Again, spoilers all over the place in this fic. This fic takes place after the last scene (24 hours after to be exact). I do have plans to make this into a larger story, but, for now, it works as a standalone. As always, thanks for reading!

It had been twenty-four hours since Steve had said goodbye to Natasha and watched Nick Fury walk away, never to give Steve another mission or order.

He found himself in a tiny coffee shop in the outskirts of DC, just outside of the barely controlled chaos that was laying waste to the DC area. The President had declared a State of Emergency, Congress was still holding their hearings, but Steve knew SHIELD would find a way to survive.

Just like HYDRA.

He didn't forget Fury's words. And while his focus was on Bucky, if he found any HYDRA installations, he wasn't going to leave them standing.

Maybe 2014 wasn't so different from 1943 after all.

He took a drink of his coffee as he closed the file Natasha had given him the day before. Sam sat across from him, looking as tired as Steve felt.

"So," Sam nodded towards the closed file, "have any idea of where we're going to start looking?"

Steve had barely glanced past the first few pages; Natasha's warning still played in his mind. Was he prepared to find out what had been done to his best friend while he lay in the ice?

Probably not, but he was damn sure he was going to do everything he could to pull his friend back from the hell he had to endure.

Steve leaned back in the chair. "How's your Russian?"

Sam grimaced. "Nothing a little Rosetta Stone can't help me with." He looked at Steve before explaining, "It's a computer program-"

"I actually know what it is. Fury likes his agents to be multilingual. It sort of helps with the whole spy thing." He reached across and tapped the top of the folder with his index finger. "Are you sure you want to do this, Sam? This isn't your fight."

"No, it's not," he agreed. "But, I figure that right about now you could use a friend, someone who had your back."

Steve's eyebrows rose. "That would be nice considering just about everyone I know has gone into hiding."

Sam studied him for a second. "You gonna be ok?"

When he first became Captain America, being thrown on stage night after night to convince the American public to buy war bonds, Steve had taught himself how to paste a fake smile on command. He turned to that ability as he nodded. "We protected the world. My best friend apparently saved me from drowning in the Potomac. What's not to be ok about?"

Sam looked at him for a moment, but didn't push the subject. "So, what are we going to do about a set of wheels? Mine sort of got thrashed by your friend."

"Fury's got us covered. Left us a parting gift." Steve nodded towards the plain looking car that sat in the parking lot. He suppressed a sigh; he missed his bike already. "We've got enough cash to last us a while too." And a few fake identities, but Steve didn't think Sam needed to know that piece of information yet.

"Sounds like we've got everything we need. So, are we headed to Dulles?"

Steve shook his head. "Not yet. Before we go, there's someone important I need to see."

"I didn't know Captain America has a woman." Sam's eyebrows rose. "I'm impressed."

"She's not just any woman." A wistful smile pulled on his lips, a now familiar ache tugged on his heart. "She's my best girl."

/*-/*/*-/*-/*-

Steve stood on the front porch of the small house that Peggy lived in. Marla, her live-in nurse, usually was there at the front door, waiting to usher him inside before he even had a chance to knock. But, today Marla was noticeably gone.

He knocked three times and waited.

No one answered the door.

A slight panic fell over Steve; surely if anything had happened to Peggy, Marla would have made sure to let him know. He had left his home phone and his much less-used smartphone number with her after his first visit, making Marla promise that if Peggy fell ill - or worse - that she would call him, no matter the hour.

Trying to not call attention to any nosy neighbors, he discretely hopped over the porch rail and looked inside through the living room window. To his relief, he could see Peggy's silhouette on her bed through the lace curtains.

Maybe Marla had been in the back of the house and didn't know Steve was there. He walked back to the front porch and knocked again, more firmly. There was no way he would leave without saying goodbye to Peggy.

Even though he knew she would likely never remember his visit.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he waited for someone to answer the door.

He knew Fury hadn't understood his need for visiting Peggy. When the former head of SHIELD had realized where Steve went every Thursday afternoon for two hours, he had confronted him directly.

"Part of being able to find your place in the today's world is being able to let go of your past," Fury had said, standing behind his desk.

"What I do in my spare time isn't any of SHIELD's business or yours." Steve had met the Director's glare challengingly.

"What do you hope to accomplish by seeing her? She's not the woman you knew in World War II." Fury had sighed. "I know you've seen her medical files, Rogers. She probably won't even be able to remember her name by the end of the year."

Steve had clenched his jaw. "Good thing I'll be there to remind her. Now, if you'd excuse me, Nick, I need to go see an old friend."

The Director hadn't brought up the issue of Peggy to him again.

Finally, the doorknob turned slowly, pulling him back into the present. He expected to see Marla with a sweet, apologetic grin, telling him to go inside and make himself at home.

Instead, Sharon stood there with an awkward expression on her face. "Captain." She didn't move out of the way for him to enter into the house.

"Agent," he greeted evenly. He looked around for Marla, but she was nowhere to be found. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?"

She hesitated for a half second. "Remember me mentioning to you about my aunt who is a bit of an insomniac?"

Steve nodded.

She glanced in the direction of the bedroom door where Peggy lay.

Oh.

A faint blush dusted Steve's cheeks. Had he really invited Peggy's niece, of all people, on a date? The heat in his cheeks rose as he considered the possibility that Sharon had told Peggy about his invite to a cup of coffee.

"I didn't tell her anything." Her voice was low, as if she was worried that Peggy could hear her. "She still thinks of herself as your best girl."

Subconsciously, Steve reached in his jeans pocket and rubbed the compass that he always carried with him.

"I guess this means your offer for a cup of coffee is off the table." She looked like she was trying to hide her disappointment and was failing.

Steve felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Maybe in another set of circumstances he could have made things work with the woman in front of him, but he couldn't. It wasn't fair to her. No one could compete with Peggy Carter, even if she was 94 years old and struggling with dementia.

Steve shifted subjects. "Does she know about anything that happened with SHIELD and HYDRA?"

Sharon shook her head. "I didn't want to upset her. She'd blame herself for not seeing things. I don't think she'd ever forgive herself."

"I understand." He looked past Sharon who was still blocking his way inside. "Can I see her for a few minutes? I've got my buddy waiting for me out there." He looked back to where Sam was sitting in the driver's seat of the Civic.

Sharon shifted slightly. "I don't know if she's up for visitors right now. She was tired earlier."

"This is kind of important." He waited a second before adding, "Please."

Sharon relented, nodding slightly. "Of course. It's the least I could do after everything you did with taking down Project Insight." She moved out of the way. "I'll give you guys a couple of minutes."

Steve walked inside, down the hallway he had come to know so well over the past sixteen months. The smell of Peggy's perfume that she still wore wrapped around him and for a fraction of a second he allowed himself the indulgence of fooling himself that he was coming home from a long day's work with Peggy waiting for him.

A harsh cough filled the air and the illusion was shattered.

He made his way to the end of the hall and knocked softly on Peggy's bedroom door, just as he had so many times before.

Based on what Sharon had said about her being tired, he expected Peggy to be asleep. Instead, she was awake, looking more alert than Steve had seen in several months.

"Steve." There was a smile -and, more importantly, recognition - on her face. "You didn't come see me last week."

He had been in the hospital, recovering from his fight with Bucky, not that she would know that. Still, it surprised him that she would be able to recall his lack of a visit. "You know how things can get, but I made it here as soon as I could."

She looked out the window. "I thought you had forgotten about me."

A pain stabbed Steve in the heart. How many times had she been unable to recall their reunion since he had awoken from the ice? How many times did he have to leave her home, barely able to handle the agony of knowing that she kept forgetting that he was alive over and over again?

"I said something I shouldn't have," she muttered softly, turning to face him. "I'm sorry."

Steve shook his head and smiled at her. "You're fine."

"But you're not." She studied his face for a second. "What is it?"

He wanted to tell her what happened with Bucky, to look for her counsel and insight as he embarked on his most important mission he had ever faced, but he couldn't burden her with that.

She sat up slightly. It registered in the back of Steve's mind that she had barely been able to move the last time he was there, but that didn't seem important to him in that moment. "Steve?"

He remembered how Natasha told him how terrible of a liar he was; if anyone would be able to see through his untruths, it would be Peggy, even in her current condition. "I'm going overseas for a while. I don't know when I'll be able to stop by."

To his horror, her eyes started to water. "I've upset you, haven't I?" She looked away from him, her eyes becoming unfocused. "I don't recall doing anything wrong."

"Peggy." He took her hand which was cold to the touch. "You haven't done anything wrong, I promise."

She didn't look like she quite believed him. She shook her head several times, as if she was having a conversation with herself. Then, she drew in a deep breath. For a brief moment, he saw the resolute face of the woman he had fallen in love with seven decades prior. "I assume that you'll be able to call when you find the chance."

He knew Fury had given him a stash of untraceable wireless phones, but didn't know how secure they truly were. And he would never do anything to put Peggy in harm's way. "Every chance I get, I promise."

She squeezed his hand. "Then I suppose I shouldn't keep you much longer. The world always need Captain America." Her gaze moved to behind him.

Sharon stood in the doorway, watching the two of them with a soft smile on her face.

Peggy squeezed his hand. "Did Sharon tell you how she saved my life?"

A blush dusted the blonde's cheeks. "It was nothing, Aunt Peggy. Really." She gave Steve a look that said play along with her. "You know I'd do anything to keep you safe."

"She's a SHIELD agent, you know." A look of pride passed over her face. "Keeping the Carter tradition alive."

Steve nodded. "We've worked together before." He smiled as he released her hand. Ignoring the fact that they had an audience, he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on Peggy's lips.

He hadn't been lying when he told Natasha that he had kissed someone since 1945. He just didn't happen to mention that the same woman he had kissed in the 40's was the same woman he had kissed since he had been rescued from the ice.

"I'll call you soon."

Peggy's eyes crinkled as she smiled. "I'll hold you to that, Captain."

He turned and walked out of the room with Sharon following close behind him. "Did you really save her life?"

Sharon shrugged. "I realized she was taking some medication that shouldn't be taken together." She pasted a smile on her face. "It was really no big deal, Captain."

They walked together to the front of the house. It wasn't until he reached the door that he realized that Peggy hadn't had a memory lapse the entire time he was there.

He spun around and stopped. "Do you think that the medication could have been causing some of her memory loss?"

Sharon looked at him curiously. "I don't think that was one of the side effects, why?"

Steve shook his head. Maybe, for once, things worked out for his good; a visit with Peggy that didn't end up with her forgetting that he was alive. "Never mind."

He hesitated at the door. He knew there was a chance he would never see Peggy alive again. Her health had been in a steady decline for the past six months.

He pulled his hand on the doorknob and looked back at Sharon. "Take care of her. For me."

Sharon nodded. "I will, Captain."