Steve walks out of the church after the funeral. It's grey out, and it looks as if it's about to rain. He stuffs his hands into his pants pockets and wishes he wasn't wearing a suit as he descends the steps to the sidewalk. He's the only one still here; everyone else left a few hours ago. But he stayed and sat on the long, wooden benches, listening to the occasional gust of wind outside and mulling over his thoughts. His feet now on concrete instead of the church floor, he begins walking down the street as cars zip by and the wind picks up speed. As he approaches the curb, over the noise, he hears someone behind him say, "Captain America?" and turns around to look at the speaker. It's a boy with brown hair who looks to be in his teens.
"I guess that's me," Steve says, digging his hands further into his pockets.
"It really is you!" the boy exclaims incredulously. "You're my hero!"
Steve studies the boy for a second. "That's nice of you, really, but I'm no hero."
"But you're an Avenger!" the boy insists. "Earth's mightiest heroes and everything."
Steve shakes his head. "All we do is kill people. There's nothing heroic about that."
"But you only kill the bad guys!" presses the boy.
Steve pauses, stops any fidgeting he was doing with his fingers before, looks the boy in the eyes, and says, "Bad guys are people, too."
A sombre expression crosses the boy's previously joyful face as he lowers his gaze. "I- I never really thought about that before."
Steve looks up at the darkening sky and lets out a long sigh. "Yeah. Not many people do."
They're both silent for a few beats before a car pulls up next to them and the driver honks the horn. Through the tinted windows sits Sam behind the wheel with a confused expression.
"Look, kid," starts Steve, turning his attention back to the boy, "wherever you're supposed to be going, you better start heading there now."
The boy's eyes land on the car. "Right, yeah. Definitely. It was nice meeting you, Captain America!" he shouts as he adjusts his backpack and runs away.
Steve watches him turn the corner, behind the church and out of sight. He hears Sam honk the horn again, and the window on the passenger's side rolls down.
"You gonna keep staring at the church or are you gonna get moving, Cap?"
Steve opens the car door and steps in.
"Who was that, anyway?" asks Sam once Steve is seated.
"Don't know," Steve replies, reaching for his seatbelt. "But his sweater said 'Midtown High School' on it."
"That in Queens?"
Steve turns to look at Sam. "Is it?"
Sam shrugs and steps on the gas. "Dunno."