Oblivion ✔

04

𝒮teve knocked on the elegant, white door. He waited a couple of seconds, rubbing the sleepdust from his sky-blue eyes. The door opened quietly, an old woman with sharp grey eyes met Steve's tired ones. "Good afternoon Mrs. Davis, I hope I'm not disturbing?" Steve asked, looking the apron covered with flour. The woman smiled warmly, shaking her head. "Not at all Steven, what can I help you with? Would you be up for a cup of tea?" Steve smiled apologetically. "No, I was just here to ask if you had given William some cookies yesterday?"

Mrs. Davis looked startled, then suspicious. "I told the little Devil to leave you some, he ate them all and got sick, didn't he. I knew something like this would happen. That boy and his white lies. I actually wanted to talk with you about something, I'm afraid he is stealing again. The bottled milk that's left here, right there on my porch every week just doesn't appear there anymore. Jamie said he has brought me some every Monday, but somehow it just doesn't reach me." the woman said, looking agitated as she ranted away. "Oh, I'm afraid I don't know anything about your milk. But where was he when you gave him the cookies, ma'am?" Steve asked, not caring about any milk at that moment. Even thought he could recall bottles of milk appearing in their kitchen from time to time.

"Right over there, at your front gate. Is something the matter?" she asked, sensing some tension from Steve. The golden haired man sighed. "Yesterday when I got home, Buck and I found Will under the blankets shivering like a leaf. His hair was soaked and a pile of wet clothes were next to him. After some time he fell asleep but the fever is still very high, I was hoping it would be gone by morning. Then I noticed the cookies on the table and I was wondering if you knew anything?" he confessed his concern, Mrs. Davis shook her head. "All I got was that he was on his way to meet someone, I was heading to the city center, he was going to the opposite way. That's all, I will come over after noon and watch that fever. We need to get it down as soon as possible." Steve nodded, feeling relieved in hopes the old woman's hands could cure his baby brother. He also didn't miss the way that I became suddenly we.

The clouds that day became the grey line between the burning sun and the buzzing city of New York.

Mrs. Davis frowned as she tended to William. The look on the woman's face made Steve nervous, and with a right reason. Will looked like a ghost, the fever had taken it's toll on the boy within one night. His face was glinting with sweat, there seemed to be trouble in his dreams as he kept mumbling nonsense.

"Well, I'm afraid if he doesn't get better by tonight..." The woman didn't finish her sentence letting it hung in the air heavily.

And Steve didn't want her to.

He could see it in the womans' grey eyes. She looked past her, chuckling. "And the Devil did leave you couple of cookies. Four out of thirty-five isn't that bad." Steve followed her line of sigh, a ghost of a smile on his face as he noted the sweets laying on the table as Will had left them.

That day Steve didn't go enlisting, he would have been Steve Rogers from Paramus. Apparently his quilt and worry kept him home.

But he knew, everything had to go bad for it to have a reason to be better again. Steve couldn't get too anxious, as much as he wished to deny it, he knew his health wasn't in his favour. He'd rather die a hero, die for his country then in his livingroom from heart attack for overthinking.

That night Steve took short naps, waking up in fright his brother would be cold as ice.

But as the sun rose again and the faithful Mrs. Davis came knocking on Rogers' door, everything seemed to get better. Steve bondered over who his brother had been meeting with, he had no idea he even had love interest.

But he could understand why young ladies had their eyes on Will, he was a cheerful fellow with quite the charming looks. Bucky had always said that women liked open men.

Steve was introvert. Or at least, he felt like he was.

When Bucky heard the boy had been meeting someone, he had roared with laughter, saying he couldn't imagine a girl who could be seeing William.

Two days later, William woke up with a groan, his back stiff and throat dry. He jawned as he noticed Bucky reading newspaper in their kitchen. He didn't even have to tell Will anything, the boy knew Steve had gone enlisting again.

"Rise and shine, punk. You've been asleep for ages. Seriously, how could anyone miss such a sunny day?" the older man smiled, looking at the pale kid. "I feel like vomiting." Will mumbled, falling head first into the pillows that definitely needed washing. "Get up Willy, it's good to be under the sun." Buck said, with a little bit more authority this time.

William groaned and pushed himself up, stretching his limbs. He dragged his tried body over to the table. "So, want to tell me what or who made you fall into the river?" Bucky asked after a short silence, having placed down the newspaper. His blue eyes were serious this time, he had heard the option of William meeting a girl, but around Brooklyn it could be anything. He had learned enought about bullies around Steve. And if William was now struggling with the same demons as him, it would add another pile of guilt to Bucky's conscience. The knowing he couldn't be there for the brothers any longer. At least, for some time.

William blinked groggily, not having expected the questioning. "uhm, nothing, just an accident." Bucky learned on the table, his hands crossed as he gave the younger boy unamused look. William rested his head on the table, mumbling something under his breath. "Come again?" Bucky asked, giving the kid a sharp look.

"I went to catch a red beret."

After a pregnant pause, Will raised his head, looking at Bucky to say something. "What is that supposed to mean?" the golden haired boy shrugged, if he thought about it, he did find it stupid to jump into a river for someone's hat.

But then again. It had been Rosa's.

"I went to catch someone's red beret that had fallen into the river." Bucky's blue eyes were clouded with a hint of anger as he glared at William. "You... Damnation, William! You put yourself in danger for a girls hat? Are you out of your mind?! Be happy you had enought strength to swim out of the river! Can you imagine what would have happened if you... If you..." William mumbled something small under his breath, avoiding Bucky's wild glare. "What did you say?!"

William squirmed under Bucky's gaze, crossing his arms in a hope it would somehow protect him from Bucky's wrath. "I didn't swim out of the river all by myself." the man blinked, waiting for Will to continue.

"Michael Carter helped me." he noticed frown cross Buck's face as he tried to piece a puzzle together, it just didn't make sense. "The Michael Carter? Captain Carter?" he asked in surprise, his mouth agape when will nodded hesitantly.

When Steve made it home, he was twice as angry as Bucky. Of course, after they had scolded William and told him to think twice before taking action, they started prying him for something else.

Who had William met on the Brooklyn Bridge?

Apparently, Bucky had pulled out the I won't be here for long card. He had dropped the bomb on brothers.

Bucky was leaving in a couple of days.

( credits to beautiful oakenshield_)