Author's Note: Hello readers, and welcome to Promise Me. Thank you so much for choosing this story, I really hope you like it, and if you do, please like and share it with your friends! I appreciate feedback at any time!
Before this starts, I want to give credit to a friend of mine for creating the cover art for this story. If you like the cover, please go check out her other work on redbubble.com/people/crude-verbiage/shop. She's quite a talented artist, I think you guys will like her stickers, t-shirts and other products she sells on RedBubble!
Without further ado, please enjoy the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Promise Me.
- Harper E. Pierce
-
BRIAR:
"The year was 1943. It was a time of war, a time of desperation for many young American girls like me. Many of us had husbands who were being conscripted now that the United States had joined the war. It affected many of my friends who had husbands and brothers who joined, both by choice and through conscription. But I was lucky. I was single, and I had two best friends, one of which had no interest in joining the war while the other was too weak and kept getting rejected at every turn.
"I met Steve Rogers when I was just a girl in middle school. Steve had always had a heart of gold and a strong sense of justice, which often got him into trouble with the local bullies in Brooklyn. I became friends with him after he tried to defend me once in elementary school, but he ended up getting beat up. I took care of him after that day, and we had been best friends ever since. Steve was a small and sickly boy, even when he grew up, which didn't help his chances of getting into the military when he tried to enlist, especially since he had asthma. I'm not going to lie, I was always grateful they never let Steve enlist, even though I told him differently. I wanted him to be safe.
"However, the two of us had another friend in our lives, named Bucky Barnes. Well, Bucky was what we called him; his full name was James Buchanan Barnes. He was Steve's best friend, whom I had been introduced too after I had met Steve. I admit, even when he was just a boy he was good looking. Besides the tall, dark and handsome kind of look he had, he was also quite the charmer, making him popular with the ladies. His styled dark brown hair and those bright blue eyes of his could capture any doll's attention- including my own. I'll admit it; from the moment I first met him, I had a bit of a crush on him, but I was also one of his best friends, so, for the most part, I kept my feelings for him a secret from everyone, especially when he brought other girls back from whatever school dance we went to growing up. But when we all grew up, he went into accounting, which seemed to be a promising career. His life was all planned out; become an accountant and make his own way before marrying a doll he could provide for. It was promising.
"But it was on my friend Dottie's twenty-third birthday when the rest of our lives would be forever changed. It started off to be a normal day for me. I would invite a couple of my girlfriends along with Steve and Bucky out for drinks at a club to surprise her, where we would drink, dance and laugh, having a good time. I dolled myself up, put on a black and white polka-dot dress, and curled my long, red hair into a curled side swoop. I put on a pair of red heels to match my red lipstick, and I went out to meet up with my two friends, Bonnie and May. We would wait on Dottie to show with her husband, Grant, who knew about the surprise.
"Bonnie, May and I met up at the club, while we waited on Steve and Bucky to arrive. I wasn't going to be surprised if they were a little late; Steve tended to take a disliking toward these kinds of events, so I didn't count on them to be there for the surprise part of it. The blonde wasn't exactly the social butterfly of the crowd. But we were going on twenty minutes after Dottie and Grant showed, and still, neither of them were there. Finally, both showed up.
"'Hey, Maddie!' Steve waved from the other side of the club. I whipped my head toward the other side of the bar.
"'Steve! Bucky!' I shouted back, waving over happily. They walked over to where our table was, and I quickly stood up and put each of my arms around the back of my two friend's necks in an embrace. That was before I told them both off for being late.
"'Took you long enough to show!' I scolded them.
"'Sorry, Doll. We just took a wrong turn, that's all. Happy Birthday, Dottie,' Bucky excused, with a smile on his face. He was lying. He knew this club, he had been here many times before. I didn't know if it was just my gut feeling, but for some reason, the expression of charm on his face that he had didn't seem to reflect the emptiness his eyes carried. Something wasn't right, but I thought it best not to ask until we were in private.
"For the remainder of the night, we danced and drank and laughed. I had a great time, and my friends had an even better one. But I couldn't shake the feeling I had about Bucky. After some of my friends had gotten a little too drunk, Steve agreed to take them home, while Bucky walked me home. As we strolled the bustling streets of the City, we just chatted away, but I didn't want to say anything until we got to the quieter parts near Brooklyn. It was nice, taking in the cool mid-March air. Finally, I dared to bring it up.
"'Hey, Bucky?' I asked.
"'Yeah, Maddie?' He replied with a smile.
"'I wanted to ask you earlier, but I never got the chance to. What was bothering you tonight?' He stopped walking for a minute and sighed.
"'You caught that did you?' His smile faltered as he looked to the floor. I nodded in response as I turned to face him, 'you know, to most people, I'm not easy to read, but you're always able to see right through me,'
"'Just lucky I guess,' I chuckled softly, 'in all seriousness though, what's wrong?'
"'Maddie-'
"'Don't do that, just tell me,'
"'A notice came for me today,' his shoulders tensed as he vaguely began. Oh no... 'It was from the government-' oh god no- 'Maddie, I don't know how to say this, but-' don't say it, please don't- 'I've been drafted.' He said it. Silent tears fell from my eyes when he said it. Until today, I was lucky. Lucky that none of my friends or family members had been drafted. But now, one of the people I loved the most in my life, was going off to war, 'please don't cry, doll,'
"'How could I not? I know you never wanted this,' I seethed through tears, 'you don't deserve this! This isn't right!'
"'It was bound to happen eventually, doll. I've everything they want in a soldier, and I didn't volunteer-' he tried to make it better. Make me feel better. But I wasn't having it.
"'When do you leave?' I almost whispered.
"'I start training in three days,' he replied, Three days?! 'Until I'm stationed somewhere, I can visit from the base in New Jersey on some weekends. It'll be a while before we're sent off anywhere,' he took my hand comfortingly, 'I only have one favour to ask,'
"'Anything,' I replied.
"'Try to keep Steve out of trouble for me, will ya?'
"'I'll try my best, but you know him; he's not gonna stop,' we both faced the reality that at some point, some idiot physician would let him enlist and he'd get himself killed.
"'I know, I know,' Bucky sighed, 'We should get you home, I know Ruth will worry,' he stated. He quickly flipped the charm back on, and we continued walking until we got to my small house on the outskirts of Brooklyn. Bucky's house wasn't far from mine, just a couple of blocks over; that's why he always walked me home.
"Bucky left for the military camp three days later, and as he promised me and Steve, he returned some weekends and wrote to us. When he returned, he'd always visit Steve and me, and we'd go out and do something fun. Although I was happy that he came to visit, it didn't stop me from dreading the day he'd say to me that he was being stationed on the front lines. I knew it was coming, from the moment he said he'd been drafted. But I didn't know that the last time I'd see him would be right around my twenty-third birthday.
"Bucky had come back one of the weekends again, this time in uniform. He looked good in it. And it wasn't any old uniform either, it was a sergeant's uniform. That never was a good sign. That meant he was going overseas. He had picked me up with some other girl that he had met and Steve that night, and we went to a showing of the new Stark tech. As always, the ladies man treated us girls like a gentleman would, but Steve didn't seem to have much interest. It was when Bucky had turned around to say something to him that we realized he was gone.
"'Where'd he go?' Bucky asked me.
"'Where do you think?' I pointed to the recruitment sign in front of us. Bucky sighed.
"'You stay with Connie, I'll go talk some sense into him,' Bucky told me as he went over toward where the recruitment station was. Connie and I walked out of the showing area and over near the recruitment station, waiting, but I couldn't sit there and watch them argue.
"'Hey, do mind if I go over there for a minute?' I asked the other girl with me.
"'Oh, don't worry about it!' She chirped and I ran over to them.
"'As who? Steve from Ohio?" Bucky argued, "they'll catch you. Or worse, they'll actually take you,'
"'Look, I know you don't think I can do this-' Steve began.
"'This isn't a back alley, Steve, it's war!'
"'Look, Steve. Bucky's right. Give it up,' I started, 'I don't want to see both of my best friends die,'
"'I know it's a war! You guys don't have to tell me,' Steve shot back.
"'Why are you so keen to fight? There are so many important jobs-'
"'What am I gonna do? Collect scrap metal-'
"'Yes!' Bucky and I said at the same time.
"'In my little red wagon-'
"'Why not?'
"'Guys, I'm not going to sit in a factory,'
"'I don't-'
"'Bucky, come on! There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them. That's what neither of you understands, this isn't about me,' he argued.
"'Right. Cause you got nothing to prove,' Bucky shook his head, as he turned back to Connie, 'hey, something's come up, can we do this another time?'
"'Of course, Sarge!' She hopped off.
"'Okay, well if you two are going to do this, so am I,' I began to walk into the recruitment station, but both the men pulled me back by my arm.
"'What?! No!' Steve rebuffed the idea, 'besides, you're a girl, they won't let you in,'
"'Not as a soldier, as a nurse,' I suggest, going over again, but they still pulled me back.
"'Not happening,' Bucky crossed his arms, 'I don't want you involved in this war too,'
"'Why not? They need all the help they can get, Buck!'
"'You're working in the factories, Maddie! You're helping,' Steve began.
"'It's not enough. I should be tending to wounded soldiers,'
"'Maddie, I'm serious, drop it. What medical experience do you have, anyway?'
"'I volunteered at hospitals in high school, does that count?'
"'Stop it, Maddie. Don't do this. If not for your sake, then for mine,' Bucky pled.
"'You can't stop me,' I shot back, ripping my arm out from his grasp, 'either wait for me to finish signing up- or don't' I walked over to the Nurse's recruitment part of it, where I was met with a doctor.
"So, you want to help out, do you?' he asked, 'do you have any previous experience in the medical field?'
"'A little, I used to volunteer in hospitals a lot,' I replied, 'I really want this, I want to help,'
"'I'm assuming you'd rather stay in the homefront?'
"'Station me in England, I'd rather be up close and personal,'
"'You're a lot braver than most, miss,' he said as he filled out the paper, 'your full name and birthdate, miss?'
"'Madeline Briar Baker and May 7th, 1920,'
"'You'll leave for England in a week, Madeline Baker,' he said to me as he gave me a slip that stated I was leaving the country for wartime duties.
"'Thank you,' I ran back over to Bucky, who stood there alone while Steve went in to do his exam. He saw the slip in my hand and sighed.
"'No offence Maddie, but I sometimes think you're not the brightest girl on the planet,' Bucky rolled his eyes at me.
"'Oh shut up,'
"'Please tell me you're at least staying on the homefront,' he said, and I only gave him a guilty look, 'Jesus Christ, Madeline. C'mon, let's go home, I already said goodbye to Steve,' we began walking out of the fair, back into the streets of Brooklyn. This was always my favourite thing to do with Bucky, walk home in the dark and just chat.
"'Why'd you have to do that?' He asked me.
"'Because I want to make sure I don't see either of you in my infirmary,' I decided to be honest, 'I care about you both,'
"'I care about you too, Maddie. That's why I don't want you to do this. You mean so much to me, and I don't want to lose you,'
"'Bucky, I don't want to lose you either,' I could feel my heart beating out of my chest.
"'Don't go, Maddie,' he stopped and faced me, 'please, don't go,'
"'I have to. I need to, just like you-'
"'See Maddie, that's the difference between you and I. I did this because I had to, I didn't have a choice! You just walked right into the recruitment office without thinking for a second about the consequences!' Bucky shouted as he began to pace and run his fingers through his hair, 'stop trying to be the hero, Maddie! It drives me crazy when Steve does it, but you- I can't handle it!'
"'Why? Why, Bucky?! Because I'm one of your childhood best friends?' Because I'm-' something unexpected then happened. Something I had only dreamed of since I had met him, but thought would never happen. Bucky kissed me. Me, his childhood best friend. At first, I was caught by surprise, and my eyes just widened. Before I could react, he pulled away and ran a hand through his hair.
"'Fuck, why did I just do that?' He muttered under his breath as he began to pace again, 'well now you know, Maddie! I don't want you to go overseas because I love you! I can't bear the thought of losing you. I wanted to come home from this war to see you standing there, waiting for me to come home, with that gorgeous smile of yours, the one that I love so much. I was excited to come home to see you, Maddie! But now, you're going overseas, and you're risking your life. And now I'm scared outta my mind that I won't ever see you again!' He rambled on. I was having a hard time processing all of the information he was spewing out all at once. My heart was racing, and my mind was working at a million miles an hour.
"'You... you love... me?' I stuttered. He just turned and looked at me, a wild look in his eyes. I was stunned, more than anything. The boy I had been in love for the last thirteen years of my life had just admitted the same thing to me. And he kissed me. I thought I was dreaming.
"'... yes,' he sighed. Right at the moment that he said yes, I finally took my chance and kissed him. He kissed me back right away, holding me in his arms as he did so. When I finally pulled away, happy tears streamed down my face, 'why are you crying, doll?' he wiped the tears from my eyes.
"'Because the moment I've been dreaming of for the last thirteen years just came true,' I said with laughter through my tears.
"'Thirteen years?' He exclaimed with laughter.
"'I may love you, James Buchanan Barnes, But no offence, I sometimes think you're not the brightest guy on the planet,' I used the line he had used on me earlier that night. He took my hand and we began to walk back to my house.
"'Touché, doll,' he replied. He walked me up to the door of my house, and I knew where this was going. A wave of sadness took over me. I didn't want to say goodbye, 'I don't want to say goodbye,'
"'Neither do I,' I hung my head, 'promise me something, Bucky,'
"'Anything,'
"'Promise me that come what may, you'll come back to me,' I asked.
"'I promise,' he replied. He kissed me once more, and I savoured that kiss since I knew it would be the last time I ever kissed him for a while. I watched as he slowly disappeared into the darkness before going inside to bed.
"The next few months were spent in England, where I was tending to wounded soldiers. Much to my surprise, and somewhat to my dismay, Steve had made it in the military. I knew he wanted this, but I knew what his fate was going to be with all of his conditions. I checked the missing in action and killed in action lists every day in the papers, but neither of their names had come up. However, some of the injuries I had seen and had to treat were horrific, and I hoped it never happened to them.
"Around December of 1943, pictures in the papers of what was called the "Howling Commandos" kept popping up, but it wasn't until one of my friends pointed out the leader of it, whom they called 'Captain America' that I noticed the significance of it. The girl pointed out how 'fine' the guy was, but it wasn't until I actually looked at the paper that I realized who it was. Suddenly, the blonde, small, five-foot-four man I once knew was now at least six feet tall and his build was unreal. I didn't know what had happened, it was almost like Steve had become a part of a science experiment. But in the background of the photo was Bucky. Looks like they had met up together. The Howling Commandos was a team of individuals that were assigned to take out HYDRA bases, but not much else was said about them. It was good to know that Bucky and Steve were okay.
"The worst day of my life happened in early 1944 when I was going to work one day and I checked the papers for the list of the dead and missing. I expected to see what I usually saw, but today was different. No one was one the killed list, but among the missing was the name, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, serial number 32557038. That was his name. That was his serial number. When I saw that name and number I immediately broke down. I knew what this meant. I wrote to Steve immediately, asking if he knew anything. But I didn't get a response for weeks. It was then that I requested to be shipped off to Steve's base, but I was sent to the next closest base that needed nurses. I needed to know for sure.
"But in February 1944, HYDRA attacked the base I had been stationed at. Many were killed- more like most were. I was the only girl that survived the attack, all of the other nurses who worked at that base died. Most of the soldiers either died, were captured or just fled, but I tried to fight back. Growing up, my dad was a cop, and he had taught me how to fight and how to use a gun. After a while, I got quite good. I never thought I would actually use the skills he had taught me, until that day. I took a couple of pistols and some ammo off of one of the dead soldiers as I tried to escape the base, just to defend myself.
"As I left the room that I had hid in and tried to creep down the hallways, so I could get out without being detected. That didn't work, and I ended up coming down the hallway with four of HYDRA's men shooting at me. I got back behind the wall for a minute, knowing that they would be coming closer. I quickly shot at all four of them from the wall, killing them all and moving forward. I got closer to the exits, and more troops moved in but seemed that after a while their mission changed. Instead of killing me, they began to attack me through hand-to-hand combat. I wasn't great at it, not like a soldier would be, but I was better than most girls. More troops kept pouring in as I shot at them, but when I ran out of ammo, I made a run for it. They chased me down, finally getting to me and trying to capture me. First, it was only one of them, but there were soon more I had to fight off. The men grabbed a hold of my arms and legs and carried me out. I thrashed hard, kicking them all as hard as I could until eventually one of them knocked me out.
"I woke up strapped to a table a few days later. A blonde, middle-aged looking doctor began asking me questions.
"'What is your name, soldier?' The Swiss doctor asked me.
"'Madeline Baker and I am not a soldier. I'm a nurse,' I mumbled looking around at my surroundings, which was a beige room with a bunch of men in scrubs, and two guards with huge machine guns near the metal door, 'where am I?' He laughed coldly at my question.
"'A very secure location where no one will find you for a very long time, Rogue,' he said.
"'Who the hell is Rogue?' I asked.
"'You are,' he said, as one of the men strapped something to my head, 'goodbye, Madeline Baker,' he said to me as he switched on the device. The last thing I remembered was the sound of my own screams. And then... Well, you know what the body count is over the last seventy years. Which, seventy years later, brings me here, after you guys found me, Agent Romanoff," I told the other redhead in the room who sat across the table from me. Agent Romanoff had helped me a lot through my recovery, especially with my memories over the last three years.
I was found three years ago in 2011, in what was thought to be the last remaining HYDRA base. SHIELD had infiltrated it to take the base down, and a few of our agents found me. I didn't know who I was, I was only known as The Red Rogue, a brainwashed assassin for HYDRA. I spoke thirty different languages, I was taught stealth, disguise and seduction skills. I was given the supersoldier serum which enhanced my general strength, speed and senses. I was trained in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, and I was taught how to use any kind of weapon. I was especially good with distance weapons, such as a sniper and a bow. I was taught to follow orders, and when I didn't, I was tortured and wiped. Scars cover my body now because of it. But the worst thing that HYDRA left with me was my tattoo.
Right when I was captured, HYDRA branded me with a tattoo of a red star on my left hip. It was no bigger than the lid of a small bottle of prescription pills you'd get at the drugstore. But I hated it. Of all my scars, I hated that one the most. Natasha had caught me trying to cut it out of my skin one time and stopped me, which I was angry with her for. After that, she told Fury about it and I was forced to see a psychiatrist, who diagnosed me with PTSD, depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia after I told her about my nightmares and inability to sleep, my hatred of the scars, the flashbacks, my self-hatred for all the people I had killed, the constant worry of slipping back into a state like that and killing people again. I was given a bunch of different medications to help with it, but they don't do much. Still, it was better than being with HYDRA for all those years.
"So it does bring you here, Agent Baker. I see you've progressed well in your recovery," she replied, "I didn't know that you, the Captain and the late Sergeant Barnes had a connection like that," he commented.
"It doesn't matter now," I muttered with a blank expression on my face.
"I wouldn't say that. It seems that Captain Rogers' return two years ago made quite the impact on your recovery," Natasha pointed out.
"I guess," I sighed, "he was one of my best friends, and still is. I'm not sure the feeling is reciprocated though,"
"Anyway, thank you for your intel, Agent Baker," she shut off the recording device, so I no longer had to be so professional about the whole thing. SHIELD wanted to keep this file on tape, so if something ever happened I would remember. I found it hard to tell them all about Bucky, but Nat had promised me that the only other person who would see it would be Fury. That wasn't overly comforting. I had told her not to show it to Steve, ever. I didn't want him to know what happened that night between Bucky and I. I knew it shouldn't matter to me, Bucky was dead after all, but it did. I didn't even know why I just knew I didn't want him to know about it. I think it's because it would give him more reasons to look at me the same way that he used to when he knew me as Madeline Baker, and not who I was today. I had given up that name and preferred to be called Briar, but Steve didn't quite grasp that. Natasha seemed to know exactly what I was thinking about.
"I'm not going to show him the tape, don't worry," the agent had reminded me, "Briar, I know that since the whole thing with HYDRA happened, you're not the same person. But try and understand that this is just as hard for Steve as it is for you. Steve remembers Madeline Baker from the forties, who smiled and laughed all the time. He doesn't know Briar Baker, who suffered at the hands of HYDRA. I know you hate that he still calls you Maddie-"
"Because Madeline Baker died in 1944, Nat,"
"But give him a break. He's the man out of time, and he comes back to find someone who he used to know in the same situation, only to find out she's a completely different person," she explained.
"So you're saying pretend to be the old me?" I asked.
"No, I'm saying let him have some of the old things back," Nat suggested.
"I guess letting him call me by my first name isn't going to hurt anyone," I rolled my eyes.
"See, that's progress," she smirked.
"Oh shut up," I shook my head as I left the room. I walked out of the SHIELD headquarters building and took a bus back to my condo back in Washington, D.C. It was closer to the SHIELD headquarters than New York City was. I chose D.C because it had some of the cheaper apartments for rent that weren't the size of a shoebox. My apartment was located on the floor third from the top of a seventeen-story building. SHIELD paid for about a quarter of the condo itself covered all of the renovations, so they made the apartment pretty nice. I love coming home to that apartment every day.
My apartment was a newly renovated two-bedroom one bathroom condo, that was painted in a light grey colour in the open concept white and grey kitchen and living room, which you walked right into when you opened the door to get into my apartment. The floors throughout the apartment were dark brown hardwood. My couch and loveseat were a leather light grey colour with a white and grey printed rug beneath it. There were blue and white decorative pillows and fuzzy blankets covering the couches. A larger flatscreen tv was mounted on the wall above a white-tiled gas fireplace. My decent-sized island kitchen had a grey marble countertop with white cabinets and silver appliances. The dining area right beside the kitchen consisted of a rustic dark-stained wooden rectangular table that could seat six. The chairs were slim and cushy grey fabric chairs with white-stained wooden legs. A painting of a foggy forest hung on the wall behind one of the chairs, and a glass circular light fixture hung above the table. The main room itself had a lot of windows facing the Washington Monument and glass door leading to a decent-sized balcony.
Down a slight corridor to the right of the main door, there was the square-shaped guest bedroom on the left, which consisted of a comfortable queen bed with a dark brown headboard and platform with drawers that the mattress sat atop. The sheets and duvet were plain white with brown accent pillows and a brown extra blanket. The lamp on the platforms that extended into end tables had silver industrial lamps on both sides. The one window in the bedroom on the far back wall had a grey curtain for use at night. A small walk-in closet that had lots of shelves and hanger space was located across from the bed. Another painting was hung on the same wall as the door to get into the room. Both the bedrooms were painted in a slightly darker grey than the main room. At the end of the hall, the very rectangular master bedroom, or my bedroom, had a queen bed with a dark brown headboard and white sheets with a grey and blue duvet cover over my duvet. The two end tables were dark brown with silver lamps and white shades on both sides. I had a small walk-in closet on the right wall with a mirrored sliding door. Beside that door, a white door beside it connected the one bathroom to my bedroom. I had another white and grey patterned rug under my bed and surrounded it by about two feet on each side. On the left wall, there was a vanity beside the one window in the room, with the same grey curtain.
The door on the right closest to my bedroom was the wide rectangular bathroom. It was also white and grey, and it had light grey tiled flooring. The bathroom had two doors, one connected my bedroom to the bathroom, while the other was from the hallway. The wide grey countertop with one sink that began from the back left corner and stopped beside the toilet, which was in between the counter and the shower. The white-tiled shower was also a steam shower with amazing water pressure, something extra Nat had chipped in for me. Below the plain grey countertop, were dark brown cabinets with lots of storage. Finally, the large closet on the right side on the hallway closest to the main door was the laundry and linens closet, where a washer and dryer were stacked on one side and a linens section was on the other. It was a nice little place, especially since SHIELD had paid for many of the finer parts of it. I would've been fine without all renovations, but I wasn't going to complain; I did really like that steam shower.
Although the new age was so fascinating with all the new technology and stuff, I couldn't help but miss my old life in the forties. This was something Steve and I talked about a lot. Life was so much simpler back then. But what I didn't talk to him about were the nights I couldn't sleep because someone was missing from this life; Bucky. He was gone. He had been for the last seventy years now. God, if he could see all of this new tech, he'd live for every moment of it. But it wasn't that which kept me up at night. It was the promise that he had made me seventy years ago on the very last night I ever saw him... the promise that he would one day come back to me.