chapter fifty-six
now you're in the stars

𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐓𝐎 Steve while he had the Accords open in front of them. If they had to make a decision about the future of the Avengers, they should at least try and be educated. She laid her head on his shoulder as he turned the page and glanced behind her at Sam and Rhodey arguing.

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor," Rhodey told Sam. "Which is one more than you have."

"So let's say we agree to this thing," Sam said, crossing his arms. "How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

"A 117 countries want to sign this," Rhodey reminded the man in exasperation. "117, Sam and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it.'"

Sam scoffed. "How long are you going to play both sides?" he asked.

"I have an equation," Vision said and Grace looked at him. "In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially." Grace glanced at her nephew and furrowed her brows at his expression. "And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked, looking at the entity.

"I'm saying there may be a causality," he corrected. "Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incited conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe. Oversight... oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

Rhodey pointed at Vision with a nod. "Boom."

Grace looked over at Tony. "You're unusually quiet over there."

"It's because he's already made up his mind," Steve said.

"Boy, you know me so well," Tony replied sarcastically, standing up from his chair and rubbing his head. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's discomfort." He looked down in the sink. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

An image of a young man was projected and Tony looked at it. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way," he said, pretending to have noticed it for the first time. "He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do." Grace tilted her head; he would. "He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? Sokovia."

Grace sighed and glanced back at the Accords in Steve's hands. "He wanted to make a difference, I suppose," Tony continued. "I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass. There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check!" Adelaide crossed her arms and looked at him. "Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."

"Well, maybe you have a lot of guilt on your shoulders and you don't want to feel that anymore," Adelaide said and he looked at her. "So if we sign the Accords, you won't feel like that anymore."

"What—"

"This is all about politics!" Adelaide exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Those goddamn papers just shifts the blame."

"I'm sorry, Addy, but that just sounds really arrogant," Rhodey said and she looked back at him. "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA."

Grace shook her head. "No, but do you know what every one of those, including the UN, has in common?" she asked him. "They're run by people with agendas, and most of the time, agendas change. Addy's right — it's all becoming political."

"That's good," Tony said and she sighed. "That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."

She nodded. "And that's great, Tony, but you chose to do that."

"If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose," Steve added. "What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

Tony shook his head. "If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty."

"You're saying they'll come for me and Pietro," Wanda muttered from beside her brother and Adelaide looked over at them.

"We would protect you," Vision told them.

"Maybe Tony's right," Natasha said and everyone looked at her in surprise. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off—"

"Oh, come on!" Adelaide huffed, looking at her in annoyance. "You're the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago! What happened to that Natasha Romanoff?"

"I'm just..." She sighed. "I'm reading the terrain. We have made... some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."

"Focus up," Tony said and Adelaide looked at him with a huff. "I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?"

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Oh, I want to take it back now."

"No, no, no." Tony shook his head and Grace felt her phone buzz. "You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed — I win."

[ SHARON CARTER ]
12:28 pm

I'm so sorry, Grace. She's gone.
It was in her sleep and she didn't
feel any pain. I know how much
you loved her.

Grace felt her heart drop to her stomach. "I—I gotta go," she said quietly and stood up.

Tony furrowed his eyebrows and watched as she walked to the front door. "Aunt Gracie?" She paused. "You agree with me on the Accords, right?"

"I—" Steve and Adelaide glanced at each other as she dropped her phone and looked frazzled. "I don't know," she said, bending down to pick it up. "I just—I can't do this right now, Tony."

Tony watched as she left the room in a hurry, incredibly confused. Adelaide looked at Steve who set the Accords on the coffee table and quickly followed her out of the room. He glanced down the hall and saw she was nowhere to be seen. He heard a muffled sob and turned his head to see Grace sitting on the staircase.

She looked up when she felt a shadow loom over her and he noticed how red her eyes were. "I can't do this again, Steve," she said in a whisper and his face softened, sitting next to her and pulling her into his arms. "I just—I can't. She... Peggy's dead."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐓 the framed photograph of Peggy in her military uniform that was illuminated by the candles surrounding it as her coffin was brought into the cathedral. She glanced around at the room that was full of mourners and she felt a squeeze on her hand. She looked to her right and saw Adelaide hugging her arm. Grace forced a smile and looked at Sam as Steve sat down beside her.

"And now, the Carter family would like to invite Grace Stark to come up and say a few words."

She let out a breath and stood up. She walked up to the podium and smoothed out the piece of paper she had with her. She looked out at the sea of mourners and took a shaky breath.

"Peggy Carter was a woman of many talents," she began, clearing her throat and pressing her lips together. "An agent of the SSR during World War II, a founder of SHIELD... but to me... she was just... Peggy. It's safe to say that one of the best things my brother ever did for me was introduce me to Peggy because that was the start of a really beautiful, and much-needed friendship."

She glanced at the photograph before taking another breath. "I've had many people ask me when they first meet me about what it was like to be a semi-successful woman in a world where men would rather we just sit in a house and take care of children. And the answer was actually quite simple: Peggy taught me how to deal with it all.

"She mastered diplomacy and espionage in a time when men didn't want to see a woman succeed in either and she made it look effortless, even if it wasn't. With her signature dark red lipstick applied perfectly, and her dark brown hair pinned up effortlessly, she did what many men could not. And she did it all with heels." There was a small amount of laughter from the audience and she cracked a smile. "Peggy Carter wasn't just one of my closest friends, she was my sister. Even when I stopped aging and couldn't find a solution, she never left my side and always encouraged me. 'You'll find it, Gracie,' she would say to me. 'If anyone can do it, it's you.'"

She paused and looked at Steve for a moment. He smiled reassuringly at her and she nodded. "I made her so many promises which I will make due on. But for now, I'm just going to end with... goodbye. And thank you for being my sister."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐓 of the altar, fidgeting with the ring on her finger. She brought a hand up to the locket around her neck and unclasped the jewel, running her thumb over the photograph.

"Grace..." She looked up at the sound of the voice and turned her head, standing up at the sight. "I'm so sorry."

She smiled sadly. "Hank," she said, hugging him tightly. "I didn't think you would be coming..."

Hank Pym pulled back and rested a hand on her cheek. "I didn't come for her," he told her. "I know how much she meant to you. I just... wanted to make sure you weren't alone, but clearly you aren't." Hank looked behind him and she followed his gaze, landing on Steve, Sam, and Adelaide talking with Natasha. "Is he good to you?" he asked, looking at the ring that sat on her ring.

Grace nodded with a small smile. "Yeah. Very good."

"Good," Hank said with a nod. "And..." He cleared his throat. "Did you happen to hear about the, uh... incident at the Avengers Compound?"

She crossed her arms with a look. "Oh, you mean, when you sent someone to steal your signal decoy?" she asked. "I did. And I'm offended that you didn't just ask me yourself. I'm not my brother, Hank."

"I know you aren't," he said, letting out a breath. "But I wasn't sure where we stood after I left SHIELD."

Grace sighed and uncrossed her arms. "I never hated you, Hank. Hell, I understood why you left. Howard was just... an idiot. You lost your wife, you had Hope... and he took your tech without your approval. But if you had just called, I would have given it to you. And then your guy wouldn't have damaged Sam's ego so much."

Hank shrugged. "Well, in his defense, I didn't think Scott would do that well. He's a bit of an idiot."

Grace snorted and hugged him once more. "I appreciate you coming, Hank," she said. "Really. I've missed seeing you."

"Me, too. Coffee sometime soon to catch up?"

She nodded with a smile. "I'd like that." She let out a breath as he left the room. She glanced back at the altar and her eyes shifted to the photograph once more. "Goodbye, Peg. I love you."

⸻ ~~~ ⸻

an: okay, i'm making one
little spiel about grace
and the accords...

grace is her own person
with her own thoughts
and opinions. her
opinion/decision about
the accords is not
affected by steve or tony

so, regardless of which
side she chooses (which
has sort of already been
implied in this chapter),
it's because of what she
and she alone thinks

and also, friendly
reminder... the accords
and bucky killing the
starks are two different
things. please try and
remember that

okay, that's all, thanks
for reading my rant