The One Shot Chapters (18+)

Steve Rogers - The Homefront (AU)

How far away is 'soon' ? Is it just day? Or the rest of forever? Because the latter is what it seems like at the moment. He told me he would be back soon. That he wouldn't leave me behind once the war was over and done with. Trouble is, it seems far from over.

Since arriving in the village a couple of years ago, freshly bombed out of my own home and orphaned alongside my baby sister, I've come to appreciate the little things. Even the countryside itself. I would always scorn at the idea of staying on my Aunt and Uncle's farm, much preferring the bustle of the city. I had friends, we'd spend our days together - then the war came and tore us all apart. Now I find myself a far cry from who I was, and all it took was one bomb to make me see that perhaps this is the version I much prefer. As a result of constant moping in the wake of my parents deaths and my aunt and uncle not wanting me to be bored, they suggested I work as Land Girl alongside a few others they'd taken on. I'd have my mind occupied and would be helping the war effort.

So that's what I did.

Now instead of dresses and perfectly kept hair, I'm usually seen in overalls and wellington boots, although my hair is perfectly kept up in a head scarf. It's easier to work with. Perhaps the city girl needed to become less polished. Although not too much to be seen as 'brazen' as some of the other girls in the village.

It's still nice to get dressed up for tea dances now and then. The vicar and his wife along with the committee tend to organise them to boost morale. That night that I met Steve Rogers is special though. The news of the American troops being stationed nearby had been the gossip of everyone in the village for weeks, and by way of welcoming them to the village, they had been invited to the dance.

Whilst most were taking advantage of dancing with the prettiest girls in the village, there was just one who simply declined every request a girl made to him. He sat in the corner at one of the tables just drinking and watching whilst his friends that he was with were up having a jolly good time. It made me curious to know why the most handsome man in the room was turning the girls down. It wasn't even as though he could blend on. Something about his presence just made him stand out like a sore thumb.

"He's a total dish" Ruth, a fellow land girl and newly proclaimed best friend, flounced over to me looking glum, "And yet he wont dance with anyone - says he's saving it for the right partner - ugh! That makes him even more dreamy".

It could be worse. We could have been sat there covered in mud and all sorts looking like the hot and sweaty messes that we end up as after a day's hard labour, and yet that night we'd made a real effort to scrub ourselves stupid just to not feel like the farm girls that we were.

I stole a secret glance over to the table where the gorgeous American solider was sat, but to my surprise I found him looking - and at me...I quickly looked away and curses myself inside, knowing that he caught me, probably thinking that like all the other girls in the room, I was fawning over him.

Such a bloody embarrassment.

I smoothed the skirts of my dress out anxiously and then stood up, feeling flushed. It's a look that didn't suit me. "I'm going to get some air, don't run off with a solider while I'm gone!" I grinned to Ruth .

"Can't make any promises if one wants to sweep me off my feet". She winked.

We all knew what would happen if one did. I'd been warned about it by my Aunt many times. Possibly because my mother wasn't there to do so. "They'll make you promises they can't keep, steal your innocence and then will never return". Over her dead body would she have let me walk out with an American man. She'd rather me marry the greengrocers son or something. Actually that's not true, he'd been called up and left a few weeks before. Truth be told, it seemed that there were more American men in the village than there were British.

The cool night air hit me as I strode out of the hall and sat myself down on a bench, the music and laughter inside morphing from clear to muffled every so often as people pass the doors. The sky was clear that evening, even though it was dark. Sometimes during the day or late evening you could catch sight of bombers taking off from the nearby airfield. It was an impressive sight, but at the expense of a cause that I wished would end without any more lives being lost.

"A good evening to grow wings and fly away". An American accent drifted along the air as I turned to see the solider from the corner table standing there also looking up like I was.

"To a place where war doesn't exist". I said. His side profile was just as handsome as looking at him fully.

He looked at me sadly. "It'll always exist whether we like it or not".

"And do you like that it does?" I asked stupidly. "Some men I knew couldn't wait to go and defend their country, kill the enemy - although those men are all dead now..." I trailed off. "I don't think they expected it to become the scale it has".

His boots crunched on the ground beneath him as he came to sit next to me. "I signed up because I didn't like bullies. Not because I wanted to kill people.". His answer was raw and honest. "Steve Rogers..." He put out a hand and I shook it.

"Florence Cooper". My eyes flickered up to meet his.

"I actually came out here to see whether you wanted to dance..." He started but then looked a little shy at what he had just asked me. "But if you don't want to then..."

"I'd love to!" I said a little too enthusiastically. "But...my friend told me that you'd said to her that you were waiting for the right partner?"

He smiled lightly, eyes twinkling. "Considering that you were the only one not to ask me? I think I may have found her..."

We'd danced, his form towering over my own while other girls watched on enviously. For the first time in my life I felt that perhaps I was the prettiest in the village, although in my opinion I was far from it.

After that, I'd sneak out to meet with Steve any evening that I could, and any that he could get away. He never spoke about what he did. I knew he was a Captain and would lead a team on missions. But considering these were confidential he didn't give me any further details. He would sometimes leave for days, and other times weeks - but he would always come back to me.

It wasn't until I saw the newspapers about a bravery award that I discovered just who he was. But that made no difference to me like he said that he thought it was. He was my Captain. My Steve. I didn't want the super solider like many of his female fans did. I wanted the shy boy from Brooklyn who had plucked up the courage to ask me to dance, because he only had eyes for me that first night.

Now as wipe the sweat from my brow after digging up potatoes in a field, I take a brief moment to reflect on the night before he left. I have no regrets, not one. It's our secret. He is my secret. My Aunt may know that he danced with me, but she has no idea of just how deep this has become. She'd probably class me as damaged goods, but I would rather have Steve Rogers damage me than a man who I feel nothing for. But he's been gone for so long now that every day I worry just that little more. He told me he'd come back for me, and I believe that he will - but when? It's another matter altogether.

I just hope that the 'soon' comes now, rather than later - because I know if anything were to happen to him? I'll never love again.