Captain's Hart

Chapter 10 New Life

May 17, 2012

Arianna left SHIELD headquarters early that afternoon, glancing over her shoulder once nervously. She'd told Steve she was going back to her apartment to finish some unpacking and she thought he'd believed her but she wanted to make sure he wasn't following her.

Assured she was indeed alone, she quickly caught a cab and headed down the streets of Washington D.C.. She hadn't lied to Steve exactly- she was going to go back to her apartment later and finish unpacking the last of her boxes, some files which she'd left lying around too lazy to unpack yesterday. But first, she was going to visit someone at the nursing home she'd looked up... a very special someone.

Once she arrived, she quietly slipped inside the quiet facility. She didn't bother with the receptionist, just moving silently up the staircase and heading for one of the upper floors, looking for the right room. She paused outside and knocked carefully.

"Come in." A quiet, but firm voice called and Arianna slowly walked inside. The old woman raised her brows questioningly as she peered at her guest. "I'm sorry... but do I know you?" She asked curiously, her British accent still strong despite the many years she'd lived in the U.S.

Arianna grinned wryly as she shook her head, and she introduced quietly: "My name is Agent Arianna Hart, ma'am. I'm here... because of Captain Steve Rogers." Peggy Carter's eyes, which had become shrewd upon hearing Arianna's title, lit up at the name.

"I never thought I'd live to hear the day he returned. When SHIELD told me a year ago, well..." She smiled, and Arianna smiled back softly. She placed the small bouquet of flowers in the vase on the old woman's bedside and at Peggy's gesture, she sat down on the seat by the old woman's bed. Peggy looked at her expectantly and Arianna took a deep breath.

"He doesn't know I'm here, and I don't think he knows where you are yet, ma'am." Arianna admitted, and Peggy smiled. Arianna continued slowly: "He's been given the files on his former team, yours included ma'am, but from what I can tell he hasn't looked at them yet. I... to tell you the truth, I don't think he wants to."

"No, I'm sure it's hard on him." She reassured understandingly and Arianna nodded gratefully. She said slowly: "Ma'am, I'm here because I want to help him assimilate back. I was at the Battle of New York with him, and since then I've been assigned to be his partner. But it's hard on him- he woke up from 1945 to find himself in 2011, and, though he hasn't confirmed it, most of his friends dead. He won't admit it, but I know he's finding it hard to let what is in the past be the past."

Peggy nodded, and she said softly: "I understand. But you came to me for a specific purpose didn't you?" Arianna nodded and she said quietly: "He doesn't know you're here yet, but I was hoping to tell him soon if he won't look at the files first. I came ahead... just to confirm that you would be okay with his visit."

Peggy laughed lightly as she replied easily: "Of course it's alright. But I think that isn't all, is it?" She looked at the younger agent knowingly and Arianna nodded. "Ma'am, if it's not too much trouble... I was hoping you'd be able to help him. You're all he has left, and if I may be quite frank, you are what he had missed the most."

Peggy examined the young woman before her as Arianna asked quietly: "Could I ask that you do that for him? Help him to move on from his past, so that he may find a life here in the present?"

Arianna looked at the old woman imploringly, and Peggy began to chuckle. Arianna blinked as Peggy chortled: "Oh, you looked so pleading. It's very kind of you to think of Steve so much." Arianna blinked again in surprise and she replied, a little confused: "Not really. He's a really good guy, and he's become a good friend to myself, too. It's the least I could do for him."