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Peggy looked beautiful in red, her hair styled artistically and her lips painted scarlet.
“Hey,” Steve greeted softly.
“Hey,” Peggy greeted back.
It’s been unreal, being back in the 1940s. It’s been unreal, seeing Peggy.
He wondered what Tony would say. Would he be proud of Steve, finally settling down? He’d probably tease him and call him names again. Part of him wished he could hear Tony call him names again. He could, technically. He still had the time travel gear. He could break into the SHIELD facility and steal more Pym particles and then he could go back to when Tony was still alive. He could go back to before they left on the Time Heist. Or before the Avengers broke up, before Ultron.
He could see his friend again.
But no, he’s happy what he has right now. The love of his life in his arms, the world outside quiet and devoid of the high tech electronics and technology that Steve never quite understood, but not devoid of people the way it was after Thanos’ snap.
“What are thinking, Steve?” Peggy asked quietly.
Steve shook his head. “You know I can’t tell you.”
Peggy moved her head to rest against his chest, hiding her eyes from him. Steve frowned.
“I know.” She said softly.
They swayed a bit to non-existential music, just him with his arms around her, her hands at his back and her head on his chest.
“I’m glad you’re here, Steve.”
“Me too.”
“What are you doing?” Steve asked, giving Peggy a peck on the cheek.
“Nothing, really.” She murmured, moving the files she was looking at out of sight. “You know I can’t tell you.”
Steve was so proud of himself, he didn’t even frown. “I get it. Do you want something to eat?”
Peggy raised an eyebrow. “Are you offering to cook?”
Steve smiled. “I might not be able to tell you much about the future, but I could show you some future cuisines. Or well, foreign cuisines, more like.”
Peggy smiled back at him and he felt his chest warm. Then he gave him to his curiosity and glanced at the files Peggy was reading through. A familiar logo was stamped in the corner. SHIELD.
Peggy moved the files away once she realized where he was looking at. “I’m looking forward to it, chef Steve.” She said teasingly, “Show me your skills, Rogers.”
Steve blinked away the emerging frown and smiled at her. “Prepare to be blown away by my chow mein, though I might have to substitute the noodles with pasta. I’ll figure it out.” He said optimistically, but his mind was still on the familiar logo and his part in the fall of SHIELD, half a century later.
The memories of SHIELD and HYDRA remained on Steve’s mind, even weeks later. Then Peggy proposed a move to the West Coast.
“Come on, Steve, it’ll be great.” Peggy tried to convince him.
But how could he explain that he didn’t want her to be involved in SHIELD, knowing the rampant HYDRA infestation that will become apparent in less than ten years? How could he explain that here in Washington, in the government where HYDRA had not yet touched, he could guarantee her safety and the safety of their future family?
How could he tell her that her life’s work will be destroyed at his hands in 50 years?
“You’re always like this.” Peggy said, eyes blazing, suddenly bringing Steve out of his thoughts and his worries. “If you have something to say, spit it out. Don’t leave me hanging.”
Steve looked into the eyes of the woman he loved. He feels a tug fierce affection for her in his chest, and he knew that he would follow her wherever she went, but he couldn’t force the words out of his mouth.
For a minute, the two of them stood in a standstill, neither speaking, waiting, for the other to take the first step.
“Fine.” Peggy said. “You’ve changed, Steve. I don’t know how long it’s been for you since you went into the ice, but you’re not the Steve Rogers I loved.”
“It’s not like that-”
“You know that SHIELD is my life’s work! Everything work comes up you go quiet but you won’t talk to me.”
And really, what could Steve say to that?
Sometimes my teammates don’t tell me things.
You knew?
He should’ve seen this coming. They never would’ve worked.
They were simply too different.
By now, Peggy would have left the apartment and be on her way to her new post. Steve will still be nursing a glass of expensive alcohol he couldn’t get drunk from.
Damn, he thought, downing the shot in one gulp. What wouldn’t he give for some of Tony’s alcohol concoction. He didn’t really get to enjoy that buzz since he got the serum. He didn’t really drink before it either. His health was too fragile to risk it with stuff like this. Now this stuff wouldn’t even affect him.
“Hey, man, why look so glum?”
Steve stiffened in his seat. Was that-?
Howard Stark, slightly tipsy and flushed approached Steve. It was all he could do not to let his jaw drop.
Please don’t recognize me, Steve prayed. Peggy had made him dye his hair darker after he came back and he sported a beard that he really wasn’t qualified enough to comment on, but if there was anyone that would recognize him, it would be Howard.
Oh god, why now?
“Uh, hi?” Steve flushed in embarrassment.
The drunk inventor started speaking and Steve instinctively tuned him out.
It hurt too much to actually listen to him. Reminded him too much of the friend he lost. Will lose.
How does one go about talking to a dead friend of whom was- or will be- killed by one’s best friend, in which the hidden murder will be used to destroy a group of superheroes and end with one bashing the shield said dead friend made into his son?
Oh god, Bucky.
Steve knocked back another glass at the thought of his best friend in a HYDRA facility, tortured and brainwashed while he sat at a bar listening to Howard Stark ramble.
What was he thinking, coming back in time and staying here?
There was still one more use of the stuff. He was meant to go back to the future after all. He buried the gear in an airtight box in the yard, under the shed. For one thing, there was only one use left so anyone who go their hands on the gear would find themselves on a one-way trip into the future or the past, one of which is more disastrous than the other. Well, not really. An alternate future would be created, which was the whole point of Steve going back in time to put back the Stones. But the alternate universes wouldn’t end with just a random person out of place in time. It’s only when it’s big things like Infinity Stones going missing from a timeline that causes a major issue.
Still.
So Steve found himself listening to the radio, sitting in the living room he shared with Peggy just three days ago. Thoughts of Sam and Bucky waiting for him in the future.
If the world won’t end with his meddling, but only change and split, does that mean he could change things, and Sam and Bucky’s own universe wouldn’t be affected? Could he make a big enough change that he could create a world where Thanos loses?
He’s a fool, is all Steve could think, with Bucky Barnes holding a gun to his head in the middle of a HYDRA base in 1946.
“Bucky, please.” He said, pleaded, but there was no spark of recognition in his best friend’s eyes. It’s only been two years, three years maximum since HYDRA had Bucky. How have they managed to get such control over him. “It’s me, it’s Steve.” He pleaded again.
It had worked in the future, well after several fights and following him across half the world, but.
He really should have thought further ahead, or talked to Peggy.
Now he’s reaping the results of a harebrained plan and no back-up.
The ice cold eyes of the Winter Soldier was the last thing Steve saw before pain bloomed in the back of his head and everything went black.