Vienna was in chaos. A mess of emergency vehicles, helicopters, sirens and smoke. Civilians and task forces and press. It made it easy for two people who really shouldn't be there to disappear into the crowd. Especially two people who would certainly be arrested if they were to be seen to be interfering in an event like this. Two people who had chosen not to sign the Sokovia Accords, and who by default should be retired from interfering altogether.

Sighing tiredly, Sam Wilson pushed his sunglasses a little further up his nose as he braced his forearms on the countertop of the coffee bar. Just as he'd thought the jetlag from the flight to London might be wearing off, the jump to Austria had added another lost hour of sleep. He knew he had to focus though, in these precious few hours after the bombing. These were the pivotal moments that made or broke an operation, and Steve needed him on fighting from. Right now fighting form meant blending in and laying low as they waited for a lead, and that meant reminding himself to relax his shoulders as he idly watched the images playing over and over again on the flatscreen mounted on the wall. Someone had once told him that he noticeably stood like a solider.

The explosion, Barnes - it was an aggressive reel demanding that the planet spring into action. The world was angry, and enough countries had been hit by this blow to make it personal to far too many powerful people. Part of him couldn't help but wonder if Steve was taking on a fight that was more than they could handle. Maybe even a fight that wasn't worth it.

He'd tried to understand, really, he had. But he and Steve had spent the best part of two years combing the earth for Barnes, and now this was how he made his appearance? After Steve insisting that he wasn't a killer, the guy shows up with a fresh body count in double digits?

As much as he trusted his friend, he couldn't help but wonder if his motivations for finding the Winter Soldier were too personal. Clouded judgement could find them both on the wrong side of the law, or worse, dead.

But still, he trusted him. He might regret it at some point, but he trusted him.

He also trusted him to hurry up and get back to the coffee shop quickly - the longer they stayed here the more likely it was that someone would recognise the beefy super soldier making a poor attempt at hiding behind a baseball cap and aviators.

A vibration in his jacket made Sam's stance shift, his hand slipping into his pocket to answer his phone and frowning at the contact name that flashed up. He had expected it to be an update from Steve, not a name he hadn't thought about in over a year. A name he had saved over the number for a burner phone.

But this could be the lead they were waiting for.

"Hello?"

"Sam? It's Kat- Katie, from Amsterdam."

She sounded panicked, and almost like she hadn't expected him to answer; "Yeah Katie, I remember." He murmured, keeping his voice low and level, so as not to draw any gazes in the crowded café. "I'm guessing you've been watching the news?"

"It's not him Sam - I don't know what's going on but it's not, it's not Bucky- He wouldn't- or if it is him, he's not in control, someone's got to him-"

"Hey, calm down." He urged her softly, hearing the catch of tears in her voice. She was frightened. He thought he had seen her frightened that day she had confronted him in Amsterdam, but this was different. "Sounds like you need to catch me up on a few details, Katie. This isn't how you were talking last year."

"I..." She hesitated; the sound of a shaking breath being drawn in reaching him as she considered her options. Something had changed, since he last saw this girl. As guarded as she had been with him before, she had been open, honest. Now it sounded like there was something she was hiding - or protecting. "Sam, if I tell you... Can you help him?"

"Depends what's going on-"

"Can you help him?" She interrupted him with the repetition of her strained, desperate question. That was what he heard in her voice, desperation. She was calling him because she had no other option.

"We'll try." He uttered softly, "That's all I can promise, but we might have a better shot if you give us whatever information you're holding back."

Another breath, another beat of hesitation; "I don't know where he is now, but... He's been with me. In Amsterdam - or he was - but Sam he isn't who he used to be, he isn't the Soldier, he wouldn't hurt anyone..."

And then it all came spilling out, as quickly as she could force the tearful words past her lips, the story came out - and all Sam could do was listen in shocked silence. It was all too reminiscent of the soldiers he counselled, people who had held on to something painful for too long, suddenly finding a release for their words. She was in pain; he could hear it in the way she spoke about Barnes. This had been more than sheltering an old ally that needed a place to crash - the man meant something to her.

Idly, Sam wondered how he kept managing to find himself stuck with these people who were completely obsessed with this Barnes guy. His own brief encounter on the overpass in DC hadn't exactly painted the man in an endearing light.

But the way this girl spoke about him, she sounded heartbroken.

"Hang on." Sam interrupted her softly once more as she skipped over a detail; "This guy that found you, before Barnes ran, who was he?"

"I don't know, I don't even know if he's involved in this - but that was when Bucky had to leave, I have no idea where he is Sam."

Sighing, Sam glanced around himself, taking in the café, the fact that Steve still wasn't back and they were running out of time - and he still didn't have a solid lead; "And you think he could be dangerous? If someone has... Activated him?"

"He won't know what he's doing." She breathed, "He'll lash out at anyone, if they try to arrest him..."

"I'm not sure 'arrest' is the first option on the table here." Sam informed her grimly; "They're taking this pretty seriously; with his track record they won't need an excuse to shoot."

"Oh God..." Her voice muffled in a way that he could picture her scrubbing her hand over her face; "Sam we have to find him first, if he's on his own he might have come round but he'll be so scared..."

"No, there's no 'we' here Katie." He informed her firmly, "You stay where you are, call me if you hear anything, or if he makes contact."

"Sam I can help-"

"Help from a distance." His voice was softer than he expected it to be. Part of him wanted to let loose and yell at her for harbouring the guy he had been busting his ass to find and not bothering to tell anyone, but he understood. And she was scared. She was scared she was about to lose someone she clearly cared for - and if they didn't act quickly, she definitely would. "That order you told me about, is it still active? Could he still hurt you if he saw you?"

"I... Yes. If he- if he isn't himself, yes." She admitted softly, "But I'm not leaving him to face this alone, you can't make me sit on the side-lines here, I can help."

Lifting his baseball cap to momentarily scrub his hand over his forehead before replacing it, Sam sighed; "Twenty-four hours. Give us that." He reasoned softly, knowing nothing he could say would persuade this girl to step back. Maybe they could use her, she knew Barnes, and she might know how to stop him where no one else could. "We have no leads yet, so there's no point in you running off without a plan. I'll keep you updated if you do the same."

"I can't just sit here and wait..."

"You've got to, as long as it's safe, you've got to lay low." He reasoned gently, hearing the frustration in her voice, "If he's on the run, if he trusts you then he could still go back to you - and don't forget that you're still a fugitive yourself. This place is crawling with folk who would just love to arrest an ex-HYDRA operative."

By the long sigh he heard on the other end of the phone, he could tell she knew he was right.

"Twenty-four hours?"

"Maybe less." He reasoned, "I'll keep you in the loop, I promise."

"Thank you, Sam." She whispered, "I... If you do find him... He's a good man, Sam - none of this is his fault..."

"I know. We'll do what we can - keep that phone switched on, I'll be in touch Katie."

"Thank you."

Sam huffed out a tense breath as the line went dead, laying his phone on the countertop beside his empty espresso cup, grabbing his fork to stab idly at the slice of cake he'd ordered. Strangely enough, he wasn't hungry.

It wasn't exactly a lead, but it was a development. And now they potentially had someone on their side who might be better at tracking Barnes down than they were. She had done it once before.

A footstep at his side made him glance up slightly from his plate, but he didn't directly turn his head towards the man who had appeared there - instead choosing to focus on the TV on the far wall again, so as not to draw attention to Captain America and his piss-poor civilian disguise. He looked tense, evidently the talk he had ducked out to have with Natasha didn't go well. Things were an awful lot more complicated now, with the Sokovia Accords cutting a line between teammates.

"She tell you to stay out of it?" Sam guessed, knowing Natasha had to do things by the book now. Counter-Terrorism Task Forces and warrants and paperwork. His guess was correct, judging by Steve's heavy silence as he pretended to look at the menu above the counter. "Might have a point."

"He'd do it for me."

"Nineteen forty-five, maybe." Sam countered Steve's low murmur that he knew was all the argument he was going to get out of him. There was no arguing, really - he'd chosen his stance a long time ago. Barnes came before the Avengers. "I just want to make sure we consider all our options. The people who shoot at you usually wind up shooting at me."

He wasn't overly sure what options they had, really. The phone call might have changed things slightly, there was another player in the game now, and she'd asked him for help. Aside from stepping back, abandoning the mission and Barnes and now Katie, there weren't really many other options.

Catching a glimpse of Steve's wry smile, Sam had a strangely certain feeling that he was going to be shot at again pretty soon.

But then he looked away, to the blonde woman who had stepped up to the coffee bar, laying an unobtrusive file on the polished countertop.

"Tips have been pouring in since that footage went public." Sharon Carter murmured casually, not making eye contact with either of them, "Everybody thinks the Winter Soldier goes to their gym - most of it's noise, except this." She cautiously slid the file towards Steve as Sam's throat tightened, wondering just where that lead would drag them off to. "My boss expects a briefing pretty much now, so that's all the head start you're gonna get."

Minutes, they had minutes before Sharon's task force took off after Barnes, and they had an awful lot more resources than Sam and Steve did.

"Thank you." Steve nodded as he pulled to file towards himself, the tension in his jaw evident as he processed that lack of time.

"You're going to have to hurry, we have orders to shoot on sight."

Maybe less than minutes then, Sam thought at Sharon's warning as she slipped away. The young agent was risking so much to help them, but they didn't have time to express any gratitude.

"Well." Sam cleared his throat, pushing himself into an upright position as Steve hesitantly opened the front cover of the file, "Where to?"

"Bucharest, Romania."

"Better get moving then." He murmured, slipping his phone back into his pocket; "We've had a development on our end too. I'll tell you on the way."

Seven hundred miles away, in a tiny attic in Amsterdam, Kat looked down at the phone in her hands, her fingers squeezing the small plastic object so tightly she was afraid she'd break it, but she couldn't put it down.

She was sure she wouldn't be able to for the next twenty-four hours.

[A/N: Oh our poor Bucky's in trouble... Hope you enjoyed this update, with a little glimpse from Sam's perspective and the introduction of Steve! Don't worry, we'll be back to our favourite duo soon, you won't have long to wait! X]