His Best Girl: Her Secret Legacy-Part 1

1 of the 80

*this picture is used again for the same reason as in Reminiscing*

*if you were to rewatch the Avengers movie & listen carefully; Natasha clearly states, "he killed 80 people in 2 days," when they were talking about Loki after placing him in the cage meant for hulk-this should give you a large hint as to what this chapter title implies*

Setting: Carter is now 12 years old and this takes place directly after the 1st Avengers movie in 2012 where they first Assemble to take down Loki; a church, in which a funeral is being held...

"Steven Bartholomew Sanders was a great man," the priest says, "who will be greatly missed by his friends..."

I tune him out as the funeral carries on; this is my first funeral, and most certainly won't be my last...I'm not really sure how to act-most people are crying- should I be crying too? It's not fair...he shouldn't have been in Germany; he should've been in his lab here in New York. He was only suppose to be there to give a lecture on what he had been working on...not die at the hands of a power crazed psychopath who wants to rule the world. Square was a big daddy, but he shouldn't have died yet, he still had unfinished work here.

"And now, one of Mr. Sanders childhood friend General Charles Carson would like to say a few words," the priest says

"..." Cherry looks around the church, "Steve and I grew up in Brooklyn together; we were part of a group of eight friends, seven of us guys and one girl. We were more than just friends, we were like a family; and Steve was the brain in our little gang...that's why we called him Square. I buried my twin brother...Johnny...when we were only eighteen...he was the first of our gang die. But by that point, our leader disappeared and the Anti-Howlers were falling apart after she left...Johnny turned to drugs, and we disbanded after his death..." Cherry chokes talking about Slick, "but we all kept in touch. After burying my brother, and three others of our gang; of my closest friends...I always figured that I'd be next, what with my line of work...you left us too soon Square...rest in peace old friend."

"When I first met Square..." Ricky starts, "we were about two or three...it was either 47 or 48..."

"It was 47..." I mumble to myself as I blink at the floor below the pew I'm sitting in

"And some older boys were pushing him around," Ricky goes on, "I helped him stand up to them and if I had know that day that we'd become the best of friends and that he'd end up only living to 67, than I would've tried harder to get together with him and the others...gonna miss ya Square; give the other idiots up there hell buddy."

"My name is Michaela Rogers," I say, "my mom...Carter Rogers was the eighth Anti-Howler; the leader...she wanted to be here to day, but just couldn't. So I came here with my Uncle Ricky to speak on her behalf...in her words: Square and the other guys were like brothers to me-the brothers I never had-Square would help us with our homework and be the brains that got us out of sticky situations. I asked him once, why he lets us call him Square...and he told me it was because he's been called worse things and he didn't really mind being called it...it's nosebleed he absolutely hated to be called. We all were guilty of calling him nosebleed when he ticked us off..." I say, "when you're growing up, and you make friends...you only live in the here and now; you don't think about the future or how long the friendship will last or that you will one day never see them again...I forgot he was in Germany and I called him to hangout...we got into a small argument over the phone and the last thing I said to him was, "you're such a nosebleed," while his las words to me were, "Goodbye Queen," only moments later the tv reported the dead in Germany and my heart stopped. I never thought a phone call would be the last time I ever spoke to Square; never thought that, that goodbye...would be his last...and my last words to him were, "you're such a nosebleed." Even though I know he knew that I didn't mean it, I will always regret those being the last words I said to him," I can feel tears trailing down my face, "I would take back those words in a heartbeat and apologize if I could, but I can't and I have to live with that...I'm really going to miss ya Square. You were a total nerd...but...you were one of the best friends a girl could ask for, and I'll NEVER forget you...thank you."

With that I go back to my seat in between Ricky and Charlie; I wipe my eyes of the tears while the funeral continues, I walk behind the coffin as Ricky, Charlie and four other men carry it to the car and put it in the back. I get in the car with them and we drive to the graveyard in silence...five of my Howlers are gone...there's only three of us now. We exist the care and they carry the coffin to the grave; a prayer is said and it all soon ends, everyone leaves accept for Ricky, Charlie, and me. We stare at the grave...

STEVEN BARTHOLOMEW SANDERS
"SQUARE"
November 2, 1945-May 4, 2012

"This isn't fair," I mumble between tears, "I just got you guys back..."

"Life isn't fair Queen," Charlie says

"Where are the others buried?" I ask with a sniffle

"Around here somewhere..." Ricky says

I walk around the vast graveyard till I come across each of their graves; I take a few minutes at each one-talking to them-while Charlie and Ricky talk about stuff. This is not how things were suppose to go; we were all suppose to grow up together, go through high school together...Square never should've been part of the eighty killed by Loki...no one should've been killed. I feel like all this unfairness is a punishment for some reason I don't know of, and god is laughing my face at my pain...

"Time to go Carter," Ricky says coming up behind me where I stand in front of Greg.'s grave

"..." I'm silent as I stare at it, "does it ever get any easier?"

"Huh," he sighs heavily, "no..." he says quietly, "it only gets harder..."

"You think they forgive me for being absent throughout the years?" I ask

"..." Ricky silently stares at me as I stare questioningly at up at him, "yea; I'm sure they do Queen, I'm sure they do."

"Ricky..." I start

"Yea?" He asks

"I want my daddy..." I whisper in a barely audible voice as I start crying again

"I know ya do," he says pulling me close into a hug, "I know ya do."

"Can we go see my mommy?" I asks sobbing

"Yea, lets go see her right now okay?" He says quietly

"..." I simply nod as he pulls me away to leave

"Whose strong and brave here to save the American way?" He sings trying to cheer me up a bit as we walk

"Who vows to fight like a man for what's right night and day?" I sing softly as we walk

We continue to sing the song as we walk; we go to the hospital and much to my disappointment, my old man had already been there and gone by the time we got there. I have the usual repeated conversation with mom and we go home where I curl up in my bed and cry myself to sleep over all my fallen friends, and over well...everything.