Path to Protection (BuckyBarnes x OC)

What's Left of Life

     Packing up what was left of the boxes in my and Peggy's office, I thought about where my life ended up in such a short time. The last mission broke me, as did Peggy, and left me heartbroken all over again. I lost one of my dearest friends, while Peggy was torn from her greatest love, yet. I knew the pain of losing a love, so I empathized with her. Although, I also knew Peggy before she'd met Steve; she was withdrawn from men. That was why I was more worried about her. Would she ever let herself love someone the way she loved Steve?

     September had rolled around, and the weather in London was beginning to become drearier. Although I didn't invite the cold, I was looking forward to the war coming to an end. I would've been able to step out of my role as a soldier and concentrate more on my job as an agent. With James and Steve gone, and Howard committing himself to his projects, Peggy and I found a place to live together and formed our own little three-part family.

     Yes, that was right, three. Five months ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Due to the serum still flowing through my body, he developed quicker than most infants but remained healthy through the whole growth period, despite my disbelief in the accuracy of American medicine. He took after his father, a lot; that was why I ended up naming him James, Jr. After two months, he had already grown a head full of dense, dark hair, and his smile was as sweet as his father's used to be. He also shared James' crystal blue eyes. I simply knew Junior was going to be a ladies' man. However, when he was born in April, I had to take a break from my job and had to commit to the whole parenting thing, which proved to be harder than it seemed. Peggy offered to help as much as she could, but, with my absence from the office, she was even busier than usual. I hired a nanny for James so that I was able to concentrate on work.

     Even with the States being on the winning side of the war in the end, it seemed the price which was paid was higher than some might've expected, especially Peggy and me. We lost what mattered to us the most, and our only comfort remained the company of each other and in the shared joy of raising James, Jr.

     That brings me to date, September 1945, with our headquarters in London being emptied. I spent months drafting plans and developing ideas to present to the Colonel about a new organisation, which would be tasked with maintaining both national and global security. Even with our technology being as it was, Schmidt still managed to find an unmanageable, unearthly source of power, which would almost grant him control over the world if it weren't for us. There were nearly 3 billion people in the world; who knew what trouble people could cause, especially if weapons like Hydra's ever fell amongst ordinary individuals with no sense or feel for responsibility. If possible, my wish was to find out who those people were and stop them before they'd cause harm to others or themselves.

     Peggy, Phillips, and the SSR board, as well as the U.S. Army, were thrilled over my idea. Not only would the newest organisation keep the U.S. in order, but, if we managed to establish it well enough, it could've guaranteed common cooperation and peace between the continents. However, we first needed to establish the team behind the organisation and the idea of it ourselves. A new headquarters was needed, and new connections had to be made to gather people who'd want to cooperate. We'd need to set a leader and come up with a new name. We didn't have much time for decisions—evil never slept—so we chose Camp Lehigh to be our temporary base, seeing as Steve, the pride and joy of America, and I, the founder of the organisation, both started our future there under the surveillance of Dr Erskine, the inventor of the serum that saved us in the war.

     First, the old London headquarters needed to be emptied of any evidence, as well as the SSR research centre and laboratory in New York.

     I never imagined moving boxes and files from one office to another would've resulted in so much work. One never noticed just how much junk people kept in the drawers of their desks until they had to clean it out one day. Granted, most of the desks belonged to people who never returned from the war; that was why Peggy and I, the handy with chores women, were tasked with cleaning them out and sending the stuff to any relatives or friends the person had.