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JANUARY 3RD, 2016
THE OUTSIDE WORLD was cold, but here in this warm bed, Cynthia and Bucky just blocked it out as they cuddled together.
Peacefully sleeping, Cynthia rested her head on Bucky's bare chest as he thought about the previous night. He had finally found a small hideout apartment in Romania; Cynthia deciding to stay for a little bit before she told him she would go visit Jamie.
Their previous night together consisted of them getting dinner from a food stand near the apartment, and then looking around some of the shops that were around. Behind Cynthia's back, he had bought two rings—one for him, and one for her. He remembered telling her he owed her a favor, a long time ago, and to this day, he hadn't really forgotten that. But today, he was going to pay her that favor, with a proposal, of sorts.
And he hoped to god she would accept.
But when the two had gotten home the last night, they sealed their relationship with a close share of intimacy. And then had fallen asleep afterwards, Bucky forgetting to mention the ring. Which, was why he was up so early in the morning trying to figure out how he was supposed to bring it up to her. And, how to react if she somehow rejected him, which he hoped to god that wouldn't happen.
Bucky's distraction ended when he heard Cynthia groan, pulling the blanket over her exposed shoulders, and she shivered. "Good morning," Cynthia said, smiling up at Bucky, who smiled back at her, replying, "Good morning."
"What caused you to wake up so early?" Cynthia asked, stretching in place. Shifting a little bit, to reach the small cloth bag that the rings had been placed in, Bucky replied, "Well, I've been thinking about something."
"Hmmm, and what is that?" Cynthia asked, reaching for the bag. Bucky grinned at her, his metal arm keeping them out of her reach, and his other arm pulling her up, to sit up. Grabbing her shirt from the floor next to them, the two sat up, and Cynthia asked, "Okay, babe, now you've really got me curious."
Chuckling softly, Bucky turned towards her, facing her, and said, "I still owe you that favor."
Nodding slowly, Cynthia replied with a quiet "yes" before letting him continue.
"And . . . I'm hoping this could be . . . What I can owe you." Bucky stuttered, and Cynthia furrowed her eyebrows, confused as to where he was going with this until he opened the small bag, reaching in, and pulling the ring out for her with his right hand.
"Are you . . . Proposing?" Cynthia asked, and Bucky replied, "Kinda. We . . . We can't get married right now, obviously, with everything that's happening, but . . . "
"Maybe ten years or so down the road we could?" Cynthia finished for him, and Bucky nodded slowly. Plucking the ring out of Bucky's fingers, Cynthia slid it onto her fingers, surprised to see it fitting perfectly. Then she laughed in realization. "So, that's why you wanted to know my ring sizes for my fingers."
"I'm glad you didn't catch on, either," Bucky said, and Cynthia smiled at Bucky, leaning over and kissing him tenderly on the lips.
"So, what should we call them? Promise rings?" Cynthia asked. "Since, you're not technically proposing."
"Promise rings, then," Bucky replied, the two smiling brightly at each other. Cynthia got the other ring out of the bag, and then asked, "How are you going to wear yours?"
"Hmmmm." Bucky thought about it. "Around my neck. Like on a necklace."
Getting up from the bed, and grabbing her underwear and her pants off of the floor, Cynthia went over to one of the drawers in the kitchen area, and got out a chain, and went over to Bucky, who handed her the ring. After clipping the chain and hanging it around Bucky's neck, Bucky placed his hands on Cynthia's hips, and said, "Thank you."
"For helping you?" Cynthia asked, and Bucky shook his head.
"For loving me, beautiful." Bucky said, and Cynthia leaned down, and kissed him deeply, and then pulled away, saying, "I'm not letting someone, other than you, steal my job."
Bucky grinned up at her, and brought her down to the bed, kissing her deeply.
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The small duffel bag full of things fit perfectly between the floorboards.
In it, it held clothes, Bucky's promise ring, a journal Cynthia had filled to the brim with information about Captain America, her, and S.H.I.E.L.D., along with information about the Avengers.
"This floorboard should stay, if we hammer the nails in right." Cynthia told Bucky, who was holding the hammer.
"I'm honestly afraid that I'm gonna hit your hand, or fingers while doing this," Bucky admitted, and Cynthia chuckled, replying, "Bucky, you know you can't hurt me."
Bringing the hammer up and then down onto the nail in one swift movement, the hammer narrowly missed Cynthia's fingers, and then Bucky swung the hammer down again, missing her fingers the second time as well. The two did this for a few minutes, going back and forth between reassurance and then hammering the nails down into the floorboards, until they were finished.
Watching her hand heal from the nail wound from the last nail, Cynthia looked up and said, "If you were to see Steve Rogers again . . . What would you say? 'You were right'?"
Bucky was quiet as he thought about it. "I don't know what I'd say to him. I mean, after what happened two years ago, he must know that I do know him, especially now."
Getting up from the floor and over to the bed, where Bucky was lying, Cynthia said, "You know, with all my years here in the world, I have managed to completely avoid any sort of meeting with the Avengers, but, maybe that will change one day."
"I'd rather you stay out of that mess, Cynthia," Bucky replied, "Staying with me is already dangerous enough, let alone trying to go off with the Avengers."
Laying down next to Bucky and letting him wrap his arm around her, bringing her closer to him, Cynthia reached over, and gently caressed his metal arm. "Would you tell Steve about me, though?" She asked quietly.
"I'm not sure. If he asks if there was anyone with me, then I'll answer and tell him, but I . . . I don't know." Bucky replied, and Cynthia cuddled closer to him, slowly saying, "You don't owe . . . Anyone, really . . . Anything."
Taking her hand and intertwining her fingers with his flesh ones, Bucky quietly said, "Cynthia, I don't know what I did to deserve you."
"Just being you, Bucky." Cynthia replied, looking down at the ring on her left hand, and her heart swelled with love.
Kissing the top of her head tenderly, Bucky said, "I love you, Cynthia Hayes."
