Disclaimer: I do not own Captain America or any of the other characters in the Marvel Universe. I only own the OCs that may appear in this story.

A/N: This has been a busy month. I was in Hawaii for the first half of it for a school field trip. It was an amazing experience. Tough, but amazing nonetheless. Anyways, I am happy that I was able to find the time to update this fic. I want to say thank you to those who take the time read this fic and to those who decide to add this fic as one of your favorites or follows.

"You always look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, Steve." Peggy Carter noted.

The former Shield agent had aged gracefully, but sadly that didn't stop her from developing Alzheimer's. Even though Peggy was slowly forgetting how much of an impact she had on helping to make the world a better and safer place every once and a while she would remember who she used to be. It was as if something clicked in her brain, like an on switch.

"You are still too young to be carrying such a burden." She added softly turning her head slightly to get a better look at Steve.

Letting out a deep breath Steve contemplated on telling Peggy his progress, or lack thereof, on finding Bucky. He had Sam to talk to about it, but it was not the same. Peggy was from his time and although she could not remember him or Bucky, Steve felt safe talking to her.

"I'm so close to finding him. I can feel it. I just…" he started, but stopped momentarily.

"What is it?" asked Peggy concerned.

"I don't want him to hate me. What if he blames me for not looking for him when he fell off the train? I should have done that. I should have gone back for him. I should have…"

"Steve." Peggy interrupted.

Looking over at the elder woman, Steve saw something in her eyes and he knew, it was his Peggy. She was back.

"Peggy." He breathed and scooted closer to her.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened to Bucky. It wasn't your fault." She reminded him as she caressed the side of Steve's face.

Steve leaned his head into Peggy's hand and closed his eyes thinking about how his life turned out. Peggy was right. He had missed so much. He had lost so much. Peggy told him it was okay to start over and he tried, but there were times when he didn't know exactly how.

Natasha tried to set him up with dates with women who she felt he could be compatible with, but trying to date was the last thing on his mind. He never felt comfortable around women. He just never had the confidence.

Sometimes Steve had to laugh with how persistent Natasha could be with helping him find someone, it reminded him of how Bucky used to be. His best friend was the one to push him to find the courage to talk to a lady.

"All you have to do is go up and say hi. Once you get past that…"

"It's not easy for me to talk to girls Bucky. Girls just aren't interested in a scrawny guy with too many ailments to name. You are wasting your time." Steve informed sadly and walked away with his head down.

"Steve, come on! Don't get down on yourself!" Bucky shouted but Steve ignored him and continued to walk on.

Upon hearing Peggy going into a fit of coughs Steve came back to reality.

"Here you go." Steve said as he helped Peggy bring the glass to her lips and slowly take sips of water.

Smiling to her show gratitude Steve set the glass down on the night desk and turned his attention back to Peggy.

"Tell me a story." She croaked out.

Steve stifled a laugh.

"What would the amazing Agent Peggy Carter like to hear?" He asked the woman who captured his heart all those years ago.

"A happy story."

"I don't have too many of those." Steve told Peggy.

"Don't be silly, of course you do. Tell me about you and Bucky. I know it is hard for you, but it is important to talk about him."

Letting out a sigh and rubbing a hand across his face Steve succumbed to Peggy's request because he knew she was right. She was one of the very people in his life he could trust as she was part of his past.

"How about I tell you a story about how Bucky and I met our other best friend, Faye."

"Faye? Why have I never heard about her before?" Peggy inquired with a small smile forming on her face.

"Well, I will tell you about her now. It was the summer of 1932. I had just turned 14 and still scrawny as ever." Steve laughed and went on to reminisce about his youth to Peggy.

"Brooklyn was in a heat wave. We did everything we could to keep cool, but it was no use. Bucky was off courting one of the girls in our 8th grade class who had all of a sudden grew…well she got bigger…this young lady became very well…endowed…in her chest…region." Steve said trying to not sound embarrassed, but it was no use. His face had turned a light shade of red.

"Anyways." He continued on, "I was hanging around the corner store Bucky and I would frequent whenever we needed to get treats for the movies or buy the new issue of The Shadow. Ah, man. The Shadow was one of the greatest comic book characters. He was before Superman or Batman. I doubt kids today even heard of The Shadow. Bucky's Aunt and Uncle had a better radio, so I would always go over their house and listen to The Shadow's radio program.

While I was reading the latest issue I heard some commotion not too far away. I look over and see these two older boys picking on this little girl. Now this girl couldn't have been more than 12 years old by the looks of her. She was short with brown hair that were braided into pig tales. I could tell she was trying to retrieve something the boys took from her."

"Give it back you jerks!" screamed the little girl.

"Hasn't anyone told you that girls aren't supposed to read comic books." Laughed one of the boys.

"Yeah, go home and play with your dolls." Added the other boy.

"Shut up!" The little girl yelled and reached for the boy who currently held her comic.

Off to the side Steve Rogers was witnessing the whole ordeal. Shaking his head he got up and went over to stop what was happening.

"Alright, guys cut it out." Steve demanded with his head held high. The one thing he detested most in the world was a bully.

The two older boys got one good look at Steve and busted out laughing. To them it was absurd that this scrawny kid before them was trying to tell them what to do.

"Get lost."

"Beat it."

But Steve wasn't one to back down from a bully.

"I mean it. Give the kid her comic book back. Now!"

"You know for a wimpy looking guy you have a lot of guts. Stupid, but guts." Said one of the boys smiling as he approached Steve.

All of a sudden Steve was knocked to the ground by a punch in the face.

As the two bullies began to laugh the younger girl stood with her mouth gaping open. She couldn't understand how someone could be so mean.

"You mean bullies!" She yelled and charged after one of the boys.

To everyone's surprise she managed to knock him to the ground and proceeded to take swipes at him.

Getting up from the ground Steve saw an opportunity to strike back at the boy who hit him. His fist connected to the boy's jaw and Steve let out a scream as he hand started to hurt like Hell.

Seeing that the comic fell from the boy's hand Steve picked it up, pulled the girl off the boy she was currently attacking and both ran for dear life.

Soon Bucky was in Steve sights.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. What happened?" Bucky asked when he saw the redness swell under Steve's eye.

Steve turned his head to look back in case they were being chased. They weren't, thankfully.

"Why were you running?" Bucky asked another question as he saw Steve trying to catch his breath.

"We were running from these rude boys." Spoke the young girl standing by Steve.

"Where did you come from?" questioned Bucky who just now noticed the younger girl's appearance.

"From my Mother's womb." Replied the little girl in a nonchalant manner.

"What?" asked Bucky shocked that she even knew or say such things.

"She was being picked on by a couple of jerks." Steve told Bucky as he handed the girl her comic book back.

"And you just had to step in. Now look at you. How are you going to explain this new bruise to your mother?"

"The truth never hurt anyone." Said the young girl.

"What is your name?" asked Bucky curious to know who this kid was.

"Faye. Faye Donahue." She answered.

"I'm Steve. This is Bucky. Nice to meet you Faye." Steve introduced shaking Faye's hand and giving her a friendly smile. Bucky, on the other hand, was not as amused.

"Well, Faye, thank you for getting my best friend beat up. Now, run along. Steve, let's go and get you cleaned up." Bucky ordered pulling Steve towards the direction of his apartment complex.

"Wait!" shouted Faye and both Steve and Bucky turned around to face her, "What if those guys find me and pick on me again?" she added with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Come on, you can walk with us." Said Steve motioning for Faye to tag along.

She giggled as she skipped up to Steve and Bucky.

"Thank you Steve for getting my comic book back. I love The Shadow Man. He is my favorite. I am actually not allowed to read it, because my Mother thinks it isn't something I should be reading, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her." Fayed shared with her two new friends.

Bucky rolled his eyes.

"He's just called The Shadow, kid. Not the Shadow Man." He chided but Fayed ignored him and continued walking in step with Steve and Bucky.

"I wish there were more girl comic book characters. Girls who are the heroes. Oh my goodness! Wouldn't that be amazing!" exclaimed Faye and skipped ahead of the two boys.

"Well, this is great Steve." Bucky said sarcastically to Steve as they both watched Faye swing herself around a light pole. "We are now babysitters." He added unamused.

"Come on, Buck. She seems like a good kid. Give her a chance. You may end up liking Faye." Steve pointed out.