Maya Stark

Chapter 48: Giving away the Shield

The trip was technically four hours, but it didn't feel that long at all. I was in Washington in no time. It actually felt like it took me longer to get to the Smithsonian than Washington itself. But I finally found myself walking up the steps into the building. I immediately saw Rhodey talking with Sam. They both noticed me as I got closer and Rhodey gave me a warm smile.

'Glad you made it, Maya,' Rhodes said.

I smiled at him and looked at Sam. 'You ready?' He looked unsure and nervous.

'Yeah, yeah,' he said. 'It'll be fine.' He hesitated slightly. 'Do you want to come up with me? Help give the shield away and everything?'

I shake my head. 'I don't think I'd even be able to. I just came to show support. You'll do great.'

He nods, though he doesn't seem to completely believe me. He takes a deep breath and walks up to the podium in the front of the room. The shield was against said podium, and Rhodes and I moved to the front.

'Steve represented the best in all of us,' Sam started. 'Courageous, righteous, hopeful.' He looked back at the picture of Steve. 'And he mastered posing stoically.' That made people laugh. 'The world has been forever changed. A few months ago, billions of people reappeared after five years away, sending the world into turmoil. We need new heroes.' He looked at me and I looked down. 'Ones suited for the times we're in. Symbols...are nothing without the women and men that give them meaning. And this thing...' Sam chuckles and picks up the shield. 'I don't know if there's ever been a greater symbol. But it's more about the man who propped it up, and he's gone.' I looked at my feet again. 'So, today we honor Steve's legacy. But also, we look to the future. So, thank you, Captain America. But this belongs to you.'

Sam hands the shield over to some workers and they set it in a clear display case. A familiar fleeting thought that this isn't what Steve wanted, flowed through my mind as they closed the case. I stay close to Rhodes as people clear out and talk to Sam and all of that fun stuff. Some of the news reporters kept trying to come up to me, ask me questions, talk, but Rhodes wouldn't let them. It wasn't long before we got to talk to Sam. We walked along Steve's whole section. My eyes moved and looked at everything. They updated it after word he was gone got around.

'Yeah, I've been home,' said Sam. 'My sister and nephews, man. When I left, they were babies. I come back and they're little men. It's crazy, you know?'

'Yeah,' Rhodes said. 'Well, you should bring 'em out to D.C. sometime. I'll teach them how to fly. You know, I mean, the right way.' Sam chuckles. 'Crazy to think that nobody's going to be carryin' the shield.'

'Hey, we went for seventy years without anybody carrying it while Steve was in ice, so I think we'll be alright.'

'It was a different time, Sam,' said Rhodes. 'So, you're gonna make me ask? Why didn't you take up the mantle?'

'When Steve, and little Stark,' I winced at the last name a bit, but neither realized, 'over here, first told me about the shield, the first words I said were, "it feels like someone else's". That someone else is Steve.'

'World's a crazy place right now. People are... well, nobody's stable. Allies are now enemies; alliances are all torn apart... The world's broken. Everybody's just looking for somebody to fix it. It's a new day.'

We stop walking as we approach the shield and the three of us stare at it for a moment. Then Rhodes pats Sam on the shoulder and says, 'I'll be in touch. With both of you.' He gives me a stern look and I nod. Then he walks off, leaving just Sam and me.

'Do you think this is a mistake?' Sam asks.

I look at him. 'I think you're doing what you think is right. And that's all any of us can do now a days, Sam.'

   'Anybody ever told you, you're annoyingly well spoken?' Sam said with a small smile.

'Yeah,' I said, looking back at the shield. I sighed. 'Steve.'

'Of course he did,' Sam said with a nod.