*C77 - Secrets.

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'Inner dialogue/thoughts'

"Normal dialogue"

[System]

[Diary entries]

(Word Count: 2,089)

~ With Steve ~

As Steve walked out of Luke's office, although he appeared calm and unknowing on the surface, his mind, however, was swirling with thoughts. The conversation he had with Luke had been informative, yet something about Luke did not sit right with him. Luke had told him that he was only nineteen years old, yet he exuded an aura of an experienced soldier.

Moreover, Luke himself had seemingly dropped hints of his mysterious past. And whenever they spoke about things in the past and how different they were in the present, Steve's instincts told him that Luke was speaking from experience, experience that should not have been possible if Luke was telling the truth.

'Unless. . . There's something he's not telling me.' Steve pondered. As he walked out the café, he made his way back to his designated apartment for the time being. He was shadowing Natasha, and it would not make sense for him to remain at the safe house where he woke up instead of being nearby to her.

~ Flashback to a few days ago, with Steve and Peggy ~

"You've got that look on your face." Margaret Carter spoke, her voice soft and frail. Margaret, known by her close friends as Peggy, had lived a long life and was now permanently bedridden due to old age. She was also the girl that Steve had left behind when he chose to save the world.

Steve's eyes softened as he gently held her hands in his, "What look?"

"Don't forget who you are talking to, soldier." She chuckled, allowing a brief moment of silence to pass. "Your eyes, they look at me with love. And pain."

Steve let go of her hands as he avoided her gaze at her words, surprised to have been seen through so easily.

"When you were gone, I would have the same look on my face. Everyday, hoping you'd come back for our dance." She revealed. At this point, Steve was trying his best not to let his emotions show on his face. He could only gently caress her hands as he continued to avoid her gaze.

"Won't you look at me, Steve?" However, Peggy knew just how to get through to him. After a moment's hesitation, Steve finally raised his head and met her eyes. Seeing the hidden emotions that he was holding back, a gentle smile formed on her lips as she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Seventy years, Peggy. I've been gone for seventy years. . . But to me, it felt like just yesterday when we last saw each other." Steve held his gaze as his spoke, before sighing as he continued, "I just. . . I missed so much. I missed you."

"Oh, Steve. You've always been so strong. You've faced so much more than anyone should have to. But you need to let go of the past. We had our time, and even though it was short lived, it was beautiful. But now, you have to live your life."

Steve felt a lump forming in his throat, his emotions threatening to escape. "I just wish I could have been there for you. For everything."

"You were always with me, Steve." She whispered, her voice barely audible, "In my heart." As she spoke, she reached out, her hands trembling as she got hold of his. Seeing his current self, Peggy decided to encourage him, for she knew that his suffering would last longer than hers.

"The world has changed, Steve. And none of us can go back. All we can do is our best. And sometimes, the best we can do is start ov-" Before she could finish her words, Peggy began coughing.

Steve, aware of her medical condition, had a worried expression on his face as he turned around to grab the glass of water nearby. Turning back to her, he held out the glass to her as he spoke gently, "Hey, here, drink this."

However, just as she ended coughing and met his worried gaze, her eyes widened. "Steve. . ." She whispered, disbelief heavy in her tone. "You're alive. You came back."

A wry smile made its way onto Steve's lips as he realized that her condition was worsening, "Yeah, I'm back."

"It's been so long, so long." She whimpered, shaking her head as her emotions overwhelmed her.

Seeing her reaction, Steve had almost broken down alongside her, but knew that he needed to remain strong for her. Keeping his emotions in check, he put out a gentle smile as his eyes softened.

"Well I couldn't leave my best girl. Not when she owes me a dance."

~ End of flashback, the following day with Steve in the Peach Blossom Café. ~

'That look. . . It's the same.'

Steve had returned to the café the following day as he had wanted to get to know more about Luke. To his surprise, when he walked in just before noon, he noticed that Luke was sitting opposite someone nearby the counter. However, what truly surprised him was the fact that Luke had the same look that Peggy had pointed out he would have whenever he gazed at her.

The next thing to have registered to him was the fact that the person sitting opposite Luke was a girl with auburn coloured hair. 'The hair, just as what Natasha mentioned yesterday.'

Connecting the dots, Steve realized that Luke must be speaking to someone that he had loved in the past. But just like himself, Luke had probably had to have left her behind. If not that, then something else worse had happened because the look in Luke's eyes held much more pain and regret than Steve himself.

To the untrained eye, everything would appear normal surrounding Luke. But Steve was not just anyone normal, he was enhanced with the Super Soldier Serum. This allowed him to notice the look on Luke's face, when others could not. But this did not answer his questions.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Natasha coming out from the kitchen with a tray of food, heading to the café floor to serve. Deciding to ask Natasha, Steve made his way to the counter and placed his order as he waited for Natasha to be free.

"Oh, hey Steve. What are you doing here? Thought you'd be out exploring Los Angeles." A few moments later, Natasha approached Steve, whom she noticed as soon as she walked out the kitchen door.

"The coffee here is great. But never mind me, who's that girl there with Luke?" Steve enquired.

Turning around, Natasha saw who Steve was asking about, "Oh her? That's Wanda, Wanda Maximoff. The blonde guy beside you is her brother, Pietro Maximoff."

Pietro, hearing Natasha giving out his name to a random stranger, gave her a deadpan stare as he spoke, "Oh sure, tell the names of my sister and I to complete strangers, why don't you?" Pietro held his gaze, almost demanding an answer from Natasha.

Natasha snickered at his attempt, "Oh don't worry about it, Steve's a friend. Steve, meet Pietro. Pietro, meet Steve."

At her spontaneous introduction, Steve stuck his hand out, "Hi, I'm Steve."

In return, Pietro shook his hand as he introduced himself as well, "Pietro."

Steve nodded, "Pleasure to meet you, Pietro. If you wouldn't mind me asking, how long have you known Luke?"

"Honestly, not too long. We've frequented this café for months now, but my sister and I only officially met Luke maybe a week or two ago?" Pietro revealed. At his admittance, Steve raised an eyebrow, clearly confused by Pietro's statement. "Oh, we're from out of country, we moved to the states a few months ago."

However, Steve's confusion was not at all what Pietro thought it was. Steve was confused at how Luke could have the same look as him, if Luke and Wanda had only met in the recent days. 'Something's not adding up.'

Steve turned to Natasha, intending to ask her more. But her eyes told him that this was not a conversation to be had in the open, especially not in front of Pietro. Acknowledging her, Steve returned his attention to Pietro, "Interesting, but they don't look like they've met just recently." Steve said as he motioned towards Luke and Wanda.

"That's the thing! They act like they've known each other since forever and it's driving me nuts. . ." Pietro complained.

Hearing him, Natasha decided to tease him as she intervened, "Oh? I could say the same about you and Crystal." She started, before slightly raising her voice, "In fact, I'm pretty sure she's busy watching over Eve's kids on the upper floor."

At hearing her kids being mentioned, Eve, who was nearby behind the counter, spoke up, seemingly understanding the assignment judging by the glance Natasha had sent her way, "Indeed she is. Adam's up there helping her too. Oh! Here's an idea. Hey Pietro, could you be a dear and take over from Adam? I need him here to help me." Eve said, the corner of her lips raising a little.

"It's not like that!" Pietro defended exasperatedly as he stood up. Walking away, Pietro turned around one final time to face the trio by the counter, "And for the record, I'm only heading up there because she requested me to. Not because I want to spend time with Crystal or anything, got that?"

The trio on the other hand chuckled and nodded, playing along with Pietro's denial. As Pietro left and Eve going back to her duties, Natasha and Steve were the only two left by the counter. Speaking in a hushed tone, Natasha finally revealed. "Look, they have history-"

"From what the kid told me earlier, they definitely do not." Steve interrupted.

"It's. . . Complicated." Natasha said with a wry look, knowing that Steve was trustworthy but not wanting to betray Luke's trust in her.

Steve's brow furrowed in confusion, "Listen, Natasha. I've dealt with all kinds of people in my life. People who are used to telling lies to I hide things, and both you and Luke are definitely hiding something from me. The only thing I don't know is whether it is something good or bad."

With a complicated look on her face, Natasha sighed as she met Steve's gaze, "Look, Steve. I'm sure you mean well, but Luke. . . He deserves this second chance, just like you do, Steve."

"Second chance? What do you mean?" Steve's confusion deepened.

"It's not my secret to tell." Natasha replied, her voice firm and unyielding. "If you really want to know, you should ask him directly. I'm sure he wouldn't mind since you are who you are."

Steve nodded slowly, processing her words. "I'll think about it." Their conversation ended as Carmen had called for Natasha to send out another order to the café floor, leaving Steve alone by the counter with his thoughts.

- End of Chapter 77 -

Next time in C78 - The Eighth Entry.

The only reason that he even wrote in the diary about the TVA was to mess with Fury, since he knew that Fury was the one behind most of these changes. First, the Maximoff siblings were saved much earlier than they should have, and now Steve is awake earlier too.

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[Author's Note.]