MISSION: FAILED | BUCKY BARNES x OC - THE EMPOWERED WOMEN SERIES

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑰𝑿𝑻𝑬𝑬𝑵: 𝑬𝑴𝑶𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑨𝑳 𝑹𝑶𝑳𝑳𝑬𝑹𝑪𝑶𝑨𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹

James snorted at her harsh words. "Do people tell you that you have a wild imagination?"

"No," Charlie raised her eyebrows and patting the pen she was still holding on her mouth as she was actively thinking about it. "Not really."

***

They crossed East River to park on the Roosevelt Island, lying between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens and on Long Island to the east.

"So...," Charlie said as she closed the car door, looking around her, only to see buildings under construction and a small park nearby. "This is the place."

"Yeah," James walked around the car to stand next to her. "When I was a kid, my friends and I were hanging out in the abandoned hospital at the other end of the island. We would watch the sun set over Manhattan from there," he put one hand on her lower back, guiding her where he gestured at with the other one.

"Very poetic of you," she let him lead her to wherever there was. It was late November but it felt like it was the month of July, his touch burning a hole in the fabric of her clothes. Heating the skin of her lower back, droplets of sweat ran down her spine.

"Just lost kids dreaming of a better life."

Glancing at him, she caught James clenching the muscle of his jaw.

She never really asked him personal questions before, but she felt a sudden urge to know everything about him, his life before they met.

Did he have family? Charlie thought about all the girlfriend thing all over again for days, but she never did for his family.

Parents? Siblings?

As an only child, she often imagined what having a brother or a sister was like. Natalia described it to her, as she had a younger stepsister of five years, but it wasn't like a sibling relationship Charlie assumed would be.

Hate. Angst. Jealousy.

And now Indifference.

Refocusing her gaze on what was ahead of her, her eyes landed on a lighthouse at the end of the island.

As the glowing sun dipped below the skyline of Manhattan, a crisp circle in the bloody sky illuminated a quivering path across the river.

"This is the closest I went to your world," he leaned his elbows on the ledge, not looking at her.

"My world?" She echoed, admiring the colors.

"Manhattan."

"You never crossed the river?" She frowned, looking from the sun disappearing between the buildings to him.

"Not until I reached 18."

"What did you do then?"

"Went to the US Army Recruiting Office in Times Square and enrolled."

Examining his features, she couldn't even imagine the reasons that pushed him to enroll in the army. "How did it go?"

"Not the way I expected for things to turn out," James straightened but continued to look at the view.

"Are you talking about watching a brat as your full-time job?"

"Among other things, yes."

"That's not really how I imagines my life a few months ago, either," she once again faced the sun that was disappearing behind the skyline, the fleeting colors of dusk beginning to fade away to move on to night blue. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she let the chilly breeze caress the skin of her face.