8
"James Buchanan Barnes, what are you doing?" Rosalie Joy looked at Bucky with a slight smirk. It was Saturday night and Bucky had shown up randomly at her doorstep asking her parents if she was around.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Can't take my best girl out on a night like this?" he asked, trying to sound casual.
Rosalie Joy gave an unladylike snort. "It may be a beautiful night, but that doesn't answer my question." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Not to mention why you're being so charming all of a sudden."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he exclaimed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"You never call me your best girl unless you get something in return, Bucky."
"That hurts."
"This is the first time I've seen my parents in a while and you show up out of nowhere." Rosalie Joy shrugged Bucky's arm off her shoulder. She gave him a hardened look. "I know you, Bucky. Not to mention that if you wanted to spend time with me, you would've brought Steve, too. He'd never pass up an opportunity to spend a night with us unless he was sick."
Bucky's blue eyes lowered. She was right. But he had a valid reason for why he showed up so abruptly! He just couldn't find a way to say it. Rosalie Joy had been a dear friend of his and Steve's since high school, and when they all graduated and started living different lives, they sort of fell out of contact. Bucky had noticed that Rosalie Joy had become a beautiful young woman since they first met, and there was a part of him that was really starting to pay attention to her. He'd noticed she was acting a little strange around him, but not treating Steve any differently.
Bucky was trying his hardest to understand what he was feeling and what she was feeling.
It was because of Steve that Bucky was starting to put everything together.
"I had actually visited Steve earlier," Bucky said, clearing his throat. "He wasn't feeling too well."
"Are you being serious?" she asked.
"You know I am. He's the little guy from Brooklyn, never passes up an opportunity to fight." He shrugged. "The only thing that holds him down is an occasional cold."
"Bucky..."
"Do you like me?" he blurted, an actual blush on his cheeks.
"What?" Rosalie Joy's eyes widened.
"Do you like me?"
Rosalie Joy stopped, a stunned expression on her face.
"Joy?" Bucky stood in front of her.
"What are you trying to do?" she said, her voice shaking.
Bucky gently smiled at her. "Hoping you'd give me a chance."
—Mad World—
Her eyes opened and she had to repress a gasp. She had no recollection of falling asleep. She quickly took in her surroundings—another abandoned warehouse.
Sitting up, she felt a slight stiffness in her joints and an ache in her lower back. Brushing the stray hairs out of her face, she took a deep breath to calm herself down.
"We need to move." Looking over, the Winter Soldier stood only a couple feet away. Without all those layers of jackets, she had an opportunity to really get a good look at him. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt that seemed a bit loose on him, but still managed cling onto his muscles. The one thing that stood out the most to her was that he wore a glove on his left hand. She saw something flash briefly underneath a small gap between the glove and the sleeve of his shirt. He noticed the look on her face and a feeling swept over him—something bordering confusion and concern.
"Are they coming?" she asked, her voice sounding void.
His face hardened. "They're on their way."
Standing up, she brushed herself off and pursed her lips. They had already spent a majority of the day—and well into the night—leaving the city. Knowing Captain America was still in the hospital seemed to lift a weight off the Soldier's shoulders, and for some reason she was starting to understand why he felt that way. If, in some way, she did know Captain America before HYDRA got her, then she wouldn't want him to get involved in what they were doing.
"I saw three exits that lead around the back of the warehouse," the Soldier muttered, clenching his fists. "It's fenced off, but as long as we don't make ourselves obvious, then it shouldn't be a problem."
"How far out are they?"
"So you're saying HYDRA could've done the same thing to her?" Steve looked at Sam with the slightest hint of doubt in his eyes. It had been one thing figuring out Bucky had been turned into HYDRA's most powerful assassin, but Rosie? His other best friend? That seemed almost impossible.
"Your missing person fell off a train and miraculously survived," Sam said, shrugging his shoulders. "Who's to say they didn't tweak her with whatever they gave him?"
Steve's lips pursed. If he wasn't still confined to that Godforsaken hospital, he'd probably do a little more investigating. With SHIELD having fallen apart, and everything having been leaked onto the internet, maybe Steve could find something useful on her. Maybe he'd figure out a way to contact Natasha and ask her to do one more favor for him.
She'd managed to find documents on Bucky, maybe she could find something on Rosie.
"I just don't want to believe it," Steve murmured. "She was like a sister, Sam." He shook his head. "Buck loved her more than anything—he did anything to make her happy."
Before Sam could say another word, there was a bit of a commotion in the halls. There were security guards and some doctors running around.
"Something going on?" Sam asked a passing doctor.
"One of our nurses was found tied up in one of our rooms," a doctor exclaimed.
Steve slowly sat up, wincing a little at the pressure and discomfort he felt. "Tied up?"
"Someone must've been impersonating one of our nurses."
"There was this one who came in not too long ago." Sam went on to explain what she looked like, a look of confusion swept across the doctor's face.
"I don't remember seeing anyone like her around here."
Sam looked back at Steve.
Steve's gaze hardened.
The Angel and the Winter Soldier managed to get out of the warehouse undetected. The remaining HYDRA operatives in that area had managed to track down their location and, by the time they were far enough away, infiltrated the warehouse.
"What do we do when he gets out of the hospital?" she asked, her hands shoved into her pockets.
He didn't say anything.
"Do you even care?"
Still no answer.
"He'll look for you." Her hazel eyes studied him carefully. "James Buchanan Barnes was his best friend."
"I know."
"Then what is your plan for when he's out of the hospital?"
He didn't answer.
"We can't kill him." The Soldier's sharp blue eyes looked at her with a heated glare. "You made that clear when you spared his life."
"Would you kill him if you were given the chance?" he growled.
"If I had to make a critical decision, I would." The Soldier's jaw set. "If he's filled any significance in the revival of our memories, what use is he to us? How much longer can Captain America be considered a hero before he's obsolete?"
"We don't kill him," the Soldier barked.
Her lips pursed. The way she saw it, Captain America had a significant role in their lives, whether they were connected or not. But once his usefulness had been fulfilled, what was he to them? Nothing. At least, that was the HYDRA part of her thinking that way. Gather the intel, kill the provider.
"Fine," she murmured. "We won't kill him."
Author's Note:
Sorry for the delay, but I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think. If you've got suggestions for future updates, leave a review or PM me! I always love suggestions.
I own nothing in the Marvel universe! All of that belongs to Stan Lee, the producers/writers, etc. I own my characters and my fillers, that's it.
If you guys think I'm getting any of the characters wrong, let me know! Also, I don't know a lot of 40s slang, and I know I could look it up, but if you guys know any of it, I'd love for a review, please!
Please leave any suggestions or ideas you've got! I'd love to see what you guys have in mind.
Leave a kind and helpful review, please!
Thank you.
Susan Strong
