AN: Dedicated to the great @ElectricRoses for commenting and voting.
Dreary. Dark. Desolate. Dull. Dismal. Dead.
So many words to describe the scene right now and convey what everyone felt.
The sun shined, but became overshadowed by the clouds roaming in the sky. Gravestones chipped away from the different types of weather and turned a lighter gray over time. The grass grew perfect and green towards the center of the cemetery, but towards the outskirts, they formed in patches. Birds didn't chirp in the trees. Some bugs sang songs in the grass and some birds flew around, but not much else could be heard other than the ceremony.
Steve and I watched Peggy's funeral from the sidelines behind some trees. There weren't a lot of agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. there, but some of Peggy's friends from funeral homes. Some were family members, others just people she must have saved along the way in one form or another. Steve didn't want to go over there in front of everyone. He wanted to visit her grave in private. He had told me that joining those people would make him feel outcast. No one knew her longer than he did. They would beg for stories, and seeing as he was Captain America, they might have bugged him for even more stuff.
The ceremony was beautiful. Soft music from a choir played as the casket lowered into the grave. Soldiers marched away and gave her next relative the American flag that was on top of her casket. She served her country well and was one hell of a soldier. After founding one of the top companies in the world, she deserved every good thing she got. Some people described her in their speeches. Strong willed. Loving. Dedicated. Funny. Charming. Radiant smile. An accent so perfect it was like music to their ears. One of them even mentioned her fighting skill and how she could have taken on more than twenty guys at once if she had to.
Steve leaned against the tree and peered down at the ground. Tears swelled up in his blue eyes, but none of them dropped onto his face. He tried so hard to keep it together, but I knew he was dying on the inside.
"It was bound to happen, whether naturally of old age or not," I began in a solemn tone. "The scene looked like she died fighting."
He sniffled and wiped his nose. He straightened out his brown leather jacket and cleared the tears from his swollen eyes. "She would never go down without a fight. It's just who she was. It's how she'll always be remembered."
I let Steve have a moment of silence. In a time like this, I was surprised that he didn't want to be alone. He asked us to come along. I glanced down at Amelia, who held my hand tighter in intervals of ten seconds. She looked down at the ground and used her shoe to play with the bug she found in the grass. Her long black hair shined and her brown eyes always widened in wonder. She adored exploring new places and meeting new people. She got along with the team just fine, but missed her father at times. She often asked where he was, and all I could ever manage to say was in a safe and happy place.
What else was I supposed to say to a four year old?
Her mother died when she was born. Amelia's father put a restraining order against her aunt, who was crazy. Apparently, she had kidnapped Amelia and almost got her killed in the process. Amelia had no other family. I did what I had to. I took her in. She's been so happy and hasn't left my side since.
"The group is meeting us at the tower for the big memorial dinner. I can't wait to hear the stories you have of Peggy," I declared. My eyes traveled over to Steve, who grabbed my hand gently. He stared off into the distance as people began to leave. Minutes passed and soon, the grave was filled up and everyone was gone.
Steve let go of my hand and walked towards the grave. Amelia began to follow, but I softly tugged her back and told her he needed some alone time. It was the least I could do for him.
Rogers kneeled down by the grave and set a compass down against the headstone. He opened it, revealing a small picture of Peggy inside. He stood back up and looked up at the sky. He blinked back a few more tears and started talking. "I can't believe you're gone...There's so much I want to say." He stopped and his eyes searched her tombstone.
Margaret "Peggy" Carter.
April 9th, 1921-April 13th, 2015.
Beloved Mother, Grandmother, and Founder.
"I know my value. Anyone else's opinion doesn't really matter."
"We were like parallel lines. Always close. Never together..." Steve bit his lip at the memories seeping into his mind. "I uh...I always imagined you at the Stork Club waiting for me to come back. Waiting there for our first date. Waiting for our first dance...You knew I wouldn't show, but you tried anyway. You wore that stunning red dress with your hair and make up done all nice. You would have been the most gorgeous girl in the whole place..." He brushed his hair back with his hand and cracked a smile. "You must have also taken forever in picking the perfect song for the band to play. Something slow. Something intimate. I wouldn't want to step on your shoes." He paused.
He never knew what happened next. How could he? He slept for over seventy years. He had been dying to know what actually happened, but Peggy never remembered. She remembered everything about Steve, but hardly anything about what happened after the war.
"I guess that's all we'll ever be. An incomplete sentence. A half-written story. Finished, without an ending." Steve wiped the tears that escaped from his eye and bowed his head down. "I'm sorry, Peggy. I'm sorry for everything. You deserved so much more out of life. So much more..." His hand grazed the top of her shiny new tombstone, perfectly cut out of a dark marble. He lingered there for a second before retracting his hand. "Goodbye, Peggy."
Steve headed back towards us. Eyes still swollen, lips red from him biting them, rosy red cheeks. His hands were shaking and he looked physically drained. Amelia looked up at him with her brown eyes and shyly asked, "Can we get ice cream?"
Steve bent down in front of her and put on a small smile. "Of course, but only if you give me a really big hug." Amelia jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. He held her close and closed his eyes.
I think he really needed that from her. Having Amelia could bring joy into all of our lives. Even if I couldn't have my own kids, I had her. I could adopt her. She would distract me from the sleepless nights full of guilt for what happened. The whole team hadn't talked about the event. Why would we? We could see the guilt tearing each one of us up inside. Our sleeping patterns were thrown off. We hardly spent time together and stopped joking around a lot. Things weren't going to be back to normal so quickly.
Maybe not at all.
The elevator door opened, letting us out into the Avengers' tower living room. Clint walked through the kitchen in boxers with a matching shirt and got himself a slice of day old pizza. Tony's muffled talking could be heard from upstairs, along with Pepper's voice. They must have been getting ready together. Bruce stuffed his face with fast food he had bought earlier. The Hulk had drained him the other day, so he needed a lot of food to satisfy him. No one had seen Thor or heard from him since the incident.
Peter greeted us and picked Amelia up. He talked to her and tickled her. Amelia's laughter echoed throughout the room, cutting through the thick atmosphere.
Natasha turned the volume up on the television and hesitated, "Guys, you might want to take a look at this."
The action television show changed to an emergency news meeting with the President of the United States of America. He walked towards the podium, closing his eyes slightly as bright flashes from cameras started going off. He waved to the audience, but his grave expression didn't help bring up the mood. "I am very sad to hear about all of the lives lost in Chicago, Illinois a few days ago. My heart goes out to all the families with loved ones stuck in that terrible accident." He adjusted the papers in front of him, but flipped them over and looked directly into the camera. "The Avengers were there. Saving people, saving the city, but in all of that mess, they ended up giving up. Tony Stark sent out a nuclear bomb to clean up the disaster they couldn't handle. Earth's mightiest heroes? They abandoned the people. They are alive now while millions of innocents are dead." Gasps sounded off in the audience.
Natasha sat up in her seat, angered by the speech. Steve grit his teeth together and started breathing heavily. I put a hand to my mouth to muffle my soft gasp. As if we hadn't felt enough to deal with already. Peter bounced around with Amelia in his arms, and slowly stopped when he heard the news. Clint dropped his pizza onto the floor. Bruce left the room before he got angry.
"I have signed warrants for their arrests. The Avengers are a danger to everyone around them. We will not rest until all of them are arrested and put on trial for their actions."
Thank you all for reading until the end! This was a great journey, and I definitely learned A LOT about writing. I'll be posting the first chapter when I have it written, so please follow me or keep checking my works for updates. You guys are the best! I couldn't ask for more awesome readers. I'm thinking about having part 2 up before October...Maybe even a little earlier. :D Here's the summary for "Avenge the Fallen" :)
Boom.
The city of Chicago went up in flames, consumed by the nuclear bomb particles floating in the sky. It was gone in a matter of seconds. Obliterated. The screams silenced and all that could be heard was the explosion as it swept the land.
The Avengers were tired. Bleeding. Lost. Torn to shreds inside with guilt. I didn't really take time to appreciate everything I had until it was gone. Now, we were on the run with nothing but each other. The government blamed us as a cover, but we carried the guilt. Not them. We tried to save the city and failed miserably. Who were the people really going to believe, though? The government who supported them through everything, or the Avengers with an old nuclear arms dealer on their team?
It didn't matter anymore. We had to clear our names before Loki got out of hand. The worst part? He's gathered a team. The best part? We have something he doesn't.
Determination to avenge the fallen.
Book 2 of 3