#cap2

A Rainha... acordou? Aquela onda de eventos me deixou parado no mesmo local, ajoelhado perto de sua cama e incrédulo.

- Você é mudo? Perguntei quem é o senhor.

- E-Eu... sou apenas um velho súdito, eternamente leal ao reino e à Vossa Alteza. - ... Como conseguiu me salvar?. - Fiz um pequeno ritual de revitalização espiritual, mas não tinha certeza se funcionaria... Sinceramente, Vossa Alteza, sua condição é crítica. - ... Eu sei bem disso. E é um problema espiritual, como você suspeitou. No entanto, ninguém jamais conseguiu parar a maldição dessa forma, nem nos estágios iniciais. - Nem mesmo as santidades?. - Elas não podem fazer muito, visto que a origem de tudo isso foi um presente divino que transformou-se em castigo. - Minha nossa...

Comecei a entender os sinais que havia recebido; de alguma forma, a morte da Rainha deve ser evitada para que a visão não vire realidade. Mas... uma maldição espiritual não é algo simples de ser compreendido, e que na concepção da Igreja, é uma obra demoníaca irreversível. Talvez seja esse o motivo de terem me chamado, já que os médicos reais não tem esse conhecimento.

Agora mais calmo, me levantei e comecei a arrumar os materiais que havia usado no ritual. A Rainha observava tudo com certo desinteresse, com a mente em outro lugar. Uma batida gentil à porta interrompeu seus pensamentos.

- Pode entrar.

- Vossa Alteza, vim verificar seu estado de saúde - Disse o arcebispo, entrando no quarto.

- Parece que encontraram alguém competente para a função de médico. Mantenha-o aqui, se ainda acredita em mim.

- Mas o senhor... erm...

- Ilyan.

- ... Ilyan, não é formalmente médico, apenas um curandeiro. Os conselheiros não aceitarão-

- Diga aos conselheiros que não preciso de alguém certificado, apenas de alguém que sabe o que faz. E que não permitirei interferências nesse quesito.

- ... Como desejar, Vossa Alteza. - Dito isso, o arcebispo deixou o quarto enquanto as empregadas do castelo vinham organizar todo o cenário caótico que resultou da noite anterior.

- ... Vou precisar da sua ajuda, senhor Ilyan. Quero que freie essa maldição o máximo que conseguir, pelo menos até o momento que Abaddon resolver surgir.

- Abaddon? O próprio?

- Sim. Você deve tê-lo visto quando tocou no medalhão. Ele cobiça a destruição, seja do que for. Esse medalhão é uma herança de família, e contém uma parte da essência do mesmo. A missão da família real Gianni é monitorar Abaddon e proteger o reino de sua destruição.

- Céus... e-eu não sei se serei suficiente, Vossa Alteza...

- Só há uma forma de ter certeza. Mas não se preocupe, tudo o que precisa fazer é me acompanhar como um mero servo e realizar o ritual quando meu espírito enfraquecer. Ah, e evite ser assassinado, por favor.

- O-O quê?. Um pequeno sorriso surgiu no rosto da Rainha, que parecia relembrar uma memória ou piada engraçada.

- Não há só Abaddon para me preocupar... outros tipos de demônios também existem, inclusive dentro deste castelo. E eles virão atrás do senhor também.

- M-Mas eu não sei lutar, m-minha Rainha... Nem tenho idade para tal valentia...

- Todos nós somos lutadores, senhor Ilyan, apenas as armas se diferem. O único que sabe quem é o senhor é o arcebispo Jonathan, mas ele está do meu lado. Discutiremos melhor sobre a maldição depois, primeiro preciso descansar e recuperar minha magia. Pedirei que preparem um aposento para o senhor próximo ao meu, e poucos servos terão conhecimento sobre sua existência.

- ... Entendido, Vossa Alteza. Irei me retirar.

Ao sair do quarto, parei em frente a um quadro que retratava o momento em que a família Gianni havia ganhado seus poderes milagrosos em meio à uma batalha épica contra demônios.

hi!! i’m so sorry i haven’t answered for so long 😭 i’ve had mega writers block for months!!!

—

ok so my thoughts are . steve and the howlies on leave in england, and they’re sent to stay at button house because it’s in the country and mostly safe from any air assaults.

so, seeing as the captain and steve are the CO’s of their respective teams, they end up rooming together and get along really well really quickly

one day steve notices the captain’s men playing football or roughhousing or something, and the captain is stood off to the side, alone and looking uncomfortable, clearly not being asked to join in. steve understands not feeling wanted or included, having spent a lot of time like that when bucky wasn’t around.

so steve heads to grab his shield and makes his way over. he asks the captain if he wants to help him train with the shield. steve’s all “you know, i’ve been using it a month or two now, but i’m still not quite sure i’ve got the hang of it” (he’s lying, he’s pretty fluent with it, but cap doesn’t need to know that) the captain is honoured to be wanted so he’s eager to help. for the next couple hours, steve’s running and flipping about as the cap fires blanks at him, trying to hit him so steve can deflect with his shield. eventually, a crowd forms. the captain’s men watch on in confused awe as the howlies yell and cheer.

after that, the captain becomes pretty good friends with steve and the howlies, sitting with them at meal times and listening to bucky’s wild stories about new york, relating to monty as the only english member of the howlies, trading moustache tips with dugan, talking strategy with steve and gabe, becoming ever so slightly enamoured with morita, and yes, talking explosives with dernier.

the captain uses his broken french to explain the explosive he’s in charge of, and in turn dernier regales him with tales of the many explosions and fires he’s set in his time. they’re only broken apart when havers calls to drag the captain away for a meeting with their superiors.

years down the line, steve’s read through the howlies files over and over (deceased, deceased, deceased) and he can’t help but feel like there’s one person missing from the pile. but then again, he never was considered a true howling commando by anyone other than the howlies themselves.

steve looks into what happened to the man he became friends with all those years ago in an english mansion, and what he finds isn’t what he wanted.

he puts it out of his mind until another few years pass, he meets a gods, aliens, people with magic powers, and his best friend winds up coming back from the dead.

finally, finally, everything seems to settle. he has time to himself. so he and bucky decide to take a trip.

they climb out of their rental car next to that old fountain, and gaze out at the fields that seem to go on for miles.

from behind them comes an “excuse me? can i help you?” they turn to find a woman wrapped in a colourful cardigan, who’s mouth drops open at the sight of them. “oh my god… you’re…”

a man appears out of the door behind her. “allison what did they wa-am i going crazy or is captain america in our driveway?”

“yup seems to be him, mike”

steve just laughs softly and explains that a long time ago, he and bucky stayed here for a while. it’s the last place they saw their friend. and a knowing look comes across allison’s face.

after steve finishes talking, she pipes up. “this might sound crazy-“

“trust me, ma’am, not much seems crazy anymore”

“you say that now, but what would you say if i said i can see ghosts, and your friend is standing right next to you.”

steve and bucky startle, looking at the empty air surrounding them.

“how can we know it’s really him? ask him to tell you something only he would know.”

allison goes quiet for a moment, staring at an empty space over bucky’s left shoulder, before saying. “he says, dugan got drunk on your last night here and admitted to having a comb specifically for his moustache.”

steve and bucky can’t help but laugh as tears spring to their eyes. “that’s him alright.” bucky smiles.

“I wish I had never given you a chance,” your voice was low and vicious, aiming to wound. But the words rang true. You really did wish that you hadn’t given him the chance to woo you, to charm you, to make you fall in love with him.

Not when this was the outcome.

Not when it meant that you had fallen into bed, into love, into marriage with HYDRA.

“Now baby, you know you don’t mean that. You love me,” Brock was standing in the middle of your bedroom, still packing up duffle bags with clothes from both of your closets. When you had burst into the room with your gun aimed very carefully at him, Brock had frozen for only a brief second before he was back to moving. He was sure that he could make you see reason, see that believing in HYDRA was a good thing, was something that could change the world for the better. “I know that you don’t understand everything right now but I need you to trust me, to know that I’m making the best decision for us, for our family. HYDRA-”

The gunshot was silent and so was Brock. He could only stare down at the growing stain that was spreading across his chest, slowly sliding to the ground. When he registered your boots standing over him, he looked up at you.

“I told you. I wish I had never given you a chance. But I only give one and you wasted it.”

Chapters: 2/19 Fandom: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Alpine & James "Bucky" Barnes, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers Characters: James "Bucky" Barnes, Arnim Zola, Alexander Pierce, Steve Rogers, Alpine (Marvel), Sam Wilson (Marvel), Natasha Romanov (Marvel), T'Challa (Marvel), Shuri (Marvel), Okoye (Marvel), Ayo (Marvel) Additional Tags: Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Implied/Referenced Torture, Brainwashing, Hydra (Marvel), Heavy Angst, Bucky Barnes's Trigger Words, Scars, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Memories, Dreams and Nightmares, Self-Discovery, Recovery, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery Summary:

Bucky Barnes spent decades as the Winter Soldier under the control of Hydra. He was unmade, broken, remade into something not human. And then he escaped. The road to recovery is long. It is arduous. It is painful, terrifying, lonely, and more than nightmares wait there. Will it really be worth it?

Chapter 2: The Mission

Summary: The Asset is put to work, and performs perfectly. At least until some words that have nothing to do with his conditioning stop him in his tracks.

Notes: For my @buckybarnesbingo square U3 - image of the Winter Soldier in the Chair

 THERE IS ART! DID YOU SEE THE BEAUTIFUL ART IN CHAPTE 1!? And there is more where that came from! 

I'VE BEEN SCREAMING ABOUT IT FOR DAYS! Go give Red Bess all the love for her gorgeous art and manips! The second one is specifically for the moment at the end of this chapter.