A Super-Soldier for the Modern World

Chapter Ten

"Shit," Amanda hissed.

Bucky was looking back and forth at both Steves. A look of anger mixed with confusion was on his face.

"Will someone explain to me what's going on here?" he asked.

"Should we tell him the truth?" 40s Steve asked.

"I don't know how he's going to handle it," modern Steve replied.

"Oh, cut that out!" he panicked. Bucky's blood alcohol level mixed with his confusion was getting the best of him. "This is all a conspiracy!" he shouted at the modern Steve before turning to the other Steve. "This is all part of that sick experiment, isn't it?!" he yelled.

"We're going to attract a lot more attention if he keeps yelling like that," Howard pointed out.

"Stark is right. Please Sergeant Barnes, calm down," Peggy told him.

"No," he said firmly. "I will not calm down! I want to know what's going on. You!" he rounded on the modern Steve. "You aren't the real…" he started but couldn't finish. Amanda decked him and he was out cold a second later.

"Ow," Amanda said as she shook out her hand. Her knuckles and fingers were going to be sore for a while, but they did not need a scene. And they did not need to tell Bucky Barnes the truth.

40s Steve inspected the unconscious Bucky and then turned to look at Amanda. "You're a lot like your aunt," he said, remembering Peggy socking one of the other soldiers in the face on his first day at bootcamp.

Amanda stepped towards the 40s Steve and put her hand on his arm. "We cannot tell him the truth," she told him.

She took her hand away when she realized what she was doing.

"Why can't we tell him?" Steve asked. "Bucky is my best friend."

"I know that; we both know that," Amanda said. "But…"

"We know things, remember?" modern Steve said. "And it would be better in the long run if he didn't know the truth."

Modern Steve knew that it was the exact opposite of what he'd want to be told. But he couldn't do anything about it. They couldn't tell him anything that could be used against them in the future. And they definitely couldn't tell them that Bucky ends up an enemy of the US for a while.

"Maybe it would be best if you were out of sight before he comes around," 40s Steve told the modern version of himself.

He nodded to him. "You're probably right. You can just blame it on the alcohol," he said.

"Or his over-active imagination," Amanda growled. "Come on," she said to her Steve.

She was going to go with him into the small room in the lab that was fixed up for him to sleep in. However, Peggy got in her way.

"No, no," Peggy said. "Captain Rogers can go on his own and you can go back to my tent," she told Amanda.

"You have got to be kidding me," Amanda told her aunt.

Peggy did not back down. "No, I am not kidding you, young lady."

Amanda's mouth opened in shock, but she didn't say anything.

"Are you just going to stand there with your mouth open or are you going to do what I've asked of you?" Peggy asked.

"I'm sorry, I'm just having a flashback to when I was thirteen and mouthed off to you. This was just almost word for word. Except I think you grounded me, too, that time."

No one said anything.

"Okay, I'm just going to go back to your tent," Amanda said. "And I'm going to try to not think about this moment."

Modern Steve started to follow her and Peggy opened her mouth.

"Don't say anything," he told her. "I'm just going to walk her to the door," Steve told her.

Peggy nodded in approval and she turned her attention back to the unconscious man on the floor.

Over by the door, Steve leaned down and kissed Amanda, passionately. In an instant, she was pressed up against the wall. She moaned into his mouth.

A minute later, Steve let her go and she stared up at him.

"What was that for?" Amanda asked. "Not that I'm complaining."

"When we get back," he said as he kneeled down with her hand still in his.

"What are you doing?" Amanda asked.

"Will you marry me?" he asked as he pulled a ring out of his pocket.

Amanda didn't look down at the ring. She was still focused on the sincere, yet serious expression on his face.

"Manda?" he asked her after she still hadn't responded. "What is it? Is it the ring? Is it me? Do you…"

Amanda kissed him to silence him.

"Yes," she told him.

"Yes, it's me or…" he said.

"Oh, Steve," Amanda sighed. "Yes, I'll marry you," she smiled. She smiled even though she was totally overwhelmed. Everything hit her all at once. But she knew this was something she wanted. She wanted to marry Steve.

Steve smiled back at her and slid the ring onto her finger.

"You're sure you want to marry me?" she whispered.

"I wouldn't have asked you if I wasn't sure," he told her. "I had planned to ask you over dinner when we had finished at the lab that day, but it seems like we haven't made it home yet," he told her. "I couldn't wait any longer. It was burning a hole in my pocket."

"Oh," she said. "You know you don't have to…"

"To what? Ask you to marry me?" he asked. "No, you're right. I didn't have to. But I wanted to. So, I did," he told her.

"You…" she said.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't know," she shook her head, smiling.

"Just tell me you want to marry me again," he replied.

Amanda put her arms around her Captain and put her lips to his ear. "I want to marry you, Steve Rogers."

"You don't want to marry Captain America?" he asked.

"He comes as part of the deal, but I would marry Steve Rogers without all the bells and whistles in a heartbeat."

All of Steve's face was lit up. The only thing that would make him happier would be being back in 2013 where he could marry her tomorrow. She would probably have a slight problem with that, but it wasn't likely going to happen since they were nowhere near getting back to their time.

"I love you," Steve told her. "I really do."

"I love you more," she replied.

"Not even possible," he said, enunciating each word.

"I should probably get going," Amanda told him. "I wouldn't want to confuse Sergeant Barnes," she said. "And you should get hidden yourself."

"How's your hand?" he asked, looking now at the other, ring-less hand.

"Hurts like hell," she replied. "I'll be fine. I'm a doctor, remember?"

"I'll see you in the morning?"

"Probably not. I'll have to report to the infirmary again. We have a lot of injured men and not a lot of hands to work on them," Amanda told him.

He kissed her once more and then she slipped out of his grip and was gone.

There would be no celebration. He was not going to tell them that he had just proposed and Steve knew that Amanda wasn't going to tell anyone either. There would be plenty of time for celebrating once they got home.

He walked back down the hall and looked at everyone. Bucky was starting to stir, so it was time to go back into his room. Steve nodded his good night to Peggy, Howard and the other Steve and then walked into his makeshift quarters.

Bucky came around entirely, luckily, after modern Steve was tucked away in his "room".

He sat up and looked at the other people in the room: Howard, Peggy and only one Steve. Buck held his head and groaned.

"What the hell happened?" he asked.

The other three stared at him.

"I think you've had too much to drink, Bucky," Steve told him.

Steve reached out and helped his friend to his feet.

"I don't remember drinking that much," Buck told him. "I had the strangest dream while I was out…"

"Oh?" Steve asked.

"There was a second you and that gorgeous dame…your cousin…" he said slowly as he realized what he was saying to Peggy. "I'm sorry, ma'am," he apologized.

"Well, at least I know where you learned your conversational skills, captain," Peggy replied. "I think we should let Stark get some work done. He has deadlines," she told them.

It wasn't a lie. The faster he figured out what happened with the time travel, the faster their lives could all return to normal. It had only been a couple of days, but it was virtually impossible to keep both Captains hidden on the base. And Philips was going to come ask questions again before long. Yes, it would just be so much easier to get back to normal.

"Can we walk you back, Agent Carter?" Bucky asked.

"I actually need to speak with Captain Rogers in private. Would that be okay?" she asked Bucky.

Bucky smiled for his friend.

"Nope, not a problem. You two can just be…alone," he said.

Steve blushed. He knew what Bucky was insinuating and it was just never going to happen.

"See you later, Captain America. Agent Carter, Mr. Stark, good night."

Bucky left and they waited another minute before saying good night to Howard.

"What did you need to talk to me about, Agent Carter?" he asked.

"Nothing specific," she said as they walked. "I just wanted to see how you were handling things."

"Well, I think I'm okay," he said. "For there being a second me running around."

"Has he told you anything?" Peggy asked.

"Not since that first night," he said. "I actually try to not talk to him. It feels weird."

"Are you dealing with the fact that you are still alive and young in 70 years?"

"I can't think about that," he told her. "I can't let that get in the way of the ultimate goal."

Peggy stopped and put her hand up to stop him.

"What's the ultimate goal?" she asked. "What do you want to accomplish?"

"I want the war to be over," Steve told the woman in front of him. "I want to do what I can to help end it."

"You're handling this all very well," she told him.

"Well, thank you," he said. "I don't know how else to handle it, though. I just have to take it. It's like anything else in life, you can worry about it or you can deal. I'm just going to deal."

Steve and Peggy continued their stroll to Peggy's quarters and they stopped outside of it.

"I'm sure we'll figure it all out, Peggy," he said, attempting to comfort her. "Your niece and, um, I, will be able to get home. Stark will figure it out," Steve said. "And maybe someone on their end is trying to get them back, too."

"He's good, but…"

"Let's not think like that. Based on what's he told us, if we change anything, it could be catastrophic in the future," he told her.

"Well, this is me, and I should probably make sure Amanda is all right," Peggy said.

Steve nodded. "Right, well, good night."

He gave her once last look and hurried off in the opposite direction. Peggy looked after him for a moment, but she soon walked into her tent where Amanda was looking over one of the books that she'd found.

Amanda looked up at her aunt when she came in and there were tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Peggy asked.

"It's this book," Amanda said as she closed it and set it aside. "It's still in your library."

"I have a library?" she asked Amanda.

"Because it was so heavy, you always let me press flowers and leaves in it," Amanda explained. She sniffled quietly. "I didn't mean to start going through your things, but it was on top and I recognized it and couldn't help myself."

"It's all right," Peggy told her. "So you and I, we're close?"

"Yes," Amanda said. "I don't exactly get along with my parents. I spent a lot of time with you instead of traveling with them," she finished. "It was pretty easy to hide my association with a spy organization from them."

"Do I have any children?"

Amanda didn't know how to answer her. She didn't want to break her heart.

"I don't, do I? It's because of what happens to Steve, isn't it?" Peggy asked. She wasn't stupid, she was now just going to have to deal.

"No, you don't end up having kids. But I'm a handful, so…"

"Well, what I know of you now, I'm glad I've had a hand in raising you. You seem like a healthy, well-adjusted adult. Although, what were those scars on your back from?"

"Uh…"

"What is it? You can tell me."

"It's from the mission I was on," Amanda said. "I was undercover trying to bring Faustus back to SHIELD."

"Faustus?" Peggy asked.

"He's…"

"He can't still be alive," Peggy interrupted. "He's alive right now."

"Well, Nick Fury is still alive, too. Well, I hope he is. We haven't heard from him a while. God, Coulson is going to kill me. He never had any ideas of running SHIELD and I left him in charge and then disappeared. I wonder what that's doing to him. He hasn't been alive that long…"

Peggy looked at her.

"We were able to bring him back from death, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Well, Loki stabbed him and he died, but Fury put his body on ice essentially. Well, he was dead and now he's alive again," Amanda explained.

"Loki?"

"Thor, the Norse god of thunder…" she saw the look on Peggy's face. "I lost you didn't I?"

"A bit."

"Well, I can tell you that there is a group of extraordinary people. Tony is Iron Man. He created a robotic suit of armor. And there's Steve…Captain America. And Thor…"

"Is he really a god?"

"Well, it certainly explains the outfit he wears."

"Who else?"

"The Hulk…that was an experiment with radiation gone bad. Dr. Banner turns into this…well, you wouldn't believe it. And then there's Natasha and Hawkeye. Both are superspy assassins. Better at it than I am. Hawkeye is an archer. He can hit anything. And Nat, well, she's Black Widow. They're the Avengers."

"You mean, you're the Avengers."

"Well, I missed the battle of the century when I was undercover. So, I don't feel like part of the team."

"I'm sure they all feel like you are, though," Peggy told her.

"Its okay, Steve does a good job of including me."

"How is he really adjusting?" Peg asked.

"He's…it was really hard in the beginning. He was really mistrusting of everyone. And when Schmidt's daughter Sin impersonated a younger version of you, well…"

"What?"

"The Red Skull has a daughter and her name is Sin. She did something and was able to transform herself into you, well, like you are now," Amanda explained. "Poor guy believed that you had been able to make yourself younger so you could be with him, but…"

"That poor man," Peggy said.

"I feel bad that you have to know all this now."

"I'm happy because I know that he's happy."

"This is how things have to happen. Otherwise, any minor details that change, well, it could result in major changes in the future. So when it is that time, you have to let him do what he has to do."

"I know," Peggy replied.

"But that brings me back to what I was actually going to ask you. What exactly is the status of you two?" she asked. "Because was super awkward to listen to what just happened on the other side of the tent wall," Amanda asked.

…

Author's Note: So what did you think?