Disclaimer: I don't own or am affiliated with the Avengers enterprise, name, any of the characters, or with the Marvel enterprise. Although I'd love to call dibs on Hawkeye... Oh well.
*No stealing stories, thanks.*
A/N: I've been kinda writing little diddies for all the Avengers' women. So far, this includes Black Widow, Peggy Carter, and Jane Foster. It's become a little mini story project, I suppose. Each one is about the woman's take on her 'man,' and the Avengers in general. Peggy's POV is the first chapter- Jane will be next, and if you're interested in Miss Romanoff, check out my separate story, "Bitter." Enjoy!
It had been exactly three weeks. She'd been counting. Three weeks since she last saw him, flying out of the hangar, trying to save the world. He'd succeeded; the world was safe at last. There was still work being done to clean up the mess Hydra had left behind. But, thanks to him, it was almost over. He'd protected her too, one time or another. Of course, it didn't make a ton of a difference at this point. He was still gone. There was nothing she could do about it. She could send out a hundred search parties and demand more rescuers be summoned, but they'd all come back with nothing. It was as if he'd vanished from the surface of the earth.
It was said that Stark- the man with all the machines and mechanical toys that Americans so loved- had found the Hydra's source of power, deep in the sea. Its unearthly blue glow led his crew, on their own search, to spot it. Yet they could not track the plane it fell from either. It seemed strange- to her, at least, with the determination she was known for- that even Stark couldn't find him. Maybe the man really had disappeared. She held on to the hope that he hadn't.
In any case, she kept her head high. She knew him quite well, she thought- the unlikely American soldier, given one final chance to prove he was more than a weak body with a sad reputation. She remembered his promise to her as, hundreds of miles away, his plane dropped from the sky. Only the brave come back, but he had plenty of courage. If she was right, he'd return somehow. So, she remained intact. When someone asked her how she was, she lied. Her face was straight and stern, like always. And underneath the mask, she stayed calm. She trusted him- and the God they both believed in- now more than ever. Someday, she'd get that dance.
