Ophelia

Blame

                Sam leaned into the seat of the Quinjet and stared out the windshield. The stormy water and downpour was an onslaught against the jet, but it held steady as they left. Steve piloted the ship while Wanda sat in the back with her head down, and gentle sobs the only noise that filled the cabin. Sam tuned them out and focused on his own coping.

What was it about Ophelia that made Sam so sad to know she was gone?

He thought back to only a week ago when Bucky had been brainwashed again, how terrified Ophelia had been. Seeing that terror in her eyes had made him furious with Bucky, even if he knew that it was the psychologist -Zemo- behind it. All Sam wanted to do was take Ophelia away from him, away from the fight, to hide her away so that the world didn't know she existed. She deserved protection after everything that she had been through, and now she was dead.

An anger bubbled up like bile in his throat, he wanted to blame Bucky for not protecting her.

"It doesn't make sense," Sam muttered out loud.

"Sam," Steve knew where he was going with this. "It wasn't anyone's fault."

"He should have protected her."

"I should have protected her," Steve retorted. "Maybe she shouldn't have even been there in the first place, but it was either with us or in that prison. How long do you think she would have lasted there? We would never have gotten her back. She would have been shipped somewhere else, somewhere I would never have found. She lived her whole life in a dungeon except when Bucky kept her safe -so don't blame this on him."

Sam sighed. "Someone has to take the blame."

"He lost the woman he loved, Sam!" Steve shouted, making Wanda gasp. "If you want to blame someone, go ahead and blame me. She was all he had."

"He had you," Sam replied, feeling guilty for speaking so rashly. It was anger guiding his words.

"It's different and you know it," Steve veered the jet east. "You don't have to like him, but you have to understand that he has been through more than you and I combined, and losing Ophelia was his breaking point."

"So where is he now?"

"Wakanda. He's back under." Steve sighed. "Told me he was scared of what was in his own head, but I know he is just scared to face another day without her."

Sam thought it was a scapegoat, an easy way out, but he held his tongue. He knew that Steve was right in everything he said. Despite what Sam felt about Bucky, the man didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve to lose her, and she didn't deserve to die like that.

"How did it happen?" Sam asked after a moment of silence.

"It doesn't matter."

"Tell me," Sam demanded.

"It... She got in the way of Tony. He was blinded by rage, trying to kill Bucky, and O stepped in. It wasn't his fault, it's no one's fault."

Sam was speechless.

Okay sooooo, this is the piece where I wasn't sure if I would go this route. Up until now, everyone has wanted to blame themselves, right? Well Sam and Bucky don't see eye to eye very often, and when I began writing Sam's POV I was driven towards him being angry, and wanting to blame Bucky. I hope it worked out. Even though Sam and Ophelia didn't see each other much, he was there for her a lot in Book II. Hope this worked!

Also, here, feel better;