Chapter Sixteen

Bullets

*Akilina's POV*

Bucky only takes a minute and when he comes back over I get out and jingle the keys in my hand. His face lights up as he reaches for them, but I pull them out of his reach.

"Look, only if you promise not to kill us..." A slight glinting catches my eye on the roof of the grocery store and I quickly shove Bucky behind the door of the car before a shot sounds in the parking lot. "Get in the damn car!" I shout as the few people outside scream. He slides inside and drags me with him easily. I start the truck as the window beside me breaks from another shot. I hit the gas and fly through the parking lot to the road. I turn away from the direction of the house and go as fast as possible, which isn't that fast in this car. "Are you okay?" I ask desperately, glancing over at Bucky and the rearview mirrors. His jaw is set and his eyes are angry, but he doesn't look like he's bleeding. "James."

"I'm fine, Akilina. I swear." He assures me as I turn down another road.

"Good. I'm just going to keep driving until we hit mountains. There should be a cabin we can stay in until we notify the team." I say, panting from the adrenaline in my veins. He nods along to everything I'm saying, but doesn't add to it. I feel something tickle my shoulder and I look down to find my shoulder is covered in red. I bite my lip to keep from hissing as the pain hits me. Moving around in my seat a little, I think I've only been grazed on my shoulder and my left side. As if I already didn't have enough scars. I focus back on the road and James. "Are you with me, James?" I ask, concerned about his silence.

"I'm with you. Always." He mumbles and a relieved sigh escapes my lips. He looks at me and I do my best to keep my shoulder from his sight. I fail miserably. His eyes instantly widen. "You're bleeding, Akilina!" I nod, grinding my teeth.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. They're just grazes." I breathe, keeping my hands steady on the wheel. In a second James has taken off his coat, gloves, and is looking around the truck for something. He opens the glove compartment and finds a gun, and, miraculously, a small first aid kit. He tucks the gun into the waistband of his jeans and grabs the bandages. "James, you have to wait to wrap it. The blood flow hasn't even stopped. There isn't time to pull over either. I'm fine." I tell him. He looks up at me, his blue eyes roiling and conflicted. "Trust me." I ground out.

"Lean forward, I want to at least do your shoulder now." He says, his voice low and strained.

"James, I've had far worse wounds than this. You don't have to-"

"Please." He insists. I glance at his worried and pleading eyes, then press myself as far forward as I can without touching the steering wheel. "Thank you." He whispers. He rips open one of the gloves to reveal a more absorbent material and presses it to the wound. I grit my teeth and force my eyes to stay open as the pain ripples through me.

"You're thanking me for letting you help me? Seems a bit backwards don't you think?" I joke, focusing the best I can on the road.

"You saved my life, Akilina." The thought of him being hurt instead of me makes me grip the steering wheel harder.

"Of course, I did, you idiot." I reply with a little attitude.

"Did you just insult me as I help you?" He asks. I bark out a laugh.

"I'm sorry, were you expecting something else from me?" I sass, turning down a rockier road than is probably wise. He chuckles, then seems to sober.

"I'm so sorry, Akilina. I-"

"Sorry, no. You're not going to apologize for being shot at James. Shut up." I get another small laugh out of him and I smile painfully. We're far enough that we've started going uphill, so I'm clutching tight to the steering wheel as James continues to try and stench the flow of blood. Once we're deep enough into the wooded mountains, I pull into the first driveway I come across and luckily, it's empty. I start to get out of the car, but Bucky stops me.

"Hold on, I'm not done!" I slip out of the truck anyway and hiss at the damn gash in my side. James is by me in a second. "I told you to hold on, damn it. You're just like fucking Steve." My eyebrows pop up and I smile weakly.

"I didn't know your relationship was like that babe." I tease him and he shakes his head at me. In a second, he scoops me up and carries me to the cabin, careful not to touch the wound on my side. He kicks the door of the cabin open and gently sets me on the couch in the middle of the big living room. There's a kitchen to the right and what looks like two doors leading to bedrooms to the left. I wave at him to tell him to go back out and get everything we left. "Go get the first aid kit and the groceries please. We'll need them since we don't know how long we'll be here." He opens his mouth to protest and I fix him with a glare. James hands me both gloves inside out and I press one to my shoulder, the other to my side. He fixes me with a glare as well, but heads out and grabs everything in one go. I move to the little coffee table to prevent my blood from staining the brown couch and wait for him. He sets the groceries in the kitchen, then comes back and locks the door before coming back to me.

"How're you holding up?" He asks kindly, bringing back about a thousand memories. I take a breath and remove the blood-soaked glove from my shoulder.

"I think my shoulder has stopped bleeding. You see any whiskey in that kitchen? Or hydrogen peroxide?" I ask him. He's gone and back in a second with the chemical in his hand. He looks at me with apprehension as he unscrews the bottle.

"This is going to hurt like a bitch." He warns and moves behind me. I nod and put my knuckle in my mouth to keep from making a loud noise. James pours and I groan into my finger, tears springing into my eyes at the pain. I bite down hard on my finger and lean forward then back from the rush of adrenaline. James' hand runs up and down my spine to soothe me.

"Okay, okay. Do my side, do my side." I order, leaning backwards onto my good arm. Bucky takes the glove off and away from me and pours. "Mary, Joseph, and the camel that hurts!" I shout, stomping my foot. I move to stand, but James moves in front of me.

"You need to stop moving." He says sternly. I stare at his messy hair, worried face, and slightly shaking hand, then nod.

"Yes, sir." I sigh, biting my lip as the pain continues to have its way with me. As it subsides I hold my hand out for the small scissors in the first aid kit. James hands them to me, instantly knowing what I want. "I really like this shirt." I mutter as I cut my left sleeve off then right down the front. James takes the pieces from me and chucks them in the trash by the door.

"Sugar, I promise I'll buy you a new shirt. Just let me patch you up please." He pleads as he searches for bandages in the small kit. "Besides, I think you look better without it." James teases as he moves my, now dark red, bra strap out of the way so he can wrap my shoulder. In deference to his job, I move my hair to my other shoulder. Part of it is wet, so I know the blonde strands are at least partly stained as well. "At least you got part of your wish, right? We're alone in the mountains surrounded by pines." He says softly.

"And you're here. That's an important part." I add and feel the breath from his quiet laugh slides over the bare skin of my back.

"Thanks doll." He replies. I regret the fact that he's behind me and not in front of me so I can't see his face.

"I'm serious, James." I turn to the side painfully to see his pretty eyes, but he puts a hand on my chin and turns me back.

"You need to stop moving, although I'm flattered you'd risk pain just to look at me." Red leaks into my cheeks at his words, but I don't mind anymore. He gently wraps the wound and I sigh at how irritating these wounds are going to be. "Alright. Straighten up a little so I can wrap your side. Please." He adds on the end to be nice. He slides over as I straighten up. Now, I can see his face. I stare at him as he works, taking in the little things his face does. His brows are furrowed and every once and a while they'll tighten before loosening again. It's pretty dim in the cabin since we only turned one light on coming in, but I bet I can fix that. On the wall behind Bucky, the one the kitchen is one the other side of, is a big, stone, fire place. I snap my right hand and conjure a little fireball in my hand. I toss it over James' head onto the little teepee of wood in the fireplace. It catches instantly and the room is made bright. I grin at James as he rolls his eyes at me. "Show off." He grumbles with a small smile. I continue watching him.

"You know, this isn't exactly what I had in mind for the next time I had my shirt off with you." I tell him, blushing. His lips curl up and he glances into my eyes for a moment before starting to wrap the bandage around my body. His fingers graze my bare, uninjured skin as he wraps it loosely enough to let me breathe, but tight enough that it won't slip. He sighs and moves in front of me, crouching between my legs. His hands are covered in my blood, but his eyes are locked on mine.

"Yeah, me either." He says disappointedly. "But, I'm happy you're, mostly anyways, okay. And I'm not sad about being alone with you for a while." James tells me quietly. My lips twitch and I grab a wet one from the kit beside me. I take his flesh hand and clean it first, then his metal hand.

"Good. Thank you for your help, by the way." I tell him. Sighing, I squeeze his hands. He reaches over and grabs a wet one himself, rubbing the blood off my skin with a gentle hand. "As much as I'd love to keep staring into your baby blues, I'm still hungry." I point out. Grinning, he backs up a little to throw the towels away. I stand with a groan, my hand instantly going to my side. Bucky turns back to me with a concerned look.

"Coeur, I'll make you whatever you want." James' hands move to my upper arms to keep me vertical. I look up at him with a smile. I don't mind when he speaks French to me, every word sounds sweeter than usual.

"Golubyye glaza, I am capable of doing things for myself." I tell him sternly. He huffs, frustrated.

"Upryamaya zhenshchina! I know you are more than capable of doing everything by yourself. I would like to make you, well dinner now, because I want to. You shouldn't strain yourself anyways." He continues nicely. I narrow my eyes at him, but nod. "Thank you."

"But I'd like to stay in whatever room you're in." I push him aside and start walking ever so slowly into the kitchen. He sighs behind me, but walks just as slow beside me. After I carefully sit down and he kisses my forehead, he starts putting all the cold stuff in the refrigerator. I catch his eyes on me more often than usual, whether because I'm shirtless or injured, I have no clue. Since fidgeting is the only thing I can do, I do it incessantly. I'm bouncing my leg up and down and hitting my thigh repeatedly with my right hand, making James laugh more than once. "I think I'm going to see if the other rooms have any clothes I can wear." I go to stand, but am instantly intercepted by James.

"Could you maybe stay still for just a little while? For me, doll?" His hand rests on my hip and his metal one caresses my face. His hand moves to my hair, pushing my hair back. I lean into it, then hum in acceptance. "Thank you." He pecks my lips, then steps back. Smirking, he takes his shirt off and hands it to me. "There. You have a shirt and you can watch me cook shirtless." He compromises and I roll my eyes. Gently, I slip it on and take a deep breath full of Bucky. He smells like metal and pine trees, different, but soothing all the same.

"Yes, now you have my full attention." I tease, but every word is pure truth. I watch his biceps flex as he picks up bag after bag and move it to a cabinet or fridge. My favorite thing is when he's facing away from me and reaching up high, so I can see the muscles rippling in his back. Glorious. Unfortunately, his pants are pulled up just a little too high so I can only see a hint of his V. Overall, his plan worked. I could watch him walk around shirtless all damn day. After everything is put away he stares into the fridge, pondering.

"Alright. We have enough food to feed twenty people for a week, so the possibilities are limited to what I can cook and basically nothing else. Anything come to mind?" He asks sweetly, peeking over the fridge door.

"I'd kill for anything. All we've eaten for almost two days is Twizzlers." I tell him simply. His head disappears back into the fridge and he takes out a pound of hamburger meat, then some fries from the freezer.

"Burgers and fries it is." He amends and grabs a pan from a lower cabinet.

"Mmm, food." I approve and he chuckles. "Is there a phone or anything in here that we can contact the team with?" His head starts shaking before I've finished my sentence.

"Unless there's one in the bedroom, no. I can build a machine and use it to send a message in Morse code. It'll only work if someone is looking for it though, but it's our best chance." He explains, putting butter in the pan then the burgers he shaped with his hands. I nod, trusting him. Relaxing back in the chair at the small table, my lips curl up as I watch James cook. "Akilina, I've been meaning to ask, is that a tattoo on your...chest?" He asks, a little flustered. I laugh lightly and nod.

"It is. I got it just after coming back to the States." I tell him. He looks over at me, the lamp he turned on to cook lighting up his blue eyes.

"May I ask what it says? I think it's words anyway." I giggle again and a smile lights up his face.

"It is words. It's in Latin and isn't the only one I have." I tease, unable to help myself. His teeth rake over his bottom lip as he continues to cook, the smells filling the cabin and making me hungrier than before. "The word is bellator. It translates to warrior." I trace the word through James' shirt.

"That's fitting." James chuckles, flipping the burgers. I clench and unclench my hands, a little displeased at not being allowed to help him. The oven goes off and he slides the fries in with a hand, then closes it with his foot. "How many others do you have? And uh, where?" He asks, sending me a sexy grin. I grin back and waggle a finger at him.

"I think I'll let you find that out for yourself one day." I reply and raise my legs up to put them in the chair next to me. He groans and I laugh at him.

"That's mean." He chides, making me laugh a little harder. My side graze starts to ache more incessantly and I have to quiet myself to prevent more pain.

"Just keeping the mystery alive in the relationship, moy yedinstvennaya i nepovtorimaya," I reply and just barely catch the beaming smile on James' face before he moves away from me to grab plates, napkins, and buns. He comes back just in time to take the fries out of the oven and get the burgers off the stove. I applaud softly to keep from jostling my shoulder as he walks over with the fries in a big bowl and the burgers on another plate in his other hand. He chuckles deeply and makes three trips back and forth to make sure we have everything. Finally, he sits. Well, he gently picks up my feet and puts them in his lap, then he sits. Before either of us touch anything, I lay my hand on his. "Thank you for this, James. It's lovely," I tell him sincerely. Bucky smiles happily and brings my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles tenderly.

"Dlya vas, chto ugodno." (For you, anything.) He releases my hand and we both fill our plates. "This is actually really nice. It's been a long time since I've done anything..."

"Homelike?" I finish for him, already knowing what he's saying. He stares at me in silence for a moment, eyes shining, then nods.

"Exactly. I haven't felt this at home since living with Steve in the forties, and this isn't even our house." James shakes his head at himself and starts eating. I finish the fry I've been nibbling on and respond.

"James, I've moved around enough in my life to figure out that home isn't a place. Home is where you're accepted, listened to, understood, and loved." I shrug, eating another fry. Bucky's eyes are steady on mine, listening closely. "And where the people you care about are. I remember moving from place to place with my mom, but I didn't give a shit about where we were. I just wanted to be with her. She was my home." I explain. He rubs my leg affectionately when I talk about my mom. He can probably hear the tinge of sadness in my voice when I talk about her.

"That makes sense. You're very wise, kukla." (Doll) I smile at him and finish my fries. "But I do have a question for you." My hands stop on the way to my mouth with my burger between them. I set it down and wait for him to ask. "Where's your home now, Akilina?" My eyebrows pop up at his question, not expecting it. He already knows the answer to that.

"Where's yours?" I fire back. He grins at me, fully aware that I'm stalling.

"With you." He answers easily, quickly, and succinctly. My lips part slightly at the pure honesty in his eyes, as well as how fast he answered. His grin grows at my face, amused. "Ideally near Steve and Victoria as well, but I have to have you there." He takes a bite of his burger as he watches me in amusement. "You had to of already known that was my answer," He says, his voice muffled by the food in his mouth. I glare at him playfully at his lack of manners. He swallows with a wolfish grin. "Moy yedinstvennaya i nepovtorimaya." He repeats the endearment I used for him awhile ago. I roll my eyes and continue eating. "Are you going to answer my question, sugar?" I shake my head at him, fighting a smile. James' hand goes to my feet still in his lap and his finger gently goes down the side of my left. My smile wins out as I finish my meal.

"Your ego doesn't need any more boosting. You're free to give me a foot massage though." I wiggle my toes against his thigh lightheartedly. He sighs and his fingers dance over my toes before he gently gets up and places my feet back on the chair.

"Sorry, doll. I've got to start trying to send a message to the team." He cleans up the table before I can even respond.

"Alright. I'll wash everything, then." I slowly get up, my side and shoulder still aching.

"I'll do that." He says kindly. I put a hand on my hip when I'm upright.

"Really? You'll build a semi-complex machine while also washing the dishes? My, I'd love to see what else you could do with those magical hands of yours." I exaggerate my voice to show how ridiculous he's being. He puts the dishes in the sink with a smirk on his face and starts the water, squeezing in some soap too. I walk over and slide between him and the sink, planting myself there to let him know I'm not moving. James chuckles and his breath makes a couple wisps of my hair come around and tickle my cheeks. I turn off the water and lean forward to grab the sponge laying on the back of the sink. As I lean, James' hands slip under the edges of my shirt ands onto the bare skin of my hips. I shut my eyes and relax back against him, the sponge dropping into the sink.

"I wish I could show you, coeur." His whispers into my ear, drawing circles on my hip bones just under the waistband of my jeans. I take a deep breath to try and push down the burning in me.

"Not helping me wash dishes, babe." I mutter, swallowing with the effort of not taking him here and now. He rolls his hips into mine once and my breath hitches, my hands on the edge of the sink tightening. His lips slide down my ear before he whispers in my ear again.

"You know, I love it when you call me babe. And James. I don't even know why." He chuckles deeply. "It's just sexy as hell." His breath slides over my bare skin delicately. James pulls my hips tighter against him and I lean my head back on his shoulder, biting my lip. He rolls his hips and I return the motion.

"James." I moan. "Pretty soon it isn't going to matter that I'm injured." I remind him, turning my head towards his. He glances at me from the corner of his eye and sighs, stepping backwards. I sigh too at the denied release of the tension in my body, but know there will be other times. Before he walks away to pursue his own project, he kisses my cheek. I grin as I find the sponge and start washing. "Troublemaker." I tease as he walks away and hear his quiet laugh from the other room. I guess being here isn't so bad.