A Promise

Summary: After the fall of SHIELD, Steve visits a friend from his past and makes a promise.

Description: I own nothing.

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Rebecca Proctor was, first and foremost, a family woman. She always had been and always would be. "Always" probably wouldn't be much longer, she knew. At ninety four years old, her health was not as impressive as it had once been even if her mind was nearly as sharp as ever. But she had lived a wonderful life. A husband, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, a great-great grandchild on the way, and relative health and prosperity; yes, Rebecca had lived quite a comfortable, charmed life.

There was one notable exception. It was fewer than most people had, she supposed, but that didn't make it less painful, and –unfortunately for her- it had long been her legacy. Her small place, barely a footnote, in history.

Rebecca was not Peggy Carter. She didn't change the world or blaze any trails. She didn't fight the good fight any more or less than most women of her generation. No, Rebecca's legacy would always be a single black and white photograph, plastered in every history book published after 1945 though mostly ignored by students and historians alike. In the photograph, a much younger Rebecca –clad in her best black dress and a small black veil- mournfully laid a wreath at the small monument erected in memory of Captain Steve Rogers and Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, the misery on her face and the tears streaming down her cheeks visible even behind her shroud.

The world had long since ceased to care about James Barnes's grieving sister and Rebecca had been more than happy to let them move on. With the love and support of her husband and children, she learned to live with the pain of losing not only her beloved older brother, but her dear friend Steve –a man she considered her brother in all but blood- as well. Like so many others, she had to continue on.

After Steve was found, she had spent hours having to be consoled over the phone by her granddaughter Jamie, having spent that time transitioning back and forth between crippling sadness, unbridled anger, and pure elation, though none of that stronger than the immeasurable confusion that clouded her every thought. She insisted that she be allowed to see Steve the moment he was willing and able to see visitors.

Jamie had been sure that Rebecca's demands would go unheeded, but the older woman had remained undeterred. That damned photograph finally proved useful for something and Rebecca had somehow managed (and she would take to the grave just how, exactly, she had managed it) to alert Steve to the fact that she was alive. A week later, he was sitting in her kitchen eating a large slice of icebox cake from a recipe that she had gifted by her grandmother on her wedding day in 1940. Neither mentioned that it had been the last thing she had served Bucky before his death but both remembered.

After that day, Steve had come to visit as often as his work with SHIELD would allow. Rebecca and Peggy were his only connection to his past and he clung tightly to them. When SHIELD fell and Natasha released all of their files, Steve knew it was only a matter of time before Rebecca found out that Bucky was still alive and being used as an assassin by the very people they had been fighting in the 1940s. He had hoped to reach her first, to explain.

He'd failed in that regard, but Rebecca hadn't allowed him to wallow.

"My brother is alive. And he… He looks the same?"

Steve nodded somberly, "Yeah, Becky. He looks the same."

Rebecca turned the laptop on the table in front of her towards Steve. He looked at the screen and saw Bucky's face, an old war photo, staring back at him, "News travels fast these days," She said, amusement in her voice, "Newspapers can't keep up anymore. Something happens and seconds later it's on the internet… It's good, but sometimes…"

"Sometimes you miss the good old days." Steve finished.

With a small smile, Rebecca nodded, "They were good. But they were bad too. Don't let nostalgia lie to you, Steve." She turned her attention back to the laptop, gently stroking the screen with her wrinkled finger, "They're saying Bucky is a terrorist. That he's killed people in cold blood."

"He was brainwashed, Becky," Steve replied fervently, "What he did… It wasn't his fault. If people actually bothered to read most of what Natasha released, they'd realize that. He didn't do it because he wanted to. He did it because HYDRA made him. But I know that there was a part of him that recognized me. I know that if I find him, I can help him."

Rebecca turned her gaze to Steve, "Steve… I'm old." Steve internally cringed at the unnecessary reminder but kept his expression neutral for Rebecca's sake, "I don't know how much time I have left. It could be years, it could be today. But… I would very much like to see my brother again before I go." She reached across the table and Steve took her frail looking hand in both of his, "Please, Steve. Bring him home. Find him. Protect him. Bring him home. Even if I don't see him again, if God takes me before you can bring him back, knowing that you are looking out for him will bring me peace."

Nodding, Steve pulled Rebecca's hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles, "Of course, Becky. I will do whatever I can to bring him back." He could never say no to Becky, even if he wanted to, and he certainly didn't want to.

"Thank you, Steve," Rebecca replied as tears slowly dripped from her eyes, "I have… I have one more request."

"Anything,"

Steeling her gaze and clenching her jaw, Rebecca stared directly into Steve's eyes and said, "I want you to destroy the monsters that took you two from me. I want you to dismantle them one by one until you've driven out every single one of those rats from wherever they're hiding. From the lowest gutters to the greatest heights of society; find them. Expose them. Show the world what filth they truly are."

With a nod and a deep breath through his nose, Steve replied, "Anything for you, Becky. As always."

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Author's Note: Rebecca Proctor (nee Barnes) is Bucky's canonical sister in the comics. I'm not entirely sure on the specifics about her, but I decided that I wanted to use her in an MCU story and this is what came of that.