She tried not to completely destroy the meadow when she sent the sniper to meet his maker; Evangeline hadn't been in a good mood. Plus any explosion too big would've just attracted more unwanted attention, so she tried to remain as restrained as possible despite the altercation with Steve. This resulted in a ten foot-wide and six foot-deep hole in the earth, though she'd missed the Hydra soldier on the first shot. It was a mistake easily fixed with a quick shove into the small abyss and a rock the size of a cow not too far from the site of the explosion.

"Are you okay?" Was the first thing Bucky asked after witnessing the ordeal and running to her side after the smoke cleared. He hadn't seen the beginning of the fight, but was there at the end and more than ready to come to her aid if she was in pain or hurt or all of the above. Of course she told him she was fine and embraced his worried soul when he wrapped his arms around her. He muttered something about her being the death of him, but she wasn't paying much attention to her fiance, not when Steve stood off to the side, watching them with a solemn face, knowing that whatever friendship they'd had before was never going to be the same again. 

"We've scanned the area for signs of any more enemy soldiers," Howard stated with a somewhat impressed expression on his lips after seeing the damage. "It appears the threat of exposure ended after Miss Harris decided to crush our Hydra friend like a bug." He walked from the edge of the pit to stand beside the woman while Colonel Phillips assessed the scene with his own eyes. "Nice work." Stark couldn't help but whisper with a grin.

"Let's not tell September this story when the war's over, though," She whispered back, regardless of the fact that Steve and Bucky were less than a yard away. She'd fill them in on the topic of the little girl later. "Wouldn't want to damage her image of me."

"You could blow up the entire planet and she'd still love you," Howard laughed under his breath.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that."

"Alright, I'm only going to say this once, so listen up," The colonel spoke, his hands clasped behind his back and his emotionless eyes finding the gazes of the four individuals before him. They all mentally braced for another one of his lectures on a pluthera of different military 'no no's, but what they got was something else entirely. "Corporal Harris," She resisted the urge to squeeze her eyes shut, like a troublesome child before getting smacked. "I have a special job for you."

"Sir?" She questioned after coming to the realization that he wasn't in fact going to punish her for the large gaping hole in the ground filled with a boulder and blood at the bottom.

"There are only two Hydra facilities left marked by Captain Rogers on our maps; you and a team of your choosing will be infiltrating one while Rogers, Barnes, and the rest of their crew will be addressing the other."

"Colonel-"

"Shut your pie-holes," Phillips barked at Steve and Buck when they attempted to intervene. "This woman has proven once again that she is the greatest weapon in our arsenal and it would be foolish to put her under you two drama queens when she could be kicking ass and taking names herself. I couldn't care less about whatever emotional connection the three of you have to each other because the Nazis aren't going to give a damn either. With the three of you split into two capable groups, we can neutralize the threat of Hydra faster and therefore bring the war to a close sooner than we thought."

"Harris," He addressed the woman once again, changing the subject before any of the dip-shits around him could object to his plan. "Gather a team of your choosing and get the hell out of my camp before daybreak tomorrow."

"I can leave right now and take the Hydra base myself, sir," She confidently replied. Maybe it was the adrenaline still pumping through her lava-veins or the want to avoid all her new issues with Steve and Bucky, but Angie was practically bursting with enthusiasm for any kind of plan that would get her away from those two men. "Just get me a motorcycle and some ammunition and I'll be back before you wake up in the morning."

"We can do even better," Howard intervened just as the colonel was opening his mouth to tell the woman she was a complete idiot for even mentioning the idea of going head-first into the fray alone. "I can fly her over the facility after nightfall without anyone even noticing she's there. She can be in and out in thirty minutes-tops."

"This is insane," Bucky spoke up and turned to face Howard. "You said so yourself that Evangeline isn't invincible. And what happens if the plan goes to hell and she ends up trapped? There's no way she can do this without backup; I'm going with her." It was then that Phillips finally lost it.

"You take one more step and I'll have your ass on a platter," The old man glared a deadly glare, the kind of look an angry bear gives after someone pokes it with a stick. "If you so much as breathe in a manner that displeases me again, I will pack your corpse into a crate and ship you back to the US myself. You will never fight in this army again. You'll leave your girl and your best friend at the front lines in the middle of the deadliest war the world's ever seen."

No one said a word, no one blinked, or even breathed for that matter. Even the soldiers in the background who'd helped Howard scan the area halted in their steps, as if moving would only make the situation worse. 

"I warned you about this, Barnes, and I've had enough," Phillips got up in Buck's face and his cold, dead eyes sent a lightning bolt of fear through every person within a mile-radius. "Hydra isn't the only thing in this world that'll use the people you love against you. Get yourself and Captain Can't-Shoot-Straight back to camp before I send you both home in boxes."

**********

"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill that old, wrinkled man."

"No, you're not," Angie said as she stuffed a bag full of things she might need for this mission. After the rough patch with Phillips, Angie's first act was to sneak away to Bucky's tent before leaving for the Hydra base she'd be infiltrating. When she'd seen him in there, sitting on the edge of his cot with his head in his hands, the woman practically tackled him in a bear-hug, which seemed to make the situation a little less stressful and a little more tolerable. "Because then you'd be a wanted criminal and our children can't have that kind of father. They'd get picked on at school."

"It's not like they won't be able to handle themselves," He half-smiled from his spot on his makeshift bed, watching her as she packed. The woman slung her bag over her shoulder before sitting down beside him. He took her hand and she gave his a small squeeze in return; a moment of silence passed.

"I know what's wrong with Steve," She sighed.

"Me, too."

"You do?" She asked Buck with a puzzled look. He simply nodded.

"At least a little," He stated and looked at his engagement ring. Angie examined her own, the simple band that represented much more than any other objects the duo had ever owned. "It wasn't too hard to figure out when we started working together."

"He thinks I lied to him about us, or at least kept us a secret at the beginning," They both felt miserable about this predicament, how their love had pulled themselves so much closer together and unintentionally pushed Steve farther away. Angie couldn't get the sound of his laughter out of her mind, the cold, heart-broken chuckle of a man with a knife pierced through his back by the two people he cared about most. "I've never seen him so angry at me before. I never thought he could hold that kind of rage towards...towards me."

"This isn't your fault," Buck massaged her hand with his thumb, pressing lazy circles into her skin. "This isn't anyone's fault. Things just happen sometimes. He was a world away, and letters can only say so much."

"You're right, I just..." She couldn't finish her sentence. What was there left to say? She'd been chasing her own tail for hours, thinking about Steve's confession and what she could've done to make things stay in one piece, replaying that scene over and over in the back of her mind and cursing herself for even bringing up the issue. There was nothing she could do now. Nothing that could fix what she'd broken.

Angie took a deep breath and stood up.

"Let me come with you," Buck stood as well and pulled her into a hug, one she reciprocated with everything she had. He'd missed her hugs after she left with Stark. He'd missed her with every fiber of his being, every shred of his existence. And some old fart wasn't going to get in the way of being with her again. He'd wasted the first couple decades of his life searching for the woman of his dreams when she'd been by his side the entire time, Buck wasn't going to give her up now. "You're not indestructible. Let me have your back."

"I love you, Bucky," She muttered into his chest. "But I need you to keep an eye on Steve for me. I need to know that he'll be okay while I'm away."

"But-"

"Please, give me one less thing to worry about," Angie pressed her lips against his for a quick kiss before stepping outside. "I'll see you when I get back in the morning."