1st March 1952

Peggy left the office early, glad to be out as it was such a bright day. She'd been working hard as usual, stressed over a particularly difficult piece of code Phillips had assigned her, and was thoroughly looking forward to a quiet night in with her favourite person in the world- her daughter, Lily.

Peggy was hoping to surprise Lily, as it was her sixth birthday, and she knew the little girl wouldn't be expecting to see her until much later. She had been planning this day for weeks, knowing how difficult Lily found her birthdays. Despite Peggy's stories and constant answering of questions, Lily could never quite understand the fact that her daddy wasn't coming home. Peggy's heart broke every time they mentioned him.

A chilly March breeze ruffled Director Carter's hair as she strode quickly down the street and ducked into the shop she'd had her eye on. Organised as ever, she'd even picked out her daughter's gift during lunch the day before, deciding it would be easier to swing by and pick it up now than to try and hide it in the house overnight. Lily was a helpful little girl, and occupied herself by often doing bizarre little chores; she would most likely have found it.

Peggy left the shop ten minutes later with a beautiful little locket in her pocket. It was small and circular, and she knew exactly what she was going to put in it.

As she walked along, Peggy opened her purse and found the two little pieces of paper she'd prepared that morning, slipping one into each frame inside the locket.

One was a smaller version of her photograph of Steve before the serum, that she'd trimmed down carefully. The other was an informal photograph taken later, when the super soldier and Peggy had enjoyed their final night out before the mission.

That night.

Though the photo was black and white, Peggy could remember the moment in perfect, vivid colour. She and Steve stood at the bar, her in that red dress and him in his green uniform, arm tight around her waist. Their cheeks pressed together, huge smiles tinted with laughter at something he must have said.

Peggy felt her heart wrench as she remembered the feeling of that. She'd been so blissful, realising she was in love with Steve. And he so drastically with her.

The locket was shaped like a compass, engraved to look like a miniature one, for good reason. And on the back, Peggy had asked the shopkeeper to engrave a message, something she was sure Lily's father would have said to her on numerous occasions, had he been around to see her.

I'm with you 'till the end of the line.

Peggy snapped the locket shut and slipped it back into her pocket as soon as the images were in place, fighting the lump that had sprung up in her throat. She would not cry off her makeup in the middle of the street.

No one could know that Captain America was her daughter's father, for the child's safety. As an extra insurance in case anything ever happened, Peggy had been careful to select a locket that did not look like a locket at all, unless you knew how to open it. It would be a secret treasure for Lily to take comfort in for as long as she lived, an assurance of reality for a little girl who had never met the man everybody else seemed to know.

Hello!

Thank you so much for all your follows, faves and reviews! I am so amazed by the response this story has had!

To answer some questions-

I'm thinking this story is set somewhere in the void between the end of CA:TFA and the Avengers. I may weave in a little scene about the events of AA duringLily's recovery, who knows! ^_^ When it subsides into one-shots it will probably continue throughout the rest of the films as well, and possibly include a tiny bit of AU, because I'm better at one shots than fullstoriesxD

And I love the idea that Peggy is still young too... I should think we'll get an AU about that! :D And don't worry, she's coming very soon xD

Thank you for reading!