It's been a long, long time. - for ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shieldingfoundations
Aug. 10th, 2019 10:25 amoldfashionedhero posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
itevHe has a plan and he knows the risks of deviating from it, but being this close to her a second time makes the temptation irresistible. He never got to say goodbye the way he wanted to. He never got his dance. And after the last five years full of regrets and suffering from not acting fast enough, he can't help but feel in his bones that if he doesn't take this chance, he'll regret it for the rest of his life. He doesn't know how, but he thinks Gwen knows before he leaves. She hugs him tight and he finds himself making a promise, even though she didn't ask him to. "I'll be back."
He may have spent the last decade wanting to go back, but that had changed the day Gwen had shown up at the compound as out of time and place as he was. She was his family now. His home. So he returns the stones, one by one, and then he makes a trip of his own. He walks through the quiet neighborhood, full of families gathering around the table for their evening meals. He stops at the mailbox that reads "Carter" and takes a deep breath.
He's not the same person he was, but then again she may not be either. If he's learned anything, it's that change is inevitable. Even so, he's never stopped thinking about her. Dreaming about her. Missing her. Seeing her in the base on his last mission with Tony had physically hurt. He'd forgotten just how beautiful she'd been. How sharp and decisive. He'd visited her often when he was in DC. Each time reliving her realization that he'd come back to her. Each time feeling that ache of knowing that he never should've left.
He makes his way up the sidewalk, up the stairs and knocks on the door. He waits until the door opens and then his mouth curves up into a smile. "Hello, Peggy."
He may have spent the last decade wanting to go back, but that had changed the day Gwen had shown up at the compound as out of time and place as he was. She was his family now. His home. So he returns the stones, one by one, and then he makes a trip of his own. He walks through the quiet neighborhood, full of families gathering around the table for their evening meals. He stops at the mailbox that reads "Carter" and takes a deep breath.
He's not the same person he was, but then again she may not be either. If he's learned anything, it's that change is inevitable. Even so, he's never stopped thinking about her. Dreaming about her. Missing her. Seeing her in the base on his last mission with Tony had physically hurt. He'd forgotten just how beautiful she'd been. How sharp and decisive. He'd visited her often when he was in DC. Each time reliving her realization that he'd come back to her. Each time feeling that ache of knowing that he never should've left.
He makes his way up the sidewalk, up the stairs and knocks on the door. He waits until the door opens and then his mouth curves up into a smile. "Hello, Peggy."
