While Agent Hill is getting food, Steve goes back to watching Bucky for any signs of waking up while his mind races.

I need to talk to Peggy. She should know we're alive…sort of. He needs to wake up. Unless sleeping is his body's way of repairing itself? But he isn't just sleeping. He's comatose. It's no way to live a life. It's not really living at all. I wonder if he can still hear everything that's going on around him. I hope he can. It'll make explaining everything that's happened easier. How is he going to react to finding out he's disabled? The whole arm is missing… He needs that arm… He deserves so much better than this. He should've stayed behind with Peggy. I could've handled that plane and Schmidt on my own, and then he would've lived a long, happy life without me. He would've settled down, maybe even with Peggy. At least they'd be happy. Or maybe he would've found someone else. That would've been good too. I wonder if Peggy ever married. I hope she did. She might not have needed a man to take care of her, but she did deserve to be loved. Any man would've been lucky to catch a dame like her. I wonder how she dealt with all this new technology. It baffles me. They've certainly advanced. Mobile phones have become an everyday thing. How does that even happen? That's a stupid question. What was that Turing Machine she was talking about? And the "Online" she mentioned? So much has changed…

Hill comes back a little while later with some sandwiches, water, and fruit. For some reason Steve's mind latches on to how the stray it all sat on was a brightly colored plastic rather than metal. "I tried to choose simple stuff. I don't know what you'll be able to keep down."

"Okay. How much is for me?"

"As much as you want."

Steve nods and starts eating at a rapid pace, just slow enough to be considered polite. His mother would turn in her grave if he tried to do anything less than polite in front of a lady. He could eat a lot more, but this would hold him for a little while. "Thank you Ma'am."

"Not a problem. Just tell me if you want more."

"Alright," Steve says with a small nod.

"We can go take a look at your apartment later. If you don't like it, we'll find you another one. Like I said, this one was chosen solely because it's close to the hospital."

"I'm not picky. I'd sleep in here if I thought you'd let me," He looks at Bucky. He wants to be here in case Bucky wakes up.

"I'd have to talk to Fury about that."

"I figured." His gaze stays on Bucky.

"Plus, you'll be more comfortable in an apartment."

"Ma'am, I'm used to sleeping outside." Steve looks at Agent Hill unimpressed. He didn't need to be comfortable right now.

"I know, but you don't have to now."

"I honestly don't mind. I'd rather be here, just in case he wakes up." If Agent Hill had simply said it couldn't be done, that there was some kind of protocol or rule against it, he might have just left it alone, but to him she seemed insistent that he shouldn't want to, and regardless he wasn't in the most agreeable mental state for various reasons.

"You'll be the first to know if anything changes, I promise."

"Do you remember how much I panicked? He may not be as strong as I am, but he's still going to panic. And if he panics he could hurt himself. If he has a familiar face nearby then he'll calm down faster," Steve says, starting to get annoyed.

"Which is why we'll call you. And you didn't panic right away."

"That's because everything around me looked like the forties, and while I knew it was off, it took me a bit to realize just how far off... He'd do this for me." He looks at Agent Hill. He isn't sure if she just doesn't understand why he needs to be here or if she actually isn't being given the option to let him choose.

"And we'd probably make him go to an apartment too."

"I told you you wouldn't let me stay." Steve returns his gaze to Bucky.

"Well we can't exactly stop you," She points out, though Steve feels certain that if they wanted to they likely could.

"I'm not up to fighting the reason my best friend is still alive."

"We're not going to hold him against you or anything. You're allowed to disagree with us."

"Oh believe me, when I disagree with you, you'll know it." Bucky had always said that he'd fight with a fence if given the chance.

"Good."

"But that man is basically all I have right now. I'd rather be here if he needs me." He looks at Agent Hill.

"I understand that. But you have to start branching out to the rest of the world."

"And how do I do that when a phone that is apparently completely normal is completely baffling to me?" He says with a raised eyebrow. 'Branching out' isn't going to be quite so simple as she's trying to insinuate.

"You'll learn. What I'm saying is, you can't be each other's only worlds. We'll help you ease into the new century."

"We've been thrown in. We don't have that option."

"Yes, but someone has to teach you how to swim still."

He looks at Bucky. How could he swim when his whole world was sinking? Steve shakes his head and starts to clean up from his meal.

"I'll get that for you," She insists, and starts taking over the clean-up.

"I can get it." He wasn't an invalid, especially not now. He could clean up after himself

"I know, but you're still technically a patient, and even if you weren't, I get this weird sense that I should be treating you like a guest."

"Why?"

"I dunno. Like I said, a weird sense. I guess because you're in a SHIELD facility and I'm vice Director, and you're not technically an agent."

"Alright… When can I see Peggy?"

"Whenever you want. She's in a retirement facility in DC, though. So just say the word and I'll get someone to take you."

"Thank you," He nods.

"Of course. Just give us the word. We really do want to help you. We just need you to tell us what you want or need sometimes." Agent Hill throws the trash away and returns soon after.

"…How am I supposed to handle all of this?"

"The best way you can."

"How would you handle being thrown into a new century?" He looks at her.

Hill thinks about her answer for a moment. "I think…I would try to get a sense of normalcy before trying to adapt to the differences in lifestyle. Does that help?"

"We'll see. I haven't tried to put it to use yet." He goes back to watching Bucky. His heartbeat was still slow.

"Oh, by the way we have your shield. It's in the armory, and you can have it back whenever you want."

"Good. I'll need that back."

"I'll have someone bring it over." She pulls out her phone and types out a few things.

"What are you doing?"

"It's like sending a letter. Here, I'll show you." She moves over to him and shows him her phone screen. It's a text message to someone called Trip.

"…I don't understand. How is this like sending a letter?"

"You type in what you want to say and you send it and that is turned into electronic signals which go to the phone of the person I want to send it to. Then their phone displays the message."

"Why don't you just talk on the phone?"

"Because it's a quick message and I don't want to interrupt him if he's talking to someone or training." Another message appears on her screen with Trip's reply. 'Yes Ma'am. I'll be there soon.'

"Who's Trip?"

"Agent Antonie Triplett. He's one of the agents we have on call. I think you'll want to meet him."

"Does everyone do the electric phone letter thing?"

"It's called texting and it comes standard in most mobile phones."

"How does it know whose phone you're texting to?" He asks confused.

"Each phone has a number, and it sends the signal to the phone with the number I tell it to send to."

"Well yes, I got that, but why is there a name instead of a number? Didn't you type the number in?"

"I have a bunch of numbers stored in the phone. It's a contacts list. This is the number for Trip's phone so I have it assigned to his name. Because I put the number down under Trip's name in the contact list, the phone displays his name when that number contacts my phone."

"So you don't have to remember the numbers?"

"Well, I memorize the important ones just in case I'm ever in a situation where I don't have my phone on me, like if I'm on a mission, but most people rarely remember numbers anymore."

"How do you communicate with your team if you don't have a phone on a mission?"

"Usually I get a mission phone that doesn't contain the names and numbers of all of our top agents. Or we come up with a plan beforehand and stick to it, or I'll acquire another phone during the mission. Or there's codes and communication links, which are like really small walkie-talkies, or I just talk to them face to face. Plus I'm not always on a team."

"Oh."

"And the phone is set to delete everything if someone tries to break into it."

"Wow."

"Beginning to see why everyone has one of these?"

"Definitely."

There's a knock at the door and a young man walks in holding Steve's shield, which has been painted and polished so it looks like new. "Uh…you wanted this back, sir," The young man says, holding the shield out to Steve.

Steve stands and takes the shield, looking it over. "It looks like new. Thank you." The last time he'd seen it, where the paint wasn't chipped it was singed or cracked from taking bullets and shots from various other Hydra weapons. Clearly they'd cleaned it, given it a new coat of paint, and a nice shine. He even dared to say it looked better than when he'd first gotten it.

The man nods. "Antonie Triplett, it's an honor to meet you, sir." Trip offers Steve his hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

Steve shakes Trip's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Antonie."

"You…uh…You worked with my grandfather…Gabriel Jones."

"You're Gabe's grandson? Wow." This was odd. His team was a ragtag bunch of bachelors just yesterday. And today they got married, had kids, who grew up, got married, and had kids of their own, who were now all grown up. "He must've been proud when you joined SHIELD."

Trip nods. "I think he was, sir. He did a lot of work to help it get off the ground."

"With Peggy running it I'll bet... How long have you been working for them?"

"I became a full member two years ago, sir."

"And…When did... when did your grandfather pass?"

"…It's been five years now sir. He used to tell me a lot of stories from when he was in the Howling Commandos."

"Yeah? You should tell them to me. I'll point out which parts he embellished," He says with a small, slightly sad smile.

"He said you used to go in alone on missions. And about the time you had to jump onto a speeding train. He said that was crazy."

"Yeah, it was a little crazy. But it worked. We captured Zola alive and brought him back to the base. He was the first Hydra operative not to crunch a pill upon capture." For Steve, this mission was less than a week ago, memories still fresh in his mind.

"Yeah, he said as much. He also liked to talk about the time Dernier tried to make explosives out of random junk they found lying around, and you came in and they thought you'd be mad, and instead you sat down and listened in and suggested things. But when you finally succeeded in making the bomb it went off and, I quote, 'Brought down the wrath of the angry brunettes who were actually in charge.' "

Steve laughs. "Yeah, they were pretty angry. Then I got the 'you could've gotten yourself killed' scolding from the both of them."

"He always used to say that if it weren't for Aunt Peg and Sergeant Barnes, half of the time the plan would have been to go in, shoot the bad guys, and go home instead of an actual plan."

"Now that's not true. I'm a tactician for a reason."

"He also liked to talk about how you and the rest of the team would stand up for him and Morita."

"We're family, albeit an odd one. We stick-…We stuck up for each other, no matter what."

"That's what he said. He always spoke very highly of both of you."

"He's the one who deserved the praise. He was a great man."

"Not you?"

"I couldn't have done most of what I did without my team. And Bucky gets extra praise for putting up with me when I was small, stupid, and getting into fights I had no chance of winning." Steve looks down.

"I don't think you do yourself enough credit."

"That's what Peggy always said."

"Aunt Peg is usually right in my experience."

"Yeah… Yeah she usually is," Steve nods, thinking of Peggy.

"If…if it's okay, I need to go now. I'm supposed to meet my new commanding officer in forty minutes."

"Of course."

"I'm glad I got to talk with you."

"Me too. Now go on. If you're on time you're fifteen minutes late." Steve gestures to the door, sending him off.

"Yes sir. Agent Hill." He nods to Hill and hurries off.

"...He seems like a good kid."

"He is. We have high hopes for him."

Steve returns to his seat, shield in hand, his mood fully deflated. "…They're all really gone…Gabe, Morita, Dougan…all of them. All that's left are me, Peggy, and Bucky…"

"They all lived long lives. They all seemed happy, and we made sure they were taken care of in their old age. We take care of our own."

"Good."

Agent Hill's phone rings and she answers. "This is Hill… Okay… Okay I'll be there in a minute. Get Romanov to meet me." She hangs up the phone. "I'm sorry, there's something happening in Belarus. I have to go brief an agent and come up with a plan."

"Okay. Be safe."

"Thank you, I'll try. I'll send someone to help you get clothing and show you where your apartment is and all of that."

"Alright."

Hill nods goodbye and leaves. Steve goes back to watching Bucky for anything, the slightest raise in heartbeat, anything that might signify his waking up.