"Did she? Then you are tougher than you look. I know how I train and I don't believe in pulling punches. Not preparing someone for the reality of what they will face is no way to start them out." She thought about how she would have trained him, how she had begun to train him in another life. Use your weight and size to distract, hide and be the fulcrum to the others mass and speed. Turn their supposed advantages against them and never let up until you were secure.It was how she had survived this long, scarred but alive.
Could she have any man she wanted? No. She was attractive, yes. Intelligent, without question. But after the war there were so many women and so few soldiers who returned whole. "Finding a man isn't the problem." She found herself echoing an earlier statement to Howard. "It's finding the right one." Her perspective on that had changed as well. It was hard to meet the bar when it has been set by Captain America. "I think she counted herself as lucky too." Double edged sword, she had been a bit jealous over him as well, she could hope the other her fared better.
"Your team? The Howling Commandos can't still be operating at their ages." She knew the men well, and liked them all, but they would not be in any shape for much of anything in seventy years. Her curiosity was derailed by his compliment, and for once she was left to stammer a reply. "You are far too kind to old ladies then."
She listened to a past that might have been, a future denied to them both. She listened and closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to build. It wasn't the story she knew, but she could see it so easily, her grip on his hand tightened. "Maybe," She didn't dare open her eyes again, not yet. "Maybe there is a reason we're here, like this. Maybe this is a second chance. Two people who have seen different sides of the same story and know that it could never end up as it should. Until now." Her breath was still, it was a risk being so bold, but with all they had lost maybe it was time for bold actions.
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Could she have any man she wanted? No. She was attractive, yes. Intelligent, without question. But after the war there were so many women and so few soldiers who returned whole. "Finding a man isn't the problem." She found herself echoing an earlier statement to Howard. "It's finding the right one." Her perspective on that had changed as well. It was hard to meet the bar when it has been set by Captain America. "I think she counted herself as lucky too." Double edged sword, she had been a bit jealous over him as well, she could hope the other her fared better.
"Your team? The Howling Commandos can't still be operating at their ages." She knew the men well, and liked them all, but they would not be in any shape for much of anything in seventy years. Her curiosity was derailed by his compliment, and for once she was left to stammer a reply. "You are far too kind to old ladies then."
She listened to a past that might have been, a future denied to them both. She listened and closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to build. It wasn't the story she knew, but she could see it so easily, her grip on his hand tightened. "Maybe," She didn't dare open her eyes again, not yet. "Maybe there is a reason we're here, like this. Maybe this is a second chance. Two people who have seen different sides of the same story and know that it could never end up as it should. Until now." Her breath was still, it was a risk being so bold, but with all they had lost maybe it was time for bold actions.