Chapter 9: Family Reunion
"You're a game changer, and I'm thinking my heart may be in danger. And I don't want to face it, but I can't change it. You're staring, and I'm swearing you know just what you're doing…You make me blush. Like a little kid with crush. I'm trying my best to be tough, but you electrify me and damn it's frightening." Blush by Brieanna James.
"Is it wrong of me to be excited my brother's voluntarily coming into an active warzone?" Anna asked over the hairpins in her mouth.
"Is it wrong I'm excited?" Helen asked with a sly smile.
"Don't make me stick you with these pins. I love Howard, but he isn't the 'going steady,' kind of man right now. Think before you try and start something with him. And if you do, please spare me the details."
"Maybe I just want to have some fun," Helen shrugged, moving to help Anna pin back a particularly stubborn section of hair. "How's he going to take you and Barnes doing your little flirtatious dance?"
"He's going to be impossibly embarrassing," Anna groaned. Howard loved theatrics.
"So you admit to flirting with Barnes?" Helen smiled widely, catching Anna's eyes in the small, dirty mirror above their wash basin.
"I've given up wasting my breath debating the issue with you. You can interpret our interactions however you want," Anna responded, pinning back the last section of her waves.
Commotion outside their tent drew them from their conversation. Emerging from their tent, Helen grabbed the arm of a passing soldier.
"What's going on?" Helen asked.
"A truck just arrived with reinforcements Ma'am," the soldier responded, taking his leave when Helen released his arm.
Sharing a look, Helen and Anna rushed after the soldier. All Anna could think was if reinforcements were there, maybe Howard was too. As soon as they reached the main area, Anna started glancing around the crowd. Her eyes bounced over soldiers she knew and a few she didn't, including a mountain of a man with a big mustache and a bowler hat. An odd choice for the battlefield.
Several soldiers moving off to one side revealed Howard standing with a bag over his shoulder. His eyes were scanning the crowd like Anna's had been.
"Howard!" Anna called out, forgetting about the soldiers mingling around as she ran as fast as her heals would allow her. One of her heels sunk in the mud just as she reached Howard, causing her to stumble into his embrace. She hadn't realized just how much she missed him until she saw him. Letters weren't as good as having Howard there in person. A letter couldn't hug you.
"Anna Banana," Howard greeted as Anna latched her arms around him. He returned the embrace with all the strength he had. She seemed slighter than before she left. He made a mental note to complain about the nutrition provided to those at base. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too," Anna responded, finally releasing her hold on Howard when Helen cleared her throat. "Howard this is Helen, my tent-mate, my friend, and a nurse," Anna introduced them.
"Pleasure to meet you Helen," Howard greeted. Anna recognized the look in his eyes as well as his smile. She didn't mind Howard's lifestyle choices, it was his right to do as he wanted, she just didn't want to witness them firsthand. Before he could work his magic Anna interrupted.
"I'm hungry," Anna announced, grabbing Howard's arm and pulling him towards the cook's tent.
There were already quite a few soldiers in line for food when they arrived at the cook's tent. As they slowly worked their way closer to the front, Howard recounted Anna with stories of his time in New York while she was gone.
"You look bored," Howard complained mid-story.
"You wrote me about all of this already," Anna responded, stepping forward in line.
"Even I've heard the stories, Hon," Helen piped up from behind Howard.
"Yes but they're much more exciting when I tell them," Howard countered, before he was sidetracked by the food the cook served.
"I'm going to take a wild guess that salmon won't be on the menu," Howard commented, eyeing the pot the cook stirred before plopping a spoonful of grits into the bowl of the soldier ahead of Anna Banana.
"You volunteered to come, remember," Anna said, stepping forward in line and holding out her bowl to the cook.
"That was all for you, my dear little sister," Howard insisted with a flourish of his hand, causing several soldiers to glance their way. The cook just squinted his eyes at Howard as he plopped grits into his bowl and motioned for them to move on.
"Of course, it had nothing to do with the government contract you wrote about," Anna countered.
"We can't both be the moral one," Howard replied with a cheeky grin as he followed Anna through the crowd of soldiers.
...
"Reinforcements arrived today," Adams reported taking a seat on his cot. He'd drawn the short straw to see what the commotion was all about. "Anna just threw herself in the arms of one of the arrivals."
"It's about time they sent reinforcements. We need more men," Bucky said, tucking the corners of the covers into his cot.
"You don't seem too concerned at Anna throwing herself at another guy," McKenzie commented.
"Her brother's arriving today," Bucky retorted. Anna had been equal parts worried and excited when she'd told Bucky her brother was coming over. If she was hugging a guy, her brother must have arrived. Ace wasn't the type to throw herself at just any guy.
"Even more reason for concern. Now you have to impress Anna and her brother," Adams added with an exaggerated shiver. He'd done the whole 'impress the family' thing. It was never fun.
"Older brothers are the worst too. Protective and picky," McKenzie chimes in.
"Thanks for the confidence boost guys," Bucky murmured, playfully pushing Adams. "Come on, I'm hungry."
Bucky didn't pay much attention to the others conversation as he led the way to breakfast. His attention was focused on his surroundings, keeping an eye out for Ace. He first spotted her when they neared the cook's tent. She laughed at something, her whole face lighting up as her mouth stretched into a wide smile. Sitting beside her was none other than Howard Stark. Her brother had arrived.
"You guys go ahead, I'll meet up with you," Bucky said, not taking his eyes off of Anna.
"Good idea, get the introductions over with before you eat," Adams commented, patting Bucky on the back.
"Morning Ace," Bucky greeted as he came to a stop before the siblings.
"Morning," Anna smiled, hoping if she acted normal Howard wouldn't find as much amusement in embarrassing her.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Howard prodded, abandoning stirring his untouched bowl of muck in favor of the newcomer. A newcomer who had a nickname for his sister.
"Howard meet Sargent Barnes. James, my brother," Anna made the introductions, mentally sighing at the gleam in Howard's eyes. She knew he'd recognize the name.
"Pleasure to meet you," James said, offering his hand to Howard. "Anna speaks highly of you."
"As she does of you. I've never heard her praise a man more than she does you in her letters." Anna winced at Howard mentioning the letters. Those were supposed to be private. Of course Howard never had the best grasp on privacy. He preferred all his exploits to be public knowledge. It got him more attention.
"He's exaggerating," Anna chimed in before Howard could give any details.
"I brought them with me," Howard said, reaching for his bag.
"That won't be necessary," Anna insisted, grabbing the bag from Howard and setting it on the other side of her.
"You seem a little twitchy Anna Banana," Howard commented, causing Anna to narrow her eyes.
"Forget about the letters Howard," Anna warned, her fingers digging into the log beneath her. If James knew how often she wrote about him, how she wrote about him, it could ruin their easy friendship.
"Okay. Are you at least having that fun we talked about?" Howard asked with a wide smile and a wink.
"Helen," Anna pleaded, giving up on Howard being serious.
"Come on handsome let me show you around," Helen interrupted, grabbing Howard by the arm. Handing his bowl off to Barnes, he readily followed behind Helen. As much fun as teasing Anna Banana was, he had a feeling he'd have more fun with Helen.
"So you wrote Howard about me?" James asked, taking a seat beside Anna.
"Yes," Anna admitted, avoiding James' gaze. She had to refrain from over explaining why she wrote about him in her letters. Knowing her, she'd let something worse slip and dig herself into an even bigger hole.
"I wrote about you too, Ace," Bucky admitted, ducking his head when he couldn't hide his smile. He didn't know how something as simple as Ace writing to her brother about him could have his heart thudding harder.
"Really?" She asked, the surprise in her voice causing Bucky to turn towards her. When he found her glancing up at him through her lashes his heart squeezed tighter in his chest.
"You're important to me Ace," Bucky responded. He'd thought he'd made that obvious.
The sincerity James spoke with had Anna's breath hitching. His blue eyes caught hers, and she found herself unwilling to look away. Instead she leaned in closer. She didn't realize her gaze had dropped to James' lips until she noticed his little crooked smile. There was no telling what she would have done had Private Adams and Corporal McKenzie not interrupted.
"Did you already scare the brother off?" Private Adams asked as he took a seat on the other side of James, causing Anna to abruptly pull back.
"Isn't he supposed to do that to you?" Corporal McKenzie asked, slapping James before turning towards Anna. "Morning Doc," he greeted with a smile.
"I should get going," Anna said, stumbling to her feet and making her swift escape towards the medic tent. A warm flush rushed over her face and chest. She'd almost made a fool of herself in front of James and half the camp.
Bucky's shoulders slumped as he watched Anna retreat. There was a moment when he was sure Ace was going to kiss him. She'd been leaning in, her eyes flitting from his eyes to his lips. Then Adams and McKenzie broke their connection, making Anna scurry away.
"She sure left in a hurry," Adams commented as he dug into his grits.
"Did we interrupt something?" McKenzie asked, noticing the defeated set of Bucky's shoulders.
"I don't know," Bucky shrugged, clasping his hands together and resting his elbows on his knees.
Noticing Howard's bag sitting beside him on the grass, Bucky was tempted to find those letter's Ace's brother had mentioned. What he wouldn't give to find out how she saw him. But he'd never intrude on her privacy like that. Instead he shouldered the bag, giving a lame excuse to his confused friends as he set off in search of Howard.
…
Taking a moment to steady herself outside the medic tent, Anna smoothed out her skirt and tried to steady her racing heart. As soon as her nervous energy dissipated, Anna stepped through the flap of the medic tent to find a brunette in an army green uniform and a British accent confronting Dr. King.
"Go ahead and write me up. I'd love to hear what his fellow soldiers say when they find out I was the one who gave him the shiner."
"I don't want her written up," the soldier sitting on the cot beside Corporal Sanders spoke up. Anna could see the start of a dark blue ring around his left eye. "I just want some ice for my eye."
"You should be able to handle that Dr. King," Anna spoke up, crossing the room as all eyes turned to her.
"I don't know, it seems more like a task for a nurse," the soldier commented with what Anna supposed was meant to be a charming smile. She could understand why the Brit socked him in the eye.
"Perhaps we should find one then," Anna threw back, taking a seat at the desk and signing in on the time sheet.
She was relieved to hear Dr. King announce he was going to breakfast after giving the soldier ice. After he threatened to ruin her, she much preferred working without him present. It made everything more pleasant.
As soon as Dr. King and the soldier left, Peggy approached the girl at the desk. If she wasn't mistaken, and judging how the girl shut down the soldier with her sharp words Peggy was sure she wasn't, this was Howard's little sister. The one he couldn't stop singing the praises of.
"You must be Anna," she said, causing Anna to glance up at her. "Peggy Carter," she held out her hand. Anna took it after only a moment of hesitation. She wasn't used to people knowing her name. They mostly knew Howard.
"Nice to meet you," Anna responded, keeping her tone neutral.
"I work with the SSR," Peggy expanded, noticing Anna's confusion. "Howard talks about you quite a lot. Brags about you really. I don't think I've heard him brag about anyone other than him until he brought up you. He's very proud of you."
"I'm equally proud of him," Anna smiled at the compliment. Though she was sure Howard exaggerated her talents as he often did with his own. "So, why'd you punch the soldier?"
"He demeaned my status in the army using unsavory words," Peggy answered matter of fact.
"I like you already," Anna smiled widely at Peggy's response. "So you got sent over with Howard?" She asked as she approached Corporal Sander's bed.
"More like I insisted on being included when the platoon was shipped out," Peggy retorted as she leaned against the desk in the corner.
"Sounds familiar," Anna murmured, as she turned her attention to her patient. "Time for a bandage change," Anna announced, causing Corporal Sanders to groan.
"I'll just leave you to your work," Peggy said, feeling a bit in the way once Anna started working on her patient.
"No, please. Stay. I never get to see anyone but medical staff anymore," Corporal Sanders pleaded.
"Do I bore you?" Anna challenged, rising to get the clean bandages.
"Of course not," Corporal Sanders insisted. "I just like a change every now and then."
"I can understand that," Peggy said as she took a seat on the cot beside Corporal Sander's. "When I spend too much time around so much testosterone and huge egos it can be nauseating…no offense to your brother," Peggy paused after she let the words slip out, scared she might have rubbed Anna the wrong way.
"I grew up with Howard, trust me when I say I understand," Anna chuckled, motioning for Corporal Sanders to move on his side so she could change his bandages. "And I agree with Corporal Sanders. It'll be nice having another career minded woman around."
"Likewise. Perhaps you could help me knock Howard down a few pegs when he gets too big for his britches," Peggy added.
"Speaking of Howard, I thought you'd be catching up with him. Why are you in here changing my bandages?" Corporal Sanders asked, wincing when Anna pulled the old bandage off and started cleaning his healing wound.
"He was being his usual embarrassing self in front of James. Helen pulled him away on a tour of the base to save me," Anna commented lightly, focusing on her work.
"Who's James?" Peggy asked.
"No one," Anna responded, a little too quickly. It let Peggy know whoever James was, he most certainly wasn't no one to Anna.
"The soldier Anna keeps trading goo-goo eyes with," Corporal Sanders added with a sly smile, contradicting Anna. "Don't try denying it, you're blushing at the mention of him," he added to Anna, her cheeks a rosy color as she finished applying his bandage and pulled down his shirt.
"Intriguing," Peggy smiled widely at Anna. "I take it you haven't told him how you feel?"
"And make a fool of myself?" Anna asked, shaking her head as she went to dispose of the old bandages. "He's one of the few decent men I've met in a while. He's funny, sweet, charming, brave, handsome, and completely out of my league."
"The way Howard talks about you, I find that very hard to believe," Peggy countered, crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands.
"Howard exaggerates," Anna brushed off Peggy's comment, coming to stand at the foot of the cots.
"Did you not graduate top of your class, volunteer to help the army, including coming overseas, when you could have taken a cushy city job like most of your classmates?" Peggy asked, her red lips pursed and her eyebrows raised.
"I'm supposed to just lay my heart out to him? How would that look to my superiors?" It was much too cliché for her to fall in love with a soldier, expected of her. Just like how all her teachers had expected her to drop out after one semester and how the generals she'd worked under expected her to fail or cave under pressure. Anna rather enjoyed proving everyone wrong.
"If men can't respect a woman who goes after what she wants, then those men aren't worth the mud on your shoes," Peggy scoffed.
"Did I mention I like you," Anna said with a slow smile.
…
Bucky found Howard coming out of Anna's tent, his hair askew as he tightened up his tie. He second guessed approaching him when Howard noticed him standing there.
"Anna went to the medic tent and forgot your bag. I figured you'd be wanting it back," Bucky explained handing the bag over.
"Thanks," Howard said, unperturbed that Bucky had caught him leaving Anna and Helen's tent looking disheveled. "Mind helping me find where I'm bunking?"
Pulling a piece of paper form his pocket, Howard read off the section and number of his tent. Nodding his head to the right, Bucky led Howard towards the tent which was only a row over and a few tents up. Turned out there was only one cot in Howard's small tent.
"I might have included a single tent in my contract with the government. I wanted something a bit more grand, but this is all I could spring," Howard winked as he set his bag on the cot.
"I'll let you get settled in," Bucky said, turning to leave.
"Stay," Howard ordered, leaning back on his cot. "I'd like to talk with the man my sister's taken a fancy to. It's such a rarity. You must be something special."
"You're mistaken. Anna and I are only friends."
"I know Anna. I've seen her around guys she's just friends with. That's not you." Anna was nervous around Barnes, and she smiled more than he'd ever seen her around anyone other than family. The way she wrote about him left no mistake. She liked him. "So why haven't you made a move?"
"Um," Bucky mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. In his experience brothers had always warned him away. It sounded like Howard was inviting him to date Ace.
"I just want Anna to be happy," Howard pressed on, not waiting for Bucky's answer. "If you don't feel that way about her, just let her down easy before things get too out of hand."
"I never said I didn't feel that way about her," Bucky defended before he could think it through. Howard flashed a self-satisfied smile.
"Now that we got that out of the way, are you going to do anything about it?"
…
"So you're telling me her brother is advocating for you to ask her out?" Adams grunted as he pushed himself back up from a pushup. He hated the physical training the generals always seemed to force upon them but never partook in.
"That's definitely what I took away from our conversation," Bucky said, increasing his pace.
"That's perfect. He won't stand in your way when it comes to Anna," McKenzie chimed in, his breath coming out in a strangled huff.
"Yeah, but he wasn't here the past month and a half. If you ask me you're standing in your own way Barnes," Adams retorted, laying on his stomach in the dirt. He planned to take a break until a general came and made him get back to work.
"I've always rushed into things with girls, and they've never lasted. I don't want that to happen with Anna." He didn't want her to end up like the other girls he'd dated. The thought of things going bad and never talking with her again had his stomach dropping.
"Don't you think it's been long enough? Take a chance," McKenzie prodded.
"Less talking, more push-ups ladies," the new general called out. "Get your chest out of the dirt Adams."
The rest of their training was long, silent, and brutal. General Phillips drove them hard on every drill, pushing them to the point of exhaustion. Buckets of freezing water were used to wash away the dirt and sweat afterwards. It was worth it to scrub away the grime, even if they were shivering afterwards.
"Think the cook will give us extra portions after that torture session?" Adams asked hopefully as they made their way towards dinner later than normal. Night had already fallen, thousands of stars blinking above. A small fire was already going in the center of the eating area.
"Doubt it," McKenzie threw back.
"Do either of you see Anna?" Bucky asked, glancing around the groups of soldiers for her.
"No," Adams and McKenzie respond in unison. "She might have already eaten," McKenzie added.
Perhaps it was best if she had. It seemed like fate's way of telling Bucky he shouldn't press things with Anna any further.
…
After three injured soldiers got brought in from the field, Anna had to face using freezing cold water to scrub the sweat from her skin. Donning her last clean uniform, she made her way towards dinner. After taking time to wash up, it was much later than she'd normally eat. She had resigned herself to bringing her food back to her tent, convinced anyone she knew had probably already eaten, when she spotted James and his platoon eating by the small fire.
The fire cast flickering shadows over James' face, an easy smile on his face as he talked with Adams. His bright smile had Anna's heart stuttering. Helen and Corporal Sanders were right. She was only fooling herself when she said she didn't care for James. Could they also be right when they claimed James felt the same about her? There was only one way to find out.
With determined purpose, Anna made her way across the clearing, wiping her sweaty palms on the side of her skirt. James noticed her just as she reached the logs situated around the fire. His eyes meeting hers had her heart palpitating and her stomach flopping. Setting his tin cup on the ground, James rose from his seat.
"Ace, I thought you might have eaten already," James greeted with a soft smile. His hair was damp from his own shower, just like Anna's. While she probably looked like a drowned dog, he looked disarmingly handsome as she came to stand before him. Unable to hold in her nerves, she exhaled a shaky breath.
"Is everything alright? You look a little pale," James asked, his brow furrowing. His concern was sweet, and had her nerves bouncing all over the place.
"I'm fine I just…" Staring up into James' eyes had Anna faltering, second guessing her decision. But backing down wasn't in her Stark nature.
Instead of finishing her thought, Anna took a step closer. Reaching out to grab the front of James' shirt she pulled him down to her. His lips were as soft as they looked. When the possible consequences of what she was doing caught up to her, panic began bubbling up inside her. But then James wrapped his arms firmly around her waist. Pulling her closer, he returned her kiss fervently, sending her heart and stomach fluttering.
A/N: Hello everyone! This update was fun to write, I got to tap into the fluffy romantic stuff I love. I hope I didn't go overboard with it, but oh well if I did. I'd highly recommend checking out the song I quoted at the beginning, it fits with this chapter very well. I feel like a lot happened this chapter, yet still very little did. Don't worry, it won't stay so domestically dormant for long. They are still in the middle of the war. Thank you to everyone who reads, follows, favorites, and reviews. It means a lot to me!
I still have about a dozen different ways to end this story bouncing around in my head: both sad endings and happy endings that come about in multiple different ways. I'm still not sure which way it'll go yet. Which would you guys prefer: more accurate sad ending, or a happy ending?
Onto Guest Review Responses
Jo: Always happy to hear you're still loving my stories!
To the guest excited for Howard to meet Bucky: I really hope I didn't let you down. I think that's my biggest fear when posting new chapters: that I'll let down the readers.
Pam: You can keep saying it's the BEST EVER fanfic you've read to date, I really never get tired of hearing it. It always makes me smile. :D I like alternating between the heavy stuff and fluff, it makes the story more fun to write, and I hope it makes it more fun to read. There was a lot of fluff in this chapter, so you know what that means for the next couple chapters.
Luna-Tick: Sorry I keep making you wait between updates…I don't mean to be cruel like that, it just ends up happening. Sometimes it's life being busy, sometimes it's a lack of inspiration. Thanks for keeping up with this story despite my irregular updates.
To the guest you wanted me to update soon: I'm sorry it's taken so long. I'm glad you love Anna and Bucky (spoiler alert, I do too lol) I'll try to start Steve and Emily's story soon. It's hard to have multiple stories open all at once. Harder to juggle which one I should write next.
To the guest who is excited for more Howard soon: soldiers might have had first aid training in basic, but they also had a lot of physical and tactical training. It was most likely overwhelming and I figured they'd focus more on the fighting and physical aspects than the medical seeing as there are doctors and nruses over there with them. I've been equal parts excited and terrified to write Peggy and Anna meeting. I'm still not sure if I nailed it exactly how I wanted, but it is what it is. They will surely have other scenes together. It's the beginning of a nice friendship. And I agree, both of them could run the world together. You got your wish, Anna and Bucky kissed before he gets captured.
To the guest who said "oh how I love this!": I'm so happy to hear you're loving the story. Howard and Bucky meeting was a fun one to write, as short as it was. Howard is one of my favorites to write. I think I even prefer writing him to Tony. They're similar, but also very different from one another.
Rach
xoxo