Come Back With Me ~Bucky Barnes

In Loving Memory (Bonus Chapter)

BROOKLYN- 2015

He knew that it was dangerous to be out in the open like this. All his instincts were screaming at him that this was stupid. However, there was only one thing that gave him comfort and that was that only one person knew of his connection to Elizabeth Rogers and he was currently dealing with a mess in Sokovia on the other side of the world. Apparently the world might end due to a robot attack and if he was going to die, he wanted it to be near her.

It took Bucky awhile to remember Elizabeth Rogers but once he did, he couldn't believe he'd forgotten her. He remembers his first memory was a flash of her smile but it was enough to have him hooked. Each night as he slept he savored each new memory of her. He used to wish for dreamless sleeps but he would take ten nightmares for just one dream of her.

Night by night and memory by memory, he rebuilt the love story that he shared with the love of his life. Once all the pieces were in place, everything fell apart. He looked forward to each night because he got to relive their life together as if it were the first time. He got to fall in love with her all over again and it was a calming balm over the pain of everything else that was happening around him.

However, once he relived everything, all that was left was this torturous pain. He left her seventy years ago when they were both so young. He was supposed to grow old by her side but he left her to do that on her own. When he fell from the train, he was at least a little at peace knowing that Steve would be there to take care of her but apparently he left her too. They both made so many promises to her that they broke and he can't help but hate Steve and himself from doing that to the girl they both loved more than anything in this world.

What he wouldn't do for five minutes with her. What he wouldn't do for one last kiss and the ability to say goodbye.

He knew he would never see her again though. He wasn't sure if there is an afterlife but he knows even if there is, him and Ellie will be in different places. He'll never be able to say goodbye to her face to face but this will have to do.

He looks down at the gravestone in front of him and kneels down. He brushes away the dirt and the last remnants of ice before spring takes hold.

In loving memory of Elizabeth Grace Rogers
"So we beat on. Boats against the current"

He can't help but laugh. Of course she would quote Gatsby on her headstone. He also thinks it's fitting that she chose to focus on the first part of that quotation. The quote ends with borne back ceaselessly into the past. She chose to ignore the part that says that they will never move forward despite the effort they put in because she did.

Him and Steve were the ghosts of her past. He knows they haunted her for years but she accomplished so much despite that. She made a difference in the world despite all the tragedy that constantly followed her. He wished that he could be like Lizzie and focus on the first part of the quote but he knew that the past would drown him until his last day which very well might be today.

"Hey, Doll. I know I kept you waiting... you should have seen this coming though, I'm always late to things," he says softly.

He sits down in front of the stone and places his hand on it. He makes sure it's his right hand because he doesn't want anything related to Hydra near her.

"Your brother is off trying to save the world right now. We both knew he would do great things and I want to believe in him but to be honest El, it doesn't look good. I think that this might be my last day on earth and if it is, I wanted it to be with you," he says.