Lara stared at the mirror, cool water dripping down her forehead onto her cheeks. It was painful. The headache was splitting her skull in two, making it almost impossible to comprehend any of the thoughts that were in her head.
She could... See things. Memories that she knew didn't belong to her, and yet she felt like they did. They mostly contained a man, a Sergeant. Lara had to admit that he was beautiful, with steel blue eyes and raven hair. And he called her Lara. How would he know her name was Lara?
Her eyes met her own in the mirror, looking at her with complete sadness. She didn't know why. It wasn't like they were her memories. She grunted as another one played out in her head, clutching the edge of the sink. This one was of a grave stone, and the sound of a metallic ring falling onto the ivory. The smell of fresh flowers reaching her nose as her eyes slammed themselves shut.
These weren't her's.
But, maybe they were.
When the memory was over, and her white-knuckled grip had loosened on the sink, she took a step back. Her blue eyes met those in the mirror again, and they seemed to be glasses over. Stumbling out of the bathroom, Lara leant herself against the wall beside the door, trying to catch her breath. Now it felt like something was weighing down on her chest, keeping pressure on it so she couldn't breath.
Stumbling again, using the wall as support, she used it to get into the bedroom of the small apartment, heading to the nightstand and grabbing the inhaler. Lara didn't have asthma, but she had gotten PTSD, and thinking that the panic attacks she got were just asthma attacks. Taking a deep inhale, the air circling through her lungs again, Lara slouched.
When the air was going at a more steady pace, Lara got up, walking into the living room area of her apartment. She was surprised at who she saw in there.
"Nick," Lara said, almost breathless as she sat down on the comfortable couch. Nick Fury, the Director of SHIELD was standing in the middle of the room, looking casual. He was wearing jeans, a shirt, and a nice jacket, the eyepatch still planted firmly on his bad eye. And then, she realized something was wrong. He would never be dressed like this if it was a business meeting. He'd be wearing the black leather.
Something was wrong.
Nick looked at her, before throwing a manilla folder on the small antique coffee table that was in the middle of the room. The family that had given it too her was so sweet, the man, Wesley, saying that she reminded him of his aunt. The intricate designs had pulled her in, like they were a distant memory that was trying to break the surface. In that moment, she realized that the Sergeant had been sitting on the coffee table in one of the memories, drinking coffee from a mug, laughing and smiling. Lara almost took her breath away thinking about it.
"What is it?" She asked, reaching for the file, but Nick stopped her. He was looking at her gravely, like he had to tell her something she didn't want to hear.
"Lara, I want you to look at this after I leave," the man said, his tone very serious. Then, he pulled a piece of folded paper out of his back pocket. "I also want you to say these words."
She knew this procedure very well. Did he return again? It had been some time since the last sighting, around twenty years, but this was all too familiar with this. Get a file, say the words, and turn into something along the lines of a machine, to get back the thing they had stolen from an old friend they would say. Lara never got it, maybe because she was treated more like an object than a human being, but it was her job. They paid her very well, so she couldn't complain.
"Was there a sighting?"
Nick shook his head, before placing a hand on her shoulder. "This isn't the right kind of file." And with that, the man strode to and out the front door, leaving Lara to stare at the cream coloured file.
After a few minutes of simply staring at the file, she picked it up and opened it. The first thing she noticed was the stack of paper clipped pictures, and her fingers found them, taking them out of the file. As she flipped through them, Lara felt herself getting sick. They all looked the same, like her, the only thing telling them apart was the words in the top left hand corner of the photo.
Subject 001.
Subject 002.
Subject 005.
Subject 010.
Subject 025.
Subject 036.
Subject 068.
The numbers kept climbing, until Lara reached the last photo. It wasn't a labelled one, instead it was a picture of her smiling. Lara could tell the smile was forced, her eyes not really showing the same emotion. She was standing by two people Lara recognized as a young Peggy Carter, and a young Howard Stark.
Lara closed her eyes as a headache started forming again, but pushed through it. She examined the picture for a little bit, before she places the stack aside, going back to the file. She leafed through the papers, noticed that each one had the same name on them, as well as a stamp that said deceased. The really only thing that changed about each one was the date, ranging all the back from 1950 to present date.
She got to the last sheet, noticing it was the one from her date. Hell, it had her address and everything on it.
Name; Lara Caroline Roth
Birthdate; February 17th, 1990
Notes; This one shows signs of remembrance. I've been examining her for weeks, teaching her the way of life in this time period. She keeps on mentioning him, and how he was coming back. It's hard to tell if she'll be capable to live with the memories, or if she'll have to have them erased. So far, the option of erasing is the one I see. She can't freeze up when she sees him. If she sees him. He needs to be captured.
With her eyebrows furrowed, Lara flipped back to the first sheet, and instead of skimming over like she did previously, she actually read what the page said.
Name; Lara Caroline Roth
Birthdate; February 17th, 1919
Notes;
March 3rd, 1944
It worked. I can't believe it actually worked. Using the DNA Lara had given us, I have managed to successfully clone her. There is no distinguishable features between the clone and the original Lara! And they have meaningful discussions about stories that only Lara would know from her childhood! This is my greatest success yet, and Lara loves her.
May 17th, 1944
The clone has been acting strange. Well, not really. More of her DNA has been acting strange. They won't stay still, as if they are trying to break apart. More tests need to be run.
June 23rd, 1944
I cannot believe. The clone can teleport! It's crazy to watch, one minute she'll be on one side of the room, the next she'll apparently be in Lara's apartment. She says she just has to have a visual on where she is going. Simply fascinating!
The file started to slip out of her fingers, but Lara caught it before it could fall off her lap. It all made sense now. All of it. Why she always felt like she was in the wrong Era, and how sometimes she didn't feel her arm at all. It all made sense. Lara felt her eyebrows furrow as she continued to read till the bottom of the page, finding something odd. She flipped to the next page, and the next, until she reached the most recent clone - her. They all said the same thing.
Killed by the Winter Soldier.
Whoever that was.
Discarding the file on the couch beside her, Lara grabbed the folded white paper. It was folded sloppily, like the person was in a hurry. Lara shrugged it off, before unfolding the paper. She skimmed the words that were written by a person with pretty good penmanship.
Tanzen. Dancing.
Speiselokal. Diner.
Lehren. Teaching.
vierundzwanzig. Twenty four.
Buch. Book.
Verlobungsring. Engagement Ring.
zweiter Vorname. Middle Name.
Briefe. Letters.
And just like that, Lara Roth was more than informed on all the information that was in her head. The memories that have been trying to breach the surface for months exploded through the invisible wall in her brain, making the girl clutch her head in agony. It hurt. Watching the real Lara Roth fall in love with the one and only James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, only to lose him.
Then she had to watch her meet him over and over again, the love of her life, and see that flicker of recognition cross his face, before the world seemed to go black.
It was like a million life times have been cramped into her head, which they had, and Lara had to deal with the aftermath. And she did. And the hardest part about it, she didn't comprehend until she woke up hours later after blacking out.
She was Lara Roth. Completely and totally Lara Roth. But so were the rest of those girls. Would she face the same fate as them?
There was a knock on the door, and Lara got up and answered it. When she opened the door, all she found was a single letter addressed to her, in that chicken scratch she remembered belonged to her Bucky.
__________
anna kendrick as lara roth
sebastian stan as james buchanan "bucky" barnes
n.e.
wooo third book! lara is gonna get some civil war action!
also, this prologue was set after the events of winter soldier, but before letters of redemption. hence why it ended with her getting a letter.
so, this is coming soon because i need to watch the movie more than once so i can get a feel of it all.
and sorry if i butchered the german on her trigger memory words. google translate isn't the greatest.
but, i hope you guys will enjoy the third instalment of the series. also, shout out to tweety ( wendydarIings ) [i think] and the flash tv series for lara's powers. well, her clone's powers. but she's practically lara so
DISCLAIMER; I DO NOT OWN CIVIL WAR OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS.
I DO OWN LARA AND HER NON-MOVIE PLOT LINES. PLEASE DO NOT STEAL HER.
THIS BOOK IS COPYRIGHTED.