a foul response. He decided the energy wasn't worth exerting, and stepped away to follow Kalina to the kitchen. Sam looked over at Bucky, who had made himself comfortable on the sofa, kicking his feet up and turning sideways to lay down.

"You really are somethin', you know that? You got us out here playin' couples therapy with a convicted criminal, when we should be out there finding Karli." The Falcon glared at Bucky's relaxed body language.

"Re-lax, Sam." Bucky closed his eyes, rubbing his stomach at the hunger pains. He let out a sigh and looked at his partner while still laying on his back. "It's a day here, then we'll leave tomorrow. The dude's got a lot of issues."

Sam scoffed. "Oh, so now we're supposed to have sympathy for the guy that completely manipulated you and tore the Avengers apart? Not to mention the people that man killed in the process."

"Sympathy? No." Bucky looked back to the ceiling and closed his eyes again, refusing to argue the point any longer. "...but, I do understand something about making amends."

The man sitting in the settee pursed his lips. His sense of duty had clouded any understanding he could have had for Zemo, but Bucky made a point. He refused to have any sympathy for the man, but he could at least enjoy the time he was in the home if they were stuck there for the time being. Feeling guilty for being so harsh on Kalina, Sam made a silent agreement with himself to be more hospitable toward her while they were there.

In the grand chef's kitchen, Kalina was reaching for several short brimmed glasses in a cupboard when Helmut followed in behind her. He placed his tea cup on the island, making it obvious to alert her that he was in the room. Without flinching, she continued her work, stepping to the butler's pantry and peeking around for something.

Emerging with a decanter of caramel colored liquid, she placed the glass on the counter, proceeding to open the top of the container. Without looking at Helmut, she filled three short stemmed glasses only halfway. "Well? No better time than now."

Helmut shifted in place. "Kalina, I wanted to make certain you were alright."

The woman set down the decanter and placed her hands on the kitchen counter, facing him, but still looking at the glasses. Her heart jumped into her throat and she wasn't sure whether to be angry or thankful or pained. Swirling emotions overcame her body and she let out a breath. "Helmut, I'm fine. I've been fine for quite some time."

Letting the lie frolic on her tongue like an exotic dancer, she looked up at the man, their eyes locking for the first time since he had entered her home. Helmut saw through her façade, but hesitated to make any moves toward her. "I couldn't allow myself to take this opportunity without seeing you."

Kalina's throat closed, and she pulsed with emotions she thought she had released years ago. She was happy to see Helmut alive and well, despite the fact that he was now a criminal that was evading recapture. After seeing him locked in the correctional facility, Kalina had come to terms with his convictions, knowing her own family's legacy was nothing short of stained in the blood of others. She had never condoned his recruitment by EKO Scorpion due to the violence and the kill-squad behavior they touted, but she was another person sixteen years ago. Her trauma had changed her perspective and she was no longer the Kalina of the past.

She was also angry at him, wanting scream in his face to get out of her house, desperate to ask him how dare he thought he could show up at her doorstep nearly two decades after their fall out. The trip she had made to Berlin to see him had not been to reconcile her feelings, it had been to release the demons she had been harboring for so long and to resurrect herself from the clouds she lived under.

The pain from looking into his deep brown eyes brought her so many memories, both joyous and treacherous. Kalina felt as if he could easily control her, like a puppet on a string, and their souls connected in a silent celestial moment.

"I needed to... I need to tell you-" Helmut was cut short as Kalina picked up two glasses from the island, sliding the third to him across the counter in haste. He reached for the glass, stopping it from its trajectory.

"-I don't want to talk about it, Helmut." She stepped past him, making way for the living area toward the Avengers. "It's in the past."

With that, she walked away from the conversation and disappeared down the hall. Helmut mentally cursed himself while taking the drink she had offered. It tasted of sweetly spiced Cognac, yet the alcohol made Helmut feel more anguish than relief. He should have expected her feelings to be nothing less after all he had put her through. Realizing in that moment, that they really were strangers. He had overstepped a boundary and yet she was still in his presence so gracious and pure.

Helmut looked around the dimly lit kitchen which was large enough to hold several chefs at one time. With a large pantry off to one corner, and a separate butler's pantry in another, he noticed that the penthouse was incredibly spacious for one woman. The kitchen echoed of emptiness, as he heard Sam's laugh down the hall. Looking at the glass he held in his hand, the Baron realized that he had been alone in the prison, but Kalina had been enduring her own solitary confinement.

Taking another sip of the alcohol that burned his throat, waking him up inside, he reminded himself that he refused to be his own martyr. He placed his hands on his face, rubbing the tension from his cheeks and composing himself despite the chaos raging inside. If Kalina felt as empty as the kitchen did in that moment, he now understood the pain she had been suffering, despite her graceful and poised bearing. She put on a brave face, but inside he knew she was just as lost as he.

Helmut heard footsteps walking back toward the kitchen and he bit his lip. Kalina entered the room once more and made her way to another cupboard, this time reaching for a wide mouthed wine glass. Turning back to the butler's pantry, the criminal followed her. "Kalina. We don't have to talk about anything you don't want."

As she shuffled through a wine rack, Helmut leaned against the doorway of the pantry. He could simply stand and admire her beauty without saying a word, and he would be satisfied. Kalina finally found a dark bottle of aged merlot and read the label, trying to ignore the man blocking her path. He didn't want to intimidate her but knew the woman was stubborn. He was determined to squash the discomfort between them both.

Kalina couldn't deny the tension in the room. Half of her wanted to slap Helmut across the face and the other half wanted run into his arms and never let him go. Despite the pain their fall out caused her, they shared so many memories together, and it was difficult to dismiss her feelings. Turning to him with the bottle in hand, she moved closer, hoping he would move aside and let her out of the pantry, but he only stood there looking down at her small figure. He had crossed his arms but still appeared relaxed and calm.

"Why are you entertaining this? If you want us to leave, just tell me." Helmut looked into her soft eyes, searching for any trace of subliminal response. She held the bottle to her chest, standing dangerously close to him.

"No." She sputtered out quickly, not even sure the thought had formulated in her head before it released her lips. "This is a lot, Helmut. Aside from whatever you are doing with the men in my living room, this is... difficult."

She motioned to the small gap between them. He wanted nothing more than to reach out his arms and close the distance by pulling her into his body. Yet, he respected her feelings, and refused to make any actions that would be deemed inappropriate in that moment.

"I am not here to ask for forgiveness, Kalina. I do not deserve your grace." Helmut sighed and uncrossed his arms. "I am only here to close the chapter we did not finish writing."

She remembered their last conversation in Berlin, where she was abruptly torn from his cell in the midst of the Snap. There was a lot she had wanted to say, but was not afforded the chance. As time had passed, she slowly let the memories go, unable to cope with the incompleteness of their encounter. Other things of the world had suddenly fogged her mind away from her own insecurities, and she had become consumed with others' trials and tribulations from the Snap and the Blip. It was if she had completely forgotten about her own needs in those six years.

Relenting the rigidity in her entire body, she eased into the space where her feet met the floor. "Helm, I tried for a very long time to gain closure."

Her hands tightened on the bottle, and Helmut felt the pressure in the room become lighter at her small gesture of calling him by a familiar nickname. She continued. "Now... I simply want the best for you. Safety and health. That is all."

Kalina moved to step past him in the doorway, but he placed a hand to the other edge, stopping her exit. She sighed and looked back at him. The Baron saw the pain in her eyes and knew she was lying. Not wanting to press her, but unable to leave the conversation as it was, he pursued again. "You didn't have to let us in. You could have told me to go."

She nodded, now uncertain if she regretted even doing that much. She refused to let the hard outer wall she had built be torn down in that moment, especially not by the mason who had laid the bricks. She put a hand on his arm that was propped up on the door frame, lingering a little too long, enjoying the warmth of his body through his shirt. The feeling of their contact sent butterflies soaring through her stomach. Tightening her grip on his arm slightly, Kalina let out a sigh. "I will never turn you away, Helmut, and I will never make you feel alone."

Pushing his arm down so that she could exit the pantry, the small woman moved past him, and Helmut felt a knot twist in his stomach. He had spoken similar words to her before leaving to EKO Scorpion and it tore him apart. The fact that she had held onto this phrase for so long enraged the guilt inside of him.

He knew he was a long way from the redemption he so desperately craved, but he would settle for an understanding. If he could leave Kalina with the closure she rightfully deserved then he could ask for nothing more from the relationship.

Turning around toward the kitchen, Helmut realized that he was now the only one standing there. The bottle of wine sat opened on the island next to the decanter of Cognac, but the wine glass had disappeared along with Kalina.