A/N

Short chapter, but another will be coming out right after this!

Steve knocked on Bucky's tent pole an hour later, two trays of food balanced on one big hand. He wouldn't admit it, but he was hoping that the food would make this conversation go a little easier.

"Come in," Bucky called. He was laying on his cot, reading a magazine, but sat up to look when Steve came in.

He ducked into the tent, food in hand, and nodded when he saw Bucky. "Hey. I brought food." He didn't start yet about Kat. He didn't want to, honestly - he knew Bucky would resist, and the last thing he wanted right now was to get into an argument with his closest friend. If friend was even the right word.

He shifted over and set the magazine aside. "Smells good for once," he said with a grin. "I'm starving." He reached out to take a tray, and glanced out the tent flap. "Any word? Did we lose anyone?"

"Not to a bullet, no, but a couple of the boys are being sent home," he said, sitting down next to the cot on the floor, balancing his tray in his lap. "No one died. I think the medical team had a lot to do with that. Colonel Phillips chose them well." Steve sighed after a moment, and rubbed a hand over his face. "Buck, I think we should send Kat home, but she's refusing to go. I don't know what to do."

Bucky looked up from something he assumed was meatloaf, surprised. "Why? I thought she just got grazed?" He shifted to look at Steve, worried. "She alright?"

Steve held up a hand to stay Bucky's rising concern. "She's fine, it was just a graze. But she shouldn't have been grazed. She's a nurse, Buck. That's not what she signed up for."

Bucky settled slowly, considering that. "You're sending her home because she got near a bullet? She's a combat nurse, Steve. It was bound to happen."

"It's not just that she got near a bullet," Steve shook his head, sighing, "I saw her have to take a man's life today. That's going to affect her. She's arguing that she has to stay to undo it, but..." Steve ran a hand through his hair, shrugging once. "This is no place for someone to get over their nightmares about killing someone."

Bucky snorted but held back the slew of comments that suddenly rose up. Instead, he said, "She isn't going to let you ship her out, Steve. She just isn't. You had better get used to the idea."

Steve let his head fall back to look up at the ceiling of the tent like he was questioning God himself. "Has everybody suddenly decided that orders don't count today? Bucky, last I checked, we're all still part of the United States Army, right?"

"Sure. While we're talking laws, where should I report the... what... Six different names you volunteered under?" Bucky shot back, taking a bite of mashed potatoes.

Steve's gaze fell from the ceiling to the floor, a grimace settling on his face, and heaved an enormous sigh. He covered his face with one hand, silent for a moment, then dropped it. Damn it. Bucky had made a very good point, and in thinking about it for a few extra seconds, he could almost hear Peggy yelling at him for his idiocy with women. "I... Yeah. She can stay."

How could he do to someone else what he had had to fight so hard to overcome? How could he take away someone else's chance to fight for what they believed in? Hell... Shouldn't he be supporting her? He swore under his breath and without pause stood with his tray. "Come on. We're being idiots. She pulled the trigger on a man today - she shouldn't be anything close to alone."

"I'm glad you came around so fast," Bucky said, standing too. "I was worried I was going to have to bash it into your thick skull."

"Yeah, I like to think I'm not an idiot too long, just some," he sighed, and ducked out of the tent. "You want to get her something to eat, and I'll go ahead and apologize?"

"On it," he said with a nod, heading for the mess tent. Steve watched him go, then took a slow breath and headed back toward the medical tent.

Kat was sitting by the side of one of the less stable men, keeping an eye on his condition, when Steve walked back in. She let out a quiet breath and stood, ignoring him for a moment to head to the back of the tent and ask Debbie to step in for her for a while. Debbie nodded wearily - she looked about as tired as Kat felt - and Kat returned to the front of the tent, gesturing for Steve to step outside. She followed him out and then gave him a tired, grim smile. "Thanks - trying to keep it quiet in there while the boys rest." There were dark bags under her eyes, and more than a few blood stains on her dress and apron - even a small smear on her arm, though that was probably her own.

"You should be resting," he retorted, nodding to her shoulder. "Graze or no, you bled a lot." He crossed his arms again, gripping the leather shoulder straps of his shield harness. "Bucky suggested that I was being an idiot. I was forced to agree with him. You can stay."

She nodded a little, rubbing a hand across her forehead and onto her hair. It was escaping its bun pretty handily, and with a sigh she reached back and released the wavy red locks the rest of the way - it had already passed the point of regulation anyways. "I would rest, Rogers, believe me, but we're a small team, and until a couple of the boys who are volunteering get back from dinner, we have to keep an eye on some of our wounded." She glanced back at the tent, exhaustion clear in the set of her shoulders. "And thanks. Thank Bucky for me, too, wherever he's holed up."

"He's bringing food. I'll stand in until the others get back. Sit for a few minutes, alright?" He nodded to a nearby log someone had dragged in as a bench.

On another day, she might have argued that this was her job, not his, but the stresses of the day shoved down the argumentative part of her and she made a noise of acquiescence and took the step over to sink down on the log, resting her elbow on her knee and her head supported by her hand. "Thanks," she said quietly, shutting her eyes as the day came crashing in on her.

Steve nodded, ducking into the tent.

Bucky found her there a few minutes later. His own tray was gone, but he held a fresh one, and nudged her toe gently with his. "Hey there. Dinner's served."

She dropped her hand and lifted her face to find him and a platter of food, and she took it with a grateful look. "Hey. Thanks, I appreciate it. You wanna sit?"

He nodded, handing the plate over and flopping down on the log beside her. "How's the shoulder?"

"Hurts, unsurprisingly," she snorted, starting to dig in to the food with a vengeance. "But I'll be fine. Not the first time I've gotten hurt. Just the first time it happened to be someone else's fault."

He nodded a little, letting her eat in peace. He wasn't going to bring up the killing yet. Not unless she wanted to. Best to let her eat, and talk about it later. "How many are we sending home?"

"Seven. Four were close, but turned out to be not as serious as we thought. Everyone else got grazed or something else mild," she replied, already halfway through her meal. Down the line of tents came the sound of soldiers talking as they approached, and she let out a breath of relief. "I think that's our volunteers. Means Debbie and I can get some fuckin' sleep in a bit and Steve can go do his Captainly duties, whatever those are."

"Worrying too much, mostly." He put his elbows on his knees, watching the men chat happily as they approached. "He isn't going to want to stay here long. Not with an ambush that close."

"I don't blame him," she agreed, finishing off the rest of her food and setting the tray down at her feet. "I'm going to have trouble sleeping as it is."

He nodded, glancing over at her. "How are you doing, by the way?" He nudged her knee with his. "You saved Debbie's life."

She chuckled dryly, rubbing her eyes with one hand. "I guess I did, yeah. Felt necessary in the moment." She scuffed at the dirt with her shoe, looking down, avoiding his eyes. "Only other thing I've ever killed was a chicken, and I didn't like that much either. This was easier, but it... I feel it more."

He nodded just a little. "It'll take some time. It's not easy. Just try to remember that you did the right thing."

She nodded again. The soldiers passed and disappeared into the tent, quieting as they went. "I'll try."

"I'm here if you need someone to talk to." She had to know he would understand. He looked up as Steve came out of the tent.

"Done eating already? You two still hungry? We're not rationing tonight. People need the food."

She looked up at Steve approached, and smiled but shook her head. "I'm okay, this was enough. Not hungry anymore." She reached out to grasp Bucky's hand for a moment - just a quick, light squeeze. "Just tired."

"I'm fine," Bucky said with a shrug. "You should get some sleep. Want us to walk ya home?"

Her eyes went to Steve questioningly as Bucky volunteered them both, once again having a moment's thought as to everyone's place in this strange triangle they had. She felt like she and Bucky were doing pretty well; she liked him, a lot, and while she knew Bucky better she could see herself liking Steve too. And then there was what was between them. She tried not to think about it, to not question anything, but she was curious, and she didn't want to go and get her heart broken on accident. "Yeah," she nodded, finally, "Yeah, that'd be nice."

Bucky nodded, and stood, while Steve offered her a hand up. "Do you want to get your bandages changed before you sleep, or do you think you're alright?"

Kat took his offered hand up, and shrugged slightly. "It should be alright until tomorrow. I can do it myself in the morning." She bent to grab her tray off the ground. "We gotta drop this off first, though, if you want Harold to keep feeding me."

"I'll bring it over later," Bucky said, reaching out to snag it out of her hand. "Sleep. You need it."

Where she normally would have protested, her manners were too weary to make it out of her mouth, so she just nodded and said, "Okay. Thanks. My tent's this way."

They both nodded, falling into easy step on either side of her, two large goons in dirty uniforms, a buffer between her and the rest of the camp. They got a few strange looks, but most of the men had gotten used to Bucky and Kat spending time together. Adding Steve into the mix didn't raise too many eyebrows.

They all walked in silence until she stopped at the entrance to her tent and let out a long breath, glancing between the two of them. "Thanks again, guys. And thanks for letting me stay, Steve. Don't know what else I'd do," she said quietly, crossing her arms over her chest in a self-hug. Questions floated in her throat, questions about why he'd relented, what was between him and Bucky, what was between him and herself... But she spoke none of them, unsure how to bring any of it up, especially here, where someone could hear.

They both looked at her for a long second, and in that moment she seemed to both of them to be very small. Then Bucky stepped forward and pulled her into a careful hug, tucking her under his chin for a moment. "You did good. Everyone's safe. Get some good sleep."

Her breath hitched a little, but she kept it together, just leaned into him until he let her go again, though her eyes looked a bit glassier than they had a few moments before. "Night, guys," she murmured, and turned and disappeared into her tent.

A/N

Things are about to get wacky yall