Chapter Text
Bucky noticed a flash of red well into the battle, like fire moving through the battlefield. He lifted his head, the scope of his rifle forgotten, and looked for the source. Steve could take care of himself with ordinary soldiers; he had the rest of the Howling Commandos to look out for him while Bucky was distracted. But if HYDRA had come up with another doomsday weapon, they would need to act swiftly.
He worried for nothing though, because it wasn’t actual flames, it was a girl, dancing through the battle. She seemed out of place at first, a young girl amongst soldiers, but then he saw her smile - wide and razor sharp. She wasn’t dancing, at least not in the traditional sense. With a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, she killed German soldiers more efficiently than most men did.
He shifted the rifle, using the scope to get a closer look at her. He had been wrong about her age too. Yeah, she was young, but not much younger than him. And the set around her eyes told him that she’d grown up all too soon like he had.
He was supposed to look out for Steve, not stare at the pretty ladies. But curiosity got the better of him. The redhead was targeting something, her progress not as random as he had first thought.
Tracing her trail, Bucky spotted her target, the building surrounded by German soldiers. Well, she had distracted him from worrying about what stupid stunt Steve would pull next, he ought to thank her for it.
He didn’t waste any more time, clearing a path for her with bullets fired in rapid succession.
He shifted the scope back at her, to check if she’d noticed and she was looking at him. She shouldn’t be able to, he was flat on the ground, among the bushes, and usually only Steve was able to pick him out with his enhanced, well, everything. But there she was, hands lifting the weapons like it was the hem of a dress, smiling a crooked smile that was no less sharp, yet tinged with humor.
And then she curtsied.
In the middle of a battlefield, this redheaded woman curtsied at him. Bucky shifted back to look out for Steve again, with grin on his face, wider than it’d had in weeks. He’d have to find her after the battle. No way he’d let her get away without knowing her name.
(When he couldn’t find her afterwards, he didn’t tell the others. Because Bucky knew what it would sound like and Steve had enough to worry about as it was. But she stayed with him for as long as he could still remember her. After that? Well, that was an entirely different story.)