[OOM: Marching back to Itay]

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Previously:

"I thought you were dead!"

"I thought you were smaller."

Getting four hundred men safely out of Austria and to Allied territory is not easy, but somehow it's happening. The worst of the wounded are on the tank (driven by Jones and Dugan, two men Steve intends to keep track of) and everyone is helping each other along, sharing water, telling each other of home. They're not only from all over the US but from Europe as well, Free French and English and more.

Steve moves through the group periodically, making sure no stragglers are left behind, but mostly he's at the front of the long, uneven line, leading the way south.

Best of all, he's got Bucky by his side.

He's going to bring Bucky home.




To be continued...

Comments

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Yeah," Steve assures him. "I'm doing okay.

"I want to know more about Schmidt, but it can wait."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Not sure what else I can tell you," Bucky admits. "Anything I can, of course, but I'm not sure what you're looking for."

A beat.

"Give me a hint?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I don't even know if he'd say this kind of stuff around you, but did he give you any hints about what he was ultimately trying to do?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"We didn't exactly talk," he says, dryly. "But he was trying to do something, I know that much. He told that little weasel he 'would not countenance failure.'"

Bucky deepens his tone and imitates Schmidt's accent as best he can as he says the last few words.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I had at least two villains say that in a book at Timely," Steve says. "Who knew that real-life evil geniuses said it too?"

His tone is light, for Bucky's sake, but his expression is troubled.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Maybe he was just reading your books."

Even more dryly than before, although he matches the lightness of his words to Steve's as best he can.

"Didn't he say he's been watching your serials? Could be he's a fan."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"He's been sizing me up," Steve says quietly. "Know your enemy.

"He knew about the experiment Dr. Erksine performed on me--he sent the assassin who killed Erskine. He knew it was a success. He might know everything about me.

"I have a lot of catching up to do."

Providing they let him fight Schmidt at all.

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky absorbs that, and his mouth sets in firm lines.

"Well, you won't be doing it alone."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Bucky," Steve begins, but then just smiles, grateful.

He adds softly, "Some of the guys...if I'm not court-martialed, I'm thinking of asking some of the guys if they'd like to come back, too."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I can think of a few who'd be crazy enough to do just that. You could do a hell of a lot worse."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"There's a lot of good men here."

But his eye is on just a few--the leaders, the bravest. The craziest, maybe even.

[nerves_of_ice]

"You can say that again."

Bucky shoots him a grin.

"Those guys back at camp aren't gonna know what hit them."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"It may be close quarters for a few days."

[nerves_of_ice]

"We can worry about that once we get there."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"If we can keep up the pace and I'm not hopeless at navigating in the dark, we should get there before noon."

They could be out for a pleasant stroll after Sunday dinner.

Except for, you know, the tank.