The day was warm, the sun slowly starting to move down towards the horizon. The sky was blue as the eye could see, just a light breeze blowing from time to time, making the leaves rustle quietly. The suburb was quiet most of the time, an odd car here and there, some distant voices coming from behind and sides as Steve then found himself standing right in front of a house.
Not just any house.
Peggy's house.
It took him some time to gather the courage to look into the files meant to "brush him up" on what happened while he was in the ice. He still remembered everything from back then, learning how everything unfolded and how the world seemed to move on. He even visited this place before just out of curiosity, the old house gone, replaced by something more modern and less interesting. But now it was the real deal. He breathed in and out slowly, trying to focus, scenarios and questions racing through his mind. What would happen? How would she react? And what did the future in this timeline hold? He still couldn't really wrap his head fully around it, but in the end, it didn't even matter that much. All of it would be of no use, not in this encounter. He let out a breath as he stepped forward, finding himself on the porch in just a few steps. He could feel his heart beating, his hands jittering a little as he knocked on the door - three raps, one after the other. He took in a large breath, the seconds dragging for what seemed forever before he heard the door unlock and go ajar.
"Who's there?" Came the voice from behind the door, the crisp accent unmistakable. His heart skipped a beat, the whole planned speech he had disappearing in an instant. "Identify yourself!" The second call came in, the tone leaving no space for arguments - or, in the worst-case scenario, being the last warning before a fight.
"It's me," Steve spoke, his voice surprisingly calm in the face of it all. He stood still, waiting for what seemed like another small eternity before he saw the top of a head peek out of the little opening, up to the unmistakable brown eyes, which immediately went wide.
"You..." She started to speak before gasping, blinking a few times. He knew it must have been a shock for her too, but in a typical Peggy Carter fashion, she composed herself remarkably quickly.
"You're dead." She then added, matter-of-factly and calmly, as if stating the most obvious truth. His eyes moved down, noticing a hand tightly gripping a gun hover low, not aiming at him directly but ready to do so at a moment's notice. "You're not...It's not..."
"Peggy." He spoke, slowly moving his hands up to shoulder level, palms forward. She was on edge, he knew it, and he needed to deescalate. "I know it's a lot to..."
"I mourned you." She replied, cutting in. Her voice had changed, from sharp and unrelenting to suddenly timid and quiet. The hand with the gun moved down as she let the door open just a tiny bit more. "You...we tried to find you, Steve, I.."
"I know," Steve replied, taking a very slow step forward, still on the porch but closer now, his eyes looking right into hers. His heart was slamming against his chest now, as he exhaled, the jitters of his hands slowly going away. "And I'm very sorry you had to go through all this...I can explain everything...if you let me."
She chuckled, her face seeming to go through a full spectrum of expressions through the last minute or so, now settling on a slight smile. "Can you? Well... I suppose you could try, seeing how I seem to be imagining supposedly dead people standing on my porch." She spoke, now letting the door go fully open. He took the invitation, moving in as she closed the door and then moved to the living room, putting the gun down on the coffee table.
"So...and I swear to God if this is some sick joke I will..." She started to speak before sighing and then looking back at him, sitting down on the couch. "Explain, then." She added as Steve followed, moving to sit in the chair right opposite her.
And he did. It was an abridged version at best, but contained all the essential bits - unfreezing, New York, Ultron, the Stones, time travel, and Thanos, ending with him bringing the Stones back - until he came here. He watched her the entire time, noting how she remained still, the stiff upper lip seeming unbreakable, save for a few moments when he swore he saw her brain going into overdrive. As he finished up, she leaned back against the back of the couch, crossing her legs. She didn't speak for a moment, Steve noticing her eyes moving up and down as if she was scanning him, maybe trying to somehow deduce if he was lying or not.
"So...you're really...you?" She spoke, cocking her head to the side, clearly pensive. "I mean, I can see...but you're..."
"Different?" He spoke, tone calm. He knew it must have been a massive undertaking for her to understand all the information just being dumped on her, but he knew instinctively what she referenced. "Well, if you came through all that I came through I guess you would be too."
"You have a point." She replied, nodding as her lips slowly moved up to form a gentle smile. "So you're really Steve...just more..."