All right! I managed to get quite a few chapters finished earlier, so I shall be posting those up once a day. These chapters are kinda just tying up loose ends now, since I'm really close to finishing it.
I gave Peggy a few days to cope with the loss, as well as for myself. I couldn't believe that Steve was gone, especially after he had done so much for me. I barely managed to cope myself, the mere thought of never again seeing the man who saved my life at least twice brought dreadful tears to my eyes. When I finally managed to stop crying, I was able to confront Peggy and ask her what happened.
When I asked her, she looked at me with heavy eyes and sighed, "He was on a plane," she explained softly, "and couldn't land it safely. It was headed for New York, but he made the call to land it in the water." She sounded like she was choking up a little simply recalling it.
"So . . . he's dead?" I asked quietly.
"We don't know," she responded quietly, "They're still looking for him."
"I'm pretty sure he's dead," I whispered, trying to stop myself from tearing up again.
"Now, we don't know that," she argued gently.
"No, I'm pretty sure," I repeated, "the chances of him actually living are small. What're we supposed to do? It's obvious!"
"We hold onto the small hope that he actually survived," Peggy responded, trying to remain strong, "He's a tough man, he has to make it."
I stared at her with sorrowed eyes, but said no more. I wasn't convinced at all, but I didn't say anything else so that Peggy still had the hope that she clung onto. We spent a long time grieving his loss together, praying for his return, hoping that he was alive, but the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months. When the search teams still didn't find Steve's body or the plane, our hope was quickly replaced with dread. It seemed that I was right about it all. I spent time moping around, silent, not saying anything to anyone, blaming myself. It was like everyone I cared about died around me, dropping like flies. It was a curse. I couldn't handle seeing Peggy so sad either, so we often tried to take our minds off of Steve by busying ourselves with other things when she wasn't working.
Eventually, years passed, yet we still didn't find Steve. Peggy and I had given up on ever seeing him again a while ago, and she moved on. She got married to another man, someone who was a part of Steve's little elite team called the Howling Commandos. I still dwelled on the past, even when I moved in with Peggy and her husband, I continued to mope and hide in my room. Peggy signed on to be my legal guardian, and helped me enlist in school so that I could get a proper education. I found school to be boring as hell, and I often tried to entertain myself as best as I could by pranking the teachers, much to Peggy and her husband's disappointment.
Life continued on like that for many more years, but yet I couldn't shake the grief of losing my foster brother so easily. Peggy couldn't either, I could tell by the expression in her eyes every time she looked at me. It seemed that since I was taken in by Steve, I was a constant reminder to Peggy of him and how things used to be. I couldn't stand to see my friend become so upset when she saw me, so I decided to leave her and her husband to be happy together without me. I couldn't be a reminder of despair to her. I decided to leave her a note to let her know:
"Dear Peggy,
You're probably wondering where I'm at by now, if you didn't find me in any of my usual hiding places. I'm sorry that you have to find out like this, but I won't be home for a while, maybe not ever. I know that with me constantly being there, I'd only bring more sadness to you and everyone else there. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I took all of my savings with me as well as my knives and some other things to get me started. Don't look for me, you know by now that if I don't want to be found, I won't be. Be safe, and be happy. I'll try and keep in touch if you want me to.
Sincerely,
Robin Rogers"
When I finished writing the letter, I placed it on my pillow and slung my backpack onto my back. As soon as I got everything together and double checked everything, I exited the house, looking at back at it for one last time before I ran down the sidewalk, moving to find somewhere else to go. I took residence in an old, abandoned warehouse and scoped out the best places for me to make a living.
Despite the fact that I had been in my late twenties now, my physical appearance was that of an average teenager. I still didn't understand why my body aged extremely slowly, but I had a theory. Hydra somehow found a way to make my lifespan longer than that of a normal human's when developing me. They probably wanted their precious weapon to last a long time for their evil plans. What they didn't anticipate was the weapon becoming a rebellious kid. However, all grudges aside, my physical appearance made it impossible for me to get a job, so I took to stealing from people again to keep myself alive.