Sliding into the seats at the bar, I look around to memorize my sorroundings. Bucky is sitting on my left, Steve to my right and Peggy directly next to him.
A few moments later the bar tender slides over to where we're sitting and asks if we'd like something to drink. Going down the line, Peggy orders a beer as does Steve. Looking over to me I order a beer as well. The tender nods and moves to Bucky. He orders a rootbeer and the man taking our orders moves away.
Turning to me, Bucky ruffles my hair with his hand. "Evelyn, as much as I love the idea of you having a beer right along with the rest of us, you're still only 17. When the drinks get here, the two of us are trading."
I shift backwards away from his hand on my head and run my fingers through my hair frantically trying to fix it.
"Well, a girl's got to try."
"I know Evelyn, I know."
2 hours later, Bucky was smashed and Peggy was getting pretty close. Steve and I were the only sober ones left, him because of the super soldier serum and me because of the rootbeer.
I was in charge of escorting Peggy out of the bar before she did anything irrational. Steve was gently trying to get a very stubborn Bucky out of his seat and onto the street. Looking back towards the clock as we left, I took the time to be about 11:30, meaning we would be back to the barracks by 12:00 or so.
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1:30. That's when we got back to bed. Peggy had been absurdly stubborn and didn't want to walk with us.
Bucky on the other hand was a terrible drunk. Very loud, very concerned about every detail. About halfway through the walk back, Steve and I looked at eachother and decided on the spot to pick them both up and continue walking.
With Peggy slung over my shoulders and Bucky slung over Steve's, we must have been quite a sight. A 6' super soldier carrying a grown man. And me, the barely 5'3, 17 year old female. Peggy was the only one in the skirted uniform so I tried my hardest not let her skirt rise too high as we walked briskly down the lane.
Saying goodnight to Bucky and Steve, I brought Peggy over to her room, then headed to mine. As the only females in the entire camp, we should have been bunked together. Instead, Peggy was the unit commander and had her own room, separate to everyone else. I too had been placed by myself in a small barrack just past the mess hall. I had my own shower as well. As much as I hated the segregation from the men, I was generally treated the same as everyone else, not to mention having my own shower was a God-send. And when the question would arise as to whether I really belonged there, I was quick to put the asker in their place.
Peeling myself out of my standard unit cargo pants, I fell face first into my bed, already slightly dreading what tomorrow would bring.
