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The chase ends on a rooftop.
Steve's not out of breath, and somehow neither is the sniper he's been pursuing. Who’s stopped in the middle of the roof, turning to face Steve like he hasn’t been running away for longer than any human should be able to. Steve skids to a stop, fists raising in preparation for a fight. After all, if he could keep running for this long it has to be expected that he can probably hold his own in a fight too. But there’s no attack, and instead they just stare at each other. It's dark, but it’s also the first time Steve’s been able to get a good look at the guy. The street lights are shining off his left arm in an odd way, there’s a mask covering the lower half of his face, and his eyes are shadowed in the darkness. Despite the fact that he’s heavily armed, he doesn’t make a move towards any of his weapons. Steve carefully shifts his weight, testing to see if he’ll react to the threat of attack.
He does, stepping one foot back into a better stance. "Why do you look familiar?" He growls, muffled by the mask.
Steve readies his shield, eyes narrowing. "Who are you?"
The sniper’s brows furrow over his mask, and he starts to turn. Steve looses his shield, but it skims through empty space as the sniper jumps over the edge, before ricocheting off the next building and curving back for Steve to catch. When he makes it to the edge he can't catch sight of the him, and when SHIELD canvases a search for the area over the next few hours they don't find anything more.
--
It turns out that the explosive the sniper had used was some kind of experiment AIM had come up with - or at least Tony's adamant AIM came up with it. Steve doesn't have much patience for the explanation other than there's a scientist who appears to be on AIMs payroll, and Tony could write a paper reasoning out the idea that it's his explosive. Whatever it is, it's good enough to convince Fury, and Steve gets to spend a month digging up AIM bases. It's frustrating work, it never feels like it's getting anywhere. But, no matter how many times he tries it, searching ‘sniper with an armoured arm’ doesn’t bring any kind of results he can take action on, and if nothing else taking a sledgehammer to AIM’s in-country resources is good for anger management. It doesn't come up with anything until the fourth base, the middle of what Clint calls 'Fuck-All, Kansas', and then it's less the files and notes they were expecting, and more someone else being there already.
And that someone else being the sniper they were chasing in the first instance.
There had been almost no security response to them entering, which didn’t feel right at all. There are only a few situation that could make sense; either they’d known they were coming and had already cleared out, they’d gotten faulty intel and there was nothing there in the first place, or AIM didn’t think there was anything there worth protecting. Steve goes through them all, trying to figure out which rings most true. The idea that they got faulty intel is nixed in the first office they find. But with less of a security response than they were expecting, they can split off into smaller groups and cover more ground faster. Which is why Steve goes into a lab by himself and finds two scientists knocked out on the floor, and a familiar masked figure putting USBs into the computers.
The sniper looks up, curses rather thoroughly in Russian, and then hits a button that sends an alarm blaring. Steve barely gets two steps towards him before the security response that had been missing when they broke in starts pouring down the hallway. Steve’s overwhelmed before he realises they’re fighting the sniper too. Which ruins the theory that he was working for AIM in the first place, but he doesn’t really have time to think about that before one of the guards manages to pull down the mask. The face that’s revealed is so heartbreakingly familiar that Steve just stops.
He manages a, "Bucky!" that gets half choked off when one of the security guards gets a stranglehold around his neck. But Bucky doesn't react to the name at all. Doesn’t so much as glance towards him.
Within a few minutes the rest of Steve's team show up, and somehow in the resulting brawl, Bucky gets away. They look, but for a second time there's no sign of where he went. So all there is to do is pocket the USB drives he'd been using, salvage what was left of the security footage.
As it turns out, what they can salvage isn't much.
Unsurprisingly, Bucky appeared to have taken most of it offline before he'd gotten in. What's left is patchy footage, almost nothing of note. The USB drives aren't much more useful.
"Whoever sent him knew what they were doing," Tony explains. "SHIELD uses these too. They upload everything to a remote server, and then the drive self destructs. Everything get’s wiped." He tosses one up and then catches it, smiling wryly in way that strikes Steve as complete inappropriate. "We don't even have fingerprints."
Steve crosses his arms before clarifying. "So, whoever sent Bucky has whatever they sent him for, and we have nothing?"
"I wouldn't say nothing," Tony said, pointing the drive at him. "Our guys searched the computers after your guys cleared the base. We've got a match for the explosives. And we know that he isn't actually working with AIM, just for people who are piggybacking. We'll find something. Just be patient. You’re supposed to be the optimistic hero type, it shouldn’t be too hard."
Natasha gets pulled in from somewhere in Siberia, which Steve doesn't understand until he gets pulled into a briefing which isn't, as it turns out, for a mission. It's for a situation. And the situation is apparently that an assassin that hasn't been heard of since the Cold War has been activated. And that assassin may or may not be Steve's best friend. Natasha's the one who can come through the scraps of security footage and confirm his identity as the Winter Soldier, and the only other person who can look at a photo of Bucky and say, semi-definitively, that it looks like they are the same person.
SHIELD's folder on the Winter Soldier is thin, mostly a bunch of blurry shots from train stations. There's next to no way to ID him from any of them, and the reports that Steve made of the armored arm on the rooftop hadn't been clear enough to ring any bells, at least that's the explanation he's given. He's too frustrated to take it at face value, especially now that he knows that it’s not just armour. He doesn’t want to think of how he lost it, not when he knows. The image of Bucky, arms windmilling for something to grab as he tumbled through open air, has already haunted enough of Steve’s dreams.
Their leads are still frustratingly thin. Natasha has a lot of information on who held the Winter Soldier's reins about twelve years ago, but the figurehead is dead, and they're still looking into who inherited the job. Whoever it was isn’t using the same methods as their forefather. The company name’s practically vanished from existence, and if they’ve gone to ground it’s not to the same places they used to. Besides, none of the work there is to do is the type Steve's qualified to help with. It’s an extra layer of frustration that Steve doesn't quite have the self control to keep from showing. SHIELDs briefing processes are bureaucratic at best, and he already knows better than to expect to get updates on the situation immediately. If he gets them at all. It's already clear that things are being approached differently if only for the reason that it's Bucky, and not just the Winter Soldier as a faceless entity, but it doesn’t feel like enough.
Natasha is the one that drew the short straw and draws him aside for the 'if we can't save him' talk. For all the Steve appreciates that she knows a bit more on the topic than most people, it doesn't make it matter any more to him. He says, quietly but firmly, that he’s gone charging after Bucky with no hope before. This time they know Bucky’s alive; it’s more than he had last time.
Natasha’s not the kind to fight him about it. Which isn’t the same as not letting it go. “I knew him,” she says, matching the calm tone in Steve's voice. “Better than most. And he wasn’t Bucky. Finding your face being familiar isn’t enough reason to believe that’s changed.”
The conversation doesn’t last much longer, and Steve isn’t surprised. They both know the chances of changing the other’s mind.
--
Rather than coming in a briefing, the next lead comes in the form of a bullet in the shoulder of a Russian ambassador. When he's standing right next to Steve, on the steps of the embassy. They’re in the middle of warming up to a meeting with the Secretary of Defense in regards to Russian military action. Steve’s there as a symbol of good will; he did fight on the Russian front during the war, however briefly. And however well received. It's also, he suspects, a veiled threat that he could lead the charge if the US does intervene. But it's mostly a publicity stunt, and where there are publicity stunts there have to be photos. It all goes regularly up until something that’s definitely not a camera goes off. The representative pitches forward, red starting to soak through his suit. The shooter is already free of the knot of people, sprinting down a side street. Steve barely spares a glance to check that someone’s already looking after the ambassador, before launching after him.
It's four blocks before he realises it has to be Bucky; he’s running too fast to be chasing anyone else. His heart jumps into his throat; he spurs himself faster. They’re twisting through alleyways, and Steve’s always sure the next corner will be the one he loses the trail on. But there’s always a glimpse of Bucky at the next one, leading him on until he darts inside one of the buildings through a back door. Steve crashes after him, refusing to let shut doors slow him down. Somehow he’s still surprised when Bucky stops running
Steve skids to a stop, just like he had on the roof, watching him carefully.
Bucky's pulled his mask off. His hair's longer than Steve's ever seen it, rough from the wind. His eyes are icy, regarding Steve with distrust. His hands are at his sides, but Steve knows better than to believe that means he's not waiting for an attack,
"Bucky," Steve starts not sure what he wants to ask first.
"That's not my name," Bucky says. Freed from the mask, even his voice is the same.
Steve swallows against the thick feeling in his throat. "Then what is?" He asks, worried if he so much as steps forward Bucky will run.
Bucky's mouth twists, and he shakes his head. "How do I know you?" he asks, instead of answering
"We grew up together," Steve answers. He wants to ask how he doesn't remember, even though it's already been explained to him in explicit detail by Natasha, and by more than one of the SHIELD analysts considered Red Room experts. None of that matters when faced with it.
Bucky shakes his head, striding closer. "That doesn't make sense," he says, but it sounds more like frustration than an actual protest.
Steve changes the subject. "So, what was that, scare tactics? Sending a message to Putin?"
Bucky huffs, almost sounding amused, not looking away from Steve's face. "Collateral damage."
"What?" Steve's head jerks up, staring incredulously. "Did you shoot him to get to me?"
Bucky shrugs, unrepentant. "I needed to get you away," he explains "Anywhere else I could corner you, SHIELD would be watching. If I was supposed to be sending a message he'd be dead. Or someone more important than him would be dead."
"You shouldn't," Steve starts, but he's interrupted by Bucky snorting and moving away.
"I'm sure you've been briefed on me by now. You know all about me."
"I know you from more than being briefed," Steve says, and the frustrated look crosses Bucky's face again. So he changes the subject again. "What should I call you?" he asks instead.
Bucky hesitates. "James," he answers after a moment.
"Okay," he says. "What did you want me to chase you for?"
"I wanted to see," Bucky says before breaking off, lips thinning. "I thought if I saw you again I might know. I shouldn’t care, but there’s something-" He breaks off, shaking his head like there’s water in his ears.
"What you don't remember," Steve prompts. Bucky nods, but doesn’t say anything. "Why not talk to me in Kansas?"
"I was working. I didn't have time to chat," he answers, sounding almost offended. It's the most familiar he's sounded the whole time. Something twists inside Steve's chest.
"You didn't have to shoot anyone either."
Bucky turns to face him again, staring. He still looks frustrated, and Steve can't tell if it's with him or with his own mind.
"Buck- James," Steve starts, unsure if he can say anything that will help.
Bucky shakes his head again, and strides back over, but this time he doesn't stop in front of Steve. This time he cups Steve's face, hands firm around his jaw, and presses their lips together. Steve inhales in surprise, tensing up, but before Bucky can pull away he's gripping the front of his shirt, kissing back. He closes his eyes, struck by the thought that Bucky still smells the same, and presses forward. He remembers wanting this, remembers sneaking looks and feeling guilty, remembering when Bucky would sling an arm around him and the warmth of his side would bleed through their shirts. Bucky's teeth graze over his lip, and a shiver runs through him.
The kiss breaks, but Bucky stays close, hands still on Steve's face. Steve opens his eyes to look at him, taking in the furrow still running between his eyebrows, the tension in his mouth. "Come with me," he says softly.
Bucky snorts, but less convincingly than before. "You don't mean you," he says. "You mean come to SHIELD."
"They can help you," Steve protests, gripping his shirt tighter to keep him close. "They helped Natasha."
"The Black Widow and I are very different," he says doubtfully. A sighs slips out of his mouth, and he rests his forehead against Steve's. "I have things to do first."
He kisses Steve again, lighter this time, dropping his hands to break the grip Steve's got on his shirt before he pulls away. "I have things to do first," he repeats, stepping away.
"So, it's an eventually then?" Steve asks, trying not to feel hopeful.
A shadow of Bucky's old grin passes over his face, and then he disappears down a corridor. Steve doesn't bother to chase him, instead he calls SHIELD and asks them to activate the tracker he'd clipped into Bucky's shirt.
They find it taped to a street light in the Lower East side, and Steve can't help but smile.
--
Natasha takes one look at him and her eyes narrow. He's been through multiple debriefings about the shooting and resulting chase. He hasn't been entirely accurate about the conversation in the empty building, though most of what he's missing out is the parts they weren't talking. It's the first time Natasha's been present though, and he's not entirely surprised that she realises he's missing things out, if only because she knows him better than anyone else present. But she doesn't call him out. Instead she corners him afterwards and informs him she's taking him out to lunch.
Lunch turns out to be a Moroccan place a few streets down, and for the first ten minutes they discuss only what to order. But, after the waitress has taken their menus away, and placed their drinks in front of them, Natasha fixes Steve with a stare.
"Are you going to tell me exactly what you left out in there, or are you going to leave it up to my imagination?"
Steve feels himself turning a dull red. "He asked me to call him James," he said first.
"It's what he went by when I knew him," she says, easily. "But I know you can give me more detail than that."
Steve shrugs, fighting against the heat in his cheeks. "It's like I said in the briefing. He seems frustrated by the fact that he remembers me, but doesn't remember how. I think it's messing with his head, he- uh. He kissed me."
Natasha seems unsurprised. "Was your relationship like that before?"
"No," Steve said. "Even if it wasn't the time period, Bucky wasn't..." He broke off shaking his head.
"Did he know?"
"If he did, he never said anything." He shakes his head, changing the subject. "You said you knew him well. In the Red Room. How well?"
Natasha takes a moment to consider the question. Somehow it doesn't come across as hesitating when she does it. "We were friends," she says slowly. "It's... difficult to quantify what a friend was in that period of my life, but he was one."
Something changes in her expression, like there's a word she can't find, and Steve knows it still sometimes happens when she feels like she can't adequately explain something in English, no matter how fluent she is, but there's something different this time. Something he feels like he knows. "Did you love him?" he asks.
She shakes her head slowly. "I wouldn't say I loved anyone, then," she says. "But it was probably as close as I could get."
Steve can't help breaking out into a rueful smile. "So, we've got another thing in common, then."
She rolls her eyes, but she smiles, and the conversation moves in safer directions as their appetisers get brought out.
--
There's no news for weeks, and then the weeks turn into months, and the frustration that had abated when Steve got to talk to Bucky returned with a vengeance. It's almost a relief when RAID mounts an attack on a pharmaceuticals lab in downtown Washington. It's the most organised they've been in a while; three car bombs go off along the street to scatter pedestrians, and then the troops rush in to secure the labs themselves and guard at street level. It's not subtle, and there are police surrounding the place in record time, but they've established a workable perimeter, and with the lab workers as hostages inside, it'll take time for the next step to be taken. Which at least is an opportunity for the Avengers to arrive via quinjet.
It always takes longer to get started when they’re including police squads in the process, but eventually they’ve got a workable plan; Steve and Natasha go in through the roof - there’s a way up through a neighbouring building that should be almost invisible from the street, and from what they can see there isn't anyone from RAID on the roof itself. Clint'll be on the opposite side of the street, ready to provide sniping support if the perimeter guard gets too rowdy, while Tony while do the same thing from the air. (Thor's still in Asgard, and Bruce was among the first to say he wasn't the best choice for a hostage crisis). The set up is simple, and Steve settles into the right mindset as he and Natasha get to the right spot to swing onto the roof.
It's always when they get inside that things start to get weird. Steve wasn't prepared for just how weird.
There are only a few guards patrolling the upper levels; between him and Natasha it's short work taking them out. Which leaves the next move finding where they're keeping the hostages. Tony had already scanned the building for heat signatures, as much as he could, and he was the one giving them directions to the main lab through their earpieces. Of course, the heat signatures didn't show that the RAID troops holding the hostages were already all either knocked out or dead, and the hostages themselves were milling in a terrified knot in the corner.
"This guy came in and took them all out," the most confident one says, with some prompting. Her eyes are very wide. "He told us to wait here and then went that way." She pointed out towards the back of the building.
Steve and Natasha exchange a look. "You go," she says. "I'll clear the front and tell the boys in blue to start mopping up the perimeter."
He nods and turns to jog down the hall while she’s still talking to the hostages.
He hears the fight before he saw it. Something in him relaxes when he turns a corner and sees Bucky in the middle of a brawl. There's a van in the loading dock, that looks like it's half loaded of whatever it was being taking from the lab, but aside from a few prone bodies, everyone's busy trying to fight off the Winter Soldier. And failing. Seeing him fight takes Steve's breath away that for a few moments he just watches.
Then he comes to his senses and launches himself into the fight, and then it’s pretty much over. Steve starts to go to his radio to call for someone to pick up the prisoners, but he stops to look at Bucky instead.
Bucky smiles, a proper smile, and says, “We used to do that a lot, didn’t we?” Then he turns to the next building, enters through a window, and disappears. Without anyone to watch RAID if he goes after Bucky, all Steve can do is shake his head and keep reaching for his radio.
Dealing with the aftermath takes longer than the actual fight did. There's a small showdown between SHIELD and the police about where exactly the prisoners are going to be taken, that Steve's glad he's not a part of, and they have to corral the hostages into making sure they get properly treated - mostly for minor injuries and shock. He knows it'll just keep going when they get back to New York and he’ll get dragged into a debriefing session. So, when he gets a chance, he escapes back out to the loading dock. There's tape up around the area now, and a few markers Steve's careful to avoid, but the photographers have already been through, so even if he's not exactly supposed to be there, he doesn't feel too bad.
There's a thud behind him, and he turns, readying himself for a fight, to see Bucky dusting himself off. He drops his fists, smiling despite himself. "I thought you'd already disappeared."
"Not without doing this," Bucky says, moving closer. His hands slide to Steve shoulders, and he steps into his personal space, pushing forward until his back is pressed up against the van. Then he kisses him, and Steve feels like every muscle relaxes into it, hands rising to brace around Bucky's waist as one of Bucky's slides into his hair. The metal one, he realises, the cold sending a shiver through him. But the kiss doesn't break when the first one did, and suddenly Bucky's licking into his mouth, and it's all Steve can do to hold back a groan as he responds. Everything narrows down to Bucky’s mouth, to Bucky’s hands, one in his hair, the other on the side of his neck. He surges into the kiss, hands sliding up Bucky’s back and pulling him harder against him. When they do break, both of them are breathing harshly, and Steve can feel imprints from Bucky's teeth on his lip.
"Really?" he says, wrapping his arms around Bucky’s waist like he could stop him leaving. "In the middle of a crime scene."
Bucky chuckles, dropping his forehead to Steve's shoulder. "I guess I'll come in."
”You got through the to-do list, then?”
”Something like that,” he says, fingers rubbing tiny circles at the nape of Steve’s neck. “I feel like I might be… remembering more.”
Steve grins, dropping his head to Bucky's shoulder. He's thinking about kissing him again when Clint appears in the dock, raising both eyebrows at the sight.
"While I fully appreciate necking in inappropriate places and the new perspective on history you’re giving me," he says mildly, "quinjet's three minutes out."
Steve let’s his arms fall. Bucky takes a step away, giving him enough room to move out.
He stays put. "Are you coming?"
Bucky nods.