Death or Paradise: Behind the Scenes

i would've followed all the way to the graveyard

London - 2016

The funeral was a grand affair. Peggy would have hated it. But she had lived a long life, and she had touched so many lives, including yours. It seemed only fitting to give the formidable agent a glorious farewell. She deserved nothing less.

Steve look a seat beside you after helping carry her casket to the front. You put your hand in his, trying to offer some comfort. He squeezed your hand back.

Sharon Carter got up on the podium. You saw Steve stare at her in shock when Sam nudged him over you. You wondered how he knew her. You had never met Peggy's niece but you knew of her. You kept track of all of Peggy's relatives, just in case they needed you. It was the least you could do for the woman who had been there for you so many times.

"Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of SHIELD. But I just knew her as Aunt Peggy. 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. I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage at a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. And she said, compromise when you can. 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," Sharon said. She looked at you, and you froze. Did she know you?

"I asked her then why she did it," Sharon continued, her eyes not moving from you. "Why she fought so long and so hard when the whole world was against her. She said she didn't need the world on her side. She didn't need recognition. She didn't even want it. She told me that she had met a girl who worked only in shadows once, so very long ago, who helped save the world. And no one ever even knew it. We will be gone from this world one day, she said, and perhaps our deeds will not even be named. History may never know the things we did. But it does not mean we can't change the world."

You smiled to yourself. Peggy had told you that once too, that history would not know what you did in the War, but she would remember.

The service was over soon after. The others had all gone to the cemetery, but Steve had wanted a moment. He had asked you to stay with him.

"When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I knew was gone. But then I found you again. And then her. When I found out she was alive, I was just lucky to have her," he said quietly.

"She had you back too," Natasha said, walking towards you. "She had you both back."

"It wasn't enough time," you looked sadly at the front of the church, where her casket had just been.

"Who else signed?" Steve asked Natasha.

Natasha looked at you first before looking at Steve. "Tony, Rhodey, Vision."

"Clint?" he asked.

"Says he's retired," Natasha shrugged.

"Probably driving Laura crazy with all the new renovations," you rolled your eyes with a smile.

"Wanda?" Steve asked.

"TBD," Natasha said. "I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords. There's plenty of room on the jet."

Steve sighed and bowed his head.

"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," Natasha said.

"What are we giving up to do it?" Steve asked. "I'm sorry, Nat. I can't sign it."

You had known he'd never sign it. He couldn't. What they were asking of him, it would never work. You knew that. Leaders with that much power could be corrupted. You had seen it time and time again throughout history. Hell, you had experienced it with Ajak. She had been corrupted by Arishem's vision, believing destroying worlds was justified to bring about the Celestials. And she had absolute authority over you all. Breaking away from them, from who you were, was the only way to get out. And now that you had, you'd never go back to that willingly.