Long Ago and Far Away

07

Bucky and Louise sat in silence as he tried to forget what had happened to him.

After a moment, Louise spoke up. "Buck, what do you think happened to you?"

Bucky shook his head. "No clue. But I'm alive, and I'm with you and Steve. That's all that matters, right?"

"I guess so. I'm afraid I'll lose you like we lost Mom and Dad."

Bucky gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "You're not gonna lose me, Lu."

Steve after speaking to his fellow soldiers he'd rescued, walked up to Bucky and Louise and joined them as people sang There's a Tavern in Town.

"See, and I told you," Bucky said. "They're all idiots."

"How about you?" Steve asked. "You ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?"

"Hell, no. That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight. I'm following him. But you're keeping the outfit, right?"

"You know what? It's kind of growing on me."

Louise laughed. "I'm following that same guy. And I rather like the outfit."

The singing in the bar ceased as Peggy, in a tight-fitting, deep-red dress, walked in. "Captain."

"Agent Carter."

"Ma'am," Bucky and Louise greeted.

"Howard has some equipment for you to try," Peggy told Steve. "Tomorrow morning?"

"Sounds good," Steve replied.

"I see your top squad is prepping for duty."

"You don't like music?" Bucky asked.

"I do, actually," Peggy answered, looking at Steve and Louise with a light smirk. "I might even, when all this is over, go dancing."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"The right partner. 0800, Captain."

"Yes, ma'am," Steve said. "I'll be there."

Bucky, referring to Peggy's comment, said, "I'm invisible. I'm... I'm turning into you. It's like some horrible dream."

"Don't take it so hard. Maybe Agent Carter will go for you. I've already got someone."

---

The next morning, Steve entered a base and noticed a blonde woman. "Excuse me. I'm looking for Mr. Stark."

"He's in with for Colonel Phillips," the woman, Lorraine, replied absentmindedly turning to look at Steve. She smiled. "Of course, you're welcome to wait." She held up a newspaper which showed the article about Steve saving the little boy. "I read about what you did."

Steve leaned against a table awkwardly. "Oh, the... Yeah. Well, that's, you know. Just doing what needed to be done."

Lorraine stood. "Sounded like more than that. You saved nearly 400 men."

"Really, it's not a big deal." He clasped his hands, resting them in front of him.

Lorraine walked toward him. "Tell that to their wives."

"I don't think they were married."

She smirked. "You're a hero."

"Well, that depends on the definition, really." He really wished she'd back away, as she was making him nervous.

"The women of America, they owe you their thanks. And seeing as they're not here..." She pulled him behind a bookcase and started kissing him.

"Captain!" Peggy and Louise called, the latter with a hurt expression.

"We're ready for you, if you're not otherwise occupied," Louise said in a sharp tone.

"Agent Carter, Louise, wait," Steve said.

"All this talk of finding the right partner and... God, I'm so stupid to think we could have been anything."

"Lu, that's not what you thought it was."

"Then what was it?"

"She came onto me."

Louise studied his eyes and nodded. "I believe you."

Steve turned to Peggy. "What about you and Stark? Have you two been fondue-ing?"

"You still don't know a bloody thing about women," Peggy said.

"Fondue is just cheese and bread, my friend," Howard told him.

"Really? I didn't think..."

"Nor should you, pal. The moment you think you know what's going on in a woman's head is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked. Me, I concentrate on work, which at the moment you and your men do not get killed."

Howard held up a shield. "Carbon polymer. Should withstand your average German bayonet. Although, HYDRA's not going to attack you with a pocket knife." He gestured to Steve's shield. "I hear you're kind of attached."

"It's handier than you might think," Steve said.

"I took the liberty of coming up with some options." He lifted one up. "This one's fun. She's been fitted with electrical relays that allow you to..."

Steve noticed a circular shield and picked it up. "What about this one?"

"No, no, that's just a prototype."

"What's it made of?"

"Vibranium. It's stronger than steel and a third of the weight. It's completely vibration absorbent."

"How come it's not standard issue?"

"That's the rarest metal on Earth. What you're holding there, that's all we've got."

Peggy and Louise walked up and the latter asked, "You quite finished, Stark? I'm sure the Captain has some unfinished business."

Steve held up the shield. "What do you think?"

Louise, still annoyed with what had happened between Steve and Lorraine, picked up a gun and shot the shield. Steve held it up for fear she would shoot him.

"Yes," Louise said. "I think it works."

Steve lowered the shield and stared at her with wide eyes.

As Louise walked past him, she gave him a look and a small, teasing smirk.

Steve moved closer to Howard and handed him a paper. "I had some ideas about the uniform."

Howard took the paper. "Whatever you want, pal."