Third Time is a Charm

A/N:I wanted to thank my beta, Elphabacanfigureskate, for helping me get this just right!

Number One

Their first meeting was at Union Station. They literally bumped into each other in the crowded convenience store located on the main level, causing her to drop an armful of food (which consisted mostly of candy) and for him to knock over a magazine rack when he went to catch her from falling (even if he doesn't remember it clearly, he was a gentleman). They briefly stared into each other's eyes before they quickly separated to clean up the mess.

She briefly made a note of his metal arm (hey, she was a SHIELD agent after all) before she made a mad dash out of the store (without her candy) to avoid any more contact with him. After all, she couldn't risk Hydra (more importantly, Grant and his wacko S.O) finding out where she was. Later, when she was on the train, Skye can't help but remember those sorrowful blue eyes of his, and wonder what his story is. Is he an unloved foster kid like her? If she led a normal life, would she had stayed to connect with him and discover the source of his pain? Skye spun theories about the mystery man until she overheard a group of businessmen discussing the fall of SHIELD, thusly reminding her of why her fantasy could never be.

Back in the store, Bucky had finished putting away the magazines and found himself looking for the girl, but stopped himself before he could garner the attention of the surrounding people. If he tried to call out for her (Doll is the word he found himself wanting to call her) it would bring unneeded attention- which in turn would lead Hydra straight to him. Even if he didn't have to worry about them, Bucky realized it would never work anyway. He is a 90-something assassin with serious memory loss. What would he have to offer a pretty, normal girl like her?

Number Two

As fate would have it, they met again a few weeks later in a small internet café in Miami. Despite to the scorching hot weather, he dressed in a navy long sleeved shirt, dark jeans, a black hoodie, and a pair of old work boots. It wasn't exactly normal for someone in Miami. That, combined with the unforgettable metal arm made her recognize him almost immediately.

She was there biding her time until her flight to Europe (Grant and Garret managed to track her down) when she picked up on the fact that they had met before, which aroused her suspicions that he worked for Them (she refused to say their name in fear that it was taboo like Voldemort's in Harry Potter).

He also recognized her and begun to make his way towards her spot by the door, thinking that she was a perfectly nice and normal woman that could help him with this device known as a computer (despite being unfrozen for at least a decade, he was too busy assassinating people to keep up with the advancement in technology). But before he could ask for help, she ran out the door with a look of fear evident in her eyes. He chased after her (ignoring that this would bring attention to him) wanting to know what he'd done wrong but was unable to find her. It wasn't until later when he was bleeding in an alleyway after fighting Hydra goons that he concluded that she was not normal either- she was Hydra.

What he didn't know was that she took refuge at the boutique across the road, watching him as he looked for her before retreating to the café. No matter how drawn to him she was, she wouldn't risk becoming attaching to a man that might work with the enemy.

Number Three

The two fugitives remain separated for another four months before they run into each other in an abandoned bunker in Russia of all places.

All his research and calling up on favors led Bucky here, the place where Hydra supposedly took him after they discovered his broken and mangled body in a nearby river located below train tracks. As he wondered through the bunker, memories of bright lights, blood, and the man from D.C (who he did remember to be his best friend, Steve Rogers) reaching out to him flashed through his mind, causing a splitting headache.

His flashbacks are disrupted when a young woman, the same one who he met in Miami and Virginia all those months ago, stumbles into the cabin with multiple cuts across her face, a busted lip, and clad in what looked to be the tattered remains of a deep purple plaid top, white undershirt, and blood-stained jeans. This time it is she that is dressed incorrectly for the weather.

In the days leading up to this moment, Skye had been in the clutches of a small squadron of Hydra agents that were supposed to take her to Ward. She had gotten tired of running and doing nothing, so she devised a plan to sneak into a (supposedly) abandoned Hydra base in Russia to steal any data she could find, but they were one step ahead and the operatives had intercepted her at the dingy hotel she rented for the night. Sneaky Cowards. Of course, one does not receive combat training from Melinda May to not utilize it, so Skye did what she did best; acted helpless long enough to find an opening, then proceeded to kick enough ass in order to escape. Hence her current appearance.

"Hey! I totally know you! You are the guy from Miami. And Union Station!" Skye cheers a little too excitedly. She had received a blow to the head while escaping, and that combined with a lack of sleep has made Skye a bit unstable. When Skye looks back on this moment later on, she realizes it was her genuine-yet-non-threatening reaction that encourages Bucky's response.

"That would be me doll. Are you okay? You seem a bit roughed up," Bucky replies instantaneously, not even thinking about what he was saying until after it came out of his mouth, completely contradicting his body's natural response of bringing his gun up to train on the girl that dared to barge in on him. It is moments like this that the true damage Bucky Barnes endured from Hydra reveals itself.

At the sight of the gun trained on her, Skye automatically holds her hands up in a non-threatening manner, hoping that she didn't make a mistake of upsetting the guy with a large gun. "Look dude, I just got away from a few Hydra baddies a couple hours ago and I don't feel like having to defend myself against you. Not that I would do much since I am more of a hacker than a fighter- but that is beside the point. You look like you could take me down with your pinky finger in a millisecond, so why don't you just put the gun down and we can talk it out?"

While Skye is ranting Bucky takes the opportunity to catalogue everything about the young woman in front of him. Once he looks past the messy clothing and her litany of injuries, it is obvious that she is not a trained fighter. She holds herself in a defensive position but it is obvious that she doesn't have the muscle to do any real damage. That alone puts Bucky's soldier instincts to rest. It is just an added bonus that she announces that she is an enemy of Hydra.

"You don't have to worry about the gun," Bucky announces as he lowers the weapon. Skye's body relaxes instantaneously. "As long as you aren't Hydra."

"Seriously? I pretty much just said I was running from Hydra myself."

"You could always be a double agent."

If Skye didn't want to risk being killed by the mystery man then she would have thrown something at his head. "You did not just go there. Nope. I will pretend that I never heard that. I am so freaking tired of double agents and spy games!"

Before her rant can go into details about two-faced Grant Ward, Skye decides that the best thing to do in this situation is to be completely honest and to hope for the best. She holds out her hand to him and introduces herself. "Hi, my name is Skye. I was a consultant for Shield and had just become a level one agent the day Hydra emerged. My ex S.O is a cheating Hydra scumbag that is obsessed with hunting me down. I can tell you that there is probably a small tac team on their way here now, ready to take me in. Are you going to help me or not?"

For a moment, everything is silent and only the harsh wind pounding on the side of the crudely designed bunker can be heard as Skye awaits his response.

"Sounds like you are in a bit of a jam, Doll. How about I help you if you help me?"

Skye realizes that there are so many things that can go wrong with this deal, but with the threat of more soldiers coming, she doesn't stop to think of any possible consequences. "You have yourself a deal."

"Well then it is nice to meet you Skye. My name is James, but you can call me Bucky."