Perception

~CHAPTER 21~

SPRING 2016,

When Steve, Seph, and Bucky left the HYDRA facility, they were met with Tacha'lla who explained how sorry he was for the whole situation. he let them know how vengeance consumed him, and that he knew he couldn't take back the issues he caused. However, he did offer to help them and give them a place to recover. Persephone's State was adverse, she stopped crying after a day or two, but she was numb, always slept, and never left her room in Wakanda. She found small bits of the day that allowed joy to shine through, like hanging out with Shuri or talking about her and Steves's adventures with Bucky. but for the most part, she was depressed. and was trying to recover.

When Tony came back to the Compound and broke the news to Bethany it nearly killed him. he had to tell his daughter that their family had broken apart and that he had no idea if things would ever be the same again. Peter frequently visited to comfort Beth becuse she had no one else, Wanda was in prison, and Peper was helping Tony cope with everything.

Bethany missed Seph more and more every day and it was taking a toll on her. Tony noticed how she was getting more stubborn, would barely leave her room, and was failing school. He knew there was nothing he could do to bring Persephone back, and he had to live knowing a part of his heat left him.

Beth opened her bedroom door, and was treated by Friday,

"Hello Beth, should I contact Mr.Stark and tell him you are finally out of your room?" She asked. Beth shook her head quickly and responded.

"No! um no thank you," she said more quietly after yelling. Bethany then made her way down the hall, and past Persephones old room. she barely left her room for that sole reason, she had to see Seph's old room. and were as she was so miserable sad she was gone, she was angry that she chose Steve over her.

Noticing the door to her room was cracked, She took a deep breath and braced herself so she could close the door, however, when she went to close the door she noticed someone inside. peaking her head in, she saw her father sitting on the bed, looking out the window. he looked calm, but she could hear soft sniffling. she crept inside and slowly sat down next to him.

"Hey kiddo," Tony said acting like he was fine. his vice was shakey, and Beth knew he wasn't okay.

"Don't do this," she said looking forward.

"Do what?" Tony asked looking down at her.

"Be upset that she is gone," Bethany responded. Tony looked at her his eyes glassing over with more tears. "She chose them over us," Beth stated. "Yeah I still love her, she's my sister, but if she didn't need us then we don't need her," Beth said. Tony took a deep breath and rested his head on top of her head.

"Thanks, kiddo," He said sighing and then getting up to leave Persephone's room. "Oh, and Petes coming by again," He said. turning around to leave. Beth nodded her head and allowed a small smile to form on her face.

Later that night, Bethany was lying in bed next to Peter, he had come for dinner, and the two worked on school, he was trying to get Beth caught up. they often fell asleep together it had become a new thing, and it made them both happy. Tonight, however, Peter fell asleep trying to read for her, she just let him sleep and eventually tried to sleep too, but couldn't.

rolling out of bed, and pulling covers up for Peter, she crept out of her room and down the hall into Tony's office, Why? you might wonder because that was the only room in the whole compound where her father still kept a picture of Seph. opening the door, she snuck inside and quietly closed the door behind her. she walked towards his desk, and opened the last draw on the left. indeed was picture frame flipped over, she picked it up and looked at it. it picture was her, Peter, Ned, and Seph. they were all side-hugging after a sports game at midtown-tech. she smiled and then put it back. she knew if Peter woke up and she wasn't there he'd get worried. right as she turned to leave, she noticed a letter sitting on the desk. it was still in it's envelope, and on it said,

To beefamy,

Beth knew there was only one person who called her that, Seph. she grabbed it and ripped it open, then began reading.

Dear Beth,

I'm so sorry, that's all I really wrote this to say. I know you think I don't love you, and that I chose Steve and James over you, but it's not true. To be honest I have no idea why I left you. Maybe it's becuse I could never go back to him, after what he said to me, I know I will never go back. but that doesn't mean it has anything to do with you. I'm safe, I'm in Wakanda and I'm staying with Tacha'lla. his sister is sweet. they have Wifi and I've done nothing but watch the office with Bucky, Oh you'd love him! he's great! he's so dumb but that's just because he's from the '40s, remember how much we used to make fun of Steve, it's like that just 10 times worse, My mans doesn't know what a meme is! If only you were here to see it.

I wish I could say a time, or even mention a time we could see each other, but I'm afraid we can't, not for a long time anyway. I'm sorry again. I love you, Bethany, - love always Persephone Stark.

Beth held the letter close to her and allowed tears to stream down her face, this was all she needed, closure.

SUMMER 2016,

Persephone walked down the hall towards Buckys room. she ofter would go to his room when she wanted to talk, he helped her a lot when they first arrived here. nocking on the door, she heard the soft hum of James from inside. softly opening the door, she walked inside and closed it behind her. In his room, she looked around and spotted him, sitting criss-cross apple sauce on the floor,

"Buck?" She asked, he looked up to her. his hair had grown so long since they arrived in Wakanda, and she finally showed him how to put it in a bun. she would never admit it, but he looked so cute with a man bun. "Whatcha doing?" she asked him looking at the sketchpad on the floor.

"I was drawing," He said stating the obvious. she smiled and sat down next to him. she could tell he was keeping something from her, but she didn't know what.

"What's wrong," She asked him. she looked up at her and sighed, they had grown very close and would ofter rant to each other their problems. He would talk about things he remembered from his past, and she would talk about the thing he missed, Like the beetles.

"Seph I'm going to go back in Cyro," He stated blatantly, he was thinking about doing it for a while, and had already talked to Steve about it. Seph took what he said in.

"Okay," she said quietly, "So what does this mean?" She asked. Bucky ran a hand through the pieces of hair framing his face.

"Seph, I'm going to be gone for a while," He said. she nodded and refused to show how upset she was, this was truly the best decision. "It's the only way they can truly get rid of him."

Seph had told Bucky to address the winter soldier as a different person because it wasn't him who caused all the destruction.

"Okay," she said nodding her head more loudly this time. Bucky froze and looked at her.

"Okay?" He asked. and she smiled.

"Okay, this will work, you'll go into Cyro, and I'll see you at the end of the summer," she stated. she was relieved she was on board. he was so relieved that he reached over and scooped her into a big hug.

"Thank you Persephone," He whispered in her ear,

"I'm going to miss you, James," he said into his hair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome to the end of book one you'll have to wait for:

~INFINITY WAR~

~ENDGAME~

~THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOILDER~

Thank you for sticking through and bearing with my poor writing and grammar skills.

and I hope to catch you reading the other books in my series. don't be afraid to drop a comment let me know what you think of the characters, and if you have any recommendations.