oh captain! my captain! | barnes

recollections

12:30 pm // noon
Tower

"Audrey, no matter what happens," Steve spoke and watched the elevator numbers climb, "We'll wait for you. No matter how long it takes, we'll wait."

"We're proud of you," Tony reassured her. Audrey was quiet.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Steve and Tony led her down a hall. It smelled and looked familiar. It was empty, sad without her.

"Right in here," Tony opened a door at the end. The two went in first, then she did. She looked around the room and rested her eyes on him.

The man was in bed, reading some black-covered book. His face was behind it, he probably hadn't noticed their entry.

He was under beaten-in blankets. Two hands held the black book; one flesh and the other metal.

How odd, she thought. It matched hers.

"Buck," the blonde captain interrupted the man, Bucky's, reading.

Bucky closed the book and set it on the bed beside his right thigh. He looked at them. His eyes rested on her.

Hers rested on his.

His face was beaten up a good lot. His lip was busted, his jaw bruised, an eye was dark, stitches held wounds together.

Her eyes rested on his nonetheless.

"Bucky," she breathed. "It's you; you're the man on the night, the man with the witch..."

Her words ran away from her. He smiled at her.

"It's been a long time, Ace. I'm glad you're alive," she smiled but couldn't force herself any closer to him. She was scared to break a broken man. "We came to get you and those guys must've tripped a bomb," he explained.

"You left me for dead," it was silent the first time. She had to repeat herself, "You left me for dead. You guys didn't try to find me. You guys just left. I thought it was no man left behind?"

She looked around the room.

"It was, it is," Tony forced his voice. "We thought you were dead."

"Did you find my dead body? Oh, right, you didn't look," she tensed.

"Audrey, you're tired. Your head's mixed up-"

"No, Steve, I see clearly. I see exactly what you people did to me. I understand now, you didn't want me to live, so you didn't try to save me."

"Audrey-"

She was already gone.

She stormed through the corridors and to the elevator, down the floors, and out the front door. She searched for what she didn't know.

Finally she followed people down below the city and found a train. She got on the first one to Harlem.

She'd stumbled around Harlem for some time, trying to find the memorized apartment building. She finally found it and trudged up the stairs.

She fell onto a couch.

"They've been lying to me. Something about seeing Bucky made me remember how they didn't search for me. They left me for dead while I was still alive..." She stared at the ceiling. The cat jumped onto her stomach and settled into a roll on her.

Audrey pet the purring animal.

The two women exchanged glances.

"You can stay here," Phoebe stated quickly. "We won't lie to you."

"Promise?"

"Cross our hearts and hope to die," Ray spoke impulsively.

"Odd expression," Audrey looked at her. "You could've just said 'yes', but I appreciate the effort."

Ray smiled.