CHAPTER 2 - Getting Ready for War

"See what happens when you go and be an idiot!" Bucky cried at Steve as soon as the trio met up again at the apartment. Steve looked mighty pleased with himself but hadn't mentioned to Bucky about his own attempt and success at joining the army himself. Clint sat on the couch, his head in his hands. Why did his life keep turning for the worst? Why did trouble follow him like a damn shadow? "Damn it Steve, do you even care?"

"I care!" Steve shouted back. Bucky shook his head.

"You don't look like it!" Bucky snapped back. Steve shook his head, his glee of getting recruited by Erskine finally diminishing enough for him to realize that Clint was now being forced into a war that to him had already happened. And while he might have thought of enlisting before, he was forced to do it earlier than he wanted.

"I'm..." Steve started. Clint shook his head lifting it to look at Steve.

"I knew what was going to happen there... I shouldn't have stayed," Clint mumbled, making sure Steve knew it wasn't his fault. Bucky tossed his hands into the air.

"Both of ya are so stupid!" the soldier nearly screamed. Clint sighed and looked up.

"There's nothing we can do about it now. Just, get through it," Clint snarled, switching his gaze to Bucky now. Bucky frowned, looking to the archer in confusion. "Look, it's none of our fault. It's shitty, but it happened. No fixing it."

"Can't you just go back?" Steve asked, his voice meek. Clint laughed for a second before shaking his head again.

"No. I... I don't even really know what sent me back here," the archer sadly chuckled after a moment. Steve frowned and looked away. Carefully he looked up at them. "Just, for now. Can we all drop it? Tomorrow, Bucky and I are gonna be shipped out. Let's just leave it at that."

There was a pause at that. Clint almost cussed himself out. He had forgotten that he hadn't told them that part yet. Just that he had been recruited. Well, not that he had to say anything considering he was carrying around the uniform.

"What about training?" Steve wondered. Even Bucky was giving him a look. He had gotten training, so why hadn't Clint? The archer gave Steve a look that told the guy all he needed to know. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," the archer sighed looking to the ground again. Steve winced, feeling even worse now. If he hadn't gone in, Clint wouldn't have run into Erskine. And he wouldn't have been recruited then. It was clear that Clint hadn't wanted to be with Bucky, even though Steve and Bucky felt better that he'd stay with at least one of them.

"What's going on here? What am I missing?" Bucky demanded, pointing between the duo. He had assumed that Clint was going to be leaving tomorrow for training. But they way Steve and Clint were acting-

"They ain't gonna train me, at all. Just send me out with you," Clint clarified once again mentally cursing Erskine for rushing his recruitment. He was lucky that he already knew how to fight and fight in such a way that he'd be able to last through the war. Aww, mouth, not again! He had basically told Erskine that he could fight without the six months of training. Bucky huffed before glaring at Steve. The smaller guy looked to his friend with a sadden gaze.

"Any other secrets or issues with this whole god damn thing?" Steve and Clint winced together this time. It wasn't going well enough for Bucky learning that Clint was forced to go to war. There was no way he'd like hearing that Steve was going to do some sort of secret formula testing or whatever. And that's not even getting into the fact that Bucky isn't supposed to know about the formula until Steve saves him in Austria. Yeah, most people assumed it was Azzano, but that was where the 107th had been caught. They had been transported to a base halfway between Kitzbühel and Klagenfurt. Thirty miles behind enemy lines. It was just always easier to say Azzano cause that was what started the whole bullshit event.

"Please, drop it," Clint begged, looking to the soldier with a pained face. Bucky's sigh was heavy and angered but he nodded. Even if he didn't trust Clint as a person, Bucky could tell that the archer was trying his best to protect whatever timeline he had come from.

"Yeah, fine," Bucky hissed, taking one last harsh glare at Steve before turning and heading into his room and all but slamming his door shut in frustration and anger. Steve frowned, watching his friend go. Clint huffed even as he turned to look at the wall in front of him. God, this whole thing was fucked up. When would Tony or Bruce fix this? Could they fix this? When will he be brought home? God, don't focus on that.

"Congrats, yourself," the archer whispered, figuring he'd at least make the little guy a bit better. Steve looked to Clint in surprise. Clint slowly turned to him and snorted. "I ain't an idiot. I remember what day this was."

"That's why you didn't say anything?" Steve questioned, tilting his head a bit in curiosity. Clint nodded before looking back to the wall. He was an idiot.

"Can't change today... Though, I wish I could have skipped my own role," Clint huffed. Steve nodded. He could understand that. "Now, go to bed. Bucky and I have to leave early and I bet you anything that he's gonna want you to bring him to our pick up point."

Steve nodded again and started to move to his room before pausing. Slowly he looked back to Clint. The archer just shook his head and pointedly shifted to lay down on the couch. There was a moment before the archer winced and Steve smirked.

"Ya sure?" Steve wondered knowing how uncomfortable that couch was. He had been forced to rest on it before as Bucky never wanted to leave him out of his sight when he got too bad. Clint sighed.

"I've slept on worse and will be sleeping on worse out there," the archer replied, trying his best to get comfortable. Steve snorted but headed to his bedroom anyways. Clint waited a minute or two before he sat back up. He sighed out a groan and yet again dropped his head into his hands. God, it was bad enough he let Erskine know about Steve, but now he was going to 'willingly' work beside Bucky? And likely get kidnapped in Azzano, without cluing Bucky into it? God, why did Erskine want him going to war so much? Why not just bring Clint in to the program with Steve? He was in so much shit.

The morning saw Clint getting dressed in one of the spare uniforms that had been given to him as he'd left the recruitment office. Fucking Erskine. That man just had to ruin Clint's plans for no damn reason. Steve took a bit to wake up and so they were nearly late getting to the pick up point. But once there, Clint was slightly embarrassed to be standing there as all these girls sent off their fellas while he and Bucky (more so Bucky than Clint) only had Steve. And apparently, there was no way Clint could go without a hug goodbye from Steve, even if they knew each other for a little less than a day. And no matter how much Clint protested, Steve didn't listen.

"Keep him safe, please," Steve begged into Clint's ear before Steve back away. Clint felt bad nodding his head but then again, he also knew that Bucky survived to Steve getting there and beyond till they tried to nab Zola. So, he wasn't really lying. He'd keep Bucky safe until then. Course it was gonna seriously suck when Clint would have to let Bucky fall.

"You stay safe too," Bucky countered, almost like he knew what Steve had told the archer. Steve chuckled and patted Bucky's back as they hugged. Clint smiled at them. He could really see now why Steve was all over trying to find the Sergeant. Bucky and him were more than brotherly. They were almost like the same person. You couldn't have one without the other.

"I'll be fine here," the guy promised. He still hadn't told Bucky about his own enlistment with Erskine. Not that it would have changed much at this point. Just pissed Bucky off before the man had to go to war. Clint snorted and looked away quickly as if watching other men getting their goodbyes was what made him laugh. Neither of the men seemed to notice Clint's amusement.

"Don't be too stupid, punk," Bucky said. Steve laughed.

"You too, jerk." And with that, Bucky and Clint said their final goodbyes and headed to the bus that would take them to the camp that readied them to travel across the way. It was odd getting on the bus with Bucky beside him and leaving Steve behind. This wasn't something the archer normally did. Then again, going to World War II also wasn't something he even partly expected to be doing. It took only a minute or so more before everyone was loaded and the bus began moving. A lot of guys were leaning out the windows yelling their goodbyes and catcalls to the remaining women. Clint glanced out (having gotten the window seat on the left side of the bus) and saw Steve serenely watching the bus drive away.

"Glad he can't get recruited," Bucky mumbled from beside him once Steve was out of sight. Clint looked to the soldier and saw that Bucky was facing forward, his eyes closed in relief. The sight made the archer sigh. "All the 4Fs... Just wish he'd quit tryin'."

"It means a lot to him, you know that, right?" Clint asked trying to make Bucky feel even the slightest bit better about it all. Especially seeing as he knew what was going to come in the future. Bucky snorted, turning to look at the archer.

"Yeah. Could never back away from a fight," the soldier stated as if it was a huge issue. Clint chuckled, thinking to the Steve he knew and yeah, Steve never could back away. Even if it looked like they were out numbered. Smiling himself, Bucky looked back out the front. "But, I'll follow him to hell and back if I have ta."

"Till the end of the line?" Clint whispered twisting to look out the front of the bus. Bucky jerked his head to stare at Clint who had gone pale. He shouldn't have said that. Shit... He wasn't supposed to know that outside of the future history books. It wasn't anywhere in the museums. He only knew cause Steve mentioned it before when Clint allowed the Captain to tell him some stories about Bucky after a bad nightmare. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine. Just forget every now and then," Bucky called. Clint sighed, looking to the floor. Damn it... Bucky had been close to forgetting. Why couldn't he just keep his big mouth shut? "History books are right about a lot of things."

"Yeah," Clint evaded. He really didn't want Bucky to think about him living for another eighty or so years. Well, technically Bucky did, just not in the way that the Sergeant would be thinking he would. God, this whole thing was fucked up. It should have been someone else. Someone other than him. Anyone other than him.

"So, what's ya in for?" a voice from behind the duo asked. Bucky and Clint turned to look at the guy in surprise. A lot of the guys had started talking, making jokes and overall just trying to forget they were getting shipped off. "Names Cooper."

"James," Bucky introduced as Clint paled slightly. They both turned to see the archer still. Bucky frowned as Cooper tilted his head with a confused look. It took the archer a moment to shake out of it before grimacing.

"Sorry. Clint," Clint added. Cooper nodded but still stared at Clint as his coloring hadn't improved. Even Bucky looked a bit worried now. The archer sighed, looking away from the duo. Might as well admit to something. It sure as fuck wasn't going to be that 'Cooper' was his son's name. But another family member could work. "My nephew is named Cooper."

"Ah, of fightin' age?" Cooper wondered. Clint shook his head still thinking of his boy back home. Cooper was close to fighting age. Only six months shy of seventeen when Clint was brought back. Course... The war was gonna end in about two years or something. Cooper would have been safe if he traveled back here and avoided recruitment offices. Hopefully.

"Only sixteen," the archer replied, thinking of his boy that hadn't even been born. Hell, Clint hadn't even been born. Maybe even his old man hadn't married his mom yet. Maybe he could... 'Ugh, this whole thing is really fucked up,' he couldn't help but think with a grimace as he fought with himself over the idea of changing things. He had this opportunity once before and chose not to take it. There was no way he could mess with things now.

"Good, good. Maybe we can end this thing 'fore he gets old enough," Cooper said. Bucky focused on Clint, waiting to see the archer's reaction. Clint grimaced even harder at the thought before he looked to Bucky. The Sergeant had an eyebrow raised in question. It took Clint a moment before he realized Bucky was searching him for clues. Jesus. Was Bucky gonna be doing this the whole time?

"Maybe," the archer muttered finally, looking back to the ground. Bucky sighed as Cooper sat back down, suddenly not too keen on speaking with the archer anymore but his gaze never left the archer. It took a few moments before Clint realized someone was staring at him. He looked over to see Bucky staring at him with curiosity written all over his face. The archer moaned, dropping his head into his hands. "Please."

"I won't ask," the soldier stated but Clint could tell that Bucky knew. Clint groaned as Bucky thankfully looked away. Yeah, he was going to ruin the future so bad. Covering his face wasn't enough anymore. Dropping his hands, Clint hit his head against the back of the seat. Bucky glanced over once again. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just. I used to be a spy... Was damn good at my job too. And now... I can't keep anything secret," Clint mumbled, making sure his voice was soft enough that no one could listen in but Bucky could still hear him. Bucky snorted. The sound drew Clint's attention. All he did though was crack an eye open to look at him.

"It's okay. Hard to keep things secret when I'm watching for your reaction," Bucky chuckled. Clint hung his head. That was almost worse. Bucky didn't know him. Clint couldn't be that obvious. Could he?

"I normally can school my reactions," the archer bemoaned once again. Bucky sighed before raising his arm and draping it over Clint's shoulders. Clint huffed a laugh and leaned in. "God, Tasha'd kill me if she saw me now."

"Tasha?" Bucky repeated. Clint groaned and tried to bang his head again but was stopped by Bucky's arm. Oh my god. How much worse can he get at this? He was totally gonna be made fun of when... If he returned. Fuck time travel. This whole thing was fucked up.

"My best friend." Bucky nodded but said nothing else. In fact, the rest of the ride was rather quiet between the two of them. A bunch of the others guys behind them compared papers. Outside of Bucky and Clint, only two more guys were from the 107th. Everyone else was destined to be a part of another group. The other men were further in the back of the bus so Bucky and Clint couldn't really socialize with either of them. It took about three hours for them to get to 'camp' and everyone unloaded themselves quickly as if anticipating a fight happening within moments of exiting, even if they were on the wrong side of the ocean for it. (Please note, I am not military at all. All of the information about war has been online research, a helpful military friend, pure guess and imagination. Do not take any of it to heart!)

"ATTENTION!" a voice loudly demanded. Only a few guys (Clint included) made themselves ramrod straight. Bucky took a moment longer before he followed Clint's example. Apparently training hadn't fully instilled in Bucky's memories as well as expected. Clint almost smirked but decided he'd have to practice being straight faced. There was no way he'd let anything else slip. Sadly, judging by Bucky's snort, Clint failed. If they weren't currently standing at attention (in the past), Clint totally would have turned and stuck his tongue out at him. "Everyone find your units!"

The groups split off, asking around. Most of their bus took off for the other side of the camp. Unsure what to do, Clint stayed back with Bucky as the Sergeant looked about. There was no clues on anyone's regiment. Not that Clint hadn't already assumed as much based on the uniforms that Bucky and he were currently sporting.

"See anything that lets us know?" one of the guys from their bus that hadn't wandered off questioned. Clint looked to him. He was one of the men that had been on the bus. Guy had loudly introduced himself as Mike Wallace of the 107th after someone in the front complained that they couldn't hear the back people's names. Behind him stood the other guy, Eric Newmen.

"Gotta ask around I guess," Bucky muttered even though none of them moved. Clint turned around, trying to find someone. As he did, he spotted Dugan. If he remembered correctly, Dugan had been part of the 107th. Slowly, he headed over to the guy. Bucky easily slipped himself beside the archer. Clint grimaced. Of course Bucky would follow. "He someone you know too?"

"Kinda. Personal friends with one of his grand-kids," Clint answered, not adding that he had been part of the grand-kid's death during the whole Loki incident. Dugan turned to look at the four that were coming his way. "Hey, part of the 107th?"

"Yeah, how'd ya guess?" Dugan wondered, honestly curious. He hadn't actively been looking for anyone. Clint shrugged. Wasn't like lying to him was gonna change anything. Hopefully Bucky just went along with it.

"Lucky guess," the archer replied. Bucky tried his hardest not to laugh but he must have made some type of reaction cause Clint elbowed him in the gut. They'd both would have to watch themselves out here. Clint doubted others would be as forgiving as Steve and Bucky had been after learning he knew what was going to come next.

"Yeah, good guess," Dugan retorted. "Corporal Timothy Dugan. But call me Dum Dum or just Dugan."

"Really?" Mike asked. Dugan glared at the kid. Clint raised an eyebrow. No one had mentioned that Dugan had been a Corporal this early into war. He doubted it was even mentioned in the Howling Commando museum. But he did remember Steve once telling him that Dugan had possibly stolen the medal from someone and just never took it off. Could Steve have been wrong this whole time?

"Really."

"Sergeant James Barnes. Call me Bucky," Bucky introduced before Dugan could seemingly beat the living crud out of the guy. Mike hardly noticed. Dugan reached out and shook his hand with a smile before looking to Clint. The archer blinked a few times before realizing he had to say who he was.

"Private Clint Barton," the archer added, hiding his wince as he realized he kept introducing him with his actual name. Then again, with Bucky beside him, it wouldn't do well to produce a fake name. Dugan and he also shook hands. When Dugan's attention slipped to the next guy, Bucky patted Clint gently on the back as if he knew what Clint had been thinking of.

"Mike Wallace," Mike said, holding out his hand even though Dugan was focused on Eric. After a second, Mike kinda waved his hand to try and get the Corporal's attention. Dugan ignored it. Hell, he hardly even looked at the guy.

"Eric Newmen," Eric called. Dugan shook his hand. Clint chuckled lightly. He hadn't realized that Dugan could hold a grudge from something so simple. He'd have to ask Steve later if Dugan had always been like that. Around them a few more guys gathered. One of them looked over and nodded his head to them. Bucky nodded his head back and they headed over.

"107th?" the first guy asked.

"Sergeant James Bucky Barnes," Bucky replied. The men looked relieved.

"Aaron O'Reilly," one answered holding a hand out to the group. Clint shifted forward.

"Clint Barton," he told them. After that it was easy going.

"Zach MacMurry," the another said. By the end they had Cole (who refused to add a last name which pissed Clint off cause, he coulda done that?), Reilly Evans (call me Evans), Peter Ramsey, Danny Little and Oscar Brown. That made their group twelve people strong. Clint sighed. Okay... Okay. If only these other ten people knew about him then history would be safe. All Clint had to do was defect early on. Right? Or should he actually stay? Hell, would Bucky even let him attempt to defect or run away? Doubtful.

"107th! FALL IN LINE!" a voice shouted out to them. Everyone moved closer and stood at attention. "I WANT ALL NON PRIVATES HERE!"

Bucky (after a quick side glance at Clint) and Dugan moved forward, leaving the ten privates behind. They joined what Clint could now correctly assume was the Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel. For a moment, the group of what looked to be maybe thirty to forty men all began to converse with the man in charge. Okay, that was more than Clint expected over here. The rest of the men might already be at war considering the 107th was actually a pretty old regiment but still, it was more than he expected. Especially on this side of the ocean.

"Damn man. That's a lotta guys," Cole grunted. Clint glanced around at the men surrounding them. There looked to be maybe somewhere between seven hundred to maybe a thousand men. Mentally breaking it down a bit to how many men would go under the Corporal or Sergeants, Clint wasn't all that surprised at the amount of waiting men verses men with the Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel. Now, it was just a matter of learning who this dude was. It wasn't much longer after that before Dugan and Bucky returned to the group.

"You all willing to be under my command?" Bucky questioned, looking everyone over with a close eye. Clint nodded his head, nearly about ready to salute the Sergeant but figured Bucky would laugh him off. Hell, he'd laugh it off himself. So when, Eric, Zach, Danny, Mike and Oscar had no such issue doing so, the sight made Bucky sigh and Clint snickered. That's what he expected. Apparently, no matter how much Future Bucky denied it, he was almost completely back to normal with how Past Bucky acted.

"You gonna get us killed?" Aaron hissed as if Bucky had any control over that. Almost everyone turned angered glares at him. Clint lunged as if to attack but Bucky gripped his shoulder, stopping the archer from doing anything. As stupid and as mean as it sounded, it was a question that could be asked, if not nicer. There had been rumors being spread around that some of the higher ups, Sergeants being one of them, tended to not care about any of the privates and would send them off knowing it'd be sending them into a trap.

"Dude," Peter snapped. "You can't fucking ask that!"

"Oh fuck off. I got a girl waiting at home and I wanna make sure I come back," the private growled. Bucky glanced at Clint who narrowed his eyes at the other man. After a second, Bucky squeezed Clint's shoulder, making the archer look to him. Bucky was giving him a questioning look. For a moment, Clint had no idea what Bucky wanted from him. When he realized, Clint nearly smacked the Sergeant. Instead he, frowned and then shrugged. If Bucky was going to constantly look to him for answers, the man had another thing coming. Clint had no idea who survived outside of the Howling Commandos. Hell, he doubted he'd even last that long considering there was no mention of his name in history. But, he also had no idea still if he was on his timeline. What if him being here made the Commandos never form? Or have them killed? What if Bucky died before Azzano?

"We all wanna come home ya douche," Peter retorted before looking to Bucky with a determined gaze. "I'm good on ya."

"Same here," Cole agreed with a nod. Evans nodded as well and attention was drawn back to

Aaron. It took the man an extra moment to realize they were all waiting on him. He stood a bit straighter.

"Ya know what, we don't need ya," Dugan suddenly declared. "So, fuck off to find another guy who'd take ya." The group turned to him surprised. None of them had expected that. When Aaron didn't move, Dugan nodded his head to another group near them. "Go on, git."

"I'll... I'll stay," Aaron finally agreed and it was just in time too as suddenly they were joined by another man. Distantly, Clint noted the bars on the man's uniform. He was a Captain. Okay, that explained the amount of men that had met with the Lieutenant Colonel or whoever. There were Captains, Lieutenants, and whatever else was needed. It was a break down of nearly an entire regiment. Likely anyone extra would be joining someone else's command already over seas.

"Sergeant, you got your crew?" the Captain asked. Bucky nodded. Clint frowned. Seriously? He glanced to Bucky surprised but Bucky didn't even look at him. While Clint had never actually researched World War II history, he hadn't actually expected that a Captain would allow the Sergeants to pick their own men for their platoon. And he would know. When he was sent on a mission to join the army when he first joined S.H.I.E.L.D, he was brought in as a Sergeant and was just handed a bunch of men. The Captain nodded and walked away, checking on the other Sergeants. Clint focused on Bucky.

"You serious?" the archer wondered as the Sergeant turned back to look at the group. Bucky nodded. No way in hell was he gonna allow Clint to be taken by someone else. The 'future-guy' was totally staying with him.

"Might as well," he replied as if he had thought about it long and hard. Clint huffed and shook his head. The group got in a small amount of conversation before suddenly there was another shout over the area. Clint's head snapped to attention.

"MY NAME IS CAPTAIN TRENTON BANKS AND WE ARE PART OF THE 107th," Captain Banks cried out, giving a pause. A few brave men responded with a whoop of something. Certainly not joy, though maybe it could have been. Giving free reign to go kill someone, one might feel excited for that. Highly doubtful for most of them, but possible. Clint wished he could see those men's faces once they actually killed their first person. "WE WILL BE SHIPPING OUT OF HERE AND TO GERMANY!"

There was a loud cheer from the entire crowd as if they had been waiting this entire time for permission to go on. While most of the crowd didn't want to go over, they all had at least someone here in the States that they wanted to protect. If they defeated the Germans over on their turf, none of them would come to the States. Clint, Dugan, Eric and Bucky all stayed quiet, surprised when even Aaron had let out a cheer. With that Captain Banks turned and walked away. Slowly, the group grabbed their bags and headed off to the armory to collect their weapons. Clint looked around. All these men... Some no more than eighteen years old. How... No... Why did they have to go to war? Why couldn't it have been someone older? Wiser? It hurt the archer to think about it. Azzano was only maybe four months or so away and it was a group of 200 men that had been in the attack. Either they were the only insane idiots to do it while the rest stayed behind or there had only been around that number to begin with. Damn it, he really didn't want to watch anyone die.

The trip to Germany was easier than Clint expected it to be. Bucky kept watching Clint for any tell tale signs that they'd get into any issues while Clint tried his best to simply school his expressions. He had to think of this as a mission. A mission to keep these men safe, like a bodyguard or something. Yeah, he could do that. Right? Bucky shifted to sit closer to Clint. He must have made a face or something.

"Hey," the Sergeant whispered. Clint slowly looked to him. "You're gonna be okay."

"I know you will. Dugan will... I don't know about the rest of us. We ain't in no history books," Clint whispered figuring he might as well give up hiding the 'lesser' important things to the Sergeant. He needed to be sure that Bucky wouldn't be looking to him for every answer on every decision. Bucky frowned before looking around at the nine other men that had joined their little group. This wasn't going to be good for any of them. It was likely that they'd all die... Same would be true with any other regiment, but still. Bucky wasn't sure how he was going to keep everyone safe. Almost as if sensing what Bucky was thinking, Clint nudged the soldier making Bucky look to him. "Hey, don't think about that. Just lead us like how you'd normally do it. Don't think about who may or may not come out of each battle."

Bucky nodded. Yeah, he could do that. Then doubt crept back in. "But-"

"Don't think about it, Buck. Things will go how they are supposed to," Clint interrupted. Bucky huffed a small laugh that made Clint place a hand on his shoulder and squeeze. Feeling slightly better, Bucky gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, yeah," Bucky whispered but Clint could tell he was still nervous. Clint huffed. He really wasn't good at giving out these types of cheering up speeches. Hell, it was normally Steve that did that. Except Sokovia... And Clint's Sokovia's speech sucked. But it seemed to have worked for Wanda. Somehow, Steve's was worse. 'You get killed... Walk it off.'

"Everything will be fine," Clint added, suddenly remembering, he could use magic. A protection spell specifically to keep the group safe. He'd have to be careful to not be seen by anyone but, it's be worth it. Hell, he could even finally drop the spell that had him collecting magic from other sources so he'd be stronger. Likely there wouldn't be any other magic users during World War II. And if there was, Clint hoped the were on the other side so he could freely drain them. When the spell dropped, Clint couldn't help but feel pure relief. Wow, he hadn't realized how much he had mentally focused on keeping the damn spell active. That was another thing Loki had forced on him, keeping that spell active even while sleeping. Bucky huffed out a quick laugh before looking to Clint.

"Honestly, I ain't worried that much about these other guys. I'm worried what happens to you. Wouldn't be cool of me to have possibly allowed you to go back in time only for you to die," Bucky softly mentioned pointing out that if he knew Clint in the future, he'd stop Clint dying. Clint smirked even as he mentally cringed. He couldn't save either of them. Jesus... How was he going to explain that to them when he got back? Explain how he knew they both were protecting him but he could not return the favor. Then again... If he was on the same timeline. They'd have had to do the same thing for him. Right?

"Well then. I guess I don't die," the archer chuckled. Bucky snorted.

"Or, I forgot about you." Clint made a disgruntled face at that. Honestly, Bucky could have easily forgotten about him. And if Clint died before Azzano, Steve wouldn't know. Oh he was totally fucked now. God damn time travel.

"Don't tell me that." This time Bucky really did laugh. It even helped release some of the nerves he had been holding onto. Clint smirked. Yeah, he was good. But then Clint really thought about what Bucky said. If this was the same timeline of his Steve and Bucky... Would they have somehow sent him back just to die? Or did they know he'd somehow come back? And why did they never say anything? For some reason the fact that it was never mentioned pissed him off more than he assumed. Steve knew him for years. With his eidetic memory, the Captain would remember.

"GOING DOWN BOYS! PREPARE YOURSELFS!" Captain Banks shouted out, getting to his feet to check on the men. Clint snorted.

"Does he never not scream?" the archer mumbled. Bucky tried not to laugh but one did escape him and Banks turned to look at the duo before shaking his head and moving on. The look he gave them had them both dissolving into chuckles once they were certain he wasn't paying attention to them. Two minutes later, the 107th was getting off their plane and heading out into the first of many camps they would be visiting this war.

"DON'T PUT YOUR STUFF DOWN BOYS! WE'RE JUST HERE FOR ORDERS!" Banks screamed. Bucky and Clint chuckled again even as Dugan moved to stand by them. Banks headed off to find whoever was in charge of the camp.

"I miss something, boys?" Dugan asked, drawing their attention. Bucky shook his head while Clint tried to suppress his smile. They'd explain it to him later in private. "If you say so."

"Where you think we gonna be going?" Mike wondered. Everyone had quickly learned that Mike wasn't all that bright in the head. It was kinda endearing about him but also a bit annoying.

"The front line, dumb-ass," Aaron snapped. Now, this guy's temper kept getting the better of him. One that Clint couldn't wait to see out on the battlefield but in the mean time it pissed the rest of them off. Clint wasn't sure anyone would be willing to sacrifice themselves for the man. Even if he was part of their group. It was then that Banks returned.

"Alright boys! We're headed off for-" Banks called out, for once not being as loud as he could have been. Hence Clint didn't hear the name of where they were being sent too. Clint huffed but said nothing about it. Bucky attempted to look at Clint for any clue as to how this was gonna go, but Clint honestly had no idea what to expect. There was not really much mention on what Bucky dealt with before Azzano. Nor any of the other Commandos. It's why he had been surprised to see Dugan had been working beside Bucky even before. Or did he already change the future by having them work together? Fucking Back to the Future and time travel shit.

"Think we're gonna get some good action here?" Zach asked as they started marching out of base camp. Clint snorted, looking to the man. Action wasn't something he really wanted to get involved in.

"Why do you want action so soon? Thought we'd all want ta avoid it for a bit," Clint wondered. Zach shrugged, glancing over to the archer.

"Faster we win, faster we go home," Zach pointed out. There was a small cheer from the people around them as they thought about Zach's logic. Clint laughed but didn't dispute the man. It was the truth, even if Clint knew how long they still had in the war. Bucky glanced over to Clint quickly and the archer couldn't help but glare at him. He had just told the guy to stop counting on him knowing everything.

So, what did everyone think? Like it so far? I hope so.

Darius is doing well. School and daycare are really exciting for him and he's made a lot of friends. In a few weeks time, I'll learn if he keeps going to school or if it will just become Daycare. Either way, life won't seriously change. I think. Having an interesting time keeping the house clean today. He's home all day on Fridays and so the house normally ends up a mess. We got into a fight before naptime as he refused to clean so I grabbed a trash bag and started collecting stuff. He got upset and I just told him to clean or I'd throw it away and what I didn't throw away, our dog, Appa would eat. Kinda worked. But, right after nap. Back to making a huge mess.

Baby Jason hasn't been around me that much this week. Mostly upstairs with his parents or out. The few times that he has been around, he's been happy as all heck. Laughing and smiling. Outside of once a day crying over getting a bottle. Last night hubby and I got to watch Baby Jason for a bit. There were a few times I thought hubby would kill the kid with laughter but everything went fine. Till like the last five to ten minutes of waiting for his parents to return. Then, the little guy got mad cause we didn't feed him. Ah well. Least he was happy for most of it.