Diana watched the horizon. She could feel the island in her bones. It still talked to her, in the way it had as she had been growing up; almost a relief after the constant feeling of loss she'd had since Steve had died. It was calling to her now, to go to the fight and it sensed the presence of the intruders. It was asking her to fight, to save it. Her bones were tingling. 

The light in the distance began to glow and hum. Diana jumped over Daniel as it blasted through the sky in a blinding heatwave. 

"Are you alright?" she asked the agent. He looked stunned, but he nodded. She looked him in the eyes. "I'm getting you out of here. Right now." He nodded again, looking around. "Agent Carter will be fine," she assured him. She did not tell him how. She did not tell him that she felt the Agent join the ranks of the Amazons and given a second life. Dianna had not told him a lie, but she had allowed him to believe one. Humans always believed that something good would happen, that things, no matter how bleak, would work out their way. It rarely did. They just forgot about those times and focused on when it did, convinced they had luck on their side. 

"We are going to go now," she decided, hauling him up. 

"Where?" he asked.

"The beach," she muttered. "We will figure it out afterwards." Diana was suddenly annoyed. She did not like being stuck here while her sisters were fighting, possibly dying so far away. Perhaps it was the air, so fresh and as sharp as her blade, that was bringing everything back. The feeling of swinging the sword through the air and the sudden jolt as it collided with something, the days spent training until she felt like they could barely breathe and going to bed with her muscles aching so much they'd keep her awake. And then she could go longer, faster, further before getting tired. She would go to bed later and later with less pain and wake up ion the morning with no energy. Her mother had decided that if Diana was going to insist on being trained, Diana would be trained harder than any warrior. And she was here. She had run away. 

She could do it again. And keep her promise to the agent. But she wanted to fight. She wanted it in her bones.

Diana was pretty sure Daniel could feel it too as they dragged themselves to the beach. Diana left him in the shade while she went to the boathouse. She picked out a sturdy boat that could easily be used by a child. She wasn't entirely sure how he would fare once he made it past the barrier, but she knew that there would be ships out there and someone would save him. 

Diana hauled one out of the house and dragged it across the beach. "Get in," she said, offering him a hand up. 

He shook his head.

"Look, just get in, I'll go after Margaret after, okay?"

He looked unsure. "I shouldn't leave her here," he protested.

"She doesn't need your help," Diana said, "not while you are in this state. I promised I would keep you safe. There are enough supplies for over a week and you can get someplace safe." She did not add and then Peggy will find you, because she knew it would not happen now.  She wanted him gone before he realized. 

The island rumbled again, throwing her off balance against the boat. She lammed into it with enough force to leave a bruise she knew would not go away anytime soon. 

"What was that?" Daniel asked from his crouched position.

"I have no clue," Diana said. "But something is happening."

"Oh Peg..." he muttered, shaking his head. Diana felt sorry for him.

There was another earthquake and then a terrible noise. Diana and Daniel ducked, using the boat for protection as one of the mountains in the distance exploded, rocked shooting through the air like missiles in all directions. She threw Daniel and covered him with her body as the sky pelted her with fist-sized rocks. She raised her hand over her head, trying no to cry out as the sharp jagged edges struck her. 

It was over in a few second but it felt like hours. A cry rose in the distance, at first intractable, but soon becoming clear voice, calling out to run. Male voices. It was a stampede as the island seemed to shift, bringing them closer to the shore. Diana and Daniel felt over to some rocks and watched as they ran to the boats.

Cries of "Let's get out of here!" "What are we doing here?" and "Retreat!" filling the air. 

"It's over," she whispered to Daniel. They were pressed together in a small nook in the cliff, hidden behind some fallen rocks. She could feel him breathing and was pretty sure he could feel her accelerated breath. They leaned against each other, watching as people ran, swam, and panicked. 

A light began to glow in the distance that seemed to lead them over the sea and away from Themiscyra. When they were all gone it began to manifest into the form of a woman with a familiar face.

"Peggy?" A groggy Daniel said as the forme came closer, the edges getting less fuzzy.

Peggy, in a stainless white dress, reached out a hand to his face and crouched down to be at their level. She was wearing armour underneath the dress and had a sword strapped to her hip.

"I remember all of it," Peggy said quietly.

Diana felt her heart dropped. She knew what was coming next.

"We had a wonderful life together," the agent continued.

 Daniel kissed her. Diana looked away, pinned between them and the rock as she was. Peggy kissed him back, pulling him closer for what she knew would be the last time. When they broke apart, she rested her head against his, not fighting the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

"You got lost," she continued, "on that mission I asked you not to go on," the agent chocked, "and I went after you. But I found out something I never should have." She looked deep into his eyes. "I just should have stayed home, Daniel, I'm so sorry."

She pulled away closing her eyes and letting out a small sob. Daniel pulled her close again and started whispering to her. "It's okay," he told her, "we'll leave the island and we'll forget all this."

"No, Daniel," Peggy said, shaking her head. "I can't. I can't leave. That was the price, the price for saving you. I can't leave here." 

"What?" Daniel asked.

"The gods wanted you because you discovered them and I asked them not to take you. I asked them to take me instead. And they sent me here." She was trembling against him. "They took my memory as a kindness, but then I brought all this," she motioned to the battleground around them, "with me. I'm so sorry Daniel."

"That can't be right, there has to be a way."

"No, there isn't. We could have left back there on the boat, they hadn't claimed me properly yet. Now they have." Her hands flew to his cheeks in a sudden desperation. "You can go though. You can still leave."

He took her hands in his and placed them next to his heart. "I will not leave you here."

"You have to," Peggy argued. "You cannot stay here. No one will allow it. You can go back, live a happy life. Have everything you wanted, everything I couldn- would not want to give you. I will be happy here. I have been. We've come to the crossroads and neither of us can follow the other."

"I know we weren't perfect Peg, but we can still fix it."

She shook her head. "Not now. I cannot leave the island no matter what I want. I'm tied to it now." She willed him to understand. She did not want to say it. I'm gone. I've died, I was careless. I'm immortal. I'm a warrior. I will always be a warrior. I will never be your wife.

She kissed him again. "You can still have an amazing life. One with everything you've ever wanted."

"All I want is you."

"That's not true." It can't be true. "Daniel, do this for me, please. I want to know you will live your life."

"What about you?"

"I will be happy here, Daniel." She did not have to fake the smile. "I will miss you, and you I. That is inevitable, but I can be happy here. I just need to know that you will be okay." Please tell me you will be okay, please.

"I don't know how. Not without you"

She shook her head. "promise me you will find a way." 

He kissed her hands and stared into her brown eyes. "I- I promise you Peg, but you must promise me: if there's a way, any way ever, will you come for me? Even if I'm old?"

The woman who was an Agent no more nodded. "I will."

They smiled at each other. Peggy's hand went to his face as she called upon the island to heal him, make him steady for the way home. His cuts healed over, his bruises faded. She helped him to his feet and with Diana's help walked him to a boat. 

"This will take you home, Daniel." She placed something cold in his hand. He opened it. It was her engagement ring. "I want you to keep it," she said, "because you will find someone else. I once thought it would never happen when I lost Steve, but then I found you."

He smiled at her with a sad, forlorn look. He took out something from his trousers. It was a photograph of the two of them. "I want you to remember us forever."

"I will," Peggy said. They stared at each other, silently wishing all the things they ever wanted to say could be expressed in a few looks. The boat began to float away from the island. Diana walked up to Peggy and took her hand.

"We are sister now," the Princess said, "I will look after you." 

Another hand clasped onto Peggy's free hand and she looked around to see Aliena, her youthful face staring up at her. She was covered in cuts that were almost healed. Peggy took a deep breath and squeezed both their hands and Daniel rowed his boat passed the border and out of sight.

~~~~~

~70 years later~

Daniel could feel himself slipping away. He was surrounded by his grandchildren, holding his great-great-granddaughter who was sleeping quietly. His great-grandson had called her Peggy after his mother. It was now a Sousa family name. 

He felt his eyelids closing and someone called out for him. "Dad?" but he was gone.

A familiar figure was waiting for him. She had her brown hair in a 50s bob and wore a scandalous armour-dress he had only ever seen once before. For the first time since he'd been injured in the war, he ran. He ran towards the figure and embraced her, lifting her into the air. 

"Peggy," he breathed quietly.

She squeezed him with her tanned warrior arms, breathing him in. "I do have to go back, and deliver you to Hades sometime," she said at last, "but until then, we have, well, some form of forever." She kissed his cheek.

"I'll take it." He said into her hair.

"I want you to tell me everything. Were you happy?"

He looked her in the eyes. "Yes," he replied. "I thought I never would be, but you were right."

She smiled. "Me too. I killed a hydra. I've always wanted to kill a dragon. A hydra was better."

He snorted. It was such a Peggy thing to say. There was so much to talk about. And they had some form of forever until he had to go.

THE END