Pepper's POV

Days have passed. It's time for the memorials. Tony knows that he has to be ready, that he has to go today. I know on some level, he wants to be there. He wants to show Steve respects.

I don't know if he'll go yet, but at least I've convinced him to get dressed for the occasion.

Tony's POV

Pepper has been badgering me constantly. I gave in a bit, to appease her telling her that I'd get dressed.

It takes me ten minutes. My hair is combed and my suit is all black except for a simplistic white bowtie. I stare at my reflection and the mirror, and see only the emptiness of the gaze my eyes hold. I grasp the sink, and shut my eyes tight. I'm not sure if I can do this.

Steve's POV

I'm dead, right? I thought so, anyways. But, then, why am I here?

He can't see me. I know he can't. I'm like this peeping Tom that just can't do anything to help it. I wish he could see me, and hear me, and know that I am here. But, he can't. I don't know why.

"Tony!" I feebly yell once more, wincing as he still doesn't move towards me. "Tony, stop, please! I'm right here!"

I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I turn with a jolt. A smiling female face looks back at me, and she looks familiar. Her hair is long, and brown except for one grey strand on each side of her face. That's when it hits me…who she is. "Marie?"

She nods gently. I flash back to her a weak smile. "Where are we, Marie? Why can't he hear me?"

I turn back to Tony, and I hear her sigh at my expression. "Steve, we're in purgatory. It's what some would call a spirit plain. We can see them, and hear them…but they don't know we are here."

I turned back to her, confusion and anger washing over me. "Why, do we not deserve heaven?"

She laughs, and it's a sound that I wince at hearing in this moment. "I've been here long enough to understand why, Steve. We don't get sent upwards or downwards, as being from such unique standards as us, until it's assuredly known that nobody down there is going to bring us back."

"How long will we be waiting here?" I ask gently.

Marie shrugs. "Not long, I think. Whoever is working above us just needs to watch down there long enough to see if we will be going back. Then, I'll be able to move on."

I glare at her. "Why do you think you'll be the one here moving on? There are plenty of people down there who would love to save you."

She smiles gently, and runs her hand across my arm several times. "It's just the way I feel. Plus, it's not so bad up here. I'm at peace and what not. For me, it truly is a gift and not a curse."

I blink for a second, and then watch her hand carefully as it grazes me. I look back to her, a mix of shock and understanding hitting me. "You don't have your mutation anymore."

Marie laughs, and pulls me into a hug. "I don't. And, Steve, it feels fantastic to be free. You know how lonely life is when you can't even shake somebody's hand without seriously injuring them? It feels better this way."

I smile, and hold her tighter to me. I know it's not much, but I understand that she hasn't had anyone who has been able to hold her…in what must have felt like a lifetime.

We both felt real. Like two people in an embrace. It wasn't ghostly or creepy, things were fine over here. Well, for now, at least. I watched over her shoulder, and saw Pepper bursting into Tony's bathroom.

Marie giggles, and lets me free. I can barely understand her optimism, but she keeps her grip on my hand as I turn to Tony again.

Tony's eyes snap open as he hears a door slam. "Pepper, just a few more minutes."

I even had to laugh gently as Pepper sighed in impatience. "Tony, we have to go. We're going to be late."

"I'm not even sure if I'm going." Tony says assuredly.

"Going where?" I ask Marie in a gentle whisper. She shushes me, and gestures for me to watch them more.

"You have to go to his funeral, Tony." Pepper says quietly.

I bite my lip, trying not to think too hard into how Tony looks as he delves into the next piece.

"I can't." Tony whispers, and I watch him sink to sit on the floor by his tub.

Pepper slides down to sit beside him, and gives him a stern look. "Why not, Tony?"

"Because that means he is really dead. That means Steve is really gone, Pepper. I don't think I can handle that yet." Tony whispered. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and Pepper let him fall into her arms.

I felt tears stream down my face. All I wanted to do was to be there with him, and yank him into my arms. I want him to know I'm here still. I want to hold him, and tell him things will be alright. "Marie, is there any way to break the barrier?"

Marie solemnly shakes her head. "Not that I know of, Steve. Not that I could find. Trust me, it's not like there aren't people I've been dying to break through to. Just, keep listening."

I look back, and Tony has pulled himself to sit up straight. "I didn't ever even tell him, Pepper."

Pepper smiles weakly. "Sweetheart, I know. I think he knew though, on some level. Don't beat yourself up."

I watch intently. What didn't Tony tell me?

"He never knew. Pepper, some stupid fight blew things out of proportion. Now not only will be never know, but my side of this war was the death of him! Damn it, Pepper." Tony screeched.

"It's not your fault. You didn't shoot him, Tony. You tried to save him, didn't you?" Pepper said quickly, trying desperately to calm Tony down.

"I didn't try hard enough. Pepper, the…" Tony pauses for a moment, seeming to try and hold back sobs. It doesn't work. He falls into tears again, and his head falls to her lap.

I see tears streaming down her face too. She strokes his hair. "I know Tony, I know."

"No, you don't. The person you love never died because of you!" Tony screeched. He sobbed harder into her lap, and they stay like that for a while.

"Did you…" Marie started slowly.

"I…never knew he did…" I whisper quietly.

Marie smiled weakly. "I meant to ask…did you love Tony back."

I watched him carefully. Why didn't he tell me?

Without looking back to Marie, I nodded softly.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Marie asked, effectively making me feel sorry for wondering why he didn't tell me.

"I was scared to." I said slowly, kneeling in front of him. I closed my eyes, and felt tears stream down my face. "It's too late."

"Maybe it's not." Marie said. "Maybe that's why you are stuck here. Maybe you get to go back to him. Sometime soon, even. You just have to wait and see. Maybe you'll be lucky."

I looked up to her, face soaked with tears. "Maybe I won't, and all I get to have is the knowledge of what I could've had."

I winced, and looked away from her. She came and sat beside me. "We have to leave soon, I think. Do you want to wait until he goes, or do you want to go first?"

"Go? Where must we go?" I ask gently.

"Our funerals are today. Come on, we have to be there. I'm sure there's more mourning to be seen." She said half-heartedly.

"Can we wait until he leaves?" I ask gently.

Marie nods, and gently puts her arm around me. "You can cry along with him as much as you'd like. It won't do any good, but it won't do any worse."

I try to plaster on a smile for her, but it barely shows. She smiles brightly when I fall into her arms, and I can feel the tightness of her embrace around me. At least I can make somebody feel happy.