The Valentin Series, Book 1: The Valkyrie (Captain America fanfiction)

Chapter 15: Goodbye

Val, Andy, and James trekked back to the barn, Diana running ahead of them, leaving Natasha and Steve with the two living HYDRA agents who were waiting to be picked up by SHIELD agents, Knight stayed with them for back-up.

“Andy,” Val said sadly, “You know what you have to do.”

“I know,” Andreana answered, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, “We knew this was coming, right?” she looked at the woman who had saved her, raised her, taught her, and loved her like a sister.

“I just hoped we could have gone together,” Val looked back at the young woman whose life she changed, and who changed her life, as well’ and she looked with pride, “But you’ll be fine, I know you will be.”

Andy wrapped an arm around Val’s shoulder and bit back her tears as they walked closer to the barn in silence.

“Take Knight with you,” Val told her as they entered the house, “Under your closet there’s a trap door, in it you’ll find a bag with everything you need.”

James sat on one of the sofas, watching the exchange intently, and Diana hopped up beside him and laid her head on his lap.

“There are 5 passports, all different identities, papers for Knight and you, cards linked to my accounts in Switzerland and the Bahamas, also a deed for a house in Hawaii,” Val told Andy, trying to keep her voice from breaking, “Take the truck, drive to the city, don’t stop unless necessary. I’ll call Toby, he’ll give you a plane ride to Hawaii.”

“Do I need to leave now?” Andy asked, her voice breaking at the end of the question, and she turned away so Val wouldn’t see her tears. She had to be strong. This was the one time Val needed her to be strong.

“No,” Val answered, wrapping her arms around the teen in a warm, motherly embrace, “But you have to get ready.”

Andy nodded as she accepted Val’s hug, “I’ll check on that bag you said,” she walked up the steps to her room.

Val sighed and sat down next to James, and the soldier wrapped an arm around her. She leaned into him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He squeezed her shoulder and kissed her temple.

“Last time I was in the world, if I remember correctly, it was ok to cry,” he whispered to her, listening as her breathing hitched, she was trying to swallow her sobs, “I think it still applies, sweets.”

Valkyrie felt a sob unwillingly rip out of her chest, and she covered her mouth to stifle it, but she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t stop the tears, the sobs, the sorrow, and the fact that she was going to say goodbye to the closest thing she ever had to a daughter maybe for the last time.

James pushed Diana off of his lap and the dog obliged, jumping down onto the floor and lying down by the foot of the stairs instead; then he moved Val, easily lifting her to let her sit on his lap. Her face still buried in his neck, sobs racking her body, he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. James let her cry her heart out, occasionally moving her hand from her mouth so the sobs could come out freely, silently telling her she didn’t need to be strong at that moment, because he could be strong for the both of them.

After a few minutes, Valkyrie’s sobs became hitched breaths, and she calmed down. She felt drained, she hadn’t cried that much since after her brother died. She moved to get off James, but his arms tightened around her.

“Hey,” his voice rumbled, “You sure you don’t need to cry it out some more?”

“I don’t have any more tears, Barnes,” Val sighed, massaging her temple, “I need water.”

James kissed her cheek, “Alright, sweets, let’s get you some water.” He didn’t let her go, instead, he lifted her, bridal style, into the kitchen, and put a very surprised Val on one of the countertops.

She gave him a small smile when he put her down, grateful that she didn’t have to walk, or think, of anything just yet. James busied himself getting her a glass of water, and then he turned back to his girlfriend and passed her the glass. Girlfriend.

He made sure she drank the whole glass, “I think you need food, Angel,” he told her, caressing her cheek with his knuckles.

“Later,” Val replied, “I can’t eat just yet. HYDRA is after me, I knew that, but I wasn’t expecting they’d actually try to find me here.” She shook her head, “I promised that girl I’d protect her, and here I am putting her in harm’s way. What kind of guardian does that, James?”

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” He reassured her, “And you both knew this had a chance of happening.”

“She’s strong,” Val said, referring to Andy, “Very strong; and highly trained, I made sure of that. She can gut anyone without blinking an eye. She’s dead smart, too.” Val looked into James’ eyes, her own pleading, “Don’t let them take her, James, promise me, you’ll do whatever you can that she doesn’t even glance into a life like ours.”

“I promise, Cami,” James whispered, awed and humbled that she would give the responsibility to him, “But you’ll be there to make sure of that, right?” when she didn’t answer, he asked again, “Right?” this time with an edge in his voice.

Valkyrie gave him a small smile, “We’ll see.”

He wasn’t able to ask what she meant because Steve, Natasha, and Knight walked into the kitchen.

“What’s up?” Steve asked as his eyes fell on Val’s tear-stained, bloodshot eyes, and James’ heavy frown.

“She’s sending Andy away,” Natasha answered, quickly catching up, “When?” she asked.

“First thing in the morning,” Val answered, looking out the kitchen window.

“She’ll be fine, Val,” Natasha said softly, “You know that.”

 “It doesn’t make it hurt any less, Romanov,” Val turned to her, “It’s still goodbye.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: So this is kind of short, i will update soon. Thank you for reading! Leave a comment, a review, whatever! :)

Love ~A2V~