Steve meets him, and by some miracle, Steve likes him.
Meeting the man his best girl fell for was not supposed to be this easy.
Daniel Sousa is a good man, Steve can tell. They share a mutual respect almost immediately - both former soldiers, both battle weary. And Steve can tell that he adores Peggy, clearly, and respects her too.
Steve can see the look in Peggy’s eyes as she turns to look at Daniel. It’s that soft look that once was directed at him, and still is to some degree in a gentle, nostalgic way. But with Daniel it’s the look of a woman actively in love, a woman in love with a good man, a man that loves her in return just as wholeheartedly. Not a woman in love with a ghost, or a memory, or an idea that had never really existed in the first place. It’s the look of a woman with a future unfolding before her.
Steve didn’t know what he was expecting when he arrived on Peggy Carter’s doorstep sometime in the 1950s. In hindsight, he should have known she’d see right through him.
He’d been met with pursed lips, narrowed eyes, and a lifted eyebrow, all pulled together by a look that screamed “and what on Earth do you think you’re doing here young man?”
It had taken Peggy all of ten seconds to realise that this was some sort of futuristic problem. To realise that this was Steve, yes, but it wasn’t her Steve. This wasn’t the Steve that she had lost in the ice, this was someone else’s Steve.
She’d agreed to the dance, of course. It was a sweet moment, and it made both of them smile fondly. Even if they were the wrong Peggy and the wrong Steve when together, they could do it for their counterparts. It was nice really.
Peggy had offered him tea, and now the cup feels odd and tiny in Steve’s hands. Out of place. Daniel smiles at him as warmly as Steve supposes you can smile at your lover’s not-exactly-ex-boyfriend. He earns even more of Steve’s respect at that.
Peggy tells him about her life now. About Daniel, and how they met, and how they’re hoping to be married soon. About her darling Angie, her best friend in the world who has been by her side since the very beginning. She tells him about how she’s advancing in her career, how she’s stepping out of the shadows and into a job she can be passionate about. She’s building pathways, for herself and for women just like her.
She’s still so determined and passionate to make the world a better place, to do something meaningful with her life, and it’s brilliant.
Steve in return tells her roundabouts where he ditched the plane. He tells her that she doesn’t have to go after him, if she doesn’t want to. That he’s probably going to be grateful for the rest. The only request he does make, is that her new team go and look for Bucky. That they snatch him from Hydras grasp as fast as they can.
A private smile sits on Peggy’s face at that, and the look in her eyes is fond once more. She promises him that she’ll start working on the case at the crack of dawn tomorrow. They’ll get him out. They’ll fix him. She will personally keep him safe.
Steve also tells her about the future. Not all of it. Some things he wants Peggy to experience for herself. But he tells her most things about his life. About Tony, Howard’s son, and how brilliant he is, and how he’s Earths greatest defender, and how Pepper is such a lovely woman. About Sam and Natasha, his brilliant and loyal friends. About Thor, a god with a love of... pop tarts? About Bruce and Clint, and Maria and Fury, about Wanda, about the sheer genius of Shuri the warrior princess, and her brother T’Challa. About Carol Danvers, about Stephen Strange. He tells her about Bucky. That they found him, and he’s alive, and he’s... not completely ok, but he’s getting there.
Peggy looks at him as he finishes his tea. “You’d best be getting back.” She hums.
Steve looks at her, really looks at her. His best girl. “Thank you, Peggy. Thank you.”
She stands to hug him, and she feels just like she did, and her perfume is just the same. Yet somehow, now, she feels like the past. Like a chapter that’s closing after a satisfying ending.
Daniel raises himself and shakes Steve’s hand. “Thank you, Captain Rogers. It’s been an honour.”
Steve can tell that he means it, and a look of understanding passes between them. A Take care of her and an I will. A handing over of the torch.
They walk him to the door, and see him down the drive. Steve turns back and sees them, arms round each other on the doorstep, and suddenly he feels odd.
He feels like a man out of time. This isn’t his place anymore. These streets, this world, these fashions. He’s moved on. He has somewhere else to be now.
He waves to Peggy and Daniel as he readies his Pym particles. He thinks of his family that he’s made in the future. His friends, his team.
He’s going back to them, to his present, to his time.
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