Chapter Six: Steve Rogers

(One month ago)

Steve walked into the nursing home, holding a bouquet of flowers. He smiled at the desk clerk, a young woman who seemed to always be there when he came for his weekly visits. She didn't notice him until his hand was on the door handle.
"Oh! Steve! She has a—"

Her words didn't reach him fast enough as he opened the door. He paused, seeing another person in the room. He stopped, listening closely.
"I should get going," a familiar voice said.
"No, no," said Peggy Carter, gripping the other woman's hand. "Tell me about this person you've been seeing."
"I've not been seeing anyone, Grandma." He knew that voice. What was Maggie doing here? Talking to Peggy.
"Then what stories has Molly-Ann been spreading? About some stranger with blond hair? Did he ask you out?"

With a jolt, Steve realized they were talking about him. He had asked Maggie out on a date a few weeks ago. She had immediately shaken her head, claiming she was busy. He tried not to take it personally, but it seemed like she had shut him out the moment he asked. She'd even changed her shifts at the coffee shop.
"Yes… I said no."
"Why would you ever do such a thing."
"He's in love with someone else," came Maggie's reply.
"And Sharon likes him! What was I supposed to say?"
"How'd you know he's in love?"
"It's his eyes," Maggie said. "I remind him of… someone else."

It was all starting to become clear to Steve. Why she reminded him so much of Peggy. They were related.
"Maybe he'll grow to love you," Peggy said.
"Or maybe he won't," Maggie whispered. "We don't forget our first loves, Grandma, you know this. You haven't."
"Of course not, but Steve was different and… what's his name?"
"Riley."

He would never know what caused them to finally notice him, whether it was the flowers dropping from his hand or the sound of footsteps approaching. It was Maggie's wide-eyed expression that caused Steve to spin on his feet and leave.

A week or so later found Steve at the coffee shop. He just couldn't stay away. He found Maggie finishing up her shift and might have left if she hadn't called out to him.
"Can we talk?" she asked. "I'm almost done."
"Okay."

They sat at Steve's regular table, Maggie warming her hands on a mug of tea.
"So…" she murmured.
"You knew all along who I was," Steve said. "I tried to figure out why and now I know."
"I didn't get close to you because of Peggy," Maggie told him. "And come on, Steve, anyone can recognize you. You've got an exhibit at the Smithsonian."
"I spill my secrets and you don't have too?"
"Secrets are what keep us safe," she replied. "I have told you things. My father worked on the rocket; my grandmother served. Not lies."
"Just not the full truth."

The two fell silent, sipping on their drinks and staring off into space.
"You're right you know," he said.
"Right about what?"
"We never forget our first loves. Who's Riley?"
"My fiancée. He uh, he was a pararescue."
"Sorry for your lost."
"It doesn't ever go away, Steve."
"I know. Was that why you—"
"No."

She sighed, tapping her fingers against her mug.
"I turned you down, Steve, because you still love Peggy."
"I—Maggie, can we start again?"
"What do you mean?"
"I would like to take you on a date."

As she began to shake her head, Steve reached out, taking hold of her hand.
"Please, Maggie."
"I'm not Peggy. I can never be her."
"I'm not asking you to be." She met his eyes, green against blue.
"Where would you like to go?"
"I haven't seen my exhibit yet."
"I've got some stuff going… I'm free next week."
"Next week then."

(Present Day)

Sitting beside Peggy, Steve smiled at her.
"You should be proud of yourself, Peggy," he said. He was looking at a picture of Peggy's family.
"Mmm," Peggy said. "I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours."
"I'm trying, you know."
"Mmmmmm."
"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 throw myself back in and follow orders, serve. It's just not the same."
"You're always so dramatic," she chided. "Look, you saved the world. We rather… mucked it up."
"You didn't. Knowing that you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I stay."

She gently took his hand.
"Hey, the world has changed and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best that we can do is to start over."

Steve's eyes moved slightly away from Peggy, focusing on a picture of Maggie standing outside her studio. She was with a young man, probably Riley, and Molly-Ann. They looked happy.

He was startled back to focus when Peggy started to cough. He turned and picked up her glass of water. He went to hand it to her but froze when Peggy seemed to not recognize him.
"Steve?" He smiled softly at her, abet sadly.
"Yeah."
"You're alive! You… you came, you came back."
"Yeah, Peggy." She began to cry, and he squeezed her hand.
"It's been so long. So long."
"Well, I couldn't leave my best girl. Not when she owes me a dance."

When visiting hours were over, Steve found himself walking into a different part of the nursing home. He found Maggie sitting beside Sam. They were in a PTSD meeting, Sam counseling. A female war veteran was speaking.
"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."
"Some stuff you leave there, other stuff you bring back," Sam said. "It's our job to figure out how it carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase or in a little man-purse? It's up to you."

He glanced over at the clock, closing their therapy session. Maggie caught sight of Steve and stood, walking over to him. He wrapped an arm around her waist, smiling down at her.
"Look who it is," Sam said. "The running man."
"Caught the last new minutes. It's pretty intense."
"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret."
"You lose someone?"
"My wingman," Sam said. He looked apologetically at Maggie, who gave him a reassuring smile. "Riley. Flying a night mission. Standard PJ rescue op, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before, till RPG knocked Riley out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It was like I was up there just to watch. After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?"
"But you're happy now, back in the world."
"Hey, the number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell, yeah. You thinkin' about getting out?"
"No. I don't know. To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did."
"I could order you about," Maggie teased.
"You already do," he teased back.
"You could do ultimate fighting," Sam suggested.

His words caused the Steve to start laughing.
"It's just a great idea off the top of my head," Sam chuckled. "But seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy."
"Not completely sure yet," Steve answered. He looked down at Maggie. "Ready to go?"
"When you are."

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