A/N: The song for this chapter is 'Worn' by Tenth Avenue North

They stayed like that for longer then they could count, savoring the feeling of being intertwined with one another once again. Lost in the emotional high of being reunited after so much time and pain.

Content to stay wrapped up his arms forever. Safe and loved. Safe from pain and hurt. Loved in every sense of the word. Nicolette never, ever wanted be separated from her beloved ever again.

"...Nikki..." James muttered, the word rumbling inside his chest, filling Nikki with a sense of euphoria at the familiar feeling, having woken up to it countless times before...before the war...before everything...

"Yes, darling?" The ability to say those words again...

"Nikki, There is something I need you to know." He took a deep breath, steadying himself "Something important..."

Nikki looked upward, a look of concern painting her face, "What is it Mon Amour?" She asked,

James looked at her with trepidation, like he was scared. But over what, Nikki didn't know "When I fell...I didn't get off scott free. " She looked at him, only barely pulling away from his chest, worry bubbling up inside her as her eyes drifted to his left side where his arm was pinned to his body.

"...James...?" "Nikki, just...just don't be scared. Please." Nikki nodded her head feverishly, assuring him that nothing he did would ever scare her, and she quickly helped him to sit up

James reached his bloody right hand to his left shoulder, wincing at the motion. "Let me chéri, don't hurt yourself more than Hydra already has. Please" She pleaded, placing a soothing hand on top of his, and James let his hand fall with a sigh, allowing Nikki to unwrap the gauze carefully.

The first thing she noticed, was how hard his left arm was, it felt unnatural, but she brushed off the thought.

The next thing was the metallic gleam that shown from under the gauze. Making her feel uneasy. But she didn't stop.

Nicolette looked deeply into James' eyes until all the gauze came off. And what she saw shocked Nicolette beyond my wildest dream.

It was...Gone.

His whole arm...was gone. Replaced by metal.

She tried to open her mouth to try and speak, but nothing came out. She knew James was carefully watching her reaction. Looking for something, but what, she do not know. Perhaps fear? Or disgust. Anger? If that is what he looking for, then he found it. Just not directed at him. Never him.

"When I fell, my arm was damaged beyond repair and when Hydra found me in the bottom of that ravine, half unconscious, they brought me here and replaced my real arm with this." Nikki saw James glare at his arm out of the corner of her eye "I woke up in the middle of the operation. It hurt like hell."

She reached out to gently touch his new limb, but he flinched away before could even graze it "Don't." "James, I am not scared of you. I will never be scared of you. Just for you, Mon chéri. This does not change anything, I will still love you the same, I will still call you my husband.

Nothing could ever change that. Please. Do not shy away from me." she pleaded, looking into his eyes only for him to turn the other way, "Mon amour, look at me, please." She felt the sting of tears welling up in her eyes, burning heat running down her face at his reluctance

But James simply shook his head, jaw clenching.

Nikki looked at his shoulder where metal met flesh, it was not pretty by any means, scars from the unethical operation left his shoulder a bright red, the texture uneven and puckered. Had she not been a nurse at a battalion aid station, Nicolette might have been sick.

Instead, she took advantage of his looking away, and leaned forward, startling him when she pressed her soft lips to his mutilated shoulder, half kissing skin, half metal.

"Do not be ashamed of this, Cheri. This is a battle scar. You survived a fall that would kill any other man. I am proud of you, I would never be scared of you, James. It does not matter what happens, I will always stand by your side, I will always love you. I have experienced a life without you once,

and I don't ever want to do so again. So please, don't turn away from me." Nikki ended her declaration by wrapping her arms around his bruised and bloodied body, her head resting on his metal shoulder, her face to his sweaty and bloody neck.

Still, James said nothing.

"...Does it hurt? When you use it." Nikki murmured, hoping to garner a verbal response but all she got was the lone metal arm lifting and placing itself tentatively around her back, just under her shoulder blades.

Nicolette sighed, feeling at home once more. She couldn't even imagine how painful it must have been for him. To have fallen so far and survive. And then have been taken and experimented on by Hydra...

However, her relief was short lived, as soon as the sigh left her lips, they heard the sounds of the door being unlocked. Nikki felt James tense underneath her, his arm tightening almost painfully around her middle.

"Ah, I see you have successfully reunited with the asset." While keeping a hold on James, Nicolette turned her head to face Zola once again

"What do you mean? Asset?" She demanded, glaring at him.

Zola smiled his creepy sadistic smile before he responded "After we have extracted all the information from him, he will be made into the perfect soldier for Hydra."

looking at him like he was crazy-which he is- she tightened he grip on her husbands weak and shaking form "You're insane if you think James will ever work for you." She spat

"Not willingly, no. But perhaps, with some incentive..." The bâtard mal(Evil bastard) grinned maliciously and gave a sort of hand signal.

Nikki's eyes widened when she realized what he was implying. And it appears that she wasn't the only one who picked up on Zola's train of thought, as she felt James' other arm wrap around her, both arms tightening to the point of pain, but she couldn't register it.

Not ten seconds later, three Hydra agents marched in, heading straight for James and Nikki.

"I am so sorry my Älskling systerdotter, but Hydra requires leverage to make the transition...smoother."

She was viciously pried from James, both of them protesting fiercely, clinging to one another. She felt a few of James' wounds reopen from her frantic grip, but neither cared, too wrapped up in trying to stay together to care.

"No! James! Let go of me, vous mal, malades , baise torsadées(1)! No! Stop! Let go! Please! James!" She screamed once they finally extracted her from her husband.

"Nikki! Nicolette!" Was the last thing she heard before the steel door with seven locks was closed.

And as the agents led Nikki-kicking and screaming down the hall, she could hear James banging on the door as hard as he could manage in his weak state.

She could even hear the difference between the metal arm hitting the door and his soft, broken flesh hitting it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~''''

"vous mal, malades , baise torsadées!" = "you evil, sick, twisted fuck!"

In response to Artemis7448's review: Thanks so much for the review! And thanks for the tip, as I had said at the end of some of the chapters, I use Google Translate-A not very reliable source-so the correction is more than appreciated, if you see any more mistakes, please bring them to my attention and I'll try to fix it ASAP!