Chapter Eight
And maybe I'll work out
A way to make it back some day
Towards you, to guide you
Through the darkest of your days
If a great wave shall fall
It would fall upon us all
Well I hope there's someone out there
Who can bring me back to you
If I could, then I would
I'll go wherever you will go
Way up high or down low
I'll go wherever you will go
Wherever You Will Go by Charlene Soraia (Cover of The Calling)
Steve shifted, trying to find a comfortable position in the rack he'd been assigned for the night. It had been closer to three when they'd finally let him out of the debriefing, and he was sure it was edging closer to four in the morning now.
One of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent grunted in his sleep – a welcome distraction from the constant snoring from another – and Steve wished, not for the first time that night, that he was back home in his own bed. At least the soft sighs and groans Emily made when she was sleeping were cute and usually stopped when he pulled her close.
As expected, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been less than willing to let the one witness to Nick Fury's murder out of their sight for a minute. He'd gotten quite the dressing down for slipping off to see Carter, although he'd told them he'd gone to hit the John. Sitwell had been adamant that he explained every single detail of his movements from the time he'd gotten to his apartment until the moment he'd arrived at the Triskelion.
Afterwards, they'd shown him to the rack room and pointed out his assigned bunk for the night, issued him a pair off sweatpants and shirt, handed him a toothbrush, and pointed out the bathroom. The agent had said that they would collect him in the morning for his meeting with Pierce. He hadn't met the Secretary of the World Security Council before, but given Nick's position as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. it wasn't unreasonable that the man in charge of the institution would want a direct debriefing on what had happened. Any commanding officer worth his position would want to know what happened to one of his men in that situation.
Steve only hoped that he'd be able to head home after the meeting.
Carter had to be in New York by now, he though while wiping a hand down his face. His fingers scrubbed at the stubble on his cheeks as he closed his eyes, trying to figure if Dr. Foster had gotten there as well. If she hadn't, he reasoned, she would be soon.
Glancing around into the gloom of the room, Steve shifted and reached under his bunk for the bundle of clothes he'd stashed there. His hand groped until he felt the bulge of his belt; the metal rasped against the floor as he pulled but thankfully no one seemed to notice. Laying it across his chest, Steve felt for the pouch he wanted before flicking open the clasp and pulling his compass out before shoving the belt to the side of the bed.
She was coming home, Steve though. He wanted to see her brushing her teeth in a towel every morning, fight with her about getting a few more vegetables in her diet and a little less coffee, and listen to her rant about grading after every test. He wanted to steal kisses and have her wipe away the remnants of her lipstick from his mouth and to feel her hair tickling his chest as they slept. He wanted Emily in bed beside him so badly at that moment that it felt like a physical ache in his chest.
As he clenched the compass in his fist, Steve promised that one way or another, he'd make sure she got home.
OOO
Emily rolled onto her back and sighed, flinging an arm over her head. Dottie was already asleep on the couch cushions beside her having won the coin toss, while she was trying to get comfortable in the nest of blankets on the floor of Dr. Erskine's office. Her Grandmère had asked over and over again if she was comfortable – and Em lied and said yes – before saying goodnight and retreating to her own bedroom. But now her hip was hurting from lying on her side and an ache was already starting in her back, so Emily sighed again and rolled onto her stomach, knowing that it would only be a little while before she had to move again.
Hugging her pillow, Em squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force herself to sleep. She had a big meeting in the morning, one that she needed to be ready for – even if she wasn't quite sure what it was for. She'd gotten somewhat used to going somewhere and just knowing what was needed from her, even is she didn't exactly know was she was supposed to be there – it was an odd case of muscle memory, except instead of it being a repeated motion, it was a memory dragged up.
Sighing, Em buried her face in her pillow and wished that she were at home in her own comfortable bed. She was spoiled with her queen sized pillow top mattress and mountains of pillows that Steve always tossed onto the floor while complaining that the bed was too soft. Barring the mattress suddenly appearing, though, she'd take Steve's talent of falling asleep anywhere – one that he said he'd gained on the battlefield where sleep was in short supply and you needed to bed down as quickly as possible to maximize the time. Tears pricked the back of her eyelids as she thought of him, and she tried to force them away along with the ache behind her ribs. She'd been actively trying not to think about Steve all day with little success.
This is just like him being gone for a mission, Em told herself. Being apart for a few days was normal for them.
Except this wasn't normal. This wasn't just being separated by distance and a possible time zone. Hell, she really wasn't even that far from where Stark Tower was located (though it had yet to be built) and she'd been in DC earlier; she was walking in the city they lived in for Christ's sake. This was an entirely different beast…it was an unknown variable that terrified her. She still hadn't been able to figure out exactly what had happened and where she had been sent. Her only hope of getting home was to figure out what was going on and to try and fix it.
What if she couldn't figure out what had happened? What if she was stuck living in the 1940s? While today had been interesting, she didn't quite think she was cut out for it. And her family! What would they tell them about what had happened? How would her nieces and nephews take the news? And Steve…Emily's fingers clutched at the lumpy pillow and she held her breath as she willed away the sob that threatened to burst from her. It was all too easy to picture her family's upset faces, and Steve's defeated expression.
Letting out a shuttering breath, Em rolled to her feet and grabbed her robe, throwing it on as she hurried to the door. She retreated to the bathroom and locked the door behind her before leaning over the sink. With shaking hands, she turned on the tap and splashed water on her face and neck before meeting her gaze in the mirror. "You're going to get home," she said quietly. "You're going to get home and you're going to stop doing stupid, reckless things."
OOO
Carter removed his S.H.I.E.L.D. ID card and swiped it to let him into the private entrance of Stark Tower. He slid the ID back into the leather holster with his badge and slipped it into the go bag hanging from his shoulder while waiting for the elevator car to arrive.
The flight had taken more out of him than he'd expected, and his eyes were closing when the elevator dinged. "Good morning, Agent Carter," JARVIS said.
"Cheers," he mumbled. "Can you take me to wherever Tony is?"
"The labs are currently under lock down protocol."
"Tell him that Steve sent me."
"One moment please." Carter leaned against the wall and brought his hand up to rest on his bandaged neck, thumb tracing over the medical tape that was beginning to fray and pull away from his skin. A minute later, the elevator started to move, jostling him just enough to wake him from the doze he'd fallen into. "Might I suggest some rest before going to the labs?" JARVIS asked.
"No thanks," he said, pushing himself up and shaking his head slightly. "Need to find out what's going on."
" – Told you to not touch anything!" an irate voice yelled as the doors slid open.
"I was doing in inventory!"
"Everything was labeled! You didn't need to open any of the crates!" Jane Foster shot back, throwing her hands up as she paced. Carter's eyes shot around the lab, taking in the astrophysicist's scowl and the frustrated expression on Tony's face.
"Oh my god, what happened?" Darcy demanded, dropping the two mugs of coffee onto a table and striding over to him. She reached up, her warm hands tilting his head to the side to get a better look at the bandage before realizing what she'd done.
"Hello, love," he said, giving her a tired smile and dropping his bag to the floor. "Just a graze, nothing life threatening."
"You're really pale for something not life threatening," she countered. The corner of his mouth twitched as he tried not to smile. He reached up and covered her hands with his own, carefully pulling them away and squeezing them.
"I'm fine. Care to catch me up on what's been going on since you've gotten here?" he asked, looking over her shoulder at the battling scientists.
"Lots of yelling, not much productivity. You're seriously not going to tell me what happened?" Darcy scowled.
"More pressing matters at hand. Shall we try and direct those two towards a better use of their time?"
"Good luck. I'm trying with the coffee but I don't think that's going to work. Jane's been venting since we got the call, and Tony's been on the defensive since she blew in here." Crossing her arms over her chest, Darcy glanced over her shoulder before looking back at him. "Is Em…did she really disappear?"
"Seems like it."
"And Steve's not here?"
Carter sighed and dropped his eyes to their clasped hands before shaking his head. "He wants to, but things are…" he heaved a sigh and shook their hands. "There are things that are keeping him in DC right now but he'll be here as soon as he can."
Darcy chewed on her lip and shook her head, "I guess until then, we're on our own. Thor's up there," she waved her hand towards the ceiling, "trying to find out where Em is so our job is to wrangle those two into acting like the geniuses they are."
"Have any idea how we do that?" Carter asked.
"Watch and learn, young grasshopper, watch and learn."
OOO
"You are holding ze yarn wrong, liebste," Ingrid laughed, dropping her knitting into her lap before reaching over to help Emily.
"I just…I don't get this," Em huffed, holding up the knitting needle she was trying to cast her stitches onto.
"It's simple, Emily. Watch closely." Her grandmère took the needle from her and quickly cast on five stitches.
"Yeah no, didn't catch that at all," she groaned. "I think I'm doomed to never know how to knit."
"Every woman should know this," Ingrid smiled, gently tapping her hand. "Now watch carefully."
Their day had started off relatively early, with Ingrid (and Em was making a concentrated effort to think of her as Ingrid rather than Grandmère least she accidentally say it out loud) waking them up to have breakfast with Dr. Erskine before he left the house. While Dottie reassembled the couch and folded the blankets they'd used before, Emily helped Ingrid clean the kitchen. After that, they'd settled in the living room to pass the time until the car came to pick them up for the meeting. Dottie had buried herself in a book, occasionally glancing up to see the travesty of Em's knitting project.
Around noon, Dottie pulled Em into the study and they started to prepare for their meeting.
OOO
Steve's internal clock woke him minutes before the alarm on his phone went off. The rack room had quieted down a bit but the persistent snorer still sounded like a chainsaw.
Slipping out of bed, he pulled on his boots – ignoring the straps and letting the tongues fall forward – before palming his phone and standing. He glanced around the room before silently walking towards the bathroom. After making sure he was alone, Steve pulled up his contact list and placed a call.
"Please tell me this is you calling to say you're on your way."
Steve pulled the phone away from his ear at the unexpected voice, checking to make sure he'd called the right person, before shaking his head. "Miss Lewis?"
"For the millionth time, call me Darcy. And you didn't answer my question – are you on your way?"
"May I speak to Carter, please?" There was a pause.
"Ummm…I may have talked him into taking one of his pain pills and he may be sleeping on the couch. By the way, I don't think he should be out of the hospital. I saw that grossness on his neck - definitely looks hospital worthy to me."
"I know," Steve groaned, swiping a hand down his face. "And I wouldn't have asked him to go up there if I…Look, Darcy, I don't have much time. Just tell me that there's some progress towards getting Emily home."
There was a soft sigh on the other end of the line. "I wish I could say there was better news, but we're still trying to figure out what happened. Thor should be back later today to tell us what he found out, but for right now I think we should go with 'no news is good news'."
The line was quiet as Steve slumped against the wall, closing his eyes tightly against the harsh florescent lights. "Thanks for the update," he said after a long moment.
"We're gonna get her back, Steve. You've got the science dream team here and none of us are giving up. So wrap up whatever you've got going on there and here as soon as you can, cause I'm pretty sure Em's gonna have some good stories about this. Or she'll kill Tony, but either one is going to be worth watching." That shook a weak chuckle from him.
"Thanks Darcy," he said. "Can you do me a favor?"
"Of course!"
"Let Carter know that I'm meeting with Pierce soon. And then…just…make sure that he's okay?"
"Don't worry about that second part, Cap, already on it. And you said Pierce?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, I'll pass on the message. Now if you'll excuse me, the coffee pot is getting dangerously low and I've gotta figure out a breakfast situation to make sure that everyone keeps their strength up."
"We have pancake mix in our kitchen, and I'm pretty sure there's some hash browns and bacon in the freezer that you're welcome to, and lots of coffee."
"You may be my favorite person. I was afraid we were going to have to resort to pop tarts."
"Emily has some of those too."
"What is it with academics and really bad breakfast food?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, Darcy."
OOO
Emily crossed her ankles and let her head fall back against the wall, closing her eyes against the artificial light. After the initial amazement of the antiques shop serving as a secret base for the SSR, she'd been instructed to wait on the bench just inside of the hidden hallway. After checking that she didn't need anything, the secretary had nodded and motioned for Dottie to follow her, leaving Em to be watched over by two military police.
Twenty minutes later, she shifted on the uncomfortable bench and was debating trying to find a cup of coffee when the faux bookshelf wall opened. Emily looked over to see who was coming in and felt her jaw drop as a man appeared, adjusting his cuff links.
"Hello, Doll Face. Did you miss me?" he said, looking up and then frowning at the secretary's empty desk. His eyes drifted over to Emily, who managed to close her mouth just in time. "Where's Joan?"
"Uh, she's um…" Em stuttered. "Uh, meeting. She's in the meeting with Dottie."
"And why's a dish like you waiting here?"
"Also waiting to go into the meeting?" She blushed as his eye ran the length of her before he stepped closer and held out a hand to her. Quickly getting to her feet, Em reached out to shake it, but he twisted her hand slightly and pressed his lips to her knuckles. His mustache tickled.
"Howard Stark. And you would be?"
"Emily Harthorn," she bit her lips to keep from smiling. Steve had told her quite a bit about his friend's flirtatious nature, but it was one thing to hear it second hand and quite another to experience it.
"You're Phillips' girl – the one in Brandt's office," he said, his dark eyes taking her in while he kept hold of her hand.
"That'd be me," she nodded, gently shaking off his grip and smoothing her skirt as she sat again. He regarded her for a moment before undoing the buttons of his suit jacket and sitting beside her, crossing his legs and arms as he looked at her. Emily flushed slightly under steady gaze but kept her eyes on the wall in front of her before glancing down at her nails. Finally, she huffed and turned to face him. "Can I help you with something."
"I'm just wondering if all Phillips' girls are as beautiful as you, kitten."
Clicking her tongue, she shook her head. "Wow. And I thought Tony was bad."
"Is Tony your guy?" Howard asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh god no," Em said quickly, waving away that thought.
"Good," he gave her a slick smile. "So I've got a wacky idea – how's about after this, you and I go grab a bit to eat, and then we head to the World Expo? I've got a few things that might impress you."
"I actually have plans tonight," she said, furrowing her brows and giving him a slightly sarcastic smile. "But thanks."
"You don't want a sneak peek of – "
"Mister Stark." Both Emily and Howard turned to look at Dr. Erskine, who had his hands clasped behind his back and a knowing smile on his mouth. "Colonel Phillips has been waiting for you."
"I was just making sure his girl here was comfortable while waiting for him, Abraham. Wouldn't want his little spy to feel unappreciated."
"I'm sure Miss Harthorn…appreciates that. But we are ready for her as well," Dr. Erskine smirked. "Shall we?" Emily stood and smoothed her skirt before tugging her jacket into place and nodded.
"Let's get this show on the road."
OOO
"No generators, huh?" Colonel Phillips said, leaning back in his chair. He looked Emily over shrewdly as though examining her worth.
She could respect that, especially when it came from a man who would rise to be a four star general.
"No sir," she replied. "Senator Brandt's asked me to bury the paperwork in another office.
"That going to be a problem for you two?" he asked, turning his attention to Howard and Dr. Erskine.
"Shouldn't be a problem," Howard shrugged as he steepled his fingers. "I can tap the power grid and fire up the machine that way."
"As long as we have sufficient power," Erskine said, "the procedure should work as planned."
"Good. Do you have any other information for us, Miss Harthorn?"
"Um," Em said, glancing at Dottie who gave her an encouraging look. "Just that Senator Brandt is looking to cut your funding drastically if this doesn't work. And by drastically, I'm sure he means to shut you down entirely. He's already drafted a bill to submit the moment this fails – if it fails, I mean, which I'm positive it won't. Extremely positive."
The corner of the Colonel's mouth twitched before he took a sip of his coffee. "Is that all, Miss Harthorn?"
"That's all."
"Well, to make sure that Miss Harthorn's 'extremely positive' prediction comes to fruition," Howard said, pushing back his chair, "I think we should get to work. Unless Miss Harthorn would like to join me for an early dinner?"
"I'm fine, thanks," Emily said, ignoring the wide-eyed look Dottie was giving her.
"Maybe another time. Abraham?"
"Miss Harthorn, Miss Miller," Dr. Erskine smiled, moving his chair back from the table. "I will see you at dinner."
"Actually," Dottie said, "We were going to go to an automat before heading down to the Expo."
"The Expo?" Howard smirked, leaning forward.
"Then I will see you at the Expo," Dr. Erskine said.
OOO
"Wanna go dancing?" Jimmy asked, his arm slung around Dottie's shoulders. After meeting at the automat in Brooklyn, Jimmy and his friend Richard had joined them for dinner, dressed in their Army uniforms. While Richard offered to buy her dinner, Emily had stuck to her guns and paid for her own. Once they'd finished the meal, the four had joined up with a few more of their soldier friends to catch the train to Flushing Meadows.
"Dancing sounds swell," Dottie grinned, leaning into Jimmy.
"What do you think, Em?" Richard asked, his Georgian accent sliding over her name.
"It could be fun," she shrugged. Thankfully, he'd kept a respectful distance and hadn't done much more than open doors and pull out chairs for her. Jimmy nodded, a sly grin crossing his mouth as he pulled Dottie along towards the dance hall; Richard motioned for Em to precede him. "Actually I think I'm going to grab something to drink before we go. I'll catch up with you."
"Don't be too long," Dottie laughed.
"Want some company?" Richard asked, shoving his hands into his pant pockets.
"I'm fine, thanks. I'll see you in there." He let out a long sigh and looked over at Dottie and Jimmy as they walked away and shook his head before giving her a wry smile.
"Don't be too long."
"I'll try not to," she smiled, reaching over to pat his shoulder. He covered her hand with his and squeezed gently, giving her a crooked smile.
"Ma'am," he chuckled, tipping his cap to her. Emily smiled softly and turned to walk back towards the concessions area. She'd seen a soda vendor not too long ago.
"That'll be a nickel," the man said, popping off the cap of the Coke for her. She stopped herself from raising an eyebrow, still a bit thrown by how inexpensive everything was, and handed over the coin.
Walking away from the cart, Em allowed herself a moment to just look around. Between Steve and her grandfather's journals, she'd spent a lot of time thinking about what happened this night so many years ago. She knew that Steve had spent the afternoon watching a movie before getting beaten up in an ally. Bucky had gotten his orders and they were coming here to have one last hurrah before he shipped out.
This was the night that started everything, Emily thought as she walked over to lean against a pillar to watch the firework show. This was the night where Captain America began, where the fall of HYDRA was set in motion, and – she lifted her Coke bottle to her lips to hide her smile – her story with Steve started. As the fireworks burst over the Flushing Meadows fair grounds, Em thought about the last firework show she'd seen – Steve's birthday when they'd celebrated in Maine. If she pictured it hard enough, she could almost feel him standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist, the brush of his lips against her hair and shoulders…
"Hey Bucky!" a woman standing nearby called, standing on her toes and waving. Em was jerked out of her reverie.
The glass Coke bottle nearly slipped from her grasp as Emily recognized the man waving back. Her eyes darted to the shorter man beside him and clapped a hand to her mouth.
He reached up to swipe the hair from his face with his right hand, a small sign of how uncomfortable he was. The clothes he wore were ill fitted, and he had his hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets. As they drew closer, Emily had to stop herself from grinning.
Steve before the serum was even cuter in person than he had been in the pictures she'd seen.
Author's Note: Wow, I'm so incredibly sorry for the time between updates. I got slammed with work for class and this kind of was pushed off to the side. Thankfully the semester is nearly over which means I should have more time to write. Hell, I have 11 days off for Thanksgiving and no projects to work on during that time - guess what I'll be doing?
Hopefully this chapter was somewhat worth the wait. It was unbeta'd and pretty much tossed up as soon as I was finished so I apologize for all spelling/grammar/punctuation/missing word errors. I'm still trying to work out the different rates at which time passes for the characters, and how Em is integrated into Steve's history. It's a lot of fun to think about, and not so much fun to write out (seriously, I wish I could show you guys the movie I have playing in my head for this story). I'm having a lot of fun working with characters for the first time (Howard) and revisiting others (Darcy), and I hope you're enjoying it too.
Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for being patient with me. Please feel free to message me on this site or on my Tumblr page (trick-photograph1 . tumblr . com) and as about updates and/or anything else pertaining to the fic...or life in general, lol.
As always, thank you for reading and please let me know what you think!