USO Show
Steve’s mind is singing, his muscles are rippling. Bench pressing a motorcycle with Lily, Sissy, and Rosie sitting on top of it is a great workout.
He tests his limits, pushing hills only to realize mountains may not be an unrealistic goal. It’s a high he can’t get enough of. He thought being able to breathe was amazing but this is like standing on top of the world, strong winds rushing through him as he stays stable on his feet.
Carol sits on his shoulders as he does 100 squats in a row, cheering him on.
He learns to ride the bike, Lily, Sissy and Rosie ride at his back during breaks, they scream in his ear, for the first time he hears every chord in a person’s voice. The wind chimes along.
« Steve ! »
« STEVE ! »
« STEVE !!! »
They wave at him eagerly over their heads, with hoots of « yoohoo » and elongated syllables. They call him from their changing tents, or in packed bars, when they’re sitting at a table right in the middle of the room and he’s fetching everyone’s drink from the counter. No matter how strong he is he can only carry so many mugs of beer at once. They giggle at him every time he blushes.
He’s busted a few lips on men who got too close after a show. One memorable occasion, he comes running after carefully putting a baby back in his mother’s arms to find at least 20 of the girls surrounding an older man who is wearing a terrified look on his face. They’re all pointing at him with their brightly colored nails, red, white and blue and their faces are twisted up in snarls. When they see him they all yell out « STEVE ! » and their faces untwist.
« This weirdo groped Brenda » Carol calls out. They all start yelling at the same time. The older man in the middle of them looks small, like he’s melting.
« Punch him Steve » Lucy calls out, her rough voice discernable from the others.
« Yeah » they all chorus « punch him ! punch him ! » they giggle a riot. The older man turns to Steve, his eyes wide.
Steve obliges, and the girls cheer like he’s a real hero. They grope his arms and push him back into the spotlight. He kisses more babies.
No later than 10 minutes, the man now bleeding from his lip is making his way towards Steve, shoving a few people away, 2 cops hot on his heels.
He points to Steve a few feet away.
« That’s him, that’s the man who assaulted me ». Steve gulps, his first reaction is to run but he’s too big to disappear inside trash cans anymore.
Behind him, Roxanne sees everything, and her starlight smiles doesn’t flinch but she nudges Nono who nudges Christie who nudges Gail and they keep going like a congo line until they all notice the scene.
« Sir » one of the cops start « did you hit this man ? »
Steve opens his mouth before he’s interrupted by Brenda who takes a step in front of Steve, as though shielding him. She comes up to his neck.
« Why I never! » she gasps, her hand on her chest. A broadway actress in the making, she had told Steve.
« This man was being the opposite of a gentleman towards me and Steve here » she turns her smile to him « was helping me out. Isn’t that right girls ? »
They’re like a battalion, they’ve taken up arms and Steve actually starts feeling bad for the creep but then thinks better of it.
They surround the cops and point at the man.
« He ran right into Steve’s chest »
« That’s how he got hurt »
« It’s all his fault »
« How can you accuse Captain America ? »
Steve stands there, and he feels like he’s stuck in a blizzard, or a stampede and he can’t move.
In the end the man is arrested and the girls cheer again.
A few weeks later, Jaimie barges into changing room. Thomas a.k.a Hitler yelps, and covers himself with a shirt. Steve is shirtless as well but he’s too shocked to do anything. He feels like he’s in the wrong by just standing there but Jaimie takes no mind to his nakedness.
« Steve ! » she walks up to him « we made it ! » she smiles at him, a mile wide. Her lips are bare and she is not in her costume. He almost didn’t recognize her but for the beauty mark under her right eye « we’re going overseas! ».
They don’t know about him. About the serum or the experiments. They don’t ask him why he never joined the army, why he’s clowning around the country when men are giving up their lives. Why he’s learning about smiling brightly, doing his hair, how to sow a blouse and why stockings are harder to find now (« DuPont is making parachutes now, can you believe it? »).
After the show Jaimie hugs him. Sissy, Brenda, Candace, Louise and Nono follow after. Steve needs to meet a few officials, shakes some hands and make some statement about going overseas but they stop him, sit him down backstage. There’s a small couch, Steve takes up most of it, but the girls manage to all sit down. Sissy on Nono’s knees.
« You know war bonds are important right ? » Jaimie tells him.
« Yeah, I know » Steve tells her, his shoulder hunched.
« It just doesn’t always feel like it » Candace smiles at him sadly. Steve frowns.
He’s been so caught up in the whirlwind, filming movies, signing autographs. He’s always liked hollywood but all of a sudden, the disappointment and sadness comes back. He feels like he’s been selfish and all of sudden he feels too big, too strong like all his other senses have been sapped.
« I should be doing more » he finally admits.
« You know » Louise starts « most of us signed up for this because it was the only way we could do our part . The war effort and all that jazz.»
« Sure it’s great, feels like Broadway » they all giggle a little but it doesn’t brighten up the room like it usually does.
« but we know it’s not ideal. My sister and mom are back home, taking over our father and brother’s jobs, keeping up the country but it felt like not enough. »
Steve looks at all of them, turns to the right and the left, they’re all still smiling in their red, white and blues.
They’re like him, Except not. They wouldn’t be able to even show up for a health check.
He thinks about Peggy « i know a little of what that’s like ».
All of a sudden Steve feels like the worst. The feeling is vivid and he wants to shrink into the couch. He’s downplayed all of them in his head. Sparkles and stockings ?
He bows his head and feels ashamed.
Their first show is a nightmare. He’s too embarrassed to face the girls so he tucks himself in a corner and sketches next to the page of doodles from the various landscapes that flew by him during the long train rides.
Peggy finds him and reignites a fire under his ass, the rain is a second thought as he rushes towards Phillip’s tent. He has to find Bucky.
His best guy.
He ignores Phillips when he tells him Bucky is dead with the ease of someone who’s had to nod and smile to old men in suits who tell him things he should take as facts for the past few months.
Armed with Brenda’s helmet, he goes to face immovable mountains. Pushes at them until he finds Bucky on the other side.
Back at camp, after the crowd has dispersed it takes a while for Steve hear his name being called.
“Holy hell…” one of the men he rescued breathes out. Dugan something.
He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t admit that the immediate respect he gains isn’t in part thanks to the hoard of USO show girls running up to him rather than the actual rescue mission.
The girls are marching up to him, all of them in army fatigues, different expressions on each of their faces. He looks to Peggy who just smiles wildly at him her eyebrow arched.
"Im guessing you learned a thing or two about women then" her expression tells him.
They don’t hug him, but their relieved expression tells him all he needs to know. He gives Brenda back her helmet.
“I believe this belongs to you” he smiles at her. She looks down at the scratches on the helmet and looks back up to him, horrified.
He introduces them to Bucky later that night after they’ve had food and a aborted medical check up.
Bucky refuses to step foot into their tent “are you crazy? You can’t just walk into a dame’s ten-“ he’s interrupted as the flap of the tent opens. He has a moment of panic as he runs his hand through his hair. Next to him Steve is barely containing his laughter.
They don’t stay long, the girls scheduled to go back State side as early as tomorrow morning.
As they’re leaving Nono kisses Bucky on the cheek, and winks at Steve.
That night they sit outside of the girl’s tents a few feet away to dissuade any stragglers that might be looking for a free peep show.
The next morning is sad, but peaceful.
“Don’t forget about us when you come back a hero” his memory is hazy as to who said it.
The memories of the girls all take a back seat to the fighting.
In the future, history will have erased their names, ghosts in the background of black and white photographs of the Smithsonian, smiles frozen, eyes looking empty.
Instead Steve stops in front of Bucky’s mural and thinks of him blushing and the shadows under his eyes alleviating inside the warm glow of the spacious tent as he soaks him the gentle touch and incandescent smiles of the girls, nothing like a stampede or a blizzard.
Nothing so cold.