November 15, 2010. Rogers family home, Louisiana

'Nana Peg, Nana Peg!' Elizabeth Margaret Rogers shouted, running into the room and skidding to a halt. She looked up, smiling when she saw her grandmother, heading towards her. 'Mummy says we can have mac and cheese for dinner.'

Margaret 'Peggy' Carter raised an eyebrow, looking past her excited granddaughter to Melissa, who stood behind her. 'Did she really?'

Melissa Rogers née Murdock rolled her eyes. 'I actually said we could have that tomorrow, Liz. We're having a roast tonight, like we do every year.'

Lizzie slumped slightly, pouting. Her father, Steven Chester Rogers Jr. poked his head around the corner, eyebrows raised. 'Is someone saying something against my cooking?'

Lizzie rolled her eyes, smiling up at her dad. 'Course not, daddy. But you know how much I like mac and cheese.'

Steven chuckled, glancing back into the kitchen and shrugging. He stepped into the living room, sitting down on the sofa and tugging his wife down after him. She leaned against him, the apparent lack of age difference making no difference to their affection. At 47, she had finally started to look older than her 66 year old husband. It mattered little to either of them but people in the media were starting to comment on it, pointing out the strangeness of the age gap they hadn't noticed before. Well, they had noticed, but it was old news and, recently, the press were getting to rehash it.

'Food is almost ready.' Steven said, wrapping his arm around Melissa's shoulder. 'Although why I have to cook on my own birthday, I have no idea.'

Melissa chuckled, hitting his chest. 'Because you enjoy it, Steve. Don't act like you don't."

He pouted slightly, opening his mouth to reply but Peggy raised an eyebrow and he stopped. Lizzie laughed, rocking back and forth slightly, holding onto her knees.

'Now, why don't we go sit down?' Peggy said, resting a hand on her granddaughter's shoulder. She pushed herself up, shooing her son away when she staggered. The other three stood, following her into the dining room and sitting down, Peggy and Steven on one side, Lizzie and Melissa facing them.

They chatted inanely until Steven stood to grab the food. With a nudge from her father, Lizzie jumped up to help him, skipping as she put the potatoes and gravy down in front of her grandmother. Peggy smiled up, still refined as ever, still managing to look like a queen. When all the food was set down, all four bowed their heads, Steven leading them in saying grace. Afterwards, they tucked in, grinning around at each other.

It was a time that was difficult to remember but impossible to forget. The last time she had been with her family, all of them together, before they died. The memory was seared into her brain but thinking back to it was devastating. That they should die and she should live seemed unfair, no matter how she looked at it.

She missed her family more than anything and felt like she was insulting them by refusing to think of their last minutes. But it was because she missed them that she couldn't remember. If she did, her heart would break.

When the family had finished their meal, Melissa and Lizzie cleared everything away and sat down with the others. Peggy looked around at her family before standing up.

'I'm making a speech.'

Steven groaned, trying to pull her down. He was blushing at the idea of his mother making a speech, knowing it would quickly lead to his embarrassment. 'No, mum. You don't have to.'

'I'm making a speech.' Peggy repeated, slapping his hand away. 'So be quiet.'

Lizzie giggled and Steven mock glared at her. The girl shrugged, still giggling. Her mother smiled beside her, winking at her husband.

'It's been almost seventy years since I found out I was pregnant, even if you don't show it.' Peggy said, placing her hand on Steven's shoulder. 'I won't lie and say I was incredibly happy about it. I had just started working at SSR and they weren't exactly happy to have a woman on the team. A pregnant woman, even less so.'

Steven muttered under his breath. 'Sorry, mum.'

Peggy smacked the back of his head lightly, shaking his head. 'Oh be quiet. I might not have been the happiest when I found out I was having you but when you were there, I couldn't be gladder. Everyone at SSR loved you, I think they actually liked me more after I had you. Howard adored you, he was so upset when he had to go away.'

Melissa smiled. 'That reminds me, Tony called. He wants us all round next week. Says he has something to tell us. Something important.'

Steven nodded, as if he already knew what Tony was going to tell them. Lizzie perked up at the idea of visiting Stark Mansion, knowing she'd get to see her friend again. She might even learn his name this time.

'Anyway.' Peggy said, causing her granddaughter to chuckle. 'As I was saying.'

What happened next happened so quickly. It was burned onto her memory like a brand. Ha, burned. It was almost ironic. No, it was definitely ironic.

It turned out, later on, that Tony was going to tell them about Howie. So she would have learnt his name. However, that wasn't the important bit. That was just what she used as a distraction, what stopped her crying when she thought about it.

Fire is one of those terrible things that is so easy to ignore, when you wish it was noticeable. The smell of burning you don't place until its too late, the bright light in the corner of your eye, the rising heat that sinks in slowly. It all leads to missing the fire, leaving it to destroy.

She hated it. Even more, she hated how she couldn't ignore those things anymore, was always conscious of them. Even when they weren't there.

'Like I said, everyone loved you. Even more so when they realised who your father was.'

Steven rolled his eyes at this. His wonderfully famous father, Captain America. It wasn't that he had anything against the man himself but the legacy, the looking shadow of greatness over his head. Steve Rogers Sr. was a good man and someone his son wished he could meet but Captain America always left a bad taste in Steve's mouth. It was probably one of the reasons he and Tony got on so well, despite the large age difference.

'They didn't believe me until you turned about five when it was clear to everyone who looked at you. I think until that point they thought I was just a harlot that was trying to ride on Steve's fame.'

The other three's faces darkened and Melissa placed a hand on Lizzie's arm. The girl looked sideways at her mother, grinning to show she wasn't really mad. Melissa smiled back, happy her daughter had never developed the vengeful tendencies she spotted in her husband from time to time.

'I didn't really care because you were the cutest little...can you smell that?'

The others looked up, eyes widening. Melissa stood, heading to the door into the living room.

'Steve! Grab the extinguisher!'

Steven sighed, standing up and moving towards the kitchen. Melissa came back in, her eyes rolling slightly.

'The curtains are on fire, nothing to worry about.' She said, chuckling. 'The lamp probably short circuited.'

'Again.' Lizzie smiled, biting her lip. Melissa glared mockingly and Lizzie's smile just widened.

SMASH!

All three turned, Steven rushing from the next room, holding the extinguisher. Several small spheres had flown in through the window, glowing ominously. Lizzie looked at Steven, whose eyes widened as he looked past her. She went to look and, as she did, he dashed forward, grabbing her and putting his body between his daughter and the spheres. The bombs.

Lizzie screamed as they exploded, heat surrounding the room. Steven let her go, taking her hand and looking across the room. Peggy joined them across the table, looking toward the wall.

The bombs hadn't sent out any force or shrapnel and the explosion hadn't seemed to break anything. It had just set on fire, leaving Melissa separated from the other three. Even as Steven grabbed the extinguisher, they all realised it was too late; the fire was spreading too fast. Melissa scowled, turning to the window.

'God damn them.' She whispered. Smacking the window frame, she looked back at the other three. 'Get to the bunker, I'm going to deal with them!'

'With who?!' Steven shouted, wrapping his arms around Lizzie to stop her running to her mother.

'Don't worry about it!' Melissa shouted back. 'Just go!'

Peggy and Melissa shared a look and nodded at each other. Lizzie tried to shove past Peggy but her grandmother grabbed her, pulling her away. Lizzie screamed after her mother but Melissa just grabbed a gun from the nearby cabinet- the family was nothing if not paranoid- and kicked her way out of the window, not even looking back.

That was the last time she saw her mother alive. Surrounded by flames, holding a weapon and heading out to fight. It was a good way to remember her, as a warrior, but it didn't make the lack of goodbye any less upsetting.

Melissa Rogers was the only member of the family who was actually in her grave. Her body had been found just outside the destroyed house, bruised and broken but still whole.

The Rogers-Carter funeral was mainly attended by people only related to that family by marriage. Only Peggy Carter's brother and niece represented Steven Rogers' blood relatives. Tony Stark had turned up, a young boy beside him, but both had disappeared before any questioned could be asked. No one even noticed the boy. The rest were Melissa's family. Her parents, her sister, her nephew and his friend.

That was it. A sad little funeral of nine people for the the family considered one of America's greatest.

Well, not nine people. She had waited to the side as the tenth, watching. She shouldn't have, the funeral was open casket, for Melissa at least. The rest only had ashes.

Her last real thought of her mother was her lying there, broken. She tried very hard to forget.

Steven grabbed Lizzie, pushing her behind him and running down the corridor after her. Lizzie tried to stop and run back for her mother but Peggy got in the way, dragging her granddaughter towards the stairs. There were three entrances to the bunker, installed when the last few members of HYDRA attacked Peggy when Steven was a baby. One was near the the base of the stairs, right in the centre of the house. The other two were on opposite sides of the house, one inside the walls, one outside them into the woods surrounding the property.

Steven froze, turning and holding his arms out. He managed to grab the other two before they ran into the falling debris. It was covering up the bunker entrance and Steven gritted his teeth as he stared at it, grabbing his daughters arm. He pulled her forward, running around the debris and heading for the western entrance.

They froze, skidding to the side as more debris fell in front of them. Peggy slammed into Steven's back, pushing him onwards and frowning slightly. She wasn't as quick as she used to be and the lowering oxygen levels were affecting her more than the others. She almost wished she had gone with Melissa, at least she might be useful outside.

'Move! Now!' She shouted when they froze again, this time at the fire in front of them. Steven grabbed Lizzie, slinging her over his back and darting right. Peggy followed them, slowing down as they sped up.

Something creaked above her and she jumped backwards, swearing as parts of the roof came down between her and the other two.

Lizzie looked back when she heard the swearing, her entire face dropping. 'Nana Peg!'

Steven turned and the look of pure fear on his face broke his mother's heart. She stared at him with wide eyes before steeling herself. It did them no good to stand there and have goodbyes.

'Get to the bunker. I'll head outside, find Melissa. I'll see you later, okay?'

'But mom...' Steven said, glancing at the debris as if trying to think of a way to move it. On his back, Lizzie screamed, gripping him tighter as more debris fell around them.

'Get moving.'

Peggy turned away then, walking away with her shoulders squared. She heard the other two shouting behind her but she refused to turn, starting to run. As she went, she had to force herself not to cry.

She had never found out what happened to her grandmother. SHIELD had conducted the investigation and the results required level 9 clearance and no one she knew had that. Her friend had offered to hack the system to find out but she had refused. She didn't want to find out through illegal means, didn't want SHIELD to mistrust her.

Her grandfather would be reaching level 9 soon enough and she could ask him then. As family, she deserved to know and she knew she could guilt him into telling him. She would feel bad about it but at least she would know.

She had solved one mystery about that night: who had started the fire. Of course, it didn't take much work on her part, as the culprits had captured her and then bragged about it. She had managed to beat them in an actual fight but she hadn't brought them to justice. They were dead, at least she assumed they were. No one could survive having a building dropped on them. Well, no one normal at least.

Steven held his daughter tighter as they raced through the house, so close to the bunker entrance. He skidded to a stop when he saw it, smiling despite himself.

'Come on, Liz, off you get.'

She froze slightly on his back, trying to grip his shirt tighter. He pried her fingers off, trying to smile at her as he lifted her to the ground. He opened the hatch, having to be careful not to hit Lizzie with the doors as she pressed herself to his side.

'Come on, in you get.' Steven muttered, not knowing if she could hear him over the flames. When she didn't move, he picked her up again and carried her into the bunker. He set her down and walked inside, closing the doors behind him.

'It's all right, Lizzie.' He said, bending down to wipe the tears from her eyes. 'We'll be safe down here.'

Lizzie looked up at him, eyes wide. 'But what about mommy and Nana Peg.'

Steven sighed, pulling his daughter into his chest. She began to sob and he shushed her, rubbing her back. 'I don't know, sweetie. I'm sorry. But we need to get to the other door. If we can get outside, we might be able to help.'

Lizzie's face dropped slightly but she nodded, letting her father take her hand and walk her towards the other end of the bunker. Their house was quite big, a gift from the government, so the walk wasn't huge but would still take about ten to fifteen minutes, accounting for walking around the few support walls in the bunker.

'Daddy.' Lizzie said, squeezing Steven's hand slightly. 'Why didn't we go after mummy straight away?'

Steven didn't stop moving, pulling her left and then right again. 'You know your mum, Liz. If she needed help, she would have said. None of us had a weapon, or could get to her without possibly harming ourselves. We had to go, we had to trust your mum.'

Lizzie nodded, face dejected. They kept walking, Lizzie slowly pulling her hand away from Steven. They both moved slowly, both exhausted. As they passed a wall, she looked up, hearing a strange creaking. The wall looked cracked, like there was mild forming. The last she had been in the bunker, barely a month before to play with some friends, the walls had been completely solid.

'Dad.' She said slowly, pausing to stare at the wall. She looked up at the creaking above her. 'How much weight can this place take?'

'Twice the weight of the house, why?' Steven stopped, looking back at her. He followed his daughter's gaze and his eyes widened. 'That shouldn't be like that.'

The creaking increased and they both looked up, faces falling. Steven lunged forward, grabbing Lizzie and twisting as the roof above them caved in. They both screamed, Steven collapsing with Lizzie underneath him. The weight hit his back, forming a pyramid around them and closing in on them.

Lizzie breathed deeply, looking up at her dad, then looking along the floor to where the door should be. They were so close. It would have taken them a minute more to reach the doorway.

She didn't know how long they stayed that way. It could have been minutes, hours, maybe even days. She just stayed there, protected from the rubble but unable to move as her father stood above her, broken but still alive, whispering caring words the whole time, promising someone would save them.

She knew no one would. No one knew about the bunker, or at least they weren't supposed to. SHIELD had designed and built the house and its bunker, only they knew the exact materials that had created it.

Looking back, she wished she hadn't stopped to look at the wall. If she hadn't stopped, they would have been out by the time the roof collapsed.

If she hadn't stopped, her dad would still be alive.

'Lizzie.' He whispered, his voice weak. 'Lizzie look at me.'

Her eyes were wide, terrified, as she looked up at him. A thousand cuts covered his face and arms and she didn't want to imagine how much damage had been done to his back or legs. She sniffled, trying not to cry.

'Liz, you have to get out.' Steven said, tilting his head towards the end of the debris around them. The gap at the end was too small for either of them to get through but Steven knew he could lift the debris long enough for his daughter to get out. 'Liz, I'm sorry.'

'No one's coming, are they?' She said, the light falling out of her eyes.

'No.' He said, simply. 'I won't be able to get out, the entire building would collapse if I tried. But you can, you know that.'

She shook her head, properly crying now. 'I cant leave you. You'll die.'

'I'll die anyway.' He said, sobbing himself. 'I'm basically already dead. Please Elizabeth, don't make me watch you die.'

He was begging and as she watched him, she knew she had no choice. If she didn't do as he asked, it would break her heart. She could never say no to her parents, her dad most of all.

'Okay.' She whispered. 'I love you, daddy.'

'Love you too, Lizzie.' He said, smiling through pain. 'Now head to the end and shout me when you get there.'

She nodded, pulling herself forward with her forearms. The broken glass and fallen beams cut into her arms but she moved around them, scared moving them would break the structure. She shuffled along, able to crawl as the space got bigger. She stared at the entrance, not quite big enough for her to crawl through.

'Daddy!' She shouted, not looking back. 'I'm here!'

'Okay, Liz.' He shouted back. 'Get ready to move!'

She nodded to herself, staring at the entrance. She heard her dad straining, yelling against the pain and then the gap was bigger. Lizzie jumped through as quickly as she could, shuffling away from the entrance. There was still a bit of debris in front of her but nothing she couldn't push through.

'Dad! Daddy, I'm through.'

Steven's yelling cut off and the structure collapsed again. Lizzie waited for a response of some time, breathing deeply. When nothing happened, when her father said nothing, her eyes widened, tears forming again.

'Dad!' She yelled. 'Dad, say something!'

There was no response and Lizzie screamed, hands coming to hold her face. She collapsed on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. She cried for ages, losing track of how long she stayed collapsed amongst the ruins of her house.

Finally, Lizzie steeled herself enough to stop crying and start to move. As she went to stand up, her hair caught behind her and she fell to the ground again. Choking back sobs, she twisted around to see her hair caught in the gap behind her, all twisted up and definitely stuck.

Scanning the floor with her eyes, she spotted a stray piece of sharp glass and stretched her hand to grab it. She lifted it to the back of her head, hacking through her hair until she was free.

She ran through the debris, crashing through the doors of the bunker. They flew open, bouncing back to shut behind her as she ran for the woods.

'Lizzie! Steven! Liz!'

She stopped halfway to the woods, looking sideways. She knew that voice and she knew he would protect her, if she decided to go to him. He was around the other side of the building and the crackling fire would have stopped him from hearing her.

Lizzie glanced back at the fire, looking at her house, completely crumbled. She sighed, turning back towards the woods and running away. She couldn't put Matt in danger, she wouldn't.

Not looking back, she ran into the wilderness.

She had been on her own for almost a year. She had done a lot of things she wasn't proud of and things she would never tell anyone about.

'Lizzie, you alright?'

She normally pretended that year didn't happen. People were happy to pretend along with her and let her act happy and unguarded. If they knew what she really thought they'd-

'Liz! You alive in there?'

She blinked out of her thoughts, seeing the pale, purple splotched skin of Howard Stark, his nose barely inches from hers. She flinched backwards, laughing weakly and hitting his chest.

'Sorry, lost in thought.' She said, looking around the room. James and Sophie stared at her, amused, from the other sofa. The two girls had a two month break from training and they were living in Stark Tower with their guardians and all the other earth bound Avengers. 'What were you saying?'

'Pepper said she'd take us to the cinema.' Howie shrugged, standing up and dusting himself off.

'We need Pepper to give us a lift now?' Lizzie said, eyebrow raised. Last time she had gone out with Sophie, they had no trouble, just a couple people asking for autographs.

'Well since your boyfriend can't go out in public without being attacked by anti-mutant dicks and my boyfriend managed to get a speeding ticket last time he drove.' Sophie said, all in one breath. She paused, smirking. 'I'd say we do.'

Howie's face fell but James just rolled his eyes. 'I wasn't speeding. It's not my fault the speedometers in America are better than the ones in India.'

'Yeah, whatever.' Howie said, a crooked grin on his face. 'You were lucky they didn't lock you up for driving without a licence.'

James pulled a face, throwing a cushion at Howie's head. 'Shut up, mutant boy.'

Lizzie laughed, getting to her feet. 'Whose turn is it to pay?'

James held his hand up as he stood, stretching out. 'Mine. Just don't go crazy on the popcorn.'

The other three laughed, all of them grabbing jackets and walking out of the living room. Lizzie smiled when she was meant to, held Howie's hand and acted as if nothing was wrong. Of course, as far as her friends knew, nothing was.