Author's Note: The title of this chapter is taken from the Mumford and Son's song Hopeless Wanderer.

Chapter Three: Learn to Love the Skies I Wander

His orders were changed before he had gotten too far from the covert, directing him from the building to the Helicarrier. Liberty assumed that someone had finally gotten enough sense to realize that he wouldn't just want to wait. According to the flight plans that he was relayed, the plane bringing in Steve's body would be touching down at the Helicarrier to refuel before being taken to the building. Liberty was to escort it into the city and then convene with Coulson about what they would do next.

The funeral was the obvious step, but it was a matter of planning the affair and then announcing it to the people. Steve would be buried with full military honors; Liberty would make sure of that. Steve had fought and died for the people of America, so he would get everything that he deserved.

Just the thought of a funeral made Liberty both slightly sick and slightly relieved. After all, it had been seventy years since he had lost Steve. It was good to know for sure what had happened to him and be able to finally relax. Now he wouldn't wake up every day hoping that Steve would turn up. It still hurt, knowing that Steve had died, but he had had seventy years to get over the loss. Maybe he had finally gotten to that place that Peggy had found, one where he had adapted to a world without Steve.

Liberty didn't even know how to break the news to Peggy; all he knew was that he wanted to be there when they did. They were the last vestiges of that world, so it was easier to take any news together.

He circled over the Helicarrier, catching sight of the plane that had been returning from the arctic. He hadn't asked if the expedition that had found Steve was funded by Stark Industries, it didn't matter at the moment. Liberty would thank Tony for his help later.

Liberty waited long enough for the landing area to clear before coming in. He braced himself on the deck, feeling the Helicarrier rock slightly with his added weight before resettling. He straightened up, noticing that none of the other dragons that were lounging among the planes would meet his eyes, probably scared of what he would do. There were dragons that reacted to losing their captains by going mad. Liberty snorted and walked back to the command tower. He would speak to Fury in the time it took to refuel the plane before acting as an escort.

He paused when he saw Coulson rushing over to him, already in harness. Liberty lowered his head, spreading his wings to act as a cover for Coulson. If they were under attack, then he would take as many people as he could and get out of there. Why someone would attack the Helicarrier at that moment was beyond Liberty. The body of Captain America couldn't mean that much. An attack was the only thing that would bring Coulson to this level of panic but it didn't explain why Clint and Natasha weren't with him. His crew tended to stay together, and he knew for a fact that both of them had some downtime after dealing with a Norse God and Tony.

Coulson didn't bother explaining it to him, just motioning to get up. Liberty frowned but raised his leg, allowing Coulson to get up onto his back. Coulson was shouting at him before he was even clipped in. "Get up!"

Without thinking, Liberty reacted to the order, turning and running down the deck of the Helicarrier instead of just leaping off. He spread his wings before he ran out of strip, gliding for a moment before flapping hard to get in the air. Only when he was circling above the Helicarrier did his shocked panic receded. In the absence of orders, he went into a holding pattern, turning his head to look at Coulson.

His first lieutenant didn't seem to be bothered by his confusion. Coulson was focused on shouting orders through their communications systems. "Liberty is up, take off. We'll follow close. Everything ready on your end?"

Liberty was surprised that he was included in the call; usually he wasn't just because there was little he could do to help the humans except for lift heavy things and act as a road block. Liberty had long since gotten over being offended over it. Now, he was just curious as to why he was suddenly pulled into this call and why their plans had been altered again.

"We have most of it set up. It should be ready to go by the time you two get here. Well, minus what to do once we're done."

"We'll work it out later. Our priority is the captain." Coulson turned, Liberty following his gaze as the jet roared through take off. Liberty climbed in altitude, watching as the jet passed by under his belly. He was shaken out of his observation as Coulson tapped his shoulder and pointed him in the same direction. Liberty turned, falling in behind the jet. "How is it?"

"We're trying to keep it as cool as possible but we're getting too close to the red area."

"It'll be fine. We're just a few minutes out." Liberty looked back at him, Coulson just motioning for Liberty to keep flying. "Try not to lose it."

"Right." Liberty turned his whole focus to keeping up with the jet.

It was one of the SHIELD vehicles, meaning that it could take off vertically if the pilot so desired, far beyond what most planes could do. Then again, it was Stark Tech, so it was no surprise. Still, Liberty had yet to meet a plane that could out fly a dragon once the dragon had put his mind to it.

Pulling up above the jet was no problem, Liberty glancing down to make sure he was in the proper position. While he was sure that no one would attack, he was acting as a buffer from dragon attacks from above. If this was a proper escort, there would be another dragon below the jet. He just had enough room to duck down in front of the jet if something went wrong. Liberty nodded to himself, keeping just enough speed to keep the jet under his belly.

The two of them flew into New York, Liberty seeing a few police dragons parting the traffic of the skies. Even with their help, Liberty still had to stretch out his neck and snap at a few dragons that were too slow to move out of the way or too curious for their own good. Thankfully, most of the dragons decided to hang back in their confusion. It was rare that a plane got a dragon escort, especially by a dragon as recognizable as him. Liberty was sure they would just assume that it was another SHIELD mission and keep silent.

He peeled away from the jet as it began to descend to the top of the building, Liberty circling down to the back where there was a ramp opening for him. From there he could slip into the basement of the building and then to the first three floors. It would be cramped past the first floor, but Liberty would squeeze himself into any space if they needed him to. He didn't intend on just giving up his guard over his captain's body.

Liberty slid into the basement without landing properly first, finally hitting the ground with an awkward hop step. As soon as his momentum was gone, he crouched down to allow Coulson off of his back.

Coulson gave him a pat on the shoulder before running for the doors, hand pressed to his ear piece. "Bring it down to the basement, room three and light it up. Liberty is down here. Proceed as planned. Agent Carter, I want you and your team in the basement for contingency plans."

Liberty stopped paying attention when Coulson disappeared through the doors even though he was still getting the full conversations through his own ear piece. For a moment, he was tempted to just take the device out, but then it would need to be put in by humans. Tony was still working on improvements, although he was happy that he could just hear his crew again over the wind and the guns. Liberty scratched at the scales just behind the device before settling. He was far too old to be worrying himself into exhaustion, but that didn't stop him from shifting his weight from side to side where he lay on the floor.

A burst of light from his left made him raise his head, Liberty hesitating before standing up and walking over to the bank of windows. When he turned his head to the side to look in, he just saw a plain medical lab. Liberty hissed and took a step back. He didn't want to see an autopsy, didn't want there to be an autopsy. It was just too much.

He grumbled to himself as he settled down, ready to interfere if he had to. Coulson would have his back as well. There was only so much they could put Steve through.

Liberty perked up as something was wheeled in, staring at the partially melted chunk of ice. He scooted closer, nearly pressing his eye against the glass. He could see bits of Steve through the ice, Liberty keening and scratching at the floor. He had thought that he would be alright in another room; after all it was only a body. But it had been so long since he had seen Steve that he couldn't just sit still and wait for them to melt the ice around his body. Liberty tucked his wings close to him, settling in for the wait.

He settled into a comfortable position, watching as the outer ice was carefully melted away, revealing glimpses of Steve. The first thing that was completely out was his shield, which was carefully placed to one side. The focus after that was getting Steve completely out of the ice, some people working on chiseling chunks away to help ease the process along.

It was well into the third hour of defrosting when the panic started.

Liberty pushed himself upright, watching as the members of the medical team rushed around. One person even rushed to the door to shout something outside before they went back to work. Liberty glanced around before giving into the urge to move. What he wanted to do was spread his wings, but the medical team might take that as a threat and try to get him to back off. He had been still for far too long anyway. He hissed, striding back and forth across the room a few times before daring to look back into the windows.

New equipment had been pushed in, Liberty unfamiliar with most of it as dragons almost never required any kind of monitor. The one he did recognize was the heart monitor, he had spent enough time peering into the agent break room to watch hospital dramas with Clint not to. The fact that they would need such equipment shocked him. It had been seventy years, Steve was dead. He whined, settling down again as he watched the team start to hook Steve to the equipment, a few members still working on defrosting.

Radio silence about the move continued, Liberty resorting to trying to read lips by the time Coulson rushed back into the room. Liberty just heard the doors opening, not bothering to look away from where Steve is. "What's going on?"

"Captain Rogers is alive."

Liberty watched as Steve slept, listening to the sound of construction on the other side of the room. He didn't look away from his captain as Coulson walked over, the agent holding onto a clipboard. Liberty waited out Coulson, hearing the tail end of a phone conversation before he felt Coulson clamber up onto his foreleg. "It's all settled and construction should be done by today."

"Good." Liberty looked away from Steve, glancing at the small room that was nearly done. There were a few white sheets that would be put on the ground once the room was done. Liberty had taken a peek inside before the roof was put on but had been disappointed by the plain walls. "What's the plan?"

"We'll transfer Steve into the room when it's done. It should look more like something from the forties than modern day, just to help ease him in. We'll have agents coming in to check on him and Steve will be able to wander where he will after the situation has been explained to him, which will happen when he's awake." Coulson paused, patting Liberty's leg. "You'll be here the entire time."

"Good." Liberty snorted. What he wanted to do was find the person who had suggested that they trick Steve into thinking that he was still in the forties and give them a piece of his mind. It was a stupid idea that would only backfire. Did they honestly think Steve was that stupid? Liberty resettled his wings, trying to keep his temper. It wasn't Coulson's fault that some SHIELD employees were idiots.

He turned his head as he saw someone walk in, Coulson deserting his place on Liberty's arm to greet the woman. "Agent Carter."

Liberty jumped at the name. He knew about Peggy's niece, he had flown with her a few times when she was a recruit. And he had promised Peggy that he would keep an eye on her, not that she needed it much. Sharon was just as much of a spitfire as her aunt, and just as hard to talk back from an idea. Liberty almost regretted her decision to serve off dragons, but he accepted the fact that she didn't want to get by on what her aunt had done. That didn't stop her from coming by the covert every once and a while to give him a treat and talk to him about what Peggy was doing. The last he had heard from her, Peggy was attempting to knit just because she had always heard it was fun. They had spent an hour laughing as Sharon had explained Peggy's latest attempts.

He nodded at Sharon as she came up to him, eagerly taking the hamburger she offered him as a treat. Liberty licked his lips, poking his muzzle into her side. "Hello Sharon."

"Hello. It's good to be working with you again."

Liberty looked over at Coulson, the agent already lost in his notes. He glanced up at the silence between the two of them, clearing his throat. "Sharon will be running the operation. Director Fury needs me back at the Helicarrier too often to be in charge of looking this over. We'll be back though, when he wakes up."

Liberty nodded, Sharon taking her leave of the two of them to go and look over the room. Liberty turned his head to look back at Steve, settling back into a comfortable position. He was aware that Coulson was still standing by him. Liberty supposed that there were many things that they had to talk about, like what would happen after all of this. With Steve back Liberty was torn. He enjoyed the work that he did for SHIELD, enjoyed being his own captain and the crew that he had. He was sure that Steve wouldn't make him give that up, but what he wanted to do is fly with Steve again.

It was perfectly understandable if Steve didn't want to go back into the service again and just live out his life. But there was a part of Liberty that wanted to refuse to fly if Steve wasn't with him.

He stared down at his talons, looking them over as a distraction. It was definitely a discussion that Liberty would have to have with Steve when he woke up.

Coulson gave him a final pat before moving off to finish overseeing the project and briefing Sharon. Liberty let him go without any fuss, curling up on himself. When he was sure that he would be out of the way of the construction team and anyone else who would come into the basement, Liberty turned his full attention back to Steve.

The first thing he noticed when he woke up was the soft music playing in the background. The song wasn't completely familiar, but Steve had long since lost track of the popular songs when he had gone over to Europe. Stopping Hydra had seemed more important. He frowned, slowly sitting up as he took in the room.

It was small and undecorated. The only pieces of furniture in the room were the bed, the nightstand and the dresser, where the radio sat. To his eyes, he was just in a private room like the ones that he might find in New York, maybe a hospital for wounded soldiers.

The problem was the last thing that he remembered was crashing the plane.

Steve grabbed a fistful of the sheet, reminding himself to relax a moment later. It was completely possible that Howard had found him and that they had hauled him back to America to rest up. It was also equally possible that he had been captured by Hydra, although why Hydra would put him up in such a nice place after he had killed their leader was beyond him. It was far easier to just come up with no conclusion, which was just as worrying. Without a real picture of what was going on Steve felt on edge.

He was about to get up and walk out the door when there was a knock. Steve stared at the door for a moment before remembering himself. "Come in."

A pretty brunette walked into the room, Steve momentarily distracted by the folder of papers she held. Did they expect him to be ready for debriefing right after he had woken up, after he had crashed? The brunette smiled at him, shifting the folder so it was tucked under her arm. "Good morning, Captain Rogers." She paused to look at her watch, quickly correcting herself. "Or should I say afternoon."

"Where am I?"

"In a recovery room in New York."

Steve looked around, not sure if he could trust her. To his eyes, nothing looked out of place, which was just making him more nervous. He swallowed and stood up, a bit disappointed that the woman hadn't left the door open. He could have peeked out into the hall if that was the case. "What happened?"

"You were recovered from the Arctic Circle a few days ago. It was a Stark Expedition that found you and SHIELD dug you out."

"SHIELD?"

"It'll all be part of your debriefing, Captain Rogers."

"Oh." It looked like he would be rushed off to a debriefing. Maybe he could convince whoever was in charge to hold off just long enough for him to call Peggy. She had probably taken care of Liberty while he was out and he wanted to touch base with both of them before he was lost in a chain of meetings. After SHIELD or whoever was in charge of him now was finished, he wanted to get back out into the world, get back to Peggy and apologize for missing their date. Maybe they could schedule another one, depending on the status of the war.

His eyes widened as he realized that he hadn't asked about the war. Steve swallowed, meeting the woman's gaze. "How long was I out? And how's the war going?"

He didn't miss the way the woman looked away, refusing to meet his gaze for a moment. Nor did he miss the way that she latched onto the last question he had asked. "The Allies won. Germany, the Axis Powers, Japan, they've all surrendered. It was…it was quite an accomplishment."

She bit her lip, glancing toward the door. It was almost enough to make Steve want to push past her and go see for himself. If she was that uncomfortable just answering a question about the war, then there was a chance that she was hiding something. He would be able to handle the news that the war was still going on. It just meant that taking out Hydra had not been enough and the Howling Commandos would be needed on the battlefield again. Steve didn't relish the change, not when he had gotten used to a small team of men and not when it was too much like how Liberty had lost his first captain but, whatever needed to be done for the cause, he was willing to do.

"I'd like proof of that ma'am."

"Of course. Someone is on that right now." She stepped out of his way, giving him a direct line to the door. Steve watched her carefully as she set the folder down on the dresser, remaining facing away from him. "But you should know, it's been a while."

"You said that it's been a few days."

"Since you were found." Her voice wavered over the word. She finally turned back to face him, face completely blank. "It's been seventy years since you went down."

Steve stared at her, waiting for her to admit that it was just a joke. It was a bad joke, but a joke nonetheless. People couldn't survive being frozen in ice for that long; it was something straight out of science fiction. And, if it was a lie, then he was more than likely in the hands of Hydra, and they were trying to keep him out of commission as long as they could.

He glanced at the door before deciding to take the chance. She had left an escape route open, so he would take it. If they wanted to keep him so badly, they would have to catch him.

He bolted for the door, throwing it open with a bit more force than necessary, only to be confronted by a larger concrete room instead of the hall he had been expected. Steve turned in place, frowning when he saw that the room he had been in was just a small box. He didn't know what part of the plan it served, but he would have none of it. He stumbled a few more steps away before turning around to run for the door out of this place. What he would do once he was free was still in the planning stages, but Steve knew that he would go for a map the first chance he got.

Steve didn't get far across the room, coming to a stop as he noticed the dragon curled up near one of the sides of the room. It only took him a few seconds to recognize the coloration of the dragon before he was sprinting towards it. He didn't have a harness, but he trusted Liberty to keep him alive as they made their escape.

What Hydra was doing with Liberty was beyond him since he had told the dragon to stay behind. But maybe the attack on the last base hadn't worked, maybe Hydra had fought back and won once he and the Red Skull had gotten away. If that was the case then the rest of his team and Peggy would be stuck somewhere in this building. Instead of just getting himself out, he had a full scale rescue operation to run. That would be difficult enough, especially since he didn't know how everyone else was.

"Liberty!" The dragon started to his feet at the sound of his name, Steve smiling as he ran over.

As expected, Liberty gathered him close, nudging Steve close into his chest before lying down again. Steve allowed the moment of closeness, pressing himself against the dragon as he took deep breaths. It had been days since they had seen each other and Steve didn't know what they had done to Liberty in the time between. He could allow himself this moment.

He pushed Liberty away when he had given enough time to their reunion, climbing onto Liberty's foreleg. "You'll have to fly carefully, I don't have my harness with me. Do you know where the others are?"

"We're leaving?"

"We're escaping." Steve didn't expect Liberty to balk, the dragon looking nervously at the doors. He reached out to touch the side of Liberty's muzzle. "Whatever they said they would do to me or the others doesn't matter now. We can get them out and back to our lines without any trouble. We'll just have to be careful."

"We can't just leave. Didn't Sharon explain things to you?"

The way that Liberty was familiar enough with the woman from the room made him pause, Steve taking a step back. "She gave me some story about being frozen for fifty years."

"Seventy. It was seventy." Steve paused at the way that Liberty spoke and the way that the numbers matched. Liberty slumped, his wings unfolding so the edges just touched the floor. The dragon turned his head, making sure he was on eye level with Steve. "It's not the same world out there, Steve. I know you might not believe Sharon, but believe me. You were gone for a long time."

Steve shook his head. Hydra could have convinced Liberty to say that, but he wasn't sure that they would go that far. It was far easier to threaten the life of a captain to get the dragon to comply, and Steve was safe now that he was with Liberty. None of the Hydra agents, if there were any, had tried to come after him either.

He dropped his hand from Liberty's head, turning to climb up onto the dragon. Steve paused at the silver bars that were on the harness strap that went across Liberty's shoulder. He reached up to touch them, turning to look at Liberty only to see that the dragon had his head cocked to the right, like he was listening intently to something.

Steve hauled himself up onto Liberty's back, slipping his arm between the harness and scales to hold himself in. He patted Liberty as a signal he was ready to go, not sure that the dragon would actually respond. Steve just wanted to get out of this building and out into the open. He wanted to see where he was instead of just hearing it from everyone around him, to know that it wasn't an elaborate trick.

Liberty turned his head to look at Steve. "Director Fury will meet us on the roof. He says that he'll try to explain everything there."

Steve just nodded, relieved when Liberty stood up and walked towards the back of the room. The wall was already opening itself up; Steve getting a glimpse of daylight at the end. He swallowed and tightened his hold on the harness, feeling Liberty speed up as the dragon took two bounding strides before taking off. He pressed himself against Liberty, not wanting to knock his head on the concrete as the dragon slipped through the exit and out into the open sky.

The first thing he registered was the sheer noise around him, Steve opening one eye and staring down at the streets of New York. There was a moment of disorientation at something that was so familiar and yet so different, Steve blinking quickly to try and get it to go away. It was far too strange, and the flight to the top of the building that they had been in was far too short for him to properly get his bearings.

Liberty set down carefully, crouching so Steve could slide off. He remained hovering close by as Steve walked to the edge, staring down at the people and dragons rushing below before raising his eyes to look at the city itself. After a moment of staring, it was too much to take in, Steve stumbling backwards against Liberty's leg. He heard Liberty growl, his view blocked a moment later as Liberty curled his tail around them. Steve muttered his thanks and pressed his face against Liberty's scales, taking deep breaths.

"Captain?" He turned, watching as an African-America man in a black trenchcoat approached them. By the way that Liberty didn't react too much, it was clear that they knew each other. The man even reached out to pet Liberty as he walked by. "It's a bit much isn't it? I'm sorry to say that it doesn't get much better."

Steve pushed away from Liberty's leg, ignoring the dragon's attempts to push him back. "So it's really been…"

"Seventy years. And, thanks to you, it got like this. Well, at least the good parts. The world owes you their thanks, Captain Rogers." The man paused, looking out over the city before abruptly turning to focus on him. "You going to be okay?"

"Yeah." Steve took a deep breath, daring to look over Liberty's tail again. On the second glance, it didn't look so daunting. He swallowed and nodded, stepping closer to the man. "It's just that…I had a date."

He hadn't meant to say that. Steve shook his head, clearing his throat as he attempted to speak again. "Permission to fly, sir. Everyone tells me it's been seventy years and, I want to see what I've missed."

"We'll get you a harness." The man turned to leave, pausing before he walked through the doors into the building. "Liberty is still your dragon; he refused to fly with any other captain. So we had to make him one ourselves."

The man rolled his eyes before disappearing into the building, Steve's attention already back on the changed New York. He hauled himself up onto Liberty's tail, intending to adjust to what was here until the harness came up for him.

"Captain Rogers." He managed not to jump this time. The new communicators were a wonder, the clarity making the person sound like they were right behind him. It had taken him a call or two to stop looking over his shoulder. He could even talk to Liberty now when the dragon was going at full speed without worrying that he was gong to ruin his voice. Steve hadn't been surprised to hear that the communicators were Stark Tech, he wouldn't have thought any different.

He reached up to resettle the ear piece. "Go ahead."

"You have a visitor waiting for you when you get back. I'll have them waiting for the two of you."

By the tilt of Liberty's head, Steve assumed that his dragon had gotten the message. Steve sighed and motioned for the dragon to go on, not surprised when Liberty eagerly turned for their temporary home.

He was sure that Liberty was happy at any change in his schedule of walking around New York or flying above it. From what Steve could gather from his superiors at SHIELD, they were just glad that he was interacting with the rest of the world and making an effort to catch up on all that he had missed. Liberty was the only one that looked less than happy with the way that Steve was dealing with the change, but Liberty was the only one that went with him to visit the graves of the Howling Commandos and Howard Stark. Steve assumed that Liberty would have preferred it if he had broken down in some way, because that would have been able to handle.

Steve was still waiting for that point, because he just felt like he was absorbing things without really having a reaction. The only time he had felt like he was really alive was when he had visited the graves of his team. Not even flying could get that reaction. Distantly, Steve was worried about what that meant about him, but it was hard to feel anything really while he was walking around in a daze nearly all the time.

There was a jolt as Liberty landed, the dragon easily sliding down the ramp and into the basement that both of them were using at their quarters for the moment. Liberty had a corner where there were a few old gymnastic mats to cushion the concrete and Steve's cot was right beside him. The recovery room had been taken away early on much to Steve's relief. He was sure that SHIELD would have preferred if he had moved into an apartment or to the covert, but it was just so much easier to remain in the building while they were still running tests on him. As soon as he got the green light, he was going to move into the covert, because he wasn't leaving Liberty alone. The dragon had been without him for too long, and Steve desperately needed Liberty around as a reminder that he wasn't going crazy. It was just so good to realize that he wasn't alone.

Liberty's skidded along the concrete as he came to an abrupt stop, Steve leaning over the dragon's shoulder to stare at the elderly lady that was seated in the chair by their corner of the room. Steve was at a loss as to who she was, just staring at her until Liberty started forward with a quiet. "Peggy."

The woman stood up at the sound of Liberty's voice, her face lighting up in a smile. Steve could easily see Peggy in the smile and the way she held herself. Even in her old age, Peggy stood at something close to attention and still carried herself with the same grace. And, in her smile, there was the same spunk that he had fallen in love with seventy years ago.

He fumbled for his carabineers, unclipping from Liberty's back and sliding down the dragon's leg before Liberty could crouch down. His motion drew her attention to him, Peggy giving him a small wave before beginning to hobble forward.

Liberty moved before he did, offering her a talon to lean on. Steve walked forward, carefully taking her hand in his own when Peggy came close to him. He pulled her close, holding her steady as Liberty moved away. Steve didn't pay much attention to his dragon; too busy staring at the woman in his arms. After seventy years, Peggy was still Peggy, which was the thing that he had been afraid of. He had been afraid that she would have changed too completely and then he would have been completely alone save for Liberty. The dragon was great, but he wasn't like a person.

He was thrown completely when Peggy slapped his arm. "You're late."

Steve stared at her, unable to keep the smile from his face as he watched her struggle to remain completely serious. He squeezed her arm gently, chuckling. "I couldn't call my ride. The radio was completely broken."

"You keep on saying that. I think you're avoiding me."

"Never."

Peggy huffed, patting his hand. "I bet you say that to all the pretty girls."

"No. I'm holdin' the prettiest girl in all of New York."

That got Peggy to laugh, the laugh he remembered from his time with her in the war. "You're about forty years too late for that, Captain. But thank you anyway."

Steve didn't know how to respond to that. Peggy would always be beautiful to him, no matter how old she was. Even with that, she had aged gracefully, with wrinkles around her eyes and mouth from smiling and laughing. Just that alone was enough to make him sigh with relief, because it meant that Peggy had been happy.

He picked her up to sit on Liberty's foreleg, listening to her yelp and then laugh. Peggy pushed his hands away as soon as she was secure, straightening out her skirt. "Steve, stop it. I can handle myself. If I could handle Liberty, then I can take care of myself at ninety."

Steve paused, glancing up at his dragon before hauling himself up onto Liberty's foreleg. He cleared his throat, ignoring the amused look on Liberty's face. "You…you were Liberty's captain?"

"Oh no. He wouldn't take any other."

"I wouldn't have minded."

"Well, it's not like it was all about you." Peggy patted his arm to soften her words before gesturing up at Liberty. "He absolutely refused and I agreed. I was his first lieutenant until…I can't remember, but it was in the fifties. We had a lot of good times together. We showed the world what we could do."

"I bet you did. How many officers did you scandalize?"

"So many, Steve. I could tell you volumes. You're up to date?" Steve gave a hesitant nod. He had read the basic accounts of what had happened while he was under the ice, but that didn't guarantee his full understanding of events. It didn't seem to matter to Peggy, because she just continued on. "In Korea I was stopped at least once a day and told that I should return home to my husband. No one would believe that I had a dragon unless he was there to back me up."

"Did you have to punch anyone?"

"Steve Rogers, I was a mature woman at that point, not a high strung young lady." She winked at him before leaning against his arm. "Besides, it was more fun to watch them run after Liberty told them off."

Steve smiled down at her. "And after that?"

"Well, I became the director of SHIELD. Of course, it was the SSR at the time. And it was a handful back then. I could only imagine it now. I do not envy Nick his job, although it was fun for a while. Retirement was fun too. I finally got the time to go visit my family, both here and in England." Peggy turned to look up at him. "You've already met my niece, Sharon. I tried to talk her into joining the dragon side of SHIELD but she prefers to keep her feet planted firmly on the ground."

"You're still very much present." Liberty broke into the conversation, lowering his head to rest on top of his foot. "Fury swears up and down you were the only intelligent person in SHIELD and Sharon shares your adventures in knitting."

Steve meant to glare at Liberty for making up stories, only to see Peggy blushing. He glanced between the two of them. "You learned to knit."

"Everyone swore it was fun." Peggy sighed and stared at her hands. "I figured that, after flying a dragon and leading a growing organization, it couldn't be that hard. And it was worse. I don't know how these ladies can do it. I think it's all a secret organization and Fury agrees with me."

The three of them laughed over that, Steve almost able to believe that he was back in England on leave after a mission. The Commandos would be at their favorite tavern while Steve spent some time with Peggy. The two of them might end up with the other Commandos, where Peggy was just as much a part of the team, or just walking somewhere in London if the Germans weren't bombing.

It was the feeling that he was finally back home that made him blurt out, "I never learned to dance."

Peggy gave him a put upon sigh, looking wistful as she spoke. "I would teach you, but these old knees just aren't what they used to be."

Steve's attention was drawn to her hands as she patted her knees, especially her left hand. There was no ring on her finger or a tan from where it once had sat. It wasn't a definite indicator of anything; Peggy just might have gotten into the habit of not wearing rings from flying on dragons and had worn her wedding ring on a chain. But it was something that he had to ask, because it had been seventy years. Peggy had been a young woman when he had left, and a beautiful one at that. There was no reason that she shouldn't have moved on.

He wiped his hands on his pants, trying his best not to look nervous even though he was sure that he was failing. "Was there ever anyone else?"

"The SSR took up most of my time, not that I minded. I like keeping busy. But," Peggy bit her lip before letting out a sad little chuckle. Steve was surprised when she slipped her hand into his, looking up into his eyes. "There was this…wonderful man from Brooklyn. He was a tough act to follow."

"Peggy, no."

"Don't you dare, Steve." There was a surprising amount of strength in her grip as she squeezed his hand. "Don't you dare blame yourself or think for one second that I did not live my life to the fullest. I enjoyed every moment and I was never lonely. I had the Commandos, Liberty, my family and everyone at SHIELD. I was happy, Steve. Of course I missed you. I missed you every day that you were gone, but I didn't let that stop me from anything. I couldn't have done that and you wouldn't have let me. So I lived, Steve and it was wonderful."

"I…I'm glad."

"It would have been better with you, but you were busy." The joke fell flat, Peggy staring at where their hands were joined. Carefully, Steve gave her a squeeze back, listening as Peggy took a deep breath.

He looked up as he felt her touch his chin, tilting his head up so they could look each other in the eye. "You have to listen to me Steve, I know it's hard. I know it's hard to be in a world that's so changed. I might not understand it fully and I might have gone the easy way and eased into it, but I know what it feels like to wake up one morning and realize that someone important to you is gone. And it's because you didn't get that easy way in that I worry. So just do me one favor Steve."

"What?"

"Try not to get lost in all of that."

His first impulse to refuse, because that would mean coming to terms with the fact that Peggy wouldn't be there with him. Because it wasn't fair that he would only get a few years with her and then have to let her go with no preparation after she had already gotten over him being dead. It wasn't fair that he had missed out on all of those years with his friends and Liberty, missed out on what seemed like the most important part of his life. And he so wanted to tell her no, because there was a chance that it would make her stay.

But that was wrong, because Peggy was strong and always went for what she wanted. She would know what he was getting at and not allow him to wallow in self pity for too long. And she was asking for a promise, one that she knew that he would try his utmost to keep. Steve would just have to settle for knowing that Peggy had lived a wonderful life, which was the only thing he had wanted for her when he had been crashing the plane. She had kept her half of their unspoken promise, so it was only fair that he do this for her.

Steve nodded, finally speaking when he felt her increase her pressure on his chin. "Yes."

"Good." She smiled at him before reaching up to straighten out the collar of his shirt where it had gotten messy from flying. Peggy gently smoothed down the front corners of the collar before taking her hands away. "Now, I think I have one flight left in me and I know a restaurant that I know you would like. You're late and there'll be no dancing, but I guess that it'll work."

"I'll get you a harness." Steve slipped off of Liberty's foreleg, walking halfway to the door before turning to look at the two of them.

Seeing Peggy speaking with Liberty with one of her hands absently stroking the dragon's leg made it easy to imagine all of their years together without him. Steve swallowed around the lump in his throat, not quite sure if it was jealousy or just regret for being asleep for all of that time. It was far easier to ignore it and just walk out the doors to get the harness.

It was one thing to promise to move on for Peggy's sake and another thing altogether to implement it himself. He had tried his best, but it was difficult. Steve was still was still waking up in a sweat because of the nightmares, either from the war or because he thought that he had slept through another seventy years. And, as much as he appreciated that Liberty was always there for him when he woke up, the dragon's presence wasn't as much of a help as he thought it would be. Liberty would easily outlive him, even with his years in the ice. At ninety-eight, Liberty had barely lived his full lifespan. Out of everything, Liberty would be the one thing that would remain the same if Steve fell asleep again.

At least they had moved back to the covert, so Liberty was comfortable and they could easily be alone if Steve wanted to be. There were no more SHIELD agents rushing in to check up on him and to see if he was coping with the modern world. Personally, Steve thought that he was coping just about as well as could be expected, even more so since he hadn't completely broken down yet. He had come close once, when he had taken Peggy back to her house after their date and she had said goodbye, because it had meant that he probably would never see her again.

Moving to the covert also had another perk, the gym that was there for the captains and crews of the dragons. Since most of the SHIELD dragons were on missions, the covert was almost completely deserted, which meant that he could have the gym to himself whenever he needed it. As far as Steve knew, there was nothing that helped him more that taking out his anger at the hand he had been dealt on a punching bag. It was also the one thing that was guaranteed to keep the nightmares at bay for the rest of the night. The only side effect was that Liberty was obviously worried about him.

Even that made Steve feel guilty. He had read over the list of people that had served as Liberty's crew over the years, all of them good men and women from what he could see from their records. Liberty might not have had a large crew at the moment, only three people, but he still had one and Steve was keeping him away from them. Steve had thought that, after seventy years, Liberty would be settled into his role of being a captain himself. Instead, Liberty was still hanging around Steve when the dragon could have been doing what he enjoyed. Steve was sure that only an idiot would clear him for duty with his list of post-war issues that just looked like alphabet soup to him.

He gave the punching back another hard punch, watching as it went flying across the room to hit the floor, sand leaking out of the break in the side. Steve sighed, stretching out his back before walking back to where a line of punching bags waited for him.

Steve had just started to hook the bag into place when he heard voices, one of them clearly Liberty's. He turned to face the door just as Nick Fury walked into the building. The director took in the busted punching back with a single raised eyebrow. "Couldn't sleep?"

"I got seventy years of sleep. I figure that's enough." Fury just laughed, coming to stand beside Steve. Steve gave him a sideways glance, reaching out to steady the swinging punching bag. "You here to get me out into the world?"

"I'm here to get you to save it." That got Steve's attention. He stepped away from the bag, beginning to take the tape from his hands. Fury pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over to him when Steve had finished. "This is the Tesseract, you might recognize it. Howard Stark pulled it from the ocean while he was looking for you."

"He should have left it there." Steve made a conscious effort not to tear the paper in his hands. He had already lost everything to the Tesseract once; it was infuriating to realize that someone had unearthed it again. And, if Fury wanted him to save the world, someone was going to use it in the same way that the Red Skull had.

"What he should have done with it is a moot point now, Captain. The point is that we need it back." Fury took a step back. "I need you to lead a response team; people specialized for a job like this. You don't have to agree now. I left an information packet with Liberty. Look through it and give me your answer. It'll be a hell of a lot more productive than destroying punching bags."

Fury turned and left, Steve hearing him exchange a goodbye with Liberty. He only got a moment to look back down at the paper with the Tesseract on it before Liberty was looking in through the door of the gym.

"We're going after it. It's our problem."

Steve wanted to argue, but it had never really occurred to him not to go after the Tesseract. They were the one with the most experience with it. Liberty was right, it was their problem.

Steve sighed and dropped the tape into his bag, walking out of the gym. "Where's that packet?"

"Here." Liberty gestured with his muzzle, Steve reaching up to pick it off of Liberty's leg.

He turned to lean back against the dragon, waiting for Liberty to get into position while he wrestled the cover off of the touch screen. When Liberty was settled, he turned the device on, flicking through the early reports on the Tesseract. He would read through those later to refresh his memory. At the moment he wanted to see the team he would be leading first.

Steve went through the dossiers of each member, reading them out loud so Liberty could follow along. To his surprise, Liberty knew of two of the members on the team, Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark. The others they both were at a loss, although Liberty seemed as confused as he was that there was one claiming to be a Norse god. Even not knowing everyone on the team himself, he could see that it might work out. There was enough of a range of skills that Steve would be confident in taking anything on with this team. Of course, it could all fall apart within a moment.

He sighed and tilted his head back to look at Liberty. "What do you think?"

"We go."

"No argument there. But I meant about the team."

Liberty moved his muzzle closer, his breath fogging up the touch screen for a moment. "I haven't seen Tony fight, but that suit is his technology, so it should be good. The others, I'm more than willing to watch, although Banner makes me nervous. How much does the Hulk weigh again?" Liberty scooted closer so he could read the weight for himself, snorting. "I might be able to carry that, we'll just see. But I can vouch for Natasha." He paused again, frowning at the screen. "Although why they don't have Clint here is strange. He's part of my crew and usually works with-"

Liberty touched a portion of the screen with his muzzle, jerking his head back when another file opened. Steve got a brief glimpse of footage of a man shooting arrows before the word 'Compromised' flashed across the screen in red.

Steve turned to look at Liberty, watching the dragon take in what was on the screen. Then, Liberty jerked away, Steve stumbling to keep his balance as the leg he had been leaning on was suddenly taken away. Steve carefully set down the touch screen, expecting to have to coax Liberty back from taking off now and going after the person who had compromised Clint himself. Instead, Liberty just looked over his shoulder, snarling. "We're going."

Steve wasn't sure if it was good that he felt a thrill at that. It was so much like the war, the rush of adrenalin before and during a mission. It was the only thing so far that had really made him feel alive. Maybe that was a bad thing, but Steve didn't want to look too far into it. What mattered was that they had to find the Tesseract and Clint and bring them back safely. It was a mission, something clear, defined and oh so welcome after Steve had been drifting for weeks with nothing to do. A mission took up all of his concentration, which meant less was focused on his dreams and exactly what he had missed.

He motioned for Liberty to go ahead, ducking back into the gym to collect his bag. Despite Liberty's haste, they wouldn't be heading to SHIELD's main base for a while. They had to pack their own gear and then radio ahead, although Steve was willing to bet that Liberty was talking to Coulson now. Steve paused to cup his hands around his mouth, shouting ahead to Liberty. "Tell Coulson to assemble the team!"

Liberty gave Steve a curt nod in return, his head cocked to the side as he listened to whatever Coulson said. Steve hoisted his bag over his shoulder, jogging after Liberty. Maybe there was a point to staying busy, in doing what Peggy had done by immersing herself in something that she enjoyed. It wouldn't take everything away, but Steve was willing to try anything just to dull the edges. Besides, he had been considering joining SHIELD once they had given him the green light mostly for Liberty's sake but also to simply keep himself from going insane.

He entered Liberty's clearing in time to see the dragon stepping into his harness, looking expectantly at Steve. He dropped his back and accepted the leg up from Liberty, attaching the harness straps as Liberty lifted up the pieces. It was hard work for one person, especially since Liberty was wiggling a bit, but it was work that Steve was used to. Steve slid off the dragon long enough to pack the rest of his spare belonging into a bag, ignoring the way that Liberty was nearly bouncing in place behind him. Liberty had been trained to wait longer than this.

Apparently Steve had misjudged his dragon's patience. As soon as he had finished buckling himself into his personal harness, Liberty grabbed him by the back of the shirt, depositing Steve onto his back. Before Steve could scold Liberty, his bag was thrown up as well. The expectant look that Liberty gave him said it all, that it was far better to clip in and secure his bag than argue.

Liberty was walking out of the clearing before Steve was even clipped in. Steve had just enough time to double check his carabineers before Liberty launched himself into the air. He scrambled for a hold on the harness, startled into laughter. Steve rode out the initial bumpiness as Liberty gained height, only bothering to sit up when Liberty had leveled out.

Steve reached out to pat Liberty's neck. "A little warning next time."

He just got a snort in return, although he felt Liberty relax under him. Steve shook his head and kept his hand resting on Liberty's neck.

As long as he didn't look down, Steve could imagine that he was back home. The tangle of dragons above New York was familiar enough and, from the air, he could hear the bustle of the city as well. He could just close his eyes and imagine that he was back in 1942, with nothing to worry about but the next bonds show.

Steve smiled to himself and looked down.

New York didn't look too bad from the air.

END