SHIFTER ─ marvel

XXXVI. Two Pawns In The Game

Chapter Thirty-Six
Bucky

It's past three in the morning when I make my way up to my room. It's the third night that Analiese has been here, and the third time I've had to keep watch over her. After our conversation the first night she was here, she's been very quiet. Not just around me, but the others as well. Alex and Khari continue to use their guard duty to plan their wedding, and by the time my shift for guard duty comes along, I can see the annoyance practically radiate off of Analiese. I can hardly blame her. Listening to discussions about floral arrangements and cake flavors would drive me up the wall too. She hasn't voiced her annoyance though. She just silently lays there, off in her own head.

I reach the door, wrapping my metal hand around the gold tinted knob. I let the door gently swing open, letting the light from the hall shine dimly into the room. Lena is asleep on her side, her body facing me. She has her hands tucked against her chest, with her bangs falling towards the pillow, and her hair tied in a ponytail behind her.

Her eyes flutter open due to the light, and I see a small smile appear on her lips. I walk over towards her side of the bed, leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. As I pull back from her she brings her right hand up to cup my face.

"How is she?"

I turn my head and kiss her palm, bringing my metal hand up to touch hers. "Quiet. Shuri is watching her now. She just gave her another dose of the serum."

Lena nods, yawning and stretching her back. "Hopefully by tomorrow the treatment will be done and we can actually get some sleep."

I caress her hand, smiling down at her. "I can take over your shift of guard duty so you can get more sleep."

She smiles, leaning up and brushing her thumb across my cheekbone. "You need your rest too."

"I'll rest when she's behind bars and this is all over with."

She shakes her head at me. "With our luck another problem will happen immediately after this one. We can't bet on time off, we need to get rest whenever we can."

I chuckle, knowing she's right. "Well at least we got those few days in Greece off. I think that's the only vacation time we're ever going to have."

She chuckles with me, ripping the blankets off of her and pushing herself off the bed. I slip into the bed, watching her as she walks over to the dresser. She's currently wearing grey pajama bottoms and a shirt that says; 'Don't Let The Muggles Get You Down', which must be from that series about wizards she's always talking about. She pulls out a black sweatshirt and puts it on, sitting on the edge of the bed to put her sneakers on.

I crawl over towards her, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her cheek gently, leaning my head on her shoulder. "Are you going to make me watch those wizard films? The one your shirt is based on."

She turns her head towards me, giving me a mischievous grin. "All eight of them. If you think I'm not going to make you watch every movie that's come out since the 40's then you don't know me at all."

I narrow my eyes. "You enjoy tormenting me don't you?"

She kisses my nose, smiling at me as she stands up. She makes her way over towards the door, shrugging her shoulders and giving me an unapologetic look. "What can I say? Subjecting you to pop culture is a favorite pass time of mine."

I smile at her again, letting out a yawn. "Be careful."

As she opens the door, she smiles at me again. It truly is one of the most radiant and beautiful things I've ever seen. "Always, Liebchen." She tells me, before walking out into the hallway and shutting the door behind her.