✓ | Porcelain.

chapter twenty one

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: THE FUNERAL

I watched with a glum look on my face as Steve helped carry Peggy's casket. Tears streamed down his face, leaving his eyes red. He looked forward unseeingly as his lips pulled downwards into a frown.

It wasn't long before Steve silently took his seat next to me. I held his his hand for comfort, a worried look on my face as I glanced over at him. This was the first time I'd seen him so broken since we lost Bucky. Peggy was there for him then, but now she was gone. Now, we were at her funeral.

"And now, I would like to invite Sharon Carter to come up and say a few words."

I watched as a blonde haired woman walked up to the stage, ready to speak. My eyes widened at the sight. Sharon took a deep breath to prepare herself. "Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of shield... but I just knew her as Aunt Peggy. She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool." I tilted my head as I listened, my interest peaked. "But it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I never told anyone 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. And she said, 'compromise where you can. But where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you 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.'"

"When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone. I found out she was alive. I was just lucky to have her... I'm lucky I still have you." Steve sighed, nodding to me at the end. I smiled at him softly.

"She had you back, too." Natasha smiled.

"Who else signed?"

"Tony, Rhodey, Vision." Natasha answered bitterly, her arms crossed.

"Clint?" Steve furrowed his brows.

"Says he's retired."

"What about Wanda?" I asked, putting my weight on one leg.

"TBD." Natasha sighed. "I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords. There's plenty of room on the jet." There was a moment of silence, Steve only sighed. "Just because it's the path of least resistance... doesn't mean it's the wrong path. Staying together is more important than how we stay together."

"What are we giving up to do it?" Natasha didn't give him an answer, she just sighed. "I'm sorry, Nat. I can't sign it."

"I don't think I can either." I mumbled softly.

"I know." Natasha nodded.

"Well, then what are you doin' here?" Steve asked.

"I didn't want you to be alone." Natasha said honestly, pulling Steve into a hug.

"My mom tried to talk me out of enlisting... but, um, not Aunt Peggy." Sharon explained as Steve and I walked with her. "She bought me my first thigh holster."

"Very practical." Steve smiled.

"And stylish." Sharon added, just as we made it to the elevator.

"CIA has you stationed over here now?" Steve asked.

"Ah, Berlin. Joint terrorism task force." Sharon corrected while nodding her head. I continued looking back and forth between the two, my eyes squinted.

"Right. Right." Steve nodded, "sounds fun."

"I know, right."

Steve looked at the ground nervously, before looking back up at Sharon, "I've been meaning to ask you. When you were spying on me from across the hall..."

"You mean when I was doing my job." Sharon grinned.

"Did Peggy know?" Steve asked.

"She kept so many secrets. I didn't want her to have one from you." Just in time, the elevator made a ding sound, letting us know that it was on our floor. "Thanks for walking me back."

"Sure." She nodded with pursed lips, he looked back up, ready to ask something, but Sam interrupted.

"Guys. There's something you gotta see."

"A bomb hidden in a news van..."

"Who's coordinating?" Sharon interrupted the TV that was playing, the news reports showed clips of an explosion.

"...Ripped through the UN building in Vienna. More than 70 people have been injured. At least 12 are dead, including Wakanda's King T'chaka. Officials have released a video of a suspect... who they have identified as Barnes... the Winter Soldier."

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. There had been no news about Bucky for so long, and now this? It didn't feel right. It couldn't be. I refused to believe it.

"The infamous Hydra agent... linked numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations."

Sharon walked up in between Steve and I with a sigh, "I have to go to work." Her words barely registered in my mind as I stared at the TV with wide eyes.

"She tell you to stay out of it?" Sam asked Steve, who had just gotten off the phone with Natasha. The three of us wore sunglasses, and I had my hood up while they had hats on. We were trying to be stealthy, after all.

Steve didn't answer, he kept his gaze forward. "Might have a point." Sam shrugged as he ate his food. I couldn't be bothered to order my own.

"He'd do it for us." I sighed.

"1945, maybe. I just wanna make sure we consider all our options. The people that shoot at you usually wind up shooting at me." Sam raised a brow in my direction, giving Steve a glance.

"Tips have been pouring in since that footage went public." Sharon muttered as she walked up to us. "Everybody thinks the Winter Soldier goes to their gym. Most of it's noise. Except for this." She handed Steve a file.

Steve slid it closer to himself, looking at it warily. "My boss expects a briefing, pretty much now... so that's all the head start you're gonna get."

"Thank you." Steve nodded. No one bothered to look each other in the eyes, our sightline stayed forward.

"You're gonna have to hurry. We have orders to shoot on sight." Sharon mumbled, and then she was gone.

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lizzie speaks...

this chapter sucks, i'm sorry y'all

ALSO I'M PRETTY SURE BUCKY WILL BE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER OMG