Why Won't You Stay

He's Back, Again

Whenever Steve came back they would go on a walk around the base. It made things feel normal. No talking, just silence. They listened to each other's footsteps. It kept them sane.

They walked three laps around the base and went into the center of the camp. They held hands and looked at each other the same way when Steve came back from saving the 107th. It brought them back to times that were easier. Times that made them feel young. All of the recent events took a toll on them and made them feel so old, even though it had only been a few months. It felt so long.

The days they hadn't been together made minutes feel like decades. It was hell and they just wanted out.

"Peg."

"Yes?" Steve's eyes began to water. He was trembling but his eyes filled with hope. He put his hand in his pocket and began to bend on to one knee.

"Will you-" He took a deep breath. "Will you marry me?" Steve opened the box to reveal a gold ring with a diamond in the center. He asked innocently and looked up for her answer.

She covered her mouth and tried to suppress her tears. "Yes." She finally choked out.

Steve got up slowly, still shaking, and slid the ring on to her finger. The soldiers that surrounded them started cheering. They looked into each other's eyes like it was the last.

Just then a loud sound was heard from a distance. Steve's eyes turned blank and rolled back. He fell to the ground and blood came out from the hole in his head. His body bounced on impact. Steve was shot in the head.

*

There was screaming everywhere. Peggy's feelings have never changed so quick. She bent down to hold Steve again. Men came over and had to rip her off of him. She didn't have anything to fight back with except her screams. Her shrieks for Steve grew quiet into a silent crying. Other soldiers picked up Captain America by his head and feet then brought him to the nursing station. Everyone was rushing around. Men were sent out to find the sniper, some where tending to Steve, and others were holding back Peggy.

Orders were being yelled across camp. Teams were being sent out. Everyone was screaming. In the nursing station Steve was being tended too by several nurses and doctors. They performed surgery, added extra doses of the serum, and patched him up to hope for the best. They gave Steve about 24 hours to live. Peggy laid next to him and just stared at him while pushing back tears. This was it. The only interaction she would get until he was dead.

"Hey Peg. Do you need anything?" Howard asked.

No answer. Peggy didn't answer, nearly moves. She was focused and traumatized, playing the scene over and over again in her head. Steve's eyes rolling to the back of his head, his jaw dropping, his dead body hitting the ground. That is the last memory she will have of him. It will outweigh the proposal and leave her the image of a dead man that had once been her fiancé.

Several people came over to pay their respects but Peggy didn't take notice of them. Finally she started to move a little. She searched his pockets to lay everything he had with him on the table. In his pockets she found an empty candy wrapper, the engagement ring box, and a compass. Peggy's curiosity took control and she opened the compass to reveal her face. She turned white and her face was flushed. Now she knew why it felt so familiar. She began to sob uncontrollably.

"Steve." She grabbed onto his arm and placed her head down on to the bed. "Please come back. Please."

There were 16 hours left.

*

"I'm sorry about your loss." Phillips came to pay his respects in the morning then left. Steve would be dying around three in the afternoon today.