"Bucky...", Audrey whispered, shocked to hear his admission, pausing in her motions in healing the bullet wound, and Bucky gave a gentle smile, not cocky or smirky as he replied, "Sorry, habit...I will stop flirting and smooth-talking. We may not have won the race, either of us, but I can keep a promise, even if it isn't a deal then.".
Audrey was stunned, and replied softly, "I was jealous of you too, because I thought you were so lucky to be a man and all, getting the good stuff and being cocky...", and she blushed, "And that you were so perfect to be a dreamboat, a dreamboat who could take any better woman who knows how to kiss and everything which is unfortunately not me...I mean, I ain't one of your dames.".
"That is true... but I don't think that really matters; you're just you...", Bucky said as he placed a hand on her cheek as she blushed even redder right there.
"You... I think we need a little time to get to know each other a bit first before we decide if maybe we might be right about these feelings.", Audrey told him, "Passion of the moment is one thing after all...", as she nodded, raising an eyebrow. "True...", Bucky admitted as he started to slowly get up.
Audrey replied, "Barnes, don't get up just yet! I ain't done with that bullet!", and Bucky chuckled as he said, "Yes, ma'am. Just getting comfortable.", as Audrey steadily inched the emerging bullet out of the arm, and with her other hand, grabbed the bullet out, and then healed the remaining flesh, making the wound disappear, leaving flawless skin, "There. Sorry that I couldn't do a thing about that hole in your shirt and jacket. I ain't good at stitching threads.".
"Eh, don't worry about that...", Bucky said as he started to take it off. "Not many are going to care if I'm walking around without a shirt for a little while with how hot it is around here.".
Audrey smirked, "It's weird that the south of France can be hot compared to the north of France.", as they are in Toulouse of France, not far from the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.", before being half focused on getting up herself, with a bit of blush as she cleared her throat, seeing the reveal of his abs as the shirt moved upwards, showing a bit of how fit he is...
Bucky saw her looking, and he paused in removing his shirt, and then decided to leave it, ripping the sleeves off including the bullet torn part, "I hope this is better...I didn't mean to be casual...I will work on it...", feeling dumb as he's clearly not wanting to offput Audrey in being too charming and all, as he doesn't want to treat Audrey as any of the dames he interacted with.
Audrey smiled, feeling touched by the gesture, though she had to admit that she was really curious and disappointed at the same time when he did that, and replied, "At least you didn't forget your manners, through you didn't have to do that, considering that most of the people are men and all...".
"Yeah, but don't really want to get many questions about the bullet hole in them and yet no real mark on me, you know?", Bucky said as she nodded. "True, best to keep things secret still.", she chuckled.
Bucky smiled wryly, "Indeed. Come on, we better see the consequences of this attack...Clean up, bury people and all.", before realizing that they are in the middle of a destroyed field within the base, thanks to those 110s, as he sighed deeply with a frown, hoping that Steve and Peggy were fine too.
They soon got over to where Peggy and Steve were to find them alright. "Everything okay?", Steve asked as Bucky chuckled, "Actually, yeah, I mean, downing two planes with a rifle that we both did... I'd say things are better than okay.".
Peggy widened her eyes in surprise, "You two did that?! Oh, thank goodness that they changed their minds then...", and Audrey nodded, "Yeah, that'll do it.", looking around with a wince, "This is going to be hell for General Phillips...They were accurate enough with their machine guns while dropping the bombs...", seeing a few dead soldiers and such.
Steve replied with a sigh, "Perils of war, Audrey...Let's help the best as we can...", and indeed, at the end of the day, it was a devastating hit of sorts...Over 40 people dead, two barracks demolished with Jeeps hit into them, a couple of colonels and several soldiers, air troopers, and even mechanics injured, and a hanger plane dead in the engine. General Phillips was grateful that it wasn't a total hit as the bombs were smaller yet strong, but indeed, it was hell for him, writing up the sad news of several deaths to the families here in France, Britain, the islands below Italy, and America.
Yet seeing one of their role models in Captain America, Toulouse Base moved on, picking up the pieces day by day, carrying on into missions and such, with Phillips ordering them to take no mercy on any more German camps and such near Italy.
And so, Steve and Bucky headed out on some of those missions for perhaps two months, coming back between them on weekends and a bit of leave here and there, and the duo of Bucky and Audrey was able to know each other better, heck, even sharing the work upon Steve's bike much to Steve's shock, knowing that Audrey is quite compulsive about not sharing, and that Bucky didn't like to be in a quiet space, yet they are sharing, laughing and handing each other tools and conversating.
The people who bet on the race and everything was told that they wouldn't repeat the race again since they didn't either win or lose, and that they had settled on an agreement of sorts, yet they became popular when the base found out who shot the two planes, with Audrey not expecting it at all, through was happy with the pour-in of vehicles that got damaged or even maintaining the arriving planes every now and then, through there was jealousy and upset men that a woman had took credit, even if Bucky was also credited too.
The women of the nearby town and the base was shocked and insulted when they went to cheer and woo Bucky, with some of them old faces from his one-night stands, for Bucky rejected them, professionally avoiding them with playing poker games, having a drink with Steve, and keeping busy with training when he's not at the hanger to work on Steve's bike which was often due to the missions, much to Audrey's amazement and confusion that he's keeping his promise, even if it was originally from their deal which he didn't have to do.
And now, it's just after the end of another mission, on a weekend, Peggy was humming something as she climbed on one of the flatbed convoy trucks in the junkyard where Steve is doodling on his sketchpad, gazing up at the stars a moment and then returning to the sketchpad, "Couldn't focus on drawing while being in your assigned barrack tent, huh? Were the boys being loud again?", with a smile.
Steve looked over and smiled, "Not particularly...Let's say that Bucky was bragging to the boys again...I still can't believe that he's still being himself around the boys, yet he's not a womanizer anymore, and he ain't even mentioning anything of juicy gossip about women either...Audrey really did something on him that we just didn't notice...".
Peggy shuffled, sitting next to him, smiling, "Something must have knocked sense into our stubborn brother, that's for sure...Still, you should have seen Audrey too..She couldn't stop talking the other night about Bucky's sisters doing something to him in a couple of stories, laughing and smiling...".
"You don't think...?", Steve asked as Peggy laughed. "What, that those two have fallen for each other? How did you think that?", she teased as Steve shook his head, "Seems fairly obvious, you know?".
Peggy giggled warmly, "Indeed, but we cannot push them either...I have the feeling that Audrey set the boundaries for falling in love with each other, not that I'd blame her...She is somewhat of the opposite of me, and for Bucky, well, he's always up for a challenge...And if taking time to get to know a woman more than just sleeping around and charming them off their feet, it's a challenge for him...".
Steve hummed, "That's very good logic there, my love. Still, I would be beyond shocked of that day when Bucky decides to settle down...", with a chuckle, and Peggy nodded, "Indeed. From what you've told me, he was more of a free spirit. We'll just have to see...", resting her head on his shoulder.
"That I can agree with.", Steve smiled, kissing her on the cheek before resuming his sketches, and Peggy chuckled, "You really got much better at sketching and all...", seeing constellation stars in shapes of things and creatures. "What have you gotten under there?", her hand grabbing the loose paper that has flipped over.
Steve blinked, "Wait, it's not finished!", as Peggy flipped the paper back over Steve's current paper and hands, and she exhaled, "Oh...", seeing a faint, barely decipherable tree that nearly took over half of the page, with a rope board swing on a strong branch, with a little human child that can't be described if it was a girl or a boy, barely drawn yet the little one looks like it's having fun.
Peggy traced the wisp of the child and Steve whispered, "You always mentioned that you loved swinging, feeling free in the air...I don't know why I made this when you haven't mentioned yet...I think I know why you are keeping quiet, but I don't know how to ask...Are you afraid of jinxing yourself when we're just around the timeline when we...when we lost the first one?".
"I don't blame Audrey, I really don't...and many other women never had problems talking of the progress so far, but I...I just...I really want to say something, yet I...I'm trying to watch the signs...Stupid, huh?", Peggy whispered softly as she stroked her belly, as going through it for the second time, she got morning sickness earlier only last week, compared to the first one, and has been watching her nausea all week, and of course, her periods were nonexistent, but she's still scared as she is not out of the danger zone for a while yet.
"No, not at all. If anything, it's more understandable.", Steve told her as he held her hand. "I don't want us to lose another one either, but... nothing much we can do for the most part when it comes to that even if we do everything right.".
"I hate how much of a lottery it can be of just the sheer fact that I could actually carry a child to term... not to mention everything that comes after even birth...", Peggy closed her eyes tight.
Steve kissed her on the temple, wrapping his other arm, releasing from his sketchbook, around his wife gently and replied, "I know...I really thought a lot about that...But that's in the future, Peggy...Right now, I just want you and them to be healthy and all in the present, and yes, I would be nervous even then after you are out of the danger zone, but we best keep to all the hope we got, for the sake of this possible child...Okay?".
Peggy gave a warm, pensive smile, "You really find something to say when you could...Sarah Rogers would be so proud of you...", referring to his mother, and Steve smiled warmly, "Yeah, I think so too...We're in this together, Peggy...".
"I love you, Steve...", Peggy replied before moving in to kiss him on the lips warmly and tenderly, wrapping her arms around him, and he smiled into the kiss, wrapping his other arm around her as well, returning the kiss back to her, lasting for a long minute, "I love you too, Peggy.", as he pulled back for air, resting his forehead on hers, basking in the serene moment.
Peggy smiled, feeling better after Steve reassured her, and she then relaxed against his chest, looking up at the stars while Steve flipped the page of their possible child to his previous one he was working on, and so, they sat like that for several minutes before they heard a rumbling, rustling sound, and they sat up in alert, with Steve covering Peggy as he aimed his pistol from his ankle at the sound, and then panting, worn, and in rough shape, revealed Mole as he emerged out of a tunnel.
"Mole?!", Peggy and Steve replied in surprise, and Mole looked up, "Heard Captain America was in Toulouse...Came a long way...Need help...Deep behind German lines, on Italy border, just before the Alps...Captured soldiers of France and Italy...Steve, Peggy, they took Sweet...Barely escaped with life when I barely found where they went to and kept him and others...Saw Luftwaffe there...".
"Damn it, his group got captured...", Steve bit his lip as Mole nodded. "Looks to be that way.", Mole said as Peggy raised an eyebrow.
"But what exactly does the Luftwaffe want with Sweet? Are they just holding on to him and the others until handing them off to someone else?", she asked as Steve's eyes widened, "You don't think HYDRA knows he's amongst them?".
"Would they even know hi- oh, wait, the Iceland expedition...", Peggy whispered as suddenly, everyone got a bit worried. If HYDRA indeed realized Sweet was amongst the prisoners...
Steve narrowed his eyes, "Right, we better get General Phillips to loan us some help. Let's go.", as he helped Peggy get off the junkyard flatbed convoy truck, and they headed to Phillips's office, relieved that it wasn't really late for him to be off duty yet.
Several minutes later, Steve looked at him, "But sir, there's prisoners and everything!", and Phillips sighed, "Rogers, I wish I could help you out, but they're damn deep behind German lines, and even with a squadron staying low, there are tons of German patrols, and I can't afford to lose any more lives on a suicide mission, even when it has been two months since the attack for this base...".
Peggy replied, "But we have proof thanks to Mole!", and Phillips replied, "And he only spared a few minutes of seeing and hearing, but it's not enough to make a map out and all, and there's no way to know where the prisoners are specifically. Look, I am backed up, and there are more important missions to drive the Germans back, no suicide missions, is that clear?".
Steve sighed, nodding, "Yes, sir...Sorry to bother you, sir...", and Phillips replied, "You all are dismissed.", and the trio left Phillips' office. Mole sighed, "It's okay, Steve, you tried...I suppose I better get back to tunneling and figure something out...".
"Yeah, I know... you'd think that maybe where we'd be going would play a role... if they're still in Italy right now and how things have gone.", Steve said.
Recently, the Allies finally linked up in Tunis and eliminated the last pocket of Axis resistance in North Africa, ending the Africa Korps and ending Mussolini's 'New Roman Empire' ambitions. Now the Allies were looking for their place to land on mainland Europe after 2 years of exile after the fall of Greece and rumors where Italy was, more than likely, the next target.
"Rumors are the Italians are pretty much on their last legs and with recent reports from many of those Italian troops captured in North Africa, they're pretty much fed up with the war. We could convince Phillips and those above him that maybe investigating would also serve as a good intelligence gathering for any campaigns in Italy.", Peggy suggested.
"Yeah...", Steve bit his lip. "Only problem is that it would be in the Alps, and fairly far away from wherever any landing more than likely would take place. If Italy is the next stop, we'll probably be landing on either Sicily and then hopping onto the Italian mainland from there or landing in the far south near Taranto.".
Mole replied, "But I literally tunneled for a week to get here! Sweet can't hold much longer!", with a frown, sighing, "If only we could be fast enough...".
Steve knew coming back to Phillips and convincing him to talk to the higher-ups would take ages, like a few days, and then of course, landing is not possible...And risking more Italians to head to one of the dangerous places ever behind German lines...
"Maybe we don't have to land...and we don't have to risk unnecessary lives...We just need a wicked good stealthy and fast plane, and an even better pilot, and I think I know who it is...", Steve smirked, and Peggy grinned, "Audrey.", as the young woman has gotten more practice in flying different planes occasionally.
Mole widened his eyes, "You know where Audrey is?", having not seen her for a year and some since he and Jacques and Sweet left for Europe, and Peggy replied, "She is, in fact, here, and if I know her, she's bound to be in her favorite hanger, working on Steve's bike, waiting for Bucky, or already is being visited by him if he is done bragging in the barrack tent.".