Ms. America

Chapter Nine

Steve and the army stormed the base in the Alps, while Peggy went room by room with a small team to find Rose. Eventually, she felt the distress in the men, and knew it was time to regroup, her sister wasn't here. She ran to the hangar bay to meet with Steve, killing a guard that was in the way. Peggy saw Steve run after the plane and jumped in a car with Phillips. Once Steve was in, the three sped off after the plane. Peggy looked at Steve and felt a pang of nervousness creep through her like she wouldn't see him again for a while. Before he had no time left to jump, Peggy quickly grabbed Steve and kissed him. Steve was shocked by her actions but was happy that he was able to see her again. He gave her one last kiss, before saluting, and jumping to the plane, landing safely on the wheels as they entered the body of the plane.

"Well it's about time you did that Agent Carter, but I'm not sure it was the best time," Phillips stated while chuckling as the two went back to the base.

In the plane, Steve fought off the guards meant to man the bombs with success. He reached the bridge where the Red Skull was hiding. The two fought back and forth, as the Red Skull explained his master plan. He knew that Rogers was unsuccessful in finding Agent Carter, as she had been moved the day before with Reinhardt. The experiments on the girl had been successful, more so than intended. While they waited for her powers to grow, Hydra began the rest of their operation. The Red Skull knew that even in his death, Hydra would still reign over the Earth. So when Steve cracked the chamber holding the Tesseract, Red Skull grabbed it, becoming one with the power before disappearing. This left Steve to quickly take over the controls, before radioing the base.

"HQ, this is not going to be a safe landing. I'm gonna have to put this bird in the water," said Steve through the radio static. Peggy ran to the radio when she heard his voice.

"Steve? I'll get Stark on the line, he can walk you through it," she said, voice wavering slightly at the idea of losing Steve too.

"There's no time, I'm above the water. If I wait, lives will be lost," responded Steve as he placed his compass on the display, looking at Peggy one last time, "This is my choice."

"Well it's not mine, I can't lose you too Rogers," said Peggy, holding back tears.

"I know, it'll be ok," he softened, knowing it wouldn't be, "I'm going to have to get a rain check on that dance though."

"Alright, meet me next week at the club at 8 o'clock. And you best not be late," Peggy said, laughing at Steve's attempt to keep the mood light. She looked at the Commandos that surrounded her, all-knowing he wouldn't be there. They looked amongst themselves, knowing they would follow Peggy across Europe to find their leader in Rose.

"Ya know, I still don't know how to dance," continued Steve, as he neared the water. He wasn't ready to go, but he knew it was the right thing to do.

"I'll show you Steve, next week," responded Peggy.

"Good, I'd hate to step on-"

The line cut and everyone grew silent at the idea they had just lost their captain.

A few weeks later, VE-Day celebrations were in full swing, but the Commandos and Peggy were long-faced in the bar, mourning the loss of three good people. They were leaving the next day to track down Werner Reinhardt, the last remaining Hydra leader. It had been a month since they had last seen Rose, but they would not stop until she was found.