Inseparable: Ashley's Frozen Secret

Chapter 2 - Reunited

It was as if time stopped when Ashley spotted them—almost instantly—in the small crowd in front of her. Steve Rogers and James Barnes. The two men that were by her side through thick or thin. The two that always protected her, and the ones she knew to be dead.

Every feeling of grief and sadness came rushing to the surface all at once, and she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

The two leaped from their seats in complete shock. "Ashley?!" They shouted in unison.

They ran to her side and caught her before she collapsed to the floor. Bucky stood to her right; his arms wrapped around her hips. While Steve was in front; one hand on her back and the other on the back of her head. Her face is buried into his chest.

As they held her, an overwhelming sense of relief and sadness fell on them.

(Bucky) Baby doll, I've missed you much.

Bucky moves the hair away from Ashley's now drenched face with his flesh hand as she mumbles into Steve's chest. "How are you alive? I watched you both die."

The two of them locked eyes and sighed before Steve lifted her head away from him slowly with his finger. "We want to know the same thing, Sweetie."

She almost instantly stopped crying, remembering the day he crashed the plan. Bucky's hands fell to his side as Ashley wiggled her way out of Steve's grip. Anger fueling her every movement.

"YOU BASTARD!" She pushes Steve hard, and he slightly stumbles backward. "YOU CAN'T JUST CRASH A PLANE AND EXPECT ME TO BE OKAY WITH IT!" She begins to hit his shoulders repeatedly. Bucky leans forward and grabs her hips, pulling her close to him, so she doesn't hit Steve again; trying to calm her down. "YOU LEFT ME!" She shouts again, trying to wiggle away from Bucky.

Her voice starts to crack, and the tears start to fall once more. Eventually, she relaxes in Bucky's arms, and lays her head on his shoulder.

Steve's heart breaks as he looks at the pain in her eyes. He slowly walks towards her and gently places a hand on her cheek. "Sweetie." He says quietly. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I should've found a way out." He leans in and kisses her forehead. Then resting his forehead against hers, he takes in a deep breath. Taking in her sent—what was left from her being frozen for 79 years—that he had missed for so long. "I should have found my way back to you."

When Steve and Bucky ran to catch Ashley, the rest of the team stood as well. Their feet only letting them shift their weight as the shock of how the two Super Soldiers and the unknown woman reacted to each other's presence.

As the commotion began to die down, Rhodey couldn't help but mumble a response to Steve's words. "I told you; you should've jumped out." Natasha whips her head in Rhodey's direction, giving him the stink eye. Shutting him up instantly.

"You're damn right you should have found a way out!" Ashley begins again. Jabbing her pointer finger into Steve's chest. "You left me alone! We thought we lost Jamie, and then I go and lose you too!"

Bucky hugged her as tight as he could. His metal arm rubbing her back while he shushed her. "It's okay Doll. We're all together now."

The realization of Bucky's metal arm on her settles in. Curiosity over comes her previous emotions, and she takes his arm to find it all covered in black metal with gold intertwined throughout. "Jamie! What happened?!"

Bucky's face lights up when she calls him 'Jamie.' "It's a long story Doll. We'll explain everything to you soon." He wipes the tears from her eyes, and she instantly fixes her posture. Embarrassed to have the two of them see her in this state. Even though they had seen her emotions crumble way worse, on many occasions.