ONE WEEK LATER: DECEMBER 23, 2014

★ ★ ★

"Marlena! Bucky! Wake up!" Mason yelled as he ran down the hallway towards the couple's bedroom.

Marlena groaned in response to the loudness of his voice and rolled over in bed, pulling a pillow over her head as if to block out the pain inducing noise of her brother's voice. She wasn't sure what time it was, nor did she care; all she wanted was to sleep, but she couldn't do that if Mason didn't stop yelling.

"Why are you guys still sleeping?" Mason questioned as he barreled into the bedroom. He ran over to the bed and jumped on, further annoying the two occupants (Marlena, mostly). "Get up!"

"If you don't get off of me I'm going to punch you in your face," Marlena grumbled as she attempted to push him away.

"Violence is never the answer," Bucky muttered sleepily as he hugged his pillow to his chest.

Marlena only groaned again and pulled the comforter over her body, only for Mason to rip it away. Marlena's eyes widened slightly and she snatched the cover from him and pulled it back over her, but it was too late; Mason had already seen more than he bargained for.

"Why aren't you wearing any clothes, Marlena Elisabeth Claire?" he asked seriously, placing his hands on his hips in a chastising manner.

Bucky laughed beside her and hugged his pillow tighter, while Marlena glared at her brother.

"I am wearing clothes," Marlena retorted. "Just not all of them."

Mason glanced between Marlena and a shirtless Bucky with narrowed eyes. He might have been thirteen years old, but he definitely wasn't stupid. Kids his age knew more about the world than they should, and this just so happened to an example of that.

"Don't worry," Mason said as he stood up on the mattress. "I won't tell mom what you two have been doing."

Marlena scoffed and buried her head into the mattress. "As if it really matters—everyone else already knows. Now go away."

"No, Mr. America told me to come get you. He has a surprise for you," Mason told her.

Marlena sat up and removed herself from the bed, taking the comforter with her and wrapping it around her body. Mason lost his balance at the abruptness of the action and fell back onto a half-naked Bucky, eliciting a groan from the tired super soldier.

"What kind of surprise?" Bucky asked as he sat up, removing Mason from his body.

"You already know what it is, Bucky," Mason exclaimed as he jumped off the bed and ran out of the room, slamming the door shut on his way out.

Bucky sighed and looked over at Marlena, who seemed to be very lost in thought. "You okay?" he asked, removing her from her trance.

"Yeah, just wondering what this surprise is," she answered quickly, running over to her dresser to find an outfit to wear.

"You'll see," Bucky said as he stood up, strolling over to his dresser.

Marlena rolled her eyes and pulled out a plain, white shirt and a pair of dark wash skinny jeans. "I hate surprises."

"I think you'll love this one, though," Bucky mused as he scratched the back of his head.

Marlena stood up and stomped over to him, her clothes still in hand. He turned to look at her, slightly surprised at the close proximity between the two of them.

"Why don't you just tell me so we can go back to sleep?" she whined as she pressed her forehead to his bare chest.

He chuckled and shook his head, planting a kiss to her lips. "Steve can tell you just fine."

She grunted before taking off towards the bathroom, leaving Bucky to stare after her with an amused expression on his face.

"When are you gonna stop being self conscious and change in front of me, Marlena?" he called after her. "It's not like I haven't seen it all before."

"Maybe when we're married," she replied before heading into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

He laughed and shook his head at her before continuing his search for an outfit to wear. After changing into a random black shirt and a pair of jeans and boots, Bucky was more than ready for the day ahead.

Marlena left the bathroom shortly after he was dressed and scurried over to him, her messy bun bouncing on top of her head. She pouted as she approached him and he grabbed her hand, attempting to pull her out of the bedroom.

"C'mon, Mar," he chirped as he drug her over to the bedroom door.

She groaned as he pulled her into the hallway. "At least give me more details as to what this supposed surprise is, Bucky. I don't exactly feel like delving into your mind."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Not a chance. Just be patient."

Marlena only frowned and allowed him to pull her into the loft. Natasha, Mason, Miranda, and Steve were all gathered together in the loft talking amongst one another. The moment Bucky and Marlena walked into the room, however, the chatter stopped, and everyone turned their heads to look at the couple.

"That's not a pretty face, Mar," Natasha chuckled as Marlena sat down on the couch with Bucky. "Christmas is in two days—you should be happy."

"I just don't like surprises," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I think you'll like this one," Steve said.

He smiled and stood up, pulling an envelope out of the back of his pocket. Marlena watched with skeptical eyes as he held it out to her, and when she didn't make a move to grab it, Bucky took it from him and practically shoved it in her face.

"Open it, nimrod," he instructed, earning a glare from Marlena.

Marlena took the envelope from him and glanced up at Steve. He gave her a nod, and Marlena let out a sigh before ripping the envelope open. She pulled out two, stiff slips of paper. After further examination of them, her eyes widened slightly. They were plane tickets, but not just any plane tickets—they were plane tickets from New York City to Washington D.C.

"What the hell?" Marlena breathed out as she looked up at Steve. "Is this a joke?"

He shook his head and sat back down on the couch opposite her and Bucky. "Not at all, Mar."

"These are first class plane tickets to Washington D.C., Steven," she said, not even believing her own words.

"We know, Marlena," Miranda chuckled. "They're for you."

"Bucky told us about the conversation you two had last week," Natasha started. "We've spent the last week trying to convince Tony to let you go home for some amount of time, and after a decent amount of time spent complaining and griping he finally agreed to let you go. You've been cooped up in this tower too long—you deserve to spend some time at home."

Marlena couldn't seem to wrap her head around this new information. All she knew was that she was happy, and she was more than thankful that she was surrounded by a group of people who cared about her enough to do something like this for her.

"Thank you so much for this; you have no idea just how much this means to me," she said with a smile.

"There is something that needs to be addressed, however," Bucky said pulling the envelope out of her hand. "These tickets are for tonight."

Marlena's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Tonight? Why so soon?"

"Because I'm taking you to meet an old friend of mine," Steve spoke up. "She's been dying to meet you ever since I told her about you on the phone, and I thought now was a better time than ever for it to happen."

"So, the second ticket isn't for Bucky?" she asked, glancing down at Bucky.

He shook his head. "Sorry, sweetheart. I have something up here that I need to take care of."

Marlena's brows fell in confusion. "What about everyone else, though? I thought we were spending Christmas here in the tower? Isn't that the whole reason why Mason and my mom are here?"

"Just shut the hell up and go with Steve, Marlena," Miranda exclaimed. "You'll be back before Christmas. They're round trip tickets."

Marlena let out a breath and sunk further into the couch, electing not to further ask questions, though she believed there was something else going on that she didn't know about. All of them were doing a seemingly good job at keeping their thoughts collected, and Marlena couldn't help but feel as if it were on purpose; it was almost as if everything had been perfectly orchestrated throughout the small group. She didn't comment on it, though.

"Alright then. I guess I should go pack."

"It's already been done," Bucky told her.

"By who?" she asked. "By you? Oh, gosh, I don't trust that at all."

He nudged her shoulder. "I happen to be a very observant person in regards to your fashion choices. I think I did a pretty good job."

"Don't let him lie to you," Mason remarked. "I had to go back and change your outfit three times because he sucks at matching. I'm beginning to think his old age is finally catching up to him."

Bucky scoffed. "Thank you for that, Mason."

"Yes—thank you, Mason, for making sure I didn't return home dressed like some sort of ragamuffin," Marlena teased as she turned her attention to Steve. "So, what time do we leave?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Tony beat him to the punch. "You leave at five. It's eleven now, which gives you six hours to sit down and talk to me about how great of a person I am for actually allowing your psychotic ass to go back home."

The multiple heads in the room turned to see Tony making his way into the loft.

Marlena chuckled and shook her head at him, propping her feet up onto the table. "I think psychotic is a bit of an exaggeration, Stark."

"Oh, really now?" he mused, pulling his gloves off of his hands. "You broke the control panel in my lab with a simple flick of your wrist, you slammed me into the conference room wall using your mind, you sent me to the Sahara Desert, you sent Barton to the Bahamas with a single thought, you trapped me inside of one of your dreams, you killed a man with mystical energy, you nearly brought the whole building down when Metallica got shot, you destroyed multiple bulletproof windows after waking up from a nightmare, and let's not forget the very expensive light fixture you snapped from it's cable without so much as thinking or trying. If anything, psychotic is an understatement, my little flower."

"He has a point," Steve murmured, scratching the back of his head.

Marlena scoffed and crossed her arms. "So what if I am a little bit psychotic? At least you all know not to make me angry."

"Please," Tony snorted, chucking the pair of gloves at Marlena's face. "You couldn't hurt any of us even if you wanted to."

"I definitely would if I had to," Marlena chuckled, removing the gloves from where they lay on her chest. She examined them with furrowed brows and looked back at Tony. "Are these latex?"

"Of course," Tony chuckled. "I'm all about heavy duty, young one."

Marlena made a face and threw the gloves back at him. "Ew, I'm allergic to latex."

"Good thing we don't use it then, isn't it," Bucky mumbled at a volume so low only Marlena could hear.

Marlena responded simply by elbowing him as hard as she could in his upper rib cage, eliciting a pained groan from the super soldier. She didn't mind him making jokes, but she preferred them to be made in private, rather than around people where the risk of hearing said-joke was at an all-time high.

"That was a pretty hard hit," Tony observed. "Did Metallica make a sexual joke regarding your inconvenient little allergy to latex?"

Marlena shook her head quickly. "No jokes were made here, Stark."

"Can I make one then?"

"No you can not," Marlena answered quickly. "I would love to say thank you, though, for allowing me to go home, even if it's just for a day."

Tony smirked knowingly and sat back in his seat. "Of course, Clair de Lune. Enjoy it while it lasts."

"I intend to."

____________________

Bucky let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair as he watched Marlena attempting to braid her shoulder length hair at the opposite end of the room. She and Steve were about to leave, and Bucky was suddenly more nervous than he had been when Steve first offered to accompany her to Washington.

The trip would prove to be the first time Bucky had been away from Marlena in months, and that scared him to death, regardless of the short amount of time it would be until he saw her again. Just the thought of her being away from him—the thought of her not being safely within arms reach—made him feel nauseous. The last time she was away from him, she had been abused and taken advantage of; she had been made into a weapon against her will, and Bucky didn't want something like that to happen to her again. Not to mention, her abilities were still very much out of control, and if she weren't careful she could hurt anyone she so pleased to do so or even herself.

"Mar," Steve's voice sounded from the door, ripping Bucky from his thoughts. "Are you ready to go?"

She nodded her head and moved towards the door, only for Bucky to shoot up and stop her.

"Actually, Steve, can I speak to you a minute?" he asked his friend, glancing back and forth between him and Marlena. "Alone."

Steve glanced over at a frowning Marlena before letting out a sigh and nodding. Bucky gave Marlena a reassuring smile before heading into the hall with Steve.

"What's up, buddy?" Steve questioned as they trekked further down the corridor.

Bucky sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm just. . .scared. This is gonna be the first time she's been away from me since October."

"Ah, I knew it had something to do with that," Steve chuckled. "I've already made a vow to myself that I would do whatever I had to do to make sure she stays safe."

"Please," Bucky almost pleaded with him. "And her abilities. . .they're still a bit unpredictable, and I don't want her hurting herself or anyone else. You know how long it took to convince Stark to let us do this for her, and I'd rather that not be compromised."

Steve placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed slightly. "Bucky, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to her; she's going to be fine. And I understand you're worried, but you'll be back with her tomorrow night."

"She doesn't know, does she?"

Steve shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. "If she does, she hasn't said anything about it. I think we've all done a pretty good job at keeping our minds drifting elsewhere, though. She'd have to dig deep if she wanted to find something."

"And she's much too lazy to even think about doing that," Bucky said. "It'd drain her anyway."

"It would."

"Do me another favor and don't let that little idjit use her abilities," Bucky chuckled as he started back down the hallway towards his room. "I don't care what it is she claims she needs to use them for, just please for the love of God don't let her."

"Got it," Steve laughed. "I'll take care of her, Buck, I promise."

Bucky only smiled and headed back into his and Marlena's bedroom. She looked up as he walked into the room, her hazel eyes brightening automatically at the sight of him.

"Hi, sweetheart," Bucky greeted as he approached her, taking her small body tightly within his arms.

She let out a sigh of content and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. "Hi, Buck."

He pulled away to look down at her, a smile coming onto his face as he took in her features; each and every time he looked at her he felt as if he were looking at her for the very first time. She was just so breathtakingly beautiful to him.

"I love you so much," he started. "I'll see you tomorrow night, okay?"

She nodded, a small smile pulling into her face. "I wish you were coming, too."

"I know, but you're in good hands for now," he assured her.

She chuckled and hugged him again. "I'm more than aware. I love you, Buck."

He pulled away and leaned down to kiss her. "I love you. Now go before I'm unable to let you."

She smiled and shook her head before kissing him one last time and running over to Steve, who stood quietly by the door.

"You two kids have fun now," Bucky called to them.

"Okay, grandpa," Marlena snickered.

Bucky winked at her before shifting his gaze to Steve. "She's mine, Steven—just remember that."

Steve laughed and grabbed Marlena's hand as if to spite Bucky and began pulling her out of the room. "How could I ever forget, Bucky?"

Bucky only chuckled and shook his head as he watched the two most important people in his life take off through the door. Barely three seconds had passed before Bucky began to feel the annoying empty feeling of not being with Marlena, and he knew then he had an excruciatingly long twenty four hours of waiting ahead of him.