It's been a minute so have a double update!

Chapter 10: Jekyll and Hyde

"Aha!"

"Howard!" I snapped in annoyance as the creased paper was yanked out of my hands. "Give that back!" I said, making a snatch for it. Howard danced backwards, holding it up over his head. He scanned the paper and made a face.

"Well, I've finally figured out your secret – you're a Japanese spy," he said, turning the paper around so that I could see the neat columns of writing on it. The ink was slightly faded – the letter was five years old, after all. It was still legible though.

"Shut up, that's from an old friend of mine," I said, snatching the letter back and shoving it inside my book. It was the last letter from Yori. I'd dug it out of the hatbox of old letters, postcards, and pictures I carried with me. Talking about her with Peggy had brought Yori to the front of my mind. I was going through her old letter endlessly, hoping to see some clue of where she had gone since then or whether or not she was safe.

"She's not even in the country," I grumbled.

"I didn't know you spoke Japanese," Howard said, looking hurt that I hadn't told him. "Or that you could read it. I figured you just knew German."

"I'm also decent enough at Greek," I replied. Howard raised an eyebrow.

"Parlez-vous français?" he tried.

"Bonjour, j'mapelle Josie. Et toi?"

Howard grinned as he asked, "Habla español?"

"Un poco."

"O-day ou-yay eak-spay ig-pay atin-lay?"

"Howard, I swear…"

"Okay, okay," Howard chuckled, waving his hands. "I'll stop. Tell me about this friend of yours?"

He pulled over a chair and sat down next to me, propping his feet up on the table and folding his hands on his stomach expectantly. I looked at him sternly.

"I'm here for official project business, not to gossip," I reminded him chidingly. Howard shrugged carelessly.

"Let me check with the boss." He leaned to the left. "Is it okay if Josie gossips with Howard?" He leaned to the right and made his voice deeper. "Yeah, go ahead." Howard sat straight in his chair and grinned at me smugly. "He said it was okay."

I rolled my eyes but grinned. Howard was childish and flirtatious and mischievous and a hundred other less-than-stellar things, but he was great. He'd flirted with me relentlessly at first, but after I told him politely but firmly that if he didn't stop I was going to pull the pistol out of my purse and shoot his balls off, he relaxed into friendly teasing.

"What do you want to know?" I asked him, throwing up my hands in submission.

"How about a name?"

"Yori Tsukuda."

"And how old is she?"

I paused. That was a tricky one. "About twenty-five."

Howard grinned rogueishly. "And is she cute?" I doubled over laughing at the question. Howard looked at me incredulously. "What?" he demanded. "It's a perfectly reasonable question!"

I got my giggles under control and looked up at Howard, shaking my head. "She would chew you up and spit you out, Howard Stark."

Howard grinned. "Sounds like my kind of woman."

"Belle!"

I turned around to see Bucky step out of the door of his barracks. I stopped, waiting for him a few feet down the road. He rushed over to me, a grin on his face. I felt a pang, remembering that I didn't have a lot of time left with him, and then cursed myself for it.

"Bucky." I smiled in greeted. "It's good to see you."

"You too." He was looking me up and down. Unlike when the other soldiers did it, his gaze made me feel warm and wonderful. I felt a blush stain my cheeks. Bucky skipped politely over my chest and looked me in the eye. I knew he caught the blush, because his smile widened by a few molars. "Belle, you look…" He shook his head helplessly. "Maybe if I read as much as you do I'd have a better word for it, but beautiful will have to do."

I flushed. That… was absolutely the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me. I felt shy under his gaze as Bucky continued to trail his eyes over me, following the loop of my scarf and the fall of my braid like he didn't want to miss a detail.

I looked down at my feet and managed to say, "Thank you, Bucky."

"May I escort the lady back to her quarters?" Bucky asked gallantly, offering me an arm. I took the offer and the pair of us started walking through camp.

"So what's got you all dolled up?" Bucky asked, sending me yet another appreciative stare from the corner of his eyes.

I hesitated a moment, wondering just how much I could say. "I had to take some papers to Brooklyn." That was vague enough.

Bucky nodded knowingly. "And you can't say any more than that, right?"

I shook my head. "Not if I want to keep my job."

"We'll leave it at that then. I like having you around, Belle."

I blushed again. It didn't know if it was me dolled up that had Bucky being so flirtatious or if he was just growing fonder of me. I'd like to think it was the second one. I was growing fonder of him too the more times we talked. He was genuinely a good man, which was about the highest compliment I could think to give a person. He was kind and happy and funny and everything a man should be.

My heart was pitter-pattering as I replied softly, "I like having you around as well, Bucky."

I looked up and saw that he seemed pleased by that.

"I met Steve today," I said, changing the subject. I didn't know if I could handle any more compliments from Bucky without my heart exploding out of my chest or my face going permanently red.

Bucky jerked, looking around at me in shock. "You did? How? What happened?"

I chuckled slightly. "You were right. He does get in a lot of fights."

Bucky groaned and smacked himself in the forehead with his free hand. He dragged his hand down his face, sighed, and asked resignedly, "What did he do?"

"Apparently he confronted a man who was bad-mouthing some soldiers," I recalled. "I got them apart. He was bruised quite a bit and his nose was broken by the end, but I straightened it out for him and gave him some advice on the bruises. He seemed alright when I left him."

"Thank you," Bucky said earnestly. "There aren't a lot of ladies that would have stepped up for him."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Then they aren't ladies."

Bucky chuckled at that. "I suppose not." He looked down at me, his eyes glinting with some kind of… something, I wasn't really sure. "What are you reading?" he asked, looking down at the book tucked under my arm.

I glanced down at the book, having briefly forgotten I was holding it. I pulled it out and offered it to him.

"The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde," he read the title. He flipped the book open and I saw him wince slightly at the wording. I didn't blame him. The first time I ever tried to read anything written from a different time period it made my head hurt too, but I eventually slid into the words and began to understand.

"This is the one about the man who turns into a monster, right?" Bucky asked, flipping a few more pages into the book. "I think my high school teacher mentioned it once or twice."

I paused. It was a conception many people had about the book, but really, it was more about man vs self, man vs his animal nature. It was a poignant and cautionary tale. Don't try to deny your inner demons, but do not give them too much power either. I appreciated that struggle more than most.

"Not necessarily," I said slowly. Bucky paused, turning to look at me. I stared ahead thoughtfully. "It's not that Hyde is a monster, not really. That's the horrible thing. He came from a human. He's the beast inside the man, the one we all have inside of us."

Bucky raised an eyebrow at the book, looking at it with new respect. Then his eyes flicked to me. "And this is your light reading?" he asked wryly.

I shrugged sheepishly. "I like it," was all I said. I was hesitant as I added, "Would you like to borrow it?"

"Well I'll admit I've probably got a better chance of understanding this than the last book I found you with," Bucky said with a chuckle. He held the book up. "Sure you don't mind?"

I shook my head. "No, I've read it often enough that I have it mostly memorized," I admitted. "It's a favorite of mine."

"You sure you don't mind me borrowing it?" he confirmed.

"I wouldn't have offered if I did," I said, and glanced down at my pocket watch. For once, I wasn't running late. I would be, though, if I didn't get a move on, and I still needed to change into clothes suitable for the lab.

"You'd better go, Belle," Bucky urged, loosening his grip on my arm. He saw me check my watch and knew what that meant. "Wouldn't want you getting in trouble on my account."

"Thank you Bucky," I said as we stopped by my barracks. "It was sweet of you to walk me back."

"Don't be fooled, it was completely selfish," Bucky assured me. "I just wanted to talk to you some more."

I blushed and smiled shyly. Bucky's face softened. He reached out and dragged the back of his fingers across my cheek. I looked up at him in surprise.

"You go save the world with science, huh?" he said. He held up the book. "And I'll get reading."

"You don't have to rush…" I assured him, but Bucky was already shaking his head.

"Well if I want to talk to you about somethin' smart, I figure a good way to start is with one of your favorite books. See you around, Belle."

Bucky was under the sheets of his bed, the book propped open on his knees and the end of a flashlight held in his mouth to illuminate the pages. He turned one and the flashlight started the slip. The light swung crazily around the room and Bucky hastily caught it, clenching his teeth tighter.

"Barnes, I swear," someone growled from down the row of bunks. "If you don't turn out that light…"

Bucky pulled the flashlight out of his mouth and demanded, "Yeah, what're you going to do?"

"You don't wanna know!"

"Leave him alone," Patrick said tiredly. "He's just trying to get through that book the Ice Queen gave him."

"Hang on, she gave you a book?"

"She talked to you?"

Suddenly Bucky wasn't the only one with his flashlight out. He found himself caught in the beams of about a half dozen from all over the bunkhouse.

"Yeah, she did. Told me it was her favorite," Bucky said, unable to keep a little bit of pride out of his voice.

Someone scoffed. "Bet it's something stupid and romantic. Girly stuff…"

"It's Jekyll and Hyde," Bucky snapped back. There was a low whistle from the other side of the bunkhouse.

"Wow. The Ice Queen's a little messed up in the head if that's her favorite, isn't she?"

Bucky knew that voice. He scowled into the darkness and shone his flashlight across the row. "Watch your mouth, Chuck," he warned.

"Yeah, we all know what happens if you cross his little girlfriend," Tommy sniggered from the bunk below him. "Barnes'll come after you like he did John."

"She ain't my girl," Bucky said quickly. He wanted her to be, though. That was why he was trying to get through this book. He knew that Josie Ealum was ridiculously smart, she was pretty, and she was well-educated. He couldn't figure out why she talked to him, some random guy from Brooklyn who had to scrounge to pay rent.

"Yeah, but you want her to be," Patrick countered quickly. Bucky grinned.

"Who wouldn't?"

I came out of the lab for the night and wasn't even surprised to see Bucky standing there waiting for me. He did this a lot, escorting me to and from the lab when he wasn't going through training. He smiled when he saw me coming and offered his arm. I took it, smiling as I tried to subtly inhale the storm-scent that surrounded him. It made me dizzy and made my mouth water embarrassingly.

"So I've been reading that book you lent me," Bucky began

"Have you?" I asked eagerly. "Do you like it?"

"Well," Bucky frowned thoughtfully, "it took me a while to figure out what was going on. It's a little…"

"Old?" I supplied. He nodded.

"But it's a little crazy. I mean, thinking about a person with that kind of monster inside? Sounds like the plot from some horror flick."

I felt like someone had just punched me in the chest, but I forced myself not to stop, not to say anything. Instead I lowered my eyes to the ground.

"Ah. Right. Horrifying," I agreed faintly.

"I mean I like the book," Bucky said hastily. I looked up and saw that he was looking down at me worriedly. I smiled wryly. He thought he'd offended me. He had a little, but not for the reason he thought.

"It's fine, it's not for everyone," I said, plastering a smile on my face.

"I haven't finished it – like I said, it's a little hard to get through – but I think it's a pretty interesting story so far."

My smile was a little more genuine at that. "That's good. This is me," I said, nodding in the direction of my quarters.

"Alright then, I'll leave you here," Bucky said. I let go of his arm and turned to face him. "I'll see you around, right Belle?"

He was looking a little concerned, like he thought I was upset with him. I was a little less than pleased with how he'd reacted to Jekyll and Hyde, but I couldn't honestly say I didn't expect it. It hurt a little, but I didn't blame him.

I nodded, smiling at him in reassurance. "I'll be here."

Bucky's shoulders sagged, relieved. "Good," he beamed. "And hey, try and deliver some papers to Brooklyn after I'm gone."

"I will," I chuckled, and opened the door of my barracks, stepping inside. I saw Peggy sitting at her desk, calmly going through reports. Her eyes were fixed on me knowingly.

"Not. A. Word."

"I didn't say anything."

I'm decent at basic French and Spanish so I'm pretty confident on these.

Parlez-vous français? – Do you speak French?

Bonjour, j'mapelle Josie – Hello, my name is Josie.

Et toi? – And you?

Habla español? – Do you speak Spanish?

Un poco – A little