You Must Remember This

Chapter 54 - A mother's agony

Wakanda, 2016

"After getting hit with that grenade in France, Evelyn always believed she couldn't have children. Every doctor she saw told her the same. Too much scar tissue or whatnot from the damage to her uterus. If you ask me, I think the quacks overestimated Evelyn's injuries, or maybe underestimated her healing capability. The Russian, Nikolai, believed it might've had to do with the hormone therapy she put herself through in her effort to mislead Zola. Could've been all of those factors, who knows? Either way, Evelyn gave birth on April 3rd of 1947. That's when the tragedy really started."

Lucas sighed dejectedly as leaned onto his cane with folded hands and looked across the room to where Steve sat against the wall, his elbows against his knees, his mouth against the hand covering his fist. He waited for Captain America to say something, but what could Steve possibly say? That he'd failed to see it? That he should've realized Lucas' supposed wife, Deborah Rider, was Evelyn all along? It'd stared him right in the face — his twin's middle name and his mother's maiden name. Goddamn idiot.

"So," he swallowed the lump in his throat, "the boy you raised was really Evy's son? Hers and... and Bucky's?"

"Yes," answered Lucas. "On paper, Jamie's mine, though."

"Why? I mean... Why didn't Evy raise him?"

"HYDRA. They were still searching for Evy, and nearly found her had it not been for Nikolai recognizing the agents first. He and Peggy took care of them, but it scared Evy to death. She left a week after giving birth, barely giving Peggy and Stark time to make all the arrangements for herself and us. We gave Jamie my last name and came up with the ruse that his mother died of TB. I even wore a wedding ring for a while, all to convincingly play the role of the grieving husband. In a way, I was. I tried to make Evy stay and even proposed to her, but she refused. She didn't want to stand in the way of my happiness or risk our safety. We kept contact to a bare minimum. Every time we said goodbye, my heart broke all over again. I never knew when... if I would see her again."

Steve closed his eyes and shook his head in silent lament. After waking from the ice, he'd asked Nick Fury about Evelyn. The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had simply given his condolences. Then Steve found Peggy was still alive. He'd visited her only a few times, as it was too painful watching her mind get torn apart from Alzheimer's. In one lucid moment, she'd told Steve Evelyn was buried in Brooklyn. That, for some reason, had been enough for him.
Maybe because he'd feared what he would find if he searched further into his twin's past. Or maybe because he wouldn't know what to do if he did still have relatives out there, like Bucky faced with Rebecca's children and grandbabies. He'd made his peace knowing Evelyn was resting close to their parents, hoping she'd lived her life to the fullest. If only he had dug deeper. He might've learned about all this much sooner. 

"What about Nemesis?" Steve brought up the more pressing mystery that still needed to be solved. "How does she fit into all this?"

"I told you," said Lucas. "She's my goddaughter. No more, no less."

"Bull. You admitted earlier she's my family, so don't tell me anything else now. I know you want to protect her, Lucas, but you need to be honest with me. We learned Jamie died when he was sixteen, so Nemesis can't be his daughter. And even if he got a girlfriend pregnant, the ratio still doesn't add up. Nemesis shares fifty percent of my DNA, which would normally mean she's my daughter. Only Shuri proposed Evelyn and I could've actually been identical twins sharing the same DNA. I got a right to know if that young woman in the other room is mine or... or if..."

The frailty in his voice didn't allow Steve to finish his sentence. He inhaled deeply and met Lucas' half-lidded gaze with a tenacious perseverance. 

"Please." Steve was tiring of hearing himself beg, but punching it out of a hundred-year-old man clearly wasn't an option. "Just tell me."