[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.

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[nerves_of_ice]

They're not the only ones on the dance floor, but it feels like it as the music wraps around them, as he guides her through the long, slow curves of the waltz.

Let this be the answer to our future years, he hears, and has to fight not to close his eyes. They have this moment, before she vanishes again into the impossible future that sent her here. They have this time. Something as special as this he'll remember always, he's sure, and he doesn't want to miss a moment.

[from_the_outside]

She softens her hand on his shoulder and allows herself a brief run of her thumb over the material of his uniform under the guise of changing her hand position slightly.

They won't have an anniversary. Even if by some miracle or, more likely, series of terrible life decisions this becomes something real, it has an end point. She'll go back. And he'll...

But just thinking about it breaks her heart. It seems impossible, in this held moment when he's guiding her gently around the dance floor, that he could ever vanish from this world, that somehow this isn't meant to be, even though it feels so completely like it is.

[nerves_of_ice]

He smiles, sweet and warm, as the song drifts into the final verse as gracefully as they're moving across the floor.

"Thanks for dancing with me tonight, angel," Bucky murmurs.

[from_the_outside]

"Thanks for asking." Her voice is a low murmur back as she smiles up at him, a wholly different expression than the teasing, mischievous smiles she's been flashing at him through the evening.

"Too bad this is probably the last song."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Probably,” he agrees. “But I’ve enjoyed every second of it.”

[from_the_outside]

"Me, too."

She wishes she could move closer, dance cheek to cheek and feel him warm and solid against her, but even this dreamy waltz isn't quite enough to make her forget where and when they are.

But it doesn't make her stop wanting it.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Come on," he says, softly, as the song comes to a close. Bucky squeezes her hand, then offers her his arm.

"We better get you back."

[from_the_outside]

"Probably a good idea."

She slips her hand into the crook of his arm and looks up at him, then ahead as they stroll slowly off the dance floor.

[nerves_of_ice]

He walks her back to rejoin the others and holds her chair for her before reclaiming his seat and his drink, both. Dernier just shakes his head at him and nudges him with an elbow.

[from_the_outside]

Jim Morita looks faintly morose, but perks up when Sharon sits back down in her seat next to him and reaches for her drink. "Do you have the time, Private?" she asks, and he glances at his watch.

"Little after twenty-two hundred," he tells her, and she nods, then takes a last sip.

"Time for me to be on my way, I think, gentlemen."

[nerves_of_ice]

Gabe pounces on that before anyone else can get a word in. "I'll walk you back, Agent Carter. It's, um, dark out there."

"Dark?" Falsworth mutters.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon ignores Falsworth and smiles at Gabe, nodding.

"Thank you, Private," she says. "That's very sweet of you." He gets up to help her out of her chair and into her uniform jacket, then offers her his arm, smiling widely at a scowling Jim Morita. Sharon glances at the others. "Good night, guys. See you tomorrow."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Good night, Agent Carter," Bucky says, part of the flurry of farewells around the table. He takes a swallow of his beer as Gabe and Sharon leaves, then nearly spills it as Dernier elbows him again.

"How'd you pull that off?" the other man demands. "You didn't even go near Henshaw all night!"

Bucky grins. "That's a secret, fellas."

[from_the_outside]

Gabe is sweet and solicitous, and she chats comfortably with him as he walks her back across the camp toward her quarters, wishing her a warm 'good night' once they've arrived.

Sharon gives him a little wave and ducks into her tent. And then, a moment or two later when she's sure he's wandered off, she slips back out again into the cool night air.

Just past ten. That was the time Bucky had identified when they were in the lab. Nothing had happened last night when she went to the field at around the same time, but that's not enough to keep her from making her way to the edge of the camp and back down the now-familiar path to the open field where she'd first appeared.

She should get there in time. Give or take a minute or two.

[nerves_of_ice]

It's about half an hour after Sharon and Gabe leave that Bucky tips back the last of his glass and gets up. Steve's listening to the story that Falsworth's telling about London, and glances up at him with a silent question in his eyes. Bucky shakes his head at him and gives him a quick smile, then nods a farewell to the others and makes his way out into the cool night air.

He'd meant to go straight back to his quarters and read for a while, really he had, but he finds himself taking a detour to walk by Sharon's quarters first, just because - well, for no reason he can justify to himself, so he doesn't let himself consider it too hard. There's no sign of light in the tent, though, so he doesn't stop. Maybe she's already asleep.

Although that'd be pretty quick, come to think of it. Bucky frowns to himself as he walks, then, on a hunch, heads in the direction of the field where he'd found her last night.

[from_the_outside]

There's no pull, no flash of light, no portal that opens and yanks her home. She stands in the same spot she'd stood the night before, looking up at the sky, and tries not to think too hard about whether she's happy or sad about the fact that absolutely nothing at all happens.

There are some clouds tonight, she notices. But atmospheric conditions really shouldn't have any effect on time-traveling portals, probably. And it's well past the time when she'd arrived by now, anyway.

But she still doesn't go anywhere, just stands where she is and watches the sky, wondering just how long she's going to be stuck here.

[nerves_of_ice]

Her hair's bright enough that he has no trouble seeing her, even with the partial cloud cover. Bucky draws closer and stops under the tree, debating with himself whether to disturb her or not as she looks up at the stars.

"Want company?" he asks, finally, pitching his voice to carry but keeping it low. "I can leave if you don't. I won't be offended."

[from_the_outside]

Maybe she should be more surprised when his voice comes out of the darkness, but enough of her isn't that she wonders if she'd actually been expecting him. Her mouth twitches into a wry half-smile and she glances over her shoulder at him.

"Sure," she says. "This show wasn't going anywhere, anyway."

[nerves_of_ice]

He steps out of the shadows beneath the tree and walks closer. "Did you think it would?"

[from_the_outside]

"Not really."

She watches as he comes closer, and doesn't move away or shift position. "But it was worth a shot."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Sure," he murmurs. "Of course it was."

Bucky stops a few steps away and looks up at the sky himself. "I don't even know what I'm looking for," he says, after a second or two. "But I wish I could help you find it."

[from_the_outside]

"If I knew, I'd tell you."

She looks back up, watching a cloud scud across the face of the waning moon. "But so far, portals through time have been pretty reluctant to appear."

[nerves_of_ice]

What if she can't get back? It's the first time he's really let himself entertain the thought. What if they can't find a way to help her? What if she--

He steps on that idea almost as soon as it occurs. If it's the damn cube that's required, then they'll get it and she'll be able to go home, that's all there is to it. It's not like they were ever going to leave something like that in Schmidt's creepy hands anyway.

"We're getting closer," he says, softly. "Don't lose hope, angel."

[from_the_outside]

She glances over at him, and her mouth curves, very gently. "I won't," she promises.

She doesn't think they're getting any closer, but whether they are or not, she's not about to give up after only a few days here. "Don't worry, Bucky."

[nerves_of_ice]

The slight movement next to him as she glances his way draws his attention back down from the sky, and he gives her a small smile.

"I'll try not to if you will."