[PSL] WWII ; On the move with Bucky

[stark_spangled]

That's five bases down, and the whole world has begun to talk about Captain America and his Howling Commandos. Hydra finally sees them as the threat they are, and Steve's entire faction has taken time to celebrate their latest victory before moving on to the next stop. But there's always going to be a next stop, until every last factory, base, and facility has been taken down.

They're on a train god knows where, because getting to Poland means traveling through Nazi occupied space on the fly. No Red Army, no air support; take this train here, switch to this detail there, go on foot through here, cross your fingers and pray to your gods you don't get stopped. You sleep with one eye open and ready yourself to change lines at the drop of a dime. That's why not everybody is in this boxcar. The colonel and Carter are tucked away somewhere in third class, everybody else scattered with the lumber and supplies. Steve's in a boxcar with Gabe and Bucky, the former curled up under a pile of newspapers in one corner, while Buck sits at the open door watching the twilight landscape streak past in hues of blue. Steve pulls some hardtack out of a belt pouch, and meanders over to him.

"Remember when we'd jump on the back of the trolley heading out to Coney Island, and hide under the back seats so the conductor wouldn't find us?" he says, voice hushed as he kneels beside him. He smirks, and offers Bucky some of the hardtack.

Comments

[stark_spangled]

He remembers. It's why he smiles back full of piss and vinegar, instead of pressing the issue. Whatever happened to Bucky back in Zola's lab, he's working through it better than some guys Steve's seen. We'll be war heroes, he says; Steve wonders which will be heavier, the medals or the scars they'll carry home?

"You still do," he points out, shaking his head. "We can worry about each other, you know. I know I look -- different, but I'm still the same guy. And you're still a punk."

He gently nudges Bucky with his shoulder.

[bestpal]

"There's a little more of you to worry about," Bucky admits. He reaches out and touches Steve's arm. There was no way he would get sucked in by the uniform and shield. You will always be Steve to me."

He stretches his neck and works it side to side. "Can I borrow your shield when we bet back, the ladies love it."

[stark_spangled]

His smirk relaxes into warmth and fondness -- he doesn't want to be anything but Steve, especially with Bucky -- and then cracks into laughter.

"Yeah, sure," he says. "Just don't go around telling people you're Captain America. I've got a reputation to uphold."

He ruffles Bucky's hair, mainly because now he can without getting put in a headlock, and throws his arm around Bucky's shoulders. "It's weird, huh? That there is so much more of me, I mean. I'm still getting used to it. I feel like a newborn pup that keeps stepping on its ears."

[bestpal]

Bucky joins in the laughter. "I'll tell the dames I'm the one who keeps you out of trouble." No one will believe it but he will have plenty of Captain America stories to entertain them with. Without thinking he leans back and lets Steve's arm take his weight.

"You remind me of a golden retriever," he says and looks up with a fond smile. "Should I start rubbing you behind those puppy ears?"

[stark_spangled]

It wouldn't be very far from the truth. No amount of the serum could change the fact that Bucky's always had his back. He keeps him grounded, centered, and watches his six when he's too busy watching everyone else's.

"Knock it off," he says without any bite to it, fighting back more laughter. "You know what I mean. You live most of your life no bigger than 90lbs, having all this weight to throw around feels like taking a tank out on a paper route."

[bestpal]

"Nope, I can't remember the last time I weighed 90lbs," Bucky jokes. He's always been healthy and strong. He tilts his head on one side and smiles lopsidedly up at Steve. "They can't have picked a better man to put on a few pounds of muscle. You know what it's liked to get picked on. You'll tear up the bullies fast than anyone can say Brooklyn."

[stark_spangled]

Steve gives him a flat look and prepares a barbed quip to sling back at him, but as Bucky keeps talking it takes all the fight right out of him. He's always been Steve's best friend through thick and thin (with Steve, it was almost always thin). They could tussle and fight and pick at each others scabs just to hear them howl, but at the end of the day they were thicker than blood, best pals. They stuck their necks out for each other. Hearing Bucky say he's going to tear up all the bullies that get in his path is vindication for all those fights he lost, and would have lost if Bucky hadn't been there to bail him out. It means the world to him.

He smirks and shakes his head like Bucky's just said the dumbest thing in the world, but he throws an arm around his shoulders and hugs him close to his side. "Yeah, but I'll have some help. I couldn't do it without you and the Commandos, you know that."

He couldn't do it at all if Bucky hadn't believed in him, or if Erskine hadn't taken a chance on the skinny kid from Brooklyn. "I wish you could have met Dr. Erskine."

[bestpal]

Bucky rests his head on Steve's shoulder. It's companionable to sit here together, even if they are in the middle of a war. "You might survive ten minutes without them, five without me," he muses. While he is proud to be a Howling Commando, he would choose Steve over them if it came down to it. He is content to be Steve's sidekick for the rest of the careers.

"Me too, he sounds like quite a guy." He pauses. "I know some of the guys wish they could get some of that spiffy super serum, I'm glad I didn't get a chance at it." There was a dark, vindictive streak that sure as hell doesn't want amplified.

[stark_spangled]

He gently knocks his knuckle against Bucky's chin and shakes his head. "Five whole minutes? Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence, Buck."

It's not so far from the truth. If Bucky had refused his invitation to join the Commandos, Steve would have understood. Part of him would have even been glad, knowing he was out of danger. Deep down, though, he's happy he doesn't have to wonder what it would have been like fighting without his best friend at his side.

He eyes Bucky after his last remark. "So am I. The serum may have worked on me, but look at what it did to Schmidt. I keep thinking about what Dr. Erskine used to say about me staying a good man. That was the most important thing to him." He wonders what the serum would have done to Hodges if he'd been the one accepted into the program. He's willing to bet a lot of people would have suffered. Returning to the present, he gives Bucky a friendly shake. "If you'd been there, you'd probably be an even bigger charming jerk than you already are. Three dates for every night you're on leave."

A Super Bucky is kind of a scary thought.