Several weeks passed by, and the two continued to get closer, hanging out every chance they got. They mainly spent time at her apartment, Bucky continuously finding new excuses for why they couldn't go to his run down room in the abandoned building - he didn't want her anywhere near that part of himself. On several occasions he had found himself wanting to tell her everything, about his past - both the one before and after Hydra. Reagan just had that kind of effect on him, she was the first friend he had had since Steve that he felt completely at ease with. As much as he knew he should pull back and disappear out of her life he just couldn't find the strength to do so, finding himself in need of the light she brought into his life.

Bucky wasn't the only one carrying secrets however, Reagan was carrying a big one herself, one that had everything to do with him - and one that he would soon find out himself.

Reagan was on her way to work now, pulling out her phone from her pocket as it pinged with a new message. She laughed as she saw the picture and contact name. Over the last week or so, she had been teaching James how to operate a smart-phone, not commenting on the fact that he was surprised at every small gadget and how some parts of the technology seemed completely unfamiliar to him.

Laughing out loud at his replies she put her phone back into her pocket as she walked in through the entrance of the small pub. She had the day shift today, luckily. And she was actually looking forwards to spend the night by herself - just her and a book and a self spa. James had said he had to go to work - though where he actually worked was still a mystery to her.

"Hello Stephano" she smiled at the elderly owner of the bar who was wiping down a glass. "Reagan!" He greeted her back, a big smile stretching across his face - "I feel as if I haven't seen you in forever! Blaine says you spend most of your spare time with some man?"

"Blaine really is a nosy little shit." She laughed, showing Stephano she by no means were angry with either of them. "But yeah, I do have a new friend."

"A friend?" Stephano smiled at her with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Yes, old Italian.. James is a friend."

"You kids, no fun.." Stephano said with a chuckle. Then he threw another towel to her, pointing at the wet glasses he were drying. Putting her bag down behind the counter she tied her hair up and started drying the glasses. There were barely any customers in the pub at the moment, just a couple of regulars sipping at their beers as they watched some news roll across one of the small screens that usually was on mute during the night.

She was pleased with the quietness, giving her plenty of time to cleaning up and organizing behind the bar with Stephano. They shared lots of laughters together, the banter between them flowing effortlessly, and usually ending up with her "new friend James", as Stephano now called him.

"Hey, Stephano?" Can you please turn up the news? They are showing a rerun of the bombing in Vienna."

Reagan's eyes too were drawn to the screen as the volume increased. She had of course heard about the bombing of the UN building in Vienna, it had happened yesterday, as parts of the Avengers got ready to sign the Sokovia accords. There had been a few casualties, the King of Wakanda, T'Chaka was probably the most notable one, but she had been saddened by them all. She wasn't sure if she agreed with the accords, but this had been a moment of peaceful interactions between the superheroes and the governments of the world.

"...Officials have released a video of a suspect who they have identified as James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier.."

The glass she was about to put back in its place slipped straight through her fingers, her eyes glued to the screen as a picture of the "suspect" was shown.

"Reagan?" Stephanos voice brought her out of her daze - "are you alright? You've gone quite pale."

"Sorry boss," she murmured, eyes still glued to the screen though the news had moved on to a different case after telling the public to be alert and to not try to engage the dangerous assassin. "I don't feel so good."

"Maybe you should go home and rest, huh? Call me if you need anything."

"Thank you," she whispered, grabbing her bag and hurrying out of the door - pulling her phone up from her pocket and already dialing his number.

It went straight to voicemail the first time,

and the second,

and the third.

On the fourth time he picked up, but she barely got a word in;

"Calm your horses Rae, I'm just going to buy my plums then I will call you back."

She barely had the time to shout; "No, James!" Before he had hung up on her.

"Damn it!" She cursed, running towards what she knew was his favourite spot to buy his precious plums. Luckily it was not that far from the small bar, and as she sprinted around a corner she could see the small booths - a couple of people milling about minding their own business.

Reagan stopped for a second, her eyes searching for his familiar form.

Suddenly she spotted a familiar dark caps, long brown hair sticking out underneath it.

"James!" She shouted, rushing across the road towards him as she watched him starting to lift his phone up to his ear, presumably to call her back.

"James!" She shouted again, huffing in relief she barely managed to get out of the way of a car before taking the last steps over towards him.

"Holy Mary-mother of Jesus, Reagan!" He exclaimed, his arms reaching forwards until his hands clasped her upper arms. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

It took him a moment to register her frantic breathing and wide eyed expression.

"What's wrong?" He looked so concerned that her heart almost broke a little, but before she had even opened her mouth he stiffened slightly, his eyes looking above her head at something behind her. "Give me a moment," he murmured, gently releasing her, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"No, wait," she said feebly, but she couldn't cause more of a scene.

Then she saw the vendor, the vendor who was currently looking at James as if he had seen a ghost. "Oh God," she murmured to herself, before jogging after James, her hand reaching for his arm just as he reached the newspaper booth; the salesman already halfway across the street, looking over his shoulder at them as he ran.

James was already reaching for the newspaper, and though Reagan could not see his expression she saw the way his whole body stiffened.

"James?" She asked carefully, her palm landing on his shoulder as he stood deceptively still. Almost immediately he turned, his blue eyes clashing with her mismatched ones.

He stared at her silently for what felt like forever, though it probably only lasted for a second at most, then he pulled her closer and pressed her into his chest. "I have to leave," he whispered softly into her hair - "I'm so sorry."

"No, but James-" she started as he pulled away, his eyes lingering on hers for a second before he pulled back. "I'm sorry," he said again, releasing her completely and starting to turn.

"James, wait." She said, her voice more distressed now.

He didn't listen, he just kept walking.

"James!" She said slightly louder, following his brisk steps quickly.

When he still didn't listen she took a few long steps towards his retreating back, hissing underneath her breath but loud enough so that he would hopefully hear her: "James Buchanan Barnes, you stop right now and you listen to me."

That certainly got him into motion, and he turned around so quickly that she almost slammed straight into him. His blue eyes narrowed, and he looked at her for a long moment before his metal arm shot forwards, grabbed her upper right arm and pulled her away from the streets and into an alley.

"James, I-"

Her sentence was cut off the moment he pushed her into the brick wall - temporarily forcing all air out of her lungs in a rush.

"I haven't killed anyone."

She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, not quite understanding why that was the first thing he chose to say.

"Well.. In a while," he said, his eyes avoiding hers for a second before he vehemently continued; "but I had nothing to do with the bombing in Vienna."

"James, I -"

"I never wanted you to find out, I - I..."

Taking a deep breath she lifted her hands and cupped his rugged face in between them; "James, I know who you are."

"Yes, and I know this must come as a shock and that you are scared and-"

"Will you shut up for one moment please?" Reagan pressed her hand over his mouth, a small smile curling at her lips as she watched his eyes widen. "I know who you are, and I have known who you are for quite some time now - actually since the second or third time we talked."

Bucky let go of her so quickly that Reagan almost fell to the ground, and he took a couple of steps away from her, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes filled with many emotions - but she could see no positive emotions in there.

"You -" he stopped momentarily, his eyes flickering back and forwards for a couple of seconds - as if remembering something - before settling his eyes on her again. "You knew all this time?"

"Yes," she replied quickly. "I know you have questions, but you need to leave now. I promise I will answer all the questions you want when we have the time, but don't let this be the thing that makes the police find you. They will be here shortly - I'm sure of it."

"I need to go by my place to pick up some stuff." His voice was clipped as he spoke.

Reagan felt a lump growing in her throat as he avoided her gaze. She nodded her head slowly, knowing he felt betrayed and would probably need his space.

"You will just have to come with me until I am ready to sneak out of the country I guess. Can't have you telling everyone exactly where I am."

Reagan said nothing, only lowered her head and let him lead her out of the alleyway silently. She wanted to ask him if he truly believed that she would ever hand him in to the people chasing him, but she stayed silent, opting to keep her eyes to the ground as he pulled her along instead of looking at his stern expression.

"In here," he said quietly, almost pushing her in through a doorway. "Up the stairs," was his next command. and she complied silently, softly treading up the stairs as he followed closely behind. He stopped with his hand when they drew closer to a door, and she glanced up at him only to see him signaling for her to be silent. This time he took the lead, his hand sliding down from her wrist until he could grab ahold of her fingers instead. As they stepped silently into the room she noticed the tall, broad shouldered man clad in a familiar suit. Almost as if he didn't give it much thought James pulled her slightly behind himself, his body shielding most of hers.

Slowly, the tall super-soldier turned around, his eyes filling with surprise as he caught sight of her, but his eyes soon settling on Bucky; "Do you know me?"

"You're Steve." James replied slowly, his body still covering most of Reagan's; "I read about you in a museum."

Reagan shifted her weight from one foot to another, her ears picking up on a sound from the stairways. Leaning into James' back she got to the tip of her toes before murmuring; "there's someone in the stairway."

Almost perceptively he nodded his head, angling his body slightly to the side and at the same time continuing to push her behind him, until her back was no longer facing the door.

"I know you're nervous." Steve looked at the two of them, and the way they moved: "And you have plenty of reason to be. But you're lying."

"I wasn't in Vienna," James said suddenly; "I don't do that anymore."

Reagan watched as Steve probably got a message through an earpiece, his eyes glazing over slightly as he listened, then his eyes focused on James again; "Well, the people who think you did are coming here now. And they're not planning on taking you alive."

Almost involuntarily, Reagan reached forwards with the hand that was not already holding his, her fingers curling around his jacket as if that would do either of them any good.

"That's smart." He said nonchalantly, making a shiver run down her spine. "Good strategy."

Suddenly he released her hand one, and he reached over to the other one to take of the glove concealing his metal fingers.

"It doesn't have to end in a fight, Buck." Steve sounded almost pleading now, and Reagan found herself nodding her head to his words, though neither of them seemed to pay much attention to her.

"It always ends in a fight." Bucky said quietly, his voice level. Turning his head slightly towards Reagan he said softly; "stay down until I get back."

Nodding, she crouched down against the wall, watching as something came crashing through the window - and she watched in surprise as the grenade became visible on the floor. Luckily, James and Steve's reactions saved them from the blast - James kicking the grenade towards Steve who covered it with his shield. After this a lot of things happened at once, James lifted a mattress to shield himself from an attack coming through the window. Steve pulled the rug out from underneath another policeman, sending him flying as Bucky flipped a table into the door to slow down the policemen trying to get in.

"Buck, stop!" Steve yelled as James slammed another man straight into the wall. "You're going to kill someone."

Reagan watched through wide eyes as the man she had learned to know during the last five or so months grabbed ahold of Captain America's uniform and promptly slammed him into the ground before slamming his metal fist into the floor besides him. "I'm not gonna kill anyone," he huffed, pulling a well used backpack out from beneath the floorboards.

When they had both gotten up, they crouched slightly behind Steve's shield for a moment to avoid the gunfire, Reagan pressing her back into the wall to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. James met her eyes for a second, probably seeing her widened eyes and within a second he had pushed Steve to the side, knocking one cop over. Holding up his metal hand, shielding himself from the incoming bullets as he walked towards her direction. Grabbing one of the other cops he slammed him into a shelf, next picking up a large cement brick and slamming it into another cop as Steve fought someone outside on the balcony.

"Up," James said to her as he walked by her and towards the doorway, somebody was trying to shoot their way in, and he turned towards her - his eyes sharp and face calm: "you stay right behind me at all times, got it?"

All she had to do was nod, and then they were on their way, James punching and fighting his way through the doorway. Reagan did as he had told, and stayed right by his back, making it easy for him to push her to the side or pull her after him - but even she had to let out a squeak out of surprise as he suddenly threw her over the railing, his hand catching hers in the last moment and swinging her into another floor of the building.

Slamming through another door he almost showed her down the stairway: "Run," he said, "I have to go another way but get out of here and pretend you are running for your life, alright?"

"- James," she started, her hand reaching for him as he started to turn - they could already hear the policemen coming towards the floor they were at. "Go!" He yelled.