Don't forget to vote and comment x enjoy

. ☾ .

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫

. ☾ .

The next morning, Allie wakes still wrapped up in Bucky's loving embrace. He hold her close to his chest and she lays down with her head just below his collarbone, hearing the faint rhythmic 'thumps'  of his heart as she gazes up at his peaceful face.

She feels much more at peace here, laying in Bucky's arms.  Almost as if she also awoke with the feeling of a weight being physically lifted off her shoulders. Just letting out those feelings with Bucky made her feel a lot better than all that sulking that she had been doing for the last couple of days. Letting out those emotions felt liberating.

But neither of them brought up the topic again last night. There was nothing left to say.

He chose to stay and she wasn't going to complain. Especially with the state that she was in last night.

Instead, they stayed up late chatting about everything else that happened in those few days that Bucky was gone. Bucky told her about the mission eagerly and how boring the propaganda shoot was. Apparently, Steve even managed to blow up this huge tank that nearly caused Bucky to faint when he saw it. Bucky couldn't stop talking about how 'Steve is bound to get himself killed if he keeps pulling stunts like this!', and just listening to him tell her about it made her laugh.

And then he had to sit around for hours while they filmed the video which bored him to death. He thought that it was ridiculous for them to take days to get a few seconds of film when he could be out helping people or at home with her.

She even smiles now as she thinks about how kind and loving Bucky had been last night. It reminded her of why she chose to be with him. Because in spite of all these problems that seem to be hurled at them left, right and center, he keeps her focused on the good in life.

But unbeknownst to Allie, Bucky wakes while she thinks quietly to herself. She doesn't notice the slight movement of his body and the small grumbles that he makes as he tries to rid the drowsiness from his body. He slightly stretches his long limbs before he notices the familiar weight that lays on his chest.

He cranes his head down and smiles when he sees Allie absentmindedly drawing shapes on the top of his bare chest as she aims her piercing stare at the white wall of their room, still oblivious to him now being awake.

"Good morning beautiful." He whispers, his voice raspy from just waking up. He gently brushes her hair off her face as she looks up at him, slightly startled by his voice that disrupted her from her previous train of thoughts. But then he places a sweet kiss on the top of her head which makes her smile.

"Hey, you're awake." She replies as she looks up into his captivating blue eyes and she sees a smile mirrored on his own lips.

"I am." He grins, wrapping an arm around Allie and pulling her closer. "What were you thinking about, doll?" He murmurs, taking in the beauty that lays in his arms.

"Nothing really, but now that you are up I should probably go and get us something to eat." She tells him and begins to roll away from Bucky's arms.

"No doll," He whines and leans over to reach around her midriff. "Come back to bed!" He grumbles as he pulls her back into his arms and she lets out a defeated huff, trying to hide the smile that overtakes her face.

"Bucky, we can't just lay in bed all day!" She tells him, not entirely meaning her words. And in return, Bucky gives her a cheeky smirk before he nuzzles his face into the crook of her neck.

"Who says we can't? It's our day off after all." He mumbles and Allie shakes her head, knowing that she has things to do today.

"But I need to go speak to Colonel Phillips and you know how busy he is. I might have to wait for hours just to see him for a few minutes." She answers, rolling her eyes as she remembers the last time she met with the Colonel. She waited for two days just to get five minutes with him.

Bucky furrows his eyebrows at her statement and pulls himself slightly away from Allie so that he is looking her directly in the eyes. "Wait, why are you going to see the Colonel?" He questions and Allie's mouth falls open slightly and she feels the need to slap herself on the forehead.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! It completely slipped my mind." She grumbles and Bucky's eyebrows furrow even more. She takes a deep breath and then gives Bucky a nervous smile, "I'm ready to go back to duty." She says.

And just like Allie expected, his face turns down into a frown and he looks at her disapprovingly. "Allie..." He warns and she lets the smile fall from her face with a sigh. She knew that he would react like this, and if she was being honest, she would probably react the same if she was in his position. But that doesn't mean that she isn't disappointed with his reaction.

"Bucky I'm ready! And you said last night how much you missed having me on missions. The doctor said that I am allowed to return to work and I feel ready." She responds, staring at him with a determined look in her eyes.

"I know I did doll, but what if you are rusty when you go back out there? Or the doctor missed something and you aren't actually ready?" He argues and she shakes her head, immediately dismissing his words.

"Bucky, it won't take four weeks for me to forget 18 years of training! And this is also the army doctor you are talking about, she isn't stupid. If there was something that was even in the slightest bit wrong with me, she would have made me rest another week at least." Allie replies, her voice rising as she tries to persuade Bucky.

"And before you even begin to think about some other excuse," Allie starts, giving him a warning look. "Every mission we go on somebody can get hurt or even die. There's no way to predict what can happen out there but you guys need all the help that you can get to ensure that nobody does get hurt. And there's nobody better than a trained HYDRA assassin to help you with it." She defends and Bucky's eyes go wide at the end.

He gives her a pointed look before saying, "You're not an actual assassin, are you?"

Allie sighs and shakes her head at Bucky who is still looking at her skeptically. "Well, sort of." She answers with a roll of her eyes before she gives him a  piercing look. "But that's not the point!" She exclaims.

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Allie. You mean too much to me to just let you go prance around in a war that can be fought without you." He responds, speaking with a much more troubled voice that makes Allie gives him a sad smile.

"I'm not going to get hurt Buck." She reassures him. "But how can I let you go around fighting an enemy that isn't just yours without my help?" She asks him, looking into his bright eyes that easily makes most of her anger fade away.

But then Bucky looks down at the white sheets that line the bed, knowing that Allie has a point. "That's what I thought." Allie hums with a faint smile which causes Bucky to shake his head, trying to stop his own smile from climbing onto his face.

Allie rolls her eyes when she sees how stubborn Bucky is being and instead, she rolls out of bed and begins rummaging through her clothes to find something to wear today. "And the next mission won't be for a couple of weeks anyway, so I'll have time to prepare." She says over her shoulder as she pulls out some clean clothes.

She hears Bucky groan from the bed before he buries himself back underneath the warm covers. "Alright, we will finish this conversation later." He mumbles, "But  are you sure you can't come back to bed for a few more minutes?" He almost pleads, covering his eyes as Allie pulls open the curtains slightly so that she could see around the room.

Allie gives him a look and Bucky grumbles some more. "We both know that a few minutes will turn into the rest of the day. So unfortunately, I have to politely decline." She answers as she quickly pulls off Bucky's shirt that she wore to bed.

"Alright, well at least give me a minute to get dressed and I'll come with you to see the Colonel." He responds, pulling himself out of bed half-heartedly.  He turns his gaze over to Allie and smiles when he sees her slipping her white shirt on, not caring that he can see the scars that litter her back.

He remembers back when they were imprisoned at HYDRA and how she tried to change without asking for Bucky's help despite the fact that she had a broken arm. He remembers the way that she shivered under his touch when he traced the pale reminders of her rebellion against HYDRA and the way she quickly diverted any conversation about them to something different. She was almost embarrassed of the scars. But now, she doesn't even feel the need to hide them. That's why Bucky is smiling.

He's smiling because he can see how much she has opened up to him.

"We will stop and get some breakfast on the way too," Allie says as she slips on the army green skirt, breaking his train of thoughts. Bucky nods as he gets up and slips on the shirt that Allie discarded on the end of the bed.

"Hey, you haven't heard from-" He starts to ask but is interrupted by the sound of loud knocking on their front door.

Allie gives him an apologetic smile before she turns around and heads towards the door, with Bucky trailing a few feet behind her. She reaches the door and swiftly pulls it open, revealing a slightly disheveled looking Steve who is standing on their doorstep wearing his full Captain America ensemble.

"Hey Steve, what are you doing here?" She asks, slightly confused and Steve gives her a wide smile.

"Speak of the devil," Bucky mumbles to himself as he walks up to the door and gives Steve a weird look. He leans against the frame and crosses his arms over his chest as he looks at Steve who turns to smile at him too.

"Hey, guys!" Steve says cheerfully, almost too cheerfully considering it's 6:30 in the morning. "I just came to let you know that the Colonel has called us all in for an important briefing." He continues, running a hand through his golden locks.

"A briefing? Is there a new mission?" Allie questions, furrowing her eyebrows at the new information.

"Yeah, apparently it can't wait." He answers, looking over at Bucky who has a similar look on his face to Allie's.

"So when do we have to go?" Bucky asks, straightening himself back up. Despite Steve being this height for almost a year now, Bucky still isn't used to having to look up to Steve. He's used to always having to look down at Steve but now it's the opposite way around.

"He wants everyone down at the airfield in 10 minutes," Steve responds and both Bucky and Allie's eyes go wide with surprise.

"10 minutes!" They cry out in unison and Steve nods.

"So you better hurry," Steve says as Bucky and Allie give each other nervous looks.

"That's not even enough time to get changed!" Allie gulps, knowing that she probably isn't completely prepared to go on a mission in 10 minutes.

"Are you coming too?" Steve questions and Allie gives him a nod.

"Yes, I've just been approved to go back to missions." She replies.

She knows that it'll take a little bit of time for her to get herself back to where she used to be and pushing herself headfirst into a mission probably isn't what the doctor recommended but they need her.

"Steve, tell Allie to stop being stubborn and just stay here!" Bucky urges and Allie turns to give Bucky a heated glare. He gives her an innocent look before he turns to Steve and looks at him pleadingly.

"No can do Buck! I'm not going to do to her what you did to me." He smirks which can't help but make Allie let out a loud laugh. Bucky scowls at Steve and Allie, reminding them both of a small child throwing a tantrum.

"You're a punk, you know that right?" He huffs which makes Steve chuckle.

"I'm a punk that can now beat you up." He taunts and Bucky rolls his eyes at Steve, knowing that he is right.

"Still a punk though." He responds as Steve turns around and starts to leave.

"Well, I'll meet you guys at the airfield," Steve says. "Oh and Bucky, put some pants on!" He jokes as he walks away from their door with a cheeky smile on his face.

Both Bucky and Allie look down and see that Bucky is only wearing his white briefs which makes Allie laugh even harder. "Jerk!" Bucky shouts out to Steve, who turns back around with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought I was a punk?" He responds with a teasing smile.

"You're both!" Bucky yells before he returns back into the house, grumbling about Steve being a 'Punkish-Jerk" as Allie follows behind him, laughing her head off.

. ☾ .

Exactly ten minutes later, Allie and Bucky run towards the plane that is stationed in the middle of the airstrip, ready to take off without them. The two of them were somehow able to change into their uniforms and grab their weapons in that short time that the Colonel had given them to get ready.

They bound towards the plane, and soon enough, they are climbing up the steps into the cabin. Bucky walks in front of Allie and starts to help her up once he reaches the platform. She looks around the plane and furrows her eyebrows slightly when she notices that this is a very different plane to the ones they normally use when they go on missions.

"You alright, doll?" Bucky questions as he looks over to her cautiously, making sure that she is ok.

"Running a mile isn't going to kill me Buck, injury or no injury." She says with a roll of her eyes and Bucky gives her a slight frown before a towering figure makes their way over to the two of them.

Allie turns around and quickly recognizes the face of the Colonel, who looks at her with the slightest bit of surprise. "Colonel Phillips." She says, saluting the man as Bucky does the same by her side.

"What are you doing here Agent Williams?" He barks and almost completely avoids looking at Bucky. Instead, keeping his gaze firmly on Allie. She gulps as she realizes that the Colonel doesn't seem to be in the greatest of moods right now but she has no choice. She wants to go on this mission.

"I have been approved for combat by the doctor and I wanted to ask if there was any chance that I could make this my first mission back," Allie asks and Bucky prays that the Colonel says no. There's no way that he wants her going on a mission only a couple of days after being declared ready for battle. She hasn't had any practice at all and here she is trying to get into a mission knowing that she isn't fully prepared.

The Colonel looks at her for a second before he shrugs his shoulders indifferently. "Sure, now hurry up and get in the back with the others." He orders in his thick American accent and both Allie and Bucky's jaws fall open at his words.

"What!" Bucky exclaims which makes the Colonel turn his gaze around to give Bucky a warning look before he settles his eyes back on Allie.

"Wait, you are really letting me go?" She asks and the Colonel cocks his eyebrow at her.

"If you don't go back with the rest of your team  then I will leave you behind, Williams." He demands and she nods her head hurriedly. The Colonel looks her up and down before he speaks again. "If you think that you are ready then I trust you. It's your decision and it will be your death if you're wrong." He deadpans.

Bucky turns to Allie with an exasperated look and watches as she nods her head. "Right, well I'll go join the others. Thank you, Colonel." She says gratefully.

"Thank me by not dying out there." He adds before he squeezes past the two and heads back to where the rest of the group are sitting. Allie skips after him and Bucky grumbles some obscenities under his breath before he too follows.

At the back of the plane, they see all the boys talking amongst themselves as they sit in their seats, their laughter filling up the air around them. But their talking comes to a halt when the Colonel enters the room.

"Rogers, Barnes, come with me." He orders gruffly, his voice sounding much louder now that all the other chatter has stopped. "Ladies, fasten your seatbelts." He continues before he returns back to the cockpit with Steve shuffling awkwardly behind him. Steve gives Allie a cheerful nod before he too disappears with Bucky into the cockpit.

"Not all of us are ladies in here, Colonel," Jim grumbles as the plane begins to rumble and shake, signaling the beginning of their take off. Allie raises an eyebrow as she takes a seat at the end of the row, sitting next to Dernier who greets her in French.

"You should be taking it as a compliment Morita. If he's calling you a lady then you must be as good as Allie is out in the field." Falsworth says before he turns and gives Allie a wink.

Morita's mouth falls open as he realizes that he actually has a good point. "Oh jeez, I never thought of it that way! Thanks, Falsworth!" Morita replies with a big smile which makes Dum Dum snicker.

"The Colonel must be going blind if he thinks that Morita is as good as that lass over there," Dugan says under his breath and the group of men starting laughing at his remark. But instead of laughing like the rest, Jones rolls his eyes and mumbles something to himself which doesn't go unnoticed by Allie.

But she justs turns her gaze back to the other men and ignores the glare that Jones is sending her from across the jet.

Jim turns around to Dugan with an unimpressed look on his face which makes Dugan laugh even harder. "Hey Dum Dum, if you got something to say you may as well tell it to all of us." He challenges, puffing out his chest as if to make himself look bigger and stronger than Dugan.

"Why, you didn't hear me the first time?" Dugan jokes, easily towering over Morita whose dark eyes glares back at him angrily.

"No, so say it again." Morita scowls.

Then Dum Dum starts roaring in laughter, barely able to contain the sound. "Won't you look at that! We got two old men on board now, one's blind and the other one's deaf!" He bellows and the whole jet cracks up laughing too.

"Who are you calling old Dugan?" Colonel Phillips questions as he walks back into the room, with Steve standing behind him with a smug grin on his face. The entire jet falls quiet as the Colonel glares at Dum Dum.

"No one, Colonel." He answers, turning his gaze down to the floor as a result of the Colonel's hard glower.

Allie turns her gaze to Steve and gives him a look. The three of them hadn't been talking for long at all and she desperately wants to know what they were talking about. Perhaps it was something about her condition or the type of mission that they are going on today. Steve shakes his head at her and she lets out a sigh, knowing that she isn't going to find out now.

"That's what I thought. Now listen to Rogers because he's only going to tell you once how this is going to go down." The Colonel orders as Steve pulls out a map from behind his back and unrolls it for the group to see.

While Steve is doing that, Bucky takes a seat next to Allie and places his hand on her thigh gently. Allie furrows her eyebrows as she turns to look at Bucky who gives her a small smile. It was only a few minutes ago that he was pissed off about her going on this mission, so whatever happened out there with Steve and the Colonel clearly changed his mind.

"Right well, because this plane is a lot bigger than our usual means of travel, we are going to be getting there differently." Steve starts as he gestures to a base that seems to be located somewhere in Belgium. "Instead of the usual landing, we are going to parachute off the plane when we are about 50 miles north of the base." He continues which causes everybody's mouths to fall open in shock, except for Allie's.

"What!" Jones shouts out with wide eyes.

"Oh hell nah, count me out!" Morita exclaims, shaking his head vigorously. Allie almost laughs at his reaction but she holds it in when she sees the murderous look that the Colonel gives him. Morita lets out a huff and crosses his arms over his chest as he mutters, "Can't believe these lunatics," under his breath.

Before anyone else has a chance to protest, Steve continues on talking. "Once we land, we are going to split into three groups. Buck, Allie and I are going to take the East wing and plant the two bombs at either corner of the base. Dum Dum, Morita and Falsworth, you're going to take the first exit on the West wing and plant the third bomb there. Jones and Dernier you are going to take the other exit and plant the last bomb." He orders and most of them nod their head in understanding.

"Where's the rendezvous point?" Allie pipes up, knowing that they will need a quick getaway if they are blowing that entire base up.

"We are going to get a different plane out of there but it'll be stationed back where we landed, so 50 miles north." Steve answers and they all nod in understanding. "Remember, stay together and look out for each other," Steve concludes with a nod and looks around the group to see if anyone has any questions.

Allie turns to Bucky and quirks an eyebrow at him. "Now why do I have a feeling that you asked Steve to put us all together?" She asks, knowing that it is no coincidence that both he and Steve have been put with her instead of her usual partner Dernier.

Bucky feigns an innocent look and shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know what you are talking about." He says and Allie gives him an 'I know you're bullshitting me' look. He sighs when he realizes that maybe he hadn't been as sly about it as he had planned. "I just want to look out for you, doll." He continues and Allie shakes her head at him.

Bucky should trust her more than that but she can see where he is coming from. He is just trying to look out for her and she'd much rather be put with Steve and Bucky then have to sit at home and wait for them to come back from another mission without her.

"You're a pain, James Barnes." She sighs and Bucky throws an arm around her shoulders and pulls her into him with a grin playing on his lips.

"But I'm your pain, Alexandra Williams." He teases and she just shakes her head with a smile.

"Two minutes ETA, get ready." They hear over the loudspeaker, breaking up their moment. Allie turns to Bucky with a confused look, knowing that it takes more than 30 minutes to reach Belgium.

"Wow, that was fast." She says and Bucky nods at her, running a hand through his dark hair.

"That's all thanks to Stark." He answers and Allie looks at him, still utterly confused. "You are sitting in the world's fastest plane that he helped create." He continues and Allie's eyes go wide. She didn't know that he had been working on a jet.

"Wow." She mumbles, turning her head around to marvel at the plane that her friend built. She knows that she shouldn't really be surprised because she has seen his work on the floating car so she should have expected that he would also be working on other projects like this.

Steve breaks her from her thoughts when he clears his throat, gaining the attention of the rest of the Howling Commandos too. He gestures to four backpacks that sit in the corner of the room. "These bombs can only be detonated by me, so call in over the mic's once they are in position. And don't forget to press the red button on the side to activate it. It should like similar to this one." He announces and holds up this small black remote in his hand that has a big red button in the middle of it.

Allie nods before she gets up slowly and takes one of the backpacks, putting it over her shoulder gently. She turns around and sees the rest of the groups shuffling around and getting ready to leave. the plane.

"Ready?" Bucky asks as he gets up from his seat and walks over to Allie who gives him a nod in response.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She replies before pulling on her parachute and checking that it's fully operational. She wouldn't want to jump out and not be able to pull it open, now would she? "Have you ever parachuted before?" She asks Bucky who gulps and shakes his head.

"Never." He answers nervously and Allie stops fixing her parachute to take his hand in her own. She squeezes his hand and gives him a warm smile.

"Everything is going to be fine." She says. "Just don't forget to pull the ripcord." She teases with a smile and Bucky shakes his head at her.

"I take it that you have parachuted before?" He questions and Allie nods her head at him.

"I have." She answers, faintly remembering the missions at HYDRA where she had to parachute from much higher distances than this. But before she even begins to relive the memories, she pushes them from her mind and focuses back on this mission.

"Good," Bucky responds with a small smile. But before he has the chance to open his mouth to speak again, he is cut off by the Colonel's thick American accent yelling at all of them.

"Fall out! Fall out!" He shouts as he lowers the deck for them all to jump. Allie quickly pulls on a pair of goggles and hands a pair to Bucky who gives her an anxious smile.

"Don't die," He shouts as the wind picks up and becomes almost deafening. Allie nods and quickly pulls him in for a kiss. She feels him briefly relax under her touch and then she pulls away without another word and runs down towards the hatch.

And then she jumps.

. ☾ .

A/N - Hey everyone,

I'm sooooo sorry about the long wait so I made a long chapter to say sorry! It's nearing the end now and tbh, I'm not ready! This story has been my baby for a while now and I can't believe that it's nearly over!

On another note, CAPTAIN MARVEL IS FREAKING AMAZING!!!! OMFG, it was soooo good!! THAT POST CREDIT SCENE THOU! YASS QUEEN!

Sorry for that rant, but it was much better than my expectations so I would highly recommend that you guys all check it out!

For this chapter's questions,

1. What did you think of the chapter?

2. Do you have any predictions about the end of the book?

3. What are some good TV shows to watch?

4. What are your thoughts on Captain Marvel?

- Grace xx