[ WWII AU ] what a night to go dreaming

[from_the_outside]

There's no doubt that things have shifted, a little, since the day they spent tangled up together in that sun-dappled cottage, tucked away in the trees behind the nearby town. The other Howling Commandos have, seemingly by silent agreement, stopped flirting so outrageously with her, though she's caught Jim and Gabe giving Bucky more than one fondly exasperated glance. She still dances with all of them, and enjoys their company, but they yield the floor to Bucky at the end of the night, and he's the one who, as she said she wanted, walks her back to her tent. 

And then there are their rendezvous' out in the field, where she still checks, each night, for a portal opening in the air. It never comes, but she spends hours there with him, walking and laughing and dancing under the starlight, stealing every moment they can together.

Aunt Peggy says nothing, but Sharon knows she can tell things have changed. There's a worried frown that lives between her brows, but she doesn't forbid her niece to see Steve's best friend, knowing it would only backfire.

Other things change not at all... like the morning tests Howard still makes them do. They're nearing the end of the sequence today, and she lets go of Bucky when Howard tells her to, careful not to linger. It's difficult to say what Stark thinks of his findings; he mutters to himself and snaps at his assistants, but all she can glean from it is that the resonance is still fading at a regular rate from her cells.

But none of them know why.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

He shakes his head. “The newsies aren’t at this camp, and I don’t know if anyone else has one.”

He tucks a lock of hair behind her ear and smiles at her. “But I’ve got a good memory.”

[from_the_outside]

A smile flickers over her lips and she tips her head into his touch, but she can't hold herself back. She leans in, swift, to press her mouth to his in a sweet, slightly desperate kiss, the ache in her chest spiking at the thought of losing him to time and to the written destiny she knows awaits him.

[nerves_of_ice]

He makes a low sound deep in his chest and slides his hand back around the nape of her neck, kissing her again.

Hours might be all they have left, and he can’t bring himself to let her go. Not yet.

[from_the_outside]

That sound he makes hits her bloodstream like lightning, and she whimpers, low, against his mouth before she kisses him again. "Bucky," she murmurs. "My sweetheart. My soldier boy."

[nerves_of_ice]

He strokes his thumb along the side of her throat, up and down, and kisses her again.

“And you’re my angel,” he murmurs. “Darling Sharon.”

[from_the_outside]

“Yes,” she promises. “No matter where or when I am. Yours, baby.”

All she wants is to keep him. But she can’t, and still go home.

[nerves_of_ice]

He kisses her again and tips his forehead against hers.

“Just remember me fondly, sometimes,” he whispers. “That’s all I can ask.”

[from_the_outside]

“Bucky.”

Her voice is breathless, a little helpless in a way it never is. “I’ll think of you all the time. Like you’re just out of sight, and about to come smiling around the next corner.”

[nerves_of_ice]

“I like the sound of that.” He keeps tracing his thumb over the side of her neck. “And hey, you never know, right? Stranger things have happened.”

[from_the_outside]

"They certainly have."

She runs her hand up along the side of his neck, her fingers toying with his hair. "If I could bring you with me," she murmurs. "If it wouldn't mean leaving everything you have here behind, I would. In a heartbeat."

[nerves_of_ice]

“I’d go, just like that, if I could come back. Travel back and forth somehow.” He tilts his head a little, into her touch. “I couldn’t abandon Steve. Or the girls.”

[from_the_outside]

"I know you wouldn't," she murmurs, and a terrible sadness sweeps over her.

If she told him, maybe he'd have a chance to escape his fate. If she could bring him back with her, he wouldn't be on that train in the Alps.

And maybe then Steve wouldn't be so reckless, wouldn't crash into the sea. Maybe he'd have a life without being trapped in ice. And they'd be reunited in the future.

But she can't say any of that. As terrible as it all is, she apparently has to let it happen.

[nerves_of_ice]

Something changes in her expression, and he cradles her cheek with his hand, trying to soothe. “Don’t be sad, baby,” he whispers.

[from_the_outside]

Her smile flickers, wry. "Too late," she murmurs, and turns her head to press a kiss into his palm, sweet and almost reverent.

"You're not a little sad?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“I am,” he admits. “I’m going to miss you, angel.”

[from_the_outside]

"I'm going to miss you, too."

She has to believe the experiment will work, will send her home, because it's the best shot at it by far. But that also means she has to believe these are the last few hours she has with him.

A small smile flicker over her lips. "And here I thought you weren't going to break my heart, Bucky Barnes."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Well, I sure didn’t mean to.”

He leans close and gives her a sweet, gentle kiss. “But if it’s any consolation, you knocked me for a loop.”

[from_the_outside]

"Well, it's nice to know I'm not the only one," she teases, gently, and kisses him back before leaning her forehead against his.

"Stay here with me for a little while?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“As long as I can,” he promises, soft and low. Bucky draws her close to him, trying to memorize the feel of her in his arms.

[from_the_outside]

She wishes they could go to the little cottage, that they could spend a few of these last hours bare and tangled up in each other, but the freedom they've been given this afternoon only goes so far. Instead, she coaxes him to lie back in the grass and curls against his side, her head on his shoulder and her arm over his middle. She watches the clouds pass overhead, pointing out ones with especially interesting shapes, as the sun lifts and begins to lower again.

It's enough. It has to be. Some hours here together, and then dinner, and what might be her last evening at the 'pub,' dancing and laughing and talking with the friends she's made here.

And then – maybe – tonight, a way home.

[nerves_of_ice]

The hours pass quickly. All too soon, it’s less than an hour to test time, Howard having decided to pin the experimental attempt as close to the minute of Sharon’s arrival as possible.

Bucky meets the lab techs in the field as ordered while Sharon’s off changing clothes. It’s a good thing her aunt is with her, he figures, given that outfit. Steve’s nearby as well, determined that Bucky won’t go through this without him.

He stands under the tree and watches with mild trepidation as the techs ring him with wires and small metal towers and antennas, each linked to a field generator for power.

[from_the_outside]

She's rarely been so grateful for Peggy Carter's practicality and stiff upper lip as she is now. Her aunt folds and sets aside the clothes Sharon sheds, and waits as Sharon zips into the familiar white catsuit, the fabric clinging to her body. Her boots come next, then her utility belt and thigh holster.

Last is her phone, powered on the way it had been when she arrived, the precious new photo saved in a series of places on it.

Finished, she looks up at her aunt, who studies her back for a long moment before stepping in to embrace her, silent and warm. Sharon clings to her as long as she can, before Aunt Peggy pulls away with a slight sniff. "Come along, darling," she murmurs. "They're expecting us."

The scene at the field is bizarre in the extreme. Howard's assistants are clustered around Bucky, Stark himself fiddling with a box at the edge of the treeline. She hears footsteps behind her and sees Harry Jackson come huffing along the path, a strange gun in his arms. "Is that – " Sharon starts, as Peggy's hand comes to her arm.

One of the weapons they'd liberated from the Skull. It must be. And as she watches Harry carry it over to Howard, she realizes how they're planning to try and emulate the power source that brought her here.

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky eyes the weapon Jackson shows up with. “Careful there,” he cautions. “We don’t want anyone turning into dust.”

“Or exploding,” Howard says. “That stuff’s volatile as hell. Nearly blew up the lab back at base.”

This doesn’t make him feel any better about things, but that’s about when another of the techs spots Sharon’s approach and trips over his own feet. Bucky bites back a grin, while Steve flushes.

[from_the_outside]

"Careful!" snaps Howard, turning to the lab tech, but he almost swallows his own tongue as he glances in the direction the man had been looking. "Uh, Agent Carter, is that – "

Peggy gives him a cool stare. "Keep your eyes in your skull, Howard," she says, crisply. "Or you won't be much use to us at all."

Sharon meets Bucky's glance and shrugs, very slightly, the edge of her mouth twitching up.

[nerves_of_ice]

“I still say that’s one heck of a uniform,” Bucky drawls. “All you need are the wings.”

Peggy gives him an exasperated look, while Steve ducks his head to swallow a smile.