![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impala_chickTitle: 5 Times Curt and Buck Talk about Bucky
Fandom: Masters of the Air
Characters/Pairings: Curtis Biddick/John Egan
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 3,178
Warnings: None.
A/N: Part I started for the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
no_true_pair prompt in the dark, and then finished the rest for the lands_of_magic bingo & HBO WW2 Rewatch.
Summary: It isn't clear to him where Buck and Bucky stand, but Curt can't help but fall for Bucky anyway. At least Buck is willing to talk to him about it.
Fic on AO3
ONE
Curt had already met Buck Cleven several times, and he seemed like a nice enough guy, but this was going to be his first time flying with him. And he had a fierce reputation, so Curt was a little bit intimidated.
He’d asked Bucky about Cleven before the training flight. The entire 100th knew Buck and Bucky were best friends since the jump, so Curt was really hoping for the inside scoop. Bucky’s eyes lit up as he talked about him, but there was hardly any useful information passed. Apparently Buck had a wicked sense of humor, and hated the sheepskin jacket, and had a girlfriend back home named Marge, and didn’t like dancing. But none of that was going to help Curt once he was up in the air.
“Oh, and you don’t want to get on his bad side,” Bucky had added with a wink. Whatever the hell that meant.
Curt was taught to practice sitting in both pilot seats. His flight instructor always said, you never know what seat you’ll have to be in, and either way you gotta be able to fly the plane. So when Curt got into the cockpit before Buck, he just sat down. He wasn’t particular about which side of the fort he was on.
“Curt, you’re in my seat,” Buck called as he climbed up into the cockpit.
Curt assumed he was joking and huffed a laugh. When he didn’t move, Buck kept right on coming up into the left side seat. Then he sat down heavily, his ass in Curt’s lap.
“Hey, what're ya doin’?” Curt squawked in surprise.
“I told you, this is my seat.”
Curt put his hands on Buck’s hips and tried to shove him off his lap, but he wasn’t able to get much leverage and Buck was not budging.
Then Buck doubled down, and wiggled his hips so that his ass rubbed against Curt’s dick. He felt his dick throb in an embarrassing but automatic response. He hadn’t gotten laid in weeks, so the blood rushing south was entirely outside of his control. He needed to do something as soon as possible, though, before Buck noticed.
“Fine, fine. I give up!” Curt relented.
Buck tipped forward enough for Curt to move out from under him. He climbed over into the other seat as fast as he possibly could. He had to wait until Buck looked out the window to adjust himself.
“Is this what Bucky meant about your bad side?” Curt blurted out when Bucky’s words of advice came back to him.
Buck glanced over at Curt with a sly smile on his face.
“You’ll have to ask him.”
Curt snorted a laugh. They started the pre-flight checklist after that, and Curt managed to stay focused.
But later, he thought about that moment again. He pictured Bucky sitting in Buck’s lap in the cockpit, and that was an image not so easily dispensed with. He wondered, not for the first time, if Bucky and Buck were more than best friends. The thought made his skin prickle with jealousy.
TWO
Even though Curt’s knuckles were still smarting, he walked Bucky back to his bunk with his jacket over his arm. When they got to his bed, Curt helped him take his boots off. Bucky’s eyelids were heavy as he crawled under the sheets.
“Thanks, Man,” he whispered as he looked up at Curt with a soft grin on his face.
“G’night, Major,” Curt teased.
Bucky’s eyes slipped closed, and Curt resisted the urge to push a dark curl off his forehead. He’d done very well so far to keep a lid on the things he thought about John Egan late at night, in the semi-privacy of his own bunk. He took one last look and then quietly slipped back out of the barracks before anyone caught him staring.
Curt flopped down onto the damp grass outside, knowing full well he wasn’t going to be able to sleep. He loved to be alone when a base constantly buzzing with energy was, if not quiet, at least subdued. The golden light of the sun was just starting to peek through the cloud cover. Thorpe Abbotts glowed with the simple orange and pink hues of early morning.
“Curt?” He heard a voice hail him from the dark shadows behind the barracks building.
“Yeah?” Curt called back.
It was Buck. He slowly made his way over to sit next to him in the grass.
“You’re up early,” Buck said.
“More like I never went to sleep,” Curt admitted.
“Ah,” Buck hummed as he picked a blade of grass. “You guys have a good night then?”
“Yeah, it was okay. I think Bucky’s hurting, though. He got real hammered.”
Buck nodded and looked out into the distance. The silence stretched between them, and Curt looked down at his slightly swollen knuckles. He wasn’t sure if Bucky would want Buck knowing about what happened, but Curt couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“He asked me to punch him,” Curt said. Buck was supposed to be Bucky’s best friend. He deserved to know.
“Sounds like him,” Buck said quietly. “Are you doing okay, though?”
Curt thought about being truthful for a moment. He wondered what Buck would say to him if he told him how much he thought about Bucky; how just standing next to him was like standing next to the sun. He burned so bright and so hot, and Curt constantly felt pulled into orbit around him. He wanted to reach out and touch him, but Bucky was never going to ask him to. The truth was that Curt would have done just about anything if Bucky was the one asking.
Buck didn’t seem like the type of guy who would start a fight just because Curt liked other men, but he shouldn’t forget that Buck out-ranked him. He decided to choose his words carefully.
“There are things I want that ‘m not gonna get,” Curt said as he looked out at the horizon.
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” Buck said softly.
Curt looked over to see Buck quietly watching him. He reached out his hand and put it on Curt’s knee. He gave it a squeeze, and then removed his hand.
“I don’t think he’d mind if you told him how you feel.” Buck sounded wistful as he spoke. He threw the blade of grass he’d plucked earlier, and it twirled in the breeze.
Buck was hard to read, which was such a contrast from Bucky. Curt couldn’t tell if Buck was encouraging him, or just trying to be polite.
Curt rubbed the back of his head. He’d already said too much, so he tried to pivot the conversation with a half-hearted joke. “Well, we're gonna make him jealous by hanging out at this early hour.”
Buck guffawed. “Outside of boot camp, John’s never been up this early in his life.”
That made Curt bark out a laugh. The tension he’d been feeling in his shoulders eased away, and the two of them sat side by side and watched the sun rise.
THREE
After Curt got back from Scotland, he tried to thank Bucky for keeping the formation with his fort during the Trondheim Mission. He knew that Bucky’s decision was the only reason he and his crew were still alive. Yet, it sure seemed to Curt like he’d risked every other fort just for him and his guys. He didn’t understand why Bucky made that call. If their roles were reversed, he’s not sure if he would have done the same thing.
Bucky gave him a welcome back hug, his warm nose pressed into Curt’s neck above the collar of his jacket, but then he waved him off when he tried to talk about it.
“I woulda done it for anybody, Curt,” was all he said.
They were both silent as Bucky stared at Curt, his hands balled into fists at his sides like he was trying to keep from touching. Something tender lingered in Bucky’s gaze, and Curt saw an opportunity that he wasn’t about to pass up.
Adrenaline was coursing through him as his knees hit the pavement of the empty barracks room floor, but he was still feeling lucky to be alive. He was going to ride that good luck as long as he could. This was the excuse he’d been waiting for to show Bucky exactly what was on offer. It could easily be disguised as simple payback if Curt needed to explain himself.
He looked up at Bucky, and for one wild moment, he thought Bucky was going to shut him down. But then he reached his hand out and cupped Curt’s cheek.
“Fuck,” Bucky breathed. And then, “You don’t have to.”
“It’s not just about the mission.” Curt let the words tumble out of him in a rush. He turned his head to kiss Bucky’s palm.
“Okay,” Bucky said as he smiled wolfishly. “Okay.”
Curt flicked open his belt buckle, and he worshiped at the altar of John Egan. And then when John used his hand to return the favor, Curt felt like he was floating above the clouds. The sheer euphoria from the palpable intimacy of those pulse-pounding moments lasted for most of the day.
But he was back to mulling over the mission later that night, when Buck came up to him at the bar.
“Sure glad you’re back, Curt,” Buck said with an easy smile and a handshake.
“Thanks,” Curt said before he took a slow sip of his whiskey.
“There’s one thing I gotta ask, though.” Curt figured Buck would be honest with him. “Why’d Bucky make you guys fly with my fort? Weren’t your boys angry that he did that?”
Buck took a deep breath, and then drummed his fingers against the bar top.
“Did I ever tell you the story of how Bucky gave me my nickname?”
Curt narrowed his eyes, confused by the abrupt change in subject.
“No, but I heard about it from him.”
A small smile appeared at the corner of Buck’s mouth.
“Well, did he tell you that I hated it? I didn’t want to live with a name that wasn’t mine. And I sure as hell didn’t want to have almost the same name as him.”
That made Curt laugh. “I can see that.”
“I mean, he was brash and loud and didn’t care what anyone else thought about him.”
Curt raised an eyebrow. Clearly Buck didn’t think that about Bucky now. “So what changed?”
“I flew with him. His judgment in the air was so sharp. He was thoughtful when he needed to be, but he also never hesitated to make a decision. After that, I knew I’d fly with him anywhere.”
“Sounds about right,” Curt said.
“Well, the Trondheim mission was like that. Bucky weighed the options, and he made a decision, and I trusted that decision.”
“But do you think it was the right one? He didn’t do it just because he knows I …” Curt hesitated, unsure of how much more he could say. He took a drink to hide his apprehension.
Buck’s eyes widened with understanding.
“There’s no reason to question Bucky’s judgment now. He cares about you, simple as that.” Buck took a sip of his ginger beer and then leaned in close, dropping his voice low. “And if you do owe him, I’d say you’re square.”
Curt bit his lip. He got the distinct impression that Buck knew about his rendezvous with Bucky earlier.
Buck clapped Curt on the shoulder and grinned, the cheeky bastard. “Bucky’s judgment is something you can have faith in, Curt.”
He was probably right about that.
FOUR
By some kind of miracle, Curt touched down in Algeria with a fort completely beat to hell and a nearly dead co-pilot. His hands were shaking when he scrambled out as fast as he could. He sought out Bucky’s steady gaze, and the sight of him was instantly reassuring.
“Thank God,” Bucky said as he gathered Curt into his arms.
Curt was hungry for Bucky’s touch. He fisted his hands in Bucky’s sheepskin, and gripped him tight, and breathed in the masculine smell of Bucky’s skin above his collar.
They broke apart soon after, Bucky’s scent lingering in the hot desert air between them. There was still tension in Bucky’s shoulders, though, and his eyes kept darting out to the horizon.
“Is Buck -?” Curt asked.
“He’ll be along,” Bucky said.
Curt stood by Bucky’s side as they waited. Finally, Buck’s fort silently came in for a landing. It looked even worse than Curt’s fort. Bucky grinned and his entire body relaxed as he jogged over to meet him. Curt felt some kind of way about that, but he stuffed his jealousy down deep. It was good to be alive, and that was enough.
Later, as the hot desert sun was beating down on them, Curt and Bucky figured out a way to pass the time. It was Bucky that suggested it, a lewd whisper in Curt’s ear that had him immediately getting up to follow Bucky up into his sweltering hot fort.
Curt ended up shoved into the navigator’s seat, and Bucky used his huge hands to spread his legs wide. Bucky’s mouth was like a revelation when Bucky swallowed every bit of Curt that he possibly could. Curt’s entire body was buzzing with pleasure, the horrors of the mission temporarily forgotten.
Bucky left the fort first, and he told Curt to give him a few minutes. When Curt finally climbed down, he felt just a little desperate for a drink of water.
Buck already had a cup ready for him.
“You guys should be careful,” Bucky said under his breath.
Curt feigned confusion, but gratefully took the offered cup.
“Sometimes Bucky doesn’t do enough to protect himself. You gotta be the smart one, Curt. You have to watch out for both of you.”
Curt bristled, angry that Buck would be so bold where people might hear him. Clearly Buck had clocked them, and it was no use to deny anything had happened. But if Buck was trying to warn him off, he was a little late for that.
“I’m not going to let him get into trouble,” Curt said after he took a sip of water.
“I know you won’t.” Buck patted him on the shoulder, and then he smiled. It seemed genuine, so Curt let his anger dry up under the relentless desert sun.
FIVE
After Bucky nearly got into a shouting match with Colonel Harding at Dye’s 25th mission party, Buck pulled Curt aside.
“We need to do something about him.” He nodded over at Bucky, who was ordering shots at the bar.
Curt narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t sure when he and Buck had become a we, but he let that part slide.
“What are you suggesting?”
Buck dropped his voice even lower. “I’m getting him a weekend pass. I want you to go with him.”
“Why me?”
For a moment, Buck didn’t answer. They both watched as Bucky walked up to a red cross girl and asked her to dance. Bucky was not the best dancer, but it sure was something to watch him move his hips and smile that huge smile of his.
Curt looked back at Buck, and saw the way the corners of his mouth turned down. He put his drink back down on the bar and let his hands hang limply at his sides.
Buck's gaze was still on Bucky when he said, “Because I don’t think about him the way you do.”
That sounded like a load of bullshit, because Buck looked almost as heartsick as Curt felt. He thought they were both such cowards, watching Bucky like that when he wasn’t watching either of them.
Curt was just drunk enough to call Buck out on it.
“You saying you’re not a little bit in love with him? Hell, half the base is in love with him.”
Buck didn’t look surprised at his words. He glanced down at Curt with the ghost of a smile on his face.
“I think you’re good for him,” Buck said quietly.
Curt snorted and rolled his eyes. If Buck was going to completely avoid the question, then Curt wasn't going to bother pressing him on his feelings.
“You think it’s that simple? Bucky is the one who has to decide what he wants.”
“That’s the problem,” Buck huffed under his breath as he rubbed a hand over his face.
Curt didn't know what to say to that. Bucky was a fuckin' adult, and Curt thought they were supposed to be trusting his judgement. Maybe a weekend away from Thorpe Abbotts, away from the mission, and Bucky might figure out what he actually wanted. And besides, Curt would be lying if he said he didn’t want to go to London alone with Bucky.
At that point the song ended, and Bucky strode over to them, his cheeks red from the booze.
“What’s with the sour faces?” Bucky asked as he raised his hand to the bartender for another drink.
“Buck here thinks you need a babysitter,” Curt said as he hooked a thumb towards Buck.
Buck snorted. “I’m getting you a weekend pass. London.”
Bucky raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? You guys coming with me?”
“Just Curt,” Buck said with a shake of his head. “I’m trusting Curt to take care of you.”
Bucky looked between them with narrowed eyes, suspicious.
“Ah. And you don’t want to come with us, Buck?” Bucky spoke slowly, deliberately. It was clear to Curt that he was hoping Buck would change his mind.
Buck smiled as he reached down and scooped Meatball up into his arms.
“No. I think you boys can handle it,” he said as he sashayed out onto the dance floor.
Bucky watched him dancing, and Curt watched Bucky. He seemed so wistful, and something tightened in Curt’s chest. He bumped Bucky with his elbow.
“It’ll be fun,” Curt said, and then bit his lip.
That made Bucky grin, a genuine smile that reached his eyes.
“Yeah. It will be, Curt. We deserve it.”
Bucky slung an arm over Curt’s shoulder, and kissed him right on the cheek. Coming from anyone else, that would have been a grand and unnecessary gesture. But from Bucky, it wasn’t that out of the ordinary. Curt figured it was probably for show, maybe to get a rise out of Buck.
Curt shifted his body to get a good sidelong look at Bucky’s face. He was actually looking at Curt, his eyes crinkled at the corners with something close to delight. Curt sighed.
“You owe me a fancy hotel dinner, then,” Curt admonished, teasing.
Bucky laughed. “Consider it done.”
Bucky patted Curt’s chest with his free hand, and then tugged at his tie before he stopped himself. Curt swallowed as his heartbeat started pounding in his ears.
“Wanna get out of here?” Bucky whispered in Curt’s ear.
Of course he did. He’d follow where Bucky led, for as long as he could.
Fandom: Masters of the Air
Characters/Pairings: Curtis Biddick/John Egan
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 3,178
Warnings: None.
A/N: Part I started for the
no_true_pair prompt in the dark, and then finished the rest for the lands_of_magic bingo & HBO WW2 Rewatch.Summary: It isn't clear to him where Buck and Bucky stand, but Curt can't help but fall for Bucky anyway. At least Buck is willing to talk to him about it.
Fic on AO3
Curt had already met Buck Cleven several times, and he seemed like a nice enough guy, but this was going to be his first time flying with him. And he had a fierce reputation, so Curt was a little bit intimidated.
He’d asked Bucky about Cleven before the training flight. The entire 100th knew Buck and Bucky were best friends since the jump, so Curt was really hoping for the inside scoop. Bucky’s eyes lit up as he talked about him, but there was hardly any useful information passed. Apparently Buck had a wicked sense of humor, and hated the sheepskin jacket, and had a girlfriend back home named Marge, and didn’t like dancing. But none of that was going to help Curt once he was up in the air.
“Oh, and you don’t want to get on his bad side,” Bucky had added with a wink. Whatever the hell that meant.
Curt was taught to practice sitting in both pilot seats. His flight instructor always said, you never know what seat you’ll have to be in, and either way you gotta be able to fly the plane. So when Curt got into the cockpit before Buck, he just sat down. He wasn’t particular about which side of the fort he was on.
“Curt, you’re in my seat,” Buck called as he climbed up into the cockpit.
Curt assumed he was joking and huffed a laugh. When he didn’t move, Buck kept right on coming up into the left side seat. Then he sat down heavily, his ass in Curt’s lap.
“Hey, what're ya doin’?” Curt squawked in surprise.
“I told you, this is my seat.”
Curt put his hands on Buck’s hips and tried to shove him off his lap, but he wasn’t able to get much leverage and Buck was not budging.
Then Buck doubled down, and wiggled his hips so that his ass rubbed against Curt’s dick. He felt his dick throb in an embarrassing but automatic response. He hadn’t gotten laid in weeks, so the blood rushing south was entirely outside of his control. He needed to do something as soon as possible, though, before Buck noticed.
“Fine, fine. I give up!” Curt relented.
Buck tipped forward enough for Curt to move out from under him. He climbed over into the other seat as fast as he possibly could. He had to wait until Buck looked out the window to adjust himself.
“Is this what Bucky meant about your bad side?” Curt blurted out when Bucky’s words of advice came back to him.
Buck glanced over at Curt with a sly smile on his face.
“You’ll have to ask him.”
Curt snorted a laugh. They started the pre-flight checklist after that, and Curt managed to stay focused.
But later, he thought about that moment again. He pictured Bucky sitting in Buck’s lap in the cockpit, and that was an image not so easily dispensed with. He wondered, not for the first time, if Bucky and Buck were more than best friends. The thought made his skin prickle with jealousy.
Even though Curt’s knuckles were still smarting, he walked Bucky back to his bunk with his jacket over his arm. When they got to his bed, Curt helped him take his boots off. Bucky’s eyelids were heavy as he crawled under the sheets.
“Thanks, Man,” he whispered as he looked up at Curt with a soft grin on his face.
“G’night, Major,” Curt teased.
Bucky’s eyes slipped closed, and Curt resisted the urge to push a dark curl off his forehead. He’d done very well so far to keep a lid on the things he thought about John Egan late at night, in the semi-privacy of his own bunk. He took one last look and then quietly slipped back out of the barracks before anyone caught him staring.
Curt flopped down onto the damp grass outside, knowing full well he wasn’t going to be able to sleep. He loved to be alone when a base constantly buzzing with energy was, if not quiet, at least subdued. The golden light of the sun was just starting to peek through the cloud cover. Thorpe Abbotts glowed with the simple orange and pink hues of early morning.
“Curt?” He heard a voice hail him from the dark shadows behind the barracks building.
“Yeah?” Curt called back.
It was Buck. He slowly made his way over to sit next to him in the grass.
“You’re up early,” Buck said.
“More like I never went to sleep,” Curt admitted.
“Ah,” Buck hummed as he picked a blade of grass. “You guys have a good night then?”
“Yeah, it was okay. I think Bucky’s hurting, though. He got real hammered.”
Buck nodded and looked out into the distance. The silence stretched between them, and Curt looked down at his slightly swollen knuckles. He wasn’t sure if Bucky would want Buck knowing about what happened, but Curt couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“He asked me to punch him,” Curt said. Buck was supposed to be Bucky’s best friend. He deserved to know.
“Sounds like him,” Buck said quietly. “Are you doing okay, though?”
Curt thought about being truthful for a moment. He wondered what Buck would say to him if he told him how much he thought about Bucky; how just standing next to him was like standing next to the sun. He burned so bright and so hot, and Curt constantly felt pulled into orbit around him. He wanted to reach out and touch him, but Bucky was never going to ask him to. The truth was that Curt would have done just about anything if Bucky was the one asking.
Buck didn’t seem like the type of guy who would start a fight just because Curt liked other men, but he shouldn’t forget that Buck out-ranked him. He decided to choose his words carefully.
“There are things I want that ‘m not gonna get,” Curt said as he looked out at the horizon.
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” Buck said softly.
Curt looked over to see Buck quietly watching him. He reached out his hand and put it on Curt’s knee. He gave it a squeeze, and then removed his hand.
“I don’t think he’d mind if you told him how you feel.” Buck sounded wistful as he spoke. He threw the blade of grass he’d plucked earlier, and it twirled in the breeze.
Buck was hard to read, which was such a contrast from Bucky. Curt couldn’t tell if Buck was encouraging him, or just trying to be polite.
Curt rubbed the back of his head. He’d already said too much, so he tried to pivot the conversation with a half-hearted joke. “Well, we're gonna make him jealous by hanging out at this early hour.”
Buck guffawed. “Outside of boot camp, John’s never been up this early in his life.”
That made Curt bark out a laugh. The tension he’d been feeling in his shoulders eased away, and the two of them sat side by side and watched the sun rise.
After Curt got back from Scotland, he tried to thank Bucky for keeping the formation with his fort during the Trondheim Mission. He knew that Bucky’s decision was the only reason he and his crew were still alive. Yet, it sure seemed to Curt like he’d risked every other fort just for him and his guys. He didn’t understand why Bucky made that call. If their roles were reversed, he’s not sure if he would have done the same thing.
Bucky gave him a welcome back hug, his warm nose pressed into Curt’s neck above the collar of his jacket, but then he waved him off when he tried to talk about it.
“I woulda done it for anybody, Curt,” was all he said.
They were both silent as Bucky stared at Curt, his hands balled into fists at his sides like he was trying to keep from touching. Something tender lingered in Bucky’s gaze, and Curt saw an opportunity that he wasn’t about to pass up.
Adrenaline was coursing through him as his knees hit the pavement of the empty barracks room floor, but he was still feeling lucky to be alive. He was going to ride that good luck as long as he could. This was the excuse he’d been waiting for to show Bucky exactly what was on offer. It could easily be disguised as simple payback if Curt needed to explain himself.
He looked up at Bucky, and for one wild moment, he thought Bucky was going to shut him down. But then he reached his hand out and cupped Curt’s cheek.
“Fuck,” Bucky breathed. And then, “You don’t have to.”
“It’s not just about the mission.” Curt let the words tumble out of him in a rush. He turned his head to kiss Bucky’s palm.
“Okay,” Bucky said as he smiled wolfishly. “Okay.”
Curt flicked open his belt buckle, and he worshiped at the altar of John Egan. And then when John used his hand to return the favor, Curt felt like he was floating above the clouds. The sheer euphoria from the palpable intimacy of those pulse-pounding moments lasted for most of the day.
But he was back to mulling over the mission later that night, when Buck came up to him at the bar.
“Sure glad you’re back, Curt,” Buck said with an easy smile and a handshake.
“Thanks,” Curt said before he took a slow sip of his whiskey.
“There’s one thing I gotta ask, though.” Curt figured Buck would be honest with him. “Why’d Bucky make you guys fly with my fort? Weren’t your boys angry that he did that?”
Buck took a deep breath, and then drummed his fingers against the bar top.
“Did I ever tell you the story of how Bucky gave me my nickname?”
Curt narrowed his eyes, confused by the abrupt change in subject.
“No, but I heard about it from him.”
A small smile appeared at the corner of Buck’s mouth.
“Well, did he tell you that I hated it? I didn’t want to live with a name that wasn’t mine. And I sure as hell didn’t want to have almost the same name as him.”
That made Curt laugh. “I can see that.”
“I mean, he was brash and loud and didn’t care what anyone else thought about him.”
Curt raised an eyebrow. Clearly Buck didn’t think that about Bucky now. “So what changed?”
“I flew with him. His judgment in the air was so sharp. He was thoughtful when he needed to be, but he also never hesitated to make a decision. After that, I knew I’d fly with him anywhere.”
“Sounds about right,” Curt said.
“Well, the Trondheim mission was like that. Bucky weighed the options, and he made a decision, and I trusted that decision.”
“But do you think it was the right one? He didn’t do it just because he knows I …” Curt hesitated, unsure of how much more he could say. He took a drink to hide his apprehension.
Buck’s eyes widened with understanding.
“There’s no reason to question Bucky’s judgment now. He cares about you, simple as that.” Buck took a sip of his ginger beer and then leaned in close, dropping his voice low. “And if you do owe him, I’d say you’re square.”
Curt bit his lip. He got the distinct impression that Buck knew about his rendezvous with Bucky earlier.
Buck clapped Curt on the shoulder and grinned, the cheeky bastard. “Bucky’s judgment is something you can have faith in, Curt.”
He was probably right about that.
By some kind of miracle, Curt touched down in Algeria with a fort completely beat to hell and a nearly dead co-pilot. His hands were shaking when he scrambled out as fast as he could. He sought out Bucky’s steady gaze, and the sight of him was instantly reassuring.
“Thank God,” Bucky said as he gathered Curt into his arms.
Curt was hungry for Bucky’s touch. He fisted his hands in Bucky’s sheepskin, and gripped him tight, and breathed in the masculine smell of Bucky’s skin above his collar.
They broke apart soon after, Bucky’s scent lingering in the hot desert air between them. There was still tension in Bucky’s shoulders, though, and his eyes kept darting out to the horizon.
“Is Buck -?” Curt asked.
“He’ll be along,” Bucky said.
Curt stood by Bucky’s side as they waited. Finally, Buck’s fort silently came in for a landing. It looked even worse than Curt’s fort. Bucky grinned and his entire body relaxed as he jogged over to meet him. Curt felt some kind of way about that, but he stuffed his jealousy down deep. It was good to be alive, and that was enough.
Later, as the hot desert sun was beating down on them, Curt and Bucky figured out a way to pass the time. It was Bucky that suggested it, a lewd whisper in Curt’s ear that had him immediately getting up to follow Bucky up into his sweltering hot fort.
Curt ended up shoved into the navigator’s seat, and Bucky used his huge hands to spread his legs wide. Bucky’s mouth was like a revelation when Bucky swallowed every bit of Curt that he possibly could. Curt’s entire body was buzzing with pleasure, the horrors of the mission temporarily forgotten.
Bucky left the fort first, and he told Curt to give him a few minutes. When Curt finally climbed down, he felt just a little desperate for a drink of water.
Buck already had a cup ready for him.
“You guys should be careful,” Bucky said under his breath.
Curt feigned confusion, but gratefully took the offered cup.
“Sometimes Bucky doesn’t do enough to protect himself. You gotta be the smart one, Curt. You have to watch out for both of you.”
Curt bristled, angry that Buck would be so bold where people might hear him. Clearly Buck had clocked them, and it was no use to deny anything had happened. But if Buck was trying to warn him off, he was a little late for that.
“I’m not going to let him get into trouble,” Curt said after he took a sip of water.
“I know you won’t.” Buck patted him on the shoulder, and then he smiled. It seemed genuine, so Curt let his anger dry up under the relentless desert sun.
After Bucky nearly got into a shouting match with Colonel Harding at Dye’s 25th mission party, Buck pulled Curt aside.
“We need to do something about him.” He nodded over at Bucky, who was ordering shots at the bar.
Curt narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t sure when he and Buck had become a we, but he let that part slide.
“What are you suggesting?”
Buck dropped his voice even lower. “I’m getting him a weekend pass. I want you to go with him.”
“Why me?”
For a moment, Buck didn’t answer. They both watched as Bucky walked up to a red cross girl and asked her to dance. Bucky was not the best dancer, but it sure was something to watch him move his hips and smile that huge smile of his.
Curt looked back at Buck, and saw the way the corners of his mouth turned down. He put his drink back down on the bar and let his hands hang limply at his sides.
Buck's gaze was still on Bucky when he said, “Because I don’t think about him the way you do.”
That sounded like a load of bullshit, because Buck looked almost as heartsick as Curt felt. He thought they were both such cowards, watching Bucky like that when he wasn’t watching either of them.
Curt was just drunk enough to call Buck out on it.
“You saying you’re not a little bit in love with him? Hell, half the base is in love with him.”
Buck didn’t look surprised at his words. He glanced down at Curt with the ghost of a smile on his face.
“I think you’re good for him,” Buck said quietly.
Curt snorted and rolled his eyes. If Buck was going to completely avoid the question, then Curt wasn't going to bother pressing him on his feelings.
“You think it’s that simple? Bucky is the one who has to decide what he wants.”
“That’s the problem,” Buck huffed under his breath as he rubbed a hand over his face.
Curt didn't know what to say to that. Bucky was a fuckin' adult, and Curt thought they were supposed to be trusting his judgement. Maybe a weekend away from Thorpe Abbotts, away from the mission, and Bucky might figure out what he actually wanted. And besides, Curt would be lying if he said he didn’t want to go to London alone with Bucky.
At that point the song ended, and Bucky strode over to them, his cheeks red from the booze.
“What’s with the sour faces?” Bucky asked as he raised his hand to the bartender for another drink.
“Buck here thinks you need a babysitter,” Curt said as he hooked a thumb towards Buck.
Buck snorted. “I’m getting you a weekend pass. London.”
Bucky raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? You guys coming with me?”
“Just Curt,” Buck said with a shake of his head. “I’m trusting Curt to take care of you.”
Bucky looked between them with narrowed eyes, suspicious.
“Ah. And you don’t want to come with us, Buck?” Bucky spoke slowly, deliberately. It was clear to Curt that he was hoping Buck would change his mind.
Buck smiled as he reached down and scooped Meatball up into his arms.
“No. I think you boys can handle it,” he said as he sashayed out onto the dance floor.
Bucky watched him dancing, and Curt watched Bucky. He seemed so wistful, and something tightened in Curt’s chest. He bumped Bucky with his elbow.
“It’ll be fun,” Curt said, and then bit his lip.
That made Bucky grin, a genuine smile that reached his eyes.
“Yeah. It will be, Curt. We deserve it.”
Bucky slung an arm over Curt’s shoulder, and kissed him right on the cheek. Coming from anyone else, that would have been a grand and unnecessary gesture. But from Bucky, it wasn’t that out of the ordinary. Curt figured it was probably for show, maybe to get a rise out of Buck.
Curt shifted his body to get a good sidelong look at Bucky’s face. He was actually looking at Curt, his eyes crinkled at the corners with something close to delight. Curt sighed.
“You owe me a fancy hotel dinner, then,” Curt admonished, teasing.
Bucky laughed. “Consider it done.”
Bucky patted Curt’s chest with his free hand, and then tugged at his tie before he stopped himself. Curt swallowed as his heartbeat started pounding in his ears.
“Wanna get out of here?” Bucky whispered in Curt’s ear.
Of course he did. He’d follow where Bucky led, for as long as he could.