Note: Shout out to MCruzer for the idea for this chapter…hope it lives up…

A Super Soldier for the Modern World

Twelve

Amanda woke up with a start and sat bolt upright in her camp cot. She did not enjoy the dream she'd been having and was very happy to be awake.

In her dream, Steve Rogers decided that he really was still in love with Peggy Carter and that he was going to stay with her in the forties.

She remembered crying, sobbing, and pleading with the man, but he wouldn't change his mind. Amanda put her hands to her face and felt the remains of actual tears; she'd been crying in her sleep.

She looked over to her aunt's cot finally and found it empty. What time was it?

The clock on the makeshift bedside stand said four-fifteen. It was earlier than anyone in the camp had to be up; so where was Peggy?

There was no way that she was going to be able to get back to sleep, so she climbed out of the cot and got herself dressed.

Amanda opened the tent door and peered out into the dark. There were still no sounds in the camp.

She made her break for it. Sticking to the shadows, Amanda zipped between tents until she came to the brick bunker that Howard Stark was using as a lab and her Steve was currently using as a living space.

Amanda used her key and let herself in. She closed the door behind her and standing still, she heard the voices. Well, rather the laughter.

Both Peggy and Steve were laughing and both of them sounded so happy.

"It's so…it's nice to be back here. I feel like I actually belong," Steve said.

"You don't like 2013?" Peggy asked.

"Everything is so different. And most people still around from this time have had a chance to adapt. Me, I was thrust into it."

"Kind of like the Captain America role," Peggy pointed out.

"Right," he laughed. "But in 2013, I'm in history books and there are books written about me. There's even a movie about me…" he told Peggy. "It would be a hell of a lot easier to just stay here. I know here."

Amanda couldn't take it. It was so much like her dream that she immediately tore out of the bunker and headed back to the tent. She needed to be away from this. She wanted to go home. She should have known Steve would want to stay.

"What about Amanda?" Peggy asked.

"I'm in love with Amanda," Steve told her matter-of-factly. "No matter how out of place I feel, she makes it seem not so bad. And she doesn't care that I'm Captain America. She…"

"She sees Steve?" Peggy finished.

"Yeah," he told her. "I'm sorry, Peggy," he told her.

"What is there to be sorry for?" she asked, tears in her eyes. "I'm happy for you. All I've ever wanted for you was to be happy."

"That means a lot, Peggy," he replied. "Do you think Stark will ever get us home?"

"Well, he has a habit of stumbling upon the right answer…" she trailed off.

"I'm going to marry her when we get back," he told her.

"No more just living together?" she replied.

"I guess I'm old fashioned like that," he laughed.

"I should probably get back to my tent. Amanda will be waking up and wonder where I am," Peggy told him.

She pushed back in her chair and stood and Steve did the same.

"I'm glad we got a chance to talk, Peggy."

"Me too," she smiled sadly. "Me, too."

When Peggy returned to her tent, Amanda was still awake, but she said nothing. She pretended to be asleep as the tears fell silently into her pillow. Little did she know, her aunt was suffering the same thing.

The next morning, Amanda hurried out of the tent without a word to her aunt and immediately got to work in the medical tents. She was going to try to keep herself distracted until she could have a second to go speak with Howard Stark privately.

A couple of hours into her day, she heard Steve's voice behind her.

"Can I borrow you for a minute?" Steve smiled at her.

Amanda only glanced at him for a second before continuing her work. She said nothing.

"Amanda?" he touched her shoulder in an attempt to get her attention.

The other nurses smiled and giggled and tried to catch his gaze while he waited for Amanda. He nodded and half-smiled in return, but he just wanted Amanda.

"Amanda?" he said again.

Amanda whirled around. "What? What do you want?"

Everyone in the room was immediately silenced as they watched the two of them.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked her simply.

Amanda narrowed her eyes. "No," she said. "Please go away. I have work to do, okay?" Amanda told him. Despite the politeness of the words, she meant business.

"Is it really a good idea to talk back to the captain?" one of the nurses whispered nervously to her. "He's a ranking officer."

"I don't care," she hissed. "The captain can get stuffed," she said as she turned her back to him.

However, Steve was undeterred by her attitude and antics. He simply waited for her to finish measuring medication of some fashion for a patient and picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" she shouted as the doctors and nurses parted to allow the captain and his cargo passage out of the tent.

Amanda uselessly smacked at his shoulder. She could throw a punch, but he probably didn't even feel it.

As he continued to carry her, saying nothing as she shouted, Amanda realized that they were drawing a crowd. As much as she wanted to continue to protest Steve's actions, she immediately quieted down. People continued to stare, but as least her screams and curses weren't causing an even bigger scene.

Steve continued to walk them off of the base until they were alone in the woods.

He stopped walking and unceremoniously plopped her down on her feet.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Amanda shouted.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," he told her. "What was all that about? Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," she yelled. An obvious lie.

One of Steve's eyebrows went up and he folded his arms across his chest, challenging her. He said nothing.

"Okay. Fine. I'm mad at you. No, I'm not mad. I'm furious. And incredibly sad. And…it doesn't matter.. I wish you could have just told me the truth, Steve. I do understand. I just wish you would have told me the truth."

Steve was confused and he wore it on his face. "I have no idea what you are talking about," he told her. "Could you explain what I should have told you the truth about? Because I'm in the dark here."

He realized that she was crying and Steve moved to put his arms around her, but she stepped back out of his reach.

"I don't understand what's going on, Amanda. You have to tell me. I don't know what I did," he said, getting gradually louder and angrier. "I came to tell you that Stark thinks he's got something figured out and you're freaking out about something you won't tell me about. We can go home and talk about this."

"You mean, I can go home," Amanda spat.

"What?" he asked. "What are you talking about? You and I are both going home."

"Are you taking Aunt Peggy with you, then?" she asked.

"No," he said firmly. "I don't think she would even want to go."

Amanda hauled off and shoved him as hard as she could. The sturdy captain didn't budge, but it made her feel a little better.

"If you want to keep hitting me to make yourself feel better, go ahead," Steve said. He unfolded his arms and held them open.

Amanda moved to hit him again, but she collapsed into his chest, sobbing. Steve immediately wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

"I heard there was a problem…" Peggy's voice said as she approached the two of them in the clearing.

"Now isn't a good time," Steve told her while Amanda started sobbing harder at the sound of her aunt's voice. "I've got her."

Peggy nodded. "All right," she said quietly before she retreated away from them.

"Why didn't you tell me you were still in love with Aunt Peggy?" she sniffled.

"I will always care about Peggy, that's true. But I'm not in love with her," Steve said. "I'm in love with you. And only you."

Amanda stared down at her feet while the tears continued to fall down her cheeks.

"I do love you, Amanda. And when we get home, I'm going to marry you."

Amanda started sobbing again and Steve enveloped her in his arms once more.

"Okay, let's go get you cleaned up and then we can talk to Stark," Steve said. "Okay?" he asked her.

She nodded into his chest.

"Do you want me to carry you?"

Amanda nodded into his chest again.

Steve laughed and a second later she was up in his arms; it was a lot gentler this time.

He started walking back towards the camp and Amanda put her arms around his neck.

"Will you explain to me what just happened?" he asked, making her laugh. "I have no idea what that was."

"Let's just see Stark first; then I'll tell you what I thought…" she trailed off. "Do you forgive me for being crazy?" she asked.

"Of course I do," he told her.

…

To Be Continued.

…

A/N: Let me know what you think!