Away at War/Battle MemeWe all know war can be a hard time for everyone but those left behind? It can be torture. Hoping you get a letter or a call, staying glued to the television and cringing at those news stories. Guess what happens to you now? Your loved one has gone off to fight a war (battle, fight, in that ilk of things) and some time has
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Captain. I'm glad you're safe.
[The relief in her voice is obvious and the unspoken stop getting yourself presumed dead already may be evident as well.]
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Thank you, ma'am.
[The reply is automatic, his expression searching. There's a familiarity to the face but he can't quite grasp was it is. But he hasn't been able to grasp anything since waking up. The only reason why he didn't question her about 'Captain' was simply due to the fact his title had been explained to him hours ago. And of course, how he gained his 'new' body.
Steve could barely remember college.
But he does catch her tone.]
Begging your pardon, but... do we know each other?
[The nurse braced herself.]
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Agent Peggy Carter, SSR. We've worked together.
Do - [It takes her a second to phrase the question.] What's the last thing you remember?
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Agent Carter... I'm sorry. I don't... I don't remember.
[He closes his eyes for a moment to consider.] I've got flashes of memories, but it doesn't tie together. I remember we're... the Germans declared war on the Polish. I saw the reels.
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Have you been debriefed at all yet? [Bad enough she had no warning - if no one's explained things to Steve yet, there's no excuse.]
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He looks away for a moment, gathering her thoughts.] I forgot you and managed to get you upset at the same time. Just my luck.
[He nodded slowly as he turned back to look at her.] They explained most of it to me. Mostly Bucky. I volunteered for a project and I was successful.
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[That sounds hollow even to her ears, and she adds:] I thought - for a moment I was afraid you'd forgotten everything, that you didn't remember who you are. [With or without the serum, because that's not the important part. Not to her, anyway. It never has been.]
[Well, so much for keeping it professional. She turns to the nurse.] Could you give us a moment?
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[The words might, but the meaning was full.] Yeah, the doctors were too. I am as well... It might be harder, they say, to help me if I didn't know who I was. Just what I am and where I am, that's the tricky part. [And that, amnesia or not, meant the world to him.]
[The nurse gives a short nod and quickly walks out of the room, giving the privacy necessary between the two.]
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[Once the nurse leaves, Peggy sits down in one of the chairs nearest his bed. She's drained, physically and emotionally; it's been a trying day. Part of her just wants to leave and go take her frustrations out on the shooting range, but she just can't walk out on him like that.]
I should be the one apologizing to you. I probably should have stopped and talked to Sergeant Barnes before barging in on you like this. [Thank God for Sergeant Barnes. She'll never utter those words in the man's hearing, of course, but she's incredibly grateful he could be here for Steve.]
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[He might have seen her sit like that after a particularly grueling mission, maybe. She doesn't slouch per se, but she leans forward, shoulders slumped a bit, and the fatigue in her eyes is evident. She straightens up after a second or two, regaining her posture, but it's still relaxed and not ramrod-straight. It's comforting and familiar just to be sitting here and talking with him again.]
[Unfortunately, she catches the expression he's trying to hide.] They're upset because they're worried about you. No one expects you to be able to just - accept all this and go on exactly the way you did before.
[She's choosing her words carefully here. They are in the middle of a war. Colonel Phillips probably wishes Steve could do that, and she can only imagine what his reaction was like. But he's a realist, and he won't let Steve lead his team into combat if he doesn't think he's fit to do so ( ... )
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But I did something for them? Because I'm still bewildered how I managed to get such a group of men worried about me. I know I saved lives but... Bucky was too choked up to give long explanations.
[And if he had to, Steve would. What he learned wasn't entirely gone. But perhaps it wasn't wise. Not until he managed to learn names and keep remembering them this time around.]
He'll probably come back soon. I wish he'd just rest though. It'd make me feel better than seeing him pace and worry. I got back here in solid order.
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The second phone call comes late, very late, at night, and AJ finds herself shocked, sobbing in relief and in fear and in anger that it's taken so long for them to find him. When the car arrives to take her and her daughter to meet him - she worries the whole way. She'd never even gotten the chance to tell him that they were expecting. This was just going to put more stress on an already tense situation.
She's not entirely sure what to expect]
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And he thought about AJ at every moment he could.
And Steve finally escaped. He managed to return to base where he was sent to Germany to recover for a few weeks and then sent back home. Back to AJ.
He sat in a solitary room of a local hospital. While they were next to assured he could go home, they wanted just a few more days to examine him. And so he waited for her to walk through the door.]
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Here's the door, and she knocks tentatively before stepping inside, fidgeting with her hands, knowing that all she wants to do is rush to him and hold him again, but not able to do much but stand here awkwardly]
Steve?
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