[ Over four months as a USO girl and Steph still gets skittish from the attention. The children and women are fine; she rather likes feeling useful, that she's making a difference instead of just wasting away in a lab or, worse, a hospital bed.
It's the men that give her a headache. Back in Brooklyn she'd never had to deal with being stared at, catcalled, or propositioned; whenever it happened it was usually just to get back at Bucky for something, or to make some girlfriend jealous that they could be replaced by someone as plain and unremarkable as Stephanie Rogers. It's been markedly worse during the tours. One time she'd punched a soldier who'd cornered her and tried to get up close and personal with Lady Liberty's celebrated gams. He'd been lucky she had better control of her strength by then, but he still wound up in the infirmary.
Tonight she has most of the 107th lining up to ask her for a dance. Once upon a time, long before Lady Liberty, she'd have delighted in getting some attention for a change, to be noticed, to be seen. But the only soldier she wants to dance with has been avoiding her all night.
It's the intervention of Corporal Dugan that chases the men off. So she dances with him. She asks about his family back home. He asks if she has anyone special — "Your man, is he Army?" — and she blushes all the way to her hairline. Then he points out that Sergeant Barnes has already slipped out and he'll cover her if she wants to go, too.
She doesn't need to be told twice. She doesn't even make some smartass quip about the knowing look he gives her, intent on making it back to the women's barracks as soon as possible and spending the rest of the night sketching. As luck would have it, however, the path she takes, believing it to be a shortcut, leads her right into Bucky's hiding spot. She tries to backpedal, but her boots crunch against the dead leaves on the ground, and he turns to look right at her. ]
Hey. [ She can't read the expression on his face, and it scares her. Is he mad that she's here, or about what she'd done? Worse, has this war turned him into a stranger? Unable to look at him in the eyes, she drops her gaze to the cigarette in his hand. ] Can I try?
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It's the men that give her a headache. Back in Brooklyn she'd never had to deal with being stared at, catcalled, or propositioned; whenever it happened it was usually just to get back at Bucky for something, or to make some girlfriend jealous that they could be replaced by someone as plain and unremarkable as Stephanie Rogers. It's been markedly worse during the tours. One time she'd punched a soldier who'd cornered her and tried to get up close and personal with Lady Liberty's celebrated gams. He'd been lucky she had better control of her strength by then, but he still wound up in the infirmary.
Tonight she has most of the 107th lining up to ask her for a dance. Once upon a time, long before Lady Liberty, she'd have delighted in getting some attention for a change, to be noticed, to be seen. But the only soldier she wants to dance with has been avoiding her all night.
It's the intervention of Corporal Dugan that chases the men off. So she dances with him. She asks about his family back home. He asks if she has anyone special — "Your man, is he Army?" — and she blushes all the way to her hairline. Then he points out that Sergeant Barnes has already slipped out and he'll cover her if she wants to go, too.
She doesn't need to be told twice. She doesn't even make some smartass quip about the knowing look he gives her, intent on making it back to the women's barracks as soon as possible and spending the rest of the night sketching. As luck would have it, however, the path she takes, believing it to be a shortcut, leads her right into Bucky's hiding spot. She tries to backpedal, but her boots crunch against the dead leaves on the ground, and he turns to look right at her. ]
Hey. [ She can't read the expression on his face, and it scares her. Is he mad that she's here, or about what she'd done? Worse, has this war turned him into a stranger? Unable to look at him in the eyes, she drops her gaze to the cigarette in his hand. ] Can I try?