The One Shot Chapters (18+)

Steve Rogers - The Howling Commando (PT2)

Steve had watched Betty quietly as she sat on the window seat, her usually pinned hair falling in waves past her shoulders. Modern day clothing suited her although she'd found it a little strange at first. They all had. Dum Dum still refused to take his hat off but somehow was able to make it work with today's fashion. They'd only ever known how to be soldiers, how to wear a uniform. The war had been all they knew until Dr Strange had plucked them from it.

Of course therapy had been offered - along with a French speaker so that Jacques could actually understand, and so could they. Betty was the only one who could really tell what he was trying to say though, but months later the Frenchman was now speaking some good English. Enough to communicate.

The world was trying to return to normal, although the five years of the snap had proved to be damaging. Especially for the children who had been orphaned. Now there was the mammoth task of returning them to their families. Some were just babies, hours old before their parents vanished.

Behind closed doors, SHIELD was being formed once more, with both Fury and Coulson working together to ensure that this time around, they would be prepared for anything. Threats were still out there - which was why they had given the members of the Howling Commandos a proposition.

Become the new tactical team for the organisation once they were able to navigate modern day life.

Betty had barely said a word on the way back to Steve's apartment. Brooklyn was bustling again, and now in the street below, cars passed, people walked and talked while trying to get back to some normality.

She wrapped her cardigan around her a little more, the breeze from the open window gently rolling in. "Coffee?" He asked as he walked in. She turned her head slowly shook it.

"No thank you".

"You don't have to say yes to Fury's offer y'know? And he won't exactly judge you for it. You've been through a lot".

Betty rested her head against the glass. "I don't know, Jacques was quite excited at the prospect of blowing shit up again - he looked like a kid in a candy shop when Fury showed us all those weapons...it was scary but also overwhelming to know this is how far ammunition has come".

Making his coffee, he turned and leant back against the counter. "You got that right...when I woke up I ran straight out in the city...cars everywhere, tall buildings - a far cry from home. And it'll be like that for a while. Even Brooklyn is different to how I remember it, but I stay here because it's home".

"My home is England..." She stated. "I dread to think how that's changed".

He felt sorry for her, it was something to be stuck out of time, but out of time and not even in her home country was another thing. "I'm not sure what I want anymore".

"Fury's offer is a good one. One that he will wait for until he has the decision from all of you. You all say no? He'll just find others to make up the team. You all say yes? You'll feel as though you have some purpose here. Not that you don't, because you do. Women do all kinds of jobs now, you could be anything you wanted to be if you didn't wanna be part of the team anymore".

Betty picked at her nails. "The food is better, fashion? Some of it, but I suppose I can get used to tight jeans and vest tops. I suppose I just have to learn to be a girl out of time".

"You want my honest opinion?" Steve asked, coming to sit opposite her, she nodded. "I think going back to a place like SHIELD would be better for you all. It's what you know - you'd be a strong tactical squad. You're all trained, the only thing you'd need to learn about is the newer weapons but it's pretty straightforward. There will always be war in different shapes and forms Bett - that's why the Avengers were formed. To stop threats from those like Thanos".

"That why you agreed?" She asked.

He nodded. "It was all I had..."

Betty resumed looking out of the window. "I guess getting back out there wouldn't be so bad - and with Bucky having that mechanical arm thing? Could be useful. I'd need to speak to the others. Jacques will say yes because he just wants to blow things up, but Dum Dum? Jim? They may not be so keen on the idea - then again they're a bunch of idiots so they could say yes if I bribe them a little".

"Didn't take much back in the day" Steve smirked, remembering how he'd recruited them through opening a bar tab. "And from what I remember, it was the same with you..."

A small smile formed on her lips. "The idea of being an asset to a team of men, including Captain America was what made me say yes".

"And you're still that...even if you think you may not be". His hand went to hers and she looked down at it.

"What's modern day dating like here?"

Steve looked at her. He was a lot better at this now than he had been back when he'd first got out of the ice, and back in the forties for that matter. No more clamming up and letting his mouth go dry. He'd been on enough dates by now to know what it was like. "How about I take you out on one tonight?"

"One what?"

"A date". He paused before adding. "That is...if you wanted to?"

Betty nodded, knowing that she'd spent most of the war carrying a secret torch for this man, and then having to push her feelings aside as she'd watched him and Peggy Carter together. She wished it had been her, and it hurt - but she'd just got on with life until the fateful day he'd taken the plane down. It had hurt even more then - but now she knew how he felt about her? She wondered whether she could have that life she'd wanted with him, even if it was so very different to how she'd imagined.

"I'd like that a lot".