You bet I was in tears when dad told me on the stairs.
It got me thinking about the last time I saw her.
I walked out of the house with a backpack.
"Where are you going?" Peggy yelled.
"I don't need you!" The weather matched my mood. After all, it was raining. "Brooklyn please come back!" She paused. "You're just like your father."
I had enough. "I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MY FATHER BECAUSE YOU NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT HIM!" I yelled. She stopped.
"I'm sorry." I got on the bike and rode off. I heard her call my name in the distance. "Brooklyn...Brooklyn!"
It ended. I gathered my clothes and changed. I wore a black dress with a white collar. I put on. Y black converse and put my hair into a messy bun.
𝖫 𝖮 𝖭 𝖣 𝖮 𝖭
I was in a Cathedral packed with mourners. A choir was singing. I sat in one of the benches trying not to cry. Just hold it in. I thought. Dad was one of the six pallbearers carrying the coffin. As he was walking, I noticed his eyes were red. He must have been crying.
At the alter, a candle burned by a photo of Peggy in a military uniform. The priest started to address us.
"And now, I would like to invite Sharon Carter to come up and say a few words." Ah yes Sharon.
The one who lied to us.
She stepped up onto the podium. Dad sat in between Sam and I. Dad looked down. I don't think he realized Sharon at the podium. Sam nudged dad and he looked up.
"Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of SHIELD . . . but I just knew her as Aunt Peggy." Sharon started. "She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I never told anyone we were related." She looked at me and dad. " I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage in a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. And she said, compromise where you can. But where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move . . . it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in they eye and say " No, you move.""
~
It was later. Dad and I were standing alone in the aisle. I layer on his stomach. I couldn't hold it in.
I started to cry.
"Oh...sweetie." He pulled me in to a hug. "I know." He rubbed my back. "I know."
I turned and saw Natasha walk towards us. "When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone. Then I found out that she was alive. I was just lucky to have her. And you Brooke..."
"She had you back, too."
"Who else signed?" I asked.
"Tony. Morgan. Rhodey. Vision."
"Clint?" Dad asked.
"Says he's retired." She smiled slightly. Does that mean Lila is retired too?
"Wanda?"
"To be determined. Barry and I are off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords. There's plenty of room on the jet. Just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path. Staying together is more important than how we stay together."
Dang. She almost convinced me.
"What are we giving up to do it?" Dad asked. She sighed. Dad shook his head. "I'm sorry, Nat. I can't sign it."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
"I didn't want you to be alone."
For some reason this made me cry even harder. Tears poured down my cheeks. "Aw honey, come here." She pulled me into a hug and patted my back gently.
661 words
I apologize for this being short!
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