Black Hawk

Part 7: Connections

As he lays down, he pulls me closer to him and lay my head on his chest. My mind is at peace, at least for now, as he strokes my hair and I begin drifting off back to sleep.

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Bucky
I wake up to the sun beaming on my face and a pressure on my chest. As I look down I can't help the sight I see. Rose's head still in the same position as it was when we went to sleep. I can't move my eyes away from her, I'm so happy she's back. I'm never letting her go again, she's the only thing that got my through my time at HYDRA. I don't know how much time passes by as I lay thinking about all the small moments we've had together.
I feel her begin to stir before her head turns to look at me with a sleepy smile. God she's beautiful. "Good morning" I say as I brush a stray strand of hair off of her face.

"Good morning Buck" she replied with a groggy voice and sleepy eyes.

"How did you sleep?" I asks, unable to keep the smile from my face.

She sat up bringing her knees to her chest, placing her chin onto her knees and I can see the smile playing on her lips . "I don't think I have ever slept so well" she says looking over her shoulder at me "but I've got to get up and go train with Nat" she says as she steps out of bed.

I sit up smiling at her, "I'm happy to hear that. I'll see you later doll." I watch as she begins to grab her clothes and head to the bathroom before heading back to my room.
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Rose
The whole time I'm getting ready I can't stop thinking about him. How he stayed with me, how he held me. I don't think I've ever slept so well in my life, even before everything. Something about him calms me, I don't know how or why but it does. It always has. Ever since I first met him when i didn't know what I was getting myself into working as a nurse for a 'large company'.
When I get down to the training room I'm met with a smirk. "What?" I ask her.

"You and Bucky?" she questions tilting her head.

"There is no me and Bucky." I laugh, "He just helped me calm down."

Nat pulls a knowing look, "Yeh I don't buy that for one minute." she laughs.

I just shake my head and head over to start training. I don't know what to say to her, I don't know what last night was. I don't know how he feels about it either.

After training we went upstairs to grab some breakfast and some of the others were already sat in the kitchen eating. As Nat and I began to tuck into our food Tony comes in with a mischievous look on his face. "Ladies, party tonight to celebrate the others coming home yesterday." he informs us.

"Any excuse for a party Stark." Steve laughs.

Tony shrugs "Starts at 6 guys" he says nonchalantly before leaving.

"Well I have absolutely nothing to wear for it." I sigh, I don't even know if I want to attend but I feel like I should.

Nat smiles, "Don't worry, come to my room at four and me and Wanda will sort you out."

"Thanks Nat!"I smile. Who knew a former Russian spy could be so kind.

****Time skip****

I realise it's almost four so I make my way to Nat's room and see her and Wanda are sat on her bed waiting for me.

"Hey girls. I think I'm going to need all the help I can get if I want to look good tonight." I laugh.

Nat shakes her head rolling her eyes. "Babe, you always look good." she tells me.

To be honest I don't know what I look like half of the time. I never look in the mirror long enough to get a good glimpse of myself. Not ever daring to look myself in the eye. Although I smile at the compliment. "Thanks Nat." I look down playing with my fingers, a nervous habit I guess, "It's just, I have never really gotten dressed up before."

Wanda offers a smile to me "Well that's what we are here for." she laughs. "Come on, let's get ready."
Nat urges me to sit at her vanity and immediately begins to apply different products to my face while I feel Wanda doing something to my hair. We chatted about everything and nothing whilst they got me ready and get ready themselves. I've had fun being pampered. It felt weird at first, having them make so much of a fuss over me, but they insisted.
Wanda is first to get changed into her outfit for the night. She's wearing a black long sleeved bodycon dress that has a deep V neckline which compliments her figure beautifully. Her hair is loosely in a low ponytail with her normally wavy hair straightened. "I think I'm going to wear this. What do you guys think?" she says.

"You look amazing!" I tell her with a wide smile. She has grown up into such a beautiful woman, the first time I saw her she was just a teenager.

Wanda smiles "Aww thank you." she replies before turning to Nat, "Nat your turn"

Nat grabs something out of her closet and goes into the her bathroom to change. She return in a silver single shoulder bodycon dress with small frills. Her hair is neatly pinned up in a bun which showed off her defined shoulders. "Ok, what do you think?" she asks.

"Nat you look hot!" Wanda exclaims.

"Yeh wow Nat you look beautiful" I tell her. God, how can I compare with these two. They both look stunning. I'm so nervous, I've been to these types of events before but never as Rose. I used to be so confident in myself, but I don't think I even know who me is anymore.
"Rose your turn." Nat tells me with an endearing smile as if she can tell what's running through my mind.

Nat handed me a dress to go get changed. I don't pay much attention to what the dress looks like as I put it on. It's a red floor length strapless dress. After I change I walk back out to the girls and Nat's smile grows brighter. "Wait there." Wanda tells me as she hurries towards me. She ruffles my hair through her hands and I can see the curls she done in my hair earlier become looser. "Do you think this is ok?" I question, not having properly looked at my outfit.

"Ok?!?" Nat exclaims. "You look stunning. Do you not think?"

I don't know what to say and I just look at both of their shocked expressions. "You haven't even looked in the mirror have you?" She questions me knowingly. I shake my head I'm response and both of them grab my arms and pull me towards Nat's floor length mirror. "Rose you look gorgeous, look."
I slowly move my head to look in the mirror and I'm speechless. They've made me look so good, I can't even believe I'm looking at myself right now. The dress I'm wearing is blood red and strapless. The top curves over my breasts and makes them look fuller then the are. Even though it's floor length, the dress still flatters my curves. My hair is flowing over my shoulders in loose curls, and my lips are coloured in the same shade of red as my dress. Finally I trail my gaze up my face to meet my eyes, something I haven't done since before I became a different person. I forgot how green they were, but the small golden ring round my pupil seems to have darkened over the years. For the first time in years I look at myself, truly look, and I'm proud of how far I've came.
I completely forgot that I wasn't alone and look at the girls through the reflection, and I see them smiling. Is shake out of my little trance and turn round to the girls. "Thank you so much." I tell them both, they've made me feel like part of the team already but neither of them owe me anything.
"Don't be silly, no need to thank us." Wanda tells me placing a comforting hand on my arm, "Come on we better head down." And with that, off we went down into the main hall. God I hope this isn't going to be too bad.