Travelling gets harder the older one gets. Gramma slept all day and all night, leaving me and Bucky to our own devices until the next morning. So we milled about the apartment and ate and watched a movie quietly and such—we busied ourselves. That night, we got in the covers and fell asleep, a little closer than the night before, but still far enough away we wouldn't disturb the other.

The next morning, I woke up on my right side. Bucky was sleeping on his back and my head was using his bare chest like a pillow while my hand rested on his abdomen.

Or. Wait.

No.

Bucky wasn't sleeping.

He was awake, playing with my hair with his metal hand. His normal one was on my shoulder. I could feel its warmth through my T-shirt. "You really do make the nightmares go away," he commented when he realized I was awake. I smiled tiredly, feeling a bit awkward that we were in such a cuddly position when we weren't actually together, but I was just tired enough that I couldn't really bring myself to care because where I was felt good and comfortable.

"Mmm," I mumbled, turning my head up so I could see his face.

He smiled. "You're adorable in the morning."

"Why? 'Cause my hair's a mess and I look like death?"

"No. Because your eyes are calm and your face is soft and your guard is down and there's minimal sarcasm."

I snorted. "Thanks. I guess."

He rubbed his flesh thumb over my T-shirt and hummed thoughtfully. I could feel his chest vibrating under my cheek. "I don't mind this," he commented after a while. "This… sleeping all the way through the night thing. It's not so bad having someone who keeps the nightmares away." He shifted so he was holding me tighter against his side. "I think I'm going to call you my Dream Catcher."

I smiled and nuzzled closer against him. "You're really warm," I muttered.

"Mmm," he agreed. I relaxed further into his halo of heat and traced the lines of his abdomen muscles with my finger, starting to doze off again.

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock! Rapid-fire knocks echoed off the front door, followed by the visitor apparently figuring out that I do, in fact, have a doorbell. Ding-dong! I sighed heavily as Bucky rolled out of bed.

"Can we never just have a peaceful morning?" he wondered.

"'We'?" I teased tiredly.

"You know what I mean," he snapped, leaving the bedroom to go answer the door while I slid out of bed and pulled my robe on over my PJs.

"Bucky?! What are you doing here?" That was Natasha's voice. "Just as importantly, why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

I could almost sense Bucky blushing. "Did Steve or Tony not tell you?"

"No…" she trailed off. I emerged from the bedroom to see the fully-dressed redheaded assassin clashing strangely with the half-dressed brunet ex-assassin. Natasha raised her eyebrows when she saw me loosely tying my robe. "Is there something going on between you two?" There was a note of teasing in her tone. Then her eyes caught sight of the ring on my finger and the other one on Bucky's metal hand. "When did this happen?"

"No, no! My grandma's visiting for a month and she asked if I'd gotten married yet," I explained, dropping my voice so hopefully my sleeping grandmother wouldn't be woken in the spare room. "And I panicked and said yes and Bucky's agreed to pretend to be my husband." Natasha's eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Okay then," she commented. "I was just coming to see how you were doing, but I guess you're more than okay so I'll… just… be going." She moved to leave. I glanced at Bucky. He shrugged. So we closed the door after she called her goodbye.

I got a text from her a moment later that said, I ship it.

I went back into the master bedroom and face-planted my side of the bed. After a moment I felt Bucky's weight sit beside me. His normal hand traced patterns on my back. "Go back to sleep, doll," he murmured. "You're tired."

"No I'm not," I protested. "I didn't do anything that would make me tired!"

"You've been very emotionally stressed the past few days. Go back to sleep. I'll wake you when breakfast is ready."

I scoffed. "You know how to make breakfast?"

"Yup."

"Okay then."

His warm hand stayed on my shoulder blade until I dropped back off.

The next thing I knew, someone was kissing me, over and over on my cheek and temple. "Morning, sweetheart," Bucky's voice murmured quietly. "Time to start the day now." Gently his prosthetic hand took mine. The metal plates were cold. It made my eyes open to see him leaned over me, bright blue eyes glimmering with humor. I blinked tiredly. "Come on. Your grandmother is awake and it's time to wake up." He'd put on a shirt but still had on his flannel pajama pants.

I groaned with complaint and held my arms out for him when I saw the door was open and my grandma was sitting in the kitchen with her breakfast.

Bucky leaned down and let me wrap my hands around his neck. He grabbed the backs of my knees and held them to his hips. He straightened almost effortlessly and held me up and took me out of the bedroom. My ankles locked around his back and I rested my head against his flesh shoulder.

"Aw!" Gran exclaimed. "How sweet!"

Bucky chuckled and set me down in the chair across the table from her and next to him. He set a plate of breakfast in front of me and kissed the top of my head. I blushed the color of a ripe strawberry.

"You know, I think I dated an Eleanor when I was younger," Bucky commented.

"How much younger?" Gran asked, teasingly.

"I don't know. Seventy five years maybe," he answered.

"Are you making fun of an old lady?"

Bucky raised his eyebrows. "Not at all! I was born in nineteen-seventeen."

Gran looked confused to say the least. "I don't understand," she commented.

"We should probably explain," I remarked to my "husband".

"Right. Yeah," he muttered, licking his lips—a habit he had that I wouldn't admit to him but I found insanely attractive. He straightened up and looked my grandmother straight in the eye. "Do you remember when SHIELD collapsed because of the Winter Soldier and HYDRA?"

"Yes, it was all over the news."

Bucky hesitated for a moment. "Well, I'm the Winter Soldier," he admitted. "I was born James Buchanan Barnes in Brooklyn in nineteen-seventeen, the oldest of four. I was a sergeant in World War Two, turned HYDRA prisoner, turned Howling Commando under Captain America. Then in nineteen-forty-five I fell off the side of a moving train into a ravine and lost my left arm. HYDRA found me, gave me this thing—" He gestured to his prosthetic. "—and brainwashed me into being their assassin for seventy years. I was put in cryogenic freeze between missions and then I was woken to take down SHIELD but Captain Rogers took out HYDRA instead and I disappeared. Captain Rogers found me recently and helped me get my memories back. It was quite an ordeal." He was so nonchalant about the way he spoke I was almost confused. Any time I had thought about talking to him about his past I thought it would be too sensitive a subject and kept my trap shut.

"So then… how did you two meet?"

"Captain Rogers—Steve—introduced us. Cass works as an assistant to the Avengers, as I'm sure you know, and she knew Steve really well and he introduced me to her and… the rest is history."

We spent the day telling Gramma Howell all about our lives since we met and everything—making most of it up and playing off each other, each secretly memorizing details—and then we went out to dinner. It was lovely and we were just early enough that it wasn't packed. Then again it was New York so there were lots of people there anyway.

It was a good day and a good evening, but I was grateful when I got to go home and go to bed.


End Note: I know I updated like two days ago, but consider this my New Year's gift to all of you. May your 2016 CE be better than your 2015 CE.

Bucky is a sweetheart. (And who wouldn't wanna run their fingers over those abs, if you will allow me to be shallow and/or objectifying for a moment?) I had a couple people asking if Gramma knows Cass works for the Avengers. Yes she does. I figured the Avengers aren't exactly a secret so might as well let the young woman who works with them brag to her family. *shrugs*

To "daringwolf2000": ... Yeah. I couldn't resist the really stupid boomerang joke. I'm sorry. I'm glad you like her gramma! To "Guest": He was hiding his arm from onlookers more than he was hiding from Gran. In the first chapter Cass mentioned that Gran would believe that she married Bucky because he's the "bad boy". And you should always fangirl as much as you like! To "RangerHorseTug": *blushes* Thank you! To "KiyaNamiel": They'll confess... eventually. No telling exactly when. Steve will be playing matchmaker a little later. To "inperfection": Grandmas' jobs are to be embarrassing. To "Angelbaby1231": I think she's old enough to remember "Captain America" (Steve's technically in his mid- to late-nineties and Gran's in her early nineties) but I haven't decided yet if she actually knew them. To "Kelsoc": Reviews like yours make my day! And don't ever let your friends convince you this is a waste of time. For people like me, it's how we cope, reading and writing. If you want to go pro with sports and write on the side, do it! But don't let them convince you this is pointless. It's a good way to cope! (And thanks to Google Translate, I'm going to say to you, "Mult Noroc!" - sorry if it's wrong!) To "Darkwitch16": Ahhhhhhh! You're too sweet to me! That was so sweet! I loved it! Thank you for the review! To "Whitelion69": Glad you liked Star Wars! Thank you! To "RussianAssassin": It's not too awkward because like I said, the Avengers are no secret and she asked Bucky instead of Steve for a reason! To "callieandjack": LOL! Yeah, I kinda wanted her to be the grandma I didn't really have (none of mine are particularly embarrassing and I have three...).

Thank you so much! Leave a comment if you have one!