Lady Liberty |1| The Liberty Saga (An MCU Fanfiction)

Chapter One: No Right

March 1943

"I don't see what the problem is," Sergeant James 'Bucky' Barnes declared as he walked down the steps towards the infamous World Expo, hands in his uniform pockets. "You're about to become the last eligible man in New York. You know there's three and a half million women here?"

Steve Rogers, a man built like a starving rat who even the craziest of enlistment officers wouldn't have recruited, scoffed. "Well, I'd settle for just one."

"Good thing I took care of that." Bucky waved to the two women waiting by a fountain, a blonde and a brunette—both of whom looked far more excited to see him than his friend.

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

Bucky clapped him on the shoulder. "Only the good stuff." Together, they headed toward their squealing dates as the main stage lit up.

As the four of them squeezed through the huddled masses to get a spot near the front, music started to blare from the speakers. Four stunning brunettes danced out onto the stage around a sleek, futuristic automobile, their faces plastered with red lipped grins. Then a fifth woman strode onto the stage, with curled blonde hair, vivid red lips and a microphone in hand. Between the five of them, half the men in the crowd, Bucky included, were already sold.

The blonde lifted the microphone to her lips, beaming. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr Howard Stark!"

From the left wings, the dashing, well-coiffed figure of Howard Stark jogged out to join her. He handed her his hat, took the microphone and dipped her in her arms, kissing her to the cheers of the crowd. Then he set her back on her feet, grinning. "Thank you, Ellie." Leaving her behind, he stepped out to address the crowd, sweeping one arm towards the car. "Ladies and gentlemen, what if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile won't have to touch the ground at all?" The crowd applauded, and Howard's four glamorous assistants took the wheels away from the car, revealing silver machines sitting in each wheel arch. "With Stark robotic reversion technology, you'll be able to do just that!"

With a flourish, he flicked a switch on his control panel, and the car began to levitate into the air before the audience's very eyes. They burst into rapturous applause...

... until the machines sparked and gave out, thunking the car back onto the ground again. Smooth 'til the last, Howard chuckled awkwardly. "I did say a few years, right?" The crowd laughed. Down near the front, Bucky turned to say something to Steve, grinning, only to find he had disappeared. Sighing, he headed after him.

And on the stage, the blonde announcer Howard Stark had called Ellie watched him go with a frown.

***

Really, it hadn't been difficult for Bucky to find his friend. He'd gone where he'd always gone these past few months: to the nearest recruitment office. He found him looking in the mirror that showed him as a soldier.

"You really gonna do this again?" he demanded, making Steve turn. In the seating area on the other side of the recruitment hall, the blonde woman watched covertly from behind a newspaper.

"Well, it's a fair," Steve pointed out. "I'm gonna try my luck."

"As who?" Bucky asked pointedly. "Steve from Ohio? They'll catch you—or worse, they'll actually take you."

Steve sighed. "Look, I know you don't think I can do this..."

"This isn't a back alley, Steve, it's a war!"

"I know it's a war! You don't have to tell me."

"Why are you so keen to fight, huh?" Bucky asked. "There are so many important jobs."