[WWII AU] a brand new day

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky wakes in the predawn darkness, long before reveille would normally be called. He spends a few minutes reviewing the mission in his head before he rolls from his cot; there's no room to think about anything else. He meets Steve and the rest of the Howling Commandos at five-fifteen. As planned, they're on the move before the hour has passed.

It's a long day, a hard day, but in the end a successful day, for the most part. The hidden facility carved into the hillside is no more when they leave, HYDRA's agents defeated, their stockpiles destroyed. But there's still no sign of Schmidt, nor of Zola, and that remains incredibly frustrating.

Still, there's reason to celebrate today's win, and the squad's more or less exuberant on their return, some fourteen or so hours later. Steve disappears into the command tent to debrief with Colonel Phillips; Bucky'll catch up with him afterward, as usual. He spends a few minutes trading quips with the others before disappearing to weapons storage to see to his own rifle - also as usual. Something about taking care of it helps him feel like he's cleaning the blood off his own hands.

After that, he finds he's too restless to settle yet, and figures it's not the best idea for him to be around others until he sorts himself out. Bucky wanders along the edge of camp in the dark, then veers from the path and off into the field where he'd spent some time watching the stars only a couple of days ago.

It should be peaceful there, more or less.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

“Is that so?” he marvels.

Without missing a beat, he adds, “Then we better make sure you have lots of chances while you’re here.”

[from_the_outside]

"Somehow I don't think that will be a problem."

She curls her fingers around his to squeeze his hand, light, then lift her hand away to slip it into her pocket.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Oh, it won't." He squeezes her other hand in turn, then lets go and keeps escorting her along the narrow path.

"I've always been a city boy," he offers, after a second or two, "but there's something nice about this. I found it when I was checking angles around camp."

[from_the_outside]

"It reminds me of the woods in Virginia, a little."

She looks over at him. "I can see how it might be a real change from Brooklyn. But you seem pretty comfortable in it."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shrugs, very slightly, and carefully keeps his glance on the trail. "I guess I've gotten used to sneaking around in the woods."

[from_the_outside]

"You're not sneaking right now," she murmurs, watching him.

"Is that what you feel like you do? Sneak around the woods?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Well, I do a lot of it," he says, and looks over at her. His expression's probably hard to read in the dim light, he figures, but he keeps it as neutral as he can anyway.

"I'm the squad's sniper, if you didn't know."

[from_the_outside]

She nods, neither admitting nor denying.

"How do you feel about that?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"What's to feel?" he asks. "It needs doing, and I'm good at it. Really good at it. I keep Steve safe. I keep them all safe."

[from_the_outside]

"I'm sure you do."

Something that isn't quite a wry smile presses at the corner of her mouth and is gone again. "I just know that kind of thing can wear on a person. But you're right. It's important. And it needs doing."

She watches him a moment. "I'm glad they've all got you watching their backs."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shrugs a little at her first comment, and nods at her second - then flashes her a quick, slight smile at her third.

"We've all got something we specialize in, in our odd little squad. This's mine. But I tell you what, I'm glad, too. I told Steve that when I signed up."

There's something a little wry about his expression, just for a second or two. "Like I was gonna let him do this without me."

[from_the_outside]

For a moment, her expression is just as wry. "Of course you wouldn't."

Don't go on the mission to the Alps. It's not the first time the thought has crossed her mind, but it's the loudest. She takes a breath and shakes her head, then smiles at him. "You guys make a hell of a team."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Always have," Bucky tells her, then slows abruptly. "Careful, there's a broken stump here, can you see it? Let me help you over--"

[from_the_outside]

"Thanks – "

She lifts her hand from his arm and sets it on his shoulder for balance as she steps up, blinking in the dark.

[nerves_of_ice]

She braces her hand on his shoulder, and he sets both of his at her waist and lifts her up and over the ruined wood and back down to the path beyond, as easily as if it were an aerial in a dance.

"There you go," he murmurs.

[from_the_outside]

"Wha – "

She's not the largest woman in the world, but she has no idea how he lifted her so easily. Her hands come unthinking to his shoulders as her feet settle back on the path, and she blinks up at him. "Well, that was impressive."

[nerves_of_ice]

He smiles down at her, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

"I said you could fly, didn't I, angel?"

[from_the_outside]

"I don't think it counts if someone else is picking me up," she points out, but she's laughing, too, utterly charmed and not even trying to keep from feeling it.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Sure it does." Her laughter's the best thing he's heard all day, and he can't help but tease, "Want to try it again?"

[from_the_outside]

It's stupid and childish and maybe that's why she doesn't hesitate to laugh and nod.

When was the last time she felt playful? "Okay," she tells him, setting her hands on his shoulders. "Go again."

[nerves_of_ice]

"You bet," he says, placing his hands back at her waist with a brilliant smile. Bucky lifts her up high into the air as he turns in an improvised dance step or two, laughing up at her as he spins once, twice, and a final half-turn before setting her lightly back down on the path.

[from_the_outside]

She squeaks and then her laugh peals out, clear as a ringing bell, as he lifts her and spins them both, sending her hair flying out in an arc of carefully set waves.

It wouldn't surprise her if music started playing, because she seems to have fallen into a movie musical, where the part of Bucky Barnes is being played by Gene Kelley and she's suddenly turned into Vera-Ellen. There's nothing, of course, but the quiet of the woods and her own laugh as he sets her back down again. One hand lifts briefly to the side of his neck, the other stays at his shoulder as she laughs up at him, her eyes crinkled at the corners.

[nerves_of_ice]

Her hand is warm against his neck, and he leans the slightest bit into her touch as he grins back down at her.

"There. An angel," he says, with certainty.

[from_the_outside]

She bites at her bottom lip, studying him, then laughs again. "No wings," she points out. "Just a girl getting swept off her feet."

She pauses a beat, then teases: "Literally."

[nerves_of_ice]

"My pleasure," he promises, low and warm. The rest of the day seems distant and long ago now, here with this beautiful laughing woman who bites her lip in a way that he finds utterly enchanting.

Her hand's still on his shoulder, the other at his throat. His hands tighten at her waist, just a little, and this time he lifts her much more carefully, the single spin he makes slow and deliberate before he lowers her to the ground again.