Setting: TFATWS

You heard a gunshot ring out through the warehouse; the sound rung in your ears, indicating that whoever was pulling the trigger was closer to your hiding spot than you had thought. You wiped a bead of sweat from your forehead and placed your pointer finger on the button of your earpiece.

"Walker," you whispered, "Are you down?"

Aside from the single gunshot, you couldn't hear any other sounds. You peered around the corner of the metal beam you'd been behind for the past eleven minutes, growing impatient after receiving no further directions from your squadron. You knew the mission was a risk, and in fact, you disliked the fact that Walker was involved at all.

Your work for the States had changed dramatically over the last six years. Before the blip you were only in the beginning stages of training for physical confrontations; after the blip, you were moved to headquarters working the courts among other less hands-on work. Turns out half of the universe ceasing to exist involved quite a bit of paperwork.

It had been quite a while since you'd gotten your hands dirty, and though you didn't mind the work, you did not enjoy working alongside John Walker. Your squadron was to be under his guidance, which definitely was getting to his head. Even Lemar's ego had been rubbing you the wrong way lately, and initially, he had been the only one you could actually stand to hold conversation with.

"Walker?" You whispered once more before giving up and leaving the safety of your hide-out spot.

They better put be back behind a desk after this because if I'm put on one more mission with this jackass, I might just put him down myself, you thought.

It was dramatic, but you had spent the last few days with only Walker and Lemar, following them to locations that turned up nothing. The Flag-Smashers were still at large and you were beginning to think this lead was yet another dead end, too, aside from the solo gunshot that you'd heard.

Your stomach began twisting in knots the longer the silence dragged on. After rounding a few more corners, you slowed down your pace and drew your pistol, holding it out in front of you. As much as you disliked Walker's personality and way of handling his job, you didn't want his blood on your hands.

"Lemar?" You whispered aloud this time, hoping he was nearby. This was the last location you'd seen him earlier before splitting up.

You took one step forward and in under what felt like a second, a force struck you from the side sending you to your knees. You coughed violently, watching a few droplets of blood splattered on your palm.

"Damn it," you muttered, trying to regain your breath.

"Stay down." A male's voice warned you as you'd tried getting back to your feet.

You weren't dead, so that was a fairly good sign that this was not one of the people you were currently on the hunt for. Still, your heart beat rapidly.

You looked up at the man, wiping the blood from your lips, "Oh, thank God."

Immediately you recognized that it was James Barnes, and you knew he was of no threat to you. While he was most definitely against your squadron, the last run-in you'd had with him had only confirmed his distaste was mostly for John Walker and the shield your bosses had unrightfully placed with him.

You moved to get up one more time but Barnes only shook his head, displaying your pistol in his right hand.

"Look," you exhaled, making a face as you tasted the blood in your mouth. "I am not friends with that asshole, either, but we're just trying to do our jobs. Our fight isn't with you."

Barnes lowered your weapon and stuck it in the waistband of his black pants, his jaw clenched. He still held his own knife in his other hand, black-on-black metal.

"That's government property, Barnes. You know I'm not going to use it on you." You sighed, referring to your handgun.

Barnes cocked his head to the side as he looked down at where you not sat on the concrete floor, "It's not like you'd succeed if given the chance."

You raised your eyebrows before letting out a chuckle, "Hell, you're right. Sometimes I forget the guy you used to be, I guess."

Barnes frowned as he checked their surroundings, "I'm not that guy anymore."

You nodded understandingly, though you still had not confirmed who'd shot the gun you'd heard go off several minutes ago. It very well could have been Barnes, though you weren't so sure a gun was his primary choice since he was equipped with a powerful cybernetic arm. You'd seen him use it before on your last encounter, and luckily, you weren't on the receiving end of it.

"A shot was fired a few minutes ago."

"I take it that wasn't you then," Barnes responded flatly, retrieving her gun from his waistband.

You shook your head and made your last effort to stand; this time he made no move to stop you. Wiping the dust off of your pants, you looked around, as well. Silence still hung in the air, and you weren't sure what to think.

Barnes held your pistol out and you took it immediately, positioning it in your right hand once more. Your hand trembled a little more now than it had before.

He narrowed his eyes at you in the awkward silence, and you had no idea what he was going to do or say. Clearly, he was here for the same reasons you were—to locate the Flag-Smashers—but standing around chatting with you was anything but progressive.

"What?" You questioned him as you noticed his gaze was on your shaking hand.

Your cheeks flushed and you placed the gun in your holster before wiping your palms on the thighs of your pants.

"You don't usually participate in hand-to-hand conflict, do you?" He asked.

He was an impossible man to read yet you couldn't help but feel he had not meant what he said in a condescending manner. You knew it was probably of some concern to him that you appeared incapable of properly handling your gun, but to be fair to yourself, you had just been knocked to the ground by him moments ago. You had a right to be a bit shaky.

"Honestly, I think they just don't have a lot of people they trust to keep Walker in check. My combat skills are rusty, but they have more faith in me than that asshat."

This caused Barnes to chuckle, even if only barely.

"Their new Captain America isn't working out as well as they'd hoped," Barnes replied, a sense of pride in his voice.

You knew the story—the tragic story that was this man's life. You thought you'd been through a lot, losing people during the blip, but you'd been reunited with them several months ago. Steven Rogers hadn't been in the papers since and you along with the rest of the world were wondering what had happened to him.

"If it's of any comfort to you, I think Walker's the last guy they should have passed the title to." You offered up, knowing that this interaction with Barnes in no way cleared the air between his and Sam Wilson's dissatisfaction with your squad's existence. However, you did hope that it maybe relieves some of the negative feelings he may have held for you personally.

After all, you hated to see the shield taken and given to Walker. It was wrong in many ways, but you had no place to dispute it. You were far down the chain in your line of work to have any say.

"And who do you think they should have given the shield to?" Barnes inquired, taking a step away from you to look around.

You shook your head, "I worded that wrong. I honestly wish Wilson had never handed the shield over in the first place," you explained to him.

Barnes looked back at you, "That makes two of us."

Before you could respond, you could hear Walker's voice come through your earpiece.

"Lemar took a bullet."

"Is he down?" You responded, catching Barnes' attention once more.

"No. Hit him in the vest. He'll be alright, but he's bleeding. We're done. Where are you?"

You locked eyes with Barnes. He couldn't hear Walker through the earpiece but you knew he was smart enough to figure out you were communicating with him or Lemar, at least.

"I'm finishing up. Everything's clear where I am."

Barnes' eyebrows pulled together.

"I saw Wilson fly over earlier. Have you seen him or Bucky? Shit, hang on Lemar, we're almost there."

"No," you lied.

If Lemar had taken the shot you'd heard ring out earlier, it meant the Flag-Smashers had been here. At this rate, Walker had no chance of catching up to them while trying to get Lemar back to the trucks. You were smart enough to know that you were not up for a solo mission, and they likely would not approve of one.

"I'm on my way."

With that, you removed your earpiece and disconnected its wire. You assumed they had not heard anything since Walker had asked if you'd even seen Wilson or Barnes, but just to be safe, you wanted it to remain that way.

"They are here," you informed Barnes. "Someone shot our guy. We'll be out of your hair in ten."

"You're not telling him I'm here," Barnes pointed out, eyeing you.

Shaking your head, you removed your pistol from its holster to prepare for your trek back to the trucks.

"You and I both know you and Wilson are capable of this fight on your own."

Barnes nodded and wet his lower lip, "Well, I was never planning on working with you all in the first place."

"Fair," you grinned, understanding where he was coming from.

"Do me a favor and don't get yourself killed for that guy," Barnes muttered as he began walking towards the opposite end of the warehouse. "And I hope you don't get into trouble for lying to them about this."

James Barnes was a man of few words, yet you found yourself content with the way he spoke them. You weren't sure exactly what this encounter meant, but the dynamic was now different than the first time. Given, the first time you, Walker, and Lemar were all together, and Walker wouldn't shut up about how you all were right and they were wrong.

"I'm kinda hoping they will get me in trouble and take me off this damned mission. I'm sick of Walker and his ego. I don't even have the proper training to stand a chance against Karli or her guys."

Barnes stopped and turned back to you, about fifteen feet away now. He grinned and shrugged.

"Hell, Sam grinds my gears but he's nothing like that shithead. If you ever find yourself out of a job, maybe you could come join the right side of the fight for once."

For a second, you thought he had to be joking. His grin was long gone now, though, which seemed to imply his seriousness.

"I heard your pay is shitty, though," you countered, now the one with a grin on your face.

While it wasn't really like you to engage in this much conversation while you knew your team was waiting on you, it was hard to walk away from this man without the last word. Something about him was slightly irritating as well as cocky, but you knew deep down that he was in this for different reasons than Walker.

Barnes was further amused, but began backing away again. After all, there was a lot at stake and standing there bantering was only giving the bad guys further opportunity to escape.

"Right," Barnes nodded, agreeing with your statement.

He and Wilson were operating under their own provisions, and likely receiving zero compensation for their efforts in stopping the Flag-Smashers. It was unfair, but most everything in the world before and after the blip seemed to be. You were just glad they were on the case, because you had been growing concerned about Walker's ability to handle it and your team appropriately.

"'Til next time. . ." He trailed off, probably realizing he had no idea what your name was.

"I guess so," you replied, giving him one last half-smile before turning your back on him and heading for the warehouse's main entrance and exit.

You could hear his footsteps behind you, growing quieter as he departed. For some reason, you just couldn't shake the feeling that this would not be your last interaction with the man.

A small part of you hoped it wouldn't be, at least.

_______

So, long time no see. I haven't written anything for this in two years, but all of the new Marvel content we've been delivered lately had me feeling inspired. This is a bit longer than my old one-shots, but since it's been so long, I figure that's okay.

Plus. . . idea for a fic similar to this concept has been brewing in my mind, so I guess I'm just testing the waters. I've noticed many new readers since TFATWS has come out, and I'm so glad to see Bucky getting all the more love these days.

Love always,
Mar