Hey guys! This is the last chapter of this story. I tweaked the ending because I was driving my car and this song came on the radio and it totally changed the direction I wanted to go with the ending. The song lyrics are listed below and it is, once again, written by the amazing band, Skillet. Sorry to throw another song at your guys, but I think it so beautifully portrays and reinforces what Steve is going through and the heartbreak he is feeling. I can just imagine if this story were a movie, this song playing in the background in the first scene of this chapter. The song is called "Lucy", but I've switched out the name for "Peggy" to fit Steve's story.

Once again, all rights to the Avengers belong to Disney and I own nothing and I have made no financial gain with this story and no infringement is intended. All rights and lyrics of the song "Lucy' belong to Skillet and no infringement is intended.

"Lucy" by Skillet ("Lucy" is replaced with Peggy in the lyrics for the story)

Hey Peggy, I remember your name.
I left a dozen roses on your grave today.
I'm in the grass on my knees, wipe the leaves away.
I just came to talk for a while, got some things I need to say.

Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her.
I'd give up all the world to see
that little piece of heaven looking back at me.

Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her.
I gotta live with the choices I've made.
And I can't live with myself today.

Hey Peggy I remembered your birthday.
They said it'd bring some closure to say your name.
I know i'd do it all different if I had the chance.
But all I got are these roses to give and they can't help me make amends.

Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her.
I'd give up all the world to see
that little piece of heaven looking back at me.

Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her.
I gotta live with the choices I've made.
But I can't live with myself today.

Here we are, now you're in my arms.
I never wanted anything so bad.
Here we are, for a brand new start.
Living the life that we could have had.

Me and Peggy walking hand in hand
Me and Peggy never want to end
Just another moment in your eyes
I'll see you in another life, in heaven
Where we never say goodbye

Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her.
I'd give up all the world to see
that little piece of heaven looking back at me.

Now that it's over
I just wanna hold her.
I gotta live with the choices I've made.
But I can't live with myself today.

Here we are, now you're in my arms.
Here we are for a brand new start.
Gotta live with the choices I've made
And I can't live with myself today.

Me and Peggy walking hand in hand.
Me and Peggy never want to end.
Gotta live with the choices I've made
But I can't live with myself today.

Hey Peggy, I remember your name.

Don't Wake Me - Chapter 7

Steve lands the jet and limps down the grassy pathway. The scene is peaceful and quiet. Birds chirp and sing while the sun sets low in the sky, casting long shadows of trees across the well manicured lawn. To most people it would be a beautiful day, but for Steve it's a nightmare. His side is screaming out and his arm is throbbing and his body is still weak and healing. Every step is a battle of will even on level ground. His heart sinks when he sees a hill start to slope up in front of him. Steve had been here before a few months ago. He doesn't remember this hill looking so daunting the last time, but he's nothing if not persistent. He grits his teeth and holds his arm to his chest and starts the trek up the steep slope of the hill.

Steve stumbles and slips on the grass a few times while sweat drips down his face and back. His body is crying out for him to stop, but he doesn't give in. He has to pause once or twice to give his sore body a break, but he presses on, unwilling to quit.

Once at the top Steve is breathless and exhausted. He looks down and a bit of red is starting to bleed through the side of the white t-shirt he 'borrowed' from the room on the Helicarrier. He ignores the fresh blood and hobbles down the pathway, focused and determined to make it to his destination.

He finally finds what he's looking for and collapses down to his knees in the soft grass, wincing when his numerous injuries are jostled. Steve just kneels for a moment, catching his breath and pleading with his body to settle. After a few moments he collects himself and gently touches his hand to the stone that sits in front of him.

"In loving memory of Margaret Ann Carter" is etched into the white stone sticking up out of the earth. Steve gently sweeps his hand across the base of the stone, brushing the stray leaves away. With a shaking hand he reverently traces the letters of Peggy's name, remembering.

"Hey Peg," Steve murmurs, smiling softly. "It's Steve. I know it's been a while since I was last here. I meant to come back to see you, but I.…it was too painful to come back here after you…left….when you died a few months ago." Steve pauses for a moment, studying the grass beneath him.

"I had started to feel like I had some closure a couple weeks ago. Like there was hope that I could heal from the wound that was left on my heart, but some….stuff happened this week and that wound was ripped open again and I… I just needed to come see you," Steve sighs and looks around the graveyard with the dim, purple sky surrounding him. "I felt like you were fading away from me after that first month of losing you. My memories were getting cold and I was so scared that I was forgetting you. Forgetting your smile. Your laugh. Your touch. I thought about all of the things I never got to say and all of the things I wish I could do over."

Steve rubs his hands down his face, his eyes are so tired and sore from the tears and the lack of sleep. "Then this week happened and I got everything I ever wanted, Peg. I took you dancing. You taught me how, just like you promised you would," Steve huffs out a laugh with a soft smile when he remembers the clumsy night of dancing, but his expression becomes solemn when he reminds himself that it was just a dream. "We danced for so long that night. We got married too and you were so beautiful….we had a baby, Peg. A little boy. He was perfect, just like his mother," Steve's expression softens when he remembers that little baby in his arms. "I got to see Bucky and the fellas again. It was just like before the crash…." Steve's hesitates at the memory of the plane crash in the ice.

"It's like a movie playing over in my head and so want to relive it, to just fall asleep and wake up to you and our life again. I want to hold you and our son. Just another moment in your eyes, to have you in my arms again. I would give everything to just have another day with you. One more day to live that movie again, but I can't because I know how everything ends. I know it's not real. I know it was the product of some….alien hallucination." Steve grips his arm painfully, wanting to dig the wound out of his shoulder and pretend like it never happened.

"I miss you, Peg. I miss you so much," Steve leans forward and braces himself up on the stone. "The last couple of days I've questioned if I made the right decision. I was so sure of my choice at the time, but now that everything is said and done, all I want to do is hold you. Would it have been better if I had never woke up? If I had stayed with you in our dream?….with you and our son….should I have stayed even if it meant that my life here ended?… Maybe it's like they say: 'time heals all wounds,' and I'll be able to live with the choices I've made someday, but today,…I don't know if I can. I know I have to let you go, but I don't want to be alone in this world, Peggy. I don't know if I can do it."

"You don't have to do it alone," Tony answers softly behind Steve and he jumps, startled by the man's quiet approach.

"How long have you been standing there," Steve tries to quickly compose himself and wipes his face.

"Long enough."

"You shouldn't have come here, Tony." Steve stands unsteadily. Tony takes a step forward to help him, but Steve pulls away.

"How else was I supposed to find out what's going on with you Steve?" Tony asks, frustrated.

"Maybe you don't need to know what's going on with me," Steve turns his back to Tony.

"We're you're friends, Steve. We're worried about you. You aren't talking to me or anyone else, you're not eating, you're not sleeping. You took yourself on a little plane ride when you shouldn't even be on your feet. You're killing yourself, Steve," Tony catches a glimpse of the blood soaking through Steve's shirt from his side.

"Maybe it's better that way. Maybe I just need some time. I don't know," Steve throws his hand in the air and limps away from Tony before he turns back around to face the man. "You heard everything that happened. Maybe I made the wrong decision. Maybe I never should have survived and woke up this time or from the ice. Maybe I don't belong here and that was my chance to go back."

"You don't mean that, Steve," Tony frowns and takes a step forward again, but Steve just retreats further away from him. "You're working through some things right now and you're tired. You just need to take some time..."

"Tony," Steve interrupts the man and leans heavily against a tree. His voice is quiet, tired and on the verge of defeat and that scares Tony more than anything. "I just….I can't do this again. I can't wake up and leave my life behind again. Do you know what it's like to have your life ripped away from you not once, but twice?" Steve faces Tony down, sweating and breathing heavily through his fatigue. "It just hurts too much, Tony. I don't know if I can do this." Steve runs his fingers through his hair and collapses to the ground, leaning his back against a tree and burying his face into the palms of his hands.

Tony is shaken. In the entire time that he's known Steve he's never once heard the man say that anything hurt or that he ever questioned himself. Ever. He knows Steve has gone through a lot in his life, both mentally and physically. Mentally, he was thrust into a new world that he knew nothing about, lost everyone he knew and loved and was left to pick up the pieces. Physically, Tony has seen Steve thrown through brick walls, fight through broken bones, and taken hits that would have killed a normal person. Hell, just a few days ago he saw Steve get crushed by a parking garage and impaled on a chunk of rebar and he never complained or said a word about being hurt.

"I don't know what that's like, Steve," Tony slowly walks closer and kneels next to Steve, thankful this time that Steve is either more receptive or too tired to fight him anymore. "I don't know what any of that is like, but I do know what it's like to lose everything. To feel like you're alone in this world. I know what it's like to feel helpless and trapped. When life is so dark and so bad that you think there's no way that you can ever come back and there's no way for your life to be anything worth living." Tony looks Steve in the eye. "Steve."

Steve slowly lifts his gaze up to Tony's. "You've seen me at some of my worst moments. You know I've seen some bad times and been in some pretty hopeless moments, but you and the Avengers were there to pull me back from the edge. I know you feel like life is too painful to continue and it's not worth it, but we're going to carry you through this, Steve. We've got your back and we're not going to let you fall." Tony promises and the two men sit in silence for a long time.

"I think I understand why you drink," Steve finally sighs. Tony huffs out a laugh in relief when he finally sees a glimmer of Steve coming back.

"Why I used to drink," Tony corrects. "I stopped because I had someone to pick me up." Tony stands and offers a hand to Steve. He studies Tony's hand for a moment, knowing that to take it is to make the decision to give life another chance, even with the hurt and the loss. To trust his teammate that the pain will fade and the scars will heal. It's another choice he has to make. Does he choose to stay in his grief and sorrow, trapped in the memories of what he's lost or does he choose to hope again?

Slowly, Steve reaches out and grab's Tony's hand and he pulls Steve up off of the ground. Steve's more spent then he realizes and his legs begin to giveaway under him, but Tony is there to catch him.

"Easy, Spangles. I've gotcha." He wraps Steve's arm around his shoulder. "Now, are you ready to go home?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready to go," Steve nods and Tony helps him limp down the path.

"The others are going to be pissed when we get back," Tony warns. "Especially Bruce. You look like you're going to need some new stitches," Tony nods his head toward the bloody spot on Steve's shirt.

"I suppose I've got some explaining to do," Steve winces while they start to work their way down the hill. "Thank you, Tony. For having my back."

"Anytime, Cap." Tony nods. "…you know this hill is a real bitch, right?"

"Tell me about it," Steve huffs.


"I'm going to seriously tie you to the wall, Steve," Bruce threatens as he gathers up bandaging material from the cupboards, slamming the cupboard doors. "No, not enough. I'm going to melt your shield down, turn it into an unbreakable chain and hook you up to the Hulk."

"Brucie is upset," Tony raises a brow at Bruce's unusual show of frustration.

"What the hell were you doing, Steve?" Clint frowns, ignoring Tony's stupidity.

"I just….had to take care of something," Steve answers quietly, never lifting his gaze from the floor. He's so tired after over exerting his tired body and he just wants to lay down right now, but he has the decency to feel ashamed and let Bruce do what he needs to do. Bruce made him sit on the table in the hospital room while he works to re-bandage his side. He frowns while he looks over the numerous cuts and bruises covering Steve's torso that are still healing.

"What the hell was so urgent that you had to steal a jet and break out of the hospital?" Natasha scolds.

"You had us worried, Steve," Bruce frowns.

"I'm sorry. It was…important. Just trust me. It couldn't wait," Steve inhales sharply when Bruce pulls away the bandage on his side.

"It wouldn't hurt so much if you would give it a chance to heal, you know." Bruce's empathy slowly returns when he inspects the wound under the bandage, although Steve can tell he's still a little worked up. "That's going to need to be re-stitched."

"Sorry," Steve frowns.

"What is going on with you, Steve," Clint crosses his arms and leans on the wall in front of Steve. The Soldier's face twists into a wince when Bruce starts to re-stitch his side.

"It's…complicated," Steve grits his teeth when another stitch is placed.

"We've got time," Natasha stands and waits for an explanation and the other Avengers stand unmoving, waiting for his response. Steve shoots a look at Tony and Tony just smirks a little and nods at him. Steve fiddles with his hands and studies them closely before he takes a deep breath and starts.

"A lot happened for me in the six days that I was in the medical bay," Steve begins slowly. "For me…it was a lot longer. I lived six months of my life in those six days."

"How is that possible?" Thor glances at Tony and Bruce, waiting for the two geniuses to offer some sort of answer.

"Had to be the toxin. We don't really understand it's full effects yet," Bruce offers.

"In those six months I…." Steve closes his eyes to keep himself focused and collected. "I lived the life I could have had before the plane crash."

"With Peggy," Natasha begins to understand and Steve nods. "Oh, Steve."

"We had our first dance," Steve frowns at the still healing gash on his arm when Bruce removes the wrap. "I got to see Bucky and the fellas again. Peg and I even got married….had a baby…" Steve's voice trails off and he begins to lose his resolve, but pulls himself together.

"And you left it behind?" Bruce asks while he changes out the bandage on Steve's arm.

"Had to. It wasn't real," Steve answers, telling himself just as much as he's telling the Avengers. "I knew it wasn't the whole time, but I ignored it…or I tried to."

"What made you come back?" Clint asks.

Steve pauses and looks up for the first time since he started explaining himself. "You guys…You guys kept working your way in somehow. You wouldn't let me forget and I couldn't keep ignoring you. I knew I had to come back. I had to come back for you guys."

The room is quiet again and the Avengers all study Steve for a moment and he tries to figure out what each of them is thinking. If they're upset with him. If they're hurt that he almost didn't come back. If they're still angry that he snuck away without telling them.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that we're all very glad that you chose to come back," Tony puts a hand on Steve's shoulder and smiles.

"We're team, Steve," Natasha nods in agreement. "Wouldn't be the same without you."

"Nay, we are more than a team. We are a family," Thor declares.

"A big, screwed up, dysfunctional, steaming-pile of," Clint grunts when Natasha elbows him. "…family."

"And you're part of it, Steve," Bruce smiles.

"We know you had to give up a lot to come back to us Steve," Tony stands in front of Steve with the rest of the Avengers. "and we know that we'll never be the family you had, but we're going to do the best we can to be the family you deserve."

"Family?" Steve looks at the people standing in front of him. He's always valued his team and cared about them, loved them even, but today is the first time he's realized how much they truly mean to him and how much he means to them in return. "Alright then," Steve agrees and smiles for the first time since waking up. He smiles because his team, his family, has given him hope again.

The end! Hope you guys enjoyed the story - please feel free to rate and review! I'd love to hear what you liked and what you didn't like. I'm always interested in making my stories and writing better. Keep an eye open for more stories to come - I'm currently working on one with a face-off between Steve and Tony as well as some more light hearted stories. I've always wanted to write something with Thor and Steve finding their way in the modern world and the trouble they get into.