Winter's Beginning [1]

The Future

Chapter one.

Abigail Maria Rogers walked arm in arm with James Buchannan Barnes as they made their way to meet her twin brother, Steven Grant Rogers. Abi was a medium sized, pretty woman with deep brown eyes and long slightly curly blonde hair. Bucky was a tall, handsome man with blue eyes and dark brown hair. They laughed and joked together as they walked towards the run down cinema in town that Steve told them to meet him at. She and Steve were a year younger than Bucky and had been friends for as long as any of them could remember. She was wearing a knee length red dress and he was wearing his new uniform. She hated dresses but, as it was his last night before getting shipped out, Bucky had convinced her to wear one.

As they walked towards the cinema entrance, they heard the sounds of a fight down a nearby alley. The pair exchanged a glance and a sigh; they both knew who it would be. Abi shook her head as Bucky pulled her down the alley to find Steve getting beat up by some jerk who was twice his size. Steve was really small compared to everyone else; even Abi was taller than him. He had blue eyes and short blonde hair.

"Hey, pick on someone your own size." Bucky said as he pulled the guy off Steve and punched him in the jaw. Abi then kicked him straight in the groin. He stumbled away groaning as Bucky shook his head at her, but she just smiled at him.

"Sometimes, I think you like getting punched." Bucky said as he turned to Steve and helped him up.

"I had him on the ropes." Steve said wiping the blood from his lip.

Abi shook her head at him as she lent down and picked an enlistment form off the ground that had Steve's name on it.

"How many times is this?" She asked as Bucky leant over her shoulder to read the form.

"Oh, you're from Paramus now. You know it's illegal to lie on your enlistment form. And seriously, Jersey?" Bucky said with a chuckle.

"You get your orders?" Steve asked looking at Bucky's uniform.

Bucky looked at the floor and took a shaky breath. The other two didn't seem to notice the fear on his face before he raised his chin confidently and any fear melted behind a perfectly constructed mask. He might have terrified to leave them both, but he would never let either of them know it.  "The one-o-seventh. Sergeant James Barnes. Shipping for England first thing tomorrow." Bucky said proudly lacing his arm back through Abi's.

"Everyone is doing something. Even you are." Steve nodded towards Abi.

"Still not allowed to tell us what you're gonna be doing?" Bucky asked with a smile.

"Nope it's all top secret." She said with a smile.

"I should be going." Steve muttered, looking dejected.

"Come on, man! It's my last night. Gotta get you cleaned up." Bucky said clapping Steve on the back.

"Why? Where are we going?" Steve asked.

"The future." Abi said handing him a newspaper with an advert for the World Exposition plastered on the front. _____________________________________________________________________________

"I don't see what the problem is." Bucky said as they walked towards the Exposition. "You're about to be the last eligible man in New York. You know, there's three and a half million women here." Bucky said as the three of them walked through the crowd to the front of the event.

"Hell, I'd settle for just one." Steve muttered.

"Good thing I took care of that." Bucky said releasing Abi's arm and waving to the dates he had set up for himself and Steve. Steve watched as his sister's face dropped. She regained herself and forced a smile.

"Hey, Bucky!" One of the girls called.

"What did you tell her about me?" Steve asked.

"Only the good stuff." Bucky said with a laugh as he walked ahead.

"You still not gonna tell him?" Steve asked looking at Abi.

"It's his last night. I'm not gonna ruin it with any confession." She muttered back as they reached Bucky and the two other girls.

"Welcome to the Modern Marvels Pavilion, and the world of tomorrow. A greater world. A better world." A voice said over the speaker system.

"Oh my god. It's starting." One of the two girls screamed as she grabbed the others arm and ran forward.

There were women on the stage standing around a bright red car. The women were dancing and all wearing the American colours. One of them walked up to the microphone and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Howard Stark." 

Howard walked out and everyone cheered. He spotted Abi and winked at her before kissing the women who had announced his arrival. Neither Steve nor Bucky were aware that she knew Howard Stark, the secrecy surrounding the project they were working on was airtight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile won't even have to touch the ground at all." Howard Stark said to the crowd. His female helpers took the wheels off the car. "Yes. Thanks, Mandy." He said to one of the women. "With Stark Gravitic reversion technology, you'll be able to do just that." Howard turned a switch on his machine and the car started to hover off the ground.

"Holy cow!" Bucky exclaimed looking at Abi, who smiled in return. They looked back as the car suddenly malfunctioned and crashed back onto the stage.

"I did say a few years, didn't I?" Howard said with a nervous laugh.

Abi laughed and turned around to talk to Steve but noticed he was missing.

"Buck, where's Steve?" She asked tugging on his sleeve.

"I think I've got an idea." He said shaking his head and pointing to a recruitment station.