The Broken Soliders

Part one

Steve

2014

I was in the World War II museum, looking at the Captain America, 1943 section. It seemed crazy that that had happened nearly a century ago, when to me, it had only happened three years ago.

I was trying to keep a low profile. I had on my baseball cap, and kept my head down. One kid saw me. He stared, and I felt a smile tug at the corner of my mouth. I pressed my finger to my lips, and the kid nodded slowly, still surprised.

There was a giant picture of me with the team that I'd put together. Bucky was there, too. We'd gone to so many HYDRA bases, destroying them all. But I couldn't help but beat myself up over the fact that we'd never found Y/n. Part of me has always wondered whether we'd blown her up inside one. If maybe we'd looked harder, we could've found her.

And Bucky. Maybe if I'd been faster. If I had gotten to him sooner. Maybe I could've caught him before he fell. Maybe he would've gotten to live his life.

I lost both my best friends in the same week. A few days later, I lost my entire life. I'm not one to complain, but I have to admit, it was hard.

There was another picture of Bucky. A grey headshot. Y/n's picture was right beside his. Underneath the two, there was a quick bio about them, and the year of their births and deaths. The same exact same years. There was also a little black and white TV screen. On it flashed moments between Y/n, Bucky and me. Us smiling and laughing together.

Then there was Peggy. A video of her talking about the war. It was in colour, 1953. It was playing in a small theatre. She had gotten married. I still had the old compass with her picture in it.

I went to her hospital room that day. She was lying there in bed, looking so out of place. I wasn't used to seeing Peggy look so... helpless. But she was still Peggy. "You should be proud of yourself, Peggy," I told her, looking at the pictures of her and her family.

She turned her head. "Mmm. I have lived a life. My only regret is that you didn't get to live yours."

I nodded slightly.

"What is it?" she asked.

I hesitated. "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."

Peggy giggled. "You're always so dramatic."

I smiled.

"Look, you saved the world," she reassured me. "We rather... mucked it up."

"You didn't. Knowing that you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I stay."

Peggy took my hand and rested it on her stomach. "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." She then started coughing, and I got up, grabbing her a glass of water.

"Peggy..." I whispered.

She looked into my eyes. "Steve..."

"Yeah?"

She gasped, and I could hear the tears in her voice as she spoke. "You're alive! You— you came back!"

I bit back tears as I nodded. "Yeah, Peggy."

She started crying, but no tears fell. "It's been so long... So long."

I nodded, not allowing tears to fall from my own eyes. "Well, I couldn't leave my best girl." I smiled weakly. "Not when she owes me a dance."

Peggy nodded weakly, but I could see in her eyes, she was somewhere else. It was time for me to leave.