Chapter Text
James Barnes, or Bucky as most know him, was a ladies man. He knew exactly what he was doing, and it infuriated me. Growing up with him being my brothers best friend meant that we often had to team up to look after Steve and keep him out of trouble. Though we were civil when Steve was around, there was no end of arguments when he was not; it was simple - Barnes and I didn’t get along.
When the war began the boys were both taken to serve, while I was recruited to be the head mechanic, not that the men who worked under me were incredibly happy about it. This ‘oppression' is how I met miss Peggy Carter or Agent Carter as the men knew her; she was an exceptionally talented young woman - everything about her was perfect all the way down to the shade of lipstick she wore every day- a beautiful red that only she could pull off. The women quickly became my friend, and I was quick to understand the fondness she held for my brother… though this meant not only did I see Steve almost every day I also had to see the one person I hated most - Bucky…
Our tenseness had brought along teasing from Peggy, no doubt she knew something we did not, it also meant anytime Steve wasn’t around we were explosive in our anger - this seemed to cause a lot of disappointment from the men in charge and eventually led to both of us to being locked in a room together to either sort it out or kill each other; unfortunately (for everyone else) it was almost the latter. Steve was quick to find out about the situation and could only shake his head at us stating that he’s never understood our rivalry and that it was both ungentlemanly and unladylike, Bucky and I rolled our eyes at that. It was only on that faithful day when Bucky grabbed me, pushed me against the side of the vehicle I was working on and breathlessly asked me if he could kiss me that I realised that all the pent-up anger we felt for one another was actually the feelings we had been denying all this time.
Unfortunately, those feelings were not able to fully come to fruition; when Steve came to tell me about Bucky’s death I was broken - all this time and he decided that now was the time to die… I was even more broken when the news of Steve’s death reached my ears, I spent weeks on my own with only the vehicles to keep me company - with the occasional visit from a heartbroken Peggy.
Soon the war had ended, and I was back to my normal job, well that was until Peggy called me asking if it was possible to meet at Stark’s home, and though I was not really in the mood to deal with Howard’s enthusiasm I was excited to see my friends again. When I arrived, I was greeted by a tall, British man who held a kind face and introduced himself as Edwin Jarvis - Howard’s butler - he brought me to a room which held Peggy, Howard, and two other fellows I had yet to meet.
“Ah, you’re here!” Peggy’s voice cut through the chatter as all eyes turned towards me, both Peggy and Howard stood up to greet me leaving the others to look at the scene with some confusion. After hugging both of my friends I turned to greet the men and introduced myself (only my first name, I didn’t want to give them any premature shock); I learnt that their names were Sousa and Thompson, two agents who worked with Peggy. When I heard that I had realised that this was no friendly catch up and rather a job they needed my help with, Peggy had seen my realisation and spoke,
“I’m sorry that this is the first time we have spoken in a while, but we need to use your special skill set…” I nodded understanding that she had been busy - we could catch up later after all…
Over the next few weeks, we worked together to stop a man who was creating vehicles which would drive themselves and their passengers off bridges and into bodies of water. The technology seemed otherworldly and something that in time may come in handy (obviously with some safety measures). The man was caught, and the agents were thankful for the break they would get; I was thankful for the time I spent with Peggy and Howard. As a group we celebrated with one of Stark’s famous parties, where the very “shocking” news of my surname came up.
“You know, little miss Rogers over there is one of the best mechanics you will ever meet, she could fix basically anything - though cars are her speciality.” a slightly inebriated Howard Stark praised, the words were quick to cause panic -
“Rogers? As in Steve Rogers? Captain America?” the set of questions spilled from Sousa’s mouth, Peggy and I (who were sat off to the side of the room) giggled at the panic,
“The very one - she’s his twin sister!” Howard answered. Sousa was unable to speak, only staring at me in surprise, Thompson who was silent the whole time was in the same position.
“You boys know I’m a normal person, right? And so was Steve. I mean before the serum he was the bane of my life, if it wasn’t for me and James…” I paused - the memory of the man I loved made my heart clench, “Well let’s just say he probably wouldn’t have been alive to join the war effort, let alone become Captain America.” Peggy’s hand rested on my own in a comforting action, she knew how it felt to lose someone you cared for, luckily, she had found someone perfect for that role once again and I could not have been happier for her. The rest of the night went back to being upbeat and happy once again though I couldn’t get the sinking feeling out of my chest and away from my heart.
I kept in contact with Howard and Peggy after that knowing we all needed each other; I even became friends with Jarvis who would often assist me if needed.