B U C K Y

...because I believe in you. Hold onto that, I finish reading her letter, every single word consumes me so much that I read it over and over again. She wrote me. Although I basically hurt her with my words, acted harshly toward her on our last night, she still worries about me. God, what have I done? Why did I have to be such a dick, I even made her cry. It feels like I not only wasted our last night, but also the last eight years. Wasted time. We could have been happy.

"Hey, Bucky." Dum Dum Dugan, a blonde and blue-eyed teammate and friend, nudges me, bringing me back to reality. His name is actually Timothy but we call him Dum Dum Dugan. "What're ya reading? Don't tell me it's still the same letter."

"It is." I confirm, carefully folding the letter and putting it safely into my left front pocket. "I'm just relieved that she wrote me."

"Your girl?" Dugan raises a brow in the air, tilting his head. It jerks uncomfortably in the troop carrier, we all sit close together with weapons in our hands, ready to take down german soldiers.

"It's complicated but basically, yes." I nod half proudly. I mean, she kissed me back which is a good sign but she didn't exactly say 'I love you' back. Pressing my lips together, the confusion overwhelms me. "Hey, Dugan, what does it mean when a girl kisses you back but doesn't return your 'I love you'?"

"Thought you dated a lot of dames already, Barnes? Shouldn't you know better?" He tilts his head teasingly and I roll with my eyes playfully. Gabe Jones, a black young guy, next to us smirks amused at our conversation.

"That was the old me. Besides that, she's not like the others." A little smile spreads over my face when I think of how all the little things she always does already makes her so special and unique.

"Lovesick son." Dugan shakes his head sighing but ends up grinning. "Well, I have no idea of women either, they're complicated as hell. When you think you understand them, you're wrong. But we shouldn't talk about this right now, the next stop is Azzano which means back to the war zone."

"I honestly imagined my first trip to Italy different." I sigh when I think of the bombs and gun shots again, remembering the last time I was on the field. It was terrifying, like I was on a place between life and death.

"Maybe when this is all over, you can take your girl to Italy. Requires that you two are over your complicated shit as well." He advises me shrugging as we arrive and the transporter stops. All the soldiers go out and stand in a line, waiting for the colonel to give orders.

"Everyone to the front line, two miles north! Follow our plan! Move forward!" We do as he commands and bend down, advancing in this position to our location. Jones is in front of me, Dum Dum Dugan behind me. We go through the mud, hiding in the trench, slowly and carefully, prepared for shooting.

"I don't wanna complain but I'd be grateful if you remove your ass from my face, Barnes." Dugan shouts-whisper behind me, making me chuckle.

"Maybe you should remove your face from my ass." I suggest playfully and we keep advancing in silence, the laughter cease. Suddenly an explosion goes off close to us, my ears deafen for a second and everything goes so fast. Germans appear, shouts and fire arise, guns start shooting and I immediately hide behind the trench, shooting down german soldiers with my gun. I don't have the time to be scared, I need to react or else I'll die. I need to stay alive for her.

"There's gotta be at least five more companies out there!" Dugan jumps into the trench next to me, our faces are mud smudged and the view is foggy because of the bombs and smoke. I can barely understand him, the flying bullets take away most of my hearing.

"Radio B Company, tell them we need cover!" I shout to Gabe who joins us. The rest of our team is lost or separated through our enemy.

"This might be tough!" He yells back, showing me the damage.

"Bucky, behind you!" Dugan warns me and I don't hesitate to turn around and start shooting. A few men fall down but then another bomb explodes and we bend down to protect ourselves. Dum Dum's helmet flies off and I turn around, seeing that more are coming from the other side.

"Here they come!" I let the others know and start shooting at each one. The adrenaline rushes through my body, my motivation is to survive. Survive to see my best friend and the girl I love again.

All of sudden, the german soldiers get hit by a strange blue light, it looks like a new kind of energy or fire and has the same effects like a grenade. We slowly stand up, being all confused while some of us cheer of joy. I just frown when a panzer appears, I've never seen a weapon shooting like that.

"That looks... new." Dum Dum comments, staring at the weapon that takes down the Germans. Who the hell is behind that? Those panzer were never at our military base. It suddenly turns to us, aiming at us as I widen my eyes and a shout leaves my mouth.

"DOWN!"

E  V  E

"What terrible weather." Mr Jarvis annotates with a sigh, referring to the growling thunder outside. I've actually never heard such a loud thunder and I even almost flinch every time it fulminates with a loud and uncomfortable noise. It sounds like bombs would go off. "Are you alright, Miss Farrell? You look pale. Is it because of the weather?"

"No, I'm actually not afraid of thunder." I shake my head, pressing my lips slightly together. "It's just that I have suddenly a weirdly bad feeling. Maybe because of the strange sound of this bloody loud thunder, I mean, this can't be normal, right?"

"I have to admit that this thunder does sound quite exceptional. And I am pretty sure that there is lightning too, we would just know more if there were windows."

"If there were windows, they'd break and here would be a chaos." I somehow don't get rid of my bad feeling, my chest feels tight as if something bad is happening right now. Howard is gone for four days already, but I'm actually sure that he's alright.

"Are you sure you're fine, Miss Farrell? We could also go somewhere else but this laboratory." He suggests but before I can say something, a loud crash fills the air and the lights start to jitter, the electricity weakens. We both look up to the ceiling. "What was that?"

"Maybe a lightning bolt hitting the earth. The power supply line got probably effected which is why, the lights are jittering." I can't really read the file anymore and narrow my eyes. "Mr Jarvis, would you mind getting some candles?"

"I'm on my way." He stands up from his chair and pauses for a second before he leaves. "Are you still sure that we're allowed to read that?"

"I'm pretty sure that we're not but I'll still do it anyway." I shrug and he just shakes his head and gets the candles. It's the Project Reborn file, there's written the exact process. They begin with a series of micro injections into my major muscle groups. The serum infusion will cause immediate cellular change. And then to stimulate growth, I will be saturated with vita rays which is gonna happen in a capsule that is right next to me.

I am sure that it's gonna be hella painful but I need to survive this. I still need to tell Bucky that I love him, I owe him that. Putting down the file, I walk to the capsule and stare at the huge size. Steve and I could fit together in it. Another lightning bolt hits the earth, this time much closer and I get frightened as hell. God, what kind of weather is this? I thought London would be just rainy.

"Get in!" Howard's shout makes me turn around as my eyes widen why he's suddenly back. Jarvis rushes into the lab, followed by a soldier, in the background is the sound of flying bullets and foreign voices. The three of them lock up the door, the soldier loads his gun.

"Howard?! What's happening?!" I ask confused and now I can understand the voices from outside. German. "A-are those- don't tell me here are actually german soldiers!"

"Hydra found us, Hydra also found out where Project Rebirth took place and killed Dr. Erskine." Howard passes me, taking a few items from the lab. The shock overwhelms me and I try not to panic but I can't help but be suddenly scared. The loud shots and yells make me flinch, they're trying to open the door.

"There are still a few SSR agents outside who fight against them but we don't have enough people! Miss Farrell, I need you to stay safe in the corner! Mr Jarvis, I need you to block the door!" The soldier commands and Mr Jarvis immediately helps him although I can also see the fear in his eyes. I run to Howard who is hectically grabbing as much stuff as possible.

"What's our plan?!" I want to know, feeling helpless and way too close to death. Another lightning hits the ground, a few lights die. My heart is actually killing me right now, crashing nervously against my rib cage.

"Saving the information. Then... I don't know!" Howard runs a hand through his hair, frustration in his voice. "There's no escape! There is just this door and even if we would get through this troop, outside are way more people!"

Howard Stark, the smartest inventor and genius, is helpless and panics. I try to steady my breath and mentally hold onto the photo that I carry in my pocket. Don't freak out, find a solution. My look lands on the capsule and it clicks in my mind, the pressure makes me think faster.

"Project Reborn!" I blurt out panicky, trying to blend out my fear. "Hydra wants the serum, right? I- I mean, that's why they're here. But that's why we're here too! Dr. Erskine was the only one who could create the serum but now he's dead, we have the last bit of the serum! Put me in this machine, I'll do it!"

"Are you insane?! No!" He immediately disagrees. "The electricity isn't working correctly, thanks to the weather, and Hydra is about to walk in and kill us! Besides that, Steve Rogers almost couldn't handle the procedure- "

"What?" I interrupt him, glaring at him. "Did you just say Steve Rogers, the Steve Rogers, my best friend Steve Rogers was the subject for Project Rebirth?!"

"Now's not the right time to be mad at me, Eve, I know, I should've told you about that but I couldn't, okay?!" He shouts, hinting that the door could break any time. That's why, he avoided to tell me the truth. "We're not gonna do this, I'm not gonna risk- "

I slap his face as hard as I can, a burning prickle is left behind in my palm but I don't care at all. I am just bloody angry, adrenaline rushes through my veins while he stares in disbelief at me, holding his hand against his cheek. "You knew the whole time how worried I was about him! You knew it the whole damn time but you just told me about the stupid camp he was at and now you're telling me that he almost couldn't handle the procedure?! What if he couldn't have handled it and would have died?! What would have you told me then?!"

"I'm sorry, okay?! That's why, I couldn't tell you, it was classified! God, did you have to slap me? It hurts!" He complains which makes me even angrier.

"What are we gonna do now? The door will break after our agents are defeated!" The soldier yells and I try to calm down, I can be mad at Howard later. Steve survived. He's still alive, that means it worked.

"I tell you what we're gonna do." I glance at Howard, still incredibly furious and mad but my rage gives me at least strength. "You owe me now, Howard, very big, for this stupid secret. Steve survived, you were there and saw it yourself, so I'm gonna survive too. We're gonna do Project Reborn because I rather die through our experiment than through a Nazi, otherwise all the work was for nothing. You wanna make good your mistakes? You wanna stop feeling guilty? Fine. Prove it. Prove it by helping me to save us."

He first sighs but in the end, he gives in. "I hate how convincing you can always be. And that you slapped me. But okay, let's do it. Let's turn you into a super-soldier."

A/N- I wish you all a happy New Year! And I hope that you have a great start into the year 2017!