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Sharon receives a phone call at 8 in the morning from the care facility her Grandaunt Peggy is staying in. She’s aching and exhausted after the battle with Loki, who returned to Earth with the Tesseract trying to finish what he had started.
The Avengers assembled once again with the rebuilt S.H.I.E.L.D. as backup.
In the end, Steve managed to grab the cube from Loki while Thor delivered the knockout blow to once again defeat his brother.
However, the thrilling events of the past 72 hours are completely overshadowed by the revelation coming from her cell phone.
“What do you mean my aunt’s young again?”
-|-|-
“Steve, what did you do?!”
Sharon called Steve as soon as she got off the phone with the facility. She always dreaded the day she would have to tell him when her aunt passed. This particular reason to call is unexpected but seemingly just as important.
Steve told Sharon he would be right over to the facility and for some reason was bringing Thor too.
“I might have made a wish on the Tesseract that could have had something to do with Peggy getting younger.”
Sharon thinks she very well might commit murder before the day’s through. “How could you?! You of all people know how powerful that thing is!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose, Sharon, I swear! Your aunt … she comes to mind a lot when I’m in extreme situations.”
Sharon knows he’s telling the truth. You think of the ones you love the most when you think you could die.
She takes pity on him and doesn’t argue anymore. She opens the door to her aunt’s room, hoping this wish has a fairy-tale ending.
-|-|-
“Lady Carter, your transformation wasn’t your choosing, but you do have the ability to choose whether you stay this way.”
“It’s reversible?” Peggy asks Thor.
“Aye. As the Captain held the Tesseract to make his wish, you would merely need to hold it to make a wish to return as you were.”
Return to being old and on the brink of death with a failing memory to add further insult? Her first instinct is the obvious one. To stay young.
But looking at Steve, who has experienced a similar sort of rebirth, tells her that the right decision is likely to be more complicated. She suspects she’ll still eventually make the obvious choice, but not until she’s faced all of the fallout that will come with it.
“Can you give me some time to consider everything?”
“Of course, my lady. I am a rainbow bridge away.”
-|-|-
“Wow, Mum. You two were a stunning pair.”
“Ang, really?”
“What, Ed? Are you complaining?”
“Of all the things to focus on …”
“Yes, I will focus on that. Mum was, uh, is gorgeous. And, well, Captain America. I mean, wow. Way to go, Mum.”
Steve wishes the ground would swallow him whole right now. Peggy just looks smug.
“Our mother is young again,” Ed says. “This is a lot to take in.”
“Yes, young and healthy.” Ang looks at Peggy. “You are, right? Your memory …”
“Yes, dear. The doctors have studied and tested and even poked me some. There’s no dementia.”
Ang gets misty-eyed at the news. “As surprises go, Ed, this is probably the greatest we’ll ever get.”
His sister’s right. Ed softens at the realization. “You’re a vision, Mum. It’s a miracle. I’m sorry I’ve been so difficult about this.”
“Oh, Edwin. I don’t blame you for being cautious. You’re just like the man you’re named after in that way.” She squeezes her son’s hand, then hugs her daughter. “And you, Angela, remain as free-spirited as your Aunt Angie.”
Peggy steps back to take in the sight of both her children. Her 60-something-year-old children. The people they are named after, her dearest friends, have been dead for several years.
For the past several hours, she’d been able to ignore her actual age.
The reality of the situation crashes on her.
-|-|-
“What do you think your father would say about all of this?”
Angela doesn’t quite understand the question. “About you being young again?”
Peggy nods.
“I’m sure he’d be sad he never got the chance as well, but you know he’d be thrilled for you, Mum.”
She smiles at the memory of her husband. “I would love for your father to be here with me. I would throw myself into this new life with him, no question.”
“That would be wonderful, Mum,” Ed says. “Of course, that would be great. But, honestly, why are you so hesitant even without Dad? This is an incredible opportunity. You wouldn’t be alone in this life. You have us, Sharon and the other cousins, and Captain Rogers seems to be –”
“Ohhh,” the siblings suddenly say in unison. They look hard at their mother.
“You’re worried about you and Captain Rogers,” Angela accuses.
“You don’t really think being with him would have upset Dad?” Ed asks.
“It’s not the primary concern, no,” Peggy answers, because it really isn’t (it’s a close second or third ). “What I am worried about is you two.”
They show their confusion.
“Darlings, should I actually live long enough to see my children pass?”
Angela and Ed are stunned .
For all of two seconds. “Yes!”
Peggy looks at them in disbelief.
“Mum, I’m sure it’s sad to think about seeing us die,” Angela says, “but that’s still quite a long ways away.”
“Hopefully.”
“Yes, Ed. Hopefully. And, well, maybe this was all meant to be.”
“In what way?” Peggy asks.
“I’ve been divorced twice, and Edwin lost Patricia. Neither of us got around to having children. We really only have each other, and that’s fine now that we have retirement savings and are still healthy, but when things finally do start declining for us …”
“We’ll likely be too old to help the other,” Ed finishes for his sister.
Peggy had never thought about the reality her children faced as childless adults. She had been so consumed by her own aging and only worried that they had adequate savings to support themselves. Being a parent wasn’t for everyone, and Peggy never wanted to be the kind of mother who pushed her children into it. But now she starts to cry thinking about the difficulties they would face late in life.
“Oh, no. Mother, don’t,” Angela hugs her.
“We’re sorry, Mum,” Ed says. “I know having to take care of us all over again isn’t quite appealing –”
“Hush, Edwin,” Peggy says quietly but sternly. “I happily took care of you two the first time.” She wipes her tears and strengthens her voice. “I could do it again.”
-|-|-
“Good lord. Does anyone stay dead anymore?”
Bucky walks toward her with the same swagger she remembers. His hair is longer though, and he seems to have grown fond of leather in the 21st century.
“I could ask the same about staying old, sweetheart,” Bucky says.
“Barnes, remember the last time you called me sweetheart?”
Bucky slows his walk and stops an arm’s length away from Peggy. “My wrist hurt for a week.”
He pretends to still be sore about the memory. She sees through him though and throws her arms around him. “Oh, James. I’m so glad he has you back.”
Bucky doesn’t know what to do with his hands. Peggy’s as tough as they come, but he can’t help but want to protect her from the metal arm.
“Barnes, hug me proper.”
Steve snickers. Bucky glares but does as Peggy says.
“If you say so, ma’am. I was taught to respect my elders.”
Instead of the smack to the head he expects, she squeezes him tighter and sniffles.
“Hey, what’s the matter? What’s with the waterworks?” He pulls back to look at her.
“You’re alive. I should,” she stutters, “I should have looked for you.”
“Don’t do this. I get enough of it from the idiot over there,” Bucky says motioning to Steve, who is holding himself back.
When Peggy said she wanted to talk to Bucky, he had a feeling this was the direction things would go. “Peg, he’s right. Don’t do this to yourself. Neither one of us could have known.”
She looks back at Steve. “And how long did it take you to accept that fact?”
He doesn’t look directly at her and speaks haltingly. “I still, probably, don’t really accept it. No.”
“Damn it, Steve. Not helping right now,” Bucky says. He looks at Peggy, then looks back at Steve. “You two are just as overstuffed with nobility as you ever were.”
Steve looks a bit guilty, but Peggy’s about to start a fight. “No! Don’t you dare,” Bucky stops her before she says a word. “I’m not having this conversation now or ever. Against all of the odds in our line of work, the three of us are alive and healthy and hotter than ever in 2015.”
To prove his point, he makes a show of checking out the length of Peggy’s body. Steve throws a magazine at him.
“Pal, you’re lucky I’m with Natasha or I would not hesitate to take Peggy out dancing.”
“We should still go,” Peggy says.
Bucky looks at her questioningly.
“Let’s go out tonight. Dinner and dancing. I want to give these new-old legs a try. Plus, this one,” she tilts her head to Steve, “still owes me a dance.”
As if the missed dance was due to a scheduling mix-up. Steve gives her a knowing smile.
“Tonight’ll work,” he says. “Better late than never.”
-|-|-
The band plays something slow.
He still steps on her toes.
-|-|-
“Sharon, darling, why didn’t you and Steve ever date?”
Steve nearly does a spit take and chokes on his water. Peggy doesn’t blink and simply hands him a napkin.
“Oh, God. Aunt Peggy, really?”
“Well, you two work together. You get along -”
“Okay, um,” Sharon interrupts. “I never thought I’d ever tell you this since your health was failing and I just didn’t want to burden you in case you took this poorly.” She takes a deep breath. “But I’m a lesbian.”
Sharon looks down to delay seeing whatever look is on her aunt’s face. She loves and admires her so much. The possibility this news would be upsetting is overwhelming.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” she hears Peggy ask.
Sharon’s shocked by the simple question. “You’re not …”
“I’m a little annoyed you didn’t tell me sooner, but that’s it.” Peggy is radiant with the smile she gives her niece.
Steve bumps his shoulder into Sharon to get her attention and give her an encouraging smile of his own.
“So, girlfriend, you were asking about,” Sharon starts to say, trying to get her mouth and brain working right again, “not exactly. But Natasha’s been trying to set me up.”
She turns to Steve. “Remember Lillian from accounting?”
Steve almost spits out his water again but recovers enough to swallow and respond. “With the lip-piercing?”
“Yeah! We’ve got a date Friday.”
“That’s wonderful, dear,” Peggy says. “I hope it goes well.”
They go about eating some more of their lunch. Peggy waits until Steve’s drinking from his cup again. “You know, I think I’d like getting my lip pierced.”
Steve fully spits on his food.
-|-|-
“You want to catch a movie?” Steve asks Peggy.
“I’d love to. It’s been so long since I’ve been to a theater.”
“Yeah, about that …”
-|-|-
They’re watching the scene with Colonel Phillips driving the Red Skull’s vehicle trying to catch up to the massive airplane. Hayley Atwell in the back seat shouts “Wait!”
Chris Evans turns around to face her with a questioning look. She pulls the man into a sweet kiss. “Go get him,” she tells him after.
The young man turns to the gruff actor playing Colonel Phillips. “I’m not kissing ya!” Tommy Lee Jones proclaims.
“CUT!”
Peggy and Steve have been watching the actors perform this scene several times. The director seems to be trying different kisses for the moment. One take had the actors kissing for quite long. In another, the kiss was merely a peck on the lips. In yet another, there was definitely some tongue action.
The director looks in their direction. He seems hesitant but comes to a decision. “That’s lunch. I think we have enough to move on.”
He gets up and makes his way to Steve and Peggy. “Captain, Ms. Carter. I hope you’re enjoying your day on set.”
“It’s been quite an experience so far,” Peggy says.
“Both of you have had such incredible lives. We just want to do the story justice.”
Director Joe Johnston pauses and stares for a moment at Peggy. “If I may be so bold, you look incredible for a 95-year-old.”
“Yes, well, this,” Peggy motions a hand up and down her body, “is a fairly recent development.”
“Similarly strange things have happened,” the director says as he looks to the captain, who is back from the dead and every bit the impressive young man he read about in history books. He’s starting to have serious doubts he can pull off a movie that really would do justice to the extraordinary lives of these two.
He shakes himself out of his thoughts. “Can I ask a favor of you two, since I have you here on set?”
They nod.
“Well, that kiss before you leap on the plane, I want to get it right since it’s the only kiss between you two.”
Steve scrunches his face. “The only one?”
“Yes, it’s the only confirmed kiss we have on record.”
“Phillips never could get over it,” Peggy tells Steve. “He was sympathetic and saddened by your death, but he was still very outraged by our behavior. ‘There’s no kissing in war!’ he’d said till his dying day.”
Steve huffs. “We were more careful than I thought if that was the only kiss he ever complained about.”
“That wasn’t your first kiss?” the director asks.
“God, no,” Peggy says. “Our status as a couple wasn’t a secret, and the ’40s weren’t as demure as people today seem to believe. Styles of clothing might change, but the steps in falling in love are fairly consistent through time.”
Steve and Peggy stare at each other for a long stretch. Given the subject they’re addressing, the director assumes they’re both recalling their kisses from the past.
He clears his throat to get their attention again. “But what about this particular kiss?” The director waves his hand toward the set. “Do you remember how that one went?”
“Everything happened really quickly,” Steve says. “She definitely surprised me with it, I’ll give her that.”
Peggy has no regrets about initiating the kiss under such trying circumstances, but she too can’t recall exactly how the kiss went. “How about, Mr. Johnston, you surprise us?”
Steve nods in agreement. “But maybe don’t use the one with us using tongue. I’m pretty sure we didn’t want to give Phillips a heart attack while he was driving the car.”
-|-|-
They decide to eat lunch from the craft services and mill about the set while it’s not completely occupied.
“I can’t imagine seeing all of this is easy for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Seeing the war, your crash in the ice, even Project Rebirth … seeing it all recreated.”
Steve does a quick scan of the props and scenery. “I can keep it in perspective. It helps that they can’t be 100 percent accurate. Red Skull’s face was never that dark shade of red.”
Peggy snorts a laugh.
“How about you?”
She shrugs. “According to Hollywood, I was merely your love interest in the war. Not quite in the fight with you. I’m not in many of the battle scenes with the Howlies.”
Steve honestly is pained by that. “How bad was it?”
“Bad?”
“Being known as my love interest. Back then.”
Peggy doesn’t need any more clarification. She looks down at the coffee going cold in her hands. “It was quite difficult at first. After you’d gone. Not only was I dealing with your death, but I was dealing with others’ beliefs that since I was Captain America’s girl, I must have received special treatment.”
She looks back up to Steve’s face. “Steve, even when the men were at their worst at the S.S.R., I never lost confidence in my abilities and in my desire to help others.”
Peggy moves closer to him. “Lucky I was so confident back then because despite the war, falling in love with you was the most joyous time of my life. And I would have never minimized or denied my feelings to satisfy the ignorance and insecurities of the men around me. I was damn proud to have been your best girl.”
Steve probably has the dopiest love-struck look on his face. It’s appropriate. “Peggy, can I kiss you?”
She gives him a sly smile. “I thought I’d grow old again before you’d ever ask.”
“Hilarious,” Steve says dryly. “You know what is getting old? These old jokes.”
She laughs. “Come on, soldier. Let’s show Hollywood how us old-timers did it back then.”
Their lips meet without hesitation, without any thought to their surroundings or their peculiar situation. They’re together again, and the kiss helps right the wrong that was their separation. This is what should have been.
And can be again.
-|-|-
They meet their doppelgangers before they leave for the evening. The actors still have more work to do, but Peggy and Steve don’t want to overstay their welcome.
“Captain Rogers, sir, it’s an honor,” Chris says. He looks terrified.
“Son, there’s no need to be nervous. From what I could tell, you’re doing a fine job portraying me.”
“If I didn’t know any better,” Peggy says, “I would have thought you had a bit of the super serum in you. Your presence on camera and your athleticism are quite impressive.”
“You must be mistaking his stuntman for him,” Hayley says. “Chris is just ugly. I’m not sure how he got this role.”
Chris rolls his eyes but loosens up. “You weren’t complaining when I had my shirt off for the transformation scene.”
“Oh, you mean when I touched your chest? That was completely historically accurate.”
Chris is surprised and looks to Peggy and Steve for confirmation.
Steve shrugs. “Don’t look at me. I wasn’t quite all there when I first left the tube. Peggy could have groped me thoroughly and I wouldn’t have been aware.”
“Of all the things to remember,” Peggy groans. “I bet it was that nurse! I wouldn’t believe everything you read in that seedy tell-all, Ms. Atwell.”
“But she got the groping right?”
“Yes, Steve. But it wasn’t a grope. I just poked you!”
“Sure you did, Peg.”
Chris and Hayley are star-struck and entranced by the couple. “Can we get a picture with you two?” Hayley asks.
Steve gives them an apologetic look. “I’m afraid we can’t. We don’t want to broadcast too widely that Peggy is young again. This, um,” he looks down for a second, “this might not be permanent.”
The actors don’t know what to say. The story of these two was tragic already. If there’s a sequel, they hope they get to show them reuniting for good.
“We should be getting back to the set,” Chris says.
Hayley nods. “Like Chris said, it was an honor to meet you two.”
They shake hands and part. Chris and Hayley huddle next to each other as they walk away. “I can’t believe it was really them!” Hayley poorly whispers.
“They seem like nice kids,” Steve says.
Peggy gives him a disbelieving stare.
“What?” he asks.
“You’re calling them kids? And don’t think I missed you calling Mr. Evans ‘son.’ ”
“We’re 95.”
“I’m 95. You’re practically their age.” She reaches for his hand. “Your time in the ice doesn’t count.”
“Trust me. It certainly doesn’t feel that way.”
The light-heartedness leaves her voice. “Has it been this way the whole time you’ve been awake?”
Steve can’t look at her but holds on to her hand a bit tighter. “Yeah. It has.”
-|-|-
Doctor Doom attacks the next day.
Peggy remembers meeting the man years ago. He told her to call him “Victor.”
She watches all of the security camera monitors and news coverage. By her count, Steve almost dies an even dozen times.
When the ominous 13th time approaches, Steve finally shorts out Doom’s latest source of power.
Peggy makes her decision.
-|-|-
“Daniel would have loved Instagram. He was getting very good at photography before his death.”
Steve’s lying in a hospital bed. Nothing was broken in the battle, but he’s basically a breathing bruise at the moment.
Peggy pulls out a photo from her purse and hands it to him. “This was the last photo he took of us. He managed to take it ‘selfie’ style even before the word existed.”
The image is a bit soft but the color’s held up fairly well. “No offense, Peg. But he’s making the goofiest face ever.”
Peggy’s all fondness. “He would tell people it was entirely on purpose. But, really, he hit the button by accident, and it was the last of the film.”
Steve hands her back the photo. “That was taken on our vacation to Texas. He would die on his first mission back.”
“I’m sorry, Peggy.”
She stares at the image. “We knew the dangers of our work, but we were too dedicated and thought it too important to ever stop, even when we had children. But we made a deal. We would never go on a mission at the same time. One was always at home with the children. Even when they reached adulthood, we stuck with that plan. We were prepared for the worst. Or so I thought.”
Peggy looks at Steve. “I had already endured it once with you, and there I was losing another great love. Watching you fight today made me realize that your wish brought me back just to endure your early death again.”
Steve feels a wave of shame. His selfishness has forced the woman he loves to face impossible choices. He hates that he’s caused her such pain, but at the same time, he’s praying that she’s not telling him goodbye.
“I’ve lived an incredible life, Steve,” she continues, “and I wasn’t lying when I said my only regret is that you didn’t get to live yours. To be more accurate, I meant your life with me.”
Steve looks up, daring to hope.
“I know what you’ve been thinking, and yes, you were quite selfish making that wish with the cube. But, you see, what I’ve been most afraid of admitting this entire time since becoming young again is that if I had had a chance with the cube, I would have wished the same thing.”
They remain silent for a moment, letting Peggy’s revelation sink in. Steve tries to collect himself and choose his next words carefully.
“I can’t guarantee I’ll survive every battle, Peg.”
“Promise me one thing, and we can finally move forward together.”
Steve nods.
“You’ll try harder this go-around. Not only will you try harder to survive every battle, but you will try harder to actually live a good life when you’re not fighting.”
Steve’s smile is open and bright. “I promise.”
Peggy grabs his hand. “And I promise the same. The rest we’ll figure out together.”
-|-|-
Peggy is absolutely gorgeous. Her white dress hugs her perfectly and long brown locks fall freely in waves on her shoulders.
Steve doesn’t look too bad himself in a dark-blue, lightly pinstriped suit with angles and cuts that were fashionable in the ’40s. He’s quite “retro cool bordering on vintage sexy,” according to Tony.
“Steve, get your camera phone out.”
“Peg, if we don’t hurry, we’re going to miss the beginning of the movie premiere.”
“There’s plenty of time. Come on, it’ll be quick.”
He takes out his phone and gets cheek-to-cheek with Peggy. “No funny faces this time. One, two, three!”
She swipes the phone from his hands before he can check the picture. “No re-dos. This is going straight on Twitter.”
When Peggy’s done, she hands back his phone so he can finally see that, yes, she made a funny face again.
The photo’s caption: “Found this ugly guy.”
Ugly guy rolls his eyes and tucks his phone away.
Before Peggy starts to walk down the red carpet, Steve grabs her. “Peg, wait.” He looks deep into the eyes of this amazing, fearless woman. “There’s something I have to ask you.”
Steve leans in close as if to kiss her, but instead brushes his lips against her ear. Peggy shivers. She can’t believe this is where he’s going to ask her to mar –
“How does a 96-year-old learn to use Twitter anyway?”
The 96-year-old is extremely unimpressed. “Unbelievable,” she mutters. She shoves Steve out of the way to finally walk down the red carpet.
“Seriously, Peg! Can you even see the keyboard?! Do you need help using the emoticons?!!”
(In further retaliation, after the movie Steve would jump-scare Peggy so fantastically that her shouted expletive would echo in the theater. The video goes viral.)
-end-