Well, Hi there.

So I got randomly bored one day, and I was playing one of the multitude of Otome apps and had a brainwave. This is the result.

For those that may have followed me over here from my Avenger fics 'The First' and 'Forgotten' don't worry, I'll be continuing them. Maybe in March or May, but they'll happen...how can they not?

This is just a little something to ease the writer's block occasionally and give me a fresh perspective to play with.

As always, don't own marvel or anything associated with it, but Sarah Jones is all mine...

Enjoy

xo

Chapter 1

Introductions

Lieutenant Jones stood with her arms crossed as she watched the show girls dancing on the stage from underneath a tent across the depot, whistles of the hundred or so men watching them drowning out the sounds of their singing. She pressed her lips into a thin line, the slightest of grimaces on her face. Through all her years, she had never seen such an act of vulgarity in her life. The short skirts with high kicks. Perhaps it was her upbringing too, but maybe she would never get used to the way these westerners did things.

Still, she understood why the USO was here. The soldiers around here really needed the morale boost. They were basic animals, these males. She, herself, had been on the receiving end of more than enough catcalls and leers from the soldiers. Although, they were soon put in their place, much to Colonel Phillips' great pleasure. Her last run in with an unsuspecting soldier had her smirk slightly as she remembered it. She heard familiar footsteps enter the tent from the other side and didn't bother turning around as a familiar scent wafted to her nose.

"Dare I ask, are you actually enjoying this?" came the alluring British accent of the only female colleague in her unit. The brunette stopped beside her, an elegant eyebrow raised expectantly.

"Not at all, quite the contrary actually, but I'm reminding myself that they're taking the heat of us with these animals," Jones replied, motioning with a hand towards the crowds of troops.

Peggy Carter smiled back at her, her red lips contrasting with her fair skin as she grinned. "Well, when you put it that way, perhaps I can enjoy it too." They both looked back towards the stage, leaning against the centre tent pole. "Has he been on yet?"

"Who?"

"Captain America, Sarah, the star of the show?"

"Oh, the guy in tights? Not yet," Jones replied with a slight shake of her head. Peggy had already told her about the star of the show. And she had been read into his file when she joined SSR, but he was a showpony at best. Untested.

"He's not the man that the show portrays, Sarah," Peggy muttered, watching as the show girls bowed and took their leave of the stage.

"He's a lab rat at best, an untested one at that." Peggy sighed beside her, but didn't respond. "I'm sure his hearts in the right place, but what good is one super soldier?"

Peggy raised an eyebrow at Jones pointedly. "Well, if you want to get technical…"

"I don't fight."

"You could."

"It's not a pretty thing, it's monstrous," Jones replied darkly, not taking her eyes off the stage. "I'm monstrous."

Peggy looked at her sympathetically, but didn't say anything. Even if she had, Jones wouldn't have paid any attention. The English spy had never seen her in full monster mode, she had no idea what she was capable of.

Finally, a tall, well built man, wearing a tight fitting costume of blue and white with a shield stepped out onto the stage. Jones did her best not to laugh out loud and heard the unmistakable groan from Peggy beside her.

So this was 'Captain America' the nations great hero. Bond sales were up thanks to this guy, but that's about all he was good for currently. She watched as he nervously tried to get through his lines, but the soldiers continued to heckle him. Eventually, they began bombarding the stage with whatever they could find close at hand, tomatoes, rocks, even the toilet paper wasn't safe. He made a run for backstage, and the show girls returned, to an uproar of applause and cat calls.

Jones shook her head in disgust. "Men."

"Come on, I'll introduce you," Peggy said as she began to walk towards the backstage area.

"Why?"

"You never know, you two might actually have to work together one day," Peggy replied as Jones caught up in a couple of strides. Peggy was much shorter than Jones, but what she lacked in height, she made up for in confidence and toughness. Which was why Jones had a lot of respect for her, and why they seemed to make such good friends.

Jones had only come into the unit in the last six months, after being in the US for a few years. She thought she might have gotten herself in strife, getting caught out letting her guard down and then being dragged into a high security military unit. As it turns out, it wasn't the worst thing to ever happen to her.

As they crossed the depot, the heavens opened up, rain pouring down on top of them, but neither let it bother them as they entered the backstage area. Peggy looked around for a moment while Jones wrinkled her nose, the smells around overcoming her senses and giving her a headache. The heavy use of hairspray and perfume overwhelmed her senses and she thought she might puke, but was quick to swallow the urge.

"There he is." Peggy began walking towards the stage entrance. There, sitting on the stairs to the stage was Steve Rogers. He was currently unmasked, a sketch book and pencil in hand, leaning against his knee as his hand moved with grace along the paper.

They stopped in front of him, but he still didn't look up, completely engrossed in his work.

"Hello, Steve," Peggy greeted. Jones could practically hear the smile in her colleague's voice. It was warm and welcoming.

The blonde's head jerked up in surprise and looked straight at Peggy, recognition spreading across his face. His heart rate picked up dramatically, making Jones have to work extremely hard to make her face expressionless. "Hi."

"Hi," Peggy replied, her smile getting bigger if possible. Jones looked between the two, a smirk spreading across her lips, feeling like somewhat of a third wheel currently. She coughed slightly, catching Peggy's attention. "Oh, this is my colleague, Lieutenant Sarah Jones."

Steve stood up, offering his hand to Sarah, but she didn't take it, holding an expressionless face instead. "Charmed, I'm sure."

Steve hesitated for a moment, before nodding towards the Lieutenant. His attention turned back to Peggy. "What are you doing here?"

"Officially, we are not here at all," Peggy replied. "That was quite a performance."

Steve grimaced and Jones suddenly felt sorry for him. She saw his posture change as he sat back down and sighed. He didn't want to be doing this, being a lackie for the USO. "Yeah, I had to improvise a bit. The crowds I'm used are usually, uh…twelve."

Jones couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Don't worry, buddy, these guys are assholes at the best of times."

Steve raised an eyebrow at that, but Peggy shook her head in response. That was a story for another day, evidently. "I understand you're 'America's New Hope'."

"Bond sales take a ten percent bump in every state I visit," Steve replied almost automatically. Jones scoffed, turning slightly and leaning against a rack of helmets with large letters printed on the front.

"Is that Senator Brandt, I hear?" Peggy teased, a smirk showing on her face.

"At least he's got me doing this, Colonel Phillips would have had me stuck in a lab," Steve huffed indignantly, causing Jones to look at him with wide eyes. His heart rate had jumped slightly at the mention of the Colonel. The thought of the Colonel made the man angry it seemed. Jones analysed him for a moment, his heart rate settled again as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Are these the only two options? A lab rat or a dancing monkey?" Peggy looked pointedly at Steve, who sighed in response. "You were meant for more than this, you know?" Steve looked up at her, as if to reply, but said nothing, looking away instead. Peggy noticed it too. "What?"

"You know, for the longest time, I dreamed about coming overseas and being on the front lines. Serving my country. I finally get everything I wanted, and I'm wearing tights." Peggy and Jones shared a look, Peggy looking sympathetic, even apologetic to a degree. Jones understood, she felt partially responsible for him being tossed aside. Peggy had told her all about the procedure and aftermath of Steve Rogers. If it weren't for her own upbringing and experiences, she might have felt squeamish about it.

There was the sound of a horn outside, and they all turned to look out the front of the stage, seeing an ambulance rushing through the depot, several soldiers being unloaded on stretches and hurried into the medical tent.

Jones was hit with the familiar scent of blood, and a lot of it. She wrinkled her nose and chewed the inside of her lip slightly, fighting to keep her instincts at bay.

"They look like they've been through hell," Steve commented.

Jones formed a fist with her right hand, a force of habit, not taking her eyes off the medical tent and listening intently for any request for help. "These men more than most. Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men went up against him and less than fifty returned. You audience contained what was left of the 107th. The rest were either captured or killed."

Steve stared at the woman for a moment, trying to fully comprehend what she had just said. Her head snapped back to look at him, her eyes seeming to focus on his chest, not his face for some reason. The woman was tall, almost as tall as him, but with exotic Asian features that he really wasn't used to seeing. Strangely, her skin appeared to have a faintly pale appearance that didn't quite match her features, her black hair standing out against her skin. While her face had shown next to no emotion since she had entered the tent, now her features were etched in concern as she stared at him for some reason. His mind was too preoccupied to dwell on it.

"The 107th?" he breathed.

Peggy looked at him in concern. "What?"

He stood up quickly and made a run from the tent, Jones and Peggy quick to follow him out. "Come on!"

Steve hurried into the tent Peggy directed him to, seeing Colonel Phillips seated at a desk, a helmet on his head as he wrote. "Colonel Phillips!"

The harried looking man looked up, a disgruntled expression appearing on his face. He looked back down to his paperwork as Steve hurried towards the desk. "Well, if it isn't the star-spangled man with a plan. And what is your plan today?"

Steve stopped in front of him, the two women drawing up beside him. "I need the casualty list from Azzano."

Colonel Phillips looked up sharply at Steve, but he didn't back down, all thoughts on only one thing. Bucky. He knew Bucky had left to serve with the 107th before he himself had joined the SSR. He just hoped he had either been transferred or made it back with the few who had escaped. "You don't give me orders, son," Phillips retorted sternly.

"I just need one name, sir. Sergeant James Barnes from the 107th."

Phillips looked at the two women and pointed. "You two and I are going to have a conversation later which you will not enjoy." Peggy's face remained impartial while Jones grimaced slightly. He reached for the pile of papers in front of him, shuffling them slightly before responding.

"Please tell me if he's alive, sir. B-A-R-" Steve continued, getting impatient at the Colonel's stalling.

"I can spell," he retorted stiffly, before sighing and laying down the papers. "I have signed more of these condolence letters than I would care to count, but that name does sound familiar. I'm sorry."

Steve took a moment to let the Colonel's words sink in, before his next thought came out of his mouth before he could fully finish considering it. "What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?"

Colonel Phillips looked at him with a dumbstruck expression before answering. "Yeah! It's called winning the war!"

"But if you know where they are, why not-"

Colonel Phillips stood up, his expression showing he had just about enough of being badgered. "They're thirty miles behind the lines. Through the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We'd lost more men than we'd save." The Colonel moved around the desk to stand in front of Steve, putting his hands on his hips as he pinned the blonde with challenging glare. "But I don't expect you to understand that, because you're a chorus girl."

Steve felt his blood begin to boil. He glared back at the Colonel. "I think I understand just fine." He felt a hand grab his elbow, and strangely, even through the coat he wore over his costume, he could feel the coolness of the touch and looked down in surprise. He saw the hand belonged to Peggy's colleague, her face completely void of any expression as she looked across at him. He felt his anger beginning to dissipate and his heart rate slowing down again as his anger subsided.

The Colonel looked down at his own arm, drawing Steve's attention too. She also had her hand on his arm too, her eyes moving between the two, but no emotion appearing on her face at all. "Gentleman…"

The Colonel seemed to acknowledge her, before looking back at Steve and removing his arm from her grasp. She dropped her hand from Steve's arm, although the cool feeling still seemed to remain behind. "Well then, understand it somewhere else." He turned and began to walk away, and Steve took note of the map stretched out on the table, a lone flag catching his attention. "If I read the posters correctly, you got some place to be in 30 minutes."

"Yes, sir, I do." With that, Steve turned and walked away.

Steve hurried back to the backstage tent, beginning to throw things into a pack. He was going to have a fair hike into enemy territory, but he knew to only take the bare essentials. He began to change into a pair of fatigues and a leather jacket that was lying around.

His gut was telling him that Bucky was still out there, but at the very least he had to try and save those captured by Schmidt. He couldn't just leave them.

Peggy hurried into the tent, watching him for a moment before speaking. "What do you plan to do? Walk to Austria?"

Steve didn't stop packing. "If that's what it takes."

Peggy sighed, shaking her head and folding her arms across her chest. "You heard the Colonel; your friend is most likely dead."

Steve pinned her with a stern look. "You don't know that."

Peggy swallowed, before sighing in resignation. "Even so, he's devising a strategy. If he detects…"

He finally broke. "By the time he's done that, it could be too late!" Finally finished packing and picking up one of the showgirl's helmets featuring an 'A' on the front, he hurried outside to a jeep. He threw his gear inside before he climbed inside and looked back at her. She was staring back at him sadly. "You told me you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?"

She raised her eyebrows slightly before nodding. "Every word."

"Then you got to let me go."

She stared at him for a moment, and for a second, he thought she might still try and stop him. To his surprise, she smirked slightly, before moving towards the jeep. "I can do more than that."

Jones glared at Steve before looking at Peggy. "Are you actually insane?"

"Look, he's going to do it either way," Peggy explained moving towards her friend and colleague.

"Then why are you coming to me? Send him on his suicide mission, why tell me? So I can tell Phillips for you? I'd rather not have that conversation," Jones retorted backing away.

"I'm inclined to agree with her," Steve replied slowly. "Why are we here?"

Peggy didn't take her eyes off her colleague. "Because Sarah here, is special," she replied, looking pointedly at the Lieutenant.

"Oh no, she isn't!" Jones argued stepping back.

"You always complain that you'd rather be helping them out on the front lines, rather than patching them up when they get back. And I KNOW you can handle yourself and everyone around you," Peggy implored, raising her eyebrows pointedly at her sister in arms.

The taller women pressed her lips into a thin line. "But if I…"

"You won't, and if you do, I know you'll only direct it at those who deserve it," Peggy answered soothingly.

Jones was well aware of Steve's curious attention, she could read it in his baby blue eyes and his posture. This was going to be a fun conversation, when it happened. And it was definitely going to happen.

She was distracted, listening to his heart beat steadily, showing no sign of fear, when Peggy finally caught her arms in her hands, causing her to freeze and glare at the brunette. "Come on, Sarah, you know you want to help people. You can help Steve bring home those left of the 107th for their families."

She grimaced. That damn Englishwoman always knew which buttons to push to get what she wanted. She sighed and gave the slightest of nods, conceding defeat. She just hoped it wouldn't end badly for everyone involved.

xo

Krayzee