THE FADING FALLEN ● Bucky Barnes X OC ● 18+ ● ENGLISH [COMPLETE]

Chapter 2

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Spring, 2013

Finally. She made it.

Emilia sat on the cream-colored designer couch in front of her notebook in her small, sparsely furnished apartment in Ridgewood. The map of Washington, D.C. was on the screen. A bright red circle marked the destination.

It took some time, work and, most of all, patience, but eventually she had discovered even more than she dreamed. Even without help from Steve and Bruce, who still didn't believe her.

"Whatever or whomever you're on to... I hope for all our sakes it has nothing to do with Hydra."

Steve's words as she left his apartment months ago kept running through her mind. So did the rather long conversation.

They had talked for some more time about the attack on New York, the Avengers and Hydra, and Emilia soaked up every bit of information like a sponge.

Bruce told about the time in the lab, the many experiments and how he met Thomas and his wife Evelyn. It was not easy for Emilia, but she listened and reminisced. 

Evelyn was pregnant with her when they first met. She was small and petite, but had a glow like the sun. Her warmth and open nature struck Bruce in the first second.

As a rather pragmatic scientist, one might think he should have felt completely slain. But that was not the case. With her bright blue eyes and caramel-colored hair, she easily had everyone wrapped around her finger - whether they wanted it or not.

This was also true for Thomas, who, just like Bruce, was at home in laboratories everywhere. How he ended up with a woman so worlds away, neither of the two PhDs could explain.

"Where love goes when luck pulls the strings...", Thomas used to say, looking lovingly at his wife. 

Evelyn, unlike Thomas, had grown up in a rather free-spirited family with a musical sensibility. While she herself didn't play an instrument, she had the voice of an angel. When she got the glorious idea of trying to impart some musical culture to the gentlemen of science at a Thanksgiving dinner they had together, she decided to perform a little vocal interlude.

Bruce felt almost honored, knowing that Evelyn sang only for the immediate family. And he thus became a part of that family. Emilia and Matthew, then 5 and 10 years, sat in the row house in New Jersey and always listened with rapt attention when their mother began to sing.

Especially at Christmas, the Carson family sang cornily together under the Christmas tree. Thomas and Matthew tended to be crooked and twisted, like the branches of the pine tree tops draped with baubles. Evelyn and Emilia, on the other hand, were a singing duo beyond compare. No wonder Emilia usually got the lead roles in the school play.

She had inherited not only her mother's light brown hair and her father's amber, almost golden eyes, but also the talent of both: the voice of her and the stubbornness of him.

The Carsons were indeed a - how do you say it... picture book family. Of course, there were arguments now and then, as there are in every family. But all in all, you couldn't ask for a better one.

Thinking about her childhood and how happy they were, Emilia always had her mother's voice in mind, accompanied by a feeling of warmth and joy.

Especially when listening to her mother's favorite song.