AN: Dedicated to @SuperAvengAbles for the awesome comments and votes. :)

April 13th. We were only a week away from the destruction of Chicago. A week away from the loss of hundreds of lives. A week away from going down in a blaze of glory. We warned the government and they placed an evacuation day for the 19th. It gave enough time to the people to pack and get stuff ready, but mostly put them into a panic. I rethought about killing Loki. Peter was right. If anyone were to do it, it would have to be Thor. There was no other way around it. I sighed in frustration. So much pressure was on our shoulders. If we failed, we wouldn't have just failed ourselves. We failed to save the entire world.

Someone knocked on my door.

"Come in." I pushed my black framed glasses up my nose and kept my eyes focused on my laptop screen. I tried to bypass the security firewalls of Hydra's computer systems, but it wouldn't work. I needed more powerful software and techniques to get through. Maybe Natasha can hack it. She can go through any system in under a minute.

"Hey," Steve greeted me and peeked through the door. He leaned against the frame and nervously added, "Tony and I are going to visit Peggy. Do you want to join?"

My head snapped up at her name. I don't think any other team member had visited her before, except for Tony. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. I turned my laptop off and quickly responded, "Yeah. I would love to." I rushed to put some shoes on and walked down to the garage, where both men were waiting.

"So, you decided to tag along?" After I nodded, Tony smiled. His black sunglasses covered his dark, whiskey shaded eyes. "Good. Steve and I were running out of conversations to have on the car drive there." He put his hand on one side of his mouth so Steve wouldn't be able to read his lips and whispered, "The old man usually falls asleep."

I giggled as Steve rolled his eyes. "I can hear you, you know."

"Oh, I didn't know your hearing was that good, especially at your age," Tony joked and got into his convertible.

I hopped into the back, which was by far uncomfortable. It was cramped, but I didn't see a reason to complain. I was getting to see Peggy. That was incentive enough to keep my mouth shut. Steve sat in the passenger seat and listened to the car roar to life. He didn't seem bothered by the jokes anymore and sometimes even laughed at them. He was too easy to pick on, but he always found a way to get us back. The amount of burns that guy has put out into the world almost amounted up to Natasha's. It was all fun and games until somebody went a little too far.

We were quiet for most of the drive. Steve peered out the window and watched the objects go by. Tony remained focused on the road and blasted music through the speakers. I twiddled my thumbs out of impatience. I was meeting the woman who meant everything to Steve.

Only come to find out that she meant everything to Tony at one point.

Tony turned down the music and looked back at me through the rear view mirror. "Steve's told you a bit about Peggy. I don't remember much about her. I don't really remember a lot of my past, but Jarvis told me things throughout the years to remind me. He said I thought the world of her. My father was always working. When my mother needed help, Peggy would come down in her free time to assist her. She tells the best stories about her past. I just wish..." he paused and cleared his throat. "She doesn't remember a lot sometimes. Whenever she sees me, she calls me Howard. The biggest smile rises on her face and she says she missed me. I never have the heart to tell her I'm his son. She just forgets when she goes into a coughing fit anyway."

He glanced down at the time and back at the road. Tony's voice almost cracked, but he kept it at bay. "My father died in a car accident with my mother a long time ago. Jarvis told me Peggy almost went into hysteria when that happened. She was so torn. She lost both Steve and my father. Peggy would come over to my house and play with me when I was growing up. Apparently, I called her Aunt Peggy. Then one day, she stopped coming. Never did know what happened." He shrugged slightly, trying to brush off the emotions. Peggy and his butler Jarvis must have been the closest thing he had to family after his parents passed. "After I found out she founded S.H.I.E.L.D., I put two and two together. She probably buried herself in her work and raised her kids on the side. Didn't have enough time for me, I guess. Not like anyone really did..."

Steve put his attention on Tony. Only so few people knew that about Tony's life, and telling me must have been a big thing for him. I didn't know what to say. Sorry wasn't enough and not saying anything at all was worse. "Tony, I...I'm so sorry."

He waved it off with a movement of his hand. He slowed down as he came up to a driveway and parked the car. "It's uh...it's fine. Not like it matters anymore anyway. It's in the past." We all got out and walked to the door. Steve got out his key to the house and hesitated.

The door was ajar.

He pushed the door open and rushed inside. "Peggy?" Steve called out.

Stark and I glanced at each other nervously before he shoved passed me into the house. Steve sprinted through the house and checked every room. He didn't find anything. Nothing was touched. Nothing was out of place. The last place he checked was her bedroom.

Steve screamed, "Peggy!"

Tony stood in the doorway, shocked at the sight. His mouth hung open until he noticed, and shut it. He didn't take off his sunglasses, probably to mask the pain shown in his eyes. He backed up into the kitchen and took out his phone. He called several people to inform them of the situation. I walked into the room.

God, I wish I hadn't.

Blood covered the walls. Photo frames that once hung on the walls were on the floor, the glass broken in each one. Her bed sheets were a tangled mess on the floor. She must have rushed to get out of bed when she noticed who her attacker was. Steve held Peggy in his arms. Her frail body looked like a ragdoll compared to his. The wrinkles on her face made her expression unreadable. Her eyes and mouth were shut and her gray, curly hair was a mess. Three stab wounds punctured her chest and blood stained her white night gown. A gun laid on the floor, unused after I checked it. The bullets were all accounted for. The attacker must have hit it out of her hands before she could shoot.

Steve was yelling to the high heavens and cursed. My stomach did back flips as I listened to him. His heart was broken.

My eyes fell on a white card on the dresser. A bloody knife pinned it down into the wood to hold it in place. The Hydra symbol covered the front of the card. I took the knife out and turned the card over to see if anything was on the back.

Captain America, I see why you admired her so much. She was a fighter until the end. If it makes you feel any better, her last words were 'Goodbye, my darlings' as she looked at the photos on her side table. See you soon. -JS

"Steve..." I whispered and handed him the card. He needed to see it.

He read the card out loud and turned to the side table. A picture of Peggy and her children sat there next to a picture of Steve before he was turned into a super soldier. He crumpled the card up and dropped it. His ocean blue eyes held a fire inside of them and anger coursed through his body. Steve stormed out of the room. "We need to find Johann Schmidt and now!" He barked at us.

I followed him and put my arm on his to stop him. "Steve, breathe!"

"We need to..."

I cut him off, "We don't need to do anything. You need to take in what just happened. You can't go to war with a clouded mind. That can get you killed."

Steve cried out in pain, "He killed Peggy! He killed her! My best girl..." He trailed off and looked at his hands. Her blood covered them and he cringed. "I understand that you care about me, but this needs to happen. Now. They're the ones who shot first. This war needs to end."

My heart hurt for him. He loved Peggy. I understood what he was going through. "Steve...don't you get it? The war will never be over. There will always be bad guys trying to ruin the planet. There will always be someone threatening your family. There will always be casualties, whether we like it or not. Please just..." I paused. He glanced back up at me. His eyes were red and swelling with more tears. This time, they were tears of anger. "Please don't be so angry that you get yourself killed. You're not invincible. I...I need you, Steve. The group needs you. We need you." I hugged him tightly.

He did that for me when he found out I couldn't have children of my own. It was time to be there for him. He was taken aback for a minute, but slowly melted into the hug. His tears dripped down his face and into my shirt. He wanted to collapse onto the floor, but I held him up. I ran one hand through his short blonde hair and rubbed his back with the other. I let him cry into my shoulder.

Tony stepped into the living room where we were at. He stopped when he saw Steve and his broken state. He mouthed to me, "Is he crying?" I put my thumb up, indicating he was. Tony appeared torn. He took his sunglasses off and his hard eyes looked around. His lips fell to a frown and twitched for a second. Tony nodded and walked back into the kitchen to give us a moment.

"She gave me hope," Steve whimpered. His voice was almost inaudible against my clothing. He raised his head and set his chin on my shoulder. "And now, she's gone."

"That hope should live on. Peggy would want that. She led a great life, Steve. Her legacy is out there. She will always be with you," I replied softly.

His arms wrapped tighter around my waist. He sniffled, "I'm sorry for crying. I've only cried two other times in my life...When I got beat up in an alley, and when I lost Bucky. I guess this is another terrible moment to add to that list."

I backed away a bit and looked into his eyes. Tears stopped falling from them and now his face was red. "Don't be sorry." I put one hand on his cheek gently. "Let it out. If you let it out now, it won't be as bad on the battlefield. We need you out there focused on the end goal."

"Thank you," he whispered. His eyes looked into mine deeply. Steve kissed my cheek before backing away. Soft and meaningful, just another step forward in our relationship.

Tony strolled into the room and hugged Steve. "I'm sorry about your loss," he began to console him. He took the next few minutes expressing his sorrows and Steve's in return.

They both lost someone today. Someone great. Someone they truly admired and looked up to. Now, she's gone.

Forever.

And nothing can change that. That's what made me feel terrible. I couldn't change it. I couldn't go into the past and fix everything. I'd do anything to undo the incident and put an end to Red Skull with my bare hands. I just wished I could fix things. I wished...

We arrived back at the tower in utter silence. Steve had to break the news to everyone, even if they hadn't even met Peggy. A piece of his past was now missing and his heart ached.

After condolences passed around, Bruce burst into the room. "Guys, there are some crazy readings coming from downtown Chicago right now." He held up a tablet and let Tony take it away.

Tony's fingers pecked at the screen and knit his eyebrows together in confusion. "You can't be serious."

"What?" The rest of us inquired, confused and intrigued.

"That damn son of a bitch started the party early. And guess who wasn't invited?" He handed the device back to Banner angrily. He stomped out of the room and headed to the elevator.

Peter investigated the finding and put his hands on his head. He tugged at his hair and panicked, "Loki opened the portal. He's started the fight early and is letting the Asgardian soldiers through."

"They haven't evacuated the people yet," Steve uttered and dragged his hand down his mouth. He had already gone through enough today, and to add this onto it? Smart move, but yet an extremely dumb one. We'd all be following a call to action and avenging a loved one simultaneously. Someone who brought us all together by co-creating S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place. Someone who saw potential in Steve and helped make him who he is today. Our motivation is her.

Natasha told Clint to fire up the quinjet and looked around at us. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go save Chicago."

"Yes ma'am," all of us chorused and went to work in getting ready. This was only the beginning.