A/N: Many thanks to my team of betas and support: xxdustnight88, gaeilgerua, & mystrana.

I hope everyone reading enjoys this. xx

Chapter Eight

Steve looked at Natasha, watching as she winced in pain. The three of them were currently in the back of an armed van, and he didn't know how the three of them were going to get out of it.

"Bucky…"

"We couldn't have known," Natasha said quietly. She could obviously read the look of guilt on his face.

"But you knew about Hermione, didn't you?" Steve asked. Natasha had been too confident in the use of Hermione's name to have only just met her.

Natasha averted her gaze. "I couldn't tell you."

"Why not?" Steve pressed, leaning forward slightly. He felt so confused. Bucky had lied… Hermione was a soldier? Fighter? What was she? What was going on?

"Fury's orders," Natasha said after a moment. "I couldn't reveal that I knew her." She paused. "I told her not to contact you after Fury's death. I know you needed to focus." She paused once more. "I'm sorry for interfering." She looked at Steve sincerely.

"She's a spy."

"Not on you," Natasha said. She looked at him pleadingly. "She has an assignment, yes, but her meeting you was completely by chance."

"Was she hurt?"

"No, I think she got out in time," Sam said, speaking up. It was then that he noticed Natasha was bleeding. "We need to get her help." He looked towards the guards.

Steve wanted to open his mouth and say that they likely weren't going to get any, but he snapped his mouth shut.

At that moment, one of the guards pulled out an electric rod and shocked the other guard. The mask was removed and revealed Agent Hill.

"Let's get you three out of here," she murmured, looking to Steve. "Come on."

Hermione was pacing back and forth in her apartment nervously. She wondered where Steve was and prayed that he was alive. Would the soldiers kill him? Would he stand trial?

She bit her lower lip nervously. Miss Rodriguez had sent her home to rest, temporarily taking over the mission. Hermione's forehead had been stitched up, but it still hurt slightly.

There was a knock on her door. Stomach churning, she tentatively went and opened it. "Steve?" she whispered in disbelief.

Sure enough, Steve was standing before her.

'"Oh my god." Hermione threw herself at him, hugging him tightly in the doorway. Tears welled in her eyes as she gripped him tightly. "Thank Merlin you're alright." She buried her face in his chest.

"Let's get inside before we're seen," Steve said, his voice low, returning her hug protectively.

The two of them moved out of the doorway and into the kitchen. The tension between the two of them was building, and Hermione was fill with guilt.

"I owe you an explanation." Hermione looked at him sympathetically, biting her lower lip nervously.

"Yes, you do, Hermione." He looked at her, cupping her cheek lightly. "You nearly scared me half to death when I saw you with that gun in your hand." He closed his eyes. "I panicked."

"I'm sorry," she murmured, leaning into his hand. She reached up and placed her hand on top of his. "I wanted to tell you all along, but I couldn't."

"You were following orders," Steve said flatly.

Hermione nodded.

"Are you a spy, then?"

"I... " Hermione bit her lower lip. She wanted to tell him everything, so she decided that she would. "I can do magic." She pulled her wand from her back pocket and showed him. Pointing at the mug on her table, she made it levitate for a few moments before looking back at Steve.

"When you knocked that soldier and Bucky out, right?" He looked at her curiously, like he was trying to make sense of what she was saying.

Hermione nodded nervously.

"So, you're an enhanced individual?"

"In a way," Hermione said, "But I was born this way."

Taking a deep breath, she quickly told Steve everything. Her mission about the Winter Soldier, meeting him, figuring out that Bucky was the Winter Soldier, and everything else that had happened.

"My feelings for you are real, Steve," Hermione assured him. "I know it's an insane coincidence, but that's all it was."

"I'm confused," Steve said, quietly. "Not about you, or us, but everything." He laughed dryly. "I don't even know if there is an us." He looked at her, trying to gauge her reaction.

"I think so," Hermione told him. "Or, at least I hope so." Hermione stepped closer into his arms, pressing a light kiss to his lips. "When this is over, I'd like to go out again."

Steve smiled at her before gently kissing her forehead. "I'd like that too, Miss Granger."

"So, what's our next move?" Hermione asked. When Steve looked at her in surprise, she shook her head. "Don't you dare try and leave me out of this, because it won't work. I'm in this, and I plan on seeing it through."

Steve let out a deep breath. "We need to stop Project Insight. Fury gave me-"

"Fury?" Hermione asked, eyes wide.

"He's alive." Steve smiled slightly. "It was a relief for me, too. I… I couldn't believe that he was gone."

Hermione let out a sigh of relief, nodding. She had more questions, but now wasn't the time or place. "Okay, what's the mission?" she asked.

"We have three program chips that need to be installed on the helicarriers," Steve explained. "If you're in, I'll explain on the way. We'll be meeting up with the rest of the team, but first, I need to swing by and get something from the Smithsonian."

Hermione grinned, already having an idea of what he wanted. "Let's do this, then."