Two days later, Tony grinned a bit as Steve and Sam came back.

"Well, 'bout time you dragged in for a refuel. How's it going?"

"It's not," Sam said as he flopped down in a chair with an exhausted groan. "Guy's a goddamn ghost, can't get a solid lead on him for more'n a day."

"Stay for a few days, refuel," Tony said. "Jarvis has got his eyes on everything in case this guy shows up." He grinned a bit.

Sam just made a vague groaning noise, waved a hand, and let his pokemon out before just laying bonelessly in the chair. Blaziken, Crobat, and Swellow shook themselves out, and then went to go scope the place out for a bit.

Steve just stayed quiet and went into the kitchen for some coffee.

"Alright there, Cap?" Tony asked, following Steve into the kitchen. Because he apparently just couldn't leave well enough alone.

"Leave it alone, Stark," Steve replied shortly, just concentrating on not breaking the coffee mug in his hand. He was definitely in a bad mood.

Tony held up his hands in defeat and left. Best to let Steve be when he was in this kind of mood.

Although briefly he did debate calling or texting Maeve to get her to call Cap's girlfriend. Maybe he just needed to get laid.

Julie, at that point, was doing a routine sweep of the neighborhood, checking for Hydra agents. She just hadn't realized they'd found her first.

Bucky was also doing his own sweep of the neighborhood, although he was staying well out of sight, with the help of a few pokemon he'd made friends with. He saw the Hydra agents tailing Julie, and his eyes narrowed. Well. Looked like he had something he needed to take care of before he went back to his apartment.

The agents waited until Julie was down a quiet alleyway to jump her. Julie swore and reacted quickly, Typhlosion and Vulpix both jumping to attack the Hydra agents' pokemon. At least they were away from civilians, Julie had a moment to note.

Barnes saw her get attacked, and silently moved in to help her. He struck quickly and quietly from the background, taking out the Hydra agents easily. They were nothing compared to Captain America, he noted. Riolu checked on Julie once the agents were out of commission.

Julie had managed to catch a stray punch somewhere in there, and her eye was already starting to swell in the beginnings of what would be a very impressive shiner. But she still smiled when she saw Riolu.

"Hey there, cutie," she murmured, holding out a treat to him. The two pokemon she had with her were both clearly waiting for her to come to her senses and go home already.

Riolu brightened and scampered over for the treat. He didn't sense any more threats in the area, and he was fairly sure the bigger pokemon wouldn't hurt him. He snagged the treat and then went back over to Barnes. Barnes, however, was making his way towards Julie to make sure she was alright. He could already see the signs of a truly impressive shiner, and for some reason, the sight of it seemed familiar in a way he couldn't place. The alley, the fight, the black eye... it was all very, very familiar, somehow.

Julie blinked when Barnes didn't immediately melt in the shadows, or something. She held very still as he approached. His Riolu (because they were definitely bonded now) was fine, and she was about 85% certain that Barnes wouldn't harm her. But he almost never actually approached her, usually it was the other way around.

"Hold still," Barnes said quietly, reaching out with his good hand to gently inspect her eye. "Get something cold on that."

"Soon as I get back to my apartment," Julie agreed quietly. She did a quick visual sweep of him; he looked fine, which made sense, since he'd been a bit farther back.

Barnes nodded once at that, and promptly backed off from her. Best not to get to close, just in case. He didn't want to accidentally hurt her somehow.

Julie was quiet for a moment. "You look like you could use some coffee," she said, a little smile flickering at her lips. "Or something stronger. I've got both."

Barnes just looked at her for a moment, internally wrestling with himself over how to respond. Part of him wanted to refuse; tools were not treated like operatives. But another part of him desperately wanted something as normal as having a coffee.

Riolu solved the problem for him by nudging him forward, towards Julie.

Julie grinned at that. "And lots of treats, of course," she said, looking at Riolu. "Come on. My place is this way." She had the feeling he might know that already, but she took the lead anyway.

Barnes just followed silently, still debating whether he should just leave now. Somehow, though, he still ended up following her all the way back to her place.

Julie shut the door after they were both in, and her Pokémon went to go settle in. Growlithe bounded up to her to say hi before turning on Barnes. Julie watched, amused, as her most suspicious Pokémon approached Barnes, sniffed him, and promptly somehow decided he liked him.

Barnes looked at the Growlithe, and frowned slightly when something niggled in the back of his mind. He knelt down, holding out his good hand to the pokemon.

"Hey, you," he murmured to her. "Aren't you somethin'."

Growlithe sniffed his hand before pushing her head against his hand, apparently quite content. Julie watched, amused. She had no idea how Growlithe decided if people were Good People, but she had some internal measure, and Julie wasn't going to question it.

Barnes couldn't help a slight smile as he scratched behind Growlithe's ears. There was one spot in particular that he knew was a good one...

Growlithe practically flopped over when he found the spot. Oh she was going to love him forever.

Julie grinned and went to go make coffee and see what she had in terms of frozen vegetables to plaster over her eye.