Out of Time (Book 1)

Love and Loss

1943

October

Over the last few months in camp, Betty and Bucky had kept the full nature of their relationship on the down-low, with only a few of their closest friends knowing the truth. Of course, Betty's team knew, and Bucky's tent-mates had already pieced together what was going on based on the amount of time Bucky spent near the med tent, and the photographs of Betty he kept in his kit. The attraction between the two was something that couldn't be hidden though and was apparent to anyone who looked long enough. They subconsciously gravitated towards each other whenever they shared any free time, and if they happened to be in the Mess at the same time any watchers would see them stealing glances at each other when they thought no-one would notice. The pair had managed to sneak away to be with each other a handful of times, which was more than they had even expected to be able to but now, with the prospect of Bucky heading off to the front for his next rotation, they were both craving the reassurance of intimacy.

Betty bent over, rummaging around in a cupboard looking for the iodine. There was only one patient in the med tent at the moment and he needed a dressing change. Stark's prototype field dressings were proving to be quite effective.

"Well, isn't that a sight?" came the familiar voice from the doorway.

"Can it, Barnes. I'm workin'. What're you here for anyway? You injured?"

"Yeah."

Betty immediately turned around to give her full attention to Bucky. "Injured? Where? Let me see."

Bucky held up his finger. "I got a splinter. I think I need it kissin' better."

Betty threw a roll of bandages at him, which he caught, much to her annoyance. "You're a pain in my ass. Get out."

"Aww Doll, don't be like that. I just came to say hi." He sauntered over to hand her the bandages but then looked at them, perplexed. "These don't feel like normal bandages."

"No, they're one of Stark's developments. They're really good at reducin' infection and speedin' up healing time."

"That's pretty cool." His interest was piqued by the new technology.

"Yeah, I think so too." She smiled. "Now get out. Or do I have to pull rank. Again."

He held his hands up in defeat, backing up. "OK, OK, I'm goin'. You're not on shift tonight?"

Betty shook her head. "No, we'll have empty beds again by this afternoon, so I've given us all the evenin' off together for once."

"That's great. Can you and the girls join us in the Mess tonight then, Doll? It's my last night off for a while, I'm heading out to the front."

Betty looked at him sadly. "Sure. How long?"

"Two weeks, probably."

"OK Buck, I'll see you later."

With a wave, he headed out of the tent and Betty turned to her patient. As she lifted his calf, ready to change the dressing, he looked at her with a smirk. "Looks like the Sarge is pretty sweet on you. Can't keep his peepers off you."

Betty raised her eyebrow and glared at him.

"I'm sayin' nuthin, Ma'am'" he muttered.

After she had changed the soldier's dressing and discharged him, she headed over to the tent that she shared with her team. All four girls were inside for once, a rarity considering how much research and testing of equipment and treatments they had to do. Betty had them rotating between shifts in the med tent, free time, or training. That took a lot of convincing to make happen, but Betty won the debate by explaining that if they were invaded, or captured, they would need to be able to defend themselves, their patients, and their research from falling into enemy hands. Reluctantly, the camp commanders allowed the girls to train hand to hand, and also with the M3 Trench Knife. It was no surprise that Ruth outstripped them all with her knife skills, her surgical background showing through, but the best fighter amongst them by far was Irene. It shocked everyone when, during her first sparring match with one of the privates, she seemed to forget about putting on a show and just let rip. It was a turning point in the camp dynamics and now some of the other nurses from the infirmary trained with them too.