Ok guys, this is more of a bridging chapter, next chapter Cap gets iced. Also I will open a poll to see who, if any, Dani will be paired with. Enjoy!

-Stax

Chapter 8

The soldier dragged Dani into a tent and made her sit on a cot. Realizing there was no escaping at this point, she sat quietly as he handcuffed her to one of the cot's legs. After he left, she laid back and focused on a tear in the roof.

Well... maybe the sphere will take me home now she thought. Her mind returned to the two men she called her friends. She felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of what they were going to go through soon. Well, she couldn't TELL them what was going to happen, and she couldn't personally keep them safe because she would probably be back in the US being court marshalled.

Maybe if I run away, I can secretly follow along and maybe even save Bucky, she considered. Doesn't deserting have the death penalty though...? She shook her head. They are your friends even if they are pissed now, if you can help them then you HAVE to. She sat up and looked at her handcuffs. There was no way she could pick the lock or break them, that much was certain.

I'll drag this whole bed with me if I have to. She started jerking on the cuffs in desperation. Something shifted. Leaning over, she saw that the bar that made up the top two legs was loose. With her knee, she held up the cot and pulled down on the leg.

To her great excitement, the leg came off! She pulled the other end of the cuff off and put the leg back in its slot. Yes! Now I just have to sneak out... she started tiptoeing towards the tent flap- and found that her feet couldnt move. She swore to herself. It was exactly like when she was at Steve's mom's funeral! No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't lift her feet to move forward.

Dani turned around and attempted to move back to the cot. Of course, THAT worked. She tried to move to the tent entrance again and couldn't move her feet. She flopped on the bed in frustration. I guess I have to wait here then...

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Back at the Colonel's tent, He, Steve and Bucky were examining the phone from her bag.

"I don't know how to start it, she only showed it to me for a minute" Bucky told them as the three looked down at the black screen. Steve picked it up.

"There isn't a wheel to dial with, how is this a telephone?" He asked. Bucky shrugged. Steve turned it in his hand. "Where do you talk into? How does the sound go from here to a phone!?" Again, nobody had answers. Just then Howard Stark sauntered in.

"You called?" He asked, looking at the Colonel, who nodded. He quickly explained to Howard Dani's claims, about her being from the future and how she had stated that the proof was on this phone. Howard took the device from Steve. "How does it work?" He inquired.

"See, that is what we were hoping YOU could tell us" Col. Phillips said. Howard pushed the button on the side and the screen lit up.

"Like that, I would imagine."

The Colonel grabbed the phone back and put it on his desk. Howard pulled a chair over and the four looked at it expectantly.

"It has today's date there, I wouldn't call that proof" Steve pointed out, gesturing at the numbers. The screen went dark.

"What did you do?" Bucky asked, surprised. Steve lifted his hand off the desk, panicked look in his eyes.

"I didn't touch it! What happened?" Howard shook his head.

"I believe it has a timer. Something this size, the power source must be very small. It probably turns off to conserve energy." He reached over and pressed the on button again.

"So if it's a phone, how do you make calls on it?" The Colonel inquired. Howard pulled it towards him and tapped at the screen.

"Lets find out." After several seconds he figured out how to unlock by swiping. All looked at the screen.

"What do those squares do?" Bucky asked, tapping one and inadvertently opening the browser. All leaned foreward; twitter was open.

"These... these are dated in the future..." Steve said.

"She could have just put the fake date on them, Captain" the Colonel said. Steve picked the phone and handed it to him.

"There is one way to find out if this is really a phone. Call someone with it. If it works, we know she is from the future because we don't have machines like this" he stated. The colonel gave him a look and started tapping buttons until it returned to the main screen. He leaned over to Howard and asked,

"How would you make a call on-" Howard grabbed it from him and systematically went through each app to find the phone. He came to the phone app and showed the Colonel.

"See, you probably press these numbers to enter the number" he explained, typing in a number as he spoke. "I have a rich lady friend back in the states who has a personal phone, if this call goes across the atlantic to her phone then we will have no doubt" he noted, pushing the green button labled "call".

The phone rang. They waited silently. Three rings, four rings... then a voice came through the speaker.

"Hello?"

"Molly?" Howard asked incredulously, holding the phone in front of his face.

"Howard you had better be calling to apologize" the voice said angrily. Howard quickly tapped the "end call" button and put the phone down like it had burned him.

"My God, it works" he said, face white.

"What?" Steve stood up.

"Its real. Can I...?" He looked at the Colonel, pulling the phone towards himself. "I would like to examine the technology..." Col. Phillips nodded.

"But, nobody hears about this. Anybody leaks word about this, I'll throw your asses in some out-of-the-way hole until you can't remember what daylight looks like, understand?" He said, looking at them. Everyone nodded.

"Yeah, sure" Howard said, rushing out with his prize. Steve turned to leave. Bucky got up to follow him.

"Steve what are you gonna do?" He asked.

"I'm going to ask her about the future" he said. Bucky danced in front of him, stopping him from moving forward.

"No! Steve, people can die if we know the future! It can change things!" He said, looking panicked. He glanced around quickly, ensuring that nobody else was within hearing range. "We win the war" he whispered. "That can change if we know the details of the future" he tried to impress upon Steve the gravity of the matter. Steve looked at him dubiously for a moment before caving.

"Fine. But I still want to talk to her" he said stepping around Bucky and reaching the tent in which Dani was held. Bucky moved to follow but Steve waved him off. "Alone." Bucky frowned but turned and left. As he was walking away, he called over his shoulder,

"Before you do anything, just remember all the times she took a hit for you in the alleys." Steve nodded and turned to enter the tent.

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Dani heard Steve and Bucky outside her tent, unable to make out what they were saying. She looked down at her wrist. Maybe I should have re-attached the cuff to the bed she thought. Its too late now. She moved to the edge of the bed and sat, waiting for them to enter. Her stomach flip-flopped as the tent flap was pushed aside and Steve entered. Wordlessly he sat on a wooden chair opposite the bed and made eye contact. Dani searched for any anger but only found a tiny bit of sadness.

"Steve..." she started. He held up his hand and shook his head.

"You could have told me. I trusted you, you couldn't trust me back?"

"I trusted that you would pick my safety over letting me do what had to be done" she said with a grimace. Steve looked more than a bit upset.

"All those years you helped me fight and you were a girl. You could have gotten hurt! You don't belong here, none of this is safe." Dani made a face. He was a product of his times, she couldn't expect him to feel comfortable with this new revelation. "What if you had been killed?" He continued.

"I don't have a choice, Steve" she said quietly with her head down. He stood up.

"Yes, you DO have a choice, Dani, you could have worked at a factory back at home! You could have become a nurse! You could have done ANYTHING BUT BE ON THE FRONT LINE!" He was practically yelling.

"No, no I DON'T have a choice. I have NO choice. I get jerked around from place to place, I have no control over where I am, I miss huge chunks of time- damn it Steve, for me it hasn't even been a year that I've known you and Bucky" she said frustratedly. Steve sat down hard with his mouth open.

"What do you mean it hasn't been a year?"

"Like I said, I get pulled around through time to where I am needed. Those times I wasn't around for weeks at a time? It was because I was pulled foreward to the next time you saw me. I was eighteen when you first met me and I have..." she counted on her fingers- "half a month until I am nineteen. I didn't look older because I WASN'T getting older. I wasn't going to get in the army either, I was pulled here with a uniform and enlistment papers all ready." Steve sat in his chair in a stupor for a few moments. "Steve?" He shook his head.

"This all sounds too incredible to be true... but it IS true, isn't it" he inquired, looking in her eyes. She nodded. Both turned towards the tent flap as the Colonel walked in suddenly.

"Corporal... we've decided not to court marshal you due to the fact that you DID save several operations and have not done anything illegal aside from lying about your gender" he stated. Dani pumped a fist. "...However, since we still are not willing to allow a woman in the army, we are giving you an honorable discharge." She lowerd her fist disappointedly. "We are shipping you back to the States tomorrow" he added before leaving. Steve nodded with a satisfied look on his face.

"Good, you can go home now." He said. Dani facepalmed.

"Steve, it's not that easy. I will be pulled back here before the week is over, mark my words." Steve got up.

"Then we will send you back again" he said with finality. "You can come with me to say goodbye to everyone, since you already took care of your handcuffs" he said. Dani shrugged and followed him out. I'll find a way...

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After showing Peggy and the Colonel the location of the different Hydra bases and agreeing to lead a strike team to take them all down, Steve headed to the bar where the soldiers were with Dani in tow. He quickly convinced the men to come with him- but they all insisted on bringing Dani along with them.

"She saved all of our asses" Dum Dum said before downing the rest of his beer. "Several times. I'm not going into battle without her to shoot out people's kneecaps at the last second, even if she IS a girl" he insisted. Dani blushed. She hadnt realized they had noticed her method of attack. The other men agreed quickly. Steve sighed.

"You won't reconsider...?" He asked. Everyone shook there heads. "Fine, I'll talk to Phillips." His expression said "I'm gonna regret this." Gabe leaned over to her.

"Say... now that we know you're a woman, suppose you sang a bit...?" She gave him an incredulous look. "Come on, just one little song? Maybe a bit on the piano?" They were all looking at her expectantly.

"I play the guitar, I haven't played the piano since I was twelve" she said, grimacing.

"Its agreed then, you will sing" Bucky said, standing up and steering her next to the piano. She shot him a stinkeye to end all stinkeyes.

"Fine... I remember the piano piece to ONE song. Move over, punk" she said to the scruffy man occupying the piano bench. She cleared her throat and began singing "She's Got a Way" by Billy Joel. She new she wasn't great but the place fell half silent, due to the fact that nobody knew the song. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Peggy had come in and was talking to Steve. She shipped it. She sang loudly in their direction.

"SHE'S GOT A WAY OF TALKIN'...

I DON'T KNOW WHY IT IS,

BUT IT LIFTS ME UP WHEN WE ARE WALKIN'... ANYWHEEEERE"

Steve shot her a dirty look and Bucky stifled a laugh. After she finished that number and she, Bucky and Steve were heading to their tents, he asked her,

"What was that?"

"What? I ship it!"

"You... ship it...?" Bucky interjected.

"I like them as a couple" Dani explained.

"I... we arent..." Steve sputtered. Bucky grinned.

"Yeah, I ship it too" he said. Steve glared at both of them.

"Whatever. Dani, you have to come in tomorrow with me to convince the Corporal to let you come." He grumped.

"I'll be there" she promised. I'm going to save Bucky yet.