The Only Hope | Captain America

Chapter Eighteen : And The Memories Return

 The next morning, Steve woke up to the smell of coffee and pancakes. The sweet aroma brought him up to his senses while he looked around the room. After the dinner incident, Steve walked Grace home and wanted to spend the night to make sure she was safe from Erik. To be polite, he let himself sleep on the couch, not wanting to cause any more trouble to Grace. Behind him was a wide awake Grace, cooking in the kitchen. She noticed his presence as she poured a cup of coffee onto the table. Grace let out a bright smile, and motioned him to come toward the table. Her appearance was different from the other night, her brown hair tied into a messy bun along with her long sleeved shirt, shielding away her scars. Overall, scars or not, he thought Grace was still beautiful.

 The table was decorated with many delicious and colorful foods that filled Steve's mouth with water. He had forgotten that he didn't eat much yesterday at Sean's surprise party and found himself surprisingly hungry. Grace chuckled at his hungry expression and handed him a plate. The other girls came running down; their eyes filled with excitement as they each grabbed a plate and started to pour in with the food. Grace stood by, and watched as the rest of them eat in silence.

 "Why don't you eat Grace?" Steve asked calmly.

 Grace hesitated to answer, but politely refused as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

 "That's odd of you. You're usually the first one to eat your own foods." James commented.

 "I'm so tired; I'm just going to stick to coffee for this morning." Grace replied.

 Steve watched as Grace walked back upstairs, noticing her tired figure before she faded away. He reverted his mind back to yesterday night, as he remembered Grace's life story, and how men could be so disrespectful to women. He had never encountered someone with that kind of back story but in the end, he still loves Grace. Steve was willing to do his part for her, and treat her the way a woman should be treated. After last night, he felt Grace had feelings for him too. Steve didn't know how women acted, but if they kiss you back... They might just have feelings for you too. Something Steve had learned from experience. As he looked up from his plate, the two girls were already gone as well as the plates of food. Luckily, Steve was finished with his food and was too consumed in his thoughts.

 The day looked clear, and weather began to shine instead of the rainy, gloomy days New York has been having. Steve decided to go on a small walk around the city again, but wanted to drop by his Brooklyn apartment to change into different clothes. He was still dressed in his suit, except he took off the jacket before he fell asleep. Sleep wasn't being very cooperative with Steve the last two days, ever since he woke up from the ice, flashbacks from the 1940s continued to replay in his head. Ranging from him in the plane, losing Bucky, or Dr. Erskine dying before his eyes. Everything was just all blurred in his head, as he continued to walk down the streets.

 A few minutes later, he reached his empty apartment and got dressed in a light blue shirt and another pair of khakis. Beside his door step, were files with papers filled to the brim, as it read, SHIELD. The name sounded familiar to him, as he picked up the files and brought it to his small table. He flipped open one, seeing a document printed, the name catching Steve's eye.

 Margret Carter

 He looked at the document's picture, showing a confident and radiant, Peggy Carter. Her loose brown curls along with her smooth skin and red lips, Peggy looked the same as always. Underneath the picture, read "Peggy" which was the name she was known for. Steve didn't know what to think or what to say about what he was seeing. Below the word, "Peggy" was another word that surprised Steve.

 "Retired"

 Below, read her phone number and her location. Something in Steve urged him to grab the phone and dial her number, to see if she would pick up. The thought seemed almost impossible to Steve, knowing it's been seventy years since they had last spoken to each other. He closed Peggy's file lightly and pulled out another beneath it.