London - December 24th, 1944

"I don't care how many times HYDRA bases pop up on our radar. We'll keep takin' them down one by one until there's nothing left." Steve leaned over the map sprawled out on debriefing table, circling the next base with his pointer finger. "Are there any questions before we suit up?"

Y/n scanned the map, blowing out a sigh as her eyes darted from one "X" to another, marking the defeated bases from the past few months.

"Here we go again." Bucky said from beside her, offering a half-smile which was enough to lift her spirits. She cleared her throat slightly, attempting to focus on the meeting ongoing in front of her rather than the scent of Bucky's mint aftershave radiating off of his figure and entangling her senses. She gripped the edge of the table in attempt to ignore the few loose strands of his mocha colored locks that hung over his forehead that she itched to play with in her fingers.

The soldiers who were gathered around shared a few murmurs amongst themselves, before being dismissed by Steve.

To put things lightly, the last few months had been a physical embodiment of hell itself. By all means, Y/n had been well aware of what she had been signing up for; there was a reason people were calling it the Second World War, after all. Her, the Commandos and the rest of the soldiers were lucky enough to be fighting directly next to Steve and his vibranium shield and couldn't begin to compare their battlefield experience to those part of the other divisions. Steve, Y/n and Bucky all witnessed it every single day. The person sitting next to them in meetings, sharing small talk in the halls or around the lunch tables. Seeing their names on the casualty list after a mission was mind-numbingly devastating.

Before Y/n could make her way to the change rooms, she heard his footsteps shadowing her's. She smirked when she suddenly stopped and turned around, causing Bucky to nearly step on her toes. "Thought Steve gave us some pretty clear instructions." She set her hands on her hips.

"I know." Bucky bit down on his lip, providing no cover for the grin that played on his lips. "Guess you've gotten so caught up in your training with Carter, you forgot what day it is tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Tomorrow is..." her expression softened. Bucky nudged her gently with his elbow when realization flooded her eyes.

"Merry Christmas Eve, Y/n."

Y/n smacked her hand to her forehead and groaned. "No way. Already? Could've sworn we still had a few days."

There was no Christmas without Bucky and Steve, Y/n had come to figure that out from a young age. She remembered that very year after her mother passed, when she woke up to the spot in the living room, where the Christmas tree once gleamed charmingly, was absent for the first time. The smell of hot chocolate and the sound of carols crackling on the radio didn't linger in the hallway outside of her bedroom that year. The piano where her mother had taught her Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had become blanketed in a thick coating of dust. Her father threw her a pathetic excuse to why Santa had "accidentally skipped their house," and that there was no use whining all day, because as he assured Y/n, the only thing that would have been piled in her stocking would be mounds of coal.

Quite the dad, he was.

Of course, the two boys never failed to meet the yearly tradition. Y/n vividly remembered the way she gleefully pulled both of them into a hug when they showed up at her doorstep, nearly knocking the presents in their hands. Their little noses had turned pink from the cold, snowflakes coating Bucky's hair and Steve's massive wool hat. It was amusing to remember that there was a time not too long ago when Steve was sensitive to cold weather, among other things.

"Quickly!" Bucky intertwined his warm hand in her own and pulled her in the opposite direction away from the change rooms, snapping her back to present.

"Steve's gonna be waiting." Y/n reminded him, though not exactly opposed to stalling the mission.

Anything to spend more time with him.

"He can wait! I asked that punk to join us earlier but he's too cooped up in leading an entire army to celebrate Christmas, apparently." He said sarcastically. Y/n frowned and nodded in consideration. Saving millions of people was Steve's Christmas present, in a way. At least to him it was.

Y/n suddenly halted and let go of Bucky's hand when they reached the hall leading towards the men's quarters. "Thought I was restricted from this area, Buck."

Bucky immediately scoffed and yanked her back into his grasp towards his room. "Oh for God's sake, Y/n. Don't be stupid. Y'know how many women I hear being snuck into these rooms every night?"

A smirk curved on her lips, suddenly feeling bold to test the waters. "Oh? I take it you've had experience with such a thing?"

Bucky nearly tripped on the floorboards.

"I told ya, I left those bad habits back in Brooklyn, Y/n. Months ago I should add."

Her grin softened when she heard his voice quaver ever so slightly. "I'm jus' messing with you. Promise." Though it wasn't odd to hold her doubts. Even as a kid, Bucky held a Golden Boy reputation amongst everyone.

He let out a light chuckle. One of relief, admittedly. "This is a war, Sergeant Y/n Y/l/n. No room for jokin' around!" He scolded sarcastically as he opened the door to his small room. Two sets of bunk beds were tucked into both the corners of the room, with nothing more than a small square meter of space for the guys to shove their bags into a messy pile between the beds.

"Cozy." Y/n grinned.

Bucky sighed. He began rummaging through his bag. "Yeah. Dunno how Steve can deal with Morita's snoring with that altered hearing of his."

Y/n took a seat on one of the bunks, flattening out the olive green victory suit that matched Peggy's. She enjoyed the alternation between the sharp, chic outfits she'd wear outside the battlefield, to the incredibly comfortable cargo pants she wore on missions.

Bucky pulled out a brown box tied with a blue ribbon, standing up to sit next to her on the bottom bunk. "It's not much,  I'm sorry. Didn't know what to get you during a war like this, so, figured maybe I outta pick something you can use after it's over."

She tilted her head at him and smiled sweetly. "After it's over? Not if it's over?"

Oh, how she adored him.

Y/n gently tugged on the ribbon until it loosely fell open, lifting the lid of the box to reveal a pair of wine red heels that were only raised an inch or so. "Buck..." She let out a small chuckle, shaking her head. "They're..."

"I thought maybe... y'know, we could go dancing when we get back. Or... whoever you go dancing with." He wrung his hands in his lap. "I made it my mission to somehow get you back on the dance floor after that night you told me it was your first time dancing with someone. And I know you hate when heels are too high so..."

Y/n set the box down beside her and immediately pulled him into her arms. "They're absolutely perfect, Buck. Thank you. You didn't have to spend so much on me."

Bucky let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, tightening his hold on her and nestling his nose in her soft hair. "Only the best for you." He wish he could've said out loud.

Y/n eventually drew back, suddenly standing up. "Wait right here. I've got somethin' for you too."

Before Bucky could open his mouth, the door swung as she wizzed out into the hall, promptly returning 30 seconds later with a flat box. "Open it quickly! I've been dying to give it to you." Bucky let out a burst of chuckles as he watched her bounce next to him on the bed.

"Alright, alright now!" He wasted no time in tearing off the ribbon and lifting the white cardboard lid.

"Darlin'..." Bucky shook his head wordlessly as his mouth hung open. He ran his rough hand gently over the navy colored jacket stitched in a lavish fabric, handsomely wrapped in silver tissue paper.

The same one from the window.

"Recognize it?" Y/n rested her chin on his right shoulder as he admired the gift in front of him. "Knew it had to get it for you once I saw it in that window downtown."

"You're ridiculous." He breathed a smile, turning so that he was fully facing her. "You didn't have to do this."

"Oh, shut up." She scoffed, letting him pull her closer to his side. "Merry Christmas, Buck."

"Merry Christmas." He mumbled, wanting nothing more than to kiss her perfect, blush lips that were graced with a radiant smile.

"I know it's a day early but... I'm choosing today to be our Christmas." She shrugged, glancing out the window. "Better here on this bunk bed than out in the field."

"Sounds perfect." He said softly, his voice becoming gravelly from the time spend yelling out to other soldiers over the loud quarrel of crossfires.

The sound made Y/n embarrassingly flustered.

"Long as I've got you guys, my entire Christmas is here with me." Said Y/n. As if on queue, Steve suddenly appeared at the door, placing his hands on his hips. "Aren't you two a day early?"

"Aren't you supposed to be leading an army division?" Y/n retorted, enjoying the laugh she pulled from Bucky beside her.

"You got time for a quick gift exchange?" Bucky asked. Steve's ears immediately flushed red as he looked around apprehensively. "Well... yeah! I have your guy's... stuff. It's just-"

"No, look, I hate seeing you all stressed like that." Y/n groaned, waving him away. "We'll do it when we get back from the mission. I know you're in a rush."

Steve bounced on his heels, his eyes flicking back and forth from his two best friends. "Are ya sure?" Guilt clouded his features, but the mission ahead was paramount in his train of thought.

"Go on, man. We'll be there in a sec." Said Bucky, earning a small thumbs up from Steve as he departed.

Bucky had been too busy watching Steve to notice Y/n's eyes tracing the side of his cheek.

"...what?"

"That cut you got on your cheek yesterday during outdoor training. It looks..." she tilted her head quizically, "almost healed."

He scrunched his brows together. "What do you mean?"

Y/n shook her head, trailing her finger over the slightly raised scar. "Buck, it's been a day. I mean, it wasn't a deep, deep cut, but still. There's barely a mark. It's just odd, is all. I've never seen a wound heal so fast."

Bucky felt around his cheek and grazed his finger over the spot. "I... I don't know. Guess it just healed quick or somethin."

Y/n shrugged and chuckled to herself. "Must be losing my sense of time. God, I almost forgot it was Christmas Eve today."

"Doesn't help when we're out there fighting each fight like it's our last." Said Bucky, frowning and bunching up the edge of the bedsheet in his fists next to him. "Y'know, I never stop worrying about you out there."

"Worrying too much will just spoil Christmas." Y/n offered Bucky a sympathetic smile and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest.

The cut nonetheless still lingered in the back of her mind. She didn't dare bring up the other peculiar things she took note of. All seemingly arising after saving Bucky from the HYDRA facility last year. A few months ago, Bucky had been working alongside her in unloading weapon crates from a shipment container. Her and Jones both had trouble lifting one crate in particular. After pestering Bucky to help with the three person task, when lifting his side of the crate, it seemed to almost float in Y/n and Jones' hands as Bucky set the heavy cargo onto the ground with ease.

Similarly, during another mission, Bucky had set up his sniper at the base of a spruce tree atop a small cliff side. Upon dodging an incoming grenade, Bucky stupidly rolled forward off the cliff side and landed flat onto the limestone below him. Y/n barely had time to reach him before he stood up and brushed himself off like he'd fallen into a foam mat rather than a slab of rock.

Of course, it wasn't as though there was something necessarily wrong with him, at least in her eyes. Physically, he seemed stronger.

Physically.

She caught the way his eyes changed when asking about his fall, or his sudden strength in lifting the crate. Like when Rebecca had asked him for her novel back when he lost it at school, or when him and Steve blew their cash at Coney Island and came home to both mothers with an empty wallet.

Bucky never kept secrets from her or Steve. They made a pact in seventh grade; no big secrets should be kept from one another. There was a bounding sense of trust.

Surely, there were the exceptions that popped up. Like when Y/n got her first period.

Worst time of her life, without a doubt.

Then there was the time Bucky was set to leave for London with the 107th. He hadn't kept that to himself long enough to do any damage.

So this... this new thing. She couldn't quite place it. What was he keeping from her? Does Steve know? Was she just losing it?

She played with his dog tags that tangled by his chest. "We should probably go. Got some HYDRA asses to kick." She said, stepping back, already missing the warmth that radiated off of his body.

"Yeah, you're right. Can't keep Steve waiting or he'll start runnin' over to that base on his own two feet."

Y/n left his room to go change. Once she was out of earshot he heaved out a sigh and fell onto his mattress, holding his head in his hands that were rested on his knees.

She was catching on.

Bucky rubbed at the scar that had knew had been bright crimson and fresh just the night before. The only explanation was that mad German scientist with the cylindrical glasses that used him as his personal lab rat. It didn't matter how hard he thought back; he couldn't recall just what had been done to him. Rather, his mind liked to plague him at night with the parts he wished to forget.

Him and another 107th soldier were sent together by the enemy troops to work in the Austrian Alps a few weeks after being overpowered by their fleet and captured. He remembered only his last name, Harrison. And that he was from Jersey and had a wife waiting for him at home. They were planning on having kids when he got back and having a big, suburban family like the they had always dreamed of. Him and Bucky worked on that mountain top for what felt like days of ceaseless labor. Working in strange factories and digging graves for the future deceased. One particular day, when the two of them collapsed out of exhaustion upon the pile of weapons they'd spent their time unwillingly manufacturing, Bucky could only remember a pair of rough hands dragging his limp body to the back of a truck and waking up in that lab next to Harrison's bludgeoned body.

"Harrison... you with me?" He remembered rasping as quietly as possible, his throat feeling as though he'd swallowed a brick. "Harrison?" He bit back a stream of tears.

He'd seen others shot down in battle in front of him. Grenades ripping apart the bodies of fellow and opposing soldiers until there were no remains to search for.

This felt different.

"It's over. I'm next." He remembered thinking to himself, too in shock to continue to acknowledge the man he'd become friends with during weeks in hell had been laying dead a foot away from him for God knows how many days.

This wasn't how he wanted to go.

Bucky's mind was racing at a hundred miles per hour as his gaze switched from the tools hanging above him to his friend beside him. He still hadn't got a taste of that 'happy family' his ma wanted for him, or see Rebecca go to college like she dreamed she would.

Never got to tell Y/n just how much he loved her.

He still spent sleepless nights wondering how Harrison had died, or what those scientists did to either of their bodies. Each time, they would place Bucky under some distinct type of drug and he'd wake up with a piece of his memory missing. It wasn't until he saw Y/n and Steve hovering over him that he regained his own self completely.

When Y/n struck up the conversation about what it would be like to have Steve's serum, Bucky couldn't help but wonder if HYDRA had indeed managed to replicate it already. If he was their guinea pig for the experiment.

But he hadn't grown in height or bulked up in muscle the way Steve had. Sure, Steve had... more room for growth, per say. But if that serum entered Bucky's body, he was sure there'd be a visual difference.

Bucky's eyes trailed to the spot on the bed Y/n had been sitting on not two minutes ago. He hadn't told her, or anyone the gory details. Even if it was eating him from the inside out.

He wasn't the only one facing the viciousness of the war, after all. Telling Y/n would only cause her more stress and worry over him. He was only glad she hadn't been fighting in a war that once persisted without the golden super soldier. Steve was more than a global symbol of hope, but one hell of a leader as well. In Bucky's eyes, the worst of it was over. Y/n had him and Steve, and he had them. Steve's lead was on a path to victory, and soon enough they'd all be back home in Brooklyn, drinking whiskey, dancing to swing.

Their lives could resume like normal.

•••

"This base is so much smaller than the last few, why are there so many of them protecting it?" Y/n grumbled to herself, reaching into her side pocket for a reload of her sniper's ammunition. She refused to look down from her spot perched up on a thick oak branch, providing the perfect scope of the base beyond the 20 foot tall iron-barred fence.

And the perfect opportunity to fall and break an arm or a leg.

"Told ya' I should do the sniping for this one." Bucky's voice buzzed from the walkie-talkie Howard had given each of them. "Don't tell me you've already gotten over your fear of heights."

Y/n shakily glanced down before snapping her vision straight forward. "Mmhmm."

"Y/n, can you see any weak points from there?" Steve said through the speaker.

She peered through the scope of her sniper, shaking off her fear and focusing on the task. "Negative. They've got their soldiers lined up at every possible inch of the perimeter. I'll take out as many as I can from up here."

"Looks like we picked the right day for a grenade frenzy." Dugan quipped as he followed closely behind Steve towards the main gate. "No choice but to force our way through these bastards."

As much as Dugan's humor managed to ease the tension, the overwhelming darkness that consumed her whenever she gazed towards the HYDRA base was enough to dim the light. She felt the slight tremor of the explosions in the distance vibrate through the branch under her. She could only pray for the other half of the troops who were fighting by the front entrance. Steve brought his half to the rear entrance, which wasn't necessarily guarded any less than the front.

"They're hiding something in there." She chewed down on her bottom lip. This wasn't gonna be an easy one.

"No." She said abruptly through the walkie-talkie. "Don't go charging in. They're waiting for you to drop your guard and stampede into a trap. I can see a lot of their soldiers moving around past the bars of the gate."

"Shit." Bucky could hear them gathering at the other side, tanks rumbling to face the entrance. "She's right. We gotta move out a bit and come up with a better plan. They've got tanks lined up ready to blast us to pieces the second we enter."

"Sneak attack it is." Steve nodded, motioning for the Commandos and Bucky to follow him while letting the others cover the rest of the perimeter.

"Y/n, cover the entrance and keep us updated." Steve muttered quietly.

"Roger that, Rogers." She chuckled slightly at her lame joke before resuming to scoping out the area.

The HYDRA soldiers continued to creep out of the gate like ants, with Y/n leaving no room for any pathetic ambush they were planning as she shot each one down.

In the back of her mind, she threw together a backup plan in case her cleverly set up hiding spot were to be discovered. Then again, was it really so clever when Steve suddenly threw her up into the tree in the first place?

Him and Bucky definitely planned that beforehand.

It was a massive spruce tree, not small enough for anyone to shake her out of it from the ground. The only attack she should be worried about from up here was from a damn squirrel. Either way, one wrong movement and one of the enemies from down below could detect her and alert the rest of the incoming HYDRA soldiers.

She suddenly locked eyes with an unusually large rock that had been tossed over the gate.

The switch in her brain had gone off only a millisecond too late before she could warn her allies below.

"GRENA-"

She immediately covered her face and heard a series of frantic commotion as dense clouds of black smoke filled the air. She swallowed the thick wave of nausea that had washed over her upon believing a grenade was about to blow her and her teammates to pieces in a blink of an eye.

Not a grenade. Smoke bomb. Everything was okay for now.

She clutched her firearm tightly and aimed as soon as one of the dozens of newly appearing HYDRA soldiers was visible from her altitude.

"Yeah, I see you." She muttered when two soldiers emerged from the smoke with their rifles pointing likely at one of her teammates.

She steadily lined up her shot and watched as the first one collapsed. Before the other could spot her, she quickly took him out and sighed in relief when she saw one of the soldiers she recognized from the 107th wave a subtle thank you. The smoke eventually cleared and her eyes darted from one target to the other.

Her eyes then fixated onto a figure emerging from behind the gate. They nearly stumbled to the ground as they frantically fled the HYDRA base, suddenly beginning to wave their arms in Y/n's direction.

Then she recognized the signature hat.

Dugan's voice broke through the speaker. "Y/N! GET DOWN. THEY'RE 'BOUT TO BREAK DOWN THE-"

BOOM

Curses flew past her lips as the fence busted open in a massive explosion that shook the ground beneath her. Two massive tanks armed to the rim came rumbling in her direction with soldiers scrambling away while simultaneously shooting blindly behind them.

"Fuck!" Y/n glanced around desperately, her right hand tugging down harshly on her helmet to shield from the debris that flew around and scattered the air.

"Y/n! Are you hurt?" Bucky's voice shook as he yelled through the speaker, panting as he ran from the base.

"I-I'm okay! I just need to find a way out of this goddamn tree!" Her eyes grew as the tanks sped towards her.

Without a second thought she narrowed in on a lower branch on a tree that was about seven feet behind her. She lunged for it and let out a cry when it bent downwards at her sudden weight. At this point, she was already about 15 feet from the ground. It'll do.

"Just like Peg, taught you." She muttered to herself, taking one last glance at the incoming tanks and diving toward the ground. She braced herself and leapt off the branch, landing in a shoulder roll that hardly managed to break the impact of the fall. Dozens of soldiers rampaged around her as the tanks drew nearer and delivered luminous blue blasts that created gaping craters in the dirt.

Y/n didn't give herself a single second to complain and she lifted herself off the ground, not wasting any time to whip out her rifle to replace her sniper and fire towards the soldiers that emerged from behind the tank itself.

"There's... too... many of them!" Jones' hollered through the speaker over the sound of gunfire and his own breathlessness. "...Shit! We gotta retreat!"

Y/n ignored him and kept her eyes trained on the enemy soldiers who were charging in her direction with ruthless intent and a drive to kill.

Soldiers on both sides clashed and fell in every direction around her as she split through the trees and fired until her ammo ran dry, ducking and wincing at the explosions that went off a mere few feet away from her.

One particular blue ray set off a massive blast that sent her flying until she hit the ground with a dull thud. "Argh!"

"Y/N! Shit..."

Bucky had heard her voice and immediately rushed towards her pained moan. "Shit! I need a medic! Someone, please!"

"N..No!" Y/n pushed herself up and found his hand, gripping it hard as she stood up slowly. "I'm fine. The impact got me, is all."

Bucky momentarily ignored the commotion of war around him and searched her eyes for conformation. He would drop his guns and ammo onto the ground and surrender everything before leaving her behind.

When she eventually nodded, he huffed a relieved sigh and motioned for her to follow him through the forest. His attention drew towards a large boulder that sat behind a bundle of pine trees and he yanked Y/n by the arm down into a crouch behind the rock.

The two sat for a moment and took advantage of their cover, panting as they pressed their backs against the smooth rock while the others continued to shoot.

"Steve... managed... to get inside." Bucky gasped between breaths, shutting his eyes and throwing his head back. "We just gotta keep 'em busy for now."

Y/n nodded as she listened, not having quite caught her breath just yet. Steve got the easy job.

"Can't believe you two threw me into a tree." She eventually muttered hoarsely. "Would've gone down with it if I didn't jump some 30 feet."

"Fine, I owe you." He groaned, pushing himself up slightly to peer past the rock. "We can get a few from back here, c'mon."

She perched her sniper above the rock's surface and squinted through her scope, tracing the movements of each enemy soldiers that came barreling in their direction.

"Where do these bastards keep coming from?" Bucky said after a minute, watching as more HYDRA soldiers appeared from behind the gate.

"They're getting desperate." Y/n shook her head as she reloaded her gun. "The famous 'Captain America' has since taken down each and every base we've been able to plot on a map. They're scared and are throwing out as many of their soldiers as possible." She frowned and motioned for Bucky to stand up. "Damnit, they've spotted us! Let's get a move on!"

Bucky followed her through the surrounding gunfire, both of them hunching downwards as they dipped through the shots and explosions that nearly knocked them off their feet.

"Barnes!" One of the 107th soldiers spoke through the radio. "I've got a group workin' on taking out this bunker over here! You think you can tackle those tanks?"

Bucky led Y/n towards the group that had set up a cover spot behind a small cluster of oak trees. "Yeah. We'll take care of it." He hollered through the speaker, making eye contact with the other soldiers around him. They all exchanged mutual nods and took off towards the tanks.

There was no plan, they were all too far gone and delirious from exhaustion for that. The need for any logical plan was abandoned hours ago.

"How should we do this?" Bucky yelled from beside her as they ran towards the incoming vehicles the size of a small bungalow.

Y/n grimaced as she wracked her brain for any kind of strategy that could work in the next 30 seconds. "Weak points..." she said under her breath. "The blasters, the operators. Just shoot like there's no tomorrow."

"Yeah and waste ammo?" Another soldier scoffed from the speaker.

"You got another idea?" Y/n retorted. 

The silence that followed answered her question. Bucky smirked from beside her as they approached the side-by-side tanks that were now stationary and aimed towards any soldiers part of the Allies.

Y/n and Bucky parked themselves each behind two neighboring trees. She tossed aside the empty socket and hastily jammed in another round of ammo into her shotgun and slinging her sniper into the leather holder on her back.

She slowly peered past the trunk of the tree and aimed for the few HYDRA soldiers that were perched at the top openings of the tanks and firing with their own guns.

Bucky shook his head as he fired towards one of their blasters. "They're all sealed off in those chunks of metal."

"Would grenades work?" Y/n inquired.

"Don't think so, I saw another guy try that and the blue stuff created some kind of... force field."

"GUYS. CATCH!"

Y/n's eyes flicked to the sound of Steve's voice as he came sprinting in their direction, tossing every soldier a weapon of some sort.

Bucky and Y/n both shared puzzled glances when an oddly round shaped grenade landed in each of their hands.

"Alright everyone." Steve popped through the speaker. "On my count, activate the grenades and aim for the inside of those blasters and any other opening into the tank.

Y/n took a moment and eyed the gaping hole where the luminous blue shots were coming from. Whatever Steve had dug out from inside that base couldn't be anything normal.

1...

2...

3...
NOW!

In the blink of an eye, Y/n's gaze snapped up towards the murky sky that suddenly turned to a blazing, electric blue. She almost wanted to admire such a color, like what she imagined being sucked into a wormhole would feel like. It was then that her daydream was cut short when her body was thrown into the dirt yet again. This time, though, would surely leave more lasting damage and undoubtedly a massive bump on the back of her head.

She groaned and forced herself to sit up, her eyes widening when the spot her and Bucky had been standing was now a good yard away. Bucky was immediately by her side.

"Y/N! Don't move, let me help you up." He held her hand tentatively. Y/n's mind was too busy spiraling like a whirlpool to question how he'd gotten up so fast, or what had just came out of those grenades and how every soldier in the radius was launched a colossal distance away from the tanks that had disappeared into thin air.

Bucky scanned her face, his soot covered hand grazing over her face gingerly with concern. "What the hell did Steve find in that place?"

Y/n accepted Bucky's offered hand and pulled herself up, ignoring the dull ache in her lower back from being flung into the ground several times.

"Something... definitely out of this world."

"Where the hell did it go? There's no debris or anything."

"Haven't gotta clue." She blinked away the dizziness and turned to face him. It was her turn to worry. "What about you? Are you injured?"

"No, I'm alright." He lied. In a way, he felt a little better than alright, even.

"I managed to find some information. Everyone retreat at once." Steve announced to the troops. Was he really not gonna acknowledge the elephant in the room until they got back?

Y/n heaved out a sigh and smiled weakly. "Glad that's finally over, for now." She looked down at her uniform, then to Bucky and suddenly bursted out laughing. "Jeez, we look horrible."

"Yeah, well." Bucky sucked on his teeth. "We almost got blown up a few times so..."

Y/n strolled up close to him and skimmed her finger along his face that was also covered in soot, tracing a smiley face on his cheek and giggling. "Hey, we made it. That's what matters, and we're one step closer to winning this war than we were yesterday."

Bucky flashed her a dopey smile. He rubbed off the grime on his face with his sleeve and swung his arm around her shoulders and nudged her gently. "Yes, Sergeant Y/l/n." He stopped and thought for a moment, wondering what had led him to suddenly become allured to the way Y/n's eyes shone on her dirt covered face like gems in a pile of stones. The sun that crept past the snow clouds casted an amber colored ray that lit up her gaze. He cleared his throat and gestured ahead of them. "Let's get outta here."

Y/n nodded, locking her eyes away from the medics who rushed past them towards their own wounded soldiers. She couldn't bear to look just yet.

"About how many casualties?" Steve questioned through the speaker.

Bucky's eyes trailed towards the medical team as they began boarding the jet. "Not many." He sighed in slight relief. "Maybe five or so, from what I can tell."

"Captain! We have a problem." One of the medics reported.

"We're missing about 20 soldiers from the unit. Captain, they're nowhere to be found."

Y/n shook her head. "I don't understand. Were they taken hostage?"

"No, I made sure to sweep the whole building. None of them entered with me either." Said Steve.

Y/n's thoughts flickered to the tank that had disappeared from the grenades. The glow of blue. "Steve... save those weapons. There's something definitely wrong. HYDRA has something up their sleeve. Something... dangerous."