Finally!
"I don't see what the problem is," Bucky starts, as him, Steve and Avery walk through the Expo. Him and Ava are walking with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He still can't take his eyes off of her beautiful face looking at the fireworks in amazement. The variety of colors lighting up her face and her humongous bright smile. Oh, and Steve's there too. "You're about to be the last eligible man in New York. You know there's three and a half million women here?"
"Well, I'd settle for just one," Steve says as he walks with his hands in his pockets.
"Good thing I took care of that," Avery says, waving to her friend waiting for them. It's not really a friend, it's more of an acquaintance.
"Hey, Ava!" A woman yells, standing by a statue, when she sees the three. She's honestly excited about making friends with Ava, but not about the date.
"What'd you tell her about me?" Steve asks, already hating this. He disliked it before, he's always felt like a third wheel with Ava and Bucky. They try their hardest to include him, and they do, but when they do all the couple-y stuff, he feels left out.
"Only the good stuff, don't worry Stevie," Ava says, holding Bucky's hand that's wrapped around her shoulders.
"Welcome to the Modern Marvels Pavilion and the World of Tomorrow," an announcer welcomes them into the Expo. "A greater world. A better world." They walk by a mannequin that's dressed in what looks to be a red and gold suit, that looks like it belongs in a superhero movie. They hear clapping and a lot of people talking all of a sudden. Ava and her friend look over to the stage to see lights turn on and people walk out.
"Oh, my god! It's starting!" Ava's friend exclaims, pulling her along. Since Ava is holding onto Bucky's hand he's pulled along too. The three laugh as they run towards the stage to get a good spot.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Howard Stark!" A female announcer says on stage. Steve slowly joins the three, standing behind them, eating a bag of popcorn. Howard Stark walks on stage with his own pizazz. He gives the lady his top hat and then dips her, kissing her. She passes off the microphone to him as the lady walks off stage.
"I love you, Howard!" A woman in the audience screams, causing a few chuckles to erupt from the audience. Howard takes a cloth out from his pants and wipes his mouth with it, then places it back in his pocket.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile won't even have to touch the ground at all?" Howard says into the microphone. There's gasps from the audience as the women on stage take the wheels off of the car that they set up beforehand, revealing a high-tech engine. "Yes. Thanks Mandy," he says to the woman that walks by him, with a tire in hand. "With Stark Gravitic Reversion Technology you'll be able to do just that," Stark explains. He turns a dial on the podium he has in front of him and the car's 'tires' light up and the car starts to hover in the air.
"Holy cow," Bucky mutters, amazed by this. He still remembers when Ava and him had a conversation about flying cars, he knew that Stark would be able to do it. He looks down to see Ava's face and he can tell that she's amazed as well. After a couple of seconds of the car hovering, the 'tires' begin to spark and the whole thing falls to the ground, everyone backing up slightly out of instinct. Bucky looks back at Steve to see his face, he smiles at him then looks back to the stage.
"I did say a few years, didn't I?" Howard says, trying to cover up his mistake in something, that he doesn't know yet. The crowd begins to applaud Stark. Steve looks around as he sees Bucky and Ava kiss, his eyes catch a sign of Uncle Sam, saying 'I want you.'
"Hey, Steve, what do you say we treat these girls…" he trails off as he turns around and notices that Steve's missing from where he was standing a moment ago. He turns Ava around gently with his hand and gives her a face. She knows exactly what that face is, she starts walking to the United States Armed Services Recruitment station that they have at the expo, Bucky trailing behind her with Ava's friend, wanting to get to know her if she and Ava are going to stay friends. A man at the station steps onto a small platform that makes his mirror self appear on a picture of a soldier saluting. The woman with him giggles at the picture.
"Come on, soldier," she says, grabbing his elbow and pulling him along. Steve steps up next onto the platform, but his mirror self doesn't reach the face part of the soldier, it's around where the neck would be, since he's so short. He stands there for a second before he feels a light push on his left shoulder. He steps down from the platform and sees Avery.
"Come on. You're kind of missing the point of a double date," she says, when she sees Steve looking sadly at the picture. She wants Steve, so badly, to find his place in the world, and she'll help if she can. "We're going dancing."
"You go ahead. I'll catch up with you," Steve says, looking towards Bucky and Ava's friend who are hanging back a little. Ava takes a moment to figure out what he's going to do, until it hits her.
"You're really going to do this again?" She asks, worried for him, a lot of things could happen if they figure out what he's doing.
"Well, it's a fair. I'm gonna try my luck," he answers, he has a feeling that this time it's either going to end up good - he'll join the army - or it'll end up really bad - he'll go to jail for lying.
"As who, Steve from Ohio?" Ava asks, not missing a beat. "They'll catch you. Or worse, they'll actually take you."
"Look, I know you don't think I can do this," Steve says looking down, but Avery interrupts him.
"This isn't a back alley, Steve. It's war," Ava says, worried for her brother.
"I know it's a war." They don't realize that a guy sees them arguing and listens in on their conversation.
"Why are you so keen to fight? There are so many important jobs."
"What do you want me to do? Collect scrap metal in my little red wagon?" Steve asks sarcastically.
"Yes. Why not?" She asks. He could do anything, but what he wants to do is going to be risking his life. She knows she's being a hypocrite, but her brother is the most important thing in her life, besides James.
"I'm not gonna sit in a factory, Avery," Steve says. Ava tries to interrupt him, but Steve stops her. "Ava, come on. There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them. That's what you don't understand. This isn't about me," Steve says, determined and confident.
"Right," Avery says, with a nod of her head. "'Cause you got nothing to prove," she says, pursing her lips. The man that's listening is taking in everything, this may be the man that he's been looking for.
"Avery! Are we going dancing?" Ava's friend exclaims, from feet away from the two. She's been talking to Bucky, and from what she can tell is that Bucky's heart belongs completely to Ava. She finds that sweet, she hopes she can find that some day.
"Yes, we are," Ava says, turning to look at the two, smiling a little when she lays eyes on her boyfriend, he's so handsome, she can never get over it. She turns back to Steve with a shake of her head. "Don't do anything stupid until I get back," she says, walking backwards towards her friend and boyfriend.
"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you," Steve says, smirking just a touch. Ava stops where she is, looking at Steve with a smirk of her own. She shakes her head and walks back to Steve.
"You're a punk," she says, as she goes to hug her little big brother.
"Jerk," Steve mutters. "Be careful," he says, worried for his sister. Ava starts to walk away, until Steve says, "don't win the war till I get there!" Ava turns around and salutes him, before walking towards James. Steve walks farther into the building, walking right past the man that was eavesdropping in on their conversation.
….
A nurse walks into the small room that Steve's in, whispering to the doctor. Steve can't understand what she's saying, so he stays silent. The nurse walks out after delivering her message.
"Wait here," the doctor says, putting away the blood pressure cuff.
"Is there a problem?" Steve asks, worried that he's going to get in trouble.
"Just wait here," the man says before exiting through the curtain that's separating the exam room from the waiting room. Steve is sitting on the table, he turns around and reads a sign 'It Is Illegal To Falsify Your Enlistment Form.' He grows worried as he twists around, sitting normally. He stands up and sits down in the chair for people's family to sit in. He goes to put on his shoes when an officer walks in. He stops what he's doing and stares at the man for a few seconds before another man walks in, in a suit and tie. Steve doesn't know it, but it's the man that was eavesdropping on him and Ava.
"Thank you," the man mutters to the officer. The officer nods and then leaves the room, closing the curtains behind him. "So," the man starts, louder this time. "You want to go overseas. Kill some Nazis." He opens Steve's file that he has in hand.
"Excuse me?" Steve asks, noticing the accent in the man's voice. He can't tell what accent it is, though.
"Dr. Abraham Erskine," he introduces himself, walking up to where Steve is sitting. "I represent the Strategic Scientific Reserve."
"Steve Rogers," Steve stands up and shakes Erskine's hand. Erskine nods and goes to place the file on the table to look through it properly. "Where are you from?" Steve asks, wanting to know what his accent is.
"Queens. 73rd Street and Utopia Parkway," he says, adjusting the glasses on his face. "Before that, Germany. This troubles you?" The man asks, wanting to know if Steve doesn't like him, since he's German, and the US is fighting Germany.
"No," Steve answers with a shake of his head, nervously, wondering what this man is doing here? And what he wants from Steve.
"Where are you from, Mr. Rogers? Hmm?" He says examining Steve's files that has all of his enlistment forms in it. "Is it New Haven? Or Paramus?" Steve looks down, ashamed. "Five exams in five different cities."
"That might not be the right file," Steve says, looking at the file. His eyes are red, worried that he'll go to jail for this.
"No, it's not the exams I'm interested in. It's the five tries," Erskine says, closing the file. "But you didn't answer my question. Do you want to kill Nazis?" He asks, taking a few steps, so he's now standing in front of Steve. He really thinks that Steve is the one, it's the question of if his boss will accept Steve or not. Steve glances at the sign again before looking back at the man in the room.
"Is this a test?" He asks. Erskine nods, and Steve takes a second, trying to find the right words. "I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from."
Erskine nods, happy with that answer. "Well, there are already so many big men fighting this war. Maybe what we need now is a little guy, huh?" Steve has a hopeful look in his eyes when he says this. "I can offer you a chance," Erskine says, opening the curtain. Steve grabs his shoes and follows him out of the room. "Only a chance."
"I'll take it," Steve says right away.
"Good," Erskine says, placing the file down on the desk. "So where is the little guy from? Actually?"
"Brooklyn," Steve smiles as he answers.
Erskine stamps ink onto the form, handing it back to Steve. "Congratulations, soldier." He walks off right after. Steve opens the file to see 'IA' stamped onto the form. He looks around more to see the 26th Infantry written on the paper, meaning him and Bucky are now in the same Infantry. It sort of feels like when they used to be excited when they got into the same class in school when they were little. Steve takes a deep breath in and out, he can't waste this chance, if he does it will be deadly for him, and heartbreaking for his family and friends.