THE AVENGERS:

SACRED TO A SOLDIER

WRITTEN BY ZARIUS

(contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame)

Sam smiled at the sheer pillar of strength sitting next to him on the bench looking out at the clear and tranquil lake.

Much older, yet capable of strong resonating fortitude, a man of principal and duty. There he sat, keeping mum on the secrets that were sacred to a soldier.

"You won't tell me?"

"No, doesn't feel appropriate"

"Steve...if it was a guy, I'd understand, this is the 21st century..."

"Now you're guessing" Steve replied, permitting himself a small cough

"I'm curious man, you know all the hours of stories we speculated on during bridge sessions back in headquarters wondering if you'd ever turn in the other direction..."

"You mean those stories about me and Bucky?"

"Well it can't have been who I think you mean can it?"

"Why wouldn't it?"

"Steve, level with me, you surely didn't settle on Peggy did you? That'd be a swing and a miss"

"What's so wrong about getting a life with the love of it?" Steve asked.

"...Because you had something for her niece. Buck and I, we caught you k-i-s-s-i-n-g'ing during our beef with Tony and the accords. We were jelo dog. Don't tell me you turned your back on that by turning back the clock"

"Is that all you're concerned about? I thought I'd hear at least one lecture about standing still while the tides of history washed over me...every atrocity, everything Buck went through, what Tony had to endure with his parents, Hydra being allowed to infiltrate SHIELD"

"9/11" Sam added

"Oh, every day with 9/11" Steve replied.

"I mean, histories gotta flow, but seriously, not even 9/11?"

Steve looked at him.

"The danger with standing still is that eventually you need to stand aside, because you're not the difference anymore, you've not just lost a step, you've lost the fight in you, all you care about as the ages catch up to you is all that remains sacred to a soldier. What you come home to, who welcomes you back, and who heals you. The battles are a curse Sam; they're things all soldiers wish they didn't have to partake in. If you have a chance to come home, the last thing you want to do is leave it and those who share it with you behind"

Sam took a pebble and cast it into the lake.

"That's fair Steve, I guess I'm too young to see it that way, or maybe I'm modern-fashioned, maybe I could never see it like that"

Steve chuckled; he rose to his feet to meet Sam more squarely in the eyes.

"People can only see today these days, and what you know now always informs the person you will be tomorrow. When you think back on this conversation, don't think about what I did every yesterday in times of unrest; think about the days I looked forward to. Every day you pick up that shield, you're fighting to give others a chance to come home, be they a soldier or not, and it'd sure make this soldier smile if there came a time where you hold those same wants too"

"Don't worry about me Steve, with my charms, I'll catch a fair prize, hopefully I'll be as lucky as you've been" Sam replied, giving Steve a hug.

"So, you wanna get something to eat?"

"Come to think of it, I do recall being a little hungry the last time I was here. Sure, why not?"

"Got an idea of where to go?" Sam asked.

Steve pondered his options, and then it became clear to him.

"I know a great place where they serve shawarma"