Come Back With Me

He'll Do It For Bucky

Steve has been touring the US for five months when he gets told he is going to Italy to rally the troops.

The show is a disaster and he basically gets booed off the stage. When he signed up for the army, he thought he would be doing more than this.

Later, he was sitting in a tent with his sketchbook. It is raining which felt very fitting for Steve.

He looks at the photo from the photo booth that he took with Lizzie and Bucky so many years ago. Where were they now? Lizzie is probably at home right now. Well actually, she is probably at work since she spends more time at work then home.

Bucky is the harder answer. For all he knows, his best friend is dead. He prays he isn't dead for both his sake and Lizzie's.

He sighs and puts the photo away. There's no way of knowing what is going on with Bucky so there is no reason to linger on it.

He flips to a fresh page and begins to sketch. He ends up drawing a monkey on a unicycle dressed as Captain America because that's how he feels most of the time.

"Hello, Steve."

Steve turns around and sees Peggy Carter standing behind him.

God, he forgot how beautiful she is.

"Hi," Steve says.

"Hi," Peggy responds.

"What are you doing here?" He asks.

She makes her way towards the steps and sits next to him.

"Officially, I'm not here at all. That was quite a performance," she says.

Steve feels uncomfortable knowing that Peggy watched that. Wearing spandex isn't the best way to attract a lady.

"Yeah, I had to improvise a bit. The crowds I'm use to are usually more, uh, twelve," Steve explains.

His reception here is very different then how it is in the states. He already feels like a joke when the crowds loved him, now he feels even more ridiculous after preforming in front of the soldiers.

"I understand you're America's new hope," Peggy says.

He feels like he has to defend his actions to Peggy. He has to explain why he chose to do what he is doing.

"Bond sales take a 10% bump in every state I visit," Steve says.

"Is that Senator Brandt I hear?" Peggy asks.

"At least he's got me doing this. Philips would have had me stuck in a lab," Steve explains.

"And these are your only two options? A lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this you know," Peggy says.

Steve wants to do more but he doesn't know how. He feels like Peggy might believe in him but she has about as much power as him in this regard.

"You know for the longest time, I dreamed about coming overseas and being on the front lines, serving my country and protecting my sister. I finally got everything I wanted and I'm wearing tights," Steve says.

Steve's thoughts are interrupted by a car horn and Steve and Peggy look over to see a medical truck rushing injured soldiers into a tent.

"They look like they've been through hell," Steve says.

Maybe Steve could have saved some of those men if he was allowed to do any fighting.

"These men more than most. Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men went up against him and less then fifty returned. Your audience contained what was left of the 107th. The rest were killed or captured," Peggy says.