KillSwitch ─ s. rogers ✓

thirteen

THEY agreed on going to visit Peggy the next day. Until then, Alex had nowhere to go, but she didn't want to tell Michael and Elizabeth, at the risk of making things weird. It wasn't like she'd never slept outside before, and she could handle herself. She ended up climbing up the fire escape of a nearby apartment building and crashing on the roof. She almost wished she stayed with the Soldier—Bucky. Now she was all alone, no place to live, no place to go, and nothing to her name. After she saw her mom, what was next?

Alex's heart rate picked up the moment they pulled into the parking lot of Peggy's nursing home. Her mom might not recognize her. Her mom might not believe her and just have someone escort her off of the premises. Her mom might hate her for everything she's done under the influence of Hydra.

"Maybe I shouldn't be here," she said as she, Michael, and Elizabeth got out of Michael's car. "I think this was a mistake."

"She'll want to see you," Elizabeth insisted. "We don't know..." She swallowed. "We don't know how much time she has left. She would never want to miss any last opportunity to see the daughter she hasn't seen in decades."

"She never forgot you," Michael added. His voice sounded so far away. "None of us did. And Sarah and Mother's...second husband knew about you too. No matter how much time passed, you never stopped being important to us."

They headed for the entrance, none of them saying a word. Suddenly, for reasons she couldn't explain, Alex felt a need to say something.

"I remember thinking that I wanted to take you to play in the snow with me the next day."

Michael and Elizabeth both stopped to give her a look. Alex kept going.

"It was snowing when I left Jacqueline's house. It was coming down like crazy, and I was thinking that I needed to wake you up early the next morning so that we could go sledding. You really liked that hill at Central Park, even though we had to walk a lot to get there. One time, we slammed into someone else, and half the people there ended up face-first in the snow." She smiled a little. "You liked summer way better, though. Sandcastles beat snowballs any time." Then she shrugged. "I don't know. It's kind of random, I guess, but it just came into my head."

"You really are Alexandra." Michael smiled too.

The three of them stepped into the lobby of the home. A younger girl, maybe just over twenty-one, sat behind the front desk, talking to another guy a few years older than her. When she saw Michael and Elizabeth standing there, her eyes lit up.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sousa! I wasn't expecting to see you two today!" She noticed Alex standing just behind them. "And who's this?"

"A—Alex," Alex stuttered. "I'm Alex. I'm...a relative."

The girl nodded and stuck out her hand, which Alex shook awkwardly.

"I'm Jayne," she introduced herself. She furrowed her eyebrows. "Have we met before?"

Alex shook her head.

"I don't think so."

She hadn't thought through how she would identify herself here. She couldn't exactly introduce herself as Peggy Carter's daughter.

"I will sign you guys in!" Jayne handed them each a visitor badge. "Head on in!"

Michael and Elizabeth led Alex further into the building.

Peggy was on the second floor. They made their way down the hallway, passing a series of open doors. Seeing so many people struggling and clinging to life left a bad taste in Alex's mouth. Oxygen tanks, hospital beds, wheelchairs, three aids in one room...she couldn't even wrap her head around the fact that her mother was now one of those people.