August 6, 1943 – October 28, 1943
Lucille paced the pavement under the stairs to Steve's apartment. The rushed phone call she had gotten only an hour ago had set her nerves jittering. She let out an explosive sigh and climbed the stairs. Before her worry got the better of her, Lucille knocked on the door of Steve's apartment. She stood there for a full two minutes and was beginning to think someone was having her on when she heard the lock slide back and the door opened a crack.
"Luci?"
"Steve, what's going on? Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to reach you for – for months!" Lucille finally paused to take a breath, pulling out a ragged newspaper page from her pocket, shoving it toward the crack in the doorway. "Is this you? Is this really you? What is going on?" The door opened wider and a hand came out, pushing down her hand and the newspaper clipping she held. Lucille looked down at the hand covering hers. It was familiar, but wrong at the same time. Then her gaze followed the incredibly well-muscled arm to its owner's face.
Lucille's jaw dropped.
"Look, Luci, I know it's nuts! Please don't leave! I promise, I'll tell you everything, no baloney." As her initial shock subsided, Lucille noticed that Steve was crouching, holding his hands up apologetically, his expression pleading for her to stay. Even his crouched position, he was taller than her. The Steve she knew was her height, five foot four. This Steve was easily at least six feet tall, probably more.
"Steven Rogers. Start talking."
"Luci, I look like an idiot," Steve hissed.
"A snazzy idiot," Lucille whispered back, taping his lines to the inside of his shield. She looked up to see Steve glaring at her. "You don't have a choice, Steve. It's either this, or being stuck in a lab. And quite frankly, I rather like getting to see you, even if it is on stage in tights." Steve made a face, but pulled his mask down anyway. Lucille handed him his shield and waved as a stage hand whisked him away to the curtains at center stage.
Lucille followed Steve's appearances in New York and the surrounding states as much as she could. Mostly, she sat in the back of the theater, humming along to a song she had long since memorized as the shows became more and more extravagant. Then she would wait until the theater emptied and go backstage to find Steve. Usually, they would get the night to themselves and go out for pizza, staying up late despite the fact that Steve would have to leave early in the morning to get to his next show.
"Captain America lifts motorcycles now, huh?" Lucille popped a pepperoni into her mouth, lounging on the floor against Steve's sofa. New York shows were the best, because it meant they didn't have to stay at a hotel with the rest of the show's crew; they could stay at Steve's apartment. Steve laughed, handing her a glass of water before joining her on the floor, taking a slice of pizza for himself. "And how many times has Ol' Adolf gotten slugged now?"
Steve shrugged. "At least 200, it feels like," he said around a mouthful. He swallowed and the cleared his throat, almost nervously. "Heard from Bucky lately?"
Lucille glanced at him, hearing an odd tone to his question. "I got a letter about three weeks ago. James said they had found something – couldn't tell me what, of course – and his unit is going to be 'finally doing something', as he put it. I hate not knowing what's going on," Lucille huffed, staring moodily at her glass of water before looking curiously at Steve. "I thought I told you about that letter when you phoned from Chicago."
Steve avoided meeting her eyes, focusing instead on his pizza crust. "Oh, right, I guess you did."
"Steve, I know you. What's going on?"
"I'm going over there."
Lucille set down her plate and turned toward her friend. "Over where, exactly?" she asked, even though she knew what the answer would be.
"Wherever Colonel Phillips is, I guess. They're not telling me much, just that they need Captain America to help the morale." He dropped the pizza crust back in the box.
"How many shows?"
Steve shrugged. "No idea. I guess we'll have to see how it goes." He finally looked at her, and Lucille could imagine what her face looked like, because Steve reached over and took her hand. "Luci, it's going to be fine. They've assured me that there's absolutely no risk. Do you really think Senator Brandt would send me over there if there was?"
Dear Steve,
I hope all is well over there… wherever you are. I hope this letter gets to you, now that I think about it. I'll have to address it to Captain America on the envelope. I have this feeling that you're probably not as popular as the girls are. Brandt could have just sent them and morale would have been taken care of in less than a minute.
I'll be honest with you, Steve. I have an ulterior motive for writing to you. I know that it's very likely you're not with James, and I'm trying not to worry, but I haven't heard from him in a while, longer than usual. Do you have any news? Have you heard what the 107th might be up to? Maybe, being Captain America, you could get some answers for us? I'm sorry, Steve, I just hate not knowing. Sometimes being stuck here with nothing to do but wait is incredibly difficult. I'm starting to see why you tried to enlist so many times.
Please let me know… either way… if you have any news of James. And keep yourself safe, too. Now that all the stupid is over there with the two of you, I'm doubly worried.
See you soon (with any luck),
Luci
-0-
Hello all, new chapter here! I hope you liked it, even with the lack of Bucky. Can I say I really like Luci and Steve's friendship? Because I really do. And I hope you like it too! Reviewers, I shall be responding shortly :) Love.
[Guest: Bucky is the best, let's get real. He would totally be the guy to have the cutest, most heartwarming proposal idea. As for their happily-ever-after... well, I guess you'll just have to stay tuned ;) Thank you so much for your amazing review!
Echo97: I'm so happy to hear you like this story! Welcome to our little family! I hope this chapter was to your liking as well! Thanks for your wonderful review!]