Just a Blast from the Past

Chapter Six

They met again the day after, and the days following as well, becoming each other's only company. She kept astonishing him and he kept surprising her. He liked how her boldness and spirit were ahead of their time and she couldn't help finding his old-fashioned manners and his candor endearing.

Steve was to perform to the soldiers in Europe and come back a couple of days later. Or so he said. She knew it would take longer. Having memorized all the course of events, she knew this 'show' would trigger a whole series of events that would lead him back to Barnes. That would take him back to her; the woman he loved.

'See you soon, then!' she lied nonetheless, playing credulity to the perfection. Part of her was content to know he would soon become the soldier he always wished to be; part of her ached to watch him go away again. She hated the idea of not being there to protect him although she knew his skills and fate were on his side.

Her arms instinctively reached out, ready to hold him in her arms but she stopped herself in time. She interrupted the motion and peered absently as she gently pressed his elbow instead. When she eventually looked up, she found him staring silently at her hand on his arm then straight into her eyes. He opened his mouth slightly, ready to speak but unable to find words to say. This lingering quietness and these loud looks exchanged made her feel uncomfortable. A feeling she wasn't familiar with, and therefore disliked.

She pulled her hand away as if she had just burned herself.

'Rock it,' she smiles.

He snorted.

'I'm just going to sing to a division. I doubt I'll make a hit,' he answered.

'You never know. Life is full of surprises,' she commented with a mischievous smirk.

He left, hardly convinced. She watched walk away to meet up with his destiny.

A couple of days went by and she turned all her attention on achieving her first mission. She returned to the bank, asked to speak with the director just like she had the first time (Peter blushed again) and requested to have a passport made for her. He nodded professionally, took the photograph she had taken care of bringing with her and assured her it would be ready within a week.

'I'll send it straight to the apartment,' he said, solicitous to not raise suspicions on her repetitive visits and preserve both their identities.

She searched for specific maps she had studied before time traveling and started to work on her strategy. She still had a few weeks left but she refused to let not even one detail to chance. She had to be methodical and efficient as she had always been on any mission. This mission being the most important and meaningful in her life, she planned to perfect it until she felt fully satisfied.

After a week, she spent most of her days in the apartment, feeling bored. She often looked out the window wondering what Steve was doing at this exact moment; wishing she could be fighting by his side. Fighting alongside someone was the only way she knew to show her trust, her respect, and her affection. She had fought for S.H.I.E.L.D out of respect for Fury, she had learned to fight next to Thor and the Hulk after giving them her trust, and every time she went on a mission with Clint, she did it because she valued their friendship more than anything. Steve, just like the latter, had earned the three from her and she felt frustrated not to be be physically supporting him in his journey to becoming Captain America. She knew it wasn't her place, she knew it wasn't her time, but she had been in this timeline long enough to feel like she belonged in it and had every right to actively take part in it.

She sighed. Once again, she was missing Steve.

One morning, she walked by the newspaper stand when a headline caught her attention.