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"Reunion reveals friendship potential that haven't yet been emerged in the past."

Toba Beta

Chapter Six - Reunions

Clara had been working as an nurse in the army for almost a month now, and as such, has grown accustomed to her new job, and new life. She had fallen into a pattern pretty quickly. The work days were long and hard, the reality of war a tough one, but Clara felt more satisfied then she imagined she would've felt at home. Here, she was helping to save lives. And that in itself, was the greatest reward she'd ever known.

"Clara, redress his wound for me" Doctor Smith ordered her, as he moved off to deal with another patient

Clara moved to the soldier's bedside, the man looked quite young, probably around Daisy's age, barely old enough to be called a man. He had brown hair and eyes, and his skin was still pale from the blood loss caused by his gunshot wound.

"What's your name?" She asked the soldier, as she began to redress the wound

"Michael" he told her, his eyes watching every move her fingers made

"And how old are you, Michael?" She asked, attempting to distract him as she cleaned out his wound, "You look pretty young. But you could be older then you look, people always say I look younger then I am"

"I'm twenty" he replied, wincing, "What about you? You' re gotta be younger then me"

"Actually, I'm twenty four" she said, pulling new bandages over his abdomen, "Like I said, I look young. Must be a hereditary thing, most of my family age well. How long have you been over here?"

"Two months of Hell" said Michael, "You?"

"Three months" she said, "But I only just here. I've always wanted to go to Italy, shame about the circumstances that brought me here"

"Yeah, damn shame" Michael muttered, his eyes finally moving from her, to stare up at the ceiling

"Finished" she said, taking a step away from the bed

"Thanks" he replied, but his gaze remained on the roof, his eyes turning blank, and Clara was glad to not know the thoughts running through his mind

She walked down the aisle, turning when she heard her name being called, to see Sarah, her fellow nurse and fast friend, walking up to her.

"Where have you been?" Clara asked her

"Trying to catch a glimpse of Captain America" Sarah shrugged, grinning at her

"What?" Asked Clara, frowning

"Captain America's doing some show here" Sarah explained, "I wanted to see him for myself, judge if he actually is as good looking as they say"

Steve was here. He was here, in Italy.

Clara's heart leapt at the thought of seeing Steve again. Spending three months away from home was making her miss it, and she had long since considered Brooklyn to be her home. And right now, Steve was the closest thing to home she had come into contact with.

"I'm going to take the dirty sheets out to the laundry" she said to Sarah, knowing she could use it as an excuse to find Steve

"But it's raining" Sarah pointed out

"It'll clean the sheets" said Clara, ignoring Sarah's confused face to grab onto the bag with the dirty sheets.

She used the bag to shield herself from the pouring rain, as she ran towards the laundry tent. The sheets were quickly thrown into the basket, before she rushed back outside. She had no idea where to start looking for him, and it was only a stroke of luck that she saw the familiar figure in the distance. She ignored the rain, her face breaking out into a smile, as she ran towards him.

"Steve Rogers" Said Clara, slowly down to a stop in front of him, grinning at him as he turned around to look at her

"What are you doing here?" asked Steve, shock clear on his face

"I've been working as an army nurse for the past few months" she explained, "I...had hoped that I might see Bucky again"

"You haven't?" he asked

"No" she sighed, "He said that he was stationed here, but I only just got here. I haven't exactly had enough time to look for him"

"I'm sorry 'bout that" he said

"What about you?" Clara asked, trying to liven the mood, "Things have certainly changed for you since we last spoke" she said, gesturing to his body and raising her eyebrow, "And whatever it is, please tell me" she said, "Because, I would love to grow a few inches"

"Things certainly have changed" he chuckled

"So" she said, sitting down next to him, "I thought Captain America was trying to sell bonds"

"You saw my show?" He asked

"No, I read the newspaper" she said, "Why are you doing shows here?"

"They thought that I could boost soldier moral" he explained

"I'm guessing that it didn't go very well" she said, looking down at his drawing of himself as a trained monkey

"It didn't" he said

"It'll get better" she said, moving her hand onto his, giving it a squeeze, "You just have to stick it out"

"Thanks" he nodded

Clara looked up to see a woman approaching them, noticing Steve's face instantly brighten at the sight of her.

"A friend of yours?" Clara asked him, as the woman reached them

"Uh, Clara, this is Peggy" he introduced them

"Peggy Carter" said the woman, holding out her hand

"Clara Barnes" she replied, taking Peggy's hand to shake, "I'm Steve's...well, I'm married to his best friend so I suppose I'm kind of his sister-in-law of sorts"

"I'm...his friend" said Peggy, but Clara noticed the obvious relief on Peggy's face

"Well, I have to go back to work" she announced, sensing that she was no longer wanted, "Hopefully I'll see you again Steve. It was nice to meet you Peggy"

Clara turned, winking at Steve, grinning as she walked away from them. She was glad that Steve had found someone who was genuinely interested in him, and it was good to see him again, but she couldn't help but wish it was Bucky she was seeing.

Unfortunately, Clara did not get the chance to see Steve again. She'd spent the rest of the day redressing wounds and cleaning beds, then spent much of the night sitting with the wounded, comforting them when their nightmares woke them. The few hours of sleep she had gotten in the morning were just enough to keep her going.

"You'll be fine" Clara told the soldier, as she finished wrapping up his wound, "But don't touch the bandage"

"Clara" called out Sarah, running past the beds, "Soldiers are back"

"Do they need us to treat the wounded?" Clara asked her

"No, Captain America brought back soldiers" said Sarah, "You need to come with me right now"

"What?" Clara asked, her jaw dropping in shock.

When had Steve even left? Why had Steve left? Why did he think it was a good idea to risk his life?

Those questions flew around her brain, she knew that Steve was brave almost to the point of stupidity, but this was a whole new level. And if she was honest with herself, she was glad he hadn't told her. The stress would've killed her.

"Just" said Sarah, exasperated, as she grabbed on to Clara's wrist, "Come with me"

"What's going on?" Clara asked, but Sarah just ignored her, and kept leading her towards the sounds of voices.

And that was when she heard her name being called. By a voice she knew just as well as her own.

"Bucky" she whispered

Clara pulled her arm out of Sarah's grip, tearing off in the direction of his voice, pushing people out of her way. Her eyes desperately scanning the people in search of him.

"Clara" she heard again, louder this time,

"Bucky" she yelled out, as people began to move out of her way

And then she saw him, and everything just stopped. It was like everything was blocked out, everything, but him. She didn't even realise that she was running, her legs had a mind of their own, but even they knew that the only place she wanted to be was with him.

"Bucky" she said, in barely a whisper, as she neared him

"Clara" he replied, reaching out his hands, pulling her into his arms, "I've missed you"

Clara's eyes welled up with tears, as she wrapped her arms tightly around him, grabbing the back of his shirt in her fist. She had never been more thankful in her life. She pulled her head back to look at him, moving her hand to his cheek.

"You look like hell" she told him

Bucky let out a hollow laugh, moving his hands to grip her face, leaning his forehead against hers.

"God I love you" he said, before pulling her into one almighty kiss

Clara felt like life was being breathed back into her. She was suffocating, but Bucky brought her air.

Even after they pulled away from one another, Clara still clung to him like her life depended on it. In that moment, she was sure that she would never let him go again.

"Hey" called out Bucky, "Let's hear it for Captain America"

Clara joined in on the clapping and cheering of the crowd, smiling brightly at Steve. Never had she been more grateful to anyone in her life, then she was in that moment, nor had she even been more glad of Steve's tendency towards idiotic heroics.

At Clara's insistence, Bucky was taken immediately to the infirmary to be checked at be the doctor. He had insisted he was fine, but she would have none of it. Once he had been checked out and patched up, Clara had dragged him into the laundry room. It was one of the few places they could get some privacy.

"We could have been alone faster if you hadn't insisted I go to the infirmary" he said, moving his hands to grip her waist

"You're not coming home are you" she said, looking down at the ground, there was no questioning in her tone, she didn't need it. She never needed to ask what he would do. She just knew.

"No, I'm not going with you" he replied, moving his thumb to her chin, forcing her to look up at him, "I'm gonna stay here with Steve"

"Then what makes you think I'll be going home?" She asked, moving her hands to grip his shirt, "Where you go I go. And not letting you go again, ever. I'm stuck with you"

"No, Clara, you have to go home" he told her, moving his hands to grip her wrists, "It's not safe for you here"

"I don't care. I'm not leaving you" she said, "I can't bear to be apart from you, not knowing if you alive, or hurt. It killed me. You came here, and you took my heart with you. And the heart's a pretty vital organ. I need it back. I need you"

"I know, I left my heart with you when I came here" he said, smiling down at her, "This romantic talk is sweet and all, but there's something I'd much rather be doing"

Bucky smirked, as he leaned down to press his lips against hers. His hands went to her back, pressing her body against his, her hands went to his hands. The kiss was full of need and want, each trying to express everything they'd felt since they'd last seen each other.

"Bucky, we have to stop" she said, her hand pushing his chest away, "You're still weak. And the laundry room is not as private as I'd like for that particular activity"

"You're killing me Mrs Barnes" he said

"That's the plan" she teased, smirking at him, "So, do you want to talk about it? I mean, being a prisoner"

"Not really" he replied grimly, "It's not something I want to relive, or something I want you to know too much about"

"Was it the Germans?"

"No" he said, "They're called Hydra"

"Hydra?" Asked Clara, "Like in Greek Mythology?"

"What?" Asked Bucky

"It was a multi headed serpent, and each time you cut off one head, two more would grow back" explained Clara, "Hercules killed it by burning the stumps after he chopped the head off, so nothing could grow back"

"You have some strange interests" he told her

"Shut up" she said, playfully smacking his arm, "So, what are they?"

"The Nazi's rogue science division" he told her,

"Is that what you'll do next?" She asked, "Hunt down Hydra?"

"We're heading out to London tomorrow, but that's what Steve's planning to do, so I guess I've gotta look after his dumb ass" he said, causing Clara to laugh, "I was hoping you'd come with us"

"And how do you planning on convincing them to let me go?" She asked

"Well, if you don't go then I don't go, and if I don't go then Steve doesn't go" he said, "See the logic"

"God I've missed you, James Buchanan Barnes"

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm going to be doing some one-shots about Clara and Bucky prior to the story, give me any suggestions about what you want to be included. I've set up a poll to vote for who you want to play Clara, and I'm open to any of your suggestions.