I walked around outside until I found the spot where Clint and I used to hang out. I climbed up to our favorite tree and swung my legs over the edge of a branch.

"Hey, Nat."

I looked down and saw Bucky staring up at me. "Hey."

"You want some company up there? I know you came out here to be alone, but it's been an hour."

I smiled. "Come on up."

He climbed up and sat beside me. "Eggnog?" He handed me a thermos.

I laughed. "Thanks."

"Clint said you'd probably be out here. I hope I'm not intruding."

"You're not intruding, Bucky. I appreciate the company."

"So, about what happened...are you ok?" he asked.

I paused then nodded. "Yeah. I just needed some time to think."

"You're not having second thoughts, are you?"

I shook my head. "No. I love Steve and I'm going to marry him. It's just...everything is happening so quickly. We moved in together, we got engaged, Tony wants to throw us a party and got us tickets to Paris...I don't want something big and fancy. I want a quiet engagement. And maybe a beach ceremony for the wedding with just the team. Nothing crazy."

"Have you told Steve any of this?"

I glanced at him. "Not yet. I was planning on it after we opened our presents. But then Tony gave us the tickets and that kinda made me go into panic mode."

"I understand. He's gonna understand, Nat. Steve is a very reasonable guy and he's all for taking things slow."

I laughed. "Yeah, I know. Although, when it comes to our relationship, that's what we always say and then things end up going faster than intended."

Bucky raised his eyebrows. "The intimate details of your life with Steve are something I don't need to know about."

I punched his shoulder. "You're a doofus. That's not what I was talking about. But now that you brought it up..."

"Nope!" Bucky jumped down and I laughed, following.

"Look, Buck," I said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I really appreciate the pep talk. And I know Steve will understand wanting to take a longer engagement. That's one of the reasons I love him."

He nodded. "I know. Look, I know this is an off-limits topic, but I can't stop thinking about what would've happened if you'd chosen to marry Alexei. Or rather, what if you hadn't and he never found out about us?"

I sighed. "Buck, we've been over this."

"I'm not trying to get in the middle of things. Believe me, Steve would kill me if I tried. But just think for a second—you would never have been happy with Alexei."

I raised an eyebrow. "I know that."

He kicked the ground with the toe of his shoe. "And face it—if we had escaped, if we had ended up running off into the sunset together like we planned..." he risked a glance at me although I was curious to see where this was going. It didn't sound like a confession of love. "...you still wouldn't have been happy."

I softened my gaze. "Buck, that's not true. I loved you. Once."

"I know you did. But we wouldn't've worked out. Trust me."

I nodded. "You're probably right." I felt bad. Bucky lost me to his best friend. Then he lost Emery to another partner because even though he and Emery had never been official, he was still heartbroken. I made a mental note to find him someone soon. Maybe Mandy? She was single as far as I could tell. Although I wasn't sure how Bucky would feel dating someone who owned a lingerie store...

We walked back to the house together. Once inside, Steve walked over to me with a look of concern on his face.

"Nat, I'm so sorry," he said.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I know how crazy things are right now. We haven't been taking things slow and it's my fault."

"Hey." I shook my head and wrapped my arms around him. "Don't apologize for that. Yes, I like taking things slow. But this relationship is all about compromise. Sometimes, I just need a little time to sort out my feelings, but I will always come back to you and talk it over. Like now. I love every minute I get to spend with you. But with how fast things are moving, I feel like I haven't been able to fully enjoy the time I'm spending with you. I want to treasure every single moment I have with you. Forever."

"Do you want to take a longer engagement?" Steve asked.

I grinned. "You read my mind, Steve Rogers. Yes, I think I would enjoy that. And about the trip to Paris..."

"We'll save it for our honeymoon," he suggested. "And we can explore Europe while we're there. I've always wanted to go to Ireland, too."

"You are the best." I leaned up to kiss him.

"Ugh, get a room!" Tony called out.

I stuck my tongue out at him and he laughed.

I leaned up to whisper in Steve's ear. "If you keep this up, I'll let you do that thing we've been talking about doing."

Steve smirked. "Really?"

I nodded then leaned up to kiss him...just as my phone rang.to kiss Steve again but was interrupted by my phone.

"Hold that thought, I'll be right back," I told him.

"Don't worry, Nat, these lips aren't going anywhere," he said with a grin. That got a laugh out of me and groans out of Tony, Sam, and Bucky.

Once I was out of earshot, I spoke into the phone. "Hello?"

"Nat, it's Mandy." No hi. No hey how's it going. Just plain and simple. And urgent.

"Mandy, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I, uh, need some help. I'm in a bit of trouble," she said.

Oh. "What kind of trouble?"

"The kind I thought you might be able to help with?"

"Um, sorry, Mandy. You're gonna have to give me more to go on than that."

Mandy sighed. "Steve didn't tell you." It wasn't a question.

"Tell me what?" I made a mental note to whack my fiancee on his thick skull later.

"I ran into him a while back and needed to talk to you. He said you were currently unavailable so I asked if he could tell you I called. He said he would but yet here we are."

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers. "How long ago was that?"

"Almost two months."

I was gonna seriously whack him this time.

"Two months?" Then I realized something. "Mandy, if this was so urgent, why didn't you just call me?"

She sighed again. "Because it didn't get urgent until recently." Then she explained.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

I was going to smack him. As Mandy explained to me what had been going on, I got angrier. It wasn't so much that I was angry at Steve, although I really did want to smack him. It was more that angry with myself for not checking in with Mandy sooner. I had promised her I would keep in touch, but I hadn't kept my word.

"Nat, I'm really worried," Mandy said. "And I know it's Christmas so, I hate to be an inconvenience.

"It isn't an inconvenience. I'll be right over. Just text me the address, ok?" I replied.

She agreed and then we hung up. I walked back into the main room and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Hey, Nat. Who was on the phone?" Steve asked.

"Mandy," I replied, narrowing my eyes at him as his face blanched.

"Oh no."

"Oh yeah. Funny thing, she told me that she had talked to you two months ago. And that she had specifically asked you to tell me to call her."

"Yeah, about that...I was a little preoccupied with the fact that you were captured."

I whacked him with a newspaper. "Steve, we have talked about this! I am a trained assassin which means that even when I'm captured, I still need to get my messages, ok?"

"Sorry, Nat. I should've told you."

"Thanks. Although, I should tell you that I'm volunteering you to come with me."

"Where are we going, exactly?"

I smirked. "We're meeting Mandy at her store."

Steve groaned. "You know, the only time I actually feel comfortable around lingerie is when you're the one wearing it. Those headless things in the stores creep me out."

I raised an eyebrow at him and bit back a laugh. "You mean the mannequins?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from the 'headless things'. And if you're good, I'll wear that lace teddy you think I look sexy in later."

Steve smiled. "Deal. But for the record, you're sexy no matter what you're wearing."

I laughed and kissed him. "C'mon, let's go."

----

A/N: if you want me to write what Mandy told Nat from Mandy's POV (or if you just want me to include it in general), let me know! Another very important question: how would you feel about a Mandy/Bucky relationship?

Also: here are some visuals to help get a better look at what Mandy and Emery look like (I should've done a thing at the very beginning but here we are lol) And yes, it's only their respective hairstyles but I figured it could give a bit of perspective

Mandy: (kinda like Alice from Twilight (I've only seen the first movie once but her pixie cut is what I've been thinking about when visualizing Mandy))

Emery: (like a cross between Sylvie and Yelena)

~Han