Eventually he put the picture back down and tried to pull himself up from the ground. It was painful to breathe, and the world seemed so much greyer than it had less than 10 minutes ago. He started to dry the tears from his eyes as he heard people coming, realising he had to pull himself together.

"Sargent James Barnes!" He heard someone yell, just as he was about to turn around he felt a fist land on his nose. The brute force knocked him backwards onto his butt, and he wrapped around hands around his face. "You ASSHOLE," The voice shrieked again. He peeked through one of his hands to see who was attacking him in broad daylight, when he was obviously mourning. "How DARE YOU LET ME THINK YOU WERE DEAD!" The voice was getting louder. The voice, he soon realised, also belonged to Tori. He was hallucinating. He had to be. He kept his hands over his face for a while, willing the noise to stop. "Are YOU IGNORING ME?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" He couldn't have been imagining that, and relief hit him like a big brick building. He tore his hands away from his face to take her all in. She was dressed in a black tailored dress, with black lace gloves over her hands and a small black beret tilted over one side of her hair. "Don't look so SURPRISED ASSHOLE, I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU LET ME THINK YOU WERE DEAD FOR THIS LONG. Do you know what I had to go through James? Do you know what my life has been like-"

"VITORIA," He scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could and grabbed her tightly, lifting her up. He pulled her hard against him, trying to get as close to her as he possibly could. He felt himself start to cry again on her shoulder. She had remained rigid against him, trying to be as stubborn as possible. Until, of course, she felt her shoulder get wet against his face.

"Whoa, James," She made him loosen his arms and let her feet drop back to the ground. She backed away out of his grip slightly, keeping her hands on his chest. "What's going on?"

"I thought..." He gulped, and pointed to the wreath. "I thought..." He shook his head and leaned against her again, tucking his head into the hollow of her neck. She took his weight more easily than she thought and wrapped her arms around him.

"Oh my God, James," She muttered quietly, rubbing his neck softly. "I know how that feels, actually," She felt tears run down her own face as she held him tightly.

She'd been in so much pain for months, and it seemed like everyone she got close to was dropping off the planet. James had tipped her over the edge in a way she wasn't proud of. She drank a lot, she sang less and she more or less sat at the pier every day. Watching the sunrise and crying silently to herself. He had brought out the best in her for so long, that the minute she thought he wasn't part of the world with her, she stopped caring. Then she walked around the corner to pay her respects and saw a ghost. A ghost of a memory that shook her back into normal existence and made her world bright again. She hugged him as tight as she possibly could, trying to make up for all the hugs she thought she'd missed.

"Come on, my star. You're okay. We're okay. See?" She smiled through her tears at him and laughed. "We're both okay. Except your nose, my bad, I'm sorry," She wiped at his face and he laughed too, releasing her. He put his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels cockily.

"You pack a mean swing, doll," He told her, smiling happily down at her. "You're here,"

"So are you,"

"Do you come here often?"

"Not as much anymore, actually. I don't like what they did with the place,"

"I know what you mean, New York's been a bit of a drag since I got back,"

"Oh well if New York's so boring, why don't you head back behind enemy lines since you like being there so much?" She smacked him in the arm and he grinned at her.

"And leave you with Captain America? Definitely not," He grabbed a hold of her waist again, lifting her up and spinning her in a circle. He was smiling like a crazy person. "I love you so much," He told her, leaning his nose against hers.

"I love you more," She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, as if it was the first time that she'd remembered to breathe. "You have no idea how good it feels to say that after..."

"I know. I know, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," He kissed her lightly. "So very, very sorry. I can't imagine," He kissed her again. "I can't imagine what that was like. You're so brave and you waited for me, and I love you and-" She took a hold of his jacket and pulled him down, kissing him with much more force. She laced her hand around his neck again, pressing her body against his. He kept his hands on her waist and sank into the kiss. All he'd thought about for the past year was kissing her again, and now that he was finally doing it he figured it was worth the wait. He pulled back suddenly and frowned down at her.

"I promise you every single day I'm going to make it up to you. I never want you to feel how I felt just there,"

"Deal," She dragged her thumbs down the palms of his hands, smiling up at him.

"Question," He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, locking her arms at her sides.

"Shoot,"

"Why is your picture there?" He asked her. She frowned and her eyes darkened, looking away from him.

"I had a room-mate,"


Did you guys really think I'd have left it off there?

Please. We're still at war here...