Family | Steve Rogers

12

It took days of searching. 

But she finally found him

Her husband.

She was able to trace him to Wakanda.

As she walks through the Wakandan jungle, she comes across an opening. In the distance, she sees a tall figure appear from a barrier. They both stop for a moment, then smile. They begin their walk towards each other, but the walk turns into a run. They run and they run until they meet in each other's arms. They grab on tight, neither willing to let the other go.

Steve picks up his wife and spins her around. Once he puts her back down, he grabs her face and brings his lips down onto hers. Lauren wraps her arms around his neck as she finally locks lips with the love of her life.

They pull back, then rests their foreheads together. They look into each other's eyes and smile.

For a moment... all seems fine.

But only for a moment.

Steve glances down at Lauren's stomach, and her smile quickly fades.

She shakes her head, and Steve brings her into another hug. Tears form in both of their eyes as they mourn the loss of their child. They mourn what could have been.

They stay here for a while, before making their way back inside the boarder. Lauren is surprised at first, but nontheless walks with her husband to the capital.

" What have you been doing all this time?" Steve asks, " I got your voicemails, but I was never able to return the call."

Lauren hesitates.

" I... was with Nat. The same program that trained us was up and running again. There were some... complications... but we made it out," She says.

" Is that a bunch of spy talk for you took down the Red Room?"

" Yeah... we did."

Memories of what she did to Dreykov are still fresh in her mind. She debates whether or not to tell the truth to her husband.

" I just can't believe that Dreykov wasn't actually dead," Steve says.

" Neither was his kid" Lauren mumbles.

Her words make Steve stop in his tracks.

" His kid? You told me Antonia was older," He says.

" I might have... padded the truth a little bit, " She says, " She was a child when Budapest happened."

" You and Nat murdered a child?!"

" We didn't have a choice, Steve! Dreykov... he's a monster."

" Lo, there's always a choice. She wasn't collateral damage, she was a child."

" You think I don't know that? You don't think that that day has haunted me for years? You don't think I would've done something else if I could?!"

Lauren covers her head in her hands as the memories flood her mind.

" I had to get rid of him," She says, " And now... I finally made him pay for what he did to me."

" For the Red Room?" Steve asks.

Lauren chuckles as tears pool her eyes.

" No, Steve... not just the Red Room. For what he did to me whenever I started... growing into a woman's body. For the things he made me do... to him. For when I got my first period... and he celebrated by making me get on top of him. And for... for doing it all again... 3 days ago."

She she speaks, her voice gets more and more cracked from the tears. Steve stands there, and listens to his wife tell her story about how she was abused. He, too, wants to make Dreykov pay... but she already took care of that. He's quick to bring his wife into his arms. He holds her tight, trying to fight back tears of her own. Lauren stands there, her eyes wide open, tears not falling from her eyes. Her cheek pressed against his chest as he holds her.

Lauren's never told that to anyone... not even her sister's.

She pulls away and kisses Steve on the lips. She looks up into his eyes, as if to tell him she's okay.

The couple then continue their walk into the capital, where they're met by the king of Wakanda and his general.

" Mrs.Rogers... what a pleasant surprise," T'Challa says.

" Kutheni enazo nje (Why does she have those)?" Okoye asks as she points to Lauren's cuffs with her spear.

" AmaMelika (Americans)" Lauren responds in their native tongue.

" We can take a look at those for you," T'Challa says.

" Eh, brother, why do you say we when you mean me, huh?" Shuri asks as she jogs over to meet them," Hello, Mage... I am a big fan!"

" I'll be a big fan of yours if you can take these off," Lauren says as she clinks the cuffs together.

With a single glance, Shuri scoffs.

" Please, those are vibranium. It's harder to get gum off a flip flop," Shuri says.

" How have you been managing without your powers?" Steve asks.

Lauren doesn't say a word. She simply smirks, then walks with Shuri to her lab to finally get her cuffs removed.