You Are My Heaven

Epilogue

One Year Later

Stepping into your London flat, you pulled the key from the lock and placed your purse on the side table. You kicked off your high heels and spread your toes, feeling relief at last after a long day. Carrying your shoes in one hand and work bag in the other, you walked down the hall to your bedroom and changed into comfortable lounge clothes. Venturing into the bathroom to toss your clothes in the hamper, you discovering a pair of men's boxers on the floor. Letting out an amused sigh, you simply picked them up and walked the two feet to the hamper before tossing them in.

You had the flat to yourself tonight, which was unusual, so you decided to unwind with a glass of wine and catch up on tv shows you had recorded but never found the time to watch. As it grew later, you found yourself yawning and giving into the temptation of your soft, comfy bed. You rinsed out your glass and turned out all the lights except your bedside lamp. Plugging in your phone, the screen illuminated a new email notification from work, which wasn't unusual. Timezones meant nothing in your line of work so you opened it just in case, planning on dealing with whatever it was in the morning.

Reading the subject line, your stomach dropped.

The body of the email explained further and you brought a hand up to your mouth, taking in the news. You sat down on your bed, feeling the shock set in. In truth, you had known for quite some time that this day would come but...not so soon. Professionalism taking over, you inhaled a deep breath before replying to the email and drafting a statement to be sent out in the morning. You contacted your colleagues and all others who had security clearance. Pressing send on the last email, you set your phone aside before letting your head fall into your hands.

Your next thought surprised you: He should know. Straightening your spine, you considered the prospect of following that thought. Was it your place to tell him? Pushing aside your professionally-fueled need to go through proper channels, you followed your gut and pulled out your work computer. You found the proper file and clicked the name you had fixated on for much too long in the past. Highlighting his phone number, you hesitated a moment before punching it into your international mobile phone and opening a new text message.

You checked the time. It would be early evening there. What could you say? There's no good preface for news like this. You kept it simple and typed out two lines, knowing he would understand.

She's gone. In her sleep.

You pressed send, plugged in your phone, and crawled into bed. Tomorrow was going to be rough.

__________

After leaving New York, you thought it best to give yourself some space from Steve. Other than the entire Atlantic Ocean's width, of course. You were given a new, international mobile phone mostly for work, but also personal use. As you considered what information and contacts you needed to transfer from your old phone, your thumb hovered over Steve's number with a pause. It was a small thing, but at first even seeing his name while scrolling through for a different contact's name sent a pang to your fragile heart. In the end, you decided not to keep his number.

You felt guilty after the fact and regretted recycling the old phone, but this was the 21st Century. It wasn't as if there were no other forms of contact with him, should you need or desire it. You loosely kept in touch with most of the Avengers, but you all had lives to lead and jobs to do. Time passed and soon most of your contact with the group of superheroes was made through Maria. It was just easier that way.

London was incredible. After the initial culture shock and jet lag wore off, you started to see the wonderment and beauty of your new city. Your new job was a lot to take on at first, but as you came to know your co-workers and their strengths, it was easier to delegate the work and carry less yourself. On the rare chance that you were given an actual weekend free, you played the tourist and saw different landmarks throughout the city. You toured the Tower of London, rode on the ferris wheel-like London Eye at sunset, watched the changing of the guards outside Buckingham Palace, and sought out Abbey Road so you could see the famous crossing in person. You even scrawled your favorite Beatles lyric on the low wall outside Abbey Road Recording Studios, reading some of the other messages left by fans as well.