30.
London, United Kingdom
November 25th, 1943
The press decides to call Captain America and his gang "The Howling Commandos", not one of the names any of them actually came up with, but a name that none of them decide to refute. The name is already posted in newspapers and magazines all around the world, so they figure it'd be a little harder to change it. Instead, they adopt it whole-heartedly, all of them sewing little patches somewhere on their uniforms, the symbol of the wings from Steve's helmet.
A few days after Steve is given his shield, now painted a sickly patriotic red, blue and white with a white star in the middle, the Howling Commandos embark on their first mission together. They're all ready by early morning making their way underground one by one. Peggy Carter, who looks beautiful despite the early rise, gives them the final rundown of the intel they've gained about the base, and then the Commandos split into two cars, driving to the makeshift runway on the outskirts of London. A small plane sits at the edge beside a tin-shed large enough to house it, Howard Stark already waiting in the cockpit, busy preparing the plane for take-off.
Peggy leads them from the road to the plane, Steve at her right, the other Commandos following behind. Isabel walks at the back of the group beside Bucky and Dugan, feeling a little sour that she isn't boarding the plane as well.
"Stark will drop you at the nearest camp, twelve miles southeast of the factory. There are going to be camera filming at the camp. Try to ignore them, just go about your planning and getting your weapons ready. But if they do get a shot of your face, at least try to smile for the camera."
"I'll give 'em my grandest smile, Agent Carter," Dugan tells her from the back of the group. "Don't you worry your pretty little face."
Peggy shoots Dugan a glare that slices straight through to his soul, making Isabel snicker when he takes a step away from her. Peggy takes a deep breath before continuing. "They're trying to keep the morale up for the people on the home front. People just want to see Captain America and his Howling Commandos going into action. After they cameras are gone, continue the mission. You'll have to make the trek yourselves. Get in, do your worst, and then get out. When you get back to the camp, use the transponder and Stark will come pick you up."
"Got it," Steve says, nodding to Peggy.
Everyone stops before the entrance to the plane's cabin, all of them looking to Cap and Agent Carter for an instruction. "Alright, soldiers. Good luck out there. Give them hell for all of us," Peggy says.
"Will do, ma'am," Falsworth promises.
Taking the cue to climb into the plane, Falsworth enters first, followed by Morita, Dernier, and Jones, who all mumble their farewell. They seem overly excited to be going back into a warzone, their faces lit up like boys at Christmas. As soon as they're inside, they all start admiring the guns and weapons Stark has upgraded for them.
"Be careful back in London, Barnes Junior. Don't get into any trouble," Dugan tells Isabel.
"I'm not the one embarking on a mission to take out a Hydra factory," Isabel retorts with a smile.
"Fair enough." Dugan takes his cue, tipping his bowler cat to the ladies as he climbs on board. "I still think we should be called the Invaders," they hear him mutter.
"Please be careful," Isabel pleads to her brother and Steve, both of them dressed in their newest uniforms. Bucky wears a thick, padded navy-blue jacket, a patch with the small wings from Steve's helmet design sewed onto the left shoulder. Steve, meanwhile, is wearing the Captain America uniform he and Howard designed, a mix of red, blue and white. "Don't get yourself shot or killed."
"Aw, look, Steve. She's worried about us," Bucky coos, pinching Isabel's cheek.
She glares back at him but doesn't bat his hand away. "I'm always worried about you two. Neither of you mentally aged past about twelve and both of you have personality traits that greatly require worry."
Bucky presses a hand to his chest looking affronted. "Hurt," he tells her, but smiles at her nonetheless. It isn't like they can truly deny it.
"We'll be fine. It's going to be a straightforward mission," Steve promises, giving Isabel a sideward hug.
"Nothing is straightforward in a war," Peggy warns. "Now get on the plane or you'll never make it to the factory in the first place."
Bucky and Steve climb aboard, Steve closing the outer door behind him, waving goodbye like an excitable puppy dog. The plane revs its engine and slowly starts off down the runway, gaining speed, until it lifts from the ground, rattling away through the air. Isabel and Peggy are left alone on the runway, the wind from the plane's engines whipping their hair around their faces.
"And then there were two," Isabel mutters. "Let the waiting game begin again."
?, Poland
November 25th, 1943
They start with a smaller Hydra factory, an armoury and weapons facility in Poland that is not heavily guarded but stores many of Hydra's weapons. It'll still be risky and hard work, but for their first mission when they're still getting used to one another, it will be enough.
The Commandos arrive at the Polish camp within two hours, Stark landing the plane on the outskirts of the camp and the men marching themselves in, the Captain and Sergeant at the front of the pack.
Once they enter the camp's boundaries, their identities are checked by a guard and then they're met by cameramen hefting around heavy cameras. Steve tries to ignore them, leading the Commandos through the muddy roads of the camp. They meet with the Commander, a gruff elderly man, who leads them further in to the main communications tent. Together they set out a large map on a table outside under the gloomy grey sky and Steve, Bucky and Falsworth plan out their exact route toward the armoury with Steve's compass. Steve points to the factory's position on the map, then draws a line along their planned trek. The cameramen point their heavy-looking equipment at them, watching them in action, while the rest of the Howling Commandos joke around behind them as they wait for instruction.
One of the cameramen approaches the rest of the Commandos, looking a little sheepish. "Ah, excuse me, sirs?"
"Yes? How can we help?" Falsworth says, ever the politest of the group.
"I was wondering if you'd like to use this?" The cameraman says, offering over a spare handheld video recorder. "To capture footage of your missions. It would certainly be interesting to have an exclusive insider view of what it's like to be a Howling Commando."
"I'm not so sure some parts of our missions would be the greatest for the morale of the people at home, but I'll give it a go, old chap," Falsworth says, taking the camera from the man and inspecting its functions before storing it away in his backpack.
The cameraman looks thrilled that his offer was taken up, passing over a stack of film before hurrying back to his post. His supervisor looks pleased also, smiling brightly over at the Howling Commandos. No doubt, the footage will fetch a pretty penny.
"Alright, we're ready," Steve eventually says.
Steve rolls up the map and hands it to Falsworth to put securely back in his pack. Steve turns back and quickly snaps his compass shut when he spots the camera aimed right at him, zoomed in the see the image inside.
The Commandos are allocated a small tent to wait in for a few hours before they start walking. They visit the mess hall and eat a hearty meal before returning to their flimsy tent to grab a few hours of rest. Steve stays up, running over the plan continuously in his head. The other men may be confident, but he definitely isn't. He's never been in battle before he broke Bucky out from Hydra, he's never strategised like this before. He's just so glad that the other Commandos have been pushing him along in the right direction and ensuring he doesn't make any epic blunders that could cause him to lose all credibility. Saving Bucky had no doubt been a fluke, but he has a feeling that he'll be relying heavily on flukes and luck to get by in his future endeavours, which doesn't put a lot of confidence in him. Steve swallows down the fear settling in his throat and forces his hands to stop shaking, watching the hours tick by on the watch on his wrist.
After night falls, the Commandos all awaken and make their way to their weapon's stash in their tent. They take a few minutes to prepare their weapons, hiding a handgun here and knife there, a stack of grenades in Dernier's pack. Steve clips his new shield onto the shoulder straps on his back. The men all fill up their canteens and receive their rations from the mess hall, and then they're ready.
They take off into the woods, the soldiers remaining in the camp seeing them off on their journey, the cameramen filming their descent into the dense forest despite the fact that it's pitch black. The film can't be very good.
The Commandos trudge for hours through the muddy landscape, pitch black apart from the small trickles of moonlight that shine through the thick canopy above. Steve keeps his eyes and ears peeled the entire journey, eerily aware of every snap of a twig, crunch of a boot, heavy breathing from the men behind him. His eyes flick around the forest in front of them, his vision better than the others'. He keeps his pistol in his hand, finger on the trigger in preparation.
"Ugh, this pack is so heavy I think I'm gonna shrink a whole foot by the end of this shit," Jones complains, hefting his pack higher onto his back.
"Why? What you got in there?" Dugan asks.
Jones thinks a moment, listing the supplies on his fingers. "Three-day supply of K-rations, chocolate bars, Charms candy, powdered coffee, sugar, matches, compass, bayonet, entrenching tool, ammunition, gas mask, musette bag with ammo, my .45, two cartons of smokes, and the radio," Jones rattles off.
"What's your point? I got all that shit – minus the radio – plus a Hawkins mine, two grenades, smoke grenade, Gammon grenade, TNT and a pair of nasty skivvies," Dugan retorts, shifting his own pack.
"And I got a medic kit as well," Morita adds. "This stuff weighs as much as I do! You just gotta get over it."
"Stop bucking for a section eight and get on with the job," Dugan tells Jones, hitting his shoulder.
"Alright, children, let's keep it down back there," Steve tells them jovially from the front of the charge, smiling at their banter. "We're nearing the factory."
Falsworth dutifully pulls out the film camera from his pack to film their arrival at the destination. The factory is hidden within a minuscule country town, with maybe four or five buildings in total. Steve imagines that when it had been lived in, the town would have been quite beautiful and blissful. Now, the town is confirmed to have been evacuated, lifeless, most of it destroyed by an earlier air raid. The buildings are nothing but rubble and ruin, the factory itself looking worse for wear. They can see why it was chosen – it's conspicuous.
A light fog has settled over the surrounding forests and the town's deserted, silent cobblestone streets, perfect for avoiding detection. They arrive at dawn and after scoping the area, slowly make their way down the hill, Steve at the front with his shield raised in protection. They encounter no one except a few grazing rabbits on the grassy hillside.
They make it to the front wooden doors of the factory, Steve listening carefully with his ear pressed to the door. He hears footsteps inside pacing up and down an inner hallway. He turns to Bucky and nods, making the movement of walking with his fingers and nodding his head to the doors. Bucky nods back, then to the men. It's certainly helpful and efficient, the way they can communicate through their nods and expressions. Outside of the situation, it would be almost comical.
On Steve's count, they burst through the main wooden doors of the factory, Steve at the front with his shield raised and the other Commandos to his sides. They fire their altered machine guns rapidly at the agents. There's five agents pacing the hallway they burst into, and they go down quickly with bullets to the head and gut. The Commandos advance down the hallway further into the small building, leaving Falsworth, his camera, and Morita by the main entrance on lookout. Falsworth had filmed their dramatic entrance to the factory and was not hurriedly shoving the camera back into his pack to keep watch.
Steve and the others at the front fire every now and then, taking down a lone guard with the one shot. Back at the entrance, they hear Falsworth and Morita fire in staggered succession as well.
The short hallway has a few locked doors leading off of them, presumably to office-like rooms. Bucky tries a few but some of them are locked. Those that aren't, Bucky and Dugan burst in and take out the few men inside, slumping down over their tables. It quietens after that, like they're the only ones left in the factory. They hear no more gunfire, no more footsteps, just an eerie silence.
Their footsteps echo quietly as they walk toward their main prize, the factory floor at the end of the sole hallway. It's the major component of the building, the high roofed ceilings standing over a mass of weaponry – stacked wooden crates of ammunition, assorted piles of machine guns, a few tanks, and a row of advanced motorcycles with flamethrowers on the front.
"Jackpot," Dugan mumbles, looking around in awe. "We gonna blow it up?"
Dernier says something excitedly in rapid French, and Jones translates. "We sure are."
Dernier and Jones huddle down in the hallway and Dernier digs in his pack, starting to piece together the explosive devices he's been carrying around. Steve doesn't stick around to watch, instead stepping further into the factory. He steps up to the motorcycles, running a hand over the handlebar and looking closely at the flame throwers on each side of the front wheel.
"Stark would want to know about some of these," he tells Bucky, but Bucky isn't listening, staring off to the other side of the factory.
Suddenly, they hear a mass of footsteps, and two small groups of Hydra soldiers appear from both sides of the factory, shooting rapidly at Steve and Bucky in the middle of the floor. Jones immediately shoots from his hiding spot in the corridor, giving Bucky and Steve the second of distraction they need to duck behind a bunch of crates. Bucky starting to fire back immediately, his bullets taking down members of the group at one side.
Steve throws the shield from his spot, the metal bouncing off the soldiers and sending them to the floor. It doesn't return to him like he's been practising, landing on the concrete with a smack well away from him. He sighs, takes out his pistol and runs to pick it up, shooting at the approaching men as he goes. He grabs the shield from the floor and threads his arm through the straps, using it to smack into the last few goons that rally around him, sending them flying into the walls while the rest fall to the floor, victim of a bullet.
The factory returns to silence and the Commandos slowly emerge from their hiding spots. Falsworth appears to film the area, sweeping across the factory floor, getting a shot of all of the weaponry, the dead soldiers on the floor, and of Steve and Bucky standing in the middle, Steve with his shield on his back. Steve listens, looking around the factory. He and Bucky go on a sweep, making sure there aren't any more soldiers hiding anywhere between the forest of machinery. They come back empty handed – apparently the men now lying dead on the floor were the last of the defence that had rallied together.
Dernier is setting up the explosives around the factory, sticking them to the walls and to the explosive crates. Dugan returns from wherever he went to, reporting that he found no intel in any of the offices off the main corridor, that they were all empty except one.
"There's nothing here bar the weaponry, Cap. It's an armoury and no more. Most likely for soldiers passing through," Dugan tells Steve, nodding to him before hurrying back to his post at the main doors.
"Alright. Send it to the ground, let's head out," Steve instructs.
Jones repeats the instruction to Dernier who looks morbidly excited. Dernier sets the timers and the men run from the factory, passing a few deceased bodies outside courtesy of Falsworth and Morita, and hurry back up to the tree line on the hill. They hunker down to watch, Monty recording once again, as the factory crumbles in an explosion of fire, escalated in size by the explosives within the building. Metal and brick rain down on the obliterated town, black smoke filling the air. They have to admit there's something dangerously beautiful about the scene.
"That was too easy," Bucky says warily, watching through the scope of his rifle in search of any sole Hydra members in the fields.
"Agreed," Dugan says, eyes scanning the ruined buildings.
"Carter said that was only a small weapons facility where Hydra soldiers in the area come to trade weapons. It wasn't overly important," Falsworth says.
"True."
"Just think, all of Hydra that wasn't here? We'll meet them somewhere else along the line. Means there's more people left for us to shoot," Jones supplies, a smile playing on his dark features.
"Sounds like fun," Dugan notes, a broad smile beneath his moustache.
Steve shakes his head at them before leading them away from the scene back into the dense forest. They've got a long trek back.
London, United Kingdom
December 1st, 1943
Back in London, Peggy and Isabel settle into their assigned seats beside Colonel Phillips in a nearby picture theatre. The SSR, as well as valuable members of the allied forces, have been summoned to the theatre to watch a compilation of video surrounding the journey of Captain America and the Howling Commandos so far. Isabel doesn't really see how much there could be to see since their first mission hasn't even been completed, but she doesn't protest when Peggy tells her it's for propaganda purposes.
The talk of the crowd dulls along with the lights, the curtain across the front of the auditorium pulling away to the sides to reveal the blank screen. The screen counts down to the film, large black crackling numbers, before it bursts to life with shaky black and white footage and archived images. A man with an excitable commentator voice narrates the film, discussing the life of Steve and his journey from puny Brooklyn kid to the great Captain America. Isabel watches, giving Peggy a look that the information should be taken with a pinch of salt.
It starts with a few images and videos of Steve before the serum, mainly at basic training in Camp Lehigh, though there is one of Steve as a teenager, though Isabel has no idea how they got that photo. Perhaps Steve gave it to them. Some of the men laugh as Steve attempts a jumping jack, looking as though he may collapse with an asthma attack. Then, he's running at the back of the pack around the camp perimeter, his legs barely able to propel him forward.
Isabel finds herself smiling fondly at the moving pictures, at the Steve she used to know. She knows he still is the same person, except his outward appearance much better suits his intense personality now. It's just nice to see the man she grew up alongside and used to know. In a way she misses him, but she wouldn't trade Steve's newfound health and happiness for her own reminiscent longing.
The screen goes black and is replaced with footage of Steve emerging from the experiment chamber. Isabel doesn't remember a cameraman being there, but they clearly were. Steve steps out with help from Erskine and Stark, looking around in awe. Isabel blushes in embarrassment at the sight of herself onscreen looking awed by Steve's new physique. Onscreen her reaches her hand out to him, just touching his chest for a second before pulling away, and she laughs at the awkwardness of it all. Steve doesn't seem phased at all.
Next, there's some footage of Steve's USO Tour, of Steve performing on stage. It shows his speech and the girl's dancing and Steve punching Hitler over and over, and Isabel wants to cringe because she's seen the show so many times now it's permanently ingrained in her memory. She knows that song will be stuck in her head forever now. Next, Steve's on the movie sets with other actors dressed as American soldiers, looking extremely serious as he uses the hand gestures to allow them forward or tell them to halt.
Then, it flicks to Steve returning from the Hydra factory with the remainder of the one-oh-seventh behind him, the sea of soldiers parting to allow them entrance. The Biblical reference – of Moses parting the Red Sea to free the slaves - can't be missed, and Isabel swallows down the lump in her throat. It has a few images of Steve underground in the SSR base, of the shield being painted in the patriotic colours, and of the final cut of Steve's uniform, hanging in Stark's lab on its hangar, waiting to be worn.
The screen finally settles on a moving picture of the Commandos only a few days ago at the Polish camp before they embarked on their first mission. The camera pans across the smiling black and white faces of Dernier, Falsworth, Jones and Morita, standing back against a tank and laughing with one another. It passes Dugan, who watches something with intense concentration. Finally, the camera stops on Steve and Bucky, leaning over a map and working out their route to the factory. Steve's concentrating on drawing the line of their route whilst Bucky frowns, obviously uncomfortable by the presence of the press despite his usually confident persona.
Steve consults Bucky about something and Bucky agrees. Steve opens his father's compass and addresses it, the dial flicking to face North. The camera zooms in on it, and Isabel gasps when she sees a small picture of herself in the glass pane of the top half. She recognises it from when they'd moved into their apartment when Steve had used his camera to take pictures of them. You'd think it was a professional photo, Isabel dressed up, the focus just right. She's smiling brightly, her lips darkened by the red lipstick she'd worn, her hair falling over her shoulder. She looks happy, excited, comfortable. Right now, she feels so embarrassed, sinking a bit into her seat.
Isabel looks to her right where Peggy is smiling knowingly at her and Phillips is giving her a sideways glance. Isabel looks away quickly, her cheeks blushing.
Suddenly, film-Steve snaps the compass shut and the camera flicks up to his face. Steve is glaring at the cameraman for the invasion of his privacy, his cheeks turning red with embarrassment. He says something, but the clip is without sound, and then he leads the Commandos away from the area past the camera.
The final scene is off the men disappearing from the camp, ready to trek through the forest toward the camp. They look confident as they walk, Steve's shield plain as day strapped to his back, fading into darkness as they disappear from the lights of the camp into the depths of war.
The screen goes blank and a cheer starts up, the men and women watching exhilarated by seeing the allies' new hope. Isabel claps along quietly, staring at the blank screen, unable to get the image of Steve's blush out of her head.
The next day, the Howling Commandos finally make it back to the London base. Most of them are uninjured and "just tired", heading up to their rooms to sleep the mission off. Steve is directed straight to Colonel Phillips' office to debrief about the mission, and after plans to visit Stark to tell him about the new weaponry they'd seen in the factory. He wants himself one of those flamethrower motorcycles despite never having ridden a bike before.
Bucky heads down to the small medical wing of the base where Isabel is helping out the only nurse on duty, washing up some medical equipment and sterilising it appropriately.
"Hey, Belle," Bucky says quietly from behind her, making her jump at the sink.
"Buck! You're back! How'd it go?" She asks hurriedly, coming over to greet him, wiping her soapy hands on her apron.
"Good, went off without a hitch. We also got some intel about their weapons."
"Is anyone injured?" Isabel asks.
"It's called wounded, Belle. "Injured" is when you fall out of a tree or something," Bucky tells her. "But now that you ask, only me," Bucky says with a chuckle, holding up his hand where the palm has a long cut along it, a few bits of bark still embedded into it. "Wasn't even when we were fighting or anything, I caught it on a branch on the way back to camp. Didn't want to bother Morita with it, he's as tired as the rest of us."
Isabel looks at Bucky carefully, remembering how he'd reacted to her medical supplies when he'd been saved from Hydra. "I'll fix it, come on," Isabel says, leading Bucky to one of the private medical rooms.
He sits on the bed as she shuts the door behind her, wheeling over a tray. She grabs his palm gently and slowly washes out the dirt and bark, leaving a deep red gash. She puts a disinfectant on it, then looks at it critically. "You might need a stitch or two, it's deeper at this end," she says, pointing toward his thumb.
"Eh, it'll heal in a few hours. You know, super-healing and all. Thanks, Zola. Just make sure it isn't infected. It was really only an excuse to come talk to you," Bucky shrugs. Nonetheless, Isabel gets out a needle and thread, carefully starting to place two stitches at one end of the cut. "What did you do while we were gone?"
"Worked in here. Helped Stark. Watched a propaganda movie at the theatre with Peggy and Phillips," Isabel says, distracting Bucky from the small metal pin piercing his skin.
"What about?"
"Steve. Captain America. And now, the Howling Commandos embarking on their first mission." She pauses, licks her lips. "I saw Steve's compass. What was that about?"
Bucky looks like he's been taken off-guard, his eyes widening a bit. "I really shouldn't say anything. That's for Steve to explain."
"Come on, Buck. Tell me," Isabel pushes, finishing the last stitch. She ties it off neatly, then hides the needle in a clean tissue. She wipes away any excess blood, and then gets out some bandages and starts wrapping up Bucky's hand.
Bucky sighs, but eventually relents. "Steve carries it with him for motivation."
"The picture of me or the compass?"
"Both. The compass gives him strength, knowing that his Dad and Sarah are with him and that he'll always know the way to go… To get back to you. Having a picture of you in there… well… Steve's been hooked on you for years, he's just never had the confidence to tell you."
"Really?" Isabel asks quietly, a smile climbing on her mouth even though her cheeks blush. "I… Years?"
"Don't tell me you never noticed?" Bucky huffs.
"Well, I… I don't know. No? I mean, lately he's been flirting a bit, I guess, but he never used to. I… Why hasn't he ever said anything?"
"Because he's Steve. He never thought he was good enough for you."
"That's not true."
"I know that, but he doesn't. When he was smaller and sickly, he didn't think he could give you the life you deserved. Now that he's Captain America he may not be sick anymore, but his life isn't exactly going to be any easier. It's going to be dangerous and busy and it's going to lack privacy. He doesn't think that's good for you either. The flirting though, well he's much more confident now in himself. It's not surprising," Bucky says carefully.
"I… I… Did you know?" Isabel is gobsmacked, her mouth hanging open.
"Of course, I knew. Steve tells me everything," Bucky says with a laugh. "He also made me promise not to tell you because he was afraid it would ruin the friendship you had. But I think it's pretty fair to say, and has been for quite a while, that it was safe to tell you all along because you felt the same…?"
"Wha– How? How did you know that I've always felt the same?"
"I'm not deaf and dumb. I could tell because it was so obvious, but it wasn't my place to tell," Bucky says, his voice exasperated. "I tried to set you two up so many times but you never got the damn hint. Steve was too stubborn, you were too shy, and quite frankly, you both were too stupid. No offence."
"Thanks," Isabel retorts, but she doesn't even have the heart to deny it because she knows it's true.
Isabel looks away, still wrapping Bucky's hand slowly, the bandage wrapping around probably more times than necessary. If what Bucky's saying is true, it does make a lot of sense, why Bucky always made sure they were stuck as each other's dates when he was with Connie, why he made hints to her about liking Steve, all the flirting on the USO Tour that Isabel had brushed away, said it was friendly banter. Isabel was sweet on Steve way before any of that, but she's only just being told now that it has always been a mutual feeling.
Her and Steve liked each other way back in Brooklyn when Steve was sickly artist and she was a nurse. When he moved in with them, they were sweet on each other. All those times they went to the park, they were sweet on each other. All that time she was with Danny… They were sweet on each other. The thought, it makes her feel a little sick. That feeling in her stomach when she'd seen Steve kiss Lorraine, the jealousy and disappointment, she can't even imagine how bad that would have been for Steve seeing her with Danny. Then, ultimately when they'd broken up, it must have been bittersweet for Steve because once again he had a chance, but the girl he was sweet on was upset and he wouldn't have liked that either. When she thinks about what she's clearly done to Steve without knowing, she feels guilt pool in her stomach and she's got the mind to set it straight right away.
But now, Steve's different.
Isabel's face drops from hope to disappointment once again, her brows furrowing. "I waited too long. He'll think I'm only sweet on him now because he's Captain America."
"He won't think that," Bucky both disagrees and reassures. He grabs Isabel's chin gently and forces her eyes up to him, holding her gaze. "You look at Steve the same now as you did before he got the serum. You love him for what's on the inside, not the outside. He'll know that already, but it wouldn't hurt to tell him so. You and I aren't the only ones that know this is why you broke up with Danny."
Isabel stares at Bucky for a long time, searching for a flaw in his analysis. "You don't think it's awkward?" She finally asks, clipping the end of the bandages with scissors and securing them with a safety pin. "Your sister and your best friend sweet on each other?"
"No, it isn't. I've had plenty of time to get used to the idea," Bucky jokes. "But in all seriousness, I can't think of anyone in the world better to be with you than Steve. Before and after the serum. And I have no doubts that it extends the other way as well."
Isabel looks surprised, beginning to put away the medical kit as though in a daze, throwing the tissue-wrapped needle into a sharps bin. "Have you been persuading Steve to make a move? You're pretty sneaky, so I get the feeling you have."
"All along," Bucky admits. "Even back in Brooklyn, though I never outright told him what I thought about how you felt. Just a nudge here and there. I was hoping he would do the rest himself, but boy, is he thickheaded. Maybe I need to give him a bit more of a push."
"Do as you wish, every little hint would help," Isabel tells Bucky. "But I think I might be able to take the reins from here."