Come Back With Me

That Was Quite The Growth Spurt

"Are you okay?" Lizzie asks.

Of all the questions that Steve thought she would ask, he didn't think this was the one she would start with.

"What?" He asks.

"I felt some pain the other week and I knew it was from you. Then I saw your picture and how much you changed so I worried that the pain caused you to change," she explains.

He feels super guilty now for not considering how their twin bond would effect her when it came to his transformation.

"I kinda let a German scientist experiment on me," Steve says.

The room is silent for a beat while Lizzie takes in what Steve has just told her.

"You what?!" She yells.

He realizes now that maybe that was not the best wording.

"Let me explain," he says.

He then tells her everything that has happened to him since they last saw each other.

When he finishes, she just sits there in shock.

"I'm sorry that Erskine died. He seemed like a really good man and brilliant as well," Lizzie admits.

The fact that he found away to rewrite Steve's DNA on a molecular level is truly extraordinary. She wonders what else his formula could have been adapted to do for the medical field. I guess they will never know since that secret died with him.

"He was a good man. I just wish that his greatest accomplishment didn't become a stage prop," Steve says regretfully.

She can see that Steve is getting upset so she goes in to hug him.

It's strange to hug Steve now that he is so tall.

All their lives, they were always the same height so there heads were always right next to each other when they hugged but now her head only comes up to his sternum.

When he wraps his arms around her though, it's the same as it always is. He is physically bigger now but the comfort that his arms bring is still there.

"I've missed you so much Steve and I am so proud of what you've been able to accomplish even if you aren't so proud of yourself," Lizzie says.

"I just wish I was able to fight, that's what I was made for," Steve says.

"You make yourself sound like a machine, a weapon," Lizzie says.

Steve let's go of her and looks away.

"Well, I kinda am. I'm not exactly your weak asthmatic twin anymore Liz," Steve says.

Lizzie grabs his face so he has to look her in the eyes.

"You will always be my brother that could never stay out of a fight and that I have always had to worry about," Lizzie says.

Steve raises his eyebrow and gestures to his body.

"Look at me, I don't really think you need to worry about me anymore," Steve says.

"I'm always going to worry about you, Steve. Even if you were invincible, I'd probably still worry about you," Lizzie says.

He looks down at his twin and realizes that this is the first time he really feels like a big brother. He has always been older than Lizzie but never really got to be the older brother who can protect her, at least not from something physical. Now he can defend her from anything and he doesn't know if anything has ever made him happier.

"I've missed you Lizzie," Steve admits.

She gives him another hug.

"I missed you too, Stevie," Lizzie says.

She separates from him but then drags him over to sit next to her on a couch.

"So, tell me more about this Peggy Carter," Lizzie says.

Steve and Lizzie talk for hours but eventually she has to leave or else she'll miss her train.

"Remember to take care of yourself. I love you," Steve says.

He gives her a tight hug because he doesn't know when the next time he'll see her will be.

"Stay safe, I love you," Lizzie says.

This goodbye is significantly easier than the first because she knows he is safe now. He's state side and non-combative plus it looks like he can more than defend himself now.

She can finally breathe a little easier because now her brother was absolutely safe.