Author's note! I own nothing of Marvel-verse except my OC character, everything else belongs to the amazing Stan Lee, may his wonderful self Rest in Peace, Jack Kirby and all the other amazing men and women who helped bring about our Marvel-Verse in Comic AND live-action as well as cartoon and animations and bringing this creativity and enthusiasm to our world and to other inspired minds of creativity.
(*If you all have enjoyed the short story so far, please look out for the next part of this beginning adventure with "A Spark of Life", that one, heads up, will NOT be remotely short at all.)
Chapter 4
Fair-wells
"Nothing lasts forever." Her mother had always told her that. Standing at his tombstone Stephanie stared at the piece of stone with his name engraved into it, hardly feeling the cold rain.
"Come on da'ling," Peggy said softly wrapping an arm around her shoulders, her clothing was drenched, soaked through, her shoes were likely filling with water as she stood in the cold heavy rain of the storm. She had been standing there for hours after the funeral. She still remembered when Steve had come back without Bucky, Zola in cuffs.
"Bucky!" Stephanie had called for him, a big smile on her face as she ran out of the base of the main camp.
Watching as the Commando's walked Zola inside, Peggy had remembered the fallen face, his dropping shoulders. Peggy glared at the man smirking at her. She wanted so badly to slap that smirk off his face.
"I have to tell her Peggy," He'd told her sadly. She had covered her mouth with her hand to cover the tears she wanted to shed for the siblings. But Steve hadn't had the chance to tell Stephanie anything, she had figured it out, obviously, and all it had taken was looking at Dugan. The man wore his heart on his sleeve.
Peggy sighed sadly at the woman as she took hold of her ice-cold hand and tried to walk Stephanie away from Barnes's stone, but Steph hadn't moved. Even Steve had failed in getting her to come to the car an hour and a half ago. "Steph?" Peggy called for her weakly, her voice cracking with fear for the woman. Knowing this was getting out of hand, Peggy hugged her, "I'll be right back, alright? I'm going to find someone to help us, alright?" she asked the woman. When all she got was a weak nod, Peggy rushed back to the car, "I can't get through to her, Steve, this is getting out of hand. I-I don't know what to do." Peggy told him with worry as Dugan opened the passenger car door, letting her take the front seat before closing it for her and reaching into the back seat for an umbrella.
He'd had it. A whole month they spent trying to find Bucky and they hadn't found the man's body, so, they'd been forced to call of the search, now they were here. "Give me a minute," he told them with a slight sigh as he opened the umbrella and made his way towards Stephanie's drenched self. Walking his way to Stephanie, Dugan silently sighed as he looked at the Stone sadly then to the side of Stephanie's head and moved the umbrella over them both. "Stephanie," he started after a moment of her not speaking. It was very unnerving. She was always the talkative one, the energy of them all, the fire other than Peggy and Steve. And with the sergeant gone they all needed that fiery energy back. Her brother needed it, she needed it. "You can't stay out here, sweetheart. You'll catch your death, and the Sergeant wouldn't want that. He'd want you to live, to move forward in life. The sun doesn't stop setting or rising just because the stars go to sleep. Come on," he told her sadly, reaching over to her hand with his other and slipped his warm hand into her ice-cold tiny hand. She was freezing, but he suspected that she didn't feel it. When she slowly turned her head and looked up at him, Dugan felt a sliver of hope for her. "Hey there sweetheart," he said with a soft smile the moment he saw the green in her eyes less dual. "You still with me here?" he asked her.
Sucking in a painful breath, Stephanie felt the hot tears spilling over her ice-cold skin. The cold she now felt of the February weather beginning March as she looked at him. "I have no idea what I'm going to do, Dugan." She whispered softly. She watched him look between the stone and her before looking up to the dark cloudy sky raining on them before looking back to her and forcing a sad smile to his face, the warmth of his large hand that cupped her face and whipped away her tears as he looked at her.
Pleading for his dead friend's forgiveness, Dugan looked up to the skies asking the dead man permission, as well as forgiveness and giving Bucky's soul a sworn promise. 'I got your girl looked after buddy, you can rest in peace until she's with yah in the afterlife,' Looking back to Stephanie, Dugan took her face in hand and wiped away the stream of hot tears leaving her ice-cold skin feeling as if she had ice already forming on her cheek. "You're not alone sweetheart, I'm here, your brother's here, and Peggy and the rest of us. We're all here. And we aren't going anywhere."
"It's war, Dugan, you shouldn't make promises you can't yet keep," she whispered, not wanting to hold his promise so close to her heart. She was mildly surprised when he pulled her into his chest, his arm wrapped around her, his other hand still holding the umbrella over them. Her arms wrapped around him, now seeking warmth from the icy chill of the rainwater that was soaking her through.
1947 Christmas
She spent three years mourning him, and still mourned her brother, Peggy had been beside herself for months, still working with the S.S.R. Stephanie had moved on to being a nurse, even helping Peggy on a few cases and patching her or the boys up when they'd come home and not want to go to the hospital. They'd celebrated holidays together, her, Peggy, a few of Peggy's new friends she'd made over the years, Howard, the Commando boys. She'd finally moved on with her live, with the help of one man she never thought could find her. But she had a surprise for this certain man as she read the Doctors letter. Biting her bottom lip with excitement, Stephanie wiped the few falling happy tears from her eyes as she rushed through her house and into a kitchen, "Peggy, Angie," she whispered with delight to the ladies, when she got their attention, she handed both of them her doctor's note confirming what they had suspected was true.
Reading the paper, Angie squealed with delight and wrapped her arms around the woman. "Oh my gosh, I am so happy for you Doll!" she said with a happy smile.
Looking over the excited woman's shoulder to Peggy, Stephanie smiled to the woman sadly, "You think he'd forgive me, Pegs? For moving on?"
Looking up from the paper with a shared sad smile, Peggy waited for Angie to give them room for her to hug the now scared woman. She still beat herself up to this day for being happy. "Oh Lou, Barnes would understand. He woke you up, brought you home, to me, to us all. You have to let go of those thoughts da'ling. Let yourself be happy." Peggy whispered into her ear as she hugged her tightly, she smiled over Stephanie's shoulder to Dugan walking into the kitchen still dressed in his uniform he had just gotten home, him and the rest of the boys, they must have snuck in to surprise them all along with Howard, though she had an assumption it was Howard's idea to shock them all with their hero Howling Commando's return home. He'd been travelling with the other boys to come home. And to him, Stephanie and she were home to them, the boys who didn't have a family to see on holidays always came with him, to eat, they stayed- lived really, in the Dugan and Rogers house out in the country. Giving Stephanie one more goo squeeze, Peggy and Angie made their way out, letting Stephanie have a moment alone as she re-read the note.
Quietly walking up behind the beautiful blonde, Dugan smiled as he had priorly hung his hat upon the hook out near the front door along with his duffel bag against the wall out of the way and slowly looked over her shoulder a little before slowly sliding his hands wrapped her waist he loved so much and pressed his nose into her neck and long hair and took in a deep inhale of her lovely soft scent of spices and herbs and baked goods. Resting his mount at the front of her ear, Dugan smiled with peace and his blue eyes closed. Here he knew he could close them, here he knew he was safe. "I'm home sweetheart," he whispered against her ear.
Stephanie smiled a blushing smile as she felt his large warm hands slide around her, his big arms pulling her into him and enveloping her into his warm embrace. Lifting one hand up to his face, she caressed his cheek and glided her fingers up into his red hair, "Timothy?" she whispered, hoping to get his attention.
Softly laughing, with a soft sigh, "Uh-oh, what'd I do? You used my first name precious." He teased her.
"Oh no, this time it was both of us," Stephanie teased back, turning in his arms, she laced her arms around his neck and looked up into his eyes. She felt her heart ache, then warm as she looked at him. He made all her coldness disappear, she felt warm, alive, human, real. But most importantly, Stephanie felt alive. "I'm pregnant," his shock had her worried for a moment, but her worry was washed away quickly when Dugan smiled his big smile that could light a room, leaned down, and kissed her deeply.
He was so excited as he held her, his lips keeping hers, her giggled laughter into their kiss had him laughing with excitement when he swept her up and spun her around the big kitchen and cheered up to the ceiling.
When the guys ran in curious about what the hell was going on Dugan kissed Stephanie again before looking at the boys with tears in his eyes, "You're all gonna be uncles!" he shouted to them. The roar of shock and cheers of them all charging into the kitchen and hugging them both. But deep down, Dugan felt like a thief, he was blessed, and he'd always be grateful for that. But he felt like a thief even if that wasn't true, he had the life his friend was supposed to have with her. But here he was, here they were, together, Timothy Dugan and Stephanie Rogers, soon-to-be first-time parents. Looking down at the woman in his arms, he felt one sad tear out of all his happy ones roll down his face, one that he knew she understood why as she wiped it away and nodded.
"I know," she whispered gently.
1962
Austria
He sat on the mountainside with the tiny silver urn in hand. It wasn't her bones or anything, this was something he wanted to give back to Bucky. "Forgive me, my friend, but I will admit that I am far more selfish than you thought I was when I was younger," he said sadly, sniffing back his tears that were trying to escape him. "But I wanted you to have something of her. It's some of her hair, never liked cutting her hair, so I'll likely be hearing an earful when I see you both in the afterlife, God, I hope I see you both over there. I had them cut about half her hair off, you're probably hearing it on the other side right now, I guess, sorry buddy. She was fantastic though. I always felt like a thief, even though I knew I wasn't. You fell, she lost you, we lost you, then we lost Steve. Now I'm… I'm saying goodbye to the one person I'll never be able to be without. But I had her for nineteen years, from the moment you introduced us, I started counting it, honestly just meeting her was blessing enough. That woman has an intoxicating smile," he said, then sadly laughed as he looked down to the tiny urn. All it had was hair in it, and one of her rings. He'd been given permission not to spread it, but to bury it. "But I guess you already knew that. Anyways, all I ask, Bucky, is that you watch out for her over there, until I can get there. Then I guess you, Steve and I are going to be having that really big awkward talk, huh pal?" He said with a cracking voice. Clearing his throat, Dugan knelt to the little hole he'd dug in the mountainside, wrapped one of Bucky's dog tags on a chain around the sealed lip with her own made name tag on it with their fallen friend, and set it in the ground, and began to cover it. Releasing a painful breath, Dugan removed two little candles from his pocket with trembling hands, set the side of the two little candles side by side, and lit them.
Sorry guys, I know you all were wanting more, but this was the headstone for them, the beginning of the big Arc soon to come. I still hope you enjoyed it, I did say it was going to be a short story, so this is the best I can do for 'short'. I don't think it was terrible, I do think it could have been, possibly, been better. But still, I don't think it was half bad, pretty decent if I say so myself since I am terrible at doing short writing. ANYWAYS! Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this story, I hope you enjoyed it, if you cried at all, I'm sorry, but if it makes you feel better, I kind of cried a little bit too… Okay, a few too many times on the sad scenes, like Bucky's gravestone and Dugan's little fare-well at the mountainside, but still. HAVE A GREAT DAY/AFTERNOON/NIGHT!
