Epilogue

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        The letter from Ophelia to Bucky shook in Steve's usually steady hands. Sitting on the floor of the storage room where he had found the letter to Ophelia from Bucky, only written days ago, Steve held back tears. With his hand pressed over his mouth, he pondered everything that he had just read. Hours had gone by since he picked up that first letter, and began reading the journals. Unable to put them down, Steve shamelessly read until all that were left were the journals of Bucky's past. He didn't need to read those, not now and maybe not ever.

          All he had wanted to know is that Bucky had been happy; he had no idea how much Ophelia had truly meant to him. On the outside it was clear that nothing would get between Ophelia and Bucky; the two were together in way no one else could be. He knew that they were meant to be together, anyone could see that. But upon reading these journals, he had learned just how engrained into his life Ophelia had been. Understanding now even more why Bucky had chosen to go back under, he couldn't help but wish he had waited long enough for Sharon to bring these journals. Reading over them would have been too hard for Bucky, but this letter Steve found, the one from Ophelia... That could have changed everything.

          He had lost two friends this week; Ophelia was dead. Bucky was frozen again. He wasn't going to allow four more to be lost because of these horrible events. Sam, Wanda, Clint and Scott; all of them were in a prison because of Steve, at least that was how he felt. There was no bringing Ophelia back, there was no fixing Bucky's broken life, but he could begin to repair things one step at a time. With Bucky being under, it would give Steve time to get back on his feet. He didn't want to fight Tony, he didn't want any more bad blood between them.

        Inspired by these letters, journals and papers scattered about around him, Steve knew what he had to do to fix things with Tony. Ophelia had become a martyr, a reason for them to pull themselves together and fight no more. Her death could not be in vain; there had to be more to it than that. If Steve could have gone back and prevented it, he would have; but he could not change the past, just like he couldn't change the fact Bucky had killed Tony's parents. Instead, he had to prepare a future where there would be no more innocent blood spilled. He rose from his seated position, muscles screaming in pain as they had been in one spot for too long, and he gripped that letter a little tighter. Folding it again, he slipped it into the box of Bucky's personal stuff. The backpack of journals, the letter to O, and the letter to him.

         Something for him to read when he finally woke up, something to put him at peace.

         Even in death, Ophelia never gave up on her mission to bring back Bucky. 

 

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