Priceless | Antonia Stark

Aunt Peggy, your beloved's an asshole.

It was one month after Siberia.

Antonia was so caught up on trying to bring the Avengers back to stability that she had missed the fact that her godmother had died.

Peggy had died a month ago, but of course, nobody bothered to tell her.

Darn, she regretted not giving the eulogy so bad, but thankfully Sharon was there. She was just so engrossed in everything, without Pepper, without Bruce. Without anyone standing in the middle ground to look at the normal world, she'd forgotten to give her godmother a goodbye, a message, not even a letter. The guilt was killing her.

So she decided to pay a visit to Peggy's grave, just to ease some of the guilt away. So she sat there on the grass, flowers on the headstone. Making sure she was well enough alone to grieve.

"Hey Aunt Peggy." Toni muttered, head slumped down, "I just wanted to properly say goodbye."

She hated the fact that it was a bright, breezy, sunny day. It really just made everything all the worse as she could feel everything inside her brimming. At least she'd be able to hide it if it was raining.

"I was trying to get Dr. Cho to make a treatment for Alzheimer's. But she wasn't able to make it in time. But I mean, I guess I should let it finish, y'know... 'I just want peace'. And all that." The woman mused, for once finally able to let herself, her thoughts, be uncensored.

"It's just a little bit of a doozy that now I've lost all of my mother figures, if you don't count Steve, but to be honest he seems more like dad than he does you." Toni joked for a moment, "Honestly, what did you see in the guy? All he's done is just put me down and criticize me over every little thing... not even a shred of appreciation."

The breeze blew for a moment, which made Toni pause as she shook her head. "God, he's such an asshole to me. He thinks I'm an ungrateful brat, used to share all these stories of how great my dad was..."

"I guess all that talk was just workplace friendship... still, I guess he never really did know that dad became an alcoholic when he left." Toni shrugged, "He dove so far into the bottle, he was so obsessed about bringing Steve back that... he never really turned to see what he still had. But, in all accounts, he never really had anything, didn't he?"

A small huff came from the female as she blinked a couple times, keeping her chin up as she tried desperately to keep the pent up emotions in check. She wouldn't cry, she hadn't in years, she wasn't going to cry now.

"I'm all the same to everyone. I was nothing to my dad, probably nothing to Steve. Definitely an afterthought in the Avengers... just the scapegoat... whenever something goes wrong, then it's my fault." The woman muttered, choking on a sob for a moment as she looked down at the floor.

"Why'd you have to leave now? I need you..." Toni croaked out the last words as she felt the toxic chill of tears streaming down her eyelids, "I need you... so bad... I don't know what to do... and I don't want to bother Rhodey, he's rehabilitating... I don't want to stress him out even further..."

Toni sobbed softly as she sat there, the exact opposite of her cold, unemotional, quippy self. No jokes, no kick-back, just her trying to cope with the fact that most of the people she considered family had forsaken her.

"Thought I'd see you here." A feminine voice came from behind Toni as she felt a gentle hand laid on her shoulder.

"What? Come to run me over with the fact that I missed the funeral and Steve didn't?" Toni mummered as she tried to hide and wipe away the unending waterworks. "Honestly, Sharon, I'm sorry, I was busy trying to keep the last of my friends together and miserably failing."

"I understand, Toni." Sharon muttered, getting on her knees as she gently rubbed the brunette's back, feeling a small pang of guilt, knowing full well she was also a reason for Toni's state.

"You definitely don't mean that." Toni shook her head, "After all, you were the one who gave them the damn trip to Siberia."

"Well, if I knew what was going to happen there, then I would've just given the Zemo credentials to Ross." Sharon shook her head and wrapped an arm around the female's shoulder. "Still, in a few years, they'll be pardoned, probably because of another world-ending situation, but, that's the hero gig."

"The question is... will they come back to me?" Toni asked, more to herself as she stared at the floor, her eyes glossy and watering, tears threatening to fall again.

Sharon sighed softly, gently brushing the hair behind Toni's ear, "To be honest, I don't know. Though they probably know where you're coming from."

Toni couldn't stop the tears from falling, though she tried, she knew it was selfish of her to keep her emotions from everyone else, but, it was also selfish to unload her emotions to everyone. She was just painted as that, selfish, and it wasn't going to go away.

Volatile, self-serving, doesn't play well with others. That was her, that was her file. That was the front of one Antonia Stark.

"No, they won't." Toni shook her head, letting out a sad chuckle.

"No. They won't." Sharon bluntly repeated as both of them stood up, "But hey, they'll come around. Probably when they're piss broke and realize Steve might've been the leader but you're the one desperately trying to keep it all together."

That statement, to which the girls laughed in unison for, was one that gave Toni comfort. She felt important to them, and they were family to her. She just needed to wait until they came back.

"So, how are you and your long distance relationship?" Toni raised a brow at the blondè.

"Steve's not turning up in a while. After Ross realizes that he's stupid, maybe he'll notify me. For now, I wait." Sharon shrugged, before something struck her, she raised a brow at Toni as a smirk came up her face, "Y'know. I just realized."

Toni furrowed her brows and crossed her arms, confused. "Do tell."

"You may deny it, but it's apparent we both have it for him."

The two women let out a giddy chuckle together. To which Tony wittingly replied with; "Maybe... but we both know he'd still choose a 70 year old Aunt Peggy over us."

That made the two laugh even further.

-----

Toni had left the grave after a story of how she met Peter, promised to make sure he was better, and remembered she was supposed to meet with him about his duties.

Only Sharon was left standing in front of Peggy's gravestone, or so she thought.

As she turned to leave, she saw a certain tall, blondè, super-soldier, staring right in front of her.

"You could've sent a text." Sharon crossed her arms at him.

"I didn't think you... and Toni, of all people, would be here." Steve shrugged, his hands in his pockets.

"Why wouldn't my godcousin be here?" Sharon furrowed her brows at him.

"Because I didn't know Peggy was her godmother." Steve sighed softly and placed a small bouquet of flowers on the headstone.

"Would you have punched her softer if you did?" Sharon asked, of course, talking about the very faint marks of abuse in Toni's face earlier.

"No, but, I would've let her grieve with me." Steve muttered, shaking his head a little.

"So... will you?" Sharon raised a brow.

"Will I, what?"

"Come back to her."

Steve blinked for a moment as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, reminding himself this was a 'yes or no' question. Before sighing softly as he got his answer.

A moment passed as he looked at the bouquet Toni brought.

And another as a breeze blew past.

Steve sighed again.

"Yes."

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