Oh my gosh, I am so unbelievably sorry for the wait! I had totally planned on updating ages ago but my uncle took a turn for the worst with his battle with cancer and unfortunately lost his fight. It's been hard to try and find the motivation to write until recently. Thank all of you that asked for me to update and told me how much you love this story. It really pushed me to crank a new chapter out. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Marvel is not mine.

On we go...


The Violinist

Chapter 9

Steve woke the next morning to the feel of Max tucked against him, the smell of honeysuckle tickling his nose. His arm was slung over her waist; his hand pressed gently against her tiny baby bump. He flexed the fingers of his other hand and felt the sharp tingles shoot up his arm. Max's head rested on his bicep and he guessed his arm had fallen asleep long ago. Seeing her sleep so peacefully made him want to stay there forever, but he knew he had things to do today.

Slowly, he shimmied out from behind her. He moved to the other side of the room, quietly dressed in jeans and a gray shirt before pulling on a blue jacket and a plain baseball hat. Glancing over at Max still asleep in the bed, Steve smiled and pushed some hair from her face. There was something about her sleeping in his bed, wearing his sweatshirt that gave him chills and plunged him into memories of their shared night together several weeks before. She gave a soft sigh and wiggled closer to his hand. Not wanting to wake her, he turned and left to start his day.


It was surreal to believe that Steve had an entire exhibit dedicated to his triumphs during World War II, but it was just another thing that came along with being Captain America. He had hoped that coming to the museum early would mean that less people would be there, less people who could spot him sneaking around and cause a big commotion. Large masses of people wandered from exhibit to exhibit and hardly paid him any mind. The crowd in the Captain America exhibit was bigger than Steve could have ever expected, even if it was the first day it was open to the public.

He blended in with a crowd of other adults and walked into the red, white and blue string of rooms. It was still strange for him to see his face plastered all over the place, though it had been that way since his return a few years prior.

"A symbol to the nation. A hero to the world."

When he had first put on the Captain America suit, danced with star-spangled girls, and repeatedly knocked out a guy dressed as Hitler, Steve was sure that he would be nothing more than a beautified soldier meant to rally Americans during the war. It wasn't until he had saved Bucky and all of those other men, the Howling Commandos included, that he began to realize he could turn the Cap into so much more.

"The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery…and sacrifice."

Steve walked with his head down, the bill of his hat hiding his eyes from anyone glancing in his direction. He stopped at the first display; a picture of his old, scrawny pre-serum body making him smile. It was hard to believe he had ever been that small.

"Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare. One that would transform him into the world's first super soldier."

A small boy, maybe seven or eight, wearing a Captain America shirt eyed Steve as he stood a few feet away. His big brown eyes stared at him in amazement, like he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. Steve smiled down at the boy and brought his index finger to his lips, secretly asking the kid not to give his identity away. The boy gave a slow nod and Steve turned to head towards another display.

He stopped by his motorcycle and reminisced about riding up to Hydra compounds he and his team were tasked with taking down. The overhead voice drew Steve's attention away from his bike to the focal point of the massive exhibit room. His eyes took in the sight of his old uniform flanked by the uniforms of his Howling Commandos. This is what Max had been so busy working on the other day that she hadn't taken the time to eat or rest. He had to admit, though, the entire thing looked incredible.

"Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission: taking down Hydra, the Nazi rogue science division."

Seeing all of their faces, bright and big, surrounding his own made Steve nostalgic for the old days. It felt like only a short time since he had seen them all and fought alongside them. In reality it had been almost seventy years. He missed them all dearly, but one more than the others. Turning, he was face-to-face with a large glass display dedicated to his fallen brother.

"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country."

Pain laced through Steve's chest as he remembered the train, the fight, and the fall that took his best friend from his forever. The film clips of them together made his heart ache to hear Bucky's voice again, to have good belly-aching laugh, to fight along someone he trusted completely instead of these shady S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Not a day went by that Steve didn't feel responsible for his friend losing his life.

A voice that had haunted even more so than Bucky's drifted out of the cinema room, sending shivers down his spine. The light British timber of Peggy Carter's words was like a siren's song drawing him towards the dark room.

"That was a difficult winter. A blizzard had trapped half our battalion behind the German line. Steve…Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a Hydra blockade that had pinned our allies down for months." Steve opened the compass and stared down at the fading picture of the woman he had loved. "He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would…who would become my husband as it turns out. Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life," Peggy recounted with a soft smile.

Now decades separated them. His life had been put on pause while hers continued to go on without him. He had wondered countless times since being back how things might have turned out if he hadn't been lost in the Artic for over sixty. Would his life with Peggy been any more fulfilling than the one he was tangled up in now? He still loved her. God, did he still love her, but she was nearly gone like the rest of his 1940s life.


He had known for a while where Peggy was staying, but had never worked up the courage to go see her until he had seen her in the film at the Smithsonian. Needless to say he was nervous about visiting the woman he had fallen in love with in the middle of a raging war. He shifted from nervous to sad, though, as he took in the sight of her tucked in bed, gray/white hair framing her wrinkled faced. Her eyes met his and they sparkled with recognition and love, melting away all of his muddled emotions. It was true that her features might have grown older and changed, but her eyes were still the same as the day he had first seen her at bootcamp.

Sitting in the seat next to her bed, Steve took in his surroundings. Pictures of Peggy's life after the war were on the bedside table. Plaques, awards and metals for her service to the country hung on the walls. Framed directly across from her bed, right where she could see them every morning when she woke up and ever night before she went to bed, were old clippings of Captain America articles.

"You should be proud of yourself, Peggy," he told her as he glanced back at the photos of her with her husband and children. That could have been my life, he thought to himself. But God had something else planned for him.

She hummed in agreement, looked up at Steve, and said, "I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours."

His eyes dropped to the floor, sadness sweeping through him. Before Max and the baby, Steve had nothing to tether him to this time period besides saving the world, which was something he had become accustomed to in his earlier days. He had felt out of place and alone; the old-timer surrounded by annoying youngsters. It was hard not to wish for his old life back where he was up-to-date with the times and had purpose. Finding out he was going to be a father made him stop wishing for that, though. He realized that he couldn't turn back time until he was back in the midst of WWII. It was his job now to make the 21st century his century and a safe place to raise his child, even if it meant sticking with S.H.I.E.L.D.

"What is it?" Peggy asked.

"For as long as I can remember I just wanted to do what was right. I guess I'm not quite sure what that is anymore. And I thought I could just throw myself back in and follow orders, serve. It's just not the same."

She chuckled, "You're always so dramatic. Look, you saved the world. We rather…mucked it up."

"You didn't," he disagreed. "Knowing that you helped found S.H.I.E.L.D. is half the reason I stay."

"The world has changed and none of us can go back." Peggy grasped Steve's hand an squeezed, almost like she knew he had been pondering about it. "All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best that we can do is to start over."

A grin spread across Steve's face. "I have started over. Well…not on purpose, but I have." She squinted her eyes at him, waiting for him to keep talking. "I'm…uhh…I'm going to be a father."

"Oh, Steve, that's great news," she cheered.

"Yeah, yeah it is. You'd think, though, that being ninety-four would mean I'm ready to be a father, but I'm not. Not when I've seen how bad this world is."

"You may have been born in 1920, and it may be 2014, but you've only really lived for twenty-six years. That makes it perfectly reasonable for you not to be ready," Peggy reasoned. "So the mother, tell me about her."

Steve couldn't help but smile, "She's pretty and smart. Stubborn as hell. Plays the violin like an absolute dream. Met her on top of the Triskelion back in December. She's Director Fury's personal assistant."

"You got Fury's step-daughter pregnant," Peggy gasped and started coughing. Jumping out of the chair, Steve scrambled over to the table by the window and poured a glass of water. He rushed back Peggy's side and helped her drink.

"I didn't know she was his step-daughter at the time," Steve justified, turning away to put the glass on the bedside table. When he glanced back to Peggy, her eyes had gone vacant, glassy, like she wasn't really there.

"Steve?"

"Yeah," he answered quietly.

"You're alive! You…you came, you came back," she cried.

"Yeah, Peggy."

"It's been so long. So long."

He had been told when he learned where she was living that her mental health was slowly deteriorating. It was part of the reason he had been reluctant to come see her. How could he sit by and watch as the woman he loved forgot who she was? He had been lucky to have had a few minutes of clarity with her where they could talk and he knew his Peggy was there. And now she was gone, just like that.

"Well, I couldn't leave my best girl," he tried to sound happy. "Not when she owes me a dance."


Steve pulled up outside the V.A. and shot a quick text to Max letting her know he would be a while longer before he was home. She replied almost immediately telling him that was fine and that Natasha would be over for lunch so anyways. He tucked his phone into his pocket and headed inside the building.

Once he was through the doors, he followed the sound of Sam Wilson's voice until he stood in the doorway of a room filled with people. Sam was leaning behind a podium as war veterans shared stories of mishaps they've had since being back from their tours.

"The thing is I think it's getting worse. A cop pulled me over last week, he thought I was drunk. I swerved to miss a plastic bag. I thought it was an IED," a young redhead confessed.

"Some stuff you leave there, other stuff you bring back. It's our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase or in a little man-purse? It's up to you," Sam ended the meeting and the vets began exiting the room. Steve waited in the hall for Sam to come out after speaking with a few people that had stayed behind to chat.

After a few minutes he rounded the corner and spotted Steve standing there. "Look who it is. The running man."

"Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense," Steve admitted.

"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret," Sam said, looking down at his feet.

"You lose someone?"

He nodded. "My wingman, Riley. Fly in the night mission. A standard PJ rescue op, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before, 'til a RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch."

Steve felt the same when he thought of how Bucky died. He had tried to reach him but he was too far away and Steve could only watch as he fell to his death. "I'm sorry."

"After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason to stay over there, you know?" Sam questioned and Steve agreed.

"But you're happy now, back in the world?" Steve wondered. They had so much in common. Both of them had lost their closest friend to war and both of them had their purpose in life stripped away until they were left asking if there was something more out there. At least Sam seemed to be on the right track to finding happiness. Steve, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure if he had found it with Max and the baby or not. He still had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something bad was about to happen, something that would change the road he was traveling on.

"Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell yeah. You thinking about getting out?" Sam asked him, a serious look on his face.

"No. I don't know. To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did," he said truthfully. It was something he had been going back and forth with since Fury had taken him down to the Insight Bay and shown him what S.H.I.E.L.D. had instore. There were upsides to leaving it all behind: being around for the baby, not having to fly off on missions all the time, staying out of the line of fire. But it also meant putting his faith in others to protect the world. He didn't think he could do that.

"Ultimate fighting?" Sam joked, making Steve laugh. "It's just a great idea off the top of my head. But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?"

"I don't know."


It felt like it had been ages since she had seen Nat when it had only, truly, been a week or so. Max couldn't believe it had been such a short time that she had known she was expecting a baby. So much had been packed into the previous days that it made it seem a lot longer.

Max had ordered in Chinese food from Natasha's favorite take-out place in the city. They had all of the white cartons spread out on the coffee table as they chatted on the couch, tongs flying from carton to carton now and then. It was just like how they had spent time together back after her mom had died.

"This is a really cute place your dad set you up with," Nat commented in between bites of lo mien. "Although I don't see why he made you move out of headquarters all of a sudden. You'd been there for years."

Alright so they were just going to get right down to business then. "I umm…that's…that's why I asked you to come over. To explain all of this," I said as I gestured to the apartment.

"Spit it out, Stirling," Natasha demanded.

"Well you see it all started when I got into an argument with Fury and I went up to the roof and someone was already there and we got to talking and drinking and I didn't mean to get drunk but that Asgardian alcohol is strong and we ended up going back to his place because it was raining and we were getting wet so I followed him and he's super-hot so you can't really blame me. You know how I am when I drink. Total slut, right? Anyways I kinda talked him into, you know, sleeping with me and I woke up the next morning and he was gone so I thought I was all fine and dandy but I wasn't because of those stupid employee physicals and then they told Fury and he wasn't happy and he stuck us in this apartment together and that's how I ended up moving out of the Triskelion."

"Right. So you're saying you're—," Nat started.

"Pregnant, yes."

"Pregnant," she repeated.

"Correct."

She stood up and started pacing the room. Pacing was okay, pacing was good. Minutes ticked by but Max wasn't about to interrupt Nat. She had to pee severely thanks to the tiny human growing inside of her, but she also wasn't about to get up and walk out of the room. It was getting damn-near unbearable and then Nat spoke up.

"Who's—," she began but was cut off when her foot bumped into something and a metallic clang rang through the living room. Max wanted to laugh because that was the exact same way she had discovered the identity of the person she had stupidly slept with. "No, no, no, no…Cap? You've got to be kidding me, Maxi."

"I wish I was, really I do."

"I suppose he's not the worst person you could've slept with. Far from it actually," she sighed and sat back down next to Max. "You said Asgardian alcohol and I was thinking the worst. Jane would have killed you if it was Thor and I would have killed you if it was Loki."

"God, no! Thor gave Steve alcohol from Asgard 'cause alcohol from here has no effect on him. I was silly enough to ask for some when I went up to the roof to cool down after my fight with Fury. I was upset and just wanted to forget for a while. And look what it got me," she chuckled lightly.

"A baby," the redhead said like she couldn't believe it was true.

"Yep, due at the end of July," Max informed her. "And I was thinking since you've always been here for me during the rough times, that you would maybe want to be the godmother?"

Natasha shifted on the couch as if she was uncomfortable. "I…Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Besides, you're like the only girl I really talk to," she laughed.

"Then I would be honored to. You know I love kids and I'm going to love the hell out of yours," Nat smiled, her eyes shining.

"Nat…," Max trailed off unable to find the right words.

"It's fine," she assured as she peered out the window across the room. "How's Rogers taking it?"

"He's trying to keep it together. I don't think he wants me to see how scared he is, but I do. And now things have gotten even more complicated because the baby's not exactly normal. He or she has inherited some of Steve's Super Soldier DNA and it's taking a toll on me. That just adds to his stress and guilt."

Her friend was quiet for a minute, processing everything. "Go pee and we'll keep talking," Nat instructed her. Max looked at her in disbelief. "You always bounce your leg when you're holding it in."

Max made a mad scramble for the bathroom without a second thought. It was the best feeling to empty her bladder after waiting for more than ten minutes. She came back into the living room to find her best friend was gone and, in her place, Agent Romanoff was talking into her phone and packing items in a small suitcase.

"Grab whatever you need and put it in here. Quickly," Natasha ordered Max when she caught sight of her standing there looking confused.

Having been traded not to question orders, max ran to her room and collected all of her essentials before returning and throwing it into the case. Nat had gone from talking on the phone to typing away on her screen.

"Nat—,"

"Find a notepad and write a note for Steve. Tell him Snow White is safe"

She scribbled it out fast, pulled off the sticky note and handed it to Nat. The agent crossed the living room and stuck it to the underside of the Captain's shield. Then she flung the suitcase strap over her shoulder and led the way out of the apartment, her gun pointed out in front of her. Max tried not to panic. It had to be bad if they had to evacuate the apartment in such a hurry. She hoped Steve got a similar call to the one Natasha received, but, judging by the fact that she had left a note, it was unlikely. Fear burned through her and she prayed he wouldn't be hurt by whatever was threatening them.


Hooray! I hope it was worth the wait. I have the next week off so I'm hoping to get out another chapter. I'm sorry for any spelling or grammar errors.

Check out my other Captain America story: For Your Protection :)

Tumblr: southernkaiti12 - if you want to see what Max looks like.

Until next time -KAITi-