A/N: Italicized speech will either represent a character speaking another language, or the character's internal dialogue.
Due to her injuries, and Steve refusing to leave her behind, they had to wait underground for another month. However, Odette knew Steve was secretly grateful for the excuse to stay with Peggy.
To her surprise, however, the second day she spent in the clinic was interrupted by the whole team coming in to cause chaos. Or in their words:
"Check in with her"
And
"Make sure she was okay"
"Look," Dum Dum held either side of her face. Odette got wide eyed and grabbed his hands, trying to move them away, "Blink twice if Barnes is keeping you hostage." Odette laughed, shaking her head and pushing Dum Dum's hands away.
"Har har," Bucky shoved him from his seat at her bedside.
"Look, Doc," Jones threw his leg up on her bed, pointing between the faded scar on his leg and her bandaged arm, "We'll be matching!" He grinned, Odette continued to giggle.
"I did a much better job at patching you up than they did patching me." Odette pointed out.
"Steve, can't you," Bucky motioned to the men crowded around her bed, "Do something about them?"
Steve shrugged, "They wanted to check on her."
"You didn't think we'd notice you buttering her up, did you?" Morita asked, "Thinking you'll get medical priority?"
"I would never, you know that," Odette said.
"No." Bucky argued.
"No, I think we know what the lad wants," Falsworth winked at Bucky.
"No!" He blushed.
"No?" Odette looked at him, partially in shock, and in hurt.
Bucky did a double take at her, "Well, I, uh," He floundered.
"Aww the little man is turning red," Dernier teased.
"Look, you all can do your little mommy-daddy domestic shit all you want," Dum Dum said, sitting beside Odette, "S'long as you," He looked at Bucky, "remember she knows how to break bones." The men laughed.
Still stinging from Bucky's comment, she slowly turned to him, "And I'm not afraid to put you out of work. Remember, I'm trained with a rifle too. You're replaceable."
The men all 'ooh'd and laughed at Bucky clenching his jaw.
"Alright, enough of that." Steve stepped in, "No breaking Bucky." He pointed a finger at Odette.
"Besides, we came to have fun." Jones said, pulling over an empty chair and throwing a pack of cards on Odette's legs.
"You know I don't know how to play." Odette deadpanned.
"That's why I brought you this," Falsworth smiled as he pulled a book out of one of his cargo pockets. "Agent Carter thought it might help pass the time."
It was a book on healing in mythology. Odette accepted the tomb with a smile, "Well, please, thank Agent Carter when you see her," She looked at Steve curiously.
"She and Colonel Phillips are with Stark, trying to decipher how and why HYDRA came for the blueprints they did." Steve explained.
So, still no answers on that end.
With a wince, Odette pulled her legs up to sit cross legged and allow the men to gather around the end of her bed and play cards. She could feel Bucky staring at her as the men broke apart to pull chairs over to her bed. She ignored him, still bitter about his earlier comment.
Not...that...it...mattered!
She knew that. They were friends. Friends who happened to be really close—sometimes physically close—and enjoyed each other's company, and stared at the other just a little too long. Odette physically shook her head to put the thoughts out of her mind. They had been through some horrible stuff together, it was natural that they seek each other out, no one else had been through what they'd been through.
The book was open on her lap, but Odette hadn't read a word for hours. Her mind was racing, trying to figure out all the clues and collect all the breadcrumbs.
"Read 'em and weep." Dum Dum laid his cards down on the bed, a victorious smile on his face.
"Ehh, not so fast Dum Dum," Jones smirked, laying his own cards down.
Odette had never bothered learning their card game, and could not figure out how Jones' cards were better than Dum Dum's, but judging by Dum Dum's slack jaw, she figured he must have just lost...badly. She snickered as the other men laughed.
Finally able to shake all thoughts from her mind, Odette was able to read the book. It covered the major factions of mythology as well as the different healing or medical mythos contained within them. It was a fascinating read.
Before she knew it, she was more than halfway done with the book. The men had moved from cards to arm wrestling.
Steve was winning.
Naturally.
Sore, Odette tried to move herself into a more comfortable position, her left arm, however, was stiff and ached as she moved. Then, her arm nearly gave out and she fell back in her original position letting go of the breath she'd unconsciously been holding. Biting her tongue to keep from cursing and crying out in pain, Odette gently rubbed her arm.
Steve noticed the movement immediately. He easily pinned Dernier's arm down before he sat back. "Okay men," He stood up, "we should probably leave Odette to rest."
The men frowned, "It's not even lights out, though." Morita pouted.
Odette winced, "Really, Steve, I'm fine."
"See?" Dernier pinched her cheeks. She instinctively slapped his hand away, Jones and Falsworth snickered, "She's fine."
"I'm sure she appreciates you all coming to check on her, but there are two other gentlemen here," Steve motioned to the two guards who had been shot by HYDRA, "who I'm sure would like some sleep." Mostly grumbling at the fun being disrupted, the team bid Odette a 'good night'. Odette smiled and thanked them for keeping her company.
And then it was just her and Bucky alone.
Again.
"About earlier," Bucky began to say before Odette interrupted him.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that." She chewed on the inside of her lip.
Bucky blinked in surprise, "oh, well, it was really the guys who put you on the spot," he took his time with his words, "and, well, I,"
"Bucky?" Odette stopped him.
"Yes?" He looked at her and slowly closed his mouth.
"It's okay." Odette smiled and he smiled back, "Thank you for keeping me company today."
"I promised I would." Bucky shifted from one leg to the other, "but, uhh, you are welcome." He said, drumming his fingers on his thigh.
"Good night, Bucky."
"Good night, Odette."
Odette healed up within the first week, but she knew that bullet wounds lasted much longer, and she didn't want them questioning her strange ability to heal faster than normal and she didn't want to think about it herself either.
After two weeks of being more or less confined to the clinic, where she refused to let the on-staff doctor tend to her wounds, Odette was cleared for duty with an arm sling. Not that she needed it, but she needed to keep up appearances.
She slipped out of the clinic before anyone could come find her, and the first thing she did was find Colonel Phillips.
"Well, if it isn't little miss lab rat." She cringed at the name, but stood at attention before his desk, waiting for him to look up. After finishing whatever letter he was penning, he looked up at Odette over the edge of his glasses, "What can I do for you Doctor Swann?"
"I want to speak to the prisoner." Odette just came out with it. Colonel Phillips didn't even react to her request, he just continued to stare at her.
"Alright." He stood up.
"Really?" Odette asked, not at all expecting such a response.
"They want to talk to you, you want to talk to them. Why the hell not?" Colonel Phillips began to walk away, and he waved his index and middle finger at her over his shoulder as he marched on.
Odette quickly followed him, "I want to talk to the one Peggy spoke with."
"You sure you wouldn't want to talk to the man you disarmed?" Colonel Phillips chuckled.
Odette chewed on her lip, "No." She responded, quietly shaking her head.
The rest of their walk was silent. Colonel Phillips only spoke up when they made it to the bottom levels, and it was to instruct Odette to sit in the viewing room, "I'll go grab your little friend." He said, walking away.
Odette sat down, squirming uncomfortably in the dark. A few moments later, Colonel Phillips returned and the second door in the interrogation room opened up. Two guards escorted the same HYDRA agent from before in and handcuffed him to the table once more. Odette stood and slowly moved to the viewing window.
"I told you, I'm not talking to that British Bitch." He groaned, clearly having been roused from his slumber.
"Godspeed, Swann." Colonel Phillips clapped her between her shoulder blades. Odette thanked him quietly before she slipped her arm out of her sling, feigning pain, and stepped into the interrogation room.
The HYDRA agent, who up until now had been loudly groaning and complaining, suddenly fell silent as he eyed her up and down.
She hated having eyes on her.
"Well, well, well." The HYDRA agent smirked, "Little lab rat."
Odette tried to remain as impassive as possible as she took a seat across from him. "I've heard you were looking for me." She crossed one leg over the other and smoothed out her skirt. She looked up at him through her eyelashes. The man licked his lips.
Perfect.
He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table, "And here you are."
"Why?" Odette asked, tilting her head innocently.
"Why what, doll?" Odette's smile tightened, "You'll have to be more specific." He taunted her.
"Why is Zola looking for me?" Odette tried.
"Classified." He sat back when he realized Odette was not going to get any closer to him.
Odette clenched her jaw, "What were you told to do if you found me?"
"Bring you back." He answered as though that was the obvious response.
"Back where?" Odette pressed.
The man paused and looked her up and down, "What do I get if I tell you?" He smirked.
Odette weighed her options. Men could be so simple sometimes. With her insides quivering, she stood up. She tried to steady her racing heart as she walked around the table.
The man's eyes got wide as she hopped up on the table and placed one of her heeled feet on the edge of his seat. "If you tell me," She mused, she allowed him to slowly reach out to her thigh. The second she could feel the heat from his hand on her leg she snatched it up and expertly broke a finger, suppressing a shudder as the bone broke in her hand "I won't break the rest of your hand." She deadpanned, straightening up and ignoring the man's thrashing and screaming.
"Bitch! I won't tell you anything! Son of a bitch!" He shouted a slew of creative curses at her as Odette took her seat once more.
She waited until he was done screaming, "You have ten fingers. And I have all the time in the world." She said calmly, despite the fact that her insides were shaking violently. The man didn't answer. He kept inspecting his broken finger, trying to flex it as though that would somehow fix it. "Well?" Odette asked, growing impatient.
"Fine!" The man shouted at her, completely out of breath. He struggled to pull himself back up to the table, "I tell you something, you tell me something. Deal?"
Odette thought for a moment, "Deal." Then, to give him the idea of being in control she motioned for him to 'go on', "Please. You first." She insisted.
"Zola sent us after you because he saw you in Dísir," When Odette raised her eyebrows curiously, he explained, "The factory your little howling friends blew up."
Odette nodded slowly, "Your friend didn't escape with the blueprints."
The man shook his head, "I already knew that. Tell me something else."
Odette clenched her jaw, "We're closer to figuring out where Schmidt is hiding."
The man laughed, "You haven't even begun to pick up the bread crumbs." Interesting to know, but Odette knew that there were only so many places Scmidt could be hiding, so she didn't put much stock in his words. He mused for a bit before saying, "Zola thinks you've got some kind of energy power." He admitted, not sounding fully convinced himself.
Bingo.
"I wasn't the only person he experimented on." Odette pointed out.
"He thinks the army man is weak." The agent rolled his eyes.
"And I'm not?" Odette asked innocently.
"No." The agent stared straight at her, not buying her act, "You're not. He thinks your kind of power could end this war." Odette said nothing as she chewed over his words. This could all be a lie, just something to get under her skin, get in her head, get her killed in a reckless act of heroism or in search of answers. He sighed, "My turn? I've lost track." He joked tensely. Odette didn't smile. "Fair enough. I want to know what happened to our fourth."
Odette debated on telling him what had happened. "I killed him." She kept it vague.
"Where's the body?" He asked. Odette didn't answer. He tsked and frowned, "He had a family you know. Wouldn't you want your family to know what happened to you?" Odette stood with a start, her eyes hardening as the man quickly closed his mouth.
"We are done here." She said in English, turning away from the agent and storming out. Once the door between them was shut, she let out a long breath.
"How'd it go?" Colonel Phillips asked, standing up from his seat.
"You wouldn't believe me." Odette mumbled under her breath, shaking her head, she put her sling back on, playing the part of being in pain.
"We work with a man that's been genetically enhanced." Colonel Phillips deadpanned. Odette panicked, "What'd he say?" He tried again. They began to climb out of the depths of HQ.
Odette debated on what to tell him and where to begin. "Zola wants me back because he thinks I possess a power that will end the war." She admitted.
Colonel Phillips stopped and stared at her incredulously, "You're right," he finally said, Odette's heart stuttered to a stop, "I don't believe you." She let out a nervous laugh when he cracked a smirk.
"Okay," She nodded slowly, "He thinks we're not even close to finding Schmidt." She added.
"Well, all the more reason to get the team back out in the field." Colonel Phillips said.
The team was finally able to leave London at the end of February. They snuck out as a fog rolled in, halting the air assaults for a time. Mainland Europe was silent when Howard's ferry dropped them off.
Their routine slowly returned to normal, except now, at least one other team member had to be with her on her scouting missions. It was almost as if Steve didn't exactly trust her anymore. Weird.
Barely into their third mission since her insubordination, and just as spring was beginning to make its way across the hemisphere, while they were staying with an Allied camp, the mail came to them.
"Odette, can we talk?" Odette looked up from her writing to see Steve standing awkwardly by the opening in her tent.
Her brows furrowed with concern, "oh, yeah, of course." She motioned for him to sit down, "is everything alright?" She asked as he sat down in the available chair. In the span of a few months, she'd gone from having a rather cushy clinic and office, to having a broom closet for lodgings, and now a tent in the middle of the woods. But at least nowadays she was being herself and she was with allies. Still, it felt weird.
"Yeah," Steve nodded, "Everything's fine. Just...I just wanted to let you know, before the other men, that I," Steve fiddled with a folded slip of paper in his hands, "I received this today." He held it out to her.
Odette hesitated, but accepted the paper and unfolded it. Steve motioned for her to read, so she did. "Captain Rogers, in order to boost morale among troops and civilians, the government has put in a request to film 'A day in the life of Captain America'. No, you will not need to don your spangled tights," Odette stifled a giggle and she could see Steve blush out of the corner of her eye, "But it will mean that you will have a director from Hollywood, as well as his assistant tailing you and your team. This should fall on the days Doctor Swann has informed us that you will be on the move and thus, no important notice of our future moves should be documented. However, I have been urged to remind you all to use caution around these Hollywood types. Trust the team, keep at it. Colonel Phillips." Odette lowered the letter to her desk as she finished.
"On the move." Odette repeated, "That's tomorrow." She looked at Steve shocked.
"And the camp's commanding officer says they're on their way here now, so they'll be here bright and early." Steve nodded as though he was reassuring himself.
Odette chewed on her lip. Part of her had been wanting to tell Steve what was going on with her. But with a Hollywood director popping up in their faces, it probably wasn't the best time to add this stress onto him. So she smiled and handed the letter back to him.
"Thank you for telling me this, Steve." She said tensely.
"I figured you'd take the news best." Steve admitted, taking the letter back.
"Why's that?" Odette asked with a curious laugh.
"The men tend to be a little hard-ass when they know people are watching them." Steve huffed irritably.
"They're your team." She reminded him.
"Yeah, I know." Steve smiled proudly, "I know...Just, if you ever feel uncomfortable, with the men or with this director, you'll tell me, right?" He half ordered half requested.
"Of course, Steve. Thank you." Odette smiled. Steve nodded and took his leave.
Odette went back to her journal, but didn't continue writing as she listened for Steve to retreat. She instead, chewed on the end of her pen as she scanned over all she'd recorded about their missions. She knew that if the journal ever fell into the wrong hands it would mean the end of all their work, but she needed some way to compose all her thoughts about Fólkvangr and HYDRA without going crazy.
"Whatcha got there, Farm Girl?" Bucky asked from the tent opening. Odette jumped at the sound of his voice, slamming the journal shut on her finger and clutching her chest with her free hand. There were still notes about her powers in the journal that she wasn't ready to share yet.
"James Buchanan Barnes!" Odette scolded, her heart beating wildly in her chest.
"Whoa," Bucky held his hands up in self-defense, "Full name, huh? Got you good, huh?" He chuckled as he sat across from her.
"You ass." Odette grumbled. Bucky nearly snorted at her weak curse. "What do you want?" Odette smiled back.
"Steve just told me about Hollywood." He said.
"Crazy, isn't it?" She asked him.
"Have you not seen any of Steve's films?" He asked curiously.
"No." Odette shook her head, "Deep undercover, remember?" She reminded him. Bucky nodded.
"Ah yeah, there's that." He said.
There was a brief silence as he just stared at her. "You're really not good at this whole conversation thing, are you?" Odette asked.
"That obvious?" Bucky asked. "Wow!" His eyes got wide and he mocked hurt when Odette held up her fingers to indicate 'just a little'. "Wow!" He repeated feigning injury and holding his chest, "You hurt me. Farm Girl."
Odette laughed and shook her head, "You're ridiculous sometimes."
"Only sometimes?" Bucky teased, leaning on her table. He peeked at her journal, "Come on, seriously, what is this?" he reached for it.
"None of your business." Odette slapped his hand away. He pulled his hand back and shook it as though she'd actually hurt him. She hadn't meant to sound so snippy, but she still wasn't sure if she wanted him knowing.
"You know, you'll make an awful wife one day." Okay, unnecessary and cruel. "You're supposed to share information with your husband." Bucky leaned back in his chair, content with himself.
Odette sputtered as her face burned, "Well," She huffed when Bucky gave her a smug grin, "That would imply you're the husband in this friendship. And last I checked, I'm the one supporting this team." Odette's smirk widened when Bucky's face dropped.
Laughter outside the tent made both nearly jump out of their skins. Bucky stood and whipped the tent flap open to a wall composed of their teammates all eavesdropping. Odette opened her journal and buried her burning face in its pages as the men howled with laughter.
"Yuk it up, fellows." Bucky sarcastically chuckled. "That just means I'm the wife that gets spoiled."
"Whoa, whoa, who said you're allowed to be the wife?" Morita asked jokingly.
"If anyone deserves to be the wife, it's me." Jones said, "I cook, I clean." He started listing off wife skills on his fingers.
Odette wanted to melt into a puddle. A possibility, for sure, but she wouldn't in front of her men.
"Stop acting fools." Dum Dum ordered. The other men's snickers and giggles slowly tapered out before Dum Dum announced, "I get to be the wife." The men resumed their howls, the foot soldiers passing by all gave them weird looks and, not for the first time, Odette wondered what she had ever done to deserve a team like this.
Still, she couldn't help but smile as the laughter died out and the men invited themselves in her tent to socialize. Steve joined them later and was left wide eyed as they announced his presence as "Captain HouseWife."
"I don't get it." He whispered to Bucky and Odette who only laughed harder. At some point, dinner was served and the team decided to take their rations back to Odette's tent to continue their conversations away from their nosey hosts.
"You know what I miss the most?" Dum Dum asked as they finished eating.
"Being a wife?" Falsworth asked, nudging Dernier with his elbow.
Dum Dum deadpanned as they all laughed, "I miss a good meat and potatoes meal." He finally said, scraping the bits of his inedible food on the ground outside Odette's tent. "I'm tired of these rations." The men nodded in agreement, "Spangled Man," Steve's head perked up from his deep-in-thought gaze, "Can't you do anything about this?"
"Wish I could, Dum Dum." Steve sighed, "But then I wouldn't get to hear you complain about every little thing." He teased and the men laughed.
As the hours passed, more of the men either retired to their own tents, or hunkered down on the ground in her tent. This was becoming a more common occurrence, one that Odette knew would shock her mother to death if she ever heard of it. However, when Steve stood up to retire for the night, he shook the men on the floor awake and ordered them back to their own bunks.
"Hollywood's gonna be watching us tomorrow." He said when Dernier and Jones complained.
The three wished Odette a good night, "Good night, boys." she waved sleepily at them as they left.
"Buck, you can't stay here either." Steve added as he poked his head back in.
Odette hadn't even realized that Bucky had nodded off until his head jerked up at the sound of his name. He also jerked his arm, which had somehow found its way around Odette's shoulders, and she missed the warmth immediately. Bucky stretched and blinked his eyes wildly as he attempted to wake himself up.
"Sorry 'bout that." He tiredly mumbled.
"You're fine." Odette yawned behind her hand. She stood and walked to the open flap to her tent. She saw Steve gently laying Dernier and Jones down in their own tent, lowering them down to their cots one at a time before marching on autopilot to his own tent. She tensed up as Bucky put his hand on the small of her back and trailed it along her hip as he walked by her.
"Gonna have a long day ahead of us." He said, "Think Hollywood and his partner will be able to keep up?"
"If they want any shots of interest, they better." Odette said, ignoring the electricity that tingled her skin as he pulled his hand away.
"Good night, Farm Girl." Bucky tiredly waved goodbye as he staggered off in the direction of his bed.
"Good night, Bucky." Odette felt sleepy, but not nearly as tired as the men felt. She glanced across the camp and made eye contact with Steve, who seemed just as awake as she did. He squinted at her curiously. Odette waved at him before closing the flaps to her tent and turning her lantern off. For a moment she considered going back to her journal, but her feet moved of their own accord as Odette found herself stretching out on her cot and falling asleep.
She woke a few short hours later when she rolled over and the sunlight pierced through her tent. She groaned, knowing that now she'd never be able to get back to sleep, and rolled off her cot.
It was travel day, so that meant breaking everything down. Odette started with her cots, stripping them of their blankets, folding them neatly, and stuffing them in the bottom of her pack. Then, she collapsed the cots and sat them aside, next was the chairs which she laid next to the cots. She left the tent up for now, using its cover to change into a cleaner uniform. Part of her didn't want to put makeup on, but none of the men had seen her without it, and she didn't want the director to film her without it on, so she rifled through her duffle to find her compact and lipstick. She did her best to brush through her hair and fix her curls, but without a decent mirror and some curlers, she was sure she looked worse now than she had before.
Never mind that, her stomach was growling, and the rest of the camp was starting to stir. Which could mean only one thing.
Breakfast.
When Odette emerged from her tent, she saw a broad shouldered man standing between her team and the rations tent. Next to the broad man was a slightly smaller man holding a camera on a tripod. Odette wanted to slip back into her tent, but her empty stomach pushed her forward. She could feel the eyes of her team follow her as she walked by. None of them said anything and Odette kept her own mouth shut.
"So, I was thinking we set up a few shots of you boys packin' up, then a couple of shots on the road, maybe set up a fake scouting thing, you know." The director rattled on.
"Oh, we don't do the scouting." Morita blurted out, Odette's shoulders tensed up and she quickened her pace.
"Ahh, got an undercover agent, huh? I like it, where is he?"
Odette turned a corner and let go of the breath she'd been holding. She was able to get her breakfast rations in peace and snuck back to her tent. Odette ate her breakfast in relative silence, and once she was done, she finished breaking down her tent, packing it up, and began to haul it to the team's jeeps.
On her third trip, the cameraman stopped her, "whoa there, missy. This jeep belongs to Captain America and his team. You're gonna have to unpack all that."
Odette, shocked at his assumption that she wasn't on the team, simply blinked at him.
"Uh oh, multiple blinks," Jones joked as he took Odette's pack from her shoulder, "that means you said something stupid, didn't you?" The other men laughing snapped Odette out of her stupor and she calmly put her hands on her hips.
"The hips," Dernier whispered, nudging Dum Dum.
"And who are you, exactly?" Odette asked calmly despite the wild storm that was brewing in her insides. She knew who he was, but what right did he have to speak to her like she was three?
"Multiple blinks?" The man questioned Jones and ignored Odette.
"You might want to pay more attention to the spitfire in front of you," Dum Dum warned him as he laid his own things in the second jeep.
Odette had not moved, and the storm inside her was quickly growing out of hand. "What? She was putting random things in Captain America's jeep!" He tried to defend himself.
"Oh good Lord," the director came up and all but elbowed his assistant aside, "You're Swann, aren't you? The Field Doctor for Captain America's team, right?" He looked at her excitedly. "Stephen. Stephen Webb. Pleasure to meet you. The men were just telling me how you do the scouting because you know the most German. Tell me, how did you make it all those years as a spy? How do we know you didn't turn on us?"
"I beg your pardon?!" Odette asked, wide eyed.
"Uh oh. She brought up the pardon." Falsworth chuckled, hopping into the second jeep.
"The what?" The director asked, the wide smile never dropping from his face.
"You see," Morita explained as he stepped up beside Odette, "Doc here has a couple of quirks that let you know when you're being an idiot."
"Or an ass." Jones added.
"Or a child." Dum Dum listed off.
"Or you're dead meat." Dernier chuckled.
The cameraman and Stephen looked wildly between them all as they spoke, until Bucky and Steve arrived. "Uh oh. Hips." Steve nodded to Odette's hands on her hips.
"Which one of you said something stupid?" Bucky questioned the team. All the men immediately pointed their fingers at the Hollywood men.
"Look, no no no no no no no!" Stephen said quickly, shaking his head, "it was just some misunderstandings on our part." He turned back to Odette and bowed his head mockingly, "apologies, Ms. Swann."
"It's Doctor." Odette grumbled. Hell, for a time, she had accepted the fact that once her station across enemy lines was over she would return to Dr. Luce and act as one of his nurses. But she had the knowledge, the skills, and the paperwork that said otherwise. She was a doctor, and damn it, if she was going to be walked all over she'd at least be called by her earned title.
"Sure sweetie." The cameraman rolled his eyes, embarrassed at having wrongly accused her.
Odette scoffed, making the men snicker uncontrollably, and she accepted Jones' hand up into her jeep. She ignored Stephen's calls as he got shots of the men loading up the vehicles and jumping in them. She took out her journal, logging in how she couldn't wait for the day to be over and the director to be out of their hair.
After about half an hour of the director futzing with every little detail, Odette turned in her seat and tapped Steve on the shoulder. He turned and looked up at her from his spot on the ground. "We're gonna start losing daylight if we don't move." She warned him.
"Right," He nodded, "Alright men, we've gotta roll out."
"Can you do that visually?" Stephen called.
"Do it, what?" Bucky asked.
"Visually. Show us you're on the move." He answered.
"We'll be in jeeps." Bucky replied as though the thought was obvious.
"Yeah but audiences want to see planning and action. Random movement isn't gonna sell bonds. But the Spangled Man with the Plan will." The men chuckled and Steve turned bright red.
"Alright fine. What do you want?" Steve asked.
"A map will do." Stephen's cameraman explained.
"Odette, we have a copy of our map?" Steve turned to Odette.
"Let me check." Odette sighed. She grabbed her pack from under her seat and dug around inside. There was a copy of the map, unmarked of what factories they had already taken down, and of the route they were planning on taking. "Here." She laid it on the box that sat in the bed of the jeep as a makeshift table.
"Great! Now, if we could get Cap annnd, you," Stephen grabbed Bucky by the arm and pushed him into the jeep beside Odette, "Just discuss the route and point things out." He instructed before turning to position his cameraman.
"This is ridiculous." Odette whispered to Bucky.
He chuckled, "Just a little bit, yeah." He nodded in agreement.
"Let's just hurry this up, then, shall we?" Steve suggested as he sat down across from them and habitually pulled out his compass. "Are we ready?" He called to Stephen who gave them a thumbs up. Steve picked out a factory they had already destroyed and began talking about the plan they had already used to take it down.
"Hey, lady, pretend to be writing this down. We need more secretaries like you to handle all the paperwork in the army." The cameraman called.
Odette inhaled sharply through her nose, her shoulders tensing up as she nearly snapped her pencil in half. Bucky laid a hand on her knee, blocking it from view of anyone else by leaning forward slightly.
"Relax, Farm Girl. The quicker we play their game. The quicker they go away." Bucky said quietly.
Steve perked up at this, "Odette, are you okay?" He asked, glancing up at her.
Odette ignored how she nearly melted at Bucky's touch and nodded, "I'm fine." She said, finally releasing the breath she'd been holding.
After another minute of just them sitting over the map Steve glanced at the cameraman, "Got your shot?"
"Hm?" Stephen looked up from where his cameraman was focusing on, "Oh, nearly done."
Steve followed the camera's line of shot, straight to the newspaper clipping of Peggy in his compass and he suddenly reached up and snapped it shut.
"We're done now." He stood up.
"Oh. Okay." Stephen cleared his throat. "So, now we need shots of you all unloading the jeeps and," the men groaned and Odette rubbed the bridge of her nose in irritation. "Well we're not following you to your next mission!" Stephen explained with a nervous chuckle, "we'll just make it seem like you're there! It's simple movie magic!"
"Gentlemen," Steve protested, "We do have a job to do. And this," he motioned to his cameraman, "wasn't supposed to get in our way."
"One more hour, tops!" Stephen bargained. Steve sighed and turned back to the team. The rest of the men were growing irritated, but grumbled that it was ultimately up to Steve what they did. He glanced at Odette who grimaced, but said nothing.
Steve turned back to the Hollywood men. "One hour."
Odette complied with whatever the men wanted her to do. Which meant she watched the team unload everything they had just spent an hour loading up, and then she had to wait for Steve to guide her out of the jeep.
"To make you appear more ladylike."
She wanted to strangle them.
Odette finally had enough of the two Hollywood men and decided to sit on one of their supply crates and wait for them to wrap up. She started writing a letter to Peggy, and by extension Colonel Phillips, about the two men from Hollywood. When she was done with that, she watched her team with a rather bored expression for a few minutes.
"Once this war is over," Bucky said, walking away from the group and up to Odette when the cameraman had to change his films, "remind me to never watch a single film this man directs." Odette chuckled, and Bucky leaned on their stack of supplies and belongings. "I'll just feel too bad for the actors on screen."
"Really? I figured you'd be all over getting a film of yourself." Odette teased with a smirk.
"Ha ha." Bucky rolled his eyes. He pushed himself back onto his feet and stood in front of Odette. "And what about you? Wouldn't you want a copy of that film too?"
Odette looked away as her face grew red, "Like I would ever do something to boost your ego." She looked up at him through her lashes, "it's over inflated as is."
"You know, I think New York would suit you well." Bucky gave her an amused grin as he stood up straight and crossed his arms.
"And why is that?" Odette, crossing one leg over the other in an attempt to hide her shivers.
"You've got grit, and you take no shit." Bucky said, "Which is pretty much how everyone in New York is."
"Sounds exhausting," Odette huffed.
"So," Bucky turned and sat beside her, "where will you go when the war is over, then?"
Odette hadn't thought about it. She frowned, "I'm," she shook her head and gave him a half-hearted smile, "I'm not sure." She admitted. "I don't think I'd be content going home and living my days as a spinster. But I doubt there will be a need for women doctors or spies after the war." When Bucky said nothing and stared off in the middle-distance in deep thought she nudged him lightly, "What about you? Just going to head back to Brooklyn?"
Bucky nodded slowly, "yeah," he nodded a bit more vigorously, "yeah." He decided, "Probably follow that jackass around," he nodded towards Steve, "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid," he trailed off.
Concerned, Odette asked, "What?" But Bucky's stare only hardened. When Odette turned she saw that the rest of the team had broken up into groups and were just having conversations, but the cameraman and director were staring straight at them.
Thank you for the favorites/follows/reviews!
Sorry for not uploading yesterday, it was my sister's birthday and by the time I had a moment to myself, it was three AM and I was exhausted
I'm thinking just 3-4 more chapters and we'll get back to the movie canon.