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Bucky yanked his foot out of the snow and stomped it back down with a grunt. Fat, fluffy snowflakes swirled around him in the darkness as he trudged back to camp on some godforsaken mountain in the Alps. His boots, somehow both soaking wet and frozen solid, sank into the 18 inches of fresh snow step after step as he completed his perimeter check across the foreign slopes. A little voice in the back of Bucky’s head reminded him that he was doing this at 3-fucking-AM so Steve wouldn’t have to, but he reserved the right to internally complain the entire time.
In the distance, the faint light of a small lamp illuminated a tight circle of tents. Dum-Dum sat by the lamp, still yawning as Bucky’s watch ended and his began. Bucky trudged back into the temporary camp and shook out his frozen limbs.
“It’s cold as balls,” Dum-Dum remarked as Bucky brushed snow off his helmet.
Bucky just grunted in agreement.
“Get some rest, Sarge,” Dum-Dum continued, nodding towards Bucky and Steve’s tent. “We’ve got a long day tomorrow.”
Ugh, right. There was a train passing through the mountains in the morning— the Schnellzug EB912— carrying that piece of shit scientist, Zola, back to Germany. Bucky wanted nothing more than to get that man in chains and on his way to a lifetime in prison. Tomorrow, maybe.
Bucky gave Dum-Dum a slap on the back and ducked into the tent he shared with Steve, almost walking into the smooth silver shield left leaning against the support post.
Steve was fast asleep on his bedroll. His thick wool blanket covered him up to his waist but above that he was clad only in a thin white t-shirt. It was slightly warmer in the tent but it was still colder than New York had ever managed to get in the darkest days of winter. He wasn’t sure what Dr. Erskine’s serum had done to Steve— no one really was— but if anyone asked Bucky he’d say it turned Steve into a beam of pure sunlight.
Only slightly envious of Steves immunity to the cold, Bucky peeled off the layers of his frost covered clothing as quietly as he could. As the warmth of the tent melted the ice, Bucky went from being frozen solid to drenched in frigid water. He stripped down and changed into his one spare pair of trousers and a thin shirt before sitting down on his own bedroll and trying to knead feeling back into his toes with his equally frozen fingers. As he unsuccessfully rubbed his cold limbs together, the icy metal of his dog tags slipped under his shirt and bumped against his chest. Bucky jerked back, almost yelping aloud as he yanked the chain back out.
Steve shifted in his sleep. Bucky shivered violently and looked over at his sleeping friend, then back at his numb fingers. If Steve was ever going to pay him back for all those winters Bucky rubbed warmth back into his chest, now would be the time.
Bucky stepped across the frozen ground with bare feet, yanked Steve’s blanket back, and shoved him to the edge of the cot. Steve’s brow furrowed and his eyes blinked open as Bucky forced his way in. The heat of Steve’s skin warmed the entire bedroll and Bucky slid down into it with a sigh and a shiver, before quickly pulling the blanket back up around them.
“Buck?” Steve asked blearily as Bucky shifted him around. “Whatcha doin’ —Ah!”
Bucky shoved his freezing hands up Steve’s shirt.
“Oh, you piece of shit,” Steve laughed and grabbed Bucky by the wrists.
Bucky felt his frozen cheeks pull into a smile as he hooked his feet around Steve’s calves.
“Oh my god, are those your toes?”
Bucky pulled Steve’s chest against his, wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled up the hem of Steve’s shirt even further to press his fingers against the warm skin of his back. Steve jerked at the cold touch. While he was busy trying to grab Bucky’s wandering wrists, Bucky burrowed his face against Steve’s shoulder and pressed his freezing nose against the side of Steve’s neck.
“And here I thought the point of you going out there tonight was so that I could get a full nights sleep for once,” Steve mused dully as he gave up, going limp as Bucky wiggled around a little more to get comfortable on the cot not meant for two grown men.
“Yes, yes. I did it so you don’t have to. You’re welcome,” Bucky mumbled against the fabric of Steve’s shirt. “But what was the point of that serum if you can’t even keep me warm sometimes, huh, Stevie?”
He felt Steve chuckle and two big arms wrapped around him, pulling him in closer.
“When we get home I’ll buy you a radiator,” Steve promised in a whisper, tugging the blanket up a little further.
“And an extra duvet.”
“And an extra duvet,” Steve agreed sleepily, running his fingers through the back of Bucky’s hair.
“And a television.”
“And a— what?”
“You heard me.”
Steve snorted. “If you want a television you should be cozying up to Stark.”
Bucky pressed his smile up against Steve’s jaw.
“But I’ve already put in all this effort with you.”
Steve huffed and Bucky felt him reach up and pull his jacket down from its hook to drape it over them as well.
“I could probably wrangle up a nice radio,” Steve mused under his breath.
Bucky grinned against Steve’s collarbone.
“And an oven so you can make me that cake I like.”
“You’re pushing your luck, Barnes.”
“And I’m going to eat chocolate everyday.”
“Well, that’s just greedy.”
“You can have some too, I suppose.”
“How generous of you.”
“It’ll just be you, me, and all the chocolate I could possibly want. It’ll be perfect.”
The odds of them making it home were slim, they both knew that, but it was easier to imagine all the things they’d have in a future that didn’t exist than confront the terrors that awaited them in the one that did. A smile pressed against Bucky’s forehead and big arms wrapped more tightly around him before Steve fell still.
“Just you and me,” Steve echoed wistfully.