(Author's Note: Ha, bet you didn't think we'd get another chapter up so quickly, eh? Well, turns out that I kinda have an obsession with Captain America, so I kinda churned these out a lot quicker than anticipated (2000+ words in less than 12 hours? Scandal!). Anywho, enough dilly-dallying, we've got an Expo to get to!)
Stevie rarely got dolled up for anyone, let alone her best friend. But, Bucky always went out with girls with perfect hair, perfect makeup, perfect, well, everything. She tried not to compare herself to them, but she almost always did. They were examples of what beauty was. She was a bag of bones that called herself a woman.
She looked at herself in the mirror, almost wishing to herself that Buck had taken any of his other girls to the Stark Expo. She didn't like the way she looked at all. The blue dress she wore would've looked great if she had the curves for it. It showed off part of her chest, where the necklace from her mother Sarah rested. The short sleeves barely covered her skinny arms, making her shiver even in her apartment. The dress flared out after the waistline, and Stevie almost laughed to herself about how much she looked like a hot air balloon.
Her makeup was never her strong suit either. She usually went without it, having never wanted to impress any guy that would maybe accidentally look her way. That night, she had worn the brightest shade of red lipstick she had, smiling ever so slightly that the blue and the red together matched the colors on the American flag. She had a little bit of eye makeup on, but nothing too flashy, especially around her swollen eye. She'd been careful around her cuts from her fight earlier as well, hoping that they didn't get irritated by the makeup.
Hair was something Stevie fortunately knew how to do well. She had curled her hair, pulling it back with a few bobby pins in an updo that her mother had once shown her how to do. A few of the ends were looser than she would've liked, but she thought it would do just fine.
She walked out of her bedroom, where Bucky had been waiting for her. He stood up when he heard her door close and smirked at her.
"You look great, doll," he said. Stevie felt a little color rise to her cheeks as she tried to wave the comment off. "What is it?"
"You're just sayin' that, Buck," she said. "I've seen gals on your arm who look a thousand times better than me. You don't have to be nice just 'cause we're friends, you know." Bucky shook his head.
"Stevie, I'm not gonna lie, I've had some pretty amazing lookin' gals on my arm, but you?" he asked. "Believe me, you would put them all to shame. There's no gal in New York, in the whole world, even, that I'd rather be with tonight than you." He smiled at her and she looked up at him, a smile of her own coming to her face.
"Thanks, Buck," she said quietly. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"No need to thank me, doll," he said. "It's like it's been since we were kids. I'm with ya till the end of the line, Stevie. Ain't nothing's gonna change that." He gave her a small side hug before looking at her. "Ready to head out?"
"Yeah," Stevie said. She grabbed her key quickly, putting it in her purse. "Don't want to forget that again." she smiled at him as he chuckled. "Let's go, Barnes. To the future!"
The cab ride didn't take very long. Of course, the bulk of the time was spent weaving through traffic to get to the Expo. Thousands of people, it seemed, were on their way to see what newfangled inventions Howard Stark had up his sleeve. Stevie had to admit, she was a little excited to see what the night had in store.
Bucky insisted on paying the cab driver. Stevie would've argued but, he cut her off as he whisked her into the Expo. People were packed like sardines in a can in the open-air pavilion. Posters for all of Stark's inventions covered pillars that held up a monorail as it sped around, carrying people willing to wait hours in line for a ride.
The main attraction for the evening, however, was a flying car. Stevie almost didn't believe what she was reading. She looked up at Bucky, who glanced down at her, grinning.
"Wanna go see a car fly, Stevie?" he asked, seeming to pick up on her excitement. She nodded excitedly. "Let's get going then. If you're gonna see it, we'll have to get up close, doll." With that, the two of them made their way to the stage where the flying car would be.
The crowd was already several dozen people thick by the time Bucky and Stevie made their way to the site of Stark's feature presentation. Stevie groaned as she stood on her toes to try and see the stage. Bucky looked down at her, a whole nine inches shorter than him. He knew she'd never be able to see anything but the backs of those in front of her. He tapped her shoulder gently.
"You can't see, can you, doll?" he asked her. She frowned and shook her head.
"Nah, but it's okay," she said. "You can just tell me how good it looks."
"Not a chance, Stevie," Bucky said. He grinned as she looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. The confusion only lasted a moment until he gently grabbed her around the waist, holding her up so she could see over the heads of the crowd. "How's the view from there, huh?"
Stevie was initially a nervous wreck at the suddenness of her feet leaving the ground. But, that panic quickly gave way to a fit of giggles that warmed her cheeks. "It looks great from here, Buck," she said. "Is this what the weather's like all the time up here?" Bucky chuckled just as Stark's showgirls took to the stage.
Dressed in flashy clothes, the ladies strut out on stage, smiling million dollar smiles at the crowd and flashing cameras. Soon after, Howard Stark himself walked out onto the stage, grabbing the microphone as he spun around, winking to the women in the crowd. He made eye contact with Stevie, who, because of Bucky's actions now stood a head above the crowd and made a special effort to wink just at her. Stevie's face turned bright red and she looked away.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, his voice echoing from the mic. "What if I told you that, within a couple of years, your car wouldn't have to touch the ground at all?" The crowd muttered to themselves, almost as though they didn't believe he could do it. "Well, if you don't believe me, watch this." he went to his control panel and pushed a few buttons as his showgirls took the tires off of the car in the middle of the stage. Once the girls were clear, he pulled a small switch. An electrical hum came from the car, and, suddenly, it began to rise. Slowly, but surely, the car began to float off of the ground, hovering for a few moments… before unceremoniously crashing to the ground. It was met with laughter from both the crowd and even Stark himself.
"Well, I did say a few years, right?" he said to the now applauding crowd.
"An A-plus recovery on his part, huh?" Bucky asked, letting Stevie down. She laughed lightly.
"Guess we aren't ready for a flying car just yet," she mused, looking around.
"So, doll," Buck said. "What do you wanna do now? I was thinkin' dancing. We haven't gone dancing in a while." Stevie hummed appreciatively at the idea, but her eyes started to wander until they rested on an "I Want You to Join the US Army" poster under a sign that led to a recruitment office at the Expo. Bucky followed her gaze and had to bite back a groan of exasperation.
"Stevie, come on," he said. "You really want to try this again? Now? You already tried once today, four other times in the past couple of months. Give it a rest, doll." Stevie shook her head, dashing off without Bucky to the office. Bucky followed closely behind, taking his hat off and running a hand through his hair.
Stevie took almost no time at all coming up with a story. She was from Boston, this time. She stuck with the same story, the real story, that her father had died, and he'd been in the 107th, the unit she would request if she could. She would leave her mother out of it unless they asked.
As Bucky followed her, a couple gals he'd hung around with last week spotted him and decided to tag along as he said he was "looking for a friend". He eventually spotted her walking into the office, and told the girls to stay behind just for a second.
"Stevie," he called. Stevie almost jumped out of her skin. She hadn't heard him coming. "Stevie, just wait a second, okay?"Stevie sighed softly, turning around.
"Buck, if you think you're going to try to convince me to stop-."
"It's not that," Bucky said. He sighed softly. "Just, be careful, okay? I worry about you. You know, with all of your issues, I don't know if they'll be able to take care of my best girl if something goes wrong." Stevie chuckled, smiling at him.
"Oh, I'm tougher than I look," she said, giving his shoulder a gentle punch, though no one in their right mind would call that a punch. "You've gotta stop worryin' about me, Buck. I'll be fine."
Bucky sighed softly, making a quick decision. He wrapped her in a tight, but not too tight hug, resting his head on top of hers gently. "Please just promise to not be stupid out there, Rogers." he said quietly, pulling away from the hug.
"How can I?" she said with a wry smirk. "You're takin' all the stupid with you." Bucky's face quirked into a smile and he kissed her cheek gently. Stevie smiled at him, pink dusting her cheeks as she pat his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Thanks, Buck," she said. She turned on her heel, heading in. Bucky watched her go, her little porcelain doll, wanting to head off to war. Even though she wanted to join so badly, he found himself selfishly wishing that she wouldn't get in…
Stevie sat in the examination room. It was another long round of asking questions, answering as honestly as she could. But, her forms, her medical conditions, the anemia, the asthma, the flat feet, all of it was out in the open. She felt a huge rock in her stomach, almost as though she knew that she wasn't going to get in once again. And, maybe this time, she wouldn't be so lucky and she'd get arrested for lying on her paperwork.
Her fears were almost confirmed when the curtains were pulled back and a man in a Military Police uniform walked in. Her heart nearly stopped and she felt her palms start to sweat. The man stood there for a few moments, and then another man walked in, dismissing the officer. Stevie relaxed immediately.
The man was distinguished looking, with a beard and thinning hair on his head. He was dressed in a suit and had a briefcase with him. If Stevie had to guess, this man was a doctor of some kind.
"So," the man spoke, interrupting Stevie's train of thought. He had a thick European accent, but she could understand him. "You want to go overseas, eh? Be a soldier? Kill some Nazis." Stevie looked at him with a face that was a mix of concern and confusion.
"Excuse me?" she prompted.
"Dr. Abraham Erskine," the man introduced himself, holding out his hand for her to shake. "Head scientist of Strategic Scientific Research."
"Stevie Rogers," she said softly, returning the handshake. "Where are you from?"
"Queens," Dr. Erskine said. "73rd Street, a studio apartment. Before that, Germany." he looked at Stevie. "This troubles you?" Stevie quickly shook her head. "And you, Ms. Rogers." he looked at her with a knowing smile. "Where exactly are you from? Is it New Haven, or Paramus. Five exams with five different home cities listed."
"Th-That may be the wrong file-." Stevie tried to defend herself, but Dr. Erskine held up a hand.
"It's not the five cities I'm interested in, Ms. Rogers, it's the five tries. But, you also didn't answer my question from earlier." he leaned across from her. "Do you want to kill Nazis?" Stevie pondered his question, biting her lip.
"Is this a test?" she asked. Dr. Erskine shrugged indifferently.
"Yes," he admitted.
Stevie sighed softly, rubbing her arm anxiously. "I don't wanna kill anyone. I don't like
bullies, no matter where they're from." Dr. Erskine smiled a little.
"There are already so many big, strong men fighting in the war," he mused. "Maybe it's time for a strong woman to join up." Stevie let out a breath of a chuckle.
"I'm hardly strong, sir," she said softly.
"Not in the traditional sense, no," he said. "But, perhaps…" he trailed off for a moment. "I can offer you a chance. Only a chance."
"I'll take it," Stevie said excitedly. Dr. Erskine started to walk out of the curtained off room, waving for her to follow. She did and smiled the entire way.
"So," Dr. Erskine said. "Where's our little soldier from? Actually." Stevie smiled a bit.
"Brooklyn." she said. Dr. Erskine nodded, stamping her form with finality.
"Congratulations, soldier," he said, handing it to her. He walked away as Stevie opened the file, seeing the two symbols she'd been so desperate to see. She'd been accepted. She let out a breath, a smile coming to her face. She was in.
(Author's Note: I pulled a number from Toni's book and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this! It's currently 3:36 AM and I'm tired, so, with this, I bid all of you a fond farewell and good evening. Cheers, until the next chapter!)