Chapter Text
Peggy bolted upright in bed, awakened from a dream that wasn’t necessarily a nightmare, but not one she really wished to have again. In all irony, she’d wished for and received dreams like the one she’d had in the past, even two years ago the dream would have been welcome, but not anymore.
Not when it came with a price like it did in the latest dreamscape.
In her dream she was back in New York and Steve was alive. They were strolling along and came to a halt by a war memorial in Central Park. She had been happy at the beginning of the dream, her mind not noting anything amiss, but as the dream wore on, she would see things in the park, a tourist wearing a Hawaiian print shirt, a couple bickering, the woman grabbing two coffees from the vendor and putting in the right additives while the man paid, clearly a caring couple despite the arguments, a singing quartet, people riding on horses…a young man in crutches and an army uniform. As the dream went on, a sense of panic and dread overcame her, Something is wrong, something is missing. Someone is missing. They came to the memorial and read the names on one side. Steve halted and pointed to a name on the cold black marble.
“Him, he took my place last minute in the fray. He took over the plane when I was caught up fighting the Red Skull’s henchmen. I saved him from getting his leg blown off at Bastogne. Good man.” Steve commented, his pointer finger joined by the rest of his hand, touching the memorial in remembrance, his eyes sad. Peggy’s eyes found the name he’d pointed at, and her heart caught in her throat.
Lt. Daniel Sousa.
Suddenly she couldn’t breathe, the reality of what was missing crashing down on her.
“Daniel…” she whispered. “Daniel’s dead, he’s gone. He’s…”
“You knew him?” Steve asked innocently, his eyes wide with alarm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you two were friends.”
‘You should have let me get sucked up by the rift and shut it down…’
A cold sweat forming, this couldn’t be real right? This had to be a dream. Daniel was not…
‘Don’t scare me like that Peg. Don’t do that ever again. Please.’
“He was more than that.” Peggy found herself saying, her eyes unable to leave the carved marble. “He was…”
‘She believes I’m in love with you.’
Suddenly the world swirled around her, Steve disappeared and there was only darkness, until…
Until she woke up.
Maybe it was a nightmare after all.
She whirled her head around to her left side in search of the man in question, and when she saw no one, and felt that the sheets were cold, she temporarily panicked, thinking maybe she’d dreamed Daniel up.
But then she could smell his cologne on the sheets and in the room, and saw his jacket folded neatly on a nearby chair. His crutch and leg were gone, but his wallet was on the nightstand on his side of the bed. Suddenly, there was a knock at her door.
“Miss Carter? Are you awake?” Mr. Jarvis’ voice rang clear and strong as always through the wood, and Peggy couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s polite manner and carrying voice.
“Yes Mr. Jarvis. I am. Hold on a second.” Peggy scrambled out of bed and found a dressing robe, throwing it on and tying the knot before opening the door. On the other side stood her friend, casually dressed (for him) in dark slacks, white button up, black shoes, and an emerald green tie she recognized as the one she and Daniel had given him for his birthday a month previous. “Hello.” Peggy greeted warmly.
“Hello Miss Carter.” Mr. Jarvis replied, smiling.
“Will you ever get around to calling me Peggy one day Mr. Jarvis?”
“You do not call me Edwin, Miss Carter. I do believe it’s customary for an exchange in name calling in this particular social occurrence.” Mr. Jarvis returned, making Peggy roll her eyes,
“Fine, Edwin, will you ever get around to calling me Peggy?”
“Yes, Peggy, I believe I will. Now, I came to fetch you for breakfast. Would you like to change or do you want to come straight on down, as Mr. Stark would put it. It’s just family.” Peggy felt her heart warm up at the sound of the word ‘family’. She did have a family. An odd family, but a family none the less.
“I believe I shall just come on down.” Peggy responded, taking the arm Edwin offered. “Have you seen my missing boyfriend Edwin?” she inquired, remembering suddenly that she had no clue where Daniel was, although she knew it was somewhere on the grounds.
“Yes, in fact I do. He and Ana made breakfast together. She taught him how to prepare a traditional Hungarian breakfast, along with eggs and some other delightful items. They’re currently in the breakfast room.”
When they arrived at one of the doors to the aforementioned room, they heard a heated debate being exchanged between Howard and… Ana?
“All I’m saying is…”Howard began as they opened the door.
“No! Semmiképpen. Not ‘appening. Not this morning.”
“You were fine with making eggs when Daniel asked!” Howard countered. Peggy and Jarvis gave each other a questioning look and turned back to the scene before them. Daniel was sitting on one of the side chairs, looking like he wanted to be swallowed whole by the floor. Ana and Howard were at opposite ends of the table, Ana flustered and annoyed, Howard affronted as usual.
“Yes, because he was polite and helped me a great deal with breakfast, and also,” Ana leaned forward, although it didn’t bring her much closer to Howard at all, the table was ten feet long after all. “Hungarians eat eggs for breakfast Mr. Stark. We do not tend to eat rum soaked cakes for our morning meals.” Daniel sighed and looked around the room, his face lighting up with relief and happiness when he saw Peggy and Edwin.
“Well I still believe…”
“Peggy you’re awake! Thank you so much for retrieving her Mr. Jarvis. Won’t you come sit with me Peg?” Daniel greeted, louder than was necessary. Howard huffed and slumped back in his chair, while Ana turned bright red and sat back down, flattening down the already flat table cloth, and putting on a cheery smile.
“Good morning Miss Carter. Please sit. Eat. Your lovely boyfriend here is a very skilled cook. I barely had to teach him anything. And such a polite man as always. Very gracious.” Peggy noted the blush on Daniel’s cheeks when she came over and accepted a quick kiss from him before sitting down.
“That’s just the type of man Daniel is.” Peggy said to Ana, smiling. It really was. “Mr. Ja…Edwin tells me you taught him about traditional Hungarian breakfast?” Ana’s smile widened and she turned to look at her husband, an indescribable joy in her eyes.
“Yes. He is a good student. Very interested in learning about my culture. It was nice to talk about the days before the war. Dig in, dig in. There are also eggs and a pastry called…I’m sorry Daniel, what was it called again?”
“Pasteis de Nata. It’s sort of like an egg tart.” Daniel replied, smiling back at his friend. “My grandmother used to make them on special occasions, and taught my father how to make them too. I guess I’m just feeling a bit…homesick.” Daniel finished, picking his coffee back up.
“Yes, I understand. I too sometimes miss Hungary and my childhood home. That is why I wanted to make a traditional breakfast this morning. Please, everyone, eat, eat.”
The table lapsed into a comfortable silence; everyone putting food on their plates and adding salt or pepper, pouring coffee and passing dishes. Peggy looked sideways at Daniel and blushed when she saw he was already looking at her. Being caught, in turn, made Daniel blush as well, and Peggy smiled, taking his left hand in hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. Ana asked the table what their plans were for the day, Edwin reminded Howard that the cage for the flamingo needed to be mended after ‘Last Thursday’s incident with the laser shooter.’, Daniel asked Ana more about her childhood, and Peggy felt a peace wash over her that she didn’t know she could ever feel again after the war.
The only thing that could make this more perfect was if Angie was there with them. She’d have to make a call later on.
Here was her odd little family, taken through the wringer more times than she would have liked, but still standing strong, still proud, still fighting.
As Howard once again broached the topic of whiskey soaked cakes to Ana, and a piece of cured meat flew across the table to land squarely in the middle of his forehead, Peggy rested her head on Daniel’s shoulder, smiling when she felt his head rest on top of hers.
It was a strange little family, but to her they were perfect.
The End.