bakerstreet | I have died every day waiting for you.

I have died every day waiting for you.

I have loved you for a thousand years...

Some say that if a pair of lovers die together in tragedy, they will get another chance when they are reborn. Even if the two of you keep losing each other, you'll get to meet again.

This meme is that meeting. For the first time? For the hundredth time? That much isn't clear. What is clear is that on this, your seeming first meeting -

Everything rushes back to you. Memories, emotion, and all the comes with it...including the memory of how you two died. Overwhelming, isn't it? Some people find it hard to accept, for good reason. What will you do? You can't just bring it up, they'll think you're crazy! Maybe you don't want to bring it up, as you refuse to believe it yourself. And even if you do believe it, that doesn't mean you have to embrace it. You're your own person, after all. You refuse to love someone merely because of who you were in the past.

Or maybe you can't help but let these feelings rise to the surface because they're too strong. No matter what, you can't repress it. In fact, the more you two meet and spend time together, the more you find yourself falling back into the old roles...and making the old mistakes. That isn't good, though; there's one more thing. One of you, when you first met, had a vision about how the two of you would die this time.

You can't let that happen. Not again.

Comment with your character and your preferences.
Feel free to do a modern AU of your character. Assumed CR and AUs are a must here.
Don't feel obligated to stick with first meetings. Play that the characters have known each other for a while, are trying to have a relationship while trying to be their own unique selves, not having a relationship because THE PAST DOESN'T DEFINE ME, or even trying to avoid death in an adventurous fashion!
Reply to others.

...I'll love you for a thousand more.

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((ooc: That works for me. There'd be a lot for them to work out since she'd be adapting to the world too.))

[Right? A new world, and Steve still alive, and all sorts of wtfuckery? And Steve is both happy Peggy is here and confused as well, because what does that mean now? They're both different people, but... But it's his Peggy.]

(Depending on when they defrost her, it could make things worse since Winter Soldier, neighbor crush, etc. And she's going to assume he's moved on and she's stuck in the future with Tony and Bruce staring at her and wanting to poke at her For Science!)

[Right? He was going to ask out Sharon, and then all that happened. Have you seen Ultron yet? You did, didn't you? Because I don't want to play that out in case someone reads it... spoilers, maybe just before ultron?]

(I've seen Ultron and it's really confused me over how serious they were during the war. I'm still trying to figure it out in relation to Agent Carter. I'm leaning towards, forget what Whedon did overall and Agent Carter is canon and they were seriously involved.)

(I'm okay with that. Shall I post a starter?)

((sure! :D ))

When Tony called him into the Stark Tower, all he would say was that they had to talk. Steve had been sure that Tony was going to complain that Steve didn't call any of the other Avengers when he'd been in trouble with Nat. As crazy as it would sound, Steve cared about them. He didn't want to endanger them. SHIELD was compromised. Hydra was coming after them. The last thing he wanted was HYDRA to comee after his friends too.

Surprisingly, that's not what Tony wanted. Hearing that Barnes was still alive made Tony feel remorse. Steve couldn't believe it when Stark told him that he'd been harboring a secret, one his father made him swear to never to reveal to anyone.

In fairness, Howard never mentioned what to do if Captain Capsicle came back from the dead.

Suddenly, they were surrounded by visual schematics while JARVIS read them to Steve. Medical documents. Classified blueprints. Things the like that Steve had never seen. He thought he'd been privy to everything that the army had declassified, and he had been. No, this was private Stark Industries record. Howard's records. It tugged at his heart just to hear it. And then, suddenly, a video popped up. It was short and to the point. Howard looked older, not like the Howard that Steve remembered. Dark circles under his eyes, frailer, he looked tired to Steve. The gist was clear.

"If you're watching this, I... I'm dead. Tony, no matter what, you have to protect Project Fondue. Never let it fall into the wrong hands. I... I thought... I promised her that I'd find him and I didn't. I never stopped looking, but... I failed him. And her." It was hard for Steve to keep himself in check. Howard had been talking about himself and Peggy. She was classified as dead, but that had been a cover up to hide the truth.

Peggy had been frozen.

"Cryogenic engineering. Howard was on the forefront of that technology. Neat stuff too. Bad father, but good scientist." Tony paused. "Steve... I..." He sighed. "I've told them to wake her up."

Edited 2015-05-03 21:15 (UTC)

When Howard had first proposed the project, she was certain that he had lost his mind. Cryogenics. It had sounded like something out of a science fiction novel, but slowly he had won her over to the idea. Although it hadn't just been promises of seeing Steve again that had swayed her. Yes, she missed him, had slowly started moving on with her life, but there was more to it than that.

Howard had been cagey, claiming that Steve would need someone to help keep him centered as he adapted to the years he'd spent in the ice, but Peggy knew there was more to it than that. He was becoming almost paranoid about SHIELD and she couldn't help picking up his unease. There needed to be someone other Steve to keep their great work going, someone who knew what SHIELD was meant to represent.

So she had agreed, not realizing that it would be decades before she was conscious again. After the initial shock, she demanded to be given access to the news, scouring ever source they gave her for some hint of Captain America. What she found was disheartening. She was supposed to be revived as soon as he'd been found, but it had been years.

Why?

The reasons she considered were far from comforting and she was refused any information regarding SHIELD after the battle in New York. So she did what she could to adapt, waiting for someone to contact her, trying to ignore the doubt that crept into her thoughts that maybe she had assumed wrong and Steve no longer needed someone from the past.

The minute Tony was done speaking, Steve lost it. He'd been through a lot of things with Tony, New York being one of the top ones, but this? The Avengers were supposed to be people that he trusted, that he could believe in and knew that they would have his back. This? This felt like a stab in the back, not a protection of it. "Tony, why! Why didn't you unfreeze her sooner?" His shoulders hunched and it was clear he was very, very angry. Something that not many ever want to see of Steve Rogers. He's good about keeping his temper, but when he loses it, it wasn't a good thing.

He listed to Tony, feeling numb to the situation. He didn't know how to feel, just the anger that was bubbling through him. He listened as Tony tried to explain about keeping Peggy safe. He listened as Tony told him that with SHIELD compromised, it was better to keep her on ice. Steve would have none of it. "That should have been her choice, Tony, not yours or mine to make! Where is she," he growled.

It wasn't long before Tony was being brought to Peggy. Oh, she was being kept very nicely. That was one thing that Tony was sure about. It was a beautiful skyrise apartment. One with security locks, digital windows so she had a nice view that was all computer generated, and no escape. For her safety, he had said. Just like Fury had done when Steve first woke up.

It made Steve sick.

They didn't tell Peggy that she had a visitor. Per Tony's instructions, Steve was to be led up to the apartment with no warning, in case she might be startled. Another thing Steve didn't agree with, but at least he was getting to finally see her. As he let himself inside, he made a show of gently knocking on the doorframe. "Peggy?" A shiver ran through him and he held his hands up, palms facing her. "I'm here to help. Peggy, it's me."

It didn't surprise her that they were keeping her under lock and key. There were certain procedures that she needed to go through, medical checks and orientations so that she understood the basics of the world around her but their attempts at keeping her secure were laughable.

If she wished, she could escape. Technology might abound but she had human caretakers who seemed to think she was frail and helpless. And Peggy knew the advantage of cultivating that image in case she did need to resort to breaking out of the apartment.

She was fussing around the apartment, bored and restless when she heard someone behind her. Not one of the agents that acted as her caretaker since they announced their presence well in advance. Automatically, she reached for one of the sleek statuettes that decorated the room, freezing when she heard a his voice.

Peggy knew he was alive. She'd seen the newscasts and read the articles online. Watched his heroics on websites over and over until the disbelief faded to something bearable.

Slowly, she uncurled her fingers from her improvised weapon, taking a steadying breath before turning. It still hurt. The shock of seeing him alive and safe catching painfully in her chest. For a moment, she struggled for something to say, then familiar words tumbled free. "You're late."

Slowly, Steve closed the door behind him and stepped inside. The corners of his lips turned up slightly as he crossed the room. His hands were steady, lifting them in front of him to show he was unarmed and not a threat. He wasn't some SHIELD agent here to see her, it was Steve. Her Steve, if he'd still have her.

"I... I'm sorry about that. You know those Stark's. They like to keep me late," he mumbled softly. It was clear in his eyes and his voice that he was a bit choked up. "Peggy, he didn't tell me. I just found out that you were alive. If... If I'd known sooner..."

His voice trailed off as he watched her for some kind of reaction. He wasn't some Captain America here to protect her. He knew more than anything that she could protect herself. He was just here to see Peggy, the girl who got away from him.

"Hope I can still get that dance?"

If Peggy hadn't had time to think about the situation, she may have blamed him for his tardiness. But she did understand some of what had happened. It probably wasn't Stark's fault - Tony not Howard. It wouldn't have surprised her if Howard had set up some precautions that even his son hadn't known of.

SHIELD had its own reasons to keep her locked up. Probably afraid she'd go mad and try to kill people. Or she'd try to make an escape the way Steve had.

Whatever the reason, Steve wasn't the one to blame. "I had a feeling they hadn't. If they had..." Pausing, she gave him a wry smile. No, she might not have needed help escaping but she knew that Steve would never leave her behind. Not because she wasn't capable but because he would never stand by when someone he cared about was in trouble. "I know there would have been a rescue attempt and these people who think of themselves as agents wouldn't know what hit them."

As she moved closer, she couldn't help staring, awed that he was alive and safe. There were so many things she could say, how lonely it had been without him, how she had missed him without that pain ever truly disappearing. Their date was easier to focus on since she wasn't quite certain she could say any of those things without giving in to tears. "I would be offended if you didn't want that dance."

Slowly, Steve moved closer, reaching out to gently take her hand in his. For the longest time, it felt like an eternity as he just stared at her. She was just as beautiful as he remembered her. The picture in his watch, the memory of her that he couldn't forget. It was as if time stood still for him. Lifting her hand to his lips, he brushed them over her knuckles, kissing them while still keeping eye contact with her.

"It's long. And... And complicated. Howard... He died. And Tony didn't know what to do. I was still in the ice at that point. Not knowing where I was, he didn't want to wake you. He wanted to keep you safe." As he spoke, he thought it over. He didn't really hate Tony. He never could. Still, she should have been woken up sooner. "When they found me, Tony didn't know what to do. And then... Then things happened."

He sighed, gazing down at their hands intertwined. "I was trying to adjust to this new era. Tony... He was trying to look for the right time, I know he was. He's a good man, he just doesn't always think right. SHIELD was compromised, Peggy, by Hydra. Bucky... He's still alive. There... There's so much I need to tell you."

Stepping forward, Steve let go of her hand and wrapped his arms around her for a hug. "I'll always want that dance," he murmured, clinging to her.

Her resolve not to cry wavered as he kissed her hand. It was a gesture she could easily imagine him doing if they had not been so caught up in their roles in the war and had allowed themselves to take certain risks. This was real and now it was possible that all the hints and hopes that had passed between them could be real.

"I've read a bit of it. They didn't allow me to see much but I could read between the lines and..." Peggy wasn't quite willing to admit that she had learned more about the technology around her until she knew that she would no longer be under survalence.

She had had enough time to think and consider the situation from different perspective. When she had agreed to the project, she had known the risks and that things might not go as predicted. Tony was a factor that they had never considered and she was sure that he had never expected to be responsible for her. "I don't blame Tony for any of this. He was put in a difficult situation that wasn't his making. And the two of you have been rather busy lately." That was accompanied by a hint of a smile.

"Perhaps he did think correctly. Better to wait to wake me up than if Hydra had gotten involved." Then what would have happened? Their feelings for each other had been documented well enough that she would have been an ideal hostage to use against Steve.

"Bucky..." Alive. And they had done nothing. They hadn't even known. "You know that if there had been even a hint of him surviving, I would have searched for him." Hopefully Steve didn't blame her or SHIELD for that mistake.

"We'll have to find a place. I've heard that all the best clubs are gone now." Sighing, she buried her face against his shoulder, still not quite believing he was real.

"Peggy..." Everything had seemed so complicated to Steve. Even though he knew it wasn't his fault, Bucky becoming the Winter Soldier was still a heavy guilt he carried on his shoulders. If somehow he'd rescued Bucky, if he'd gone back for him. Something could have been done. "I don't blame you, Peg. It wasn't you. It was Zola. Whatever they did to him before I rescued him. Something must have happened to make him able to survive the fall. Something... I don't know, maybe something like what Erskine did to me? He... It was bad, Peggy. They messed with his mind."

At least with Tony, in a small way, he felt like Tony was trying to carry on his father's work. Both Stark's wanted to try to use technology for the better, not the worse. It had taken Tony a little longer to get there, but he didn't make war machines anymore. "If anything would happen to you, Tony would never have forgiven himself. Howard recorded a message for him. He let me see it. Howard..." A heavy sigh escaped him. "He wanted Tony to protect you at any cost. He felt he let you down in never finding me."

Shaking his head, he pulled Peggy in close and vowed to never let go. His eyes closed and he breathed in a deep breath, as if he could smell a hint of the forties on her. Finally he was back with Peggy, something he never thought he would ever have a chance at. Peggy. His Peggy. His lips brushed lightly against her cheek as he clung to her, enjoying the embrace for every moment he could while he could. "We'll get our dance, Peggy. I promise."

It still haunted him, a life without war. It was a vision that he couldn't get out of his mind. He'd always been a soldier. Being simple Steve Rogers was something he never, ever thought he'd be able to have. Did he finally have his chance? "What do you say we get out of here, hmm?"

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I have died every day waiting for you.

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[hope this is okay?]

It is! A bit of a time skip so he can meet her

yay

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