Captain America and Bucky Barnes Imagines

9. STEVE: Lilacs

You walk closer to the ghost on heeled feet. She scoots slightly to one side of the bed—Steve's side—and gestures for you to sit next to her. You sink slowly onto the mattress and say, "You've been dead for years, Agent Carter. I thought you would've moved on by now." The voices of the dead can come to you no matter the circumstances of their deaths, but a vision of the deceased is quite rare—they only come to you for some sort of help or closure. They can't move on without it. Your power is both a blessing and a curse.

"I had a bit of unfinished business I had to see through," Peggy Carter explains. Her vintage perfume is strong like lilacs.

You stare at the floorboards beneath your feet. "Is it about Steve?"

Peggy says, "Partly." You bring my eyes up to meet hers when she sounds like she's got more to say. "But mainly, it has to do with you."

"Me?" you question. You've helped a lot of spirits into the afterlife, but none of them have had unfinished business with you personally.

Peggy nods with a light laugh. Her eyes sparkle. She seems to find your clueless face amusing. "Yes, Y/N. I've stuck around a bit longer than normal so I could see you—so that I could meet you."

"But why me?" You give your head a brisk shake to allude to your confusion.

Peggy lets out a long breath. She rises to her feet—skirt slightly swaying with a nonexistent breeze as she walks to the dresser. Atop the furniture is a framed picture of Steve and you in Disney World. He's wearing one of those stupid Mickey Ear hats and you've got on a silver studded crown. He's kissing your cheek while you laugh and hold his chin. Peggy picks up the frame and inspects it quietly. There's a dreamy smile on her face that you find yourself studying closely. What is she thinking? What is she even doing here? You'd hoped she'd moved on long ago. Steve had always been secretly upset that she'd never reached out to him through you in the afterlife. You always reassured him that no news was good news and she was peacefully at rest. But now you realize that wasn't the truth.

"Steve's a good man," Peggy says—breaking you out of your thoughts. She carefully sets the picture back in its place. "But you already know that." She turns to regard you in the same intent way you look to her. "I know that you've had your doubts about him though." You open your mouth to argue but she holds a stern finger mid-air. You immediately hush. You don't interrupt Agent Carter. "Doubts about whether he really loves you as much as the world knew he loved me."

At her words your skin grows colder. Your stomach takes a wobbly turn. She knows your deepest fear—the fear of never living up to the woman he sacrificed so much for: the one he lost the American Dream with. He would've done anything to be in her arms for so long, how could you be sure that he didn't still long for her beside him in the middle of the night?

"Darling, there's no need to look so trodden." She offers a kind smile and you try to reciprocate the gesture. Peggy sighs. She wrings her hands together then comes closer. "Y/N, I've waited a long time to tell you this. I've spent a lot of years now watching over you. And I'm here to tell you now that you're so much stronger than you think. And to that, you've got a stronger hold on Steve's heart than you could ever even imagine." A smile tugs at one side of your lip. You feel her silken ghost-hands wrap around yours. She holds your wrists and sits beside you once again.

"Really?" you manage to squeak.

Peggy nods. "Steve did love me, yes. I loved him, too. But those days are long gone, Y/N. There was a lot of potential for him and me to have a great life... but sometimes things don't work out. And sometimes it ends up being for the best." She pushes a lock of hair from your eyes. You feel her touch cool and whispering on your cheek. "And in this case, I know it was for the best. If only you could see the way he looks at you, darling. I can feel it from him—he loves you with more of his heart than he even knew he could. The potential he had to love me fueled him for a little while, but he's the man he is now solely because of you."