Marlena sat perched up against the wall next to the window in her room just watching the snow fall onto the luminescent city below; she'd been stationed there since she left the lab about an hour ago.

Marlena was no longer on the suppressors. It had taken almost the entire day just to reverse the effects and get her back on track, but Marlena didn't mind it much at all. She wasn't as scared as she thought she would've been either, and she was more than convinced Tony had something to do with it. It would be a few days until her abilities were back to normal, but that she was thankful for; it would give her time to adjust to being off the suppressors before transitioning into her work on controlling her abilities.

A gust of cool air whipped at Marlena's skin as she sat, eliciting a shiver from her. She was wrapped up tightly in a throw blanket, as well as one of Bucky's hoodies. The temperature in the bedroom—and the entire tower—was particularly chilly, as Tony seemed to enjoy the cold rather than the warm, regardless of whatever season it was. Marlena's petite body did not enjoy the cold, however, so she was forced to spend her days wrapped up in an abundant amount of warm clothes to conserve her body heat.

Though Marlena was not a fan of the cold weather, she was a fan of snow and an even bigger fan of watching it fall. She loved the way the beautiful white of the snow reflected the numerous lights illuminating the city; the scene was beautiful in her opinion.

As Marlena gazed out of the window, she couldn't help but wish she was back home in Washington DC watching the snow fall with her family. She knew her family was supposed to be arriving at the tower any day now, and she loved that she was finally getting the chance to see them after being away from them for so long, but she wanted nothing more than to be back home. She missed her own bed, she missed being around her brother every day, and she missed the comfort and the security of being under her own roof.

Her family seemed to be all she could think about since she'd left the lab, or, more specifically, her dad seemed to be all she could think about. She had calmed down a lot since her talk with Steve earlier that morning, but she was still upset. She found that she was mostly upset because she missed her dad, but she was still considerably upset with Bucky as well. His words still hurt, although she knew he didn't mean them.

Marlena pulled her blanket tightly over her chest, pulling her hair in the process. She rolled her eyes in agitation and let the blanket fall, grabbing the black elastic off of her wrist. Her hair had grown a substantial amount since she had first been captured by Hydra, and it was only becoming more and more difficult to take care of as it continued to grow. She believed it was nearing time for a haircut, and she was determined to get one before Christmas.

She attempted to pull her hair up into a ponytail, but her injured arm would not grant her the opportunity. Bruce had instructed her to take it easy so she didn't rip out her stitches, and because the wound sat centimeters away from the crease of her elbow, putting her hair up was an even more difficult task than it originally should have been.

With a sigh of frustration, Marlena threw the hair elastic to the floor. She ran her good hand through her unruly hair and sat back against the wall, pulling the blanket back over her body.

"You could let me do that," a voice sounded, grabbing Marlena's attention.

She jumped, slightly startled, and turned to look at Bucky who was now making his way toward her. She could only watch in silence as he bent down and picked the elastic up off of the floor before kneeling down beside her.

"You don't need to," Marlena said quietly, pulling her blanket tighter over her chest. "It's fine."

"You're still so stubborn," Bucky muttered as he moved to grab her hair.

Marlena only sighed and allowed him to pull her hair up. There was no use in arguing with him about it—she wouldn't win, and she didn't necessarily feel like arguing with him about something so petty.

"There you go," Bucky said as he released his hold on her hair.

"Thanks," Marlena said, her voice eerily quiet.

She hugged her blanket closer to her and turned her attention back on the city down below, leaning her head against the wall.

Bucky watched her with a frown on his face. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and pull her into his arms. It had been over twenty four hours since he had last held her close to him; it had been over twenty four hours since he had last felt the warmth of her skin against his own. She was still upset, though—this much he could tell, and he didn't want to do anything to make her uncomfortable. He just wanted to apologize to her—he just wanted his Marlena back.

"I am so sorry, Marlena," Bucky said after several moments of silence. "I never meant to hurt your feelings."

Marlena sighed but kept her attention out the window. "I know you didn't."

He was slightly surprised that she had even answered him, despite the fact she had spoken to him only moments before.

"Can you please forgive me, sweetheart?" he asked, moving closer to her.

She glanced over at him, her hazel eyes meeting his sad, yet hopeful blue ones. She reached out and touched his cheek, basking in the familiar feeling of his warm skin. She had had enough time to think about her situation with Bucky, and though she was still upset she knew she needed to forgive him. It was stupid of her to remain angry with him for something he had said in the heat of the moment. Just as Steve had told her earlier—Bucky would never do anything or say anything to hurt her on purpose.

"I think I might be able to," Marlena said as Bucky reached his hand up to grab hers. "And if we're apologizing, I would like to say that I'm sorry for lying to you—I was just scared."

Bucky sighed and squeezed her hand. "I know, and it's okay."

She gave him a small smile before removing her hand from his and standing up, removing the blanket from her body. Bucky watched as she sauntered over to the bed and sat down, pulling her hands into her lap. He could tell there was something bothering her, something other than his words, and he wanted to know what it was.

"What's wrong, Marlena?" he asked, standing up from his spot on the floor.

She shrugged and began playing with her hands. "I dunno. . .life, I guess. So much has changed; it's becoming hard to keep up with."

Bucky frowned and ran a hand through his hair. His conversation with Steve the previous night now seemed to be torturing him. He was right when he said she would have been better off not meeting him, or at least that's what he believed. Her words only helped to further contribute to that belief.

"It's because of me," Bucky said quietly.

Marlena snapped her head up to look at him. "Wha—"

"I told Steve last night you would have been better off not meeting me," he said. "He said it wasn't true, but there was always that part of me that didn't believe him."

"Bucky," Marlena started, her voice cracking with emotion. She couldn't believe what she had just heard come out of his mouth. In her eyes, Bucky was nowhere near close to being what was wrong with her life. If anything, Bucky was everything that was right with her life, and it physically pained her to hear him assume otherwise.

"I need you to think about it, Marlena," he said sadly, taking a few steps closer to her. "Had I not asked for your help that day in the Smithsonian, had you never met me, your life wouldn't be like this. You would still be at home taking care of your brother instead of here taking care of these abilities you didn't even ask for; you would be in college like a normal person your age; you would still have your best friend by your side; you would just be so much better off. All I'd be to you is a bedtime story."

Marlena's lip trembled as she listened to his words and tears brimmed in her hazel eyes. She didn't want to think about how her life would be without Bucky; a life without Bucky wouldn't be a life worth living, in her opinion. Bucky was Marlena's entire life, and without him she would be absolutely nothing.

"What the hell makes you think it's okay for you to say something like that to me?" she strained, removing herself from the bed.

Bucky sighed. "Marlena—"

"No, screw a bedtime story," she cut him off, taking several steps closer to him. "You don't get it, do you? I cannot be without you, Bucky—I literally can't. It pains me to even think about living my life without you in it. I'm glad I met you; I'm glad you asked me to help you. Yes, meeting you may have prompted my abduction; meeting you may have cost me my best friend. Hell, meeting you has caused so many unfortunate events in my life to happen, but I would live through it all over again if it meant my outcome was you."

Bucky couldn't formulate a response as he was much too flustered by her words to even think properly. He hadn't been expecting her to react the way she did.

"You are my life, James Barnes—you literally always have been," Marlena said, a single tear falling down her face. "I need you with me—I always will. I can't stress that enough."

Bucky closed the distance between the two of them, wasting no time at all in pressing his lips to hers. He held her face with either of his hands, pulling her as close to him as he could possibly manage. Their lips moved in perfect sync with one another—passionately and lovingly. It was only the desperate need for oxygen burning in their lungs that resulted in them parting.

"I love you," Bucky said quietly, resting his forehead against Marlena's. "I can't stress that enough."

"And I love you," she said to him, pulling away to look up at him. "But you can't say stuff like that to me, Bucky—you just can't. I need you, and I know sometimes I don't act like I do, but I do—I need you more than I've ever needed anyone."

Bucky swiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, baby."

Marlena let out a sigh and closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. She didn't even care that she was one squeeze away from ripping her stitches out either; all she cared about was Bucky.

"I need you to promise me that you'll stay, okay? I need you to promise me that you'll stay with me. I can't do this life thing without you. You're my partner—we're supposed to be a team. I don't–I don't wanna be me without you, Buck," she muttered into his chest.

Bucky sighed and kissed the top of her head. "I promise, Mar. I'm not going anywhere—I wouldn't dream of it."

Marlena smiled in response to his words and maneuvered her hands so that they were now resting on either side of his torso, rather than resting on his back. "Do you think you could prove it?" Marlena nearly whispered, moving her hands beneath the fabric of his t-shirt.

Bucky's breath hitched in his throat at the feeling of her cool hands pressed against the warm skin of his upper torso, and his metal hand instinctively tightened around her waist, though his hold was not so tight as to harm her. He knew exactly what she was doing, and though he was slightly surprised by her actions he couldn't help revel in the fact that she had engaged in them in the first place. It had been over twenty four hours since the two had been this close with one another and even longer since they had been as close as Marlena was suggesting they be. Bucky wanted it just as much as she did, though. In fact, he needed it—he needed her; he needed to touch her, he needed to kiss her, he needed to feel her, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Bucky grabbed her face with either of his hands and pressed his lips to hers, pushing her towards the bed in the process. Marlena fell back onto the bed, yet managed to keep her lips locked with Bucky's. Bucky pulled away long enough to remove his shirt from his body and toss it elsewhere before leaning back down, using his knee and his arms as anchors to keep him from falling over.

"You know there are other people in this tower, right?" he breathed as he looked back down at Marlena. "And you also have a bullet wound on your arm, need I remind you."

She smirked and brought her hand up to trace the scars on his left shoulder. "I'm more than aware of both of those things, but I don't care enough to take either of them into consideration."

Bucky chuckled and shook his head, leaning down to press a kiss onto her lips. "God, I love you."

"How much?"

Bucky hummed and literally tore his sweatshirt from her body; it was the only way he could've removed it without harming her. "Too damn much, doll," he muttered, trailing multiple kisses along her jawline and neck.

Her grip on his arm tightened at the sublime feeling of his lips against her skin. She needed more than just that, though. She needed all of him—she craved all of him, and she wanted nothing more than to show just how much she did.

Marlena pressed her hand against his chest and sat up, leaving an estranged expression on Bucky's face. She only smirked and crawled onto his lap, straddling his waist as she did so.

"YA lyublyu tebya vsem, chto ya nakhozhus', James (I love you with everything I am)," she said, pressing her forehead against his and tangling her fingers in his hair.

Bucky let out a breath and wrapped his trembling arms around her back, pulling her as close as he could possibly manage. Just when he didn't believe that his love for Marlena could grow any deeper than it already was, she managed to prove him wrong simply by muttering a few words. He had never felt such a strong emotional attachment for someone the way he did for Marlena, and though at times it scared him to death he wouldn't change it for anything in the world—he wouldn't change her for anything in the world. Marlena was Bucky's entire life, just as he was hers, and there was nothing and no one in the universe that could do a single thing to alter that.

Marlena didn't allow him the opportunity of a verbal response, as she had already pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss.

Bucky's fingers found the hem of her t-shirt and in seconds he was pulling it over her head, the temperature of his arm sending a slight shiver into Marlena's body. He lay back on the bed, pulling Marlena down with him. He reversed their positions and looked down at her, running the cool metal of his thumb over her perfectly crafted cheekbones. He could never get enough of her—her looks, her touch, her everything.

"You're the greatest thing that's ever happened to me," he said quietly, his metal hand still pressed gently to her face. "Never forget that, okay?"

Marlena smiled and nodded her head, locking her lips with his once more.