The Beginning of the End (Party RP Thread)

[daughter_of_m]

Steve wanders the party in a daze. Everyone looks so happy here. People who have been dead for years, in his universe, are alive again. Hank and Jan are happily together (he never hit her in this universe, he remembers). Valeria Richards has grown up to be a lovely, polite, extraordinarily intelligent young woman, despite all of the danger

Comments

[starspangledcap]

Steve has never been ashamed to cry. It is, he believes, a perfectly natural human reaction to emotional situations. But at the same time, he can't remember all that many times when he's actually shed tears. He's cried at a few funerals and other similarly high-stress situations. And then there was the time that Baron Zemo destroyed his army footlocker, the box that contained, among other things, the only remaining photograph of his mother. But, for the most part, Steve Rogers is not the crying type. So when the tears well up in his eyes at Sally's words, he realizes just how hard this is all hitting him.

Because Sally has grown up to be a capable, intelligent young woman. A young woman who, if what she'd just said is any indication, has already figured out something that her fathers, in their original reality, never did. Were this world to continue, Steve has no doubt that she would grow to be a great leader - of the Young Avengers, and maybe even, someday, of the core Avengers team itself.

But she's never going to grow up to be anything.

He lets the tears escape; just a few scattered drops, falling slowly from red eyes. Sally will just think he's being sentimental. There's no reason for her to suspect anything.

"There's no need to thank me, sweetheart," he says. "You learned that lesson on your own." He pauses, taking a breath to get his voice under control. "You have no idea how proud of you I am," he continues, reaching out and tipping her chin upward. "You have no idea how happy I am that you're such a good person, and such a good leader, and so happy." He pauses. "You are happy, aren't you?"

[sal_starkrogers]

"Of course," Sally says, smiling. Her father has always been one for the sentimental moments. "Don't worry, Daddy. I'm happy."

"Come on," she says, taking his hand. "Tommy's got the songs all figured out. Dance with me?"

[starspangledcap]

Steve swallows. At least she's happy. If nothing else, he and Tony have given a girl who never should have reached age three an extra fourteen years of happy existence. It's small comfort, but it's something.

Steve hears the song kicking up; he doesn't recognize it, but it definitely has father-daughter themes. "Of course," he replies, taking her hand and forcing himself to smile. "Anything for my little girl." And they begin to move across the dance floor.

[sal_starkrogers]

The song was perfect, and Sally winked around her father at Billy, who winked solemnly back.

Sally giggled. "Do you remember, Dad, when Billy thought only Tommy had powers and he was so upset he magically made Tommy invisible for a day? Accidentally? I mean, not that it was funny at the time, but, it seems pretty silly now."

[starspangledcap]

Steve smiles as the memory floats into his consciousness, every bit as real as any of his memories from the other timeline. "I guess it was a little funny, in retrospect," he says. "Tommy certainly took advantage of it, sneaking next door like that. I'm pretty sure he almost made it to Beatrice Howlett's bedroom before Logan tracked him down with that nose of his. As if Tommy didn't have enough to handle with me and his mothers, he had Wolverine reprimanding him, too. I don't think Tommy's ever really recovered." He laughs.

"You're not one to talk, though, little missy. Didn't Warpup hide for a week after you accidentally levitated him around the kitchen that time? I think the poor dog only got better when your father built him that special armor that simulated the feeling of being grounded."

It's so easy to slip into this, to talk like everything's normal. Wanda has created a reality of extraordinary complexity. It's not like other realities he's been to, where the holes start to show as soon as the real memories return. Whatever its implausibilities on a grand scale, the details of this world are as real as the "normal" one, the histories just as intricate and extensive. As he gets into the rhythm of dancing with his daughter, reminiscing, laughing, he can almost pretend that it isn't all about to end.

[sal_starkrogers]

"I know," Sally said laughing. "But Tommy wasn't around that day and missed it, so I get to pretend it never happened."

As the song ended Sally hugged her dad tight. "This, though? This I'll remember. Thanks, Dad. For everything you are."

[starspangledcap]

Steve hugs his daughter more tightly than he's held anything in his entire life, then steps back, looking at her seriously. This is probably the last time he'll ever speak to her, and he fumbles for words to say. Finally, his anguished mind settles on cliches, old words imbued with new weight through the intensity of his feeling.

"Thank you, Sally," he says, his voice completely genuine and much stronger than he would have expected. "For being the best daughter a father could ever ask for. I love you more than words could possibly say. And in the long run, that's all I need you to remember."

He squeezes her hands, places a last kiss on her forehead, and lets her go.