Author's Note: Yes, it's another Agent Carter fic, and before I get into the fic I have two words to say:

SEASON TWO.

*fangirl squeal of epicness*


"I Know You're Still In There"

I saw you slip. I felt your fear, the cold rage, the faint hate you tried to hide.

And that's why you couldn't let him go, isn't it. Because he was the symbol of everything you ever wished with all your heart was true. He had everything that you wish was yours, he was everything you wished you could have been, the person you feel you would have been if someone had ever given you the chance, like someone did for him.

But it was all a lie, wasn't it. Because he made his own way, but wasn't too proud to let others help him.

You are different, you know. He thought you had it all—or maybe he knew you had it all, in worldly terms, but on another plane, you were lacking. You made your own way, too, and it was very different from his, and now you feel disappointed that you lack a hero's nature.

You can't let him go because in secret you measured yourself against him and found yourself wanting, and maybe, just maybe, you wish he was still around, to show you how to follow in his footsteps.

He may have been small when we first met, but as far as heart went—farther than anything else could ever go—he dwarfed us all.

He doomed us both, didn't he. He drew us out of our shells, rapped on the cocoons to whisper "I know you're still in there" with that voice that was too deep for his size. He gave you a dream for a larger world. He taught me faith.

You wished the future was him. I felt that he was my future.

He doomed us both, because while he showed you a vision for the future, he gave me hope.

And that was a terrible gift.

The good always die too young.

Those who try to be good have to live with the loss.