"I think that you'd better ask me that question instead of yourself" Peggy appeared beside Daniel at the doorstep.
"Peggy, what are you doing?" Daniel looked quizzically at her
"I suppose if you're absolutely hellbent on completing this task, it might do you good to talk with someone who actually knew Steve Rogers"
"That's the other thing I'm afraid of" Daniel quipped, "knew" he emphasized the term.
"Daniel Sousa" she scowled, "I am not about to repeat myself" she continued, "we are engaged to be married, and nothing in the foreseeable future should change that", she took the uniform from him, "now, let's at least take the car, or were you planning on walking around New Jersey, whistling for him as though he was a lost dog?"
"And I guess because you knew him so well, you've got an idea of where he went?" Daniel frowned
Actually, yes, I do" Peggy walked back into the house and snatched the car keys off their spot in the living room.
"Just as I'd suspected" Peggy shook her head sadly. Steve Rogers sat at the bar, still dressed in Daniel's clothes, nursing what appeared to be a stiff drink.
"I think you've had enough, buddy" the bartender took the bottle away from Steve, but the super soldier shook his head and held onto the bottle.
"You know, I can't get drunk" he stared at the bartender.
"Whatever pal, it's your funeral"
"I've been to a funeral" Steve scoffed, "and then I fell for her all over again"
"Uh" the bartender didn't know what to say, He left the bottle, as Steve has demanded.
"It's one thing to drink because you lost your friend Barnes" Peggy stared at Steve, "it's quite another to do that when you feel sorry for yourself" she shook her head, 'and that's not the Steve Rogers that I remember"
"He's alive" Steve blurted out before he'd had the forethought to keep quiet.
"What?" Peggy's eyes grew large, "Barnes is alive?"
"Never mind" Steve sighed, and downed another drink, "none of it really matters now. I can't fix things, even if I wanted to"
What are you talking about?"
"I have to leave things the way they are" Steve explained, talking to Peggy as though she were a child, "because if I change things, I could ruin the time stream"
"Then go do it" she was short with him
"What?" Steve stared at her
"Here's the suit" Daniel dragged himself in, leaning on his crutch and carrying the folded suit, boots and helmet under his available arm.
"Thank you" Peggy took the bundle from her fiancé, and turned to Steve, "If you want to go save your friend Barnes, then go do it." She narrowed her eyes at him, "Surely you didn't come all this way just for a dance?"
"Well-" Steve began. He realized how he must have sounded then. Traveling such a distance, just for a kiss, for a dance, for a life that he thought he wanted.
"You did" she looked angry and horrified at him, all at once
"I lost everyone I loved" he sighed, "You know how that is, right?"
"I do" her face darkened, "and I know that just a short time ago, you expected me to welcome you with open arms, and act as though nothing has changed, no time had transpired over the past four years" she thrust the bundle at him. "But is has" she crossed her arms, "I won't stop you if you want to stay" she glared at him, "but if your friend Barnes really is that important to you, then you have a decision to make"
"Can I say something?" Daniel put in. Peggy glanced at him and didn't say anything in response.
Daniel took that as a sign he could speak, "Steve, you said that you lost someone. I thought my life was heading one way, in a direction - and then, things change. I lost a leg, and then I lost my credibility at work" he sighed, "and then- then I met someone, and I realized that I had worth, I had a purpose" he looked at Peggy, "to paraphrase a very wise woman, "I learned that I have value, and that others' opinions didn't really matter"
Peggy smiled at Daniel.
"You have a purpose" Daniel spoke to Steve, "I don't know what it is. She probably does" he motioned towards Peggy, "and it's not up to me or anyone else to tell you. It's something you have to do for yourself"
"My fiancé makes sense" Peggy nodded, "and I can't tell you what to do, Steve" she went on, "Only you can do that"
Steve looked from the love of his life, over to her fiancé, and back again.
"So" she inquired with her eyes, "What will it be?"