Tangled Paths | Bucky Barnes

Chapter 5: When you win the war

5
When you
Win the War

US/British allied Austria November 4, 1944

Darla scribbled her personal and the bar's phone numbers on a piece of paper with her name then ripped it off the pad on the wall and folded it up. The sound of a vehicle's horn impatiently beeped out front of Darla's home. Bucky smiled at her and headed for the front door, Darla followed quickly behind him. Bucky threw open the front door and made eye contact with the large man with a blonde handlebar moustache and held up a finger to him, to signal that he needed a moment. Darla handed Bucky his jacket, he took it from her with a smile.

"Thanks, Doll." had fallen from his lips as he slipped his arms through the sleeves.
"No problem Sugar," Darla replied then bit her lip as Bucky adjusted his jacket against his waist and zipped it up. Darla reached forward and unzipped the pocket on the front of his jacket, and slipped the piece of paper with her phone number on it inside, then zipped it back up for safekeeping. "Call me when you win the War....or sooner if you can't wait that long." Darla chimed as she moved to rest her hand on his chest. Bucky grinned down at her in the doorframe, then reached and pulled her in by the waist then leaned in to kiss her.

Darla almost let him but then pulled back with a nervous chuckle. "I don't kiss on the first date, Sargent Barnes." Darla teased inches from his face. Bucky held her there like that for a moment, his insides were burning with a passion for her that he hadn't felt for anyone before. He wanted so badly at that moment to tell the guys to go on without him and to take her out again at that very moment, but he knew he couldn't do that.
"I guess I better not lose that number huh?" He said breathily still inches from her face, he didn't let up on his embrace as he smiled down at her.
"I guess not," Darla replied as she gently pushed away from his chest and backed herself away from him and into the doorframe. Bucky kept his eyes fixated on hers for the moment, they shared a moment of lustful silence. Finally, Bucky let out a sigh and a nod. He shoved his hands in his pockets and moved to the porch then descended the steps and the path to the sidewalk. He pulled on the latch to open the rear passenger side door of the Jeep and looked back at the house one last time to see Darla's arms crossed as she leaned in the doorway, she gave him a small sentimental wave, which caused him to wave back. "By Doll!" He yelled from the Jeep as he climbed into the back seat behind Steve. He rolled down his window then closed the door and he and the guys all waved at Darla as they pulled away. Darla chuckled and waved back at the group, the only familiar face she saw was Steve Rogers from the Captain America propaganda.

Once they'd turned the block one of the two men from the back area of the Jeep leaned over the seat into Bucky's ear.
"I hope she was worth missing the briefing." He said to Bucky in a French accent.
"Oh she was Jacque, She was." He replied with a smirk. His train of thought began to wander back to her and the morning they had together, but he snapped himself back to the task at hand. "Alright, what did I miss boys?" He asked as he looked around the Jeep for answers.
"Ahhh I don't know if we should tell him." The other man said behind him as a British accent spilled between his lips.
"Oh very funny James, come on!" He asked again as he looked around once more. To his right his teammates Jim and Gabe were holding back the want to laugh as Bucky couldn't help but grin in disbelief. "Steve?" Bucky asked as he looked ahead of him to the passenger seat. Steve sighed and opened his mouth to speak.
"Maybe if you would have come to the four-hour briefing last night instead of sneaking off the base to go out with some girl you'd know what's going on Barnes." Dum-Dum chimed up from the driver's seat and looked at him in the rearview. Bucky couldn't tell if he was angry or if he was razzing him.
"Your not mad at me are you Dum-Dum? Listen, if it makes you feel at all better, I slept on her couch and she wouldn't let me kiss her goodbye." He reasoned to the squad in hopes that it would ease the impact that was headed his way if Dum-Dum was in fact angry with him.  Dum-Dum glared at him with his icy blue eyes through the rearview mirror and then focused back on the road.
"Someone else can explain what's going on to ladies' man over here. If I had it my way his punishment would be to go in blind." Dum-Dum finished. Steve sighed and opened his mouth to speak once more, in hopes that Dum-Dum's temper wouldn't cut him off again. 
"We have intel that Zola is being transported today on a high-profile track up in the alps. The plan is that you, Gabe and I are going to intercept the train, capture him, and bring him in. If all goes well we can stop the train also and stop the weapons they'll be transporting from where ever they're going." Steve explained making the long story as short as he could. Bucky nodded, then the vehicle was silent for a few moments.
"Why was that a four-hour briefing?" Bucky asked.
"Don't ask us, Major Grant really wanted to be thorough," Jim said from beside him.
"I'm sorry did you say Grant?" Bucky asked. A grin grew largely on his face.
"Yeah, why?" Steve asked from the passenger seat, he turned to look back at Bucky who began to chuckle.
"No reason," Bucky replied as he reached into his jacket for his smokes and lighter. Only the pocket where he usually kept the pair was empty. Bucky let out a groan as he realized he'd left them on Darla's coffee table.