When they met up with the other American squads, Steve immediately got called away to the general's tent. He nodded, despite how tired he was and followed the corporal away. His muddy back disappearing into the crowd of soldiers. The rest of the howling commandos were led towards the mess tent for food. Basil and Bucky glancing after Steve as he went. "Good old cap off to see the higher ups", Dum Dum commented. "They love him".

"It's the blond good boy from Brooklyn charms", Basil joked. He had a bad feeling about this meeting . It was a prickling in his stomach. The men laughed.

"Do I have that?" Bucky asked.

"Only blondies have it Barnes", Gabe slapped him on the shoulder. "Let's go and get some food. I'm starved for something other than canned food".

"Spam spam spam", Basil began singing.

Gabe covered his ears. "No! Get that blasted thing away from me". Basil cackled and began chasing him towards the mess tent. The prospect of new supplies giving them energy. Gabe yelped and sprinted away, Basil hot on his ears. Sam let out a whoop and joined in.

"Spam!"

"beans!"

"Spam!"

"Beans!"

"Make it stop!" Gabe cried as he collapsed in the grass. Basil giggled as he leaned over the older man.

"I am ashamed to say that I actually miss our school dinners", Pinky groaned as he strolled over. "Even the unidentifiable meat. At lest it wasn't grey". He held out a hand and hauled Gabe to his feet.

"My mum's curries", Basil sighed wistfully. "Rice, potato, carbohydrates. My one true love, o how I miss thee". The men all groaned at the words.

"My wife would make this light and fluffy bread she would bake in our oven", Dum Dum sighed. "I miss it almost as much as I miss her". The unmarried men, including Basil, all jeered are the show of affection. "You're just jealous I have a beautiful woman waiting for me". Dum dum grinned at them.

"The only women I have waiting for me are my sisters", Sam said.

Bucky laughed. "Same". They slapped their hands together with large grins.

"Seriously Bucky?" Monty remarked. "A young charmer like you, I thought would have a whole group of girls waiting for him".

"Na". Bucky shrugged, "I'm great for a night out dancing but I wasn't exactly settling down material. The girls all wanted dependable types". He made a hand movement at the word 'dependable' and snorted in amusement.

"What about you Basil?" Jim voiced. "Got yourself any gals?"

"Nope", Basil laughed. Behind him, Bucky hid a smirk. "My brother has most likely corrupted them all by now, either that or my mother scared them off. She's vicious".

"If she raised you then I don't doubt it", Monty remarked with a raised eyebrow. He holstered his gun on his shoulder and gave Basil a pointed look. "You do have a certain reputation Basil".

Basil cackled and Same pointed. "That. That is it. You laugh like a psycho man. It's creepy". Basil laughed harder.

"Stop scaring him Parrish", Bucky grinned as he swung a arm over Basil's shoulders and pulled him close as his hand ruffled his curls. "These little daisies are scared of a five foot seven kid".

"I'm not a kid", Basil pouted. "I'm the one who stitches your knife wounds together".

"What knife wounds?" Gabe asked. Basil raised an eyebrow and held up a small shiny blade. Gabe grinned. "Alright. Got it you mad Doctor. Come on guys", he waved at them. "Let's find some grub and some sleep yeah". The rest of the squad let out relieved groans as they followed him into the mess tent. Basil giggled and sheathed his knife again. He looked up and he and Bucky shared secret smiles as they walked together after them.

——

"I heard that there's a man who does tattoos", Basil said as he sat down on Bucky's cot. As this was a large camp with several squads, they had been provided rickety wooden camp beds. They still had to share their usual tents but there was enough room to set up three camp beds so that they were raised off the floor. It made things more comfortable. (If Basil and Bucky pushed both their together each evening to form one big bed then no one needed to know. They slept wrapped up together so often now that it was almost muscle memory. Besides, they pushed the cots apart again in the morning as to not raise any suspicions).

"And you're telling me this because?" Bucky barely paused in his letter writing. Basil could see the name Rebecca at the top and recalled the name as belonging to Bucky's oldest sister.

"I want a tattoo", Basil stated. "Apparently he does tattoos in return for things. I still have some of the last boiled sweets Phillip sent me. I'm sure that would be enough for the both of us".

This time Bucky did look up. "You want me to get a tattoo too?"

"I want to get matching ones", Basil smiled. He swallowed, suddenly nervous about his idea. His voice dropped to a low tone so that they wouldn't be overheard. "Not necessarily romantic ones. Just the whole, 'I survived Hydra experiments' thing. Just something that would remind us that we got through it".

"Why do you need a reminder?" Bucky folded up his half finished letter and stuck it and the pencil into his pocket. His blue eyes were calm.

Basil shifted round so that he was sitting facing him. He shrugged, "I just wanted something that could prove that out of all the scars and marks this war has left on me, there will be one thing on my skin that I choose. If I wanted to ask for something romantic then I would ask to swap one of our dog tags". The dog tags were a means of identification. Name and solider number inscribed in to Tin squares. Each soldier got two. One to send home to the family, the other to ram in the jaw of their dead body in hopes of identifying it later. But not everybody's body was found, or found whole. So in the end. The dog tags were just a means to identify who died. Basil had heard that soldiers who were close, wether like him and Bucky or like brothers, would swap one so that their names hung together.

At the mention of Dog tags, Bucky paused. Basil blinked. "Ignore what I said about the dog tags Sarge. But what do you think about the tattoo? It would be small but we have a few days respite here before we move on to our next mission. If you don't want one then it's okay. You don't have too".

Bucky tiled his head and smiled. "What design were you thinking off?"

"Really? You want to get one with me Sarge?" Basil let his lips tug up in the corners.

"Sure", Bucky shrugged. "Why not? It's not the stupidest decision I've had. And definitely not yours. What do you think we should get?"

Basil beamed and scooted closer. "I want a sun. A small sun. A circle surrounded by flames because in that lab is felt like I was on fire. Like I was being burned alive but we survived. Came through the flames and out the other side like phoenixes". He reached dour with one finger and drew lightly on the skin on the back of Bucky's hand. "I still don't know what they injected us with. But I have a feeling that the after effects still haven't really hit us yet. My notebook was basically ruined by that bullet so my notes on our symptoms are gone. But I've been feeling jittery recently. Like I have too much energy and can't keep still. It's been putting me on edge".

"I've been getting that too", Bucky murmured. "I just thought that it was the environment but my sight has grown sharper. I barely need my scope anymore and when you got shot. I swear I moved faster than should have been possible. But it could have been the adrenaline".

"We shall keep an eye on each other then", Basil smiled. Bucky grinned back, hand turning over in Basil's grip so that they could interlock fingers.

"So who's the guy doing the tattoos?"

Basil hummed and shrugged. "A medic I met. He showed me his needles and I've always wanted a tattoo".

"Come on", Bucky stood. "Let's go and do this before Steve leaves his meetings and tries  to talk us out of it". Basil laughed as Bucky pulled him to his feet. "As for the dog tags", Bucky pressed a kiss to Basil's cheek. Their tent walls shielding them from view. "I have gone through more things with you in the last year than any other person, apart from Steve, that I know. If I die, I want your name with me".

"I want your name with me", Basil sighed softly as he leant into Bucky's hold. "I want to carry a piece of you with me because even if we don't work out, I will never regret being with you". For a minute they just stood there. Arms holding each other in a loose embrace as they pressed their foreheads together, eyes closes and just inhaling each other's presence.

After a suitable amount of time, Basil opened his eyes to take in the other man's face. The paleness of his skin and the light stubble round his jaw. The dark of his hair and the constant slight upturn at the edges of his lips. The deep set of his eyes and the sharpness of his cheekbones with the straight angle of his nose. (Bucky had once said that he had broken his nose in a fight but he had set it well. If Basil hadn't been told the story then he wouldn't ever off believed that it had happened). "You're staring", Bucky whispered with a smile. He opened his eyes and they were so infinitely blue, like the sky as it starts to blacken at dusk. A colour so dark and vibrant that Basil could never get tired of it.

"I can't help it", Basil smirked and put on a ridiculously over the top American accent. "You're killer doll".

Bucky snorted loudly and doubled over in Basil's arms as he began laughing. "Stick to your posh toff accent Parrish. I don't need you butchering mine". He continued laughing and had to take a few deep breaths before he could speak again. "I think that was the worst accent I have ever heard". His Brooklyn accent was soft and Basil loved the sound. (He loved him but he wasn't ready to speak that aloud yet). Bucky grinned and leaned over to press a kiss to Basil's forehead. "Besides, you're the doll. You're far prettier than me".

"Aww Sarge", Basil wrinkled his nose and flicked his chest. "Don't tease me. I know I'm not exactly plain but I wouldn't call myself pretty".

"Why not?" Bucky's lips were pink as he licked them. "It's your golden skin and green eyes. And those curls. Fluffy curls". He ruffled them pointedly and Basil couldn't help his smile.

"Says mr tall dark and handsome here. Dark hair, blue eyes, great bone structure. You're every girl's dream. I'm slightly too short, way too dark skinned for polite society", Basil made quotation marks in the air at the words 'polite society'. "And I tend to scare people off".

"I think it's the laugh". Bucky grinned as he leaned over to press a lingering kiss to Basil's lips. "Anyone who told you you weren't handsome were obviously blind. You're a doll". Basil couldn't help the blush rise to his cheeks

"Sarge stop being so sappy. Come on, let's go and get stabbed with needles before you turn on your good Brooklyn boy charm".

"I thought you said only blondes had that", Bucky chuckled as Basil let him go and pushed at the tent flap. With a finds but amused grin, he followed the shorter man.

Unedited

Am I just building their relationship up before Bucky's 'death'? Yes.
Am I adding in my own personal head cannons? Yes.
Was this a pure fluff chapter that I wrote for my own enjoyment? Yes.
Enjoy.