ACCIDENT | STEVE ROGERS

chapter one ; the exposition

JUNE 1943

VIRGINIA HENLEY wished she had the willpower to dance again.

She longed to spread out her arms and bask in a single spotlight, its incandescent heat causing beads of sweats to trickle beneath her leotard until they reached her pointed toes. She missed the applause, the joyful sound that ricocheted off every curtain and every spotlight until it swarmed her eardrums. She missed being the star.

The sound of applause still brought back a feeling a nostalgia, even if it hadn't been for her. This time it was for her employer, Howard Stark. She was the world-famous engineer's assistant, which meant tending to every need the millionaire conjured up.

Virginia (who much preferred the nickname Ginny) couldn't help but clap along as she walked amongst the brewing crowd and found a suitable place to stand. His exhibition was the headline of the World Exposition of Tomorrow, a glimmer of hope and promise in the midst of a war.

She found her five-foot-two stature squished beside a six foot soldier, who turned his head in curiosity when he felt the presence of the woman on his arm. He cocked his eyebrows in surprise, although he didn't inhabit the usual sense of lust and cheek so often possessed by a man in a khaki uniform.

"You alright there, doll?" He asked, ignoring the curious looks Ginny was receiving from the two girls he had with him. One girl looked far too much like him to be a girlfriend of any sort, while the other just stared at Ginny like she was a personal threat.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ginny grimaced, her eyes flicking past the two women and instead landing upon a fourth member of the party. A blond man, just as tall as her, glanced at her with nerves seen only in the weakest of prey.

"What's your name?" The confident man asked. Ginny furrowed her eyebrows before carefully responding.

"Virginia. Like the state."

"That's cute," he responded, his eyes drifting the stage before them started to transform. "Bucky Barnes. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise," Ginny quipped, her green eyes glinting with excitement as sparklers flew and a car as ruby red as Dorothy's technicolour slippers caught everyone's attention.

Ginny had seen the car a thousand times. She had seen its sisters, its bones. She had seen every little fragment of a car that still seemed so unbelievably wondrous. The car's designer, however, was unbelievably irritating. 

"Ladies and gentleman!" Howard Stark boomed as he waltzed onto the stage in a haze of wispy smoke and sparkling women. As his assistant, it was her job to hire the women and finalise every costume. If it were for a dance show instead of Howard's showgirl pantomime, she might have actually enjoyed the process. "I present to you.. the future!"

The tension seemed to be jotted down in the job description. Ginny watched with baited breath as Howard flipped the switch, the smoke billowed and the lights twinkled. If she had known Bucky Barnes a little better, she would have grabbed his hand as an anchor. And then, the car flew.

"Holy shit." Bucky breathed loud enough for Ginny to catch. Not tearing her eyes away from the success, she nodded in response.

"Damn right."

The soldier glanced at her in surprise, not expecting anymore words out of the small brunette stranger who had landed beside him. Nonetheless, his already-sparkling grin beamed a little brighter.

Suddenly there was a series of crackles and bangs, and Ginny jumped a foot in the air when her hard work came crashing back down to reality. Technically, the car was all Howard's brilliant mind, but Ginny would get the brunt of the blame.

"I did say a few years, didn't I?" Howard brushed it off awkwardly, his dark eyes searching the large crowd for his assistant. Ginny raised a hand as he scanned the area, and they exchanged a grimace. The crowd still went crazy, astounded by the sheer magic they had witnessed for a few perfect seconds.

The masses began to depart when they realised it was the end of Howard's incredible show, Bucky and his friends included. Ginny didn't see the smaller blond man as they disappeared. After a moment, she squeezed through the crowd towards the stage.

The car still looked magnificent, its red body glimmering in the spotlights. Ginny didn't know whether to focus on that, or the moustached man currently drowning in female attention.

"I told you people would be impressed," she hollered as Howard strolled over to her with his signature smirk. "Even I have to admit that the car's not your worst work."

Howard grinned, crouching then leaping onto the ground beside her. The expression he wore was incredibly familiar to Ginny, and she scoffed. It was his cocky look, the one he wore when his stubborn employee (and begrudgingly, his best friend) was able to admit his genius.

"It'll be no time at all before the New York City sky is buzzing with a fleet of Stark cars, my darling." Howard slung an arm around her shoulders, glancing up at his masterpiece with a proud sigh.

"Your sense of modesty is incredible, honey." Ginny teased, nudging her hip into where it reached; the side of his thigh. Eight months of working together had brewed a friendship like no other, where their sanity was tested and their wit blossomed.

"Say, a beautiful dame with an attitude deserves a drink. How about a cocktail on me?" Howard retorted, his famous wooing words doing little for the brunette at all.

"How could I refuse an evening of cocktails with Howard Stark?" Ginny feigned excitement, batting her hand in front of her face enthusiastically. Then, she glanced at him blankly. "I've told you before Howard, no alcohol for either of us on weekdays."

"You're no fun, Gin. And your name is literally a spirit." Howard whined as she climbed out of his embrace.

"You would be nothing without me, Stark. Before you hired me, you were a train wreck." She said, stepping backwards as she prepared to cut their conversation short and leave for the night.

"Train wreck is a bit harsh, my love. But yes, I love everything you do." Howard rushed towards her, grabbing her in a hug that she slapped away. Ginny pouted, kissed him on the cheek in farewell and began to leave.

"See you tomorrow, Stark!" she chirped over her shoulder.

While the extraordinary exhibitions tantalised her naïve eye, Ginny yearned for nothing more than the comfort of her rickety mattress in her tiny apartment. The whole day had been spent preparing for tonight, and she had done more running around than she had hoped. And for some reason, the buckets of cotton candy she had consumed weren't enough to keep her body alive for the many hours she was forced to wrack her brains. A few hours of sleep were well deserved. 

Ginny caught the eye of Bucky as she made her way out of the Exposition, and the pair exchanged an awkward smile. The blond man accidentally hid behind him as their heated conversation appeared to have been interrupted, but Ginny shot him a smile once she could see him. Men in Brooklyn only wore khaki uniforms the day before they got shipped off. Whatever friendship the pair had, and whoever those two girls were, they would have to be separated in the morning. That was the reality that people so desperately wanted to escape.