The Choice

New Old Life

In an instant, Rogers is transported to a once familiar time in life. In an alley he once knew so well as a scrawny kid from Brooklyn. The alley was the exact same, streets were filled with vintage cars, and people with formal wear roamed all about. With a sigh, Steve stowed away and found some clothing on a line. They were a little small, but it would have to do for the time being. With a deep breath, he walks out of the alley, smooths the jacket, and walks with the flow of the people. As he does he sets his sights on the city before him. Its nothing like it is in the future, its completely different, and yet its home. As Rogers walks down the street, he hears an odd sound to his right. Curious, he walks in that direction and finds an attempted mugging. 

"Hey!" He shouts, grabbing the attention of the woman and the mugger. He turns toward Steve and tosses a fist, but Rogers catches it first and grabs the woman's bag. "This isn't yours." He shoves the man and he runs off. The woman thanks him and takes back her property, but not without handing over a reward. Steve tries to refuse but she insist. 

"I'm sure you can use it for something."

"Well I could use a bite to eat." He says, and the woman chuckles.

"Well I recommend the Automatt just up the road. Best pies and coffee in all of New York." He thanks her and starts to walk away, but not before asking her about finding someone. "Oh there's a phone book near the cafe you could use." He thanks her again before heading in that direction. 

It doesn't take long for him to find the book and enter the Automatt. Its just as he had pictured it. This is the 40's, and he couldn't have felt better about being back, but for now he was on a mission to find one person in particular. Steve sits on a stool and sets the book in front of him. As he does a blond waitress asks for his order and so he says a coffee. While he waits, he flips through the pages to find her name, but with no luck.

"How hard is it to find the name Margaret Carter in this damn thing," He mumbles to himself, but apparently not quiet enough.

"Carter? As in Peggy Carter?" Another waitress behind the counter says. Steve turns to look at her and nods, though he keeps his face down. 

"Yeah. Do you know where she is?" The woman squints, places a hand on her hip, and faces him as if analyzing his intentions. 

"Who's asking?" She says cautiously. Steve looks her over and sees her name tag- Angie. She seems to know Peggy from what he can tell.

"I'm...an old friend." He hesitates to say. Steve clears his throat and looks back up at her to explain. "I was just in town and thought I'd, uh, drop by to see her, ya know? It's been a long time..."

Angie keeps looking at him unmoving for a few moments as if unsure to trust him, but she ease up and grabs a refill for his coffee before walking towards him. Steve sits up straighter with his head down, trying not to make eye to eye contact, but Angie won't won't budge until he looks up. 

"You look familiar." She says, making Rogers start to panic. "Have we met before?"

"Uh.. no. I just... uhm, have one of those faces I guess." She gives a soft hmm to his answer before standing up straighter and asking how he knows Peggy. And a real answer. Steve chuckles nervously before giving a vague truth. "We worked together a long time ago. Its been a while so I thought I'd say hi while I was in town."

She's quiet for a moment before deciding to answer his question. "She moved about 2 years ago." At Steve's curious look, she shrugs. "California."

"California?!" Angie smiles and nods before walking off to deal with a new customer. He looks around and stands to get a slice of pie, then sits back down. After a few bites, it takes a few moments before she's finished putting in the order, when she does, Steve stops her. "Do you know why, or where she is?" Angie stops in her steps and looks at Rogers with a disapproving glance. "Please."

"She left for a work thing, that's all I know." And with that she walks away leaving him. 

With a deep sigh, Steve leaves after paying for his coffee and pie. He glances back at the waitress before walking down the street. She's lying, at least he suspects she is. But there's nothing he can do about it now. His only goal is to find Peggy. Now he has to figure out a way across the country to do it. A plane would be best, but he doesn't have a passport to get a flight, or a 40's ID for that matter. Well things juts got a lot more complicated than I expected. Steve did stow away some cash before traveling here, but he can't get to California publicly. To think, he walks by the alley next to the automatt and sits against a wall, head in hands. 

"Why can't this just be simple?"

"And why are you sitting on the ground?" Steve looks up and sees the waitress named Angie. She has on a coat over her uniform, so he assumes she's leaving work for the day. Rogers stands up and clears his throat, keeping his head down. 

"I was uhh... just resting up. It's been a long day."

"Right." She says before turning around to leave.

"Wait!" He runs to her and places a hand on her shoulder. "Is Peggy really in California?" Angie looks him over with an unapproving eye, so he drops his hand and steps back, placing them in his pockets. "I, uhm, I really need to see her but..."

"Why?" Steve glances up at her confused, but Angie doesn't budge. "Look big guy, Peggy's never mentioned you before so why do you expect me to start spilling my guts? If you were really that important, she would have told you like she did everyone else." As she speaks her hand reaches slowly into her bag, though her eyes never stray from trying to look at his face.

"I wasn't lying when I said it's been a really long time. She probably doesn't even know I'm alive." At this response her hand stops moving. 

"What's your name?" And in an instant, he panics.

"Grant! Peggy and I uh... go way back. We knew each other during the war."Steve tries to keep his voice steady as he says this, and Angie seems to believe him. 

"Grant? That's all I get?" He chuckles and shrugs his shoulders,leaving her to sigh and cross her arms. "Yeah, Peggy is in California. I wasn't lying when I said it was a work thing either. She transferred there 2 years ago.

Steve curses under his breath and sighs, leaning against the wall behind him. She asks him why he's acting in such a way, and so he replies the problem. He can't get to California. "I need to see her. Its important. And no I can't tell you what it is." As if a light bulb shines over her head, Angie mumbles 'Ohh' as if there were a large secret she understand. 

"Okay, now I get it." She winks. "So you work at the 'telephone company' too?" Steve isn't sure how to respond, but he's sure its some sort of code, so he simply nods. As he does Angie starts to walk away, "Wait here." 

It takes a few minutes before she returns, and when she does she hands over a slip of paper with an address. "What's this for?"

"Go to this place tomorrow morning. There you'll get a lift to a plane that'll take you to LA."Rogers eyes widen in shock before he stutterers his thanks.

"No problem. I do what I can to help her...colleagues." But as she says this she wipe  out a can of pepper spray and Steve tense. "But if you're one of those guys that gives her a hard time I won't hesitate to use this."

"No! no, I've never-uh, no that's not me." She nods assertively and puts away the spray. 

"Good luck, 'Grant'." She says before walking away.

Rogers isn't sure what to make of what just happened, but one thing is for sure, he'll see Peggy fore sure. And what a reunion that will be.