Sharon didn't even notice Steve's little display of skill—her mind was still buzzing with what he had just said.
"You… when did you find out?"
Steve polished off his sandwich in a few bites, then handed the spare one he'd caught back to a dazed Sharon. His tone was light, almost casual:
"When? From the second day I moved in. A gorgeous new neighbor just happened to show up next door the very next morning. That alone was enough to put me on alert."
"Sure, I was asleep in the ice for decades, but years of fighting Hydra sharpened my senses. I'm especially sensitive to agents."
"You may have played your role as a nurse almost flawlessly, but the essence of a nurse and the essence of an agent are worlds apart. You could cover the surface—but you could never hide the edge that comes from being a trained operative."
As he spoke, Steve's smile slowly faded. His eyes softened with a trace of memory.
"But that wasn't the main reason I suspected you. No… there was something even more important. Do you want to know what it was?"
"W-what was it?" Sharon asked blankly, her mind wiped clean, her instincts as a top-tier agent completely disarmed.
Love makes people blind—and Sharon Carter, for all her training, was no exception.
Steve, however, was no fool. He was, after all, a scoundrel.
Yet his next words came from a genuine place—the deepest imprint left behind in this body's memories.
With a quiet sigh, Steve said:
"Because in you, I saw the shadow of someone I once knew—the shadow of the world's greatest female agent. Her name… was Peggy Carter."
"Aunt Peggy?!"
Sharon gasped, then instantly covered her mouth, realizing she had slipped.
But Steve's expression didn't change. He wasn't surprised at all.
"You… you even knew she's my aunt?" Sharon asked in shock.
Steve shook his head, speaking smoothly:
"I didn't know for certain. Just had a suspicion. After all, there aren't many agents whose aura is so similar to Peggy's…"
The truth was, Steve Rogers himself didn't know. The one who did was the other soul inhabiting this body—Roger.
Sharon's gaze turned odd. In a whisper, she said, "So you suspected I was related to Aunt Peggy… and you still made a move on me. Isn't that a little… twisted?"
Niece and would-be uncle… that sounded—well, awkward.
Steve blinked, utterly confused. "What???"
Sharon's voice grew smaller and smaller: "Because I'm Aunt Peggy's niece, and you're her ex-boyfriend. Isn't this… morally wrong?"
Steve was speechless.
Wait, what? You were the one giving me signals! I'm the one who got seduced here! And now you're blaming me? What the hell…
Of course, a man of high emotional intelligence wouldn't say that aloud.
Instead, Steve shifted gears, borrowing words once spoken by the body's original owner:
"Sharon… the Steve Rogers you're thinking of doesn't belong to this era. He belonged to the time, seventy years ago, when Peggy was still waiting for him."
"But now, Peggy isn't part of this me. She has her own life—her husband, her two children. I shouldn't disturb that."
"The old Steve Rogers died the moment he woke from the ice and realized he'd missed that dance with Peggy. What survived was only a soul with no place in this world…"
"A lonely soul, but also a free one. He's not the Steve Rogers of seventy years ago—he's the Steve Rogers of today, reborn."
"So if you love me, or if I love you… it's not wrong. You don't need to feel guilty."
"Because I am no longer Peggy Carter's Steve Rogers. I belong only to myself."
Steve said all this without so much as a blush, not the slightest flicker of guilt.
Because it was all true. He was only giving voice to what had already changed inside this body.
And as for how those words would be interpreted—that was up to Sharon's imagination.
And Sharon didn't disappoint. Her agent-trained brain jumped straight into overdrive, spinning a perfectly reasonable explanation:
So that's why Steve changed so much after waking up. Why he turned out so different from the legend.
Who wouldn't? To wake up seventy years later, to find all your friends dead, your comrades gone, your only love already married with children. Anyone's heart would break.
That's why Steve's personality shifted so drastically. Why he seemed so reckless, so untethered. He's just trying to find a way to live in this new era. Trying to fit into a world that isn't his.
And that's why he's had nineteen girlfriends in a single year. He's still searching—for himself, and for someone who can truly belong with him.
He's so strong. So great. I love him so much!
"Steve, you'll never have to face this new world alone again. I'll always be by your side. Forever!"
Sharon's heart swelled with compassion. She rose and pulled his head against her chest, trying to offer him the warmth of this era.
Steve wasn't sure what exactly this girl had imagined—but he had to admit, he did feel warmth. At least in a very physical sense.
They lingered like that for a while before Steve, summoning iron will, gently drew away from her embrace.
"I know you'll stay by my side. Because you're different from all the others. To me, you're the most special of them all…"
He'd lost count of how many times he'd said those words. Each time to a new girlfriend from a different profession. And in a way, each one was special.
And never before had he dated an agent. At least, not Roger's soul. So calling Sharon the most special wasn't entirely wrong.
Sharon didn't know any of this. She was already drunk on his words, falling ever deeper for him.
Her eyes shone with tenderness—it was the kind of gaze no man could resist.
But today, Steve did resist. Because there was something more important at hand.
"As much as I'd like to stay longer, you heard the call just now. Natasha is missing. I need to move—now."