"You're telling me that you got Captain America-the War Hero, Steve Rogers-to become best friends with a thirteen-year-old kid? What, is this supposed to slowly introduce him to how irritating Generation Z is? Project Training Wheels or something?"
...
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Lizzie had never been to a funeral before.
Her arm went stiff twenty minutes into sitting on the uncomfortable pew, crammed in between Steve's broad shoulders and Sammy's attempt to rip her hair out. Halfway through the service, she would've let him. Steve had noticed her discomfort, taking her hand in his to try and ease the anxiety. Lizzie didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't the situation—of sitting and listening to strangers talk about Margaret Carter—but the people. Too many people, and being sat in the front of them all had her on edge.
It was what her aunt founded and created that had so many agents and espionage in the room, and if Lizzie paid close enough attention, she would be able to pick them out. That should make her feel relief, but instead, she remembered when she got the text saying that S.H.I.E.L.D. was HYDRA. That changed things.
It had officially been two days since they got the call, and Lizzie learned something valuable about the impact of death in those two days: everything else kept going—so that was what Lizzie had to do. She showed up to school the next day, took her English final, and finally had her presentation on Padme with Peter Parker. They were the only ones in the class to get an A, and when Lizzie's reaction was a stark contrast to her usual behavior, Peter caught on that something was wrong. They had a short, last conversation.
"Hey...are you, um...is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine, partner," she replied with a smile before Peter's uneasiness could reach her. "Just tired. We have our games tomorrow, so I'll be able to sleep on the bus there. But hey, I'll text you okay? We can all hang out this summer."
A flash of recognition crossed over Peter's face and the subject was dropped after that. Lizzie played. Midtown lost. Two double headers in two days, only to be picked up from the hotel room they were staying at by her parents, and off she went to the funeral in only five hours. Her team had known the situation and surprised Lizzie by wearing ribbons for Alzheimer's, something that gave her the drive to finish off the extra innings—but it was robotic, monotonous, and Lizzie wasn't sure why she hadn't cried since that day at the Avengers Institute.
