I have a prompt, someone throws a grenade (like Hydra or something) and Steve jumps on it again, but this time it's real Bonus points: Peggy or Bucky dealing with his death
i think i am discovering the definition of plot bunnies hahaha i hope i did the absolutely fantastic peggy carter justice. this made me sad. did i get the bonus points?
The first time he did it, the grenade hadn’t been live. Steve had hurled his small body on top of it, curling up and yelling at the others to “get away, get back!” Peggy had caught the begrudging look of admiration Colonel Phillips had tried to hide, and she’d had to bite back a laugh at his next words.
Yes, Steve was skinny. And short. And rather sickly to boot. Hardly the prime candidate for a high level government experiment. But Erskine had seen through all that, and looked to what he could be. Someone to lead, to inspire people, someone who could be the hero that was so sorely needed. Erskine’s faith inspired others to not only see the would-be soldier, but the man that would be behind that image. And ultimately, Peggy had fallen in love not with Captain America, but little old Steve Rogers from Brooklyn.
Peggy should have expected it the second time. But it still rocked her to her very core when the Howling Commandos returned to base one evening, broken, beaten. the life sucked out of each and every one of them. Steve wasn’t among them. What little she could coax out of Sergeant Barnes was horrific enough. She had to force herself to finish the official report. Apparently a stray grenade had somehow found it’s way into their midst. Acting on adrenaline, or instinct, or maybe it was his idiotic self-sacrificing nature, whatever it was it drove him to once again jump straight onto the grenade. This one proved too much, even for a super soldier. The action served its purpose, saving the lives of Bucky and Dum Dum and Jim. But Steve’s death also kills a part of them all. With him gone, the world seems a whole lot darker.
Captain America doesn’t die, he can’t. But later on, they hold a small service for Steve Rogers, the good-hearted man who was loyal and brave and courageous to a fault. It is one of the only times Peggy cries, and even then it is only a little. She allows herself a little time to mourn, then throws herself back into her job. It’s only a few months after that the war is won. Many find it hard to adjust, Peggy too. She finds that she is even less tolerant of the sexist men she works with than usual, and is reprimanded more than once. When Howard suggests starting up something called SHIELD she jumps at the chance.
Every now and again,she’ll see something that reminds her of Steve. Whether its a head of hair that particular shade of blonde, or whether its the Brooklyn accent that he tried to hide, or whether its simply a picture or photo that brings back everything back. The memories hit, the tears start to prick, and she finds herself thinking of all the what ifs. She dwells a little, waits for it to pass, and then moves on. Because she knows, as cliched as it sounds, that’s what he would have wanted. He would have wanted nothing but the best for her. And although she will move on, maybe have a husband and a family of her own one day, she will never forget Steve Rogers. There will always be a tiny part of her that will love the skinny boy from Brooklyn.