(no subject)

[stephrogers]

The mellow dance hall had an old timey feel to it: wooden paneling, sweethearts dancing slowly with each other as the gentle music of a big band song played. Steph was standing to the side, searching over the slow moving couples to see if she could find...if she could find him. But something was off. She knew she wasn't in the 40s anymore. She knew that. She was wearing her new Captain America uniform. One that Coulson designed. Yet...yet the setting looked just like home. And there was hope in her chest that Bucky was just really late.

No. This was a dream. It had to be.

Comments

i am so sorry for these typos and edits T_T

[waterfell]

Ami was in the middle of things. She liked that a lot, and these days, she had the means to make it happen. That was worth it, wasn't it? So there was a second female soldier in the room, doing the opposite of staying out of the way as she chattered too brightly with some of the other girls and occasionally reproved a too-bold fella asking for a dance with a few cold words. She smiled quietly to herself with decided satisfaction as they went away humiliated.

It all took a strange turn soon enough. What was she doing in this type of dance hall instead of a club or karaoke spot in good old 2008? And big band, had that ever been her preference over classical (or the more secret liking for pop idols)? For that matter, while she'd lived there awhile, she certainly never joined the U.S. Army, yet here she was in a feminized version of their uniform.

Somehow, it all narrowed down to the other uniformed girl, who was just starting to draw quizzical looks from a few of the faceless crowd. Ami wasn't sure what to make of that, but she kept the wide smile as she decided to be upfront. It was the best way to an answer.

"What an honor to see you here as well!" she greeted Stephanie, a bit too airily to be entirely sincere, but without insult, either.

what typos? o_o

[stephrogers]

"See me...?" Steph's brow furrowed. It almost felt like she was moving underwater with how lethargic she was feeling. The girl. She looked...peculiar. But she was in the same type of uniform that Steph and Peggy wore whenever they needed to be in dress uniform. Except...there weren't that many female soldiers. Let alone ones that looked as this one did.

"I uh..." Bucky. No, Bucky was dead. Steph shook her head, feeling fuzzy at all this. Maybe if she tried. "Have you seen Barnes? Bucky?" she asked.

the ones that disappeared in my 50 edits XD /you're sweet to be patient

[waterfell]

Bucky Barnes. Something tugged at her mind, like she should know the name, but Ami had never been one to read many comics, whether Western or Japanese. She shook her head.

"Never heard of him." She didn't seem to find this nearly as important as it was to Stephanie. An idea occurred to her, seeing a girl waiting for a boy. "He didn't stand you up, did he?"

XD No worries!

[stephrogers]

Stand her up? Steph looked around. Bucky would never stand her up. "He can't." She shook her head, trying to clear it of the fuzzy thoughts. "No, he wouldn't." She looked down at the star emblazoned on her chest then at the girl. "Bucky would never stand me up. And...and he wouldn't be here. He's--"

It hurt more than it normally did to say it.

Re: XD No worries!

[waterfell]

It's not a commentary on Stephanie when Ami assumes that. It's a commentary on how easy it is for someone to be left behind, forgotten. But that answer only makes her frown.

"If he wouldn't be here," she points out, "Why look for him here?" This, too, is not precisely said to Stephanie so much as to herself. She looks for the wrong things, in the wrong places, always.

[stephrogers]

This has happened before. Steph shook her head to try and clear it before looking at the girl in her eyes. "Miss, where am I really? I know this isn't--" Isn't home wasn't the right phrase because home would be 1943. She's been in this place before, always fighting a non-yielding crowd to look for Bucky.

"I don't know." She looked back at the dancing couples again. "I--I'm sorry." She gave the girl an apologetic smile.

[waterfell]

It was a bad question; it only served to call Ami's mind to the fact that she didn't know exactly where they were, couldn't remember coming to the club, only being here and she didn't like that all-too-familiar feeling of something strange about herself.

Of course, she didn't say this. Instead, she named the club. That much, she was sure of.

[stephrogers]

"The Stork Club?" Steph looked around again. No Peggy. No Bucky. Not even Howard. She frowned and looked back at the girl. "And...what's your name?"

[waterfell]

"Ami Mizuno," she named her family second. "Pleased to meet you." The courtesy seemed slightly tacked-on as an afterthought, habitual.

"I haven't been to this type of club before, so I thought it would be interesting for tonight."

[stephrogers]

"Nice to meet you too." Mizuno. That was Japanese. Like Morita. She nodded and felt a strange sensation. She looked down to see herself wearing a dark blue dance hall dress, something she would've worn to go out with Peggy back then. "You haven't seen Bucky at all, right?"

[braidstobows]

Homura had her own reason for being in the hall: reconnaissance. By now, the existence of a woman supersoldier was generally acknowledged. To her sharply suspicious mind, well aware of the affect magical girls had had upon human history, she could only wonder if Stephanie was one of those. One of them, she supposed, as of course, she was a puella magi herself.

She conducted herself calmly, drinking some non-alcoholic beverage she was paying very little attention to. When she found an opportunity, she approached Stephanie politely, with a rather serious expression for a girl who looked no older than fifteen.

"Excuse me. I would like to speak with you awhile, if I may."

[stephrogers]

Steph was surprised when she saw the kid walk right up to her. There was something in her eyes that seemed to speak beyond her years. The blonde nodded. She could look for Bucky later. Except Bucky's dead, she chastized herself.

"Who are you?" she asked. "Kid, you should be at home. With your folks."

[braidstobows]

If she wasn't pleased by being referred to as 'kid', Homura didn't let it ruffle her outward nonchalance.

"I will leave after our conversation," was the only concession she made, bait to make Stephanie agree to her request.

[stephrogers]

Maybe Steph could call the kid's parents when they finished their conversation or offer her a ride home herself. Still, she found herself nodding. "All right, what is it?"

[braidstobows]

"You have a reputation throughout this world," Homura said bluntly. "You possess unusual strength and stamina, among other qualities. I would like to know more about your abilities."

She was not particularly known for mincing words when she had a goal in sight.

[stephrogers]

That got her attention. "Yes. I'm Captain America." Steph's brow furrowed at how to the point this teenager was. "Who did you say you were again?" She certainly didn't look like a HYDRA agent of any sort. "Who sent you here?"

[braidstobows]

Not a HYDRA agent, but Homura did appreciate that sense of caution. It was like her own, and she nodded.

"I am Homura Akemi," she introduced herself in Western order. "I came here on my own. I would like to ask you what you stand for and what you intend to accomplish with your abilities."

Actually, a part of her wanted to ask if Stephanie had met any strange seemingly-cute creepy creatures named Kyuubey. But she held off.

[stephrogers]

"Miss Akemi," Stpeh acknowledged. "Sweetheart, you should be at home with your parents. And I...I hope I can just protect my country with my abilities." She should send the kid home. Steph began to pat her pockets and look through the pockets of her belt. "Hang on, I think I've got a phone."

[braidstobows]

Homura, a veteran of time travel and time manipulation, noted the discrepancy. "There aren't usually many phones in a place like this."

At least, not many cell phones in the 1940s. It was another detail out of place, and she noticed it just as Stephanie had been noticing them, as if this entire world were somehow caught between two eras.

That made Homura wonder why.

[one_one_se7en]

This was most likely a dream, but John didn't retain a lot of his awareness for it. He was seven feet tall and bore the insignia of a Master Chief Petty Officer, but he didn't have the armor or anything that could mark that he was from a different era -- over six hundred centuries after the end of the Second War of Earth. He was wearing the navy blue dress uniform of his branch of service... along with a left side painted in ribbons of countless campaigns and medals.

The second Captain America walks in, in his mind he just knows she is familiar. Without hesitation, as if gender mattered nothing in this age. Still as a statue, under her command.

[stephrogers]

One stood out over the crowd. Wait a second, he was even bigger than Dum Dum. And he wasn't dancing. Steph made her way through and nodded at him. "At ease, soldier." This was something she could do.

[one_one_se7en]

He lowers his arm upon her command. He does a Spartans' best attempt at being at ease, which involves looking around to study the environment, as if he had been in a combat situation in spite of the solidity of his movements.

"Not used to these places, ma'am."

[stephrogers]

"Ask a girl to dance, soldier. It could be that easy to start with." She knew she was teasing, but not that teasing.

[one_one_se7en]

He looks to his side. He hadn't seen a certain woman in blue he would usually think of dating. Without her, John is already out of choices amidst many that were already paired up.

...

He turns to her.

"How badly is fraternization seen in here?"

[stephrogers]

"I'm sure there is no harm in dancing," she replied carefully, not really sure if there was more to his question or not. "Why?" She looked around. Did he want to dance with one of the fellas?