Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart

Bucky swirled the whiskey in his glass a few times before taking a slow sip, smiling humourlessly to himself. Steve had left, the girls had left, and now he was in some bar by himself the night before he had to…

He'd decided he wasn't going to think about it. He was going to listen to the broad singing on stage, then go home and get some sleep. He tried to remember why the girls had left, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. He wasn't too drunk, and he wasn't getting too friendly… oh yeah. He'd been ignoring them and staring into the distance like a psychopath.

Could they blame him? They knew where he was going. Everyone knew where he was going, he was wearing his fucking uniform for God's sake. He'd never been as popular as he was as soon as he put on that stupid jacket. He took it off absent-mindedly, still half-listening to the girl on stage. She was singing "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree" which is a song Bucky could get behind, so he tried to pay more attention. He sat his jacket next to him and leaned forward on the table, watching her intently. She bumped her hips along to the beat and Bucky realised before she worked in this place she was probably a Hopper. She had hair so dark it was nearly black, sitting around her shoulders in curls so perfect Bucky had a hard time figuring out how she did it. She had a lilac dress on, pinching her at the waist and flaring out, with heels that looked way too high to be comfortable. All in all, she looked like an expensive dame.

"Probably rationed," Bucky murmured to himself, going to take another drink. Until he realised the drink had ran out. So he put the glass down and decided to sober up, sitting up straight and leaning onto his elbows.

The song ended, everyone clapped, the boys catcalled, she called them out, then left the stage. The lights on the stage went out and left the bar looking even more dim than it did before. Bucky decided the girl was selfish, leaving him alone with his thoughts like that.

"You must think you're a Sheik with that uniform," A voice announced from behind him. He jumped and turned around to stare at the Expensive Looking Dame. She was leaning a hand on her hip and the other extended up, holding a tray of drinks on it. She placed it on the table and pointed to the chair. "You want company?" She asked, sounding too polite to match her cheeky face. He nodded, unable to speak. She pulled the chair directly to his left out and sat down, crossing her legs towards him.

"Sure, but I don't think I'll be great conversation ma'am,"

"You're deploying soon, I get it," She nodded knowingly, taking two drinks off the tray, passing one to him and taking a long sip of hers.

"Do I look that fresh?"

"Every guy I meet is deploying soon. If there wasn't a war on, I'd think it was just me," She widened her eyes sarcastically, before her face relaxed into a grin.

"You're a pretty Fifth Avenue broad, if you don't mind me saying. Why you wasting your time talking to a bunch of guys who aren't coming back?" He was looking at his glass while he spoke, but after she didn't reply he looked up to her raising an eyebrow at him.

"Now there's a kind of line I haven't heard before,"

"What?"

"An honest one," She shrugged. "Every girl in New York is waiting for a boy to come back to her. It's the newest trend on Fifth Avenue," She smiled smugly at him. "And I'm from Brooklyn, actually,"

"Me too," He raised his glass at her and smiled cockily at her. "So you're not rationed then?"

"Rationed," She drawled out, rolling her eyes. "Definitely not. Unfortunately with a job like mine you don't meet a lot of men who stick around till the morning,"

"What, you're a call girl?" Bucky asked, ironically. She responded by kicking him in the shin. Hard.

"Excuse you, asshole. Have fun drinking by yourself, Sarge,"

She got up, sliding the chair out from under her. She finished the last of her drink and slammed the glass back down on the table, before about turning and walking away. Bucky scrambled to get up and ran after her, catching up with her just as she opened a door, causing them both to fall through it. He gripped her tight and took the brunt of the fall, immediately making sure she was okay as soon as they landed.

"What is your problem?" She asked, rolling off of him to get up quickly.

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry," Bucky got up too, taking her arms and looking her over.

"I'm swell," She said skeptically. "You tackled me," She started to brush off her dress, making sure she wasn't dirty.

"I tried to catch you,"

"I'm not a baseball, you don't have to catch me,"

"I just… I'm having a really shitty night and I'm about to have a really shitty life and I'd really like if I could just talk to you a little more and forget about everything," The words all fell out of his mouth at rapid speed. She stood silently for a while, before nodding.

"I'm Tori. Vitoria Valastro," She held out her hand and he shook it politely.

"Bucky,"

"What's your real name?" She asked, keeping a hold of his hand.

"James. James Barnes,"

"Okay, James. Come with me," She kept his hand in hers and pulled him further into the room, clicking a light as she walked. "This is where they store the bottles. At least it's quieter than out there," She eventually let him go and sat on a fold away chair next to a bunch of crates. He pulled his chair closer to hers and sat down too.

"How long have you been a singer?"
"Since I realised I was super bad at math," She smiled at him. "How long have you been in the army?"

"More than a few hours," He tried to smile back, and her eyes turned slightly sad.

"You got called up?"

"Believe me, I wouldn't be going by choice if I had one,"
"I don't blame you. The front line got my Dad, bombing got my Mom," She shrugged. "I'd really like the war to not get anyone else,"

"I'm sorry," Bucky bowed his head, suddenly realising he sounded like the biggest coward in the whole of New York. "I'm not scared, it's just-"

"You don't need to justify yourself to me, my star," She leaned back in her chair and tilted her head. "It's your life, you shouldn't have to gamble it,"

"It does get me a lot of girls," Bucky said, grinning at her, deciding that changing the subject would be the best plan of action.

"Wow. Modest and handsome, would ya look at that?" She shook her head at him.

"And you're just a little doll, huh?" He added, leaning forward towards her.

"I bet you'll get hundreds of letters when you go. Lots of pictures too," She raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged in response.

"I'll only keep them if they're from you," He smirked at her and she had to try really hard to not cave. He was pretty seductive when he was teasing her.

"Oh no, I'd be too afraid you'd share them,"

"I don't think I could stand sharing you, doll," He finally said, which effectively silenced her. She laughed and looked away from him, shaking her curls out.

"When do you deploy?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"A few hours,"

"Oh, right, oka- did you say hours?" Her hands froze in mid air as her head snapped to look at him. "And you're here with me?"

"Believe it or not, ma'am, I'm having a pretty good time with you. Kicks to the shin, considered,"

"Should you maybe get some sleep?"

"No," He thought for a second. "Would you want to spend my last ever moments in New York with me? Preferably watching the sunrise, but I'm not too picky,"

"You've no one else you'd rather be with?" She asked quietly. He shook his head. "Then I'm all yours, Sarge,"

They decided to walk until the sunrise. Just walk, and talk. He put his jacket around her shoulders, along with his arm, and she let him. She let him hug her as tight as he wanted to, and he was the only person she allowed to make her feel safe again. They spoke about their childhoods, their families, their friends, what they wanted from life and from a partner, and what they thought life was about. They walked for a couple of hours, not getting tired at all and being blissfully unaware of time passing, until it started to get light. They headed to the pier finally and settled on a bench together, to watch the sun rise over New York.

"So who's coming to see you off?"

"I think Steve will come… but I, uh… I don't know who else,"

"I'll come, if you want," Tori suggested quietly, not looking at him incase he laughed at her. The arm around her shoulders squeezed tightly.

"I'd like that, Tor. I mean, I'd be the most popular guy on the boat cause I'd have the best looking dame,"
"Who you met the night before?"

"Who I spent the whole night with,"

"However you want to spin it,"

"Will you write me?" He asked, tilting her head up with his finger. She nodded and settled her head into his hand.

"Of course. Will you write back?"
"Every day," He murmured into her hair, before kissing her temple lightly. Her eyes suddenly stung with tears and she looked at him, astonished.

"I'm actually crying. I barely know you and I'm crying,"

"Want to know something even crazier?" He asked and she nodded, wiping her tears away carefully. "You're who I'll fight for. You're who I'll come back for,"
"You better come back," She told him, leaning back into his shoulder and looking out at the water.

"You're not getting rid of me this easy, I'm not like your other boyfriends you can send off to war and never see again," He pinched her side lightly and she laughed, swatting his hand gently.

"I would never want you to be," She shuffled slightly and draped her legs over his knees, relaxing into his chest. "Why did you stay to watch me sing after your date left?" She asked suddenly, making his eyes widen.

"You were watching me?"

"Most handsome guy in the bar, I was wondering what was so wrong with you," She grinned, breathing out a small laugh.

"Unfortunately my best friend is a little awful at the whole double date thing… so I was left with both girls,"

"I feel like that's not why they left,"

"Yeah, I was ignoring them," He shrugged. "You were singing and distracting me, what was I supposed to do?" He looked down at her and smiled.

"Would I sound really stupid if I said I didn't want you to go?" She asked quietly, suddenly seeming very shy clinging against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tight. "It's not fair. I'm serious. The one guy in New York I can actually stand and you need to-"

"Go kill people," He said, deadpan.

"Did you tell Steve you don't want to go?"

"Are you kidding? The kid worships soldiers, if I told him I didn't want to go he'd never look at me the same way again. It's all he's ever wanted," James shrugged and hugged into Tori, resting his head against hers. "And all I've ever wanted is a girl like you. A little doll,"

"You're really affectionate when you're about to be drafted,"

"You're really mouthy when I'm trying to be affectionate,"

"I'm really mouthy all the time, my star,"

"I'll be back soon to find out," He smirked down at her and she hit his chest lightly.

"You better be, cause I swear if you don't-" She was interrupted by him tilting her chin up to kiss her lightly. A lovely, long, lingering kiss that wasn't too needy or grabby, just loving.

"I promise,"

An hour and a half later they walked hand in hand to the dock where they'd need to say goodbye. As soon as it was in sight, Tori had fell quiet and squeezed his hand tighter. James met a few guys he'd seen at enlistment and greeted them with smiles as big as he could manage. He saw the sign in table and turned to Tori.

"Two seconds, wait right here," He told her and she nodded, not looking him in the eye. He walked to the table with more confidence than he actually felt and signed in for deployment as quickly as he could. When he turned back around he saw a flock of people around Tori. As he pushed through the crowd of his soon-to-be brothers-in-arms, he heard the bombardment of questions.

"Miss Valastro, could you sign this for me?" One shouted.

"Oh Vitoria, will you send me a signed picture?" Another added.

When James finally got to her she let out a happy sigh and pulled him next to her.

"Sorry boys, the only guy getting pictures is this one," She pulled his arm around her neck and the crowd took a deep inhale.

"Bucky rationed Tori Valastro?!" A soldier shouted from the back, and the crowd waited eagerly for a response.

"Well?" James asked, grinning down at her. She shook her head happily and nodded.

"He sure did,"

The crowd soon dispersed and left them alone. She still looked sad and he still looked scared, so they just held each other tight and waited to see if Steve would turn up.

"He's maybe just caught in traffic, my star," Tori said as hopefully she could. "You know what it's like on deployment day,"

"Ah, the kid's not coming. Probably afraid he'll cry,

"I'm afraid I'll cry,

"Don't you dare, doll," He took her head in his hands and tilted it back a little, just as the docking siren went off. "That's my cue," He muttered to her, trying to smile. Tears flooded her eyes and she shook her head out of his hands.

"How dare you only meet me the day before you need to leave," Her voice broke as she said it, forcing the tears to roll down her cheeks.

"Until I met you I was a pretty terrible guy, I'm sorry," He joked, pulling her towards him. "I told you, I'm coming back for you. None of these guys are getting you at the welcome parade, that's for sure," He reached behind his neck and unclasped the gold necklace he'd had since forever. He straightened it out and secured it around her neck, fidgeting with it until it sat perfectly around her neck.

"I can't-" She put her hand to it.

"I want you to know I'm serious, Tor. You're the only girl I'd come back for. You're who I'm fighting for," He gave her another loving kiss, feeling her tears against his face. When he pulled away he rested his forehead against hers, just before a huge flash went off next to them. They both turned to see a soldier with a camera staring at them.

"Sorry, couldn't resist. I'll give you a copy," He told James, before continuing his walk to the boat.

"Oh God, we'll be on the new Sign Up posters," Tori joked, before patting her face gently to dry it.

"I'm glad I met you tonight," James told her and she nodded.

"Likewise, Sarge," She backed away from him slightly, before saluting him. "Auf Wiedersehen, sweetheart,"

"What?" He smirked at her, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

"Oh, my star, you'll really need to learn German," She pulled him forward and kissed him one last time, before nodding towards the boat. "Go win for me," She muttered, letting him go. He saluted her back, then turned to walk away. As soon as she was sure he couldn't see her, she knelt down and sobbed into her hands. And as soon as he thought she couldn't see him, he did the exact same thing.