Ghost Soldiers || Bucky Barnes

Chapter 34: World Exposition of Tomorrow

Bucky left for the training camp in New Jersey a week after he joined the army. He had already been there for over a month, and he had almost completed his training. They had taught him how to fight, how to fire a gun, and how to be strong. And it had been extremely difficult, but he had managed to succeed in everything.

By the end of April, he completed it and he was going back to New York for one more day, before they shipped him off to Europe. He took the train back to the city along with other recruits who lived there as well, where they would have one last day of freedom to spend with whoever they wanted.

He hadn't talked to Clementine or Steve in over a month, and he missed them tremendously. He felt awful about lying to her, but he knew it was for the best. He knew she didn't understand how important it was for him to volunteer, so he told himself he would never tell her the truth. But he did end up telling Steve about it, and he knew his friend desperately wanted to go with him.

When he got to the city, he noticed people staring at him. He was wearing his new uniform, and he loved it. It made him feel important, and he knew it since citizens were looking at him with admiration.

He arrived in Brooklyn an hour later. He then hopped off the bus and started walking towards Steve's home. The neighbourhood looked the same to him, even though things had changed drastically since he had left. And just when he was two blocks away from his friend's house, he noticed a big man hitting a skinny one in an alley, and so he started walking towards them.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?" Asked the big stranger.

"I can do this all day." Said the skinny one, which Bucky recognized as Steve, his best friend.

The stranger then hit Steve in the face, sending him backwards, as he stumbled upon a dumpster and fell to the ground. Bucky then grabbed the stranger by his arm with all his force, getting him away from Steve.

"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" He said, angry.

The stranger then tried to punch him, but Bucky managed to stop him, and pushed him away. The stranger then stared at him with rage, but noticing he was about to have a fight with a trained soldier, he walked away.

Bucky then stared at Steve and sighed.

"Sometimes I think you like getting punched." He said, smirking.

"I had him on the ropes." Said Steve.

Bucky shook his head in disapproval, and picked up a small sheet of paper from the ground. He read it and saw it was Steve's Certificate of acceptability, which had been denied again.

"How many times is this?" He asked him, handling it to him. "Oh, you're from Paramus now? You know, it's illegal to lie on the enlistment form."

Steve rolled his eyes and finally took a look at him. He widened his eyes as he saw him wearing his uniform.

"You got your orders?" He asked him, feeling jealous.

"The 107th." Said Bucky, smirking. "Sargent James Barnes, shipping out to England first thing in the morning. "

Steve sighed and stared at the ground. "I should be going."

Bucky gave him a small smile, before putting his arm around his shoulders and leading him out of the alley.

"Come on man. It's my last night! Let's get you cleaned up."

"Why, where are we going?" Asked Steve.

Bucky smirked and handled him the newspaper. "The future."

Steve then took a look at it, reading the headline "World Exposition of Tomorrow."