Aftershock

Tidal Waves

Steve sat at his desk in the 21st century and read his letters. All the ones Willow had sent him and the ones Bucky had sent before they were reunited on the battlefield.

Dear Steve,
I don't care if your words are scattered and your letters don't look well thought out, I just want to hear from you.

You and Bucky are all I think about.

You're a pain in the neck sometimes Steve but, you're my pain in the neck. And Willow's too.

Be a symbol of hope Steve. Hope is an important thing.

I miss the sound of your voice.

You're the only link I have to home, you and Willow that is.
Until next time!
Your Best Friend,
James Barnes

Dear Steve,
Do not dwell on the 'what if's'. There are already too many of those in our life and I do not want to add another one to the list.

Dear Steve,
It has now been a year since I last saw you and my heart aches every time I think about it. I never thought you, Bucky and I could ever be separated and by God, we were proven wrong.

Love,
Willow Peterson

Love,
Willow Peterson

Love,
Willow Peterson.

Those three words echoed in his mind. Love. Willow loved him. Willow waited for him. Willow supported his decision. Willow Peterson. She was the love of his life, and now she was gone.

When Steve Rogers found out that Peggy Carter, someone from his past, was still alive, he went to see her immediately. Seeing Peggy again made Steve feel at ease. At least someone he knew was here with him. Howard was gone, the Howling Commandoes, Bucky was supposedly no longer alive and while Steve wished it wasn't true, Willow was long dead too. Or so he thought.

The day he was reunited with Peggy, Steve had a lot of questions. Most of them were about Peggy's life or all the pop culture references he didn't quite understand and Peggy was more than glad to fill in some gaps.

It was after a round of laughter that Peggy finally brought up Willow, the love of Steve's life. "I thought you would have asked about her sooner." Although Steve knew who Peggy was talking about, he pretended he didn't.

"What do you mean?" Peggy gave him a small smile.

"I'm talking about Willow of course Steve." Steve swallowed hard. He didn't want to talk about Willow, didn't want to think about her. She was gone, he knew that much. Maybe she had moved on and gotten married, had children, grandchildren. It's what Steve wanted for her, he just wished he could have done those things with her.

"There's nothing to say."

"Of course there is. You love Willow. Why wouldn't you want to talk about her?" Steve said nothing. Everything was too painful. Peggy sighed and reached out her hand to him. Steve clasped it in his own. Her hands were soft and wrinkled. Steve's hands should have looked the same but they didn't. "Willow was a special girl Steve, the day I went to tell her of your.. Untimely freezing." Peggy paused. Steve smiled a little. "She was so shocked, so angry that everything began to shake." Steve straightened up.

"What do you mean?"

"The ground trembled Steve and glass shattered in the building. She was creating an earthquake." Steve wasn't sure if Peggy was remembering things funny. Maybe there was an earthquake the day Peggy told Willow about Steve but there was no way Willow could have caused the earthquake. She didn't have powers. It wasn't possible. "I never could find her." She murmured.