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Peggy Carter doesn’t know what she’s doing here.
It’s Saturday, and the clock on the wall says 7:55.
She really, really has no idea why she’s here.
Steve isn’t going to show up, she knows this.
She stares down at the amber colored liquid in her glass.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Someone taps her on the shoulder, making her head jerk up.
She is not in the mood for this tonight.
She’s glad she’s sitting down, because she’s certain she would have fainted.
Peggy Carter stares into the face of a ghost.
“I’m looking for someone to dance with, and you look like you’d be a mighty fine partner.” Steve Rogers says, a glint in his soft blue eyes.
Peggy balks, her mouth feeling dry.
She wordlessly accepts Steve’s outstretched hand, allowing him to lead her to the dance floor.
She’s stunning, Steve thinks.
Her dress is a deep navy, made of the finest silk, and her hair is pulled up and out of her beautifully painted face in a glittering clip.
Steve has never seen a woman as beautiful as she looks right now.
Well. Always, really.
His hand rests lightly on her lower back, the other one clasping hers as they sway to the music.
“How are you here?” She can’t say anything else. There’s nothing else she could even say.
Steve lets out a small, tired laugh. “It’s complicated.” He sighs.
“Isn’t that a little cliche?” Peggy raises her eyebrows.
“I suppose it is.” He shakes his head.
Peggy takes a good look at him.
This Steve isn’t her Steve.
He looks tired, worn down.
This Steve holds too many secrets.
She doesn’t even know where to begin.
“Look, Peggy,” Steve finally says. “I know what you’re thinking. There’s... it’s a lot.” He shakes his head. “I know you have a million questions. And I know you’re going to be mad, but I can’t tell you.
“I can’t tell you anything. I know what this must seem like. Trust me, I know what it’s like to look a dead man in the eye.”
Peggy swallows thickly and cups Steve’s stubbly cheek.
He’s so lovely he takes her breath away.
She doesn’t know what to say.
The Steve Rogers in front of her carries the weight of the world in his shoulders.
This Steve Rogers has seen the unseeable.
“You look tired, Steve.” She says, her voice soft.
Steve shorts a laugh through his nose, ducking his head. “I’m exhausted.” He admits.
“Why’d you come? You almost died. Did Howard get you out?”
He heaves a sigh, shaking his head.
“No. Howard didn’t get me out. He doesn’t know I’m here. That I’m alive.”
“What? That doesn’t even make sense.” Peggy frowns. “If Howard didn’t get you out, then how did you get here?”
“I said it’s complicated.” Steve shakes his head again. “I had to come here, Peggy. I made a promise to you. I couldn’t not follow through on that.”
There’s so much left unsaid, and Peggy doesn’t know how to respond to that.
She doesn’t get it.
She doesn’t know what’s going on and she fucking hates it.
“I need you to promise me something, okay?” Steve suddenly looks serious.
Well. More serious than normal.
“Steve.” Peggy sighs, shaking her head. “Promise is too big of a word right now.”
“Peggy, please.” His eyes are pleading. “I know you can’t promise much, but can you please promise me this?”
“Alright.” She finally says, shoulders slumping in defeat. “Okay, yes. I can promise you. What is it?”
“You can’t tell anyone about this. You can’t tell anyone I was here. As far as everyone knows, I’m dead. You need to keep it that way.”
“What?” She scoffs, fave turning red with anger. “No. I can’t do- no! That’s not fair. You’re talking like you’re leaving.” Leaving me, she doesn’t bother to add.
“I am. Leaving, I mean.” It pains Steve to say this.
He doesn’t want to leave.
He should stay.
But he can’t.
He knows what Peggy’s destined for.
He can’t get in the way of her future.
He knows what Bruce said about the rules of going back in time, and he’s taking a huge risk just by being here.
“I’m not even supposed to be here.”
“Steve, what does that even mean? What are you talking about? We made plans to meet, of course you’re supposed to be here.” She shakes her head, eyebrows furrowed.
“It’s-“
“Complicated. I know.” She sounds annoyed now.
“Peggy, please promise me you won’t tell anyone. I don’t have much time.”
She wants to say, ‘no, Steve. I can’t promise you this because I know what it means. I don’t want you to go. I don’t want to lose you again.’
“Okay.” She breaks. “I won’t tell anyone.” Her watery brown eyes flick up to Steve’s and he knows she’s sincere.
A strange beeping comes from Steve, and he pulls an odd device from the inside pocket of his nice jacket.
“I have to go now.” He says with a sigh, and she sees the pain in his eyes.
She knows what he means.
He’s leaving for ggood this time.
“Will I ever see you again?” She sniffles, a few tears spilling down her face.
Steve hesitates before nodding. “Of course. You’re my best girl.” He winks at her.
She lets out a tearly laugh, sniffling again.
“I’m going to miss you.” She says sadly.
“I know.” He says, swallowing thickly.
“But it’ll be okay, I promise. You’re going to be just fine without me.”
“And how do you know that?” She wipes at her eyes.
“I just do.” He says with finality before kissing her.
It’s slow and sweet and it’s filled with all of the things Steve can’t say.
“Alright.” He says as he pulls away. “I gotta go. For real this time.”
Peggy nods, pressing her lips together so she won’t cry any more. “Can I walk you out?”
Steve gives her a small smile and nods, wrapping his arm around her as they walk out of the Stork Club.
“I’m sorry I’m not the greatest dance partner.” He breaks the tense silence.
“Well you didn’t step on my feet, so I think you did just fine.”
Steve laughs lightly and Peggy hears the beeping again.
It’s time.
“You’ll be okay.” Steve promises. “You told me that the best thing we can do is start over.” He winks at her, walking off down the street.
He vanishes in an instant, and Peggy’s left wondering when the hell she ever said that.
————
“Where is he?” Sam tries to keep the panic out of his voice as he looks at Bruce.
“I don’t know.” Bruce’s heart rate skyrockets and he starts quickly typing into his computer. “He should be back by now.”
“I know. So where the helk is he?”
“Sam.” Bucky says gently, making Sam whip his head to glare at Bucky.
Bucky nods toward the bench in front of the lake and he can’t help the tears that sprint to his eyes.
“Go on.” He says to Sam, his voice breaking.
Sam’s feet move on their own accord, carrying him to where Steve is sitting.
He looks exactly the same as he did when he left.
“Steve.” Sam breathes as he takes him in.
“On your left.” Steve smirks.
“You jackass.” Sam laughs out, feeling the back of his eyes prickle with unshed tears. “Not go get sappy on you, but when you didn’t come back right away, I thought you were a goner. I didn’t wanna have to deal with Barnes by myself.”
“I like to think I was fashionably late.”
Sam rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling. “So what’s wrong? If there’s one thing I know, it’s that your dramatic ass likes to deliver bad news in nice, scenic places.”
Steve laughs, glancing across the water.
“I saw Peggy.” He diverts the topic. “We finally got to have that dance we’ve been waiting for.”
“And was it worth waiting seventy years for?”
“Yeah.” Steve smiles wistfully. “Yeah, it was. It was worth every second.”
“So what now?” Sam’s bracing himself for the inevitable but.
“I’ve been fighting my whole life, Sam.” Steve now sounds as old as he is. “I was sick all the time when I was younger. I was fighting off pretty much every illness you can think of. I was kind of a little shit back then too.”
“Well I guess some things never change.” Sam smirks.
Steve laughs, ducking his head. “I guess so.” He smiles. “I was fighting when I was in the army, I was fighting when I woke up from being under the ice, and I was fighting until three days ago. Do you know what over eighty years of fighting does to a person?”
Sam knows Steve isn’t looking for an answer, but he shakes his head anyways.
“I’m tired, Sam. I’m tired of fighting.” Steve sighs.
Sam nods in understanding.
Steve is so so strong for doing it for this long.
“So tell me this. How the hell did you get all the way over here instead of being spit out of the time machine again?”
“It spit me back out two hours ago. That bought me enough time to make my dramatic entrance.”
“Yeah, of course it did.”
Steve laughs lightly, giving Sam a fond smile.
“So what’s the catch?”
“Catch with what?”
“Steve. No bullshit, okay?”
Steve looks down at his shield wistfully before handing it to Sam.
Sam furrows his eyebrows in confusion.
Steve watches him with uncertainty and Sam’s eyes widen with the realisation of what this means.
“Steve-“
“Try it on.” Steve smiles.
Sam’s mouth goes dry as he holds the shield up, his arm sliding through the leather straps.
It fits like a glove.
“How does it feel?” Steve asks curiously.
Sam looks damn good holding it.
“Like it’s someone else’s.”
“It’s not.” Steve smiles, his heart swelling with pride.
“Steve, I don’t know about this.”
“I do.” Steve promises. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some unfinished business I need to take care of.” He glances over to Bucky, who waves to them.
Sam gives a knowing smile, nodding.
“Buck.” Steve calls out as he walks towards Bucky.
“Steve.” Bucky grins, practically sprinting over to Steve.
He pulls him into a bone crushing hug, tucking his face into Steve’s neck.
“I thought you were leavin’ me.” Bucky’s throat Is thick with emotion.
“Why would I leave you? I just got you back.” Steve’s eyes water as he just holds Bucky in his arms. “Five years is a long time to be without you.”
“Five years is nothin’. You were without me for over seventy.” Bucky points out.
Steve’s heart clenches and he sniffles.
“Well you better get used to having me around, ‘cause I’m not leaving.”
“Are you crying?” Bucky gives a watery laugh as he pulls back to look at Steve.
“No way.” Steve chokes out, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Are you?”
“No.” Bucky sniffles, smiling through his tears.
“You sure about that?”
“On second thought. Maybe I am. I just remembered I’m going to have to live out the rest of my life with you being a pain in my ass.”
“That’s funny. You’ve never complained about that before.” Steve winks.
“Hey.” Sam calls out, making his way over to the pair. “You two lovebirds done?”
Bucky rolls his eyes, gesturing to the shield. “Nice frisbee.” He quips.
“Yeah. I’m the captain now.”
“Steve, did you really think this one through?” Bucky groans.
Steve lets out a laugh, his fingers laving with Bucky’s.
“Trust me, I thought it through. We’re going to be just fine.”