...Steve.

[ she might as well have said oh my darling considering all the tender force and caution lurking behind his name. her fingers grip the glass as she leans in, elbows on her knees, and looks him straight in his lively blue eyes. they're as familiar to her now as they ever were. peg could stare at them and equally see the scrawny kid, pre-serum, and all the altruistic ambition he had welling up inside of him. ]

If there's one thing I've come to realize with absolute certainty, [ she sighs, ] is that it does matter. Learning it here -- learning any of it here -- still affects us. Here. And even if we could remember...

[ her shoulders shrug. are these her words or are they rip's? there are days where she can't tell the difference. because her experiences and his dogged dedication to this line of thought have (in time) won her over. ]

I no longer believe time should work that way. If I did? I think I'd go mad thinking about all the things that need changing.

[ shield. hydra. the winter soldier. steve himself -- she watches him with a pang in her heart. ]