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breakinglight11Forever Captain:
“Boulder in the Stream”
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
Summary: “It’s been seven years since Steve Rogers retired to the midcentury after returning the Infinity Stones. By 1954, he’s built a contented new life as Grant Carter, Peggy’s husband and stay-at-home dad to two great kids. But he’s never been able to shake his fears of what his presence here will do to change the progress of the timeline. Or— perhaps worse —that he has no power to affect the course of events at all.
A direct continuation of “His Part to Play.” A more plot-focused adventure story.”
“Boulder in the Stream”
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
Summary: “It’s been seven years since Steve Rogers retired to the midcentury after returning the Infinity Stones. By 1954, he’s built a contented new life as Grant Carter, Peggy’s husband and stay-at-home dad to two great kids. But he’s never been able to shake his fears of what his presence here will do to change the progress of the timeline. Or— perhaps worse —that he has no power to affect the course of events at all.
A direct continuation of “His Part to Play.” A more plot-focused adventure story.”
~~~
1. Glimmer
SHIELD was coming. He'd known it was coming, of course; in a way he'd been bracing for it since his arrival. But the thought of it cast a shadow over the proceeding of Steve's contented new life. By the time of their son Jamie's birth in 1953, it had been six years since he'd returned to his original time in the wake of returning the Infinity Stones. It was becoming clear by that point that Peggy's ambition to found her own agency was becoming a reality, and from there the path was set.
He was slightly ashamed to anticipate it with so much dread. SHIELD was Peggy's life's work, and the means by which she had done enormous good for the world. She had increasingly chafed under the limitations of her SSI work, and her skills were being wasted with so little command or responsibility. But with the role it had played in his life, it was hard for him to see it any other way. He'd not only worked for SHIELD for a number of years, he lived more or less in their custody in that time. Adrift and at a loss in the Twenty-First Century, it had meant some things at least were simple as he struggled to make sense of his new circumstances. He didn't need to learn how to use a computer and a credit card and near a century's worth of history all at once, if he permitted them to take care of certain things for him. But it remained a dark time in his memory, this sequestered, almost institutional life. Before he'd made the friendships that would be the one saving grace of his time there, there had been nothing else for him but the work.
And the fact remained that SHIELD would eventually be infiltrated by HYDRA, consumed from the inside to the point where they would become one and the same. Despite Steve's fear of revealing too much of what he knew about the future, this was something he felt he had to tell Peggy. He knew it weighed heavily on her; it had been enough to give her pause in even proceeding with the whole operation. But they'd discussed it, she'd turned it over in her own mind and conscience, and she concluded she had to keep pushing ahead as best she could.
"I can't just… stop out of fear," she decided. "It would feel tantamount to stop trying— to fix things, to make the world better."
"I know what you mean," he answered. "I just wish I knew how it all happens. Where it goes wrong. Then maybe there'd be some way to change things."
"Well, I don't believe in fate. And I don't believe in giving up. We may not know what lies ahead, but things are already different now— you're here, after all. I know firsthand what a difference that makes."
He pulled her in close, pressing his brow to hers. "And this time, whatever happens, we'll both be here to meet it. We always did make a pretty good team."
He smiled, but he could see the concern creep over her face. "Are you sure? I don't want to pull you back in when there's a risk of HYDRA finding you."
"Peggy," he said, brushing his thumb over the plane of her cheek. "Wherever you need me, I will be there. Come hell or HYDRA."
She couldn't help but laugh at his clumsy attempt at a pun— so he pushed it even farther. "Or even that little redhead's pushy mother at the park."
"Her!" Peggy rolled her eyes extravagantly. "I wouldn't wish her on anybody."
He grinned. "With our luck, the girl will become Beth's best friend and then we'll have to deal with her all the time. HYDRA will be nothing compared to play dates."
"When you put it like that," she muttered. "I'd rather take on the Nazis."
"Make you a deal," Steve said. "You'll back me up in the park, and I'll face renegade Nazis with you."
Smiling at last, Peggy leaned in and they sealed their promise with a kiss. And so they were resolved— whatever lay ahead, at home or in the greater world, it would be the two of them facing it together.
Even without the looming infiltration threat, Steve knew Peggy was going to need his support in the days to come. Just because she'd received government authorization to head her own organization didn't mean they offered much in the way of support; when it came to building up infrastructure and personnel, she and Howard were more or less on their own.
"And no offense intended to Howard," she confided to Steve. "I couldn't do this without him. But when it comes to day to day practicalities… he's not exactly a details man." It was up to her to see that he had direction and focus— and even two such remarkable individuals as they could not bulwark the world alone. They would have to find the right people and recruit them to the cause, the extraordinary operators, specialists, and experts needed for their equally extraordinary mission.
Experts such as Dr. Casimir Doryczek, a Polish physicist who'd been a prisoner of the Axis until the end of the war. Like Abraham Erskine, he'd been sought out by the Reich for his expertise and refused, but unlike Erskine had not managed to make contact with Allied aid who could help him escape. Instead he'd spent near a decade in prison in his native Poland, until the grip of Nazi occupation could be broken. Peggy's search for talent had turned up his name, and now her current project was to bring him into the stable.
It took months of work on Peggy's part, petitioning both the Polish government and the American in turn, to arrange safe asylum for him in the United States. But she was committed to doing whatever it took to recruit him; she had done her research carefully, and he was integral to what she had planned for SHIELD going forward.
"I mean to stomp HYDRA out from the roots," she declared. "And that means I need to outsmart them at every turn. Dr. Doryczek knows things about HYDRA technology that even Howard doesn't. But more than that, he's a decent man— he gave up everything to defy the Reich. So I'd like to help him now if I can." It meant a few more long days and occasional late nights, but between the two of them, the children got to sit down to family dinner and the Polish physicist got a visa to work for the interests of Peggy's new agency.
Peggy told him about it breathlessly over a sandwich one day, when they'd met for a quick lunch after he'd made a trip into the city to drop off some proofs. "We had a mountain of paperwork to work through," she said around mouthfuls of roast beef. "But he's finally cleared to enter the country. I’ll be fetching him within the week."
"Congratulations, hon," Steve said, smiling at how she reached over to snatch French fries off his plate. "You know, you could order your own— with how hard you've worked, I think you earned them."
"I only want a few," she said primly, before popping them into her mouth. "I imagine it will be an adjustment for him— his English isn't perfect, and I think American living will something of a shock. But we're helping him make arrangements." She smiled as she reached for another French fry. "I've put Lottie Salazar on the job."
"Then he's in good hands." Lottie had been an office assistant at the SSR, and Steve had been impressed with her since she'd navigated him to a hospital in Washington, DC and sat up with him all night as Peggy gave birth to Elizabeth. When Peggy had left to set up her own shop, she'd brought Lottie along on Steve's recommendation. Once timid in an office full of men who discounted her, he was glad to hear that working with a woman in charge was really bringing her into her own.
Steve grinned, and nudged his plate closer to Peggy. "You sure you don't want me to put in another order?"
"I told you, I only wanted a few!" Daintily she wiped the salt from her hands with a paper napkin. "Besides, I haven't the time— I've got to be getting back to the office. Walk me to my door?"
"I took the lady out, I'm going to walk her home." He pulled out his wallet and stood to head to the register— but not before offering her the last fry, like a gentleman.
The offices were unassuming, since they were still a small operation, and for security reasons it was best if their headquarters were not ostentatious. Very few people even in the government knew that they were there. They paused at the from entrance, Steve holding onto her hand. "Would it be unprofessional to give the director a kiss at the door of her office?"
"I'm still on this side of the threshold. The director can kiss as she damn well pleases." And she tipped up her head and he tipped his down, so they could make the most of the moment before she had to take the weight of the world back onto her shoulders.
Steve watched her disappear into the building, then turned back to face the street. He lifted his head, intending to scan the vicinity for a cab back to the train station. But that's when it caught his eye— a gleam of light, reflected not from the buildings on the opposite side of the street but up on a skyscraper behind it, sharp as if someone had turned a lens into a beam of sunlight.
For a moment it nearly blinded him, but even at forty-seven years old, Steve's vision was better than most. Squinting through the glare, he peered at the building until he spotted the source— the quick-moving man-shaped figure near the top floor of the skyscraper, disappearing back inside nearly as soon as he'd caught sight of it. Still, it was just enough for him to note it stood not on a rooftop or a balcony but out on a ledge, and that its mode of reentry was an open window.
It had been seven years since Steve's retirement from life as a soldier and an operative. He'd long since traded in his shield and sidearm for colored pencils and baby clothes. But even that time had not managed to dull the instincts he'd honed. And standing outside his wife's covert office overlooked by a shadowy figure from a high and lonely vantage point sent all the old alarm bells ringing.
After a moment Steve decided. The kids were at the neighbors'; he was not expected home for a few hours yet. He would have to investigate.
~~~
Next chapter: 2. Siege
1. Glimmer
SHIELD was coming. He'd known it was coming, of course; in a way he'd been bracing for it since his arrival. But the thought of it cast a shadow over the proceeding of Steve's contented new life. By the time of their son Jamie's birth in 1953, it had been six years since he'd returned to his original time in the wake of returning the Infinity Stones. It was becoming clear by that point that Peggy's ambition to found her own agency was becoming a reality, and from there the path was set.
He was slightly ashamed to anticipate it with so much dread. SHIELD was Peggy's life's work, and the means by which she had done enormous good for the world. She had increasingly chafed under the limitations of her SSI work, and her skills were being wasted with so little command or responsibility. But with the role it had played in his life, it was hard for him to see it any other way. He'd not only worked for SHIELD for a number of years, he lived more or less in their custody in that time. Adrift and at a loss in the Twenty-First Century, it had meant some things at least were simple as he struggled to make sense of his new circumstances. He didn't need to learn how to use a computer and a credit card and near a century's worth of history all at once, if he permitted them to take care of certain things for him. But it remained a dark time in his memory, this sequestered, almost institutional life. Before he'd made the friendships that would be the one saving grace of his time there, there had been nothing else for him but the work.
And the fact remained that SHIELD would eventually be infiltrated by HYDRA, consumed from the inside to the point where they would become one and the same. Despite Steve's fear of revealing too much of what he knew about the future, this was something he felt he had to tell Peggy. He knew it weighed heavily on her; it had been enough to give her pause in even proceeding with the whole operation. But they'd discussed it, she'd turned it over in her own mind and conscience, and she concluded she had to keep pushing ahead as best she could.
"I can't just… stop out of fear," she decided. "It would feel tantamount to stop trying— to fix things, to make the world better."
"I know what you mean," he answered. "I just wish I knew how it all happens. Where it goes wrong. Then maybe there'd be some way to change things."
"Well, I don't believe in fate. And I don't believe in giving up. We may not know what lies ahead, but things are already different now— you're here, after all. I know firsthand what a difference that makes."
He pulled her in close, pressing his brow to hers. "And this time, whatever happens, we'll both be here to meet it. We always did make a pretty good team."
He smiled, but he could see the concern creep over her face. "Are you sure? I don't want to pull you back in when there's a risk of HYDRA finding you."
"Peggy," he said, brushing his thumb over the plane of her cheek. "Wherever you need me, I will be there. Come hell or HYDRA."
She couldn't help but laugh at his clumsy attempt at a pun— so he pushed it even farther. "Or even that little redhead's pushy mother at the park."
"Her!" Peggy rolled her eyes extravagantly. "I wouldn't wish her on anybody."
He grinned. "With our luck, the girl will become Beth's best friend and then we'll have to deal with her all the time. HYDRA will be nothing compared to play dates."
"When you put it like that," she muttered. "I'd rather take on the Nazis."
"Make you a deal," Steve said. "You'll back me up in the park, and I'll face renegade Nazis with you."
Smiling at last, Peggy leaned in and they sealed their promise with a kiss. And so they were resolved— whatever lay ahead, at home or in the greater world, it would be the two of them facing it together.
Even without the looming infiltration threat, Steve knew Peggy was going to need his support in the days to come. Just because she'd received government authorization to head her own organization didn't mean they offered much in the way of support; when it came to building up infrastructure and personnel, she and Howard were more or less on their own.
"And no offense intended to Howard," she confided to Steve. "I couldn't do this without him. But when it comes to day to day practicalities… he's not exactly a details man." It was up to her to see that he had direction and focus— and even two such remarkable individuals as they could not bulwark the world alone. They would have to find the right people and recruit them to the cause, the extraordinary operators, specialists, and experts needed for their equally extraordinary mission.
Experts such as Dr. Casimir Doryczek, a Polish physicist who'd been a prisoner of the Axis until the end of the war. Like Abraham Erskine, he'd been sought out by the Reich for his expertise and refused, but unlike Erskine had not managed to make contact with Allied aid who could help him escape. Instead he'd spent near a decade in prison in his native Poland, until the grip of Nazi occupation could be broken. Peggy's search for talent had turned up his name, and now her current project was to bring him into the stable.
It took months of work on Peggy's part, petitioning both the Polish government and the American in turn, to arrange safe asylum for him in the United States. But she was committed to doing whatever it took to recruit him; she had done her research carefully, and he was integral to what she had planned for SHIELD going forward.
"I mean to stomp HYDRA out from the roots," she declared. "And that means I need to outsmart them at every turn. Dr. Doryczek knows things about HYDRA technology that even Howard doesn't. But more than that, he's a decent man— he gave up everything to defy the Reich. So I'd like to help him now if I can." It meant a few more long days and occasional late nights, but between the two of them, the children got to sit down to family dinner and the Polish physicist got a visa to work for the interests of Peggy's new agency.
Peggy told him about it breathlessly over a sandwich one day, when they'd met for a quick lunch after he'd made a trip into the city to drop off some proofs. "We had a mountain of paperwork to work through," she said around mouthfuls of roast beef. "But he's finally cleared to enter the country. I’ll be fetching him within the week."
"Congratulations, hon," Steve said, smiling at how she reached over to snatch French fries off his plate. "You know, you could order your own— with how hard you've worked, I think you earned them."
"I only want a few," she said primly, before popping them into her mouth. "I imagine it will be an adjustment for him— his English isn't perfect, and I think American living will something of a shock. But we're helping him make arrangements." She smiled as she reached for another French fry. "I've put Lottie Salazar on the job."
"Then he's in good hands." Lottie had been an office assistant at the SSR, and Steve had been impressed with her since she'd navigated him to a hospital in Washington, DC and sat up with him all night as Peggy gave birth to Elizabeth. When Peggy had left to set up her own shop, she'd brought Lottie along on Steve's recommendation. Once timid in an office full of men who discounted her, he was glad to hear that working with a woman in charge was really bringing her into her own.
Steve grinned, and nudged his plate closer to Peggy. "You sure you don't want me to put in another order?"
"I told you, I only wanted a few!" Daintily she wiped the salt from her hands with a paper napkin. "Besides, I haven't the time— I've got to be getting back to the office. Walk me to my door?"
"I took the lady out, I'm going to walk her home." He pulled out his wallet and stood to head to the register— but not before offering her the last fry, like a gentleman.
The offices were unassuming, since they were still a small operation, and for security reasons it was best if their headquarters were not ostentatious. Very few people even in the government knew that they were there. They paused at the from entrance, Steve holding onto her hand. "Would it be unprofessional to give the director a kiss at the door of her office?"
"I'm still on this side of the threshold. The director can kiss as she damn well pleases." And she tipped up her head and he tipped his down, so they could make the most of the moment before she had to take the weight of the world back onto her shoulders.
Steve watched her disappear into the building, then turned back to face the street. He lifted his head, intending to scan the vicinity for a cab back to the train station. But that's when it caught his eye— a gleam of light, reflected not from the buildings on the opposite side of the street but up on a skyscraper behind it, sharp as if someone had turned a lens into a beam of sunlight.
For a moment it nearly blinded him, but even at forty-seven years old, Steve's vision was better than most. Squinting through the glare, he peered at the building until he spotted the source— the quick-moving man-shaped figure near the top floor of the skyscraper, disappearing back inside nearly as soon as he'd caught sight of it. Still, it was just enough for him to note it stood not on a rooftop or a balcony but out on a ledge, and that its mode of reentry was an open window.
It had been seven years since Steve's retirement from life as a soldier and an operative. He'd long since traded in his shield and sidearm for colored pencils and baby clothes. But even that time had not managed to dull the instincts he'd honed. And standing outside his wife's covert office overlooked by a shadowy figure from a high and lonely vantage point sent all the old alarm bells ringing.
After a moment Steve decided. The kids were at the neighbors'; he was not expected home for a few hours yet. He would have to investigate.
~~~
Next chapter: 2. Siege
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