She'd stayed seated in his lap as he cupped one hand along her jaw and supported her with his other. The first kiss had been soft and gentle, as though he'd known she needed to be soothed before she would be ready for the fire he ignited within her. She took the opportunity to show him how she felt as she poured all of her love into the kiss.

Eventually, the passion between them grew to a point that neither of them could deny. The hand that had been gently cradling her face began to slide down her body leaving a trail of frayed nerves in its wake. When he'd finally reached her ankle, he'd broken the kiss so he could take off her shoes. While his head was angled down to see the clasp of her shoe, she began to kiss along the side of his neck as her fingers began popping the buttons of his shirt.

"Is that blood on your shoe?"

Her fingers froze as her eyes grew large. "No?"

His head slowly twisted until those steely blue-grey eyes were narrowed at her. "It's not yours. Is it Steve's?"

She let out a breath and leaned her head back. "No, Steve is fine. He just had a busted lip and a black eye."

"Is that why he didn't go out with you tonight?" Bucky asked, finally figuring it out. "He knew I'd be pissed he got into another fight and he didn't want me to ruin your last night in town."

"He really was exhausted," she explained. "He and I have been going nonstop for the past two days. The fight with those two guys was just the last straw."

"There were two of them?" Bucky asked, dropping his head and running his fingers through his hair again in frustration.

"Don't worry, I took care of them."

Bucky's eyes shot back up to meet hers again. "Tell me you didn't pick a fight with two men?"

She glared at him. "Bucky Barnes. You know damn well I can take care of two low-life men without breaking a sweat."

He grabbed her ankle and lifted up her foot to emphasis is point. "In heels?"

"I thought you said you trained Nat?" she fired back at him. "I've seen that woman take out twice as many trained HYDRA agents in a pair of stilettos that looked like ice picks."

"That's Nat."

"Oh," she said pulling away from him in anger. "So, I'm not as good as your little Russian assassin?"

He grabbed ahold of her waist to keep her from getting up. "I didn't mean it that way."

She crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to touch him while she was so pissed off at him. "Then how did you mean it?"

"I just meant that I never worried about Nat the way I worry about you." He reached up and turned her chin so that she was forced to look him in the eye again. "It would kill me if anything happened to you."

"I can take care of myself," she reminded him. "You've trained with me – you know it's true."

"I know," he said as he leaned in to kiss her. "But that will never stop me from worrying about you."

She let him kiss her, not because she felt she had no choice, but because in spite of his misogynistic views, she was touched that he cared that much about her. She was about to deepen the kiss when she remembered the best part of her day. Pulling back, she gave him a huge smile.

"I almost forgot," she said as her smile continued to grow. "I tried out something new today."

"What was that?" he asked. "The new left hook I showed you yesterday?"

"Even better," she told him as she leaned over and placed a smacking kiss to his lips. "And I have you to thank for the inspiration."

He looked at her quizzically. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"You're going to love it," she said as she playfully swatted his shoulder. "Anyway, Steve was getting his ass handed to him by the biggest guy and the other one was starting to circle around them like he wanted a piece of the action. I knew Steve was no match for one of them, let alone two, so I stepped in. They both turned on me and that's when I realized that I was in a dress and heels. I was thinking that I could use some weapons about then, or even you with your vibranium arm." She paused as she grabbed his left hand and placed a quick kiss against his palm. "Then it hit me – I always have a weapon on me."

Bucky still wasn't catching on. "What did you do?"

"Let me show you," she said as she took a deep breath and held out her arm. When she exhaled, the magical glove she'd conjured earlier that day reappeared. "See what I mean? It's almost as lethal as your arm."

"How much damage did you do to those guys?" he asked, a concerned look on his face.

"I only hit one of them, but I'm pretty sure I broke his nose and possibly his cheekbones as well. He's going to be in a lot of pain for a long time, but it'll teach him to pick fights in movie theaters."

Bucky let out a huff. "I'm not saying I don't like the new party trick, but what about Steve? Did he see you use magic?"

She shook her head. "I was worried about that, too, but I had my back to him the whole time. He saw me take out that cretin yesterday in the park with one punch, so he just assumed that I did the same to this guy."

Bucky's eyes grew large. "You got into a fight yesterday and didn't bother to tell me?"

She let the magic fade as she framed his face with her hands. "I knew you'd only worry more if I told you."

"You lied to me."

"I didn't tell you about it," she countered with a frown. "How is that a lie?"

"It's a lie by omission," he explained as he gave her a hard look. "I have to know that I can trust you to be honest with me."

"I just told you that I was in love with you," she reminded him. "I think I'm doing a pretty good job of being honest with you."

His eyes softened as he leaned his forehead against hers. "I know you don't need it or want it, but I want to protect you. You have no idea how hard it is to sit in this house all day knowing that you're out there where I can't keep you safe."

She hadn't really thought about how he'd feel staying cooped up in Howard's house all day while she was out with Steve and the younger version of himself. "I'm sorry, Bucky. I won't do it again."

"Hopefully Steve will be here in the morning to take us back home," he said with a sad smile. "But if he's not, you need to be out there with the younger Steve trying to make sure he remembers you."

"What about you – the younger version, I mean?"

"I know I don't act like it, but I love that you're getting to know the real me," he said as he dropped his head to avoid her gaze.

"I already know the real you, Bucky," she told him as he lifted his chin so she could look into his eyes. "Why do you think I chose to wait until I was back here to tell you how I felt about you. I could have told you on the street, but I wanted to tell you – the man I fell in love with."

"I thought you saw us as the same person?"

She shook her head. "You are the same person, you're just at different points in time. As much as it breaks my heart, there's no way I can have a future with the younger version of you. But don't go getting the wrong idea – I'm in no way implying that I'm settling for you right now. I'm not sure if the younger version of yourself is ready to settle down with one woman. . ."

"He is if it's you," Bucky interrupted as he tapped his temple. "I know this for a fact. You've made an impression on him – on me – and memories of you will stay with us forever."

She gave him a questioning look, but didn't say anything. Shaking her head, she tried to remember what she'd been about to say. "As I was saying, you're not my consolation prize, Bucky – you are the prize. I can see a difference in you every single day we stay here. I understand why you've been so hard on yourself the past few years, but you don't have to keep torturing yourself – HYDRA did enough of that to last you a lifetime."

"I know," he admitted. "Steve is always telling me that I have to forgive myself because there was nothing I could do to stop it. I've spent years trying, but it wasn't until we came back here that I finally realized that letting go of my guilt was a real possibility, and I have you to thank for that." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he gazed lovingly into her eyes. "The way you're looking at me right now. . ."

He let his sentence trail off and she waited for him to finish his thought. When he continued to look into her eyes without saying anything, she spoke up. "What about it?"

"You look at me the same way, no matter which version of me you're looking at," he finally finished. "I was so angry that first night when you came back from the club. You'd laughed and smiled with the younger version of me and I didn't think you'd ever be able to look at me like that – but you did."

"Because I do see the two of you as the same person, just seventy years apart."

"I get that now," he said.

"Well, now that we've got that settled," she said with a little smirk as she twisted around so that her knees were on either side of his thighs. Her dress was stretched too tight so she reached down and pulled up the hem. She heard his quick intake of breath and looked up to see flames of desire burning in his eyes.

"Doll."

She reached out and began to finish unbuttoning his shirt as his hands started caressing the outsides of her thighs that had just been exposed. Spreading apart the sides of his shirt, she laid her hands on his bare chest as she leaned in to kiss him.

"Don't you want to move this over to the bed?"

"No," she said as she began unbuckling his belt. "I want to stay right here."

They'd finally made it to the bed, but she wasn't sure how either of them had been able to walk across the room. She'd fallen into a heap on her side of the bed and had felt Bucky curl into her back just as she'd fallen asleep.

She'd felt as though she'd only been asleep for a few minutes when she felt his hands and mouth on her body. The sky outside the window was still dark, but now that her mind was awake, she couldn't deny the throbbing need pulsating within her. Their lovemaking was frantic, as though this would be the last time they'd be together like this and they each wanted to savor every touch, every kiss, every whispered moan as they brought one another to the edge and toppled over together.

He'd pulled her limp body from the bed just moments after, and she'd protested loudly until he'd dragged her under the warm spray of the shower. Logically she knew that it would be wise to be up and ready for Steve – whichever one decided to show up that day – but her body craved a few more hours of sleep.

"We should probably go train for a little bit," Bucky said as they dried off and began getting dressed. "We have no idea if we're heading back into a fight and we didn't train yesterday morning."

She nodded her head, knowing he was right. Once she was dressed, she followed him down the stairs to the training room. They were both a little tired, but they still managed to complete a decent round of sparring before they headed back upstairs to get ready for whatever this day would bring.

They were just about to walk into the bedroom when they heard the doorbell ring. Bucky quickly pulled her back into the shadows as they peered down the stairs toward the front entrance. She could feel the tension in Bucky as they waited to see which Steve would be at the door.

Disappointment washed over her when she realized that it was the younger version of their friend that had shown up again this morning. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "What I am doing wrong?"

Bucky leaned over and kissed her temple. "You're not doing anything wrong, doll. Steve and Strange will figure this out. They'll be back for us, I know it."

She let out a dejected breath and headed into the room to change into a dress and heels yet again. It had been fun playing dress up for a few days, but now she longed for a pair of leggings and an over-sized t-shirt. Bucky did his best to distract her by helping her into her garter and stockings, and she ended up heading downstairs feeling giddy and excited for the day despite the disappointment she'd felt just a few minutes prior.

When she walked into the kitchen and found Steve sitting at the kitchen table with both Ana and Jarvis and a huge plate of food before him, she wasn't the least bit surprised. "Good morning, Steve."

"Good morning," he said as he wiped his mouth and gave her a smile. "Mrs. Jarvis. . .I'm sorry. . .Ana insisted that I have something to eat while I waited for you to finish getting ready."

"That's fine," she said. "I haven't eaten either. Give me a few minutes and I'll join you, okay?" She waited until he nodded before turning to Ana. "Would you mind making me a tray to take up to the gentleman upstairs?"

"I've already eaten, Ms. YLN," Jarvis said, rising from his seat and carrying his plate over to the sink. "You sit with Mr. Rogers and eat. I'll take our guest his breakfast this morning."

"Thank you, Jarvis," YN said as she went to the stove to fix herself a plate before sitting down in front of Steve.

"So, did your travel arrangements get worked out yet?" Steve asked.

She gave him a sad smile. "Unfortunately not. I hate to keep making you come all the way out here. . ."

"It's no problem," he said. "I like spending time with you."

She reached across the table and gave his hand a squeeze. "I've enjoyed spending this time with you more than you can ever know."

"So, did you want to go somewhere different today?"

She thought about it for a moment. "I've never been to Coney Island. Would you mind if we went there today?"

And so their routine continued. Every morning the younger Steve would show up at the door, every evening she would spend out on the town dancing with the younger Bucky, and every night she'd spend lying in the arms of the older version of the man she was falling more and more in love with. YN continued to put on a brave face, but with each passing day, she became even more worried that her and Bucky's plan wouldn't work. They spent hours talking about what they would do once Steve was finally allowed to enlist. As much as it terrified them to think about, they knew that they would have to find somewhere to go where no one would ever guess the truth about them.

As the days turned into weeks, they finally had to accept the reality of their situation. Howard had been mostly absent from the house for the past week and a half as he finalized the last details of the Stark Expo that was due to begin that day. As YN lay in the comfort of Bucky's arms watching the sun rise through the window, she finally had to admit that their plan had failed.

"What will we do tomorrow?" she asked him.

"Steve may still show up for us today," Bucky reminded her. "We can't give up all hope just yet."

"But if he doesn't, we'll need to figure out something."

"I've been thinking about it," he admitted as he brushed a hand down her face. "If Steve doesn't come back for us, I'm going to have Howard remove my arm."

"What?" she asked with a concerned look on her face. "Why would you do that?"

"I can't stay locked indoors for the rest of my life," he reasoned. "If I only have one arm, then the Army won't come looking to draft me. We can head out west somewhere and start a life together. It's not perfect, but we can't stay here forever."

She reached out and took his vibranium hand in hers. "I love this arm, but if it means that you and I can be together without the threat of you going off to war again, then we'll do what we have to do."

"Hey," he said, tipping up her chin to meet his gaze. "It won't be so bad. Maybe Stark can show you how to reattach it and I'll only have to go without it when I'm out in public."

She thought about it for a moment. "That's an idea. I'm not sure if I'm smart enough to figure it out. . ."

"You're smart enough, doll," he told her as he kissed her forehead and started to get out of bed. "Let's head down to the training room. We could both use a little physical exertion to get our minds off our predicament."

"I thought that's what we just did," she teased as she followed him to the bathroom.

He turned around and grabbed her by the waist, spinning her around until she began to laugh. "You've got a dirty mind. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"You love my dirty mind, mister."

"I do," he admitted. "I love everything about you, doll."

When he said things like that to her, it made her heart swell. The past few weeks she'd spent with him had been a wonderful experience for them both, but she still missed home. She knew that things would change between them if they ever made it back to the twenty-first century, but after the bonds they'd formed, she was sure they could weather any storm that came their way. But that was only if they made it back.

If they were truly stuck here for the rest of their lives then they would have to learn to adapt. She knew they'd stay together, not only because they needed one another, but because they loved one another. They could figure out how to make a life together, but it wouldn't be the same as the life they could have back in their own time. She knew it sounded selfish, but she wanted to see her real life play out with him by her side and not some farce they were forced to live out in 1942.

When she walked into the kitchen and heard Ana laughing, she knew which version of Steve had shown up. She felt guilty at the resentment she harbored for him. Why wasn't he coming back for them? In the past few weeks, she'd allowed herself to consider the worst-case scenario only once, and she'd sworn she'd never mention it to Bucky. . .but what if Steve wasn't coming back to get them because something had happened to him after they'd been transported back in time? She pushed that thought to the furthest reaches of her mind and focused on other possibilities. Maybe Strange didn't know how to travel this far back, or maybe the Eye had been damaged and he couldn't use it any longer. There were a thousand reasons why she and Bucky were still stuck in 1942, and it seemed as though they might never find out the answer.

As she stood in the doorway and watched Steve laugh and joke with Ana, she began to smile. If anything good had come of her time here, it had been the opportunity to really get to know Steve Rogers. Captain America was a great guy, and the older version of Steve was just as amazing, but there was something about knowing him before the weight of the world had been placed on his shoulders. He was freer with his smiles and there was a boyish innocence that would soon disappear once Howard and Dr. Erskine injected him with the serum. There was a part of her that wanted to keep him the way he was forever, but she knew it was pure selfishness on her part. If he didn't enlist tonight at the Expo, he'd never meet Peggy, and she wouldn't deprive him of that for anything in the world.

Steve finally noticed her standing by the door and turned his smile toward her. "Still no word on your friends?"

She plastered a fake smile on her face and went to sit with him at the table. "No, not today, but I'm still hopeful."

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