Old Soul » 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝔸𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕨𝕠

"Hey there, grumpy," Bucky said, finally catching up to Eliza as she strided confidently down the street. "Mind if I walk with you?"

"Screw you, Bucky," she retorted in reference to the "grumpy" comment. She wasn't grumpy, she was pissed off. And she had every right to be.

"Maybe later," he replied, making her scoff. "Look, remember earlier when I said you were twenty-four? So he couldn't control you? Same goes for him."

"But I'm protecting him, Bucky," she strained, tears threatening her eyes. She sucked in a deep breath. Elizabeth Rogers didn't cry. "There's a difference. He's gonna get himself killed."

And then it hit him. Why Eliza had been so adamant about Steve's enlisting. About his lies. About his sacrifice. She was scared to lose him like she'd lost the rest of her family. And to an understandable extent - she would be alone.

"Lizzy, look," Bucky said softly, taking her hand in his. "It's gonna be okay. I swear to you. They're not gonna take him. He's not physically capable of doing that. But if you don't take this position. You're gonna regret it."

"I know," she sighed. "He'd be mad-"

"No, Liz," Bucky stopped her. "He's gonna be so proud of you."

Eliza raised her head and looked at Bucky in the eyes. Her own brimmed with hot tears that threatened to spill. Her lip trembled.

Bucky took her in his arms as she let out a small sob. "I can't lose him too. I can't lose either of you."

"Neither of us are going anywhere, doll. You gotta believe in us."

•••

"Welcome to camp, Miss Rogers. I'm Chester Phillips," the colonel said as he took Eliza's hand, and shook it firmly.

"It's an honor, Colonel," she replied.

"This is Agent Peggy Carter, she's here to supervise the division."

"Basically, I'm your boss," she said with a genuine smile. Her accent caught Eliza off guard at first, but it was certainly nice for the ears. "But somehow I think you'll be the only other competent person in this camp."

The Colonel walked away, leaving Peggy and Eliza to walk to the different tents.

"As the division's mobile nurse, you'll hang around me and take care of the boys as you see fit," Peggy explained, handing Eliza a clipboard with some personal files on all the soldiers.

The two girls came up on a line of soldiers waiting for their orders.

"Recruits, attention!" Peggy yelled, grabbing everyone's attention. "Gentlemen, I'm Peggy Carter. I supervise all operations for this division."

"What's with the accent, Queen Victoria?" one of the men shouted, a sly smirk on his mouth. "I thought I was signing up for the U.S. Army."

"What's your name, soldier?" Peggy requested, calling out the special soul in the crowd, this made Eliza snicker quietly. She'd gathered enough information on Peggy in the few minutes she'd been talking with her to know what was going to happen to the guy.

"Gilmore Hodge, your majesty," he said sarcastically.

"Step forward, Hodge," Peggy instructed. And he did so, smirking. "Put your right foot forward."

"Hmm," he hummed. "We gonna wrassle? 'Cause I got a few moves I know you'll like."

Peggy punches Hodge hard in the face, causing him to physically inch back a couple paces, clutching his nose.