A wave struck the bow of the shipping vessel and Katherine's stomach lurched in response. She buried her head in the bucket once more, dry heaving and spitting nothing but bile since she had already emptied her stomach.

She felt Bucky's metal hand on her skin, cool and soothing, and she looked up into his concerned face.

"Here," he said quietly, handing her the tin mug of water that he had gone to collect for her.

"Thanks," she said hoarsely, taking it with shaking hands.

They were on a cargo ship somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, headed for Europe. The crew knew they were there since Bucky had used money stolen from Hydra safe-houses to pay for them to be smuggled out of America. They had been given a tiny cabin with a narrow bed near the bow of the boat and told to keep out of the way.

Trembling all over and covered in a cold sweat, she took a sip of the water, careful not to have too much at once in case it caused her stomach to rebel.

"How much longer?" she asked weakly - they had been on the ship for several days now and she had been plagued with seasickness every day of the voyage.

"A few days," Bucky replied, still sounding concerned.

Katherine made a faint whimpering noise as the huge vessel creaked and moaned around them.

Bucky pushed some damp strands of hair out of her eyes, then pulled the thin blanket higher up around her shoulders for warmth since the metal walls of their cabin seeped all the warmth from the room.

"Try to get some sleep," he said quietly; she knew full well that he was worried about her, probably thinking that she should have stayed behind at the compound.

He remained sat up on the narrow bed while Katherine curled up against his side without argument, pressing close to him for warmth. It was probably only about the middle of the afternoon, but the innards of the ship were always dark and the constant nausea had exhausted her.

Tired and miserable, she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the creaking of the ship as it ploughed through the rough waves of the Atlantic.

Several days later, the vessel docked in a large, industrial port in Lisbon. More money changing hands saw them smuggled off the ship in the middle of the night with little trouble.

With their bags on their back, Bucky lead them deftly through the industrial area and out into the city. It was dark and chilly, lit only by orange streetlights, but Katherine was just glad to have solid ground underneath her feet again rather than the lurching of the ship. She had decided that traveling by sea was not her thing.

They found a grimy, twenty-four hour fast food restaurant. After making sure she was tucked securely into a corner with a cup of tea in front of her, Bucky left her to go and collect supplies, things he had stolen and stockpiled from Hydra in various cities so that he was prepared wherever they went.

Katherine had half-heartedly talked about going with him to get the supplies, but he had insisted that it was too dangerous, that she would be safer in the restaurant and that he would be quicker without her.

Warm and no longer feeling like her stomach was trying to turn itself inside out with every movement of the ship, she had agreed and stayed in the restaurant, drinking several cups of overly sweetened tea from the styrofoam cups while she waited.

It was several hours later that he came back, slipping quietly between the plastic tables. He was carrying a new, bulging bag over his shoulder and two rolled up sleeping bags, his hat pulled down low over his face.

"Come on," he said quietly, jerking his head towards the door.

Reinvigorated by her rest and the tea, Katherine stood and allowed him to take her hand and tow her out into the night once more.

They walked for over an hour, sticking to quiet, narrow streets of the city until they reached a fenced off train track.

Bucky hunkered down low beside the fence, with Katherine crouching beside him. "We're getting a train?" she whispered, since he had yet to tell her where they were going.

He nodded. "See down there?" he said, nodding his head down the tracks. "There's a signal box. Freight trains headed throughout Europe pass through here on their way from the docks, stopping at the signal box to allow other trains to pass. We need to get further inland, it doesn't matter which train we take at the moment."

After a few more minutes of watching the tracks she heard the rumbling of a train and felt a flash of panic, wondering if Bucky expected her to jump onto it while it was still moving. Before she could voice her fear, he had pulled out a pair of wire cutters and started cutting his way through the metal fence.

"Come, quickly," he said, pulling the fence aside for her to crawl through. He followed, pushing the fence back into place so that it wasn't easy to see it had been cut.

A bright light was making its way towards them, signalling the arrival of the oncoming train. Sure enough, the signal box had turned red and the freight train, many hundreds of meters long with dozens upon dozens of metal containers, rumbled to a halt in front of them.

Bucky directed her towards the train and, with a sharp tug of his gloved metal hand, broke the lock on one of the containers. He cracked it open just wide enough for them to slip through, letting her go first, before pushing it firmly closed and plunging them into darkness.

For a moment, all Katherine could hear was the shaky sound of her breaths, then there was a distinct click and a beam of light filled the container.

Bucky had turned on a torch and was shining it around the dark, metal container. It was piled with boxes and wooden crates, but there was just enough room between them for them to put two sleeping bags down.

The train rumbled back into movement beneath them and there was little else to do but spread out their sleeping bags and curl up on the floor to get some rest.

Katherine found she didn't like the sleeping bags, not used to the swathes of fabric separating her from Bucky, despite them lying close together.

As if sensing her melancholy, he reached out in the darkness and took her hand in his as the freight train sped out of Lisbon.

Several hours later Katherine was woken by a shaft of light streaming into the container.

Blinking awake, she saw that Bucky had risen and was standing at the container door. He had opened it a crack to let fresh air in and was looking out at the countryside speeding by.

Katherine sat up slowly - only for her stomach to lurch once again at the movement.

Scrambling to her feet, she staggered towards the doorway and dropped to her knees. Bucky instantly supported her as she leant forwards and vomited down onto the tracks speeding beneath them, the sight of them making her even more nauseous.

Bucky had his hands on her face, her hair, checking her over with a distinct look of worry on his face. "I thought you would feel better off the ship," he said in concern.

"It's just - motion sickness," she muttered, sitting back against the metal container wall and already feeling like her nausea was passing.

Still frowning, Bucky went and got her a bottle of water from one of the bags; she opened it and drunk gratefully, being careful not to have too much at once lest it aggravate her stomach again.

"Wishing you hadn't come?" he asked softly, squatting beside her.

"No," she said instantly, knowing that in some twisted way he was blaming himself for her having motion sickness. "No, not at all."

He nodded thoughtfully, though still looked less than convinced. "We'll get off the train the next time it stops," he said, the corners of his mouth turned down. "We'll find a town, get some medicine for you."

Katherine nodded, appreciating this - she knew that she had insisted on coming along with him, but she couldn't help but feel that she had been nothing but a burden so far.

In fact, she couldn't help but wonder if it was in fact the other way around - if he was the one wishing that she hadn't come.

They got off the train when it stopped at some signals in rural France. Bucky had determined that they were far enough inland now that they could use cash to pay for commercial travel, so it was a short walk to the nearest town. They had found a pharmacy and Katherine was able to buy some ginger tablets, which helped with her lingering motion sickness. She still felt tired and nauseous at times, but was no longer vomiting.

After two more days of train travel - this time in actual carriages with seats rather than freight containers - they stopped in Prague.

By this point, Katherine was exhausted. They hadn't slept in a proper bed (the narrow cot on the ship didn't count) in nearly two weeks and all of the food they had eaten had been on the go.

Taking pity on her since she was clearly about to drop, Bucky sat her down in a small cafe in Prague train station with an overly sweet cup of tea while he went and sorted tickets for the next leg of their journey.

While he was gone, Katherine got out her phone and turned it on for the first time since leaving the compound since she had been worried about being tracked. She watched as message after message came in - many from Steve, some from Tony, a handful from other members of the team.

They all essentially said the same thing - let us know that you're safe.

Opening up a new message, she addressed it to both Tony and Steve together and sent just one word.

Safe.

She then sighed and turned off her phone, even going as far as to take the sim card out as well.

She couldn't help but wonder what had happened between Tony and Steve once she and Bucky had left. Tony had been undeniably angry that Steve had left him in the dark about his parents, but she hoped that they would be able to talk and work through that for the sake of the team.

Bucky approached her, tickets in one gloved hand and a plate of food in the other. Katherine mustered a small smile for him.

"Not much longer, we're nearly there," he said, putting the food down in front of her - it was some kind of pastry with plum jam and it smelt fantastic.

"Nearly where?" Katherine said, tearing a chunk off the flakey, buttery pastry with her fingers. "You've decided where we're going?"

He nodded. "Bucharest," he said simply. "I speak Romanian and the safe house there is …" He grimaced and rubbed the back of his head with one hand "Well, it's not in the best condition, but it's better than many of the others."

She nodded as she chewed her mouthful of the pastry, happy to go anywhere so long as it was with him.

"Guess you're going to have to start teaching me Romanian then," she said with a small smile, one that she was pleased to see he returned.

It was the middle of the afternoon when they arrived in Bucharest.

They decided to walk through the city from the train station to the safe house, with Bucky saying that he wanted her to know the route quickly in case they needed to make a quick exit. Katherine was more than happy to take this opportunity to see the city and stretch her legs after being inactive for so long. She had never been to Bucharest before and found the mixture of old and new architecture to be very beautiful. It was clearly a bustling, vibrant city and she suspected she would enjoy living here - after all, Bucky could have chosen the wilds of Siberia for safety for them, whereas here they could perhaps have a semi-normal life.

The corner of the city that Bucky lead her to had a bustling market and numerous shops near to the apartment building. The building he was headed towards was a large white complex, with balconies lining the outside, many of them containing plants or washing lines. Wordlessly, they made their way inside and climbed up several floors.

Bucky unlocked the door to the apartment and stepped back to allow her to enter first.

Katherine walked slowly inside and dropped her bag to the floor, looking around curiously.

The apartment was on the small side. It was undeniably shabby and run down, but it was far better than the safe-house she had been to with Bucky after the Hydra mission she had gone on to clear their faces from the system. It smelt slightly musty and damp and the windows were all covered with peeling newspaper, making the whole space dark and dingy.

The front door lead straight into a living room with a sagging sofa, a bare mattress on the floor and a small kitchenette with broken tiles. Further investigation led her to a small bathroom with a shower over a bath and a bedroom that was empty aside from a wardrobe and broken bed frame; probably the reason the mattress had been dragged into the living room.

Coming back into the living area, she opened the door to the balcony and stepped out. They were several floors up and the view, while nothing spectacular with several other concrete building roofs below their level, was at least interesting as it gave a wide view of this corner of the city.

Bucky stood silently and watched as she explored the small apartment.

"I know it's not much," he said, sounding hesitant, self-conscious even. "But it's better than many of the other safe houses."

"It's not much, no," she agreed, then turned to face him with a small smile. "But we can make it better, can't we? We can make it a home."

A look of relief crossed Bucky's face at her words and he nodded.

He took her hands in his and held them to his chest. "I know this isn't the life you wanted, the life you deserve … but do you think you could be happy here?"

Katherine went on to her tiptoes and kissed him, swaying on her feet. After a long moment, she drew back. "As long as I am with you, I can be happy anywhere."

Bucky seemed pleased to hear that, leaning forwards to kiss her again. His hands shifted down to her hips, pulling her flush against him, while her own fingers found their way into his hair.

Aside from soothing, chaste kisses on her temple or cheek, they had scarcely even kissed the whole time they had been travelling since she had been so sick and tired. It was clear that both of them were now craving the closeness and intimacy they'd been denied.

His hands found their way up beneath the hem of the jumper she was wearing as they kissed and Katherine forced herself to pull back.

"Right, first things first," she said breathlessly, still in the circle of his arms. "We walked passed a big homeware store just down the road. We should head there before it closes to get the essentials."

Bucky initially looked reluctant to stop kissing her, then a look of realisation crossed his face. "I don't fancy another night in sleeping bags, I want to be able to hold you close again." His arms pulled her even tighter against him to make his point. He looked thoughtful for a moment, clearly making a mental list of what they'd need. "The mattress should be fine for now but we'll need a new bed frame. We should get something to patch the walls and broken tiles, I want to get a deadbolt for the door -"

She cut him off with another quick kiss to his mouth. "Let's go then, Sarge."

He grinned at the old nickname and allowed her to tow him out of the door of the small apartment.

Several hours later found them busy at work.

Bucky was assembling a flat pack double bed in the bedroom while Katherine flitted around, deep cleaning the whole apartment with her phone plugged in on the counter and playing music.

She seemed content and that made him happy. He had been undeniably worried about her on their long journey here. She had seemed tired, drawn and miserable since leaving the compound, not to mention the motion-sickness that she had been plagued with.

She still didn't seem entirely back to normal, with pale skin and tired circles under her eyes, but she was his to take care of and he was confident that he could make her happy despite their circumstances.

It was late by the time they had finished their work for the evening.

They had only bought a handful of things from the homeware store they had been to - a bed, bedding, duvet, pillows and cleaning supplies. They had considered getting more but would have struggled to carry it without a car. Katherine had also argued that if they were furnishing the entire apartment then they should actually think and plan out what they wanted to get anyway.

He was happy to agree, but that decision had left them without any pots, plans, plates, cups or crockery, something they had laughed about as they sat on the sagging sofa and ate their take-out dinner late at night with plastic chopsticks straight from the cardboard containers.

Getting food and kitchenware was put high on the list of jobs for tomorrow, alongside Bucky sorting false papers for them.

The conversation turned to what they were going to do here in the city.

Money was not an issue for them with all of the money and supplies he had stockpiled from the Hydra bases he had taken. They also had the money she had earned from selling her code, but that was only as a backup since it was more likely that money from her bank account could be traced.

Both of them said that they didn't want to be stuck inside all day, even though neither of them had to work.

Bucky was determined to do up the apartment for them, a job that would take several weeks at least. Katherine, meanwhile, had been talking about nanotechnology, something that she and Tony had been developing and experimenting with for his suits. It was a whole different area of coding that involved neural interfacing and many things that went over Bucky's head, but she had been doing lots of research and additional studying in this field for some weeks now. She was planning on continuing that research, potentially using the public library as a base so that nothing could be tracked back to the apartment, with the hope of a reconciliation with Tony.

Not long after they had finished dinner the two of them were getting ready for bed.

Katherine had brushed her teeth and used the small bathroom first, and so she was already in their newly assembled bed by the time Bucky was done.

He came to join her, wearing just a pair of boxers, slipping between the new, stiff covers that still held creases from being in the packaging.

She was dressed in just a t-shirt and small pair of pyjama bottoms for bed and he automatically pulled her closer into his arms.

Bucky hummed contentedly as he savoured the warmth and softness of her skin. "I've missed holding you like this," he admitted, nuzzling his nose into her neck. "Sleeping bags just aren't the same."

Katherine's hands wound their way around his neck, tilting her head back to allow him access to her throat. "I've missed it too," she said with a hint of breathlessness in her voice.

His mouth found hers and he kissed her soundly.

Within moments he had pushed her gently over on to her back, with him hovering above her and bracing his weight on his metal arm.

"What else have you missed?" he asked her in a low voice.

She tilted her face up, wanting more. "You kissing me," she said against his lips.

He was in a teasing mood and wasn't going to make this easy for her. "Kissing you where?" he wanted to know, scarcely brushing her mouth with his.

"Everywhere," she breathed as she clung on to his shoulders.

He lowered his mouth and placed a light kiss just below her ear. "Here?" he murmured against her skin.

"Yes," she whispered, arching into him.

He lowered his mouth further, allowing his lips to just graze her pulse. "Here?" he asked again, pressing an open mouthed kiss to her neck.

"Yes, Bucky …" she sighed, her breaths coming quickly.

He worked his way down her neck with gentle kisses to the top of the t-shirt she was wearing, even while his flesh hand slid up beneath the hem, over her warm, soft stomach. Taking the hint, she raised her arms and allowed him to pull the t-shirt off completely, leaving her in nothing but a little pair of shorts.

He cupped her bare breast in his flesh hand, feeling her nipple hardening as he brushed it with his thumb. "What about here?" he said, raising his gaze up to her from where his mouth hovered between the valley of her breasts.

"Yes, please Bucky …" she whispered, practically panting now as she pressed her hips to his, no doubt feeling how hard and ready he was for her.

He spent several minutes laving attention to her breasts, taking each nipple in his mouth and savouring each of her sighs, gasps and moans at his ministrations.

Slowly, his hand moved down her stomach and dipped beneath the waistband of her shorts, finding her hot and wet for him.

"And here?" he asked, his fingers brushing her sensitive spot.

Katherine arched into him again, spreading her legs slightly and pressing herself against his fingers. "Oh, please …" she moaned with her nails digging in to his shoulders, her eyes closed and her head back on the pillows.

He hooked his fingers into her shorts and started to draw them down her legs. "Please what, darlin'?"

She opened her eyes to look at him, her pupils blown wide with desire. "Please, Bucky," she repeated, gasping for breath as he parted her thighs. "I need - I need to feel you. I need you to touch me, I need -"

Her words were cut off with a strangled moan as his mouth found her centre.

"Katya."

She groaned slightly at the sound of Bucky's voice and turned her head into the pillow. It was early and she was by no means awake, not to mention absolutely exhausted after a night of making love.

"I need to go and sort our papers," she heard him say. She felt metal fingertips pushing hair out of her face, the covers being pulled up higher around her naked body to keep her warm, then a gentle kiss being placed on her temple. "Stay here, I'll be back in a few hours."

Katherine hummed sleepily in acknowledgement, not even opening her eyes. She heard the sound of him leaving the apartment and snuggled deeper in the duvet, trying to fall back to sleep.

Sleep, however, was not coming - as she woke up properly she became aware of a nauseous, swirling feeling in her stomach, much like the motion sickness she'd had on the boat and train.

She tried to ignore it, but a sudden lurch in her stomach had her bolting from the bed and running to the bathroom with a hand covering her mouth.

Katherine was shaking and slightly dizzy by the time she had finished vomiting, kneeling naked on the bathroom floor as she clung to the toilet seat.

She didn't have the excuse of motion sickness anymore. For the first time, she began to suspect exactly what it meant that she had been sick most mornings for the past week or so.

It didn't make any sense though; she had been to the doctors in the tower to sort contraception before she and Bucky had started sleeping together.

Even so, she couldn't deny the evidence that was racking up - now that she thought about it, she had been feeling tired and nauseous before they had even left the Compound, but had thought that was down to stress. Her breasts were also sensitive but she had attributed that as a sign her period was soon to start.

Wait, when was her last period?

Knowing that she would not be able to do anything until she knew for sure, Katherine stumbled to her feet. She returned to the bedroom on shaky legs and grabbed the first clothes she could see before heading out of the apartment.

Bucky had told her to stay here, but she had to know.

There was a small chemist just down the road from their apartment building that was open despite the early hour. Within minutes Katherine was putting three boxed pregnancy tests and a bottle of water on the counter to pay for them.

She chugged the bottle of water on her way back up the stairs to the apartment and headed straight to the bathroom to do all three of the tests, praying she had results before Bucky returned.

She forced herself not to look at them during the two minutes she had to wait. She sat on the edge of the bathtub and stared down at the instructions that said which lines meant which result in one hand and her phone with a two minute timer set in the other.

Once the two minutes were up she turned over the tests one by one with trembling hands.

They all said the same result.

Positive.

She was pregnant.

Bucky returned to find Katherine sitting on the small, sagging sofa of the apartment, dressed in yesterday's clothes with her hair tied messily up out of the way, wringing her hands.

She looked up at him as the door opened. "You're back," she said in obvious relief, her face pale and drawn.

"Yes," he frowned slightly at her, wondering what had her so worried. In all honesty, he had expected to find her still in bed since it was barely the middle of the morning and she'd seemed so tired. He'd bought some fresh pastries from the market on his way back, thinking to surprise her with breakfast in bed, but here she was sat on the sofa waiting for him with clear anxiety. "Are you alright?"

"I'm … fine," she said simply, dropping her eyes. She took a deep breath and raised her gaze to look at him once more. "Did you get our papers?" she wanted to know.

Bucky slowly handed her the envelope of false documents - he very much doubted that the papers were what she was worried about and wondered if something had happened while he was gone.

Katherine opened the envelope and looked through them; Bucky's sharp eyes noted that her hands were shaking.

"Katya and James Grant," she said, reading the names on the documents aloud. She looked up at him curiously. "Why Grant?"

"Steve's middle name," he explained, still staring at her.

She nodded and looked through the documents once more.

"We're married?" she asked, a ghost of a smile flickering over her face.

"It's the cover that makes the most sense," he told her. He tilted his head at her, still trying to work out what the problem was since she was clearly unhurt and yet trembling like a leaf. "Do you mind?"

Katherine shook her head.

He hesitated, then reached into his pocket.

"You'll need something to complete the cover though," he said, holding a thin, plain gold band out to her.

Her breath caught and she met his eyes.

"May I?" he asked softly, taking her left hand in his.

She nodded, her eyes very bright, and he slipped the wedding band on to her ring finger.

He gave her a small smile and fished another, larger ring out of his pocket. "We're in luck, Romanians wear their rings on the right hand so I can still wear one too," he said, since he couldn't wear a ring on his metal hand.

Katherine's hands stopped his as he was about to put the ring on himself.

She took it from him and, carefully taking his right hand, slid the ring onto his finger with a smile.

Bucky stepped forward to kiss her, cupping her cheeks in his hands.

She kissed him back, her hands coming up to grip his wrists as she leaned into him, but he could still feel her tension, the trembling that was wracking her body.

He drew back, keeping his hands on her cheeks. "Katya, what's wrong?" he asked quietly, insistently.

"I'm fine," she said quickly, too quickly. "It's just …" She took a deep breath. "Bucky, there's something I need to tell you."

He frowned down at her, wondering what she could have to tell him that had her so worried. She almost seemed fearful of him, reminding him of when he had first taken her from the museum in DC.

Had she decided that she didn't want to stay here with him, that she wanted to go back to the Compound instead? Was she afraid of his reaction?

"I'm …" She hesitated, then rambled on. "I only realised today and did a test - well, three actually - and they were all positive and I'm kind of scared and freaking out and -

"Katya," he interrupted since she wasn't making much sense at all and his alarm was growing.

She took a deep, steadying breath and raised her eyes to meet his. "Bucky, I'm pregnant."

His lips parted and he stared down at her, unable to comprehend her words. "What …?"

"I only just realised today, but it must why I've been so sick and tired the past weeks," she said, speaking quickly. "I know I went to the doctors back in the tower but - well, I guess the serum enhanced all of you and contraception doesn't work against super soldier sperm, or whatever, and -"

"Katya," he interrupted her once more, his voice dazed. He had to make sure he'd heard her right. "We're … we're having a baby?"

She nodded slowly, worriedly, her lower lip caught in her teeth.

He exhaled an explosive breath and dropped to his knees, taking her hips in his hands and pressing his forehead to her stomach.

She wasn't leaving him - they were having a baby.

"You're … happy about this?" Katherine asked, her hands fluttering cautiously over his shoulders.

"During the war, my dreams were to return home, find a girl, get married and have a family," he told her, still resting his forehead on her stomach and feeling utterly overwhelmed and elated at the prospect of a child - their child - after he had thought that possibility lost to him forever. "After Hydra I thought I could have none of that, but now …"

He realised the nuance in her question and suddenly raised his head to look up at her, staying upon his knees. "Are you not happy?" he asked quickly, concerned at how anxious she had been.

Her lips parted and she hesitated for a moment before replying. "I … I think so," she told him slowly, making him breathe a sigh of relief. "Now that I know that you are I'm definitely less worried, I didn't know how you were going to react."

He nodded, his hands moving from her hips to her stomach as he knelt before her. Her stomach was still little more than a gentle womanly curve this early in her pregnancy, but he couldn't help but marvel at the fact that their child - their child - was inside her.

"But … I'm scared too, Bucky," she admitted quietly.

He looked up at her, finding her eyes wide and her lower lip swollen from where she had chewed on it.

"This is all new and intense and scary," she continued, her hands on his shoulders. "I always knew I wanted children one day, but … can we do this? Are we ready for it? I know nothing about children, or being a mother."

"Marry me," he blurted out, still on his knees before her.

She blinked, jerking her head slightly. "What?"

"Marry me, Katya," he said insistently, his hands moving to grip her hips once more as he continued to stare up at her. "We could be a family."

A small, dazed smile was playing around her mouth. "Thought I just did marry you," she pointed out, nodding towards the thin gold band on her finger.

"Properly, not just as a cover," he insisted, wanting nothing more than to marry her truly. "We could go down to the courthouse right now, put our new papers to the test."

"Are you … being serious?" she asked him in bewilderment, clearly not believing him.

Bucky grinned and purposefully shifted his position, moving so that he was on one knee and taking her left hand in his so that there could be no confusion in what he meant. "Katherine Summers," he said seriously, grinning up at her. "Will you marry me?"

She stared down at him for a long moment, then a silly smile spread slowly across her face. "Yes … Yes, Bucky, I will marry you."

Feeling like his heart was going to burst out of his chest from sheer joy, Bucky got to his feet and kissed her soundly, picking her up and swinging her around the living room of their small, derelict apartment in his exuberation.

She giggled against his mouth, the sound light and happy, and in that moment Bucky felt that he would have done it all again - the freight train, the torture, the memory wipes and the brainwashing - if he meant that it lead to this moment with her.

He set her feet back on the floor but kept her in the circle of his arms.

"You'll really marry me?" he said once more with a wide grin, wanting to check that this was real.

Katherine laughed again. "Yes … but not today," she added quickly.

Bucky felt his face fall ever so slightly, wanting nothing more than to whisk her off to the nearest courthouse at that very moment.

Seeing his expression, Katherine reached up and took his face in her hands. "I want our wedding to be something that we share with our friends," she said earnestly and he saw instantly that she was right. "I mean, can you imagine the look on Steve's face if he found out he didn't get to be your best man after all these years?"

He chuckled and shook his head, knowing full well that Steve would look like a kicked puppy at such news. "You make a good point …"

He lowered his mouth to kiss her once more. "There's also the fact that I want to see you in a white dress and then take it off you," he added wickedly, letting his mouth hover over hers.

She laughed and kissed him again for a long moment, before pulling back once more. "And … and I'd like Tony to be there."

Bucky sighed and nodded.

He knew how close she and Tony had become - with her father absent from her life and having grown up as an only child, she had started to view Tony as the family she'd never quite had.

Katherine smiled up at him at his agreement, looking utterly happy. "I guess we'll just have to live in sin until then."

He lowered his forehead to her shoulder with a chuckle and a shake of his head as a thought struck him.

"What is it?"

"I was imagining what my mother would have said back in the forties if she found out I'd knocked up a girl before marrying her," he told her honestly, then grinned widely down at her. "I'd have gotten a right chewing out."

"Quite the scoundrel, you are," she said teasingly, her arms looped around his neck.

Her expression turned serious once more, though her smile lingered. "I love you, Bucky Barnes," she said earnestly, cupping his cheeks.

"I love you too," he told her, his heart feeling impossibly light.

They kissed for another long moment in the middle of their small living room, with Katherine's hands moving into his hair and Bucky's hands on her hips.

Scarcely a year ago he had been nothing but the Soldier, Hydra's asset with no independent thought or free will of his own … now he was Bucky Barnes once more. He had control over the Soldier in his mind, he'd fought with the Avengers and he was going to e a father.

"You are my life now, Katya, and I love you - I love you so damn much," he whispered against her mouth as his hands moved to caress her stomach, silently swearing to himself that no one - no one - would ever harm her or their child. "You and our baby."

Sorry for the long wait between chapters - currently have THREE stories on the go!

Big thank you to auntkia for betaing :)

Not long to go now before Endgame …

Leave a review, my darlings!