RAISON D'ÊTRE ( bucky barnes ) 一 under editing

ELEVENTH

RAISON D'ÊTRE
ELEVENTH

"I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO." Rome's voice was soft, and her hand raised to gently touch his arm. She squeezed him, and bowed her head. "But if you must," she continued, shaking her head, "I won't stop you. But please be safe, soldier. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I've gone on missions before," he said in a tone as quiet as hers. He fingers a loose strand of blonde hair, and smiled at it. He's always liked the way the sun hits her hair, making it shining like the spun gold of fables. He turned his face to look at her 一 Rome was anxiously gnawing at her bottom lip, her breath shaky as it fell through her nose. Of course he understood her fear, this was to be his biggest mission. Technically for both of them.

Pierce had assigned them to protect the three helicarriers, and they both had begrudgingly accepted. Rome had stared daggers at him the whole time he explained everything, crossing her arms angrily over her chest. After all the bullshit he'd put them through these last few days, she was incredibly close to snapping. She'd always been relatively calm but Pierce knew exactly what buttons to keep pushing, and God, did he push. There was a part of her to end it all right there, a snap of her fingers and Alexander Pierce would be nothing but another dead body on the floor. But she refrained, steeling her nerves and nodding her head. Either way, she was going to end this today. HYDRA wouldn't control her after this, she'd make sure of it.

"Yes, but nothing as dangerous or risky as this," Rome said and dropped her arms. "I'm worried for you, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you." Her voice dropped and she gulped. After meeting Steve Rogers had having him trigger some sort of memory within the Winter Soldier, she could see just how visibly this was all affecting him.

He pressed a hand to her shoulder, cool metal against warm skin. "Nothing will. When this is over, I'll meet with you." And maybe we can leave, he wanted to add but held his tongue. It wasn't ever safe to say things like that in a place like this. But it's all he's been wanting to tell her 一 he wants to leave this place behind and forget it all, and to take Rome with him. For the first time in his life, he wanted something and he wanted her.

The witch nodded. "Okay," she said and slowly continued to nod her head. She took a nervous step forward and when he didn't flinch away from her, she pressed her forehead against his chest. Rome could feel the steady rise and fall with each breath, and she smiled to herself. "I'll meet you after. Please be safe."

∞ ∞ ∞

After securely making sure the three helicarriers were ready, Rome had managed to sneak her way out of the base and arrive just at the edge of the Potomac. It hadn't been easy; it was like these HYDRA agents had known she was planning something today, but she still got out. The moment she stepped outside the base, leaning back on it and hearing it click shut, Rome let out a soft cry and covered her mouth. For the first time in a very long time, she was alone. No cameras, no guards, no fear of someone pouncing on her for making the wrong step.

Sitting on a fallen log, Rome pressed her face into her shaking hands. Worry started to strike at her heart. Pierce had only had her charm and use protection spells on the helicarriers, ordering her to return to base after. It was the perfect time to slip away, if only for a moment. But... What if something bad had happened? She knew that this plan of theirs sounded too convoluted to actually work, but what if it did? What if HYDRA had managed to kill everyone who opposed them and she'd be taken back? What if her soldier didn't make it?

She looked up at the helicarriers, seeing them continue to steadily rise in the air. If she wasn't such a coward, she would've have fought back ages ago and taken them down with her, but she couldn't risk her soldier and cousins' lives. Despite their falling out, Rome still loved her younger cousins Ianna and Renata with all her heart. How long had it been since she last saw them? Maybe... fifty years? At least a century or so since Renata had gone and disappeared. Either way, each day that passed showed just how much too late it was to apologize. Would Ianna forgive her for running away?

A smile managed to tug at her cheeks as she imagined her soldier and Ianna meeting. Knowing her youngest cousin, Ianna would be her usual loud and bubbly self, with the occasional strange comments that one would normally keep to themselves 一 rarely a filter on that girl, always teasing 一 while her soldier would just awkwardly stand there and struggle to keep up with the conversation. Rome smiled again, playing with a blade of grass between her fingers.

Her soldier was up there somewhere, fighting above. Rome shut her eyes, clasping her hands together in a prayer pose. She hoped he was safe, and she grasped at the gemstone around her throat. She'd promised that once this was over, she would stop at nothing until he'd gotten his memories back 一 memories before her, before HYDRA, before the horror.

The blonde's thoughts were interrupted when she heard the guns start going off. She squeezed her eyes shut, tears already in her eyes. But when nothing happened, when the sounds of screams didn't come, she looked back up and her green eyes widened. She pushed herself off the log. The guns were aimed at the people in the city, but instead at each other. Rome brushed the hair out of her face, continuing to watch as the smoke quickly rose and parts of the ships started falling off, crashing into the river below. A hand pressed against her mouth as she watched one of the helicarriers crash into the Triskelion, and the second one crash into another. He... he still wasn't up there, was he?

The ground shook violently and Rome nearly fell back, but she quickly steadied herself. Smoke and fire erupted from the crashes, snaking its way around the broken ships and building. Her heart began to race as she thought of him. Where the hell was he? He couldn't still be on the helicarrier, right? No, she knew he got off! He was coming back to her, there was no question about it.

She pat down her pockets, trying to find something. She had to have something of his — a loose strand of hair, a knife, even a sock would have worked if it meant she could track him.

Luckily, her questions were quickly answered when she saw something start to emerge from the water just a few feet away. It was two men, one barely conscious and being dragged by the first person. Rome gasped as she saw it was her soldier and Rogers, and she ran to meet them. The water splashed around her and soaked her shoes as she ran into the river, but she didn't care. Grabbing hold of the blond man's arm, she struggled to help drag him on the shore. Rome almost slipped a few times but managed to keep herself balanced.

Her soldier unceremoniously dropped the man on the ground, and the moment he did so, Rome launched herself at him. Her arms wrapped tightly around, her face buried in the crook of his neck. "You scared me," she whispered, shutting her eyes when she felt one of his arms loosely hug her. When she pulled away, she spotted the look in his blue eyes. Her soldier looked... sad almost, watching as the unconscious man coughed, water coming out of his mouth. Rome placed a gentle hand on his chest. "Soldier? What do we do now?"

The Winter Soldier simply took her hand and led her away.

A/N: i honestly couldn't imagine how rome
would contribute to the fight so i thought
it was just easier to not include her at all
oops and god this chap sucks hahaha