The Captain, the Sergeant, and the Nurse || B. Barnes

Normandy

When the men had been sent to fight in the Battle of Normandy, Allie had stayed in London. Howard had offered to take care of her lodging for the time that the men were gone. She didn't see much of her friend, instead taking to her resources within the S.S.R. to try and keep herself distracted.

It was a difficult task, however, as the six days of the battle passed. She was almost certain that each day of waiting passed slower than the previous one. She worried, praying that the men would all come home. The night before he had left, Bucky had told her about what the goal was.

Maybe he told her because he thought it would put her mind at ease knowing something about where they were. Maybe he was the one who needed to tell someone what was going on. All Allie knew was that it, in fact, did nothing to ease her worries.

On the fourth day of waiting for news about the battle, she took to writing in a journal. Each worry or anger, each thought that had come into her head. She wrote them all down. The practice comforted her, and she did the same on the fifth day of waiting. Then the sixth.

In the midst of her writing, she was startled by the loud shouts of glee coming from the halls of the S.S.R. and her pen drug across the page, leaving a path of ink in its wake. Hopping to attention, she watched as a few of the women knocked on the door and smiled at her.

"They've won!" one woman exclaimed.

"We've just heard over the radio," another explained.

"Oh, thank God," Allie let out a huge sigh of relief. "Has anyone said anything about when our men will return here?"

Both women shook their heads. Explaining to her that they hadn't overheard anything more than the news of the Allied Forces victory, the two women gave her apologies. Allie thought for a moment, excusing herself from the room after thanking them for the news.

Rushing down the hall, she found Agent Carter bustling to a conference room. It was filled with prominent figureheads, Allie taking it as her sign that she might know more soon. Attempting to walk into the room, she was turned back to the hall. Pursing her lips, she had to bite her tongue after being told it would be another day before the men arrived back.

In the time leading up to the men's arrival, officials from different members of the Allied Forces arrived along with high-ranking officers in the military. Allie knew at once that when he had arrived at the S.S.R., Steve was going to be bombarded by meeting upon meeting.

The morning that the men were expected to arrive, Allie took to finding Howard in his lab. She didn't expect him to stop working to talk to her. She just wanted the solace of being with a friend while nervous about what shape her boys would be when making it home.

"You know, Allie?" Howard stood up, pushing his goggles from his eyes as he had been working intently. "A while back, you asked me if it were up to me, would I let you go out there?"

"I did," she remembered being in his lab with him at that time too.

"Well, for the record, I really would," he crossed his arms against his chest and leaned against his workstation.

"You would? Why?"

"The look in your eye," he gave a small grin. "Nothing's more fearsome than a scorned woman. And I'll be damned if they try to say that keeping you here isn't scorning you."

"Are you saying that to cheer me up?" her grin was half-hearted.

"No," he shook his head. "I can guarantee the boys would say the same thing."

Allie's lips pursed in thought. She knew that Howard was right. Even after the first mission, the Commandos had been supportive of her being in the action and helping out. It begged the question of why the same sentiment wasn't shared outside the team.