"Rose?! Come back to me, Rose! Wake up!"

Ava felt the plush carpet beneath her, but she was lying on warm legs. Careful fingers stroked her hair out of her face as she struggled to comply with the simple request. With what seemed like an extraordinary amount of effort, she opened her eyes and gazed up into Steve's frenzied face. It was as if she lay staring through a long tunnel. She blinked several times, and after a moment, the edges around his face began to sharpen and her vision began to clear.

"That was weird," she croaked. With a bark of nervous laughter, Steve shook his head and tightened his arms around her.

"I tell you I love you...and you black out," he muttered, shaking his head and trying to pull himself together. Her eyebrows stitched together in a confused, impotent sort of rage.

"Well, maybe next time you'd like to wear the corset," she said defensively, pulling weakly on the complicated straps. "It's almost impossible to breathe."

His face softened into a radiant smile. "Here," he said, his hands rested atop hers, "let me help you." He worked in silence for a while, trying to make sense of the intricate design, before he finally shook his head with a slight frown. "It's a labyrinth."

"Just rip it," Ava gasped. She hadn't realized how lightheaded she'd become. She had chalked it all up to the excitement of the evening and her rapid, shallow breathing.

Steve hesitated, his warm fingers hovering near her neck. "Are you sure? Won't Peter be upset?"

Ava waved her hand dismissively. "He can order me another one. One that won't kill me," she added under her breath.

After an almost imperceptible pause, Steve wrapped his fingers around the lace and tore it gently apart. The straps were no match for his strength, and quickly fell in tattered ribbons down her sides.

Without anything to hold it up, the slip also began sliding off her body, but both she and Steve caught it with quick hands. Their eyes met in the middle. "You love me?" Ava whispered. It was too good to be true. Too simple an explanation to make sense.

Steve's breath hitched in his chest, but he laced his fingers gently into hers, their closed hands resting on her pounding heart. "With everything in me," he answered, "I love you."

"You know what Rose...you really know how to leave a guy hanging."

Ava's cheeks flushed crimson as she ducked her head again and pushed stray curls from her face. Steve loved her.

"I love you too, Steve." The answer came easily to Ava, after all, it was true. She just didn't know what kind of weight that carried. "I always have—you know that. But..." He squeezed her hand.

"But what, Ava?" For a moment, it was so simple. Steve loved her. She loved Steve. But then reality sent them both crashing back to earth.

"But you broke up with me." It was impossible to keep all the hurt and bitterness from her voice, and her eyes stung with unwelcome tears she refused to let fall.

"If you love me so much...how could you do that? I would never have left you—not for anything."

"Ava, you don't understand. To have the person you love threatened—I mean, there were people out there set on killing you. I couldn't just...I had to take a step back. I had to let you figure out who you were as a person, and fully come into your power. It seemed, well, prudent."

Ava raised her eyebrows. "Prudent?" She had pulled off his lap by now and was sitting beside him, both of them leaning back against the bed.

"Do you hear yourself right now? You're saying you're in love with me, I'm saying I'm in love with you. But...you want to do what's prudent." His flushed.

"Okay, dumb choice of word. I'm just saying, you're the most important thing in the world to me. I felt like it was my responsibility to keep you safe."

"So you took the choice away from me," Ava answered quietly. "Imagine if the roles were reversed. If I decided that you needed time without me for your own good. How would that make you feel?" There was a second's pause before he hung his head. "It would make me feel betrayed."

Ava punched him suddenly in the shoulder and he looked up in shock. "And a little pissed off too, right?" His shock morphed into a smile and he laughed and scooted closer to her on the floor. She smiled back, and when he opened his arms, she slid into them willingly.

"I'm sorry," he breathed into her hair. "I was trying to do what's best, but I was an idiot. You just...you overwhelm me sometimes. It's like I lose my head. Bucky's always telling me I'm an idiot."

"He's right." She grinned into his chest, unable to believe the conversation they were having. Unable to process the words she had waited so very long to hear.

He kissed her...and nothing else seemed to matter. It started out tentative. Re-exploring familiar territory, slowly re-opening a door that had been long closed. Then her hands slid up into his hair and everything else became a blur. He shifted beneath her, and the next thing she knew, she was back in his lap—straddling him as her arms wrapped around his neck.

The kiss deepened and became frantic. His hands were everywhere. In her hair, down her back, fiddling tentatively with the straps that had fallen down her sides. She pressed herself up against him to keep her slip from sliding down, but in her haste to do so, she sent them both tumbling to the floor. He gasped in surprise, then flipped them both over so he was lying on top of her, chuckling to himself as he smoothed back her hair. "

She giggled breathlessly as he began kissing her neck. They burst out laughing and pulled themselves together, kissing and laughing like no time at all had passed. It was sheer euphoria. Losing themselves in each other.

Loving each other like there was nothing and no one in the world that could tear them apart. Then all at once, they were up on the bed. A shiver ran down Ava's spine as she tangled her fingers in Steve's hair. Was this really happening? How far were they going to go? Was she...was she ready for this?

It's a testament to how far gone they both were that neither of them heard someone walking up to the room. In fact, it wasn't until the door opened that either of them registered another person was there. Both Ava and Steve shot away from each other at the speed of light, but Bucky didn't need to see anymore. His mouth fell open as the door swung shut behind him. "Oh my fucking god!"

It felt as if all the air had been sucked from the room. Ava's mouth opened and closed several times, like a fish gasping for oxygen, but no words came out. Steve stood as far away from her as he could, his back pressed against the wall. And from the look on his face, Ava was willing to bet he willed to become invisible.

"James," Ava finally started, "I can explain—" Bucky held one finger up, his eyes closed tight. "Don't!"

"If you'd just let me—"

"Nope!"

"But really," Steve said, trying his luck. "It isn't what it looks like—" "Please."

Bucky finally cracked one eye open. "It's exactly what it looks like."

The three of them stood in silence for another minute. Steve staring at the ground, Bucky staring at the ceiling, and Ava trying desperately to keep her slip from sliding down.

Finally, when it could go on no longer, Bucky threw up his hands and broke the silence with an exasperated sigh. "Fish and chips."

Ava and Steve looked at him like he lost his mind.

"What?" Steve asked tentatively.

"If that's a new expletive you're trying out, I absolutely support you," Ava automatically volunteered.

Bucky's eyes narrowed. "It's what we need. Food. A distraction from this...unbelievable secret you two have been hiding!" His eyes fell on both of them critically, before resting on Ava.

"And I need to have a talk with my best friends but first Rosie."

He turned to Steve pointedly and cocked his head towards the hall. "Alone."

"Got it." Steve started nodding so fast it looked like his head might detach as he backed away to the door. "Three fish and chips coming up. I'll bring them right back."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still shaking his head, Bucky made his way slowly to the bed, taking a seat with another ominous sigh.

Ava crossed the room slowly to join her, catching Steve's eye on the way out.

Steve shrugged helplessly but flashed her a grin and a mischievous wink as he vanished through the door.

The door clicked shut behind him and they both slowly faced one another, each one waiting for the other to speak.

But just as Ava pulled in a deep breath to get started, Bucky suddenly shrieked, "You and Steve!? The dumbass came to his senses finally. This is...so amazing!"

Ava's mouth dropped open in shock. "That is...not what I was expecting you to say. I think Steve and I started falling in love a year before."

"Love?" Bucky raised his eyebrows so high they were in danger of disappearing into his hairline. "That's what we're talking about here? You two love each other?"

"I think so," Ava's voice came out almost a whisper. "He says he does, and I've never stopped loving him. It's just...complicated. Really complicated. He broke my heart, James."

"I don't understand what happened tonight. You said you guys were broken up. But you sure didn't look very broken up to me when you were—"

"Okay, enough, I get the gist," Ava interrupted him.

He grinned and plopped back down on the bed.

"So what happened? You two get carried away in the excitement of looking gorgeous tonight, or what?"

Ava sat down beside her and frowned thoughtfully as she considered. "I...I don't think so. It wasn't like tonight triggered something new, it's almost like...it pushed him over the edge? I think my being hurt might have unlocked something that was already there. Make sense?"

"Sure." Bucky nodded seriously. "He thought he was going to lose you, so his true colors finally came out." He flipped his hair casually. "It's actually not so uncommon. It happens in movies all the time. Although come to think of it, the two of you have always had a strange kind of connection. Like there was the world that all of us were living in, but then there was a different world as well—one with just the two of you."

Ava burst out laughing and pulled Bucky into a tight hug. "I'm so glad I was able to tell you, James," she said sincerely between chuckles.

Just then, the door clicked and the two pulled away, still giggling, as Steve poked his head nervously into the room. "Knock, knock," he said tentatively, his eyes darting between the two of them.

"Did I give you two enough time or am I going to get smacked when I come in here?"

Ava chuckled and rubbed the fading bump on her head. "You're safe. I took the anger that was meant for you about an hour ago."

Steve grinned. "Glad to hear it," he joked. Then he held up an oil-soaked paper bag.

"I bought dinner. Hope you guys are hungry."

Bucky hopped up from his seat on the bed and walked over to him. He eyed him up and down before snatching the bag away, planting his feet in front of him, and standing eye to eye.

"Steven Grant Rogers, in the last three years, I've come to love Rosie like a sister." He paused, editing. "I mean, a sister with sometimes questionable taste in men, but a sister nonetheless." Ava let out a indignant "Oye!!"

Steve tried to keep his face straight.

"That being said." All at once, Bucky's face changed from angel to demon. "If you hurt her, I am gonna kill you. Understood."

Steve tried to smile but ended up taking a nervous step away. "Shall we eat in the kitchen?"

"Sounds great!" Just like that, Bucky was all smiles again as he flounced off down the hall toward the dining room. "I'll grab utensils."

By the time the two of them got to the living room, the food was already plated and Bucky had poured three glasses of orange juice.

Ava sat down beside them. The food hit the spot. Salty and delicious. She hadn't even realized she was hungry, but before she knew it, she was kissing the last of the grease off her fingers and leaning back with a satisfied smile.

"Great call with the food," she thanked Bucky. Bucky chomped down on a chip. "Someone has to keep track of these things. Do you realize that you two haven't eaten since breakfast? Ava—you're becoming nothing but cheekbones."

Ava laughed and slurped down the rest of her juice. It really had been a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ava had told Steve about Connors Larson.

Even though they were only about an hour from the pub, Ava took the time in the taxi to get a little sleep. They had purposely left Steve's car at Joist Hall, hoping that if Lacroix came by to check on them, it would look like they'd stayed in for the night.

Ava had texted Julian before they'd gone, apologizing for the late hour, but asking that he meet her anyway and bring the Interpol Head.

When the taxi pulled up at the curb, Steve shook her awake. "We're here," he said, pulling out a stack of bills and handing them to the driver.

"Geez, it's really dead out here."

"It's two in the morning," Steve reminded her as she crawled outside yawning. The brisk night air bit at their faces and Ava pulled her dark jacket tighter around her, secretly glad Steve had insisted on it.

A neon light flashed intermittently above their heads- Second Sister, a name which she silently pondered as they walked inside.

They were greeted immediately with a strong whiff of stale beer and peanuts. There were only a few patrons and a single bartender. Perfect for the kind of discreet meeting Ava had in mind.

She spotted Julian and a redhead beside him, playing with an empty beer pint as he waited patiently at the bar. As if by chance, he glanced over his shoulder and spotted her at the same time.

He jumped off the stool and moved towards her, a bright smile lighting his face. Before she could stop him, he scooped her up in a tight hug. She gasped a little with the strength of it as he set her lightly down on her feet. "Jules, it's so good to see you."

"It's great seeing you too!" He beamed then took a small step back and gave them all a once over.

His eyes wandered over her and Steve.

"This your baby daddy?! My god, he is so handsome. Smash totally."

Ava chuckled and said, "Yes. Steve this is Julian Hawthorne, my best friend. He was a psych resident at Barts when I was practicing. Julian this is Steve Rogers my Baby daddy and-,"

Steve cut in and said, "Boyfriend. Nice to meet you"

Julian glanced at Ava and shook the outstretched hand. Julian repeated, looking Steve up and down. "Nice to meet you. If I wasn't dating I would have totally dated you."