If you're just clicking on this, you might want to check out "Project Gemini" first. It'll make for sense later.

Chapter 1

Carrie sighed, taking several glances at the clock. It wasn't like Steve to be late, but she knew that he'd show up eventually.

He never wanted to let anyone down.

With the lobby getting a crown from the film that would be starting in a few minutes, picking Steve out of the crowd would be easier, or harder.

She'd find him eventually.

The crowd filed into the theater, and Carrie spotted Steve just walking into the lobby, staring at a piece of paper.

"Rejected again, huh?" Carrie asked softly.

Steve nodded.

"Well, then it's their loss," she said, taking off her black trench coat. "After all, muscles aren't the only kind of strength, right?"

"Yeah," he said dejectedly.

Carrie was hoping that watching a rerun of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs would take his mind off of enlistment, even if it was only for ten minutes.

The advertisement that started playing didn't really help her in her cause.

"Hey! Start the cartoon already!"

Neither did that guy either.

"Hey, you want to shut up?" Steve retorted.

The guy stood up and glared down at Steve and Carrie. Steve gulped and shrank back in his seat. As the jerk dragged Steve out of the theater by the collar, Carrie sighed and slipped on her trench coat.

Her instincts told her that Steve was getting the stuffing beat out of him in the alley.

They weren't wrong.

As Steve snatched a trash can lid off its bin, Carrie cleared her throat. As the jerk kept knocking Steve around, his trash can shield flew out of his hands, and down to Carrie's feet.

Gracefully, she picked it up and threw it, flicking her wrist. It hit its mark, bouncing off the back of the bully's head.

With bared teeth and clenched fists, the bully spun around, and Carrie got a clear look of his features.

His curly honey-hued hair, chiseled face, and other features defined him as handsome in almost any other situation except now. Carrie felt his pitch-black beady rodent eyes rake over her form.

Carrie raised an eyebrow as she saw them linger over certain parts before returning to her eyes.

The bully/pervert (Carrie couldn't really decide—or care any less) walked towards her, arms spread wide.

"Shouldn't you be in the kitchen?" He drawled. "Of course you could—"

"A woman is more likely to be in your kitchen than in your bedroom." Carrie snapped.

The pervert stopped in front of her, and before she knew it, she felt the back of her neck tingle, and she sidestepped a backhand.

Her assailant had used so much force in his attack, so when it didn't make contact, he spun into someone else's block.

Finishing bold, blond and bullying off with a punch to the face and a kick below the belt, Bucky Barnes turned to Steve.

"You know," he began. "Sometimes I think you like getting punched."

Steve wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "I had him on the ropes."

"And Carrie was about to cut them." Bucky picked up Steve's enlistment form. "Again? And Jersey, seriously?"

Steve looked up at Bucky in his formal Army uniform. "You got your orders?"

Bucky nodded. "Sergeant James Barnes, the one-oh-seventh. Shipping out to England the first thing tomorrow."

Carries throat felt tight. She swallowed. Bucky turned to Carrie and smiled.

"How's it been?" He asked.

Carrie shrugged. "Fine," she replied, maybe a tad too breathlessly.

"That's always good." He said. He turned to Steve. "You're coming with me."

"Where are we going?"

He handed Steve a newspaper headlined STARK EXPO.

"You coming Carrie?" Bucky asked.

"You guys go without me," she answered. "I've got something I need to do."

"Okay," he replied, sounding disappointed. No, he was just exhausted. "Just . . . stay safe. Remember what happened to the last guy that hit on you?"

Carrie grinned. "I never forget."

Carrie got to the town home she and Steve shared, since Bucky would be overseas. Maybe for a long time. Or maybe he wouldn't come back.

Carrie shook her head. She couldn't think like that now.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She had a small section of her strawberry blonde hair in a ponytail, the rest loose in front of it. Carrie decided to keep her evergreen dress on, as well as her black boots. She hung her trench coat on the coat rack, and opted for a tan leather jacket instead. She slung a small matching messenger bag on her right shoulder, and let it hang on her opposite side. She grabbed a pile of papers at the counter.

With any luck, she could make a difference tonight.

HEY GUYZ. Thanks for hanging with me. Bye.