Hey guys! This is like a week and half late, I know I'm sorry, but I'm finally posting it! This is dedicated for Veterans Day since this was supposed to be uploaded on Saturday night, but turned out that this was hard to write because I put my own personal view on this day and how much impacted me and since my dad is in the military risking his own life to protect us, so yeah it's kind of personal so it's sad in the first chapter, but the next chapter is going to be happier I promise.

Hope you guys like! Also this story is dedicated for Veterans Day!

I do NOT own the Avengers or any other characters from Marvel! I own Sarah Anastasia Chandler!

Hugs and kisses!

November 10, 2012

Sarah's POV

The clouds were gray as they can be; the cold wind hit my skin and fresh tears streaming down my face as I look down at my friend's white gravestone. I've known her for a long time, I never thought I would be visiting her grave today in Washington cemetery grounds for fallen soldiers. Yes, I flew to Washington D.C. by myself because I didn't want anyone to see me like this. When it comes to Veterans Day, I tend to get very emotional. Being in a military family all your life was difficult. Since 9/11 happened, I knew I was never the same. I remember half of the students at my elementary school disappeared. Half of them had family members in the military and they thought they would be safer at home. It became difficult for me and my mother. I became impulsive and I didn't know how to cope with depression since I was really young. I never really told anyone about it because I was afraid. Afraid of being different and afraid of being bullied, but it was hard trying to hide it. Just seeing the flashbacks of what happened just brings more pain and more tears to shed. The sad part was I didn't tell anyone. Not Tony, Nat, Thor, Bruce, Pepper, Clint and Steve, well expect Bruce found out since I had a picture of Jenna, Tony and Pepper found out later. Other than that the rest of them don't know, I told Tony that I would be out of town for a day and be back by tonight. He asked why I was leaving, but I didn't have the heart to tell him. I didn't have the heart to tell anyone. The clouds became darker and the wind became harsher. The cold was hitting my skin and making me shiver even though I was wearing my dark skinny jeans, black boots with buckles on the side, a red long sleeve shirt with my black leather jacket keeping me warm. Then again, it is Washington so nothing I can do of the cold weather.

"Jenna? It's me Sarah. It's been a while. I'm sorry I haven't come and visit you, but things have been complicated I guess. A lot complicated, but for the better I hope. I bet your wondering where I've been. Well, I've been on the run, not like I've committed a crime on the run, but I ran away from home. I bet you already know why. Yes, it was because of my powers, I destroyed half of the school because I was lied too and betrayed. I was betrayed by my or who I thought was my best friend Scott. He lied to me about who he was. He told me it was for the best and tries to take me to wherever he wanted me to go. That's when I lost control after that I didn't remembered anything. That's when I ran away. I left mom and dad behind because I thought it was for the best and it was. I was on the run for about three years and made my way to New York City where no one knows who I am or where I came from. It was at piece, I got a job, a new apartment and I was going to a school called Midtown High. Although, before the school year started, I was recruited by SHIELD, they have been watching me for a long time since I ran away. They kept a lot of bad people off my tail. I was grateful. I am now in a group called the Avengers. It's a group of remarkable people who fight off battles that we couldn't do or in your case your unit." I paused for a moment. I remember mom and dad getting a call from one of their friends saying that Jenna's unit was under attack. They made out expect Jenna. She sacrificed her life to save her own unit. At the time, I didn't understand at the age I was told, but now I understand why she did what she had to do. "Jenna I understand what you did. At first, I didn't, but that was because I was so young. I didn't understand why you did it and I was being selfish, but now I do. You sacrificed yourself to save your unit, you did because you didn't want the death rate to go up, you did because you loved your unit and you did to protect them, to protect us. Even though you left the people you love behind, but they will always, ALWAYS remember what you did. You were a hero Jenna, you put everything on the line even though you left everyone behind, but that's something everyone respects. You're the real hero Jenna and nothing can change that." Fresh new tears stream down my face; I wipe them away and lay the white rose on Jenna's white gravestone. I heard the echo of thunder as the rain starts pouring down drenching me. I didn't bother to try and cover myself; I just stood there in the rain and lightly singing to myself.

Steve's POV

"Cap, you need to stop pacing around."

"How can I Tony! Why did she up and leave like that!? Waking up before dawn comes; I mean I know I do that for working out, but not like this!" I was pacing around because Sarah was gone and she didn't tell anyone. Not even me. I thought we worked things out, but now I don't know. Tony was sitting at the bar drinking a scotch, Bruce was sitting in his usual seat reading a book, Clint was probably in the air vents again, Pepper is out of town for a meeting, Thor is back in Asgard with Jean, but they'll be coming by soon and Nat is on the couch reading a book as well. "I don't get it! Why would she leave before any of us and didn't tell anyone! Why!?"

"Steve you need to calm down, she's probably out and about doing her thing. She's probably with Peter studying for mid terms. They are coming up soon." Bruce tried to calm me down, but so far not so much.

"I already called Peter, she's not with him."

"So? She's probably with Gwen at the mall shopping, Christmas is coming up soon."

"Speaking of presents." Tony got up from his seat, walked down the hallway towards his and Pepper's room. I started to pace again and ran my hand through my hair. Nat got up from her seat and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Steve, you need to calm down. Sarah knows how to care of herself."

"I know, but what if the Brotherhood comes after here? What if Scott tries to force her to go to the Xavier school without her free will?"

"Steve, we can't think about the what ifs, Sarah would know if the Brotherhood would come after her and she would drop Scott within seconds if he tried to force her to go anywhere with him. Sarah probably needs some time alone with all that happened a few months ago. She'll be okay; you just need to be here when she comes home." I admit Nat was right, I shouldn't worry about Sarah, she does know how to take care of herself and I just need to be there for her. I looked at Nat and couldn't help, but nodded in agreement. She gave me a hug and hugged her back. Nat always made me feel at ease better than anyone else; she pulled back and smiled at me. "Plus if you keep worrying, your hairs will quickly go gray." I chuckled at her comment and she did too. Nat was like a sister to me and I was like a brother to her. She patted my arm and walked towards the bar to get herself a drink. I heard footsteps coming out of the hallway. Tony passed by me and he was holding a small brown box. My brows furrowed together at him and he just shrugged.

"This is addressed to Sarah. It came in this morning, I didn't bother opening it because I knew it was for me even though I do have a package coming in also, but I just knew it wasn't for me." I was confused and so was everyone else at what Tony was saying. He sighed out and looked at me. "I saw Sarah this morning before she left. I asked her why she was up and she told me that she had to do something on her own. She said she would be back by tonight no later than tomorrow morning. I told her she can take my jet to get wherever she needs to go." I didn't say anything yet, but Tony continued. "When she left, she had a white rose in her hand." I froze into place when he said a white rose. Sarah said that the white rose was her favorite rose and a friend's too. However, why would she have a white rose? "Cap, she didn't say anything else to me. I wasn't going to push her to telling me and I didn't want to make her upset."

"Did she where she was going?" Tony shrugged and took a drink of his scotch.

"Well I can rule out Texas because her mom called. I told her she went out of town and she would be back tonight. After I said that she asked if I could give her a message and I can't believe I forgot about today." He slammed his hands on the bar and sighed out. Forget about what? Everyone else was confused and then Clint fell out of the air vents as Tony slammed his hands on the bar. He got up quickly and brushed off the dirt. He looked at us confused and then back at Tony.

"So what did Tony forget?" Bruce closed his book, took off this glasses and looked at us. He then looked at Tony and sighed.

"Tony, they need to know." Tony had his face in his hands, he then looked at the box again and a single tear ran down his cheek. He looked at Bruce and nodded. I looked at them both and spoke up.

"Tell us what?" There was silence for a moment until JARVIS interrupted us.

"Sir, Sarah is back from her trip." Tony nodded.

"Is she in the elevator?"

"Yes sir, she's on her way up in minus 30 seconds." As JARVIS finished, the elevator dinged. I turned around and the doors opened to a drenched wet Sarah walking towards the living area. She looked up at us and we all could see fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. She slowly made her way over to the kitchen; she looked at me with her sad eyes and fresh tears stream down her face. She eyed the small box on the bar and looked at Tony. He grabbed the box, walked over to Sarah and hesitated to give it to her.

"This is addressed to you, also your mom called and I think she wants you to call her back, but you don't have to do it right away. She said take your time, she knows that this is an emotion day for you so she understands." He paused and handed over the small box to Sarah. She reaches for it and takes it. She was nervous in opening the box, her hands were shaking badly, but it was because she was wet from head to toe. She tears the brown wrapping paper off and lets it fall to the floor. It revealed a smaller box that probably held something valuable, she opened and more tears were brought to her eyes. "Sarah, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot it was today. I'm so sorry." Sarah jetted out of the kitchen and headed towards the Stark Tower's balcony. Tony covered his mouth with his hand as the tears comes streaming down his face, Bruce let the tears slip out, Clint was hugging Nat as she cried and Clint let the tears slip as well. I looked out towards the balcony and saw Sarah on her knees crying her eyes out. It was raining hard and I couldn't just stand here any longer. I ran after her and left everyone to their tears, I burst open the balcony doors, quickly walk towards her kneeled next to her and hugged her from behind tightly. She sobs loudly as the thunder comes, she turns around and buries into the croak of my neck. Her hand clenches onto my shirt to dear life, I look at her other hand and saw that she was holding dog tags. It hit me; she lost someone in the war.

Two Hours Later

Sarah stopped crying an hour later, I carried her sleeping form bridal style back into the tower, Tony quickly came over and I put her gently in his arms, he carried her to her room with Nat following behind him and I walked in the kitchen where Bruce and Clint were still in. I opened the fridge and grabbed a water bottle. It was silent in the kitchen until the elevator dinged and revealed Pepper Potts.

"Hey guys!" She walked over to us and I didn't have the heart to say anything because the mood wasn't so bright at this moment. Pepper automatically went from happiness to concern. "What happened?" Nor Bruce or Clint spoke up and I didn't know how to give her the news about Sarah. I couldn't speak, so Bruce did for us.

"We found out that today was Veterans Day and we all completely forgot and Sarah was the one to know about it."

"Yeah, everyone has been celebrating it all day today; it was even on the news and on all the college gameday which I know Sarah loves to watch."

"She didn't watch it today; she went out of town and came back not too long ago."

"Why did Sarah go out of town?" There was pause for a moment until I broke.

"Pepper, she went out of town to visit someone, someone she was close with a long time ago until something happened to her friend."

"Where are you going with this Steve? What is going on?" Another silence had taken over the room and I don't know how to say. Whether she knows or not, but it's worth shot.

"Sarah had a white rose with her when she left." That got Pepper to think for a moment until her eyes widened. She knew about the white rose meant. Pepper knew. "Pepper, what does the white rose mean to Sarah?" She took a moment to say something, but she knew this was a big deal to Sarah. She fought back the tears, but one tear slipped out.

"The white rose is her friend Jenna's favorite rose." I looked over at Tony who was slowly walking towards us. He had a towel around his neck and rubbing the back of his neck. "When Sarah was still living in Texas with her parents, one of her father's friend daughter name Jenna joined the Army and she was deployed to Afghanistan after the president declared war. Jenna's unit was the first ones to be deployed. They were there for about two months and during the second month; Jenna's unit was ambushed. Jenna thought she and her unit wouldn't be able to make it out in time, so Jenna made a decision. She ordered her unit to get out and she would be covering for them. They all protested, but there was no time left to argue, Jenna knew what she was doing and by doing it she knew what was coming. Her unit made out safely, however, Jenna did not. She sacrificed her life to save her unit then to save herself. Jenna became a hero on that day; however, the impact on her love ones was unbearable. Sarah was only eight years old when she was given the news. On November 10, 2002 Jenna was buried at Washington D.C. cemetery where the rest of the fallen soldiers were buried. Sarah attended the funeral when she was nine years old. Since then Sarah takes the military death to heart because Sarah kind knows what the families are going through. At first Sarah didn't understand, but when Sarah was getting older, she understood the sacrificed Jenna made. So every Veterans Day, Sarah would fly out to Washington D.C. and visit Jenna's grave along with a single white rose on her gravestone." It became silent after Tony explained why Sarah is in such a state. I understand why Sarah left and came back home with tears of remembrance. Tony took a sip of his drink, Pepper walked over and he gave her hug for comfort. I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes and remembered when Bucky died. Sometimes I could still hear his screams as he falls into the frozen water, I still never forgave myself. However, Sarah made me realize that it wasn't my fault that and to honor Bucky's memory in which I have. "I just can't believe I forgot I'm just an idiot!" Tony slammed his fist on the bar; Pepper hugged him as he silent sobbed. I felt my own tears threatening to slip, but I didn't fight them back. I let them fall as did everyone else. We all had tears for the loved ones we lost and for the lives that were sacrificed in the war. As the rain continues to pour again and the sound of thunder filled the room, we all know that we forgot it was Veterans Day. We all have been busy going on missions and everything else that we didn't even know it was today. I know Tony and Pepper didn't mean to forget, we all have a lot on our minds.

"We should do something for Jenna." They all looked at me with wide eyes. I looked back them with my stern ones saying that I was being serious. "We all forgot at least we can do is make up for forgetting, we owe it to Sarah."

"Steve's right, we can't just sit here and feel sorry for ourselves or we can do something to make up for Sarah." Everyone looked at each other and they all nodded in agreement. Nat looked at me with her eye full of tears.

"What did you have in mind?"