I can't find Karianne anywhere. She isn't in her room, any of the labs, living rooms or training rooms it's as if she just disappeared. I know she's still in the tower, though, thanks to the ever-present voice from on high, JARVIS.
I eventually gave in to he A.I.'s constant nagging and allowed it to drop me off on the floor she is on. JARVIS is rather like Tony in that way, badgering me until I tell him what he wants to know. I don't like using the A.I., it feels to me like an invasion of privacy, knowing where everyone is and what they are doing all the time. I will admit that it's useful, but it's so different and far-fetched compared to anything I had ever imagined would be possible in my lifetime.
I was brought out of my musings by the ding of the elevator doors. I had never been on this floor before, in fact, I don't think Tony even mentioned it when he was explaining where everything was.
The first thing I noticed was that I could hear music. Not the new, obnoxious, computer generated music that's popular in this time, but rather good old swing and bandstand, it even sounds like it's coming from a record player.
The second thing I noticed was that the room was huge. I have found myself standing on a balcony overlooking a ballroom. The wooden floor is a dark cherry and the huge chandelier overhead a shining gold.
The scene below me, though, is what surprises me the most. This was the last place I'd expected to find her. I should have guessed she was a dancer, her movements are fluid, graceful and precise to a point in combat but at times I've seen her change her style to go with whatever was happening around her and move and flow with it, allowing it to guide her.
She is wearing an old swing dress in a light, cherry blossom pink. It is more modern than those I remember, maybe 60's? She's dancing with a tall man with dark, silver streaked hair and grey eyes. He seems to flicker slightly, no doubt he's one of her illusions, the way she looks at him with barely concealed sadness and the fact that they look similar makes me think that he is a lost loved one, perhaps her father. Their dance finishes and the man fades away only to be replaced by a younger one, about her age with a similar build and face structure to Kari and her previous partner.
She walked over to the record player and turned it off, asking JARVIS to play some song I don't recognise. It's fast with a swing beat and sounds old but I can tell it's a new song and not from my time.1
It makes me sad, standing here, watching her dance. It reminds me that I can never go home and of my broken promise. I will never be able to give Peggy her dance.
1 - The song is Christina Aguilera's Candyman