Love and War Aren't a Game

WARNING

“Bucky told me about the shot you made,” Steve called out once we had climbed over a fence and begun approaching the jeep. Catherine was still perched on the roof, sitting crosslegged with her rifle lying in her lap, and she wore a blank expression for once. I expected her to take a jab at how her bullet had saved my life, but she remained quiet and watched Steve as he strode towards her.

Steve came to a stop next to the driver’s door and held his gaze on Catherine. Sensing that there was trouble to be had, I glanced over my shoulder at the other men and gave them a gesture so they would walk right past Steve and distract themselves with the medic kit at the back of the jeep, effectively giving Steve the most amount of privacy possible at the moment. I looked up at Catherine and spotted her gulping, and it became obvious to me just how unnerved she had become. Clearly she had seen Falsworth’s bloodied shirt.

“Steve,” I muttered under my breath, not wanting him to discipline her right now and make the situation worse. The last thing we needed was a woman crying for the whole trip home. Unfortunately he ignored me.

“While I appreciate that you saved one of our men’s lives, you weren’t fulfilling your orders,” Steve said, the amount of sternness in his voice almost laughable to me. It was amazing how much confidence he had gained since his transformation. “Clearly I was worried about the enemy lurking nearby, so I sent Sergeant Barnes to cover us as well. And I had a right to be anxious because we were ambushed. If you had been doing your job, you would have been able to prevent that and Lieutenant Falsworth wouldn’t be wounded.” I was surprised at how calm Steve had managed to keep himself. He didn’t need to raise his voice to convey his disappointment and frustration.

“Will all due respect, Cap, the rest of the team has made it out alive. Bucky might be dead, shot in the back, if I hadn’t been looking in his area as well,” Catherine reasoned in a quiet voice. It had to have been killing her that she had made a mistake.

“I know, and I said that I appreciate that. But you know that this team functions because each person follows their orders, that the entire army works that way as well. Those who disobey are punished,” Steve continued and I understood where he was coming from. He had to maintain his authority and respect if we were to head to victory, and despite feeling sorry for Catherine, I couldn’t intervene and thank her for saving my life. I lowered my gaze and waited. “I’ll let you off with a warning. Don’t let me down again. I actually think that you’re an asset to this team, so don’t prove me wrong.”

“Yes, Captain,” Catherine nodded. Her chest rose and fell quickly as she took in a few short breaths, finally able to let go of the one she had been holding on to. Steve offered her a hand to climb down but Catherine instead passed down her rifle. Steve took the hint and grabbed the gun, walking away to pack it in the back of the jeep and not waiting to lend Catherine a hand. Finally showing some feminine grace, Catherine jumped off the jeep and landed effortlessly and quietly before me, not meeting my eyes.

“Cat,” I said but she remained focused on straightening her baggy shirt. “Catherine.” Her eyes lifted and met mine.

“Yes?” she sighed, her voice rather timid compared to how she usually spoke.

“Thanks for taking the shot. I owe you,” I said, sincerely grateful and hopeful that she could see that. Catherine’s only response was a weak smile, and I guessed that Steve’s scolding was the reason why her mood was so low. I inhaled and decided that I wasn’t going to let her blame herself for Falsworth’s injury. It could have been anyone who was attacked, and after Gabe patched him up, Falsworth was going to be just fine. “What were you doing looking in my direction anyway? Checking me out, were you?” I chuckled and gave her a gentle friendly nudge, but instead of causing Catherine to laugh she instead looked at me with wide eyes of horror.

“What? No!” she stammered, crinkling her brow. “I was scanning the area for enemies and I saw movement, that’s all.”

“You were watching me, weren’t you?” I continued to tease and Catherine scoffed.

“No, Barnes, I wasn’t,” she insisted but I didn’t feel entirely convinced. Her reaction to my joke was making me think that she wasn’t being entirely truthful about why she had been watching my area.

“It was a great shot you made,” I admitted to break the silence. It wasn’t exactly easy to confess, but at the same time I didn’t want her feeling like shit, just like I wouldn’t want anyone else on the team feeling awful if it had been them in the same situation.

“One point to me then,” Catherine said with a weak smile at me. Even though her voice was still a little shaky, she had gone back to challenging me, so that had to be a good sign.

“Yeah, I can’t argue that one,” I agreed. My accord with her seemed to brighten Catherine’s face and my lips curled upwards a little more, pleased that she was feeling a bit more positive about saving my life.
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Any thoughts on this chapter? :) Thanks a lot to acidrain_88 and swimming.butterfly for your comments!