AMERICAN GIRL ( ᵃᵖ )

         bucky  nods,  silent  and  with   a heavy-hearted sigh,  brushes a loose strand from her forehead,  her hairdo otherwise  immaculate.  they were both clutching at straws,  knew the  inevitable,  the  atrocities  of war and that loss on the battlefield had reached the  thousands,  by now.  but somehow ignoring the  GLARINGLY  OBVIOUS  made the moment that much more  bearable.  reduced tears and breathless farewells to a minimum.  and he wasn’t leaving right this second,  anyway.  ❛    ————   wouldn’t  dream  of  it.  name  a  place,  any  place,  and  we’ll  go  there …  as  long  as  it’s  near  brooklyn.    ❜  he gives her a rueful grin.

she was DETERMINED to spend as much time with her brother that she could before he had to leave and she would cherish these moments because she also knew how bad the war had gotten and while she was completely terrified of losing him, she wanted so be as strong as she could for him. she could cry behind closed doors when no one was looking anyway. a small smiled formed on her lips, mirroring his own. 

     “ just a little rain, Becca. ”  a little rain, that’s been almost a constant for days.   suppose, he didn’t mind it much. the rat-a-tat-tat on the tin roof was soothing, eased a chaotic mind.  but he knew the younger was anxious,   she never cared for storms,   when they were kids she often crawled into his room.  few memories of James Barnes remained,   those that weren’t burned into ash were slowly seeping through the cracks.   Rebecca’s night terrors-  little arms wound around her teddy bear as she stood hesitantly in his doorway,  had been one of em’.  

        always his room, never their parents’ or siblings. 

    PROTECTIVE nature clawed it’s way to the surface,  burrowed deep in the marrow of his bones.   sinking down beside her on the couch,  he leans back against the cushion, azure irises flicking up to the ceiling.   “ ‘member when we were kids, an’ you were sad 'cause the baby bird, you found in the yard, had died? ya’ spent the whole afternoon mashin’ milk with bread to feed it. mom was so mad, said it was a waste of good groceries. but i’m proud of ya’, Bec. proud of who you’ve become. ”  

a small SMILE TUGGED at the corner of her lips at his comment. of course she remembered; how could she ever for get that. she had been out playing with her brother and steve when she noticed the small bird lying in the yard. she tried to do everything that she could to save the poor little thing and only stopped when her mother got mad with her about wasting their food supply. she ran inside crying when it clicked in her mind that here was absolutely nothing that she could do to save the helpless creature. 

          “ I remember that. mom was so mad at me but I was only trying to do the right thing you                 know? I mean I was a kid, how was I supposed to know what I was doing was wrong. At               least someone was proud of me. that really means a lot to me buck, so thank you. it might               not mean much but I’m really proud of you too. you’ve overcome so much and that takes                 guts. it’s nice to have my brother back.” 

looking down at the bright screen before her eyes, she finished typing up a few words on her laptop before saving the document and powering the device down. college wasn’t something she imagined for herself as a child but now it was the thing to do and she planned on taking advantage of everything this new world had to offer. letting out a sigh, she leaned back on the COUCH AND TURNED HER HEAD. even with the semester over, she liked to keep herself motivated and wrote short stories from time to time.

          “ everyone back home thinks I’m on some cruise in the bahamas but this place, this place is             much more beautiful. I know that steve and the king had to go to great lengths to get me here so           remind me to thank them. ” 

times might have been different, but HE WOULD ALWAYS BE THE BROTHER that she admired and there was nothing in the world that would change that. she’d stay by his side no matter what was thrown their way. 

it would be the very very last thing he’d think of – hell, it’d be lucky if he even thought of it. he received mail with a note and picture. A RANSOM – rejoin hydra or they kill the girl. the picture took him by surprise, rendering him unable to move for a few minutes. he brushed it off as some clone they were using to get to him, but something in the back of his mind was telling him that he should go check it out anyway. he got his weapons ready and arrived where he was supposed to. taking out a few agents before reaching the room. they were dumb enough not to have a back up plan if it failed, figuring that his sister would be enough to get him on their side again. wrong answer.

he DIDN’T FULLY BELIEVE it was her, even after the rescue and getting her back to his apartment. he waited for her in the living room, having coffee made for the both of them. even if she was some clone, he wasn’t going to treat her like trash – it wasn’t in him to do so. hearing her following words sealed it for him. this wasn’t a clone. this was rebecca. his sister from way back and somehow she was here again.  he shifted in his seat, moving to the edge to be closer to her.

          ‘ long story short - I was taken by HYDRA after my fall and kept alive. got out, now I’m here. your turn. how the fuck are YOU alive? ’    maybe he was moving a little fast, but the sooner they got this out of the way - the better. ( 17 )

she WATCHED AS HE MOVED forward in his seat and took that as a sign that he might have recognized that she really was his little sister. she thought about what he had told her and what he asked but the truth was, she had no idea how she was back. she remembered being there in the nursing home surrounded by her children and grandchildren and then everything went dark. the next thing she knew she was waking up completely ALONE IN SOME ABANDONED AREA. 

         “ I don’t know and I wish I did. I remember being surrounded by my children and grandchildren            in the nursing home and then everything just went dark. after that, I remember waking up in this          secluded area and then somehow steve managed to find me. he helped me get acclimated and           got me an apartment and then knowing I needed to do something to make myself useful I                     enrolled at georgetown university. on the side, I’ve been trying to figure out how this is even                 possible but, each lead I’ve had turns into a dead end.  ” 

A pretty obvious EYEROLL follows at the mention of cops; still, Elektra keeps her hands up (if anything, she doesn’t really want trouble if she can avoid it — best not to draw too much attention, when six different kinds of DANGEROUS people are on her tracks). Perfectly still, only her index finger moves to point at the blood dripping from her shoulder, down her arm, gathering in tiny droplets on the floor. Her voice is calm, though her muscles are, as always, ready to LEAP should conflict ensue. “— I needed a BAND AID”.

she stood there, still SHAKEN UP THAT SOMEONE actually broke into her apartment. she knew she should run or do something to protect herself, but there was something in her gut that told her she needed to help the female before her. if anything were to come up, she was sure she’d be able to contact steve quickly. nodding her head slowly, she backed up and made her way into the small bathroom to her left and pulled out the first aid kit. supplies in hand, she made her way back out and put the box on the table. opening it up, she dug through to find the band-aids; THANKFUL THAT SHE KEPT a good supply.

       ❝ He told you about them, ❞      She had poured over the documents, had watched every news pundit weigh in on the accountability of heroes. Natasha had exhausted every route to avoid the situation they had found them in, the family she has made for herself torn apart and herself once more welcomed back to the shadows, to a state of distrust.        ❝ I’m already a fugitive for helping them. – It’s safe to say I changed my mind, Becky. ❞    

of course HE HAD TOLD HER about them. he told her more about them after the fact, but that was besides the point. she had seen a lot of information about it on tv but all the reporters seemed to be bias to one party or another so she just tried to tune it out the best she could. unfortunately a lot of the students on campus were talking about it ( including her friends ) who all seemed to have an opinion on the subject. that’s when she contacted steve and then later on, she heard from bucky himself. 

   His brows furrowed at her words, his mind trying to pull back his hopes before they got the better of him. But when she passed over those envelopes, he was soon pulling out the letters inside, eyes quickly reading. She had applied to schools in New York. She was coming home. 

   “Shit, Becca, this is amazing!” Bucky said, abandoning the paper in favour of wrapping his arms around her once more. He couldn’t even make himself feel guilty about swearing in front of his baby sister, his smile too wide and bright. He probably shouldn’t be moving quite so much, but if his wound was protesting, he couldn’t feel it just yet. He was too busy trying to process just what that could mean. He could see her more often. A lot more often. Sure he had his job, but even then he was left with a lot of freetime to kill. With her closer, they could actually spend some proper time together. 

   “I’m so damn proud of you,” he continued, softer now. 

she SQUEALED IN DELIGHT as he pulled her into a tight hug, wrapping her own arms around him tightly. she would finally be coming back home and she couldn’t be more excited. with the end of the semester approaching, she knew she had a lot to do on top of studying. she would need to get all of her things packed up for the move and start looking for a place in the city to live ( she didn’t want to live in the dorms ). she pulled back a bit to get a better look at her brother; the smile only growing on her face when he told her he was proud of her. 

      “ that means more to me than you will ever know. we’ve been separated for so many years and         all that time I just hoped that I would have made you proud and NOW YOU’RE HERE AND I GET       TO come home. i’m finally coming home buck; i’m coming home. ”

she smiled before hugging him once more, her face pressed against his shoulder as a few tears slid down her cheek. it felt as if the pieces were finally falling into place; maybe they would get their happy ending after all. taking a breath, she pulled back and wiped her eyes quickly.

   He grinned at the hug, returning it only a little gingerly. The wound wouldn’t last too long, would probably be gone in a few days, but it would be annoying in the meantime. But he was visiting his sister, so Bucky elected to ignore the whole thing for the time being, concentrating on the exam that had been shown to him once she got back. He didn’t bother trying to really keep up with what half the stuff on it meant–he was smart, no doubt about it, but he wasn’t doing a law degree. Still, he saw the grade on the front and beamed, pulling her close for another hug. 

   “I’m so proud of you, Becca,” he said softly. When they’d first been reunited, it had been hard to imagine she’d want anything to do with him now he was so different, so damaged. He just felt privileged that she did in fact still want him as a part of her life. Same as with everything else fate had decided he was still worthy of. 

   He shifted a little, keeping his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He could remember her a tiny kid, trotting around him and their other sisters. He could remember lifting her up to sit on his shoulders, tucking her in a night when their parents couldn’t. And now she’d gone through all of this and still done so well. Not much could get Bucky Barnes to puff his chest out with pride than talking about his little sisters. 

   “I meant to ask,” he said after a few seconds of looking over the exam, trying to sound off-hand. “What plans have you got for the summer? ‘Cause there’s an open invitation for staying at the tower or the compound, you know. In case you want to.”

that was actually HER NEXT SURPRISE. the thought about changing schools has been in the back of her mind for a while but she was nervous to act on the fact. she didn’t want to distract her brother from his duties as an avengers but she hated that they only saw each other a few times a year. if she changed schools and went somewhere closer to where he was living, she could see him whenever she wanted ( well, whenever he wasn’t busy that is. ) reaching over, she picked up a thick envelope that she had been hiding beside the couch. 

       “ I will need to take you op on that offer until I find a place of my own. there are two excellent law         schools in new york and even my teachers recommended their programs. so I took it upon                 myself to APPLY AND WELL....  ”