Updated A/N: 1) If you don't know what A/U stands for, please learn before you read my stories. 2) If you don't like A/U, don't read my stories. 3) Also, don't read comic books where A/U's occur with regularity, at least they did when I read them 15+ years ago. 4) If you leave a "guest" negative review, it will be deleted. The author of a story deserves the right to engage with people who want to trash their works. If you don't like that, please move along.
A/N: All I can really say is I'm not entirely happy with the ending of this story. I have tried several different ways to close it since I wrote it last weekend and I just can't come up with something that makes me happy. This was as close as I could get. :)
And I'm not kidding about needing to read part 1 of chapter 3, Suffering Is a Guarantee... If you have an aversion to Rated M stories, understand that part is only rated K+. No bad language even. Just sad and miserable angst. It's the second part that's Rated M.
Please, R&R. And have a great weekend. :)
"You're here, and the only dance I want is this one."
― Julie Kagawa, The Iron Daughter
'Seriously?' Maria Hill thought as she barked out orders from the bridge of the hellicarrier.
A week from her wedding and she found herself in the middle of a firefight with HYDRA. She was supposed to be flying out in six hours for her leave. Taking into account everything that had happened to this point, there was never going to be a wedding.
The shaking of the bridge tower as one of the HYDRA planes got a shot through the shields tore her thoughts about anything but the battle.
"Shields are at 80%," came the call.
"Then how did that get through?" Maria hollered.
The reply was lost as another impact shook the hellicarrier and Maria was knocked off her feet.
"Shields are at 50%."
Maria didn't bother to question that.
Just maneuvers. This was only supposed to be a training exercise. Maria sighed internally wondering how long it had been since luck had gone her way.
"Focus all extra power to the shields," Maria ordered.
There was a moment of static on the comm then Maria heard a sound that normally made her roll her eyes, today, however, she was secretly thankful.
"Back in black I hit the sack I been too long I'm glad to be back Yes I am..."
"Stark?" she said. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I don't know," Tony said, his voice too smug for Maria's comfort, and she cringed inwardly as she waited for his retort.
"Looks like I'm saving your ass."
The next voice, however, made her blood run a little colder.
"Watch how you speak to my fiancée, Tony."
"Steve, are you here?" she asked, then looked at her screen to see if she could pinpoint a new jet.
"He flew in on my coattails," Stark said.
Before Maria could ask what Stark meant, she registered the excited voice of one of the controllers on the comm.
"Will you look at that?"
She looked out the bridge window in time to see Stark flying in and Steve, as inferred, piggybacking him. She almost let her fear show. They were in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Tony and Steve should have been in New York.
"How did you even know about this?" Maria asked the first question that popped into her head.
"At the moment, I think that should be the least of your concerns, Commander," Stark replied.
She heard Steve give a direction to the starboard and pulled up the screen. She watched, her heart in her throat, as Ironman flew Captain America toward an incoming jet, Steve's shield deflecting the blasts coming at them, then, as if that hadn't been horrifying enough for her, as Tony made to fly over the jet, he turned slightly and Steve flipped off his back and landed on the jet, slamming his shield and a fist into the metal on top to grip on as the jet sped through the sky. Tony went off to do damage elsewhere, while Steve dismantled the enemy fighter's engine then leapt away as it spun out of control.
As Maria watched Steve freefall she felt her stomach drop as if it was she who was falling. Suddenly, Tony flew in and grabbed Steve and dropped him onto another jet. This was repeated several times as Maria was forced to command while watching the acrobatics out of the corner of her eye. It looked almost like a trapeze circus performance and Maria thought she might have a chat with Hawkeye about it when they returned to New York.
There was a call on the comm from her own squadron that an enemy jet had broken through and was headed their way. She acknowledged and ordered the guns to take it down, then she watched as the jet started to break apart and in a split second she noted the speed and trajectory.
"Clear the bridge!" she commanded.
The men and women tried to get out as quickly as they could but Maria knew it was useless, the wreckage was coming right at them in a ball of flame.
The moment before impact, and the glass and flames and debris flew up against her, Maria heard Steve scream out her name.
After that, her mind only registered intermittent noises: screams and yells; someone on the comm calling for medical; Steve's voice calling for her, the huffing of it made it sound as if he was running. She felt the darkness pulling at her mind, her body longed for release from the pain and gladly began to give in. Then she heard a voice that sounded like her own, "Steve, I'm sorry we didn't get to dance at our wedding."
Maria slowly became aware of the chatter of voices and the clanging of silverware, then the loud squeals of girls laughing. She opened her eyes and tried to focus, but the scene before her didn't make any sense. Her mind could find no frame of reference for it.
She was in a cafeteria, a school cafeteria, to be precise, with what appeared to be teenage boys and girls sitting at round tables for their lunch. She glanced around and noted several other oddities. All of them were well dressed, though not in school uniforms, and their hair all done conservatively, and, in Maria's estimation, rather old-fashioned.
What kind of school was this, she wondered. And what was she doing in its cafeteria?
The return of the squealing brought her attention to a round table across from her. Several young girls were, the best description Maria could come up with, twittering, though not in the modern sense. Every once in a while, their bird like chatter would be broken by laughter. Finally, an older woman with a stern looking face, grey hair pulled back into a bun, came over to the table and reprimanded the girls for their raucous behavior.
Maria was surprised by that. They were certainly far quieter than she remembered most students at her high school ever being. The girls, for their part, pretended to be dutifully chastised, but when the woman turned away, they collectively rolled their eyes.
A bell rang and the students began to get up from their tables and make their way to the doors. Maria looked to her side and saw a blonde girl next to her, she looked too young to be in high school. She also looked on the verge of tears.
The girl spoke and Maria wasn't sure if she was speaking to her, or to herself.
"I can't let her get away with that."
Then she rose and walked after the crowds of students. Maria felt suddenly inclined to follow her and did so.
As the crowds dispersed, she saw the little girl approach the group of girls who had been laughing so loudly in the lunchroom. She stopped in front of them, blocking their path, and put her hands on her hips and jutted out her chin in defiance.
"You can't do this, Shirley Jackson," she said.
Maria's breath caught in her throat as she turned to look at the taller of the group of girls. Shirley might have been an attractive young woman, but Maria's opinion of her had already been soured by Steve's story of what she'd done to him, though he'd turned it around into a story of how horrible it was that he'd lied to so many people. She felt the anger rise in her instantly and she walked over to stand next to the little girl who was chastising Shirley.
"What do *you* want, Maria?" Shirley asked, her voice spiteful.
Maria was surprised that the girl could see her. She wasn't aware until now that she was anything more than an observer of the situation.
"I guess you can ask Steve to the dance, now," Shirley mocked.
The girls around Shirley laughed dutifully.
"Go on, Maria, you already made the dress, probably hoping he'd ask you."
Maria's heart ached at what was an apparent betrayal, though she couldn't be sure how she knew this.
"Oh, that's right," Shirley continued. "You're invisible, even to him."
All the girls laughed cattily as they started to walk past. Maria felt her blood coursing hotly through her veins. Her mind told her to lay out the lot of them, but for some reason, her limbs remained stiff at her side. She opened her mouth to say something vile in retort but what came out sounded nothing like her.
"Y-y-you h-h-have a p-p-pig's n-n-nose," she said, bewildered as she tried to figure out what on earth had happened to her voice.
Shirley stopped in her tracks, the herd of girls followed her lead. She turned around to face Maria and the little girl next to her, and Maria's body reacted to the vitriol she saw in Shirley's eyes in a very un-Maria-like way. She began to quiver with fear.
Her mind was screaming at her. What was she doing? She couldn't let this horrible girl scare her. She was Maria Hill, for crying out loud, on a bad day she could make people weep just by looking at them.
Shirley stepped up to her and, though Maria was taller, the other girl managed to make Maria lean back as she got into her face.
"Y-y-you sound just like him," Shirley laughed heartlessly in Maria's face. "You're so perfect for each other."
All Shirley's friends around her laughed then they turned and began to leave. Maria stood for a moment glaring after them; then, to her shock and horror, tears sprang to her eyes and her legs ran her to the girl's bathroom.
Once inside she stared at herself in the mirror over one of the sinks. At first, she thought she still looked the same, at least physically, but as she took in her dress, a pink cotton shirtwaist dress with tiny white flowers and a white collar and cuffs midway between her shoulders and elbows, and her hair, straight to her shoulders and held away from her face by two pink metal barrettes, she began to wonder.
She heard the door open and turned to see the little girl come in after her.
"Are you OK?" the girl asked, concern in her voice and eyes.
Then Maria realized who she was. This was the 'Connie' Steve had told her about, the one who had warned him about Shirley's trick.
"F-f-fine," she said, and stopped herself before she said anything else.
Where had this stutter come from?
"I'm going to tell Steve what Shirley has done," Connie said.
Maria was impressed with this girl's ability to stand up to such cruelty. She really was just a slip of a thing.
"Do you want me to ask if he'd like to take you, instead?" Connie asked.
Maria felt her new self perk up immediately.
"D-d-do y-y-you," Maria stopped, disgusted with herself that she couldn't get the words out right.
"Do I think he would?"
Maria nodded.
"Of course," Connie said, kindly.
She smiled a warm smile at Maria and then turned to leave. When she reached the door she turned back.
"You probably just need to get used to your voice," Connie informed her. "I'm sure the stutter will go away as soon as you do."
Then she opened the door and was gone.
Maria gaped after her. Get used to her voice? What did that mean? She finally moved to the door and meant to call after Connie and ask, but the hallway was empty. It then occurred to Maria that she had no idea where she was supposed to go. It was like those nightmares people told her about, where they had an important test in class but they'd get to school and couldn't remember where the classroom was and only found it one minute before the bell.
"Miss Hill," a sharp voice jolted her out of her musings, and Maria turned to see the stern woman from the cafeteria.
"Shouldn't you be in your history class?" she asked, staring down at Maria with blue-grey eyes, laugh wrinkles around her eyes and mouth looking out of place on her frowning face.
Maria stared blankly at her.
"Um," was all she could get out.
"You need to be in history," the woman reiterated.
"I-I-I," Maria stopped.
"You have to use your voice so you can get used to it," the woman said, echoing Connie's words and crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Maria felt her mouth fall open in surprise.
"Go on," the woman said, her voice still crisp.
Maria took a deep breath and pushed the words out.
"I don't have a book," she said rapidly.
"Much better, Miss Hill," the woman told her, then she jerked her head to the right and Maria turned to look.
There was an open locker there and she walked over and pulled out the history text and a binder. But when she turned around to ask which room she should go to, the hallway was, again, empty. She opened the book and found the teacher's name and room number, 18, inside the front cover. She looked up at the room numbers and ran along quickly to find 18.
She opened the door and hurried to sit down at the only vacant desk in the room, in the back corner, just as the bell rang. There was a lot of whispering around her and she noticed some of the other children were pointing toward the front of the class. She followed their fingers and glances to a desk front and center and could barely contain her happiness when she saw her Steve sitting there. Only it wasn't her Steve, it was an even smaller version of the pre-serum Steve Rogers, but in her mind that mattered little. Steve was indeed here and if she could just figure out how to actually be Maria Hill again, she'd take out these snotty little brats, grab Steve and they'd find some way out of this strange place.
As the teacher ordered the class to silence, Maria couldn't take her eyes off of Steve. From his story, she knew he was aware of Shirley's deception by now, but he sat straight and proud, never letting on the pain Maria knew he was feeling inside. Something about his brave front suddenly made Maria feel brave. Maybe she would ask him to the dance after all.
No, that didn't make any sense, she told herself. Why would she ask Steve to the dance? She didn't even belong in this time. She didn't even know how she had come to be here, she only knew she had to figure out how to get back.
The bell rang and Maria thought that had been an awfully short 45 minutes. She gathered up her things and somehow, through no understanding of her own, figured out her last two classes, and where they were. Steve was in neither of them, and she didn't see him after school. She thought about going to his apartment, she did know where that was.
Wrapping her coat around her, Maria stepped out of the school and down the steps onto the Brooklyn street. If she'd been disoriented inside the school, that went for spades now that she was outside. The cars, the people, the smells even, were all so different than the Brooklyn she knew. But the buildings were at least similar so she set off in the direction she knew his apartment to be.
On the way, she saw Kelly's Grocery Store and couldn't resist walking in. The store smelt of flour and wood polish and a hint of cinnamon.
"Ah, Miss Hill," a man's voice from behind the counter caused her to jump.
She really was losing herself.
"Mr. Kelly?" she asked, presuming the man with the red hair and the light blue eyes under bushy eyebrows was Steve's former employer.
"Of course," he said. "I was wondering if you'd come by today."
She stared at him, unsure what to say, because that sounded as if it had a double meaning, neither of which she knew.
"He's not here, I'm afraid," Mr. Kelly said.
"Who?" Maria asked.
"Steve Rogers, girl," he said, a twinkle shining in his eyes and causing Maria to feel herself grow warm with an unusual deep blush.
"I know," she said.
Maria thought her voice sounded overly melancholy. This was, after all, just some odd anomaly that she'd figure out soon enough and get back home. Momentarily she noticed she was staring at her shoes. Her mind yelled at her for her timidity but her head refused to budge.
"Don't feel so sad, girl," Mr. Kelly said, coming around the corner and opening one of the candy jars. "Here, have a butterscotch."
Maria looked up. At least that was correct. She took the candy, albeit timidly, from the grocer's hand. He smiled at her "thanks" and she turned to leave as she popped the candy into her mouth. When she was almost to the door, he called out to her.
"She can't teach him to dance, girl."
Maria turned to him and shook her head in confusion.
"That's not her place," he smiled and winked at her.
Maria walked out of the grocer's feeling more out of sorts. She wandered on down the street, wondering if it was even a good idea to go up to Steve's apartment, but she found herself suddenly desperate to use this occasion, whatever it really was, to meet his mother. She'd always thought Sarah Rogers must have been an amazing woman to almost single-handedly prepare Steve to be the man Dr. Erskine thought worthy of the super-soldier serum. Now she found herself outside the building now and she wondered if Steve had returned from the flower shop yet.
"Maria! Maria!" she heard a small child's voice calling to her.
Turning, she saw a small African-American boy running toward her.
"Maria," he said as he stopped before her and tried to catch his breath. "Grandma Nellie says you need to come quick."
Maria's new self immediately hurried down the street in the direction the boy had come from. He ran to keep up with her quick pace.
"Your momma's gone and fallen asleep on the landing," he told her, between gasps of air.
Maria had no idea what that meant, but if her mother was the same person it implied she'd passed out in a drunken stupor. As they ran along in the direction Maria's mind knew, but couldn't explain how she did, the buildings grew more decrepit and the neighborhood began to look more neglected.
When they came to the building she somehow knew housed her apartment, she saw a large African-American woman on the steps.
"Your momma's in a bad way today," the woman informed her, her voice a thick Southern drawl. "She done got a letter from your daddy and it set her off."
Maria nodded, knowing somehow that this was Grandma Nellie and that the woman, though associated with her mother, would do her no harm. Running into the building, she took the stairs two at a time, the little boy still running after her. When she arrived at the fifth floor landing she found a woman's sleeping body, feet on the landing, torso inside the door, crossing the threshold. She sighed. She couldn't get a break, even in this peculiar place. She looked at the face to see if it was indeed her mother, but the woman's hair had fallen across it and Maria didn't bother to push it out of the way.
"Help me with her feet, Jack," she told the boy, and wondered briefly how she knew his name.
The boy sighed and shook his head then began talking on as he helped her bring her mother into the apartment.
"Grandpa Boss says he only gonna let you stay 'cause he don't want to see you like your momma," Jack told her.
Maria groaned as if she had heard this statement before, then she shoed Jack away and shut the door. Her mother was in the middle of the floor now, her face still covered by her hair. Maria left her and went into her bedroom and shut that door. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, her head was beginning to throb with the perplexity of her situation. She had no idea what was going on.
Warmed from all her activity she began to unbutton her coat and walked to the small wardrobe to hang it up. Inside she was surprised to find another pink dress hanging on the door, this one far fancier than the one she'd worn to school. The skirts were pinned up to the back so it could fit into the wardrobe. She unpinned it and watched the fabric fall to reveal itself to be a full length party dress. The poufy short sleeves made it something she herself would never wear, but she was no longer herself. She looked closely at the intricate hand-sewn pattern that made the collar. Apparently this Maria was quite the seamstress.
Somehow, Maria didn't know how, Shirley Jackson knew Maria had been sewing this dress. She wondered now if Shirley really knew that the Maria she was here and now had planned to ask Steve to the dance. Maybe the little tramp thought she'd hurt two people in one act. She laughed at herself suddenly. "Tramp?" "Pig nose?" These were the best she could come up with now?
Just as suddenly, she was overcome with a deep sadness. She had wanted so badly to go to the dance, specifically with Steve, and now she wouldn't be going and neither would Steve all because of HYDRA.
HYDRA? Maria couldn't figure out where that came from, then she discovered she was equally fuzzy on what exactly a HYDRA was. It was Shirley's fault, wasn't it? She shook her head as if the act would somehow clear her muddled thoughts.
"Maria," a soft feminine voice called quietly from behind her.
Maria was certain she hadn't heard the door open, besides this voice was on the opposite side of the room from the door. Swallowing, and trying to force her heart to stop beating so erratically, she slowly turned to face the intruder.
It was a woman, dressed in some sort of military uniform. It wasn't an American uniform though, then Maria realized the woman's voice wasn't American, either. It took her a moment before it dawned on her.
"Agent Carter?" she said, surprised to find the woman here.
The older woman smiled at her. And Maria finally hoped that she would get some answers to what was going on.
"What am I doing here?" she asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Peggy asked her in return.
Maria shook her head, then she registered another oddity. Peggy Carter had somehow grown taller than her, or else she'd started shrinking. Maria tried to remember how tall she was at 15 and found she now had only vague recollections of her life at that age.
"You really don't know?" Peggy asked at Maria's puzzled look.
Maria shook her head again and Peggy smiled and came over to sit on the end of Maria's bed. She patted her hand on the spot next to her to indicate Maria should come sit next to her. She acquiesced and tried not to allow herself to be nervous.
"You need to teach Steve how to dance," Peggy told her.
Maria looked up at her sharply, confused. Then she shook her head.
"He can't know how to dance when he meets you," Maria said. "That would mess up everything."
Peggy smiled indulgently.
"He won't," she assured Maria.
"But if I teach him now," Maria started, and Peggy shook her head.
"This isn't entirely real, you must have figured that out by now," Peggy told her.
Maria thought for a few moments. It did all seem very unusual, but at the same time, there seemed to be touch and smell and taste.
"This isn't about Steve learning to dance," Peggy continued.
"Then what is it?" Maria countered.
"This is about you teaching him," Peggy said, then stopped, as if that made it obvious.
"You do know that makes absolutely no sense," Maria hoped her 1930s face was able to give Peggy a modern look of disbelief.
"You believe that Steve came to you by accident," Peggy told her. "You think, and it seems everyone else thinks, as well, that Steve doesn't really belong to your time. That it's a pity that he is there so far out of his own time."
Maria nodded, because everything Peggy said was true. Steve didn't belong in her time, he belonged in Peggy's time.
"You're all wrong," Peggy said, a wistful look falling across her face. "I thought he belonged in my time; I had hoped that one day, when the war was over, that we would even belong to each other."
She stopped, briefly, and pulled herself together before going one.
"I was wrong," Peggy looked at Maria through soft brown eyes. "He didn't belong to this time. He was meant to be in your time. He was only meant to be here briefly."
Maria wasn't sure what Peggy was getting at. It didn't sound sensible to her.
"But," Peggy continued. "I am so glad he found someone like me in the time he belongs to."
Maria started to shake her head. She knew she was nothing like Peggy. She knew Peggy's family history, her service history. On the first mark, Maria was far removed from Peggy Carter, and that was enough to make her as unlike the woman as possible.
"I'm not speaking of family history or your work at SHIELD," Peggy smiled, a slight laugh to her voice.
Maria was a little nervous. It seemed like the woman was reading her mind.
"This isn't entirely real, remember?" Peggy reminded her.
Maria nodded again.
"It's Steve Rogers you fell in love with," Peggy continued. "Not Captain America."
That was true, and Maria nodded her head in agreement.
Peggy smiled back at Maria and Maria thought that maybe something had gone wrong with her own eyes because Peggy started to look strange, a little translucent.
"You think you have his love by accident," Peggy said, and now Maria was certain the woman was starting to disappear. "But you were always meant to have it, you were the one meant to teach him to dance."
Then Peggy faded away but Maria hardly took notice, as if people simply vanished into thin air every day.
Sitting alone at the end of her bed, she stared at the long pink dress, thinking on Peggy's words. The woman must be mistaken. Steve couldn't belong in her own time, and she certainly could only be with him by accident. Either way, however, she couldn't just leave him to wander around in that warehouse all night. Rising, she went into the kitchen, stepping around her mother who was now snoring loudly, and grabbed some bread and lathered it with butter. It wasn't much but it looked to be all they had in the larder at the moment.
As she munched on the bread she began to fill the tub so she could bathe. Then she pinned her hair up, knowing she wouldn't have time to dry it before she had to head out. As she scrubbed herself clean, she tried to remember the story as Steve had told it. She didn't want to arrive at the warehouse before he did, though why it would matter she couldn't quite figure out.
Toweling off, she realized she had no make-up, but if this Steve was like hers, he would be happier if she went without. After she dressed, she pulled on her white gloves then wrapped herself in a white stole she pulled from the back of her wardrobe. Then she tiptoed back around her mother and quietly slipped out the door.
Downstairs, Grandma Nellie was coming in from her observation spot on the front steps.
"Well, don't you look lovely?" she told Maria with a wide smile. "You meeting that boy at the dance?"
Maria opened her mouth in surprise. Did everyone in this place know about her feelings for Steve?
"Don't you worry none," the woman assured her. "I won't be telling your momma."
That information apparently relieved this Maria quite a bit and she rushed happily out the front door. She still had to find the warehouse where Steve would be tonight and she had no real idea where that was. She only knew it was somewhere you could see the school gym entrance. That left any number of possibilities.
As she moved through the streets, the sky darkened quickly as clouds rolled in. It felt like rain to Maria and she had no umbrella. Her hair would be ruined, she thought, then laughed at herself for caring for such a trivial thing.
She rushed past Kelly's and stopped as a thought occurred to her. Turning around, she ran up the side steps to the apartment above the store and rapped on the door. Mr. Kelly opened it with a smile.
"I think you have the wrong place," Mr. Kelly said.
"Where's the warehouse?" she asked.
If this wasn't real, maybe Mr. Kelly knew what was going to happen.
He smiled at her.
"It's the first alley, other side of the street from the school, round back of the old dye works," he told her, and Maria was no longer surprised that she knew exactly what building he was speaking of.
She ran back down the stairs and hurried off to the warehouse. She thought about going around the school through an alley but she didn't want to get her dress dirty so she was forced to walk in front of the school gym, and though she was across the street she could hear the other students talking to each other as they arrived.
"Will you look at that?" she heard Shirley's voice come across the street. "It's Maria Hill, all dressed up with nowhere to go. How delightfully pitiful."
Maria felt her face grow red as Shirley and William laughed loudly then hurried up the stairs to the dance.
When she arrived at the corner of the building, she paused and tried to collect herself. She found herself wishing for a mirror so she could check her hair at the very least. This peculiar thought no longer surprised her either. Stepping around the corner she discovered that Steve had, thankfully, already retreated into the warehouse.
She walked tentatively down the alley to the stairs on the side of the building, then made sure not to let her feet make a sound as she took each one up to the door. Touching the handle she discovered that it did indeed give and the door slowly creaked open. Maria cringed at the sound, then stepped into the dark building.
In a few moments her eyes mostly adjusted to the faint light that filtered through the grimy windows. That light would not last long, though, and she hoped Steve hadn't run and hid somewhere when he heard her come in.
"Steve?" Maria's voice echoed in the shell of the warehouse.
"Maria?" she heard his reply and smiled, glad that his voice sounded the same as she remembered.
He stepped toward her from behind a pillar.
"You know me?" Maria asked.
Steve gave her a perplexed look.
"Of course I know you," he said, and Maria wondered why her mind hadn't told her this already. "We have Geometry and History together."
"Oh," was all Maria could think to say, but as he stepped closer she found she had to fight the urge to run to him and wrap her arms around him.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"The dance," was all Maria could get out before she seized up with fear. She wondered now how Steve ever mustered the courage to ask her out.
"I know, but how did you know I was here?" he asked again.
"You told me," she said, but then realized that wasn't entirely true. "I mean, you will tell me, later."
Steve nodded at her slowly as if what she said made some sort of sense to him.
They stared at each other as the minutes passed. Maria found herself unsure of what to do now. Were they just going to stand here all night in this musty warehouse?
"Are you going to the dance?" Steve finally asked, breaking the silence.
"No one asked me," she stated, then stared at her shoes.
"Your dress is very pretty," he said, his voice sounded as unsure as she felt.
She looked up in surprise.
"Do you really think so?" Maria asked, suddenly feeling an unusual sense of pride in her work.
He nodded.
"Did you make it?" he asked.
Maria blushed as she nodded.
"You're a very talented seamstress," he said, and Maria noticed he was taking slow steps toward her now.
With each step Maria was certain her pulse increased and her heart rose further into her throat. When he stood close enough that she could see his eyes, Maria thought she might come undone. Though he was a good three inches shorter than she, Maria felt the effect of his nearness as much as ever. His voice, his beautiful eyes, they were the same. The slight smile on his face as he looked up at her made her want to lean down and see if his lips tasted the same.
"Why are you here, Maria?" his voice was almost a whisper.
"I'm supposed to teach you to dance," she said, in an equally hushed voice.
He nodded then took her hand.
"Maybe we should go to the dance, then," he said and tugged at her hand as he moved for the door.
Maria was relieved that this was turning out to be much easier than she had thought it would be. She followed him out of the warehouse and toward the school.
Leaving her wrap and his jacket on the coat hangers by the door, they entered the gym arm in arm and there was a brief hush when they did. Steve slipped his hand into hers, interlocking their fingers and giving it a supportive squeeze. When the conversation resumed, they moved closer to the dance floor as the school band started up another song.
Maria showed Steve where to put his hands and was surprised at how much this was like the time she actually did teach him to dance. They were both just a lot shorter. He smiled up at her as she explained where his feet should step, then he slowly led her around the floor. There were a few mistakes, and Steve apologized a lot, just as he had when they'd danced that first time in her tiny apartment, with all the furniture pushed up against the walls.
Finally, Steve was dancing well enough that they could both enjoy it and Steve excused himself and walked over to the band leader to make a request between songs. The music teacher smiled at him and Steve returned to Maria. As the music started Maria recognized it.
"This isn't right," she shook her head.
"What's wrong about it?" Steve looked up at her, a mischievous grin on his face.
"Well, it should be 1933, right?"
Steve nodded in reply.
"But this song wasn't recorded until 1935," she said.
Steve nodded again and Maria looked at him questioningly.
"I know, but it's the song that always makes me think of you," he said.
As Steve led her around the dance floor he slowly began to sing the words of the song.
Alone
Alone with a sky of romance above
Alone
Alone on a night that was meant for love
There must be someone waiting
Who feels the way I do
Whoever you are, are you, are you...
Alone
Alone on this night that we two could share
Alone
Alone with your kiss that could make me care
And when you come I'll promise to be your very own
Alone
Alone with a heart meant for you
Alone.
Maria smiled when he was finished, and leaned her forehead to his.
"Please come back to me," he said.
"Where are you?" she asked.
"I'm where I belong, waiting for you," he told her.
"Don't you belong here?"
She felt Steve shake his head.
"No, this is only where I started," he told her.
Maria wasn't sure what to say, or even what to do.
"Please, Maria," Steve said, his voice so sad it hurt Maria to hear. "I need you. I've waited so long for the right partner, I can't lose her now."
She pulled back and looked at him. His eyes were red with tears.
"I don't know what to do," she told him.
"Just come back to me," he said
Then, like Peggy, he began to fade away. Unlike Peggy, however, Maria cried out to Steve not to leave her.
"Come with me," he said, then he was gone.
Maria looked around the gym and found it was empty. She began to panic. How was she supposed to get back now?
"Miss Hill," a harsh voice called out to her.
She turned to find the woman she'd seen twice today.
"Why are you still here?" she asked in her usual stern voice. "Can't you see everyone else has already gone back to where they belong?"
Maria opened her mouth to respond that she didn't know where she belonged anymore, but stopped as she slowly began to recognize the woman. She wasn't sure if it was the dress and the grey hair and wrinkles on her face that had disguised her before, or if it was just because she hadn't spent a whole lot of time looking at her.
"You're," Maria paused.
"I'm?" the woman lifted an eyebrow at her.
"You're me," Maria said, her voice quiet but surprised.
"Very good," the woman said.
They stared at each other and Maria thought the older version of herself was waiting for the younger version to say something.
Finally the older Maria shook her head.
"You really need to be going back to your time."
"Why can't I just stay here with Steve?"
"You still don't get it, do you?" older Maria said with an exasperated sigh.
She walked up to the girl and held out her hand indicating she should take it.
Maria stared at it but didn't move.
"What will it take for you to understand that his fate was not an accident?"
"How does it end?" Maria blurted out to her older counterpart.
"Oh, is that what you're worried about now?"
Maria thought for a moment, then looked up with a worried look and nodded.
"Well, I can't tell you that," came the reply.
Maria dropped her head and looked dolefully at her feet.
"Oh, for goodness' sake," the older Maria snapped at her. "I can't tell you because I don't know."
Maria looked up again.
"I don't know, because it's not over."
Maria thought for a moment, then smiled. Her older self shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Sweet Mother, I was pathetic."
Then she held out her hand and this time Maria took it. The gym faded into the background as the blackness reclaimed her.
The antiseptic hospital smell assaulted her senses as Maria struggled to open her eyes. Shortly after that she heard a voice calling from the distance. It was a man's voice, calling her name. Maria tried to go to him but her body would not cooperate. She lay still and tried to concentrate on the sound. When she struggled again, a hand began to strangle her. Her eyes flew open, wide with fear. She saw Steve above her, an equally panicked look on his face, then she understood that she wasn't being strangled, she'd been intubated. It didn't make the wait for the nurse any easier, but she came in seconds and had the tube right out.
Maria's throat was sore and she could hardly talk, but she smiled when she saw Steve's relieved look. He leaned down and kissed her gently.
"Wedding?" Maria finally croaked out.
Steve laughed and shook his head.
"Not the first question I expected from you," he told her.
"Don't think I want the answer to the first question," she whispered, wincing at the pain in her throat.
Steve's face sobered.
"It was bad, but not as bad as it could have been," he informed her.
"How many?" she asked.
"Five on the bridge, two in the sky, four throughout the rest of the hellicarrier," he gave her the news, stroking her face with the back of her hand. "Wounded: 14 seriously, 28 treated and released."
Maria nodded. It was better than she hoped, but the death toll was too high. She vaguely wondered how HYDRA had even known where they'd be in enough time to coordinate such a huge scale attack. It couldn't be a coincidence, but her head began to throb and she just wanted to push all the thoughts out until she could give them better consideration.
"We might have to postpone," he said quietly, changing the subject to the wedding.
She felt now that her hand was in his and she squeezed it to tell him she was fine with that. They hadn't invited many people, and those who were invited would not be put out due to the situation.
"How long was I out?" she whispered.
"Only about a day," he replied.
The doctor came in at that point, listing the reasons she was lucky to be alive, and included the depressing information that she'd be in the hospital for a week, but he explained that he knew that usually meant she'd be out in three days.
"It's a good thing Captain Rogers was there," he said. "We couldn't get to the bridge at all, he was able to get a door opened so the fire crew and medical could get in."
The doctor's face became grim at that point.
"If he hadn't been there, most likely you all would have burned alive," then he turned and left.
"Well, he's a cheery guy," Steve remarked.
Maria squeezed his hand in thanks and tried to smile at him.
"Why were you here?" she forced out through her parched throat.
Steve blushed slightly.
"Tony and I flew to Delhi in his jet and he was going to fly me up to surprise you before you left," he told her.
He reached up and touched her face again, she caught the flash of fear in his eyes.
"We didn't expect to find," he started, but couldn't get the words out.
He took a deep breath, then shook his head to indicate he couldn't talk about it.
They heard noise from the hallway as the door to Maria's room opened, and they both looked over to see Tony with a huge bouquet of yellow mums, each with a happy face on them made from what Maria assumed were stickers. Tied around the vase containing the flowers, were a myriad of Mylar get well balloons. It was the most outrageous thing anyone had ever brought to Maria and she couldn't help but laugh slightly at the sight.
"Well, thank g-d we were here, huh?" Stark said, with no preamble.
"You know," he went on. "Steve has some impeccable timing when it comes to you."
They both gave him a surprised look.
"What?" Tony asked, then looked at Maria. "Haven't you noticed how Captain America is forever coming to your rescue?"
Steve cleared his throat.
"Except when she's coming to mine," he amended Stark's statement.
The billionaire just shrugged.
"Yeah, whatever, she's supposed to do that," Tony said. "You, however, are supposed to be dead, or frozen in ice, or 95, or something."
"Well, I am 96, actually," Steve conceded.
Tony looked at Maria again.
"I just hope she appreciates it, is all," he said.
It was probably a good thing Maria was too weak from her injuries and her throat too sore from the intubation, or she would have done or said something she'd regret later. She knew Tony still didn't trust her 100%, between her working for SHIELD and putting Steve through the ringer when she'd broken up with him last year, she knew he had reason enough not to.
Instead she squeezed Steve's hand again and looked at him to indicate that she did appreciate everything he did. He smiled down at her, then he turned back to Tony.
"You're wrong about the rest, though," Steve told his friend. "I'm not supposed to be dead, or frozen, or anything else. I'm supposed to be here."
Maria looked at him in surprise at this revelation.
"Look, I can't begin to explain the why, beyond the scientific part you've already told me, but I know this is where I was meant to be," he said. "Whatever work I had to do back then, was finished, and I apparently had work to do here instead."
Tony stared at him for a moment.
"Good to hear you've adjusted well," Tony said, then he excused himself and walked back out the door.
It was the best Maria could hope for. She did wonder if she should have Steve check the flowers for a bug, though.
She looked up at him to find his eyes moving over her face in a way that made her pulse beat a little faster. She smiled at him and wished she had a bit more strength to pull him down to kiss her. Instead, he touched her face and she leaned into his caress.
"You know that's true, right?" he asked her.
"What?" she asked, shaking her head slightly.
"That this is where I belong," he replied. "Here, with you."
He kissed her forehead, then her cheek, then her lips, and finally rested his forehead lightly to hers.
"When I saw the jet hit the tower, I thought I'd lost you," he said, and Maria could feel his breath become erratic.
" I need you. I've waited so long for the right partner, I can't lose her now," he continued as he pulled away to look in her eyes.
Maria looked up at him, startled at the echo of words she vaguely remembered. Then she smiled.
"I've been waiting for you, too," she said.
A/N: I have a playlist up at 8tracks dot com that goes along with this. Same name: CaptainHillShipper. Same title: The Right Partner. And come over and visit me at DreamWidth dot org and we can talk about writing. And grouse about Snowpiercer having an extremely limited release. Cupertino is the closest theater? Come on. :/