Finding Love in France

Part 28: Flight

The next morning, Steve was knocking on their door at 0600.

"No one's home. Come back later!" Bucky groaned into the pillow.

Mila, who was already up and ready to go, answered the door. "Good morning, Steve. Would you like some coffee?"

He saw past her, to a semi-naked Bucky still in bed, averted his eyes and turned red. "Uh, no, um, we have to meet Stark in thirty minutes."

"Hey Steve!" Bucky called out from bed, grinning like a fool, then cracked up at his friend's embarrassment. "Really? You gonna be like that?" He laughed. "Let me get dressed, you prude! Hey Doc, you see my pants over there?"

"I would say please forgive James..." she rolled her eyes "...but you already know what a jackass he is, better than most, I presume?"

This got Steve to relax. "So she does know you, Buck!" He still couldn't look at his friend, but was able to sit down and take the cup of coffee his best friend's girl was offering him.

Bucky was in the bathroom washing up, so Steve took this opportunity to try and apologize for his seemingly rude behavior the night before. "Hey, so about yesterday...I'm sorry if I came across a little harsh. It's kinda hard to meet a stranger with your accent and immediately trust them these days."

"You trusted Abraham Erskine, didn't you? We have the same accent...but I understand. James had the same reaction initially." She smiled and tried to read the giant sipping coffee in front of her. She couldn't get much, other than the sense that he loved James almost as much as she did.

Bucky walked out of the bathroom and grabbed a cup of coffee. "What are my two favorite people plotting while I'm trying to get presentable?" He sat down and noticed the smile on Mila's face. "Must be something good, by the look on your face, Mils."

"I was just amused by the fact that both of you assumed the worst about me based on my accent." She smiled at Bucky. "Just wait until I have to disarm you and break your arm, Steve!" And she laughed hysterically.

Steve didn't know if she was joking, but he saw Bucky break into hysterics and took a relieved breath.

They made their way to the lobby to find Stark. He was waiting outside in a car nicer than anything Mila had seen in ages. He got out and opened the rear passenger door for Mila. "Good morning, Dr. Abrams! You're looking lovely this morning..."

"Mr. Stark, do you think perhaps need your eyes checked?" She smirked.

"Wow, beauty, brains AND wit? I think I'm in love..." he chuckled as he closed the door behind her.

"Watch it, Stark." Bucky growled.

"Easy, there, Barnes! Just having a little fun with my newest and most promising research scientist." He nodded towards Mila in the rear view mirror an started the car.

They arrived at a farm just outside town and the car stopped. Stark lead them to a large barn and opened the door. The small plane was inside. "Isn't she a beaut?" Stark beamed at his toy. "Well, let's go!"

Mila hesitated. She had never flown before. Bucky sensed her nerves and put his arms around her.

He whispered in her ear "I'd never been in a plane either, before the war. It's not so bad if you don't look down." He kissed her head. "Come on, next stop, England!"

They boarded and Stark started the engines. Mila jumped at the sound and vibration. Bucky squeezed her hand. She buried her face in his shoulder. "How can you do this if you are afraid of heights?" She was trying not to cry from fear.

"To be honest, I try and keep my eyes closed and not think about it." He sighed.

"Afraid of heights? Since when?!" Steve chimed in. "Mila, this is the same guy who made me ride the coasters at Coney Island until I threw up!"

"That's different, Steve. You can still see the ground." Bucky's eyes were closed as they took off. "Plus, it was worth it to watch you get sick, after ruining yet another date for me!"

"Me?! You ruined it all on your own, pal!" Steve laughed. "I don't even remember that girl's name!"

"Betty. Can we stop talking about bad dates now?" He laughed and nodded at Steve. "Unless you want me to start talking about yours, jerk..."

They were almost at altitude now. Stark yelled from the cockpit "Hey Doc! Wanna come steer the plane?"

Mila froze. "I do not think that I am at all qualified to do that, Mr. Stark, but thank you for the offer."

"Qualified? Hell, I'm barely qualified!" He laughed. "It's easy, come give it a try! You'll like it, it's like nothing else in the world!"

She cautiously made her way to the cockpit and sat in the seat next to Stark. The view was unbelievable. She had never seen so much green before. She was trying to figure out what else she was looking at below them. "Is that a river?"

"Sure is! Probably the Marne? We're too far north for the Seine. What's the verdict? Is this something or is this something, Doc?" He was watching the horizon.

"It's breathtaking." She was captivated. "How do you know where we are?"

"Maps, landmarks, all these gizmos" and he patted the dashboard. "And a little something called radar. The boys in the armed forces were working on it for a while, lucky for them, I got involved and made it useful!"

"Please explain, Mr. Stark? I am not familiar with this term." She was intrigued.

"Well, in a nutshell, we are using radio waves to help us find our way between point A and point B. There's a sender and a receiver, that lets me know if we veer off track, 'cause the boys on the ground can see where we are on their end." He was enjoying talking to another scientist.

"Does the enemy have this, too? How are they not tracking your plane right now?" She was worried that things were going too well.

"There's the beauty of it, Doc!" He chuckled. "They have it, sure, but what they don't have is my encrypted signal. If they are watching the skies, all they see is a small aircraft. Non-military. Not a threat. If they were to pick up our signature, this is all they can hear" and he turned a knob. Loud classical music started playing. "See? The base has our actual signal, but everyone else just gets this noise."

She liked this flying thing.