Sharon was slightly worried over Steve's extremely good mood today. He seemed overly excited by everything, almost anxiously excited. They were going to dinner tonight, something he planned to make up for forgetting to make dinner reservations for Valentine's day. She initially brushed it off as him just being excited to spend one-on-one time with her again, but she was skeptical.

As much as they tried to be a normal couple, their abnormal jobs and lives got in the way. Dealing with the Sovereign has turned into a 24/7 issue for Sharon. Fortunately, Tony found office space in Manhattan for the team to operate out of as needed. She's been basically sleeping in her office there, too busy and too tired to even think about calling a cab to get home Steve has had to pick her up from there at least twice a week to bring her home so she could sleep in her bed and not face planted on her desk. She's been so appreciative of him this week, how caring and attentive he's been. She never had someone take care of her like this before, and it meant a lot.

"Hill, I actually have to leave early today so I can look like a human for my date with Steve," Sharon said as she walked into Maria's office.

"Yup, it's in my calendar. Rogers also texted me saying I had to let you leave early, like I'm the one telling you to sleep here," she rolled her eyes. "Big night for you two?"

"It's just a dinner, as far as I know anyway," she said with a shrug. "He's been weird, but I think it's just because I've been so busy. We thought we'd have more time together, especially since Stark bought these offices, but we've had less."

"Perks of the job."

"Some perks," Sharon said with a sigh. "Anyway, I think the space issue is being directly handled by S.W.O.R.D. after today. Carol said she was talking to Monica about sending up backup if needed. Thor is going to be in New Asgard for a bit when all this is done, and I think Rocket mentioned something about trying to find Gamora to get Quill to stop whining."

"He is irritating, isn't he?"

"If Thor hadn't done it already, I'd ask Steve to knock him out, maybe throw the shield at his face" Sharon rolled her eyes. "Stark hates him too after their first fight with Thanos."

"Where are we at with the Walker issue?"

"It's escalated," Sharon sighed, sitting down across from Hill. "Sam and Bucky are going to have to be prepped to go out. I know he's been training Torres on using the wings, but I think they'll have to go out soon and I don't think Torres would be ready. We have very little intel and we only find out he's hit after the fact."

"So I've heard. The team has been bitching to me at every debriefing," Hill said with a sigh. "We'll start to put that in motion. From what they reported back, he's gone back underground. The last time this happened we didn't have anything happen for a few weeks, they think it'll be the same."

"Luckily it hasn't been anything major, but I'm getting nervous. We need to be on the offensive when it comes to John Walker," Sharon said and Hill nodded in agreement. Sharon's phone buzzed from a text from Natasha. "I'm meeting Nat for coffee before heading home to get ready. Do you want to come?"

"No, someone's gotta do the work around here," she said with a smirk. "Just make sure you text me a picture if there's a ring."

"A ring," Sharon said, almost choking on the word. "What do you know?"

"Absolutely nothing, I swear," Maria said and Sharon almost believed her. "You said it yourself, he's been weird. Most men get weird right before their about to propose."

"Oh god, I'm not ready for that," Sharon groaned. "Maybe I should stick around here and work."

"Nope, one of us deserves to be wined and dined by a hot man. You have one at the ready," Maria said, pushing her out the door. "Say hi to Natasha."

Sharon spotted Natasha sitting in the back table at their favorite coffee shop. She quickly walked over and noticed she had already ordered a coffee for her. Sharon sat down and ran her hands through her hair nervously.

"Is Steve proposing?"

"I don't think so," Natasha said, tilting her head curiously at her friend. "Why?"

"I don't know, Hill made a comment and now I'm freaking out. I have no idea why we're going to dinner tonight."

"I honestly don't know. I think he just wants to take you to dinner. You've been working so hard."

"You really don't know anything," Sharon said, looking at her questionably. "He tells you a lot."

"Hand to god, I have no idea," Natasha said sincerely. "Honestly, I don't think he'd tell me if he was proposing anyway. He would probably think that I'd tell you, which I take offense to. I'm a spy."

"Right," Sharon snorted. "You wouldn't outright tell me, you'd just insist on going shopping for a new outfit, getting a mani-pedi, and making sure my hair is done the day of. Like that wouldn't tip me off."

"Okay you're not wrong," Natasha huffed. "Just think of the pictures. You'd be grateful."

"I'm always grateful, I just find you annoying," Sharon smiled. "You know I can't say yes if he asks. Not yet."

"I know, and he knows that too. I truly think it's just a dinner that he's excited about. It's like the first real date he's ever planned."

"Okay," she nodded. "How are things with you and Bucky?"

"They're going really well," Natasha said, a rare genuine smile crossing her features. "We both did a lot of shit we regret in the past, and I think we help each other through those lingering demons."

"I'm really happy for you both. You both deserve so much happiness."

"So do you. I'm glad to see you and Steve in this place right now."

"It's a good place," Sharon smiled.

"Are you constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop because there's no way we have nice things," Natasha asked and Sharon nodded. "I worry that James is just going to one day decide he doesn't want to be with someone who can't give him a future, who's past is too similar to his."

"He won't do that," Sharon reassured her. "But I get what you mean. I've been actively working on not letting myself fall into that spiral of self-doubt. Neither of our guys have given us any reason to think they want anyone else but us."

"You're right," Natasha nodded. "You should go, you have a date to get ready for."

"Big plans for tonight," Tony asked. "I heard Pepper on the phone the other day making reservations in New York."

"I owe her, I couldn't get dinner reservations anywhere. Sharon's been so busy and I wanted to do something nice for her."

"Well, duh. It's Carter's birthday too, you should do something nice."

"Birthday?"

"Yeah. You of all people should know that, Cap," Tony scoffed. "Anyway, I gotta run. Morgan just figured out how to turn the rockets on in her mini suit and Pepper is going to kill me. Tell 13 I said hi!"

"Birthday?" Steve said again once they hung up. He was pretty sure her birthday wasn't until May, but today was ringing familiar too and he couldn't figure out why. Tony had known Sharon growing up, so he trusted (and hoped) he was right and called the restaurant. He just got off the phone when he heard the door open.

"Hey," she said, kissing him when she approached. "Dinner's at 8 right?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "How was your day?"

"Busy," she sighed. "I was going to take a shower. Maybe you need to take one too?"

"You know, I do need to shower. It's better for the environment if we take it together," his tone very serious.

"Mhm, water conservation and all that," she nodded, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and reached up to kiss him again. He bent down and picked her up smoothly, her legs wrapping around his waist, and all but ran into the bathroom.

"You look beautiful," Steve said when Sharon came out of the bedroom in a fitted black dress that hit below her knees and a dark red wool coat.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Sharon asked, stressed that she was underdressed for whatever he was planning.

"It's perfect, you're perfect," he said, kissing her gently on the cheek. "Ready to go?"

"I am starving," she admitted to him as they headed out. "Thank you for planning this."

"Anything for my girl," he smiled as he took her hand in his.

Sharon felt her anxiety ease as her and Steve easily slipped into conversation during dinner. She filled him in about work and he told her he started drawing again, which made her so happy.

"So, I was thinking maybe one weekend we could drive down to Delaware so you could meet my parents," Sharon said, focusing her attention on her food while she waited for his response.

"I'd like that," he said genuinely, smiling when she looked up at him. "They're okay with us dating?"

"My family finds it amusing. Some of my cousins find it romantic," she said with a shrug. "I plan on saving you from the whole Carter family for now. My mom just really wants to meet the man who got me to settle down. If she only knew it was the same man who kept me from that."

"Maybe let's not tell her that right away. I'd like to make a good impression."

"I'll check in with Hill tomorrow to see when would be a good time for a little getaway."

"I might have told Hill you were taking the rest of the week off," Steve said sheepishly. "You've been working so hard, and it's just a few days. You deserve a break. She agreed with me, and was fine with it, even said I didn't need to go into Cap mode for it."

"That was really sweet, thank you," she said, reaching across the table to hold his hand. "I know things have been insane, I'm hoping it slows up soon. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too. But I get it, I've been there. Things happen, the world needs saving. As long as we can make some time for each other, like a nice dinner every once in a while."

"This dinner was amazing," Sharon said when the waiter took their dishes away. "I'm glad you planned this."

She was a little on edge now that it was over. She still didn't know what prompted this fancy date. She saw the waiter coming back out with a dessert and a bottle of champagne and her stomach dropped. She didn't want him to propose like this, or at all yet. Sharon started mentally preparing how she can politely reject Steve Rogers when she realized what was really happening.

"Happy birthday, on the house," the waiter said as he put her favorite dessert in front of her and poured them each a glass of champagne. Her head was spinning, she thought she was going to throw up. She gripped the table to focus on not crying when she felt the tears prick her eyes.

"Happy birthday," Steve said with a smile that fell from his face once he saw her. "Sharon?"

"You think today's my birthday?" she whispered, sounding borderline deadly.

"Uh, it's not," he asked dumbly.

"I need to go," she said, standing up quickly and ran out of the restaurant. He stood up too, following her outside to the curb. He grabbed her wrist to stop her and she ripped her wrist out of his grasp.

"Shar, I don't understand," he said and she turned around to look at him, practically seething.

"Today is Peggy's birthday, Steve. Not mine," she said, glaring at him with such hatred that he wanted Thanos to come back to snap him out of existence. His jaw dropped as he realized his mistake. "Yeah."

"But, I," he stuttered but stopped when he saw she was crying. "Sharon, I'm so sorry."

"I can't look at you, we're done," she said as she got into the cab she hailed.

Sharon barely held herself together in the cab ride home. The minute she shut her front door, she collapsed against it and started sobbing. She couldn't believe what had just happened. This was not even a thought in her mind of something that could have happened. She almost wished he had proposed - that would have been better than this. He remembered Peggy's birthday. He confused her birthday with Peggy's. Did that mean he still felt something for her aunt, that she was Peggy's replacement? They've been together for almost seven months, longer if you count their time on the run.

Her phone was non-stop ringing and buzzing from all the calls and texts from Steve, a few from Natasha. She shut her phone off, throwing it across the room and not giving it a second thought if it shattered. She just stayed on the floor, her arms wrapped around herself in an attempt to stop from falling apart. Sharon stayed there until she calmed down, and eventually fell asleep.

She was startled awake the next morning by an incessant knocking on her door She didn't care who it was, she wasn't answering. She was keeping her phone off. Sharon was still numb over what happened last night. She stood up and stretched, knowing she was going to regret sleeping on the floor later but just didn't have the energy to care.

Sharon dug around her closet to find the extra storage boxes she had left over from her move. She began to collect Steve's stuff and toss them into the boxes. She meant it when she said she was done. She couldn't do this again, she couldn't deal with the pain. The fear that she worked so hard to keep pushed down until it was gone came bubbling right back up to the surface and overwhelmed her - she will always be his second choice Carter. She was the replacement for Peggy. He never actually loved her, he still wanted to be Peggy.

She held her breath to try to stop the tears, she couldn't deal with them again. She heard Steve yelling for her to open the door, but just continued to ignore him until she finished packing his stuff. She had just enough boxes to fit everything he had in her apartment. Maybe she was being dramatic, but she just couldn't put herself back together again to be with a man who saw her as second rate.

She wiped at her eyes and smoothed her hair down before opening the door. Steve looked heartbroken when he took in her appearance, and then looked down at the boxes.

"Sharon, I don't know how I can make this up to you, but please," he said but she put her hand up to stop him.

"You can't. These are your things. Please take them and leave."

"Can we please talk?"

"No, I'm done talking. Take your shit and get off of my stoop," she said, shoving the boxes on to her top step. "I won't hesitate to shoot you if you don't leave. I bet you'd like that though, would remind you of Peggy."

"Sharon," his voice broke when he said her name.

"We're over, goodbye Captain Rogers," she said before slamming the door in his face.

Steve sat down on the stoop, running his hand over his face and wiping his own tears away. He couldn't believe last night happened. They were so happy, and he fucked it up again. He didn't see a way this could be fixed. Not now anyway. If he pushed, Sharon would be gone forever. He looked at the pile of boxes next to him and felt his eyes well up again.

"Hey man, did you forget your key? I've done that a few times when I've stayed by Natasha's," Bucky said when he approached Steve. He noticed him down the block and wanted to see how dinner went. Bucky stopped when he saw his friend had been crying and there were boxes next to him. "I'm going to guess last night was bad, or she's moving into your apartment and maybe she accidentally hit you in the balls with a box?"

"It turns out Tony was wrong. Yesterday was not Sharon's birthday," Steve said with a rueful grin. "It's Peggy's."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah, oh shit is right," he said, finally standing up. "You, uh, mind helping me with my stuff?"

"I'm sure once she cools down, she'll be willing to talk it out."

"I don't think so, not this time," he said sadly.

"So you're just giving up? Again?"

"No," Steve said firmly. "I just, I just need to respect what she wants now. And what she wants now is me out of her life."

"For how long?"

"Probably forever," he mumbled and felt Bucky's hand on his shoulder. "She just looked so broken."

"You don't look much better, pal."

"Maybe this is for the best," he sighed. "Everything happens for a reason, right?"

"Fucking hell," Bucky muttered as he shook his head and started walking with Steve to his apartment."We really need to work on your ineptitude when it comes to women."