Authors Note: YOU GUYS! I can't believe how many favorites this story has received since I posted the first chapter around a month ago! I'm amazed that so many of you enjoy it so far! I so very much appreciate all of your support!

Edited to add that I have had a VERY hard time writing this chapter. I have seriously been working on it for a week and a half! For some reason it did not want to be written, now whether that was due to my own mental health issues or just life getting in the way I don't know. Either way this chapter FINALLY got written!

I still don't own the Marvel characters. I only own my OCs. Enjoy the chapter!

~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB~HJ+JB

Previously on White Phoenix:

I nodded my head and crawled off the cot to my trunk placed at the end of it. I sifted through it until I found some sleepwear that was purchased earlier that day. I slipped into it then quickly made up the cot and crawled under the scratchy Army issue blanket and settled my head down onto the pillow that was given to me by Peggy. I closed my eyes and swiftly found myself drifting off into sleep.

I woke up to the sound of Peggy rummaging around in her trunk. As I sat up I let out a low groan and felt my back and neck crack when I stretched.

"I know those cots are awful," Peggy stated.

"You think," I deadpanned in response. I could see Peggy roll her eyes instead of answering me while I stood up to gather all my personal hygiene supplies. It was then that I realized that I had no clue where the showers were. I heard a throat clear behind me and I saw Peggy standing there waiting for me.

"Follow me Hailey. I'll show you where the showers are along with where the main buildings are that you'll need to know. We can't always have someone escort you around."

I trailed behind Peggy as she left our small tent occasionally pointing out other important tents and more sturdy buildings such as the field hospital. We came upon a large tent located behind the rear of the field hospital.

"The showers were placed behind the field hospital so the soldiers who ended up getting injured didn't have to go very far for their showers. There are other showers located closer to the barracks, but I prefer to use these ones. We're much less likely to have someone stumble into the showers while we are in here," Peggy explained. I nodded my head in response, and followed her into the showers and proceeded to get ready for the day. After my shower I quickly French braided my hair out of my face and applied light makeup to my face. I gave myself a quick once over before turning away from the mirror and noticed that not only was Peggy wearing a skirt AND heels, but she had applied her makeup in a way that looked natural but also made her stand out. Peggy motioned for me to follow her and we hurried back to our tent and put away our nightclothes and hygiene supplies. I was making my cot up when Peggy spoke up and said, "Hailey you might want to hurry over to the training area. Captain Rogers and Sargent Barnes should be there by now."

I cussed under my breathe and gave her a sharp nod of my head and took off at a fast paced walk towards the training area. Upon my arrival I saw Captain Rogers and Bucky sparring with each other. I couldn't believe how fast they were moving. I couldn't help but stare at them as I stood there. Eventually Bucky knocked Captain Rogers shield away from him and had him pinned to the ground. They both stood up and Captain Rogers slapped Bucky on the back and let out a laugh. Bucky's eyes glanced around and looked over in my direction. He said something to Captain Rogers and nodded his head in my direction. Captain Rogers looked over towards me and gave me a smile while motioning his hand in a come here motion. I straightened up and walked over towards the both of them.

"Have you ever had hand to hand combat experience Ms. Johnson," Captain Rogers asked.

"Do you count taking one self-defense lesson as experience Captain Rogers," I asked with a small laugh.

"First call me Steve. Second I do consider that as some type of experience. Not a lot but definitely a little," he stated. "What we're going to do is have you spar against Bucky here so I can see what you know and what you don't".

My eyes got a little wider as I glanced at Bucky then back at Steve. "Uh….are you sure that's a good idea Captain Rogers? I mean I saw you and Bucky sparring and to be honest it was very fast paced. I could barely keep up. Bucky will knock me on my ass in two seconds flat."

"Language," said Steve. I raised one of my eyebrows at him and rolled my eyes in response.

"Whatever you say Captain," I snapped back just as quickly. I stood in front of Bucky and put my fists up in a defensive position. Bucky just looked at me and smirked before he struck. One minute his fist was flying towards my head, leaving me to scramble out of the way to avoid getting hit. His fist barely missed my head as I ducked out of the way. I jumped up from a crouch and shouted, "What the fuck Bucky?! Are you trying to kill me?!" I could hear Steve mumble something about language in the background. Bucky gave me no reprieve before he jumped right back at me leaving me to scramble around. I had no time to breathe or even to try to go on the offensive. Within no time Bucky got a hit on me in my ribs causing me to collapse onto the ground. I groaned and rolled onto my back looking up into Steve and Bucky's faces.

"Well I have to give you credit, you lasted at least thirty seconds," stated Steve.

"Oh yes. Because that makes me feel so much better," I said while glaring up at Steve. I heard a low chuckle come from Bucky and he said, "Doll you did much better than we thought you would. Where'd you learn to dodge like that?"

I sighed and replied, "For starters I have three brothers. And second I was bullied a lot growing up, so I learned pretty quick to either blend into my surroundings or to dodge out of the way of flying fists." Bucky and Steve gave each other a look then both looked down at me before Steve motioned to help me up.

"Let's work on teaching you the basics then. You already have dodging down so we'll move onto blocking," stated Steve. We then spent the rest of the morning going over hand to hand combat. By the end of the morning I had been thrown onto my ass by Bucky a total of 15 times, and by Steve at least 7 more times. Although I did manage to get Bucky on the ground for a total of ten seconds before he flipped it around and I was on the ground. We only stopped once Peggy showed up and stated that we should break for lunch before my weapons course in the afternoon. Honestly by that time I was more than ready to stop getting beat up by two super soldiers. Peggy and I trailed along behind Steve and Bucky as we headed to the chow tent.

"It looked like you were starting to pick things up by the end of the morning Hailey."

I looked towards Peggy and sarcastically replied, "Oh yes. I was only thrown on my ass just over 20 times by the end of the morning. I was really getting the hang of it." I shifted my body and felt my neck crack, and felt all the bruises that were starting to cover my body. "Plus Peg I'm pretty sure my whole body will be black and blue by tomorrow morning," I groaned as I softly pressed against the parts of my body that were starting to darken. Peggy looked over at me in sympathy.

We walked into the chow tent and ate lunch. Before I knew it, lunch was over and Bucky and I were heading towards the weapons tent to grab training weapons. After that he took me towards the pop up range and went over weapon safety basics. He showed me how to hold the weapon and taught me the basics of breathing. Then I watched him take his sniper rifle and aim down at the target before firing and hitting the target right in the head. I let out a low whistle of appreciation at his skill.

"Your turn Hailey. But you won't be getting a rifle. Instead Steve and I think that you'd be better fitted for a handgun."

I nodded my head and grabbed the handgun as I stepped up to the firing lane.

"Like this," I questioned as I raised the handgun pointing it at the target placed at the other end of the range. Bucky stepped up behind me and adjusted the placement of my hands so that my right hand was on the grip and my left hand was cupping the bottom of my right.

"Now your grip is perfect. Take a deep breath and as you release it pull the trigger. Don't close your eyes and aim for the middle of the target." I gave Bucky a short nod of my head and sucked in a breath. Once I released my breath I curled my right pointer finger and squeezed the trigger. The handgun gave a jerk as it went off, and my eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Alright Hailey relax and put the gun down. We'll head down to the target and see how you did for your first time," Bucky stated. I quickly switched the safety on and set the gun down on the bench on front of me. I stepped around the bench behind Bucky and followed him to the target. As we got closer Bucky pointed out where my first and only shot hit on the target. It was slightly above the center. I let out a small smile when I noticed it's position. I turned to look at Bucky and let out a smirk at the look on his face.

"Well Doll, looks like you're a better shot than we were expecting," he laughed. "It's not a dead center shot but It'll definitely get the job done." Bucky turned and smiled at me. I looked up into his face and said, "Well to be fair I spent most of my summers on my grandparent's land in Northern Michigan learning to shoot. I started out on a bow then moved my way to guns."

Bucky looked down at me in shock, "Why didn't you say anything doll? If Colonel Phillips knew this we wouldn't have to be out here practicing in the cold."

I sheepishly looked down at my feet and rubbed my hands together as I said, "I missed shooting. I haven't had a chance to do it lately. So honestly I wasn't going to complain if Phillips wanted me to get some practice in." I shrugged my shoulders up and down and sighed out loud.

Bucky grabbed my chin and made me look him in the eyes. "Doll, it's fine. I understand what you mean. There's nothing like being behind the butt of a good gun. Don't ever be sorry for enjoying something, even if it's something most dames don't like to do. You are special. You are unlike any other dame I've met, and trust me when I say that's a good thing."

I sheepishly looked down at the ground, but gave him a small smile in response. Bucky still hadn't let go of my chin and when I lifted my head back up I saw a mix of emotions in his eyes. Bucky looked down into my eyes and started to lean in closer to me. Holy shit is he doing what I think he's doing? Wait wait wait, no this can't happen. I kind of jerked away from him and cleared my throat.

"So uh what's next Sargent Barnes," I asked lowly. Bucky looked down at me with disappointment in his eyes?

"Let's continue to work on your aim and accuracy until dinner time," Bucky growled. I sharply nodded my head and headed back to the end of the firing lane to get back in the shooting position. For the rest of the afternoon we kept the talking to a minimum and only exchanged words when I had a question or if Bucky had to fix something in my form. He didn't touch me the rest of the day, but damn did I want him too.

When I got back to mine and Peggy's tent later that night I crawled onto my cot and passed out before she even got back. My last thought of the night was, 'Fuck today was exhausting. I'm not even going to be ready for tomorrow.'