Timeless

Chapter 35

A/N: This one is a lot....and so is what Kathryn does. So good luck kiddos!

April 1945

A whole month in the dank and damp Stalag hadn't done anyone any good. Kathryn supposed she should have counted herself lucky though—they hadn't marched, they hadn't really done any camp chores, they had just been sitting ducks there. It meant that she had actual time to recover and to gain her strength.

Slowly but surely, her appetite had returned to her and her feet had healed up. It was a small mercy, but one that she would take over anything else. Now that spring was approaching and the snow was melting though, it was constantly raining and wet here. It was hard to stay dry and even easier for sickness to spread.

The camp was overcrowded and the food supply was lower than normal—but everyone seemed to have their heads and wits about them.

Standing next to her brother under a tent and waiting for Colonel Clark to appear from his meeting with the Germans felt like an eternity. Buck stood across from them, leaning against a pole and staring out at the rain.

"This weather blows," Bucky mumbled, shoving his hands back inside his jacket.

"At least it's not snowing." Kathryn pointed out.

"Knock on wood right now," Bucky demanded and she gave a roll of her eyes.

Before Buck could interject into the conversation, a soaked Colonel Clark appeared in their vision, marching forward with a weary expression. "What'd they say?" Buck questioned.

"The Germans want to stay ahead of the Allies," Clark said. "They're worried they're getting too close again, so...another march. We leave at 1900 hours."

"Another night march?" Bucky's gaze narrowed in annoyance.

"Yeah. But I told them that we won't go more than 20 kilometers a night, and they agreed," Clark explained. He turned to the other men, encouraging them to spread the word.

Kathryn just let out a huff of air—and then her gaze fell on both her brother and Buck. She wasn't certain she had ever seen them this dejected and silent in her life. And considering that she had dealt with prepubescent Bucky for years , it was a rather strange thing. No, she knew that their morale was low and that this endless march of death and moving to evade the Allies wasn't doing anyone good.

What they needed was to be out of this place. What they needed was to go back to Thorpe Abbot. What they needed was to go home and for this godforsaken war to be over. But she didn't have that kind of power.

No, she needed something to distract them or make them think about something else. Anything else, really.

"Hey Bucky?"

"What, Kath?" Came the tired response.

"Do you want to be my Maid of Honor?"

A beat of confused silence—and then he was giving her the strangest look and Buck was grinning, ducking his face down to avoid Bucky noticing the grin. "What the actual hell—"

"Well it's just that I don't want to ask DeMarco, and—"

"Oh he'll be so disappointed," Buck cut in with a sad expression.

Bucky just placed his hands on his hips. "Oh I see, you two are ganging up to make me laugh, now huh?"

She just grinned innocently. "Well it worked, didn't it?"

"Menace," Bucky mumbled.

"You adore me!"

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