Faces of Bucky Barnes - More One Shots

4. The Old Familiar Places

Opening Night

The stage manager called the next set of girl singers up.  The triplets, portraying the Andrews Sisters, were still applying their bright red lipstick and checking the seams on their stockings when they went to their marks in the shadows while the narrator spoke of the popularity of the sister group.  When the spotlight came on, they confidently strode out to their microphones and began their choreographed moves to Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me).  As their harmonies rang through the theatre the singer for I'll Be Seeing You had her wig checked by the hairstylist, making sure once more that the rolls in her hair were accurate for the time period.  With the triplets done she watched as the stagehands, dressed as soldiers set up the stage for her appearance.  A narrator was setting the stage for her as she walked to her mark in the shadows, a piece of pink fluorescent tape on the deck.  Above and behind her on a large screen were scenes from the war years about the wives and sweethearts left behind.  She heard her cue in her earpiece and when the spotlight hit her, she began singing.

I'll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day through

The audience was spellbound as her clear voice brought all the emotion of the sweetheart thinking of all the places she and her love went to before they were separated by war.   Her appearance was soft and sweet, a tribute to the loved ones waiting for the boys to come home.

One man in the audience, Bucky Barnes, was also entranced by the singer's rendition of one of his favourite Billie Holiday songs.  It brought back memories of dancing with a pretty girl; her dressed to the nines, him in his dress uniform.  He could even remember the smell of a girl's perfume as he bent his head towards her ear to murmur how pretty she was. 

When she finished, he clapped his hands loudly for her performance, glad he had accepted Sam's birthday present of opening night tickets even though the opening night was two months after that event, timed to coincide with the anniversary of VE Day.  At intermission his partner leaned forwards then looked back at Bucky.

"So, you enjoying it?"

"I am," replied Bucky.  "I'm surprised you wanted to come.  This isn't your style of music."

"There's some good stuff.  Which song have you liked the best?"

Bucky smirked.  There was no way he was telling Sam that Tess, the sweetheart that was left behind, was the one that affected him the most.  Not that he ever had anyone special as he played the field before and during the war.  But the song, that particular song had always got to him even before he shipped out.  He looked at the Playbill booklet in his hand.  There was a list of the cast in it and he looked for the singer's name.

"You thinking of sending flowers to someone?" joked Sam.

Looking up sharply Bucky could feel his cheeks get hot.  "What makes you say that?"

"You're looking at the Playbill," smiled Sam, a little too smugly.  "It's okay to send flowers to your favourite singer, or singers.  Those triplets ...."

"Hey, Captain America!"

The greeting from two rows ahead of them interrupted their conversation.  Sam looked up to see a large florid man looking at them with an air of expectation on his face.

"Hey, how you doing?"

Sam put on his best smile and leaned across the rows to shake hands with the man who stretched over the people in front of them, splitting apart as they looked back to see the famous Avenger.  Bucky smiled apologetically at the couple.