in the shadows ? steve rogers

036 ? dog tags

"Don't think like that," Grace said, shaking her head. "Phil made that choice on his own. He made the choice to go to the containment cell. We'd never know. If you had gone, you could have been killed."

"But it's my job, Grace," Adelaide insisted and the brunette let out a breath. "Agents have each others' backs and I didn't have his back today."

"But you'll have Hill's tomorrow," Grace told her, taking her by the shoulder and looking her in the eyes. "Okay? We're in a flying aircraft full of agents. Phil's death is not on you. The only person who's to blame for Phil Coulson's death is Loki. You hear me?"

Adelaide nodded, wiping at the corner of her eyes. "Yeah."

Grace sighed and pulled the girl in for a tight hug. She rubbed her back and tucked Adelaide's head under her chin. "I wish I could say it gets easier, losing someone close to you. But it doesn't. But you know what it does do? It makes you stronger. It makes you determined. And it makes you treasure everything you have in your life. Don't let his death break you, Addy. He wouldn't want that for you."

"You think?"

Grace broke the hug and wiped Adelaide's stray tears with her thumb. "I know."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐎 the now-empty cell container where he found Tony staring at it. "I'm sorry," he said, breaking the silence. "He seemed like a good man."

Tony paused before shaking his head. "He was an idiot."

"Why?" Steve asked, crossing his arms. "For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone."

"He was doing his job," Steve replied.

Tony shook his head with a scoff. "He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..."

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony," Steve said.

Tony started to walk away. "Right. How did that work out for him?" he asked.

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?"

Tony turned around sharply. "We are not soldiers!" he snapped and let out a breath. "I am not marching to Fury's fife!"

"Neither am I!" Steve exclaimed, shaking his head. "He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now, we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now, Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list..."

Tony looked back at the blood-stained wall. "He made it personal..."

"That's not the point."

"That is the point," Tony said, looking at Steve. "That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart," Steve answered.

Tony nodded. "He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right," Steve agreed with a nod. "I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"Yeah. That's just a preview," Tony said. "This is opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered—" He paused. "Son of a bitch!"

Grace looked out the window and saw a jet flying off with Iron Man right behind. She walked over and let out a breath. "Earth's mightiest heroes..." She smiled softly and let out a small chuckle. "It has a ring to it."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

an: sorry this took so
long... I hit a bit of
writer's block but we're
back :)

I think there's only about
one chapter left of
avengers (I had so much
trouble writing this
movie) but I kinda
want to focus on not
only Grace & Steve
(my lovebirds will be
back) but also Steve's
adjustment to the modern
time he's in. I feel like it
was barely shown in the
movies (or the scenes
were deleted).

I think there'll be a tiny
bit of iron man 3 or a
bit of a mention before
we move onto winter
soldier (and y'all can
finally meet kennedy:
my third oc who will
eventually lead her own
book/romance with
everybody's favorite:
bucky!)

thanks for reading my
rant. I love you all <3