Summary: She is an unknown variable thrown into a new, but familiar, world. How will the Marvel Cinematic Universe change with this new presence? Will it be for the better or worse? (BuckyXOC, slow burn; covers movies, Netflix, and TV)
Rating: M
Word Count: 272,710
Status: Ongoing
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12804427/1/Fly-Me-to-the-Moon
Chapter 1: France: World War II
Diana Larson strode into her room in the suite she and her friends shared, dropping her keys on the end table near the door. She'd just come back from watching a midnight showing of Avengers: Endgame that would have the entire "Old Guard" in it. It was already 3:00 AM, and she still had a thesis paper to finish for her Anatomy class later that morning. It was the final paper too, otherwise she'd have collapsed face first into her bed and taken a nap.
Instead, Diana rubbed her face and sat down at her laptop. She had already applied to become Pre-Med, so she should start get used to pulling all-night shifts. If she didn't finish this thesis, she'd probably fail the class and be unable to continue on to medical school.
She read over what she had already written and, once she got to the end, looked at the outline to figure out what her next point was going to be. Diana began to type, hoping she wouldn't screw this up.
The sound of the keys clicking was soothing. She yawned, bringing the back of her hand up to cover her mouth. After blinking a few times, Diana tried to focus on the paper again, but the letters and lines were swimming on the screen.
She scrubbed at her eyes and was about to start typing again when her screen went dark. Diana froze in horror, "No." She checked to make sure her laptop was plugged in. It was. "What the hell." Then she looked at the screen again. It was still black, but there was a silvery cursor blinking on it. Diana took a step closer, frowning.
Then the cursor moved, forming letters: IT IS YOU
"What?" She squawked and took a step away from her computer.
The cursor and words vanished, the screen returned to her paper.
Diana just stared, unable to understand just what the hell was going on with her computer. Cautiously, she sat back down at her chair, "I'm just tired. It was a hallucination brought on by tiredness," she mumbled to herself and stifled another yawn.
Time passed and it was nearly dawn when Diana's head drooped over her keyboard and her eyes closed as she fell asleep, her thesis still unfinished.
Diana awoke with a start and stared up at the ceiling. She didn't remember going to bed, but she must have. As she sat up, she realized that she was still in the clothes she'd worn to the movie. If she'd actually gone to bed, she would have changed into her pajamas. She looked around her room for her alarm clock to try to figure out what time it was.
There was no clock where it should have been, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Diana realized that something was very wrong.
This was not her room.
With a racing heart, she crept around this strange room, trying to figure out where she was and just who had kidnapped her from her dorm. The first thing Diana did was try to open the wooden door; it was locked from the outside. There were also no windows in the room, although that wasn't unexpected. Maybe she was underground…
The room was very sparse - the bed, which was more of a cot with a blanket on it, and a wooden table on the opposite wall with two chairs. Diana searched for something she could use as a weapon so when her captor returned for whatever reason, she could attack him (or her) and escape. Unfortunately, other than the bed, table, and chairs, there was nothing else in the room, not even a lamp!
She plopped down on the cot and shivered. It was unusually cold for May, and she wrapped the scratchy blanket around her shoulders. Diana brought up her legs and enveloped them and her feet as best she could with the blanket. She held them with her arms and bowed her head to her knees.
Questions raced through her mind: Where the hell was she? How did she get here? How long had she been here? Did anyone know she was missing yet? Was she going to die?
She grit her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut in an attempted to stop the tears that threatened to trickle down her face. She wanted her mom.
Then Diana heard the doorknob rattle and her head shot up. A tear escaped one eye and she scrubbed vigorously at it as the door opened. She pushed herself up against the wall next to the bed to try to get as far away as possible from her captor.
In the darkness, she could see a tall, broad man. She could make out the glint of colored pins on one side of his chest. Diana blinked. It kind of looked like a formal army uniform from the movies. He looked up at his face, but couldn't see it clearly due to the darkness.
"Bit dark in here, isn't it?" He asked rhetorically in a gruff American accent. He turned around and called out in a commanding tone, "Someone forgot to leave a light in here! Bring one!" Seconds later, a uniformed man opened handed a lit oil lantern to the gruff American. He nodded, "Go back to your duties, Sergeant."
Definitely military, then. Diana decided.
The man turned back and set the lantern on the table, "Well, now, welcome back to the land of the living, missy." He turned to her and she could finally see his face.
Diana gaped, "Oh my god!" The man's shrewd eyes narrowed as she blurted, "You're Tommy Lee Jones!"
His eyebrows went up, "Sorry missy. I think you've mistaken me for someone else. My name is Colonel Chester Phillips of the Strategic Science Reserve in the United States Army, and I have some questions for you."
"But you're…" Diana paused as the names he'd given struck a chord, "Strategic Science Reserve?"
"Yes. That's right," he confirmed.
"Chester Philips?" She gawked.
"Colonel. Yes."
"This is impossible! I've got to be dreaming! I just saw Avengers: Endgame and now I'm dreaming about how it all began. That's it! Wake up." She knocked herself in the forehead with the heel of her hand. Unfortunately, all it did was give her a mild headache, "Ow…"
The Colonel had a pinched look on his face, "I assure you that this is all real. You're in France and you're in the middle of a warzone."
"No, no, no, no. This is impossible!" She repeated, "This is just a movie - a movie franchise universe! And you're just an actor!" Diana pointed at the Tommy Lee Jones look-alike. Then what he had said caught up with her, "What do you mean France?"
His eyes narrowed, "You don't know where you are?"
"I fell asleep in my dorm room in Minnesota. That's the last thing I remember," she said.
He stared at her, contemplating, "That's very strange. Maybe an easier question: What's your name, miss?"
"Diana. Larson," she said. "I'm twenty-two and I'm from Minnesota. I was studying for pre-med at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. And I've never been in trouble with the law in my life!" Diana paused, "Okay, that's a lie. I've gotten two speeding tickets, but who hasn't gotten a speeding ticket?!"
"I see." He frowned, "You don't have any idea how you got here? What's the last thing you do remember?"
"I was typing a paper on my laptop when the power went all weird. Then this message popped up saying something ominous like 'It is you' or something. It went away, my paper came back, much to my relief, and I continued working. I must've fallen asleep." She pinched herself, "Ow. And I'm still not waking up. This has got to be some strong inception or something."
"What's a laptop?" The Colonel asked.
"A… you don't know what a laptop is?" Diana looked surprised, "A laptop computer?"
"Impossible. The only computers I've heard of fill an entire room." His eyes narrowed, "Try to think up better lies, missy."
"But it's not! Laptops have been around for years! Since, like, the 1980s or something!"
That made the Colonel lean forward, "Miss, what's the date?"
Diana blinked, "Year?" He nodded and she looked even more bewildered, but answered, "April 27, 2019."
"I see. Is that why you think I'm this Tommy Jones character?"
"Tommy Lee Jones is an actor. Chester Phillips is a character." She grit her teeth, "Why am I even telling you all this? It's a fucking dream!"
"Watch your language, young lady!" He snapped.
Diana winced, "Sorry."
"The date, missy, is December 28, 1943," he told her.
"Right. World War II." She nodded, "Captain America and his Howling Commandos and all that. This dream sucks. Why couldn't this dream have me hanging out with Cap and the Commandos? Why am I stuck with feeling like a prisoner of war?"
"You were found outside of a HYDRA base lying face first in the snow," the Colonel informed her. "For all we know, you could be one of them. Or a crazy person they'd been experimenting on. It's a toss-up for me right now."
"I'm not crazy!" Diana retorted, "And HYDRA can go f- umm… HYDRA can suck it for all I care. I'd never work for those evil sons-of-bitches. Not in a trillion years!"
"Hmmm…" He observed her for a few moments, and she shifted under the blanket, "Your clothes are strange enough. It's not the craziest thing I've ever heard of." He rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression.
"What?"
"It's not impossible." His gaze looked her up and down again before he asked, "Why exactly do you think it's 2019?"
"Why do you think it's 1943-" She cut herself off as she remembered Doctor Strange altering time with the Time Stone. If the Reality Stone, Time Stone, and Space Stone were used together, someone could be sent to another universe and another time and place. Then there were those Cosmic Entities that she'd heard about from a Youtube video when one was mentioned as an Easter Egg in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 . So what if…? What… if…?
"You've realized something. I can see it written plainly on your face." The Colonel had an intent stare.
"I, well," she hesitated, "I'm considering that maybe this is real. I mean, it sounds impossible, crazy, like a crack fanfiction or something. But I've seen it done with a lot of fandoms - Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, lots of others - where someone gets dropped into a fictional universe. And considering the… well… circumstances… I guess it could be possible. I just… why me? I'm nobody."
"I didn't understand much of that." The Colonel frowned, "Explain again."
"Well, ummm, if what I think happened is true," she pinched herself again and cringed. Dreams don't hurt, and she was starting to think that just maybe this wasn't a dream after all, "if what I think happened is true, then I'm from a different universe where all of this," she waved a hand about to indicate the room, "this universe is fiction, a series of movies spanning from 2008 to 2019 and beyond."
"And how exactly was this transfer between universes achieved?" The Colonel looked doubtful.
"I don't know."
He scoffed at her, "Right."
"Look, I can prove to you that I know more than I should."
"What exactly do you think you know?"
Diana began her explanation, "Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America, was given the super soldier serum by Doctor Abraham Erskine in Brooklyn only a few months ago. Erskine was assassinated by a HYDRA Agent and, because you wanted a super soldier army and not just A super soldier, you made Steve into a war bonds performer and poster boy for the troops. You thought that by keeping him out of the war you could one day take his blood and have another scientist synthesize the serum from that blood in the future, someone like Howard Stark, who worked with Dr. Erskine. Steve even has a drawing of a monkey juggling on a unicycle in one of his notebooks."
"Alright, stop right there," the Colonel ordered and gave her a hard stare, "I told only a few people about my reasons for keeping Rogers away from the war. Maybe there's some credence to your theory."
"Yeah?" She looked up at the Colonel.
"You better not be lying to me, missy, or you're going to be in a world of trouble," he warned her.
"I'm not lying."
"We'll see." He turned to the door and paused with his hand on the knob, "You're probably hungry and cold. I'll send someone in with a meal and another blanket while I check out your story about the drawing. I will return, and we will continue this conversation."
"Yes, sir." She nodded.
He opened the door and closed it behind him. Diana could hear the wooden bar on the outside sliding into place, firmly locking the door.
"This is insane," she muttered to herself. "Why am I even thinking that this might be real? It's impossible! Things like this just don't happen! And why Captain America? Why not Ironman? Or Thor? Why am I the one stuck in the 1940s? What'm I supposed to do in the middle of World War II?"
Diana curled up on the cot. She knew next to nothing about the 1940s. World War II had never really caught her interest, and she the stuff she did know about was in the South Pacific fighting thanks to her great uncle's World War II journal. They might as well send her back to the States. Maybe then she could go to Bleecker Street and see if the sorcerers could help her get back home… if she wasn't dreaming. If they couldn't, her only hope was finding her way to K'un Lun without dying in the Himalayas or at the hands of the Iron Fist.
Some time passed and the lantern's light flickered on the table. Well, at least she had light in the room.
After a while of staring at the shadows on the wall created by the lantern, there was a knock on the door. Diana sat up and wrapped the blanket around herself again, "Come in." She heard the bar being removed and the door opened.
A man with dusty red-blond hair and a bushy mustache stepped in holding a tray of hot cereal or oatmeal. He gave her a small smile as he set the tray on the table and then removed his bowler hat, placing it on the very edge of the table.
"Hello. I'm Sergeant Timothy Dugan. My friends call me Dum Dum," he said.
"Hi," she answered, "I'm Diana Larson." Her stomach growled.
Dugan smiled again, "Sounds like you're hungry. It's not the best thing in the world, but it's hot and hearty." He held out a bowl of something that looked kind of like oatmeal.
"Thanks." Diana slid off the cot and wrapped the blanket more tightly around her.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" He opened the door and stepped out for half a second. Diana could see that it actually led straight outside into the snow. Dugan came back in a moment later with a long coat, "Here. Agent Carter is letting you borrow this. Make sure she gets it back."
"I will. Tell her thanks if I don't see her first." Diana accepted the coat and removed the blanket from her shoulders. She saw Dugan's eyebrows twitch up in surprise at her clothes, but he didn't say anything, only averting his eyes. She wrapped and fastened the coat around her 21st Century clothes. Diana sat at the table and picked up the spoon to eat.
Dum Dum pulled out a chair and sat across from her, "So, where're you from?"
Diana swallowed the bland oatmeal, "Minnesota."
"Minnesota? Never been. You must get lotsa snow up there."
"Oh ya," She exaggerated the stereotypical Minnesota accent, "we get lotsa snow up der, donchya know."
The accent made the Sergeant smile, "I'm from Dorchester, Massachusetts, myself. We can sometimes get buried in snow, but nothing like I've heard about around the Great Lakes."
"My family likes to go skiing when the snow's good enough," Diana said, "and my dad's always said that there's never been a winter cold enough or snowy enough to satisfy him."
"Sounds like a tough man."
She gave a small smile, "Yeah." Diana took another spoonful of the oatmeal.
"I actually can't believe you're eating that." Dugan said.
The blonde looked down at the soup, "I've been living off of pasta and crackers for a while because I've been too busy to get real food. Plus, the last thing I ate was popcorn at a movie, and I finished the bag halfway through." She ate another spoonful, "So, I'm starving. I think I'd've eaten this blanket pretty soon if you hadn't come in with this." She was laying it on a bit thick, but she didn't want to come off as suspicious.
Judging by the smile under his bushy mustache, Dum Dum knew she was exaggerating about the starving part, "Well, I haven't seen someone eat that stuff that fast since…" He got quiet for a moment. He cleared his throat, "Since Cap rescued us from HYDRA."
"Oh." She looked down at the oatmeal in a new light, "You must be tight on rations."
"Well, we haven't been to a town in a few weeks, so yeah. Provisions are tight." He nodded,
"But we're moving out soon. The Colonel needs to figure out who you are exactly and how you got here before we can do that."
"So he sent you in to babysit."
"I got a baby sister a little older than you."
"Yeah? I got siblings too. Two brothers and a sister." She scooped up the last of the bland oatmeal.
"Always nice to have family." Dum Dum said, "I can take that for you."
"Thanks for the food, even though you think it wasn't the best."
"With the way Cap eats, I'm surprised we haven't already run out of rations," the Sergeant joked as he gathered her bowl back onto the tray, "You should get some rest, Miss Larson. I don't know how long you were stuck out in the cold unconscious, but I'm glad we found you when we did."
"Who found me?" She asked.
"Monty - that is Major James Montgomery Falsworth - spotted the red of your dress in the snow. Thought it was blood," Dugan said. "It was Sergeant James Barnes who actually dug you out of the snow and carried you back to base."
"Oh." Diana swallowed, "Well, tell them I said thanks when you see them. I mean, if it weren't for them, I'd be dead - or worse in HYDRA custody."
Sergeant Dugan gave her a shrewd look before standing, "Well, I better get this back to the Mess and return to my duties. The Colonel may return at any time to ask more questions."
"Okay. Thanks for bringing me the stuff," Diana said.
He gave her a nod before he left, locking the door behind him.
Diana took a look around the room again, trying to figure out something to do while she waited for Colonel Phillips to return. The room really was very spartan. The cot, the table and two chairs and a nightstand were the only furniture in the room. The nightstand, which she hadn't seen in the darkness, had a drawer, which she opened. Inside was a deck of playing cards.
"Well, time to test my solitaire skills." She said to herself and set up the deck on the table.
After playing several games of single card draw and three card draw, Diana grew bored with the solitaire. She had no idea how much time had passed, but she was starting to get hungry again. To take her mind off her grumbling stomach, she tried to build a card tower.
There was a knock, and after Diana said, "Come in," the door opened and her tower fell. A soldier stepped in with a sandwich on a plate and a cup of wonderful smelling coffee. He said nothing as he set the meal down on the table and left.
"Well, thank you, anonymous SSR soldier." She said to the newly closed and locked door, "You were an excellent conversationalist."
Diana picked up the sandwich and ate ravenously. However, she savored the coffee - even though it was really crap coffee. She moved the plate to one of the chairs and began to build her card tower again.
After a while of frustration and failing to make a tower that would stay up, Diana sat back down on the cot. She picked at the sheets, fluffed the pillow, and with a very bored sigh, lay down. She put her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling. To try to stave off more boredom, she started singing to herself.
After a while, Diana fell asleep.
She awoke to another knock on the door. Diana sat up and rubbed her eyes, "Crap. I'm still here." The knock sounded again, "Yeah, come in."
It was Dum Dum again with another plate of food and another cup of coffee, "Looks like you got some shut-eye." He teased.
"Well, there's not too much to do in this place." She stood from the cot and wrapped Agent Carter's coat more tightly around her. She then motioned to the pile of cards on the table, "I mean, I found a deck of playing cards, but there's only so much solitaire you can play before that gets boring too."
Dum Dum moved the pile of cards to the side as he said, "Sorry to hear that." He pulled out a chair and motioned for Diana to take the other one once he set the plate down on the table, "Fresh from the Mess. It ain't much, but it's better than rations."
"Thanks, Sergeant Dugan." She sat down in the chair, picked up the fork, and ate the military supper of spam and some veggies.
"Aw, just call me Dum Dum. Only my COs call me Sergeant Dugan, and that's only when we're in the field. 'Cept Colonel Phillips. He's all about military protocol. Anyway, most of us are pretty informal when on base. Cap actually prefers his given name over his rank or title."
Diana smiled a little as she took a bite of the spam, thinking over being on a first name basis with someone that she, up until a little while ago, thought was fictional or an actor. She couldn't get too close, especially to the Howling Commandos, in case she accidentally changed something. Still, it wouldn't hurt to call them by their first names if they told her to. Diana nodded, "Okay, Dum Dum."
He grinned and leaned back in his chair, "So, the Colonel is being very secretive about how an American woman ended up in the middle of the snow covered forest in France. Anything you can tell me?"
"If Colonel Phillips isn't telling you anything, I probably shouldn't either. Sorry." Diana answered as she shoveled a few veggies into her mouth.
"Hmm." Dum Dum nodded, "I understand. Just hard to get to know someone when you don't know what you can and can't ask."
Diana decided that she needed to know exactly when in the timeline she was. The date didn't really tell her anything since her only event touch-points were the rescue of the 107th Infantry and Zola's train. The montage in the Captain America movie wasn't really that helpful in establishing a timeline. "How long has this group been together?" She asked as she finished up the food on her plate.
"Well, the SSR's been around since the States entered the war after Pearl Harbor," Dum Dum explained, "but my group - the Howling Commandos - is pretty new. Less than a couple months old."
"Are all of you American?" She asked, already knowing the answer, but it was a logical question, "I mean, the Colonel's American, and so are you. Considering your captain is called Captain America, I just thought-"
"Nah, we're a mixed bunch." Dum Dum replied, "Monty, the one who spotted you in the woods, he's English. We also have a Frenchman, Jacque Dernier. Cap and Bucky are from Brooklyn, grew up together. We also got a Californian - James Morita. He's a Jap, but unfailingly loyal to America. He's also our field medic. There's also Gabriel Jones also from New York. He's a big Negro man. Smart as a whip and a great shot."
"So your company's made up of seven guys?"
"Yup." Dum Dum nodded, "Course we get support from the SSR if we need it. The Colonel and Agent Carter are in charge of that."
"Cool." She nodded. Dum Dum gave her a quizzical look and she backtracked, "I mean, swell or… umm… yeah, we'll go with that." Diana just trailed off, not really knowing what the equivalent meaning of the colloquial 'cool' would be. Apparently, that use didn't exist in the 1940s.
"We have a great group," Dum Dum continued. He glanced down at her empty plate, "Looks like you're done."
Diana nodded, "Thanks for bringing me the meal."
"Wouldn't want a pretty lady like you to starve." Dum Dum teased, "That just wouldn't be gentlemanly."
She ducked her head at his compliment, "Thanks."
He picked up the plate, "The Colonel will probably be talking to you later this evening or tomorrow morning."
"Okay. I'll be here."
Dum Dum paused at the door, "Sorry there's not more to do here, but with an unknown we have to be careful."
"Okay," she said, "I understand."
"If the Colonel doesn't get to you tonight, I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow, how's that?"
Diana smiled at the man, "Thanks, Dum Dum."
"See you 'round, kid." Sergeant Dugan tugged the door closed behind him and it locked.
Diana was alone again with only a deck of playing cards and the flickering flame of the lantern to keep her company. She decided to try her hand at spider solitaire, spreading the entire deck on the table in five columns of two cards deep since she only had one deck of cards. The game was, unfortunately, too easily with just one deck of cards as each round ended in victory within a few minutes.
Sitting back in her chair, she began to absently shuffle the cards. If she was brought to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, why was she here? What the hell was she supposed to do in the mid-1940s? If she tried to actively change the timeline, the Infinity War in the future could be lost without Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Or Tony Stark might never be born, resulting in no Ironman.
Then she had another thought: Wasn't her just being here changing things? Diana didn't know; she was no physicist. Maybe she was meant to change things. Otherwise what was the point of sending her to this universe?
In the end Diana decided that if she was going to be stuck here, she would play it safe and do her absolute best to not interfere with the timeline of events. Bucky would have to fall from the train. Captain America would have to be frozen in ice. World War II would have to rage for another two years - complete with two Atomic Bombs and countless more deaths. The only way she would change her mind is if the universe shifted and made sure she knew that she could alter the timeline.
She wondered what was taking Colonel Phillips so long to get back to her. If this was what prison solitary confinement was like, she wouldn't last long before going crazy. This entire situation was crazy enough. If she went insane because she was stuck in this room for days on end, well, there would be no point in her being here in the first place.
Diana paced the room, wondering whether this version of the MCU would include the Netflix series and the ABC series. Agent Carter and Agents of SHIELD had Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, and Clark Gregg that were in both the cinematic and the television series. But the Netflix series were another matter as there were no crossover characters, just references to the events in the cinematic universe.
Moments later, there was a knock on her door. "Yeah?" She turned to the door and watched as Colonel Phillips strode in. Diana straightened, "What's the news, Colonel?"
He gave her a shrewd look and glanced at the cards on the table, "I see you found a deck of playing cards."
"Yeah."
"Sergeant Dugan reported to me about everything you said to him." The Colonel informed her as he pulled out a chair and gathered the cards on the table, "What can you tell me about the War? How do we end this?"
"I - " Diana chewed her lip and watched Phillips shuffled the deck of cards with practiced ease, "I don't actually know much about this front. My great uncle fought in the South Pacific, in Leyte and Okinawa. Here… I just know about the most famous landing on the beaches of Normandy - we call it D-Day."
"Anything else?"
"Hitler decides to attack Russia in the middle of winter," she told Phillips, "but I don't know when or where that'll happen."
"Don't you study these things in history class?"
"Wait, you believe me?! That I'm from another time and universe?"
The Colonel looked thoughtful, "There's not much that can explain your appearance in the middle of the forest in France. Other than the HYDRA angle, which Captain Rogers discounted since the facility they destroyed was not for captives, there's nothing else."
"Oh. So, I can leave here?"
"Not yet. I still have to fill out the paperwork about finding a civilian. It'll be difficult since, if your story is true, we'd have to classify everything."
Diana cringed, "I don't even know if I should have told you any of that."
"Why's that?"
"Well, there are rules to time travel."
"Is time travel so common in your time that you have to have rules?" The Colonel asked.
"What? No, the rules come from science fiction." She said, "I mean, I don't know if they actually would apply to this situation, but it's the closest I've got."
"And the rules are?"
"Well, there are fluid and fixed points in time. The fluid points are changeable in minor ways since no matter what a person does, the overall timeline won't change or will fix itself in the end. A fixed point is something that MUST happen."
"Hmmm… What happens if a fixed point is changed?"
"That's where things get hazy. In one science fiction show there are these other-worldly creatures that come down and kill everything, destroying that universe for ruining the timeline. In another the timeline becomes an alternate from its original path."
"Well, the universe hasn't imploded from you being here."
"Yet. There are events that I would consider fixed points that need to happen in this time period. It's like going back in time and trying to stop the Titanic from sinking. Yes, you'd save thousands of lives, but many of the people who died were or could have been very influential. How would their survival affect the new future? That's something you can't know for sure." She took a deep breath, "No one should have that kind of power. My being here was not my choice, so I'm gonna do my damnedest to make sure things happen the way I remember them, even the terrible things. Because if they don't, the future will be in jeopardy."
Phillips frowned, "What if you're supposed to interfere and create another timeline?"
"I don't know." Diana replied, "I'd like to think that the universe would give me a sign of some kind and literally push me in that direction, but until then, I'll stay out of the way."
"Hmmm…" The Colonel rubbed his chin, "I'll see if I can send you back States-side. Is that enough out of the way for you?"
"Yeah, it would be."
"If I can't get you sent back, we'll start filling out the paperwork to get you in the army." He paused, "We can put your medical skills to the test."
"What? But I haven't been to medical school! I was just studying for it! I haven't even graduated yet!"
"You know how to stitch?"
"Yeah. My grandma taught me embroidery."
"That's good enough. Our field medic, Private James Morita, can teach you a few things when he's not out of patrol."
"Okay. I can't make any promises that I'll be any good."
"Private Morita is one of the best we got." Phillips said as he stood, "Still, it's moot if I can get you back to the States and out of the warzone."
"When will I hear back from you?"
"No telling." Phillips shrugged, "Could be hours. Might be days."
"So I'm stuck in this room until then?"
"These will be your living quarters until further notice," the Colonel replied, "but I could easily give you an escort when you leave. The two soldiers stationed outside your door will do. However, you have to stay here at least until morning."
"I don't even know what time it is."
Phillips took a pocket watch out of his coat, "It's 22:34." Diana stared blankly, not used to calculating in military time. The Colonel sighed, "10:34 PM. You're gonna have to get used to military time if you stay with us."
"Noted." She ducked her head and blushed.
"Get some sleep while you can." He advised as he went out the door.
Diana was awoken by pounding on her door, "I'm up." Her voice was ragged from sleep. As soon as she said this, Dum Dum burst in.
"You need to come with me immediately." His voice giving no room for argument.
She rubbed vigorously at her eyes, "What's wrong?" And she swung her feet off the cot.
"You'll see when we get there. Come on!"
Diana then realized something, "I don't have any shoes!"
The Sergeant hissed through his teeth, "Private!" He tossed over his shoulder, "Give the lady your boots."
"Yes sir." One of the SSR soldiers who was guarding her door followed his commanding officer's orders.
The combat boots were ill fitting and too large over her bare feet, but Diana would have to make do and not trip on the way to wherever they were going.
"Let's go." Dum Dum ground out.
The Sergeant then took hold of Diana's arm and pulled her out the door and into the snowy December air. He eyed the clomping boots for a second, "Think you can run in those?"
"I can try."
With a nod, Dum Dum broke into a run and Diana followed. It was difficult in the boots, but she kept up, barely.
They made their way to a makeshift house that had a Red Cross sign hanging above the door. Dum Dum pushed the door open and Diana followed him inside.
Phillips was waiting for them along with… Diana froze at the sight of Captain America in his combat fatigues. "Don't get starstruck now, Miss Larson. We have a man down, so get over here and do what you can." The Colonel ordered.
She shook herself and tried not to look at the rest of the men gathered there; they were probably the other Howling Commandos. When she got to the bed, Diana sucked in a breath at the amount of blood on the man's clothes. She felt her face go pale and she glanced up at the man's face. His Asian features gave him away as Private Jim Morita. That explained why he wasn't able to do the job.
"Okay." She took a couple deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves, "I, uh…" She glanced around at the Commandos, each with worried expressions on their faces. Diana swallowed, "I need space first. Some of you are gonna have to leave."
"I think only the Colonel and I should stay and help." Captain America said, "Just wait outside, please." The Commandos followed his orders.
"I need someplace to wash my hands." She had to take her medical knowledge from television shows and movies, "I'll also need to cut away his shirt. And… I'll need lots of towels or cloths or something to staunch the bleeding."
"Morita was able to put a patch on the wound before he fell unconscious." The Captain said as he went about retrieving items that she'd asked for.
"Good. That'll help." She nodded and washed her hands in a basin of hot water the Captain had set in front of her. After making sure her hands were dry, she took some offered medical gloves and then he handed her some scissors. Once she removed the shirt, she could see the patch on his chest just below his collarbone and by his shoulder. The blood had seeped through, so the patch had become useless.
After flexing her fingers a few times, Diana took the bloody patch between her index and middle fingers and her thumb. Then she yanked it off with a harsh ripping sound. She hissed as she bullet wound leaked blood. "I'll need some sterilized forceps or surgical tweezers and a scalpel. Then I'll need a needle, thread, gauze, and tape."
The Captain retrieved all of these items while Diana used one of the towels to apply gentle pressure to the wound, preventing more blood from escaping. Morita had slowly gotten paler, and she knew he was losing too much blood.
Diana took the forceps and tweezers and used the latter to spread the skin of the wound. She grunted a bit when bile rose from her stomach into her throat, but she swallowed it back down. She'd done this to frogs and other animals in biology and anatomy class, and this should be no different. Once she had a good hold on the skin flap with her tweezers, she switched them from her right hand to her left and used the forceps to go into the bullet wound.
The squelching sound the digging made was enough to make her gag again, and she paused in order to recover. Diana took a deep breath and continued to move the forceps in order to find and grab onto the bullet. It took a little digging, stabbing, and spreading of the forceps, but she eventually got a good hold of the bullet. She was sure glad Morita was unconscious during the process since she knew she'd never be able to handle any groans or moans from the man.
Slowly, she drew out the offending object, causing a suctioning sound as she went. She dropped the bullet into a tray that the Captain had provided containing the other utensils she'd asked for. After she had removed the bullet, Diana used her fingers to press gently onto the skin to see if she could feel any shrapnel she may have missed.
When she felt nothing amiss under the skin, she threaded a needle and began stitching the skin together. Diana cringed each time she forced herself to stab into the skin flap on each side. It would make a nasty scar of puckered skin once it healed. When she finished tying off the last stitch she applied the gauze and tape. Then she turned to the Captain and Colonel, "You wouldn't happen to have the ability to do a blood transfusion, would you?"
The Colonel shook his head, "Unfortunately, we don't have the equipment. It's too heavy to move with a mobile unit like the SSR."
Diana looked back at the pale man lying prone on the bed and chewed her lip, "He lost a lot of blood. I don't know if he'll survive without a transfusion."
"Then we'll just have to pray." The Captain said as he stared at his comrade, "I'm gonna go tell the others." He turned on his heel and left the building.
The Colonel strode over to inspect her work as she went about cleaning the blood that had smeared on Morita's chest. As she dabbed at the blood with a cloth Phillips made a noise, "Hmmm…"
"Something wrong?" Diana asked, fearing that her skills hadn't been good enough.
"I think we might forgo the paperwork to get you back to the States," The Colonel said, "Having a secondary medic would come in handy if this ever happens again."
"Hopefully it won't."
"It's better to be prepared." Phillips paused to look at her, "You look like you're about ready to faint. Sit down before you collapse." He motioned to another bed right next to the one where Morita lay.
Diana sat and took a few deep breaths. Her adrenaline was coming down and the latent panic set in. Her breathing quickened, "I can't… I-" The bile she'd kept down during the surgery came back and, just before she hurled, a bowl appeared in front of her. She threw up into the bowl.
Colonel Phillips pursed his lips, but said nothing while she heaved into the bowl. She wiped at her forehead with the sleeve of Agent Carter's coat. "You okay, missy?" His voice was gentler than it had been previously.
"Yeah. I think so." She made a face at the bowl and put it aside, "Sorry about that."
"Not unexpected for a first time surgery." The Colonel shrugged, "Although you better get used to it. You'll probably have to do more in the future."
"So you're sure you want me to join the SSR?"
"Well, there's a saying, keep your enemies close and all that."
"Am I an enemy?"
"That remains to be seen. I'm a fair judge of character, though I have on occasion been proven wrong."
Diana nodded, "What should I do with this?" She held up the bowl she'd vomited into.
"Disposal is in the hole out back - it's also considered the toilet."
"Wonderful."
The Captain opened the door, "May we come back in?" He asked.
Diana stood from the bed and gathered the bowl, "Just a minute. I need to get rid of some gross smelling stuff." She took up some of the towels.
"Leave those. They'll be washed." The Colonel said and pointed to a metal can that served as a hamper.
"Okay." Diana dropped the towels into the hamper and brought the bowl outside. She looked around, trying to figure out where the toilet hole was. She spotted a pole sticking out of the snow and strode toward it. She emptied the bowl and washed it with some of the snow. She then returned to the medical building.
Upon entering, she saw the Howling Commandos gathered around their fallen friend's bed. Diana set the bowl down and made her way towards them.
"Is he gonna be okay?" The first Commando to speak was Sergeant Bucky Barnes.
Diana blinked at him, seeing the Winter Soldier superimposed over his World War II self. She stuttered a bit before clearing her throat and starting over again, "Private, uh, Morita… he lost a lot of blood. We don't have the equipment to perform a transfusion. So honestly I don't know. I'm sorry the news isn't any better."
"You did your best," the Captain said; his voice was kind, "I'm sure he'll be fine."
"I'll leave you to your friend."
"What's your name?" Sergeant Barnes asked.
She blushed, whether from being flustered or embarrassed she didn't know for sure, "Diana Larson."
"I'm Bucky." He introduced himself then pointed to each Commando, "That's Monty, Gabe, and Frenchie. You already know Dum Dum and Morita on the bed." Finally he smirked at the Captain, "And of course you've got to be familiar with Captain America."
The Captain rolled his eyes and corrected his best friend, "Steve Rogers."
"It's nice to meet all of you." She was trying to remain calm around the celebrities, especially the ones who were very attractive young men in their mid-twenties.
"Dum Dum's been telling us about you a little bit." Jones said, "Heard you're from Minnesota."
Diana nodded, "Yeah, I am. I was actually about to graduate from college when I ended up here."
"I've been to Minnesota once. They got lotsa lakes up there."
She smiled, "Yeah. One of my favorite past times was jumping in the lake for a swim. My great aunt even had a sauna."
"What's a sauna?" Barnes asked.
Diana tensed again. It was so weird hearing the voices of celebrities and seeing their faces as they were a little under a decade ago. It seemed that Barnes might be the most difficult to get used to with his future as the most dangerous assassin to ever live.
"Miss Larson?" The Captain looked concerned, "Are you alright?"
"What?" She turned her attention to him, "Oh, yeah. I'm still a bit, umm, my adrenaline's coming down from the surgery. I'd never really done one before."
"Well, you did quite a good job." A man with a British accent, Falsworth, spoke as he leaned over to examine the patch, "From what I can see, the stitches are clean."
"Thanks." She gave him a small smile. Then she returned to Sergeant Barnes' question, "A sauna is a steam bath. You go into a small house with a stove and benches and make it really hot and steamy. Then, when you can take it anymore, you run out and jump into the lake." She paused, "In the winter we'd sometimes run out and roll in the snow or cut a hole in the ice and have someone else dunk us."
"That sounds crazy." The Sergeant said before he smiled, "And fun."
Diana looked to the last Commando, Frenchie was what Bucky had called him, but Dum Dum had referred to the Frenchman as Jacques Dernier. He was a older than the rest, perhaps in his late thirties. So, she tried out the only phrase she knew in French, "Parlez vous anglais?"
The Frenchman couldn't help but smile, "Oui bien sur. parlez-vous français?"
"No, sorry, sorry. That's actually the extent of my French." She told him, "I learned Spanish in school rather than French."
"It iz alright." Dernier told her while a mild accent, "None of zese lads speak a word of French, alzough I haf been trying to teach zem. Sergeant Barnes is ze only one who's caught on to ze language."
"Knowing French would be really useful." Diana agreed, "Same with German. Maybe throw in Italian, Russian, and Japanese and you're all set. Think you could teach me a bit more French?"
"Oui mademoiselle." Dernier replied, "I would be happy to."
"So you're gonna stay with the SSR?" Captain Rogers asked.
The blonde woman nodded, "That's what Colonel Phillips decided. I don't know if I'm cut out for the army, though. I haven't even been through basic training."
"The Colonel will probably deal with that at our next posting." The Captain told her.
Morita moaned and his eyes fluttered open. The Commandos all leaned in as the medic blinked up at his comrades, "Did someone die?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Dammit, Morita," Sergeant Barnes scowled at him, "why'd you do a thing like that?"
The injured man gave a small smile, "Woulda gotten you in the chest, Sarge. The five inches made a world of difference." Then he looked over at Diana, "Who's the gal?"
"I'm Diana. I was able to get the bullet out and stitch you up." She told him.
"You're a nurse?"
Diana hesitated, "No, not really. Before I came here, I was getting ready to go to medical school."
Morita blinked at her, "You're the gal we found in the snow!"
"Yeah. I am."
"Glad you're not hypothermic anymore." His dark eyes glanced at her fingers, "And not even a bit of frostbite. Good. I wasn't sure when we brought you in."
"You guys got to me in time. Thank you, by the way, for saving my life." Her gaze passed over all of the Commandos.
"It's no problem, Miss Larson." The Captain said, "We saw someone in need and decided to help."
Morita grimaced and hissed through his teeth. Diana became worried that she might have missed something or done something wrong, "What's wrong?"
"There's morphine in the cabinet over there." Morita gestured with his uninjured arm to the piece of furniture on the far wall, "Do you know how to administer it?"
"I'll need to learn." Diana told him, "Colonel Phillips wants me to be a secondary medic for the SSR and the Commandos."
The prone man nodded before he looked to his comrades, "I'll see you guys later. Once the morphine kicks in, I'll be out again."
"Alright." Steve nodded, "Get better soon."
"Aye, aye Cap'n." Morita saluted with his good hand.
The Howling Commandos left the medical house as Diana looked for the morphine in the cabinet. Luckily, everything was labelled and she took out a bottle of liquid morphine and a syringe. She turned to Morita, "Okay. I got it." And walked back toward the best.
"Fill the syringe with thirty milligrams of morphine." Morita instructed.
Diana drew back the plunger a little past the correct dosage, tipped the bottle upside-down, stabbed the syringe into the bottle, and forced air into the bottle. Then she drew back the plunger again with the morphine flowing into the syringe. She'd had to do something similar many times for her roommate in college who had been diabetic and on bottled insulin. It was practice for the glucagon syringe in case her roommate's blood sugar ever went too low and she passed out. This syringe, however, was much longer than the needles she was used to.
Once she reached just a little over thirty milligrams, Diana took the syringe out of the bottle and held it up to what little light there was with the needle pointing up. She flicked it near the needle a few times to get any air bubbles to the base of the needle before she pressed the plunger. A little squirt of morphine sprayed out like a tiny geyser.
Morita nodded in approval, "Do you know how to find an appropriate vein?"
"Ummm…" Diana paused and looked at his good arm. He had a very prominent vein at his elbow.
The man took a deep breath, "You haven't done this before, have you?"
"Not really, no." She answered, "I just don't want to hurt you more than you already are."
"It takes practice to get it so it doesn't hurt much." Morita explained, "Don't worry. I won't blame you if it does hurt."
Diana nodded and bit her lip as the needle neared the vein. She paused, hovering just over the vein and glanced up at Morita, "Do you bleed a lot? I bleed a lot when I get shots, so the nurse always held a cloth over the needle to seep up the escaping blood when she removed the syringe."
"You need to see what you're doing." Morita shook his head, "If I bleed, we have bandages."
"Okay." She took a deep breath and pressed the needle into the man's skin.
"That's enough." Morita told her when the needle was only part way in, "You don't need to go in too far."
"Okay." Diana nodded before pushing on the plunger to administer the morphine. When all thirty milligrams had entered Morita's body, she withdrew the needle. He bled a little and Diana retrieved a bandage while apologizing for hurting him.
By the time she was done wrapping the elbow, Morita had fallen asleep. Diana set all the tools aside, making a mental note to wash and disinfect them when she found out where she could do that. It wasn't like this mobile hospital had running water or anything.
She finally was able to look around the room. There was the cabinet of medical supplied where she'd returned the bottle of morphine. There was also a stove on the far wall that was giving off heat. Diana approached it, trying to figure out if it was wood-burning or electric. She quickly found out it was the latter.
The door to the mobile hospital opened, and Diana turned around to see Colonel Phillips returning, "Just wanted to let you know that since Private Morita's gonna need care during the night, I've posted soldiers outside."
"You still don't trust me."
"Not yet, missy, but saving the Private did earn you some points in your favor." The Colonel said, "I'll have to decide what to do with you at a more decent hour."
"Alright."
"Have a good night, Miss Larson." He turned on his heel and left.
After some time continuing to explore the medical room, Diana lay down on the bed nearest Morita. She was exhausted.
When Diana awoke in the morning, she realized that someone had covered her with a sheet during the rest of the night.
"Good morning." Came Morita's raspy voice from next to her.
Startled, she gasped and looked over at the Howling Commandos' medic. He looked slightly better, with more color in his cheeks. She swung her legs out from under the sheet and stood, "How're you feeling?"
Morita shrugged one shoulder, "Better. I gave myself more morphine about an hour ago."
"You what?!" She gawked, "You should've woken me up! You shouldn't even have gotten out of bed! You-"
The Japanese-American man held up a hand to stop her, "Captain Rogers came to check in and brought be the vial and syringe. I didn't have the heart to wake you; you looked exhausted."
She eyed him with a frown, "Thanks." Diana paused, "Umm, should I check your wound or did you already do that?"
Morita shifted, "Well, the morphine is still working, but I think the wound could get cleaned and the bandage changed."
The blonde nodded, "Okay." She went about gathering some medical alcohol, a cloth, and new gauze and tape for a bandage.
He moved up on the bed with a grunt and said, "It's not often that I'm in this position."
"That's good." She paused by his bedside. Now that he was awake, this was so much more awkward, "Ummm." Her face flushed in embarrassment.
Morita chuckled, "I can tell you haven't had any medical training."
Diana scowled at him, squared her shoulders and reached for the dirty bandage. Taking hold, she roughly tore it off.
"Fuck!" He cursed loudly. Then his eyes widened and he sucked in a breath, "My apologies for my foul language."
She grinned, "Oh, don't worry. I've heard and said worse. But that's what you get for your bedside manner."
Morita grumbled, "Bedside manner, my ass." He glanced down at his shoulder and saw some of the stitches, "That's pretty decent work for a beginner. Looks like you have experience sewing."
"My grandma taught me embroidery when I was little." She dabbed at the stitches with an alcohol soaked cloth.
Morita hissed before replying, "Well, she did a pretty good job. Not the stitches you'd usually use for wounds, but they're serviceable."
She gave him a side glance, "Thanks, I think." She pressed the gauze patch gently onto the stitched wound and started to tape it.
Just as she was finishing, the door to the medical house opened. "Is everyone up yet?" Sergeant Barnes looked around the door, "I brought lunch."
"Heya Buck." Morita greeted.
The Sergeant flashed a smile, "And good morning to sleeping beauty."
"Good morning." Diana acknowledged and tried not to look at him. She knew she would see the Winter Soldier if she did. However, she still couldn't help but steal a glance as he moved closer. He looked so young and not world weary like he had during the Infinity War.
He held two trays, "It's not much, but once we move out, we'll get supplies." There was toast with a little bit of butter, coffee, and something that kind of looked like eggs.
"Thanks." Diana said.
"How's stupid doing?" The Sergeant asked as he put one of the trays on his fellow Commando's lap.
"Hey!" Morita looked indignant.
A small smile flitted across her face, "He'll live."
"Good." Barnes nodded. Then he whacked Morita upside the head, "You idiot! You could've pushed me out of the way, but no! Instead you just stepped in front and took the bullet."
"Oww." The Japanese-American rubbed the back of his head, "Hey, injured man here."
Diana's eyes darted between the Sergeant and the Private, "Okay, I don't know what's going on here, but please don't mess up my stitches."
"Sorry dollface." Barnes looked a bit chastised.
She briefly wrinkled her nose, "Not a china doll."
A grin crossed his face, "Noted."
Diana began to put the supplies back where she found them. She looked down at the blood spatter that had gotten on Agent Carter's coat and grimaced, "Sergeant Barnes," she turned around and forced herself to look at him. He looked up at her from Morita with his piercing blue steel gaze. She shifted self-consciously, "you wouldn't happen to know where Agent Carter is, do you? I kind of… ruined her coat."
He looked thoughtful for a moment, "I think I know where to find her."
"Okay." Diana hesitated again. It was difficult to keep eye contact with the future Winter Soldier, "I don't know if I can leave. Colonel Phillips said I'd need an escort to go anywhere."
"I think I'd qualify as an escort."
She tensed, "I didn't mean… I don't have to go with you. I just…"
"Have you gotten a tour of the base yet?"
"No. I'm not exactly considered a friendly."
The Sergeant sighed in exasperation, "Colonel Phillips is paranoid. He thinks anyone could be a HYDRA assassin."
Oh the irony.
"I very much doubt she's a HYDRA assassin." Morita chimed in, "We know how they treat their medical patients."
Barnes' expression darkened, "Yes. We do." He shook his head, perhaps to clear his thoughts and turned to Diana, "So, I can escort you to once you're done here."
"Alright." Her eyes darted to Morita.
"I'll be fine for a while. I'm not gonna die." He assured her.
The blonde nodded, "Okay, then let's go." She followed the future Winter Soldier out the door.
"So, what brought you to France?" The Sergeant asked as they walked.
Diana glanced at him, unsure of what she could say or even how much she should say. Still, she couldn't just leave the question unanswered, "I came here completely by accident."
"How do you accidentally end up in a French warzone and not even know how to speak French?" Barnes wondered aloud.
"I don't know. I told the Colonel everything I do know, though, so there's that."
"And I bet you can't say more unless you get the Colonel's say so."
"No comment."
He flashed her a grin, "Alright. I'll be happy to wait for answers." They came upon a large building, "This is Headquarters. We do all of our battle planning here." He paused to look at her, "You're not gonna spill our secrets to anyone, will you?"
"I know less than a dozen people out here. Who'm I gonna tell?"
Barnes chuckled, "Okay. Then this is the most likely place to find Agent Carter." He opened the door and the two of them stepped inside.
Like the Medical House, the Headquarters was also heated by a gas stove in the far corner. There was a huge map of Europe splayed across a table with various markers on it. Captain Rogers, Agent Carter, and Colonel Phillips were leaning over it speaking quietly about where they would move out to next.
Phillips was the first to notice them, "What's she doin' here? She shouldn't be in here. Get her outta here."
Sergeant Barnes straightened and squared his shoulders, "Sir, Miss Larson needed Agent Carter's help. Since she was in need of an escort, I brought her here, the most likely place to find who she was looking for. Sir."
Diana had shrunk back a little at the Colonel's harshness. Still she wanted to explain herself, "I just wanted to apologize for getting blood on Agent Carter's coat and maybe, possibly, ask if she had warmer clothes for me to wear." Her voice went up in a questioning tone and she added, "Temporarily, of course."
Agent Carter glanced at the Colonel, "Permission to help out Miss Larson, sir?"
Phillips glanced to the Captain, "Anything else you want to add, Rogers?"
"I think that just about covers it."
"Then dismissed." The Colonel turned his attention back to the map and his eyes scanned various routes from their current location to the next one.
"Well," Agent Carter turned her full attention to Diana, "let's go see if we can find you something else to wear." She looked to the three soldiers, "Gentlemen."
"Agent Carter." Captain Rogers acknowledged and Barnes echoed.
The brunette raised her chin, "Come along, Miss Larson."
Diana glanced at the two soldiers. The Captain shrugged and the Sergeant tilted his head to the side.
"Miss Larson!" Agent Carter called from the door.
"Okay." The blonde followed the other woman out the door. Diana walked beside the Englishwoman for a few steps before speaking, "So, we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Diana Larson."
"I know." Agent Carter said, "Colonel Phillips trusted me with your," she paused and gave Diana a keen side-look, "personal history. It's quite difficult to believe, but the Colonel seems to think it's feasible."
"And what do you believe?"
"I'm not sure what to believe." The SSR Agent took a deep breath, "However, after what I've seen with the SSR, I cannot discount anything anymore."
"Oh."
"It's still mad."
"You're telling me."
The stopped at a very large building, "The barracks." Agent Carter said before opening the door and entering a common area. She took an immediate right into an office. She glanced back at the blonde again, "My office." She approached a second door, "My quarters."
Diana looked around. Other than some papers on a small desk, the office was pretty spartan. The blonde approached the Agent and peeked around the door to her quarters. The brunette had turned on an oil lamp, which illuminated the windowless room. Agent Carter then knelt by a large travel trunk. She took out an olive green suit coat and skirt, a white blouse, a dark colored tie and a dark grey coat. She turned to another, already open trunk and lifted a towel and a bar of soap from it. She gathered the clothing in her arms and turned back to Diana, "Come along, Miss Larson."
"Where are we going now?"
"The shower house. I'm sure you'd like to bathe before putting on new clothes."
"Oh, yeah, that does sound like a good idea." The blonde followed the Agent again, looking around the base.
There were some SSR soldiers going about their duties, but they stopped to stare as the two women passed by. Agent Carter eyed one of them and said very loudly, "Keep walking, soldier." All of the men who had stopped to stare returned to their tasks. "You'd think they'd never seen a woman before."
"Well, I'm wearing a bloody coat and combat boots." Diana said, "I probably look weird."
The brunette paused and turned to look at the blonde, her red lips pursed. She gave Diana a once over, "I've seen worse," then continued on her way.
The shower house was a small, roofless building further away from the rest of the buildings, probably for privacy since it was simply walls and shower heads connected to a huge tank of water.
Before opening the shower house door Agent Carter turned to Diana with a warning, "I hope you're not expecting to have hot water. We're low of fuel, so warm showers are the first things to go."
"I jumped in a lake in the middle of winter. I think I can handle a cold shower."
Agent Carter opened the door and they entered the only room with a roof. It was heated, "Leave your clothes here. That way something will be warm after your shower."
"Thanks."
"I'll be waiting outside." The woman smiled a little as she handed the clothes, towel, and soap to Diana, "We wouldn't want one of the soldiers to walk in on you."
"No, that would be bad." The blonde took the proffered items.
"Ten minutes."
The blonde nodded and the Agent left. Diana's gaze darted around the small, warm room and found a bench where she could place her borrowed clothes. She undressed and took the soap and towel into the shower room.
Diana placed her towel just outside the shower stall area and turned on the freezing water. She wet her hair, turned off the water, and used the soap to wash it. She also rubbed the soap all over her body before turning the water back on and taking the cold water full blast.
Shivering, she wrapped the towel around her body and returned to the warm changing room. Diana quickly changed into the army clothes Agent Carter had provided and braided her blonde hair, although she was unable to tie it off.
Diana sat down on the bench and stared at the floor. This was the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She had fallen asleep in this place a few times now and she hadn't gone home. How could this even be real? How could this even be happening? Why her?
She trembled, but not from still being cold. She missed her parents and her siblings. Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes. Would she ever even see them again? Did they know she was gone?
God, she missed everyone.
"Miss Larson?" Came Agent Carter's voice, "Are you alright?"
Diana rubbed at her eyes, "Y-yeah. I'm fine. I'm done, uh, decent."
The brunette opened the door and her expression softened when she saw the other woman. The Agent entered and sat next to her, "While you may be decent, you most certainly are not alright."
The blonde swallowed, "Homesick."
Agent Carter placed a hand on Diana's shoulder, "I felt homesick when I first shipped out. Many of the men here felt the same." She paused, "I know your situation is different, but I do know a little how you feel."
"I don't even know how I got here!" Diana's voice trembled, "I don't know how to get home! I can't just click my heels together and say 'there's no place like home'. I don't think that's how this'll work!"
The brunette understood the reference, "Well, I may not be able to be your Glinda in that sense, but if there is a way to get you home, we will find it."
"I miss my mom and dad." The blonde told the Agent in a small voice, "I've been gone to college for months without seeing them and haven't missed them. Now I feel like my chest is being ripped apart."
"I'm sorry." Agent Carter's expression was filled with compassion.
A few tears escaped Diana's eyes, "What if… What if I can never get home? What if I'm stuck here forever?"
"I don't know, Miss Larson."
"I just wanna go home." The blonde put her face in her hands.
Agent Carter rubbed Diana's back, "We'll see if we can find a way for you, but I hope you know that I can't make any promises."
Diana nodded into her palms, "I know. I know." She took a few deep breaths, trying to rein in her emotions.
"Come on." The brunette told her, "Let's go back to the Medical House. There's an office there that Private Morita doesn't use. You could make that your quarters."
The blonde looked up, "I don't have to return to the room where the Colonel first kept me?"
The Agent shook her head, "Although until you gain our full trust there will be guards stationed outside the door and you will not be able to go anywhere un-escorted."
"Fair enough." Diana rubbed at her eyes before gathering her red dress, "Ummm, could I have this back?"
"Of course."
Private Morita had to stay in the Medical House for a couple more days to make sure his shoulder was healing well and that he could move his arm enough to quickly load and shoot a gun. He also had Sergeant Barnes or Dum Dum bring his medical texts for Diana to read since Colonel Phillips had declared that she would she the Howling Commandos' secondary medic should something happen to Morita, and she would be an off-the books nurse for the SSR. This meant that Diana would not have to fill out any paperwork to join the army; the United States would never know of her existence in official documents.
Just after the Commando discharged himself, Agent Carter strode in wearing a more casual military ensemble complete with a leather jacket, "You and I are going into town to get you a wardrobe."
"Getting sick of me borrowing your clothes?" Diana gave a half smile.
"You aren't exactly the same size as me and so my clothes haven't been very flattering."
"I'm not trying to impress anybody."
"Then I suppose 'flattering' is the wrong word to use." The brunette pursed her lips in amusement, "Perhaps 'professional' would work better."
"Yeah, I suppose your right." Diana looked down at the blouse and pencil skirt, "It would be nice to have some clothes of my own."
"Since we do not yet have a way to give you pay, the SSR will use funds for you."
The blonde blinked, "Thank you. I didn't know you could do that."
"We provide for our soldiers." The Agent said, "Come on. We should get moving. The town is a ways away by jeep, and we should try to get back before dark."
"Okay." Diana nodded, grabbed a coat that the other woman had let her borrow and the two of them headed out the door.
It was a bumpy ride to the small town in the French countryside. Diana didn't dare speak to Agent Carter since the terrain was so horrible. They stopped in a general store where the Agent asked the shopkeeper where they could find a seamstress - in perfect French, of course. That shop was not too far, although they would have to choose their fabric from the general store.
"I defer to your expertise," Diana said.
The brunette began gathering all sorts of fabrics and objects; Diana had no idea what some of them would be used for. When Agent Carter saw the blonde's questioning look, she explained, "You'll need undergarments too."
Diana flushed, "They're custom made?"
"Is that not common where you're from?"
"No. Not really. Everything's mass produced." The blonde replied, "If you want something custom, it'd cost a pretty penny."
"I see." Then she took out two fabrics that were a bit fancier than the rest, "What do you think of these?"
Diana ran her fingers along the soft blue fabric and then the pink, "They're nice. Why?"
"You will need at least one dress for special occasions - holidays and celebrations and the like. These colors will compliment your pale complexion."
"Do I really need two?"
Agent Carter eyed her, "Yes." Her voice had the tone of finality, "We do have parties for holidays, and when we win the war, you'll need something for that celebration."
"I see your point." Diana conceded.
"Toiletries." The brunette said suddenly, and she began gathering a few items: brush, make-up kit, soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and feminine hygiene products.
After paying for the items, the two women made their way to the seamstress. Agent Carter spoke to the woman, explaining what Diana needed for her new wardrobe. It took quite a while to take measurements, and the seamstress requested they return in the next two days for the clothes. The SSR Agent accepted and gave half the payment right then.
Two days later Agent Carter and Diana returned to the town for a fitting. The seamstress did alterations on the spot and informed the two women that the wardrobe would be ready that afternoon. So, Diana and the SSR agent found a small café and sat down to wait.
"It's good that your clothes are ready. It would've been difficult to get you an actual wardrobe as we'll be moving out to Belgium early tomorrow morning."
"How's that gonna work?" Diana asked, "I mean, are the soldiers just gonna tear down the Medical House?"
"That's exactly what they're going to do." The Agent said, "We are a mobile group and we make sure all of our facilities can be torn down and put back up the same as they always are. We do try to make use of structures in the vicinity of our camp, but they're rare. Did your world not show the various missions?"
"Well, no. Not really. The movie was already over two hours long as it was, and that was just the highlights of the creation and missions of Captain America and his Howling Commandos." Diana explained. It still felt weird talking about the films she'd seen growing up to one of the actual characters-turned- real people.
"That's understandable. I suppose you can't show years' worth of material in a single film."
"Yeah." Diana looked down into her tea cup, "I've been here for almost a week, and I still think it's weird seeing famous people every day." She paused, "Some of them are so different in my time."
"How so?"
The blonde hesitated, unsure of how much she should say about the actors of her time. She went with a middle ground, describing the characters of the future, "Well, war does things to people. It makes them world weary and sometimes jaded."
Agent Carter looked sad, "I can already see that in some of the men."
"'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.'" Diana quoted from a Wilfred Owen poem.
The SSR Agent nodded, "I am familiar with that poem, although war is neither sweet nor glorious, not when you've experienced its savagery and evil. And yet we keep telling our boys that exact thing to get them to fight." The brunette sighed, "However, when you do have something to fight for against something so evil - whether HYDRA or the Nazis - it is certainly the right thing to do."
By late afternoon, the seamstress finished Diana's clothes and the two women returned to base just before the call for supper.
"Thanks, Agent Carter, for buying these clothes for me."
"It's no problem. Like I said, we provide for our soldiers - that extends to our medics as well." The brunette smiled, "And please call me Peggy when we're not in an official capacity."
"I'll do that."
"Supper is in a half hour. The Colonel has yet to call of the need for someone to escort you around the base, so would you like me to return to send someone else?"
"Either way. I want to get all this put away before we go to the Mess."
"Alright. I'll see you in a few moments." Agent Carter - Peggy - left the Medical House.
Diana headed into her quarters and began folding the clothes into a small trunk Agent-Peggy had bought during their second trip into the French town. She just closed the lid when she heard a knock on her door.
"I'm almost rea-" Diana paused when she realized it wasn't Peggy standing in front of her but Sergeant Barnes, "Good afternoon Sergeant." She took a step back and her gaze darted off to the side.
He glanced over her shoulder and noticed her packing, "Looks like you got the memo about moving out tomorrow morning."
"Peg-Agent Carter told me, so I figured I'd start. I mean, I don't have much, but still." The blonde tucked some loose hair behind her ear and her eyes flitted down to the floor. This was the future Winter Soldier. She cleared her throat, "What can I do for you, Sergeant?" At the question, she looked up to meet his eyes, clear blue like the ocean.
"I was recruited to escort you to the Mess." He told her and gave a charming smile.
"Is it that time already?" She looked at her wrist and winced since there was no watch there, "I really need a clock in here."
Barnes chuckled a little, "We'll see what we can do about that." He held out his arm, "Shall we?"
Diana gulped, because the arm he held out war his left, the arm he would lose during his fall. The arm that would be replaced by one made of vibranium. She cleared her throat and cautiously took his arm and stepped closer to him. Warmth radiated from his body. She took a deep breath, "Lead the way, Sergeant Barnes."