Brooklyn, 1941

"Buck, I told you she wouldn't like me." Steve said as they walked home after yet another attempted surprise double date. "I don't know what you're trying to tell these girls."

Bucky scoffed. "The truth." He promised.

"Leaving out a few things." Steve countered, his already small jacket nearly swallowing him in the cool fall air. It wasn't nearly cold enough for a coat, but Bucky wouldn't let him leave without something.

The best possible ways to get a date.

"Not important things."

Steve sighed, shaking his head and stopping at the next corner. He had been on too many trips with Buck, only to find out his friend was on a date and hadn't told the others he was… well, 'short' is the word most of the dames used.

"Steve?" Bucky asked after a minute. "What are you thinking?"

"That I need a drink."

Bucky laughed, setting his hand on Steve's shoulder. "Nice try, you know you can't hold your booze."

"I meant from the malt shop, jerk." Steve said with a roll of his eyes as Bucky laughed again.

"Okay, punk, want me to come with?"

"Nah." Steve said as he stepped up to start for the brightly colored diner across the street. "I think I've got it."

"See you tomorrow."

"If I feel like it." Steve agreed, starting to walk.

He could hear Bucky's laughter as he made it to the door. "Night, punk!" He called, waving to Steve as every possible person on the sidewalk turned to look at them.

"Night, jerk!" He shouted back, turning to the door again as Bucky laughed and started to walk again.

Steve walked into the brightly lit shop and pulled himself onto one of the stools at the bar rather than try and sit all alone at a booth. He pulled out the few coins he had and pushed them across the counter to the woman standing just behind it.

"Chocolate shake?" He requested and the woman smiled at him like he was just the cutest thing she had ever seen—but in the stray puppy way, and Steve smiled faintly back and waited, trying not to sigh that even without Bucky he was still just cute.

A young brunette with bright green eyes walked inside the malt shop a moment later, looking around the crowded restaurant for a place to sit. She looked over with a frown at the slowly drizzling rain outside. She slid off her wet rain jacket and rubbed her arms slowly, like she was suppressing shivering.

The only spot available was a stool next to a thin… man wasn't exactly the right word to describe him, but when he spotted her he smiled kindly and welcomingly.

She smiled back and slowly started to walk over, sitting beside him just as his milkshake arrived.

"Started to rain?" He asked, glancing at her slightly damp hair and the water running down the windows.

"Just a little." She agreed with a snort, trying to return some sort of order or decency to the rapidly curling strands of her brunette hair.

He quickly shrugged off his jacket and handed the small cover to her.

"Oh," she said in surprise, smiling slightly as she took it gently. "Thank you, Mister, um…"

"Oh, Rogers," Steve said quickly. "Steve Rogers."

She smiled. "Lucille Adler, but, um, you can call me Lucy."

Steve smiled at her again, blue eyes twinkling as he took hold of the tall glass that had been set in front of him and turned slowly on his stool to face her.

"So, Lucy," he started, still looking at her brightly. "Any particular reason you're not with friends or something? Nice gal like you ought to have girlfriends to go out with."

"Oh, I just got off work. Late shift, no time to call my friends. Not that I have all that many." She said softly, shrugging slightly.

Steve glanced at his watch, raising an eyebrow at her. "Really late shift. What do you do?"

"I'm a nurse." Lucy said simply and Steve snorted slightly, looking down at the counter.

"I'm surprised we haven't met before." He said with a smile.

Lucy smiled sheepishly. "For the army."

"Oh…" Steve said softly. She likes guys like Buck. He thought, looking a little more glumly towards his still mostly un-drunken milkshake.

"Sort of glad I'm off right now. Spent too much time dealing with uncooperative, thick-headed soldiers so high on testosterone they think that when I do my job, I'm flirting." She rolled her eyes. "Men like that are so foolish sometimes."

Steve looked back towards her with slightly more hope in his eyes, starting to carry on a bit of a lighter conversation with her as the rain kept falling outside and his malt sat mostly forgotten on the counter between them.

When the rain finally stopped falling so heavily outside, Steve checked his watch and looked at Lucy with a slight blush. "It's, uh, it's getting pretty dark outside. Mind if I walk you home?" He asked politely, smiling hopefully at her.

She smiled slightly, glancing over the frail man that seemed to need more protection than she did. She nodded. "Sure. That would be great."

Steve grinned quickly back at her and started for the door, offering her his arm as he held the door open.

As they walked down the darkening streets, Steve pointed out various landmarks he thought Lucy might appreciate.

"I got beat up behind that movie theater… And in that alley… And in front of that grocery… Behind the hat store…"

"Anger problems?" She asked with a slight smile.

Steve shook his head. "Me? No. Everyone else? Maybe a little."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Do you run into a lot of angry people?"

"Less than you might think." Steve said with a chuckle.

"Then why do you get in so many fights?"

"I just don't like bullies." He explained, shrugging.

"I have to agree with that," Lucy said with a slight smile. "But aren't there better ways to stand up to bullies than trying to be physical?"

"Not that they've found." Steve chuckled, shrugging as they kept walking.

Lucy made a noise of consideration, raising an eyebrow before starting to turn the conversation to not as physically abusive topics. "So what do you usually do?"

"When I'm not going to the doctor?" He joked, taking his ailments in stride. "I like to draw." He admitted. "And apparently letting my friend drag me to science conventions."

She chuckled. "Science conventions, hmm? Interesting choice. Like what? Your friend doesn't happen to be a fan of Howard Stark?"

"Yeah, Bucky We've been pals since we were kids." Steve said simply, hands in his pockets as they strolled down the still slightly damp sidewalk. "He's in the army."

Lucy hummed slightly, easing a step closer to Steve, asking about his drawing instead as they finished the walk to her apartment.

"This is me." She whispered softly, smiling slightly at the blond man standing beside her, starting to take off his jacket before he took several quick steps backwards.

"You keep it." He encouraged, smiling at her again, blue eyes bright and his wide grin infectious as Lucy moved to unlock the door.

"Still good for coffee on Tuesday?" She called to the slender man's back.

"Wouldn't miss it!" He promised. "Might even let you try to give me my jacket back." He teased.

"Oh, you'll get it back," she called with a smile. "I think you'll find that I'm not very good at taking no for an answer."

"Something else we have in common." He said with one last farewell over his shoulder before Lucy finally stepped inside.

She smiled and shook her head, looking at the ceiling. "You were right, Mama," she said like she was speaking to heaven. "The person I might spend my life with won't come at all how I expected him."

"I'm telling ya, Buck, she was beautiful." Steve said, sitting on the couch with dreamy blue eyes. "Smart, kind, funny. She had these bright green eyes, and this beautiful brown hair and she was tall—at least taller than me—and just… wow."

Bucky laughed. "Really, Steve? I've never seen you like this."

"Well, I—I haven't ever felt like this before, Buck. She was perfect." Steve insisted. "Amazing and—"

"You're rambling, kid." Bucky laughed and Steve rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, jerk."

"MmHmm, so, punk, when do I get to meet this perfect mystery woman?" Bucky asked with a wide smile.

"You?"

"Yeah, me."

"Never."

Bucky frowned. "Hey! Why the hell not?"

"Language, Buck." Steve chided, almost sounding bored. "And you don't get to meet her because she wouldn't like you. So I'm just going to save us all the embarrassment."

"Don't correct me, I'm older than you. You're supposed to respect your elders." Bucky protested. "And she's gonna have to meet me eventually, that or you're gonna have to find another guy to beat up bullies for you."

"Hey, I do just fine on my own. And there is absolutely no connection to you looking down random alleys and me going out with a beautiful woman."

"There is if she's not as pretty as you make her out to be. Or you're just trying to make me the one holding the short straw."

"You think I'd lie to you about how a lady looks, Buck?" Steve asked in surprise. "That's just disrespecting her."

"Alright, then let me meet her." Bucky said simply, arms crossed. "What's so hard about that?"

"Because she's a nurse in the Army, Buck. She told me she's sick of being around men like that."

Bucky looked offended. "You think I'm one of those guys that treats my nurse like shit when I have to get checked out? Steve, you know I treat any woman with respect, especially those that hold my well-being in their hands."

"Maybe." Steve said quietly. "But that doesn't change the fact that she doesn't want to meet any other soldiers on her time off and I'm not going to force her to spend time with you so you can give her the third degree about trying to go steady with me."

"Then don't tell her I'm a soldier. Steve, meeting me once isn't gonna hurt anything."

"If you make me regret this we won't be friends anymore, Buck."

"Want me to pinky promise?"

"You don't have to be a jerk about it."