Becoming Legion

Chapter Twenty Four

A knock on Skye's door alerted her to Bobbi, holding a bag she deemed a survival kit for quarantine.

"Look, I've been in quarantine before, and I know it can drive you absolutely nuts," remarks Bobbi, a smile on her face, "But I have good news, Rose came out of the rock. She's super weak from being in there for a few days, but she's alive and she's stable."
Skye released a breath at the news, relieved not everyone had died on her during the earthquake. She smiled at Bobbi, who nodded and turned to leave.

"Did someone tell Bucky?" Skye called out, remembering his reaction to the news.

"He, uh... Hasn't left his room since his blow up in the gym," responded Bobbi, "but I'm going to slide a note under the door to let him know."

A knock on his door caused Bucky to stir, turning himself in the bed from the window to the door.

"Bucky?" called out the voice, he recognized it as Bobbi, "I have someone on the phone you might want to talk to."
The door opened, and a hand reached out, but once he had the phone, he quickly closed the door. Bobbi sighed but understood and walked away to meet with the team.

"Hello," he spoke into the phone.

"Hey Sarge," a weak voice answered back.

"Rose?" Bucky asked, scared to believe his ears.

"I told you it would take a lot to get rid of me,' she laughed, her voice weak, "What's this I hear about a destroyed gym?"

"You beat up a punching bag and part of the wall, and the whole world freaks out," he laughs back, "I'm sorry, I just, it was all too much. Being around Hydra again, you getting kidnapped then being an idiot trying to save the world, then finding out you were..."

He trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought. To him, the couple had picked up where they left off all those years back, but he wasn't sure he was the same person that Rose cared for.

"I thought I lost you," he whispered, hoping Rose couldn't make out what he said, but she did. The line was quiet for a while, as Rose smiled at his words.

"I'm not going anywhere, James, you should know that by now," she finally answered, allowing Bucky to breathe again, "Can you go check on the rest of the agents for me? I have a feeling they're all still stressed out."
"Of course doll, will you be back soon?" Bucky responded, letting a smile settle on his face.

"In a few hours, I think," Rose answered, "Gems hasn't told me anything, but I know we're in the air, so I'll see you soon, love you."
Rose snapped a hand to her mouth as she said that, hanging up just as quickly. She hadn't meant to say that, her tiredness getting the best of her. She locked eyes with Gemma, who laughed at the shocked expression the blonde held.

On the other end of the phone, Bucky sat listening to the dial tone, praying Rose would call back. It had taken him a moment to process what she said, but before he could respond the call had been ended by the girl. Her words shook him to his core, a mountain of emotions rolling to the surface. After sitting for a minute more, he left for the lab, to look in on the team as Rose had asked. His smile quickly faded as he heard arguing down the hall, and felt the floor begin to shake a little before stopping. Once in the lab, he noted that equipment was moving in there, but most of the stuff around Skye was shaking more. The two locked eyes and Bucky just nodded an unspoken agreement that he would stay quiet about the event. Luckily, the shaking stopped as the argument stopped as well.

A plan was set in motion, but Bucky asked to stay behind, to help with Rose. Coulson accepted his proposal, knowing he wouldn't be focused enough to help. They heard the plane touchdown, and Bucky looked with questioning eyes.