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"Deb! Come'ere doll. It's time to go. Mr. Stark is waiting," Bucky called from her front door.
"It is still shocking to me that everyone thinks you're the troublemaker, but you go to science conventions for fun," Deborah scoffed, her laugh echoing down the stairs, making him smile.
"We're going to be late," Bucky called.
"Well, Mr. Stark can wait a couple more minutes, now can't he," Debbie called down to him.
"There's something I gotta do first," Bucky called anxiously.
"What on god's green earth could you possibly have t--" Debbie started as she walked down the stairs. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him kneeling there in his uniform, holding out his grandmother'a engagement ring.
"You got drafted, didn't you?" Debbie asked, her breath shaking. She didn't move from the last step, not wanting to move a muscle.
"Marry me," Bucky urged.
"You got drafted, didn't you?" Debbie repeated slowly, trying to process the moment.
"Marry me," Bucky repeated, ignoring her question.
"Answer the question, James," Debbie hissed, her eyes wide in shock and fear, not knowing what to say or do.
"Yeah, doll," Bucky sighed quietly, shifting from foot to foot.
"You promised we wouldn't do this-- you said that if this happened, we wouldn't rush to get married and--" Debbie rambled in a hushed, panicked tone. Bucky stood up from his kneel, rushing to her side.
"I love you. And I want to marry you. Sure, they're gonna ship me off, but at least I'm coming home to my wife," Bucky pleaded.
"And what if you don't, hmm? What if you don't come back? You just gonna marry me and leave me a widow?" Debbie snapped, worst case scenarios running through her mind on an endless loop.
"Then I'm not gonna vow to love you forever or any of that bullshit-- because I'm already gonna do that anyway. How about I vow to come home to you when this damned war is over," Bucky pleaded, his eyes widening like that of a puppy begging for table scraps.
"James--" Deborah started.
"Deborah Ann Williams, I vow to come back home to you. No matter what it takes--" Bucky promised.
"James, don't make that promise. This is a war we're talking about," Debbie sighed.
"Take the risk, Deb," Bucky urged.
"We don't even have a marriage certificate-- you and every other man who got drafted today is probably already crowding Judge Smith's chamber--" Debbie explained, denouncing his plan.
"Judge owed me a favor," Bucky shrugged, a boyish grin slipping onto his face as he pulled a folded up marriage certificate out of his back pocket.
"James--" Debbie started, her eyes locked on the legal document.
"Just sign the paper, Deb," Bucky pleaded.
"Damn it, James," Debbie sighed defeatedly, snatching the paper from his outstretched hand, scrawling her signature on the line.
"Did we just get married?" Bucky asked excitedly.
"Yeah, James. We did," Debbie sighed, a small smile cracking on her lips. Bucky wrapped his strong arms around her waist, spinning her around in the air excitedly.
"What are we gonna tell Steve?" Debbie asked suddenly, stripping the moment away in a split second. Bucky slowly lowered her to the ground, taking a deep, shaky breath.
"We're not telling him the truth. He thinks I enlisted," Bucky said quietly, a steely firmness taking over his soft eyes.
"Is that what's best for him or for you?" Debbie asked gently.
"All he wants is to be in the army--" Bucky rambled.
"I'll take care of him for you. You don't have to worry about him. I'll be here," Debbie promised, rubbing Bucky's arms reassuringly.
"Can't let his image of you get tainted now can we? His big, strong, fearless best friend, huh?" Debbie teased.
"Cut it out," Bucky chuckled, tilting his head down, blushing a gentle pink. Deborah tilted his chin back up with the tip of her finger, adjusting his hat with her other hand.
"I love you, you know," Bucky sighed.
"As my husband, you're kind of required to," Deborah teased.
"Yeah, yeah. Come on. We gotta go meet Steve and Donna," Bucky sighed, pecking his new wife on the lips gently.
"You really want that to be our first kiss as a married couple?" Debbie teased, biting her lip gently.
"No, but I want this to be," Bucky chuckled, pulling her in close to his chest, her skin colliding with the olive drab. His uniform smelled like fresh wool, but she could still smell him-- cinnamon, whiskey, with a hint of cigar smoke. His hands were tangled in her hair before their lips ever locked. When he kissed her, the world fell away for a moment. For a moment, there was no war and there was no leaving. It was soft and slow, comforting her in a way that his words could never.
"Much better" Debbie teased as she pulled away, breathing heavily.
"I love you," she whispered happily, a smile breaking into her face.
"As my wife, you're kind of required to," Bucky mocked softly.
"Shut up," Debbie scoffed, rolling her eyes as he dragged her out the door, hand in hand.
"Oh! Oh! Wait! I almost forgot!" Debbie screeched, running back towards her house. She picked up a stack of newspapers off of the coffee table, shoving them into a little purse.
"We're really going to encourage this, doll?" Bucky sighed, shaking his head.
"Come on, James. Donna is a pretty tall gal. I just want Steve to feel comfortable," Debbie shrugged.
"Fine. Fold them now so we can slip them into his shoes faster," Bucky suggested, his hands fumbling with the paper, not actually sure how to fold.
