𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙳𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚂𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚍

ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: Second chances aren't something just handed out after an insincere apology. They generally aren't even given after a sincere one.

Words don't hold much weight after a betrayal.
But actions say a lot.

ᴀʀᴄᴛɪᴄᴠᴜʟᴘɪx ɴᴏᴛᴇꜱ:  So, this is the first of a handful of redemptions that will happen in the series. I'm not a fan of 'I'm sorry so now let's be best buds again'. Once trust is broken it can't just be freely given again.

It can be earned though. And for those that try, they can attempt to earn that trust back.

Even if they manage that though, they'll still have a long journey back and often, it's impossible to achieve what they had before.

===============

They must have been getting desperate.

Days before the meeting was going to take place, a fire had started in one of the general labs. No one realised until after that it was a distraction, a way to get everyone focused on the fire or sweeping the building for intruders.

That's how Rogers managed to corner Tony.

The only reason Sharon had been doing anything other than delivering files and reports was because everyone was being used for the sweep. She had been sent to the non-important areas of course. Out of the way. Secluded.

She didn't know how he'd gotten Tony there. She suspected Romanoff was involved with that. And probably the fire too.

It was the first time she'd seen him since the Civil War. He was still as handsome as ever, blond hair gleaming in the light.

He was also looming over Tony who had backed into the corner. She didn't see Rogers' earnest expression or hear his words of 'becoming a family again'. All she could hear was Tony's too fast breathing. All she could see was his panic and the way he raised his hands to protect his chest.

She remembered visiting him in the hospital after his lawyers got her out on probation instead of arrested for treason. She'd wanted to know why.

Words had failed her when she'd seen him hooked up to too many machines, when she'd seen how pale and weak he looked in the hospital bed.

Instead, she sat in the chair beside his bed and waited for him to speak.

He did and his words shattered her heart.

"You know Aunt Peggy hid my parents' murders?" it was said almost conversationally.

Sharon had idolised her Aunt Peggy. She'd looked up to her and wanted to be exactly like her when she grew up.

"She came to me afterwards. Told me that she and Stane had identified the bodies so that I wouldn't need to. I thought she was being kind when she was actually covering up Hydra's crime."

He swallowed painfully.

"Rogers just followed in her footsteps. Not for the same reasons of course. Aunt Peggy wanted to protect SHIELD because Howard was working on the serum for them and that's why they were killed. Rogers just wanted to protect his best bud who happened to do the killing." He was quiet for a moment. "You know, I'm kind of glad I didn't go to the funeral now."

She remembered years ago when Aunt Peggy had introduced them. They'd spent hours playing together, making up ridiculous games. She remembered that Tony was the one she went to when she was mad or frustrated and he always made things better somehow.

She remembered excitedly telling him that she got the job she wanted.

She remembered SHIELD at some point teaching her to hate Tony Stark.