The Rosie Rogers' Story

Up From Water

Shout out to my amazing dad for his contributions in keeping this story historically accurate.-SKK

Chapter 4: Up From Water

I'd had a very silent early morning car ride to Brooklyn. I was deprived of any restful sleep and I regretted not eating more at dinner. I was not allowed to eat until after the procedure. I was dizzy and the world around me was a bit of a blur.

Agent Carter had ridden the quiet car ride with me to an empty factory that I was very familiar with. It was Saturday and there was no one on site. It was very unnerving and confusing to walk into a silent factory.

I was not familiar with the entrance at the back of the warehouse leading to a large room full of complicated equipment. The silence of the factory was in stark contrast to the noise of this room. There were dozens of people, in uniform and out. Everyone was speaking loudly and the sounds of metal working made my ears ring uncomfortably. I couldn't hear much of anything at all. I assessed that I would know what I was doing so long as I followed Agent Carter.

Mr. Stark was there and greeted me joyously. He leaned in closer to my good ear after I struggled to hear his greeting. "How's my favorite employee?"

"Nervous but ready sir." I said hoping my stomach would stay inside my body.

"That is to be expected Rogers." He laughed back.

I handed someone my hat and over shirt, leaving me just in my sleeveless undershirt and uniform pants. The room was hot so I was glad to relieve myself of a few layers.

Dr. Erskine prepped me for the procedure giving me some penicillin and I climbed into the large contraption.

They say when you experience intense pain, your body shuts itself down and I can attest to that. My mind was no longer apart of the world around me. I instead found my mind engulfed by a happy memory from my childhood.

When I was a child, Bucky's family insisted I accompany them on a trip to the seaside. Momma couldn't afford to take me herself and it was probably the only vacation I would ever take.

I'd go under the water as the waves crashed around us and my ears would fill with water making it impossible to hear anything. Once I couldn't hold my breath any longer, I'd pull myself back up and breathe in the cool air and hear the rushing waves around me. 

Bright lights greeted my eyes and I breathed in the hot air around me as the walls of the contraption opened.

I could hear the clapping and cheering around me, no ringing, not even a little. No one had told me I'd be able to hear in both ears again. It was an overwhelming feeling.

If I was dizzy before the procedure, I was much clearer after. It was like a slate had been wiped clean on my mind and body.

It wasn't until I was helped down that I realized the other physical changes. Everyone who had been towering over me, was suddenly eye level.

"How do you feel?" I heard Agent Carter clearly ask me. She was shorter than me now.

"Taller." I answered with a chuckle. I could hear myself chuckle, what a gift!

"Taller is right my friend." Stark laughed. "It worked." He looked over to Dr. Erskine who was laughing.

"I would call it a success." Dr. Erskine smiled ear to ear.

"I can hear." I said to Dr. Erskine with every gratefulness in my heart. "You didn't tell me I'd be able to hear."

"You will be able to do so much more Rosemarie." Dr. Erskine replied proudly before walking over to shut down everything. "Just remember the promise I asked of you."

"I will never forget that." I responded strongly.

Boom!

An explosion erupted through my eardrums.

A bomb had exploded in the building.

I looked around me, normally loud sounds disoriented me, but instead I felt hyper focused. I scanned the people around me for who it could have been. I noticed a man had grabbed one of the vials of serum before breaking the rest. He fired a gun into the crowd of people who tried to stop him.

He only hit one person. The most important one he could have hit, Dr. Erskine. Stark and I ran to him while a few others, including Agent Carter, ran after the man.

"Help me sit him up." Mr. Stark ordered and I obliged.

"Doctor" I said helping him lean up a little. The bullet had hit him in the chest. He was bleeding badly. "You have to be ok." I pleaded as Mr. Stark tried pressing on the wound to stop it from bleeding. "You are going to be alright. You have to, you can't leave. Think about Kate, think of your daughter, you can't leave her all alone sir."

He smiled and tears rolled from his eyes like little crystals as I mentioned his daughter. He lifted his arm and pointed to my heart. He breathed one last breath, still in my arms. I remembered the excruciating pain of not being with my Momma as she drew her last breath, I'd been too sick in the room beside her. Now here I was, depriving my friend of being with her father in his last moments. It was my fault, if I hadn't said yes to this whole thing, he'd still be alive.

My whole body filled with an intense rage. I stood up to run after his murderer into the main part of the factory. When I arrived out there, I noticed that all the agents were shooting upwards. The man was up on the top catwalk. They probably thought they had him trapped, but I worried he would find the door to the rooftop where a lot of my coworkers would sneak off to smoke. There was a fire escape down to the street, it would be a clean exit.

I heard a bullet wiz past my head. I looked up at him. He was shooting at me, I ran behind a P40 model that just a few weeks ago I'd helped to solder together. After a moment I didn't hear the shooting towards me anymore. I looked up and he had stopped firing. He may have run out of bullets.

I had to get up to him. I looked beside me, there was a chain hanging from the ceiling. I pulled myself atop the P40 before grabbing onto the chain and beginning to climb. I realized about halfway up that I must have been running on adrenaline. I'd never climbed anything like this, not since I was a kid.

I swung myself over to the catwalk and I was just inches from grabbing the man when he found the door out to the rooftop. He opened it, making the bright light of the day shine through, he ran to the fire escape and began climbing down.

I reached the edge and realized he was a few stair sets below me already. He fired a gun into the air, shooting at me. I ducked down and tried to hide myself behind the ledge. 

I had a stupid idea, but it was the only idea I had to cut him off. I jumped off the roof and grabbed onto the fire escape ledge right above where he was. I swung to kick him in the chest.  I may have kicked a little hard because it broke the fire escape bringing us both with it. I couldn't let him die. If he died, we couldn't ask him any questions.

I wrapped myself around him so I'd take the impact of the ground instead. It hurt when we hit, but it didn't feel like anything had broken. I rolled over after I felt the guy was breathing and pushed him onto the ground.

"Who are you?" I asked trying to get the serum out of his hand. I was devastated to find it had fallen out of his hand and onto the concrete instead.

The man took something out of his teeth and bit down while speaking. "Cut off one head, two more will take it's place. Hail Hydra." His words were marred by white foam whisking from his mouth. He'd taken cyanide. His chest's movements slowed and in a moment his breathe stopped completely.

A small crowd had gathered around us in the same alley just a few weeks ago I'd stood up to Matthew in. Apparently the commotion from the gunshots on the roof had drawn a few spectators. A few agents including Agent Carter joined us in the alley and encouraged me back inside.

In the span of ten minutes, two men died in my arms, both fighting for what they believed in. I'd come up from the waters holding me and my future down but instead I'd flown straight into the sun.