I trailed behind Peggy, who was wearing a gorgeous red dress. A plan had been made by Phillips and Steve, for Steve and his group, the men from the 107th that he had saved, to infiltrate Schmidt aka Red Skull's bases to try and find him. The plan started the next day, so the officers were taking the night to relax and to celebrate Steve's successful rescue mission.
At first, I didn't want to go. I was quite content with staying in my quarters (which I magicked up for myself so that I didn't have to share with anyone) and doing whatever people from the 1940s did to entertain themselves. However, Peggy managed to convince me to join her in the celebrations.
"If anything," she had said, "go for Steve. Don't think I don't know about that dance he promised you."
Strangely, that was enough to convince me.
Peggy let me borrow one of her dresses as I didn't have anything remotely fancy to wear. It was a long sleeved navy blue dress, that was one solid color from the bottom all the way to the torso, then the sleeves were a lace pattern. It was a modest dress, very classy, but still quite sexy in my opinion.
We entered the bar where the celebration was in full swing. The men who were about to embark on their mission were already incredibly drunk, or just getting there, and were singing some song at the top of their lungs, but it all came out slurred and incoherent.
Peggy spotted Steve and Bucky sitting at the bar and grabbed my arm, leading me over to them.
"Hello you two," she said with a smile.
The both turned. Bucky greeted me with a hug and Peggy with a quick salute, but I noticed the small grin on his face as he looked at Peggy. I couldn't blame him; she looked beautiful.
Steve, however, was silent and slightly dumbfounded as he looked me over. I felt my face burn a little, but I tried to act confident. Sure, I was quite cocky and an anti-hero in my time, but I wasn't used to guys looking at me like this. Not just with absolute lust, but with some sort of affection in their eyes.
"Hello Steve," I said with a smile. "I believe you owe me a dance."
Steve shook his head and looked back up at me. He managed to regain his composure and he smiled. "I believe I do. May I have this dance then, Agent Jannat?"
I giggled. "You may, Captain Rogers."
Steve took my hand and led me to the dance floor. He spun me around before pulling me close, causing me to giggle again. I still couldn't hear what the song was, but I could tell it wasn't slow. But Steve was still dancing slow with me, so I imagined some super romantic slow song from my era in my head. A total cliche, cheesy, Nicholas Sparks romance novel/movie moment was happening between us, and I wasn't complaining about it.
Steve was looking down at his feet, and I could hear him counting under his breath, like when someone teaches you how to dance and they count the steps. I put my hand under his chin and raised his head to make him look at me.
"Don't worry about it so much," I told him. "Just move to the music."
"I can't do that when the music is my team drunkenly singing," Steve chuckled.
"Then just imagine something slower, or just...sway."
Steve smiled and did as I said. We were swaying left and right in the middle of an empty dancefloor. There weren't many females here, just myself and Peggy, so I understood why no one else was dancing like we were.
I decided not to focus on everyone else around. I tuned out the drunken singing, the soldiers who weren't as drunk who were staring at us, and the feeling of Peggy and Bucky's eyes on the two of us. I just looked up at Steve's handsome face and let it all fade away. It was just us, swaying to our imaginary music.
I put my head on Steve's shoulder, pulling him even closer. We were pressed up against one another. Steve froze for a moment, but quickly found his rhythm again and started swaying again.
Against my chest, I could almost feel Steve's heartbeat. I was sure he could feel mine, too. My heart was pounding, but in a good way. I was so happy to be here. I was glad I took this assignment, even if I knew that after I saved Steve, I'd have to leave him. I knew I shouldn't be getting this close only to break his heart, but I couldn't help myself. There was just something about Steve Rogers.
"And I thought I was the one who would step on your toes," Steve chuckled as I accidentally stepped on his foot.
I quickly pulled away, from both Steve and my thoughts. "Crap, I'm sorry!"
Steve laughed. "It's alright! It didn't even hurt. Are you okay?"
"I'm just thinking...about the mission," I said. Not a complete lie. I was telling a lot of half lies lately.
"Don't overthink it," Steve assured me. "We have tonight. Just live in the now, okay?"
I smiled and nodded. I let Steve pull me back into our dance.
"I wish I could have this moment forever," I found myself mumbling against Steve's shoulder. In reality, I probably could. I could stop time right now and live in this moment for as long as I wanted. But I knew I couldn't do that. I had to focus on the mission.
"I do, too," Steve responded. "You're an amazing girl, Riana. I'm glad Bucky set us up on that date."
I smiled. In a way, I wished that that moment had been authentic. That I had really been friends with Connie for years, and we were really set up on a date by random choice, not by my powers.
"You kept your promised," I added, although I knew he would even without the promise. "You kept that goodness in you."
"Where would I be without it?" Steve said with a smile.
"Not here dancing with me," I said. That's the truth.
"Then I'm especially glad for my goodness."
I felt my cheeks heat up as I pulled away to look up at Steve. Gosh, he was so tall. He gained at least a foot over me, the polar opposite of what he was those months before, or days before in my case.
"Steve - " I started, not sure how I should word my warning that would sound believable.
"I know what you're about to say," Steve cut me off. "I know the risks of this. I know that something could happen to me on these missions, or something could happen to you in the field in general. But that's not hindering how I feel about you, Riana. I really like you. You're so tough, and a smart ass. You don't take anything from anyone, especially not Colonel Phillips. And, even in this situation you're in, you're not serious. You're goofy and silly, you don't mind having a laugh with anyone here despite the circumstances. You're an amazing girl, Riana. And I...I think I really like you."
I felt my heart swelling with happiness, and breaking at the same time. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. It was the sweetest and most genuine thing anyone had ever said to me. And within the next few days, I'd have to come up with some sort of excuse to explain to Steve why I would never be able to see him again, or, the more heartbreaking option, erasing his memory of me completely.
I opened my mouth to speak but nothing would come out. I wanted to try again, to say these feelings weren't exactly a great thing at the moment, but I just couldn't. I wanted to tell him I felt the same way. Because I did. I liked Steve so much. I just wanted to stay here with him for the rest of time, but I knew I couldn't.
Could I?
Before I could form any words to say, someone asked, "May I steal your lady, Rogers?"
Steve and I looked over to see Bucky standing there. Behind him, Peggy was still at the bar, smiling a very proud smile at Steve and I. When she saw me looking, she winked and took a sip of her drink.
"Of course," Steve said, pulling away from me. "Does this count as that dance I owed you?"
"It does," I said. "But, maybe we could pick this up...after the mission."
That could take weeks. This gives me time to come up with some way to leave without hurting Steve too bad, or gain the nerve to erase his memories.
Steve's smile was wide and bright. I couldn't help but smile back. "I'd really like that."
Bucky took Steve's position and the two of us started dancing. Steve returned to the bar and began to talk with Peggy.
"He's really in to you," Bucky told me. "I can tell. He would not shut up about you after our date. Before I went away, I mean. And now...the way he looks at you..."
Bucky trailed off, but I knew where he was going. It was that look you see in romance movies, where the guy looks at the girl like she is the only person in the world; the only thing worth living for. And this happens when the girl isn't looking. Except I had seen Steve looking at me this way, and I knew I had been looking at him the same way.
"I like him, too," I admitted to Bucky. "He's...amazing."
Bucky chuckled. "That he is."
I looked up at Bucky. It dawned on me that when this mission started, Bucky's time was limited. The day they boarded that train, his fate would be sealed. He was going to fall and be lost, and Steve's heart was going to break. And I didn't know if I could handle that either. I was starting to like Bucky, too. As like an older brother, or a guy friend. I didn't have many of those.
I knew that I was sent back in time to save Steve, and that was the only part of the timeline I was supposed to change. But if Steve lived, he would live the rest of his life in sadness because he couldn't save Bucky that day on the train. So maybe...it wouldn't hurt to change one other little thing from the timeline.
With that, it was decided. No matter how much Steve protested, I was going with him on that mission on the train. I was going to save James Buchanan Barnes.
Dedicated to Riana_Jannat23