Ghost Soldiers || Bucky Barnes

Chapter 41: The Howling Commandos

Bucky stayed in the hospital in the Azzano base for three days. He finally slept all the hours he had missed when he was a prisoner, and he gained back weight and started healing. Clementine and the doctors who checked on him were a little shocked to see how quickly he was healing, and they had no idea why. And he didn't know either, to be honest. He started thinking that maybe it had to do with the substances that he had been injected with, but it didn't make sense.

He didn't tell anyone, not even Clementine, about what they had done to him back there. He was really curious about the unknown substances that were used on him, and he wondered why had he been the only soldier injected with them that survived. However, it was best to keep it a secret. If he told anyone, they would want to make some tests, and he was done with hospitals for awhile. On the other hand, he didn't want to worry Clementine anymore than he already had.

The nightmares started showing up the day after leaving the hospital. He was in the tent once more, along with his friends, and for some reason, he couldn't fall asleep. But once he did, he started dreaming about the things that had happened to him in the HYDRA base, and he always woke up sweating and shaking. But he didn't tell anyone about that either, since he knew it wouldn't do any good.

A week after they were rescued, they left Azzano. The soldiers and the medical personnel packed their things and took trucks that took them to a port, where they took a ship to England. The trip was short and comfortable, and Bucky was glad to go back to England for awhile. The last few months, all he had seen had been war and death, and he needed a break from all that.

When they got to London, Peggy Carter and Colonel Phillips led them to the secret American headquarters in the city, which were found underground. Steve, Clementine and Bucky, among others, were allowed to stay in the rooms they had there, and they were given the day off. Steve spent the day helping around, and tried to remember where were the HYDRA bases distributed around Europe, so they could prepare an attack and bring them down. And Bucky and Clementine decided to go out for a walk in London. They finally had the day just for themselves, and they both felt happy for the first time in months. They caught up on everything, and for that day, they managed to forget all about the war.

Bucky's friends and other soldiers wanted to go to a pub that night, to celebrate that they were all alive. So they decided to go, and Clementine, Maria and Howard decided to go with them. Clementine wore a beautiful red dress she had brought with her, and it was the first time in weeks she had worn something different than her uniform. She had also decided to invite Betty, Claudia and Patricia, who were dying to go out and dance.

That night, they all walked together to the pub, who was near the headquarters. They were all laughing and chatting, and they were planning to get wasted for the first time in months. Clementine and Bucky were walking behind them, so they could spend some time alone after so long.

"Did I tell you how amazing you look on that dress?" Said Bucky, smirking.

Clementine smiled as him and rolled her eyes. "Only about a thousand times since we left the headquarters."

"Well, I'm going to keep telling you that until you get bored of it." He said, and winked at her.

She then took his hand and they walked slowly to the pub. Clementine then smirked as she noticed Maria walking with Stark just ahead of them.

"Those two seem to be getting along." Said Clementine, smiling.

"Howard and Maria ?" He said.

"Yep... but I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not."

"Why would you be concerned?" He asked her, with curiosity.

"Because of his reputation." She said. "I don't want get to her hurt."