𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙷𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝙱𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑

Familiar Stranger

(In this one shot, Steve somehow would be going back to 1952 (for an infinity stone. I know it doesn't make sense, but bear with me. Let's just say he managed to get more Pym particles, but he was getting chased after he got the tesseract from I don't remember. 1969 1970, or 1971? one of those years), so Blaire had not been kidnapped yet, so she's currently seven.)

Some cold evening, December 19, 1952, Steve's POV~

It had been a close call, but luckily, Tony had managed to get me some Pym particles to escape from either of us being caught. I guess the shades and the baseball cap finally lost their effect after all these years. Thankfully, I'd managed to get the Tesseract.

Though it looks like I've ended up in Brooklyn. But as to what year, I'm not sure. I tried to guess based on the architecture around me, but the skyline was dark, and the sun had faded to simply a dim illumination of the city of Brooklyn. 

The stars began to make patterns in the sky. It reminded me of when Buck and I would sit at the bank of the Hudson River and make out the constellations that they formed. I smiled fondly at the memory. But I had an important job to do.

I began to walk around the city, reminiscing about the old times. As a man passed by me, probably around 47 by the looks of it, I had asked him a question. "Excuse me, but do you know what year it is?" The man didn't respond, but instead gave me an exasperated look as he continued to walk past me.

I suppose the people haven't changed all that much, haven't they? As time went forward, it began to snow. I kept my pace steady walking forward. Though after a while, I noticed a girl standing alone near the edge of a curb. For some reason, she caught my attention. She had been standing under a light post, the snow around her swirling past her cold red cheeks.

I studied her face a bit, and from the moment I saw her eyes, I already knew who it was. She looked awfully frightened, but she didn't move. Though even from where I was standing, I noticed how she shivered when the cold winds nipped at her skin.

There were holes in the pants she was wearing, and her top looked wet and stained from the dirty Earth down below.

I contemplated whether or not I should walk over and talk to her. Perhaps help her out. In the end, I ended up approaching her cautiously. As I got closer to her, I could feel that she was watching me from the corner of her eye. I glanced at her feet and watched as they got into a stance where she could run if she needed to.

She took a hesitant step back, and I stopped not to frighten her anymore than she already had been. "I know you're scared, but I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just trying to help. Are you lost?" I spoke comfortingly. She turned her head away from me, but I could still hear what she said.

"Mum told me not to talk to strangers. So have a good evening, sir." I playfully sighed. This was the Blaire I knew. "Well, it's not the best idea to wait here alone, you are aware?" She turned her head at me vigorously. "If you're implying that you wish for me to follow you, I'll have you know that I will not fall for such trickery." I paused for a moment before continuing. "Of course not. But I don't want you here waiting here all alone in the dark streets of Brooklyn, New York." She focused her gaze on the ground. "You're still a stranger." I smiled briefly. "Well, let me fix that. My name is Steve." Her eyes finally met mine. "No last name?" She looked at me questioningly. "It's hard to pronounce. Even for me."

She looked back down to the ground before speaking again. "My name is Blaire, if you're wondering." She looked up at the sky. "I think it's a wonderful name." She looked at me briefly. "My mother thought so too. She said my father would have loved it too had he been here. But I never met him. So I suppose I wouldn't really know." I thought for a moment about what I should say, but then the words just slipped from my mouth before I could stop them. "You and I share that." She quirked an eyebrow towards me. "And what's that?" I paused. "I had never met my dad either. Died before I was born." She quietly sighed. "I guess that is something we do share in common."

Minutes had passed where neither of us spoke. She eventually sat down and simply watched the snow fall. The Sun had set a while ago, so the only light that was around was those that were produced by the city lights.  

The silence was eventually broken when she spoke quietly. "She told me not to wander far. I had just wanted to get a better look at the stars. But I suppose I hadn't noticed how far I had really gone. She's probably worried sick." I gave her a look of sympathy. Not a second later, her head piqued up. I looked to where she was looking at, and standing there was someone who I hadn't seen in years.

Peggy. 

A lump caught in my throat. And as much as my legs wanted to go over to her and embrace her, I stood where I had been. I watched as Blaire got up and raced to her mother. Watched as they both hugged each other like their lives depended on it. I felt a twinge of pain in my chest. But more importantly, my heart. All of it was within arms reach, but yet this race was already over ages ago.

So, with a heavy heart, I set the date and time back to the present day. Even if I hadn't seen her long, it was still a nice slice of seeing some things that I missed. Seeing Blaire before all of this, seeing Peggy again. It's such a shame that none of it could ever be real.

And just as fast as he came, Steve Rogers was gone. And when Peggy Carter had looked back to where her daughter had been sitting to thank the man for making sure she was safe, her eyes were met with an empty sidewalk and a cold winter breeze.

A/N: I really hoped you liked this little one-shot. I had had this idea in my head for a while, and I finally got down to actually writing it. Anyway, stay safe and enjoy.

-KK