His Guardian Angel [Steve Rogers]

1945: Now There's Two

Steve's POV:

I squeezed my eyes shut leaning back in my chair. They snapped open quickly after. All I could see was him falling. It was like a nightmare on repeat. Every time I closed my eyes, even for half a second, he was falling to his death again and there was nothing I could do. The entire flight back was silent. No one spoke or even moved. They all just sat in pained silence.

"Commandos to base, Commandos to base" the pilot spoke into his radio.

"Base to Commandos, we read you loud and clear."

The happy voice didn't help anyone's mood. I silently begged the pilot to turn off the radio so we couldn't hear it. Our landing was smooth and soon we were exiting the plane. I got off last motioning to two guards to get Dr. Zola.

"Steve!"

I turned to see Evangeline walking towards us. She had a slight skip in her step and was carrying the basket i had left behind. I frowned at the sight of her though. She had on the very blue dress that Bucky picked out. It really made her vibrant eyes pop. Her hair and makeup had been done as well. She was literally glowing.

"Angel, you look g-gorgeous," I said clearing my throat a little.

She smiled and did a small turn. Sheesh, she was making this even harder. A thick lump formed in my throat and my eyes darted to the floor as I felt tears building up.

"Bucky really does have an eye doesn't he! His future wife is gonna be so lucky," she replied with a small giggle, "You told me to meet you here when you got back, should we get going?"

I bit my lip as she looked around. Her sharp eyes flickered from person to person. Her eyes finally landed back on me. I squeezed my eyes shut only to instantly regret it. Bucky's death played again in front of me. This time it felt so much worse with her standing in front of me. Her bright smile dropped into a confused frown.

"Evangeline," I started but stopped when a lump in my throat threatened to choke me.

Her eyes darkened.

"Steven, where is James?" she asked slowly, enunciating each syllable.

I couldn't do it. I looked away shaking my head. Gerry stepped forward putting a hand on my arm.

"He, he fell from the train into a river," he said softly, "I'm sorry Evangeline."

I winced at the sound of the basket hitting the ground. Something shattered within and the contents spilled out. It took everything in me to raise my head. I regretted doing that immediately. Her hands had flown to her mouth covering it in a horrified look. Her eyes shined with tears and I could see her heart slowly shattering. She stumbled back a few paces before turning around and sprinting away. Johnny knelt by the basket and began to clean it up.

"Steve," he breathed, "Go to her."

And with them words, I rushed after my broken angel.

Johnny's POV:

I watched as the Captain hurried away. I felt sorry for the pair. I knew how much Sergeant Barnes meant to both of them.

Kneeling into a better position, I opened the now damaged basket making sure that the contents didn't soak me. I look to see if I could retain any of it and lucky enough I could. A small black box and two distinctive letters.

Carefully, I opened it to see a glittering ring with a single sapphire inlaid in the centre. My jaw went slack and it felt as if someone was tearing my hole in my chest. As I placed the ring off to the side, I brought the letters to a reasonable distance so I could distinguish the writing. One was Steve's and the other one was Bucky's. A horror filled look crept upon my face and I turned to look at the two men behind me. The truth settled in and a heaviness filled the air.

"Steve was going to propose."