Battlefield ★ Bucky Barnes

I. Come Dance With Me

DECEMBER 1941

Constance Mae Jones.

It was a name Bucky had known for quite a number of years—thirteen to be exact.

As the meaning of her name would have it, she was the constant in his life—aside from his childhood friend, Steve Rogers—and she had been since Steve's mom had taken her in as her own all those years ago. Bucky knew from the moment he met Constance that she would have some sort of impact on his life, and thirteen years later only proved that to be true. She was unlike anyone he had ever met, and even at the young age of eleven he somehow knew this to be a fact. Of course, at the time he hadn't expected things with Constance to end up as they had, but now, at age twenty-four, he wouldn't change a thing about his life with her. Constance was everything Bucky had been looking for, and he was thankful that he found what he needed inside her.

Constance was beautiful—very beautiful; she was soft and tender just like the inside of a rose, though she could be just as tough as the thorns that adorned the slender stem. Bucky loved that about her; hell, he loved everything about her. He loved the way she sometimes scrunched her nose up when she ate; he loved the pout on her face when she was tired; he loved the way she didn't seem to care about what others thought of her anymore. He just loved her, even now as he sat quietly on his bar stool watching her dance, he loved her.

"You've been starin' at her for the past ten minutes, Buck," Steve spoke from his spot beside Bucky.

Bucky let out a chuckle, not at all ashamed that Steve's words were, in fact, very true. He just couldn't help himself when it came to her. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Some people might think so," Steve told him as he took a sip of his water.

"I don't care what anyone else thinks," Bucky scoffed. "If I wanna admire my girl from afar, then I'll do just that."

Steve only shook his head at Bucky as he continued watching her dance on the dance floor. As she spun around, her beautiful brown eyes met his, and she stopped. The corner of her lips pulled into a wide smile, one he had been so completely captivated by for years now. She skipped over to him, grabbing his hand in her own once she had approached him.

"Come dance with me, Buck," she spoke happily, just as she always did.

Bucky smirked and squeezed her hand. "I think you might need to let me sober up a bit before I get out there, Connie."

"I told you to stop drinkin' so much when we come out to these things," Connie giggled, eliciting a fluttering sensation in Bucky's stomach.

"Don't forget he's drinkin' for two," Steve chimed as he held up his glass of water.

Connie shook her head at the two boys—her boys. With each passing day, she grew more and more thankful to have them by her side, no matter how much they annoyed her. They had both come into her life at a time in which she needed someone, and for that she was forever grateful. The two filled the void inside her that had been left by the untimely absence of her adoptive family—the family that hadn't wanted her, just as it seemed her birth mother before hadn't wanted her—though it was Bucky who definitely had more of an effect on her emotional state than Steve did. Connie was better because of Bucky, and she felt the love she had longed for for years because of Bucky as well.

"I completely forgot."

"He's living vicariously through me and you know I can't let him down, Cons," Bucky told her.

Connie frowned and tugged on his hand. "Just one dance, please?"

"How 'bout we save the dancin' for tomorrow night," Bucky pulled her to his body in an instant, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Steve raised a brow in confusion and spoke up before Connie had the chance to. "Why tomorrow? What's goin' on?"

Bucky shrugged and glanced back at his old friend. "I planned a long night out for just the three of us."

"What's the occasion?" Connie asked with narrowed brown eyes. "You never make our plans."

"There's no occasion," Bucky lied, though she didn't catch it. "I just wanted to experience something different for once, and I wanted to experience it with my two favorite people."

"How sweet of you," Steve cooed in a mocking manner.

Bucky rolled his eyes at him. "Hush up, punk."

Connie smiled and shook her head at the two, her eyes meeting Bucky's after a few short seconds. "So. . .where are these plans takin' us, Buck?"

"The future."