𝗀 𝗁 𝗈 𝗌 𝗍 | | 𝗌 𝗍 𝖾 𝗏 𝖾 𝗋 𝗈 𝗀 𝖾 𝗋 𝗌

𝗌 𝗂 𝗑 𝗍 𝖾 𝖾 𝗇

⍟ 𝟣𝟫𝟦𝟦, 𝗏𝖺𝗋𝗂𝗈𝗎𝗌 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌 ⍟

IT HAD BEEN A FEW months since the raiding of the Hydra bases had begun. The Howling Commandos were base after base and not suffering any losses. Thomas's girlfriend gave birth to their son, and Thomas was very upset that he wasn't there to witness it. Marta had sent him home so he could meet his son.

Even though they were in the midst of a deadly war, the Howling Commandos had found many ways to make the time spent sleeping in caves or forcing Marta to kill squirrels for food more enjoyable. It had taken a while for Bucky to get used to Marta finding her way into Steve's arms when they slept every evening, but he got over it, and let them be. He had warned Steve the following morning.

Jim Morita and Dum Dum always made Marta feel comfortable with the group of men and helped her hide her jet whenever she had to. Marta appreciated all of the Howling Commandos, and she wasn't sure if the raiding would go as smoothly as it had been with another group.

During the one raid that Thomas was absent for, Marta was with the ground team taking down a Hydra factory. Marta's left arm sleeve had been ripped while fighting, which left a gap of her skin open and out. It was unfortunate that the spread radius of one of her bombs reached her body, scorching that stray patch of skin.

Though she played it off, Steve and Bucky knew her arm was killing her. If her constant swearing didn't give it away, it was the permanent grimace plastered on her dirty face. When they had set up camp in a secluded forest, Falsworth and Gabe Jones started working on the fire.

Marta sat beside Steve, re-loading her gun while her boyfriend meticulously cleaned and bandaged her wound. "I swear to God, Steve Rogers, if you touch it again I will smother you in your sleep." She muttered quietly to him, teeth clenched in pain.

Steve chuckled, delicately wrapping her inflamed skin with a white bandage, tying it and placing a thin blanket over her shoulders when he finished. Snow had begun to fall, and Bucky proceeded to tell the Commandos about Marta's facination with snow.

"I think she was seven—" Bucky began, the glow of the fire illuminating the faces of Marta and the men.

"Six." Marta interupted, combing through her ever growing blonde locks.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "She was six. Anyway, our mom didn't really like us playing outside in the winter because she was afraid we would get our baby sister and Steve sick. Silly, little Marta didn't listen very well." Bucky smiled, gently tossing a handful of snow across the fire at Marta.

"Oh, my God. Is this her tragic origin story?" Dum Dum asked, the men chuckling with him.

"I don't have a tragic origin story." Marta denied, though Steve and Bucky knew she did.

Bucky dodged snow Marta threw at him. "Anyway, it was the coldest winter we had ever had, and she was really tiny. Mar wrapped herself in probably a dozen layers and slipped out of our apartment, telling our dad that she was getting milk from the store for the neighbors."

Steve smiled, remembering hearing the story when him and his mother went over to the Barnes's home for dinner that evening. "She took a bowl and walked alone through the city, collecting the dirtiest snow she could find. Then she found all of her classmates that were mean to her, boys and girls." Steve said, his arm around Marta's shoulders.

"Did she beat them up?" Gabe Jones asked hopefully, twinkle in his eyes as Marta rolled her eyes, drinking from her flask. She always came prepared.

"She was too flimsy to beat anyone up, but she poured snow down the coats of their and dumped some on their heads. Steve and I were walking to our apartment with his mom when we saw her." Bucky continued, Marta smiling at the memory of her reign of terror on her classmates.

"I'll never forget how Sarah marched over to me and pulled me away from the kids and onto the sidewalk by the hood of my coat." Marta said, beginning to roast the squirrels Morita and Jaques had come back with.

Dum Dum chuckled, cleaning his rifles. "What did your parents say?" He questioned. Bucky narrowed his eyes at Marta, who chuckled quietly.

"Well, my mother wasn't very thrilled because I did end up giving baby Becca and myself a cold. My dad gave me a high-five when my mother wasn't looking." She said, divying up the cooked squirrels to the Commandos.

"And then dad taught us both how to properly fight, and we started bruising each other a year later." Bucky said, catching the meat his sister tossed to him.

"How fitting." Morita joked, and everyone chuckled, sharing other stories that weren't about Marta as they ate.

Marta shifted closer to Steve, basking in his warmth that came from his larger body. He smiled as she placed her head on his shoulder, gazing down at her with love in his eyes as she hugged her knees close to her chest. Steve slipped a folded up note into Marta's hand, giving her a shy smile as she looked up at him.

"Another love letter, eh?" Gabe Jones teased, the Commandos turning their eyes to the quiet couple whose flushed faces were hidden by the firelight.

Marta opened the note, reading it before she looked back up at her comrades. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She slipped the paper into her boot, conversations resuming around her.

'You're my favorite person. I love
you —Steve ఌ'

A singular but meaningful kiss was pressed to a surprised Steve's cheek, Marta whispering to him before she laid her head back on his shoulder. "You're my only person. I love you, too."

⍟