"𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓?!"
Howard flinched at his sister's booming voice while she stared at him. Grace had been working on a new weapon for the troops when Colonel Phillips walked into her tent asking if she had seen her brother recently. Only then did she discover that he had vanished along with Peggy.
"You mean to tell me that you flew into enemy territory in an aircraft so Steve could rescue his best friend?" she asked, crossing her arms. "And then you casually mention that you were shot at?"
"I didn't get killed," Howard defended, shrugging his shoulders. Grace glared at him and he shrunk back. "Look, Gracie, I'm okay."
"You aren't a soldier, Howard," Grace said, shaking her head. "You're a scientist. You're meant to stay behind the lines where you're safe."
"Gracie, I had to help," he told her, stepping closer. "When Peggy came to me, I just knew that I had to go with them."
"Did I ever cross your mind?" she asked, preventing him from continuing. He looked at her.
"What?"
"When Peggy came to you, did the thought of your sister ever cross your mind?" she asked again, crossing her arms. "Well? Did I?"
"I..."
"Did it never occur to you that I might not have wanted you to go?" she continued, shaking her head. "Do you think I might have wanted you to stay here where I know you're safe?"
"Gracie, I..." Howard let out a breath. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."
"Seems to be a specialty of yours..." she said, walking out of the tent. Howard scoffed and followed her.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know exactly what that means," she replied, still walking away. Howard grabbed her arm and turned her around. "Does Europe ring any bells? Maybe when I was sixteen and you were eighteen? Hmm?"
"Oh, come on... Gracie, I apologized."
"I never forgave you," Grace told him, shaking her head. "Two years of that shit and you think that 'sorry' is enough to make it go away. It's gonna take a lot more than that." She ran a hand through her hair. "You want to fly into danger, be my guest. Just leave me to bury the only family I have left," she said, her voice breaking.
"Gracie... Grace!"
Grace wiped the stray tears from her cheek before walking into Colonel Phillips' tent. He looked over as she approached his desk.
"Still nothing?" she asked, sitting in the chair in front of him. Peggy had taken some of her tracking technology to give to Steve without her knowledge. Therefore, when they were trying to get into contact with the super-soldier, she was the point of contact. She was the only one who understood the technology.
Phillips shook his head. "No." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "It's been days..." he said and she looked at him. "If we haven't gotten any sight of him, it doesn't seem likely he survived."
"But—"
"Stark, the scans have been empty all day and all of yesterday. There has been no sign of him or any of the soldiers he tried to free." Grace sighed and rubbed her temple. "Your technology is good. But he's gone." He snapped his fingers and a soldier pulled out a typewriter. "I hate this part. Write down what I say. Senator Brandt," he started and Grace accepted the scans from one of the other soldiers. "I regret to report that Captain Steven G. Rogers went missing behind enemy lines on the 3rd of last week."
Grace was looking at the scans but she could only think of Steve. All he wanted to do was be a soldier and serve his country. She just didn't expect him to be gone so soon. She barely knew him.
"Aerial reconnaissance has proven unfruitful," Phillips continued. "As a result, I must declare Captain Rogers... killed in action."
The soldier stopped typing and Phillips looked at the entrance of the tent. Grace looked behind her and saw Peggy standing there.
"The last surveillance flight is back," she said, giving it to Grace. "No sign of activity."
Phillips looked at the picture while Grace let out a breath, throwing the paper on the table.
"That technology was nowhere near ready for a mission like that," she said, looking at Peggy. "Nowhere near ready."
Phillips glanced between the two before clearing his throat. "Corporal, why don't you go get a cup of coffee?" He nodded before Phillips turned back to Peggy. "I can't touch Stark. He's a civilian... and the Army's number one weapons manufacturer. He and his sister are what's keeping the Army afloat right now. You, however, are neither."
"You'll have my resignation in the morning."
"I can probably make it so that you'll avoid a court martial."
"All due respect, sir, I don't regret my actions," Peggy said while Grace paced the tent, staring back at the surveillance footage. "And I doubt Captain Rogers did, either."
"Of course he didn't," Grace scoffed, looking at her. "The man signed up for an experiment just to get a shot at doing what he wanted: to serve."
"And what makes you think I give a damn about your opinions?" Phillips asked, looking at Peggy before stepping forward. "I took a chance on you, Agent Carter. Now that boy — and a lot of other men — are dead, because you had a crush."
"I don't have a crush," she denied, glancing at Grace. "I had faith."
"Well, I hope that's a great comfort to you when they shut this division down." All three of them look outside of the tent when they see several soldiers run past. "What the hell's going on out there?"
Grace and Peggy glanced at each other before they all walk out of the tent toward the camp entrance. Grace narrowed her eyes and as the crowd parted, her eyes widened.
Steve and Bucky, both of them alive, and leading hundreds of soldiers into the camp. Prisoners of War and many vehicles carrying the rest. Steve's uniform was no longer one piece. It was torn and dirty. His shield was bent and dented, but his head was held high.
"He's..." Grace blinked at the sight in shock. "He's alive."
Steve stopped in front of the three of them, saluting Phillips and catching Grace's eye for a moment.
"Colonel, some of these men need medical attention," he said. Phillips looked at the group and saw the gaunt faces and he nodded. Several medics rushed in to attend to their wounds. "I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action."
Phillips examined his appearance before shaking his head. "That won't be necessary."
"Sir, I—"
"Just how many orders do you plan on disobeying, Captain?" Phillips asked, interrupting him.
Steve smiled. "Yes, sir."
Phillips walked away with Peggy and Steve locked eyes with Grace. She looked around at the group before her gaze settled on the broken device in Steve's hand.
"You owe me a new transponder," she said. He looked down at it and chuckled. She smiled softly. "How does it feel?"
"What?"
"To be a hero."
Steve looked at her when Bucky clapped his back. "Hey!" he called. "Let's hear it for Captain America!"
Steve looked around at the group, finally feeling accepted before glancing back at Grace who smiled and nodded at him. He smiled back at her and a camera flash went off, capturing the two.
⸻ ~~~ ⸻
𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 her tent, working on the transponder that Steve had taken with him on his mission when she felt a pair of her eyes on her. She looked up and her brown eyes met a pair of blue ones.
"You know it's rude to stare," she said, looking back down at the device. Steve nodded and walked further into the tent, sitting across from her. She glanced up. "Did you need something, Captain?"
"Why so formal?" he asked.
She shrugged. "You're a war hero now. I'm just the inventor."
"The inventor who saved my life." She knitted her eyebrows together and looked up at him. "The transponder may have broken, but not everything did. They were the reason I stayed alive."
"I'm glad to hear it." She winced, seeing electricity from the transponder spark up at her. "Damn it." She put down her screwdriver and let out a breath. "How's your friend?"
"All things considered, he seems to be doing well," he replied and Grace nodded. "How are you? You seem... I don't know, tense."
"If you had just asked, I would have given you some," she said and Steve looked at her confused. "I don't have a reputation. If you had simply asked, I would have given you my entire inventory if it meant getting those men back."
"I—Peggy said you wouldn't want to risk anything," he told her and she shook her head. "That you've worked too hard to get to this point."
"Still doesn't mean I wouldn't have helped." She stood up from her desk and walked over to her table of inventions, designs, and spare parts. "I would have given you anything that worked."
"I'm sorry."
Grace looked up at him. "Peggy mentioned to me that you talked about me a few days ago." She leaned against the table. "What do you want to know?"
"Why are you letting me ask?"
She shrugged. "Peggy told me what happened in the airplane. You made sure that Howard came back. You're the reason he's alive. You seem like a trustworthy person. There must be something you want to know."
"Maybe I just want to know your story."
Grace chuckled and stood up straight. "That's a complicated question, Captain. You might want to narrow that down."
"Alright." He sat down and looked at her. "Why don't you tell people that you're a Stark?" She glanced up. "When we first met, you never told me you were a Stark."
"It didn't seem relevant."
"And that right there." Steve nodded at her statement. "Why not?"
She let out a breath. "You really decided to jump into the deep end, didn't you?" She sighed and opened her sketchbook. "I got this pad when I was seventeen," she said, flipping through the pages. "We didn't have a lot of money saved up, but I managed to get this. It was the year before my father died."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." She shook her head and looked at him. "It wasn't sudden. He did it to himself." She sat down on a stool, playing with the pencil in her hand. "Our mother died when I was fourteen. Howard was sixteen. Howard was already on his way to inventing, but I wasn't. Nothing happened when he was at home. But the minute he turned eighteen, he left home and never looked back. Never came for me. I was left alone with my father. For two years."
She looked up. "I don't tell people I'm a Stark because, for two years, Howard didn't say it. He was building his business and his name, but it wasn't just his name. It was ours. But he built Stark Industries, he became the CEO, and he made a name for himself. I just wasn't included.
"Our father didn't take our mother's death well," she continued. "To him, I reminded him of her too much. Those days... they weren't pleasant. It took two years, but I finally convinced Howard to take me with him to Europe. And our father died shortly after."
Steve looked at her. "I'm sorry." She shrugged. "Nobody should go through all of that."
Grace shook her head. "I don't tell that story for sympathy," she said, looking back at him. "I rarely tell that story, period." She let out a breath. "I have abandonment issues, I have trust issues. I have a lot of issues. But I don't like being left out of things." She leaned forward on the table and looked him in the eye. "Next time you plan to do a suicide mission, you tell me. I'll have all the technology you could imagine at your disposal."
Steve nodded and smiled softly. "Will do, Grace."
"Good." She flipped to a page in her sketchbook and handed it to Steve. "Now, let's talk about your uniform."
Peggy walked to Grace's tent but stopped when she heard laughter from inside. She peeked around the door and saw her and Steve together. Peggy smiled softly to herself before walking away, leaving the two alone.