1 | SURVIVE • BUCKY BARNES [COMPLETED]

XIV.

As the first day and the many more to follow came to a close, her work began to consume her. She still felt the blood on her hands even after it was washed away. She couldn't ignore the feeling for it made her remember the very promise she made to herself after the death of her mother and siblings.

Don't become close to people.

Their deaths were far too hard for her to bear, and now with her father gone and the world in an untimely war, she didn't want to add more heartache.

But Bucky, she felt was a different story. She already had feelings for the soldier, and was in far too deep to call it quits now. But that didn't stop her from constantly worrying about the soldier either.

On the night of her first arrival, they had snuck away from the base. They hadn't strayed too far, yet it was enough to dull the ever insistent sound of German planes flying overhead. They found themselves sitting in the middle of a clearing, one of the few that was covered in soft grass and no smoke clouded the sky. It was where they often went if they couldn't hide away in her tent.

Yet the time they had together was short. Every night, the two stayed up into the early morning light, talking about anything and everything. They would only stop when she forced him to go to bed so he'd be sharp and alert for the next day. And as much as he loved talking to her late at night, hearing her tired, sleepy laugh, he would always retire to bed just to see her the next day.

The first night that she was there though, was one he was one he was never going to forget.

"Bucky, you are so cheesy," the woman laughed after he continued to tell her a string of bad pickup lines.

"You like it," he flashed another smile as his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Well, I did like the one- how did I go? Do you like science?"

"Because I have my ion on you."

"Yes, that one," the brunette nodded as laughs fell from her lips. Settling into his hold, she let her head rest on his shoulder, her voice softening as she said, "Thank you, for this."

"For what," he turned his head to her, his lips just brushing against her forehead.

"This," she motioned to their surroundings, "for taking me out here and making me laugh. It feels like forever since that's happened."

"I'm sorry about your dad, Gideon. How are you doing?"

"It's hard to explain.This week has been easier than the past," she shook her head, "but I just can't believe that he's gone - that my entire family is gone." She paused for a moment to steady her breath just as it was beginning to shake. She had spent the last weeks leading up to her arrival here in tears, and she didn't want that to carry on; it just wasn't something that she did. "There's something that I haven't told you about my family yet, and it wasn't something that I wanted to tell you in a letter. I haven't actually told many people, just Steve so far, but I've always been nervous of saying it."

"You don't have to tell me," he said softly.

"I know, but I want to. I trust you," she assured. "My family is from Germany, and my father, well, Hitler wanted him to work for him, to make Germany stronger. They knew of the serum he created, and Hitler wanted it, but it wasn't ready. They didn't really care though. The man my father worked with, Johann Schmidt, took it, and let's just say the side effects weren't great.'

"Schmidt, he was so angry that he had my father imprisoned. He was there for while until an agent, Miss Peggy Carter, got him out, but my mom, Mar, and Klaus, they weren't quite as lucky..." She trailed off as the charms around her neck grew heavier. The words couldn't come out so she paused before saying, "I was away at college when everything happened. God - I should have been with them."

"Gideon, hey" he stopped her, "You can't think like that."

"I know," she shook her head. "Hence why I don't like to think about it. Survivor's guilt, they call it."

"I'm sorry about your family," he said softly, letting his head rest on top of hers.

"It's not your fault," she nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck, finding the most comfortable position for them both. "But now you see why I'm so adamant about winning this war."

"We'll do it together, but let's be honest though, you're going to have to be the brains, and I'll be the brute," he settled, letting a grin slid across his face.

"I'll go for that," she replied, the laugh returning to her voice. A moment of comfortable silence fell over them, but she broke it when her curiosity got the best of her, "What's your family like?"

"Mom, dad, two younger brothers and two younger sisters. We all grew up in Brooklyn. Sports were the main thing for my family," he reminisced, smiling at the thought of all of the baseball games and boxing matches he went to with them.

"Sounds nice," she said warmly. Turning her head from his shoulder, she looked up at the man before pressing a small kiss to his lips, one that caught him off guard.

"You never fail to surprise me Gideon," the man shook his head, a shade of red rising onto his cheeks.

"I hope that's not a bad thing," she wondered, their faces merely inches apart.

"Of course not," he assured by placing another kiss on his lips, this one long and full of affection, "I need a girl like you to keep me on my toes."

i didn't know how to end this chapter lol yikes

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-Ashley [7/31/16]