Rumors of War || The First Avenger

Chapter Forty: Gravestone Brothers

Picture is Tatiana Maslany as Emma Barnes.

Music is "Yesterday" by Frank Sinatra.

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CHAPTER FORTY: Gravestone Brothers

It's a warm day in Brooklyn, and all I can bring myself to do is stare at the graves of my best friend and husband. They're buried in the same plot as their mothers and fathers, for I had used some of the money that the Army compensated Rose and I for the loses of our family to buy the large plot that Sarah and Joseph Rogers, Marilyn and George Barnes, and now their songs, were buried in. I wanted that place to be somewhere that no one else would touch.

No, they're not buried because we have neither of their bodies. Bucky's was never recovered from the Alps, and Steve's is still lost in the Arctic. We had a funeral for empty caskets the day after I got out of the hospital. Rose, like the wonderful sister-in-law she is, waited for me. On August 17th, 1945, I buried the memory of the two men I loved most in the world.

They folded the two American flags, handing Bucky's to me and Steve's to Rose. Shots fired, and those who served along with Steve and Bucky saluted as the drums and bagpipe played. Peggy, Colonel Phillips, and the Howling Commandos, they hold their hands to their foreheads in respect, following Rose and my lead.

So now, not only have I lost most of my family, but I've lost the pride in the nation I've called home since I was ten years old. Now all Rose and I have is each other.

I turn to my left, seeing Dum Dum's arm wrap tighter around Rose's waist. She leans into him, head nestled on his shoulder. His bowler hat is off and held against his heart in respect as Steve and Bucky's empty caskets are lowered into the ground. I can barely see straight due to the tears in my eyes, and Rose's hand tightens around mine. Dum Dum looks over Rose's head to offer a small look of empathy to me, which I return.

Peggy and Howard stand to my right. Her left arm is linked with my right, her right hand laying on top of my hand like a sister would do. She and I are both dealing with the loss of the men we would've spent the rest of our lives with. I guess that's no longer an option for either of us.

Each of the Howling Commandos takes a turn in saying something about Steve and Bucky. After them, Howard speaks. Next is Phillips, then Peggy, then Rose, but when it comes time for me to speak, I can't get any words out. A lump forms in my throat, and all I can do is crumble under the worried glances of my friends and family.

"I-I'm sorry," I whimper through sobs, and Peggy pulls me against her. She cradles my head against her shoulder, rubbing my arms and back soothingly. "I just can't. I can't."

"I know, darling," she whispers. "I know."

At the end of the funeral, Colonel Phillips walks over to me. In his hand are two folders, each marked with S.S.R. serial numbers. He offers them to me with a kind expression. "These're Barnes and Rogers' files. I want you two to have 'em."

I gently take them from his hand, running my hand along the folder with my husband's name on it. Rose takes it from me, and I hold Steve's folder tightly in both hands. With a slow turn of my head, I look to Peggy, who still stands by the grave of Steve, her hand resting on the top. I look back to Phillips, handing him the folder back. "Give it to Peggy. I don't need a folder to remember him. Let her have a piece of the man she loves."

With a small nod and a thankful half-smile, Phillips walks towards Peggy with the folder in hand.

After everyone else has left, Rose and I remain. We told Peggy and Dum Dum to wait in the car while we say our final goodbyes. Wiping her tears away, Rose places the white roses she had been clutching the entire service on their gravestones. I place a white one on Steve's, a red one on Bucky's.