Make You Feel My Love
~Book IV~

Disclaimer: I do not own Civil War or any other Marvel characters in this story. All I own is the story I've come up with and my own characters.

Chapter 11

The funeral was held in London. After all, Peggy Carter was from there originally and also wanted her body to return there after she died. The church they were in was huge and the arrangements that had been made were beautiful; the flowers mostly consisted of roses of different colours, the songs that had been chosen to be sung represented Peggy's life in a beautiful way and, to top it all off (even though most people did not pick up on this last arrangement), Steve was allowed to help carry the coffin down towards the altar.

Albeit the roses and church music reminded Maria much of both her mother's funeral and her grandparent's funeral – not in the way it was arranged, but due to the fact that it was a funeral in general – Maria kept her chin high and stayed strong for Steve, who was sat next to her during the entire ordeal with both a pained expression in his eyes, and tears threatening to spill.

Funerals were a funny thing. One moment, you are simply watching and listening to what the priest has to say, and then suddenly, a word or a phrase catches you off guard and you are suddenly remembered by what the person used to be. That pain you feel, when something like that happens; that utter pain and distraught, is part of the worst thing when it comes to funerals. Especially since, once you start crying, you can't stop.

One such phrase seemed to hit Steve hard at one point, as his hand that was clutching Maria's, suddenly tightened. It was not due to the fact that Sam (who was also present like the good friend he was) pointed out that Sharon Carter, the niece of Peggy, was in fact the blonde agent that had been spying on Steve over a year ago when Hydra had been found out to exist under SHIELD's eyes – no, instead it was due to something she said during her speech about her aunt. Of course, his eyes had almost lit up when he had seen that Peggy was not completely gone after all and that the spirit that drove Peggy to be the strong independent woman she was, lived on in her niece. Though it was not that which had made his fist clench around hers…

"… Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say: 'No, you move.'"

It was inspiring, and all in all something that Maria could have heard Steve say as well. Though he seemed pressured into doing what his team mates wanted him to do, and perhaps those words that once belonged to Peggy, made him realize that he indeed should follow his own heart. It somewhat relieved Maria that Steve had found out what he wanted – though she felt mostly relieved about the fact that it was due to him having the same thoughts as her. She wanted no more conflicts, just a peaceful life with Steve.

Once the funeral was over, Sam went to get them all a hotel room. They had arrived before the funeral and had had no real time to get a hotel room just yet. Maria and Steve stayed put in the pew, watching the people walk past and exit the church. At the front, the family members of Peggy stood for a while to shake hands with those who wanted to share their condolences with them, though they soon left as well. As Sharon walked past, her brown, twinkling eyes met with Steve's and he held her gaze for a little longer than Maria liked. Yet, she kept those darker thoughts to herself and simply pretended like she had not seen anything when Steve glanced over at her.

When even the priest had left to do something and only Steve, Maria and the coffin at the front were left in the church, he finally stood up. Maria followed suit, their hands still intertwined.

"I'm glad you wanted to come," he said, his eyes still staring ahead of them at the coffin.

Maria glanced up at him, her eyes scanning his face and seeing only pain and suffering radiating off of him.

"It's what we do for each other. Support one another through fire and ice," she said quietly.

Steve nodded his head, too exhausted to actually give a reply. She leaned against him, gently rubbing her hand over his arm, "Let's go, Steve."

They turned, starting to head back towards the exit of the church and past the seemingly endless rows of pews. It was then that the doors opened, revealing to them a person they had not expected to be there; Natasha.

The two stopped walking, waiting for Natasha to walk up to them instead.

"Are you not supposed to be in Vienna?" asked Maria, hating how cold her question sounded.

Natasha looked at her, her eyes clearly drilling into Maria's mind and understanding exactly what the underlying tone to her question meant. It made Maria's cheeks flush and she lowered her gaze.

"I'm sorry-"

"No, it's a reasonable question," said Natasha quietly, causing Maria to look back up at her. "After all, the discussions are starting today. But I wanted to be here for my friend as well."

Maria nodded, putting a smile on her face, "That's very kind of you."

"Because we are still friends, right?" asked Natasha, her eyes clearly lingering on Maria's form.

"I…" began Maria, though could not find an answer.

Natasha, Maria and Wanda had become so close lately that it pained Maria that Natasha was not on their side. Whether Wanda was or not was unsure – though she had yet to say whether she was on Natasha's or Maria's side, which was fine by Maria. But Natasha had clearly said that she did not agree with Maria and Steve, and although friends should not agree about everything, this was about their future and it was bigger than whether she liked the Christian Bale version of Batman or the Adam West one better. So, so much bigger…

"I just want to do what's right," she said quietly.

"I know," replied Maria, remembering well and clearly how Natasha had opened up to her and Steve a little over a year ago about how she had done so much bad things in her life that she just could not stand doing more bad things. Natasha was still trying to figure out what was right and wrong, and if she thought signing the accords were right, then Maria would not hate her for it. "I really do know."

Softly, and without letting go of Steve's hand, Maria embraced Natasha with one arm, holding her close to her while Natasha hugged her back. Something about the hug made both assassins realize it might be the last one in a while, and as they let go of each other, Maria felt empty. As if she, by breaking that hug, had left a part of her heart with Natasha; a part of her heart that Natasha with her friendship had managed to fill up once.

"Who else signed?" asked Steve quietly.

"Tony, Rhodey, Vision," answered Natasha.

"Clint?" asked Maria, remembering the man who had once mentored her, or at least begun to mentor her, into becoming a SHIELD agent – until things went badly with SHIELD.

"Says he's retired," replied Natasha.

"Wanda?" asked Steve.

"TBD," she replied before sighing, "I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the accords. There's plenty of room on the jet if you want to change your mind within the upcoming fifteen minutes," she said sarcastically while looking down at her watch, already knowing the answer the two heroes before her were going to give.

Upon not getting a reply back, Natasha continued to talk, "Just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path. Staying together is more important than how we stay together."

"What are we giving up to do it? I'm sorry, Nat. I can't sign it," said Steve with a sigh.

"We can't sign it," added Maria, gently squeezing his hand.

"I know. Just know that, this doesn't have to mean we're not friends anymore," added Natasha, looking between both Steve and Maria. "I've never had better friends than either of you."

Steve smiled before doing what Maria had done, embracing Natasha without letting go of Maria's hand. Once they let go, Natasha took in a deep breath before taking a step back. Her eyes went from Steve to Maria before her eyebrows twitched slightly and her head tilted slightly to the side.

"You know," she said, looking Maria over, "Tony was right. You do look different."

"In what way?" asked Steve, a slightly concerned look on his face.

"I don't know… He never told me what he meant but… there's just…" although she was trying to hide it, a hint of sudden realization dawned on her. Yet there seemed to be something in Natasha's eyes that also told Maria that she was doubting what she had realized. "How's the scar on your stomach?"

"What?"

Natasha simply looked at Maria, seeming to want an answer.

"I-It's fine," replied Maria simply, furrowing her brow. "Still as visible as always, if that's what you're asking."

"Just checking," shrugged Natasha, a hint of a smirk on her lips. "If there's any changes, you've got my number."

"Changes in what?" asked Steve. "If there's something you know, Nat, please tell us. It's starting to worry me that everyone thinks something is wrong."

"Oh, believe me, it's nothing life-threatening," said Natasha with a smile.

Though the smile slowly faded again as the time for her to leave came.

"Goodbye."

Maria and Steve nodded their heads before sombrely replying, "Goodbye."

They waited until the doors closed behind Natasha before continuing to talk. Steve immediately moved Maria so she was facing him, his eyes scanning over her while his hands traced her arms and shoulders.

"I don't see it…"

"That's the second person now… There's gotta be – maybe it has something to do with my powers?"

"What bothers me the most is the fact that they clearly know, but don't want to tell us," said Steve quietly before putting his hands on her cheeks. "How do you feel?"

"Fine," she replied quietly before looking away from his face, "You don't think… You don't think this is something dangerous, right? Something dangerous that they are keeping from us so they can use it to their advantage?"

Steve shook his head, "That's our friends you're talking about. Our family. They would never, even if we argue, hurt any of us in such a way."

"I hope so," she whispered, earning a stern look from Steve.

"I know so."

The hotel room Sam had gotten was quite amazing. It had three beds and a huge en suite bathroom. There was a large bathtub big enough for four people, in which Maria was currently residing, that was connected to the bathroom via glass doors. Small bulbs hung from the ceiling above the tub, making it look like, when the lights were off in the small room the tub resided in, like a star-filled night-sky. The bubbles smelled of a mix of citrus fruits and flowers, the scent making her relax even more. Her tired body had almost fallen asleep three times already in the tub, though she had been awoken each time by the bubbles touching her nose as she had slowly sunken down into the water. It was dangerous, yes, but it was ten times better than being out in the hotel room and it was not scary to her as it was not an entire ocean. She would not drown and die, after all.

She had escaped to the tub after Sharon had called Steve and asked to come up to meet him and his friends. Sam had ordered takeaway and they had planned a nice evening, though Maria could not enjoy the company of the young Carter girl. There was something about her that was off-putting to Maria, and so she had said she was going to take a bath. It might have come off as rude, though she did not care. All she cared about was the warmth of the water, and the fact that she was so relaxed she could fall asleep any minute.

As the water begun to get chilly, Maria exited the bathtub and wrapped a towel around her body. Only the tips of her hair were wet, having not wanted to wash her hair that day, and so she proceeded to place herself in front of the mirror and dry of those parts of her hair that had managed to get wet anyway. The smell from the bubbles was still vividly in her nose, as if she was still sitting in the bathtub right there and then, though it did not bother her as the smell was so good and so relaxing.

Taking off the towel around her body, she proceeded to dry the rest of her body before grabbing a small bottle of lotion from one of the shelves, smelling it to see if it was any good, before beginning to put it all over her body. It was during that procedure that Maria noticed something in her peripheral vision. The mirror in the bathroom was huge, large enough to at least show Maria's entire upper body. While she had been putting lotion onto her body, her peripheral vision had caught something odd in the mirror; something on her body.

The scar from when she had fallen all those years ago, the scar from where the pipe had pierced through her abdomen – was not there.

"What the…" she mumbled as she let her fingers trace over the piece of her abdomen where the scar had always been.

There was not a single trace left of it. It had been an ugly one which she had even been able to feel through a thinner t-shirt. Steve had not been bothered by it as much as Maria had, and now that it was gone… There was something off about the skin where the scar had once been. Of course it felt smoother seeing as the scar was not there anymore to rough up the skin – but there was more.

As Maria placed her hand on her stomach, she could feel that her entire stomach was different. Her skin was pulled outwards slightly and something was pushing from the inside, trying to get out. At first, no pain was there, yet it came the moment she noticed this difference. It was an excruciating pain, hurting her in ways she had never experienced before. She could feel her skin being pulled to the point where it was starting to tear and the pain from within her stomach hurt her so badly. In a way, the pain reminded her of the same one she had felt while trying to save Steve from the explosion, right before Wanda had to take over. Though it was a hundred times worse.

As she screamed, something wet touched her nose and suddenly she jolted awake in the bathtub she had fallen asleep in. She accidentally swallowed some water after gasping in surprise at the 'nightmare' she had been through, and while almost coughing her lungs up, she exited the tub and, while almost slipping twice, quickly made her way to the mirror. With one hand against the mirror to keep her upright from the lack of oxygen after the coughing-fit, and one hand on her stomach, she calmed down. The scar was there and no pain nor pressure was there in the pit of her stomach. Though it was strange how real the dream had felt…

A knock was heard on her bathroom door and she whipped her head around towards the sound.

"Y-Yes?" she called.

"M, you gotta see this," said Sam's voice through the door.

"I – I'll be right there!"

Quickly, she put on some underwear and a long t-shirt that actually belonged to Steve, before putting on one of the white bathrobes that had come with the room. With some of her hair still dripping, she exited the bathroom to find all three; Steve, Sharon and Sam, standing in front of the large TV in the room. She walked over to Steve, staring at the TV with wide eyes.

"A bomb was hidden in a news-van and managed to rip through the UN building in Vienna. More than 70 people have been injured. At least 12 are dead including Wakanda's King T'Chaka. Officials have released a video of a suspect who they have identified as James Buchanan Barnes; the Winter Soldier. The infamous HYDRA agent linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations."

"Oh no…" whispered Maria.

"We gotta go there," said Steve quietly to Maria. "Nat was there."

"Of course," she said quietly, staring at the picture of Bucky the news channel was showing to the world. "And…"

"It's a lead," said Sam quietly. "Albeit not the most positive one."

"That wasn't him though," said Steve with a shake of his head. "It can't have been."

"Only one way to find out," sighed Maria. "I guess we're going to Vienna now."

"I'll take you… I gotta go to work," said Sharon, and for the first time in Maria's life, she was actually thankful that Sharon was there.

So, this little 'nightmare' thingy was the first hint of many about what will happen to Maria (and Steve in a way) during this story. What do you all think? :) Also, I'm going to start replying to comments seeing as I like doing that on Quotev. Interacting with you all is amazing but I hate the fact that you have to send PM's for a reply. So, I'm going to reply to comments (you know, if I get any XD) here on my updates instead. Besides, some people might wonder the same thing and that way it's easier to just have a public reply instead :)