"Sergeants! Get up! We have some important information to tell you!" The gruff voice of the commander yelled as he rang the bell in the bunk rooms.
So much for a day off.
The 107th had just come back from a month in the trenches fighting off Nazi's from getting into their zones. It had been a successful fight, but of course it didn't come without costs.
Now that they were back at their base camp they had bunk beds and blankets, although small it was a damn sight better then muddy trenches and constant rain.
They were promised a week of recovery now that they were back but so far it didn't look like a blissful start.
"Soldiers! At 0500 hours! Come on men move! We meet in the gymnasium in 5 minutes." The commander continued to shout.
Bucky, along with a chorus of other voices grunted and groaned as they turned over on their thin mattresses and stretched their stiff bodies.
"Uggghhhh." He moaned as he pulled himself up into a sitting position, using his hand to grab the slats of the bunk above him to do so.
He rubbed his bleary eyes and yawned before looking around the room. It was still pretty much completely dark since it was dark outside so the windows provided no light and there was only a dim lamp above the door to signal the exit.
There was a muffled shuffling as the men started to reluctantly put on mixed matched pieces of their uniforms.
Bucky slipped into his trousers and pulled over his baggy khaki woolen shirt, not bothering to button up the three buttons at the collar. His thick socks were already still on from keeping his feet warm over night so he just pushed his feet into his heavy boots but didn't bother to lace them up.
As he shuffled towards the door Bucky noticed a body still lying in a bed to the left of him.
"Come on Falsey." He chuckled and threw a piece of clothing at him from the foot of his bed, although it came out as more of a half hearted mumble.
All he got in reply was an annoyed growl.
Shaking his head with a huff he walked out with the line of his fellow soldiers and made his way to the gym.
When they got their they were assembled in lines sitting cross legged in front of a projector screen with a fuzzy image displayed on it.
"Alright. We have you gathered here this morning to show you a little bit of what's been going on back home. We know a lot of you are feeling homesick and disheartened so we thought that seeing how hard they are working to support you back home might give you a bit more of a pick up." The commander stated sternly as he paced back and forth along the wooden floor. "The U.S. Army has come up with a new form of propaganda in the form of a man named Captain America, a fellow soldier of yours. Let's have a look."
The room echoed with a few whispers and groans, a mixture of confusion and annoyance but but everyone went quiet as soon as the screen started to flicker and the projector buzzed on. In the front row, Bucky had his eyes glued to the screen, interested in what was going to be shown.
All of a sudden an upbeat tune started playing and a bunch of very provocatively dressed girls in skimpy American Flag outfits appeared in front of a giant American Flag as a back drop.
"Who's strong and brave here to save the American way?" They started to sing.
Already some sniggers could be heard from the rows near the back.
Suddenly a giant man walked out from behind the girls dressed like a literal walking flag. All the girls looked at him admiringly.
"Not all of us can storm a beach, or drive a tank, but there's still a way all of us can fight." He exclaimed looking straight into the camera.
By now most of the men were having to hold their stomachs to stop themselves from laughing at the tight blue outfit with a star on the mans chest and stripes on his torso and the pathetic excuse for a helmet flimsily covering his head with wings on the sides of it.
Bucky on the other hand only became concerned. His ears pricked up. Was he going crazy? That sounded exactly like his best friend Steve Rogers.
Sure, it had been a long time since he had seem him by now but after knowing him his whole life Bucky would recognise that voice anywhere.
He shook his head to dismiss even the mere thought of that man being Steve. He probably just missed him.
That was impossible, this man was tall and strong, clearly healthy looking, the complete polar opposite of Steve. Heck, by now this guy was holding up a motorcycle with three girls sitting on it above his head! That would crush Steve in an instant.
"Really Sarg? You woke us up for this?" One of the men called out from near the back.
"There's no way that's real!" Another shouted.
"What a load of bullshit!" Someone spat.
"You call this man our fellow soldier? If he walked out on the front lines wearing that he'd be a walking target!" Another scoffed.
"I bet he doesn't even know how to shoot a gun." One laughed callously as the screen showed this so called Captain America running through a very obviously plastic war zone.
"Hey! Give him a break guys! At least he's doing something to help!" Bucky yelled over the top of everyone causing them to fall silent again. "Everyone's got a part to play. The bonds he's promoting will help."
He couldn't help but think back to the countless times he had tried to tell Steve about all the other jobs other than being a soldier to do with the war.
But when a shot of the man punching another man dressed as Adolf Hitler in the jaw was so embarrassingly fake Bucky couldn't help but cringe and groan internally.
Finally the clip finished and the group erupted into fits of laughter.
"Alright! Alright! Settle down!" The commander growled.
"What a joke!" One sneered.
"It's pathetic!" One laughed distastefully.
"That's not even realistic!" Another spat.
A whole bunch of men started to rark up again.
"Yes I know but its what the people want!" The commander emphasised tiredly.
After a minute when the room hadn't really calmed down the commander dismissed the men with a disgusted wave.
Bucky kept his head down and frowned in dismay. He couldn't get over how much that Captain America guy had sounded like Steve. He didn't get a look at his face to see if he looked like him too because of the mask.
But either way, it was impossible for someone so small to get that big that quickly right? How long had he been gone by now? A year maybe? No way, that was impossible. Especially with all of Steve's health impairments making him so scrawny and weak, as much as Bucky hated to admit it. He just hoped Steve was okay.
"You alright there Barnes?" Dum Dum Dugan, a fellow team member nudged Bucky from beside him, snapping him from his thoughts. "You're looking a little worried there bud."
"Hmm? Yeah, just thinking." Bucky shrugged absentmindedly.