[complete!]
"𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔."
𝐌ace Wilcox had a heart full of revenge. For almost her whole life. Because when the person she loved most was killed, her life was turned upside down. She was turned into a killer.
Sh...
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The next morning, Mace woke up before Bucky, and decided to see what else she could find on Helena Carson. She hoped to find something that she could do for her. She dug deep enough into her records that she found her son had not talked to her in twelve years for no apparent reason, and Helena had made no effort to reach out. She even found a recording of their last phone call from 2012— nothing seemed wrong. Neither of them had been blipped, and even in that time of crisis they didn't talk.
Mace was determined to reunite them. She hoped that this would allow her to forgive herself for her actions.
So she wrote a letter in Helena Carson's handwriting and sent it to Denver, Colorado, where her son lived. She wrote that she missed him so dearly, that she loved him, that she wanted him to come visit. That she didn't know why he had made himself estranged, but she was sorry if it was because of anything she did.
In a way, she wrote a letter she'd wish to receive from her own mother.
She put it into a mailbox near Helena's house and hoped it would be enough.
"How are you?" asked Bucky, when she came back from that trip in the evening.
"Okay," she said.
"You think it will work?"
"All I can do is hope," she replied. "Maybe yes and maybe no."
"You're really doing this, Mace. I'm proud of you."
Mace smiled and blushed.
"And how's your therapy been?" she asked him.
"It's... therapy," he said plainly. "I told her about you, but I didn't tell her your name or much else. She says I'm getting better, whatever that means."
"Therapists," said Mace, half-rolling her eyes.
"She'd be helpful, though. If I let her be."
"And you don't?"
"I don't tell her a lot of stuff," he explained.
Mace looked to the side and nodded, as if approving the explanation. She didn't have much else to say, so she peered around the mostly empty apartment for something to do. Her eye caught something she hadn't paid attention to before — a record player in a dark corner of the room. A cardboard box full of records sat next to it.
"What's all this?" she asked, walking over to it and pointing.
"Oh," said Bucky, getting up off the couch. "That's Steve's."
"Have you used it?" asked Mace, looking through the records.
"Not really," he said. "I think it's broken."
"It can't be broken," she said. She picked out a random record and put it onto the platter, then put the arm on top of it carefully and turned it on, allowing it to spin. It sang in the sweet voice of Julie London.
"There," she said. "It works perfectly."
She held out her hands for him to take. He grasped them softly, and she smiled at him, and began swaying to the music. At first, they didn't get into it much, moving from side to side about two feet apart, only hands touching. But as the song went along, Mace and Bucky got closer and more into the dance. They held hands and spun, dancing all over the room. Both of them couldn't stop smiling.
With his metal hand, he held hers, and put the other around her back. Mace smiled and rolled her eyes playfully when he put his hand up high and spun her. The lyrics registered in their minds, but they were too happy being around each other to pay much attention.
You belong to my heart, Now and forever. And our love had its start, Not long ago.
"I can't believe this," she said, looking into his eyes.
"Believe what?" asked James with a smile.
"You," she stated. "Me. Me and you. Two weeks ago I wanted to kill you."
James laughed a little. "I won't mention it if you don't," he smiled.
"Deal," she said. They danced for some more, and as the song went into an instrumental, they got closer, hands around each other's shoulders.
"Some part of me hates myself for this," she said. "When it's really silent I can hear it in the back of my head, cursing me out. I think..." She took a deep breath. "I think I can love you, James. And it scares me a little."
"It's scary, I know. But take your time with it."
Mace nodded, and put her head onto his chest. They swayed for a little while longer.
— —
Mace had been reading Helena Carson's mail. Sure, it was illegal. But she wasn't going to get caught, so it didn't matter.
Her son had sent a very short letter back to her. It read:
Mom,
I will come to your house on January 30.
Noah.
"Short but sweet," Mace had whispered to herself. Then she resealed the letter impeccably and put it back in Helena's mailbox.
Today was the 27th — that meant three days until Noah's visit. Maybe it was stalker-ish, but Mace wanted to be there. She wanted to see what had happened. She wanted to see what would happen.
And so, on January 30th, she did. She went alone and tracked Noah's phone to see what time he would get there, then she hid in an all black outfit in a bush by her mailbox, where she could easily see to the patio. He didn't even get up the stairs before Helena opened the door, a smiling, hopeful look on her face.
Her son donned the same look. Then began crying.
Mace couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was Noah that was talking. He ranted and ranted, and his mother shook her head no and talked to him, saying what Mace heard as "It's okay, it's okay," over and over. Once he was done with his talk, his mother put her hands on his face, then hugged him. He hugged back, smiling. The gesture made Mace smile, too.
Helena gestured to some deck chairs, and the pair sat down. They talked again, and Mace could read the word "letter" on Noah's lips. Helena's face scrunched up and she shook her head. Noah quirked his brows and shrugged. Then he smiled and said something which made his mother smile, and she kissed him on the cheek.
Mace didn't hear it, but Helena replied, "I don't care who sent it. They made me happy, because they brought you back to me."
Helena made a gesture to her son. They stood up and she welcomed him inside. After Noah walked in, Mace stood up, knowing she wouldn't be able to see anymore. She froze when she saw Helena look back, straight into her eyes.
Both women held almost expressionless faces— though Mace tried to make hers portray sorrow. For a moment, Helena's kind eyes looked into Mace's once icy ones. But when Helena saw that the cold shield had been taken down, and that Mace was so, so sorry, she smiled.
Mace's features softened, taken aback at the gesture. She then smiled back, and turned around and walked back down the long country road toward where her car was parked.
She smiled to herself as she walked, and didn't look back.
a.n.: this is my favorite chapter bc it's when mace really gets her redemption and when she really finds happiness!! love you all, thank you for reading and dont forget to vote!!
