(I'll Be) Home for Christmas - Steggy Fic Preview
Summary: December 1946: The Valkyrie is found - with Steve Rogers alive inside of it. But when he wakes up, he learns that there was a cost to his rescue – one that Steve’s not willing to let lie.
A/N: Merry Steggymas @rachlovesligers I'm your secret santa! You said you enjoy either wartime or Agent Carter setting, a bit of angst before a happy ending, and Peggy going on missions with the Howlies, so I hope you enjoy this! (It's compliant with season 1 of Agent Carter, and then that's where we diverge, though you'll see many familiar faces throughout).
Unfortunately for us both, it got a little out of hand, and it's going to take me more time before I can post the fully finished fic. But for now, please enjoy this little snippet! Thanks to @steggyfanevents for hosting!
He wakes up and instantly regrets it.
The lights were blinding, the machines he’s hooked up to were whirring loudly, and underneath the smell of a fully sterilized hospital room, there was the distinct stench of Howard’s cologne burning into his nostrils.
The realization that Howard’s here (wherever the hell here was) forced Steve to open his eyes anew, because if Howard was here then that must mean-
“Just me, pal,” Howard told him, his smile strained, though Steve didn’t have much of a chance to take it in before Howard was flitting about him, checking his vitals, making notes and muttering to himself. “And boy am I glad to see you. I mean I’ve been staring at your beautiful unconscious mug for the last five days but seeing you awake-”
“Howard-” Steve began, grunting with the strain of the effort to sit up.
“Hey hey hey none of that, we’re still not sure the extent of the damage,” Howard told him, placing a hand on his shoulder to settle him back against the pillows (of which there had to be at least three).
“It’s not every day we thaw a man who’s fully frozen. You might be remarkable but it’s clear we still don’t know where your limits actually end, especially now that you’ve reverted back from being a giant capsicle.”
“I was frozen?” Steve gaped.
“It’s how you survived the crash,” Howard explained, and though Steve was still shaking his head in disbelief, the other man moved ceaselessly around him as he worked. “The serum caused you to go into a hibernation state so we’ve had to wake you up gently and carefully, so to speak. Even then, it's been nothing but miracle after miracle with you. We were hoping to find a body to bring home but to find you perfectly intact – with a beating heart no less – and after all this time-”
“How long has it been?” Steve interjected, causing Howard to pause, if only for a moment. “Since we stormed Schmidt’s fortress?”
“It... Almost nine months, pal.”
Steve’s stomach twisted into painful knots.
“She’s not here,” Howard interrupted before he could even begin to finish his thought, needle and syringe in hand. “Now enough talking, I need you to stop moving so I can-”
For the first time since he’d woken up, Howard properly stopped and looked at Steve, his gaze equal parts uncertain and sad, and it dawned on Steve that everything could have changed – it all did change – in the last nine months, and it was very much within the realm of possibility that Peggy had moved on. Not only did he miss their date, he’s been dead, after all.
Steve could feel his heart sink as he voiced his fear aloud.
“Did… Does she not want to see me?”
“She does,” Howard told him quietly, but firmly. “I-we-she was with me, searching for you this last time that I went. Hell, she’s the sole reason we got you back here in one piece.”
Howard opened and closed his mouth several times before finally setting the needle and syringe on the bedside table and sitting down on the chair beside Steve’s hospital bed. Steve watched his friend wring his hands for several long moments before finally looking him dead in the eyes, expression grim.
