The Soldier's Luna: Reclamation (Bucky Barnes x OC)

Chapter 16

Steve and Sam had a two-bed hotel room that had an adjoining door with my room. I was just wearing a simple black bodycon dress that was just above my knees and closed-toe heels. My makeup was natural and my hair was lightly curled. The adjoining door was wide open so I walked in. Steve was standing in the mirror, fidgeting with his tie. I placed my hand over his and helped fix the tie. He was utterly nervous because he found out he was going to be one of the people who was going to carry Peggy's casket inside the church.

I patted his tie and adjusted his collar. "Take a breath," I muttered as I pulled his blazer closer together. "You're shaking."

"I'm trying," he muttered.

"Sam's bringing the car around. He's supposed to call when-" The hotel phone started to ring before I could finish. I walked over to the phone. "Hello?"

"I'm in the front," Sam informed me.

"We'll be right down," I said before I hung up the phone. I turned to Steve, "Ready to go or do you need a few minutes?"

"Let's go."

Once we got to the church, Sam and I sat close to the front near the podium. I stared at the picture of Peggy on the stand. It was a black and white photo of her in her military uniform with the classic hairstyle of that time period. She had a timeless classy beauty about her. When we heard the chorus sing, we all stood up and looked behind us to watch the casket being brought up to the front of the church. It was painful to see Steve look so broken. This was the first time I saw him truly vulnerable in public. He always had a brave face on, masking away the side of Steve Rogers and his demons. Any burden he had was always hidden away with his work and missions, but there were no amount of missions out there that could cover his pain this time. The love of his life was taken away. The life he could've lived with the woman he loved was gone but he remained. He remained to keep fighting battles and had to accept there was no way he could get that life back.

After the opening prayer, the priest announced a woman named Sharon Carter was going to speak. She was a pretty blonde with a strong square shape face structure. She had deep brown eyes and a nice slim figure. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Sam nudging Steve. I glanced over at them to see Steve straighten up. This was the first time during the funeral Steve wasn't looking at his hands. I turned back to Sharon who nervously made eye contact with Steve before continuing her speech.

Clearly, they know each other, I thought to myself.

"Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. but I just knew her as Aunt Peggy."

I heard Steve such in a breath from that sudden information. I couldn't help but frown, wondering about the history between the two of them. Steve never mentioned anything about Sharon, so I was curious.

"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 made eye contact with Steve to deliver a message to him. "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 the eye, and say, 'No, you move'.'"

Hearing what Sharon said made me reflect on the Accords. Would there be a way to compromise what was on the Accords or was it set in stone? Maybe I was a bit paranoid about the Accords because of what I witnessed and played a part in the past. I knew Steve felt the same way about the Accords. Though he wasn't working behind the curtain like I was, he knew that there was corruption in the government he once believed.