The Captain's Daughter

Prologue

1945

"Come in. This is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?"

"Captain Rogers, what is your-"

"Steve, is that you? Are you alright?" She pushed her way into the seat.

"Schmidt's dead."

"What about the plane?"

"That's a little bit tougher to explain."

"Give me your coordinates, I'll find you a safe landing site." She was desperately worried.

"It's not gonna be a safe landing, but I can try and force it down."

"I-I'll get Howard on the line, he'll know what to do."

"There's not enough time. This thing's moving too fast, and it's heading for New York."

He paused. "I gotta put her in the water."

"Please, don't do this. W-we have time, we can work it out." She seemed desperate.

"Right now, I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer, a lot of people are gonna die."

"Peggy. It's my choice."

"Peggy."

"I'm here." She was crying.

"I'm gonna need a rain check on that dance."

"All right. A week, next Saturday, at the Stork Club."

"You got it."

"Eight o'clock, on the dot, don't you dare be late. Understood?" She couldn't control the tears flowing down her cheeks.

"You know, I still don't know how to dance." She smiled, despite the tears.

"I'll show you how, just be there."

"We'll have the band play something slow." He tried not to cry.

"I'd hate to step on you-" The line went blank.

"Steve?" She sobbed. "Steve."

"Steve." She bent over, letting the silent tears cascade down her face. She put a hand to the small bump on her stomach.

He was never going to know her.

1960-Fifteen Years Later

I threw the bag over my shoulder. The weight was nothing compared to my determination. I needed to find my father.

Carefully, I crept over to my mom's door, pressing my ear against the wood. Her deep breathing told me that she was sleeping, just as she had been fifteen minutes ago, and fifteen minutes before that.

I stole out of the house, satisfied to see my friend's car waiting for me. I quickly jumped in, dropping my bag on the floor by my feet.

"Thanks," I said simply, reclining on the seat slightly as we pulled away from the house.

"Have everything?" I nodded once as he pulled onto the road on the way out.

Half an hour later, he dropped me off at my destination. "Good luck." He drove away, leaving me at the next part of my mission.

I looked up at the small plane before me and took a deep breath. I had to. For my father. I threw my bag over the fence and began to climb.

It didn't take long. I was strangely strong for my age. I silently jumped down from the top, collected my bag, and ran to the plane. The same friend who had driven me had an airplane pilot for a father, and had easily shown me how to fly.

A bit nervous, I slid into the cockpit and placed a picture of my parents in front of me. With a deep breath, I glanced at it and began takeoff.

For my father.

I had been flying for a while, and I had lost track of time. I quickly looked around for a safe landing site, but all I could see was the ocean. As the plane began to slowly descend as it ran out of fuel, I tried not to panic. But this was the end.

And if it was, would I believe my father was dead?

The ground was rushing up to greet me. I looked at the picture before me. My mother was so happy. And my father...well, he looked ecstatic to be with her. I wish I could have met him.

Captain America.

I crashed.

2017-Fifty-Seven Years Later

"You said they found another one?" The man was yelling over the biting cold winds as he wrapped his coat around himself even tighter.

The man in front of him nodded. "Yeah. But it's much smaller. Not nearly as high-tech as Cap's was. But we don't know what this one's doing here, to be honest." He shrugged.

"Can you bring me to it?" The second man waved him forward.

"Oh. Yeah, a smaller one." He looked over the small plane before shaking his head. "I swear, if there's a second Captain America in there, it's not my problem," he laughed.

"Did you send anyone down yet?"

"We were about to." He waved a few men over. "These are the guys. Same ones as the Rogers case. Well, let's move back so they can do their job."

"Base, we're in," they said through their earpieces as soon as they were. "Deja vu, isn't it? But much smaller."

They looked around.

"Wait a second." One of the men bent down, flashing his light at it. "Is that..." The other man came to look.

"Holy shit!"

"What is it?" The men above called down.

"It's a girl! With a copy of Cap's shield!"