Marlena pushed the hotel room door open and very groggily wandered inside, not even bothering to worry about the two carrying luggage behind her. She dragged herself over to the queen-sized bed by the window and fell face first, groaning at the slight pain that had erupted in her spine. They had arrived in Brooklyn about a half hour ago and had arrived at their hotel about ten minutes ago. Miranda had made reservations for them to stay at the Hotel Indigo, one of Brooklyn's finest hotels. Their room was among the nicest of the rooms the hotel had to offer, and Marlena had originally been more than ecstatic to see it, but she was much too tired to even think properly.

The door to the hotel room burst open, revealing Bucky and Hallie. Marlena stayed where she was, ignoring Hallie's protests and Bucky's annoyed sighs. Being stuck in a car for almost six hours with the two of them was quite possibly the worst thing Marlena had ever endured, and it was also why she was so dangerously tired.

The entire ride was filled with Hallie asking Bucky question after question, some ranging from where he was from to what his blood type was or why Marlena was helping him in the first place. It had annoyed Marlena to the point of almost telling Hallie the real truth of why she was helping him; the only thing revealed was that he had amnesia, which wasn't a complete lie. Marlena thought Hallie would stop harassing Bucky after that, but it only got worse. The blonde thought it would be fun to take advantage of Bucky's so-called amnesia, despite Marlena's countless protests for her to stop.

"Get up, loser," Hallie commanded Marlena. "We've got a city to explore."

"Then go explore it," Marlena grumbled into her pillow.

Hallie sighed and yanked lightly on her arm. Normally she would have just yanked her out of the bed and onto the floor, but because of her back injury she wouldn't do such a thing. She'd feel bad for hurting her. "Marbles, get up," Hallie whined, only to receive another groan in response. Hallie rolled her eyes and looked over to Bucky. "James, could you possibly manage to get her up?"

Bucky shrugged and walked over, kneeling down beside the bed. "Marlena, please get up. How are you gonna help me if you're sleeping?"

Marlena's head shot up and she glared at Bucky. "Are you trying to guilt trip me, Barnes?" Bucky only smirked, and Marlena rolled her eyes before carefully sitting up. "You two are the very bane of my existence," she grumbled as she strolled over to her suitcase. "I'm gonna put on some decent clothes and then we can go."

"Don't worry. She's always crabby when she's tired," Hallie told Bucky.

"I'm well aware of that," Bucky replied.

"Screw you both for not letting me sleep," Marlena grumbled.

"What can I say? Team work makes the dream work," Hallie chimed as she held her fist out to Bucky.

She would never admit it to Marlena, but during the six hours she spent bantering with him, she grew to rather like his personality. Her instincts still told her he was dangerous and that he was not to be messed with, but for now she wouldn't focus on that. She didn't want to spend a once in a lifetime trip worrying about Bucky and how potentially dangerous he was, especially when he wasn't posing as a threat to her or Marlena.

"Do you want me to hit your fist?" Bucky asked as he eyed Hallie's fist curiously.

"Oh, I forgot you're an amnesiac," Hallie chuckled.

Marlena rolled her eyes at the two of them and grabbed several articles of clothing from her suitcase before heading into the bathroom. She eyed the clothes in her hands, and was more than ready to change until a thought popped into her mind. She checked the time and saw that it was nearing nine o'clock, so she gathered her clothes up and headed back out into the main room. Bucky was now laying on the bed Marlena had previously been laying on, and Hallie was dancing and rapping to Nicki Minaj's "Get On Your Knees."

"Hallie," Marlena called, only to receive no answer.

She let out a sigh and threw her clothes back into the suitcase before strolling over and removing Hallie's iPhone from its dock, thus shutting off the music. Hallie stopped immediately and turned around to face her best friend with a glare on her face.

"I was jammin', that's rude," Hallie remarked as she snatched the phone from her hand.

"You were also being annoying," Marlena replied. "But that's beside the point. I know where we're going and I need a pair of heels."

Hallie chuckled and shook her head. "You in a pair of heels? Yeah, that's not gonna happen."

"Why not?" Marlena pouted.

"Because you're the clumsiest person in the world and you already have a fractured spine; the two don't exactly mix," Hallie told her. "And where are we going that requires you to wear heels?"

"Stork Club," Marlena smirked.

She glanced over at Bucky just in time to see him turn to her; his eyes brightened at the sound of her words and he sat up immediately.

"We're going clubbing? Since when do you wanna go clubbing, Marlena?" Hallie laughed as she moved towards her suitcase.

"I have a very compelling reason to wanna go," Marlena told her, a smile coming onto her face as she thought of Bucky, who, by the way, was smiling right back at her.

"Fine," Hallie responded as she pulled a pair of black, wedged booties out of her suitcase. "This is the closest I'm allowing you to get to heels, pal. I'm sure you have something to go with them in that enormous suitcase of yours."

Marlena smiled and took the shoes from her hand before moving back to her suitcase. She rummaged through it for a few seconds before finding what she was looking for, and before long she was heading back into the bathroom.

She changed into a fitted maroon-colored long-sleeve shirt, a black skater skirt, and a pair of black stockings. She eyed the shoes sitting on the toilet for a few seconds before very carefully putting them on. She would most likely regret her decision later, but there were no other shoes that would look good with this outfit, and she definitely didn't feel like changing again.

After pulling half of her hair back into a ponytail, she headed back into the main room, careful not to trip over the carpet. The wedges were surprisingly easy for her to walk in, but she was still cautious. Any potential obstacle could show up out of nowhere, and she didn't want another fractured spinal column.

"Hey, where's Hallie?" Marlena asked Bucky as she stepped into the room.

Bucky averted his attention away from the window to look at her, utterly astonished with the sight of her. He felt his heart skip a beat as he looked over her slim figure. In his eyes, she was absolutely breathtaking—absolutely beautiful. He didn't remember very much about the women he used to be involved with back in the thirties and forties, but as he gazed over at Marlena he knew that a single one of them could not compare to her, inside or out. Marlena was one of a kind to him, and watching the way she tried to conceal the fact that she was beginning to struggle in her shoes only corroborated that feeling.

"Bucky?" Marlena called when she didn't receive and answer. Her cheeks flushed as she took notice of the way Bucky was staring at her, but she quickly shook the feeling.

Bucky finally managed to snap out of his trance and answer her back. "She's in the other bathroom getting ready."

She nodded in understanding and approached him. "Are you not going to get ready?"

He looked down at his clothes before looking back up at Marlena with a questioning look on his. "Do I not look okay?"

"You look fantastic, Buck," she chuckled as she strolled over to their suitcase. She pulled out a leather jacket and walked back over to him, holding it out to him. "But I think this might just complete your look."

He smiled and took it from her, wasting no time at all in putting it on. Marlena looked over him with narrowed eyes; something was missing, but she just couldn't figure out exactly what it was. Bucky watched nervously as she ran her eyes up and down his body, desperately trying to figure out what was going through her mind.

Seconds passed, and Marlena's eyes fell upon Bucky's shoulder-length hair. Her eyes brightened when she realized what she needed to do, so she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to sit in the desk chair.

"What are you doing, Mar?" Bucky asked curiously.

Marlena moved to grab a hair elastic and a comb from Hallie's bag of accessories. "Further completing your look."

She hurried back over to Bucky and began combing his hair, startling him slightly. Once he calmed down, Marlena continued, and soon enough she was gathering his hair in her hands. It didn't take but a split second for Bucky to figure out what she was doing.

"Are you putting my hair up?" Bucky asked with wide eyes. He didn't necessarily know how to feel about it, considering men never wore their hair up in the thirties and forties. He couldn't even recall seeing a man in this century wearing their hair up.

"Yes. It'll suit you, I promise," Marlena assured him.

Bucky let out a sigh of defeat and turned back around. Marlena resumed her actions, and in several seconds Bucky's hair was sitting against the middle of his head wrapped in a messy man bun. Shorter pieces of his hair hung beside his face, but it only made the hairstyle look better in Marlena's opinion. She was pleased with the way it turned out and was more than correct when she informed him of just how well it would suit him. The scruff on his face only made him look all the more better.

Marlena quickly grabbed a mirror from Hallie's bag and handed it to Bucky. He took it quickly and examined his hair. He wasn't sure how he should feel about it; he wasn't sure whether or not he liked it. All he was sure of was that the twenty-first century was a strange time period.

"I look weird," Bucky stated as he stood up to face Marlena. He found it rather adorable that even with platformed shoes on she was still incredibly shorter than he was.

"No you don't—you look hot," Marlena said with a smirk.

Bucky's cheeks lit up at her words, and Marlena giggled when she noticed.

Seconds later, Hallie strolled back into the room, now completely dressed. She wore an electric blue tank top with a black blazer over top, as well as a pair of dark wash jeans and black ankle booties. Her long, blonde hair was curled to perfection, and her makeup looked as if it had been done by the most prestigious makeup artist Hollywood had to offer.

She placed her belongings onto the table and looked up at Marlena and Bucky. She opened her mouth to speak until her eyes fell upon Bucky's hair.

"You let her give you a man bun, but you won't let me braid your hair?" Hallie exclaimed.

"You asked to braid his hair?" Marlena chuckled.

Hallie shrugged and grabbed her purse. "There aren't very many guys around with hair that long. It was an impulse."

Marlena shook her head and grabbed her purse as well. "Are you two ready to go?"

"Ready to go and get completely hammered? Of course I am," Hallie replied before storming out of the hotel room.

Bucky looked down at Marlena with a raised brow, eliciting a sigh from her. "We're in for a very long night, Buck." She wrapped her fingers around his right hand and squeezed it, looking up at him with a smile on her face. She could feel the fluttering of her stomach at the feeling of his skin against hers, but chose to worry about it at a later time. "But hopefully you won't mind."

"I'm ninety-nine percent sure I won't," he responded softly as he looked into her hazel eyes.

Marlena smiled once more before grabbing the room key off of the TV stand.

Soon enough the two were taking off towards the elevator, their hands still within the other's grasp.