ASHES ↠ b. barnes [II]

twenty seven

        HER FUNERAL WAS SOMETHING HE knew would come eventually.

        Ever since he realized that time went by differently for the both of them, and that she would age faster than he would because she was human, he was dreading the moment when he wouldn't be able to call her, or talk to her, hug her, make her smile or laugh.

        He was dreading the moment when he would have to declare her gone.

       She was an amazing woman, and a big part of his life. From the moment his eyes landed on hers for the first time, when their lips touched under the falling rain— which turned out hilarious when Ezekyel had to get away from it as quickly as he could but resumed to kiss her under a roof.

       When he danced with her on top of a piece of wood that he made float with his mind, when they'd talk and drink from dusk until dawn, to when they broke up because of their genetic differences, to when she got married and he walked her down the aisle, to when her first kid was born, to when she got Alzheimer and her husband died, and so much more.

       So, Ezekyel Ljós knew for a fact that Margaret Carter was one of the most amazing women he had ever met. She was brave, she was intelligent, she was kind, she was bold, she was absolutely beautiful, and she would always hold a very special place in his heart.

       So, as he carried one side of her coffin, knowing that Steve was on the other side, tears fell freely down his face, coating his cheeks like traces of a small waterfall and his brown eyes stared at nothing more but the picture of her that received them as they placed it down.

        He handled the wooden artifact with extreme care, setting it down on the floor along with the other men who had known and fought alongside her. The luckiest men, Ezekyel would say.

       Steve and him shared nods, going to sit down on the front, next to Sam Wilson who was waiting for them, looking at them with empathy. As they sat down and a few words were exchanged, a familiar face stepped to the podium.

       Sharon Carter, was her name. The nurse that Natasha wanted to set Steve up with was Peggy's niece, and Ezekyel almost cursed quietly for not remembering that.

        But his eyes became a bit amused as he looked at Steve, who looked at her in surprise. He had known her as Agent 13, not as a relative to such an important woman like Peggy.

       They exchanged awkward glances and Sharon prepared herself to speak, taking a deep breath and glancing anywhere but at Steve.

        "Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of SHIELD, but I just knew her as aunt Peggy." Steve straightened as she said this, Ezekyel nudging him with his elbow and making the man roll his eyes. "She has a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I never told anyone that we were related.

        "I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage in a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. She said, compromise where you can. But where you can't, don't." Ezekyel mumbled the words along with her, wiping the tear that fell down his eye. "Even if everyone is telling that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree look them in the eye and say No. You move.'."

        The funeral was over shortly after that, but Steve and Ezekyel were still standing in the church, finding it appropriate as a way of saying goodbye.

        "Would you have married her?" Steve whispered, the Jupiterian not looking at him.

        "If I were human. Yes." Ezekyel answered. His thoughts drifting once more to his time in the past. "But I don't regret my choice, if that's what you're wondering." He told him, Steve turning to him curiously, since that had been indeed what he had been wondering.