"Steve is that you are you alright?" Peggy said, thrilled and terrified to hear him.
"Schmidt's dead." Steve replied.
"Give me your coordinates I'll find you a safe landing sight."
"There's not going to be a safe landing, but I can try and force it down." He said.
"I'll get Howard on the line He'll know what to do." Peggy replied, sounding scared.
"No there's not enough time. This things moving fast and it's heading for New York." He paused. "I gotta put her in the water."
"Please don't do this w-we have time we can work it out." Peggy stuttered.
"Right now I'm in the middle of nowhere; if I wait any longer a lot of people are going to die."
"Peggy, this is my choice." He reassured her. He set his compass down, looking at her picture before forcing the plane down.
"Peggy, I'm going to need a rain check on that dance." He said. She let a few tears fall before answering.
"Alright. A week next Saturday at the Stork Club."
"You got it."
"Eight o'clock on the dot, don't you dare be late." Her voice was choking up now. "Understood?"
"You know I still don't know how to dance."
"I'll show you how just be there."
"We'll have the band play something slow, I'd hate to step on your-." His coms cut out, leaving only a static filled silence.
"Steve?" Peggy asked. "Steve?" A little louder this time, but their remained no answer. She bowed her head and let the silent tears fall.
Ooooo
The days passed by slowly and sadly for Peggy Carter. Howard was already planning a sea voyage to search for the wreckage of the Hydra ship, but she still felt as if it was all for nothing. She tried to sleep, but it mostly avoided her, and when she did she had wonderful dreams of the two of them dancing, but they only made her sadder and she tried to avoid them.
As Saturday rolled around she felt her dread deepen. She found herself thinking of the Stork Club, knowing she had waited long enough for the right dance partner, but also knowing that he would never come.
Yet still she went. She dressed in red, a signature color for the woman who always wore red lipstick, and went to the Club. She ordered a gin and tonic, but left it untouched. She just sat and watched the dance floor.
"Anything else, ma'am?" The bartender asked from behind the bar. She looked at him and shook her head.
"No thank you."
"Not going to dance tonight?" He asked, washing the counter with a damp rag.
"I'm waiting." She said. He quirked an eyebrow.
"For what?"
"The right partner." She glanced down at the gin and picked it up. Bottoms up, she thought as she downed the glasses contents. She sat for a while, watching the door and having some fleeting hope that Steve Rogers would walk in the door. But that didn't happen. She sighed and stood up.
"I guess dancing's not going to happen tonight." She said to the bartender.
"Are you alright? You seem, sad for lack of a better word." He inquired a worried look in his eyes.
"You're kind to ask, but I'm fine. I just, had a date."
"Well he's not one of the smart one's then, not showing up for someone so beautiful." He said. She smiled. It was small, but it was still a smile.
"I guess I'm just going to have to wait for the right partner a little longer." She smiled sadly.
"Well, you're not going to find him sittin' down, go, dance a bit, find that partner." He said enthusiastically.
"I'll try my luck again later." She said, walking away. As she stepped out into the rain, she let a tear roll down her cheek before she wiped it away, wanting to remember Steve in a better way, a happier way, just not through tears. She took a picture out of her pocket. It was before the serum, but it was still Steve. Her Steve. She clutched it to her chest.
"I'll live. You would want me to live." She said, crying again. She kissed the picture before she walked further, not glancing down as she let the picture fall onto the ground, quickly becoming wet in the drizzling rain before falling through a drainage grate. But she kept walking, never forgetting but never having sad memories come back to haunt her.
I hope you enjoyed!
Abby