They got the supplies as they had promised and then began to head back to the campsite.
Just as the town had changed, the forest they were traipsing through seemed to have a different look to it on the way back. The trees seemed brighter, the flowers were more evident and the birds were singing just a touch louder.
Bucky even picked a bunch of white and yellow wild flowers for her to hold as they walked.
"I think we should continue to keep things underwraps." Bucky said, before they entered the area where they would be seen by their comrades. "I don't want to have to deal with the questions and prying eyes. I'd rather just have, what we did today, remain our secret. For right now, at least. That way we can have as big of a hurrah as you want, when we get home."
Red nodded in easy agreement. Her only hesitation was not telling her brother. It was one thing to hide a relationship from him and another to hide a marriage. "What about Steve?"
"Well, how do you think he'll react to his best friend and sister secretly getting married in Germany?"
"He'd be confused and probably sad that he wasn't able to be there."
"Exactly. It might distract him and I don't want that. I don't think you do either. So, if you're okay with it, let's just keep things between us and then we'll come clean after the war. We'll announce that we're madly in love with each other and go about things the proper way. That way everyone will be able to react however they want to."
Red sighed and slowly nodded again, "okay. You're right."
"We don't have to do it that way, though. If you want to tell everyone now, we can. I will completely support that decision. And if we do that, we won't have to hide it."
"No. No, let's just wait until the war is over."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"Okay. I want you to hold onto this." He slipped the gold band off his finger and held it out to her.
She unclasped the chain holding her dog tags, removed her own ring and slipped both of the two bands onto the chain. "There," she tucked the chain underneath her shirt.
Bucky took a moment to look around, before cupping her cheek and leaning down to kiss her.
And then they were walking into the camp, a few feet apart from each other and pretending that nothing exciting had happened in town. Dum Dum was claiming the bottle of liquor and Monty was sorting through the food to start making a meal.
They slipped into the normal routine and pretended like nothing out of the ordinary had happened that day.
Red couldn't stop herself from sneaking extra glances at him, smiling when she found him already looking at her. She couldn't believe what they had done. They had actually gotten married to each other. After months of stolen moments, they had committed themselves and their lives to each other.
They had to be careful though.
They weren't not going to spend their nights together. But, in order to pull that off, Bucky had to wait until everyone, in his tent, had gone to sleep and slipp past whoever was keeping watch, in order to get to Red's tent.
Red now found it extremely convenient to be the only female in the unit. Soon, the only way she was able to get any proper rest was when his arms were wrapped around her. His heartbeat would soothe away the events of the day and drown out the sounds of explosions that were still going off in Red's head.
. . .
Nightmares had begun to plagues their sleep. Red would often jerk herself awake with a cold sweat covering her forehead. More often than not, she wouldn't remember the nightmare, but she knew what they most likely included. The people she loved dying or the war ending horribly. Bucky was always there to comfort her. He'd wrap his arms around her, pull her close and sing a familiar love song to her.
"Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you
Let me hear you whisper
That you love me too
Keep the love light glowing
In your eyes so blue
Let me call you Sweetheart
I'm in love with you"
Red would always fall back asleep with memories of two of them dancing in the diner.
When she wasn't having the nightmares, Bucky was. Sometimes he wouldn't even wake up though. He'd simply start saying his rank and number. Red knew that he was dreaming about the time he had been held captive by HYDRA. He still wouldn't tell her about what he remembered, and Red had learned not press him. Instead, she would wrap her arms firmly around him, and begin singing the lullaby. Bucky would usually calm down by the time she reached the second verse.
. . .
Red didn't see the HYDRA agent until it was too late. He had his arms around her chest, pinning her body against his, and had his gun pressed against the side of her head.
"Captain!"
Steve turned to face them, his eyes widening at Red's situation. "Let her go!"
"Ah, so you do have an achilles heel."
Red slowly moved her hand down to her thigh holster, carefully wrapping her fingers around the gun.
"You kill her, I kill you."
"Yes, but if her death destabilizes you, then it will be worth it."
Red met her brother's gaze, attempting to convey to him that she had a plan. She just needed him to work with her.
He gave a small nod, "please. Don't hurt her."
"Is the great Captain America begging? What a-"
Red jammed her elbow into the man's ribs. He released her with a grunt of pain, and she turned, drew her gun and shot him twice in the chest.
"Are you okay?"
Red turned and shot a HYDRA agent over Steve's shoulder, who was about to attack him. Steve turned to look at the body in shock, and then looked back at her.
"I guess your fine."
"Let's keep moving."
. . .
Bucky was afraid of heights. This was something Red had learned early on, when they were at the top of the ferris wheel at Coney Island. He had gripped her hand as tightly as he could, and jumped whenever the carriage, they were in, shook.
They never rode the ride again. The apartment roof was only as high as he would go.
And now they were standing at the top of a snowy mountain, looking down at a deep ravine, with the plan of zip lining onto a moving train.
Her brother was insane.
"You okay?" She asked Bucky while they waited for confirmation from the enigma machine Gabe was monitoring.
"Mmm hmm," he responded unconvincingly. He was pale and shaky and his lips were pressed into a thin line.
"I could go in your place, if you want. I'm supposed to be going, anyway."
"Nope. You're injured, remember?"
Red grit her teeth, hating that she could feel the cloth wrapping around her sore ribs. If she hadn't been standing so close to the bomb, then she would be participating fully on the mission. But, every single member of the team had shot down her attempts to pretend everything was fine, and were making sure Red took things easy until she was fully healed. Steve seemed to revel in the fact that he was now charged with keeping her safe and away from danger. It was infuriating.
"How could I forget?" She seethed.
"You'll be staying up here with me, Redbird."
Red looked at Dugan, glaring at the smile he was giving her.
"Relax," Bucky said with a laugh. "Everything's going to be fine. We're going in, grabbing the infamous Doctor and getting out. It'll be a piece of cake."
"You do realize that you'll also be ziplining down to the train, right?"
Bucky seemed to go even paler at that, but he cleared his throat and nodded. "Piece of cake."
"You're brother's back is turned," Jim said softly. "I'd take the moment while you can."
Red looked down at the men who were all staring at them. "I'm sorry?"
"You know, do whatever it is you do that you think is a secret?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh come on. You always volunteer to do things together and all of us except your clueless brother, have noticed Bucky leaving your tent in the early hours of morning. It wasn't that hard to put together. We don't know why you've been insisting on keeping it a secret, but we've respected it. Now get going, before your brother loses interest in the ravine."
Red shook her head in disbelief, but didn't argue. "Thank you."
"Come here," Bucky leaned down and kissed her briefly. "I'll see you later tonight, alright? I'll be able to give you an early birthday present." He finished softly with a smirk, wiggling his eyebrows slightly.
Red felt her cheeks start to burn and her knees weaken slightly. "I'm holding you to that."
"Good," he kissed her again.
Red wanted nothing more than to disappear with Bucky. She wanted to be in a quiet place where they could simply exist together. She didn't want to be on this mountain, and she definitely didn't want to have to say goodbye to Bucky.
"You guys take care of her, you hear me?"
"You got it, Sergeant," Dum dum responded.
Bucky winked at Red and walked over to join Steve at the cliff's edge. "Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?"
"Yeah, and I threw up?" Steve asked.
"This isn't pay back, is it?"
"Now why would I do that?" Steve asked humorously, his eyes traveling up the line to make sure that it was secure.
"We were right," Gabe spoke up, drawing their attention. "Doctor Zola's on the train. The HYDRA dispatcher gave him permission to open up the throttle. Wherever he's going, they must need him bad."
Bucky and Steve shared a look.
They had to do this.
Steve put his helmet on and walked back to the edge, while Jacques handed out the metal handlebars Bucky, Gabe and Steve would be using.
Red's heart began to pound uncomfortably. She couldn't believe that this mission was actually happening. As much as she wanted to be a part of it, she didn't know if she would have the courage to kick off the cliff.
"Steve-"
"I'll be careful, Red."
She nodded, "you better be."
"Let's get going because they're moving like the devil," Monty said, looking through the binoculars at the train that was making a fast approach.
"We only got about a ten second window," Steve said, hooking up to the line. "You miss that window, we're bugs on a windshield.
"What a comforting analogy to make," Red muttered.
"Mind the gap," Monty snorted.
Dugan laughed, "better get moving, bugs!"
Jacques gave the all clear for Steve, and he jumped off the cliff. Bucky gave one last look at Red, before jumping off at Jacques single, closely followed by Gabe.
And now they had to wait.
.
.
.
The dreaded mountain top.
I will be posting more stories with Red that will include filler scenes, such as missions and moments between her and Bucky. I guess I'm just trying to get this one done and published. Thank you guys so much for the amazing reviews!