HIDDEN ─ marvel

LII. Part Of The Journey Is The End

Chapter Fifty-Two
Bucky

A few days later we are all on one of the jets flying to Tony Stark's house for his funeral. T'Challa, Shuri, Okoye, Alex, Khari, Lena, and me all solemnly stepped onto the grass outside the quaint house. Everyone from the battle was there, all wearing black, all feeling the weight of Stark's absence.

My grief over his death is fueled with guilt over what I did to him, what I never got to make up for. I know what I did to Maria and Howard Stark wasn't my fault, but the guilt is still there. It always will be. I know Stark never forgave me. I will always regret never having the chance to make amends.

Lena knows how hard I take his death. Through her own grief she tries to comfort me the best she can.

As we make our way into the house, Lena hugs Stark's wife and kneels down to say hello to their daughter. I nod respectfully to both before we both make our way inside. All of the Avengers are present for the funeral. It really shows just how many lives Tony Stark touched in his life.

We both find Steve talking with Thor. We walk over towards them and Lena embraces them both. She wipes at her eyes, shaking her head. "I hate funerals. We have had too many of them." She says.

I didn't even think about that. She had a funeral for me, for her brother, for her friends. I grip her waist harder, making her glance up at me and give me a sad smile.

Steve lets out a deep breath. "Hopefully this will be one of the last."

Thor nods solemnly, before looking at me with a curiously raises brow. "And who are you?"

I share a look with Steve and Lena before extending my hand out towards the god of thunder. "Bucky Barnes."

Realization comes over his face. "Ah, yes. You're Steve's Russian assassin friend."

That's one way to put it, so I nod to him. After talking for a little while more, Lena goes over towards where James Rhodes and Scott Lang sit quietly. She hugs both of them and I am left starring in wonder. For so long she and I made it our duty to keep hidden, to not have anyone know who we are. Now she's an Avenger. Now all of these heroes we once ran from, she is friends with. It will take some getting used to.

Steve and I are left alone after a while. I glance over to find he's looking at Lena as well. I clasp him on the shoulder, dropping my voice a little lower. "I wanted to thank you; for looking out for her the past few years."

Steve smiles. "We looked out for each other. She's an incredible person. I'm incredibly lucky to call her a friend."

"She's taking Stark's death pretty hard. How about you?"

"I think we all are. I mean, he gave up all of this. He gave up his wife, his daughter, his life, for all of us," Steve says, his pain evident in his voice. "How are you doing?" Steve then asks me.

"Not the best," I tell him honestly. "I just wish I could have...made amends before he passed."

Steve pats me gently on the back. "I know, Buck. But deep down I know Tony knew you weren't at fault for what happened."

"Did you two make amends?"

Steve nods. "Yeah, we did. He had a better five years then the rest of us did. He had this home, his family. He learned to forgive. I was grateful I got my friend back before this happened..."