CHAPTER FOUR —
( Star Spangled Man. )
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EVELYN, CHACE AND STEVE
Italy, 107th Infantry
Evelyn and Peggy were in London for only a couple of months and Evelyn couldn't help but wonder how Steve was doing the entire time she was there. Shortly after moving to London, Evelyn heard the news of Captain America who had become the face of advertisements for people to buy bond supplies to help the US Army. It definitely helped. Men, women and children loved watching the shows and everyone had heard and talked about it even while Evelyn would be standing in meetings conversing over what HYDRA was up to; where they thought their bases were and how different their weapons seemed to be from Howard Stark's. It didn't take long for Evelyn to catch news that Captain America was, in fact, Steve Rogers. She felt bad for him. All Steve wanted to do was help save the world, to help fight in the army, but instead, he became a performer.
A couple of times while Evelyn was stationed in London, she was surprised to receive letters from Steve Rogers about what he was up to and asking Evelyn whether she was staying safe. Evelyn couldn't respond to the letters, however, because Steve seemed to be moving from city to city every other day, but she decided to respond to all of Steve's letters with hopes that one day they'd see each other again and kept them all together in a box so that she could hand him her letters and he could read them. There were only a few of them, maybe seven, but Evelyn felt bad if she didn't write back.
A couple of months later, Evelyn was shipped off to Italy after hearing that the 107th Infantry Regiment were attacked by HYDRA, leaving only around a hundred men with very few supplies. Captain America just so happened to be performing for the soldiers at the camp a couple of days later and Evelyn knew that it wouldn't go down well. Evelyn stood at the back of the audience beside a soldier she met the day before, Chace Jones to watch the performance.
"How many of you are ready to help me sock old Adolf on the jaw?" Steve called out to the soldiers followed by some very awkward silence. Evelyn immediately felt bad for him. "Okay. Uh...I need a volunteer?"
"I already volunteered! How do you think I got here?" Some man yelled out. The crowd of soldiers laughed, including Chace, and after the look Evelyn sent his way, Chace immediately stopped. "Bring back the girls!" All the male soldiers cheered.
"You should go up there," Chace told her. "I'm sure you would look pretty good in the girls costume."
Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure thing."
"I think they only know the one song. But um...let me...I'll...I'll see what I can do," Steve told the crowd.
"You do that, sweetheart," another called out.
"Nice boots, Tinker Bell!"
"Come on, guys. We're all on the same team here," Steve tried.
"Hey, Captain! Sign this!" One of the soldiers stood up, turned and pulled his pants down. Soldiers in the crowd started throwing tomatoes at Steve, and he used his shield to block them.
Evelyn scoffed. "That's a waste of their already minimal food supply."
"You like to speak your mind, don't you?" Chace asked, laughing down at her.
"Yep. I learnt from my parents and Howard that I shouldn't care what people think of me. If I did, I wouldn't be the woman I am today," Evelyn replied.
"They're right," he said. "I don't think I've ever met a girl who's so outspoken like you."
"Woman, Chace. I'm a Woman." Chace laughed and Evelyn smiled back. "Now, this woman is going to go and make sure Steve is alright after all that."
"Okay, well look after yourself, Evelyn, and I'll see you around," Chace said.
"Thank you, Chace," Evelyn replied, "and please look after yourself."
Chace mock saluted and Evelyn turned around to make her way through a group of soldiers. She knew Steve would be in the tent behind the stage so it wasn't a problem finding him even as the rain poured. Evelyn's jacket was thrown over her head to stop her freshly curled hair from falling apart when she came upon Steve who had his raincoat on and was scribbling in a book.
"I didn't know you could draw." Steve looked up at Evelyn, shocked to hear her voice. Evelyn just smiled in return. "Hi."
"Hi," Steve replied quietly and then moved over on the bench he was seated on so that Evelyn could sit down beside him. "What are you doin' here?"
"I was shipped out here," Evelyn sat down. "I'm sorry about the performance."
"Yeah. Uh, I had to improvise a little bit. Crowds I'm used to are usually more...twelve," Steve said.
"I guess I just don't understand why you're doing these shows instead of fighting in the war in the first place," Evelyn told him. "I mean, sure, they wanted more Super Soldiers instead of just you, but your procedure was a complete success. You're still here. And I doubt you'd rather do these shows than fight in the war."
"I don't think I have a choice in the matter," he admitted. "Senator Brandt has me doing this and apparently Bond sales take a ten per cent bump in every state I visit. Phillips, however, would just have me stuck in a lab."
"And that's the only thing you can do? Be either a lab rat or a dancing monkey?" Evelyn nudged him, looking down at his drawing of a monkey on a unicycle. "When I met you, Steve, I knew that you were meant for more than this. I could see it in your eyes back when you were still smaller than me." Steve let out a chuckle while Evelyn smiled comfortingly.
"You know, for the longest time, I dreamed about coming overseas and being on the front lines, serving my country. I finally got everything I wanted, and I'm wearing tights," Steve said, looking down.
"If it's any consolation," Evelyn said, "you look awesome in tights."
Steve smiled softly as his cheeks began to tint pink before their moment was interrupted by car horns going off and groups of soldiers and nurses clamouring around a couple of medic trucks that pulled out wounded soldiers.
"They look like they've been through hell," Steve commented.
"It's why I was shipped out here." Steve looked at her, clearly wanting to know more, but Evelyn knew that Colonel Phillips would throw a fit if he found out she told anyone what had happened. "Screw it," she mumbled. "HYDRA's Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men went up against him, and less than fifty returned. The group of soldiers you performed in front of are what's left of the one-oh-seventh. The rest were either killed or captured."
Steve sat up straight at that. "The 107th?" he asked quickly.
Evelyn frowned at his sudden shift in mood. "What?" Steve suddenly stood up and ran passed her, making Evelyn get up to run after him. "Steven!"
"Come on," Steve said. They rushed towards the Colonel and General's tents and Evelyn couldn't help but think about what she was going to say to Colonel Phillips after he has a go at her. "Colonel Phillips?"
Colonel Phillips looked up from his desk. "Well, if it isn't the Star-Spangled Man With a Plan. And what is your plan today?"
"I need the casualty list for Azzano."
"You don't get to give me orders, son."
"I just need one name, Sergeant James Barnes from the hundred and seventh," Steve begged.
Phillips pointed at Evelyn. "You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won't enjoy." Evelyn shrugged, knowing that was coming.
"Please tell me if he's alive, sir. B-A-R-"
"I can spell," Phillips cut him off. He stood up and let out a sigh. "I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count. But the name does sound familiar. I'm sorry."
Steve looked down. From Steve's urgency, Evelyn assumed James Barnes must've been a close friend of his. "What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?"
"Yeah, it's called winning the war," Phillips told him.
"But if you know where they are, why not at least...?"
"They're thirty miles behind the lines through some of the most heavily fortified territories in Europe. We'd lose more men than we'd save," Phillips said. "But I don't expect you to understand that, because you're a chorus girl."
"I think I understand just fine," Steve mumbled.
"Well, then understand it somewhere else. If I read the posters correctly, you got someplace to be in thirty minutes." When Phillips walked away, Steve looked at the military map which showed where the HYDRA base was.
"Yes, sir. I do."
Steve suddenly marched off and Evelyn quickly hurried after him. "Steve!" She called but to no reply. Steve hurried back to the dressing rooms and quickly began to pack a bag. "What do you plan to do? Walk to Austria?"
"If that's what it takes," he mumbled.
"You heard Phillips, he's probably dead."
"You don't know that," he argued.
"It's not safe. I think you need to take a minute and stop and think rationally—"
"I could be too late!" Steve turned around. "You told me you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?"
"Every word."
"Then you gotta let me go," Steve said.
Evelyn let out a long sigh and nodded. She knew he was right. But when Steve went to walk past her, she gripped onto his arm. "Do you remember what I told you after you chased down that HYDRA agent back in Brooklyn?"
Steve paused. "You're not coming."
"I'm coming with you."
"Evelyn-"
"Look, Steve, I can look after myself. Trust me," she told him. "You told me you believed women had the same right as men to fight in this war. That, if anything, we were smarter than men." He let out a chuckle. "I want to fight for my country just as much as you do. I want to make a difference in the world. They would only let me become an Agent and said I would bring down the team. I hate how everyone always expects me to be a damsel in distress when I am anything but. And I know way more about HYDRA than you. I could help you, Steve."
Steve sighed. "Nothing will change your mind, will it?"
Evelyn smiled. "Nope."
Steve let out a deep sigh. "Alright, fine. You can come with me. Get yourself ready and meet me by the car outside."
Evelyn grinned and then turned and ran through the rain towards the men's tents where she knew Chace would be. Making her way between tents, men kept calling out as Evelyn poked her head through each tent until she spotted Chace lying on a bed reading a book. As Evelyn stopped in front of him, he looked up.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I need to borrow some of your clothes. Preferably pants and a shirt."
Chace frowned. "Should I ask?"
"Just know that it's urgent and I'll pay you back by buying you a drink," Evelyn told him with a grin.
Chace closed his book with a sigh and swung his legs over the bed to sit up. He reached under his bed and pulled out green army pants and a matching long-sleeved shirt. "You're tall so the pants will be fine. You can always roll up the sleeves on the shirt," he told her, handing over the clothes. "Whatever you're about to do, don't die. You owe me a drink."
Evelyn smiled at his small smile. "Thank you, Chace. I'll see you soon."
Evelyn hurried out of the tent and into her shared one with Peggy. Peggy was seated on her bed in the tent and watched as Evelyn quickly took off her skirt and Agent uniform and changed into pants and the army uniform. "What are you up to?" she asked.
"Steve and I are going to save the rest of the 107th," Evelyn said, tying up her boots and rolling up her sleeves so they didn't hang over her hands.
"Can I help?" She asked.
"Do you have a way for us to get there?" Evelyn asked.
"I have one person in mind who might help," she said.
Evelyn tilted her head at Peggy until she realised who she was talking about. "Do you think he will help us?"
Peggy raised an eyebrow. "It's Stark. He would do anything for you."