ethereal | book one

4

It had been about five months since both Steve and Bucky had left; one to train for war in New Jersey, and the other into real war.

Rose spent most of her time working at the hospital with her fellow nurses in the morning and working afternoon to closing in her mother's apothecary, which was a daily routine for her.

It was currently three o'clock in the afternoon. Rose was sitting on a stool behind the counter of the family apothecary, her lips pressed against the cold metal of the dog tag that Bucky had put to adorn her neck.

While Rose's mother was working in the back, putting tea and herbal remedies in brown paper bags, her mind was rotting from boredom as she waited for more customers to enter the shop.

The only thing being able to fill up the void in her mind was her worry for Bucky, or how much she yearned for him to be back. She just hoped that he was okay, that he wasn't harmed... that he wasn't dead. Her heart sunk a little when she even thought about having to find out Bucky had died in war in a letter from a random Colonel.

The dark shades of brown and quietness of the apothecary made Rose become more tired with every minute that passed. One could notice it by her sporadic yawning and the fluttering of her eyes every once in awhile after she had closed them for longer than she was supposed to.

Not soon after, though, the bell on the entrance door jingled. It was loud, like an alarm, to Rose, but in reality, it was a light ding.

A man with skin a few shades darker than Rose's and a small girl walked into the apothecary with smiles on their faces and tan, wrinkled papers in the man's hands.

Rose recognized the papers instantly considering everyone has them. They were ration papers given out a bit after the war had started. The country's food supply was in a shortage and the government had to divide the necessities evenly between it's citizens and it's soldiers.

The man, Mr. Wilson, was a regular at the shop, so he walked right up to the area where Rose's body, that had been slumped onto the counter, was now sitting straight up with a facade of energy.

"Hello, Mr. Wilson. What can I do you for?" Rose said, glowingly.

Mr. Wilson removed his grey wool cap from his head to reveal his faded black hair; an action that was common to respect women.

"Hello, Miss Rose. I'm here to pick up my prescription." He said — his voice deep and hoarse.

"Right! Mister Don Wilson," Rose said to herself as she turned to retrieve one of the bottles from the shelf behind her.

Rose's fingers danced along the edge of the shelf that she knew everyone with the surname starting with 'W' was on before she finally spotted the name Don Wilson handwritten in cursive by her mother. And while she was so lost in thought, Rose didn't even take much notice in the two people who had entered the shop behind him and his daughter.

"Here we are." Rose grinned and turned back to face Mr. Wilson. "That'll be a seventy cents."

He dug through his wallet and placed the change on the counter in front of Rose after she had opened the copper cash register. She wrapped the bottle of pills in a bag and handed it to Mr. Wilson with a small smile and cheery, "Have a wonderful day, Mr. Wilson."

He placed his hat on his head and tipped it towards Rose on his way out with a small "thank you" escaping his lips. The little girl who was quiet the entire time waved to Rose and Rose waved back with a grin.

Rose scooped the change and sorted it into the register before she went back to tiredly sulking against the counter.

"You know, it's not good to look sad at work." A familiar voice spoke as they walked out from behind a bookcase.

Rose's eyes widened as she took in the sight of her best friend, and she was even more ecstatic when she noticed the olive green uniform he sported.

"Stevie," Rose exclaimed, pushing herself from the counter to greet him with a tight hug.

"It's good to see you, too, Rose." Steve smiled.

"How have you been? Was training difficult? When are you being shipped out?" Rose rambled on, completely oblivious to the woman who had entered the apothecary with Steve until he turned to face her.

The woman was about Steve's height. Her short brown hair floated above her shoulders and her bangs curled pristinely against her forehead. Her makeup was subtle against here porcelain skin besides the red lipstick that popped. The blazer she wore was paired perfectly with a pencil skirt that would've one-hundred percent matched Steve's if it wasn't wool and of a darker shade of green.

"Hello, Miss Knight," the woman spoke in a thick British accent. Rose picked up on it considering her mother having a hint of British mixed into her Indian accent. "My name is Agent Peggy Carter."

Agent Carter held one hand out for Rose to shake while the other was formally placed behind her back. Rose hid her curiosity, even though her eyebrows twitched as they were about to furrow, but she stopped it in time.

"Rosemary Knight," She said, "but you seem like you already knew that... Not to sound rude, but what, uh, what're you both doing here? Soldiers are being shipped overseas immediately after training now."

Rose's eyes were on Agent Carter, expecting her to answer, but her eyes were on Steve.

"I'm not a soldier yet," Steve said with nervousness hinted in his tone, not knowing how Rose will feel about what he was about to do. He wished he didn't have to tell her, but he wanted her to come with him to the thing that would change his life.

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "Explain." She said.

Agent Carter looked between the friends and knew exactly what she had to do. "I'll give you both some privacy." She moved away from the pair to give herself a tour around the Knight's apothecary. Steve turned back to Rose to answer the many questions he assumed she had.

"Rose, this was the only way I could join the fight-"

"Steve, you know I'll support you in anything you do." She reassured. "Unless it's an instant death ticket."

The boy took a deep breath before finally telling Rose what he's needed to for a while now. "I was selected for an experiment that will allow me to be a soldier."

"Steve, you are a soldier-"

"An experiment that will actually let me go into war. Look, if I don't do this, I won't get another chance." He explained. "And I want you to be there, Rose."

Rose nodded slowly, processing this information. "So, what you're sayin' is that you're going to do this with or without me?"

Steve felt horrible for her coming to that conclusion, but it was the truth and he nodded along with it.

If this was something that Steve was going to no matter what, Rose wasn't going to let him go through it alone; she loved him too much to do that. Bucky would probably try to talk Steve out of an experiment like this, but Rose couldn't help going against Bucky's opinion. Rose grinned while taking one of Steve's slightly larger pale hands into her dainty tan ones.

"You're ambitious, you know that?" She said. "Let's go."