Anna POV

I woke with a groan, and rolled onto my left side so there wasn't any weight on my right leg. My eyes opened as I heard the sound of something clinking and scraping against glass. I opened my eyes slowly, squinting in the morning light from the window, and saw James sitting next to the bed I was in, eating what looked like some sort of fruit preserves in a mason jar.

He was just staring at me as he ate.

Frowning a little, I cleared my throat to speak clearly.

"Watching me while I sleep...Not the creepiest thing you've done, but pretty close." I said as I pushed myself up to my forearms, but winced and fell back. James dropped his jar and spoon onto the table loudly and was on his feet before I hit the pillow again.

I pressed a hand to my side as I sent him an annoyed look. "Jeez...I'm sore, not dying." I said under my breath, pressing my fingers to my eyes against the brightness from the windows. I heard James sit down, then looked over his shoulder and through the open window. I saw trees and a growing dusting of snow.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking back at James.

"Finland." He stated, scraping his spoon down the side of the jar. "Just past the Russian border."

I nodded a little, taking a brief assessment of my body. James must have seen my muscles start to twitch and flex, because he spoke up. "Two grazes on your side and shoulder. A shot in your thigh, through and through. B-Bruising-..."

I sat up again, slower, and saw a small crack form in the glass jar being held by his flesh hand.

"Look at me." I commanded him softly, but it didn't work. I pressed my hand to my side tightly, pushed myself so I was sitting normally, and reached out to grasp his metal wrist. "Look at me, you stupid Soviet."

James sent me an annoyed look, which meant he looked at me.

"If you blame yourself for this," I paused, moving my hand to the side to gesture to my arms, neck and my whole body, "then we have a problem, because you, did not, do this."

James wasn't looking at me. Under his breath, he spoke in soft Russian. "You had older bruises."

I knew exactly what he meant; the smattering of bruises on my lower back, shoulders and neck. They were where James' fingers dug into my flesh when I held him as he fell apart. I knew he was leaving bruises, and I was honestly a little surprised he hadn't noticed them before.

"Hey," I said softly, reaching towards him with my good arm. He didn't look at me.

"Let me see those baby blues, soldier." I said in Russian, laughing at how it sounded; it wasn't often that I spoke Russian and wasn't angry or shouting orders.

Slowly, he shifted his eyes to me. I moved my fingers in the 'come here' motion, and he leaned forward just enough so my fingers brushed his face.

"You're not going to speak until I'm done, ok?" I asked, and got a small nod.

"If you think I blame you, then I'm going to get out of this bed, and light you up like a Christmas tree." I said seriously, in a loving soft tone with a face to match.

He did something I never would have expected.

A throaty sound came up, and he soundlessly snorted through his nose. One corner of his mouth twitched up.

"Don't laugh at me!" I chuckled softly, pressing my hand a little harder to his face. "You know I will!"

James' throaty chuckle came out of his mouth this time. His lips fell open just enough for it to pass through. The other corner of his mouth turned up so he was smiling.

It was beautiful.

Bucky smiled beautifully. His smiles always started with a spark; that spark always turned to a fire when his face lit up as the smile reached his eyes. They'd glow and sparkle and make him look years younger; he didn't look like a man at war when he smiled.

I'd been fighting to keep awake ever since I opened my eyes, and it felt like I was losing. I sat back on the bed, and used my good arm to maneuver one pillow behind my back. "We'll talk more later, Jimmy." I sighed, smiling softly at him.

The cool, bluish light from the snowy windows cast a shadow over his face, which wasn't smiling anymore; when I was quiet, it fell back into the emotionless line it always was.

There were still flickers of the happy smile that had been there.

Omniscient POV

Anna had remained unconscious for the 36 hours it took for James to get out of Russia and break into the lonely, luxurious cabin in the Finnish forest. James changed her bandages more often than necessary, every two or three hours, just so he could have an excuse to touch Anna; be close to her.

The brief episode of consciousness she had were a weight off his shoulders.

When she threatened to kick his ass, he couldn't help but laugh; it was like a wounded baby bird chirping, and thinking she was scary.

But she was sleeping again now. James really wasn't surprised. Anna explained to him that if he ate enough, kept his blood sugar up, he could stay awake for a few days without feeling fatigued. She told him a bunch of things about himself that he didn't know, and what to do about them; he made sure to eat at least five good meals a day, showered every night, and didn't sit in one place too long.

While he tried to take care of himself, Anna wasn't taking care of herself. In the recent weeks she had dark, bruise-like circles under her eyes, she hadn't been eating what James thought was enough for a person her size, and the wounds she sustained weren't getting the proper care (something he knew very well now that he was changing her bandages).

Anna was sleeping because she was tired; plain and simple.

While James was eating something sweet out of a jar (the cabin they were in had a massive stock of fruit and vegetable preserves in the cellar), his sensitive ears picked up the rustling of fabric from Anna's direction. The jar of cloudberries he'd been eating slid smoothly and soundlessly across the table when he pushed it away from where he sat as he stood. He ascended the stairs as quickly as he could, and stood in the doorway as he watched Anna toss and turn in the covers. Her face was pinched in discomfort, from how her leg was slung over the other, no doubt.

It was early, seven or eight in the morning, so the warm light was filtering through the windows. The snow on the trees was sparkling, reflecting the warm morning light and adding some flickering beams to the rays streaming over Anna's face.

James' mind had been consistently chaotic since he found Anna at the grave with his own name carved into it. There were moments of clarity though; moments where a more cheerful, bright voice creeped into his mind. That voice seemed to guide him mind in thinking.

It told him to notice how the rays of light hit Anna's face. It told him to notice how the shadows bent and curved along her dainty features. The shadows formed by her eyelashes went nearly to her jaw, and brushed her cheeks. James noticed how her lips were a soft pink, and seemed more beestung from the slight shadowing of the sun. The way her unnaturally straight hair fell over her forehead and swept over her face. Her slim body, tiny compared to his own, was curled tightly up in the heavy quilts James found and piled onto her body.

The only loving voice in James' head compelled him to walk towards Anna. His flesh hand shakily reached towards her. After finding the bruises he left on her, he was terrified to touch her now, but at the same time he needed to touch her to make sure that she was ok. James' fingertips brushed her skin, and a soft, warm buzz flowed into his hand. He slowly moved his hand to brush hair off her face, and Anna moved.

James froze as Anna sighed softly, her face lazily nuzzling into his hand.

Her eyes opened just enough to see him and smile. She rolled over, her back to him, and sighed again. "Close the curtains," she demanded sleepily. The words had barely left her mouth before James began yanking the heavy curtains over the windows. The room became much dimmer; only some faint golden light glowed around the edges of the closed curtains. Any other person would have squinted to see in the room, but James had no difficulty seeing Anna.

He stood there, in her room, for a while longer. The soft, happy voice in his head urged him closer to her, and he didn't realize he had been walking until his knee his the mattress. Anna groaned under her breath and looked over her shoulder.

Her brows furrowed. "Are you gonna just stand there, Sarge? Or are you gonna get in and cuddle with your girl?" She flipped the quilts back behind her, and rolled back over without another word.

Go on now, the voice in James' head half chuckled. He didn't move an inch. C'mon, man! A beautiful girl just told you to literally get in bed with her! What kind of human male doesn't get in the bed?

James looked at the covers flipped back for him, then to Anna's back.

Just...Just get in the bed, lay real close behind 'er, put your arm around her torso...Might wanna shove your metal one under the pillows so you don't give her a chill. The voice instructed James. He slowly did what the cheerful voice said, and got in bed behind Anna, flipping the covers back over himself.

The mattress dipped with his weight, and Anna slid towards him. The length of her body became pressed to his chest. She sighed through her nose and maneuvered herself so she was pressed even tighter against his body.

James quickly jammed his left, cold metal arm under the pillows under his head and Anna's, careful not to have the metal touch her skin. His flesh arm was all but shaking as he held it up, out of the way of their close back and chest so he could put it over her like he knew he should.

A soft shiver rocketed down Anna's spine, making her small body shake. She'd told him how his body temperature was much higher than her's, or any normal person. James gently put an arm around Anna. The moment pulled her closer to him, and since she was tiny he was able to have his bicep over her body by just leaning forward slightly. His elbow rested on the mattress in front of Anna, and his hand rested, palm down, near Anna's face.

His instincts told him to curl it into a fist, so that he could feel a little more in control, but he didn't want his fist so close to Anna's face. James never wanted his fist by Anna's face.

Anna's slim hand reached out of the quilts to take his hand. She tugged it under the blankets, maneuvered his fingers into a loose fist and tucked it under her chin. A sleepy, dazed smile spread over her face. James let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as she gripped his hand.

James' eyes instinctively fell shut, and his head bowed forward to rest in Anna's mane of golden hair. He began counting the breaths he took as he listened for Anna's heartbeat to again fall into a slow, sleepy rhythm.

"G'night." She sighed quietly.

James was silent for a moment. "...Goodnight Anna." He said as quiet as he could. His lips brushed Anna's hair and neck, making her feel content and protected.

Anna said one more thing before she fell asleep.

"I love you Bucky."

James didn't move; his breathing stopped again. He'd listened to Anna talk about how he didn't understand 'love' all the time. He was beginning to think she was wrong, though. The voice screaming at him in the back of his head certainly seemed to think so; the voice had been professing his feeling for Anna since James recognized it was there.

Anna was already asleep when he responded, and didn't hear how he stammered and huffed quietly in frustration to get the words out.

"I...I lo-...I love you too, Anna."

Sorry, my cupcakes. I said I'd have a chapter up soon, and it's been, like, a week or something.

I'm also sorry this is short. Right now, I have Astronomy, AP Physics, AP Statistics and AP English kicking my ass.

The next chapter will be up...Actually, I don't know when the next chapter will be up.

Keep an eye open for it, m'kay?

~Christianne