting the sandwich on the table and readying herself to make another one.

Bucky nodded as he carefully watched her assemble the sandwich.

"By the way," she continued, "I know you can't remember what your actual name is, but I'm going to need to call you something, so what would you like me to call you?"

Bucky stopped watching her make the sandwich and turned to look at her directly.

"You're letting me choose what I want to be called?" he asked her disbelievingly.

"Of course," Ro replied as she set the second sandwich next to the first.

Bucky thought for a bit before answering, "I don't really know what I want to be called. You pick something for me."

"Oh, okay, how about, uh?" Ro paused. What was she going to call him? She couldn't just start calling him Bucky, especially now when he can't even remember what that name means to him. "How about James? Can I call you that?"

Bucky shrugged. "I guess."

Ro sighed, saying, "Look, I'm not going to just start calling you by a name you don't like, so if you don't like it or want to be called something else, you have to let me know, okay?"

For the longest time, Bucky said nothing and just stared into Roxanne's seemingly sincere, green eyes. Finally, he replied, "You can call me James."

Then, Bucky took a sandwich from the table and bit into it. Ro took the remaining one and did the same.

"This is a pretty good sandwich," Bucky said to Ro as they continued to eat next to each other.

"It's just bread and peanut butter. Nothing special," she replied.

_______________________________________________________

"So, where exactly are you planning on taking me?" Bucky asked Roxanne a bit later, once they both had exited the motel and were walking down the street side by side. "Or am I once again wrong in assuming you've planned anything through at all?"

The girl let out a sigh. "Well, not completely wrong," she admitted. "I do have an idea, though. I, well, I get that we're both a bit unsure about each other right now. Which is fair. We'll just need to go through a bit of a test period. Right now, I'm staying over at an inn not too far from here. So, if it's okay with you, we could spend the night there, and tomorrow, we can decide whether to stay there a little longer or find someplace else."

"If it's okay with me?" the man asked skeptically. He had gotten so unused to being asked his opinion or input about pretty much anything that he was still having a hard time wrapping his head around the concept.

"Is it okay with you? Or would you rather leave town today?"

Bucky gradually slowed down his pace until he stopped walking altogether. Noticing this, Ro stopped as well and turned back to look at him, who was once again staring intently at her, his eyes ever so slightly narrowed. She walked back and placed herself in front of him.

"What?"

Bucky stared for another moment before answering. "I just, don't understand you." He lightly shook his head in confusion. "Why are you doing this for someone who threw you from 3000 feet off the ground?"

Ro looked sideways, exhaling through her nostrils. "And also tried to kidnap me," she thought, remembering the terror she had felt as those powerful hands grabbed and restrained her. She kept her thoughts to herself, not wanting to throw anything Bucky had done to his face, considering the circumstances under which he had done those things. Still, that experience was pretty damn hard to forget.

"You know, if I'm 100% honest with you, I'm not entirely sure why, either," she admitted, looking up at him. "I wouldn't normally do this, especially not after what happened the last couple of times we've met. And I'm potentially risking a lot here. Not just my own safety, but losing the trust of someone I value a great deal."

Bucky studied Roxanne's unwavering expression. "But?"

Her gaze dropped for a moment before looking back into the man's eyes, with a determined spark in hers. "But I really think helping you is the right thing to do. And I want to try it. I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but this only has a chance of working out if you're willing to do the same. So, are you?"

He remained in complete silence for a moment, and once again, kept staring right at her. Despite the ex-assassin's stare no longer being dead-looking, it was still intense and fairly intimidating. However, his feelings of surprise, confusion, and hesitancy were also clearly visible, not only in his eyes, but in his entire face. The face that had previously been utterly unexpressive now seemed to struggle to conceal what was going on inside Bucky's head. Truly, he seemed like a different man than the one Ro had encountered months ago.

Bucky finally broke eye contact and looked to the side, pressing his lips into a thin line as he kept thinking about Ro's offer. She patiently waited for his answer. He furrowed his brow and shook his head, and then turned to look at her.

"You seriously want to do this?"

She nodded.

"Alright, fine. We'll give your idea a shot," he relented. "But this is only temporary, got it?"

A hint of a smile drew on Ro's face, but she quickly turned her expression into something more serious as she nodded again. "Got it."

"And we'll each look out for ourselves. We're not partners, and we're definitely not friends."

She shrugged. "That's fine."

Bucky held her gaze a moment longer, searching for any hints of deceit, but seemingly finding nothing, he jerked his chin forward, signaling for Ro to lead the way to their destination. She began walking, and he followed closely behind.

"And just so you know," Ro said as they walked, "I'm not going to force you to stay if you don't want to, okay? If you change your mind later on, well, you're free to leave at any moment."

He let her words sink in for a moment. "Free". When was even the last time he had been free to do anything?

Bucky, once again, remained quiet as he attempted to process every word in Ro's sentence, the entirety of which was the complete opposite of everything he had known for, well, longer than he could possibly say. He was still having such a hard time believing this girl truly could mean what she was saying without any ulterior motives.

Despite this, and against his better judgment, he chose to believe her. At least for now.

"Okay," he quietly agreed. "And, so are you."

_______________________________________________________

Later, Roxanne and Bucky arrived at the inn and entered the bedroom the former had been staying at since she arrived in the city. If the two were going to attempt to trust each other, first and foremost, they needed to know with utmost certainty that the other wasn't going to attempt to kill them in their sleep. This was officially going to be test night number one.

Bucky entered and started to slowly pace through the room as he carefully inspected it, opening cabinets, looking under pillows and blankets, and closely checking the walls, as if to make sure there weren't any hidden cameras, weapons, or anything else suspicious. Ro rolled her eyes and almost called the man out on his paranoia but soon remembered that he had a legitimate reason to feel this way. If doing this made him feel more comfortable, she should just let him.

"So, if you want, you can sleep on the bed tonight," she told him as he continued his inspection. She put her backpack on a plain two-seat couch that was near the entrance. "I'll use the couch, I don't mind."

Bucky stopped looking around and turned his glance towards the bedroom's single bed, with slight apprehension. "No, that's fine," he told her. "I'll just stay on the floor."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure? You won't even use the sofa instead?"

"The floor and a blanket will do," he snapped and immediately returned to scrutinizing the room.

Ro huffed and rolled her eyes away from him once again. "Whatever you say."

While Ro really still wanted to help this guy figure out who he was and start gaining his trust, she had to admit that his attitude wasn't really helping. The truth is, she had no idea how much of this attitude was his true self and how much of it was simply someone who had been treated horribly for years and was now acting in self-defense. She wanted to understand him and show him kindness, but so far, her efforts have been received rather coldly.

Nevertheless, some progress had been made. Despite the distrust and fear that was still between them, she had gotten Bucky to agree to a tentative alliance, and that was a huge accomplishment in itself. They had both agreed to give each other the benefit of the doubt, and she planned to uphold that agreement. She could only hope that her actions, in time, would demonstrate to him that her intentions truly weren't bad. Maybe they weren't going to ever become friends, but that was fine. She just wanted to make sure that he would ultimately be alright.

As Bucky continued rummaging, he got to a closet door, inside of which a couple of shirts and another jacket were hanging. When she noticed where he was headed next, Ro's eyes widened in alarm. She instinctively rushed towards where Bucky was, putting her hand on top of a cabinet at the bottom of the closet, just as he was about to open it.

"Uhm, you think you can skip this one cabinet, please?" she rapidly asked, slightly panicked. "Just this one."

Not taking his hand off the handle, Bucky narrowed his eyes at Ro. "Why? You hiding something in here you don't want me to find?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am," she said emphatically. Bucky remained unmoving, making Ro grit her teeth and shake her head in embarrassment, her face reddening slightly. "It's yet another extremely personal space, okay?"

Realization dawning upon him, Bucky's expression rapidly turned from suspicious to shocked, his eyes widening as well. "Oh. You mean, your...?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean," she snapped, not letting him finish the question. She closed her eyes and grunted, irritated. "Look, I get that you don't trust me at all right now, so," she paused and grimaced, "if you really need to look..."

"No! No," Bucky cut her out, finally backing away from the closet. He quickly cleared his throat and attempted to regain his composure, looking away and walking towards another corner of the room. "I'm gonna take your word for it. Just this once."

Ro let out all the tension she had felt in that instance with a loud sigh. Once she had done so, she couldn't help but feel ever so slightly amused. Out of all the things she had expected to witness when she woke up that morning, a flustered Winter Soldier was not one of them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a noise that came from her backpack, which was still on the couch. The moment Bucky heard the repeated beeping sound, he turned around and tensed up, grabbing hold of his gun, which he had put away inside his jacket, without taking it out.

"What the hell's that noise?" he asked, darting his eyes around.

"Don't worry, it's just my phone," Ro explained as she went to retrieve it from her bag. "I'm getting a call."

Having recognized the ringtone as belonging to the old flip phone, she grabbed hold of it. Knowing that there was only one person who communicated with her through that phone, she opened the lid and paused as she stared at the name and number displayed on the small, pixelated screen.

Of course, it was Steve calling. She had the feeling he was going to call again pretty soon, but she wasn't expecting it to be today.

Roxanne looked at Bucky, who was still staring with a confused and untrusting expression, one hand clutching his concealed weapon.

As the artifact kept beeping, she stared at it for one moment longer. Almost every part of her was telling her that she shouldn't do this, but she knew she would have to from the moment she decided to help Bucky on her own. She probably was going to regret this, but she didn't have a choice anymore.

Ro hesitated. Then, she pushed the "decline" button on the flip phone. She closed her eyes as she shut the cellphone and threw it back in her backpack.

"You're not gonna answer that?" Bucky asked, relaxing his stance a bit and letting go of the gun.

"No," Ro answered quietly, taking a deep breath. "That call's gonna have to wait."

_______________________________________________________

That night, both Roxanne and Bucky were lying awake. On Bucky's end, he refused to sleep out of distrust that Ro wouldn't kill him while he was at his most vulnerable. On Ro's end, the insomnia was due to a mixture of fear that Bucky would kill her in her sleep and guilt that she had hung up on Steve and officially broken her promise to him.

"So, you still awake?" Bucky asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Unfortunately," Ro replied. "I guess I just have too much on my mind."

"Does it have to do with that call you didn't answer earlier?"

Ro cringed slightly when she heard this question, then sighed. "Yeah, at least in part, it does."

"It was your friend, wasn't it?" Bucky continued asking, without taking his eyes from the ceiling. "The one who sent you to find me?"

Her eyes widened, and she turned her head towards him. "How did you--?"

"You're seriously awful at hiding what you're thinking and feeling," he deadpanned. "I'd advise you to work on that."

Ro audibly scoffed as she rolled her eyes and turned on her side, facing away from where the man was lying on the floor, a few feet parallel to her bed. Neither said anything for a moment.

Bucky's cold expression softened as he turned his head slightly towards Ro, though still not looking at her. "So, was it him? The guy that I pulled out of the river?"

Not seeing his face but hearing a surprising amount of vulnerability in the man's voice, Ro softened as well. "Yes. It was him that called."

Silence fell between them once again.

"His name is Steve," she continued. "The two of you were friends, too, once. You just can't remember. That's why he wanted me to find you."

Bucky was surprised yet simultaneously unsurprised. He was aware that he hadn't always been the Winter Soldier, but the Winter Soldier had been his life and reality for so long that the idea of being anyone else, let alone the friend of one of his former targets, felt completely foreign to him. Memories that involved that man had come and gone ever since he got away, yet those only left him with more questions than answers.

"Did he tell you anything about me?"

Ro fiddled with her hair as she thought of her answer carefully. "He, he did. A lot of things. But I don't think I should tell you. At least, not for now."

There was another tense silence. Before too long, Bucky sat up. Roxanne did so as well, and in the dark, she was able to distinguish him glaring at her.

"What happened to 'I'm going to help you remember everything about yourself'?" he questioned in a more menacing tone.

"I do want to help you remember, James," she countered. "It's just that, if I just told you everything Steve told me about you, I'd just be passing along who Steve thinks you are and who he expects you to be. That's not going to help you remember who you really are."

His glare remained unmoving.

"Listen, if you want, we'll head back to D.C. tomorrow," she suggested. "There's a place there that could help you remember some of the things you might have forgotten. In a more unbiased way."

He finally lowered his gaze and led out an exasperated sigh. "Why is making sure I actually remember who I am so important to you anyway? What do you get out of me remembering?"

Ro shrugged. "How about being able to know the real you?"

"So you can use that information against me?" he asked defiantly as he laid back on the floor.

The girl let out a gasp as she was suddenly hit by the memory of someone who had done just that with her. Even after all that time, the pain and anger that that betrayal had left her with still came in fresh waves every time she remembered it. Every time she remembered him. Just the thought of doing something like that to someone, even unwittingly, made her sick. She could never, under any circumstance, allow herself to become like that lying, back-stabbing monster.

"If I ever use anything you tell me in confidence to hurt you," she said in a calm yet stern voice as she laid back down, "you have my permission to kill me."

Bucky was taken aback by this. "Okay? That's a strange thing to have a death wish over."

"Not if you know me."

Scoffing, Bucky turned to his side, facing away from Roxanne. "And I never will."

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AUTHOR'S NOTES: I really, REALLY hope Wattpad won't ban that picture of Bucky :') I'm going to give it a shot, and hopefully they leave it alone.

And with that, let the slowburn officially BEGIN! >:D

In all seriousness, this chapter holds a very special place in my heart, not only because of its importance within the story as a whole, but also because this was the chapter that convinced me to tell Roxanne and Bucky's story in the first place. Over three years ago, my co-author Julienne surprised me with a first draft of the scene in which Ro encounters Bucky at the motel room, and I loved it so much that it gave me the last push I needed to decide to actually tell this story in a more defined way that, hopefully, others could also get invested in and enjoy.

And the rest is history. So yeah, extra special shout-out to Julienne for this chapter. We wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for her! <3

It honestly feels surreal to finally share this publicly. I hope you'll enjoy reading as this love story slowly develops as much as we've enjoyed developing it behind the scenes. We've got an emotional ride ahead of us, so stick around for it!