Space Address: 3C
Prompt: Vigil/Mass
Stacked With: Winter Bingo
Word Count: 450
A/N: This is a one-shot I will not be writing more.
~o0o~
Steve tugged his hat down to cover his ears better and hesitantly stepped inside the church. Being five a.m. Mass, it wasn't crowded, which made it the perfect time to go. Steve felt a little ashamed that he hadn't been to church since he was thawed, but Christmas seemed the perfect time to start going again. If there was anything he needed right now it was faith, and it was a bit hard to come by these days.
Perhaps it was always hard to come by.
He knelt and made the sign of the cross before sitting in the middle of an empty pew. The sleepy-eyed usher led everyone into song, but the somber tune only succeeded in making eyes droop further. Still, Steve moved his lips silently along as he tried to find the correct page in the bible. This copys binding was fraying and some kid had drawn on the inside. Something that Steve did once.
Once.
Mam was furious with him for defacing a book. He smiled wistfully. He would give anything to see Mam again. They never had much for Christmas since all of their money ended up going to his medicines, but she would always bake fresh bread and Bucky would bring over some tinsel and ribbon as well as gently-used hand-me-downs that Mrs. Barnes would tailor to fit Steve's tiny frame.
"Fancy seeing you here, Cap."
Steve looked up in surprise to see none other than Tony Stark and Pepper Potts taking a seat beside him.
"I could say the same thing," Steve replied. "Morning, Pepper."
"Hello, Steve," said Pepper, looking the most bright-eyed out of everyone.
"Nanny's one, four, and five always insisted on going to Christmas Mass," said Tony. "The habit sort-of stuck. I'm not the most religious person out there, but if there is a God…" He shrugged. "Figure I might owe him a day of worship. Plus, Pepper likes to go."
"Mam made sure I went to church as often as I could," said Steve. "Which wasn't often considering how sick I was."
"Last rites?"
Steve knew that Tony was joking, but he nodded. "Five times."
"Really?" Pepper whispered in shock. "Five times?"
Steve nodded. "I've come so far."
"But you've got so far to go old man."
Steve felt his hackles rise, but part of him felt too tired to fight.
"Maybe I do," he sighed.
"Wow… no justification? No 'my way is the right way'?"
"Do you want me to fight with you?" Steve asked.
"Guess not," Tony replied. "It is Christmas after all. How does next Tuesday sound?"
Steve snorted and rolled his eyes before standing up for the opening. "Sure, Tony. Next Tuesday will be swell."