13789/WWII: We Have A War To Fight

WWII: We Have A War To Fight
Date of Scene:	09 January 2023
Location:	London, England during World War Two
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Steve Rogers, Diana Prince

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Steve Rogers has posed:
It was difficult somedays to tell how much of the London haze was fog, and how much was smoke. The skies above were a wall of grey clouds, with a likelihood of storms to come. That tended to put a dampener on the German air raids. Though at least until the weather worsened, the siege balloons were overhead, trailing lines that provided obstacles for low flying enemy aircraft.

Steve Rogers boots splash through a puddle as he crosses a street and turns, heading for Whitehall where the War Offices are to be found. The worst days of the Blitz were in the past, but World War II had long days to come before its ultimate resolution. The sidewalks were as full of people in uniform as not.

"Yank," one passing older Englishman says. Steve flashes him a quick smile and a nod of his head. "Sir," he says, the address drawing a bit of a smile from the Englishman in civilian attire. "Score one for American-British relations," Steve says to himself as he hurries his step to catch the door to the War Offices before it closes behind another person entering.

He has to show his ID and then is allowed forward. His boots making soft footfalls on the marble floorings of the hallway as he heads for the rooms that house a number of officers in charge of any number of things in the war effort against Hitler's army.

Diana Prince has posed:
Just inside the offices there are a handful of civilians milling about, most seated in a small waiting area, while some are standing near to one of the reception desks. Two of these civilians vary in size by quite a bit, both female, both dressed nicely in outfits of skirts, jackets, and hats, with coats draped over them and heeled shoes on, of course the taller of the two women draws more attention than the shorter one, who is older and... a bit more heavy set.

"We are more than capable to take care of ourselves, Sir, I assure you." The shorter of the two women says, her British accent yielding a bit more information about her. The other, the tall woman, just quietly looks between her friend, and the man behind the desk in his duty uniform.

Etta Candy continues, her face reddened from the cold weather outside, and being generally flustered by this conversation. "We simply wish you to approve our transit, and we'll be on our way!"

Diana's glasses covered eyes leave the two for a moment as she looks over at the door opening, seeing Steve enter, she stares at him for a moment, and when they make eye contact she offers him a light smile before she looks back to Etta who is continuing to bluster with the man behind the desk, who feels it's too dangerous for the women to get clearance to travel onward alone.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve's uniform has bars that denote him as a captain, with little else to identify him besides the "Rogers" cloth nameplate upon it. Though he does tend to stand out alongside the other uniformed men and women. He pauses inside the waiting room as he looks around at the number of people who are waiting. His eyes move over to the desk where Rothchild is on duty. Other people might give a bit of a grimace at seeing the office. Steve just draws a quiet breath.

The two women at the desk get his attention next, and for a moment the blue of the man's eyes met the gaze of the woman whose statuesque build could never be fully concealed even by a woman's garments of the time. As her light smile is shined at him, Steve's own demeanor lightens from the mildly somber demeanor he'd slipped back into.

"Yes, yes. I know, you already said that," Rothchild says in an annoyed tone and a clipped, very proper accent, without looking up from the papers on his desk that Etta Candy had handed him requesting the papers of transit. "I'm sure that traipsing about the countryside after paintings sounds like a perfect lark. But you seem to be missing that we have a war to fight," Rothchild says in an annoyed tone and a clipped, very proper accent, as he looks up at the two women. "One whiff of your accent and the Gerry's would take you into custody, whether you came through a neutral country or not. Application for papers of transit, denied," he says, passing them back to Etta.

Steve wanders a little closer, catching the conversation. He seems remiss to proceed forward on his business when there are all of these civilians waiting, so he lingers there for the moment, holding the valise.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana does not look surprised, nor perturbed by the man's decision. Etta on the other hand... she looks both, and voices it. "What?!" She says, her face getting more red. "Why... with all due respect, good Sir... But if we do not preserve those 'paintings' then what are we even fighting this war for?! Our culture is at stake here, and if we do not save it, our very essences will be forgotten to all of history!"

Diana reaches her left hand up and places it lightly upon Etta's shoulder. "Etta..." She says softly in her husky hued voice.

It only garners Etta's attention for a brief moment before she's back to glaring at the man across the desk. "I demand to speak to your commanding officer!" She states in indignation of his decision. "Miss Prince, and I, have been through war torn country before, we are as experienced as you will find!"

Diana exhales softly, and lowers her hand back to her side, as her chin drops some. She does glance to Steve for a moment, and notices his rank insignia, but doesn't yet speak up to him... instead she just glances back to Etta. "Perhaps we should return another time?" Diana asks her friend.

"Diana? No, we cannot! We are due to meet with the Wilsons in just two days!" Etta looks thoroughly displeased...

Steve Rogers has posed:
The English officer says in his stodgy, proper accent, "It is the Hun who has caused this war, madam. We will preserve what we can, but victory must be obtained at any cost. Including paintings," he says.

He shakes his head, murmuring under his breath softly enough that Etta won't be able to make it out, "Women. In war torn country. I never..."

He glances up and Rothchild's gaze falls on Captain Rogers as well. "Captain," he says, motioning the American forward. No doubt hoping that moving onto other matters will put a close on the two women's request.

Steve's eyes flit over to the taller woman, his expression a touch apologetic. If his visit was on a matter less urgent... but it is not. He steps forward and Rothchild spots the valise. "Ah yes, that is the...?" he asks, his voice trailing off into a question.

Steve replies, "Yes sir. A full report and plan. Please see it to the general," he says as he hands it over. Rothchild takes it, closing up some papers from his desk into a drawer and locking it. "I'll ferry it to him right away," he says. He looks back to Diana and Etta. "Ladies," he says, words polite at the least. He turns and heads through a door back further into the offices.

Steve turns towards Etta and Diana. "Apologies for interrupting," he says. He glances briefly towards the request for papers that Etta is holding. "I gather it didn't go well?" he asks.

Diana Prince has posed:
With Diana's enhanced hearing, she's able to hear what Rothchild says behind his desk. She just tilts her head ever so slightly toward him, and then shakes her head side to side before she looks back to Etta.

Steve approaches them then, and hands those papers off for the desk clerk to take on. When he leaves, and Steve speaks up to them, Diana smiles warmly at him as Etta looks over to him, and quickly sees his rank. "Captain... Rogers." She says, after leaning forward a little to read his name tag. Yes, your man here refuses us passage!" Etta blurts out.

Diana smiles more before she places a hand upon Etta's shoulder again. "My flustered friend here has been doing all that she can to get us cleared through, but I am afraid it does not seem to be enough." Diana says to Steve now in her thickly foreign accent. She then extends her hand to Steve. "I am Diana, Prince. This is my associate, and good friend, Miss Etta Candy. We are art and antiqueties traders, preservers and caretakers. We were dispatched from London to see to it several locations might have their fine arts saved from the encroaching shadow of war... but, we seem to have hit a bit of a road block, as it were..."

Etta mutters something there-after Diana, something about Rothchild's hygiene.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers shakes Diana's hand as she introduces herself. "Yes, but please, call me Steve," he tells her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Prince. Miss Candy," he says, gaze turning to Etta. The latter is likely not used to getting equal amounts of attention with her current companion about, but both women seem to get similar amounts of focus from the American.

"That sounds like a very noble task," he replies to them. "Though I can't say I have much experience with art beyond a few trips to museums back in New York." Steve glances towards the door that Rothchild disappeared through. "I apologize if you've had a rough time of getting permission. Though I don't know that the officer was understating things. Just your English accent," he says, the latter towards Etta more specifically, "Would probably draw the kind of attention you would be better off avoiding."

Blue eyes swing back to Diana, able to look directly across at the woman which isn't something that commonly is the case for Steve. "I'm not quite sure I could place your accent. But the Germans are always on the lookout for spies. It might stand out if one of you never spoke in front of them," he offers, seeming to try a gentler approach to keep the women from harm's way.

Diana Prince has posed:
Etta fidgets. "Steve?" She quietly says, glancing toward Diana with a stricken look of concern across her face. "American too, oh no..." She whispers that last part.

Diana ignores her.

With her full attention on Steve, she nods softly to what he says. "Oh, we are familiar with all of those such issues, believe me. But, might I ask you if there are any troop transports, or military convoys that which we might be able to tag along with, as they say?" Diana asks in her thick, odd, accent. She glances to Etta again then, and puts her hand on the back of the woman's shoulders. "Miss Candy and I have been traveling together since the end of World War I, and there are few roads we have not made it down together." The tall woman says, her voice warm and kind in a rarely genuine way, especially at this time, in this place. She also doesn't look any older than her mid 20s either, so something does seem a bit odd about saying she's been traveling with Etta since the end of the last World War... but there are stranger things in this world too, as Steve has seen, and experienced.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve himself was born near the end of the first World War, and his expression does show a brief flicker of surprise. Maybe he thought he misheard. At the least he focuses on the request they make, which causes him to pause in obvious thought.

Reluctance of helping put the ladies into harm's way wars his desire to assist them. In those moments of thought, he murmurs to himself before coming to a conclusion. Words to soft for Etta's hearing. "... and Peggy would probably thrash me if I underestimated them for being women." Words accompanied by another flicker of emotion, this one seeming forced from his face as quickly as it came.

"The Germans have turned the coast into one big fortress," Steve Rogers replies. "Short of invading Fortress Europe there won't be any military ships making call there," he says. Though one can hear a 'but' in his tone at the end.

He seems to have to consider again. "There might be a way, a roundabout path through neutral Portugal and up into France overland from there," he tells them. "It would take some effort to get you onto a ship to Portugal." Steve lets out a soft sigh, relenting against whatever part of himself has been trying to discourage the matter. "If you have a place you are staying, I can investigate the possibility and let you know," he offers.

Diana Prince has posed:
"Ooo." Etta softly says when Steve starts to come up with potential solutions. "Yes, that. That, right?" She then asks up to the taller Diana on her right. Diana exchanges a look between Steve and her friend, then looks back to Steve and smiles at him once more.

"We have only just arrived within the past two hours, so we have not yet had a chance to find shelter for the night, plus... we had not hoped to stay here that long either. But, as traveling in such hard times goes, you have to make adjustments where necessary." Diana looks up past Steve's right shoulder toward the window to the street outside. "If you have any suggestions, we could take care of that following this, and then hopefully you would know where to find us to help us along our journey?" She asks, causing Etta to fall quieter for the moment, as she too looks toward the street, then back to the Captain, both women eyeing him expectantly now. "Portugal would be splendid." Etta does quietly tack on to the end of what Diana says.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers considers for a moment and then looks to Rothchild's desk. He gets a pen and some paper and begins writing upon it. "This is the address of a house up in Enfield," he says as he's writing. "Two of my men and I stayed with them for a few weeks while we were waiting for... well, while we waited," he says, finishing the address and straightening as if he offers it over to Diana. "That's one thing the US Army is great for, having you hurry up and wait," he says.

"I can't promise that they'll have room for you, but they are a sweet older couple and I think they will help you if they can. If nothing else they should be able to help you find somewhere else in Enfield, and can direct me on to you," he says.

"I regret there's no way you'll make it to the continent in two days though. But I'll do what I can to try to help get you there," he promises, something about the man making that promise seem an ironclad thing.

Just then Rothchild returns. The trio turning to depart rather than have to speak to the man again.