Ari was still in the process of getting up and recovering from the sight of a well muscled torso when his arm went around her. For a moment she thought he assumed she was attacking him and was now going to crush her but when she felt his arm rest lightly around her, she realised that was not the case. He put an arm around her, and that was all to it. It was a really firm arm, nice and strong. She straightened but didn't move away, adjusting so that she stayed put in her small Barnes-formed nook between his body and the heat it radiated, and his good arm. Her hands still tingled, and she was well aware of everything she had felt where they landed, that being form adrenaline or purely observant she didn't really know, but she certainly didn't mind it.
Within a few minutes, her coat was much warmer, and although her feet begged for warmer shoes, in all she felt a lot warmer. And happier.
"Yes," she replied and sneaked a peek up at him before looking down again and hiding her pink cheeks in her coat's collar. She was thankful for the dark, he didn't get to see her flushed state of being. But it was warm, and cosy here, and she would like to stay a little longer. She closed her eyes, her head lightly tilting too rest on his side. "You're so warm," she murmured softly, and almost wished she didn't say that. Such a weird thing to say! With a soft hum she sank a little more into her coat, edging closer to him. Ari looked up at the sky for a while longer, then peeked over at Barnes again. "What else do you remember?"
Steve looked across the room, zoning into his own thoughts for a while as he watched the curtains flap a little and the city lights flicker behind. Such a calm night, so quiet, with only the usual city noises going on. If only it was like this every night, peaceful, and the day.
He looked down a little when she thanked him and smiled softly, again giving her upper arm a small rub. "I couldn't not come back, I wanted to make sure you were okay." If anything had happened to her while he was away simply because they left her and someone followed, he wouldn't have lived with himself as well. He was so very glad that she was safe. She was becoming important to him, and that meant this time he would protect better, stronger, be closer. He was given a rare third chance, he wouldn't let that slip.
"No… Natasha mentioned she had something useful to tell me, but we didn't have the time." He listened to her, already mapping out the location. It was quite far from the base he currently spent time in. It would require a lot of preparation. It would take a lot of time and personnel. They couldn't storm the HYDRA base with just him, Natasha and Anthony. That would be suicidal, no matter their powers.
"I see." He fell into deep thought for a moment, then added softly, "Thank you. It means a lot to me." It was a step closer to Bucky, a chance closer to saving him. But in saving him, he wanted to make are he didn't lose Grace either. "Just promise me one thing. If you ever see him, Bucky, the Winter Soldier… He has a metal arm, it's not hard to miss. Please, run the other way." Steve remembered how the man, his once best friend, threw the shield back at him like it was nothing. Fought with him on the bridge like they were equals. This Bucky was strong and dangerous, and he didn't remember anything…
May 13th, 2016 at 02:31pm