Out of Time (Book 1)

London and Lady Clothes

1943

November

The journey to London was uneventful, the cargo plane they'd had to travel in wasn't exactly built for comfort. It took less time than Betty expected before they were settling into their assigned accommodation. Bucky was frustrated to realise that he and Betty had been assigned separate quarters and no argument he could make was going to change that.

"But...But...She's my wife!" he blustered.

"I'm sorry Sergeant, but we don't have any facility to accommodate a shared room. Males and females in separate quarters, army regulations," said the poor British soldier who was bearing the brunt of Bucky's rant.

"Oh, for fucks sake!" Bucky cursed, storming off.

Betty couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange, even though she shared his frustration. She patted the soldier's shoulder in apology and followed after Bucky. Finding him pacing in the corridor, she rubbed his back in consolation.

"Hey Baby, it's OK."

"Aw come on Betty, I can't even sleep in the same bed as my wife. How is that OK?"

"We'll make do, we always have. It'll be like back home, sneakin' around, tryin' not to get caught by Steve or your Ma." She leaned up to speak softly in his ear. "It could be...fun," and then pressed a kiss to his cheek. He gave her a sly look out of the corner of his eye and then turned, walking her backwards until she was pressed up against the wall of the corridor.

Kissing down her neck he murmured "You always know how to make me feel better, Doll."

"I could say the same to you." She replied, voice husky. Their embrace became more heated, both of them getting lost in each other, until the corridor door slammed open, and the rest of their group bundled through.

"Woah there, I hope there's enough for the rest of us!" Boomed Tim Dugan, his wide grin flashing from under his moustache. Betty could feel Bucky's jaw tighten as he gritted his teeth and whirled around with a clenched fist.

"Watch your mouth Dugan..." he warned, but Betty just laughed.

"Don't worry Timmy, I'm not gonna wear him out. Although I didn't think Bucky was your type..." with a wink she patted Bucky's chest.

The group fell silent for a second before exploding into roars of laughter. Even Bucky started smiling, shaking his head.

"How the hell did you manage to land a firecracker like this one?" Dugan laughed with incredulity.

Bucky just shrugged and put his arm around Betty's shoulder. "By bein' a total pain in her ass."

After putting her kit bag in her dorm, Betty was summoned to Stark's makeshift workshop in the basement of the SSR building. Bucky, Steve, and the others were closeted with Colonel Phillips and Peggy giving them as much information as they could about Hydra so that a plan of attack could be formulated.

"Settled in Betty?" Stark asked her as he gave her a tour of the workshop.

"As much as we can be in these situations, Howard. I have to say though, I'm impressed with your setup here. Even for a temporary facility it's really well equipped."

"Only the best will do." Howard smirked then stared over her shoulder with an appreciative look on his face. Peggy's voice sounded from behind her.

"I'm sorry Howard, but I'm going to have to cut your show and tell short. I need to steal Betty away."

"No problem Peg. Betty? Same time tomorrow?"

"Absolutely." Betty agreed, before leaving the room with her. "What's up Peggy?" she asked.