Coffee, Courage and a Captain

Chapter Twenty-Six: Dinner with Miss Red, White and Blue

Steve knocked on the door to Charlotte and Howard's lab, and noticing that neither scientist looked up at the sound- too engrossed in the argument they were having over some of Charlotte's notes.

"We could blow them up!" Charlotte shouted, slamming her fist down on the table and the coffee spilling on the already stained papers lying across it.

"Well, I don't make the rules around here, Charlie! I just break them!" Howard responded in frustration.

"Physics have rules for a reason," Charlotte argued. "What does Phillips expect us to do, defy the rules that define our universe?"

"We both know that Phillips isn't going to allow a pesky thing like science to get in the way of him winning the war."

"The man runs a damn science division!" She picked up her notes and went to throw them in the bin.

Steve opted to clear his throat instead, and Charlotte paused mid-throw and looked up.

He stood there in his officer's uniform, his hair nearly parted as he stood beside the door frame looking decidedly nervous and somewhat amused.

"Hi Steve," Charlotte greeted with a soft smile, setting her notebooks down casually- as if she hadn't been about to throw them into the bin. "What brings you to our corner of the world?"

Steve smiled. "I do believe that you promised me dinner before we went to meet up with the team."

She blushed. "I absolutely did," she replied quietly. "But I do believe that I still have work to do-"

She trailed off as Howard shook his head at her. "You two kids go and have fun. I'll see you tomorrow, Charlie- we're testing some of Rogers's equipment."

Charlotte grinned at her boss as she shed her lab coat and bounded over to where Steve stood in the doorway. "See you tomorrow Howard!"

Howard raised his arm to acknowledge he heard her before he returned to his notes.

"So, where are we going?" Charlotte asked as she buttoned up her winter coat. Snow had not yet begun falling, but the wind had become so bitter that it nipped at any exposed flesh and thoroughly discouraged anyone to be out and about.

Phillips had located her suitcase when they had returned to London a week prior- it had been placed in storage instead of sent to Charlotte- so she was now wearing her standard work clothes. The blue high-waisted slacks, her long white blouse and a navy sweater garnered a lot of attention amongst the uniform khaki present in the bunker labs.

She wrapped a burgundy scarf around her neck- a 'Sorry-for-letting-you-fell-from-a-plane' gift from Howard- as they stepped into the street. It was about six in the evening, and it was already pitch black outside. The every second street light was lit and shielded as a precaution for air raids, displaying barely any light on the outside street.

"Peggy recommended an Italian restaurant down the road. Said that you'd appreciate it seeing as they serve decent coffee as a dessert," Steve answered as they began walking.

Peggy had smiled at him when he had asked for restaurant recommendations- and in a teasing tone that Steve had never heard from the agent, proceeded to ask why he wanted to know.

When he had responded that he was taking Charlotte out for dinner, Peggy's smile had got larger and she had listed off all of the places that Charlotte had dragged her for a coffee during their lunch meetings.

They paused outside of a restaurant, which had the windows blacked out. A sliver of light came through the crack under the door, illuminating the sign on the front of the building. He opened the door for her, gesturing for her to enter first. The aroma of herbs, wine, and coffee hit Charlotte first, and she smiled as she inhaled deeply.