The Funeral
Bruce was sat in the front row with Macey's family. They were ignoring his existence. They were to busy grieving them to notice his grief stricken face. Although one woman did give him a pack of pocket tissues.
The rest of the Avengers were sat at the back of the church. Trying to keep it together. Then the service began. It was a normal service, until the very end.
"Now I believe a Tony Stark has something to add before we depart." The priest looked at ony, who was hurrying towards the front.
"Macey gave me this letter a couple of days before she died. She said to me, "Don't let the others know you have it. But read it at my funeral. Please." So here I am, and here it is. 'List of things I want to do before I die.' One, Shop in New York. Two, Drink tequila. Three, Say hi to my family for the first time in years. Four, Tell my family I love them. Five, Bungee jump. Six, Sky dive. Seven, Climb a mountain. Eight, Go paragliding. Nine, Adopt a snow leopard. Ten, Fall in love.
I didn't do many of those things. But I did things that were just as good, if not better. One, Get attempted kidnapped by a total psycho. Two, Met the Avengers. Three, Discovered some pretty top secret shit. Four, Learned how to throw knives. Five, Learned how to do archery. Six, Learned how to blackmail people. Seven, Got kidnapped by the same psycho who failed the first time. Eight, Learned what stoning really means. Nine, tried to teach Steve and Thor how to use electronic devices (and failed). And ten, Fell in love with a guy with crazy anger issues.
Dear Clint, Open up your heart. You never know what might happen. You don't have long in life, so plunge in while you still can. And thanks for teaching me archery. And remember, it's okay to cry.
Dear Natasha, Life's a rollercoaster, follow it, see where it takes you. And remember, it's better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all. Thanks for teaching me to throw knives, and for being my friend. It's okay to cry sometimes to.
Dear Steve, Try using electronic devices more often. And stop living in the past. You can't change it. So live in the present. She'd want you to.
Dear Thor, Avoid electronic devices. I left you loads of boxes of poptarts, their under my bed. And maybe you ask her, before you jump to conclusions about her answer.
Dear Tony, Thanks for being my friend. Thanks for letting me confide-" Tony trailed off, sniffled and wiped his eyes, before taking a deep breathe and continuing. "in you when I was down. Don't forget, it's okay to cry. It's not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. Holding in emotions hurts more than letting them out. So let them out. It's okay to admit that you care." Again Tony sniffed and wiped his eyes. "Dear Bruce, I want you to know that no matter what, I'm glad I hung around to get debriefed. But I am so sorry that you have lost another person in your life. But I don't want you to fall into depression. I want you to dive back into life. Love again. Save the world some more. Live now, while you still can. Make the best of what you've got. Live for me. I love you Bruce. You made my last 3 weeks the best of my life. I wish I'd found you sooner. But I am glad I got to spend time with you, no matter how short. Don't forget, but move on and know that I'll always be with you." Tony stopped to put the paper back in his pocket. "Macey taught us so much. About how life is to short. How you have to live whilst you can. To live, love and laugh. Because the future isn't set in stone. You can't control how long you've got in this life. But you can control what you do with the time you got. We won't forget her lesson to us. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. And we certainly won't be forgetting Macey anytime soon." And then Tony walked back to his seat next to Steve and cried. He wasn't the only one. Steve had buried his head in his hands. Clint had silent tears streaming down his face. Thor was silently sobbing. And Natasha, who hadn't slept all week, who had stayed by Macey's bedside 'til the very end, was sobbing her heart out. She stood and left the church. But just as she reached the doors she turned and said,
"Bye bye Macey." She then ran out of the church doors followed swiftly by the others.