The Valentin Series, Book 2: Angel of Vengeance ( Winter Soldier Fanfiction)

Chapter 19: Caribbean

"We can't keep doing this, anymore, Barnes," Angel gasped from underneath the Soldier. 

This was the fifth assignment she had after the meeting with Pierce. The first one, she was deployed in Greece, where she found him in an abandoned house by the seaside; the second was in India, he was hiding out in one of the tiger sanctuaries. The third time she found him, she was followed; HYDRA had a detail on her the whole time she was in China. She managed to shake them off before she found the Soldier in an old shack just by his extraction site near one of the rivers. She had a heated argument with Pierce and Rumlow after, but that didn't stop them from sending her to the Ukraine to pull the Soldier out again.

It was a full eight months for all four missions. If she counted, it had been two and a half years since she began working for HYDRA. It was the longest two years of her life, and maybe the best, too.

"What do you mean?" he asked, equally out of breath. They had found an empty villa on one of the islands in the Caribbean, and were enjoying their secret vacation. The Soldier, James Barnes, had been sent there to assassinate an Arab billionaire who was on vacation himself. Angel found him in a cave by one of the beaches, and since the area wasn't secure, she suggested they hop over to another island. Luckily, the nearest one was empty, and had a huge vacation home. Angel did some digging and found out the entire island was owned by a Justin Hammer, who was in prison at the moment.

Angel smiled at him and ran her hands down his bare torso, "I can't keep finding you anymore, James," she whispered with a sad smile, "It's getting too dangerous for the two of us." She tried to memorize every single shade of brown in his eyes as they reflected the bright Caribbean sun, the way his hair glinted bronze in the sunlight, the way he breathed. She tried to commit them all to memory, because after this assignment, it was all she would ever have of him.

"What?" Barnes sat up, he pushed his hair away from his face and looked at Angel with so much pain and betrayal in his eyes, she had to look away, "No, you... I... don't, please," he begged softly.

"Baby," she sat up and cupped his cheek, "I want to take you away from all of this, I want to... I don't know, if  I could spirit you away and find a place to hide where they'd never find us, I would have by now," Angel fought the tears behind her eyes and the tightening of her chest, "But you told me yourself, it's getting harder for them to wipe you clean, and that means they have to hurt you more. Your screams still echo in my head from the last time they made me watch."

James looked away from her, he knew that she was right, he also knew he was putting them both in grave danger when he never showed up to the extraction points in time. This time, at least, it was warranted. It was Spring Break, according to Angel, whatever that meant, and the beaches and yachts were packed. It would be hard for HYDRA to extract them without any witnesses.

"So, what do we do now? You just... never turn up again, is that it?" he asks. There was a hopelessness settling in his chest, something he hadn't felt in a year, "Do you forget about me, too?" he looked at her this time, took in her messy hair from all their love making, her brown eyes, the way she was biting her lip out of nervousness, every curve and valley of her body he tried to engrave into his mind.

Then she smiled, and he knew that no matter what HYDRA put him through, no matter how many times they wiped him clean, he'd still remember that smile.

"Oh, James Buchanan Barnes," Angel moved closer to him and straddled his legs, she let her wings out of her back and spread them so he could see their full length, "I'm an Avenging Angel, love, I NEVER forget," she watched as his face spread into a grin and she kissed his smile.

"Don't keep them," he whispered huskily as he peppered her neck with suckling kisses, "I want to remember you like this."

"Whatever you say, Sarge," she moaned as she felt him begin to stroke her again, "Aren't you tired, old man?" she mewled as she tucked her face into the crook of his neck.

"The way I see it, sweets," he whispered against her hair, "We've got one more day, maybe two, before the boss is going to start getting suspicious. I plan to put that time to good use." He guided himself into her core and smiled as she bit his shoulder.

Angel began moving her hips, "Good plan, Barnes," she sucked on his pulse point and he growled, she was going to miss the way his chest vibrated against her, "I plan to do the same."

~~

They lay awake under the stars that night, hand in hand on the villa's beach.

"I'll have to turn on the beacon now, Barnes," Angel sighed helplessly.

"I know, sweets," he looked at her, the stars reflected in her eyes like the first time he kissed her, "For what it's worth, I like the scars you gave me." He whispered and smiled as her face lit up and she smiled back at him.

"You remember?" she laughed, a hand reaching for his cheek.

"I remember a lot of things when I'm with you," he answered, "I'll miss you."

Angel pulled him close and kissed him deeply, "I'll miss you, too, you handsome cyborg," she grinned.

He laughed, it felt good to laugh, he couldn't remember a time he laughed when Angel wasn't there with him. He tried to imagine his next assignment, how he'd feel when he already knew she wasn't going to come find him. He wasn't sure, he might not even remember her, anymore by then.

"What if I forget you?" he asked her suddenly.

Angel turned to him and felt the weight of his question, "You won't," she told him, her voice strong and sure, even if she was not, "I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again."

"On the other side, you mean?" he raised a brow.

"Oh, God, no, nothing like that!" she laughed, "Don't be so dramatic, Barnes. Just... We'll see each other again."

"You believe that?" he asked.

"Yes," Angel answered, meeting his gaze, "I actually do; and if you don't remember me, anymore, that's alright,  babe," she pushed a stray lock of hair behind his ears, "I won't mind. I'll remember enough for the both of us."

He nodded and kissed her again, slowly this time, trying to draw it out, savor every second.

"Do it," he whispered after he broke the kiss, "I'll head back inside and lock myself in one of the bathrooms. I'll make sure it looks trashed."

"Have fun, then, all the bathrooms are as big as my apartment," she said as they both got up, she dusted off her usual black gear, and gave the Soldier a once over: cargo pants, combat shoes, kevlar vest, "Make sure the hallways and the rooms going to the bathroom are a bit messed up, too, huh? Break a few pots."

"Yes, ma'am," he kissed her again and walked off.

"Goodbye, Soldier," Angel whispered as she turned on the small silver disk that was the tracking beacon, and walked slowly back to the villa.