𝟕𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬

𝕖𝕡𝕚𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖

I slid the zip on my black dress, and looked at myself in the mirror.

I tried not to look too long, because then I would see past the makeup, and the dark circles and permanently blotched eyes would be revealed.

I picked his dog tags off the coffee table next to me, and held the piece of him tightly in my palm.

"You ready?" Steve asked from the doorway, and I didn't turn to look at him. I knew that if I saw his face I would break. And I needed to be strong today. I couldn't let him down like this.

"Give me a minute." I croaked out

"Of course." and I heard his footsteps trailing away.

I was quiet. Everything was quiet. I could hear no birds chirp. No wind.

Silence.

Someone cleared their throat.

I turned to see Nick fury, and he walked towards me, holding an envelope with an object protruding at the bottom of it in his hand.

"Y/n. We found this. It's addressed to you. No one read it." He handed it to me, smiled and then left the room.

The sight of that handwriting. His handwriting made my eyes tear up.

I sat down on the bed,

And opened the letter.

Dear y/n,

I hope to god you never find yourself in the circumstances in which you have to read this letter, but I could never live with myself if something happened and I didn't leave you with it.

Y/n Rogers. To start this off, we need to go far back in time. Before the avengers, before the ice.

Remember the day, February 15th 1935. I was 18. We went to Coney Island. I won you the teddy from that cramped arcade. You loved it, kept it in the basket of your bike for years. You didn't care when you biked around town, and people stared at you.

It was coming up sunset. You were walking through the streets and back to your apartment with Steve, and I was trailing behind.

You laughed at something he said, and you smiled, throwing your head back so that the golden sun hit your face just right.

You turned behind to me, and smiled.

That was the moment I knew I loved you.

I thought, you really must be an angel, sent from heaven above. How could anyone even exist to be this perfect?

A few years later, I finally got the privilege to call you mine. I still couldn't believe it. I didn't think I ever would believe it. How had I, a nothing kid from Brooklyn with a scrawny blonde of a brother, caught your eye?

Fast forward a few years, when I enlisted, it broke my heart to leave you.

Coming back was such relief, to have you back in my arms again, after months. You need to know that in the time I was away, I barely slept. I couldn't- without you. I'm now realising how petty that sounds

I chuckled, through the tears falling on the page

Adjusting to new life was hard. After all hydra did, and I was forced to forget you for so long. I remember how relieved me and Steve were to be told you were still alive. We'd been mourning, truly thinking we had lost you, and it was our faults.