Chapter Ten: The Fall

ONE SMALL THING THAT DELPHIA MISSES ABOUT her home would be getting her mother to brush her hair. It was a nightly ritual that the mother and daughter never missed and something Delphia looked forward to before sleeping. It allowed them to talk in private without the guards or the men of their family keeping an eye on them. It was a bonding moment between the two. Oh, how Delphia missed it. She misses her mother, her father, her brothers, everyone dearly. So she brushed her hair by herself. The silky, chestnut hair held in her hair was perfectly straight with no knots in it at all as she ran the brush through it. She sat on her bed in silence, idly brushing while thinking of her home. 

Delphia was terribly homesick. Wishing to just be back home with her family, laughing with friends, enjoying feasts and watching her brother's bicker. She missed it all. What if she left now? Went home to leave this foreign place that she didn't have too many connections to. 

 At any moment she could walk outside, called to Heimdall and he could whisk her away. She could be back home in the blink of an eye if she so wished. As much as she would love to just leave, she can't. There are rules to her visions, ones she cannot break by any means. The visions that she had… She couldn't argue with them. Not only that but she… made connections here on Midgard.

Speaking of those connections, there was a light knock at her bedroom door. The room was quite small, but she appreciated that she was provided one to begin with. Tilting her head in confusion, Delphia stood up from her bed and opened the door. Stood on the other side, fidgeting in his stop, Steve stared as Delphia opened up.

"Steven?" She asked softly, a bit more than surprised to see him here.

The man swallowed thickly, nervousness coursing through his veins as he stared down at her. Steve honestly forgot what he was going to do now that he was staring into her eyes, completely lost in them. He also wasn't sure what he was going to do from this point on. Sadly, he didn't think this far ahead.

He cleared his throat, noticing that he had just been staring at her dumbfounded for a moment. "I wanted to come… apologize."

Delphia tilted her head, "apologize?"

Steve fidgeted with his hands for a moment as he tried to find his words, "About what happened earlier with um, that woman earlier."

"Oh," she said while shifting uncomfortably, "there is no need to apologize for that-"

"But I want to." He cut her off earnestly. "Delphia, it meant nothing, honestly." He seemed more than desperate to try and convince her of that fact. Really, Steve needed to make sure that his intentions were crystal clear.

"Steven, it does not matter to me if you are… interested in someone." Delphia cleared her throat, "You should not have to justify anything to me." They weren't courting, or anywhere near it. Perhaps they showed some curiosity between them and a development in their feelings. However, it would have to stay as nothing more than a passing fancy. With a war going on, it wasn't always the greatest thing to have a romance of any kind. Add in the factor of Delphia being an Asgardian and that made things far more complicated.

He shook his head, "She surprised me, kissed me before I could react. I promise you."

Delphia shook her head, "I still do not see-"

"I wanted you to know that there is only one person I'm interested in."

Her eyes widened as she could understand his meaning. The underlying tone about just who he had an interest in was nearly clear as day. From the soft look in his eyes, staring at her as if she hung the sun in the sky, she knew he meant her. She sighed heavily, "Steven." 

Steve didn't notice the quick flash of an unwary expression on her face as he continued on, "It isn't the right time to ask, but would you like to go dancing?"

Delphia blinked, "I thought we did the other day." That night was quite enjoyable in her opinion. It nearly reminded her of the parties that her brother would hold just about every night. Except it was less violent.

"Yes, well, what I mean is, uh, more formal dancing? I suppose." Steve said trying to find his words, though all he ended up doing was rambling, "I've said before I've never asked a woman to dance, so I would think a dame would rather go to some formal dancing, especially a dame as lovely as you would rather do some sort of slow dancing and such, not in a pub with a bunch of drunks around."

It was endearing to see Steve grow nervous and ramble on. Despite his new physique, Steve is still the same dorky man as he was before. The same man who had caused Delphia's heart to race and her cheeks to heat up. It's too early to say, but if things continue on the way they were going… Perhaps Delphia could fall in love. That thought caused her to breathe deeply.

"Steven."

He paused his ramblings and blinked owlishly, "Yes?"

"I would love to," She bashfully looked away, now thoroughly embarrassed. The boyish smile that broke out on Steve's face caused butterflies to run rampant in her stomach. Even with the wonderful feeling, there was still dread. Dread about what this could mean in the future. Dread about what could happen. Though for just a single moment since leaving her home, she'd allow herself this small moment of peace and happiness. 

---

This wasn't exactly what Delphia had wanted to do during the war, but she didn't have too much of a say. If anything, the only reason she was still allowed to help around was due to pity and some strong words from Peggy. She still mourned the loss of her friend Abraham, and without him she was useless to the allied forces. Staying back, becoming a nurse at times, taking care of paperwork and the like wasn't what she had wanted to do.

Though if she were allowed to fight, she imagined that things would be much different. Fighting was in her blood, her people are born warriors, and she wasn't that much of a difference. Sure, it's been about a century and a half since she had last been allowed in an active battlefield, but that didn't mean she was rusty. Given the change, Delphia knew she could prove herself! So if she were fighting, there's no doubt that the war would end somewhat quicker. However, it wasn't exactly her war to participate in. So she'll do as they say, like a good princess should. 

After many successful attacks, the allied forces were making quick work of destroying their enemies. Base after Base of HYDRA fell to the unwavering power of the SSR forces. Things could not be going even better for them. The only issue was that no matter what, they couldn't find Schmit just yet, but with his dwindling power, they would get to him in no time.

At the moment, a group of superiors were watching a film that quickly recapped the recent attacks that they conducted. Of course they were all fronted by Captain America himself. Though as the film continued on, the footage showed Steve going over a plan with a map and a compass. In that compass was a photo of a familiar brunette smiling brightly. Peggy and Phillips leaned over to give Delphia a side glance, which certainly caused her to blush at the attention. She didn't even know that Steve had that photo. Delphia recognized it as one they took when Steve was still training, before he was given the serum. It was such a simpler time then.

Once they were finished, Delphia escaped the glances that she was receiving to head over to her small desk that she shared with Peggy. The two friends sat with each other in comfortable silence. Ever since they had been stationed together, they had become quite close. War tends to bring people together, and Delphia and Peggy were no exception to that.

"Can I ask you something, Del?"

Delphia glanced up at Peggy from the forms that she had been filing and nodded her head, "Of course."

"You and Steve seem… quite cozy at the moment."

She paused, "I believe that was a statement, not a question."

"Are you two…?" Peggy trailed off, not really knowing how to put it into words.

Though Delphia was able to catch onto her meaning, "I am not entirely sure." 

There was no definitive answer as to what Delphia and Steve were. Perhaps if they could spend more time together, she would say that they were courting. However, with Steve having to be off on the front lines there was no time for them to be together. Still, even with all that distance between them, it didn't mean that they were any less interested in each other. The kindling flame that started to bloom between them was still steadily burning, everyone could sense that.

Peggy smiled at the expression on Delphia's face. "Let's hope that once this is all over you two can spend time dancing."

Perhaps there was an innuendo somewhere in what Peggy had said, but Delphia certainly didn't catch it. She just shrugged her shoulders, "Perhaps." She read the newest file that he been brought to them earlier. "A train?"

Peggy leaned over to look at the report, "ah yes, we believe Zola to be traveling on the train. The Howling Commandos have been assigned to capture him."

"Hmm," Delphia hummed in thought. 

---

James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes. He was a wonderful man, taken far too soon. A casualty of an unfair war. A brave man who didn't deserve what had happened to him. Delphia knew that. She felt like she should have been closer to the man, since he was so close to Steve. However, with everything going on, they couldn't get to know each other as much as they'd liked. They spent some time together whenever the Howling Commandos were at base receiving orders or had come back to relay intel. Steve was more than happy to see that they were getting along well. However, Delphia would say that her and Bucky had been good friends. Though they could have been more, time was just taken from them.

Delphia knew that Bucky was a brother to Steve, and losing him would break him. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like to lose Sif, who was like a sister to her, or her brothers, or any other close friends. Things like this always caused great turmoil within her. Delphia was not given a vision of Bucky's death or anything to indicate that this could happen. Her visions were always so picky like that. While she has a general overview of what's to come, small details weren't exactly something that she was shown. Even if she were shown his death, it wasn't like she could do something to prevent it. Such a horrible situation.

After getting the news of what had happened on their train heist, Delphia knew that she had to go find Steve. He'd be devastated after such a loss. After having such a close loved one die in such a way, Delphia knew that he shouldn't be alone. He needed comfort. Though first she needed to find him. She did her best to search around, asking if anyone had seen him, but no one knew. There really was only one place that she would think he could be. The Whip & Fiddle, the pub that the Howling Commandos had last been at before their missions.

When she found him, it was an extremely upsetting sight. The pub that she had once had an amazing night in with the Howling Commandos was destroyed. A bomb no doubt had landed right on top of this place, which just brought about even more feelings of depression. Navigating through the destroyed building, Delphia made her way over to Steve. He sat with the radio in front of him. Steve seemed to be attempting to drown himself in his sorrow with alcohol. Though with the bottle nearly, Steve didn't seem to be all that drunk.

Steve hears the sound of her coming in and glances over his shoulder. "Dr. Erskine said that… the serum wouldn't just affect my muscles, it would affect my cells. Create a protective system of regeneration and healing. Which means um…I can't get drunk. Did you know that?"

"I may not understand science all too much," Delphia started to say softly, "but Abraham did explain there would be side effects." They were lost in another bout of silence. The tense atmosphere was evident as Steve continued to take sips of his drink even though they both know nothing could come of it. Delphia couldn't take it, "Steven. Please look at me." Though he didn't look up at her which caused her to sigh, "You know, it was not your fault."

He scoffed, "Did you read the reports?"

"Yes."

"Then you know that's not true."

Delphia quickly placed her hand on cheek to try her best to force him to gaze at her. When his broken eyes met hers, she did her best to comfort him with just her gaze. "Do not blame yourself. The ones to blame are HYDRA, not you. Bucky believed in you, as I am certain you believed in him. You both made the decision to trust each other and neither of you broke that."

Steve felt like his chest was warming up just slightly at her reassurance. Though it wasn't going to be that easy to convince him. Since he was there to see Bucky fall, he could have reached farther, been stronger to protect his friend. However, Delphia was right. He trusted Bucky and vice versa. They wouldn't have gone on a mission as important as this if they didn't trust each other.

Delphia moved to sit herself next to Steve. It appeared that tears had started to collect in her eyes making them glassy. She made sure to keep herself with in his line of sight, not wanting him to look away from her for even a moment, "The loyalty that you two had to each other brought you to be as close as brothers and I'm so sorry that it had to end this way."

Steve allowed himself to be calmed down slightly by her strong words. However, it did little to help lessen his grief. He knew that she was upset just like him over this. No one liked having to lose a soldier during the war, especially a close friend.

Steve's jaw clenched, "I'm goin' after Schmidt. I'm not gonna stop till all of Hydra is dead or captured."

"And your allies will be with you every step of the way." She agreed with him. 

The two were left with the crackling of the radio and the rubble around them. Though the burning passion of revenge grew between them as they held each other. No doubt, after this moment, neither of them was going to stop until all of HYDRA was destroyed. 

---

Pulling herself away from Steve was a difficult decision to make for Delphia. Though she figured that both of them needed their rest. After this, they needed the energy to get back to work to get their revenge for what happened to Bucky. It was late by the time she returned back to base and to her little room. Tucking herself into her bed, Delphia attempted to allow exhaustion to take over. However, it seemed like there were other plans for her.

Once her head hit the scratchy pillow of her bed, she felt as though she was falling through darkness. Once the world around her stopped spinning, she found herself in the hull of a plane. It was dark and she could hear the wind rushing past as the windows showcased the bright clouds. There were voices, muffled and slightly disorienting, but Delphia recognized both of them. While she couldn't make out exact words, it was obvious that there was a fight going on between them. 

Blurred images moved around as Steve and Schmitt fought each other for a quick moment. Eventually at some point, Schmitt ended up getting a hold of the Tesseract. Though in his marveling of the cube, it started to disintegrate him into nothing. The last thing she saw in her vision was the Red Skull, completely disappearing into nothing.

Taking a long deep breath as she was brought back into the slightly cozy confines of her bed, Delphia smiled. That meant that Schmitt would be defeated! He would be destroyed or killed by the Tesseract itself which meant HYDRA would soon fall to the SSR. That had to be the best news that Delphia had learned so far. With HYDRA destroyed the war would hopefully be swayed in the Allied forces favor and would end. For the once in a long while, Delphia allowed herself to fall asleep peacefully after one of her visions.