Together

Fighting Johann Schmidt was harder than it seemed.

Upon looking at him, one may think he was a small threat, but Steve knew better. He knew what the serum did to him.

Still, the American soldier continued to fight, proving himself a worthy opponent with each attack.

After a while, he realized that to defeat the man, he couldn't use his new muscles. He had to outsmart him. Steve stepped back and fell onto the device that held the tesseract, making the little blue cube come out of the machinery. "

What have you done?" Schmidt yelled, walking over to it and grabbing it in his hands. The next thing Steve knew, that little cube that was seemingly harmless was practically tearing the man apart, and then it seemed to open some sort of portal, taking the man with it. It then burned through the floor of the plane, dropping out into the ocean soon after.

That just left the bombs to take care of.

Steve ran to the cockpit where he looked over each nozzle and switch, but it was all foreign to him. He was a soldier, not a pilot. He moved his attention to the radio, where he fixed it so he could contact the base. "This is Captain Rogers, can anyone read me?" He said, then waited patiently for a response.

"Captain Rog- Steve, is that you?" He heard her voice through the radio, and even in this situation, his heart sped up just a little bit.

"Peggy! It's me," he answered, still trying to figure out a way out of this mess.

"Where are you? Is everything alright?" Her voice was clouded by static, but he listened closely anyways.

"I'm in the middle of nowhere right now, and I think Schmidt's dead," he said, still not making sense of what exactly happened with the tesseract.

"Give me your coordinates, I'll find you a safe landing spot," she seemed to tell across the radio, and though it sounded like an order, he decided not to listen.

"I don't think there will be a safe landing spot. If this thing reaches the mainland, a lot of people are going to die," he explained, but she was not taking the hint.

"I'll get Howard on the line, he'll know what to do," she continued, and he could hear the sound of a chair moving.

"There's not enough time," he started. "I gotta put her in the water."

It was silent for a few moments, but it was filled soon after. "Steve Rogers, don't you dare do this to me," she responded, and from her tone, he could tell she was upset.

"There's nothing I can do, Peggy," he tried to explain, but she was not having any of it.

"There has to be a way. There is always a way," she continued, and he could hear commotion throughout the room she was in.

"There isn't. It's okay. The world will be fine without Steve Rogers in it," he chuckled sadly, trying to make it easier.

"Perhaps the world will be fine, but I won't." He couldn't think of anything to say in response. "Give me your coordinates," she demanded, breaking the silence.

"Peggy-"

"Give. Me. Your. Coordinates." She ordered, and after a few moments, he complied. Still, there was no stopping the plane that was now nosediving into the water below.

"Peggy, listen-"

"No, you listen. You cannot die on me now, do you understand?"

Silence.

"I do not know what I would do if you were to die."

He smiled.

"I love you, too."

Silence.

"Aren't you going to say it back? It could be the last thing I hear," he smiled, though he focused on the approaching waters.

"Get back here and I'll tell you."

He smirked, then moved away from the seat. "You got it."

As he struggled to climb his way to the back of the plane as it crashed, he kept his thoughts focused on her. When he jumped from the back of the plane to the ice below, her voice kept telling him to press on. When the ice underneath him cracked and he fell into the frigid water, it was her words telling him to keep moving. She was telling him to live.

Still, when the water made it impossible for him to move, he knew he was going to die there, without hearing her tell him how she felt.

He would have died there, too, if it weren't for the boat that fished him out.

In a few short hours, he was back by the mountains, thick blankets wrapped around his shoulders. He could hear the sound of boots hitting the metal floor, and he knew what to expect. "Colonel, I'd like to personally-," he stopped as he turned around, his gaze meeting that of Peggy's. "Peggy."

She didn't smile, or even seem happy to see him. Instead, she looked at him as if he had hurt her. "Don't you ever do that to me again," she said, her voice sounding more hoarse than before. He nodded, letting the blankets fall off of him as he walked towards her, and soon, her arms were wrapped around his neck, and he held her tightly.

"I'm sorry, Pegs," he whispered, kissing the top of her head.

"Just don't do it again," she said in response, holding him just a bit tighter. After a bit, she moved away, looking him over. He had a few small cuts and bruises, but it was his temperature that scared her. "You're as cold as ice," she observed aloud, slipping away to grab the blankets and drape them back over his shoulders. He slipped his hands in hers, smiling down at her. If she'd ask, he'd blame it on the cold. She didn't seem to mind.

"You never said it," he said after some time, still looking down at he with a smile.

"Said what?" She asked, looking up at him with a curious expression.

He didn't answer, just simply stared at her, raising an eyebrow after a while.

"Oh," she looked to the left, a faint blush rushing to her cheeks.

"Oh?" He repeated, though his smile didn't fade for a second.

She rolled her eyes, then moved his still cold hands around her waist, moving closer to him so the blanket wrapped around the both of them. "I love you too, you crazy soldier," she finally said, looking up at him with a smile. They stood like that for a few moments before she spoke up.

"You can kiss me now, if you'd like."

He seemed to like that just fine.

A/N: Hello, and welcome to the story!

First of all, I do not own these characters or the events surrounding them, the only thing I own is the writing itself and the plot. The rest of the credit goes to Marvel, and the brilliant writers that brought these characters to life.

For many, this is not your first time reading, and you may have noticed the changes in the writing. This has been updated since it's original posting, which was only a five chapter story, but obviously, it isn't that anymore. The plot has not been changed, but things have been tweaked to fit the plot I have running now.

I've always wondered what it would be like if Steve never went down with the Valkyrie, and what would happen. Would Steve and Peggy stay a couple? Would Steve still work for the SSR, or more accurately, SHIELD? How would it affect the outcome of the world if Steve never made it to the future? How would that change the events that we know are set in stone, like.. the Winter Soldier, perhaps?

This story is basically the answer to those questions, among many other ones. This is what I believe would happen if Steve were to survive the crash, and live his life in his own time.

This is rated T for many reasons, including violence, and other things that I won't spoil! However, it's very mild, and I will put a warning before every T-rated part. Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

-June (your author) x