New chapter fam! Not gonna lie, I struggled with this one a bit, but all in all I think I'm happy with how it has turned out. Enjoy!
Rose woke early the next morning, anxious to catch the Commandos in the Mess Hall. While grateful for Howard's insistence that she eat good food - which he had sent to her room - this morning she liked the idea of human interaction far more. The Mess was on the opposite side of the building to the gym and very much resembled a normal high school cafeteria. As it turned out, Rose was early. It appeared that the only occupants of the the Mess at dawn consisted of a few lowly agents, Colonel Phillips, and Peggy. Rose collected a few slices of toast and a cup of bitter coffee, and plopped herself down at the table opposite Peggy.
"Good morning," she greeted, looking up from her newspaper.
"Sup," Rose nodded in return, taking a sip from her coffee cup and making a face at the taste. Peggy raised an eyebrow at her.
"You know you don't have to drink it if you don't like the taste." She pointed out.
"I know," Rose yawned, "but it's gonna wake me up, so I gotta." Peggy shook out the large pages of her newspaper, continuing to skim through the various articles.
"I was very impressed with how you handled yourself during training yesterday."
Rose choked on her coffee at the compliment. "Uh, thanks."
"You must understand why I am wary of you, Miss Hammond, in my line of work," Peggy continued.
"Oh, yeah, I totally get it."
"However you have given me no reason to distrust you thus far, so I would like to take you out into the city this weekend." Peggy said this all while never looking up from her reading. Rose's jaw dropped. The opportunity for a little time with Peggy away from the SSR? Yes please.
"Sounds good."
"It's settled then." Peggy closed her newspaper and stood up, satisfied with Rose's answer. "See you later, Rose."
Peggy passed a few of the Commandos entering the Mess as she left. The men lined up to collect their food, and Rose was watching them from behind her cup, suddenly feeling shy. She tried to ignore them, and especially tried to stop her eyes from seeking out Bucky. Instead she picked up the book she had brought down with her and tried to concentrate on reading. The words blurred on the page in front of her as she felt the presence of someone sitting in the seat Peggy had vacated moments before. Rose peaked up from her book and tried to push away the pang of disappointment that it was not Bucky who had sat down with her, but Dugan and Morita.
"Mornin', ma'am" Dugan said, tipping his ever-present bowler hat at her.
"Ugh," Rose groaned, "don't ever call me ma'am."
"What are you reading?" Morita pointed to the book on the table in front of her.
"The Hobbit," Rose replied distractedly. Her eyes roamed the room for the Captain and the Sergeant, only to find that they weren't there. "Is, uh, is Steve or Bucky up yet?"
"Colonel wanted to see them first thing." Dugan answered through a mouth full of toast.
"Something to do with Hydra?" Rose enquired. She was unsure when the first mission actually took place, she only knew that the Howling Commandos were around for about a year before Steve crashed into the ice.
"Not sure. Should find out at training later."
"Right. Alright if I join again?"
"You weren't exactly there long after beating up Bucky yesterday, sweetheart." Dugan chuckled.
"Hey! I did not beat him up!" Rose defended.
"Beat his pride up, that's for sure," Morita mumbled, causing Dugan to laugh again.
"I'll be there, and this time I'll just watch and help." Rose huffed, leaning back and crossing her arms.
"You sure Stark won't miss you?" Dugan asked suggestively.
"No," Rose replied shortly before downing the remainder of her coffee. She shuddered, sticking her tongue out at the foul taste. Dugan shook his head in amusement, while Morita looked at her, confused.
"Wait, what's a hobbit?"
Rose sat on the floor of the gym with her back against the wall and her book in her lap. She was reading intently, lost in Middle Earth, when Steve and Bucky finally entered the gym. She looked up briefly, doing a double take when she saw that Steve was holding his shield. She closed her book and sat up a little straighter. Bucky glanced in her direction but didn't return her smile and avoided her questioning gaze. Steve gave her an odd look before continuing to the rest of the Commandos. Peggy followed not long afterwards and came immediately over to Rose.
"Colonel Phillips wants to see you."
Rose stood up slowly, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She glanced back to where Steve was beginning to test the movement of the shield before following Peggy from the room. Her unease only grew as Peggy silently led her through the building.
The Colonel's office was basic, a single desk with various papers scattered across it, and small filing cabinet in one corner, and a chair on one side of the desk. On the other side of the desk sat Colonel Phillips with Howard leaning against the wall to his right.
"Thank you, Agent Carter," Colonel Phillips said once they were in the room and Peggy had firmly shut the door behind them. "Take a seat, Miss Hammond."
Rose sat, her heart hammering in her chest. I've done something wrong. What did I do? What the fuck did I do? Shit, shit, shit!
"From the future," Colonel Phillips began, "that is what you told Sergeant Barnes when you were captured. Now Sergeant Barnes tells us that that is not the whole truth." Rose's eyes widened. Had Bucky told them about their conversation the previous day? She didn't know what to say, panic causing any words to get stuck in her throat. "This world being fictional to you," the Colonel continued skeptically, "is a little harder to swallow." Phillips glanced at Howard. "What is it, Stark? I can practically hear you twitching."
"Well it's just the parallel universe theory-"
"The what now?"
"Parallel universes. It's the theory of the existence of variations on different worlds." Howard explained. "I did some reading after talking with Sergeant Barnes last night. I thought I'd heard of it before; it's mentioned but not by name in the works of Isaac Newton. There isn't a lot of research behind it, but Rose being from another universe isn't totally ludicrous - given how much she seems to know about us as individuals and not just as historical figures."
"It's called the multiverse," Rose finally found the courage to pipe up, "and trust me, I had just as hard a time believing it. But it's the truth, I'm here, so what are you going to do with me?"
"Multiverse…" Howard trailed off in wonderment. His mind was running wild with questions and theories, so fast that he couldn't even articulate them. He just stared at Rose with wide-eyed excitement and curiosity.
"Well, Miss Hammond, there's not a lot we can do with you other than what we're already doing." Colonel Phillips answered her. "However, from now on you will be required to have an escort whenever you are outside of your living quarters and any information you can share with us to help defeat Hydra will be shared."
"I, uh, I don't know what I can tell," Rose looked down at her lap, "I know how this story is supposed to end, but just my being here has probably already changed too much… I'll make a list and report back on Monday. I hate Hydra, and I don't want to see them succeed because of me."
"Monday then," Phillips nodded, "Dismissed. Stark, escort her back to the gym, I need to speak with Agent Carter."
Rose stood, quickly following Howard from the room. She glanced sidelong at him.
"I assume you have questions?" She asked him. Howard opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure what to ask first.
"How?"
"Some magic stones and a wizard," Rose deadpanned. Howard stopped walking.
"Seriously?"
"I mean I'm not wrong," she shrugged.
"Ok then, why?" Howard pressed as he began walking again.
"Honestly I'm still trying to figure that out."
"Can I just ask," Howard paused as they reached the doors to the gym, "what we're doing here… Is it… Are we… Important?" Rose softened her gaze at him.
"I can assure you, the name Stark is remembered." Mainly because of Tony, though, she added in her head. "Look, we can talk science later, right now I need to have a chat with our favourite Sergeant about gossiping."
Howard raised his eyebrows, but nodded his assent. "Come find me in the lab later."
He shoved his hands into his pockets and ducked his head as he walked away. For a moment Rose was struck at just how much of Tony she could see in him. Their mannerisms were uncanny, as was the way they styled their hair, and - despite Howard obviously dressing in the forties - their taste in suits. Although Pepper probably gets most of Tony's suits for him. With that thought in mind, Rose pushed open the door of the gym, the two occupants of which froze when the door opened but relaxed when they saw it was her. She took in the scene of several dummies lying in pieces and various dents on the wall behind - one of which had Steve's shield sticking it of it. She looked from that to a very sheepish Steve and Bucky, who - given the damage they had caused to the gym - were obviously worried that Rose would be Peggy or the Colonel.
"As you were," Rose said, feeling awkward at the eyes on her. She made her way back to her previously discarded book on the floor, picking it up and tucking it under her arm. She leant back against the wall, watching Steve practice various maneuvers while Bucky made suggestions and minor adjustments to his throwing technique. All the while, they messed around and bantered like any best friends would. Rose enjoyed seeing them like this, while it drove home how much they were still just boys and barely three years older than herself. They stopped after a few minutes when they noticed she was watching them, sharing a look before approaching her.
"So," Steve began, "what did Colonel Phillips want?"
"Oh, like you don't know," Rose snapped at him, "and you!" She rounded on Bucky, "Do you tell them everything I say to you? What the fuck, man?"
"So, it's true then?" Steve asked with wide-eyed amazement.
"Yeah," Rose sighed, "it's true."
"So what does that make us then?"
"Heroes." Bucky's eyes snapped up at Rose's one worded response, recalling her words the previous day about heroes - that he shouldn't want to be one in this world. She met his eyes, shaking her head ever so slightly as if to say not now, making a mental note to have a chat with him one on one later.
"But we're… what? Stories to you?" Steve continued questioning.
"You have, like, comic books, right? Is Superman a thing here?" Rose asked in response, she was pretty sure that the Superman comics came out, as well as Captain America, around this era in her world.
"Yes, I've seen them." Rose grinned when Bucky answered. The existence of comic books would make it a hell of a lot easier for her explain. She also appreciated the irony of DC comics existing in the Marvel universe.
"Right, imagine you wake up and you're suddenly next to Clark Kent. That was me in that Hydra factory. But also from, like, another seventy or so years in the future, so I, like, know what's going to happen." Rose thought for a moment. "No, I know what's supposed to happen. Me being here has to have changed some shit already. There are one or two things I think should be changed, anyway." Steve took in her explanation, staring at the ground as he mulled it over.
"So…" he said slowly, "what you're saying is, I'm Superman?" Rose nearly snorted.
"Um, no. Not exactly. You're exactly at 'leaping tall buildings in a single bound' level." She pointed out. He huffed as if slightly disappointed, while Rose caught Bucky letting out the subtlest sigh of relief.
"But if you know how things happen, you can help us win the war, right?" Steve asked hopefully. Images from the Marvel movies flashed across Rose's mind; Steve crashing the plane into the Arctic, aliens pouring from the sky in New York, the moment that the true face of the Winter Soldier is revealed from beneath the mask, Steve laughing with his team in Avengers Tower, Sokovia falling from the sky, Bucky with Steve on the quinjet on the way to Syberia, Steve fighting off Thanos with his bare hands, Bucky turning to dust…
How many wars did they have to fight?
How many could she stop?
"I'll try my best, Steve," Rose assured him. Steve sucked in a breath and nodded gravely, seeming to understand the gravity behind her words as they locked eyes. Fuck it, I'm going to save Bucky, she thought glancing away from Steve to look at the other man. Bucky was watching their interaction with concern evident on his face. He never wanted himself, let alone Steve, anywhere the war. Rose had told him before they left the camp that they would not live but survive, and he was beginning understand the connotations of that statement. "Should you, uh, get back to practicing?" Rose asked, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen over the trio.
"Yeah," Steve shook himself from his thoughts, "we were actually about to practice some hand to hand with the shield. You staying?"
Rose nodded. "I'm not allowed anywhere outside my room without an escort, so I'm here until you're done," she informed them.
Steve went to dig his shield out of the wall it was currently protruding from and Bucky moved to follow.
"Bucky?" Rose said quietly, getting his attention before he was too far away to hear her.
"Yeah?" He turned back to face her.
"Go for his legs."
"Why?" Bucky looked at her confused, only for her to grin at him.
"Because his shield is ze size of a dinner plate," she laughed, putting on a terrible fake German accent, "and he's an idiot." Bucky cracked a smile at her, despite not understanding the reference that she was laughing at. He turned back to Steve, who was now waiting on the sparring mats. Rose sunk to the floor as he walked away and opened her book, still grinning to herself. "Literally everyone knows to go for the legs, even Spidey Boy." She looked up when a thud sounded from the mats in front of her followed by a 'hey!' from Steve. She burst out laughing when she saw Steve sprawled on the ground where Bucky had obviously tackled him to the ground and was now standing over him.
"You left your legs wide open, pal."
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